News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. NAIROBI -- The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Friday a total ban on trade in wildlife products would strike the right message on the need to conserve nature and intensify the fight against international criminal networks exploiting trade in ivory and rhino horns. "The reality is that a formal ban in ivory and rhino horns trade could generate benefits," Marco Lambertini, the Director General of WWF International told Xinhua in an interview in Nairobi. Ahead of an international conservation meeting in South Africa in September to October, countries remain divided on a suggestion by the Kenyan government for a total ban on trade in ivory products. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting is expected to discuss a raft of proposals on how to deal with the conservation of endangered species. Lambertini said the WWF has been working with authorities in countries affected by the activities of the organized criminal networks dealing in the ivory to enhance legislation in countering the trade. "We work with the governments in countries where demand is coming from to support legislation. As WWF, we have a network of offices around the world and are well-placed to support countries in various ways to counter this problem," Lambertini said on the sidelines of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), which ended in Nairobi on Friday, after week-long deliberations. Speaking at the conference, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta hailed China and other countries, for supporting Kenya's initiative to end ivory trade. Kenya recently burnt 105 tonnes of ivory and 1.3 tonnes of rhino horns to highlight the worthless value of the elephant tusks. "There is strong consensus required to deal with this (ivory trade). We need leadership from the top. The leaders have to object to this trade because it is a crime against nature," Lambertini said. Earlier, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, decried the disagreements at the previous CITES meetings on how to handle the growing crisis of wildlife crime as a drawback to international conservation efforts. "Clearly, things are not working," Steiner said, addressing journalists on his 10-yearlong tenure at the helm of the UN body tasked with providing advice on environmental policy. The outgoing UNEP chief said the disagreements over how to handle poaching and other wildlife crimes had confused the public. Countries in Southern Africa have been at odds with their East African counterparts which have been pushing for a ban on ivory trade. Most Southern African countries, driven by commercial ranchers, have been pushing for lifting of an ivory moratorium, to enable them to sell some ivory stockpiles. "We are facing a crisis in environmental crimes. The demand is rising again. We need to tackle it by dealing with demand and the collaboration between the criminal gangs dealing in ivory and rhino trade and organized crime," Lambertini said. "We need to work together to eradicate this to protect countries that rely on tourism and the natural ecosystem for their economic survival. This issue has a connection with criminal trade and terrorism. It has security perspectives," he added. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 27, 2016) - First Majestic Silver Corp. ("First Majestic" or the "Company") (AG)(FR.TO)(FMV.F)(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 Director Nominee Non Votes Votes For % For Votes 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 FORWARDLOOKING 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. The national average gas price is sitting at a 10-year low for Memorial Day weekend, and Americans shouldn't expect to pay much more at the pump this summer, GasBuddy CEO Walt Doyle said Friday. The current average price is $2.33 per gallon, 40 cents less than at this time last year and more than a dollar cheaper than in 2014, according to GasBuddy, an operator of fuel price monitoring apps. With gas prices at multiyear lows, the company forecasts Americans will spend $12 billion at the pump this weekend. More than half of the respondents to a GasBuddy survey said they plan to drive more than 400 miles during the long weekend. "Cheap gas is clearly fueling the desire to have a road trip and enabling the consumer to do that with less discomfort on the pocket," Doyle told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." GasBuddy estimates the national average will remain between $2.15 and $2.50 this summer, even during the peak driving season in July and August. While oil prices have rebounded to $49, stockpiles of crude and refined fuel products are both up significantly from last year, Doyle said. U.S. refinery maintenance is also poised to wrap up in time to get gasoline flowing for peak driving season, he said. States near the Gulf of Mexico can expect to pay the lowest price thanks to proximity to refiners and low gasoline taxes, while Californians will likely dole out about a dollar above the national average, Doyle said. More From CNBC pavlok shark tank Over the past seven seasons of "Shark Tank," Kevin O'Leary has established himself as the mean, sarcastic investor who either challenges entrepreneurs to better defend their business or else dismisses them as "cockroaches." But in a pitch featured in the Season 7 finale he dropped the shtick, and in a state of being genuinely angry and hurt, called an entrepreneur an asshole and told him to "Get the f--- out of here." Maneesh Sethi, the founder of consumer-electronics company Pavlok, prompted this response when he explained that he had to turn down O'Leary's offer, even after the other Sharks pulled out, not because of its terms but because of O'Leary's personality. "I would take an offer from anybody besides Mr. Wonderful," Sethi said, using O'Leary's nickname. We got in touch with both O'Leary and Sethi for their insight, now that the pitch has been seen by millions of viewers. O'Leary suggested he kept his emotions around the pitch within the confines of the Tank, and explained that Sethi has a big lesson to learn if he wants to be successful in business. Sethi said that the 11-minute broadcast version of his 45-minute pitch didn't accurately portray him or his company, and he explained that he doesn't regret refusing O'Leary's offer but wishes he had conducted his presentation differently. In late 2014, a "Shark Tank" producer reached out to Sethi to ask him if he wanted to apply to the show. The producer had noticed Sethi's successful IndieGoGo campaign for the Pavlok wristband, which through either a manual or automatic prompt shocked its wearer when performing a bad habit. Using conclusions from existing research on Pavlovian conditioning, Sethi created it with the intention of linking bad habits with an uncomfortable reaction so that the habit could cease being enjoyable. pavlok Sethi is the brother of bestselling personal-finance writer Ramit Sethi and a friend and associate of "The 4-Hour Workweek" author Tim Ferriss, as well as the curator of his own personal-development blog, Hacking the System. Story continues Pavlok grew out of the viral popularity of one of Sethi's productivity experiments from 2012, in which he hired a woman on Craigslist to slap him in the face anytime he went on Facebook when he should have been working. When he eventually made it to the "Shark Tank" set last September, Sethi was looking for 3.14% equity in his company in exchange for $500,000, giving Pavlok a valuation of $15.9 million. He told the Sharks that through the sale of some prototypes and then pre-orders of the $200 final product, he had sold $800,000 worth of his wristbands, which were going to ship the next week. At one point, Mark Cuban asked about what clinical trials Sethi conducted to prove his wristband worked, and when Sethi referred to a pamphlet of research on Pavlovian conditioning from the past few decades, Cuban called him a con artist. The rest of the televised segment highlighted Sethi's most snarky reactions to Cuban's and other's attacks. "I was caught off guard by how quickly and forcefully Mark turned against us, and that really changed the tone of the pitch," Sethi told Business Insider. "The Sharks became so focused on clinical studies, I couldn't really get a word in edge wise to tell them about the thousands of success stories our real-life users have had." Sethi also noted that he worked on a small, eight-person pilot study with the University of Massachusetts at Boston on Pavlok's capacity to deter smoking, which he was disappointed didn't earn any mention on the final cut of the show. The Sharks started arguing among themselves over whether the product was viable. At one point, Sethi grabbed his face in frustration and said, "You guys are making me so ADD." shark tank After some more back and forth, Lori Greiner and Cuban pulled out for lack of what they deemed sufficient evidence. Barbara Corcoran went out because she didn't like the product, and Robert Herjavec didn't make an offer because even though he actually found the product interesting, he couldn't justify the $15.9 million valuation. O'Leary started his reply by telling Sethi, "You're a combination of spontaneous combustion and ADD. I'm not kidding. It's very difficult to listen to you." But then he told him that he had studied aversion therapy as an undergraduate and found Pavlok to be interesting. To avoid meeting Sethi's valuation, O'Leary offered the $500,000 as a loan at 7.5% interest for 24 months in exchange for 3.14% equity. Sethi looked wary. "This is the problem," he said. "Damn. The problem, Mr. Wonderful, is that we're not focused on the money. We're focused more on the habits ... Our biggest goal is to break bad habits around the world. Mr. Wonderful, I just can't work with you." Greiner asked him whether he came on the show not looking for a deal but rather a commercial for his product. Sethi said he did want a deal (and he told us that he wanted a deal with either Greiner or Cuban) and that O'Leary's deal was "actually quite good." "It's the person," Corcoran offered. "It's the person," Sethi said. "I feel like I would take an offer from anybody besides Mr. Wonderful." "Maneesh?" O'Leary chimed in. "You're an asshole. Get the f--- out of here." Cuban hollered and clapped his hands. "Oh, well ... are you all out?" Sethi asked. "F--- you," O'Leary responded. kevin o'leary After Sethi walked out, O'Leary appeared more hurt than angry, and his fellow investors told him he shouldn't feel bad. "The second Maneesh made his refusal he was dead to me," O'Leary told us. "Regardless of his opinions about me, I have absolutely no time for anyone who lets their emotions get in the way of their money, which is exactly what Maneesh did." O'Leary once told Business Insider that the reason he is especially aggressive on the show is to test entrepreneurs, to see if they can handle the pressure. His focus on cash flow is genuinely part of his investing approach, but he often exaggerates this to cartoonish levels for dramatic effect. Interestingly, Sethi adamantly opposed partnering with O'Leary precisely because of his bully persona in the Tank. "Going in I knew Kevin was not a great investor fit for our company," Sethi said. "A lot of people don't realize investment partnerships are about way more than money. Business style and vision for the company need to align as well. I was concerned he would prioritize monetary returns over number of habits broken, which is our main [Key Performance Indicator]." Sethi said that in the nine months since his "Shark Tank" pitch, he's sold a total of 10,000 wristbands and collected more user data. He's also raised more than $275,000 on IndieGoGo for an upcoming Pavlok alarm clock. He said that Pavlok is profitable. We asked him if he regrets his "Shark Tank appearance. "If I could film the show again, I would have changed my presentation," he said. "But I don't regret turning down the offer." NOW WATCH: A world champion public speaker gave us his top 3 presentation tips More From Business Insider May 27 (Reuters) - The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday again struck down the state's proposed school funding system and provided lawmakers a deadline of June 30 to fix disparities between rich and poor districts or else prompt a shutdown of the state's schools. The state's high court rejected the system in February, saying it was inequitable and came up millions of dollars short in funding for schools in poor districts. The Republican-controlled state legislature passed a new bill in April to fix issues identified by the court. The court said on Friday that the bill corrects part of the problem in the original legislation but failed to adequately address all the inequities. The 47-page opinion said if the funding system were not sufficiently overhauled before June 30, there would be no constitutional finance system in place for the state's schools to operate under. "The inability of Kansas schools to operate would not be because this court would have ordered them closed," the 47-page opinion said. "Rather, it would be because this court would have performed its sworn duty to the people of Kansas under their constitution to review the legislature's enactments and to ensure the legislature's compliance with its own duty." Republican Governor Sam Brownback's office put out a statement on Friday evening calling the ruling unfortunate. "The court is engaging in political brinkmanship with this ruling, and the cost will be borne by our children," the statement said. Alan Rupe, an attorney representing four public school districts that sued the state, said in an emailed statement: "Plaintiffs remain optimistic that the legislature will take this last, last chance offered by the court to put Kansas' school children back on a path toward equitable school funding." The state budget is feeling the effects from action taken by Brownback and the legislature in recent years to cut corporate and other income taxes with the hopes of helping the state compete with bordering Missouri and other states for business development and jobs. The state's reliance on one-time revenue measures to plug budget holes led Moody's Investors Service to place a negative outlook on Kansas' Aa2 credit rating and Standard & Poor's to warn it could downgrade its AA rating in recent weeks. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) New Jersey Governor Chris Christie reacts to a question during a news conference after announcing the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had resigned, a day after an internal investigation cleared Christie in the "Bridgegate" scandal, during a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey, United States on March 28, 2014. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo By Hilary Russ (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday signed into law a package of legislation that provides distressed gambling hub Atlantic City with immediate cash help but also a potential state takeover if the city cannot fix its finances. The bills will help reform the city's "overblown municipal government" while protecting state and local taxpayers, Christie said in a statement while continuing to take shots at local officials. "We all agree that Atlantic City's government has not demonstrated the competence to properly manage the people's money without state guidance and oversight," he said. The legislation "embraces my demand that Atlantic City immediately account for every dollar it receives and spends, and triggers a series of strict conditions and rigorous requirements the city must meet immediately," Christie said. Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier on Friday, Guardian marked the opening of summer beach season for the seaside resort city. The bills provide a $60 million, six-month bridge loan from the state to the city and establish $120 million of payments annually from casinos in lieu of property taxes, a move aimed at stabilizing the city's volatile, eroded tax base. In return, the city must prepare a balanced budget for fiscal 2017, which begins Jan. 1, and a five-year recovery plan. If it falls short, the state can move to take over operations and throw out collective bargaining agreements, among other powers. The package could prove positive for the city's credit rating, which is deep in junk territory at Caa3, because it provides much-needed financial relief and removes the immediate threat of default or bankruptcy, Moody's Investors Service said after the governor announced his signature. But a bond restructuring, which Guardian has said the city will likely pursue, would be considered a default if it includes bondholder impairment, Moody's said. The city has about $240 million of bond debt outstanding. (Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis) rtx2ejyc Violence broke out at a campaign rally for Donald Trump in San Diego Friday as protesters clashed with Trump supporters and police outside the downtown convention center. Officers in riot gear ordered the crowd of about 1,000 protesters to disperse, shortly after the rally ended. They declared the gathering an unlawful assembly soon after. At least 18 people received medical attention, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. One protester was arrested after trying to climb a barrier separating protesters from police, several news outlets reported. His arrest led protesters to throw empty water bottles and spray water at police. Thirty-five people were arrested, according to the San Diego Police Department. Many of the protesters waved US and Mexican flags and chanted in Spanish, prompting some apparent Trump supporters to yell "Speak English," the Los Angeles Times reported. CNN captured some of the action: Pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups clash in San Diego. @pvercammencnn is on the ground with the latest. https://t.co/1EDxruPvDD Anderson Cooper 360 (@AC360) May 28, 2016 The incident comes just two days after 14 protesters were arrested at a Trump rally in Anaheim. The presumptive Republican nominee has come under fire for his immigration policies, which include building a wall along the southern US border with Mexico and deporting the nearly 11 immigrants who are in the US illegally. California is home to the largest Latino population in the US, and one of the crossings along the San Diego-Tijuana border is considered the busiest in the world. Story continues NOW WATCH: OBAMA: Trumps proposals are aimed at getting 'tweets and headlines' rather than keeping America safe More From Business Insider Could Automotive Fuel Texas Instruments Future Growth? (Continued from Prior Part) Correlation between free cash flow and shareholder returns In the previous part of the series, we saw that Texas Instruments (TXN) improved its gross and operating margins despite fluctuations in revenue in the past five quarters. Lets see how this benefited the companys shareholders. A company gives returns to its shareholders in three ways: investing in the business Intel (INTC) and NVIDIA (NVDA) give priority to this strategy. paying out dividends Qualcomm (QCOM) pays high dividends to its shareholders. buying back shares Applied Materials (AMAT) spends a huge amount on this. All three strategies are funded from a companys FCF (free cash flow) or cash reserves. FCF is the cash left after deducting capital expenditures from operating cash flow. Lets take a look at Texas Instruments FCF and how much the company has returned to its shareholders in the past five quarters. Returns to shareholders As you can see in the above graph, Texas Instruments was consistent in delivering returns to its shareholders, even though FCF fluctuated in the past five quarters. The returns and FCF were the highest in fiscal 3Q15 when the company reported strong sales driven by the launch of Apples (AAPL) iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. In fiscal 3Q15, the company generated $1.4 billion in cash from operating activities. It spent $348 million in dividend payments and $790 million in share buybacks. FCF was the lowest in fiscal 1Q16 when the companys revenues were the lowest for the past five quarters. During the quarter, the company generated $547 million in cash from operating activities and spent $383 million in dividend payments and $630 million in share buybacks. The company funded the buybacks from its cash reserves when its FCF was low. This is evident from the companys declining cash reserves. Cash reserves At the end of fiscal 1Q16, Texas Instruments cash reserves stood at $1.8 billion compared to $3.3 billion at the end of fiscal 1Q15. The companys cash reserves at the end of fiscal 1Q16 were lower than its long-term debt of $2.9 billion. This limits the companys ability to make long-term investments. Story continues However, the companys short-term position is strong. Its current assets are three times its current liabilities. This means it has sufficient cash to fund its day-to-day operations and make short-term investments. Next, well see how cash flows, profit margins, and revenue have impacted TXN stock. You can gain exposure to large-cap tech companies by investing in the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD). It has 1.4% exposure to INTC, 0.24% to NVDA, and 0.70% to QCOM. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: According to media reports, Chicago, IL-based United Continental Holdings, Inc. UAL has decided to cancel flights to Africa, starting July this year. Apparently, weak energy markets have been denting profits for the carrier, compelling it to consider the cancellation of its sole flight to Africa, connecting Houston and Lagos. Reports have stated that the last flight to the Nigerian city of Lagos will operate on Jun 30. The route has been in operation for long but has not been able to rake in profits. In spite of this, the carrier maintained its services to the city, keeping the convenience of its Texas fliers in mind. Foreign-exchange related issues have also been a major undermining factor. The persistent slump in oil prices has dealt a major blow to the Nigerian economy. Its foreign exchange reserves have been on the decline, prompting the country to put a cap on the amount that can be transferred overseas. In fact, the Nigerian economy owed approximately $575 million (in airfares) to carriers as of Mar 31, 2016, according to a Bloomberg report. The report also revealed FX reserves declining to as low as $26.5 billion leading to dollar repatriation being limited. Given this gloomy background, it is of little surprise that United Continental has decided to discontinue its Nigerian service. With the daily flight being cancelled, passengers will now have to turn to United Continentals partner Deutsche Lufthansa AGs flights to travel to Nigeria via Frankfurt. After United Continentals exit, Delta Air Lines DAL will be the sole major U.S.-based carrier to offer services to Africa. Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider United Continental currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the airline space include SkyWest, Inc. SKYW and Air France-KLM SA AFLYY, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report DELTA AIR LINES (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report SKYWEST INC (SKYW): Free Stock Analysis Report AIR FRANCE-ADR (AFLYY): Free Stock Analysis Report UNITED CONT HLD (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research 2000 - 2022 24 .- . focus-news.net, () . 24 . 24 . . 24 . We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Mafia continues Canadian expansion, experts predict turf war MONTREAL (CP) -- The Mafia is tightening its grip on Canada's criminal underworld, and experts warn a mob war could break out as the crime groups consolidate their influence in Ontario and other provinces. Organized-crime experts say Mob families in Montreal and Toronto have set their sights on the Ontario market for illicit drugs, gambling, money laundering, extortion and loansharking. The Montreal-based Rizzuto family and the Cuntrera-Caruana crime group of Toronto are considered to be two of the most powerful Mafia families in Canada. The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC), an umbrella law-enforcement organization, says the Montreal-based Mafia clan could clash with other families as it fights for dominance in the lucrative Ontario market. "The extension of this . . . crime family's influence into Ontario potentially could create conflict with established traditional organized crime families in the area," CISC said in a recent report. "(They'll) participate in the planning and execution of large illicit drug movements . . . and a multitude of other illegal activities." The 1997 murder of reputed Ontario Mafia boss Johnny (Pops) Papalia created a leadership vacuum in that province that the Rizzutos are more than happy to fill, say experts. Toronto author and journalist Antonio Nicaso, who has written several books on the Mafia, says despite all the attention paid to biker gangs and their bloody turf war, the crime families are Canada's real underworld kingpins. "They try to stay away from the spotlight," said Nicaso. "They don't send press releases. The Mafia tries to be less visible and more business-oriented." Omerta, the legendary Mafia code of silence, has largely stymied efforts by police to plant informants and build solid cases against top-level crime bosses. The Mob has also set up legitimate businesses to mask their criminal operations, says RCMP Chief Supt. Ben Soave of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. "(Crime heads) do pose a serious threat, especially when most of them are becoming untouchable," said Soave, whose unit of municipal, provincial and federal law-enforcement agencies was created to fight organized crime. "The more time they've had to entrench themselves in every sort of legitimate sector, it makes it tougher to get to them." The Mafia's reach extends into the daily lives of unsuspecting Canadians who frequent restaurants, bars and strip clubs, mainly in Montreal and Toronto, say observers. Here's one way in which the Mafia turns its proceeds of crime into so-called legitimate business earnings: -- Money is generated from prostitution, drugs, illegal gambling and extortion. In one common extortion racket, restaurants in suburban Montreal have been strong-armed into paying a fee to sell pizza and pasta, or risk being bombed out of business. -- A large percentage of the Mafia profits are then turned over to a business or corporation owned by the organization or a close contact. -- The businessowner hides the Mob's funds by over-reporting profits, using the dirty money to make up the difference. In this way, the proceeds of vice and crime are transformed into clean mainstream business profits, with no direct link to the top-level bosses. The Canadian Mafia's current structure has been in place for decades. The Rizzuto and Cuntrera-Caruana clans reached a silent agreement in 1978 to split up territory formerly controlled by organized-crime godfather Paolo Violi, slain earlier that year. Under terms of the deal, the Rizzutos control illegal street-level activity in Montreal, Toronto and several other cities while the Cuntrera-Caruana family concentrates on money laundering and drug importation, said Nicaso. The Cuntrera-Caruana family is actually made up of two families united by marriage. They have grown into one of the world's biggest drug-smuggling and money-laundering organizations, say police. The RCMP says the group has been operating for more than 30 years in Canada, Venezuela, Aruba, the United States, Mexico, western Europe, Thailand and India. Law enforcement scored its first major victory against the Cuntrera-Caruana organization when its alleged boss, Alfonso Caruana, and his brother Gerlando were sentenced in 2000 to 18 years in jail on drug charges. The two had admitted to being high-level members of a ring that imported massive quantities of cocaine into Canada from Colombia. The Rizzutos, meanwhile, have proven harder to catch. The family is allegedly headed by Vito Rizzuto, who lives quietly in an opulent home in north-end Montreal. The Rizzuto group is referred to in the CISC report only as a "Sicilian crime family" that plays an influential role in the "diverse criminal milieu of Montreal." While the Rizzutos are not mentioned by name, the family is clearly the focus of the report. The document mentions a foiled murder plot against a reputed Montreal Mafia leader, as well as his out-of-court tax settlement with the federal Revenue Department. Rizzuto was at the centre of both cases. The CISC says the crime family has forged close criminal partnerships with bikers, as well as with gangs from Asia, eastern Europe and South America. Nicaso says Rizzuto is a polished operator and an elusive target for police. "It's very difficult to arrest Rizzuto because you have to catch (him) in the act," said Nicaso. "He's very careful but of course he's very powerful, he deals with stock markets, he speaks three languages fluently, he travels often. "He's the new face of organized crime." But Soave says the Mafia can't evade the law forever. He predicts federal anti-gang laws will make it easier to dismantle criminal organizations. He added that joint Canadian law-enforcement units and shared intelligence with U.S. officials will also lead to more arrests. Nicaso, however, says the public mystique surrounding the Mob must also be destroyed if Canadians are to become fully aware of the dangers of such criminal networks. "There is no real perception of the threat of organized crime in this country," said Nicaso, pointing out that Canada has been a haven for international crime because anti-gang laws were passed only recently. "In Canada, we have at least 18 different organized crime groups and one of the first questions we should ask ourselves is why they love Canada so much." 'Loneliest elephant in the world' dies in Tokyo zoo after living alone for 67 years An elephant that lived alone for 67 years in a Tokyo zoo has died in her concrete pen at the age of 69.Hanako, or "flower child", was described by animal rights campaigners as the loneliest elephant in the world and had been the subject of a global campaign.She was a gift from the government of Thailand in 1949, and had lived in a small enclosure at Inokashira Park Zoo since she was two years old.Hanako is believed not to have seen another elephant since arriving in Japan.Zoo spokesperson Naoya Ohashi said Hanako was discovered lying on her side on Thursday morning and repeated efforts to raise her upright were unsuccessful. She died peacefully in the afternoon.The elephant's plight became a cause celebre after photographs of her solitary existence circulated among animal lovers.www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Qp6s3QTr0Almost 470,000 people signed an online petition set up by Elephant Freedom Fighters demanding that Hanako be allowed to leave her "concrete prison" to live out the rest of her days in a sanctuary in Thailand.The zoo said the elephant could not be transferred because she was too old to endure the journey.Independent expert Carol Buckley agreed with the zoo's assessment and said staying in a sanctuary with other elephants would bewilder Hanako after living alone for so many years.When the zoo put up new fencing for keepers to spend more time with her, Hanako was frightened and refused to go outdoors.The embassy of Thailand said in a statement that the elephant's death had "saddened the people of Thailand and the people of Japan very much"."She had been considered Thailand's goodwill ambassador to Japan", the statement added.source: 'Loneliest elephant in the world' dies in Tokyo zoo after living alone for 67 years - ITV News Building on Bernie Korths dream, some Amish men were busy constructing a garage this week. The Fremont man, who lives at 830 W. 16th St., hired Quality Structures, Inc. of Richmond, Kan., to build a 24- by 28-foot garage at his house. Ive always wanted a double garage, someplace where I can do projects, Korth said. Ive been living here 10 years. Im glad its finally happening. Its not unusual to build a garage in Fremont. But unlike most construction crews, the men building Korths garage are Amish. Benny Gingerich of Pawnee City, who comes from old order Amish, headed up the crew. The group began the project on Thursday morning. As expected, some of the Amish men could be seen in the traditional straw hats and suspenders. Gingerich said his community has about 40 families. Originally from Livingston, Wis., Gingerich said the community began after his dad, Jonas, and two of his friends went looking for land. We wanted to relocate and we really liked the land at Pawnee, he said. The first family moved to Pawnee in 2007. We didnt actually move in until 2009, Gingerich said. The families work with horses. They have modern plumbing, but no electricity, radios, TVs, bicycles or cars. They grow their own food and bake their own bread. We buy some stuff at the grocery store, stuff we need to make our own food, he said. They speak Pennsylvania Dutch and English. Gingerich, who is 23, is married. He and his wife, Francis, have two daughters. Since he doesnt have a farm, he has worked other jobs. At one time, Gingerich had a factory job, packaging doors and loading them on a truck, in Seneca, Kan. But he likes working outdoors. Standing at the 16th Street work site, Gingerich said this isnt the first garage hes built. Hes built a couple, along with many sheds. He previously worked with another crew of Amish men with Quality Structures, Inc., for 1 years. Then they quit and went to framing houses and I got my own crew together and I decided to go on with it, he said. Gingerich is part of a crew of six Amish men. Since last October, that crew has built approximately 30 structures. They hire a driver to bring them to the work sites. They bring their own packed lunches. They dont have cell phones, but Gingerich can use a company phone. Each night, the crew goes home to Pawnee City, which is about 110 miles from Fremont. It takes about two hours. Its a long trip, he said. Gingerich likes the job, however. It pays pretty good and I really enjoy construction work, Gingerich said. I enjoy working outside. I like a good challenge. And he enjoys seeing the finished product. Putting up a shed, you can see what youve accomplished, he said. Its a good feeling to see that youve accomplished something. Gingerich estimated Korths garage would take about 2 days to build. When hed not building sheds or other structures, Gingerich still stays busy. I build little, portable sheds at home. I build yard ornaments and, if I get time, I usually train a horse or two a year to ride, he said. He has some future plans. Im hoping to do this for a couple more years and then Im hoping to have enough money saved up to buy a farm and have my own work at home, he said. Korth said his son-in-law, James Hunke, of C R Menn Concrete in Fremont, who pours concrete for Quality Structures, Inc., told him about the company. Ive heard good things about them, he said. Korth snapped some candid photographs of the workers. Gingerich said the Amish are not allowed to pose for photographs. But some of them could be seen wearing something a little modern: Sunglasses. Josh Marreel is taking the high road to draw positive attention to veterans. Starting this weekend, the former Hooper resident and a team of family, friends, active military personnel and veterans will set out on a relay carrying the American flag. This is the fourth year that the group is participating in Miles for Heroes, an event designed to pay tribute to those whove served their country and to raise funds for veterans causes. The team of more than 20 people will begin their three-day trek at 9 a.m. today in North Platte. Wearing combat boots, relay participants will go to Kearney, then to Shelby. The group will be in North Bend around 1:30 or 2 p.m. and finish the route in Scribner between 5 and 6 p.m. Monday. In the past, the group has sought to increase awareness of tough veterans issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicide. These issues are still very important, but he and other relay participants also want to direct attention to the veterans positive community involvement and activities. What we want to focus on is veterans getting out and into the community and finding a passion, whether its fishing or hunting or running, he said. The Marine Corps veteran, who served in Afghanistan, is working to debunk a stereotype that affects military personnel who were in that country and also in Iraq. Were part of this generation of veterans who are looked at like were broken, because of the media light showing all the suicides and PTSD, he said. We want to prove the point that it doesnt affect everybody. We want to shine the light on the positive things that veterans do. One of those good things is raising funds to help and honor veterans through Miles for Heroes. Marreel said he wants to use these funds to benefit veterans like a 70-year-old, who has volunteered his whole life, and now needs a wheelchair. We want to be able to reach out and help with that, he said. He also is working Joel Hargens and Tammy Marreel at First National Bank Northeast of Hooper to construct a veterans memorial that will have ties with the late 1st Lt. Donald Schwab. Schwab, who was from Hooper and served during World War II, was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor the nations highest honor for heroic actions. The group ran in Schwabs honor in 2014. In some 15 or 20 years, Marreel hopes to see the purchase of a piece of Nebraska land that can be turned into a retreat where veterans can hunt, fish and camp with their families. Marreel hopes Miles for Heroes will grow bigger. We want to be a proactive group, he said. Anyone wishing to donate may do so at: milesforheroes.com or by dropping off or sending a check to: First National Bank Northeast, 102 N. Main St., Hooper, NE 68031 or Scribner Bank, 400 Main St., Scribner, NE 68057. WATERLOO | How to address the root causes that led to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement was not only the first question posed to U.S. Senate Democratic candidates Saturday in Waterloo, but it also set the tone for the remainder of the debate. Three of the four Democratic candidates who are vying in the primary to take on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, met in Waterloo Saturday afternoon for an opportunity to address the concerns of the African-American community. Black lives matter. Period, said Rob Hogg, an Iowa senator from Cedar Rapids who entered the U.S. Senate race last September. My fundamental belief is that America is a better and stronger country because of our racial and our religious diversity. Hogg, bankruptcy attorney Tom Fiegen and veterans advocate Bob Krause met for 90 minutes at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, the fourth contender in the primary, had another commitment in Des Moines Saturday. Hogg pointed to work done at the state level to address minority issues, including support for criminal justice reform and so-called ban-the-box legislation that would remove questions about a persons criminal history from an initial application. Both Hogg and Fiegen pointed to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as a person who divides people and a reason Democrats need to be successful in the general election. People start to think of us versus them, and were seeing some political discourse from people running, particularly from Donald Trump, on us versus them, Fiegen said. I think weve got to talk about this as all of us, as a part of one community. Fiegen also suggested police training and reduced reliance on military equipment as a way to make law enforcement more about public safety. Krause pointed to his efforts during his tenure as a Waterloo School Board member to increase representation of east side residents on the board as a way of showing his support for giving African-Americans a voice in government. The candidates mostly stuck to answering the questions posed by moderator Michael Blackwell, without attacking each other and without attacking the absent Judge. But they didn't shy from criticism of the incumbent Grassley, particularly on issues of criminal justice and campaign finance reform. On criminal justice issues, Hogg reminded the two dozen people in the audience that while Grassley has been working on a criminal justice reform bill this year, there has been little movement forward. Youve been in Congress for 42 years and are unable to get something passed, it calls into question, to me, can you still get the job done anymore? Hogg said, adding that hes heard the legislation that has been proposed is relatively weak. Both Krause and Fiegen said they would like to see marijuana reduced from a schedule 1 drug, so that there would be fewer penalties for those caught with the drug. Fiegen and Hogg both stressed they wanted to see substance abuse treated as a public health issue, rather than a criminal justice one. On campaign finance reform, both Fiegen and Krause noted they were not taking money from political action committees. Fiegen said he had in the past and noticed how loyalties were divided between constituents and donors. Krause and Hogg also drew a link between campaign finance reform and the current fight to replace former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He (Grassley) is the fellow that wants to stop the repeal of Citizens United by the Supreme Court by stopping the nomination of Judge (Merrick) Garland. He wants to retain that control, Krause said. Hogg said he has received a PAC donation from the states largest public sector union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and was glad to get it. But Hogg stressed he supports overturning the Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United that opened the doors to increased campaign spending. The Democratic candidates are expected to meet for one more debate on June 1. The primary election is June 7, and early voting is already underway. IOWA CITY On Monday, Jan. 8, 1996, Donna Lee Marshall was found in her southeast side Iowa City mobile home with a gunshot wound to the head. She died the following day. Donnas 7-year-old daughter, Tiffany, discovered her mother lying on the living room floor of their trailer about 3 p.m. She ran outside to tell Donnas boyfriend, Donald Matthess, who had just picked up Tiffany from school. Gone Cold: Exploring Iowa's unsolved murders Gone Cold: Exploring Iowa's unsolved murders is a year-long collaborative effort by Iowa news organizations to revisit some of the most brutal A search of the mobile home located at Lot 99 in the Bon-Aire Mobile Home Lodge yielded mostly prescription drugs and paperwork pertaining to child custody. Authorities searched both the mobile home and two cars that were parked there. Investigators also took some child custody documents addressed to Marshall and letters from the state child support recovery unit addressed to Matthess. When Marshall divorced Scott Sweeting in 1989, Marshall was awarded custody of Tiffany. Sweeting was granted visitation rights, but divorce proceedings on file with the clerk of court showed Sweeting petitioned the court in 1992 to grant full custody to him. No final ruling had been made at the time of Marshalls murder. Following Marshalls murder, Tiffany went to stay with Sweeting. Marshalls parents would never see their daughters killer brought to justice. Bernard Marshall passed away in 2003, and Lottie died in 2010. OSAGE Thinking about his friend Joshua Knowles, Phil Anderson said, There is never a bad day to tell a solider thank-you, but Memorial Day is a special day to remember those who fell. Anderson, a member of the Iowa Army National Guards 1133rd Transporation Company, lost Knowles in a mortar attack in Iraq in February 2004. Anderson enlisted in the Guard a day after his 17th birthday, completing basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the summer between his junior and senior year of high school. In 2003, the 1133rd was called for active duty in Iraq, where the company made its way across the desert to a base camp between Kuwait City and the border of Iraq. People think driving across Iowa is boring, but they have no idea what boring is till they drive across Kuwait and Southern Iraq, said Anderson, 33. Occasionally, you might see a herd of goats or camels. Stationed at a remote camp, the company transported supplies like bottled water or armored personnel carriers to other bases across Iraq. Anderson said each mission was roughly a week at a time. Often we would sleep in the cab, on the trailer or under the trailer in a camp, he said. We never stopped much while traveling, and our greatest dangers were sniper fire, rocket-propelled grenades or roadside bombs. Iraqis were generally friendly and happy to see the Guard, he said, but if people stared as they drove through town they would quickly leave. After sixth months, Andersons unit moved to a new base in Iraq, which was less secure. It often received mortar fire. When shells came in, soldiers would go to bunkers for safety, hoping their equipment wouldnt be hit because it was out in the open. Anderson recalled the great camaraderie in his unit during the holiday season in 2013. Everyone was going around wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, even those who were of another belief, he said. The only thing we were thinking about was how we were there to help those oppressed people gain the American way of life. Among Andersons comrades was his close friend, Knowles, a Sheffield resident who was a couple of years older than him. They met the day Anderson enlisted. He was the happiest-go-lucky guy I have ever met and always joking, Anderson said. He was always a joyful person. Knowles was driving onto the base when mortar shells came in. Anderson ran for a bunker but Knowles truck took a direct hit, killing him instantly. A few months later, Anderson returned to the states with his unit after serving a year in Iraq. He resumed his education at Iowa State, graduating in 2006. Anderson was farming in 2008 when he was called up by the 1133rd, landing in Kuwait on Christmas Day. Anderson said his second tour of duty was quite different from the first. Equipment was much better and the conflict had wound down, said Anderson. It also was easier to keep in touch with family because there were more phones and Internet access available. Anderson said people can help veterans by being genuine and treating them as a neighbor. His neighbors helped his family with harvest while he was gone. Anderson retired from the Iowa Army National Guard in 2010. Today he is employed at the Northern Country Fertilizer Plant in Stacyville. Anderson and his wife, Becky, have two children and a third on the way. OXFORD, Oxfordshire, May 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Academics from Said Business School, University of Oxford, have reinforced calls for the creation of a professional licensing body for bankers in order to maintain high standards of conduct and guard against the development of dysfunctional cultures within the sector. They also come down in favour of the adoption of a system of 'performance bonds', which deduct bank fines from a deferred compensation pool rather than from shareholder funds. 'Policy-makers and regulators have devoted most of their reforming energy since the financial crisis to improving formal rules in areas such as bank capitalisation and liquidity levels,' said Alan Morrison, Professor of Law and Finance at Oxford Said. 'But, especially in the light of the LIBOR and Forex fixing scandals, it is increasingly clear that more has to be done to address the problems of culture, informal rules, and tacit norms of behaviour. The recent emphasis on "Tone from the top" is important, but that alone will not be sufficient. Cultures are notoriously resistant to change, and we need to find ways of addressing problems at their root.' In their paper, Governance and Culture in the Banking Sector, Professor Morrison and his co-author Joel Shapiro, Associate Professor of Finance at Oxford Said, argue that cultures in banking evolve in response to social and economic challenges. But, once a culture exists, it can outlive the problems that catalysed its creation. 'Shared values and common language that were originally legitimised by the pursuit of an accepted end can then be turned to other purposes' said Morrison. 'For example, the arcane language of foreign exchange dealers developed in order that they could deal quickly and exchange nuanced information about the trustworthiness of their peers. However, more recently, foreign exchange dealers used their coded language and cultural networks to pursue collusive market-distorting practices.' The analysis revealed a number of challenges involved in addressing cultural problems: Cultures cross organisational boundaries. 'The LIBOR and Forex scandals were perpetrated by close-knit communities of traders who carried cultural values that extended across corporate boundaries, and that frequently contradicted any behavioural norms to which their "host" organisations might conceivably have paid lip service,' said Morrison. Evidence suggests that the traders involved in the LIBOR fix viewed other members of their own organisations as rivals, and the fixing networks deliberately excluded senior corporate officers. The introduction of technology-enabled processes distorted values. Technological developments over the past 20 years mean that almost every financial activity has become more codified and arm's length. Success is more dependent upon transaction-by-transaction profit, rather than upon the long-term viability of a relationship, making reliability and reputation less important than they used to be. Senior managers do not understand technical or cultural practices in trading networks. For example, Bob Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, stated after the scandal broke that he did not know the mechanics of the LIBOR fix, and that he believed that no bank chief executive would know these mechanics. The research argues that bank directors were comfortable in their technical ignorance: they may have believed that their firm's culture would guarantee good behaviour; but they may equally have chosen consciously to risk their firm's reputational capital in order to make short-run profits from rate manipulation. Economic incentives can encourage abuses of culture. For example, an investigation by the New York Department of Financial Services revealed that sales people in currency trading operations were deliberately incentivised to arrange terms of trade that created opportunities for profitable market manipulation. Morrison and Shapiro make a number of recommendations: Improve governance by identifying the cultural groups supporting critical tasks within the bank and ensuring that senior managers participate in those networks. 'Several commentators have stressed the importance in this context of influencing culture by setting the "tone from the top", but an approach based solely upon board- or executive-level pronouncements is unlikely to be effective,' said Morrison. 'Tone can only be set from the top if it is effectively transmitted into the cultural networks that matter A network of powerful actors that is disconnected from the senior managers of the firm is prima facie evidence of weak governance.' Devise appropriate compensation and performance measurement. Performance bonds, which deduct bank fines from a deferred compensation pool rather than from shareholder funds, would help to incentivise socially acceptable behaviour by traders; if designed correctly, they should also encourage senior managers to monitor trader actions. Create a professional licensing body for bankers to establish and police behavioural norms. This would ensure that high levels of labour market mobility did not allow actors to switch firms and so escape the consequences of their actions. Each banker would have a permanent record at the licensing body, which would be updated with any violations of professional standards. 'Technological changes in the last two decades altered the economic incentives of bankers and, hence, the use to which they put their cultural networks. The consequence in some cases was the emergence of dysfunctional cultures, which reduced social welfare,' conclude Morrison and Shapiro. 'We cannot turn back the technological clock, but we can map and influence cultures. This knowledge can be used to design compensation schemes based upon critical cultural groupings, and serve as the basis for formal professional banker certification.' For further information or to arrange an interview with Alan Morrison, please contact: Josie Powell, PR Manager, Said Business School Mobile +44 (0)7711 387215; Tel: +44 (0) 1865 288403 Email: josie.powell@sbs.ox.ac.uk or pressoffice@sbs.ox.ac.uk About Said Business School Said Business School at the University of Oxford blends the best of new and old. We are a vibrant and innovative business school, yet deeply embedded in an 800-year-old world-class university. We create programmes and ideas that have global impact. We educate people for successful business careers, and as a community seek to tackle world-scale problems. We deliver cutting-edge programmes and ground-breaking research that transform individuals, organisations, business practice, and society. We seek to be a world-class business school community, embedded in a world-class University, tackling world-scale problems. In the Financial Times European Business School ranking (Dec 2015) Oxford Said is ranked 10th. It is ranked 1st in the UK and 9th worldwide in the FT's ranking of open enrolment programmes (May 2016) and 28th in the world in the FT ranking of MBA programmes (Jan 2016). The MBA is ranked 7th in Businessweek's full time MBA ranking outside the USA (Nov 2014) and is ranked 5th among the top non-US Business Schools by Forbes magazine (Sep 2013). The Executive MBA is ranked 2nd worldwide in the Economist's Executive MBA ranking (Sep 2015) and 9th worldwide in the FT's ranking of EMBAs (Oct 2015). The Oxford MSc in Financial Economics is ranked 14th in the world in the FT ranking of Masters in Finance programmes (Jun 2015). In the UK university league tables it is ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business and management in The Guardian (Jun 2015) and 2nd in The Times (Sept 2015). For more information, see http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/ This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13445152.htm Quote: (A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined. Quote: (B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it. the amount of water Quote: (C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent. it all that of Quote: (D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined. water Quote: (E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water. For some reason, a large percentage of my students hate this question with the fury of a thousand suns. But youll love it right?I dont really see any problems with (A). The which jumps out at me, but that seems fine, since which holds 20% of the worlds fresh water logically modifies Siberias Lake Baikal. That last modifier seems fine, too: more than all the North American Great Lakes combined describes 20% of the worlds fresh water.So I guess well keep (A), and hope that the other four answer choices have problems.Im not sure that anything is WRONG with (B), but there are three or four things that are spectacularly crappy about (B). (Craptacular? Thats not a word, but it should be.)For starters, with 20% of the worlds fresh water is a lousy way to modify Siberias Lake Baikal. The preposition with generally suggests accompaniment of some sort (I eat burritos with green chile or I went to the movies with my daughter), and I cant understand why we would use with in this context. Plus, its a long way from the thing it modifies. Again, I cant prove that its WRONG, but its not great.I also cant make sense of the middle modifier, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined. For starters, I cant figure out why were using a modifier beginning with that immediately after a comma. More importantly, the comparison doesnt work: its basically saying that 20% of the worlds fresh water is more than the Great Lakes. You could say that the amount of water in Lake Baikal is greater thanin the Great Lakes, but it isnt awesome to say that the amount of water is greater than the lakes themselves.Finally, theres no reason to write Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it when we could use a more active construction (more than 300 rivers drain into Lake Baikal). The version in (B) isnt WRONG, exactly, but its pretty craptacular compared to (A).So we can ditch (B).The most straightforward problem with (B) is that the subject is basically repeated twice: Siberias Lake Baikal, (blah blah modifier),holds Thats definitely not cool.For bonus points, the modifier beginning with with still doesnt seem quite right (see the explanation to (B) for more on that issue), and the comparison isnt quite right, either: Lake Baikal holds more of the worlds fresh water thanthe Great Lakes That presumably refers to water, so that gives us Lake Baikal holds more of the worlds fresh water than [all the water of] the Great Lakes. And thats wildly unnecessary: its better just to say that Lake Baikal holds more water than the Great Lakes.But even if you ignore that last paragraph, the Lake Baikal it holds thing is a huge problem. So (C) is out.The which jumps out at me first. The phrase which is more than the Great Lakes seems to modify 20% of the worlds fresh water, and that doesnt quite work: its illogical to say that a quantity of water is more than the Great Lakes. It might be more than thein the Great Lakes, but not more than the Great Lakes themselves.Plus, while is essentially a synonym for although in this case, and that doesnt make sense: [Although] more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberias Lake Baikal[is large]. Although suggests some sort of contrast, and theres definitely no contrast between those two phrases.So (D) is out.That opening modifier, more than all the Great Lakes combined, still isnt great: its literally suggesting that Lake Baikal is more than the Great Lakes, and that doesnt make sense. Maybe the amount of water in Lake Baikal is more than the amount in all of the Great Lakes, but Lake Baikal itself isnt more than the Great Lakes.Im also not crazy about the use of with as a modifier in (E). For more on this issue, see the explanation for (B) above.(E) isnt a complete disaster, but (A) does a better job of conveying the meaning of the sentence, so (A) is our answer._________________ We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today An 8-year-old boy is accused of bringing a loaded handgun into his elementary school in Brooklyn yesterday. Police say the gun was found in the boy's backpack, and it's unclear how he ended up with itthey suspect he may have brought it in because he was having a dispute with another child. Teachers at P.S. 91 on Albany Avenue near Maple Street say they discovered the gun after the boy refused to sit on his backpack when instructed to do so. When teachers became suspicious they looked inside and found a loaded seven-shot, .380-caliber pistol wrapped in a black shopping bag. Police say they're still trying to ascertain how the boy got a hold of the gun. The school sent home letters alerting parents about the incident. "A student was discovered carrying a weapon in his book bag, the letter read. We assure you that every precaution was taken and will continue to be taken to ensure the safety of our students and staff." ABC 7 reports that officials think the child was having a dispute with a classmate, and suspect he may have obtained the gun from his teenage brother. "Talk to your child," Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, told the station. "If your child is having a dispute with another child, there should be something in place in the schools that they can just reconcile these issues without resulting in bringing weapons to school." This is the sixth time since March that teachers have found a child with a gun at a city school. Police in New Jersey rescued over 80 cats and five dogs from an apartment in West New York, New Jersey yesterday, describing the home as a " house of horrors." Apparently a neighbor called police to complain about the smell coming from the apartment; when police arrived, they found 80 to 82 cats and the aforementioned dogs stacked in cages inside a 9 by 9 room. An official told ABC 7 they found the animals living in "[d]eplorable conditions and the stench of death is all over the room;" a human officer told NBC New York it was the worst case of animal hoarding he'd seen in over 20 years. "That bedroom was a house of horrors," he said. Two people, reportedly a mother and daughter, have been arrested, and a third suspect is being sought. The suspects were allegedly taking money to adopt and care for unwanted animals, though the rescued cats and dogs were "emaciated and filthy." "I always had a smell that would come into our unit since the walls meet, but the last few days it was like something died. It was unbearable," Tanya Rodriguez, a neighbor, told ABC 7. The animals will all be taken to shelters. All 2,300 day care facilities with permits from the City will be required to post performance cards near their front entrances by next summer, in accordance with a new city rule inspired by restaurant letter grades. "The Child Care Performance Summary Card is our latest effort to ensure that parents get information that is not only readily accessible, but also easy to understand," said Mayor de Blasio in a statement. Between 2013 and 2015, NYC group daycares accumulated an average of eight violations per provider. These violations range in scopefrom unlicensed teachers, to teachers without CPR training or background checks. Some group daycares consistently fail to provide adequate hand-washing stations, while others had cluttered hallways. The Mayor's announcement follows findings that hundreds of group day care facilities in NYC have consistently failed their annual health and safety inspections without consequence. A group of state senators issued the report [PDF] on day care violations in November, prompted by the tragic death of three-month-old Karl Towndrow on his first day at a SoHo day care last July. Of the nearly 11,300 day care facilities in NYC, only 2,272 of them are licensed by the city. The rest are state-licensed, and are required by law to conspicuously post any violations. Previously, there was no such requirement at the city level. The new cards, which the city says will be updated following each inspection (at least once a year), will include quick stats like the number of children allowed in each facility, whether the day care program in question has ever been shut down, and the number of Health Code violations issued there compared to a city-wide average. (via Health Department). "There is no incentive for day care providers to change," Karl's mother Amber Scorah, who works in publishing and occasionally contributes to Gothamist, told us recently. "The process for finding out about violations is not very open, and most parents have difficulty tracking this information down." "In our case, the teacher had a write-up in the New York Times, and we knew people who had sent kids there," Scorah added. "We toured it, and we were told something that wasn't true." It turned out that the facility was over-capacity, and that none of the teachers were trained in administering CPR. Today Scorah said she was very pleased with the city's quick action. "Parents will now immediately have access to truthful information about a daycare they are considering," she said. "And since it is a requirement that all day cares post it, it will be obvious to any parent right away if a facility is unlicensed, even if it has been in business for a long time." The Health Department also recently overhauled its Childcare Connect website, which allows parents to search inspection records at day care facilities, and sign up for text alerts about scheduled health and safety inspections. Roberta's has been Bushwick's star since opening in 2008, earning both accolades from the highbrow culinary world for its pizzas and points from clientele for its hip scene. But Bushwick has changed a lot over the last eight years, and so has Roberta's, transforming into an empire complete with Clintons and frozen pizzas. Now, it appears a billionaire's investing in Roberta's, and while OG staffers and fans think it's The End, the end of what is not quite clear. Eater reports that Michael Tischof the Tisch family, responsible for the Tisch School of the Arts, the Tisch Children's Zoo in Central Park, and NYU Langone's Tisch Hospital, etc.plans to invest heavily in Roberta's. The restaurant's owners plan to use the funds to open new Roberta's-related ventures, like a steakhouse. They also intend to renovate the current space, jazzing up the charmingly rickety tiki bar in Roberta's backyard and expand the kitchen's physical space. Co-owner and chef Carlo Mirarchi says Tisch has no plans to rip out Roberta's heart and replace it with a cash register. "We have done such minimal improvements to this place because we've kind of just done it so haphazardly," Mirarchi told Eater. "So there are certain things we're excited about improving. All these things are going to make this place better. I don't see how adding another Rational oven to the kitchen is a loss of character." But employees are apparently freaking outapparently 20 or more staff members have left over the past few months over concerns that the working environment will go from loose and creative to strict and corporate. It's true that a job is a job and not all of them can be fun and cool, but when such a job attracts and supports likeminded, creative people, it is a bummer when they start doing things like installing time clocks, hiring a real HR department, and turning the ramshackle home you built into a moneymaking machine. Waiting tables and hostessing can be fulfilling on its own sometimes, but what really makes a more or less menial job worthwhile is the work environment and the folks you work witha staff at a place like Roberta's feels more like a family and less like a "concept" with a billionaire-fronted cash flow. Still, Roberta's (potentially) going corporate doesn't feel all that different from when Williamsburg got a Starbucks. The restaurant hasn't been a hip local spot in years. I went to Roberta's on Christmas Eve in 2012 and it was totally emptywhen I went back on Christmas Eve the following year, there was a two-hour wait and Manhattanites were pulling up in town cars. It was a little bit of a shock to come back after three years and have to do things like clock in and out and read through an employee handbook, but places grow and change and don't stay like a startup forever, Dave Colon, a former employee who returned for a brief stint earlier this year, told us. And Roberta's, as it stands, has had to fight for its survival. Mirarchi and co-founder Brandon Hoy have been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with former owner Chris Parachini; they've been sued for wage theft, and last year they apparently owed the government $480K in combined corporate and sales tax. A lax work environment is fun, but a business is a business, and it needs to make money. The Roberta's of 2008 was always doomed, so to speak. The restaurant has not yet responded to request for comment, and it's unclear when and if any of these big changes are set to go down. The deal with Tisch is still being negotiated, according to Eater, but based on the info we do have, your waitress will probably be clothed next time you dine on a Bee Sting. Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers have been striking in the Northeast since April 13th, after working without a contract since last August, but their unions have now reached a tentative agreement with the telecommunications giant and workers are expected to be back on the job as soon as next week. The walkout was one of the largest in Verizon's history, and the last time employees held a strike in the Northeast, it lasted for just two weeks. Yesterday, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced that Verizon and the two striking unions, the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, "have reached an agreement in principle on a four-year contract, resolving the open issues in the ongoing labor dispute between Verizons workers, unions, and management. The parties are now working to reduce the agreement to writing, after which the proposal will be submitted to CWA and IBEW union members for ratification." Details about the agreement have yet to be released, but the New York Times reports that it will likely include a commitment from Verizon to create 1,500 new union jobs in the U.S., particularly at call centers, and to include 65 of the company's retail workers in the new contract. That'll mark the first time that the company's retail wireless workers have been included in a contract. The standoff leading to the strike occurred because unions said that Verizon was trying to freeze pensions, shift toward hiring more contract workers and potentially pave the way for more layoffs, and raise the costs of healthcare to astronomical heights. The unions were also concerned with the fact that Verizon had been failing to keep its promise to install FiOS citywide, meanwhile "shedding workers" who install that service. Furthermore, they were concerned that the company was moving more and more jobs overseas, outsourcing work to low-wage contractors. "The agreement in principle at Verizon is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people," said CWA President Chris Shelton in a statement. "This proves that when we stand together we can raise up working families, improve our communities and protect the American middle class." The resolution to the 44-day strike apparently came about in part because Verizon was starting to feel the economic impacts of a striking workforce. For weeks now, the company had been dispatching nonunion employees, who were focused on maintaining the existing network rather than performing new installations. On top of that, numerous politicians have expressed concern about the strike in recent weeks, with many municipalities in the Northeast siding with the striking workers. In response to news of the strike's end, Mayor de Blasio said that "collective bargaining worksthis agreement shows that when workers organize and are unified, good jobs are protected, working families can thrive and our communities become stronger. I look forward to seeing the workers back on the streets of New York City delivering for our city." John and Larie Williams sat in front of their bright yellow 1956 Ford pickup enjoying each other's company along with the sunshine. The last few Memorial Day weekend Queen City Car shows have been doused with rain so the more inviting weather was much appreciated. "It's very nice," Larie Williams said. John Williams said he enjoys smaller shows like Saturday's, which was put on by the Last Chance Mustangs and Specialty Ford Club. "You get to know people a lot better at shows like this," he said. Their pickup was one of about 100 vehicles exhibited at the event in the parking lot of Sheridan Hall. The annual show has been going on nearly 30 years. Johnny Alexander, a member of the Last Chance Mustangs and Specialty Ford Club, said the turnout was impressive. "It's the first year we've had really good weather in a while," he said of the temperatures in the 60s. "It's been really great to have this weather." While most of the vehicles shown were from local owners, others traveled from elsewhere in the state like Bozeman and Billings. The show was open to all types of vehicles. Alexander was especially excited for the about 20 cars that were newcomers to the show. "There's a lot of newly built cars that we haven't seen before," he said. "This is probably the first year we've had a real heavy import turnout." "It's not just a Mustang show; it's everything," Alexander added. The car Alexander was most excited to see is one he's been working on for his friend Bill Samuelson. Samuelson got his dream car -- a 62 Buick Special -- out of a junkyard about two decades ago and has been working on it ever since. He has since been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as ALS ,and Alexander has assisted in finishing his project. The vivid red Buick with customized basically everything was recently completed. Saturday was the first time the finished product was shown. "It's absolutely perfect," Alexander said, while showing off the details of pink flames on the hood and red hues in the engine. On the other side of the lot, John Williams exhibited his truck, which boasts power steering, leather interior and air conditioning. "In essence, it's a new car with an old truck body," he explained. John Williams and a friend did it all by hand. It took about three years of full-time work, he said. "This has been down to every single nut and bolt," he said. They basically got it down to the frame of the vehicle and then went from there. "Like I say it's all homemade," John Williams added. Besides showing it off at events like the one Saturday, the Williamses also take the pickup on many a road trip to place such as Spokane, Washington. "We have three of them now that we play with that are finished," he said. "Yeah, we have fun." Helena Valley residents will have several opportunities to pay their respects at the following Memorial Day events in the area. Memorial Park ceremony The Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial Foundation, in conjunction with the Montana Military Museum, is conducting a traditional Memorial Day ceremony at the Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial located in Helenas Memorial Park at 3 p.m. Monday, May 30. All Gold Star Families, area veterans, their families and the citizens of Helena and Lewis and Clark County are invited to attend. This solemn ceremony, marking nearly 150 years of tradition, is to recognize U.S., Montana and Lewis and Clark County veterans who have paid the ultimate price through selfless military service. At this memorial, established on Aug. 15, 1949, participants will recognize this sacrifice and further resolve to honor their legacy. Retired Col. James Hogan will serve as the keynote speaker. Veterans Cemetery ceremony VFW Post 1016 is hosting its Memorial Day ceremony at noon Monday, May 30, at the Montana Veterans Cemetery located at Fort Harrison. The cemetery is located inside the main entrance of the Fort Harrison Veterans Administration. The keynote speaker is retired Maj. Gen. James W. Duffy, Montana adjutant general from 1982-1988. Through the efforts of area veterans and citizen groups working with the city of Helena and Lewis and Clark County, the Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial underwent a complete restoration and update in 2006, nearly 60 years after the monument was established. This restoration allowed for the perpetual management of the Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial to be handed over to the nonprofit Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial Foundation, which is now 10 years old. The memorial is being managed by elected officers and a board of directors, helping to ensure the monument is adequately maintained in accordance with the highest standards in perpetuity. The foundation is asking that all donations to protect and maintain the monument be forwarded to the fund at the following address. Donations will be recognized by the foundation and may be tax deductible. The address is: Lewis and Clark County Veterans Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 243, Fort Harrison, MT 59636-0243. For more information, call 406-442-9854 or 406-458-9847. Additional events American Legion Post No. 2 will be placing flags on the graves of military veterans throughout the various cemeteries in the Helena Valley. This will occur on Saturday morning, May 28. They will be assisted by Boy Scout Troop 206 and Boy Scout Troop 207, both sponsored by the Lewis and Clark Post. American Legion Post No. 2 will post up to 60 flags throughout the city of Helena on Monday morning, May 30, to include flags as the state Capitol. VFW Post 10010 in East Helena will conduct its traditional parade starting at the Post Home and proceeding to JFK Park, where they will conduct a Memorial Day program. This will be followed with a luncheon back at the Post Home. BILLINGS 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. MISSOULA -- Law enforcement officers are currently searching for a pair of armed suspects who took a family hostage after robbing a casino early this 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 9-1-1 or Crimestoppers at 728-4444. Check back at helenair.com for more information. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. LAKE MARY, Fla. After the plates of salmon and asparagus are carted away, the cheesecake is served and the coffee sipped, three World War II nurses linger a little longer at the dining table. The women, in their early 90s, sit close as they recall the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps training that shaped them and kick-started their careers, ultimately forging the strong connection they share. Well, being a nurse, I think, is a strong bond, said Florence Adler, 91. I mean weve gone through so many trials and tribulations taking care of all kinds of people with so many diagnoses, and we understand each other. Adler feels especially close to Fay Cohn, 91, and Eileen Rodgers, 93, because of their involvement as World War II cadet nurses. She organized a luncheon for her friends to reminisce at the Oakmonte Village senior-living community, where they live. She also invited two other residents: 83-year-old Claire Kohl, a former RN for the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1950s, and 84-year-old Juanita Mendez, a onetime office nurse. During World War II, the homefront had a shortage of nurses, Adler said. People on the homefront didnt have the proper care. If they joined the cadet corps, they would get free tuition and free room and board. Training lasted three years and students received a monthly $20 stipend, she said. In exchange, each woman committed to serve in a military hospital afterward, Adler said. Rodgers started out in two Pennsylvania hospitals, one of them military. I did see some of the boys who came back with injuries and so forth, she said. Some of them were pretty badly injured and it was tough. Some of them were coming back with wounds that we hadnt seen before. But she also recalls how patriotic her peers were. She saw her service in the cadet nurse corps as a way to give back to her country. We all were involved in what was going on, she said. Adler still has the yellowed slip of paper that reveals her high marks from the New York state licensing exam in 1948. Each of the World War II cadet nurses enjoyed a fruitful career after training. And each had different reasons for enrolling in the first place. Rodgers originally planned to become an art teacher, but the nursing program was a better fit for her family financially. In those days, I wasnt really sure what I wanted to be, she said. Since I had two younger sisters, (my) mom and dad said they couldnt really afford to send me back to art school. Firsthand experiences with good nursing care motivated the other two. Cohn, who grew up in rural Missouri, said she made up her mind to become a nurse as young as 8 or 9 years old when her brother got pneumonia. And when I saw those nurses in those pretty white uniforms, thats when I decided to be a nurse, she said. Cohn trained at a St. Louis hospital. Adler originally hoped to be a dancer and had performed at the Jewish Theater of New York, she said. But when she was 20, she fractured her tibia. I was in the hospital, and I said, right there and then, I want to be a nurse, she said. They were so kind and loving to all the people there. Adler, who grew up with her parents and seven siblings in a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment, trained in New York. She said her parents were reluctant to see her leave, even though tuition was covered. My poor father said to me, Florence, if you give up your job here, were going to have less money to come into the house, she said. But she told him hed be more proud of her if she became a nurse. She was right. Adler and the others reminisced last week about the time in their lives when everything was possible, when they learned much and gave to others. Were a special breed arent we? she asked Cohn and Rodgers. URBANA Eleven months after Jerad Gale was arrested for sex crimes he committed against three former girlfriends, he signed off on plea deals in all of the cases, rather than go to trial. Gale, 32, a former police officer on the Champaign and Monticello departments, pleaded guilty Friday in Champaign County Circuit Court to two felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in cases involving two of the victims. On Thursday, Gale pleaded guilty to an identical Class 2 charge on a third victim in Piatt County Circuit Court. In each case, he was sentenced to six months in jail, 48 months of probation and lifetime registration as a sexual predator. The jail sentences, to begin Friday, June 3, in the Piatt County Jail, are to be served concurrently. He receives credit for 23 days served. His 48-month felony probation terms are also to be served concurrently. Gale is prohibited from working as a law enforcement officer and possessing a firearm, two of the criteria his victims told prosecutors they desired. The third was registering as a sex offender. Gale did not speak at the hearing, except to reply with one-word responses to routine questions from Champaign Circuit Judge Tom Difanis. He was originally charged with Class X aggravated criminal sexual assault in the two Champaign cases, punishable by six to 30 years in prison. Sitting at the prosecutor's table, a woman, 22 years old at the time of the assault, read her impact statement, as Gale sat a few feet to her left. "You looked into my eyes. You saw the terror on my face," the woman said. "You heard me screaming. You watched me sob. You listened to me beg for you to stop." She said he suffocated, restrained, threatened and injured her. She suffered an internal injury and external bruising. "And most disturbingly, you took pleasure in it," she said. "You got pleasure from the pain you were causing me." In the other Champaign County case, Gale was charged with forcible sexual contact, causing bodily harm to the victim's back and neck. A fourth victim testified at a Piatt County hearing that Gale raped her in 2007. Her case was not prosecuted because of the statute of limitations. She was planning to testify at Gale's Champaign trials. Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said she was pleased that prosecutors were able "to find closure and certainty" for the survivors. She preferred to go to trial to try to obtain prison sentences, but the ladies told her that testifying at multiple trials would be traumatic. "We are very much driven by the needs and concerns of our survivors," Rietz said, adding the strong, bright women wanted to move on with their lives. "Going to trial multiple times is risky. The jury could come back as not guilty." Big rocks with words on them dont cut it with everyone. Thats what Ashlee Richard said last weekend when I asked what she thought about Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial near Harristown. The 10-year-old Decatur girl said she was hoping for more trails and many more chances to commune with nature. Rock Springs is better, she said. While Lincoln Trail Homestead will always be significant as the site of Abraham Lincolns first home in Illinois, members of the group trying to make it a tourist attraction understand it needs more than that. Working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which recently restored canoe access from the park to the Sangamon River, the Friends of Lincoln Homestead State Park hope to expand its recreational opportunities while highlighting its history. Diane Banta, outdoor recreation planner with the National Park Service, has been advising the group and spoke at its season kickoff last weekend. I like to help people play, she said, asking everyone under age 15 to stand. I want a round of applause for our future. A Lincoln Learners program, involving public libraries and local school, was among the ideas being bandied about and a schedule of Saturday programs to draw people to the park was unveiled. On the other hand, history is enough to fascinate many of us older folks, so all it took to divert my husband and me to Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg recently was a sign saying Ann Rutledge was buried there. Sorry Ashlee, all we found was a stone with words on it, those of Edgar Lee Masters, author of the Spoon River Anthology and who is buried nearby: I am Ann Rutledge who sleeps beneath these weeds, Beloved in life of Abraham Lincoln, Wedded to him, not through union, But through separation. Bloom forever, O Republic, From the dust of my bosom! Rutledge, who died in 1835 at age 22 when typhoid swept New Salem, is thought to have been Lincolns first love. She was originally laid to rest in the Old Concord Burial Ground north of Petersburg but was exhumed and moved in 1890 to Oakland Cemetery on the southwest edge of town. According to David Herbert Donalds Lincoln, she was the daughter of New Salem's tavern owner, a very pretty girl, with fair skin, blue eyes, and auburn hair. Only 5 feet and 3 inches tall, she weighed between 120 and 130 pounds (no disadvantage) in Lincolns eyes, for all the women he loved were plump. Her engagement to another man who left New Salem in 1833 has made details of her relationship with Lincoln difficult to unearth. Much more is known about his first year in Illinois, spent on a homestead he helped his family build along the Sangamon River west of Decatur in 1830, and much of that story was shared last weekend by the Friends of Lincoln Homestead State Park and Memorial. I applaud their efforts to bring this important piece of Macon County history to the fore. On March 19, my column, Mail one box top and 25 cents to ... appeared in the Herald & Review. It was a nostalgic look back to the '50s when boys like as me studied the back of the Kelloggs Corn Flakes box (as well as cereal boxes of other brands) while eating their breakfast. Frequently, a tempting toy or game was offered that could be acquired by sending in the box top plus a quarter. Impressionable youths were often captivated and frequently participated in the limited time offers. The specific promotion that I mentioned in the column was for a working plastic model of the USS Nautilus, the first atomic powered ship in the United States Navy. Rarely does a column publish without receiving e-mails and letters from readers expressing their thoughts on the subject. Frequently, the column reminds them of a similar event in their lives. The submarine article was no exception. I am pleased that I received multiple comments on that particular piece. Most replies were written by seasoned gentlemen of my generation who had mailed their quarter and box top so that they, too, could have a model of the USS Nautilus. It was enjoyable to read their correspondence and compare notes. One particular e-mail was from a John Haggard who had ordered the little sub but also had a good friend who served on the USS Nautilus. John kindly put me in touch with him. Robert Albright was just a phone call away, and he had read my column about his submarine. His boat, however, was not made of plastic. It was 320 feet long. In 1955, Bob graduated from high school and joined the United States Navy. After graduating Great Lakes Boot Camp, he was sent to San Diego for further training. While walking along the docks with one of his pals they saw a strange looking craft. Neither of them had ever seen such a vessel and soon learned that it was a submarine. Bob was impressed and the sub looked like high adventure; just what he was looking for. Both men applied for submarine duty and attended Naval Sub School at New London, Conn. Once graduated, Bob was assigned to the Nautilus on which he served from 1956-1961. Although all operations on a USN Sub are classified, he enjoyed the adventure and experience of serving on the country's first nuclear powered submarine. The Nautilus made history when it departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on July 23, 1958 under top secret orders to conduct Operation Sunshine," the first crossing of the North Pole by a ship. Yes, they were traveling under the ice. In 1960, she was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to become the first nuclear powered submarine assigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet. While serving on the USS Nautilus, Bob was selected to attend Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. After receiving his commission in 1962, he served on six diesel-electric subs. He retired in 1979 as Commanding Officer of the USS Mount Vernon. The Nautilus logged more than half a million miles during her 25-year career and was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. Today, she is designated a National Historic Landmark and is a key part of Submarine Force Museum on the Thames River in Groton, Conn. So the story began in Decatur with me munching on a bowl of breakfast cereal in 1955 and ordering a plastic model of the USS Nautilus for 25 cents and one box top. Sixty years later I meet Bob, a Michigan neighbor who in 1956 at age 18 proudly began serving on the real USS Nautilus. It is a small world, isnt it? You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Armenias National Assembly yesterday debated a new Law on Medicine designed to replace the current law that was adopted in 1998 and is considered lacking. The new law has been introduced by Deputy Minister of Health Sergey Khachatryan. The government argues that a new all-encompassing law is necessary to regulate the ever growing market in medicines and to keep up with new developments. The law stipulates that all medicine wholesalers must be licensed. The new law envisages a licensing requirement for all medicine producers and will levy stiff penalties for unlicensed manufacturers. Fines will also be levied for falsifying laboratory testing of medicines. Khachatryan adds that to safeguard consumers, the new law specifies improved requirements regarding the packaging and labelling of medicines and the inclusion of usage directions in Armenian. Price of Medicine to Rise After Passage of Bill MP Edmon Marukyan says that many small drugstores and medicine retailers are upset about the bill because they argue it will just maintain the monopoly of big players in the sector. They also argue that the bill increased bureaucracy and the risk of corruption. Marukyan says hes received information that medicine prices will go up in Armenia if the bill is passed and that retailers will not be able to import medicines anymore. During surgery, some medicines dont relieve pain or put you to sleep Rule of Law (OYK) MP Hovhannes Markaryan says that there is a lack of quality medicine in Armenia and everyone knows it, adding that people going overseas are always asked to bring a few boxes of basic pain relievers back with them. We have spoken to many doctors and surgeons who tell us that even though they inject the patient with an anesthetic or a sedative, they dont do the job, notes Markaryan. Markaryan says that the smaller medicine companies import better quality and less costly drugs and that people know which drugstores to patronize. Will clay stop being sold as medicine? Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) MP Naira Zohrabyan says her party will vote in favor of the bill, which is great on paper. Zohrabyan does have reservations as to its implementation. Zohrabyan said that those going overseas are requested to bring back everything from basic fever reducers to more complex drugs. She told the story of a family who went to Georgia and purchased a full course of chemotherapy medicine for a relative. On the way back, Armenian customs officials seized the drugs and charged the family with smuggling. She added that the price of medicines will surely increase due to the new requirements placed on companies, such as storage standards. As a final statement, Zohrabyan said, To be honest, I dont think that the problem will be rectified. Summing up the governments position, Deputy Minister Khachatryan noted that the new law was drafted and introduced because distribution of medicines in Armenia needs to be regulated. He added that the law would not negatively impact small drugstores. Khachatryan noted that as of May 1, there were 1,866 drugstores operating in Armenia and that the high price of medicine, compared to Georgia, is due to the 20% VAT. Exports of tomatoes and cucumbers from Armenia have increased over the past few years. According to statistics of Armenias Ministry of Agriculture (Food Safety Service), tomatoes and cucumbers are mainly sent to Russia, Georgia, Belarus and the Czech Republic. According to the ministry, 1,178 tons of tomatoes and 4,029 tons of cucumbers were exported to these countries in 2015. Armenias Ministry of Finance reports that in 2015, 124.6 tons of tomatoes and 218.7 tons of cucumbers were exported to Georgia in 2015. These amounts are much less than those provided by the agricultural ministry. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Robert Makaryan told Hetq that the export increase of tomatoes and cucumbers in the current year is due to increased acreage of hothouses. He says that during the past two years, some 120 hectares of hothouses, using modern technology, have been put into operation, and that another 70 hectares are planned for this year. The Ministry of Finance reports that 56 individuals exported tomatoes from Armenia in 2015. For cucumbers, there were 43 individual exporters and the company, Armyanski Urazhai. We couldnt get the names of the individual exporters from the ministry. Theyve been working on it for the past two months. According to the agricultural ministry, the main exporters of tomatoes and cucumbers are: Mavas Group, Mak-Agroexport, Spayka, Fresh Fruit, Madar-Mar, Alternative Energy, Foodarm and Progress Agro. Hetq has already written about the importers of tomatoes and cucumbers to Armenia. One of the large importers of tomatoes and cucumbers to Armenia is an outfit called Aknadzor Ltd. Founded in 2008, its wholly owned by Narek Sargsyan, the son of President Serzh Sargsyans brother Aleksandr. It also turns out that Sargsyan also exports tomatoes and cucumbers. The next largest exporter is Armyanski Urazhai Ltd., founded in 2014 by Aram and Abel Gharibyan. Aram is the chief advisor to Armenias president. He sold his shares in the company in 2015. Markos and Ara Gharibyan, the sons of Arams uncle, now own 13% and 27% respectively. Abel owns 20% and the remaining 40% is owned by Arams close friend Armenak Sandoyan. The government has looked favorably on the company ever since its founding. On May 29, 2014, the government decided to postpone the payment of VAT by the company by three years for imported goods surpassing 200 million AMD. In essence, more than 730 million in taxes will be paid from the state budget for the next three years. On November 5, 2015, the government passed another favorable decision regarding the company that will postpone by three years the payment of customs duties on the value of company imports from October 15, 2015 until January 31, 2016. This means that some 267.5 million AMD will be paid into the state budget three years late. It should be noted that except for Abel Gharibyan, the other three shareholders of Armyanski Urazhai Ltd. have used their shares as collateral at AmeriaBank. In other words, the company has huge financial debts which raises the risk factor of the company ever paying the taxes it owes the government. Mom and pop hothouses, naturally, dont get such favorable deals from the government. They face unfair competition from the big guys. The government isnt even interested in supporting small hothouse operations. During the winter, Armenias gas provider has no problem shutting off fuel supplies to hothouses with an unpaid utility bill. The governments response is standard. The gas company is a private concern and the government has no leverage over it. In the meantime, the large importers and exporters, many with ties to the government, get special tax deals and undercut local growers by importing cheap Turkish agricultural products. For the high school graduates of the Artsakh villages of Talish and Mataghis, the last bell was rung in other communities across Armenia and Karabakh. 18 year-old Syuzanna Arzumanyan, who studied for twelve years, minus one month, in Mataghis, graduated in Arzni, Armenia. Syuzanna told us that at the start of the spring term, she wouldnt have imagined that classes for her would end not in her native Mataghis but in the village of Arzni. Naturally, it would have been more enjoyable to have graduated in my village, says Syuzanna. She doesnt know where many of her fellow classmates wound up after fighting broke out along the Artsakh Line of Contact in early April. Syuzanna, an aspiring doctor, is now preparing for medical college entrance exams. But the burdens of everyday life have come to weigh heavily on her shoulders and those of her brother. They are taking care of their grandparents who were living in Talish. There has to be safety, security and peace. But, as far as I hear, itll be impossible to live in Talish, says Syuzanna. Syuzannas parents and a brother in the army have remained in Artsakh. Her father is a contract soldier there. She and her grandparents have been living in a rented house in Arzni since April. Syuzannas grandfather, 90 year-old Volodya Arzumanyan, has witnessed three wars. During the 1990s Artsakh War, they fled to Vardenis. When they returned, their home in Talish was burnt to the ground. Today, they have no idea when they will return. When I ask Volodya how he would resolve the conflict, he replies, Its easy. Its Armenian land. The Turks say its theirs. I wont give a scrap of land back if I were president. If they start a war, Ill do the same. If theres peace, Ill reciprocate. Currently, Syuzannas brother Never has been back to Mataghis several times. He returned from his last visit a few days ago. This time, he brought back his sisters pet puppy. I figured, let me bring the dog. Shell be happy, said Never. Judith Faulkner spoke to Healthcare IT News about the issue of interoperability. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. First of all, FLYY is not about camping. Its about life-changing expeditions. The 5-year-old Madison nonprofit takes young people on extensive journeys not only through the woods and wilds of the Upper Midwest, but deep into themselves to find new wells of inner resilience, and to think about how their actions affect the people around them. Their backpacks, along with some of lifes challenges, start out heavy. But both may become lighter along the way. FLYY short for Forward Learning Youth and Young Adults holds wilderness trips for female teens ages 15-18, male teens 16-18 and young adults 18-30. In spring, summer and fall, those trips head to the remote Superior Hiking Trail in northern Minnesota. In winter yes, winter they follow the North Country Trail in northern Wisconsin. Most last for 10 to 25 days. Some of the students are dealing with anger, anxiety, truancy records, attention deficit disorder, problems with authority, self-harm, unstable family environments and more. But being away from friends, family, and a familiar environment affords them the chance to find a new sense of self and personal responsibility, said Troy Gosz, who founded FLYY in 2011 with his partner Jessie Kushner. In daily life at home, Teenagers are really good at avoiding things, said Gosz, 40. A teen who misses a therapy appointment can say, Oh, I totally forgot. But on a wilderness expedition, You cant run away from it, said Gosz. Youre out there (with) bugs, rain, heat, cold, snow, whatever it is, and it brings out the true sense of how you handle things. Or how you dont handle things. It teaches coping skills. Thats what happened for Joel Grunder, who in 2013 went on a 28-day FLYY expedition at age 19. For years the Dane teen had tried but failed to kick his alcohol and chemical dependency. FLYY came along as a kind of a re-start, he said. At that time, I think I was five months clean, said Grunder, now 21. In a nutshell, its really about the relationships with the people you bond with over the course of the trip. You hike together. No one leaves anyone behind. So a lot of it has to do with the team building, he said. I think thats the most important part which is also kind of hard, after living the kind of lifestyle where (working with others is) not that way. FLYY also removed Grunder from any kind of toxic environment, he said. Part of a FLYY expedition is a 24-hour solo, where students set up their own camp and spend time alone in the natural world. In a way, its like natures way of healing you, said Grunder, now living in Texas, married and the father of a seven-month-old girl. Its more or less a time to reflect on everything you have learned, or to think about how you can take some of that serenity you feel out there back home with you. Run out of its headquarters on Madisons Far East Side, FLYY is built around three major components: The extended group expedition; simultaneous sessions for parents and families back home to learn how to build on the skills a student learns on expedition; and an after-care program so participants can stay connected with their wilderness team. FLYY serves about 35 to 50 young people a year on its wilderness trips, and even more in its therapy, mentoring and dispute resolution services programs, called Flight, for ages 12-30. Most wilderness participants have the $7,500 cost of their 25-day trip covered by scholarship. That breaks down to $300 per day, compared to up to $1,000 a day for Wisconsin juvenile residential treatment centers or $695 a day for similar wilderness programs, said FLYY development and communications director Tarek Said. FLYY has received some past financial support from health and human services agencies in Wisconsin, as well as donors such as the Theda and Tamblin Clark Smith Family Foundation and Evjue Foundation, he said. The program has done some remarkable things for Dane County youth, said Stacey Slotty, parent support program coordinator at Madison-based Briarpatch Youth Services, which helps at-risk, runaway and homeless youth. The FLYY program can provide an experience that can really make a difference in youth lives that no other program can, said Slotty, who has referred more than a dozen young people to FLYY. Theres no other treatment program out there that can bring this kind of awareness to kids not in our metropolitan area. A lot of times the kids will come back and theyll be a lot more aware of how they work in the world, she said. Ive gone to the graduations and Ive seen them come back so much more humble, with more gratitude. They find out they can do things that they didnt have to do before. They gain confidence, too. Some kids are lacking self-confidence, or have anxiety issues, or are depressed and dont see themselves as having many opportunities, yet discover a new sense of self-reliance in their wilderness experience, she said. Recent support for FLYY has come from the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation, which provided $52,000 in 2015 for eight Milwaukee youths to participate in FLYY, according to Said. That partnership was so successful that the Forest County Potawatomi Foundation increased its gift to $137,000 this year to cover three expeditions, plus the follow-up sessions called after care, for Native American and non-Native youth from across the state, the development director said. Jessica Meshigauds 17-year-old son Sean went on one of those FLYY expeditions over the winter, and found it so helpful that Meshigauds 15-year-old stepson Onkot followed suit this spring. Sean is a good kid. Hes not in any tremendous trouble, or anything like that, Meshigaud said. But after having to adjust to a new family situation, I wanted him to take a little ownership (of his life), and that couldnt just come from me anymore, she said. FLYY really did help with that. Growing up in a small town outside Manitowoc, FLYY co-founder Gosz was in high school very at-risk myself, having to deal with the peer pressure of drugs and alcohol, and all the things that teenagers are struggling with now and not having anyone to point me in the right direction, he said. But a job working with the Youth Conservation Corps in his late teens proved to be life changing, he said. Living out of a tent and a backpack, he learned outdoor skills before heading to college, where he began working at a group home. In that centers therapeutic wilderness program, Grosz discovered just how transformative it is for kids to be in the wilderness, as well as having counselors and therapists there to listen to them and help them navigate through their internal turmoil, he said. I was kind of hooked after that. He met Kushner in Colorado in 2000. A Madison native, Kushner had been going camping with her family since before I could walk, she said. After a trip with the well-known youth expedition program Outward Bound at age 17, Kushner tried college. But mostly, I wanted to be out doing that with other kids, that experiential education experience, she said. So at the age of 20 I applied for an internship with Outward Bound, got a job, and that started my career. I had no idea there was even a career to be had. Kushner, now 45, worked for Outward Bound for the next 25 years, and helped to found its programs for girls. Between expeditions, she walked the Appalachian Trail, biked across the U.S. and did odd jobs from driving a cab to working on farms. I was honestly just trying to feel alive. The work is very intense when youre out in the field. So for me it was about balancing that out with meaningful but fun experiences, she said. The same is true of FLYY, she said, whose staff uses a restorative justice approach to help students learn how their actions can affect other people, for better or worse. Some youths may be reluctant to sign on for an expedition, but not as many as youd think, she said. Simply put, FLYY is about new perspectives and opening up minds and breaking down barriers, Kushner said. Its a privilege to be a part of this, of peoples lives. We acknowledge the parents and thank them: Thank you for sending us your precious cargo, and for taking a risk. "If your news story is that the pharmaceutical industry and the Centers for Disease Control have colluded, and hidden the fact that they have an effective vaccine that's destroying the lives of children - in this case we have a CDC whistleblower and a top scientist in Dr. William Thompson stepping forward saying "We committed fraud in the MMR-autism study and hid the fact that there's a causal link between the vaccine and autism - how do you think you get that story told?" It's that major drug companies are some of the biggest advertisers and the crucial drug revenue they share with newspapers and news stations comes with strings attached. Strings that prevent media from reporting news negative about drug companies. Hint: It's not that in the film a CDC whistleblower reveals information the public shouldn't know. A controversial new documentary " Vaxxed: From Coverup to Catastrophe " opens in the Chicago area Friday - and there's a key reason why you won't find positive reviews in major newspapers or on major news stations. "Vaxxed," the film that Robert DeNiro voluntarily pulled from the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival because of the ruckus it stirred, was blasted by the New York Times because the film was produced by Dr. Andrew Wakefield. Dr. Wakefield is a physician that, the paper said, was discredited when his findings about the link between vaccines and autism were retracted by the British Lancet. The New York Times did not mention that "Vaxxed" focuses almost entirely on the testimony of top CDC scientist Dr. William Thompson - who admits the CDC manipulated research findings to muffle concerns parents might have about the triple measles/mumps/rubella vaccine Dr. Wakefield suggested was key to the explosion of autism over the past several decades. "It's an incredible moment in American history where we have a top government scientist stepping forward - this man has won awards almost every year he's been at the CDC - he comes forward and says, 'I have to confess, I cannot live with myself any longer, we committed fraud on this MMR - autism study and it put millions of children at risk.' He literally said, 'Every time I see a child with autism I feel guilty because I feel responsible for it,'" Bigtree said. "That is a public statement, and not a single major newspaper or news station covered the story." And why? One reason is because those same news sources are funded in part by lucrative drug company advertising. It really isn't that unbelievable to learn that pharmaceutical money affects news coverage. It affects public policy, too. Drug companies are generous to politicians on either side of the partisan aisle - at federal and state levels. In 2001, the Illinois General Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would bar anyone from serving on the Illinois Immunization Advisory Committee that accepted funding from pharmaceutical companies. The goal was to minimize interest conflicts when advising the Illinois Director of Public Health on whether new or additional vaccines should be made mandatory. When members of the Immunization Advisory Committee learned of the impending legislation, they expressed outrage, and called the proposal "ridiculous." One of the infectious disease specialists on the committee declared the legislation to be "un-American and un-democratic," saying it in fact, was "despicable." "No infectious disease specialist will be able to serve on this committee," he told his colleagues. "We all take money from pharmaceutical companies!" It was true. The committee members' financial disclosure statements showed they were receiving grants, samples and stock dividends from drug companies. Soon after the IAC met the governor at the time, George Ryan, was contacted by influential check-writing physicians and medical society devotees who influenced him to veto the bill. To this day, drug company beneficiaries are involved in advising Illinois' mandatory vaccine policy. And when a vaccine becomes mandatory, federal law protects drug companies from liability concerning the vaccines and any injury connected. Taxpayers fund any civil judgements tied to mandatory vaccines. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is the one Dr. Wakefield and Dr. Thompson claims is tied to autism. In 1930, autism was unknown. By 1975, the number of autism cases had exploded. In 2014 alone, 1,802,353 new cases were diagnosed and few media sources reported on it, yet that same media intensely covered the 644 cases of measles nationwide attributed to unvaccinated children. In addition to Dr. Thompson's revelations, the film "Vaxxed" reviews the history of the MMR-autism controversy, and makes a four-part call for action: That Congress subpoena Dr. William Thompson and investigate the CDC fraud. That Congress repeal the 1985 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and hold manufacturers liable for injury caused by their vaccines. That the single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines be made available immediately. That all vaccines be classified as pharmaceutical drugs and tested accordingly. Notice, there are no calls to end vaccine distribution, stop development of vaccines or any other radical anti-vaccine proposals. Instead, "Vaxxed" calls on accountability of the drug companies, transparency of the mandate process and appropriate testing. It calls on Americans to get involved immediately in order to offset an impending autism catastrophe by 2032, when current stats predict a possible one in two children will be affected by autism. Dr. Thompson's chilling words, "Oh my god. I cannot believe we did what we did. But we did," gives hope that there are still persons with consciences hoping to change the outcome. See "Vaxxed," decide for yourself what you think about the information and share the controversy with your friends. It may be the only way they hear about it if the CDC, Big Pharma and Big Media have anything to say about it. Review by Fran Eaton, editor and co-founder of IllinoisReview.com, a news source founded in 2005. But we know there is another universe of Americans who do not follow politics and who almost never vote in elections. I thought that the 2012 election between Obama and Romney would be closer than it was. It might well have been closer if Hurricane Katrina had not frozen the Romney campaign in place just days before the election and given Obama beneficial publicity to appear presidential for several days in managing the response to the storm while Romney was out of the news almost entirely. Most readers of IR follow politics closely but with different perspectives and levels of understanding because most of us have limited time to devote to the study of bills and candidates. In the end, even though there was an increase of eight million new eligible voters on the rolls in 2012, the number of people who voted declined by five million from 131 million voters in 2008 to 126 million in 2012. The turnout percentage of eligible voters voting was down in every state and DC with the only exceptions of Iowa and Louisiana. So far the 2016 election looks to be very strange because both major party candidates appear to have such high negatives with the public. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll published last week probed how American voters feel about both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. A majority of voters expressed negative feelings about both leading candidates. Traditionally, a fair number of partisans on either side of the aisle express negative opinions about the other party's candidate, but the latest poll found that a majority of voters express negative feelings about both leading candidates. Sixty percent said they either "dislike" or "hate" Clinton, while slightly more 63 percent expressed negative opinions about Trump. Forty percent said they "admire" or "like" Clinton, and 36 percent said they "admire" or "like" Trump. The math in the Electoral College is very complicated and it is possible in theory that even in a two-way race neither candidate might win the 270 Electoral Votes required to be elected president. If no one gets to 270, then the Constitution provides that the election would go to the U.S. House of Representatives where each state regardless of population gets only one vote under a unit rule. Republicans have the majority of members in 33 state delegations and Democrats have the majority in 16 states and the state of Maine is tied with one House member from each party. The members of the House may vote for anyone they like regardless of who was nominated by the parties, or results in the popular vote, or the Electoral College results. This potentially gives a great deal of power to the House Republicans to elect anyone they can agree on. Unlike the vulnerable GOP majority in the U.S. Senate this year, the GOP maintains a good chance of keeping the overall House majority and the majority of delegation members in 33 states which is a majority in the House to decide who wins. But millions of Americans will not care enough to vote at all and thy give more power to those who do take the time to vote. There are two schools of theory about the effects of a very negative campaign. One is that a negative campaign will energize base voters and increase partisan turnout. But the other school holds that to much negative advertising drives turnout down for both candidates. This will be a good year to test both theories. 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. With the Central Board of Secondary Education declaring the result of the Class 10 examination today i.e. on May 28, Manipur state has recorded zero pass percentage. By Indo-Asian News Service, India Today Web Desk: As the Central Board of Secondary Education declared the result of the Class 10 examination today i.e. on May 28 on the official website, the link for which is cbse.nic.in. (Read: CBSE Class 10 results 2016 announced, girls outshine boys once again) This year, a total of 14,91,293 candidates registered for the class 10 board examination which shows an increase of around 8.5 per cent students from last year. advertisement (Read: CBSE Class 10 Results 2016: Declared at cbse.nic.in) The board conducted the examination from March 1 to March 28 at 3742 exam centres across the country. According to official data, the state of Manipur has recorded a pass percentage of zero in various schools. (Read: CBSE Class 10 Results 2016 declared: Thiruvananthapuram gets highest pass percentage in both 10 and 12 exams) Detailed information of Manipur results: A total of 6,484 students appeared for the examination from 323 government schools As many as 73 of the 323 government schools in Manipur recorded zero pass percentage Out of the 22.6 per cent students in government schools, not a single student passed Only 2,781 cleared the examination by recording a pass percentage of 42.8 One student each from 28 government schools successfully passed the examination Such figures clearly show that Manipur government schools, which consume millions of rupees worth of public funds, performed far worse than private schools. As per IANS, a highly positioned source said, "The government has taken a serious note of the non-performance of the government schools. The only way out is to abolish some of these schools, so that students could get admission in private schools." (Read: CBSE Class 10 results 2016 released at cbse.nic.in, know how to calculate CGPA ) In 2013, around 28 government schools did not have a single candidate clearing the Class 10 examination. While speaking to media, Romen Chingtham, father of the student who could not clear the examination said, "I am faced with Hobson's choice about his studies since I cannot send him to expensive private schools." However, the officials of the education department have declined to give any statement on the failure of recording zero few government schools. Moreover, the government has only one solution to this problem which is closure of non-performing schools. READ: Meet CBSE Class 12 Topper, Sukriti Gupta Get latest updates on exam notifications and scholarships across India and abroad here. advertisement --- ENDS --- The decision leaves only 15 government colleges eligible for admission through common entrance test by Karnataka Examination Authority. By India Today Web Desk: COMEDK will not share its BDS or MBBS seats with students applying for admission in private institutions. About 24 dental colleges come under COMEDK. The decision to not share any government seats with private institutions came on Thursday, May 26. The Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation (KPCF) announced the decision. The decision leaves only 15 government colleges eligible for admission through common entrance by Karnataka Examination Authority. advertisement (Read: CBSE Class 10 results 2016 announced, girls outshine boys once again) NEET and admission in medical colleges: Secretary of KPCF, M R Jayaram condemned the previous consensus between KPCF and the government to share seats for admission of candidates Jayaram said that now that NEET will be the only exam for qualifying for medical courses as per the verdict from the court; the previous agreement between the government and KPCF holds of no significance Jayaram said that 15 per cent seats will be reserved for the NRI category; however, no other seat shall be shared KPCF questions: On J P Nadda's idea of the government quota staying along with no increase in the number of seats in private colleges, KPCF has asked for a clarification of the 'government quota' term (Read: Panel headed by T S R Subramanian submits report on new education policy) Seats for students taking admission: A total of 85 per cent seats will be allotted to students, barring the 15 per cent for NRI category Out of 85 per cent seats 50 per cent will be allotted to the reserved category (SC, ST and OBC) This makes it easy for those belonging to the category to get admission There are about 1500 medical and 1600 dental seats in private colleges Procedure followed for admission: A S Srikanth, chief executive of COMEDK said that the counselling for MBBS and BDS seats will take place after NEET results are out An oversee committee will monitor the procedure as it shall ensure transparency "We will follow the fee structure fixed by the Fee Fixation Committee, which is also formed by the government", said AS Srikanth to TOI. Click here for more updates from India Today Education. --- ENDS --- Intel India announced a series of initiatives that strengthen its support for the Digital India programme launched by the Government of India. At an event, Intel India detailed three projects designed to accelerate digital literacy at the grassroots level by reaching out to the population in non-urban India, upskill citizens in tier 2 cities and beyond, and encourage innovation from the local level. By India Today Web Desk: Intel India announced a series of initiatives that strengthen its support for the Digital India programme launched by the Government of India. At an event, Intel India detailed three projects designed to accelerate digital literacy at the grassroots level by reaching out to the population in non-urban India, upskill citizens in tier-2 cities and beyond, and encourage innovation from the local level. Inaugurated new 'Unnati Kendra at Common Service Centre' (UK at CSC) facilities in Haryana, as part of its recently launched 'Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur' initiative Launched the 'Digital Unnati' online portal, to upskill Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at CSCs Laid the groundwork for the second edition of Intel & DST - Innovate for Digital India Challenge advertisement Digital learning centre for non-urban India: Building on the momentum of its 'Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur' initiative to accelerate access to technology in non-urban India, Intel India e-launched its latest 'Unnati Kendra at Common Service Centre' (UK at CSC) in Karnal, the first in Haryana. This 'UK at CSC' will serve as one of the common access digital learning centers for people of the state and Intel India aims to open several more of these facilities in the state. Website launched to enable Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs): Intel India also announced the Digital Unnati website, being set up in collaboration with the CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd. It will enable Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) to learn how to assemble a PC online and upskill their technology know-how. Teams awarded equity investments for creating solutions in agricultural and healthcare sector: In addition, inspired by the overwhelming response and the success of the first chapter of the Intel & DST - Innovate for Digital India Challenge (Challenge), Intel India is laying the groundwork for launching the Challenge later this year. This Challenge supports local innovation and entrepreneurship and is a nationwide competition inviting technology solutions to solve real problems faced by our citizens. Intel India recently announced the three winning teams of the 2015 challenge teams i.e. TJay, Asha+, and Jayalaxmi Agrotech. These teams developed commercially viable strategies and prototypes based on Intel architecture and with the engineering support, expert mentoring and access to funds from Intel. They have created solutions for the agricultural and healthcare sector and will now have access to equity investments of up to INR 2,000,000 per team from CIIE to take their products to market. Who were present at the event? Robby Swinnen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group and General Manager, Intel Corporation, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Managing Director, Intel South Asia, H.K. Mittal, Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science and Technology, Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, MyGov, and Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited were some of the key dignitaries present at the event. advertisement (Press Release) Read: Street vendor's daughter tops Karnataka PUC exam Read: Intel competition in US awards six Indian students Click here for education related news. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) Amid outrage by African envoys following killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital, four cases of alleged criminal assault on African nationals in south Delhi have come to the fore. All four incidents took place between 9.30 PM and 11.30 PM on Thursday in Mehrauli area. All four complainants, in their 30s, have been residing in Delhi for past few years, police said. advertisement In two cases, the complainants are women -- one a Uganda national and the other a native of South Africa, in the other two, the complainants are two Nigerian men. In two cases in which the Nigerian men are involved is "believed" to have taken place following an argument with the locals, a senior police official said. However, circumstances in the other two cases are not clear, he said. The accused in all four cases are yet to be identified, the official said. Police claimed that these are four separate incidents which have nothing to do with the violence against Indians in Congo, following the youths murder in Vasant Kunj area here. 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. Police also claimed that the attacks, the causes behind which are yet to be verified, did not take place on racial lines. "Cases of causing hurt and wrongful restraint have been registered in all four cases. Efforts are on to nab the accused," Additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad said. Last week, 23-year-old Oliver was allegedly beaten to death by three men following an argument over hiring an auto-rickshaw in south Delhis Vasant Kunj area. While two of the accused have been arrested in connection with the case, the third is still absconding. PTI DEY UZM DV UZM --- ENDS --- By PTI: Dhaka, May 28 (PTI) At least nine persons were killed and 30 others injured in Bangladesh when a bus they were travelling in fell into a canal on Dhaka-Barisal Highway, police said. The incident occured yesterday afternoon in the Samaddar area of Madaripur, when the front-left tyre of the bus, carrying over 60 people, blew out as it reached Samaddar Bridge, causing the bus to crash through the bridges railing and plunged into the canal. advertisement While five passengers died on the spot, fire service and police teams pulled out the bus in which three more bodies were found. Another victim died on the way to hospital, Madaripur sadar police Officer-in-Charge Ziaul Morshed was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune today. Four of the deceased have been so far identified and include a 40-year-old woman, two men aged 60 and 50 besides the bus helper Abdur Rashid. Other victims, including the driver, have not been identified yet, the report said. The condition of many of the injured was critical, according to doctors. PTI KJ SAI KJ --- ENDS --- Our win in Assam should not be seen as a simple party victory. It is a sign of the acceptance of the BJP's ideology in the Northeast, says Amit Shah. Talking to Senior Editor Uday Mahurkar, Amit Shah describes the significance of the BJP's Assam victory, and the party's road map for the future. Excerpts: How does it feel to win Assam after the crushing Delhi and Bihar defeats? Our win in Assam should not be seen as a simple party victory. It is a sign of the acceptance of the BJP's ideology in the Northeast. It is also a stamp on the governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We aim to have a BJP presence from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kamrup. In Bengal, our vote share is now 15 per cent, and we have opened our account in Kerala. advertisement What is the single biggest factor behind this? Modi's popularity and people's confidence in him. People saw an alternative in the two years of BJP's clean, development-oriented governance in Delhi after 10 years of Congress misgovernance in Delhi and 15 years in Assam, which whipped up massive anti-incumbency. Also read: Amit Shah- The man with the grand plan How important was Ram Madhav's role in Assam? He played a key role in devising strategy as well as implementing it. You say you now have a presence from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kamrup. What about road blocks such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha? UP is not an obstacle but a golden opportunity for the BJP to regain absolute majority. We will highlight how people's life has become miserable in the state due to the gundagardi of the Samajwadi Party and the corruption of both the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party as well as their unabashed appeasement politics. People will get an answer on all these three planks in the BJP. There is massive anti-incumbency against your alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab. Rumour has it the BJP might break up with SAD. BJP and SAD are partners in achhebure din (good-bad days). SAD is our old friend, there is no question [of breaking up with them]. But yes, due to a misinformation campaign against the Punjab government, there is a negative impression in the minds of some people. But we'll be going to the polls with confidence due to the good infrastructure work done by the Parkash Singh Badal government and the way it has stood by farmers in bad times. Is there any possibility of an alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha? The poll is too far away and therefore it is premature to talk about any alliance. But we are determined to bring the BJP's good governance to Odisha. Your effort at Congress-mukt Bharat through the backdoor in Uttarakhand seems to have backfired... I don't agree. We played the role of an honest opposition. We voted against the budget and so did nine Congress MLAs. When the Uttarakhand government was trying to hijack the nine MLAS and buy them off, we only provided them security against government threats. There was nothing immoral about it. On the contrary, it was the Uttarakhand chief minister who was caught offering money to his own party MLAs on video. advertisement How would you define the BJP's relationship with the RSS now that they are getting more involved in the party's political moves? The relationship between the BJP and RSS is like that between any two organisations working for the upliftment of the nation. There's a feeling that a resurgent BJP is leading to a rise in sectarianism, with issues like beef ban, Bharat Mata ki Jai... I feel sad that Bharat Mata ki Jai is being seen in sectarian terms. I have made my views on Bharat Mata ki Jai very clear before the media. It has no contradiction with our developmental agenda. Both can work simultaneously. Many believe the BJP can't come clean on charges of intolerance. Witness the minority-bashing utterances of BJP leaders like Sakshi Maharaj, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Giriraj Singh. It depends on what you call intolerance. Why has the intolerance campaign against us quietened down after the Bihar polls? Because it was part of the political propaganda strategy against us. As for the utterances of some of our people, I think such utterances have been made during the tenure of previous governments too. I have repeatedly clarified that what some of our people have said is not the party stand. advertisement BJP allies feel they are being taken for granted these days... It is because of poor communication between us more than anything else. We will try and improve it. At the end of two years, how would you rate the Modi government? It is the first government which instead of catering to populist slogans has tried to empower people in a real sense through government schemes. Having a bank account was a dream of the poor and Jan Dhan has realised that by opening bank accounts for 21 crore poor families. By 2019, six crore poor families which cook on chulhas and attract deadly lung-based and other diseases will get LPG connections. Even after 70 years of independence, 18,000 villages were without electricity in India when we took over. Today, 9,000 of these have already been electrified and almost all villages will be covered by 2018. The Modi government has changed the definition of employment. Earlier, it was linked to just jobs. Through schemes like Start-up India, Stand-up India and Mudra, which have given employment to more than 3.49 crore people, we have opened new avenues of self-employment. advertisement And in foreign policy? For the first time, our culture and trade have got a key space in our foreign policy. In just two years, India, which had become a back-bencher, is in the frontlines of the comity of nations. If there is one leader whom the world sees as the most popular, visionary and transparent, it is Narendra Modi. How do you see the BJP's prospects in 2019? The way the Modi government is working, with just the national good as its core agenda, we'll come back with a greater majority. The foundation has been laid. --- ENDS --- Forty-eight hours after a BJP-led front swept the May 19 assembly polls in Assam, party president Amit Shah immersed himself in parlays with his party colleagues. The venue was his office at the party's 11, Ashoka Road headquarters. To call their mood upbeat would be an understatement. The victory in Assam was a balm for the battering the BJP had received in the Bihar polls last November. It was redemption for Shah, who had promised to deliver the state to the party in his inaugural speech as party president on August 9, 2014. Shah and his party leaders did not even discuss Assam. They were looking far beyond the horizon-crafting strategies for state elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh next year and the second term for Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But for the booster shot of Assam, these strategies would never merit discussion. Also read: advertisement We'll return in 2019 with greater majority, says Amit Shah The Bihar defeat saw a mellowed-down, even approachable Shah. His second term as BJP president hung in balance. Now, the aggression is back. The BJP coined the phrase 'Congress-mukt Bharat' in 2014. Shah flung it again at his rivals on counting day, May 19. "The nation is two steps away from its aim of creating a Congress-mukt Bharat," he told the media. There was no guessing which party would fill the space vacated by the Grand Old Party. "The BJP is a pan-India party now," he told India Today. "We are now present from Kutch to Kamrup and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari." A new electoral war machine Whispers of a post-election reboot of the party and government have now turned into a chorus. One crucial meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and Shah soon after the Assam verdict is believed to have set the stage for the most deep-rooted reorganisation since the NDA swept to power two years ago. A team of independent researchers working for Shah has evaluated the performance of cabinet ministers. Non-performing ministers are likely to be 'rehabilitated' in Raj Bhavans, there is a possibility of state ministers being shifted and state party units are likely to get new heads. The final piece of the blueprint will be in place in the coming weeks when Shah, who began his second term as BJP president in January this year, constitutes his new team. PM Modi with CMs Parkash Singh Badal, Chandrababu Naidu, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Anandiben Patel This reorganisation will shape the BJP and the government's electoral war machine. It will, most likely, power both until the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party's executive meet in Allahabad between June 12 and 13, its first in UP in five years, will finalise its election strategy for the Uttar Pradesh and Punjab polls next year. The party's month-long campaign beginning May 26 is more the launch of an election campaign than the NDA's two-year birthday bash. Party workers will interact with various sections of society in 200 locations across the country, chosen for maximum political impact. Workers have been asked to communicate the government's schemes to a cross-section of people, including youth, women and economically weaker sections. A three-member team of party workers will monitor this outreach in all of the 200 locations. The symbiotic relationship of the Modi-Shah duo will continue to drive this new strategy. This, despite minor differences in their approach. Shah is a proponent of hardline Hindutva, Modi opts for a more nuanced approach. Within the party, Shah is the strategist who relies heavily on inputs from general secretaries. Modi has the final say, especially in sensitive issues such as moving chief ministers. The 200-location outreach, for instance, was an idea Shah pitched to Modi, who approved it. Shah still maintains a hectic schedule-he has travelled an average of 465 km a day till last January and covered all of India's 31 states. advertisement The Bihar lesson The Bihar debacle last November was a wake-up call for the BJP. More than the drubbing it received in Delhi, Bihar exposed the party's weakness when confronted with a united opposition. Worse, the defeat also cast a shadow on its star campaigner Modi who addressed nearly 40 rallies in the state last October. Quick to learn from its rout, the party evolved what is now being called the localised 'Assam model'. Coalition partners were carefully selected. The party avoided the shrill campaigns of Delhi and Bihar, both marked by personal attacks. The plan is to extend that strategy to other poll-going states, choosing their electoral battles carefully, testing the waters before determining the intensity of the stakes. In Assam, for instance, the BJP did not play up the illegal immigrants issue beyond a point. It also projected a local face, for the first time in recent elections, by choosing Sarbananda Sonowal as the chief ministerial candidate for Assam. advertisement Illustration by Nilanjan Das The Nitish-Lalu combo's Bihari versus Bahari (outsider) pitch also taught the BJP a valuable lesson. That carpet-bombing a poll-bound state with star campaigners can be counterproductive. It breeds a false sense of euphoria among ground-level workers, who start believing that a public meeting can win them elections. This time around, Modi and Shah visited Assam only three times during the campaigning, Rajnath Singh twice and Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj once each. Grassroots workers were freed up for mass contact programmes. The party has also decided not to overexpose Modi. They will save him up for the big battle in 2019. It is also not averse to poaching leaders wherever possible, like roping in Himanta Biswa Sarma from the Congress for Assam. "Winning election is more about pragmatism than ideology," a top party leader says. In a rare instance of such pragmatism, the party leadership ignored interference from the Assam unit of the RSS. The BJP will, however, repeat its 2014 model by involving the RSS in electioneering. Shah is banking on the good equation between Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to paper over the Sangh's differences with the government. advertisement The party has now prepared a five-point strategy for all upcoming elections-corruption-free governance, economic empowerment via schemes such as Jan Dhan, economic growth through schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Stand-up India and Start-up India, economic security through the two low-instalment death and accident insurance schemes and, finally, economic sustainability by linking MNREGA to national asset creation. The 100-seat plan for 2019 Shah believes the BJP has run out of room for growth in the states north of the Vindhyas where it won 220 of its tally of 282 Lok Sabha seats. Seventy-one of the 80 seats were won in Uttar Pradesh, it bagged all 26 seats in Gujarat, all of Rajasthan's 25 seats and 27 of Madhya Pradesh's 29 seats. Relying only on these states to return to power in 2019 is overoptimistic. Hence, an Amit Shah brainwave: the 100-seat plan. He is eyeing new territory: a swathe from Assam's Brahmaputra Valley to Kerala's Malabar coast and covering West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Collectively, they account for 205 Lok Sabha seats but these are states where the BJP has a weak profile. It won just four seats-seven in Assam and two in West Bengal in 2014. If the BJP gets its act together, Shah believes, they could hit a gold mine in these states. This is where the BJP will, over the next two years, use a mix of election-oriented party programmes and project a strong leadership to aggressively expand its base. Party general secretary Ram Madhav, who played a pivotal role in Assam, is buoyant about their prospects. He points to the increased vote shares in the recent state polls: "If we could increase our vote share in state elections from 11 per cent in 2011 to 43 per cent and from 4.1 per cent to 15 per cent with allies in West Bengal, we have every reason to be confident." The challenge of UP Shah is in thrust and parry mode for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab next year. In Punjab, he has to figure out a way to circumvent a decade of anti-incumbency. The possibility of losing seats in states like Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in the 2018 elections, which the BJP has ruled for 13 years, is also high. But it is in UP, where the party has been out of power since 2002, that he'll find his electoral abilities put to severest test. Shah cut his teeth banking on the Modi wave and smart ticket distribution to bag 71 of UP's 80 Lok Sabha seats. He is rebuilding the party to deliver similar assembly results. A defeat in UP could put a question mark on his dreams of winning the 2019 poll. Hence, he is pulling out all stops. The party's Mission UP began on May 1 when Modi announced his government's ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, a Rs 800 crore scheme to distribute free LPG connections to 5 crore Below Poverty Line families. The Mohan Bhagwat-Modi equation will help tide over differences with RSS. Photo: Shailesh Raval Banking on strong backward class leaders, the party has appointed backward caste leader Keshavprasad Maurya as state president. The state unit has been recast as an OBC-based organisation. Forty-four of the 90 recently-appointed district BJP presidents are backward caste leaders, four are Dalits. But while playing the backward tune, Shah and Mathur have to ensure they don't forget the Brahmins, whom Mayawati is wooing again. The party is also planning to contrast the alleged misdeeds of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party with the Modi government's 'clean-cum-good governance'. Planning to target youth and women, the party's state unit has collected booth-level data in 1.13 lakh out of the 1.40 lakh booths in the state. This data will be used for a booth-based election strategy, something the Modi-Shah duo successfully employed in Gujarat. Booth committees comprising RSS and BJP workers will identify potential voters and woo opposition voters. In the quadrangular contests of UP, even marginal vote swings will prove invaluable. The hunt for a CM candidate is on. Perceiving Mayawati's BSP as the biggest challenger, the party is looking for BSP leaders to poach. It has countered Mayawati's Dalit Jatav support base with Jatav leaders of its own. O.P. Mathur, party general secretary in charge of UP, is confident: "The situation is very ripe for us to step in." The BJP scored in most states where the Congress was in power. UP, however, will mark a contest against powerful regional satraps Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati. The state office-bearers team is yet to be announced in the UP unit, and it is this selection which will determine the BJP's future course in the state. Reality bites The BJP lacks a statewide presence in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It is yet to identify state issues down to the sub-regional level and then move ahead with a precise agenda. Of the few leaders it has south of the Vindhyas, Union minister P. Radhakrishnan, 64, the MP from Kanyakumari, is yet to evolve into a state leader. And O. Rajagopalan, 86, who won the party its first assembly seat in Kerala, is way past his prime. Says BJP general secretary P. Murlidhar Rao, "Amitbhai's expansion plan in these states will consider all these issues." Shah draws his strength in the party from his ideological commitment. That he is the first party president in many years who is trying to build leadership from the lower levels by constantly touring the country and identifying talent and issues has won the appreciation of partymen who believe he can do the impossible. But Shah will have an equally hard task managing fringe voices such as Sakshi Maharaj and Niranjan Jyoti. He'll have to make some tough choices-development or Hindutva-as he prepares the party for what he believes is its victory march. Follow the writer on Twitter @UdayMahurkar --- ENDS --- One 9 mm pistol, two Chinese grenades among other things were recovered from the militant upon capture. By Ashraf Wani: In a major blow to terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, Tariq Pandit, a close aide of Burhan Wani was apprehended by the Army in a well coordinated operation today in Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir. INTELLIGENCE PLAYED A BIG PART Based on intelligence input regarding the movement of a HM militant on the Neva - Pinglana road near karimabad, Pulwama, a joint mobile vehicle check post was established by the Army and Jammu and Kashmir police in the wee hours of Saturday morning. advertisement The militant was apprehended by Rashtriya Rifle battalion. DANGEROUS One 9 mm pistol, two Chinese grenades and other war like stores were recovered from the militant upon capture. The militant was allegedly involved in many terror related incidents in Pulwama area. Considered as a category "A" militant, Pandit figured prominently with Burhan in various pictures and videos that were posted by the terror group last year. Pandit carried a cash reward of Rs three lakh for information leading to his arrest. An FIR has been registered and the apprehended terrorist has been handed over to the local Police Station of Pulwama. --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Yoshita Singh United Nations, May 28 (PTI) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed "deep disappointment" over the denial of accreditation to a US press freedom advocacy group, saying NGOs need to be given sufficient access to the work of the world body. The NGO Committee of the United Nations had voted to deny the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) consultative status with the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC). advertisement India, Iran and Turkey abstained from voting while 10 countries including Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Sudan voted against CPJs application. Greece, Guinea, Israel, Mauritania, Uruguay and United States voted in favour of the group. Bans spokesperson said the UN chief has been very supportive of CPJs work and believes that they do valuable work to defend media rights around the world. "He is deeply disappointed by this recent decision which, as you know, as its carried out, it would block access for the Committee to Protect Journalists for a number of UN bodies including access to the Human Rights Council," Bans Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters yesterday. Haq said Ban is concerned that media rights need to be respected and that NGOs need to have sufficient access to the work of the United Nations system. He said journalists are already facing "undue restrictions" on their work across the world and organisations that are dedicated to protecting journalists should not face restrictions at the United Nations. After the voting, CPJ had said without the consultative status, it would be unable to access UN bodies and processes, notably the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where accredited NGOs can deliver a counter-narrative to states. The vote came after CPJs application, first made in 2012, was deferred seven times. "It is sad that the UN, which has taken up the issue of press freedom through Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and through the adoption of the UN Action Plan, has denied accreditation to CPJ, which has deep and useful knowledge that could inform decision making," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon had said. "A small group of countries with poor press freedom records are using bureaucratic delaying tactics to sabotage and undermine any efforts that call their own abusive policies into high relief," Simon said CPJ said its application has been deferred for years by persistent, lengthy and repetitive questioning. It said during the session, the NGO Committee "hid behind the pretense" of rules and procedures. PTI YAS ASK ASK --- ENDS --- advertisement By Rahul Noronha: BJP MP from Shahdol (ST) constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Dalpat Singh Paraste has been rushed to Medanta hospital in Delhi today by air ambulance. Paraste suffered brain hemorrhage yesterday while while attending a public function. Paraste's condition remains critical. On Friday, Dalpat Singh Paraste was at a function at Saraswati Shishu Mandir school in Shahdol where he collapsed. He was rushed to the KIMS hospital in Shahdol where doctors advised that he be referred to Delhi for treatment. advertisement WEATHER CAUSED DELAY An air ambulance was arranged but could reach Umaria, the closest air strip from Shahdol only today owing to bad weather earlier. Collector, Umaria, Abhishek Singh told India Today that Paraste has been shifted to Delhi today evening. Dalpat Singh Paraste was first elected MP during the Janata wave in 1977 and has been elected 4 times to the Lok Sabha after that. --- ENDS --- Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's film Udta Punjab landed in trouble for excessive use of abusive language. And now the latest report says Censor Board has demanded 40 cuts. By India Today Web Desk: If recent reports are to be believed, the Censor Board members aren't much happy with Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's upcoming film Udta Punjab. The film, directed by Abhishek Chaubey, landed in trouble for excessive use of abusive language. And now the latest report says Censor Board has demanded 40 cuts. This spat has got people talking about the film that was already quite the buzz in the town for its trailer and songs already released. advertisement ALSO READ: Did Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's film Udta Punjab run into trouble with Censor Board? Udta Punjab focuses on the issue of drug abuse in Punjab. According to sources, the cuts demanded by Censor Board include a number of expletives, a song and several visuals of substance abuse. The filmmakers, instead of approaching the Revising Committee of the CBFC, went straight to the Tribunal in the hope of a clearance with nominal cuts. A rumour that Udta Punjab has been banned altogether was doing rounds but film's producer Anurag Kashyap cleared the air tweeting the film has not been banned. 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 Recently, even Amitabh Bachchan was asked about his take on the entire issue at his film TE3N music launch. He said, "I think the government has some rules and regulations and they have formed the Censor Board for it (film clearance). They (the Board) have they their own rules. I don't know the reason why they did it to them (makers of Udta Punjab). I think that the producers and the board would know." Earlier, Shiromani Akali Dal's MLA Khem Karan Virsa Singh Valtoha had said that the film is an outcome of a trend to defame Punjab and its youth. He has also expressed reservations over the portrayal of Punjabis in the film as he believes they have been shown in a bad light. And now the fate of the film depends on the approval by the Censor Board. Apart from Shahid and Alia, the film also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh in pivotal roles. Udta Punjab is set to hit the screens on June 17 this year. --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: stir Chandigarh, May 28 (PTI) In the wake of members of Jat community threatening to launch a fresh agitation for reservation, security was today beefed up in Haryana as central forces were deployed in seven sensitive districts across the state. The Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jind and Kaithal, a top police official told PTI. advertisement "The deployment has been done as a precautionary measure," Haryanas Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mohd Akil said, adding police were fully geared up to meet any situation. Yesterday, a sedition case was registered against Jat Sangharsh Samiti chief Yashpal Malik and 125 others for allegedly threatening peace and communal harmony in Haryana by instigating people to launch a fresh quota agitation. Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said the government would not allow the recurrence of a February-like situation in the state. "We are fully prepared to tackle any situation," the minister said. Abhimanyu alleged that the recent violence in the state was not caste-based or related to the issue of reservation, "but the leaders of Congress had used the youth of the state to spread unprecedented political and criminal violence in a well-planned manner." Thirty people were killed and property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was destroyed during the violent agitation in February this year, with districts including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonipat, being the worst affected. The Finance minister said that the committee constituted under the chairmanship of former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prakash Singh had submitted its report to the government on large-scale violence during the Jat quota agitation in February and the government was studying it at its own level. The supporters of the opposition were exerting pressure to make this report public, Abhimanyu alleged. Two days back, Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities provided by the Haryana government under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category. PTI SUN DBS PAL DBS --- ENDS --- From the pen of Veena S. Rao, a retired IAS officer best known for her extensive work in combating malnutrition, emerges Charlotte's End, a novel inspired by Daphne Du Maurier's perennially popular literary potboiler, Rebecca. Published between soft covers, Rao's novel is a high grade of the so-called 'fan fiction', in which authors rewrite their favourite novels. As she writes in her 'Acknowledgements', "Indian writers of my age and background have normally been influenced by the world of British literary fiction with which we grew up and the real world of India in which we lived... in this work of fiction, I am reflecting the former." Rao is clearly steeped in this sort of fiction-historical fiction lightly tinged with Gothic romance. As in Rebecca, in Rao's novel a dead woman casts a pall over a marriage between a young woman, the unnamed narrator, and her much older husband. The setting is World War II and Rao works hard to evoke an accurate sense of the period. "We decided to bid farewell to drole de guerre Paris," the narrator reports, "with a last lark at Hotel de Ville.... I felt free and I felt secure when the silence was resounding violently from the Maginot Line, and the seas were ablaze with bombs." Rao, confronted with misery and distress in her professional work, chooses happiness for her characters. Charlotte's End will appeal to those who seek comfort and reassurance from fiction. advertisement --- ENDS --- In 1977, when nine Dalits were killed, allegedly by Bhumihars in an obscure Bihar village called Belchi, Indira Gandhi, ousted from power by the Janata Party just a few months ago, sensed an opportunity. Belchi was the back of beyond and for the last leg of her journey to the spot, a determined Mrs G rode an elephant. It made national headlines, and was remembered later as the beginning of her remarkable comeback four years later. Four decades later, her grandson and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is still looking for his Belchi moment even as every assembly poll since May 2014 makes the possibility of a Congress revival seem more remote. Bihar was the only notable exception where the Congress was a minor third party of the winning alliance. Meanwhile, possible Belchi moments have come and gone-from the lynching in Dadri to the Rohith Vemula suicide in Hyderabad University to the arrest of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Rahul did offer lip service at every venue but it simply did nothing to re-energise the party. He has shown no sign of attempting to revamp the organisational structure of the Congress. It's like he has forgotten what he said in December 2013, after the party's rout in Delhi: "I am going to put all my efforts into transforming the organisation of the party. I am going to make sure that a transformation happens, and I'll do it in ways you cannot even imagine." advertisement Illustration by Nilanjan Das To execute this "unimaginable transformation", the Gandhi scion met over 400 Congress workers between September and December 2014 and prepared a blueprint to revive the party. The plan, submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in February 2015, included ensuring the presence of the party in every district, empowering the grassroots committees and giving them a say in candidate selection for elections, changing non-performing leaderships in the states, launching membership drives to attract the youth to the party and getting rid of the image of the Congress as an anti-Hindu, pro-minority party. But, even this plan has been in cold storage for the last one year. One of the long-standing demands of party workers has been a reshuffle of the AICC to enable induction of leaders who can connect with the increasingly young demographic of the country. There has, however, been no word about an overhaul since the humiliating defeat of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. "The Congress must rejuvenate itself," says Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, "bring in fresh faces and young blood into its leadership at all levels-village, block, district, state and national. Young Indians must believe we understand their aspirations and can be trusted to promote them in government." Former Union minister Salman Khurshid, however, has a different take on an AICC reshuffle. "The AICC has to combine experience with youthful promise," he says. "We have to understand that there are different jobs to be done in the party; some people have to do the thinking while others have to take ideas to the field." The joke doing the rounds at the AICC headquarters is that Rahul perhaps meant obliteration of the party from the national landscape when he mentioned "unimaginable transformation". "Rahul has a horrible sense of timing," says a former UPA minister. "He waited too long to resolve the crisis in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Punjab, while the AAP made huge inroads, Rahul turned a blind eye to the internal dissidence and when he finally decided to instal Amarinder Singh as the party chief, it was perhaps too late." According to him, the party has let slip the opportunity to return to power in Punjab and gain a respectable position in Uttar Pradesh. "We have hired Prashant Kishor for these two states. But in Punjab, Amarinder is fighting with him and in Uttar Pradesh, we are not taking any decision on his suggestions." There is a speculation that former union minister Jitin Prasada will head the campaign in Uttar Pradesh. advertisement Though Rahul is yet to react to the demand for a surgery to revive the Congress, some party leaders are giving their own versions of it. The operation theatre, they say, must shift to the states. "There has been a paradigm shift in how electoral battles are won in the country," says Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia. "For a pan-India presence, a party must nurture strong, performing leaders in the states. We can't expect to win state elections, where issues are local, by leaning on charismatic central leaders." His colleague from Madhya Pradesh and Lok Sabha MP Kamal Nath reiterates what Scindia says. In fact, he proposes that the Guna MP be given charge of the party in the state. "He is young and energetic and is a mass leader. I will back his elevation as state president," says Nath. However, several other Congress veterans claim that Scindia has never evinced interest in returning to the state and wants to play a national role. When india today confronted him, he said: "I've never sought any official or party position and won't ever. But the fact is I've never been asked to take charge of the state." advertisement The curious case of Scindia reflects what ails the Congress today and how the party may again miss getting on the road to revival. Assembly polls are scheduled in four major states before the 2019 general elections-Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In all four, the ruling BJP governments will face anti-incumbency and the Congress is the singular opposition party. There is even a buzz that two BJP chief ministers-Anandiben Patel in Gujarat and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh-may be sacked. In MP, the Vyapam scam is most likely to haunt CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "All we need to do is instal inspiring leadership in these states and we have a genuine chance to win all four of them. In Gujarat and MP, anti-incumbency will be a huge factor after over 15 years of BJP rule," says a Congress general secretary. Congress insiders point to the appointment of former Union minister Sachin Pilot as the Rajasthan Congress chief in February 2014 and the "subsequent success" in the municipal elections to buttress their argument. A general secretary close to Rahul Gandhi emphasised how Ajay Maken's appointment in Delhi has already started yielding results: the party won four seats in the municipal bypoll earlier this month. advertisement As is now routine after every election debacle, there is a clamour for the elevation of Rahul to the top post in the party. A few voices have also been demanding his replacement with sister Priyanka. Whether the Congress has the stomach to launch a big bang revival plan remains to be seem, but as Tharoor says, "Change is also necessary to demonstrate to the public that it is not merely business as usual for the Congress after two years of electoral setbacks." It's half-time already, can the Grand Old Party stage a revival or is it broken beyond repair? The next few months will tell. Follow the writer on Twitter @KDscribe --- ENDS --- On a tip off by Indian agencies, Nepal's anti-narcotics sleuths captured the smugglers of varying nationalities on Wednesday. Initial investigations revealed they were part of an international drug mafia involved in the supply of the contraband to Europe via Asia, the sources said. By Manjeet Negi: A recent arrest of five cocaine traffickers in Kathmandu has exposed underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's links to a cartel of trans-continental drug lords, highly-placed Indian and Nepali intelligence sources disclosed to India Today. SMUGGLERS FROM PAKISTAN? On a tip off by Indian agencies, Nepal's anti-narcotics sleuths captured the smugglers of varying nationalities on Wednesday. Initial investigations revealed they were part of an international drug mafia involved in the supply of the contraband to Europe via Asia, the sources said. advertisement The arrested traffickers were found to have Pakistani masters based in Hong Kong, top intelligence officials said. BIG BOSSES IN HONG KONG Their Hong Kong bosses were identified as Wahid Khan, Abdul Razzak alias Chacha and his brother. The suspect Pakistani drug lords, further investigations showed, were connected to Dawood Ibrahim, the man wanted in India for the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings, according to official sources. Nepali police seized more than two kilos of cocaine, valued at around $495,000 (Rs 3.3 crore), from the possession of smugglers, sources said. Khan, Chacha and their other Pakistani accomplice have their rings in Hong Kong, Dubai and Malaysia, officials say. GANGMATES Among those arrested on Wednesday in Kathmandu was a Venezuelan woman, Ymeris Caemen, and a Chinese woman, Qin Dong Dong. The gang of different nationalities used a baffling travel plan, spanning various countries from Latin America to the Middle East to South Asia, to supply drugs. Caemen, for example, arrived in Nepal via Caracas, Bogota, Sao Paula and Dubai, the sources disclosed. Investigators found that her handler was aVenezuela-based Nigerian man known as Dr John. A Nepali man, Dil Bahadur Gurung, 28, Nigerian Doba, Mohamed Lamine and an Indian identified as Touhid Khan were others who were captured by Nepal's Narcotics Control Bureau. Gurung, sources said, was an old hand in narcotics smuggling. This was the man who was reporting directly to Wahid Khan in Hong Kong, according to documents accessed by India Today. Khan also gave Gurung $13,500 (Rs 9 lakh) for the Kathmandu trip, papers showed. The money was seized by Nepali authorities after his arrest. Investigators found the arrested Nepali man had trafficked hashish more than 26 times to Hong Kong, Thailand as well as to India. Also Read: Dawood calls: My phone was hacked, claims Maharashtra minister --- ENDS --- "This is a turning point in the campaign to check the rampant use of money power in elections and restore a free and fair polling process." By Amarnath K. Menon : The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to annul the elections to the Thanjavur and Aravakurichi constituencies, which was deferred ahead of the May 16 polls in Tamil Nadu. HISTORIC DECISION The decision comes after ECI's found malpractices through "large scale distribution of money and gifts to electors by the candidates and political parties were reported." advertisement The ECI ignored the suggestion of Tamil Nadu governor Konjeti Rosaiah to hold the polls in the two constituencies by June 1. "This is a turning point in the campaign to check the rampant use of money power in elections and restore a free and fair polling process," said M.G.Devasahayam, Convenor of the Chennai based Forum for Electoral Integrity. HOW RAMPANT IS CASH FOR VOTES? Cash for votes has gained currency as a practice ever since the electronic voting machines were introduced and additional security provided at polling stations to check the earlier malpractice of storming the stations and stamping ballots or even spiriting away the ballot boxes. The ECI stated that it was satisfied that the election process was "seriously vitiated and cannot be allowed to proceed and ought to be rescinded so that fresh elections may be conducted de novo in these two constituencies when the atmosphere becomes conducive to the holding of free and fair elections after a reasonable lapse of time." To the dismay of three-member ECI, which had initially deferred the polls to June 13, the bribing of voters continued in these constituencies even after the extraordinary vigil was ordered. The report of the Special Observer to Aravakurichi stated, "It is intriguing to mention at this stage that even after the postponement of the poll in the constituency, under the scanner now, from May 16 to May 21, 11 complaints were made by various people regarding money distribution. A seizure of Rs.5.72 lakhs in cash made on May 18 by a flying squad team from a vehicle further bolsters the apprehension that the money distribution has become entrenched in the political culture here." The ECI took the decision after considering reports of observers, special teams of central observers, report of the special team of observers to the two constituencies and representations of contesting candidates. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) The East Delhi Municipal Corporation has provided financial help and offered a job to the wife of its class IV employee who allegedly committed suicide due to financial hardship aggravated by delayed payment of salary. "We have provided a help of Rs 10,000 to the kin of late Hridesh Sharma and papers have been moved for a job to his wife on compassionate ground," East Delhi mayor Satya Sharma said. advertisement 45-year-old Hridesh Sharma, who worked as an attendant in an East Delhi Municipal Corporation school, committed suicide by hanging himself at his house. His body was found by his family on Tuesday morning, said a police officer. The EDMC officials maintained that Sharma was facing financial problems and was hard-pressed to meet the expenses of his family, that included his wife, mother and two children. However, they claimed that late payment of salary was not the only reason behind Sharmas extreme step. "His daughters fee totaling Rs 65,000 was due and he was also reported to be hard pressed to meet expenses like treatment and house rent but his salary was delayed by one month only," said a senior EDMC official. Sharmas salary for March was released on April 22. EDMC, which is facing acute financial problems since its inception after trifurcation of erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 2012, had not been able to pay salary and other dues to its employees leading to frequent strikes. The suicide by Sharma apparently was due to his financial problems but the exact cause is being investigated, said a senior police officer. PTI VIT SRY RG SRY --- ENDS --- The BJP jumped at chance and attacked the NC leader, asking 'if he was talking to separatists to figure out their national anthem.' The National Conference leader was caught on camera talking on his mobile phone when the anthem was being played during Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata. By India Today Web Desk: A day after sparking controversy by answering a phone call during the national anthem, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today apologised for his mistake and said that it was an important call he could not ignore. "I had received a call from abroad. My relative is unwell. Even though I took the call, I was at least standing when the national anthem was played," Farooq Abdullah told reporters. advertisement "If you think I've hurt anyone's sentiments, then I apologise," he added. The apology came after the National Conference leader was caught on camera talking on his mobile phone when the anthem was being played during Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata. State chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee had requested all to stand up for the anthem at Red Road where the ceremony was being held. Abdullah, also the National Conference president, was seen talking over his mobile phone while standing at attention. OPPOSITION REACTION Meanwhile, the BJP jumped at chance and attacked the NC leader, asking 'if he was talking to separatists to figure out their national anthem.' "Obviously he was more interested in talking on the telephone than paying attention to the national anthem. I almost wonder whether he was talking to separatists to figure out what their national anthem is because if you can disrespect Jana Gana Mana, you disrespect our great country as well," BJP leader Shaina NC told ANI. Reacting to the incident, Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni also said "I really don't know what happened. But, whenever the national anthem is being played, we all should stand at attention." --- ENDS --- "We are ready for the monsoons. All the schemes that we have launched for the farming communities will now bear rich dividends and benefits for the farmers," Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan said. Union minister Radha Mohan Singh said ministry has been working on a composite strategy based on a two pronged approach- increasing production and decreasing costs. By Siddhartha Rai: Predictions of a good monsoon this year seems to have brought cheers for the government. Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh told Mail Today in an exclusive interview that the government has put in place a plan to accelerate food production. "We are ready for the monsoons. All the schemes that we have launched for the farming communities will now bear rich dividends and benefits for the farmers. The Modi government, however, has handled the past two years of drought efficiently. Though the years 2015-16 witnessed a drought worse that in 2014-15, the government ensured that production did not suffer. In fact, it increased," said the Union minister. advertisement TWO PRONGED APPROACH The agriculture ministry, Singh said, since he took office, had been working on a composite strategy based on a two-pronged approach: increasing production and decreasing costs. "The biggest achievement is the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. It is the biggest financial support structure from the Centre with lowest premium till date. We have also changed norms for providing relief in case of disaster. Earlier, a disaster of 50 per cent was qualified for relief, but we reduced in to 33 per cent." "We inherited a wrecked system of agriculture from the previous regime. Therefore, on the policy level, we have focused on increasing production with a simultaneous thrust on decreasing the cost of production. Both these factors have a direct bearing on the overall food security of the country, specifically of the poor," Singh said. INDIGENOUS SEEDS The minister said the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the introduction of drought resilient varieties of seeds and advanced varieties of several farm products had been aimed at increasing production. Making neem-coated urea easily available to farmers, expansion of organic farming and measures such as the introduction of soil health card and testing were meant to decrease the cost of production. "We are trying to chalk out an integrated system of farming. We have introduced the National Agriculture Market as an e-market that will integrate 585 regulated markets by March 2018. To make allied sectors profitable for farmers, we have increased funding to Natiuonal Bee Board (NBB); four new projects have been launched with a cost of Rs 850 crore in the field of animal husbandry. Production of milk will reach a record 160 million tonnes in 2015-16," Singh said. "We have also heralded a Blue Revolution in India. We have consolidated marine and inland fisheries under this umbrella concept. While the earlier government gave Rs 600 as saving-cumrelief per month, we have brought it up to Rs 1,500. The overall fish production has also increased consequently," Singh said. TECHNOLOGY Singh said that technology is now being used at an unprecedented scale in farming, based on Modi's Gujarat model. advertisement "We have launched four mobile apps for farmers. Kisan Vikas Kendras have sent mobile messages to 90 lakh farmers on crops and weather-based advisories," he said. "Six new colleges have opened in North-east; four in Bundelkhand; two Indian Agricultural research Institutes have opened on the lines of Pusa Research Institute for the first time in the past 68 years," Singh added. Also Read From the Magazine: Latur: The great thirst Water crisis now hits Gurugram, irregular supply for 15 days --- ENDS --- As a part of the MyGov initiative, the portal mygov.in has organised a governance quiz to find out how aware the citizens are of government's efforts. By PTI: Answer 20 questions and get a chance to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As a part of the MyGov initiative, the portal mygov.in has organised a governance quiz to find out how aware the citizens are of government's efforts. KIND OF QUESTIONS The 20 questions are randomly picked from a question bank, and can range across topics like -- solar energy capability added in 2015-16, the approximate amount of money transferred through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, the amount agriculture scholars get as senior fellows in third year and the number of districts covered under the Bet Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme. advertisement WHAT SHOULD A PARTICIPANT DO All a participant has to do is click on one of the four options given for a question. A scorecard is displayed to keep a tab on the score. TALLY OF SCORE Winners will be judged on the basis of correct answers, and if multiple participants have the same score, then the one who took the least time to complete the quiz will be the winner. The option of skipping tough questions and returning to them later is also available. --- ENDS --- The US has its fingers crossed ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). By Press Trust of India: In an apparent dissatisfaction over Pakistan's opposition to India becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the US has said it is not about an arms race, but about civilian use of nuclear energy. PEACEFUL USE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY "This is not about an arms race and it's not about nuclear weapons. This is about the peaceful civil use of nuclear energy, and so we would certainly hope that Pakistan understands that," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Friday. advertisement He was responding to questions about India's membership application to NSG and opposition to it by Pakistan on the grounds that this would give pace to nuclear arms race in the region. However, the US has fingers crossed, ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation NSG. INDIA READY FOR MEMBERSHIP "Look, all I can say is that during his visit to India in 2015, President (Barack) Obama did affirm the US view that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for membership. But it's a consensus body, so we'll wait and see how the vote goes," Toner said. "Deliberations about the prospects of new members joining the Nuclear Supplier Groups are an internal matter among the current members. I don't have much to say beyond that other than that I think they meet regularly," he said. CONSENSUS DECISION The upcoming NSG meeting has not been set up for this purpose. "They (Pakistan) have made public their interest, and certainly any country can submit its application for membership. We will consider based on a consensus decision," the spokesman said. Also read: NSG row: Exception shouldn't be made for India, says China --- ENDS --- An Indian prime ministerial visit to Iran was overdue since 2003 when Iranian president Mohammed Khatami was the chief guest at India's Independence Day, which itself was built upon then prime minister PM A.B. Vajpayee's Teheran sojourn two years earlier, in 2001, just before the 9/11 attacks. The complication is that in 2003 Iran's undeclared nuclear enrichment programme-with clandestine help from Pakistan's A.Q. Khan network-was revealed. Almost on a parallel track, the Bush administration determined that to balance the rise of China, India had to be unshackled from the decades of technology control restraints (due to the country's unwillingness to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty). Thus the strategic convergence between India and Iran over the rise of the Taliban and Pakistani meddling in Afghanistan began to unravel. KC Singh During 2003-08, America's directly-exerted pressure widened the India-Iran divergence as it sought Indian commitment for sending Tehran's case to the UN Security Council. In Iran, these actions were perceived as Indian perfidy, particularly as in the Iranian mind the country was being pilloried despite being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty while India was mollycoddled despite being a non-signatory. It would be useful not to forget the Iranian history of nursing hurts. advertisement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit has produced 12 agreements and some hyperbolic remarks. The joint statement is captioned 'Civilisational Connect, Contemporary Context'. The 12 agreements signed now revolve around a few themes. Two relate to cultural links, that is, a cultural exchange programme and cooperation in handling archives. Traditionally, as cultural activities in Iran are subject to Islamic checks, cooperation gets stymied. Music and dance were always ruled out and Iranians often get penalised for even attending proscribed events at diplomatic missions. The cultural tsars of the Modi government may themselves have a divergent perception of what cultural activities are worthy of propagation. The meeting ground between the two thus appears narrower than ever, although there is a huge yearning amongst Iranians for access to yoga, music etc. Four agreements are about Chabahar port and its funding. Two more are about connected projects planned in the free trade zone of the port and connecting it by railroad to Afghanistan. In 2001, the focus was on the North-South corridor and trilateral cooperation between India, Iran and Russia. The plan was to take goods via Bandar Abbas on the Gulf and Bandar Anzali on the Caspian to Russian ports and railways and on to Europe. It never really took off as Iranian handling charges were excessive and the Russian end was dominated by mafias, besides there being little return traffic resulting in containers getting blocked at EU destinations. Thus a proposal which was excellent on paper was rendered infructuous by financial greed and systemic mismatch. The Chabahar proposal had surfaced in the 2003 declaration too but Iran was under sanctions then. Its success is contingent on pacification of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which doesn't appear imminent despite the May 21 death of its leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour. India would be deluding itself if it perceives Chabahar through the narrow window of countering Pakistan. Though Afghan president Abdul Ghani proclaimed that "we won't be restricted by geography", Rouhani emphasised the trilateral agreement was not against any country and others were welcome to join. Another proposal is for jointly setting up an aluminum plant in Iran. In theory, it makes eminent sense to locate a high energy-consuming industry close to the sources of energy. Iran, however, has an unsettled debate between nationalists unwilling to let foreigners exploit its natural resources and pragmatists like Rouhani who seek investment. The same duality, the entrenched and expanded role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the oil and gas sectors during sanctions and deep Chinese intrusions will make Indian forays difficult. The success of Modi's visit will depend on whether mutual expectations can be matched. India seeks connectivity to Afghanistan, cooperation in the oil and gas sectors, balance of trade which remains hugely in favour of Iran and peace and stability in the Gulf. Iran would want to balance its excessive dependence on China, keep India from getting drawn into a deeper partnership with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, increase its bargaining power vis-a-vis Pakistan and the EU. Probably both India and Iran realise that talk of cooperation in cutting-edge scientific fields is impractical till Iran is seen by the US, EU and Israel as a responsible power not driven by dreams of Islamic revolution. India's balancing game between the Sunni powers led by Saudi Arabia and the Shia behemoth Iran could become difficult if their antagonism escalates or the PM lets the BJP's fringes or electoral compulsions dictate a more divisive agenda at home. advertisement India and Iran have historically been neighbours but were hardly allies. The Mughals and Safavids were competing empires. Nadir Shah's attack on India and the pillage of the Mughal treasury, including the Peacock throne and Kohinoor, in 1739 not only precipitated the collapse of the Mughal empire but ravaged Delhi. The Shah of Iran, enmeshed in US-led alliances, actively sided with Pakistan during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. He only turned to India towards the end, worried about the US's waning support for his regime. During the Iraq-Iran war, India tilted towards the secular Saddam Hussein. The 2012 terror attack on an Israeli diplomat in Delhi, traceable to Iran-based operatives, embarrassed India and bared the ugly underbelly of the Iranian system. The future of their engagement depends on how both steer through an Asia experiencing the rise of China, Shia-Sunni contestations, US rebalancing if not withdrawing and an India beset by cultural chauvinism and historical revisionism. advertisement KC Singh is a former Indian ambassador to the UAE and Iran --- ENDS --- Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad will battle for the Indian Premier League 2016 title at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. By Indo-Asian News Service: As we gear up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) summit clash, all eyes will be on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium which will host the exciting battle between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) here. (Full Coverage) SKIPPERS' SHOW Led by an inspirational Virat Kohli, RCB will be hoping to get the monkey off their back after failing to win in both their previous attempts -- 2009 and 2011 -- and also relish the opportunity of bagging their maiden IPL trophy in front of a vociferous home crowd. (Also read: Sunrisers Hyderabad ready for Virat Kohli challenge, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar) advertisement On the other hand, having managed to reach the play-offs just once in their debut season in 2013, Hyderabad will bank on their bowling prowess and skipper David Warner, who single-handedly pulled off an improbable four-wicket victory against Gujarat Lions in the second qualifier at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium on Friday. (Also Read: David Warner targets Virat Kohli in IPL final to defuse RCB's batting) KOHLI, ABD SOLID ON TOP Struggling to find consistency in the league phase, Bangalore made a stunning comeback to register five consecutive wins before reaching their third final. RCB dished out five clinical performances to beat the Gujarat Lions (by 144 runs), Kolkata Knight Riders (by 9 wickets), Kings XI Punjab (by 82 runs D/L method), Delhi Daredevils (by 6 wickets) and Gujarat (by 4 wickets) again in the first Qualifier to seal their place in the title clash. (Watch: AB de Villiers, guitar in hand, sweeps his wife off her feet) RCB's success story centred around skipper Kohli and AB de VIlliers's glorious run with the willow. With 919 runs under his belt, Kohli has amassed four centuries and six fifties in this edition so far to be the highest run-getter while the South African is the third highest scorer in the league with 682 runs, including one century and six half-centuries. After struggling to strike form in the early stages of the tournament, Kohli's opening partner Chris Gayle has found his touch at the right juncture while young keeper-batsman Lokesh Rahul has been a revelation for the team in this edition. WATSON SHINES WITH THE BALL Despite all-rounder Shane Watson not getting much opportunity to show his prowess with the willow in the 15 matches, the veteran Australian has led the side's weakened bowling unit with 20 wickets so far along with young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who also has as many wickets but from 12 games. England's Chris Jordan has also joined the party in helping RCB in containing their rivals in the death overs. REVENGE ON CARDS? Sunday's match would also give RCB an opportunity to avenge their 15-run loss to Sunrisers in the last clash between the two teams. advertisement On the flip side, coming into the final on the back of two high profile wins -- first against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs in the eliminator and then against Lions in the second qualifier, the visitors will go all out to clinch their maiden trophy. SRH'S INSPIRING LEADER Like their rivals, the visitors have also found an inspiring leader in Warner, who is next to Kohli to be the second highest run-getter with 779 runs from 16 games including eight fifties so far. Besides Warner, Sunrisers also have the likes of Shikhar Dhawan (473 runs), the experienced Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha and big-hitting all-rounder Ben Cutting in the batting department. LETHAL PACE BATTERY More than the batting, the side's pace bowling strength has been a challenge for the opposition in this edition. Despite losing veteran Ashish Nehra midway due to an injury, young pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is leading the wicket-takers' chart with 23 wickets from 16 games, while Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman (16 wickets from 15 matches), has also lived up to his skipper's expectations whenever he has been handed the ball. Sunrisers will be hoping Rahman turns up fit for Sunday's game after sitting out the second qualifier owing to a hamstring niggle. advertisement Left-arm pacer Barinder Sran has also come of age in the limited opportunities he has had while left-arm spinner Bipul sharma will look to be impressive again in beating the likes of Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers. --- ENDS --- A top government official confirmed to Mail Today that the files documenting the change of decision have not been found anywhere. An inquiry committee was set up in March to look 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. By Abhishek Bhalla : Missing files related to Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in 2004 along with three others by authorities in an alleged staged shootout in Gujarat, remain untraced despite efforts to locate the documents. The file hunt, which has proved to be futile till now, has added to the mystery surrounding the allegations against former union home minister P Chidambaram that he amended an affidavit, altering the UPA government's position that Ishrat was part of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group. advertisement ISHRAT JAHAN CASE FILES A top government official confirmed to Mail Today that the files documenting the change of decision have not been found anywhere. The Modi government had set up a oneman committee to probe the matter. The situation has put senior officials in the home ministry in a quandary on the future course of action if the files remain untraced. "It is a serious matter that the documents cannot be traced," said the official. The Ishrat Jahan case came under the spotlight again this year when LeT operative David Coleman Headley told a Maharashtra court that the 19-year-old was a member of the militant group's female wing. The BJP has since then accused the Congress, which was in power at the Centre for a decade until 2014, of conspiring to kill Modi and trying to hush up Ishrat's terror links. The one-man committee of additional secretary BK Prasad was set up in March to investigate and look into the circumstances in which the files went missing. Source said if the documents are not found the inquiry into the matter will be of no relevance. 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 a 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 are so far untraceable. Sources said Prasad has informed his seniors in the home ministry that the documents cannot be found anywhere. He is expected to give his report by May 31. Home minister Rajnath Singh informed Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing. The first affidavit was based on inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police apart from the Intelligence Bureau where it was said that the teenager from Mumbai was an LeT activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, home ministry officials said. CONGRESS SUPPORTING TERROR The BJP has accused the Congress of politicising terror, citing the amended affidavit from when Chidambaram was home minister. However, Congress defended Chidambaram and his decision is vindicated by the September 2009 report of judge SP Tamang who in his magisterial probe had called the encounter fake and also said there was no evidence to suggest the LeT angle. advertisement The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, officials said. The Congress leader had earlier said it was his duty to correct the affidavit, which was drafted without his approval and was being misinterpreted, as it was ambiguous. "After consultations with the Home Secretary, Director, Intelligence Bureau and other officers, the second affidavit clarified what the real intention of the central government was," he had said. PROBE INQUIRY The CBI in its probe concluded that the killings were staged and filed two charge sheets against four IB officials and Gujarat Police officers. Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed by Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004. The city crime branch had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in the state to kill the then chief minister Narendra Modi. Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: UPA govt worked in tandem with LeT in Ishrat Jahan case, says Kiren Rijiju advertisement --- ENDS --- Daniel Craig is "exhausted" from playing James Bond, according to his former co-star Dame Judi Dench. By Bang Showbiz: Daniel Craig is "exhausted" from playing James Bond. ALSO READ: After quitting James Bond franchise, Daniel Craig to star in Logan Lucky ALSO READ: Bond, Desi Bond - Priyanka Chopra's wishlist has replacing Daniel Craig as James Bond It was reported earlier this month that Daniel, 48, has turned down a GBP 68 million offer to play the suave super-spy in two more movies and his former co-star Dame Judi Dench, who played M opposite Daniel three times, believes he needs a break. advertisement She told the Daily Mail, "I think he is exhausted, absolutely exhausted." But when asked who she believes should replace Daniel, Judi, 81, whose character was killed off in Skyfall, said, "I don't know really. It's nothing to do with me, it's up to (producers) Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson!" Daniel reported rejected the huge offer, which is thought to be made up of profit shares, endorsements and a role as co-producer, from MGM studio and told bosses he is "done" playing the spy. A Los Angeles film source said, "Daniel is done - pure and simple - he told top brass at MGM after Spectre. They threw huge amounts of money at him, but it just wasn't what he wanted. "He had told people after shooting that this would be his final outing, but the film company still felt he could come around after Spectre if he was offered a money deal." The Hollywood actor's future as Bond has been the subject of much speculation in recent months. Just recently, British actor Tom Hiddleston was spotted meeting with Bond director Sam Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli in London, amid reports he could be the next 007. An onlooker said at the time, "At first it was Barbara, Tom and another good looking young man. Then Sam Mendes joined them at about 11pm and they stayed until around 1am ... There was lots of laughter; they all looked to be having a very jolly time." This prompted some bookmakers to suspend betting on Tom taking on the role next, but the actor insisted earlier this month that he hadn't been offered the part and wasn't aware that Daniel - who is married to actor Rachel Weisz - had hung up his Bond tuxedo. He said, "The thing is, the position isn't vacant as far as I am aware. No one has talked to me about it. "I think the reports have all come about because in the Night Manager I play a spy and people have made the link." Last year, Daniel - who has starred as 007 in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and 2015's Spectre - said he would "rather slash (his) wrists" than portray the spy again, but later admitted he would do another Bond movie "for the money". advertisement He also threw his Bond future in doubt when he signed up for 20-episode US TV series Purity. --- ENDS --- Despite several pleas, the president harassed her and even lifted her and tried to take her to an isolated place. By Aravind Gowda: A panchayat president and leader of Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka was arrested after for sexually harassing an employee in his office. The act was caught on camera. In the CCTV footage, Chandrahas, gram panchayat president of Kestur in Mandya, was seen forcing himself on the woman employee inside the village panchayat office on Thursday evening. WHAT HAPPENED advertisement According to the woman, she was preparing to leave office at 5:30 pm when Chandrahas summoned her into his chamber and tried to pin her down. Despite several pleas, the president continued to harass her and even lifted her and tried to take her to an isolated place. It was only after the woman began screaming that the accused fled from the scene. The woman was alone in the office when the incident took place. ACCUSED ARRESTED The victim narrated the incident to locals who later informed the police. A complaint has been lodged with Kestur police, who has now taken Chandrahas into custody. --- ENDS --- IN his fiercest and most direct attack on the Congress, Kiren Rijiju, minister of state for Home on Friday, charged the previous government of working in tandem with the Lashkar-e-Taiba on the Ishrat Jahan case. By Gaurav C Sawant: IN his fiercest and most direct attack on the Congress, Kiren Rijiju, minister of state for Home on Friday, charged the previous government of working in tandem with the Lashkar-e-Taiba on the Ishrat Jahan case. CONGRESS ,LeT WORK TOGETHER "After the encounter, LeT conceded Ishrat Jahan was a martyr, but when a particular police officer was appointed to investigate the matter, the LeT suddenly announced they made an error and that Ishrat was not their cadre. See how coordinated MHA and LeT were. advertisement MHA and LeT were working in tandem and it was disastrous for a country like India," Rijiju said in an exclusive interview to India Today. The young minister of state did not mince his words when he charged the UPA government with twisting investigations to suit a certain narrative of "saffron terror." BJP GOVT FOLLOWS THE LAW When asked whether the Narendra Modi government intends to probe the Batla House encounter, Malegaon blast or the Samjhauta investigations further, Rijiju insisted the government was strictly going by the book. "We have gone by the investigations conducted by the agencies and have left it to the courts to take a decision,'' he added. On the Batla house encounter case, Rijiju claimed the Congress continued to indulge in politics, which was very demoralising for the security forces. "Digvijaya Singh (Cong General secretary) says it was a fake encounter and Shivraj Patil, the then home minister says it was genuine! One must never play politics with national security and counter-terror operations. It is demoralising for the security forces,'' he said. Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: UPA govt, Lashkar worked in tandem in Ishrat Jahan case, claims Kiren Rijiju --- ENDS --- The role of the police department came under scrutiny following reports that personnel, many from the same caste group as the protesters, either directly or indirectly aided and abetted the rioters. By Asit Jolly: Something very dishonourable happened there. And the local police definitely did try to bury it." These remarks were not part of his "terms of reference" to probe allegations of rampant sexual abuse and gang rapes in Murthal village. But former Uttar Pradesh and Nagaland director general of police (DGP) Prakash Singh was clearly distressed by all that he saw and heard of the three days and nights of relentless mayhem that consumed Haryana during a fierce pro-quota movement by Jats in February. advertisement "There are no words in English to describe what happened in Haryana," says the eighty-year-old former police officer. MURTHAL GANGRAPE Members of the relatively well-off Jat community burnt houses and vehicles, vandalised businesses and allegedly even sexually assaulted women, demanding job and education quotas similar to those provided to underprivileged castes. The role of the police department came under scrutiny following reports that personnel, many from the same caste group as the protesters, either directly or indirectly aided and abetted the rioters. "I have been witness to the totality of administration - revenue and police. And in situations I have seen them respond with some delay, sometimes with great delay. There are instances where the response smacks of bias and where officers have been partisan. But I have never seen the administration collapsing. Ceasing to exist," Singh, requisitioned by the Manohar Lal Khattar government to probe lapses by government officials in tackling the bloody campaign, told India Today, days after submitting a report detailing the unprecedented abdication of duty by Haryana's police and civil administration. Still to be made public, the 414-page report, put together by Singh with assistance from IAS officer Vijay Vardhan and KP Singh -who has since been appointed the state DGP- indicts 80 police and civil administration officials who were deployed on key positions in eight violence-racked districts and state headquarters Chandigarh. Apart from those on the lower rung - station house officers (SHOs), chowki in-charges, duty magistrates and fire officers in field- the list of "delinquents" also includes top officials like the then Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal, intelligence chief Shatrujeet Kapur, home secretary PK Das and Shrikant Jadhav, inspector general of police in the worst-affected Rohtak Police Range, who was placed under suspension even as the state was burning. Without naming names, Singh says there are numerous instances where the abdication by senior district officers was deliberate and bordering on connivance with the intent-on violence protesters. "You know that loot and arson is taking place in your subdivision, yet instead of intervening you give them (the rioters) two to six hours to wreak havoc, at the end of which you patronisingly step in to say, 'arre bhai, ab bahut ho gaya? ab jao'." The tale of what transpired in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Sonipat and Panipat over three days in February is chillingly recounted in 2200 individual testimonies that Singh and his colleagues recorded and collated over 71 days. advertisement WITNESSES A 65-year-old Punjabi, who runs a public institution near Murthal, told Singh and the others about "200 motorcycle-borne, guntoting hoodlums sporting 'I am Jat' placards, methodically scouring the national highway to Delhi for cars to burn." The only vehicles spared, he said, belonged to people who "paid up." And when they came to torch his premises, a place that cares for the old, infirm and unwell, his frantic calls to the local DSP and SHO went unanswered. The SHO eventually picked up only to shout, "You bloody refugee. You deserve to suffer!" Fighting to hold back his tears the man, whose family was first forced to migrate from West Punjab (Pakistan) in 1947, told the committee they are preparing to move again. He has no idea where they will go, but says, "It has to be somewhere safe." Close by, the proprietor of a hugely popular Punjabi dhabha, who reportedly paid Rs 20 lakh as protection money for his establishment, refused to say a word on record. He would speak to the committee but without the "benefit" of a video camera or a stenographer latching onto his every word. advertisement VICTIMS A devout Sikh whose eatery has benefited from the growing traffic on NH1, he ran a four-day langar (community kitchen) serving commuters stranded because of the protests. At 1 am on February 20, he remembers a rush of young and older women. "Their clothes were in shreds. They all wanted to use the toilets. We gave them shawls and blankets to cover up," he said, recalling that he did not ask the "ladies" for any explanations because they were already "so distraught." The dhaba owner also told the committee how the women were literally spirited away by the district SP and DC, who magically appeared "35 minutes after the women showed up." Also Read: Video statement of Murthal 'victim' played in court --- ENDS --- D Bhalla, secretary in the Lok Sabha Secretariat, insisted that the Rs 48.25 lakh vehicle has been bought because of security considerations. By Press Trust of India: The purchase of a Rs 48.25 lakh swanky Jaguar XE as the new official car for Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has raised eyebrows with the opposition Congress asking her to reconsider using the luxury vehicle. The Lok Sabha secretariat, however, cited security considerations behind the purchase of the Jaguar car. 'SPEAKER SHOULD RECONSIDER TAKING THE CAR' advertisement When queries on the issue were put at the Congress briefing on Friday, 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. 'MOST AFFORDABLE OPTION' 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. --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Mailwal today held a meeting with police, government and civic officials asking them to ascertain the real owners of brothels on GB Road who have been evading the law enforcement agencies. It has been brought to the notice of Maliwal that Delhi Police is finding it difficult to ascertain the actual owners of the brothels, a DCW official said. advertisement "Under the law, if a minor is rescued from a brothel, it should be closed and an FIR should be registered against the owners. However, in case of GB Road, the owners are untraceable. "FIRs are, therefore, registered against those identifying as managers who are mostly sex workers and have been living in the brothels for long. It is suspected that the real owners of the brothels run huge trafficking rackets and remain hidden from the system," the official said. The newly appointed SHO of Kamla Market police station, Rakesh Kumar, had written to DJB, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. and sub-registrar so as to find out the real owners of the brothels. The Registrar Office of District Central informed the SHO that unless transaction details of the property are provided, they cannot ascertain the names of the owners. BSES informed the SHO that the records of ownership of electricity connections are not readily available and are old and dumped in their office, the official said. The DCW chairperson held the meeting with Additional District Magistrate (Central), Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Delhi Jal Board, BSES, MCD, Delhi Police and NGO representatives to discuss the issue. "The objective was to discuss the modalities of identifying the owners of all the brothels situated on GB Road," the official said. "It was decided in the meeting that the ADM will inform the Commission of the land owning agency and the real owners of the brothels. DJB and BSES have been directed to inform the Commission the names in which water and power connections have been given. The SHO was asked to interrogate the brothel managers so as to ascertain the owners of the place, the official said. During the meeting, the problem of illegal and hidden multiple entries and exits into the brothels was also highlighted. The civic authorities have been asked to form a team involving ADM, SHO, DCW and NGO representatives to undertake an exercise for identifying tehkhanas (basements) and tunnels within the brothels where women and girls are hidden during police raids. PTI PLB SMN RT SMN --- ENDS --- advertisement In addition, Union ministers and leading names from Bollywood, including Amitabh Bachchan, espoused social causes at the event to mark two years of the Modi government. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today celebrated two years of his government with an event called 'Ek Nayee Subah' at India Gate in New Delhi and said that as people increasingly repose faith in the work done by his government, his enthusiasm to work for them also increased. "Over the last 15 days, the work of the government of India is being very carefully analysed and all aspects are being seen closely. In the process, we have got renewed faith and enthusiasm," Modi said. advertisement "As the blessings by people are increasing, so is our enthusiasm," he added. Taking a swipe at the opposition, the prime minister said that over the last few days, "two things have emerged. One is 'Vikasvad' (development) and the other is 'Virodhvad' (opposition)". In addition, Union ministers showcased their achievements and leading names from Bollywood, including Amitabh Bachchan, espoused social causes at the event to mark completion of two years of the Modi government. True spectacle: India Gate backdrop, glass studio: politics as theatre in the 21st century.. #modi2; Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 28, 2016 HERE ARE THE TOP HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EVENT: 1. A range of government initiatives including Swatchh Bharat Campaign, the Beti Badhao Beti Badhao, Pradhan Mantrai Ujjawala Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana were highlighted as well as moves to boost income of farmers and improve rail, road and air infrastructure and provide electricity to all villages. 2. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Health Minister J.P. Nadda, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, Minorities Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan were among those who participated. The ministers highlighted government initiatives and also heaped praise on leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 3. Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said that Modi has natural inclination towards science and he was motivation behind the soil health card scheme, while Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said that Modi had taken steps to promote development of the northeast. 4. Paswan said Modi came from a poor family and the government was oriented towards welfare of the poor. 5. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who interacted from Nagpur, said that Modi had taken steps to end "policy paralysis" of the past. 6. Jaitley said the economy had achieved a growth rate of around 7.5 percent amid global slowdown and dwelt of the measures to bring back black money, moves towards financial inclusion through Jan Dhan Yojana and expanding micro-credit through the Mudra Yojana. 7. Uma Bharti suggested that government should take steps to provide sanitary napkins in women's toilets in rural areas. advertisement 8. Actor Amitabh Bachchan, who is also a United Nations ambassador for the girl child mission, said the girl child should be nurtured, educated and treated as equal and how 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao' aims at ending discrimination against them. 9. Sporting a Nehru jacket, he also interacted with girl children from various schools, and even recited lines from his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan's famous "Madhushala". 10. Actor Vidya Balan stressed the need to construct toilets in rural areas, while Raveena Tandon, participating in a panel discussion, stressed how education can lead women towards better living. Also read: #Modi2: We have fought corruption tooth and nail, says PM Modi --- ENDS --- Ekta Kapoor's supernatural show is all set to come to an end. Naagin actors recall their journey. By India Today Web Desk: Ekta Kapoor's supernatural drama Naagin is all set to wrap up in the coming weeks and the Team Naagin has finished shooting for the last portions of the show. In the last episode, Yamini aka Sudha Chandran will be killed by Shivanya aka Mouni Roy. Ritik and Shivanya will also be expecting their first child. So, it's a happy ending for Naagin, afterall. advertisement "It was hell of a roller-coaster ride. Every good thing comes to an end. If there is no end, there is no point of a journey," said Mouni Roy philosophically when asked how she was feeling after wrapping up Naagin Season 1. "I have done a lot of shows before. But Naagin has given me a boost in my career. I am thankful to god and Ekta Kapoor," said Adaa Khan who plays Sesha on the show. "I am happy to be part of Naagin. We are leaving on the top and not when the show's popularity is falling," said Arjun Bijlani who plays Ritik Meanwhile, the cast of the show--Arjun, Mouni, Adaa, Sudha clicked selfies. Take a look. Naagin airs every Saturday and Sunday at 8pm on Colors. --- ENDS --- Nandita Das doesn't like the arbitrary process of the censor board, but prefers the rating system for films. By Indo-Asian News Service: Actor-director Nandita Das doesn't like the arbitrary process of the censor board, but prefers the rating system for films. ALSO READ: Nawazuddin Siddiqui - Excited to play Manto in Nandita Das's next "Censorship is a very dangerous tool because 5-6 people decide what two billion Indians should watch. It is possible that something you don't like, I like, what I like, someone might not like. We have to trust people, so that we can collectively decide what is wrong and what is right. advertisement "Anyway everything is available on the internet. That is why to remodel censorship, Shyam Benegal and his whole team was formed. I hope the rating system is there so that no five individuals randomly decide what is right and what is wrong," Nandita said at a panel discussion at the Kashish Film Festival. Superstar Aamir Khan has previously supported the rating system, a system followed in some foreign countries where the film, according to its content, is certified or rated as to which age group can watch it. Nandita has had her fair share of issues with the censor board. Her film Fire along with Shabana Azmi, based on a lesbian relationship, faced problems with the board and so did her debut directorial Firaaq, depicting the 2002 Gujarat riots, and was reportedly banned before it was finally allowed to be released. "We had to suffer in Fire or in Water... it's sometimes not the censor board's fault. Fire, in fact, was not cut at all. There have been numerous films where arbitrarily things have been cut," she added. Films she felt should have been censored but weren't censored? "There are numerous films which I found offensive, where women are portrayed in a wrong way, or there is weird violence, or dialogues which take us back 20 generations. "So even these films if we don't want to watch, we don't watch; we tell others that this is a bad film, don't watch it. But that doesn't mean that what I didn't like, I would want it to be censored. I feel that all kinds of films should be made and we, as individuals, think and understand what is good and what is wrong," she said. Nandita's next film as director is based on Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto. --- ENDS --- Sharif will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday. By Press Trust of India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today extended his best wishes to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for his open-heart surgey to be held in UK on Tuesday. "My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health," Modi tweeted. My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health. @MaryamNSharif; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 28, 2016 advertisement Sharif will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday. Asif, also a confidante of 66-year-old Sharif, said doctors have advised the prime minister to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he will be staying in the hospital for a week. "The prime minister will travel after one week, on doctors permission," he added. Sharifs daughter, Maryam Nawaz had confirmed on twitter that her father will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday. Also read: Modi to Pakistan: Path to peace is a two-way street --- ENDS --- "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person," said the National Award winner By India Today Web Desk: A war of words today broke out between veteran Bollywood actors Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher. WAR OF WORDS Naseeruddin Shah, who was in Delhi to promote his recent release "Waiting", took a jibe at Kher's stand on the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits. "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person," said the National Award winner. advertisement Responding to this, Anupam Kher immediately took to social networking site Twitter to say, "Shah Saab ki Jai Ho. By that logic NRIs should not think about India at all". BOLLYWOOD SUPPORTS ANUPAM KHER Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit was the first one to extend his support to Kher. Pandit said, "Naseeruddin Shah should apologise to Anupam Kher." "Shah also did not live in Gujarat, then why did he raise voice against Gujarat riots," he added. You don't have to be Kashmiri to fight for #KashmiriPandits plight.Every Indian should condemn the brutality and support their resettlement. Madhur Bhandarkar (@imbhandarkar) May 28, 2016 However, Shah later clarified his statements and denied making any such remarks against the actor. I have not said any such thing, this is all misreporting :Naseeruddin Shah on his statement on Anupam Kher pic.twitter.com/8mNABd6cHc ANI (@ANI_news) May 28, 2016 Naseeruddin Shah also discussed lyricist Javed Akhtar's farewell speech in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogan. "I am sad that statements like these (referring to AIMIM MP Asaddudin Owaisi) are made and then they are not even condemned. Like Javed sahab said, 'It is his right to say 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat mata ki jai'. I will say it with my choice not because somebody asks me to,' I support him. Nobody has a right to question my love for my country," he said. NASEERUDDIN SHAH ON MODI GOVERNMENT Shah congratulated BJP on two years of governance, and said that Indians should give some more time to Modi government before coming to any conclusions against them. "I believe the people in the government are not stupid to understand the choices in front of them, either to build a modern India or to take us back into the dark ages. I think they are not stupid to take the second choice, " he said. However, he expressed concern about the recent debate over changes in the text book content in some parts of the country. "People are taking decisions and making perceptions too fast. I think we should give the government more time. But, there are few things which make me concerned, like the kind of alterations in the text books those are the things to worry about," Shah said. --- ENDS --- advertisement The BJP-led government's move came on the 152nd death anniversary of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and amid speculation that the findings could embarrass the Congress. By Anindya Banerjee: The Centre released on Friday a fresh set of secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in an attempt to unravel the mystery of his disappearance and death, but a clutch of pages purportedly going missing sparked a controversy. The BJP-led government's move came on the 152nd death anniversary of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and amid speculation that the findings could embarrass the Congress. The fate of Bose, an Independence hero and leader of the Indian National Army that collaborated with the Japanese and Germans against the British in World War Two, has remained a mystery for decades. advertisement 1945 AIR CRASH Many historians believe the freedom fighter died in a 1945 air crash, but several of his family members and admirers have contested this theory. Sources say culture minister Mahesh Sharma held a meeting on Thursday evening about the missing pages and whether it would be wise for the government to declassify the files in this form. Following a go-ahead from a "competent authority", say sources, a decision was made to release the files, with the Modi government showcasing the documents being made public as an achievement after two years in office. 25 DECLASSIFED FILES RELEASED One of the declassified files showed former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao had proposed to confer Bharat Ratna to Netaji posthumously, indicating that the government at that time had accepted that he was dead. "Thorough investigation must be conducted by the PMO to ascertain who were responsible for the destruction," said BJP leader and Netaji's grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose. The fact that certain pages were missing was purportedly first discovered when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, but no inquiry was ordered. A total of 25 files were declassified on Friday, seven of them pertaining to the prime minister's office, 14 to the external affairs ministry and four to the home ministry. The MEA files put online by the culture ministry are from the period 1968-98, comprising the bulk of the papers released. Also Read: As Modi remembers Nehru on his death anniversary, govt releases more Netaji files --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Aditi Khanna London, May 28 (PTI) Londons newly-elected mayor, Sadiq Khan, has ordered an urgent review of the citys security strategy to make sure it is prepared to respond to a major terrorist attack. The citys first Muslim mayor, who won by a landslide victory earlier this month, appointed a former chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Lord Harris, yesterday to analyse the citys ability to cope with a major attack. advertisement "Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe," Khan said. "I want to be reassured that every single agency and individual involved in protecting our city has the resources and expertise they need to respond in the event that London is attacked," he said. Lord Harris, who is also a member of the citys joint committee on the National Security Strategy, will report his findings in the next few months. "It is quite clear that terrorists want to attack London. They have attacked Paris. They have attacked Brussels. They have tried to attack London in the past. We have got to make sure we are constantly vigilant. I have asked Lord Harris to carry out an urgent independent review to reassure me that our city is prepared for, God forbid, a major terrorist incident," Khan added. The review will look at how the city would cope if multiple attacks were launched, examining the arrangements in place across all the emergency services. The emergency services along with Transport for London, the Port of London Authority and local government representatives will be contacted as part of the review. Scotland Yard police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: "Although we are confident the Met (Metropolitan Police) can deal effectively if terrorists did strike our city, and we test ourselves regularly, we are never complacent about the citys security and recognise that there will always be ways in which we can improve." PTI AK PMS --- ENDS --- Omar said Mehbooba had earlier refused to take the oath for three months, seeking Confidence Building Measures from the Centre. By Naseer Ganai: Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah gave credence to street rumours that Mehbooba Mufti became the chief minister after learning about the rebellion in her party. Abdullah, however, said she was informed by the central government about the rebellion in her party and was told that the PDP and BJP would the form government in the state with or without her, prompting her to end the three month long indecision about the government formation. NO CLARITY advertisement Opening up a debate in the Legislative Assembly over the Governor's address, Omar said Mehbooba had earlier refused to take oath for three months, seeking Confidence Building Measures from the Centre. He further said despite not getting anything, Mehbooba readily agreed to become the chief minister. "After the demise of late Mufti Sahab, you categorically stated that you wouldn't be able to justify becoming the chief minister unless and until New Delhi approves some significant Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) for the state. For two months you engineered planned leaks through your spokespersons that these CBMs demands included the demands for the return of power projects, an increase in the flood relief and rehabilitation package, smart cities for J&K and a slew of other demands. Then one fine day you met the prime minister and said you were satisfied," Abdullah lashed out at the CM. "Did you waste two months just to receive the prime minister's 'ashirwaad'?" he added. Alluding to the rebellion within the PDP, Omar said Mehbooba met BJP president Amit Shah and returned to Srinagar. She then again visited Delhi after meeting Shah and then met PM Modi. It was here when she was informed that the government in J&K could be formed with or without her, prompting her to quickly grab the CM's seat. "Srinagar is a small city afloat with rumours. Your party was ready to form the government from day one and some of your party colleagues were ready to form the government with or without you. At least you were told about this in New Delhi", Abdullah said. WASTED MONTHS Omar further said, after meeting the PM, a senior BJP leader, who shared close ties with the PDP, went on record to say that Mehbooba Mufti neither made any demands nor did the PM accept any. "You readily agreed to resume your alliance with the BJP on the previously existing terms and conditions and it was said that you met the PM and humbly received his 'ashirwaad'. Did you waste two months just to receive the PM's 'ashirwaad'?" Abdullah said sarcastically. advertisement Mehbooba Mufti was also present at the spot. Sources say the CM is likely to respond to the speeches on Saturday. After the death of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7, Mehbooba delayed government formation for almost three months. Her party, Peoples Democratic Party, which is in alliance with the BJP, sought assurances on the implementation of the Agenda of Alliance and demanded CMBs for the re-alliance. However, on April 4, Mehbooba took oath as chief minister after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even though the central government did not announce any CBM before or after her meeting with the PM. --- ENDS --- By PTI: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, May 28 (PTI) Nuclear programme has made Pakistans defence impregnable, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said today on the anniversary of first ever nuclear weapon testing by the country in 1998. He said the day will be remembered as a crucial milestone like Independence Day in the history of Pakistan. The day is observed every year as Youm-e-Takbeer. advertisement "Pakistan nuclear programme has made countrys defence impregnable," he said in his message. He also said that the day was a golden chapter of the history of the country. The Prime Minister said Pakistans atomic programme is aimed at ensuring peace in South Asia and maintaining balance of power in the region. He also said that Pakistan military is a shield against external threats and an effective tool to foil the designs of those engaged in destabilising the country internally. He said that peace has returned to the country and the economy stabilised as Pakistan was marching towards becoming an economic power. The premier said that several projects have been launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and these projects will change the destiny of the country. PTI SH NSA --- ENDS --- By PTI: Peshawar, May 27 (PTI) Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly today unanimously adopted a resolution against the US drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, seeking an apology from President Barack Obama for the attack deep inside the countrys territory. The resolution was tabled by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Fakhr Alam Wazir and unanimously passed by the House. advertisement The resolution termed the US drone strike deep inside Pakistan in the restive Balochistan province an attack on the countrys integrity and called on Obama to tender an apology, The News International reported. It also asked the federal government to lodge strong protest at diplomatic level. A US drone attack killed Mullah Mansour, chief of Afghan Taliban, deep insde Pakistan last Saturday. Pakistan has lodged a protest with the US and termed the drone strike an attack on countrys sovereignty. PTI ABH --- ENDS --- Painted on the side of a building in Bristol, southwest England the image reprises a 1979 photograph of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kissing. A woman walks past a political graffiti mural calling for people to register for the upcoming UK referendum depicting US presidential candidate Donald Trump and former London mayor Boris Johnson kissing, which is sprayed on a disused building in Bristol. By Reuters: A giant mural of Donald Trump locked in a kiss with former London mayor Boris Johnson in the style of a legendary Soviet-era image has been unveiled by a group campaigning for Britain to stay in the European Union. Painted on the side of a building in Bristol, southwest England - home of the celebrated graffiti artist Banksy - the image reprises a 1979 photograph of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kissing, which was later turned into a mural on the Berlin Wall. advertisement It was commissioned by pro-EU campaign group "We are Europe" as what they call a warning of things to come if Britons vote to leave the 28-member bloc on June 23, as advocated by both Johnson and Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate in November's U.S. presidential election. Johnson is the "Out" campaign's best-known leader and Trump has said Britain would be "better off without" the EU, which he has blamed for Europe's migration crisis. The 15-foot (4.5 metre) mural is accompanied by the slogan "Not #IN for this?" and a plea for people, especially the young, to register to vote by a June 7 deadline. "People need to look at this image and think - is this the future I want," said Harriet Kingaby, a spokesperson from We Are Europe. Galvanising the youth vote is a key issue for the "In" camp. Surveys show young people are far more likely to be in favour of remaining in the EU but also much less likely to bother to vote. A survey of 2,000 students this month found that 63 percent did not know the exact date of the referendum, while 54 percent were not aware it was being held in June. Also read: Donald Trump blames India again for taking US jobs --- ENDS --- Also slamming Kejriwal over the protest launched by sanitation workers over delay in payment of their salaries some months ago, Gandhi accused him of being "insensitive" to their pain. Accusing the BJP and AAP of engaging in "politics of television and selfie", the Congress leader said it is the poor people who suffer due to the same. By Press Trust of India: Rahul Gandhi today launched a stinging attack on the NDA government over the mega event marking its two years in office, saying farmers are committing suicide for want of water in Maharashtra, but the Modi dispensation is busy celebrating "with songs and dance with Bollywood stars". Addressing party workers during Congress's 'mashal julus' (torch rally) to protest alleged power and water shortage in Delhi, Gandhi also targeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying the latter speaks only on issues like odd-even and pollution, "but doesn't work". He also suggested the AAP leader is insensitive to "pain of poor". advertisement Rahul Gandhi slams Modi "Two years have passed... there is drought across the country. In Vidarbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra, farmers are committing suicide, killing themselves. "And here, at India Gate, two years are being celebrated, function has been organised, people from Bollywood have come, songs and dance have been arranged for," Gandhi told the gathering amid sloganeering against both Modi and Kejriwal. In pics Seeking to differentiate himself from Modi and Kejriwal, Gandhi said he believes in "politics of truth" in line with Mahatma Gandhi's ideology and not in "making false promises". Hitting out at two leaders, he also claimed the duo think they can fool all people all the time in India. "... Even if people of India tell me speak lies in politics, I can't do it. It's not in me. I may have suffered for speaking what I feel, I don't make false promises. But I can see, slowly, people of India and Delhi are realising that this country cannot move forward on false promises, not by hollowness, but blood and sweat," he added. He also exuded confidence that the Congress party, which he described as an organisation of "blood and sweat and not public relations", will return to power in forthcoming local body polls and also during next assembly elections. Kejriwal is insensitive Targeting Modi and Kejriwal further, Gandhi said "one hands over broom to people and says they will get clean India", while the other "connects electricity wires" and assures uninterrupted power supply. He made the remarks referring to NDA Government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and AAP's campaign against electricity problems in Delhi during Congress-rule in Delhi. People including farmers, labourers and sanitation workers in the national capital and also in rest of India are now being exposed to truth, Gandhi said as he picked up holes in performances of respective governments led by the two leaders. Slamming Kejriwal over the protest launched by sanitation workers over delay in payment of their salaries some months ago, Gandhi accused him of being "insensitive" to their pain. "... when they (sanitation workers) approached the Chief Minister and kept their demands before him, he told them that he will give one month's salary, but nothing after that. The person who can talk like this, he cannot understand problems of sanitation workers, he cannot understand their pain," he said. advertisement Accusing the BJP and AAP of engaging in "politics of television and selfie", the Congress leader said it is the poor people who suffer due to the same. "I say this everyday, if this country has to move forward, the poor has to be empowered, they must be heard and false promises are not to be made and have to work with truth," he added. Lauding Congress and its workers, Gandhi said the organisation and its members are not a "big budget publicity party, but one nurtured by blood and sweat" as he took a dig at BJP and AAP over their alleged "huge budget" public relation activities. "It's not a big budget publicity party (Congress). Rs 526 crore publicity budget here (of AAP Government) and perhaps thousands of crore rupee budget in Modiji's hands, ours is not a PR agency party, but that of blood and sweat," he said. Apparently referring to Congress' impressive performance during recently held MCD by-polls, Gandhi exuded confidence the success will be repeated during upcoming local body elections and also when the next assembly polls will be held as "his party knows how to work for people". advertisement "... there will be Congress party's rule again here as it knows how to work, doesn't make false promises, is aware of how to deal with electricity and water issues, knows how to help poor. Don't worry, you only will shine in future," he told party functionaries. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and other leaders of the party took part in the rally at Rajghat. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Mumbai, May 27 (PTI) Even as state-run BSNL and MTNL look at monetising their realty assets, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the precondition of using the land for telecom infrastructure at time of allotment may prove to be a hurdle. "We also have some limitations emanating from the fact that the land was allotted specifically for telecom infrastructure. What do we do?" he said, speaking at the loss-making MTNLs technology centre in an upmarket area of central Mumbai. advertisement Prasad added that some local support will be required to ensure that such plans go through smoothly and pointed to local BJP MP Kirit Somaiya as someone who can help. He said a high-level committee has been formed at the departmental level to look into how to utilise the excess land holdings of MTNL and BSNL. "I would like MTNLs revenue to increase, not only in terms of improving connectivity and consumer base, but also in optimum utilisation of their resources and infrastructure," Prasad said. He further said the government has empowered the boards of these companies to take the right decisions. Attacking the previous UPA regime, he said MTNL, which had reported a profit of Rs 10,000 crore when the Vajpayee government demitted office, was reeling under losses of Rs 8,000 crore at the end of a decade of Congress rule. The minister, who was in the city to speak about the achievements of the two years of the Narendra Modi government, said PSUs face a slew of challenges in their working and he would love to see a turnaround. The challenges for a PSU include facing flak from a minister, answering Parliament questions, facing an aggressive media, scrutiny by CBI and CVC as well as the judiciary and sticking to the L1 system under which the lowest bidder in a tender wins contracts, he said. He said the employees have to come together and collectively ensure improvement in the financial conditions of these units. PTI AA BEN NP ABM BAS --- ENDS --- An SUV was stolen from JD(U) MLA Kavita Singh's house in Patna and the angry legislator blamed her own government's slackness for the rising crime in Bihar. Brazen criminals struck again in Bihar, this time stealing an SUV from right outside the house of JD(U) MLA Kavita Singh in Patna. The incident has once again raised questions about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state where even legislators of the ruling party are not spared. WHAT REALLY HAPPENED Kavita Singh told India Today that her brother had come to meet her from Saran on Thursday and was staying the night. When they woke up, his Bolero was missing. "The Bolero belonged to my brother Rakesh Singh. I have registered an FIR in the case," the MLA from Daraunda said. Twenty-four hours later, the police still has no clue about the stolen SUV. Singh, who is a sitting legislator of the ruling JD(U), said the police had assured her they'll trace the vehicle but no progress has been. "The police said they will look into CCTV footage and try to find out where the vehicle might have been taken but even after 24 hours there is no information," she said. The MLA used the opportunity to attack her own government, alleging that it was the administration's slackness that was the main reason behind rising crime. She demanded that they pull up their socks to ensure crime comes down. "Criminals want to dent the image of our government. Administration should be pro-active in tackling crime. It's because of the lapses in administration that crime has increased in Bihar", Kavita Singh alleged. advertisement PRODUCTION MANAGER FROM THE TELEGRAPH THRASHED Rakesh Kumar Singh, an employee with The Telegraph, was abducted and beaten by a group of unidentified men in Patna on Friday. According to Singh, he was returning home with his colleague Subodh Kumar in a jeep when their car collided with a Mahindra TUV 300. The four occupants of the SUV came out of their car and began thrashing him and his colleague. The duo were later dragged inside their vehicle and taken to another spot, where they were beaten for another two hours. The accused then fled from the spot, leaving the them badly injured. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Tirupati, May 27 (PTI) Telugu Desam Party has requested the Centre to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh and fulfil all commitments made in the AP Reorganisation Act-2014. A resolution to this effect was unanimously adopted at TDPs three-day annual conclave Mahanadu here this evening. Government Chief Whip Kalva Srinivasulu moved the resolution and it was seconded by Anakapalli MP M Srinivasa Rao and Bobbili MLA Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao. advertisement "The Centre should necessarily grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh in accordance with the promise made by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the floor of the Rajya Sabha in February 2014. The Centre should also implement all provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act and do justice to the state," Srinivasulu said. The Anakapalli MP said they are waging a struggle "without compromise" till special category status is achieved. "BJP should co-operate with us in this regard," he added. Chief Minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said he discussed the issue every time he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "When I met him last on May 17, I requested him to grant special category status. He assured me that he would call me to New Delhi again and do justice," Naidu said. He, however, reiterated that special category status is no panacea and said, "How much have the 11 states that now enjoy special status developed? Nothing." (More) PTI DBV KRK NSD BAS --- ENDS --- The incident took place on May 27 and 28 at around 2am when Rakesh Singh, a production manager, was returning back from the printing press to his office in the official jeep along with a colleague Subodh Kumar. An employee of the English daily newspaper employee abducted, thrashed in road rage incident in Patna newspaper was beaten up after being abducted in an incident of road rage in Patna. The incident took place on May 27 and 28 at around 2am when Rakesh Singh, a production manager, was returning back from the printing press to his office in the official jeep along with a colleague Subodh Kumar. advertisement WHAT HAPPENED According to the victim, the jeep was moving on Bailey road flyover and collided with a TUV which was coming from the wrong side in which four men were seated. After collision, the men in the TUV came out and started beating Rakesh Singh and later pulled him inside the vehicle. For almost two hours as the TUV moved across the city, they kept thrashing him. It was only around 4am that they released Rakesh Singh at the Patna railway station in an unconscious state. They also abandoned their TUV and escaped. After the matter came to light, the victim was rushed to the nearby hospital. Rakesh said, "They abducted me and took me towards Danapur. They took away all my money and my ATM cards. They threatened to shoot me if I raised an alarm. After two hours they threw me at railway station and escaped. All of them were drunk." The employees of the newspaper on Saturday also met the DIG of Patna regarding the incident and demanded the arrest of the accused at the earliest. "We have registered the case and slapped strongest possible charges against the accused. We will soon arrest the attacker", said DIG Patna, Shalin. Fortunately, in this road rage incident, the victim despite being badly beaten managed to survive but the incident is a grim reminder of the how situation of law and order in Bihar is alarming. --- ENDS --- Several cultural programmes will be showcased at the function with the government's theme song - "Mera desh badh raha hai, aagey badh raha hai" - featuring prominently. By India Today Web Desk: The BJP-led NDA government is celebrating the completion of two years in power in grand fashion at a mega event at India Gate today. NEW DAWN Titled 'Ek Nayi Subah' or 'A New Dawn', the 5-hour long event will be divided into 10 segments to highlight the government's achievements in various areas in the last two years. advertisement Several cultural programmes will be showcased at the function with the government's theme song - "Mera desh badh raha hai, aagey badh raha hai" - featuring prominently. ACHIEVEMENTS SHOWCASE Apart from this, short films and interviews of ministers as well as people who have benefited from the schemes launched by various ministries will also be aired. SIX-CITY PROGRAMME The national capital isn't the only place in the limelight. Apart from Delhi, similar programmes will be hosted in the cities of Shillong, Mumbai, VIjayawada, Jaipur, Karnal and Ahmedabad. All these places will have Cabinet ministers in attendance accompanied by their MoS. The programmes will be telecast live by Doordarshan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Cabinet ministers and a host of film stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapoor and Prasun Joshi are expected to attend the event. --- ENDS --- The state party leaders had earlier been to Delhi to consult with the party high command on the choice of Chief Minister. V Narayanaswamy has been nominated as the Chief Minister of Puducherry. (Photo: PTI) By India Today Web Desk: The grand old party today in a legislature party meeting decided to name Congress leader V Narayanaswamy as the Chief Minister of Puducherry. The decision came after the state party leaders consulted the party high command in Delhi on the choice of chief minister. Senior Congress leader and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and party general secretary Mukul Wasnik attended the meeting as AICC observers. advertisement The opposition parties earlier alleged that infighting in the Congress party is delaying the formation of the government in the state. Former chief minister V Vaithialingam denied any rift in the party on the issue of Chief Minister. He justified the delay saying that Congress being a national party, has to consult central leadership before reaching at a decision. Here is all you need to know: According to the party's central observers, Narayanasamy was elected unanimously by all the Congress legislators. Narayanasamy, who is also a party general secretary, did not contest the elections. For Narayanasamy to get elected one of the sitting legislators has to resign. There were three contenders for the chief minister's post - former chief minister V.Vaithilingam, party chief A.Namassivayam and Narayanasamy. The Congress-DMK alliance won a simple majority by bagging 17 of the 30 Assembly seats. Meanwhile, disappointed at the outcome, supporters of Namassivayam shouted slogans and also attacked buses on the East Coast Road. --- ENDS --- By Indo-Asian News Service: Micro-blogging website Twitter has paid $322,420 to researchers and bug hunters who, under its bug bounty "HackerOne" program, have disclosed vulnerabilities in the last two years. "We maintain a secure development lifecycle that includes secure development training to everyone that ships code, security review processes, hardened security libraries and robust testing through internal and external services -- all to maximise the security we provide to our users," Arkadiy Tetelman, software engineer at Twitter, said in a blog post on Friday. advertisement On top of these measures, the company also engages the broader information security community through their bug bounty program, allowing security researchers to responsibly disclose vulnerabilities to the company so that they can can respond and address these issues before they are exploited by others. The company has been utilising "HackerOne" since May 2014 and has found the program to be an invaluable resource for finding and fixing security vulnerabilities ranging from the mundane to severe, Tetelman added. He noted that in two years, the company has received 5,171 submissions to the program from 1,662 researchers and 20 percent of resolved bugs were publicly disclosed (at the request of the researcher). Also read: Twitter says it won't count photos, links towards 140-character limit "We have paid out a total of $322,420 (USD) to researchers. Our average payout is $835. Our minimum payout is $140 and our highest payout to date was $12,040 (our payouts are always a multiple of 140)," Tetelman noted. In 2015 alone, a single researcher made over $54,000 for reporting vulnerabilities, the software engineer said. "We also offer a minimum of $15,000 for remote code execution vulnerabilities, but we have yet to receive such a report," he added. Tetelman noted some great bugs exposed through the program, including XSS inside Crashlytics Android app that renders part of its content inside a webview, which did not have adequate protection against cross site scripting attacks. He also mentioned "IDOR allowing credit card deletion" -- a simple insecure direct object reference bug on the credit card deletion endpoint allowed an attacker to delete, but not view, credit cards not belonging to them. "If you are interested in helping keep Twitter safe and secure too then head on over to our bug bounty program, or apply to one of our open security positions!" he said. Also read: Twitter to soon roll out automatic Night Mode UI --- ENDS --- His case is interesting because it illustrates that the US is continuing to enforce economic sanctions that were violated prior to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which led to the lifting of numerous nuclear-related sanctions in January. But the latest developments in Zarrabs case come at the same time as members of the US Congress have harshly criticized the Obama administration for its failure to enforce other types of sanctions that are supposedly unrelated to the nuclear agreement. Zarrabs prosecution arguably stands in contrast to the American Thinkers report on Thursday that the US has not sanctioned a single human rights abuser since the implementation of the JCPOA. The article notes that some supporters of the nuclear agreement, such as Rhode Island Democratic Representative David Cicilline, had indicated that their support was partly based on promises that the US would aggressively push back against Irans misbehavior on issues outside of the nuclear sphere. Cicilline used a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday to question what the Obama administration had done to push the Islamic Republic to reduce its human rights violations and regional interference since the nuclear agreement. In so doing, he joined opponents of the nuclear agreement in suggesting that the administration had adopted an excessively weak overall policy toward Iran. At various times over the past several months, human rights organizations have suggested that a narrow focus on the nuclear agreement would lead to much of the world community neglecting Irans human rights record, which in some respects has worsened during the same period of time. Ambassador Stephen Mull, the lead coordinator of the nuclear deals implementation, admitted that the US had not imposed any recent human rights-related sanctions. And according to the Weekly Standard, Ambassador Wendy Sherman subsequently said that the administration would certainly respond to any truly horrific terrorist action or human rights violation. This of course raises the question of what the White House would consider truly horrific, and how it would compare to the various recent reports of Irans illicit foreign and domestic activities. One of the main points of interest regarding Irans human rights record under the presidency of the so-called moderate Hassan Rouhani has been the rate of execution. Iran had already proven to consistently have the highest per-capita rate of executions in the world, but the annual figures have only increased during the three years of Rouhanis tenure. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, reported that the number of executions in 2015 alone had nearly exceeded 1,000. This trend has apparently continued this year, as indicated on Friday by Ground Report, which pointed out that at least 16 Iranians had been executed in just two days. Furthermore, at least one of the victims of these executions had been a juvenile at the time of his alleged crime. His execution was thus in violation of the international standards outlined by two documents to which Iran is a signatory. Such executions recur rather frequently in the Islamic Republic. They have been sources of international activism, sometimes resulting in capital cases being reviewed by the Iranian courts. But in most cases, the judiciary has upheld the sentence, insisting that young teenagers were mentally mature enough to be sentenced to death. But whereas the youths in these cases have at least tended to be accused of recognizable crimes (although not necessarily violent crimes), other young Iranians have been targeted by regime authorities as part of a crackdown on behavior that is seen as a threat to the regimes hardline ideology. This trend was famously illustrated in 2014 by the arrest of six young people who had appeared in YouTube video in which they danced to an American popular song. Various other stories have shown the same trend to be ongoing. One of the most recent of these was reported by Agence-France Presse, among other outlets on Friday. It indicated that more than 30 Iranian students had been arrested en masse for their attendance at a party that reportedly included alcohol and mixed-gender dancing, both of which are illegal in the Islamic Republic. AFP reports that every one of the individuals arrested in this incident received a sentence of 99 lashes. Furthermore, this particular crackdown took place in its entirety within 24 hours, with all of the partygoers receiving their violent punishment less than a day after their initial arrest and immediate trial. Such incidents are indicative of a broader crackdown on activities and social attitudes that are judged to be out of step with the regimes hardline ideology. Not all elements of this crackdown are likely to fit the description of truly horrific. However, all of them, such as the public segregation of men and women, the censorship of journalists, writers, artists, and musicians, and the spreading of anti-Western and anti-Semitic propaganda all illustrate the ideological driving forces behind political imprisonments and other human rights violations. Eurasia Review reiterated on Friday that one recurring instance of non-violent repression has been the forced cancellation of numerous concerts that had previously been approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The article points out that the mere presence of women at such would-be concerts is often sufficient cause for authorities to force their cancelation, thus pointing to the apparent increase in pressure against womens rights. Also on Friday, JNS published an article discussing the Holocaust cartoon contest that Iran is hosting for the third time. As well as criticizing the message of that contest, the article undermined a key reason why the Obama administration might be treating Iran gently: the expectation of internal reform under Rouhanis presidency. Although President Obama had indicated that such moderation might be encouraged by the nuclear deal, many opponents of the Iranian regime have disregarded this notion and have accused Rouhani and his cabinet of presenting a false image to gain favorable terms from the US. Toward this end, JNS called Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif both a liar and a coward, insofar as he had refused to acknowledge the Iranian governments sponsorship of the anti-Semitic cartoon contest, and had utilized that denial in an attempt to convince some Western entities that the current government was not at fault for the hardline ideology expressed by such events. While the former conclusion is verifiable, the latter cannot be assumed to be free of controversy, considering the inadequacies that some critics of the deal see in its provisions for inspector access. Many of these critics believe that Iran has been left with the ability to pursue illicit nuclear activities in secret, at sites that have not been made known to inspectors. In fact, during the late stages of nuclear negotiations, the National Council of Resistance of Iran claimed to have uncovered evidence of an entirely separate uranium enrichment program at one such undisclosed site. But the main controversy to be expected in the wake of the IAEA report deals not with its findings but with its possible consequences. The announcement of Irans compliance is sure to reinforce the Obama administrations claims that it must continue to take extensive measures to prove US compliance with the financial aspects of the deal, and to help Iran to receive economic benefits from it, in order to preserve the deal over the long term. On Wednesday, National Public Radio issued a report explaining how many members of Congress have come to the conclusion that the administration is going much too far in these endeavors. The report quoted Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as saying during that days committee hearing that the administration has been telling European business leaders that investment in Iran is not only permitted, but actually encouraged. This apparent position has raised the ire of Royce and other congressmen who see such encouragement as indirect US financing of the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism. Such critics are eager to not that Irans behavior has not changed in the wake of the nuclear deals implementation, and certainly not in a way that would justify expanded investment by the US or its allies. Indeed, many recent reports have emphasized that European investors and the international banking system have largely remained wary of reentering the Iranian market. The Iranians themselves have tended to blame the US for this situation, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei saying that the slow pace of Irans recovery is evidence that the US is upholding the JCPOA only on paper. But while it is true that European banks and companies are responding to ongoing US sanctions and restrictions on the Islamic Republic, many of those restrictions are related to criteria that are universally imposed on nations that seek access to the US financial system. This fact was discussed in a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday. In it, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who supports the nuclear deal, pointed out that potential investors are rightly concerned about Irans long history of money-laundering, corruption, and other trends that violate the aforementioned criteria. She went on to ask a former Treasury Department official what Iran could do to regain a place in the international banking system, instead of blaming the United States for the slow pace of its economic recovery. Elizabeth Rosenberg, now with the Center for a New American Security, responded by saying that first and foremost, they could stop funding terrorism. But on Thursday, Townhall reported that far from stopping such terrorist financing, Iran recently resumed sending money to the Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad. After two years of strained relations, Islamic Jihad is now poised to receive 70 million dollars directly from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Townhall attributes this to Irans cash-flush position following the nuclear deal and the Obama administrations investment drive. It also notes that that drive has been ongoing despite the fact that the White House previously acknowledged the possibility of some unfrozen Iranian assets ending up in the hands of terrorist groups. The State Department subsequently acknowledged that Irans terrorist-financing activities have indeed remained undiminished in the wake of JCPOA implementation. Congress Pushing Back Against the Administration In light of these observations, it is no wonder that according to CNN, Wednesdays Foreign Affairs Committee hearing focused mainly on committee members skepticism about the Obama administrations approach to implementation and preservation of the nuclear agreement. That approach is widely believed to have a strong influence over the administrations general Iran policy, including aspects that the administration itself had promised would remain unchanged by the JCPOA. Those promises technically remain in place and have been reiterated by administration officials, who told the hearing that the US is still fully enforcing non-nuclear sanctions. But many congressmen feel that that insistence is undermined by Secretary of State John Kerrys extensive communications with European investors over trade with Iran, as well as by the lack of new sanctions or executive action in response to Iranian provocations, including several post-JCPOA launches of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. Consequently, congressmen and other non-administration experts who participated in the hearing tended to insist upon measures that the administration claims to already be maintaining, such as barring Iran from the US financial system and from dollarized transactions. In recent weeks, a number of congressmen have accused the administration of angling to provide surreptitious access in order to improve Irans financial outcomes and help preserve the nuclear deal. Critics of the Obama administrations policies have apparently used these concerns to justify advocating for unilateral congressional action that would increase pressure on Iran and counteract any contrary efforts by the White House. This trend was highlighted once again in the Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, when Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said that Congress could target US dollar transactions with Iran that took place outside of the US financial system, without violating the nuclear deal. While such measures remain theoretical, there are other places where Congress has already taken steps to push back against the administrations Iran policy, although few if any of these efforts have ultimately been successful. Earlier in May, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton attached an amendment to a US Energy Department budgetary bill, which would have prevented the US from repeating a recent agreement to purchase several tons of Iranian heavy water produced by the Arak facility. Cotton characterized such an agreement as direct financing of the Iranian nuclear program, using US taxpayer money. But detractors described the amendment as a poison pill, which would have forced a presidential veto of the Energy Department budget, and Cottons effort was defeated by the Democratic minority. However, ABC News reported on Thursday that the effort had been repeated in the House, where the amendment passed by a vote of 251 to 168. The veto threat makes it fairly likely that this amendment will be removed in final negotiations between the House and the Senate, but it is nonetheless indicative of the ongoing congressional efforts that are being made to compensate for what is perceived as a conciliatory executive policy on Iran. Foreign and Non-Governmental Support Naturally, Congress has support in this overall endeavor from entities outside of the US government. And while Congress is working to counteract the White Houses encouragement of European investment, some of these outside organizations are targeting those potential investors directly, to convey their concerns about both the financial and the moral risks of adding to Irans wealth. On Friday, Trend reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif would be shortly embarking on a five-day tour of Europe, during which he would lead a trade delegation to Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, Latvia, and Finland. In response to this announcement, the organization United Against a Nuclear Iran sent a message directly to Finnish President Sauli Niinisto insisting that he avoid expanded economic relations with the Islamic Republic until such time as its behavior changes for the better. Business Wire points out that UANI is headed by a number of former leading democrats and lawmakers, with Senator Joseph Lieberman acting as its president and ambassador Mark D. Wallace as its CEO. Both men attached their names to the message that said of Zarifs visit and associated interchanges between Europe and the Islamic Republic, This charm offensive cannot hide the fact that Iran remains the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, matched only by its deplorable human rights record. The various recent reports of sluggish foreign investment in Iran may indicate that these sorts of communications are having some effect. If so, they are presumably aided by the effects of what the Chicago Tribune described on Friday as a rearguard action by Saudi Arabia and other traditional adversaries of Iran, to make the latters recovery more difficult. The Tribune anticipates that this clear cut Saudi policy will likely result in a contest that lasts for some years. At the same time, it observes that the strength of that policy may be limited by the apparent fact that the Gulf Cooperation Council and other Saudi allies are not entirely on board with the strategy. It is possible that this relative lack of commitment is partly attributable to the fact that the Saudi efforts contradict those of the Obama administration, which has been periodically urging reconciliation between the two bitter adversaries. President Obama himself has said that the Saudis and Iranians will need to share the region. But Irans critics generally do not see this as a realistic possibility, in light of what Al Arabiya described on Friday as the Iranian supreme leaders self-perception as the savior of all Muslims. The associated pursuit of Muslim unity under an Iranian banner is the driving force behind Irans various interventions in regions like Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Al Arabiya explains that in addition to urging investment in the Islamic Republic, the Obama administration is deliberately looking the other way on these interventions and other activities, because it views Iran as a possible counterbalance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and also to China and Russia. But this would seem to depend upon realistic prospects for Iran moderating its attitudes and behavior toward the west something that critics have categorically rejected. On Friday, The Conversation published an article explaining that even if the supposedly moderate Iranian presidency of Hassan Rouhani did want to pursue a policy of reconciliation with Western powers, it would simply not be able to do so. This is to say that despite the claim that moderate and reformist factions now constitute a 60 percent majority of the Iranian parliament, neither that body nor the presidency has sufficient power to override the enrichened hardline ideologies of the supreme leader and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps/ According to The Conversation, this entities retail full control over foreign policy and also dominate the countrys economic structures, thereby making it extremely unlikely that foreign investment will be made mora palatable by economic reforms. 100 years ago, May 28, 1916 Sunday. No paper. 50 years ago, 1966 MATTOON -- Veterans organizations will pause Monday to pay tribute to their comrades who gave their lives in the service of their country. Participating will be American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations, their auxiliaries and the local National Guard unit. A wreath honoring veterans who died at sea will be dropped from an airplane into Lake Paradise, while a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the veterans memorial at City Hall... MATTOON -- John David Reed, son of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Reed of Mattoon, was awarded a one-year internship in Italy at the honors and convocation at the University of Missouri. He will serve as general assignment reporter and night news editor with the Rome Daily American newspaper in Italy. Reed plans to return to the University of Missouri to complete his master's degree at the end of his internship. 25 years ago, 1991 CHARLESTON -- A larger-than-usual crowd of about 80 people gathered Monday morning at Roselawn cemetery to remember the meaning of Memorial Day. Members of VFW Post 1592 and the Ladies Auxiliary conducted ceremonies to honor servicemembers who died in combat. Jim Hood, post commander, said the large crowd may be due to a sense of patriotism left from the end of the Persian Gulf war last winter MATTOON Spark from a welder caused about $1,000 damage in a fire about 9 p.m. Friday at the Kraft/Lenders plant on West Illinois Route 121. Reports said a large filter from an air handling unit caught fire, but did not spread. Rick Senecal, a construction worker at the plant, was credited with keeping the fire under control until firefighters arrived. Senecal was taken to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center for treatment of smoke inhalation CHARLESTON Wesley United Methodist Church officials have announced plans for a $1.5 million addition to the present building. Groundbreaking will take place in August, said Stan McMorris, chairman of the building committee. A fan-shaped sanctuary with seating for 490 people is planned. Phase II of the project includes numerous classroom additions to the east side of the building. The addition also will house a practice room for the choir. 100 years ago, May 29, 1916 MATTOON -- Assignment of teachers for the Mattoon public schools was completed this morning by Superintendent Wiley and his secretary, Miss Jessie King. Mrs. Elizabeth McNair will serve as music supervisor for the schools and Miss King also will serve as librarian. Other administrative appointments include H.B. Black, Mattoon High School principal and math teacher; Miss Katherine Keeley, Hawthorne School, principal and Grade 8B teacher; Miss Anna Pape, Longfellow School principal and Grade 8A teacher; Mrs. Olive Brim, Lowell School principal and Grades 3A and 4B teacher; Mrs. Emma G. Phillips, Washington School principal and Grade 1B teacher; Miss Sara Barr, Clumbian School principal and Grades 4A and 4B teacher; Miss Katrine Morgan, Lincoln School principal and Grade 6A and 6B teacher; Miss Anna Johnson, Bennett School principal and Grade 6A and 6B teacher... JANESVILLE -- Wednesday, June 1, will witness the induction into office of John R. Whitacre as postmaster of Janesville, his commission having just arrived. Mr. Whitacre succeeds John I. Martin, who resigned some months ago. Mr. Whitacre will move the office from its present location to his building less than half a block distant on the same street. He is a jeweler and watch repairer, and has other business interests which can be looked after in the same building. 50 years ago, 1966 Sunday. No paper. 25 years ago, 1991 CHARLESTON -- An Illinois General Assembly request could lower next years budget at Eastern Illinois University to less than in fiscal year 1991. EIU President Stan Rives on Tuesday said he will attend a House Appropriations Committee hearing Friday to present a statement concerning the requested 2 percent cut. If approved, the cut would cost the university $706,600. At the request of Gov. Jim Edgar, the university already has cut 1 percent of its current budget, which will lapse into the following year. The budget, even with a recently approved 5 percent increase in tuition, still would be about $200,000 lower than the $52,143,200 FY 1991 budget SPRINGFIELD Sam Owen of Mattoon has been named deputy director of the Illinois State Lottery. Owen had worked with Gov. Jim Edgar in the Illinois secretary of states office. 100 years ago, May 30, 1916 MATTOON -- All plans have been completed for the observance of Memorial Day today. Exercises will be carried out at Dodge Grove Cemetery, as has been the custom for years. The main address will be delivered by H.D. Sparks of Shelbyville. J.F. Wiley will read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. A parade will be a successful feature of the celebration. Col. S.D. Geary is officer of the day and George B. Swan, marshal. The parade will form at 1:30 p.m. at Fifteenth Street and Charleston Avenue... MATTOON -- The railroad brotherhoods are asking the nation's railroads to better their working conditions and grant them an eight-hour day. The men claim that the revenues of the companies have increased enormously on account of long, heavy tonnage freight trains. Official reports show an increase of 47 percent in tons carried by the average freight train. One railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission that the increase in train load from 1910 to 1913 resulted in a savings of $4.5 million. Should not part of the "savings" referred to go toward bettering the conditions of the train crews whose work makes the "savings"? 50 years ago, 1966 Sunday. No paper. 25 years ago, 1991 CHARLESTON -- Electricity usage for the month of May hit a new record Tuesday, reaching 1,799 megawatts 224 megawatts higher than the previous record set in May 1987. Ed Cobau, spokesman for Central Illinois Public Service Co., said the utility doesnt usually begin to see high electricity peaks until July or August. A mechanical problem closed the Rotary Community Pool , cutting off one form of relief from the heat for at least two days. After a string of 90-plus temperatures, the area had some relief Wednesday with a high of 81 CHARLESTON Coles County may soon repay people who were erroneously charged for probation supervision. The move is a result of a change in the intent of a state law that allowed collection of the fees, according to Mike Hughes, director of Coles County Court Services. Hughes estimated that between 50 and 80 probation clients may get refunds. The most anyone will receive will be about $200 and most will get between $25 and $100, he said. Heather Cherrys vision was fairly good, but the stay-at-home mom in rural Nevada was tired of reaching for her glasses when she wanted to see into the distance during a hike or fully enjoy the sight of wild horses grazing at the side of the road. Lasik vision correction surgery offered the hope of 20-20 vision, and when she went to an eye surgery center in January, she was told she was an excellent candidate. But then came the consent form, with warnings about possible side effects such as diminished night vision and eye irritation. Cherry went online, found the patient website Lasik Complications and saw complaints of chronic eye pain and severely impaired vision. I dont feel good about this, she said when she canceled her surgery. I dont feel like this is the right choice for me. Potential patients are less likely to opt for Lasik than in the procedures heyday of 2000-2007, when ads flooded the airwaves and more than a million of the outpatient surgeries were performed each year. The number of laser vision correction surgeries per year a category including Lasik and the closely related PRK procedure has dropped more than 50 percent, from about 1.5 million surgeries in 2007 to 604,000 in 2015, according to the eye care data source Market Scope. Explanations for the decline in volume vary widely, with eye surgeons blaming the economic downturn and noting that some practices have seen increases in the last few years. I cant tell you exactly why Lasik volumes are down, but there are some ideas and theories says Dr. Kerry Solomon, president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. One is that the economy hasnt fully recovered. Two, were dealing with a different generation, millennials, and millennials make decisions differently, maybe they have different priorities. Maybe the millennial generation wont adopt Lasik to the same extent the baby boomers did. Maybe they will, and we have to reach out to them differently. Theres also less marketing going on than there was in 2006 and 2007, Solomon says, and not as many doctors are doing Lasik. Anti-Lasik patient advocates say potential patients are finding websites such as Lasik Complications and reading sobering stories about patients who endure debilitating side effects. Word of mouth may also be having an effect, says Paula Cofer, an administrator of the Lasik Complications Facebook Group. Interest in Lasik, in which a surgeon uses a laser to reshape your cornea, exploded in the late 90s. Back in the cowboy days, as I call them, people were doing this (surgery) in the mall, with people watching, recalls Dr. Daniel Durrie, a clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Kansas Medical Center who says hes very happy thats no longer happening. We used to have an entity that rolled a truck into the Hy-Vee (grocery) store, and people would walk in one area, and get their Lasik, and walk out the other, like they were at the state fair. Cofer, who had Lasik 15 years ago, says she began experiencing disturbing side effects within days. At night, ordinary lights transformed into massive starbursts, with rays radiating outward from a bright center. The visual distortions continue, she says, swallowing large portions of her field of vision and making night driving impossible. I can see eight moons in the sky at night all smeared and overlapping, says Cofer, who lives near Tampa, Fla. She also experiences daily eye pain, which she describes as a burning sensation similar to having soap in your eyes. Theres little question that Lasik complications occur, but the magnitude of the problem is a matter of debate, with anti-Lasik advocates saying serious complications are common, and eye surgeons, who cite patient satisfaction rates of 95 percent and higher, saying serious complications are rare. The FDA is taking steps to address the complication-rate issue with its Lasik Quality of Life Collaboration Project, the results of which havent yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. In a presentation of preliminary findings, available at the FDA website, the FDAs director of the Division of Ophthalmic and Ear, Nose and Throat Devices, Malvina B. Eydelman, reported on more than 400 patients who had Lasik and filled out questionnaires at three months post-Lasik. Up to 4 percent of Lasik patients in the study experienced very or extremely bothersome visual symptoms at three months post-Lasik (without visual correction), according to Eydelmans presentation. Up to 45 percent of patients who had no visual symptoms before Lasik had developed new visual symptoms at three months post-Lasik, she reported. Durrie, a clinical investigator for the FDA study, says that, according to his calculations, presented at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting earlier this month, only 1 out of 551 patients in the study reported visual symptoms that caused them difficulty in performing their usual activities at the three-month mark. Thats 0.2 percent. Durrie also says that only 1.4 percent to 2.3 percent of patients said they were dissatisfied with Lasik at the three-month mark and that 64 percent of patients who had visual symptoms before Lasik had no visual symptoms at the three-month mark. By his calculations, 23 percent of patients who reported no visual symptoms before Lasik had at least one visual symptom at three months post-Lasik. Asked about the discrepancy between that figure and the FDAs, Durrie says his figures are more up-to-date than Eydelmans. An FDA spokesperson says Eyedelmans 45 percent figure is correct but applied to only part of the study. Since late last summer, Big Seeds big players have looked more like anxious high school kids hoping to pair off for the senior prom than international businesses investing in new products and markets. The first to go courting was St. Louis-based Monsanto. Last August it offered nearly $46 billion for its Swiss classmate, Syngenta, only to be spurned. Syngenta later sold itself to China National Chemical Corp., or ChemChina, for $43 billion. Next, in December, DuPont, owner of Pioneer, and Dow Chemical agreed to a merger of equals. The influential magazine Economist saw it differently; it called the deal a bad romance pushed by activist investors looking for a fast buck instead of by management with a plan to concentrate on higher-margin products. Either way, the new company, called DowDupont, believes it will pass antitrust muster by mid-summer to become a $130-billion-a-year giant. Monsanto returned to the dance floor in March to make a pass at Bayers crop science unit for a reported $30 billion. Like Syngenta, though, Bayer declined Monsantos overtures. Two months later, Bayer took the lead. On May 22, its boss, Werner Baumann, confirmed that Bayer hoped to buy Monsanto, the worlds biggest biotech seed company, for $62 billion, or a fat 37 percent premium to its May 9 share price. The proposed deal didnt get much love on Wall Street. Despite Bayers sweet offer of $122 per share, investors didnt lift the stock to that level even after the buyout went public, a rarity. Sensing the deal might be headed for trouble, Bayers Baumann took to cable network CNBC on May 23 to sell it directly to the American public. The beauty of this combination, the German explained in pitch-perfect English, is that both businesses are highly complementary (each) with great science and great people And, he added, Bayer isnt just German; it, in fact, has a 150-year heritage in the U.S. as a good corporate citizen that has more employees in the U.S. than Monsanto But Baumanns instincts were right; Monsanto rejected the Bayer offer May 24. Hugh Grant, Monsantos CEO, curtly explained the kiss-off by saying the current proposal significantly undervalues our company and also does not adequately address or provide reassurance for some of the potential financing and regulatory execution risks related to the acquisition... Bloomberg News, however, did note that Grant remains open to further deal talks In other words, if you want to date Monsanto, Herr Baumann, bring more money. How much more? Some analysts say Bayer could boost its $122 per share bid to $140 because the combined firm (about 40 percent ag-based) would control nearly 30 percent of the global pesticide market, 36 percent of U.S. corn seed market and 28 percent of the American soybean seed market. And, too, the combined companys genetic material would be present in 80 percent of all corn sold in the U.S. and 90 percent of soybeans. Consumer groups in the U.S. and Europe see that size as the key reason antitrust regulators on both continents should either kill the deal or require the newly merged company to heavily pare its joint holdings. They shouldnt hold their collective breath. A merged Bayer/Monsanto would be about equal in size of merged ChemChina/Syngenta, or about $67 billion in annual sales. Green lighting one would likely green light both. Also, while global GMO seed sales are down 1 percent this year, a first, its hard to imagine any nation taking antitrust action against any global biotech company or merger of companies that argues scale is a vital element in the discovery of new and innovative ways to feed the world. That means a year from now six of the biggest Big Ag companies will likely be only three, and those bigger still firms will dominate 60 percent of the global seed market and 75 percent of the worlds ag chem market. All, however, will find their research efforts undermined by the new debt each used to buy their bigger market position. Still, its prom time and these pairs came to dance and dance they are. Donald Nels Hansen of Tucson, Ariz., went to join his Heavenly Father April 23, 2016. He was born August 11, 1926, to Nels and Anna C. Hansen of rural North Platte. There he learned the values of honesty and hard work. He graduated from North Platte High School in June of 1944. Don enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Logan, Colo., November 13, 1944. He served briefly with General Patton's 3rd Army Infantry Division in Europe, arriving a few days after D-Day. He then served with General Douglas McArthur's staff in Japan as first sergeant. After WWII, he returned to Nebraska and later married O'Linda Hergenrader in 1951. He worked briefly at Braniff Airlines in Norfolk and Moore, Okla. Don became a contract negotiator for the Navy Department in Washington D.C., where he retired in 1991. Don was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Linda; brothers, Earl and Paul; and sister, Mary Ruth. He is survived by six nieces and two nephews. Private graveside services at Wyuka Cemetery at a later date. Online condolences may be left at www.wyuka.com. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Scotts Bluff County filed by the mother of a jail guard lured into a cell and killed by a 15-year-old inmate. Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp said Amanda Baker's mother, Julie Baszler, may take comfort in the changes put in place by the county, following her daughter's tragic death. In a brief filed in the case, attorney Vince Valentino, who represented the county, said the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center made a number of changes to enhance safety and security at the facility following an internal review of Baker's death. He said the county took what happened seriously and made changes. Among them, the detention center: * Bought and installed a new intercom system. * Installed a large-screen TV inside the juvenile supervisor's office. * Completed a preliminary software upgrade toward getting the video feed to automatically appear on the control tower monitor when a juvenile cell door is physically unlocked. "It was clearly a tragic circumstance," Valentino said Friday. But, he said, you can't plan for every contingency or prevent people from making bad decisions. On Feb. 14, 2014, Dylan Cardeilhac, a 15-year-old at the detention center, was caught on video strangling Baker for more than 2 minutes, but none of the other employees on duty was watching or came to her rescue. According to court records, the teenager had asked another correctional officer just days earlier how to strangle someone. The day of the attack, Baker's supervisor, Mark Botzki, wasn't watching the monitor when Cardeilhac strangled her, and after finding her unconscious on the floor of the cell didn't call 911, try to resuscitate her or even call for help for more than 3 minutes. Seventeen minutes passed between the time she was discovered unconscious and the time emergency medical workers arrived. Botzki since has been terminated, Valentino said. But, "his actions, or inaction, were not the cause of Ms. Baker's death," he said. In February 2015, Cardeilhac was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving 60 years to life in prison. Six months later, Guy Eagle Elk got 25 to 30 years for aiding and abetting the assault for showing him how to choke her to make her pass out. Both were convicted at trials. A year ago, Baszler filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in North Platte after efforts to reach a settlement with the county went nowhere. Attorney Maren Chaloupka said then that Baker's family offered to walk away for the amount they could recover on a worker's compensation claim, if the county would hire a jail safety consultant to assess procedures at the jail and discuss any recommendations at a public meeting. She said the family's first interest was knowing that Baker "did not die in vain" and working to improve the safety conditions. In an order Tuesday dismissing the case, Judge Smith Camp said the Constitution doesn't guarantee government employees minimal levels of safety or security in the workplace or against wrongful conduct of private actors. While a reasonable jury could conclude that Botzki was negligent the night of Baker's death, before or after the assault, negligence didn't support a federal civil rights action. Valentino said worker's compensation is the primary source of funds for someone injured or killed on the job and the family has made such a request for compensation. The detention center's director, Ron Johns, since has resigned. Patricia Miller, a key figure in recommending changes, has been appointed the interim director, Valentino said. A 26-year-old caught selling meth from a Lincoln hotel room last year got federal prison time on drug conspiracy and gun charges Friday. Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf sentenced Stephan "Tony" Maynard to 11 years and three months for conspiring to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine in the Lincoln area between January of 2013 and September 2015. Maynard got another 10 years for possession of a short shotgun in furtherance of the conspiracy. On Jan. 13, 2015, investigators with the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force went to a motel near 27th and Cornhusker Highway on a report of Maynard selling meth from a room there. They found Maynard with 49 grams of meth. He told them he was selling meth to support his opiate addiction, according to court records. United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg said law enforcement believe he was responsible for the distribution of at least 3 pounds of methamphetamine. Following the prison terms, Maynard will serve five years on supervised release. "Siri, set my alarm for seven in the morning," my friend Keith said as we walked home after a night out. "Why would I set your alarm?" I shrugged. "Set it yourself." He looked up, laughed and repeated into his phone, "Siri, set my alarm for seven." A quick beep answered. That was in October 2011, days after Apple launched the iPhone 4S, equipped with a more powerful camera, iCloud - and an artificially intelligent personal assistant named Siri. Just like that, Silicon Valley marketers had stolen my name. "What's the weather tomorrow?" "How many marbles can fit in the skull of a whale?" "Has Angelina Jolie had any work done?" These are real questions people have asked within two minutes of meeting me since then. I've become slow to respond to my name in public spaces for fear I'll turn and smile at a stranger scowling into their phone. In protest, I've never used the feature and forbade my parents from using it on their iPhones. "Great minds think alike," my dad said when Apple announced the new product. He's not one to pass up a comparison with Steve Jobs. But I can't blame them. How were they to predict my name's impending fame? When my parents chose to name me after my grandmother Subhalakshmi, they consulted the few other Indian families in Rockford, Illinois, who advised a more simple name to "help the Americans." They landed on Siri, a pseudonym for Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. The name was perfect: cute, simple, mine. But Siri's ubiquitous influence has transformed what used to belong to me into a brand associated with service, even if it also comes with a corporate-approved dollop of sass and wit. Pop culture offers no release. Tina Fey's "30 Rock" had a character named Cerie; Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes called their daughter Suri; but with more than 70 million iPhones sold every three months, you don't have to ask an artificially intelligent assistant for help to know which name most people think of first. "OMG, Siri like the iPhone," should be engraved on my tombstone. A new acquaintance's ability to resist a dumb joke upon meeting me is a barometer to assess our future relationship. I watch as the idea occurs to them and wait to see if they let it out. Most fail, and as I smile and nod, I think, "I will never be friends with this person." At worst, people air their grievances against Apple to me. "They did a terrible job designing her! Why can't she understand me?" strangers in my Uber carpool ask me. I play along, worried I'll get a low rating from the driver if I get surly. Professionally, editors have introduced me to colleagues emphasizing how an abundance of knowledge naturally exists inside me. When I'm doing an interview, sources interrupt to say, "Why are you asking me, I thought you had all the answers." Of course, it's flattering to be considered a genius. But I worry colleagues will ask me to locate the cheapest parking garage. Solace comes from little things: I no longer hear unusual pronunciations like "sye-rye," a common mistake when I was growing up. Baristas don't ask how to spell my name. Apparently, though, it's a common name in Norway. So common, in fact, that my Norwegian ex-boyfriend avoided making any Apple jokes the entire time we were together. But I was also the second Siri he'd dated. Norway is to blame for all my troubles, really: When tech moguls Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, founders of the company that developed Siri (which Apple later acquired), were naming their invention, the Norwegian Kittlaus reportedly chose the name in part for its Norse meaning, "beautiful woman who leads you to victory." Just last week, though, Kittlaus announced a newer, better version of Siri called Viv. Viv has a superior ability to process conversational queries, such as, "Will it be warmer than 70 degrees near the Golden Gate Bridge after 5 p.m. the day after tomorrow?" If the new technology succeeds in replacing Siri, I can finally have my name back. Vivians of the world, call me if you need a drink. CHICAGO -- Education policy wonks have been hearing the gospel of grit as evangelized by Angela Duckworth for years now. Her premise that academic success can be attributed to a child's tolerance for the hard work of persevering through the frustrating learning stage to mastery was popularized in Paul Tough's book "How Children Succeed." Now, in her own book, "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance," Duckworth fleshes out the concept so it can be applied to any endeavor. She explains that using grit to achieve a major life goal -- anything from completing college to becoming a working artist, finding the cure to a disease or winning the Super Bowl or Olympics -- means combining passion, practice, purpose and hope. The point of her emphasis on grit is that it replaces the common belief that innate talent, or even genius, is what makes high performers successful. Duckworth believes that it is this incorrect assumption about the other-ness of high achievement that leads people to put self-imposed limitations on themselves -- unnecessarily. This is helpful. Understanding that one can achieve with these four elements helps open the door to goals that might otherwise feel unattainable. Unfortunately, people who are lacking in grit are likely to also lack one or more of passion, purpose or hope. This was my thought as I plowed through the many (really, too many) examples of people who made it to the top of their disciplines through grit. Duckworth terms them "grit paragons" and, frankly, the vast catalog gets a little discouraging. However, if you are naturally a diligent worker and can plow through this book, Duckworth addresses how to develop all the necessary qualities. For instance, you'll learn that grit is not merely concentrated practice, it's about working hard on something that's so meaningful to you that you are willing to commit to working on it for the many, many years it will take to master it. This is where the passion, purpose and hope come into play. Passion, Duckworth says, is not about the falling-in-love euphoria with which most of us approach new interests. It is about finding something that captures your interest and imagination and staying with it. It is the difference between enthusiasm and endurance. And if you're someone without an abiding passion, Duckworth walks through how that, too, can be cultivated. The purpose part is more difficult to wrap the mind around. If you want to raise money to build orphanages or find a cure for cancer or teach inner-city kids to read, it makes sense that the idea of sticking to your goal, working hard at it and seeing the value that your effort will have on the world will make it easier to persevere. But what if you just want to learn to play the piano, meditate or paint seascapes because it's a passion but not one that's really going to pay off for anyone but yourself? That remains unclear. The last piece of the puzzle is hope, which helps gritty people persist through the inevitable disappointments and setbacks of achieving a big goal. Yet this is another land mine if you're pessimistic, prone to depression or not terribly resilient. Duckworth, however, does not disappoint by assuming a reader's capacity for hope and addresses how this, too, can be cultivated. The benefits of committing yourself to developing optimism -- it, too, is a behavior that can be learned -- are integral to not only being grittier, but happier. My favorite parts of Duckworth's book are those in which she details how miserable, torturous and hard it can be to persist. She details the killer regimen that U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer Rowdy Gaines undertook to win at swimming -- and that he didn't relish it. Similarly she quotes author Joyce Carol Oates comparing writing the first draft of a book to "pushing a peanut across a dirty kitchen floor with your nose" and dancer Martha Graham describing dance as "fatigue so great that the body cries even in its sleep. There are times of complete frustration. There are daily small deaths." If that level of sacrifice doesn't sound appealing to you, it may be that you haven't yet found something that seems worth that amount of trouble. But once you do, don't make the mistake of thinking you have to be a genius to really go for it. Judging from the recent spate of news stories, voters in Nebraska should start paying extra attention when casting their votes for county assessor. In the most recent case Hall County Assessor Jan Pelland created a mess when she told her staff to fill in a fictitious amount for businesses in Grand Island who had failed to file a personal property tax schedule in 2015. For example, a frozen yogurt and smoothie store was tagged for almost $1 million in personal property. The actual value turned out to be $66,098. The Hall County board corrected the problem by reducing the fictitious amounts for six affected businesses by a combined total of about $5.3 million. Pellands directive was a misguided attempt to get the attention of the business owners so they would fill out the forms. To Pellands credit, took full responsibility for the problem. I understand the buck stops with me, she told the county board. Thats a lot better than can be said about two other county assessors that have been in hot water lately. In Dodge County former assessor Brittny King was recently sentenced to 12 months on probation, ordered to repay $106 and work 120 hours of community service for using a county credit card to fuel her personal vehicles. King, 27, was found guilty earlier this year of two counts of theft by deception earlier. The misdemeanors each carried punishment of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. King, who resigned her post, blamed news media for her difficulties. The new assessor, Debbie Churchill, has since discovered hundreds of applications for homestead exemptions filed by the elderly and disabled had been lost and that dozens of construction permits had not been filed, meaning that the property improvements had not been added to the tax rolls. And in Hitchcock County embattled Assessor Marlene Bedore continues to fight measures ordered by State Property Tax Administrator Ruth Sorenson after she allegedly lowered property values for campaign workers and co-workers, and raised them for her political foes. Bedore claimed that the state report on her actions was crazy and that it contained figures that were a lie. Earlier this year District Court Judge Richard Birch dismissed Bedores complaint that she was denied due process, making moot her attempt to have an attorney appointed. The state Revenue Department is now seeking to suspend Bedores assessor license for a year. Fortunately scandals like those listed here are atypical in Nebraska. Renewed attention by voters to the qualifications and background of candidates seeking the post of county assessor will help keep it that way. How did a Pennsylvania physician, who retired to Lincoln, have a connection to a private school and a local church, which celebrates it sesquicentennial a year before the State of Nebraska? Here's the answer: W.G. Houtz was born in 1830 in Pennsylvania, received his medical degree there in 1853 and retired for health reasons to Lincoln in 1880. Houtz apparently never practiced medicine in Lincoln, but developed the Houtz Place Addition, W.G. Houtz Addition and Houtz-Pitcher Addition as well as being vice president of Lincoln Loan & Trust Co., which officed in the basement of the Richards Block, now the home of Dish restaurant on the northeast corner of 11th and O streets. Houtz built a large home in 1880-81, where he lived with his wife and daughter, Susie. The address varied from being on Capitol Avenue or South 20th, simply north of A Street. The house, perhaps more of a mansion, was described as being of 2 stories with a three-story tower on the north, facing west and sitting on four city lots which were earlier part of Jacob Dawsons farm. Very little else is known about Houtz except that he was still living in the house, then properly numbered as 1038 S. 20th Street, in 1905 while, Susie, now married to John Gilliland, lived at 1909 E St. By 1910, Susie Houtz Gilliland was noted as a widow, then living back at 1038 S. 20th St. with her son, Houtz Gilliland. In 1909, Mary E. Whitton (sometimes spelled Whitten) and Julie M. Carlisle established the Whitton-Carlisle Academy at 18th and A streets. Three years later, the city directory noted it was a day school for girls from ages 6 to 16. The student-to-teacher ratio was 1 to 10, and Julie Carlisle was listed as principal. The directors said the school had been formed as a supplement to Lincolns public schools which were overcrowded. The Lincoln Commercial Club, later becoming the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, became interested in the school in 1911 and established a stock company to support it with paid-up stock amounting to $16,400. The Board of Directors for the school corporation included Jos. C. Seacrest, W.T. Barstow, Fred Cornell, Joseph Grainger and Mrs. William Jennings Bryan. The board then set out to find a more suitable home for the growing enterprise and in 1912 bought the Houtz mansion from Susie H. Gilliland for $17,000, partially financed with an $11,000 mortgage. The mansion was remodeled for school use and a 45-by-56-foot addition was built for a gymnasium and classrooms. A dormitory addition was planned for the future, so that 15 students could be boarded in addition to day students. High school classes also were added to the curriculum. Though Whitton and Carlisle each received $900 per year as salary in addition to room and board, this was reduced to $750 in 1921. Two additional teachers were added to the staff, each receiving $150 per term without board and room. Although mostly girls were enrolled, the school began accepting boys as day scholars. As Lincoln added public schools, enrollment slipped with only interest being paid on the mortgage and in the school year 1920-21 an additional $1,000 was borrowed. Enrollment that year was 58, of which there were nine boarders. Half-price tuition was instituted for children of widows as an incentive, but numbers continued to slide. In 1924, First Congregational Church sold its building at 13th and L streets to First Trust Co. for the Lancaster Hotel Corp. for $60,000 without pews, windows and furniture while merging with Plymouth Congregational Church at 17th and A streets. Two years later the merged First-Plymouth Congregational Church purchased the Houtz mansion/Whitton-Carlisle School building and the Clyde Davis house to the north for $32,248. Construction began on the extant church building in 1930 and the new church was dedicated April 5, 1931. Whitton and Carlisle left to teach at Bethany College in Topeka, Kansas, in 1929 and later that year Carlisle married in Michigan. An intriguing remnant of the Houtz Addition is 20th Street, which meets the front entrance to the church on D Street, then, heading north, parallels the church on its west side. Then at F Street, the original line of 20th Street resumes as Capitol Avenue, though it exists literally only as an alley as a sort of detour around the church and the neighboring block to the north. RACINE COUNTY While the names of Maj. John Jerstad and Harold Agerholm are at least vaguely familiar to many Racine-area residents as local decorated war heroes, do not overlook the accomplishments of United States Marine Corps Cpl. John Gross. Gross was nominated for the Medal of Honor, but later earned the Navy Cross for actions during the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943. The Navy Cross is the sea services second-highest decoration for bravery and valor, and is awarded for heroism in combat. Gross was born in Omro on March 18, 1920, but lived in Racine from childhood. He attended St. John Nepomuk Elementary School and graduated from St. Catherines High School. His parents lived at 2212 Superior St. Gross worked in Milwaukee and enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after the Japanese Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, and was part of the Gilbert Islands during World War II. The Gilbert Islands were a British colony until 1979, when the islands became the Republic of Kiribati. Tarawa is the capital of Kiribati. Marines and Allied Forces fought the forces of the Empire of Japan from Nov. 20-23, 1943, in the Battle of Tarawa. The fiercest fighting took place on the island of Betio, which is in the southwest portion of Tarawa Atoll. A vital link It is on Betio that Gross, a private first class at the time, performed the deeds that led to his Navy Cross. Gross served as a radio operator for the Second Marine Division on Tarawa and manned his radio for the first 36 hours of the operation. Gross did so while under machine gun and mortar fire. He maintained the only communications hookup on the island for the battles first 36 hours. According to an account from the Aug. 7, 1945, issue of The Journal Times, Gross worked to shield his radio from both the onslaught of the Japanese and the salt water. Gross twice changed boats to reach the beachhead, and moved from a sheltered location to a spot in the open so he could properly extend his radio antenna. He contacted every unit on Tarawa upon landing, and his efforts enabled troops on the island to communicate with ships in the offshore naval battery. Gross received an offer to return home after earning the Navy Cross, but refused to leave due to a shortage of radio operators. Gross died June 28, 1944, during fighting on Saipan. He was originally buried on Saipan, but was moved to Holy Cross Cemetery in 1949. MADISON A DeForest veterans group this weekend is unveiling a full-scale replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that was built by members of a Madison church. The copy, which was built over the past five weeks in a storage building on Dayton Street, is to be unveiled in a Memorial Day ceremony at DeForest Veterans Memorial Park. Starting at 11:15 a.m. Monday, a National Guardsman will perform the ritual sentinel march executed at the real tomb in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, by members of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment. And Gov. Scott Walker will place a ceremonial wreath at the 1,200-pound steel, foam and plaster replica in much the same way the president of the United States traditionally does at the 97-ton marble original each Memorial Day. Veterans and other groups contacted by the Wisconsin State Journal were able to point to only one other copy that has been built with the full 8-foot by 14-foot footprint of the popular Washington, D.C.-area attraction. Recognizing the sacrifice When I first brought this up with the DeForest Veterans Memorial Foundation, they looked at me like I was crazy, said Jeff Unger, vice president of the DeForest Veterans Memorial Foundation, whose members take pride in maintaining the park and in each year creating educational events and displays. Unger said after he assured other foundation leaders that he could get the replica built, he called Brenda Rehbein, who had helped spread the word years ago when her church built a three-quarters scale copy of the front of the tomb for its Memorial Day service. Calvary Gospel Church often takes an interest in honoring veterans, Rehbein said. One Memorial Day, a military helicopter landed on the church grounds on Madisons Far East Side as part of an event. We think of it as an opportunity to give back to the families who lost people in the wars, Rehbein said. Theres a lot of hurt that goes with that, and its nice that we can recognize that. After hearing from Unger last fall, Rehbein talked to the congregants who had been involved in the smaller tomb project. They included her husband, heating and cooling specialist Carl Rehbein; her brother, who is an experienced plasterer, Norm Puckett; and steamfitter Tim Powell. At first they were hesitant, she said. Its not like theres a kit you can buy at the hobby store. Or even blueprints for that matter. They gave some thought to it because it is a big project, Rehbein said. They were like, How are we going to do this? because the size of it presents challenges (and) the weight was an issue. Help from many Several companies with ties to the congregation pitched in with money, materials or know-how. H&H Industries worked with photographs of the actual monument, along with 3-D modeling and computer-aided design software to create blueprints. The church volunteers built the frame from angle iron and strips of steel, then applied 2-inch foam board, stucco, a layer of plaster and a coat of paint, Rehbein said. They improvised as they worked. Unlike the real monument, the replica would need to be lifted so that it could be moved, so they welded trailer jacks inside each corner. Carving pieces of foam board to precisely match decorative curves in the monuments panels presented a challenge. One technique burned the material, Rehbein said, but eventually they engineered a solution. Other details such as the monuments wreaths and inscriptions were printed on thin vinyl and stuck to the replicas sides. The footprint of the replica sarcophagus is slightly bigger than the original, while representations of the white slabs that mark the crypts of unknowns from World War II, Korea and Vietnam were made smaller to make transporting it easier, Rehbein said. The number 21 Spc. Kaleb Evans, who serves with the Wisconsin National Guard funeral honors unit, will act as sentinel on Memorial Day, Unger said. Evans, 21, said Friday that it is his dream to join the sentinel guard unit at the tomb in Washington. He said he marked a walkway in the DeForest park with duct tape to measure the distance he will cover in 21 steps. This is what I can do to show my ability to pay attention to detail, Evans said. At the monument in the national cemetery, a tomb guard armed with a rifle marches 21 steps behind the monument in a southerly direction, turns 90 degrees and faces east for for 21 seconds, then turns another 90 degrees to face north for 21 seconds before taking another 21 steps and repeating the drill. The sentinel executes sharp shoulder arms moves to keep the weapon on the shoulder closest to visitors to signify protection of the tomb. The number 21 symbolizes the highest military honor, as in the 21-gun salute. The replica will remain on display at the park through June 4 and it is scheduled to appear at Operation Badger Base, an event to honor veterans Aug. 10-14 at Harley-Davidson of Madison and Ho-Chunk Gaming, Unger said. He said he has already heard expressions of interest from people out of state, and said he would consider making it available to other veterans groups. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act: Facts and Policy By David Kopel. May 24th, 2016 Hillary Clinton has castigated Bernie Sanders for voting for a federal statute that she says provides "absolute immunity" to firearms manufacturers. According to Westlaw's news database, she made the claim on May 15 (reported in the Guardian on May 16); shortly before the April 5 Wisconsin primary (reported in the Guardian on March 29); at the March 6 debate in Flint, Mich.; on "Face the Nation" on Jan. 10; and at the ABC debate in New Hampshire on Dec. 19, 2015. Her claims must be a surprise to the handgun manufacturer Taurus, which has agreed to pay up to $30 million (plus $9 million in attorneys' fees) to settle a class action involving allegedly defective Taurus handguns. The class action Carter v. Forjas Taurus, S.A. alleges that some Taurus models fire when they are accidentally dropped. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has scheduled a July 18 hearing on the proposed class action final settlement; in the proposal, Taurus does not admit the plaintiffs' factual claims. Further information about the case, including the firearms models and the various procedures for class members, is available here. As a Yale Law School graduate who served in the Senate and who voted against the proposed statute, Clinton would presumably know the statute's content. It is difficult to understand why she continues to make inaccurate claims about "absolute immunity." In this post, I will describe what the statute actually does and the concerns that led to its enactment. ..... The PLCAA is probably very little understood, but here Kopel goes into considerable depth to explain (read the entire piece). Clinton still insists that there is 'total immunity', which is not the case - she would however like to make manufacturers totally liable for any and all categorized firearms 'misuse' cases. Perhaps she would like to extend that concept to the auto industry as well! "You don't have to be Jewish to fight by our side." 2016 JPFO All rights reserved. jpfo@jpfo.org 1-800-869-1884 Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership 12500 NE 10th Pl. Bellevue, WA 98005 USA Americas most aggressive civil rights organization We make the NRA look like moderates Join JPFO Back to Top Bid to resolve House rule dispute fails The sustained effort to resolve the row over the parliamentary regulations has failed, leaving voting as the only option to decide the issue. Prithvi Man Shrestha is a political reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering the governance-related issues including corruption and irregularities in the government machinery. Before joining The Kathmandu Post in 2009, he worked at nepalnews.com and Rising Nepal primarily covering the issues of political and economic affairs for three years. Changing winds in Kollywood Anagat promises to bring a shift in Nepali cinema, and to break the box of what people think of when they hear the word DPM discusses Nepal-Israel ties in Jerusalem Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa discussed Nepal-Israel relations at a programme organised by the Israel Council on Foreign Relations in Jerusalem on Friday. Govt to gather details of foreigners living in Nepal The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought details from the Department of Immigration of all the foreigners living in Nepal, except Indian nationals, under various visa categories. Listed companies told to submit info electronically Companies listed on the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) have been instructed to submit their financial information electronically to the bourse before making it public. Nepal formally proposes setting up energy bank Nepal has formally proposed the idea of setting up an energy bank to India to address the recurrent problem of power shortages during the winter season. NRA, bankers associations agree on housing grant disbursement An agreement has been reached between the National Reconstruction Authority and three bankers associations regarding the distribution of grants for the reconstruction of private houses damaged by the earthquake. President Bhandari attends republic day function President Bidya Devi Bhandari graced a special function organized at the Army Pavilion (tundikhel) to mark the Republic Day 2016 on Saturday morning. Saarc must redouble its efforts to reduce risk DPM Bhim Rawal says Saarc nations should come up with a collaborative response and preparedness to mitigate disaster risks Special Google doodle on Republic Day Google has once again created a special doodle to mark Nepals ninth Republic Day. Traders terrified after Kedias abduction Local entrepreneurs are terrified after Suresh Kedia, a member of the Kedia Organisation, was kidnapped from Baghaban along the Kalaiya-Mahagadhi road in Bara on Thursday evening. Transitional justice: Breach of confidentiality emerging as a worrisome trend When transitional justice bodies started taking complaints from the second week of April from victims of the decade-long conflict, the conflict victims major concerns were confidentiality and security. Tumult in a teacup Brishav Badh is a parallel narrative that switches between the story of a boy and a bull, each bleeding into the other What about class? It appears that Nepali political ideology has already arrived at its Fukuyamian end of history when it comes to the economy 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. Yes, its hard to to tell when one enters the city limits Yes, they will make the city more inviting Maybe ... does it really matter? No, the signs in place are fine No, it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars Vote View Results The Uganda Law Society has welcomed the judgment and sentences handed to the terror convicts by High Court Judge Alfonse Owiny-Dolo Court yesterday handed life sentences to 5 of the convicts and one to two years community service and 50 years each to the remaining 2. Speaking at the launch of the Network of Public Interest Lawyers, the society president Francis Gimara dismissed claims of loopholes in the justice system saying the court followed due processes and that the judge acted on the evidence adduced before him. Gimara however, said they are investigating reports of the re-arrest of the 5 acquitted suspects. Story By Damali Mukhaye The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative has called on police to quickly release the acquitted terror suspects. This follows concerns raised by one of their lawyers Caleb Alaka that the 5 acquitted by the High Court on Thursday were still being held by police in various detention centers. The foundations Executive Director Dr. Livingstone Ssewanyana says police needs to respect the court and release the 5 people. However police said this was being done to protect them against any possible attacks from members of the public who may not be content with the court ruling. The Police spokesperson Fred Enanga also says they are still processing paperwork before three of these men can be handed back to the Kenyan government. The acquitted suspects are Yahaya Suleiman Mbuthia, Omar Award Omar, Muhammed Ahmed Suleiman from Kenya and Dr. Ismail Kalule and Abubakar Batemyetto. Story By Benjamin Jumbe Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High near 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. LIGONIER Kindness is spreading in Ligonier, and its thanks to a group of secret agents more commonly known as the first-graders at West Noble Primary School. And Friday was their day to shine. Ligonier celebrated the childrens good work through the schools Secret Agents of Kindness program during the inaugural citywide Kindness Day, created via a proclamation issued in April by Mayor Patty Fisel. The days main event, a parade in downtown Ligonier, has taken place the past few years to showcase the kids good deeds, but this year it was even more special because of the fact the entire city was a part of the celebration. Kids understand thats huge, said West Noble Primary counselor Alyssa Juday, who created the program. Theyre changing their world They are influencing the leaders of the community, and they know that. First-graders become agents by going on secret missions throughout the year to do good deeds and show kindness to others. This years missions included: visiting the Ligonier Fire Department to honor National Firefighters Day; holding an appreciation breakfast for bus drivers and crossing guards; hiding treasure on the school playground for National Kindergarten Day; and creating 600 paper-clip angels to hand out around Ligonier in memory of Nancy Howell, a teacher who recently passed away. The program has been embraced by students since it began five years ago, and even has kindergartners excited to move on to first grade to become an agent, Juday said. While academics are the schools main priority, Principal Brian Shepherd believes its vital to engage the other aspects of a childs personality to mold her or him into a leader of tomorrow. The philosophy here at West Noble Primary is the whole child, Shepherd said. We dont want to forget the social and emotional, and thats where this comes in teaching kids to be good citizens. Students went a step further this year by taking the program out into the community, meeting with members of local organizations such as the Rotary Club, Lions Club and Ligonier Chamber of Commerce to explain what they do as secret agents and inspire the adults to manifest kindness in their lives, too. It shows our kids that they can make a difference even if theyre younger, that they can be leaders to those that are older than them, Juday said. My very first lesson with them is you can change the world with kindness. You have your very own superpower. A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Epic Systems the Verona-based health care software company that employs more than 9,000 people in the Dane County area broke federal labor laws by preventing some employees from taking up wage complaints collectively. It's a deceptively significant ruling that raises questions about what companies can or can't do to control the ways legal disputes involving employees are handled. Some labor advocates are treating the decision as a win for labor a reporter with The New York Times went so far as to describe it as "a major victory for American workers." Here's a rundown of five key points to take away from the appeals court ruling: 1. The ruling comes as part of a broader case dealing with overtime pay. The case in question is Jacob Lewis v. Epic Systems Corp., a class-action lawsuit concerning overtime pay for Epic employees. Lewis, the lead plaintiff in the case, is a former Epic technical writer, meaning he provided technical documentation of Epic's complex software. His lawsuit claims that the company is wrong to say that technical writers are exempt from overtime pay under federal law. The legal challenge comes on the heels of another lawsuit in which Epic employees fought for overtime pay a $5.4 million settlement was reached in that case last year. It's important to note that the ruling handed down Thursday didn't touch on the matter of the overtime dispute. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals the Chicago-based appeals court that handles cases from lower courts in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana was merely ruling on Epic's request to dismiss the lawsuit. The corporation had made the case that a contract Lewis and other Epic workers had signed meant that the overtime dispute couldn't be resolved with a class-action lawsuit. 2. The ruling means that Epic can't block a class-action lawsuit brought by its employees. In 2014, Epic had certain employees sign a contract that prohibited them from joining forces to resolve wage disputes, such as by filing a class-action lawsuit. Instead, such disputes would be handled on a case-by-case basis. However, judges on the 7th Circuit have now declared that the contract violates the National Labor Relations Act, the historic 1935 law that gave workers the right to collectively bargain. According to the court, the contract breaks an NLRA rule forbidding companies from impinging on the right of workers to engage in "concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection." 3. The ruling also declared that an arbitration deal doesn't necessarily make a company exempt from NLRA rules. On top of requiring certain workers to take up wage disputes individually, the Epic contract required workers to settle their complaints through arbitration a private system of complaint-resolution that takes place outside of the courts. Epic attorneys argued that because of that arbitration deal, the so-called "class-action waiver" is actually legal. They said that another law called the Federal Arbitration Act essentially overrides NLRA rules when arbitration is in the mix. The 7th Circuit judges, however, didn't buy Epic's line of argument. They ruled that the FAA and the NLRA work in harmony, and that one law doesn't necessarily trump the other. 4. The decision opens up the possibility of a Supreme Court battle. Perhaps the main reason the ruling is a big deal is that it conflicts with other federal appeals court rulings on similar contracts, often referred to as "class-action waivers." In a ruling handed down by the 5th Circuit appeals court in 2013, a waiver similar to the Epic contract was found to be legal. The court actually upheld the waiver based on an argument that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted the NLRA the same argument that didn't work for Epic. A difference of opinion at the circuit court level could mean the high court will be inclined to weigh in, should Epic decide to file a petition. 5. Some labor advocates are describing the ruling as a victory. Some people are cheering the decision on the basis that class-action waivers end up hurting workers. One of the lawyers arguing for the plaintiffs in the Epic case said in a statement that the decision, in addition to "the new overtime rules issued by the U.S. Department of Labor last week, are two big wins for employees nationwide." Epic Systems has declined to comment on the ruling. Other labor advocates, like one writer for the progressive blog Think Progress, said that the ruling means that corporations "could soon lose their ability to tie the little guys hands and effectively guarantee theyll never face serious legal challenges to potentially abusive business practices." That said, some corporations would likely counter-argue that arbitration agreements in labor contexts and otherwise help resolve disputes more quickly and easily than class-action suits or collective action could. This weeks on-again-off-again series of summer storms couldnt stop Central High Schools annual Memorial Day tradition. For the 94th year in a row, Centrals Memorial Day observance, one of the oldest in the nation, honored those who died in military service. At this years ceremony, the school also honored the veterans in attendance, and graduating senior Dominick Hove, who has enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, gave the address. Despite threatening skies that had produced rain just a few hours earlier, the observance was held outside of Central. It has always been outside, assistant principal Troy McDonald said in his welcome. Flanked by two banners honoring the nearly 2,000 Central students who served and sacrificed for their country during the two World Wars, Centrals Robed Choir, Chamber Orchestra and Wind Ensemble performed The Battle Hymn of the Republic and Homeland during the ceremony. Another Central graduate was also honored during the observance: Lt. Col. Bill Bruring, who served his country in World War II and the Korean War, was recognized for receiving the Congressional Gold Medal. The first medal was presented to Gen. George Washington in 1776 by the Continental Congress, and it is the United States highest civilian award, having been presented to the likes of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and aviator Charles Lindbergh. Mr. Bruring, we thank you for your service, McDonald said as Bruring, in his Civil Air Patrol uniform, was honored. Hove, who graduated Friday night, will travel to San Diego in June to begin his training in the Marine Corps. He has family who served in the military, he said, and was drawn to enlist by corps values such as brotherhood, duty and honor. Memorial Day isnt about those who are serving now, he said in his address, or getting together with your buddies to celebrate the beginning of the grilling season. It is about those whose names have been forgotten but whose deeds protected their country and their fellow service members. Actions like those of Cpl. Jason Dunham, Hove said, a Marine from New York who was a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in 2004 in Karabilah, Iraq. While his unit was responding to an ambush on an American military convoy, Dunham wrestled with an insurgent who released a grenade. Shielding his unit from the blast with his body and helmet, Dunham was mortally wounded, dying nearly three weeks after the incident at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. His actions saved the lives of several of his comrades, and he was honored for his valor, and his dedication to duty and country. It is for actions like these that we celebrate Memorial Day, Hove said. We recognize those that gave their lives, and make sure that every drop of blood spilled is not in vain. For more than 30 years, Bruce Riley and his ever-present coffee mug have been a fixture on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. Riley came to the university in 1985 as a mathematics professor and will retire in June after seven years as dean of the universitys college of science and health. A humble man, Riley has helped steer the college during times turbulent and good, and through it all has been focused on student success. Bruce isnt one to toot his own horn, biology department chair Mark Sandheinrich said. He is very quick to shift that focus to the achievements of students. Rileys family moved a lot when he was young, as his father was in the U.S. Army. During high school, the family lived in Washington state, and his teachers in math and science convinced him to go to college instead of getting a job right of high school. His professors at Pacific Lutheran University in his hometown of Parkland, Wash., pushed him to get a graduate degree. Because of his interest in the subject and the influence of his teachers, Riley decided to focus on mathematics. I have always been interested in how things work, he said. That is what mathematics is all about. It gives us a system of structure, and then we can build models. After graduate school, Riley actually turned down his first offer to teach at UW-L, instead joining the faculty at Plymouth State College from 1982 until 1985. Riley said he enjoyed teaching at the small New Hampshire college, but he also wanted to be somewhere he could do some scholarship as well. He took the second offer to come teach at UW-L and has been with the university ever since. Teaching is important here, he said, and he has also enjoyed the opportunities the university has given him to work with students on bigger mathematics projects. We help young people decide the path they want to take, said Riley, whose two children are UW-L alumni, and what they want to do in life. During his 24 years as a professor and seven as a dean, Riley could be seen walking the halls of UW-L, coffee-cup usually in hand. Math turns coffee into theorems, Riley joked, with coffee giving him the energy he needed to get through graduate school and accomplish all he has done in his academic career. And he has done a lot, Sandheinrich, who has been at UW-L since 1988, said. He has had a tremendous influence on the college, helping lead it through the transition in 2005 as faculty chairman and then as interim dean when UW-L eliminated the college of education, exercise science health and recreation and added its departments to what became the college of science and health. He has done a lot to enhance teacher education in the mathematics and science departments, placing teacher education faculty in both departments to help students in those fields. He creates opportunities for the faculty, Sandheinrich said, which in turn creates opportunities for students, and has been a big supporter of undergraduate research. Bruce is always excited for the students, he said. He is a student-focused administrator. Riley is adamant that these accomplishments rest more on the facultys shoulders than his own. For him, the role of dean is to be a facilitator for the faculty so they can dream bigger dreams and achieve them. What I am most proud of is how we have built programs and the faculty, he said. We have built a wonderful environment for young folks to come get an education. What I am most proud of is how we have built programs and the faculty. We have built a wonderful environment for young folks to come get an education. Bruce Riley Many of the shortcomings detailed in an evaluation of UW-Madisons PEOPLE college prep program are not uncommon to initiatives of its kind, but university officials should change priorities and approaches to overcome them, say two campus researchers of college accessibility. College access programs struggle with things like who they are supposed to serve. And they often find that students do not end up at the school they are pushing them towards, said Sara Goldrick-Rab, a UW-Madison professor of educational policy who chaired the committee that hired and supervised an independent evaluator. It was the first evaluation in the 17-year run of the PEOPLE program really a network of programs, including high school, middle school and elementary school college preparation, and support efforts at UW-Madison for minority, disadvantaged and first-generation students. Confusion over the target population of PEOPLE was a drawback identified in a 184-page program evaluation report by Education Northwest of Portland, Ore., that was completed in February and released by the university this week. The program, begun in 1999 with Milwaukee high school students to increase the number of students of color enrolling at UW System schools, is accepting fewer African-American students in recent years, according to the report. The proportion of African-American students accepted into the program, for example, dropped from 41 percent in 2006 to 19 percent in 2015, said the report. And for what was designed as a pipeline program to bring diverse student to UW-Madison, the number of students who end up actually attending the university is a concern. On average, 86 percent of PEOPLE participants end up going to UW-Madison, but fewer than half are from Milwaukee in recent years. That is not uncommon, but given the percentage of African-American students at UW-Madison, its something we ought to be leaning in on, Goldrick-Rab said. Two percent of undergraduate students identified themselves as African-American in the academic year just ended. The evaluation also found that less than one-third of program participants graduated from UW-Madison within six years and called for greater academic support for participants. We should be leaning in to get that graduation rate up, Goldrick-Rab said. To her, the persistent low graduation rate is a sign that the university isnt making the program a high priority. Im not sure Madison is taking the program seriously enough to put in the proper amounts of money and top-notch supported staff to reflect an institutional priority, she said. UW-Madison spends nearly $5 million a year on the program, most from state funding. Goldrick-Rab said the study was frustrated by the lack of data routinely collected about the program. Poor data use in the past led to the program making unrealistic and unsupported high rates of success, she said. That was the case for a 2014 Cap Times feature story on the PEOPLE program. The Education Northwest evaluation also flags a number of management deficiencies, including the need for better organization of systems and processes, better coordination with K-12, community and campus partners and improved recruiting, hiring and retention of staff. Deficiencies in program design is also not uncommon in this arena, said Noel Radomski, director of WISCAPE, a UW-Madison center for research into post-secondary education challenges. UW-Madison is not unlike other large universities: programs are quickly assembled, oftentimes with the best of intentions, but they may not be well designed, Radomski said. And leadership changes, both within the program and in administration overseeing it pose other challenges, he said. He recommended that PEOPLE stop trying to do everything on its own and better collaborate with other programs, particularly college preparation programs already operating in Milwaukee. Lets work with people in the Milwaukee community. They have the respect of the citys nonprofit organizations, churches, and parents. We dont, Radomski said. Better collaboration with the UW Colleges, the Wisconsin Technical College System and a national college access network would allow PEOPLE administrators to tap into their expertise and best practices, he said. Radomski said he believes that UW-Madison is committed to its diversity programs. "I sincerely believe that individuals who are leading, managing and supporting individual programs and activities associated with improving campus climate for underrepresented students, staff, and faculty really care about what they are doing. They are committed to the cause and they want positive outcomes," he said. PEOPLE has seen some significant leadership changes, however. For example, long-time PEOPLE executive director Jackie DeWalt in January 2015 was named to a development position with the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement, which oversees PEOPLE and other programs. Interim director Eric Williams has overseen the program since. And while a permanent replacement is anticipated, there is no timeline to select one, a campus spokesperson said. The Education Northwest report remarks on PEOPLE participants belief that it played a critical role in preparing them for college and provided holistic, and, especially, social support once they were on campus. UW-Madison student and PEOPLE scholar Marquise Mays, who enrolled in the program while a student at Milwaukee Riverside University High School, said he and his mother marvel all the time over the difference it has made for him. Everything I am here academically, socially I can credit to the PEOPLE program, said Mays, a rising junior who has a summer internship with the UW-Madison communications department. Mays is also president of the campus Black Student Union. The sense of family fostered by the program is key to succeeding on campus, he said. When you walk into a class of 400 and you are the only person of color, it can be very isolating, Mays said. The program also inculcates a sense of mission and responsibility in its participants, he said. I know Im here because college is about more than just myself and I have a community that cares about me and supports me. Patrick Sims, vice provost and chief diversity officer, said in a statement Friday that the program evaluation was done as part of our ongoing commitment to serve a diverse student population. "By connecting elementary, middle and high school students with the university, PEOPLE creates long-lasting relationships that are life-changing for many participants, Sims said. The evaluation shows the programs continue be in great demand and participants and their families rate PEOPLE as good or better than other pre-college programs. We are already taking action in response, including hiring a director of data management for the program, he said. We are also exploring ways to provide more intensive services to program participants, which we believe will improve outcomes. We remain committed to continuing the enrichment support services with our PEOPLE community partners. Public Health Madison and Dane County announced Friday that a non-pregnant woman living in Dane County has a confirmed Zika virus infection. According to Public Health spokesman Jeff Golden, the woman acquired the infection while traveling in Colombia. Officials did not release the womans age, condition or residence. There have been no locally acquired cases of Zika virus in Wisconsin or the continental United States. In over 10 years of monitoring, we have not found the species of mosquitoes identified as Zika carriers in our community, said John Hausbeck, Public Health environmental health supervisor in a statement. 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. Public Health officials said that they will routinely monitor adult and larvae mosquitoes during prime mosquito season from late May through September. There is currently no specific medication or vaccine to combat Zika virus and the best way to avoid it is to avoid mosquitoes or unprotected sexual contact with an infected person, officials said. In pregnant women, Zika virus is associated with fetal loss and congenital microcephaly, a medical condition in which the size of the infants head is smaller than normal because the brain has not developed properly. Officials recommend that all women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant postpone travel to areas where the Zika virus is present or consult their doctor before traveling. Pregnant women who have traveled to an area with Zika virus should talk to their doctors about testing. Records released Friday by Gov. Scott Walkers office in response to a judges order make clear he sought controversial changes in 2015 to the University of Wisconsin Systems mission statement, known as the Wisconsin Idea. The office made public 82 pages of records late Friday after Dane County Judge Amy Smith said Walkers office erroneously withheld 12 email exchanges and six of nine attachments from the public. One January 2015 document reviewing System comments on proposed changes to its governing structure says Walker requested a simplified and clearer mission and purpose statements. In another an email that had previously been made public a budget analyst says that Walker is recommending revising the UWs mission and statement of purpose. The Wisconsin Idea is the long-held belief that the mission of the states public higher education system extends beyond the classroom and into the communities of the state. The Walker administration later backed down from proposed changes to the mission statement, calling them a drafting error, and they were not included in the 2015-17 budget. Liberal advocacy group Center for Media and Democracy, The Progressive magazine and two individuals sued Walkers office for records relating to the changes after the office denied them and media outlets, including the Wisconsin State Journal, access to them. The Walker administration did not disclose the records, which included emails, attachments and other documents, on grounds that they were part of a deliberative process that was allowed under the states open records law. Smith rejected the governors reasoning, saying a deliberative process exemption does not exist under the records law and that she would not create one because it would be in contravention of the letter and the spirit of Wisconsins Open Records Law. Smith, who was first appointed to the court by Walkers predecessor, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, said the concerns Walkers office raised in arguing to keep the records private are valid public interest issues; they are, however, not enough to override the public interest in disclosure as applied here. Allowing Walkers office to withhold the records based on their argument would potentially create a blanket exception for any communication or document that had any relevancy to ongoing budget bill debates, said Smith. 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 Wisconsins Open Records Law, Smith said. Smiths ruling found that three attachments totaling 180 pages were properly withheld by the Walker administration. Brendan Fischer, a lawyer who represented the Center for Media and Democracy, said his group would not appeal to seek those records. April Barker, the lawyer for the other plaintiffs, said its too early to say whether they planned to appeal. UW authority, budget issue The records released Friday focused on Walkers unsuccessful proposal to revamp the governance structure of the UW System as part of the 2015-17 budget. They show state employees discussing various changes to the System and its budget. Smith called them professional communications and rejected the administrations argument that releasing them would create a chilling effect on other government employees. Fischer said if Smith had sided with Walker to withhold all of the records, it would have had the potential to undermine the open records law. Most importantly, Judge Smith rejected Gov. Walkers offices efforts to blow a new loophole in the open records law, said Fischer. I think its certainly a victory for transparency and the publics right to know and we look forward to receiving the documents. Barker, who is also co-vice president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said the ruling is the death knell of an argument to claim a deliberative process privilege under the states open meetings and records laws. Other records action The Walker administration in 2015 also worked with Republican lawmakers in the waning days of the state budget deliberations on language that would have diminished transparency under the state open records law. The changes were adopted by the Legislatures budget committee on the eve of the Fourth of July weekend, but quickly rescinded after a public outcry. Earlier this year, Walker ordered his administration to improve its efforts in responding to records requests. Evenson said Walker released the records after the decision because the governor is committed to transparency. Walkers release of records on Friday comes as the governor on Twitter has been hammering Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. Thousands of travelers have missed their flights due to long security lines. The lines are likely to get worse at U.S. airports with 231 million travelers expected to fly this summer. This weekend, also known as Memorial Day weekend, is the start of the summer travel season in the U.S. Americans will fly to visit families or go on vacations. On Thursday, Kerry Philipovitch of American Airlines told U.S. Congress that 70,000 American customers missed their flights the last 12 months due to long security lines. We have never seen TSA wait times that affect airlines and passengers throughout the United States like weve seen in recent months, Philipovitch said. Peter Neffenger is the head of the U.S. Transportation Security Agency, or TSA. He said, We cannot and will not compromise on the security of the traveling public. Neffenger told Congress that he will not reduce security checks to reduce waits. But he is hiring more officers and moving bomb-detection dogs to large U.S. airports. Neffenger also removed TSAs security head and put in new leadership at Chicagos OHare International Airport. On several days, there were reports of security waits of two to three hours in Chicago. How do travelers deal with delay? The TSA offers tips for summer travel, including arriving at airports up to two hours before domestic flights and up to three hours before international flights. At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday, some passengers arriving or flying out of the airport were surprised their waits were not longer. I was worried about it, but the lines moved quickly today, said Kellie Artis of Alexandria, Virginia. I guess Ive been lucky, said Odd Steinar Haugen of Norway. Haugen said he waited only 20 minutes to clear security in Phoenix, Arizona, for his Wednesday flight to Washington. Passengers have strong opinions on how to keep waits short. John Rafferty of North Dallas, Texas, said a big problem is that more passengers are carrying luggage or bags onto airplanes instead of checking them." It takes longer, he told VOA to complete checks of people carrying luggage filled with everything but the kitchen sink. By everything but the kitchen sink, Rafferty means people who bring lots of things, including things they do not need. Rafferty said one fix would be separate lines for people who paid $25 or more per bag to check their bags with the airline. Let the people who brought along all these bags wait, not those of us who paid $50 to check our bags, he said. Some members of Congress have called on airlines to drop their checked baggage charges -- at least for the summer travel season. Without charges for checking their bags, passengers will be far less likely to carry them on, which slows the inspection process, said Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut in a letter. But some passengers at Washingtons Reagan Airport said people avoid checking bags so they wont have to wait for checked bags to arrive at baggage claim. I think people would continue to carry bags on planes, even if there was no charge, said one passenger, carrying two bags off a flight from Albany, New York. And U.S. airlines, which made $3.8 billion in baggage fees during 2015, do not want to give up that money. More People Flying Airlines for America expects 231 million people to fly this summer in the United States, up from 200 million in 2009. The group represents U.S. airlines and warns of long lines this summer unless more security officers are hired. Paul Hudson is president of Flyersrights.org, which represents airline passengers. He said the major reasons for long security lines are: the continued threat of terrorism, along with fewer airport security officers and 97 million more people flying in 2016 than three years ago. Shortages of TSA workers is partly due to low morale, he said. Pauline Frommer is editorial director of Frommer Media, which publishes travel guides. She said it is understandable so many TSA officers quit. Its such an awful job. You are underpaid, people hate you, and if you make a mistake, the consequences are huge, she said. Some passengers are sharing their frustrations on Twitter under hashtag #hatethewait. Among them this passenger flying from a New York/New Jersey airport to Paris: @AirlineReporter @TSA 90 minutes in line @NY_NJairports. Nearly missed my flight to Paris. #iHateTheWait But some are more understanding. Would you rather wait shorter times in @TSA than the possibility of a BOMB being smuggled onto your plane? #iHateTheWait Stop whining! #9/11, tweeted one passenger. I'm Bruce Alpert. Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and share your views on our Facebook Page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story bomb-detection dogs -- n. dogs trained to detect bombs check v. to give your bags or suitcases to a worker so that they can be loaded onto a plane or train luggage or bags n. the bags and suitcases that a person carries when traveling editorial director n. the person who heads the department where books and other publications are written awful adj. extremely bad or unpleasant consequence n. something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions post n. to put out written statement whine v. to complain in an annoying way On the Monday edition of Times Now's show The Newshour, editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami referred to journalist Asad Ashraf as a 'cover for the Indian Mujahideen'. The following is Asad's own take on that particular situation and the present state of journalism as a whole: As I sit to write this piece, images from the day Arnab Goswami called me a 'cover for the Indian Mujahideen' in his studio, return to my mind. If it's merely the thought of being called a terrorist that scares me, I wonder what it would be like for those who are implicated in cases of terrorism on false charges. The takeaway from the events of that day not only jolt me, but also present a very grim picture of the time in which we are living. Journalism, once a respected profession has become a tool of hoop-la into the hands of certain promoters who use it as a mechanism to build public opinion and manufacture consent. I am sorry but I wouldnt hesitate to say that Arnab, arguably the most well-known face of Indian TV journalism today is setting a precedent that is very dangerous for the future of this country. He is teaching a whole bunch of young journalists, who follow him, not to question the narratives propounded by the state machinery, to believe every word of it and call every detractor an 'anti-national'. While in a democracy where journalism is considered the Fourth Estate, it is the duty of journalists to continue to be watchdogs. He is bifurcating opinion into the plain binary of national and anti-national Someone who agrees with him is a nationalist, while others are anti-national. In the name of debate, he is actually running media trials. One can only imagine the absurdity of a situation, wherein he calls me a sympathiser of the Islamic State and a cover for the Indian Mujahideen just because I pondered over certain loopholes in the police version of the Batla House encounter. However, what must have really annoyed Arnab is the fact that I not only questioned the authenticity of the encounter, but also the video that was supposedly released by the Islamic State featuring one of the absconders of the Batla House encounter. And that this came mere months after Arnab allegedly played doctored videos of JNU students on his show must have hit him where it hurts the most. As a journalist, with an acumen for investigation, Arnab should not only have agreed with me but should have also tried to investigate whether that video was at all genuine. But on the contrary, I was asked by him that if it was a 'fancy-dress competition'? Why not? It could have been a fancy-dress competition a bit like hoax calls. Dont we have hoax calls about bombs being planted? Did the video undergo forensic examination before being aired on Arnabs Newshour and becoming a matter of debate? Tasleem Rahmani of the All-India Muslim Council, was right in pointing out the fact that even the employees of Times Now were not sure about the authenticity of that video as they ran the ticker, '#BatlamaninISIS' below the screen followed by a question mark. But logic ceases to exist when it confronts Arnab Goswami on his Newshour show. And what replaces it seems to be pure rhetoric woven into allegations and accusations. However, I realise that I am myself engaging in things of which I have been accusing Arnab, and I am keen to maintain a thick line of difference between myself and him. Therefore, when I talk about Batla House, I would use reason and logic to substantiate my claims something that has serious doubts about the credibility of the police theory hovering around this encounter. The guy apparently featuring in the Islamic State video Bada Sajid who allegedly fled from the Batla House encounter has been declared dead twice before this video surfaced, according to media reports. Any well-meaning person would be curious to understand how a man who has died twice once in Syria and then in Afghanistan is alive again to send threats to India. But as I said, reason and logic have no place in Arnab's fish market which he calls The Newshour. If Arnab had bothered to go through the postmortem reports of the two boys killed in that encounter, he might have sat and contemplated his position, rather than shouting at the highest pitch in his studio and presenting himself as the jury. However, the wish to contemplate would only be aroused if there was an inner desire to investigate and reach out for the truth. Arnab, on the other hand, forces himself to believe things that suit his interest are more important than knowing the truth, probably because truth will never fetch him as much TRP as the ignorance of it will. For TRP-chasers, ignorance is bliss. Then why should one come out of that comfortable zone of ecstasy? Not least for those who have nothing to offer him except some respect and love. But love and respect have lost their meaning. Atif Ameen and Sajid who died in that encounter had been hit by a bullet in the back and the head respectively, whereas the police claimed that there was a gun-battle from the front as soon as the cops entered the flat. Both of the deceased had injuries on their bodies that were caused after being hit by some flat object, clearly indicating that the boys were beaten before being shot. All these facts are on record. If one examines the locality where the encounter took place, it wouldnt be difficult to ascertain at first sight that it is nearly impossible for anyone to flee the encounter scene in such a heavy presence of the police force in the narrow lanes of Batla House. Investigations also revealed that these boys had submitted their original documents in the police station while filling up the tenant verification form before renting out a flat. Even the most foolish man, who is a part of such a big conspiracy, will not make that mistake. Why was a magisterial inquiry as per the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India not conducted after the encounter? This is among the many questions that will continue to haunt our democracy if legislators, executives, and the judiciary do not come together to rectify the mistakes committed by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. However, I would still refrain from calling this encounter 'fake', until a judicial probe is conducted into the matter, and I certainly wish that the findings of the probe actually come as a slap in our collective faces. But I doubt that will happen, which disheartens me. Before I conclude, I agree that other journalists have the right to point out the defects in my investigation and pave the way for a constructive debate, in a bid to restore the essence of journalism and bring back the journalism of a time when ideas were debated. I fail to understand why the debates have been reduced to us versus them and have turned into scuffles between inflated egos. Debate is about engaging with each other in search for the truth and not screaming at each other to score brownie points. If things do not change for the better, the ultimate loser, in the end, will be journalists and journalism. The author is a journalist with Tehelka Srinagar: A Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) commander in Pulwama district of Kashmir region surrendered on Saturday, dealing a major blow to the Burhan group of militants in the Kashmir Valley, officials said. "Tariq Pandit, a close associate of Burhan Wani, and a commander of HM outfit surrendered before the security forces", a senior police officer told IANS in Srinagar. Defence sources said the militant commander surrendered before the officers of 55 Rashtriya Rifles deployed for anti-militancy operations. Pandit had been prominent in pictures posted on the social media that showed Wani and his associates wielding weapons and wearing army fatigues. For over six months now, a 22-year-old youth from Pulwama district, Burhan Wani, has become a militant icon to lure educated local youth into the cadre of insurgent groups. Despite their best efforts, Wani is still at large and the security forces have not been able to arrest or eliminate him. A reward of Rs 10 lakh has been announced by the security forces for anyone leading to actionable information on Wani. It was on 28 April at around 8.30 pm, when Rajeshwari found the lifeless body of her daughter, 30-year-old law student, Jisha, in their one-room house in Perumbavoor, Kerala. Her daughter was lying in a pool of blood, raped and murdered brutally, with her private parts slashed open, exposing her internal organs. No one neither the media nor politicians spoke of the case for nearly a week, after which it soon assumed political significance. The Jisha murder has evolved (or devolved, depending on how you see it) into one of the most sensational cases in Keralas recent history, which was also because the fact that state Assembly polls were due and this was a hot election topic for political parities. The one-room house in Perumbavoor soon turned into a frequent visiting spot for top politicians across political parties and became a symbol of political inaction, social insecurity and Dalit discrimination in the southern state. This became one of the biggest items during poll campaigns for the Communist parties against the Oommen Chandy government. The case also opened up a wider debate on women's safety, Dalit discrimination and socio-cultural change in Gods own country. Candlelight prayers followed for Jisha and she was given a new tag: Keralas Nirbhaya. A month after Jisha passed away, the only thing missing is justice for the victim. No one, to this moment, knows who killed the law student in broad daylight and in a manner that was barbaric and would put even carnivorous animals to shame. Some 2,000 people have been questioned by the Kerala Police so far in this case and some 20 of them were subjected to DNA tests. Multiple teams of state police were deployed to hunt down Jishas killer(s). The police has failed miserably at making any headway in this case so far. After the LDF government took over under new chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, the state government has set up a new probe team under the Kerala ADGP B Sandhya to bring Jishas murderers before the law. There were various theories that came up in the case of Jishas murder most of them based on workers from outside Kerala and Jishas neighbors, but no arrest has been made so far. Notably, there were also allegations by a social activist in Kerala called Jomon Puthanpurackal that a senior Congress leader is behind Jishas murder. But, subsequently, the United Democratic Front (UDF) convener PP Thankachan, has denied any role in the case. Clearly, there have been serious lapses on the part of the state police in the Jisha case even before the murder happened. As Firstpost noted in an earlier piece, Jishas mother, Rajeshwari had lodged a complaint at the local police station more than once citing a threat to her life and those of her children, but no action was taken. Jisha herself had a feeling of insecurity. She slept at night with a sickle under her pillow, out of fear of criminals. We have been literally begging to everyone for money to build a house. I always wanted to run away from this place because we were scared. The neighbors have threatened us several times saying they will kill us by hitting us with a truck. They used to come with vehicles wherever we went. We were living in fear all these years. No matter, whatever we say, the Kuruppampadi Police wouldnt listen to us, Jishas mother told a local channel. After her husband left her few years ago, the mother and her two daughters lived alone in that one-room house. Explaining all these things, we have, several times, lodged complaints at the Vanita police station and with the Kuruppampadi Police. But no action was taken. Nobody would come asking if we were alright. I do not know the reason why they wanted to kill my daughter. She was studying BA, MA and LLB. The other child was married off without my permission. Maybe they (the murderers) feared that once Jisha became a lawyer, the old case would be dug out, she said. The new LDF government has promised to construct a house for Jishas family and give a job to Jishas sister. But, what one should note here is that there were provisions in government schemes to bring help to the homeless citizens of the state long before Jisha was murdered. But, none of that helped her find a safe home. Even today, there are thousand of landless, homeless citizens in the state who seek help, whose number will run into lakhs, according to various estimates. The sad part, unfortunately, is that the system does not act till there are victims. Thats how it has been in the Nirbhaya case and elsewhere. The Jisha murder is a case fit for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probee on account of two factors: One, even a whole month since the incident, the state police hasnt been able to make any meaningful progress in the case except for theories and unsubstantiated allegations. According to reports in the local media, the police has come under fire for ignoring key evidence in the case including the tip-off about a bloodstained knife and a pair of jeans found in a plastic bag near Jishas house. Two, what is even more critical is that there are allegations of involvement of politicians in this murder case. One cannot rule out the chances of the state police being influenced in this case by local politicians and, thus, the force may not have a freehand in the investigation. A CBI investigation is certainly warranted in this case. Finding My Way is a beautiful work of art and stories by the Pradhan Gond artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam and writer and publisher of Navayana, S Anand. They come from completely different backgrounds forming a sonorous confluence where it is difficult to tell where Venkat's voice begins and Anand's voice ends. It is part-autobiography, part-narrative of an individual, a community, an art, a society, folk-mythology, life, all wonderfully illustrated by Venkat and powerfully narrated by Anand without any numbers to the pages. Venkat Raman Singh Shyam is a contemporary torchbearer of an art form practiced by the Pradhan Gonds. His work has been exhibited in India and overseas. He was awarded the Rajya Hasta Shilpa Puraskar by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2002. S Anand is a former journalist, author and founder of the publishing house Navayana. He previously co-authored the graphic novel Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability on the life of B.R.Ambedkar. He has also annotated Ambedkar's classic Annihilation of Caste. Here in conversation with Firstpost, Venkat and Anand speak about growing up near forests in Central India, the struggle to become an artist, and how this book came about. Venkat, what was your childhood like, growing up near forests in Central India? I grew up in a small village called Sijhora situated on the periphery of Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. My maternal grandfather, Sundarlal Uikey, was the chief forester of a range there. He used to narrate stories about his encounters with animals. His stories made early impressions about animals on my mind. Once when my father and I were collecting firewood we encountered a pack of wild dogs, we hid behind rocks waiting for them to pass. I saw and experienced nature at close quarters. I had a beautiful childhood full of freedom. Another memory of my father is, he built me a huge wooden toy that I would sit in and ask my friends to pull me around. Venkat, your father left you in Bhopal with his brother Jangarh, who made Gond art famous. How was the experience of moving to Bhopal from a small village? My father wanted me to become a government officer. He wanted me to take up higher studies. He even put me in a boarding school. I was a sharp child but I left school after Std X. I was more interested in the outside world. I started painting when I was eight years old. I would draw on walls, paper, any surface I found. Oddly enough my family considered painting with charcoal will increase family debt. Eventually, I landed up in Bhopal at Jangarhs house as my father thought I was wasting my time in the village. A lot of Pradhan Gonds had migrated to Bhopal looking for work. It was a strange experience to see people of different backgrounds living together. Seeing aircrafts at close distances made me want to fly one myself. Initially, I didnt know what was expected of me. Jangarh had quack ways of teaching art. My friends and I hung around and cooked for him. He taught us to live, we picked up art by seeing him work. I had frequent quarrels with Jangarh. After one such heated argument, I left to work in a police officials home in Delhi, only a few years after I had arrived in Bhopal. You struggled to keep the flame of your passion for art alive. When did you realise you wanted to create art full time? I had made up my mind that I wanted to become an artist, do art. My father told me, if you want to study further, we wont be able to support you. So I had to stand on my own feet. I worked as a domestic help. I ferried passengers on a hand-pulled rickshaw. I worked as a hoarding and billboard artist for seven years. I did these odd but very physical jobs as I thought, if I could find ways of keeping my stomach full, Ill be able to think of art. Even when I was working as a domestic help in South Extension in Delhi, I would continue working on my paintings after finishing a hard days work. Once I went without food for a week and suffered from cerebral malaria. But when Jangarh passed away in 2001, I decided to pursue art as a full time profession. Anand, how did this book come about? John Bowles, the art historian, introduced Venkat to me about five years ago. Venkat had resolved to tell his story even before we had met. He initially wanted to tell the story of his community, the Pradhan Gonds, history of the community, folk and mythology tales, etc. He came to me with a nice drawing depicting the major incidences of his life. I had previously made Bhimayana which was in more of a graphic novel form. I was clear that I didnt want to make another graphic novel. But the challenge was to find a way to preserve the beauty of his paintings while telling Venkats story. We initially thought we might sit in Bhopal where Venkat would do all the drawings and narrate me stories. Venkat was confident we could finish the book in six months. But I thought until I understand and observe Venkat closely, I wouldnt be able to write about his life. So we went on a road trip, visiting his village, Sijhora, then Amarkantak, Bhimbetka, Patangarh, the center of modern Gond art, etc. Venkat had initial sketches ready but to complete the book we had to spend more time together. So we managed to secure some funding and spent about a month in Nrityagram, on the outskirts of Bangalore. I would hear stories from Venkat and write late in the night. Venkat also managed to do more of his drawings there. This is how the germ of the book happened. It was a taal- mel, a coming together of different thoughts. Venkat forced me to rethink the certainty of my thoughts. It all contributed to the betterment of the book. Anand, the book took four years to write. How was the experience as a writer? I did have initial reservations on how I will be able to write about somebody elses life and experiences. I hadnt experienced the hardships Venkat had. But Venkat was adamant, he trusted me with his stories, so I had to find a way of narrating this story responsibly but also beautifully while doing justice to the powerful way in which he draws. Venkat said I was standing on the rim of a well, so I had no choice but to learn to swim. This book demanded I take myself seriously as a writer. It effectively made me a writer. Venkat, what are the inspirations for your art? What gets you excited to work in your studio? When I was young, I would coax my elders to tell me stories about the forests, the animals, mythological and folk stories, etc, all that got impressed on my thought. When I started working as an artist, I paid attention to how other artists like (MF) Hussain sir, (SH) Raza sir, work. I understood how to bring forth my culture, my thoughts, my environment in my painting. Apart from the animals and forests, I like to highlight social and global issues such as global warming, climate threats to the planet, deforestation, consumption, etc. I feel painting is a very influential medium to get messages across. Gond art has traditionally been an oral tradition. So I like to paint to spread social messages and at the same time educate people about the problems plaguing our environment. How important has the role of your wife, Saroj, and the support of your parents been in your success? Even in the making of this book, her support and encouragement has been huge. She has looked after the family and the kids, their education, upbringing, etc. My work keeps me away from family for long periods of time; she is solely responsible for looking after our house. Without her support, it wouldnt be possible for me to concentrate on my art. I also realise now the importance of sacrifices my father made and the discipline he wanted to inculcate in me. I owe my success to my parents who only wanted good things to happen to me. What would you like to see done more for artists, or artists from areas like MP? In the future, Id like to open an institute where students can come and learn the craft and skills necessary for an artist. People misinterpret Gond art as Madhubani; Id like to educate people on what the art is based on. But the government can help artists with financial support. They can also provide spaces dedicated to art where artists can meet and exchange ideas. People should be informed and inspired to take forward art which is both traditional but contemporary at the same time. Future generations, your children, your niece, plan to become artists. Whats your advice to them? New generation is keen to follow on the path laid down by my predecessors and me. It is a lot easier to take up the profession. But it is important to get basic education. At the same time understanding our traditions is important for them to understand art. They have to be cautious of the pitfalls in their ways. Sometimes, we may like something for a while and equally dislike it as quickly. They also have to be careful of immediate success and things like fads. It is better to be like a tortoise and find your way to your destination rather than being like a rabbit losing your way in the middle. Anand, what are your future plans, if any, for the project? Venkat and I are both keen to take this conversation forward. We have invitations from Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, to do something around the book. Id be interested in extending art beyond the corners of a book or a frame. For the next year, we will be doing different things around the book according to different places. We are interested in exploring a few other stories in the future. Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said the prohibition policy will be extended to toddy from next year and claimed drastric fall in crime figures since declaring Bihar a complete dry state. "Next year we will free Bihar from toddy," Kumar said addressing a function at Muzaffarpur. While announcing a complete ban on sale and consumption of country, spiced and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) on 5 April, the chief minister had said toddy would be kept out of the purview of prohibition for now but the state government would strictly implement the 1991 guidelines on toddy outlets. The guidelines prevent opening of toddy shops within 50 metre radius of schools/colleges, hospitals and other important installations in urban areas and 100 metres in rural areas. Kumar said the state government has constitued a committee under Development Commissioner to promote manufacture of food items from Neera (pre-fermentation sap of toddy tree) on the lines of Tamil Nadu where it has been successfully done for the past 25 years. Women self help groups would be linked to the manufacture of items from Neera. Enumerating the effect of complete prohibition, he said as per figures provided by state police chief the crime rate has come down drastically after declaring Bihar a dry state. He rubbished opposition allegation of return of 'jungle raj' and said cases of murder has come down by 39 per cent since imposition of prohibition. Rape incidents have decreased by 30 per cent, loots by 25 per cent, communal fights by 64 per cent and heinous crimes by 24 per cent. A fall has also been noticed in the number of road accidents, atrocities on women, SC and ST and kindappings, he claimed. Launching an apparent attack on BJP and its NDA allies, Kumar said, "A few persons are not accepting the change and keep chanting 'jungle raj.'" Without mentioning the Gaya road rage or the murder of a journalist at Siwan, he said some condemnable crimes did happen "but prompt and impartial action have been taken immediately." Kumar highlighted steps taken by his government to empower women by providing them 50 per cent reservation in local bodies both in urban and rural bodies. Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav hailed the decision of the grand secular alliance to impose complete ban on alcohol. Hitting out at rivals, he dared the opposition to get President's rule imposed in Bihar. LJP of Union minister Ramvilas Paswan has been demanding imposition of President's rule in Bihar in the wake of the Gaya and Siwan incidents. Congress state President and minister Ashok Choudhary, Finance minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh and state police chief P K Thakur were present at the function organised by conglomorates of women self help groups at Muzaffarpur. Dehradun: Accusing Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat of "misusing" public money, BJP demanded that a case be registered against him and the DG of Information and Public Relations for putting out advertisement aimed at "personal image building" in violation of a Supreme Court directive. Referring to a full-page advertisement put out by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations in several newspapers on 23 May, BJP spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan said it was not at all related to matters of public interest and welfare. "Putting out ads in newspapers and the media is the government's prerogative and we have no objection to that. But a look at the content of the ad makes it clear it is not related to any matter of public interest. "It has been brought out clearly to push the political agenda of the CM and is also highly critical of CBI which was to interrogate him just a day later in connection with the sting CD case," Chauhan said. Alleging that the advertisement was virtually Rawat's "mercy petition" before the people of the state a day before his interrogation by the investigating agency, the BJP leader said it was like an "election poster" painting the CM as the "survivor of a conspiracy to finish him politically". Chauhan claimed the advertisement put out by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations at the behest of the chief minister was not just violation of the Supreme Court ruling against spending of public money over personal image building of a politician but was also against the CBI. It was as a result of this ad that there was a protest against CBI in New Delhi, he said, demanding that a case be registered against the chief minister for alleged breach of peace. The party will soon call on Governor K K Paul seeking a direction to the law enforcement agencies to register a case against the CM and the Director General of Information and Public Relations for publishing the ad. The advertisement shows Rawat thanking the deities of Uttarakhand, its people, his MLAs and the Congress' central and state leaderships for their support during the recent political crisis in Uttarakhand. It also speaks of a "conspiracy" to finish Rawat politically by "dragging him into a CBI probe" and lowering his image in the eyes of the people of Uttarakhand. Chauhan said the DG of Information and Public Relations must be booked as he issued orders for putting out the ad which was critical of the country's apex investigating agency and thus became party to a political campaign. "How can a government official become part of a political campaign to vilify the CBI," he asked. Meet the icon we are trying to vilify. Jawaharlal Nehru was a freedom fighter who spent 11 years in jail. After Mahatma Gandhi, he was the tallest leader of his generation, a popular mass leader who roused Indians with his inimitable Hindustani oratory. He was a scholar of international repute, a writer whose impressive body of work gives rare glimpses into the history of India. Year after year, several generations of Indians voted in large numbers for this towering icon of India's freedom movement, making him India's longest-serving Prime Minister. When he died, India came to a standstill and thousands turned up from all across the country to mourn him. "At 2 p.m. local time today (May 27, 1964), 460,000,000 people in this country that has been forged on the anvil of this one man's dreams and conflicts were plunged into the nightmare world which they have, in the last decade, come to dread as the 'after Nehru' era. Fear was the one dominant feeling one experienced as one came out. Fear that at this moment one had to avoid the reality of Nehru's death and the Pandora's box of suppressed ambitions it will release," The Guardian wrote on his demise. Back home, in Parliament, a young Atal Bihari Vajpayee remembered Nehru as the chief actor of the world stage. Vajpayee implored: "With unity, discipline and self-confidence we must make this Republic of ours flourish. The leader has gone, but the followers remain. The sun has set, yet by the shadow of stars we must find our way. These are testing times, but we must dedicate ourselves to his great aim, so that India can become strong, capable and prosperous." He built some of the defining monuments and institutions of modern India; nurtured its fledgling democracy when all around dictatorships were blooming; contributed to India's liberal, secular, socialist ethos; argued for a scientific temperament; built several new cities and gave the country an identity on the world stage because of his charisma and intellect. For more than three decades, Nehru was India's pride and joy. He was symbol of our syncretic culture and rich cultural heritage, a rare blend of idealism, intellect, penmanship and statesmanship. And now we want to demonise the PM our ancestors elected for almost two decades. Want our future generations to think of him as a villain. In fact, not to talk about him at all. Is this madness real? Two days ago, the Madhya Pradesh government transferred Barwani district collector Ajay Gangwar for praising India's first PM in his Facebook post. If remembering Nehru's contribution to India is a crime, let me take the state's chief minister in case he has not read Vajpayee's tribute to Nehru back to a balmy morning in April 2014. Back then, standing on his home turf, with the CM in attendance, BJP patriarch LK Advani told a huge crowd that India's democracy owes its strength to Nehru. Did Shivraj Singh Chauhan's earns turn red then? In his lifetime, Nehru survived at least four assassination attempts. But, it is clear that another attempt is now being on his life, reputation and legacy. References to his name are being omitted from history books, his iconic tryst-with-destiny speech is being removed from school syllabi. To supplant the image of India's erstwhile hero, an entirely new persona is being created for Nehru with fake pictures, twisted facts and manufactured history. In the fertile imaginations of his assailants, an entirely new Nehru is being created for mass consumption and hatred. The reasons behind this demonisation of Nehru are easy to explain. To his ideological enemies, Nehru is the epitome of the very idea of India a secular, liberal, syncretic nation they want to replace with their narrow, communal, conservative narrative of India. An assault on Nehru is actually a proxy for an attack on the Nehruvian legacy embedded deep in the Indian psyche. The other reason is psychological. Hatred of the good is a manifestation of a deep-seated human hatred for a person who possesses virtues and qualities they themselves lack and find desirable. At the sub-conscious level, many of Nehru's opponents envy him, detest in him what their own personalities lack. As Ayn Rand argues in Atlas Shrugged: "They do not want to own your fortune, they want you to lose it; they do not want to succeed, they want you to fail; they do not want to live, they want you to die; they desire nothing, they hate existence, and they keep running, each trying not to learn that the object of his hatred is himself . . . . They are the essence of evil, they, those anti-living objects who seek, by devouring the world, to fill the selfless zero of their soul." This is not to argue that Nehru did not have his shortcomings or failures. His handling of the Chinese attack in 1962, decision to take Kashmir to the UN (morally right, diplomatically wrong) and focus on socialism could have led to long-term consequences. By all means, these should be debated, argued and discussed in the public domain, in the right context and with the proper intent. In the long run, attempts to erase Nehru from India's history will backfire. So interlinked is India's pre and post Independence history with him that several chapters of it could be written as a biography of Nehru. To separate Nehru from India would be impossible. In fact, recent attempts to vilify him will entice people to study him closely in an attempt to separate the truth from propaganda. Ultimately, his critics will end up reviving interest in Nehru and Nehruvianism. Nehru will live on, he will survive his enemies and their envy. Srinagar: In a major embarrassment to the ruling PDP dispensation in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, two of the party MLAs and CAPD minister Zulfikar Ali on Saturday engaged in war of words over the implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the state. As the Minister for Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution (CAPD) was replying to a question on implementation of NFSA during the question hour, PDP MLAs Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Yawar Dilawar Mir rose in support of opposition claims that a large population of the state is being denied ration from government run depots due to the implementation of the Act. "I don't want to get into a controversy but how have they (CAPD) deleted the names of people from ration cards," Ashraf, a former minister and the MLA from Sonawar constituency, said. On this, Yawar, who represents Rafiabad constituency, rose to make a point but was asked by the minister to take his seat. "Then why was Ashraf allowed to speak," he asked. Ali responded by saying that Ashraf had recently been removed from the counsil of ministers. Ashraf hit back at Ali, saying, "ye ministry aap ke ghar ki hai kya? (have you inherited this ministry). There was further embarrassment for the treasury benches as Yawar alleged that there was gross malpractices in the implementation of the NFSA in his constituency. "Aap ne Ashraf sahib ki baat ke. Aghar aese hi kaam karte rahai, sab ki ministry challi jayai gee (you spoke about Ashraf. If you continue to work like this every one will loose the ministry)," he said. Ali tried to pacify his party's irate MLAs saying the verification of the beneficiaries was not done by CAPD department but by the Revenue Department. Notably, Basharat Bukhari, a PDP MLA from Sangrama, is the revenue minister. As the PDP MLAs and the minister were exchanging the barbs, the opposition MLAs were thumping the benches. Even BJP MLA from Ram Nagar R S Pathania criticised the government over the malpracticies in updating of the list of beneficiaries under NFSA. He also claimed that some areas of his constituency like Dudu Basantgarh were without ration for the last four months. Several members from the opposition demanded a discussion on the issue, saying it was a matter of concern for the entire House. Speaker Kavinder Gupta said a separate discussion on the issue will be held after the presentation of annual Budget on Monday. Puducherry: Apparently unhappy over the election of V Narayanasamy as the new Chief Minister of the Union territory on Saturday, supporters of a faction in the Congress protested against the decision and went on a rampage damaging buses. Around 10 buses on their way to Chennai were attacked after the announcement was made public. Windscreens of at least eight buses operating between Puducherry and Chennai were broken after the protesters, believed to be supporters of PCC president A Namassivayam pelted the vehicles with stones. Driver of a bus sustained injuries in the stone pelting. Some of the passengers in a bus also suffered injuries when glass splinters hit them, they said. The protestors also shouted slogans against Narayanasamy outside the hotel where the Congress Legislature Party meeting was held. They contended a person who had not contested the elections should not be made the Chief Minister. When Namassivayam came out of the hotel, they surrounded him and posed several queries regarding the decision. Namassivayam was seen placating some of the protestors. Congress's central observers - former Delhi chief minister Shelia Dikshit and general secretary Mukul Wasnik - announced the decision after holding discussions with the newly-elected party legislators here. The Congress, which fought the 16 May elections in alliance with the DMK, won 15 seats in the 30 member assembly. The DMK won two seats. Since there were three contenders for the chief minister's post - former chief minister V Vaithilingam, party chief A Namassivayam and Narayanasamy - there was a delay in choosing the next Chief Minister. According to the party's central observers, Narayanasamy was elected unanimously by all the Congress legislators. Narayanansamy's supporters alleged that he did not want to be the chief minister. They started protesting against the decision because they felt Narayanansamy had worked behind the scenes to secure the top post in the Union Territory. They contended a person who had not contested the elections should not be made the Chief Minister. Narayanansamy did not contest the elections. Now, he has to get elected after one of the sitting legislators resigns. How this impacts the first few days of Narayanansamy's term as chief minister remains to be seen. Washington: Donald Trump has backed out of a televised debate against Democrat Bernie Sanders just two days after agreeing, prompting the Vermont Senator to say that the Republican presumptive presidential candidate is running away from engaging in a one-on-one discussion with him. Trump said "now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher", referring to Sanders, who is running behind Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House in the Democratic Party. He alleged that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and "Crooked Hillary Clinton" and Deborah Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, will not allow Sanders to win. "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, women's 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," he said in a statement yesterday. This came as a surprise move after saying he would "love to debate" with Sanders on Thursday, triggering wild speculation and media frenzy. Trump had asked for at least $10 million for charity from the hosting television channel. However, Sanders in a statement alleged that Trump is running away from participating in a debate with him, saying there is a "reason" why the billionaire is doing so which the Americans should be "able to see it up front in a good debate". "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. "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," Sanders said. "There is a reason why in virtually every national and statewide poll I am defeating Donald Trump, sometimes by very large margins and almost always by far larger margins than Secretary Clinton. "There is a reason for that reality and the American people should be able to see it up front in a good debate and a clash of ideas," he said. Beijing: China on Friday said it was strongly dissatisfied with a statement by G7 members, in which they expressed concern over the South China Sea. Leaders of the G7 countries Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US and representatives from the European Union, convened in Japan's Ise-Shima for the summit, which ran Thursday through Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. "As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, adding that such action was not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does not accord with the G7's position as a platform for managing the developed economies. "China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done," Hua said, urging G7 members to avoid irresponsible remarks and do more that is beneficial to regional peace and stability. Hua called on G7 members to be objective and fair and abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes. "As the world is faced with a complicated economic situation, the G7, as a platform to discuss world economy, should focus on economic and development issues of global concern," Hua said. As the holder of the G20 presidency this year, China hopes G7 members will join the agenda of G20, which is more representative platform, and play a more constructive role in global economic governance, Hua said. What China has done in the South China Sea falls entirely within China's sovereignty, and is completely legal, reasonable and blameless, Hua said. China firmly maintains the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the wilful trespassing of naval warships, Hua said. She said China opposed the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigation freedom." In fact, regarding China's efforts to settle the South China Sea disputes through negotiation and consultation, more and more countries and organisations have shown their understanding and support, Hua said. The Supreme Court decision to release the lone Italian marine detained in the country in connection with the killing of two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012 has dashed the fishing communitys hopes for justice. National Fishworkers Forum (NWF) national secretary T Peter told Firstpost that the failure of the government counsel in opposing marine Salvatore Girones plea for permission to return home had strengthened the suspicion that the case is being driven by a deal between the governments in the two countries. If the allegation is true, it is the Narendra Modi government's biggest betrayal of thousands of fishermen, who go to sea everyday to eke out a life. While in the Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party had blamed the UPA government of protecting the marines at the instance of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Peter said. If the marines were let off during the UPA regime, the BJP would have created a huge furore citing Sonias Italian roots. It is an irony that Modi is softer towards Italians than Sonia, he added. Peter said that the fishing community had expected that the Modi government would give fisherfolk justice by ensuring maximum punishment to the killers of the two fishermen as per Indian laws. The soft stance taken by the counsel in the apex court shows that the government is not valuing the lives of fishermen, he added. The government has let off the killers easily while hundreds of Indian fishermen are languishing in jails in various countries for minor faults. Modi, who has been globetrotting, has not made any moves to bring the innocent fishermen back to the country, Peter said. The forum secretary said that the fishing community in the country would react to this betrayal strongly. The forum has called a meeting of various fishermens bodies in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram on Friday to discuss a joint action plan against the failure of the authorities in protecting the lives of fishermen. Our concern is not about the present case, but the message it sends to the world. If the two marines are not given the punishment they deserve, it will send a message that anybody can kill Indian fishermen and escape. This will deter the fishermen from going to the sea fearlessly, he added. Doramma, widow of Jelastine, who was one of the fishermen was killed by the Italian marines during the course of fishing off the Alappuzha coast on 15 February, 2012, appears to have resigned herself to her fate. She said she lost any hope of getting justice after the case was taken away from Kerala. We have lost our pillar of our life. We have left everything to God. Let the Almighty decide what is right, said Doramma, who has carefully saved the entire sum of Rs one crore that she received as compensation from the Italian government. Doramma, who brings up her two sons with the salary she is getting from the job offered by the Kerala government following the tragedy, goes to church every day and prays for the soul of her husband. Freddy John Bosco, owner of the fishing boat St Antony, on which the two marines (aboard the Enrica Lexie) opened fire and killed the two Indian fishermen, has also lost hope of getting any justice. The boat that was taken into custody by the state police following the incident, is 'ruined beyond repair'. Freddy, who had moved the court to get back the boat, has abandoned the vessel after waiting for more than three years. He has now joined another fishing boat as a worker to bring up his family. He tries to manage his life with whatever he gets as his wage. After employing fishermen for more than two decades, it was difficult for me to work for another boat owner. There was no way. I had to take care of my family. We have no other source of income. I am trying to come to terms with the reality, the former boat owner told Firstpost, adding, I used to earn an average of Rs three lakh a month from the boat. Some months, I used to get up to Rs five lakh. It was a lucky boat. Even if I get the boat back, it cannot be brought back to service. It is totally ruined." Freddy, who was given compensation worth Rs 17 lakh by the Italian government, was left with no money to buy another boat something that costs no less than Rs 45 lakh now. In any case, he had spent around Rs four lakh on the lawyers who fought his case for compensation and reclaiming possession of the boat. The lawyers had promised they would help me get a new boat. I had believed them, but now I have lost the hope. I am not expecting anything. Let the marines live happily with their families. I will try to eke out a living by working for other boats, said Freddy. Catholic priest Father Rajesh Martin, a distant relative of the late Jelastine, is also of the same view. He has no complaints against anybody. He considers the four years and more that the marines spent under detention as adequate punishment for the wrong they did. After all, the two marines had no intention to kill innocent fishermen. The death was the result of an accident. They have suffered enough punishment for the mistake. Let them and the families of the fishermen proceed with their normal lives now, he said. However, newly-sworn-in chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is not ready to let off the two marines. He has expressed strong displeasure over the manner in which Modi government handled the case. He said that his government will mount pressure on the Centre to bring the marines to book as per the Indian laws. Pinarayi, who assumed office on Wednesday, said that the Left Democratic Front has always been unhappy with the way the case was handled by the Centre. "We have made our position clear right from the time this incident occurred; things never went the way it should have gone. The Centre never pursued the case in the way it should have been taken up, and hence, this has happened," said Pinarayi. BEIRUT Ministers and members of parliament belonging to Lebanon's Hezbollah could be sanctioned under a new U.S. law targeting the group's finances, a U.S. Treasury official said on Friday. The U.S. Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act (HIFPA) passed in December threatens sanctions against anyone who finances Hezbollah in a significant way. It has ignited an unprecedented dispute between Lebanon's most powerful group - the heavily armed Hezbollah - and a central bank widely seen as a pillar of the otherwise weak and dysfunctional Lebanese state. When asked in an interview with television channel LBC if the law could be applied to Hezbollah ministers and MPs in Lebanon, the U.S. Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Daniel Glaser said: "We don't make a distinction among Hezbollah members." Iran-backed Hezbollah, whose fighters played a major role in forcing Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000, enjoys strong support in the Lebanese Shi'ite community. Its members include government ministers, MPs, and local councillors. Classified as a terrorist group by the United States, Hezbollah wields enormous political influence in Lebanon and its powerful military wing is playing a major role in the Syrian conflict. The Lebanese central bank and U.S. officials have repeatedly said the law does not target ordinary Lebanese citizens, or the Shi'ite community in particular, and will not adversely affect the country's financial sector. "We understand the difference between Hezbollah and the broader Shi'ia community," Glaser said. "We are implementing this law world wide. Obviously it has specific impact here in Lebanon because Hezbollah has a big presence here in Lebanon. But Hezbollah is the target of this legislation, not the Shi'ia. And I can't say that strongly enough," he said. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. CAIRO/PARIS No new radio signal has been received from an EgyptAir jet since the day it crashed in the Mediterranean last week, sources close to the investigation said on Friday. Media reports on Thursday suggested that a new signal had allowed officials to further home in on where the black box recorders might be located. But the sources told Reuters that nothing new had been detected since a radio signal picked up on the day of the crash from the plane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) that allowed officials to determine a broadly defined search zone of 5 km (3 miles) in radius. "There has been nothing since day one," one of the sources said. More than a week after the Airbus A320 crashed on May 19 with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, investigators have no clear picture of its final moments. Search teams were working against the clock to recover the two flight recorders that will offer vital clues on the fate of flight 804. The acoustic signals that help locate them in deep water stop transmitting after about 30 days. Egypt's ministry of civil aviation signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday with the Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search to help with the search and retrieval process, according to a ministry statement. It did not specify when it would join the search. France's BEA air crash investigation agency said French naval survey vessel Laplace had left Corsica on Thursday and was heading toward the search zone north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria. A French official said the vessel would arrive on Sunday or Monday. The vessel contains equipment from ALSEAMAR, a subsidiary of French industrial group Alcen, which can pick up black-box pinger signals over long distances up to 5 km (3 miles), according to the company's website. These are separate from the signals transmitted by the ELT, which sends a radio signal upon impact that is not designed to continue emitting once the plane is submerged underwater, said one of the sources close to the investigation. The French vessel 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 zone should nothing be detected, said another of the sources. (Additional reporting by Andrew Callus; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Pravin Charm, Toni Reinhold) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical check-up, will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday, according to his daughter. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz tweeted that her father will undergo the open-heart surgery. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif undergoing open heart surgery on Tuesday. Prayers are the most effective and potent medicine. Millions will pray for him. Insha Allah he'll be fine," she tweeted last night. Maryam went on to explain her 66-year-old father's medical condition, saying: "In 2011 Nawaz Sharif had a cardiac procedure called 'Atrial Fibrillation Ablation', during which certain complications occurred resulting in perforation of heart which was in turn treated by open heart surgery." Therefore, Sharif had been visiting his doctor for follow up, she said. "After some recent symptoms a team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons carried out some scans and tests, following which they decided to go for an open heart surgery," she said. The prime minister will be on specific medication for the next three days before his surgery on Tuesday, Maryam said. "The recovery period and hospital stay will be one week. Nawaz Sharif will travel back to Pakistan as soon as the doctors allow," she added. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also said doctors have advised Sharif to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he will be staying in the hospital for a week in London. "The prime minister will travel after one week, on doctor's permission," Asif, who is also a confidante of the premier, said on Friday in Islamabad. This is Sharif's second trip to London for medical check-up in recent weeks. He had undergone a check-up in Pakistan last month following which he decided to visit London for a proper medical assessment. He went to London on 22 May for a medical check-up and was supposed to return in a week. His surgery will be conducted at London's The Princess Grace Hospital, which is considered one of the best-equipped multi-disciplinary hospital in the UK capital. Sharif has been facing pressure from opposition political parties at home to conduct a thorough investigation into the Panama Papers leaked documents which show that members of his family own undeclared offshore wealth and expensive property in London. Some leaders in Pakistan have demanded Sharif to step down amid the scandal. Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing. Islamabad: Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the $ 700 million deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the US following a row between the two countries over their financing, a media report said on Saturday. The Pakistani government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by 24 May, but Dawn News reported that the document was not issued leading to expiry of the offer. "Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired," a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the daily. However, Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani, told the daily that "a dead-end has not been reached as yet". Initially, the $ 700 million deal for eight F-16C/D Block-52 multi-role fighters, was to be partially financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme but the Congress disallowed subsidising the sale. The subsidising was disallowed over concern that Pakistan had not done enough to end the dreaded Haqqani network's terror sanctuaries on its soil as well as fears over Islamabad's nuclear programme. Pakistan, which expected to get the fighters at the subsidised rate of $ 270 million, was subsequently asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight aircraft from its national resources. This was not acceptable to Pakistani authorities, who remained adamant that the offer must come without any preconditions. The aircraft were required by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, the report said. The jets would have come with "all-weather, non-daylight environments and self-defence/area suppression capability". It was unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets, although it had originally desired to acquire 18 F-16s, the daily said. Some quarters believe that providing the Letter of Acceptance would have kept the window open for re-negotiating the financing arrangement at a later stage, it said. Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said last month that Pakistan could look to buy the aircraft from some other country if the deal did not go ahead. He also said earlier this month that Pakistan's ties with the US had witnessed a "downward slide" amid the row over the Congress' decision to block the sale of the jets. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said last week that Pakistan will explore other options to meet its defence needs if the deal for F-16s did not materialise with the US. Analysts believe Islamabad could consider Russian or Chinese fighters to meet its defence requirements. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Saturday slowly inflated an experimental fabric module that may provide a less expensive and safer option for housing crews during long stays in space, a NASA TV broadcast showed. An initial attempt to unfurl the module on Thursday failed, most likely because of friction within the module's layers of fabric, foam and reinforced outer covering, NASA said. Its a learning process, said NASA mission commentator Dan Huot. Everything will influence the design and operation of expandable habitats in the future. The prototype habitat, which was flown to the station last month, is the first expandable habitat to be tested with astronauts in space. Designed and built by privately owned Bigelow Aerospace, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is far less costly to launch than traditional metal habitats and also may provide astronauts with better radiation protection. The lightweight modules could be used by crews on three-year missions to the planet Mars. The Las Vegas-based company previously flew two unmanned prototypes. Working from inside the space station, astronaut Jeff Williams began inflating BEAM shortly after 9 a.m. (1300 GMT) by opening a valve to release air into the module. Williams told flight controllers he heard short popping sounds, which Huot said were stitches inside the module ripping apart as designed when BEAM began to expand. That is good news, astronaut Jessica Meir radioed to Williams from Mission Control in Houston. With more spurts of air BEAM slowly unfurled in length and diameter over the next several hours, setting the stage for tanks of pressurized air inside the module to open. Eventually BEAM will expand to the size of a small bedroom, a 10-fold increase in volume. The process is expected to be completed later on Saturday. NASA plans to keep BEAM attached to the station, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, for two years to see how it fares in the harsh environment of space. Bigelow Aerospace aims to fly inflatable space modules 20 times larger than BEAM that can be leased out to companies and research organizations. (Editing By Frank McGurty, Editing by Franklin Paul) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BOGOTA A Spanish journalist kidnapped by Colombia's ELN rebels said on Friday she is safe after going missing six days ago in restive Norte de Santander province, but declined to give details on her disappearance. Salud Hernandez is one of three journalists who vanished over the past week while working in El Tarra municipality in the largely lawless northeastern province. She was last seen climbing aboard a motorcycle taxi on Saturday while reporting a story on the illegal drug trade. "Thank you to the Catholic Church, to all my colleagues," Hernandez said by telephone to Caracol television news. "I'm perfectly fine." Hernandez said she would hold a press conference later to tell the story of her disappearance, adding that the two other reporters who vanished in the province will be freed on Friday or Saturday. 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. "Their liberation will also be quick," said Hernandez, adding that she had not actually seen the reporters. The government said on Thursday the journalists were being held by the National Liberation Army (ELN), which operates in the area alongside the larger rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and criminal gangs. [nL2N18O00O] The El Tiempo newspaper reported that Hernandez said she was held against her will but treated well. The liberation of the reporters could help move the ELN and the government toward starting peace talks they announced in March that have been delayed by the rebels' continued kidnappings and infrastructure attacks. Hernandez, 59, who writes for Spain's El Mundo and local newspapers, is known for opinion columns highly critical of Colombia's insurgents, the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC talks. Santos has said no official talks will begin until the group frees all hostages. "I demand the immediate liberation of the two RCN journalist who are still in the hands of the ELN," Santos told reporters at a meeting with security officials. The government has been holding peace talks with the FARC since late 2012. Norte de Santander is a hub for cultivation of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, and for the smuggling of goods from neighbouring Venezuela. Rebels groups and criminal gangs, many of them including former paramilitary fighters, sometimes fight for control of drug routes and crops. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Dan Grebler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. UNITED NATIONS The United Nations' humanitarian chief on Friday demanded that the Syrian government and militant groups stop interfering with the delivery of food and medicine for civilians trapped in besieged and difficult-to-reach areas in war-ravaged Syria. "The continued use of siege and starvation as a weapon of war is reprehensible," U.N. under secretary-general Stephen O'Brien told the 15-nation Security Council. "Based on the latest information, we now estimate that some 592,700 people are currently living in besieged areas," he said, adding that most of those were surrounded by government forces. The five-year-old civil war in Syria has killed at least 250,000 people. Millions have been displaced and many of those are now refugees living abroad. O'Brien said the Syrian government, and to a lesser extent the militant groups fighting the government and against each other, deliberately interfere with and restrict aid deliveries. He complained that the U.N. had asked to send aid convoys to 35 besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria in May but the government only granted full access to 14 of them and partial access to another eight. He added that the parties to the conflict also continued to siphon off crucial medical supplies from aid convoys. "The removal of life-saving medicines and medical supplies such as surgical kits, midwifery kits, and emergency kits has continued unabated, with supplies for an estimated 150,000 treatments removed from convoys since the beginning of the year," he said. Since February 2014, medical supplies for over 650,000 treatments have been taken from aid convoys, O'Brien said. Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari questioned the accuracy of O'Brien's claims and blamed the bulk of the violence against civilians in Syria on Islamic State and Nusra Front militants. O'Brien told the council he stood by his claims. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said the complaints from Syria were ironic given that it is "a government that pulls infant formula off of convoys, (as well as) anaesthetics and surgical equipment." (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by David Gregorio) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Telstra has confirmed the departure of its chief technology officer, Vish Nandlall, amid an allegation the senior executive's resume contained false information. A Telstra spokesman said Mr Nandlall, who describes himself online as a "telecom visionary", had parted ways with the company after 21 months in his role. But the spokesman said Telstra would not comment on a report in The Australian on Saturday, which claimed that Mr Nandlall had left the company "under a cloud" after he had "embellished his resume", claiming to have an MBA from Harvard. The Australian also published claims that he had plagiarised presentation material. "Vish Nandlall has left Telstra after serving as the company's Chief Technology Officer for the past 21 months," the Telstra spokesman said. That is because many people and businesses who confidently assert they are located in trendy Potts Point are in fact gasp! in Elizabeth Bay. It all depends which side of Macleay Street you are on. This is the determination of the Geographical Names Board of NSW, which has statutory responsibility for deciding the boundaries of suburbs. So posh buildings on the eastern side of Macleay such as Manar, Macleay Regis, and the Pomeroy, and trendy eateries such as The Apollo, Bourke Street Bakery and Billy Kwong, which all give Potts Point as their address, are actually in Elizabeth Bay. As is the Potts Point Bookshop. And the Potts Point Post Office. Not that there's anything wrong with Betty Bay, as the locals affectionately call it. Not so long ago it was the place to live around here: close to the water, elegant buildings, little traffic. But Potts Point is hot right now and that's where everyone wants to be. It's all a bit ridiculous, really, as we all think of ourselves as being in the same neighbourhood. We all have the same postcode and we are all located in the City of Sydney. Yet it was precisely this reasoning that led to Potts Point being kicked out of Wentworth. It was all because Paddington did not want to be split up. On October 14 last year, the AEC released its draft redistribution for NSW. Included among the proposals was that 9679 electors "in the area of Woolloomooloo, East Sydney, Darlinghurst, Victoria Barracks and Moore Park" be transferred from Wentworth to Sydney. Overall, the redistribution proposed changes that affected 944,592 electors, or 19.42 per cent of NSW voters, and included some real biggies such as abolishing a seat, renaming a seat (Throsby would become Whitlam) and other contentious changes. On November 13, when the deadline for objections closed, 791 written objections had been received; 78 of them or almost 10 per cent were from electors in Paddington. Or, if you read these objections, most of the writers describe themselves as being from "South Paddington". Not "Moore Park" or "Victoria Barracks". South Paddington. A lot of words were deployed to argue why north and south Paddington ought not be split up. The churches and cinemas are all on the south side of Oxford Street; cafes are on both sides of the divide; we are a community, with a common postcode. Then there was the status argument: "My vote is more comfortable sitting in the milieu of Wentworth voters," wrote one woman. "We are an eastern suburbs residential community. Presently we are fortunate to have the Prime Minster as our local member with access to his office." On February 25 this year, the AEC released the final new boundaries. "The entire locality of Paddington" would now be located in Wentworth, the press release announced. Potts Point would move to Sydney. As would a big chunk of Darlinghurst that previously was going to stay in Wentworth. Now the only bit of Darlo that can call Malcolm its local member is that tiny triangle bounded by Flinders, Oxford and South Dowling streets. As a result of these changes, Wentworth is now safer for Turnbull: his margin has increased from 17.7 per cent to 18.9 per cent. But, sorry Tanya, we Once Were Wentworthians from Potts Point, Darlinghurst, East Sydney and Woolloomooloo have reduced your margin from 14.7 per cent to 12.9 per cent. On the other hand, Malcolm Turnbull need no longer turn up to Mardi Gras, because Sydney now has the cachet of being the gayest federal electorate in NSW. According to the bureau of statistics, Darlinghurst, Potts Point and Surry Hills have the highest number of gay male couples in the city. They are all now in the electorate of Sydney. As are St Peters, Newtown and Erskineville, which have the highest number of female same sex couples. Back in Potts Point, we are bemused. If Paddington sees itself as a single neighbourhood divided by a boulevard, so do we. So does the City of Sydney. But not the Geographical Names Board of NSW. Nor, now, does the Australian Electoral Commission. "It's a joke," says Vicki Laing, managing director of Laing Real Estate, which has been selling properties in the area for more than 50 years. "How can you chop Potts Point in half?" And somebody better tell Tony Abbott. The former PM has been seen in the neighbourhood a lot lately, dining at Zinc and Fratelli Paradiso, both of which are in actual Potts Point. Former Australian Idol co-host James Mathison has announced he will take on Tony Abbott in the blue ribbon stronghold of Warringah at the upcoming Federal Election. The 38-year-old will stand as an independent in the northern beaches seat in the July 2 poll, vowing to use a social media-driven campaign in a bid to capture the youth vote. But the Frenchs Forest resident and father-of-two has a tough task ahead of him if he is to defeat the former prime minister, who has held the seat for 22 years and has a considerable margin. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have found a rare moment of unity on the campaign trail, agreeing that racism in Australia persists and there is more work to be done on reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Just over an hour after the Prime Minister spoke, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann struck a different note, attacking as "very negative" the assertion that Australia has a problem with entrenched racism. Bill Shorten and Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell at the Sunbury Community Health Centre on Saturday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen While stating that most Australians are not guilty of discrimination, the Opposition Leader told a Reconciliation Week dinner on Friday night that "systemic racism is still far too prevalent" and confronts Indigenous people every day. "The insidious nature of stubborn racism is still a reality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals - regardless of the status and stature they achieve in our society," he said. If the polls didn't improve come February, they knew the faint murmurings of discontent would escalate into a move to replace him before the election, even though it was months away this was much more difficult under rules introduced by Kevin Rudd. Bill Shorten during a 9.2 kilometre morning run in Sydney. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Shorten's last two addresses to his colleagues before the Christmas break had been brave and upbeat, but failed to instil a sense of belief that Labor could do what no opposition has done since 1931: remove a government in a single term. The worst fear of Labor MPs was that they could go backwards after the crushing defeat of 2013. In the first pre-Christmas address, Shorten declared he would not trade a single day of the last almost 1000 as Opposition leader, even the bad ones. "All those experiences have toughened me, and made me a lot clearer about what matters and what doesn't," he said. Not content to subject his wife, Chloe, to public displays of affection, Bill Shorten has wheeled her out for fundraising purposes too. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I remind him of one of the bad days, an ABC radio interview with Jon Faine, where his meandering response to the most basic of question about what he believed in began: "Well, the Labor Party believes in lots of things " Critics called it a train wreck. He calls it a "shocker", but also a learning experience. He's a transformed man, and I don't know what to put it down to "What I learnt was 'don't think aloud'," he tells me during his first expansive interview of the campaign. "There's a difference between a dinner party and a radio interview." In the second caucus address, he said there wasn't a single Labor MP or senator he would swap for someone else. "The comradery we have has forged an alternative government far sooner, I think, than anyone expected," he said. It was one thing, of course, to assert in a pep talk that Labor could not afford the luxury of a two-term strategy to regain government, and take pride in policy development and unity. It is another altogether to convince colleagues and the electorate that a one-term strategy has legs. Which brings us back to Bawley Point, where Shorten made three critical decisions that help explain how faction man became running man, and how the leader who was expected to be cannon fodder at the election became a genuine contender. The most recent Fairfax-Ipsos poll shows Turnbull's 81-point approval rating lead of November has shrunk to 16 points; this week's Newspoll has the leaders tied on a satisfaction rating of minus-12; and John Stirton's average of all the May polls shows Labor a whisker in front on the two-party vote. On any measure, Shorten's recovery has been extraordinary. "He's a transformed man, and I don't know what to put it down to," says Kim Beazley, who went very close to nipping John Howard's long reign in the bud back in 1998. The answer is Bawley Point and a capacity to learn from mistakes. "He's grown in the job as you should," says Bill Kelty, the former ACTU secretary who has been a Shorten mentor. "He's become clearer, more articulate, more relaxed and therefore a bit more likeable," says social researcher Hugh Mackay. Shorten's first decision at Bawley was to narrow his focus, tighten his answers and direct his attention to those he is seeking to persuade. "I thought I can't control what everyone writes about us, I can't control what Turnbull does, but I can invest in what I can influence," he explains. Every answer, at every media event, he resolved, would be directed at those whose trust he is seeking to win, not the media gang in front of him or the talkback host asking the questions. The second decision was to continue to rely on those whose advice has served him well over the years, from the policy advisers in his office and frontbench colleagues (especially deputy, Tanya Plibersek, and treasury spokesman Chris Bowen) to wife Chloe, friends in the business community and the likes of Paul Keating and Kelty. "I've focused a lot more and stopped necessarily asking a million people what they think," says Shorten. The third decision was to shed excess weight and get fit, with an early morning run becoming part of his daily routine. "Losing 10 kilos is the best thing I've done for myself in a while." The first test of the new Bill came early in January, when he returned to work and embarked on a national tour of supermarkets and greengrocers in a campaign against the GST increase that then seemed a certainty. If Shorten was happy with the interactions and the message he conveyed, the general response in the social and mainstream media was derision, especially after he asked one shopper which lettuce she preferred. "Bill Shorten limp as a lettuce," shouted the Daily Telegraph. Vindication came early in February, a few days after Shorten played his first big electoral card of the year by committing to fully fund the decade-long Gonski school reforms. Turnbull formally abandoned any notion of increasing the GST. Five days later, Labor announced one of the bravest policies since Howard's GST, the decision to change negative gearing rules for property purchases. Suddenly, the contest was transformed. "That was when they passed the economic momentum over," says Shorten. "That's when their offence went into defence." More than most politicians, Shorten is a confidence player. The other factor that buoyed him is the perception that, rather than pull the Liberal Party towards the centre, Turnbull has been dragged to the Right since toppling Tony Abbott in September. "It's a lot easier to be authentic, and a lot easier to remember your lines, if you are true to who you are, to your values," Shorten says. "I'm in the fortunate position of leading a party whose values I share. Turnbull leads a divided party. This is one lesson I've learnt: if you can't lead your own party, you can't lead the nation. "One thing I'm sure about after July 2, is that the Liberal Party will go back to war with themselves, and I think they'd be better off doing it in opposition and really getting it out of their system, than doing it from government and wasting another three years of this nation's life." Not that he underestimates his opponent or the public's desire, expressed in the first months of his prime ministership, for Turnbull to succeed. "Turnbull is a very articulate personality who has been in the public eye a very long time, but the funny thing is the things that people like about him are exactly the parts that he's dropped: the republic, marriage equality, climate change, progress, the big picture. "Now he's resorted in this election campaign to calling me nicknames. Is that the best they've got now? You watch him mouthing uncomfortable slogans on refugees and allowing the attack on the migrant history of Australia." At 49, Shorten is 12 years Turnbull's junior but they have some things in common: both were estranged from one of their parents; both forged reputations as deal-makers; and both have the capacity to charm. "I still like him," Shorten says of his opponent. "I'm not a hater. He, like me, is not very good at running scare campaigns. Tony Abbott can run a scare campaign." Whether this assessment stands up will be tested in the coming weeks. One advantage Shorten has is that he is battle-hardened, having faced dozens of town hall meetings since becoming Labor leader. He's enjoying himself on the hustings, and it shows. "I'll tell you where I get my nourishment from town hall meetings, talking to people," he says. "If you have individually addressed in Q&A sessions 10,000 people and I've done more than that - you get a fair idea what they're thinking. What I've also learnt is you don't have to tell everyone everything they want to hear." His direct style was rewarded in the first People's Forum of the election, when one woman put the case for people being able to access their superannuation to put a deposit on a home. After Turnbull gave an indirect response, Shorten told the woman: "To answer your question very directly, Labor has no plans to allow people to use their super for their housing deposit." The audience of undecided voters gave him a clear win on the night. Another advantage Shorten has over the favourite is his underdog status and the low expectations the electorate had of him, especially after Turnbull became PM. "The expectations were so low that, when he started to deliver, everyone has done a double take and asked, 'Who is this guy?'" says one business figure who declines to be named. "Whereas Malcolm's story is so polished and people had such extremely high expectations that the disappointment has been palpable when he failed to meet them." Watching Shorten in the Northern Territory this week, Beazley was struck by the sensitive way Shorten handled Nova Peris' decision to quit politics. "Whether or not they prefer Malcolm Turnbull as PM, my impression is that, increasingly, people can live with the prospect of Bill being PM," he says. If an unstated message from Turnbull is that he will be less constrained once he has his own mandate from the people, the message from Shorten is that there will be nothing left in the petrol tank come 6pm on polling day. "I don't want to have any view on the night of July 2 that there was something I really wanted to do that I didn't do because I thought maybe there is a better time," he says. To become prime minister, Shorten has to win a campaign that has another five weeks to run and at least neutralise the Turnbull plan for jobs and growth with one that offers economic prosperity and fairness in equal measure. "Fairness and growth are twins; they're not strangers," he says. "My challenge is, if on election night people know half a dozen things that the Labor Party stands for, we might well win." Aside from Turnbull's capacity as persuader, Shorten will confront a Coalition advertising blitz reminding voters of his role in the dysfunction of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, his union connections and Labor's record on asylum seeker boat arrivals. "They're going to have to rely on TV advertising: refugees, collapsing house prices, the CMFEU running Australia, whatever their brand of nonsense," he says. "We'll just have to take it on." A group of retired politicians trying to claw bigger pensions and more free travel from the taxpayer will get their day in court next month. The High Court has agreed to hear the challenge by four former federal MPs Labor's Barry Cunningham, Tony Lamb and Barry Cohen, and Liberal John Moore seeking a big boost to their entitlements. Former Defence Minister John Moore is one of four former MPs who launched a High Court bid for better taxpayer-funded retirement benefits. While the federal government has sought to have the case thrown out, the court's full bench will convene to hear the case on June 16, putting politicians' perks back in the spotlight just two weeks before the July 2 election. If the case is successful it could benefit up to 350 former politicians and 100 spouses, adding millions of dollars to the $40 million pension bill taxpayers already pick up every year. Most MPs who entered Parliament before 2004 are entitled to generous pensions under a defined benefits scheme. Hamish and Peta Murchison with their children Mia and Toby. Credit:James Brickwood "I've just given you a tiny glimpse into the weird universe you find yourself living in when you are a parent with a dying child. The crazy things you have to contemplate when you are facing your worst fear every day." Living in grief had made her recognise the goodness in people, she said. The Murchisons promised themselves that Mia would "have the most wonderoful life possible in the time she had left". Credit:James Brickwood Later she told Fairfax Media that she and her husband Hamish Murchison wanted people to know that her talk was the "PG version of life" with a dying child. It didn't include their bleakest and darkest moments, such as the times when she arrives at school pick-up fresh from talking to her daughter's doctors about her end-of-life plan, or the never-ending rounds of doctors, specialists and therapists. Four years ago the family of four was living the privileged life of expats in Singapore after a stint in Dublin where Mia was born in July 2009. "We were very fortunate to be experiencing the expat lifestyle," Murchison says. Mia loves music and lights up at sounds, such as the noise of other children as she arrives at school. But there were niggling, nagging concerns about Mia dismissed by doctors. The previously healthy toddler started getting aggressive. She lost confidence, she didn't enjoy ballet classes. The family wondered if the move from Dublin to Singapore had unsettled her. Or were they just bad at the parenting gig? Aged three, Mia had a seizure and was told there was 90 per cent chance she wouldn't have another. "A month later she had another one," Murchison said. "A month later, she had another." Soon she was struggling to walk or talk. Confused by competing diagnoses, at least six at one time, the family flew home to Australia to get another opinion from the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick. They confirmed Mia had Batten Disease. The breakthroughs and promising treatments were too late for their daughter. "There is no preparation for being told your child has no future," said Ms Murchison. "We were so numb, so exhausted we couldn't cry. Not then. It had been a long day, a long week, a long year. I crawled onto the bed with Mia and closed my eyes and held her. Her warm little body comforted me." Within a week, the family decided to move back to Australia. To raise awareness, the Murchisons launched a campaign called Bounce4Batten urging friends and family to post photos of them bouncing - in the pool, in the air, on a trampoline or a bed. They don't raise funds, but prefer donors give to the Batten Disease Support and Awareness Organisation. Today Mia is wheelchair bound, and can't walk, talk or feed herself. She is legally blind. Her hearing is good. She loves music. She lights up at sounds - the noise of other children as she arrives at school, the sound of the blender signifying dinner is on the way, the slap of the water in the bath. She loves to ride horses at Marsfield with a riding for the disabled group. She has near weekly seizures, and suffers from tremors, smaller seizures and eye rolls on a daily basis. The family knows that although she is healthy now, she is vulnerable to infections such as pneumomia. Back in Australia, the Murchisons were determined that Mia enjoy a normal childhood. Yet private schools didn't do high-needs children. Childcare centres stonewalled the family. When they got her into a special needs school, she was left in soiled nappies. "The children were referred to by staff as "walkers" or "chairs"," Murchison told TedX. "I pulled Mia out of that school with no school to go to." The Department of Education suggested home schooling, the opposite of what the family wanted. "Hamish and I had made a promise to ourselves that Mia would have the most wonderful life possible in the time she had left." They decided to ask the local primary school around the corner from their home. "From the moment we walked into that school - it just like we had finally come home. The bright paintings plastered all over the classrooms, the singing and all those smiling faces. Nothing was too hard for the principal. He was empathetic, he asked us about our hopes and dreams. We waited a few months for the ramps to be built and Mia started school there at the end of last year. Being included in a big school community has transformed our lives. "At school, kids hold Mia's hand at school, they prop her head back up on her headrest when it falls off, they read to her, stand by her side and they laugh with her." The family has made friends, and so has Mia. Their first-grader comes home most afternoons with cards, drawings and presents in her bag. NSW public schools are being paid at least $10,000 a year by a Chinese government body to offer its Chinese language and culture courses, and some schools make it compulsory to attend. Despite concerns over the appropriateness of outsourcing public school lesson time to a foreign government body, the state government expanded the program - known as Confucius Classrooms - to a further six schools in late 2015. One Chinese-Australian parent, whose son is at a school where attendance at the Confucius Classrooms program is compulsory from kindergarten to year 2, said it was akin to "the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party into the NSW public school system". Confucius Classrooms are administered by the Confucius Institute, headquartered in Beijing's agency known colloquially as Hanban, the Office of the Chinese Language Council. Fighting also occurred over the fence, on the lawn of the Coburg Primary School senior campus. Men kicked, punched and grappled with one another on the ground before police arrived and separated them. Protesters from rival anti-racism and anti-Islam rallies are seen in Coburg. Credit:Mathew Lynn Protesters from the left-wing and the right-wing groups appeared to have been injured in the fighting. Police detained people in the schoolgrounds, including a man who at one point claimed he couldn't breathe. Some of the injured people looked very unsteady on their feet, and appeared to have suffered either facial injuries or discomfort from capsicum spray. Police deal with protesters. Credit:Mathew Lynn Police confirmed that seven people had been arrested after the day's shocking events, which disrupted local traders. At 12.45pm, one upset trader said he had taken just $2.40 from customers, who had stayed away. Commander Cowden blasted protesters who engaged in violence, and said the behaviour of some people was "cowardly". Masked protesters in Coburg. Credit:Mathew Lynn Five people were arrested as a result of the "violent clashes in the streets", and two were arrested after weapons searches, she said. The arrests over the street clashes related to assaulting police, hindering police and riotous behaviour, she said. A Bendigo man, 25, and a Skye man, 31, had been charged with riotous behaviour. A Broadmeadows man, 33, was charged with attempted robbery, a Keilor East man, 31, was charged with assaulting police and a Reservoir man, 25, was charged with hindering police. After weapon searches, police charged a Gisborne man, 18, over possession of a lock pick, and another man who was found with three knives. The man found in possession of knives was released with penalty notices. "You will see the footage of the violent, inappropriate behaviour and I condemn this," Commander Cowden said. "I understand the need and the right for people to be able to protest and have their voices heard, and they should be able to do that. "But what we can't have is this violence in our community. We saw inappropriate and often cowardly behaviour, with people wearing masks and hiding their identity. And we actually believe that in these circumstances they're not coming to a peaceful protest. People hide their identity and I believe it makes them more violent when they're on the streets." Police conducted more than 275 searches, Commander Cowden said. "We saw some knives and other prohibited weapons," she said. Hundreds of people were in Coburg on Saturday in support of left-wing protesters to denounce racism. The right-wing group, meanwhile, was much smaller, probably between 50 and 100 people. After the Bell Street brawl, protesters from the opposing camps were kept separated by scores of police, including police on horseback. At some times the two groups were just 20 metres apart on the street. During the tense stand-off, the anti-racism protesters chanted: "Nazi scum off our streets", while the right-wing demonstrators shouted "the left is going down". Some protesters on both sides of the crowd hid their identities with handkerchiefs, hooded tops and dark sunglasses - the latter despite the overcast conditions and lack of sunshine. One bearded man in a black windcheater taunted the right-wing supporters as he stood just metres from the police line, yelling: "I'll kick the f--- out of you," goading the right-wing protesters to approach. Loading Police urged demonstrators to stay behind police lines or get sprayed as the rally moved towards the former Pentridge Prison and then to the front of the Coburg public library. "Until governments codify legal protections for whistleblowers into law, enforcement agencies will simply have to depend on their own resources or on-going global media coverage for documents," he wrote. Jeff Morris blew the whistle at CBA. Credit:Eddie Jim Bradley Birkenfeld, who was awarded $US104 million in September 2012 for information that lead to US authorities chasing down Swiss bank UBS and other banks facilitating tax evasion, has previously expressed similar sentiments. Birkenfeld, who himself served prison time for his crimes, said: "If whistleblowers are afraid to bring information to the authorities for fear of prosecution, they will stay silent, bank secrecy will continue, and illegal offshore tax havens will operate free of scrutiny, taking money out of taxpayers' pockets, and making the super-rich even wealthier." Antoine Deltour is now on trial for "stealing" and leaking documents about how Luxembourg granted secret "sweetheart" tax deals to multinationals including Apple and IKEA (the French journalist Edouard Perrin, who Deltour leaked to is also on trial), but at his trial he said it was a "necessary evil". Beefing up the Corporations Act Closer to home there's also been discussion about how to beef up the Corporations Act to improve protection for whistleblowers. Too often people who speak up in the public interest face threats, intimidation and lawsuits Transparency International Jeff Morris who exposed the Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited scandal reported by Fairfax Media, told a recent Senate hearing that Australia needed a scheme, similar to the United States, where whistleblowers who disclose corporate misconduct get rewarded. He says when he took the allegations against CBA to ASIC in 2010, he was told in as many words, 'Thanks for sacrificing yourself.' "[He was] just being frank' about the limitations of the whistleblower protections," Morris said. "The whistleblower protections basically, as he said, [are] not worth much." The Senate Economics References Committee has released a paper calling for greater protection for local whistleblowers, including protection for those who come forward anonymously. The government has noted its suggestions, but as yet, has not made any changes. A.J. Brown, Griffith University's leader for Public Integrity & Anti-Corruption in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, who has worked with regulators including ASIC on how to improve protection for whistleblower, says that the level currently offered under the Corporations Act is inadequate. He welcomes the budget announcement, but hopes it is not just a "thought bubble" that results in no useful policy. "The question the government should be asking is; 'is there a way of doing this that encourages people to cover all types of information, not just tax misconduct," he says. Rewarding whistleblowers He also wants financial rewards for whistleblowers who give information that leads to prosecutions. In the United States, under the Internal Revenue Code, a whistleblower can receive 15 per cent to 30 per cent of the amount collected by the IRS. Items of African culture were on display in Washington Friday as diplomats, scholars and American civil rights leaders commemorated the progress made in the past decades and identified the challenges that lie ahead for the continent. Africans around the world commemorated Africa Day this past week, an annual event that marks the creation of the Organization of African Unity in 1963. Serge Momboli, Congolese ambassador and dean of the African Diplomatic Corps told VOA this year is about celebrating African Unity, especially women, and how they contribute to the real development of the continent. At a gala Friday in Washington, the group and its partners delighted attendees with traditional African dishes including Senegalese Chicken Yassa, South African Beef Boboties and Diangsang fish. The food was cooked by Cameroonian Chef Jean Chryst, who is also the executive chef of the International Monetary Fund. Benin Ambassador to the United States Omar Arouna and Professor Hassana Alidou, Nigers ambassador to the U.S., co-organized this years festivities. Arouna told VOA that in addition to designing a menu for the African palate, the event also featured Africa-centered music, including Benin's Jomion & the Uklos; Ivory Coast's Meiway, who is known as Mister Zoblazo, and Kenyas Anna Mwalagho, a musician, poet and storyteller. Alidou said Africa has had many achievements of which it should be proud, including the election of a few women as presidents, and the fact "many are holding ministerial and parliamentarian positions." But she said more progress is needed on other fronts. Without education opportunities, for example, the chance of holding public office is very slim," Alidou said. She said she would like to see all the policies that are written on paper become reality because African development cannot be materialized until the majority of women enter the process of integration into the economy. African women are great producers, but when it comes to putting them in decision-making positions, we lag behind. We want that to be reversed. U.S. civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson from the Rainbow Push Coalition said seven of the fastest-growing economies are in Africa, which, he said, shows the "sun is rising" again in Africa. Jackson said even if some say the continent is a "basket case," he believes Africa is a basket case full of jewels, brains, brilliance, power and resources. Its the worlds bread basket. In addition to food and music, many countries showcased art. Nathifa Hashi from Somalia highlighted what she called handmade utilitarian items used by nomads. She said nomads make most of their items light, small and easy to carry. Patricia Kunje of Malawi said the Africa Day celebration is a great opportunity to talk about her country, which is often confused with Mali. Momadou Kane, chief of the Economic Office of the Senegalese embassy, said Africa Day is a great way to Africans to gather, but it's also a chance to mingle with U.S. businessmen and politicians. Kane said after seeing Senegal exports of goods such as handcrafts, textiles and fruit grow 43 percent in 2015, he would like see more American investors in the country. Around the world, the most enduring symbol of the U.S. is that of the cowboy. A very small percentage of Americans live in Western rural areas, and fewer still are cowboys. But the fascination with the American West is kept alive by such cultural offerings as Longmire, a series of books and TV episodes about a fictional Wyoming sheriff. VOAs Greg Flakus recently spoke with Longmires creator, Craig Johnson, and filed this report from Houston. For almost a week, thousands of Iraqi forces have been advancing on the Islamic State-held city of Fallujah, methodically moving to cut off as many as 1,000 IS fighters from help on the outside. By Friday, backed by coalition airstrikes and artillery fire, Iraqi forces had cleared the town of Karma, about 16 kilometers northeast of the city. But while admitting Fallujah is largely isolated, U.S. officials are trying to downplay expectations of a quick or decisive victory over IS. ISIL has entrenched itself in the city, a U.S. intelligence official told VOA on the condition of anonymity, using an acronym for the terror group. Fallujah has been one of ISILs important footholds in Iraq, the official added, calling it the most forward position ISIL holds and a threat to Baghdad. No retreat - yet And while IS fighters did retreat in the face of coalition-backed forces in Hit and in Rutbah, military officials say there have been few signs that IS leadership is willing to let fighters to flee and cede more ground. We havent seen much of that yet, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Steve Warren said during a video briefing from Baghdad Friday. Its still early, he added. The friendly forces are still a ways outside the city. U.S. officials also point out IS has gone to great lengths to brutally discourage its fighters from retreating. In one example, Col. Warren cited Iraqi media reports claiming IS executed fighters who fled from Rutbah by putting them in bakery ovens and cooking them to death. Warren also noted that although slower and more difficult, IS could find ways to reinforce Fallujah. Its rare, almost impossible, to completely seal off a city, he said. Its always possible for individuals to move in or out. And despite their weakened state, IS forces have also found ways to take coalition-backed forces by surprise, something Western officials say the terror group could do again. In the most recent example, earlier this month, IS managed to mass dozens of IS fighters, truck bombs, a bulldozer and artillery undetected and punch through Kurdish Peshmerga lines in northern Iraq. IS forces were ultimately repelled, losing as many as 80 fighters in the process, but not before briefly taking the towns of Telskuf and Musqelat, killing a U.S. Navy SEAL in the process. Pakistan's prime minister will undergo open heart surgery next week. Nawaz Sharif will have his second cardiac operation in five years in London Tuesday. The prime minister's daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, has written about the upcoming operation on her Twitter account. She said the surgery would be for "perforation of the heart," and is a complication from a previous operation in 2011. The prime minister's daughter said her father would have a week-long recovery period and that "prayers are needed." A statement from the prime minister's office Saturday said it is "natural and understandable" that Sharif "will be off from any activities when he is actually operated on by the doctors." India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, wished Sharif a speedy recovery in a tweet. 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. district court in New York has sentenced Ming Quang Pham, a British citizen of Vietnamese descent, to 40 years in prison for terrorism, based on his support of the terrorist group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Pham's sentence Friday. In January, Pham a practicing Muslim also known as Amin pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support, one count of conspiring to receive military training from the group, and one count of possessing and using a machine gun in furtherance of crimes of violence. John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security, said in Friday's statement that Pham got explosives training in Yemen from American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Court documents say Pham traveled to Yemen via Britain in 2010 to join al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. While there, he worked on the group's recruitment magazine, Inspire, editing videos and photos and appearing in some promotional photos himself. Before returning to Britain in 2011, Pham worked with Awlaki to plan a suicide attack on London's Heathrow International Airport, targeting incoming flights from the United States and Israel. British security agents detained Pham at Heathrow, foiling the plot. Pham was extradited to the United States in February 2015 and was convicted 11 months later. Al-Awlaki was killed by a U.S. drone strike in southern Yemen in 2011, a few months after Pham left the country. New data by the International Organization for Migration show a significant increase in the number of migrants journeying across the Sahara desert from West Africa to Algeria and Libya and then onwards to Europe. The report finds more than 60,000 migrants have transited through the Agadez region of Niger between February and April. It says close to two-thirds were recorded leaving Niger for North Africa, while the rest was composed of migrants returning to Niger and entering the country. The largest number of migrants surveyed come from Nigeria and Niger. Other nationalities include Senegalese, Gambians, Malians and Cameroonians. IOM spokesman Joel Millman says the upsurge in the number of migrants crossing the Sahara is largely due to the cheap prices smugglers are charging to get them to the transit towns of Arlit and Seguedine in Niger. The average cost of migration is anywhere between U.S. $85 and U.S. $345. So, that should give you an indication," said Millman. "If you can cross the Sahara and get to Agadez for as little as $85, this would explain why the traffic has been so robust for this last year. While it may be cheap to cross the desert, Millman tells VOA this is not a trip that should be lightly undertaken. He says the journey is dangerous and many people reportedly do not survive. He says thousands reportedly have died over the past decade, but he adds IOM does not have any comprehensive data to back this up. He says most of the information received comes anecdotally from the migrants. When we talk to migrants, many, many, many of them have witnessed the death while crossing the Sahara ," said Millman. "They talk about dehydration. They talk about vehicle accidents and, occasionally, we even get guerrilla video, you can call it. Things that people shoot on their cell phonesSometimes quite dramatic of desiccated bodies and people crying over corpses, which we are told are common occurrences in the Sahara. While the migratory flow from Africa is increasing, so is that of migrants returning to Africa. IOM reports more than 16,000 headed back to Niger between February and April. All migrants returning from Libya stated war and insecurity as their reasons for leaving that country. TWIN FALLS You cant teach these fire fighting skills sitting in a classroom. On Thursday, 17 BLM fire fighting students took to the sagebrush and lava rock riddled landscape of the Snake River Canyon rim north of Twin Falls. Here, they participated in a field day event that included various stations where they increased their knowledge in engine protection, progressive hose lay, tire maintenance, foam use, off-road driving and mobile attack and drafting. A lot of it cant be taught out of a book or PowerPoint screen, said Mitch Silvester, fire engine captain. Its not stuff that comes out of a book. The firefighters are from the Boise, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls BLM Districts, in addition to some from the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah. All of the firefighters have about two or more years of experience. Not only are they training for this years fire season, but also to become the next crop of leaders and instructors. Were teaching them how to go to that next level, Silvester said. A lot of these students havent driven in trucks or been real deep into the maintenance. On Monday, almost 30 firefighters gathered in CSI classrooms to hone old skills and further their training as helicopter crew managers and engine operators before the coming fire season. We need to build new leaders to keep the new people safe, Silvester said. More firefighters are expected to arrive throughout June for training, with new hires arriving the first week in June. Silvester said the 17 students are a little more than they usually get. Typically they have 14 students for the first week of training. The days training was to teach them how to react when equipment breaks or fire trucks get flat tires. A timer went off giving a 10-minute warning for the end of each training station. Every 45 minutes, students rotated from station to station. They learned what to do when a hose rips, a pump stops working or they get an engine stuck on a rock. Sooner or later the stuff we drive on, something will happen, Jake Davis, fire engine captain, told the students. Its good to know. When it happened to us, it was simple. And when they are close to flames, they also learned how to get to a safe spot or crate a safety zone. Train like you fight, Todd Hill, senior engine operator, told a group after a station. If its not proficient, make it proficient. This is the third summer Justin Elmer, 25, of Hollister, has worked as a BLM fire fighter. To be honest, I like being outside, Elmer said. This job is an adventure. Its helping me set up (for) college. He graduated from the College of Southern Idaho and plans to continue his education at the University of Alaska in the fall. The job is really fun and the people are like family, Elmer said. He had just finished as the driver on a mobile attack and drafting drill, which forced him to focus his attention on several different things. You have to pay attention to the people talking on the radio and the people on the ground, he said. Every year is the same, Elmer said. Im super excited and I hope that everyone is safe and were successful on the fires were put on. Every year I stay in fire, its harder to leave it. Multiple Choice Test 1. When do you foam? a. Big fires b. Grease fires c. Prescribed burns Answer: The foam is used for prescribed burns because makes it makes the fire easier to control. It makes a nice fluffy, wet line, Silvester said. It creates less impact than a dozer line. The foam is similar to the Dawn dish washing soap that you might have in your house, except its more industrial. 2. When changing a tire on a fire engine, what could you use to make the ground solid and level for the jack? a. A flat rock b. A metal board c. A wooden block Answer: All the above. A metal board or wooden block are usually kept inside each engine. Though finding using a flat rock or rocks may be necessary in the field. 3. How often should fire fighters test their water pump? a. Once a month b. Twice a month c. Every day Answer: Once a month 4. If the fire engine you are with gets stuck or unexpectedly quits, what should you use to create a safety zone? a. Flare b. Drip torch c. Lighter Answer: The flare is the quickest way to light a fire in a circle around your truck. The drip torch is kept in trucks, but it takes time to light it. 5. When should you put a fire engine into four-wheel drive? a. Before you leave the road b. After you leave the road c. When you are right next to the fire Answer: Before you leave the road. For some trucks it takes 15 or 20 seconds to switch from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive. Other trucks require you to get out and lock the hubs. 6. When do you use progressive hose lay? a. All the time b. When you are close to the fire c. When a truck cant get close to the fire. Answer: Progressive hose lay is when someone using a hose from a fire engine. This tactic is used when the truck cant get close to the fire or you need to protect a structure. 7. How much water do firefighters keep on reserve in water tanks to protect themselves in case they need to? a. 200 gallons b. 50 gallons c. 100 gallons Answer: 100 gallons 8. How low on fuel can a fire engine get before the water pump shuts off? 1. A quarter of a tank 2. Empty 3. Half a tank Answer: A quarter of a tank Minidoka County Felony sentencings Molly Ann Galow; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $535.50 costs, $100 restitution, 36 months probation, two years determinate time, four years indeterminate time, two days credited, penitentiary suspended; misdemeanor drug paraphernalia - use or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Chad Russell Croft; felony delivery of controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs, $100 restitution, three years probation, two years determinate time, three years indeterminate time, 13 days credited time, penitentiary suspended. Nicholas Garcia; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $535.50 costs, $100 restitution, 36 months probation, two years determinate time, three years indeterminate time, penitentiary suspended. Driving under the influence sentencings Chad Russell Croft; felony driving under the influence - third or subsequent offense amended misdemeanor driving under the influence - secondary offense, guilty, $600 fine, $300 suspended, $254.50 costs, 365 days driver's license suspended, 24 months probation, 365 days jail, 355 days suspended, 42 days community service ordered, 30 days suspended; driving without privileges, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor probation violation, guilty, 365 days jail time, 329 days suspended, 36 days credited. Christian Tate Winmill; misdemeanor driving under the influence - second offense amended misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, $300 fine, $202.50 costs, 90 days driver's license suspended, 12 months probation, 180 days jail, 177 days suspended, three days credited, 30 days community service/30 days suspended; misdemeanor domestic violence - violation of protection order, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor probation violation, guilty, 12 months probation, 180 days jail, 174 days suspended, six days credited. Tracy Lynn Laib; misdemeanor driving under the influence excessive amended misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, disposition withheld. Driving under the influence dismissal Juan Carlos Mercado; misdemeanor probation violation, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. CASTLEFORD Castleford High School junior Franky Hernandez is narrowing down his options for after graduation: becoming a doctor, a philosophy teacher or a Catholic monk. Soon, hell get help planning for the future. Hes among 101 low-income students nationwide selected for the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America scholar program. And hes the only Idaho student in this years cohort. The 17-year-old will join other incoming high school seniors for a seven-week program at Princeton University in New Jersey. Its designed to help students gain admission and be successful at elite universities. I think hes going to go far in his life, Elly Loman, an English and social studies teacher at Castleford High School, said of Hernandez. This is the tip of the iceberg. But Hernandez is so focused on others that his accomplishments will likely be humanitarian minded, she added. Hernandez has attended Castleford schools since kindergarten. He plays double bass in jazz band and has participated in choir. He also helps maintain the Castleford School Districts website, served in student government, helps with watering and maintaining plants in the schools greenhouse, and organized prom this year. More than 1,000 students applied for the LEDA program, Hernandez said, but fewer than 10 percent were accepted. His parents are both agricultural workers. His two older brothers went to college and the oldest now works in the medical field in Colorado. Hernandez said his parents are excited about the scholar program, but his father is kind of sad about him being gone for seven weeks this summer. Im the baby of the family. Hernandez has never been to the East Coast and said hes excited about meeting the other scholars. Im looking forward to the diverse demographics. His school counselor told him about the program during his freshman year of high school. He kept on reminding me every year, Hernandez said. An intensive application process began in November. Hernandez submitted two essays, two letters of recommendation, a writing sample, school transcripts showing his grades, and information about community service and extracurricular activities. He also provided information about his familys finances and completed a Skype interview. Hernandez found out in April hed been selected for the program, but didnt receive a packet of information in the mail until recently. It kind of hit me more this week, he said. This summer at Princeton, Hernandez will receive college-level writing instruction, ACT/SAT test preparation, and will participate in workshops and leadership seminars. Hell be assigned to a counselor who will help him with college admissions and financial aid. Well be looking for colleges that fit me the best, Hernandez said. His ideal college: Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. Thats like the highest goal, Hernandez said. Hes also interested in Boston College and Thomas Aquinas College. A handful of Castleford students over the years have gone onto elite universities such as Stanford, Loman said. And one graduating senior this year is going to Purdue University in Indiana. But she doesnt know any students whove been accepted into a scholar program like Hernandez. Franky as a student is very unusual, said Lowman, who taught him in several classes. She described her student as very spiritual and religious, as well as dedicated, inquisitive and eager to learn. Hernandez said hes looking forward to the LEDA experience. Hopefully I can encourage other people to get into this program. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima 71 years ago was one second of blinding whiteness, and then 10 seconds of pulsing, searing energy, and then months of sickness and destruction, and then years of blood cancers and worrying and rebuilding. For the hundreds of thousands exposed to the blast, the bomb known as "Little Boy" created destruction both vast and personal, instant and lifelong. When world leaders travel to Hiroshima as President Obama just did they tend to home in on the symbolism of the city, using it as a warning about the potency of weapons and the essentialness of peace. But the bombing shouldn't be a mere a symbol, the suffering diminished by time. The best documents and reporting from the aftermath show in vivid detail what happened: "Hiroshima," John Hersey This is the most famous retelling of the detonation, and for good reason. It was a triumph of reporting, perhaps the best magazine article published in the 20th century, occupying an entire issue of the New Yorker. While initial Western media accounts of the bombing described the events in statistical terms the death toll, the acres razed Hersey took the opposite approach, stitching the events into a narrative and borrowing the perspective of six survivors. The account, later republished as a book, is spare in its tone. There are passages of brutal suffering that feel almost wrong to relay here, but there is no moralizing, no preaching. This is simply a blow-by-blow account of lives that were ordinary and then not ordinary. "The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki," the United States Strategic Bombing Survey As Hiroshima smoldered, President Harry S. Truman dispatched a legion of military personnel including engineers, fire experts and photographers to the scene. Their 10 weeks on the ground produced this government report, its yellowed pages available online in PDF form. The paper is surprisingly readable, and covers precisely the areas that Hersey's account doesn't: This is a rigorous diagnosis of how people died, how buildings fell, how the bomb worked. At the core of the blast, the report says, the temperature was "virtually inconceivable millions of degrees centigrade." Hundreds of fires started in Hiroshima almost instantly. Skin burns occurred as far as three miles away. Injury or even death could be as random as one's outfit. People wearing dark clothing, the report said, were more likely to be burned. "Black Rain," Masuji Ibuse Those who survived the Hiroshima bombing the hibakusha, they were called were often branded within Japan as a cursed caste. Those who weren't sick might become sick, or give birth to defective children. This book, published in 1965, explores the quiet uncertainty that followed so many survivors. This is a novel, but it's rooted in fact, closely following a storyline that emerged in diaries of survivors. The plot: A woman is exposed to the radioactive "black rain" that came in the aftermath of the bombing, and as a result her aunt and uncle struggle to marry her off. The book weaves together flashbacks from the bomb with the wrenching story about what happens years after. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum This blockish museum, constructed in the 1950s in the center of Hiroshima, provides the most complete accounting of the survival experience. This is particularly true now that the few remaining hibakusha are in their 80s and 90s. Their stories are preserved here in audio and video. Take, for instance, the story of Kikue Komatsu, who was interviewed 45 years after the bombing. Pain still "tightens around my chest," she said, "when I bring up those memories." On Aug. 6, 1945, Komatsu was about one mile from the hypocenter. She was at home that morning and heard a roar. She lost consciousness. She snapped to and found herself under the ruins of her home. She extricated herself, hoping to find her daughter, and the "road was covered with corpses." She later realized that, given where her daughter had been, her body absorbed the full force of the blast. "No remains of our daughter were ever found," Komatsu recalled. The Nukemap The interactive site nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ was created by a nuclear historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology, and it modernizes the destructive power of Little Boy. Drop a pin on a map, and you can simulate what it would look like if the Hiroshima bomb were dropped there. Aimed near the Empire State Building? About 500,000 would die. Aimed near the Mall? About 100,000 would die. People standing as far away as H St. NW would absorb enough radiation to perish within hours or weeks. Vadim Pokrovsky stunned hundreds of students at a conference in Moscow last week when he reached into his pocket and took out a condom. "And you, the young generation, how do you protect yourselves from HIV?" said Pokrovsky, the 61-year-old head of Russia's federal AIDS centre. "I always have a condom on me. Today even a 90-year-old can contract the virus." The audience fell silent for a moment before breaking into applause. Despite the efforts of activists like Pokrovsky, the total number of registered HIV cases in Russia exceeded one million in late 2015, with authorities struggling to contain an epidemic that experts say could be curbed by increased funding and more awareness campaigns. Pokrovsky has been openly critical of the Kremlin's policies promoting traditional family values, saying they have failed to halt the spread of the deadly virus. "In 2015 alone, some 100,000 new HIV cases were reported in Russia," Pokrovsky told AFP. "This is a very high rate, maybe the highest in Europe." Faithfulness vs condoms The Russian government's policy focuses on treatment while neglecting prevention drives such as sex education in schools, with the number of people infected with the virus soaring as a result, say experts. A public health campaign in Moscow last year urged people to be faithful to their partners, rather than promoting condom use. "Young people here often don't even know what HIV is and don't understand its dangers," said Moscow-based student Darya Belimova who joined Pokrovsky to address more than a thousand young people at the conference. The gathering was part of the "Stop HIV/AIDS" prevention campaign spanning more than 200 universities. And although the Russian health and education ministries support "Stop HIV/AIDS", activists and volunteers say they are fighting a lonely battle against Russia's AIDS epidemic as the virus increasingly affects the heterosexual population. The World Health Organization last year said that Russia accounted for 60 percent of all HIV diagnoses in Europe in 2014, with heterosexual sex the main route of transmission of the virus which is spread through contact with contaminated body fluids. The number of HIV-positive minorswhich stood at 9,792 in 2015has also jumped 8.5 percent compared to the previous year. In most of these cases an HIV-positive mother transmitted the virus to the child at birth, said Pokrovsky. "In Russia, there is not enough public financing to support the fight against HIV at a national scale, and HIV prevention programmes for drug addicts practically don't exist," he said. 'Foreign agents' There are just a few dozen NGOs working to fight the epidemic, spread across 40 Russian cities. "For Russia, this is a very small number," Pokrovsky said. Organisations like the Andrey Rylkov Foundationwhich runs an outreach programme for drug users in Moscow, handing out clean needles and condomsreceive no government funding. The vast size of the country also presents a challenge for effective prevention, with far-flung corners of the federation like Siberia particularly badly affected. Russia also bans methadone replacement therapy for drug addicts, which would allow users to avoid injections, eliminating the risk of contracting the virus from contaminated syringes. Many Russian NGOsincluding those working on HIV prevention among drug addictshave been under increased pressure since the reelection of President Vladimir Putin to a third term in 2012. Shortly after he was sworn in once again, the government passed a law allowing authorities to brand groups engaging in broadly-defined "political activity" that receive foreign funding as "foreign agents". The legislation was passed soon after huge anti-Putin protests rocked Moscow, and Kremlin critics see the law as a way to muzzle the strongman's critics and tighten his grip on power. In April, a court ordered that Sotsium, an HIV prevention NGO based in the southwestern city of Saratov, be labelled "foreign agents" after it received 1.5 million rubles ($22,400) in foreign funding to conduct a survey among drug addicts and people with HIV. "Until recently, society wasn't really aware of the magnitude of the problem," said Sergei Smirnov, vice-chair of the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives, the organisation behind the "Stop HIV/AIDS" campaign. If the growth of HIV infections remains steady until 2021, Russia will face a so-called "generalised epidemic," the foundation warns. An epidemic becomes "generalised" when HIV prevalence exceeds one percent in pregnant women nationwide, Pokrovsky said. "This rate now stands at 0.8 percent," he said. "But if it increases, the risk of a serious epidemic is very high." Explore further Russia warns of two million HIV carriers in five years 2016 AFP There was a lot of fuss when Narendra Modi became the prime minister even though less than a third of those who trudged to the polling booths during the 2014 general election voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The truth is that no Indian prime minister has ever got the top job with the approval of more than half the electorate. Parliamentary majorities are rarely perfect representations of vote share in the voting system that India has. A similar issue cropped up after Donald Trump began to gain popular support in the months leading to the US presidential election due later this year. There were fears that the voting system in the primaries could help Trump eventually move into the White House. Questions have thus been raised about the way US presidential candidates are chosen. A few economists have jumped into the debate. They have good reasons to. One fascinating part of economicssocial choice theoryshows it is never easy to aggregate the different preferences of individual voters into a coherent collective result that leaves citizens satisfied. In short, there is no perfect voting system in a democracy. The individual choices of millions of voters often get aggregated in puzzling ways. Two Nobel laureates from Harvard UniversityAmartya Sen and Eric Maskinused social choice theory to argue in The New York Times that the way voting in the Republican Party primaries is structured allowed Trump to gain, even though several candidates who stood against him in the primaries might well have beaten him in one-on-one contests. The vote against Trump was split, so he could win the primaries despite getting less than half the votes cast. India chose the British system of giving a parliamentary seat to that candidate who wins the maximum number of votes, even though more people have collectively voted for other candidatesa system of plurality voting instead of majority voting, in which the winning candidate has to get more votes than all his opponents combined. There is some history to this decision by the writers of the Indian Constitution to choose the first-past-the-post system over alternatives such as proportional voting. One person whose advice they sought out on which voting system to choose was Eamon de Valera, the Irish patriot and passionate supporter of Indian independence. De Valera told his Indian friends, including Rajendra Prasad, that an alternative system such as proportional representation would not work in India because of the sheer political complexity of the country. No single party would get a parliamentary majority given our social divisions. India would be cursed with unstable governments. Then in 1951, a few years after de Valera advised the Indian political leadership about the ideal voting system, a young economist named Kenneth Arrow wrote a stunning paper that has had profound implications on how we think about society. Arrow, who won the Nobel Prize for economics in 1972, placed a few sticks of dynamite under the popular view that democracies do a good job in terms of aggregating individual preferences. A very good explanation is available in the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Arrow showed that there is no voting rule that satisfies the four rigorous axioms of decisiveness, consensus, non-dictatorship and independence. The Arrow Impossibility Theoremthe man himself more cheerfully named it the General Possibility Theoremnot only inaugurated the modern era of social choice theory, but also led to a rich vein of academic research as other economists tried to find ways around essentially pessimistic conclusions of the impossibility theorem. This Nobel speech on the possibility of social choice by Sen, one of the giants of modern social choice theory, is one of the clearest introductions to its paradoxical insights. The Arrow theorem was preceded several centuries ago by the work of Marquis de Condorcet, an 18th century French polymath. The Condorcet Paradox provides an easy way to illustrate the problem of social choice. Assume there are three voters who have to choose between three political candidates: Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. Now, here is how their political preferences look. Two voters prefer Modi to Gandhi. Two voters prefer Gandhi to Kejriwal. Two voters prefer Kejriwal to Modi. This ordering does not satisfy the key mathematical requirement of transitivity, where if x is greater than y and y is greater than z, then x has to be greater than z. The result in social choice is cyclical rather than transitiveand hence confusing. There is no clear winner. Now, look at the Condorcet Paradox in another way. Let us assume that the first preference gets three points, the second preference gets two points and the third preference gets one point. All three candidates end up with six points each. In other words, the result is not coherent. Nobody is happy. For example, a Modi win leaves the two voters who prefer Kejriwal over Modi unhappy. It is the same with a Kejriwal win or a Gandhi win. In real life, much depends on the system of voting that a groupbe it a country, a committee, a group of friends or a familydepend on to come to a collective choice. Is it by consensus or plurality voting or proportional voting or some other rule? One interesting idea that has come up in recent years is quadratic voting. Legal scholar Eric Posner describes the voting system with great clarity: Quadratic voting is a procedure that a group of people can use to jointly choose a collective good for themselves. Each person can buy votes for or against a proposal by paying into a fund the square of the number of votes that he or she buys. The money is then returned to voters on a per capita basis." The efficiency of quadratic voting increases as the number of voters increases. The reason that they propose quadratic payments (rather than, say, cubic) is that under the quadratic rule, the marginal cost of each vote increases proportionately with the number of votes (or marginal benefits). In a recent paper, Posner and his Chicago University colleague E. Glen Weyl use the example of gay rights to make the case for quadratic voting, where those who passionately believe in equal rights for gays could use quadratic voting to buy out the opposition. Closer to home, such a system could be used to deal with the problems of land acquisition in particular or eminent domain in general. Not everyone, however, believes quadratic voting may improve the democratic process. American economist and polymath Tyler Cowen argued that one of the important aspects of democratic choice is the process of deliberation through which some groups (even if they are in the minority) may be able to convince others of their position. Tyler fears that quadratic voting may help cement extremist positions and urges us to consider the anti-abortion movement in lieu of the gay rights movement as the relevant minority group: what happens if a group such as the anti-abortion camp buys out the opposition and succeeds in getting its way? By elevating persuasion over trading in politics (at some margins, at least), we encourage centrist and majoritarian groups," writes Cowen. We encourage groups which think they can persuade others to accept their points of view. This may not work well in every society but it does seem to work well in many." How do groups generally deal with the paradox of social choice? There are three standard responses that economists tell us about. First, someone may set an agenda that includes voting in steps. Readers can spend a few minutes to figure out what happens in the Condorcet example given above: Say, first a choice between Gandhi and Kejriwal, followed by another between the winner of that vote and Modi. The results can be interesting as the agenda is changed. Or suppose there is a corporate board meeting where board members have to choose between three alternative strategies. The chairman of the board can set an agenda. He first asks board members to choose between two competing strategiesand then again choose between the winning strategy and the third option. Such strategic agenda setting allows social groups to bypass the Condorcet Paradox, but also gives the agenda setter immense discretionary power. In other words, the person who sits at the head of the table can get his way. Second, voters themselves decide to think strategically. So, all those who do not want Kejriwal but feel that Modi has a better chance at winning than Gandhi will transfer their vote to the candidate most likely to win against Kejriwal. One often sees this in Indian elections, where third candidates get hammered at the polling booth when there is a very polarized election. Take the recent Assam assembly election. Is it possible that the people who voted for the All India United Democratic Front decided to strategically back the Congress because they thought it had the most realistic chance of stopping the BJP? Think about it. Third, the voting paradox can be solved if one person has a dictatorial veto. That seems politically incorrect, so it is best to give a less contentious example. Suppose four members of a family want to go out for an evening meal. They cannot decide on the four options: Indian, Italian, Thai and Chinese. They face a culinary version of the Condorcet Paradox. One person then has to take the decisionand everybody agrees or stays at home. And that is how Saturday night family squabbles are dealt with by domestic dictators, unless the other members of the family learn to vote strategically. Economics Express runs weekly, and features interesting reads from the world of economics and finance. Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com Topics LAKE FOREST, Calif. Danny Duchene dropped to his knees as pastor Rick Warren led a prayer over him, the recently named pastor for Saddleback Churchs prison ministry. The greatest feeling in life is being used by God for something larger than yourself, Warren said after announcing Duchenes new job. God can use anybody because of his mercy. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. Duchene, 53, is a twice-convicted murderer. He was serving double 25-year-to-life sentences at Sierra Conservation Center in Northern California for killing two men when, with the help of a letter Warren penned to the parole board guaranteeing him a job at Saddleback, he was released Dec. 24, 2014. Nearly 20 years into his sentence, Duchene became familiar with Warren through his book The Purpose Driven Life. It inspired him to start a Purpose-Driven Church at the prison, to encourage inmates that their lives had a purpose. Duchene finished reading Warrens book in 2003 at the same time Saddleback Church was launching a National Day of Purpose campaign. Duchene wanted to be part of that, so he contacted Saddleback leaders and told them 20 inmates wanted to participate. Saddleback staff sent videos and workbooks to the prison. We had the support of the corrections director of substance abuse. He let us know if there were enough men, we could expand, Duchene said. We thought maybe 50 men would participate in the small groups, but as we went door to door asking if men in the prison were interested, more than 200 guys signed up. People joined up to be part of something that broke up their routine. At the end of 40 Days of Purpose, Saddleback Pastor Steve Rutenbar visited the prison and Warren came to the prison and led a service in the yard, yellow caution tape separating him from the prisoners. When Rick spoke, more men came out of their cellblocks, Duchene said. When he gave an invitation to men to come across the yard and give their lives to God, as one came, more began coming and a very rowdy prison yard became still. Even men who didnt come forward still respected the moment. A few months later, Saddleback Pastor John Baker returned to the prison and trained Duchene and others to lead Celebrate Recovery programs, aimed at helping them get their lives in order. There was something about Danny that was truly authentic, said Baker, who oversees Duchene outside the prison walls. You could see the pastors heart in him. He was doing everything he could to be a man of God. Rick turned to me and said, Weve got to hire Danny. Within a year, prison officials dedicated an entire 200-man cellblock to prisoners participating in Celebrate Recovery. I think the normal prison environment teaches men to be isolated, Duchene said. Theyre separated from their families. They have guilt and shame of their crimes. By hoping for a changed life and not coming back, they find support of other men who want the same thing compared to the normal environment of prison peer pressure to do the wrong thing to become part of a gang, or take a racist or an anti-authority perspective. After his 2014 Christmas Eve release, Duchene worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at a San Francisco methadone clinic and got married before heading to Orange County. He and his wife, Susan, lead a small group in their Mission Viejo, Calif., home. Drugs, alcohol and a double murder Duchene grew up in Redding, in Northern California. By fourth grade, he was a latch-key kid spending summers with his siblings, but with little, if any, adult supervision. His parents had nice homes and cars and he grew up thinking that was his goal in life. One day, he said, he came home and found his parents sitting with a friend with thousands of dollars in cash spread out on the kitchen table. I was told they were going on a business trip to Peru and that Id see them at Christmas, he said. But my parents did not return from that trip. Instead, on Christmas Eve, 1979, I learned that my parents had been arrested in Mexico for smuggling cocaine. At age 16, Duchene began using drugs and committed crimes to support his habit. By 18, he was addicted to alcohol and drugs. I struggled to keep myself supplied, he said. I was reckless and never worried about getting caught for my crimes, and I certainly didnt consider the consequences to others. All this came to a crisis when I was part of a crime in which two men were killed. Duchene was arrested in September 1982 in Yuba City, California, after a knife fight in which he and an accomplice killed two men. Russell Duane Ruhl had been hired for $400 to kill someone, and he asked Duchene to assist him. They would split the money, according to court records. Ruhl and Duchene found their target in a squash field, where he was with another worker. After a brief conversation, Ruhl and Duchene decided both men had to die, according to court records. After a struggle, the two men were knifed to death. On Nov. 15, Ruhl and Duchene pleaded guilty to two counts each of first-degree murder. Duchene said his sentence was just. I feel my crime was the most horrific it could have been because it seeks to value a human beings life based on the lowly desire of alcohol and drugs, he said. At the time in my drug addiction, I didnt stop to think about what I was doing. I took personal responsibility and pled guilty to two counts of murder, waived my rights and did not go to trial, he added. I was sentenced to two consecutive 25-to-life terms with eventual possibility of parole. Remorse, mercy and purpose Shortly after Duchenes arrest, members of a prison ministry visited the 18-year-old in Sutter County Jail and talked about purpose and redemption through Christ. It was the first time someone looked me in the eye and said, You have to stop lying to yourself, he recalled. Duchene spent the next 20 years in three Northern California prisons before being sent to Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown. Though Duchene pleaded guilty with a chance of parole, he said he never believed he would get out. Still, his behavior was exemplary. He passed 32 years of confinement with no disciplinary actions. At his parole hearing in December 2013, he was recommended for release. I still expected the governor to reverse the decision, Duchene said. When he didnt and I got the memo I was released, I felt a tremendous humility. I felt grace and mercy had been shown that I didnt expect. Getting a recommendation from Warren helped, Duchene said. It meant to the parole board and the governor that I will not only be employed for life in my appointed vocation that I feel God called and prepared me for, but it also represented that I will never have to live life alone, he said. His letter also demonstrated that I must also be accountable morally and ethically to the elders, pastors, leaders, and members of Saddleback Church. And that they have agreed to be my partners and accountability support team. Though free, the parole office will monitor Duchenes sobriety, living location, work and other activities for up to five years. This isnt a crime you get over and move on, he said. My life from now on is living out the amends by serving others. Its not a duty; its a joy and a committed privilege. As head of Saddlebacks prison ministry, Duchene oversees 900 prison programs nationwide. Inmates participate in either Celebrate Recovery or Purpose Driven Life. He also will minister to inmates and help those being released get connected to churches in their area. A return to the site of transformation Earlier this month, Duchene and his wife returned to Sierra Conservation Center, invited by Warden Joel Martinez to speak to the inmates. Martinez calls Duchenes transformation into a productive citizen very inspiring. When I learned he was ordained as a pastor for Saddleback Church, I knew I wanted him to return to SCC to share his journey with the inmates here, Martinez said. My desire is that by hearing of Dannys success, the inmates would be given hope, and see through hard work and self-reflection they could be successful as well, in spite of their poor choices. As Duchene walked through the gates, he said, he felt peace. I shared that they are human beings made in the image of God and worthy of that dignity and value regardless of their past, he said. That their educational efforts and work are goals worth the hard work on their journey to lasting change from criminal and addictive thinking to responsible and caring lifestyles when they are released. Duchene said he figured his words most resonated with the lifers, who understood he had lived most of his life imprisoned with no hope of being released. I gave the same message I received from Pastor Rick Warren: That your life, whether in prison or out, is to be lived for Gods purposes and serving others, he said. That this is key to lasting change, true freedom, and finding meaning while incarcerated. At the end of his talk, Duchene asked how many men wanted God in their lives even if they remain in prison. Nearly 100 raised their hands, he said. Two men have been arrested, accused of robbing Deano's Casino early Friday morning, taking a Washington family hostage and firing at police. Thomas Earl Dempsey, 36, was booked into Missoula County Jail at 9:18 p.m. Friday, charged with robbery and aggravated kidnapping. Missoula County Sheriff's Office public information officer Brenda Bassett said he was taken into custody after leaving a motel on North Reserve Street and entering a nearby business. Nick West, 38, was booked at 4:29 a.m. Saturday, charged with aggravated kidnapping. He was arrested near Mullan Road and North Reserve Street, also at a business. Both are scheduled to appear in court at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Additional charges may be pending, Bassett said. "After receiving a tip and working closely with city officers and the FBI, our detectives and deputies were able to locate the two suspects," Bassett said in a news release. The pair are accused of taking a family hostage after robbing Deano's Casino early Friday morning. "We know it was an unsettling time for the community, and as law enforcement officers we consider this one version of a happy ending," Sheriff T.J. McDermott said in the news release. "Most importantly, no one was hurt and secondly, these two suspects are now behind bars. We have to applaud the great work of our detectives who worked tirelessly throughout the night to get this accomplished. I could not be more proud of our officers and our law enforcement friends, who all came to the aid of this family during a very scary time." MCSO Patrol Sgt. Jon Stineford said on Saturday morning that while the investigation is ongoing, "we want to stress that the Sheriff's Office doesn't feel there's any further risk to public safety from these two robbery suspects." *** The casino was robbed at gunpoint at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, after which the suspects left in a stolen car. In a news conference Friday afternoon, McDermott said the family was getting gas nearby and saw the robbery. They called 911 and were asked to pull over and wait for an officer to come, at which point Cpt. Tony Rio said their SUV's doors were pulled open and the suspects took them hostage. A chase began with law enforcement through Missoula. The SUV stopped twice, once to let the family's 12-year-old boy out, the second to release the grandmother and 14-year-old girl. With the parents still inside, law enforcement said the SUV made a U-turn and the suspects fired at the pursuing officers. Law enforcement pulled back, and lost sight of the SUV in downtown. The parents and the SUV were found near Evaro Hill at about 5:20 a.m. Friday, but the suspects were gone. In 2014, Dempsey was convicted of attempted burglary, theft and accountability for burglary in Lake County, according to the Montana Department of Corrections. The Valley Journal reported that in April 2014, he pleaded not guilty to four felonies in relation to a multi-day crime spree in Ronan that involved burglary, a stolen car and stealing firearms. Dempsey was on conditional release at the time of Friday's incident, and was accordingly charged with a violation. West was convicted of assault with a weapon and assault on a peace officer in Hill County in 2007, according to the DOC. He also was convicted of partner/family member assault and tampering witnesses and informants in Yellowstone County in 2012. West was on parole as of Friday, and was subsequently charged with parole violation. A Huson man faces multiple felony theft charges after prosecutors say he stole a motorcycle, a trailer and an asphalt grinder in three separate incidents during the month of May. John Thomas Giblin, 44, was arrested late in the evening Thursday. According to a court affidavit, a resident of the Greenough area told authorities on May 7 his 2014 Suzuki Maverick motorcycle had been taken from a storage shed at his house. Detectives found the bike had been wheeled out of the shed, across a field and through a fence that had a hole cut in it. On May 26, a sheriffs deputy on patrol near the Wye saw a pickup with a motorcycle in the back that matched the description of the one that had been stolen. Giblin was allegedly working on the truck at the time when officers approached him. He said the motorcycle didnt belong to him, but wouldnt give a name of who its owner was. Deputies who examined the bike found the vehicle identification number matched the one that was stolen. Law enforcement obtained a warrant to search Giblins home and found a trailer that was reported stolen from Double W Trailers on May 22, and an asphalt grinder H and M Concrete reported stolen on May 23. Giblin is charged with three counts of felony theft. In Missoula County Justice Court on Friday, deputy county attorney Brittany Santorno said the execution of the search warrant was still ongoing, but that officers found tools, watercraft and other possessions that matched recent stolen property, and that more charges likely were to be filed. She requested Giblins bond be set at $25,000, noting he also had an active warrant from Colorado for failing to appear in court. Justice of the Peace Marie Andersen set his bond at $15,000 and said if he is released, he cannot sell, trade or pawn any of his possessions and cannot return to his house until the search is completed. MISSOULA On Sunday, May 22, 2016, Missoula lost a beloved and admired member of the community, and his family lost their rock, their leader and their solution-man. After beating pancreatic cancer in 2008, Ray Goeres recently suffered from issues related to internal scar tissue that formed as a result of the aggressive radiation therapy he received while going through cancer treatment. He was being treated for these issues at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, and there were many positive signs that led everyone, including the doctors, to believe that he would soon be headed home. He even played a game of cribbage with his wife, Barbara Goeres, on the morning of Saturday, May 21. That afternoon, however, things took a turn for the worse. An infection he had been fighting went septic, and he went to be with God the next day. Ray was enveloped in the arms of Barbara, son Rick Goeres, daughter Terra Goeres Ramachandran and son-in-law, Dush Ramachandran, when he passed into the next life. They are at peace knowing that he died naturally on his own terms, which is the way he did everything in his lifetime. He will be most remembered for his unwavering dedication to his family, his unmatchable work ethic, his deep Catholic faith, his strength of character and integrity, his kindness and positive outlook, his memorable aphorisms, which came to be known as Ray-isms, his funny sense of humor, and his wonderfully unique and contagious laugh. When he wasnt building something, fixing something or creating plans for something, Ray could usually be found on the snowmobile trails around Seeley Lake in the winter, boating on the lake in the summer, enjoying the company of his many good friends in Missoula and Seeley Lake, or playing cribbage with Barbara. He also loved any time Rick, Terra and Dush came home to the cabin, and he loved the family cruise vacations that had become a tradition since 2011. Ray was born on Dec. 25, 1943, and grew up on a farm north of Lemmon, South Dakota, with his parents and six siblings. He moved to Missoula in 1962 to attend college, following brothers, Lee Goeres and Jim Goeres and sister Evelyne (Goeres) Rieker, who were already living there. Shortly after moving, he served his country and fulfilled his military obligation by joining the Army Reserves. His college career was cut short when his father fell ill and Ray returned to the family farm part way through his sophomore year to help with the harvest. In 1963 he met his best friend and the love of his life, Barbara Denniston. They were married on Aug. 31, 1968, and together they built a wonderful life grounded by faith and embodied in gratitude. Son Rick was born in 1973 and daughter Terra was born in 1976. Ray told Barbara many times that he never knew he had the capacity for so much love until he had his kids. Ray joined Wagners Home Furnishings in 1968 and worked there for 41 years with passion and dedication. Hired as a laborer in the warehouse, Wagner family matriarch, Peg Wagner, recognized his potential, made him a salesman, and soon after, made him a partial owner in the store. He loved working along side John and Mike Wagner to grow the business and keep it thriving so that it could continue to serve the employees, the customers, and the Missoula community all of which he cared for deeply. When he retired in 2009, he was shocked to learn that an interview he did with the Missoulian made the front page. The article, aptly titled, Dean of Decor, was an honor both he and his family appreciated immensely. During his working years, when he wasnt at Wagners or with his family, Ray spent his time serving the Catholic schools that Rick and Terra attended running fundraisers, serving as a board member, and gladly letting Terra rope him into helping her with the numerous student body activities she was in charge of. Ray also volunteered as a leader in Ricks Boy Scout troop and helped on numerous hikes and camping trips, and one very memorable trip down the Missouri River. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, John Goeres and Mary (Kurt) Goeres; maternal grandparents, Frances ODonnell and Emma (Davis) ODonnell; parents, Matt Goeres and Agnes (ODonnell) Goeres; brothers, Jim Goeres and Leonard Goeres; sister Eileen (Goeres) (Kolodejchuck) Nedved and several other extended family members who were close to his heart. He is survived by Barbara, Rick, Terra, Dush; sister Evelyne (Goeres) Rieker; brother-in-law Bob Rieker; brother Lee Goeres; sister-in-law Collette Goeres; sister Jeanette (Goeres) Holmes; brother-in-law Hank Holmes; sister-in-law Sharon (Denniston) Oakland; brother-in-law Dan Oakland; many cherished nieces, nephews and cousins, and his beloved John Deere tractor, Doreen. The family would like to sincerely thank Rays local physician, Dr. Eric Kress, and his staff, for their immeasurable dedication to Rays care. They would also like to thank the dedicated and compassionate staff at Virginia Mason Hospital. A vigil will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1, and the funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 2. Both events will take place at St. Francis Xavier Church at 420 W. Pine St., Missoula, MT, 59802. During the vigil, the family invites people to share their memories of Ray. There will be a reception after the funeral in the church basement. The Knights of Columbus also will be serving hamburgers and hot dogs in a large tent on the church lawn. The family hopes that people will stay and help them celebrate Rays life. In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to make a donation in Rays honor to Missoula Catholic Schools, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org), or the charity of your choice. RONAN So excited was Lorene Pollock on Friday morning, youd have thought it was the first time she had ever set foot in an airplane. It wasnt. Not even close. Pollocks birthday surprise she turns 79 on Saturday came a day early when Ronan flight instructor Monte Baer took her up for a spin over the Mission Valley in his Cessna 172. Half a century ago, Pollock began piloting brand new aircraft like the 172 for Cessna, which hired the private pilot to fly the planes from the companys Wichita, Kansas, factory to their new owners. She did it for 20 years. It was one time I was glad to be a female, Pollock said. They thought me being a woman, Id be easier on a new plane. They didnt want boys they knew theyd want to see how fast the planes would go and what all theyd do. That was no way to break in a new airplane, she explained. Although she turned down Baers offer to sit in the left seat Friday, Pollock happily took over the controls on the passenger side after the Cessna was in the air on a rainy day. It doesnt come back perfect, Pollock said of her flying skills, but it comes back pretty fast. *** It was by no means the first time a fellow pilot had let Pollock take over a yoke. Pollocks husband, Howard, was a mechanic for Continental Airlines in Houston, and several commercial pilots knew the couple. In a day when regulations, or at least the enforcement of them, were significantly more relaxed, commercial pilots who knew her, and knew Lorene Pollock was on board either flying from Houston to Wichita to pick up a plane, or flying home after delivering it would invite her into the cockpit, and offer her their seat. Dont tell anyone, but Lorene Pollock has piloted commercial airliners, if only for a few minutes at a time. I love the feeling of a plane, Pollock said. Any pilot whos any good, theyll tell you they can feel that plane, and everything it does in the sky. *** Pollock, who grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, was in her mid-20s when she became friends with a private pilot who let her tag along on flights. It was love at first sight. She wanted to learn to fly, and earned her private pilots license. Then Howard bought her a three-seat Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser. Pollock named her plane Snoopy, and bought a stuffed toy version of the Peanuts character that she would buckle into the passenger seat when she flew alone. Howard, who was also a private pilot, had a friend draw a picture of Snoopy in his best World War I flying ace mode, complete with a red scarf flying in the wind, on the planes tail. Under the tail of a Piper youll find part of the landing gear, a small tailwheel, and that makes Pollock a taildragger pilot, Baer said. Thats pretty accomplished, he said. It takes a better pilot to fly one of those. They all used to have them, but now 80 percent of pilots dont know how to fly one. The instructor said Pollock who couldnt remember how long its been since she last flew a plane was right at home behind the yoke. Once in the air, he had her take over the controls and told her she could fly wherever she wanted. Pollock banked the Cessna south and headed toward the Charlo area. She knows how to keep it right-side up, Baer said. She didnt forget how to fly. *** Russ Jenkins, who volunteers to help out with bingo games at the St. Luke Extended Care Facility in Ronan where Lorene and Howard Pollock live, and has become friends with the couple, got the ball rolling on Fridays surprise. Jenkins enlisted the help of the rest homes activities director, Betty Sieges. Sieges contacted Lorenes daughter and granddaughter, while Jenkins conspired with Baer. Lorene never saw it coming. Were going to do WHAT? she kept repeating when they told what they had planned for the day before her birthday. Shes so excited, said Sieges, who added its not the first time the activities director has directed this sort of activity. About a dozen years ago, a 105-year-old resident of the nursing home, Eva Cross, mentioned she wished she could take a helicopter ride after watching Life Flight helicopters take off and land at St. Luke Hospital. She said, 'Id love to go up in a darned old hee-low-copter one day, Sieges said. Thats how she pronounced it hee-low-copter. With the help of Minuteman Aviation of Missoula, Sieges made that wish come true, and Cross took a scenic flight down the Mission Mountains and over Flathead Lake. With dark clouds smothering the Missions' peaks Friday morning and dreary gray ones spitting rain over the valley, Pollocks surprise flight didnt happen on a very scenic day. And she could not have cared less. *** Lorene and Howard moved to Montana about three years ago, and into the St. Luke Extended Care Facility in Ronan two years ago. Granddaughter Melissa Coleman and her husband and children were the first to move north from Texas, to Charlo. Colemans parents followed, settling in Polson, and Colemans mother, Beverly Beekmann, brought her parents, Lorene and Howard, who lived in Fritch, Texas, at the time. Pollock may have been the gentlest of pilots as she flew brand new Cessnas to their proud new owners, but Coleman can tell a story or two on her grandmother including one where Lorene and Howard were up in the Piper together, with daughter Beverly in the lone rear seat. The weather was bad and Papa (Howard) wanted to land, but she wanted to fly above the storm, Coleman said. Howard would nose the plane lower. Lorene would point it higher. Up and down went the Piper. Theyre too busy yelling at each other to notice Mom, puking in the back, Coleman said. In 1970, Lorene and Snoopy competed in an all-woman, four-day air race from Calgary, Alberta, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The race was not about who got to Baton Rouge first, but which pilot most closely followed a prescribed zig-zag pattern across the skies over Canada and America. Lorene didnt win it, but she finished in the top handful of the 50 women who competed. Go ahead and ask Pollock if there were female pilots who inspired her to learn how to fly, but dont waste any time waiting for her to tell you Amelia Earhart or Jacqueline Cochran. Before I knew any of them, I was one, Pollock said. After Jenkins helped her out of the Cessna on Friday, Pollock who normally uses a walker smiled widely, pumped her fist in the air and headed straight for Baer to deliver a big hug. You dont know how long Ive been missing flying, Pollock said. That brought back so many memories. I told her well do it again, Baer said. Maybe on her 80th birthday. If thats the case, May 28, 2017, cant come soon enough for Lorene Pollock. Draught Works Brewery will soon be able to stay open later into the evening following a vote by the Missoula City Council to approve a conditi The countys historic preservation commission has decided the fate of historic cobblestones removed during a gas line replacement project in an Uptown Butte alley. The alley is believed to be the last in Butte with visible cobblestones. Some of the granite pavers which harken back to Buttes rough-and-tumble booming years a century ago will be returned to each end of the alley. The middle section will get a layer of asphalt. And any leftover pavers are slated for county storage. For weeks NorthWestern Energy has been working to replace the gas line in the cobblestone and dirt alley between the 600 blocks of West Granite and West Quartz streets. As per an agreement with the county, NorthWestern is required to restore streets to their original condition, officials said. In the case of cobblestone streets, this means any disturbed bricks or stones need to be put back. But after the 3-0 decision, the Historic Preservation Commission came up with the compromise. Instead of restoring the alley to its original condition, the utility will instead repave 75 feet of the east entrance and 36 feet of the west entrance with the cobblestones, with asphalt on the rest, said Mary McCormick, Buttes historic preservation officer. NorthWestern had previously tried to bore beneath the alley surface, but ran into problems with dense rock, McCormick said Friday. As a result, NorthWesterns only option was to restore the alley to its original condition as per the agreement. But the original condition, McCormick said, was a patchwork of dirt and cobblestones. After visiting the site, McCormick said she decided to call for the special meeting and look for an alternative solution. She said she wanted to preserve the 100-year-old stones, but didnt think that a hodgepodge of dirt which she said turns to mud that trickles over the stones when it rains and cobblestone was the best option. The alley was in rough shape to begin with and to do a new patchwork on it would have made it even rougher, McCormick said. She added that in a perfect world she would have liked to have seen the whole alley re-laid noting that even 100-year-old cobblestone streets need maintenance but that doing so would have proven to be too expensive and labor intensive for NorthWestern. I think its a good compromise, said McCormick. I wish that more stones could be replaced, but were happy that NorthWestern is able to do what they can do. Neighbors and historic preservation advocates attended the May 17 meeting, which was held in the alley instead of the usual location in courthouse. McCormick added that a family that lives adjacent to the alley spoke in favor of repaving with asphalt and complained about the dirt. However, she said the family did not object to the final decision which McCormick said the commission did not take lightly. The commission really put a lot of thought into it and really took to heart what people had to say, she said. She added that three commission members voted in favor of the agreement and one member abstained. Three were absent. About 170 Vietnam veterans were honored Friday evening in Butte Civic Center during a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a 23-year U.S. Navy SEAL veteran, organized the event, during which he presented veterans with commemorative lapel pins and spoke to a crowd of about 200. In Montana theres over 120,000 veterans. They represent the civil organizations, the civic organizations. They represent teachers and pipefitters. They represent every aspect of our society, and they are honored, said Zinke. But today we are honoring you and giving thanks for what you did. The same commemoration took place earlier in Helena and Missoula, and commemorations are also scheduled for Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls and Kalispell next week. In an interview with The Montana Standard, Zinke said honoring Vietnam-era vets is important given the historical context of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War is different than the other wars this country fought, said Zinke. In other wars (veterans) were celebrated. In the Vietnam War, they were not. And the Vietnam War to many is still an unsettled war. Mollie Kirk agrees. Kirk is president of the local auxiliary of Veterans of Foreign Wars and chairman for the Vietnam Commemoration Committee. She said the Vietnam War marked a tumultuous period in the countrys past an era when, for the first time in history, images of war were broadcast into peoples living rooms. We werent used to that the violence, said the 66-year-old Butte native. These images, combined with upset over the draft and the unpopularity of the war, caused people to receive returning veterans with less-than-welcoming arms, said Kirk. James Long who served in the Marine Corps during Vietnam experienced the negative reception first hand. Long said returning home as a Vietnam veteran was like re-emerging as a second-class citizen. When we came back from Vietnam we didnt have what they have today with the Iraqi and Afghanistan troops, said Long. The American people looked down on us because we were following orders and doing what we were supposed to do (but) it wasnt our doing it was Congress doing. Long went on to say that being recognized for his service felt like a long-deserved acknowledgement. Its about time, he said. He added that he saw the commemoration as a form of healing, not only from the wounds of war but also from veterans ongoing struggles to receive adequate medical treatment. The veterans today dont get the help that they need, said Long, referring to recent controversies regarding Veterans Administration hospital backlogs. As for Zinke, he told The Standard that he sees the commemoration as a way to give veterans the warm welcome they never received. Even the (Vietnam Veterans Memorial) is different, said Zinke, pointing out that the somber shape of the memorial in Washington, D.C. seems to reflect a somber attitude toward the war. And the experience of going through that memorial is different. And around Montana I think we should do our part, and definitely my part as a veteran and a congressman, to say thank you in an appropriate forum. Long, meanwhile, said lost men and women would be on his mind as he accepted his lapel pin. Ill think about a lot of things, said Long. A lot of the guys that didnt come back. All the hardships. Tough times. Memorial Day services start at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, at Buttes Stodden Park, followed by attendees going to veterans plots at cemeteries throughout Butte. Services are also planned in Sheridan, Anaconda and Deer Lodge. Organized by the United Veterans Council, the Butte schedule follows: 10 a.m. Services at Stodden Park will include lowering and raising of colors, invocation and benediction, honor squad, placement of the wreath and featured speaker Maj. Gen. Tim McLean, retired, U.S. Army. 11 a.m. Mount Moriah Cemetery, Montana Street, ritual services at the Grand Army of the Republic plot, services by the Honor Guard Squad, directed by Cmdr. Wade Smith. 11:15 a.m. St. Patricks Cemetery, Montana Street, Spanish American plot, ritual services, placement of the wreath, with DAR LAVFW 1448 JoAnn Piazzola. Noon Sunset Memorial Park, west of Butte near Fairmont Hot Springs. 12:45 p.m. Mountain View Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, Veterans of Foreign Wars monument 1 p.m. Mountain View Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, American Legion monument 1:15 p.m. Holy Cross Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, veterans plot. A luncheon follows at 1 p.m. at American Legion Hall, 1750 Motor Vue Road. Other area activities: ANACONDA Volunteers will gather at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 28, at Lower Hill and Mount Olivet Cemeteries in Anaconda to honor the military fallen by placing flags on their final resting places. Flags will be retrieved at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4. Anaconda will celebrate Memorial Day at 11 a.m. Monday in the Washoe Theatre, 305 Main St. Keynote speaker will be Assistant Army Adjutant General, Montana National Guard Brigadier General Robert Sparing. He will talk about Montanas military involvement in the Philippine-American War of 1899, which will include Anacondas involvement. After the ceremony, the Historic Company M flag display will be unveiled at the Hearst Free Library, 401 Main St. Details: Barry, 406-563-7274 or Phil, 406-563-2031. SHERIDAN AREA Anderson-Simpson Post 89 of the American Legion will conduct Memorial Day Veterans Remembrance Ceremonies. The first ceremony will start at 11 a.m. in the veterans plot area of the Sheridan Cemetery. Services at the other cemeteries will follow in the order of Laurin, Taylor, Nevada City and lastly the Virginia City Cemetery about 1 p.m. Details: Paul Marsh, Post Commander at 406-842-7956 or Post Adjutant Mike Morgan at 406-842-5085. DEER LODGE Members of American Legion Post 10, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 689 and the Deer Lodge Veterans Honor Guard will gather at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 28, at Hillcrest Cemetery in Deer Lodge to place flags on the graves of veterans. At 11 a.m. Monday, May 30, the Honor Guard will conduct a memorial service at Hillcrest Cemetery. DILLON The formal Memorial Day Program begins at 11 a.m. Monday, May 30, at the Soldiers' Plot at the Dillon Cemetery. The speaker is Dillon Mayor Mike Klakken, Mayor of Dillon. Following Klakken's remarks, the Memorial Wreath will by laid at the base of the Veterans' Memorial Statute by the Post Adjutant and Commander. White Sulphur Springs' 2 Basset Brewery exudes community from its bar to its beer to its spirit. The beers incorporate local ingredients from the White Sulphur Springs area as much as possible. The bar is made from a Douglas fir sourced nearby. Owners Barry and Chris Hedrich have been staples in the small town for about three decades. Chris said she was touched when she and her husband began working on the business that the community embraced the idea wholeheartedly. "They said, 'We're getting a brewery' not the Hedriches are opening a brewery," she said. "That was so neat to hear that." "We're gotten a lot of great local support." The brewery has been in operation for the last few months. Its official grand opening is slated for June 24 and 25. The clientele is a mix of locals and a slew of travelers coming for the spa. "Probably more Helena folk than anywhere else," Chris said. "I think that's some of that is it's an easy day drive." "It's amazing how word spreads nowadays," she added. Named after the couple's beloved pets Stanley and Leroy, the brewery also uses dog references in the titles of its brews. One of the most popular is the Drooligan, an Irish ale. More than 200 gallons of Breaking Basset, a farmhouse ale, have been served so far. Many times the taps of the favorites run dry. The couple hopes to build up a stockpile of kegs to have eight beers on tap at all times. "This is fun. We have a lot of fun here," Chris said while serving a few brews. "You hear laughter and joking and good conversation. You think this is a good thing. You get people together and it's just fun." The Hedriches weren't always beer aficionados. "Barry and I were Budweiser drinkers forever," Chris said. The couple then started branching out by trying different types and visiting the influx of breweries in the state. "How can there be any intricacies to beer? You just pop the top," she added with a laugh. After Barry honed his home-brewing skills, the idea for the brewery surfaced a little more than a year ago. Chris, a longtime banker, has a background in small businesses. Barry, a former farmer and rancher, is also an engineer. "It's one of those weird fairy tale stories where everything came together," Chris explained. They found a former parts store vacant on Main Street. It just happened to be a couple doors down from a pizza joint. The building was basically four walls and a floor. This allowed the couple to start their vision from scratch. Barry and their son, Hank, made all the bar and tables. Local barn-wood was used for frames around photos of the two bassets. Hues of copper fill the space. "It's not a huge space but it's a comfortable space," Chris said. "The grand plan is to somehow figure out how to get a patio space." For Barry, who was born and raised in White Sulphur Springs, the venture also allows him to mix two of his loves beer and visiting. "People are fun. That's the thing I enjoy very much is visiting with the people," he said. Watching people enjoying his beer is neat as well. "That inspires me. That's what it's all about," Barry said. "It's been fabulous. I'm just stunned!" At the brewery, every day is a new adventure. It varies in clientele and orders. "Sometimes their street is lined both ways," Chris said. "I do know we've never had a day that nobody showed up," she added. Many people ask about the dogs. They love to visit but also like to try to escape out the door. So, the couple limits the two bassets' time at the brewery. Stanley and Leroy will be in attendance for the grand opening -- in the V.I.B. (Very Important Basset) tent. "We're still early in but what a fun experience it has been so far," Chris added. "It's a lot of work but it's so fun. It's so rewarding." In my library are many translations of the Bible. I have not taken the time to count them, but most translations published today are represented there in some form. Never has there been a time when there have been more translations of the Bible. I am for it and I am one of the first to buy the newest translation. I must confess, however, sooner or later I gravitate back to the old King James Version of the Bible. Not that I think it is better than any other translation. I just enjoy it more. I read the others and enjoy them to a point, but when I am coming to meditate on the Word of God, it is the King James Version that helps me along this line. I find it difficult to speed read the King James Version. Probably the most useless battle today in the church is the battle over translations. I say, get a translation you like, as long as it is reputable, and get down to the business of reading and studying and meditating on the Word of God. In spite of an almost endless variety of translations we have a culture today that is alarmingly biblically illiterate. The Bible is available to anybody in just about any language and translation you could think of. Yet, the truth remains, most Americans are not biblically savvy. I have seen no surveys, but it would not surprise me to learn that the majority of Christians in America today do not read the Bible regularly. This is inexcusable. Not only is the Bible available in just about any translation you can think of, it can even be downloaded on cell phones and is also in audio version. If you do not have time to read the Bible, maybe you could listen to the Bible, perhaps while driving. Trying to think of excuses for not reading the Bible I have not come up with one. Except, if you are dead, then you cannot read the Bible. The thing I try to wrap my brain around is why people, claiming to be Christians, do not read the Bible on a regular basis. Some do, I know. But many do not. I am confused about that group. With the way the world is going today, I cannot think of any reason not to search the Scriptures daily to see what the Bible has to say about the times in which we are living. In a society that gets all of its information from television and the Internet, I would think somebody would have a desire to understand what God has to say. I am not suggesting we use the Bible to understand the social and political aspects of our culture. Many are doing just that, but that is not the purpose of the Bible. Talking with some people who claim to be Christian, I am not sure if they really understand the purpose of the Bible. Recently, I attended a church and sitting there I looked around during the sermon to see what people were doing. It amazed me how many people did not have a Bible opened. Yes, some people had cell phones with the Bible on it. Even these were few that I could see. Observing the people as they walked out, few had a Bible with them. How is it that some people think its okay to go to church and not bring their Bibles with them? Dont church and the Bible go together? The Bible is not a book for information nor is it a book of theology although it contains both information and theology. That is not the purpose of the Bible. A hymn I enjoy very much has a marvelous phrase that puts the Bible in the proper perspective for me. Beyond the sacred page, I seek Thee, Lord. The hymn writer had it right. I am reminded what A. W. Tozer said along this line. If you have read the Bible and have not experienced the Living Word, you have not actually read the Bible. That is the purpose. To encounter the Living Word in personal experience. I am interested in what people have to say about the Bible. I enjoy listening to a Bible teacher expound the Word. I love a preacher who really knows how to preach the Word. However, none of this takes the place of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. It is in the Word such an encounter takes place. It is one thing to know what the Bible says, but quite another to experience God in that book. I am afraid today we are living in a Christian culture more influenced by the world around them than the Word of God within them. All of our ideas are coming from the world. Our attitudes are coming from the world. Whatever the world is doing at any given time will sooner or later be found in the church. Infrequently do we find somebody who will stop and say, What does the Bible have to say about this? I think that is a superb question. To answer that question from a biblical standpoint would lead to some important changes in our Christian culture today. Few people understand that the world is in deep conflict with the Word of God. The two are incompatible with each other to the point of hostility. Yet, some do not really believe that. To some the church is simply a cleaned up version of the world. One preacher said on television recently that it did not matter if you were a Christian or not, if you practiced what the Bible said, and he was talking about prosperity, God would have to do it for you. According to him, God was under an obligation to bless you regardless of who you were. I have a bit of a problem with that. The Bible is not a means by which I can coerce God into doing things for my benefit. If you take the Bible seriously, God will do nothing contrary to His nature and character, which can be summed up in one word, holy. An unholy man cannot convince a holy God to do something unholy. I think of what Mark Twain said about a classic. A classic is a book on everybodys bookshelf, but one nobody reads. I wonder if we have come to that point with the Bible? It is an acceptable book even with politicians today, and yet, the Bible does not seem to have made much of an impact on todays culture. I believe that impact must begin with the church. The Word of God needs to have an overwhelming impact on the local church. Too often, we are building churches through the business methods of the world and therefore the power of the Word of God is pushed to the side. We can explain why we have growth in our church. We can explain why things are happening in our church. If you can explain everything happening in your church then God is not involved. God does that in my life and in the life of the local church which is completely inexplicable. What God does brings glory, not to human innovation, but to God and His marvelous way of touching our lives. When was the last time we got on our knees before an open Bible and lost track of everything around us and was overwhelmed by the mighty presence of God? Most believers are living lives far below what they could be living. Everything in their life can be explained and they are struggling from day to day to be a good Christian. I say, let us quit trying to be a good Christian. Let us quit trying to handle it ourselves. Let us throw ourselves unreservedly on the Lord Jesus Christ and let the consequences up to Him. As I go beyond the sacred page I begin to experience God in the way that He wants me to experience Him. Much of what we have today is such a distance from God. We live the Christian life on long distance and God is not satisfied with that. We must come into such a fellowship with God that it cannot be explained nor maintained by natural means. There is a supernatural aspect to my Christian life that can only be activated by a personal encounter with God orchestrated, if you please, by the Holy Spirit. I do not believe that as Christians we should denounce other people and other religions. I like what F. W. Boreham once said. You can always show a stick to be crooked by simply laying a straight one beside it. This is what is needed today. I know criticism has its place. I think the greater place is to model a life beyond human explanation that will draw all people to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And this all begins beyond the sacred page. The Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, Ocala, FL. Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com. MUSCATINE, Iowa A public engagement meeting concerning the Mississippi Drive corridor project is set for 6 p.m. June 21 at the Riverview Center, 110 Harbor Drive in Muscatine. The meeting will serve as the introduction of preliminary plans for the project that were created by the engineering team based on community input and polling at the last two meetings. Attendees will get to view design plans and provide feedback as planners work toward a shared vision for using Mississippi Drive to connect the Muscatine community. Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi [] Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. Jennifer Dumas sits on a sofa, her smiling 6-month-old girl on her lap. The room is full of bright toys and childrens books. A rainbow-colored activity mat is on the floor, and Winnie the Pooh is painted on the walls. It looks like any other nursery, except that there are bars on the windows and barbed-wire fences outside the austere brick building. New Yorks maximum-security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility is one of the very few prisons in the U.S. that allow inmates and their babies to live together, a century-old approach that not all corrections experts agree is the best way to deal with women locked up while pregnant. Mothers who get such a chance say its better than the alternative: In most prisons, babies born behind bars must be given up within a day to a relative or foster care. Before I came here, I thought it was a terrible idea. A baby in prison? No, thank you, the 24-year-old Dumas said as her daughter, Codylynn, gleefully rocked in a bouncy seat. But its actually wonderful to be able to spend this much time with my little girl. ... Im blessed to be able to go through this. Nobody thinks raising babies behind bars is ideal, and some worry that the children could be scarred by the experience. But some advocates say that the practice allows mother and child to develop a vital psychological attachment, and that the parenting classes and other practical instruction help the moms stay out of trouble when they get out. About 112,000 women are in state and federal prisons, mostly for drug or property crimes. And an estimated 1 in 25 are pregnant when they enter, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project. But there are no national statistics on the number of babies born to inmates. Of the more than 100 womens prisons in the U.S., there are eight nurseries. While nearly 100 countries, including South Sudan and France, have national laws that allow for incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies, the U.S. is not among them. Dumas was three weeks pregnant when she was arrested last year, along with her boyfriend, on charges they tried to steal a safe packed with $32,000 in cash and jewelry. Her baby was born just days after she took a plea bargain on attempted burglary charges that sent her to Bedford Hills, about an hour north of New York City, for up to two years. She is now among 15 carefully screened new mothers allowed to serve up to 18 months of their sentences in a nursery unit that includes a communal playroom stocked with toys and mother-and-child rooms equipped with a single bed and a crib. The walls are painted with rainbows, fluffy clouds and jungle and barnyard scenes. The nursery currently has 16 babies, including a set of twins. During workday hours, the babies are taken across the street to a day care center, where they are watched by staff and other inmates while the moms go to school or vocational programs. But there are constant reminders it is a prison. Armed officers patrol the unit. And the moms know their babies can be taken away for such infractions as fighting or even leaving a toy in a crib while the baby sleeps. Its still scary, Dumas said. At any given point if you do what youre not supposed to your baby could get sent home. Some women have been dropped from the program from time to time for breaking the rules, but corrections officials and advocates said they could not recall any instances in recent years in which a baby was harmed. Still, some argue that prison should be reserved for punishment and that women should instead consider putting their children up for adoption. The focus should be on whats best for the baby, said James Dwyer, a law professor at the College of William & Mary who has written a paper on the topic. There is skepticism about these women being adequate parents. Columbia University researcher Mary Byrne, who spent years studying mothers and children who started life in Bedford Hills, said that the youngsters formed critical attachments to their mothers and that a second study after they were released found they were no different from children raised entirely on the outside. Many people would assume any exposure to prison would cause problems ... theyll be exposed to violence and horrible people, it will scar them, she said. But thats not what we found. Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, the Roman Catholic nun who runs Hour Children, the nonprofit organization that operates Bedford Hills nursery, put it more bluntly: Babies belong with their mother. In a palace or a prison, they dont know and dont care as long as they feel loved and supported. The nursery is operated under an annual contract with the state of about $170,000, the correction department said. It would cost $480,000 a year to put 16 babies in foster care, according to state figures. Bedford Hills recidivism rate for women in the nursery program is fairly typical of such programs, at 13 percent versus 26 percent for all female inmates at the prison, according to a report by the Womens Prison Association, an advocacy group. Bedford Hills has the oldest continuously operating prison nursery in the country, opened in 1901. There were many nurseries years ago, according to Elaine Lord, the former superintendent. But they fell out of favor amid a huge influx of prisoners in the 1980s and a shift in thinking that said the privilege of living with your baby was inconsistent with the concept of punishment. Most of the nations prison nurseries have cropped up in the past 20 years. The nursery at the Indiana Womens Prison houses up to 10 mother-infant pairs for up to 18 months. In South Dakota, a child can stay only 30 days. In Washington state, its three years. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms have participated. In Decatur, Kalee Ford, who is about 26 weeks pregnant and in prison on a drug-related conviction, already has been accepted into the program and is taking prenatal courses. She said she wasnt the mother she could have been to her two other children because of methamphetamine. The program is giving her hope that she can clean up for good. I believe that everybody deserves at least one chance to fix mistakes that theyve made, she said. My children didnt do this, and they deserve to have me back. At Decatur, Bedford Hills and other programs, mothers-to-be are selected based on their crimes and whether there is any history of child abuse. Many advocates question why such women need to be incarcerated at all. Typically, women accepted into these programs are nonviolent offenders serving fairly short sentences ideal candidates for less-expensive, halfway house-like programs for mother and child. After their sentences are up, almost all of the mothers at Bedford go to a live-in halfway house in New York City run by Fitzgeralds organization that also helps with day care and jobs. Mothers say its a golden ticket. Dumas, who has a son on the outside, hopes to go there, too. Its a way to get on my feet, try being a parent again on the outside but with a safety net, she said. I dont know anyone who gets that. DENVER John Hickenlooper, Colorados term-limited Democratic governor, released a candid autobiography and is doing the book talk rounds, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clintons presidential campaign ticket. Hickenlooper insists he hasnt been approached by Clintons camp, and he uses self-deprecating humor to deflect queries about his ambitions. But his name has come up before. Everyone says Im on the short list, he said recently. I think its probably a long list; Im probably closer to the bottom. 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 Clintons 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 Denvers 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 wouldnt 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 2014s GOP-dominant election. Why hed fit Colorado is crucial to victory in November. Hickenloopers idiosyncratic humor and plain talk could boost Clintons favorability ratings among voters. Clinton needs to find someone whos likable, and John Hickenloopers 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 Hickenloopers 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 nations 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 shed put coal miners out of work. Its religion in the Democratic Party to oppose fracking, and I can see him having problems with the partys 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 mans execution until another governor took office, a delay that struck both death-penalty supporters and opponents as cowardly. Hes yet to find a solution with tax-averse Colorado Republicans to help Colorados 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 Clintons 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. Hickenloopers 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. Its certainly not the portrait of someone whos trying to prepare themselves to be a vice presidential candidate, Hickenlooper told reporters this week. Authorities are preparing to search a remote area about 90 miles north of San Francisco for a 15-year-old girl who has been missing since a witness saw her being dragged across a freeway overpass. The Solano County Sheriff's Office said Friday that new information was prompting investigators to focus their search along a road that traverses Sonoma Coast State Park near the town of Jenner. 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 Pearl Pinson's disappearance. The search for the missing girl has been complicated by the death Thursday of the 19-year-old acquaintance suspected of abducting her. Police fatally shot Fernando Castro in Southern California after they spotted his car and exchanged gunfire with him as they say he was attempted to get away. SAN DIEGO Donald Trump campaign rallies drew vocal crowds of protesters in San Diego and Fresno on Friday, all under heavy police presence following similar events around the country that led to violence and arrests. About a thousand Trump foes demonstrated outside San Diego's convention center, some engaging in shouting matches with the candidate's supporters and many carrying signs critical of his plan to wall off the U.S. border with Mexico, which runs just south of the city. Some waved Mexican flags and one man broke apart a Trump pinata with a pole. "I marvel that this presidential election has come to this," said San Diego City Councilman Todd Gloria, a Democrat who joined the protest. Trump supporter Pam Stickler walked past the protesters on her way into the rally. "I like that he is bold and not afraid to speak his mind," especially about illegal immigration, she said. "Because we're here at ground zero in San Diego." Earlier in the Central Valley, several hundred demonstrators chanted, held signs and marched around a downtown Fresno arena where the presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke to supporters. The Fresno protesters a largely young and Latino crowd chanted "keep hate out of our state" and held signs with slogans such as "Trump needs to be dumped." At one point a protester pulled at a gate but other demonstrators tried to calm him down. Police formed a line between the protester and the gate. After the demonstration had largely dispersed, a woman was arrested for refusing to move as a police line advanced to clear the area. Another woman was similarly arrested later. 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. Heading into the rally, Darrell Hedden, 59, of Hanford, said he thinks Trump would restore U.S. pride. "I came to see Donald Trump make history. He's going to make this country better," Hedden said. Jacqueline Saavedra, 18, traveled to Fresno from East Los Angeles to protest. "I have a family of immigrants," she said. "My father came here illegally to work in the fields. He did give us a better life. He's a good man. I'm here for my people." 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. The sold-out crowd for the first day of BottleRock 2016 started filing through the gates at 11:30 a.m., but by 3 p.m., the lines crawled around the street corners. Hats were the most popular BottleRock accessory, as festival-goers tried their best to fight temperatures in the upper 80s. Napas own Bob St. Laurent and The Deadlies opened things up on the JaM Cellars stage to a small, but growing crowd. They were accompanied by three bikini-clad women in knee-high boots, shaking and shimmying provocatively throughout the set, just like the girls in The Ramones California Sun that the band covered. It was a family affair for Loretta Segura, 18, of Discovery Bay, attending the festival with her dad and younger brother. They snagged three-day passes for their first BottleRock experience, which also happened to be her brothers first concert. One of the first through the gates, they made a beeline for the main JaM Cellars stage and set up shop in the front row, where they planned to remain all day. They want to repeat this strategy every day of the weekend. While dad and brother were looking forward to Stevie Wonder, Segura was most excited about the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Sunday night. I will sit here all day just to see them. I dont even care. I will not move, she said. JaM Cellars has increased its involvement in BottleRock over the years, moving up from wine sponsor to presenting sponsor this year. They have set up a giant yellow tent called the JaM Pad, where they will be hosting dance parties, intimate artist meet-and-greets, and Alice radio throughout the weekend. Visitors can also play in the photo booth and grab red and yellow blowup balls to throw around at the concerts. We just went all big or go home. We really wanted to produce an activation that made BottleRock better for everybody. What could we bring to the party? said JaM Cellars Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Montague, who joined JaM Cellars after working with BottleRock last year. The founders and the [JaM Cellars] owners are so in sync about stepping it up every year and giving the fans who love wine and music an even better experience, Montague said. There were some notable new tents set up this year, among them Android, promoting Android Pay and giving away Italian Soda for just one cent. Even non-Android users can come and demonstrate the technology to enjoy a free soda. Nordstrom has a pop-up shop with free beauty samples and giveaways, and invited artist Christina Lonsdale to join them with her Aura Photography Project. Attendees can walk into a dome and place their hands on electrodes. A chromatography camera will take a colorful photograph of their aura, and Lonsdale will then give them a personalized reading about what their colors mean. New Napa restaurant Miminashi, which opened downtown just three weeks ago, set up roots in the VIP section to give locals a taste of their food. They are serving cold soba noodles to help combat the heat, and chef and owner Curtis DiFede said they have been much busier than expected. VIP ticket holders get to enjoy some new perks this year, like an enormous, elevated deck, partially covered with comfortable seating and a bar. Laurel Marquand, 33, from Portland, is spending her third BottleRock with her parents, husband and 18-week-old baby Fiona. This was her first year with a VIP ticket. Last year we came, I was pregnant and we sort of started fantasizing about coming the following year with the baby. I thought, we should just upgrade to VIP for more shade, cleaner bathrooms and stuff, so we did. Its awesome. We should have done this all three years, said Marquand. We just got here, but were really pleased. Theres no lines back here. Were happy about the AstroTurf they did this year. Arguably the most noticeable BottleRock attendee was Schuyler McGraw from San Francisco, walking around in a wedding dress. McGraw got married Friday morning at the Hampton Inn & Suites before the festivities, and brought all 50 people on her guest list to share a suite in the Sky Box together. The idea to get married during BottleRock came when she was just 6 years old at her uncles wedding, and she asked her Dad when she could get married. He was in the Marine Corps and he said, Quarter to never sweetheart. At the time, I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and I said, What if I got Stevie Wonder to be there? And bless his heart, he said, Yeah, O.K. kid. Her father devastatingly passed away when she was 13. She had scheduled her wedding to take place at a castle in Santa Barbara when she found out that Stevie Wonder was playingserendipitously on her dads birthday. He came through, she said, choking back tears. When Stevie plays, youre going to see what he does. Hes the most magical, charismatic, absolutely unstoppable, creative force youve ever seen. He takes the audience and brings out the best in every person there. The thing that is the most stupefying about him is his energy. He doesnt ever run out, ever. A transient woman was arrested after allegedly making a fraudulent charge at the Napa River Terrace, according to Napa Police. Police said that Chelsea Jewlz Harris, 24, out of the Sacramento area was arrested after the alleged victim reported unauthorized activity on his credit card account. The alleged victim was in Ohio at the time of the credit card use, police said. Two local June 7 tax measures one for schools, the other for a new jail and childrens programs have campaign groups spending tens of thousands of dollars to sway voters. The Napa Valley Unified School District is running Measure H, a $269 million bond measure to build, replace and renovate schools. The measure authorizes an annual property tax of up to $60 per $100,000 of assessed value, though the school district estimates the tax will be $39. State law forbids the school district from using public money to run a campaign. Instead, the group Safe Schools for Napa Valley Unified has raised $138,425 this year for that purpose. The result has been mailers, phone calls and yard signs in favor of Measure H. Safe Schools for Napa Valley Unified is using Oakland-based CliffordMoss as a campaign consultant. Earthquake Safe Schools, reads one mailer that shows photos of school damage sustained from the 2014 South Napa earthquake. Another features local educators urging a yes vote. Donors to Yes on H campaign for the year through May 21 are on file with the county Election Division. Construction and engineering companies are some of the larger contributors. Among those donating $5,000 apiece are Napa Electric, R.E. Maher Inc. Concrete Construction of American Canyon, ZFA Structural Engineers of Santa Rosa, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 180 PAC and Bell Products, a Napa heating, air conditioning and plumbing company, the campaign reported. Among those donating $2,500 are Zeco Electric Co. of American Canyon, Long Electric of Napa and Dutra Cerro Graden, a Dublin-based real estate firm that deals with school district transactions. District Superintendent of Schools Patrick Sweeney donated $500 and American Canyon Middle School Assistant Principal Keith Nickolaus donated $100. Measure Y Measure Y would enact a quarter-cent sales tax increase that would bring money to the Napa County general fund. The Board of Supervisors has targeted these revenues to help pay for a new jail on Highway 221 near Syar quarry and for childrens programs. Childrens advocates had initially planned their own November ballot measure. When the jail and children programs came together under the auspices of Measure Y, the campaigns and fundraising merged. Yes on Y, Invest in Napas Future reports having raised $66,217. It too has sent out mailers, set up yard signs and has done phone calls. One of the bigger recent donations is $5,000 from COPE Family Center. The local nonprofit lists its mission as preventing and addressing the root causes of child abuse and neglect. Napa Mill Development Co. and Nacht & Lewis of Sacramento donated $2,500 apiece. The county is paying Nacht & Lewis $137,765 to do architectural and other planning work for the proposed, new jail. Among those donating $1,000 apiece are 2nd District Supervisor candidate Ryan Gregory, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 180 PAC, District Council of Ironworkers PAC, Friends of Alfredo Pedroza for Supervisor, Belia Ramos for Supervisor, Keith Caldwell for Supervisor 2012 and Bill Dodd for Senate 2016. Meanwhile, the Napa County Taxpayers Association has posted the all-purpose Stop Taxes in Napa County signs it previously used to protest the Napa Sanitation District sewer fee hike. The group merely removed the small sewer fee blurb from the bottoms of the main signs and attached small blurbs reading Measure Y and Measure H. ST. HELENA The St. Helena Historical Society created a unique opportunity last Saturday for locals to investigate the roots of their community. Titled Museum for a Day, this years annual event featured the Hispanic heritage of the Napa Valley, displaying memorabilia from founding Hispanic families. Weve tried for a number of years to bridge the cultural divide between our Anglo heritage and our Hispanic heritage, said Susanne Salvestrin, president of the society. And this year weve made a special effort with the participation of a number of families who have graciously offered to display some of the family things from St. Helenas founding Hispanic families. One such family was the Hurtado family, which displayed a large number of photographs and memorabilia across a long line of tables with the De Haro family of St. Helena. Luis Hurtado had carefully spread out the charro garments that his three nephews had worn on a number of special occasions. Hurtado said that the handmade costumes were sewn in Jerez Zacatecas, Mexico, and he explained the differences between the terms charros the traditional horsemen and cowboys in central-western regions of Mexico and vaqueros who wore a different outfit, and who were, according to Hurtado, ranch hands. Hurtado said that as a boy he and later his nephews would wear these charro outfits to baptisms, Quinceaneras, and on days of Mexican celebration such as Cinco de Mayo. The costumes included several broad sombreros, intricately sewn chaps and beautifully embroidered jackets. On another table, he displayed a number of artifacts, including a stone mortar and pestle for grinding corn, a beautiful stone metate a rectangular stone on three legs used to finely grind the nixtamalized corn for tortillas and a wooden tortilla press. These kinds of traditional implements, Hurtado said, have changed very little since pre-Colombian times. The array of items, family photographs and memorabilia stretched across the gymnasium, and there were many family members from the Hurtado family and the De Haro family, who were eager to talk about their ancestry. Some were also open to talk about their personal histories growing up in St. Helena. Hurtados cousin, Josefina Hurtado, talked about how her father had come to the Napa Valley during the Bracero program a time when the United States allowed Mexicans temporary entry into the U.S. as migrant workers. She said he had worked at Beringer Brothers Winery, and that her father brought his family to live in St. Helena in 1956. Josefinas personal history though perhaps not unique in St. Helenas Hispanic community has certainly been colorful. She remembered marching as a child in the 60s along Highway 128 in front of Beringers and Krug with the legendary Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers union. She said that this experience was crucial to her interest in community and social justice. I was just a child, she said. So I didnt fully understand the significance of all we were doing. Yet that march really started me on a path and inspired my involvement in our community. Though she moved for a time to Sacramento, the memory of St. Helena was always drawing her back. When youre young, you just want to leave, she said. But when Id come back to visit, I was always reminded of my roots. And so, she said, she returned with her own family to the town where shed grown up. Josefina became increasingly involved in the community and has become one of the pillars in St. Helena running for school board, becoming a member of the citys Multicultural Committee, and frequently organizing Hispanic-focused activities in the Napa Valley. That intense involvement and devotion to community has led her to become the program director of the Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center in Napa. Theres something about the Napa Valley, she said laughing. I think it gets into your blood. Family stories, displays of family photographs, family memorabilia and awards were just some of the vast array of resources that were available for viewing. There were early photographs of St. Helena founders from the 1870s, beautiful arrangements of handmade quilts, farm implements, and even a horse-drawn barrel wagon outside the gym recently donated by Beringer Vineyards. Music and traditional Mexican fare were served, along with a dance recital by Ballet Folklorico in traditional costumes. With the end of the school year here, most college students are putting away the books in favor of looking for summer employment. Napans Gladys Aguilar and Jessica De Leon have already found summer jobs 2,500 miles away from home. The Napa Valley College students are headed to Washington, D.C. this week for a 10-week internship at the Smithsonian Institution. While working at the national museum, theyll study the local history of the federal governments Bracero Program as part of the Latinos in Napa History Project designed by Napa Valley College professor Sandra Nichols. Aguilar said she wants to work on the project so future generations of Latinos can look back at their roots. In addition, My grandfather was a bracero, she said. She had planned to interview him as part of the project, but he passed away in July. In a way, I feel like I am honoring him and his legacy through this. According to the National Museum of American History, the Bracero Program (1942 through 1964) allowed Mexican nationals to take temporary agricultural work in the United States. Over the programs 22-year life, more than 4.5 million Mexican nationals were legally contracted for work in the United States (some individuals returned several times on different contracts). Mexican peasants, desperate for cash work, were willing to take jobs at wages scorned by most Americans. The braceros presence had a significant effect on the business of farming and the culture of the United States. The Bracero Program fed the circular migration patterns of Mexicans into the U.S. We need to acknowledge the legacies, stories and the struggles that Latinos had to overcome to leave their native county and come here and work, said De Leon. Im a part of this community and Im a part of them. But getting to the Smithsonian was never a given for these two young women. Both are low-income students and the first in their families to go to college. Aguilar initially attended Vintage High School but said after skipping school and affiliating with gang members she was transferred to Valley Oak High school where she graduated in 2014. De Leon faced domestic violence and frequent moves before graduating from Vintage High School. When she heard about the internship program, De Leon said she thought, Could this even be possible? Being able to have the opportunity to work with the world-renowned museum its extraordinary and amazing, said the 20-year-old student. Its something I would never imagine. Even the glimpse of the opportunity was flabbergasting. Aguilar, 19, said she didnt have high hopes. Its the Smithsonian Institution, she said. Usually the interns are already graduates, not community college students. I was thinking the odds of me actually getting this internship were very slim. To their surprise and delight, both were chosen for internships. Each will be paid a stipend of about $6,500 for the 10 weeks of work. Aguilar and De Leon are really inspiring, said Nichols. Participating in such an internship is going to make a huge difference in their lives. The fact that its paid is critical because they dont come from a comfortable middle class, said Nichols. Their parents are in no position to provide enrichment experiences. This opens up the opportunities they wouldnt otherwise have. The students task is to find the history of land grant owners from California, the braceros who came here from Mexico to work for them, and present-day Latino entrepreneurs of Napa Valley. Theyll intern at the National Museum of American History division of home and community life, where they will be trained in curatorial practices, collections acquisition and archival research. Steve Velasquez, associate curator in the museums Home and Community Life division, said that the project will look at Mexican and Mexican-American culture, history and the shaping of the nation through the lens of wine and agriculture. When they return to Napa the students will help develop community events with the Napa County Historical Society and the college, solicit histories, artifacts and mementos from local residents with bracero connections, and help the college start a new college course with the help of Professor James McGowan. Aguilar said the internship will consist of many firsts: Her first time visiting another state, first time leaving her family and farthest trip from home. Thats very intimidating but its going to prepare me for when I go to university. She hopes to transfer to Stanford, Pepperdine or UC Santa Barbara to study sociology, ethnic studies and history. De Leon said it will also be her first time traveling to any other U.S. state. It will also be the longest shes been apart from her family. Thats going to be a challenge. I will miss my little sisters in particular, she said. Another obstacle is their housing in Washington, D.C. The stipend will help cover some costs, but not all. As of the week before they were to leave, the young women had yet to find an affordable place to live. Many apartments want thousands of dollars per month in rent and deposits, they said. Thats not even a possibility for us, said De Leon. Theyll probably end up staying in a hotel until housing can be found. In the meantime, a GoFundMe.com page has been created for anyone whod like to support them. Nichols said she hopes that through the internship the young women are exposed to a broader world of others who are working and interested and concerned about Latino contributions to our country. She also hopes they bring back skills they can use at Napa Valley College to help us build a collection of the story of Latinos in Napa. Im so proud for them. They are constantly amazing me. I hope they can be an inspiration to a lot of other young students like themselves. On behalf of the proponents of Measure Y and all of Napa Countys children and families, I would like to thank Barry Eberling for his May 24 article, Figuring out Sales Tax Rate if Measure Y Passes is Tricky. Explaining to readers that the combination of passing Measure Y on June 7, combined with the Dec. 31 expiration of the quarter-cent sales tax included in Californias Proposition 30, likely means Napa County taxpayers will experience no new sales taxes as a result of the June election. In addition, all residents will enjoy the benefits achieved through enhanced programs and services for our countys children and families and the development of the much needed new correctional facility that are the hallmarks of Measure Y. As anything can happen with taxes and budgets in California, it was indeed County Counsel Minh Trans job to stick to the facts and write in his impartial analysis that the countywide sales tax from a successful Measure Y would boost our tax rate to 8.25 percent. Yet all the discussion around the future of Proposition 30 points to the sales tax element of that legislation going away. In reviewing information available about the future of the 2012 proposition that raised income taxes for wealthy individuals and added an across the board quarter-cent sales tax to fund education and public safety, the priority is to let the sales tax expire at the end of 2016. If this holds true, which seems highly probable at this late date, that tax will expire and Napa County residents will enjoy the benefits of a successful Measure Y at no additional cost! Wed call this a winning situation for our entire county and want to recognize Mr. Eberling for sharing this good news with his readers and joining us in our goal of investing in our future for the benefit of our kids, our safety and our entire community. Pam Kindig Retired Napa County Auditor-Controller Are you really surprised that those on the far left are now turning on you? Your recent comment after the Democrat Convention in Nevada, I feared for my safety and I had a lot of security around me, she told CNNs Kate Bolduan on At This Hour. Ive never had anything like this happen. I don't remember any concern when these thugs were going after conservatives, Tea Party Patriots or Donald Trump. Now we'll see if your party has the integrity to speak out against the violence that comes from these groups. I'm talking about communists, Marxists, socialists, BLM, Occupy and any other group that riots and destroys property, usually with their faces covered and at night. I knew all along they would turn on Democrats. San Francisco Bay is a natural treasure. During the past 150 years, it has been diked, filled, and developed, reducing its original wetlands from over 200,000 acres to only 40,000 acres. Wetland habitat is critical to fish, migratory birds, and other wildlife. Wetlands also naturally filter out pollutants from bay waters and act as a natural barrier against flooding. For decades, various efforts have been made to restore and increase available wetlands so necessary to the health and cleanliness of the bays waters and the life that depends on it. Wetlands restoration will also provide more urban recreational open space and public access to the shoreline. Now, a consortium of 21 organizations that care about the San Francisco Bay is asking voters to pass Measure AA, with the goal of restoring 100,000 acres of bay wetlands. Measure AA asks for a $12 tax on each real estate parcel for 20 years beginning in July 2017. This measure requires two-thirds voter approval from all voters in the nine Bay Area counties. Financial oversight will be monitored by the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, with an independent citizens oversight committee to ensure that funds are spent as promised. Each of the nine counties will receive about half of the funds for restoration efforts; the other half will be dedicated to specific projects that affect the entire bay. While the League of Women Voters is staunchly nonpartisan, it does study many issues and makes consensus-based policy decisions. The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area, made up of league chapters in the Bay Areas counties, supports Measure AA. The League of Women Voters Napa County chapter likewise recommends that you vote 'yes' on Measure AA. If passed, Measure AA will go a long way toward increasing the long-term health and habitat of our Napa River and the wetlands that feed it. Emily Schmidt, Napa, and Kim Farmer, St. Helena Board members, League of Women Voters of Napa County A new proposal to develop a Pope Street property is already drawing positive reviews from neighbors who have been critical of previous plans. Antonio Castellucci wants to build 51 housing units on the 10-acre lot at 567 Pope St., as well as establish a small winery on an adjacent 14.3-acre vineyard parcel at Pope and College Avenue. His plan calls for 19 residential lots each with a main house and a second home or granny unit one lot that would be set aside for 12 farmworker housing units, and one house associated with the winery where Castelluccis family would live. The 51-unit count is the minimum allowed by the propertys zoning of Medium-Density Residential. Castellucci said the plan complies with the zoning while minimizing the impact on neighbors. George David, a neighbor who vocally opposed previous development proposals on the site, praised Castelluccis plan for its low density, sensitivity to neighbors privacy, inclusion of farmworker housing and a bike path, and for making the winery open by appointment only. The generous size of the home sites speaks to quality, in an age when developers are cramming as many homes as possible into new developments, David told the City Council last week. Our Town representatives met last Thursday with Castellucci, who said hes optimistic that a deal can be reached. At 51 units, Castelluccis project is less dense than previous plans for the site, which have ranged from the 66 units proposed by Our Town St. Helena to the 112 units (later reduced to 98) proposed by Mercy Housing. Thats a concern for affordable housing advocates like Mary Stephenson of the nonprofit Our Town, which is negotiating with Castellucci to accept a 0.75-acre lot and develop 12 farmworker housing units on it. Stephenson said the project is beautifully designed, but isnt dense enough for the zoning. Building just 19 homes there eliminates a lot of housing opportunities for moderate- to low-income people who are desperate for housing in our community, she said. Stephenson also said there needs to be more affordable housing. We cant endorse land for 12 units at this time, she said, speaking for Our Town. The site plan calls for vehicular access from Pope Street, with access from McCorkle Avenue reserved for emergency vehicles only. Castellucci hasnt submitted an application to the city. The City Council held a pre-application review of the project on May 24. City Attorney Tom Brown said that taking a strong position on the project at such an early stage would legally prevent councilmembers from considering the project later. Councilmembers generally agreed that the project deserves more discussion, and didnt say anything to dissuade Castellucci from pursuing the project. The council identified potential concerns like traffic, water neutrality, visitation at the proposed 10,000-gallon winery and affordable housing. The General Plan identifies the property as a key housing site, and Mayor Alan Galbraith said he might consider relaxing the citys water-neutrality regulations if the project produces enough affordable housing. The counting of second units to meet the minimum density is also sure to generate discussion. The second units would be built primarily above garages. Rob Anglin, a land use attorney representing Castellucci, said it would be up to individual property owners whether to rent out their second units or make them available for a family member or some other purpose. Anglin said there hasnt been a price point established for the developments 19 residential lots, where the main houses would range from 3,200 to 4,200 square feet and the second units would range from 400 to 600 square feet. 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. YEREVAN. A historic vote will occur in Germany's Bundestag on June 2, MP from the Left Party, member of the Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affais Sevim Dagdelen said in an e-mail interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am. What are your expectations from this vote? This will be a historic vote. For the first time, a document that clearly and unequivocally recognizes the Armenian Genocide will be presented in Bundestag taking into account the views of the overwhelming parliamentary majority. Thus, the demands of the Left group have been taken into account. We have always been against ruling coalition's false respect for denial policy pursued by the Turkish government in relation to the Armenian Genocide . It is a scandal, a large coalition in the Bundestag was not ready to talk about the Genocide in order not to jeopardize close military cooperation with Turkey within NATO. Now the term "genocide" is used in the title of a draft resolution. This is a great success, the victory of justice, the victory of enlightenment. Why do you think Germany has not recognized the Armenian Genocide yet? This resolution is also a victory over 101-year-old Germany's denial, and first of all non-recognition of Germany's complicity. During the last 100 years denial was practically the policy of the state expediency in Germany. Ever since MP Karl Liebknecht raised the issue of the Armenian Genocide in Reichstag in 1916, it has been the policy of the state. The then Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg had the motto: We need to keep Turkey with us until the end of the war, even if Armenians die because of it. Nowadays, the arms supplies to Turkey continue, even if the Kurds are killed because of it. Today the German Bundestag gives the green light to Turkey's Erdogan by supplying weapons, knowing that the war against the Kurds is carried out with these weapons. Bundestag stands next to its NATO ally, despite the fact that they know that the Islamist terrorist groups leave Turkey for Armenian-populated villages of Syria, for example Kessab, and organize destruction of minorities. The Lefts have long demanded to finally include the item on the complicity of the German Reich. In this sense, the vote of June 2, 2016 will be a historic one because the state will put an end to the policy of expediency of denying complicity of the German Reich on the Armenian Genocide. Turkey and President Erdogan demand that Bundestag should not use the term genocide in the resolution. How adoption of this resolution may affect relations between Turkey and Germany? Erdogan has turned himself into a mouthpiece of those who carried out the genocide in 1915. Thus, he wants to keep control over the Islamists and nationalists to make them approve his actions. Erdogan uses jargon of those who carried out the genocide in 1915. He calls terrorists all those who criticize him. The killed residents of Kurdish-populated regions of Turkey appear to blame for their own death. The same, he says, while referring to the Armenians. Genocide deniers say that the Armenians are to blame; they died because they are terrorists. Genocidal thinking still exists in certain circles of Turkish society. The purpose of this is to receive the support of the majority of population to form a system of their overwhelming superiority. This is the reason that making it clear is so important. Moreover, for this reason it is important so that the Bundestag could not concede Erdogan. With regard to the relationship, it is possible that Mr. Erdogan will resort to new attempts of exerting pressure. However, in the long term, breaking of mythical stereotypes on concealing the fact of genocide and Germanys participation will strengthen the Turkish-German relations. Only a frank recognition and enlightenment can open the way to reconciliation and a shared future. IEA head: World still needs Russian oil to flow into the market Norwegian police arrest man on suspicion of spying for Russia Ambassador-at-Large meets with Personal Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office EU to offer banks to offer mandatory instant payments in euros Saudi minister: Saudi Arabia and US will overcome unjustified spat Zatulin: My ban on entering Armenia coincides with trilateral meeting planned in Russia Rishi Sunak vows to fix 'mistakes' of Liz Truss MFA comments on information about meeting of special envoys of Armenia and Turkey Daily Sabah: Armenian, Turkish special representatives next meeting planned in Turkey The Telegraph: US President Biden mispronounces Rishi Sunak's name Zelenskyy proposes creating platforms for the 'de-occupation' of Transnistria and Abkhazia 'Armenia' bloc deputy: Nikol Pashinyan and Suren Papikyan are lying Dollar falls, euro rises Stanislav Zass discusses with Lavrov situation in CSTO zone of responsibility New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife are richer than royalty Klaar: EU actively engaged in Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process at all levels Nissan reveals updated Juke crossover FM briefs Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor on Armenia position on normalizing relations with Azerbaijan Azerbaijan prepares for peace with Armenia but dramatically increases military budget North Korea completes preparations for nuclear test Azerbaijan manipulates facts, creates information pretext to encroach on Lachin corridor Azerbaijan military aggression against Armenia is discussed at Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly conference (PHOTOS) Peskov says details of gas hub with Turkey were being worked out Konstantin Zatulin on ban on his entry into Armenia: I see it as insulting move Putin's spokesman says building wall on Russian-EU borders is nonsense Turkey begins its part of work on gas hub agreement with Russia Kremlin responds to Macron's appeal to Pope to negotiate with Putin Millliyet: Turkish and Finnish delegations hold talks on NATO membership in Ankara Zelenskiy: Ukraine receives not 'a single cent' on $17 billion rapid recovery plan Rishi Sunak takes office as Prime Minister of Great Britain Indonesian armed woman tries to break into presidential palace Pashinyan's family newspaper writes that Konstantin Zatulin is forbidden to enter Armenia from now on President Raisi accuses U.S. of information terrorism, organizing riots in Iran AraratBank and 4090 Charity Foundation team up for the education of war participants Ursula von der Leyen: EU to provide Kyiv with 1 billion for urgent restoration of energy supply World Bank to provide Armenia with EUR 22.6 million of additional credit funds Macron asks Pope to call Putin to solve Ukraine crisis PM: Azerbaijan hinders search of Armenian soldiers' bodies in occupied territories German president assures Ukraine of his full support Armenia ruling force MP: Major powers have told us You should sign that agreement by the end of the year WSJ: Saudi Prince Bin Salman mocks Biden in private talks OSCE needs assessment mission is briefed on situation in Armenias Jermuk after Azerbaijan military aggression (PHOTOS) Armenias Pashinyan to Kazakhstans Tokayev: Mutually beneficial cooperation corresponds to our countries interests Driver, 41, dies in hospital 2 days after Armenia car accident US: Former student opens fire at school Turkish Finance Minister says he would seek gas discount from Gazprom US State Dept.: We are interested in seeing stable Caucasus where we work both with Armenia and Azerbaijan US plans to allocate $25M to project to strengthen Armenia economy Copper prices decline Armenia premier: Italy is friendly country, important partner for us Pashinyan to Xi: We will succeed in qualitatively raising Armenian-Chinese political dialogue to new level World Bank allocates Ukraine additional $500 million Zelenskyy: If Moscow says Ukraine is making dirty bomb, then Russia made it Newspaper: Anti-CSTO consolidation initiative group of Armenia sends petition to parliament speaker World oil prices going up Newspaper: Armenia PM forbids political teammates to say anything about Karabakh Azerbaijan opens fire at Armenia positions Largest cruise liner in world 'Icon of the Seas' presented U.S. police officers mistake pet cat for mountain lion Joe Biden gets another Covid-19 booster shot US imposes sanctions on Nicaragua's gold mining industry Kremlin says Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents prepare to meet Leading Party Sponsor: Conservative Party is not fit to run Britain 'From Old Memory': Drivers can't see road signs on section of North-South highway under construction in Yerevan Russian MFA: We are sure that attempts of external forces to split Moscow and Yerevan will not succeed Yair Lapid: Israel is deeply concerned over Russia and Iran's military ties Another school shooting in U.S.: 3 dead, including shooter Azerbaijani Armed Forces shell Armenian positions Kenyan police shoot and kill prominent Pakistani journalist OSCE representatives visit villages affected by Azerbaijani aggression in Syunik Province US presidential adviser calls OPEC's decision to cut oil production political move Lavrov: Russia and Iran gave comprehensive answers about alleged use of Iranian drones Netanyahu's comeback dominates Israel's elections Georgian president complains that she was not informed about Aliyev's visit S&P Global Market Intelligence: Recession in Eurozone looks increasingly inevitable Benny Gantz tells his Ukrainian colleague that Israel will not supply weapons to Kiev Greek Armed Forces can effectively respond to any provocation by Turkey Qatar urges to depoliticize oil and gas General Staff of Armed Forces head discusses Ukraine with his British colleague Zelenskyy: Russia wouldn't cooperate militarily with Iran if Israel had not denied air defense systems to Kyiv Azerbaijan sends note in connection with 'anti-Azerbaijani statements' on Channel One Goldman Sachs foretells European business worst year since global financial crisis Artificial intelligence leads political party in Denmark Aliyev says Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route should be increased U.S. State Department official expresses support for Armenia's sovereignty Iranian MFA: IRGC exercises on borders with Azerbaijan are not directed against any neighboring state Pashinyan: Damage caused to country by corruption must be restored Rishi Sunak to become UK PM Armenia official: Defense sector expenses will increase the most, state budget allocations will increase by 160bln drams Iranian president congratulates Xi Jinping: Tehran is determined to expand comprehensive relations with Beijing Russian MOD: Work on Ukraine's 'dirty bomb' comes to end Dollar drops, euro goes up in Armenia Fly Arna planning to conduct 2 weekly flights between Yerevan and Beirut Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan doubles gas and oil exports to Europe via Georgia Two quakes hit near Tbilisi Aliyev: Azerbaijan-Armenia agreement signing will be guarantee of peace in entire South Caucasus Over 1.5 million light bulbs lit simultaneously in India: New Guinness World Record Garibashvili: Georgia is ready to support peaceful neighborhood initiative in South Caucasus Azerbaijan to export 157 GW of electric energy via Georgia 3, including one foreigner, arrested after illegal weapons, ammunition found in Armenia town house The representatives of Karabakh should return to the negotiation table, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, said at a discussion dedicated to the Karabakh conflict settlement in Washington, the Armenian service of Radio Liberty reports. Armenia is an important ally for Russia, but because of this Moscow is not going to lose Azerbaijan, another participant of the discussion, lecturer at the Russian State Humanitarian University, Sergey Markedonov said. He also stated that he sees no forces which will make Russia stop selling weapons to Azerbaijan: Imagine that tomorrow Armenia doesnt depend on Russia. What alternative is there? None. According to the analyst, the developed world manifests discrimination against Moscow, not allowing Russia to influence its neighbors. But if the West puts up with the fact that India, Pakistan or Turkey are trying to influence the neighboring countries, this cant be allowed in case of Russia. For his part, the former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans noted that in its ties with Yerevan, Moscow definitely acts stemming from its own interests, and this shouldnt seem odd to anyone. Referring to Washnigtons position on Karabakh conflict settlement, Evans noted that according to him U.S. is trying to first of all contribute to the improvement of ties between the peoples. In Evans words, the U.S. wishes to help so that the issue is decided by the peoples from below, and not by a decision drawn down from above. We must help the population to develop the ability to decide the issues on their own, he noted. Evans also added that if in the Soviet years the generations had experience of co-residence, in the last 20 years young people grew up in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan, who have never lived together. Apart from this, he noted that after the April clashes, the demand for Nagorno-Karabakhs participation in the negotiation process has grown. In 1994, the Karabakh side was one of the parties which signed the Ceasefire Agreement, and it was always expected that at some point Karabakh would join the talks, he noted. According to Evans, following the April events, the stance that the Karabakh representatives should return to negotiation table will become more developed in the world. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan together with Catholicos of All Armenian Karekin II, supreme leadership of Armenia and guests visiting the Stepanakert Memorial Comlex, on Saturday took part in a solemn event dedicated to the Day of First Armenian Republic. The President laid a wreath at monument eternalizing the memory of the heroes of Sardarapat battle and paid tribute to them. He welcomed the participants of the military parade, held on occasion of the holiday and congratulated them on the Republic Day. Sargsyan and the attendees of the festivity also watched the cultural program dedicated to the event. Apart from this, Serzh Sargsyan made a congratulatory address on occasion of the holiday: My fellow compatriots, I congratulate you on the occasion of the Republic Day. For us, this is first and foremost a salvation holiday. We saved our last piece of land and the last remnants of our nation residing on that piece of land. No matter how difficult to accept, but that was the truth. The bleeding Armenian nation on the verge of desperation was able through the supernatural exertion to stand up to the enemy, to prevail, and throw the enemy back. Many consider the heroic battles of May and their victorious outcome a miracle. We prevailed, we survived, and we liberated ourselves. Our independence and our statehood were not a gift to us. We paid for them the price nobody has ever paid. We did it alone; moreover, we did it despite the blows of the destiny. With May 28, the foreign subjects and refugees had become citizens of a State. They became people who had solid ground beneath their feet and had a State behind them. It was a State they had to build; it was a state, which they had to serve to; it was a State, which they could make demands to; it was a State to criticize with the anticipation of making it better. It was a State, which had to turn its almost lifeless populace, half of which were also orphans, into a political nation; it was a State, which had to bring up a new generation, re-born generation, which would be capable to register new scientific, cultural, and military achievements. It was a State, which predestined the existence of the Soviet Armenia and todays Republic of Armenia. My fellow compatriots, Military hostilities that unfolded at the early April revealed more vividly some realities good or bad, within and around us. Among all that the most important one for me was our new generation the generation born with the independence, generation that proved to us and to all that they are the masters and guardians of our State. Those, who created the May 28 in 1918, would only dream of a regular army, such as ours, and of a new generation, such as this one. And they are with us, now. There will be no new Sardarapat since by and large it was a war of desperation. Those who fought there did not know what countrys citizens they were of, and if they were citizens at all. There will be no new Sardarapat since there stands a State. There is a generation born with independence, which wants to move in step with the contemporary world and it will; a generation, which wants to move its country forward and it will; a generation born with independence, which grasped the bequest of May 28 better than anyone else. All this stems from the fact that in their families and in their schools the bequest of May 28 was also grasped properly. We as a State, as a nation and as a society grasped the bequest of May 28 well. My fellow compatriots, On May 28 our nation stepped back from the verge of the abyss. We stepped back and moved towards the rebirth, towards creation, and toiling. We got back. Glory to the Republic Day! Long live the Armenian nation! Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia wants to resume its ties with Turkey and is waiting for specific steps from Ankara in this direction, but the Turkish side doesnt make them, Izvestiya reports. Commenting on the incident related to the downing of Russian Su-24 fighter jet, Putin informed that Russia is carrying out military campaign in Syria not against the regular army, but the terrorist groups. We couldnt even imagine that a Turkish fighter jet could attack our strike aircraft, which wasnt protected from a fighter, Putin said. He also added that Russia wasnt going to fight with Turkey. Otherwise, we would act differently and by other means. I hope the things will never come to this, the Russian President stressed. According to Putin, the Russian side listened to the explanations of the Turkish authorities, but never heard any apologies. He noted that during decades Russia did its best to take the Russian-Turkish relations to an unprecedented level of partnership and friendship. Putin also noted that he doesnt understand why Turkey destroyed that friendship. We listened to the explanations of the Turkish authorities, but never heard any apologies. And we never heard about the readiness to compensate for the damage. We hear statements on the wish to resume [the ties]. We also want to resume them; we werent the ones who destroyed them. We did our best for decades to take the Russian-Turkish relations to an unprecedented level of partnership and friendship. And this friendship between the Russian and Turkish people indeed reached very high level. We valued this very much. Its beyond me to understand why this was done, the Russian President added. Moreover, not only the jet was downed, but the pilot, who was being catapulted, was shot down as well And under the international law, this is nothing but a war crime, he stressed. Putin also noted that besides the statements from the Turkish side on the wish to resume the Russian-Turkish relations, it is also necessary to do something. We keep in touch with the representatives of the Turkish side. They know our response. We are waiting for specific steps from their side. No such steps have been made yet, he noted. A few days after arriving in the Galapagos Islands to lead his summer study-abroad course, School of Communication Professor Joseph B. Treaster dropped by the office of the Galapagos National Park and Galapagos Marine Reserve, hoping to catch the interim director at his desk. Instead, the former New York Times reporter and foreign correspondent caught a whiff of a breaking news story and, with old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting, nailed it down: Africa Berdonces, an energetic young woman who rides a beat-up bicycle and often wears flip-flops, was about to take charge of managing the Galapagos Islands, one of the worlds environmental treasures. Photographer Thomas Rodriguez, standing, and writer Joseph P. Treaster check out their story posted online. Within 48 hours, Treasters story about Berdonces, complete with photographs of her, a blue-footed booby, and other iconic Galapagos animals taken by UM technical specialist Thomas Rodriguez, appeared in The Times, providing a real-life learning experience for the eight UM students who had come to the Galapagos to sharpen their critical thinking and writing skills by communing with nature. During the three-week, six-credit course, The Galapagos Islands: Environment and Culture, Writing, Research, Critical Thinking, the students swim with sea lions and penguins, hike volcanoes, get within inches of giant Galapagos tortoises, and study Charles Darwin and climate changeall as a precursor to writing articles on Galapagos issues that will be published in the Miami Planet, the Universitys online environmental magazine. Were using the Times article as a model for the work the students are doing and to show them how reporters conduct interviews, seize opportunities, and turn their reporting into articles, Treaster said. Thats something Treaster knows inside out. He often draws on his 30-plus years of experience at The New York Times to inform his UM classes on the fundamentals of reporting and writing for mass audiences. And it was two of those fundamentalskeen observations and an inquisitive naturethat tipped Treaster to Berdonces appointment, which the Ecuadorean government had not planned to announce for a few days. Waiting near the directors office late that Friday afternoon of May 20, Treaster said he sensed excitement among the secretaries and other staff assistants, and started asking questions. Pretty soon, someone mentioned Berdonces news. Nobody, however, would officially confirm her appointment, so Treaster set out to find out as much as he could about her and what her new role might mean for the Galapagos. As luck would have it, he bumped into Berdonces at the park headquarters and learned that she grew up in the Galapagos, has a masters degree in environmental studies from James Cook University in Australia, and felt quite prepared to take on one of the worlds most significant environmental posts. This is my passion, she told Treaster. I studied for this. Ive been a national park guide. Im a dive master. Im from a family in the tourism business. I know the business of the Galapagos from inside. Within a couple hours, Treaster interviewed half a dozen other people, including Berdonces father, a dive shop owner, and a physician who has known her since she was a teenager. Working with government officials and others, Treaster put Berdonces appointment and the challenges she faces in context. As he noted in the Times article, she is taking charge just as the Ecuadorean government is taking steps to better protect the Galapagos. University of Miami students on study abroad program in the Galapagos. It is, Treaster wrote, banning all fishing in the northern third of the island chain and creating a sanctuary for sharks. A new port on the mainland will be the exclusive conduit for cargo bound for the islands, the better to keep nonnative animals and plants from reaching the islands and disturbing the ecological balance. The government has also imposed a 36-room limit on new hotels to limit crowds, and is bringing together the management of land and sea areas, which had been overseen separately. As fellow instructor Heidi Carr, a former Miami Herald editor who co-directs the Galapagos program and teaches The Galapagos Islands: Social Media and Global Strategic Communication, noted, Treaster is a never-ending fount of such information because he never stops collecting it. He is continually talking to strangers and asking questions," Carr wrote in an email from the Galapagos. "Just last night, all we wanted to do was grab dinner and buy water. He ended up interviewing the hostess of the restaurant, getting a tour of the hotels $380 rooms, interviewing the owner, and having a very in-depth discussion about the environment, ecology, the Galapagos government, getting permits, and what people who stay there do when they are there. While Treaster has had innumerable bylines in The Times over the decades and will have many more (hell be returning to the Galapagos next fall to work on a Times travel program called Times Journeys) it was the first time Rodriguez has had a photo published in any newspaper, much less The New York Times. To read Treasters story and view more of Rodriguezs photos, visit The New York Times. 17:31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing Vikasparv rally in Davangere, Karnataka. Here are a few excerpts from his ongoing speech. - People sitting in air-conditioned rooms in Delhi have no idea that despite sweltering heat why people gather here in a huge number. I want to thank people for coming here giving momentum to the development process in the country. - Within few days after taking charge in office, we were asked to give audit of the work done by our government. We were asked for an audit because there are a few people in the country who talk about democracy but cannot accept the mandate given by the people. - I was surprised that people in the country are burdened with many redundant laws. We removed over 1,200 such laws. - People criticise me for not doing 'big things'. The previous governments did big things for big people and took large advantages. - I met the CMs of drought-affected states and told them that Centre & State together will work shoulder to shoulder to tackle this situation. - Surveys have highlighted that biggest achievement of this government is Swacch Bharat campaign, shows that campaign has gained momentum. - When people like you give me so much love and affection, there is no need for me to walk on the wrong path. I will never let the country walk on the wrong path, I assure you of that. Over 400 delegates from across the country will be attending three-day long National Executive Council Meeting of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad to be held here from May 29. ''Upcoming National Executive Council Meeting of ABVP is going to be held from May 29 to 31 at Jambulochan Hall here in which more than 400 delegates from all over India is expected to participate,'' ABVP National President Dr Nagesh Thakur here told reporters. He said that the main agenda of organizing the meet is to discuss on annual planning with respect to working and role of ABVP in society, in the wake of present education scenario. ''Besides this, eight resolutions with respect to evaluation of ABVP under social and organizational perspective shall also be undertaken,'' he said. Besides, discussions on the role of ABVP, Think India and SFD in the present context vis--vis future challenges shall be also deliberated, he added. UNI VBH CJ RJ 2136 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-756085.Xml Local Parliamentarian Dalpat Singh Paraste (65) was hospitalised here, following brain haemorrhage this evening.The politician was first rushed to the District Hospital and then shifted to a private one. "Arrangements are being made to convey Mr Paraste to Delhi by air ambulance tomorrow morning," Collector Mukesh Kumar Shukla said. This is Mr Paraste's fifth term as Parliamentarian from Shahdol (Scheduled Tribes).UNI XC-AC RJ VN2233 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-756117.Xml Two motorcycle-borne youths snatched a bag containing Rs 11.65 lakh from a company's marketing manager after firing in the air from a crude gun at about 1400 hrs today in the vicinity of this district headquarters, police said. The crime was perpetrated when Pushpraj Chaurasiya, an employee of Karnawati Agro Producer Company Ltd situated in neighbouring Satna District's Janwaar village, was going to his workplace on a motorbike after withdrawing the money from IDBI Bank here. The accused are absconding.UNI XC-AC RJ VN2254 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-756132.Xml State spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak alleged that the firing incident on such a person that too very close to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's residence, had proved that the state was in complete lawlessness. "Where is the law and order? The new campaign slogan of Akhilesh Yadav speaks of 'ab hain naye irade (I have new vision now)', is this the beginning of what the chief minister is hoping for?" asked BJP leader. Member of Human Rights Commission and retired High Court Justice U.K.Dhawan's car was fired at while he was on his way to the airport with his wife, an official told IANS. The bullet had pierced through the wind screen of the car and smashed it. The driver and the Dhawan couple escaped unhurt. --IANS md/ksk ( 164 Words) 2016-05-28-09:58:14 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly today witnessed walkout by Congress and National Conference (NC) members after speaker Kavinder Gupta disallowed them to speak before the Question-Hour. Independent member Er Sheikh Abdul Rashid and lone Communist Party of India (M) member Mohammad Yousuf Targami also staged a walk out from the House after they were not satisfied with the answer to a question whether government will take into confidence Hurriyat Conference (HC) before resettling Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. As soon as the House assembled the Congress and NC members were again on their toes, demanding suspension of the Question-Hour and debate on important issues, including relief to victims of 2014 flood. Congress members were shouting slogans " Flood victims ko Insaaf Do" while NC members were also raising slogans but nothing was heard in the din. However, Speaker without giving any attention to opposition members, took up the first question of the day. Congress members immediately stormed into the Well of the House to stop the proceedings. However, first question was taken up but due to slogan shouting nothing was audible. The NC members also kept raising slogans from their seats. Later Congress members walked out from the House in protest against the Speaker who refused to suspend the Question-Hour. Main opposition members followed Congress and staged walk out from the House after they too were not allowed to raise any issue before the end of the Question-Hour. Er Rashid also staged a walk out after he was not satisfied with the answer of the government. The independent member from Langate constituency in the frontier district of Kupwara had asked will the government take into confidence HC before resettling migrant pundits in the valley. Er Rashid was also joined by CPI(M) member Mr Targami who also wanted a proper answer from the government to the question. Er Rashid referred to recent statement of Education minister and chief spokesperson of the government Naeem Akhtar to press that everyone, irrespective of their party affiliation wanted honourable return of migrants back to Kashmir. However, Er Rashid and Targami staged walkout after speaker Gupta ruled that the question has been properly replied and there would be no more discussion.UNI ABS/BAS ADG PM1056 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0139-756363.Xml Congress has started following the BJP in Uttar Pradesh with strengthening its base at the block level before the 2017 assembly polls in the state. On the direction from poll strategist Prashant Kishor, UP Congress president Nirmal Khatri has shot off letters to all district presidents to set up block-level Congress committee offices. There are around 840 blocks in the state and the Congress wants to set up offices in all of them within a couple of month time so that it can help the party candidates in the coming assembly polls early next year. However, the move of the Congress comes after BJP has almost completed the process way back and party national president Amit Shah would start his interaction with the block level workers from Kanpur on June 4 where he will meet the block officials from Bundelkhand and of nearby Kanpur district. BJP has already directed its district units to purchase land for the district office and build a big office at the earliest. BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said here today that the party had already completed the block level organisation and were now on the verge of completing organisation at the booth level. There are around 1.45 lakh polling booths in the state. " Our president Amit Shah had already directed that all the district should have its own building and funds to manage the party organisation," he added. On the other hand, the Congress workers have started process for getting details of the prospective buildings in the blocks which can be used as office of the party. But they are interested in building on rent rather than purchasing it like the BJP was doing. "We are busy collecting details of landlords and rents of prospective buildings that can be used as Congress offices," a block level Congress leader said here. Prashant Kishor or PK gave the direction for block offices after party workers complained that they have no place to work from and often end up using their own residences for party work. In Bareilly too there has been no office of Congress in the city for the past 50 years. Congress, UP president,Nirmal Khatri in his letter has asked all the party's district chiefs to "forward a proposal for setting up block-level Congress committee offices in areas where the party has no space of its own". The local heads have been asked to "identity the space and send its details, including the rent and owner's name," to the party's state headquarters.UNI MB ADG PM1050 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-756338.Xml "One Khem Raj, 52, resident of village Jaked was seriously injured during wee hours today when attacked by a wild bear," police sources here said. They said that he was profusely bleeding and was rushed to Primary Health Centre, Latti and his condition was stated to be stable.UNI VBH ADG 1200 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0435-756440.Xml BJP Tripura state president Biplab Deb today lodged complaint of corruption, nepotism in implementation of centrally sponsored schemes and administrative inaction against growing incidents on women and girls with Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Mr Deb said, he met Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sanjay Bapsa and demanded special audit in all the rural development blocks of the state alleging large scale corruption at the behest of ruling CPI-M. He, however, stated that the state government has been opposing independent audit and whenever allegation of corruption rose, the party employed it's auditors to manage the papers and loopholes. Mr Deb further mentioned despite huge amount of funding from the centre the number of BPL families have remained 67 percent for over a decade, which indicated that money is not going to the actual poor because of nepotism and corruption. "It is evident from the record that social welfare schemes and rural area development projects of the centre have been distributed among the party cadres. Most of the livelihood options are limited to the CPI-M men," Mr Deb alleged. Expressing concern over the growing incidences of crime on women and atrocities on minor girls, Mr Deb stated that in most of the cases, it appeared that ruling party cadres are involved in the crime and police remain inactive. As a result, the crime on women reached at highest level in Tripura, Mr Deb alleged adding that immediate intervention from the centre is urgently required to establish rule of law in the state. "I am assured that the issues will be taken to the notice of Prime Minister as soon as possible and accordingly the appropriate action will be initiated to address the issues," Mr Deb added.UNI BB KK ADG NS1243 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756427.Xml Mr Roy said here that the result reflected in gross anomalies and under-marking on answer scripts and that resulted confusion among the students and guardians over the result, which needs to be re-checked from each and every step by independent group. In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Mr Roy said that the scam has cast a dark shadow over the future of hundreds of students. The guardians are a deeply worried about the future of their wards because the result showed a very poor performance. Accusing the TBSE of working under 'political influence and pressure' Roy said that only an independent judicial inquiry would bring to the fore the truth. He urged the Chief Minister to order a judicial inquiry and re-constitute TBSE with induction of honest and transparent people. Besides, Mr Roy has demanded implementation of the recommendations made by the administrative committee headed by former Principal Secretary A K Mangotra who had gone into a TBSE scam in the year 2004-2005. UNI BB KK SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756435.Xml The CPI-M Tripura state committee has expressed concern over the growth of BJP in the state and warned the people to stay away from them to maintain peace and harmony. CPI-M State Secretary Bijan Dhar said today that the party in its meeting for last two days discussed the entry of BJP in Assam and it's impact on Tripura. The meeting has also reviewed the situation of West Bengal after electoral debacle despite forging understanding with the Congress."We have come to conclusion that there would not be major change in the socio-economic condition of Assam after the BJP coming to the power. People of Assam did n't have option. People were frustrated with the non-performing and corrupt Tarun Gogoi Government while the Left parties were also very weak in Assam leading to the BJP's victory", Mr Dhar said. Admitting that the saffron party's influence will be enhanced in the state, the CPM secretary said the party would intensify its political movement to resist BJP's aggressive agenda and the party meeting vowed to strengthen movement against the communal forces of the country. Highlighting on the discussion and issues of the meeting, Dhar said that the vote percentages of the Left Front and other opposition parties reflected that vote share of Congress and regional parties like INPT and IPFT had been decreased and vote share of BJP have increased. And definitely BJP in Tripura would try to expand their network more aggressively after formation of new BJP government in Assam. He said that the people of the Tripura always resisted the divisive and communal forces to maintain the peace and harmony, will continue on their peace loving attitudes and will give suitable reply to all the communal forces, who are now trying to set up their bases in Tripura. CPI (M) would strengthen their movement against communal forces like BJP and RSS and would continue its agitation against anti-people policies of union government, he added.UNI BB KK SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756437.Xml Two labourers were today killed when they inhaled poisonous vapours inside an under-construction sewer chamber in Kotwali area in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, police said. The labourers had been sent to repair the lid of a sewer chamber by a contractor this morning. While doing the repair work, one labourer fell inside the chamber. As efforts were being made to pull him out, the labourer became unconscious due to poisonous gas. His fellow labourer then went inside the chamber but both died. The deceased were yet to be identified.UNI XC-PS SW AS1457 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-756619.Xml A day after Minister of State for Home Kiran Rijiju announced that an authority will be set up to deal with dual citizenship in Goa, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Shantaram Naik today said the move will be counter productive. In a letter emailed to Mr Rijiju, copies of which were shared with media here, the Senior Congress leader has said that the authority to resolve Goa citizenship issue will be counter-productive and will create chaos in the state on the eve of election. Stating that response of the minister with respect to the issue was vague and ambiguous, he said it would have been helpful if he had clarified in detail about the decision of the Union Government in this regard. ''Ministry itself has taken a long time to prepare the report and possibly, the report has still not gone to the cabinet,'' Mr Naik said. The senior Congress leader, who has been member of various parliamentary committees, said terming the issue as state was not proper considering the Constitutional and legal provisions. ''Had it been so, Goans would have resolved issue in Goa itself,'' he observed. Mr Naik said proper approach would have been to amend section 9 of the Indian Citizenship act 1955 to add a proviso to section 9 of the Act, to the effect that no citizen of India, shall be deemed to have lost his citizenship merely on grounds of his or her availing the facility conferred by the order enacted by PortugueseGovernment, of registering their births in Portugal , to the Indians citizens ,residing in the territory of erstwhile Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, then ruled by the Government of Portugal, unless such Indian citizens voluntarily apply for the citizenship of that country withspecific intention of renouncing the citizenship of India. ''If an amendment on these lines was carried out, the issue would have been resolved in one stroke. The contention of the minister that with the process of constituting an Authority, people will not have to come to Delhi may be true but if the minister had to accept his solution they may not have to go even to Panaji,'' he said. ''Besides, if an authority is created there will be hearings in each individual case and, decisions will not be prompt further, the whole exercise will involve production of documents and other evidence to prove the bonafides of the applicants. The Election Commission of India is not going to wait for completion of your process to be completed and they will start deleting the names from the electoral rolls by giving a deadline and, it is precisely because of this that a legislation amending section 9 of the Cityzenship Act, 1955, was the ideal solution,'' Mr Naik said. Stating that it was not clear as to whether the authority was going to be created under any legislation or through an executive order, he said transparency demanded that the report be put on the government website, immediately after the same was approved.UNI AKM NV ADG AS1441 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-756511.Xml Police said here that the outlaws shot at the Mukhiya candidate Suryanath Sah, contesting election from Baradih Panchayat in the district when he was returning home after campaigning. Mr Sah who suffered two gunshots wounds in the attack had been rushed to a hospital in neighbouring Varanasi after his preliminary treatment at Sasaram Sadar Hospital. A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits, sources added. Election to Baradih Panchayat in Aurangabad district would be held on May 30.UNI XC- DH KK ADG PM1356 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756523.Xml Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) sleuths arrested a smuggler and recovered a huge consignment of Nepalese charas worth more than Rs 40 lakh in the international market from him near Indo-Nepal border under Pankota border outpost area in East Champaran district last night. SSB Commandant R K Sinha said here that jawans of Pankota border outpost under the leadership of deputy commandant Satish Gupta arrested the smuggler, Suresh Sahni, near Sarswati Vidya Mandir at a local market and recovered four kgs of Nepalese charas from him. Mr Sinha said that the smuggler during the preliminary interrogation claimed that he was going to hand over the consignment to one Om Prakash, a resident of Motihari. The smuggler would be further questioned to get other vital clues from him.UNI XC-DH KK ADG AS1445 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756534.Xml Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang today said that the North Eastern region has not been able to keep pace with the mainland particularly due to lack of required infrastructure for good governance and economic development. According to a statement addressing the 65th plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) at Shillong, Mr Zeliang further lamented that owing to geographical isolation, combined with social, cultural and ethnic factors, majority of the people from the North East have not been able to easily integrate emotionally, culturally and politically with mainland India for decades since Independence. He was, however, optimistic that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh, the region would see a new direction for development in the days to come and hoped that the budget for the NEC would be enhanced adequately in the years ahead. He said the annual allocation of funds to NEC was always a disappointment to the North Eastern states. "Even the outlays approved for the NEC in the various Five Year Plans have never been actually allotted or utilized fully since its inception," he added. Commenting on the uneven allocation of NEC funds and projects amongst the constituent states, Mr Zeliang said the percentage share of Nagaland, in terms of annual sanction and release of NEC funds, had been on the decline over the years. Citing the case of North East Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP), he said phase I & II were implemented in 1326 villages in Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur. He said Nagaland had asked for inclusion in the phase III, but this was not considered and is being implemented only in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. He further went on to say that out of 14 regional institutes being assisted and promoted by NEC since its inception, seven were are in Assam, three in Meghalaya and one each in Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram, but none in Nagaland. To this, he urged the NEC to take corrective steps. Primary need and top priority, at this juncture for NE states, were road connectivity, inter-state connectivity within the region, and inter-district connectivity within the constituent states. Welcoming the introduction of "NE Road Sector Development Scheme" a new scheme for construction and upgradation of important inter-state roads with inbuilt provision for maintenance for five years, Mr Zeliang, however, said the initial allocation of Rs 150 crore appeared to be too meager for any meaningful impact. In this regard, he urged the Prime Minister to ensure that adequate funds were provided for new road constructions, as well as for maintenance of existing roads constructed under NEC and NLCPR funds. He was positive that the NEC, established more than four decades ago, would play an even more significant role in the socio-economic development of the region, and in the implementation of the Act East Policy, the release said. UNI AS KK SW AN1454 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756560.Xml Police arrested four dreaded criminals from their hideout and recovered a huge cache of fire arms from them under Masaurhi police station area in Patna district today. Police said here that outlaws were arrested from a lodge at Kailuchak village when they were planning to commit some crime. Police recovered two country-made pistols, other firearms and live cartridges from them. An empty cartridge was also seized from the spot. The nabbed criminals were involved in several incidents of loot, the sources added. An intensive interrogation of criminals is on to get vital clues from them.UNI DH KK SW AS1535 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756632.Xml Nagaland MLA Noke Wangnao, Adviser of Development of the Under Developed Areas (DUDA) N Thongwang and President of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organization (ENPO), Khoiwang emphasised on the need of unity within the Konyak community. Addressing a two-day Konyak Union General Session which concluded yesterday, the leaders said Konyak Union (KU) being the apex body of Konyaks, it should be a fatherly figure and guide and direct every Konyak organisations, including the representatives (MLAs). They also pointed out that it was the bounded duty of every Konyak to follow and implement the decision of the KU, they said. UNI AS KK SW AS1531 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756645.Xml Addressing a state level consultation programme on 'Situation Analysis of Children and Women in Nagaland' at Kohima College, Mr Kiyaneile said the rapid expansion of the Social Welfare Department entails bigger responsibility to the Child Rights Commissioner and members of the commission for rendering better and meaningful services to the children and women in the state. He said the most challenging concern is rampant crime in the state against children and women in the form of physical abuse, sexual abuse, rape and murder of young girls. He appealed to NGOs, agencies and individuals working in the field of women and child rights to work together with the support of UNICEF. He said the state government has recently established a State Resource Center for Women in Nagaland functioning under the aegis of the Nagaland State Social Welfare Board. '' we have set up women commission in our state, mainstreaming issues of vulnerable women," said Peseyie, adding that one Center for Women will be opened at Dimapur very soon. UNI AS KK SW AS1544 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-756721.Xml Based on the reports of large scale distribution of money and gifts to electorate allegedly by political parties in Aravkurichi and Tanjavur Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, the Election Commission of India today decided to rescind the notification issued earlier and conduct fresh elections in due course of time. Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi, Election Commissioners O P Rawat and A K Joti in an order uploaded onthe Commission's website said 'it hereby recommends, under Article 324 of the Constitution and sections 15, 30 and 153 of the Representation of the Poeple Act, 1951, read with Section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 and all other powers enablingit in this behalf, to the Governor of Tamil Nadu that he may be partially rescind the notification issued on April 22, 2016 callingupon poll to the two assembly seats. The Commission said the Revised schedule for the two constituencies will be recommended in due course of time. This is the first time in the electoral history of India that the EC cancelled polling on two seats. The Commission has taken the decision after considering reports of observers, special teams of central observers, report of special team of observes of two constituencies and representations of contesting candidates. The CEC and Election Commissioners said, after postponing the election from May 16 to 23 and again to June 13, theCommission held the hope that contesting candidates and the major parties, who are mainly to be blamed for the crisis,will relent and stop further acts of bribing voters. But to the utter dismay of the Commission, allurement of voters byunlawful means still continued even after the postponement of election as seen from report received by the Commissionabout seizure of amount of Rs 5,72,000 on May 18. The Commission's considered opinion, allowing the electoral process to proceed and conduct the postponed poll in the constituencies would severely jeopardize the conduct of free and fair election in the said constituencies, and would not be reflective of the true choice of the electorate. They said if the Commission permits the election process to continue in such vitiated level playing field, it would befailing in its constitutional duty of ensuring free and far election for which it has been created as a specially yempoweredconstitutional authority. The Commission woud like to stress that it's attempt has always been to conduct elections in timely manner, the important Constitutional mandate of having to ensure free and fair election cannot be overlooked. In the present, case,the Commission is satisfied that the election process in the two constituencies cannot be allowed to proceed nd oughtto be rescinded so that fresh elections may be conducted de-novo in these two constituencies when the atmospherebecomes conducive to the holding of free and fair election after a reasonable lapse of time, the CEC and Commisisonersobserved.MORE UNI CS 1702 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0434-756986.Xml Defending former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's decision to form a government with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state, an emotional Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the decision was as difficult as the choice National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah took to accede to India in 1947. "I believe that the decision taken by Mr Sayeed to form a government with BJP was as difficult as the decision National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah took to accede to India in 1947. The decision was difficult for Abdullah because J&K was a Muslim majority state and India was a Hindu dominated country, but still had take this decision in the interest of the people. "Similarly, my father took a decision and stood by his decision because he believed in the idea of India," Ms Mufti said during her speech on Motion of Thanks on Governor's address in the Legislative Assembly here this afternoon. "I also opposed my father when he decided to form the government with BJP. But he made me to understand that there is no other choice to serve the people," he said. Hitting out at critics for propagating that by forging a government with BJP, a particular ideology will be implanted in the state, she said the root of Jammu and Kashmir's ideology is so strong that nothing can deter that. "By saying a particular school of thought will deter the ideology of the people of the state is doing injustice with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the same Kashmir valley where leaders from minority community were elected as representatives of a majority community," she said. Reiterating that it was her father's passion to work for his people that compelled her to take this decision, Ms Mufti said it is his conviction and vision that is the driving force behind her. "I wouldn't have created a government till the time I was fully satisfied, but it was my father's passion to work for his people that compelled me to do so, an emotional Ms Mufti said. "During the last days of my father, when he was admitted at the hospital, he was angry with doctors; he asked them why they were wasting his time. He said he had a lot of work to do for the people of his state. He wanted to know about the status of the flood relief. He wanted to know the outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif," she said. She said these were the things which compelled her to take this decision. "My father has shown us the way and it is my duty to follow his path," she added.UNI ABS YSS SW BL1710 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-756862.Xml An initiative 'Soap for Hope' was launched in association with Doctors for You, an NGO in Mumbai, today. Himanshu Jain, MD, Sealed Air Corporation, which is in the business of food packaging and food safety, cleaning and hygiene solutions, said many hotel partners have also shown keen interest in this programme. Itensures that the soap that is currently going waste, is put into a good use, It also ties in with 'Swachh Bharat' programme. Hand-washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases in the developing countries. As millions of children per year suffer from diseases that could have been prevented with proper hand-washing. The company has implemented this programme in 62 cities and 27 countries together with 249 partner hotels. "Our aim is to reach out to millions of families donating not only soaps for hygeine and sanitiation but also provide skill training," he said. In general, a 400-room hotel generates 3.5 metric tonnes of solid soap waste per annum. Hence, this initaitive can provide soaps to 2000 people annually and thus save 1.5 million lives through proper hand hygiene, Mr Jain added. UNI NV SW AN1637 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-756841.Xml : Two foreign cadets from Tanzania and one from Maldivesare happy at Indian Naval Academy (INA), here after their successful completion of training from Asia's biggest naval training centre here. Cadet Emmanuel Mosha (22) and Franciseo Moya (24), duo hails from Tanzania told UNI that they got marvelous and good training mentally and physically during the last six months. They said they would leave for Tanzania on May 29 from Mangalore Airport through Dubai and would return to Kerala for more training, about two years at Kochi . While Refaul Hussein of Maldives said the training from INA is one of theproud moments in his life and other cadets had cooperated with foreign countries cadets while undergoing training. Interestingly, Assistant Commander Sruthi Sathish, South India's first woman pilot candidate from Coast Guard also passed out from INA. Sruthi Sathish, daughter of Sathish Muthelil, an architect employed in Baharin and Leena, a native of Parassinikadavu in this district, told UNI that she was selected from 4000 students for pilot course and secured its licence at the age of 18. She carried out the pilot training in Delta Air at Philippines from 2010 to 2013 year and flew an aircraft at Hyderabad as a first mission in India. UNI AK KVV ADB 1855 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-756906.Xml On the fifth day of the official business trip to the US, Minister for IT & Industries KT Rama Rao met Mr Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks at their office. Dreamworks is looking for expanding their production facilities in India and sought partnership with Telangana State Government for their long term plans. Minister K T Rama Rao has extended full support and cooperation in their endeavors. The Minister described the attributes of the upcoming film city in Hyderabad, which would be an ideal location for the future production facility of Dreamworks, an official statement said here today. Dreamworks is also looking at creating high end theatre ecosystem to promote their movies. In this regard, Dreamworks has asked the Telangana government to create a conducive environment. Dreamworks has plans to cater to the Indian market and believe that Hyderabad is an ideal location, given its talent pool and vibrant film industry. Dreamworks and the Telangana Government also agreed to collaborate to create Dreamplay, a small scale theme center, which can become a tourist attraction for Hyderabad. Minister K T Rama Rao has invited Jeffrey Katzenberg to visit Hyderabad. Mr Rama Rao also visited the La Kretz Innovation Campus in Los Angeles today to understand the functioning of Los Angeles Clean Tech Incubator (LACI). The Minister was taken on a tour of the incubator and understood the practices that made it a successful incubator. Many of the innovations being incubated are relevant to Hyderabad and Telangana. For example, water harvesting, converting sewer water into clean water, etc. It is a 60,000 sq ft incubator focused on cleantech innovation and commercialization activities. The LACI leadership gave a high-level overview of various cleantech technologies and solutions developed by various entrepreneurs who are housed in the incubator. During the meeting, Minister KTR introduced T-Hub to the LACI team and sought cooperation and partnership. The Minister invited their CEO and top officials to visit T-Hub for establishing the same. UNI VV MVR ADB 1833 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-756850.Xml A hardcore woman Naxal who was carrying a reward of Rs 8 lakh was arrested by Chhattisgarh police in insurgency-affected Kanker district, police said. Ganita Nureti (30), a member of the CPI (Maoistrs)'s military company No 5 under North Bastar Division, was apprehended by district force personnel last evening while she was moving in a suspicious manner in Koyelibeda weekly market. Nureti, who joined the militant outfit in 2005 as a member of its cultural wing 'Chetna Natya Manch', was wanted in at least four major cases of murder, IED (improvised explosive device) planting and blasts registered in Durgkondal and Koyelibeda police stations in Kanker.UNI SS PS SW BL1828 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-757000.Xml Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma today said that 500 villages located in the Maoist hotbeds would be electrified by July, 2015 for which the engineers of the electricity department should work on a mission mode. She also asked the officials to increase the manpower in the areas where work was being done by the agencies or by the department itself so that the projects can be completed on time. She said that Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar are most maoist hit areas, therefore, for providing electricity in rural areas poles should be erected before the start of the rainy season. Ms Verma said the Chief Minister is scheduled to provide power in these villages and inaugurate six sub-stations. Chief Secretary said in areas which are difficult to reach, they should be identified on a priority basis and work should be completed on time. She instructed the engineers that work should commence immediately once the designs is received and list of requirements be given to the department. During the meeting it was informed that in 196 villages of Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar, 97 villages of Chatra and 50 villages of Tonto area the work of electrification would be completed by July 31 and work would also be completed on building six power sub-stations.UNI AK AD JW AS1909 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0108-757063.Xml Domestic authorities in European Union member states should stress-test their financial institutions for cyber risks, a top EU supervisor said, saying banks might be required to hold extra capital as a buffer against what is an emerging threat.Speaking to Reuters in Beijing on Friday, Andrea Enria, chairman of the European Banking Authority (EBA), said cyber security had become an important issue for EU member states. He called on domestic regulators to stress-test local banks to understand the possible risks."I would not run a massive cyber-risk attack scenario for 28 member states at the same time," said Enria. "But if you ask me would I recommend competent authorities to think more on this and consider running this type of stress test? I would say yes."The global financial system is still reeling two months after a still-unidentified group was able to use malware to hack the SWIFT bank messaging network and steal $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank.SWIFT said its own infrastructure had not been hacked and that the thieves had attacked Bank Bangladesh's interface with the SWIFT system. SWIFT says security around SWIFT interfaces, including those supplied by SWIFT, was the responsibility of users.The February heist prompted Mary Jo White, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to warn last week that cyber security is the biggest risk facing the financial system.The EBA operates as a pan-EU regulator, writing and coordinating banking rules across the 28-country bloc.Cyber risks will also be included under the EU's so-called 'Pillar 2' rules, which will outline how much capital banks must hold to buffer themselves against a range of risks, including IT issues."We are developing guidelines on IT risk, which are under the Pillar 2 framework - so how to assess cyber risk and how to assess the mitigating measures that banks are putting into place and, if shortcomings are identified, which types of measures supervisors can take under Pillar 2, including additional capital requirements," said Enria.The guidelines will be published by the EBA for public consultation later this year, Enria said.Italian national Enria was in Beijing to meet Chinese central bank officials and banking regulators. His discussions touched on non-performing loans, bank profitability, and the UK referendum to exit the European Union, he said.European and Chinese authorities are exploring whether more formalised cooperation arrangements may be useful going forward, as more Chinese banks open operations in Europe, and European banks expand operations in China."We are also discussing possible agreements on the regular exchange of information and cooperation at the supervisory level between the European and Chinese authorities," said Enria.REUTERS AKC BL2008 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-757557.Xml Calling for uninterruptable dialogue between India and Pakistan to find resolution to contentious issues, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the people of Jammu and Kashmir bear the brunt of hostilities between the two countries. She said India and Pakistan should come out of their aggressive politics and start exchange programmes of students, doctors, scientists and artists to will boost relations between them.While winding up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on Governor's address in the Legislative Assembly this afternoon, Ms Mehbooba said that India and Pakistan shall have to sit across the table and find resolution to the contentious issues in the larger interest of peace and stability in the region. "We have to unshackle ourselves from the legacies of the past. Think ahead and have confidence in our self, our institutions and above all our people," she said and added that the two countries can't run away from the negotiations for too long as such a negative approach will only add to the miseries of the people in the region in general and J&K in particular."For settling disputes and ensuring peace and prosperity in the region, a forward-looking political and economic awakening has to dawn at the political leadership in our neighbourhood as well," she said. "Mufti Sahab wanted to improve the relations between India and Pakistan in the interest of the welfare of J&K and its people. After 2001 Parliament attack, our borders were tense. I travelled in border areas and comforted people. It is our misfortune that the peace process started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was not carried forward," she said. Unfortunately the goodwill generated by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's Lahore visit was washed away by the dastardly attack on Pathankote air base, the Minister added.Urging Pakistan to weed out the menace of terrorism, the Chief Minister said India and Pakistan should cooperate with each other on security issues. "The biggest enemy of Pakistan is terrorism. Now they have to carry out drone strikes against their own people. School children are getting killed in that country. The country has to shake hands with India for prosperity of South Asia," she said.UNI BAS SB SB1955 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-757297.Xml Attempting to corner both Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his bete noire Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in a march against the AAP-led government over the ongoing power and water crisis in the national capital, said that both leaders are under the impression that people can be fooled all time. The march, called 'Mashaal Juloos', earlier met with a major hurdle when the Delhi Police barred the use of fire-lit lanterns, considering it as a hazard. This, however, refused to dampen the spirit of the party workers, as they gathered in large numbers and raised slogans such as - Sonia Gandhi ki jai, Rahul Gandhi ki jai. A speaker was loudly urging the workers to rally behind Rahul Gandhi and support him saying, "Rahul Ji ke saath chalein". Rahul, who was atop a vehicle in a huge convoy accompanied by Congress leader Ajay Maken besides other prominent local Congress leaders, said that Kejriwal had made tall promises about solving the city's electricity and water problems, but was now trying to divert the issue by raking up 'odd-even' and pollution issues. "Sometimes it is possible to fool all at once, but it can't be done again and again. There is time for a selfie, there is time for TV, internet, and Modi ji and Kejriwal ji think that they can fool people every time," he said while addressing the gathering. "Kejriwal had made tall promises of providing electricity. But, power cuts are rampant. There is water problem and Kejriwal ji speaks of Odd-even, pollution but does not do any work," he added. In a veiled reference to Prime Minister Modi, he said, "His selfie politics and television politics are hurting the poor." Rahul also trained guns at the celebrations organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the India Gate to mark it two years in office. "Farmers are dying due to drought and water problems and a celebration is being held at India gate, where people from Bollywood have come," Rahul said. Drawing comparisons between him and other politicians, he said, "I indulge in politics based on Mahatma Gandhi's ideology, I can never indulge in politics of lie and false promises." Some of the vociferous agitators were also raised anti-Kejriwal slogans, while some were heard criticizing the Delhi government. Heavy presence of police personnel was seen at the Congress' march. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey and Raghav Chaddha were detained by the police near Rahul Gandhi's protest venue. Pandey told ANI, that they had informed the Congress Party of holding a discussion on this issue and they were waiting there for that only. "We thought they believe in democracy, dialogue and debate, but it seems they do not believe so. Otherwise, we would have told them, how Sheila Dikshit and Maken were involved in a money laundering scam of Rs. 8,000 crore. It is not right to do drama in such a situation. Rahul is just doing drama. He doesn't care about the people of Delhi. He should stop acting," he added. (ANI) Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Narendra Modi government has brought an end to the policy paralysis that the previous UPA government had been accused of. Speaking at the special event to mark two years of the Modi-led NDA regime, Gadkari said the government had made it a priority to cut red tape and increase transparency. "The politics of development is the priority of this government. We want to raise the speed of our highway construction to 41 kilometres a day," he added. He also stressed on the government's focus on development in the Northeast. "Many projects that were lying around, we completed them. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we shed the policy paralysis that had gripped government," said Mr Gadkari. Mr Gadkari also underscored the government's stated goal of improving inland waterways as a mode of transport. "Transport through waterways is cheaper than road transport. This is a priority of this government. It will be our biggest achievement," he said. Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said tax process should be simple and transparent and a uniform tax process throughout the country will make economy competent. He said, "India is growing much faster compared to the world, but I feel India could do better. It is difficult to maintain growth when the rest of the world is faring poorly." Talking about the government's social security schemes, Union minister Jayant Sinha said, these, coupled with "JAM - Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile - are like a shield for the poor. Actor Amitabh Bachchan, who hosted a segment for the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme, said, "The most important part of our tradition is that women have been given a spiritual place. Even in our religion, women have been given a major position." Union minister Uma Bharti promised that the Ganga will be among the world's top 10 cleanest rivers by 2018. The Narendra Modi government, she said has allocated Rs. 20,000 crore to meet the target. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said, "The last government created the Nirbhaya fund but never spent that money. We have undertaken many programmes and are implementing them rapidly." Participating in the first segment on young Parliamentarians, Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore said, "If there's someone who is the youngest in our cabinet it is Narendra Modi". Describing her ministry's efforts to trace lost children, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said a website called 'khoya paya' has been set up, which matches photographs. You can put in the picture of the child and find where he or she is." The government, she added, has built 30,000 homes for orphans. Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, Santosh Gangwar, Gen VK Singh, Rajeev Pratap Rudy, Joel Oram, Jitendra Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also spoke on the occasion. UNI SHK SB 2332 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0430-757788.Xml However, when the personnel were returning to base, the ultras triggered a landmine in the vicinity of Hurrepal and grievously injured DRG Head Constable Sanjay Potam who was airlifted to Dantewada. Following a tip-off, the operation was launched on Thursday in forested border areas of Bijapur and Dantewada. Yesterday, the personnel destroyed an outlaw camp in Timenar jungle forcing guerrillas to flee leaving behind a large quantity of rations. Today's encounter ensued when heavily-armed extremists staged an ambush. Retaliatory firing compelled the insurgents to flee into dense forest.UNI SS AC SB RK2325 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-757677.Xml Parents of 43 students who went missing in Mexico in 2014 staged protests in front of embassies in Mexico City to demand long-term follow-up on the disappearances. Thursday marked 20 months after the disappearance of the students in Iguala, in the state of Guerrero, EFE news reported. Parents and relatives divided into four groups and went to diplomatic offices, where they delivered a document with their demands. The embassies of Spain, Germany, Brazil, China and Ecuador were some of the key offices outside where the protests were staged. They also travelled to the headquarters of the Delegation of the European Union. They later gathered at the monument known as 'the Angel of Independence' and began a march towards the office of the Attorney General. After the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) concluded its mandate in April, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced that a special mechanism would be implemented to follow the case. Vidulfo Rosales, a human rights lawyer representing the families, said the government wants this mechanism to operate only for six months, which is considered insufficient since this is a "complex investigation". According to the official report of the PGR, 43 youths were kidnapped in Iguala on the night of September 26, 2014 by corrupt police, who handed them over to the members of Guerreros Unidos, a criminal organisation in Guerrero who killed the students and burned their remains in the neighbouring municipality of Cocula. --IANS ksk ( 254 Words) 2016-05-27-09:32:03 (IANS) The second and final day of the G7 leaders summit began on Friday in Japan's Ise-Shima, where they are expected to adopt a strategy to promote economic growth and an anti-terrorism action plan. The leaders of Germany, Canada, the US, France, Italy, Japan and Britain began meetings in which they will seek to solidify the results of Thursday's discussions, EFE news reported. The leaders agreed to implement fiscal stimulus measures and structural reforms according to the situation in each country, as a joint initiative to put an end to the current global economic uncertainty and to revive growth. The declaration that the leaders are expected to make under the title 'Ise-Shima economic initiative' will include specific points such as the significance of investing in infrastructure, education and the digital sector and underline the importance of propelling free trade agreements, diplomatic sources stated. The G7 leaders also plan to approve another declaration on security and foreign policy including a coordinated strategy aimed at combating the rise of terrorism and violent extremism in the Middle East as well as the need to aid refugees fleeing war in Syria. By the later half of the day, they will discuss these topics and be joined by leaders of six emerging market countries in Asia and Chad, which holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, who were invited by Japan on the occasion of the first G7 summit held in Asia in eight years. The heads of Chad, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and Laos will also hold talks with their G7 counterparts on climate change, energy, stability and peace in the Asia Pacific as well as health and development policies. The meetings will be held at the exclusive hotel located on the Kashiko island where the leaders are staying and conclude mid afternoon when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama will leave to make an historic visit to Hiroshima, one of two Japanese cities hit by a US atomic bomb in 1945. --IANS ksk ( 349 Words) 2016-05-27-10:18:04 (IANS) Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of America's busiest border crossing as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, California, amid one of the largest counter-demonstrations organized against him.Inside the San Diego Convention Center was a relatively placid scene for the rally, while outside demonstrators against Trump's controversy-riddled White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing Trump's message against illegal immigration.Waving US and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out to protest Trump San Diego, a city which sits just 15 miles from the Mexican border city and where a third of residents are Latino.Video posted on social media sites showed protesters attempting to breach a barrier set up by police, climbing over railings and throwing objects at officers, who used their night sticks in an attempt to hold back the crowd.At least one arrest was made.Trump has weathered months of blowback from all ends of the political spectrum for his immigration policy, which calls for the building of a wall on the US-Mexico border and deporting the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.Critics have said his plan is needlessly cruel and impossible to implement. At Trump's campaign stops, attendees often chant "build the wall."Friday was not the first time Trump has been greeted by civil unrest in California, which is home to the largest Latino population in the country. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests.WAITING FOR "FIRST PLACE FINISHER"Shortly before taking the stage in San Diego, Trump issued a statement ruling out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was also campaigning in California, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle.The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California's June 7 primary.A day after saying he would welcome a debate with Sanders, Trump called the idea "inappropriate" because as the Republican presumptive nominee he should only face the Democrats' final choice."I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement.Sanders' campaign had been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the New York billionaire on a talk show this week.Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday."I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now you're telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again," Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account."Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?" he said.Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity."I'd love to debate Bernie," he told a rally in Fresno, California. "But the networks want to keep the money for themselves."Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their party's nomination, but opinion polls show he is slicing into her lead in California.Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous.The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trump's support surged two weeks ago. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. REUTERS KU 0549 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0348-756253.Xml The United Nation's aviation agency should avoid creating new checkpoints outside airport terminals as it draws up proposed global guidelines to improve security in the wake of recent attacks on travelers, the head of Airports Council International said.Angela Gittens, director general of the global airport trade group, yesterday said she did not want external checkpoints, which are being debated as a way to deter attacks on airports, to become part of a proposed global security standard for public areas because the additional lineup could create a new target.The UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) last week discussed creating a new standard that could push countries to come up with security rules for public sections of airports. Security in these so-called landside areas is run by a patchwork of local and state authorities, depending on the country."Most airports were not built to have people congregate at doors," Gittens said in her first interview on the proposed standard. "And every time you stop people, you're interfering with what airports were supposed to be doing. You're trapping people in a line where if something did happen these people would not be able to scatter."Montreal-based ICAO sets standards that its 191 member states typically adopt as regulatory requirements.The agency's council would vote on any proposed changes to airport security only at year's end, or in 2017, two sources familiar with the confidential talks said on condition of anonymity.While global security guidelines already exist for closed areas limited to passengers with boarding passes, the ICAO has not set standards for public sections of airports. Even before a March attack on a Brussels airport, the agency was already discussing ways to improve security after a Metrojet plane crashed in Egypt last year.A U.S. congressional panel heard this week that more than 70,000 American Airlines customers missed their flights this year and 40,000 checked bags failed to be loaded on scheduled flights because of airport screening delays.One of the sources said the agency had proposed giving guidance on security to member states, but would allow individual countries to draw up their own national security rules for airports.ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin said in an email on Friday that it was "far too premature" to comment since the agency was only considering proposed changes."They are trying to broaden that to say it's not just the access to the flight, it's the safety/security of the passenger before that," he said. REUTERS KU 0610 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0348-756255.Xml Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of America's busiest border crossing as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, amid one of the largest counter-protests organized against him.The scene inside the San Diego Convention Center during Trump's speech on yesterday was relatively placid, while outside demonstrators opposed to his controversy-ridden White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing his rhetoric against illegal immigration.Waving US and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out for anti-trump rally in San Diego, a city on the US-Mexico border whose San Ysidro port of entry sees nearly 300,000 people a day cross legally between the countries.San Diego is considered a binational city by many who live and work on opposite sides of the border, and about a third of the city's population is Latino.Some protesters yesterday afternoon attempted to breach a barrier manned by police, climbing over railings and throwing objects at officers, who used their night sticks in an attempt to hold back the crowd.As clusters of Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators began to mix following the candidate's appearance, police declared the gathering to be an unlawful assembly and ordered people to disperse. Police reported making at least three arrests.Trump has weathered months of blowback from all ends of the political spectrum for his immigration policy, which calls for the building of a wall along the US-Mexico border and deporting the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the United States.Critics have said his plan is needlessly cruel and impossible to implement. At Trump's campaign stops, attendees often chant "build the wall."Yesterday was not the first time Trump has been greeted by civil unrest in California, which is home to the largest Latino population in the country. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests.WAITING FOR "FIRST PLACE FINISHER"Shortly before taking the stage in San Diego, Trump issued a statement ruling out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was also campaigning in California, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle.The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California's June 7 primary.A day after saying he would welcome a debate with Sanders, Trump called the idea "inappropriate" because as the Republican presumptive nominee he should only face the Democrats' final choice."I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement.Sanders' campaign had been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the New York billionaire on a talk show this week.Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment yesterday."I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now you're telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again," Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account."Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?" he said.Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least 10 million dollar raised from the encounter be donated to charity."I'd love to debate Bernie," he told a rally in Fresno, California. "But the networks want to keep the money for themselves."Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their party's nomination, but opinion polls show he is slicing into her lead in California.Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous.The former US secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the November 8 general election.Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trump's support surged two weeks ago. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders.REUTERS SDR KU PR0643 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-756260.Xml Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the United States following a row over financing. The Pakistani government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by May 24, but a diplomatic source revealed that the document was not issued leading to expiry of the offer, a report in daily Dawn said quoting its source as saying "Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired". However, Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani maintained "a dead-end has not been reached as yet". Initially, the $699 million deal for eight F-16C/D Block-52 multi-role fighters (2 C and 6 D models), was to be partially financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme, but Congress disallowed subsidising the sale over concerns that Pakistan had not done enough to end the Haqqani network's sanctuaries on its soil as well as fears about Islamabad's nuclear programme, particularly tactical weapons and the intermediate range Shaheen III missile, the newspaper report said. Pakistan, which expected to get the fighters at the subsidised rate of $270 million, was subsequently asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight aircraft from its national resources. This was not acceptable to Pakistani authorities, who remained adamant that the offer must come without preconditions. It was unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets, although it had originally desired to acquire 18 F-16s, the report further said. Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani, talking to the newspaper over phone from Washington, said "a dead-end has not been reached as yet". PM's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said last month that Pakistan could look to buy the aircraft from some other country if the deal did not go ahead. Analysts believe Islamabad could consider Russian or Chinese fighters to meet its defence requirements. Meanwhile, negotiations are also continuing with TUSAS Turkish Aerospace Industries(TAI) for upgrade of 74 F-16 fighters currently serving in the PAF fleet. A Turkish team is due in Islamabad in July to continue discussions on the project. US consent would be required for the deal to materialise. TAI had, under a 2009 agreement, previously upgraded 41 PAF aircraft to Block-52 standard. The last of the upgraded fighters were handed over to PAF in September 2014. US had provided the needed parts, materials and technical data to TUSAS to upgrade the PAF jets.UNI XC SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0089-756393.Xml The fuel supply situation in France is improving, but the crisis caused by strikes is not fully over, the country's transport minister said today."In some regions the situation is almost back to normal," Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said following a meeting with prime minister Prime Minister Manuel Valls."In other regions we remain attentive, but we cannot say that the crisis is over".Vidalies added that interventions to clear fuel depot blockades could be continued if necessary. REUTERS JW AS1608 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-756839.Xml The head of the Protestant Church in Germany has called for Islam to be taught in state schools across the country as a way to make young Muslims impervious to the "temptation of fundamentalists".Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm told the Heilbronner Stimme newspaper that teaching Islam in schools nationwide would give Muslim pupils a chance to take a critical approach to their own religion.Seven of Germany's 16 federal states offer some form of Islamic religion classes in their schools, similar to the Catholic and Protestant religion classes they have traditionally had. Germany has about four million Muslims, about five per cent of the total population.Attitudes towards Islam have hardened following militant attacks in Europe and the arrival of more than a million migrants last year, most of the Muslims.The influx has fuelled the rise of anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which maintains that Islam violates the constitution and wants a ban on minarets and face veils. Almost two-thirds of Germans think Islam has no place in their country, according to a survey published this month.In addition, hundreds of Germans have left the country to join the radical Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq since 2012, according to the interior ministry, andBedford-Strohm said all faiths in Germany must be compatible with the country's democratic constitution. "Tolerance, religious freedom and freedom of conscience must apply to all religions," he said in the interview published yesterday.He said Islamic associations in Germany should be responsible for these courses and hoped they would organise themselves to be a "clear partner" for the German state.Rivalries and disputes among Islamic associations have complicated efforts to manage religious instruction for Muslims in some areas and strained relations with some universities that train teachers for existing Islam classes. REUTERS AKC BL2046 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-757635.Xml Venezuela's opposition leaders and top government officials have held talks in the Dominican Republic to lay the groundwork for a potential dialogue to defuse a political standoff and a deepening economic crisis, local media reported today.The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with Congress after the opposition won a sweeping legislative majority last year.A government delegation including Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez has for three days met with representatives of opposition parties including Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, according to opposition-linked newspaper El Nacional.Government-backed newspaper Ciudad Caracas described the encounter as an "exploratory meeting for the start of dialogue," adding that the meeting included ex-leaders of Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic.Rodriguez retweeted state-run broadcaster Telesur saying the government had met with the opposition.A Foreign Ministry official declined to comment.The head of Venezuela's MUD opposition coalition tweeted "There is no 'opposition-government' meeting in the Dominican. Representatives of the coalition are attending a meeting with (the ex-presidents)."International agencies including the United Nations and the Group of Seven industrial powers known as the G7 have pressed the two sides to hold talks amid chronic shortages of food and medicine and electricity rationing.But opposition leaders, who are seeking a referendum to recall President Maduro, have been deeply skeptical of initiating such talks.Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that dialogue would simply allow the government to buy time and that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote.A dialogue effort in 2014 brought the two sides together amid months of violent anti-government street protests that left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the talks did not produce any substantive agreements.Opposition leaders accuse the National Election Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 per cent according to local pollster Datanalisis.They also say the ruling Socialist Party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December.Maduro insists his government is the victim of an "economic war" led by business leaders with the backing of Washington. REUTERS AKC BL2043 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-757652.Xml Militants attacked a crude oil pipeline operated by Italy's ENI on today, a Nigerian state government said, hours after the Niger Delta Avengers militants claimed another strike in the region.Nigeria's oil output has fallen to a 20-year low due to attacks on pipelines in the southern swamps, home to much of its hydrocarbon resources, which have compounded the impact of low oil prices on Africa's largest economy."The Bayelsa State Government has condemned in its entirety the attack on a trunk line belonging to Agip (ENI) by (a) new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers," it said in a statement. Bayelsa lies in the Delta region.The Avengers, who have been targeting oil and gas facilities for the last three months, earlier said on Twitter they had attacked the Nembe pipelines 1, 2 and 3, pumping Royal Dutch Shell's Bonny Light crude, and an Agip facility, at 0215 local time (0645 IST)."Something Big is about to happen," the group later tweeted.A Bayelsa spokesman said later the Nembe pipelines had not been hit. Nengi James, a chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee that liaises with oil firms, said vandals had targeted the Agip pipeline, which had been attacked before.Shell and ENI were not immediately available for comment. Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light loadings after a previous attack on the Nembe creek trunk pipeline, but some exports had been continuing with delays.ARMY RAIDThe army raided the Oporoza community, home to Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, a former militant leader whom security officials have linked to the Avengers, residents said. He has denied any connection to the group."Men, women and children, everybody has fled Oporoza because the military invaded our village around 0145 this morning," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the region."They are harassing people, arresting some boys and they wounded one of our chiefs," he said. "Traditional places of worship and houses are being destroyed now by the military."A newsletter close to the group said soldiers had arrived at the community, located in the swamps of the Delta, on seven gunboats.The army could not be immediately reached for comment but a military source said seven people had been arrested, adding that explosives had been found in their possession.The military has moved more troops into the Delta. British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond this month cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari that he needed to deal with poverty and anger over pollution from oil spills in the region.In the first sign that the government might try a less heavy-handed approach, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has said an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve.REUTERS AKC VN2214 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-757722.Xml YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. Today, at the memorial complex of the Battle of Sardarapat President Serzh Sargsyan accompanied by His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, the top leadership of the Republic and guests participated in the festivities dedicated to the Republic Day. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of Republic of Armenia Presidents Office, President Sargsyan laid a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Sardarapat and paid tribute to their memory. The President of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief Serzh Sargsyan greeted the participants of the military parade dedicated to the holiday and congratulated them on the occasion of the Republic Day. Later, the President of Armenia and attendees of the festivities watched the cultural program dedicated to the event. In Sardarapat, the President of Armenia gave a congratulatory speech dedicated to the Republic Day. Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of the Republic Day My fellow compatriots, I congratulate you on the occasion of the Republic Day. For us, this is first and foremost a salvation holiday. We saved our last piece of land and the last remnants of our nation residing on that piece of land. No matter how difficult to accept, but that was the truth. The bleeding Armenian nation on the verge of desperation was able through the supernatural exertion to stand up to the enemy, to prevail, and throw the enemy back. Many consider the heroic battles of May and their victorious outcome a miracle. We prevailed, we survived, and we liberated ourselves. Our independence and our statehood were not a gift to us. We paid for them the price nobody has ever paid. We did it alone; moreover, we did it despite the blows of the destiny. With May 28, the foreign subjects and refugees had become citizens of a State. They became people who had solid ground beneath their feet and had a State behind them. It was a State they had to build; it was a state, which they had to serve to; it was a State, which they could make demands to; it was a State to criticize with the anticipation of making it better. It was a State, which had to turn its almost lifeless populace, half of which were also orphans, into a political nation; it was a State, which had to bring up a new generation, re-born generation, which would be capable to register new scientific, cultural, and military achievements. It was a State, which predestined the existence of the Soviet Armenia and todays Republic of Armenia. My fellow compatriots, Military hostilities that unfolded at the early April revealed more vividly some realities good or bad, within and around us. Among all that the most important one for me was our new generation the generation born with the independence, generation that proved to us and to all that they are the masters and guardians of our State. Those, who created the May 28 in 1918, would only dream of a regular army, such as ours, and of a new generation, such as this one. And they are with us, now. There will be no new Sardarapat since by and large it was a war of desperation. Those who fought there did not know what countrys citizens they were of, and if they were citizens at all. There will be no new Sardarapat since there stands a State. There is a generation born with independence, which wants to move in step with the contemporary world and it will; a generation, which wants to move its country forward and it will; a generation born with independence, which grasped the bequest of May 28 better than anyone else. All this stems from the fact that in their families and in their schools the bequest of May 28 was also grasped properly. We as a State, as a nation and as a society grasped the bequest of May 28 well. My fellow compatriots, On May 28 our nation stepped back from the verge of the abyss. We stepped back and moved towards the rebirth, towards creation, and toiling. We got back. Glory to the Republic Day! Long live the Armenian nation! YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) today urged Congressional leaders to redouble their efforts with the Obama Administration to ensure the timely implementation of the Royce-Engel peace proposals in the aftermath Azerbaijans deadly April 2nd attack on the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (Artsakh). As Armenpress was informed from the ANCA, during a shared dialogue with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), who, along with Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), is the chief architect of the Karabakh peace recommendations, ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian discussed the Aliyev regimes devastating incursion against Artsakh the worst since the ceasefire established some 22 years ago and the ensuing Azerbaijani war crimes, including the brutal murder and mutilation of an elderly Armenian couple and the beheading of three Armenian soldiers. The ANCA has been joined by senior Foreign Affairs Committee member Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Armed Services Committee member Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) in calling for a Leahy Law investigation, which would zero-out U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijani units found to have committed war crimes. Hamparian noted the urgency of taking concrete steps toward implementation of these cease-fire strengthening measures, citing the death of Nagorno Karabakh Defense Forces Private Vahe Argam Yeghoyan just days earlier as a result of Azerbaijani cross border shelling. Armenian Americans across the U.S. appreciate Chairman Royces leadership in advancing the Royce-Engel proposals common sense measures to ensuring a path toward peace in the Caucasus, said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. The key, of course, is in their implementation and the sooner the better, if we are to avoid a repeat of the ravages of Azerbaijani aggression. The Royce-Engel proposals, which have received the support of over 90 U.S. Representatives through two Congressional letters sent to the Obama Administration in November, 2015 and March, 2016, include three common-sense measures to secure Artsakh peace: An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers, heavy arms, or new weaponry along the line of contact. The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact. The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations. Armenia and Artsakh have long agreed to all three measures; Azerbaijan opposes their implementation. Key points of the Royce-Engel proposals were incorporated in the recent agreement by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and France State Secretary for European Affairs Harlem Desir which called for the implementation of OSCE investigative measures and expanded authority of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson, as part of a broader commitment to a regional ceasefire. YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Galust Sahakyan made a congratulatory address on the Day of the Republic on May 28. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the National Assembly of Armenia, the address runs as follows, Dear compatriots, I congratulate you on the occasion of one of our most important holidays, the Day of the Republic. This is the holiday that established the history of our statehood, a history that goes back to 100 years ago, but it is still fresh, modern and impressive due to it heroism. The call for saving the Motherland brought into existence the first Armenian Republic, that call came from the spirits of everyone and it unified all for the sake of the country and against those threatening the state, against those questioning the future of our people. That call, the unifying power of which resulted in the glorious victories of Sardarapat, Bash Aparan and Gharakilisa and which resulted in the establishment of the first Armenian republic, has reached our days and our people still hear that call, in Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora. Keeping that call in their minds, our soldiers and officers recently made another heroic movement for the sake of the Motherland, who were joined volunteers and freedom fighters. Dear compatriots, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the declaration of the third Armenian Republic, the short life of the first Armenian Republic becomes more valuable in terms of its historical importance and political experience. It is a phenomenon that still can me valued, it was a turning point and experience for creating and administering a state. After 100 years since the establishment of the first Republic we still feel the spirit that reaches us, our families and place of work, army and border from Sardarapat, Bash Aparan and Gharakilisa motivating us to make joint efforts and practical steps to write our todays and tomorrows history with more confidence. I once again congratulate you on the Day of the Republic, wishing all of you peace, optimism, and belief that tomorrow we will live in a better Armenia, recording greater achievements. Peter was not a large man and not a young man but he possessed a restless vitality, a wiry energy that gave the effect of youth. Wanpla taim mi bai go skul long uni yet, (One day I will become a university student), he said confidently, a touch of humour lurking about his mouth. In fact, the sketch was the first thing he drew as a Level 2 student at the Anglicare PNG Adult Literacy School in Waigani. He was holding a detailed sketch of Bomana Prison and was seeking to divert from answering the question of how he knew perfectly every detail inside. AS HE attempted to conceal the truth, Peters clean shaven cheeks crumpled, his shoulders slumped and he struggled to extricate himself from silence. He had a strong desire to do well in his adult literacy studies and continue to higher learning. From Enga Province, Peter held back his surname and asked that it not be used as it was derived from his ancestors and sacred. Peter was amongst adult literacy students and staff who recently held an open day at literacy school along the Koura Way at Waigani. The Anglicare PNG Adult Literacy School was founded by the Anglican Diocese of Port Moresby and has been working around the clock to provide adult literacy training to illiterate youths and adults from age 12 as part of its commitment to the government. The program has four levels offering studies in mathematics, language and English, phonics, social studies and life skills. There is also training in basic cooking, sewing and other skills that can enable students to generate an income to sustain themselves. Students graduating from Level 4 are encouraged to continue into flexible open distance education where opportunities for further studies exist. Peters sketch was one of the highlights of the open day that made him forget the hot morning sun as he carried it around showing it to anybody who had time for him. When asked about his age, Peter frowned and looked away confused and simply said he is still counting it and will let us know when he finds out. Photo: Peter holds his map of Bomana prison PAUL MUNRO PNGAA representatives were pleased by the turnout and level of support shown at last Sunday's open day at part of the site of the former Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) on Sydneys Middle Head. Fine weather and a good cross-section of people with Papua New Guinea connections attended, about 75 in all, including former students, PNG Consul General Sumasy Singin and representatives of the Wantok Club, Chinese Catholic Association, Friends of Rambutso and various NGOs. It was a good beginning and a great show of interested support for the proposal to use Ten Terminal as a Community Centre for Pacific Nations, although winning through against some tough competition will be a long haul. During Keith Jackson's presidency some years ago, the PNGAA made an attempt to promote a similar proposition which failed to gain the critical mass necessary to obtain official support. Auburn native Dave DeLorenzo, now a Florida resident, submitted the following poem by his brother-in-law, stating the following: I have enclosed a poem my brother-in-law wrote during his Atlantic crossing during World War II. I feel it is poignant and with Memorial Day upon us, very fitting. ... Bill is well-known throughout the area as part founder and owner of Main & Pinckney Farm Equipment on Grant Avenue. My wife, Peggie, was in Auburn a week ago for family issues and while she and her family were going through papers, this popped up. Obviously it was written to Bill's mom, Mary, while en route to the European war zone. Bill was not a poet (although he did a hell of a job with this) but it hit home. I think it outlines the unknown these men were facing and the trials and tribulations they went through on the non-luxurious cross-Atlantic trip as young men. What they went through sounds somewhat like a cattle ship, only perhaps a little worse. Leavin' the States on a Troopship During World War II By William F. Pinckney We're alerted now for a little trip That most of us would like to skip. But we know its all not in vain For it's just about time to board the train. Into the night that was dark and cold We marched with packs, destination untold. We passed in review by our native states Not knowing but wondering about our separate fates With a heavy pack and a heavier heart, We boarded the train to do our part. Then onto the ferry and to the pier, We're leaving the land we love so dear. Up the gangplank and into the hold, Like sheep being marched into a fold. There we are each assigned to a separate cot, Where the air is stale and the temperature hot Then the ship's big engines turned the screw, America the beautiful passed from our view. Out past the Lady Liberty statue The ship gently rose and then gently fell. Within our stomachs theres a queer feeling, Everything seems to be rocking and reeling. We rush to the rail in a column of bunches To feed the fish our late eaten lunches. It seems the chow line runs a mile, Then what you get isn't worthwhile. It tastes like garbage and my what a smell, These troopship crossings are mighty like hell. We lay in our beds as though we are drunk And don't give a damn if the ship sunk. Were seasick now and it's bad we're feeling But the old ship keeps on rocking and reeling. Were like sardines all packed together. it seems like this trip will last forever. The odors we smell don't help the plight, The same old things, the same old diet. Hear this, hear this, the speaker announces, Then our ship leans and then it bounces. We close our eyes and silently pray That tomorrow will bring a better day. After a while, when we are feeling better We get out some paper and write a letter To our friends and neighbors over the sea. You'll never know what you have done for me. We're in calm water with our goal in sight All darkness is gone, we can see the light. We're ready for the task that lies ahead To see that justice is done for our dead. War is so senseless with its toil and strife lt breaks up our homes, our way of life. Why should we suffer this pain and sadness Over a nation's greed, meanness and madness? When this unpleasant chore is finally completed, And the enemy knows they are finally defeated, Then we can return to our loved ones at home, Content to settle down and never more roam. Auburn police said a missing teen has been found in Elbridge. Sabrina White, 15, was reported missing from 175 North St., Auburn, on May 19. She was located Thursday in Elbridge. The Auburn Police Department thanked the New York State Police and members of the public for their assistance. Earlier report: The Auburn Police Department is requesting the public's help in locating a missing Auburn teen. Sabrina L. White was last seen on May 19 at 175 North St., officials said in a release. At that time, the fifteen-year-old was wearing a maroon, long-sleeved crop top, black jogging pants, grey Nike sneakers and carrying a brown purse. White has brown hair, brown eyes, is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. Police believe White has a number of contacts in the Auburn and Jordan-Elbridge area. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call police at (315) 253-3231. Callers may remain anonymous. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy TT, Venezuela trade talks continue A statement issued by the ministry said the six member Venezuelan delegation will visit TT from Tuesday as a follow up to Maduros commitment that Venezuelan will purchase goods from TT using a US$50 million revolving fund established by his government. Gopee-Scoon will lead the discussions, which will be focused on finalizing the list of manufactured products and the modalities of the export arrangements to Venezuela to facilitate easy passage of the goods from TT to Venezuela, and also p ayment for goods shipped. Speaking with reporters following the bilateral talks on Monday, Gopee- Scoon identified chicken, butter, ketchup, rice and black beans as some items which could be going to Venezuela under this agreement. The TT delegation at next weeks talks will include representatives from the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs; Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries; TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce; TT Manufacturers Association; Export- Import Bank of TT and exporTT Limited. The Venezuelan delegation is also also scheduled to visit various manufacturers plant operations to see firsthand their capabilities. At the post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair on Wednesday, Rowley said the US$50 million revolving fund which forms part of the new trade agreement reached with Venezuela, provides local manufacturers with an opportunity to maintain employment in their factories and penetrate the Venezuelan market in a way that has not been done before. The Prime Minister was confident the agreement would benefit local manufacturers Pundit jailed 6 years for fraud The Pundit was arrested by Fraud Squad detectives after three persons complained to the Fraud Squad after they were fleeced by the Pundit of a total of $50,000, after he claimed to be a foreign used car dealer. In one of the transactions, the Pundit claimed to be the owner of a Wingroad vehicle which in fact did not belong to him yet he received money from a member of the public who was interested in purchasing the vehicle. In the two other transactions, the Pundit received money to deliver two other foreign used vehicles which were never delivered to the victims. Officers under the leadership of Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie and including ASP Groomes, Cpl Woodroofe, WPC Murray and others, carried out enquiries and detained the pundit on Wednesday. When he appeared before Magistrate Christine Charles in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates Court, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison with hard labour for the three fraud offences 2 in court for robbing schoolboys Another accused, aged 23, who initially pleaded guilty, had his plea changed to not guilty after he disputed facts of the incident, which were read out by the courts prosecutor. According to reports, at 12.45 pm on May 26, Presentation College students Trent Ruben and Idris Abdul, both 16, were walking along Carib Street in San Fernando after writing CSE C exams when they were approached by Jovan Jackson, 23 and Rodriguez Abdool, 18, who allegedly demanded that they hand over their cell phones. Both students handed over a Digicel D1900 valued at $500 and a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 valued at $4,000. The suspects then ran down Mucurapo Street but were apprehended by a party of police officers. The pair was later positively identified by both victims when they were taken to the San Fernando CID for questioning. Jackson, after the facts were read out by the prosecutor in court, disputed the facts and his plea was subsequently changed to not guilty. Senior Magistrate Nanette Ford-John, then asked Abdool whether he also wanted to dispute the facts to which the young man shook his head. She asked Abdool about his life choices and whether he did not want to change his lifestyle or whether he preferred running from the police. He was then placed on a $20,000 bond to keep the peace for two years while Jackson was placed on $23,000 bail and ordered to return to court on June 23. PC Harricharan of the San Fernando police station laid the charges. Papa Johns ex-worker to repay stolen money Allison Wells of Palo Seco pleaded guilty in the San Fernando Magistrates Court after she was charged with stealing $14,096 from the Papa Johns pizza outlet at Gulf City Mall, La Romaine. The theft occurred over a period of time during the months of February and March. The court heard that an audit of the outlets finances revealed the theft and after an investigation by officers from the San Fernando CID, Wells was arrested at her Palo Seco home on April 26. The court was also informed that Wells, who was unrepresented in court, told the officers that she had money problems and a lot of unpaid bills which was more than her salary but had planned to repay the stolen money. Wells does not have any previous convictions. Senior Magistrate Nanette Ford-John then fined her $5,000 to be paid forthwith and gave her two weeks to repay the stolen money. Rumblings from jury as summation winds-up The jury foreman yesterday began to relay some complaints from a few jurors, but the rumblings from the jury were short-lived. They were put out of court. The discussions were soon sorted out by lead prosecution attorney Israel Khan SC, and a few of the attorneys, when the decision was taken to move the adjournment from today to 9 am next week Tuesday. Shortly after hearing resumed yesterday, Justice Holdip began summarising evidence presented by the experts. Generally, the judge dealt with the DNA evidence given. BLOOD DNA, THAT OF VINDRA According to the evidence of the experts given at the trial over a spot of blood found on a glove and another spot found on a piece of duct tape, both blood spots on the glove and the duct tape matched the blood of Vindra Coolman. Justice Holdip noted that there was extremely strong scientific support that the bloodspots examined were Vindras own. Also, the bloodspot on the denture. Evidence of the CSI officer was correct on the issue of blood on the denture belonged to Vindra. This, said the judge, was crucial to the prosecutions evidence, while reminding the jurors at the same time that they were the judges of the facts in this matter. He reminded the jury that the DNA experts in the United Kingdom were specific that the blood on the glove and duct tape belonged to Vindra. Judge Holdip reminded the jurors that they were the judges in the evidence against each accused person. Justice Holdip later on in his summation referred to the evidence relevant to each accused Vindra being shot to the chest while at the Black Album; the cutting- up of her body; the parts being placed in black plastic bags, then wrapped in a sheet, and later dumped in a hole dug by other accused; the selling of the pool table to Al Capone for $12,000; the Black Album the red brick house, were frequented by them. All of this took place and not one of the accused did anything to stop what was taking place, or expressed their dislike at what was being done, including the use of diesel to burn Vindras clothing. No one did anything to stop whatever was taking place at the time. The judge also cited the evidence of Keon Gloster which he noted, was not a voluntary statement. In that statement Gloster had placed Accused No5 at the Black Album while Vindra was there. Even then there was no show in defence or withdrawal. $$ DEMAND, THEN SHOT TO CHEST Judge Holdip told the jurors you are being asked in your deliberations in relation to the conduct of each accused before, during, and after the committing of the offence. There was no opposition to the crime, or at least, expressed dissent. He also recalled Glosters evidence that when demands were made for money, he was not in the Black Album: at the time. Keida Garcia also visited the Black Album. At the time demands were being made for money, when Vindra was shot in her chest. Evidence, according to the judge, parts of it were related to each of the accused. He also noted that the State was relying on the aspects of circumstantial evidence. The court was later adjourned for just over half an hour. Judge Holdip said he needed the court cleared, because he intended holding discussions with the attorneys in the trial. When hearing resumed after the discussions, the judge he was seeking to complete his summation yesterday, but unfortunately, he could not, and advised he would be able to complete it tomorrow meaning today Saturday, because as the judge said, it would be difficult to have a break in the summation. I cannot finish today, Judge Holdip insisted. Ill finish tomorrow. We have reached a stage where we need to have you here tomorrow. There and then the Foreman of the Jury stood up to inform the court of personal commitments, that he and other jurors had. The jury was put out of court and the matter was discussed between the judge and attorneys. The problem was soon solved when the judge adjourned further hearing to 9 am Tuesday. Following the judges summation on Tuesday, the jury shortly after, will begin their deliberations on the trial. The Colorado murder suspect who outran police in a Toyota Corolla before being captured in Flagstaff a week later is waiving formal extradition proceedings. But the finger-pointing over which law enforcement agency let Kenneth Ray Bastidos, 29, get away is continuing. Bastidos eluded Flagstaff Police Department officers and Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers on westbound Interstate 40 following a 10-minute pursuit in the city May 15. They are the ones who are supposed to pick it up at that point, said FPD spokesperson Sgt. Margaret Bentzen. Per our policy, we handed it over to DPS. Typically, FPD has jurisdiction over the city streets and DPS Highway Patrol has jurisdiction over the interstates. But DPS spokesperson Bart Graves said that is not the departments policy if the chase started in the city. When a pursuit from another agency enters department jurisdiction, department units will assume a support unit position and assume command only if specifically requested by the pursuing agency and approved by a department sworn supervisor, Graves said. According to the Flagstaff police report, Bastidos and his girlfriend traveled from Colorado to Flagstaff in a white 2014 Toyota Corolla he had rented from an acquaintance. At about 1:15 p.m. May 15, the girlfriend called 911 from a Flagstaff motel saying Bastidos was going to kill her and was wanted for murder. Bastidos is one of two suspects charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal May 4 shooting of a Denver-area rapper at an Adams County, Colo. motel. A second suspect was arrested earlier this month in Colorado on murder charges in the same killing. FPD officers located Bastidos car, a Toyota Corolla, on East Seventh Avenue in Lower Greenlaw Estates at about 2:10 p.m. Multiple patrol vehicles pursued him through the eastside of Flagstaff at high speeds. FPD policy usually requires officers to break off a pursuit if it poses a significant risk to civilians, but Bentzen said the officers continued chasing Bastidos because he was suspected of murder. Bastidos got onto westbound I-40 at East Country Club Drive with two FPD units on his tail at 2:17 p.m. Three DPS Highway Patrol troopers set up along I-40 to assist with the chase. Other DPS and FPD officers started shutting down the off-ramps. Bastidos was weaving through heavy traffic at speeds estimated at approximately 120 mph. I continued to pursue the vehicle but fell behind civilian traffic that simply would not yield to my lights and sirens, wrote one of the FPD officers in his police report. I temporarily lost visual of the vehicle as it began to pass vehicles on the right shoulder lane just east of the Fourth Street overpass. The officer regained visual of Bastidos vehicle as it approached the East Butler Avenue exit. Just west of the exit, the same officer saw a DPS trooper in the median. I took note (of) a DPS marked unit that pulled out of the median in order to join the pursuit into the (left) lane, he wrote in the report. When this vehicle did so, I had to slow down so as to not strike it. An attempt to pass the DPS unit could have likely resulted in a catastrophic collision with an innocent civilian that had now drastically slowed in the (right) lane just past the westbound East Butler Avenue on-ramp to I-40. The FPD officer said he decided to fall in behind the DPS trooper and yield the pursuit to him. He could no longer see Bastidos vehicle. Graves, on the other hand, said DPS never took over the pursuit. He said the trooper the FPD officer described saw Bastidos pass at 100-120 mph. He did not have a safe location to deploy his stop sticks to puncture the tires, so he pulled onto the roadway. He exited the median and attempted to catch up to the suspect vehicle, Graves said. Once the Flagstaff PD officers caught up to him in the area of milepost 196, he moved into the left traffic lane so Flagstaff PD units could pass and he could assume a support role in their pursuit. Both agencies had lost sight of the Corolla by the time they got to the Interstate 17 interchange. Graves said one FPD unit was in front of the DPS trooper, who was followed by two more FPD units, at that point. Another DPS trooper was in the gore area of westbound I-40 at the I-17 interchange. Graves said that trooper was unable to close the ramp because there was so much traffic. At 2:20 p.m., he reported seeing Bastidos Corolla speed by on the emergency shoulder and exit I-40 heading northbound on South Milton Road. The DPS and FPD units involved in the chase exited to search for Bastidos on South Milton Road but did not find him. Then, at 2:23 p.m., a driver called 911 to report a vehicle matching the description of Bastidos car speeding southbound on I-17 past the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport exit. Investigators were unable to verify that it was Bastidos. Both agencies blamed the high volume of traffic and Bastidos erratic driving for his initial escape, but they have not been able to explain why neither side appeared to know who was leading the chase once DPS joined it. Graves admitted there were communication challenges. There is always a delay in relaying information since DPS units do not have direct radio communication with Flagstaff PD units, he said. Graves said Highway Patrol troopers in multiple districts spent hours trying to locate Bastidos along I-40 and I-17 but no one spotted him. FPD officers also worked with other local law enforcement agencies to search for Bastidos in and around Flagstaff to no avail. Flagstaff officers spent the next week working with Metro Narcotics Unit, the FBIs Northern Arizona Safe Streets Task Force and FBI Denver Division to find and capture Bastidos. In a press release, FPD said the investigators learned Bastidos was back in the Flagstaff area Tuesday morning. It did not say where he went after fleeing Flagstaff more than a week earlier or what happened to his getaway car. Metro agents spotted him in the 2600 block of East Huntington Drive Tuesday and the multi-agency team arrested him on the Colorado murder warrant. Bastidos clarified in court Friday that his decision to go back to Colorado voluntarily did not mean he was admitting to guilt in the murder case. Colorado has 90 days to pick him up from the Coconino County Detention Facility in Flagstaff, where he is being held without bond. Priest: Take responsibility for TT This church has seen the funeral of many a bad boy, Harvey said. But today we are here for a man of honour. All too often we hear people say that it is not their responsibility how the country is going. They say that it is the responsibility of the protective services. I am here to say that Trinidad and Tobago is all of our responsibility. Harvey also called on members of the various national security agencies to use Leacocks death as an opportunity to renew their commitment to their duties to the public and by extension the nation. If today a comrade has fallen, we should use this occasion to recommit ourselves to the uniform that we wear and the country that we serve. If we cannot do that, then Corporal Leacocks death would have been in vain. Harvey spoke before a densely packed church, as throngs of mourners filled the aisles to pay their final respects to a man, many of his comrades affectionately referred to as Tall Man. Among the mourners were Minister of Communications, Maxie Cuffie and acting Minister of National Security Stuart Young, who extended their condolences to the family of the deceased. Leacocks sister, Josanne Teelucksingh and Captain Roxanne Rodney, delivered a moving eulogy, in which Teelucksingh described her older brother as a gentle giant, an accomplished serviceman and a dedicated family man who was also involved in various youth groups in his community. He was a dedicated father to all of his children and even myself sometimes. He was also a pillar of strength in his community. He always greeted you with a smile, but he was always aware of his surroundings. Rodney described Leacock as a leader of men and a conscientious, disciplined soldier, who carried out his duties to the best of his ability. He was admired by all of his comrades in the Defence Force, Rodney said. Leacocks mother Ingrid, performed her rendition of I Love the Lord during which his wife, Arlene Jack-Leacock, began sobbing loudly prompting army officers and relatives to try and console her but to no avail. She briefly lost consciousness and had to be escorted out of the church and into a nearby vehicle. As the service drew to a close, a few of Leacocks children could be seen visibly distraught as they viewed the body of their father. The casket was taken to the Military Cemetery in Long Circular Road, St James, following a two-hour long procession from the church. Leacock, 43, had 17 years of service in the Defence Force. He was shot and killed at his Wallerfield home, early on Tuesday morning as he confronted four intruders who made off with a quantity of costume jewellery and his Nissan Versa car. Go green before energy costs rise This makes it imperative to ensure that buildings are designed and built to operate efficiently. This was a core message delivered by Energy Advisors in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance (REETA) project at the Trinidad and Tobago Green Building Council (TTGBC) Breakfast Seminar themed, The Business Case for Sustainability in an Energy Subsidized Economy. The seminar, the third hosted by the TTGBC, took place recently at the Courtyard Mariott, Port-of-Spain. REETA is funded by Deutsche Gesellschaft f?r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. TTs electricity price is significantly lower compared to other Caribbean islands and as a result there is little traction for green/ energy efficient buildings in TT. GIZ Energy Advisor Glynn Morris, in delivering the feature address, Energy in Buildings The Business Case for Sustainability, spoke from his experience in South Africa where electricity prices were also cheap. However, he explained, energy shocks resulted in a significant increase in electricity prices and the subsequent increase in green building practices in South Africa to reduce electricity costs. Approximately 40 percent of electricity consumption in the Caribbean is used for energy services in buildings. Traditional energy service is very inefficient and results in approximately 82 percent energy losses. Therefore, it makes business sense to invest in green buildings which use significantly less energy, less water and fewer raw materials, and produce less carbon dioxide emissions and less waste compared to traditional buildings. GIZ Energy Advisor Simon Zellner, who also spoke at the seminar, gave a pointed presentation on the actual costs of buildings. Whereas in T&T building owners tend to focus on upfront costs (Capex), Zellner demonstrated that the great majority of the cost of a building is in operations over its life cyclewhich is an argument for why buildings should be designed and built to operate efficiently. Hopefully, T&T will not wait for an electricity crisis with high tariffs like in South Africa to implement green energy efficient measures in new and existing buildings. The TTGBC Breakfast Seminar The Business Case for Sustainability in an Energy Subsidized Economy was staged with the participation of the Federal Republic of Germany. The TTGBC was founded in 2010. Its mission is to transform the way T&Ts buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. The Breakfast Seminars are part of TTGBCs objectives, which include increasing public awareness on green buildings and advocating for local policies on green building practices and standards. AG away on private business Meanwhile, former Attorney General Garvin Nicholas questioned statements made by Young at a media conference on Thursday in relation to the Strategic Services Agency (SSA). Needless to say, I am happy if indeed the perpetrator of the hoax was captured but I am also keen to know if proper procedure was followed to ensure a conviction, Nicholas said. The Interception of Communications Act authorised three office holders to apply for warrants to intercept communications: the Police Commissioner, the SSA chief and the military chief. Nicholas continued, I am therefore concerned that the acting Minister of National Security holds a press conference at the police headquarters and credits the SSA for getting info on the hoax terror caller. However, Young yesterday said he never said the SSA had played a role in Thursdays developments, which reportedly saw a hoax caller apprehended. Law enforcement agencies continue to monitor the circumstances and situations taking place in Trinidad and Tobago and work very effectively along with our intelligence services including the Strategic Services Agency, he had said on Thursday. That means what it says, Young said yesterday. The SSA is part of the intelligence services. Also, Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal yesterday accused Government of hiding from debate of a motion of censure brought against AG Al-Rawi on the dropping of a lawsuit. He said there should have been a sitting of Parliament yesterday to allow Private Members Day, the day of non-Government business. However, Government Whip Camille Robinson-Regis said there was an agreement that Private Members Day would be deferred to June. What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames news Knife threat Flagstaff police are investigating a report that an unidentified woman threatened a stranger with a knife Wednesday. According to the police report, the victim was driving southbound in the 500 block of South Milton Road when she stopped to let a pedestrian cross the street at about 2:15 p.m. The pedestrian hit the vehicle with her hand as she walked by. When the victim asked why, the pedestrian said she wanted to fight. The victim told police the woman then said she wanted to stab the victim and pulled out a large folding knife. When the victim asked why she wanted to stab her, the suspect said, "That's how we do it in California." The suspect ran westbound on South Milton Road when the victim threatened to call the police. She was described as a thin white or Hispanic woman with long, dark, reddish hair. Her teeth were black near the gums. She was wearing a bright pink T-shirt, tight blue jeans and black boots. The case has been closed with all leads exhausted. City and county residents who want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous may call Silent Witness at 774-6111 or (877) 29-CRIME, submit a tip online at www.coconinosilentwitness.org, or text the word Flagtip along with your information to 274637 (CRIMES). Rewards of up to $2,000 are given for information that leads to an arrest. A Name Change In Store For Samsung Galaxy Note 6: Find Out Why New Delhi, Sat, 28 May 2016 NI Wire Of late, Samsung has not only been in news for launching some of its recent flagships but even some other stuff. It's been said that Samsung is willing to change the name of its flagships Galaxy S as well as the Galaxy Note series. As you must have seen, it did confuse the users by launching Galaxy S6 Edge+ beside Galaxy Note 5, which despite offering all the updated features was mistaken for a generation behind owing to its name. Reports state that Samsung is planning to rename the soon to be launched Galaxy Note as Note 7 instead of the earlier kept Note 6. However, this move from Samsung appears justified as the company recent launched its S7 and S7 edge series and with Galaxy Note 7 surfacing, everything would be in sync and this would even not make people consider the new smartphone as one from older generation. Expected to release in the second half of 2016, Galaxy Note 7 has been talked about a lot and the name change too has come as a pleasant surprise. Well, the precise release date is yet to be confirmed by the company but for now we can surely check out the features the new Note device is going to offer. Expected Features Of New Note Device The all new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is said to have Qualcomm Snapdragon 823 which we believe will be 18% faster than the previous lightning Snapdragon 820 as was seen in Galaxy S7, HTC 10 as well as LG G5. In terms of power Galaxy Note 6 is going to be more efficient owing to the shift to 10nm manufacturing process. Coming to the storage part and the IP67 water resistance - Samsung has given Galaxy S7 IP68 water resistance and this is to follow for Note 6 too. The device will have 256GB UFS 2.0 of storage. As this would improve productivity which was earlier missing in Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge as they had 32GB limited storage. There are high chances of Galaxy Note 6 also incorporating the MicroSD expandable storage. Furthermore, the device is also said to have Android Greeks that would never let the Note 6 sit still and offer the same optics to Galaxy S7, similar to what Note 5 did to Galaxy S6 in 2015. While Note 6 will not have Samsung's extraordinary new sensor, it is said to enhance the previous class leading photography of Galaxy S7 which had a 12MP, F1.7 aperture, OIS. Note 6 will feature the infrared autofocus, which will help improve the photo experience. However, critics state that as Galaxy S7 too had Focus Pixels and it's already known as the fastest focusing camera smartphone, coming up with infrared autofocus might pave path for some trivial issues. Note 6 is also said to feature on USB-C, quite like Apple MacBook. It will be a reversible port, less tricky to use as compared to the regular micro USB. Also, experts suggest that if Samsung brings in the USB 3.1 standard, then Note 6 will surely back USB Power Delivery 2.0, which apparently will allow for increased power and faster charging. Plus, the USB-C would be capable of carrying HDMI/DisplayPort video, which means you could plug your Note 6 straight into a TV. Along with these speculations that highlight features of Note 6 it's heard that Note 6 would be more of a laptop-mobile hybrid whoa, if this comes true, it would certainly be a big transition by Samsung. Let's wait for Samsung to announce Note's release!! Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. As this month got underway, we brought you the unfortunate news regarding the landmark Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava at 15 West 25th Street, designed by Richard Upjohn, the architect of the Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. The 1855 building, which was the citys only house of prayer servicing the Serbian Orthodox community, was reduced to a charred stone shell on the evening of May 1, just hours after the Orthodox Easter celebration. While the church is collecting donations for reconstruction, the authorities are investigating the fenced-off site for the cause of the conflagration, while engineers keep an eye on the ruined buildings stability. The building is a New York City landmark and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Although the citys laws protect the building from further demolition, the stone shell may be torn down if ultimately deemed dangerously unstable. Fortunately, the walls appear to be structurally sound for the time being, though serious reinforcement work would be permitted only after the investigations are complete. The front of the mid-block site opens onto West 25th Street. The rear stretches to West 26th. The businesses along West 25th are open once again. Even the large parking lot immediately west of the church, which was used for staging by the emergency crews during and shortly after the fire (and a portion of which is still used for that purpose), is open for business once again, used for parking during the week and hosting the Chelsea Flea Market during weekends between 6:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The street itself is periodically closed to auto traffic whenever investigators and surveyors are working at the site. On May 24, cathedral officials posted a press release regarding the status of the structure. Our following-day site visit revealed additional details. The FDNY is currently investigating the cause of the fire, which was deemed suspicious by fire officials the day after the blaze. Engineers from Staten Island-based Rogers Surveying PLLC are also at the site, monitoring the ruin for ground movement and other signs that may indicate danger. The wooden rafters of the central nave, which once made up one of the citys largest hammerbeam roofs, collapsed on their own prior to their scheduled removal by the fire department. Only the charred rafters above the apse (the semi-circular, rear portion facing West 26th Street) remain at the moment. The church predates the citys first true steel-frame buildings by a few decades, and its stone-and-concrete walls are supported by 28 load-bearing buttresses around the perimeter. Thankfully, the walls appear to be in reasonable shape, and are not in imminent danger of collapse. Of course, the situation may change at a moments notice, so the structure is continuously monitored by survey equipment while the firefighters are at the site. No heavy-duty reinforcement construction is permitted until the investigation is complete. The structure is shored up only with cables that snake in and out of arched Gothic windows. The buildings most fragile point is the pinnacle above the rose window above the main entrance. Prior to the fire, circular tracery added rigidity to the stone facade, laterally strengthened by the wooden beams of the roof. Now, the tracery is gone along with the roof, leaving the 28th Street pinnacle supported only by the sloping walls on either side of the window, which sits well above the four buttresses that support the front facade. However, just because the pinnacle is the weakest point, it does not mean that it is in danger of imminent collapse. It appears secure enough for workers and construction equipment to maneuver in and out of the front entrance directly beneath. The only notable portion of the stone exterior that was destroyed is the tip of the western turret at West 25th Street, which was apparently knocked from its perch during fire-fighting efforts. The charred interior tells a different story, where a unique fusion of Orthodox trappings housed within a Protestant Gothic space was completely obliterated. The bust of Nikola Tesla, outside the main facade, as well as the rest of the busts and even the greenery in between, survived the blaze undamaged, protected by the heavy stone wall. Their current condition is unknown since they are concealed by the construction fence. The elaborate rectory building on the east side of the site at West 25th also survived essentially unscathed. The citys Serbian Orthodox community, which temporarily holds services at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church at 440 West 21st Street, is united in its intention to rebuild the landmark. On May 26, Patriarch Irinej, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, expressed his sympathies and a stance of solidarity with his compatriots across the ocean. In the meanwhile, the church is asking New Yorkers and the global community for help via a GoFundMe campaign. Subscribe to YIMBYs daily e-mail Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates Like YIMBY on Facebook Follow YIMBYs Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews ipolitics, by Elizabeth Thompson WINNIPEG Canada has to help support Egypt and Tunisia if it wants to prevent the troubled countries from the worlds next hot spots, says Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion. During a late afternoon foreign affairs and defence session with delegates to the Liberal Partys biennial policy convention, much of the focus was on the role that Canada could, and should, play in preventing international conflicts. One of the most important things Canada can do is to provide support for countries near the brink before the conflict escalates, Dion told delegates. I was in Tunisia and in Egypt this week two countries that are still functional, trying to become democracies, struggling to progress, he explained. But the environment is awfully difficult with the neighbours they have, the tensions, the terrorist groups that are all around. They are trying to succeed. They are asking Canada to be there and we have to respond before it is too late. That is also why Canada has stepped up support for Lebanon and Jordan, two counties adjoining Syria, he said. We need to be in Lebanon and in Jordan that is prevention. If you neglect the countries that are not in the turmoil, but have the burden of the turmoil, and are trying to stay functional and Lebanon is not easy to stay a functional state under the circumstances, said Dion, pointing out that between one quarter and one third of the population right now about 10,000 people are refugees. If we dont support these countries, then we the opportunity to have prevention and when the collapse will happen it will be much more complicated for us to figure out what to do. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said conflict around the world has risen and agreed that Canada has to get better at preventing conflict in the first place. Sajjan said Canada is dealing with significant challenges particularly when it comes to terrorist groups like ISIL. ISIL is trying to create a network. We have recruitment now from Boko Haram that is feeding into ISILAl Shabaab is feeding into ISIL. We have significant challenges in the Sinai (Peninsula) right now because of what is happening in Libya. Sajjan said it is also important for the government to understand a conflict, particularly if Canada contemplates intervening, and to follow it up with development and the right type of governance. When we look at intervention like Libya, what we have to make sure is that we do not contribute or end up creating another political vacuum because a political vacuum is what other radical organizations are looking for and it will be filled by somebody less desirable than the one that you took out. SpaceX on Friday landed its third consecutive rocket on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean, during a mission that successfully launched a commercial communications satellite to orbit. Falcon 9 has landed, a member of SpaceXs launch team confirmed about 10 minutes after a 230-foot Falcon 9 rockets 5:39 p.m. blastoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SpaceX says it hopes to re-fly a rocket for the first time later this year, using the stage landed in April during an ISS resupply mission. Whatever their condition, each recovered booster gives engineers a chance to learn more about how systems fared during flight, potentially leading to design improvements. SpaceX plans to launch another commercial satellite mission before its next ISS supply run, which is scheduled for no earlier than July 16. That mission will be the next attempting to return a Falcon 9s first stage to land. See more Rocket landing speed was close to design max and used up contingency crush core, hence back and forth motion. Prob ok, but some risk of tipping. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2016 Crush core is aluminum honeycomb for energy absorption in the telescoping actuator. Easy to replace (if Falcon makes it back to port). A buzz will soon be in the air with the arrival of mosquito season. "In the Spring you have a nuisance type of mosquitoes that hatch ... but they're generally not (West Nile mosquitoes)", Taylor said. Mosquito activity begins with the onset of warmer temperatures. Get rid of standing water. With as much rain as the area has received in recent days, the public is urged to empty objects that could serve as mosquito habitat. "We want to remind people not be complacent". ECDHD will be teaming up with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to monitor the spread of West Nile. If was from a dead bird in Douglas County, which is in east-central IL. A bird tested positive for the virus in Douglas County. The Zika and West Nile Virus have proven that. Dead birds that aren't damaged or decayed can be reported to ECDHD by calling 402-563-9656 ext. 266. Seven other batches of mosquitoes collected from the same trap in the same week tested negative, it said. West Nile virus is transmitted through the bite of mosquitoes, who pick up the virus by feeding on infected birds. Species of the Culex mosquitoes, the carrier of West Nile, already are present in Indiana. The estimated range of the Aedes albopictus - another mosquito capable of transmitting Zika - covers almost the entire state, including Greater Lafayette. Zika usually causes a mild illness with rash, joint pain, fever, headache and red eyes. Anyone who believes they may have been infected should call their doctor or hospital. In pregnant women, however, Zika can cause a serious birth defect known as microcephaly, as well as other severe fetal brain defects. The two mosquito samples were found within Stockton's 95210 area code and is the first discovery of the virus in 2016 within the county. Both traveled to countries affected by the virus. Keller says that typically takes place in the evenings, but the timing has to be just right. "We don't want Zika to become established in IN, but because we could potentially have the two species of mosquitoes that can transmit the virus, there's a chance that could happen", Purdue University medical entomologist Catherine Hill said in a press release. Additional information about West Nile virus can be found on the IDPH website. MS is reporting its first human case of West Nile virus for 2016, and the state Department of Health says it is the first in the nation this year. Nebraska has had a reported human case every year since 2002. This is also the first case in the nation for this year. Local transmission of the virus could occur when a person infected with Zika is bitten by an Aedes aegypti or A. albopictus mosquito in IN and passes the virus to the mosquito, which then infects another person when it takes its next blood meal. Bernie Sanders may be targeting California communities hit hard by the Great Recession. Or maybe hes just looking for cool backdrops for campaign footage. Photo: Ringo Chiu/AFP/Getty Images Maybe the Democratic presidential nominating contest is objectively over. But you wouldnt know if from the intensity with which both candidates are campaigning in California, the state that awards 475 pledged delegates. Bernie Sanderss decision to fight on to the bitter end of the primary season, and perhaps beyond it, has forced Clinton to spend a lot of time on the campaign trail to avoid the kind of wipe-out on June 7 that is the one thing that could actually give her opponent an upset victory. And Californias getting the sort of attention it is often denied by a late primary date and its recent noncompetitive status in presidential general elections. The Los Angeles Times Cathleen Decker has looked closely at Bernie Sanderss Golden State itinerary and discerned an interesting strategy embedded in the time he is spending in exurbs east of Los Angeles, in what is known as the Inland Empire: these are places where the housing crisis and the Great Recession hit especially hard. 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. In addition, these exurbs are close enough to the big cities that Bernies appearances get plenty of earned media. Decker notes, however, that Sanderss determination to stay on his national message is causing some misfires in these same areas: 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. Oops, as Rick Perry would say. Yesterday Clinton also made an appearance off the beaten candidate-track, holding a rally in Salinas (not far from core Bernie country on the central coast of California) that appeared mostly designed to offer an endorsement for Democratic congressional candidate Jimmy Panetta. As you might have guessed, Jimmy is the son of long-time Clinton ally Leon Panetta, who represented this area in the House before joining Bill Clintons administration as budget director and then White House chief of staff. Its actually hard to know whats normal for a presidential candidate in California. Its not like that many have shown up lately. As Californian Kevin Drum observes, they usually fly into and out of LA and San Francisco (and recently Silicon Valley) for fundraisers. The rest of the state? Just another part of flyover country. NYPD boats operating near the scene of the crash. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP A World War II-era P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane crashed into the Hudson River two miles south of the George Washington Bridge on Friday night, killing its pilot. The Associated Press reports that the vintage single engine P-47 was taking part in a promotional photo shoot for Long Islands American Airpower Museum, which owned the plane. The museum is hosting an air show and celebration of the 75th anniversary of the P-47 this weekend. According to witnesses, the plane was flying low over the Hudson when it suddenly titled down and splashed into the water at about 7:30 p.m. NBC News reports that some witnesses saw the pilot try to escape the plane, but he was apparently dragged underwater as it sank. Though at least one bystander on a nearby boat dove into the river to try and rescue the man, he did not survive the crash and his body was later recovered by police divers. The pilot, later identified by authorities as 56-year-old William Gordon, was a 25-year veteran of air shows, and was even an aerobatic competency evaluator who certified other pilots to perform low-level maneuvers. Two other planes that were flying with the P-47 were able to safely return to Republic Airport in Long Island. ABC News says that a distress signal was issued by the pilot, and the American Airpower Museum has now said that the plane suffered some kind of mechanical failure, causing the pilot to try and ditch in the Hudson. The exact cause of the crash is still being investigated, and authorities are expected to work on removing the wreckage from the river on Saturday. The plane was one of a limited number of surviving P-47s that are still airworthy, and had been used periodically in airshows over the years and had even flown twice earlier on Friday without incident. The Thunderbolt was the heaviest single-engine fighter plane to be used in World War II, and was widely praised for its performance. Some 9,000 of the planes were manufactured in Long Island. The plane can be seen splashing into the water in these videos: Actual video of WW2 Thunderbolt crashing in Hudson River, still looking for pilot #nbc4ny pic.twitter.com/LLJPTsAS3U Michael George (@mgeorge4NY) May 28, 2016 More images and videos of the aftermath: Witnesses: Plane went into Hudson River nosefirst; pilot tried to get out https://t.co/l5WMTiN4xJ pic.twitter.com/XjueVsuoov NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) May 28, 2016 Unbelievable- just got this video. Good Samaritan dives in water to search for pilot who crashed in Hudson. #nbc4ny pic.twitter.com/k9cbVSG9Ni Michael George (@mgeorge4NY) May 28, 2016 .@NYPDSpecialops on scene with the small plane crash in the Hudson River. pic.twitter.com/3IJV7QmsU1 J. Peter Donald (@JPeterDonald) May 28, 2016 .@NYPDSpecialops personnel during rescue/recovery operation for pilot of WWII replica plane from #Hudson River. pic.twitter.com/k6vnhMxCsz Sgt. Carlos Nieves (@NYPDNieves) May 28, 2016 The periodic escalation of violence in and around the separatist Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh routinely raises concerns about this conflicts threat to regional energy security and pipeline infrastructure. However, few commentaries analyze this issues broader geopolitical implications in any detail. The intense fighting between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan along the Line of Contact last monthoften referred to as the Four Days War (April 25)had serious humanitarian repercussions. But the violence also notably underscored the vulnerability of regional energy infrastructure located on Europes and the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) strategic southeastern flanknamely, the Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipelines, the South Caucasus Natural Gas Pipeline, and nearby oil and gas terminals. On April 5, the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic warned that it was prepared to carry out offensive strikes against Azerbaijans oil facilities using Iskander, Scud-B and Tochka-U systems (Newsarmenia.am, April 5). It is no secret that Armenia has already deployed anti-aircraft, air-defense and missile-defense systems in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and has held military exercises in Karabakh to simulate possible attacks and air strike scenarios on Azerbaijans oil and gas infrastructure (Azatutyun.am, October 15, 2012). Moreover, former prime minister of Armenia and current member of parliament Hrant Bagratyan, along with retired Armenian Major General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, threatened Azerbaijan with the use of nuclear weapons and dirty bombs by the Armenian side (Armtoday.info, April 29; Rusarminfo.ru, May 3). The physical security of the South Caucasus strategic energy infrastructure, as well as the continued secure transport of oil and gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, is of growing importance to the energy security of NATOs European allies. Moreover, an uninterrupted energy supply is also imperative to ensure the Alliances operational mobility abroad and to reduce its members strong dependence on any single third-party supplier. Any attack or security threat to regional energy fields, terminals, pipelines, storage sites and other transportation facilities would undermine the oil and gas flow from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to European and global markets. A similar case already occurred during the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war, when Russian military jets dropped bombs near the BTC and Baku-Supsa oil pipelines, resulting in the temporary suspension of Azerbaijani oil exports through Georgia (Stevelevine.info, August 14, 2008; see EDM, August 13, 2008). Hence, the North Atlantic Alliance has repeatedly emphasized a collective approach toward ensuring energy security. This, along with preserving a stable energy supply, maintaining the security of transportation facilities and transit routes, as well as developing NATOs competence in protecting energy infrastructure are highlighted in the Alliances Riga, Bucharest and Wales Summit Declarations as well as its 2010 Strategic Concept (Nato.int, November 29, 2006; April 3, 2008; November 1920, 2010;September 5, 2014). Although the protection of domestic infrastructure is generally entrusted to the host country or owner, todays security threats increasingly call for shared responsibility, collective endeavors and multilateral security guarantees for the protection of critical energy transit networks and facilities. NATOs security guarantee encompasses member states only, not partners. Thus, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, a vice president with the international oil firm BP, has suggested formulating a new concept for NATOa kind of Article 4.5that could contribute to the protection of critical trans-border and trans-regional energy infrastructure. This innovation would involve providing security guarantees to Azerbaijan and Georgia in the event of security threats against pipelines or energy facilities that directly or indirectly concern NATO member states. Moreover, such protection of critical energy infrastructure could be done through complementary engagement and without an over-militarization of energy security. The nature of the North Atlantic Alliances possible engagement in helping protect Azerbaijans energy infrastructure can be articulated as follows: providing defensive devices for pipelines; offering assistance for developing an air-defense system; cooperating on cyber security; sharing of intelligence; training the armed forces; accelerating consultations with NATOs relevant structures; facilitating the defensive military assistance for Azerbaijan; engaging with other public and private stakeholders; etc. (Cijournal.az, January 18). In fact, the timing of last Aprils fighting in Karabakhoccurring just a couple months before NATOs July Warsaw summitdeserves closer attention. Conspicuously, armed clashes broke out following several months of high-level supportive Western statements regarding the strategic Southern Gas Corridor currently under construction, which will deliver Azerbaijani gas across the South Caucasus, via Turkey, to Europe. In particular, the European Unions High Representative Federica Mogherini spoke supportively about this project on February 29, at the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council meeting. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made similarly positive remarks on March 30, during his meeting with Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev, at the Nuclear Security Summit, in Washington. And notably, since late last year, the construction of two key legs of the Southern Gas Corridorthe Trans-Anatolia Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP)are being accelerated, while the European Commission has approved the agreement between Greece and TAP (Eeas.europa.eu, February 29; State.gov, March 30;Apa.az, December 7, 2015; Trend.az, November 27, 2015; Europa.eu, March 3). Related: Why The Bust For Offshore Drillers Might Last Another 2 Years The timing of the April 2016 escalation in Karabakh on the eve of the upcoming Warsaw summit is even more noteworthy when looked at in retrospect. Indeed, prior to NATOs Wales summit in September 2014, a similar (but small scale) escalation occurred along the Line of Contact in August 2014 (RFE/RL August 4, 2014), and both instances of violent escalation were ultimately extinguished by Russias direct intervention. The apparent signal being sent to the Alliance via these latest clashes can, thus, be clearly deduced. The possible eruption of full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia would have a profoundly negative effect on the energy infrastructure of the entire region, but especially on that of Azerbaijan. And such a scenario would have catastrophic effects on foreign investments in the energy sector and for ongoing trans-regional energy projects, such as the Southern Gas Corridor. As such, the unresolved Karabakh conflict is a great concern not only to the parties immediately involved, but to NATO and the broader West as well. By Ilgar Gurbanov via Jamestown.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Well, this is unsettling. Grace Bonjean just wanted to have a nice hot cup of joe at her home in Fredonia on Tuesday. But when she opened the brand new can of Great Value Classic Decaf ground coffee shed bought a few days earlier at the Saukville Walmart Supercenter, she discovered the tinfoil cover had already been torn back and there was, um, a partially cracked egg sitting in there. So, yeah. Thats definitely not supposed to happen! You can have eggs with your coffee but not eggs in your coffee! (Well, actually, egg coffee is apparently a real Vietnamese drink thing consisting of egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and Robusta coffee, but guessing that's not what was going on here.) Anyway, after getting over her initial, understandable reaction which she says was "Oh my God! What the heck? What in the world?" Bonjean showed the can with mystery egg to her husband Rod, who was equally dismayed and suspected possible food tampering. Bonjean posted the distressing story to Facebook and then contacted a few local news outlets, including this one, mentioning that "I think there is still something in that shell, like a bird or something." Weird! We called her Friday to get some more information. Bonjean said there were coffee grounds in the egg and egg in the coffee grounds, and it was just a whole, big, gross mess. "All I know is Im glad it wasnt at the bottom of the can. What if I was a really old lady? It could have been fatal," she says of the shock. There was a 1-800 number on the can next to the expiration date, which she says showed February, 2017 and that day she talked to a Walmart customer service representative in Arkansas. She says the woman with whom she spoke seemed unalarmed, or at least not surprised. "It didnt even faze her," Bonjean says, noting on Facebook that "apparently this must have happened before." Later, she spoke with another representative, this time from Louisiana, who instructed her to pack the can in a UPS box the company would send her and then ship it back so Walmart could examine it. "I told her this had to be done on purpose cause a chicken or any other kind of fowl just don't look for coffee cans to lay their eggs in," Bonjean wrote on Facebook. She says she was told she would receive a refund. Walmart started selling affordable organic food a couple years ago and it was good big news but presumably the retail giant did not intend to be selling that organic food inside the containers of other products. On Friday, we contacted the Saukville Walmart, but the store declined comment ("We cant comment on anything"), and then talked to a Walmart national spokesperson. He said Bonjean "did exactly what she was supposed to do" by calling the company and sending the can back but would not speculate on whether the problem might have been with Walmart or the third-party manufacturer, Great Value. "If it was manufactured by someone separate than Walmart, what can we say?" he said. OK, sure. And had the coffee can been sealed, the blame may indeed be on the manufacturer. But, according to Bonjean, the inside tinfoil cover had already been ripped and pulled up when she opened the lid. She wonders whether it might have been a disgruntled employee or some sort of "sabotage." On Facebook, a friend of Bonjeans shared a similarly disturbing tale in a comment. "I bought some Walmart breakfast pork sausage once. It had worms in it. They crawled around as I was frying it. They didn't even care. Disgusting," she wrote. The company didn't care, that is; the worms no doubt cared a great deal about being fried. Bonjean says shes not going to buy food at the controversial mega-corporation anymore ("I can still buy clothes there," she assures). Of course, you can't make a $200 billion omelette without breaking a few eggs and then, one supposes, putting them in cans of decaf. But if Bonjean's looking for a new coffee purveyor, there are plenty of great local choices, including Anodyne, Colectivo, Stone Creek and Valentine. Or if you want to literally put all your eggs in one basket, there's always Aldi for everything. All right, no more bad egg quips (haha, bad egg). Sorry. But yeah, so maybe we don't buy our coffee at Walmart anymore, OK you guys? 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 permitted 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 public's 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 public's 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 public's skepticism is now directed at Saudi Arabia, and the public's outrage is directed at the US government for covering up for the Saudis. Possible reasons that the report can't 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 Saudi's 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 Washington's 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 villain 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 Saudi's explanation of 9/11. It makes more sense than the official story. Bernie Sanders has won primaries and caucuses in 20 states. Hillary Clinton has won in 23 (not counting US protectorates, etc.). She, in fact, leads Senator Sanders by only 8% in pledged delegates. Since superdelegates are not counted right up until the roll call vote at the Democratic convention, until that time, the contest between Clinton and Sanders can only be judged by pledged delegates. And judging from the basic numbers, the difference between the two candidates is bordering on statistically insignificant. Yet, to hear the punditry, it should be a given that whomever ends up with the most delegates at convention time should be regarded as the winner. But the fact of the matter is that Hillary Clinton will, at best, come to the convention quite short of the 2382 pledged delegates necessary to earn the nomination, and Bernie Sanders within only a few percentage points of her. This is a fact, a fact strictly in accord with the democratic party's own rules governing the selection of their nominee. The party has itself decided that it does not, and will not, grant any candidate the right to be its nominee without achieving that magic number of 2382. There is no "winner take all" when it comes to leading in pledged delegates at Democratic convention time. And Bernie Sanders is no longer a "marginal" candidate. His claim to the nomination, when viewed objectively, is really not significantly different from Hillary Clinton's. The only real difference at this point is that of Mrs. Clinton being the candidate of choice by the Democratic Party establishment. There is no popular cry for her to be so anointed. She is hardly "the people's choice." Quite the contrary: she is in fact a very unpopular candidate. We need not go over the polling numbers once again to document this point, or the fact that Ms. Clinton is now about even with Trump nationally, while Sanders is beating him by as much as 15 points. The drumbeat to a "Clinton Coronation" is yet another illusion manufactured by the popular media. If Sanders were in the delegate lead now, would there still be this perception of "inevitability"? Or would the establishment be running to Joe Biden, or figuring out some way to invalidate Senator Sanders' "democratic right" to be the nominee? The fact of the matter is, technically, the contest for the Democratic nomination isn't even a "horse race" right now. It's virtually a dead heat. Hillary and Bernie (Image by YouTube, Channel: TheYoungTurks) Details DMCA (Article changed on May 28, 2016 at 10:54) (Article changed on May 28, 2016 at 11:05) Reprinted from Campaign For America's Future Members of Congress are weighing in against the U.S. government's use of "gunboat diplomacy"-style intimidation of Colombia against that country allowing a generic version of an ultra-expensive cancer drug named Gleevec in order to protect the public's health. Meanwhile, a coalition of nonprofit groups sent a letter to President Obama on Friday expressing "great alarm" that the U.S. is considering withholding aid to Colombia because of its plan to allow the use of a generic competitor to Gleevec. "Gunboat Diplomacy" Last week's post "Is This The Return Of U.S. 'Gunboat Diplomacy' Serving Corporations?" explained how the U.S. government was threatening Colombia in non-trade-related ways because Colombia was objecting to the outrageous pricing of a cancer drug and was legally going to allow companies to make generic versions. The kicker: The drug in question isn't even made by an American company. "Colombia is allowing local production of a generic form of a cancer drug that is ultra-expensive because of a government-granted monopoly handed to a giant, multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The U.S. government is stepping in on the corporation's side with a modern form of 'gunboat diplomacy' -- even though the giant corporation isn't even 'American.' "[...] There are indications that right after Colombia enabled local production of a generic version of Gleevec, the U.S. government stepped in to protect pharmaceutical industry profits by threatening to withdraw funding for a peace initiative between the Colombian government and the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and threatening the country's involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)." "Thankfully, now there exists the greatest opportunity for a lasting peace in Colombia in a generation, and U.S. assistance through the Paz Colombia aid package will play an integral role in consolidating such a peace through support and monitoring," said the nonprofit coalition letter to Obama, endorsed by groups that included the AFL-CIO, Institute for Policy Studies, Public Citizen and the Presbyterian and United Church of Christ denominations. "It is wholly inappropriate, reprehensible, and intolerable for anyone from your administration or the U.S. Congress to ask Colombia to choose between peace and its people's health." Congress Members Weigh In Earlier this week, 15 members of Congress sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman expressing their concern about the pressure. The letter says, "There are growing concerns about the very high and increasing costs of pharmaceuticals in the United States and in other nations. And the annual cost of this medicine in Colombia is almost twice as high as the average annual income per person in Colombia. As policymakers struggle to address this issue, we should not seek to limit the existing, agreed upon flexibilities public health authorities have to address these concerns." On Thursday, senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) sent a letter of their own to USTR Froman. The letter says, "We object to any efforts to intimidate and discourage Colombia's government from taking measures to protect the public health of Colombians in a way that is appropriate, effective and consistent with the country's trade and public health obligations. We also find it unconscionable that any representatives of the U.S. Government would threaten to rescind funding for Colombia's peace initiative if a compulsory license for Gleevec were issued." This situation is not getting much attention in the "corporate media." Chabahar port agreement is not limited to three countries: Iranian ambassador ISLAMABAD: Addressing tensions surrounding Chabahar, Mehdi Honerdoost, 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. Speaking on Pakistan-Iran relations at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad (ISSI), the envoy revealed that the offer to cooperate had first been extended to Pakistan and then China, implying neither had expressed interest. Ahmed Saffee, a research fellow at the ISSI, quoted the Iranian envoy as saying that the deal is still on the table for both Pakistan and China, assuring that Chabahar is not a rival to Gwadar. 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. We are ready for any rapprochement between regional countries which directly impact the interests of the people of our countries. Trade and business is business, and politics is politics. We should separate them. Honerdoost reiterated that trade and business is a key element to bringing peace to the region, and that Iran has friendly trade relations with its neighbours and regional powers, including Turkey, China and Russia. According to Saffee, the envoy called for cooperation between Pakistani and Iranian universities to increase people-to-people contact, especially between the youth, a major demographic in both countries. Iran has undergone the burden of sanctions and international isolation. After the P5+1 deal, Iran is invigorated. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday signed a three-way transit agreement on Iran's 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 port at Chabahar expands a trade route for the land-locked countries of central Asia that bypasses Pakistan, and represents a missed opportunity for Pakistan as post-sanctions Iran opens up. The deal and plans were announced during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first such trip in more than a decade. Honerdoost denied former Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour came to Pakistan from Iran, saying the Afghan Taliban is an enemy of Iran as well. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mansour was coming to Pakistan after visiting family in Iran. Iran, however, has repeatedly denied that Mansour entered Pakistan from the Islamic republic. Iran would never allow any spy agency or terrorist group to use Iranian territory against Pakistan, Honderdoost said. Iran's territory was never used and will not be used for terror and against Pakistan, Saffee quoted the ambassador as saying. A number of Iranian diplomats were killed by [the Taliban], then how could Iran give space to Taliban leader Mullah Mansour? The Iranian envoy also said there was 'misreporting' on the issue of Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav's arrest and his links with Chabahar, referring to the Indian spy captured in Balochistan, whose suspected base of operations was the Iranian port. The envoy expressed disappointment that official-level meetings which had gone 'very well' during Rouhani's visit to Pakistan, the first by an Iranian leader in 14 years had been overshadowed by 'vested interests'. In March, Iranian news agencies had slammed certain elements in Pakistan for spreading undignified and offensive remarks in the media attributed to Iranian President Rouhani regarding Jadhavs arrest. For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser MOREAU How many people does it take to change a power pole? On May 12, a driver got distracted for a moment, crossed the yellow lines and crashed into a pole on Route 9, near the intersection with Route 197. The pole fell sideways into its wires, which held it up, State Police said. The next day, National Grid workers surveyed the damage. But they didnt remove the pole. We cut off the top part of the pole, which is where are lines are, said National Grid spokesman Patrick Stella. The pole was left leaning against cable wires and Verizon lines. Stella emphasized that National Grid workers determined the power lines were held in place by power poles to either side of the damaged pole. They measured the amount of sag and determined the lines were a safe distance above the ground. Were OK on our end, Stella said. Then workers put cones around the broken pole and left. They notifed Verizon to deal with the rest, Stella said. Number one, were not having any problem with our line. Number 2, we dont want to hurt anything underground, he said. There is a Verizon fiber-optic cable underground, so workers couldnt remove the pole without Verizon marking the location of the cable, he said. The poles usually go 6 feet deep. If we take this down, we could disturb something, Stella said. They would do the same for us if it was a gas line. This happens all the time, and usually the utilities work out who will do it. A Verizon spokesman said he couldnt explain why the pole had been left broken for two weeks. Verizon union workers have been on strike since April 13, but the spokesman, who did not give his name, said he wouldnt know whether the strike contributed to the slow response. U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced Friday that the union and Verizon had reached an agreement on a new contract, which must now be put in writing and presented to the union members for a vote. Perez said he expected Verizon workers to be back on the job at some point next week. Speaking on Radio Ghanas Behind the News, Mr. Ennin said: The ECG cannot give cash to affected persons; it is impossible but we will get this issue resolved. There has been huge public outcry over the over-billing of electricity consumers following a software malfunction in the ECGs billing system. The Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy and the energy distributor met on Friday to discuss the issue but the meeting was inconclusive. Another meeting has been scheduled for next Tuesday. Mr. Ennin indicated that the committee will among other things recommend that some of the people who are involved, those who did not do their work well, we will recommend that they sanction them because its a serious issue. He criticized the management of the company for taking Ghanaians for a ride with their explanation that the problem was due to political metering. Do politicians know how to install meters? If anything at all, it must come from the inside of ECG because it is a technical thing, it is a specialised thing to install a meter and so if politicians are doing that, who are installing it for the politicians? Dont let them take us for a ride. We need a holistic introspection of how we are going to handle this ECG thing, he said during an interview on Radio Ghana. The Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC) earlier this week ordered ECG to suspend the use of its billing system software which was over-billing consumers. The Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy has promised to get the matter resolved and figure out ways through which affected consumers will be compensated. According to Mr. Jantuah, if the inefficiency challenges facing are not resolved, it will give government the launching pad to privatize the power distributor. He suggested that the issues affecting ECG but be critically looked at because the problem of ECG can be managed by Ghanaians. I dont want to use some words, I think everybody has his opinion, everybody is entitled to his opinion, Im talking as a security person, and I know where Im coming from and I know what has happened, Kudalor was quoted by Classfmonline as saying. The world is now a global village and we have to compare with best practices, so, I dont see what they are talking about. If it gets to the crunch I think there is nothing that can stop anybody from going that way if its necessary, he added. He came under fire on Thursday for suggesting a ban on social media in the Ugandan style. The Ugandan government shut down social media on election day in what president Yoweri Museveni called a security measure to avert lies.Many were particularly shocked that the IGP measured Ghana against Uganda, a country that stifles press freedom and coerce opposition forces. EO of Pop Out Ghana, Maximus Ametorgoh told Pulse.com.gh on Thursday that the IGPs proposal was illegal and inefficient way of policing public commentary on November 7. The IT Consultant who was disappointed in the idea by the police, said it is a lazy way of trying to forestall any kind of misinformation on the day. The idea should not be entertained. It doesnt help our democratic credentials. How will people express their views about what is going on that day, he asked. In 2014, the Court ruled that the card was an unconstitutional document which cannot be used to confer citizenship. Two plaintiffs; the Peoples National Conventions Abu Ramadan and one Evans Nimako therefore, went to the Supreme Court this year to ask for the removal of names of persons who used NHIS cards as proof of nationality to register with the EC. The Court thus ordered That the Electoral Commission takes steps immediately to delete or as is popularly known clean the current register of voters to comply with the provisions of the 1992 Constitution, and applicable laws of Ghana. There has been since arguments relating to the exact interpretation of the Superior Courts ruling on the matter. Justice Dotse earlier this week told the media that the Electoral Commission (EC) must delete names of persons who registered with their NHIS cards as proof of identity. we [Supreme Court] said the use of the NHIS cards is therefore unconstitutional and it should take the opportunity to clean the register of those undesirable persons, he said. However, rule 3 (9) of the code of conduct for Judges and Magistrates, states that (9) Except as otherwise provided in the section, a Judge shall abstain from public comment about a pending or impending proceeding in any court, and shall require similar abstention on the part of court personnel. ALSO READ: Toolz tries to cover up first kiss with her handfan YBNL boss, Olamide Baddo has joined in posting his good wishes for the couple on social media. The rapper who is not at the event of the wedding shared a picture of the couple on his Instagram page and captioned the pic with the words; "Congrats #Tsquared2016 @toolzo @captdemuren God bless your new home." The rapper joins a host of popular names including Dija, Toke Makinwa, Lola Maja and others in pouring out their love for the celebrity OAP and her boo as they marry today. Wizkid also posted the same picture of the couple, however with a different caption. The Starboy is wishing the couple all the best, of course, but expresses his bitter disappointment at not being able to make the ceremony. "God bless your new home X !!! Still mad I'm missing this!!" he wrote. Another celebrity who has nothing but good words for the couple is Mavins' first lady, Tiwa Savage who flew out to Dubai to celebrate the big day with the couple. Tiwa, who looks stunning in a Bridgett Awosika dress and had her face beat by Joyce Jacob Beauty, posted lovely pictures of herself at the event and wrote: "Celebrating two beautiful people today #tsquared2016 Wishing you a wonderful married life." ALSO READ: Bride tries to cover up first kiss with her handfan There have been whispers that the relationship adviser is absent from the ceremony because an invitation letter was not forwarded to her, but Miss Toke is apparently not letting any of that get to her. In the post, she congratulates the newly married couple, and revealed her regret at not being there to celebrate with them. "Happy married life guys.... Hate that I'm not there today, here is wishing you God's blessings as you both begin this journey #tsquared2016" she wrote. Apparently, Toke Makinwa could not make the wedding because she had a friend's wedding to attend in Lagos today, as suggested by the photo above which was also posted on her Instagram earlier today. The actress gave out food items to the orphanage before dashing off to surprise the kids at the Sweet Sensation Childrens party in Isheri. The kids there took an instant liking to her and were thrilled at her presence. See some pictures from the outing above. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! The President's achievements on security, economy, corruption, judiciary, environment, power and national image were released as the President celebrates the democracy day on Sunday, May 29, 2016. ON SECURITY The relocation of the Nigerian Military Command Centre to Maiduguri, since May 2015, contributed to the success in the fight against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country. As at February 2016, the total number of persons rescued by the Nigerian troops during the ongoing operations in the North East came to 11,595 Since December 2015, the well-motivated and rejuvenated Nigerian Military have regained all Nigerian territories previously under Boko Haram control. Prioritized regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and violent extremism, through the operations of the 8,500 strong Multi-National Joint Task Force in NDjamena, the capital of Chad, currently headed by a Nigeria military general. Nigeria has provided $21million USD to the Task Force since June 2015 and is committed to an additional $79 million USD, bringing the total of Nigerias commitment to the Task Force to 100 million USD. Cohesive international support in the fight against terrorism and assistance to victims and communities affected by terrorism, following President Buharis meeting with G7 leaders and other world powers. In May 2016, Nigeria hosted a Regional Security Summit to boost military operations against Boko Haram and forge a global support for the rehabilitation of the IDPs and rebuilding of the North East. In June 2015, the United States announced a 5-million-dollar support for the fight against the terrorists in the sub-region. In April 2016, during the visit to Ms Samantha Power, the U.S Ambassador to the UN to Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, the U.S Government further announced an additional $40 million USD for humanitarian assistance in the sub-region Recruitment of additional 10,000 persons into the Nigeria Police Force is ongoing. The recruitment will address the manpower gap which currently exists in the Nigeria Police Overhaul of the dysfunctional topmost hierarchy of the Nigerian military which resulted in optimal result and degradation of the Boko Haram elements. Was able to bring back our hitherto military allies; which saw the United States and UK governments commit their resources to the fight against the insurgents after previously backing out of negotiations with the previous administration. The Israeli government has also indicated interest in the fight against insurgency. Introduction of the motor cycle battalion (This is so that the Nigerian Army can travel to remote areas that were not accessible to cars/trucks) Realigned our partnership with regional allies by embarking on foreign visits which resulted in bilateral and multilateral agreements to tackle insecurity back home. No more roadblocks and curfews, which normally impeded free flow of movement. Continuous monitoring of activities in the region of war through the use of satellite images and geographical information system is helping in fighting insurgency and strategizing against the enemy. The trips to our neighbouring countries showed the resolve of the President to push Boko Haram elements out of existence by going for the jugular of the group, cutting their arms, food supply routes. Support has thus been mobilized through the Multinational Joint Task Force. Another major stride is the Trans National Organized Crime (TNOC) where the president got partnership with regional allies in the fight against the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons. As part of the reconfigured military partnership, the United States donated 24 mine-resistant armoured vehicles (MRAP) which had protected the Nigerian troops from the menace of Improvised Explosive Devices. Today we have less causalities. Reached out to the G7 countries and achieved the following: intelligence sharing; technical military training; arms deals/donations Overhauling of NIMASA. A reversed policy of the past administration where national infrastructural assets were given to militia leaders to protect as against established bodies like the Nigerian Navy was stopped. The President Buhari government has drafted the army to partner with other security agencies in ensuring the security of our national infrastructure and this is already yielding the desired results. A major ring of pipeline vandals in Lagos state were captured recently in a joint operation by security forces led by the army. The government has renewed its fight against oil bunkering The Nigerian Navy has recorded tremendous success lately in apprehending vessels used by oil thieves. This operation has improved security on our water ways and it has also helped improve the revenue of government. Deployment of sophisticated weapons to ensure vandalism is contained by setting up a pipeline security force in stamping out the menace. Effective Management of the Separatist Biafran Movement Improving the technical capacity of Nigerian Police Force. We now have a forensic lab and GSM tracking device. We now have a more IT integrated Police force. Restructuring of Nigerian Immigration to stop cross border crimes. NSCDC has become more proactive in the prevention of pipeline vandalization, with arrest of several pipeline vandals. Joint operations involving various security outfits in curbing the menace of the herdsmen in the country has been set up. The use of surveys and updated mappings across the country as strategies for preventing threats among ethnic groups in Nigeria. ON CORRUPTION Right from the moment he won the Presidential Election in 2015, the impression of the President as a no nonsense and incorruptible leader sent a signal to looters of public funds, with many of them returning funds that had been stolen under the previous administration. To create a frame work for prosecuting the war against corruption and institutionalize probity, President Buhari set up an Advisory Committee on War Against Corruption. The anti-corruption battle is gaining ground with several high profile cases already in the courts. The administration is being guided by the rule of law in the prosecution of corruption cases. President Buhari enlisted the support of multilateral institutions like the World Bank and IMF, security agencies, Western countries and other friendly nations to locate and repatriate stolen assets. At a London summit on anti-corruption, President Buhari announced that Nigeria will begin the full implementation of the principles of the OPEN contracting data standards. In the first quarter of 2016, President Buhari embarked on trips to the Middle East to sensitize the governments on the need to repatriate stolen assets and hand over the looters for trial in Nigeria. In January, Nigeria and UAE signed Judicial Agreements on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters. In March 2016, the Federal Government and the Swiss Government signed a Letter of Intent On the Restitution of Illegally-Acquired Assets forfeited in Switzerland. Under the agreement, Switzerland will repatriate $ 321 million USD illicitly acquired by the Gen. Sani Abacha family. In March 2016, the Presidential Committee set up to probe contracts awarded by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2011 to 2015 announced the recovery of over N7 billion from indicted companies and individuals. ON ECONOMY Implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has provided greater visibility of government revenues and cash flows. Between June 2015 and April 2016, the Federal Government TSA collection clocked N3trillion. To further instill fiscal discipline, President Buhari directed the closure of all multiple accounts in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, thereby plugging loopholes for leakages with new technology. The opaque accounting structure of the NNPC has been reconstructed to be more transparent with the closure of more than 40 accounts. As a corporate entity, NNPC is now accountable and more transparent in operations, publishing its monthly financial reports. The President also resolved the lingering shadowy oil swap deals that had cost the country billions of dollars and left it at the mercy of a few rich Nigerians. To alleviate the suffering of Nigerians in September 2015, President Buhari directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to disburse N689.5 billion as bailout to 27 states of the federation to pay salaries. To stimulate the economy and reduce poverty, in April, 2016, President Buhari approved deferment in the payment of the bailout as states were still reeling under the burden of the fall in commodity prices. Records of more than 34,000 ghost workers draining the nations resources were expunged from the Federal Civil Service, saving N2.29 billion monthly. In 2015, President Buhari ruled out the appointment of a government delegation for pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. By this decision, the government saved about one million U.S dollars and N30m of local expenses Enforcement of the Bank Verification Number: Also the BVN has ensured that the menace of "ghost workers" are being identified and dealt with, while looters with multiple accounts can no longer hide their loot undetected. Social Protection: Groundwork for social intervention/palliatives for the poor is being put in place as data is being collated by the economic planning office of the VP in conjunction with the World Bank. Reorganization/restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a focused, accountable and transparent institution with autonomous Units (Upstream; Downstream, Gas & Power; Refineries; Ventures and lean Group Headquarters) Reduction of operational deficits in NNPC by over 50% as at March 2016 as a result of Increased Transparency and Commercial focus Conduct of NNPC outstanding Annual Audits from 2011 to 2014, and the publication of Monthly Financial and Operations Reports to ensure transparency Introduction of third party financing in order to eliminate direct funding of cash calls by the Federal Government Renegotiation of existing service contracts under Joint Venture and Production sharing contracts (PSC) Operations by about 30% leading to operational efficiency improvements and cost reductions Elimination of the Offshore Processing Agreement (OPA) through the introduction of the Direct Sales and Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme with reputable off-shore refineries thereby yielding annual savings of US$1 billion Resuscitation of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries presently producing about 7 million litres of products per/day Repair of products pipe lines and the resuscitation of supply of products from Atlas Cove-Mosimi- Ibadan- Ilorin after a six year lull Repairs of Escravos/ Warri and Bonny/Port Harcourt crude oil pipe lines Introduction of a Price Modulation framework for downstream petroleum product pricing to encourage responsiveness to market dynamics Guided deregulation of the downstream sector to allow market forces determine product price and eliminate subsidy payments Introduction of the initiative on refinery co-location to increase domestic refining capacity and minimize the drain on scarce foreign exchange for product importation Commenced policy reforms for gas monetization, flare out and infrastructure development, to fast track power supply and economic diversification. ON POWER Under President Buhari, the Federal Government agreed to a 50 million Euro (about N11.15 billion) loan agreement with French government for capacity-building and upgrade of power training facilities in Nigeria. Nigeria signed a $237 million agreement with World Bank to improve power. Chinese solar power manufacturers agreed with the Federal Government to set up solar panel manufacturing business in Nigeria. President Buhari has signed an agreement with the Chinese government to improve Nigerias power infrastructure ON ENVIRONMENT Presidential approval for the Implementation of United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report 2010 for the clean-up of Ogoniland with regards to oil pollution and inclusion of stakeholders in the process of implementation. Continuation of the implementation of the Great Green Wall project to fight and contain desertification in Northern Nigeria initiated by past administration. ON JUDICIARY Since assumption of office, President Buhari has maintained a clear stance on the rule of law and respect for separation ofpowers. The President has focused on the strengthening of institutions with key appointment of professionals.Appointment of 30 new Federal High Court Justices ON NATIONAL IMAGE On assumption of office, the President undertook some foreign trips both within and outside Africa to re-establish Nigerias position in the global arena and solicit support for Nigeria and Africa. President Buhari has continually pushed the agenda for enhancing Nigerias global image by always demonstrating Nigerias credentials in the 2015 general elections, which saw the country scoring high on peaceful transition. Mr Andrew Bala, FRSC Public Education Officer in the state, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Jos. Bala said that the offenders were arrested and convicted by a mobile court on Friday. He said the exercise took place on some highways in Jos and Bukuru metropolis. According to him, mobile court has become one veritable tool that the corps uses to curtail the many anomalies on highways, with a view of reducing road traffic crashes. ''The most prevalent offences motorists were convicted for were overloading, use of worn-out tyres, vehicle licence violation, and driver's licence violation. ''Others were, use of cell phone while driving, seat belt violation and lack of caution signs,'' he explained. The Team Leader, Assistant Comptroller Shittu Almaruf, made the disclosure in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday in Lagos. Almaruf said that the seizures were made on May 19, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. ``Similarly, the team in another operation intercepted a bus along the Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode Expressway, laden with 542 cartons of foreign frozen poultry products, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes him as saying. Almaruf said that his squad was saddled with the responsibility of enforcement of the fiscal policies of the Federal Government with regard to trade, in conjunction with other anti-smuggling arms of the NCS. He said that after the seizures were made, the truck was taken to the Customs House in Abeokuta, alongside the Mini-bus conveying the frozen poultry products, where 100 per cent examination was conducted. ``The items were subjected to 100 per cent examination to ascertain the quantity of items seized; following which they were converted to seizures in line with Sections 46 & 47 of the Customs Management Act, Cap 45 LFN, Almaruf said. Almaruf further said that the team had been taking anti-smuggling campaign to all nooks and crannies of Ogun. Giving reasons for seizure of the generators, he said that the ``Nigeria Customs is merely enforcing a law which emanated from a memo of the Federal Ministry of Environment advising the Government on the health implication. ``This ban came into effect on April 28, 2011, and was officially gazetted in May of the same year. ``You will recall that the Federal Government gazette No 47 Volume 98, stated categorically that the purpose of this regulation is to restore, preserve and improve the quality of air, NAN quotes Almaruf as saying. He said that the interception was intended to safe guard the citizens right and access to clean air; reduce and prevent air pollution; and improve the health of Nigerians, especially in urban areas with high incidence of air pollution. ``With regard to the seized frozen poultry products, we are not relenting in our efforts to protect the health of Nigerians as well as the huge investments of our local farmers. ``We will continue to frustrate the efforts of the smugglers until they hearken to the voice of reason. ``These products, apart from the fact that they fall under the import prohibition list, are also very detrimental to human health; hence not good for consumption, Almaruf said. The team leader commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Retired Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and the management for their support on logistics and provision of the necessary tools of operations. He said that the Headquarters Compliance Team was endowed with officers and men with the requisite capacity, competence and wherewithal to fight smugglers. Almaruf said that the team had faced series of hostilities by miscreants and street urchins who pretended to be smugglers. He said that such pressure would not deter the team from performing its constitutional duty of suppressing smuggling activities to its barest minimum. Almaruf, however, said that his team, alongside other anti-smuggling arms, would always protect the interest of compliant importers and their representatives, in line with the legitimate trade facilitation policy of the NCS. According to Sahara Reporters, the military arrived the community in at least four warships in search of Niger Delta Avengers. In another report by Vanguard Newspaper, the army had laid siege and started shooting sporadically at about 8.44 am, causing more confusion in the riverine town. ALSO READ: Speaking to Vanguard, the Ijaw leader, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, said Soldiers have started shooting in Oporoza as I speak to you now, I do not know the casualty, but they are shooting right now, the whole town is in turmoil. Speaking further, Gbenekama said,'I am crying on behalf of my people, we have been saying before now that we do not know what the military is looking for in Oporoza, they have come two times before now in the last few weeks. We said then that they were looking for excuse to start shooting, now they are shooting, we do not know what will happen after the shooting.' Mohammed spoke during the funeral of Bassey at his country home, Ifa Ikot Okpon, in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom on Saturday. The minister, who was represented by Mrs Victoria Agba-Attah, Deputy Director, Public Relations and Protocol, said that Basseys humility and hard work endeared him to his colleagues.According to him, Bassey who worked in about 12 ministries was a dutiful and intelligent officer, who had an impressive outing in his chosen career in the Federal Civil Service. In fact, he was very humble. This you can see why he was able to serve so many ministers during his career in the Federal Civil Service. His death is a very painful loss not only to his immediate family but the ministry as well, he said. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Mrs Edima Okon Bassey, wife to the deceased said that her husband was faithful and caring. My husband was a very humble man, caring father to his two beautiful angels (daughters). He lived his lives for others and for us, his immediate family. It has pleased God to call him to glory. We will live with his legacy, his love. We that he has left behind will continue with his legacy, she said. Also speaking to NAN, Mr Tommy Okon, President of Akwa Ibom Community in Abuja, described late Bassey as a man of many parts. Okon said that the deceased ``abandoned himself to serve other people's need during his life time.In his sermon, Pastor Victor Greatman, charged the living to live a life worthy of emulation while on earth. NAN Correspondent who monitored the exercise reports that accreditation and voting started simultaneously around 8:30am in most of the polling units, with proceedings gong on peacefully. An Assistant Presiding officer at Angwan Dallatu polling unit of Nasarawa central ward in Nasarawa Local Government Area, Mr. Ahmed Mohammed, told NAN that accreditation and voting took place same time to ensure that nobody was disenfranchised . However, Mr. Abubakar Ibrahim, an All Progressive Congress (APC) agent at the ward, expressed concern over malfunctioning of the card readers. My problem is with the card readers; they are not functioning well the way we had expected; we want transparent and peaceful election, he said Mr. Mohammed Umar, a voter, described the exercise as peaceful and commended Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for their arrangement towards ensuring peaceful election. At Angwan Girku 1 polling unit of Nasarawa Local Government Area, Miss Aisha Audu, a voter also expressed satisfaction with the peaceful conduct of the exercise. She however decried low turnout of voters and attributed it to the unfilled promised made some by politicians and hardship currently faced by the people. Other polling units visited by NAN in the area includes Madaki 1, Madaki 2, Angwan Maireke and Angwan Dutse 2 polling units among others Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Hoping to increase pressure on the government of President Joseph Kabila, three of Obama's fellow Democrats, senators Richard Durbin, Edward Markey and Christopher Murphy, said on Friday they had introduced a Senate resolution this week calling on Kabila's government to fulfill its constitutional mandate for a democratic transition of power late this year. They called for targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, until Kabila publicly commits to a peaceful transition of power. Their action reflected growing international worry over the situation in the African nation. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced concern about reports of rising political tension due to uncertainty about the presidential election. [L2N18M1T3] Dozens of Kabila critics have been arrested since last year as part of what the United Nations and rights groups say is an escalating crackdown on political dissent ahead of a presidential election scheduled for November. Kabila is ineligible to stand for re-election after serving two elected terms, but opponents accuse him of trying to delay the poll to hold onto power. Congo's highest court ruled last week that the president could stay in power if elections did not occur by the end of his mandate. On Thursday, a protester and a police officer were killed in Goma, in the eastern part of the country, during protests against a possible elections delay. The United Nations said dozens of people were arrested. Opposition leaders accuse Kabila of stalling the vote in order to extend his 15-year rule, which the president denies. There is bipartisan support for U.S. action to address the situation. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee's Africa subcommittee, told Reuters in a brief interview this week that he felt sanctions would be appropriate and had discussed them with U.S. State Department officials. It was not immediately clear whether the purchase of further luxury cars, which currently include a Range Rover, a Land Rover and Audi sedans, would be cut back, but opposition parties said it was a political ploy ahead of local elections. Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has backed him after numerous scandals, faces a tough battle at local polls on Aug. 3, with opponents blaming the president for the low economic growth. Presidential spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said the review was triggered by "a very difficult economic climate. Elections or no elections." He said Zuma had called for austerity measures in government to cope with a weak economy during his state of the nation address in February. Police Minister Nathi Nhleko, who disclosed the cost of the cars this week in parliament in response to questions by opposition parties, said a total of eleven vehicles had been purchased for Zuma's wives between 2013 and 2016. WATERLOO How to address the root causes that led to the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement was not only the first question posed to U.S. Senate Democratic candidates Saturday in Waterloo, but it also set the tone for the remainder of the debate. Three of the four Democratic candidates who are vying in the June 7 primary to take on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, met in Waterloo for an opportunity to address the concerns of the African-American community. Black lives matter. Period, said Rob Hogg, an Iowa senator from Cedar Rapids. My fundamental belief is that America is a better and stronger country because of our racial and our religious diversity. Hogg, bankruptcy attorney Tom Fiegen and veterans advocate Bob Krause met for 90 minutes at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, the fourth contender in the primary, had another commitment in Des Moines. Hogg pointed to work done at the state level to address minority issues, including support for criminal justice reform and so-called ban-the-box legislation that would remove questions about a persons criminal history from an initial application. Both Hogg and Fiegen pointed to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as a person who divides people and a reason Democrats need to be successful in the general election. People start to think of us versus them, and were seeing some political discourse from people running, particularly from Donald Trump, on us versus them, Fiegen said. I think weve got to talk about this as all of us, as a part of one community. Fiegen also suggested police training and reduced reliance on military equipment as a way to make law enforcement more about public safety. Krause pointed to his efforts during his tenure as a Waterloo School Board member to increase representation of east side residents on the board as a way of showing his support for giving African-Americans a voice in government. The candidates mostly stuck to answering the questions posed by moderator Michael Blackwell, without attacking each other and without attacking the absent Judge. But they didn't shy from criticism of the incumbent Grassley, particularly on issues of criminal justice and campaign finance reform. On criminal justice issues, Hogg reminded the two dozen people in the audience that while Grassley has been working on a criminal justice reform bill this year, there has been little movement forward. Youve been in Congress for 42 years and are unable to get something passed, it calls into question, to me, can you still get the job done anymore? Hogg said, adding that hes heard the legislation that has been proposed is relatively weak. Both Krause and Fiegen said they would like to see marijuana reduced from a schedule 1 drug, so that there would be fewer penalties for those caught with the drug. Fiegen and Hogg both stressed they wanted to see substance abuse treated as a public health issue, rather than a criminal justice one. On campaign finance reform, both Fiegen and Krause noted they were not taking money from political action committees. Fiegen said he had in the past and noticed how loyalties were divided between constituents and donors. Krause and Hogg also drew a link between campaign finance reform and the current fight to replace former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He (Grassley) is the fellow that wants to stop the repeal of Citizens United by the Supreme Court by stopping the nomination of Judge (Merrick) Garland. He wants to retain that control, Krause said. Hogg said he has received a PAC donation from the states largest public sector union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and was glad to get it. But Hogg stressed he supports overturning the Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United that opened the doors to increased campaign spending. The Democratic candidates are expected to meet for one more debate on June 1. When Cheyanne Creger began her journey at Moline High School three years ago, she started with a 2.1 grade point average and no idea of where life was going to take her. Friday night, the 17-year-old mother of 5-month-old twins a boy, Dustin, and a girl, Aubrielle was a member of of Moline's 141st graduating class. Graduating a year early, Creger was one of 496 graduates receiving their diplomas at the sweltering Wharton Field House. She finished her high school career by pulling a 3.1 grade point average. My kids were my motivation, she said. In just three years, she found her way and is heading to Chicago. I hope to start Robert Morris University,Creger said. I want to get my BA in nursing. I love helping people. Id like to go into pediatric nursing. When the kids are old enough, I want to go back for a doctorate and maybe study pediatric oncology. Creger and her children have been living with her grandmother, Donna Creger, who plans to move with them to Chicago. I couldnt be more proud of her, Donna Creger said of her granddaughter. Shes been through a lot, but she did it." Nursing was the college major of choice for others in Moline's Class of 2016. Jacob Adams, 18, of Moline, is heading to St. Ambrose University in Davenport to study nursing. High school was a piece of cake, Adams said before the procession started into the field house for the ceremony. Now its time to be an adult. Adams is still deciding about what area of nursing he may want to specialize in. Maybe psychiatric nursing would be good. Ive got time. Ill keep my options open. From the moment the ceremony began to the time it ended, nearly everyone in the field house the graduates, teachers and administrators, family members used their programs as fans. There are no plans to air condition 87-year-old Wharton Field House, someone said. No use breaking with tradition. Alone and ashamed, Carol Kling kept her secret of having an abortion for many years. It was devastating the ramifications of it and every year it got worse instead of better," said 56-year-old Kling, who terminated her pregnancy in 1983. She was in her early 20s. "I finally was able to overcome my fear and shame about it enough to talk to a priest about it, and he started my road to healing and God did a real big number in my world; miracles happened and I was able to overcome most of the guilt and shame. Kling is among the many women who have had an abortion. According to recent statistics, 48 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. were unintended in 2006. The South Dakota Department of Health reports that there were 634 abortions performed in South Dakota in 2011. Because Kling was able to confide in her priest who listened to her story with compassion and tenderness, she set out to help other post-abortive women who also needed to know about Gods mercy. I realized I cant be the only one that feels this way and nobodys talking about it, Kling says. Society made me feel like I wasnt supposed to feel anything, and I felt so much and I just was angry that I had nowhere to express this and that I was afraid to express it. With the help of priests, she learned about Rachels Vineyard, a ministry that offers healing retreats to help those affected by abortion. The confidential retreats are open to men, women, parents, married couples, siblings and grandparents of aborted children. It is also open to medical professionals who performed abortions and need healing from their psychological, spiritual or emotional wounds. Its for anyone who suffers shame and guilt whether it was a young girls mother that took her for the abortion its for the doctors and nurses because their hearts have changed, Kling said. Kling, who is a facilitator for the program, began hosting the annual retreats in Rapid City in 1999. She holds them locally each year in April, and also in Bismarck once a year. She says they are life renewing. The process of the retreat is quite phenomenal because the wounds and the pain of abortion its a psychological and spiritual journey to healing to find the mercy of Christ, Kling says. Amy Julian agrees. Julian is the director of Family Life Ministries for the diocese of Rapid City and has been involved with Rachels Vineyard since she joined the chancery staff of the diocese in 2001. She works with several programs that pertain to family and social justice. We really push to pastors and priests who speak about abortion always speak about Gods mercy, always speak about how the father of mercy is calling you home," Julian said. "We know that youre carrying a wound from this but more than anything else, we want you to heal from that wound, said Julian, adding that some women have been beating themselves up for decades due to the emotional, physical, spiritual and psychological impact of an abortion. However, Julian says the retreats offer help to anyone regardless of their religious beliefs. Though the retreats use biblical principles, the program was created by a psychologist. Its grounded in the Catholic faith, but its really open to anyone, Julian said. The majority of the women who come to the retreat are Christian, but we have had people who really dont recognize God at all in their life and they still are able to find healing. And of course, whether you believe in God or not, he believes in you and he can heal you." DES MOINES, Iowa | 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. 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. HELENA, Mont. | A man who was convicted of defrauding a Montana Indian tribe now faces an escape charge after prosecutors say he fled from a minimum-security prison last fall, then was re-captured after crashing a stolen vehicle during a high-speed chase. In March, a federal grand jury indicted Gary Conti on charges that he escaped from the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, Colorado. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris kept the case sealed while Conti recovered from injuries suffered in the November crash, then made it public Thursday and scheduled a June 21 hearing. Conti went missing from the prison on Oct. 30, just days after a court rejected an appeal of his conviction for participating in a scheme to defraud a Blackfeet Tribe youth program. Conti was serving a five-year sentence after a jury convicted him in 2014 on more than two dozen charges related to bankruptcy fraud and kicking back money to two of the program's leaders. The fugitive made his way to Bozeman and stole a Jeep from a home, police said at the time. Officers spotted him early on Nov. 2 and pursued him on Interstate 90. He swerved to avoid spike strips authorities had laid across the roadway, and crashed into a parked patrol vehicle, police said. He was seriously injured and is being held in a federal medical center while he recovers. Prosecutors declined to describe his injuries. Conti was represented in his appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by Larry Jent of Bozeman, who is running for Montana attorney general. Jent said he did not know whether he would represent Conti in the new case and declined to comment further. It is hard to believe that it has been almost five years since the Missouri River flood. I first received word of the escalating water releases from the Oahe Dam on a Tuesday as I was on my way back from Chicago. We had been visiting with Bel Brands about doing business in South Dakota, and in a matter of moments our focus shifted from business recruitment to how we would manage the rising waters. At the time I had no idea that flood response would be our primary focus for the next several weeks. The Army Corps of Engineers told us the releases would be at record-high levels and it was uncertain how long they would continue. My kids had planned to come to Pierre that Memorial Day weekend to relax. After hearing the news, I called them to cancel our plans. They came to Pierre anyway and spent the weekend filling sandbags with my wife Linda. The following days were a flurry of activity. In short order, we opened up the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), blocked one lane of Interstate 29 for use as a haul road, and asked the citizens in some areas of Dakota Dunes and Fort Pierre to evacuate. We watched as Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters placed one-ton helibags of sand in and around places like McCook Lake, Wynstone and Yankton. I recall flying over Lake Oahe and seeing the big whirlpool that formed where the water was draining through the dam. I spent hours in the EOC, assisting in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area response, while Lt. Gov. Matt Michels coordinated efforts in the southeast. We walked the levees to ensure the berms of earth and rock were solid; we rode in dump trucks to monitor traffic so it flowed as efficiently as possible; and we helped our neighbors carry their possessions to higher ground. I remember the frustration we felt as the water-flow peak estimates changed from 85,000 cubic feet per second to 110,000 cfs, and ultimately to 160,000 cfs. The previous peak release from the 50-year-old Oahe Dam was 59,000 cfs. Things looked grim, but there was no time for doubt. There was a noticeable feeling of relief when the National Guard arrived. They worked for 96 consecutive days on 12- to 15-hour shifts. It was the largest in-state deployment since the 1972 Rapid City Flood. Prison inmates also pitched in. At one point, the National Guard members and the inmates started a competition to see which group could fill the most sandbags. I can still see the faces of the state and local emergency response officials, mayors, county commissioners and the individuals from the Red Cross and Salvation Army who worked so tirelessly. I remain grateful for the long hours they labored. I will never forget the crews who worked so hard to construct the levees. In just a few days, they did a job that would normally take months or years. They constructed earthen berms that held back the Mighty Missouri for several miles. As crews were building the levees, there were times they could see the water rising and did not know if they could finish in time; but they kept on going. Most of all, I remember the volunteers. People from all over the state came to help. They came by the busload. They filled thousands and thousands of sandbags to protect homes, businesses and loved ones. They brought food, drink, comfort, encouragement and hope to the crews. At one point, I met a retired woman living in Pierre who didnt know if shed get her house sandbagged in time. She lived on her own and was struggling. Before the water arrived a group of young volunteers showed up just in time and got the job done. There are many similar examples up and down the river. South Dakota had had disasters before tornadoes, blizzards, fires and floods. We always have joined together to help our neighbors recover and move forward. But this flood was different. We had never been given so much advance warning. Thousands of South Dakotans joined together to avoid a disaster. Many homes were damaged, and some were destroyed. Still, we did all we could, and thanks to our efforts, a great deal of property damage and human suffering was avoided. As high as the floodwaters rose, South Dakota rose higher. I am just as proud today as I was five years ago. Feeding South Dakota and the city of Rapid City are considering putting a bus stop by the Feeding South Dakota location at 1111 N. Creek Drive, according to Feeding South Dakota CEO Matt Gassen. At the city's request, Feeding South Dakota polled customers about using city buses. Gassen said Feeding South Dakota talked to 205 people using its mobile station at General Beadle Elementary School, and 54 people didn't have a way to get to the North Creek Drive location. A survey of 242 people at the main pantry location found 17 people needed a ride to the main facility. Gassen said he and Transit Division Manager Rich Sagen will now discuss possible plans to make the food pantry more accessible by public transportation. Lori Broady, a social studies teacher at Johnson-Brock Public School, was recently named the 2016 State History Teacher of the Year by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Broady will receive a $1,000 honorarium and the Johnson-Brock Public School library will receive a core archive of history books and educational materials from the Gilder Lehrman Institute. The award honors one exceptional K-12 teacher from each state and U.S. territory. A National History Teacher of the Year will be selected from this list of state winners and honored at a ceremony in New York City. LAMAR VALLEY The Wolfe pack is back. When Karen Wolfe got word that a Yellowstone wolf packs den was visible from a road she scheduled an emergency trip from her Phoenix home located 17 hours and more than 1,000 miles to the south. She also called her sister, Virginia Wolfe, who lives in Vashon, Washington 13 hours and almost 800 miles to the west of Yellowstone National Park to meet her in the Lamar Valley. We love wolves, Karen said. Theyre beautiful beautiful and mysterious. Waiting, watching Last Thursday Karen was bundled against a cold spring breeze in a knee-length blue parka with fake fur trim around the hood. Next to a large flat boulder placed at the edge of a parking area along Slough Creek, Karen had set up her tripod and spotting scope to zoom in on the wolf den about a mile-and-a-half away. In a purple notebook with a wolf illustration on the cover, she took notes of what she saw. Her sister, Virginia, had her tripod and spotting scope set up next to Karens, and together they took turns allowing tourists to look through their high-powered magnifying lenses to see wolves in the wild while also repeatedly answering the same questions about the wolf pack. The center of attention was on a hillside to the northwest. There, barely visible even with the intense magnification, were two adult members of the 10-member Junction Butte pack resting in the shade of pine trees. Behind the trees, on a steep hillside covered only with sagebrush, was the dark opening to a den. At about 5 p.m. four black pups exited, one with a bright white blaze on its chest. The pups were just a portion of two litters using the den, five black and three gray, according to Doug Smith, Yellowstone wolf biologist. This is what they had been waiting so long to see. First-timer Woo hoo! shouted an excited Jim Smith as he saw the wolf pups at the entrance to the den through Karens spotting scope. He literally jumped for joy. Smith had driven from his home in Tampa, Florida, on a tour of parks around the nation. At age 60 he said there was no better time to take such an extensive excursion, which had also taken him to national parks in Arizona and Utah. He called the wolves a symbol of wilderness, along with mountain lions and grizzly bears. Shouldnt we save a little something that is wild and beautiful in us? he said. Now it has become a bit of a challenge to find these beautiful creatures. Karen seemed almost as excited by Smiths response to seeing the wolves as to spotting them herself. You see this reaction? she said pointing to Smith, a smile lighting her face. You dont get to see this all of the time. The reactions of people is marvelous, especially the reactions of kids. They are so excited to see a wolf. Hooked Becoming a Yellowstone wolf groupie was far from Karens mind when she worked as an economist for a utility company in Arizona, a job that she said gave her all of her gray hair well, that and her son. Then on a May trip to Yellowstone in 2011 following a very, very snowy winter Karen saw her first wolf in the Hayden Valley and someone let her look through their spotting scope. On the same trip she later saw a famed female wolf on a bison kill in the Lamar Valley. I had never seen anything like that, she recalled, wide eyed. And now I come here to relax and see the wild. Karen later brought her sister to Yellowstone and nurtured her infatuation with the parks wild wolves. Virginia, age 55, took a leave of absence from her job this year that will make it easier for her to visit Yellowstone more than twice. Next, Karen wants to bring her 9-year-old granddaughter to view the wildlife and incredible natural setting of mountains, forests and streams. I kind of feel young, said Karen, now 69 and retired. My head feels young, but not my knees. Returning Typically the Wolfe sisters visit twice a year in May and October. This year they plan on visiting four times. So thank the wolves for our tourist dollars, Karen said. On this day the Wolfes had set up their tripods and spotting scopes at about 6:30 a.m. A large crowd soon formed, including photographers with lenses as long as a mans arm and as big around as a babys head worth thousands of dollars. By 9 a.m. most of the wolf activity had died down and the wolf watchers dispersed to seek out other, more exciting subjects. Wolf biologist Smith said its great that visitors to Yellowstone can see a large carnivore that was nearly exterminated from the lower 48 states. But he cautioned that visitors, in their excitement to view the pups, park carefully, watch out for traffic and be respectful of other visitors and rangers. Right now, there are fewer visitors during the week. That will change in June when there are typically more visitors during the week. By last Thursday evening only a half-dozen cars and people were present. That made it easier for self-described city girl Victoria Condell, of Chicago, to look through Karens spotting scope and see the wolf pups. Now I know why you do this, Condell told Karen after looking at the wolves. Its so exciting. Oh my God! Kneeling down under the canopy of the Ponderosa pine, Adam Washebek smiles at the sixth grade faces staring back at him. When you think about the wilderness, what comes to mind, asks the Bitterroot National Forest wilderness ranger. You never know whats going to happen when youre there, comes the first answer. Thats certainly true, Washebek replies. You could get lost out there, says another Corvallis sixth-grader. Washebek smiles. You sure can, he answers. On Friday, Washebek and the Bitterroot National Forests three other wilderness rangers took a group of sixth-graders on a walk through the woods to offer insights on wilderness ethics and leave no trace camping. The students learned how to filter water so it was safe to drink and to do their dishes at least 200 feet from the nearest source of water. They found out how to select a campsite and the best way to travel through the woods without leaving a trail behind. It was the sixth day this spring that Washebek and others have led a total of 273 Bitterroot Valley fifth- and sixth-graders on the annual Wilderness Skills Trail event in the Bass Creek area on the Bitterroot Forest. The students stop at 14 stations scattered along the areas nature trail to learn a little bit about the origins of wilderness, why its important and some of the ways they can visit without leaving a trace of themselves behind. For many, its the first time theyve ever really given much thought to the expansive wilderness that is right next door. They see the snowcapped peaks from the valley floor, but they dont know that theyre looking at the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Washebek said. A lot of them dont know what they have right here in their own backyard. The Bitterroot-Selway Wilderness encompasses over 1.2 million acres in Montana and Idaho. Its an area larger than that the state of Delaware. Most of the stops along the trail provide the youngsters with ideas on what they can do to keep the wilderness areas wild for the generations to follow. At one point along the trail, Washebek stops to pick up a board filled with plastic bottles, steel cans, and orange and banana peels. All of it was found by rangers inside the wilderness. My job is a wilderness ranger, he said. Much of the time, I end up being a wilderness janitor. Pack it in, pack it out is one of the most simple wilderness ethics that people can use. Unfortunately, many dont. Finding trash along a wilderness trail or vista or a top a mountain peak takes away from the experience that most people venturing into a wilderness seek. Even throwing down a banana or an orange peel can ruin it for someone else. Washebek said it takes about two years for those peelings to break down. If were not careful, we can end up making a landfill up there, he said. I figure if I can pack in a whole orange, then, by golly, I should be able to pack out the peel. Lets be wilderness janitors together and do our part in keeping it clean. The Wilderness Skills Trail event has been a harbinger of spring and a good sign that schools end is near for another year. That means the opportunity to explore the wild country surrounding the valley floor is just around the corner. We want to create an awareness for these students that this is their public land, Washebek said. Its not mine. Its not the Forest Services. It belongs to everyone. Two Bitterroot Valley schools participated in the new practice of seniors in cap and gown walking through younger grades. Darby High School seniors wore their caps and gowns and got high fives from elementary school students as they took their Senior Walk on Thursday. English teacher Jennifer Burdette said it was a great idea. Today our elementary students shared in the excitement of high school graduation, she said. With over half of this years graduating class having attended Darby schools since kindergarten, the walk through was a thrilling experience for the seniors. Burdette said many of the seniors commented that it felt great to be back in the halls of the elementary school but this time as graduates of Darby High School. The tie between kindergarten and graduation is significant to the community. This year, the Darby school, parents and community members collaborated with the Bitterroot Community Federal Credit Union creating a Darby Brilliant Beginnings program. It establishes a savings account for each student entering kindergarten in the district, starting the student on a career pathway to success. This year 20 students enrolled and they have received deposits to their individual accounts from the program as well as from anonymous donors. According to Burdette, the Darby Brilliant Beginnings program is the first automatic savings account in Montana. Each year parents of incoming kindergarten students will have the chance to enroll in Darby Brilliant Beginnings. Connecting the high school students today with the kindergarten students was a great step toward showing the younger students that graduation from high school is important and matters, Burdette said. Hamilton High School seniors also did a Senior Walk through Washington and Daly Elementary Schools to reinforce the message to young students that graduation matters. Following a slow-down in coal shipments, Montana Rail Link has announced that it will store about 550 empty coal cars on the Bitterroot Branch line between Florence and Missoula. The cars will be placed over the next few weeks, said MRLs Chief Information Officer Jim Lewis. Plans call for placing the cars with 500-foot gaps at all the railroad crossings, as well as large gaps between Florence and Lolo and Lolo and Missoula, Lewis said. Railroad car volume in the U.S. has dropped 14.3 percent year-to-date as compared to 2015. The volume of coal carloads is down 34.1 percent. That reduction has resulted in about 1,800 miles of railroad cars nationwide that need to find a place to be stored. In a statement, MRL said it gave considerable thought to the placement of the cars on the Bitterroot Branch line to limit the potential impact to residents and wildlife in the Bitterroot Valley. MRL officials spoke with representatives of the Missoula County, Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Lolo School District regarding this project. None of the representatives from those organizations were available Friday for comment. At this time, it is unclear how long the empty cars will remain in storage. It is MRLs hope that these markets recover soon and we do what we do best; providing safe and reliable transportation service to Montana businesses and regional rail shippers, the companys statement read. Greed, carelessness, and callous disregard for human life sum up the causes of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster - Request for Assistance for Bhopal Survivors Petition Dear all, My name is Adriane Raff Corwin, and I have been a volunteer with the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) for many years. ICJB has hired me temporarily as Online Organizer in the USA in order to get signatures for a White House petition. You can sign the petition here: https://wh.gov/isOdv After you sign, you must confirm your signature in an email, otherwise it wonat be counted. As most of you know, the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster have never received justice in the form of proper compensation, and the corporations liable for the disaster - Dow Chemical and Union Carbide - have been absconding from Indian court for decades. In the past 2 years, the Indian government has sent the US Dept. of Justice (DoJ) four court notices to serve to Dow Chemical. The DoJ has ignored three of them and stalled on one. If we are able to gather 100,000 signatures by June 14th, the White House guarantees it will respond to the petition. The US government is required to serve these notices from India to Dow because of the criminal Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the two countries. But the US government continues to shield Dow with the same excuses it has used all along - thereas not enough information, the charges arenat clear enough for the US government to comply with, etc. The CBI has sent the DoJ a long letter answering in detail all the questions of the DoJ. Many months later, the DoJ has yet to respond. Very similar stalling tactics were used to draw out the extradition request from India for Warren Anderson, Union Carbide CEO at the time of the disaster. The only entity with the power to force Dow to show up to court in India is the US government. ICJB is petitioning the White House to stop shielding Dow Chemical from these court notices, as a first step to getting the US government to act. If we are able to gather 100,000 signatures by June 14th, the White House guarantees it will respond to the petition. Anyone of any nationality can sign, as long as they are 13 years or older and have a valid email address. I am writing to you all to ask that you share this petition with your networks. The disaster itself is over 31 years old, and it is getting harder and harder to get any form of justice. This fall, Dow Chemical is planning to merge with DuPont, which may make it even more difficult to impel the corporation to come to court in Bhopal. We must act now, before it is too late.Please consider emailing and telling your networks about this petition. With your help, we could collect thousands of signatures. Weave found social media posts donat garner nearly as many signatures, so email or personal messages are best. Pasted below is an outreach email that I have been using in the USA, in case it is useful. If you have ideas on how to garner more signatures via yours or other networks, or would like more information, please email me at enairda@riseup.net (link sends e-mail) You can also WhatsApp me at 001-201-543-1928 You can follow ICJBas social media accounts here: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalCampaignforJusticeinBhopal/ https://twitter.com/ICJBhopal Thank you for your support - Sincerely, Adriane Greed, carelessness, and a callous disregard for human life - these words sum up the causes of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. In 1984, 8,000+ residents of Bhopal, India died within hours of being exposed to a toxic gas that escaped from a nearby poorly maintained chemical factory. Hundreds of thousands who survived exposure remain permanently disabled and are dying severely premature deaths. Dow Chemical, an American corporation, and its subsidiary the Union Carbide Corporation are legally responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. But Dow-Carbide has refused to show up to court and face criminal charges that have been pending in India for 25+ years. Dow-Carbide has gotten away with this because the US government keeps acting as its special protector, guarding it from all accusations and accountability. You can shine a spotlight on injustice and shame the US government into changing how it deals with corporate criminals. Sign this petition demanding that the US Government uphold international law and stop shielding Dow Chemical from accountability for its crimes in Bhopal, India. (If the link doesnt work, visit https://wh.gov/isOdv to sign.) Right now the White House and the US Department of Justice are shielding Dow-Carbide from FOUR court notices sent by the Indian Judicial system, which per international treaty must be served to Dow. Itas time we told the US Department of Justice to do its job properly and serve the court notices to Dow. Sign the petition, forward this email to your friends and family, and post about it on your social media accounts. IMPORTANT NOTE: After you sign the petition, you will quickly receive an email from the White House asking you to confirm your signature. Your signature will only be counted after you confirm it. If you dont receive a confirmation email, make sure to check your spam folder. Thank you for your support! The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB). ICJB is a coalition of Bhopal survivors groups and international supporters. Visit www.bhopal.net to learn more about the Bhopal disaster and its aftermath. I give my consent to Sakshi Post to be in touch with me via email for the purpose of event marketing and corporate communications. Privacy Policy Jane Kleeb, the founder and leader of Bold Nebraska, may be a candidate for state chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party when Democrats hold their state convention in Kearney next month. If Kleeb decides to enter the race, that would set up a high-profile showdown with 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chuck Hassebrook, who already is a candidate for the party's top leadership post. Kleeb said Friday she'll wait until Tuesday to make a decision. "We have new voices and faces ready to change the political landscape of our state," Kleeb said. "No one gave us a chance to stop the Keystone XL pipeline just like no one believed young people would turn out to vote when I ran the Young Democrats of America," she said. Bold Nebraska played a lead role in blocking construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline across Nebraska. "If I run, my job of chair is to raise the resources and brand of the Democratic Party so we can bring new voters and recruit diverse candidates to win elections," Kleeb said. "Whether it's clean energy, eminent domain, Whiteclay, workers rights, public schools, water, health care or equality, these issues are bringing Nebraskans to the streets to stand up for our families," she said. "It's time to take this energy of movement voters to build our Democratic Party across the state to win elections." Next month's party convention will contain a majority of delegates who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when he defeated Hillary Clinton in Nebraska's Democratic presidential caucus in March. Kleeb introduced and endorsed Sanders at a rally in Lincoln prior to the caucus; Hassebrook supported Clinton, but he too has been actively engaged in the clean energy movement toward wind and solar power. The new chairman will succeed Vince Powers of Lincoln, who is stepping down from the party post. As word of Kleeb's interest spread online, Democratic 2nd associate chair Dennis Crawford of Lincoln voiced concerns about her possible candidacy. "In 2014, Kleeb and Bold Nebraska endorsed Jeff Fortenberry over me (in the 1st District congressional race) even though I opposed the pipeline and Fortenberry had supported it," Crawford said. "It would be a conflict of interest for Kleeb to work for an organization (Bold Nebraska) that endorses Republicans while at the same time she heads up the Nebraska Democratic Party," he said. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios? Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything. No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now. Playwright Sarah Ruhl has become a favorite at Berkeley Rep over the past decade, beginning with a production of her play Eurydice in 2004. That play, which imagined an Alice in Wonderland-like underworld, was an homage of sorts to Ruhl's late father and his fascination with language, and she wrote it, she says, as a way to "have a few more conversations with him." Her newest work, For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, she wrote as a birthday gift for her mother, an English teacher with a degree in rhetoric who is also an actor and theater director and who, famously within their family, once played Peter Pan in a community theater production in Davenport, Iowa. Like her other work, the new play, which had its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Rep Friday night, juxtaposes the tensions and mundanity of family life with myth and dreams, this time using the story of Peter Pan as a foil and foundational text for a discussion about growing old, becoming an adult, and watching a parent die. At the center of the Berkeley Rep production, directed by the great Les Waters and coming fresh from a run at the Actors' Theatre of Louisville where he now serves as artistic director, is veteran Broadway, television, and film performer Kathleen Chalfant. Chalfant is best known for originating the role of Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / and the Rabbi in Angels in America on Broadway, as well as starring in the original off-Broadway production of Wit and fans of Showtime's The Affair will recognize her as Noah's mother-in-law. She's a deeply empathetic actor with a mischievous glint in her eye who commands the stage for all of the play's 90 minutes, despite sharing it much of that time with five other actors, who play her brothers, sister, and father. Like Ruhl's mother, the character of Ann is a professor of rhetoric and once played Peter Pan in a community theater production in Davenport, Iowa, and her family still talks about it. The play opens with Ann and her four siblings three of whom are coincidentally named like the siblings in Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael, and John at the hospital bedside of their dying father George. Two of her brothers are doctors, all three of her brothers are Republicans, and the youngest, Wendy, remains the most sensitive. Their family dynamics play out across their father's final hours and back at the house following his passing, and Ruhl begins to play with reality here as George begins making appearances, invisible to the family but visible to the audience, as Ann and her siblings compare notes on when they each began feeling like grownups, and then devolve into an argument about politics. Here's where I'm going to have include a spoiler, so please just stop reading if you already think you're going to see the show because it'll be better this way. Not satisfied to leave this family wallowing in their mourning, or bickering as they always did but without any parents there to mediate, Ruhl has all of them head off to bed in their childhood bedrooms, and Ann tells the audience that she had "the strangest dream" following all that talk about growing up. This of course takes us to Neverland, where Ruhl said she knew her play had to end up, and Waters gets a chance to draw from his bag of theatrical tricks and pull out the flying apparatuses. Chalfant pulls a Peter Pan costume out of a trunk that appears on stage, and Wendy, Michael and John all reemerge, out of bed, as the children in the tale, half aware though that they have complicated and mundane lives as adults back in the real world. It's a funny and ultimately delightful conceit, and characters we saw as stodgy, cranky, aging people in the first two acts suddenly become childlike and joyful and that glint in Chalfant's eye becomes a full fledged sparkle as she hoots and sprinkles pixie dust all over the stage. Ann's brother Jim appears here as a cartoonish Captain Hook, and within the dream Hook comes to symbolize death he is, after all, in the original story, the enemy of all things fun, untethered, and forever young. But in Ruhl's third-act dream play, death isn't washed away so much as it's laughed at and danced upon. Just as the audience gets swept up watching several not-exactly-young performers go flying through the air (on highly visible wires), Ruhl wants us to see a new, more adult layer to the Peter Pan myth. It's a game of pretend, ultimately, with a world in which there are no parents and no one dies, but a world where none of these characters want to stay very long. Reality, for all its faults, is a necessary evil, while the escapes of fiction and theater are the balms that make the mundane less painful. Though not a revolutionary idea, the execution and admittedly hokey stage magic make the final moments of the play especially moving, endearing, and even transcendent. Waters' direction and the modular set by designer Annie Smart deserve special praise, as does the supporting performance by Ellen McLaughlin as Wendy. If I had to guess, this play will be Ruhl's next to head to Broadway following her 2009 hit, which premiered at Berkeley Rep, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play). It's just quirky, original, and redemptive enough to stand out among contemporary theater, and while the issues it deals with are heavy, it arrives at a lightness that some might say is too literal, but I'll just say left a lasting smile on my face. SIOUX CITY | A diehard fan of the Food Network's "Chopped" as well as an enthusiastic cook, Anna Shanafelt already knows her way around a kitchen. But can the Morningside College education senior master the art of made-from-scratch noodle making? "Yeah, this isn't as easy as I thought it would be," Shanafelt said, wiping off her sticky fingers. "It's also pretty messy." Shanafelt was one of the students taking part in "Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner" -- a five-week course that's part of Morningside's May Term. In session from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday until June 15, the class is taught by economics professor Jeffrey Zink. During the course of the class, students will learn about nutrition and food safety as well as preparing the three principal meals of the day. "My class will teach students how to cook as well as how to create a food budget," Zink explained as the students assembled a basic chicken soup recipe. "It's much cheaper to eat at home than it is eating at restaurants." A cook will also know exactly what goes into a meal when made at home. That's especially important for Shanafelt, who makes only healthy meals. "I can never go to fast food places because that stuff is not good," she said, scrunching up her nose. Instead, Shanafelt is currently obsessed with making roasted Brussels sprouts that she coats with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar glaze. "Food doesn't have to be complicated to be good," she noted. Zink nodded his head in agreement. A fan of Italian cuisine, Zink said he'll often whip up a fast and easy pasta dish for his children, who range in age from 7 to 17. "If you know the basics of menu planning," he said, "it will help you to create a wide variety of meals." Which should be good news for Jake Lamoreux, a biology junior who had never cooked before. "I figured I had to learn some time," he said. "I guess now is the time." A fan of spaghetti, Lamoreux was simply happy to learn a few knife skills. "If I can complete the course without chopping off a finger, I'll consider it a success," he said. Likewise, Joe Tourville is hoping to pick up a few tips. "This is something completely out of my comfort zone," he said, cautiously dicing up onions and carrots. "People are already making fun of my cutting skills." Tourville, a business senior, said the economics of eating out is likely out of bounds for most college students. "It's more practical to learn how to cook on your own," he said. "It's cheaper that way." That's especially true with Zink's versatile recipe which calls for chopped chicken breast, a variety of veggies and made-from-scratch noodles. "I suppose you can supplement the homemade noodles with some that've been store-bought," Zink told his class. "But for some reason, homemade noodles just taste better." Despite her initial difficulty, Shanafelt was pleased with the way her noodles came out. "These noodles were made out of flour, water and eggs," she said, cutting them into narrow strips. "I don't think anybody will be intimidated with a recipe that contains just three ingredients." SAC CITY, Iowa | It's not much of a secret that dads across the Midwest love popcorn. Well, then, it seems appropriate that on Father's Day weekend, hundreds will convene in Sac City to build the World's Largest Popcorn Ball. Folks around Sac City have experience in this endeavor -- both the eating of popcorn and the making of a sticky mass of a world record. "We had 253 volunteers who worked for 12 hours and 40 minutes to create our 'third' World's Largest Popcorn Ball on Feb. 28, 2009," said Shirley Phillips, executive director of the Western Iowa Tourism Region. "But the Indiana State Fair beat us." Sac City's 5,000-pound popcorn ball, which had occupied a shed at 13th and Main streets in Sac City, next to the Sac City Museum, was trumped when folks at the Indiana State Fair built a 6,510-pound ball of popcorn to celebrate "The Year of Popcorn" at their state fair in 2013. "They destroyed the ball at the Indiana State Fair after setting the record," Phillips said. But Indiana had its edible place in history. And the onus fell on Sac City once again, a place where 35 residents first set the standard with a 2,225-pound popcorn ball in April 1995. That sweet treat traveled all over the Midwest and to the Iowa State Fair. Two years later, as an attraction, a demolitions expert loaded the ball with seven sticks of dynamite for its demolition. With a sizable crowd and reporters on hand, the command was given to blow it up. "It cracked into something like three pieces and just fell apart," said Phillips, who did radio interviews at the time around 4 a.m. for morning shows on the East Coast. That record was soon challenged, and eventually forced popcorn proponents in Sac County (where popcorn remains king since its introduction to the county economy in 1885) to heat up the oven. In June 2004, some 44 volunteers spent seven hours and 13 minutes constructing a 3,100-pound ball. That creation stood for a few years until it was transported to the Sac County Fairgrounds and became a source of animal feed. The 2009 creation became a tourist attraction along the highway on Sac City's west side. Travelers almost daily would pull into Casey's and head across the street to look at the giant gooey curiosity, which was housed in a bright red shed. Visitors took pictures of the mammoth ball while signing a registry. But, alas, nothing so sweet can stick forever. Once the Indiana record was verified by the Guinness World Book of Records, a plan began taking shape for a fourth Sac County run at this tasty place in history. And so, volunteers will assemble at the Noble Popcorn Plant on North 13th Street in Sac City at 8 a.m. June 18, one day prior to Father's Day. The goal: To make an 8,000-pound popcorn ball that no one dare challenge. The project required moving the old 2009 ball away, an effort that took place in late April. The old red shed has since been removed and will soon be replaced by a 20-foot by 20-foot structure with windows on all four sides. This building, which will occupy the same tract across the street from Casey's, will cost $10,000 to construct. "The building is to be built within the next two weeks," Phillips said. "They'll leave the front and the back of it open, so the new popcorn ball can be moved in." The new popcorn ball will measure 10 to 12 feet in height. It will be coated with a polyurethane substance so it won't crumble. A cradle to support the ball is being supplied by Lundell Plastics. A metal pallet to hold the cradle is being offered by Evapco Inc. of nearby Lake View. Wirtjers Trucking of Sac City will move the ball after it is officially weighed by the Iowa Department of Transportation. Volunteers are asked to report to Noble Popcorn on June 18 to lend their hands (and taste buds) to this effort, one that helps the region celebrate the growth of popcorn in a county where ideal growing conditions helped it gain the reputation as the "Pop Corn Capital of the World." "We built the last popcorn ball inside Noble Popcorn, but they've expanded their line of equipment, so we're building this one outside the plant," Phillips said. It's a combination of Noble's expansion and the popcorn ball's expansion, too. A 10- to 12-foot ball wouldn't fit inside the plant. Press Release: Governor McCrory on Mental Health & Substance Abuse: We Need To Change To Get Different Results CBS News Reports On North Carolina's Veteran Treatment Court Governor McCrory's proposed budget allots $30 million to combat mental health, addiction and substance abuse, including for specialty courts like the Veterans Treatment Court featured recently on CBS News. Governor's task force wants to address treatment, not jail, for people struggling with mental illness, addiction By Alicia Banks Fayetteville Observer May 20, 2016 NC task force recommends guidelines to combat substance abuse By Justin Quesinberry WNCN May 24, 2016 Mandatory training for all employees who serve alcohol Stricter penalties for people who knowingly serve minors Require the Board of Governors to enforce alcohol and drug policies Add recovery centers in specific areas of need around the state Develop an interactive treatment and recovery resource map online. "I got lucky when I was in junior high and high school and college," Gov. Pat McCrory said. "I did some binge drinking for myself. I survived it and I saw a lot of my friends not survive it and they became alcoholics or they moved on to other drugs. "This next generation has a lot more peer pressure than I had." Contact: The Pat McCrory Committee media@patmccrory.com Raleigh, N.C. Continuing his administration's commitment to take on North Carolina's toughest mental health and substance abuse challenges, Governor McCrory has accepted recommendations from two key task forces set up to develop new strategies for addressing mental health, substance abuse and underage drinking.A task force appointed by Gov. Pat McCrory recommended Thursday better case management and affordable housing for people in recovery for mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse.Formed in July, the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Abuse also suggested more access to treatment for opioid and prescription drug abusers and placing people with mental health and drug issues in treatment instead of jail.Rick Brajer, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said roughly 60percent of adults battle a mental illness at least once in their lives.McCrory said at a news conference inside the Cumberland County Courthouse.The 24-member task force includes legislators, experts from the justice system and law enforcement, and professionals from the private sector and the health care community.Their recommendations will be overseen by the legislature and the Department of Health and Human Services.The 32-page list of recommendation includes plans for one-time funding initiatives, such as creating local task forces, more inpatient beds for people in crisis and veteran-friendly services and evidence-based treatments.McCrory said.In his budget, McCrory has asked the state to provide $30 million in recurring funds for the task force's proposed programs. The House proposed $30 million in nonrecurring funds.McCrory said his budget proposes an additional $20million to fund programs, training and outreach from the sale in July of the Dorothea Dix property in Raleigh.Brajer said mental health and drug and alcohol issues aren't a "they" problem, but an "us" problem.McCrory told the gathering about a friend, a white-collar worker with a law degree, who spent time in jail for driving under the influence.Not long after, he was arrested again for a different offense.McCrory said.The model for creating the task force stemmed from the Cumberland County Veterans Treatment Court, where the news conference was held. McCrory applauded city and county leaders for their efforts to not only combat the stigma surrounding mental health, but its strides in not ignoring the effect it has on people grappling with it.He acknowledged the efforts of Judge Lou Olivera, who spent a night in jail April 12 with a retired Special Forces sergeant who had violated his parole.he said.RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) The task force that looked into substance abuse underage drinking and treatment released its recommendations Tuesday morning.Former lieutenant governor and ABC commission head Jim Gardner led the 20-member group, known as the Governor's Substance Abuse and Underage Drinking Prevention and Treatment Task Force.Among their 10 recommendation, they want:The task force said that among its accomplishments, several college campuses hired more staff, changed policies and increased awareness and recovery.Training sessions were held for alcohol servers near campuses.And researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Duke University looked into the consequences of alcohol on young brains.The task force was established May 13, 2014. SIOUX CITY | A siren has been placed in Riverside Park to warn citizens in the surrounding area of impending severe weather. Sioux City Fire Rescue, with the Woodbury County Emergency Management and Woodbury County Communications Center, said the outdoor warning sirens in the park were found to not be loud enough in July of 2015 when RAGBRAI was in Sioux City. The sirens will be activated when the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning in the area or a tornado has been spotted. The sirens will also be used if the NWS has issued a severe thunderstorm warning. Law enforcement and fire command can also sound the sirens in the event of a chemical release or some other outside hazard. In 2011, sirens were used to warn of high winds greater than 70 mph. Other jurisdictions use this method because of high winds associated with severe thunderstorms. The sirens are designed to warn people who are outdoors to seek shelter and seek information. They are not designed to be heard inside all homes and buildings. When residents hear the sirens they should immediately go inside a sturdy structure to the lowest level without windows and then turn on a communication device such as a weather radio, television, computer, AM/FM radio, or smart phone. Residents are encouraged to always look and listen for information relating to the hazards for which the warning was issued. CHEROKEE, Iowa | A company that plans to build an oil pipeline across Iowa is entitled to the use of eminent domain because the pipeline serves a public purpose, lawyers said Friday. In a motion to dismiss lawsuits filed by landowners last week in Cherokee County District Court, Dakota Access attorney Bret Dublinske, of Des Moines, said that their arguments that the company can't use eminent domain to take their land for the pipeline route because Dakota Access is not a utility are incorrect. "The Iowa Legislature has expressly determined that an interstate crude oil pipeline that qualifies for a permit in Iowa is a public use and entitled to the use of eminent domain," Dublinske said in his motion. District Judge Nancy Whittenburg scheduled a hearing for June 3. The Iowa Utilities Board approved Dakota Access' permit application for the $3.8 billion pipeline in March after more than a year of review. The Houston-based company hopes to build a 1,168-mile pipeline that would transport up to 570,000 barrel of crude oil daily from western North Dakota's Bakken region to a shipping terminal in Patoka, Illinois. The route would stretch 348 miles through 18 Iowa counties, including Sioux, O'Brien, Cherokee, Buena Vista and Sac. Last week, landowners Marvin and Bonnie Zoch and Marian Johnson, who own land in Cherokee County, filed a suit challenging the use of eminent domain. They also asked that the court delay county compensation commission hearings to determine the value of land being sought for the project. Those hearings are scheduled to begin June 13. Dakota Access responded Friday that the court should permit those hearings to proceed, even if a decision on dismissing the lawsuits has not been made by they time they are to start. Dublinske said that the hearings could be held, the value of compensation for the easement rights determined and a court stay could be imposed on Dakota Access' possession of the property. A separate lawsuit in Polk County argues that the Iowa Utility Board shouldn't have approved the use of eminent domain for the property. Dakota Access said in a recent news release that it has voluntary easement agreements with landowners for almost 96 percent of the land along the four-state route. In Iowa, agreements have been reached with 87 percent of landowners. The Corps of Engineers, which is reviewing the project because it crosses the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, has yet to grant permits for the project. The project also hit a snag on Wednesday, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notified the Iowa Department of Natural Resources it is revoking a construction permit for a segment of the pipeline to investigate reports it crosses ancient sacred tribal burial grounds in the Big Sioux River Wildlife Management Area in Lyon County. Successful entrepreneurs come from all different industries and all different backgrounds. But while there isnt necessarily one prototypical entrepreneur, there are some habits of successful entrepreneurs that can serve as a common link. The list below includes some common habits of successful entrepreneurs. Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs They Jump Right In There are millions of different reasons to not start a business. But entrepreneurs have to be able to quiet those doubting voices and just get started. Even if it seems like a bad idea or like theyre not fully ready, successful entrepreneurs know that its better to get started than to wait for perfection. They Follow their Passions Successful entrepreneurs know that passion is an important part of running a successful business. Even if youre not building a business around an interest or passion that youve had since childhood, you have to be passionate about certain aspects of your business if you want to be successful. Not caring wont get you very far. They Dont Let Fear Hold them Back Running a business requires taking risks. You might have to risk some of your personal savings in getting started. Or you might have to make decisions that you dont really want to make. But if you let those fears stop you, you arent likely to get very far in business. They Adapt to Different Situations You cant always know what is going to happen when running a business. There will inevitably be some curveballs thrown at you. So if you want to be a successful business owner, you need to learn how to adapt to a variety of different situations. They Hold Themselves Accountable Accountability is paramount when it comes to running a business. So successful business owners often find accountability partners or surround themselves with people who are going to make sure that they say what they are going to do. They Reward Themselves for Accomplishments To continue doing great work for your business, you also need to have some sort of incentive for yourself and your team. Great business people understand that its important to celebrate those little victories in some way. They Surround Themselves with Great Teams In addition, choosing the right team members in the first place can go a long way toward building successful businesses. Successful entrepreneurs often have a knack for choosing the right team members, mentors and others who are likely to help. They Stay Positive All entrepreneurs have down days now and then. But successful entrepreneurs have a knack for finding the positives in most situations, especially when that means learning lessons from failure. They are Open to New Ideas No matter how knowledgeable you are as an entrepreneur, you cant know everything. There are always other people out there who know more about certain things than you do. So youll increase your chances for success if you keep an open mind and listen to others. They Welcome Criticism There may also be situations where you do something or make a decision that isnt great for your business. If, in those cases, youre open to listening to others who offer constructive criticism, you could save yourself from doing permanent damage to your business. They are Thankful for Help When you do receive help from others, its important to be thankful and appreciate their help, ideas and input. Successful entrepreneurs know that showing thanks is more likely to lead to helpful input or ideas even moreso in the future. They Take Time Off You might think that the most successful entrepreneurs just work constantly. But if all you do is work, youre more likely to get burnt out and eventually make some big mistakes. Successful entrepreneurs understand that breaks are necessary and can help facilitate innovation and hard work when its really necessary. They Keep their Main Goals in Mind It can be easy to get distracted with new tasks and projects while running a business. Being adaptable is certainly a common habit for successful entrepreneurs. But you also need to be able to stay focused on the main goals you have for your business. Otherwise, youll be likely to get distracted to the point that you completely lose track of what it takes to be successful. They Plan Ahead Successful entrepreneurs also come up with plans for how to actually achieve those goals that theyve set. So while its still important to be adaptable and adjust if necessary, you have to have some kind of road map to what you want to achieve. They Constantly Learn New Things Even if youve achieved relative success for your business, theres always more to learn. Successful entrepreneurs understand that they dont know everything, and are always open to expanding their knowledge base. They Like Meeting New People Likewise, there are always new people who can teach you things or help your business in some way. A couple of populars habits of successful entrepreneurs are the willingness to meet new people and constantly being open to networking and learning from others. They Make Good First Impressions When you do go to meet new people as a business owner, its important to make a good first impression. Successful entrepreneurs know what it takes to make a good first impression and always work to put themselves in those positive situations when networking. They Know How to Negotiate Negotiating is an essential part of running a business, no matter what industry youre in. It might not be a natural skill for everyone, but successful entrepreneurs learn how to negotiate to get the best outcomes for their businesses. They Find Creative Solutions Innovation is another important part of running successful businesses. That means that successful entrepreneurs need to be creative and use that creativity in their problem solving whenever possible. See Also: 3 Qualities That Make Successful Entrepreneurs They Dont Try to Do it All And finally, successful entrepreneurs understand that they cant do absolutely everything. They delegate to their team, take breaks and focus on whats really important. No matter how successful your business gets, there are some limits to what you can handle. And successful entrepreneurs understand how to really prioritize whats important. Do you have any other habits of successful entrepreneurs to share? For more on successful entrepreneurs, please visit: 3 Qualities That Make Successful Entrepreneurs Successful Entrepreneurs With No Experience 10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs Content marketing can be a great tool for small businesses to better communicate with customers. But you cant expect to just create a blog or social media post and have customers come running to buy from you. Instead, take a look at these tips from members of our small business community on how to make the most of your content marketing efforts. Provide Value as an Expert Contributor Serving as an expert contributor, or having expert contributors on your own site, can add value for your audience and allow you to share your expertise with a growing audience. However, its important that you go about this process in the right way. Sian Phillips offers some tips in this Tweak Your Biz post. And BizSugar members share input here. Understand the Benefits of Medium If you havent yet heard of Medium, its a platform that allows people to share their written work in a super simple setting that also has a potentially powerful reach. In this TKM Labs post, Steven Tran shares a bit about Medium and how businesses and bloggers can potentially benefit from it. Learn These Lessons from BuzzFeeds Most Popular Content If you want to create great shareable content, you have to learn from the best. BuzzFeeds posts get consistently high views and shares. So if you look at some of the sites most popular content, as discussed in this Marketing Land post by Kerry Jones, you may be able to learn some lessons that apply to your own content. Figure Out Where and When to Use Online Advertising Online advertising can be a great way to increase the impact of your content. But not all types of ads are created equal. Here, Gary Shouldis of 3Bug Media shares some tips you can use to make the most of your online ads. And the BizSugar community shares thoughts on the post here. Create Beautiful Graphics With Canva If youre going to blog or use social media, youll need to consider what images you share with each post or update. That likely means that youll need to create graphics at some point. Here, Debra Garber offers tips on the dlvr.it blog for using Canva to create beautiful graphics for social media. Become a Podcast Guest Whether youre a podcaster yourself or you just have some expert insights to share, being a guest on a popular podcast thats related to your industry can really help you grow your brand. In this MyBlogU post, Ann Smarty shares some tips and insights about being a podcast guest. Pin Your Way to the Bank Pinterest can be used for more than just saving cool recipes or home projects. As this Perpetto post by Ed Leake points out, you can actually use Pinterest to drive sales. And check out what BizSugar members are saying about the post here. Grow Your Audience on Snapchat Snapchat has been gaining traction with both consumers and brands in recent years. So if you want to use it as part of your content marketing strategy, you need to know the best methods for growing your Snapchat audience. Here, Calvin Wayman shares some tips on Social Media Examiner. Make the Most of Your Content Marketing Efforts Content marketing isnt some magical solution that will automatically bring your business millions of new customers. You have to actually make the most of your content in order to see results. In this Madison Logic post, Nick Price shares some tips for making the most of your content marketing. Keep Up With Platforms Like Blab Some entrepreneurs and content marketers have been using Blab to broadcast content to their audiences for years. But some recent changes have people worried about Blabs future. And as a marketer, you need to be familiar with the changes in the various platforms you use, as Mike Allton discusses in this post on the Social Media Hat. You can see further discussion about the post over on BizSugar. If youd like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: sbtips@gmail.com. Columnist Virginia Postrel discusses the role of illusions in political campaigns and how Donald Trump, like Barack Obama eight years ago, has used the allure of glamour to his advantage. RALEIGH - Political pundits continue to debate the sources of Donald Trump's success during the 2016 Republican presidential primary process. One aspect of Trump's triumph that has received little attention to date is the role of glamour in his campaign. Columnist Virginia Postrel is author of the book The Power of Glamour . She discussed Trump, glamour, and presidential politics with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio. ( Click here to find recent CJ Radio episodes.)Before we get specifically into Donald Trump and his success during this campaign season, just how much of a role does glamour play in politics in general?First, we have to talk about what do I mean by glamour, and what is the bigger picture of glamour - because a lot of people, when they think about glamour, they think specifically about fashion or maybe they think about old movies. And those things can, indeed, be glamorous, but if you think about the word "glamorous," what's glamorous to you could be many different things. It could be a glamorous job, a glamorous city, a glamorous vacation resort.And glamour is a form of visual persuasion, primarily visual. We see something, we look at it, we feel this sense of projection and longing. "If only I could live there." "If only I could drive that car." "If only I could be with that person, or be that person." There's a sense of "if only."So moving into politics, when we think about glamour and politics, we tend to think about maybe John F. Kennedy. We tend to think about glamorous politicians.But glamorous individuals in politics are actually pretty unusual because glamour always contains this element of mystery and distance. And in a democracy, we tend to want to know a lot about our politicians. And so they may be charismatic, but they're often not glamorous. They're often too well-known to be glamorous.In 2008, I would say, and I've written about this, Barack Obama was glamorous. He was this newcomer. People who supported him felt this sense of he represented what they wanted in a country, what they wanted in a president, what they wanted in a world.And they projected onto him sort of their definition of that. And one of his friends I quote in the book, said, you know, "Barack has become a kind of Rorschach test." And, of course, once he became president, it became much more specific and less mysterious.More often in politics, we are talking about glamorous ideas, glamorous policies. I like to talk about I live in California, where the voters have committed, by initiative, enormous amounts - billions and billions of dollars - to this high-speed rail project. And policy wonks will write articles that explain how the ridership numbers don't add up and it's not going to work.And then there will be these pictures of this beautiful, sleek train whishing through the landscape. And it's like it doesn't matter what you say. What a glamorous picture. Everybody wants that. Wow. Get out of the traffic.So that's the kind of thing we tend to see more in politics, is portraying a policy in a very glamorous way, or possibly a big idea. And some of these are ideas that I like, like the American Dream is a glamorous idea.Some are very dangerous ideas, like "New Soviet Man" was a dangerous idea, and some are fill it in, whatever you want: Change the world. Well, we all want to change the world, but we all have different ideas of what it should change to.This time around, though, ... we've seen glamour take on a different role in the campaign via Donald Trump. How so?Right. ... Donald Trump, the glamour part comes into him in a couple of different ways. Most people, and even most Trump supporters, I think, probably don't find him glamorous. Although he is extremely charismatic, which is a different thing.But I have talked to Trump supporters who - particularly there was one very articulate small-business owner who said, "You know, I think Trump is glamorous. To me he represents the big time, the bright lights, everything I wish I were, but am not."So for some people, he's glamorous. His style of being a rich guy is sort of a poor or working-class person's idea of what it would be like to be rich. Very different from a Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, or you know, Warren Buffett or Charles Koch type of billionaire. It's all that flash.But I think what is more important in Trump's appeal, vis-a-vis glamour, is this is a man who made his money in the real estate and travel industries. And the real estate and travel industries are really good at using glamour.They show you the picture of the resort. They show you the picture of the house, the picture of the apartment. And you look at it, and you say, "Wow. Life would be perfect if I lived in that house." Or, "I could get away from all my troubles at that resort."And glamour, whether it's in this photograph or in general, always hides things. It hides the cost. It hides the trade-offs. It hides the cleaning of the house. It hides the bills on the kitchen table. It hides how you're going to pay for it. All of those sorts of details.OK, so Trump has sold Trump hotels. He has sold Trump resorts. He has sold Trump condominium complexes. Now he's selling Trump America."Come to my America. It'll be beautiful. It'll be everything that you possibly could want." And I'm going to leave out all the grubby details. So I'm going to tell you that we can just produce everything in America, and we're going to cut off our trade with the rest of the world.And I'm going to ignore the fact that ... let's forget about consumers. Let's just talk about businesses. Businesses have these complex supply chains. Millions of Americans are dependent on those. Their jobs depend on maintaining those supply chains, being part of those global networks. He's going to cut that off, but he's going to make it sound very appealing, and that's where the glamour comes in.Now, does the fact that the glamour proves to be so appealing, is that one of the reasons why people have a hard time, once they're on that Trump train, jumping off?Absolutely. And we saw this in 2008, where people were trying to puncture the Obama glamour. And not just Republicans, but you know, Hillary Clinton ... trying to say, "You know, you're just projecting onto this person whatever you want."And it's very hard to puncture that. Experience will do a very good job. But as long as it's got that distance, as long as the person is not actually in office, as long as you don't have your dream job, you can imagine it would be perfect. You don't live in your dream house. You can imagine it would be perfect.When you have experience, then you start to see the flaws. But it's hard for somebody who isn't sharing the dream to say, "Hey, let's get specific here. Let's think about what's being left off."You can try to do it with details and facts, and remind people about what's being left out. You can try to do it with the opposite of glamour, which is sort of horror and fear and, you know, think about how terrible it would be. And, certainly, there's a lot of that in the attacks on Trump.And maybe that'll be what will motivate people to vote against him. Or you can try to do it with humor, and make sort of the illusion seem ridiculous as opposed to scary, or just not real.... It sounds as if this would be something very successful during a campaign, [but] perhaps not quite as successful for someone in office. Is that what we've found?That's right. I mean, if you look at Obama, it was very helpful to him that he was a glamorous candidate in 2008. It made him very difficult to counter. Once he got in office, a lot of people who voted for him ... were disillusioned because they imagined that he would do whatever it was that they wanted. There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) major John McCrae In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. A Belgian poppy field near at or near Flanders. We Shall Keep the Faith Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet - rise anew! We caught the torch you threw And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died. We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a lustre to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields. And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead. Fear not that ye have died for naught; We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought In Flanders Fields In 1920, the American Legion adopted the red poppy as the symbol of remembrance of those who gave their lives in war. Yet many don't know why the flower was chosen.In 1915, Allied and German forces met for the second time near the Belgian city of Ypres, in the northern region (known as the "Flanders" region). This bloody battle would inspire one of the most memorable war poems "In Flanders Fields." Major John McCrea, a surgeon attached to the 1st Canadian Field Artillery Brigade, tended to the wounded for 17 long days. He was overwhelmed by the carnage, the suffering, the screams, the blood, and the broken bodies. There would be 6000 Canadian casualties alone in just the first 48 hours. One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and one of his former students, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on May 2nd. Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station and McCrae himself performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain. The next day, overcome by anguish, he sat outside his dressing station and looked out over the cemetery. He could see wild red poppies springing up where there were once ditches that were filled with the battle's dead.And so he wrote:In 1918, just before the Armistice of World War I was signed, Moina Michael, a US humanitarian, was working at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries' Conference and came across John McCrae's poem. She was deeply inspired by the imagery of the poppies. She responded with a poem of her own "We Shall Keep the Faith" and promised to wear a red poppy in remembrance of those who had fallen.It was Ms. Michael who began the tradition of wearing red poppies in remembrance and honor of those who had given their lives for their country.And so, in 1920, the American Legion adopted the red poppy as its official symbol for fallen servicemen, to be handed out and worn on Memorial Day. WASHINGTON (May 27, 2016)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities., is being awardedfor modification P0015 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive fee contract (N00019-15-C-0038) for the procurement of eight OE-120 Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System antenna systems for the Navy (7); and the Missile Defense Agency (1). Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed in March 2020. Fiscal 2013, 2014, and 2016 shipbuilding, construction (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,096,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded amodification to delivery order 5503 previously issued against basic ordering agreement N00019-14-G-0020. This modification provides for the procurement of retrofit modification hardware and diminishing manufacturing source components required for F-35 Block 3F upgrades. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (90 percent); and Baltimore, Maryland (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Fiscal 2014 and 2015 aircraft procurement (Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy); fiscal 2016 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force and Marine Corps); and international partner funds in the amount of $5,104,526 will be obligated at time of award, $956,701 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases of the Marine Corps ($4,760,145; 47 percent); Air Force ($1,832,552; 18 percent); Navy ($608,067; 6 percent); and international partners ($3,008,287; 29 percent). The, is the contracting activity. Steny Hoyer and 15 teachers and principals from the Fifth Congressional District at a luncheon in Upper Marlboro today. (Photo: Steny Hoyer) UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (May 27, 2016)Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) hosted a luncheon in Upper Marlboro today to recognize 15 outstanding teachers and principals in the Fifth District. The honorees included the Washington Post's Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year finalists and County Teacher of the Year Award recipients for Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, St. Mary's, and Prince George's Counties.The following principals and teachers were honored today:John Yore, Meade High School, Washington Post Principal of the YearCarol Bak, Chesapeake High School, Washington Post Teacher of the YearKatrina Griffin, North County High School, County Teacher of the YearToni Chapman, St. Leonard Elementary School, Washington Post Principal of the YearDavid Redden, Calvert High School, Washington Post Teacher of the YearDonna Miller, Windy Hill Middle School, County Teacher of the YearSonia Jones, Mattawoman Middle School, Washington Post Principal of the YearKevin Barry, La Plata High School, Washington Post Teacher of the YearJillian Durr, Dr. James Craik Elementary School, County Teacher of the YearKathy Richard Andrews, Academy of Health Sciences at PGCC, Washington Post Principal of the YearWilliam Moulden, Samuel Ogle Middle School, Washington Post Teacher of the YearAmanda Espina, Benjamin D. Foulois Academy, County Teacher of the YearAngela Malone, Oxon Hill Middle School, Milken Educator AwardAudrey Ellis, Piney Point Elementary School, Washington Post Principal of the YearApril Wathen, George Washington Carver Elementary School, Washington Post Teacher of the YearAlison Sayers, Fairlead Academy, County Teacher of the YearCongressman Hoyer also recognized Monifa McKnight from Ridgeview Middle School in Montgomery County, who was named Principal of the Year in 2015 by the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals."I was pleased to honor Fifth District educators today and celebrate the work they are doing to provide our students with the tools to succeed," said Congressman Steny Hoyer. "In December, Congress enacted a bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which is called the 'Every Student Succeeds Act.' The intent of the law is to improve the system for students, teachers, and administrators while preserving the civil rights legacy of the original ESEA."I am now working with my colleagues to ensure that it is fully implemented and fully funded," continued Congressman Hoyer. "I'm proud that the Full-Service Community Schools program, which I have championed through my career, was included in this bill. I have seen first-hand how this wrap-around model works through the 'Judy Centers' here in Maryland, and I look forward to expanding this model nationwide. I am also pleased that this bill includes increased access to pre-school because starting early is the best way to make sure kids are well prepared to succeed. I thank our Fifth District teachers and principals for their commitment to our students and for all that they do as outstanding Maryland educators." Congressman Steny H. Hoyer and 3 of the student winners of the Fifth District Congressional App Challenge. L to R: Alexander Lugo (first place winner); Nicole Balay; Steny Hoyer; and Jasmine Brunson. Not pictured is Fernanda Jimenez. (Photo: Steny Hoyer) GREENBELT, Md. (May 27, 2016)Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) hosted an event to recognize the participants of the Second Annual Fifth District Congressional App Challenge. The event was held at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where most of the 32 participating students, including all of the winners, attend high school. The participating students also had the opportunity to demonstrate their apps at the event.The following students were recognized today:First-place winner:for his app called "Little Elf," a fantasy game for android phones featuring advanced graphics and animations. A video presentation of Alexander's winning app will be on display in the U.S. Capitol for the next year.Second-place winners:for her app called "Roosevelt Routing," which features an interactive map and routing program to help students navigate Roosevelt High School.for her game on the live-code platform called "Crypt the Code," which enables users to test their math and puzzle skills as cryptographers for the FBI or CIA.for "Magical Matching," a memory app for young children that teaches colors, numbers, shapes, letters, and animal names using fun, interactive games."I was pleased to recognize the ingenuity, hard work, and creative spirit of our 2016 Congressional App Challenge participants today," said Congressman Steny Hoyer. "Congress created this app challenge in 2013 to promote coding and computer science skills. Modeled after the long-running Congressional Art Competition, it asked high school students from every Congressional District across our country to design and code apps for mobile devices, tablets, or computers.""These students who designed, built, and submitted apps are part of a generation of young Americans whose fluency with technology will help maintain America's role as the world's leading innovator and economic powerhouse for the 21st century," continued Congressman Hoyer. "It's crucial that we are doing everything we can to make sure our students can learn coding and other technology skills to be competitive for jobs that will help them get ahead in our economy. That's why I've been working with my colleagues in the Maryland Congressional Delegation and from districts around the country to promote investment in STEM education, quality public schools, and greater access to affordable higher education. I would like to thank Eleanor Roosevelt High School teacher Mr. Cyril Pruszko, parents, and the competition judges for their support and encouragement that have been critical to these students." GREENBELT, Md. (May 27, 2016)Vinnie Lysander Taylor, a/k/a "T," age 44, of Wilmington, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Georgia, pleaded guilty on May 26, 2016, to charges of receiving and selling industrial grade silicone, but representing to customers that it was medical grade silicone.The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks; Special Agent in Charge Mark S. McCormack of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations' Metro Washington Field Office; and Chief Hank Stawinski of the Prince George's County Police Department."Injecting industrial-grade silicone into individuals' bodies can result in serious bodily injury or death," said Special Agent in Charge Mark S. McCormack, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations' Metro Washington Field Office. "FDA's OCI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who offer this dangerous product to the public."Taylor admitted that from at least 2008 through December 16, 2014, he administered silicone injections into the buttocks of customers who wanted larger or fuller buttocks. Taylor, who was not a licensed medical practitioner, falsely represented to customers and victims to whom he administered liquid silicone injections that the procedure was safe and that he used medical grade silicone, when in fact the silicone was not medical grade silicone. Taylor administered the injections in hotel rooms in Prince George's County, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Arlington, Virginia, and elsewhere. Taylor charged between $800 and $1000 for the initial injections and between $350 and $800 for subsequent injections. When used in this fashion, liquid silicone is a medical device subject to regulation by the FDA.In Maryland, between at least 2012 and December 2014, Taylor administered silicone injections to more than 10 individuals, representing to each victim that he used medical grade silicone and that it was safe. In fact, Taylor did not use medical grade silicone, but used polydimethylsiloxane, a common silicone product used in commercial applications such as foods, lubricating oils, sealants and shampoos.On March 20, 2014, Taylor injected silicone into the buttocks of a victim. After the victim left the hotel she began having breathing difficulties. On March 22, 2014, the victim checked herself into the hospital and two days later, she died. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was acute and chronic respiratory failure due to a foreign substance causing a pulmonary embolization. The medical examiner ruled the manner of death to be a homicide. A clear viscous fluid removed from the victim's buttocks during the autopsy was determined to be polydimethylsiloxane.According his plea agreement, from approximately 2008 through December 2, 2014, Taylor purchased 152 gallons of food grade liquid silicone. Taylor stored the liquid silicone in plastic bottles that were not labeled nor approved by the FDA for that purpose. Therefore, the liquid silicone was adulterated and misbranded. The 152 gallons of silicone equates to 3,196 sessions. At $500 per treatment, Taylor's mid-range fee, proceeds from the illegal injections total at least $1,598,000.As part of his plea agreement, Taylor has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal information that will be filed in Prince George's County Circuit Court, admitting that Taylor's conduct resulted in the death of the victim in March 2014. In exchange, the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office dismissed first degree murder charges which were pending against Taylor.Taylor, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Taylor will be sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison. U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for August 19, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. Taylor remains detained.United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations' Metro Washington Field Office, the Prince George's County Police Department, and the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Deborah A. Johnston and William D. Moomau, who are prosecuting the case. BALTIMORE (May 27, 2016)Shivani Patel, age 30, of Reisterstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to bank fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft arising from a scheme to use stolen credit information of more than 200 victims to defraud financial institutions.The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Special Agent in Charge Brian Murphy of the United States Secret ServiceBaltimore Field Office.According to her plea agreement and court documents, from at least June to December 18, 2013, Patel conspired with Tariq Hicks, her then boyfriend Eddie Carey and others to defraud financial institutions by accessing stolen credit card and debit card accounts belonging to real people and using counterfeit cards encoded with the stolen account information to make unauthorized purchases. Hicks purchased the stolen account information over the internet . Patel and Hicks used a computer and an electronic device called a "reader-writer" to encode the stolen credit and debit card information onto existing credit cards, gift cards, or other similar cards. These cards were sold or distributed to co-conspirators, such as Carey and Ishia Cason, who used them and provided the bulk of the proceeds to Hicks. Patel often delivered cards to the individuals who were conducting transactions, called "strikers." Patel also recruited workers.Hicks also purchased or obtained over the internet "credit profiles" containing the identity information of victims. He then obtained full credit reports for these victims. Hicks gave this information to Patel and others, who went into stores where the victims had existing credit accounts, with the victim's personal identity information so that they could "authenticate" themselves as the victim. Patel, Carey, Cason and others would then make purchases on the existing accounts (called "account takeover").In addition, Hicks used the credit reports to identify stores at which a victim did not have an account, and sent Patel, Carey, Cason and others into those stores with the same personal identity information. Patel and the co-conspirators would apply for new credit accounts in the victim's identity, and then use that "instant credit" to make purchases before the victim learned of the account.For all of these schemes, Hicks obtained fraudulent drivers' licenses which bore the information of the victim, but the photograph of a co-conspirator. Patel had many such identifications which bore her photo but the identity information of victims. Often Hicks or Patel would provide a cheat sheet with the necessary personal identity and account information so that a co-conspirator would have ready and covert access to the information as needed. The co-conspirators could then use the counterfeit license to establish their identity as the victim.Patel and others instructed those using the cards and information to travel to other states to engage in the fraud. Patel and Carey traveled to conduct account takeovers, instant credit fraud and other fraudulent transactions. Co-conspirators frequently traveled north to Pennsylvania and south as far as Georgia to engage in fraud, as well as the states that lie between Baltimore and Atlanta, including North and South Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia.On December 18, 2013, a search warrant was executed at Patel's residence, where she lived with Hicks and Carey. A complete set up for the fraud scheme was on the dining table, including a computer with the credit profiles and credit reports, a reader/writer device, credit cards in various states of manufacture, money gram receipts for payments for the stolen credit card numbers and profiles, lists of personal identity information and "cheat sheets." Also recovered were dozens of credit cards bearing victims' names and accounts, as well as dozens of fraudulent identification to match the credit cards, all bearing the information of the victims but the photographs of co-conspirators.In a basement space shared by Patel and Carey were more lists of victim information and a receipt for a storage locker rented to "Aishwarya Gupta," a fictitious identity that Patel created as an alter ego and used to obtain a $42,073.22 loan for the purchase of a 2010 BMW 528XI. There was also a small notebook in Patel's handwriting which numerous personal identity information; notations as to money grams which had to be sent to various individuals in Kiev and the amounts owed; notations as to what merchandise was ordered and delivered to customers of the scheme at what price; notations as to how much was owed to workers in the scheme, and a reminder to pay the storage locker fee.A search warrant was executed on the storage unit and a duplicate "mill" was located, including an embosser to manufacture embossed credit cards, and boxes containing hundreds of blank plastic cards ready for counterfeiting, including white, gold, silver and black cards. There were also over 150 cards in various states of manufacture.Over 450 compromised accounts were compiled from the evidence seized from the residence and storage locker, although most had not yet been used in the scheme. There were over 200 victims, including businesses and financial institutions which sustained an actual loss and victims who had their identities compromised in the conspiracy. Based on the individual victims and credit accounts which were recovered from the search warrant, actual losses associated with the scheme are $61,030.78. As part of her plea agreement, Patel will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims' losses.Patel faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in for the bank fraud conspiracy, and a mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence imposed, for aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar scheduled sentencing for September 30, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.Tariq Hicks, age 48, of Owings Mills, Maryland, pleaded guilty on May 2, 2016; and Eddie Carey, age 32; and Ishia Biff Cason, age 36, both of Baltimore, pleaded guilty on May 5, 2016, to bank fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Judge Bredar scheduled sentencing for Hicks on June 10, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.; for Carey on August 18, 2016 and for Cason on August 5, 2016, both at 2:00 p.m.The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.Today's announcement is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys' offices, and state and local partners, it's the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets; and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since fiscal year 2009, the Justice Department has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore and the U.S. Secret Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamera L. Fine, who is prosecuting the case. We are not scared, a Russian vacationer said, having in mind a police station outside each and every hotel and two military vehicles escorting every tour bus shuttling between airports and local hotels. You Europeans spend too much time watching TV. You should try to find out what is really happening here instead of trusting everything newspapers are telling you, a Russian tourist said. Tourists basking in the hot sun of the Tunisian beaches will have to get used to the presence of armed guards standing close by, RTS wrote, adding that Russians had been accustomed to such a sight. NATO bombed Libya and Tunisians had to pay the bill because they wanted to play geopolitics, a local guide complained. I feel angry about the Europeans. They abandoned us and that was not a nice thing to do. The Russians are more pragmatic and sober minded, he added. "Our tourists are fearless adventurers. They are too much in love with the sun to give it up, a representative of a Russian tour agency explained. Everyone who planned to go to Egypt or Turkey will be heading here now. Ankaras unfortunate decision to shoot down a Russian bomber in November gave Tunisians a unique chance to host 7 million Russian tourists who would have otherwise preferred cheaper and closer places where to spend their vacations, he added. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The attack reportedly took place in Nigeria's southwestern province of Bayelsa, where the Niger Delta is situated. "At About 2;15am [01:15 GMT] on Saturday the @NDAvengers blow up Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny Trunk Line belonging to Agip and Shell," the NDA said on its Twitter account. Militant groups in the Niger Delta area, such as the NDA, aim at proclaiming independence from the central Nigerian government. In order to weaken Abudja, the militants attack oil facilities in the Niger Delta region, forcing oil producers to shut down production, causing outage and decrease in Nigeria's oil output. Poroshenko was making a bold attempt to try and closely tie disintegrating remains of the Ukrainian state to the Atlantic alliance, University of Illinois Professor of International Law Francis Boyle said on Friday. "This is an attempt by NATO and the rump-Ukraine to further integrate the rump-Ukraine into NATO on a de facto, but not de jure basis." Poroshenko and the Obama administration hawks supporting him knew that there was too much criticism of the Kiev regime in Western Europe to allow them to directly bring it fully into NATO, but hoped to achieve the same end indirectly with Rasmussens help, Boyle stated. "Major European nations, especially France and Germany, are never going to let rump-Ukraine, or for that matter, rump-Georgia into NATO de jure. So the regime in Kiev and the United States are trying to make Rump-Ukraine a de facto member of NATO." Without the Article 5 guarantee of the 1949 Washington Treaty that automatically regards an attack on one NATO member nation as an attack on them all, Ukraine would not be able to enjoy full NATO protection, Boyle acknowledged. During the visit of the Russian President to Greece, two thousand police were deployed on the streets of Athens, while parking in the city center was banned, local media reported. Each step of the high-ranking guest was closely guarded by seventy "supermen" from the Russian special forces, whose skills have been a subject of numerous legends', one of the local newspapers wrote. Russia and Greece are celebrating 2016 as a cross-cultural year, marking the millennial anniversary since the first Russian settlement on the Holy Mount Athos. The Russian President visited Greece to commemorate the historic date and strengthen spiritual traditions and shared values. MOSCOW (Sputnik) At the UN General Assembly last year, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the country would accept up to 3,000 Syrian refugees within three years in a bid to help solve the global refugee crisis. The first group of 11 Syrian refugees arrived in Malaysia in December. According to the Star newspaper, an aircraft carrying the Syrians landed at a Malaysian Air Force base at around 11:00 a.m. local time (03:00 GMT). MOSCOW (Sputnik) The operations were held in 14 of Afghan provinces, including Nangarhar, Paktia, Herat and Helmand, the statement added. "In the last 24 hours, Afghan Security Forces launched an offensive to suppress the insurgents and to protect people During the operations, 71 people were killed, 39 injured and one terrorist was arrested," the statement said. At least 52 militants died as a result of anti-terror raids in southern country's provinces of Kandahar and Oruzgan, according to the statement. "We forecast that despite any possible pledges in Vienna to cut production, many will flood the market with whatever they can get away with considering the dire economic pressures and escalating domestic unrest confronting them." Regardless of what will be agreed upon at the Vienna meeting, the fundamentals of the global economy, not OPEC, will ultimately determine the price of crude oil, Celente insisted. However, "the recent spike in oil prices is a temporary production issue and not one of supply and demand," Celente cautioned. Devastating forest fires in oil-sands-rich Alberta, Canada, disruptions in Venezuela, and pipeline and refinery attacks in Libya and Nigeria have taken some four million barrels per day off the markets, he pointed out. Prices would fall again "considering the tepid to negative economic growth worldwide, should the current disruptions prove short lived," Celente predicted. Saudi Arabia was continuing to pump out enormous quantities of oil to defend its market share against rival producers like Iran and Venezuela, even though it was highly vulnerable to and suffering financially from the global slump in oil prices, Celente observed. "In April, Fitch downgraded Saudi Arabias creditworthiness because of the long deep oil price slump, and just two weeks ago Moodys also downgraded Saudi credit rating," he pointed out. The more the Saudis expanded production, the more financial pressure they suffered, Celente reiterated. "It is strictly a bottom line issue, and the bottom line is that for the Saudi government to run a balanced budget, the fiscal break-even point is $100 a barrel." Saudi Arabia was reported to be pumping 9.8 million barrels per day in 2015, while this year it is expected to reach 10.2 million barrels per day and 12.5 million in 2017, further driving down global oil prices, Celente explained. "The point is, the Saudis will continue to produce more at a time when there is already an estimated 1.5 million barrels per day surplus on the market for the first half of this year," he emphasized. Iran, which many analysts had predicted would not meet its output projections following the lifting of sanctions, has instead surpassed them, hitting 3.6 million barrels per day, Celente added. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The deadline for the submission of the Letter of Acceptance was May 24, according to the Dawn newspaper. Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired, the source said, as quoted by the paper. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On June 29-30, energy ministers of the world's 20 major economies will meet in the China's capital of Beijing. "It has not been planned any official meetings yet. I think that some other formats will take place. We will have G20 [meeting] in late June, the meeting will be attended by the ministers of many countries. Of course, I plan to hold some bilateral meetings there," Novak told RIA Novosti, answering a question about possible meeting with his Iranian counterpart. Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraines southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup. After independence referendums held in May 2014, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics (DPR and LPR) were established. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The number of crimes against migrants continues to grow throughout Germany, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, as quoted by the local media. "Already in 2015, the number of attacks on refugees and refugee reception centers increased fivefold from 199 to 1031 cases. In the first months of 2016, the situation has further deteriorated, Funke media group quoted de Maiziere as saying. According to the interior minister, since January, 449 attacks on refugee centers have been recorded. In addition, 654 other crimes against migrants have been registered this year, 107 of them including violence, de Maiziere added. BRUSSELS (Sputnik) According to the RTBF broadcaster, the prison guards will not be paid the minimum wage, which is normally 80 percent of their base salaries, for the period from May 1 to May 22. Since April, the prison guards in Wallonia and Brussels regions have been on strike in protest against the increase in the retirement age and staff shortage issues that have resulted in extra shifts. On May 17, dozens of rallying prison guards and work union activists broke into the building of the Belgian Justice Ministry. ANKARA (Sputnik) UK Prime Minister David Cameron said earlier Turkey is unlikely to join the European Union until 3000 year. "If anyone says that the process of Turkeys accession to the European Union will continue until 3000, then it is a shame not for Turkey, but for those who voice these thoughts," Kurtulmus stated, addressing lawmakers. Underscoring Ankaras commitment to fulfilling its obligations en route to securing visa-free travel for its citizens, Kurtulmus stressed "Turkey does not depend on the European Union." A few days ago Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka assured his Lithuanian colleague that the Czech Republic was ready to cover the Baltic states airspace amid the imagined threat by Russia. When asked about Czech media speculating about Russias ability to occupy Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in a matter of just three days, Jaroslav Doubrava dismissed it as sheer paranoia. I can assure you that the majority of our society does not view Russia as an aggressor and feels no threat allegedly being posed by it to either the Czech Republic or Europe in general. Just look at the map with all these US military bases scattered around the world and compare this with the number of Russian bases and you will see whence the real threat to peace. He mentioned NATOs consistent military buildup in Eastern Europe and the war games the alliance has been holding close to the Russian borders. I see no justification for NATOs current buildup in eastern Europe, which increased the possibility of a military conflict. I cant imagine a Czech or Slovak soldier fighting a Russian soldier. Even though our army now mainly consists of contract soldiers, mercenaries ready to fight anyone, our people will never forget the Red Army, which liberated our country from Nazi invaders during WW2, Jaroslav Sobotka emphasized. Meanwhile, the World Without Wars and Violence movement has sent an open letter to the participants of the US military convoy passing across the Czech Republic. In this letter we say that our children were born in peacetime and that we want to live in peace. We're asking the US soldiers to urge their government to stop using American troops in Europe and militarizing the minds of our children who are happily climbing onto these armored vehicles and enjoy the sight of all these assault rifles they think are just a toy, Dana Feminova, the leader of Centrum Narovinu public organization, said. We are dealing with a military-industrial lobby hell-bent on landing ever more contracts. We are calling on the US soldiers to stay away from these dangerous games, which are fraught with an armed conflict in Europe. "We are protesting against this convoy, but we are holding no grudge against these soldiers and would be glad to see them coming here as tourists. But now we want them to understand our fears, Dana Feminova said. KIEV (Sputnik) Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the two-year Ukraine crisis could only be resolved by providing the Lugansk and Donetsk regions with special constitutional status and decentralized power. "The Minsk agreements expressly stipulate the withdrawal of occupation forces from the whole Ukrainian territory, restoring Ukrainian control of the state border, bringing in an armed OSCE international police mission Only then, according to the Ukrainian legislation, with international observers, the participation of Ukrainian parties, with security measures, when we protect everyone and allow in Ukrainian media, will we hold elections that clearly meet the international standards of the OSCE," Poroshenko stressed. Speaking at events commemorating the state border guard service, Poroshenko maintained that "there will be nothing else, I insist on it." One of the goals of the new radio station is to counter radio stations and channels broadcasting in the conflict zone, The Wall Street Journal reported. Among the organizers of the initiative is Alexei Makukhin, an adviser to the Ukrainian military. He said that troops fighting militia forces in eastern Ukraine hear a "steady barrage of radio and TV broadcasts that seem crafted to sow doubts about their mission." "In setting up the Ukraine army radio station, Mr. Makukhin has had help from a US nonprofit called Spirit of America. Unlike many nongovernment organizations in war zones that pledge neutrality, this one tries to align its efforts with US objectives," the article read. KIEV (Sputnik) On Monday, the leaders of the so-called Normandy Quartet, comprising Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine held phone talks and confirmed their commitment to implementation of the Minsk agreements on settling the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Soon after the negotiations, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's press service said that the sides supported deploying an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) special police mission to Donbass. The following day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the parties to the Monday negotiations discussed arming the existing OSCE monitoring mission in Donbass, but not creating a police mission. "We have thought about it, estimated [possible personnel of the mission]. It should be some thousands [of people]," Muzhenko said in an interview with the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency, answering a question about possible scale of the mission. MOSCOW (Sputnik) An aviation expert told the publication the crash occurred during a standard "pushback" maneuver, in which the jet towed away from the passenger boarding bridge. "It happened on a taxiway next to the runway and the plane was preparing to take off. It was getting towed out from a stand when the tug hit the aircraft," a witness told the Manchester Evening News daily. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Gibraltar is located on the Iberian peninsula and controlled by London since 1713. Some 300 years ago, Spain ceded Gibraltar to the United Kingdom, but Madrid is still trying to return it back. "If Gibraltar wanted to have access to the single market and the rights we enjoy today of free movement, we would have to once again consider joint sovereignty with Spain which no one in Gibraltar is prepared to consider," Picardo told the Sky News television channel. According to a recent Sputnik.Polls survey, conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion and the British Populus Company, the majority of Germans and Frenchmen don't believe Turkey will ever join the European Union, while 38 percent of Brits think that Ankara may become a member of the bloc within 10 years. Tocci told Radio Sputnik that the accession process remains incredibly important for both parties, and that it is the EU's most important tool in order to stimulate transformation in terms of politics, economy and society within Turkey. However, she doesn't believe that the required consensus of all member states is possible at the moment. "It's quite clear that at this point in time it is difficult to imagine that the 28 member states would accept Turkey's membership," she said. Last Saturday, poor air quality prompted Mexico City authorities to ban the use of cars with number plates ending with 3, 4, 9 and 0. The residents of the capital city were advised to minimize the time spent outdoors. In March, the Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis announced that all vehicles, motorcycles and federal plates would have to stop moving one day a week and one Saturday a month starting from April 5 until June 30. The broadcaster reported, citing police officials that police officers found drugs, explosives, weapons and significant sums of counterfeit currency during the raid. According to the radio, the raid is still underway and is expected to last for three days. "These airdrops mean that 762 metric tons of urgently needed food assistance reached approximately 100,000 people," OBrien said on Friday. In addition, Russia announced on Wednesday that a Russian military transport plane airdropped 21 tons of UN supplies to the city. The latest figures show Iran's oil exports will rise by nearly 60 percent from a year ago in May, indicating that Tehran is retaking market share at a faster pace than analysts had projected. Irans sales to Europe are rising fast, while loadings to Asia have already grown to levels not seen since 2012. One of the key allies of Saudi Arabia is the United Arab Emirates. It has strong trade and business relations with Iran. The bulk of Irans imports from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which amounted to $37 billion in 2015, were exports from the UAE. Even before the nuclear deal, Irans economy had been on a strong recovery path, according to Press TV. President Hassan Rouhani said the country's economy is set to grow in surplus of five percent this year. Looking at the demographics, Iran has a population of over 80 million. This provides the country with huge opportunities as the worlds last unexploited major frontier market. According to Press TV, Irans labor force is relatively well-educated and Irans economy is more diversified than other oil exporters in the region. Furthermore, Iran is already integrated into the Persian Gulf economic systems and there is hardly anything that Saudi Arabia can do that can seriously disentangle that, Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London told Bloomberg. Joshi further said the Saudis cant do much to block Iran at the global level, but theyre applying pressure on Iran wherever they are able to do so, to limit its political and economic influence. SULEIMANIA (Sputnik) The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance liberated Shaddadi south of Hasakah city and use it as a staging ground to attack Daesh in Raqqa "The attacks targeted our checkpoints in the villages in south Shaddadi [Hasakah province]. These terrorist attacks resulted in the deaths of four [Peoples Protection Units] YPG militiamen and injuries to 18 others," the groups Russian-language update said. On Tuesday, the SDF began the offensive to liberate Raqqa from Daesh terrorists, which has been in control of the city since 2013. Militants from the al-Nusra Front jihadist group have attacked residential areas and Nayrab airport in Syrian northern city of Aleppo, Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday. "Groups of al-Nusra Front international terrorist organization continue their provocative actions aimed at violation of the ceasefire. In past 24 hours [the group] attacked the settlement of Handrat, Aleppo's neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Halidia, as well as Nayrab airport, with mortars and multiple rocket launcher systems," the ministry said in a daily bulletin posted on its website. The number of settlements that have joined ceasefire regime in Syria has increased to 125, Russian Defense Ministry also stated. "Within the last 24 hours, truce agreements have been reached with representatives of three settlements in the province of Aleppo. The number of settlements that have joined the ceasefire process increased up to 125," the ministry said in a daily bulletin posted on its website. "Raytheon is being awarded a $365,848,801 fixed-price-incentive, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the production of Aegis Weapon System AN/SPY-1D(V) Radar Transmitter Group, Missile Fire Control System MK 99 equipment, and associated engineering services," the release stated on Friday. The SPY-1D(V) is a high-powered radar transmitter that supports search, track and missile guidance functions, according to Raytheon, while the MK99 system communicates with the mission control station to identify and illuminate air targets. "European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) is not directed against Russia and is not capable of undermining Russias strategic nuclear deterrent. Interceptors are designed to be launched from AEGIS Ashore sites to defend NATO in the case of a missile attack from the Middle East," Evans said on Friday. The United States Aegis Ashore system is expected to become operational in Poland in 2018. It is planned to form part of the European missile shield and be armed with land-based Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors. TOKYO (Sputnik) On Friday, the South Korean Navy fired warning shots at North Koreas fishing boat and patrol boat as they trespassed across the maritime border in the Yellow Sea (Northern Limit Line). "From now on, we will open direct fire on any warship of the South Korean puppet forces without warning, if it intrudes into the extension of the Military Demarcation Line of our side even 0.001 mm in the hotspot of the west sea," the General Staff of the North Korean Army said in a statement, as quoted by The Korea Herald on Saturday. BELBEK AIRFIELD (Sputnik) The Aviadarts show is an annual competition to test flight skills and precision shooting organized by the Russian Defense Ministry. The contest, which features fighter jets, bombers and other aircraft, was first held in Russia in 2013. "Today we are opening the third stage of Avidarts. It is not an accident that the opening takes place on Russian soil in Crimea. It was here where Russian aviation takes roots," Bondarev said at the opening ceremony. BELBEK AIRFIELD (Sputnik) The top military commander said the annual contest would involve Russias long-range aircraft, military-transport planes, as well as army, fighter, bomber and assault aircraft. "We inspected all the equipment involved, checked fuel and ammunition. The competition also involves aircraft [maintenance] technicians, who will be evaluated for the quality of service for certain aircraft," Bondarev told reporters. Space technologies are the hottest topic of the debates. Recently, the House Armed Services Committee discussed the purchase of 18 Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines . They are required for the Atlas-5 space program, including delivering military satellites into orbit. The Russian engines are also part of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). American analysts suggest that the OTV reusable suborbital surveillance aircraft designed in cooperation with NASA will be used to practice destroying satellites, Space.com reported. After Washington imposed sanctions against Russia a group of US congressmen called for the cancellation of the RD-180 deliveries. However, the Pentagon opposed, saying that the US would not be capable to develop its own analogue to until 2021. Probably, the classified report would include measures to cut reliance on the Russian-made engines. It is also possible that the US would further develop its traditional space technologies. "Military space technologies can be divided into two segments offensive and information. The US is not developing offensive space weapons because such programs are too expensive. Washington is interested in information technologies, particularly space intelligence," Ivan Moiseyev, head of the Institute of Space Politics, told the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad. Currently, 40 percent of the satellites orbiting Earth are American satellites. In addition to financial benefits, the use of satellites is crucial for defense needs. The Outer Space Treaty bars states from placing weapons of mass destruction in orbit. But the treaty does not prohibit the use of conventional weapons in space. As a result, the US wants to secure its satellites via military dominance in space. The aircraft was typically used for assault operations. A total of 10,645 MiG-21 aircraft were produced in the USSR in the period from 1959 to 1985. Under the agreement with Russia, India built 657 of these fighters, and Czechoslovakia 194. The license for production of the MiG-21 was acquired by the Chinese government as well. From 1966 to 2013 about 2,400 fighters were released in China. Modern fighters dont fly much faster than the MiG-21, or maneuver much more capably. While they do carry more ordnance and have more sophisticated electronic equipment, many air forces can treat these as luxuries; they simply want a cheap, fast, easy-to-maintain aircraft that can patrol airspace and occasionally drop a few bombs. The Fishbed fits the bill, Farley wrote for National Interest. If the total number of these aircraft is added up, the MiG-21 is the most produced supersonic fighter in history, the author further noted. MiGs were involved in combat operations in Vietnam, in the Middle East during the Arab-Israeli conflict and in the Indo-Pakistani conflict. In all these operations the fighters proved more than worthy, Robert Farley wrote. The number of MiG-21s began to decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when they began to be replaced by more modern models. However, even now the Soviet fighter is in service with the air forces of 18 countries, including two NATO member states Romania and Croatia, the columnist added. According to Farley, the MiG-21 will easily welcome its sixtieth and seventieth anniversary since its inception, because the fighter jet remains one of the most legendary fighters of the supersonic era. The Canadian Defense ministry plans to expand its logistics in the Arctic to set the stage for further expansion into the far north. According Defense News, the armed forces aim to make their Arctic Training Center in Nunavut, which previously worked only during the winter months, operable year-round. The center will be enlarged as well so more equipment can be stationed there.The conditions of the over one hundred troops deployed there will also be improved, with billiards and a new gym, RT noted. On Thursday, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook explained that US Special Forces have in the past "worn insignia and other identifying marks with some of their partner forces and 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." An ongoing rift continues regarding the transition process in Syria, with the US-ally Turkey on one side, engaged in routine illicit oil trade and arms sales with Daesh while calling for the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and excluding the Kurds from the negotiating table, while on the other side the supposedly hostile Russians call for a focused effort to stabilize Assad until the extremists have been dispatched. At the urging of Ankara and Riyadh, the White House has also approved advanced military aid to the moderate rebels in Syria, groups loosely affiliated with the terror organization al-Nusra, which itself maintains ties to both al-Qaeda and Daesh. Poroshenko recently had to fire his first Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and is increasingly unpopular due to his failed economic and security policies as well as a general deterioration in law and order. Macgregor argued that instead of trying to woo past NATO leaders and associate himself more closely with the West, Poroshenko would have done better to model his security policy on Austria and Finland during the Cold War, when both nations remained neutral between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Poroshenko "would have been smarter to hire a former Finnish Defense Minister" as his personal adviser, Macgregor remarked. ATHENS (Sputnik) The Russian leader arrived in Greece for a two-day visit on Friday. During Friday talks with Putin, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that strengthening ties between Moscow and Athens is the "strategic choice" of the Greek nation. "We have done a lot for the development of our intergovernmental relations when your party was in power in the Greek government," Putin said on Friday, while on a two-day visit to Greece, adding that Moscow "hopes that representatives of your party [New Democracy] in parliament will support our current initiatives and contribute to the development of Russian-Greek ties." Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday that he was "very interested" in developing economic relations with Russia and stressed that Greece and Russia are linked by close ties based on common traditions. Moreover, the Russian leader underscored that Russia and Greece have common civilization values and Orthodox culture. This year, Russia will celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the Russian monastery on Mount Athos. Russian Orthodox Church leader Kirill will join Vladimir Putin during his visit to Athos. For the first time, Putin visited Athos during his visit to Greece in September 2005. He was the first Russian leader to visit the holy place. The Russian president and Patriarch Kirill have a common mission during their visit to Greece, the article noted. Ahead of the visit, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini published an article by Vladimir Putin. In the piece the Russian leader wrote that Russia is indispensable for Europe. He added that throughout different epochs religion and patriotism have helped the Russian and Greek peoples preserve their identity. In turn, Patriarch Kirill criticized a "deep spiritual crisis" in the West. "An alliance between state and church is becoming more and more visible in Russia," the article read. Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church proposed to establish a new monetary organization controlled by all countries. According to Le Figaro, thus the Church criticized global dollar and euro dominance. If accurate, this assessment should come as no surprise. NATO recently welcomed its 29th member, the small Balkan country of Montenegro, at a time when the alliance has become increasingly active on its eastern and southern flanks, citing a non-existent threat from Russia as one of the reasons. "NATO, particularly the United States, wants to place Kosovo at the center of its military and political plans due to the territory's prime location," the senior analyst at the Institute of Slavic Studies under the Russian Academy of Sciences explained. Should these plans be carried out, Kosovo could become one of the nodes in Washington's massive missile shield in Europe that Moscow has described as a threat to its security. An element of this system has recently come online in Romania. Another Aegis Ashore base will become operation by 2018 in Poland. On the other hand, Riyadh's longstanding support to Sunni Islamists in the Middle East continues to trigger concerns both in the West and in Russia. "To state that Russia is protecting 'its guy in Syria,' Bashar al-Assad, while Saudi Arabia is supporting the opposition's struggle for freedom, would be a misleading simplification," Pakhomov points out. It is no secret anymore that Daesh and al-Qaeda are not the only radical Islamist factions in the region: for instance, Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaish al-Islam does not differ much from the notorious terrorist organizations. Unlike Riyadh and Ankara, Moscow has called for separating terrorists from "healthy" opposition forces in Syria in Iraq. "The next thing to consider while analyzing differences between Moscow and Riyadh's antiterrorism approaches is the fact that Saudi support to jihadist groups in Syria has been an open secret for some time. Now it even seems as though Saudi Arabia and Turkey are trying to consolidate jihadist units in Syria in a united command structure under the name of Jaish al-Fatah (the Army of Conquest). Coincidentally, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has also called for this kind of consolidation," Pakhomov stresses. Russia's concerns are not groundless: the Wahhabi branch of Islam is dominant in Saudi Arabia; and it is well documented that Wahhabi preachers have cooperated with terrorists not only in the Middle East but also in Russia's North Caucasus, and especially in Dagestan. While Russia and Saudi Arabia have carefully avoided confrontation, it is obvious that their aims in the Middle East differ. "The future will show how this competition influences international relations," Pakhomov concludes. The initiative came from Congressman Joe Pitts, who suggested that "governments across the globe should be isolating the Russian Navy, not accommodating it," despite the fact that letting Russian vessels into their ports is perfectly legal and does not violate domestic or international law. Madrid has been singled out as the key "wrongdoer." The newly added measure, Pitts argued, "is particularly important in the case of Spain, who, although a cherished NATO ally, grants Russia access to the ports in its enclaves across the strategically important strait of Gibraltar, where the United Kingdom has a Permanent Joint Operating Base that hosts US ships." "The world has been going through an economic crisis for a very long time. Economic growth has stagnated. If we take Europe, then the situation is even worse, since the European Union is facing structural challenges," he said. Western countries "have turned their attention to Russia in a bid to explain away their own failures or difficulties. I think this is the reason why the anti-Russian rhetoric has become more powerful," the author of "Russia-West: A Thousand Years of War" told those present at the book launch at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). The individuals brought to power under the auspices of the transition, would enter with relative "dictatorial powers" and "no mandate from the people," he added. Though Assad is not recognized by numerous foreign governments, he maintains control over the majority of Syrian territory with a greater margin of popular support than any of the largely foreign-backed opposition groups. Saudi Arabia and Turkey both have a stake in choosing representation for a Syrian transitional government comprised of five vice presidents, Richard Black told Sputnik. "Somehow Saudi Arabia and Turkey are going to come along and say, We are going to select two vice presidents for Syria, and put them in charge," Black said of two of the five deputies proposed for a Syrian transitional government. "And you know they are going to be put in place by the Turks and the Saudis." He specifically named Ahrar ash-Sham and al-Nusra Front among the foreign-backed terrorist groups. The US State Department has repeatedly said it believes terrorist groups are "commingling" with what it views as legitimate members of the government opposition. On Friday, Assad reaffirmed that the new Syrian constitution will not be a project "from abroad," but will be determined by the people of Syria. The statement follows rumors that nations highly involved in the International Syria Support Group are attempting to rewrite the constitution during the UN-sponsored peace process. Through the process set in motion by UN Security Council resolution 2254, August was set as a target date to establish a new constitution with terms to facilitate a government transition. And there is a good precedent for this: back in May, 2015 EAEU members struck a free trade zone deal with Vietnam; the deal is due to start operating at "full capacity" in June 2016. Furthermore, in late 2015 the EAEU kicked off negotiations on a similar agreement with Singapore. Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Sergey Katyrin believes that all ASEAN countries will soon ink the free trade zone agreement with the EAEU. What lies at the root of the Kremlin's diplomatic charm offensive? According to CBNTV, the trigger for Russia's more active efforts aimed at involving the Southeast Asian nations is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) project championed by the United States. By strengthening collaboration with the ASEAN bloc, Russia aims to diminish the negative impact of the TPP on its economy. However, much remains to be done, the media outlet notes: the ASEAN-Russian trade volume has decreased in the last five years in comparison with the previous 5-year period; the amount of Russia's direct investments in ASEAN economies has plummeted from $540 million in 2013 to $30 million in 2014. Today Russia's investment activity in the region leaves a lot to be desired, according to CBNTV. In light of this, bolstering the Russo-ASEAN collaboration is the issue of an ultimate importance for the Kremlin, the media outlet stresses, drawing attention to the fact that China, Japan and South Korea have long ago concluded free trade zone agreements with ASEAN. Still Moscow has a number of competitive advantages that makes it especially interesting to the Asian bloc: the biggest country on the continent and a leading member of the growing EAEU organization, Russia possesses both resources and unique technological expertise to facilitate the region's growth. Moreover, Moscow is not an economic "rival" but a partner to China, South Korea and Japan. At the same time the Sino-Russian synergy is the key to the development of the pan-Eurasian New Silk Road project, kicked off by Beijing. As Philippine Secretary of Science and Technology Mario Montejo told Sputnik: "The Commemorative Summit has affirmed that Russia is an important dialogue partner for ASEAN. The Summit showed that there is a strong political commitment for us to broaden and deepen cooperation, and that is reflected in the Sochi Declaration and the new ASEAN-Russia Plan of Action." ATHENS (Sputnik) The outlet singled out Putins remark made at joint statements with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as unique in the face of customary safety measures and traffic arrangements during official visits. "I am thankful to the people of Athens for the warm reception and ask their forgiveness for certain problems that may have been created," Putin was quoted as saying by the news247.gr online news outlet late Friday. Gabriel noted that the policy of isolation has not brought anything in the long run and called for the extension of dialogue with Moscow. At the same time, Gabriel's SPD party members have also opposed the call of their leader and proposed the idea of a "new Eastern policy," German newspaper Die Zeit wrote. "Our goal is to clearly distinguish between social democracy and the Kremlin's aggressive policy violating international law, as well as to underline our solidarity with our neighbors and allies in Eastern Europe," the appeal of the new SPD working group said. According to the initiator of the group Jan Berends, the SPD must "find the strength to refuse the Eastern policy in the style of Gerhard Schroeder," adding that Gabriel is moving "in the wrong direction." Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has repeatedly called fort the withdrawal of the anti-Russian sanctions, saying that their extension is "absurd." The United States, the EU and some of their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions targeting key sectors of the Russian economy, as well as a number of individuals and entities, over Crimea's reunification with Russia and Moscow's alleged involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations, warning that the Western sanctions are counterproductive and undermine global stability. In response to the restrictive measures, Russia imposed a food embargo on some products originating in countries that have targeted it with sanctions. Eckert maintained that NATO is "undeniably a military alliance" that is trying to "spark a war." For its part, the anti-war movement in Europe should oppose the "increasingly aggressive anti-Russian strategy developed by the leading power in NATO and its entourage," she said, referring to the US and those of its allies, who are trying to present Moscow as a threat. The North Atlantic Alliance has often cited Russia's supposedly "aggressive" behavior as one of the key challenges to European stability. But Eckert thinks that it's the other way round. "We urgently need to create a front of solidarity with Russia to preserve ourselves. Our task is to show that our great eastern neighbor has once again been wrongfully targeted by supporters of the Cold War, as well as those, who back open confrontation," she noted, calling them "Cold and Hot warriors." CHISINAU (Sputnik) Earlier this month, the US Aegis Ashore missile defense system was officially inaugurated at a military base in Romania, allegedly to protect the Eastern European country from a threat coming from the Middle East. Putin has said that the move was another step toward undermining the regional security and Russia would have to take retaliatory measures. According to a press release issued by the Romanian ministry, Putins remarks "show ignorance toward the real situation that Romania and its allies have repeatedly explained, saying that the missile defense system has an exclusively defensive nature." The ministry noted that the missile defense system "is not directed against Russia or any other country," adding that Putins remarks are "surprisingly put in the framework of the regional security aspect." TEHRAN (Sputnik) Ministry spokesman Hussein Jaber Ansari first disclosed Zarifs plans to visit several European countries last week. Iranian outlets later cited Swedens envoy to the Islamic republic breaking news that Zarifs trip to Stockholm was planned for June 1. "Zarifs trip to several European countries will start on Sunday [May 29] and last until June 4. He will first head to the Netherlands, then Finland, then Sweden, and will complete the tour in Lithuania," a governmental source said. Neither the aims nor the agenda of the ministers visit have been specified. The Russian Armata T-14 battle tank boasts the 21st century cutting-edge features that make it second to no one; however, the Armata designers intend to launch the production of a new fighting vehicle, dubbed "the Terminator" on the basis of the country's most advanced tank platform. Dave Majumdar, the Defense Editor of The National Interest, calls attention to the fact that the Terminator-3 is the next iteration of the Boyevaya Mashina Podderzhki Tankov (BMPT) "tank support fighting vehicle" series based on the T-72 battle tank chassis. And still, the Terminator is one of a kind: there is no direct analogue to the BMPT in the US Army and NATO military forces. "Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Russians were able to venerate them. We hope that this high noble mission of Mount Athos and Mount Athos' monasteries will continue," Putin stressed. Noting the 1,000 years since Russian presence at the northeastern Greek peninsula, Putin classified Mount Athos a "unique center of Orthodoxy and Christianity" that preserved and expanded its spiritual traditions and shared values. "Reviving the values of patriotism, historical memory, traditional culture, we look forward to strengthening our relations with Athos. It is encouraging that every year it is visited by an increasing number of pilgrims from Russia, already more than 11,000 a year," he added. Toward the end of the visit, the sides exchanged gifts a copy of the Icon of the Savior at the Protaton church from Athos and Michael IV the Pahlagonians imperial menology covering February and March from Moscow, Russia. Russia has additionally presented a commemorative medal issued for the 1,000th anniversary of Russian monasticism on Mount Athos. Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated following the downing of a Russian Su-24 aircraft by a Turkish F-16 fighter in Syria on November 24, 2015. "We have done everything to bring decades of Russian-Turkish relations to an unprecedented level of partnership and friendship. And this friendship between the Russian and the Turkish people, it actually reached very high levels. We valued it very much. I still don't understand why this was done," the Russian President said, referring to the incident. Russia's retaliatory measures against Ankara include restrictions on the activities of Turkish organizations in Russia, prohibiting Russian employers from hiring Turkish citizens and a ban on certain food imports, including oranges, tangerines, tomatoes, apples, peaches, strawberries and most poultry products. Losses from the decreasing inflow of Russian tourists to the country are particularly high. In April, only 1.75 million foreigners arrived in Turkey, 28% less than the same period last year. Turkish authorities have recognized that the outflow of Russian tourists is directly linked to the deterioration of relations between Moscow and Ankara. In April, the number of tourists from Russia fell by 79.28% in comparison to the same month of 2015. "The Turkish economy has witnessed a severe crisis after the breakup. The Russian market was a great help for the Turkish economy. Moreover, Turkey has also worsened relations with many Middle Eastern countries and has lost markets there, too," political expert Stanislav Tarasov said, cited by the Russian newspaper Vzglyad. Germany is trying to enchant' the Saudis in the hope that the latter would help them to resolve the current refugee crisis. Saudi Arabia, unlike Turkey, can't stop the direct flow of migrants to Europe, but it can play an important role in resolving the Syrian conflict, which is one of the main causes of the ongoing refugee crisis, the newspaper wrote "Thus, the fact that Saudi Arabia has been neglecting human rights for decades and that its political system is based on a radical-conservative understanding of Islam, is being ignored by the federal government," the newspaper wrote. In particular, Die Welt referred to a recent visit by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir to Germany. According to the newspaper, he and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier know each other very well and have seen each other frequently. According to the academic the VPAF and Vietnam People's Navy (VPN) cannot yet boast any advanced patrol assets, which make it especially difficult to fill the gap between "see-ers" and "shooters." While the academic describes with great enthusiasm Vietnam's future acquisitions, the question arises: why Washington has lifted its decades-old lethal arms embargo on Vietnam now and what is really behind the move. According to China's English-language Global Times, the move is clearly aimed against Beijing. "Obama claimed that this move is not aimed at China, yet this is only a very poor lie which reveals the truth exacerbating the strategic antagonism between Washington and Beijing," the media outlet wrote Tuesday, adding that "Vietnam is playing a particularly special role in the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy." Is Beijing's stance justified? Likely so. Farley writes that the US-made weaponry will provide Vietnam with capabilities that it "can use to exert greater control over the South China Sea." "Not coincidentally, this is precisely the geostrategic outcome the US would like; an ally that can challenge the PLAN [Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy] and the PLAAF [People's Liberation Army Air Force] in what they believe to be their own back yard," the US academic stresses. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Earlier this week, media outlets have distributed photos taken in Syria near Daesh-occupied city of Raqqa, which depicted at least one of the US soldiers wearing a YPG patch. "I am someone who believes that politics should be conducted honestly. Therefore, our allies, those who are with us in NATO, cannot and should not send their own soldiers to Syria, with insignias of the YPG," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News. DUBAI (Sputnik) It noted that the decision was carried out under the terms of a bilateral agreement between the two countries. Tehran and Kuwait City agreed to implement a prisoner exchange agreement signed years ago last February. "The State of Kuwaits commitment to the charter of human rights and international conventions and under the guidance of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al Khalid Al Sabah issued a decree extraditing nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran numbering 47," the ministry said. Kuwait expelled the Iranian ambassador and withdrew its envoy from Tehran in show of support for Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties with Iran in January. The spat came in response to attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad, triggered by the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Riyadh. Are Brazils problems structural? The Brazilian parliamentary system is hybrid and quite difficult to manage, the party of the president has never held more than 20% of the seats, in either the lower or upper house. Governments have to stitch together very unwielding coalitions. Rousseff had 10 parties in her coalition, and then had to appease each group the new government is a reaction to what happened to Rousseff and is the most congress-based party we have seen in Brazil for a while now we have a sitting president and an active president at the same time essentially we have two presidents, and this won't be resolved until after the Olympics. How right wing is Michel Temers new government? Many of the appointments are disappointing, not just because many of the new ministers are being investigated for corruption, as is Temer himself, but because there are no women, all are white, some dont have qualifications. He took away ministerial status from some important ministries including human rights, racial equality for women, this has certainly raised some eyebrows Will Temer have to stop free elections to stay in power? This would be surprising to most of us who have studied Brazil since the 1980s when it returned to democracy from dictatorship. The institutions are robust enough, we shall see in October in the municipal elections. Even the Workers Party which is saying a coup has taken place is planning to run in the municipal elections. They hope to survive as a party and do reasonably well I would say the risk with the Temer government is not what will happen in the next elections but that Temer will enforce a lot of economic reforms in a very short time that Rousseff could not, such as privatisation, liberalisation of offshore oil regulations, ending linking pensions to the minimum wage, raising the retirement age for pensions, reducing mandatory expenditure on health and education, these are all things that Brazilians would not have voted for. Has the Brazilian Press been instrumental bringing about the change over in administrations? The Brazilian press is biased, a lot of the anti-corruption coverage has been selectively leaked so we dont know who is being protected, so we cant over generalise. The TV news is less biased than the press, and the TV news is far more influential than the newspapers in Brazil. The bias is not the same across the whole spectrum of the media in Brazil. What about the international press? Parts of the press in the US and the UK are favourable towards the recent change. Multinational Oil companies that are interested in investing in offshore oil reserves companies for example dont like the 30% monopoly that Petrobras enjoys. They would like to see a lessening of the national content laws that are in place this is aside from the question of legitimacy of the current government, and people are quite right to raise questions about it. So the markets seem to be happy but there are big questions left unanswered in terms of political ethics right across the board. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday that he had no plans to attend the upcoming summit of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) in Vienna. On June 2, the Austrian capital of Vienna is expected to host the 169th OPEC meeting to discuss the current state of affairs in the global oil industry. Several non-OPEC states, such as Azerbaijan and Oman, are expected to participate in the meeting as well. "I have no plans to go to Vienna at all," Novak told RIA Novosti. The Russian-Iranian agreement on the civil use of nuclear energy, followed by a deal to construct Iran's first nuclear power plant, dates from 1992. The Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant started operating in Iran in 2011 and reached full capacity the following year. An agreement to expand civilian nuclear energy cooperation and construct a total of eight additional nuclear reactors at Bushehr was signed between the sides on November 11, 2014. On Friday, Rosatoms press service announced full-scale construction of Bushehr-2 and Bushehr-3 as soon as the technical aspects were resolved within the next weeks. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The United States was dying from within, its domestic infrastructure was crumbling and successive administrations had wasted $5 trillion in the Middle East instead of using the money to create jobs and prosperity at home, Trump maintained. "We have tremendous deficits. Don't believe the 5 percent. The real [unemployment] number is 20 percent," Trump stated on Friday. While the US domestic economy was in deep crisis, the United States spent hundreds of billions of dollars defending prosperous nations that exported far more to America than they bought from it, Trump argued. NEW YORK (Sputnik) According to The New York Post, the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane crashed into the river near the Intrepid Museum at around 07:30 pm local time on Friday (23:30 GMT). WWII vintage P47. 1 male pilot. Minor injuries. En route to hospital. Plane 2 be scrapped by Army Corp. of Engineers NJSP State Police (@NJSP) May 28, 2016 NJSP said the plane went down "near 79th St. Pier." Police did not confirm initial reports of there having been one survivor in the water. CBS New York said citing officials that there were three people on board the aircraft. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) At least 18 people received medical attention and at least two were arrested during Friday clashes between demonstrators in San Diego, according to The Los Angeles Times. Due to violence and physical confrontation in the crowd. Officers are now moving into the area. Dispersal orders have been given. San Diego Police (@SanDiegoPD) May 27, 2016 The newspaper said that Trump left the area at about 04:30 pm local time (23:30 GMT) on Friday, but hundreds of his opponents remained in downtown San Diego, continuing protesting after his speech, despite police orders to leave. On Friday, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic rival of the presumptive Republican nominee, told a San Jose crowd that the United States has a duty to other nations, that look to America as a beacon of strength and stability, to defeat Trump. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Hundreds of anti-Trump protesters remained in downtown San Diego after Trumps Friday campaign rally. According to police, clashes have occurred between pro-Trump and anti-Trump demonstrators. **Final Update** 35 arrests were made today during the protest. No property damage was reported. No injuries were reported. San Diego Police (@SanDiegoPD) 28 2016 . However, according to earlier media reports, at least 18 people received medical attention during the clashes in San Diego. In 2014, NASA commissioned private companies Boeing and SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, to develop a means of transportation for sending US crews to the International Space Station, investing around $7 billion in contracts with these two private contractors. Boeing and SpaceX were supposed to build CST-100 Starliner and Dragon spaceships before the end of 2017. Half of the production cost is covered by NASA with the rest paid for by Boeing and SpaceX with the help of private investors. How about Russias Soyuz? NASA has selected four seasoned astronauts Indian-born Sunita Williams, Eric Boe, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to train for test flights aboard the Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon to the ISS. They have already successfully tested a new generation of training simulators that will prepare them for launch, flight and return aboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in a series of experiments at NASAs Cape Canaveral space center in Florida. Commenting on the decision not to extend the contract with Roscosmos for space crew deliveries to the ISS, William Gerstenmaier, NASAs Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, said that by 2018 NASA would be able to use both on US and Russian spaceships on the basis of reciprocal payments. How come everyone sticks with the Soyuz? In December 2005, NASA signed a contract with the Russian space agency Roscosmos to ferry US astronauts to the ISS on board Russian Soyuz spaceships. The deal came after NASA decided to gradually scrap its space shuttle program,s which had proved too costly after each launch set NASA back $1.45 billion instead of the promised $10.5 million. The use of the International Space Station is the only program NASA and Roscosmos are still working together on while all other venues of cooperation have been effectively put on hold as part of the standing anti-Russian sanctions. While NASA is working hard to develop its new space boosters, it still cant afford to stop using Russias RD-1280 engines. In 2014 Washington banned their imports on,ly to start buying them again after realizing the lack of any working analogues anywhere else. NASA is currently modernizing its Antares booster rocker as an alternative to the Atlas V for the Cygnus Orbital Science cargo ship using Russias RD-181 engine. The first launch of the upgraded Antares rocket is scheduled for July 2016. Extraordinary engines! The Americans have to rely on Russian engines because they are still unable to build equally powerful and trusty engines of their own. The Russians are very, very good at creating alloys that allow the engine to withstand certain temperatures and pressures, Senator Bill Nelson said at a 2014 hearing on Capitol Hill. Its an extraordinary engine. We dont know all the techniques of how they blend all those metals to have that kind of thrust, he added. In Moscow, Captain First Rank Konstantin Sivkov agreed with Ashton Carter in that the Russian submarine fleet was qualitatively and quantitatively lagging behind Americas. Should we be catching up with them? Well, if we are going to stand up for our interests on a global scale, then yes, we should. But if we want to lie low and just stick to our shores, then I dont think we should, Sivkov said. According to 2014 figures, Russia led the US only in the number of nuclear submarines armed with missile cruiser (seven to four). Moreover, Russia has 57 diesel-electric subs while the US has none. The US Navy is staking on nuclear-powered submarines, which though more expensive, are better suited for autonomous missions. The US now has 53 attack nuclear subs compared to Russias 16. Even though the past few years have seen a notable jump in the number of Russian submariners touring the oceans, this is still shy of what Russia projected during the Soviet years. That said, the Russian submarine fleet is still the worlds second most powerful. The Chinese have no submarines capable of competing with the American subs, while we have about ten such submarines, Sivkov said. According the Defense News, China now has three nuclear powered missile submarines, six attack submarines and 53 diesel-electric ones more than any of its neighbors can boast. Still, China will remain in third place unless it makes a qualitative jump in the field of armaments. According to unclassified information, Russia currently has at least several nuclear submarines boasting absolutely exceptional capabilities, above all when it comes to their ability to dive to depths even the best US subs cant reach. There have been reports about a top-secret Russian nuclear sub capable of staying for weeks at the crushing depth of 6 kilometers! Mikhail Nenashev, the president of the All-Russian Movement for Support of the Navy, warned against underestimating the capability of the countrys undersea might. Let them show me a place in the oceans where we cant stand up to them, he said, mentioning the recent Kalibr cruise missiles launches by a Russian diesel-powered sub against Daesh terrorists in Syria. Besides, the improved professionalism of our submariners achieved in the past several years enables us to effectively solve tactical and strategic tasks anywhere in the world. We certainly need a few dozen modern subs, but even with what we have I wouldnt advise the Americans to test our combat capability, Nenashev emphasized. McGurk believes that the decision to support the anti-Daesh operation might be taken at the NATO summit in Warsaw, on July 8-9. NATO as an organization does not participate in the operations of the US-led international coalition against Daesh, which includes about 60 countries, and 28 member states of the military alliance are among them. According to McGurk, US soldiers are successfully involved in the operation against Daesh. About 300 US servicemen in Syria are currently advising local paramilitary units on how to fight jihadists. However, the expert does not believe that the forces of the international coalition will soon be able to recapture the city of Mosul in northern Iraq which is currently under the control of jihadists. "We have not yet reached the stage at which we can launch an attack on Mosul. It takes time," McGurk said. In 2011, NATO and EU forces led the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with the help of Islamic extremists and under the questionable auspices of a UN Security Council no-fly zone authorization. In April, Obama acknowledged that not having a plan for the day after the overthrow of Gaddafi was the biggest mistake of his presidency. The country has suffered great destruction, and now faces threats from Daesh and other extremists as well as a fractured internal government. The FBI launched an investigation into this matter. Two questions that were asked: how many e-mails had confidential information in them and what did those e-mail messages contain, considering that Clinton has not yet handed them over to her former employer. Bill Clinton Bill Clinton, Hillarys husband, was associated with a number of scandals during his 1992-2000 presidential terms. His affair with Monica Lewinsky and his lying about adultery after that almost led to his impeachment. There were several other women who also came forward saying that they were in an intimate relationship with Bill Clinton. Some said that he even abused them. Donald Trump used these accusations against Hillary in his recent video attack against her campaign. In addition, Trump also wants to find new ways to attack the couple. He is looking into their so-called Whitewater business which is related to real estate transactions in Arkansas, which are now 30 years old. Information about HRC / Whitewater is needed as soon as possible, this statement was written in an e-mail message from one of Trumps employees to the Republican Party. The email was sent by mistake to a journalist from Politico earlier this week. Benghazi Attack On September 11, 2012, US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed during an attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi. MOSCOW (Sputnik) China on Monday is set to hand over the remains of 68 Russian soldiers who died in the Russo-Japanese War in early 20th century for reburial on the Russian territory, the Russian Defense Ministry official in charge of memorializing those fallen in defense of the homeland said Saturday. "This fact is an event of special historical importance, an evidence of a high level of relations between our countries in the humanitarian area," Maj. Gen. Vladimir Popov told reporters. According to Popov, a solemn ceremony of handing over the remains will take place at the international border crossing point on the Russian-Chinese border near the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region. The reburial of the bodies with military honors will later be held in Blagoveshchensk. Russian pilots are much more disciplined on the issue. They rarely conduct reconnaissance flights, Tolboyev said. "But as for American pilots, they break the rules across the world," he added. Over the last month, US spy planes have approached Russian borders over the nine times, including over the Baltic Sea, in the Murmansk Region and in the Far East. The interests of the US aerial surveillance are now focused not only on Russias Far East and the Baltic Sea. American spy planes have also been detected over the Black Sea and over northern regions. "In the 1990s, the US didnt conduct reconnaissance flights over Russia because at the time the Russian military was weak. Now, they are concerned with the resurgence of Russias military power. This is why the Pentagon has intensified aerial intelligence," expert Vladislav Shurygin was quoted as saying by Zvezda. Another problem is whether the US plane was authorized to fly with transponders off. In accordance with ICAO rules, transponders must be installed on each civil aircraft. In March 2015, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that military aircraft of the alliance were also equipped with transponders. If it is true then the US spy plane seems to have violated the NATO norms. John Campbell put a little more distance between himself and the field Friday night (May 27) as the leading driver in Meadowlands history steered four winners on the 11-race card. The Hall of Famer guided Mavens Way to victory in the lone $25,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes event for three-year-old colt and gelding trotters. After racing on the lead -- and taking pressure virtually every step down the backside from Southwind Flash -- the son of Muscle Hill held off the late-charging 6-5 favuorite Jack Vernon to win by a neck in a lifetime-best 1:51.4 for trainer Ake Svanstedt and co-owners Mal And Janet Burroughs and the T L P Stable. Double L Lindy finished third. Sent to the gate as the second choice in the wagering, Mavens Way returned $9.80 to his backers. Campbell also scored with the maiden-breaking Batoutahill ($6.20 to win, 1:55.1) in a $20,000 division of the NJSS for three-year-old trotting fillies, as well as with pair of conditioned pacers, Gweneeee J ($7.00, 1:50.1) and Danish Durango ($5.20, 1:52). The other NJSS split for three-year-old trotting fillies was won by Southwind Hope ($3.40, 1:54.1) for the husband and wife driver-trainer duo of Andy and Julie Miller. The late 20-cent Jackpot Super High Five, which has not once had had a single-ticket winner since the start of the current meeting on November 13 of last year, now has a carryover of $234,671.79 heading into the next program. The Meadowlands is back with live racing Saturday at 7:15 p.m. On Sunday morning, The Meadowlands will offer on-site wagering on races nine through 15 from Solvalla, Sweden. The ninth race is the first of two Elitlopp eliminations and has an estimated post time of 9:22 a.m. Doors open at 9 a.m. (With files from Meadowlands Racetrack) ALEXANDRIA, Va. George Washington is most famous for the military leadership and political prowess that led to him becoming our nations first president. But as you learn at his reconstructed gristmill near Mount Vernon, the Virginia native also had a pretty good head for business. After leaving the military following the first stages of the French and Indian War, Washington became a successful farmer at his now-famous plantation 15 miles south of Washington, D.C. Tobacco grew well and sold profitably in England, and Washington married in 1759 to the wealthy Martha Custis was only too happy to devote himself to the care and development of his vast land holdings along the Potomac River. Farming was in his blood: his father, Augustine, who built Mount Vernon in 1735 (then known as Little Hunting Creek Plantation), was a planter until his death at age 48 in 1743. Upon inheriting the 2,000-acre estate from his half-brother, Lawrence, in 1754, the young Washington soon discovered that producing tobacco was a labor-intensive occupation thats as hard on the dirt as it was on the backs of those growing it. Not only was the crop subject to disease and insects, but also the plants eventually sucked all the micronutrients out of the soil, leaving it useless for anything but grazing. Some years he made a good profit, but in others, his revenue fell short of his expenses. So in 1766, Washington was among the first Virginia farmers to switch from tobacco farming to growing grain for merchant trade. Wheat was a more dependable source of income than tobacco. And customers from as far away as England and the West Indies were happy to pay top dollar for the high-quality flour he was producing by the 1770s, after replacing the deteriorated gristmill of his fathers with a larger, more efficient operation. The mill fell into disrepair in the decades after Washingtons death and was dismantled by the 1850s. In 1932, the Commonwealth of Virginia purchased the property and after carrying out archaeological research, decided to reconstruct it. After acquiring the mill in 1997, The Mount Vernon Ladies Association which owns and operates the estate embarked on a five-year renovation culminating with the site being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Open daily to tourists from April through October, The Gristmill at Mount Vernon is a meticulously reconstructed version of the mill Washington built three miles west of his house on Dogue Run Creek in 1797. History comes noisily alive in this 2 1/2-story stone structure, with millers in early-American attire giving demonstrations of Colonial milling, a process in which cleaned wheat and corn are ground into flour, grits or cornmeal between a pair of 4-foot millstones. Exposed masonry walls with heavy timber framing and pine floors add to the mills rustic charm. But its the swoosh of moving water and bang, bang, bang of wooden gears that truly transports you to Colonial times. The heart of the operation is a 16-foot wooden pitchback wheel that uses the force of water to turn wooden gearing, in turn driving the millstones. It rotates between four and eight revolutions a minute. It took workers more than a year to build a mill dam and hand dig the mile-long, 8-foot-deep millrace (canal) that would divert water, via gravity, from Dogue Run to the mill. The water turned two sets of millstones with upper runner stones that could rotate at more than 100 times a minute. The pair made from high-quality, super-hard French burrstone ground the superfine-quality flour for export; the other set, thought to be less-choice German imports known as cullin stones, were used to grind the corn to feed the paid staff, enslaved community and livestock. Washington was something of an innovator when it came to farming methods and new technologies. In 1791, after learning of a Delaware inventors new design for an automated grain mill, he became only the third person in America to buy the rights to Oliver Evans patent. His invention, in which all the work was done by a variety of machines geared to the same water wheel, would go on to revolutionize the milling industry in the young nation and also worldwide. Using the Evans automated system, which featured bucket elevators to move the grains between floors, the mill flourished. Records show that in 1797, the mill ground more than 5,000 bushels (275,000 pounds) of wheat into flour and another 3,200 bushels (178,000 pounds) of corn into grits and cornmeal. Yet it wasnt turning all of the wheat and corn into flour and cornmeal. Some of the barley, wheat and rye grown by Washingtons slaves was turned into alcohol at his nearby whiskey distillery, which was recreated in 2007 following extensive archaeological research. It also is open to the public for tours (April-Oct.). Most of the flour and cornmeal bought today is produced in large-scale factories, away from human eyes and ears, so its fun to watch the gristmills costumed millers practice the lost art of stone-ground milling. Yet the best part may be that visitors can take a piece of Washingtons history home with them, in the form of the cornmeal, flour and pancake mix produced on site and sold in the gift shop. Packaged in 2-pound muslin bags printed with a picture of the mill, its a great way to discover Washington via the food he ate. Word is, he loved hoecakes for breakfast with butter and honey. We offer the recipe below, along with a few other Colonial and modern-day favorites. GEORGE WASHINGTONS HOECAKES The batter for these cornmeal cakes has to rest overnight in the fridge. George Washington reputedly ate them with butter and honey. 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast 2 1/2 cups white cornmeal, divided 3 to 4 cups lukewarm water, divided 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 large egg, lightly beaten Lard or shortening to grease the pan Melted butter for drizzling and serving Honey or maple syrup for serving Mix the yeast and 1 1/4 cups of the cornmeal in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of the lukewarm water, stirring to combine thoroughly. Mix in cup more of the water, if needed, to give the mixture the consistency of pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. When ready to finish the hoecakes, begin by adding 1/2 to 1 cup of the remaining water to the batter. Stir in the salt and the egg, blending thoroughly. Gradually add the remaining 1 1/4 cups of cornmeal, alternating with enough additional lukewarm water to make a mixture that is the consistency of waffle batter. Cover with a towel, and set aside at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes. Heat a griddle on medium-high heat, and lightly grease it with lard or vegetable shortening. Preparing 1 hoecake at a time, drop a scant 1/4 cup of the batter onto the griddle and cook on one side for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. With a spatula, turn the hoecake over and continue cooking another 4 to 5 minutes, until browned. Place the hoecake on a platter, and set it in the oven to keep warm while making the rest of the batch. Drizzle each batch with melted butter. Serve the hoecakes warm, drizzled with melted butter and honey or maple syrup. Mount Vernon SOUTHERN SKILLET CORNBREAD A Southern staple that works just as well for breakfast as it does dinner. 4 tablespoons lard or melted bacon fat, divided 2 cups good-quality coarse-ground yellow cornmeal 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups buttermilk Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put 2 tablespoons of the lard or grease in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Put the skillet in the oven to preheat. In large bowl, combine cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and remaining 2 tablespoons lard or grease, mixing well to combine. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and swirl the melted fat to cover the bottom and sides. Pour the batter into the pan and return it to the oven to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bread is golden on the top and has pulled away from the sides of the pan slightly. Slice and serve. Serves 8 to 12. The Southerners Cookbook: Recipes, Wisdom and Stories (Harper Wave, October 2015, $37.50) SHRIMP AND GRITS The key to creamy grits is to stir, stir, stir and use some sort of dairy component. This classic recipe pairs white grits from George Washingtons Gristmill at Mount Vernon with garlicky shrimp and bacon. 2 to 3 cups milk 2 cups water 1 cup uncooked grits 2 chopped garlic cloves, divided 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 pound raw shrimp, shelled Chopped parsley, cilantro, basil or thyme, for garnish In a heavy saucepan, preferably nonstick, bring the milk and water to a simmer. Add the grits and 1 chopped garlic clove to simmering liquid and cook as package directs, stirring constantly. Do not let the grits blurp loudly, and watch the evaporation of liquid. Add more if necessary. When fully cooked to the texture desired, remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons butter and season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons butter in a frying pan and add the shrimp and remaining clove chopped garlic. Cook until the shrimp turn pink. Add the rest of the butter to pan and melt. Top the grits with the shrimp and pour butter on top. Garnish with chopped herbs. Serves 4 to 6. Adapted from Nathalie Duprees Shrimp and Grits by Nathalie Dupree and Marion Sullivan (Gibbs Smith, $21.99) PEACH AND GRITS PARFAIT Who knew you could eat grits for dessert? Its delicious when cooked with sugar and vanilla, and paired with fresh fruit and berries. Peaches arent yet in season so I substituted strawberries and blueberries. 2 cups milk 1 vanilla bean 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup stone-ground grits 4 cups hot water 6 ripe peaches, or 4 cups fresh berries or sliced soft-flesh fruit For raspberry sauce 1 pint fresh raspberries or strawberries 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Put the milk in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the milk. Add the vanilla bean and sugar. Stir and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean. Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat. Add the grits and stir for 5 minutes. Whisk in hot water. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the grits have thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Reheat the milk and whisk into grits. Cook the grits over low heat, stirring frequently, until they thicken, about 20 to 30 more minutes. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, cool to room temperature and refrigerate until chilled. To make the sauce, heat the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pan, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat, until the berry juices flow and the mixture thickens. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature and refrigerate until chilled. Slice the peaches or other fruit right before assembling parfait. Layer fresh peach slices, grits, raspberry sauce into parfait or wine glasses, and serve. Serves 6. Adapted from Nathalie Duprees Shrimp and Grits by Dupree and Marion Sullivan (Gibbs Smith, $21.99) tech2 News Staff Last week we had seen the announcement of the Asus Zenvolution event on 30 May, just a day before Computex 2016. While there was no definite mention of what products would be launched, we all knew that Zenfone 3 launch was imminent. Now Asus CEO Jerry Shen has officially stated that the company will release the Zenfone 3 in June to target the mid-range market segment. Asus has been using Intel chipsets in its smartphones, and has recently switched to Qualcomm chipsets. As you may know, Intel recently announced that it will not be making smartphone chipsets for now. But according to a report in Digitimes, since Asus is using Qualcomm chipsets since September 2015, its production of smartphones will not be affected by Intel's decision. But going by the Zenvolution banner, which shows an Intel logo, it wouldn't be surprising if Asus did release an Intel chipset based smartphone. Unless that logo is meant for non-smartphone products with Intel chipsets inside - most likely PC related products such as the ZenBook. According to the Digitimes report though, around 90 percent of the Zenfone 3 smartphones will be powered by a Qualcomm chipset and the remaining 10 percent will be run on MediaTek chipsets. Asus has seen an almost 40 percent year on year growth in its smartphone sales thanks to strong sales in countries in Southeast Asia, Brazil, Russia and Europe. Shen said that the growth would remain flat in the second quarter compared to last year due to the transition to new phone models. While Asus' main segment to target will be the mid-range market, it is also expected to release some pones in the US $260 to $307 price brackets. Asus would be aiming to compete with Huawei and Oppo in the US $300 price segment in the China market, said Shen. Shen also said that the Zenfone 3 would be selling in around six countries by August and would include products such as the Zenfone 3 Max, Zenfone 3 Deluxe and Zenfone 3. Violence mars UP polls; 5 killed Five people, including three in Jamalpur, were killed and over 50 others injured as the 5th phase of Union Parishad election was marred by violence and irregularities on Saturday. The balloting for the lowest tier of local government election started at 8am and will continue till 4pm without any break through 6,484 polling stations. Three people were killed in Jamalpur district, one each in Nokhali and Chittagong. Meanwhile, 20 people were injured in a police firing in Dewaganj of Jamalpur while 11 others in Burichong and Megna upazila of Comilla and 25 in Sadar upazila of Laxmipur and two each in Chittagong and Noakhli. According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, three people -- Ziaur Rahman, 33, son of Nurul Islam, Majez, 15, son of Afzal Sheikh, and Nurul Islam, 55, son of Hafez Uddin --- were killed and several others injured in a triangular clash between police and the supporters of two chairman candidates at Khutirchar Ebtadaye Madrasah Polling Station in Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur district around 10:35am, police super Nizam Uddin said. The clash ensued between two groups while one of them tried to take control of the polling station in Bahadurabad union. Later, the voting at the polling centre was suspended on allegation of capturing the centre during election. Police fired 100 rounds of bullets to bring the situation under control, leaving 20 people injured. In Chittagong, three people, including Mohammad Yasin, 40, a member candidate, suffered injures during a clash between Awami League backed-chairman candidate and its rival candidate at Shah Mirpur Government Primary School in Karnaphuli Police Station around 12:30pm. They were taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where doctor declared Yasin dead, said sub-inspector of the CMCH police camp Zahirul Islam. Besides, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members arrested Abdul Kader Sujon, secretary of information and research affairs of district unit Awami League, along with a bag from Bhushi polling centre under Karaldanga union in Boalkhali upazila in the morning. In Noakhali, Sirajul Islam, 50, an activist of Awami League, was shot dead and six others were injured in a clash between the supporters of Awami League and BNP at Razganj Government High School polling centre in Razganj union in Begumganj upazila in the morning. Police said the clash ensued when the supporters of Awami League-backed chairman candidate stormed the polling centre for taking its control. Later, both the groups exchanged gunfire, leaving Sirajul Islam, 50, dead on the spot and six others injured, said Illias Sharif, superintendent of police, Noakhali. Besides, at least 20 crude bombs were exploded at Yaarpur Government Primary School polling centre in Kabilpur union of Shenbagh upazila. In Comilla, 11 people, including a member candidate, were injured in Bayerpar centre of Bharalla union in Burichong and in Porimabad Government Primary School centre of Gobindopur union of Meghna upazila. In Laxmipur, 25 people, including three with bullets, were injured in separate clashes in various unions of Sadar upazila over taking control over the polling centre and vote rigging. Meanwhile, police arrested 11 people from different parts of the upazila on charge of casting fake votes. In Brahmanbaria, several crude bombs were exploded when the supporters of two member candidates locked into a clash at Mohammadpur Government Primary School polling centre under Ramaril union in sadar upazila. Police fired bullets to disperse them and brought the situation under control. Voting in two polling stations of Senbagh upazila of Noakhali and Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur district were suspended over allegations of ballot snatching and occupying polling stations. Besides, eight BNP-backed chairman candidates boycotted the election in Brahmanbaria, Laxmipur and Noakhali districts. -- Dhaka, May 28 (UNB) 50,000 Iraqis trapped in Fallujah by assault on ISIL Iraqi goverment soldiers seen near Fallujah border during their fighting with ISIL. Agencies, Fallujah : More than 50,000 people were trapped in Fallujah as an offensive to push the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group from the Iraqi city intensified. Hundreds of people fled on Friday as humanitarian conditions rapidly deteriorated with Iraqi forces continuing to surround the city, determined to flush out the ISIL fighters inside. The United Nations said nearly 800 people had escaped over the past week, but most of those from the outskirts of the city, where ISIL control was weaker. "The situation inside Fallujah is getting critical by the day," Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director, said. Iraqi military officials insisted that safe corridors would be established to allow civilians to flee, but residents said ISIL checkpoints along the city's main roads have made escape nearly impossible. "Our forces evacuated 460 people ... most of them women and children," police Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat said. Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces - made up of military, police and militias, and backed by air power from a US-led coalition - last week launched an offensive to retake the city. Fallujah, along with Mosul, is one of only two major Iraqi cities still controlled by ISIL, which is also known as ISIS. It became in January 2014 the first Iraqi city to be captured by the group, six months before it declared its caliphate. General Saad Harbiya, head of Fallujah operations for the Iraqi army, said keeping civilians safe was a priority. "Our plans are humanitarian plans," Harbiya said. "The most important thing is to get the civilians out unharmed." Baghdad-based US Colonel Steve Warren said that over the last four days, 20 strikes in the city had destroyed ISIL fighting positions and gun emplacements. "We've killed more than 70 enemy fighters, including Maher al-Bilawi, who is the commander of ISIL forces in Fallujah," Warren said. "This, of course, won't completely cause the enemy to stop fighting, but it's a blow. And it creates confusion and it causes the second-in-command to have to move up. It causes other leadership to have to move around," he added. Some in Fallujah, a predominantly Sunni city, were reported to have welcomed the takeover of the city by ISIL as an alternative to what they considered their marginalisation at the hands of Iraq's Shia-dominated government. Locals, though, say conditions there have deteriorated under the group's control. Coalition officials estimated earlier this week that 500-700 IS fighters remain in the city, according to a US military estimate, hiding amongst the civilian population. Located 65km west of Baghdad, Fallujah has a history of anti-government sentiment in post-2003 Iraq. The city on the Euphrates River had a prewar population of about 300,000. Known as the City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques, it was badly damaged in two assaults by the US army against suspected al-Qaeda fighters in 2004. China risks 'Great Wall of self-isolation': Pentagon Chief AFP, Washington : 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. "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. "China's 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. Economic change key for LatAm to reach UN development goals Xinhua, Mexico City : Latin America needs a new formula to achieve sustainable development, said a regional meeting before ending here on Friday. The 36th session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) highlighted "for a new political economy-a new equation between the state, the market and society-and new international and national coalitions." "The dominant development pattern (in Latin America) is unsustainable," ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena told participants at the five-day gathering. The traditional development model applied in Latin America is not working, said Barcena, citing reduced growth rates that in recent decades have not exceeded 2 percent, the worst trade statistics in eight years, and insufficient investment in human capital, research and development, along with persistent poverty, income disparity and now vulnerability to climate change. "To confront these challenges, we propose a progressive structural change that increases the incorporation of knowledge in the economies. New coalitions, new institutions and public-private alliances are required," Barcena said. "Our proposal for a new development pattern is political, not technical. The horizon is equality, the progressive structural change is the path and politics (is) the instrument," she added. ECLAC's proposals are contained in its report "Horizons 2030: Equality at the Center of Sustainable Development." The report aims to help Latin America "reduce economic, social and environmental imbalances that affect the region today in order to achieve development based on equality and sustainability," and reach UN-designated development goals by the year 2030. One of the main challenges to the 2030 agenda is that "the means of implementation...is not supported by an institutional framework or effective or sufficient global governance," the report says, calling for "policies capable of advancing the sustainable development goals." To that end, Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray, who attended Thursday's session, said the Mexican government agreed with the diagnosis presented by the report, but believed more competitive markets would help drive development. "We should make our markets more open, so that there is competition, and more inclusion, so that all the population receive its benefits," he said. "As ECLAC says in its document, we need to foster inclusive growth and new dynamic public-private associations. New contracts must be generated, a new relation between both sectors," said Mariana Mazzucato, professor of Economics of Innovation at the Science Policy Research Unit of Britain's University of Sussex. She also defended the role of the state in the generation of public policies and in preventing failures that could be created by the market, as well as in encouraging alliances with the private sector. Ministers and representatives from the ministries of finance, economy, planning, energy, trade, social development and foreign affairs from the ECLAC countries debated the contents of the report during the last two days of the session. IMF plans to help Somalia rebuild from civil war Economic Reporter : The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon has appointed Sonia Bashir Kabir, Managing Director of Microsoft Bangladesh, to serve in the Governing Council of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (LDC). The Secretary-General has appointed 12 expert members from different countries (including non-LDC countries) to the Technology Bank. Sonia has been hand-picked to represent Bangladesh at the council. Following the appointment, Sonia was informed that the UN believes her "expertise would make an invaluable contribution to the work of the Council" and they "greatly appreciate her strong commitment and contribution to the promotion of science and technology." A feasibility study by a panel of high-level experts, arranged by the UN Secretary-General, earlier recommended a Technology Bank that would promote science, technology and innovation in the world's poorest countries. The study suggested that the Technology Bank be comprised of two units-a Science, Technology and Innovation Support Mechanism, and an Intellectual Property Bank. Panel's recommendations also highlighted that the Technology Bank, modelled on the United Nations University, has the potential to strengthen national capabilities and provide expertise to the world's least developed countries, ensuring their proper participation in achieving internationally agreed development goals. The members of the Governing Council will not receive any honorarium, fee or other remuneration from the UN. However, travel and daily subsistence costs for their participation in meetings will be covered as per the UN policies. There will also be efforts to make use of ICT tools in the working procedure of the Council. Professor Mohamed H.A. Hassan (Sudan), President of the Inter Academy Partnership (IAP) and former Chairman of the Council of the United Nations University, will serve as the Chair of the Governing Council. Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya (Nepal), Under Secretary-General and High Representative of the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, will be the Secretary-General's representative in the Council, serving as vice-chair. The other members of the Governing Council include His Excellency Mr. Abdoulaye Yero Balde, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Guinea; Professor Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia; Dr. Ann Aerts (Belgium), Head of Novartis Foundation; Professor Aggrey Ambali (Malawi), Head, New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD); Ms. Bitrina Diyamett (Tanzania), Executive Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organization; Professor Xiaolan Fu (United Kingdom), Director, Oxford University Technology and Management Centre for Development; Ms. Rosibel Ochoa (Honduras), Executive Director, Von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center, University of California San Diego; Mr. Frank Rijsberman (Netherlands), Chief Executive Officer, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research; Mr. Alfred Watkins (United States), Chairman, Global Solutions Summits; and Mr. Orkun Hasekiolu (Turkey), Vice President, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). President asks students to be equipped with knowledge President Abdul Hamid on Saturday asked the students to prepare themselves with knowledge and skills for turning Bangladesh into a prosperous country as per the government's 'Vision-2041'. "Bangladesh has already become lower-middle income country and it will soon be a middle-income country. So, you (students) have to think how Bangladesh can be made a prosperous country as per the Vision-2041," the President said while addressing the closing ceremony of the National Education Week-2016 at Osmani Memorial Hall here. Describing the students as the future leader of the country, he said students must achieve the leadership abilities along with acquiring knowledge for leading the nation in future. "You must know the history of liberation struggle and Liberation War. This country achieved independence through a long struggle and a bloody Liberation War under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and three million people had to sacrifice their lives," he said. Highlighting the importance of education, President Hamid said education turns the people into human resource and education is the main weapon to eradicate exploitation, corruption and injustice as well as ignorance from the society. Flourishing of talents and knowledge of students should be the main aim and objective of education because education is the main weapon for building a developed, prosperous and science-oriented nation. President Hamid said Bangabandhu gave education the highest importance and the present government also attaches top priority to it to build the 'Golden Bengal' as per the dream of Bangabandhu. Poor and meritorious students up to degree level are given stipends and, primary and secondary level students are given textbooks for free at the beginning of new year, he said, adding that 23,331 multimedia class rooms have already been set up at secondary level schools across the country as part of the government's plan to digitize education system. Moreover, formulation of Education Policy 2010 and its implementation, introduction of creative questioning method, holding public examinations and timely publication of results and setting up of computer lab at schools are the epoch-making steps of the present government, the President added. The President congratulated the students who participated in the divisional level competition in different categories and achieved recognition and expressed the hope that they would continue to maintain this achievement throughout their life. He handed over medals to 89 students who won the competition in different categories. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid, education secretary Md Sohrab Hossain and director general of the directorate of the secondary and higher secondary education Prof Fahima Khatun, among others, spoke on the occasion. Bangladesh Diploma Medical Students Association staged a sit-in programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Saturday to realise their 5-point demands. Trump rally sparks clashes in San Diego Police were deployed to keep the rival camps apart in San Diego. BBC Online :Supporters and opponents of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump have clashed in the city of San Diego in California.Police declared a gathering outside the city's convention centre unlawful and made 35 arrests, as stones and water bottles were thrown. Mr Trump was in the city near the Mexican border to hold a rally ahead of the 7 June California primary. He has pledged to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants.Dozens of police officers in riot gear had been deployed to separate them. Some protesters scaled a wall of the centre to throw water bottles at police. After ordering the crowds to disperse, police then moved them away from the city's Gaslamp Quarter. San Diego's population is about one-third Latino and hundreds of thousands of people cross the border with Mexico legally each day. One San Diego protester, Martha McPhail, told the local City News Service: "I am opposed to the hateful, bigoted, racist language of Donald Trump and his arrogance and intolerance. "I'm for all of our people - all races, sexes, genders, military veterans - and he's divisive." But Trump supporter Riley Hansen defended the controversial businessman."My Dad always told me you need a businessman as president. I like his policies," he told CNS.The San Diego Police Department said that 35 arrests had been made and there was no damage to property and no injuries reported.Mr Trump tweeted to the police after the event: "Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally." Mr Trump told an earlier rally in Fresno that California had "no drought", despite the state seeing its driest ever four-year period. After speaking to farmers who complained of a lack of water for crops, he said: "They don't understand, nobody understands it. There is no drought. They turn the water out into the ocean." The reference appeared to be about water discharged from the Sacramento River into the San Francisco Bay, partly to protect endangered species. Mr Trump said that if he came to power he would "start opening up the water" and ensure farmers had enough for crops.The comments sparked some mockery on social media - a number of tweets carried links to Charlton Heston in his role as Moses parting the Red Sea in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments.Mr Trump is running unopposed in California after his Republican rivals pulled out and he reached the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination. It has yet to be formalised. Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump backed out of an offer to debate with Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. "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," the Trump campaign said in a statement.Mr Sanders told reporters on the campaign trail that he hoped Mr Trump would change his mind."Well Mr Trump, what are you afraid of?" he said, calling the Republican nominee a "bully".Mr Trump said the Democratic nominating process was "rigged" - and that Mrs Clinton and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Deborah Wasserman Schultz would not allow Mr Sanders to win the nomination. The latest opinion polls suggest Mrs Clinton leads Mr Trump by about four percentage points. 8 killed, 200 hurt Violence marks 5th phase of UP polls as rebels clash with AL men and police at different centres Supporters of rival candidates locked into severe clash during 5th phases of UP election in Kasba Upazila in Brahmanbaria on Saturday. SM Mizanur Rahman :At least eight people were killed and over 200 injured on Saturday as the 5th phase Union Parishad elections to 717 unions in 86 upazilas of the country were flawed by violence and irregularities.The vote casting began at 8:00am and continued till 4:00pm without any break. Four persons were killed in Jamalpur, two in Chittagong, one each in Comilla and Noakhali. The election to the smallest tier of local government is being held for the first time on party lines. Some 30 people were injured in a police firing in Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur, while 11 others in Burichong and Meghna upazila of Comilla and 25 in Sadar upazila of Laxmipur and seven each in Chittagong and Noakhali. Besides, many others were injured in some other districts. In Jamalpur, a deadly triangular clash between police and supporters of Awami League-nominated chairman candidate Sakaruzzaman Raka in side and the rebel candidate Shahjahan on the other left at least four persons dead and 30 others injured at Khutarchar Ebtedayee Madrasah polling centre in Dewanganj upazila during election in the morning.The deceased have been identified as Nurul Islam, 20, son of Mohammad Sattar, Abdul Mazed, 15, son of Afzal Hossain, Nabirul Islam 16, son of Amzad Ali, and Ziaur Rahman, son of Nurul Islam. All the four were shot dead.Besides, Mohammad Aftab, Mahmudur Rahman, Khudu Miah, Shafique, Zakiul and many others received serious bullets wounds.The clash began between two groups when one of them tried to take control of the polling station in Bahadurabad union.According to locals and police, the supporters of AL rebel chairman candidate obstructed the men of AL nominated candidate when they tried to capture the centre in the morning.At one stage, 300 supporters of the AL candidate attacked the rebel AL candidate's men with sharp weapons. "We have already recovered three bodies from the spot. We have also come to know that another person was also killed in the violence," Additional Superintendent of Police Shariful Haque told The New Nation. He said supporters of AL nominated chairman candidate launched the attack on the supporters of AL rebel chairman candidate "When the supporters of AL nominated chairman candidate tried to capture the centre, the supporters of AL rebel chairman candidate barred them. At this stage, the supporters of AL nominated candidate started firing gunshots indiscriminately leaving three persons dead on the spot," the police official said. Police fired more than 100 rounds of bullet to control the situation. Dewanganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Saiful Islam issued suspension order around 10:35 am following the incident. The injured were rushed to Dewanganj Upazila Health Complex from where 10 people were shifted to Jamalpur General Hospital as their condition deteriorated.In Noakhali, an activist of Awami League was killed and six others were injured in a clash between the supporters of Awami League and BNP at a polling centre in Razganj union in Begumganj Upazila.Police said the clash ensued in the morning when the supporters of Awami League-backed chairman candidate stormed the Razganj Government High School polling centre for taking its control.At one stage, the supporters of BNP-backed chairman candidate tried to resist them, triggering the clash.Later, both the groups exchanged gunfire, leaving Sirajul Islam, 50, dead on the spot and six others injured, said Ilias Sharif, Superintendent of Police, Noakhali.Besides, at least 20 crude bombs were exploded at Yaarpur Government Primary School polling centre in Kabilpur union of Shenbagh upazila as a chase and counter-chase took place among the supporters of the BNP and Awami League candidates over taking control of the polling centre.Meanwhile, two persons, including a UP member candidate of Hazipur union, were injured with bullets in a clash between the supporters of the Awami League and BNP candidates at Arif Government Primary School polling centre in Begumganj upazila on Saturday.In Chittagong, two persons were killed in Patiya upazila and the other in Karnaphuli in violence during the polls.A member candidate was stabbed to death by one of his rivals in Barauthan union around 1:00pm.Deceased Md Yasin was attacked near Shah Mirpur Government Primary School voting centre, said Harun-or-Rashid, Deputy Commissioner (port) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police.Supporters of a rival member candidate swooped on him with sticks and knives, he said. The victim was declared dead on arrival at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.In Patiya Upazila's Ashia Union, Babul Shil, 50, was killed in a clash between rival member candidates, said sergeant of Patiya Highway Police Station.In Comilla, Kamaluddon, an independent chairman candidate, was killed in an attack by rivals in Bolarampur union under Titas Upazila, said Monirul Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Titas Police Station.Eleven people, including a member candidate, were injured in clashes at Bayerpar centre of Bharalla union in Burichong and at Porimabad Government Primary School centre in Gobindopur union of Meghna Upazila.In Laxmipur, 25 people, including three with bullets, were injured in separate clashes in various unions of Sadar upazila over taking control over the polling centres and vote rigging.According to Sujan, a civil society platform, a total of 101 people have been killed so far in election violence in the grassroots level polls that is taking place in partisan manner.Meanwhile, police arrested 11 people from different parts of the upazila on charge of casting fake votes.In Brahmanbaria, several crude bombs were exploded when the supporters of two member candidates locked into a clash at Mohammadpur Government Primary School polling centre under Ramaril Union in Sadar Upazila.Police fired bullets to disperse them and brought the situation under control.Voting in two polling stations of Senbagh Upazila of Noakhali and Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur district were suspended over allegations of ballot snatching and occupying polling stations.Besides, eight BNP backed chairman candidates boycotted the election in Brahmanbaria, Laxmipur and Noakhali districts. 45 migrants dead, 135 rescued at sea Xinhua, Rome : The Italian Navy said late on Friday it has recovered 45 corpses of migrants and saved 135 shipwrecked amid continuous arrivals of refugees and asylum seekers by the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian Navy also added on Twitter that it was continuing the search for those missing. On Wednesday, five bodies were recovered and 540 migrants saved, including a nine-month orphaned Nigerian girl, after their overcrowded boat capsized. Another disaster occurred on Thursday, when a migrant boat capsized 35 nautical miles north of the Libyan city of Zuwara, with 20 to 30 people feared to have lost their lives. According to Rai state television, an estimated 10,000 migrants have been rescued so far this week in the southern Mediterranean by naval forces involved in the European Union (EU) naval mission EUNAVFOR MED and EU borders agency Frontex. Some 4,100 were saved on Thursday alone, while another 1,900 were rescued on Friday, and dozens were feared missing, the Italian coast guard said in a statement. Tens of thousands of migrants keep departing from the Libyan coasts, trying to reach Europe through the perilous crossing, and their number has surged following the recent closure of the so-called Balkan route. More than 40,500 migrants have reached Italy by sea from the beginning of this year to May 26, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. At least 1,512 were reported dead or missing up to the same date. Federico Fossi, an Italian spokesperson of the UNHCR, told Xinhua on Friday that most of the migrants who arrived this year were from Sub-Saharan Africa. Among those who reached Italy between January 1 and April 30, 16 percent were Nigerians, 10 percent Gambians and 9 percent Somali, he said. One held with 84 gold bars at HSIA Staff Reporter : Customs intelligence in a drive seized 84 gold bars weighing 10 kilograms worth around Tk 4.5 crore at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Saturday. A man had been arrested in this connection. The detained person was identified as Abul Hossain, 30, Customs official said. Director General of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) Dr Moinul Khan said, "A team of the Customs intelligence raided the airport area and arrested Abul Hossain. After searching his body, the officials recovered the gold bars." Abul came to Dhaka from Doha by a Qatar Airways that landed at the airport around 5:20am, the Customs official said. The arrested man was being interrogated in this connection, he said. A case has been filed, the DG said. We must not allow journalism to die and people to be helpless The most powerful man, President Barack Obama of United States has said while addressing the journalists that they kept him humble and democracy functioning in the country. Something most unusual has happened in free Bangladesh in the sense that the journalists have become party activists of one party or another. Nothing could be more unfortunate for journalism than not to be free and the government not humble in the service of the people. The New Nation, the oldest English daily of Bangladesh, originally perceived by veteran journalist Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia as a weekly, celebrating its 37th anniversary today, with renewed commitment to journalism as a voice of the people for the cause of good governance. On this occasion today we express our thanks and gratitude to our readers, patrons and well-wishers for their support to continue our efforts under various limitations. We have been urging, encouraged by our strong belief that the painful experience of the autocratic rule under Pakistan must not be forgotten to make Bangladesh a country, safe for democracy and secure for human freedoms. The dark forces of Pakistan days not allowing democracy to succeed must be shunned in the true spirit of the Liberation War. It has been the message of Manik Mia that espousing democratic slogans do not make a leader or a country democratic. We need democratic parties and democratic leadership respectful of democratic institutions. He had great faith in Awami League as a builder of democracy and guided it towards achieving that end. It is possible that we are often misunderstood but we want to make it absolutely clear that we are not against any government or any party, but we are certainly forceful and earnest in helping the government or any political party to be for the people and their democratic rights. Nothing will erase the truth that thousands of our people died in the Liberation War for attaining democratic liberation for themselves. There cannot be many meanings to many people for the goal of the Liberation War written in blood. We are naturally proud of the journalists working with us who are faithful to their professional independence and commitment to be on the side of the people and good governance. We are tirelessly trying to be objective in publishing news and views despite the obstacles inherent in dying journalism and weakening democracy. It is not desirable for the people to live in fear of the government or government agencies, because in a free country the government is to be the people's government and the government functionaries are to serve public interests. We also tried to make it clear that only in a democracy there is a structure for good governance for the good of the people. No such structure exists in an autocracy. Autocracy destroys itself in the absence of any structure of good governance. The power itself does not make anybody wiser or sober. We have been insisting that the policy of divisiveness must be abandoned for avoiding extremism among our peace loving people. We have no terrorism, only extremism against extremism which must be ended politically. We affirm our belief that where politics is dangerous nobody is safe. It has its own vicious ways to bring disaster and miseries. The glory of success is to be achieved together living in freedom and not under domination. We suffered under arrogance of power long enough but in free Bangladesh we want to see our government humble in the service of the people. We find the existing situation dangerously precarious for peace and order. Corruption and crime have made our people's lives unbearable and unsafe. The government policy of police methods is helping violence to grow. We need a new awakening in the government and us for the desirable change in politics. Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Pre-purchase property inspection is a relatively new thing in the United Kingdom. Its not something that most people have heard about, but it has become increasingly popular over the last few years with the rise in property prices and increased demand for high quality homes. What are the benefits of pre-purchase building inspection? What can you expect to find out when you pay someone else to inspect your home before you buy it? And what should you look for during an inspection? Many people want to know if theyre buying a house thats been well maintained or if its had any serious problems. If youve found a place on the market that seems attractive, but then discover some issues after moving in, you may not be as excited about buying it as you thought you were. Its important to do your due diligence when looking at properties. A lot goes into making a property appealing to potential buyers, from the landscaping to the flooring to the kitchen appliances. The same applies when inspecting a property there are many things that need checking over to make sure everything is running smoothly. Here are some of the benefits of performing a pre-purchase inspection: You get to see exactly what will happen to your money When you go shopping for a new car, youll probably be shown several different models. You might even be shown one that looks like a great value, but doesnt fit around all of the extra features that you want. When it comes time to actually buy the vehicle, however, you wont have seen how your money will be spent on it once you drive it off the showroom floor. Likewise, when you shop for a new home, you dont really know what youre getting yourself into until you move in. In order to get a feel for whether the home youre considering is what you want, you normally have to spend quite a bit of time inside it. This allows you to learn more about everything that youre going to be spending your hard-earned cash on. A pre-purchase building inspection gives you much the same kind of experience without having to spend thousands of dollars. Since youre paying for the service, you can expect to see exactly what youre paying for, instead of just seeing a vague idea of what you might end up with. You find out about potential major repairs Some buildings are very expensive to maintain, which means that owners often neglect them for the sake of saving money. While youre paying for a building inspection, youre also paying for a professional who knows how to spot signs of trouble and repair work that needs doing. If you notice that a particular area of your new home needs fixing right away, you can call in an expert to take care of it quickly. If you find that theres something wrong with your boiler, you wont have to wait weeks for a plumber to come over and fix it. Instead, youll have access to a solution immediately. You can save hundreds of pounds by finding out about potential problems early on One of the biggest expenses when you first buy a home is the cost of moving in. Many people dont realize this until its too late. Buying a home involves not only paying for the actual house, but also for moving costs, furniture, and other items that have to be moved along with the home. Having a good idea ahead of time of what youre likely to encounter can help you avoid these kinds of costs. If you know youll need to replace the plumbing system, for example, youll be able to put together a budget for the expense and plan accordingly. You can protect your investment by finding out if the homes been well cared for While there are plenty of people who think that houses always look better when theyre newly built, youd be surprised at how well maintained older residences can still look nice. Sometimes, though, those homes need some additional maintenance to keep them looking their best. This could involve repairs that arent so noticeable or small improvements that you wouldnt consider otherwise. Even worse, some houses have fallen into disrepair without anyone noticing. This is why having a professional perform a building inspection prior to purchasing a home is such a big benefit. Not only will it give you insight into the state of the property, but it will also give you peace of mind knowing youre not getting taken advantage of. As long as youre aware of the potential pitfalls, youll have less reason to worry about the state of your new home. You can use information gathered during a building inspection to negotiate a lower price If youre worried about buying a home because you suspect that it may need extensive renovation work, you may already have a rough idea of how much work youll need to do to bring it up to scratch. That knowledge can come in handy if you decide to buy the home. You can use all of the details that you gather during a building inspection to present a realistic picture of what the home is worth to prospective buyers. If a potential buyer thinks that the home is worth more than what you paid for it, you can try negotiating a lower price. You can sell your home faster and for more money If you decide to list your home on the market soon after buying it, youll need to price it accurately in order to attract buyers. But if youve already done a thorough building inspection, youll know exactly what work is needed and what the current market conditions are. In other words, youll be able to make a more accurate estimate of the amount of money youve invested in the home and how much its worth. If you find that youre selling your house for close to its full market value, you can use this information to convince the potential buyer that your home is worth the asking price. Even if youre planning to stay in the home for a while before you decide to sell, the fact that you did a thorough building inspection will give you more confidence when listing it. Prospective buyers will know exactly what theyre paying for. Your home will hold its value longer As mentioned earlier, the value of a home depends heavily upon the condition of the building itself. If your home is in bad shape, potential buyers wont be interested in buying it. On the other hand, if youve performed a thorough building inspection and know what sort of repairs are necessary, you can offer your prospective buyer a compelling reason to invest in your property. When you buy a home, youre essentially agreeing to have it inspected periodically to ensure that it stays in top shape. Not only does this allow you to avoid expensive repairs down the road, but it can also increase the value of your home. You can make smart decisions about property investments Buying real estate isnt as simple as just driving a couple of minutes to pick up a house. There are lots of considerations involved, ranging from location to cost. The same is true when youre investing in property. If you find a house that meets all of your requirements, youll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of where it stands with regards to the rest of the market. If you havent spent enough time researching the area, you could inadvertently end up with a bad deal. There are lots of resources available online that can help you determine the overall level of competition in your area. They can also help you figure out if there are any properties that meet your requirements that you didnt know about. If you own rental property, you can use the information to identify tenants who might cause damage If you own rental property and youve noticed that certain tenants consistently cause damage, you can use the results of a building inspection to identify them. You can then contact them directly to let them know that youre watching them closely and that you dont appreciate the problem theyre causing. They might start taking better care of their homes, which would be good news for everyone. It could also be the case that youll find out that theyre responsible for previous damages that werent caught during a previous visit. You can make smarter decisions about hiring contractors If youve hired contractors to build or repair your home, you might want to ask them for references. However, unless you perform a thorough building inspection, you might not know exactly what to look for. For instance, maybe you only checked the roof for leaks or the walls for cracks. You might not have looked underneath the foundation for anything that could cause a future issue. By performing a building inspection, you can ensure that you hire reputable contractors who will be trustworthy with your money. You can avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition Of course, the main benefit of structural inspections perth is that it helps you avoid purchasing a home thats in poor condition. Before you make the decision to buy a home, you should do whatever you can to find out about the state of the building. You can also ask your realtor about what sorts of inspections are typically recommended. Some agents say that its standard practice to check the heating system, the roof, the electrical wiring, and the floors. Others will tell you that they recommend that you check the entire structure. Either way, if you choose to hire an inspector, youll find out exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost to do so. As a result, it can be concluded that a pre-purchase building inspection is highly important for the buyers because it provides transparency regarding the current conditions of the structure. Additionally, the building owner is made aware of any upgrades or repairs that are required, which could lead to a fair deal throughout the purchasing and selling process. The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. Two Randolph County residents were sentenced for methamphetamine and heroin offenses, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois James Porter announced in a Friday news release. Leah Bean, 33, of Sparta, and Larry Rice, 27, of Percy, each previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin, the release said. Bean was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Rice was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison. The release said evidence at a plea and sentencing hearing showed that Bean and Rice were connected. The group made multiple trips to the St. Louis area to obtain drugs. The heroin was taken back to Southern Illinois for distribution. The judge found that Bean was responsible for more than 300 grams of heroin and 5 grams of methamphetamine. Rice was found responsible for more than 100 grams of heroin and 1.25 grams of methamphetamine. The offenses occurred between 2013 and June 2015, in Perry, Jackson and Randolph Counties, the release said. The Southern "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire, 1698-1774 The first thing to understand is that, before it's a presidential election, it's a TV program. To the suits at CNN, NBC, and Fox News, that means it's about ratings and money. So of course they're going to play it as a cliffhanger. Do they ever say "Tune in Saturday to watch the Alabama Crimson Tide humiliate hopelessly overmatched Kent State!"? Never. So it's going to be with Trump vs. Clinton. Almost regardless of what political scientists and number-crunchers say, the race will be depicted as a nail-biter. The fact that Charles Manson could win Texas' electoral votes with an "R" after his name, while Democrats could take Massachusetts with a Kardashian sister, will prolong the manufactured suspense. It's going to be a very long six months. Even so, it's hard to imagine a manifest fraud like Donald J. Trump becoming president of the United States. Surely voters have too much self-respect. "If Trump came to power," writes The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik, "there is a decent chance that the American experiment would be over. This is not a hyperbolic prediction; it is not a hysterical prediction; it is simply a candid reading of what history tells us happens in countries with leaders like Trump. Countries don't really recover from being taken over by unstable authoritarian nationalists of any political bent, left or right -- not by Perons or Castros or Putins or Francos or Lenins or fill in the blanks." All politicians fudge the truth, exaggerating their successes and minimizing their failures. Trump, however, takes it to a different level. He's a contemporary version of Baron Von Munchausen, an 18th-century literary character whose wildly exaggerated military exploits -- riding on a cannonball, voyaging to the moon -- made him a comic-heroic favorite for generations. Trump tells falsehoods so brazen as to redefine political lying. To see what I mean, let's compare a couple of Clinton classics that emailers harangue me about all the time. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." The beauty of this Clintonian masterpiece lies in the fact that people often misquote it -- changing "sexual relations" to "sex." Because, according to the evidence assiduously gathered by independent counsel Kenneth Starr, it's literally true and therefore perjury-proof. Cunning and deliberately deceptive, yes. But sexual relations means "intercourse," and that supposedly didn't happen. Cute, huh? That's Bill Clinton. Readers who have never lied about sex are encouraged to vent. Then there's Hillary's infamous Bosnian adventure: "I remember landing under sniper fire," she told a 2008 audience. "There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles." Confronted with CBS News footage that showed her walking calmly across the tarmac of Tuzla airport from an Air Force C-17 in 1996, Mrs. Clinton basically blamed an overactive memory. She'd actually written about the incident in her 2003 book "Living History" without mentioning the imaginary snipers. Her press secretary later explained the possible origin of Mrs. Clinton's false memory: "We were issued flak jackets for the final leg because of possible sniper fire near Tuzla. As an additional precaution, the First Lady and Chelsea were moved to the armored cockpit for the descent into Tuzla." She won't say so, but I'm guessing Hillary got scared, and her mind played a trick on her. Confronted with the discrepancy, however, she owned it. Suffice it to say that is not the Trump method. With a background in professional wrestling, he understands that there's a vast audience out there only slightly more discerning than a potted geranium and willing to believe (or pretend to believe) damn near anything. Trump doesn't trim or embroider as much as invent huge, thunderous fictions aimed at boosting himself or hurting his enemies -- evidence be damned. In Trump World, facts don't exist. He cannot be shamed. Trump went on "Morning Joe" recently to attack Hillary's terrible judgment about Libya. See, if people had listened to Donald, the U.S. would never have helped NATO overthrow Gadhafi. "I would have stayed out of Libya," he affirmed. Except that Trump shot a video back in 2011 urging an immediate invasion: "Gadhafi in Libya is killing thousands of people," he said then. "Nobody knows how bad it is, and we're sitting around, we have soldiers all (around) the Middle East, and we're not bringing them in to stop this horrible carnage ... Now we should go in, we should stop this guy, which would be very easy and very quick." The candidate does this stuff every day, on every imaginable topic. It's brutal, demagogic make-believe, demanding his followers blind themselves to reality and enlist in his cult of personality. So who are you going to believe, Trump or your lying eyes? ----- Arkansas Times columnist Gene Lyons is a National Magazine Award winner and co-author of "The Hunting of the President" (St. Martin's Press, 2000). You can email Lyons at eugenelyons2@yahoo.com. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Need to get away? Start exploring magnificent places with our weekly travel newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Azerbaijan exported 1.71 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to 1.69 billion cubic meters exported in January-March 2015, said a report of the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK). Azerbaijan supplied 6.17 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey in 2015 versus 6.07 billion cubic meters in 2014. The report also said that Turkey imported 13.17 billion cubic meters of gas in Q1 2016, out of which 10.24 billion cubic meters were imported via pipelines and 2.93 billion cubic meters accounted for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Azerbaijan's share in Turkey's total gas imports was 13 percent in January-March 2016. Turkey imports gas from Azerbaijan via the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum). Turkey has a contract for the annual purchase of 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz gas and condensate field. /By Trend/ /By Azernews/ "Once raised flag never falls!" was the motto of glorious independence movement in Azerbaijan in the beginning of the 20th century. The words written gold in the national history by Mammad Amin Rasulzade, brightest and most prominent political figure, were the major slogan while declaring Azerbaijan 's independence. That was the very moment when the Declaration of Independence was announced in 1918. This was the very expression sounded by many Azerbaijanis across the world encouraging them to be proud of their country and nation, who made its historic dream a reality. Exactly 98 years ago on May 28 Azerbaijan established its Democratic Republic -- the first secular state in the Muslim East. Thus for the first time on this day, Azerbaijani Democratic Republic entered the world political map as a new state. The historical, political and brightest figure of Azerbaijan Mammad Amin Rasulzade was the founder of the first independent republic in the Muslim East. The ADR, which existed only twenty-three months in 1918-1920, was a pioneer that combined both European democratic values and the abundant cultural heritage of the East in one entity. The delegation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was sent to Paris under the Parliament's decision, was the first diplomatic mission tasked with expressing the will of the nation and its quest for independence. The Azerbaijani delegation was able to meet U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on May 28, 1919. President Wilson was given a copy of the memorandum which was presented at the Paris Peace Conference. The document consisted of three clauses: a memorandum on the independence of the Caucasian Azerbaijan with a description of its boundaries on a special sheet with a map; a memorandum on Azerbaijan 's economic and financial condition with an economic map; a memorandum on Azerbaijan 's ethnic composition with diagrams and an ethnographic map. The ADR carried out its activities in a very tense and difficult social and political situation that arose within and outside the country. The measures undertaken by the state for a short period left a large footprint in the history of the nation. All citizens of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation, were granted the right to vote. Thus, women gained suffrage for the first time in the Islamic world. They fought for the independence of Azerbaijan to the end, as samurai and this struggle was not meaningless and useless. Although the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic fell as a result of external aggression, its activity was important to follow the historical fate of the Azerbaijani people. Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic , proclaimed in April 1920, heralded the preservation of its political independence. However, with creation of the USSR , Azerbaijan has actually lost its independence, which featured only formally, but with the attributes of statehood, constitution, and territory boundaries. National leader Heydar Aliyev highly appreciated this glorious page in Azerbaijan 's history. Though the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic survived only for 23 months in complicated and tense socio-political situation it will always stay in the memory of future generations as one of the brightest pages of our history, said Heydar Aliyev. Though it was not able to implement fully the measures undertaken in spheres of the state system establishment, economics, culture, education, public health, military policy yet those measures implemented played a great role in the history of our country and in the restoration of the national state system establishment. The most important matter is that the ADR strengthened our democratic views though it existed within a short period of time. The people of Azerbaijan will always honor the memory of the prominent state officials that served to the establishment of that republic -- Mamed Emin Rasulzade, Alimerdan bey Topchubashev, Fatali khan Khoyski ... The "fathers" and founders of the ADR managed to nurture a national idea which finally gained a foothold in the mid 1990s, following the strengthening of the fragile independence of Azerbaijan after national leader Heydar Aliyev came to power. The next meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is significant as the sides will be able to discuss the implementation of the agreements gained in Vienna, said Matthew Bryza, former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan. "However, I do not anticipate any breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement following the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents," Bryza told Trend via email May 27. A meeting was held in Vienna May 16 with participation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The next round of talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents can be held in June. Bryza also believes that the next round of negotiations will create a psychological climate for further meetings. He said the meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides following the escalation of the situation on the line of contact of both countries' troops in April testify to the intention to come to a mutually beneficial solution. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. The UAE government has signed key agreements on avoidance of double taxation and protection and promotion of investment with the Republic of Kosovo. The signing ceremony took place in the capital Pristina during an official visit of the UAE delegation headed by Younis Haji Al Khoori, the undersecretary of Ministry of Finance (MoF) to the Republic of Kosovo. The UAE has signed 97 final agreements on avoidance of double taxation on income and 58 agreements on protection and promotion of investment with key economic and trading partners across the globe. "These agreements support in achieving the UAEs development goals, diversifying sources of national income and supporting the growth of foreign investments as well as protecting it from any non-trade and political risks related to the transfer of profits and revenues in convertible currency," stated Al Khoori after signing the double taxation pact with Dr Avdullah Hoti, the minister of Finance of the Republic of Kosovo and protection and promotion of investment deal with Hykmete Bajrami, the Minister for Trade and Industry. "These also provide full support to companies and individuals from double taxation and added value taxes whether direct or indirect," he added. Al Khoori also stressed the UAEs commitment to strengthen its international relations network to attract foreign investments and increase the trade intercontinental movement. He later met Isa Mustafa, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo and Petrit Selimi, the acting foreign affairs minister. During the meeting, he discussed the key components and achievements of UAE economy in the past few years as the country owns the largest commercial centre and enjoys the second biggest economy in the region. Al Khoori also highlighted UAEs experience in the innovation sector, programmes for planning and implementing public budget, as well as public sector strategy and its performance indicators. The future projects that the UAE aims to accomplish, such as Expo 2020, provide qualitative investment opportunities for private sector in various economic development fields, primarily in construction, tourism and service sectors, he added. At the meeting, Mustafa highlighted investment opportunities across Kosovo particularly in areas of tourism, roads, agriculture, energy and renewable energy. We look forward to signing more collaborative agreements with the UAE in fields of studies and research, consolidating joint work, and exploring future investments opportunities in retail and construction fields, he added.-TradeArabia News Service The Omani government is working on a major project to revamp the ancient village of Muttrah in the sultanate and develop it into a modern city along with traditional houses and heritage sites to attract tourists from across the world, said a report. The multi-million-dollar 'Muttrah Infrastructure Integration and Redevelopment Project' focuses on raising the efficiency of health and environmental services and expand the current necessary services including public transport, telecom, storm water drainage and other services and provide ample parking space in the area, reported Oman Observer. The Muttrah city masterplan is ready and focus will be on giving a major facelift to the ancient village which will bring in a comprehensive transformation to the living conditions as well as the tourism attractions and the way business is done here, it stated. Roads to and from this area too will be widened, while the entry and exit points will be developed to receive more visitors to the ancient Muttrah Souq. According to town planners, a gargantuan effort is under way to preserve the historical and cultural identity of the city and the heritage status of the souq and to preserve the ancient and cultural character of the city which traces back to centuries and they will be kept unchanged, said the report. Oman's unique natural setting of vast mountains too will be kept untouched and substantial attention to balance between city development and environmental protection is duly paid to, it stated. At the same time, efforts to pull in more international visitors to support Oman tourism is made in line with the transformation of the Sultan Qaboos Port to a fully tourist-centric gateway, the report added. Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has awarded a Dh703-million ($191 million) contract for the construction of the fourth and fifth phases of the Dubai Water Canal project. The Dubai Water Canal project is a unique tourist landmark development offering a new lifestyle pattern in the heart of the city and the two sides of the canal linking the Dubai Creek with the Arabian Gulf. The canal has a length of 3 km, a width ranging from 80 to 120 m, and a depth of up to 6 m with the tide. Bridges crossing the canal rise more than 8 m allowing 24-hour free navigation in the canal, which will add 6 km to the Dubai Waterfront. According to the RTA, the project, which involves the setting up of three marine transport stations along with major infrastructure upgrade, is due for completion by the end of September this year. Phase Four of the Dubai Water Canal project, which costs about Dh307 million ($84 million), is part of infrastructural works required to serve property development areas on both sides of the canal, including roads and utility lines, said a statement from RTA. The canal stretches 3.2 km from Business Bay Canal up to the Arabian Gulf via the Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR), Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Road. The projects to be constructed on the waterfront will be served by modern water transport means, and result in improved quality of water in the Dubai Creek, it stated. Phase Five of the project, which costs about Dh396 million ($108 million) would link the Business Bay Canal with the Dubai Water Canal terminating at the Arabian Gulf. Works include building quay walls of precast concrete slabs all along the stretch of the canal, and completing and diverting utility lines and key services to give way for completing the construction works of the canal as well as the removal of impacted services, said the RTA statement. Works also include the treatment of hyper-saline water of the Business Bay Lakes, removing sand barriers in the course of the canal, and constructing three marine transport stations on both sides of it, it added. Mattar Al Tayer, the director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA, said: "Construction works in the Dubai Water Canal are progressing according to the approved time chart, and the completion rate has reached 92 per cent in the bridge of the SZR." "RTA has recently opened the northern bridge of the SZR in the direction from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. Completion rate in the Abu Dhabi-bound southern bridge has reached 81 per cent, and the bridge is expected to be opened in July this year," he stated. The contract of Phase One of the project comprises the construction of a bridge of eight lanes in each direction on the Sheikh Zayed Road crossing over the canal in a way allowing free navigation round-the-clock. It also includes modifying lanes of affected roads to ensure integrated traffic movement between the two shores of the canal. An 800-m-long sector of the SZR will be affected by this phase, which also includes diverting the existing utility lines affected by the canal course, fitting smart lights controlled via a smart app, in addition to fountains on the bridge. Works under Phase Two of the project, including the construction of bridges on Al Wasl and Jumeirah roads, are progressing as per schedule with its completion rate so far clocking 86 per cent. The contract includes the construction of bridges linking with the proposed peninsula to the south of the Jumeirah Park, diverting utility lines via conduits passing underneath the canal, in addition to laying spare utility ducts under the canal to cater to projected future needs. According to Al Tayer, more than 75 per cent of Phase Three of the canal project has been finished, and works are well under way to complete the construction of quay walls, protect the utility lines, divert sewage lines on both sides of the canal, build a sewage pumping plant, and construct a coastal breakwater.-TradeArabia News Service Stephanie Honore, an Australian national working at Jumeirah Group, has secured a fully-funded MBA scholarship worth $26,000 from Modul University Dubai. It is a subsidiary of Dubai Investments Industries and Austrias leading international private educational institution - Modul University. The scholarship was launched by Peter Elsner Mackay, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the UAE, during the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference [AHIC] 2016 held earlier this month. Zaid Maleh, the managing director of Modul University Dubai, lauded Honore on being the first recipient of the MBA scholarship at the campus. "Scholarships like this reinforces Modul University Dubais role in linking its academic and vocational programs with the needs of the hospitality market in the UAE and region and succeed in an already growing sector," he added. The scholarship program is part of the Modul University Dubais efforts to groom industry professionals and help build the skill sets as well as expertise in the hospitality sector across the region. The tourism and hospitality sector alone employs over 530,000 professionals in the UAE and is forecast to grow nine per cent year-on-year. "The MBA will enhance my career experience and provide me with unparalleled professional opportunities," remarked Honore. "Modul University Dubai is a first class choice for an MBA as it is recognised globally as a leading institution in the fields of hospitality, management, economics and new media," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Arab Palestinian Investment Company (Apic) said one of its subsidiaries Siniora Food Industries has partnered with a Guernsey private equity fund Emerging Investment Partners (EIP) to acquire a UAE-based meat processing company as part of its regional expansion strategy. Siniora Food Industries, a fast growing regional meat processing company, completed the acquisition of Diamond Meat Processing (DMP) in a deal worth $17 million, said a statement from Apic. Dubai-based DMP is one of the country's leading meat processing companies with more than 15 years of experience and well-established local brands. It produces more than 80 varieties of processed meat and holds both the ISO 9001:2008 and HACCP quality certifications. Prior to this acquisition, DMP was part of the Emirates Trading Agency (ETA) Star House Group, a multi-dimensional and diversified organisation as a joint venture with UAE's Al Ghurair Group. On the deal, Tarek Aggad, the chairman of Apic and Siniora, said this was part of Siniora's expansionary strategy to increase its regional market share, with a focus on the GCC. "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," he stated. Siniora's CEO Majdi Al Sharif stated that there was an intention to invest in upgrading the current production lines of DMP and keeping the brand name "Al Masa" unchanged, while Siniora's brand name will be added to some products. This deal, stated Al Sharif, is the result of close ties between Siniora and EIP's management. Siniora, a public shareholding company listed on the Amman Stock Exchange, enjoys dominant market shares in Palestine and Jordan and also has leading market share in Saudi Arabia. The company, which boasts of state-of-the-art factories in Jordan and Palestine, markets its products in the UAE and other 12 countries in the Middle East.-TradeArabia News Service Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will undergo open heart surgery in London on Tuesday, his family and office said, in what will be his second cardiac operation in five years. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on her official Twitter account that the surgery would be for "perforation of the heart", a complication from an earlier procedure in 2011. "Prayers are the most effect & potent medicine. Millions will pray for him," she tweeted late Friday night. A statement from the Sharif's office on Saturday said the prime minister was continuing to oversee state affairs in the days before his surgery. His last public statements were on Sunday, after the US drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, an attack Sharif condemned as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Sharif well on Saturday. "My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health," said a tweet from Modi, who made a surprise visit to Sharif in December as a gesture of conciliation between the two nuclear-armed rival states.-Reuters Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has launched (Rewarding Ranan Customers in Ramadan) program under which 10 lucky subscribers will get free Omrah trips in the last ten days of Ramadan. The draw will be open only for the subscribers of Ranan and Ranan services (Ranan Azan, personal RPT, Karaoke, and my signature services). The draw will be random for all winners in the 1st Ramadan 1437 in attendance representative from chamber of commerce. Under the package, the winners will get free flight tickets from their cities to Jeddah and the transportation expenses to Makkah in addition to free hotel reservation. Mohamed Albelwe, the executive general manager of Corporate Communications and PR in Mobily, said: "The 'Rewarding Ranan customers in Ramadan' is one of the best programs for Mobily to express its gratitude towards customers, since the company is keen to innovate distinctive campaigns that aim to strengthen its relationship with them."-TradeArabia News Service A 20-storey hotel in Saudi city of Makkah was hit by fire on Friday morning, forcing immediate evacuation of the visitors. There were no reports of any injuries. Blaze engulfed the 7th floor of the building located at Shuhada neighbourhood and gutted the structures facade, reported Arab News. Civil Defence personnel immediately swung into action and brought the fire under control before it could spread to the adjacent buildings. The security authorities have launched an inquiry into the incident, said the report. The aerospace industry is struggling to make the most of the chances offered by Big Data to reduce production costs, optimize flight routes, and improve monitoring and maintenance of aircraft equipment, executives said. Sensors placed on aircraft equipment and systems could provide a wealth of data that could help to speed up production and ensure better performance of parts, but planemakers and suppliers, struggling to cope with a backlog of orders, are not yet making the most of it. European planemaker Airbus will discuss its digitalization strategy when it invites media for its annual Innovation Days event at its factory in Hamburg on Monday and Tuesday. "We are in an industry that produces a vast amount of data and yet we use... only a tiny portion of that data, that has to change," Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders said. Big Data is typically defined as large volumes of data that can be analysed to reveal patterns. Having a fully digitalised chain of data in place could allow all those working on an engine, for example, to have the most amount of information possible on any changes made between the design, production and operation by airlines. That could vastly improve the production and maintenance of engines. "The new raw material is not titanium or nickel but data," said Cedric Goubet, head of civil programmes at engine maker Snecma, part of Safran. Snecma is also working on algorithms that will analyse data to help airlines optimise routes and save fuel, while digitalisation could help suppliers to better coordinate production sites as far flung as India, Vietnam, China and Turkey. Equipment maker Daher uses its Daher Control Room, originally developed for its nuclear activities, to manage its global network of suppliers in real time, which it says gives it greater visibility. Alan Pellegrini, head of the US division of Thales, said the next step will be to assess information coming from the aircraft in real-time, rather than waiting for the information to be downloaded when planes are on the ground, to better improve the performance of systems on the aircraft, he said. Managing director Frederic Micheland of supplier Latecoere , which provides cables and doors for planes, said much still needed to done. "We have a long way to go and a lot of industrial issues to deal with first," he said. Reuters More water might not mean better fishing right now, but it does promise good fishing later. Snow pummeled swaths of Wyoming mountains and plains this spring. Rain followed. The combination spells muddy water right now but fishing some anglers only dream about later this summer. Im not kidding we have better fishing than we have had in many years mostly because of the good snowpack and water and runoff weve had over a period of time, said Lee McDonald, Laramie fisheries biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Reservoirs are full, and life is good. But even as some areas are still muddy and melting, other areas are fishing well already. So pull out your rods, reels, tackle and fly boxes and try some of these rivers and lakes that promise to offer some of the hottest fishing this spring and summer. Gray Reef section of the North Platte River: This stretch of river makes nearly every must-fish list, and for a reason. Crammed with almost 7,000 pounds of fish per mile, most anglers are bound to catch something with enough time and effort. The Cardwell section of the river should also fish well this year because of high water, said Al Conder, the Casper regional fisheries supervisor. Seminoe Reservoir: If youre looking for a healthy mix of trout and walleye, head to Seminoe Reservoir in south-central Wyoming. While Alcova and Pathfinder reservoirs are packed with walleye, their trout numbers are struggling, Conder said. Seminoe offers both. Laramie Plains lakes: Theyre often lumped together, and for a reason. Twin Buttes and Leazenby lakes, Meeboer Reservoir and Wheatland Reservoir No. 3 are all fishing as good as they have in the last decade. Theyre also accessible right now. Laramie rivers: Once the snow melts and runoff slows, the Laramie River and upper North Platte River near Saratoga will be jewels for summer fishing, McDonald said. Theyre high and muddy now, but with all the water theyve received during the last few years, fish should be big, fat and feisty. North Tongue River: The Bighorn Mountains have not seen the levels of snow experienced on other parts of the state, which means runoff will finish early and fishing improve quickly. The North Tongue River is already fishing well. Other mountain streams should be open and fishable as early as mid-June, said Paul Mavrakis, Sheridan region fisheries supervisor. Healy Reservoir: Any anglers looking for largemouth bass and tiger muskie a rare fish in Wyoming should try Healy Reservoir. Green and New Fork rivers: Both of these iconic rivers in the southwest part of Wyoming should have average or above-average water levels. Fish should be plentiful, and once runoff finishes, the fishing should be good, said Pete Cavelli, a Pinedale fisheries biologist. Wyoming Range streams: Anyone hoping to work on their Cutt Slam a Game and Fish program encouraging anglers to catch all four native strains of cutthroat trout in their native ranges should head out this summer. Streams will be high and muddy for awhile but by July should be ready for your lines. National discussion about coals place in our future energy mix usually descends into disdain or (in places where coal delivers significant employment and state revenue) summons devoted defenders. But there is a golden mean: Coal still has a place but not the one the industry seeks longingly in the rear-view mirror. In halcyon days, coal heated homes and shops, generating also most of our electricity. Coal fueled heavy industry, making the U.S. the worlds leading manufacturer and its pre-eminent military power. In the 19th and 20th centuries, coal provided our first energy surge. But that was then. Today, coal faces a lot more than just regulation-happy governments. Apart from air and water pollution issues, coal must contend with a basic choice-of-fuels problem in which its on the wrong side of the price trend. This means coals large profile in state finances will also fade, the fiscal side of the coal slide. In commodity terms, over-dependence on single resource revenue afflicts both Wyoming (coal) and Saudi Arabia (oil). Its just a matter of degree. Now the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates are moving away from this dependence. Theyve made huge investments in recent months to diversify their economy and prepare for a post-fossil fuel era. While emulating Saudi Arabia is a rare argument, Americas coal states should also reduce fiscal risks of their own resource curse. Its no good blaming environmentalists for coals demise. Yes, anti-coal campaigns have impact. Yes, new regulations have added more pressure. Yet coal still generated forty percent of U.S. electricity five years ago, and exports of the stuff reached a zenith three years ago. Something else is happening. Cleaner burning, cheaper natural gas now poses insurmountable competition. Natural gas is generating more electricity than coal, accelerating a drop in carbon emissions. With abundant natural gas from the shale revolution, U.S. emissions are falling faster than those of any other country. Electricity costs continue to fall in most states. Some say cheap natural gas cannot continue. They point to past price spikes. But shale extraction techniques since the mid-2000s have unlocked a resource so vast that many old rules just dont apply anymore. Despite growing power plant use, and nascent but expanding exports, natural gas prices remain stubbornly low. Sudden price jumps seem unlikely to rescue coal, therefore, the use of which seems in permanent retreat. Literally hundreds of coal-fired power plants are being retired this decade. New natural gas plants using efficient turbines are taking their place, along with solar and wind facilities. Conversely, not a single new coal plant is planned in the U.S. Coal remains central to some regions economic life. In their current market travail, coal companies yearn for a lifeline, some even pushing for tax or regulation rollbacks. Like Montana and West Virginia, Wyoming fears the fiscal impact of coals retreat; coal production gives revenues of about $1 billion annually to Wyoming. Global experience shows the risks of heavy reliance on a single commodity. Now styled as energy companies, mega firms like Shell and ExxonMobil are adding a growing portfolio of non-conventional business. Meanwhile, even Persian Gulf emirs sense a looming time when oil no longer holds sway. In a world of computers, who wants to be a typewriter manufacturer? Coal will continue as both baseload supplier and peak load backup. But not as before. For Americas coal-revenue dependent states, new regulations, innovation and market forces have put the writing on the wall. SHANGHAI (AP) In 2011, a respected anti-counterfeiting coalition in Washington escalated its fight against the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, saying that its websites served as a 24-hour market "for counterfeiters and pirates" and should be blacklisted. Fast forward to 2016. That lobbying group, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, called Alibaba "one of our strongest partners," welcomed it as a member and invited its founder, Jack Ma, to speak at its spring conference. Alibaba won and ultimately lost a friend in Washington using legal methods long deployed by corporate America: money and influence. A month after it became the first e-commerce company to join the IACC, Alibaba got kicked out. An Associated Press analysis of public filings shows that as personal and financial ties between Alibaba and the coalition deepened, the group's public comments shifted from criticism to praise, even as others including the U.S. and Chinese governments took a harder line. 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. That, critics say, would benefit the multibillion-dollar counterfeiting industry, which costs U.S. companies money, can imperil consumers' safety and feeds an underground money-laundering industry. Alibaba is at the forefront of China's rise on the global stage, and the anxiety and suspicion that have greeted the company abroad are, to some extent, anxiety and suspicion about China itself. Alibaba was among 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. "Their reputation has preceded them," he said. "Some Americans might think, 'Why don't you go home and fix the problems first?'" When Robert Barchiesi, a gruff-talking former New York cop, took over the IACC, the coalition singled out Alibaba and its Taobao platform for facilitating the large-scale sale of fakes. The U.S. Trade Representative placed Taobao on a blacklist in 2008. Alibaba responded by ramping up its game in Washington. In 2012, Alibaba's lobbying expenditures shot up from $100,000 a year to $461,000, and has remained fairly steady since, according to Opensecrets.org. It has hired several well-connected people, including a former general counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative and a former White House senior director for intellectual property enforcement coordination. "Alibaba has engaged in a thoughtful, customer-focused dialogue with policy makers," said Eric Pelletier, head of international government affairs for Alibaba Group. By the end of 2012, Alibaba was off the notorious markets list. The U.S. Trade Representative commended Taobao for its "notable efforts" to work with rights-holders. The next year, the coalition signed an agreement with Alibaba to expedite removal of counterfeit goods through a program called MarketSafe. The coalition charged its members $12,500 last year to participate. The coalition had found a way to monetize brands' frustration with Alibaba's take-down procedures. 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, during Robert Barchiesi's tenure. 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 says his holdings represent a "small percentage" of his portfolio. Alibaba's shares shot up 38 percent in one day. It was the largest IPO in history, catapulting Ma to near-mythic status. By 2015, the coalition had stopped complaining about Alibaba to U.S. officials, focusing instead on the "true cooperation and partnership" they enjoyed through MarketSafe. But neither the U.S. nor China was 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. "The slow pace has convinced us that Alibaba is either not capable of or interested in addressing the problem," the group told U.S. authorities. 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, Matthew Bassiur, a longtime friend of Barchiesi's with deep ties to the coalition, 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 the company as its first e-commerce member. Members revolted. Michael Kors and Gucci America quit in noisy protest. Tiffany left soon after, citing governance issues. The coalition suspended Alibaba's membership category the same day the AP published an investigation revealing Barchiesi's Alibaba stock ownership. The coalition's board vowed to commission an independent review. Ma's keynote speech at the coalition's conference was called off; Alibaba's president spoke instead. But Ma came to America anyway, and left no doubt that despite its public relations debacle, Alibaba has succeeded in making inroads with Washington. Reporters spotted him leaving the White House in a crush of black umbrellas last week after a quiet lunch with President Barack Obama. He pronounced the meeting "very good," ducked in 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 http://twitter.com/ekinetz and Butler at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler Eegees has chosen the beneficiary of its 24th annual coupon card program: The Johnjay & Rich Care for Kids Foundation. Every year during June, Eegees Tucsons homegrown restaurant chain famed for its icy fruit slush drinks, subs and ranch fries provides customers the opportunity to support a local not-for-profit organization. For each $7 donation a customer makes, Eegees will reward them with a coupon booklet valued at up to $48 in savings. In 2015, Eegees customers donated more than $241,000 to BAGIT!, Bens Bells and Kick Cancer for Stephen through the coupon card program. For 2016, Eegees selected the Johnjay and Rich Care for Kids Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children living in the foster care system by offering assistance, comfort and hope. Nearly 20,000 children live in foster care in Arizona, the organization says. The foundation works with the Department of Child Safety by supporting Childrens Heart Gallery photo shoots and creation of galleries for children whose biological ties have been severed from their families, Eegees said in a news release. The foundations goal is to one day have more foster families waiting for children than children waiting for families. The Johnjay & Rich syndicated morning show airs in Tucson on KRQ (93.7-FM). More than a half a century of theater-going in the Old Pueblo has taught me this: Tucson is packed with talent. In our town, we have actors who find laughter in tragedies and tears in comedies, and often give us great joy and fresh insight when we see them on stage. We think all of Tucson should get a taste of that talent, so we created Star Actors, a series of videos weve made with some of those memorable actors performing a monologue. A few of those weve filmed no longer perform, others do it rarely, and some are still active on the stage. But they all have this in common: They can take a character, slip into its skin, and transform us to another time, another place, another state of mind. Meet the performers in our series we call Star Actors. Then check out their videos at tucson.com/video. Francesca Jarvis has had a fat film and television career, and has lit up many Tucson stages over the years. The 83-year-old was devastated by West Nile disease about a decade ago and no longer performs. Nevertheless, her powerful voice continues to pull you in and keep you there. Background: Jarvis attended the prestigious Goodman School of Drama in Chicago (now part of DePaul University), which launched the careers of such actors as Linda Hunt, Sam Wanamaker, Karl Malden and Shelley Berman. She performed on the stage in New York City before she moved here with her husband and children in 1958. She jumped into community theater, and then was discovered in 1963, when she was cast in the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field. More movies, television and commercials followed. But celluloid was not where her heart was. Ive been in 25 films and 65 plays, she says. I prefer stage. Her monologue: Jarvis performs a scene from Henry VI, Part 3. In it, the king has just disinherited his son, and his wife, Margaret, angrily confronts him. It shows my strength, says Jarvis. I like strong women, and Margaret was so strong and so angry, yet there was a vulnerability there that I hope comes through. I love the music of Shakespeare, and the language of Shakespeare is so wonderful, and this particular scene gives all of that. Roberta Streicher, now 88, no longer acts. And she is missed: Her comedic sense is pristine, and her possession of her characters is complete. Background: Streicher also studied at the Goodman School, a move that greatly disappointed her physician father, who expected her to become a doctor. She intended to do what he wanted, but from her first whiff of acting in high school, she became passionate about the art. And as far as shes concerned, she does the same kind of work as a doctor. I see every actor I admire as a great healer, she says. Ive seen it in the audiences faces. Streicher had an almost-two-decades-long stage and TV career in New York City, including a stint as a regular character on the soap The Secret Storm. That went off the air in 1974, the year she moved to Tucson with her son Eric. Here, she settled into a clerical job at Pima Community College and did some stage acting, but decided to abandon acting when she was about 63. Twenty years later, in 2004, she jumped back into it with a vengeance, lighting up the stage primarily at Live Theatre Workshop. Her portrayal of such characters as the mean-spirited Grandma Kurnitz in Neil Simons Lost in Yonkers (Live Theatre, 2009) still is vivid in our memories. I was really burning in that one, Streicher says with a grin. I loved playing someone who wasnt very nice. And I adored her she was such a monster. Streicher retired permanently from the stage in 2010. Her monologue: Streicher performs Shakespeares 29th sonnet. Of all his sonnets, this one touches me most, she says. It reminds her of her fathers disapproval of her chosen profession he didnt speak to her for two years after she left home to act. When, in disgrace with fortune and mens eyes ... , she says, reciting the opening line of the piece. That sonnet speaks to me very deeply. While thats a sad memory, it is quickly replaced by a happy one. He came to see me in a play I did in New York many years later, she says of her father. He said, You know, Socks that was his nickname for me Ive been wrong. Of all my children, youre the one with guts. And I admire you. That was better than an Oscar. Howard Allen (no relation to this writer) rarely acts anymore; the award-winning writer has his hands full running Scriptdoctor.com, a consulting business, and the Institute for Collaborative Storytelling, which helps develop scripts. He does find time to direct on occasion, and he is gifted in that area. But it has been his acting that is burned in our memory. In the 1980s, he performed in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at a now-closed dinner theater. Those who saw it still giggle at the memory. Background: Allen started out studying acting at the University of Arizona, but marriage and children convinced him he needed to be on steadier ground, so he switched his major to journalism. Still, he couldnt leave theater behind: He returned to the UA to get his MFA, concentrating on playwriting, screenwriting and criticism. For years, he was editor and an award-winning theater critic for the Tucson Weekly, but once he left that job, he again dabbled in acting. These days, he concentrates on writing and helping other writers. But it took little convincing when we asked him to do a monologue for us. His monologue: Allen long ago performed the role of the Duke of York, the kings uncle, in Shakespeares Richard II and it stuck with him. Ive been in love with Shakespeare ever since, he says. In the monologue, the king has decided to seize the lands of a loyal subject who has died in order to finance an attack on Ireland, cutting out the rightful heir. The duke protests passionately. Any opportunity to do Shakespeare is a great thing, says Allen. Carley Elizabeth Preston is no stranger to the stage here. The UA theater graduate has performed for a number of companies. While she earns her bread and butter working in administration at Arizona Theatre Company, acting is her passion. I love storytelling, and I love getting into the shoes of someone else because it teaches me something about myself, she says. And I absolutely crave the synergy between actors and the audience. Background: Preston deftly handles comedy and drama, and has a presence that practically lights up the stage. In 2014, her portrayal of the blind woman who regains her sight after surgery in Live Theatres Molly Sweeney still resonates, and her keen comedic chops and grasp of character popped on the stage in 2013 with Arizona Onstage Productions Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. Earlier in my career, I gravitated more toward the sassy, strong or bitchy characters, Preston says. But now I look for characters that have something I havent done, or something in their world thats new to me so that its a challenge to do. Her monologue: Prestons piece is from The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe by Jane Wagner. She performed the one-woman show at Live Theatre Workshop in 2013. While doing this show, this piece always moved me, she says of the excerpt where the aliens discuss theater, and especially the audience, which they saw as the real art. By the end, I was always in tears and goosebumps. Whats next: Preston will be performing in Something Something Theatres production of David Mamets Boston Marriage, opening Dec. 1. Keith Wick has never disappointed when he is on stage. Which isnt surprising: The graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California has been acting close to 40 years. I went to school and focused on theater and my plan was to continue with theater, he says. But life took over and I kind of decided I wanted to know where my next paycheck was coming from. His days are spent working in human resources for a school district, but his evenings are often spent with his first love: acting. Background: Wick, a regular on the Live Theatre Workshop stage, figures he has done more than 100 plays. While he is a natural comedic actor, he embraces drama as well. As the creepy pedophile in Paula Vogels How I Learned to Drive at Live Theatre in 2011, he managed to find the humanity in the character, and his frenzied turn in Live Theatres 2010 production of Marc Camolettis farce Dont Dress for Dinner kept the audience rolling with laughter. If Wicks name is on the marquee, expect excellence. His monologue: Wick performs David Mamets A Sermon, a deliciously absurdist piece written as a companion to Mamets Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Wick fell in love with it years ago, and this is what he performs when he auditions. Whats next: Wick takes on the role of an unemployed actor who works as a shopkeeper in the basement of Barbra Streisands Malibu home in Jonathan Tolins one-man piece, Buyer & Cellar. You can catch it at Live Theatre in January. u Roberto Garcia studied theater at the University of Arizona, but found another passion: He is a public defender with the city of Tucson. He continues to perform on stage every few years. Ive got to keep the juices flowing, he says. Background: Garcia has worked primarily with Borderlands Theater. We first saw him there in the 1991 production of Latins Anonymous, and it was clear he had talent. The more he acted, the better he became. We were transfixed last year when he portrayed the role of the dirt underneath the Tucson Convention Center in Borderlands Barrio Stories, a site-specific piece that resurrected the history and lives in Barrio Viejo, which was destroyed for the center. Also last year, Garcia played the father in Borderlands production of Victor Hugo Rascon Bandas Absence/El Ausente, about a family struggling with the realization that the son who fled to the States is no longer living. The play alternated performances in English and Spanish. In the Spanish version, Garcias performance as the tortured father longing for his sons return after he crossed the border into the U.S. was transcendent. His monologue: Garcia chose a piece from Absence/El Ausente and performs it in Spanish. It was one of my most challenging roles because of the alternating performances, says Garcia. The scene he recreates was touching in English; in Spanish, the original language of the play, and in Garcias hands, the hope, grief and passion of the character come through in a much more profound way. Whats next: Garcia has nothing planned for the next season, but returning to the stage is definitely in the future. Kathryn Kellner demands that attention be paid when she is on stage. The actress had taken a 17-year hiatus from stage work, but returned a few years back. We are the lucky ones. Background: Kellner received her BFA from the University of Arizona, with acting and directing as her emphasis. Our earliest memory of her is a 1990 performance in Invisible Theatres production of Cindy Lou Johnsons Brilliant Traces. We knew we were watching an actress with serious talent. After the 90s, Kellner, who teaches communication strategies and presentation skills for several organizations in town, stepped back from the stage. Then, in 2011, she came back. She has appeared in several productions at The Rogue Theatre. She elevates nearly every production shes in. We loved her in The Rogues 2012 staging of Shakespeares The Winters Tale, were transfixed by her in 2014s Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, and became complete fans when she played the mother in last seasons Hamlet at the Rogue. Acting is my passion; this is what I want to be doing, says Kellner. I think I was meant to do it. I love my consulting work, but becoming a character and telling stories is where my heart lives. Her monologue: Kellner selected a piece from the farce Say Who You Are by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall. The character is about to embark on an affair, and is telling a friend about her husbands infidelity. Its just fun and light, and its a comedy, she says. Whats next: Kellner has been auditioning in Tucson and around the country. She hopes to return to the stage in a much bigger way next season. Lesley Abrams has loved acting all her life. She studied it at Northwestern University, and has been a regular on Tucson stages. She also loves her faith, and these days the pulpit is a more frequent stage for her she is the pastor at St John on the Desert Presbyterian Church. But she hasnt forsaken theater. Background: Abrams and her husband, Dean Steeves, moved to the Old Pueblo nearly two decades ago. Together they did improvisational comedy, but Abrams also dove into Tucson theater. A first memory of her is playing the curmudgeoness Ouiser in a 2001 production of Robert Harlings Steel Magnolias at Arizona Repertory Theatre. We were hooked. Since then, Abrams has killed it in such plays as Noises Off (04), Frozen (05), and Doubt in 07. But it was her role as Martha in Winding Road Theatre Ensembles 2012 production of Edward Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? that convinced us we should never miss a play shes in. Though she now has a full-time career with her church, she wont ever leave acting behind the two work together. Great theatre illuminates for me the brokenness and vulnerability of humanity, she says. My faith teaches me how to heal it. Her monologue: She returned to Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for her monologue. Martha was my favorite role Ive ever played, she says. When I was younger, its the role I aspired to. Whats next: Abrams will star in David Rambos one-woman show, The Lady With All the Answers, about advice columnist Ann Landers, opening July 14 at Live Theatre. Matt Bowdren studied theater at the UA, then took his talent to Athens, Georgia, where he earned his MFA at the University of Georgia. Returning to Tucson is one of the best things he could have done for us. Background: Bowdren is a member of The Rogues ensemble of actors, and is involved in nearly every production. We first saw him there in 2008, where he gave big heart to a small role in Edward Albees The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? He was chilling in his role as the calculating detective in Now Theatres The Pillowman in 2011, and he was engrossing as Super Toad in The Rogues 2013 staging of After the Quake. But his turn as the title character in Hamlet convinced us of Bowdrens maturity and chops as an actor. He has found his calling. It allows people to reflect with a good story, says Bowdren about theater. Giving people a chance to reflect on life is a wonderful gift. His monologue: Bowdren recreated a piece from Hamlet, which he performed at The Rogue late last year. There is a simplicity in that speech, he says. A man is just realizing that maybe he doesnt belong, that hes not like everybody else, and he doesnt know why. Its a moment full of poetry, but gets directly to questions about who we are and why we are here. Tucsons title as a UNESCO World City of Gastronomy the first in this country to receive the label isnt just about food. Its about our food system, and the honor came because Tucson has a local, interconnected and ancient one. Historic preservation officer Jonathan Mabry compiled the 16-page application for the designation, detailing the multitude of programs, organizations, and festivals in Tucson that connect the food system, as well as its 4,000-year-old agricultural history. Were rebuilding our foodshed and were relocalizing our foods; were reconnecting to our food heritage and history; were developing innovative approaches to address food security and food justice, Mabry said. Its all of those innovations in all those different areas that qualified us for the designation. In an application stuffed with what makes Tucsons food system unique, it is the interconnectivity of those systems that stands out. Some of the programs mentioned in the application include the University of Arizona Compost Cats, the San Xavier Co-op Farm, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Tucson Meet Yourself and Las Milpitas Community Farm. Compost Cats teaches attendees of Tucson Meet Yourself what waste is compostable; Las Milpitas uses the Cats compost; San Xavier provides space for that Cats compost program; Native Seeds sources some of its product from San Xavier; and Las Milpitas often grows its seeds. The community supports the system, and groups lean on one another to function and thrive. Chris Lowen, director of Las Milpitas, a program of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, sees the importance of local neighborhood support out at the west-side farm, which is in the middle of one of the worst food deserts in Tucson, serving mostly low-income families. We wanted to start a community farm where people could come and learn to grow food together, and also build a stronger, healthier, community, Lowen said. Were trying to break down some of those barriers that keep people from growing food. The designation, in essence, speaks to how Tucson has come together to support local growers, protect heritage foods and honor the richness of cultures here, said Maribel Alvarez, executive program director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance. I know that we have changed many hearts and minds who didnt know what they were looking at before, Alvarez said of Tucson Meet Yourself, an annual festival that celebrates cultural diversity and education. Food is often an easier way for some to experience a culture; its the carrot on a stick that entices people to learn about something new and different, Alvarez said. Gastronomy isnt just a synonym for edible, Alvarez said. Gastronomy is edible stories. Longtime Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall will face a challenger in the Democratic primary election in August. A Green Party candidate has also filed signatures to run for the job. LaWall turned in 2,934 signatures and Democratic challenger Joel Feinman submitted 3,198, said County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez. The required number of signatures for Democrats is 848. LaWall and Feinman will face off in the Aug. 30 primary. Cyndi Tuell, a Green Party candidate, filed 240 signatures with the county, according to Rodriguez. The minimum requirement for Green Party candidates is 134 signatures. LaWall has been the countys top prosecutor for 20 years and spent 20 years prior as a deputy county attorney. Feinman worked as an assistant public defender with the Pima County Public Defenders Office from 2007 until last September, when he quit to work full-time on his campaign. Tuell has worked as an attorney and conservation advocate for nonprofit conservation groups. She also has worked as a private attorney on public lands management issues in Arizona since 2007. She will face the winner of the primary in the Nov. 8 general election. So far, no Republicans have filed petitions. The Arizona Daily Stars Sportsmens Fund Send a Kid to Camp program raises money so children from low-income households and military families can attend overnight YMCA, Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps for little or no cost to their families. Our goal is to raise $180,000 to send 670 kids to summer camp. So far this year, weve received 956 donations totaling $ 110,568. Were about 60 percent of the way to our goal. Since 1947, the Arizona Daily Star Sportsmens Fund has helped pay for 37,907 children to go to camp. It is one of the oldest 501c(3) charities in Arizona. Your contribution qualifies for the Arizona tax credit of up to $400 for donations to qualifying charitable organizations. Donations are welcome throughout the year. Recent donations include: Austin Agron, in memory of his wife, Marilyn, $100. Don and Lin Archer-Kerr, Happy Camping!, $25. Vernon Arnstad, $30. Katherine Becker, $50. Michael and Susan Blaney, $50. Dave Bowersock, $20. Michael Bubla $400. George Campbell and Debbie Kornmiller, in memory of Jan McCarron friend, photographer and Toms fiancee $100. John Carhart Jr., $100. Karon and Boyd Carpenter, $200. Paul Cella, $100. Jean Coombs, $50. Gor Cowl, $50. Joan Curran, $100. Becky Sharp Duncan, in memory of friend Mary Lou Tucker, $30. William and Karen Faust, $200. Tom Foust, in memory of Jan McCarron, $100. Christopher Craig and Al Fuller, $100. Genie Genematas, in memory of James G. Genematas, $150. Mona Gentz, $90. Charles Gillman, $100. Doris Goldstein, $50. Derek Roth Gordon, $750. Jane Gray, in loving memory of Mackie, my big kitty, $50. Marguerite and Roger Haar, $25. Katherina Harder, $400. Cheryl Wright, Cynthia Whitlock and Melodie Harris in memory of James Riley, to his favorite fund for helping send underprivileged kids to camp, $100. Julie Harding, $100. Trudy Hersch, $25. John Heidel, $25. Paul and Lindy Helzer, $40. James Hemphill, $200. Ron and Denise Herbold, $150. Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Hicks, $150. Marian and Ron Hill, $100. Arrah Jane Hill, $100. Sue Hill, in loving memory of my family, $50. Bruce Hilpert, $30. Bill and Marie Hoag, $200. James Holmberg, in memory of Dick Evans, $100. Phil and Stella Hotchkiss, $35. Claudia Howell, $100. Sharon Huie-lew, $100. Jeffrey Hulting, $100. Toby Hyman, $50. Helen Ingram, $25. Margaret Ingraham, $35. Brian Jackson, $100. Phyllis Jackson, $25. Louis Johnson, $100. Rodell and Suzanne Johnson, $250. Gary and Anne Jones, in memory of Karl Hartkapf, $50. Jeff and Terri Kapp, $500. Mary Keane, $150. Rosalind Kephart, $200. Richard Kennedy, $100. Helen King, $100. Barbara Knight, $200. Daniel Lawrence, $30. Arthur Dixon and Jane Lateer, $50. Linda and Robert Lohse, $100. Ann Markewitz, in memory of Janis McCarron, who passed away in Tucson on April 28, $20. Robert McKinnon, $50. Susan McMahon, $50. Myrna I. Olsen Muse, $50. M. L. Nagore, $25. Grace Nance, $200. Kim OMara, $100. Arnulfo Palma, $10. Jan and Ted Panhuis, $50. Deborah Parker, in memory of Jim Parker, $200. Gerald Parr, in memory of David Greenberg, $50. Jean Patton, $200. Mr. and Mrs. Gary Rieman, $100. Bill and Marie Roemer, in honor of Ben Berg, Dave Sitton and Dan Ryan, $60. Helen Rogers, in memory of son, Steven, $100. Carol and Jacob Struble, $100. John Sullivan, $50. Dr. James Sumwalt, $100. Dean and Eve Thorburn, $50. Keith Thorson, $50. Dr. and Mrs. Spencer Titley, $150. Patricia Tolley, $100. Carol Tompkins, In memory of F.D. Tommy Tompkins, $200. Dorothy Treat, $200. Linda and Gerry Tumarkin, $100. Johanna Watters, $50. Thomas Webb, remembrance of the Webb family members who have passed on to Heaven, $25. Marion Weber, $500. Janice Whipple, $150. Philip Wild, $50. Dr. and Mrs. C.H. Willingham, $200. Mr. and Mrs. Alan Winner, $30. Six anonymous donations totaling $1,750. More donations will be acknowledged in the coming week. MASSACHUSETTS Senator calls for probe of OxyContin maker 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 said promotes addiction. CALIFORNIA Ex-Glee star indicted on child-porn charges LOS ANGELES Mark Salling, who played bad boy Noah Puck Puckerman on the Fox musical dramedy Glee, was charged Friday with receiving and possessing child pornography. The 33-year-old actor was charged with two counts, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Federal officials said he agreed to surrender to authorities next Friday, at which time he was expected to be arraigned in federal court. Search for abducted teen moves to coast VALLEJO 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 gunbattle with police. The Solano County Sheriffs 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. Sheriffs Deputy Christine Castillo did not say what the new information was, but said it came out of the investigation into the San Francisco Bay Area girls disappearance. TEXAS At least 1 dead, 3 missing in flooding BRENHAM At least one person has died in Texas and three are missing after torrential thunderstorms caused floods. At least one tornado closed roads and schools, and prompted evacuations. Homes were damaged and dozens of students were forced to spend the night on campus, officials said Friday as they braced for more rain over the Memorial Day weekend. Its not going to take very much rain to get us in those flood stages again, said Washington County Judge John Brieden. In Washington County, located between Austin and Houston, one person has drowned and another person was missing after their vehicle was swept away, Brieden said. An Austin-area official has said two people were missing from a vehicle there. Help India! Interview by Kashif-ul-Huda, transcribed by Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net, TCN: Why did you form Peace Party? Support TwoCircles A: I thought that apart from our professional and family issues we should contribute our service for solving the problems and issues of the society and the community as much as we could. I came to know that todays society is passing through very bad period in terms of politics. People are being divided in the name of religion, caste and community. The poor people irrespective of their religions are deprived of their rights. They are denied justice. In these circumstances, I thought that educated people who are eager to serve the people and the nation should join politics. Therefore, Peace Party was formed and educated and honest members of the society are joining us in this cause. TCN: Various parties have been coming on the scene everyday so how is your party different from others? A: See, It is a natural process of growth for any field including politics, industry and any profession. They have competition for the development. In my opinion, if a party fulfils expectations of the people, it would grow and get the mandate to rule. But as all the parties failed to perform according to the peoples expectation, no party succeeded to remain in the power for a long time. Today parties like SP, BSP, Congress and the BJP have peoples expectations; therefore people are looking for a new alternative. We are trying to provide an honest and better alternative to the people because until there is no alternate they would not have an option to choose whats best for them. TCN: Every party that comes up says that it is good and it should be given chance but after five years it comes with the same performance. A: See, there would be several parties but people will select only the one that has sound working style. The way Peace Party is emerging very fast and keeping the hopes and expectation alive of the society, the way people are joining us in large number, we think that we have been successful in giving an alternative to the people. TCN: But your party is not cadre-based so how you are preparing to provide an alternate? A: No, our party is the only party which is cadre-based. Our cadres are mostly poor and come from the backward communities. Out of 75 districts of the UP, we have our units in 60 districts and in at least 40 districts we have reached to the booth level and in 25 districts we are fully prepared. Our cadres understand the mission, objective, and the work of the Party. Our mission is to provide share in the governance and resources to the backward class people irrespective of their religions and castes especially those who are not united. For example, we target ati-dalit, ati-pichhda, Muslims, economically-poor upper castes, Kayasth, and Vaishya because in Uttar Pradesh they are politically not organized. Due to their division or fear, or greed or because of communal passions they have been used as vote banks by different political parties and therefore they end up as the most exploited. TCN: You are talking about giving share to these sections of the society in the government. What share have you given to them in the partys top leadership and in ticket distribution so far? A: The share in the power or governance does not depend on giving tickets on the basis of religion or caste. I think it depends on the policy and leadership of the party because whoever may be the party representative, cadres and workers have to follow the policy of the party. So, the leadership of the party, their thought and policy are important. Peace Party is not only visible but has attracted some high-profile politicians to its ranks. [TCN Photo] TCN: do you have representation of backward classes in top leadership of the party? A: look, to give ticket or post to a person from a community will not benefit the community the candidate belongs to. It will only benefit him, his relatives, and his friends. TCN: You were taking that backward class does not have representation in the government, so how you are going to do that? A: look, as far as matter of being a minister or MPs and MLAs is concerned. Members of the backward class, dalit and Muslim have been getting the posts since independence. It is another thing that their representation has not been according to their population. But be the number of their MPs or MLs 10 or become 110, of any community, the policy will not be according to them rather according to the partys top leadership. For example, there have been many ministers in centre as well as state and also MLA and MPs from dalit but it did not help to provide justice to the community. But once a government was formed under the leadership of a dalit chief minister, the scenario has been changed for them. So, we should know that until a government under the leadership of backward Muslims, dalit and other deprived section is made, they will not get justice and real share in the government. If you make 10 more or 10 less MPs and MLAs, it will not make much difference. TCN: Do you give representation to all sections of the people in top leadership of the Peace party? A: Yes, we have given share to all and we have a made policy. For example, after three years of its formation, Peace Party organized most backward and most dalit adhikar divas which was not done by any party ever. Peace Party was formed on Feb. 10, 2008. On the completion of its four year, we are going to organize most backward and most dalit adhikar divas on Feb. 10, 2012 because these sections of the society along with Muslims form 60% of the total population who are totally cut from the development and education. Leave alone their share in the government, their voice are not being heard. When 60% population will be deprived of their share in the government, it will not be in the favour of the society and not the country. Therefore, their share in the government is necessary. I accept that everything is not possible through politics but I think, it will open the door for them for progress, dignity, and a role in the body politics. TCN: You have give ticket to at least one person who was expelled from BSP and who has pending criminal cases against him. There has been influence of criminal elements in UP and Bihar politics, so which kind of politics you are doing? A: I think it is incorrect that he was ousted from any party rather he resigned from BSP and joined Peace Party. I think it is very clear that all walks of life including politics, judiciary, engineering which have representation of all sections of the people will have reflection of all kinds of people from the society and Peace Party cant keep itself away from it because it is also involved in the same political system. It will fulfill its mission only after becoming part of the government. I want to add one thing here that gundaism and mafiaism are opportunism. These are a kind of energy which can be used for either constructive or destructive purpose. If the leadership of the party does not want him to do any wrong thing, he will never dare to do that. In my opinion, today this country needs honest and strong chief ministers and prime minister. It will be very hard to correct the system from bottom up. TCN: You are talking the same thing as some people said that if Narendera Modi is made Prime Minister everything will be ok in India because as they say he is a strong leader and good administrator. What will happen to the democracy? A: We have many things but cant implement until come to power. Peace Party believes that all the all the Chiefs of the parties, MPs and MLAs should pass narco- test because the affidavits that they submit are only a formality. Likewise, everyone sitting on the constitutional or sensitive positions like judges, editors and others who have role to change the direction of the society should go through this test. Dr. Mohammad Ayub is a famous surgeon and successful industrialist. [TCN Photo] TCN: What would you learn in the narco-test? A. In the narco-test, the truth will come out as what are their intentions: serving the nation or their own benefits. At the time, when the constitution came into force people had fear in their hearts regarding religious books like Quran and Geeta therefore it was made mandatory to take oath of these books but now matter is not like that. Therefore we should adopt scientific way to know the truth as it is being applied in all other walks of life. As far as Narendera Modi is concerned, he is of a twisted mind and an enemy of the humanity. He does not have any right to live in the world let alone to rule the nation. The criminals can undergo correction but person like Modi who has anti-humanity bent of mind have no right to live in this country or the world. TCN: Peace Party has declared 40 candidates so far, how many total seats your party is going to contest in the UP assembly elections? A: We will contest from almost 250 seats. TCN: What are your criteria to select a candidate? A: We will prefer educated, honest and candidates who have winning prospects. TCN: How do you check that a candidate is honest? A: So far, no system has been chalked out but the persons who are considered honest by the society we also consider them the same. TCN: It is said that peace Party is growing fast. In the last Lok Sabha election your party has contested on some seats and performed well and now you are going to contest 250 seats. Many people are asking questions about your source of funding? So who do you have to say? A: Actually all political parties consider Muslims as beggars. They cannot tolerate a party led by a Muslim. Therefore, they are raising such questions. In my view, Congress, BSP and SP are as much communalists as BJP. They all are responsible for the dire condition of Muslims. Now they ask me about funds, compare my bio-data with any national president of any political party. No one will even come close to my achievements, whether in studies, selection for IAS, business, or anything else. I had at least 100-times more money than all these presidents before they entered politics. I am more educated than all of them. If these parties can take fund from public and industrialist then do they think I am incompetent? I am smarter than them. I know how to manage a political party. I am confident that, our party will get share in the upcoming UP government in 2012 and it will come to the power with the majority in 2017. I pray to Almighty to give chance to prove practically what I am saying. We will show the people how democratic system is implemented. I am sure that when we will work for everyone regardless their religions and castes, they will vote overwhelmingly for our party in the following election. The Peace Party will not come to power for five years or ten years rather it will rule for long time as long as the party will be working on its principles. I want to show that how a Muslim, who believes completely in Islam, if he gets the chance to govern then how he will serve the people. By this, I want to end the conspiracy of political parties against Muslims and produce the true picture of the Muslims and Islam. TCN: What is your strategy for the 2012 UP elections? A: We will contest 100 seats with full power and energy and hope we will win at least 50 seats. TCN: What about post-poll alliance? A: I hope our party along with allies will win 75 to 80 seats then we will get support of other parties and inshallah we will form the government. TCN: Are you ready to give support to any party? A: Peace Party does not believe to give support to any party before or after elections. We will form government with the help of each others. This page contains a single entry by Jonathan published on May 28, 2016 5:02 PM. U2: iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Live In Paris Blu-ray was the previous entry in this blog. Bono performs "Because the Night" with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in Croke Park, Dublin is the next entry in this blog. Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content. Unified Communications Week in Review: Itellum, Plivo, Tech Mahindra Share Tweet By Steve Anderson Contributing Writer By Steve AndersonContributing Writer Just ahead of Memorial Day, it would be easy to think that the news might have slacked off a bit in anticipation of a long weekend full of barbecues, relaxation, and remembrances of those who gave their lives in service to their country. That's not so, as the news keeps right on going. So before you set off to your own Memorial Day weekend activities, do yourself a favor and get ready for next week with our Week in Review coverage! First, Itellum's Cielo hit some substantial milestones this week, becoming the biggest name in Costa Rican telecom by clearing 12,000 users. It's also the fastest-growing such app in the region, and it's planning an expansion into several major markets, including Central and South America, as well as the Baltic states. Offering a platform that combines Web services, chat functions and more, it represents a huge new presence in the field. Next we had a look at Plivo's Zentrunk, a session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking tool geared toward the enterprise user. With no upfront costs and seven points of presence along with terrific voice quality and a marked lack of latency issues, Zentrunk is poised to give its users an impressive value. Throw in a convenient, user-friendly installation process and Zentrunk represents an impressive shot at the rapidly-growing unified communications (UC) market. Tech Mahindra came in next, with plans to use the AGNITY Global MobileCare system as a means to bring both secure messaging and secure video to its mobile health operations. Using an application programming interface (API), Tech Mahindra will be able to connect to the AGNITY cloud-based system and take advantage of the service's options. With remote healthcare set to grow in grand fashion, this may be the move Tech Mahindra needs to make to secure its place in the market. Then we had a look at a new acquisition in the UC market, as CLXwidely known for its communications servicespurchased Mblox for an undisclosed sum. The deal would give CLX, a firm mostly based in Sweden, access to markets in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. It also gave the company a leg up in future expansion plans with a focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing markets, both of which were poised for big gains in the years ahead. Finally, with summer travel season afoot, Six Flags St. Louis is giving travelers a reason to stop in with a UC push. It's opening The New Revolution (News - Alert) Virtual Reality (VR) Coaster, which combines the physical thrills of a roller coaster with the mental excitement of virtual reality. Users will not only be moving on the coaster, but while viewing a scenario through a Samsung (News - Alert) Gear VR headset, will believe they're in a fighter jet taking on an alien horde. A touchpad on the side of the headset allows users to control the ride's "weapons", allowing users to fire on the invaders as they fly. That was the week that was in UC, and it was quite a week indeed. Our global online community was right at the heart of it all, and will be back next week, rested, tanned and ready to bring in all the best in news. So be sure to join us back here then for all the latest, and every weekend for our Week in Review coverage! When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president last June, many wondered which, if any, politicians would offer their endorsement. Enter former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who went public with her support in January. Palin on Trump Palin stood by Trump at a campaign rally in January, officially returning to the spotlight just in time for the primary season to kick into gear. The failed 2008 vice presidential candidate had been out of the headlines for sometime, and as expected, brought controversy to the campaign. Twenty-hours prior to standing with Trump, Palin's son, Track, was arrested and hitwith domestic violence charges, whileher daughter, Bristol, has since been involved in multiple child custody battles. The former governor of Alaska has since made multiple campaign stops for Trump, with each getting heavy criticism from the media. Palin was at it once again during a stop in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday night, and inadvertently gave the billionare real estate mogul a new nickname. Sarah Palin Just Gave Hillary Clinton The Perfect Nickname For Donald Trump https://t.co/u9yBdynujq By @tommyxtopher pic.twitter.com/XCy52YN61P Mediaite (@Mediaite) May 28, 2016 "Do you know-how distrusted you are, main stream media? Palin rhetorically asked to the roar of the crowd, telling the media to "Suck it up, cupcake!" Palin went on to trash the media, claiming that political pundits were "very confused" and had "failed us." This is when Palin's rant went off the hinges. "Trump came roaring in through this primary, and he blew the lid off the corrupted and corroded machine,' Palin stated, saying of the former host of "The Apprentice," "He was like a 'golden wrecking ball.'" Palin ended her rant by comparing the current state of Washington to slavery. "If you prefer Jefferson's dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery under a corrupt and overpowering government today, then you fight for that freedom, and you will Make America Great Again!" Palin concluded. Election forecast Over the last 11 months, Trump has gone from a joke candidate to clinching the Republican nomination. Outlasting 16 other candidates, Trump is poised to face Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton in this November's general election. Where Clinton once held a double-digit lead, Trump has since narrowed the numbers. According to Real Clear Politics most recent rolling average, Trump and Clinton are now tied on a national level, both polling within the margin of error. An illustrious music partner to have Updated: 2016-05-28 04:34 By ZHANG KUN in Shanghai(China Daily USA) The Philadelphia Orchestra celebrated its five-year strategic agreement with the Shanghai Oriental Art Center (SHOAC) by holding a concert on May 22. The concert featured a variety of works by Nordic composers, from Sibelius Finlandia to Griegs Peer Gynt Suite No.1 and Bruckners Symphony No.4, under the baton of its music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin. During their stay in Shanghai, the orchestra also played at the tourism enterprise zone, alongside instrumentalists from the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. "No matter what our governments agree onat the end of the day, I truly believe that the Chinese and the Americans dont only like each other, but also enjoy working with each other. They both have a terrific commitment to people-to-people exchange," said Craig Hamilton, vice president of the global initiatives of the orchestra. "Our musicians are not happy to just sit in a hotel or concert hall. They want to get out and share their music. This collaboration means we get to plan for great things with our Shanghai counterparts, share resources and ideas, and provide better service to the community, which is the main purpose of this new relationship." Founded in 1900, the Philadelphia Orchestra has been a pioneer in the industry. It was the first orchestra to record sound, be on radio, broadcast a full symphony concert on television and do a soundtrack with Walt Disney. Although the orchestra has visited China several times over the decades, this was the first time it was led by Nezet-Seguin. The 41-year-old Canadian became its music director in 2012. Nezet-Seguin said that the priority of an orchestra today is to "make everyone feel welcomed". To do so, Philadelphia Orchestra organizes free pop-up concerts at its hall every year, notifying audiences via their official website and social media platforms. Such events have always been very popular 3,500 tickets were given away within 26 hours for their latest concert. Lin Hongming, general manager of SHOAC, said that although a number of young musicians from China are gaining recognition in the global music scene, Chinas music industry in general still has much room for improvement. He added that SHOAC plans to host masterclasses for musicians, conductors and theater managers in China as part of this partnership with Philadelphia Orchestra and that Nezet-Seguin will be able to play a vital role in these events by sharing his experiences of working with renowned orchestras around the world and inspiring musicians to present music with flair. zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. HA NOI Malaysia has imposed anti-dumping taxes ranging between 3.06 per cent and 23.78 per cent on cold rolled coil imported from Viet Nam, mainland China and South Korea. The Viet Nam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced on Wednesday that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia (MITI) issued the final conclusion of its anti-dumping investigations against imports of cold rolled coil imported from the countries. Accordingly, Viet Nam will be levied an anti-dumping tax between 3.06 per cent and 13.68 per cent from May 24, 2016. The taxes would be applicable for five years. The sanction concludes an anti-dumping review aimed at steel products imported from the three countries that was initiated on August 27, 2015, based on a petition filed by FIW Steel Sdn. Bhd., on behalf of the domestic industry producing Pre-Painted/Painted or Colour Coated Steel Coils (PPCCSC). Products under investigation included cold rolled coils of alloy and non-alloy steel with thickness between 0.2 mm and 2.6 mm and widths between 700 mm and 1300 mm. The products have HS codes of 7209.15 000, 7209.16 000, 7209.17 000, 7209.18 290, 7209.18 900 and 7225.50 000 (AHTN Codes: 7209.15.00, 7209.16.00, 7209.17.00, 7209.18.99, 7225.50.10 and 7225.50.90). MITI said the imported products hurt the domestic industry in Malaysia that was producing similar products. This had been the second product exported from Viet Nam to Malaysia hit by anti-dumping taxes. Vietnamese pre-painted, painted or colour coated steel coils were also slapped with a tax in October. VNS HCM CITY The high price of pepper, combined with a drop in coffee prices, has caused many farmers to switch to cultivating pepper vines. Experts have warned, however, that unzoned pepper development could hurt farmers in the long term. In ak Lak Province, considered the countrys coffee capital, many farmers are now growing pepper. Hoang Minh Hung cut down 1ha of coffee trees to grow pepper in ak Laks Krong Nang District in March. Many families here have switched to pepper, he said. ak Lak has the largest pepper cultivating area in the Central Highlands region, according to the provincial Peoples Committee. As of May, ak Lak had nearly 22,000ha of pepper, exceeding 15,000ha compared to the provinces zoned pepper cultivation area for 2015. Similarly, the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai plans to have 6,000ha of pepper in 2020 but the provinces current pepper area is more than 12,000ha. o Ha Nam, chairman of the Viet Nam Pepper Association, said the countrys pepper area had reached about 100,000ha as of the end of March, double the countrys pepper area zoned to 2020 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The pepper areas in Southeast and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces would continue to increase by 10 20 per cent in the coming time, he said. "If agencies do not have measures to limit unzoned pepper development, the pepper sectors sustainable development will be affected," he said. Currently, pepper farmers grow the plant on many kinds of soil, including in areas not suitable for pepper cultivation. Many farmers have also intercropped pepper in rubber orchards, which can cause rubber trees infected with phytopthora, a kind of fungi, to die, according to experts. A number of farmers overuse fertiliser and pesticides to increase yield, causing a decline of pepper quality. Tran Vinh, deputy head of the Central Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute, said pepper seedlings without clear origin were being used due to the lack of information about disease-prevention techniques, as well as farmers chasing after profits. This could lead to the mass death of pepper plants caused by disease outbreaks or pepper bearing no fruit, he said. Farmers could suffer severe losses, he said. To grow 1ha of pepper, farmers have to invest more than VN500 million (US$22,000). Pepper companies are now buying pepper from farmers at a price of VN170,000-180,000 ($7.7 8.1) a kilo. The price of pepper has been high for nearly 10 years, providing stable profits for farmers. Viet Nam is the worlds top pepper exporter. The country exported about 70,000 tonnes of pepper worth $562 million in the first four months of the year, up nearly 24 per cent in volume and 10 per cent in value against the same period last year, according to the Viet Nam Pepper Association. Drought damage Drought has affected more than 120,000ha of coffee and pepper in the Central Highlands region, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Plant Cultivation Department said at a forum held in Gia Lai Province on Thursday. Of the figure, 496ha of pepper and 6,500ha of coffee have been destroyed. Most of the destroyed areas were in unzoned areas, said the Plant Cultivation Department. Of the regions affected provinces, ak Lak has been the hardest-hit province with more than 60,000ha of affected coffee and pepper. In areas which not suited for growing coffee and pepper, farmers should switch to other suitable trees and crops, said experts at the forum. They also instructed farmers in methods to recover coffee and pepper orchards after drought. Farmers were urged to use advanced farming techniques, including drip irrigation and spray irrigation techniques. Coffee and pepper are the two major farm crops in the Central Highlands region. VNS A NANG Viet Nam and a Nang in particular could emerge as huge potential markets for Japanese businesses. 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 a Nang on Thursday, 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, a 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 co-operate 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. Kondo, who has been doing business in Viet Nam for the past 20 years, suggested a Nang advertise more and build Japanese townships to attract Japanese investors and tourists. He said Japanese investors would find potential industries in a 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 inh, 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 a Nang. 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. a 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 ang Hieu, vice director of a Nangs Foreign Affairs Department, said the city 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. 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, a Nang has attracted 305 foreign investment projects worth $3.37 billion. Japan ranks fourth among the top investors in a 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 citys total imports, while 30 per cent of the citys industrial production value comes from Japanese FDI projects. Route Inn Group from Japan will develop a coastal resort in a Nang, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, with total investment of US$18 million. FPT Software a Nang began its 10,000-Bridge Software Engineer (BrSE) programme in co-operation with Japanese partners. In 2014, a Nang also included Japanese language education in its curriculum at some high schools and colleges. VNS HCM CITY Nearly 2,000 residents living in an apartment building in HCM Citys Tan Binh District are concerned about a banks plan to take back the property because of overdue loan payments from the buildings investor. On May 24, the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nams (BIDV) North Sai Gon branch asked Tan Binh Import Export Material Joint Stock Company (Tamexim), the investor of The Harmona apartment building, to hand over the mortgaged property to the bank. The investor must hand over the entire apartment building to the bank at 9am on June 9, the banks statement said. About 600 families could be forced to leave their apartments for which they have already made full payment. A resident in the building, who declined to be named, said the residents had not been involved in the investors loan with the bank. We dont have an obligation to leave our own apartments. This is an issue between the investor and the bank. We have signed a contract to buy the apartments with the investor, so the bank cannot distraint our apartments, he added. Local media have reported that the apartment building was mortgaged to the BIDV North Saigon branch by the investor in 2011. The loan is due, but the investor has failed to complete its payments. Nguyen Van Liem, chairman of the board of directors of Thanh Nien Corporation, the project developer, said the firm would make the full payment no later than mid-June. We have developed a good credit relationship with BIDV. We once received a loan of up to VN1.2 trillion (US$53.61 million). For this project, we received a loan of VN500-600 billion ($22.34-26.8 million), and still owe only more than VN240 billion ($10.72 million), Liem said. According to Deputy Director of the State Bank of Viet Nams branch in HCM City Nguyen Hoang Minh, both the bank and investor were at fault. If the investor fails to pay back the loan to the bank by mid-June, the bank would change the classification of the loan to bad debt while the investor would have to seek another source to pay the bank. Minh said they were not allowed to foreclose the building and evict residents from their apartments. At a meeting between the investor and residents on Thursday, Tran Sinh Hung, vice chairman of Ward 14s Peoples Committee of Tan Binh District, asked the investor to work with the bank to resolve the issue. Tamexim later announced that under an agreement between project developer Thanh Nien Corporation and BIDV, full payment would be made by Thanh Nien Corp by June 15. We are sure that a full payment to the bank will be made and the ownership certificates will be given soon to the owners, Liem said. In a document, the bank also said that it would remove its decision as soon as it received the full payment from the project developer. The company has committed to issuing ownership certificates for the apartments in August. Nguyen Huy Hoang, deputy director of Tamexim, apologised to the residents and promised to work with Thanh Nien Corp to speed up the ownership issuance procedures. Covering an area of 9,137 square metres, The Harmona apartment located on Truong Cong inh Street in Tan Binh District includes three blocks with nearly 600 apartments. Construction began in late 2009 and was sold at VN20 million ($893.6) per square metre in 2010. The project was completed and delivered to its residents in 2013. VNS A NANG A photo exhibition and trade-fair will be held at the Han Market Trading Centre on June 1-6, to mark the 40th anniversary of Viet Nam-Thailand diplomatic ties. A Viet Nam-Thailand cuisine festival will also be held at the location. There will be 50 pavilions at the show. The city will also host an investment promotion in a Nang for Thai businesses during the fair. The citys union of friendship organisations said the event will draw the participation of Vietnamese and Thai businesses. As scheduled, Bangkok Airways will launch its new route between the central city and Bangkok on May 25, with four flights a week to boost investment and trade between central Viet Nam and Thailand. The central city attracts around 700 tourists from Thailand annually. a Nang is situated at the end of the East-West Economic Corridor linking Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam. It is connected by 19 international routes with it hosted 4 million tourists in 2015. VNS On the occasion of the 206th anniversary of the May Revolution on May 25, Argentine Ambassador to Viet Nam Claudio Ricardo Gutierrez shares his impressions on relations between Argentina and Viet nam and his 3-years of working experience in the country. On May 25, 2016 Argentina marked the 206th anniversary of the May Revolution, a historical milestone that paved the way for the establishment of the First National Government of Argentina. The next breakthrough in that process was the Declaration of National Independence on July 9, 1816. This year, July 9 will be a date of high significance, as Argentines will mark 200 years of the Independence Declaration. Throughout these two centuries, Argentina has made remarkable achievements. These include an integrated multiethnic society that is open to immigration, a prominent industrial base and scientific development, as well as a highly skilled workforce. Argentina has attained a very high level of human development, the first among Latin American countries, according to the United Nations Development Programme. Our country still has universal and free public education as well as health systems. However, there are still challenges to be addressed, including achieving economic development with full social inclusion, without forgoing the defence of democracy, separation of powers and individual freedoms. It is an honor for me to be able to celebrate this special date for all Argentines in Viet Nam. Our two countries have developed a multifaceted bilateral relationship that strengthens daily in all fields: politics, co-operation trade, culture and tourism. This celebration is very special to me because it is my last in this beloved country, given the completion of my term as the Argentine Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. Over the past three years at the helm of the Embassy of Argentina, I had a fulfilling working experience in Viet Nam, which yielded several concrete achievements in the fields of co-operation and trade. Groundwork has been laid for the new Argentine and Vietnamese governments to continue strengthening bilateral relations for the benefit of our peoples. I will always remember the affection, friendship and warmth of the Vietnamese people, as well as the countrys stunning landscapes, its diversity and smiles. As was the case 200 years ago in my country, Viet Nam, more than 40 years ago and after centuries of struggle, affirmed its right to rule itself without foreign interference. It did so like few other countries in the world and at a very high human, economic and environmental cost. Today, we can see how Viet Nam looks into the future devoid of resentment, not even against once enemies. This illustrates how striving for peace can be the most beneficial and rational path towards prosperity. We have much to learn from this country, not only in terms of perseverance, determination and patriotism, but also how to turn pain and suffering into co-operation and hope. Finally I would like to express the confidence that the Argentine and Vietnamese governments will continue to enhance the bilateral relationship by working every day with humility and sacrifice for our nations, for our peoples, for our present and for our future. VNS HA NOI Children from the ASEAN countries will gather in Ha Noi to attend a festival between May 29 and June 2 to honour cultural exchanges and mutual understanding. The ASEAN Childrens Festival includes a series of events and activities for children (aged 9 years to 15 years) in the ASEAN countries for a cultural exchange and strengthening solidarity, after the founding of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) last year. ASEAN is a common house of member countries, but, we acknowledge that the mutual understanding between peoples is still limited, Pham Viet Tien, vice director of Viet Nam Television, said. Organising the festival is our initiative, and with support from the Ministry of Culture, we aim to create a cultural space for children who are owners-to-be of each country to understand each other, he said. Vietnamese children will have a chance to know how their friends from ASEAN countries and learn, play and think with them, and vice versa, he added. The child delegates will visit the Viet Nam Museum of Ethnology, several beautiful spots in Ha Noi, enjoy a water puppet show at the Central Puppet Theatre and visit the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. They will also meet President Tran ai Quang and attend the Children and Communication Forum. On the occasion of International Childrens Day, the Museum of Ethnology will organise a celebration with the theme of childrens games in ASEAN countries on Sunday. The delegates will attend this event and perform some art pieces as well as display their traditional costumes. The festival will be highlighted with an art performance which will be broadcast live on June 1 with the theme of One Vision, One Identity, One Community. The delegations from each country will sing and dance in their traditional colours. Viet Nam will be represented by Sol Art, Young Hit Young Beat and Vinschool children ensembles. VNS Nguyen uc Kien, deputy chairman of the National Assembly Economics Committee, speaks to the Lao ong (Labour) newspaper about the need to tighten control of BuildOperateTransfer (BOT) projects. How do you respond to the rumour that some BOT road toll booths have illegally re-used their toll tickets for their own interest? As far as I know, the phenomena occurred in the early years of the 2000s when the Government used the State budget to build roads and then collected fees. Builders of those toll roads were State-owned corporations and toll collectors were companies affiliated to those corporations. However, referring to the problem of illegally printing their own toll tickets, I dont think they can do that. The tickets sold were all authentic, not faked. So in my opinion, we cant jump to the conclusion that the alleged re-use of old tickets was a deliberate act, because no proof to support such an accusation has been found. Is it possible that BOT is the main cause leading to ticket fraud on toll roads? The key objective of collecting fees on toll roads is to ensure all road users pay a fee so that road constructors will meet the time schedule for paying back money to the banks. Thats the principle of BOT. Ticket fraud arises from humans greedy nature. Violations must be strictly sanctioned. If a BOT enterprise was detected in collusion with other parties to gain benefits for themselves, the enterprise would be duly punished by law. In the worst case, the enterprises operating licence would be withdrawn. This is well reflected in Viet Nams Bidding Law. Do you have any suggestions to make the pay-back period not too long and still be in compliance with the law? It is the responsibility of the entire society, including government agencies, BOT enterprises and the general public. Whats more important is that government agencies should hold high the principle of transparency and that enterprises must be lawful. In other words, there should be close co-operation between government agencies, BOT enterprises and the general public. So in your opinion, what are the remaining problems with BOT projects? In my opinion, ticket fraud is just the tip of the iceberg with BOT projects. The fundamental issue with almost all BOT projects is their implementation procedures. The core characteristic of a BOT project is that both the State and society want to have a good infrastructure system for the country. But how to finance BOT projects must be carefully calculated to ensure that they do not cause an imbalance in the State budget or cause a breakdown in the financial security of the countrys monetary system. Adding to that, a BOT project should go through a bidding process, not a tender appointment as at present. A BOT project is another form of Public Private Partnership. So the State should have a strong influential voice in the project. Another important element is the process of selecting an enterprise for a BOT project. The winning enterprise must have strong financial capacity, with not all the money borrowed from a bank. Currently, most BOT projects use money borrowed from banks. Such a practice cannot be accepted. We dont want the banks to become hostages of BOT projects. - VNS Professor Le Viet Khuyen, a member of the Association of Viet Nams Universities and Colleges, spoke to the newspaper Khoa hoc & oi song (Science and Life) about the fight against corruption in higher education. Whats your point of view on the comment that Vietnamese students studying abroad at their own expense or on Government scholarships should be investigated as to where the money came from? In my opinion, I totally support Government officials decisions to send their offspring to study abroad. But, what I want to question here is how those officials have big sums of money to achieve this. Im pretty sure, with their monthly salaries and other sources of income; they would not be able to afford to send their children to study abroad. Nowadays, many Government officials have sent their children overseas with a Government scholarship. Every year, the Government grants many scholarships to students who have excelled in their studies. And I support such a policy. But among the students receiving scholarships are those who have not done so well, but they are the sons or daughters of high-ranking Government officials. These are signs of corruption! For students studying abroad on their own, I think that the Government should ask their parents to declare their assets to ensure that the money they spend on their children is legal money from their own assets or clean money. Is it written into law that Government officials sending their children to study abroad have to justify where the money came from? There is no law prohibiting Government officials from sending their children to study overseas. But, under the Anti-Corruption Law, all senior Government officials have to make their annual asset declarations. This is one way to make society clean and transparent. Do you have any children studying abroad? Yes, I do. My child won a scholarship to study abroad when I was working at the Ministry of Education and Training. He sat for an examination and won an ASEAN scholarship to study in Singapore. Im very proud that his winning the ASEAN scholarship was on his own, not with my influence. Do you think that some people have used their influence to seek scholarships for their children? Should these cases be considered policy corruption? I cant agree more. To my knowledge, quite a few students were not qualified for Government scholarships to study abroad, but they were awarded anyway. So, we can use the phrase policy corruption for these cases. Based on what you have mentioned above, should we monitor both self-financing students and scholarship students who are the children of senior Government officials? Yes, we should review our current policies on awarding scholarships to students. An important guiding principle in awarding the scholarship is based on a level playing field for all candidates. For students who are the children of Government officials going abroad to study on their own, we should make a rule that all parents have to declare the source of money they spend on their childrens education abroad. This is the best way to ensure success in the fight against corruption. VNS Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung called for co-ordination among ministries and sectors to reach a consensus on draft documents for the revised Investment and Enterprise laws. Photo VGP HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung called for co-ordination among ministries and sectors to reach a consensus on draft documents for the revised Investment and Enterprise laws. While chairing a meeting in Ha Noi on Thursday to review the work, the Deputy PM highlighted goals set by the Government related to improving the national investment and business environment. It was necessary to create favourable conditions for businesses and individuals to access resources to promote production and business, he stated. He praised ministries and sectors for their work to implement Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs guidelines, saying that Governmental decrees had been drafted on schedule. He urged ministries to resolve issues related to drafting legal documents for the enforcement of the revised Investment and Enterprise laws, asking for the harmonization of the interests of the State, enterprises and people. The drafts would need to be completed within the time set by the Government and Prime Minister and be high quality, he noted. Ministries and sector should make necessary studies and amendments after the legal documents are approved or issued, he said. The revised Investment and Enterprise laws, which will take effect on July 1, are hoped to improve the countrys investment environment. They were designed to respect and uphold business freedom while focusing on equal treatment between domestic and foreign investors to ensure compliance with international treaties Viet Nam has committed to. The Investment Law features administrative overhauls, including cutting the time to process foreign investment registration applications to 15 working days from 45 days as well as raising the responsibility of investors through deposit requirements and equipment quality appraisals. New points in the Enterprise Law include business registration certificates with information regarding business codes, headquarters addresses and legal representatives. It also abolishes requirements on professional certificates, shortens business registration timelines, adds criteria for State business executives and requests the release of transparent information from firms with State capital up to international standards.--VNS The two are Le Nguyen Minh Quang, general director of Bachy Sholetanche Viet Nam, and Tran Quang Thang, head of the HCM City Institute for Economic Research and Management. Photo congan.com.vn HCM CITY Two out of four self-nominated candidates contesting elections to the HCM City Peoples Council for the 2016-21 term have won. The two are Le Nguyen Minh Quang, general director of Bachy Sholetanche Viet Nam, and Tran Quang Thang, head of the HCM City Institute for Economic Research and Management. The HCM City Election Committee announced yesterday morning that Quang polled 62.74 percent of the votes and Thang, 66.92 percent. Of the 105 members elected, city Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong got the highest percentage of votes -- 78.75 percent. Other city leaders also got strong support from voters. Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, chairwoman of the Peoples Council, got 77.74 of the votes. Tat Thanh Cang, deputy secretary of the Party Committee, polled 68.1 percent and Tran Vinh Tuyen, deputy chairman of the Peoples Committee, polled 68.4 percent. The winners included several journalists. Tang Huu Phong, editor-in-chief of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, was voted to the council with 60.23 percent of the votes. Nguyen Tan Phong, editor-in-chief of Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon), Nguyen Thi To Tram of Nguoi Lao ong (Labourer) and Nguyen Trong Tri, deputy director of the Voice of HCM City, were also elected. According to Truong Thi Anh, deputy chairwoman of the Peoples Council, who announced the election results, seven members of the new council are not in the Communist Party, 33 others have been re-elected, 15 are aged under 35, and 46 are women. Tam, who is also chairwoman of the election committee, said the elections were organised successfully. VNS Venerable Baddegama Samitha Thero. (Source: youtube.com) HA NOI Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh hosted a reception in Ha Noi yesterday for a delegation of the Sri Lanka-Viet Nam Solidarity Association led by Most Venerable Baddegama Samitha Thero, a member of the associations executive board. The host hailed the delegations visit as a contribution to reinforcing the traditional friendship between the two peoples. She said both sides should facilitate all-level visits to deepen bilateral ties in the future, and expressed her belief that the Sri Lankan government and people will recover from the recent landslide that killed and injured hundreds of people. Samitha Thero, who is also a member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Partys Politburo and the Southern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka, congratulated the host on her new position, which he said reflected Viet Nams stance on enhancing womens roles in national leadership. He said he hoped that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka would further increase people-to-people exchanges and economic co-operation for the benefit of the two peoples, in addition to political, cultural and educational joint efforts. VNS ISE-SHIMA Viet Nam hopes that G7 countries and multilateral organisations will continue to assist the country and other Mekong nations in managing and protecting water resources, and improving their capacity to adapt to climate change, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The Vietnamese leader made the call while addressing the first working session of the expanded G7 Summit in Ise-Shima, in Japans Mie prefecture, yesterday. He reiterated Viet Nams commitment to realising the Paris Agreement which was reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. "Viet Nam appreciates the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure in Asia and the Japan-Mekong Connectivity initiatives launched by Japan, and welcomes the support provided by other G7 member countries, including the US and the Friends of the Lower Mekong for sustainable development in the Mekong River basin through a new initiative on the Sustainable Infrastructure Programme," he said. Welcoming issues raised at the Summits agenda, the PM said the matters were crucial and urgent to peace, stability and sustainable development in Asia-Pacific and the world at large. We are well aware that peace and development in Viet Nam is closely linked with peace and prosperity in the world. Contributing to handling regional and global challenges is the responsibility and in the interest of each country, regardless of its development status, he said. Phuc also applauded Japans efforts in ensuring peace, stability and development in the Middle East, health care and gender equality, along with the countrys efforts in assisting Africa. He underlined that prosperity and sustainable development in Viet Nam, Asia and the world may be ensured only in a peaceful and stable environment. The leader highlighted increasingly complex challenges to regional peace, including maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom in the East Sea. Unilateral activities that go against international law and regional agreements such as the large-scale reclamation of man-made islands and militarisation seriously threatened regional peace and stability, he said. The situation requires concerned parties to show restraint and address disputes by peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, enhance trust-building measures and preventive diplomacy and work towards a Code of Conduct in the East Sea, according to the Vietnamese leader. Together with ASEAN, Viet Nam welcomes G7 nations to raise their voices in support of maritime and overflight security and freedom, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of international law. The expanded G7 summit saw the participation of leaders from G7 members Japan, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada and Italy along with representatives from the EU, and invited guests, including leaders from Viet Nam, Indonesia, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. The expanded G7 event includes two sessions focusing on high-quality infrastructure, regional security, womens rights, health care, the 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals, and co-operation with Africa. Sidelines meetings TOKYO Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday met several foreign leaders on the sidelines of the expanded G7 Summit in Japans Mie Prefecture, affirming that the Vietnamese Government is determined to deepen economic ties with partners. PM Phuc met French President Francois Hollande on the same day on the sidelines of the expanded G7 Summit. The PM expressed delight at the presidents upcoming visit to Viet Nam, which he said would help create new momentum for the strategic partnership between Viet Nam and France. He thanked France for its effective assistance in development co-operation with Viet Nam and wished that both countries would improve their mechanisms for exchanging and coordinating economic and national defence-security efforts. He also urged more investment across the sectors of infrastructure, transport, energy, aerospace aviation, agriculture, food processing, pharmaceuticals and green industries. Phuc said he hoped that France would support Viet Nam to gain access to the World Banks International Development Assistance (IDA) beyond 2017. President Hollande praised contributions made by the Vietnamese community in France to the nations development in particular, and to relations between the two countries in general. The two leaders agreed to enact measures to double two-way trade turnover between Viet Nam and France and increase co-operation to effectively implement the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, PM Phuc urged Canada to offer technical assistance to Viet Nam to improve its enforcement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and encourage Canadian firms to invest in Viet Nam. Canadian PM Trudeau promised continued support to Vietnam, including its bid for selection as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, as well as favourable conditions for Vietnamese nationals living in Canada. In separate meetings with President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk, the Vietnamese leader asked the EU to offer technical assistance to Viet Nam to carry out the recently-adopted Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The two sides spoke highly of the conclusion of EU-Viet Nam free trade agreement negotiations and pledged to work jointly to materialise the deal. Earlier, the PM met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK PM David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, Italian PM Matteo Renzi and President of the World Bank Jim Yong-kim. Merkel backed Viet Nams proposal to delay its IDA graduation and promised to visit Viet Nam at a convenient time. Expressing concern over drought and saltwater intrusion in Viet Nam, Cameron committed to directing the UK embassy to consider specific projects in support of victims in the country. US President Obama thanked the Vietnamese people and the PM for their hospitality and warm reception during his recent visit and said he would speak of Viet Nams considerable progress with G7 countries on the occasion. WB President Jim Yong Kim described Viet Nam as a top priority in accessing preferential IDA, adding that he is willing to help Viet Nam with the use of renewable energy, particularly wind and solar energy. The Italian PM appreciated Viet Nams stature in the region and wished to boost bilateral economic ties, partly by facilitating and doubling Italian investment in the country. During the meetings, PM Phuc also lauded the countries and organisations support for Viet Nam and ASEANs stance on the peaceful settlement of East Sea disputes in line with international law, thus ensuring security, safety, maritime and aviation freedom. - VNS TOKYO Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe discussed major orientations and specific measures to develop the Viet Nam-Japan extensive strategic partnership in a comprehensive, pragmatic and more effective manner in the time ahead during talks in Tokyo on Saturday. The talks followed a welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese Prime Minister. They expressed their delight at the strong and substantive developments in bilateral cooperation over the past years, especially in the economy, agriculture and exchanges between localities. PM Phuc congratulated Japan on its successful organisation of the G7 Summit and the expanded G7 Summit. He affirmed Viet Nams consistent policy of regarding Japan as a leading and long-term partner. For his part, PM Shinzo Abe congratulated his Vietnamese partner on his new post as head of the Vietnamese Government. He extended thanks to PM Phuc for attending the expanded G7 Summit, and applauded the Vietnamese Government leaders speech delivered at the event. He said Japan attached importance to the relationship with Viet Nam and wished to continue closely cooperating with the country in order to push forward the bilateral ties in a more comprehensive fashion. The two PMs agreed to boost political trust by maintaining regular exchanges of high-ranking delegations and meetings on the sideline of international forums, and by enhancing the efficiency of bilateral dialogue mechanisms. They said they would reinforce defence and security cooperation, particularly in dealing with the aftermath of war and UN peacekeeping missions. PM Abe said he hoped to revisit Viet Nam soon. Both sides also agreed to seek specific measures to promote connectivity between the two economies in terms of economic strategies, production resources and human resources via investment and trade cooperation and official development assistance (ODA). PM Shinzo Abe stated that Japan would continue offering ODA for Viet Nams infrastructure development and climate change response. He said Japan would work closely with Viet Nam in implementing an initiative on boosting Japan-Mekong links and a US$110-billion credit plan to develop high-quality infrastructure in Asia. PM Phuc called for Japans support for Viet Nam accessing preferential loans from international financial organisations, including those from the World Banks International Development Association after 2017. The two sides agreed to boost Japans investment in Viet Nam via the implementation of Phase VI of the Viet Nam-Japan Joint Initiative in 2016. They pledged close cooperation in the implementation of Vietnams Industrialisation Strategy within the framework of the Vietnam-Japan cooperation until 2020 with a vision to 2030, and acceleration of big projects on infrastructure, including the North-South Highway and the Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Plant. The two sides discussed measures to promote the cooperation in trade and hi-tech agriculture, and create conditions for each others agricultural products to enter the others market. The two sides also reached agreement on enhancing cooperation in health, the training of human resources and Japans reception of Vietnamese trainees, while continuing to implement the Vietnam-Japan University project as well as bolstering tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Concerning climate change, PM Shinzo Abe announced non-refundable aid worth 300 million JPY (US$2.5 million) to assist Viet Nam in dealing with drought and salt water intrusion. He affirmed Japan would work with Vietnam to seek medium and long term solutions to those problems, adding that Japan is ready to provide official development assistance capital to build dams and reservoirs based on specific requests from Vietnam. In the immediate future, Japan would send JICAs experts to conduct surveys under the Water Management Project in Ben Tre Province. Discussing international and regional issues of common concern, PM Shinzo Abe affirmed that Japan would coordinate with Viet Nam in the preparation for APEC Year in 2017. The two sides shared the international communitys deep concerns on the East Sea situation in recent time, particularly the large-scale artificial island build-up. They agreed on the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation in the East Sea. The relevant sides should not take actions changing the status quo or further complicating and expanding disputes and militarising the East Sea, the two PMs said, stressing that disputes should be solved via peaceful measures on the basis of respect for diplomatic and legal procedures, full observance of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) while striving for the early formation of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea. After the talks, the two PMs witnessed the exchange of five cooperation documents, of which four are ODA loans worth a total of 166 billion JPY (US$1.5 billion) for the urban railway No.1 in HCM City, the Thai Binh thermoelectricity plant, and the second phase of HCM Citys water environment improvement work. The fifth document is a stock purchase agreement between Vietnam Airlines and Japans ANA Holdings Inc. The two leaders then met with the media on the outcomes of their talks. On the same day, PM Phuc received officials from some of Japans organisations and businesses including Chairman of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Shinichi Kitaoka, Honorary Chairman of the Mitsubishi Group Kojima Yorihiko, and Governor of Aichi Prefecture Hideaki Omura. He also visited a Yokoyama farm in Aichi Prefecture. Later in the evening, PM Shinzo Abe held a banquet for his Vietnamese counterpart. VNS HA NOI Building social housing for workers and improving infrastructure at industrial zones were among issues raised by more than 300 workers at dialogues with Ha Noi authorities on Thursday. At the meetings, held at the Bac Thang Long industrial zone in ong Anh District of Ha Noi, representatives from businesses proposed the city invest in building social housing for workers near industrial zones to rent or buy on hire-purchase at reasonable prices, particularly in areas with a high density of workers. They stressed that this was an urgent need as most workers came from other localities or from low-income rural areas. They currently have to rent houses far from work with high rent, water and electricity fees. Many workers proposed municipal authorities invest in building infrastructure, including kindergartens, schools, hospitals and supermarkets so living conditions of workers and their families would improve. They also recommended upgrading deteriorated infrastructure at industrial parks such as roads and water drainage systems and proposed authorities handle other issues relating to environment, social insurance and administrative procedures. Chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee Nguyen uc Chung said he would instruct relevant agencies to gradually handle issues raised by the workers. He also publicised a hotline number, 0903407319, to receive complaints from workers. I will work with local authorities and management agencies of industrial zones to support workers and deal with their recommendations, he said. - VNS HA NOI The World Bank (WB) announced it recently approved additional funding of USD$119 million for the ongoing Urban Water Supply and Wastewater Project in Viet Nam. Approved by the WB Board of Executive Directors in May 2011, the project includes 14 subprojects across 10 provinces with an average population size of 100,000 in the urban centres. Most of the additional funding has been earmarked for a wastewater and drainage subproject in the southern province of Binh Duong. The remaining funds will be used to cover cost overruns due to the appreciation of the US dollar and offer the Ministry of Construction technical support to prepare a new water supply project in the Mekong Delta. As a result, 65,872 households with 450,382 people will have access to clean water, and 312,050 urban residents will enjoy improved sanitation. With this, achievements under the original project will be further consolidated and sustained, and more people in Binh Duong, in southern Viet Nam, will enjoy better wastewater and drainage services, said Achim Fock, the World Banks Acting Country Director for Viet Nam. -- VNS HA NOI The higher education students take, the higher the rate of unemployment they might suffer, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Doan Mau Diep, said. The statement is referring to the more than one million unemployed of working age in the country in the first quarter of this year. The latest labour statistics, released this week by the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs, revealed that since December to March this year, an additional 20,700 people are out of work. Among the one million unemployed, the group with the highest unemployment rates were university graduates or those holding higher degrees. An estimated 190,900 graduates and degree holders, an increase of more than 35,000 people over the same period last year, cannot find work. About 118,900 college graduates could not find jobs, an increase of over 2,000 since last year, according to released figures. By contrast, the number of jobless intermediate school graduates witnessed a downward trend. Only about 60,200 people in this category were unemployed, a small bright spot in this quarters labour bulletin. The first quarter labour information also showed that 53.29 million have jobs nationwide, a decrease of 211,120 people compared to the final quarter of last year. Deputy Minister Diep blamed the situation on the slowing economy in the first quarter of this year, which has had a direct impact on the job market. There has been a reduction of about 1.23 per cent in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in agriculture, forestry and seafood. This has put these sectors at the top of the list of those suffering from job losses, along with processing and manufacturing industries, as well as those firms that repair, and perform wholesale and retail sales of automobiles, motorbikes and engines. Lacking practical skills Labour experts say that a mismatch between employer requirements and graduate skills is the main reason why degree holders are facing employment problems. Dr Bui The uc, deputy head of the Party Central Committees Publicity and Education Commission, told Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that more than two million labourers were working at about 300 industrial and processing zones across the majority of provinces and cities. The training for workers remained weak while the quality and structure of human resources had yet to meet the demands of enterprises, he said. According to domestic and foreign experts, human resources in Viet Nam are of a lower quality than in many developing countries in the region, and are being out competed in the labour market. Many businesses, especially foreign-invested ones, refuse to employ graduates and instead want to conduct training themselves as they do not trust the quality of training from educational institutions in Viet Nam. Deputy Minister Diep said that in the long term, the skills of labourers must be improved. The unemployment rate would continue to increase if the knowledge and skills of job seekers continue to be misaligned with what the market wants, he said. Future hopes ao Quang Vinh, director of the Institute of Labour, Science and Social Affairs, predicted that in the second quarter, 53.49 million people would have jobs, an increase of only 0.4 per cent compared to last quarter. "The good news is that the unemployment rate of working age people is expected to decrease, thanks to the GDP increasing by 6.17 per cent this quarter as predicted by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM)," Vinh said. He said that the processing and manufacturing industries, construction, media and communications would attract more employees. According to Phu Huynh, an economic and labour expert from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in the Asia-Pacific region, using the jobless rate to evaluate growth in the developing economy does not fully reflect the status of the national labour market. Besides the unemployment rate, several other items of information should be added to the labour bulletin of Viet Nam including figures on impoverished workers, vulnerable job groups, the percentage of agriculture jobs, labour productivity and average wages, he said. VNS HCM CITY Seven million customers in 21 southern cities and provinces, except for HCM City, can now call the hotline 19001006 to submit complaints or request electricity registration and galvanometer attachment services. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, according to Nguyen Phuoc uc, deputy general director of Southern Power Corporation. By calling the hotline, utility workers can stop by each household. Customers are not required to prepare photocopied household papers, identity cards or house ownership certificates as they did before, uc said. Customers will be immediately informed if there is any additional fee, and complaints will be handled in the shortest possible time. VNS HA NOI Leaders from across major sections of Vietnamese civil society are taking on a new role in a nation-wide campaign to promote zero tolerance of wildlife crime through consumer behaviour change. At a workshop in Ha Noi on Tuesday, four prominent civil society organisations (CSOs), with guidance from local communications experts and government agencies, including the Central Committee for Propaganda and Education and the National Center for Health Communication and Education, agreed to begin to disseminate new, highly-targeted messages to reduce demand for illegal wildlife products in Viet Nam. The workshop, organised by TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), aimed to support TRAFFICs consumer behaviour change programme to reduce demand for rhino horns in Viet Nam. The programmes messages are tailored using consumer research and feedback to address the specific motivations for using rhino horn among identified consumer groups. Todays meeting, funded by the Agence Francaise de Developpement, co-operated with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Viet Nam Ecommerce Association, the Center for Women and Development, and the Viet Nam Automobile Transportation Association to develop wildlife protection messages and action plans for corporate partners. The specially designed messages will be integrated into their codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility policies and widely shared with their business partners and staff. Illegal wildlife trade is a significant threat to bio-diversity conservation in Viet Nam and in the region, Pham Thi Thu Hang, general secretary of the VCCI, said. As CSOs responsible for supporting businesses, the organisations present today and others like us can encourage businesses to demonstrate CSR by integrating wildlife protection into their business policies, which will help these businesses avoid risks, create competitive advantages and, in the long term, achieve sustainable development. With its economy continuing to grow, Viet Nam faces a changing set of development challenges, like increasing threats to the environment. Rising levels of income in Viet Nam have led to a trend of conspicuous consumption of high status goods, including rhino horn, Madelon Willemsen, head of TRAFFICs Viet Nam office, said. This increased demand for illegal wildlife products is causing immediate and lasting damage to local and global biodiversity. Only through the combined efforts of the Government, civil society and the private sector can we reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products that drives wildlife crime. The workshop provided an example of how this collaboration could work, as CSOs and government agencies shared their expertise to develop effective behaviour-change messages and action plans that will ensure the zero tolerance of wildlife crime permeates through all levels of society. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) has proposed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc suspend a project on hydropower plants in the Central Highlands Province of ak Lak to protect the local environment and wild animals. The ministry said in a statement that the construction of rang Phok hydropower plant in Yok on National Park could affect the environment. To build the plant, nearly 53 ha of forest will be cut down and another 10ha of forest will be cleared for temporary use. The operation of the plant would directly affect the habitat of wild animals, particularly elephants and tigers, the ministry said. The construction of a dam will interfere with the water flow of the Serepok River, leaving an impact on its ecological system and aquatic species. The building and operation of the plant would hamper forest protection and efforts to preserve the biodiversity of Yok on National Park, the ministry said. An increase in water levels in the plants reservoir would also facilitate the illegal transport of wood from the park, it said. The planned plant will cover more than 308 hectares, including nearly 24 hectares of dipterocarp forest in the core area of Yok on National Park. The plant, with total investment of VN850 billion (US$38 million), would have a designed capacity of 26MW. The construction is scheduled to be implemented by the New Technology Application and Construction Investment Corporation. The corporation is reported to have hired a consultant to report on the projects environmental impact. According to the MARD, the Central Highlands has seen serious loss of forest coverage in the past five years (about 6 per cent). The loss of forest coverage, coupled with the effects of climate change, has harmed the lives of locals as well as socio-economic development in the region, the ministry said. The MARD in August 2009 asked then Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to let the Peoples Committee of ak Lak Province use the Yok on National Parks special-use forest for the construction of rang Phok hydropower plant. The project was approved by the Prime Minister the same month. -- VNS National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has asked the UN to continue assisting the Vietnamese legislative body to fulfill its role during the process of realising sustainable development goals (SDGs). VNA/VNS Photo Trong uc HA NOI National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has asked the UN to continue assisting the Vietnamese legislative body to fulfill its role during the process of realising sustainable development goals (SDGs). At a meeting with UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP representative in Viet Nam Pratibha Mehta yesterday in Ha Noi, the NA leader said the NA played an important role in the process of implementing SDGs, through its functions of building laws, monitoring law enforcement, and deciding the State budget. She emphasized that the NA had adopted many important laws which incorporated SDGs, such as the 2013 Constitution, the Civil Code, the Labour Code, and the Environmental Protection Law. The countrys legislative body had also closely monitored the governments operation, as well as the implementation of socioeconomic development plans during specific periods. This had ensured that economic growth always runs in tandem with social welfare, human resource development, and natural resource and environmental protection, she said. The NA Chairwoman proposed that the UN provide technical support and policy consultations in law-making activities, as well as assistance in coordinating cooperation among Viet Nam, the UN and third parties. She thanked the UN for walking hand-in-hand with Viet Nam during the countrys socioeconomic development, especially in poverty reduction and the HIV-AIDS fight. The top NA legislator also expressed her gratitude to the UN for helping enhance the effectiveness of the NA, which contributes to the countrys development. She acknowledged the UNs support for people affected by drought and saltwater intrusion in the Central Highlands, southern central and Mekong Delta regions. For her part, Mehta said she hoped the UN and Viet Nams legislative body would continue working together to realise the SDGs approved by the UN in September last year. - VNS HA NOI An organic produce market called Phien cho Xanh - Tu te (Green-Nice Market Day), where consumers can buy directly from farmers, is held every Saturday and Sunday on the first and third week of the month in HCM City. Though prices are 10-15 percent higher than non-organic produce, the market does a brisk business. Located on Pasteur Street in the citys District 3, the market sells pesticide-free produce with a clear origin. Nguyen Thi Thuy, of District 1, said she trusted the origin of the farm produce. Although the appearance is not as attractive as non-organic produce, I feel its safer to use, she said. Nguyen ao, who sells vegetables with a clear origin, said the produce was in such high demand that it sold out by the end of the day. Farmers at the market take part in an organic agricultural programme which requires them to guarantee the quality of water and land used for farming, according to Mayu Ino from Seed to Table, a Japanese non-profit organisation promoting eco-agriculture and community development in Viet Nam. The farmers market sells popular brands like Long Chau 66 rice from Co May Company and Ngoc Thach mushrooms and other specialties from craft villages in the Mekong Delta. The Centre of Business Studies and Assistance in HCM City helped organise the market.VNS If for the last few days Red Road had remained out of bounds, on Friday, all roads led to it, as politicians, artistes, industrialists and 'manush' from the 3M (Ma Mati Manush) party turned up to see being sworn for her a second term as Chief Minister of West Bengal. Politicians across the party lines -- those looking for support in the Rajya Sabha and the ones angling for a potential partnership --- were all there; Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and RJD's Lalu Prasad found place on the dais. As did Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley and Union Minister of State for Urban Development, and for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Babul Supriyo. Hundreds of supporters and protestors clashed outside an election rally of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego as police in riot gear and wielding batons arrested 35 people in the second scuffle in three days to hit his campaign. People from both sides screamed at each other and threw water bottles, as the police tried to control the situation, firing pepper-balls. The clash between pro and anti-Trump groups occurred after the Republican leader ended his speech in San Diego in the western California state yesterday, with several people throwing stones and plastic bottles, some that hit police officers. Police were deployed in riot gear as the billionaire from New York addressed a massive rally at a convention centre. After issuing orders to the crowd of roughly 1,000 to disperse, police began forcefully and aggressively pushing protesters - who were waving Mexican flags and holding anti-Trump signs - checking them with their batons. Some protestors also scaled barriers, according to reports. At least 35 people were arrested, police said, adding that no property damage was reported and no injuries were reported. "Crowd behaviour has become unlawful. An unlawful assembly has now been declared. It is illegal to remain in the area," the San Diego Police said in a situational update, adding its forces would be deployed till late in the night. Later, Trump appreciated the police for handling the "thugs". "@SanDiegoPD- Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. Greatly appreciated!" he tweeted. At his rally, Trump also responded to US President Barack Obama's comments a day ago that world leaders are rattled by his campaign rhetoric and assured his supporters that he would get along well with foreign leaders. "I happen to be a nice person, folks. I'll get along great. I will get along so great with these countries. I will get along so great," Trump told thousands of his supporters. "He (Obama) said today that our trading partners and countries that we have relationship with, they're rattled. I said, "Yay, oh, that's so good."," Trump said. Someone grabbed a man's "Make America Great Again" hat and burned it, according to San Diego Tribune. Officers in helmets, masks, pads and with long wooden batons massed in lines, then moved slowly toward the unruly protesters. By evening, police had managed to move and disperse the crowd, and few were left, the daily reported. Trump was in the city near the Mexican border to hold a rally ahead of the 7 June California primary and in his San Diego rally pledged to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants. This is the second anti-Trump protest in three days. His rally in New Mexico on Tuesday turned violent as protesters toppled barricades and threw rocks, burning T-shirts and plastic bottles at police officers, injuring several people. Earlier yesterday in Fresno, Trump denied that there was a major drought affecting the state, saying instead that when he becomes president he will "start opening up the water". "Great rally in Fresno, California- great crowd! Thank you!" he said in another tweet. At the San Diego rally, Trump said the US under his presidency would start winning again. "Every single country no matter what -- name a country -- we lose. We don't win anymore. We're going to start winning. We're going to win with trade. We're going to win with our military. We're going to start winning again," he said amidst applause. Trump alleged that the countries like Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, who are being protected by the US are not paying money. "Then you look at the NATO countries -- 28 total, many of them aren't living up to their obligations," he said. "They have been abusing us. They have been abusing us. This isn't 40 years ago when we could have done whatever we want." Continuing with his criticism of Hillary Clinton, Trump said the Democratic presidential frontrunner and former secretary of state is a "very boring" speaker. "I watched Hillary Clinton last night, which was hard to do because she's a very boring speaker," he said. "I will not say because it's not politically correct and it's not a nice thing to say, so I will not say that she shouts into the microphone and it drives everybody crazy. So I won't say that. But I found it very hard to watch. And then she lies. Now, you know, I called somebody a liar, but I don't say that anymore because that person is now in the past. I say that person is in the past. And with Hillary, we say "Crooked Hillary," he said. "But I've got to add another word because I never saw anything like this last night. She was saying that "I want Japan to arm with nuclear weapons." I never said that. She was saying, "I love the dictator in North Korea." I don't love the dictator -- bad guy, OK? Bad guy. She was saying all sorts of things so bad, and so false, total lies. And we're not going to let her get away with it. We're not going to let her get away," Trump asserted. "Take a look at what's going on with our military that we love. We can't beat ISIS. We're going to beat ISIS. We're going to beat them quickly. We're going to knock the hell out of them. We shouldn't have been there in the first place, but we're going to knock the hell out of them. And we have to rebuild our country," he said. Next week, a Waterloo church will host a youth event intended to spark interest in ministry and leadership. Cedar Valley Youth Rally is scheduled for 2 to 8 p.m. June 4. Cedar Valley Community Church designed the event for area youth in grades five through 12. These experiences and exposures will be centered around peer interaction, says Lucy Kerns, CVCC youth director. It is an open invite for all students not only in Waterloo-Cedar Falls but the whole Cedar Valley. Valley Rally will include art projects; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) exercises; inflatables; games; a climbing wall; live music; and a variety of guest speakers. John Tha Gentile, a Waterloo-based musician, will perform. He is a Christian hip-hop artist and says he uses music to promote positivity and inspire others. East Waterloo High School graduate Kate Kinnetz also will speak. She is a member of the University of Northern Iowa softball team and will talk about being diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma when she was a freshman. Real Encounter Outreach will present motorcycle and bike demonstrations. Brad Bennett, president and founder, will speak. The group features professional BMX and motorcycle action athletes and ministers who perform stunts as part of a traveling ministry. The group is best known for appearances on NBCs Americas Got Talent. Former judge Howard Stern said Real Encounter is the most fantastic, most death-defying thing Ive seen in my entire three years on Americas Got Talent. Kerns hopes to draw 200 participants for this first event. If successful, she believes it will become an annual event. This is for churched and unchurched alike, she adds. Its not necessarily that our youth group at Cedar Valley Community Church would grow; this is designed to be a community event for saved and unsaved students. It is more outreach-focused. The Valley Rally idea took shape after Kerns took a group of students to the Ignite youth leadership conference at Grace Church in Des Moines. The two-day, overnight event is specifically designed for students who want to be leaders in their church youth groups. We wondered why we couldnt do something like that here, Kerns recalls. We didnt know what that would look like at the time or what we were going to do. Valley Rally has now taken shape. Kerns would like to see this become an annual event. The goal is to create positive, fun, interactive experiences and exposures and show students that life is still great as a follower and believer of Jesus Christ, says Kerns. The event begins at 2 p.m. on the east side of the church campus. It is open to all youth entering grades five through 12. Admission is free, and attendees are asked to bring a donation of a nonperishable food item. For more information, go to ValleyRally2016.com. EVANSDALE A Black Hawk County man said he double-checked his lottery ticket before he started to celebrate winning a big prize. Colton Henninger of Evansdale claimed the 50th of 65 top prizes of $30,000 available in the lotterys Bonus Crossword scratch game. The 21-year-old said he needed to double-check his work because hes unfortunately been wrong about lottery prizes before. Ive messed up before and scratched too many letters, Henninger told lottery employees Monday as he claimed his prize at the lotterys regional office in Cedar Rapids. Henninger bought his winning ticket Saturday at Texas Street Market, 4335 Texas St. in Waterloo. Henninger, kitchen manager at a convenience store in Cedar Falls, said he plans to save a majority of his winnings. Bonus Crossword a $3 scratch game. WATERLOO -- Crackling mufflers, revving engines and the wafting smell of gasoline means one thing in Waterloo: Its time for the annual Fourth Street Cruise. Originally scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, the cruise was cut an hour short by impending potentially severe weather. The cruise began 35 years ago. It seems just like yesterday, said Pat Derifield, founder of the classic car cruise through downtown Waterloo. He said the event has grown to be a tradition for locals. Cruising was a popular pastime for Derifield and his buddies back in the day; theyd often ride up and down Fourth Street. When his daughter later complained about inconveniences associated with cruising University Avenue, he launched into stories of the good times spent downtown. Thats when she said, Dad, why dont you do just do it all over again? Derifield said. The Fourth Street Cruise was born. A thousand cars new and old drove the route along Fourth and Fifth streets, Mulberry Street, Bluff Street and Park Avenue. Many of the estimated 10,000 spectators congregated along the Fourth Street stretch, where the cars drove past one another in each lane. Its a route Duane Thoms of Waterloo looks forward to driving each year. He has only missed the cruise once in 35 years. Its a bit of an ego trip for me, driving the old cars, having everyone look at you Thoms said. And I love it. He brought a couple cars with him this year, but his 1936 Hudson Terraplane is closest to his heart. The Hudson, which bears the name white rabbit, is a tribute to both his wife and his daughter. They passed away within one month of each other in 2008. The cars purple flames are for his daughter, who passed away from cerebral palsy her favorite color was purple. Thoms said his wife, with whom he shared a love of cars, often spoke of her appreciation for a high school classmates Chevelle then dubbed, the white rabbit. She died of cancer. Working on old cars and fixing them up definitely has kept me going, Thoms said. He worked as a mechanic for 24 years. He pulled the Hudson out of a grove behind his childhood home south of Reinbeck. It was owned by his father, who bought the car in 1946 after coming home from World War II. Thoms connects with fellow car owners each year, and that also keeps him coming back. Its common that I may not remember their name, but I can tell you what they drove, Thoms said. For Issac Inman, 12, and his cousin, BreAnna Clark, 17, the cruise has been a tradition since before they can remember. Clark has been coming with her family since she was five. Inman's family has brought him since he was born. I love walking around and seeing all the cars, Inman said. He looks for the General Lee-style Dodge Charger each year and saw it again this year. Clark said her favorite part is the cars also. That is, until she was cut short by her mother, Leanne. Be honest, you come for the mini donuts and the smoothies, Leanne said. Yeah, I get the donuts and the smoothies every year, BreAnna agreed with a smile. The cruise was sponsored by 105.7 KOKZ, Waterloo Warehousing & Service Co., Upper Iowa University Waterloo campus, Budweiser and Arnold Motor Supply. Jeff Taddeo, general manager of KOKZ, said the turnout was consistent with recent years. He attributes its continued success to the cruise committee and the Waterloo Police Department. Either KOKZ or a sister station has sponsored the event for the past 35 years. Its a real feel-good event for the city of Waterloo, Taddeo said. Thanks to all involved, its been a really fun, safe event over the years. WATERLOO How to address root causes that led to the Black Lives Matter movement was the first question posed to U.S. Senate Democratic candidates Saturday in Waterloo, setting the tone for the debate. Three of four candidates vying in the Democratic primary June 7 to take on Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, addressed the concerns of the African-American community. Black lives matter. Period, said Rob Hogg, a state senator from Cedar Rapids. My fundamental belief is that America is a better and stronger country because of our racial and our religious diversity. Hogg, bankruptcy attorney Tom Fiegen and veterans advocate Bob Krause met for 90 minutes at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, the fourth contender, had a previous commitment in Des Moines. Hogg pointed to work done at the state level to address minority issues, including support for criminal justice reform and so-called ban-the-box legislation to remove questions about a persons criminal history from an initial job application. Both Hogg and Fiegen pointed to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as divisive figure and a reason Democrats must win the general election. People start to think of us versus them, and were seeing some political discourse from people running, particularly from Donald Trump, on us versus them, Fiegen said. I think weve got to talk about this as all of us, as a part of one community. Fiegen also suggested more police training and reduced reliance on military equipment. Krause said his efforts as a Waterloo School Board member to increase representation of east-side residents show his support for giving African-Americans a voice in government. The candidates mostly stuck to answering the questions posed by moderator Michael Blackwell. But they didnt shy from criticism of the incumbent Grassley. Hogg reminded the two dozen people in the audience that while Grassley has worked on a weak criminal justice reform bill this year, there has been little progress. Youve been in Congress for 42 years and are unable to get something passed. It calls into question, to me, can you still get the job done anymore? Hogg said. Both Krause and Fiegen support reducing marijuana penalties. Fiegen and Hogg both want substance abuse treated as a public health issue rather than a criminal matter. On campaign finance reform, both Fiegen and Krause noted they dont take money from political action committees. Krause and Hogg drew a link between campaign finance reform and the current fight to replace former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. (Grassley) is the fellow that wants to stop the repeal of Citizens United by the Supreme Court by stopping the nomination of Judge (Merrick) Garland. He wants to retain that control, Krause said. Hogg said he received a PAC donation from the states largest public sector union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and was glad to get it. But Hogg supports overturning the Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United that opened the doors to increased campaign spending. The Democratic candidates are expected to meet for one more debate on June 1. The primary election is June 7, and early voting is already underway. WATERLOO The Rev. Frantz Whitfields Mount Carmel Baptist Church is no stranger to opening its doors to political candidates from those vying to be mayor to those aiming for the presidency. But in the case of the U.S. Senate Democratic primary candidates, he did not want to wait for them to ask for an invitation to the east side church. Instead, he invited them to participate in a debate about the issues important in this community, particularly among its African-American members. We want these candidates to come to us to let them know what we need, instead of just assuming what we need. And we want our voices to be heard, Whitfield said. Three of the four accepted. The U.S. Senate Democratic primary debate will be held at noon Saturday at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, 805 Adams St., in Waterloo. The event is free and open to the public. Democrats Tom Fiegen, a former lawmaker of Clarence; Rob Hogg, a state senator of Cedar Rapids; and Bob Krause, a former lawmaker of Fairfield; will participate. Former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge has another event planned Saturday in Des Moines. Whitfield said the primary purpose of holding the debate in Waterloo was initially for outreach into the African-American community, but as it developed, its focus expanded to those issues that are getting attention at the national level but not so far in the state. I feel like Im a voice Im not the only voice but I feel like Im a voice in the community that can help draw this gap together with the people of the community and our politicians, because we have to hold them accountable, Whitfield said. The topics include the role of political action committees and unlimited spending in politics, in particular. The debate also will include questions on income inequality, prison culture, jobs, minimum wage and the legacy of incumbent U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, whom the four candidates hope to go up against in the general election. Whitfield expressed disappointment Judge wont be able to participate and didnt respond to requests to join the debate, noting she had visited the church before during a bid for re-election as lieutenant governor. But Whitfield, an active Democrat, makes clear he is ready for new and fresh ideas in the U.S. Senate. Chuck Grassley became senator the same year that I was born thats about 34 years ago and its not just time for a fresh face, but its time for fresh ideas, Whitfield said. The primary election will be held June 7. WATERLOO The last day to preregister at the Election Office for the June 7 primary election is before 5 p.m. Friday. Any new or moved voter who registers before the deadline will not be required to show proof of residence and identity at the polls. Following the deadline and on Election Day, new and moved voters will be processed using the requirements of Election Day registration and must provide proof of residence and identity. Voter registration forms may be found at www.sos.state.ia.us or www.co.black-hawk.ia.us. Regular Election Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (The office will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.) Election Day registration: A person who is eligible to register to vote may do so on Election Day at the polling place for the precinct in which the person lives. The person must complete a voter registration form, sign an oath and provide acceptable proof of both identity and residence, such as an Iowa drivers license that is not expired and shows the persons address on Election Day. Other acceptable forms of identity may be found at www.sos.state.ia.us or www.co.black-hawk.ia.us. You need to be registered with the party whose primary you are voting in, but you have the opportunity to register with that party at the polls on Election Day. Party designations currently allowed in Iowa are Democratic, Republican, Iowa Green, Libertarian and No Party, but only Republicans and Democrats hold primaries in the state. For questions, contact the Election Office at 833-3007 or election@co.black-hawk.ia.us. The Election Office is Room 210 of the Black Hawk County Courthouse, 316 E. Fifth St, Waterloo, 50703. FAIRBANK About 200 elementary schoolchildren lined the street outside of Parkview Assisted Living Center on Friday, belting out a verse of Happy Birthday. The spectacle was for lifelong Fairbank resident, Verlie Squirrelly Verlie Trower, who turned 100 Saturday. The scene was a surprise for Trower; she was simply told the previous day to be ready bright and early. I thought, Thats for me? Trower said after she witnessed the emotional gesture. Following the rendition of Happy Birthday, the children of Wapsie Valley Elementary launched into one of Trowers favorites: (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? It was then Trower displayed her characteristic humor, which niece Barb Guetzmacher explained is part of what gives Trower her nickname. Guetzmacher described Trowers humor as boisterous and said it tends toward noisemaking, all in good fun. For the song, Trower assumed the role of the dog in the window and barked back while the children sang amidst laughter. I never heard of a 100-year-old dog before! Gruetzmacher joked. The Squirrelly nickname also comes from Trowers hobby of collecting squirrels. For her 80th birthday, we had to drive (some three hours) to Winterset to pick up a stuffed squirrel, Gruetzmacher remembered. In addition to the surprise singing, a bright red banner was raised over Main Street bearing the message, Hurray! Verlie Trowers 100 today! Trower was born just a couple blocks away from the assisted living facility. Although shes traveled frequently in her life, mostly after the death of her husband in 1979, she says Fairbank will always be home. Having been to twelve foreign countries and 37 states, nothing compares to the town of 1,100, she said. Its great to be alive and get to see all the things we see in the world, Trower said, addressing the children via microphone. But we do have to keep working to make it a better place. Advertisement By The Associated Press May. 27, 2016 | FRANKFORT, KY By The Associated Press May. 27, 2016 | 12:52 PM | FRANKFORT, KY Elvis Presley has one. So does Bill Clinton. But Kentucky's Republican governor wants to review what it takes to be commissioned as a "Kentucky Colonel.'' A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Matt Bevin says he has temporarily stopped issuing Kentucky Colonel commissions pending a review of the requirements necessary to receive the honorary title. The title of Kentucky Colonel dates back to the early 19th century, when Kentucky had a volunteer militia. Today, the title is a ceremonial one that governors often bestow to honor a person's good deeds or service. At least 85,000 people have received the title, according to the nonprofit group The Honorable Order of the Kentucky Colonels. Bevin spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said Bevin wants to review the requirements for receiving the title to make sure it remains significant. past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first. Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well. What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that. The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players. How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long! Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up. Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home. Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves. Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino. Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information. Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead. With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks Betway: Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway. Coral Casino: Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account. Ladbrokes Casino: Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits. Paddy Power Casino: Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits. William Hill Casino: William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival. Bonus: 100% Match Bonus up to 100 Register Now Betway: 100% Match Bonus up to 100 Claim Now Coral Casino: 25% Cash Back on Deposits Claim Now Ladbrokes Casino: 35% Cash Back on First 3 Deposits Claim Now Paddy Power Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200 Claim Now William Hill Casino: 100% Match Bonus up to 200 Claim Now If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit. May 28, 2016 | By Faith Traditional means of making often fall out of relevance for a number of reasons. Whether through loss of skillset, or simply through loss of necessity, techniques for production and processes change and the ancient practice of ship model construction is a fantastic example of such development. From the burial offering purposes of Ancient Greek models, right through to the creation of model fleets for prosperous ship owners across a number of industries and decades, model making has long been a revered craft. Such remains true even today although methods have changed significantly. The Seven Provinces galleon is a stunning 17th century warship anchored in the Rotterdam harbour. Significant in size and stature, and loaded in historical and aesthetic detail, the suggestion of a scaled-down version of the vessel would probably intimidate even the most experienced model-maker. However, through the use of 3D printing technology, such a feat has been achieved by Rotterdam-based design studio, & designshop and with fantastic results. In only seven months the & designshop duo (Elwin and Nynke van der Hoek) collaborated with a number of talented specialists to create the ship model, which was commissioned and now proudly sits in the lobby of a smart London office. In order to move forward with the project, the design studio needed a digital model of the boat: a model which would be extremely complicated. Luckily, the assistant director of Dutch film Michiel de Ruyter was on hand to support with detailed information about life of the legendary captain of the Seven Provinces ship. From this provided history, and from files retrieved from the studio who did the digital effects for the movie (Belgian company Grid VFX), & designshop were able to construct accurate 3D files of the ship itself. They also relied on the expertise of several other partners. Ab Hoving, a former conservator-restorer from the Rijsmuseum in Amsterdam, designed the main lines of the ship, while Herbert Tomesen of Artitec High End Scale Models was responsible for all other details. The late Cor Emke transferred much of their designs to Autocad. Incidentally, the designers also added a few non-historical details to the model. The steering wheel, for instance, had not been invented in 1666, but just looks fantastic. All photography by Femke Poort Through Materialises incredible Mammoth Stereolithography 3D printing technique, a 1.5 metre long hull of the Seven Provinces ship could be created along with all of its additional detailed parts. Finally a traditionally-skilled model maker united all of the 3D printed parts into the model build, and in addition created a series of handmade details (nylon rigging and rope, for example) with which to complete the scale model of the vessel. Whilst its true that 3D printing as a process still cannot produce a final, finished, total product, the benefits of this contemporary and collaborative method of making certainly signify a major change in the way that we create. Hand-crafted details remain essential to such a piece but its the efficiency with which additive manufacture can turn a brief into a realised project (in the case of the Seven Provinces ship within just seven months) that truly highlights the incredible power of this new process. And who knows: maybe 3D printers will be able to build a full-scale galleon in a few years time, rather than just the model. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: niemand wrote at 11/15/2018 6:44:54 PM:Het stuurwiel we rond 1700 geintroduceerd. Toen was de 7 Provincien al gesloopt. Slordig hoor May 28, 2016 | By Benedict A team of students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has used 3D printing to create blades for a wind turbine which could be used to power cell towers in rural India. The team is building the turbine for a national competition run by the American Wind Energy Association. Image: ConnectOregonWi What is the best way to provide affordable electricity in off-the-grid areas? The answer, it seems, is blowing in the wind. Thats the opinion of the American Wind Energy Association, anyhow, which has challenged teams of undergraduate students from 12 U.S. schools to come up with new ways of solving remote power needs. Students competing in the U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition have been encouraged to develop a cutting-edge wind-harnessing energy technology which can be put to use in rural or disconnected areas. One of those student teams, the University of Wisconsin-Madisons delightfully named WiscWind, has designed a wind turbine which doesnt require its own costly wind tower. According to the students, this aim can be achieved by installing the system on an existing tower, such as a cellphone mast, which can then use the generated energy to power itself. WiscWind, recognizing the growing interest in solar power in the U.S., has instead focused its project abroad: on rural areas of India, to be precise. Cell towers in rural India can be powered by the grid, but since power outages are so frequent in certain areas of the country, energy-guzzling and environmentally unfriendly diesel generators are often required to supply reserve power. "If you can replace the diesel generators with renewable energy, that's a big cost savings to the customer," Scott Williams, WiscWind leader and research & education coordinator at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Once it had decided on its goals, the WiscWind team set about designing an efficient turbine for use on Indian cell towers. To create the blades for this turbine, the team decided to use 3D printinginitially with a Flashforge 3D printer at the 3D printing area of Sector67, a workspace/hackerspace/makerspace in Madison, Wisconsin. These early turbine blades were 3D printed in small sections, before being used as a mold template for a set of experimental composite blades. Shortly after 3D printing at Sector67, the team enlisted the help of Midwest Prototyping, a professional 3D printing service provider, which donated a set of full-scale 3D printed nylon blades to the team, printed with an SLS 3D printer. After testing and refining these blades, the team later returned to Midwest Prototyping, who created the final set of blades for the competition. Image: Journal Sentinel The WiscWind turbine design is unconventional, as it uses a vertical axis with helical (spiral) blades. It has fewer moving parts than most wind turbines, and thus requires less maintenance. Choosing a vertical axis was definitely giving us a challenge right off the bat, but it also shows our confidence in our team, Alex LeBrun, a member of WiscWind, told Connect Oregon Wi. The U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition is taking place this week, May 23-26, in New Orleans. WiscWind knows that competition will be fierce, but its 3D printed system has already stormed to victory in another innovation contest: the team was recently awarded the Peoples Choice and Best Prototype awards at UW-Madisons Qualcomm Innovation Competition. The winning design for the Collegiate Wind Competition will be put on display in the Department of Energys headquarters in Washington, D.C. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Dwight Garner at The New York Times: In Dankos Burning Heart, a short story by Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), a group of people are lost in a forest at night. Danko wants to lead them to safety. His heart burns with such desire that it catches fire. He rips it from his chest and uses it to light the way. Theres a bit of Danko, an element of self-sacrifice, in the lives and work of Russias best journalists. Im thinking of Anna Politkovskaya, who was assassinated on Vladimir V. Putins birthday in 2006. Im thinking too of Svetlana Alexievich, born in Ukraine, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature. Ms. Alexievich is an investigative journalist who compiles, in Studs Terkel-like fashion, dense volumes of oral history about postwar Russia. Her books bring her trouble. Zinky Boys (1992), for example, about Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan, led her to be put on trial for defaming the Soviet Army. (She was acquitted.) When she won the Nobel, Ms. Alexievich was little known in the West. Her major books are slowly making their way into English. Here now is her newest, Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets, a sprawling examination of life in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of a feral brand of capitalism. more here. David Rennie in 1843Magazine: It started with this book. I read this book, and I wrote to the author, and he said come and meet me, says Eva Longoria, recalling her political awakening. The book is Occupied America by Rodolfo Acuna, a firebrand professor of Chicano studies, (as some call Mexican-American studies, notably since 1960s and among the West Coast left). His book is a densely argued blast written to awaken his students to centuries of colonial oppression and white racism. Longoria met Acuna, and he suggested that she should take his introductory course. I was so unfamiliar with the word Chicano. Growing up in Texas where Tejano was the term. And also Chicano was a very politicised term. She took Chicano 101 and only became more curious. So then the next semester he said, you should take a Chicano feminism class, so I took Chicano feminism, and Chicano art. At the time, Longoria was filming Desperate Housewives, then the biggest TV show in the world. From the set of Desperate Housewives I would drive an hour to the school, take a class from seven to ten at night, then be on set at six in the morning. I would be doing my homework behind the sets. Even in todays Hollywood, where liberal politics is de rigueur and activism fashionable, Eva Longoria is unusual. She has campaigned for Democratic presidential contenders since 2004. In 2012 she was a co-chair of President Barack Obamas re-election campaign, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, and, at the height of the campaign in Florida, she addressed seven cities in one day. Political types, Longoria says wryly, call every election the most important of their lifetimes. But in 2016 she is sure that the stakes are unusually high. This time one of the Republican front-runners, Donald Trump, says he would build a wall on the Mexican border and make Mexico pay for it and claims fantastically that his government would deport the estimated 11m immigrants in America without legal papers. His chief Republican rival, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, whose own father arrived as a penniless student from Cuba, has promised to rescind the executive orders with which Obama has shielded millions of migrants from deportation, notably those brought to America as children and educated in the country. But the election will also be a test of confident predictions that Hispanics will soon be a demographic block capable of deciding who occupies the White House. The Pew Research Centre, a non-partisan think-tank, predicts that a record 27.3m Hispanics will be eligible to vote in the elections of 2016 with enough of them concentrated in a series of battleground states to swing the election results in places such as Nevada, Colorado and Florida. Yet Hispanics have, so far, failed to realise their potential power. Turnout among Latinos is woeful. Longoria hopes to change that. More here. Monday night fire destroys garage, damages home, vehicle Nobody was injured, but a Monday night fire destroyed a garage and damaged a home in southeastern Aberdeen. Thursday, Jan. 28, was a cold morning in Durham, N.C. Wildin David Guillen Acosta went outside to head to school, but never made it. He was thrown to the ground and arrested by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He has been in detention ever since. Wildin, now 19 years old, fled his home in Olancho, Honduras, more than two years ago. He was detained when crossing the border, but, as he was a minor at the time, he was allowed to join his family in North Carolina. He started out at Riverside High School and was set to graduate this June. He wanted to become an engineer. Instead, he has been locked up in the notorious Stewart Detention Center in rural Lumpkin, Ga., which is run by the for-profit Corrections Corporation of America. Wildin is just one of hundreds of thousands of children who have fled the violence of Central America in recent years, either alone or, often, with their mothers. They come primarily from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Honduras is now one of the worlds most violent countries, and Olancho has one of the highest murder rates there, causing many to flee. The U.S. Army and the Drug Enforcement Administration both have special-forces units permanently stationed there, joining in counternarcotics operations that have also killed Hondurans. Wildin was arrested in part of a series of immigration raids, dubbed Operation Border Guardian. Many believe its intent was to create fear among those in Central America who might consider taking the perilous journey north to the U.S. As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said at the time. If you come here illegally, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values. Immediately after Wildins arrest, family, friends, classmates and teachers at Riverside High demonstrated their values, rallying to support him and five others who were similarly arrested. The group of imprisoned youths is often referred to as the NC6. There is so much fear in our community, because, unfortunately, he is not the only child that they have detained, said one of Wildins teachers, Ellen Holmes, in a support video. Its creating absences and dropouts in our schools. Its creating just a huge feeling of fear inside our school and in our community. While there is scant evidence that the mass arrests and deportations have slowed the flow of Central American refugees to the U.S., they have certainly scared students and families currently here, forcing them to keep their kids out of school lest they be swept up like Wildin. Wildins request for asylum was denied, and on March 19, an immigration judge denied his appeal to reopen his case. He was set for deportation back to Honduras on March 20. However, bowing to enormous public pressure, ICE Director Sarah Saldana issued an order delaying his deportation. Wildins case for asylum is before the Board of Immigration Appeals, a process that could take months or even years to resolve. He should be released. Ninety days, by any standard, is an egregious period of time to be spending in detention, Paromita Shah told us on the Democracy Now! news hour. She is the associate director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and was in Washington, D.C., with several Riverside High students and Holmes, the teacher, visiting members of Congress and Education Secretary John B. King Jr., asking them to support Wildin. Axel Herrera was one of the students who went to Washington. Like Wildin, he was an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, but entered at the age of 7, and thus qualified for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Weve talked to representatives. Weve made calls. Weve sent letters. Weve gotten support from a few of our congressmen in North Carolina to ask for their release, he told us. But we havent had the response weve wanted, which is to have Wildin and have some of the other NC6 back at our schools. Wildin Acosta remains locked up in ICEs private prison in Georgia. His request that his schoolwork be sent to him was initially denied. After public outcry, the warden relented. Many high-school students get detention for refusing to study. Wildin is stuck in permanent detention, and he has to fight for his right to study. That is determination and commitment Jeh Johnson and everyone at ICE should agree is consistent with our values. The number of heroin and painkiller overdose deaths in New Mexico is so high, law enforcement officials call it an epidemic. This epidemic does not discriminate, said U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez. It affects infants born addicted to opioids, high school athletes who become addicted to opioid painkillers and later die from heroin overdoses, grandparents who end up addicted to painkillers following medical procedures and families who are devastated by their loved ones addiction and overdose deaths. In response to what many see as a crisis, the Journal and KANW radio are sponsoring a forum on June 15 that will air live on KANW, beginning at 7 p.m. The forum will feature Martinez, UNM Health Sciences Center Chancellor Dr. Paul B. Roth. Other experts will be in the audience to address the issues and answer questions submitted by the public about the long-standing problem. About 90 percent of the 540 drug overdose deaths in New Mexico during 2014 involved heroin or prescription painkillers, making it Number 2 in the nation for overdose deaths per capita. And Martinez said that number is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to New Mexicos heroin and painkiller addiction problem. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are 825 non-medical users of opioid drugs or heroin for every overdose death, Martinez said. The Journal, KANW, Martinez and Roth have invited more than 20 experts who will gather in the Journal auditorium to answer a wide range of questions the community may have about the problem. When it comes to opioid abuse in New Mexico, the challenge is daunting we have the second highest overdose rate in the U.S., Roth said. We cannot incarcerate our way out of this problem. Its going to take a team effort that includes education, treatment and law enforcement. That is why we have partnered with the U.S. Attorneys Office on the HOPE Initiative. Last year, Martinez and Roth formed the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative, which aims to reduce the number of opioid-related deaths in the state through education, prevention and law enforcement. Many of the organizations providing expertise for the forum are members of the HOPE Initiative. Opioid addiction forum When: June 15 Time: 7 to 9 p.m. What: Live program on KANW, 89.1. Details: Experts from health care, law enforcement and nonprofits will answer questions submitted earlier by the public. June 157 to 9 p.m.Live program on KANW, 89.1.Experts from health care, law enforcement and nonprofits will answer questions submitted earlier by the public. To send questions Concerned community members can submit questions to newsroom@abqjournal.com or through KANW.com or the HOPE Initiative website at HopeInitiativeNM.org. The public can submit questions for the forum by email to newsroom@abqjournal.com. The deadline for submitting them is June 5. The Journal will sort the questions and distribute them to the experts who will research, then answer the questions during the live broadcast, which will air from 7 to 9 p.m. Journal editor Kent Walz and investigative reporter Mike Gallagher will serve as moderators. This is a subject we have covered extensively, but this will provide an unprecedented opportunity to explore the problem and solutions, Walz said. Martinez said the purpose of the forum is to educate New Mexicans about the dangers of opioids and help prevent them from succumbing to the epidemic. Experts can answer questions ranging from how to find help for a loved one to the impact on crime in New Mexico, and what law enforcement is doing about it. The forums experts will come from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the UNM School of Pharmacy, Generation RX, the New Mexico Poison Center, Bernalillo Countys MATS program, Albuquerque Public School counselors, UNM School of Medicine Milagro Program, Greater Albuquerque Medical Association (GAMA), Healing Addiction In Our Community and others. KANW, 89.1 FM, is a non-profit, non-commercial public radio station owned and operated by Albuquerque Public Schools. This is an opportunity to get the best available information out to the community, KANW General Manager Michael Brasher said. More than average precipitation across New Mexico in April brought relief to a state parched by the dry-as-dirt first three months of the year and helped beat back drought conditions to a small degree. A state drought map released Thursday by the New Mexico Drought Monitoring Workgroup shows that 37 percent of the state is in moderate drought. In early April, 43 percent of the state was in moderate drought. The big difference is March, which tied March 1956 as the driest March in New Mexico since 1895, and April, when statewide precipitation was 129 percent of normal. April was better than we thought it would be, Chuck Jones, a meteorologist with the Albuquerque office of the National Weather Service, said during this weeks Drought Monitoring Workgroup session. The group is made up of representatives of the weather service and state and federal agencies. We were a quarter of an inch above normal (statewide) in April after a below-normal January and February, and a pathetically below-normal March, Jones said. New Mexicos average statewide precipitation in March is 0.72 inch. But this March, only 0.06 inch of precipitation were recorded statewide. By comparison, average statewide precipitation in April is 0.75 inch, but last month, New Mexico sopped up an average of 0.97 inch. Average statewide precipitation in May is 1.05 inches, and this month, totals have been running near or slightly higher than average. But that doesnt mean every section of the state is getting its share. Far southwestern New Mexico, where moderate drought conditions are focused, has been dry. May rain and mountain snow have favored northern and central New Mexico, although a round of precipitation May 17-19, while all but missing the Albuquerque area, did move farther south. Some of that southerly precipitation proved to be somewhat more aggressive than desired. During the work group session, Ryan Ward of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said hail roughed up crops chile, apples, cotton, pecans, onions in the south. Dona Ana County got hit pretty hard, Ward said. Susan Rich of the state Department of Forestry said this year has been a more active year for wildfires than last year. Last year, one of the wettest in New Mexico history, boosted the growth of fine fuels, primarily grasses, that feed fires. Add to that dry, windy conditions that have characterized much of this years weather, and youve got a recipe for trouble. There have been no severe wildfires in the state this year, but Rich said that since January, there have been 205 wildfires affecting 52,137 acres of state and private lands. During the same period last year, Rich said, there were 137 fires affecting 8,492 acres of state and private lands. Where is the weather headed from here? Jones said thats difficult to say because forecasts for precipitation over the next three months are inconclusive. The outlook is for pretty much equal chances of above-normal, normal or below-normal precipitation, he said. He did say El Nino, the moisture-laden weather pattern caused by abnormally warm sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, has pretty much worn itself out. It was El Nino that made 2015 New Mexicos fifth-wettest year in 120 years. El Nino looked great at the end of 2015, but not so much at the start of 2016, Jones said. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will come to the living rooms of thousands of New Mexicans over the next week and a half, via TV campaign ads on several local network stations. The two candidates are dueling for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, and New Mexico, with a June 7 primary, is among the last states holding caucuses or primary elections. With the homestretch approaching, both candidates are spending big to hit the New Mexico airwaves. The Sanders campaign has shelled out more than $42,200 for dozens of spots on Albuquerque-area TV stations, all major networks, according to required online station filings. Meanwhile, Clintons campaign has paid at least $18,600 to air TV ads of its own. Both candidates intend to run their campaign spots through June 7, the filings show. Hillary Clinton will run two ads in New Mexico one in English and one in Spanish that will air in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe media market and focus on creating economic opportunity. Those ads start running today. The Sanders ad, titled Works for Us All, focuses on the candidates plan to increase wages and ensure equal pay for women. Its also running in both English and Spanish. Republican Donald Trump, who appeared to sew up his partys nomination earlier this week, has not launched campaign ads in New Mexico. But Trump held his first campaign event in the state this week, a Tuesday rally in Downtown Albuquerque that drew a crowd of 8,000 people and attracted roughly 1,000 protesters. Sanders also stopped in New Mexico recently, holding rallies in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Vado, near Las Cruces. Clinton, who has a lead on Sanders in terms of pledged delegates, has not held a campaign event in the state, though she traveled here last year for a private fundraiser. In addition, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, stumped for her this week in Espanola and Albuquerque. Dan Boyd: dboyd@abqjournal.com. President Barack Obamas unprecedented visit to Hiroshima evokes varying emotions among American veterans who served in World War II a war many say would have been far worse had President Harry Truman decided against using the bomb developed by scientists in Los Alamos and tested at White Sands Missile Range to force Japans surrender. Obama, the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima since the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing, visited that citys Peace Memorial Park on Friday to pay respects to the estimated 140,000 killed by the bomb and to reiterate his hopes of one day ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Obama placed a wreath at the park museums concrete monument that pays tribute to the dead. Three days after the Hiroshima bombing, a second atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki, killing more than 70,000. A week later, the Japanese emperor announced his nations surrender, ending the war. World War II Army veteran Jim Wilson, 94, of Albuquerque, said Friday that it was unfortunate the president chose a date so close to Memorial Day to travel to Japan, saying it shows Obama is more interested in building his legacy than in honoring the more than 400,000 American servicemen who died in the war. Doing it so close to Memorial Day just shows he doesnt care too much about American troops, Wilson said. Invasion avoided In 1945, Wilson was in the Philippines. He and his unit, B Company, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11th Airborne Division, had been preparing for the invasion of the Japanese mainland when they heard of the Japanese surrender in a war that began after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A few days later, the 11th Airborne Division was sent to Yokohamas naval yards to begin the occupation. While we were waiting to go in, we saw some of the defenses they had put in, Wilson said. They had tunnels dug into solid rock. They had a narrow-gauge railroad running a half-mile inside the tunnels, and enough food and water stored in there to last a very long time. They even had their anti-aircraft artillery mounted on railcars, he said. That level of preparedness convinced Wilson that Truman had made the right call. I was there. I saw firsthand what kind of fortifications the Japanese had, Wilson said. We would probably still be there fighting if we hadnt dropped the bomb. I dont regret that decision for one minute. He said hes pleased the president didnt apologize for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because Theres nothing to apologize for. World War II Navy veteran Paul Vigil, 93, of Albuquerque, was aboard the Clemson-class destroyer USS McFarland conducting anti-submarine maneuvers off Maui when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He witnessed the carnage of the attack when the McFarland steamed back to Pearl Harbor. Vigil said he doesnt have an opinion about Obamas visit to Hiroshima. I dont judge Obamas decision to visit to Japan, he said Friday, but said hes certain the decision to unleash the atomic bombs on Japan was the correct one. It had to be done; otherwise, that war would have gone on and on. Vigil said. Those bombs, they stopped the war. Republicans David Heil and Issach Martinez are vying for the District 4 seat on the county commission. The Democratic candidate, Alexis Jimenez, is unopposed in the primary. In District 5, Anna Messer and F. Kenneth Eichwald seek the Democratic nomination. There is no Republican candidate. Eichwald did not return the questionnaire. In District 2, incumbent Nora Scherzinger, a Democrat, and Republican Jay Block have no primary opposition. David Heil Age (on date of election): 75 Party affiliation: Republican Residence: Rio Rancho Education: BSBA, John Carroll University (Ohio), transportation major; postgraduate work in computer systems. Occupation: Presently an active volunteer: president of Rio Rancho Kiwanis; coordinator of Sunday is Funday; co-founder of Buy Rio Rancho. Retired, management, logistics and sales for major corporations, and Hispanic and woman-owned small business. Family: Married to my best friend Miriam for over 40 years; unconditionally loved by three dogs and tolerated by one parrot. Political/government experience: This is my first run for elected office. Currently chairman of Rio Rancho Planning & Zoning Board. Previously member of Sandoval County P&Z board. Chairman of 2011 and 2015 City of Rio Rancho charter review committees. Major professional accomplishment: I have been very fortunate to have achieved success in a variety of professional endeavors and been flexible to respond to a variety of career challenges. In my professional career, I transitioned from a successful logistics management role to sales management, and then achieved success and recognition in the new role. Major personal accomplishment: As part of a career transition, learning the importance of listening to others and building relationships. Ive learned you can accomplish almost anything when youre in rapport with others. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. No. Issach Martinez Age (on date of election): 20 Party affiliation: Republican Residence: Rio Rancho Education: Cleveland High School graduate; currently in college working on obtaining my B.A. in political science. Occupation: Full-time student/part-time customer service associate and bridal consultant at Bed Bath and Beyond in Rio Rancho. Family: I am the eldest boy and child out of 5 (three girls and two boys). My parents are Gerald and Melanie Martinez. Political/government experience: I served as the student body president and chairman of my schools executive committee. Major professional accomplishment: One of my biggest professional accomplishments was being elected student body president and chairman of my high schools executive committee. Major personal accomplishment: One of my biggest personal accomplishments is being awarded the Prudential Spirit of Community service award for my service to my community. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding: No, I have not been involved in a bankruptcy proceeding. Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. No, I have not been arrested or charged with any crime. Anna Messer Age (on date of election): 60 Party affiliation: Democratic Residence: Cuba, N.M. Education: Certified paralegal. Occupation: Office manager for Honstein Oil. Family: A daughter Jamie Lee, grandson Nicholas and granddaughter Amber. Political/government experience: Appointed municipal judge for one term; national certified housing manager, five years; elected city council member for 12 years, experienced with budgets, financial reports, policy, state statutes, personnel and working with the public; sat on the board of Navajo Nation Bordering Communities concerning drugs and alcohol; certificate of professional development in government finance. Major professional accomplishment: A couple of years ago, I went to UNM and became certified as a paralegal. We were addressed with issues that challenged the Fifth Amendment. I interned with a law firm and assisted in the work for the Secretary of State Rebecca Girons case. Many hours of research, this case fell under federal and state laws. Very challenging and, with everyones hard work, she finally won the case. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. No. Questions to Sandoval County Commission candidates. What do you consider to be the top three challenges facing your district and how would you address them? HEIL: Economic development, opportunities for economically challenged families and protection of private property rights. The potential for new business growth in District 4 can provide job opportunities to improve personal family economies and fund our quality-of-life programs. Increased revenues will allow for more services for seniors or others unable to work. Infrastructure development zones are one tool that might be used to develop lands under diverse ownership and protect property rights. MARTINEZ: Three of the biggest issues are: infrastructure repair, economic development and keeping fracking or other harmful natural resource extraction away from developed communities. Anyone who has driven on Rio Rancho roads will notice how bad a state they are in. I will make it my goal to divert funds to the city of Rio Rancho solely to repair the infrastructure. There is plenty of land zoned for commercial use. I will make it my duty to help make the county more attractive to businesses. I will do everything in my power to draft and pass legislation making illegal extraction of natural resources that is harmful to our community. MESSER: The first challenge in most areas is the roads. The second challenge would be to have rural addressing complete. There is an area here you have to drive six miles to report an emergency. We need to get complete coverage, especially for emergencies, and more police coverage. The third challenge is this districts boundaries are over 100 miles from one end to the other. We are rural. If we could get caught up with the basic needs of roads, water and electricity, we would grow economically. What qualities or experiences make you a better candidate to represent the district than your opponent? HEIL: By combining experience and relationships, I can better serve our community. Ive been directly involved in economic development as a P&Z board member and the founding of the Buy Rio Rancho campaign. As coordinator of Sunday is Funday, and services to those in need through Kiwanis, Sandoval County Juvenile Justice Board and St. Vincent de Paul, Ive built many new relationships. MARTINEZ: As a lifelong resident of Rio Rancho and Sandoval County, and a member of the younger generation, I believe that I have this communitys best interests at heart. I am not a member of the establishment, and I can offer a new, young and fresh perspective to the county. I represent the younger generation and I believe that it is time for that generation to take a more involved role in the way that things are run. MESSER: Im from here, I live here. My past experiences will show my strengths in working with people. No hidden agenda here. Im a hard worker. What is your view of gas and oil drilling near urban areas of Sandoval County? Has the commission taken the proper steps to address drilling applications? HEIL: This issue is again being reviewed by the county P&Z board in conjunction with industry and technical experts, and appears to be moving at a pace that will allow a realistic resolution. Our water source needs to be a priority. We also need to recognize the fact that the oil and gas industry is one of the largest funding sources for our state. MARTINEZ: I believe that the gas and oil drilling in Sandoval County is good. I believe that it brings jobs and economic development into the county, which is always good. But, when said actions become harmful or threaten to harm the community, I believe that stronger restrictions should be imposed. I believe that the current commission has made a good foundation, but I believe more can be done. MESSER: My view is what the people want. A resolution was sent to the communities last month asking to pass a moratorium on all new oil and gas drilling applications within the jurisdiction of the county for six months to adopt planning and zoning ordinances. The county was instrumental in creating the Sandoval Ec onomic Alliance and has contributed $200,000 annually toward its operation. How do you assess SEA s performance so far? HEIL: SEA focuses on attracting business and economic base jobs. Its report demonstrates some successes in growing jobs. Its efforts have spawned the Sandoval Country Healthcare Collaborative. SEA needs to continue to expand its face-to-face efforts and expertise to improve its effectiveness. Considerable prospecting for clean businesses must continue to find the occasional nugget. We must continue to monitor the results to ensure a positive return on investment. MARTINEZ: I think that the SEA has been doing a good job. However, I feel that more can be done by the organization. MESSER: Sandoval Economic Alliance is moving ahead. I support the alliance. What, if anything, could the county do to better economic development opportunities throughout the county? HEIL: Municipalities are primarily funded through GRT. The countys primary funding is property taxes. The county needs to increase the focus on experienced prospecting for retail and other GRT-generating businesses that would increase both municipal revenues and property taxes on new building. We need to create income by expanding the base as opposed to increasing our individual taxes. MARTINEZ: The county can both make more laws that attract economic growth and put pressure on the City of Rio Rancho to do the same. MESSER: The county, along with the country, has felt the crunch economically. Manufacturing and industry is down. We need to work closel y with our senators and representatives to help us promote economic development. For the past couple of years, the county commission has identified construction of Paseo del Volcan between Unser Boulevard and Interstate 40 as one of its capital outlay priorities during the state legislative session. What is your view of that project? HEIL: This project, which just a few years ago looked like a 20-year project, could be accomplished in less than 10 years. Having direct access from the economic center of the county to a major interstate will have a significant impact on potential economic growth. Direct access to I-40 could result in some relief to the congestion in Bernalillo. MARTINEZ: I do not wish to comment. MESSER: This would alleviate the backed-up congested traffic going to I-25 and save of time for the traveler going to I-40. I think its a good idea. Is Sandoval County making enough effort to reach out to municipalities and communities in the county to address their specific concerns and needs? HEIL: As a member of the Juvenile Justice Board, I know the county is working to help solve youth issues. Conversations with department heads indicate they are working with municipalities. Because of the countys size and concentration of critical mass in the southeast quadrant, we have significant logistical challenges. We need to expand our work with the communities to encourage people to enjoy the many natural amenities the county has to offer. MARTINEZ: I feel that Sandoval County is making good headway in reaching the municipalities and rural communities that are in the county. I, however, believe that more attention could be given to the more rural area s by providing more EMS personnel and making sure that there are adequate medical facilities that are easily reachable by all members of the county. MESSER: I believe so; we need to keep the communication factor going within the county to continue its progress. Donald Lemm and Pete Salazar are bidding for the Republican nomination. Democratic incumbent Eileen Garbagni has no primary opposition. Donald Lemm Age (on date of election): 76 Party affiliation: Republican Residence: Rio Rancho Education: MBA, New Mexico Highlands University. Occupation: Retired. Family: Wife, two kids, six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren. Political/government experience: Semi-active in Republican Party helping to elect other candidates. Major professional accomplishment: Over 25 years of records management. Owned a microfilm/scanning business. Microfilmed records for Sandoval County clerk and many other government agencies. Major personal accomplishment: 17 years in military uniform, retired from the New Mexico State Defense Force as colonel. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. No. Pete Salazar Age (on date of election): 65 Party affiliation: Republican Residence: Placitas Education: M.A., guidance and counseling, University of New Mexico; B.A., education, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas; associate degree, Indian Hills Community College, Centerville, Iowa; high school, Bernalillo High School. Occupation: Semi-retired. Family: Two daughters, three grandchildren. Political/government experience: Elected to two terms on Sandoval County Commission; served six years as board member for Bernalillo Public Schools. Major professional accomplishment: 25 years experience as president/CEO for SER de New Mexico, which provided over 160,000 meals annually to low-income New Mexico seniors; Senior Olympics board member for 17 years, promoting healthy lifestyles and friendly competition for seniors. Major personal accomplishment: Served as LULAC scholarships chairman for 22 years, which resulted in the award of over 1,700 academic scholarships for students to attend post-secondary education institutions. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No. Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. Yes, a DUI over 32 years ago. Questions to County Clerk Candidates: List your qualifications to be the county clerk in Sandoval County. LEMM: Twenty-five years in records management; owned business in microfilming and scanning documents. SALAZAR: Having been a former CEO of SER de New Mexico, the job entailed knowledge of how to manage, delegate and involve all employees. I would ensure that all staff is properly trained to maintain excellence in public relations. What would your top priority be if you are elected county clerk and how would you address it? LEMM: Improve records management and archiving of documents. Making sure all communities within Sandoval County have the correct number of polling places. Work with state to improve the voters roster for all parties. SALAZAR: I will improve the election process by training more staff and having technical support that will speed up the election process more efficiently, and bring transparency at all voting locations. How would you rate the management of the Bureau of Elections? LEMM: At this time, needs vast improvement. SALAZAR: I would improve the election operations and improve the requirement of verifying results, partnerships with the schools in educating younger members of society, maintain excellent services of public record-keeping for the people of Sandoval County. How would you ensure that communities throughout Sandoval County have an adequate number of voting locations on election days? LEMM: Monitor voter registration for each community to make sure they have the correct number of voting locations. SALAZAR: Canvass all registered voters in each precinct and determine the amount of possible voters and ensure an adequate amount of machines is made available for each precinct. What changes would you make, if any, to make records in the county clerks office easily accessible to the public? LEMM: To make sure the ease of access to records to the public is as easy as possible and provide any assistance the public may need. SALAZAR: I would utilize technology available to bring the current system into the 21st century using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and newspapers, radio and television to bring awareness to constituents. WASHINGTON Cable television producers daydreams of a Bernie Sanders-Donald Trump debate were dashed Friday afternoon when Trump finally pulled out of what he called an easy payday. For days, the two had publicly weighed such an unusual spectacle after Trump mentioned the possibility during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmels late-night show. Trump blamed his withdrawal on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and crooked Hillary Clinton and (Democratic National Committee chair) Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win. Trump added that it would be inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher. Sanders seemed more than willing, even as he would have infuriated many in the Democratic establishment. I hope that he changes his mind, Sanders said at a campaign stop near the Inglewood Oil Field. Mr. Trump is known to change his mind many times in a day. Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of? Why do you not want to see a debate here in California? Sanders said he has plenty of questions for Trump about his insults of Muslims, Mexicans and women. Trump had said he would debate Sanders if he could raise $10 million for charity, but it was never clear how serious he was about the whole thing. The debate would have added yet another unprecedented moment to the 2016 campaign: Sanders odds of winning the Democratic nomination are dubious at best. ANAHEIM, Calif. Hispanic voters in Florida, New Mexico and California have waved Mexican flags and bashed Donald Trump pinatas clashing with police at times to protest the Republican presidential contenders hard line approach to immigration. Yet, far from the protests, an increasingly vocal Hispanic minority is backing Trump, even in the face of resentment and suspicion from friends and family, who are among the overwhelming majority of non-white voters opposed to the New York businessmans candidacy. Im not ashamed to vote for Trump. Id just rather not have the conversation with my family, said Natalie Lally, a 22-year-old college student from New York City whose large extended family has Colombian roots. She says silence fell over her grandmothers living room when she admitted her support for Trump during a recent family gathering that included more than 30 relatives. They just kind of seemed uneasy, she recalled. And my uncle just said, Why?' In the border towns of Texas, the working-class neighborhoods of New York and even inside Trumps overwhelmingly white rallies, the pro-Trump Hispanic minority is willing to risk public and private ridicule to defend the GOPs presumptive presidential nominee. So far, however, theyre not getting much help from Trumps campaign, which has yet to launch an outreach effort to improve his standing with the growing voting bloc. Approximately 23 percent of Hispanics said theyd vote for Trump in a May poll conducted by Fox News Latino. Other recent polling places Trump far lower. The GOPs last presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, has cited his poor standing with Hispanic voters as one of his biggest regrets from the previous election. Trumps team acknowledges the importance of the voting bloc, but says there has been little organized outreach so far. Any demographic that is growing at the rate of the Latino voters obviously will be of the utmost importance to a presidential campaign, Trump aide Ed Brookover said when asked about Hispanic outreach. I know its been talked about, but I dont know of anything organized. Trumps team expects to work closely with the Republican National Committee, however, which has had paid Hispanic outreach staff on the ground in nine states. Trumps policies and tone on immigration have sparked passionate and sometimes violent reactions from minority voters. His vow to complete a massive wall along the Mexican border is a pillar of his agenda. He has also promised to impose a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S., embraced plans to deport more than 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, and described Mexico as sending rapists and criminals across the border. He lashed out at protesters who clashed with police outside his Tuesday rally in Albuquerque, N.M. The protesters, including many Hispanics, waved Mexican flags, while others hurled rocks at police. The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag, Trump wrote on Twitter. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals! During a Wednesday appearance in California, he said, The Mexican people are great. Theyre going to vote for me like crazy. Outside the Anaheim event, a small group of protesters decapitated a Trump pinata as police arrested more protesters. Recent conversations with Trump Hispanic supporters across the country show many feel especially frustrated with immigrants in the country illegally. Many waited years for work authorization or citizenship, or have relatives who did. ORLANDO, Fla. The deep unpopularity of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has led to an unprecedented level of excitement at the Libertarian Partys presidential nominating convention in Orlando this year. Libertarian officials said Friday as the four-day convention began that 985 delegates and 344 alternates were attending from all 50 states a record. Dues-paying members have increased by 30 percent since the beginning of the year, Libertarian officials said. Theres a lot more energy. Theres so much attention being given to the Libertarians, said former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who, with running mate William Weld, the former Massachusetts governor, are considered front-runners for the nomination. There are 18 declared Libertarian presidential candidates, including Johnson, who was the partys presidential nominee in 2012, and John McAfee, founder of the anti-computer virus company that bore his name. Johnson earned about 1 percent of the popular vote in 2012 for the political party that champions limited government and individual freedom. Austin Petersen, a presidential candidate from Missouri, said, The Libertarians have never seen so many good, quality candidates. Weve just never seen this much attention to our party, ever, before. Not running for office, but mingling with the Libertarians were Iron Man, Frozens Elsa, Mario Brothers characters, and other costumed fanboys and fangirls who were attending a comic book convention at the same resort and had to walk through the Libertarian exhibition hall. Also mixing with the Libertarians and the MegaCon fans were Florida judges, whose meetings at the resort brought a large presence of uniformed law enforcement officers. Johnson doesnt have the fundraising ability of Clinton or Trump and he said he is instead relying on news media appearances to boost his name recognition in an effort to reach the necessary 15 percent threshold to qualify for the presidential debates this fall. I dont think there is any question that we will be at 15 percent if we are in the polls, Johnson said Friday. Johnson hopes to appeal to supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, with whom he shares many positions on social issues, although not economic ones, he said Friday. Those same Bernie Sanders supporters are going to find themselves philosophically siding with me more than they do with Hillary Clinton, Johnson said. When it comes to Bernie, we agree on so much, but when it comes to economics, we get to a T in the road and he goes one way and I go the other. For more than a dozen children in a small, remote village in southwest China, the route home from school is long and extremely steep. Every two weeks, when the students, ages 6 to 15, return from boarding school, they climb a chain of 17 bamboo ladders secured to a sheer cliff face and leading 2,625 feet up, according to reports. Locals say the ladders which lead through treacherous terrain in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province have been there nearly as long as the village. We replace a ladder with a new one when we find one of them is rotten, Chen Jigu, who lives in the Atuler village, told China Daily. But government officials said villagers may soon have another way to get up and down: stairs. This would be a windfall for the 72 families who travel the same dangerous way to a nearby marketplace to sell potatoes, walnuts and chili peppers, according to The Associated Press. The most important issue at hand is to solve the transport issue, county Communist Party Secretary General Jikejingsong said in a news release, according to The Associated Press. That will allow us to make larger-scale plans about opening up the economy and looking for opportunities in tourism. According to The Associated Press: A team of 50 officials from the Zhaojue county governments transport, education and environmental protection departments traveled to the area on Wednesday to assess safer alternatives, the Global Times reported Friday. It said the county is considering building a road to the village, although the cost would be exorbitant for such a poor region. Families in the Atuler village are part of the Yi minority group, according to news reports. The state-run China Daily reported that most live in meager homes made of mud, thatch and wood. Indeed, many marginalized minority groups in China live much the same way, relying on rope bridges, canoes and ladders for travel, according to the AP. Villagers told China Daily that the trek takes about two hours going up and 90 minutes to get down. When a villager is too sick to climb down the mountain, China Daily reported, a person must tie him or her onto their back to get down the cliff with the help of two other villagers. Api Jiti, head of the small village, told Beijing News that, over the years, seven or eight people had fallen to their deaths and many more had been hurt during the dangerous journey, according to the Guardian. Photographer Chen Jie spent three days with the villagers documenting their treacherous travels. It is very dangerous, he told the Guardian. If you have any kind of accident, you will fall straight into the abyss. BEIRUT The U.S. military made a rare admission of wrongdoing Friday after Turkey complained about widely published photographs of U.S. commandos wearing Kurdish militia badges during an offensive targeting the Islamic State near the militants Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman, told a Pentagon briefing that it was unauthorized and inappropriate for the U.S. Special Operations forces to wear the badges bearing the logos of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and its female wing, the YPJ, as they accompanied a Kurdish-led force on a recent operation targeting the Islamic States self-proclaimed capital. His comments followed vociferous complaints from Turkey warning that the apparent demonstration of U.S. support for a group Turkey regards as a terrorist organization would jeopardize ties between Washington and Ankara. President Barack Obamas administration needs the cooperation of Turkey, a NATO ally, in the war against the Islamic State and is relying on Turkish support to launch airstrikes on Syria from the Incirlik base in southern Turkey. Warren indicated that the U.S. forces participating in the operation to capture a stretch of desert territory north of Raqqa will no longer attach the badges to their uniforms, saying that corrective action had been taken. The incident marked a rare Pentagon reversal on the behavior of U.S. troops on the ground and underscored the political tangle that the war against the Islamic State is creating for U.S. allies in the region. Only a day earlier, Warren, as well as chief Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook, had defended the troops decision to don the Kurdish badges for the offensive. But the YPG is closely tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish Kurdish militant group that has carried out bombings and is fighting Turkish troops. The number of immigrants seeking drivers licenses in New Mexico surged in the first three months of the year as lawmakers debated changes to a long-contested policy that allowed for those living in the country illegally to obtain licenses, according to a review by The Associated Press. Data obtained through a records request showed 3,568 licenses were issued to foreign nationals from January to March. That compares with 4,026 licenses granted to foreign nationals for all of 2015. State officials believe the spike stems from immigrants in the country illegally wanting to get New Mexico licenses before the law changed. Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary Demesia Padilla shes not surprised by jump and had told lawmakers that officials would see a jump during the debate to change the law. This is a validation of something weve been saying all along, Padilla said. Republican Gov. Susana Martinez signed legislation in March that allows immigrants in the U.S. illegally to obtain only drivers authorization cards after submitting fingerprints. Those who already had drivers licenses can still get them renewed under the revision. Officials dont know how many of the licenses went to immigrants who are in the country illegally because applicants arent required to submit information on immigration status. The revision came after years of pressure from Martinez, who sought to repeal the law over concerns of fraud. Democrats repeatedly put up roadblocks until last year when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it wouldnt give the state an extension on tougher federal identification mandates. The Real ID Act requires proof of legal U.S. residency for those who want to use state identification to access certain areas of federal facilities. New Mexico had no such requirement under the previous policy. The move by Homeland Security sparked uncertainty around the state after military bases said they would stop accepting New Mexico drivers licenses for entry. Immigrant rights groups and Democrats held rallies and lobbied lawmakers during the 2016 session to prevent any repeal legislation from getting to the governors desk. A compromise was eventually reached. Padilla said that until the U.S Department of Homeland Security gives a final approval on the new state revision, state officials will have to keep issuing drivers licenses to immigrants who are living in the country illegally. She said she didnt know when federal authorities will make a final decision. It cant happen soon enough, Padilla said. A delegation of city officials, including Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, was among thousands of attendees at ceremonies in Washington, D.C.s national mall earlier this month to honor fallen police officers and add their names to the National Law Enforcement Memorial wall. Those remembered included Rio Rancho police officer Gregg Benner and Albuquerque police officer Dan Webster. Hull set aside part of the trip to meet with members of the New Mexico congressional delegation, visit with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about completing a federal reimbursement due the city and tend to other city business. Rio Rancho Police Chief Michael Geier, Benners widow, Julie, and several other members of the police department represented Rio Rancho with Hull May 12-18 to attend several law enforcement-related events. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and Gov. Susana Martinez were also in D.C. to remember Webster. The law enforcement remembrance weekend began May 13 with a ceremony for Webster and other officers at the Arlington National Ceremony. A candlelight vigil was held that night at the national mall as 20,000 candles were lit around the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. The new names added to the wall were read during the vigil. The most awe-inspiring thing was seeing all those candles, Hull said. It was amazing just all those people that were there, affected by losing a police officer. The next day was spent visiting the National Law Enforcement Memorial wall. On Sunday, Hull attended the memorial service on the U.S. Capitol lawn. I think its very important that, in a situation like losing an officer, I think its important that the city comes out in support, he said. Its not that every officer is not very, very important to this city, in this particular, losing Gregg Benner in this manner was very heinous in the way that it happened it was a shock and affront to the city, so I did think it was important that the city be represented and his family was represented in D.C. Hull spent the last few days of the visit speaking with the state congressional representatives and federal agency officials. On May 16, he spoke with the National Endowment of the Arts about funds for an art project in Rio Rancho. As 1 percent of funds from the citys $9 million in road bond money is set aside for an art project, Hull said, he asked the NEA to match the citys 1 percent to help pay for planning and engineering. The next day, Hull met with Sen. Martin Heinrich, a representative of Rep. Michelle Lujan Grishams office and Congressman Ben Ray Lujan. Hull also spoke with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the outstanding balance of a reimbursement owed to the city. We went there to thank them for their support on one side, but then also be persistent about the remaining funds, Hull said, who visited the agency during a trip to Washington last year. The city will receive $2.13 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on July 1. The funds are a partial reimbursement for $6 million outstanding to the city for meeting federal arsenic treatment requirements for its water system. I was advocating for the full $3.8 million so we could get this done and over with but, at the same time, letting them know even if we got $2 million, thatd be a great step forward, he said. Airfare and hotel costs for the trip were $2,833. Rio Rancho city councilors this week took another step toward implementing a revised code of conduct, which would apply to city employees along with elected and appointed officials. At a meeting Wednesday night, the Governing Body unanimously approved a first reading of an ordinance to implement the code. The move comes after voters in March approved the elimination of an article in the city charter and mandated that the council instead adopt a code of conduct ordinance by July 1. The code establishes ethics standards, defines parameters for accepting gifts and benefits and requires elected and appointed officials to file a statement of economic interest. Rio Rancho is not necessarily boldly going where no one has gone before, Councilor Cheryl Everett said. In fact, were catching up. But it is uncharted territory for us. Last year Everett headed a committee tasked with making recommendations on the proposed ordinance. She said there was no enforcement mechanism in the city charter version of the code. But under the new ordinance, complaints against elected and appointed officials would result in an ethics official investigating the incident and bringing a recommendation as to whether the complaint is valid. Complaints against city employees would be referred to the Human Resources Department. If a complaint is substantiated, a three-person ethics panel would hold a public hearing. It would vote on whether the ordinance had been violated and would decide whether to impose penalties. Unsubstantiated complaints would not be forwarded to a panel. Preventing harassment If a person filed two or more unsubstantiated complaints against the same person, the ethics official could make a recommendation to the ethics panel for a public hearing. If the panel found that the complaints were meant to harass or publicly shame, the panel could prescribe a penalty, according to the ordinance. Decisions the ethics panel makes could be appealed to District Court under the proposed ordinance. The first reading passed after councilors approved one amendment addressing whether city employees and elected officials could accept meals provided at nonprofit or public events. Everett said she planned to propose an amendment at the second reading of the ordinance that would place a maximum aggregate amount of gifts or things of value that an employee, elected or appointed official could collect in a year. Held on the one-year anniversary of Rio Rancho police officer Gregg Benners death, the meeting began with a moment of silence in honor of the citys first responders. The meeting was pushed back from the usual 6 p.m. start to 7 p.m. to allow leaders and community members time to attend a memorial ceremony, during which a statue honoring fallen officers was dedicated in Veterans Monument Park. Pay raises approved Later in the night, the council unanimously approved a budget that gives police officers a 3.5 percent raise and dispatchers a 2 percent raise. The fiscal year 2017 budget gives all employees a 1.5 percent pay increase. Id like to thank (you for) the consideration toward law enforcement as well as dispatch in recognizing that we dont live in a bubble, Councilor Shelby Smith said. Theres outside entities that could quickly take away our bragging rights of being one of, if not the, safest city in the state of New Mexico. Director of Finance Dan Olsen said total general fund revenue is expected to increase by 1.3 percent, and total expenditures by 2.5 percent. The general fund budget includes $56.7 million in revenue and $54.6 million in expenditures along with $3.4 million in transfers to other funds. Other key items in this years general fund budget include a projected increase of nearly 10 percent in gross receipts tax revenue and a property tax revenue increase of 2.1 percent. The utility fund budget, meanwhile, includes revenues of $41.1 million, $26.1 million in expenses and transfers for capital projects and debt service of $16.5 million, according to city documents. The budget must be submitted to the Department of Finance and Administration by June 1. Wastewater work Councilors also unanimously approved two ordinances that together authorize both a loan to fund improvements to the citys wastewater utility system and allow the city to refinance outstanding bonds and loans of the utility system. Olsen said the ordinance, which was first read and approved at the councils last meeting, was split into two ordinances for legal reasons, but said that they should be considered a package deal. The Rio Rancho Rockets presented the city and police department with Special Olympics Flame Torches in recognition of their support of the program. The Rockets participated in a relay that took the Flame of Hope across the country and through New Mexico, carrying the torches through a segment of Albuquerque, Mayor Gregg Hull explained during the Wednesday meeting. Gov. Susana Martinez points out the detail of the statue to Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull and State Police Chief Pete Kassetas at the unveiling. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) The plaque below the statue at the Regional Law Enforcement Officer Memorial. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) Community residents gather to take pictures of the newly unveiled statue. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) Rio Rancho Officers Kyle Krajniak and Justin R. Garcia salute during the singing of the National Anthem at the Regional Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Dedication. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) Sandoval County Sheriffs deputy Joe Harris Jr. holds his son Joe Harris III as they look at the statue. His father, Joseph Harris Sr., was a sergeant with the Sandoval County Sheriffs Office who was killed in the line of duty in July 2009. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) A large flag hangs from a pair Rio Rancho ladder truck at the entrance to the Regional Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Dedication. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) From left, Krysia Baron, Julie Benner and Nichole Haase, spouses of area law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, are pictured by the statue that was unveiled during the Regional Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Dedication on Wednesday. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 7 Next About 200 people gathered Wednesday night to remember the communitys fallen police officers and dedicate a bronze statue in their honor in the public safety memorial at Veterans Monument Park in Rio Rancho. Proud, yet somber, those attending recalled that it was one year to the day that Rio Rancho officer Gregg Nigel Benner was shot and killed across the street from the ceremony location. We will never forget the sacrifices of our fallen officers, said Police Chief Michael Geier. This is the true meaning of this tribute. Benner was killed while making a routine traffic stop last year. Other law enforcement officers who received a special tribute at the ceremony were: Special Town Marshal Clemente Salazar, fatally shot while trying to break up a fight in 1950 in Bernalillo; RRPD officer Germaine Casey, who died while guarding President George W. Bushs motorcade in 2007; Sandoval County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Joseph Harris Sr., killed during a stakeout in the Jemez Mountains in 2009; SCSO Sgt. Robert Baron, struck by a vehicle while assisting at a road accident in 2013; and RRPD officer Anthony Haase, a new recruit who was killed while responding to a call in 2014. They were husbands, fathers, brothers, sons and friends . They willingly chose a life of public service and made a sacrifice for something they believed in, Geier said. The lives they lived and the sacrifices they made were in the service of helping mankind. There was a strong show of support by the law enforcement community. Mounted patrolmen from the Albuquerque Police Department and motorcycle troopers in full dress uniform mingled with ordinary families and children. Flags were displayed everywhere some blending the colors of the United States and the United Kingdom in tribute to Benners British heritage. Gov. Susana Martinez was among the local dignitaries, who also included Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Judy Nakamura. Pastor Jeff Carr commenced the ceremony with a prayer and reflection. Relatives of the fallen police officers also spoke briefly in honor of their loved ones. My husband never thought of himself as a hero, said Julie Benner, who chose to address the crowd spontaneously rather than with a prepared speech. He was just out doing his job. And thats what he would have said: I was just doing my job. I love him and I miss him every day. He made me laugh so much. He wasnt just an officer I have so many happy memories, she said. Others among the crowd had personal stories of fallen officers. The family of Alex Yazzie, a Navajo Nation police officer fatally shot last March, traveled from Santa Fe to attend the unveiling ceremony in Rio Rancho. Yazzie, 42, was responding to a domestic violence call when he was fatally shot. He served in law enforcement for 12 years. He left behind four children. The youngest, twins, were just 3 when their father was killed. The hardest thing is, they still ask for him, said Rose Cowboy, Yazzies sister, as she reflected on her experiences with the children. As we were going up in a plane, she (Yazzies 4-year-old daughter) asked her mom, Are we going to see Daddy? because theyve been telling her Daddys up there. She still remembers him. She calls him on the phone, and she just talks and talks. She says, I told Daddy what happened today,' said Cowboy, overcome with emotion. Things like that, you know. It just hurts. When asked why they chose to attend the event in Rio Rancho, family members said they wished to honor his memory and also pay tribute to officer Benner. They expressed gratitude for the support they have found in others. Weve been to a lot of places that we would have never been and weve met so many people that we would have never met, Cowboy said. Were not alone. The family of Joe Harris Sr. had similar feelings. I think its important that they (the police) know we stand behind them, especially being the wife of a police officer, said Francesca Harris, the fallen officers daughter-in-law, whose husband is a SCSO deputy. Its definitely a difficult, but rewarding, job. The support of everybody shows theres a lot more good than bad out there. The bronze statue was unveiled shortly before the end of the ceremony by relatives of the fallen officers and a police honor guard. It depicts a kneeling policeman bent in a posture of grief, covering his eyes and clutching a U.S. flag under one arm. The nametag on his uniform reads Justice. Their deaths were not only acts of heroism, they were acts of love, said Pastor Carr, for they died in the service of others. The so-called sharing economy isnt doing such a good job of disseminating the necessary tax information with its participants. A new report finds that many of the entrepreneurs who earn money by working with online services such as Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Etsy, TaskRabbit, Handy, Amazon and HomeAway dont receive the tax advice and 1099 information forms they and their tax professionals need to prepare their taxes properly (see Airbnb, Others Pay Out Billions Beneath IRSs Radar, Study Finds). The study, by Caroline Bruckner, managing director of the Kogod Tax Policy Center at American University in Washington, D.C., noted that more than 2.5 million U.S. taxpayers participate in such on-demand services as small business owners every year, while millions more are expected to join their ranks over the next decade. The researchers surveyed 40,000 members of the National Association for the Self-Employed and received 518 responses from people who work with services in the sharing economy, also known as the gig economy and the on-demand platform economy. The findings are eye opening. Approximately 69 percent of the survey respondents said they did not receive any tax guidance from the sharing-economy company. In addition, 61 percent said they did not receive either a Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-K for their platform-related earnings, while 47 percent did not know about any tax deductions, expenses or credits that could be claimed related to their on-demand platform income. On top of that, 43 percent said they were unaware how much they would owe in taxes and did not set aside money for taxes on that income. Meanwhile, 36 percent did not understand what records were needed for tax purposes for business income and the expenses generated from working with a sharing economy partner. Further, 34 percent did not know whether they were required to file quarterly estimated tax payments with the IRS on their income from the on-demand services. Bruckner testified before the House Small Business Committee on Tuesday about the problem. Notwithstanding the on-demand platform economys unprecedented growth and adoption by more than 86.5 million U.S. adults as consumers and service providers and sellers in just a few short years, the economic activity and growth of these small business owners has largely gone unacknowledged by most government measures for tracking small business activity, she said. In fact, many of these taxpayers dont necessarily realize they are small business owners or what their tax-filing obligations are until tax time or they receive an IRS notice. The committee held another hearing on the sharing economy on Thursday where National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson testified about the findings in both Bruckners report and her own offices research. These results demonstrate both the need for guidance from the IRS and the opportunity to create a culture of tax compliance among participants in the sharing economy from the outset, she said. In my 2013 Annual Report to Congress, I published a study detailing the factors that influence compliance in small business communities. The study found that the top two factors influencing compliance are taxpayer service and social norms among the small business community. By providing targeted information to sharing economy participants, the IRS can both establish its taxpayer service presence and positively influence the norms in the community. The IRSs tax regulations arent necessarily much help now, either. Bruckners report found the existing tax rules effectively create a $19,399 reporting gapthe difference between $20,000 and $601that affects millions of taxpayers (the difference between the income thresholds triggering Forms 1099-K and 1099-MISC reporting), resulting in widespread confusion among taxpayers. Under the current tax rules, a platform company isnt required to send a Form 1099-K or a Form 1099-MISC to the IRS for an entrepreneur who makes $18,000 through 189 different transactionsall of which are payment card transactions and are described as de minimis payments for the purposes of Form 1099-K. The current instructions for the Form 1099-MISC say, Payments made with a credit card or payment card and certain other types of payments, including third party network transactions, must be reported on Form 1099-K...and are not subject to reporting on Form 1099-MISC. Meanwhile, the Form 1099-K has its own 200-transaction/$20,000-income threshold for payments made through a credit card. The average monthly income from active participation in sharing-economy services ranges from $533 to $314, according to Bruckners study, with higher amounts usually associated with working for labor-oriented services such as Uber, Handy and TaskRabbit as opposed to other services such as eBay and Airbnb, which she classifies as capitol platforms or sellers and accommodation providers. For many of the participants, the job is part-time. In 2015, more than 75 percent of Lyft drivers reported working less than 15 hours per week, while more than half of Uber drivers reported they worked less than 10 hours per week. Bruckners survey found that among respondents with income from such work in 2015, 72 percent worked, on average, less than 10 hours a week with their on-demand platform company, while 92 percent of the respondents worked less than 20 hours per week. Of the respondents operating in this economy, 88 percent earned less than $15,000 in 2015. While some other studies have identified a core constituency of small business operators (ranging from 25 to 30 percent) who tend to work for on-demand platforms full-time and earn more, Bruckners study found that by and large the majority of individuals who work in this economy work 12 hours per week. Related research from the National Association for the Self-Employed and the Kogod Tax Policy Center found that over 90 percent of the survey respondents said they use a tax professional or tax software to help prepare their taxes (see Sharing Economy Gets Little Tax Guidance). Of those who used a professional tax preparer or software, over 50 percent paid over $150 to do their taxes. As more Americans join sharing-economy services to supplement their income or provide them with an income, they will need to rely on their accountants to advise them about their tax obligations. Based on the findings from Bruckners report, they cant necessarily count on the sharing-economy company to provide them with the necessary tax information. It will be up to the tax professionals to find the relevant figures to provide to the IRS to help their clients avoid back taxes, penalties and interest. A roundup of recent expansions, additions, new services and other news from firms across the country. ALABAMA Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith has been ranked No. 1 in the Large Company Category on the Birmingham Business Journals Best Places to Work list. CALIFORNIA Armanino LLP, San Ramon, held its eighth annual Great Give on May 26. (See the story.) CONNECTICUT Twenty employees from BlumShapiro will serve as teachers in Junior Achievements JA In A Day program in West Hartford on June 3. (See the story.) ILLINOIS Forty of the offices of BDO USA LLP, Chicago, have been recognized with the 2016 When Work Works Award by the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. Crowe Horwath LLP, Chicago, has significantly redesigned its internal performance management program. (See the story.) KENTUCKY Dean Dorton Allen Ford PLLC is conducting a survey of physician-owned hospitals on electronic health records. Those who wish to participate must complete the survey (available here) by Friday, June 3. TrinSoft, Lexington, sponsored the Alzheimers Association Reason to Hope Breakfast in late April, which raised nearly $25,000 to benefit the Greater Kentucky/Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimers Association. MISSOURI Anders CPAs + Advisors, St. Louis, recently had firm partners handle the front desk while support staff were treated to an appreciation lunch. (See the story.) Separately, the firms 29th annual Hoops for Hope tournament attracted over 500 participants who played to support the 2016 Anders Charity of Choice, Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Members of the Stray Rescue staff and two furry friends joined Anders for an appreciation lunch where a check for $9,500 was presented to Stray Rescue. NEW YORK A number of accounting firms and related companies earned spots on Fortunes 50 Best Workplaces for Recent College Graduates list: Plante Moran PLLC, Crowe Horwath LLP, EKS&H LLP, KPMG LLP, Intacct and Ryan LLC. OHIO Grant Thornton LLP has relocated its Cincinnati office to Rookwood Exchange at 3850 Edwards Road. TENNESSEE LBMC PC was named named one of 2016's 25 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads by Symplicity. (See the story.) Send your firm announcements to AcToday@SourceMedia.com. A roundup of recent hires, promotions, awards and other personnel news from firms across the country. CALIFORNIA Deborah Dickson, founder and president of Smith Dickson AC, Irvine, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners Orange County. Marc Linden, chief financial officer of Intacct, has been named Executive of the Year in the Cloud Computing/SaaS category of the 2016 CEO World Awards. Lindsay Chamings has joined Andersen Tax as a managing director in the Alternative Investment Funds Practice in the San Francisco office. CONNECTICUT The Connecticut Society of CPAs elected its Board of Directors for the 2016-2017: Robert D. Boudreau, of Buckley, Frame, Boudreau & Co. PC, will serve as president; Bradley D. Kronstat, of Bergantino Agways, will serve as president-elect; Susan A. Martinelli, of RSM US LLP, as treasurer; and Brenden M. Healy, of Whittlesey & Hadley PC, as secretary. In addition, Dennis W. Cole and Edwin R. Muenzner will serve as members-at-large, and Mary K. Wisenski will serve as a member-at-large and chair of the Advisory Council. In addition, the society gave Mitchell R. Insero, a business advisor with CohnReznick LLP, its 2016 Jack Brooks Leadership Award, in recognition of his outstanding efforts as the first-ever chair of the CTCPA New and Young Professionals Cabinet and a member of the CTCPA Advisory Council. LOUISIANA Kathryn Pittman has joined Postlethwaite & Netterville APAC as an associate tax director in the Baton Rouge area practice. KENTUCKY Tim Condon and Mark Kersting have joined Dean Dorton Allen Ford, as, respectively, an assurance services consultant focusing on internal audit and as an associate of accounting and business compliance services, both in Louisville. MASSACHUSETTS Bryan M. Cohen has been promoted from chief operating officer to partner at Jameson & Co. CPAs, Bedford. MICHIGAN Laura Claeys has been named construction industry group leader at Plante Moran, and Donna Hanson will succeed Claeys as K-12 industry group leader. MINNESOTA Andrew Biebl of New Ulm has received the American Institute of CPAs 2016 Sidney Kess Award for Excellence in Continuing Education. A tax principal at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, Biebl is an author and instructor of the popular Tax Advisors Update and Farm Taxation Update seminars. MONTANA Justin Worum has been promoted from accounting supervisor to manager at Joseph Eve CPAs, Billings. NEW YORK Matthew Jahrsdoerfer has joined Berdon LLP, New York, as an audit principal. NORTH CAROLINA Jose R. Rodriguez has been named partner-in-charge and executive director of the Audit Committee Institute of KPMG LLP. Based in the Greensboro office, he has more than 30 years of experience serving large, multi-national and midsized companies, and has been a KPMG partner since 1995. OHIO Becca Davis, director of the Practice Growth Department of Rea & Associates, and Brent Ardit, a senior manager on the audit team, have completed Leadership Dublin, an eight-month executive program designed to give participants the tools needed to become to active and influential leaders in the Dublin, Ohio, community. Skoda Minotti, Cleveland, announced a number of new hires and personnel moves: Alex Sterba has joined the firm as an investment analyst with Aurum Wealth Management; Soraya Edmonds has rejoined the firm as an office assistant; Michelle Mayer has joined the firm as an associate in the Small Business Services Group; and Erica Flint has transitioned into the role of CRM specialist in Strategic Marketing Services Group. PENNSYLVANIA Terri Albertson has joined CBIZ MHM LLC as a managing director of the Philadelphia office, with responsibility for the growth and expansion of not-for-profit practice group in the Philadelphia region. TENNESSEE John Mark McDougal, partner-incharge of the audit and advisory practice of LBMC, Nashville, has been named Murray State Universitys Department of Accounting 2016 Outstanding Alumnus. Separately, Jason Riddle has been named a partner at LBMC Information Security. TEXAS Dorsey Baskin, managing partner of the innovative services development practice of Grant Thornton LLP, has been selected as a governance fellow for the National Association of Corporate Directors. ... George W. Rendziperis has joined Weaver as the director-in-charge of state and local income tax in the firms tax and strategic business services practice. He is based in the Austin office. James B. Hruzek has joined GBH CPAs PC, Houston, as a shareholder leading the corporate and partnership tax practice in the energy and international sectors. Sarah Speegle has joined Whitley Penn as a tax manager in the Fort Worth office. UNITED KINGDOM The trustees of the IFRS Foundation have appointed Yang Zheng and Bertrand Perrin to the IFRS Interpretations Committee. Zheng is currently the vice president and CFO of China Life Insurance Company, and Perrin is currently the director of accounting standards and special projects at Vivendi. They will serve three-year terms starting in July. VERMONT David Sullivan, a director in the recently formed Ryan Advocacy Group of tax firm Ryan, has been selected as a member of the Vermont Tax Advisory Board, which provides a public forum for communication between Vermonts Commissioner of Taxes and representatives of the public. WASHINGTON Cedar Gehm has been promoted to tax senior at King & Oliason PLLC, Seattle, while Chloe Choi has joined the firm as a tax associate. Send your personnel announcements to AcToday@SourceMedia.com. Lokmat, Maharashtra and Goas No 1 Marathi daily, which earlier organized Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Awards, hosted their 1st edition of Lokmat Goan of the Year Awards 2016 on May 21, 2016 in Panjim, Goa. The event recognised the contribution of eminent personalities across various fields in the state of Goa, whose contribution has helped the state occupy a place of pride. Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Julio Rebeiro, Ex-DGP, Indian Police Service (retd.) and Civil Servant and Goan of the Year was awarded to Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor of India Today Group, Former News Anchor and Editor-in-Chief of IBN18 Network. Smt. Mridula Sinha (Hon. Governor of Goa), Chief Minister of Goa, Shri. Laxmikant Parsekar, Shri Vijay Darda, Chairman, Lokmat Media Pvt Ltd. and MP, Rajya Sabha and Mr Abhay Lodha, Chairman & MD, Topworth group of Companies graced the event. The occasion saw the presence of other important personalities of the state namely and over 1000 people attending from Goa. The event was presented by Maharashtra Tourism and powered by Deltin Group of Companies. The awards recognized achievers and luminaries across 9 categories as Education, Literature, Arts and Culture, Business, Politics Influential Young and Senior Politician, Agriculture, Administrative Officer and Women Self Help Groups. It constituted of public voting as well as jury selection. The events highlights included special interview of 4 young politicians of Goa by Chief Minister, interview of Julio Rebeiro by Rajdeep Sardesai and Interview of Rajdeep Sardesai by Lokmat Goa Editor - Raju Naik Lokmat readers had the dual opportunity of identifying the Goan of their choice from 5 nominees across 9 categories and either physically dropping it at any collection centre or sending a simple SMS to 5676702. There has been an overwhelming response with over 1 lac votes being generated by Goans. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rishi Darda, Editorial, Jt Managing Director, Lokmat Media Pvt Ltd. said, Its an immense pleasure to host the Lokmat Goan of the year awards this year in the presence of distinguished national and local personalities in Goa. After the resounding success of Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year Awards, we are happy to connect with people of Goa through this event. As a voice of the masses, Lokmat newspaper represents people and their achievements. This event is a true representation of that. Our endeavor through these awards is to bring to the fore their contributions that have led towards making Goa a great state today. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Karun Gera, President Sales, Lokmat Media Pvt Ltd. said, This is one of the most prestigious events in Goa which is one of our IPs and goes to become an annual feature every year. We are immensely grateful to our partners for extending their support for the event. Further continuing the association, we wish to provide all our partners a great value for their brands through this platform. 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. An F-15 Strike Eagle An F-15 Strike Eagle from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., drops munitions over the Utah Test and Training Range on May 2, 2016. The 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron, a tenant unit at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, conducted the Air Force air-to-ground weapons evaluation, known as Combat Hammer, to test and validate the performance of crews, pilots and their technology while deploying precision-guided munitions. With support from the 388th Fighter Wing and 75th Air Base Wing, 86th FWS Airmen are collecting and analyzing data on how these precision-guided munitions perform along with their suitability for use in combat. (U.S. Air Force photo/86th Fighter Weapons Squadron) Volunteers commemorate Memorial Day, raise 675 American flags An Army systems engineer brought more than 80 Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and civilians from around the National Capital Region together May 24-26 to raise 675 American flags at the Pentagon in honor of Memorial Day. Since 2002, Alvin Nieder, who has worked at the Pentagon for more than 25 years, has spearheaded the raising of over 13,000 flags by more than 1,000 volunteers in the annual observances of Veterans Day and Memorial Day. The son of an Army World War II veteran, Nieder traveled the world as a child and learned several life lessons from his father -- most importantly, the pride of being an American. While living overseas there was a constant reminder of home -- the American flag. The flag is the symbol of what we all stand for, Nieder said. This is not just what the militarys about -- were just a face. With all the different flavors of Americans there are in our country, the flag brings everyone together. Bringing his respect and admiration for the flag into adulthood, Nieder quickly found himself involved when an Army major asked him to volunteer for the first flag-raising ceremony at the Pentagon on the one-year anniversary of 9/11. The plan was to take orders for flags, ceremoniously raise them at the Pentagons parade field, fold them and deliver them with an official certificate of authentication. We didnt realize at the time that this effort would grow as big as it has, Nieder said. The next thing we knew we had a captive audience -- there were way over a thousand requests, and we needed volunteers. The success of the first event paired with Nieders patriotic nature and drove him to continue the tradition ever since. Kennedy Jr., Robert F.: A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals (Childrens Health Defense) A Letter to Liberals is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s, challenge to lockdown liberalisms embrace of policies that are an affront to once cherished precepts. Click to purchase. (*****) Defense Spending Act Would Arm and Train Iraqi Assyrian Forces Nineveh Plain Protection Units Soldiers. ( Twitter/Matthew VanDyke) As the battle rages to liberate the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah from ISIS, Iraqi Christian forces are contending whether or not they should bear arms supplied by the United States. The U.S. already spends billions training and equipping the Kurdish regional army, the Peshmerga, and various Sunni tribal militias through its Iraqi Train and Equip Fund. Congress recently voted to train and equip other minorities in order to carry out the final fight against the Islamic State. The issue acquires greater urgency as the Iraqi Christian forces prepare to dislodge the ISIS fighters conducting a reign of terror over Mosul. The 160,000 Iraqi Christian forces that stampeded out of the Nineveh Plain in August, 2014 are chiefly lodged in dreary Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kurdistan. Some could return to the Nineveh Plain, and hundreds of thousands of other Christian refugees sheltering in neighboring Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan could resettle into the ancient homeland of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people if security could be assured, argue some observers. Many of the 1.3 million Christians that lived in Iraq in 2003 are still in the neighborhood. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, among them Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, insist that Iraq's Christian minorities are assets in the war against ISIS genocide and a key to the goal of democratic pluralism. On May 19 the House of Representatives passed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4909) for 2017 that boosted the hopes of Iraqi Christian forces in the Assyrian Christian diaspora as well as Christians in Iraq who insist that returning to Nineveh Plain can only happen if all displaced minorities can have their own forces to defend lives and property. "Two months ago, Congress declared that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians, Yezidis, and other minorities," Fortenberry said in a press release on May 19. "The House of Representatives has now taken concrete steps to support the victims." The National Defense Authorization Act that has passed the House contains two new policy goals. First, the United States' strategy in Iraq now includes securing 'safe areas' so that genocide victims can return to their homelands. Second, a new provision empowers minority groups, including Christian and Yezidi security forces, in the integrated military campaign against ISIS. Christians, Yezidis, and others should remain an essential part of the Middle East's once rich tapestry of ethnic and religious diversity. They now have new cause for hope. The Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Raphael Louis Sakho, fired back that the measure would vilify Christians and lead to even more bloodshed, making it impossible for Christians to return. According to the Patriarch, "there are no 'Christian militias', but only politicized groups and simple people who are in desperate need of a salary. The remaining Christians in Iraq are only the poor and those belonging to the middle class, and among them, there are 100 thousand displaced people," he said in a statement to Agenzia Fides on May 19. "Sunni Arabs want to create an autonomous region in Mosul with the support of Turkey, while the Kurds want to accentuate the process of independence of Kurdistan," the Patriarch continued in his statement to Fides. "Another Christian political group is supported by the central government in Baghdad. It is a total mess!" he wrote. According to Patriarch Sakho: Everyone wants to exploit Christians of Nineveh Plain for their ambitions and political interests. It is an area with different ethnic groups and religious communities, it is the dividing area between the region dominated by the Kurds and the region dominated by Sunni Arabs. I am afraid that all these talks will turn Nineveh Plain into a continuing conflict region, and in this case, no Christian will return to their homes. The Patriarch has reason to worry about the future of Iraq's Christians and other minorities within their own country. Diaspora groups that are calling for the direct arming of Christian militias -- those militias that are not aligned with the effective fighting forces on the ground, namely the Kurdish Peshmerga or the Iraqi Security Forces -- are only adding fuel to the fires of sectarianism. Delia Kashat, the Director of Government Relations for the Nineveh Council of America said:"Not only does the direct arming of rogue militia groups go against U.S. government policy but it also places targets on the backs of minority communities," argues Kashat. "Patriarch Sako very much understands the political situation on the ground and would like to see more collaboration and integration of forces to free the Da'esh controlled areas." Strong support for the Fortenberry amendments came from Toufic Baaklini, President of the umbrella nonprofit In Defense of Christians and Robert Nicholson, Executive Director of the Philos Project. "IDC believes that the restoration of indigenous religious and ethnic minority communities to their ancient homelands should be a priority for the United States and the international community," Baaklini wrote. "As ISIS is driven back in Nineveh Province, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Yezidis, and other groups must be restored to their historic lands on the Nineveh Plain. "While Iraq has been torn apart by sectarian violence, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Yezidi, and other communities of Nineveh have lived in peace," said Baaklini. "This is a model for pluralism in Iraq and the region," and "other distinct communities be guaranteed by regional and national governments and by the U.S. and the international community." "The Philos Project welcomes the passage of the 2016 NDAA and the empowerment of Iraq's indigenous minorities to liberate and protect their ancestral homeland," Nicholson wrote in an email. "We thank Congressman Fortenberry and all those who worked to make this a reality. It gives us hope that Assyrian Christians and other minority communities have a future in Iraq as equal partners in the defense of the country." As a matter of fact, defense group staffed by Iraqi Christian forces of all the 12 Christian denominations in Iraq will be a rallying event and can unify the fragmented Christians in a fight against a common foe. The Nineveh Plains Protection Unit, for example, based in the northern tip of the Nineveh Plain, already has 300 soldiers trained and 100 of them engaged ISIS at the Battle for Tel Asqaf on May 3. The NPU soldiers are paid by Baghdad and are sanctioned by the Iraqi Security Forces. As many as 2,000 Assyrian men are ready to join when weapons and training are available, according to Jeff Gardner, the chief operations officer of the U.S.-based nonprofit, Restore Nineveh Now Foundation. Refusing aid from the United States and Baghdad means leaving the surviving Christian flocks under the control of and at the mercy of the Kurdish Regional Government. The Iraqi Christian forces are better served by taking defense responsibilities into their own hands, and with the U.S. Congress ready to help, opportunity is knocking. Iraqi Assyrian Bishop: ISIS Drove Us to Unity Archbishop Nicodemus Sharaf Daoud, the Syriac-Orthodox Bishop of Mosul. ( D.Waem-Belga/AFP) (AINA) -- Archbishop Nicodemus Sharaf Daoud, the Syriac-Orthodox Bishop of Mosul, visited France and Belgium from May 19-24. The visit was organized by SOS Chretiens d'Orient. The Archbishop gave a series of lectures on the situation of Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in Iraq. He and his congregation were forced into exile to Iraq's northern region since ISIS attacked and took over Mosul in 2014. The Archbishop is particularly disappointed by an international community that continues to ignore the plight of Iraq's minorities. Famille Chretienne published the following interview with the bishop, conducted by Hugues Lefevre. What is the current situation of the Syriac Orthodox community driven out of Mosul in August 2014? When ISIS arrived in Mosul our entire community fled to Iraqi Kurdistan. It is from there that some have begun to migrate to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Today, there are about 6,500 Syriac-Orthodox families displaced in Iraqi Kurdistan. They are mainly in Erbil and Dohuk and also in Kirkuk. Half of these families live in shared apartments where a family lives in a single room. About 1,000 other families live in caravans. The remainder rent apartments at their own expense. Even if security is ensured in Iraqi Kurdistan, life is difficult because there is no employment and the price of rent is high. Has their situation improved since arriving in Erbil? The reality has not changed and we beseech God that our situation improves. We are tired of promises of many people who tell us that ISIS will be eradicated quickly. It will soon be two years since they took Mosul. Is remaining in Iraqi Kurdistan considered a possibility? Kurdistan is also our land. We [Assyrians], as the indigenous Christian population, we are the true people of Iraq. There is no problem to remain in Kurdistan. But remaining to live in the current situation is not acceptable. Families living in caravans or in a single room apartment is unbearable. We need money to help pay the rent. We also ask for support to build schools and provide medical aid. Do you hope one day to return to Mosul? In the current situation a return to Mosul is obviously impossible. We need the guarantee, the assurance of a strong and lasting security. Because we have already lost everything and we do not want to lose more. As Christians, we lack the means and weapons to fight like the others. We are a minority and as minorities we have to trust and rely on the laws of the country in which we live. But today, the laws do not guarantee everything. What is your view about the West's policy in the Middle East? One feels in some Westerners a diabolical greed. In international politics, they have always done everything to serve their own interests. For example, Europe and the US continually emphasize their new technologies, including the qualities of their satellites. They even say they can read the label of a sweater from space. And how can we believe that they have not observed the rise of ISIS and the attack on Mosul? Who can believe that ISIS emerged on its own, as a surprise? Westerners always try to take advantage of a situation. Here, it is the oil that governs. On the other hand, Iraqi elites are not blameless. There is a real blindness, a certain stupidity of our Eastern elites in the choices they make and the way to get along. So when Western greed meets oriental folly, the first who suffer are always the minorities. Does this tragedy that affects the Iraqi Christians strengthens ties between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches? This tragedy made us walk towards unity. Arriving in Mosul, ISIS's men chased the Christians indiscriminately. So why should we make differences? In Erbil, I am constantly in contact with Bishop Petros Moshe, Syriac-Catholic Archbishop of Mosul and Bishop Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil. We work together on all subjects. I see that the faithful are very pleased with this kind of unity. In 1984, Pope John Paul II and the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch Zakka Iwas 1 met and had signed an agreement in which they declared that there was no fundamental difference between the two Churches but specific traditions and practices. This statement allows our faithful to share and pray for each other. ISIS took everything from us, but they did not manage to take our faith. Today in Iraq, we are working as one Christian Church. Translated for AINA by Bar Daisan. Senator McCain Sends Letter on Assyrians to Kurdish President Assyrian delegation meets Senator McCain in Phoenix, Arizona. ( AINA) (AINA) -- Former Republican presidential candidate and current Senator from Arizona, John McCain, sent a letter to Kurdish President Massoud Barzani regarding Assyrians in the Kurdish region in north Iraq. In the letter, dated May 25, McCain expresses "...concerns regarding alarming new reports that allege the mistreatment of the Christian Assyrian community in the Nineveh Plains region by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)." Senator McCain states in the letter that "...it remains essential to not only protect, but also respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Assyrian community and similarly vulnerable peoples in Iraq." Two Assyrian groups in Arizona met with Senator McCain, who is the current Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and his staff in Phoenix. The first delegation met directly with Senator McCain on May 7. The meeting was organized by Sam Darmo, an Assyrian resident of Phoenix. The Assyrian delegation included Sam Darmo, Bishop Aprem Khamis, Archdeacon Frederick Hermiz, Henry Benjamin, Timothy Elias and Mona K. Oshana. The delegation discussed the plight of the Assyrians in the Middle East, particularly Iraq and Syria, as well as the condition of Assyrians in Kurdish controlled areas in north Iraq. The delegation called attention to Kurdish expropriation of Assyrian lands (AINA 2016-04-14, 2016-05-09), preventing freedom of movement of Assyrians, denying basic services and confiscation of weapons (AINA 2014-08-14). Senator McCain stated in the letter: ...I was troubled by their reports that the KRG has denied basic services to the Assyrian community, prevented their freedom of movement and assembly, and confiscated weapons desperately needed to defend the community from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Of further concern were their reports of land confiscation and statements you have made regarding Kurdish territorial claims to the Nineveh Plains region. I hope you will address these allegations and I ask for your clarification on these important issues. Mr. Darmo briefed Senator McCain on the current military situation facing the Assyrians in Iraq, including the battle with ISIS in the Assyrian town of Telsquf, in which Navy Seal Charlie Keating, an Arizona native, was killed and four Assyrians wounded (AINA 2016-05-18). On March 14 the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 75 , sponsored by Jeff Fortenberry and other members of Congress, that recognized ISIS crimes against Assyrians and Yazidis as genocide. The equivalent Senate resolution 340 requires minor changes to align the language with the House resolution. Mrs. Mona K Oshana urged the Senator to make the necessary changes in the language. Both the Senator and his staff assured the delegation this issue would immediately be addressed. On March 17 the U.S. State Department recognized the crimes of ISIS against Assyrians and Yazidis as genocide. On May 12th a second delegation met with Senator McCain's staff to discuss a variety of issues concerning the Assyrian-American community. The delegation was from the Assyrian American Cultural Organization of Arizona (AACO), and included President Ashor Bet Chamoun, Vice-President Alan Mooshekh and Director Dan Khamis. The delegation called attention to abuses perpetrated against Assyrians in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In consonance with the delegation of Assyrian American National Federation affiliates who met in Washington in May (AINA 2016-05-18) and the first Assyrian delegation, the AACO delegation stressed the importance of establishing an internationally protected Safe Haven for Assyrians and other minorities in Iraq, U.S. support for Assyrian NGOs in Iraq, and for U.S. leaders to address the Kurdistan Regional Government on its abuses against Assyrians in Northern Iraq. Here is the full text of Senator McCain's letter: President Massoud Barzani, I write to you to express my concerns regarding alarming new reports that allege the mistreatment of the Christian Assyrian community in the Nineveh Plains region by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Despite heightened political instability and violence in the region, it remains essential to not only protect, but also respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Assyrian community and similarly vulnerable peoples in Iraq. I recently had the pleasure to meet with the Christian Assyrian community in Phoenix, Arizona, many of whom have relatives and loved ones living in Iraq, and they expressed their collective concerns regarding the treatment of Christians in Northern Iraq. While listening to their testimony, I was troubled by their reports that the KRG has denied basic services to the Assyrian community, prevented their freedom of movement and assembly, and confiscated weapons desperately needed to defend the community from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Of further concern were their reports of land confiscation and statements you have made regarding Kurdish territorial claims to the Nineveh Plains region. I hope you will address these allegations and I ask for your clarification on these important issues. The Christian Assyrian community has a long history in Iraq and they have contributed significantly to the country's unique social fabric. They deserve the same rights and protection as other groups and minority communities in the region, including the Kurdish community. Therefore, I encourage you and your government to respect and protect their fundamental rights and freedom, and work with local Assyrian community leaders on communal governance initiatives. The United States deeply values its strong relationship with the KRG and Peshmerga forces, and we are proud to provide assistance to your government including up to $480 million for food, fuel, medical supplies and stipends for Peshmerga fighters as well as two brigade sets of equipment. The Peshmerga forces have been instrumental in the fight against ISIL, and the KRG has routinely proven itself a reliable ally. But as ISIL continues to threaten our collective security, we cannot afford to endanger our partnership through actions that could undermine the shared values at its foundation. I hope you will work towards a more cooperative relationship with the Christian Assyrian community and honor the commitment you made to protect the Assyrians and similarly vulnerable peoples in the Nineveh Plains. I look forward to continuing my support for your government's efforts and working with you to fulfill our collective humanitarian obligations. Sincerely, John McCain United States Senator Mona K. Oshana contributed reporting. May 27, 2016 Just two weeks before Iran and the six world powers reached a landmark nuclear deal ending a decadelong international dispute, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dispatched his brother Hossein Fereydoun to Vienna to join the negotiations. (Rouhani changed his last name when he joined the clergy.) As a member of the inner circle of special advisers to the president, Fereydoun was described as the eyes and ears of Rouhani during the talks. However, according to Reformist newspaper Aftab-e Yazd, Fereydoun has not been seen in Cabinet meetings for two months now and rumors are swirling that Rouhani has been pressured to part ways with his younger brother. According to the May 25 Aftab-e Yazd article, Fereydoun, who once followed the president like his shadow, has not been seen in some of the presidents most important public events, including meetings with members of the 10th parliament, senior clergy in Qom and the leaders of India and Afghanistan. He was also not present during the presidents trip to Kerman. The article reported, Its not clear why Fereydoun, who used to show up everywhere, is now hidden behind the clouds. According to the article, there are rumors that Fereydoun, who previously served as Irans ambassador to Malaysia for eight years, may be appointed once again as an ambassador. The article also stated it is possible that pressure from hard-line groups has forced Fereydoun to lower his profile. Most accusations against Fereydoun come from hard-line media and politicians and their veracity often cannot be confirmed. But Fereydouns absence suggests the accusations appear to have had an impact. In a May 23 article, hard-line Raja News accused Fereydoun of being involved in money exchanging companies during the final years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejads presidency when fluctuating exchange rates and sanctions wreaked havoc on the economy and Irans currency. The article said that while serving as adviser to the president, Fereydoun has continued to increase his economic activities. According to Raja, Fereydoun has taken an interest in the hiring for government positions that hold significant economic discretion, such as the heads of banks. Fereydoun has also reportedly pressured Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia and Labor Minister Ali Rabiei to hire old business associates of his. In January, hard-line Iranian parliamentarian Alireza Zakani said some individuals were using the nuclear deal and the opening of economic doors to enrich themselves personally. Addressing Rouhani, Zakani said that instead of looking for organized corruption, he should look at his own brother, his own office and the Oil Ministry. According to opposition website Saham News, which is linked to Reformist Green Movement leader Mehdi Karroubi, who is currently under house arrest, even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had become involved regarding Fereydoun. In a May 9 article, Saham reported that Khamenei had given warnings to Rouhani about both Fereydoun and Rouhanis chief of staff, Mohammad Nahavandian. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization had reportedly produced security and financial reports about members of Rouhanis Cabinet, including Fereydoun. These reports, according to Saham, have been causing friction between Rouhani and Khamenei. Given the sensitivity of accusations and their implications, domestic Iranian media has not addressed this alleged friction between Rouhani and Khamenei. Rouhanis reliance on his inner circle of handpicked advisers rather than the parliament-approved ministers has occasionally been a source of controversy. Advisers such as Hesam al-Din Ashna, Akbar Torkan and Fereydoun are not only individuals the president can trust, but they are also out of reach of the conservative-led parliament that summoned Rouhanis ministers at a record rate. But with his brother out of the spotlight for now, and other advisers such as Torkan reportedly mentioned in the IRGC reports, Rouhanis challenges in running his administration will only be increasing. May 25, 2016 The May 23 terror attacks that killed nearly 150 civilians and injured 200 in the Syrian towns of Jableh and Tartus are creating serious consequences that affect the situation in Syria and the surrounding area. First, these attacks are the first security breach of the Syrian region, which has so far been considered a government stronghold. Of course, according to Russian analysts, if even major European states are not able to protect themselves from such acts of terror, it doesnt mean the jihadis breakthrough to Latakia indicates a shift in the balance of power in Syria in their favor. Nonetheless, Russian experts expect the Syrian government to take stringent measures to strengthen security in this region that is far from the frontlines. Second, the majority of the victims, according to Al-Monitors sources, were Alawites. There are some concerns that these attacks may intensify the sectarian component of the Syrian conflict and unfold a spiral of fierce revenge. An anonymous Syrian source told Al-Monitor the leadership in Damascus is aware of the danger of such a scenario and will try to avoid it. However, it is clear that the fight against terrorism in Syria will become even more uncompromising. Third, the threat to the already-fragile cessation of hostilities has increased dramatically, and without the cease-fire, there can be no progress on the political front. As stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, We see this as a brazen challenge not only to the government and the citizens of Syria, but also to the authority of the international community. Russia and the United States, as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, will have to make proactive joint efforts to prevent a total collapse of the cease-fire and disruption of the political process as a result of these new terrorist attacks. Fourth, Moscow will take additional measures of protection against terrorism. Not coincidentally, Russian officials have recently intensified their calls to consolidate international efforts against terrorism in Syria. Moscow was disappointed the United States rejected its well-known proposal to launch joint strikes against terrorist groups in Syria beginning May 25. In the meantime, the Russian military said it reserves the right to launch strikes against those groups that refuse to join the cease-fire. In this context, it is not so important who is considered a terrorist by the international community and who is not. According to Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin is concerned about the events taking place in the region. However, would this prompt Putin to reconsider his decision to scale back the Russian military presence in Syria? Touching on this issue, Peskov only recalled the statement made by the Russian president May 23 that the infrastructure of our legitimate presence in Syria, at the request of the legitimate leadership of this country, implies the possibility of a very flexible approach to the size of our troops. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry denied reports by a number of media outlets that four Russian helicopters had been destroyed by terrorists. The ministry said there were no casualties among the airbase personnel. Yet who stabbed the Syrian loyalists right in the heart? Was it the Islamic State (IS), which claimed responsibility for the terror attacks? Russian analysts believe this terrorist group to be the most likely culprit. Or was it Jabhat al-Nusra? During his May 23 phone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reminded Kerry that Washington should fulfill its promise to distinguish between the US-backed Syrian opposition and Jabhat al-Nusra militants. Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said, These explosions and shootings would have been impossible without the support of the [regional] states financing and supplying arms to the militants. An informed Lebanese source told Al-Monitor that preliminary analysis of the Latakia attacks raises doubt that they were committed by IS, Jabhat al-Nusra or even Ahrar al-Sham, which Syrian state TV channel Surya blamed because of the high level of planning and execution. From that, one could conclude that the intelligence service of one of the states in the region is the only player that could have organized those attacks. The Arab world is, of course, fond of conspiracy theories, but such reasoning might have some truth to it. Finally, the incident is going to affect the situation in neighboring countries. There is every reason to believe that the new round of violence in Syria is in some way associated with the signs of destabilization in Lebanons North Governorate. It is not a coincidence that the terror attacks in Latakia came after the beginning of the offensive on Raqqa by US-backed forces, with Kurdish groups playing an important role. Moscow is closely watching how this operation unfolds. The Russian information agency RIA Novosti reported a statement by Nasser Haj Mansour, a member of the Kurdish defense committee in Hasakah province, that the Kurdish forces took control of the freed territories and that IS was unable to keep any of its positions during the combat clashes that we carried out in coordination with the coalition. Mansour claimed that the Kurdish troops have long known how to counter IS methods such as suicide bombers, snipers and sleeper cells. It was also reported that the militants burn houses in Syrian settlements that are taken over by the Kurds. The Russian analysts are assuming that the US doesnt want Kurdish troops to advance to the west to close the corridor between Kobani and Afrin and unite all three Kurdish cantons into one extended zone. That move could provoke Turkey to unleash a large-scale military operation against the Syrian Kurds and put the US and all of Turkey's NATO allies in a difficult situation. Analysts say the US is making every effort to redirect Kurdish military efforts to the south, to Raqqa. That action would kill two birds with one stone: It would prevent, or at least delay, a direct military confrontation between Turkey and the Kurds and it would help strengthen the forces fighting against IS. It is from that angle that one should view the US and the Syrian Democratic Forces recent initiative to free Raqqa from IS militants. It can also be assumed that, in addition to the above-mentioned goals, the US is also hoping to avoid a situation in which Raqqa would be freed by the Syrian army with the help of Shiite militants from Arab countries, along with Russian air support. Russia knows that it would be unacceptable for its American partners in combat against IS if Damascus established its control over the territories freed from IS. In other words, Americans prefer the Kurds (as well as Assyrians, Arab groups, Armenians and Turkmens) over the Syrian army. However, as an anonymous senior source from the Kurdish People's Protection Units reported to Al-Monitor, that part of the Kurdish movement is not going to abandon its objective of unifying the three Kurdish cantons for the sake of capturing Raqqa. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, Moscow is willing to coordinate its efforts with the US-led coalition and Kurdish militia in Syria for the purpose of freeing Raqqa. A Huntsville father is accused of shooting his 20-month-old daughter Friday evening during a domestic dispute. Lionel Francis, 34, was initially arrested and charged with attempted murder, according to Huntsville police. The charges were upgraded to capital murder on Saturday afternoon after his daughter died at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham. The shooting occurred at around 6:20 p.m. in the 3300 block of Lockwood Court. Huntsville police say Francis intentionally shot his young daughter during an argument with the girl's mother. Following the shooting, Francis went outside and waited on officers to arrive. He was taken into custody without incident at the scene. The investigation remains ongoing. Four people were killed in three separate car crashes Friday in southeast Alabama. Just after 3:30 p.m., Houston County sheriff's deputies responded to a crash on Highway 231 South between Decatur Road and Highway 605 near the Alabama Welcome Center, RickeyStokesNews.com reported. Seven people were injured in the two-vehicle crash involving an SUV and a motor home. Wiregrass Lifeflight was called to the scene. The site later reported that siblings Wyatt Hardy and Amanda Hardy, of Ariton, were killed in the crash. Another Houston County crash occurred just after 5 p.m., when police and rescue personnel were dispatched to North County Road 75 in Pansey, according to RickeyStokesNews.com. A vehicle left the road near a bridge and crashed near the tree line. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and another occupant of the vehicle was critically injured. Alabama state troopers are investigating another fatal wreck that took place on County Road 30 in Crenshaw County. The victim's identity has not been released. Cleveland body camera.jpg A Cleveland police officer demonstrates a body camera in this March 2015 photo. Beachwood announced this week that the city is buying 55 body cameras and 15 dashboard cameras for its police department. (Dave Andersen, cleveland.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Many Cleveland police officers will not be wearing body cameras if protests turn violent during the Republican National Convention, officials said. Police officials have told officers that a host of logistical issues, including an inability to attach the cameras to police riot gear, means officers will not be able to wear the devices. The department says officers will use other methods to record police interactions with protesters and the public during the convention. But the head of a police union and the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio expressed concern that the officers who will be thrust in the most volatile situations will not be wearing a device that is a deterrent for both violence against police and officer misconduct. "To have those body cameras and not allow us to wear them is absolutely irresponsible," Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis said Friday. Christine Link, executive director at the ACLU of Ohio, called the news a "serious concern." "There's no way that [police] have enough people doing video to cover what body cameras would cover," Link said. The four-day convention, from July 18-21, is expected to draw 65,000 delegates, dignitaries, and reporters from around the world, as well as thousands of protesters. Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams said in a September to officers the convention would bring "challenges of historic proportions" and stretch the department "to its current limits." The city plans to bring in thousands of officers from police departments to help provide security. Whether those officers wear body cameras will be up to their department, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said. Cleveland's police force will wear "softer" uniforms at the beginning of the RNC, rather than adopting a military-style approach that might inflame tensions. Tampa police took a similar approach during the 2012 RNC. The officers in softer uniforms will wear their body cameras, which cost the city $2.4 million in 2015, and be required to follow the department's recording policy, Ciaccia said in an emailed statement to cleveland.com. Should protesters clash with police, officers will dress in riot gear and administer crowd control tactics. Those officers, who will face the most volatile and potentially explosive situations during the convention, will not wear cameras, Ciaccia said. Ciaccia stressed that police officers will use other methods of recording. During past protests, detectives on the ground have used hand-held cameras, and police have filmed confrontations from helicopters. "We are confident with the operational plan we have in place that we will capture any interaction/encounter with a citizen during the RNC," Ciaccia said. Loomis, who initially spoke out against body cameras, blasted the decision. "Just when we get used to them and we want them to be around, [the department] tells us, when we probably need them the most, that we're not going to be wearing them," Loomis said. Loomis pointed to recent clashes between protesters and police outside rallies held by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in New Mexico and Chicago. He said body cameras would deter "paid, professional protesters" from throwing rocks or bricks at police officers to spur a confrontation. He also said footage would help clear officers from false allegations of misconduct by protesters. "We want those cameras on so we're not falsely accused of acting anything but professional," Loomis said. Link noted that the city entered into court-enforced police reform last year, after a 20-month Department of Justice investigation found the police department too often used excessive force. By not having body cameras recording potential clashes between officers and protesters, the city risks further complicating an already stressed public perception of the department, Link said. The hand-held cameras leave open the chance for officers to stop recording, turn away or miss key parts of an altercation, whether purposely or not, Link said. The body cameras capture the entire interaction, and will help not only ward against police misconduct, but also help police supervisors analyze tactics and investigate complaints, Link said. "If hand-held video cameras and helicopters could cover everything, why did we invest millions of dollars in body cameras in the first place?" Link asked. A Montgomery woman is accused of causing a single-vehicle crash that claimed the life of her passenger on Friday afternoon. Pamela Johnson, 47, of Midway, Ga. was killed when the 2014 Jeep Wrangler she was riding in ran off the roadway and struck a tree, one mile west of the Pike and Crenshaw county line, according to Alabama state troopers. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Jeep, Charla Jeanette Farmer, 47, of Montgomery, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, troopers say. She was transported to the Crenshaw County Jail. No bond has been set. The crash occurred at 3:10 p.m. on Crenshaw County 30, also known as Beaver Pond Road. The preliminary investigation indicates that alcohol and speed may have been contributing factors in the crash, according to troopers. The crash remains under investigation. This election is about holding those responsible for the thousands of dead in Iraq and the bankruptcy of the country. The first evidence that something was amiss in the American electorate came last February 20, when Donald Trump won the South Carolina primary. You dont need to be steeped in the minutiae of United States politics to work out why that happened all you have to do is clear out all Trumps talk about walls and borders and focus on the US intervention in Iraq. Thats right: Iraq. During a televised debate before the South Carolina primary, Trump attacked fellow Republican Jeb Bush by focusing on George W Bush, his brother and former president. George, Trump said, had lied about why the US invaded Iraq. They said there were weapons of mass destruction and they knew there were none, he said. Trumps claim brought howls from political experts who confidently predicted that the claim would cost Trump votes. South Carolina, they said, loved the Bushes. But when the votes were counted, Trump had won. Numerous accounts told the tale: Trump beat Jeb by campaigning against nearly everything that his brother George and his neo-conservative pals stood for, including the US catastrophic Iraq intervention and the resulting conflagrations from Syria to Libya that it spawned. Commonalities of anti-establishment Now, three months later, the New York mogul is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. And while its easy to dismiss his triumph by claiming that the public has been seduced by a media savvy liar, birther and bully, the truth is more complicated. South Carolina showed that while Americans question Trumps character, when it comes to military adventurism, theyre with him. Oddly, the only other candidate who has stood with Trump on the Iraq War is Bernie Sanders, who has attacked Hillary Clinton for supporting Bushs intervention. The insurgent current in the American electorate is undeniable. The old orthodoxies are melting away. by But opposition to the Iraq intervention is not the only thing Trump and Sanders agree on: Both have questioned the effect of the US free trade principles, blasted the North American Free Trade Agreement and rejected Barack Obamas Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. More crucially, Trump agrees with Sanders about the 2008 financial meltdown, which Sanders blames on the Republicans. When the economy crashed so horribly under George Bush because of the mistakes they made with banking and lots of other things, I dont think the Democrats would have done that, Trump said in July 2015. It was a remarkable Sanders-like statement. The foreign policy and financial elites have noticed these similarities. Trumps victory has scared the hell out of establishment Republicans, who are migrating to Clintons campaign, while Republican neo-Conservatives see in Clinton a symbol of their unapologetic militarism. The most prominent among them has been Max Boot, a self-described American imperialist who has never seen a war he wouldnt send someone else to fight. For all her shortcomings he recently wrote, Clinton would be far preferable to Trump. OPINION: What US elections should look like in a real democracy The Democrats Max Boot is economist Paul Krugman, a liberal free trader who says Sanders has adopted easy slogans over hard thinking. Krugmans resume is not in question, but hes never had to live paycheck-to-paycheck like large numbers of Americans. While it is unlikely that Sanders will beat Clinton for the Democratic nomination, that hasnt stopped Krugman from calling Sanders supporters idealists, romantics and purists. Neophytes vs elites Boot and Krugman have this in common: they love experts. Boot recently complained that Obamas chief foreign policy adviser lacks an advanced degree in international relations, defence, area studies, or any related field, while Krugman tells us that every serious progressive policy expert on either healthcare of financial reform supports Clinton. The message is the same: instead of listening to neophytes such as Trump or Sanders, American voters should put their trust in the experts that is, the same people who gave us Iraq and bankruptcy. OPINION: Do Jewish votes matter in the US election? Which is not to say that Sanders is a Democratic Trump. Hes not: He calls Trumps immigration policies crap, describes Trumps views on women as disgusting, and slams Trumps anti-Muslim screeds as an embarrassment to our country. Nor is it to claim that Sanders voters will make Trump their second choice. They wont: Only 15 percent of Sanders voters say theyll vote for Trump if Clinton gets the Democratic nomination. Even so, the insurgent current in the American electorate is undeniable. The old orthodoxies are melting away. Indeed, the odd confluence of the Trump-Sanders critique of the US military misadventures and Wall Streets financial misdeeds have shown that, while elections are almost always about the future, this one is about the past its about holding those responsible for the thousands of dead in Iraq and the bankruptcy of the country accountable for what they have done. Mark Perry is a Washington DC-based foreign policy analyst and author of Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with its Enemies. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. SABC defends decision to stop showing scenes of violent protests in a move to discourage destruction of public property. Freedom of expression groups and opposition parties have condemned the South African state broadcaster SABCs decision to stop showing violent, anti-government protests, claiming the move disregarded the right to dissent in the country. The SABC said on Thursday it will stop showing violent protests flaring up around the country, in a bid to discourage others from carrying out similar forms of violence. The public broadcaster also urged other media houses to stand in solidarity with their decision. But Busi Mtabane, spokesperson for the Right to Know campaign, told Al Jazeera the move signalled a return to apartheid times when the national broadcaster was a mouthpiece for the ruling party. Filtering the news will leave people on the ground less informed and oblivious to the failures of the state, Mtabane said. Most of the time, protesting is the only tool people have to be heard. We have been raising our issues, but no one is listening. Being out on the street, this is when the media turns the spotlight on these communities, Mtabane said. The SABC will no longer show footage of destruction of public property during protests pic.twitter.com/5Uuh7qtWz4 Gugulethu Mhlungu (@GugsM) May 26, 2016 Explaining the decision, SABCs Chief Operating Officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng said in a statement that the broadcaster would not assist these individuals to push their agenda that seeks media attention. The SABCs move is said to have come after a series of deadly clashes between protesters and police in townships and informal settlements across the country. Two people were killed on Monday after clashes broke out over the demolition of an informal settlement near the capital Pretoria. In Limpopo province, earlier in May, at least 19 schools were burned by residents during an anti-government protest. Demonstrations over poor service delivery and lack of economic opportunity have become a common feature in South Africa over the past decade. More than 3.5 million South Africans under-35 are unemployed. The #SABC changed when democracy dawned, but this unfortunate decision returns it to a past it shouldn't be associated with SANEF (@SAEditorsForum) May 27, 2016 Activists claim SABCs decision has come at a sensitive time for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, which has been under pressure to improve living conditions for the majority of South Africans. With local elections scheduled for August, they accuse ANC of trying to control any further damage to their image before the polls. Zwelinzima Vavi, former general-secretary of the Congress for South African Trade Unions, said the move was an attempt to bring censorship through the backdoor. They are saying its for the good of the society, just like the apartheid government said it was, at the time, Vavi told Al Jazeera. But this is not a Banana republic. They will not get away with it, he said. The leading opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said it was considering legal action following SABCs move. Phumzile van Damme, spokeswoman for the party, told Al Jazeera that Motseoengs decision has the hallmarks of authoritarianism, and seriously undermines the intelligence of the South African public. The consequence of the blackout is significant, and it is undoubtedly no coincidence that it was made, and is in effect on the eve of a municipal election where the ANC stands to lose support in major municipalities by Hlaudi Motsoeneng, an ANC-aligned politically appointed individual, van Damme said. Likewise, the Economic Freedom Fighters party said in a statement the move was only about protecting of the image of the ANC, saving it from the whole country seeing that it has caused so much suffering in our country. But Kaizer Kganyago, spokesman for the SABC, told Al Jazeera that the criticism was unwarranted, denouncing accusations that its decision amounted to self-censorship. We are saying that we will still cover the protests and their dissatisfaction. We will just not show scenes of violence, he said. Kganyago also rebuffed suggestions that the decision had come from anyone besides the broadcaster itself, adding that the SABC was not run by ANC. Al Jazeera was not able to secure comment from the ANC at the time of publication. In an earlier interview with local media on Friday, the ruling party welcomed the SABCs decision. The national broadcaster has taken the best decision, not influenced by anybody outside but by its own editorial policy, ANCs spokesman Zizi Kodwa was quoted as having said. Follow Azad Essa on Twitter. Niger Delta Avengers claims attack on Nembe pipeline in restive Delta region forcing drop in production, officials say. For the third time in a week, an armed group has attacked a major pipeline in Nigerias Delta region, two officials have said, hours after the Niger Delta Avengers group claimed responsibility for the attack. The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have been sabotaging Nigerias oil infrastructure for months in bombings that have forced production to drop from 2.2 million barrels a day to 20-year lows of 1.4 million barrels a day. Early on Saturday morning the group attacked the Nembe pipeline used to export crude oil. I am aware that there was a dynamite attack on the pipeline, Nengi James, chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee, told AFP news agency. Al Jazeeras Ahmed Idris, reporting from Warri in Delta state, said the attack disrupted deliveries promised by oil companies. This could not come at a worse time for the government of Muhammadu Buhari who vowed to crush militancy and bring down the level of violence in Nigeria, firstly by tackling Boko Haram. And now another front has been opened for the Nigerian security agencies in the Niger Delta. READ MORE: Poverty persists in oil-rich Niger Delta This has effectively cut off supplies and exports, there are lots of oil companies who have said that they cannot deliver some of the promised goods to customers or buyers outside the country. Right now military operations have been taking place in the Delta region, Idris said. The NDA appeared to claim the Saturday attack on a Twitter account bearing its name in a post that said it had blown up the Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny trunk line at 2:15am. A follow-up posting threatened something big is about to happen. Earlier attacks attributed to NDA this week have seen Chevron and Nigerias state-owned oil and gas infrastructure blown up. Continued violence could result in mass evacuations of staff that would cripple onshore production of about one million barrels per day, Philippe de Pontent, sub-Saharan Africa analyst at political risk research firm Eurasia Group, said in a recent report. Like other groups before it, the NDA wants a fairer share of oil revenues for the impoverished and polluted southern region. The group claims that the majority of the countrys oil wealth is owned by people from the countrys north and has plans to realise an independent state by October 2016, according to online statements credited to NDA spokesman Murdoch Agbinibo. WATCH Crude power: The oil game uncovered In response to the sabotage, southern government officials this week urged President Buhari to enter a peaceful dialogue with Niger delta communities instead of using military force to restore oil production. But on Saturday, residents said Nigerian soldiers invaded Oporoza town, a stronghold of a former rebel leader Government Tompolo Ekpemupolo. The Nigerian government has issued an arrest warrant for Tompolo, alleging that the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) stole millions of dollars from the federal government after he started working as a security contractor as part of an amnesty programme. There are rumours that Tompolo has been orchestrating the NDA attacks, but he has denied any collaboration. According to Oporoza resident Raphael Gbenekama, more than seven gunboats loaded with armed soldiers invaded the community, shooting and beating up residents while arresting others. As I speak with you, I am in the bush where I am taking refuge, Gbenekama told AFP. The whole community has fled and those who could not run have been rounded up and arrested, but I can tell you that we do not harbour criminals. Our people are innocent, Gbenekama said. Previous crackdowns on armed groups in the past were ineffective and the chaos in Nigerias southern swamplands was only restored after the introduction of a costly amnesty programme for the rebels. As the Taliban threatens to retaliate against its leaders death, Afghan civilians continue to pay the highest price. Basira Mohammadi has no answer to give to her two daughters Sitaeesh, 3, and Sana, 1 when they call for their father. Her husband, Mohammed Ali Mohammadi, has not been home since January when he was killed in a Taliban suicide bombing. I am sick of them asking about Ali all the time. I cannot explain to them that he is dead and will never return, Basira, who now lives with her mother along with her two children, told Al Jazeera. Ali Mohammadi, a Dari dubbing artist at Kaboora, a production company affiliated to Afghanistans first 24-hour broadcaster TOLO News, was killed when a Taliban suicide car bomber detonated explosives near their bus in Kabul. Six other colleagues were killed in the attack. My husband used to call me every day after work, asking if I needed something from a shop. But that night, my phone didnt ring, Basira said. My father-in-law told me the next morning that Ali had passed away. In September 2015, the Taliban, under now-late leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, staged an escalating offensive against Afghan government forces, gaining territory across the country. According to the Pentagon, the Taliban initiated about 800 to 1,000 attacks per month in the second half of 2015. In late 2015, the armed group also openly threatened to target TOLO News after it had reported allegations of summary executions, rape, kidnappings and other abuses by Taliban fighters during the battle for Kunduz in October. The Taliban said at the time that the reports were inaccurate. Two months after the January attack, in a statement emailed to Al Jazeera, the Taliban said that it was responsible for targeting the bus carrying Ali Mohammadi. The father of two was the sole breadwinner in his family. Following Mohammadis death, TOLO News promised to pay his family $300 per month for one year as bereavement support. When I heard about Mullah Mansoors death, I wasnt happy, nor sad. Ive lost my husband, there is no point in hating him as my husband will never come back with this, Basira said. Mullah Mansoor was killed last week in a US strike in Pakistan, a year after his appointment as leader of the group. Confirming the death of Mansoor, the Taliban also announced that Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada would be its new leader. READ MORE: Who is the new Taliban leader? It does not matter who the next Taliban leader is; innocent people are getting killed in this country every day. Nothing will change with the new leader, they will keep fighting, Basira said. But I want to tell them [the Taliban]: please dont kill civilians, just dont kill them. Last month, a huge car bomb attack in Kabul near the Afghan defence ministry and presidential palace killed at least 60 people. Among them was Saifullah, a driver at the ministry, who left behind a father, a wife and five children. The youngest one, Narwand, is two years old. We cannot bear this loss, Safiullahs father Haji Hashmatullah told Al Jazeera. It is hard for us to live without him [Safiullah]. I am an old man and cannot imagine what will happen to them [his wife and children] when I die. Saifullah was the sole breadwinner of his family too. His father now works as a farmer to earn a living. My son was innocent and he got killed in a suicide attack. What was his fault? I blame the Afghan government and the Taliban as both of them are fighting against each other in a bid to win without thinking of all the innocent people getting killed. According to a February UN report, last years hostilities in Afghanistan left more than 3,500 civilians dead, including a record number of children. One in four casualties during 2015 was a child, making this the highest number of civilian deaths recorded. This report records yet another rise in the number of civilians hurt or killed. The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable, Nicholas Haysom, the secretary-generals special representative for Afghanistan, said in a statement at the time. The UN figures also showed a 4 percent rise in total civilian casualties during 2015, compared to the year before. We call on those inflicting this pain on the people of Afghanistan to take concrete action to protect civilians and put a stop to the killing and maiming of civilians in 2016. Yet, the prospect of peace seems distant. There are no chances at the moment for peace talks and I dont think there will be in the near future, a Taliban source told Al Jazeera. Mullah Mansoor got killed by US drone strikes, so instead of talking about peace, they are planning Mullah Mansoors revenge, the source said. Amid the escalating conflict, Basira said her only worry was the future of her children. We dont know where this war will take our country. The government has failed and the Taliban are not giving up. Where do we go? Former general and 14 others jailed for their role in Operation Condor, a unit set up to kill South American dissidents. Argentinas last dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, has been found guilty for his role in Operation Condor, an international death squad set up to torture and assassinate leftist dissidents more than 30 days ago. The 88-year-old former military general was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday for being part of an illicit association, kidnapping and abusing his powers in the forced disappearance of more than 100 people. Set up by six South American military dictatorships in the mid-1970s, death squads from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay would cross into one anothers territory to kidnap, torture and kill political opponents who had fled across the border. Bignone, who ruled Argentina in 1982-1983, is already serving life sentences for multiple human rights violations during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. READ MORE: Remembering Operation Condor In the landmark trial, 14 other former military officials received prison sentences of eight to 25 years for criminal association, kidnapping and torture. Two were found not guilty. Operation Condor affected my life, my family, Chilean Laura Elgueta told The Associated Press news agency. Her brother, Luis Elgueta, had taken refuge in Buenos Aires from General Augusto Pinochets regime, only to be forcibly disappeared in the Argentine capital in 1976 as part of Operation Condor. This trial is very meaningful because its the first time that a court is ruling against this sinister Condor plan, Elgueta said. READ MORE: Reappearing the disappeared of Operation Condor Prosecutors based their case partly on declassified US intelligence documents showing how the South American regimes worked together to track down political exiles in neighbouring countries and kill them or have them sent back to their countries. The various regimes communicated with each other using a telex system dubbed Condortel. Officers were trained to use it at the infamous School of the Americas in Panama, a US training centre that drilled repressive Latin American regimes in counterinsurgency tactics. The cases included stories such as that of Maria Garcia and Marcelo Gelman. The anti-regime couple were arrested in Argentina on August 24, 1976, and taken to a car workshop that had been transformed into a torture chamber. Gelman was killed. Garcia, who was seven months pregnant at the time, was transferred to her native Uruguay. Her family still does not know exactly what happened to her. The courts ruling was hailed by rights activists. This ruling, about the coordination of military dictatorships in the Americas to commit atrocities, sets a powerful precedent to ensure that these grave human rights violations do not ever take place again in the region, Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters news agency. EU member states need to do more to prevent deaths as peak crossing season approaches, rights groups warn. Since publishing, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that it fears more than 700 refugees may have drowned in three Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over the past few days. If confirmed, this would significantly increase the May 2016 death toll mentioned below. Rights groups and activists have urged the European Union to do more to protect refugees fleeing war and persecution after the recent deaths of scores trying to reach Europe in overcrowded boats. In three consecutive days, from Wednesday to Friday, at least 65 people were reported to have drowned as three boats heading from the Libyan coast to Italy tipped over in the Mediterranean. The Italian navy confirmed Fridays incident on Twitter, saying that it had rescued 629 people and pulled 45 corpses from the sea, adding that the search would continue for any missing bodies. The latest incidents have raised alarm among human rights groups and NGOs, who are urging EU member states to do more to protect the thousands escaping turmoil. The first thing to do is to ensure a robust search-and-rescue operation, Judith Sunderland, associate director for Europe at Human Rights Watch (HRW), told Al Jazeera. Were still pretty much at the start of peak crossing season. In the months ahead, far more work has to be done to prevent these deaths. Policy response has not been up to the challenge, even though we do have to recognise the much greater efforts in the past two years, since 2014. From January 1 to May 25 this year, at least 1,475 died making the journey to Europe by sea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This is an improvement over last year, when 1,828 refugees and migrants died in the first five months of 2015. None of the deaths this month occurred on the eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece, where arrivals have slowed to a trickle since the EU struck a deal with Ankara to curb the flow. HRWs Sunderland said the EUs naval mission in the Mediterranean Operation Sophia aimed at checking undocumented migration could be exacerbating the danger. READ MORE: The booming fake passport market for refugees in Athens Action by Operation Sophia could have led smugglers to adapt their methods in ways that imperil people on these journeys even more than before, explained HRWs Sunderland, adding that more lives could be saved simply by using available data. The sea is a vast area, but most tragedies happen within a contained area, close to the North African coast. There is a lot of data and analysis out there to pinpoint where boats and the rescue and search operation are most needed. A lot of NGOs have responded in a very robust way [with rescue boats], which should be the responsibility of coastal states and the EU in solidarity. Smugglers from the Libyan coast are also increasingly using rubber rafts, which, as opposed to the relatively safer wooden boats, are more likely to leak gas, get punctured and sink, Sunderland said. Ferries, not Frontex Alarmphone is one of the NGOs trying to help. The transnational network of activist and migrant groups is located on both sides of the Mediterranean and provides a 24-hour hotline for refugees in distress at sea. We still see [recent] fatalities where the exact number of drowned people is not clear because the EU is keeping up its border and visa regime, closing borders and erecting fences, a spokesman from Alarmphone told Al Jazeera. Although the EU spends a lot of money on [the EU border agency] Frontex and border controls, they are not willing to spend money on saving refugees lives, he added. Last year, the group received distress calls from more than 1,200 boats. OPINION: The EU can learn from Turkeys refugee experience If only there were legal and safe migration routes, nobody would have to die at sea In this sense, we say: ferries, not Frontex, said the spokesman. He added that the EU-Turkey deal, which effectively closed the eastern Mediterranean route, would spur more to find other ways to reach Europe. Moreover, Niels Frenzen, director of the Immigration Clinic at USC Gould School of Law, said the EU-Turkey deal had lowered the sea-crossing death toll, but it was far too early to draw any conclusion, as the peak of the crossing season is yet to come. Central Mediterranean route Those travelling on the central Mediterranean route via Libya are largely from countries such as Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, and Ivory Coast, according to the IOM. Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis and Iranians, meanwhile, tend to use the Greece-bound route from Turkey. Increased border controls and increased militarisation do not solve the bigger problems faced by those people who are forced to move, Frenzen said. And the closing of borders, detaining of migrants and asylum seekers, the focus on smugglers and destroying smuggler boats, are tactics that are not humanitarian or legal in nature. More than one million refugees arrived in Europe last year. With 3,771 deaths, 2015 was the deadliest year on record for migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe, the IOM has said. By comparison, 3,279 deaths were recorded in the Mediterranean in 2014. Follow Anealla Safdar on Twitter: @anealla Ex-world leaders hold secret talks with opposition leaders and government officials to defuse the political standoff. A group of former presidents has held secret meetings in the Dominican Republic with Venezuelan officials and government opponents in an attempt to mediate the South American nations political standoff, an opposition leader has confirmed. Jesus Torrealba, executive secretary of the opposition alliance, confirmed on Saturday that the meetings, which were initiated under the auspices of the Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR, took place. But he said there was no face-to-face encounter, and instead the two sides exchanged messages through the ex-presidents. The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with Congress after the opposition won a sweeping legislative majority last year. The government-backed newspaper Ciudad Caracas described the encounter as an exploratory meeting for the start of dialogue, adding that the meeting included ex-leaders of Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Inside Story: Is Venezuela on the brink of collapse? Rodriguez retweeted state-run broadcaster Telesur saying the government had met the opposition. A Foreign Ministry official however, declined to comment. The head of Venezuelas MUD opposition coalition tweeted: There is no opposition-government meeting in the Dominican. Representatives of the coalition are attending a meeting with [the ex-presidents]. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that dialogue would simply allow the government to buy time and that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote. A dialogue effort in 2014 brought the two sides together amid months of violent anti-government street protests that have left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the talks did not produce any substantive agreements. Opposition leaders accuse the National Election Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 percent, according to local pollster Datanalisis. They also say that the ruling Socialist party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December. Maduro insists his government is the victim of an economic war led by business leaders with the backing of Washington. Turkey accuses the US of siding with a banned Kurdish group, while Washington says the YPG is crucial in defeating ISIL. Turkey calls them terrorists. The US sees them as allies against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). Kurdish forces in Syria have been working with the US army for months now. But Turkey found out this week that American troops have been wearing the Kurdish groups insignia. And they are not happy about it. US troops say they were wearing it to blend in. The YPG is an armed group made up mostly of Syrian Kurds. And they are one of the most effective groups fighting against ISIL in Syria right now. But Turkey says its an extension of the banned PKK, that has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy for three decades. So, how will this spat between Turkey and the US impact the ongoing war in Syria? Presenter: Martine Dennis Guests: Metin Gurcan, former Turkish military officer and a columnist for Al-Monitor. Rebwar Fatah, founder and managing director of Middle East Consultancy. Mike Lyons, senior fellow at the Truman National Security Project. Plus, why this famous fashion blogger refuses to wear makeup, Rooney Mara's major hair-color change, and the dangers of Dormant Butt Syndrome. Six perfect hairstyles for Memorial Day Weekend, no heat styling required. [Byrdie] Why this famous fashion blogger refuses to wear makeup, no matter what online commenters say. [Man Repeller] Victoria's Secret Angels swear by this workout. [Glamour] Sad news, '90s kids: Claire's may soon be no more. [The Frisky] Rooney Mara joined the ranks of platinum-haired celebs. [Elle] The style rules French girls use to look slim. [WhoWhatWear] Five reasons to embrace your pale skin this summer. [PopSugar] How to keep your perfume from spoiling. [Fashionista] What is Dormant Butt Syndrome, and do you have it? [Glamour] Halsey just went back to her rootsblue roots, that is. [Teen Vogue] These oil-free face lotions will get you through the sweaty summer months. [Bustle] Try this braided ponytail: AR's Editor Joe Shea Talks About Elections On Iranian TV Bear Stearns Saved By Fed As Lehman Bros. Falters; Major Bank Failure Looms Over Wall Street, Sends Markets Into 200-Pt. Dive Lie Upon Lie Five Years Into the Iraq War The Administration Still Churns Out Lies by Randolph Holhut A Small Tragedy Even at 90, As Friends Turn Cool She Knows the Show Must Go On by Joyce Marcel I'll Take Me Imagine John Wayne or Arnold In Heels, Silk and a Girdle by Elizabeth Andrews Sen. Nelson Calls For New Fla. Primary; Gov Crist Backs 'Do-Over' Who'll Win? Ask Spock Spock.com Engine Predicts Winners By Site Searches; It Can be Wrong by Jay Bhatti Chatting Up The Cat God Gave Me Dominion Over Him But I Think He's a Non-Believer by Constance Daley Death of a Thug The Life and Horrors of Suharto by Andreas Harsono ___________________________ This Just In Sierra Club: McCain Ducked All 15 Key Votes On Green Laws (AR) A Work By AR's T.S. Kerrigan Is Chosen As 'Best Poem' By Wordpress Site Murder At Mile 63 The Deadly Assault and Bush Administration Cover-Up by S. Eben Kirkesby and Andreas Harsono 5427 14th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34207 $6.99 Fish Fridays! Manatee Co.'s Only 24-Hr. FREE Wi-Fi Paid Advertisement On Native Ground AFTER 5 YEARS, WE'RE STILL LIED TO ABOUT IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Next week is the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And it is likely that sometime in the next couple of weeks, the 4,000th American soldier will die in Iraq. [MORE] Momentum OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - It's 1931, and a 14-year-old girl is standing alone on a stage. She's small and lively with dark curly hair, widespread hazel eyes, slender wrists and an open, eager face filled with the wonder of performing. Her name is Rose, and one day she will be my mother. But now she is performing an Eugene O'Neill monologue called "Before Breakfast" for a ladies' club in a wealthy suburb of Long Island. [MORE] One Woman's World COMFORTABLE WITH MYSELF by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I'm not sure but I think I may be socially incorrect. [MORE] On Native Ground ENOUGH FOR A WAR, NOT FOR A PEOPLE by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Last week, the National Governors Assn. met in Washington, D.C. One of the tasks the NGA had on its agenda was to ask President Bush to increase federal spending on roads, bridges and other public works projects as a way to stimulate the economy. He rejected their pleas out of hand, claiming that infrastructure projects wouldn't offer any short-term economic boost. [MORE] Brasch Words BEWARE THE SELF-REVERENTIAL PRESS by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Shortly before the primary votes this past week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter called Sen. Barack Obama's surge to the Democratic nomination "inevitable." It also called for Hillary Clinton to "start her campaign for Senate majority leader." [MORE] Constance A CONVERSATION WITH MY CAT Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Normally, when the cat starts his evening rant of meowing continuously until he makes his point, I just take it as long as I can, pick him up, and put him in the garage for the night. He doesn't want to go, but the meowing stops and I don't care if he likes it or not. [MORE] Momentum OUT OF STRUGGLE, ART by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Here we are again at the crossroads of art and social change, having the opportunity to watch good and great films about the lives of women in support of the Women's Crisis Center. [MORE] Campaign 2008 HOW TO PREDICT SUPER TUESDAY II WINNERS? ONLINE SEARCH by Jay Bhatti NEW YORK, March 4, 2008, 7:00PM ET -- With the outcomes of the Texas, Vermont, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries to be decided tonight, how possible is it that online searching can predict who will win tonight's primaries? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T VOTE; IT ENCOURAGES THEM by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Call me angry and disgusted but don't call me un-American because I won't be voting come November. [MORE] On Native Ground BUSH AND THE KEYBOARD COMMANDOS by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the days tick down toward the eventual departure of President George W. Bush from the White House, it's a hopeful sign that most Americans are no longer moved by his Administration's constant exploitation of terrorism for political gain. [MORE] Momentum WHICH AMERICA DO YOU LIVE IN? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- It's a little confusing. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] On Native Ground FIDEL RETIRES: NOW THE COLD WAR IS REALLY OVER by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Maybe now, we can finally say the Cold War is over. [MORE] Make My Dat THE LAWYER THAT ATE NEW YORK by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- I used to know a guy who, quite literally, didn't get hyperbole. He didn't understand exaggeration. As a result, he missed most jokes that came his way. [MORE] One Woman's World POLITICS IS NO PARTY by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- Are you having a hard time focusing your eyes? Do you have faint red spots all over your body? Is there a ringing in your ears and do you see wavy lines when you look at your television set? Do your hands shake when you try to hold a cup of coffee? And have you recently been forgetting what day of the week it is - or what year? [MORE] Make My Day FOR BETTER OR WORSE ... A LOT WORSE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- "Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse." [MORE] Constance YOU CALL THESE RIGHTS? by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- When you express an opinion you hope to persuade others to your point of view. It doesn't always happen but still, opinion writers try. [MORE] Momentum THE BRIDGE WOMAN by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - Out there in America - yes, still - is a generation of women who were born in the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and who came to radical consciousness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I am one of them. Hillary Clinton is one of them. [MORE] On Native Ground OBAMA AND MY GENERATION by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- I originally planned on voting for Dennis Kucinich in the Vermont Primary on March 4. [MORE] The Willies: WARNING: THIS MEDICATION MAY MURDER YOUR FRIENDS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla. -- You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Stop Prozac and you may take a shotgun, an Uzi or an AK-47 and mow down your family and friends, or even a whole classroom full of your fellow students. You didn't? Well, that warning is not on the bottle, but like countless mass-murder incidents before it, Friday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Virginia Tech shootings that killed 32 last year, was probably precipitated by the effect of stopping medications that suppress anger and other powerful emotions but do not relieve the underlying cause. Isn't it time we started warning people - or stopped prescribing these medicines? [MORE] One Woman's World DON'T KNOCK ON MY DOOR by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- I wish I could feel delight in my poet's mansion being like Grand Central Station all the time, but I can't. And I wish my place was such a place that someone would one day write: "Her door was always open and she always made you feel all fuzzy and warm in her presence. She could make a cup of coffee seem like a banquet." [MORE] Reporting: Panama PANAMA'S VIOLENT LABOR UNREST INTENSIFIES Mark Scheinbaum PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb, 15, 2008 -- After just one day of relative calm, wildcat construction strikes by some members of Panama's largest union flared up again Friday morning, four days after a police sniper shot one worker. More than 140 demonstrators have been injured and at least 500 arrested, authorities say. [MORE] Brasch Words TO STIMULATE ECONOMY, BUY A CHINESE-MADE U.S. FLAG by Walter Brasch BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler. [MORE] Make My Day THE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- To commemorate the death of noted shark exploder Roy Scheider, and the "Jaws" movies that resulted in Erik never setting foot in the ocean again, we are reprinting this column from 2003. Shark Experts 0, Sharks 1 [MORE] Momentum THE WINTER OF MY DISCONTENT by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. - As I write this, it's raining ice. Maybe a half a foot of snow and ice has already landed up here in the woods of Dummerston. Our cars are encased in it, and the door to the house is blocked. The satellite dish that brings in our Internet service quit about 20 minutes ago - frozen solid. [MORE] The Willies AMERICA TO HILLARY: GET OUT! by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 13, 2008 -- Sen. Hillary Clinton has adopted the Rudy Giuliani strategy, and it's working - for Sen. Barack Obama. It turns out to be the strategy all Democrats are seeking - an exit strategy. But it's not for Iraq. It's for her exit from the race for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. [MORE] Constance CONFESSIONS OF A DISAPPOINTED VOTER by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- A week ago at just about this time, I completed an article and was about to submit it as scheduled to The American Reporter. I was feeling rather elated, ready to show up on Super Tuesday morning, firmly touch the X next to Rudy Giuliani's name and get on with my day. He was my choice; he would get my vote. [MORE] Reporting: Florida SIERRA CLUB SET TO SUSPEND FLA. CHAPTER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 10, 2008 -- The national Sierra Club is set to suspend its Florida chapter after years of divisive infighting, the president of the national club told Florida members in a letter delivered to some this weekend. It is the first time in its 116-year history that such a step has been considered by the club, according to news reports. [MORE] One Woman's World PLANT A NEW WORLD THIS SPRING by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- For a little while, the men will just have to toss and turn in their fear-free-women beds. For a small space of time Hillary Clinton will just have to trudge on toward the White House without my faint applause in the background. [MORE] On Native Ground VERMONT AND THE 5 STAGES OF CONSERVATIVE GRIEF by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- First, Vermont tried to convince the nation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. [MORE] Make My Day REBEL WITHOUT A TONGUE by Erik Deckers INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kids' brains work in amazing ways. At times, they can grasp complex concepts and make impressive discoveries. Other times, you have to wonder how we ever survived as a species. [MORE] The Willies FOR DEMOCRATS, NOW IT'S ABOUT RACE, INCOME AND GENDER by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Feb. 6, 2008 -- It's not a good time to be a Democrat. As the Super Tuesday results demonstrated, the presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the partly along clear racial, income and gender lines - the very distinctions the party has sought to erase in principle but has emphasized in its pursuit of diversity. [MORE] Momentum SUPER TUESDAY BLUES by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Super Tuesday has come and gone and I still can't get excited about the upcoming presidential elections. [MORE] The Willies ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY, YOUR PUSH IS NEEDED by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Feb. 5. 2008 -- I'm expecting a sea change tonight. I believe that for the first time in this nation's history we will once and forever banish racism as the deciding factor in the destiny of African-Americans, and indeed adopt diversity as our path to the future. [MORE] Campaign 2008 AT 88, EVERY VOTE REALLY COUNTS by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 5, 2008 -- Pearl Turner will caucus for Mitt Romney tonight in Denver. [MORE] One Woman's World STAND BY YOUR WOMAN by Elizabeth T. Andrews CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- The black vote. The gay vote. The fundamentalist vote. The Hispanic vote. [MORE] An AR Special SUSPECTS IN BENAZIR ASSASSINATION HAVE TIES TO MUSHARRAF by Ahmar Mustikhan WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Gordon Brown this past Monday feted coup-leader-turned-President Pervez Musharraf at 10 Downing Street, Britain's new prime minister probably didn't ask the Pakistani dictator a question that is now on many minds: Did you order the murder of Benazir Bhutto? [MORE] Momentum TO THE VERMONT DELEGATION: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? by Joyce Marcel DUMMERSTON, Vt. Back when President George W. Bush and Dick Vice President Dick Cheney were building up to their loathsome war in Iraq, very few people were brave enough to call the bullies' bluff. [MORE] On Native Ground IF BUSH HAS HIS WAY, WE'LL NEVER LEAVE IRAQ by Randolph T. Holhut DUMMERSTON, Vt. - In his final State of the Union address on Jan. 28, President Bush cautioned against accelerating U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, saying that it would endanger the process that has been made over the past year. [MORE] Campaign 2008 CLASH OF COMMENTS AND PROTESTORS AT CLINTON, OBAMA RALLIES IN DENVER by Ted Manna DENVER, Feb. 1, 2008 -- At least four presidential campaigns of both partiers rolled into in Denver this week ahead of the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 22 states, but it was the Democratic presidential contenders who drew the big crowds and duked it out Wednesday. If sheer numbers are any indication, Sen. Barack Obama - preceded by a buoyant and beautiful Caroline Kennedy - won the round handily. He is the overwhelming favorite to win the Colorado primary next Tuesday. [MORE] The Willies WHY THE FLORIDA PRIMARY STINKS by Joe Shea BRADENTON, Fla., Jan. 30, 2008 -- I was with my wife and daughter driving the back way from Miami home to Bradenton when we stopped at a McDonald's in Clewiston, the only big town along the vast shore of Lake Okeechobee, the state's precious freshwater reservoir. The McDonald's had three televisions at a central seating area, each tuned to a different network, and our table was in front of CNN as the very first election results started to pour in around 7:30PM. With them, almost as counterpoint, suddenly came such an overwhelming odor of cow plop that my wife started to throw up as we all ran to the parking lot. [MORE] Passings: Suharto DEATH OF A KEMUSU THUG by Andreas Harsono JAKARTA - A few minutes after hearing that former president Suharto had died in his hospital bed, Marco, a militia leader in downtown Jakarta, raced to Suhartos house, wearing his jungle camouflage and began guarding the Suhartos residence on Cendana Street. [MORE] Constance I REMEMBER YOU by Constance Daley ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. -- It seems to be more often lately that the sentiment is spoken but it's always been out there: "You never get over the death of your child." This is true. But the heartfelt expressions come from some who cannot fathom the notion of losing a child; their own child is who is in their mind, not another mother's child. [MORE] It wasnt quite an apology at Hiroshima, though some might argue that President Obamas mere presence at the site of the worlds first use of nuclear weapons was itself an apology. What it was a reiteration of President Obamas mantra that our weapons are the threat, whether guns or nukes, and not the criminals and tyrants that would use them against us. As the New York Times reported his remarks: We may not be able to eliminate mans capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances that we form must possess the means to defend ourselves. 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. And yet that is not enough. For we see around the world today how even the crudest rifles and barrel bombs can serve up violence on a terrible scale. We must change our mind-set about war itself. To prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after theyve begun. This is a rehash of what he said in Prague in October, 2009: So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons the United States will take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons. To put an end to Cold War thinking, we will reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, and urge others to do the same. Munich, Mr. President, was an attempt to prevent conflict through diplomacy. Appeasement brought on World War II, not any arms buildup. We ignored Hitlers global game plan, outlined in Mein Kampf, just as we ignored the plans of Imperial Japan. We ignored Japans aggression against China. We ignored the rape of Nanking. The road to Hiroshima began at Pearl Harbor. World War II was not caused by our battleships, Mr. President. It was caused by the ambitions of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. We ignored them, just as your are ignoring the ambitions of Putin's Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. As Investors Business Daily editorialized in 2013, it is the policy of Peace Through Strength, not the absence of weapons that deters both war and aggression: When Kennedy proclaimed Ich bin ein Berliner in June 1963, it was a statement of solidarity with the free people of West Berlin and a pledge of resistance to the tyranny that surrounded it. It was not an act of appeasement or a vain hope for peace in our time. Similarly, Kennedy said in his 1961 inaugural address that only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed. The next year, Kennedy used our supremacy to make the Soviets blink during the Cuban missile crisis. Obama probably would have apologized for threatening Cuba. Ronald Reagan, who in June 1987 stood in West Berlin to demand that Mikhail Gorbachev tear down the Berlin Wall, spent his presidency rephrasing Kennedys doctrine as peace through strength. He built a 600-ship Navy, launched the Strategic Defense Initiative and, when Gorbachev in October 1986 in Iceland demanded he give it up, told him, Nyet! The result was the Berlin Wall came down -- and the Soviet Union with it. It was Obamas vision of a world without nuclear weapons set out in a speech in Prague in 2009, three months into his presidency, that arguably earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. He ignored the fact that before 1945 we lived in such a world, and it was neither peaceful nor secure. It is arguable that U.S. possession of nuclear weapons prevented World War III. Obama forgets that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the end result of murderous tyrants seeking to extinguish freedom and liberty throughout the world. He ignores what the world would have been like if Japan had won or got the atomic bomb before we did. It is not nuclear weapons that threaten us, but rather the tyrants and terrorists that would use them against us. We are not threatened by French, British, or Indian nukes. We are threatened by those in the hands of China, Russia, and North Korea, and someday, thanks to his appeasement, Iran If President Obama were truly wants a world without nuclear weapons, why does he reduce our nuclear and defensive arsenal while ignoring things like Russias violation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty? It does not bode well that an Obama administration that assures us that the nuclear deal with Iran will not be violated by the mullahs is clearly looking the other way as Irans ally, Russia, blatantly violates the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty signed with the former Soviet Union. The Obama White House is sitting on a Pentagon risk assessment report completed last month that states that the breach involved a new missile that violates the limits set by the treaty. The treaty bans holding, producing, or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles with ranges of between 310 miles and 3,418 miles. As Bill Gertz reports in the Washington Examiner: At the Pentagon, spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said: The Chairmans assessment of Russias Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty violation is classified and not releasable to the public. Hicks said, however, that steps are being taking across the government to address Russias violation of the treaty, including preserving military response options -- but no decision has been made with regard to the type of response, if any. "If any" means that nothing likely will be done either in terms of sanctions over the development and testing of the Russian RS300 cruise missile or in the deployment of additional missile defenses in Eastern Europe that might offend President Obamas untrustworthy friend, Russian president Vladimir Putin After all, President Obama has pulled the rug out from under our allies, notably Poland and the Czech Republic, before. When President Obama took office in January, 2009, sitting on his desk were President George W. Bushs plans for the deployment of ground-based missile interceptors, such as are deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, in Poland as well as missile defense radars in the Czech Republic, As Investors Business Daily noted over a year ago, President Obama had other plans and his betrayal of our allies was ironically exquisite: Yet within hours of Medvedev's election as president in 2008, the Russian announced that Moscow would deploy SS-26 missiles in his country's enclave of Kaliningrad situated between our NATO allies Poland and Lithuania. He wanted the U.S. to abandon plans to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and warning radars in the Czech Republic designed to counter a future threat from Iran. What did President Obama do? He caved in and notified the Poles in a midnight phone call on Sept. 17, 2009 -- the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland -- that we were pulling the plug on that system due to Russian objections. Putin then watched in 2012 as Obama promised Medvedev at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, that after his re-election he would have more "flexibility" to weaken missile defense, which would help him fulfill his dream of U.S. disarmament. A world without nuclear weapons or a world without resistance to tyrants? Putin knows full well Obamas weakness in responding to any foreign threat to U.S. interests and security. President Obama is the Neville Chamberlain of this century, promising peace in our time as he invites war with weakness, disarmament, apologies, and appeasement. Daniel John Sobieski is a free lance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. The left says no one should bring up, let alone discuss, Bill Clinton's long-ago egregious behavior with numerous women as Governor or Arkansas, or his truly disgusting behavior with Monica Lewinsky when he was President. Hmmm. And yet Bill Cosby is being tried for his bad acts committed years ago -- and the left is on board with that; Cosby had the gall to address the black community with some common sense advice, making him not only fair game but a likely target. Cosby likely is guilty of the acts for which he is accused but so is Bill Clinton. The left says Hillary has committed no crimes, no violations of the laws meant to protect our national security with her oh-so-calculated private server. People, like Gen. Petraeus, have been jailed or fined for a single violation of just one of those laws; Hillary has violated those same laws many times. Different standard? Of course. The left is all about the destruction of the Constitution, about smashing the traditional values of conservatives. Election laws? Not for them. Out-of-wedlock children? Cool. Promiscuity? Extra cool. Gay marriage? Mandatory. Trangenderism? Really cool. Legislate acceptance of all of the above? Grand slam. Christianity? Judiasm? No longer acceptable in the Obama era. Must be punished. The left long ago took over the indoctrination of our youth. Teach critical thinking? No way. The youth of America must be indoctrinated in the ways of the left. Gender? No such thing...it's a spectrum with many stops on the line. There is no such thing as male and female. No. That has been deemed politically incorrect in the extreme. Words? If deemed detrimental by the left they are more harmful than physical violence; the youth must be protected from any words that may offend their tender sensibilities so carefully cultivated from kindergarten through high school. By the time for university, our youth have been carefully taught. Those not inculcated with the culture of victimhood, American-born Caucasians, will have learned to loathe their "white privilege." They will know to never pick up a book that has been relegated to the trash bin by the left. This would include nearly every book ever written by a white male. White women are equally suspect. Those who have been taught that they are victims of a racist culture will embrace their victimhood and thus their entitlement to revenge and retribution. Authors like Jane Austen have been discarded and replaced by those authors who can reliably claim oppression, no matter how inferior their works are to the classics we once revered for what they taught about the human condition without regard for race or creed. The study of Western Civilization has been discarded at Stanford! At hundreds of other colleges as well. Of course it has. Western civilization, its literature, its music, its miraculous scientific advances, etc. is racist, don't we know. As John Hinderaker wrote at PowerLine, our government has become a "fish rotting from the head" under Obama. His presidency is corrupt; the Dept. of Justice, our EPA, the IRS, the ATF, and perhaps even the FBI if they do not refer Hillary Clinton for indictment for her crimes. This administration is a rotting behemoth to be sure. The Republican DC establishment is equally corrupt; they have done little to stop Obama's extra-Constitutional power grabs for seven and a half years. So afraid of being labeled "racist," so determined to retain their privileged positions and their perks, they have let this anti-American President eviscerate our military, alienate our allies, impose many thousands of mandated "regulations" by fiat, destroy the educational system with Common Core, a conspiracy to mystify math if there ever was one, blatantly enrich his friends via the "stimulus," and to force his anti-Christian, anti-Semitic agenda on what was once the one true democratic republic on the planet, the one country with an economic system that made the "American dream" a reality possible for all. With the will, there was a way. In short, Obama came into the office determined, along with his alter ego Valerie Jarrett and his mind-melded Ben Rhodes, to take the country down and that he has done with astonishing success. Conservative writer and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza served time in prison for a single campaign finance violation, a $20k donation to a friend. That is how this White House rolls. The Clintons have violated all such laws from the moment they entered the political realm in Arkansas. Their entire life in "public service" has been about enriching themselves. In just two years Hillary "earned" $21 million giving short speeches to the biggest banks in the country. And as anyone paying attention knows, the Clinton Foundation is a scam of staggering proportions. Its donors pay for "speeches," for access, present or future, for favors, present or future. The Clintons are a truly malevolent couple. They care nothing for the poor, for African-Americans, for Hispanics, LGBTs, etc. Not one bit. They are shallow, callow and greedy, the worst of what America has produced over its two-hundred and forty years. The Founders would be horrified. They would likely be shocked by the rise of Donald Trump as well. As am I. But given the criminality of the Clintons, I will be voting for the man who at least loves the country that made him rich. Hillary Clinton was serving as the United States Secretary of State in 2011 when word came of Muammar Kaddafis bloody lynching by a Libyan mob. The death followed upon the heels of Madame Secretarys visit to Libya. That prompted her to laugh. She boasted to reporters: We came, we saw, he died. History does not record the reaction of President Harry Truman to the death by suicide of Hitler. Nor that of President Eisenhower when told that Stalin had just died in the Kremlin. Both presidents, we may assume, took care not to be seen gloating even in the death of an enemy. That ugly Hillary scene should give us pause. What kind of person greets the killing of even a very bad man with such chortling? [I say this as one whose college friend was among those murdered by Kaddafi in the bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.] There is something fundamentally rotten in a person who laughs at murder. We already know that this woman is fundamentally corrupt. An excellent Washington Examiner column by Tim Carney concisely makes the case for the crooked operation that is the Clinton machine. Cruel and corrupt, she is also a discredit to womanhood. She is the worst woman to be our first woman president. She has covered up and excused her husbands goatish conduct for decades. Without apologizing to that vast right wing conspiracy she falsely blamed for the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair, she admitted to being the last of 150 million women to figure out that Bill was lying. There is probably no other liberal Democratic woman in Congress who would put up with her husbands womanizing. But she does so because he smoothes her path to power. Reject her. A historian friend challenges my characterization of Trump as the worst man to run for president. Worse than Aaron Burr? At least Trump has not shot a political opponent to death in a duel, as Burr did Alexander Hamilton. At least Trump has not tried to detach the Western U.S. from the rest of the country, as Burr did. Give him time, I say. We already know that Trump is thoroughly corrupt. Like Burr, he will laugh up his sleeve at any deal he makes with you. That was Hamiltons warning to Federalists who thought they could help Burr slip past his running mate Thomas Jefferson into the White House. Trump is now attacking Hillary Clinton. He was a Clinton donor for years. He thought shed be a terrific secretary of state. He bribed her repeatedly, he says. He wanted her to show up at his third wedding and to bring her sexual predator husband. They would stand next to Trump and his latest Hottie wife. Trump would then introduce Bill Clinton to his own daughter. She is so alluring, he says, that he would chamber her himself if it were not for rules on incest. But he had no problem letting predator Bill sidle up to her. This is the man who tells us hed surround himself with the best people. The Wall Street Journal in this report exposed Trumps Goodfella pals. Trump told the Journal he didnt know those associates were Mob-controlled. Amazing. He also tells us hes really smart. Mr. Really Smart was the last of 19.5 million New Yorkers who did not know the Mob runs cement contracting in the City. Trump has stirred the cauldron for every crazed conspiracy theorist in the country. He is the darling of what Theodore Roosevelt playfully labeled the lunatic fringe. He fails what I have called The Alamogordo Test for Presidential Candidates. Americans are too sensible to entrust such a loon with nuclear weapons. Reject him. We must have an honorable alternative to these two odious candidates. The nomination system of the two parties is the result of Nixons schemes and McGoverns dreams. It has worn about as well as bell-bottoms and mood rings. It has obviously broken down. But the Constitution stands. We can put before the American people a candidate who can command support from conservatives, moderates, and independents, and even gain a measure of respect from liberals. The Founders created the Electoral College for just such an emergency. An independent candidate would gain massive publicity and strong support from millions of Americans who yearn for a third choice. Columnist Jim Glassman shows that, by 2-1, Americans desperately want another choice in November. An independent candidate is also the only way to keep Republicans from being wiped out in down-ballot races this fall. Even those Vichy Republicans who have bowed to Trumps inevitability may soon be crying out for an honorable alternative. Lets give those millions a reason to come out to vote. For the last 100 years our grand political debate has centered on the tension between the principles and mechanics of the Constitution and the ideals of the Progressive movement. Under FDR the Progressives became known as liberals, but the term Progressivism has re-emerged under Hillary, who described herself as a Progressive Democrat in order to distinguish herself from the self-proclaimed socialist who has trumped her partys nomination process. The early Progressives sought changes necessitated by rapid economic growth and industrialization. They regulated food and drugs, interstate commerce, labor laws, and successfully sought to break up monopolies and trusts that they thought had gained too much economic and political power. Woodrow Wilson believed in a unified will of the voters, molded by strong leaders, and a professionally staffed administrative institution to manage government much as the new managerial class was running large businesses. Wilson was critical of the structural constraints of the Constitution designed by the Founders. The Progressives sought to tilt the balance of power substantially from the states to the federal government, contending that parochial interests centered in Congress made national action too difficult and incohesive. Eventually the strong leaders and compliant courts succeeded in implementing the Progressive agenda. The administrative state became a large regulatory state and gave birth to the welfare state. In Relic. How Our Constitution Undermines Effective Government--and Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency by William Howell and Terry Moe, Wilsons political theories are rejuvenated as the authors seek a second age of Progressivism. They lament the inability of the Congress to overcome partisan and parochial interests and blame the structure of the Constitution. Their solution is greater legislative authority for the president. Specifically, they propose to grant the president fast track authority on all policy matters, not just trade negotiations. The president would draft policy legislation, submit it to Congress who would vote it up or down in a limited period with no amendments. If the Congress refuses to take a vote the proposal would become law. In the view of the authors, the president is more focused on national concerns and is able to make policy on complicated and important issues without the distraction of special interests and parochial concerns. Since Congress can vote no on the bill, the president would have to consider the will of Congress and would be unable to unilaterally impose radical changes on the American people. Harold and Moe are unable or unwilling to find fault with the past results of the Progressive policies. While there is much to agree with them on the difficulty of Congress to enact major policy changes from either party, there is also much to be concerned about with their solution. The Founders may have failed to imagine the kinds of changes the country faced a century ahead, but their concern was not the efficiency of government, but the misuse of its power. Thus they dispersed it between the states and the federal government and among the three branches. The great challenge for the modern Progressives is to make the government more responsive to current needs without losing sight of the potential for the abuse of its power. Wilson thought this concern for circumscribing political power was an outdated concept, and the authors of Relic clearly agree. But many do not agree. Author Randy Barnett in Our Republican Constitution. Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People takes an opposing viewpoint: our problem lies not in the structure of our Constitution but in our efforts to stray from its essential principles. Our unelected Administrative State acting like a fourth branch of government has bypassed constitutional constraints and electoral accountability. Our courts have strayed from the mission of protecting individual constitutional rights to upholding majoritarian democracy. Justice John Roberts said it is not the job of the courts to correct bad legislation, but critics contend that the courts should oppose unconstitutional legislation. That line has become quite blurred. Howell and Moe presume that the president is purer in his motivation by his concern for his legacy. I do not find comfort with that thought. An unrestrained ego seeking a place in history can yield great reforms, but it can also drive destructive actions. The thought that Congress can vote the presidents fast track policy legislation up or down offers little comfort. There are periods where the president can count on a very compliant Congress. The ACA was such a case. While our constitutional constraints make comprehensive legislation difficult they also provide a needed break on bad legislation. Barnett notes that the regulatory bureaucracies have upset the balance of power, making reversal of administrative rules extremely difficult. We have found a way to work around the Constitution to pass rules in a branch without accountability yet can invoke the Constitution to block any correction. Perhaps Relic fails most in its assumption that centralized decision making is more likely to be correct than decentralized decisions. There is a myopic view that all great problems require systemic solutions, or that several smaller problems indicate a systemic problem. This complex approach hides costs and pretends that difficult decisions do not exist. We end up with reforms to correct the problems brought by our previous reforms. We should avoid bestowing power on any position without picturing our worst nightmare in that position able to exercise that power. Charles Cooke at National Review suggested that the potential for a Donald Trump presidency may make even the Progressives reconsider their fondness for greater executive power. In the aftermath of Watergate, Congress saw fit to reduce executive power. The prospect of the candidates in front of us may unite the parties in appreciating the limits the framers saw fit to impose. It is the Progressive agenda that is becoming the relic, not the Constitution. Henry Oliner blogs at www.rebelyid.com A 70-year-old Christian woman was stripped naked, savagely beaten, and paraded in the streets of Egypt to jeers, whistles, and yells of "Allahu Akbar" after a mob of some 300 Muslim men descended on her house. Her crime? Her son is falsely accused of having a romantic relationship with a Muslim woman, which is banned by Islamic law, or sharia the same body of teachings that prescribes the collective punishment of non-Muslim "infidels." Seven other Christian homes were also torched by the mob. The attacks occurred in Minya, Upper Egypt, on May 20, a Friday the one day of the week when Muslims congregate in mosques and listen to sermons, and the one day of the week when most Muslim mob attacks on Christians occur. While on the ground being kicked, cursed, and spat upon, Sa'd Thabet, the Christian grandmother, managed to slide herself underneath a wagon. While hidden there, an unidentified woman slipped her some garments, and the traumatized woman eventually managed to escape. "I never saw the woman who covered me and don't know how I survived," she said during a closed meeting with some clergymen of the Coptic Christian Orthodox Church. They testified that her body was covered with wounds, adding that "though she is strong, it is sometimes hard for her to speak; she's always fighting back tears and sometimes breaks down." Prior to the attack on Thabet, her household had been receiving threats for some time. On the morning of the assault, some of the home's property was stolen and vandalized. She and her husband went to local police, who responded by threatening them and kicking them out of the station. A few hours later, around 8 pm, the attack occurred. It took the same local police over two hours to appear, by which time the "avenged" Muslim mob had dispersed. When asked why she reported the incident four days after it happened, Thabet said: "I tried to hide and suppress what happened, but I could only take the feelings of humiliation and oppression for four days, at which point I decided to return to the local police station and testify about what happened to me before those who had refused to hear me." She is hardly the first Christian woman in Egypt to be treated so. In 2013, Muslim Brotherhood supporters "burned down a Christian school, paraded three nuns on the streets like 'prisoners of war,' and sexually abused two other female staff even as at least 58 attacks on Christians and their property were reported across Egypt over the last four days. At least two Christians have died in the attacks." Nor is this an "Egyptian" phenomenon; it's an "Islamic" one. In Pakistan, a 28-year-old pregnant Christian mother of four was stripped naked, beaten, and forced to walk nude in her town by two Muslim brothers following an argument. She lost her baby in the ordeal, which "was motivated because of Bibi's [Christian] religious beliefs." Similarly, a Muslim family kidnapped, beat, and left naked on the streets an 8-year-old Christian girl as a way to "punish" her uncle for pursuing a relationship with a female member of the Muslim family. In short, every aspect of this most recent attack is part of a well established pattern that has played over in Egypt, Pakistan, and other Muslim-majority nations innumerable times: a Christian is (often falsely) accused of some infraction; his family and possibly entire village is savagely attacked, beaten, raped, and mugged by the mob; and police take their time to arrive and do little when there. In 2012, after 3,000 Muslims attacked the Christians of a village near Alexandria, it took the army an hour to arrive, even though they were only one mile away. "This happens every time. They wait outside the village until the Muslims have had enough violence, then they appear," said a witness. As Minya's most senior Christian cleric, Anba Makarios, put it during a televised interview about Thabet's ordeal, if a Muslim man were involved with a Christian woman, police's response "would not have been anything like what happened. ... No one did anything, and the police took no pre-emptive or security measures in anticipation of the attacks. We are not living in a jungle or a tribal society." Unfortunately, the good priest is wrong. Islamic culture founded as it is by an Arab tribesman is inherently tribal. The umma is the super-tribe of Islam, meaning Muslims side with Muslims against all "infidels" that is, outsiders even if the latter are good and fair to them, according to the doctrine of "loyalty and enmity." This is the hostile, unassimilating, tribal mentality that the West is importing by the millions. In Muslim-majority nations where Christians and Muslims look the same, speak the same language, and are virtually indistinguishable just being non-Muslim is enough to be subjected to the aforementioned hate, violence, and discrimination. How much more is to be expected when the host country isn't just non-Muslim, but completely alien in all ways? *This report is based on several Arabic language news sources. Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again, holds fellowships at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Middle East Forum. In all the press about Obama visiting Hiroshima, Japan, where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on its enemy in 1945, not one word has surfaced about the fact that the Japanese were, at the same time, working on their own atomic bomb, and would have used it on Americans had they been able. Nor has anything been said about the fact that they were much closer to making an atomic bomb than most Americans know. The Japanese had begun a program to develop a uranium bomb even before the sneak attacked on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, killing some 2000 Americans and starting war with America. They had top scientists working on their atomic bomb, including a future Nobel-prize winner, Hideki Yukawa. Over the course of the war they spent millions on the program, hunting uranium, building crucial separators, designing a workable bomb, and elevating their program to a top priority at the end of the war as they frantically sought miracle weapons with which to turn the tide going against them. Had America not used its atomic bombs and instead invaded the Japanese mainland, the Japanese were planning to use atomic weapons on the invasion fleet, which certainly would have been devastating. Kamikazis had been bad enough. Imagine if they had been armed with nuclear weapons. Of course none of this was mentioned by Barack Obama in his non-apology apology in Japan. He may or may not even know about this history, so successful has been the effort by both Japan and the American Left to bury it. Both want the Japanese to appear solely as victims of the bomb. It keeps Japans conscience clear for their part in World War IIs atrocities, and helped, after the war, gain sorely needed aid. For the Left, it makes attacking America easier if this part of the worlds atomic bomb story remains buried. But you cant bury the truth. The Japanese were not stupid. Like other countries in the late 1930s, they became aware of the potential for a stupendous weapon in splitting the atom. They started exploring it, as did the Germans and the U.S. As they planned for war with America they did not think theyd need such a weapon. After devastating the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, they planned a short war in which they could grab much of Asia quickly and then sue for peace. But it didnt happen that way. The U.S. fought back doggedly. The war dragged on. The Japanese began to lose their protecting fleet and conversely America and her allies began to win back what the Japanese had conquered. With the tide turning, the Japanese atomic bomb project, diffused amongst its army and navy labs, began to unite and gain steam. The Japanese scientists knew how to make a bomb. Plans discovered in 2002 showed an actual diagram of their bomb. Their problem was industrial strength and fissionable material. There wasnt a lot in Japan. They had to import uranium and other fissionable ores like thorium, which may have figured more into their nuclear plans. One of the main program areas in Tokyo, the Rikken lab, developed separators for isolating isotopes so important in nuclear bomb making. But in early 1945, the lab was destroyed by B-29 bombers. A Rikken separator however was used as a prototype by Sumitomo and multiple separators were moved to Korea, which was relatively free of bombing. There were also Japanese atomic bomb efforts operating in Manchuria and elsewhere in China about which less is known. As the U.S. drew closer to Japan proper, the Japanese war government made development of an atomic bomb a top priority. The army and navy programs began to cooperate with each. Frantic efforts to gather more uranium were launched, including trying to get it from the Germans. The navy spent over 100 million yen alone in Shanghai buying and gathering uranium ores. In May 1945, the last Nazi submarine to leave Kiel, Germany, had on it uranium to be smuggled to Japan. The exact nature of the uranium whether simply refined or the isotope U235 has never been publicly released. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the sub, rather than make the dangerous voyage to the Pacific, opted to surrender in the Atlantic and full understanding about its cargo has so far been buried in government secrecy. In Korea, right after the Hiroshima bombing, US intelligence received reports that the Japanese had test fired an atomic device off the coast. Those reports continued well into the Occupation but the Russians, in their first act after declaring war on Japan in the wars last days, rushed in and to this day have kept that area North Korea off limits to western investigators. The Soviets were the next country to explode a nuclear bomb. The intelligence reports say they took Japanese nuclear scientists and integrated them into their atomic program. How much did the Japanese scientists help? That is another unknown question. Intelligence reports also say the Japanese left a system of underground caves and bomb factories in North Korea. We can speculate that the reason a tinhorn country like North Korea can continue to be a thorn in the side of a giant like America with its sabre rattling and threats is that they picked up from where the Japanese left off. There is still more to be learned about the Japanese atomic bomb program. But we know enough to say with certainty that they were working on an atomic bomb themselves and had they succeeded, Obama, the America-blaming Left, and the rest of the world would have an entirely different perspective. As it is, the story of Japans effort and intentions continues to be buried as is the truth. Robert K. Wilcox is the author of Japan's Secret War: Japan's race against time to build its own atomic bomb We've known for many months that Islamic State terrorists have been using the flood of refugees going to Europe to hide their fighters. But how are they doing it? A CNN report shows how easy it is - at least in Libya - for the terrorists to mingle with innocent civilians to make it to Europe - and perhaps points beyond. Abu Walid knew his caller to be a devout man, a member of ISIS. And his request was chilling. Could he ship 25 of his people from Libya to Europe on a small boat for $40,000? Abu Walid -- not his real name -- declined. But it is a request that's becoming increasingly common, he told CNN, in the past two months. ISIS is trying to infiltrate this trade to get their people to Europe from the chaotic and near-failed state of Libya as the route from Turkey to Greece becomes more heavily policed. "Exploitation of migrant smuggling networks by ISIS in North Africa has only been a matter of time ... the U.S. and Europe need to act quickly, and together," a Western diplomat told CNN. He also heard of a recent case of 40 Tunisian ISIS members leaving from the militant stronghold of Sirte. Thwarted by bad weather, they tried again ten days later. He didn't know if they made it. A senior Libyan military intelligence official in Misrata, Ismail Shukri, said that ISIS militants sought to disguise themselves by traveling with "their families, without weapons, as normal illegal immigrants." "They will wear American dress and have English language papers so they cause no suspicion." European officials insist they're trying to be better prepared. A senior EU counter-terrorism official told CNN there were more Europol officers working at potential "hotspots" of entry for migrants. Still, the prospect of such an influx is a nightmare for Europe. "If confirmed it is indeed very alarming. It is not one or two trying to move -- it seems more organized," the official told CNN. It's no accident that Libya is a target for ISIS. They are taking advantage of the chaos to slip their fighters through the inadequate vetting procedures being used by Europeans to set up what sounds like several cells that could be activated at any time. The fact that it appears to be very well organized suggests they already have targets in mind and a network in Europe already established to support the attack. But what about refugees coming to the US? Couldn't happen here, right? Guess again: Syrians and Palestinians managed to buy illegal citizenship documents from Honduras then tried to use them to enter the U.S., a Honduran newspaper reported over the weekend, exposing a scheme that analysts say could post a danger to the U.S. visa system. La Prensa uncovered a criminal network that paid Honduran officials to illegally register foreigners as legal residents, which gave them access to documents that could then be used to gain broader access to the western hemisphere. The La Prensa report was highlighted Friday by the Center for Immigration Studies, which said the network appeared to be a favorite for those of Arab origin particularly Syrians and Palestinians who were looking for a way to enter the U.S. The criminal network managed to get names registered in Hondurass national registration of persons (RNP). That meant they could obtain passports and official birth certificates, on RNP paper and stamped by the agency director, that they could then take to the U.S. embassy to try to earn a visitors visa, the report said. In one case highlighted by La Prensa, a man managed to get registered them used his false papers to register at least eight other members of his family, including children and grandchildren. All told, the newspaper said at least 100 Palestinians and Syrians who obtained fraudulent documents have been detected, but its unclear how many cases are still out there. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? Until you remember that ISIS terrorists in Libya are also traveling with their children to throw off authorities. Why not try the same tactic to get into America? Being a refugee is a terrible fate, to be sure. But the US government has a responsibility to do all it can to prevent terrorists from using our humanitarian instincts against us to try and kill Americans. And rather than redoubling efforts to vet the innocence of those coming to the US as refugees, the Obama administration has reduced the time it takes to vet a refugee by two thirds. Europe will almost certainly pay dearly for their refugee policies. There's no reason for the US to follow suit. Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose district includes lower Manhattan and Ground Zero, has written an open letter to Donald Trump asking him to return a $150,000 grant he received from a fund that was supposed to help small businesses near Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11. MSNBC: The New York Daily News reported last week, for example, on a post-9/11 program, designed to help small businesses around Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks. According to the article, the state didnt enforce federal guidelines on what defines a small business at the time, and Donald Trump took advantage, receiving $150,000 in taxpayer money for swanky property he owned on Wall Street. The Daily News added that the money was supposed to help mom and pop shops make it through an incredibly difficult stretch, and yet, Trump, a self-professed billionaire, sought and received a slice of the pie. Today, the New York Times reports that Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose district includes Ground Zero and Lower Manhattan, wrote an open letter to Trump, asking for a refund. When do you plan on returning the taxpayer money that was designated to ease the suffering of our citys small-business owners? Mr. Nadler wrote in the letter, a copy of which his office provided to The New York Times. [] Its been reported that on your grant application, you claimed 40 Wall Street L.L.C. which employed 28 people and had $26.8 million in annual revenues at the time as a small business, Mr. Nadler wrote. Despite the federal definition of a small business as having less than $6 million in revenue, you accepted a $150,000 payout. He added, In grabbing that money with both fists, you took it out of the pockets of small-business owners in New York who were truly hurting, and prevented them from taking full advantage of the relief so generously offered by their fellow citizens. The Democratic lawmaker went on to urge Trump to return the funds you received or donate them to a charitable organization dedicated to providing legitimate support for the victims of 9/11. Nadler concluded, Whatever the size of your business, we need no further proof that you are a small man. Ouch. If you don't know by now, rich people get rich because they've figured out how to game the system to get money from government. Doing business with government, getting grants from government, carving out exemptions from government rules - it's amazing what a rich man can do with an army of lawyers and friendly politicians in his pocket. Trump is a crony capitalist, manipulating government to get what he wants. This, apparently, doesn't bother his supporters much, which means this revelation will be shrugged off by voters. At this point, for those who would never vote for Trump, it is further proof of his unfitness for office. For those who have already decided to support him, no revelation could emerge that would change their minds. Trump may or may not have broken the rules in getting this money. Without knowing all the details, it seems premature to condemn him for it. But even if he did nothing wrong, he certainly didn't deserve this money and he should either return it or donate it to a worthy 9/11 charity. Writing in the Huffington Post, Leah Zallman -- a research scientist at the Institute for Community Health, a primary care doctor at Cambridge Health Alliance, and an instructor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School -- and Steffie Woolhandler -- an internist in the South Bronx, professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, and lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School -- attempt to take Donald Trump to task for his claims about the health care costs from illegal immigrants: Throughout the primary season, leading Republican presidential candidates vied over who could bash immigrants the hardest. And they were promising more than border walls. Donald Trump is the most extreme immigrant-blamer; according to his website, "Providing healthcare to illegal immigrants costs us some $11 billion annually. If we were to simply enforce the current immigration laws and restrict the unbridled granting of visas to this country, we could relieve healthcare cost pressures on state and local governments." As with many of Trump's claims, this one is wrong. But unlike some of his other falsehoods, the media has left this one unchallenged. Well then, now is a good time to challenge it. The RAND Corporation published a study that calculated health care costs from illegal immigrants for the year 2000: Of the $430 billion in national medical spending in 2000, native-born residents accounted for 87 percent of the population but for 91.5 percent of the spending. Foreign-born residents, who include undocumented immigrants, accounted for 13 percent of the population but for only 8.5 percent of the spending. Undocumented immigrants -- 3.2 percent of the population -- accounted for only about 1.5 percent of medical costs. Some basic math reveals that in 2000, illegal immigrants accounted for $6.45 billion of national medical spending. Since 2000, "national medical spending" has increased by about 162% (i.e., a factor of >2.6), and the share of the U.S. population from illegal immigrants has -- if we take the likely underestimates at face value -- increased to 3.5%. Consequently, crunching the numbers, we arrive at a projected current annual cost from providing health care to illegal immigrants of $18.5 billion. Thus, it appears Trump is indeed wrong, as Zallman and Woolhandler claim, just not in the direction they believe. The actual cost of giving illegals health care is likely to be nearly twice as much as Trump's website states. In other words, the problem is far worse than even the most "radical" Republican views have imagined. At the Financial Times, Martin Wolf purports to provide a prescription for "How to defeat rightwing populism." Beyond the all too typically mindless bashing of Donald Trump (see, e.g., "This is why Mr Trump is so dangerous: he has no notion of the foundations of US success" and other quotes therein), Wolf provides the following insight: If rightwing populism is to be defeated, one must offer alternatives. In a forthcoming article Dartmouth College's Douglas Irwin notes that protectionism is quack medicine. Productivity growth accounted for more than 85 per cent of the job losses in manufacturing between 2000 and 2010. This is very wrong. The Federal Reserve has kept records of real output per hour of all persons in manufacturing since 1987: If productivity growth between 2000 and 2010 accounted for 85% of all job losses in U.S. manufacturing, then we would expect to have seen some type of break (aka a tipping point) in the historical trend of productivity growth in 2000, signifying a transition to a much faster rate of productivity growth that then links to a historical relationship between employment losses and increased productivity. Instead, we see nothing of the kind. From 1990 to 2000, the index of real output per hour increased by 25 units, and manufacturing sector employment was relatively constant (technically declining by only 3.9%, but there was effectively no substantive change in the number of manufacturing employees from the mid-1980s to 2000). And then, from 2000 to 2007, the index of real output per hour increased by another 25 units. What happened to manufacturing employment over this time? It declined by a massive 20%. If we take the entire period from 2000 to 2010, the index of real output per hour increased 36 units, and manufacturing employment dropped more than 33% trends entirely out of step with the productivity-employment relationship during the 1990s. We see the same trends, even more clearly, for real output per person in manufacturing. The fatal flaw in the productivity argument comes from looking at just two years: 2000 and 2001. From 2000 to 2001, real output per hour was unchanged, and real output per person actually declined slightly. And yet, the U.S. lost 824,000 manufacturing jobs (or nearly 5% of total sector employment) between 2000 and 2001. What happened between 2000 and 2001 and subsequent years that is a more likely cause of most of these job losses? China's accession to the WTO. Looking back at the historical data for American manufacturing just doesn't support the notion that modest gains in productivity will lead to the type of large-scale sectoral layoffs seen since 2000. Certainly some small numbers of job losses are due to increasing productivity, but not 85% of them. The United States was founded on manufacturing protectionism and became wealthy off it, owing much to Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures. Many of the most prosperous periods of American history are labeled protectionist periods, including the 1980s economic boom under Ronald Reagan. Theodore Roosevelt was clearly not a fan of free trade: Thank God I am not a free-trader. In this country pernicious indulgence in the doctrine of free trade seems inevitably to produce fatty degeneration of the moral fiber. Neither was Ulysses S. Grant, who made a prescient prediction: For centuries England has relied on protection, has carried it to extremes and has obtained satisfactory results from it. There is no doubt that it is to this system that it owes its present strength. After two centuries, England has found it convenient to adopt free trade because it thinks that protection can no longer offer it anything. Very well then, Gentlemen, my knowledge of our country leads me to believe that within 200 years, when America has gotten out of protection all that it can offer, it too will adopt free trade. Nor was William McKinley: Under free trade the trader is the master and the producer the slave. Protection is but the law of nature, the law of self-preservation, of self-development, of securing the highest and best destiny of the race of man. Efforts to rewrite history will inevitably fail. The only question is how much damage the free traders will be allowed to do in the meantime. If protectionism is quack medicine, then all of well established U.S. economic and political history is quackery. Rahm Emanuel is a close friend of Hillary (and Bill) Clinton, and as obsessed both political power and personal vengeance on his enemies. Having obtained the post of Mayor of Chicago, he is now presiding over an impossible fiscal crisis, required to raise taxes to unrealistic levels in order to pay off the bribes pension obligations exchanged with labor unions in return for voting support. Like his pal Hillary, Rahm believes in scripting his responses to questions. Mark Konkol of DNAinfo exposes the degree to which this process is carried out, via a public records request that yielded gold: The Daily Press Guidance prepared for Emanuels Dec. 30 news conference on a new police use of force policy was complete with Todays sound bites, In The News Today topics and scripted responses to expected questions that read like a stage play. For instance, if a reporter were to ask if the new policy is meant to tell police officers to stand down? Not to do their jobs? Run from trouble? the script calls for the mayor to say, Absolutely not. Then the mayors press guidance includes this stage direction: TURN TO JOHN, a reference to then-acting police Supt. John Escalante, whose lines are also included in the script. Half of the projected questions included in the script called for Emanuel to say a line or two and then TURN TO JOHN. Those of us who were eagerly anticipating the debate seemingly agreed to by Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were disappointed by the Trump campaign statement delivered at a classic document dump time slot: late Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend: 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. The famously blunt voice of Trump now is couched in weasel words like inappropriate, designed to conceal more than to reveal. It took little time for Sanders and his supporters ridicule Trump: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had a bemused response on Friday to Donald Trumps decision to back out of a suggested debate between the two. Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of? the Democratic candidate said. Sanders said reporters were the first to inform him that Trump pulled out of the prospective debate, shortly after a tech firm offered to put up the $10 million donation the presumptive Republican presidential nominee had named as a condition. Mr. Trump comes across as a big tough guy, Sanders said. If youre so tough, lets sit down and have that debate. So what could have caused Trump to reconsider, disappoint his supporters, and hand the macho card to Bernie Sanders? While no network apparently stepped forward with a $10-15 million offer (ABC offered to donate its profits), a high tech investment company offered $10 million and wanted to stream the debate on its own internet streaming service, as well as television coverage. But the Trump campaign statement does not use money as the excuse. Instead, it refers to Sanders not being allowed to win, a second place finisher i.e., a loser. I can only speculate that the calculus of the campaign was that a loser has nothing to lose, and that Sanders, who now seeks influence on the Hillary campaign more than victory itself, would have been a political kamikaze, relentless attacking Trump in the debate. That would have left Trump on the defensive, and having two different opponents. The important one, Hillary, would not have been in the hall. But defending himself against Sanders would almost inevitably lead him to his trademark hit-back-harder approach. That would be useless, however, as Sanders is not going to be the candidate. Tearing him down in front of a large audience would accomplish nothing other than smooth the path for Hillary. Trump signaled his refusal earlier: it was pretty clear Trump was never very serious about the prospect of a debate, despite the Sanders campaign's goading. Almost immediately, reports began to emerge that Trump was "joking," and at a rally Friday in Fresno, California, Trump said that although he wanted to "debate him so badly," he probably wouldn't do it. "If you're in first place, you don't want to really debate a guy who's in second place," Trump said. Trump may also have realized that the entire debate suggestion by Jimmy Kimmel was a set-up. ABC News revealed: The prospect of a debate originated from a question Sanders submitted to Jimmy Kimmel ahead of Trump's appearance on the late night talkshow Wednesday. So we are left with the conclusion that Donald Trump is capable of re-evaluating what he says, and upon reconsideration, changing his mind. While disappointing those who admire his guts and feistiness, it might also in the end comfort those who are worried about him making rash statements and committing folly, unable to back down. Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson's choice as his running mate bombed during the vice presidential debate at the party covention in Orlando. Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, named last week as Johnson's choice for VP, did not impress the Libertarian Party activists who accused Weld of being "Republican-Lite" and of being unfamiliar with Libertarian positions. Politico: Asked if he his reception was worrisome, Weld told POLITICO, I wouldnt use the word worrisome, but I would say the convention is highly unpredictable. And having two former Republican governors who were successful in blue states who knows that could turn out to be a negative in the minds of delegates. Stranger things have happened. While Johnson and Weld are trying to run as a ticket they are handing out joint buttons and paraphernalia the Libertarian Party convention actually picks their presidential and vice-presidential nominees separately. Delegates could select Johnson and then reject Weld. And Weld did little to help himself at a Friday night vice-presidential debate in which he got a chilly reception from the hardcore audience of Libertarian true-believers. Asked who did more damage to America President Obama or President George W. Bush Weld gave a classic politician answer. Id rate it a tie, he said. He used the word miasma in his closing statement. At one point, Weld said he would stay in the United Nations an idea anathema to many in the crowd and said that when people think of Libertarians they often think of unattractive people in their neighborhoods. Weld advocated cutting taxes. One of his opponents yelled, Taxation is theft! He just didnt make the case, Will Tyler White, a delegate from Michigan, said of Weld. He showed that he was Republican-lite, complained Jim Fulner, another Michigan delegate. He didnt mention a single Libertarian idea. A Texas delegate named Gary Johnson (no relation to the candidate), who sported a Johnson-Weld button, was concerned. He just doesnt seem to know the right thing to say in a Libertarian convention, Johnson said. I realize the idea is he bring credibility on the national stage but its disappointing because he lacks the Libertarian pedigree, Richard Schwarz, a delegate from Pennsylvania, said after the debate. He was uninspiring and kind of dry I dont think hes going to win. For some Libertarians, the prospect of choosing a ticket with two former, moderate, GOP governors from blue states smacks too much of catering to Republicans for votes. But while Johnson does not appear to be in trouble for choosing Weld, since the convention chooses both running mates, Weld is far from being a shoo in. Johnson, who was Libertarian party candidate for president in 2012, has broad support from activists and, barring unforeseen circumstances, is very likely to be the nominee again. But he may be saddled with a running mate not of his own choosing. How that plays into this idea of a "Libertarian moment" remains to be seen. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the recent transgender bathroom mandate, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) found herself unable to rationally deal with a witness, a law school professor, who had submitted a 21-page written statement to be entered as testimony. As Jennifer Krabbany of the College Fix reports, what set off Lofgrens meltdown was this: We are teaching young people a terrible lesson. If I believe that I am a Russian princess, that doesnt make me a Russian princess, even if my friends and acquaintances are willing to indulge my fantasy. Nor am I a Great Horned Owl just becauseas I have been toldI happen to share some personality traits with those feathered creatures. I should add that very few actual transgender individuals are confused in this way. They understand perfectly that their sex and their gender do not align. Some choose surgery to make their bodies better align with their gender. Most choose not to. Rather than deal with the logic of this statement, Lofgren retreated into the I-am-offended posture, and then when challenged, started calling names: Ed Driscoll of Instapundit nails it on the final exchange in this sequence: President Obama reacted to a potential President Trump by saying this in Japan: President Obama says world leaders are "rattled" by Donald Trump -- and have good reason to feel that way. Mr. Obama was discussing the 2016 presidential campaign during a news conference in Japan, saying foreign leaders are surprised by Trump and not sure how seriously to take the things he says. The assessment of the presidential campaign came on the sidelines of a Group of Seven advanced economies summit in Japan, the latest world gathering to be colored by global concerns about Trump. Mr. Obama said many of the likely Republican nominee's proposals display ignorance about world affairs, a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting "tweets and headlines." He contrasted that to proposals to make America safe. We don't know which one of the world's leaders was rattled. He did not say! At the same time, we do know that China is turning international waters into its own private lake and Russian jets keep flying within feet of U.S. ships. Furthermore, Iran is pushing its weight around with lots of U.S. dollars as a result of the recent deal. Leaders rattled? Yes, and they are probably looking at their watch every hour counting down to Mr. Obama's successor. Last, but not least, why is President Obama talking about U.S. presidential candidates on foreign soil? Where is the media? What if President Bush had said overseas that a one term senator with no executive experience was not ready for presidency? P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. The memorial of the famous 19th century Irish writer and poet, Oscar Wilde, lies in a cemetery in Paris. Chiseled out of a 20-tonne block of stone, the tomb features a winged figure resembling the Sphinx on a forward flight with vertically outstretched wings, and is supposed to be based on Wilde's poem The Sphinx and inspired by the British Museum's Assyrian figures. For years, female fans have visited the huge memorial in Paris's largest cemetery Pere Lachaise to pay homage to the Irish playwright and left their mark in red lipstick. Over thousands of lipstick kisses and graffiti messages cover the bottom half of the tomb. The practice started in the late 1990s, when somebody decided to leave a lipstick kiss on the tomb. Since then lipstick kisses and hearts have been joined by a rash of red graffiti containing expressions of love, such as: "Wilde child we remember you", "Keep looking at the stars" and "Real beauty ends where intellect begins". Kissing Oscar's tomb on the Paris tourist circuit has become a cult pastime. Photo credit A fine of 9,000 ($12,000) was imposed on anyone caught kissing or damaging the historical monument, but it had no effect. It was hard to catch people in the act, and most culprits were tourists who were long gone before the police could bring them to court. Appeals from Wildes grandson Merlin Holland to stop the practice also fell on deaf ears. A plaque asking fans to respect the tomb instead of defacing it went in vain. Meanwhile, those greasy red lipstick stains seeped into the stone making it harder and harder to clean. Every cleaning eroded a layer of stone rendering it even more porous, so the next cleaning had to go even deeper and wear away the stone even more. In 2011, on the the occasion of Oscar Wildes 111th death anniversary, the authorities put up a glass barrier surrounding the tomb to prevent kissers from causing further damage. But now tourists are leaving kisses on the glass instead and flowers and notes were tossed inside the enclosure and now lie strewn at the tombs foot. Oscar Wilde died bankrupt and desolate and his friends could offer him only a sixth-class burial at Bagneux, outside the city. Over the following years his friend and literary executor, Robert Ross, managed through the sale of Wilde's works, to annul Wilde's bankruptcy and purchase a burial plot at Pere Lachaise. The following year Helen Carew, one of Ross's friends who had known Wilde in his heyday, anonymously offered 2,000 to erect a monument by the young sculptor Jacob Epstein. When the sculpture was brought into the cemetery, the Parisian officials were offended by the angels nakedness and attempted to cover it with tarpaulin. They also covered the testicles with plaster as they considered its size unusual. Eventually, as compromise, a bronze plaque similar to the shape of butterfly was placed upon the testicles of the monument and it was unveiled in early August 1914. The tomb survived without further incident until 1961 when some vandals took off with the testicles. Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Sources: The Guardian / Wikipedia / The History Blog The Scripps National Spelling Bee has recently ended and for the third year running, has joint winners: eleven year old Nihar Janga (the youngest champion) and thirteen year old Jairam Hathwar were declared joint winners after a grueling contest, after the toughest ever Spelling Bee. For 2016 and after two years of joint winners, Scripps changes meant the two finalists had to get through three times as many words as in previous years. Both contestants misspelled two words to tie as joint champions. In a celebration of the conclusion of the Spelling Bee, Google has released Americas most searched for words to spell ordered by State. However, whereas the two contestants successfully spelled words such as Kjeldahl, juamave, groenedael and zindiq, it turns out that the most searched for words to spell correctly are considerably more mundane. Instead, in four states desert and cancelled were the most popular searched for terms. Three states searched for pneumonia, vacuum and gray. However, whilst these are the more popular terms, as we dig deeper into the data we have some surprises. These include Utah and Arkansas preoccupation with spelling the word leprechaun, a mythological type of fairy from Irish folklore. The State of Massachusetts most popular searched for word to spell correctly is Massachusetts whereas in Ohio, the most searched for word is banana. If you study the map, youll also see that on first impression, Alaska appears to be wrongly labelled as Hawaii. Actually, no: for the State of Alaska, people most often search for the correct spelling of Hawaii! Perhaps dreaming of sunnier climates. For Florida, the most searched for term is tomorrow, although it is difficult to draw any sort of meaningful conclusion from this. It is also difficult to know what to make of West Virginias giraffe too. Advertisement People familiar with Google will appreciate that the search engine can correct many spelling mistakes as a matter of course, and this data has not been released: this could make for interesting reading, especially as the data presented above simply reflects what people know they cannot spell rather than what they are actually misspelling. Oracle vs. Google, one of the biggest and most controversial cases in the history of the tech world, has finally ended. For now, Googles wallet and the future of open source are safe. It should be mentioned, of course, that this will not, by any means, be the first time that this same fight has fallen into the hands of a jury. Since 2010, Oracle has been trying time and time again to drag Google through court over their use of 37 APIs pulled from Java in the commercial smash hit that is Android. For this most recent incarnation of the landmark case, which thankfully will not cause a massive string of lawsuits and threats of lawsuits that reshapes or outright upends the software development industry, the craziness is pretty much over. Make no mistake; this case was absolutely insane and, for some, may have even proven difficult to follow. For those who want a quick and dirty recap of the biggest and craziest highlights, read on. In 2009, Oracle bought up Sun, creator of the Java programming language. The worlds most popular language was in use for commercial products by tons of entities, but nobody seemed to be doing better because of Java than Google. Oracle tried to get them to buy a license, Google did not comply, and the rest is history. After the first set of trials, Google won because courts determined that an API could not be copyrighted. An appeals court overturning that decision is what lands us where we are today. A massive amount of Java-based code was the cornerstone of Android, but functioned hand in hand with Googles own code to make it all work together, as clarified by one of the lead programmers for Android. This tied in to allegations that Google had tried to scrub a good number of Java-related terms from Androids codebase. Andy Rubin also hit the stand for additional code and open-source licensing clarification. Grilled to an objection-eliciting degree by Oracles lawyer, he seemingly infuriated her by keeping utterly cool. At one point, Oracle referenced Harry Potter they said that what Google did amounted to making small alterations, but leaving the chapter titles and topic sentences in there. Advertisement Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz took her moment on the stand and explained that Oracle did not buy Sun simply to sue Google for Java, but mostly to keep it away from IBM, who they were scared would well, do exactly what Oracle did, actually. Licensing deals abounded, but Googles unwillingness to play ball landed them in court. It should be noted that, at one point, there was talk within Google of licensing Java from Sun, but they ended up seeing no need to license out a free and open source programming language, according to Eric Schmidt. Suns former CEO did make an appearance, and said that Google was using Java in the same ways as many others and Sun would have had no issue with it. Catz also told an interesting story; she ran into Googles head lawyer at a Bat Mitzvah She was told by him that Google was special, to which she replied, Thou shalt not steal. Google also wound up bringing in an expert computer scientist from a university before it was all said and done, who helped to prove how little Java code was actually in Android. A good number of high-profile names from Google took the stand, including Larry Page and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Oracle also pointed to a figure of over $40 billion, saying it was Googles Android revenue. Larry Page disputed this, saying it was revenue from all over the ecosystem, for manufacturers and developers as well as Google. Arguments also cropped up involving 9 lines of code that were allegedly copied due to a former Sun employee joining the Android project, a failed phone OS from Oracle, and the nature of the hamburger in fast food and its relation to APIs. The fairly crazy landmark case may have ended in Googles favor for now, but its unlikely to end here. No matter what the jury chooses, neither side has really been vindicated from the future possibility of the case going through an appeals court and popping up again. While Canadian smartphone users consume more data and make more calls and texts than ever before, wireless carriers are now beginning to feel the heat. According to the J.D. Power 2016 Canadian Wireless Network Quality Study, the total incidences or issues faced by consumers while consuming data or using apps and browsers on their handsets have sharply increased compared to last years figures. However, the average number of incidents on areas like calls and texts have remained stable since last year. On an average, data-consuming activities like video chatting, location sharing and mobile payments have risen from 14%, 10% and 14% respectively in 2015 to 18%, 14% and 19% respectively this year. With increasingly capable smartphones and fast 4G services available, consumers are using wireless data with increasing regularity and pace, a phenomenon to which wireless carriers are struggling to adapt. Among Canadian wireless carriers, incidents are calculated on the basis of problems per 100 (PP100) which implies that lesser the count, the better is the nature of service provided. From last year to this year, overall network problems have risen from 9PP100 to 10PP100 which has let to data problems worsening from 14PP100 to 15PP100. At the same time, increased use of websites has also contributed to the problem. While those visiting 5-9 websites in the last 48 hours experienced 13 data PP100, those visiting 10 to 14 websites in the same period suffered 17 data PP100. The storage capacity and processing power of new devices provides consumers with an abundance of available apps prompting a rapidly rising consumption of data. This is placing a great deal of stress on network performance. Despite carrier infrastructure upgrades and claims of faster speeds, consumer perception is compromised when they experience disruptions and delays, said Adrian Chung, director at J.D. Power. The study also found that those with unlimited data in their SIM contracts suffered more incidents compared to those who had limited data and that consumers who have suffered higher network problems have indicated that they will definitely switch carriers compared to those who didnt face as many incidents. Advertisement Paradoxically, the Canadian Commissioner For Complaints For Telecommunications Services (CCTS) revealed in March that overall customer complaints had gone down from 5,468 in 2015 to 4,562 in 2016. Among such complaints, billing issues took the top spot followed by local and long distance telephone issues, wireless services and internet access. In a study conducted by J.D. Power last year, it came to light that wireless prices rose by 4-8% overall compared to the previous year, making Canada one of the most expensive countries in the category. The study found that wireless services offered by traditional carriers like Bell, TELUS and Rogers cost far more than those offered by new entrants like WIND Mobile, Mobilicity and Videotron. Given that large carriers have to make huge investments in infrastructure in order to cope with the increasing demand, they are probably not as inclined to reduce costs of their services compared to start-up carriers who can lease existing lines at current rates. 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. Signed by Affan Khalfan Al Akhzami, ICEM Managing Director and CEO, Maria Rueda, CAAi Managing Director and witnessed by Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO of Oman Air, the MoU supports the extension of ICEM's CAAi accredited airport rescue and fire fighting training, into new geographic locations. Under the existing agreement, ICEM is an accredited CAAi training provider and authorised by the UK CAA to provide training in Oman on the structured learning programme for rescue fire fighting personnel in accordance with UK CAA CAP 699 - Standards for the Competence of Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) Personnel. Under the MoU, CAAi has also offered to provide training consultancy services in Oman, through a blend of theoretical and on-the-job training programmes. Since gaining full CAAi accreditation in 2013, ICEM has trained hundreds of airport fire fighting professionals to UK CAA CAP 699 standards. After the signing ceremony, Akhzami said, "I believe that the combination of ICEM's reputation for training and education coupled with CAAi's international brand will form a formidable partnership, not only in Oman but also across the region. We at ICEM are proud to work with internationally recognised bodies who can strengthen Oman's organisational capability and help to develop and nurture local Omani human capital. I look forward to a long, strong and prosperous relationship". The ship a marine survey vessel, Laplace, sailed from Porto Vecchio, Corsica, on Thursday and should begin operations in the area that the A320 aircraft is believed to have crashed just over a week ago. Some 66 passengers and crew died in the crash. But although the site is just 183 miles from the Egyptian coastline the aircrafts flight data recorders have not yet been recovered. An Egyptian submarine has been searching the area of the Mediterranean since May 23 but it does not have the specialist equipment found on the French vessel, particularly as the wreckage is believed to be in some of the deepest water in the Med as far as 3km down. The Laplace is equipped with three Detector 6000 long-range acoustic detection systems manufactured by the French company Alseamar which can locate the signals from the black boxes within a 5km range. Egyptian authorities will continue to lead the investigation. The company already holds FAA approval and is currently working to secure EASA approval. This GCAA approval authorises Jet Aviation Dubai to support all Airbus A320 series aircraft registered in the UAE with line and base maintenance. Large Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJs) are very popular in the Middle East and were pleased to extend our support to these heavy iron aircraft, many of which were proud to note were completed at our Basel Completions Centre, says Hardy Butschi, vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation Dubai. This approval strengthens our ability to provide quality maintenance support to the popular Airbus A320 corporate jet variants." Jet Aviation Dubais maintenance and FBO location was established in May 2005 as a joint venture company with the Al Mulla Business Group. The facility has a total of 4,200 square meters (45,192 square feet) of hangar space, a workshop area of 1,000 square meters (10,760 square feet) and a two-story FBO building with an area of 1,050 square meters (11,300 square feet). Le CBD, cette molecule active du cannabis a aujourdhui le vent en poupe. Et cela est en grande partie du au fait quil permet... YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. On May 20 an event devoted to Armenia was organized in the Antonine University of Lebanon, press service of the MFA of Armenia informed Armenpress. The Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan addressed with video the participants of the event and the Armenians in Lebanon. Videos were shown about Armenia, the Armenian Church and culture, as well as Armenian figures famous in various spheres. Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Samvel Mkrtchyan made a concluding speech during the event. He expressed gratitude to the organizers of the event stressing the importance of such events which creates a great opportunity to present your own country and people. He referred to the history of Armenian people, their struggle for their own identity, the Karabakh conflict and the achievements of the newly independent Armenia. Ambassador expressed hope that these ceremonies will continue. He referred to the role of the Armenian community of Lebanon, their input in countrys political, social and cultural life, as well as the steps aimed at preserving the national identity. YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan says the Armenian side has created a positional defense towards the Azerbaijani captured territory during the four-day war by which the Defense Army staff keeps the control of the situation in terms of influence, initiative and strategic range. He ensured that as we do not forget our historical lands, we do not forget our lost territories during April military operations as well, Armenpress reports, Defense Minister said this during the briefing with journalists on May 23. A movement of troops happens both during the defensive and offensive military operations. The Defense Army staff carried out their tasks during the military operations. We have nothing to hide, there has been a movement of troops which is now under the control of the divisions which are located in that parts of the Defense Army. There territories are set out in the territory of the Nagorno Karabakh, and I think that the negotiations will be processed, Defense Minister stated. YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. The US Department of State has published the briefing of two senior US officials, whose names are not mentioned. They answered the questions of reporters and referred to the Vienna meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. Armenpress reports, citing the official website of the US Department of State, the first senior official told that since 1994 there has been a ceasefire in place. Some call it a frozen conflict but its far from frozen. There have been, over the past 20 years, repeated incidents along the so-called line of contact and along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There are literally dozens of casualties each year, and as you may know, fighting flared up dramatically in early April, April 2 to April 5 so-called 4-day war with hundreds of casualties an estimated 350 casualties including civilians, he said, adding that the aim of the Sargsyan-Aliyev Vienna meeting was to persuade the sides to respect the 1994 ceasefire, as well as to come with some confidence building proposals. He also mentioned that they want to see the resumption of the peace talks leading to a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. According to the official, both sides stated at the meeting on May 16 that preservation of the status-quo is unacceptable and that it is necessary to take measures aimed at the settlement of the conflict. The official also touched upon the monitoring mission in the conflict zone, noting that the 6 observers are too few to act effectively and that it is necessary to increase their number, as well as to invest mechanisms monitoring the ceasefire violations. The American diplomat emphasized that Azerbaijan opposes these measures and the the aim of the Vienna talks was to change the position of Azerbaijan. YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRES. Contractula soldier Gegham Mkrtchyan from the region of Martakert, who was killed on April 3 in Talish as a result of Azerbaijans aggression, did not know that his wife is waiting for a baby. In an interview with reporters after the awarding ceremony at the Presidential Palace Geghams wife, Anush told the reporters about this. Anush also serves in Artsakhs Defense Army. Anush and Gegham met each other during the service, fell in love and got married, but managed to live together only 6 months. My husband was killed on April 3. I was not told the truth at first. I was told that he was severely wounded and taken to hospital. I learned about that on April 4. I felt very bad and was taken to hospital, where I learned that I am waiting for a baby. I do not know whether the baby will be a boy or girl. If I have a son, I will call him after his father, Armenpress reports Anush saying. Anush told that his husband was a patriot, who was fond of his friends. This love led him to contractual service. Best Health Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Health category or any of the sub-categories below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. Best Home Improvement Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Home Improvement category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. Best Finance Products and Services Would you like to submit an article in the Finance category or any of the sub-category below? Click here to submit your article. Would you like to have your product or service listed on this page? Contact us. by Joseph Mahmoud Baghdads Queen of the Rosary Church will host an interfaith prayer against violence and terrorism next Monday. The Chaldean Patriarch launched the initiative, reiterating there are no military options but prayer against conflicts affecting "innocent people". He also urged Muslims to think about renewing their way of thinking and culture. Baghdad (AsiaNews) Chaldean Patriarch Louis Mar Rapahel Sako has issued a prayer for peace in Iraq, Syria, and the entire Middle East that will be held next Monday (30 May). For the prelate, prayers, not military options can "solve conflicts" in which innocent people always pay the highest price. Only a sincere prayer from the heart can trigger an "inner revolution" and "ensure peace." The patriarch said that a lot of thought went into the wording of the prayer so that it may "help and bring comfort to everyone, Christians and Muslims. The chosen date coincides with ceremonies marking the end of the Marian month and proximity to Ramadan, the holy month of fasting" for Muslims. In an official statement on the Patriarchate website, the Chaldean Church calls on Christians, Muslims, Sabians and Yazidis to pray together for peace in Iraq, which has suffered from more than a decade of war and sectarian and confessional violence. The interfaith ceremony is scheduled for Monday afternoon, 30 May, in the church dedicated to the Queen of the Rosary in Baghdad. It will mark the end of the Marian month, and includes prayers, psalm reading, and hymn singing. To boost the interfaith and peace-oriented character of the event, Chaldean Patriarch Mar Raphael Louis Sako will lead the interfaith prayers along with a Sunni and a Shia religious leader. Some members of the diplomatic corps will also join the high ranking clerical leaders and the faithful. Politicians and government officials are not expected because, as the Chaldean Patriarch put it, they always come with [security] guards and soldiers. Their participation would distort the peace-oriented, harmony seeking character of the event, which its sponsors want to ensure since on that day, Mar Sako hopes to breathe only an atmosphere of peace, prayer, and meditation." As he presented the initiative, the head of the Chaldean Church described it as an attempt to move towards "peace for our tormented country." "Honestly, he told Baghdadhope, I could not find anything else than the prayer" as opposed to "the culture of sectarianism" that has spread throughout the country after the fall of Saddam Husseins regime. Like everybody else, Christians should not give in or fall into the trap of sectarianism. Instead, education must be offered to them and to anyone who is expecting a different experience. "A prayer in the church, with women and men carefully listening the texts of our hymns and our Psalms will also help Muslims reflect, the patriarch said. We need a new way of thinking, a new culture, and our Muslim brothers must update their thinking for the goodness and peace we invoke are for everyone." Here is the text of the Prayer for peace in Iraq, Syria and the region: Lord, we have had enough of wars, conflicts and destructions that horrify us, made us look horrible and have destroyed our world. Killing is nothing more than a deviation from your divine plan for man to enjoy a happy life. Please Lord, enlighten our political leaders to renew their hearts so that they can overcome their disputes and interests, sustain goodness and love, and be the tools of peace that we need more than anything else, especially in Iraq, Syria and the region. We want to live a happy and joyful life as brothers and sisters without injustice or war, dead or wounded, displaced persons or migrants, homeless or hungry. Mother Mary, fill our hearts with peace and love. by Melani Manel Perera Caritas Colombo set up a mobile clinic in the village of Delathura. Despite being ill and the rains, people came in droves. In a single morning, some 400 people were visited. A private hospital provided medical drugs free of charge. Colombo (AsiaNews) Caritas Sri Lanka plans to offer free medical care to the rural poor via mobile clinics. A medical team set up the first clinic near St Rochs Catholic Church, in Delathura, a village near Ja-Ela, a large suburb north of Colombo. Patients began lining up as early as at 8.45 am. The purpose of this plan is to provide assistance to those who need it and rediscover the true meaning of the word help. We need to treat patients with a sincere heart, said Titus Wimalasiri, executive director of Seth Sarana, the Colombo Caritas chapter, who spoke to AsiaNews. Under his direction, doctors visited some 400 people in a single morning, handing out otherwise impossible to get drugs to patients provided by Hemas Hospital, a private health facility. Specialists performed general checkup, and measured blood pressure and sugar levels. People came from nearby villages after local pastors spread the word from parish to parish. Braving summer rains, they came to get something for their sick children and elderly parents, to treat colds as well as fever. "It is difficult to get to the hospital in this weather for prenatal tests, said Chandralatha, a 26-year-old pregnant woman. When she heard that Caritas was handing out medicines, she rushed. Usually when she has to go the hospital, she is accompanied by her husband who has to take time off from work and lose a days pay. I am grateful to Seth Sarana for helping me, for not excluding me because I am Buddhist, she said. Titus Wimalasiri notes that most of the health problems the mobile clinic treated are caused by poverty and low literacy. "Based on our surveys, we know that the [health] problems are related to economic poverty, and physical and mental distress, the Seth Sarana executive director explained. For instance, in the village of Delathura, youth usually they get married at the age of 15-16 years, and pay no attention to personal hygiene and cleanliness. Instead, our goal is to guide them towards proper health". President Tony Tan Keng was received in the Vatican this morning. He also met Secretary of State Card Parolin and Secretary for Relations with States Mgr Paul Richard Gallagher. The Church is appreciated in the country, "especially in the educational and social fields". Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis met Singapore President Tony Tan Keng this morning, the first time a pontiff welcomes a head of state from the small Asian nation. In a statement, the Vatican Press Office said, During the cordial discussions the good relations between the Holy See and Singapore were evoked, as well as the collaboration between the Church and the State, especially in the educational and social fields. Attention then turned to various current international themes and issues linked to the regional political situation, with particular reference to the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the promotion of human rights, stability, justice and peace in south-east Asia. After the meeting with the Holy Father, President Tony Tan met with the Secretary of State Card Pietro Parolin, and Secretary for Relations with States Mgr Paul Richard Gallagher. Card Parolin visited Singapore last August, to mark the 50th anniversary of the countrys independence. Speaking to AsiaNews, the Archbishop of Singapore Mgr William Goh welcomed President Tans visit to Italy (which began on 22 May) and the Vatican. The prelate highlighted the good relations between Singapore and the Church. Singapores government is secular, but not secularised since it acknowledges the important role played by religion in the moral development of people, he said. Common Toothbrushing Mistakes 10 Common Toothbrush Mistakes (And How To Fix Them) Page 1 of 2 Its no secret women love a man with a killer smile, great-smelling breath, and pearly whites. Achieving the trinity of oral hygiene starts with your wakeup grooming call, which consists of jumping in the bathroom and scrubbing the grime thats accumulated in your chatterbox over the past day. But considering how second nature brushing our teeth has become, most guys feel practicing proper toothbrush maintenance isnt that serious. Need we forget the dirtiest part of the body is the mouth? Yea. Some dental experts say its even dirtier than the rectal area. Research backs this theory. One study performed by the University of Manchester in England discovered that over 100 million bacteria including E. coli and staphylococci bacteria live in your toothbrush. Now take into account another study done by the University of Alabama at Birmingham that suggests it also houses fecal germs. And you kiss your dates with that mouth. I bet youre at the brink of tossing out that Crest toothbrush right now. Thats one way to start fresh, but its time to start thinking how to take better care of those fangs, prevent halitosis, and most importantly, keep that oral cleanser in sanitary condition. To lead you on the right path, we got the 411 from Dr. Robert Lee, Head of Professional & Scientific Relations at Professional Oral Care for Procter & Gamble, on how to avoid these common toothbrush mistakes. Rushing Through The Process It is recommended that people spend two minutes brushing their teeth. However, the average American spends less than half of that [amount of time]! On average, Americans spend 46 seconds brushing their teeth. Not brushing for a sufficient amount of time can cause plaque to remain in areas you would have gotten to if the proper amount of time were spent. Products like the Oral-B Power Brush, which has Bluetooth connectivity with the app, have proven to increase average brushing time for all users. Keeping The Brush In Unsanitary, Wet Places Its common for people to place their toothbrushes on the sink counter near the toilet. This is unsanitary as water can spray from the toilet when flushed. That being said, never place a toothbrush directly on the back of the toilet or above it on a shelf. The best place to dry your brush is in a dry area placed in a cup or stand that puts the brush in an upright position. The bathroom can tend to be damp and moist, so always leave the door open after showering to ensure the room dries overall. It is also never a good idea to leave your brush in the shower. With multiple people showering and the door or curtain remaining closed, it creates a damp environment where bacteria will grow. Neglecting The Tongue It is important to brush your tongue each time you brush your teeth, as 80% of germs that cause bad breath reside predominantly on the surface of the tongue. When you brush it, do not just use the brush alone it is important to also use it with toothpaste. The use of an anti-bacterial toothpaste like Crest Pro-Health will ensure that bacteria growth on the tongue is suppressed. Ignoring Hard To Reach Areas Inner surfaces are harder to reach, which often means plaque can get left behind. Plaque that hardens is called tartar. Tartar tends to build up on the inside of the lower front teeth. Using a power brush with a small round head allows you to reach angles and areas under teeth that you may normally miss. Choosing The Wrong Toothbrush Model What is the wrong toothbrush? One with hard bristles can damage your gums. Maybe people feel the harder bristles will remove plaque better, but this is a myth. If you are using a manual brush, use one with soft bristles to remove plaque without causing damage to the gums. It is ideal to use a power brush with a small round head. Brushes with a small round head are proven to be more effective at removing plaque and preventing gingivitis by reaching areas that normal-sized brush heads don't reach. 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. For this slip angle adventure, we'll take you back in time to the 2007 moment when Keiichi Tsuchiya drifted the hell out of a Ferrari 599 Back then Maranello had been producing the 599 for just one year and so the Drift King's initiative was as hot as they get. In the piece of footage below, we can see (listening is only an option if Japanese doesn't sound like an alien language to you) the man putting the 599 through its paces on the track.Keiichi works his way up through the various modes of the Manettino dial. You know, the little red switch on Ferrari steering wheels that can turn the car from a docile creature that won't let the tail slide to a fully-sideways animal willing to kick its driver off the saddle.The 599's rear diff, as well as its handling electronics, were the result of Scuderia Ferrari's F1 efforts, so while playing the Grand Tourer role, the V12 Fezza was very communicative and easy to control.While the full nine-minute video is worthy of your undivided attention, we'd pay special attention to two particular moments. We'll start with the 5:50 point, which sees the man pulling a massive second gear drift.Then there's the 6:30 point, which sees the Drift King wrestling the Prancing Horse a little bit, all with the aim of convincing it to deliver a third gear slide that will give you goosebumps.There's no manual gearbox or hydraulic handbrake to help Keiichi initiate the slides, which means his maneuvers can easily serve as awesome performance driving lessons - do keep in mind that you should practice such shenanigans on the track, which isn't just a safer environment as far as traffic is concerned, but also provides the necessary asphalt width for such stunts. Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko reportedly backed on Friday a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that would restore Azerbaijans control over the Armenian-populated territory. Ukraine has a consistent and determined position on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of Azerbaijans internationally recognized borders and on the basis of respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, he wrote in a letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev cited by the APA news agency. My country also highly appreciates Azerbaijans support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Poroshenko said, congratulating Aliyev on Azerbaijans Independence Day. The United States, the European Union and Russia take a more neutral stance on the Karabakh dispute, saying that it should be settled on the basis of not only territorial integrity of states but also peoples right to self-determination. Over the past decade, the U.S., Russian and French mediators have put forward peace proposals calling for a future referendum in Karabakh that would determine the disputed regions final status. Ukraines position on Karabakh may have been strongly influenced by the continuing secessionist conflict in its Donbass region and Armenias reaction to Russias annexation in 2014 of another Ukrainian region, Crimea. In March 2014, President Serzh Sarkisian welcomed a disputed referendum in Crimea that preceded the annexation. Armenia went on to vote against a pro-Ukrainian resolution on Crimea at the UN General Assembly. The Ukrainian government responded by recalling its ambassador in Yerevan. Despite those pro-Russian moves, the Armenian government seems to have stopped short of formally recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Later in 2014, it apparently blocked direct flights between Crimea and Armenia planned by a Russian airline. And last September, Yerevan signaled opposition to the participation of Sergey Aksyonov, Crimeas de facto leader, in a Russian-Armenian interregional forum held in the Armenian capital. 28 May 2016 10:09 (UTC+04:00) The next meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is significant as the sides will be able to discuss the implementation of the agreements gained in Vienna, said Matthew Bryza, former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan. "However, I do not anticipate any breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement following the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents," Bryza told Trend via email May 27. A meeting was held in Vienna May 16 with participation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The next round of talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents can be held in June. Bryza also believes that the next round of negotiations will create a psychological climate for further meetings. He said the meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides following the escalation of the situation on the line of contact of both countries' troops in April testify to the intention to come to a mutually beneficial solution. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 14:55 (UTC+04:00) Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Ahmadov paid a visit to the country's Terter district May 28. Ahmadov had a meeting at the executive power of the Terter district. Then he visited one of the military units in the Terter city, met with soldiers and officers, and presented gifts to the servicemen who have shown courage in the April fighting. On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The shelling resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. Ahmadov also visited the houses damaged as a result of the April provocations of Armenia, and met with residents of the villages damaged in the Armenian shelling. He also visited the trenches on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, and met with the servicemen on combat duty. Considerable damage was inflicted to many houses in the Terter district as a result of the Armenian heavy artillery shelling on April 2-5 and on April 27-28. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Republic Day. "On behalf of the people and government of Israel, please accept my sincere congratulations on the occasion of Republic Day," said Netanyahu. "Israel deeply values its ties with Azerbaijan," he added. "In the 24 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, we have forged a strong strategic partnership, based on true friendship and shared interests." "Under your leadership, the ties between our two countries have reached new heights, and I look forward to exploring additional opportunities for cooperation," said the Israeli PM. "As we discussed, I hope we can meet in Azerbaijan later this year." Netanyahu added that the 98th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan is an opportunity to take stock of the many achievements the country has made since gaining national independence. "As you celebrate, I reaffirm my commitment to the friendship between our two countries and I wish you, your family and your people continued prosperity, growth and success," he said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 11:00 (UTC+04:00) A delegation led by Deputy Speaker of Azerbaijan`s parliament, head of the Azerbaijani-Czech working group on inter-parliamentary relations Valeh Alasgarov visited the Czech Republic, Azertac reports. He met with Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic Jan Hamacek and Czech Senate President Milan Stech as part of the visit. The Azerbaijani delegation also held bilateral meetings with heads of the major parties represented in the Czech parliament to discuss ways of developing the bilateral inter-parliamentary relations.They exchanged views on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on current developments in the region. Czech officials stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Valeh Alasgarov also met with Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Lubomir Zaoralek and the country's Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mladek. They explored ways of deepening cooperation in various fields, as well as the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict, regional security, economic and energy projects implemented in the region. The parliamentary delegation also attended a reception on the occasion of the Republic Day organized by Azerbaijan`s Embassy in Prague.The event was attended by Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, head of the Czech- Azerbaijan working group on inter-parliamentary relations Jan Hamacek and other high-ranking officials. Addressing the event, Valeh Alasgarov, Jan Hamacek, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Czech Republic Farid Shafiyev underlined the importance of developing bilateral relations between the two countries. Hailing the significance of expanding cooperation between the two countries, Jan Hamacek stressed the significance of solving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 09:55 (UTC+04:00) Several cities in California have adopted proclamations declaring May 28th as Azerbaijan`s National Day. The proclamations were presented to the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, Azertac reports. The proclamations declared May 28th as the Azerbaijan National Day in West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Torrance, as well as Orange Country. The proclamations say: On May 28th, 1918, Azerbaijan declared its independence establishing the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which became the first secular parliamentary democracy in the Muslim World and recognized by other democratic nations, including the United States of America. During the short period of independence Azerbaijan granted all people the rights to vote regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, becoming the first Muslim nation to give women equal political rights with men, an accomplishment preceding the United States. Azerbaijans independence was interrupted in 1920, when it was invaded by Bolshevists, and forcefully incorporated into the USSR in 1922 to restore its independence only in 1991. Over the last two decades, the Republic of Azerbaijan has consolidated its sovereignty and independence, and has become a staunch ally and strategic partner of the United States of America in the critically important Caspian region. Every year for the last 97 years, millions of Azerbaijanis around the globe, including tens of thousands in the USA observe May 28th as the National Day, and remember the contribution of their forefathers to the spread of democracy in the regions of Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East, the proclamations say. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 11:19 (UTC+04:00) Russia and Azerbaijan are bound by strategic relations based on principles of equality, good neighborliness, centuries-old traditions of friendship, common history and culture, interrelated destinies of millions of people, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin. He made the remarks at a reception held in the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Moscow on the occasion of Azerbaijan's Republic Day. "The scope and quality of the Azerbaijan-Russia cooperation grow year by year," Karasin said. "In 2014, in terms of trade turnover volume, we reached a record level of $4 billion. Currently we are actively seeking ways to encourage cooperation, especially in transportation, oil and gas sectors, and agro-industry." "The unchanging priority is the cooperation in the humanitarian sphere with emphasis on strengthening the common legacy of linguistic, educational and cultural space inherited by us," he added. Karasin said the world-renowned joint project - the Baku International Humanitarian Forum - under the patronage of Russian and Azerbaijani presidents, has become a platform in demand. "At present, the next fifth meeting, scheduled for September 2016, is being actively prepared," Karasin said. "Today's bilateral relations are based on a solid foundation," he said, adding the relations are bonded by mutual trust and benefit. "Good relations have been established between the regions and authorities of the two countries, and first of all, between the presidents of our countries, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, who maintain constant relations," said Karasin. "Russia sincerely believes that we have a good common future," he said, adding Russia wants to see its southern neighbor, Azerbaijan, prosperous and open to broad cooperation. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 19:53 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan`s embassy to Malaysia has organized an official reception to mark the national holiday the Republic Day at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Azertac reports. The event brought together representatives of Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, members of Malaysia-Azerbaijan friendship group in the country`s Parliament, businessmen, heads of diplomatic corps and Azerbaijanis living in the country. Addressing the event, ambassador Galey Allahverdiyev provided an insight into the history of the Republic Day. He noted that the present dynamic development of Azerbaijan is the result of right statehood policy and reforms carried out by Heydar Aliyev. The Ambassador has also informed the attendees on the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe to be held next month in Baku, and the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games to be hosted by Azerbaijan in 2017. Speaking to the event, Malaysian deputy minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Dato Sri Haji Tajuddin Bin Abdul Rahman congratulated the Azerbaijani President and people on the occasion. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 10:45 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan Chamber of Auditors will sign cooperation agreements with its Israeli and Estonian counterparts as the sides agreed on the sidelines of an international conference in Tbilisi, Azertac reports. A delegation headed by Vahid Novruzov, Chairperson of Azerbaijan Chamber of Auditors, attended "20 years of professional development - European integration and challenges of the profession" international conference hosted by the Georgian Federation of Professional Accountants and Auditors. Novruzov addressed the event to highlight economic reforms conducted in Azerbaijan under leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, and the governments measures to increase responsibility and transparency in audit. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 10:15 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan exported 1.71 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to 1.69 billion cubic meters exported in January-March 2015, said a report of the Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK). Azerbaijan supplied 6.17 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey in 2015 versus 6.07 billion cubic meters in 2014. The report also said that Turkey imported 13.17 billion cubic meters of gas in Q1 2016, out of which 10.24 billion cubic meters were imported via pipelines and 2.93 billion cubic meters accounted for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Azerbaijan's share in Turkey's total gas imports was 13 percent in January-March 2016. Turkey imports gas from Azerbaijan via the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum). Turkey has a contract for the annual purchase of 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz gas and condensate field. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 11:27 (UTC+04:00) Next week, the EU will send an expert group to Turkey to solve the remaining problems over the introduction of visa-free regime with Ankara, First Vice-President of the EU Commission Frans Timmermans said. He made the remarks following a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Minister for EU Affairs Omer Celik, the Turkish news channel Haberturk reported May 27. "Progress has been reached at the negotiations on the visa-free regime," said Timmermans. "Everyone showed determination to remove the remaining obstacles to introduction of the visa-free regime. We agreed that Turkish and European experts will work together. An EU expert group will head for Ankara the next week to work on this." --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 11:38 (UTC+04:00) Thirty foreign investors will launch new enterprises in Kazakhstan in 2016, said the country's minister of investment and development, Asset Issekeshev, addressing the Council of Foreign Investors, reports the press service of Kazakh Investment and Development Ministry. Issekeshev said that in general the ministry actively works on over 200 initiatives of foreign investors in the manufacturing sector with potential investments in total worth over $40 billion. Particular attention is being paid to the work with transnational corporations, he added. The minister said that, for example, in July 2016 the Italian company Tenaris will launch production of premium junction oil pipes in the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan. The Swiss nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer company EuroChem will begin construction of a fertilizer plant in the country, he said. A center for new materials and additive technologies will be launched in Kazakhstan in 2016 jointly with the US company Materia, said Issekeshev. He added that the center for financial technologies, FinTech, will be launched with IBM. Issekeshev said the foreign investors are also implementing more than 60 projects in the agro-industry of Kazakhstan. South Korea's Lotte will start a project to produce confectionery, the French Lactalis and German Meggle will launch projects for manufacturing and processing dairy products in nine regions of Kazakhstan, while Italy's Cremonini will build a modern combine for production of a wide range of processed meat products, he added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 28 May 2016 18:00 (UTC+04:00) Iran and Turkey have hold their first joint meeting on scientific and technological cooperation. The session was attended by Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohammad Farhadi and Yekta Sarac, president of the Council of Higher Education of Turkey, ISNA news agency reported May 28. During the meeting which was held in Ankara, the sides agreed on carrying out 10 joint research projects among universities and professors on both sides, and giving 50 scholarships of 6 to 9 months period each to PhD students. They also agreed on promoting each country's official language and literature in the other by Iran sending three Persian professors to Turkey and Turkey dispatching three Turkish professors to Iran. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A 59-year-old man died Friday after his motorcycle crashed into another vehicle near I-75 in Manatee County, according to Florida Highway Patrol troopers. Crash occurred due to car not yielding right of way Dan Berner, 59, of Lakeland, killed in crash Troopers report that Dan Berner, 59, was traveling eastbound on Moccasin Wallow Road (County Road 6) when his motorcycle struck a car that had pulled into the roadway in front of him. The driver of the car, Donald Love, 72, was attempting to make a left turn onto Moccasin Wallow Road from the road at the end of the I-75 northbound off ramp, and did not see Berner's approach as he started his turn. Berner's motorcycle collided with the left side of Love's 2009 Toyota Prius. Berner was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, and died at the scene. Love was cited for failing to yield the right of way from a stop sign. He was not injured in the crash. One person was killed and two other injured after two boats collided Friday near the Coast Guard Station in St. Petersburg, according to authorities. Two boats collided Friday night near the Coast Guard Station in St. Petersburg One person died, two other injured Florida Fish and Wildlife is conducting an investigation Coast Guardsmen heard the collision just before 10 p.m. and a crew was launched immediately to provide assistance to the injured boaters. At least five people were involved in the collision. When St. Petersburg Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, one of the boaters was declared dead. A second boater was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in critical condition, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. A third boater from the second vessel was brought to the station. He was treated by members of the Coast Guard and then taken to Bayfront Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries. The other boaters were not injured. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the collision. One person was injured in a shooting Saturday morning in St. Petersburg, according to police. 1 person shot in the foot at the Midcore parking garage Police say two groups of people were arguing when someone opened fire Police are looking for the suspected shooter Officers were responding to reports of multiple gunshots coming from the Midcore parking garage on 117 2nd Street North. A vehicle was stopped and police found a person inside who was shot in the foot, police said. The other people inside the vehicle told officers they were in a verbal altercation with a group of people in another vehicle. The passenger in the other vehicle opened fire, hitting one person in the foot. The suspect vehicle fled the garage before officers arrived. Police searched the garage and found casing and bullet fragments. Investigators reviewed video of the shooting and were able to determine the tag number of the suspect vehicle. No other information has been released. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the St. Petersburg Police Department at 727-893-7780. 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 HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) President Barack Obama paid tribute Friday to the "silent cry" of the 140,000 victims of the atomic bomb dropped 71 years ago on Hiroshima, and called on the world to abandon "the logic of fear" that encourages the stockpiling of nuclear weapons. Obama's trip to Hiroshima made him the first U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, and he sought to walk a delicate line between honoring the dead, pushing his as-yet unrealized anti-nuclear vision and avoiding any sense of apology for an act many Americans see as a justified end to a brutal war that Japan started with a sneak attack at Pearl Harbor. "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 stone monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park that honors those killed on Aug. 6, 1945. "The flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself." In a carefully choreographed display, Obama offered a somber reflection on the horrors of war and the danger of technology that gives humans the "capacity for unmatched destruction." With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe standing by his side and an iconic bombed-out domed building looming behind him, Obama 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," Obama said. "We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry." A second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima, killed 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending a war that killed millions. Obama hoped Hiroshima would someday be remembered not as the dawn of the atomic age but as the beginning of a "moral awakening." He renewed his call for a world less threatened by 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. "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," Obama said. Abe, in his speech, called Obama's visit courageous and long-awaited. He said it would help the suffering of survivors and he echoed the anti-nuclear sentiments. "At any place in world, this tragedy must not be repeated again," Abe said. Critics believe Obama's mere presence in Hiroshima would be viewed as an apology for what they see as a bombing that was needed to stop a Japanese war machine that had brutalized Asia and killed many Americans. But Obama's decision also drew 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 who publicly warned the president not to forget their dead. Obama spoke broadly of the brutality of the war that begat the bombing saying it "grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes" but did not assign blame. After his remarks, he met with two survivors. Although he was out of ear shot of reporters, Obama could be seen laughing and smiling with 91-year-old Sunao Tsuboi. He embraced Shigeaki Mori, 79, in a hug. Later, Tsuboi told reporters he was struck by how Obama held his hand and listened carefully. He told the U.S. president he will be remembered as the one who "listened to the voice of survivors like us." "You should come visit Hiroshima from time to time and meet lots of people. That is what is important," Tsuboi said. Obama's visit, which lasted just under two hours while most Americans were sleeping, was crafted for close scrutiny in Asia, a region he's tried to put at the center of his foreign policy legacy. Obama and Abe strode together along a tree-lined path, past an eternal flame, toward a river that flows by the domed building that many associate with Hiroshima. They earlier 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 long way 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 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. He was accompanied by Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Japan. Hiroshima's peace park is a poignant place, with searing images of the burnt, tattered clothing of dead children and 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. 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." ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac . Follow Foster Klug at www.twitter.com/apklug This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A 17-year-old beauty queen was booked into a South Carolina jail Monday for allegedly forging doctor's notes to skip class. RELATED: Boerne woman suspected of posing as doctor arrested Madison Cox, who once won "Most Photogenic" in an international teen beauty pageant, was booked in Spartanburg County Jail and charged with forgery, according to police records. WSPA, a CBS affiliate in South Carolina, reported that the Miss South Carolina Teen International 2015 allegedly excused herself from class using a notepad from Parris Family Chiropractic. RELATED: Affidavit: Man forged check to steal $579 from 73-year-old woman Police told WSPA the notes were not genuine because the doctor's office was either closed, or they did not see Cox on the days she was absent from school. RELATED: Couple charged with stealing mail, checks from San Antonio mailboxes kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 Alice Walton, of Walmart family fame, has lowered the price of her Rocking W Ranch near Fort Worth by 16.5 percent. RELATED: Texas horse ranch listed at nearly $4M The 1,435-acre property was put up for sale in September 2015 at the price of $19.75 million and has been lowered by $3.25 million, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday. The ranch, now priced at $16.5 million, includes three-quarters of a mile of Brazos River frontage and is one of the largest cutting-horse training facilities in the state, according to a September 2015 mySA article. RELATED: Alice Walton of famed Walmart family selling $19.75 million Texas horse ranch The 65-year-old, who is the daughter of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, originally put the ranch up for sale to give her more time to attend to other things in her life, such as her board position at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. RELATED: New Walmart Neighborhood Market opens on South Side Last year, she was reported as the richest person in Texas by Forbes with a net worth of more than $39 billion. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 A pro-Brexit minister has launched a scathing attack on the "chaos" of Britain's immigration controls. Employment minster Priti Patel also ridiculed economic predictions from Government colleagues in the Treasury as Tory infighting continued to escalate. The sharp intervention came as a new study warned that staying in the EU could be damaging for London's position as a major global financial hub. In an apparent swipe at pro-Remain Home Secretary Theresa May, Ms Patel wrote in The Sun: "There is another great bonus of leaving the EU, we'll be able to design a new immigration system that brings the chaos under control and helps the economy. "It's uncontrolled and uncontrollable while we remain in the EU. It is running at the rate of a million every three years. Last year, 270,000 arrived from Europe alone. "It is crazy that we make it so hard for Indian geniuses to come here just because they don't have EU passports and just because we have to let in anyone from Europe who feels like coming here and trying their luck at finding a job. "It's not the wealthy and the corporate elite who have seen their wages undercut and the pressure on their schools and hospitals, or who can't get on to the housing ladder." Ms Patel, who attends Cabinet meetings, also hit out at Treasury forecasting of what would happen after a withdrawal from the EU. "If the Government seriously believed the doom-laden propaganda they have been pumping out about the horrors of life after the EU, they would never have called this referendum in the first place. "The Government thinks it can predict what will happen in the economy in 2030. Last November, the Treasury said there was going to be a windfall of 27 billion from unexpectedly high tax receipts. "When the Budget came round in March, that had turned into a 56 billion shortfall. Fourteen years ahead? They can't even predict 14 weeks ahead," Ms Patel said. The comments came as former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith welcomed a report by ex-HSBC chief Michael Geoghegan, and independent risk consulting specialist Peter Udale, which warned of the dangers for London of the UK staying in the EU. "New research released today details the scale of the risk to our financial industry, which employs more than two million people throughout the UK, and funds 12% of spending on public services. "If we stay in the EU, with our veto over eurozone integration given away by the Prime Minister in February, we will be in a weaker and weaker position to protect our interests. "The report sets out in detail plans ranging from hostile regulation to attempts to remove British representation from key international bodies. It also warns us of the threat posed by the proposed Financial Transaction Tax," Mr Duncan Smith wrote in The Times. The report states: "Access to the single European market is not fundamental to, nor the reason for, London's success. "Although the EU single market is important to the UK - it accounts for one third of our financial service exports - the rest of the world accounts for two thirds and is growing more rapidly. The UK has to weigh up whether the benefit of unfettered access to the single market is really worth the constraints, costs and risks which result from our EU membership. "There is a growing body of evidence which shows that EU membership comes at a significant and increasing cost to the UK. "The EU looks inwards, not outwards. EU rules are designed to deliver faster integration and to preserve the Euro, not to deliver growth or improve international competitiveness. Evidence shows that the UK is becoming increasingly isolated within an EU dominated by the eurozone. "The UK is set to become the victim of progressively more intense and costly discrimination. We have no effective way to prevent it." Responding to the study, Lucy Thomas, deputy director of Stronger In, said: "Cutting ourselves off from the world's biggest market will wreck our economy and put at risk people's jobs in our financial services industry from Bournemouth to Belfast. "And the Leave campaign have now confirmed that they are prepared to scrap valuable hard-fought workers' rights. "This is exactly why leaving Europe is a leap into the dark that would put our future at risk." Conjuror by John and Carole Barrowman is published by Head of Zeus, 12 Family clearly means everything to musical and TV star John Barrowman and his older sister Carole. They look alike, share the same confidence and infectious enthusiasm, finish each other's sentences and constantly make fun of each other - sometimes caustically but never with malice. The Torchwood star has been living in California for more than a year now, simply because that's where the work is; he's starring as villain Malcolm Merlyn in the comic book series Arrow, shown here on Sky1. Living across the pond means he sees more of his sister, an English professor and creative writing teacher who lives in Wisconsin, which has given them ample opportunity to collaborate on several projects. They've written a new digital comic for DC, revealing the back story of Malcolm Meryln - aka The Dark Archer. They've also dipped their toes in the young adult market with their latest book, Conjuror, a fantasy centring on a 17-year-old boy who has the power to change reality with music. His kind are known as "Conjurors", and the teenager's tasked with stopping malevolent forces. It's the first in the Orion chronicles series - there will be three or four - and this one brings back twins Matt and Em Calder, "Animares" whose imaginations can bring art to life, and who can travel through paintings; they featured in the Barrowmans' Hollow Earth series for children. "We went on a road trip through Spain in 'Barry Van-i-low', a white big American van I brought over from the States," John recalls, "and things started to develop from there." Carole adds: "The road trip was about a month. It was mostly for pleasure, but when we get together for pleasure, we always end up doing work." They've written a few books together now, meeting up three or four times a year and taping notes. She writes the prose, sends the copy to him, they'll discuss it, and then she edits it. At 49, John, who is married to Scott Gill, is still dashingly handsome, with matinee idol looks and tireless enthusiasm, while his sister has more academic gravitas but shares her brother's sharp wit and zest for life. She admits that many of her students are fascinated that she has a famous sibling. "I have students who actually come to the college because of John. They transfer from other places. A couple of semesters ago, a student was sitting almost at the front of my class and she had a Captain Jack mug sitting there," she recalls, referring to her brother's Torchwood and Dr Who character, Captain Jack Harkness. "I wandered around, got to her desk and said, 'He is such an ass!' "Other times, students come up to me in the hall and talk about Malcolm Merlyn like a real person. 'Is your brother that mean?'" John has many strings to his bow - as well as the musical theatre and TV work, there's also a recording career, plus his property company with husband Scott. They've amassed a dozen properties in London, Wales (where Doctor Who and Torchwood were filmed), Wisconsin, Florida, Los Angeles and Palm Springs. "We don't live in all of them," he jokes. "Whenever I've been given a lump sum of money for something, I buy property immediately." His Arrow gig means he'll remain in the US indefinitely, commuting from Palm Springs to Vancouver, where it's filmed, three days a week from July to April, and he isn't allowed to do a lot of other work due to contract ties. While he seems happy enough, there's an air of frustration about Torchwood being left in limbo. "After a lot of things changed at the BBC, I was sitting around going, 'What's happening?' When something changes hands on a network, the people who come in don't want the shows they didn't have much to do with, unless they are hugely successful, so a lot of us suffered at the hands of that. "There's no malice, it's just a fact of the industry. I didn't feel like I'd been dropped but there was no explanation, because the shows I worked on did very well. I just decided not to sit around and wait. "I'm not away because I don't want to be in the UK; I'm in the States because the work has taken me there." The Arrow contract could last 10 years, and John says he'd happily do a decade of the series, because it would mean he'd never have to work again. "I get to pick and choose and do what I want to do. I still do music, but not everybody buys CDs any more. "I still love musical theatre but it's hard work. I'm 49 and I'm not going to play the part of the young, strapping leading man any more. Careers change and I have to change with it. Television has given me a life at home with Scott." In recent years, he's considered adopting a child. "It's something we talk about. Scott will say to me, 'If you do it, I'll do it' - but that's not how you do it. It has to be a joint decision." Carole is married with two grown-up children and two grandchildren. "I'm the one they come to when there's a problem and they don't want to talk to her about it," John boasts. "But what they don't realise is that they still get the lecture." He is also involved with a charity called Sanctuary near his home in Palm Springs, which houses young LGBT people who've been cast out of their foster homes. "These kids come out with no self-esteem, don't think they are worth anything. So we get them back on their feet, put them into college and into the real world." Born in Glasgow, the Barrowmans moved to America in the mid-Seventies, when their father's job for Caterpillar machinery company relocated. John returned to the UK in 1989, taking his first professional West End lead as an unknown opposite Elaine Paige in Anything Goes. He has never looked back, but Captain Jack Harkness was his big breakthrough. When Hollow Earth came out, there were whispers that John and Carole could create the next Harry Potter phenomenon. That didn't happen. "We didn't set out to be the next JK Rowling or to be the next Harry Potter," says John. "We just wanted to tell a story. Our world-building is very different to Rowling's," Carole adds. John turns 50 next year, but isn't worried about it. "I don't think about tomorrow. I don't think about next week," he states. "I just worry about what I have to do today." Conjuror by John and Carole Barrowman is published by Head of Zeus, 12 A blue plaque has been erected in honour of the first US Consul James Holmes to celebrate two centuries of Irish-American connections. Dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Arder Carson, current US Consul General Daniel J Lawton and members of the Ulster History Circle attended the unveiling outside McHugh's Bar in Belfast yesterday. James Holmes was a merchant born in the city in 1753 when it was known as the 'Port of Belfast'. He became well-known for his exportation of linen and became the first Consul to be based here on America's behalf. The current US Consul, Mr Lawton, said the plaque represented not just the memory of James Holmes but the transatlantic relationship Northern Ireland and the US has enjoyed for over two centuries. "We are celebrating 220 years since the appointment of the first US Consul in the Port of Belfast and 220 years which have been mutually beneficial," he said. The bank's Donegall Square East branch will be open from 10am until 1pm on Monday It could only happen in Northern Ireland - a bank opening on a bank holiday. For the first time ever, that is exactly what Ulster Bank plans to do this Monday in its Belfast city centre branch. Its Donegall Square East bank - located at the company's headquarters - will be open for business from 10am until 1pm on the spring Bank Holiday. Some customers yesterday said they appreciated Ulster Bank's flexibility, particularly as most other financial institutions will be closed, in keeping with the long-standing tradition. Others, though, said they felt the plan to stay open, which was publicised on social media , was announced too late for most people to take advantage. "Nobody expects a bank to be open on a bank holiday, so I don't see the staff who have to work in that particular branch on Monday being inundated with customers," one man told the Belfast Telegraph. "On the other hand, it might be a good time for someone who has particular business to attend to, to take advantage of a quiet day and call in." A customer who asked not to be named said she did not see the point of staffing one branch for a couple of hours in the morning, although she also welcomed the move. "I understand that Ulster Bank wants to be seen to be offering us special treatment - and I guess that's a good thing - but I can't help thinking it's a bit unnecessary at the same time," she explained. Ulster Bank tweeted a graphic to explain its new stance regarding the branch opening its doors on Bank Holiday Monday. The message read: "All branches are closed on Monday May 30, 2016, for a bank holiday, except our Belfast city office: Open 10am-1pm." An Ulster Bank spokesman confirmed that the bank would be opening on Monday in line with the business's commitment to providing "help for what matters" for its customers across the city. Two months ago, Ulster Bank customers hit out after the St Patrick's Day bank holiday led to delays in processing wages, At the time, a spokesman said the problem arose because March 17 was a non-banking day in Northern Ireland but a normal banking day in Great Britain. Last year, an IT glitch left some customers unable to access their accounts, following a similar problem in 2012. South Korean Catholic nuns taking part in the 2016 Women Walk for Korean Peace at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju (AP) South Korean soldiers at a military checkpoint near the border village of Panmunjom (AP) North Korea threatened to fire without warning at South Korean warships if they cross into its waters, as tensions between the two neighbours increased. The increase in hostility came a day afte r the South's navy fired warning shots to chase away two North Korean ships that briefly crossed a disputed western sea boundary. The General Staff of North Korea's Korean People's Army called the South's action a "reckless military provocation" meant to kill the chances for dialogue between the countries. The KPA said the North Korean ships were unarmed and within the North's sea territory when "many armed ships" from the South approached them and fired without warning. The South had said one navy ship issued an audible warning before firing five rounds of warning shots to repel a North Korean military vessel and a fishing boat that briefly crossed into South Korea-controlled waters on Friday morning. The KPA said it will directly fire without warning at South Korean warships if they intrude into the North's waters by "even 0.001 millimetres". It added: "This reckless military provocation was evidently prompted by a premeditated sinister plot to bedevil the North-South relations and further aggravate the tension on the Korean Peninsula." Such incidents are not unusual on the western sea boundary, which was drawn unilaterally by the American-led UN command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and which the North does not recognise. However, the Koreas have also fought three bloody naval skirmishes in the area since 1999. The South had also fired warning shots after a North Korean patrol boat moved south of the boundary in February. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the country's military followed proper procedures to chase away the North Korean ships and called the KPA's claim of the response being a military provocation "ridiculous". Since North Korea held a rare ruling party congress earlier this month, it has been demanding the South accept its calls to resume talks after months of animosities touched off by Pyongyang's nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February. South Korea has rejected the overture, saying the North must show tangible commitment to nuclear disarmament first. Seven people suspected of involvement in stealing five paintings by Irish-born painter Francis Bacon worth more than 25 million euros (19 million) have been arrested by Spanish police. The owner of the artworks reported the theft of the paintings and other valuables to the police in July after he returned from a visit to London, a statement said. None of the paintings has been recovered and the investigation is continuing, police said. A breakthrough came in February when investigators received an email from a British firm specialising in art which had been asked to verify the provenance of some works. The person who contacted the firm lived in the northern seaside city of Sitges, police said, and had included photographs of canvases purporting to be by Bacon. The person asked the experts if the works were listed as stolen. Signatures that looked like Bacon's appeared on the reverse of the paintings, which made the experts suspect they could have been added, the statement said. An examination of the photographs' metadata revealed the type of camera used and that it was hired out, clues that enabled police to identify the sender and uncover links to a Madrid-based art dealer and a son of the dealer. The other suspects also received the photographs and were arrested on suspicion of being accomplices and of conspiring to conceal the facts, police said. The heist appeared to have been professionally planned. The paintings were part of a collection owned by a close friend of Bacon who lived in an apartment close to Spain's Senate, a heavily policed neighbourhood, Spain's leading newspaper El Pais said, citing unidentified sources close to the investigation. Bacon often visited Madrid, where he spent time studying Old Master paintings in the Prado Museum, and died in the city in 1992 at the age of 82. Saturday's statement did not say when the arrests were made and did not disclose the names of the suspects. Looking back, the 1960s were a wonderful time to be alive and to be a student in University College, and Trinity College, Dublin. Term had hardly begun and I met fellow student John Feeney. Together we founded a branch of the Student Christian Movement, with more than 1,000 attending meetings crammed to overflowing to hear burning topical issues discussed - Vatican 2, Apartheid in South Africa, the Vietnam War, contraception, the Reformation, suicide, etc. Anti-Apartheid and anti-Vietnam War marches were organised, as well as religious conferences and retreats.. The SCM captured the ferment in young people's thinking, and grew from strength to strength, attracting large numbers of students, people from religious orders, seminarians from Clonliffe College and Maynooth, student nuns, and members of the de Valera and FitzGerald families. Through these important and exciting days, John Feeney and I worked closely together with great success to promote the work of both Christian societies, SCM and Pax Romana. One sunny summer day, John and I took a walk across St Stephen's Green, down Grafton Street, along a narrow street and into a small Roman Catholic Church where Mass was being celebrated. John and I received Communion. Words from that service come vividly to my mind: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof. Only say the word and my servant will be healed". These were the words of the Roman centurion to Jesus, from St Luke's Gospel, about his slave who was sick and close to death. Jesus marvelled at the centurion's faith and healed his slave. It is understandable that these words were part of the Communion service we had just attended. Yes, because we are sinners we are not worthy to receive Jesus. Yet, as we turn to Jesus, he will speak the word and we, and our friends, will be healed. I leave these words with you. They will be read out in Christian churches around the world tomorrow. They will bring comfort and reassurance to many. Yes, we are never worthy to ask anything of Jesus. But we can approach him in faith and penitence, and all will be made well for you and for me! Sadly, John, who went on to be a fine journalist, died in the Eastbourne air accident in the south of England in 1984, along with eight others. Shallow understanding of the violent conflict in Thailands Deep South has fueled Islamophobia in that country, academics and local residents told a seminar on the topic this month. Exacerbating the problem is the medias penchant for focusing on violence, according to Saki Pitakkhumpol, a professor at the Institute of Peace Studies at Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai district of southern Songkhla province. We cannot generalize that the violence in the Deep South was the sole work of the so-called Deep South bandits or perpetrators. It is more complex than that, Saki told a seminar on May 13 titled Islamophobia in Thai Society: How We Can Live Together at the Central Islamic Center of Thailand in Bangkok. People on the ground start to understand the complex problems that go beyond separatism or problems between Muslims and Buddhists, he added. Panelists at the event cited increasing anti-Muslim sentiment as the impetus to hold the seminar. On May 12, banners appeared at a mosque construction site in Mukdaharn province in northeastern Thailand rejecting its presence. One of the banners referred to resistance in southern Pattani province to a proposed Buddhist park in the predominantly Muslim area. Cannot build Buddha Monthon Park in Pattani because they are Muslims. Here we are all Buddhists. Who is the mosque for? one banner read. 9,000 militants Thailands Deep South, formerly the Malay kingdom of Patani Darussalam, encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, and four districts of Songkhla. The region was completely annexed by the then-Kingdom of Siam in 1902. Today 80 percent of the Deep Souths 1.7 million residents are Muslim Malay-Patani, or Muslim Thais, a term Thai authorities prefer. Muslims live elsewhere in Thailand, accounting for close to four million of the countrys total population of 67 million. A separatist insurgency has simmered in the Deep South since the 1960s. Since it reignited in 2004, more than 6,500 have been killed, both Buddhists and Muslims. There are some 9,000 militants in the region affiliated with a variety of insurgent groups and factions, according to estimates by the government and Mara Patani, a committee representing the rebels that has been involved in recent efforts to restart peace talks. A bad impression Deep South Muslims are stereotyped as violent insurgents, according to one Pattani native. I understand why outsiders have a bad impression of people in Deep South, Muslims in particular. The government readily concludes that insurgents cause the problems. And in the governments definition, insurgents means Muslims in the Deep South, Tola Denglala told BenarNews. The reality is too complicated to be able to clearly identify who did the violence. And by generalizing, so the government unknowingly creates more problems, he argued. The media, meanwhile, pays little heed to the majority of Muslims and Buddhists who live in harmony, he said. But Rukchart Suwan, president of Buddhist Network for Peace in Yala, said the stereotype stems from the fact that almost all suspected insurgents arrested in the region are Muslims. On Wednesday police announced the arrest of two Muslim men suspected in an April 11 bomb attack near a railway station in Songkhlas Jana district that killed a 4 year-old boy and a police officer. Eight others, including two sisters of the boy, were injured. The two men were compelled to re-enact the bomb scene, a typical procedure in Thailands justice system. Furious comments about the bombing spread like wildfire on social media. Almost all suspects in violent incidents are Muslims. They kill both Muslim Thais and Buddhist Thais, Rukchart told Benar News by phone. In his view, Thai security officials have not added significantly to the southern death toll in recent years. Lately Thai officials strictly observe legal means, he said, acknowledging that earlier the insurgency was fueled by deadly military clashes with southern rebels and civilian casualties. He was likely referring to events in 2004 when police killed 32 suspected insurgents who had taken refuge in the Krue Se Mosque in Pattani, or the so-called Tak Bai incident in which 85 protesters died, many after being stacked like logs in military trucks. Preserving identity Malay-Patanis want to prevent their ethnic identity from being subsumed in Thai identity, which is fundamentally Buddhist, according to Pornpen Kongkachonkiat, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation, a Thai NGO. Some Thais may harbor Islamophobia, but the government itself does not single out followers of that religion for discrimination. Rather, the state resists all efforts to deviate from mainstream Thai identity, she said. Thailand recognizes itself as a single state, indivisible, and it is unwilling to accept ethnic differences. Pornpen told BenarNews by phone. Rukchart said that Islamophobia could be addressed by curbing social media forums in which the Deep South conflict is hotly debated, and hate speech is rampant and by forging peace in the south. It has been 12 years of violence already and it is time to put it to an end, he said. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. Islamophobia in the Czech Republic: "44 per cent of muslims are fundamentalists" 28. 5. 2016 cas cteni 2 minuty Daniel Prokop 44 per cent of muslims are fundamentalists, 72 per cent of these fundamentalists are ready to defend their faith by force, said Czech "think tank" Evropske hodnoty (European values) in a press release which has been widely disseminated by the media in the Czech Republic, thus re-affirming strong islamophobia in the Czech population. These statements are, however, highly misleading, says Czech sociologist Daniel Prokop. Data from two incompatible studies have been mixed up. The information that 72 per cent fundamentalists are willing to defend their faith by force, is based on a study which has found that 5 per cent of muslims are fundamentalists. The figure of 72 per cent thus relates to 5 per cent of the population not to the 44 per cent mentioned in the press release. (http://goo.gl/UxE9B9) The numbers about the alleged support of muslims for violence are meaningless if they are not compared to the views of a control group from a non-muslim population, says Prokop. Gallup shows that support for violence is similar between muslims and non muslims. (http://goo.gl/iLvNeU, http://goo.gl/fgyjvY). The Evropske hodnoty press release is based on Koompans's research which is regarded as highly controversial. It is Koompans who has defined 44 per cent muslims as fundamentalists. Koompans defines muslim fundamentalism very loosely. He argues, for instance, that preference for sharia law is allegedly evidenced by agreement with this general statement: "The rules of the Koran are more important to me than the laws of [survey country]. The research in question is highly unrepresentative for European muslims. It has only questioned Turkish and Moroccan families from six countries which came to Europe as working class gastarbeiters. Representatives of all other social groups are missing. Other questions in the survey were questionable. The Evropske hodnoty press release does not mention that the data it quotes is mostly from 2006-2008 and that support of violence has dropped since then in the muslim world (https://goo.gl/). This is how the Czech media feed fear and hate against muslims in a country which has almost no experience of islam. There are stories like this in the Czech Republic every day that never make it to the outside world because of a lack of translation. You can support us and help reveal what's happening in Central Europe today. Please make a contribution today on www.paypal.com and send your donation to redakce@blisty.cz. We fully rely on crowdfunding in our work. Thank you. 0 The Funeral of Murdered Villagers U Moe and Maung Chit Soe The Funeral of Murdered Villagers U Moeand Maung Chit Soe Fourteen residents of Ma Gyi Chaung Wa Village, including the abbot of Toe Tat Ywa Thit Monastery were called as witnesses by the investigation on 18 and 19 May. Dr Nyan Zaw from the MNHRC said: After investigating all the people involved in the case all the [MNHRC] members will gather and discuss how to proceed when we arrive back in Rangoon. I cant make any decisions on my own. He also said that military personnel involved in the case would be investigated. The venerable Zana, the abbot of Toe Tat Ywa Thit Monastery, said: The Human Rights Commission asked us about the situation and what we want them to do regarding the murder case. They promised to find out the truth. He explained that the MNHRC will request that Ye Township General hospital supply the medical records relevant to the case and that if they cannot obtain them they will seek the help of the Mon State Police Force Commander. Mi Dar Oo the wife of Maung Chit Soe, one of the murdered villagers said: The Human Rights Commission questioned us and discussed with us freely. They asked us whether or not it really happened, how it happened, where it happened, and the time [of the murder]. The Human Rights Commission came to our village for two days and questioned about ten people from our village. A human rights and justice activist group from Pyay had previously submitted a report on the case to the Burma Army Commander-in-Chief, the MNHRC and the Asian Human Rights Commission on 25 April. U Moe and Maung Chit Soe were allegedly shot and killed by Captain Zaw Myo Htet from Light Infantry Battalion 280 (LIB-280) on 8 March when they left their homes after midnight to go fishing. Captain Zaw Myo Htet has been charged with murder at Khawzar Myoma Police Station and is under a court martial investigation. Translated by Thida Linn Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI Each review score is between 1-10. To get the overall score that you see, we add up all the review scores weve received and divide that total by the number of review scores weve received. In addition, guests can give separate subscores in crucial areas, such as location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money and free Wi-Fi. Note that guests submit their subscores and their overall scores independently, so theres no direct link between them. You can review an Accommodation that you booked through our Platform if you stayed there or if you arrived at the property but didnt actually stay there. To edit a review youve already submitted, please contact our Customer Service team. We have people and automated systems that specialise in detecting fake reviews submitted to our Platform. If we find any, we delete them and, if necessary, take action against whoever is responsible. Anyone else who spots something suspicious can always report it to our Customer Service team, so our Fraud team can investigate. Ideally, we would publish every review we receive, whether positive or negative. However, we wont display any review that includes or refers to (among other things): Politically sensitive comments Promotional content Illegal activities Personal or sensitive information (e.g. emails, phone numbers or credit card info) Swear words, sexual references, hate speech, discriminatory remarks, threats, or references to violence Spam and fake content Animal cruelty Impersonation (e.g. if the writer is claiming to be someone else) Any violation of our review guidelines. To make sure reviews are relevant, we may only accept reviews that are submitted within 3 months of checking out, and we may stop showing reviews once theyre 36 months old or if the Accommodation has a change of ownership. An Accommodation may choose to reply to a review. When you see multiple reviews, the most recent ones will be at the top, subject to a few other factors (what language a review is in, whether its just a rating or contains comments as well, etc.). If you like, you can sort and/or filter them (by time of year, review score, etc.). We sometimes show external review scores from other well-known travel websites. We make it clear when weve done this. Guidelines and standards for Reviews These guidelines and standards aim to keep the content on Booking.com relevant and family-friendly without limiting expression of strong opinions. They are also applicable regardless of the sentiment of the comment. Contributions should be travel related. The most helpful contributions are detailed and help others make better decisions. Please dont include personal, political, ethical, or religious commentary. Promotional content will be removed and issues concerning Booking.coms services should be routed to our Customer Service or Accommodation Service teams. Contributions should be appropriate for a global audience. Please avoid using profanity or attempts to approximate profanity with creative spelling, in any language. Comments and media that include 'hate speech', discriminatory remarks, threats, sexually explicit remarks, violence, and the promotion of illegal activity are not permitted. All content should be genuine and unique to the guest. Reviews are most valuable when they are original and unbiased. Your contribution should be yours. Booking.com property partners should not post on behalf of guests or offer incentives in exchange for reviews. Attempts to bring down the rating of a competitor by submitting a negative review will not be tolerated. Respect the privacy of others. Booking.com will make an effort to obscure email addresses, telephone numbers, website addresses, social media accounts, and similar details. The opinions expressed in contributions are those of Booking.com customers and properties and not of Booking.com. Booking.com does not accept responsibility or liability for any reviews or responses. Booking.com is a distributor (without any obligation to verify) and not a publisher of these comments and responses. By default, reviews are sorted based on the date of the review and on additional criteria to display the most relevant reviews, including but not limited to: your language, reviews with text, and non-anonymous reviews. Additional sorting options may be available (by type of traveller, by score, etc.). Translations disclaimer This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, express or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Summer beach reads recommendations We asked the faculty to suggest the perfect books for light summer reading. Here's what they came up with. And the suggestions are: James R. Morris, professor of biology "Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren "Lab Girl" is a powerful and personal memoir written by Hope Jahren, a geobiologist at the University of Hawaii. She explores her love of soil, trees and flowers, and at the same time weaves in stories about her family, a longstanding friendship and her journey of becoming a scientist. Daniel Bergstresser, associate professor of finance, Brandeis International Business School "The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies" by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee Best book that I have read in a while. The book paints a picture of work and innovation in a world of rapid technological change. Jonathan Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish history "The Best Place on Earth: Stories" by Ayelet Tsabari Happy to recommend Ayelet Tsabarai's debut collection, which won the Rohr Prize as the best work of fiction by an emerging author. Tsabari writes with verve and a distinctive style about Israel, about Israelis (like herself) who settle abroad and above all about Mizrachi Jews, the Jews from Arab lands who are far too little understood by American readers. The stories are rich and unforgettable. Charles Golden, associate professor of anthropology "Ancillary Justice" by Ann Leckie. This is a classic space opera sci-fi novel, and takes place in a distant future where a human empire ruling large swaths of the galaxy has reached the limits of its ability to expand. Despite the grand sweep of the novel, and its two sequels, the story is really about what it is to be human, and whether a human can be both an individual and a "dividual" being that is, someone composed of multiple selves. The bigger world of the human empire also addresses issues of the relative costs and benefits of freedom and control within a state, and the root causes of political collapse. In addressing these topics from the small scale of the person, to the large scale of a galactic empire, "Ancillary Justice" is deeply anthropological. Jane Kondev, professor of physics "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson It's about cryptography but disguised as this World War II/suspense/hijinks novel. My mother, who's an art historian, thoroughly enjoyed it. Already have an account? Log in here A man was arrested Thursday after police learned following a traffic stop that he had a Canada-wide arrest warrant for a parole violation. We need your support! Local journalism needs your support! As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Blue and gold robes and proud family members filled Brandon Universitys Healthy Living Centre on Friday during the schools annual convocation ceremonies. More than 500 students celebrated years of hard work and academic achievement during the morning and afternoon events. As you walk across the stage today, you will be transitioning from the student you were to student you have become, BU president Gervan Fearon said during his address. Colin Corneau Former prime minister Paul Martin laughs after receiving an honorary doctorate of law degree from chancellor Michael Decter during Brandon Universitys 2016 morning convocation ceremony on Friday. I believe that we, collectively and individually, will be differentiated from other institutions and other students by our engaged humanity and our understanding that we can all contribute to the betterment of society. During the morning convocation, grads from the faculties of arts, science and healthy studies received their degrees. Canadas 21st prime minister, Paul Martin, was also in attendance to receive an honorary doctorate of law degree from BU. It really is exciting, especially from Brandon University, Martin told media following the ceremony. Im totally involved in indigenous education and Brandon is one of the world leaders in indigenous education so, its like coming home. Since stepping out of the political spotlight, Martin has been a vocal advocate for better primary and secondary education for indigenous Canadians through his organization, the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative. On Friday morning, Martin offered words of encouragement to graduates and explained how they are the next generation of social, economic and environmental changemakers. As your careers unfold, you are going to encounter some of the most complicated issues in the modern era changes that so transform the nature of the world, that the old rules no longer apply, Martin said, citing climate change and burgeoning technology like artificial intelligence. What you have learned here will be giving you an opportunity that must not be missed, neither for Canadas sake or your own. He also encouraged the new graduates to become ambassadors of reconciliation. In terms of indigenous Canada and the forward looking steps that (BU) has taken, that the graduates here today have been in a really unique atmosphere, he said. Its really important that they take the message that this university has given them and take it from coast to coast to coast. On Friday afternoon, students from the faculty of education, bachelor of arts/bachelor of education program and BUs School of Music received their degrees. Manitoban broadcaster and writer Eric Friesen was presented with an honorary doctorate of law degree during the second convocation ceremony. ewasney@brandonsun.com Twitter: @evawasney Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. On Friday morning, Bailey Kacsmar became Brandon Universitys first-ever cross-faculty double honours graduate. During her five years at BU, the 22-year-old from Esterhazy, Sask., completed a bachelor of science degree with honours majors in both computer science and philosophy and a minor in mathematics. Colin Corneau Bailey Kacsmar is Brandon Universitys first-ever cross-faculty double honours student, earning a bachelor of science with honours majors in both computer science and philosophy, plus a minor in mathematics. While computer science and philosophy might not seem like complementary fields, Kacsmar explains that they have a lot in common. A lot of what I did in philosophy was related to the analytic side of philosophy, so a lot of logic, she said. It helped my writing, it helped my understanding, it helped my reasoning skills and it kind of just meshed together. BU mathematics and computer science professor Gwyn Richards agrees that Kacsmar will be well-equipped for life after graduation thanks to her varied studies. (Bailey) has skills that will be timeless because of her education in computer science but then shell also have skill sets to be able to think and cope with the complexities of the world, Richards said. Shes very good at everything and I think that well-roundedness is what is going to help her through life. Kacsmar is one of two 2016 computer science grads who will be embarking on graduate studies at the University of Waterloo next year. According to Richards, the Ontario university offers one of the best computer science programs in the country. Im very excited, just a little bit nervous as well, she said. Im kind of nervous because its going to be a big transition, Im moving quite a bit further away to a much bigger centre. However, Kacsmar already has experience moving from a smaller town to bigger city. (BUs) student population is a little bit larger than the population of my town, she said. When I first got here, everything seemed so much bigger than it does now. Ahead of Fridays convocation, Kacsmar said shes going to miss BUs small class sizes and the professors in her department who allowed for a lot of student-led learning. One of the best things at Brandon University, for me, was the professors and the opportunity to do research, she said. All of a sudden Im done, Ive gone through all these courses and met the requirements and now Im graduating it went a little fast. ewasney@brandonsun.com Twitter: @evawasney Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WINNIPEG Justin Trudeau put his leadership on the line Saturday with a direct appeal to grassroots Liberals to accept his controversial proposal aimed at transforming the ruling party from an exclusive club into a wide-open political movement. The prime ministers intervention, combined with some eleventh-hour amendments, produced the desired result: 1,988 delegates at the partys first national convention since taking power last fall voted for the proposal, just 66 against. But the result had not been assured just 24 hours earlier, when hundreds of rank and file Liberals complained bitterly that they felt they were being bullied into supporting a proposal upon which they hadnt been consulted and which many felt was a naked power grab by the leader and his cronies on the partys national executive. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets delegates at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention in Winnipeg, Saturday, May 28, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Despite the potential risk, Trudeau took full ownership of the proposal for a new, streamlined party constitution which would, among other things, do away entirely with the concept of membership. Trudeau used a speech a couple of hours before the vote to address delegates qualms. He later personally moved the motion asking for support for the constitution. If I believed for a second that the new constitution was about taking power away from the grassroots, I would be right there with you, shoulder to shoulder, speaking out against it, he told the convention. But it isnt and it doesnt. Indeed, Trudeau argued, the new constitution is all about closing the distance between the leader and every single contributor to this movement weve built. Under the proposal, anyone willing to register for free as a Liberal will in future be entitled to vote in leadership and nomination contests, attend conventions and take part in policy development. Some grassroots Liberals had said they felt intimidated by the heavy-handed tactics used to rally support for the proposal, with Liberal MPs and party staffers lobbying hard among the delegates. That manifested itself Friday in an unsuccessful attempt to change the rules to allow a secret ballot vote on the proposed constitution, where delegates wouldnt feel pressured one way or the other, as one Liberal put it. Trudeau directly addressed the allegations of intimidation, telling opponents of the proposal: It takes courage to speak out against something your party leadership believes in and I want you to know I admire and thank you for doing it. Trudeaus intervention came after a special question-and-answer session Friday left advocates of the proposal doubtful that it would pass. The session attracted hundreds of delegates, none of them happy about it. One of the biggest complaints was about the amount of discretion the proposed constitution would give to the leader and the partys national board to devise bylaws governing all manner of party operations, including registration of Liberals, policy development, riding associations and the partys provincial wings and various commissions. Trudeau, who had been in Japan for the G7 summit during the first two days of the convention, argued Saturday that the current, cumbersome constitution is a product of the era we worked so hard, together, to put behind us: the era of factional battles and hyphenated Liberals, of regional chieftains and behind-the-scenes power-brokers, of the closed, insular thinking that almost killed this party. He called it a hodge-podge of 18 different constitutions, including those governing the partys various commissions and provincial and territorial wings. It empowers a bureaucracy that creates conflict and distance between us. Most important for me, and for any future leader of this party, it creates distance between the leader and the grassroots. While there were few objections to the concept of doing away with paid memberships, delegates were concerned that the proposed constitution included no mention of the principles or values that would supposedly bind registered Liberals together. That was remedied Saturday with one of several amendments, which inserted the preamble from the old constitution into the new one. In the end, even the founder of a grassroots campaign to defeat the proposal came on side. Our party leadership has listened, heard and responded to many of the concerns we expressed, said Kingston riding association president Tom Addison. Former interim leader Bob Rae also weighed in, urging delegates to support the new constitution. A great political party is not a club, its not a private organization, Rae said. It is an organization thats sustained by its relationship to the people around it and the people around us are the people of Canada. Liberals took the first step down the road to no memberships in 2012, when they decided to allow anyone willing to sign up as a supporter to vote in the leadership contest that elected Trudeau. Liberals took a leap of faith and gave their party, which had been left for dead as a political force back to Canadians, Trudeau said, smiling broadly. And look at what theyve done with the place. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WINNIPEG A potential settlement expected to reach billions of dollars could be presented to Manitobas Metis as early as September after the Liberal government signalled it is taking steps to fulfil a 146-year-old disagreement over land. On Friday, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett signed a memorandum of understanding with the Manitoba Metis Federation. The document outlines the governments intention to finally honour a promise made under Sir John A. Macdonald to distribute 5,565 square kilometres of land, including what later became modern-day Winnipeg, to the Metis. Bennett said the Liberal government is committed to ending the status quo and renewing Canadas relationship with the Metis nation. The milestone comes nearly three years after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-2 that the federal government failed to appropriately carry out its promise made in 1870. The 2013 ruling lent legal heft to the possibility of land-claim negotiations. Metis leaders celebrated the historic step toward finally resolving the longstanding dispute. We waited 146 years for this, said federation president David Chartrand. The future is going to change for generations to come, and we are no longer going to be sitting on the sidelines,. The disagreement stems from a promise made by Sir John A. Macdonalds government in 1870 to set aside land for 7,000 Metis children from the Red River Settlement. The Metis have argued that it took more than a decade for the government to begin distributing the 5,565 square kilometres of farmland and about 1,000 Metis children never received any of the promised plots. In many cases, the land was randomly handed out by lottery and displaced the recipients from their ancestral land. The deal was part of the Manitoba Act of 1870, which Canadas first government crafted in attempts to end the Red River Rebellion led by Metis forefather Louis Riel. The act also helped Manitoba become a Canadian province. Another landmark ruling for the Metis came in April when the Supreme unanimously ruled that Metis and non-status aboriginals are Indians under the Constitution. The decision opened the door for an estimated 600,000 Metis and non-status Aboriginals to gain access to federal First Nations programs previously denied to them. (CTV Winnipeg) Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WINNIPEG Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wont say whether Canadas ambassador to Ireland who thwarted a gunman on Parliament Hill two years ago will be disciplined after tackling a protester at a commemoration event last week. Kevin Vickers, the former House of Commons sergeant-at-arms, tackled protester Brian Murphy at a Dublin ceremony. It raised eyebrows in security and diplomacy circles. Vickers was appointed Canadas ambassador to Ireland after being hailed as a hero for his role in shooting and killing an armed assailant inside Parliament. At the Liberal party convention in Winnipeg, Trudeau wouldnt answer when asked by a reporter whether he would recall Vickers but did not defend his actions. Its always easy to second-guess choices people make in emergency or unexpected situations, Trudeau told reporters Saturday. Canadians expect our diplomats abroad to do the right thing, to represent us well. Were a country of people who believe in helping out and being part of the solutions, not part of the problems. Thats the perspective I take on this particular issue. The incident occurred at a ceremony to remember British soldiers killed in the 1916 Easter Rising, which also claimed the lives of some 450 Irish republicans. A spokesperson for Irelands foreign affairs minister said a protester was disrupting the ceremony when Ambassador Vickers reacted instinctively to prevent the individuals encroachment. Video from the event shows Vickers tackling the man and struggling with him before leading him away. Vickers then returned to the ceremony while Murphy was arrested by police. Murphy, the manager of a youth and community centre in Dublin, told The Canadian Press he was not a threat but appreciated how the international incident raised awareness about Irish republicanism. The Irish Republican Prisoner Welfare Association, which Murphy belongs to, demanded an apology from the Canadian government and the immediate removal of Vickers as Canadas ambassador to Ireland. Not only did Mr. Vickers interfere with the right of an Irish citizen to peacefully protest in his own country he undermined the role of the Irish state and the Garda (police) authority to deal with such protests, the association said in a statement last week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. A man and his mistress accused of planning to kill their spouses talked on a secret tape recording about faking a will, complete with a forged signature, after one of their targets disappeared. Curtis Vey, 52, and Angela Nicholson, 51, are accused of conspiracy to commit murder against Brigitte Vey and Jim Taylor. In a video interview with RCMP, two officers discussed with Vey an audio recording that Brigitte Vey had secretly taped of the lovers at her Wakaw farmhouse on July 1, 2013. On the tape played in court, the two are heard talking about doctoring Jim Taylors coffee with sleeping pills, making him disappear, and planting a will that would leave everything to Nicholson and her two daughters. The pair also talk about using sleeping pills on Veys wife and setting Veys house on fire. Vey and Nicholson also spoke about putting the plans in motion on Nov. 1, 2013 for Taylor, and a few months later for Brigitte Vey while Vey was away at the crop production show with a friend in January. Officers said to Vey that burning a house down in the winter would leave him without a home. Like I said, it was discussion. There was no concrete. It was if you want to call it, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of thing. Vey also admitted to police that he and Nicholson had two discussions around plans to kill his wife and her husband. But theres a difference between that and actually doing it, Vey said. The RCMP officers also asked Vey what he would say if he had the opportunity to talk to his wife. The first thing Id like to tell her is, Number 1 is no doubt about it, I love her. The second thing is, it was wrong to even think of those thoughts. Should have never thought of those. The trial continues next week at the Prince Albert Court of Queens Bench. (Prince Albert Daily Herald) Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The City of Brandon has a plan. It may sound optimistic, but there is some reason to believe this time will be different. Clearly over the past decade, city plans have made headlines in many editions of this fine publication for reasons both good and bad. Undoubtedly those past plans followed sharing sessions with one of a myriad of consultation companies seeking to put their stamp on our community. Often they were also coupled with the thought that our city had failed to move forward on a previous document seeking to shape this region. The city could, at times, be blamed for talking too much and not acting enough regarding recommendations housed within a consultants plan, and other times sheer economics came into play. I have had the opportunity to work with a number of consultation companies over the past few years, mostly during my tenure with Renaissance Brandon. In the downtown alone during a four-year stretch, there were three separate full-scale consultation groups examining different aspects of the citys Renaissance District. Couple that with the cultural development and diversity plan, the heritage resource management plan, Prosperity by Design, the secondary land use plan and the Pillars of Growth that our previous council shouldered and you end up with a pile of paper a mile high, built on ideas. Consultation groups do have their place in civic planning, but in reality it is the outcomes that count which is why the current incarnation of the City of Brandon culture plan can give Brandonites a bit of hope for action on a number of items needed in our community. First and foremost, the collaboration of ideas into one central resource with a much more defined focus. The current process began back in November 2015 when various stakeholder groups sat down with MDB Insight, the proponents of the current document, to discuss the need to foster culture and cultural activities in our community. The hope was that the group would compile a document to be brought back to local stakeholders for feedback through subsequent community sessions that took place this past week. Their final objective? A plan to allow the city to develop a stronger tie to its cultural assets, achieving that tie by enhancing access to resources and expanding the role that culture could and should play in economic development. On paper, it all sounds great, and in a perfect world each of the yet to be revealed action items could be put into play. But implementation is always the trickiest hurdle when dealing with an outside resource seeking to mould the ever-changing makeup of a community. It needs local buy-in to succeed. Whether people agree with the groups findings or not, few could argue with the fact there is a tremendous benefit to fostering positive cultural resources in a community. Whether they be arts and heritage based, public space promotion or furthering our ethnically diverse population, the quality of our community is improved by having action from a plan such as this. It is a mindset shift that requires our community to focus attention on promoting culture as an economic driver as opposed to merely trying to attract new residents and hope that the scene develops organically. It clearly takes money and time to accomplish this and ideally requires our city to build a unique cultural identity to stand out among the rest. Although there will be naysayers, there is clearly a benefit to our city taking the next steps in this process, and Brandon is well-positioned to listen to what is presented. In its fact gathering, MDB Insight shared that 45 per cent of respondents believed the community needed to do more as it pertains to building on cultural specific sectors. Items such as a smaller, more accessible performance venue topped the list of wants, which bodes well for anyone willing to pick up the mantle again for an entity like the Strand project. Furthermore, the group has a swath of work across North America, developing everything from cultural plans to event management, so there is a hope that finally the right group is in place to capitalize on cultural assets both new and old in our city. Brandon should be cautiously optimistic that this plan has the legs to stand on its own. If the buy-in is there, then we can better position our community as a cultural hub a place where economic development is achieved through ensuring future decisions are made with both a financial and cultural lens in mind. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. This week, 11 U.S. states announced their intentions to file suit against the Obama administrations written guidance on transgender washrooms (and other facilities) in educational institutions. In simplistic terms, the letter basically instructs institutions to allow students to use the facility matching their personal gender identity. If a facility chooses to disregard this letter, then it may be at risk of losing federal funding. This is yet another dog whistle subject that excites particular groups, but undoubtedly matters little to most voters. Just as the Bush 43 White House encouraged state votes on same-sex marriage in crucial states in an effort to impact voter turnout, the same is probably true of this issue. The Associated Press Destin Cramer, second right, embraces friends from the schools Gender Awareness Group as they pose for a photo at the opening of a gender-neutral bathroom at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle earlier this month. From left are Jakob Ainsworth, Honour Beattie, Zack Bebout, Cramer and Deena Kennedy. U.S. President Barack Obamas directive ordering schools to accommodate transgender students has been controversial in some places, but since 2012, Seattle has mandated that transgender students be able to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. Nearly half of the districts 15 high schools already have gender-neutral bathrooms and one high school has had a transgender bathroom for 20 years. It is important to note that, according to a number of sources, there is absolutely no evidence of any sexual assaults being committed by transgender people in washrooms of their gender identity. In other words, the risk purported by opponents of Obamas guidance simply doesnt exist. Many private businesses have already made efforts to accommodate all people. For example, intentionally or not, our local Starbucks has updated its two washrooms, making them gender neutral and available to all. The ultra-popular Cafe Aroma restaurant chain in Israel has gone a step further by simply having individual toilets placed in extended stalls (or private rooms) with a gender-free hand-wash station located outside the stalls. If youve ever flown on a plane, you have encountered gender-neutral washrooms. Of course, nothing can be done easily in the United States, especially in an election year. There are many ways to respond to this letter of instruction from Obama. One approach would be for a facility to deny access to transgender students based on their gender identity. That, of course, means it runs the risk of losing federal funds. Given that this directive from the administration is essentially a presidential fiat, it is likely that a lengthy court proceeding, or many of them, would follow. While I enjoy the distinct pleasure of having many lawyer friends, it is difficult to see how anyone except lawyers would benefit from an outright denial of access. More likely, schools so inclined will appeal to their local or state boards seeking either a replacement of the potentially lost federal support, or a commitment to seek an injunction that would effectively delay Obamas guidance. Or, finally, schools can make accommodations to meet this guidance. While this would incur significant costs as schools must retrofit their facilities, my suspicion is that this will end up being the winning position. The tide of history favours this perspective. Ultimately, my sense is that history itself will guide us to the correct answer. That is, western society will continue its move toward advancing the rights of all people, regardless of gender, race, etc. It was not so long ago that same-sex marriages were unheard of, and now they are protected by law in Canada. The same is true of a panoply of rights once denied to people, including womens voting, divorce, abortion, and gay rights. In fact, in 1967, the final anti-miscegenation laws were struck down in the United States. Remember noisy quasi-serious issues that were eventually overcome, and we laugh at today? Consider 1990, when Sikh Mounties sought the right to wear turbans as an expression of their religious values. How about in 1974, when women first joined the Mounties? These sound silly today, but were gut-wrenching matters of national interest in their day. The slow, inexorable tide is toward extending rights, not limiting them. This doesnt mean interested parties should just sit back and let progress take its course. Instead, it suggests patience, hard work and desire to create change will ultimately be rewarded. In Canada, the charter has effectively enhanced the rights of all Canadians. The tide of history in the United States is concurrently expanding the rights of all Americans. Much like the Seinfeld show, the transgender bathroom debate is a show about nothing. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. GUELPH, Ont. Mapping the evolution of Canadas farm industry is not as simple as just examining the numbers. Every five years, Canadas federal government asks us to provide details on who lives in our household. The demographic information is used to guide decisions ranging from school planning to transportation infrastructure to government transfers. Among the census questions is one asking if you intend to sell agricultural produce. This may strike you as unimportant because 98 per cent of you will answer No. However, it allows Statistics Canada to determine if you are a farmer. If you answer Yes, you are directed to complete the Census of Agriculture on your farm operation. The information gathered helps to characterize Canadas contemporary agricultural sector, including the total number of farmers and farms. And a look beyond the basic numbers reveals a sector that is increasingly diverse. The definition of a farmer and a farm is based on the potential ability and desire to sell agricultural products. It does not include a minimum sales criterion. Before 1991, such a threshold had to be met. And it still does in the United States, where a census farm is any operation that normally generates at least $1,000 of agricultural produce. In Canada, however, farmers and the farms they operate are self-identified with potentially minimal sales. The all-encompassing definition of a farm permits a measurement of total agricultural production. Someone who self-identifies as a farmer will be asked to detail the inputs used (i.e. time spent on farm work and area of land cropped) and the outputs produced (i.e. inventory of crops and livestock). Thus, total production of a commodity such as potatoes includes the volume sold by large full-time operators to major processors and those sold by individuals to friends and family. Determining aggregate measures such as total production or farmland area requires measuring all potential farmers and farms. However, there are cautions with using such a broad definition of a farm for other purposes. The 2016 census will likely reveal a continuation of a trend noted over the last 50 years: a decline of about 10 per cent in the number of farm operators and farms over the last five years between censuses. Assuming the trend continues, there are fewer than 200,000 farms in Canada and approximately 275,000 farmers running these farms. Another trend likely to continue will be the growth in the number of commercial farms with sales greater than $250,000. In addition to its share of the total number of farms, the absolute number will have increased to approximately 50,000. Hence, the decline in the number of farms and farmers will largely be associated with the demise of small commercial operations and not those with sales greater than $250,000. The increase in the number of large commercial farms and the number of small part-time farmers reflects a growing diversity in the farm sector. Two generations ago, the countryside was fairly homogenous with single full-time farmers operating farms that supported single families. Now, many farmers can be involved in a single farm, and a single farmer can run several farms. At the same time, approximately half of the farmers have full-time work off the farm. The all-encompassing definition of a farmer requires us to be cautious when interpreting the total numbers and averages associated with those numbers. Totals will likely be lower than the last census, but the number of farmers with meaningful agricultural production, and to which farm policy is targeted, are likely to grow. Given the large and likely growing number of very small farm operators, average performance measures will be distorted if we use the aggregate numbers to assess the health of the sector. Alfons Weersink is a faculty member in the department of food, agricultural and resource economics at the University of Guelph. Troy Media Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Regionalization of health authorities was intended to bring order and efficiency to the health system. A superstructure of management was supposed to co-ordinate services and give push-back on the medical empires built up over time, especially at Winnipegs two largest hospitals. But if regionalization works, why is it Manitoba continues to lead the country in keeping patients far too long in hospital beds? It is a problem that stretches back decades. It is an issue, contributing to the expense and overcrowding of hospitals, that various officials have said is on their list of things to fix, but with little success. On average, admitted patients stay almost 10 days in hospital, which means Manitoba (almost tied with New Brunswick) keeps patients more than two days longer than the Canadian average, and substantially longer than even Saskatchewan (at 6.8 days), which has similar demographics. Further, unlike the Canadian average, Manitobas length of stay has grown longer, not shorter, since 2009. Winnipeg Regional Health Authority vice-president Lori Lamont says one reason Winnipeg hospitals have longer lengths of stay, why some hospitals are holding more patients than they have funded beds for, is because doctors are not discharging patients early enough. Best practices have set optimal times for treating and discharging patients with specific illnesses and conditions. Doctors can be overly cautious, but sometimes, she says, it comes down to a lack of notice on discharge dates to all the players, such as a patients family or home care services. Often, a diagnostic test that is required prior to discharge is not ordered on time. Again, lousy communication. Discharge can also need the sign-off of professionals, such as occupational therapists, who may not be available on weekends. That can prolong a stay by days, not hours. Ms. Lamont says the answer lies in getting all the parts to come together, and that physicians, who authorize when discharge happens, have to start holding to national benchmarks. But all and any of this ought to have been worked out years ago as seen in other jurisdictions. The WRHA will point to the fact that data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information show hospitals in Winnipeg have lower readmission rates, but she cannot say that longer hospital stays are precisely the reason for that. Further, Manitobas population is younger than most provinces. Yet, CIHI data also show Manitoba hospitals are keeping young and old patients alike much longer than other provinces. All of this is precisely why regional health authorities were established in the 1990s, to make a very costly, complicated system work in tandem to provide better care to patients and to cut waste. Yet, in mid-March, the occupancy rate for Winnipeg hospitals was almost 100 per cent well above the maximum optimal 95 per cent and two hospitals exceeded full, funded occupancy. That has a domino effect. It stretches staffing resources, but also has real consequences for the emergency room where patients who need the beds on the wards are held up. This largely explains why Manitobans arriving at the ERs face some of the longest wait times in Canada. When health economists and provincial budget gurus calculate the expense of lengthy hospital stays, they do not measure one of the most obvious costs to Manitobans sitting and suffering hours in ER wards, often taking time away from work, waiting for a doctor. Poor communication is a bad excuse for the hefty costs that flow from backlogged services and crowding. Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen is facing a string of health authority deficits part of the reason why the deficit is higher than pegged on March 8 that can be directly tied to this kind of inefficiency. The inordinate lengths of stay will be central to the Tories pending wait-time review, no doubt. But as part of the review, Mr. Goertzen should ask hard questions about why health authorities have failed, to date, on a very basic task underpinning their purpose. Winnipeg Free Press Update May 29 7.30pm: Paul Morrissey, 51 years, missing from Longford Town has been located safe and well. Earlier: Gardai in Longford are looking for a man who has gone missing from his home. The LE Roisin has carried out three separate operations in the Mediterranean today resulting in the rescue of 347 people. Some 668 migrants were saved from boats in distress in the Mediterranean off Libya today, officials say. They were rescued by Italian coast guard and navy ships, aided by Irish and German vessels and humanitarian organisations, Italian and Irish officials said. The rescues are the latest by a multi-national patrol south of Sicily that has saved thousands this week. The Defence Forces said the vessel Le Roisin, deployed earlier this month in the humanitarian search and rescue mission, saved 123 migrants from a 12-metre-long dinghy and recovered a male body. LE Roisin has completed three taskings 2day and currently has 347 migrants onboard receiving food, medical, water pic.twitter.com/7vpBaapvKi Oglaigh na hEireann (@defenceforces) May 28, 2016 This morning the Naval Vessel rescued 123 people from a rubber vessel off the Libyan coast near Tripoli. The body of a man was also recovered from the vessel. The crew were then re-tasked to a mission on an Italian ship and a further 101 migrants were rescued. And this evening a further 123 rescued migrants were transferred from a German ship - the Karlsruhe. The rescued migrants are now receiving food, water and medical treatment where required. Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, taking 135 survivors, along with 45 bodies, from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock on Sunday. Under a European Union deal, tens of thousands of those rescued at sea and seeking asylum were supposed to be relocated to other EU nations from Italy and Greece, whose shores have received most of the migrants in recent years. But with resentment building in some European countries about taking in migrants, the plan never really took off, and only a small percentage have actually been moved. At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis told several hundred children, among them many migrants, who came from the Italian south to see him, that migrants "aren't a danger but they are in danger". The pontiff held a red life vest, given to him recently by a volunteer, and told the children it was the vest used by a Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. "She's in heaven, she's watching us," Francis told his young audience. Among those in the audience was a Nigerian youth, who lost his parents in 2014 as the family tried to reach Italy by sea. Francis has repeatedly expressed dismay that some European nations have refused to accept migrants fleeing poverty or war, and have even thrown up fences and other barriers to thwart the arrivals from journeying northward after reaching the continent's southern shores. US-led coalition air strikes and Turkish artillery fire against the Islamic State group in Syria have killed 104 militants, Turkey's state-run news agency has said. The Anadolu Agency said on Saturday that the strikes happened late on Friday, hours after rockets fired from Syria hit a southern Turkish town and injured five people. It said the air strikes and artillery fire also destroyed seven buildings used as IS headquarters. The claim could not be independently verified, and Turkey has not explained how it can count casualties in Syria. Cross-border fire from Syria has claimed 21 lives and wounded dozens of others in the border town of Kilis this year. Authorities blame the attacks on IS which has a presence in northern Syria. Turkey typically responds by shelling IS positions. Meanwhile, Islamic State group militants were reported to have entered a Syrian opposition stronghold in the country's north and clashed with rebels on the edges of the town. Syrian opposition groups and IS said the extremists advanced to the outskirts of Marea on Saturday. The advance - the biggest by IS in Aleppo province in two years - is part of an IS offensive targeting rebel strongholds near the Turkish border which began on Thursday night. On Friday, militants of the group seized six villages in advances which forced the evacuation of a hospital and trapped around 160,000 civilians amid heavy fighting. The advances brought the militants to within two miles (3km) of the rebel-held town of Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south. Seven people have been arrested by Spanish police on suspicion of involvement in stealing five paintings by Irish-born painter Francis Bacon worth 25m (19m). The artworks' owner reported the theft of the paintings and other valuables to the police in July last year, but none of the artworks have yet been recovered. It has emerged that the aunt of the unpredictable North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un runs a dry cleaning business in New York. Ko Yong-Suk lives under an assumed name, having defected in 1998. She lives in New York with her husband and three children. She has been interviewed by the Washington Post. The newspaper was asked not to publish the names they use in the United States or to reveal where they live, mainly to protect their three adult children, who live normal professional lives. The paper records that apparently Kims aunt bares a striking resemblance to her sister Ko Yong Hui, who was one of Kim Jong Ils wives and the mother of Kim Jong Un. The interview reveals how Ko Yong-Suk used to look after Kim Jong Un while he was in school in Switzerland. Kim's aunt says his main interest was basketball. She says when his mother tried to tell him off for not studying, he would go a hunger strike. Because the U.S intelligence have such little information on North Korea, Ko Yong-Suk and her husband remain a valuable source of information about the secretive country despite not having been there in 20 years. Three children were fighting for their lives after a sudden spring storm sent a bolt of lightning crashing down on a birthday party in a Paris park. A spokesman for Paris' fire service credited an off-duty firefighter with playing a critical role in getting medical help to the victims. The birthday group in Paris had sought shelter under a tree at Parc Monceau, an area popular with families, when a lightning bolt touched down, according to Paris fire service spokesman Eric Moulin. He said Pascal Gremillet, an off-duty firefighter, was visiting a museum nearby when he noticed the commotion and found nine of the 11 victims lying unconscious. He immediately went to work. "He saw who was the most seriously injured. He did a quick triage of the victims. He did first aid. He alerted the rescue services," Moulin said. "Without his actions, it would have been much worse." A fire truck is parked at the entrance to Monceau parc in the center of Paris today. Pic: PA Moulin said six of those hit were seriously injured, with three children and one adult fighting for their lives. He said five others had been slightly injured by the lightning, including four children. Footage shot by the fire service showed a dramatic scene at a nearby bank that was commandeered as a makeshift treatment centre, with children wrapped in gold thermal blankets sitting and lying on the building's tiled floor as firefighters administered first aid before evacuating the victims to hospitals. Two small feet, smudged with what looked like soot, stuck out from underneath one of the blankets. Moulin gave the children's ages as around nine. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw an abandoned pair of children's glasses and jacket near the tree. White-and-red tape was strung around the area and whistle-blowing park wardens ushered weekend joggers out of the park, which was swiftly closed. "This accident is extremely rare in the Paris region," professor Pierre Carli, an emergency medical services official, told reporters. One Paris resident who lives near the park and saw the lightning crash down said it was rare to see such a wild storm hitting the French capital. "It was dramatic," said Jean-Louis Laurens. Panadol is short in the market and this has been catching eyes of media, politicians, all and sundry. Everyone has ... LAGOS: More than 600 people are now known to have perished in the worst floods in a decade in Nigeria, according to... LONDON: Penny Mordaunt said she was staying in the race to become British prime minister despite trailing rivals... By Carl Hill The response to the Nigeria crisis from the Church of the Brethren has been nothing short of spectacular. Over the last 16 months we have been able to provide support for Ekklesiyar Yanuwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and five NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). However, the devastation and trauma inflicted in Nigeria continues to be felt as the insurgency wanes and security is being restored. Unfortunately, the giving from the church has slowed down. Currently we are $300,000 short of meeting our projected $2,166,000 budget for this year. Recent reports from Nigeria have indicated that the terrorist group known as Boko Haram has been crippled because of joint military action waged by the Nigerian military and troops from neighboring Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Boko Haram is still claiming responsibility for suicide bombings, primarily in northeast Nigeria and a few in Cameroon. After a slow start in 2015, the military has severely damaged Boko Harams offensive power, has killed and captured many of the terrorists, and chased many of the remaining members away from towns and villages and into the area called the Sambisa Forest. This large unincorporated area served as the base of operations for Boko Harams earlier strikes but is now its only haven of safety. The result of pushing the Boko Haram into the Sambisa Forest and making parts of northeast Nigeria safer has been the return of many of the people who had been run out of their homes and communities over the last couple of years. Some estimate the number of people displaced by the insurgency at its height exceeded 1 million. Mission 21, a partner of EYN based in Switzerland, estimated that 750,000 of these displaced persons belong to EYN. To get an idea of the scope of the rebuilding that has to take place, just imagine what it would be like if this happened to you and your town? What if you had to flee for your life one day and all you took with you was your children and the clothes you were wearing? Now, after living with relatives or in camps for more than a year, you return to find your community in shambles. This is what many Nigerians are facing. In order to continue to help these people the Nigeria Crisis Response has had to shift gears. This years slogan is, The Long Journey Home. While this may not encapsulate everything that the response is trying to accomplish, it does represent the intention to assist Nigerians as they return to their homes and begin to rebuild their lives and communities. This is another huge challenge for Church of the Brethren. The question is whether American Brethren can afford to finance some of the areas that are so critical to helping the Nigerian Brethren get back on their feet and carry on. It would be too bad if, as a denomination, the Church of the Brethren could only accompany EYN just so far. So many Brethren have long-standing ties to Nigeria and part of their hearts has been with the Nigerians. It is these strong ties that bind the two churches together, not only during the current crisis that started in 2009, but in a continuing connection inherited from those who served in the Nigeria mission and dedicated themselves to Nigeria as a lifelong spiritual act of worship. Now, northeast Nigeria and the church that was founded by Brethren missionaries more than 90 years ago face perhaps the biggest test in its history. We know that God is with them. But is God calling on us, once again, to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus to our closest brothers and sisters in the faith? Carl and Roxane Hill are co-directors of the Nigeria Crisis Response, a joint effort of the Church of the Brethren and Ekklesiyar Yanuwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). Find out more at www.brethren.org/nigeriacrisis . The National Muslim Youth Summit held in Canberra on Saturday saw 145 delegates from across the country engage in constructive and robust discussion about the challenges they face. The summit, jointly organised by the Islamic Sciences and Research Academy (ISRA) and the Canberra Islamic Centre (CIC), had a full agenda ranging from extremism and Islamophobia to unemployment, social exclusion and mental health. Prominent speakers from the Muslim community kicked off the day including youth worker Shaykh Wesam Charkawi, Muslim youth activist, author and engineer Yassmin Abdel-Magied, community leader Dr Mehmet Ozalp, and author, activist and academic Mehal Krayem. ISRA president Dr Mehmet Ozalp urged everyone in the room at the National Portrait Gallery to work towards building an Australian Muslim identity their grandchildren could embrace and perpetuate. "It is not about casting anything aside but looking for ways of being Muslim and Australian at the same time," he said. The company rolling out the national broadband network has assured customers their old phone and internet connections will not be switched off without months of notice. Telstra and NBN Co are gradually switching off landline and internet networks in patches of the inner north that are already able to access the NBN. NBN Co has advertised that Civic, Acton, Turner and Braddon will soon see parts of the older networks retired, with residents required to switch over to the NBN in order to access their home phone or internet. However, NBN Co NSW/ACT state corporate affairs manager Kelly Stevens said the retirement of older networks was staggered, with all tenants given 18 months from the time of installation to activate the new network. "Access to high speed broadband through the NBN is not automatic," she said. This week I chaired a talk with Serena Rees, co-founder of saucy underwear chain Agent Provocateur. I asked her about the iconic staff uniform and we both agreed that the tight, pink shirt-dress, invariably worn with stockings and vertiginous heels, was an integral part of the store's success. Had the talk happened one day later, I would also have quizzed her on the legality of the attire. Because, by then, 27-year-old Londoner Jo Beattie had hit the headlines after being rejected for a job on the reception of Swiss bank UBS when she refused to wear the regulation black, high-heeled shoes. This followed hard on the heels (lame joke intended) of actress Nicola Thorp's petition for dress-code laws to be changed "so that women have the option to wear flat, formal shoes at work, if they wish", which tipped over the crucial 100,000 signature mark in early May. Thorp was sent home from consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers last December for refusing to wear heels. The Japan High Heel Association (apparently a thing) is urging women to swap sensible flat shoes for stilettos. It does, indeed, seem absurd in today's world to insist that women in the business world don footwear that, at best, hobbles them and, at worst, can result in sprains, bunions, broken bones and Haglund's deformity - although no dafter than the municipal law in the US town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, which bans the wearing of heels over two inches in height, unless you have a permit for them. But is it equally unreasonable if a knicker magnate requires her sales staff to wear shoes that reflect the brand's burlesque sensibility - and reduce grown men to gibbering simpletons? Are we nearing the day when a Spearmint Rhino pole-dancer can take her bosses to court for asking her to wear stripper heels while stripping? Or when a submissive businessman sues a dominatrix for advertising under false pretences, when she walks over him in Birkenstocks? Deep inside Purnululu National Park, amid the towering beehive-shaped rocks of the Bungle Bungles, Bart Willoughby discovered one of the world's most spectacular and remote concert stages. The renowned Indigenous musician travelled to the iconic landscape of the East Kimberley region in Western Australia in May to record instruments - didgeridoo, ukulele, clapsticks - for his latest album, with the working title Contrast. Bart Willoughby plays didgeridoo during an intimate concert at Frog Hollow community. Credit:Cole Bennetts In Cathedral Gorge he found an ideal site to record the sound of woodskin drums. The political issues that affect the whole nation are the ones that resonate most with voters in Fenner, Liberal Party candidate Robert Gunning says. And he believes the big issues are balancing the budget, growing the economy namely through small business and border protection. The first-time candidate, and former Livestock and Bulk Carriers Association executive director, admits Canberrans are talking about public service cuts, but says they recognise almost all were made in a "secret way" by the previous Labor government. Robert Gunning (second from right) with Senator Zed Seselja and Liberal Party senate candidate Jane Hiatt. Credit:Graham Tidy. He remains upbeat about the ACT's economy. "[Constituents] acknowledge the Turnbull government reduced the size of the public service a little bit in the beginning, but we're now in a period of strong growth here in the ACT. It is a party that says it is for Australia, doesn't believe in political correctness and vows to protect the country for generations to come. The Rise Up Australia Party will announce two Senate candidates for Queensland on Saturday night and is hoping to "make an impact" in the July 2 federal election. Danny Nalliah is leader of the of anti-Islamic party Rise Up Australia. Credit:Mark Kolbe The party was launched just before the 2013 election, but national president Rev Dr Daniel Nalliah said it has come a long way in three years. "This election the party will be running upper house and lower house candidates in most states across the country," he said. Labor has accused National Broadband Network boss Ziggy Switkowski of breaching election rules by penning an opinion piece in which he defended the company's decision to call in the police over media leaks. Opposition frontbencher Tony Burke is calling on the nation's top public servant, Martin Parkinson, to investigate what he says is a clear breach of the caretaker conventions that govern public servants. NBN boss Ziggy Switkowski was advised specifically against submitting his incendiary opinion piece. Credit:Luis Ascui Federal police last week raided the Melbourne office of former communications minister Stephen Conroy and the home of a Labor staffer as part of an investigation into the alleged leaking of confidential NBN documents. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten accused the government - through the NBN - of silencing whistleblowers and limiting the public's right to know about the progress of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Australian history. Yuhu chief Xiangmo Huang said he "expects absolutely nothing in exchange" for donations, and Mr Robb denied he had a conflict of interest. However, he declined to explain if Bayside Forum had any protocols for handling potential conflicts. A poster falls at a Chinese Liberal party fundraising dinner in Sydney in 2010. Credit:Glen McCurtayne Mr Andrews' Menzies 200 Club also made no party contribution, despite raising $144,000. One leading not-for-profit expert, who declined to be named, pointed to the irony of the Coalition government-sponsored Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, with its interest in dodgy union "slush funds", while the party itself operated opaque accounts. Kelly O'Dwyer, assistant treasurer and sitting member for Higgins, has been the target of the union robocalls. Credit:Ben Rushton "If you're going to have the kind of moral outrage as Dyson Heydon certainly expressed in the royal commission about union behaviour and I think it's outrageous behaviour too to suggest it's all lily white on the other side is farcical," the expert said. In contrast to their federal counterparts, most of the entities associated with state Liberal MPs made sizeable contributions to the party's Victorian division, often donating more than the income declared that year. The remainder came from reserves built up in preparation for the 2014 state election, according to the treasurer of one entity. Illustration: Matt Golding The exception was the Enterprise Club, associated with Victorian Upper House MP Inga Peulich. It raised $107,000 but made only a $20,100 contribution to the party. No donors were disclosed. The AEC disclosure regime is notorious for its loopholes, poor compliance and enforcement, and Victoria is the most lax and least transparent state in Australia. But lawyers and governance experts say this lack of accountability is compounded by the structuring of fundraising bodies as unincorporated associations Illustration: Matt Golding Lawyers and not-for-profit experts say unincorporated associations are usually small organisations such as car enthusiasts' clubs, with few assets. For a group handling hundreds of thousands of dollars, such a structure is highly risky, they say. Unlike companies or incorporated associations, they have no reporting obligations, cannot hold assets in their own name, cannot be sued and may not pay tax. Some do not even appear to have an Australian Business Number, meaning they cannot open a bank account. "There are absolutely no reporting requirements [for unincorporated associations]. They don't have to report income or expenditure to anybody, anywhere," says David Crosbie, chief executive of not-for-profit peak body the Community Council for Australia. None of these Liberal entities is registered as a fundraiser with Consumer Affairs Victoria, which requires an annual public statement of sums raised and disbursed to beneficiaries. With no public accountability, even those who make the donations are unable to scrutinise the efficiency of the organisation a real fear for some in the wake of the Liberal Party's 2015 financial scandal, when it was revealed that former state director Damien Mantach had perpetrated a four-year, $1.5 million invoicing scam. He pleaded guilty and is due to be sentenced on June 20. A spokesman for the Victorian division of the Liberal Party said each fundraising entity had office bearers and a constitution that stipulated an annual audit. However, he declined to answer if the auditor was independent of the party or entity. He said funds these entities raised were held either in a local bank account or a sub account of the party's administrative wing. Unincorporated entities are also able to avoid paying income tax. A leading not-for-profit lawyer said they could self-assess, meaning these entities might be flying under the radar of even the ATO. The treasurer of one entity confirmed it did not pay tax apart from on interest earned on cash in its account. A long-term critic of Australia's political donations regime, associate professor Joo-Cheong Tham at the Melbourne Law School, said the lack of clarity on who was controlling, overseeing and ensuring the probity of fundraisers posed serious risks to Australia's democracy. Bribery, brothels, property developers and blackmail. Allegations of local councillors misusing power in suburban Sydney have dominated the matters investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption over the past decade. Councils make up the biggest category of finalised ICAC investigations - or 16 out of 70 reports. ICAC Inspector David Levine appears at a parliamentary oversight committee in March. Credit:Peter Rae There have been multiple convictions for fraud, corruptly receiving benefit, misconduct in public office, and prison sentences and home detention served. Yet the Inspector of the ICAC, David Levine, has now told Premier Mike Baird he believes local government should be removed from the ICAC's jurisdiction. A 96-year-old man has died in hospital, a day after he was struck by a car as it reversed out of a driveway in Sydney's north. The elderly man was walking with the aid of a walking frame along Lee Road in Beacon Hill when the crash occurred just before 9am on Friday. The 96-year-old man's walking frame sits in the gutter after he was struck by a car. Credit:Daniel Marzolla A NSW Police spokeswoman said an 89-year-old female driver was reversing out of her driveway when her white Toyota Corolla collided with the man. The pair were not related to each other, the spokesman said. A person at the scene said the elderly man was dragged under the car for a short distance, before the vehicle came to a stop. He was bleeding from his head, but was understood to be conscious immediately after the crash. A woman has fought off two men who slashed her with a weapon and attempted to drag her towards bushes as she walked home from a train station in Sydney's south overnight, police say. The 20-year-old woman had just left Banksia train station and was walking through nearby Gardiner Park about 11.30pm on Friday when two men approached her from behind and attacked her. The woman was walking through Gardiner Park in Banksia when two men attacked her. Credit:Google Maps A NSW Police spokesman said one of the men grabbed the woman and restrained her, while the second man slashed her with a weapon, believed to be a knife. The men then pushed the woman to the ground and started to drag her towards some trees and bushes, before the woman managed to struggle free and run away. The future of schooling in the far north Queensland community of Aurukun will not be resolved until all parties examine the facts, according to the head of the Queensland Teachers' Union. Kevin Bates has welcomed news of a review into Noel Pearson's Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy campus. But Mr Bates said that could only progress if all interested parties looked at the facts. "This shouldn't be about scoring points," he said. Ironwoman Courtney Hancock has been announced as the Westpac face for the Brisbane Times City2South, supported by Westpac. She said she was thoroughly excited to be running in the event, and said it will be a great opportunity to take in the sights of Brisbane. "What I love about this event is that absolutely anyone can get involved and it brings the community together, becoming an opportunity to raise money and awareness for charity, which is a great motivator," Hancock said. "This year, I'm thrilled to be Westpac's face for the event, raising funds for the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service." A Toowoomba woman is one step closer to being able to have a baby fathered by her dead fiance, after successfully applying to have his testes removed and stored. Leith Patteson was granted permission for the testes of her late partner Tony Deane to be removed after an emergency application in April, just a day after his death. The Supreme Court ruled the testes and sperm were to be provided to an IVF organisation and stored pending a future application for their use. Credit:Louise Kennerley The Supreme Court ruled the testes and sperm were to be provided to an IVF organisation and stored pending a future application for their use by Ms Patteson. The couple first met in August 2015, but shortly after Mr Deane was diagnosed with a rare form of blood disease. Police are hunting the driver of a stolen car who downed a power pole in Melbourne's west, knocking out power to more than 2000 homes on Saturday. The black Holden coupe slammed into a pole at the corner of Maher Road and Heffernan Street, Laverton, shortly after 12pm. A street pole in Laverton that a hit-run driver crashed into on Saturday, causing power outages. Credit:7News/Twitter Leading Senior Constable Paul Turner said the car had been travelling west in Maher Road when it appeared the driver lost control and hit the pole. "The impact snapped the pole at the base," he said. The Ballarat policeman at the state's anti-corruption court this week gave answers like a Ballarat Catholic priest under cross-examination with imperious denials. The Catholics were in the same room at the Ballarat court complex back in March, at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Now it was the turn of the troubled Ballarat police at the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission. Still video images of one of the confrontations at Ballarat Police Station. Disturbing video footage emerged from police CCTV cameras of misconduct and brutality against members of the public and even a policewoman. She was on extended leave for mental health issues and had been arrested for drunkenness. The policeman, Sergeant Christopher Taylor, in the force for 26 years, had 18 complaints against him, mostly by women, before the incidents which bought him to IBAC. These put him in the top 1 per cent of police with complaints against them in the state. He was accused of "abusive and aggressive" behaviour in putting female visitors to the police station themselves making complaints in chokeholds. Baghdad: US-led coalition strikes supporting Iraqi forces in the recapture of Fallujah have killed 70 Islamic State militants including the group's commander in the city, a US military spokesman says. Maher al-Bilawi, commander of Islamic State fighters in Fallujah, was killed two days ago, according to US Army Colonel Steve Warren, adding that the killing of Bilawi and the other militants "won't completely cause the enemy to stop fighting but it's a blow". Civilians from Fallujah flee their homes last week. Credit:AP Meanwhile, a Shiite militia leader said the final battle to recapture the Islamic State stronghold near Baghdad will start in "days, not weeks", as new reports emerged of people starving to death in the besieged Sunni city. The 16-year-old girl arrived at her 19-year-old boyfriend's house in Rio de Janeiro at around 1 am last weekend. She remembers being alone with him there. The girl says her next memory is waking up in a different house surrounded by more than 30 men, many of them armed. All, or at least some, of them may have raped her. Naked, injured, and penniless, she found some spare clothes and made her way home, she later said. Her nightmare was far from over. On Wednesday, two of the accused attackers tweeted pictures of her, as well as a 40-second video. The tweets were promptly taken down, but not before they accrued hundreds of "likes" and misogynistic comments. A woman wearing a female gender symbol at a protest against the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro last weekend. Credit:AP In the video, the girl is apparently seen waking up from a drug-induced unconsciousness, and a man says, "Pounded the girl - get it? Hahaha." In the other, a different man is pictured with his face next to the woman's genitalia. The caption reads, "Rio state opens a new tunnel for the speed train". The words are a remarkable about-face for Trump, who spent months during the campaign deriding "Little Marco" as a dishonest lightweight who was "a disaster for Florida" and who "couldn't get elected dogcatcher." Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump campaigning in Montana on Thursday. Credit:AP Many of Rubio's supporters were outraged by his support for Trump, saying they felt betrayed by a 44-year-old politician who had campaigned as a young representative of a more optimistic, inclusive GOP. He was so opposed to Trump at one time that his presidential campaign even sold "Never Trump" gear. The latest shift adds to Rubio's reputation as a shape-shifter who abandoned his own immigration reform bill when it became unpopular among conservatives. Bryan McGrath, a Hudson Institute fellow who advised Rubio's campaign on defense issues, noted that Rubio had explicitly said Trump could not be trusted with the nuclear arsenal. "He said all the things I was thinking and all the reasons I remain dubious about Trump being the president," McGrath said in an interview Friday. "So to see him bend a knee, it just bothers me and just reinforces the thing that's getting Trump elected in the first place: the sense that politicians don't tell the truth or are capable of switching on a dime if it looks like it's good for them." Rubio responded to the criticism with a series of Twitter messages: "If you can live with a Clinton presidency for 4 years thats your right," he wrote in one. "I cant and will do what I can to prevent it." The move came after several phone calls between Rubio and Trump in recent weeks, according to people familiar with their interactions. Some of Trump's children also reached out to woo Rubio, these people said. In the CNN interview, portions of which were released Thursday and Friday, Rubio said he would speak on Trump's behalf if the candidate asked. "I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president," Rubio said. "If there's something I can do to help that from happening, and it's helpful to the cause, I'd most certainly be honoured to be considered for that." He shrugged off questions about his deep policy differences with Trump, who, among other things, has called for the deportation of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. "Look, my policy differences with Donald Trump - I spent 11 months talking about them. So I think they're well understood," Rubio said. Supporters in Florida said that Rubio's moves reflect political reality in his state. "If you are a Republican leader, I think that's what you have to do. Period," said Ninoska Perez Castellon, the host of a popular talk show on Miami's Radio Mambi and a friend of the senator since his days as a West Miami city councilman. "You might not be happy with who the candidate is, but that's the right thing to do." While Trump easily won the Florida GOP primary in March, Rubio prevailed in his home county of Miami-Dade with the support of Cuban American voters. Months later, attitudes have shifted. Nelson Diaz, chairman of the Miami-Dade GOP, said that a Trump campaign official attended a party meeting Thursday night. "Everyone in the room was on board," Diaz said. "When I said we need to unite, everyone was in agreement. There were about 100 local leaders in the room. Not a single person disagreed. Everyone stood up and clapped." Many of Trump's former rivals, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, have endorsed him, but others have not. Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney remains firmly opposed to Trump and has been involved in talks about finding a third-party challenger. Members of the Bush family - including former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who ran against Trump for the nomination - are not expected to support Trump. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) reiterated this week that he was not yet ready to endorse him. On Friday, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, - another former Trump rival - told an Oklahoma radio station that "I am looking and listening to see what the candidates do." As Rubio was back in Florida meeting with Venezuelan college students Friday, prominent party officials were pushing him to reconsider his plans to leave the Senate. The state's popular chief financial officer, Jeff Atwater, who almost ran for Rubio's seat, told the Tampa Bay Times that the senator should "pull aside some quiet time and contemplate" running again. "He would be the best candidate to prevail," Atwater said. Brian Ballard, a well-connected Tallahassee GOP lobbyist, said that Rubio is "by far our best chance to hold the seat." The aggressive push to recruit Rubio went public this week when one of the top political advisers to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, took to social media to encourage Rubio. The orchestrated effort included calling on him to run during the Republican senators' weekly closed-door luncheon and a public letter from Senator Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, head of the Foreign Relations Committee, on which Rubio serves. None of the five Republicans running to succeed Rubio enjoys his level of name identification, Corker said. He also said they would need roughly $50 million to mount a serious bid in the coming months. Democrats dismissed Rubio on Friday as "a terrible fallback option" for Republicans, saying that he has taken positions on abortion, domestic violence and the economy during his presidential bid that would make him unpopular with Florida voters. "Rubio spent months making clear how much he disliked his current job while he asked voters for a promotion, and it would be a tall order to convince voters they should send him back," the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said in a statement. A federal court in Texas found that 608,470 registered voters don't have the forms of identification that the state now requires for voting. For example, residents can vote with their concealed-carry handgun licences but not their state-issued student university IDs. Myrtle Delahuerta, 85, left, goes over her documents at her home with attorney Abbie Kamin. Ms Delahuerta has tried unsuccessfully for two years to obtain a photo ID so she can vote. Credit:Washington Post Across the country, about 11 per cent of Americans do not have government-issued photo identification cards, such as a driver's licence or a passport, according to Wendy Weiser of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Centre for Justice at New York University School of Law. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, compares his state's new voter ID requirement to what is needed for "boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed". Texas officials, who say the laws are needed to combat possible voter fraud, recently said in court papers that the Justice Department and civil rights groups suing the state are not able to find anyone "who would face a substantial obstacle to voting". A "Photo ID Required Today" sign hangs at the entrance of a polling location during the presidential primary vote in Wisconsin in April. Credit:Blooomberg But former attorney general Eric Holder has called the costs associated for voters seeking a photo ID a "poll tax", referring to fees that some Southern states used to disenfranchise blacks during the Jim Crow era of laws enforcing racial segregation between the late 1800s and 1965. Soon after Barack Obama's election as president in 2008, a surge of Republican-led state legislatures passed laws requiring photo IDs. A majority inspector checks-in a resident to vote next to "I Voted Today" stickers at a residential garage polling location in Philadelphia in April. Credit:Bloomberg "Voters who have to show ID constantly in their everyday lives certainly don't see ID as a problem," said Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "It is a common-sense, basic requirement needed to ensure election integrity, which is an essential part of free and fair elections". Opponents say that the laws were designed to target people more likely to vote Democratic. Last week, during the federal trial on Wisconsin's voter ID law, a former Republican staffer testified that GOP senators were "giddy" about the idea that the state's 2011 voter ID law might keep Democrats, particularly minorities in Milwaukee, from voting and help them win at the polls. "They were politically frothing at the mouth," said the aide, Todd Allbaugh. A recent voter-ID study by political scientists at the University of California at San Diego analysed turnout in elections between 2008 and 2012 and found "substantial drops in turnout for minorities under strict voter ID laws". "These results suggest that by instituting strict photo ID laws, states could minimise the influence of voters on the left and could dramatically alter the political leaning of the electorate," the study concluded. The question of whether photo IDs are difficult to obtain has become central to cases across the country, where government and civil rights lawyers are challenging new state laws. Three courts have in fact struck down the voter ID law in Texas, but the state's governor has not backed down and has promised to keep it in effect in November. In 2012, a federal court in Washington concluded that the burden of obtaining a state voter ID certificate would weigh disproportionately on minorities living in poverty, with many having to travel as much as 320 to 400 km round trip. "That law will almost certainly have retrogressive effect: It imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor, and racial minorities in Texas are disproportionately likely to live in poverty," wrote David Tatel, a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in the panel's 56-page opinion. Voter ID laws are also being litigated in North Carolina and Virginia, in addition to Texas and Wisconsin. Election experts predict that one of these cases could go to the Supreme Court before November. Many of the residents struggling to obtain a valid photo ID are elderly and poor and were born in homes rather than hospitals. As a result, birth certificates were often lost or names were misspelled in official city records. Hargie Randall, 72, was born in his family's home in Huntsville, Texas and has lived in the state his entire life. Randall, now living in Houston's low-income Fifth Ward neighbourhood, has several health problems and such poor eyesight that he is legally blind. He can't drive and has to ask others for rides. After Texas implemented its new law, Randall went to the Department of Public Safety (the Texas agency that handles driver's licences and identification cards) three times to try to get a photo ID to vote. Each time Randall was told he needed different items. First, he was told he needed three forms of identification. He came back and brought his Medicaid card, bills and a current voter registration card from voting in past elections. "I thought that because I was on record for voting, I could vote again," Randall said. But he was told he still needed more documentation, such as a certified copy of his birth certificate. Records of births before 1950, such as Randall's, are not on a central computer and are located only in the county clerk's office where the person was born. For Randall, that meant an hour-long drive to Huntsville, where his lawyers found a copy of his birth certificate. But that wasn't enough. With his birth certificate in hand, Randall went to the DPS office in Houston with all the necessary documents. But, DPS officials still would not issue him a photo ID because of a clerical mistake on his birth certificate. One letter was off in his last name - "Randell" instead of "Randall" - so his last name was spelled slightly differently than on all his other documents. Kamin, his lawyer, asked the DPS official if they could pull up Randall's prior driver's licence information, as he once had a state-issued ID. But, the official told her that the state doesn't keep records of prior identification after five years, and there was nothing they could do to pull up that information. Kamin was finally able to prove to a DPS supervisor that there was a clerical error and was able to verify Randall's identity by showing other documents. But Myrtle Delahuerta, 85, who lives across town from Randall, has tried unsuccessfully for two years to get her ID. She has the same problem of her birth certificate not matching her pile of other legal documents that she carts from one government office to the next. The disabled woman, who has difficulty walking, is applying to have her name legally changed, a process that will cost her more than $US300 and has required a background check and several trips to government offices. "I hear from people nearly weekly who can't get an ID either because of poverty, transportation issues or because of the government's incompetence," said Chad Dunn, a lawyer with Brazil & Dunn in Houston, who has specialised in voting rights work for 15 years. "Sometimes government officials don't know what the law requires," Dunn said. "People take a day off work to go down to get the so-called free birth certificates. People who are poor, with no car and no Internet access, get up, take the bus, transfer a couple of times, stand in line for an hour and then are told they don't have the right documents or it will cost them money they don't have." Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams New York kids are about to get dirty, frustrated, bruised, and tired. And soooooooo happy. This Saturday, a brand new but already cluttered and chaotic adventure playground is opening on Governors Island. Its called play:ground. Admission is free on the weekends and children are most welcome. Parents are not. Thats the idea behind adventure playgrounds, explains Yoni Kellai, one of the eight volunteers who co-founded the place: Kids play differently when there is a parent around. Youve seen it yourself. They pester and whine. They get bored and demand adult attention (and Goldfish crackers). But when kids play on their own, especially when theyve got hammers and saws and wood and nails as they will at play:ground they play a little bigger. They make and break things. And thats just what kids really crave. The whole idea of adventure playgrounds began in Denmark in the 1930s. A landscape architect named C.T. Sorenson noted with unusual humility that kids did not seem to be flocking to the kind of well-ordered parks he and his colleagues designed. Instead, they were having the time of their lives playing in junky lots. As he started to imagine what the most engaging playground would look like, he wrote in his journal: There could be old cardboard boxes, planks and boards, dead cars, old tires, and lots of other things. Of course it would look terrible. It sure does. The lots look like rubble. But from then on, adventure playgrounds sprang up across Europe and Japan. In the 1970s, there were even three adventure playgrounds in New York parks deliberately full of junk and supervised by playworkers, that is, adults trained to support play, not direct it. But gradually, those playgrounds disappeared, in part for budget reasons and in part, one suspects, due to liability concerns. Adventure play was replaced by its opposite: The kind of playgrounds we see today, where parents are expected to stay and watch. Whats missing most is risky play, which is not the same as hazardous play, says Kellai, who teaches circus arts in Brooklyn. Risk is something a child can assess and decide to take or not: Shall I climb a little higher up the ladder today? A hazard is just an unseen danger for instance, if the ladder had a broken leg the child couldnt see. Too often, parents, principals, and insurance companies assume risk and hazard are the same. But eliminating risk eliminates a key element of play: facing something scary and overcoming it. Take it out and play becomes boring. The adventure playground gives it back. Governors Island has generously allowed the adventure playground to look as it must: just awful, strewn around with wood, plastic, fabric and whatever junk the founders could find. I actually stumbled across what I think you call a dial phone? says Kellai, 32. I dont know if the kids will know what it is. That doesnt mean it isnt valuable. It could become part of a fort or the target of hammer practice. Theres very little opportunity for a lot of kids living in New York to not just build but destroy their environments without being chastised, says Reilly Bergin Wilson, a doctoral student who is another one of the play:ground founders. You could go to your local playground, but if you ever took even a permanent marker, let alone a saw, to anything there, you would get yelled at in seconds and quite possibly someone would call the police on you. Destroying and building are both just fine at an adventure playground. And theyre clearly something the kids love almost more than anything else. When play:ground opened a few short term pop-up playgrounds in Brooklyn, parents whod normally schedule a days worth of amusements were amazed to find their kids could occupy themselves for two, three, four hours without anything more than a gaggle of kids and a pile of planks. The parents changed as much as the kids. So: To get to the play:ground there are ferries from Manhattan and Brooklyn. Thanks to Kickstarter and a few grants, there are three playworkers every weekend until the end of September. Since each playworker can oversee about 10 kids, well, you can do the math. If the founders get some more grants, they can hire some more workers and allow in more kids. During the week, the play:ground is home to a camp that costs $550/week, but scholarships are available. And outside the play:ground, theres another area for younger kids that is, kids under 6 where parents are allowed and even encouraged to stay. But once those kids get a little older bye mom! For more information, visit play-ground.nyc. And let your kids take it from there. Read Lenore Skenazys column every Sunday morning on Brook lynPa per.com Lenore Skenazy is a keynote speaker and author and founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids. COVID testing as we know it wouldn't have happened without this NJ lab To increase its business in the automobile sector, has restructured its production line. Now, a subsidiary, BNB Coatings, will make paints for passenger cars and three-wheelers. The parent company will continue to make paints for two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. According to Berger sources, the division of businesses is expected to open newer profit-making avenues. BNB is a joint venture between (49 per cent) and Nippon Paints Automotive Coatings (51 per cent). Till now, it has been making coatings for plastic substrata of automobiles. Berger Paints, with a nearly 13 per cent market share in the Rs 3,000-crore auto paints sector, has been absent in the passenger car segment. Even if we developed the paints on our own and matched the technology according to global standards in the passenger car segment, we may not get the approval from car makers immediately. It makes more sense to hand over the business to a subsidiary which can focus on this, Abhijit Roy, managing director and chief executive officer, told Business Standard. BNB will get three-wheeler makers Piaggio and Force on board immediately to supply paints to their products. Berger has been catering to the entire demand of Piaggio, while 70 per cent of Force's requirement was met by the Kolkata-based company. The restructuring could also imply business from Japanese car makers Toyota and Honda, while Mahindra & Mahindra and Suzuki can be targeted at a later date. This move will allow Berger to focus entirely on two-wheelers and commercial cars. Of the five major two-wheeler makers in India, caters to four and commands a 26.8 per cent market share in the segment. It has plans to expand its business. The turnover of the total business which will be transferred to BNB Coatings by Berger Paints is to the tune of Rs 29 crore on a slump sale basis at a consideration of Rs 90 crore, which is to be paid in cash. To further its business in the segment, the firm has planned a two-phase expansion of its plant in Jejujdi in Maharashtra where it is ramping up annual production capacity from 4,000 tonne to 24,000 tonne at an investment of Rs 80 crore. With the restructuring in place, Berger may soon get head-on with Kansai Nerolac Paints, commanding an absolute 60 per cent market share in the automobile coatings space. Standing by its December dateline for joining, will now send revised letters to 18 students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A). They have communicated their decision to us and will be sending revised letters to our 18 students within a week, Asha Kaul, chairperson (placements) at IIM-A told Business Standard. Kaul also confirmed that there would be no further talks with on the issue. It is a stalemate situation and there is no progression. They have a stand point and we have a stand point. It doesn't make sense to continue with any further talks, she said. Deliberations between IIM Ahmedabad and also did not yield any results with respect to the joining bonus of Rs 1.5 lakhs that the latter has offered to candidates joining in December 2016. Earlier, Flipkart had deferred the joining date of about 10 students each at IIM-A and IIM-Bangalore from June to December, and had offered them a Rs 1.5 lakh joining bonus. The e-commerce major, which is looking to cut costs, has claimed the deferment is because of an ongoing restructuring process that involves creating new business units and merging others. They are offering a joining bonus at Rs 1.50 lakh. There could be some students who would want to wait while some would still want to join, Kaul said. In the wake of the likes of Paytm and ShopClues offering to screen profiles and make offers to students who were recruited by Flipkart and would now have to wait till December to join, the institute is now assisting students to make informed decisions. However, according to Kaul, a final call on offers from other will be taken by the students themselves. Lot of have been approaching the institute and the student placement committee is interacting with them. It all depends on the kind of roles that they are offering and whether they meet the students expectations. The choice is for the students to make, she said. ALSO READ: Paytm may play white knight to IIM grads benched by Flipkart Meanwhile, Kaul said that having taken charge as the new chairperson for placements at IIM Ahmedabad, she would review the placement process for upcoming season with the committee. It's a student driven process. We will review the entire process after the students come back from summer internship which is done every year, she said. Hindalco Industries standalone bottom line more than doubled to Rs 356 crore in the March quarter, up 123.3 per cent year-on-year, mainly because of lower input costs as net sales took a hit due to falling aluminium and copper prices. Net sales of the Aditya Birla Group company stood at Rs 8,542 crore in the period under review, down 7.33 per cent from same quarter last year as realisations dropped with average fall in aluminium and copper prices on London Metal Exchange (LME) at 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. According to Bloomberg estimates, Hindalcos net profit was seen at Rs 51.4 crore, while top line was expected to be at Rs 8,501 crore. The low cost of raw materials, especially energy inputs, was a major relief during the quarter, the company stated. The companys total expenses slipped 11 per cent in the quarter gone by to Rs 7,842 crore, lending support to the operating profit which moved up 35 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 825 crore. In aluminium business, the impact was much severe due to a sharp fall in the local market premium, which declined by around 75 per cent and sharp surge of aluminium imports in the country, said the company in its release. However, a strong increase in aluminium volumes following the increased production and thrust on value addition across businesses helped the company offset the impact of sharp fall in realisations, it said. Weak rupee also came to the rescue of the top line as it helped further offset the impact of declining LME prices. Due to this, Hindalcos earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased 69 per cent on year-on-year basis to Rs 517 crore. The company upped its alumina production by 11 per cent to 703,000 tonnes. In copper, despite all the initiatives for value maximisation, the EBIT fell 6 per cent on year-on-year basis to Rs 377 crore, primarily on account of the abolition of certain export incentive scheme during the year and challenging market conditions. While the macroeconomic headwinds persist, the uncertain global macros pose several challenges, the company in the meanwhile, continues with its un-relented focus on operational excellence, enhanced value addition and cash conservation to tide over these circumstances, said . Stung by Flipkart's deferment of joining dates of graduates from various Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), country's premier B-schools and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are considering altering the norms for campus recruitment by companies, particularly start-ups. "With over 100 companies, campus recruitment works on trust. We cannot have a maybe situation at the last minute. Most of the students had other offers as well," said Sapna Agarwal, head of career development services, IIM Bangalore. The IITs are also planning to relax the 'one student one offer' norm and allow students to sit for multiple interviews. "There was arm twisting by other start-ups at some of the campuses last year for day zero and day one slots. They want a commitment from us to give them the best students to interview, but they don't want to keep their part of bargain," said a former placement chairperson of one of the IITs. One of the suggestions is to shift placement dates for start-ups to March when firms are in a better position to decide on their hiring plans. The government has also said that companies should keep students' interest in mind. "We know what is happening in . What do you think is going to happen in IITs and IIMs? You think anybody is going to work for a start-up," Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said at a fireside chat event with iSPIRT, the group that is working on India-built software products and solutions. While deferred placements are not new at the IITs and IIMs, the issue is unprecedented in many ways. In the past, IITs and IIMs have seen firms inducting students stretching over a few months, but the companies would clearly indicate this to the students and the institutes. "There have been non-marquee technology and manufacturing companies, which usually come later in the placement calendar, with deferred joining dates for a few students due to technical reasons. These are isolated cases," said K Mohanty, chairperson for the centre of career development at IIT Guwahati. "Also, these companies would inform in advance just in case a student wanted to opt for another recruiter. However, what has done is unprecedented as it has been across IITs and IIMs and at a very short notice." Flipkart, which has hired in the past from IIMs and IITs, this year informed students it was deferring their joining to December on May 20, just three days before the candidates were to join its offices. Flipkart has cited an organisational rejig for the deferment and has committed Rs 1.5 lakh as a joining bonus for each candidate. After a public spat with IIM Ahmedabad, it increased the bonus to Rs 3 lakh. "This has never happened at IIM-A," Asha Kaul, chairperson of placements at IIM-Ahmedabad, told Business Standard. The institutes did not name the companies that had deferred joining dates in the past. In some cases, multinational companies have extended joining dates for students due to visa issues. "These companies would then onboard the students at domestic locations when visas could not be issued for overseas postings. But this would be the case for a student or two and had not affected a large number of students or even several campuses," said V Babu, adviser for training and placements at IIT Madras. He refused to name these recruiters. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Saturday said the proposed new standard for the potential cancer-causing contaminant bromate at 10 micrograms per litre in packaged drinking water is in line with best international practices. In a written statement, FSSAI, referring to its proposal, said, This is a draft standard and would be finalised after getting inputs from the stakeholders. The process for setting the standards for food articles is a continuous evolving process. Business Standard on Friday had reported that FSSAI in January had proposed to permit 10 micrograms per litre of bromate in bottled water (Click here to read the story). Currently, bromate is not allowed in bottled water in India. The proposal was put in public domain for 30 days for feedback. Since then, the food regulator has not passed the final order though the period for receiving comments is over. In January 2015, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre scientists published research showing high levels of bromate in 27 per cent of the bottled water samples they had picked up. The study read, Bromate levels varied from below detection limits to 43 microgram per litre with an average of 10.7 microgram per litre. At that juncture, bromide presence was not allowed at all in bottled water. FSSAI said in its statement, Current standards of water being developed by FSSAI recognise that this contaminant may be found in water in some cases and prescribes a limit for bromate in water. While Indias ground realities have to be kept in mind, FSSAI is committed to continuously improving and aligning the national food standards with global standards. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the toxic contaminant should ideally not be present at all in drinking water. But, based on the limited capability in 2005 of detecting the contaminant in labs prescribed then, countries such as the US and the European Union (EU) set the bromate standard at 10 micrograms per litre the level at which it could be then detected in lab samples. In 2014, the US approved testing methods that can now confirm presence of bromates even at the limit of 0.02 microgram per litre and alternatives to using ozone for disinfecting water. The standards of these countries have not been revised since. The FSSAI in its statement referred to the standards of EU and the US at 10 microgram per litre and Australia at 20 microgram per litre, while stating it had now proposed comparable standards for bromate in packaged water. FSSAI said, as the story had noted, that bromate contamination can occur during the use of ozone and hypochlorite solutions to disinfect water that is to be packaged. Some bottlers of water world over do use alternative methods which do not require ozone that leads to bromate formation, notes the International Bottled Water Association in its briefing note on bromate. Ozonation, a cheaper disinfectant method, has been traditionally used for large-scale disinfestations in municipal water supply across EU and the US. Before the release of the statement by FSSAI, its Chief Executive Officer Pavan Kumar Agarwal had told Business Standard on Saturday: FSSAI is currently updating the list of additives, the draft for which was recently put in public domain. Once this exercise of setting the standards for nearly 11,000 additives is complete, all such issues that arise out of anomalies in vertical standards, such as that of packaged water, shall be automatically taken care of. This is because the master list of additives being finalised shall overrule all existing vertical standards of additives and contaminants. The press release from FSSAI later pointed out that bromate is an additive for bread but a contaminant in bottled water. The list of additives with their maximum use levels, being finalised by FSSAI, does not deal with the contaminants. BJP MP today left for China on a 10-day visit during which he will meet senior Chinese leaders and discuss issues relating to economic cooperation and security among others. He is visiting China at the invitation of Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, a leading think-tank of China's Foreign Ministry. Swamy will also address a university audience in Beijing. He will travel to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province in central China, and from there he will go to Lhasa in Tibet by a bullet train. "After three nights stay in Lhasa, Swamy will visit the holy sites of Kailash Mansarovar which he got reopened by persuading the Chinese top leader Deng Xiaoping in April, 1981 to permit Hindu pilgrims to visit the holy site that had been banned by China since 1961," Swamy's office said in a statement. While returning to India, the Rajya Sabha MP will have a stopover at Kathmandu. President Pranab Mukherjee returned from a four-day visit to China yesterday during which he held talks with top Chinese leadership on a range of issues. Top Union ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the achievements of the Narendra in the past two years. While the main event at India Gate in New Delhi that saw Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and many of his ministerial colleagues speak about policies and schemes of the government, some Cabinet ministers joined in from different parts of the country, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Vijaywada. The five-hour programme 'Ek Nayi Subah' (A New Dawn), which was telecast live by Doordarshan, saw Bachchan talking about 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'. His participation came amid questions being raised by the Opposition parties in the wake of his name figuring in Panama papers. Bollywood actor R Madhavan and anchor Neelima Sharma hosted the programme which was also attended by Union Ministers Birender Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Ram Vilas Paswan, Uma Bharti, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and J P Nadda. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India's economy has picked up pace and achieved a growth rate of about 7.5 per cent amid a global slowdown. "At a time when the global economies are shrinking, our economy is growing at around 7.5 per cent. This is a healthy growth rate, especially in the context of current global economic scenario," he said. "We brought in the legislation against black money that provides for stringent punishment for tax evaders. We registered criminal cases against several tax evaders." On Panama Papers, which showed the rich and famous in India exploiting secretive offshore tax regimes, Jaitley said criminal cases would be registered against those who have been stashing black money in tax havens abroad. "We are giving a chance to domestic tax evaders to declare their black money by paying 45 per cent penalty," he added. He also touched upon financial inclusion schemes for the poor like Jan Dhan Yojana and Mudra Yojana: "Financial inclusion has been our focus. This means joining people with the banking system. In 100 days, we brought around 220 million people into the banking system which is unprecedented." Jaitley said his government also rationalised the tax regime and the current tax rates in the country are "very competitive". "The previous government created an atmosphere of uncertainty through measures like retrospective tax. We made clear there would be no retrospective tax," he said. An inter-ministerial group (IMG) of the central government would meet on Tuesday to deliberate on a number of issues plaguing the . These include capacity augmentation by public and private-sector steel players, award of composite licence for mineral blocks and hurdles faced in obtaining forest and environment clearances. The meeting would also take stock of the problems faced by individual steel companies in their operations. In case of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), the capacity augmentation of its Gua iron ore mines in Jharkhand, Bolani mines in Odisha and also expansion of the steel unit at Bhilai are expected to come up during discussions. SAIL is confronting issues related to forest clearance in both the iron ore mines. In the case of Bolani mines, there is anomaly in levy of royalty on iron ore, which is a long-pending issue with the Odisha government. SAIL is also developing new iron ore mines at Thakurani Block-A in Keonjhar district, for which the award of prospecting licence is pending with the Odisha government. For Indias biggest iron ore producer NMDC, forest and environment clearance issues have come in the way of its plan to expand Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh. NMDC is also awaiting the receipt of forest clearance for its three-million-tonne steel plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh. Among private steel investors, JSW Steel is battling issues such as availability of iron ore and renewal of mining lease to expand steel capacity at its Vijaya Nagar plant in Karnataka. Essar Steel has flagged concerns on the security of its iron ore slurry pipeline feeding its Visakhapatnam steel plant, demanding a long-term security solution. Bhushan Steel, which runs a three-million-tonne steel plant at Meramundali in Odisha, has demanded award of composite licence (prospecting licence-cum-mining lease) for iron ore blocks, production of iron ore according to limits approved under environment clearance and water cess levy in Odisha in line with actual usage. Visa Steels suggestions include import duty cut on coking coal from 2.5 per cent to nil; financial package for the steel sector; auction of iron ore mining lease to end-use plants; increase in iron ore production to rated capacity of the mines, etc. Mamata Banerjee's mammoth victory in Assembly elections may help Kolkata, the only Indian metro city without a direct flight to Europe, get a regular Air India flight to London. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who was present at the swearing-in ceremony of the West Bengal chief minister on Friday, has said he would ask Air India to re-introduce a direct flight between Kolkata and London, which was discontinued because it was commercially unfeasible. "The CM has asked the Union minister to look into the matter and he promised that he will ask the state-run carrier to consider the proposal," a top state government official told Business Standard. Air India had withdrawn its direct flight between Kolkata and an European city in 2007. The assurance came after Banerjee personally requested Raju to look into the matter. And the Civil Aviation Minister was quick to respond positively. Interestingly, this is not the first time when Banerjee has sought a direct flight between Kolkata and cities in Europe. In her previous term as chief minister, she had invited several private airlines as well as Air India to start the service. While private airlines, after conducting feasibility study, said the route wasn't commercially viable, Air India kept on delaying the matter. Many analysts are seeing Raju's response as a sign of Mamata Banerjee's rising clout in Delhi after the Trinamool Congress won 211 seats in the 294-strong West Bengal Assembly. With Banerjee's rising stature in Indian politics and the Centre's efforts to seek her support in the Rajya Sabha for getting crucial Bills cleared, sources said West Bengal government might be able to get go-ahead for some crucial projects in the coming months. "The CM wants rapid development of West Bengal. She has gone to the extent of offering a complete waiver on Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) tax," the state government official added. But aviation industry is sceptic about commercial success of such a route. "If any airline has to fly to Europe from Kolkata, which is an eight-hour journey, it has to operate a wide-body aircraft. Our study suggests it will be difficult to get even 60 per cent occupancy," said a top official of a private airline. The state government had earlier approached five European airlines - Lufthansa, Germanwings, KLM, Air France and Thomson Airways. Jet Airways had also conveyed its inability to operate in a low-yield market. Kolkata Airport director Atul Dixit claimed such a route was completely viable. "Our data suggests there are enough passengers flying to European countries via Delhi," he said. Kolkata's international airport doesn't have any direct flight to the Europe or the US as the last such route, Kolkata-Frankfurt, was discontinued by Lufthansa in 2011. British Airways had earlier withdrawn its Kolkata-London flight in 2008. Of the remaining 17 international routes, Qatar Airlines and Emirates fly to the Middle East, while the rest operate between Kolkata and South and Southeast Asian countries like Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Singapore and Thailand. The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) aims to generate a business turnover of Rs 1,700 crore through its various schemes in Odisha during the current fiscal. This year, we hope it (the turnover) would reach Rs 1,700 crore, which includes income from tender marketing on behalf of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), raw material distribution, finance to units through bank tie-ups and raw material assistance against bank guarantee. Last fiscal, the turnover was around Rs 875 crore in the state," said an official. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed with the NSIC headquarters on the business plan, he added. The units registered with NSIC are eligible to get the benefits under Public Procurement Policy for Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs) scheme. As per the policy, every central ministry department and PSU shall set an annual goal of purchasing a minimum 20 per cent of their total annual requirement of products or services from MSEs. Out of this 20 per cent stipulation, four per cent is earmarked for MSEs promoted by schedule caste and schedule tribe persons. At present, NSIC is rendering services to about 2,000 small scale units in the state. NSIC, operating under the Ministry of MSME, has signed pacts with various nationalised and private banks for credit facilitation to the MSMEs under its bank tie-up scheme. Through syndication with these banks, NSIC arranges for credit support (fund or non-fund based limits) from banks without any cost to MSMEs. All documentation pertaining to completion and submission of credit proposals to banks is also undertaken by NSIC. NSIC has set a target to give hand holding support to 600 new entrepreneurs in the state in this financial year, added the official. NSIC, a mini ratna Government of India company, is also setting up an facilitation centre in Bhubaneswar. A Sikh-American councilman, who was called a "terrorist" on Twitter by a supporter, has said the Republican presidential candidate's "xenophobic political rhetoric" has worsened the "climate of fear" against minority communities across the US. Ravinder Bhalla, councilman-at-large of the City of Hoboken, New Jersey, in an opinion piece on NJ.Com said that fear-mongering and divisiveness had never worked to solve people's differences and "no public official, locally or nationally, should ever be telling you otherwise". "As and continue to inject charged xenophobic political rhetoric into our public discourse, the climate of fear directed towards minority communities across our nation has worsened dramatically," Bhalla said. He underscored that diversity and unity is what makes the United States great. "We are a nation of immigrants, where each new wave has strengthened and reinvigorated our nation," he said. Bhalla was called a terrorist last week by Robert Dubenezic, an open supporter of Trump after the Sikh-American had tweeted about new bike lanes in his city. Dubenezic replied to his tweet, saying "How the hell did Hoboken allow the guys to be councilman? Shouldn't even be allowed in the US #terrorist". Bhalla was quick to answer, exclaiming, "Sir, I am born and raised in America. You clearly don't know what it means to be an American #ignorant." Bhalla, who is also a partner at a law firm, said innocent people across America get called "terrorist" or some other epithet just because of the way they look and now "it was my turn to be falsely labelled based on my Sikh appearance". Such offensive remarks raise the question that what should be the proper response of Americans to the rising tide of hate speech and violence in the US in 2016, not only against Sikh-Americans but other minorities like Muslims and Latinos, he said. "It is important at a time when loud, bigoted and divisive voices are crowding the public square that we remind the public of this basic fact and celebrate a nation founded on the unifying idea that we are all created equal," Bhalla said. "We must continue to call out bigotry and hatred when we see it, but in a manner that does not lower ourselves to the level of those that spew hate speech," he said. Citing data by civil rights organisation Sikh Coalition, Bhalla said Sikh-Americans had seen an increase in cases of profiling, backlash and hate crimes over the past six months. "Racists in our own country have desecrated Sikh gurdwaras (houses of worship) and brutally assaulted innocent Sikh Americans. Other minority communities, including the Latino and Muslim communities have also experienced a step up in racially charged incidents," he said. Bhalla asserted that his turban and beard represent his commitment to equality, justice and diversity. "These values are not only Sikh, they are also distinctly American," he said. American President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the on Friday, telling an audience that included survivors of America's atomic bombing in 1945 that technology as devastating as nuclear arms demands a "moral revolution". Thousands of Japanese lined the route of the presidential motorcade to the memorial in the hopes of glimpsing Obama, the first sitting American president to visit the most potent symbol of the dawning of the nuclear age. Many watched the ceremony on their cellphones. "Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed," Obama said in opening his speech at the memorial. "Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us," Obama said, adding that such technology "requires a moral revolution as well." In an emotional moment afterward, Obama embraced and shook hands with survivors of the attack. The first of those survivors, Sunao Tsuboi, a chairman of the Hiroshima branch of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, gripped Obama's hand and did not let go until he had spoken to him for some time. 2016 The New York Times News Service CRRC, China's only maker of high-speed locomotives, plans to raise as much as 12 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) in a private share sale in Shanghai to repay debt and to help finance its daily operations. The company's board has approved the sale of as many as 1.39 billion yuan-denominated A shares at 8.66 yuan apiece, CRRC said in a filing to the Shanghai exchange on Friday. That's a 4.8 per cent discount to the last close. Controlling stakeholder CRRC Group plans to buy about 692 million shares in the placement, which will probably be completed within six months after receiving ... "There is nothing there." Monsanto President Brett Begemann uttered those words last week to a small group of investors and a Reuters reporter when asked how the world's largest seed company he helps lead might fit with German drugs and crop chemicals group Bayer. Those four words, said on the sidelines of a New York conference, set off a series of events leading to the disclosure of Bayer's confidential, $62 billion bid for Monsanto, the largest all-cash corporate takeover offer on record. Bayer had sent a confidential acquisition proposal to Monsanto on May 10. Media reports surfaced two days later that Bayer was considering a bid. Initially, neither company would comment on whether any talks were taking place - a common practice for many corporations that prefer to negotiate deals in private. But Begemann appeared to go a step further than simply declining to comment at the May 18 conference. Monsanto's securities lawyer was concerned that his reply could be interpreted as a denial that any talks were going on, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has strict disclosure rules to protect investors from being misled by companies. To avoid triggering SEC scrutiny, according to the source, Monsanto issued a statement a few hours after Begemann's comment to acknowledge that Bayer had approached the company about a possible takeover. has reduced import duties on cars with engine capacity of 800 and 1,000 cubic centimetre (cc) while increasing duty on higher engine capacity cars, a move likely to benefit India-made smaller vehicles. Prices of vehicles with above 1,000cc engine capacity will increase following the increase of the minimum unit tax from yesterday, Sri Lanka's Vehicle Importers Association said. According to a gazette notification released yesterday by the ministry of finance, the 800 and 1,000cc cars would have a lower import tax band. A majority of this category's imports are dominated by India-made cars. An example is of the India-made Maruti Wagon-R. The tax range for such cars is expected to come down from its present tax range of 1.5 to 1.6 million rupees to about 1.35 million, car dealers said. However, the India-made three wheeler auto taxies have been hit by a raised band and will have an increased rate of customs duty, the dealers said. Rich users of SUVs are the worst-hit, with the import tax on one particular brand, which stood at about 5.4 million Sri Lankan rupees, rising up to above 7.6 million Sri Lankan rupees. This would raise the market price by about 13 million additionally, the dealers said. Dwindling foreign reserves have forced the government to curb vehicle imports by imposing higher taxes. Constellations of European and US satellites captured emergency distress signals from the doomed EgyptAir Flight 804 minutes after it fell off radar on May 19, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A device known as an emergency locater transmitter, or ELT, began radioing an automatic distress message at 2:36 a.m. local time, Lieutenant Jason Wilson, an operations support officer at NOAA, said in an email. Five satellites relayed signals from the beacon to a ground station in Cyprus, said Wilson, whose agency monitors such distress signals, and a document ... As much as Rs 10,000 crore is due to farmers across the country for sugarcane sold to millers in last two seasons, with highest outstanding in Uttar Pradesh. Cane arrears to farmers stood at Rs 9,361 crore till early this month for the current 2015-16 season ending September, while Rs 780 crore is outstanding for the previous season, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. Briefing media about the government's measures to help cash-starved millers in clearing cane arrears, Paswan said, "Over the past two years, the policy interventions by the government have shown remarkable progress in reducing arrears." During the 2014-15 season, he said, cane arrears had touched nearly Rs 22,000 crore but after several government interventions have come down to Rs 780 crore of which Rs 191 crore pertains to UP, the country's second largest sugar producing state. In the current season as well, cane arrears had touched a peak of Rs 14,000 crore and same has come down to Rs 9,361 crore till early this month. Out of Rs 9,361 crore cane arrears, Uttar Pradesh has a maximum of Rs 2,855 crore for the ongoing 2015-16 season (October-September). The arrears calculated for UP is based on cane price fixed by the Centre (called Fair and Remunerative Price -- FRP) which is Rs 230 per quintal. If arrears to be calculated based on cane price fixed by the UP government which is Rs 280 per quintal, then dues would be Rs 5,795 crore. "The state of UP has allowed a two stage payment of FRP. Till end June, mills are expected to pay cane dues based on FRP (Rs 230/quintal), according to which arrears are presently Rs 2,855 crore. However, July onwards the mills will have to pay dues based on State Advised Prices (at Rs 280/quintal) on the basis of which the dues come to Rs 5,795 crore," Paswan said. Giving data of cane arrears for other states, the minister said millers owed Rs 1,819 crore in Maharashtra and Rs 1,625 crore in Karnataka till early this month. Total cane price payable to farmers across all cane producing states is Rs 60,000-65,000 crore a year. Highlighting measures taken in the last two years to help the sugar sector, Paswan said the government had provided soft loan to millers to clear cane arrears. It also increased import duty to 40 per cent, offered export subsidy on raw sugar and a production subsidy to sugar mills to offset cost of cane price, promoted Ethanol Blending Program (EBP, he said, adding that these measures have helped the sector to bounce back. India's sugar production is estimated to be 25 million tonnes in 2015-16 season, as against 28.3 million tonnes in the previous year. Finolex Cables, Sharda Cropchem, Indiabulls Real Estate, Take Solutions, Biocon, Indoco Remedies, Bajaj Electricals and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation from the BSE500 index gained between 12 per cent and 21 per cent during the week. "Breakout above Nifty 8,000 level indicates the lower top and lower bottom sequence has been broken on the larger time frame, indicating the resumption of long-term bull market. The double bottom and subsequent higher tops and higher bottoms in the shorter time frame have given the launching pad to the bulls to reverse the down trend of last year. This breakout is the confirmation signal that market has reversed its bias from bear to bull. Traders should focus on long-only trades or can consider writing puts," Modi added. The S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap indices underperformed the market by gaining three per cent and one per cent, respectively. The total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies increased by Rs 3.27 lakh crore to Rs 99.13 lakh crore from Rs 95.86 lakh crore at the beginning of the week. Higher prices in local market, followed by a ban by Vietnam, the largest importer, have resulted in a fall in groundnut exports by 32 per cent in 2015-16. Due to lower production, prices have remained at the higher level during the year. According to the Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC), India has exported 536,929 tonnes groundnut in 2015-16, against 788,307 tonnes in 2014-15. Vietnam had banned the groundnut import from April 2015 to January 2016 due to quality issues. It was the biggest drawback for the country which has translated into lower export by 32 per cent, said Sanjiv Sawla, chairman of IOPEPC. Vietnam had imported 183,771 tonnes groundnut from India in 2014-15 but due to the ban the countrys import reduced to 18,418 tonnes in 2015-16. Production of groundnut has declined because of the poor monsoon last year. Trade estimates show groundnut production decreased to 3.2 million tonnes in kharif 2015 from 3.5 million tonnes for the corresponding period last year. Lower output has increased groundnut prices in domestic market by 15 per cent. On an average groundnut is being traded between Rs 80,000 per tonne and Rs 95,000 per tonne in India during the year. Mukund Shah, leading peanut producer said, Most of the time prices of groundnut have remained on the upper side due to short supply. This has affected exports from India. Since last couple of years, IOPEPC is trying to convince peanut manufacturers to upgrade their units. Because of the new rules by several importing countries, initially volume of exports may have declined but it will be in line in next two or three years, said Sawla. Taliban insurgents kidnapped an administrative director of Kunduz police in northern Afghanistan. Local security officials said, the administrative director of Kunduz police was abducted as he was travelling on Kunduz-Takhar highway, reports Khamma Press. The officials added that a policeman was also killed in the process. So far, the Taliban militant group has not commented regarding the incident, but the local security officials have said, that an operation was underway for the release of the Kunduz police administrative director. The abduction comes as the Taliban militants suffered heavy casualties during a military operation launched by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) which led to the opening of Kunduz-Takhar highway last week. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said that the Constitution promulgated in September last year was the outcome of a long struggle. Speaking at a special programme organised at the Army Pavilion in Tundikhel on the occasion of ninth Republic Day, Prime Minister Oli said that the Constitution has ensured the rights of indigenous nationalities, ethnic communities, women, Dalits, marginalised groups, Muslims, Tharus and backward communities residing in the country,reports The Himalayan Times. Stating that most of the political issues had been resolved after the promulgation of Constitution, Prime Minister Oli said that the government's topmost priority was development. Moreover, he said that the country was heading towards the path of development and prosperity after the promulgation of Constitution. The Prime Minister said that the government had been doing its best to establish peace and prosperity in the country after last year's twin earthquakes. Saying that national unity was essential to take the country towards the path of development and prosperity, the Prime Minister said that all the existing political problems could be resolved through talks and dialogues. He further said that the government was committed to maintaining peace, equality, sovereignty and national unity. Prime Minister Oli also extended his heartfelt condolences to all known and unknown martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country and the people. Clearing the air surrounding the reports that a close-aide of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani has surrendered, the Indian Army on Saturday said the top Hizbul operative Taqir Pandita was in fact apprehended by the Army in a well 'coordinated swift operation' on Newa-Pinglana road of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, reports had started making rounds that Taqir Pandita, a cousin of slain Naseer Pandit of Pulwama's Kareemabad, had surrendered before police in wee hours today. Army's Northern Command, in a statement, said that they had formed a mobile vehicle check post, to nab the dreaded operative based in specific intelligence inputs on his movements. "The move of terrorist was kept under constant surveillance as the terrorist closed in, he was apprehended by the team of Rashtriya Rifle battalion. Along with one 9 mm pistol, two Chinese grenades and other war like stores were recovered from the terrorist. The terrorist was involved in many terror related incidents in Pulwama area," the statement said. According to reports, both police and the Army have rubbished the 'surrender' theory, saying the nabbing of the militant was a well calibrated and planned effort. "No militant has surrendered before army in Pulwama," N.N. Joshi, an army PRO, told Kashmir headlines. The nabbing of Tariq comes as a major blow to Burhan Wani, who has emerged as the new poster boy of Kashmir militancy in recent times. Tariq, a resident of Kareemabaad, was key member of HM (Burhan Wani) group, which was under the radar of security agencies. Earlier this month, three Hizbul militants were neutralised in an encounter with the security forces in Avantipora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Last year in April, another close aide of Wani, Naseer Ahmad Pandit, was gunned down by forces in Shopian district. Naseer Ahmad Pandit was a former police constable, who used to work as a guard at the residence of a former Jammu and Kashmir minister. He had reportedly escaped with his service rifle to join Burhan-led HM. Burhan Wani, 21, who is son of a government school principal, is known for inciting youth to join the armed rebellion by posting videos and pictures on social networking sites. According to reports, his pictures in fatigues and with a rifle and a video giving a sermon to people about launching a jihad had gone viral in the valley sometime back. Reports also say that about 30 youth have joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in South Kashmir this year alone. The Indian Army today paid a befitting tribute with full military honours to Havildar Hangpan Dada who attained martyrdom yesterday during an operation in Naugam sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Homage was paid to the valour and sacrifice of the braveheart in a solemn ceremony held at Badami Bagh Cantonment. Late Havildar Hangpan Dada, led his team from front and located a group of terrorists in the forward area of Naugam sector on Thursday morning. Realising the importance of time and gravity of situation, Havildar Hangpan Dada led a small team of six men and started engaging the terrorists with effective fire. He closed in with the terrorists and brought precision fire, killing two of them on the spot. According to a statement by the Army, Havildar Hangpang Dada, with no disregard to personal safety, crawled towards the balance of the two terrorists hiding behind the boulders. "He charged on to the location with his personal weapon blazing and killed the third terrorists but in the process was hit by a volley of bullet that severely injured him. Showing undeterred determination and grit he kept engaging the fourth terrorists till the reinforcement along with the Company Commander arrived. Subsequently, the fourth terrorist was eliminated. While being evacuated, the brave heart succumbed to his injuries and made supreme sacrifice in the line of Duty," the statement said. 36 years old, Havildar Hangpang Dada was enrolled in the Assam Regiment in year 1997. Laying wreath to salute the brave soldier's final journey, Lt Gen Satish Dua, The Chinar Corps Commander said that such exemplary acts always serve as an inspiration to the serving generation. This ultimate sacrifice in line of duty will continue to motivate the Chinar Corps fraternally. The mortal remains have been taken to his native village where the last rites will be conducted with full military honours. Refraining from commenting on the recent demand by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy to remove Raghuram Rajan as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday called Rajan as 'one of the most outstanding economists of the world' and affirmed his party's 'full confidence' in him. Taking a critical view of the state of the economy under the NDA's two-year rule, Chidambaram highlighted a number of shortcomings of the BJP-led government in a press briefing. "The UPA Government appointed one of the most outstanding economists of the world as the Governor of the RBI. We placed full confidence in him at that time and we continue to place full confidence in him today," he said at the briefing when asked about the Swamy seeking Rajan's ouster. Chidambaram's remark assumes significance in the wake of the recent barrage of onslaught by Swamy on Rajan. Reiterating that Rajan must be removed from his post at the earliest, Swamy had earlier this month written to Prime Minister Modi, asserting that he was shocked by the deliberate attempt by the RBI Governor to 'wreck' the Indian economy. Appealing to the Prime Minister to take action, Swamy added that he could not stand to watch seeing someone appointed by the UPA regime who is 'against Indian economic interests' to be kept in this post when there are so many other nationalist minded experts available. Actor Fardeen Khan has come out in open to hit back strongly at those targeting him for his weight. The 42-year-old actor recently took to Facebook to backlash those poking fun at his expense and said he is living through the "happiest chapter" of his life, asserting he is neither "depressed" nor is he "ashamed" with his plumpness. The 'Dulha Mil Gaya' actor also retorted saying if "mindless(ly) trolling" others make people feel better then they need to ponder over their "future prospects". Talking about the rising trolling incidents on social media, the actor reflected, "This worldwide behavioral pattern on the internet is disturbing even though I believe in absolutely free speech and opinions." Khan has been facing attack since a photo of him looking heavier, appeared on social media. At least five militants were killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, which was carried out targeting a hideout of the militants in Ghaziabad district. The Ministry of defense confirmed that five militants were killed and their hideout was destroyed, while another terrorist was arrested in Khogyani district of Nangarhar, reports Khaama Press. So far, the anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the reports. The Afghan forces have stepped up counter-terrorism operations in the region to suppress the militants as they attempt to increase terrorist attacks. FundTonic, a fin-tech company that aims to revolutionize the entire start-up ecosystem has launched their first online platform today, which aims to reach 2000 investors and 5000 start ups by next year. FundTonic uses sophisticated proprietary technology that evaluates potential start-ups with a fine-tooth comb and showcases the relevant start-ups to the keen investors. This process enables investors to have easy access to pertinent start-ups. At the same time, start-ups get to know their scalability and invest ability. "Year 2016 did not begin well for start-ups. As many of them either shut shops or merged with large corporate. The closure cycle of investments became long. However, I consider this as a positive sign that investors are no longer content with just the overall projection and valuation of a business; they want in depth analysis of the start-up, wherein they decide to invest money. Considering this current situation, we decided to launch our platform," said Co-Founder FundTonic, Akshit Gupta. "We endeavour to deepen the start-up eco-system in Tier I cities and build infrastructure in Tier II and Tier III cities by making partnerships to achieve the larger objective of identifying and scaling disruptive ideas across the country," added Akshit Gupta. "Two decades ago, getting the capital for budding enterprises was challenging. Now the situation is changing. Many start-ups are spawning, as more and more importance is being given to innovation and both entrepreneurs and investors are willing to take risks. However, investors and start-ups should keep in mind that failure of some kind is bound to come; knowing how you deal with it is important. Minimizing losses for the ecosystem by increasing successes and reducing probability of failure is a big step and FundTonic is well positioned to achieve this," said Chief Investment Officer SAIML (SREI Alternative Investment Managers Limited), Nalin Kumar. A person has been injured when a glider aircraft crashed into a tree in Takht Bhai area of Mardan in Pakistan on Saturday. A two people were on board the glider distributing pamphlets for a local telecom company, reports The Express Tribune. Pilot Tofail received injuries while the other remained safe, sources said. The aircraft was partially damaged as a result of the crash. In March, a charter plane with 18 people on board crash-landed at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport. Shaheen Air crash-lands in Lahore, CAA denies reports of casualties. Reports suggested the plane had to make an emergency landing as soon as it took off. Rescue teams and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials arrived at the scene and the runway was closed. "I apologise," said Conference chief on Saturday after drawing flaks from several quarters for talking over phone during the anthem at Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee's swearing-in ceremony as the West Bengal Chief Minister. "I didn't intend to disrespect the nation by my actions, I was standing for the anthem, but if it offended anyone, I am sorry," Farooq told reporters. "Farooq has always kept his life for the nation. I have been attacked just because I stood with India and if these things are not visible to people what can I say?" he said. Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party questioned Abdullah 'if he was talking to separatists to figure out their national anthem.' "Obviously he was more interested in talking on the telephone than being attentive to the national anthem. I almost question whether he was talking to separatists to figure out what their national anthem is because if you can disrespect Jana Gana Mana, it is most disrespectful to our great country as well," BJP leader Shaina NC told ANI. The BJP had dubbed the incident as unfortunate and asked Abdullah to tender an apology. It is the constitutional duty of every citizen, under Article 51A(a) of the Constitution, to respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will today evening leave for a six-day visit to Japan to boost investments into India. On arrival in Tokyo on May 29, he will have meetings with CEOs of Japanese Companies (Soft Bank/JBIC). On May 30, the Finance Minister will attend the 22nd International Conference on 'The Future of Asia' organized by Nikkei Inc. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will have bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, METI Minister (Economy, Trade and Industry) and Health Minister. On May 31, Jaitley will have meeting with Osamu Suzuki, chairman, Suzuki Motor Corporation in the morning. Thereafter, he will participate in 22nd International Conference on ' The Future of Asia' organized by Nikkei Inc. In the afternoon he will deliver a keynote address at the roundtable on Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). In the evening Jaitley will have meetings with President, GPIF (Government Pension Investment Fund) Norihiro Takahashi and President and CEO, JOIN (Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Cooperation for Transport and Urban Development) Takuma Hatano. In the morning on June 1, the Finance Minister have meeting with CEOs organized by JIBCC (Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee). He will also hold meetings with President, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Shinichi Kitaoka and Chairman, Hitachi, Hiroaki Nakanishi (Chair, Committee on South Asia, Keidanren). In the afternoon, Jaitley will attend IIES Symposium on Indian Economy and deliver a keynote speech there and afterwards he will leave for Osaka. On arrival at Osaka the Finance Minister will meet Indian organizations at the India Club. On June 2, the Union Finance Minister will deliver a lecture on 'India: Political, Social and Economic Change (TBC) at Osaka University. In the evening, the Finance Minister will participate and address the Make In India- Investment Promotion Seminar. Thereafter he will meet Japanese CEOs and CII delegation. On June 3, Jaitley will leave for Kyoto in the morning. He will reach Tokyo in the evening from Kyoto where he will hold various meetings like meetings with President, ICIJ (The Indian Commerce & Industry Association Japan), Sr. MD, SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), CEO, Eastspring Investments etc. The Finance Minister will leave for New Delhi on June 4 and will arrive in the capital in the evening on the same day after completing his six-day official visit to Japan. A Janata Dal (Secular) gram panchayat president was arrested on Friday for attempted to a woman employee in Karnataka's Mandya District. Chandrahasa, the gram panchayat president of Kesturu in Mandya district was caught on camera attempting to a 32-year-old female attendant, who was working as a Group D employee in the panchayat for over six years. It is reported that the incident occurred around 6 p.m. When she returned for work the next morning, she told fellow employees who then confronted Chandrahasa, who reportedly claimed that he had only asked her to sweep the floor. However, upon checking the CCTV footage of the office, they saw that Chandrahasa was attempting to drag the woman while she was attempting to free herself from his grip. Within minutes of the pushing and pulling the woman, Chandrahasa lifts her and walks behind the camera. After seeing the footage, the panchayat employees then thrashed him before handing him over to the police. The police have registered a case against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). With the growing impasse over the issue of the colonies for the Kashmiri Pandits, the Panthers Party (NPP) on Saturday took on the newly formed PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that they were clearly unable to sort out their differences and it was likely to spell trouble for the state. "Parties are merely playing politics over this issue on Kashmiri Pandit townships and colonies. The BJP says one thing and its partner in the state government, the PDP, says quite the contradictory. While the BJP has been saying that there will be separate colonies, composite townships for the Kashmiri Pandits, Mehbooba says no," NPP leader Harshdev Singh told ANI. Talking about the Sainik Colony issue, he said even here both the parties are not able to reconcile their differences and are simply addressing their respective electorate on the subject. "Nothing else is going to happen. There has been no result so far," Singh added. Earlier today, castigating the opposition for attacking her government over allotment of land for Sainik colonies here, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said the colonies are not for outsiders, but only for state subjects. " Sainik colonies are not meant for outsiders, it is for state subjects. The proposal is in the process since the previous government," she said. "The governor has issued an order to identify land for the proposed Sanik colonies, but I want to clear that our government has still not identified land," she informed the state assembly. Talking about the rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, Mehbooba said, "Kashmiri Pandits ko baizzat laayenge, yahan saath milkar rahenge. (We will bring back Kashmiri Pandits with full respect and live together)." "When we can't accommodate Muslim migrants who are affiliated with various political parties in their native villages how can we send Kashmiri Pandits? I assure you that I will bring back Kashmiri Pandits, and they can live wherever they want to. We accommodated them in transit camps and gave all facilities," said Mehbooba. A mega event will be organised at India Gate here on Saturday evening to mark the completion of two years of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and most of his ministerial colleagues are expected to attend the event. Besides this, the government has launched a series of events to highlight its achievements. The highlight of the celebrations will be a mega show at India Gate titled 'Ek Nayi Subah' or 'A New Dawn' beginning 5 p.m. onwards. A number of film stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapur and Prasun Joshi, are expected to attend the event. Meanwhile, putting all rumours to rest, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Friday clarified that he was not hosting the event at India Gate. "I am hosting a small segment of government's 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign. I am the U.N. ambassador for girl child education. I am not hosting the two years of Modi Government event. In fact, Madhavan is hosting it," Bachchan told the media here. The Congress had on Wednesday questioned the Centre's decision of selecting the megastar to host the show, saying it might send wrong signals to the investigating agencies probing the Panama paper leaks. United States First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Pakistan Embassy in Washington for the first time today. According to Dawn, Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani shared pictures of the visit on Twitter. "It was an absolute delight hosting FLOTUS at Pakistan House today," Ambassador Jilani wrote in a Twitter post. Michelle had last year announced a $70 million contribution to educate adolescent girls in Pakistan as part of her "Let Girls Learn" initiative. The First Lady's visit to the Pakistan Embassy comes at a time when relations between Pakistan and the US are strained over the drone strike in which Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was reported killed. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had called the strike a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, to which the U.S. replied saying that they won't stop targeting terrorists who are intent on hurting Americans. Nepal Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel presented the annual budget for the next fiscal year 2016-17 on Saturday. Beginning his announcement at the Parliament, the Minister said that he prepared the budget in consultation with political parties, former finance ministers and various stakeholders. The principal objectives of the next fiscal's budget are to implement the Constitution, to reduce poverty and to expedite development works, The Himalayan Times quoted Paudel as saying. He said that the earthquake in 2015, incurred a great loss to the nation and it also affected the fiscal budget, including the capacity to spend development funds. Paudel said that import and export had both decreased in the current fiscal year. However, the stock market has been dynamic and the internal capital market has been strengthened, he claimed. The Finance Minister also announced that the post-earthquake reconstruction, hydropower, forestry and good governance are among priorities of the next budget. Likewise, the government also reiterated its desire to hold the local elections in November-December this year. Meanwhile, as a part of the implementation of the Constitution, the government would honour members of the Constitution-writing Constituent Assembly with the Constitution Making Medal, according to Paudel. He also announced to pay Rs 200,000 to each of the disqualified Maoist combatants, who were yet to receive the compensation; form a committee to fix criteria of martyrs as a part of the peace process. Paudel said Rs 140 billion has been allocated for the post-earthquake reconstruction. The government also announced the ambitious plan to end load shedding within two years and generate 10,000 megawatt hydropower within 10 years. The government would expedite constructions of ongoing and planned hydro projects in various parts of the nation. Programmes would be held to attract domestic and foreign investment in the hydro projects. Pertaining to the roads, the government said all capitals of seven provinces would be connected via road networks. Roads connecting iconic places in various parts of the nation have been prioritised. Rs 4.2 billion has been allocated for the Postal Highway. All roads of the nation would be categorised as federal, provincial and local roads. Likewise, the government said it would carry out feasibility studies to introduce railways in various parts of the nation. To promote agriculture, the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project for Rs 5.78 billion has been allocated by the government. The project would aim to make the nation independent in various crops. The government would provide subsidies for fertilisers and seeds for farmers and would provide services to test fertility of soils and seeds. Also, Rs 8.46 billion has been allocated for livestock development. Each district headquarters would get Rs 500 million for urban development. The government also introduced the concept of 'One City: One Identity'. Likewise, it would develop Bhaktapur as the Cultural City. Rs 2.30 billion have been allocated for irrigation projects in Tarai districts. Moreover, the government would establish a Challenge Fund of Rs 1 billion to promote entrepreneurship among youth in the private sectors. Sufficient electricity for industries would be generated within two years. The government would hold an Investors Summit within two years. Several important measures have also been taken in the education sector, like Primary education would be made compulsory and free while secondary education would be gradually made compulsory and free. The government would adopt a strategy to prepare human resources needed for the national development within the nation. The International trade and supply system would be expanded with trade agreements with various nations on a priority basis. You surely will never be Matt LeBlanc's co-passenger after his admission of being "a nightmare back seat driver." According to the self-confessed car nut, he is world's worst back seat driver as he barks continuous instructions from the passenger seat, reports News.com.au. "I have to admit I'm not good. I'm like watch out! Why you going so slow? Why do you have the car over here? Don't put the car on that line, put it over here. You're too wide on this corner. Brake! Why you braking so late? You're braking too early. Get on the gas, go, go, go! What are you waiting for? Go around this guy, he's going to slow. I'm just the worst. I wouldn't want to be in the car with me if I wasn't driving," he said. The 48-year-old actor will very soon be seen in the driver's seat as co-presenter in the latest incarnation of 'Top Gear' along with UK radio star Chris Evans due to premiere next week. LeBlanc is the first American to host the show in its 39-year history. While his inclusion might have been a surprise to some, it's a chance for the actor to indulge his lifelong passion for cars. Following the row over financing, Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the United States. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif led-government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by May 24, but reportedly the document was not issued leading to expiry of the offer. "Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired," Dawn quoted a source as saying. According to the $699 million deal, eight F-16C/D Block-52 multi-role fighters (2 C and 6 D models), were to partially be financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme, but the Congress disallowed subsidising the sale over concerns that Islamabad had not done enough to end the Haqqani network's sanctuaries on its soil. Following that Pakistan was asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight aircraft, which earlier was to be provided at the subsidised rate of $270 million. It is unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ambassador to U.S. Jalil Abbas Jilani, said "a dead-end has not been reached as yet", reports Dawn. Last month, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Islamabad could look to buy the aircraft from some other country if the deal did not go ahead. Analysts reportedly believe that Islamabad could consider Russian or Chinese fighters to meet its defence requirements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended his wishes to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical check-up and will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday. "My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health," Prime Minister Modi said on Twitter. Prime Minister Sharif left for London on May 22 and was scheduled to return home Friday but postponed his return following medical reports suggesting the procedure, The Express Tribune reported. Sharif will undergo an open-heart surgery in London on Tuesday and stay there for a week to recover fully, the report quoted Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Khawaja Asif. Prime Minister's daughter Maryam Nawaz confirmed the development, saying doctors recommended the surgery after "thorough scans and tests". "The recovery period and hospital stay will be one week," she tweeted. Meanwhile, the PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari appealed the countrymen to pray for the speedy recovery of the prime minister. Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar will look after and manage political affairs of the country in the absence of Prime Minister Nawaz, Express News reported. Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi who will take the oath as Puducherry's new governor tomorrow, said that her focus at the moment is to put the Union Territory on the tourist map of India, as it is a great destination and deserves no less attention than Goa, or any other popular tourist spot in the country. "It's all about taking Puducherry to greater prosperity and putting it on the tourist map of India. Puducherry deserves it, no less than Goa. Puducherry was part of my Union Territory cadre as a police officer and I always longed to come here, because Puducherry was a great destination," Bedi told ANI here. Asserting that she was to see a prosperous Puducherry in all respects including tourism, agriculture, health and fisheries, Bedi said that the Union Territory had amazing resources and the potential to become a great tourist destination. Earlier, President Pranab Mukherjee appointed former Bedi as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Bedi will succeed Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ajay Kumar Singh, who was appointed in July 2013. He was given additional responsibility of the administration of Puducherry in July 2014. Talking about her priority as the Lt. Governor of Puducherry, Bedi told ANI: "My priority will be bottom-up approach. I would like to make a constable and a school teacher feel that he or she is the most important." "We are here to carry forward the current momentum of development in all areas with integrity, fairness and no assurances in false," she said. "I don't consider it as power; to me it's a resource to deliver," said Bedi. Castigating the opposition for attacking her government over allotment of land for Sainik colonies here, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said the colonies are not for outsiders, but only for state subjects. "Sainik colonies are not meant for outsiders, it is for state subjects. The proposal is in the process since the previous government," she said. "The governor has issued an order to identify land for the proposed Sanik colonies, but I want to clear that our government has still not identified land," she informed the state assembly. Talking about the rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, Mehbooba said, "Kashmiri Pandits ko baizzat laayenge, yahan saath milkar rahenge. (We will bring back Kashmiri Pandits with full respect and live together)." Intensifying her attack on the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party chief said, "When the All Party Working Group has agreed on separate transit camps for Pandits, why then is the opposition opposing the proposal today. "When we can't accommodate Muslim migrants who are affiliated with various political parties in their native villages how can we send Kashmiri Pandits? I assure you that I will bring back Kashmiri Pandits, and they can live wherever they want to. We accommodated them in transit camps and gave all facilities," said Mehbooba. On the question of repealing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the Valley, she said, "I am running the government as per my father's (late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) vision and it is clear that the chair is not my weakness. I am working on the agenda of the alliance and it takes time in completion. The agenda also includes removal of AFSPA, but it will take time." Tackling a volley of shots fired by the opposition on Friday, Mehbooba said, "It has been just one and a half months that I took over as the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and the opposition wants me to resolve all the issues, which is not possible in such a short span of time. We are working on the agenda of our alliance in collaboration with our alliance partner the Bharatiya Janata party. Our government will resolve all the long-standing issues step by step." On the opening of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the state, she said, "We have received the orders for two AIIMs, which will be established in both Srinagar and Jammu regions. In Srinagar, it will be established in Awantipora, while in Jammu AIIMS it will be established in Samba." Besides, she said her government has also received orders for smart cities for both Srinagar and Jammu. "We are going to set up women police stations in all districts of the state for the safety of women," she added. However, the House witnessed uproar again on Saturday as Congress and Conference MLAs staged a walked out, protesting against inadequate rehabilitation of the 2014 flood victims. Opposition MLAs alleged that the ruling PDP-BJP government has failed in providing relief to the families affected by the devastating floodS. More than 200 people were killed and almost a million were displaced for weeks in the September 2014 floods in the Valley. The House witnessed a ruckus on Friday over the Handwara incident, where five civilians were killed allegedly by security forces. Independent legislator Engineer Rashid staged a protest in the assembly over the delay in the magisterial probe into the Handwara killings, and sought an explanation from the state government as to why it was retracting from its promise of completing the inquiry within a month. Two Pakistan origin Britons Sajid Mahmood and Mohammad Hannan were jailed for a total seven years and two months for drug paddling in Bradford, called famous among Pakistani diaspora as 'little Pakistan'. According to details, drug dealer Sajid Mahmood caught three times peddling heroin and crack cocaine on the city's streets has been jailed for four and a half years. Sajid Mahmood, of Parkside Road, West Bowling, was twice arrested and bailed but carried on plying his "wicked trade," Bradford Crown Court said. He was joined on his third expedition by former Bradford University business studies student, Murtaza Ali, 21, of Marten Road, Canterbury, Bradford. In what the judge described as 'a troubling case,'Ali was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a community order, a rehabilitation activity requirement, a six-month curfew and a drug rehabilitation requirement. Judge Peter Benson told Mahmood that persistent supplying of Class A drugs on the streets of Bradford, is a 'wicked trade.' Mahmood pleaded guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply on January 5, March 7 and April 3 this year, and supplying heroin on January 5. Ali admitted possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply on April 3. Prosecutor Alisha Kaye said Mahmood was caught dealing from a Vauxhall Corsa at 10am on January 5. His car was blocked in by the police after they watched him sell a wrap of heroin to an addict. Mahmood, who had 15 wraps of drugs with him, said he owed his dealer up to 5,000 euros and was making about 2,000 euros a day selling heroin and crack cocaine. He was on bail on March 7 when he was seen drug dealing from a grey Audi at theGreat Horton area. He had 33 wraps of drugs with him and told officers he was dealing to fund a 150 euro a day on addiction. Again charged and bailed, Mahmood was arrested with Ali at on April 3. The pair were in a Ford Focus with 39 wraps of Class A drugs and 205 euros in cash. A dealer list was seized from Ali's home. Mahmood told the police he was dealing for the "Tom line." The father of two children, he ran up a debt he could not cope with. Another drug dealer Mohammad Hannan caught red-handed holding a bag containing more than 100 wraps of Class A drugs has been jailed for 32 months. Mohammed Hannan pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine on November 17 last year. With Conference (NC) patron Farooq Abdullah caught on camera talking over mobile phone while the anthem was being played after the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday questioned Abdullah 'if he was talking to separatists to figure out their anthem.' "Obviously he was more interested in talking on the telephone than being attentive to the national anthem. I almost question whether he was talking to separatists to figure out what their national anthem is because if you can disrespect Jana Gana Mana, it is most disrespectful to our great country as well," BJP leader Shaina NC told ANI. The BJP had earlier dubbed the incident as unfortunate and asked Abdullah to tender an apology. "It is the responsibility of every Indian to respect the national anthem. Dr. Farooq Abdullah is an eminent politician, we don't expect such behaviour from leaders like him," said BJP leader Ravinder Raina. "Nothing is more unfortunate than disrespecting the national anthem. It is highly condemnable. He owes an explanation. He should tender an apology," he added. Of Rs 8 per share Tata Steel announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 25 May 2016, inter alia, have recommended the final dividend of Rs 8 per equity Share (i.e. 80%) , subject to the approval of the shareholders. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Sales decline 11.99% to Rs 656.38 crore Net profit of Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company declined 37.32% to Rs 111.92 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 178.55 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. Sales declined 11.99% to Rs 656.38 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 745.77 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. For the full year,net loss reported to Rs 85.24 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against net profit of Rs 24.56 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. Sales declined 22.47% to Rs 1804.72 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 2327.68 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Mar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Sales656.38745.77 -12 1804.722327.68 -22 OPM %29.2831.37 -10.6310.92 - PBDT119.87200.24 -40 -51.3381.76 PL PBT111.92188.93 -41 -85.2434.94 PL NP111.92178.55 -37 -85.2424.56 PL Powered by Capital Market - Live News Lakshadweep became first Union Territory (UT) to sign 24x7 Power for All document. Representative of Government of India and the Administration of Lakshadweep signed the document in presence of Shri P. K. Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power. The document chalks out a plan to increase solar capacity of the region from 2.15 MW to 8.45 MW. At present, 10 inhabited islands of Lakshadweep are being fed by diesel mostly. The plan also envisions reduction of AT & C losses from current level of 21% to 6.7% till 2019 by increasing the collection efficiency up to 99 %. As a part of energy efficiency measures, 1 lakh LED bulbs will be distributed by UT administration through Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) and Incandescent lamps/CFL bulbs will be replaced with LED bulbs under UJALA programme. Additionally, replacement of 3000 conventional street lights with LED street lights is also being taken up. The Government of India is committed to improve the quality of life of its citizens through higher electricity consumption. Our aim is to provide each household access to electricity, 24x7 Power supply by 2019. The 'Power for All' programme is a major step in this direction. Government of India have taken a joint initiative with respective State Governments for preparation of State specific documents for providing 24x7 power supply to all households /homes, industrial & commercial consumers and adequate supply of power to Agricultural consumers as per state policy. As on date, because of the joint efforts of State Governments and Government of India, 22 States have already signed the '24x7 Power For All' Documents. Implementation of the plan envisaged in the document is under progress, which is being jointly monitored by the State and the Central Government. Successful implementation of these plans will ensure reliable and affordable power round the clock to all the consumers. Powered by Capital Market - Live News The scale and content of economic reforms from the Government in the past two years has been very healthy. Industry believes that the range of policy actions across various economic dimensions sets a very strong foundation for future growth, said Dr Naushad Forbes, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), commenting on completion of two years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre. Identifying major policy measures in the areas of taxation, ease of doing business, public-private partnerships, and financial sector, among others, Dr Forbes emphasized that the Government has taken a series of steps that together add up to a renewed business environment. With demand conditions picking up on a normal monsoon, investment will turn up in the coming 6-9 months, kickstarting a new growth cycle, he added. Targeted and comprehensive interventions in infrastructure with faster clearances have got delayed projects moving, particularly in the road sector, said Dr Forbes. He commented that lead sectors such as cement, steel and power are firming up, indicating pick-up in construction activity. Besides, campaigns such as Make in India, Smart Cities, Clean Energy, Namami Gange and others add to infrastructure creation. The CII President highlighted the Government's initiatives in social security through empowerment and new opportunities. We commend the Government for rolling out direct benefits transfer which reaches subsidies to the needy sections of society, prevents leakages and provides for substantial savings in spending, he stated. The success of large-scale social sector schemes such as Jan Dhan Yojana, Skill India, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, and Ujjwala Yojana will promote inclusive growth, he felt. Rural India will benefit from emphasis on irrigation and infrastructure connectivity, added Dr Forbes. Besides, integration of agricultural markets, soil health cards and rural housing program will add to rural prosperity and demand. Simplification and predictability in tax administration and reforms in the financial sector are comprehensive and well-directed, said CII. The introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Trusts, and measures to curb NPAs and strengthen banks has added to investor comfort, pointed out President, CII. The Government has also taken commendable action for tax dispute resolution. CII called on the Government to continue on the path of quick and forceful reforms. We are optimistic that Government would be able to get the GST Bill passed in the coming monsoon session, paving the way for its introduction in April 2017, said Dr Forbes, referring to the Goods and Services Tax. Rapid implementation of various key measures announced already and spread of reforms to the state level are key to economic success going forward, he concluded. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Held on 28 May 2016 Aviva Industries announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 28 May 2016 have: 1. Approved the appointment of Hitesh Lachhwani as a Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of the Company w.e.f. 02 May 2016. 2. Approved the appointment of Jignesh Rathod as a Chief Financial Officer of the Company w.e.f. 02 May 2016. 3. Approved the shifting of Registered Office of the Company, within Local limits of City, from 17th Mumtaz Manzil, Wood house Road, Opp. Chirag Din, Colaba, Mumbai - 400 005 to 4th Floor, Jaya Talkies, S. V. Road, Opp. Indraprastha, Borivalli (W), Mumbai - 400 092. 4. Approved the proposal to appoint Link Intime India as the Registrar and Share Transfer Agent (RTA) of the Company in place of MCS Share transfer Agent. Further, the Company will intimate exchange about the date of signing of Tripartite Agreement and effective date of shifting of Registrar, as soon as the Company sign the Tripartite Agreement with depository and new RTA. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Ministry of Power and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched India's first integrated web portal designed to promote and mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) in India. The portal (www.nzeb.in) was launched by Shri Pradeep Kumar Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power, and Ambassador Mr Jonathan Addleton, USAID Mission Director to India. A first of its kind, the portal provides complete information about Net Zero Energy Buildings - those that generate as much energy as they use - as well as how to achieve near-zero energy status through the use of efficient lighting and equipment, integration of renewable energy technologies, and best practice design strategies. In addition, the portal hosts the NZEB Alliance, an industry-wide body setup to drive the Indian markets toward highly energy-efficient buildings. Speaking on the occasion, Shri P. K. Pujari outlined his vision to mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings in India and said, While it is important to implement minimum energy performance standards for buildings to reduce energy consumption, we should now start looking at the broader NZEB goal. Shri Pujari urged to mandate the ECBC codes in the remaining states. He also acknowledged the collaboration of the USAID and BEE in the update process of the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) to reflect the market changes and technological advancement Congratulating the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and USAID on the culmination of their three-year effort to develop the portal, Ambassador Mr Addleton remarked that USAID is pleased to partner with the Government of India on this initiative to promote Net Zero Energy Buildings across India. This portal will provide a wealth of information for policymakers, developers, architects, engineers, sustainability consultants, and academia, and will surely allow the vibrant Indian building industry to leapfrog towards energy efficiency standards and practices. Powered by Capital Market - Live News At least 15 militants were killed by Afghan security forces in a military operation in Baghlan province, an official said on Saturday. "At least 13 militants were also injured in Baghlan-e-Markazi district since Friday morning," Xinhua news agency quoted the official as saying. Baghlan-e-Markazi is a district in Baghlan province of Afghanistan with Pul-e-Khumri as its capital, 160 km north of Kabul. Many villages were also liberated from Taliban clutches, the official added. The official did not comment if there were any casualties among the security personnel. The deputy to the provincial police chief said no security personnel was hurt over the past 24 hours. Taliban insurgents have been wiped out from some 10 villages, the official said. The Taliban have not made any comment yet. --IANS py/bg Attorneys for Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman said they filed a motion challenging the govenment's decision to authorise his extradition to the US. Attorneys Juan Pablo Badillo Soto and Jose Luis Gonzalez Meza held a press conference on Friday to announce that they submitted the motion on Thursday, EFE news reported. The case will likely be decided by Mexico's Supreme Court, Gonzalez Meza said. "It's going to take a long time to bring Chapo to the US," he said, suggesting that the extradition may never take place. By handing over Guzman to the US, the Mexican government "would violate the entire rule of law and, specifically, the constitution," Badillo said. He accused President Enrique Pena Nieto, Government Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio and Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu of "trampling" on Mexico's charter and said that Guzman's family would never see him again if he were extradited. Earlier this week, another member of Chapo's defence team said the Sinaloa cartel boss would not oppose extradition if he reached an agreement with US authorities. "Joaquin is not against facing justice in the US and an agreement would be the way to resolve the problem. If it happens, we'll forgo the appeals process," defence team member Jose Refugio Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said he and Guzman's U. lawyer, William Stuttgart, would try to negotiate a deal with US prosecutors. Stuttgart plans to meet soon with Guzman at the prison where the drug lord is being held in Ciudad Juarez, located across the border from El Paso, Texas, Rodriguez said. Guzman was transferred to the prison in the border city on May 7 from the Altiplano maximum-security prison in central Mexico. The Mexican government had opposed extradition but reversed course after Guzman escaped from Altiplano on July 11, 2015, through a mile-long tunnel dug to his cell. He had earlier broken out of a prison in the western state of Jalisco in 2001 and spent more than 13 years on the run before being recaptured on February 22, 2014, in the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan. Guzman's organisation rose to become one of the main sources of illicit drugs entering the US. The Mexican kingpin's wealth led to his name regularly appearing on Forbes magazine's list of global billionaires. --IANS ksk West Bengal State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who seems to have made it a habit to hog the limelight for all the wrong reasons, has now threatened to beat up Trinamool Congress leaders inside their houses and break their necks with bare hands by using RSS training. Speaking at a protest meeting in his constituency Kharagpur Sadar of West Midnapore district against the alleged attacks on party cadres by Trinamool activists, Ghosh also warned of using the third degree method of all those who voted for the ruling party. "We have 8,000 workers in Kharagpur. Trinamool has got 34,000 votes. Now if we beat them up, even their fathers can't save them. "Our boys are in jail. When they come out we will get the opportunity to show our muscle power, and we will show it," said Ghosh, who has repeatedly drawn flak from political opponents and the civil society for using intemperate language. Ghosh also took the name of the Sangh parivar head, the RSS, in his speech, the video for which has now gone viral. "We can very well indulge in violence if we are attacked. Half of the people here are trained by RSS (Rashhtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). Breaking the neck with bare hands is no big deal for us," he said. The BJP has won three seats, including Kharagpur Sadar that elected Ghosh in the just-concluded state assembly polls, whereas the Trinamool bagged a whopping 211 seats to retain power in the 294-member house. "We have won three seats. But that is enough to give a befitting reply to the Trinamool," he said. The BJP leader warned the Trinamool MPs and MLAs that they would face tough situations if they go outside the state. "You are showing us 211 legislators. We have 1,400. You have 34 MPs. We have over 270. When you go to Delhi we will get back at you." Continuing his explosive statements, he threatened to beat up Trinamool workers inside their houses. "We will lock you in your house. We will cut off water supply and power, and then beat you black and blue." GhoshAhad earlier in the week issued a similar threat to Trinamool MPs. "I, Dilip Ghosh, state this in my capacity as state BJP president. If the atrocities do not stop, we will cross all limits. .. Their Lok Sabha MPs will have to go to Delhi. We will see how they return from Delhi," he said. Earlier this month, he drew widespread outrage for his remarks calling a section of Jadavpur University female students as "shameless". --IANS ssp/vd The Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City and various Sikh temples in California will honour Vishwa Mitra Tandon, a journalist whose investigative reporting brought to light the killing of 11 Sikhs in fake encounters by UP Police in Pilibhit district in 1991. Tandon will be honoured this weekend at multiple ceremonies in Yuba City which has a large population of the Punjabi community. His relentless investigative reporting spanning more than two decades led to the indictment of 57 police officers in 1995, 47 of whom were convicted and sentenced in April this year. The killing of Sikhs took place on July 12, 1991, when a bus carrying Sikh pilgrims was intercepted by the UP Police. Eleven Sikh youths were dragged out and killed in three fake encounters. Tandon refused to believe the all too common police version that those killed were terrorists. He resisted immense political pressure and threats to his personal safety to bring the truth to light. "He developed witness testimony confirming that the young innocent Sikhs had been murdered as part of a widespread programme of terror by the government at that time against Sikhs," said a statement by the Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City. Tandon will be honoured at the Sacramento Sikh Temple (Gurdwara) on Saturday. He will be honoured again on Sunday when US Congressman John Garamendi and California Assembly member John Gallagher will present an award to Tandon at the Yuba City annual festival at Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds. Tandon is the second winner of the heroism award by the Punjabi American Heritage society. Last year, US police officer Brian Murphy, who had been shot multiple times while saving Sikhs in a racist attack at Oak Creek Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, was honoured with the award. --IANS gurmukh/ahm/bg China on Friday said it was strongly dissatisfied with a statement by G7 members, in which they expressed concern over the South China Sea. Leaders of the G7 countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US -- and representatives from the European Union, convened in Japan's Ise-Shima for the summit, which ran Thursday through Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. "As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, adding that such action was not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does not accord with the G7's position as a platform for managing the developed economies. "China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done," Hua said, urging G7 members to avoid irresponsible remarks and do more that is beneficial to regional peace and stability. Hua called on G7 members to be objective and fair and abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes. "As the world is faced with a complicated economic situation, the G7, as a platform to discuss world economy, should focus on economic and development issues of global concern," Hua said. As the holder of the G20 presidency this year, China hopes G7 members will join the agenda of G20, which is more representative platform, and play a more constructive role in global economic governance, Hua said. What China has done in the South China Sea falls entirely within China's sovereignty, and is completely legal, reasonable and blameless, Hua said. China firmly maintains the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the wilful trespassing of naval warships, Hua said. She said China opposed the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigation freedom." In fact, regarding China's efforts to settle the South China Sea disputes through negotiation and consultation, more and more countries and organisations have shown their understanding and support, Hua said. --IANS lok/ Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday congratulated their Nepalese counterparts on the Himalayan nations's Republic Day. In his congratulatory message to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Xi said China and Nepal are as close as lips and teeth, and have maintained traditional friendship for generations. China hopes to see a peaceful, stable and developed Nepal, and willing to offer further possible support to help Nepal develop its economy and improve its people's livelihood, Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to developing the China-Nepal ties and is glad to work together with his Nepalese counterpart to push forward bilateral comprehensive partnership of cooperation. Li Keqiang, congratulating Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, said: "China and Nepal always enjoy an equal and mutually beneficial relationship, get along well with each other and are mutually supportive." China supports Nepal's endeavour to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, Li said. On May 28, 2008, the first meeting of Nepal's Constitutional Assembly abolished the country's 240-year-old monarchy, turning it into a federal multi-party representative democratic republic. --IANS py/vm A Colombian rebel group freed a Spanish journalist in the Catatumbo region after she went missing on May 21. Salud Hernandez-Mora, a correspondent for Spain's El Mundo newspaper, was released Friday in a rural zone of the region, officials told local Caracol Radio. She was transported to the city of Ocana, where she spoke to the media. Hernandez-Mora was reported missing when she travelled to Catatumbo with the intention of doing a story on the country's National Liberation Army (ELN) armed group. In comments Friday to RCN Television, the journalist stated categorically that she was kidnapped. "I would not voluntarily have my family suffering for 10 days," she said, acknowledging that while she might be temporarily out of touch due to technical problems or the demands of a story, she would not willingly spend six days incommunicado. Hernandez-Mora recounted some of the details of her disappearance last Saturday from El Tarra, a town in Catatumbo. "I got on a motorcycle. I have always been reckless. A reporter has to be reckless, but relatively reckless," she said, adding "We changed motorcycles several times looking for the rebels." After the rebels appeared "They told me 'you're going to stay with us a few days' and they took all my things," Hernandez-Mora continued. She said she was in five different locations during the six days she spent with the ELN fighters. Asked about the two Noticias RCN correspondents who were also abducted by the ELN while in Catatumbo to report on her disappearance, Hernandez-Mora said she was unable to see them during her captivity. She added, however, that based on what she heard from the ELN, she expected Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo to be released within the next 24 hours. --IANS ksk Brazil's interim President Michel Temer has called an emergency meeting of state security ministers over the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro, which has triggered widespread condemnation. The girl, 16, believes she was dugged after going to her boyfriend's house on May 21 and said she woke up in a different house, surrounded by the men, BBC reported. The shocking 40-second-video of the attack was put up on the social media and was widely shared, followed by a wave of misogynistic comments, before the users' accounts were suspended. Police are hunting more than 30 male suspects. Arrest warrants have been issued, including one for the boyfriend. Temer vowed to form a federal police unit to deal with violence against women. "I condemn most forcefully the rape of the teenager in Rio de Janeiro," Temer said. "It is absurd that in the 21st Century we should have to live with barbaric crimes such as this." However, conflicting versions of the story are still coming in, but the rape is said to have taken place in a poor community in western Rio. According to a statement she is reported to have given to police, the girl woke up on May 22, naked and wounded, and made her way home. Only days later, she found out that some of the alleged rapists had put images of the attack on Twitter. In a message posted on Facebook, the victim said she was thankful for the support she had received and added "I really thought I was going to be badly judged." "All of us can go through this one day. It does not hurt the uterus but the soul because there are cruel people not being punished!! Thanks for the support." Campaign groups have been calling for protests over the coming days. There has also been an outpouring of anger on social media, under the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais (rape never again). In Brazil, 47,636 rapes were reported to police in 2014, official figures showed. --IANS ksk/vm Racist attacks against blacks - in Bengaluru and New Delhi in February last year, in a Delhi Metro station last October, in Delhi a few days ago when a Congolese was killed and in Hyderabad against a Nigerian - have justifiably raised fears of the prevalence of a so-called Afro-phobia in India. Notwithstanding the promise of action by the external affairs ministry, the African envoys have expressed concern about the repeated attacks and the resultant insecurity among the black students and others from Africa living in India. As it is, mainland Indians haven't always been especially considerate about those who are "different" in their appearance or ways of life, such as the people of the northeast, whose Mongoloid features make them targets of derisory remarks of being "Chinki" or Chinese. In August, 2012, there was such an exodus from Bengaluru of panic-stricken northeasterners after a few cases of assault that special trains had to be arranged. With more than 10,000 African students making India their temporary home, the feeling of racial animosity among Indians against those who are not like "us" appears to have unfortunately become much stronger. Much of this crudeness stems from the lack of education. But not always, as was evident from the virtual campaign against Africans which was launched by the Aam Admi Party's then law minister - of all portfolios - Somnath Bharti in Khirki village early in 2015. His unsubstantiated contention was that the Africans who lived there were guilty of prostitution and consuming and peddling drugs. To many, this perception is not very dissimilar to what the orthodox Hindus think about Muslims, which is why Hindus are generally unwilling to let out their flats to Muslims. Among the arguments against them are that they are non-vegetarian and that the men are promiscuous and lustful. The RSS-led Sangh Parivar's diatribes against "love jehad" are based on the belief that the Muslim men are not to be trusted. The long-standing Hindu-Muslim divide as a result of these prejudices has led to Muslims being mostly concentrated in their ghettos in most Indian towns. In a way, this kind of segregation fits in with the age-old caste system under which the people belonging to the various lowly castes also live in ghettos, away from the upper castes who are afraid of being "polluted" by their presence. Although Indians claim to be broad-minded, the compartmentalization which has long characterized the lives of the Hindus and Muslims as well as the lower castes can give an idea of the mindset which is behind the attacks on "Chinkis" and the "kalaa (black)" citizens and residents. Since the ideal of togetherness is generally not stressed in schools and colleges - or is done so only cursorily - there is no check on the boorishness of the students who emerge from these institutions, most of which can hardly be called abodes of learning. It is not surprising that they have no idea about what the repercussions of their mindless violence on blacks can be on the vast Indian diaspora on the African continent. Already the senseless killing of the young Congolese has led to retaliatory attacks on innocent Indians in Congo. Indians have lived in Africa for generations and their contribution, mainly in the fields of commerce and education, have always been warmly welcomed, except for occasional aberrations as in Idi Amin's Uganda. It will be a pity if the criminal acts of a few hoodlums sour the relations, even temporarily. How the ties can be affected was evident from the threat of a boycott of Africa Day on May 26 by the continent's envoys in New Delhi. It would have been a diplomatic disaster of the first order if the threat had been carried out. It will not do for the external affairs ministry to voice reassurances. Although the miscreants are almost always caught, the focus should be on prevention rather than follow-up action. There is a need for the kind relentless campaign against attacks on blacks in line with what the government conducts on TV against smoking and public education and sensitization to the culture, diversity and opportunities in the 54-nation continent. But the responsibility is not the government's alone. Civil society, too, has to step in with school and college teachers doing their bit to sensitize the students about the issue. Considering how upset the Indians get if any of them is beaten up in Australia in an isolated incident, it should not be difficult to drive home the message not only of racial harmony but also of decent, humane behaviour which is increasingly becoming an exception rather than the rule, as the thrashing of a boy in Delhi last Thursday on the charge of stealing showed. That the Indians are intensely colour-conscious is evident from the search for fair brides in matrimonial columns and also in the ads on fairness creams. If the former cannot be discouraged, at least the celebrities can be urged to desist from not only promoting the "fair and lovely" ointments but also mocking them. (28.05.2016 - Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com) --IANS Amulya/vm/tb At least two Colombian journalists, kidnapped by ELN rebels and held for four days have been freed, their employer Noticias RCN said on Saturday. The guerrillas released Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo on Friday, just hours after setting free Spanish journalist Salud Hernandez-Mora, who had spent six days as a captive, Efe news reported. The Colombian reporters had travelled to the Catatumbo region, near Colombia's border with Venezuela, to report on Hernandez-Mora's disappearance. "We're in good health; that I can say," D'Pablos said, confirming he and his colleague were released near El Tarra, a town in Catatumbo. They had been kidnapped on Monday, two days after Hernandez-Mora was grabbed by the rebels in the same region. President Juan Manuel Santos said it appeared the Spanish journalist, who disappeared from El Tarra, had travelled to Catatumbo with the intention of doing a story on the ELN. Hernandez-Mora is a correspondent for Spain's El Mundo newspaper, and she also writes for Colombian daily El Tiempo. D'Pablos thanked the Catholic Church, El Tarra Mayor Juan de Dios Toro and "all the people who intervened" to secure their release. D'Pablos said he and Melo were forced to undertake a long march and described the conditions in the Catatumbo rainforest, where the ELN, the bigger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla group, members of the Popular Liberation Army and criminal gangs are active, as "harsh". "It's something we'd never experienced. We walked a lot. We exerted ourselves a lot too," D'Pablos said. "We celebrate the release of Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo," Santos said late Friday on Twitter, reiterating that the ELN would not be able to hold peace talks with the government (as the FARC have been doing) unless they release "all their captives and definitively renounce this crime against humanity". --IANS py/vm The European Union (EU) on Friday announced extending of EU restrictive measures against the Syrian government until June 1, 2017. The decision was in line with the Council of the EU conclusions of December 2014 which affirmed that the EU would continue imposing and enforcing sanctions targeting the Syrian government and its supporters "as long as repression continues", Xinhua news agency quoted a statement as saying. The sanctions currently in place include notably an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments, a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank within the EU, export restrictions on equipment and technology that "might be used for internal repression" as well as on equipment and technology for monitoring or interception of internet or telephone communications. In addition, over 200 people and 70 entities are targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze "over the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria", the EU said. --IANS lok/ A Filipino journalist was shot dead by an unknown assailant in Manila, officials said on Saturday. The incident occurred in a street in Manila's Quiapo district when the victim, reporter Alex Balcoba, was shot in the head while talking on the phone on Friday night, Police Chief Inspector John Guiagui told state-run DzBB radio. Balcoba, 56, who worked for the Brigada daily, was taken to hospital, where he died shortly afterwards. The victim was also the director of the Manila Police District Press Corps, a group of journalists accredited by the Manila Police District. The murders of Filipino journalists who criticise local politicians or investigate corruption are a frequent occurrence in the country. Seven journalists were killed in the Philippines in 2015, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). In its latest report, the IFJ said the Philippines had the second largest number of journalists murdered since 1990, surpassed only by Iraq. --IANS ksk Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government was busy in "celebrating its two years in power" while the farmers of the country are "committing suicide". "There is a drought all over the country. Farmers are committing suicide, but here at India Gate, Modiji is celebrating with Bollywood stars," Gandhi told reporters at the torchlight procession organised by his party, from the Samta Sthal to the Delhi secretariat to protest against the unprecedented power and water crisis in the city. The BJP government has organised a gala event at the India Gate to list its achievements, which was hosted by Bollywood actor R. Madhvan and attended by megastar Amitabh Bachhan, actresses Raveena Tandon, Madhuri Dixit, and several others. Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi said: "Who is hurt when there is selfie It's the farmer, the small businessman who gets hurt." "My is based on Mahatma Gandhi's ideology, I can never do of lies and false promises," he said, adding: "This country cannot progress with lies. Our party and our party workers don't do PR. They work for the people." Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said, "For India to progress, governments need to stop making false and unrealistic promises and instead work to help the people. Kejriwalji promised uninterrupted electricity and water, but after coming to power all these promises were forgotten. "The party that knows how to provide electricity, provide water and works for people will come to power again in Delhi." AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey were detained by Delhi Police for agitating near the Congress's protest venue. --IANS aks/vd A Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander in Pulwama district of Kashmir region surrendered on Saturday, dealing a major blow to the Burhan group of militants in the Kashmir Valley, officials said. "Tariq Pandit, a close associate of Burhan Wani, and a commander of HM outfit surrendered before the security forces", a senior police officer told IANS in Srinagar. Defence sources said the militant commander surrendered before the officers of 55 Rashtriya Rifles deployed for anti-militancy operations. Pandit had been prominent in pictures posted on the social media that showed Wani and his associates wielding weapons and wearing army fatigues. For over six months now, a 22-year-old youth from Pulwama district, Burhan Wani, has become a militant icon to lure educated local youth into the cadre of insurgent groups. Despite their best efforts, Wani is still at large and the security forces have not been able to arrest or eliminate him. A reward of Rs.10 lakh has been announced by the security forces for anyone leading to actionable information on Wani. --IANS sq/pgh/vm Filmmaker S.J. Suryah, who has starred in a few Tamil films over the last few years, says forthcoming thriller "Iraivi" reintroduces him as an actor in a full-length role and he is excited about it. Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, "Iraivi" also stars Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simhaa, Kamalinee Mukherjee, Anjali and Karunakaran. "I'll be indebted to Karthik all my life. I've always wanted to be an actor but due to the lack of right opportunities, I chose to be a director. Even in the films where I acted, I wasn't taken seriously. 'Iraivi' will reintroduce me as actor," Suryah told IANS. Confident that audiences will relate to the character, Suryah said "Iraivi" will be an important film in his career. "It's going to be a very important film in the careers of all the lead actors. When I heard the story, I wasn't sure how the film will turn out to be. But the way it has been come out now, I'm stunned and I'm sure audiences will feel the same too," he said. Suryah, who is currently helming the yet-untitled Telugu remake of Tamil film "Veeram" with Pawan Kalyan, will next be seen as the antagonist in Mahesh Babu's next Telugu outing. --IANS hp/rb/vm Iran opened the new session of its parliament on Saturday, the 10th since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, with the aim to improve the economic situation in the country. The new deputies were elected in the two rounds of legislative elections on February 26 and April 29, when reformists and moderate candidates, allies of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, gained control over parliament, Efe news reported. The opening ceremony was attended by members of the Iranian government headed by Rouhani, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, the Secretary of the Guardians Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati and other senior figures, including former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, as well as a large number of foreign journalists, which is unusual in Iran. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the most important political and religious figure in the Islamic Republic, was not present, but sent a message to the MPs, in which he stressed that the priorities of the new legislators should be to foster the "economy of resistance" and defending "Islamic culture". Meanwhile, Rouhani stressed that parliament is "the manifestation of public supervision and people's sovereignty," noting that Iran needs investments "to witness an economic growth." The 290-seat parliament includes 121 moderate deputies or reformists, 83 conservatives, while the remaining seats were won by the candidates of independent lists with various affiliations. --IANS ksk/bg Newspaper editors in Manipur on Saturday decided not to yield to pressure from the NIA which has demanded they share source of underground press releases and other details which will lead to the location of the computer used by insurgents to emailing these. The NIA demands became stronger in wake of the claim by the Corcom taking responsibility about the ambush of a convoy of 29 Assam Rifles in the border area where six personnel were killed and 7 others wounded and six sophisticated weapons snatched away by the insurgents. An emergency meeting of the Editors' Guild Manipur (EGM) was held on Saturday to discuss the letter from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) asking the editor of mass circulation vernacular newspaper, The Poknapham and its sister publication, People's Chronicle, to hand over the copies of publicity materials in connection with the claim for the May 22 ambush. Robindro Sharma, editor of The Poknapham told IANS that the meeting decided to furnish the materials as far as possible but certain sensitive materials including those concerning the editorial sanctity shall never be handed over to the NIA or any authority. Asked if it was discrimination that all local editors and correspondents of regional and national newspapers and agencies got the press handout of the Corcom, but only Poknapham and its sister publication were singled out, he said: "It is a matter of sheer luck. The court had issued summons to an English newspaper for publishing a handout by another underground outfit." For quite sometime, police have been asking the local to abide by the guidelines of the Press Council of India regarding publication of press statements of the insurgents. But little choice is left to the editors since there had been attacks on the newspaper offices for refusing to publish press releases. In one instance, all editors were held in an isolated house for the night and were only allowed to return in the morning when the spiked handout was published in their absence. The EGM also resolved to stand by the two newspapers on whatever stand they take in this regard. --IANS il/vd The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mumbai unit on Saturday spiked a party leader's proposal seeking to set up a chain of tea and food stalls, named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the city. The proposal was mooted by BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation's Improvements Committee chairman Prakash Gangadhare, who on Friday said that such 'Na Mo' stalls in each of the 23 BMC wards would help generate employment for city youth and migrants from drought-hit regions, and if they were licenced and in legal vending zones, could avail bank loans through the PM Mudra Scheme. However, barely a day after the issue kicked up a controversy, the city BJP washed its hands off the proposal on grounds of propriety. "It is Gangadhare's personal thought and proposal. The party doesn't support it as there is a certain protocol of the PM's office which doesn't allow anybody to use the PM's name in this manner," a party official said. The BJP also appealed to the BMC to initiate acton against unauthorized stalls run by other parties, ostensibly hinting at the 'Shiv Vada Pav' outlets operated by Shiv Sena activists. Sena corporator V. Trushna declared that licences of many 'Shiv Vada Pav' stalls have been cancelled but if the civic chief permitted the 'NaMo' stalls, his party would oppose it and demand re-issue of cancelled licences of these outlets. The BJP-SS are in an uneasy alliance in the BMC over 25 years, as well as ruling jointly in Maharashtra and at the centre. Opposing the move, the Nationalist Congress Party city chief Sachin Ahir alleged that in the guise of providing employment to "sons of the soil", the ruling alliance was turning the entire city into an illegal "hawking zone". Ahir pointed out that even the 250 Shiv Vada Pav stalls in the city are unauthorized and the NCP would agitate against all such illegal activities. Shopping and trading activities in the country's commercial capital is not unfamiliar territory for the main political parties here. When the first Shiv Sena-BJP government was in power between 1995-1999, it had set up scores of "Zunkha Bhakhar" stalls for selling food at Re.1 to the masses, but a majority of them were illegal and later shut down. A few years ater the Congress Party set up 'Poha' and affordable vegetable stalls while Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had sold vegetable at low prices last year. In 2011, the Shiv Vada Pav stalls cropped up in the city, and the latest entrant was the BJP leader's proposal to open 'NaMo' tea and food stalls.' --IANS qn/vd Former union minister V. Narayanasamy on Saturday was elected as the Congress Legislature Party leader in Puducherry and will be the union territory's next chief minister. Congress's central observers - former Delhi chief minister Shelia Dikshit and general secretary Mukul Wasnik - announced the decision after holding discussions with the newly-elected party legislators here. The Congress, which fought the May 16 elections in alliance with the DMK, won 15 seats in the 30 member assembly. The DMK won two seats. Since there were three contenders for the chief minister's post - former chief minister V.Vaithilingam, party chief A.Namassivayam and Narayanasamy - there was a delay in choosing the next Chief Minister. According to the party's central observers, Narayanasamy was elected unanimously by all the Congress legislators. Meanwhile, disappointed at the outcome, supporters of Namassivayam shouted slogans and also attacked buses on the East Coast Road. Narayanasamy, who is also a party general secretary, did not contest the elections. Now he has to get elected after one of the sitting legislators resigns. The All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) won eight seats and the AIADMK grabbed four. An independent candidate was also elected. --IANS vj/vd Pakistan had the ability and had planned to conduct a nuclear test in 1984, said scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. However, Gen. Zia opposed the idea as it would have curtailed international aid Pakistan was receiving due to the ongoing Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, he added. "We were able and we had a plan to launch nuclear test in 1984 but then President General Zia had opposed the move," Dawn quoted the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme as saying. General Zia was of the opinion that the world would stop military aid if Pakistan opted for the nuclear test, Khan added. He also said that Pakistan was able to target New Dehli from Kahuta, a city in Pakistan's Punjab, in five minutes. "Without my services Pakistan would never have been the first Muslim nuclear nation. We were able to achieve the capability under very tough circumstances, but we did it," said Khan while addressing a gathering on the occasion of Youm-i-Takbeer(the day Pakistan became a nuclear power state). Referring to the treatment meted out to him during Musharraf's era, Khan said nuclear scientists in the country have not been given the respect that they deserve. "We are facing the worst against our services to the country's nuclear programme," he added. Abdul Qadeer Khan was at the centre of a massive global nuclear proliferation scandal in 2004. In a series of dramatic developments, he was accused by then army chief and president Pervez Musharraf of running a rogue proliferation network for nuclear material. Shortly after Musharraf's announcement, a recorded confession by Khan was aired in which he took sole responsibility for all the nuclear proliferation that had been revealed. --IANS ahm/bg At the annual convention of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) here, one couldn't miss the mood of grassroots party activists: it was anti-Centre, if not anti-BJP. Still, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N is pragmatic enough to realise that negative vibes with the centre won't do. Even as the Narendra Modi government celebrated its two years in office, the TDP cadres in Andhra Pradesh made it clear that they want the central government to deliver on the commitments made when the state got bifurcated. The TDP is a partner in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but the cadres at the three-day 'Mahanadu' are not parroting the Modi government's "achievements" and schemes. They are much more concerned about the development of the state, which hinges on how the Centre supports the government's agenda. "The division of Andhra Pradesh was mishandled. The Congress-led UPA government went ahead with the reorganisation in an undemocratic manner and in a hurry for political gains. Now the Centre is not sure about giving special category status," one Andhra Pradesh minister told IANS. "The state administration is seriously burdened with several challenges, all of them resulting from omissions, commissions, contradictions and inadequacies in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014," the minister added. In their speeches, the district-level TDP activists also talk of challenges facing the state government. Their list is a lengthy one -- from the state being without a capital city to the problems in the economy, and the need to create jobs and wealth as has been the people's expectation. And in that respect, TDP seems to be putting the ball in the Centre's court, playing up the 'Telugu pride' to the hilt. While the TDP leaders are backing their supremo Chief Minister Naidu, they argue that there's growing disenchantment among the people and the Centre must immediately step in to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. "Despite financial constraints, Chief Minister N. has mobilised the public and activated the government machinery. He is making tireless efforts to achieve faster economic growth that is sustainable. However, there is lack of institutional and financial resources," TDP farmers' wing chief V Pratap Reddy told IANS. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi should support Andhra Pradesh till we achieve a level playing field with our neighbours in terms of development and human resource indices," Reddy added. "The people of Andhra Pradesh never wanted bifurcation of the state. Now everyone knows that development of the state is dependent on the central government fulfilling the commitments made with reference to the Reorganisation Act," said E. Sujatha, a TDP leader from Visakhapatnam district. In this context, she said the message from the TDP's annual convention 'Mahanadu' is not favourable for the BJP which is "too much busy in celebrating two years of the Modi government". "Prime Minister Modi talks about being a catalyst of development. But in Andhra Pradesh the need of the hour is creation of an ecosystem for development and provide appropriate financial package to help us achieve the state's potentials." Sujatha told IANS. So will the TDP jump the boat and quit NDA? The question hangs heavy here at the 'Mahanadu'. However, senior leader and TDP representative in Delhi K. Ramamohan Rao rejected such a possibility. "We do not want to be like a complaining partner in the BJP-led NDA. Granting of 'special category' status to Andhra Pradesh is a pending issue. But we want to look beyond and we will continue to cooperate with the Centre. We want their assistance for the backward regions of coastal north Andhra and Rayalseema," he told IANS. It may be noted that even as the demand for central assistance grows in Andhra, a BJP document claimed that a lot of funding was provided to the state. "Even for bridging the revenue deficit, the Centre has released Rs.2,304 crore in 2014-15 and later Rs.500 crore," stated the BJP document which was released in Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of Modi government's two years. The document also stated that the central government has further released Rs 7,430 crore as part of Rs 22,113 crore deficit that the 14th Finance Commission projected for 2015-20. While the tone of the BJP document is not hostile, there's an undercurrent of antagonism between the two sides at the grassroots level. For example, a few days back a section of BJP leaders criticised Chief Minister Naidu for planning a Rs 52,000-crore capital city in Amravati. The plan should have been more realistic, they said. But the maze of demands, claims and counter-claims doesn't seem to have any effect at the top level of leadership. According to observers here, Chandrababu Naidu is a pragmatic leader, who understands the political reality clearly. Naidu knows that confrontation with a powerful Centre won't serve any purpose, the observers said. And that's the message which the TDP chief is also sending across to party workers, urging them "not to fall in the trap of confrontation" with the Modi government over 'special category' status to Andhra. The chief minister keeps referring to his May 17 meeting with the prime minister and says that Modi has "assured" him to look into the requests of the state. Party insiders say that the TDP was founded on a strong anti-Congress plank. Therefore, the party cannot join hands with the Congress. According to these TDP leaders, nothing will happen in the next two-three years in the so-called Third Front. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is an ally of the Congress and TDP cannot go with him. Only Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal has had a good equation with the TDP in Parliament. So in these circumstances, Chandrababu Naidu will remain in the NDA and continue to cooperate with the Centre. And in return, he would try to extract maximum benefit for Andhra Pradesh. North Korea on Saturday warned it will fire at any South Korean warship that crosses the disputed western maritime border. "From now on, we will open direct fire on any warship of the South Korean forces without warning, if it intrudes into the extension of the Military Demarcation Line of our side even 0.001 mm in the hotspot of the West Sea," the North Korean army said in a statement released by state-run news agency KCNA. The warning comes a day after the South Korean navy fired five warning shots when two North Korean boats - a fishing boat and a patrol boat - crossed the disputed western sea boundary that separates the territorial waters of the two countries in the Yellow Sea. The two boats immediately retreated to the northern part of the waters after the shots. In its statement, the North Korean regime rebuked its neighbour for its "reckless military provocation", which it said stemmed from "a premeditated sinister plot to bedevil the North-South relations and further aggravate the tension on the Korean Peninsula". --IANS ksk/vm Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that the government will invest Rs.one lakh crore in the northeast region to develop road infrastructure in five years. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed him to put special emphasis on infrastructural development in the northeast as the region remained deprived off the progress for years. "In next five years we will build a road network, with investment of Rs.one lakh crore, in the northeast region of the country. This will enable fast and overall development of the entire region," Gadkari said from Nagpur while speaking at "Ek Nayee Subah" event to mark the Modi government's two years. Development works estimated at Rs.40,000 crore have already started in the region, he added. On development of waterways, Gadkari said that water transport is the cheapest way of travelling and with India having a 7500-km-long coastline which connects 78 districts of 13 states, the scope of water transport is immense. "We are transforming the rivers -- which fall into the sea -- into waterways. We have also started working on strengthening our existing five waterways," he said. He added that multi-modal hubs are being developed in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Haldia in West Bengal and Sahibganj in Jharkhand where Ganga flows. As many as 40 water ports are being made and work on developing waterways on Brahmaputra River will start soon. "Development of waterways will be the biggest achievement of our government," he said. --IANS am/vd Syrian refugees arrived on Saturday at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) airbase as the country welcomed its second batch of migrants from the war-torn country. A total of 68 people, mostly families, disembarked from a chartered plane at the air base in Subang, 20 km west of capital Kuala Lumpur, EFE news reported. It was the second batch of refugees received by the country after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged at the UN General Assembly in October 2015 to accept 3,000 Syrians over the next three years to help ease the refugee crisis. The refugees, who had flown from the Bekaa Valley Camp in Lebanon, were welcomed by NGOs and politicians including Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who said the government had initially targeted 150 Syrians but that only 68 passed health and security checks, the Star Online reported. He said that the migrants would be housed in Malaysia on a temporary basis, with adults given temporary work permits and children given student visas, until the situation in Syria stabilized. The government is currently screening more migrants at the Lebanon refugee camp as it aims to welcome another 200 Syrians during the Ramadan fasting month, which begins next week. --IANS ksk Turkish military killed 104 Islamic State (IS) militants as it struck the IS positions in northern Syria, authorities said on Saturday. The attack was launched on Friday after six rockets fired by IS targeted Turkish border province of Kilis and two military posts, injuring five people, Xinhua news agency reported. According to a statement, 104 IS militants were killed in retaliation, while four multiple rocket launchers, one howitzer, one mortar position and seven buildings used as headquarters by the IS were destroyed. "Starting from five minutes after the attack, the IS positions have been hit multiple times, including 11 sorties by (US-led anti-IS) coalition jets," the statement read. --IANS lok/ With many of its recent initiatives receiving wholesome praise from industry and tourists alike, the Uttar Pradesh government is set to roll out a major blitzkrieg and is on a look out for a brand ambassador to promote the state's offerings, which sources say, will be billed "much beyond the Taj Mahal". A series of meetings to decide on a name, preferably from Bollywood, have taken place and the state government seems to have zeroed in on some "big major players from the endorsement world". A high-level team of creative professionals flew into the state capital a few days back and made a presentation to senior tourism officials. Led by acclaimed film director R Balki, the creative team is learnt to have made an hour-long audio-visual presentation before principal secretary Navneet Sehgal, pitching for an emotive and personalized advertisement and promotional campaign for UP tourism. Balki, who is best known for films like "Pa" and "Cheeni Kam", is also the chairman and chief creative officer of the Lowe Lintas advertising agency. Looking to increase footfalls of both domestic and international arrivals, the tourism department, senior officials in the government told IANS, has been given a carte blanche by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav "to do whatever it takes to take tourism to a different level in the state". A major campaign is being mulled over by the state government mandarins which will not only tell people the world over about the various tourist destinations in the state but would also, through a high-decibel campaign that would include print as well as about 30-40 small audio-visual commercials, "personally invite" the people to come and visit the state. "The idea is to amplify the travel and tourism potential of UP to the next level," a member of the creative team told IANS, adding that the campaign would invite the people "to share a feeling and not just an experience". With places like the Kalinjar Fort, Asafi Imambada, Rumi Gate, Buddha Stupas at Sarnath, Holi of Brij, the campaign will be focussed on not only the unseen but also the art, culture, religious attractions and crafts of the state. Other than broadly speaking on these lines, the tourism department is also looking at the stamp of Bollywood Badshaah Shah Rukh Khan, who they feel is the most saleable face for something like tourism. "There are also campaigns like a 'Womaniya' all-women event or personalized print and audio-visual campaigns like celebrities playing local guides for a day, walk throughs like the blue lassi of Varanasi, the Ittar Waali Gali in Lucknow, Mathura pedas, the bhool bhulaiyan, the adventure at Lion safari in Saifai and the mouth-watering galawat kebabs of Lucknow," an official pointed out. Various punch lines like 'Lucknow aakar to apna GPS kharaab ho jaata hai' and many more are also being worked upon where the idea is to strike a personal connect with the people looking forward to the state as a tourism probable. Sources say the idea has been broached to SRK. "He has listened to the idea and is cool with being bonded with UP but a yes is yet to come," the official involved in the negotiations told IANS. However, since he has a established bond with Kolkata, sources here say, talks are under way to ensure that any endorsement of UP does not create problems with his personal and strong relationship with West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, who was sworn in on Friday for her second successive term as chief minister. Navneet Sehgal, while refusing to either confirm of deny the talks of roping in SRK as the brand ambassador, however, said that the department was "doing all it could to further promote tourism in the state. Under the leadership of the chief minister, tourism is now a sunrise sector and we would like to scale up the goodwill generated in the minds of tourists towards the state", he added. (Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in) --IANS md/vm I thank you for your kind words of welcome. I am delighted to begin my state visit to China here in Guangzhou. This historic city has always been an important port of call for Indian business. It is here that we find the ancient foundations of the thriving trade and economic ties that exist between India and China today. Han Shu (Book of Han) of second century BCE talks about a direct sea route from Guangdong to Kanchipuram in south India. As early as the fourth century BCE, Chinese silk is mentioned in Kautilya's treatise, the Arthashastra. It is noteworthy that the age-old commercial contacts between our peoples - through land and sea routes - have so successfully evolved, flourished and expanded - and spanned the centuries without interruption. In 2014, an agreement for a sister-province relationship was signed between Gujarat state in India and the Guangdong province of China. A pilot Smart City cooperation project has been announced between Shenzhen and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gujarat in 2015. As I stand before you today, I would, at the very outset, like to say that this is an exciting time for India and China to reinforce the old linkages and join hands for new. When Naveen Patnaik took oath as chief minister for the fourth consecutive term on May 21, 2014, he convened a meeting of the Cabinet the same evening to adopt the poll manifesto of the Biju Janata Dal as the official guiding doctrine of his government. The on-going electoral process in the United States has the atmospherics of a reality show and soap opera but camouflages deep fault lines that could potentially redefine the American way of life after January 2017. "The Commission is, with due respect, constrained to observe that the Governor should have avoided writing to the Commission as on 26th May, 2016," the EC order said. The Election Commission of India has decided to rescind the Assembly elections in two Tamil Nadu constituencies -- Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, over widespread corruption and voter influencing in the electoral process. The Commission also said the Governor of Tamil Nadu should have avoided writing to the Comission and recommending elections to the two constitituencies be held before June 1, 2016. In an order today, the EC said it "recommends, under Article 324 of the Constitution and sections 15, 30 and 153 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, read with Section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 and all other powers enabling it in this behalf, to the Governor of the State of Tamil Nadu that he may be pleased to partially rescind the notification No.464/TN-LA/2016 dated 22nd March, 2016, insofar as that notification relates to the calling upon the 134-Arvakurichi and 174-Thanjavur assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu State to elect a member each to the Legislative Assembly of the State. Revised schedule for the said two Constituencies of 134-Aravakurichi and 174-Thanjavur will be recommended by the Election Commission in due course of time". The EC also said that when it postponed the poll in these constituencies, it had hoped that contesting candidates and the major parties would stop further acts of bribing voters but that allurement of voters by unlawful means continued even after. It also referred to a report received by the Commission about seizure of an amount of Rs 5,72,000 on May 18, 2016. Accordting to the EC, allowing elections to proceed and to conduct the postponed poll on June 13, 2016 in such a vitiated atmosphere would severely jeopardise the conduct of free and fair elections and would not be reflective of the true choice of the electorate. It noted that it it would be failing in its constitutional duty of ensuring free and fair elections if it permitted the elections to continue under such conditions. A few days before Tamil Nadu went to polls on May 16, the Election Commission decided to postpone the elections in both constitutencies owing to complaints of bribing of voters and seizures of unaccounted cash. It had first postponed the polls to May 23, and counting of votes to May 25. Former Union Minister and All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary V Narayanasamy will be the new Chief Minister of Puducherry. He was elected as the Congress Legislature Party leader today and the announcement was made by former Delhi Chief Minister SheIla Dikshit and AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, after holding talks with various representatives at Puducherry today. Puducherry Congress leaders were camping at Delhi during the past two days, to meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as there was infighting on the selection of a candidate for the CM's post. The Congress-DMK alliance won 15 seats in the 30-member assembly in Puducherry. Of these, the DMK won two seats. Since there were as many as three contenders for the Chief Minister's post -- former Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, Congress Party's Puducherry head A Namassivayam (who, according to sources enjoyed Rahul Gandhi's support) and Narayanasamy -- there was a delay in choosing the next Chief Minister. The Congress party was not able find a solution for about 10 days. After serious of discussions today, the decision to appoint Narayanaswamy was finally made. Meanwhile Namassivayam's supporters burnt the Congress flag and blocked roads against the party's decision to announce Narayaswamy as the next Chief Minister. It may be noted, while Namassivayam and Vaithilingam contested and won the recently concluded assembly election, Narayanami did not contest. So if he has to complete the full five-year term at the helm, he needs to become an MLA within the next six months. At least 10 people, including two candidates, were killed today in violence during the fifth phase of local government body polls in Bangladesh. Voting was held in 717 unions under 45 districts amid violence and allegations of rigging and other malpractices. The two candidates killed were Kamal Uddin, BNP rebel chairman aspirant at Comilla's Titas, and Md Yasin, who was vying for the post of member at Chittagong's Karnaphuli, bdnews24.Com reported. In Jamalpur, poll violence claimed four lives, the highest in a district. They died after police opened fire to put an end to a clash between supporters of two candidates. An activist of the Juba League, the youth front of the ruling Awami League, was shot dead in Noakhali's Begumganj. One more died in Begumganj and two others in Chittagong's Patiya after getting caught up in poll violence. Several people were injured in clashes in Brahmanbarhia and Munshiganj. More than 80 people have died in election-related violence in the three and a half months since the announcement of the election schedule. Most of the incidents of violence took place between party candidates and rebels. Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz admitted the rising trend of violence. "This time it's more because the polls are on party lines and renegades are challenging regular party aspirants," he said. Two miners were killed while nine others hospitalised following an accident in one of the mines of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) at Turamdih, near here today, an official said. The employees of Turamdih mine were cleaning slash accumulated in the mine when the mishap took place, said Sub-Divisional Officer (Dalbhum), Suraj Kumar. Nine of the injured miners were admitted to Tata Main Hospital and they are in stable condition, he said. The rescue operation of another person was on, Kumar said. The Chairman and Managing Director of UCIL, Diwakar Acharya said the detail of the incident was being awaited. Going by the initial report, Acharya said, the employees of Turamdih uranium mine were cleaning the slash which accumulated in the mine. Water had gushed in suddenly causing the mud to flow and trapping the miners, he said, adding that one Milan Karmakar and another miner were killed while seven to eight miners were rescued. All of them were rushed to Tata Main Hospital, where they were admitted, he added. Chief Minister Raghubar Das expressed grief at the incident, an official release said, adding he assured the families of the injured all possible help. Two Pakistani security forces' personnel were today killed and three injured when their convoy was attacked in a roadside bombing in the restive Baluchistan province. A Frontier Corp spokesman said the convoy was targeted in Awaran district when the personnel were returning after an encounter with militants linked to the Baluch Republic Army. "It was a targeted attack on the convoy," he said. The spokesman said the security forces had killed three militants, including an important local commander, in Barkhan area earlier in the day. A sub-machine gun, two rifles and hand-grenades were seized from the militants, he added. Amid outrage by African envoys following killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital, four cases of alleged criminal assault on African nationals in south Delhi have come to the fore. All four incidents took place between 9.30 PM and 11.30 PM on Thursday in Mehrauli area. All four complainants, in their 30s, have been residing in Delhi for past few years, police said. In two cases, the complainants are women -- one a Uganda national and the other a native of South Africa, in the other two, the complainants are two Nigerian men. In two cases in which the Nigerian men are involved is "believed" to have taken place following an argument with the locals, a senior police official said. However, circumstances in the other two cases are not clear, he said. The accused in all four cases are yet to be identified, the official said. Police claimed that these are four separate incidents which have nothing to do with the violence against Indians in Congo, following the youth's murder in Vasant Kunj area here. 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. Police also claimed that the attacks, the causes behind which are yet to be verified, did not take place on racial lines. "Cases of causing hurt and wrongful restraint have been registered in all four cases. Efforts are on to nab the accused," Additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad said. Last week, 23-year-old Oliver was allegedly beaten to death by three men following an argument over hiring an auto-rickshaw in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area. While two of the accused have been arrested in connection with the case, the third is still absconding. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi blasted Israel as a bastion of "fascism and racial discrimination" today at a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss a French Middle East peace initiative. The Arab ministers are expected to adopt a resolution on the plan to revive negotiations between Israel and president Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority. In his speech to the ministers, Arabi, who has been a vocal critic of Israel, said the country "has truly become today the last bastion of fascism, colonialism and racial discrimination in the world". Abbas has rejected an Israeli offer for direct negotiations instead of the French multilateral peace initiative, which Israel has turned down. Today, he blamed Israel for stalling the talks. "We tried hard with the Israeli government to implement signed treaties and respect our and their commitments, but they refused," he said. The French initiative involves holding a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, on June 3, but without the Israelis and Palestinians present. An international conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is an eventual relaunch of negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. An upsurge in violence since October has killed 205 Palestinians and 28 Israelis. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say. The unrest has steadily declined in recent weeks. Many analysts say that Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the recent unrest. Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a main cause of the violence. Argentina's last dictator and 14 other former military officials were sentenced to prison for human rights crimes, marking the first time a court has ruled that Operation Condor was a criminal conspiracy to kidnap and forcibly disappear people across international borders. The covert operation was launched in the 1970s by six South American dictatorships that used their secret police networks in a coordinated effort to track down their opponents abroad and eliminate them. Many leftist dissidents had sought refuge in neighboring countries and elsewhere. An Argentine federal court yesterday 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 ex-general who ruled Argentina in 1982-1983 is already serving life sentences for multiple human rights violations during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. 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 Operation Condor was an international criminal conspiracy carried out by the US-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. Arunachal Pradesh Governor J P Rajkhowa and Chief Minister Kalikho Pul today condoled the death of Army Havildar Hangpang Dada, who hailed from Borduria village of the state, killed in a gunfight with terrorists trying to sneak into India. 36-year-old Dada of Assam Regiment and posted with 35 Rashtriya Rifles died while fighting four heavily-armed terrorists who had infiltrated into northern Kashmir from PoK on May 26 last. Conveying his condolence to the bereaved family, Rajkhowa said Dada's death is a reminder to all about the extraordinary sacrifices made by the people of Arunachal Pradesh for the country. "We will draw inspiration from his ultimate sacrifice and continue to strive towards safe-guarding our motherland. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and relatives," a Rajbhawan release quoting the governor said. Pul in his condolence message to the soldier's family said, "I am shocked over the tragic of the death of a true soldier. He gave his life guarding the nation's border." "I express my sincere solidarity to the bereaved family members and also to the Army for the loss of their brave man...I salute him," he said. The Chief Minister has announced ex-gratia as per the government norms to the bereaved family members. Dada is survived by wife, daughter and a six-year-old son. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed "deep disappointment" over the denial of accreditation to a US press freedom advocacy group, saying NGOs need to be given sufficient access to the work of the world body. The NGO Committee of the United Nations had voted to deny the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) consultative status with the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC). India, Iran and Turkey abstained from voting while 10 countries including Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia and Sudan voted against CPJ's application. Greece, Guinea, Israel, Mauritania, Uruguay and United States voted in favour of the group. Ban's spokesperson said the UN chief has been very supportive of CPJ's work and believes that they do valuable work to defend media rights around the world. "He is deeply disappointed by this recent decision which, as you know, as it's carried out, it would block access for the Committee to Protect Journalists for a number of UN bodies including access to the Human Rights Council," Ban's Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters yesterday. Haq said Ban is concerned that media rights need to be respected and that NGOs need to have sufficient access to the work of the United Nations system. He said journalists are already facing "undue restrictions" on their work across the world and organisations that are dedicated to protecting journalists should not face restrictions at the United Nations. After the voting, CPJ had said without the consultative status, it would be unable to access UN bodies and processes, notably the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where accredited NGOs can deliver a counter-narrative to states. The vote came after CPJ's application, first made in 2012, was deferred seven times. "It is sad that the UN, which has taken up the issue of press freedom through Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and through the adoption of the UN Action Plan, has denied accreditation to CPJ, which has deep and useful knowledge that could inform decision making," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon had said. "A small group of countries with poor press freedom records are using bureaucratic delaying tactics to sabotage and undermine any efforts that call their own abusive policies into high relief," Simon said CPJ said its application has been deferred for years by persistent, lengthy and repetitive questioning. It said during the session, the NGO Committee "hid behind the pretense" of rules and procedures. With an aim to help prisoners in leading normal life, Bhopal Archdiocese has designated two priests to extend moral assistance and offer help in the mainstreaming of inmates of Central Jail here. "The Archdiocese has taken necessary permission from the prison authorities and designated two priests for the purpose," Archbishop of Bhopal, Dr Leo Cornelio said today. "Our primary goal is to bring about reconciliation and restoration, rather than incrimination and retribution, the Archbishop said. "According to me, to promote a restorative justice system, prison must be the last resort, used only when a person poses a threat to the safety and peace of the community," he said. The main objectives includes boosting of moral, spiritual and material support for the prisoners, rehabilitating them, their families and victims of crime, by fostering healing relationships and creating welcoming communities for their reintegration, the Archbishop said. He said Bhopal Archdiocese also arranges regular seminars, literacy classes, workshops, medical camps, etc in different jails. Festivals like Diwali, Holi, Rakshabandhan, Christmas, Women's Day among others are celebrated with them by arranging competitions like mehendi, rangoli, solo song, reading and writing, etc to engage their feelings and inspire them, the Archbishop said. Jail authority also has a major contribution by allowing social workers to mingle with the prisoners, he added. BJP today favoured setting up of Sainik Colony in Kashmir after its alliance partner PDP virtually rejected a proposal in this regard citing non-availability of land for non-state subjects. "BJP is in favour of setting up Sainik Colony in Kashmir as well as resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits. If a Sainik Colony can be set up in Jammu, why not in Kashmir?" BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. He said BJP also favours early resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits who had to migrate out of the state in the wake of militancy in Kashmir. On the establishment of Sainik Colony in Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said her government has not issued any direction in this regard. "No land has been identified yet for establishing Sainik Colony. No direction has been issued for establishing it. The Sainik Board which is registered under an Act (of state assembly) has by-laws which say that land can only be alloted to state subjects. How can you even talk about bringing in non-state subjects?" she said. Mehbooba said the position of the government is that it does not have any land available in Srinagar, Pulwama and Budgam districts for setting up such a colony. Congress and BJP today sparred over Modi government's performance with former Union Minister P Chidambaram attacking the Centre on its handling of economy and BJP hitting back asking the opposition party to introspect instead of levelling "false charges". Rejecting Chidambaram's criticism, BJP called him a "failed Finance Minister under whom the country GDP's grew below 5 per cent while it was rising at 7.5 per cent" under Modi government. Chidambaram today accused the Modi government of failing to go for bold structural reforms, needed to give a push to the economy, and said it should pluck up courage for it and also engage with the Opposition. At a press conference on two years of Modi government, he wondered that "if agriculture and industry are in distress, what is there to celebrate?" BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said Congress should introspect instead of making "false charges" against the government which is trying to set right the "wrongs" committed during UPA rule. "Congress is passing through bad times and should introspect as to why it is shrinking and why people are rejecting it. Congress will not benefit by attacking the Modi government and by making false allegations against it," Sharma said at a press conference. The BJP leader also accused the Congress of propagating Pakistan's "saffron terror theory" to tarnish India's image world-wide and "glorifying" terrorists like Ishrat Jehan. "As a failed Home Minister, you gave saffron terror theory as propounded by Pakistan to tarnish India's image worldwide and put innocents behind bars for your political gains and for votebank politics. "Now when law is taking its course, Congress is frustrated and is trying to point fingers at the role of intelligence agencies," he said. Chidambaram today advised the Centre to reach out to the opposition, saying Congress is ready to engage with government, if it means business. "Work with opposition, engage the opposition. There is talent and sound advice outside the government. Call them, talk to them. That's the advice I will give any government including my own government," he said. Sharma said that an "incompetent" Congress is now trying to point fingers at this government after public rejected it. "Congress today stands exposed before the public and is doing this propaganda out of frustration and the public will reject all the false charges being made by it against NDA government," he said. Sharma claimed that what Congress failed to do in the last 60 years, the BJP government has tried to do in the last two years. Highlighting the performance of the Narendra Modi government in the past two years, senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra today said the government is moving on the right track with its economy growing at the "fastest speed in the world". "The government is working on the right track and its economy is growing at the fastest speed in the world with a growth rate of 7.6 per cent," Mishra, also the Union minister for Medium, Small Micro Enterprises (MSME), told reporters here. "This government is committed to work for 1.25 crore Indians and the Prime Minister is working day and night for the uplift of poor farmers, downtrodden, dalits, backwards, women and common people," he said. Speaking as part of the celebrations of 'Vikas Purv', party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said the Prime Minister has improved the status of the country abroad during his foreign visits. "Earlier, when the Prime Minister used to make a visit outside it created an impression he had come to seek something for the country but PM Narendra Modi visit to 45 countries on the contrary is now seen as he has come to give something to the the visiting country," he said. The BJP leaders also underlined beneficial schemes like Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojna, PM Suraksha Bima Yojna, Atal Pension Yojna, PM Mudra Yojna and PM Fasal Bima Yojna among others. In the context of Bihar, the BJP leaders reeled out funds allocation under different schemes made by the NDA government at the Centre. Bihar got Rs 2.96 crore under Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojna out of a total allocation of Rs 9.43 crore across the country during the period, Mishra said adding 47,21,653 people benefitted from the programme under the programme. Likewise, 2,57,995 people benefited from Atal Pension Yojna in Bihar, he added. Senior state party leaders Sushil Kumar Modi, leader of opposition in state assembly Prem Kumar, state party chief Mangal Pandey and senior leader Nand Kishore Yadav, also highlighted several welfare programmes launched by the NDA government in the past two years. Far-right demonstrators burnt the EU flag today at a rally in Dover, Britain's closest town to continental Europe. Police officers in high-visibility jackets surrounded the small number of demonstrators as they marched along the seafront of the southeast English port town. One man held up an England flag with "Refugees NOT welcome" written on it. Immigration has been one of the major issues in run-up to the June 23 referendum, when Britain votes on whether to stay in the European Union or leave. "Far-right demonstrators have not succeeded in their attempts to close the port of Dover," said Charlie Elphicke, the MP for the town. "Just 30-odd of the far right have turned up. So much disruption created by so few selfish people." A rival counter-demonstration also took place. One woman held up a sign that read "Racism hurts everyone". Dover is 21 miles (34 kilometres) away from the northeast coast of France, which is visible across the Channel. With less than four weeks to go until the referendum, the Remain campaign is on 53 percent support and the Leave camp on 47 percent, according to the What UK Thinks website's average of the last six polls. Campaigning for the May 30 Ghodadongri (ST) Assembly bypoll in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh ended today with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state Congress chief Arun Yadav trying to woo the voters on the last day. Chouhan conducted a road-show for BJP candidate Mangal Singh Dhurve, while Yadav tried hard to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor for Congress candidate Pratap Singh Uikey. A total of seven candidates are in the fray. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Sajjan Singh Uikey. Congress left no stone unturned during the campaign by roping in senior leaders such as party general secretary Digvijay Singh and former Union Ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia to seek votes. On BJP's side, apart from Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, party's national vice president Prabhat Jha and state BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chauhan were among those who campaigned. "People are very angry with the government as it has failed to fulfil any of its promises and no development has taken place in the area. Instead of electricity, people are getting inflated electricity bills," Yadav told PTI and expressed confidence that people will vote for his party. Addressing a meeting at Bhoura village, Chouhan said development of Ghodadongri was the first priority of his government. The constituency has 2,19,404 registered voters and counting of votes will take place on June 2. Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Salina Singh said of the 340 polling booths, 120 are identified as sensitive. Six companies of Central Armed Police Force have been deployed, besides Home Guard personnels and even the Forest Guards, she added. As much as Rs 10,000 crore is due to farmers across the country for sugarcane sold to millers in last two seasons, with maximum outstanding in Uttar Pradesh. Cane arrears to farmers stood at Rs 9,361 crore till early this month for the current 2015-16 season ending September, while Rs 780 crore is outstanding for the previous season, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. Briefing media about the government's measures to help cash-starved millers in clearing cane arrears, Paswan said: "Over the past two years, the policy interventions by the government have shown remarkable progress in reducing arrears." During the 2014-15 season, he said, cane arrears had touched nearly Rs 22,000 crore but after several government interventions have come down to Rs 780 crore of which Rs 191 crore pertains to UP, the country's second largest sugar producing state. In the current season as well, cane arrears had touched a peak of Rs 14,000 crore and same has come down to Rs 9,361 crore till early this month. Out of Rs 9,361 crore cane arrears, Uttar Pradesh has a maximum of Rs 2,855 crore for the ongoing 2015-16 season (October-September). The arrears calculated for UP is based on cane price fixed by the Centre (called Fair and Remunerative Price -- FRP) which is Rs 230 per quintal. If arrears to be calculated based on cane price fixed by the UP government which is Rs 280 per quintal, then dues would be Rs 5,795 crore. "The state of UP has allowed a two stage payment of FRP. Till end June, mills are expected to pay cane dues based on FRP (Rs 230/quintal), according to which arrears are presently Rs 2,855 crore. However, July onwards the mills will have to pay dues based on State Advised Prices (at Rs 280/quintal) on the basis of which the dues come to Rs 5,795 crore," Paswan said. Giving data of cane arrears for other states, the Minister said millers owed Rs 1,819 crore in Maharashtra and Rs 1,625 crore in Karnataka till early this month. Total cane price payable to farmers across all cane producing states is Rs 60,000-65,000 crore a year. Highlighting measures taken in the last two years to help the sugar sector, Paswan said the government had provided soft loan to millers to clear cane arrears. It also increased import duty to 40 per cent, offered export subsidy on raw sugar and a production subsidy to sugar mills to offset cost of cane price, promoted Ethanol Blending Program (EBP, he said, adding that these measures have helped the sector to bounce back. India's sugar production is estimated to be 25 million tonnes in 2015-16 season, as against 28.3 million tonnes in the previous year. Delhi's private schools outperformed government-run and aided schools in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 10 results which were declared today. However, Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalas have performed the best in the examinations. According to statistics released by CBSE, private schools recorded a pass percentage of 95.43 per cent while the same in government and government-aided schools was 89.13 and 83.56 respectively. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) are a system of alternativeschools for gifted students in India and have a pass%age of perfect 100 followed by 99.52% of KVs. The statistics, however, were vice-versa in Class XII results which were declared last week and government schools had outperformed the private schools in the capital. Schools across Delhi complained of CBSE website being down for over an hour after the results were announced. However, the same was restored later. A whopping 1,68,541 students across the country have scored a perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average or CGPA score in CBSE class X exam of whom 85,316 are boys and 83,225 are girls. While the number of boys, who have scored 10 CGPA, is more, girls have done better in terms of pass%age. Girls have a pass percentage of 96.36% as against boys who had a pass percentage of 96.11% in CBSE class X results. Over all, the pass percentage this year is 96.21 which has come down from 97.32% in the previous year. There is no reason for "jealousy" in China about a milestone deal signed between India and Iran to develop the strategic Chabahar port as improvement of infrastructure in Central Asia will also provide opportunities for Chinese firms, official media here said today. "China is unlikely to engage in strategic confrontation with India. It is clear that the improvement of infrastructure in Central Asia will also provide opportunities for Chinese multinational corporations, which hope to find potential overseas markets in the region," an article in the website of sate run Global Times said. "There is no reason for jealousy in China about a milestone deal signed between India and Iran," it said. "China and India will both play a vital role in promoting infrastructure development in Asia. In fact, the two countries have begun to seek cooperation with each other in this regard via the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, (AIIB)," it said. "India and Iran have agreed to develop a modern port near the Persian Gulf as well as road and rail links that would allow New Delhi to bypass Pakistan and strengthen trade between South and Central Asia," it said. "Pakistan is working with China to develop the deep-water Gwadar Port in its southwestern region. The port is expected to shorten the distance of China's oil import route and open up new trade routes for China in Central and South Asia," it said. "It is understandable if some people evaluate these projects from the perspective of geopolitics, hinting that China and India are in a race to win strategic trade routes," it said. "However, this way of thinking also contributes to the complex situation facing Central Asia, which has long been beset by backward infrastructure and only fringe participation in globalisation," it said. China is likely to be happy if India can join the ranks of improving infrastructure networks in the region. As a key strategic location connecting East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, India can promote infrastructure development that will be conducive to economic development in the entire region, it said. India's government has called for efforts to make the country a manufacturing hub through measures such as promoting infrastructure development. It is normal to see India strive to open up new trade routes in Central Asia by financing infrastructure projects such as rail links at the same time as it develops the country's export-oriented economy, it said. China's military expansion in the disputed South Sea poses a growing risk to the region's prosperity and its actions could erect a "Great Wall of self- isolation", US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has warned. " wants and enjoys all the benefits of free trade and a free internet, while sometimes restricting both as they apply to them," Carter said at the graduation and commissioning at the Naval Academy in Maryland yesterday. In sum, on the seas, in cyberspace, in the economy and elsewhere, has benefited from the principles and systems that have worked to establish and uphold, he said. "But instead of helping sustain those very principles and systems that have served all of us so well and for so long, instead of working toward the, quote, 'win-win cooperation' that Beijing publicly says it wants, China plays by its own rules undercutting those principles," he said. "The result is that China's actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation, as countries across the region allies, partners and the unaligned are voicing concerns publicly and privately, at the highest levels," Carter said. "Such a model reflects the region's distant past, rather than the principled future we all want for the Asia-Pacific," he added. He also said that in the disputed South China Sea and elsewhere, there is a growing risk to the region's prosperous future. "China has taken some expansive and unprecedented actions in the South China Sea, pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to law. Its construction, and subsequent militarisation, of artificial islands on disputed features far surpass all other land reclamation efforts by other nations there, combined," he added. "And when other aircraft, ships, and even fishermen act in accordance with law near these features, China tries to turn some of them away," he said. China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan fiercely contest China's claims. Carter said that the US is determined to stand with partners in upholding core principles, like freedom of navigation and overflight, free flow of commerce, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, through legal means. "We are committed to ensuring that these core principles apply equally in the South China Sea as they do everywhere else because only by ensuring that everyone plays by the same rules can we avoid the mistakes of the past, where countries challenged one another in contests of strength and will, with disastrous consequences for humanity," he said. Carter said that America's focus on upholding principles extends beyond the maritime domain. For example, China wants its companies that depend on the internet to flourish in the global marketplace so it can lift its people's prosperity. "And yet, China's cyber-actors have violated the spirit of the internet, not to mention the law, to perpetrate large-scale intellectual property theft from American companies. That's why the President has been determined to develop understandings of behaviour in cyberspace," he added. The Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today said the government has started the process of identification of land in the Kashmir valley so that"clusters" for the Kashmiri Pandit community can be constructed where they can live for sometime before permanently shifting to their original homes. "As a first step we are identifying the land and clusters shall come up in the form of two bedrooms and like that (where) these families will go back and stay there and whenever they feel safe they will go to their original homes", Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function this evening. He said that clusters in the form a township would provide transitory place for the migrant community. "It is a township, its a cluster as a transitory cluster for all migrate which include the Kashmiri pandits who are in majority and then there are Sikhs there are Punjabi speaking Muslims, Kashmiri speaking Muslim, the people who were forced to leave their houses from the valley in the 25 years," Singh said. He said that the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in her today's speech in the Assembly has made the intention of the Jammu and Kashmir government clear, that it wants to take back the migrant community to the Kashmir valley. "Actually if somebody has heard that speech of the chief minister that was very good. She has affectively said that we are going to take these Kashmiri pandits and other migrants to valley and our final objective is that they go to their original homes," he said. Adding he said, "but as a transitory accommodation we are going to construct some clusters and they shall be settled there and they shall live there and when finally the situation is conducive they shall go to their original homes, wherever they were living," he said. When asked whether the chief minister was trying to appease the separatists who were against the setting up of separate townships for the Kashmiri Pandit community Singh said that there was no case of showing any softness to them. 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 yesterday 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. 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 yesterday 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. In their bid to cash in on the popularity of IPL among Indian diaspora, Indian Test captain Virat Kohli could be pitted against limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in exhibition matches for their respective franchises in the United States. According to highly placed sources in the BCCI, three franchises namely Mumbai Indians, RCB and Rising Pune Supergiants have expressed their desire to play some exhibition matches in the US where there is a sizeable Indian and South Asian population. "The matter is expected to be discussed at the IPL Governing Council in Bengaluru before start of the final match tomorrow. The venue is tentatively Houston," a senior BCCI official told PTI today. "However the dates need to be chalked out. Earlier, it was being discussed it would happen in the window available between India's tour of Zimbabwe and West Indies. But it could now be held in September also. All three teams are expected to play against each other. Obviously, major attractions will be Kohli and Dhoni," the official said. "Houston is one centre that has been zeroed in as it having multiple centres will be a case of logistical nightmare for a short trip of exhibition matches," he said. For BCCI officials, it would be an opportunity to test waters in the US market which had remained untapped so far. "In the US, T20 is the only game that can be marketed because of its duration. If we have to squeeze in a Mini-IPL next year, this is the time to send the popular franchises like MI, RCB and check what's response of NRIs and Indian diaspora. "If the response is good, we can think about expansion. We can also harbour hopes that sponsorship market in the US will open up. A Delhi court today reserved for May 31 its order on the issue of cognisance on a criminal complaint filed against Delhi Chief Minister for using allegedly "defamatory and seditious" words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid at the office of his principal secretary. Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra fixed the matter for order after hearing arguments on behalf of the complainant, an advocate. "Arguments heard. Put up for orders on May 31," the court said. Complainant-advocate Pradeep Dwivedi sought Kejriwal's prosecution under sections 124A (sedition) and 500 (defamation) of the IPC, alleging that there was "seditious intention" behind the remarks which spread "hatred and contempt" against the prime minister. He argued that the remarks like "coward" and "psychopath", uttered by the Aam Aadmi Party leader against Modi, were "defamatory and seditious" and such statements could spread "disharmony" and "disaffection" in the country. Regarding the locus of the complainant in filing the plea, the counsel had earlier said that being a citizen of India, he was aggrieved by the comments of Kejriwal and was "competent to file a complaint in a case where statements were made against the prime minister of the country". The complainant alleged that when the CBI had raided the chief minister's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar's Delhi Secretariat office on December 15 last year, Kejriwal had made offensive remarks on his Twitter account against Modi. "Being fully aware of the autonomy and independence of CBI, the accused (Kejriwal), owing to his personal interest and political enmity, made some offending remarks on his Twitter account towards the prime minister of this country just because of the said raid by CBI," the complaint said. "On December 15, 2015, the accused posted the remarks on his Twitter account which reads as 'Modi is a coward and a psychopath'. The remarks were made against the democratically elected PM of the largest democracy of the world," it said. The complainant alleged that Kejriwal had "intentionally" used defamatory words with a view to spreading a sense of "hatred and contempt" towards the prime minister. Delhi Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker and AAP leader Bandana Kumari has tendered her resignation in the wake of defeat of the party's candidate in recent MCD by-polls. A legislator from Shalimar Bagh, Kumari was unhappy with party nominating Anvika Mittal for a by-pollcandidate. Kumari's resignation has been submitted to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal. The norm is to send the resignation to the Speaker. There was no official word from AAP on Kumari's resignation but a close aide of her said "yes, she has submitted her resignation to the Delhi CM." After winning five seats in the MCD by-poll, which was below the party's expectations, AAP had said that it will introspect over the results and also ask the MLAs the reasons for the defeat. Want to light a cigarette at a public place, think twice. Delhi Police has decided to strictly enforce a fine of Rs 200 on smoking in public places. As per the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003, smoking in public places is banned and those who violate the law will be slapped a fine of Rs 200. "We will henceforth fine those who will smoke in public spaces in the national capital under COTPA because when you are smoking in a public space, you are not only endangering your own but even other people's lives," said Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), P Kamraj, who released the COTPA guideline booklet at an event here today. Delhi Police collaborated with two city-based NGOs, Sambandh Health Foundation and Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV), to save the future generations of Delhi from ill-effects of tobacco. The campaign is supported by Max India Foundation. "Police can play a role in reversing this largest reversible cause of death and disease. Delhi Police will take strict action on COTPA-2003. Police force itself suffers from usage of tobacco. We will educate owners of public places such as educational institutes, malls, coffee shops, restaurants, bars and other organisations about the law. "Penalties will be imposed as per the law where there is non-compliance. Police department is committed to enforcing COTPA and making the national capital a model city," Kamraj said. Dr Harit Chaturvedi, VoTV patron and Chairman Max Oncology, said "I am seeing younger and younger patients coming to my OPD with tobacco-related cancers. Support from Delhi Police is commendable. Such initiatives are bound to bring the prevalence down". Every year, tobacco takes the lives of 10 lakh Indians. In Delhi alone, there are 30 lakh tobacco users. 40 per cent of these will die untimely deaths. Nearly 10,000 deaths are due to tobacco consumption in Delhi every year, said Chaturvedi. COTPA also prohibits all forms of advertising and promotion of tobacco products; the sale to or by minors and within 100 yards of educational institutes. It also requires pictorial warnings on every tobacco product and India has recently increased these to 85 per cent of pack area. The India Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)--a school- based survey of students in grades 8, 9 and 10 conducted in 2009--highlighted 14.6 per cent of students at present use any form of tobacco. One in five students live in homes where others smoke, one-fourth of the students have at least one parent who smokes. Since there is no safe level of tobacco usage, consumer safety from tobacco products is best served by preventing its usage altogether. As per Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2010), 27.5 crore Indians consume tobacco in one form or another - it is one of the largest consumer markets. Tobacco is the major cause of cancer and cardio vascular diseases and respiratory diseases. A recent WHO study showed that tobacco-related health-care costs exceed Rs one lakh crore every year. 10 lakh tobacco-related deaths happen in India per year. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today hit out at opposition parties, saying he does not need any "certificate" from them on SAD-BJP's performance in the last nine years. "It is the people who will in the end judge our performance," he said at the sidelines of Sangat Darshan programme in Lambi Assembly constituency. Opposition parties, including Congress, have been accusing the SAD-BJP alliance of "failure on various fronts including law and order and drug issue". On Congress' allegations of breakdown of law and order situation, the Chief Minister said "petty incidents can happen at any point of time at any part of the world but at present Punjab is the most peaceful state in the country." "But Congress is playing dirty politics over this sensitive issue," Badal alleged. On the alleged "recruitment scam", he said a vigilance inquiry has been ordered and any one found guilty won't be spared. To a question on allegations that some accused in this scam are being shielded, Badal asked if there was any intention to save anyone, then why would he have ordered an inquiry. "The people of Punjab were neither helpless nor addicts. Rather, resilient Punjabis have contributed enormously towards the overall development of state. Its hardworking farmers have played a pivotal role in making the country self-sufficient in food production," the Chief Minister said. Punjab government is accountable to the people of the state and thus it hardly needs any kind of certification from anyone else, he said. Hollywood studio Dreamworks Animation has evinced interest in partnering the Telangana government for expanding its production facilities in the state, an official statement said. State's IT and Industries minister KT Rama Rao, who is currently in the US seeking investments met Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, the statement said. "Dreamworks is looking for expanding their production facilities in India and sought partnership with Telangana state government for their long term plans. Minister K T Rama Rao has extended full support and cooperation in their endeavours," it added. Further, it said that the minister described the attributes of upcoming film city in Hyderabad which would be an ideal location for the future production facility of Dreamworks. Dreamworks, co-founded by ace film maker Steven Spielberg, is also looking at creating high-end theatre ecosystem to promote their movies and has asked the Telangana government to create "conducive" environment, it said. Dreamworks has plans to cater to Indian market and believe that Hyderabad is ideal location, given its talent pool and vibrant film industry, it further said. Dreamworks and Telangana Government also agreed to collaborate to create Dreamplay, a small-scale theme centre, which can become a tourist attraction for the city of Hyderabad. K T Rama Rao also visited La Kretz Innovation Campus in Los Angeles today to understand the functioning of Los Angeles Clean Tech Incubator (LACI), it added. The Bombay High Court has held that the number of cases that might be available cannot be the sole criterion to establish lower courts at tehsil places and the state government can set up courts only after consulting the High Court administration. The fact that requisite number of cases will come up from an area cannot be the sole criterion to set up the courts of Additional District and Sessions Judge and civil judge senior division in any taluka (tehsil) place; easy access to justice should be a main criterion, it said. The powers to establish the courts, wherever conferred onthestateGovernment, will have to be exercised only after consultation withtheHighCourt administration, said the division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and C V Bhadang in a recent judgement. The view of the High Court shall have primacy in such matters, the judges added. The court was hearing a petition filed by Partur Advocate Bar Association demanding courts of District and Additional Sessions Judge as well as Civil Judge Senior Division in Partur taluka of Jalna district of Maharashtra. The state government had the power to establish such courts and not the HC administration, it argued. While rejecting the petition, the judges held that a proposaltoestablish courts at taluka places cannotbe rejected only on the ground that the number of cases as per thequotafixedby theHighCourtwillnotbe available. Theissueofeasyaccesstojustice should be one ofthemainconsiderations, the judges observed. Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has appealed the government's decision to extradite him to the United States to face narcotics and murder charges, officials and his lawyers have said. Court documents said the appeal was filed Thursday in Mexico City by two lawyers for Guzman, who is considered the world's most wanted drug boss as leader of the Sinaloa cartel. "We have filed an appeal against the unconstitutional decision by the ministry of foreign affairs, against those who are in a big hurry for 'El Chapo' Guzman to leave for the United States," said one of the lawyers, Jose Luis Gonzalez, in a press conference yesterday. The government has 48 hours to respond, officials said. The appeal comes a week after the foreign ministry announced it had agreed to extradite Guzman, who escaped from a maximum-security prison in July 2015 -- his second dramatic jailbreak -- and was recaptured in January. Police caught him after a colourful episode involving a US-Mexican soap opera actress and the Hollywood star Sean Penn, who met with Guzman in hiding. The ministry said it had approved the extradition after receiving assurances from the US government that Guzman would not face the death penalty if convicted, since he could not receive such a punishment under Mexican law. Guzman is wanted by courts in California and Texas. President Enrique Pena Nieto's government had previously balked at sending him to the United States. But after the 59-year-old cartel boss was recaptured in January, Pena Nieto asked the attorney general's office to expedite the extradition process. The boycott of undergraduate exams evaluation by Delhi University teachers in protest against the new UGC criteria to ascertain their academic performance, which entered its fifth day today will continue till June 2. The teachers had initially called for a four-day boycott beginning May 24, however, the decision to extend it upto June 2 was taken today at the General Body meeting of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA). The teachers are protesting against amendments to UGC regulations that, they argue, will lead to job-cuts to the tune of 50 per cent and drastically increase pupil-teacher ratio in higher education. The new gazette notification has increased the workload for assistant professors from 16 hours of "direct teaching" per week (including tutorials) to 18 hours, plus another six of tutorials, bringing the total up to 24 hours. Similarly the work hours of associate professors have been increased from 14 to 22. However, the HRD ministry had earlier this week defended the new UGC criteria for Academic Performance Indicators (API) for college and university teachers, saying it provides "more flexibility" even as it ruled out any possibility of reduction in number of teaching jobs. "The increase in workload will lead to a sharp deterioration in student-teacher ratio, an important determinant in global rankings that the government repeatedly claims to be concerned about and periodically refers to as a basis for its own policy," a DUTA statement said. "It was decided at the GBM today that the boycott will continue till June 2 and the executive will meet again on June 1 to review the situation and to suggest ways to strengthen the struggle," it added. The teachers have also planned to stage a "people's march to Parliament" on May 30. The Commerce Ministry has eased the process of filing of application for claiming benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with a view to improve ease of doing business in the country. The ministry has done away with separate applications required for shipments from different electronic data interchange (EDI) ports. "The procedure for filing of application under MEIS for EDI shipping bills is simplified. Shipments from different EDI ports will not require separate applications," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade has said in a public notice. Rewards under MEIS are payable as percentage of realised free-on-board value and the MEIS duty credit scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties, including the basic customs duty. In terms of trading across borders, India ranked at 133rd out of 189 economies, according to the World Banks report on ease of doing business. The ministry has been engaged with with different ministries including shipping to fast-track clearance processes and improve ease of doing business to boost shipments. Declining for 17th straight month in April, exports dipped by 6.74 per cent to USD 20.5 billion due to sharp fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering products amid tepid global demand. In a separate trade notice, the DGFT said that applicants who have been allowed to import pepper under the India-Sri Lanka free trade agreement for 2016-17 may contact concerned regional authorities for obtaining license. The validity of the quota is till March 31 next year. "Failure to fully utilise the quota would debar the applicant from applying under India-Sri Lanka FTA for the next three financial year," it said. Four officials of flying squad of transport committee were today arrested for allegedly beating and holding a local journalist hostage here, police said. Somdutt, a resident of Shaktipuram was headed to Karnal from Jind by a transport committee bus when it was stopped by its officials for verification near Kandela village. Despite showing his identity card, the officials demanded an increased fare from him. The journalist has alleged that not only was he beaten up by the officials but also kept hostage in a car. Those arrested have been identified as Deepak, Pawan, Naresh and Deepak, Investigating officer of Sadar Police Station Jasbir said. A case has been registered against all the accused under relevant sections of IPC and all of them have been arrested, he added. Ganga, considered one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, will become one of the cleanest by 2018, Union minister Uma Bharti said today. Lamenting that the river has often been used as a gateway to disposing affluents, Bharti exuded confidence that it would be transformed into the "10 most cleanest rivers in the world by 2018." Participating at an event to mark two years in office of the NDA government here, Bharti said unfortunately, Ganga is considered one of the ten most polluted rivers in the world. She said the government is seriously working for Ganga rejuvenation and what could not be achieved in the past 29 years after spending Rs 4000 crore, was taking place now. The Union minister said funds are not an issue and the Centre is contributing sufficient funds to ensure that the target of 2018 is not missed. Bharti had earlier assured the Lok Sabha that she would announce on the floor of the House in 2018 that the river has been rejuvenated. Union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh spoke on the need to change the mindset of the people on the issue of sanitation. He said construction of toilets, clean villages and a mindset where sanitation is considered a basic "need" is what is required for a healthier country. Singh also said of 60 lakh toilets planned, far more have been constructed across India. US-based (GBC) has made a foray into India through a franchise agreement with Yellow Tie Hospitality, which will open 40 outlets of the brand in the country by the year-end. "Yellow Tie Hospitality Management plans to launch the brand in 40 cities pan India, starting with Mumbai. It will roll out outlets in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Surat and a few more cities in the first three months of its launch," the company said in a statement. Yellow Tie Hospitality said it owns exclusive master franchisee rights in India for the brand and will open 40 GBC outlets by the end of 2016 in India. Yellow Tie Hospitality Management Founder and CEO Karan Tanna said: "Broaster Chicken has been an integral part of America's food heritage for the past 60 years...We at Yellow Tie hospitality felt it was time to introduce this savoury paradise to Indian consumers, filling the gap in demand and supply for better fried chicken by getting Broaster Chicken to the plates of Indians." At present, GBC has presence in 36 countries across the world. A 14-year-old girl has been allegedly raped by a quack in Jalpaiguri district, police said today. The teenaged girl told her parents about the rape following which the locals reportedly called the quack to the area under the guise of work and assaulted him. He was then handed over to the police. The girl was rushed to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital here last night after falling sick, police said. The quack had been visiting the area for the past seven months, the police added. Jammu and Kashmir government today said it has spent over Rs 300 crore for providing cash assistance to Kashmiri migrants during the last two financial years. "The government has incurred Rs 321. 948 crore on account of providing cash assistance to Kashmiri migrants from March 2014 to April 2016. An amount of Rs 18. 76 crore was also used for providing food grains to the migrants registered under relief category in Jammu," Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Syed Basharat Bukhari told Legislative Assembly here. Replying to a question by MLA Langate Sheikh Abdul Rashid, the Minister said Kashmiri migrants, under relief category, are presently being provided monthly cash assistance of Rs 2500 per person subject to a maximum of Rs 10,000 per family per month. He said these families are also provided ration - rice at the rate of nine kg per person, flour two kg per person and sugar one kg per family per month respectively. The Minster informed the House that for return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants, the Centre and the state government had sanctioned a package of Rs 1618. 40 crore in 2008 and 2009. "Under the package, those Kashmiri migrants who propose or intend to return to their original place of stay, there is a component of financial assistance of Rs 7. 50 lakh for construction of the house. In addition, 6000 government jobs and 9000 additional jobs through establishing income generating units are also being provided to Kashmiri migrant Pandits under the PM's package," he said. Under the package, one time grant for revival of agriculture and horticulture land besides continuation of relief for two years, scholarships to school going children and waiver of interest would also be provided to the migrants who propose or intend to return to their original places of residence, Bukhari said. He also said that registered Muslim families who migrated to different parts of the country and live in different states are also entitled to benefits as are provided to migrant communities in that particular state. Attacking the Centre over its handling of the economy, Congress today asked it to pluck up courage to go for bold reforms, saying that the party will engage with the government if it means business. "Once the economy stabilised as I believe it had by June 2014, the government should have then given the economy a big push by going for bold structural reforms, taken the difficult decisions which were pending because UPA did not have absolute majority in the Lok Sabha," former finance minister told reporters. "Now this government has 282 or may be 283 (seats) in the Lok Sabha, it should pick up the courage and take up bold structural reform and in doing so, it must engage the Opposition. The Congress party is willing to engage if the government means business," the Congress leader, who has been nominated from Maharashtra by the party for Rajay Sabha polls, said. On the goods and services tax, Chidambaram said, the government has failed to engage the Congress party over the three principal objections raised by it. "Either the government should convince us that our objections are unfounded or government must accept our objections if they are well founded and bring about amendments. Such an engagement, such a dialogue, to best of my knowledge, has not taken place across the table," he said. Chidambaram advised the government to reach out to the Opposition and consider its suggestions. "Work with Opposition, engage the opposition. There is talent and sound advice outside the government. Call them, talk to them. That's the advice I will give any government including my own government," he said. At a press conference on two-years of the Modi government, he wondered that "if agriculture and industry are in distress, what is there to celebrate"? The government's record in agriculture is dismal, he said, adding that growth was negative at - 0.2% in 2014-15 and a meagre 1.1% in 2015-16 and the government failed to anticipate and tackle the acute distress in rural India. "The Supreme Court has chastised the government in the strongest terms for negligence in managing the consequences of two years of drought and passing the buck in providing drought relief," he said. With regard to industry, Chidambaram said, annual sales growth of all firms in 2015-16 was negative at - 5.7% and annual sales growth of manufacturing firms was negative at - 11.2%. "These are reflected in credit growth, which is at a 20-year low of 9.9% (average for the months of 2015-16). They are also reflected in the slump in merchandise exports, which was - 15.5% in 2015-16. Another indicator is the Index of Industrial Production, which stood at a meagre 2.4% in 2015-16," he said. "All I can point out is there are no jobs, there are no industries, industries are in slump, exports are down for 17th successive month and nobody seems to care. If exports are down, thousands of jobs must have been lost and that's the logical inference. The citizens of this country will drop their own score cards," he added. "The average citizens need jobs and incomes. They do not consume GDP numbers," Chidambaram said. German model Heidi Klum has said she will never walk down the aisle again, after having two failed marriages. "No. I've been there twice," the 42-year-old replied when asked if a third marriage would be the charm for her. The "America's Got Talent" judge doesn't regret her decisions to get married in the past though, reported Aceshowbiz. "I've had a roller-coaster ride of a life and I've enjoyed all the ups and the downs" she said. Klum, who has been dating 29-year-old art dealer Vito for two years, is currently enjoying her life the way it is. She is "very happy the way things are," adding, "It's been very exciting so far, and I hope it continues that way." Heidi was married to stylist Ric Pipino from 1997 to 2002. Later she dated musician Seal and got married in 2005. They have three biological children together. They announced separation in 2012. Actors Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji's hit romantic comedy "Hum Tum" completed 12 years today and director Kunal Kohli shared some anecdotes about its making to commemorate it. The director shared with fans, about how the YRF film had many firsts associated with it. "#12YearsofHumTum There were many firsts associated with this film that's earned itself cult status with all your love and support," he wrote. "#12YearsofHumTumConsidered India's 1st romcom, Rani's 1st best actress award, Saif's 1st solo major hit, Kunal's 1st best director award." He remnisced about Rishi Kapoor's role in the film and the fans' reaction. "#12YearsofHumTum when @chintskap made his entry singing main shair toh nahin the theatre exploded with claps n whistles" He also talked about budget issues that made them shoot scenes meant for Paris and America in Amsterdam. Kohli shared how Prasoon Joshi was initially approached to write the dialogues. "#12yearsofHumTum we approached Prasoon Joshi to write the dialogues. He said the ones by me are most apt & offered to write lyrics instead." The director added that initially Yash Chopra was not in support of the film, but was convinced after he saw it. "#12yearsofHumTum initially Yashji wasnt convinced of the film. Adi stood by me. Finally when Yashji saw it he loved it. I cried in relief and joy. A 31-year-old Indian woman author in Singapore has won the 'Scholastic Asian Book Award' for her 32,000-word manuscript rooted in "love of Indian history". Aditi Krishnakumar won the Singapore dollar 10,000 award this week for her manuscript "Codex: The Lost Treasure Of The Indus". Aditi, who submitted her manuscript hours before deadline last September, said she juggles writing with her career in finance and ekes out time at night and on weekends to dream up stories. "There were times when I thought I'd never be able to meet the dealine, though I managed it in the end," said Aditi who has been living in Singapore for the past three years. "One of my biggest challenges was to not get distracted by the internet," The Straits Times today quoted Aditi as saying. The manuscript, to be published by Scholastic Asia, follows Codex "linguist, mathematician and all-round" geek, as she works with Agent Lila Raman to decipher the mysterious script of the Indus Valley civilization, the report said. "It can be a challenge... But I wouldn't change it. I enjoy my job and I love writing," Aditi said as she spoke about writing. "I've always loved reading and I think writing was a natural progression from that. My earliest serious ambition was to be an author and that stayed with me through everything else I've done," she said. "It's a real page-turner. I couldn't stop reading it. It's also a book that has a subtext of interest in the deep history of India, so the book has a contemporary feel, but it is also rooted in an interest in and love of Indian history," American historian and author Leonard Marcus, one of the judges for the award, said about the manuscript. The Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA) is the joint initiative of the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) and Scholastic Asia. An ITI student was allegedly murdered and his body found dumped near a village here today, police said. 17-year-old Ankur, hailing from Alampurkala village here, was missing since yesterday, ASP Jagdish Sharma said. The unidentified assailants killed Ankur, son of Rajendra, and dumped his body near Sansarpur village under Behat police station, he said. Villagers saw the body today and informed the police who, in turn, informed the relatives of the deceased. Police are yet to ascertain the motive behind the crime. The body has been sent for post-mortem and a case has been registered. Passengers of a Korean Air plane recalled the terrifying moment one of the aircraft's twin engines caught fire as it was gaining speed for take-off at Tokyo's Haneda airport. All 302 passengers and 17 crew members were evacuated safely from the Korean Air Boeing 777 yesterday, escaping down the plane's inflatable emergency evacuation slides onto the runway. "As the plane was picking up speed to take off, there was a bang and I saw a plume of black smoke rising from the wing," Keum Min-Woo, 34, told journalists after the passengers arrived in Seoul on an alternative flight late yesterday. Crew members calmly led passengers into safety, Keum said. Another passenger Hwang Kyung-Tae, 59, said the plane screeched to a halt after the explosion. "A minute passed and we were told to evacuate. If the plane had taken off several minutes earlier, we all would have died," said Hwang. Kim Byung-Jin, 47, had a bandage over his forehead from a cut he suffered when he bumped into another passenger as they were coming down an evacuation slide. TV footage aired yesterday showed the plane, which was bound for South Korea's Gimpo International, surrounded by red fire trucks and with the area around its left wing doused in foam. The South Korean transport ministry sent a team of investigators to Japan yesterday to assist the local authorities in determining the cause of the accident. The plane had been in service for 15 years and the troubled engine was installed a year and a half ago, a Korean Air official said. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has defended his government's decision of giving back miltary-occupied lands of Tamils, saying the community has waited 27 years for it. "We are being accused of giving back lands of the Tamil. I ask you if your own property is held by the military, how would you react?" he said yesterday while addressing the Sri Lankan community in Japan. "They have waited not one or two years but 27 years to get their lands back," Sirisena said. His remarks came in reaction to criticism from Mahinda Rajapaksa's followers who accuse the Sirisena government of appeasing the Tamil minority by relaxing some of the stringent security measures that prevailed under his predecessor. His government has released some of the Tamil civilian land held for military purposes during the 30-year conflict. Despite the defeat of the LTTE through military means, the root cause of the Tamil conflict still remains, he said without elaborating, and so his government was keen to ensure there is no repetition of an ethnic separatist conflict in the island. He also said his government has taken "every step" to ensure the national security. "There is no threat whatsoever. We have taken every step to ensure the national security" despite rumours spread by political opponents, he assured the community. He was attending the G7 summit as a special invitee - the first time ever Sri Lanka's head of state had been invited for the same. "Since our government came in, we have had excellent cooperation from all our friendly nations. The countries who had sidelined us have welcomed us with hands of friendship. As you know our defence sector training has come from India, US, Britain and Pakistan. These things have improved now," he said. Malaysian government has thrown its support behind an Islamic penal code that seeks to expand the jurisdiction of Shariah Courts by including harsh punishments like amputations and stoning, creating discontent among ethnic allies, including the Indian Congress (MIC). United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which forms the majority party in the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, backed the tabling of a Bill in this regard by opposition Islamic fundamentalist PAS party. Barisan Nasional's component parties, including the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the MIC, have vocally opposed the implementation of the hudud law. MIC president S Subramaniam said that the private member's Bill submitted by PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang would subvert the constitutional rights to equality and protection from retrospectively harsher punishments. The MCA said it was deeply disappointed that UMNO MPs helped to fast track the proposed amendments. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was quick to defend the UMNO support saying that the private members' Bill proposed by PAS president was not about hudud or the criminal jurisdiction issue. The prime minister said that there was a "misunderstanding" on the nature of the Bill. He said that the proposed Bill only touched on the caning punishment meted out by the Islamic Shariah Courts. "It is what is called enhanced punishment and depends on the nature of the crime," he added. He also said that the matter only concerned the Muslims in the country. Sixty per cent of Malaysians are Muslims. Najib said that the implementation of the Bill would not only need Parliament's consent, but also the approval of the state Islamic Department and the Rulers Council. He added that he had explained the nature of the Bill to the other component parties in Barisan Nasional. The Bill seeks to amend the Shariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. Islamist party PAS has tried to push through these amendments to the 1965 Shariah Courts criminal jurisdiction act several times, but they had never made it into the House of Representatives. Amid the backlash, UMNO members have tried to downplay the move. Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said that if the amendments pass, they would only apply to Muslims in the state of Kelantan. PAS governs that state and amendments to the Shariah Courts Act were needed for it to implement an Islamic criminal code there. However, lawyers say the amendments would actually expand the legal jurisdiction of Shariah Courts across the country, not just in Kelantan. Under Shariah or Islamic law, the courts will be empowered to dole out punishments that could include stoning or amputations. Opposition party Democratic Action Party felt these expansion of powers violated the federal constitution. A fortnight after the killing of a journalist in Bihar, a senior employee of a leading english daily was driven around the city and allegedly roughed up inside a moving vehicle after his office vehicle collided with another car in Patna late last night. Distribution Executive of "Telegraph" Rakesh Kumar Singh, was pushed inside the MUV of the attackers, roughed up while being driven around the city to force him to pay for the damages caused to the car belonging to the attackers, Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said. Singh was let off after his colleagues, who were with him, started making frantic calls to the police. The vehicle in which the four attackers was travelling has been identified and two persons have been held while search is on for others, the SSP said. A Sub Inspector posted at Shashtri Nagar police station has been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the incident, Maharaj said. The collision took place in busy Raja Bazar area under Shastri Nagar police station and a case has been registered with the police station in this connection, he said. Mediapersons have strongly protested roughing up of Singh in the heart of the city which has come close on the heels of the murder of Siwan-based journalist Rajdeo Ranjan earlier this month. National Conference (NC) today said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti should apologise to the people of the Valley for "demonizing and defaming them through her cats and pigeons analogy" while speaking on the Kashmiri Pandit rehabilitation issue in the Legislative Assembly. "Mehbooba has defamed and demonized Kashmiris by inferring that Kashmiris are allegedly some sort of killers and hunters and Kashmiri Pandits are unsafe in their company and hence need to be isolated from them. "It is tragic that a Chief Minister could stoop to this level in her maiden address in the Assembly," NC Spokesperson Junaid Mattu said in a statement here. Mattu said Mehbooba should know that "her hunted versus hunter analogy has exposed her mindset and also her prejudiced outlook on this very sensitive issue." "She has portrayed Kashmiris as hunters and killers from whom apparently Kashmiri Pandits need to be protected. "She should apologise to the people for her remarks and also bear in mind that she is no longer an election campaigner who can afford to distort the truth and lie at will. "She is the Chief Minister of this State and we expect a basic amount of wisdom and restraint from her. "Mehbooba should know that both Kashmiri Muslims as well as Kashmiri Pandits have been the victims of violence and she cannot portray an entire community as culprits and demons. "This is extremely regrettable and tragic on her part," the spokesperson said. He said the Chief Minister's speech in the Legislative Assembly was "bizarre, wayward and contained misplaced analogies and distortions." The NC Spokesperson said that Mehbooba's "bizarre justification" that she tied up with BJP to prevent another 1987-like situation is "ridiculous and ironic. Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said that the "56-inch chest" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not decreased "an inch" and asserted that there should be no doubt on that score. He also said if Pakistan does not have the capability to curb terrorist activities in its territory, it should seek India's help. Singh was asked by Rajat Sharma on his programme "Aap ki Adalat" on India TV about Modi's Lok Sabha election campaign in which he had said that a "56-inch chest" was needed to tackle Pakistan. "It has not decreased. I am the Home Minister. I know confidential matters. I have the IB with me. It has not decreased. There should be no doubts on that score. I can only say that the 56-inch chest is there," the channel quoted Singh as saying in a press release. The Home Minister said he wanted to give a message to Pakistan that it should curb terrorist activities on its soil. "If Pakistan feels it does not have the capacity to curb terrorist activities, it should seek assistance from India. If they want, it can happen. They can also seek assistance from other countries of the world," he said. Singh said there has been a 52 per cent decline in infiltration from Pakistan in the last two years. The number of security personnel killed by Maoists has come down. On the terror attack in Pathankot, he said it is because of the government's strategy that the US asked Pakistan to cooperate in the investigation into the attack. The Minister said that "some papers" on the Ishrat Jehan case were missing. "Some papers that should have been there in the Home Ministry files are not available. I have formed a committee to investigate. We will soon get the committee's report. It will reveal who is guilty?," Singh said adding changes were made in the files by persons belonging to Congress because of political reasons. Asked why Pragya Thakur was given clean chit by the National Investigation Agency in the Malegaon blast case, Singh said things became clear once the probe agency went into it. The NIA has been given maximum autonomy that it need not even send files to Home Ministry for legal opinion and it can send them directly to the Law Ministry, he said. To a question why all the witnesses in the Malegaon case changed their version within two years, the Minister said, "Ask the NIA why there was an earlier version and why a different one now." On the issue of blackmoney, Singh said no promise was ever made during the election campaign that Rs 15 lakh would be deposited in everybody's bank account. "I was then the President of the party. It is under my leadership, the party manifesto is prepared. I never made any such statement. There was a perception that given the huge amount of offshore blackmoney present, the average came to Rs 15 lakh per person but this was merely an example nothing else," he said. On Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar's remarks that Muslims eating beef have no place in India, he said, "No. I completely I disagree with this. "All Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Parisis, who are borne in the womb of India, are offsprings of Bharat Mata. All of us have to stay and work together. (REOPENS DES6) The Home Minister laid the foundation stone of a new building for Institute of Archaeology (IA) here in the presence of Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma. Speaking on the occasion, Sharma termed the institute as a gift to the city and the country and said it would be a model institute. Currently, the institute is being run from a temporary space in Lal Quila. The cost of the institute is Rs 300 crore and it will be ready in 18 months, he said. IA is an academic wing of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ministry of Culture. today warned South Korea of "merciless retaliatory strikes", a day after the South fired warning shots at North Korean boats near their disputed sea border. The North's military General Staff said from now on it would open fire without warning at any South Korean ships if they intrude "even 0.001 millimetres" into disputed waters in the Yellow Sea. It called for the South to apologise for the "reckless military provocation", which it said aimed to "drive the situation in the volatile hotspot to the brink of explosion". "From now on, we will open direct fire on any warship of the South Korean puppet forces without warning, if it intrudes... Even 0.001 mm in the hotspot of the West Sea," it was quoted as saying in a statement carried by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "They should be mindful that they would face our merciless retaliatory strikes anytime and at any place and in any way," it added. It accused the South of responding to its efforts to create dialogue with "reckless military provocation". In recent weeks, Pyongyang has been urging Seoul to accept leader Kim Jong-Un's proposal for military talks aimed at easing cross-border tensions. Seoul has flatly rejected the offer, insisting that the North should first take a tangible step towards ending its nuclear weapons programmes. A South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots yesterday after a patrol boat from the North and a fishing boat crossed the disputed sea border. The North's boats swiftly retreated. "This reckless military provocation was evidently prompted by a premeditated sinister plot to bedevil the north-south relations and further aggravate the tension on the Korean peninsula," KCNA said. Both sides complain of frequent incursions by the other and there were minor naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister V Narayanasamy was today unanimously elected Legislature Party leader and is all is set to become the tenth Chief Minister of Puducherry. Party Senior leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, who were deputed by the Congress high command to hold consultations in this regard, told reporters at the end of the meeting that Narayanasamy's choice was unanimous. They said all party elected legislators agreed that Narayanasamy should be made the Chief Minister and elected him the CLP leader. Dixit said the PCC president A Namassivayam proposed the name of Narayanasamy and former Chief Minister V Vaithilingam seconded it. The name of Narayanasamy was also approved by AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, she said. "Everything went off nicely", Dixit said, adding, Sonia Gandhi congratulated him over phone. Narayanasamy had served as the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the second UPA government, after being MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, in the first UPA government. He did not contest the May 16 Assembly election from Puducherry and will now have to seek election to the legislature in a bypoll. There was a close race between him and Namassivayam who won in the assembly polls retaining Villianoor constituency. Narayanasamy told reporters that he would consult party legislators and the high command regarding the next step to be taken. He would meet the Lt Governor of Puducherry to stake claim to form the ministry. In the assembly polls, Congress won 15 seats while its ally DMK bagged 2 in the 30-member-assembly. Narayanasamy said a decision on the size of the ministry and induction of DMK members in the cabinet would be taken later. Veteran Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah's veiled comments against Anupam Kher today drew sharp reactions from his former co-star and some members of the film fraternity. In an apparent dig at Kher, Shah had said, "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he has become a displaced person." "Shah Saab ki Jai Ho. By that logic NRIs should not think about India at all.:)," Kher had tweeted. The actor later said that he had spoken to Shah to clarify the matter. Kher said Shah denied making that statement. When approached for his comments, Shah said, "I don't want to say anything. I don't want to give any reaction. This is misreporting." Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wrote on Twitter, "You don't have to be Kashmiri to fight for #KashmiriPandits plight. Every Indian should condemn the brutality and support their resettlement." Replying to Bhandarkar, Pandit said, "Well said Sir. Just like @NaseerudinShah who is from #Meerut but raised his voice for #GujaratRiots. Opposition National Conference and Congress legislators today staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after Speaker Kavinder Gupta rejected an adjournment motion to discuss the issue of relief to the 2014 flood victims. As soon as the House assembled, the opposition members moved an adjournment motion to discus the issue of relief to the flood victims. The Speaker, however, rejected the demand of the opposition members, who then stormed into the well of the House raising slogans seeking justice for the flood-affected people. The Speaker said the issue had already been raised and the government will respond at an appropriate time. G M Saroori of Congress said while the state government had projected a loss of Rs 44,000 crore due to the floods, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh had made a statement that Rs 3,500 crore was enough for compensation as well as reconstruction of the damaged property. With the Speaker refusing, the Congress MLAs walked out of the House. They were joined by National Conference members a while later. Nepal today announced a budget of USD 10 billion for the fiscal year 2016-17, 28 per cent increase over last year's budget, that will focus on implementing the new Constitution, accelerating development works and speeding up post-quake reconstruction. Nepal Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel said that he prepared the budget in consultation with political parties, former finance ministers and various stakeholders. The Rs 1.048 trillion (USD 10 billion) budget proposed 25 per cent increse in the salary of the civil servants. The priorities of the budget are implementing the new Constitution, accelerating development works, speeding up post-quake reconstruction and to reduce poverty. Through the new budget the government has allocated Rs. 140 billion for the post earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation works. The government has also proposed to levy 5 per cent tax on petroleum products to generate electricity on its own with a view to ending the current power outage in the country. Around thirty per cent of the government expenditure will be financed through foreign aid, including soft loans and grant assistance. The government has also allocated Rs 10 billion for construction Kathmandu- Nijgadh fast track road that will connect Kathmandu with Terai, the southern Nepal through shortest land route. London's newly-elected mayor, Sadiq Khan, has ordered an urgent review of the city's security strategy to make sure it is prepared to respond to a major terrorist attack. The city's first Muslim mayor, who won by a landslide victory earlier this month, appointed a former chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Lord Harris, yesterday to analyse the city's ability to cope with a major attack. "Nothing is more important to me than keeping Londoners safe," Khan said. "I want to be reassured that every single agency and individual involved in protecting our city has the resources and expertise they need to respond in the event that London is attacked," he said. Lord Harris, who is also a member of the city's joint committee on the National Security Strategy, will report his findings in the next few months. "It is quite clear that terrorists want to attack London. They have attacked Paris. They have attacked Brussels. They have tried to attack London in the past. We have got to make sure we are constantly vigilant. I have asked Lord Harris to carry out an urgent independent review to reassure me that our city is prepared for, God forbid, a major terrorist incident," Khan added. The review will look at how the city would cope if multiple attacks were launched, examining the arrangements in place across all the emergency services. The emergency services along with Transport for London, the Port of London Authority and local government representatives will be contacted as part of the review. Scotland Yard police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: "Although we are confident the Met (Metropolitan Police) can deal effectively if terrorists did strike our city, and we test ourselves regularly, we are never complacent about the city's security and recognise that there will always be ways in which we can improve. Nine persons, including six children, were injured when unidentified persons hurled a bomb at a victory rally of Trinamool Congress at Kipalpur in North 24 Parganas district today. The bomb exploded in the victory rally, injuring three Trinamool Congress supporters and six children standing nearby, a police official said. While one injured TMC supporter and a child were admitted to the Bashirhat hospital, others were discharged after first aid. Police were enquiring into the identity of the people who hurled the bomb into the rally before escaping, he said. Congress today launched a blistering attack on the Modi government on its celebrations marking two years in office, asking what was there to celebrate when the country is facing a severe agrarian crisis and numerous other problems. The party came out with a 59-page booklet, titled "Pragati Ki Tham Gayi Chaal, Do Saal, Desh Ka Bura Hal" (The pace of progress has stopped. Two years and the nation's bad plight) accusing the government of "systematic attack on institutions, icons and inclusiveness". Claiming the booklet to be "Sachchaai Ka Aaina (Mirror of Reality), AICC trained its guns on the NDA dispensation on a wide range of issues including economy, employment, price rise and foreign policy. Dismissing the government's claims on performance on completion of two years in office, the party said,"Dull and dark shadow crept over India in the last two years." "As the second year of the Modi government draws to a close, sadly there is little to celebrate," it said. "Muscled thugs impose their ideas of morality and lynch mobs kill people on mere suspicion. BJP leaders spew venomous messages of hate and violence to question the patriotism of every Indian who disagrees with them," it said. Attacking the Centre over its handling of the economy, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram asked it to pluck up courage to go for bold reforms, saying the party will engage with the government if it means business. "Once the economy stabilised as I believe it had by June 2014, the government should have then given the economy a big push by going for bold structural reforms, taken the difficult the decisions which were pending because UPA did not have absolute majority in the Lok Sabha," he told reporters in Delhi. In Mumbai, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "I don't understand what the celebrations are for when the entire country is going through an agrarian crisis." "There's no reason for this government to celebrate," the former Union minister said, adding they (Modi government) have not done anything for the farmers. "During 2015, altogether 3,228 farmers in Maharashtra ended their lives due to agrarian crisis and the BJP-led government has ignored plight of farmers", he alleged. In Indore, Congress general secretary CP Joshi took a potshot at the Narendra Modi-led NDA regime, saying even after completing two years in office, the Prime Minister was in an "electioneering mode". "Even after coming to power two years back, Modi was still in electioneering mode," Joshi told reporters here. "When Prime Minister visits non-BJP ruled states, he tries to dwarf the Chief Ministers of such states. The responsibility of Prime Minister is to take the country ahead with the help of Chief Ministers of all the states," the former Union Minister added. "Modi should realise that he Is the country's PM, not a Prime Ministerial candidate," he said. The opposition party went hammer and tongs at the Modi dispensation over its role in Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and accused it of "murder of democracy and subversion of federalism". With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due in 2017, the party also tried to paint the Modi government as "anti- Dalit" citing remarks by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat last year on caste-based reservation. The party alleged that Modi and his government are "surreptitiously following the RSS agenda" through its actions and policies including "systematic withdrawal of schemes for SCs/STs/BCs and by imposing budgetary cuts". "The last two years have seen a dull and dark shadow creep over India. People are bewildered and confused. Instead of promised 'achche din', they are witnessing a systematic attack on India's institutions, icons and inclusiveness. "As the second year of the Modi government draws to a close, sadly there is little to celebrate. Job growth, industrial output and exports are all plunging downward. Inflation, rural distress, drought and low farm incomes are making life miserable for kisan and khet mazdoor," the booklet said. Sibal said, "Chicken is cheaper than dal now. Is this what the Modi government is celebrating?". Claiming that inflation has increased under the Modi government, Sibal, who has been nominated by the party for the Rajya Sabha, said, "Prices are increasing all over. There is no employment for youth." "While in opposition, BJP opposed GST and Modi, then the Gujarat CM, was at the forefront in opposing GST. Now the same Modi wants it (GST)", he said. Sibal also claimed BJP opposed the Aadhaar card scheme while in opposition but now the Modi government schemes are based on that. Joshi said the NDA government has failed to bring back the black money stashed in foreign banks as promised by Modi during the 2014 Lok Sabha campaign. The NDA government is "weakening democracy by not recognising the autonomy of judiciary and constitution institutions". Hitting back at the BJP for its 'Congress Mukt Bharat' slogan, Joshi expressed confidence that his party will bounce back to power in the 2019 general elections and the country will become "Modi Mukt" (free from Modi). One miner was today killed and nine others were injured in an accident in one of the mines of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) near here. The accident occurred at Turamdih mine in the outskirts of Jamshedpur when the workers were cleaning accumulated slush, Dalbhum sub-divisional officer Suraj Kumar said. As per the primary report water had gushed in suddenly causing the mud to flow and trapping the miners, UCIL chairman-cum-managing director Diwakar Acharya told PTI. One of them, Milan Karmakar was killed, while 11 others were trapped in the slush. Nine of them have been rescued. Operations were on to rescue the rest two and the injured were rushed to Tata Main Hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable, he said. The father of Pakistan's nuclear programme Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan today said that the country could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia ul Haq "opposed the move". He was addressing a gathering on the anniversary of first nuclear tests, which were carried out under his supervision in 1998. "We were able and we had a plan to launch nuclear test in 1984. But President General Zia ul Haq had opposed the move," said Khan. He said General Zia, who ruled Pakistan from 1979 to 1988, opposed the nuclear testing as he believed that the world would intervene militarily. Khan also said that Pakistan has the ability to target Indian capital Dehli from Kahuta near Rawalpindi in five minutes. Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for proliferation and live a life of semi house arrest. He regretted the treatment and said Pakistan would never have achieved the feat of becoming first Muslim nuclear country without his "services". "We are facing the worst against our services to the country's nuclear program," he said referring to the humiliation he suffered. Nuclear programme has made Pakistan's defence impregnable, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said today on the anniversary of first ever nuclear weapon testing by the country in 1998. He said the day will be remembered as a crucial milestone like Independence Day in the history of Pakistan. The day is observed every year as Youm-e-Takbeer. "Pakistan nuclear programme has made country's defence impregnable," he said in his message. He also said that the day was a golden chapter of the history of the country. The Prime Minister said Pakistan's atomic programme is aimed at ensuring peace in South Asia and maintaining balance of power in the region. He also said that Pakistan military is a shield against external threats and an effective tool to foil the designs of those engaged in destabilising the country internally. He said that peace has returned to the country and the economy stabilised as Pakistan was marching towards becoming an economic power. The premier said that several projects have been launched under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and these projects will change the destiny of the country. Vice President of China National Nuclear Corporation in his speech said cooperation with Pakistan in nuclear energy was reflective of strategic ties between the two countries. The completion of Chashma-3 will strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, he said, adding that nuclear power plants are playing a vital role in economic development of Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Atomic Energy Commission Muhammad Naeem said the Commission had been given a target of 8800 MW of nuclear power till 2030. To achieve this target, planning for establishment of more plants have been done and places identified and research work in this regard is going on, Naeem said. He said three plants have been planned, out of which one will be established in Chashma and two in Muzaffargard. Necessary skill has been acquired to prepare fuel for nuclear power plants and in Chashma land has been acquired for fuel fabrication plant, he said, addding that presently fuel for Chashma power plants are being imported from China. A Pakistani spokesman says federal investigators have arrested two officials involved in issuing Pakistani documents to the slain Taliban chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and his family. Mansour was killed in a US drone strike a week ago in southwestern Baluchistan province. A Pakistani passport found near the destroyed car identified him as Wali Mohammad. Interior Ministry's spokesman Sarfaraz Hussain says Aziz Ahmed, an official in Baluchistan's capital of Quetta, was arrested today. Hussain says Ahmed approving a national identity card for Mansour in the name of Wali Mohammad in 2001. The second official arrested is Riffat Iqbal, with the registration authorities in the port city of Karachi. Hussain says Iqbal was arrested for facilitating the paperwork on Pakistani citizenship for Mansour's second wife and his children. Pakistan has banned airing advertisements of contraceptives on television and radio after complaints that such "undesired" commercials make children inquisitive about the use of the family planning products. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) imposed the ban last week after it received complaints from parents against commercials of contraceptive, birth control and family planning products on electronic media. "General public is very much concerned on the exposure of such products to the innocent children, which get inquisitive on features and use of the products," Pemra said in a notification. Parents have "shown apathy" on "undesired" advertisements of such products and demanded a ban on their airing, it further said. The regulatory body warned of legal actions against media organisations failing to follow the directives on such ads. Pemra last year banned an advertisement by a condom brand, calling it "immoral" and contrary to religious norms. Pakistan is a highly conservative society where discussion of topics even remotely connected to sex is considered as taboo. The ban came despite a government initiative to encourage birth control in Pakistan. The country's population is growing by around 1.8 per cent a year and is estimated to peak 240 million in year 2030. Apparently unhappy over the election of V Narayanasamy as the new Chief Minister of the Union territory today, supporters of a faction in the Congress protested against the decision and went on a rampage damaging buses here. Windscreens of at least eight buses operating between Puducherry and Chennai were broken after the protesters, believed to be supporters of PCC president A Namassivayam pelted the vehicles with stones. Driver of a bus sustained injuries in the stone pelting. Some of the passengers in a bus also suffered injuries when glass splinters hit them, they said. The protestors also shouted slogans against Narayanasamy outside the hotel where the Congress Legislature Party meeting was held. They contended a person who had not contested the elections should not be made the Chief Minister. When Namassivayam came out of the hotel, they surrounded him and posed several queries regarding the decision. Namassivayam was seen placating some of the protestors. Accusing Uttarakhand Chief Minister of "misusing" public money, BJP today demanded that a case be registered against him and the DG of Information and Public Relations for putting out an advertisement aimed at "personal image building" in violation of a Supreme Court directive. Referring to a full-page advertisement put out by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations in several newspapers on May 23, BJP spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan said it was not at all related to matters of public interest and welfare. "Putting out ads in newspapers and the media is the government's prerogative and we have no objection to that. But a look at the content of the ad makes it clear it is not related to any matter of public interest. It has been brought out clearly to push the political agenda of the CM and is also highly critical of CBI which was to interrogate him just a day later in connection with the sting CD case," Chauhan said. Alleging that the advertisement was virtually Rawat's "mercy petition" before the people of the state a day before his interrogation by the investigating agency, the BJP leader said it was like an "election poster" painting the CM as the "survivor of a conspiracy to finish him politically". Chauhan claimed the advertisement put out by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations at the behest of the chief minister was not just violation of the Supreme Court ruling against spending of public money over personal image building of a politician but was also against the CBI. It was as a result of this ad that there was a protest against CBI in New Delhi, he said, demanding that a case be registered against the chief minister for alleged breach of peace. The party will soon call on Governor K K Paul seeking a direction to the law enforcement agencies to register a case against the CM and the Director General of Information and Public Relations for publishing the ad. The advertisement shows Rawat thanking the deities of Uttarakhand, its people, his MLAs and the Congress' central and state leaderships for their support during the recent political crisis in Uttarakhand. It also speaks of a "conspiracy" to finish Rawat politically by "dragging him into a CBI probe" and lowering his image in the eyes of the people of Uttarakhand. Chauhan said the DG of Information and Public Relations must be booked as he issued orders for putting out the ad which was critical of the country's apex investigating agency and thus became party to a political campaign. "How can a government official become part of a political campaign to vilify the CBI," he asked. Russian President Vladimir Putin today visited the monastic community of Mount Athos, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites, on the last leg of a two-day visit to Greece. Putin, who has often talked about his strong Orthodox faith, joined celebrations for the 1,000th anniversary of the Russian presence at the ancient, all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, in northern Greece. State TV ERT showed Putin arriving at the little port of Daphne, near the coastal Russian monastery, after 1100 GMT on a yacht escorted by a small flotilla of security vessels. Underscoring the private nature of his visit -- his first to the region since 2005 -- he wore no tie and immediately removed his jacket before briefly posing for photographs at the port. A broadly smiling Putin then attended a welcome ceremony at the Protaton, the oldest church of the Mount Athos administrative capital of Karyes, where he was greeted by ringing church bells. The Russian leader lit a candle and kissed the Axion Esti, a revered icon of the Virgin Mary, ERT footage showed. "Important work on moral foundations and moral values is done on Mount Athos," he said. He later told a gathering of abbots: "Whoever enters this land of prayer experiences special feelings." "The role of Mount Athos is particularly important to Russian Orthodoxy," he said, adding that over 11,000 Russian faithful visit the area annually. Putin was joined on his visit by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, a former Communist who clashed with EU peers last year over the Ukraine crisis, arguing that the bloc should avoid "spasmodic" moves against Russia. Accompanied by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Putin then visited the Russian monastery of St Panteleimon on the west coast of the Halkidiki peninsula. Media coverage of the Mount Athos trip was restricted and Putin's Russian monastery visit was entirely off bounds. Russia and Greece are both largely Orthodox Christian countries and share close religious ties. Mount Athos is an enclave of 20 monasteries -- including one apiece for Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria -- that has enjoyed autonomy since Byzantine times. Yesterday, Putin signed several economic deals with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens during a visit aimed at reinforcing a relationship with one of his few friends in the EU at a time of tension 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 emerge from recession, with Greek officials saying increased trade with Russia could play a part in recovery efforts. EU leaders will next month discuss whether to renew sanctions on Russia's banking, defence and energy sectors that expire in July. Reliance Infrastructure today reported a 43.72 per cent increase in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 659.85 crore on the back of improvement in operations. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 459.11 crore in the January-March period last fiscal. Its consolidated net income from operations for the quarter declined marginally to Rs 4,469.28 crore from Rs 4,596.09 crore. "The increase in profit is a reflection of improvement in operations. It also reflects some one-time jump through EPC billing, the cost of which was incurred earlier," the company's Acting Chief Executive Officer Lalit Jalan told reporters here. For the full fiscal, the company reported a net profit of Rs 1,974.56 crore and a total revenue of Rs 17,051.2 crore against Rs 1,800.18 crore and Rs 17,159.49 crore respectively in 2014-15. During the year, it acquired management control of Reliance Defence and Engineering, the erstwhile Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering. "We have also signed final binding agreement with Birla Corporation for sale of our 5.6 MTPA cement assets. Our asset monetisation plan of roads and Mumbai power business is also on track," he said. Jalan further said the company expects all the three transactions to be completed in 2016-17 itself. "We have shortlisted two consortia for the roads projects and the cement business deal is expected to be completed between July-August period. With these three transactions, we believe we will be able to bring down our debt significantly and on the standalone basis, we will be debt free in this fiscal itself," he added. On consolidated basis, the debt of the company stands at around Rs 25,500 crore, while the standalone debt is around Rs 15,000 crore. Reliance Infra has signed a non-binding term sheet with PSP Investments of Canada for 49 per cent stake sale in Mumbai power business. On the Mumbai power distribution business, he said the company recovered Rs 866 crore arrears in 2015-16 and till date recovered Rs 2,248 crore. It added 64,800 new consumers in 2015-16, taking the total number to 29.5 lakh. He said the government has also allotted land at Mihan (Nagpur) in Maharashtra to manufacture aerospace equipment and naval combat systems. The company has also received 35 industrial licences for missiles, ammunition, land and naval systems. "Our focus will be on air defence systems, including missiles and large aerostats through joint venture with Rafael Advanced Systems Ltd (Israel), which has an opportunity worth USD 10 billion over next 10 years. "Besides, we will also focus on aircraft manufacturing through partnership agreement with Antonov (Ukraine) for military and civil use, an opportunity worth USD 5 billion over next 10 years," Jalan said. The company is also looking at tapping large scale ammunition market globally and in India, which has an opportunity of over USD 10 billion over next 10 years, he said. "We have already bid for projects worth Rs 84,000 crore in the defence space," he added. During the year, the company's total order book stood at Rs 3,075 crore, while its revenues stood at Rs 2,774 crore. It earned a revenue of Rs 675 crore from its infrastructure business, while Rs 217 crore from the Mumbai metro segment. The cement business earned revenue of Rs 1,464 crore from 5.6 MTPA operational capacity in 2015-16. American Senator Marco Rubio has criticised Pakistan's blasphemy law, saying it continues to "encourage" violence and marginalisation of religious minorities in the country. "In Pakistan, we have seen proponents of religious freedom murdered for criticising blasphemy laws," Rubio, also a former Republican presidential candidate, said on the Senate floor this week. He cited the March, 2011 killing of Shahbaz Bhatti, saying the Pakistani Federal Minister of Minority Affairs - and, the only Christian to serve in Pakistan's Cabinet - was shot to death by the Pakistani Taliban outside of his mother's home. "Five years have passed. The Pakistani government has failed to bring his murderers to justice and have failed to reform the blasphemy law that continues to encourage violence, murder with impunity, and the marginalisation of religious minorities," Rubio said. "As a result, numerous other prisoners of conscience in suffer behind bars," the Senator from Florida alleged. Around 600 school children took out a rally today to spread awareness on menstrual hygiene, raising slogans about breaking taboo surrounding the issue. The rally from Connaught Place to NDMC Convention Centre, which was organised on the occasion of International Menstrual Hygiene Day by the Department of Women and Child Development in collaboration with Sachchi Saheli, was flagged off by Delhi's Women and Child Development Minister Sandeep Kumar. On the occasion, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal said "we should talk about it freely and without hesitation" so as to break the taboo. Delhi's Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra told the children that they must not give in to social pressure and should stand and say no to taboo linked to menstrual cycle. "Our understanding of menstruation was vague prior to science clarifying it. Thus a lot of bizarre beliefs were twisted to explain periods in primeval communities and cultures. Though now proven wrong by science, these beliefs are still practised in current societies and by so-called modern communities, especially in India," said Dr Surbhi Singh, founder of Sachi Saheli. "Despite having known that menstrual fluid is nothing but a harmless mixture of blood, tissues and small amounts of hormones for about a century now, the culture of silence around the subject keeps menstrual myths unquestioned and inviolable. "We aren't supposed to talk about it in the open, nor are we supposed to question the restrictions and rules that follow this natural, not to mention essential, biological process. This initiative is to break this taboo," she said. Dr Arun Gupta, President of Delhi Medical Council (DMC), said the myth and superstition that surround menstruation are affecting millions of women every day and more importantly, shaping how young girls and women look at themselves, their bodies and their roles in our society. Statistics reveal that at least 23 per cent of girls in India quit schools when they start menstruating and the rest miss at least five days during periods. "Various research studies have identified menstruation as one of the key barriers to girls' school attendance and attainment. We have to break it if we care about girls in our society," he said. All schools in Tamil Nadu will reopen on June one as scheduled,a release from Directorate of Education said today. It said that arrangements have been made to distribute books and other materials on that day itself. An official said the decision was taken after a meeting of top education department officals which reviewed reopening dates of previous years and the weather and temperature that prevailed then. There was a demand from the Parents-Teachers Associations to postpone by one week reopening of 55000 schools in view of the extreme heat conditions prevailing in the state. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical check-up, will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday, according to his daughter. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz tweeted that her father will undergo the open-heart surgery. "Prime Minister undergoing open heart surgery on Tuesday. Prayers are the most effective and potent medicine. Millions will pray for him. Insha Allah he'll be fine," she tweeted last night. Maryam went on to explain her 66-year-old father's medical condition, saying: "In 2011 had a cardiac procedure called 'Atrial Fibrillation Ablation', during which certain complications occurred resulting in perforation of heart which was in turn treated by open heart surgery." Therefore, Sharif had been visiting his doctor for follow up, she said. "After some recent symptoms a team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons carried out some scans and tests, following which they decided to go for an open heart surgery," she said. The prime minister will be on specific medication for the next three days before his surgery on Tuesday, Maryam said. "The recovery period and hospital stay will be one week. will travel back to Pakistan as soon as the doctors allow," she added. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also said doctors have advised Sharif to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he will be staying in the hospital for a week in London. "The prime minister will travel after one week, on doctor's permission," Asif, who is also a confidante of the premier, said here yesterday. This is Sharif's second trip to London for medical check-up in recent weeks. He had undergone a check-up in Pakistan last month following which he decided to visit London for a proper medical assessment. He went to London on May 22 for a medical check-up and was supposed to return in a week. His surgery will be conducted at London's The Princess Grace Hospital, which is considered one of the best-equipped multi-disciplinary hospital in the UK capital. Sharif has been facing pressure from opposition political parties at home to conduct a thorough investigation into the Panama Papers leaked documents - which show that members of his family own undeclared offshore wealth and expensive property in London. Some leaders in Pakistan have demanded Sharif to step down amid the scandal. Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to Sharif for the surgery. Spanish police said Saturday they had arrested seven people suspected of involvement in the theft of five paintings worth 25 million euros (USD 27.8 million) by renowned British artist Francis Bacon. The paintings were reported stolen in July 2015 along with a safe containing coin collections and jewellery and have yet to be recovered. Spanish detectives were approached in February by British private investigators specialising in the recovery of stolen artworks who had received an email with photographs of the stolen works asking if they were listed as stolen, national police said in a statement. Investigators then analysed the photo and were able to determine that the camera that took the images was owned by a photographic equipment rental company which supplied details of the customer who had rented it at the time the paintings were photographed. The customer, who is suspected of involvement in the crime, was among those arrested, along with a Madrid art dealer and his son. Sources close to the investigation said in March that the theft appeared to have been a highly-professional operation which took place while the owner was away in London, with the perpetrators disabling the alarm system. The owner of the paintings was reportedly a close friend of Bacon. Irish-born Bacon died in Madrid in 1992 aged 82 and his expressionist-surrealist works, which are often raw and emotional, remain hugely sought after. Bacon's death only enhanced his reputation and the 2013 sale of his 1969 work "Three Studies of Lucien Freud" fetched USD 142,405,000 (128 million euros) at auction, a world record at the time. Art market information leader Artprice lists Bacon as one of 10 frontline modern artists alongside the likes of Picasso and Andy Warhol Warhol whose works make up 18 percent of global sales. Islamic State militants entered a major Syrian opposition stronghold in the country's north, clashing with rebels on the edges of the town as the extremist group builds on its most significant advance near the Turkish border in two years even as it loses ground elsewhere in the country and in neighbouring Iraq. The town of Marea, just north of Aleppo city, has long been considered a bastion of relatively moderate Syrian revolutionary forces fighting to topple Assad. The IS assault underlined the weakness of the groups fighting under the loose banner of the so-called Free Syrian Army that have been struggling to survive. More than 160,000 civilians have been trapped by the fighting yesterday, which also forced the evacuation of one of the few remaining hospitals in the area, run by the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders. Yesterday, IS fighters staged two suicide bombings targeting "opposition forces" near Marea, IS said via its agency, Aamaq. Following the suicide bombings, IS militants entered Marea and fighting began inside the town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition media outfit that tracks Syria's civil war. Dr Abdel Rahman Alhafez, who heads one of the last remaining hospitals in Marea, said the town was encircled and his hospital under threat since Friday. "We need urgent protection for the hospital or a way out," he said in an emailed statement. Syrian army warplanes and helicopters, meanwhile, pounded other opposition-held towns in Aleppo province on Saturday, putting a further strain on embattled rebels fighting President Bashar Assad's forces. Islamic State's territorial gains around Marea and Azaz, both critical rebel bastions north of the city of Aleppo, are a blow to the Turkey- and Saudi-backed opposition fighters who have been struggling to retain a foothold in the region while being squeezed by opponents from all sides. They also demonstrated the IS group's ability to stage major offensives and capture new areas, despite a string of recent losses in Syria and Iraq. American Special Operations forces and a coalition of Syrian and Arab fighters known as the Syria Democratic Forces have begun clearing areas north of Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, in preparation for an eventual assault on the city. The IS offensive targeting Syrian opposition strongholds near the Turkish border began on Thursday night. On Friday, militants of the group captured six villages near Azaz, triggering intense fighting that trapped tens of thousands of civilians unable to flee to safety while Turkey's border remains closed. A few hundred fled west to the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin. Thai rescue workers battled rough seas today as they resumed the search for a British man missing after a speedboat accident that left three foreign women dead, police said. The boat, which was carrying 32 tourists plus four crew, capsized Thursday afternoon after it was slammed by a wave near a rocky stretch of coast on Koh Samui, a popular island in the Gulf of Thailand. Thai officials say three women -- from the United Kingdom, Germany and Hong Kong -- died in the accident, which threw all of the passengers overboard, trapping some under the ship's hull. Forty rescue workers continued searching today for a missing British man, said an officer from the island's tourist police force. "The obstacle for today is the rough seas, but we will try our best," Thanakorn Pattananun told AFP. The tourist was travelling with his wife, who survived the accident, he added. The boats that ferry tourists around Thailand's popular beaches are notoriously reckless and life vests are often in short supply. Police have charged the Thai captain who drove the tour boat with negligence leading to deaths and injuries, a crime that carries up to 10 years in prison. Britain's Foreign Office said Saturday it was in touch with Thai authorities and the victims' families. Although tourism remains a key source of income for Thailand, the kingdom's reputation as the "Land of Smiles" has suffered in recent years amid a string of deadly bus and boat accidents 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. Top Union Ministers today joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office. While the centrepiece event was held at historic India Gate here that saw Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and many of his ministerial colleagues speak at length about numerous steps taken by the government across sectors, some Cabinet Ministers joined in from different parts of the country, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Vijaywada. The five-hour programme 'Ek Nayi Subah', which was telecast live by Doordarshan across the country, also saw superstar Amitabh Bachchan talking about one of the government's flagship programmes 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'. His participation came amid questions being raised by opposition parties in the wake of his name figuring in Panama papers. The event started with young ministers like Kiren Rijiju, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Babul Supriyo talking about 'new vision, new India' as they heaped praise on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision and making efforts for effective execution of various programmes. "He is the most youthful among us," said Rathore. Bollywood actor R Madhavan and achor Neelam Sharma hosted the programme which was also attended by Union Ministers Birender Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Ram Vilas Paswan, Uma Bharti, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and J P Nadda. Food and Public Distribution System Minister Ram Vilas Paswan lauded the government's electrification programme, saying it has benefited the poor and dalits most. Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said the government is working overtime to strengthen rural infrastructure which will lead to a "revolution". Maneka Gandhi, Union Women and Child Development Minister, said the government has strengthened anganwadi centres to tackle malnutrition and taken several child reform initiatives to ensure their safety and security. "There was no check on Anganwadis since they were established, as a result of which malnutrition went on increasing. So, we put the entire system on reform mode. "We are giving tablet computers to each and every Anganwadi which will enable us to monitor on real time basis the nutrition being given to the children. This will decrease malnutrition within two years. It was happening due to carelessness and nothing else," Gandhi said. Listing out government's achievements in the past two years, Gandhi said the Women and Child Development Ministry has streamlined adoption and foster care procedures which has helped in cracking down on illegal child care institutions. Talking about children's immunisation cover, Health Minister J P Nadda said it has increased five to six per cent in the past two years with the government's Mission Indradhanush programme. "Around 2.70 crore children are born in the country every year out of whom 90 lakh were not immunized. 20 lakh from poor and migrant families which were completely left out and 70 lakh children were partially immunized. "We launched Mission Indradhanush, which was apart from routine immunization programme, to provide seven types of vaccines to the left out children. In three phases, we covered 497 districts where immunization was below 50 per cent and, within one year, 1.62 crore children were immunized out of whom 45 lakh were fully immunized and rest partially. With this, immunization increased five to seven per cent in one year," Nadda said. (REOPENS DEL39) Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Modi government has changed the style of governance and ended policy paralysis that existed during the previous UPA regime. He added that government has brought in transparency and cut down red tape. Gadkari also said government was finishing many pending infrastructure projects started by the previous government and making efforts to ensure better connectivity in the northeastern states. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said infrastructure was critical to any country's growth and this government was making efforts to improve it. He said a beginning has been made in this regard and soon India will be among the developed nations. Sharma said government was planning to send as many doctors as possible to rural areas but for that reasonable infrastructure such a roads and electricity were required. He said government is working on plans to utilise several airstrips lying idle across the country to help ensure more and more people are able to travel by air. Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said the Prime Minister has given a deadline of 1,000 days for complete electrification of villages across the country and it is hoped the target will be achieved much before that. The interests of farmers, he alleged, had been ignored for a long time but now with soil health cards they would know what to sow and how to improve productivity. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was among the very few senior Cabinet members who did not participate in the event due to illness. "I am recovering from illness. I will join our Government's celebrations very soon," she said while replying to a query on twitter. Apart from Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju were not part of the event. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government is trying to provide technology for the poor for their empowerment. "This country is changing and we have to take it forward," he said, adding that e-commerce is also progressing fast. He said Digital India will transform the country and the mission is to bring governance to the "palm of the people". Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said government has taken a number of steps to simplify the FDI policy. She said industrial manufacturing zones are being set up in different parts of the country and each one of them will help generate 1.5 lakh jobs. Sitharaman said investment in the country is rising after every visit of the Prime Minister abroad. HRD minister Smriti Irani said the government's efforts have acclerated skill education in the country. Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said by deploying digital technology in the field of research a lot of paper work has been reduced. Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy praised Prime Minister Modi for taking up the issue of skill development in a big and systematic manner. Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters and protestors clashed outside an election rally of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego as police in riot gear and wielding batons arrested 35 people in the second scuffle in three days to hit his campaign. People from both sides screamed at each other and threw water bottles, as the police tried to control the situation, firing pepper-balls. The clash between pro and anti-Trump groups occurred after the Republican leader ended his speech in San Diego in the western California state yesterday, with several people throwing stones and plastic bottles, some that hit police officers. Police were deployed in riot gear as the billionaire from New York addressed a massive rally at a convention centre. After issuing orders to the crowd of roughly 1,000 to disperse, police began forcefully and aggressively pushing protesters - who were waving Mexican flags and holding anti-Trump signs - checking them with their batons. Some protestors also scaled barriers, according to reports. At least 35 people were arrested, police said, adding that no property damage was reported and no injuries were reported. "Crowd behaviour has become unlawful. An unlawful assembly has now been declared. It is illegal to remain in the area," the San Diego Police said in a situational update, adding its forces would be deployed till late in the night. Later, Trump appreciated the police for handling the "thugs". "@SanDiegoPD- Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. Greatly appreciated!" he tweeted. At his rally, Trump also responded to US President Barack Obama's comments a day ago that world leaders are rattled by his campaign rhetoric and assured his supporters that he would get along well with foreign leaders. "I happen to be a nice person, folks. I'll get along great. I will get along so great with these countries. I will get along so great," Trump told thousands of his supporters. "He (Obama) said today that our trading partners and countries that we have relationship with, they're rattled. I said, "Yay, oh, that's so good."," Trump said. Someone grabbed a man's "Make America Great Again" hat and burned it, according to San Diego Tribune. Officers in helmets, masks, pads and with long wooden batons massed in lines, then moved slowly toward the unruly protesters. By evening, police had managed to move and disperse the crowd, and few were left, the daily reported. Trump was in the city near the Mexican border to hold a rally ahead of the 7 June California primary and in his San Diego rally pledged to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants. This is the second anti-Trump protest in three days. His rally in New Mexico on Tuesday turned violent as protesters toppled barricades and threw rocks, burning T-shirts and plastic bottles at police officers, injuring several people. (Reopens FGN3) Earlier yesterday in Fresno, Trump denied that there was a major drought affecting the state, saying instead that when he becomes president he will "start opening up the water". "Great rally in Fresno, California- great crowd! Thank you!" he said in another tweet. At the San Diego rally, Trump said the US under his presidency would start winning again. "Every single country no matter what -- name a country -- we lose. We don't win anymore. We're going to start winning. We're going to win with trade. We're going to win with our military. We're going to start winning again," he said amidst applause. Trump alleged that the countries like Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, who are being protected by the US are not paying money. "Then you look at the NATO countries -- 28 total, many of them aren't living up to their obligations," he said. "They have been abusing us. They have been abusing us. This isn't 40 years ago when we could have done whatever we want." Continuing with his criticism of Hillary Clinton, Trump said the Democratic presidential frontrunner and former secretary of state is a "very boring" speaker. "I watched Hillary Clinton last night, which was hard to do because she's a very boring speaker," he said. "I will not say because it's not politically correct and it's not a nice thing to say, so I will not say that she shouts into the microphone and it drives everybody crazy. So I won't say that. "But I found it very hard to watch. And then she lies. Now, you know, I called somebody a liar, but I don't say that anymore because that person is now in the past. I say that person is in the past. And with Hillary, we say "Crooked Hillary," he said. "But I've got to add another word because I never saw anything like this last night. She was saying that "I want Japan to arm with nuclear weapons." I never said that. She was saying, "I love the dictator in North Korea." I don't love the dictator -- bad guy, OK? Bad guy. "She was saying all sorts of things so bad, and so false, total lies. And we're not going to let her get away with it. We're not going to let her get away," Trump asserted. "Take a look at what's going on with our military that we love. We can't beat ISIS. We're going to beat ISIS. We're going to beat them quickly. We're going to knock the hell out of them. We shouldn't have been there in the first place, but we're going to knock the hell out of them. And we have to rebuild our country," he said. Two persons were today killed when their motorcycle collided with a tractor-trolley near village Rasodi in the district, police said. The incident took place when the victims were returning home from Mandli region after taking part in a condolence meeting. "Their bike collided with a tractor-trolley, which led to their death on the spot," Meghnagar Police Station In-charge M L Bhabar said. The deceased have been identified as Mesu Medha (50) and Gulla Vasunia (48), he said adding they belong to Meghnagar town of the district, the official said. A case has been registered in this regard and further investigations are on. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of Phantom Films and Balaji Motion Pictures have refuted reports that their upcoming production "Udta Punjab", based on issue of drug abuse in Punjab, has been banned by the censor board. Phantom Films and Balaji Motion Pictures led by Ekta Kapoor have co-produced the project which stars Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan. There are reports that the Abhishek Chaubey-directed movie has failed to get censor board's approval due to excessive swearing and drug consumption. "To set the record straight, Udta Punjab has not been banned. The examining committee has deferred the decision to the Revising committee and the due process is on," Aman Gill, CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd said in a statement. Central Board of Film Certification has also denied rejecting the film. "We have not rejected the film (Udta Punjab). The process is on for it. There were some differences between the committee and makers. I don't know why they (producers" are saying film is not cleared, "Anurag Srivastav of CBFC told PTI. Earlier Kashyap had said the things are in process and hence film is far from being banned. "For the record ,'Udta Punjab' is not banned. The examining committee has deferred the decision to Revising and due process is on. 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," the "Bombay Velvet" director tweeted. "A film is banned only when examining, revising and FCAT all three refuse certificate. And then you fight it out in Supreme Court," he further wrote. "Udta Punjab" also stars Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh and is set to release on June 17. The US city that would host the crucial Republican National Convention in July has reserved 200 beds at the jail anticipating protests during the mega meet that would officially nominate Donald Trump as the party's presidential candidate, according to a media report. Political protests during an election campaign, which is quite unusual to the US, has become a routine phenomenon at the campaign rallies of 69-year-old Trump. At least two such protests have been reported in the last three days, with the one yesterday resulting in arrest of about a dozen people in San Diego, where police had to come in riot gears to control the situation as hundreds of pro and anti-Trump supporters clashed at the rally venue. According to a local media outlet - Cleveland.Com - the city which would host the GOP convention in July, Cuyahoga County, will keep 200 beds open at the County Jail for those who may be arrested during the Republican National Convention. The county is buying equipment, including body cameras and detectors for radiation, chemicals and gas, it said. The county will be paid up to USD 250,000 by the city of Cleveland to house those arrested from July 16 through July 23, according to a proposal submitted to the county's Board of Control, which meets on May 31. "This agreement will allow Cuyahoga County to house 'fresh arrests' that are made by Cleveland Division of Police related to the RNC event," the county's department of public works wrote in its submission to the board, which approves contracts valued up to USD 500,000. Given the series of violent protest that the Trump rallies have been experiencing, authorities said that the GOP convention in Cleveland is expected to have an unprecedented level of security, with both local and federal law enforcement agencies in full force to prevent any untoward incident. Thousands of Republican leaders and members from across the country and hundreds of media from across the world are expected to attend the four-day convention in Cleveland. The Democratic convention is scheduled for a week later in Philadelphia. But no such security measure has been reported by authorities so far. The Democratic national convention would nominate its candidate for the November 8 presidential elections. The US has asked Pakistan to go after terrorists especially the Taliban leadership, days after an American drone killed Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the country's troubled Balochistan province. "We continue to cooperate closely with Afghanistan, but also urge Pakistan to go after terrorists, especially Taliban leadership, and that cooperation continues," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. Meanwhile, a former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, James B Cunningham, said the drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour inside Pakistan should send a signal that the United States will not tolerate terrorist safe havens. "I hope that this is the beginning of a message that we will not tolerate any more the strategic challenge that is posed by the leadership of the Taliban being in Pakistan and having a safe haven there. I hope that this is the beginning of a new phase in the effort to bring the Taliban into a political discussion," he told the Atlantic Council. "It is rumored that senior parts of the ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency) may have been involved in setting Mansour up. The official account is that we informed Pakistan of the strike after it took place. In places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, conspiracy rumors will circulate for some time," he said. Cunningham hoped that this would force Pakistan to rethink the wisdom of providing safe heavens to terrorists. "I would hope so. I have seen some commentary from some Pakistani observers that this may encourage a rethinking of the policy that the ISI has been pursuing. That is what is necessary. That's what we, the US, have been arguing for years; that's what we need to find a way to accomplish," he said. "We have a core strategic objective here, which is to bring the conflict to an end. In order to do that we need to make clear to the Taliban leaders that they will not prevail by terror and by military means. And we, the community, need to make clear to the ISI that we are no longer going to tolerate the kind of policy that they have been pursuing," the former top American diplomat said. Cunningham argued that to really get to a peace discussion, the Taliban have to come to the conclusion that the option of military force and terror will not get them back to the establishment of the emirate, which is what they want. "In order for that to happen, the status quo needs to be disrupted and that means we need to find a way to impact the safe havens in Pakistan," he argued. Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has issued a public notice to residents staying in 227 illegally constructed houses in Sulemani Chal locality on Ajwa Road on the outskirts of the city, and ordered the dwellers to vacate the properties by May 30. "We issued the public notice today after the occupants of the illegally constructed houses did not furnish any details regarding those residing in them," Vadodara Municipal Commissioner H S Patel told PTI. The dwellers of 227 houses have been staying illegally for the last 25 years despite repeated warnings, he said, and added that the plot on which the houses have been built is reserved under town planning scheme. "VMC would provide houses to the affected residents of Sulemani Chal locality under various housing schemes upon production of requisite documents at the office of JNNURM, situated in Raopura area of the city," he said. The VMC after receiving over 25,000 applications in 2013 from owners of illegally built properties in order to regularise the structures had issued thousands of regularisation certificates, he said. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the government had found an alternative source for procuring torpedos following the blacklisting of Italian company Finmeccanica SpA in the VVIP Chopper scam. "Now since we have decided to blacklist Finmeccanica and group companies, immediately we can't even think of this torpedo but we've alternative plans," Parrikar told reporters at the Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders here. "For purpose of secrecy, commercial importance of price, I will not inform you the alternative at this stage. Let the decision be taken by the government, then it will come (to you)," he said, and added that the country needs the torpedos at the earliest. In Finmeccanica's case, the price bid was not opened, and because of keeping the acquisition on hold the whole process had to be stopped, he said. Earlier this week, the government withdrew a tender for purchasing 98 torpedos for Scorpene submarines which a subsidiary of the chopper scam-tainted Italian defence conglomerate Finmeccanica had won during the UPA regime. The government action by default means that Finmeccanica will not be considered for the over Rs 1,200 crore deal for which a fresh tender is likely to be issued. If the matter is not resolved fast, the Navy would be inducting the first Scorpene submarine without its main anti-ship attack system. Black Shark torpedoes, made by Whitehead Alenia SistemiSubacquei (WASS), a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, had emerged the lowest bidder to arm the Scorpene submarines, the first of which will be handed over to the Navy by September. Parrikar today said six of the Scorpene class Kalavari submarines are being made at the MDL, and the first of them is undergoing sea trials and will be ready for induction into the Navy in the last quarter of the year. Yemeni authorities today arrested seven Islamic State group suspects, including one "Westerner", in second city Aden, a police officer said. The arrests are part of a government offensive against and Al-Qaeda, which have claimed a wave of deadly attacks in recent months in Yemen's south and southeast. Among these were twin bombings claimed by that hit loyalist forces in Aden on Monday, killing at least 41 people. "We arrested seven Daesh (ISIS) members, among them a Western Muslim, in Mansura" district of Aden, said officer Munir al-Yafie, who took part in the raid, without giving further details. and Al-Qaeda have exploited the power vacuum created by more than a year of conflict between pro-government forces and Iran-backed rebels to expand their zones of control in Yemen. Government forces drove the rebels out of the port city of Aden and other southern provinces since July with support from the Saudi-led coalition which launched its operations in Yemen in March 2015. But authorities have struggled to secure Aden, where Sunni jihadists emerged after the rebels left the city. Aden is serving as the temporary government headquarters as the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies control capital Sanaa. Archive Oct 2022 (104) Sep 2022 (127) Aug 2022 (135) Jul 2022 (132) Jun 2022 (138) May 2022 (136) Apr 2022 (128) Mar 2022 (138) Feb 2022 (127) Jan 2022 (132) Dec 2021 (136) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (155) Aug 2021 (184) Jul 2021 (170) Jun 2021 (168) May 2021 (168) Apr 2021 (169) Mar 2021 (179) Feb 2021 (153) Jan 2021 (161) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (152) Oct 2020 (160) Sep 2020 (158) Aug 2020 (169) Jul 2020 (173) Jun 2020 (169) May 2020 (165) Apr 2020 (164) Mar 2020 (144) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (118) Dec 2019 (113) Nov 2019 (105) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (122) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (125) Jun 2019 (116) May 2019 (124) Apr 2019 (117) Mar 2019 (123) Feb 2019 (108) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (125) Nov 2018 (122) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (114) Aug 2018 (127) Jul 2018 (124) Jun 2018 (114) May 2018 (130) Apr 2018 (123) Mar 2018 (128) Feb 2018 (114) Jan 2018 (126) Dec 2017 (123) Nov 2017 (121) Oct 2017 (121) Sep 2017 (116) Aug 2017 (119) Jul 2017 (108) Jun 2017 (116) May 2017 (110) Apr 2017 (111) Mar 2017 (119) Feb 2017 (109) Jan 2017 (108) Dec 2016 (113) Nov 2016 (116) Oct 2016 (118) Sep 2016 (120) Aug 2016 (112) Jul 2016 (111) Jun 2016 (125) May 2016 (111) Apr 2016 (112) Mar 2016 (121) Feb 2016 (114) Jan 2016 (114) Dec 2015 (119) Nov 2015 (117) Oct 2015 (125) Sep 2015 (124) Aug 2015 (103) Jul 2015 (125) Jun 2015 (131) May 2015 (123) Apr 2015 (129) Mar 2015 (133) Feb 2015 (125) Jan 2015 (135) Dec 2014 (134) Nov 2014 (129) Oct 2014 (144) Sep 2014 (127) Aug 2014 (130) Jul 2014 (143) Jun 2014 (131) May 2014 (137) Apr 2014 (139) Mar 2014 (134) Feb 2014 (128) Jan 2014 (141) Dec 2013 (140) Nov 2013 (136) Oct 2013 (145) Sep 2013 (146) Aug 2013 (147) Jul 2013 (151) Jun 2013 (141) May 2013 (150) Apr 2013 (149) Mar 2013 (151) Feb 2013 (133) Jan 2013 (160) Dec 2012 (154) Nov 2012 (157) Oct 2012 (165) Sep 2012 (145) Aug 2012 (161) Jul 2012 (170) Jun 2012 (162) May 2012 (169) Apr 2012 (162) Mar 2012 (162) Feb 2012 (156) Jan 2012 (169) Dec 2011 (157) Nov 2011 (178) Oct 2011 (182) Sep 2011 (170) Aug 2011 (178) Jul 2011 (174) Jun 2011 (157) May 2011 (158) Apr 2011 (164) Mar 2011 (172) Feb 2011 (162) Jan 2011 (177) Dec 2010 (171) Nov 2010 (169) Oct 2010 (182) Sep 2010 (179) Aug 2010 (184) Jul 2010 (190) Jun 2010 (189) May 2010 (198) Apr 2010 (185) Mar 2010 (210) Feb 2010 (195) Jan 2010 (212) Dec 2009 (225) Nov 2009 (209) Oct 2009 (215) Sep 2009 (202) Aug 2009 (230) Jul 2009 (269) Jun 2009 (252) May 2009 (241) Apr 2009 (256) Mar 2009 (254) Feb 2009 (255) Jan 2009 (214) Dec 2008 (204) Nov 2008 (252) Oct 2008 (268) Sep 2008 (304) Aug 2008 (210) Jul 2008 (251) Jun 2008 (206) May 2008 (203) Apr 2008 (202) Mar 2008 (204) Feb 2008 (195) Jan 2008 (212) Dec 2007 (179) Nov 2007 (189) Oct 2007 (179) Sep 2007 (176) Aug 2007 (209) Jul 2007 (155) Jun 2007 (135) May 2007 (106) Apr 2007 (120) Mar 2007 (138) Feb 2007 (77) Jan 2007 (70) Dec 2006 (63) Nov 2006 (70) Oct 2006 (67) Sep 2006 (70) Aug 2006 (61) Jul 2006 (56) Jun 2006 (44) May 2006 (60) Apr 2006 (53) Mar 2006 (45) Feb 2006 (38) Jan 2006 (42) Dec 2005 (46) Nov 2005 (54) Oct 2005 (60) Sep 2005 (46) Aug 2005 (86) Jul 2005 (43) Jun 2005 (47) May 2005 (52) Apr 2005 (39) Mar 2005 (29) Feb 2005 (26) Jan 2005 (12) When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas Contributed photo Del Mar College graduates listen to keynote speaker Capt. Stephen Banta. SHARE Contributed photo Nearly 1,070 students of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi graduated in two commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 14, 2016, at the American Bank Center Arena. Contibuted photo/Doug Smith Texas A&M University-Kingsville hosted its commencement ceremonies May 13. Contributed photo Members of the platform party at Del Mar College's Spring Commencement ceremony included Del Mar regents, administrators, faculty, staff and keynote speaker Capt. Stephen Banta, commanding officer of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Contributed photo Capt. Stephen Banta, commanding officer of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, addressed Del Mar College's prospective spring graduates during the commencement ceremony May 13 at American Bank Center Arena. Del Mar College, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Texas A&M University-Kingsville hosted their graduations the weekend of May 13 and 14. Del Mar College graduated approximately 684 students; A&M-CC graduated about 1,070 students and A&M-K graduated about 1,200 students. SHARE Nicole Edgar Appalled by transgender restroom policies After reading the new ordinance set forth by the Obama administration requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use whichever bathroom they identify with, I am outraged and downright appalled! As a concerned parent with a young daughter, she does not need to share a bathroom with any individual with male parts regardless of how they view themselves. I have nothing against the LGBT community as several of my family members are homosexual, but this government has crossed the line. The transgender community makes up a very tiny .03 percent, and we're forced to give up our civil rights to accommodate to this minuscule of a community? Please note, the concern isn't about transgender students, it's about the huge percent of pedophiles that now have free rein to pose as transgender and enter any bathroom of their choosing. Does my daughter's concern and safety not matter now? What happened to violating children's privacy? This must be a very sensitive issue for the LGBT community, but it's very negligent to instate policies that heighten the emotional discomfort of most concerned parents. They were on their way to an academic defence in Douala. ADS A man and his wife were yesterday, September 7, 2015, crushed to death by a shipping container that fell off a Renault trailer transporting it. Mboning Simplice Rigor, who was driving a Toyota pick-up van, was on board with his wife, Ngassam Mbakop. Only Ngassam Mbeutcha Carrelle Audrelle, Mbakops sister, narrowly survived the accident. The tragic incident occurred at about 3:30 pm as the family was heading for Carrefour Bassong in the Logpom neighbourhood of Douala to attend an academic defence by a relation at lUniversite ESTBI. Following the accident, the driver of the trailer, who is said to have sustained no injury, vamoosed and as at press time, was still at large. Officers of the Ngodi Fire Fighting Brigade arrived half an hour later and rushed the survivor to a nearby health facility. Meanwhile, the Douala V Council and the Douala City Council pulled the wreckage of the Toyota and the trailer to the corner of the road to restore normal traffic flow. ADS : 1000 - , , , 1000 . When I was 5, I made a shrine in my bedroom, complete with altar and kneeling rail. For a model I used a picture of a child kneeling in prayer. I used the shrine once. After that, I substituted green toy soldiers for Bible story characters and attacked my brothers toy knights. My shrine had a book as a substitute for the Bible. I drew a cross on my bedroom wall with chalk. I got in trouble. My grandma then gave me a Bible, but it did not have any Montana maps in the back, although I looked and looked. It did have a photograph of an Egyptian mummy. Mother took me to the Episcopal Church in Missoula. We boys wore white shirts that we scribbled on with crayons in Sunday school. I think I got in trouble for that. In Kalispell, Grandma took me to the Methodist church. She insisted I wear a yellow sweatshirt, which I hated, and I threw a tantrum. I cant remember if that was before or after I began to pocket the money for the collection plate. Once, I went back to the Missoula Episcopal Church for ballroom dancing lessons. A kid called me a fool and socked me in the jaw. In high school, I went to a Methodist Youth Fellowship program called Toward Intimacy, which was as close as I got. In the summer of 1966, at a Methodist camp on Flathead Lake, I learned how to act as if I didnt care and discovered Playboy magazines. One of the counselors let us look at the pictures of naked women if wed talk about it. None of us said much after we looked. I could hardly breathe, let alone talk. One boy said he couldnt wait to get married so he could have all the sex he wanted. Another said affection and compatibility were more important. I am grateful to the Methodists for teaching about sex and intimacy. In 1967, I went to the University of Montana and decided to pick my own church. I tried to connect with the campus Bahai, group but they never returned my calls. I tried evangelical groups, but they seemed like a pyramid scheme, always encouraging us to recruit our friends. The University Congregational Church had fixed up its basement as a sort of coffee house. It served unlimited black coffee. There I learned to smoke cigarettes and other things. Maybe I thought it had more promise as the path toward intimacy that I never found with the Methodists. The University Congregational Church did not lay a heavy trip on us. Trip was a word we often used in the 60s. When my wife and I had small children, church was a low-cost outing on our meager budget. We stayed with the Congregationalists because they didnt require us to follow a particular doctrine or belief system. Forty some years later, I sing in the choir at Billings First Congregational Church. I volunteer with Family Promise and serve on the church council. Its a place where I can be a Humanist and admire Buddhist teachings. It emphasizes social justice, which is what I think church is all about. "I think that whether these cards are being sent for genuine purposes or not, there has to be an expectation the people who receive them could feel, particularly in the lead up to an election, dubious about the intention," she said. At the last election, Labor, the Liberals and the Greens competed against Palmer United, Australian Democrats, Rise Up Australia, Bullet Train For Australia and the Secular Party of Australia. While some of the minor parties of 2013 are no more, the ones that remain and the political newcomers are yet to announce candidates for the ACT. Brodtmann has heard from voters concerned about their slow or non-extent internet connections every day and has campaigned for the ACT to be prioritised in the NBN rollout for 18 months. "It's outrageous that here we are in the nation's capital and suburbs 25 kilometres from Parliament House are invisible, they're not even on the rollout map. People are constantly complaining to me about the NBN and the fact it is an impediment to their lives." Three-month-old Chiara Roderer, of Bozeman, is a fourth-generation round dancer. On Saturday morning she was snuggled up close to her mother, Sarah, who in turn danced close with her husband, Ian, during this weekends State Square and Round Dance Festival being held at Cedar Hall at MetraPark. She may not yet realize it, but Chiara is at least figuratively following in her mothers footsteps: Sarahs parents, Doug and Leslie Dodge, have photos of their daughter at about Chiaras age enjoying herself in a backpack while Doug and Leslie cut their own swath across the dance floor. Its a little more difficult dancing with a third member of the family, Sarah acknowledged during a brief break in a Saturday morning workshop, attended by about 25 couples. She likes moving, and as long as shes moving, shes happy. While Chiara prefers more upbeat tempos, Baby Sarah enjoyed smoother dances, such as the foxtrot, her father remembers. She came out dancing, he said with a laugh, and as a baby she attended so many workshops and festivals that her parents had a label printed up that they attached to the girl, who would spend hours watching dancers go around the circle from a blanket in the center: If found, the label said, return to Doug and Leslie Dodge. Attendees about 140 people are registered say they love seeing old friends and making new ones. Its a lot easier than going to the gym, said Sandi Seppala of Sandpoint, Idaho, who is attending with her husband, Keven. Its a mental workout, too, Keven added, because round dancers the name describes the path the dancers lay down on the dance floor must constantly anticipate what the cuer will tell them to do, and then immediately perform the maneuver, all without stepping on a partners toes. The couple travels up to 3,000 miles each year to dance in three states Montana, Idaho and Washington. When we were first learning, it was five nights a week, Sandi said. Now were down to one night a week. Whats good for your noggin is also an invigorating workout for the rest of dancers bodies, said Hunter Keller, a square dance caller raised in Billings who now lives in Riverside, Calif. During a 2-hour square dance, dancers typically cover 2.5 miles of the dance floor together. Kellers 12-year career as a caller has taken him to 36 states and 13 countries. Once you meet (a square or round dancer) and become their friend, theyre your friend for life, he said, and he offered this story to prove it: The recreational vehicle of a couple he knows broke down back east somewhere, and the dancers were fortunate theyd affixed a square-dancing decal to their RV. A guy saw their sticker and brought them back coffee, donuts and a newspaper, then waited around until more help showed up, Keller said. He saw that sticker and he knew they werent bad people. Susan Sperry of Billings, a longtime cuer and instructor along with her husband Larry, said that about sums it up for the many dancers she has instructed over the years. Were not flamboyant people, she said with a smile. We love it that people come from all over. I just love the music, love to dance and I really love helping people. The festival continues Sunday at Cedar Hall with more morning wokshops and dances beginning at 1:30 p.m. The 45th annual festival concludes Monday with a trail-out dance from 9 a.m. through 11 a.m. Just about wherever you go, you can square dance, said Bob Hindley, president of the Yellowstone Square Dance Council. Even if you travel to Europe, square dances are called in English. Learn more about square dancing by visiting www.squaredancemontana.com. Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. While Montanans concentrate on political issues closer to home, some Colorado residents are quietly working to end Obamacare and replace it with a state universal health care plan. After Amendment 69 garnered the required 100,000 signatures necessary to put it on the ballot in November, Colorado voters will decide on amending their state constitution to provide universal health coverage to all Colorado residents. Payroll tax funding Supporters say Amendment 69, also known as ColoradoCare, will not only provide coverage for all residents, but will cut deductibles and copayments. Funded by an employer/employee payroll tax, the referendum will create a giant $38 billion health cooperative with an elected board that would set benefits and budgets, create a central purchasing authority for drugs and medical equipment, determine copayments, and help create a medical records system, and other related efforts. This board would consist of an elected, nonpartisan political subdivision of the state not subject to administrative direction or control by any state executive, department, commission, board, bureau, or agency, according to the proposed initiative. ColoradoCare would also replace the medical portion of Workers Compensation. Private insurers would still be able to operate in the state, but according to a recent report by the Colorado Health Institute, an independent health policy research organization, the role of independent insurers would diminish. Opponents claim the directive is way too expensive and does not address the underlying issue of high health care costs. Colorado is not the first state to try universal health care. In fact, many states have tried to reform their health systems around a single-payer system. In 2011, Vermont passed HB202, the states single-payer health care law that would have moved beyond the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010. The new law would have created the Green Mountain Care System, and administrators had until 2013 to figure out how to fund it. After much study and debate (and missing the deadline for a funding solution), the governor finally scrapped the plan because it called for an 11.5 percent payroll tax on businesses and a separate 9.5 percent income tax on individuals. Massachusetts model One of the difficulties in changing a very complex system is trying to do too much too quickly. Most proposals call for reforming health care delivery as well as the payer system. For example, Massachusetts initiated health care reform for residents in their state in 2006. By 2014, less than 5 percent of Massachusetts residents were uninsured (the lowest in the nation). However, health care costs averaged 4.8 percent, well above the annual benchmark of 3.6 percent. To address the issue of cost, Massachusetts created the Health Policy Commission to study the issue and make recommendations. In 2015, these recommendations included various reforms from equalizing payments for same services regardless of site to bundled payments for common and costly episodes of care. A model for Obamacare, Massachusetts repealed its state mandate in place of the federal one. Justice Louis Brandeis once said, a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. Colorados Amendment 69 is just such a courageous experiment. Our family has known Hillary Clinton for over three decades. Each of us has worked alongside her on various pressing problems and issues facing America and the world. In doing so, she has become a friend. Perhaps it is helpful to hear from folks who personally know a presidential candidate. It is with that in mind that we share these impressions. In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, Carol was running Peace Links, an organization that had the bold idea to bring professional women from the former Soviet Union to the United States with the aim of increasing understanding of one another. This was a visionary exercise in citizen diplomacy at a time when engaging with the Evil Empire was risky and unpopular. We asked a handful of states' first ladies if they would be willing to host the visitors. Hillary was the first to agree. Not only did she invite them to Little Rock, she hosted them at the governors mansion for a public conversation and arranged various visits with schools, businesses and hospitals. Perhaps not surprisingly, more than a few people attacked Hillary for being too progressive for hosting the Russian visitors. We learned first-hand how she identified problems and courageously went to work on a plan to fix them. During her life of public service, her creativity and experience has only grown, and with it has grown our admiration. Pat met Hillary when he chaired the House Committee on Labor-Management and Hillary was first lady, helping develop President Bill Clintons health care proposal. Pats committee had jurisdiction over the legislation. Working closely together on health care, Pat was impressed with her considerable smarts, dedication and joyous sense of humor. They traveled the country, including Montana, listening to folks needs and doing what they could to craft a plan to solve them. Hillary always came to Capitol Hill and all of the meetings prepared, knowing the issues, saying what she meant and keeping her word. Pat has liked, supported and trusted Hillary ever since that first meeting 26 years ago. A few years after graduating from the University of Montana, Whitney went to work for Hillary in the White House, serving as the first ladys trip director. Traveling alongside Hillary to more than 40 states and countries, Whitney got to know Hillary, the person. Hillary is funny and she has one of the best laughs you have ever heard. She is loyal, shes a great Mom and a very good friend to many. At her core Hillary is fearless, humble and kind. She is a hard worker entirely driven by public service and she has limitless grit and determination to leave the world better than she found it. Hillary is trustworthy and has never forgotten where she came from or the progressive values she is fighting for. Whitney has remained close to Hillary since her time in the White House. They worked together on domestic and foreign issues from foster care advocacy when Hillary was a U.S. senator to development projects in the Congo as during her tenure as secretary of state. Hillary is a remarkable leader with an impressive track record fighting for progressive causes our family cares deeply about. Each of us is delighted to have worked alongside Hillary to further many of them, but we are most proud to call her a friend of the family. Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city. Never miss a Swansea story with our daily newsletter Sign up to comment on our stories here Follow us on Facebook and Twitter | Swansea City news | Ospreys news | InYourArea Supporting the Japanese governments desire to see high-tech products at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Ise-Shima, held on May 26-27, Honda has lifted the veils off an autonomous development vehicle, based on the Clarity. Details on this particular Honda Clarity have yet to be released, but it is part of the brands intentions towards autonomous driving and will be taking on the battle of having a self-driving ride on the highways by the end of the decade. The car will be showcased at the Japan PR Exhibition, set up by the government from the Land of the Rising Sun, within the International Media Center of the Summit, where Honda will be displaying a multiple number of products such as the UNI-CUB personal mobility device, the MC-B micro-sized electric vehicle and the Honda Walking Assist Device. Honda already started delivering the first Clarity units in Japan, where the hydrogen-powered model has a starting price of 7,660,000 Yen ($ 67,995), promising a total driving range of around 750 km (470 miles). Sales for the four-door FCV will begin in the US later this year, where the car will start from approximately $60,000 and will offer an estimated driving range of just over 300 miles (~480 km), while in Europe, it will be offered by the end of 2017. PHOTO GALLERY Joining Honda and their autonomous Clarity FCV at the Group 7 (G7) Summit in Japan, Nissan has displayed a self-driving Leaf dubbed ProPilot. Demonstrated in Ise-Shima, the car offered a front-seat view to European Council President, Donald Tusk, who got to experience how the ProPilot technology helps it navigate roads. It benefits from two innovative technologies, as the manufacturer explains: a miniature high-spec laser scanner, which determines the distance between the car and its surroundings through precise 3D measurements that enable navigation in tight spaces and an 8-way 360-degree view camera system for accurate routing decisions at intersections and on sharp curving roads. These technologies were already tested by Nissan in Japan and the US earlier this year and are part of the brands plan to introduce the ProPilot autonomous driving technology in a vehicle in Japan over the next few months and eventually expand its availability to the US, Europe and China. The 1.0 version will be used in congested traffic situations and by 2018, the company plans to implement an autonomous driving tech for highway lane change, while by the end of the decade, it should facilitate driving on urban roads. PHOTO GALLERY An email from Alan Anderson on January 26 promised the staff that one check should arrive tomorrow but follow-up emails from staff members on January 27 and 28 make clear that once again payment failed to arrive. The staff has since been laid off, and Anderson not answered repeated attempts by animators to receive what they are owed. One animator, who worked as a freelancer for Cosmic Toast for several months in the fall of 2015, said sixty-hour work weeks were typical on Pugatory. (Pugatory producer Maker Studios is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.) After being promised wages at a rate of $1,300 a week, the animator has yet to see any form of payment. Another animator told Cartoon Brew that they worked for two months on Pugatory, finishing in November 2015, and had never received any payment. Yet another said they were not paid for three of the five months of employment at Cosmic Toast. Not only have paychecks failed to arrive as promised, but IRS tax information provided to the freelancers has been incomplete and inaccurate. One animator told Cartoon Brew that the W-2 form Cosmic Toast provided included numbers for only one pay period. As a result of these inconsistencies, many of the animators fear repercussions from the IRS and are wary of filing inaccurate information. They have not been able to get accurate information due to the studios continuing failure to provide it. The trouble appears to have begun when, in February 2015, Cosmic Studios was bought by Imbee Inc., a Walnut Creek, California-based company that operates the youth-oriented social media platform Fanlala.com. Unbeknownst to the staff at the time, Imbees CEO, Alan Anderson, was no stranger to controversy: in 2000, Anderson was fired for cause as chairman and CEO of the now-defunct software company Quintus, and in 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency charged with enforcing federal securities laws, filed a complaint in federal court alleging that Anderson filed false financial statements, fabricated sales transactions, forged documents, and falsely inflated revenue reports when he ran Quintus. The SEC obtained a permanent injunction against Anderson in the case. In 2010, Anderson, purchased tween social networking website Imbee after its founder died. The following year, Imbee and Fanlala.com merged to create a youth-oriented online destination that soon set its sights on animation. Shortly after Cosmic Toasts takeover by Imbee, trouble started to appear. A payday scheduled for a Friday would get pushed to the following Monday, then pushed again to Wednesday, before finally a check would appear. Because many of the freelancers were fresh from art school, or were otherwise inexperienced, they took little note of these early signs of trouble. Further, many commercial studios pay freelancers on net-30 or net-60 schedules; therefore, artists who are accustomed to not receiving a paycheck for up to two months after starting a job may have not had any reason to doubt Cosmic Toasts ability to pay its employees. The studio was working on several projects, and hopes blossomed for feature projects and more. In spring 2015, the studio even moved from its cramped Burbank location into a bigger facility a few miles away on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks a fateful day, as it turned out, for on the same day as the move, the company announced that its chief financial officer and accountant had left the company. By late spring 2015, itemized paystubs stopped accompanying paychecks, and that summer, checks started to fall further and further behind. CEO Pierson directed staff inquiries to her boss, studio owner Anderson, and Anderson offered only words, and few of those at that. When an employee discovered Andersons past history of fraud and brought it to Piersons attention, Pierson reportedly broke into tears. Pierson resigned from Cosmic Toast and is now general manager of Kid Genius, the childrens channel on Comcasts Xfinity On Demand service. Some of those owed wages are currently exploring their legal options. Alongside claims for breach of contract, the California Labor Code provides employees certain protections, including unpaid wages after termination, untimely payment of wages, and non-compliant wage statements. Unfortunately, freelancers are not afforded the same protections indeed, many of the freelancers failed to get their employment agreements with the studio in writing, which will make any legal action even more challenging. Nonetheless, a contract does not need to be in writing to be enforceable. Additionally, as labor attorney Romina Keshishyan of Glendale, California-based Lawyers for Justice explained to Cartoon Brew, even if a freelance artist was hired as an independent contractor, a court might still recognize that artist as a studio employee if the studio treated the artist in the same manner as an employee and controlled the manner and direction of [the]workload. Courts recognize that some employers will try to disguise their employees as independent contractors precisely because the law offers fewer protections for them. Cartoon Brew reached out to Alan Anderson to discuss the allegations. He declined to comment for the story. Cosmic Toasts website was taken down in March; a copy of it is available on Archive.org. MISSOULA Two men have been arrested, accused of robbing Deano's Casino early Friday morning, taking a Washington family hostage and firing at police. Thomas Earl Dempsey, 36, was booked into Missoula County Jail at 9:18 p.m. Friday, charged with robbery and aggravated kidnapping. Missoula County Sheriff's Office public information officer Brenda Bassett said he was taken into custody after leaving a motel on North Reserve Street and entering a nearby business. Nick West, 38, was booked at 4:29 a.m. Saturday, charged with aggravated kidnapping. He was arrested near Mullan Road and North Reserve Street, also at a business. Both are scheduled to appear in court at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Additional charges may be pending, Bassett said. "After receiving a tip and working closely with city officers and the FBI, our detectives and deputies were able to locate the two suspects," Bassett said in a news release. The pair are accused of taking a family hostage after robbing Deano's Casino early Friday morning. "We know it was an unsettling time for the community, and as law enforcement officers we consider this one version of a happy ending," Sheriff T.J. McDermott said in the news release. "Most importantly, no one was hurt and secondly, these two suspects are now behind bars. We have to applaud the great work of our detectives who worked tirelessly throughout the night to get this accomplished. I could not be more proud of our officers and our law enforcement friends, who all came to the aid of this family during a very scary time." MCSO Patrol Sgt. Jon Stineford said on Saturday morning that while the investigation is ongoing, "we want to stress that the Sheriff's Office doesn't feel there's any further risk to public safety from these two robbery suspects." The casino was robbed at gunpoint at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, after which the suspects left in a stolen car. In a press conference Friday afternoon, McDermott said the family was getting gas nearby and saw the robbery. They called 911 and were asked to pull over and wait for an officer to come, at which point Cpt. Tony Rio said their SUV's doors were pulled open and the suspects took them hostage. A chase began with law enforcement through Missoula. The SUV stopped twice, once to let the family's 12-year-old boy out, the second to release the grandmother and 14-year-old girl. With the parents still inside, law enforcement said the SUV made a U-turn and the suspects fired at the pursuing officers. Law enforcement pulled back, and lost sight of the SUV in downtown. The parents and the SUV were found near Evaro Hill at about 5:20 a.m. Friday, but the suspects were gone. In 2014, Dempsey was convicted of attempted burglary, theft and accountability for burglary in Lake County, according to the Montana Department of Corrections. The Valley Journal reported that in April 2014, he pleaded not guilty to four felonies in relation to a multi-day crime spree in Ronan that involved burglary, a stolen car and stealing firearms. Dempsey was on conditional release at the time of Friday's incident, and was accordingly charged with a violation. West was convicted of assault with a weapon and assault on a peace officer in Hill County in 2007, according to the DOC. He was also convicted of partner/family member assault and tampering witnesses and informants in Yellowstone County in 2012. West was on parole as of Friday, and was subsequently charged with parole violation. Dempsey is being held on $100,000 bail. West is being held on $250,000 bail. Photo: Jon Manchester - File photo An Oliver man was released from jail Friday after spending 33 days behind bars for threatening to cut out a pregnant womans child. Martin Beaudry, 25, was hanging around outside the Tim Hortons on Harvey Avenue and Cooper Road on the morning of Oct. 15, 2015. The manager, who was pregnant at the time, came outside and asked Beaudry and his friends to leave the area. The group, which she described as panhandlers, moved from the front of the establishment to the rear, but the manager came back and told them again to leave the area. As a result of her persistence, Beaudry lifted his shirt, exposing what the manager described as a knife in a satchel. He basically said to (the manager) he would cut the baby right out of her, Crown counsel said. Police arrived and quickly arrested Beaudry. Beaudry, who is originally from Quebec and now does seasonal agricultural work in Oliver, missed a court date on April 26 and has been in custody ever since. Beaudry pleaded guilty to uttering threats Friday and Justice Jane Cartwright sentenced him to 21 days imprisonment, which amounts to time already served. He was also given a year of probation. Photo: Getty Images Are you thinking about buying a diamond in the rough to transform into your dream home? No doubt its easy to be tempted by all the magical home makeovers seen on the home-improvement shows. With house values rising, this could be a great way to make home ownership a little more affordable by buying in a neighbourhood that is undergoing a transition. Obviously, you need to avoid buying a money pit. Working with professionals will ensure that the improvements you are considering will be worth it to improve the value of the house. You dont want to over-renovate the home for the area, so avoid renovations that just wont be worth it in the end. But how do you afford to do a renovation? When you purchase the home you will need sufficient funds for the down payment and closing costs. You take possession of the home, and if you dont have the cash set aside, you will then need to secure a home-improvement loan or use a line of credit. It could be difficult to qualify for additional financing when you have just bought a home, and these options can also be expensive. The great news is that there is an affordable solution the Purchase Plus Improvements program, which will allow you to borrow up to 95 per cent of purchase price and improvements amount. You can borrow up to $40,000 on the purchase price of a home. Here are the steps that you need to take: Step One: Obtain a mortgage pre-approval from your mortgage broker, to determine your maximum approval amount. Step Two: Find a home and have a general idea of what renovations need to be done as well as the cost. The purchase price plus the renovation cost cannot exceed your maximum approval amount for a mortgage. Lenders will request written quotes, detailing the work to be done, as well as the cost. Step Three: Once your offer is accepted, you will need to provide the accepted purchase offer, as well as the quotes for the improvements, to your mortgage broker. A financing request will be sent to the lender which includes the cost of the renovations. Step Four: Once you take possession of your home, you can begin the renovations. The lender will instruct the solicitor to hold the additional renovation funds, until the lender confirms the works has been completed. Once the renovations are completed, notify your mortgage broker, who will send out an appraiser to complete an inspection to verify the work is completed as per the quotes. Step Five: The lender will receive the inspection report from the appraiser, and validate that the work has been completed in a good manner. They will instruct the lawyer that they are able to release the funds to you to pay the contractor. If you would like to see if this program can help you affordably turn a fixer upper into the home of your dreams, give me a call at 250-826-3543. Ill sit down with you and provide a no-charge analysis of your needs and financial situation. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Pro skaters Tony Hawk and Aaron Jaws Homoki attempt to pull off some weightless tricks in Zero Gravity. An attorney is asking to dismiss new charges against 27-year-old Kerstyn Old Bull months after she was sentenced to prison for abuse that led to the death of 6-year-old Kiomora "Kiki" Hogan. Assistant State Public Defender Clark Mathews filed a motion to dismiss new charges of aggravated assault, assault on a minor and criminal child endangerment in Old Bull's case on Thursday. He argued that there isn't enough evidence tying Old Bull to specific episodes of abuse of Kiomora Hogan, who died in March 2015. In March of this year, Big Horn County Attorney Gerald "Jay" Harris brought the additional charges against Old Bull, who has already been sentenced to 20 years in prison for criminal endangerment and obstructing justice in the girl's death. Kiomora, daughter of 27-year-old Clint Hogan, died in March 2015 from injuries that medical examiners linked to intentional abuse. Old Bull was Hogan's girlfriend and, according to court documents, oversaw Kiomora at home. Mathews argued that there isn't enough evidence linking Old Bull to the abuse, especially with reliance on testimony from Hogan, who was also convicted earlier this month for his involvement in Kiomora's death. The affidavit of probable cause relies on medical examinations of Kiomora performed by the Adams County, Colo., coroner and an investigation by the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office and the FBI. The specific allegations of abuse come from Hogan's statements to law enforcement. Court documents note extensive injuries to Kiomora, including large bruises, a cracked rib and skin burns. Old Bull was originally charged with deliberate homicide, as medical professionals ruled that Kiomora died from a "single, forceful" and intentional blow to the head. Last fall, Harris dropped the homicide charge and offered a plea agreement for criminal endangerment and obstructing justice. The move sparked public outrage, and protesters gathered outside the courtroom at Old Bull's sentencing. According to charging documents, testimony from Hogan provided the sole witness account against Old Bull. A father's case Hogan, Kiomora's father, was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison on the charge of obstructing justice. All of that time was suspended. Hogan entered a no contest plea to the charge in February. After Kiomora's death, Hogan faced a negligent homicide charge. According to court documents, he gave inconsistent stories to law enforcement about whether he was away from the house on March 2, 2015, when the girl was found unresponsive. Investigators determined that Hogan waited at least two hours at home with Kiomora before seeking medical help. As the case progressed, Harris struck a deal with Hogan to drop the negligent homicide charge in exchange for his testimony against Old Bull in a potential trial. There ultimately was no trial because Old Bull took a plea deal, and Hogan pleaded no contest to obstructing justice in late February. In the latest case against Old Bull, court documents state that Hogan denied any abuse of Kiomora. He told investigators that he observed "signs" that Old Bull abused Kiomora. He also said Old Bull tried to persuade him not to take Kiomora to the hospital on March 2, 2015, the documents state. Hogan told investigators that he couldn't come to terms with his daughter's abuse. "There was times I believed it and couldn't picture how she (Old Bull) would" hurt Kiomora, Hogan said in an interview with law enforcement just a day before Old Bull's sentencing. The defense attorney in Old Bull's current case argues this isn't enough evidence. In court again In the motion to dismiss Old Bull's case, Mathews called Hogan's remarks "self-serving." Mathews wrote that the charging document filed by Harris "does not state with any specificity as to when these injuries were sustained" and notes that Hogan said he saw only "signs" of abuse, not specific acts. He also argued that because Old Bull was already sentenced for abuse related to Kiomora's death, the issue had already been through the court process. In March, Old Bull pleaded not guilty to the new charges. Mathews and Harris were not available for comment on Friday. Harris, prosecutor in the case, filed a motion in May to move a potential trial in Old Bull's current case outside of the judicial district. He wrote that because the first case attracted a lot of media coverage, it's unlikely that "a fair trial could take place in Big Horn County, due to prejudice against the defendant." He wrote that courts in Musselshell County could be a suitable venue. With Old Bull and Hogan caught in legal processes, the exact events leading up to Kiomora's death remain unknown. The why of all this seems disturbingly and unsatisfyingly elusive, District Judge Blair Jones said at Old Bull's sentencing in February. Old Bull's sentence was the maximum allowed by law and double that of Harris' recommendation. In the latest case, Harris included excerpts from the Child Protection Team Review. They said that the account of events provided by Old Bull and Hogan "does not adequately explain (Kiomora's) injuries." A judge has not ruled on the motions brought by Harris and Mathews. Missed Delivery? If missed delivery or wet paper please call our office 909-628-5501 ext 110 Leave a detailed message with name, address, and phone number. Readers must call before 1 p.m. on Saturday. Re-deliveries are available for Chino residents until 1 p.m. Saturdays. Click Here This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions The Fire in the Valley BBQ, that was originally planned in Red Bank, will be held next Friday and Saturday at Camp Jordan in East Ridge. The Red Bank Foundation is raising money with a KCBS sanctioned barbecue event for all five Red Bank Schools including Red Bank Elementary, Red Bank Middle and Red Bank High School along with Alpine Crest and The Dawn School . The group is also donating to the East Ridge Needy Child Fund. There will be 60+ teams competing , live music and a car show, according to Eric McRoy and Callie LeCompte.. It will be Friday from 6-10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Chip Chapman is the logistics director on the Red Bank Foundation Board and Dixie Fuller is also backing the event along with several local dignitaries and TV and radio personalities. Ms. LeCompte said, "We have had such a tremendous response from competitors, friends family, sponsors and locals in our East Ridge and Greater Chattanooga area." The group is still accepting sponsorships - donations - and competitors for Fire in the Valley. Ms. LeCompte said, "We really want to raise a lot of money for our students in our schools and for the East Ridge Needy Child Fund."! Tennessee American Water and Chambliss Center for Children kicked-off the summer season with a pool party for the children participating in the summer program. Tennessee American Water filled up the more than 35,000-gallon pool at no cost to Chambliss Center for Children. Clean and reliable water is an essential life resource. We are committed to providing high quality water services that help people enjoy recreational activities and the overall quality of life, said Daphne Kirksey, Tennessee American Water External Affairs Manager. The Chambliss Center for Children plays a major role in youth development and providing necessary services to so many people in Chattanooga and Hamilton County. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with them to help the families and children in our community. Along with filling the pool, Tennessee American Water provided goodies for the children participating in the agencys summer camp child care program. Tennessee American Water not only hosts a great party for our kids each year, they save the agency over a thousand dollars by filling our pool, said Chambliss Center for Childrens Director of Communications Lesley Berryhill. Now we can put the money we would have spent on that towards other areas in the program, which is a tremendous help. Emerald Grove Cemetery Auxiliary volunteer Barbara Broege Andrew, from Janesville, Wis., puts a flag on her uncle's grave as she gets ready for Memorial Day on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 near Janesville, Wisconsin. Emerald Grove Cemetery, established in 1850, is just one site of many across three states that would be impacted by Great Lakes Basin Transportation's plans for a 278-mile rail line starting in Milton, Wis., and ending in LaPorte County, Ind. The far tree line behind her is where the line could be built. (John Konstantaras / Post-Tribune) Three states. Eleven counties. Two-hundred-seventy-eight miles. Those are the oft-repeated numbers in Great Lakes Basin Transportation's proposal for a freight train line from Milton, Wis., to LaPorte County, a project GLBT founder and managing partner Frank Patton has said would be the largest rail project in this country in 125 years. Advertisement But the numbers don't tell the story of the response to the proposal. In letters and comments to the federal Surface Transportation Board, people from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana express their concerns, their fears, and what the project would mean for their lives. Advertisement There's the board of Emerald Grove Cemetery in Rock County, Wis., who note the freight line will go through the cemetery. Officials from the Shults-Lewis Home in Porter County, which serves troubled youth, fear the at-risk children will see a rail line one-tenth of a mile from their facility as an escape route for running away and risk being injured or killed. The Ogle County, Ill., Farm Bureau decries the loss of valuable farmland, and the rail line would run perilously close to historic Buckley Homestead and the Calumet Astronomy Center in Lake County. Patton, however, is not swayed by his opponents' concerns which, beyond eminent domain, include loss of productive farmland, drainage issues, disruption at local schools, and traffic and safety worries. "They simplify the arguments to such a degree that it's deceptive. They say no freight rail. We say no freight rail, more trucks. It's that simple," he said. The stated purpose of the proposed freight line, an $8 billion project Patton has said will be privately funded, is to alleviate congestion at the freight yard in Chicago and speed transport times by providing a bypass. Patton also has said the rail line will take trucks off highways. Yet, John Yonan, superintendent of the Cook County, Ill., Department of Transportation and Highways, objected to the project, too, in an April 14 letter to the STB, which included concerns about using the rail line as a potential bypass for hazardous material, whether first responders in rural areas could adequately respond to a hazardous spill, and the impact a spill could have on Chicago and his county. He notes the momentum and resources built in the last 15 years by the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program, or CREATE, to support the freight industry in Cook County and Chicago "could be jeopardized by the construction of the GLBT, which will induce the construction of new freight facilities at the edge of the Chicago metropolitan area and beyond." Opposition groups have sprouted up along the counties along the route, turning to social media to share updates, stories from area newspapers, contact information for the federal Surface Transportation Board, which held environmental impact hearings on the proposal in April and will determine whether it will proceed, and let people know about fundraisers and where to pick up yard signs. "It's very telling when you have all three states and 11 counties working against this," said Susan Sack, who handles education and outreach for Block GLB Railroad, an opposition group based in LaSalle County, Ill., adding she has more than 1,000 people in her database for email updates, and many more receive those messages when they're forwarded. Advertisement Block GLB Railroad serves as a clearing house for opposition groups involved, and Sack has shown up at other group's opposition meetings, including one held in early May in Hebron by Residents Against Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, or RAILED. For her and many of those opposed to the proposal, "it comes down to eminent domain for private gain," she said, adding no one has determined a need for the rail line, which, if approved, would use eminent domain to acquire land for the project. "There's no one in a checks and balances system protecting the landowners," she said, adding residents don't seem to have a way to stop the proposal. "Uniting is a way to say we have a voice." The STB is accepting comments on the proposal through June 15 and then will begin preparing an environmental impact statement, which agency officials have said could take two to three years. An STB official has called response to the proposal unprecedented, generating 30 comments a day. Patton said he's hearing the same arguments against the rail line from the same group of people, noting that when he spoke at a public meeting in Morris, Ill., there was a traveling group of protesters who also were spotted at a meeting in Seneca, Ill. Advertisement Calling them "the traveling minstrels," he claimed they are not local and are being brought in to different meetings. "The arguments are identical. 'You're raping my ground. You're taking my farmland.' Some of them I understand, some of them I can dismiss," he said. "What I don't hear in these arguments is a national purpose, and we think we're working with a national purpose," to take trucks off the roads by increasing rail capacity. And while dozens of municipal and county boards, planning and parks departments, and agencies including the National Cattlemen's Beef Association have filed resolutions and letters with the STB against the project, Patton said he will not be swayed. "I hear that over and over again, they want this pastoral lifestyle and that's great, but the population is growing. Hopefully, we don't stay in a flat economy, and business is expanding," he said. "Our contention from Day 1 is we're tightening the logistics for the farmer to ship his product, and nobody but the traveling minstrels argues with that statement." Others have come out in support of the project, or at least want to give it more consideration. Some LaPorte County officials have said the project could be a boon to an intermodal transportation facility there, bringing industry and businesses to the rail line's end point. After inquiring about the project in early April, Diane McNeilly, a member of the Rochelle, Ill., planning and zoning commission, submitted an April 5 letter to STB in favor of the project. Advertisement "I think this is a wonderful project and very necessary," she wrote. "(I) don't really want any more trains in our community but this is the right thing to do for lots of reason." The project has even spawned an opposition newspaper. Richard Allen joined forces with a couple of other people against GLBT's proposal to come up with their own form of protest, a free, 16-page, full-color newspaper. "Great Lakes Basin Rail: News and Views," with the motto, "Working together and sharing, we make a difference," had an initial run last week of 4,000 copies, which Allen, who lives in Winnebago County, Ill., said was distributed to opposition groups in all three states, and left at coffee shops to inform people who don't have Internet access. "People are thinking this is anything from an Amtrak train to general freight. They don't know," he said, adding the paper's message is that the freight line isn't needed. In the era of social media, Allen said he went with a print edition for the elderly or others who are not Internet savvy. "You put something in their hands, and it strikes a chord with them," he said. Advertisement In Janesville, Wis., the proposed rail line will cut through one of the three parcels that comprise Emerald Grove Cemetery. The land, said Jill Bier, secretary of the cemetery's board of directors, is for future expansion and is up on a hill, which also creates drainage concerns. The cemetery was established in 1850 and contains Civil War gravestones that already are deteriorating. "The rumble from the rail line would destroy them," said Bier, who grew up in the area and whose father is buried at the cemetery. She added that every Memorial Day, the cemetery has a longstanding tradition of a parade with local school children who decorate veterans' graves. "We would ask when addressing this proposal, you would realize that this project is not worth the sacrifice," the cemetery board wrote in its March 28 letter to the STB. Boone County, Ill., has 55,000 residents, but 400 people showed up to a meeting about the project, said Cathy Ward, a 14-year member of the county board. The response was great enough to convince one of the county's elected officials that the rail line wasn't needed. Like other officials in other counties, Ward sees no economic benefit to her county from the project, and envisions only a freight train coming through her area. Advertisement "It seems to me we are the path of least resistance. We don't have a voice in Springfield. We don't have a voice in Chicago. We don't have a voice in D.C.," she said, "but the opposition has pointed out numerous ways it's not going to benefit Boone County." Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. How to comment Comments can be submitted electronically on the Surface Transportation Board's website, www.stb.dot.gov, by clicking on the "E-filing" link on the home page and then selecting "Environmental Comments." Comments should refer to Docket No. FD 35952. The deadline to submit online comments is June 15. Counties Advertisement Wisconsin: Rock Illinois: Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, Lee, LaSalle, Grundy and Kankakee. Indiana: Lake, Porter and LaPorte Fans wait through a second downpour to get into the Beyonce concert at Soldier Field on May 27, 2016, in Chicago. (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune) Call it a business trip. LaBraun Hampton drove from Bloomington, Ind., to Chicago for the Beyonce concert Friday at Soldier Field to draw inspiration for his own performances. Hampton said he has been a Beyonce impersonator under the name Mocha Debeaute for six years. He attends Beyonce shows to study her outfits and dance moves and, of course, watch his favorite star in action. Advertisement "She's kind of like my idol," said Hampton, who wore a Beyonce tour shirt, jeans and black stilettos. "She's very empowering to women, to everyone." Hampton was one of thousands of fans who endured multiple rainstorms Friday for the beginning of Beyonce's two-night stand at Soldier Field. The pop singer also performed at the stadium Saturday as part of her Formation World Tour. Advertisement LaBraun Hampton came from Bloomington, Ind., to see Beyonce perform in Chicago. Hampton is a Beyonce impersonator in the college campus town. (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune) Many fans who waited outside Soldier Field for hours Friday said they have followed Beyonce since she was part of the '90s girl group Destiny's Child. They expressed excitement to see the singer perform in Chicago for the first time in nearly two years, and some wondered whether the drama sparked by the lyrics of her new album "Lemonade" would play out onstage. Samantha Nelson, of Park Ridge, and her sister Stephanie said they were hoping to spot Beyonce's husband, Jay Z, at the show. "We forgive him," said Samantha Nelson, 26. "We support B and Jay." Sisters Samantha Nelson, 26, and Stephanie Nelson, 24, from Park Ridge, wore yellow in reference to Beyonce's latest album, "Lemonade." (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune) On "Lemonade," which dropped in April, Beyonce seemed to suggest Jay Z cheated on her. The couple have been photographed together since the album release. Donovan Pierce, 23, said he can't really see the pair breaking up. "I think she loves him too much for that," said Pierce, who drove from Milwaukee for the show. Courtney Flowers, 23, came from Carbondale for her third Beyonce concert. She said "Lemonade" is her favorite album but acknowledged it has drawn mixed reaction. The video for the "Formation" single, off "Lemonade," has been criticized for anti-police imagery. Advertisement "I think she says a lot of the things in her music that society doesn't want to hear," said Flowers, who dressed in a lacy chartreuse outfit inspired by the video for "Hold Up," another single off "Lemonade." Courtney Flowers, 23, wore this yellow dress because it is similar in color to the one Beyonce wears in the "Hold Up" video from her most recent album, "Lemonade." Flowers came from Carbondale, IL, for the Beyonce concert at Soldier Field on Friday, May 27, 2016. (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune) Fans on Friday were split between wearing glamorous outfits inspired by "Lemonade" and fashion Beyonce has worn onstage and in music videos and donning ponchos and sneakers to protect themselves from the downpours. Ashley Brown, who was first in the Beyhive fan club line with her friend Stephanie Ardagh nine hours before gates opened at Soldier Field, said Friday's show was her seventh Beyonce concert. Brown said the rainy conditions were better than the freezing weather she endured for hours outside Beyonce's United Center concert in December 2013. Ashely Brown, 22, and Stephanie Ardagh, 31, were first in line for the VIP section at the Beyonce concert at Soldier Field on May 27, 2016. (Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune) "I don't remember the last time I wasn't obsessed," said Brown, 22, of Buffalo Grove. RELATED STORIES: Beyonce 'Lemonade' sweatshirt made by Chicago designer Advertisement How Beyonce's 'Formation' tour mirrors Janet Jackson's 'Rhythm Nation' Beyonce's 'Lemonade' contains singer's most fully realized music yet From Beyonce to Taylor Swift, reasons you might destroy a car in a music video Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP) Memorial services will be held today, May 27, for Henry Greybear at Saint Peters Catholic Church at 1 p.m. with a rosary at 12:30 p.m. in Fort Yates. Henry was born March 20, 1944, in Fort Yates, to William and Mildred (Chapman) Greybear and died April 23, 2016, in Dallas, Texas. Henry married Annie Byjoe from Many Farms, Ariz., on Jan. 2, 1966, in Oakland, Calif. As a couple they said Sugar Pie Honey Bunch by the Four Tops was their song. Their love created four beautiful children. As a husband and a father, he worked as a butcher and a mechanic to support his family. Henry considered himself as a self-educated man and traveled throughout the western United States. He would later settled in Dallas, Texas, where he worked over 25 years for Cosway. He had many trade skills; a master welder, bomb builder, assembly line worker and a maintenance worker. He enjoyed listening to Waylon Jennings and watching old western movies. He was a Minnesota Vikings fan. He appreciated Mexican cuisine and chile relleno was his favorite dish. He also enjoyed the company of his friends and was a good storyteller. Henry was a cancer survivor and had a favorite quote, Never say good bye, always says see you later. Survivors include his children, Curtis D. Greybear, Annette J. Greybear, Audie A. Greybear, Delayna Volk and Ashley Tiger Juarez; two sisters, Barbara Molash, Fort Yates, and Janet Archambault, Mandan; one brother, Gerald Greybear, Bismarck; 19 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Henry was preceded in death by his parents, William Greybear and Mildred (Chapman) Greybear; one son, Henry Jerome Greybear Jr.; two sisters, Theresa Greybear and Margaret Leon; and one brother, Delano Greybear. Honorary pall bearers: Sandra Powers, Nora Benally, Francisco Morales, Dixie Escobar, Norman Treetop and other good friends from Arizona, North Dakota and Texas. (Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan) A woman was ordered held on $1 million bail Saturday, accused of child endangerment after her 6-month-old daughter died suffering from extreme malnutrition, authorities said. Two female relatives of Chequita D. Bell, 23, of the 800 block of East Hoffer Street in Kokomo, Ind., wept in court after Judge Donald Panarese Jr. set the bail at the Leighton Criminal Court Building during a Saturday afternoon bond hearing. Advertisement Bell was charged with felony child endangerment. The baby, Jazmine Walker, was 6 months old when she died Wednesday and weighed "barely 4 pounds,'' Harvey police said. Bell is responsible for her death, police said. Advertisement At her premature birth Nov. 29, Jazmine weighed 3 pounds and was diagnosed with spina bifida. She remained in the hospital for one month and weighed 7 pounds when she was released to her mother, who failed to take Jazmine to multiple doctor appointments, police said. Wednesday morning, Bell called paramedics to her sister's home in Harvey because she said Jazmine appeared to be unresponsive. The baby was taken to Ingalls Hospital in Harvey, where she was pronounced dead at 7:17 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Jazmine was dehydrated, malnourished and extremely emaciated, prosecutors said, adding that the medical examiner noted that while the cause of death was pending for microbiology and drug testing, they indicated it was a neglect case. Bell is slated to appear in court again on June 1. Chicago Tribune's Gregory Pratt contributed. One male has been killed and three other people have been injured in shootings on the South, Far South and West Sides Saturday. A male was pronounced dead after being shot at 5:18 p.m. on the 200 block of West Root Street, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Police. The victim's age was not immediately available. Advertisement The fatal shooting in the Fuller Park neighborhood was the fourth homicide since the Memorial Day weekend began, officials said. Someone shot and seriously wounded a 24-year-old man in the leg at 4:20 p.m. in the 1400 block of West 99th Street in the city's Longwood Manor neighborhood, said Tannehill. A weapon was recovered but the victim was not being cooperative with officers. Advertisement The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where his condition has stabilized, said Chicago Fire Dpt. Cmdr. Walter Schroeder. Earlier, paramedics responded to the 3900 block of West Erie Street in the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood about 3:45 p.m. for two 46-year-old men who suffered gunshot wounds to their lower extremities, according to Tannehill and Schroeder. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition, according to Schroeder. Tannehill said they were shot during a robbery when three male assailants took their property and shot them. One of the victims was shot in the right leg while the other was shot in the left ankle. No arrests have been made but Area North detectives are investigating the incident on Erie Street. Check back for details. A 5-year-old boy fell from the sixth floor of his condominium in Des Plaines on Saturday afternoon, police said. Officers went to the home in the 700 block of South River Road after the boy fell from a window onto a mulched area in the back of the building, Des Plaines police said. Advertisement The boy, who lives there with his parents, was conscious and breathing when he was rushed to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, but police did not disclose his condition. Foul play is not suspected, police said. A 51-year-old parolee was ordered held in lieu of $300,000 bail Saturday after being charged in two burglaries in the Lakeview neighborhood, police said. Armando Vadillo, of the 3900 block of North Clark Street, was charged with two felony counts of burglary, according to Chicago police. Police said he was identified as the person responsible for a May 20 burglary that happened at 1:25 a.m. and a Saturday burglary at 2:05 a.m., police said. Both burglaries took place at the Nuts on Clark business, where Vadillo formerly worked and which is in the same block where he lives, according to police and prosecutors. In both instances Vadillo allegedly entered the business after pushing in a window air conditioning unit and climbing through the duct, police and prosecutors said. He removed two cash registers and broke them open, prosecutors said. Police arrived after an ADT security system notified them of the burglary. Police were able to secure a perimeter around the area and located Vadillo a short distance away. Police were able to identify the man through surveillance video in both instances that recorded him breaking the registers, police and prosecutors said. Vadillo has a history of burglaries dating to 1996 and was sentenced in 2012 to seven years in prison for burglary. According to Illinois Department of Corrections records, Vadillo was paroled Dec. 9, 2015, and his parole was to end Dec. 9, 2018. A new dock is now open on the south side of Navy Pier, where recreational boaters can drop anchor. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) Chicago boaters who want to check out the new Ferris wheel, grab a bite or make a pit stop will now be able to drop anchor at a new dock at Navy Pier. Opening Saturday, the 200-foot-long and 10-foot-wide dock is on the south side of the pier, making the popular attraction accessible to recreational boaters. No commercial boats will be allowed at the dock, adjacent to the old Dime Pier, officials said. Advertisement "When people get on their boats, they want to have things to do," said Scott Stevenson, executive vice president of Westrec Marinas, which is under contract to manage the city's harbors. Boaters like to go sailing or anchor at the "playpen" party scene near Ohio Street Beach. "At Navy Pier, you've got great restaurants and attractions like the Children's Museum. Of course, boaters want to be able to pull up there and experience those things," he said. Boaters will be able to dock there for free during the Memorial Day weekend, Stevenson said. Afterward, boaters will have to pay anywhere from $40 to $140 for three-hour increments, depending on the size of the boat and the day with the weekends being more expensive as well as Wednesdays when Navy Pier offers a fireworks show, he said. The fees will have to be paid via an app. Overnight stays and vessels bigger than 110 feet long are not allowed. Advertisement Navy Pier has been eyed as a site for boaters for years. At one point, the Chicago Park District almost went ahead with plans to build a marina at Navy Pier called Gateway Harbor the same time the city moved forward with plans for the 31st Street Harbor, which opened in 2012. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Stevenson said he got approval from Navy Pier and permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to operate the dock through September. Westrec paid $90,000 for the new dock, he said. Previously, the closest dock was DuSable Harbor half a mile away from Navy Pier. "If this works and we're successful and it doesn't disrupt things at Navy Pier, I think it's likely we'll apply for a permit to do it in future years," Stevenson said. When Navy Pier hosts the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago in two weeks, the dock will be available to boaters who bought Boaters Pass tickets for the event, allowing them to visit the race village on Navy Pier and pick up guests. Farther south at Monroe Harbor, a barge will provide boaters with a spot to party and watch the sailing competition on the water or from the jumbo video screen on the platform also where a DJ will set up shop for the Boater's Bash. Boats can link up to the platform, to floating buoys or to each other a few yards away from the racecourse. The "infield party" is one way harbors are trying to engage and attract more boaters. Past efforts include a floating pool at 31st Street, where Salerno's Pizza will open a spot Memorial Day weekend to sell food but no alcohol yet, as well as the return next month of Harbor Fest, a boat show and music fest, at 31st Street. lvivanco@tribpub.com Twitter @lvivanco SPRINGFIELD On a single day in May more than a quarter century ago, House Speaker Michael Madigan used his power to pass a state income tax increase entirely with Democratic votes and without any foreknowledge by Republican lawmakers or a GOP governor. "It is bold. It's audacious. And it might even be diabolical," then-Gov. Jim Thompson said of Madigan's move. Advertisement That's back when Illinois politics and the campaign cash and rhetoric surrounding it were a much tamer game between Democrats who ran the legislature and Republicans who controlled the governor's office. Fast forward from 1989 to 2016. This time, Madigan, the longest-serving state House speaker in the nation's history, isn't preparing a tax increase. It's an election year, and he wants to keep his Democratic majority. Advertisement Instead, in a surprise move last week, he and his members muscled through the House a state budget proposal that would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into education, much of it for Chicago Public Schools, and provide cash to neglected social service agencies and universities, but spend $7 billion more than what the state is expected to bring in. Amid a historic stalemate about to reach its first anniversary, Madigan's spending plan represents a big-stakes political game of dare not only for first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, but also for Democrats across the capital under Senate President John Cullerton, a former Madigan protege. The question ahead of Tuesday night's adjournment deadline is whether Cullerton dares to tell Madigan no, gets the speaker to make changes or persuades reluctant Senate Democrats to knuckle under. That last option is usually how it goes this time of year in Springfield. For Rauner, the dare is that vetoing such a budget could leave the state without school funding and parents nervous about whether classrooms will reopen once summer vacation ends. What's the betting line at the Capitol? As lawmakers left town Friday afternoon for a quick Memorial Day break, with plans to return Sunday, some were inquiring whether Rauner already had called for a post-Tuesday special session of the General Assembly. In a Statehouse filled with enmity on many fronts, Rauner did little to soothe passions Friday afternoon when he vetoed a measure to stretch the payment schedule for Chicago police and fire pension funds, a move that could lead to another big property tax hike for city residents. Rauner said by not meeting current pension funding requirements, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was "kicking this can down the road" at a price tag that was "truly staggering." The Democratic mayor issued a stinging rebuke of Rauner, a former vacation buddy and business partner, saying the Republican "just told every Chicago taxpayer to take a hike" and accusing him of "shaking down Chicago residents" and "using them as pawns in his failed political agenda." Advertisement The veto and its effects on city finances created more final-days tensions for lawmakers, coupled with the money troubles of the city's public schools, amid the ongoing battle between Rauner and Madigan that's the underpinning of a state impasse that goes far beyond the lack of a budget. The governor has called Madigan "corrupt" and has pledged to use his personal wealth and that of his friends to erode Madigan's power and Democratic control of the legislature. Rauner's agenda includes items to loosen collective bargaining rules and make it harder for workers to claim job-related injuries. That affects major sources of Democratic campaign cash labor unions and civil liability attorneys and has been rejected by Madigan. Rauner, a former private equity investor, has made approval of agenda items a condition for considering tax increases needed to balance any future state budget. While the Republican governor has continually spoken of his optimism toward reaching a "grand compromise" by Tuesday, Madigan's budget proposal and actions Friday suggested otherwise. A closed-door meeting of the four legislative leaders and the governor, ostensibly to hash out differences and clear obstacles, lasted less than an hour. "We sent a budget to the Senate that does not engage in hostage-taking. We're not going to hold hostage people who need education, need health care, need social services. We're not going to do that," Madigan said on his way out of the meeting, adding once again that Rauner "continues to fail to persuade" lawmakers of the need for his agenda items. Madigan's budget plan is an attempt to dare Rauner to veto it in its entirety particularly provisions to give all school districts more money next year, including several hundred million dollars to CPS, which faces huge budget cuts without an influx of state cash. Such a veto could endanger many schools from opening in the fall. Last year, Rauner vetoed a Democratic-passed budget short on revenues, except for the portion funding grade and high schools, for precisely that reason. Advertisement But for Rauner to even have the chance to break out his veto pen, something his aides have emphatically stated he will do, the Madigan plan must be approved by the Democratic-led Senate under Cullerton. And at this still-fluid stage, Senate Democrats want to move forward with their own plan. Cullerton on Friday floated the idea of a short-term state budget to get lawmakers past the November election and to encourage further discussions among legislative working groups on Rauner's agenda. "Between now and the end of the fiscal year there might be universities closing. So we would provide for an agreement where they'd have spending authorization. That would be something we'd give the governor, he'd agree to sign it, so that he can continue to make payments, for example, so we don't have a total meltdown of government," Cullerton said. But Madigan's spokesman said the speaker isn't willing to be a partner with Cullerton on the short-term spending bill. Senators also spent Friday approving two education-related measures, one that would allow the Chicago Board of Education to boost property taxes and provide additional state funding to the district, but it was unclear whether the House would consider them. Democratic Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston acknowledged there are divisions in his party. Advertisement "Of course, there's not unanimity (among) Democrats, but I don't think we should make this a personal fight about this Democrat has to buck that Democrat, this person is corrupt, this person isn't. Let's just try to figure something out, man," Biss said. The bickering, while somewhat traditional at the end of session as Madigan has sought to dictate the state budget process, is being encouraged by Rauner, who has sought to exploit a divide-and-conquer strategy among rank-and-file Democrats toward their leaders. "They may have to push or stand up to their leaders who may not want to get reform now, who are resisting, but they can do the right thing, stand up and vote for reforms to get a balanced budget and get reforms to protect our taxpayers and protect our economy," Rauner said of individual Democratic lawmakers on Friday. "We'll never give up, we've got to stay persistent," said Rauner, who stopped to take a selfie with a seventh-grade class from Logan Square before addressing reporters. Democratic leaders had expected a similar rank-and-file exodus on the Republican side due to Rauner's positions. Last week, seven Downstate GOP House members who have heavy public labor-union representation, sent a letter to Rauner and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, urging a return to the bargaining table on a new union contract for state workers. The Rauner administration has asked the state labor relations board to determine that talks with the union are at an impasse. In the end, Senate Democrats may try to advance the short-term budget Cullerton backs, a salve to his members who feel too much of the budget is being dictated by Madigan. But the speaker already has deemed it to be a nonstarter in the House. Advertisement That leaves Madigan's ultimate dare the bet that despite their distaste, Senate Democrats will realize they are left with no other choice but to pass the House Democratic budget plan as the last viable option, even with the Rauner administration's veto threat. Rep. Elaine Nekritz of Evanston was one of a few House Democrats who voted against Madigan's budget plan, saying she thought there was still time to develop a comprehensive balanced budget. But, she said, "If that bill came up May 31st, I might feel differently about it." Chicago Tribune's Celeste Bott contributed. rap30@aol.com mcgarcia@tribpub.com kgeiger@tribpub.com The damaged stern of the sunken freighter El Faro is seen on the seafloor. (NTSB via AFP/Getty Images) A second round of U.S. Coast Guard investigative hearings into the sinking of the freighter El Faro ended Friday, closing a sometimes contentious proceeding during which the disaster was characterized by one investigator as "a colossal failure" of management before he apologized and took back the comment. The testimony in Jacksonville, Florida, ended after two weeks, during which a National Transportation Safety Board investigator said "few would dispute" that the loss of the El Faro represented a management failure by Tote Services, Inc., the company that owned and operated the vessel. A third round of hearings will be scheduled for later this year. Advertisement The 790-foot El Faro sank in 15,000 feet of water after losing propulsion while sailing to Puerto Rico from Jacksonville and getting caught in Hurricane Joaquin on Oct. 1. All 33 aboard died. During Thursday's session, NTSB lead investigator Tom Roth-Roffy asked Tote executive vice president Peter Keller to describe management failures that led to the ship's loss. Advertisement "Now sir, many would argue and few would dispute the loss of the ship El Faro and its cargo, and most importantly the loss of 33 souls aboard the El Faro, represents a colossal failure in the management of the companies responsible for the safe operation of the El Faro," Roth-Roffy said. "Could you please share ... your thoughts about the nature of the management failures that led to the loss of the El Faro?" Keller called the sinking "a tragic accident" and said Tote is looking to the board and NTSB to identify a cause. "At this point in time, I, for one, cannot identify any failure that would have led to that tragic event," Keller said. On Friday, Roth-Roffy backpedaled, apologizing to Tote's lawyers and saying NTSB had reached no conclusions in its investigation. He said he did not mean to accuse Tote's management of errors. "In hindsight I think my question could've been better phrased," Roth-Roffy said. Also during the hearings, a former Tote captain revealed that he had been fired after raising safety concerns about his vessel, the El Morro, a sister to the El Faro. Capt. Jack Hearn said he raised concerns about holes in his ship, and that Tote reluctantly reported them to the Coast Guard but only after he took a trip without the needed repairs. Weeks later, Hearn said a company official came onboard and asked him to resign and get help finding a new job, or be fired. Advertisement Testimony also revealed that El Faro Capt. Michael Davidson was receiving outdated and wildly inaccurate weather reports the day before the ship sank. Keller and other company officials say the choice of route and overall voyage planning was Davidson's alone to make, a common refrain from Tote officials throughout both rounds of hearings. An attorney representing some of the lost crewmembers' families who have sued Tote say the company is continuing to place blame on Davidson rather than admit responsibility. "The testimony seems carefully crafted and specifically designed to try to avoid responsibility," Houston-based attorney Jason Itkin said in a statement. Associated Press Laura Jean Gilbreath, 82, formerly of Tucson, Ariz., came home to North Dakota where, after a short battle with Cancer, she died May 21, 2016, at Sanford Health, Bismarck. There will be no visitation. Cremation has taken place. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, at Mandan Union Cemetery, with the Rev. Lee Herberg officiating. Laura was born to Victor L. and Vesta Cecelia Abar Gilbreath on Dec. 18, 1934, in Mott. Her family moved to Bismarck early in her life and she attended schools in Bismarck, graduating from Bismarck High School in 1952. She attended Bismarck Junior College and graduated from Montana State University with a bachelors degree and went on to get her masters degree. She was an Economics Professor at Bismarck Junior College for a number of years before moving to Arizona. She lived in the Tucson area for many years and most recently was employed with the U.S. Census Bureau at the time of her death. When she found out that she was extremely ill, she wanted to return home to North Dakota, and her brother, Roy, arranged for her return. When crossing the North Dakota line, she said. Im home. Laura was preceded in death by her parents, and her husbands. She is survived by her brother, G. Roy Gilbreath, Bismarck. Laura enjoyed life She lived, she died. She laughed, she cried. She tried! Peace be with you Laura. Go to www.eastgatefuneral.com to share memories of Laura and sign the online guest book. (Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck) This field at Sunrise and Meridian roads could become an Old Dominion truck depot, right next to a small subdivision just south of Ferry Road. (Steve Lord / The Beacon-News) The battle between a large trucking firm and a small neighborhood just outside the far northeast side of Aurora is a true David and Goliath affair. David in this case is the 17-home Ferry Road Farms subdivision at Meridian and Sunrise roads, just off Ferry Road between Eola Road and Route 59. Advertisement The roughly 70-year-old group of homes is in Naperville Township sandwiched between Naperville to the south and east, and Aurora to the north and west, and also squeezed in between Interstate 88 and burgeoning office, research and industrial development along both sides of Ferry Road. Old Dominion is the national trucking firm that wants to put a truck depot on about five acres at Sunrise and Meridian, right on the main road into the subdivision and almost next door to two of the houses there. Advertisement Both sides are saying they want to be good neighbors, with residents questioning if a truck depot is the best use for the property, and Old Dominion officials saying they are willing to change their plan to accommodate residents' concerns. Already, the residents have won a small victory with the Aurora Planning Commission recommending against the Old Dominion plan. However, they say they still are concerned about what will happen before the Aurora City Council. "We're not opposed to the property being developed," said Arno Peterson, a 29-year resident of the subdivision. "We just wonder if a truck depot is the best thing to be put across from residential." Residents got a bit of a second victory when Old Dominion presented a plan to the council's Planning and Development Committee with significant changes in it. The changes were due to the issues presented before the Planning Commission by residents, and the Planning Commission's plan denial. "We were responding to some of the residents' concerns," said Bruce Goldsmith, Old Dominion's Aurora-based attorney. Aldermen on the Planning and Development Committee delayed consideration of the Old Dominion plan so staff could evaluate the changes made. Most of the changes involved more landscaping and fencing to better shield the neighborhood from noise and light. Those were among neighbors major concerns not just light from the site, but from trucks as they move in and out of the 24-hour facility. Officials said the site would see 115 truck trips a day. Goldsmith pointed out that the area already is zoned for office, research and industrial uses, and that the Old Dominion plan fits fine with the other uses along Ferry Road. The property, once the Frieders dairy farm, has been in the hands of developers and planned for development since the 1970s. Advertisement "This is just a natural conclusion of events," Goldsmith said. But aldermen appeared ready to try to make both sides as happy as possible, even though the unincorporated residents in Ferry Road Farms are technically not their constituents. "I think we should be careful in listening to the residents," said Alderman Michael Saville, 6th Ward, Planning and Development chairman. "I agree Old Dominion is listening to the concerns. They increased their proposal substantially." Goldsmith said Old Dominion would like to get the proposal through as quickly as possible, because this is the time of year to start projects. "We're in summer construction season right now," he said. Meanwhile, Peterson said residents will continue their fight against the truck facility, even though they feel they are making the fight alone. An unincorporated pocket between two big cities, they did not even get an answer to emails they sent to Naperville Township trustees, he said. Advertisement "There's nobody here to defend us," Peterson said. slord@tribpub.com Later, all these men who were honored at the library admitted they were taken by surprise. And no, Lomas was not happy at first a comment that did not surprise Toma who declared he could see "flames coming from his eyes" as the sham was revealed. ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa -- Federal and state authorities have yanked a construction permit for a segment of the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline route to investigate reports it crosses ancient sacred tribal burial grounds in northwestern Iowa. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notified the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday it was revoking approval of a Sovereign Lands Construction Permit, which had been issued to pipeline developer Dakota Access on March 3. The permit granted construction, maintenance and operation in lands under U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Iowa DNR jurisdiction. It was one of several permissions Dakota Access needed for its $3.8 billion Bakken pipeline, which promises to deliver up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day 1,168 miles underground from North Dakota oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution hub in Illinois. A significant archaeological site was identified within the Big Sioux River Wildlife Management Area in Lyon County and all tree clearing or any ground-disturbing activities within the pipeline corridor pending further investigation should stop, James B. Hodgson, chief of the agencys Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs wrote to Iowa DNR Director Chuck Gipp. The Iowa DNR issued a stop work order Thursday. Because the approval has been revoked, Dakota Access LLC is no longer authorized to engage in any activities pursuant to the permit, wrote Seth Moore, an environmental specialist at the Iowa DNR. Spokeswoman Lisa Dillinger for Dakota Access, which is a subsidiary of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, referred to the findings as rumors and noted the action has no impact because no work is going on in Iowa. If something is confirmed in the area, we will work with the appropriate agencies to make any necessary adjustments, Dillinger said in an email. Energy Transfer takes great care in these types of situations and we will do all that is needed to mitigate any impact. The swift course change was prompted after State Archaeologist John Doershuk brought forth a concern raised by the Upper Sioux tribe. The tribe studied the land and identified a site with buried human remains, he said. It is a site of cultural importance to the tribe, Doershuk said. The tribe filed papers with Doershuks office, which prompted Doershuk to intervene. Doershuk said Burns & McDonnell, a consultant based in Kansas City, Mo., hired by Dakota Access for archaeological testing, had surveyed but saw no significant findings. A year ago, Doershuk warned Iowa regulators to require more independent archaeological testing. Moore, in his letter from the DNR, stated Dakota Access needs permission from Doershuk and Fish and Wildlife before proceeding with construction in the area. Doershuk said he cant confirm nor deny that the land has what the tribe claims, but until further investigation offices must treat it as if it does have human remains. If human remains do exist, the preference is to leave them in place and reroute the pipeline, he said. The traditional practice is if theres no compelling reason to remove ancient human remains, leave them in place, Doershuk said. Generally, theres lot of places the pipeline can go. Id prefer the route be shifted, he said. Homewood-Flossmoor High School senior Taiylar Ball was prohibited from going to prom, and almost kept from attending her graduation ceremony Sunday, because of a gritty poem she performed at the school's recent talent show. That poem and the school's response to it received some national attention. Jamilah Lemieux, editor for Ebony magazine, published an opinion piece criticizing the school for its reaction. And J.K. Rowling, the British author best known for her Harry Potter fantasy book series, shared a YouTube video on Twitter of Ball reciting the poem, encouraging followers to celebrate Ball's "#freedomofexpression." Advertisement This is shameful: a student punished for speaking her own words in a poem. #freedomofexpression -via @JamilahLemieux https://t.co/YvMkzoXtrF J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 22, 2016 Ball, an 18-year-old National Honor Society member who plans to attend Florida A&M University this fall on a full scholarship, performed an original spoken-word poem entitled "Dear Black Girls" at her senior talent show. She performed the piece alongside another student. Videos containing portions of Ball's spoken word poem have appeared on YouTube. (WARNING: Video contains graphic language). Part of the poem read as follows: Advertisement "You will never understand how it feels to walk this Earth as a black woman. Do you know how it feels to be hated for the best part of you? The world don't love us. We don't love us. No one loves us. The beauties, the curses and the burdens. I am writing the black woman burden." The senior said her performance contained language that the school's principal, Ryan Pitcock, deemed offensive. The poem included use of a form of "the N-word" as well as a slang term for women's breasts. When put into the context of the piece, Ball said that she used that kind of language to combat black stereotypes and to empower women. Ball only finished writing the poem the morning of the talent show and said she did not get it approved by the show's sponsor due to time considerations. She later conceded she should have reached out for approval, but added that the sponsor, who knew Ball's piece had not yet been completed, should have made an attempt to contact her before the performance. "We both dropped the ball," she said. Following her performance, Ball was told to leave school, and later that evening received a call informing her that she would be banned from attending prom, she said. "I missed out on a life event," she said. Ball attempted to make the best of prom night by wearing her prom dress, attending a send-off party and taking a limousine to the Field Museum of Natural History where the prom was to be held. She was turned away at the door by school officials, she said. Advertisement In response to an inquiry, Jodi Bryant, Homewood-Flossmoor's director of human resources and public relations, issued an emailed statement that said, "There were many amazing performances at the talent show, including this student's powerfully written and delivered spoken word. It is unfortunate that it included additional content that was not previously approved by the audition committee at the dress rehearsal and was not within the school's guidelines." In recent days, there was a series of meetings held between Ball and district officials about whether she would be able to attend Sunday's graduation. At the last of those meetings on Wednesday, Bryant confirmed that Ball would be allowed to participate in the ceremony. Ball attended that meeting along with her mother, Antoinette Grady, and her attorney, Rahsaan Gordon. Pitcock, district Superintendent Von Mansfield, and the district's attorney were also present. Gordon called the high school's actions in banning Ball from prom an "overreaction." He said that, in meeting with the principal and superintendent, he hoped to reach an amicable resolution rather than taking legal action. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > "To ban a star student from graduation that is just wrong," Gordon said. Grady called the high school's reaction "too harsh" and added that her daughter had earned the right to walk at her graduation. Advertisement "I am happy that the H-F administration and I were able to come to an amicable resolution," Ball said. "I'm excited to walk. It doesn't make up for prom at all, but I'm definitely happy that I get to walk on Sunday." Ball said she was surprised and satisfied by all the support she has received from the local community and elsewhere. "I received a lot of support," she said. "I try not to look at the negative comments." She said she had been in contact with both Lemieux and Rowling, and was extremely appreciative of their support. David Lipowski is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. Norma Severn has worked as a crossing guard in Northbrook for three and a half years. (Alexandra Kukulka, Pioneer Press) Norma Severn, 47, lives in Northbrook and has been a crossing guard for the past three and a half years. She was born in Northbrook, but lived in California, Washington and Australia growing up because her father was in the military. Q: Do you normally work at Shermer and Meadow Roads? Advertisement A: No, usually I cover Cherry Lane and Meadow Road, but right now I am covering for someone who is sick until the end of the school year. Q: What times do you work? Advertisement A: I do it in the morning and afternoon, Monday through Friday. This year I get to work summer school for the first time, and I am looking forward to it because I get to see a bunch of new kids. This job is the best because I like seeing the kids. Q: Who is someone you look up too? A: My uncle. He was a paratrooper in the military and a volunteer firefighter, so I look up to him. Plus, he was home when my dad wasn't, so my younger sister and brother and I look at him as a surrogate father. Q: Did your family travel everywhere with your dad? A: We didn't go to Japan with him because the schooling there is so different. Q: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? A: I've always wanted to go to Germany, because my mom's parents are originally from there. Q: What is your message to the community? Advertisement A: Be polite to your fellow citizens, and obey cross walks and stop signs. Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. China will safeguard the interests of its steel producers by appealing to the World Trade Organization after the United States launched an investigation of Chinese companies for alleged price-fixing, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. A worker at a steel company in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, in January 2015. [Photo/China Daily] The ministry said the country was resolutely opposed to the US decision and would encourage its companies to legally defend their interests. The US International Trade Commission said on Thursday that it would investigate a complaint by Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corp, which claimed that Chinese steelmakers and distributors conspired to fix prices, stole trade secrets via computer hacking and misrepresented the origin of their exports to the US. In its complaint, US Steel Corp is seeking to bar nearly all imports from China's largest steelmakers. Trade remedy measures recently taken by the US constitute trade protectionism, and they will disrupt trade and not solve the US steel industry's problems, said a statement by the ministry's Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau. It said current steel industry woes were global challenges and that a solution will require coordinated efforts by the countries concerned. The US investigation would target 40 Iron & Steel Group Co. Shen Yan, head of the legal affairs department at Shanghai-based Baosteel, said he was shocked and angered by the US move, which he said is against WTO rules. "The company will pay close attention to the case and support the Chinese government to take all necessary measures to ensure the rights of Chinese steel companies," said Shen. Sun Jin, director of the international publicity office of Wuhan Iron & Steel, said he was baffled Chinese steel producers and distribution subsidiaries, including Baosteel Group, Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co, Wuhan Iron & Steel Co and Anshan by the US decision, because steel products involved in this case are products manufactured by Chinese companies for many years. Meanwhile, the US government imposed on Wednesday anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 450 percent on exports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China. The European Union also launched an anti-subsidy investigation this month into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, the subject of an anti-dumping probe since February. Liu Zhenjiang, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Iron and Steel Association, said the US recently has taken frequent trade remedy measures against foreign steel products without prudence, which will not help solve problems faced by US steel companies. "Excessive trade protection is the primary cause that results in the operation loss of the US steel industry," said Liu. Officials in Tianjin said they expect high-end, modern manufacturing to account for 70 percent of output at the city's flagship industrial region, the Tianjin Binhai New Area, by 2020. A visitor walks past a poster of an A 330 at the assembly area of Airbus Group SE in the Tianjin Binhai New Area. [Photo / Xinhua] Tianjin is considered China's oldest industrial hub. In 2005, it became a pilot city for the country's transition, from being a low-value, to a high-level manufacturing economy. Since then, Zong Guoying, Party chief of the New Area's administrative committee, said companies right across the site have been embracing and investing in the most up-to-date industrial methods. "Advanced modern manufacturing is our top priority, and a decade after being created, the area's pillar manufacturing segments are now thriving," said Zong. He highlighted eight sectors as enjoying the strongest progress: aviation and aerospace, automobiles, equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, electronics and information, new materials, alternative energy and biopharmaceutical. The result of this modernization drive is that the New Area enjoyed a gross domestic product worth 1 trillion yuan ($152 billion) in 2015, accounting for more than 60 percent of Tianjin's total. Its industrial value was worth 927 billion yuan in 2015 - 5.7 times its size in 2005, when the State Council designated it another of China's pilot zones for deepening economic reform, after Shenzhen and Shanghai's Pudong. One of the most successful of the companies now operating within the area is Taiyuan Heavy Industry Co Ltd. Lian Guangshe, its general manager, said it chose the Binhai New Area as its new production hub, because of its geographical advantages and the favorable investment policies on offer. "Tianjin is a key coastal city and a major economic hub for North China," said Lian. "Since setting up our new facility here in 2012, the production and shipping of our marine engineering machinery products have really benefited a lot." The company now runs four, 50,000-ton docking berths within the Tianjin Port - the largest harbor in North China - which are just 500 meters away from its manufacturing facility. Taizhong Binhai, a subsidiary of Taiyuan Heavy Industry, has a wide product portfolio, including marine drilling platforms, forging and pressing equipment, and harbor machinery products, and exports to South America, South Africa, India and Australia. "This business model of 'factory in the back and port in the front' has proved very convenient, allowing us to efficiently ship our products worldwide," said Lian. Zhang Yong, the New Area's director, said the steady upgrading of advanced manufacturing activities right across the zone has also created a solid and sustainable industrial foundation for many other companies. "The enterprises here generated 1.55 trillion yuan of total output in 2015," said Zhang. "These included high-end manufacturing bases for global companies including Airbus Group SE for its A 320 aircraft assembly, and Volkswagen AG for its transmission production." Another company using the site to spearhead an expansion overseas is Tianjin Zhongji Equipment Manufacture Co Ltd, whose products include marine engineering equipment, pressure vessels, construction and metallurgical engineering products. The company recently sold a 3,000-horse-power drilling machine to Mexico, to be used on an offshore oil and gas project, which Tianjin Zhongji claims is the largest of its type built in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for people-oriented approach in planning and building a new sub-center for the nation's capital city Beijing. "Globally advanced energy-saving and environment protection technologies, standards, materials and craftsmanship must be extensively used to build a green city, a forest city, a spongy city and a smart city,", Xi said Friday at a conference of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The planning, design and construction of the sub-center must have global outlook and Chinese characters, use high standards, and stick to the concept of innovative, coordinated, green and inclusive development, said a statement issued after the meeting. "Planning must come before construction, the use of every inch of land must be considered carefully before construction begins, " Xi said. He urged city planners and builders to bear in mind that they are creating history and making an art piece. The mater plan must take into consideration people's needs to work, live and entertain. Transport, education and health service must be convenient. The sub-center must have Chinese elements and borrow from other cultures, Xi said. The sub-center could help adjust the space layout of Beijing, rid it of mega city problems and promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Xi said. The meeting discussed progress made in implementing the plan in promoting coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, hailing headway made in transport, biological environment and industry. "Benign interactions among Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have made tangible results. Coordinated development has seen a good beginning," Xi said. With Children's Day approaching, China's top prosecuting body is calling for more attention to protecting the interests of youth offenders and victims. At the same time, it also vows more efforts to rein in the rise of school bullying in the country. Photo taken on April 28, 2015 shows over 1000 young offenders reading "Di Zi Gui", a Chinese ancient book emphasizing the basic requirements for being a good person, at a Juvenile Hall in Zhengzhou city, Henan province. [Photo: qq.com] The Supreme People's Procuratorate revealed 10 cases involving youth at a press conference on Friday. In one case, a 17-year-old suspect in Jiangsu province was found guilty of theft. He began to contemplate suicide after his case was mistakenly made public, which put him under great pressure. The teenager later gave up on killing himself after getting help from psychologists invited by local prosecutors. Zhang Zhijie with the supreme prosecuting authority says handling of cases involving minors requires special attention. "The protection of privacy of young offenders is of great importance in such cases. Taking this case for example, psychological intervention was timely while local authorities were urged to abide regulations and take concrete measures to prevent the leak of the young suspects' information. All of these were aimed at educating the young offenders while helping them keep confident of the future." The other cases highlighted the protection of young victims of violence, parents stripped of guardianship for doing violence to their children, and officials punished for duty-related crimes in handling minors' cases. Zhang Zhijie says these cases show the prosecuting authority's determination against youth-targeted crimes. "These cases are expected to tell prosecutors across the country how to handle similar cases, warn of similar crimes and also increase public awareness of the protection of minors' rights." At the press conference, officials also addressed school bullying that has been on a rise in China. A survey last year showed more than 73 percent of 1,000 students polled nationwide came across school bullying, whether verbal or physical. There have been suggestions that harsher penalties for offenders in bullying cases are needed, against the backdrop of increasing numbers of incidents, as well as escalating violence and cruelty. In response, Shi Weizhong of the top prosecuting body vows to take steps to address the problem. "Prosecutors nationwide have been required to highlight education while dealing with such bullying cases instead of only relying on punishments. But it doesn't mean young offenders in such cases can be exempt from criminal penalties." Shi says prosecutors will work closer with police, families, schools and institutions to rein in the spread of violence in schools. He also suggested government-run corrective facilities for teenagers will play a bigger role in educating young violent offenders when it's necessary. May 29 will mark the 35th anniversary of the death of Madame Soong Ching Ling, wife of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and honorary president of China. On May 27, a commemoration was held at her former residence now a museum in Beijing to remember her active role in helping China achieve its present-day peace. Qi Mingqiu, deputy chairman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), smoothes the wreaths ribbons before the statue of Madame Soong Ching Ling on May 27, during the commemoration of the 35th anniversary of Madame Soongs death. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn] The commemoration started with a wreath-presenting ceremony in which Qi Mingqiu, deputy chairman of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF), smoothed the wreath ribbons and bowed to the statue of Madame Soong. Soong Ching Ling was the second wife of Sun Yat-sen, one of the leaders of the 1911 revolution that established the Republic of China, and was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. Soong played a prominent role in Chinese politics prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China (1949), using her family's influence and her liaison capability. Soong's involvement in Chinese politics continued after 1949, and she was elected vice president of China in 1959. During her final days, she was admitted to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and named Honorary Chairwoman of the People's Republic of China. Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation. GRAND FORKS -- Sen. John Hoeven caught flak this week for his stance on the presidential election process -- specifically, his commitment to "support," but not endorse, the GOP's nominee. Rep. Eliot Glassheim, a Democrat running to unseat Hoeven this fall, renewed calls this week for Hoeven to clarify his position. "Exactly what part of Donald Trump's agenda does Sen. Hoeven support? Does Sen. Hoeven support lowering wages for working families? Does he support kicking 11 million people out of the country and tearing families apart - -families who pay taxes and pay into the Social Security system?" Glassheim asked in a prepared statement. "Does he support withdrawing American participation in NATO and allowing nuclear weapons to proliferate?" Glassheim's campaign pointed to a May 20 Washington Post piece headlined "The 10 most tortured Republican responses to Donald Trump" that mentions Hoeven under item No. 4, calling support without an endorsement "a distinction without a difference," and pointing out that Merriam-Webster's definition of the word "endorse" actually includes the word support. "When Sen. Hoeven says he'll support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, North Dakotans deserve to know which part of Trump's reckless agenda Hoeven will support in Washington," Glassheim continued. Asked for comment on Glassheim's statement, a representative of Hoeven's campaign e-mailed a response that read, in part: "Eliot Glassheim wants to criticize Sen. Hoeven for supporting Donald Trump for President, but Glassheim has said he will support either Socialist Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. Both Sanders and Clinton have said they oppose hydraulic fracturing and the use of coal, which will devastate our energy industry. They would weaken our second amendment rights, and favor higher taxes, more regulation and the same big government approach of the Obama administration." The back-and-forth between the candidates has been playing out since shortly after the Indiana primary, when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich suspended their campaigns and left the path clear for Trump to clinch the GOP nomination. When asked about the matter directly -- and why he endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election cycle, but hasn't used the word now -- Hoeven reiterated that he's been consistent in his message about this election cycle's GOP nominee. "I'm supporting him, I've said that consistently," he said. "I've used the term 'support' because we're running our own campaign. Some people have used 'support' and 'endorse.' ... We're working our own campaign. I've been consistent saying I'll support our nominee, and I'll support him." The Washington Post piece cited by Glassheim suggests that Hoeven's decision to "support" a nominee runs parallel to a broader group of Republican legislators that are hesitant to get too close to Trump's policies and his lack of popularity among millennials, women and minorities. The article noted that "not one Senate Republican up for re-election has wholeheartedly embraced their party's presumptive nominee." Asked about the suggestion, a member of Hoeven's campaign staff declined to add anything to the Hoeven camp's prior statement. Glassheim's remarks come as Trump clinched the GOP nomination and visited North Dakota on Thursday to speak at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference. U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer, the lone North Dakotan in the House, has endorsed Trump. Cramer appeared with him shortly before his speech and has become an energy adviser for his campaign. Earlier this year, Trump won a straw poll organized by Cramer, which the representative said would influence his endorsement decision. Asked about Hoeven's stance on Trump, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, said she can only speak for her own approach to the campaign. Asked about her level of concern for the bombast in Trump's bid for the presidency, Heitkamp, who supports Hillary Clinton, added she'd like to move to a new phase in the campaign soon, mentioning multiple candidates in her response. "I'd like to get to the part in this campaign when we actually see what either candidate would be doing in terms of public policy," she said. "We aren't there." A May 16 piece published in Politico suggests that Heitkamp's stance is a calculated one. In a state that has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968, the piece suggests that it's "good politics" to take it easy on the real estate mogul. A quote from Heitkamp in which she speculates on working with a President Trump is used to buttress the point. "If Donald Trump is elected president, there will be a great opportunity to sit down and have a conversation about what that agenda looks like," Heitkamp told Politico. "If he's president, we're going to have disagreement. But we'd better all figure out how to come up with an agenda for the American people." Flash Barack Obama on Friday became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since America dropped an atomic bomb on the city 71 years ago, stirring mixed feelings among the United States, Japan and the victim countries during WWII. After laying a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Obama called for a "world without nuclear weapons" during his speech at the city's Peace Memorial Park. "We come to ponder the terrible forces unleashed in the not so distant past. We come to mourn the dead ... their souls speak to us and ask us to look inward," Obama said, avoiding any direct expression of remorse or apology for the bombings. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for his part, said that Obama's Hiroshima visit brought hope to people seeking a nuke-free world and never again should A-bomb tragedies occur. Obama, accompanied by Abe, also visited the Peace Memorial Museum, which displays a number of artifacts of the victims and other exhibits related to the attack and talked briefly with two survivors of the atomic bomb. Though the White House stressed before the trip that Obama won't apologize for the atomic bombing, many Japanese people still view his visit as an "apology." "Whether he apologizes or not, the trip speaks for itself," a Tokyo resident told Xinhua. Just hours ahead of Obama's visit, dozens of Japanese citizens gathered near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, protesting against Obama's visit to Hiroshima. While holding banners that read "Get rid of all nukes immediately," "Remove all U.S. bases from Okinawa" and "We won't let you use military alliances to start your next war," protesters also shouted "You're not welcome here, Obama and Abe" and "Get out of Hiroshima." Obama's Hiroshima visit also drew domestic criticism with the New York Post calling it a "shameful apology tour." The newspaper said "his penchant for apologizing is central to his legacy." Hiroshima University student Morita Hirotaka said during an interview with Xinhua that with the end of his last president term in office approaching, Obama hoped to leave behind some political legacy. "It is unbearable that both Abe and Obama are making political use of Hiroshima," Hirotaka said. The United States dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, a stronghold of Japanese Imperial Army and weapons arsenal in 1945, to accelerate the end of WWII which was partially waged by Japan. The Japanese government frequently uses Hiroshima to pose itself as a victim of the war but seldom mentions its own wartime atrocities in its war of aggression against its Asian neighbors. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing on Friday that "It is worth paying attention to Hiroshima, but Nanjing should not be forgotten." "Victims deserve sympathy, but perpetrators can never shirk their responsibility," Wang said. Flash China on Friday said it was strongly dissatisfied with a statement by G7 members, in which they expressed concern over the South China Sea. Leaders of the G7 countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and representatives from the European Union, convened in Japan's Ise-Shima for the summit, which ran Thursday through Friday. "As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, adding that such action was not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does not accord with the G7's position as a platform for managing the developed economies. "China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done." Hua said, urging G7 members to avoid irresponsible remarks and do more that is beneficial to regional peace and stability. Hua called on G7 members to be objective and fair and abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes. "As the world is faced with a complicated economic situation, the G7, as a platform to discuss world economy, should focus on economic and development issues of global concern," Hua said. As the holder of the G20 presidency this year, China hopes G7 members will join the agenda of G20, which is more representative platform, and play a more constructive role in global economic governance, Hua said. What China has done in the South China Sea falls entirely within China's sovereignty, and is completely legal, reasonable and blameless, Hua said. China firmly maintains the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the willful trespassing of naval warships, Hua said. She said China opposed the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigation freedom." In fact, regarding China's efforts to settle the South China Sea disputes through negotiation and consultation, more and more countries and organizations have shown their understanding and support, Hua said. Flash The European Union (EU) on Friday adopted additional restrictive measures against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on trade, financial services, investment and transport. According to a press release issued by the Council of the EU, these measures complement and reinforce the sanctions regime imposed by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. In the trade sector, additional measures include prohibition of the import of petroleum products and luxury goods from the DPRK, prohibition of the supply, sale or transfer to the DPRK of additional items, materials, equipment relating to dual-use goods and technology and ban on any public financial support for trade with the DPRK. In the financial sector, the new measures are prohibition of transfers of funds to and from the DPRK, unless for certain predefined purposes and authorized in advance. In terms of investment, it includes prohibition of all investment by the DPRK in the EU; prohibition of investment by EU nationals or entities in the mining, refining and chemical industries sectors as well as in any entities engaged in the DPRK's "illegal" programs. In the transport sector, it includes prohibition on any aircraft operated by DPRK carriers or originating from the DPRK from landing in, taking off or overflying EU territory; prohibition on any vessel owned, operated or crewed by the DPRK from entering EU ports. EU restrictive measures against the DPRK were introduced on Dec. 22, 2006. According to the EU side, the existing EU measures implement all UNSC resolutions adopted after the DPRK's nuclear tests and launches using ballistic missile technology. Prohibitions on the export and import of arms, goods and technology that could contribute to nuclear, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and other restrictions in the financial, trade and transport sectors were already in force. On March 5, 2016, the Council transposed a first set of measures under UNSC resolution 2270 by adding 16 persons and 12 entities to the list of those subject to travel restrictions and asset freeze. On May 19, 2016, the Council brought the total number of persons subject to EU restrictive measures against the DPRK to 66 and the number of entities to 42. The UNSC unanimously adopted resolution 2270 on the DPRK on March 2 of this year. Flash A portal website of the University of N. New Jersey which has recently been uncovered as the phishing site of a bogus college has been created and manipulated by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a bid to crack down on illegal educational agencies. About 22 illegal educational agencies that fell into the trap developed by the DHS have been clamped down, thanks to the joint efforts of the DHS and local police. Those agencies continued to attract overseas students; nevertheless, they knew quite well that the information provided by the false university was merely a fabrication. Falsely describing it as a university in Cranford, New Jersey, some 25 kilometers away from New York City, the website of the counterfeit educational institute showed an array of information and graphics, depicting it as a place of cultural diversity while presenting the design of its school badge which was very similar to that of Princeton University. Many overseas students said they had never heard of the university so that they were truly skeptical about its credibility. However, the qualifications of the university both as an institute of higher education and a campus providing philological English training could be found being granted by the U.S. Department of Education whose official website was tied to the school. An overseas Chinese student who was involved in the scandal said, "The school had a mark guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education on its website and its credibility as a university being able to issue F-1 visas was endorsed by the DHS on its official website. Moreover, a number of people coaxed the students by sending fake photos proclaiming they had once been there, and that they took photos with the 'president'." The U.S. police revealed that the case has involved 1,076 students formed by a majority of Chinese and Indian applicants, who have not yet faced criminal charges. However, according to the "Immigration Act," as long as those students choose to leave voluntarily with no record of being deported, making no appearances at immigration court, they won't encounter severe consequences. But for those choosing to stay until the verdicts of the immigration court come out, they will probably be asked to leave within 180 days or they will be banned from the crossing the border for three years; They may also be asked to leave within one year or be banned entrance for 10 years. Many students claimed that they are innocent, because they have been granted the official information of the university even though it has never existed. Some of them were from famous universities, such as Harvard University, who attempted to make a change of their majors in hope that they may be more competent in the sluggish job markets. "When I received a message from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, I was asked to leave the country or restore my identity immediately. I chose the latter," an overseas student said anonymously. "I was completely innocent and felt I was cheated by the school, the agency, and most importantly, the DHS," the student continued. The establishment of a phishing site for a fake university in order to crack down on illegal educational agencies lurking in the market has drawn a great amount of social concerns which question the motive of the DHS. Some people voiced their sympathy to the students who exerted great effort to apply for admittance to the school only to learn of its use as a means of phishing. However, the DHS protested that those students are not innocent and that they certainly understood what kind of school it was. Their only purpose in registering for the school was to stay in the United States by spending money. To entrap and expose the misconduct of the suspects is a defense tactic stipulated in "the Criminal Law" of the United States, however, such a scheme is not applicable to "the Immigration Law." Legal experts advised the students to quickly have their identities restored and proactively defend their rights if they indeed have to respond to prosecution. You are here: Home Flash A Colombian guerrilla group on Friday released Spanish journalist Salud Hernandez days after she went missing over the weekend, media reported. Her reappearance caps "a week of speculation (as to) whether the journalist was kidnapped, embedded with a guerrilla unit or held hostage," the English-language Colombia Reports said on its website. Colombia's second-largest insurgency, the National Liberation Army (ELN), released Hernandez in a rural part of the northeast Colombian department of Norte de Santander, where she had been seized. The correspondent for Spanish newspaper El Mundo and a columnist for Colombian daily El Tiempo, said she had gone to the area to cover Colombia's ongoing conflict. "From the first moment I was held against my will ... I told them they were committing a kidnapping," Hernandez said. On Thursday, Colombia's Defense Ministry said the ELN was behind the kidnapping of Hernandez and other two Colombian reporters. Flash Brazilian interim President Michel Temer on Friday condemned the shocking gang rape of a teenager, which drew worldwide fury after her attackers posted a video of the crime online. "It is outrageous that we are forced to witness such a barbaric crime as this in the 21st century," Temer said in a written statement, according to state news agency Agencia Brasil. "Our government is mobilized, alongside the Rio de Janeiro Public Security Secretariat, to find the perpetrators and punish the rapists, as well as those who posted the criminal act online through social media," said Temer. Temer also announced the creation of a special department within the federal police force to investigate crimes against women. A 16-year-old girl was drugged when she visited her boyfriend in a slum in Rio earlier this month, waking up a day later in a strange house naked and surrounded by 33 men. Later a video, which was recorded at the scene, started to circle online, further traumatizing the victim and sparking rage. Flash A crime reporter has been shot dead in Manila, police said on Saturday. Police identified the victim as Alex Balcoba, 56, a reporter who writes for People's Brigada tabloid. He was gunned down at around 7:30 p.m. Friday in front of the family-owned watch repair shop in Manila's Quiapo suburb, police said. Police said the two gunmen who fatally shot Balcoba in the head with a pistol fled on a motorcycle after the shooting. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died later, police said. Police have yet to determine the motive of the killing. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemned the cold-blooded killing of Balcoba, saying the victim is the 174th journalist slain in the line of duty since 1986 and the 34th under the watch of President Benigno Aquino. "But whether or not Balcoba's murder is related to his work as a journalist, we demand that authorities act speedily to catch his killers and bring them to justice," NUJP's chair Ryan Rosauro said in a statement. "Our country has suffered too long from the impunity with which murder continues to be committed," he said. DICKINSON Men serving prison time put in the first physical labor on a presidential library to honor the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. Those men felled towering cottonwood trees near the Missouri River Correctional Center and six semi loads of the downed logs were hauled this week to Dickinson, where theyll be used in the construction of a replica of Roosevelts Elkhorn ranch cabin on the presidential library grounds. The library and museum are in the conceptual and development stage and the logs now arranged on the site are the first visible sign that something grand and bully for North Dakota will be happening there. Loren Haid, plant director for the correctional center, said the trees had to go anyway and being asked and able to contribute them to the cabin project was one of those serendipitous win-win situations. The inmates did the majority of the work, and it was hard work, Haid said. We saved taxpayer money doing it in-house, and it was a good project for the inmates. They did it safely with not one injury or incident. The inmates have helped clear a few damaged or dying trees before, but not on this scale when 236 were red-flagged for removal by the engineers designing a flood levee to protect the correctional property south of Bismarck. There were a number of trees in some tight areas, Haid said. About 70 of those were donated to the cabin project. Most of the trees were in the 1- to 2-foot diameter range, but a few 4-foot-diameters were true granddaddies of the woods and saplings during Roosevelts time in the Badlands in the 1880s. Its hard to know what Roosevelt might have thought about inmates providing the cabin logs, but most likely this president who championed the outdoors and hard physical work would have dubbed it a splendid idea. Thats Jim Kellys take on it, too. Kelly is the CEO of the presidential library project, hired by a board of directors thats reviewing concept renderings and working up a list of donors and funding sources. If all goes as planned, the Roosevelt presidential library would become the 19th presidential library in the country. Kelly said it was exciting to have the logs delivered to the site, giving the project a tangible, touch-it reality. He said the next step is to put together a plan for the 27-acre site with landscaping and then move on to the cabin design. The idea is to gather all the available documentation of Roosevelts cabin built in 1844-45 on his cattle ranch along the Little Missouri River northwest of Medora to create as authentic a replica as possible. Well be hand-adzing the logs and fashioning them into 1-foot by 1-foot square logs between 30 and 60 feet long, Kelly said. Therell be little use of power tools. He said a call will go out to Little Missouri River ranchers to contribute heritage cottonwood trees, also. Construction wont start immediately. But while the cottonwoods cure and plans to rebuilt Roosevelts beloved cabin are drafted, those committed to the dream of a library will keep moving it forward one page at a time. A pedestrian passes by a banner for Estee Lauder cosmetics, July 2, 2011. [Wu Changqing/For China Daily] Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Inc is pushing into smaller cities in China, as it continues to invest heavily in the Chinese market despite a softening economy, the company's CEO said. Its China sales grew 8 percent in the last quarter, down from the company's historic highs of 20 percent, led primarily by gains in e-commerce and mobile commerce. "We are not going to combat the market in China - meaning (even) if China is slowing down, we will stay there, stay focused and continue to invest in China," said Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of Estee Lauder. "I don't think we have the ambition to influence the total Chinese economic trend, but we have the ambition to stay focused and continue investing during the ups and during the downs. At this moment, there's a little bit of down, but it's not dramatic, it's just a bit of softening and we're still growing in China. For us it's going very well," he said. Estee Lauder will increase its distribution in the country, investing online. It has a partnership with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Tmall platform, which Freda said has been a good partner for building its business because the company is able to control the image, equity and execution of the brand. Tmall has brand partnerships with many retailers from the United States that run their official stores on the e-commerce platform, selling to customers who are wary of fake goods that proliferate on the web. The New York-based cosmetics giant owns more than two dozen brands in makeup, skincare, fragrance and hair care, including Clinique, MAC, Bobbi Brown and Smashbox. Freda said that Estee Lauder is also planning to invest in freestanding stores - in particular with entry-level brands like MAC - in areas where there are no department stores. A visitor walks past a poster of an A 330 at the assembly area of Airbus Group SE in the Tianjin Binhai New Area. [Photo / Xinhua] Officials in Tianjin said they expect high-end, modern manufacturing to account for 70 percent of output at the city's flagship industrial region, the Tianjin Binhai New Area, by 2020. Tianjin is considered China's oldest industrial hub. In 2005, it became a pilot city for the country's transition, from being a low-value, to a high-level manufacturing economy. Since then, Zong Guoying, Party chief of the New Area's administrative committee, said companies right across the site have been embracing and investing in the most up-to-date industrial methods. "Advanced modern manufacturing is our top priority, and a decade after being created, the area's pillar manufacturing segments are now thriving," said Zong. He highlighted eight sectors as enjoying the strongest progress: aviation and aerospace, automobiles, equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, electronics and information, new materials, alternative energy and biopharmaceutical. The result of this modernization drive is that the New Area enjoyed a gross domestic product worth 1 trillion yuan ($152 billion) in 2015, accounting for more than 60 percent of Tianjin's total. Its industrial value was worth 927 billion yuan in 2015 - 5.7 times its size in 2005, when the State Council designated it another of China's pilot zones for deepening economic reform, after Shenzhen and Shanghai's Pudong. One of the most successful of the companies now operating within the area is Taiyuan Heavy Industry Co Ltd. Lian Guangshe, its general manager, said it chose the Binhai New Area as its new production hub, because of its geographical advantages and the favorable investment policies on offer. "Tianjin is a key coastal city and a major economic hub for North China," said Lian. "Since setting up our new facility here in 2012, the production and shipping of our marine engineering machinery products have really benefited a lot." The company now runs four, 50,000-ton docking berths within the Tianjin Port - the largest harbor in North China - which are just 500 meters away from its manufacturing facility. Taizhong Binhai, a subsidiary of Taiyuan Heavy Industry, has a wide product portfolio, including marine drilling platforms, forging and pressing equipment, and harbor machinery products, and exports to South America, South Africa, India and Australia. "This business model of 'factory in the back and port in the front' has proved very convenient, allowing us to efficiently ship our products worldwide," said Lian. Zhang Yong, the New Area's director, said the steady upgrading of advanced manufacturing activities right across the zone has also created a solid and sustainable industrial foundation for many other companies. "The enterprises here generated 1.55 trillion yuan of total output in 2015," said Zhang. "These included high-end manufacturing bases for global companies including Airbus Group SE for its A 320 aircraft assembly, and Volkswagen AG for its transmission production." Another company using the site to spearhead an expansion overseas is Tianjin Zhongji Equipment Manufacture Co Ltd, whose products include marine engineering equipment, pressure vessels, construction and metallurgical engineering products. The company recently sold a 3,000-horse-power drilling machine to Mexico, to be used on an offshore oil and gas project, which Tianjin Zhongji claims is the largest of its type built in China. Local governments' "green development" strategy to preserve the primitive environment of Tibet is a success, as this photo of scenery of Zhaxigang village of Lunang township in Nyingchi, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region proves, Aug 6, 2015. The fruitful efforts are seen in the snow-covered plateau that has kept its original beauty and attracts numerous visitors each year. [Photo/Xinhua] NAIROBI - The giant steps China has taken to accelerate ecological renewal could be shared in other parts of the world to help achieve sustainable development, a UN expert has said. Sheng Fulai, the head of economic research unit at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), hailed China's ecological civilization approach for redefining the global discourse on green economy and sustainable development. During an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) taking place in Nairobi, Sheng noted that China's model of ecological transformation is not only unique and innovative, but has also inspired the international community. "The Chinese concept of ecological civilization has made an impact to the global discourse on sustainable development. It covers the environmental, social, economic as well as political and cultural aspects of development," Sheng said. The ecological civilization strategy was launched by the Chinese government to promote economic growth while protecting vital ecosystems. Sheng noted that the strategy has spurred transformation of institutions to help promote transparency and accountability in management of natural resources. "Local officials in China are held accountable for the state of environment in their jurisdiction thanks to the political dimension of ecological civilization," said the UN expert. He added the concept has laid emphasis on promoting behavior change to help conserve the natural treasures that range from watersheds, forests and arable land. "China has been encouraging its citizens to reduce energy consumption as a means to cut down on carbon emissions. On a more practical note, different levels of government have integrated improved land use practices in their policies," Sheng said. UNEP on Thursday launched a report highlighting the success of China's ecological civilization strategy. According to the report, China has set precedence in restoration of vital ecosystems such as forests and pristine land. Sheng hailed significant strides China has achieved in greening its economy thanks to rapid implementation of the targets outlined in the ecological civilization blueprint. "China's forest coverage has increased from 16.6 percent in 2001 to 21 percent in 2013, and is expected to reach over 23 percent of total as the country implements the blueprint. And China's production of new energy vehicles increased 45-fold between 2011 and 2015," he told Xinhua. Sheng emphasized on the need for regular sharing of ideas and expertise between China and other countries to help hasten low-carbon development. Workers assemble engines at a factory in Weifang, Shandong province. [Photo/China Daily] BEIJING - Profit growth at China's major industrial firms slowed sharply in April, adding to concerns about growing downward pressure on the economy. Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) totaled 502 billion yuan last month in April, up 4.2 percent year on year, compared with an 11.1-percent rise registered in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The firms' profits rose 6.5 percent in the first four months to more than 1.8 trillion yuan. He Ping, an official with the NBS Department of Industry, attributed the slower profit growth in April mainly to poor performance of the electronics, electricity and auto industries, which dragged total industrial profit growth down by 7.2 percentage points. Sectoral performance was highly uneven. Oil refiners, coking plants and nuclear fuel producers' profits rose more than 80-fold during the January-April period. Ferrous metal mills' profits climbed 41.9 percent while coal miners saw their profits plunge 92.2 percent compared with the same period last year. Profits at high-tech industries surged 21.6 percent year on year, outperforming the overall industrial sector. At the end of April, industrial firms' product inventories fell 1.2 percent year on year, the first drop in recent years, He said, without giving details. An investor looks at stock prices in a brokerage house in Beijing, Jan 8, 2016. [Photo/IC] BEIJING - China's two stock exchanges have set the upper-time limit for listed firms' trading suspension, a move that could bolster the case for China's onshore stock market to be included into widely tracked global indices. Listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses seeking to suspend trading over important asset reorganization should finish the process within a time frame of no longer than three months, according to statements released by the two institutions on Friday. Similar time limits were also rolled out for continuous plans for asset reorganization, non-public offerings and major asset purchase. Over 1,400 companies suspended their Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed shares to prevent stock prices from plunging further after the mainland stock market underwent a major correction in June last year. Such arbitrary trading suspension drew fresh concern from foreign institutional investors when global stock index compiler MSCI consulted investors about adding China's yuan-denominated A shares into its widely-tracked benchmarks. MSCI has been reviewing the case to add China's A-share market into its benchmarks since 2014. "The arbitrary share suspension is a shared concern of regulators and investors both in China and abroad." said Gao Ting, head of China strategy at UBS Securities. Around 300 companies were suspended from trading in April this year, half of which cited restructuring as reason while another 40 percent only vaguely described their reason for suspension as "important events," according to Goldman Sachs. MSCI will announce its decision on the A-share's inclusion next month after it reviews China's onshore stock market's eligibility based on consultations with fund managers tracking its indices. China's stock market is the world's second largest by both market capitalization and turnover but representation in globally-tracked indices is relatively low. The MSCI China index, which tracks Chinese firms listed in offshore exchanges in places like Hong Kong and the United States, is only 2.4 percent of the MSCI AC World Index. Such low representation is disproportionate to China's growing economic influence. The world's second largest economy contributed 13 percent to global GDP, 12 percent to international trade and 9 percent of consumption worldwide in 2014, statistics from Goldman Sachs show. Authorities in China are also seeking greater participation by foreign institutional investors in the domestic stock market. Foreign investors are allowed to participate in China's onshore stock market through quota-based projects including qualified programs such as foreign institutional investor (QFII) and RQFII, which allows institutions to raise renminbi from the offshore market to invest in China. China also launched the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect in late 2014 to let investors on the mainland and those based in Hong Kong to trade select stocks on each other's exchanges, which are also subject to daily and aggregate quotas. A similar connect linking the bourses in Shenzhen and Hong Kong is expected some time this year, further expanding overseas investor's exposure to China's onshore stock market. As of March this year, overseas investors have been able to invest up to 199 billion dollars under the QFII, RQFII and stock connect programs, which is equivalent to eight percent of the free flow market capitalization of China's stock market, data compiled by Goldman Sachs shows. MSCI declined to include A-share into its emerging market index in its 2015 review, citing issues such as the inflexible QFII quota allocation among foreign investors and the Chinese regulator's constraint over cross-border capital flow, which could limit overseas institutional investors' ability to repatriate funds. Chinese regulators have made concrete steps to address some of the obstacles identified in the MSCI review last year. Authorities have began linking QFII quota allocation to the size of offshore investment funds. It also relaxed capital flow restrictions for QFII and RQFII funds and simplified quota application and the granting process. Many investment banks expect MSCI to include, if at all this year, 5 percent of China's A-share market capitalization in its emerging market index. This could potentially draw around 7.8 billion dollars of additional capital flow to the A-share market. "I think the probability of inclusion is higher than last year as regulators made progress in removing technical obstacles but it is after all a decision by the index compiler based on their consultation with clients," Gao explained. Private First Class Ralph Hatzenbihler was on a ship bound for Manila Bay when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. The whole ship was on blackout, Hatzenbihler said: You didnt dare even light a cigarette or anything on deck. And when Hatzenbihler came to his final destination at the port of Kobe, Japan, where he was to be quartermaster at a food warehouse supplying the troops during World War II, there were no Japanese in sight. They were hiding in the hills, he said, and it would take some time before they came back into town. Hatzenbihler, a Center native, was 24 years old when he was drafted. He was working on the family farm when he received his notice. He was one of 11 children four girls and seven boys and his brother five years younger would be drafted as well, serving in Alaska. Hatzenbihler was given his choice of going into the Army or the Navy. He chose the Army. I wanted to keep one foot on the ground, he said. Hatzenbihler was sent to Fort Knox in Kentucky to train with the armored division, though that would not be his job when he got overseas. When it came time to deploy, Hatzenbihler boarded the troop carrier that would be his home for 30 days with from 500 to 1,000 other men. He was seasick the first three days. You were doing good until you got close to the chow line, then you were running back the other way, he said of his bout of seasickness. From Manila Bay, Hatzenbihler boarded a train with about 30 other men. Passing Clark Air Base in the Philippines, he said he could see beat up Japanese planes on the ground. The final leg of his journey to Kobe was on a convoy of ships. He said everything lit up, and submarine hunting vessels patrolled to prevent attacks to the convoy. In Kobe, Hatzenbihler would help unload and stack food from semis that delivered it from the port to the 100-by-200-foot warehouse. He would inventory everything they had and he would help ration the food to the troop divisions that came in for supplies. The infantry got lamb, he said. Nobody else wanted it. Hatzenbihler lived in the warehouse with about 30 or 40 other soldiers. Eventually, the Japanese would come down from the hills, and many came to the warehouse looking for work. They would help load it from the warehouse into trucks for distribution to the different camps. Kobe was not quite as large as the city of Osaka, and the people were poor, Hatzenbihler said. Many of the workers came to the warehouse with a sack and one piece of bread for lunch. Whenever there were broken rations that came in off the ship, the U.S. soldiers would toss it into the bay. The Japanese would often dive in after them. They would get that stuff out of the bay; then they would have a feast, Hatzenbihler said. Hatzenbihler returned home to the family farm after 10 months abroad, he said: Hatzenbihler married his first wife in 1948. He would continue working on the farm until 65 before moving to Mandan and taking a job with Farmers Union delivering gas to farms for 13 years. He and his first wife had five children before she died. He remarried, and he and his second wife have 11 children between the two of them, as well as 27 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. NANJING - Scientists have discovered a new species of ant in a 99-million-year-old piece of Burmese amber. The bizarre-looking ant has a prominent cephalic horn and oversized, scythe-like mandibles that extend above its head. According to Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the fossil suggests that at least some of the earliest ants were solitary specialist predators. Ants experienced their early diversification within the Cretaceous period. The success of ants is generally attributed to their remarkable social behavior. Recent studies suggest that the early branching lineages of extant ants formed small colonies of subterranean or epigeic, solitary specialist predators. The vast majority of Cretaceous ants belong to the stem-group Formicidae and comprise workers and reproductives of largely generalized morphologies. Although it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about their ecology, recent discoveries from the Cretaceous suggest relatively advanced social levels. Remarkable exceptions to this pattern are ants with bizarre mouthparts in which both female castes have modified heads and blade-like mandibles, which move uniquely in a horizontal rather than vertical plane. Questions over the specific ecology of haidomyrmecines have puzzled evolutionary biologists for many years, as their mandibles appear to act as traps triggered by sensory hairs in a way distinct from that of modern trap-jaw ants Not all ants cooperate in social hunting, however, and some of the most effective predatory ants are solitary hunters with powerful trap jaws. Models of early ant evolution predict that the first ants were solitary specialist predators, but discoveries of Cretaceous fossils suggest group recruitment and socially advanced behavior among stem-group ants. Wang Bo from the Nanjing institute and his colleagues said the structures of the new ant presumably functioned as a highly-specialized trap for larger prey. The horn results from an extreme modification of the clypeus hitherto unseen among living and extinct ants, which demonstrates the presence of exaggerated trap-jaw morphogenesis early among stem-group ants. Together with other Cretaceous haidomyrmecine ants, the new fossil suggests that at least some of the earliest Formicidae were solitary specialist predators. In addition, it demonstrates that early ant societies in the Early Cretaceous, descendant from at least one lineage -- the Haidomyrmecini, became adept at prey capture, independently arriving at morphological specializations that would be lost for millions of years after their disappearance near the close of the Mesozoic. The new fossil reveals a proficiency for large-bodied carriage and highlights a more complex and diversified suite of ecological traits for the earliest ants, according to researchers. Tibet Short Documentaries consist of 30 documentaries ranging from 4 to 6 minutes. The series bring you to the daily lives of farmers, herdsmen and city dwellers and let you sip their moments of happiness. The documentaries showcase the enchanting sceneries in the snow land and the charm of local culture. Tibet today is stretching its arms to welcome visitors from all corners of the world. Yang Yanyi, Chinese Ambassador heading the Chinese Mission to the EU. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] For some time now, the South China Sea issue has attracted much attention and media coverage. Some accused China of changing the status quo in the South China Sea by taking unilateral actions that caused tensions in the region. Some claimed that China's refusal to recognize and accept the "Award" on the South China Sea to be issued by the Arbitral Tribunal established at the unilateral request of the Philippines would be "in violation of international law". These arguments are but biased and unjustified. As the waters of the South China Sea issue have been so muddied up by certain intentional forces, it is highly necessary to help those who are truly interested in the maintenance of peace and stability in the South China Sea to get the facts and essence of the matter straight. I. The real issue is disputes over territorial sovereignty. China enjoys sovereignty over the South China Sea Island, (the Xisha, Nansha, Zhongsha and Dongsha Islands) and the adjacent waters since ancient times. The Nansha Islands comprise over 230 islands, islets, sandbanks, rocks and shoals that are scattered along a 1,000 kilometer span from the southeast to the northwest of the Sea. This area was discovered and named by China as the Nansha Islands, over which China has continuously exercised sovereignty in a peaceful, effective and uninterrupted manner. Beginning in the 20th century, western colonial powers, including France and Japan, kept coveting the Nansha Islands as they colonized Southeast Asia and invaded China. Yet, due to strong resistance from China, most of their territorial ambitions ended in failure. The Cairo Declaration of November 1943 proclaimed that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese shall be restored to China. The 1945 Potsdam Declaration reiterated the proclamation of the Cairo Declaration. It has been widely recognized by the international community that the Nansha Islands and the adjacent waters belong to China, and no country ever challenged this during a long course of history. It was only since the 1960s and 1970s specially after the discovery of abundant oil reserves in the Nansha waters and the coming into being of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS/the Convention) that some countries in the region illegally occupied 42 of China's islands and reefs as part of the Nansha Islands in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and fundamental principles of overning international relations. It is obvious from the above: One, China is the victim of the South China Sea issue. Two, the real disputes are centered on sovereignty and rights over the Nansha Islands and the adjacent waters caused by illegal occupation. Three, the other is the dispute over maritime delimitation caused by overlapping claims of maritime jurisdiction. II. Settlement of territorial sovereignty dispute is beyond the scope of the UNCLOS. There is the argument that the Philippines initiated the arbitration in line with international law, and that the Philippines didn't request the Tribunal to decide on the issue of sovereignty, but only requested the Arbitral Tribunal to decide that some features in the South China Sea are low-tide elevations incapable of generating any maritime entitlement. And in some corners of the world, there have been demands on China to abide by international law, especially the UNCLOS and its arbitration procedures. As a saying which goes: there is more than meets the eye. The South China Sea Arbitration against China initiated by the Philippines is very deceptive. Abundant evidence has shown that the Philippines is actually focusing on territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, and its actual objective is but to deny China's sovereignty over maritime features of the Nansha Islands, and to legitimize its unlawful stealing of maritime features of the Nansha Islands from China. So it is highly advisable that before talking of respecting and acting in accordance with international law, one needs to get clear in the first place the subject matter in question and its essence and what international law is all about. As above illustrated, the true nature of the South China Sea issue is territorial sovereignty dispute. Given that disputes over territorial sovereignty concern China's core interests, and that the settlement of such kind of dispute is beyond the scope of the UNCLOS and its arbitration procedures; and does not concern the interpretation or application of the Convention, China like many other countries in the world goes for bilateral negotiation rather than third-party dispute settlement mechanism, not to mention accepting the jurisdiction and solutions imposed by third-party mechanisms that are not chosen by it voluntarily. To add a further point, as a basic principle of arbitration, for an arbitral award to be recognized and implemented, one of the preconditions is, the arbitral tribunal that renders the award has jurisdiction over the disputes. If the tribunal lacks jurisdiction, the arbitration proceedings shall not be continued. Even if they are carried forward, the outcome would be invalid, and shall neither be recognized nor implemented. The tribunal shall not decide on its jurisdiction arbitrarily, but prudently in line with international law including the UNCLOS. III. Application of compulsory arbitration is subject to several preconditions. It is worthwhile to underline here that of the various means to peacefully settlement of disputes, compulsory arbitration is only a new type of procedures established under the UNCLOS, and which is subsidiary and complementary to negotiation and consultation, and its application is subject to several preconditions. As illustrated by Mr. XU Hong, Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, there are four preconditions or four bars for States Parties to initiate compulsory arbitration, and for the arbitral tribunal to establish its jurisdiction. First, compulsory arbitration can only be applied to disputes concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention. If the subject matters are beyond the scope of the UNCLOS, the disputes shall not be settled by compulsory arbitration. The issue of territorial sovereignty is one such case. Consequently States shall not initiate compulsory arbitration on disputes concerning it; and even if they do, the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over them. Second, a State Party to the UNCLOS may declare in writing that it does not accept compulsory arbitration with respect to disputes concerning maritime delimitation, historic bays or titles, military and law enforcement activities, etc. Such exclusions are effective for other States Parties. With respect to disputes excluded by one party, other parties to the dispute shall not initiate compulsory arbitration; and even if it does, the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over them. China's 2006 Declaration on Optional Exceptions made in accordance with Article 298 of the UNCLOS excludes disputes concerning maritime delimitation and some other issues from the dispute settlement procedures under the UNCLOS. The unilateral initiation of arbitration by the Philippines is a violation of the right to seeking dispute settlement of its own choice that China enjoys as a State Party to UNCLOS. Third, if parties to a dispute have agreed on other means of settlement of their own choice, no party shall unilaterally initiate compulsory arbitration; and even if it does, the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over the disputes. Given that China and the Philippines have agreed to settle their disputes in the South China Sea through negotiations, the Philippines is precluded from initiating arbitration unilaterally. Fourth, parties to a dispute are obliged to first exchange views on the means of dispute settlement. Failing to fulfill this obligation, they shall not initiate compulsory arbitration; and even if they do, the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over the disputes. And the actual fact is the Philippines failed to fulfill the obligation of exchanging views with China on the means of dispute settlement. The above four preconditions, acting as the "four bars" form a part of the package system of dispute settlement, which shall be interpreted and applied comprehensively and in its entirety. The very reason why China neither accepts nor participates in the arbitration lies in the fact that the Arbitration Tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the issue and is illegal from the very beginning. The so-called "Award" issued by a tribunal so established does not have any legal validity. By doing so, China is exercising its rights endowed by the international law and safeguarding the international rule of law. It should be also emphasized that according to one of the basic principles of law, an arbitral tribunal must firstly have jurisdiction before it deals with the merits, no matter what award it makes. If it does not have jurisdiction, its subsequent actions will have no legal basis. Without jurisdiction, all its acts, including the so-called award made eventually, would be meaningless in law, just as water without its source or a tree without roots. IVChina is doing nothing more than maintaining and defending its long-standing and legitimate position. Lately, some people seem to be concerned about freedom of navigation and over-flight and militarization in the South China Sea. Some have alleged that China's island reclamations and construction work on its maritime features in the South China Sea is the main source of instability. While these concerns are duly taken note of, I am afraid that fingers have been put on the wrong root cause. The Chinese side has made crystal clear the rational and purpose of what it has been doing on some of the Nansha islands and reefs: It is nothing but maintenance and construction work with the main purposes of optimizing their functions, improving the living and working conditions of personnel stationed there, better safeguarding territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, as well as better performing China's international responsibility and obligation in maritime search and rescue, disaster prevention and mitigation, marine science and research, meteorological observation, environmental protection, navigation safety, fishery production service and other areas. Our maintenance and construction work does not target nor affect any country, nor does it have any impact on the freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea. There has been no complaint from the commercial shipping business about inconveniences or insecurity as such and there is no jump in shipping insurance rates. Facts speak for themselves. With regard to freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea, as one of the major trading countries in the world, with a huge volume of import and export and energy supply going through South China Sea, stability there is very much of our interest. China is more concerned than anybody else about freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea, and China has always been sincere and serious in respecting and safeguarding freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea. That said we do have our share of concerns about the real root cause of the continuing tension in the South China Sea, serious provocations by the U.S. politically and militarily. The United States has been asserting that it is against actions to militarize the South China Sea. Yet, it is the United States that has been sending more and more military vessels and aircrafts in close proximity to China's coastal waters, constituting grave threats to China's security on land and sea, and threatening to escalate tensions in Asia. More and more Chinese people have good reasons to believe that the U.S. is no longer just an invisible hand behind the rising tension in the South China Sea. They are afraid that the deployments by the U.S., if not curbed, can only have the effect of militarizing the region. And also in the eyes of many that freedom of navigation, a concept originally designed by the U.S. as a counter-measure against the freedom of navigation defined by the Convention, has been conveniently used by the U.S. these days to justify its military actions in the South China Sea and the freedom of movement of its navy around the world. Equally disturbing is that the statements and actions by the U.S. would most probably embolden some players to be even more aggressive and provocative. It has been made public that the U.S. alliance obligations would be invoked if China responds to such provocations. As pointed out by H.E. Ambassador Cui Tiankai:"It could be possible that all this is intended to intimidate China, not to start a real conflict. But what if China is not intimidated? This approach is clearly a path to conflict. It is indeed a dangerous path and an irresponsible policy". V. China stands for peaceful solution of the issue through dialogue and negotiation. China's pursuit in the South China Sea has been consistently maintained. That is to safeguard national territorial integrity and maintain regional peace and tranquility. Accordingly, though China is the victim of the South China Sea issue, it has been firmly committed to resolving disputes peacefully through friendly consultations and negotiations with countries directly concerned. This sincerity and commitment by China has been a deciding factor for stability of the situation in the South China Sea. Especially since the late 1990s, China has been proactively engaged with some directly concerned parties of ASEAN to work out possible solutions of sovereignty disputes over islands and reefs in question through bilateral consultation, and with ASEAN as a whole to build up confidence and to collectively maintain peace and stability in the region. I am proud to say that as head of the Chinese delegation taking part in the first few rounds of Working Group Meeting on the draft of Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), I myself contributed in a small measure to such a significant endeavor. From my personal experience working with ASEAN and its member states, I should say that China and ASEAN countries have the wisdom and every capability to resolve disputes peacefully and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea on their own. Now, China is working with ASEAN countries to implement the DOC and we are speeding up the "code of conduct in the South China Sea" consultation. With a view to securing common interest and common objective of maintaining long-lasting peace and stability in the South China Sea, China has made quite a few proposals. Firstly, the disputing parties must peacefully resolve their disputes through negotiation in accordance with the DOC. Article 4 of the DOC makes it crystal clear that the dispute must be resolved by the directly concerned states. And the leaders of China and 10 ASEAN countries signed off on the DOC. This is a binding commitment. Regrettably, the Philippines has closed the door of dialogue with China. Still, China and other ASEAN countries are doing our best to implement Article 4 of the DOC. Secondly, pending eventual solutions, countries in the region, claimants or otherwise, that border the South China Sea must work together to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, and to uphold the freedom of navigation in accordance with international law. China has played and will continue to play its responsible and constructive role. Thirdly, it is hoped that countries outside of the region support the resolution of the disputes through negotiation between the directly concerned parties, and support the efforts of China and ASEAN to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. We hope countries outside the region could play a constructive role. So long as the above-mentioned points are put in place, peace and stability in the South China Sea will continue to be maintained. As pointed out by Ms. Fu Ying and Mr. Wu Shichun in their article contributed to the National Interest -- South China Sea: How We Got to This Stage, "the future direction of trend would very much depend on the perceptions and choices of the parties involved. If they choose to cooperate, they may all win. If they choose to confront each other, they may only head for impasse or even conflict and no one can benefit totally." China and the EU have shared strategic interests in maintaining the freedom and safety of navigation, and promoting stability and prosperity in the South China Sea area. Yet, China and the EU are not disputing parties to each other, and the South China Sea issue is not an issue between the two. Given this, we sincerely hope the EU will strictly abide by its political commitment of respecting China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and China's position on the South China Sea issue and refrain from taking any action that constitutes interference in the South China Sea issue. We also hope that the EU will play a constructive role by supporting the resolution of the disputes through negotiation between the directly concerned parties, and support the efforts of China and ASEAN to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. The author is Chinese Ambassador heading the Chinese Mission to the EU. Editor's note: The growth of e-commerce in China has outpaced that of its Western counterparts during the past five years. Why has e-commerce been more successful in China? Forum readers share their opinions. TedM (UK) China is huge! There is no effective register of businesses and shops for people to refer to, unless the internet is used. If the internet is used to locate a shop or business, it is easier to get what is required directly by post, and cheaper. (Why go out to seek the premises?) China has developed a wonderful delivery service and easy and secure payment methods. It is relatively easy for a business to open on the internet. However, in the West going out to buy something is a part of leisure activities; a pleasant thing to do. (Like many men, I dislike traipsing around shops...so I like e-shopping) White tea is a rising star in the Chinese tea market. [Photo provided to China Daily] A good product usually has a story to tell. The story of white tea is that of a local woman in Fuding, Fujian province, in ancient times, who found white tea on Tailao Mountain to cure a plague of measles among children. Though white tea took up just 1 percent of the total tea sales in China in 2015, according to the China Tea Marketing Association, it is getting increasingly renowned for its natural taste, unique processing method and health benefits as a rising star in the Chinese tea market. Written records of white tea date back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when Emperor Huizong, Zhao Ji, wrote about a white tea that was a rarity and difficult to make, but exceptional. The naturally white sprouts are found most famously in two places. One is Anji county in the north of Zhejiang province. But Anji baicha, which is known for its refreshing taste, is prepared in the method of green tea and is thus normally categorized as a green tea. The modern concept of white tea was firstly produced in areas around Fujian's Fuding and Zhenghe and processed in a different way. After it was picked, the tea leaves were sundried or dried over a slow fire, or in a heated environment, instead of being roasted like green tea. Because of that light processing, the fine white fluff on the tender leaves is well kept, so that the tealeaves look white when they are ready. Fujian is making white tea with large white-looking sprouts from dabai (big white) and xiaobai (small white) small tea trees. Top-grade white tea is made of a single sprout and called baihao yinzhen (white fluff silver needle). The next grade is made with one sprout and two or three leaves, which are called baimudan (white peony). Shoumei (longevity eyebrow), or gongmei, are made of small white tealeaves, or shrubs, with stronger and older leaves. Because it is only dried, white tea is believed to best preserve the original nutrients of the tea and reflect the local soil and climate. Although it does not taste as strongly fragrant as green teas, which are roasted, it is believed to contain a higher level of polyphenols, vitamins and amino acids. Because of that, white tea is considered healthy and can work better to lower blood pressure, reduce blood fat and blood sugar. In a March 2015 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, the paper declared that "daily consumption of white tea improves the cerebral cortex metabolic and oxidative profile in pre-diabetic Wistar rats". As a conclusion, the paper suggests daily consumption of white tea "as a good, safe and inexpensive strategy to prevent DM-related effects in the cerebral cortex". While baihao yinzhen and baimudan made of tender sprouts are good for their freshness, shoumei has a good aging capacity. Local people believe white tea aged for more than five years can be used to treat diseases such as fever, as well as shock in children. It is also said to be able to prevent climate sickness. White tea in Fujian has a 200-year history, which is rather short compared to other tea varieties, according to Zhang Tianfu, a veteran Chinese tea expert. In the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), white tea was exported to Europe and mixed with black tea as a high-end product, because baihao yinzhen looks nice and stands up in water when it is brewed. Today, Fujian still exports a lot to Hong Kong, Macao, Southeast Asia and Europe. A new trend has been to make white tea into round cakes like that of pu'er, which both intensifies the taste and gives it a better ability to age. People in other parts of China, such as Yunnan, have started to use local tea from big tea trees to make white tea, using the same preparation method. These have all added fresh taste to the interesting variety. Contact the writer at yejun@chinadaily.com.cn The author is a lifestyle editor with China Daily. Office workers sleeping on the job is a common sight in China, where a surplus of cheap labor can lead to downtime at work. But in China's technology sector, where business is growing faster than many startup firms can hire new staff, workers burn the midnight oil to meet deadlines and compete with their rivals. Some companies provide sleeping areas and beds for workers to rest when they work late. [Photo/Agencies] Chinese and Australian media outlets signed multiple agreements in Sydney on Friday that will promote and deepen their exchanges and build on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Underscoring the latter aspect, the signings were witnessed by Liu Qibao, the Communist Party of China Central Committee's publicity chief, and Gary Quinlan, acting secretary of Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Six cooperative agreements were signed, involving Xinhua News Agency, China Daily, China Radio International, People's Daily website, Qingdao Publishing Group, the University of Technology Sydney, Fairfax Media, Sky News Australia, Global CAMG and Weldon International. In recent years, China-Australia media cooperation has borne fruitful results and played an important role in facilitating mutual understanding between the two countries. Kang Bing, deputy publisher of China Daily, and Allen Williams, managing director of Australian Publishing Media Fairfax, signed a framework agreement on cooperation and logistics on behalf of the two media groups. Under the agreement, Fairfax Media's Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Financial Review newspapers will issue an eight-page English-language edition of "China Watch" once a month starting in May. "In the process of international communication, China Daily has been forging alliances with important international players in media. Our cooperation with Fairfax Media today is an example of this momentum," Kang said. "Fairfax Media owns three important Australian daily newspapers and nine others in New Zealand, through which China Daily's influence will be spread to cover the two most important countries in Oceania," he said. China Daily is forging the friendship with its Australian partner, he said, so that China's soft power will drive the wheel of friendship with Australia and New Zealand. "Only by doing so can our road of cooperation be a long and rewarding one," Kang said. Williams, on behalf of Fairfax Media, said China Watch publications would enrich the content of the media group's daily newspapers, and Australian readers will be interested in reading in-depth coverage of China and China-Australian ties. China Watch, a multilingual publication of China Daily, reaches more than 50 million readers from political and business circles through the circulation channels of newspapers in various countries. It appears with The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal in the United States, The Daily Telegraph in Britain, Le Figaro in France, Handelsblatt in Germany, The Nation in Thailand, Jakarta Post in Indonesia, and Uno and El Cronista in Argentina. China Watch plays an important role in explaining China to the world and ensuring that the country's voice is heard. (China Daily 05/28/2016 page3) Australian experts brainstorm on methods of strengthening relations between two peoples Liu Qibao, China's top publicity official, meets with Mike Baird, governor of Australia's New South Wales in Sydney on Friday.Zou Hong / China Daily Liu Qibao, China's top publicity official, attended an unprecedented dialogue with Australian Sinologists in Sydney on Friday, aiming to push for more cross-cultural communication. In a speech delivered at the dialogue, Liu, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, said Sino-Australian studies are gaining strength, with young Australian scholars joining the ranks in recent years. "The dialogue is meant to give voice to the views and suggestions from Australian Sinologists for China-Australia cultural exchanges," Liu said, adding that "Australian Sinologists have contributed to China-Australia ties and deepened the friendship between our two nations." He said the Australian participants at the dialogue made good suggestions, for example that Australian journalists should go to China to learn more about its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) and economy. About 10 distinguished Australian Sinologists and China studies experts attended Friday's event, which was led by Bob Carr, former Australian foreign minister and director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. "The opening of the dialogue is a very good start to strengthening that relationship," said Carr, who opened the meeting with a warm welcome to Liu and the delegation from China. Carr commissioned a poll last year of 1,000 Chinese business leaders in China on their views on Australia. "The results were strongly positive," he said. Ninety-four percent of those polled viewed Australia as a favorable place to do business, he said, compared with 88 percent for the United States and 84 percent for the United Kingdom. Carr said that 83 percent rated economic relations with Australia as "extremely important" compared with 78 percent for the UK. "It (the poll) is a measure of the strong relationship between China and Australia," he Carr. Gary Sigley, an Australian academic who attended the dialogue and a China specialist at the University of Western Australia, said, "It is the first time a meeting of this type has taken place in Australia and at such a senior level." Laurie Pearcey, a China scholar and executive director at the University of New South Wales, said the dialogue was an "important platform". "For Sinologists and people active in the China space, it is important to have a meaningful and a frank dialogue with someone of Liu's level," he said. "Liu emphasized the point that China's development is fundamentally in the world's best interest and that China's development brings opportunities for people all over the world," he said, citing China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as examples. Julius Gaab has the most decorated doorway in his apartment complex hall. Its filled with memorabilia from his days serving in World War II, including medals, certificates and an American flag. He was drafted into the U.S. Army from his home on a Richardton farm. He left his job coal mining to train in preparation for the war. A staff sergeant picked Gaab up from camp, and they spent several weeks together waiting for other newly minted soldiers to show up before going overseas. "He got himself drunk and then he was busted," Gaab said. "Then I was his superior." In his new position, he oversaw munitions for his entire battalion, three rifle companies and two heavy weapons companies. They went to Dusseldorf, Germany, where the Rhine River snakes around the western edge of the city. "There was a big bridge, and neither side wanted to destroy the bridge," he said. "Either side needed it to advance." Bombs dropped from the sky for three days and three nights. "You could never know when a bomb would hit you," Gaab said. The Germans eventually retreated, and American forces took the bridge. Elsewhere in Germany, he encountered another horrifying sight. "We took over an airplane factory," he said. "It was all manned by Jewish people under the Germans." The workers lived in a concentration camp. "If they got too tired and too weak, they put them out in the perimeter," Gaab said. "They'd die faster." The bodies were then cremated in a storage building nearby. "That was horrible," Gaab said. When the Americans arrived, they freed the prisoners. Gaab later moved through the Netherlands and Czechoslovakia, where he was at war's end. "When the war was over, I had to collect all the ammunition," he said. "We took them out on a vehicle and shoveled them into a lake." He was allowed to bring home eight rounds and a clip, and he has one bullet left that he's kept track of for decades. He also brought home a bayonet and a samurai sword from Japan. He traveled by ship to Japan after the war to remove ammunition from the hillsides. On board, he'd go to the commissary and buy items for his 25 men. Problem was, no one seemed to have enough money to pay him back. "When I got off the ship in Japan, I had 20 cartons of cigarettes," he said with a laugh. He recalled a day setting out straw and drenching it in aviation fluid to burn 30 Japanese airplanes. The tires went up in flames along with the aircraft. "I thought at the time we sure could have used some of them on the farm back home," he said. Gaab was discharged in early 1946 and returned home with the same watch on his wrist that his wife had given him before he left four years earlier. "It worked all the way through the war," he said. "Back home, I swear it started gaining time." He transitioned back into civilian life, working at a gas station and a meat market. He later opened his own meat market with his brother. Several years ago, he went on an "honor flight" to Washington with other World War II veterans from the area. His daughter, Judy Spier, describes her dad as "very patriotic." "He's the first to stand when the colors go by," she said. (Photo : Getty Images) Mobilephones Advertisement Preliminary results from a new federal study show bombardment by intense mobile phone radiation is a likely cause of cancer in rats but if this outcome is also true in humans "is not currently completely worked out." The study findings, while confusing, conclude the potential risk to humans from mobile phone radiation is very small. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the study looked at "non-ionizing radiofrequency" or the specific type of radiation mobile phones emit. To find the answer, the experiment bombarded baby rats with mobile phone radiation from the womb throughout the first two years of life for nine hours a day and discovered a slight increase in brain tumors in male rats. It found tumors in up to three percent of male rats, which was described as low by the study's authors. Strangely, females weren't affected at all. Even stranger, rats not exposed to the radiation died at double the rate of rats that were. The puzzling result has seen other federal scientists highlight flaws in the research. Study author John Bucher, however, said the study found what he called a likely cause of cancer in rats. But he warned that how that applies to humans "is not currently completely worked out. This may have relevance. It may have no relevance." On the other hand, Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President for the American Cancer Society, said this "is the first study to actually show that non-ionizing radiation (causes) cancer." The ACS praised the study for "evidence that cellphone signals could potentially impact human health" but noted it didn't quite address the real risks to people. "If cellphones cause cancer, they don't cause a lot of cancer," said Dr. Brawley. "It's not as carcinogenic as beef." He said people should be a lot more concerned about distractions caused by mobile phones such as distracted driving that causes more deaths, he said. The opposite if non-ionizing radiation, ionizing radiation can be a health hazard. Exposure to it can cause cancer, genetic damage, radiation sickness and burns. Advertisement TagsCancer, Mobile Phones, National Institutes of Health (Photo : YouTube/Jailbreak) Rumor has it that iOS 9.3 jailbreak tool may be released prior or after WWDC 2016. (Photo : Twitter) Advertisement It appears that an Italian hacker managed to successfully jailbreak iOS 9.3.3, and may release the tool he used to public soon. Just mere hours after Apple released iOS 9.3.3 beta to developers, Italian hacker Luca Todesco achieved to found exploits on the said operating system and was able to jailbreak his device. He even posted an image of his jailbroken iOS 9.3.3 via Twitter, where it specifically shows his iPod 7 touch running on iOS 9.3.3 and runs Cydia jailbreak store. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement plz send moar hate pic.twitter.com/A0FgrlSiqK qwertyoruiop (@qwertyoruiopz) May 23, 2016 According to reports, although Todesco did jailbroken the iOS 9.3.3, it does not mean that Apple community will get their hands on the jailbreak, as he is not the type of hacker who will publicly share his tools. It can be remembered that Todesco was able to hack the security system of iOS 9.3.1 beta, wherein he even posted it on YouTube; however, until now, the Italian hacker did not release the jailbreaking tool to the public. Based on Todesco's reply on his Twiiter account, it seems that all reports emerging online are untrue. This time, it seems that Todesco will release and share his tools to popular hacking groups such as Team TaiG and Team Pangu, which will then create a public version of iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak. Based on his reply, the estimated time of arrival of the jailbreak will be on May 30. Many Apple fans are now wondering whether Todesco will really push through with the iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak's ETA; however, it is said that even if he will not release it publicly, Pangu or TaiG will definitely crack the new Apple OS, and may release it prior WWDC 2016 event. Advertisement TagsiOS 9.3 Jailbreak, iOS 9.3, jailbreak, Jailbreaking, Pangu, TaiG, iOS 9.3.1 Jailbreak, iOS 9.3.3 Jailbreak, WWDC 2016, apple, Lucas Todesco (Photo : Getty Images.) Zoomlion has said that it is no longer looking to purchase US-based company Terex Corporation. Advertisement Chinese construction equipment maker Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co. announced on Friday that it has given up on its pursuit to acquire US-based Terex Corporation. The proposed acquisition talks failed after six months of negotiations. "Unfortunately, after many months of discussions, Zoomlion was unable to provide a fully financed, binding proposal for the purchase of Terex with or without MHPS," David Sachs, chairman of the board of Terex, said in a statement. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Zoomlion said it was not able to agree with Terex on a price, adding that Terex's expectation on valuation was way too high. Zoomlion emerged as a potential bidder to acquire Terex in August last year, after outbidding Finland-based company Konecranes Plc. Zoomlion's lucrative offer forced Terex Corporation to terminate its agreement with Konecranes earlier this month. However, Zoomlion agreed to sell its material handling and port solutions business to the Finnish company for approximately $1.3 billion. Konecranes has said Zoomlion's announcement on Friday would not affect its acquisition plan, and it would continue to work towards the planned purchase. After Friday's announcement, Zoomlion joins a list of Chinese companies that have failed to acquire big US Corporation in recent months. Chinese companies have been facing hurdles in their acquisition drive owing to regulatory problems and national security concerns. The most high-profile acquisition that failed to materialize in recent months was Anbang Insurance Group's takeover of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The Chinese insurance company had agreed to pay $14 billion for Starwood Hotels but later withdrew its proposal on technical grounds. Advertisement TagsZoomlion China, Zoomlion, Terex Corporation, china (Photo : Getty Images) H&M sign hangs in a window April 7, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. Advertisement Retail clothing store H&M has announced that it will work with trade unions and other global entities like the United Nations to improve its workers' conditions following reports criticizing the state of the company's garment factories across Asia, Reuters reported. Workers in Delhi and Phnom Penh are reportedly facing difficulties including low pay, fixed-term contracts, forced overtime, and job loss due to pregnancy, a study conducted by the Asia Floor Wage Alliance discovered. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The high-street fashion maker has been accused of failing to deliver on its promise to clean up its supply chain. Meanwhile, an H&M representative told Reuters on Saturday that the company has actively been working on improving the lives of its textile workers. "The report raises important issues and we are dedicated to contribute to positive long-term development for the people working in the textile industry in our sourcing markets," Therese Sundberg said. Describing the issues laid out as "industry-wide problems," Sundberg said, "They are often difficult to address as an individual company and we firmly believe that collaboration is key." She further revealed that the fashion firm has already collaborated with the International Labour Organization, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and both global and local trade unions to come up with possible solutions. Sundberg said solving the issues raised is a long-term and step-by-step process. She also noted that responsible buyers will play a vital role in the development of these countries. "We want to contribute to increase improvements in these markets," she said. H&M has been under scrutiny particularly after the collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in Bangladesh in 2013. More than 1,000 textile workers were killed of the incident. Advertisement TagsH&M, Fashion, Asia Floor Wage Alliance (Photo : Getty Images) View of the audience at Samsung 837's Q&A and VR screening with 'The Jungle Book' director Jon Favreau at Samsung 837 on April 7, 2016 in New York City. China's VR market is expected to be work $8.5 billion by 2020. Advertisement Guiyang, the capital city of the Guizhou province in southwest China, has unveiled plans to open a new virtual reality (VR) theme park in which guests will have the opportunity to experience the new exciting world of immersive technology. According to a report by China Daily, the theme park called "East Valley of Science and Fantasy" is part of a project led by Shanghai-based Shuimu Animation Co Ltd, which is the animation division of China's Oriental Times Media Corporation. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement Oriental Times Media Corporation is in the business of manufacturing and exporting "digital measuring instruments", while Shuimu Animation produces animated cartoons for the Chinese audience. The project is said to encompass 1.3 square kilometers of space and is worth $1.52 billion (10 billion Yuan). According to Shuimu Animation, the new theme park is expected to have a media research and development at its center which will focus entirely on VR movie making. Chairman Shi Xiangdong of Shuimu Animation said the park will offer its guests VR headsets on site in which they will have a chance to experience a more interactive, immersive and realistic "feeling than video games". Mr. Xiangdong added that the park will also include 13 new structures for UFOs and the country's first VR roller coaster. In China, the local VR market was said to be worth around $230 million in 2015 and is expected to reach over $860 million in 2016 and about $8.5 billion by the year 2020, according to iResearch Consulting Group. The technology is becoming very popular in China as many Chinese companies - such as Huawei and ZTE - have begun entering the market. In April, Huawei launched the Huawei VR headset, while ZTE just recently unveiled the ZTE VR alongside the Axon 7 smartphone in Beijing. Advertisement TagsVirtual Reality VR China, Virtual Reality Theme Park Guizhou Guiyang China, VR Roller Coaster Evangelist Will Graham Returns to Australian Outback, Shares the Hope of Christ in the Middle of the Continent Contact: Erik Ogren, 704-401-2117, eogren@bgea.org CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 27, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- Evangelist Will Graham returned to Australia last week a continent on which he's preached biannually since 2010 to share the hope of Jesus in the arid Outback. The three-day event, titled Reality, was held May 20-22 at Blatherskite Park in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Alice Springs is located in the approximate center of the continent, nearly equidistant between Darwin on the northern coast of Australia and Adelaide on the southern coast. In this remote town of 28,605, nearly 6,000 people attended the weekend event. "Some of you have a broken life and God doesn't use band aids. God wants to completely change you," said Graham from the podium. "Salvation is a person and His name is Jesus. Jesus can change everything in life. He can change your life tonight!" At Graham's invitation, a total of 549 people made a commitment to Jesus. An additional 297 responded for prayer and spiritual support. Reality featured five different events over the course of the weekend, including evangelistic outreaches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, a KidzFest program for children on Saturday morning, and a combined church service for the city on Sunday morning. Reflecting on Reality, Graham referred to another evangelist who traveled the same territory more than 45 years prior. Dr. Ralph Bell, a longtime ministry partner of Billy Graham's, spent two months preaching in and around Alice Springs in 1969, and Graham says paved the way for the success of this event. "In Alice Springs we harvested fruit that we did not sow. Particularly among the indigenous people, Dr. Bell and other missionaries planted the seeds of faith in Jesus Christ decades ago, and we were able to see the result last weekend." This was Graham's fourth time preaching in Australia, dating back to 2010. He's shared the Gospel in Gunnedah, Moree and Tamworth (2010); Orange, Lithgow and Bathurst (2012); and Broken Hill (2014). Will Graham's grandfather, Billy Graham, preached extensively on the continent in 1959, 1968, 1969 and 1979. His 1959 tour, which covered Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Launceston, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, is widely viewed as a watershed moment in the early years of Billy Graham's ministry. Will Graham's father, Franklin Graham, preached at multi-city tours of Australia in 1996, 1998 and 2005. To download high-resolution photos from Graham's trip to Australia, visit bgea.box.com/v/WillGrahamAliceSprings. About Will Graham Will is the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). He also serves as vice president of the BGEA, and as executive director of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, N.C. Follow Will on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/WillGraham4 and on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TellaGraham. Share Tweet home Faith Anne Graham Lotz: God is keeping Billy Graham alive for a reason, may be connected to End Times Anne Graham Lotz believes that God is keeping his already 97-year-old father alive and kicking for a reason. This reason, she says, may be connected to the coming end of this age. Lotz, founder of AnGel Ministries, author of "The Daniel Prayer: Prayer That Moves Heaven and Changes Nation," and chairwoman of the National Day of Prayer, addressed the conference crowd of "Watchmen on the Wall" during the Family Research Council 2016 held on May 26. This is also where she talked about the health of his famous father and founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Billy Graham. Lotz told the crowd that Graham is largely confined to his bed and wheelchair but that he remains affectionate and loving. She also said that his father's mind is still clear, although it takes him awhile now to process things. She added that his father's appetite and vital signs are still good, drawing to the conclusion that God is keeping Graham alive for a reason. "God is not whimsical and he does everything intentionally. The fact that my father is still here, God is holding him for a reason," Lotz told The Christian Post in an interview. She believes her father is very unique and that his ministry work is unequalled. She said, "The fact that he is still on this planet at 97 years of age, that is not an accident." "One of the things that I thought possibly a only God would know a when my father goes to Heaven, one more time, the Gospel will be preached to the whole world," Lotz shared. Lotz has been known to preach extensively about End-Times Prophecy and how God is abandoning America because of its "immorality and all the things we are doing." That includes teaching about evolution in American schools. She called on people to repent so that God would protect and favor America again. She said when her father dies, every news outlet won't be able to talk about Billy Graham without talking about the Gospel. "So, maybe God is holding him for that particular moment in time, in timing for things that will happen at the very end of this age," Lotz stated. home Faith Billy Graham: Being a Christian is a God-given opportunity Rev. Billy Graham believes that to be a Christian is in itself a gift as well as a God-given opportunity, instead of a burden, to non-religious members of one's family. The 97-year-old evangelical leader and founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote on the organization's website on Tuesday, May 24, about the role of Christians to non-believers especially those who are within one's family circle. "God hasn't called you to avoid unbelievers, but to help them and point them to Christ," Graham wrote as a reminder to Christians. Graham instructed that instead of looking at it as a burden, Christians should see their faith as a God-given opportunity for them to influence their family members for good. He acknowledges that no one wants to be seen as negative or self-righteous especially among Christians and agrees that to be perceived these ways is not the wisest way to lead people to Christ. Instead, Graham wrote, people should be able to see Christ's love and joy manifested in a Christian's life as well as carry hope and peace. "We have been chosen, the Bible says, to "declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9)," Graham quoted. He further encouraged Christians that God will use them in several ways. Christians can be used to encourage family members who already love God to point relatives to God if they're seeking Him and want answers, and to even plant seeds of faith in the hearts of those who will only respond by scorn or indifference. In another blog post, Graham wrote about spreading Christ's influence and message of love and hope beyond the family circle and in a much wider scale. He cited the world's growing need for missionaries. "Some countries are now open to the Gospel that were closed only 15 or 20 years ago, and opportunities for evangelism and service in those nations have exploded," he wrote, adding "Churches in those countries often need training and other skills that only missionaries can supply." home World Displaced Iraqi Christians reluctant to return home The Iraqi army together with the Kurdish Peshmerga have started to retake territories from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), but displaced Iraqi Christians are still reluctant to return to their villages as the internal violence continues. "The first thing we ask for is safety," Mansour Sharbil, a displaced Iraqi Christian, told Al Jazeera. "We need our own forces to protect us after the liberation." According to the satellite network, Sharbil is one of the displaced Iraqi Christians from the town of Qaraqosh and is now staying at Ankawa 2 camp in Erbil. The camp is a designated site for 5,500 displaced Iraqi Christians who are now living in caravans and highly dependent on assistance from non-government organizations (NGOs) and churches. In 2014, the Islamic State terrorist group have seized control of the most parts of Iraq, displacing Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities. "When they are liberated, we'll return," another displaced Iraqi, Ibrahim Shaba Lalo, said about their prospect. "But without international protection, it will be very hard to return." Some villagers have already returned to their homes since the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga launched military operations to retake the largely Christian areas of Nineveh from the militant group earlier this year. However, camp residents are still reluctant to go back until peace and order are finally restored in their villages. That's something Lalo can't wait for to happen as he said, "It's like living in prison here. We want to see our homes." An offensive to recapture ISIS' stronghold in Mosul is still to be carried out. Humanitarian groups fear this would result in increased, if not the largest, numbers of displaced civilians. The United Nations estimates that more than a million people could be displaced once the attack on Mosul is underway. "Even by our most conservative estimates, this could be the largest population movement anywhere in the world this year," said Lise Grande, UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has reportedly vowed to recapture Mosul by this year. home Faith Franklin Graham speaks out on Oregon transgender teacher who sued for being 'misgendered' by co-workers Rev. Franklin Graham reacts to the news of an Oregon transgender teacher who claimed to be "misgendered" and subsequently received a $60,000 compensation after filing a complaint against co-workers. The evangelical preacher and CEO of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association shared his opinion on his Facebook page on Thursday, May 26 about the news reported by Breitbart. "Doesn't a person's DNA or birth certificate count for anything? Shouldn't fact override fantasy? God created people male and female," Graham wrote. He also called the news "incredible" and urged his social media followers who share his opinion to share his post. According to the article by Breitbart released on Tuesday, May 24, a fifth grade teacher at Gresham-Barlow School in Oregon named Leo Seoll, who came out as transgender last September, issued a complaint against her co-workers whom she claimed continually called her in the wrong gender pronouns of "she," "lady," and "Miss Seoll." She also claimed that the staff tried to stop her from using the school's gender-neutral bathroom. Although officials investigating the complaint did not find any wrongdoing, the school nevertheless decided to compensate her with $60,000 for emotional damages. The district officials also decided to introduce gender-neutral bathrooms in all of its local schools. Heidi Lasher, the school's principal, reiterated in an email to the staff the school's transgender policies. She wrote in her email that the policies "require that all staff address transgender or gender non-conforming employees with their correct name and pronouns." Lasher warned, "If you are found to be in violation of these policies, you will be subject to discipline up to and including dismissal." "I actually feel safe now. There will always be people who push the boundaries, but I'm not worried about them anymore because I know that my district supports me," Seoll was quoted by Breitbart after the settlement. home World Muslim mob burns, loots Christian homes in Egypt An angry Muslim mob burned the houses of Christians in the village of Karma in Minya on May 20. The violence was apparently sparked by rumors that a Christian man was having an affair with a Muslim woman. The mob, which was comprised of around 300 men, burned and looted seven houses belonging to Coptic Christians, according to the diocese of Minya and Abu Qiras. A witness, Attiyah Ayad, said the attackers were armed with firearms and knives. They looted the houses before torching them. The mob "emptied magazine after magazine" and used their firearms to strike fear in the people, according to ABC News. Ayad was hit on the head with a rifle butt, while his son was attacked with a knife and was wounded on the left shoulder. Aside from torching the houses, the mob also dragged a 70-year-old woman outside her home, beating, stripping, and forcing her to walk along the street while they shouted insults at her. The old woman, Soaad Thabet, is the mother of the Christian man who was allegedly having an affair with the Muslim woman. Thabet and her husband, apparently, had informed the police of the threats against their son the day before the attacks happened. They had told the police that they would be attacked the following day. Their son has since fled the village. Six people were arrested after the violent incident, and the police are now investigating the case. "We trust that such behaviour is not accepted by any respectable person; we also trust that the state apparatuses won't stand by as a spectator and thus we thank in advance the security apparatuses as we believe it will all arrest all those involved and hold them accountable," the diocese said, according to Christian Today. Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said those responsible will be held accountable. He ordered that the damaged properties be restored and all expenses be shouldered by government. The incident "does not reflect the nature and traditions of the Egyptian people," el-Sisi said in a statement. He commanded the authorities to ensure that all citizens are protected and public order is maintained. home US Peaceful Muslims view US LGBT issues as 'completely insane,' says Muslim leader An American Islamic scholar said peaceful Muslims living in other countries think the LGBT issues plaguing the American society today are "completely insane." Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, who attended the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission on Monday, May 23, was asked how Muslims viewed the transgender bathroom issue, particularly the directive given by Pres. Barack Obama that public schools should adjust their bathroom policies to accommodate gender identity. "Even to think about thinking about it is probably difficult for a lot of Muslims. In the Muslim world ... they think we're a society that's gone completely insane," Yusuf told the panel called "With Liberty and Justice for All: Why We Should Pursue Religious Freedom for Everyone." When it comes to homosexuality, Muslims generally share the view of loving the sinner and hating the sin, as many Christians would put it. The traditional Islamic view is that being attracted to the same sex is not sin in itself, but acting on that attraction could be sinful, Yusuf explained. "That's something I don't really see anybody in normal Islam compromising on," he said. He told the panel that he is concerned about the impact of such things on the culture of younger Muslims. Catholic Archbishop William Lori, who also attended the panel, said Obama's transgender bathroom decree brings up the problem of narrowing the distinction between sex and gender. "We are imposing upon our society a confused and confusing anthropology and we muddle what it means to be a human person," Lori said. These things, he said, could give rise to long-term problems in the future. The letter from Obama that was sent to public schools was also sent to Catholic schools, which is why the Catholic Church leaders are concerned. However, it does not stop the church from reaching out to the transgender, Lori explained. Yusuf emphasized the need for religious colleges to find unity at a time like this "because we're under siege increasingly, not just about this issue but many other issues." home US Noise law can't be used to stop pro-life pastor's sidewalk preaching, says court Authorities cannot restrict a pastor's anti-abortion preaching outside a Planned Parenthood facility in Portland, a federal judge ruled on Monday, May 23. Andrew March, pastor of Cell 53 Church, filed for a motion for preliminary injunction against the police and attorney general Janet Mills who are trying to restrict his church's activities on the sidewalk beside the Planned Parenthood facility. The authorities are apparently using a noise ordinance included in the Maine Civil Rights Act as a reason to stop the preaching. Judge Nancy Torresen said the said noise law, which protects people seeking medical care from being disturbed by noise, cannot be used against March and his church who are speaking up against abortion. She said the case raises the argument of whether a state law that protects women's rights to obtain health care violates a person's First Amendment rights to free speech. "I conclude that it does," Torresen wrote in the order. One of the objectives of Cell 53 Church is "to plead for the lives of the unborn at the doorsteps of abortion facilities," the document said. However, last year, the police told March to keep his voice down because his preaching could be heard inside the Planned Parenthood center. March noted that other people on the sidewalk speaking in favor of abortion were not apprehended. Torreson said that the Maine Civil Rights Act provision that says a person who has received a warning cannot interefere with activities in an abortion facility is unconstitutional because it presents a bias against pro-life advocates. "Continued enforcement of a content-based restriction on speech would result in irreparable harm to the Plaintiff," Torreson stated. She said there are other ways of maintaining public order on the sidewalk. The judge has yet to issue a final ruling regarding the case. The lawsuit was filed in March last year as a counterclaim to the Maine attorney general's lawsuit against Brian Ingalls, an elder of the church. Ingalls, who also preached outside the Planned Parenthood facility, was accused by the attorney general to violate the state's noise law, Portland Press Herald reported. The attorney general filed for a motion to keep Ingalls from standing within 50 feet of any Planned Parenthood center in Maine. The judge handling the lawsuit against Ingalls has not given a ruling. home Faith Pope Francis to attend Muslim Council of Elders in UAE Pope Francis will be attending the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Muslim Council of Elders with the aim of improving inter-faith relations between the Christians and Muslims. According to The National, members of the Islamic Council have decided to invite the Roman Catholic pontiff when they conduct their next round of dialogue as a way to promote a better relationship between the world's two influential religions. The date for the next council has yet to be announced while they're already looking at holding it either in Cairo or at the Vatican. "Now they have the desire to correct the image of Islam and Muslims in the Christian society," chairman of the UAE council, Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi told The National. "They started feeling they have a responsibility to work with us on a mutual project to achieve the desired goals." The Islamic council have already met for their second round of talks on the East and West dialogue mission held in Paris city council palace and attended by municipality officials and the Vatican's lay Community of Saint'Egidio who suggested the idea of inviting the pope. On Monday, May 23, Pope Francis welcomed the highest authority in Islam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, in a historic visit to the Vatican. Tayeb became the first Al Azhar imam to visit the Vatican and the visit was also significant as it signaled the thawed relationship between the two faiths since Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, delivered a speech that offended many Muslims worldwide in 2006. Al Nuaimi noted that the pope received Tayeb alone in his office which the pope does not usually do. He also noted the significant gesture made by Francis as he awarded the Grand Imam of Al Azhar a medal of peace. "Look at this from a Christian's point of view. What does it mean when the pope awards an Al Azhar imam with this medal of peace?" Al Nuaimi asked. The Islamic council also visited the Paris cafA targeted by terrorists in their November attacks. Tayeb offered a prayer for the victims and laid a flower bouquet with a written note denouncing the bloodshed and calling on everyone to protect the life of all human beings. home US Virginia school district defies Obama's transgender directive The school district of Grayson County, Virginia has passed an ordinance on Friday, May 20, in defiance of President Barack Obama's transgender bathroom directive mandating all U.S. public schools to allow students to use bathrooms according to their chosen gender identity rather than their biological sex. The school board voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance, which quickly took effect, according to a report by LifeSiteNews. Grayson County Public School Superintendent Kelly Wilmore claimed he's not one to get into the "nonsense of politics" and is only working for kids. He said the ordinance was a result of requests from parents and that it "was a community thought." "I can't tell you how many calls we had, but we had more calls than we could count asking us to take action on this issue," Wilmore told LifeSiteNews. "It wasn't the politics of just the Republican side...it was a lot of people on the other side of the fence too [who] are really having concerns with who has access to the bathrooms," he said. Like many of those opposed to the inclusive transgender bathroom policy, Wilson shared that his main concern are the safety and privacy of the students. He believes the ordinance will prevent teenagers and adults who can easily misuse the policy for the wrong purposes. Furthermore, Wilson worried that it's become too easy nowadays for one to claim to be a transgender student. "All you gotta do is have a note from your parents, go and talk to the principal, and suddenly you're transgender," he said. Obama had threatened to pull federal funding from schools that refuse to comply with the transgender policy. However, Wilson is undaunted, claiming that the "overwhelmingly supportive community" of Grayson County, which only has one high school, doesn't have "anyone in that category." Victoria Cobb, president of the Virginia-based social conservative, The Family Foundation, has told The Christian Post that they believe Grayson County's ordinance is "not only reasonable but completely constitutional." Wilson revealed that should a legal action be taken against them, the Alliance Defending Freedom organization, which wrote their policy, has already promised their services to defend the school for free. A Tale of Two Assemblies: The future of the Church in Scotland Another year, another annual church assembly, another battle and series of headlines about the church and sexuality. Deja vue. At this year's General Assembly the Church of Scotland 'crossed a Rubicon' (as the Principal Clerk pointed out). It voted by 339 to 215 to allow those in same sex marriages to be ministers. Although, somewhat bizarrely, it will not allow them to marry, or be married in church and it still officially holds to the biblical view that marriage is between a man and a woman. This will doubtless be rectified in the next couple of years when a theological commission reports and new rules will be put in place. It will probably be 2019 before the issue which began in 2009 is settled. Why is it taking so long? It's not so much the vagaries of Presbyterian procedure that is causing the delay, as it is church politics. There are still a declining number of evangelicals within the Kirk and the Establishment wants to do whatever it can to keep them on board. It was interesting that this year's outgoing moderator, the evangelical Rev. Dr Angus Morrison, was thanked by the incoming moderator for being an evangelical Highlander who managed to keep most of the evangelicals on board. It was as the Moderator said, 'for such a time as this' that he was appointed. Of course same sex marriage (SSM) was not the only issue discussed indeed the discussion was very limited. The Church of Scotland also had other issues to face. There was the Columba Declaration - a formal agreement between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland (something which had caused an adverse reaction from the Scottish Episcopal Church). Archbishop Welby spoke to the Assembly and declared that the most significant part of the Columba Declaration was both denominations formally recognising each other as Churches. This came as a bit of surprise to those who had assumed they already did. Meanwhile other Presbyterian churches, such as the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, the United Free Church and the Presbyterian Church of Australia warned that they might have to withdraw from fellowship with the Church of Scotland if it continued on its current course. Although the Kirk has not quite yet decided on SSM, it has decided that it would be better for the UK to remain in the EU, that the church should disinvest from companies who make their money out of fossil fuels, and that parents should be banned from smacking their children. The main problem remains the accelerating decline within the church's numbers. This year the Kirk lost over 14,000 members, the equivalent of one church per week being closed. It has 120 vacancies with many more due in the next decade and only 40 ministerial candidates in training. Its congregational demographic is aging with 20 per cent of congregations having no young people and children at all. It was suggested at the General Assembly that it would have to sell around 40 per cent of its buildings within the next decade. With some 350,000 members, the Kirk still remains a force within Scottish society but it is a fading one. The Rev Dr Andrew McGowan warned that although only 3 per cent of ministers had left over the SSM issue, thousands of members had and were continuing to leave. Although there was a great deal of positive talk about fresh expressions, internet initiatives and various new ministry outreaches, the reality is that just as there are arguments about sexuality at every Assembly so there are promises of jam tomorrow. Meanwhile, across the road the much smaller Free Church of Scotland also had an Assembly. The Free Church is in a period of growth, with around 15,000 members and adherents and 100 congregations. Some of this is due to people leaving the Church of Scotland. Two new congregations were welcomed into the denomination, Broughty Ferry in Dundee and the West church from Inverness both from the Church of Scotland. One former C of S minister explained how he has been warned that leaving the Kirk would mean heading into the wilderness, but that he had found the wilderness to be a fruitful place! Much of the Free Church's growth is due to new church plants, a renewed emphasis on evangelism and growing numbers of young people coming. The Free Church has 20 ministerial students in its rapidly expanding Edinburgh Theological Seminary which means that new churches and new ministries will need to be started. The Assembly also agreed to look at starting church schools and continuing to develop relationships with other denominations. As the retiring moderator of the Free Church and a committed evangelical of course I have a bias. But my bias is best summed up in the words of Thomas Chalmers, one of the founding fathers of the Free Church 'who cares for the Free Church, compared with the Christian good of Scotland'. The Free Church will need to continue to develop, change and reach out if it is to be effective in winning back the lost ground for the Church in Scotland today. And no Christian can be glad at the decline of the C of S. It is distressing to me that the Church of Scotland has lost half its members in a decade and seems to be in freefall. One small unreported incident perhaps shows where things are going and points to a better future. The delegates from the East African Presbyterian Church left the Church of Scotland Assembly over the decisions on SSM, and came to visit the Free Church. They are a church which was founded by Scottish Presbyterians but which now has four million members in Kenya. They expressed concern at the continuing theological, moral and numerical decline of the Church of Scotland. Perhaps they will be the ones who send missionaries to the UK? There are churches in Scotland that are growing, not only in the Free Church. In another sign of good things to come Charlotte Chapel Baptist Church, in the centre of Edinburgh has purchased and refurbished the former Church of Scotland, St Georges West, in Edinburgh (at a cost of some 3.5 million). This growing congregation of over 700 people and other FIEC churches, along with charismatic churches such as the growing Destiny churches, and the renewed Free Church, perhaps indicate a different trajectory for the Church in Scotland. St Georges West was the place where the Free Church began, in the Great Disruption of 1843, which itself resulted in a flood of new churches, schools and missionary endeavour. Perhaps its physical renewal is a sign of better things to come, a spiritual renewal for the whole church in Scotland? Atheist Richard Dawkins says he's done writing anti-religious books: 'I've stepped back' Well-known atheist Richard Dawkins, author of the book "The Selfish Gene," recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of his work by saying that the book on evolution is still as relevant today as it was when it was first published back in 1976. BBC News asked him if his other books, such as the 2006 bestseller "The God Delusion," might have been a "step too far." But Dawkins does not think so, although he promises never to write any more anti-religious books. "I've stepped back," says Dawkins. "I haven't written any more books along those lines. 'The God Delusion' is a one-off. Not one that I'm ashamed of; I'm very proud of it. But it's a one-off." Dawkins has made several controversial comments regarding faith in the past. He once said that he is offended by the sight of women wearing the burqa, the outer garment worn by some Muslim women to cover their bodies when in public. He even said that Muslim faith schools teach children "alien rubbish." Even though his comments have upset a large number of people, Dawkins says he stands by them all. "It's important to [be involved in those debates]. I think scientists need to get involved in that kind of thing," he says. "Religion is not really a field that you can have. It's a non-field," Dawkins adds. "And insofar as religion makes claims in the area of sciencewhich it does, because it talks about creation, it talks about the nature of the Universe, it talks about the nature of lifeto that extent, all scientists should be involved in it." Dawkins has been using social media in airing his views, although he says he has long given up on Twitter. Every so often, his staff at the Foundation for Reason and Science would post some of his comments, but the scientist has given up doing it himself. Hitler a Christian fighter? No way, says author Matt Barber, pointing out that he's actually an Islam apologist and atheist German dictator and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler professed to be a Christian during his lifetime, and claimed to have done acts in the name of God. However, Christian author Matt Barber believes otherwise. "Yes, there have been evil men who have done evil things in the name of false Christianity. To a limited degree, Adolf Hitler was one such man. Still, and as even he frequently admitted outside the public eye, he was no Christian," the former undefeated heavyweight professional boxer turned lawyer writes in an article for Charisma News. Under Hitler's authoritarian rule, German soldiers carried out the mass slaughter of over 11 million Jews, Christians, disabled people, and other "undesirables," historical records show. Barber says Hitler was a "plastic" Christian who only used the faith to disseminate political propaganda and justify the deaths of the Jewish people. "My feelings as a Christian point me to my Lord and Saviour as a fighter," Hitler claimed in his book "Mein Kampf." "In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge [the Jews] to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people," Hitler wrote. Barber says Hitler was also an apologist for Islam since he linked up with Iran and other Islamist regimes in an effort to wipe out Jews from the face of the earth. "Hitler also parroted the godless ideology of modern atheists. Like so many of today's secular progressives, he was an avowed materialist, neo-Darwinian evolutionist and hardhearted God-denier," says Barber. The author says there was no way Hitler could be a Christian because he encouraged the youth of Germany to be "absolutely indifferent in the matters of religion." Husband of fitness instructor slain in Texas church tells killer: 'I will forgive you if you surrender' The husband of a fitness instructor who was murdered in a Texas church last month is willing to forgive his wife's killer only if he or she surrenders. "Odd as it may sound, I can truly forgive you for what you've done. But only if you come forward," Brandon Bevers addressed the killer of his wife, Terri "Missy" Bevers, according to Fox 4 News. He said the right thing to do is for the killer to surrender. "Turn yourself in. Do what's right. Don't live the rest of your life with this in your heart because it will eat you like cancer. The same applies with my family. We need closure. This is going to eat us alive for many years to come," Bevers said. Terri, 45, was found dead with multiple puncture wounds to her head and chest inside the Creekside Church of Christ in Midlothian, Texas in the afternoon of April 18. A surveillance video showed the suspect wearing a police tactical gear and wielding a hammer. Bevers said, "In a strange way, I'm thankful for the attention that this has received. But it goes back to that it happened in a house of God, and that's pretty disturbing." According to the Midlothian Police Department, the suspect, man or woman, stands between 5'2" and 5'7". The police also shared a photo of a Nissan Altima which was seen in the area in the morning of the murder. Bevers said he is clueless on whether the killing was business related or jealousy. "I've pretty much exhausted every scenario and every avenue that I can think of, of who could have done this," he said. Local businesses SWFA Outdoors and Oak Farms Dairy have offered $10,000 each as reward leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspect. Bevers said their three daughters are doing well. The police have questioned some men about their relationships with Terri. The police said Terri's family, friends or co-workers are not considered suspects, but Bevers said it does not mean that they are already cleared. "It's just like the officer said today when I met with them; myself and everybody else in this investigation, despite the fact that they've come out and said they're no longer suspects doesn't mean they've been eradicated from the investigation because the door has to remain open," he said. Removed memorial crosses for fallen soldiers in Georgia put back after public outcry Memorial Day crosses that honoured fallen soldiers in Hiram, Georgia were put back Wednesday by the city council after they were taken down following a complaint. The 29 handmade crosses were put up on a public land along Highway 92 in Hiram to honour 79 residents of Paulding county in Georgia who died in wars waged by their country, Fox News and WAGA TV reported. However, someone called the city hall to question if all the soldiers were Christian, prompting the city hall to remove them on Friday last week. The removal sparked public outcry and during the city council meeting on Tuesday, it was decided that the crosses should be erected again. Hiram Mayor Teresa Philyaw said the decision to put back the display "was never about religionit was just to honour them." "We wanted to make sure that they weren't forgotten. We also wanted their families to know that our hearts still bleed for them. The cross is a 'rest in peace' symbol to me," she explained. The city removed the crosses for fear of a lawsuit at a time when atheists are targeting religious displays in government properties and buildings. Earlier, a phone caller asked the office of city manager Barry Atkinson about the religious affiliations of the 79 military servicemen. After the crosses were removed, people took to social media to complain that the city was being politically correct in its decision while others said all faiths should be represented. During Tuesday's city council meeting, Tommy Dingler, whose son Joshua was killled in Iraq, held up a photo of his son and said, "A cross has been used for fallen soldiers from the time of the Red Coats, Patriots, Yankees, Rebelsthey all used it." City council members voted and agreed to restore the crosses. "We just really would love to think this person will understand that it was never a religious thingit was just to honour these people who died for him and for all of us," Mayor Philyaw said. Saudi Arabia and Iran fail to agree on Hajj deal An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim hajj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday. Iran's top haj official Saeed Ohadi said there was still room to find agreement until Sunday night, according to Tehran's official IRNA news agency. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the impasse. "We witnessed a lack of seriousness by the Iranian side in dealing with the issue. It is yet another attempt by them to politicize the haj," Abdulmohsen Alyas, an under-secretary at Riyadh's Information Ministry, told Reuters. After an earlier attempt to agree on haj terms failed this month, Iran's leadership blamed Saudi Arabia for the delay, saying it was "very concerned" for the safety of Iranian pilgrims after last year's disaster. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said over 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. However, counts of fatalities in the disaster by countries who received home the bodies of their citizens showed that over 2,000 people may have died in the crush, more than 400 of them Iranians. Adding to Tehran's anger, King Salman was later quoted in Saudi state media as praising Saudi authorities for a "successful" haj. Saudi Arabia's haj ministry said it had met a number of Iran's concerns, offering electronic visas, a deal on air transport for pilgrims and diplomatic representation by Switzerland for Iranians in Mecca. Together, 3 sisters from Utah fight cancer with faith, hope and humour: 'Attitude means everything' By an uncanny twist of fate, three sisters from Utah found themselves afflicted with the same deadly diseasecancerbut they certainly aren't going down without a good fight. Sharee, Annette and Lindsay Page have found an extraordinary way of waging a counter-attack on cancer. It's called the FHH approachfaith, hope and humour. And it's apparently proving to be a winning formula. Sharee, 34, was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer last month. Two weeks earlier, Annette, 35, also learned that she had Stage 3 breast cancer. Two months before that, their sister-in-law, Lindsay, 38, also learned that her angiosarcoma (cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels) had returned in her liver and lungs, according to PEOPLE. The three sisters live within a few miles of each other in Davis County, Utah. Even in the worse condition they're in, the three sisters are looking at the bright side, the silver liningno matter how contrived. The three, who now sport bald heads, agree that at least the disease that struck them now allows them to shower in just two minutes flat. "There's no shampooing, no conditioning and no hair to clean up. We all agree that it's a real time-saver," says Sharee, who works for a time-management company and is single. Annette, for her part, says men seem to be attracted to women with bald heads. "We call ourselves the bald sisters," says Annette, who works for a nutritional supplement company and is also single. "When a guy shouts out the window to 'keep rocking that bald head,' we love that. Especially if they're also bald." Lindsay shares the fighting spirit of her two sisters-in-law. "We all decided early on that we weren't going to let this get us down," says Lindsay, a stay-at-home mom with four children, ages 4 to 13. "I don't know where I'll be a year from now, and that's a scary thought. But you have to have faith, hope and humour. You can sit around and be sad. What possible good can come from that?" Sharee admits that when her doctors first told her about the disease that struck her, she was shocked and scared. However, she found the spark to give her inner strength on the same day when she stopped at the grocery store on her way home from the hospital and saw a teenage girl with only one arm. "It just hit me that everybody has a trial or hardship of some kind. It's how you choose to face those hardships that matters," she says. Lindsay has been battling cancer since January 2015. She was the first of the three sisters to have been struck with the disease. When she learned that Sharee and Annette also had cancer, she admits that "it was hard to take." But they all realised that nothing good will happen if they rage against the disease and wallow in self-pity. "We choose to be happy. It stinks that we're going through it, but at least we have each other for support. We're chemo buddies for each other," Lindsay tells PEOPLE. "We get together and tell jokes and try funny wigs on," says Annette, "and we always go home feeling better. Attitude means everything when you're trying to get through cancer. You can worry about everything that could go wrong, but we've turned that around. Now we try to think about everything that could go right." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate More storms roared across the Houston area on Friday evening, and Houston TranStar is showing multiple roads as being impassable because of floodwaters. The North Freeway is flooded heading southbound near the San Jacinto River and northbound at Wilson. Other areas of the North Freeway reportedly being affected by high amounts of water are Parker, North Shepherd, Richey and FM 1097. Several frontage roads and freeway ramps near Interstate 610 and U.S. 59 in southwest Houston are also being flooded by high water. The Hardy Toll Road and Harris County Line area of the freeway are also flooded, and Texas 242 is reported as having high water. I-10 east is experiencing flooding at Jensen on the entrance ramp and on Kress, both going westbound. Flooding blocks Texas 249 in both directions at Decker Prairie and Texas 6 in both directions near FM 2979. Other flooded roads include portions of I-45 near Tamina as well as near Creighton, Loop 336, Texas 105 and Texas 242. For more up to date road conditions, check TranStar's website. Two people died and another person went missing as powerful thunderstorms battered the Houston region overnight into Friday, swamping dozens of roadways and forcing several school districts to cancel or delay classes. The deaths occurred in Washington County when floodwaters swamped roads and sent creeks spilling over their banks, Sheriff Otto Hanak said. One person is believed to be missing. After a day of nearly continuous rain Friday, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory until 8 p.m. for Harris County, southeastern Montgomery County and northern Fort Bend County. The 1 to 1.5 inches of rainfall is expected to cause street flooding. RELATED: Cattle flee floodwaters, block 290 Northwestern Pasadena, northern Sugar Land, northwestern Baytown, northern Missouri City and Jacinto City are some areas expected to experience flooding. A more complete list of high-water areas can be found on the Houston TranStar website. The Houston Office of Emergency Management tweeted on Friday afternoon that flights are delayed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport due to the severe weather. There are reports of flooding along U.S. 290 heading eastbound at FM 1098, Highway 6 and FM 359. In Washington County, Hanak said authorities so far have rescued more than 50 people in flooded areas. More rescues are likely as the rain continues to fall. "We're just rolling our sleeves up and trying to get these people back to safety," Hanak said. CHECK ROAD CONDITIONS: Get live traffic updates Washington County was among the hardest-hit areas as the storms hammered spots north and northwest of Houston, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said about 18 inches of rain was recorded in Brenham as the storms lumbered eastward. Washington County officials said dozens of roads were flooded and creeks and bayous were swollen, though the rainfall had stopped by early morning. Lake Conroe in Montgomery County is temporarily closed due to high levels of water and floating debris, the San Jacinto River Authority announced Friday afternoon. An extra 2 feet of water has been added to the lake after Thursday's heavy rains, said Ronda Trow, spokeswoman for the river authority. How long the lake will be closed to the public is not clear. RELATED: Flooding opens giant sinkhole north of Houston Near Hempstead in Waller County, U.S. 290 was blocked in both directions Friday morning after the Brazos River overflowed its banks, flooding the freeway. Throughout Brazos County Thursday night, more than 40 motorists were rescued when they became stranded by rising floodwaters. By about 6 a.m. Friday, meteorologists said, the storms had moved from the region into the Beaumont area, which was expected to see between 1 and 2 inches of rainfall. Meanwhile, the storms left behind floodwaters, especially in Magnolia, where up to 10 inches of rain fell, deluging roads and creeks. Dozens of people were rescued from high water. Mill Creek spilled over its banks, swamping nearby neighborhoods. So far, no injuries have been reported. Flooded roadways were reported in Tomball and The Woodlands. In northern Harris County, Spring Creek was swollen. STAY INFORMED: Get your latest local weather information here A flood warning is in effect through 8 p.m. Friday for Spring Creek near Spring and Tomball as well as the West Fork of the San Jacinto River in the Humble area. Near The Woodlands, much of the floodwater had receded by about 9 a.m. Friday along a stretch of Glen Loch Drive, allowing property owners to get a glimpse at possible damage. Workers at Panther Creek Inspiration Ranch, which offers therapeutic horseback riding lessons for children, inspected their flooded property. Water reached almost halfway up wooden posts adorned with signs that read "Howdy Y'all." A worker carrying a wide, stiff broom walked through knee-deep water. Workers had moved the horses to a friend's property Thursday afternoon before the rain began, said M.G. Tindall, the ranch CEO. She hoped to get back to their regular summer schedule on Tuesday after completing four weeks of repairs after damage from flooding in April when heavy storms hit the area. But now they have to wait for the water to recede before they can assess the scope of damage from the most recent floodwaters. TWISTER: Tornado leaves wrecked houses in Bryan In Bryan, also hard hit, 1,000 customers lost power overnight and a tornado damaged about 60 homes. The storms forced some school districts to cancel classes on Friday. Anderson-Shiro, Brenham, Hempstead, Magnolia, Waller and Navasota districts were closed. Blinn-Brenham College is also closed. Huffman, Montgomery and Tomball independent school districts were on a two-hour delay Friday. Forecasters said the area will begin to dry out during the weekend, when a 30 percent chance of rain is possible each day. For Monday, Memorial Day, a 20 percent chance of rain is in the forecast. Chronicle reporter Fauzeya Rahman contributed to this report. Police have identified one of two men shot to death Thursday night in a shooting during a drug deal at a home in northeast Houston. Javier Moreno, 31, was found shot in a back room of the house in the 500 block of Mayford near McGallion, police said. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died. The shooting happened about 8:40 p.m., said M. Dykens, a homicide investigator with the Houston Police Department. Another victim, Dykens said, was discovered outside on the driveway along the side of the home. The man, whose name has not been released, died at the scene. Dykens said Moreno was believed to sell drugs at the residence. Three men went into the back of the home, robbed him and shot him. "It appears that it was a drug transaction," Dykens said. Police said the other victim pulled his vehicle into the driveway and inadvertently blocked in the suspects' vehicle. They shot him as they left the house after Moreno was wounded. Unable to move their vehicle, the suspects ran away. Then they carjacked a person nearby at gunpoint and sped away in a stolen dark-blue Ford Five Hundred. The person was not hurt. No descriptions of the suspects were available. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the HPD homicide division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. Five Texas high school students are in hot water after being accused of vandalizing a rival high school. On Wednesday, police discovered graffiti all over the walls at Martin High School in Arlington. The graffiti contained vulgar images and phrases like "trans only" on a locker room door and "whites only" near a water fountain, according to Fox 4 WAAP. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Texas floods have claimed many lives and left other victims missing. A viral photo from the point of view of a victim gives a new look at these tragic floods. Emergency officials suspended their search for 21-year-old Darren Mitchell until the water levels go down. His truck was found overturned near FM 1155 and Chappell Hill in Washington County, according to KPRC. A photo of what reports call his last moments has been making the rounds on the Internet. The shot shows the water quickly rising around a truck's windows with the caption: "And all I wanted to do was go home." FULL COVERAGE: Deadly storms spark flooding in Houston region The Washington County man called his sister Thursday evening to tell her he was trapped in a raging flood on Rocky Creek, according to KHOU. Washington County was among the hardest-hit areas as storms hammered spots north and northwest of Houston, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said about 18 inches of rain was recorded in Brenham as the storms lumbered eastward Thursday night. An eyewitness who said she saw Mitchell struggle during Thursday's storms told KHOU what she saw: "And he got out of his truck, he got in the bed of his truck, he got back out, on top of his truck, and then all of the sudden he got back in his truck. And like maybe 10, 15 minutes after he was in his truck, it just flipped and he top-sided into the water," Lashandoe Smith told KHOU. "It just disappeared. Once it flipped, you didn't see tires, his truck, nothing. It just tumbled over." TRAFFIC JAM: Cattle flee floodwaters, block U.S. 290 (Heavy rain continued to drench the Houston area on Friday. Watch video from the scene near I-10 below.) Though his truck was found, Mitchell is still missing. Two people have died in the storms and another is missing, according to officials. BREAKING ROADS: Flooding opens giant sinkhole in road north of Houston The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Heights High School Class of 2016 held their prom at Windows on the River in the Flats on Friday, May 27. The theme for the evening was "The Roaring '20s," and the room was decorated in black, gold and white. You can check out photos from other Northeast Ohio proms at cleveland.com/prom. Are you going to prom this year? We want to see your photos! Show off your prom photos as you step out in your gowns and tuxedos and head off to prom. E-mail photos to sendphoto@cleveland.com, upload them using the instructions below, use the cleveland.com iPhone & Android apps, or on Instagram use the tag #CleProm. Please include the full names of the people in your photo, their community and where the photo was taken. We also need to know who took the picture. The best photos may also be published in The Plain Dealer, Sun News or featured online at cleveland.com/prom. Uploading Instructions Take a prom photo show off the best couple, best group, best ride, etc. (Make sure the file size of the photo is no more than 3 MB) Check out past prom photos in the Prom Archive, 2013 Prom galleries, 2014 Prom photos, 2015 Prom photos Richmond Hills Apartments Euclid police are investigating after an off-duty officer working security fired shots at a man who pulled a gun on the officer in the parking lot of the Richmond Hills Apartments. (Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com) EUCLID, Ohio - A warrant was issued Friday afternoon for the man Euclid police say was armed during an incident with an off-duty officer that led to a shooting. Brandon E. Cleveland, 26, of Euclid, faces felonious assault and having weapons under disability charges, Euclid police Lt. Mitch Houser said in a news release Friday evening. He is not yet in police custody. Cleveland was sitting in the driver's seat of a car in the parking lot of the Richmond Hills Apartments about 12:30 a.m. Friday when an off-duty Euclid officer approached the vehicle. The officer, who was working a second job as a security officer, said he smelled marijuana smoke coming from the SUV. The vehicle's passenger got out of the car and was taken into custody without incident, police said. Cleveland ran from the car, and the off-duty officer fired at him several times when the officer said that he saw Cleveland had a handgun. Police do not believe Cleveland was shot by the Euclid officer. The officer - a 14-year veteran of the department - has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. A SWAT team and police from neighboring suburbs searched a wooded area near the apartments for Cleveland but did not find him. Police said they found a gun in the woods, but it is unclear if it was Cleveland's weapon. Anyone with information regarding Cleveland's whereabouts is asked to contact the Euclid police detective bureau at 216-289-8505. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. Dru Siley Lakewood Planning and Development Director Dru Siley is resigning to accept a job with Liberty Development Co. (Bruce Geiselman, special to cleveland.com) LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- City Planning and Development Director Dru Siley will leave his post in mid-June to accept a job with Liberty Development Co., which is developing commercial and residential projects in Northeast Ohio. Siley has been with Lakewood's planning and development department for eight years, but today he said it was time for a change. "They're a great company; it's a great opportunity," Siley said. "I was at a point in my career where I was ready to make a move. It's been a privilege to serve Lakewood, my hometown, for the past eight years." Siley is expected to join Liberty Development in early July after taking some time off to spend with family. One of Liberty Development's projects is the construction of McKinley Townhomes in Lakewood at the site of the former McKinley Elementary School. The city more than a year ago helped arrange the sale of the former school property to Liberty Development for $500,000. The school district received the proceeds minus expenses, including demolition costs, that were recouped by the city. It was while that deal was worked out that Liberty Development President and CEO Tom Kuluris got to know Siley. "He gets how to put deals together," Kuluris said. Liberty Development, which is in the process of arranging about a dozen new developments, is growing and needs talented employees, Kuluris said. "We're excited to have him," Kuluris said. "He's smart and he's honest." Lakewood Mayor Michael Summers said the new position would allow Siley to spend more time with his family. His job with the city demands long hours and attending frequent night meetings. Siley's departure came as a surprise to the mayor, but he described it as "a great opportunity" for Siley. No determination has been made as to the selection of a successor, Summers said. The Planning and Development Department has a capable staff that can carry on while the city considers its options. The city also could make use of additional county-provided economic development assistance for a fee, Summers said. Siley earned about $92,000 annually with the city. "Dru brought an enormous amount of dedication and competency to a very demanding job and a job he did very well," Summers said. "Personally, I'm going to miss his professionalism and his friendship in this job." Follow cleveland.com on Facebook and @LWOhio on Twitter. COLUMBUS, Ohio - A 19-year-old Columbus man was arrested and charged Thursday after forensic evidence linked him one of a series of gang rapes within the past six weeks. Eric Allan Pearce-Robinson is charged with one count of rape, Columbus police said in a post on their Facebook page. He was arrested about 2 p.m. Thursday at his home by a SWAT team, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Pearce-Robinson was forensically linked to the May 19 rape of woman on the 400 block of South Burgess Avenue, the Dispatch reports. The woman was attacked, raped and then shot when she fought back. The DNA sample from a condom left at the rape scene was linked to Pearce-Robinson through a genetic code match, police said. At least two other men are still wanted in connection with three rapes within the past six weeks. The series of gang rapes began on April 18, when a woman was assaulted about 4:15 a.m. on the 400 block of Brehl Avenue. She told police she was attacked by three men. On April 24, another woman was attacked about 4 a.m. on the 2600 block of Sullivant Avenue by three men in a dark-colored SUV, police said. She was dragged into the vehicle, where she was raped and beaten. Pearce-Robinson has not yet been connected to the first two rapes. All three attacked women reported their attackers as white men, but Pearce-Robinson is listed as black in court records, the Dispatch reports. However, police said that he has a very light complexion. Pearce-Robinson was indicted in March on aggravated burglary and domestic violence charges in Franklin County Common Pleas court, according to the Dispatch. In that case, the man is accused of kicking down his girlfriend's door, choking her and throwing her to the floor. He is also awaiting trial in connection with a felony theft charge from June 2015. In that case, he is accused of stealing a car from a dealership, the Dispatch reports. Anyone with information regarding the rapes and the attackers is asked to contact Columbus police sexual assault unit tip line at 614-645-4266 or Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. police tape.jpg Detectives are investigating a fatal shooting that happened early Saturday on Cleveland's East Side. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - Detectives are investigating a shooting that left a 30-year-old man dead early Saturday in Cleveland. The shooting happened at 1:30 a.m. on Chambers Avenue near East 69th Street, police said. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the buttocks. He died after being taken to MetroHealth for treatment. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office has not released the man's identity. Neighbors called 911 after hearing gunshots. Officers arrived and found the man in the street, police said. Investigators have not obtained a description of a suspect, police said. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Cleveland Division of Police's homicide unit at 216-623-5464. If you'd like to comment on this story visit our crime and courts comments section. 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. cleveland police car.jpg The 25-year-old man killed Wednesday in a drive-by shooting spent time in prison for his role in two home invasions, court records show. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 25-year-old man killed Wednesday in a drive-by shooting spent time in prison for his role in two home invasions, including one that led to a shooting that left a man paralyzed. Charles Herrod, 25, died after being shot in the chest on East 151st Street. Another car had been chasing Herrod's Pontiac G6, and someone in that car fired the fatal shots when Herrod pulled over and got out of the Pontiac, police said. A 25-year-old man with Herrod was injured by gunfire. Three others in his car, including a 13-year-old boy, were not injured. Attempts to reach Herrod's family were unsuccessful. Herrod's criminal history includes convictions on two home invasions, one in Mayfield Heights and one in East Cleveland, according to court records. Herrod and four others on Nov. 5, 2014 broke into a 33-year-old man's home. The man returned home while the group was still inside. The man outside and saw Herrod jumping out of one his windows with a gun. The man wrestled with Herrod until a co-defendant, Kareem Hill, shot the man in the back while he was still fighting with Herrod. Hill pistol-whipped the man in the face and stole $3,000 from his pockets. The shooting left the man partially paralyzed. Herrod pleaded guilty to burglary and felonious assault and testified against Hill during the trial. Hill was convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Herrod was sentenced to 18 months in prison and was released from custody May 20, 2015. Herrod also served a four-year prison sentence for a July 9, 2009 home invasion on Cleveland's East Side. Herrod and another man kicked in the door to the home, held two people at gunpoint and stole items from the home while a third man acted as the group's lookout. Herrod and the other man stole $2,500. He was released from prison in that case four months before the November 2014 home invasion. If you'd like to comment on this story, please visit the crime and courts comments section. cleveland-police-car-stock-1d287603de898d46.jpg Investigators are searching for a man accused of stabbing a friend in the hand during an argument early Saturday in Cleveland. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Investigators are searching for a man accused of stabbing a friend in the hand during an argument early Saturday in Cleveland. The victim received treatment at Cleveland Clinic following the incident, police said. His condition was not immediately available Saturday afternoon. Officers arrived at the hospital at 1:30 a.m. to speak with the victim. The victim said a friend stabbed him during an argument. Detectives have identified a suspect but have not released a description. Detectives have not released any additional information about the stabbing. If you'd like to comment on this story visit our crime and courts comments section. police tape.jpg Two people have been arrested in connection with a Friday bank robbery in Cleveland, officials said. (File photo) CLEVELAND, Ohio - A man and a woman were arrested Friday in connection with a bank robbery on Cleveland's West Side, officials said. Investigators are still searching for another man involved in the incident at U.S. Bank on Puritas Avenue at West 147th Street, the Cleveland Division of the FBI said in a news release. The three are believed to be involved in several bank robberies from the past few months, the FBI said. The FBI did not release any details of the additional bank robberies. Two men entered the bank and demanded money from a teller. One of the men had a pistol, the FBI said. The men ran from the bank after receiving an undisclosed amount of cash. Officers spotted a car that resembled one linked to previous bank robbery investigations on East 105th Street near Union Avenue in Cleveland. Two occupants - a man and a woman - were arrested after a short chase, the FBI said. Another man in the car escaped. Investigators did not offer any details of the chase or the man's escape. The man and the woman in custody are being held at the Cleveland City Jail. Federal charges could be filed against them early next week, the FBI said. If you'd like to comment on this story visit our crime and courts comments section. mourners.jpg Mourners exit Greater Friendship Baptist Church after the funeral service last September for 3-year-old Major Howard, who was killed in a drive-by shooting. (Joshua Gunter/cleveland.com) I committed my first crime when I was six years old. I tore into a carton of Kool-Aid at a grocery store and stole a single package of the grape flavor. I made an impulse decision to shoplift after my father refused my plea to make the purchase. I was unskilled in the ways of larceny and foolishly hid my loot under the front seat of the car. I intended to retrieve it later but became distracted and forgot about the packet during the short journey home. While cleaning the family car the next day, my father found the Kool-Aid and confronted me. He was calm but the look in his eyes foretold my short-term future. That moment was the first and last time I recall ever being terrified of my father. First, he ordered me into the car, and we returned to the scene of the heist. I was instructed to apologize and promise to never steal again. On the way home, the parental lecture continued. A Christian man, my father gave instruction to me that boiled down to Exodus 20:15: Thou shalt not steal. He made me repeat it. Then came the spanking -- although any spanking administered with a leather belt is more akin to a whipping. It was a rough day, to say the least. But the lesson was learned. My life of crime ended just as quickly as it began. I was fortunate. I have a tremendous father. I owe a permanent debt of gratitude to Mr. and the late Mrs. Morris. Far too many children go unexposed to instructive parental love, which can turn tough as needed. There is no substitute for values-based parenting. There is a direct correlation between irresponsible or absentee parenting and crime. The two go hand-in-hand. Lately, though, there's been a lot of chatter in Cleveland about treating criminal violence -- especially gun violence -- as a public health issue. It's a worthwhile conversation. Councilman Zack Reed, who has for several years commandeered any available platform to rail against the criminal violence decimating inner-city Cleveland, recently invited a Chicago-based group called Cure Violence to town. The group's violence-prevention strategies and outreach are worth exploring. Why? In the absence of fully formed and committed parents, any secondary efforts that show the promise of halting, or at least slowing, the emergence of future violence warrants consideration. Notably, the Cure Violence approach, which has been loosely attempted here, involves recruiting former gang members or savvy street ambassadors to monitor familiar neighborhoods. These "violence interrupters" engage with gang members and vulnerable youth to prevent spontaneous or retaliatory violence. Mentoring, mental health services and job placements are included in the comprehensive effort to defuse street hostilities. Although the group's violence reduction outcomes in Chicago are less than overwhelming, the approach is creative if not visionary. It may save lives here in Cleveland and elsewhere. Violence as a health issue, however, must at some point address a single unavoidable fact: the original violence inflicted on far too many children is the violence of missing, disinterested or abusive parents. That reality is the nucleus of inter-generational violence that breeds violence in unrelenting cycles. The escalated violence in America's inner cities has, over time, proved contagious. It spreads indiscriminately, routinely ravaging the guilty as well as the innocent. There are far too many illegal guns flooding the streets, and far too many people are willing to casually use them. The conversation has grown redundant. It's time that we acknowledge violence as a disease. But how do we advance a cure? The cure to this particular disease starts long before a trigger is pulled. The cure to street violence starts before a hand is strong enough to load and fire a gun. The cure starts even before a child is born. The vaccine rests with vigilant parents, who rigorously teach right from wrong -- even when the wrong involves something as simple as a packet of stolen Kool-Aid. Medical Marijuana Problems Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, backed by national group Marijuana Policy Project, suspended its ballot initiative campaign Saturday after lawmakers approved medical marijuana legislation. (Marina Riker, Associated Press) COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohioans won't vote on a broader medical marijuana legalization measure in November after state lawmakers passed a bill earlier this week. Ohioans for Medical Marijuana announced Saturday they suspended their campaign. The decision came three days after the passage of House Bill 523, which allows people with certain medical conditions to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation and Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign. "We make this decision with a heavy heart as we will surely disappoint our many volunteers, supporters and patient-advocates who invested considerable time and effort in our movement," campaign manager Brandon Lynaugh said in a statement. A different group called Grassroots Ohioans has decided it won't try to put its amendment on the ballot this year either. Ohioans for Medical Marijuana was backed by national group Marijuana Policy Project, which has a track record for successful lobbying and ballot initiative efforts. When they announced their Ohio effort in January, the GOP-led General Assembly seemed unlikely to pass a comprehensive medical marijuana bill before November. But testimony from Ohioans who said they would benefit from medical marijuana and the possibility of such a program being written into the Ohio Constitution pushed legislators to pass a bill before leaving Columbus for the summer. House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger welcomed the news in a statement sent Saturday morning and said it was an indication of lawmakers' willingness to listen and respond to the will of Ohioans. "Thanks to the open and transparent process that began in the Ohio House in which voices from all sides of the debate were invited to testify, we were able to join together around a proposal that is both reflective of public opinion and protective of the state's constitution," Rosenberger said. The bill excluded some of the conditions in the proposed amendment and prohibited smoking and growing marijuana plants at home. As the bill moved through the Statehouse, Ohioans for Medical Marijuana said those aspects of the bill pushed them to continue collecting the nearly 306,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the November ballot. Lynaugh called the House bill "moderately good" and the organization will lobby the legislature to address its shortcomings. Lynaugh said raising money for a medical-only initiative proved difficult after lawmakers passed the bill. And Marijuana Policy Project is pushing recreational marijuana measures in five other states this year. "The legislature's action on medical marijuana was a step forward, and thanks to the intense advocacy efforts of patients and their families, activists and our team the bill was vastly improved before passage," Lynaugh said. The announcement drew mixed reactions from Ohio marijuana advocates, many of whom felt the House bill is too restrictive. United Ohio, a patient advocacy group that supported both measures, had hoped voters would be able to weigh in this fall but will continue to work with legislators to improve Ohio's medical marijuana program. "We may not have home grow. We may be missing important delivery forms. We may not have a robust enough list of qualifying conditions. But we no longer have a state without a medical marijuana program," United Ohio spokesman Brad White said. "And that's more than we had last week. It's time to do everything we can to continue to move Ohio forward." Follow me on Facebook. A growing community of amateur "body hackers" are using chips the size of a rice grain, injected into their hands and wrists, to unlock their computers, buzz in at work and open the doors to their homes. The one thing they have in common aside from a desire to be among the first generation of cyborgs is a small Seattle start-up called Dangerous Things. Dangerous Things claims it has sold about 10,500 chips, as well as the do-it-yourself kits to install them under the skin, to people all over the world. Source: Dangerous Things Dangerous Things designs, sells and, in rare cases, installs its own line of implantable radio-frequency ID chips. It was founded by CEO Amal Graafstra, a man of some repute in the body-hacking world who rose to prominence in 2005 after implanting an RFID chip into his left hand a chip he still uses to unlock the door to his house. After installing his own chip, Graafstra said he fielded emails from other people interested in implanting themselves. Eventually, it got to the point where he thought he could make a real business out of sourcing and selling RFID chips, and in 2013, Dangerous Things was born. "I needed a way to help people out who were contacting me and make it worth my while," said Graafstra. "Our premise here is to upgrade your life. Open your doors, your cars and your computers [with a chip]." It sounds strange, and perhaps even a little dangerous, but RFID technology already surrounds us. RFID works by emitting radio waves to transmit information. It's how employees with key cards access their buildings and how retail stores track their inventories of clothing. Some RFID chips like those inside U.S. passports are passive, meaning they don't emit a signal unless they're near a receiver that accesses information stored on the chip. Other RFID chips like those inside the E-ZPass devices drivers use to bypass toll booths are active, with internal batteries that transmit signals over several hundred feet. But the convenience and functionality of RFID chips that body hackers espouse could also be exploited for dangerous purposes. Already, implantable medical devices are at risk. A recent Forrester Research report predicted that 2016 would be the year hackers used ransomware to hijack a person's pacemaker or other medical device. It's like a small computer in an implantable device. And on that computer, you can load through your smartphone different apps. Amal Graafstra founder and CEO of Dangerous Things Cracking into an implanted RFID chip is a trickier proposition, but a hacker intent on stealing even encrypted or password-protected health or financial information stored on an implanted chip could do so. Combine the information taken from an RFID chip with GPS data pulled from a person's smart phone, and the danger grows. "If RFID is combined with location, you'll have a good idea of what somebody is doing at any given time. We become the beacon," said Michelle De Mooy, deputy director of the Privacy and Data Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. When it comes to making these implantable chips, Dangerous Things does a mix of factory and in-house manufacturing. In its first year, the company sold 500 RFID chips. Since, Graafstra said his bootstrapped company has sold more than 10,000 implantable RFID chips and the do-it-yourself kits to install them under the skin to people around the world. It's not a venture-backed company; the only funding raised was a $30,000 sum from an Indiegogo campaign in 2013. But Dangerous Things sold $150,000 worth of implantable chips in 2015 and $100,000 worth the year before, Graafstra said. Doctors won't install these chips, so for people interested in a chip but too squeamish to install one on their own, Dangerous Things partners with and trains body piercers worldwide on how to inject RFID chips. Most often, people inject chips into their hands between the thumb and index finger. Each RFID chip kit sold by Dangerous Things including the tag itself, plus the antiseptic and injection supplies needed to install it under the skin is relatively inexpensive. Jack Kingsman purchased his kit for $100 in April 2015. The chip Kingsman injected into his left hand was a near-field communication tag, a type of RFID chip that makes transactions via Apple Pay or Google Wallet possible. Kingsman knew exactly what he would use the chip for: storing a lengthy password for accessing his computer. "I would touch my hand to a receiver I constructed that would read the data and input it to my computer, allowing me to store a pass phrase significantly longer than one I would be able to remember and type by hand," said the 20-year-old computer engineering student at Santa Clara University. The body-hacking movement For body hackers like Kingsman, the thrill of experimentation or the seamlessness of what RFID chipping lets them do is often enough to make up for what looks like, at least to the average Joe, more of a hop than a leap in convenience. While RFID chips, in theory, can hold whatever information a person wants on them passwords to their email and Amazon accounts, credit card information, medical records in practice they're used today for only a limited number of functions. "It's like a chalkboard: You can write whatever you want on it, but if nobody can read the language, it's useless," Graafstra said. "People have wanted to use [chips] for storing medical records, but there's no protocol around it. No doctor would know to scan it." One company, VeriChip, already tried it last decade. VeriChip's idea was that a chip paired to a unique ID number and storing a patient's medical records could be used by a doctor to access a person's medical information in emergencies where the person was incommunicado, and in 2004 the company became the first to win Food and Drug Administration approval for an implantable RFID chip. But two years after VeriChip received FDA approval, an editor at Wired had the device implanted in her arm and then wrote about a self-taught hacker using a homemade device to swipe the ID number off her VeriChip, giving him potential access to anything the VeriChip was linked to, including medical records. Several years later Wisconsin, North Dakota and California, citing privacy concerns over the "tagging" of humans, passed laws that banned the forced implantation of RFID chips in humans, legislation championed by the American Civil Liberties Union. By 2010 the VeriChip was discontinued. Adherents to the body-hacking way of life, however, don't seem too worried about a bad actor using an RFID reader to swipe information off their implanted chips. "I don't worry about it being swiped, because in order to read the chip, you have to be within a few millimeters [of it], and it takes a couple seconds to read," said Trenton Adams, a computer software consultant in Georgia who uses one implantable chip for buzzing in at work and another for storing his emergency contact information. "It'd be very noticeable if someone was trying to scan the chip." But why anyone would need a chip inside them to open a front door when a key already suffices is a question pondered by people who aren't body hackers. "It's an illogical use of the technology. It just doesn't make any sense," said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, where she has researched RFID technology. Risk vs. Reward The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty since September 2001 hovers at around 5.8 percent, which is higher than the national average of 5 percent. And even when employed, about half of veterans leave their first jobs after the military within a year of transitioning home and 65 percent within two years, according to a survey on job retention among veterans. These statistics are encouraging veterans and advocates to focus on a smoother transition from military to civilian life. Medal of Honor recipient and retired Army Captain Florent Groberg has partnered with LinkedIn to encourage more hiring managers to pay attention to the skills that veterans have to offer. "Our veterans program is about how many vets we can empower to find employment," Groberg said. Currently, the technology sector is a big part of this mission, both in the networking platform and ultimate work placement. Groberg told CNBC that the program will assist around 100,000 veterans this year with free premium subscriptions to LinkedIn. "What I learned after many failures is that networking is the solution." President Barack Obama (R) presents the Medal of Honor to retired Army Captain Florent Groberg during an East Room ceremony at the White House on November 12, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Getty Images Promoting veteran candidates within the technology industry specifically was the focus of a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, which included representatives from Microsoft, Amazon and Uber testifying about their respective companies' opportunities for veterans. Ohio Congressman Brad Wenstrup, Republican and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said that he was highlighting the tech industry specifically because the "flexibility these jobs offer, as well as the skills needed to be successful in these careers, make veterans an obvious fit for these positions and trades." Bernard Bergan, technical account manager at Microsoft and a veteran himself, told the committee that "it is past time for industry, government and nonprofit leaders to give back to our veterans." Microsoft's goal is to train and find IT careers for 5,000 service members over the next five years, Bergan said. Amazon pledged to hire 25,000 veterans in the next five years, and Uber said the company had already fulfilled its goal of employing 50,000 veterans. The need for veteran candidates extends far beyond the tech sector, though, and that is something that America's largest nonprofit health-care system, Ascension, acknowledged as well. Ascension CEO Anthony Tersigni told CNBC that the company currently has 2,000 employees who are veterans. "Right now in many parts of the country the veterans are most vulnerable," Tersigni said. "We understand that veterans have different needs than some of our other patients, and we want to have a better understanding of them and so we want to engage those veteran organizations and the veterans themselves." Groberg said that regardless of the industry or sector, finding better employment opportunities for veterans and retaining them in these jobs will only occur by helping veterans build a professional identity, a professional network and professional skills in a civilian career. 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. Sasha Mordovets | Getty Images Europe | Getty Images "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. He blamed the U.S. 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. With the Democratic National Convention barely two months away and the remaining contenders locked in a fierce competition, the party is said to be millions of dollars short in funding needed to meet its $64 million goal, according to a report in BuzzFeed. The news comes as another blow to a Democratic contest that has become increasingly fractious, with front runner Hillary Clinton continuing to fend off a stiff challenge from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Recent polling in California, the next big state to hold a primary vote, shows the two locked in a dead heat. The publication cited a source close to Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania's former governor and chairman of the host committee in Philadelphia, saying that the platform that will officially send the Democratic nominee into battle for the general election is "$15 to $16 million" shy of its stated threshold. Rendell responded to BuzzFeed that the figure is closer to $10 million, but acknowledged that it was a "legitimate" shortfall. "Including pledges from companies I know are going to write the check, we're $9 to $10 million down," Rendell told the site. He added the city of Philadelphia and the federal government's refusal to help defray any of the costs was making the gap even more daunting. "So we're down $25.75 million," Rendell told Buzzfeed. "It's been a heavy lift." Read MoreTrump 'unhinged' but don't discount him: Gov Ed Rendell Clinton holds a commanding lead in delegates, but Sanders has refused to concede, and his tone has sharpened in recent days. On Saturday, the Sanders campaign issued a call to the DNC calling for the removal of two of the former Secretary of State's most ardent surrogates, former Congressman Barney Frank and Connecticut Governor Dan Molloy, from top positions within the convention. Rendell also placed blame on Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. Rendell explained that corporations usually donate to both Democratic and Republican conventions evenly, but that Trump's polarizing and bombastic style was making companies pull back from contributing. If one party sees a pullback in contributions, the other does as well, the former governor said. The DNC did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. The full report can be found on BuzzFeed's website. Series 1928 $1,000 gold certificate is one of the few notes of its kind to survive a federal ban on private ownership of the notes. The note will be offered at auction in June. A pair of high-denomination Series 1928 gold certificates highlight a June 12 sale by a Minnesota auction company of coins and paper money amassed by three generations of a family of collectors. A pair of high-denomination Series 1928 gold certificates highlight a June 12 sale by a Minnesota auction company of coins and paper money amassed by three generations of a family of collectors. Neither of the rare $500 (Friedberg 2407) and $1,000 (F-2408) notes is third-party graded, but upon examination they will rank among the top tiers. The $1,000 note is a new addition to the Track & Price census, making it only the 60th recorded out of the 28,800 printed. It is the highest denomination gold certificate that is collectible. Connect with Coin World: The $500 note is one of 84 in the census. Government records indicate that 420,000 of them were printed. The reason for the low outstanding population of these notes is Executive Order 6102 issued on April 5, 1933. This order, along with some other laws, required the surrender of most gold coins and gold certificates to the government in exchange for a cash payment. The intent was to eliminate the hoarding of gold in the midst of the Great Depression. It was not until 1964 that it was once again technically legal to own gold certificates. The sale by James Peterson Company LLC will be held at the Shakopee Knights Event Center, 1760 Fourth Ave. E., Shakopee, Minnesota. For more information, write James Peterson Company LLC, P.O. Box 24735, Edina, MN 55424, call the firm at 612-231-5999, or email it at Imauctnr@yahoo.com. Online bidding will be available at ProxiBid. If You Go Limited parking for the Salute to Veterans Corp. Airshow is available at Columbia Regional Airport. Shuttles also will run from the parking garage at Walnut and Fifth streets and from Jefferson City Airport. Shuttle service is $5 round trip. The buses will run continuously until everyone gets back after the close of the show. Be sure to take folding chairs and ear protection if needed. No coolers are allowed, but there will be food and beverage vendors on site. Synthetic hair problems lead MU grad to create banana-based product Ciara Imani May wasn't expecting to develop a protective hairstyle product when she studied business at MU. But that's exactly what she's done. May 26, 2016 Kelly Lomax is the new Chief Financial Officer of Dunavant Enterprises, Inc. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal) SHARE May 26, 2016 William Dunavant III is president and CEO of Dunavant Enterprises, Inc. (Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal) By Ted Evanoff of The Commercial Appeal Over the years, Billy Dunavant II built his father's Front Street business into a 3,000-employee global giant, creating in Memphis the world's largest cotton trader. Along the way, he relied on the wisdom of accountant H.J. Weathersby. In 2010, the entire cotton business was sold. Dunavant Enterprises Inc. refocused on logistics, investments and land development, and in May reached another pivot point. Weathersby, employed in 1976 by the Dunavants at age 29, retired as chief financial officer after 40 years with the family-owned company. "He was our number one asset," said Dunavant, 83, chairman of the East Memphis firm. Billy Dunavant and his business, long regarded as civic pillars in the city, have been largely out of the Memphis headlines since the company's cotton era ended. Opening the door for a rare interview last week, executives introduced the new chief financial officer and described how a family recruits an outsider to its inner circle. "We were about to enter one of the most important transitions in our company's history," said Bill Dunavant III, 57, chief executive of Dunavant Enterprises. "We thought we needed a breath of fresh air from the outside. We looked very carefully. We really wanted someone from Memphis who would engage with this community." Weathersby's successor turned out to be an accounting scholar with a taste for waterfowl and Memphis. He was dispatched to the city nearly 16 years ago by the accounting firm KPMG. His name: Kelly Lomax. He had been working as director of corporate accounting and financial reporting systems at Thomas & Betts Corp., a Memphis manufacturer of electrical products with about 9,000 employees worldwide. The company earlier had been his client at KPMG. Once the Dunavants agreed to look outside the firm, they called friends. Lomax's name surfaced. His resume looked good, even the duck part. The Dunavant offices for the 65 headquarters employees at 959 Ridgeway Loop Road carry the quiet grace of a fine Delta hunting club. A portrait of 19th century cotton classers occupies a lobby wall, one of the few reminders of the old ways, while much of the remaining decor on the avocado green walls consists of wildlife art, including duck prints. Years ago, William Dunavant Jr. was instrumental in bringing the head office of the environmental group Ducks Unlimited to Memphis, a city in the middle of the great Mississippi flyway for migrating waterfowl. As the interview began, understanding accounting and finance, having a good grasp of technology, fitting in, being good with people, sensing how a 250-employee family business follows cycles unlike a public corporation all this at the start was less pressing than something else. "One of the first questions I was asked was: 'How bullish are you on the city?' " Lomax remembered. Lomax, 38, was raised outside Memphis' orbit in Waynesboro, Mississippi, a small city in the pine barrens stretching between Meridian and Pascagoula. His grandfather, a cotton trader in Jackson, Tennessee, and later an architect, did know Memphis and young Lomax recalled the excursions he was treated to as a boy. "From the first time I visited here, I had this love for the city," Lomax said. During high school, he was immersed in the Mississippi School for Science and Mathematics, a boarding school in Columbus for exceptional students. He graduated in 1996. Four years later, the University of Mississippi handed him its highest academic honor, the Marcus Elvis Taylor Memorial Medal, an award made to no more than one percent of each graduating class. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting at the university. Joining KPMG, his practice focused on manufacturers in the Memphis area. He married, started a family, planted roots, became active in civic affairs. He's on the board of Junior Achievement of Memphis, which instills business principles in youngsters, and for a time served as president of both the Rebel Club for Ole Miss alumni in Memphis as well as the Memphis chapter of Ducks Unlimited. He had become a Memphian. And in the interviews, his fondness for Memphis showed through. "I think we have a bright future. With all the investment, it's only going to get better," Lomax said, referring to projects such as the $200 million Sears Crosstown renovation. "My objective is to continue to grow the city, make the city a better place." In the end, the hiring decision was the chairman's to make. Weathersby was a close friend of Billy Dunavant's, who remembered the CFO made sure the old neighbor on Front Street Allenberg Cotton Co. -- paid top dollar when it bought the world's No. 1 cotton merchant. When Allenberg owner Louis Dreyfus Corp. separately bought Dunavant Enterprises' headquarters building at 3797 New Getwell Road, the signature on the warranty deed was Weathersby's. Lomax wasn't Weathersby, but the chairman noticed, "He's good at everything he does. People like him. He's bright and quick to understand things. He's going to be a critical guy on our team." SHARE FedEx, the largest employer in the Memphis area, acquired TNT Express and a major foothold in Europe. Here, FedEx makes deliveries in Amsterdam. (photo courtesy of FedEx) By Wayne Risher of The Commercial Appeal In one fell swoop, Memphis' biggest company ballooned to nearly 400,000 employees worldwide and close to $58 billion in annual revenues. The jewel of FedEx's acquisition of TNT Express this week is a European road network linking 40 countries, but the heart of FedEx remains in Memphis. No immediate impact was foreseen on FedEx's Memphis area workforce of more than 30,000, but the company's continued growth as a force in world commerce would have a ripple effect here. FedEx is the area's largest private employer. TNT and FedEx, the Nos. 3 and 4 players in the $60 billion European express delivery market, on Wednesday consummated a $4.9 billion deal that had been brewing since early 2015. The combination promises to make FedEx a bigger player in Europe by building on TNT's road network and improving international connections. FedEx moves into position to eventually overtake No. 2 carrier United Parcel Service, behind Germany's DHL, the dominant No. 1 in Europe. FedEx also moved into a virtual dead heat with chief U.S. rival UPS in total revenues, although it still trails the Atlanta-based company's workforce of 444,000. A decade ago, FedEx had two-thirds of UPS' annual revenues. FedEx chief spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald discussed the integration, which is expected to take four years, and potential impact in Memphis. He acknowledged that in the short term, "I wouldn't have anything to point to tangibly that people would see." FedEx is moving European headquarters from Brussels, Belgium, into TNT's home base in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands. FedEx Express is adding TNT's airfreight hub in Liege, Belgium, to principal European hubs Paris-Charles De Gaulle and Cologne, Germany. FedEx's pattern in the past has been to leave newly acquired companies' headquarters where they are. FedEx Ground, which grew out of a 1998 purchase of Caliber System/Roadway Package Service, is based in Moon Township outside Pittsburgh. FedEx Office, rooted in the acquisition of Kinko's in 2004, moved into a new world headquarters in Plano, Texas, last year. FedEx declined to break down employee numbers in the Memphis area, including the FedEx Express World Headquarters on Hacks Cross, the hub at Memphis International Airport and FedEx World Technology Center in Collierville. Memphis airport officials have pegged hub employment at "more than 11,000," and a 2015 FedEx report to Collierville said the tech center employed 2,709. FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight have service centers and sorting facilities. Fitzgerald is senior vice president of integrated marketing and communications. His responses have been edited for brevity. Commercial Appeal: Will a growing market share in Europe and other countries served by TNT feed more volume into the hub? Fitzgerald: There's significant potential for growth, which would affect all of our operations, and obviously the hub here in Memphis is at the heart of FedEx Express and FedEx Express operations. It should be very positive for all our employees. CA: Will this acquisition have an impact on the big operations that are already here, the hub, world headquarters? Fitzgerald: Our team members will certainly be aware of being on a larger team. We're moving to approximately 400,000 team members around the world. It's just the latest step in the evolution and growth of FedEx. We're a growing, successful organization that continues to be very proud to be headquartered here in Memphis. Just in terms of our success as a company and a growth engine or driving engine is the growth of e-commerce, which I think everybody feels in just day to day retail and business patterns. We play a key role in that, and the acquisition of TNT will help us continue to grow that. You may notice some things that way. CA: How quickly will FedEx move to rebrand the combined operation? Fitzgerald: The TNT brand is very strong, so it's really something that we want to make sure we pursue in the most effective course for the brand and not lose any of the strength of either brand. The combined brand together will be stronger, but specific considerations, the vehicles and aircraft, country by country, that's all going to be part of the integration process. It's not to say we in any way want to diminish the strength of the TNT Brand. We've done some significant acquisitions in the past and that includes Flying Tigers and RPS, FedEx Ground, Kinko's and FedEx Office. We do have some experience in this and each one's a bit different. In this case, because this is such a large international integration, we do have to consider country by country, so it may vary by territory in terms of brand transitions. SHARE By Adam Tamburin, USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee Fewer students at Tennessee's public colleges need remedial classes to prepare for higher education, a new report shows, and officials are citing it as an early example that a program embedding extra support in high schools is succeeding. The data, released this week as part of the Tennessee Higher Education fact book, show a four-year drop in the percentage of first-time freshmen who arrived at college in need of remedial classes. In 2011, 77 percent of first-time college freshmen in Tennessee needed a remedial class, or structured "learning support," because they were academically unprepared for college. That number has fallen every year since, hitting a new low of 63 percent last fall. Although small increases in remedial needs in writing and reading were recorded from 2014 to 2015, a sharp decline in remedial math needs continued the overall downward trend. The percentage of college freshmen who needed math remediation went from 71 percent to 55 percent in the last four years. Mike Krause, a member of Gov. Bill Haslam's staff who oversees a range of the state's higher education initiatives, said the numbers were indicative of the state's ability to "change the direction of statistics that for many years have been negative." Krause said the data reflect the power of the Seamless Alignment and Integrated Learning Support program, known as SAILS, that placed remedial college classes in hundreds of high schools over the last few years. In the governor's office, the program was an early example of the state's ability to enact the kind of bold policies that have become Haslam's signature. "It really embodies what we're hoping to do," Krause said. Community colleges started developing remedial math courses in a handful of high schools in 2012 through the SAILS program. SAILS has expanded steadily. During the 2015-16 academic year about 13,000 seniors across 241 high schools completed the specialized math course. In the SAILS model, students who are struggling in their math classes work through the remedial course at their own pace using a computer program with guidance from a teacher. They are required to pass the same competency exams that are used in community college courses. So far, more than 28,730 students have completed a SAILS math program in high school, which automatically qualifies them to skip remedial work in college. A small-scale SAILS English pilot began during the 2015-16 school year. That is significant, officials say, because college students who need remedial courses are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduating. Though the data sets from the fact book aren't enough to statistically confirm the SAILS program's impact, experts do see a link. "There's definitely a strong relationship between the SAILS coursework and what students are able to do in high school and the lack of need in remediation," said Emily House, the assistant executive director of policy, planning and research at the Higher Education Commission. "It's not a coincidence those two things are happening at the same time." The SAILS program, which requires collaboration between the higher education system and the state Department of Education, already has national attention for its unique approach to eliminate the need for remediation. Several other states have shown interest in adopting their own versions of the program. Robert Denn, who helped develop the program at Chattanooga State Community College, was inspired by the success of high school students who are exposed to college-level learning through dual-enrollment courses. SAILS uses a similar model with students who are struggling academically. "As we do that we're transforming the pipeline of students who are coming to college," Denn said. "The numbers speak for themselves. ... This is changing the landscape" on college campuses. Denn noted that the need for remedial course sections dropped significantly as SAILS expanded in that area. "This is not a guarantee," Denn said. "But it gives (students) a heck of a better chance, and an equal opportunity to be successful." May 24, 2016 - Zion Brown, right, reads with her first grade class under the watchful eye of a therapy dog named "Flo" at Belle Forest Community School. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal) SHARE May 24, 2016 - Third grader Brian Franklin II spends time reading before the end of the school day at Belle Forest Community School. Franklin published a book about Memphis as part of a school project. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal) May 24, 2016 - Brian Franklin II, center, shares his published book about Memphis with friend and classmate Emellyn Herrera, left, in the main office after class at Belle Forest Community School. (Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal) By Jennifer Pignolet of The Commercial Appeal Eight-year-old Brian Franklin II can't decide if writing the words or drawing the pictures was his favorite part of publishing his own book. "I think I like both," the Belle Forest Community School student said last week, in his dwindling days of third grade. The book, one of two he's written about Memphis, is now in the hands of patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, part of a new program at his school this year that pairs struggling readers with stronger ones and a tutor to write a book about their city. "It was amazing," Franklin said of his publishing experience. "Now people get to see my books and how I write and everything that I'm learning." The Books For Kids, By Kids program is a joint effort between Belle Forest and the University of Memphis' Center for Literacy Research and Practice. And it's one of nearly 20 partnerships the Hickory Hill school has with local organizations. That's what it means to be a community school, Principal Lori Phillips explained. "We have the parents, we have the children, we have the building, we need you," Phillips said. Belle Forest is Shelby County Schools' first and only community school model, and focuses on literacy and the arts. Wraparound services, including an on-site clinic, meet the needs of a student population where more than 90 percent are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced lunch. A therapy Chihuahua, belonging to one of the assistant principals, even acts as a calm reading buddy for students. The end of the school year the last day was Friday brought a time of reflection for Phillips and her staff, who wrapped up their third year of operation. "I think that we have actually surpassed where we thought we would be to this date," Phillips said. "But are we where we want to be yet? Absolutely not. Because with every accomplishment, it just presents a new challenge." Like many SCS schools, Belle Forest struggles with reading scores, with roughly one in four students at or above grade level according to state testing data. But, the school was named a Reward School by the state in 2015, marking its place in the top 5 percent of schools for one year of growth, an honor for just its second year of operation. The school has maintained its original partnerships with more than a dozen organizations like The New Ballet Ensemble and Emmanuel United Methodist Church, added more and deepened in-house program offerings like dance. Dance teacher Karlos Nichols said teachers have told him their students pay more attention to their academics as a result of their arts classes. "They've developed that discipline and that focus," he said. The school has grown from 700 students its first year to 900 the second, topping out at 1,250 this year with a waiting list already for next year. Among students, Phillips said, the Hispanic population has jumped from 18 percent to 33 percent. Phillips said she thinks her school's program offerings have something to do with that growth. The school partners with the Mexican consulate to bring advisers to the school who can speak to members of the immigrant community about their concerns everything from immigration documents to home-buying advice. Being a community school, Phillips said, means providing services not just for the students but for their whole families. For parents, that's meant high school equivalency classes which had to be cut when the district lost its state funding for the program earlier this year and literacy classes. Belle Forest parent Vincenta Bautista, a Mexican immigrant with four children, said she was afraid she was too old to learn to read before attending classes through her children's school. "And now I can read things like this," she said in Spanish, pointing to posters on a school room wall, "and before I didn't read anything." Parents have responded by committing to being involved, Phillips said. More than 900 fathers attended a "doughnuts for dads" event this year. For those without support at home, Phillips said, the school is committed to being the best replacement possible. During the last week of school, a staff member ran to a store to buy nice clothes for a student's kindergarten graduation ceremony after his parents didn't come. "If the parents are there and supportive, great," Phillips said. "If they're not our babies will still be fine. We treat them like he or she were our very own." Many of the students are their own. Of the 36 staff members with elementary-age children, 34, including the principal, send their children to "the Belle." Phillips she hopes her school can be a model for community schools both for Memphis and across the nation. "This is the first one, and I'm hoping that we are setting the standard and being the true example of a community school, she said. SHARE Legislative critics of the resettlement of Middle East refugees in Tennessee understandably are responding to fears harbored by constituents about what might happen if someone intending harm slips through the net. But they don't have a legal case for their objection to the process by which the federal government clears applicants for entry. Consequently, hiring outside counsel for a lawsuit against the feds that Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery has rightly rejected would be a waste of state resources. Slatery adopted a different view this week on another federal-state conflict enlisting Tennessee among 10 states as plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's directive to public schools to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. Uncomfortable with the idea of people identified as males at birth entering spaces meant to protect the privacy of women and girls, and apparently unfamiliar with the challenges that come with living the life of someone who doesn't identify with his or her birth gender, critics of the presidential guidance on the issue have strongly objected to what they perceive as federal overreach on the issue. They are leaning on the "states' rights" argument to thwart the administration's efforts to protect transgender youth from the bullying they frequently incur because of their adopted gender. Slatery agreed, also echoing the sentiment expressed by other opponents of the directive that it is a "social experiment implemented by federal departments." Gov. Bill Haslam supported the AG's opinion, offering a prepared statement that expressed his objections to "the Obama administration's overreach and heavy-handed approach." Haslam signaled his doubts about suing over the resettlement issue last week when he allowed Senate Joint Resolution 467 to become law by declining to sign or veto the measure, which allowed Tennessee to become the first state to sue the federal government over refugee resettlement on the grounds of the 10th Amendment. The bill directs the attorney general to initiate legal action for noncompliance of the Refugee Act of 1980, which was designed to create a permanent resettlement procedure, and authorizes the House and Senate speakers to hire outside counsel if the attorney general declines. "I trust the attorney general to determine whether the state has a claim in this case or in any other, and I have constitutional concerns about one branch of government telling another what to do," Haslam wrote. It's not even clear, Haslam pointed out, whether the General Assembly has the authority to hire outside counsel in such cases. State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, took exception to the governor's position, accusing him of "mischaracterization of the legislation." Proponents of the measure argue the lawsuit is necessary because the federal government has failed to consult with Tennessee on the continued placement of refugees. It's regrettable that the state and federal government may not be in sync on the process. Of course, the state should continue to press the case for a thorough and unhurried background investigation of all refugee applicants. But Tennessee politicians should not add to the victimization of oppressed people by encouraging a culture of fear. SHARE By Bill Press This is the last thing Hillary Clinton needed. Two weeks before the final contests of the 2016 Democratic primary, and just 78 delegates shy of wrapping up the nomination, she wakes up to find herself once again bogged down by the email scandal that just won't go away. But this time it's not Donald Trump piling on, it's the State Department's own inspector general, who issued a highly critical report of Clinton's by now well-known exclusive use of a private server for her emails while secretary of state. In so doing, concludes the report, contradicting what Clinton has asserted many times, she did, indeed, violate long-standing State Department rules. Not only that, she never sought permission to use her own private server, and would not have received permission if she had. And, in another violation of department rules, she failed to turn over copies of her emails upon leaving office. The report also chides her for refusing to meet with State Department lawyers conducting the internal investigation. Suddenly the issue that seemed to fade for a while is back with a vengeance. And this is still not the last shoe to drop. An ongoing FBI investigation into whether Secretary Clinton committed a federal crime by bypassing the official State Department computer system is still underway. Several Clinton staffers have already been interviewed and Clinton herself may be summoned to testify. Meanwhile, a judge has ordered former top aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin to testify in a civil case brought against Clinton's email practices by the right-wing legal group Judicial Watch, and says he may call on Secretary Clinton as well. No doubt, for Clinton, resurgence of the email controversy is a serious problem. It dominates the news. It buries her message. It forces her to play defense. It raises the issue of trust. It casts a shadow of "scandal" over the entire campaign that will dog her through Nov. 8. And, even with zero evidence of wrong-doing, it plays right into the hands of Donald Trump's characterization of "Crooked Hillary." The tragedy is that none of this had to happen. As Clinton herself acknowledges, she made a big mistake in setting up a private server in the first place. What was she thinking? Once discovered, she made the further mistake of insisting she did it only to avoid the inconvenience of carrying around two cellphones (which almost every Washington big shot does anyway). And then she compounded her problems by dripping out her emails a few thousand at a time, instead of just dumping the whole 50,000 pages in reporters' laps and making them sort through them. Trump and his fellow Clinton haters immediately pounced on the IG report, claiming it disqualifies her from running for president. But not so fast. A more careful reading shows just the opposite. In several respects, the State Department report actually absolves Clinton, rather than condemn her. The inspector general finds: She was not the first secretary of state to use a private server. So did Colin Powell. Nor did she create the problem. She was just the latest to deal with the State Department's "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" with records that "go well beyond the tenure of any one secretary of state." And, most significant, the report concludes that, while Clinton did break existing department rules, she did nothing illegal which will come as a huge disappointment to all those who were banking on Secretary Clinton's indictment as their sole hope for winning the White House. It's not going to happen. In other words, while Hillary's setting up her own personal email server was dumb, it was not illegal. She broke the rules, but she did not break the law. She has already released 30,000 emails, and not one bombshell was found in any one of them. Plus, this so-called scandal has now dragged on for almost a year with no smoking gun. It turns out Bernie Sanders was right, last October, when he said: "The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your dned emails" which is why he hasn't talked about them since. Bottom line: It sounds a lot worse than it is. Gertrude Stein was talking about Oakland, California, when she famously observed: "There's no there, there." She could have been talking about the Hillary email scandal. Bill Press is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show and a CNN political analyst. Contact him at bill@billpress.com. SHARE By John Crisp Not that he needs my particular encouragement, but Bernie Sanders should ignore calls for party unity and continue to wage his campaign until the Democratic convention in July. I have my own political opinions, of course, but this issue has less to do with politics than with patriotism. Ironically, Americans who really want to put America first may have to put aside their party and factional loyalties in service of the well-being of the nation. This includes Sanders supporters who threaten to stay away from the polls if Hillary Clinton is nominated, as well as Republicans whose natural inclination is to support their party, despite its nominee. If we all have to become Never Trumpers to protect the nation, then let's get started. Back to Sanders in a moment. The two candidates most likely to compete for the presidency in November are Clinton and Donald Trump, who, as others have noted, are two of the most disliked candidates in decades. A recent ABC/Washington Post poll saw Trump receive a 60 percent unfavorable rating and found Clinton not far behind or ahead at 53 percent. The difference between the two is that Trump's unfavorable rating is likely to go down while Clinton's is likely to go up. We saw the worst of Trump from the beginning, but his crude, condescending, unfiltered narcissism didn't put off primary voters. Now that he appears to have the nomination wrapped up, he wisely is nurturing a more even-handed, moderate, presidential image. And as more leading Republicans accept the inevitability of his candidacy, his unfavorable rating is likely to go only one way: down. Clinton, on the other hand, appeared to have the nomination wrapped up from the start but still can't achieve an unfavorable rating below 50 percent. While more scrutiny of Clinton is hard to imagine, if she gets the nomination, the scandalous issues Republicans will raise will have to compete for attention. Benghazi. The Clinton Foundation. Her reactions to her husband's affairs. Travelgate. Whitewater. The Wall Street speeches. The list is impressive. Trump has even brought up the suicide of a Bill Clinton deputy White House counsel, Vince Foster. The allegations against Clinton don't have to have merit in order to have legs. But it appears some of them do have merit. Her vote in favor of the ill-advised Iraq War, for example, or the fabricated sniper fire in Sarajevo. And on Wednesday, the State Department's inspector general delivered to Congress a report critical of Clinton's use of a personal email server installed at her residence during her four-year tenure as secretary of state. Clinton has already admitted that conducting State Department business on a private server was a mistake. But the inspector's report calls into question a number of the arguments that Clinton has made in defense of the practice and, at best, portrays her as careless and capricious with regard to the department's policies and regulations. Where does this leave Sanders? If Clinton is nominated, I doubt that many Sanders supporters would actually vote for Trump. But last week an avid tea party friend of mine said that if he had to choose between Trump and Sanders, he might well vote for Sanders. Of course, this makes no sense politically. But it's a strange political season and his theoretical vote for Sanders might have as much rational depth as do the reasons many voters give for supporting Trump or Clinton. In fact, Trump and Clinton notwithstanding, American politics may still have room for a truly authentic politician who doesn't equivocate about where he wants to take the country. So Sanders should stay in the race. One likely candidate for president has trouble with truth and transparency and, after decades in the public eye, still has trouble getting people to like her. The other candidate has trouble with reality and represents a genuinely scary turn for our republic. Sanders? We could do worse. John Crisp, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, teaches in the English Department at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas. Contact him at jcrisp@delmar.edu. SHARE By Jonah Goldberg The State Department's inspector general released a report this week concluding that Hillary Clinton is a breathtakingly brazen and consistent liar. No, that's not a direct quote. Bureaucrats don't talk that way under the best of circumstances and this IG, Steve Linick, is an Obama appointee whose report is about the apparent Democratic nominee for president. So it's all the more shocking, then, that the report confirms nearly everything Clinton's critics have been saying. By setting up a secret email server in her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., without proper authorization from any legal or security official, Clinton displayed a cavalier disregard for national security and an outrageous desire to hide her doings from Freedom of Information Act requests, government archivists, Congress, the press and, ultimately, the American people. What's infuriating about all of this is that it is not, in fact, news. Yes, the fresh details are justifiably headline-grabbing. But the underlying conclusion is about as shocking as a Department of Interior report confirming that bears are currently using our national parklands as toilets. Over a year ago, Clinton held a press conference at the United Nations intended to put the whole controversy to rest. Nearly every significant statement she made was a lie. And we've known it for a year. For instance, she said, "I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material." We know that's untrue. Of the emails she handed over (remember, she unilaterally deleted some 32,000 on her own), 2,079 of them contained classified material, some given a classification even more sensitive than "top secret," some fairly mundane. Her campaign clings to the fact that they were not "marked" classified. Nonsense. Classified material is "born" classified, and it was Clinton's job to understand that. Moreover, how could the classified material she sent be marked "classified" if the whole point of her shadow server was to avoid oversight by the people who do the classifying? It's like selling bootleg gin and then claiming that no one from the government marked it "bootleg." Another major lie: that she did this out of "convenience" because she didn't want to carry two devices. The whole thing sort of just happened on autopilot while she was concentrating on much more important things, Clinton insisted. More lies. Not only did she carry several devices, but the IG report makes it clear that this stealth rig took a lot of planning and effort. She told staffers, "I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible." When two employees in the IT department raised concerns that Clinton's stealth server would not properly preserve records, a supervisor replied that the matter had been reviewed and approved by lawyers and that the staffers were "never to speak of the secretary's personal email system again." That's a strange instruction for something lawyers approved, isn't it? The IG couldn't find any evidence of this legal review of Clinton's system. These mystery lawyers are surely unreachable because they are aiding O.J. Simpson in the search for the real killers. If such a review existed, you'd think the Clinton campaign would provide it to investigators (and the press). Then again, if Clinton did nothing wrong, she also would have talked to the inspector general, like every other relevant secretary of state did. And she would have happily told her team to cooperate with the IG to clear the air. They all refused. I wonder why. Just kidding. Of course, I don't wonder why. From the earliest days of this scandal and it is a scandal Clinton has lied. Unlike Donald Trump's lies, which he usually vomits up spontaneously like a vesuvian geyser, Clinton's were carefully prepared, typed up and repeated for all the world to hear over and over again. I would think this is an important distinction. Neither of the candidates is worthy of the office in my eyes, but voters might discount many of Trump's deceits as symptoms of his glandular personality. Much like Vice President Joe Biden, who always gets a pass for launching errant fake-fact missiles from the offline silo that is his mouth, Trump is often seen as entertainingly spontaneous. Meanwhile, Clinton who lives many time zones away from the word "entertaining" is marketing herself as the mature and upstanding grown-up. She does nothing spontaneously. That means all of her lies are premeditated. Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. Contact him at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com. Chinese users have complained about Microsoft's latest aggressive move to get them to adopt Windows 10, according to the news service backed by the country's Communist government. "IT giant Microsoft is under fire in China as the company pushes users to upgrade their operating systems to Windows 10," said China Daily, an English-language newspaper in the People's Republic of China (PRC), in a story reprinted from Xinhua, the government's official news agency. Xinhua's account resembled those in Western media, describing users whose PCs were upgraded to Windows 10 without their approval or because they overlooked an on-screen notification. Earlier this month, Microsoft began another push to boost adoption by pre-scheduling the free Windows 10 upgrade. On-screen notices warned users of the impending upgrade, but limited the cancel option to an easily-overlooked, one-word link in the notification's text. And clicking the red "X" in the upper-right corner of the dialog box -- by convention a last resort for users wanting to cancel an operation -- instead authorized the upgrade to begin at the allotted time. "Just because I didn't see the pop-up reminder does not mean I agreed," Yang Shuo, an employee of a Beijing-based public relations firm, told Xinhua. Microsoft remains on shaky ground in China as a two-year-old antitrust investigation continues. But the Redmond, Wash. company has also scored victories, including partnering with one of the country's largest defense conglomerates to promote and sell Windows 10 to PRC government agencies. Microsoft has also joined forces with Baidu to distribute the Windows 10 upgrade in China in exchange for making the search provider the default within Edge, the operating system's newest browser. The Chinese government often uses Xinhua to express its views on Western technology firms, which makes another quote in the story stand out. "The company has abused its dominant market position and broken the market order for fair play," Zhao Zhanling, a legal advisor with the Internet Society of China (ISC), told the news service. The ISC is supported by several Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Education and the State Council Information Office. The Windows 10 upgrade offer is to expire July 29. Garett and Marie Savard thanked inmates for naming the American Legion post in the state prison after their son, Ryan Savard, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2012. Army veteran Stephen Mattson said he dreamed that something like this could happen, inside prison. JONATHAN VAN FLEETMonitor staff U.S. Marine Corps veteran Robert Long said the existence of a legion post in the Concord prison means a lot to him and other inmates. Its the camaraderie you get with veterans. You feel comfortable with other veterans. JONATHAN VAN FLEETMonitor staff Garett and Marie Savard thanked the inmates for naming the American Legion post in the state prison after their son, Ryan J. Savard, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2012. JONATHAN VAN FLEETMonitor staff U.S. Marine Corps veteran Robert Long said the existence of a legion post in the Concord prison means a lot to him and other inmates. Its the camaraderie you get with veterans. You feel comfortable with other veterans, he said. JONATHAN VAN FLEET photos / Monitor staff Veterans incarcerated at the state prison in Concord salute as the flags were retired at the end of a service dedicating the American Legion Post 123 in memory of Ryan J. Savard. JONATHAN VAN FLEET / Monitor staff Veterans serving time at the state prison in Concord raise the American Legion flag during a dedication ceremony of Post 123 in memory of Ryan J. Savard. JONATHAN VAN FLEET / Monitor staff Stephen Mattson, an Army veteran, played taps at a dedication of the American Legion Post #123 in the New Hampshire State Prison. In the dimly lit New Hampshire State Prison chapel in Concord, more than 50 veterans dressed in dark green jumpsuits stood solemnly as inmate Stephen Mattson played taps on a trumpet. But this was no ordinary Memorial Day ceremony. The state prison established its very own chapter of the American Legion three years ago to give inmates who are veterans a connection with their military service. Until this week, it was c alled Post 123. Now it bears the name of Army Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Savard, of Jefferson, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2012. I never dreamed coming to prison that something like this could (exist), said Mattson, who served in the Army for four years. It brings a feeling of humanness. Its those rare moments, we feel like were not in prison. The newly named post, officially chartered in May 2013, has locations and members inside both state prisons in Concord and Berlin. For us to get a post, there is quite an honor when we realized we still had veterans supporting us on the street, said inmate Robert Long, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. We were very proud, when you consider were incarcerated veterans. Long said the American Legion provides a sense of community for veterans in the prison. Theres a kindred spirit there, he said. Its the camaraderie you get with veterans. You feel comfortable with other veterans. The group got its start with the help of Navy veteran John Neylon, who convinced Department of Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn that it would benefit the men in the prison. Were very proud of all you members, and we thank you for your support, Neylon told the audience on Thursday. Ryan Savards parents, Garett and Marie Savard, sat in the front row during the ceremony and thanked the inmates for naming the post after their son. It feels good to be here to look upon your faces, Garett said. Marie said she and her husband were humbled by the dedication. Words cannot express what we feel in our hearts, she told the men. Marie said that when Neylon initially approached them about naming the prison post in their sons honor, she only hesitated for a second before agreeing. Its for a good cause, she said. A positive thing in a less -than-positive environment. The Savards have visited with inmates in Berlin and Concord before the officials dedication, and Marie said meeting the men has been better than she expected. Its heartfelt, she said. We know they appreciate it. Very uplifting, its therapeutic. Inmates said they were touched by the Savards kindness toward them and humbled that they allowed their sons name to be connected to the prison legion post. Its a tremendous honor, Long said. I never foresaw it, personally. They are very, very special people. Mattson, the prison choir director, composed a song called Does Jesus Care after first meeting Marie Savard that he said was inspired by her. The song, performed Thursday, is about soldiers and their loved ones questioning the existence of God in the face of war and eventually finding faith during tough times. That song meant a lot to Garrett Savard, because faith has helped his family move ahead after the loss of their son, he said. Standing in front of the inmates on Thursday morning, Savard recalled his son as a quiet kid during his childhood, one of a large pack of siblings who was more of a follower than a leader. That changed when he enlisted in the Army after high school. Starting out as a Black Hawk helicopter repairer, he deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and soon joined the Army Special Forces as a weapons sergeant. He later became a Green Beret. Without his parents knowing, Savard became an Army Ranger, in addition to taking numerous other military courses. He explained his choice to his father over the phone as I just wanted something to keep busy, just something to do. Over the course of 10 years of military service, Savard received many awards recognizing his service. He was killed in Afghanistan while carrying out a mission where he and others rescued four women and four girls who were to be used as human shields protecting members of the Taliban and al-Qaida. As a father, I am immensely humbled by who this young man turned out to be, Garett Savard said. I cant express my gratitude for your service . . . this week is a heavy week for many. If Ryan was sitting in the audience today, his parents said he would be embarrassed by all the attention. Hed be very pleased to know hes helping other veterans, Marie said. This is an extension of his life. Its a wonderful way to honor him and remember him. (Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen.) Writing in the Daily Telegraph today, Charles Moore suggests that the Vote Leave campaign needs to work harder to rebut the concerns of prudent voters over the financial impact that Brexit might have on them. He also notes the challenge of winning over another section of the electorate: The unfocused but vaguely pro-European young, who dont know what the EU is but think it might be racist to vote against it. A divisive advertising campaign this week from Operation Black Vote featuring a bullying young white skinhead berating an elderly Asian lady was designed to push the message that a vote to remain, in order to defeat the racists, is the high minded respectable option. Yet this portrayal of the choice is at odds with reality. As Iain Duncan Smith, writing in The Times() this morning says: After leaving the EU, we will be able to assess who we welcome to this country based on whether they have skills the economy needs or if they are genuinely fleeing persecution. A talented young engineer should not find it nearly impossible to take up a job in Britain just because she has a Malaysian passport rather than a Latvian one. The current unsustainable situation is not openness, it is eurocentric insularity. Our current immigration policy is discriminatory. Anyone can come in from the EU. For those from the rest of the world it is much more restrictive. To call the existing policy racist would be an exaggeration. There are plenty of EU citizens from ethnic minorities. There are also plenty of white people in the rest of the world who are discriminated against from Australia and the United States and so on. Nevertheless overall it is pretty obvious. The open door largely applies to those with white skin. The restrictions largely apply to those with brown, black or yellow skin. Inevitably the pressure of EU immigration makes us a more hard-hearted nation when it comes to giving sanctuary to refugees. Let us suppose we were an independent nation state with control of our own borders and that we were applying to join the European Union. Instead of immigration based on merit, we would instead be signing up to a policy that allowed everyone in from the EU and tightened controls on the rest of world to make this viable. For instance, those from France could be joined by as many of their relatives as they liked, but those who had settled here from India or Jamaica would have such entitlements reduced. How would such a proposal measure up with an Equalities Impact Assessment? This week we have seen politicians of both sides in the referendum debate interviewed about the 333,000 net migration figure to the UK last year, including EU-only net migration of 184,000. Is the figure too high? If so, what figure should it be? The point that was missed was the criteria for immigration. If we were an independent nation then the Government could apply policies that would lead to higher or lower immigration that would become a democratic choice. But I would certainly hope it would be non-discriminatory. It would depend not on where people are from, but on what they have to offer. Those without criminal records could be excluded. But those with the skills and work ethic that mean they wish to succeed by living here, and would help us to succeed too, would be welcomed in. There could be more generosity towards refugees. Controlling our own borders would mean an immigration policy that judged applicants not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. The Speech Obama Should Have Given In Hiroshima By Matt Peppe 28 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org Barack Obama became the first U.S. President to visit Hiroshima on Friday, more than seven decades after the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped a 10,000-pound atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on the city whose military value was far less than that of Tampa to the United States. More than 70,000 people were instantly killed, and virtually the entire city was flattened. Many survivors would suffer prolonged and unimaginably painful aftereffects of radiation, which would cost at least 100,000 more people their lives. The effects of radiation would harm people for years and decades after the initial explosion. Obama stood at a podium with the epicenter of the blast, the Genbaku Domu, in the background and said that he had "come to mourn the dead." While Obama mourned, there was one thing he did not do: apologize. He said that "death came from the sky." No mention of why. Or who was responsible, as if it were a natural disaster rather than a crime perpetrated by actual people. Obama was either unwilling or unable to confront the truth and make amends. Here's what he could have said to try to do so: Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, an American warplane unleashed the most horrific and inhuman weapon ever invented, immediately imperiling the survival of the entire human species. This act of terrorism was the ultimate crime: a crime of mass murder, a crime of war, and a crime against humanity. The victims, those who died incinerated in a flash, and those who died slowly and painfully over years from chemical poisoning, were never able to see justice served. Sadly, there is no way the criminals who carried out this heinous and barbaric act will ever face justice for their crimes. I cannot change that. But, there is one thing I can do as the leader of the nation in whose name the bombing of Hiroshima was carried out: I can tell you, residents of Hiroshima and the rest of Japan, that I am sorry. I am sorry on behalf of my government and my country. I wish an American President would have come earlier and said this. This apology is decades overdue. It is a small and symbolic act, but it is necessary as a first step for true reconciliation. A nuclear bomb should have never been dropped on Hiroshima. The most important goal of mankind should be to ensure that no nuclear bomb is ever dropped again. Anywhere in the world. Ever. It would be easy to stand here and tell you that there are reasons why the American military and political officials chose to use a nuclear bomb. I could say it served a greater good of saving lives that would have been lost if the war had continued. I could say it was a decision made by people who were dealing with the pressure and horrors of fighting a war. But that would not be the truth. Those would be empty rationalizations. There is no justification for the bomb. Period. The truth is that by August 6, 1945 Japan was defeated and had been seeking a conditional surrender for months. And American war planners knew this. They knew it because they had cracked the Japanese code and were intercepting their messages. [1] Japan was willing to surrender under the condition that their Emperor, who was seen as a God among the Japanese people, be allowed to maintain his throne and not be prosecuted for war crimes. The Emperor himself called for "a plan to end the war" six weeks before the fateful day. [2] After so much unspeakable death and destruction, this reasonable offer should have been met with ecstatic celebration and relief. Instead, U.S. officials disregarded it. They decided that it was necessary not just to defeat Japan, but to leave them utterly humiliated and disgraced. They wanted to demonstrate to their public that they could force another country to lay prostrate in front of them in complete submission. This is the mindset of terrorists, torturers, and sadists. The United States joined with China and Great Britain to issue the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, in which they called on Japan "to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces." These were terms they understood Japan could not accept. Unfortunately, the use of the atomic bomb had become inevitable after the massive investment of time and treasure represented by the Manhattan Project. Military planners worried about "the possibility that after spending huge amounts of money ... the bomb would be a dud. They could easily imagine being grilled mercilessly by hostile members of Congress." Historian and former Nuclear Regulatory Commission employee J. Samuel Walker confirmed that aside from "shortening the war and saving American lives, Truman wanted to justify the expense and effort required to build the atomic bombs." That financial considerations and a self-interested desire for bureaucrats to validate themselves and protect their careers could lead to the single most destructive and cruel act in history is an abomination. It is a deep offense to the idea that people are innately moral, and it makes us ask how in a democratic society we can vest people with the authority to make decisions of such profound impact secretly and without accountability? Walker notes that another consideration for using the bomb on Hiroshima was to put fear into the leaders of the Soviet Union and make them "more amenable to American wishes." Just six weeks earlier the UN Charter had been established. It included the demand that "all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force" against other states. The drafters could of the treaty could never have imagined such an unconscionable violation of their words so soon after the monumental pact had been written. As horrific as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima was, it did not occur in a vacuum. What no one in mainstream American political discourse has so far been able to admit is that not only was there no justification for the bomb, there was little justification for the war against Japan in the first place. The war was the result of the notion, which first emanated from the Council on Foreign Relations in 1941, that the U.S.'s "national interest" called for a "Grand Area" that consisted of the Western hemisphere, the British Empire and the Far East, while assuming the majority of Europe would be controlled by Nazi Germany. This was translated into a policy that demanded a military confrontation with Japan for control of the Far East. [3] A pillar in this policy was an economic embargo against Japan. Cut off from imports and raw materials from the United States and Great Britain, Japan grew desperate and subsequently sought to expand its Empire. Japan saw itself in need of a sphere of influence involving the same areas in the Far East as the United States. The U.S. had several options to avoid war. For one, they could develop a program of agricultural and economic self-sufficiency which would allow them to insulate themselves from dependence on colonial powers, as well as allow them to steer clear of unpredictable and potentially hostile regions of the world. But for businessmen who wanted to maintain control over the direction of the economy and keep their own fortunes growing at a limitless pace, this was a nonstarter. Instead, they were dedicated to challenging Japan. Hence, the embargo and the buildup for an inevitable military confrontation over Eastern Asia. This is the background to Pearl Harbor. Japan was obviously not justified for attacking sovereign American territory in a blatant act of aggression. But we cannot pretend that it was not predictable or logical from their point of view. Japan felt itself backed into a corner by the embargo. They felt they needed to expand further into Asia. They believed that if they did so, the U.S. military would have attacked them. They were right. Both countries should have worked together to recognize each other's perceived interests, deescalate, and achieve a mutually acceptable compromise. It is the ability to understand one's perceived adversary as a rational counterpart, rather than an evil and irrational enemy, that separates humans from beasts. If we are not able to use this ability, we are no better than a predator seeking his prey. The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima did not need to happen. But the bombing that took place on this site was just a symptom of the war it was part of. War will necessarily produce horrific crimes, some of which are unimaginable at the time they happen. As horrific as the nuclear bomb was, 70 years of technological advancements have made not just the destruction of an entire city, but of an entire country or continent within the realm of possibility. We need to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth. But that is not enough. Chemical weapons like napalm, Agent Orange, depleted uranium, and white phosphorous; biological weapons like Dengue bacteria and germ bombs; and conventional weapons like cluster bombs, pineapple bomblets, butterfly bombs and land mines are just some of the savage weapons used by the U.S. military alone in the years since the close of World War II to kill and maim millions of people. Many other countries possess similar weapons of mass destruction and have the capacity to do the same. We need to eliminate war. All war. Forever. War is evil, plain and simple. We cannot undo the actions of the past. But we can let them guide us to a better world where we don't repeat the horrors that the people of Hiroshima suffered here 71 years ago. That will be the only way to prevent the victims from having died in vain. Matt Peppe writes about politics, U.S. foreign policy and Latin America on his blog. You can follow him on twitter. References [1] Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. pp. 423. [2] U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey: The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, June 19, 1946. President's Secretary's File, Truman Papers. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/index.php? pagenumber=33&documentid=65&documentdate=1946-06-19&studycollectionid=abomb&groupid= [3] Shoup, Laurence H. and William Minter. Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press, 2004. Remembering Trupti Shah By Sahiyar (Stree Sangathan) & Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) 28 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org The womens movement, the environmental cause, the struggle for justice has lost a voice that never flinched from standing up for victims of exploitation, injustice and violence. Trupti Shah (54) left us on May 26, 2016 in Vadodara after a valiant battle against lung cancer. Trupti, an economist by training, centered her lifelong activism primarily on womens issues, constantly drawing its intersections with development, environment, communal strife, caste, labour and human rights issues. With parents, Thakorbhai Shah, a known labour union leader and mother Suryakanta Shah, active in public life, Trupti was drawn into peoples struggles very early in her life. Trupti always attributed her initiation into activism to her parents. In her own words, I inherited the spirit, not to tolerate any injustice from my father who left his career as journalist and Gandhian ideology to fight against injustice and became a Marxist-Trotskyist and Trade unionist. Along with him and other younger comrades from the Communist League, a Trotskyist group, I witnessed or participated in most of the major movements that emerged in Gujarat in the 1970s. My involvement in the womens movement has its roots in these experiences. Her first experience of peoples movement was in 1973 when she was just 11-years old. She, with five other girls was detained in the state home of children for three days for participating with the elders in the anti-price rise movement that started in Vadodara to protest Rs. 1 hike in milk prices. She was soon to actively participate in the ensuing Nav Nirman Andolan and anti-Emergency movement. A product of Maharaja Sayajirao Universitys distinctive academic atmosphere from her kindergarten studies, Trupti was to plunge into the womens movement from her student days. And that turned into her lifelong passion. As a young 18 year old, unlike most other Gujarati youth, she became active in the Communist League (CL), the Indian section of the Fourth International, which supported autonomous womens movement world over. Dr. Vibhuti Patel, one of the leading activists of the Communist League was to mentor Truptis initiation in the autonomous womens movement. Dr. Neera Desai, a renowned sociologist and feminist, too was a major influence on Truptis young mind and her work for womens rights. When the nationwide movement for reopening the Mathura Rape Case seeking amendments in legal provisions related to rape was started, Trupti was a part of the forum, Narishoshan Virodhi Samiti(Committee to Resist Exploitation against Women) to be initiated in Vadodara. Disenchanted with the apathy of women political leaders towards gender based violence, she participated as perhaps the youngest delegate in the first conference of Autonomous Womens Movement organised in Bombay in 1980. The proceedings sharpened the need in her to start something afresh in Vadodara for womens rights. And so she resolved: there is a need to have an autonomous womens organisation in Baroda which will uphold the interest of women above all other issues and political affiliation. And the rest of her life became a persistent effort towards building such an organisation. An effort of several years and like-minded friends resulted in Sahiyar (Stree Sangathan) an initiative led by the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda students in 1984. The overriding consciousness resulted in an organisation by women and for women with the long term aim to work towards a society free from inequality, injustice and atrocity - a society where women enjoy equal status and recognition as human beings. Resisting communal forces and fundamentalists of all hues, in striving to uphold the principles of equality and non-discrimination, soon became central to all Sahiyars initiatives. Sahiyar (Stree Sangathan) is a feminist group in Vadodara. She was one of its founder members. Sahiyar (Stree Sangathan) works for womens rights and strives to create awareness among society on womens issues. She was involved in awareness programmes like street theatre, organising workshops, training, participatory research and publication on behalf of the organisation. She was also involved in counseling of adolescent girls and women and providing legal support to them. Her concerns were not limited to only womens issues. She brought gender perspective to other public concerns such as environment, civil liberties, human rights, anti-communalism and all just causes. She was involved with several social / voluntary organisations since her student days and undertook community work and social awareness work through these organisations. One such organization being Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS), an organisation working on the issues related to environmental rights and awareness. As also a part of PSS, Trupti brought in her impeccable research and analytical skills and her understanding of human environment in identifying and studying the rampant environmental degradation and displacement of adivasis in the name of development for land grabbing and privatization. The concerns highlighted by her have found their expression in the changing environment over time, which only goes to showcase the depth of her understanding. Her thorough approach and holistic understanding of environmental issues, helped in preparation for legal action, an important aspect of her action-oriented approach. She was also involved with Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), as well as the Radical Socialist. Trupti brought her expertise and sensitivities of womens rights to other struggles and every major social upheaval that she responded to during the anti-Narmada dam agitation, the anti-nuclear protests at Mithivirdi area, the fight against industrial pollution in Gujarat, the 2002 Gujarat Carnage, the various government undertaken slum demolition drives, and raised environmental concerns in Gujarat from time to time including in respect of the Statue of Unity project, Garudeshwar Weir project and the recent Vishwamitri Riverfront Development project, flagging the environmental violations, livelihood issue and damage being caused by the projects. Her academic association with MSU continued simultaneously; in various capacities - as a researcher, teacher, and as academic coordinator with the Women's Studies Research Center and later in the faculty of commerce and faculty of social work as well. She infused her academic expertise in her activism, translating it into action-oriented work at the grassroot level. Whether she was involved in preparing training manuals for NGOs, reviewing exercises, conducting training programmes, community programmes, she combined her academic brilliance with radical activism. She constantly flagged concerns and violations of all kinds with a rare passion. She earned her Ph.D. for her thesis, Economic Status of Women in Urban Informal Sector A study of Baroda City from MSU in 2000. She continued to write extensively, with her unwavering faith in the collective womens movement. She took great satisfaction in the four part: Nari Andolanno Itihas (History of Womens Movement), a series of books on the History of womens movement in 4 parts in Gujarati, Published by UNNATI and Sahiyar (Stree Sangathan), (2011). During her last days, she was most concerned about the violations in the Vishwamitri Riverfront Development Project case, especially related to the rivers bio-diversity, environmental degradation, loss of livelihoods. Her concern to her last breath: behno na adhikar ni vaat loko nathi sambhadta.nadi, Paryavaran ni vaat loko samjhe to saru-People are apathetic to womens rights.it would be good if they understand the issue of river, environment. She is survived by her fellow comrade, activist, friend and companion, Rohit Prajapati, who has been her partner in her efforts and pillar of support, and her son, Manav, amongst other family and friends. Sahiyar (Stree Sangathan) Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti (PSS) Extremely Cautionary Catastrophes: Fukushima And Chernobyl By Robert Snefjella 28 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org With phenomenal ingenuity and extreme folly, technically-advanced humanity has managed to conceive and implement a technology that has done much harm to life, and will do much greater harm to life, and that even threatens our extinction. Whether suddenly through nuclear war, or through a pernicious slow motion assault on life's wondrous, intricate, amazing inner workings and accurate reproductive capabilities, nuclear technology is inherently, inescapably, anti-life. Given that the rest of the marvels of creation that which has so far survived us is also along for the ride, it's not just about us. One might wonder, if the rest of creation were capable of hope, if it would be clinging to the fading hope that humanity at this late hour would transform itself into a species characterized by a decisively dominant strain of sane, careful, sensible behavior, or, if it would be hoping for our demise, the sooner the better, come what may. If we are to extricate ourselves from the trap into which we have placed ourselves, it will take much more ingenuity, and much reduced folly. This piece is an incomplete overview of our situation, intended to boost general understanding of these subjects. Some reflections on essential reforms close out the piece. [In 1936] ... [Fatu Hiva's ocean pools and shorelines] literally teemed with life. From the book Fatu-Hiva, By Thor Heyerdahl. (He lived on the Polynesian Island of Fatu-Hiva in 1936) [In 2015] everything [flora and fauna] is missing! [along the shorelines and in the tidal pools of British Columbia] Dana Durnford's words, after his 15000 mile odyssey along the west coast of Canada in 2014 and 2015 The unprecedented mass mortality of much life in the North Pacific Ocean in recent years has been given inadequate coverage by corporate mass media, and has not gained widespread public awareness. In local media close to the 'situation', there have been many reports of unusual numbers of deaths, of strange diseases, of mass disappearances of life forms. And sometimes these reports appear in national and international media. But such reports are typically brief, sporadic, disconnected from each other, and often narrowly focused. Poorly represented has been the scale and breadth of the devastation: But then, no one knows just how many whales and sea lions and walrus and sardines and sea stars and mussels and sea urchins and sea birds, and countless other creatures large and small, have in recent years died, starved, disappeared, melted away in the water, rotted on the shores. And we mustn't forget humans' industrial scale ocean 'harvest'. But when one puts together the many reports, the scale of the disaster over recent years is pretty mind-boggling. Kelly Ann Thomas has compiled one such list. [1] A few examples from my own notes: From National Geographic online, 2015: ...a die off of sea stars...largest marine disease outbreak ever recorded....; ... no one is sure what is causing it . ... we think there's [also] a wasting event going on with [sea] urchins. [2] California Senator Mike McGuire in 2015: We are facing a fishery disaster . ... historic crisis [in] the salmon and crab fisheries. [3] On March 15, 2015, New Mexico State U. Online, asked what was killing Baja's marine animals, and reported decomposing gray whales, sea lions, dolphins, turtles, and birds on the beaches of Baja. [4] Feb. 26, 2016 Sardines off the West Coast [are forecast to be in 2016] 93% lower than in 2007. [5] National Geographic from Jan. 24, 2015 offers the headline: Mass Death of Seabirds in Western U.S. is Unprecedented [6] From Alaska Dispatch news, January 29, 2016: Scientists Think Gulf of Alaska's seabird die- off is biggest ever recorded; ...staggering die-off something is awry in the Gulf of Alaska .... [7] In August of 2014 large numbers of whales and common murres [ seabirds] were reported as dying along the Alaska coast. [8] Alaska Dispatch News published an article on August 20, 2015, about the unusual number of dead whales being encountered. [9] From the Toronto Globe and Mail, Aug. 12, 2013: ...sockeye salmon returns [to British Columbia] plunge to historic lows. ... scientists don't know why the return numbers are so low. [10] From ENE news, citing a document from the Alaska Marine Science Symposium of Jan. 20-24, 2014: During summer of 2011 it became evident to [Alaskan] coastal communities and wildlife management agencies that there was a novel disease outbreak occurring in several species of Arctic ice-associated seals. Gross symptoms included lethargy, no new hair growth, and skin lesions.... The paper mentioned concerns that the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in March of 2011 might be implicated. The pdf document that ENE cited appears to be no longer available on line. [11] National Geographic in 2013 reported that the quantity of dead stuff on the Pacific Ocean floor had 'mysteriously exploded' recently in many locations. [12] California Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham in 2015: Something's going on in the oceans [that] doesn't fit our historical understandings .... numerous anomalies . [13] From a May 24, 2015 Talk Radio Europe interview with experienced small-boat sailor Ivan Macfadyen, commenting on his voyage across the Pacific from Australia to Japan in 2013: Ten years ago [on an identical route and at the same time of year] I could catch fish every day. Macfadyen noted that in 2003 there were lots of birds, dolphins, turtles, whales, sharks; [But in 2013] The ocean is broken. ... quite literally there isn't any fish. [fish and other lifeforms] are just all gone. [14] And Macfadyen again, commenting on his 2013 voyage: We [saw] a whale, 1000 miles south of Japan with like a big tumor on the side of its head . [15] Japanese scientists in 2013 reported finding radioactive cesium, from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, in plankton [a basic part of the food chain of the ocean] at all ten places tested in the Pacific. [16] Nature.com on Feb. 4, 2016, published a report by Japanese scientists that they had found on the Pacific coast of Japan a decline in inter-tidal biota after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. ... the number of species and population densities in the inter-tidal zones were much lower at sites near Fukushima. [17] The most revealing description of the situation on the Pacific coast of North America has been compiled by intrepid Canadian sailor and former diver Dana Durnford. In 2014 and 2015 he journeyed over 15000 miles by small boat to document the decimation of life in the tidal pools and along the shorelines of British Columbia. Durnford took many thousands of photographs and filmed underwater, proving, in his own words, just about everything [flora and fauna] is missing. Durnford also noted a very great decline in bird numbers, and in insects. Until recent years, the tidal pools and shorelines were home to diverse abundance: thousands of species of flora and fauna. [18] Note that it has been two experienced sailors, Durnford and Macfadyen, independent human beings who love the ocean and who have witnessed the disaster in the Pacific at close quarters, who have given us especially compelling descriptions of the situation. One might think that Durnford would have been lauded, especially in Canada, for his amazing determination to document, and to tell the world about, the situation along the Pacific shores. He has been largely ignored, when he isn't being vilified. Latterly, he has had criminal charges brought against him in Canada, for criminal harassment. Here is one journalist's defense of Durnford. [19] Marine scientists have seemed stumped to explain unprecedented mass mortality and disease in and around the North Pacific. The scientists typically vary from distraught perplexity to stabs in the dark: musings range from we don't know what's going on, to climate change, fungi, bacteria, viruses, over fishing, cyclical ups and downs, acidic water, domoic acid, warm water and cold water. In fumbling for explanations for unprecedented recent death in the Pacific, there has been an obvious reluctance by scientists to assign significant suspicion to the unprecedented industrial/technological catastrophe which began in Japan at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor complex on the shores of the Pacific on March 11th of 2011. Four large nuclear reactors were destroyed, melting down and blowing up, and have for over five years released massive amounts of dangerous radioactive elements into the biosphere. A typical example of the marginal status given to Fukushima radiation: The Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Feb. 2016: ... Fukushima-derived radionuclides [have been detected] in a variety of marine products harvested off the western coast of North America.... The abstract opined that the level of radioactivity found was not a health problem. [20] Significant for what is happening now in the Pacific,a study published in 1971, authored by E. J. Sternglass, titled 'Fallout and Reproduction of Ocean Fish Populations', showed the huge impact that nuclear fallout from atomic bomb testing had on life in the oceans. From the study's summary statement: ...very large declines of fish-populations after low-altitude nuclear tests have been observed in the Atlantic and Pacific, strongly suggesting that the eggs of fish and the developing young are far more sensitive to internal radiation than had been anticipated, very much as is the case of the human-embryo and fetus. [21] So what about Fukushima? There have been various attempts to quantify the amount and types of radioactive elements that have been released from Fukushima into the biosphere, but these are all guesswork handicapped by an official and corporate policy dedicated to lying and censoring. [22] Three reactors were destroyed by powerful explosions. [23] The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear site contained in total over 4000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear fuel. [24] Reactor 3 at Fukushima Dai-ichi contained especially dangerous fuel rods, combining plutonium with uranium. Much material from the exploding reactors, including reactor 3, was ejected into the biosphere, some circling the planet. [25] The total amount of radioactive cesium-137 alone, contained in the spent fuel assemblies at Fukushima, is estimated by Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser at the US Department of Energy, as reported by Washingtonsblog.com, and referred to by the author of Allegedly Apparent Blog, Michael Van Broekhoven, to be roughly 85 times the amount released by Chernobyl. [26] In desperation, a large amount of sea water was sprayed onto the wrecked reactors. It is questionable whether this did more harm than good. The creation of durable spherical radioactive clusters of materials buckeyballs has been reported to be among the fruits of this labor. Some highly radioactive water has been collected in many hundreds of steel tanks of dubious quality. Much water sprayed went wherever water was able to go. But there is also a large natural flow of water under the destroyed reactors. Extremely radioactive material from the reactors has likely burned its way into the ground below the reactors, to a depth which is either unknown or if known we are not being told, adding to the radioactive contamination of guesstimated hundreds of tonnes of water daily discharging into the Pacific Ocean for near five years now. [26] In Nov. 2014, for example, TEPCO admitted that 400 tons of radioactivity-contaminated water was reaching the Pacific daily, and that measures to prevent the discharge had been unsuccessful. [28] It should be emphasized that TEPCO has earned a reputation for hiding and minimizing and distorting the actual situation. And the Japanese government has attempted quite successfully to suppress honest reporting of the situation at Fukushima. The destroyed reactors continue, and will continue, far into the future, to contaminate the environment with dangerous radionuclides. There remain unapproachable areas, and horrific problems defying solution. Desperately, millions of large plastic bags of questionable durability have been filled with radioactive material, and this massive effort has managed to temporarily confine a tiny fraction of the radioactive contamination emitted over the five-plus years since the catastrophe. Robots sent in to inspect areas of high radioactivity have been destroyed by the radioactivity. The Japanese, five years into the catastrophe, are still trying to determine how to proceed. [29] Arnie Gundersen in 2012 collected 5 random soil samples from Tokyo and all five were radioactive enough to be classified as nuclear waste, under United States standards. [30] ... 70 percent of [Japan is contaminated by Fukushima radioactivity] 20 percent [of Japan] including Tokyo, is contaminated with highly toxic radiation. [31] [32] But the worst may yet be to come. A German study has predicted that Strontium-90 levels would rise and remain at high levels for many years after a meltdown such as Fukushima, And there is evidence for ongoing out of control fission at the destroyed reactors: long after the initial melt down and explosions, short-lived radioactive iodine-131 has been found both in Japan and on the other side of the planet. [33] Over the last months of 2015 and in 2016, Michael van Broekhoven's Allegedly Apparent Blog has shone a near solitary public light on evidence indicating that some globally significant nuclear catastrophe has occurred recently. He also offers evidence that radiation monitors around the world are routinely used to hide, not reveal, high radiation readings, as well as evidence that the situation at, and radiation from, the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, far from winding down, may be worsening. His work deserves serious attention. [34] The Fukushima catastrophe obviously merited, and now perhaps more than ever, merits extreme political, scientific, engineering, mass media and public attention, reflection, and concern, and our utmost intelligence in brainstorming; and, to what extent possible, an all out mitigation response. But this has not happened. So, not surprisingly, countless people are not even aware of the Fukushima disaster. And of those who do know about it, many think that the problem has been resolved, or is not all that serious. Nothing could be further from the truth. It has not been easy, from the very beginning of the nuclear age, to find out what's actually going on with nuclear mishaps, generally, because dishonesty and censorship have been the default position for the nuclear military and nuclear industry since its inception. So, for example, the World Health Organization, which cheerfully announced immediately after the beginning of the Fukushima catastrophe that no increased cancer risk was to be expected, made a secret agreement in 1959 with the nuclear lobby and promoter IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to give the IAEA control over WHO pronouncements pertaining to radioactivity and human health. [35] Since the beginning of the atomic age, humanity has been the victim of both nuclear-related deception and radioactive contamination. And what about the health impact from Fukushima on the Japanese people? In Sept. of 2015, the Asia-Pacific Journal published a study by Eiichiro Ochiai titled 'The Human Consequences of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants Accidents'. [36] Ochiai's document includes the important point that damage from chronic exposure to radioactivity is strongly related to whether that exposure is through internal contamination. This critical difference between internal and external exposure to radioactivity has been largely ignored by 'official' bodies and pronouncements and standards regarding the health impact of radiation. Another key defect in the conventional depiction of the dangers of chronic radiation exposure is that genetic damage, reproductive problems, mutations, chromosomal abnormalities and the like the entire spectrum of DNA damage, which may endure for generations is largely ignored. [37] Cancer risk is highlighted, then minimized. Little mention is made of the hundreds of other serious ailments which increased exposure to artificial radionuclides is implicated as contributing to. From Ochiai's document: [... as a result of the Fukushima accident] All indications are that incidence of many diseases is increasing not only in Fukushima but also all over Japan. Ochiai shows charts based on data from Japanese hospitals for incidents of various diseases for the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. At the Fukushima Prefectural Medical School, data is for the years 2010 to 2012. Here are the figures for 2010 (before Fukushima) compared to 2012 (two years after Fukushima) : cataracts up 227%; angina up 157%; bleeding in brain up 300%; lung cancer up 163%; esophagus cancer up 122%; stomach cancer up 129%; cancer in small intestine up 400%; colon cancer up 297%; prostate cancer up 300%. Ochiai included data from fifteen Prefectures re thyroid cancer. Rates went up in all areas, with Japan as a whole having a 148% increase from 2010 to 2013. Incidents of myocardial infarction increased in all 13 prefectures listed; Japan as a whole 151%. Acute leukemia increased 142% overall. The author comments that his data represents only the tip of the iceberg. On Oct. 15, 2015, Japanese Professor Toshihide Tsuda announced the results of an epidemiological study of thyroid cancer in Fukushima prefecture since the catastrophe, and described the increase as drastic. The increase was 20 to 50 times 'normal', depending on the specific area and amount of contamination, and this increase was far beyond what the WHO had predicted. And based on the Chernobyl experience, cited below, an estimated 1000 additional thyroid problems can be expected for every cancer, as a result of heavy radioactive contamination. Tsuda pointed out that preventative iodine had not been given to vulnerable people after the Fukushima disaster, which might have prevented many of the subsequent thyroid problems. [38] In an interview published Mar. 18, 2016 Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds has disclosed that there has been a huge spike in the death rates within Fukushima Prefecture for young children.... This information has been suppressed. [39] One chronological retrospective on Fukushima is found at Modern Survival Blog. [40] For extraordinary pertinent musical poetry from Japan, attend this video. [41] Leaving Fukushima for the moment, what can we learn about the health repercussions from massive releases of artificial radioisotopes from the global nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl in 1986? An extremely disturbing and illuminating work on the effects of serious and chronic human-created radiation exposure is the detailed examination of the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the book: 'Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment'. [42] The book has been largely ignored by corporate mass media, and when mentioned, attempts have been made to denigrate it, belittling its competence, methods, and conclusions. This denigration is due to the threat that the document poses to the nuclear delusion: The Chernobyl study is not a good news story. The Chernobyl book above was based on approximately 5000 studies, but the authors point out that these were only a fraction of those available. Many of the studies were in the Russian language, and some have still not been translated. The document notes that Chernobyl radiation harmed all life forms studied. And the authors assert that at the time of writing the document, the problems were increasing on the whole, not decreasing. Here are a few examples of what was found: Thirteen European countries had over half of their area contaminated, and some European countries have areas that remain contaminated, nearly thirty years later. For example, 10,000 farms in the United Kingdom were contaminated. [43] Four hundred million people live within significantly contaminated areas, and 5 million still live in areas of high contamination in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The quantity of deposition of dangerous radioactive material varied greatly from place to place, over the entire northern hemisphere. Many different types of conglomerations of radioactive elements were emitted. Marked increases in a myriad of non-malignant and malignant health problems, including damage to reproductive health and the immune system, have been observed and recorded in the populations exposed to Chernobyl contamination. Over vast areas and in diverse populations and in all age groups that experienced contamination, there has been greatly increased morbidity. In many instances this increase has worsened steadily over time. Prior to Chernobyl, healthy children were the norm in all countries in question. After Chernobyl, especially in places of heavy contamination, healthy children became fewer, with some areas now reporting virtually no healthy children. Contaminated areas of Belarus, Ukraine, and European Russia have seen the percentage of practically healthy children reduced from 80 or 90% of the child population prior to Chernobyl, to less than 20% more recently. Markedly higher death rates, reproductive disabilities, low birth weights, and a wide range of illnesses and diseases, and greatly increased numbers of invalid children, were documented in areas of serious contamination. There was a continuing deterioration in the health of children exposed to serious radiation, even from the late 1990s into the new millennium. There were increases in stillbirths, miscarriages, infant mortality and congenital malformations in many countries following the Chernobyl disaster. The hundreds of thousands of people the liquidators - who worked in close proximity to the reactor site in the attempt to mitigate the disaster; have experienced extreme decline of well being and greatly increased morbidity. For example, for the Ukraine among liquidators about one in twenty remained reasonably healthy by 2004, and those suffering chronic illness increased 600%. Russian men, young and healthy prior to Chernobyl, and who participated in cleanup and mitigation efforts, suffered a severe decline in health, leaving only 2% healthy by 1992. By 2004 nearly two thirds of Russian liquidators were disabled. Accelerated aging was documented in both children and adults living in heavily contaminated areas. Diseases of the blood, circulatory and lymphatic systems increased markedly in populations living in areas of radioactive contamination, as did increases of chromosomal aberrations, mutations, and Down syndrome. Thyroid problems increased greatly, with 1000 thyroid problems for every thyroid cancer. The damage by Chernobyl radiation to the endocrine system was far greater than previously expected, with millions seriously affected. Immune system impairment strongly correlated with exposure to radiation. Marked increases in respiratory system problems were documented. A wide range of reproductive system disorders increased greatly in heavily contaminated areas. Serious radiation exposure was strongly associated with impaired brain function and mental health problems. There have been many surprises: for example, Cesium-137 has been far more persistent than predicted; hot particles are breaking down quickly into a surprising melange of radioactivity; Highly soluble Strontium-90 and Americium-241 are moving through the food chain much more rapidly than had been predicted. Levels of contamination in plants vary widely, even within species. There was increased and widespread genetic damage, tumour-like growth, and mutation in many plant species in areas of high contamination as compared to areas of low contamination. Since Chernobyl, in heavily contaminated areas, all resident animal species studied have exhibited increased genetic abnormalities and increased mortality, and generally, the same damage that humans have suffered. This will continue far into future. In less than half a year after Chernobyl, in heavily contaminated areas, marine species had decreased by up to four fifths of their pre-catastrophe numbers. Bird populations in heavily contaminated areas were greatly reduced. So where are we? Even without Chernobyl and Fukushima, we were not doing well, us talented, foolish, war-making humans. Neither to ourselves or the rest of life on the planet. The oceans would have been in trouble without Fukushima. And on land all the creatures that compete in any way with us, or whose death profits us the lions and tigers and bears and elephants and giraffes and gorillas, etc would have been in trouble at our hands had we never gone down the cursed nuclear path. The more fragile creatures, the butterflies and birds and bees and the rest, would be in trouble given a human globe-spanning culture that combines dirty technology and 'living better with chemistry' with a chronic inclination for war, greed, and a too general insensitivity to nature; even if we were without one nuclear bomb or reactor. But the atomic bomb and the nuclear reactor have introduced a new deadly circumstance. We have been teetering on the edge of nuclear weapons being used in a cataclysmic war since shortly after the second world war. And nuclear technology, which creates, and spread around the planet, countless new alien atoms that are inherently inimical to life, is also a pernicious step too far, even if nuclear war were to be averted permanently. As adjuncts to the bomb, many hundreds of nuclear power plants, civilian and military, have been built. There have been catastrophic accidents, with many accidents larger and smaller covered up, and lied about. Whether from sabotage, from negligence, from stupidity, from natural disasters, from engineering faults, from war, from major coronal ejections that periodically strike earth, more reactors will go badly wrong. And at the best of times, and chronically, as part of normal operating procedure, nuclear reactors contribute to increasing levels of artificial, inimical-to-life radionuclides in the biosphere. [44] At the dawn of the possibility of a new benign-energy age, at that moment in history when we have created the basis of a transition to a relationship with the natural world that is predominantly respectful and careful, some countries are building new nuclear reactors. Those hundreds of nuclear power plants already built are aging, deteriorating, often leaking unannounced radioactivity, becoming more and more susceptible to breakdown, and are ever-present terrorist targets; and some are being re-licensed for financial gain in rickety old age, when it had been previously announced they would be 'decommissioned'. [45] And we still don't really know what to safely do with the highly radioactive results of running nuclear reactors. Fukushima and Chernobyl have been and remain and will continue to be catastrophic problems. But apart from those two majorly lethal conundrums, massive amounts of highly radioactive waste in thousands of locations remain a permanent disposal problem and danger. Future generations has been given the unwelcome and unasked for task of guarding, paying for, dealing with, being injured by, and having their lives and prospects and social options lessened by this most hellish means by which water is boiled to make electricity for us, and by which nuclear weapons' essential needs are met. So, wherein does our best chance lie of reducing the harm and risk of our nuclear folly? How do we provide the basis by which we could begin to dismantle our folly and reconstruct cultures that are viable. Those iconic personages Albert Einstein and Dwight Eisenhower are among the many concerned people who have located hope for policy sanity in an informed public: Einstein found our only hope [regarding nuclear technology] in an informed citizenry [that] will act for life and not for death. Eisenhower offered that only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Note well: they did not base their hope on experts or oligarchs or generals or silly people who are enthralled by the illusion of their own extraordinary intelligence. They based hope on a well informed us. Implied in Einstein and Eisenhower's hope is that the broad public, well informed, has a far greater potential repository of creativity and common sense and decency and such beneficent functionality - than any cult, tribe, institution or faction thereof. If indeed an informed public is essential, then modern mass media is largely a hope destroyer: the current use of mass media is largely as a 'public perception management' tool on behalf of demented control freaks and oligarchic wannabees; most mass media is used to brainwash, sell, propagandize, censor, mislead, confuse. Much of so-called journalism is a real-journalism-free zone. This is lethally dysfunctional and must be overcome. Significant steps in the right direction can be taken via intelligent political initiative, mandating and giving financial and legal aid to priority-sensitive free and full discourse and unfettered information in media. The real world is challenging enough at the best of times. It requires all the realism and intelligence and heart we can muster. We cannot attain a cultural predominance of sensible public policy via lies and censorship. If we are to salvage any kind of reasonably benign and propitious human prospect, we must achieve a dominant public discourse which is integrity and forthrightness based. Such honesty is the nemesis of criminals and tyrants, but the indispensable basis for sound public and personal decisions. Again, a fully well informed public is our best chance. And we might use direct democracy mechanisms that is to say a fully politically empowered public - to override the pernicious dysfunctions and corruptions of so many institutions. From Paul Craig Roberts' discerning perspective, every public and most private institutions in the United States are corrupt. [46] The same problem is commonplace in most other countries. Often the basic source of dysfunction in institutions lies at the executive and managerial level, with political and corporate appointees serving agendas other than the broad public interest. Direct democracy procedures can be used to set primary policies, select real good leaders to executive positions, and to monitor them, and to replace the inadequate or corrupt people that have been appointed or have wormed their way into so many positions of power. Local and national direct democracy, informed by honest and free and full public discourse, offers the possibility of achieving genuine public-interest and planetary-interest cultural reform. We might also begin what has become a more and more desperate journey towards cultural sanity by recognizing the artificiality of all financial barriers for undertaking a full effort to fix deadly problems, especially the nuclear one: unlimited credit is just sane policy away. If trillions can be handed to criminal and dysfunctional banks, trillions can be endowed for beneficent and necessary public and earthly purposes. The current global financial system is in effect and in fact a criminal system which predominantly serves narrow private interests, and oligarchic agendas and enterprises; and is parasitic upon the people of the planet, and egregiously, tragically disabling of the human prospect. To transform the current global private-interest-enabling financial system into forms that function as in effect public utilities, serving broad human and earthly interests, is necessary and possible. [47] Another essential reform is to place corporations under, not over, the public and earthly interest. It is self-destructive madness to allow the narrow interests of corporations to trump essential human needs, and the well being of the biosphere. And those individuals who guide corporations and may reap great financial gain and social and political influence through corporate power, are largely immune from paying an appropriate personal penalty for corporate crimes committed and harm done. This too can and must be corrected. The over-riding need is to transition to a global diversity of cultures that have in common the attempt to function in harmony with each other and the biosphere: Good people, clean air, good nourishment, good water, respecting and caring about all life on the planet. [48] If we can't achieve essential basic improvements, but cling to a culture of deception, criminality, brutality and dysfunction, then the horrors of the last generations, such as the first and second world wars, the horrors of the war of aggression inflicted upon the innocents of IndoChina, the 2011 destruction of beautiful Libya, Chernobyl's disabled children, the Fukushima catastrophe, a terribly harmed North Pacific, and many more already achieved large crimes and big sorrows, are prelude to even greater horror. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. JFK, in his inaugural address. Robert Snefjella is a retired organic farmer Notes [1] http://www.globalresearch.ca/no-one-mentions-the-f-word-fukushima-the-die-off-of-marine-and-animal-life-in-the-north-pacific-ocean-scientists-refuse-to-admit-it/5474170?print=1 [2] http:news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150401-urchins-sea-stars-monterey-bay-california-animals/ [3] http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5211805-181/scientists-and-lawmakers-foresee-grim?artslide=0 [4] http://fnsnews.nmsu.edu/whats-killing-bajas-marine-animals/ [5] http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/west-coast-sardine-populations-long-sinking-look-even-worse-in-forecast/ [6] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150123-seabirds-mass-die-off-auklet-california-animals-environment/ [7] http://www.adn.com/article/20160129/scientists-think-gulf-alaska-seabird-die-biggest-ever-recorded/ [8] http://www.aol.com/article/2015/08/21/dozens-of-whales-are-mysteriously-dying-off-the-coast-of-alaska/21225729/ [9] http://www.adn.com/article/20150820/mysterious-deaths-gulf-alaska-whales-trigger-stepped-investigation [10] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/lake-babine-sockeye-fishery-at-risk-of-unprecedented-closure/article13715638/?service=print [11] http://enenews.com/scientists-link-unusual-alaska-seal-deaths-fukushima-fallout-skin-lesions-hair-loss-lethargy-pulsed-release-built-radionuclides-set-free-ice-melted-discussion-wildlife-health-implications-due/ [12] http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/22/sea-snot-explosions-feed-deep-sea-creatures/ [13] http://obrag.org/?p=103962 [14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQujxNTyO3Q&feature=youtu.be&t=855 [15] http://enenews.com/sailor-fukushima-impact-dead-thousands-miles-pacific-ocean-between-japan-talking-about-makes-feel-like-cry-birds-fish-sharks-dolphins-turtles-theyre-all-gone-audio [16] http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/22/national/researchers-find-high-cesium-in-some-pacific-plankton/#.VtmYl_krJAm [17] http://www.nature.com/articles/srep20416 [18] Dana Durnford's website: http://www.thenuclearproctologist.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLzbO6l4bfw for one of many podcasts. Durnford has not been hesitant to place primary blame on Fukushima for the massive death in the North Pacific. [19] http://rense.com/general96/fukupolitical.html [20] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X15301405 [21] http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/Fallout-Fish-Sternglass8oct71.html [22] It is not known how much radioactivity was actually released in the first cataclysmic week at Fukushima Daiichi, and how much has been released since then over five years is again unknown. Official estimates are contaminated by secrecy and dishonesty. Independent estimates vary widely. Safe to say Fukushima has released far more radioactivity than Chernobyl, and hasn't stopped. For example, even early on, the unprecedented scale of the disaster was evident to many: http://enenews.com/experts-contamination-fukushima-worse-chernobyl-many-2051-goal-unrealistic-given-scale-catastrophe-will-be-alive-when-completed Here is agreenroad.blogspot's assessment, which includes more recent considerations: http://agreenroad.blogspot.ca/2013/05/fukushima-radiation-measured-in-pacific.html It should be noted that other nuclear power plants in Japan also had problems in March of 2011. http://enenews.com/us-commission-14-nuclear-reactors-at-4-sites-in-eastern-japan-were-affected-on-311-according-to-nisa-fukushima-daiichi-had-the-most-serious-damage-daini-onagawa-and-tokai-were-others [23] It has been repeatedly reported that all the explosions at Fukushima were hydrogen explosions. But this is at best extremely dubious: In the cases of reactors 3 and 4, especially, the explosions were powerful enough to cause massive structural damage, including to heavily reinforced concrete walls. Here are photographs of the results: http://cryptome.org/eyeball/daiichi-npp/daiichi-photos.htm ; here is a link to a video of the explosion of reactor 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7naSc81WSqA Note the yellow flash near midpoint of video, and the enormous detonation force. Among many who consider the hydrogen explosion theory dubious, Japanese reactor designer Setsuo Fujiwara has been quoted as offering that the explosion at reactor 3 gives clear evidence of being a nuclear explosion: http://enenews.com/reactor-designer-it-was-a-nuclear-explosion-at-fukushima-unit-3-plutonium-was-scattered-after-blast-abc-theres-willful-denial-and-lying-going-on-here-even-at-the-highest-levels How Reactor 4, which was not running at the time, was destroyed by a massive explosion also remains unclear. So much has not been explained; so many lies told: The melt down of reactor cores has been blamed on the failure of back up generators, but that doesn't explain the failure of the emergency systems for circulating cooling water, which were steam driven and not dependent on electricity. [24] http://www.zerohedge.com/article/amount-radioactive-fuel-fukushima-dwarfs-chernobyl [25] http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/05/nuclear-fuel-fragment-fukushima-found-europe.html http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/04/27/plutonium-levels-california-43-times-hawaii-11-times-highest-levels-20-years-20549/ http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.ca/p/uranium-aerosolized-into-atmosphere.html [26] https://allegedlyapparent.wordpress.com/2014/11/09/one-year-ago-i-woke-up-in-fukushima-meanwhile-good-news-all-spent-fuel-removed-from-fukushima-daiichis-sfp-4/ [27] http://www.naturalnews.com/043464_Fukushima_nuclear_reactors_groundwater_contamination.html [28] http://nuclear-news.net/category/2-world/asia/japan-asia/fukushima-2014/page/2/ [29] http://enenews.com/major-blow-fukushima-robot-loses-control-inside-reactor-moved-10-meters-before-failing-max-radiation-levels-doubled-2012-video http://www.globalresearch.ca/containing-fukushima-is-beyond-current-technology-worldwide-radiation-is-the-unspoken-consequence/5441434?print=1 For a video of some of the millions of garbage bags see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZI9xrqTByY For a rough outline of the attempt to achieve some manner of 'decommissioning' see http://export.gov/japan/build/groups/public/@eg_jp/documents/webcontent/eg_jp_085467.pdf [30] http://enenews.com/gundersen-tokyo-soil-hot-be-shipped-radioactive-dump [31] http://enenews.com/professor-it-is-true-that-about-70-of-japans-territory-is-polluted-with-radioactive-materials-from-fukushima-tokyo-contaminated-with-highly-toxic-radiation-experts-worried-about-the [32] http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Tokyo_contaminated_and_not_fit_for_habitation.php [33] link to German study in reference to Strontium-90: http://www.irpa.net/irpa8/cdrom/VOL.1/M1_97.PDF link to iodine 131 detection: http://optimalprediction.com/wp/iodine-131-detections-in-finland-and-norway-preceded-by-detections-in-japan/ [34] https://allegedlyapparent.wordpress.com/2016/05/09/eurdep-radnet-nullschool-fukushima-hanford-radiation-graphs-red-alert-situation/ See Broekhoven's urgent late May 2016 missives to the planet https://allegedlyapparent.wordpress.com/ [35] http://agreenroad.blogspot.ca/2014/05/who-is-iaea-what-does-iaea-do-who-funds.html For a lucid interview on WHO corruption re radioactive dangers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftU9BIclJrM To compound the difficulties of making sense of things nuclear, sudden high radioactivity readings around the planet often coincide with monitors being turned off and gaps in data, as independent sleuth Michael Van Broekhoven has repeatedly reported. https://allegedlyapparent.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/peculiar-radiation-spikes-in-europe-early-march-2016-suggest-mystery-radiological-emergency-is-ongoing/ [36] Eiichiro Ochiai also noted the consistent turning off of monitors in Japan to coincide with spikes in radioactivity. http://apjjf.org/-Eiichiro-Ochiai/4382 [37] http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/18/ts-not-just-cancer-radiation-genomic-instability-and-heritable-genetic-damage/ [38] http://japaneseperspective.com/pediatric-thyroid-cancer-after-fukushima-accident-press-conference-by-professor-toshihide-tsuda-at-foreign-correspondents-club-of-japan/ [39] http://www.fairewinds.org/podcast//put-on-a-happy-face-japan-speaking-tour-series-no-4-1 [40] http://modernsurvivalblog.com/nuclear/west-coast-usa-danger-if-japan-nuclear-reactor-meltdown/ [41] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5p283KZGa8&list=RDXk6Sy1cNgXo&index=4 [42] http://www.strahlentelex.de/Yablokov_Chernobyl_book.pdf [43] http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-17472698 [44] Dr. Dr. Gofman Professor Emeritus, and pioneer in nuclear physics, at the University of California, Berkley: "Licensing a nuclear power plant is in my view, licensing random premeditated murder. http://www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/nwJWG.html [45] http://commondreams.org/views/2016/03/10/7-top-nrc-experts-break-ranks-warn-critical-danger-aging-nuke-plants And let us note well the illusion, more like the mad, irresponsible delusion, of being able to safely and competently store the dangerous radioactive materials for vast periods of time. Ask Hanford how it's doing with its never-ending story of gonna fix it tomorrow. Ask anyone else in more or less the same situation. [46] http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/08/27/americas-corrupt-institutions-paul-craig-roberts/ [47] http://www.globalresearch.ca/print-the-money-trumps-reckless-proposal-echoes-franklin-and-lincoln/5525191 [48] Radioactive hydrogen - tritium - does not good H2O/water make: https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+6467 Obama Visits Hiroshima; Offers No Apology An Insult To The Dead By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava 28 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org US President has visited Hiroshima the place where US committed the worst crime against the humanity by dropping the atom bomb on 6th August 1945 just to press Japan more in the drench after the end of the second world war. Three days later second crime was committed by USA when it dropped the atom bomb on the Nagasaki on 9th August. In both anti human acts more than Two lakhs and ten thousand people were killed, the wounded and ; limped ones were uncountable as the radiation had spread in the nearby areas and for the successive generation the disability was caused. Now he has come to Hiroshima. He is nobel peace prize winner so he tried to show that he is really sad about the drooping of the bombs. These are rhetoric in which these leaders are adept but where was the souls and the great American traditions and values when such lethal decision was made by his ancestors? The dead in Hiroshima now awake from their graves and stand in front of him and put the same question. Obama or no politicians in USA is capable enough to give the answer of such questions. Their voices are mute and whole America should offer apology for the same. He just sprinkled the salt on the wounds of the dead who still nurse in their graves and chant in unison the same question; why did you drop? Was It not a sin against the humanity? An analysis of his speech (parts of speech taken from, Time, http://time.com) Obama says: Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. Analysis: just use of literary words and emotional talks Obama says: Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in a not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead, including over 100,000 Japanese men, women and children, thousands of Koreans, a dozen Americans held prisoner. Analysis: mention of Koreans and US who are being equated with the main dead people, the Japanese. Obama says:The world war that reached its brutal end in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was fought among the wealthiest and most powerful of nations. Their civilizations had given the world great cities and magnificent art. Their thinkers had advanced ideas of justice and harmony and truth. And yet the war grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes, an old pattern amplified by new capabilities and without new constraints. Analysis: no mention of sinful act of US but to talk in confusing manner Obama says: Yet in the image of a mushroom cloud that rose into these skies, we are most starkly reminded of humanitys core contradiction. How the very spark that marks us as a species, our thoughts, our imagination, our language, our toolmaking, our ability to set ourselves apart from nature and bend it to our will those very things also give us the capacity for unmatched destruction. Analysis: blames the human species not the US thus makes every human as the partner in the attack Obama says: Science allows us to communicate across the seas and fly above the clouds, to cure disease and understand the cosmos, but those same discoveries can be turned into ever more efficient killing machines. Analysis: again blame transferred to science and inventions thus saving the crime of US Obama says: Mere words cannot give voice to such suffering. But 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. Analysis: lofty talks and again involving all to stop such wars; does US in reality listen to voices of genuineness of the common people? A good rhetoric by Obama Obama says: And since that fateful day, we have made choices that give us hope. The United States and Japan have forged not only an alliance but a friendship that has won far more for our people than we could ever claim through war. The nations of Europe built a union that replaced battlefields with bonds of commerce and democracy. Analysis: What is role of NATO what is role of EU IN Ukraine ? Why is there new fondness for India, Japan, South Korea , perhaps to maintain dominance in Far East. Obama says: Still, every act of aggression between nations, every act of terror and corruption and cruelty and oppression that we see around the world shows our work is never done. We may not be able to eliminate mans capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances that we form must possess the means to defend ourselves. 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. Analysis: Why no solid achievement of Nuclear Security Summit? Why Russia not in NSS this time? Why US does not stop transferring the new weapons to Pakistan and Israel and Saudi Arabia? Obama says: We must change our mind-set about war itself. To prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after theyve begun. To see our growing interdependence as a cause for peaceful cooperation and not violent competition. Analysis: Why US does not come with Russia for joint strike in Syria? Why did US destabilize Iraq and Libya with no control in the post regime changes? In fact Obama has lost his place in history because he did not offer any apology. In fact he should have accepted the faults but he comes from a country whose ego led to the dropping of the bombs ; then how can he tender the apology? His speech was full of empty words as he did not address the main issue; why did US go to drop and why the interests of the thousands were not kept in mind? Reality is that Hiroshima and Nagasaki will haunt US and its egoist leaders till the end of this civilization. Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava, presently Assistant Professor in CSJM University[affiliated college], Consultant CRIEPS, email: vpy1000@yahoo.co.in First Deposition Released On Clinton Email Case By Eric Zuesse 28 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org U.S. Ambassador Lewis Lukenss sworn testimony in the case of Hillary Clintons privatization of the U.S. Secretary of States email is the first evidence to be released in the Clinton email cases, and it was published on May 26th at the website of Judicial Watch, the organization that originally brought the suit. Headlining "First Deposition Testimony from Clinton Email Discovery Released, it reported that: Judicial Watch today released the deposition transcript of Ambassador Lewis Lukens, former deputy assistant secretary of state and executive director of the State Departments executive secretariat. The transcript is available here. Amb. Lukens was deposed last week as part of the discovery granted to Judicial Watch by U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in response to its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons unsecured, non-government email system (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-01363)). Lukens is the first of seven depositions of former Clinton top aides and State Department officials that Judicial Watch has scheduled over the next four weeks. Also to be deposed are Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, as well as top State Department official Patrick Kennedy, and former State IT employee Bryan Pagliano. In his testimony, Lukens described his State Department role: Ive been a Foreign Service officer for 27 years. I've served in Southern China; in the Ivory Coast; in Sydney, Australia; in Dublin, Ireland; in Baghdad; Vancouver, British Columbia; Dakar, Senegal; and three tours in Washington, D.C., as well as my current position in San Francisco. While Clinton was Secretary of State, his role was heading logistics and management support and he had roughly 110 employees working for me including the IRM or Information Resource Management team. Also, during his questioning, he was asked You traveled with Mrs. Clinton on all of her foreign travel? while he was employed there, and he answered: Yes. Representative excerpts from his testimony will be presented here: While Clintons office was being prepared for her: Q: Do you know if Mrs. Clinton if the IRM office set up an e-mail address for Mrs. Clinton? A: I dont believe they did. Q: Do you know why they didnt? A: I dont think it was asked for. Q: Would Mrs. Clinton have was it required for Mrs. Clinton to ask for an e-mail address for one to be assigned to her? A: Yes. Q: Was it unusual at the time did you think it was unusual that Mrs. Clinton didnt want an e-mail address assigned to her? A: No. Q: Why not? A: Im not aware of former Secretaries of State having e-mail addresses on our system. In other words: her having an e-mail address assigned to her was required, but the custom at the U.S. Department of State was to ignore this requirement. (AUTHORS NOTE: Regardless of whether violating the regulations or even the law has been ignored in the past, violations are supposed to be punished or prosecuted. Prior refusal to prosecute does not constitute legal excuse for continuing refusal to prosecute: it instead constitutes a government in which some persons who are supposedly in the service of, and who are definitely being paid by, the public, are, in practice, above the regulations or even the laws in other words, a dictatorship. However, this aspect of the questioning was not pursued.) Lukens then said that her violation on that matter was ignored and that a BB or Blackberry account was instead requested by HRC Hillary Rodham Clinton. Lukenss notes indicated that he had asked HRCs agent, On the BB for HRC, can we chat this morning? and I may have thought of a workaround [to evade the State Departments regulations] but need more info on her BB use. He explained during this questioning of him: So the crux of the issue was that BlackBerrys and iPhones are not allowed in the Secretarys office suite, so the question was, how is the Secretary going to be able to check her e-mails if shes not able to have the Blackberry at her desk with her. Q: And so what did you did you propose a solution at that point? A: So my proposal was to set up a computer on her desk, a standalone computer [not part of the State Departments system], for her to be able to access the Internet to check her e-mails [privatized and therefore not subject to FOIA requests or historians investigations]. However, Clintons agent insisted on a private computer also being set up across the hall for her to check her BlackBerry even though no private BlackBerry was allowed on the premises. This was to be the workaround. In an email, Lukens had written, and the questioner referenced it: Also think we should go ahead, but will await your green light, and set up a standalone PC in the Secretarys office connected to the Internet, but not go through our system, to enable her to check her e-mails from her desk. That proposal was accepted and was done. Then: Q: Do you know if this setup would have been any different from the setup of other employees? A: Yes, this would have been different. Q: How would it have been different? A: My understanding is that most of the employees computers in the State Department are connected through the State Departments OpenNet e-mail system Q: So this would have been separate from the OpenNet system? A: Correct. He was asked why he had proposed this solution, and he said it was For ease of access and, as far as I knew, there was no requirement for her to be connected to our system (even though he had earlier said that her having an email address assigned to her in the State Departments system, the OpenNet system, was required). He said that the ease of access would be because of there being fewer passwords. He was asked whether doing things this way was necessary in order for her to be able to access the Internet from the State Department, and he said, the Internet is available to employees at the office, just as anywhere. He was asked about the inconvenience of the State Departments passwords system, and he said that he eliminated her need for any passwords: A: She wouldnt have had a password. Q: So the computer would have just been open and be able to use without going through any security features? A: Correct. Though he was paid by U.S. taxpayers, apparently his only concern was to please his superiors, whom he trusted unquestioningly despite their evident unconcern about security etc. In further questioning of Mr. Lukens, it became clear that he never gave any thought to what the purpose behind the State Departments regulations was: he didnt even notice that Hillary Clintons buddy and top aide Huma Abedin at the Department was also using only a private email account even though he regularly had been communicating via email with her. There were many instances in the questioning, in which the U.S. Department of Justices attorney there, Caroline Lewis Wolverton, was trying to hamper the attorney for Judicial Watch from asking questions of Mr. Lukens, such as this: Q: At any point during these conversations or during these e-mails or others did you find it unusual that Ms. Abedin was using a non-state.gov e-mail account? MS. WOLVERTON: Objection. Vague. Q: When sending these e-mails to Ms. Abedin, did you think about the fact that they were not you were sending e-mails to her non-state.gov e-mail account? A: Not that I recall. Q: Thinking about it now, do you think its was it rare to send emails to State Department employees on another e-mail account but the one that was assigned by the State Department? MS. WOLVERTON: Objection. Vague. Q: Was this unusual, sending e-mail was it unusual for you to send emails to Ms. Abedin on a non-state.gov account? MS. WOLVERTON: Objection. Lack of foundation. Q: During your four years, did you communicate with sorry, during the two years of overlap, did you communicate with Ms. Abedin by e-mail? A: Yes. Q: Was it frequent? A: Yes. Q: Do you recall during that time, did you recall sending e-mails to her state.gov e-mail account? A: Yes. Q: Do you recall before receiving these exhibits, did you recall sending e-mails to a non-state.gov account? A: No. Q: Do you recall thinking at any point about where you were sending e-mails to Ms. Abedin? A: No. Q: Do you recall if Ms. Abedin ever told you what e-mail accounts to use for her? A: No. Q: Do you recall how you do you know how you would have received the e-mail account that was used to send these e-mails? MS. WOLVERTON: Objection. Lack of foundation. Q: Do you recall Ill ask the question again. Do you recall how you learned where to send these e-mails, or how you learned of the e-mail address that you used to send these e-mails? A: I must have received an e-mail from her at some point from that address. Q: So this may have been an auto fill on your BlackBerry or Outlook when you were sending these? MS. WOLVERTON: Objection. Objection, calls for speculation. Q: Would this to ask the question again, was it most likely an auto fill feature or do you think you would have manually entered in her e-mail account to send her these e-mails? MS. WOLVERTON: Same objection. MR. BEKESHA [representing the Questioner, but now addressing the lawyer for the Justice Department]: Are you instructing the witness not to answer? MS. WOLVERTON: No. Q: Would you like me to repeat the question? A: Yes, please. Q: Would this would you have sent these e-mails using this e-mail address because of an auto fill feature on a piece of computer equipment or because you would have manually typed in her e-mail address? MS. WOLVERTON: Same objection. A: I would say because of the auto fill feature. 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. Climate marchers make camp in the yard of a Mesquite farmer a few days walk from Wickenburg, Arizona. SHARE Steve Martin's first morning in the Mojave. Marchers walk service road next to I-10 corridor and thru San Gorgonio Pass and so-named wind farm. provided photo A farmstead in the Poconos near Albrightsville, Pa. Provided photo Steve Martin at Palisades Park in Fort Lee, New Jersey. "Seeing that bridge took my breath away," he said. provided photo By Sara Anne Corrigan When it comes to carbon dioxide emissions environmentalists "are all hypocrites to some extent," said Steve Martin, of Henderson. "I am implicated; we all are part of the problem," he added, explaining: "I still drive a car. I am still a consumer (of products that contribute to carbon emissions)." But Martin is driven, he said, to address the issue. And to bear witness. So he went for a walk. Martin is no stranger to hiking. "I got the wandering urge in my teens," he said. "My dad, Joe Martin, took me on Sierra Club outings, and it never settled." Family life and obligations kept Martin tethered for 21 years in Henderson, he said, where he worked in the family business, Martin Photography. With family grown and himself retired, the urge overtook him again; in 2011 he completed a 640 mile walk along Camino de Santiago Real through France and Spain, then walked 90 miles more to the ocean, he said. Then he walked across America. More than 3,000 miles. Across mountain ranges and deserts. Prairies and Eastern forests. On secondary roads. Briefly, Martin said, he and a small group of like-minded individuals departed from Los Angeles on March 1, 2014 in the rain on the "Great March for Climate Action." But he separated from that group somewhere in Eastern Colorado and finished on his own with a single companion in a truck "scouting" for him. The group was headed for Washington D.C., and he wanted to get to New York City in time for a Sept. 21 "Peoples Climate March" which was itself heading for D.C. He was 59 with a "trick" hip and fearful, he said, that he might fail in his epic journey. By his own account he covered some 3,200 miles. Martin wore out seven pairs of shoes traversing 12 states, spent four days on crutches in the Mojave Desert and took more than 300 photographs along the way. He blogged about his journey 7millionsteps.com and he will share his experiences, insights and photos at 7 p.m. Thursday at Central Library's Browning Room. His appearance has been arranged by the Tri-State Creation Care organization, and the public is invited to attend the free event. Tom Bogenschutz, director of ministries at All Saints Parish in Evansville and a founding member of Tri-State Creation Care, said he met Martin at the Creation Care conference the group sponsored in January. That interfaith event was the inaugural event for the group that included representatives from the Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Native American, Catholic Protestant and Buddhist traditions, said Caroline Nellis, one of the founders of the group. Their common goal is restoring the planet. Martin said he is "anxious to see more vigorous faith-based interest in climate change. I feel responsible; we should all feel responsible. We live here. We cannot escape carbon." His children was one of the reasons he first started walking, Martin said. "In the beginning I marched for my kids, so that hopefully, one day they might reflect on these better intentions I held, and that I had literally 'walked the walk' for them. "As I walked I came to see steps as a form of prayer, and as a way to be heard without saying all that much. I felt a connection to almost everyone I met, and the places I walked thru. "I took away from the experience a need to keep walking." His most recent walk took him from Omaha Beach to Paris for the COP21 Climate Summit in 2015. "Life at 3 miles per hour is a gift," he said. "It'll take humanity billions of steps to make change, but my bet is it's going to happen. With faith everything is possible. Every action goes full circle and soon enough you'll pass your old self by. What a day that will be." SHARE Curtis Woodard By Richard Gootee of the Courier and Press The Evansville man accused of raping and beating his girlfriend while on meth earlier this week will face a total of six formal rape charges. Curtis Lee Woodard, 31, heard the charges against him in Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Friday afternoon. During that hearing, his bond was kept at $750,000 surety or $75,000 cash, a figure Woodard said he would not be able to afford "in this lifetime or 12 others." Magistrate Michael Cox appointed the public's defender's office to represent Woodard. His next court date is July 8. In addition to the six counts of level 1 felony rape, prosecutors also filed two counts of criminal confinement and single felony counts of strangulation and domestic battery. Woodard was charged with misdemeanor interference with reporting of a crime, and prosecutors attached several enhancements to the charges stemming from Woodard's previous convictions. He was convicted of burglary in 2011 and domestic battery in 2012. Both cases happened in Posey County. Initially, Woodard faced a preliminary attempted murder charge and three counts of rape, as well as lesser preliminary offenses, after police located Woodard and the alleged victim inside their Delaware Street residence Monday morning. Officers went to the address after the woman did not show up for work, and her co-workers reported her absence. Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Whitney Riggs said it's not uncommon for the formal charges to differ from the preliminary ones recorded by police after the case is reviewed by prosecutors in the case. "The charges follow the state's criminal code," she said. The woman reportedly told investigators that Woodard hit her at least 20 times, sometimes with his fists and other times with objects, including a backpack with a computer in it, a jug of milk, a mop handle and a plastic pipe. She also accused him of pouring rubbing alcohol and boiling water on her, according to the affidavit. During an interview with police, the woman said that after he poured the rubbing alcohol on her, he lit a butane torch and threatened to "end her." She also reportedly said that Woodard cut off her clothes with a box cutter and forced her to have sex with him and perform sex acts. Police said the woman was transported to the hospital for treatment for injuries allegedly sustained during the ordeal. During an interview with police, Woodard reportedly acknowledged that he "had done something really bad to someone he loved," investigators wrote in the affidavit. He reportedly told investigators that he struck the woman with his fists and lit the torch, but denied several of the other allegations against him. In that interview, Woodard reportedly said he has both a meth problem and mental health issues. At Friday's hearing, deputy prosecutor Erin Schmitt told Cox that the case was "one of the most serious rape cases we've seen in this county in awhile." SHARE Gabriel Camp Alysha Camp Gabriel Camp Alysha Eaton Camp By Max Roll of the Courier and Press Police on Saturday were questioning a Chandler couple after a shooting Friday night. Warrick County sheriff's deputies were called to a report of a shooting at 806 Tanglewood Drive at about 10:45 p.m. The victim, Joseph B. Peek, 33, of Evansville, was shot multiple times in the torso during an altercation with the resident, according to the sheriff's news release. Peek fled from the mobile home park and met emergency personnel at a service station at 250 W. Lincoln Ave., in Chandler. Warrick Sheriff Brett Kruse said Peek was operated on at a local hospital on Saturday but he did not know his condition. The Chandler Police Department and Warrick Sheriff's Office issued a call for help in finding the man and his spouse. They were located Saturday afternoon and were being questioned by police. SHARE By Maureen Groppe,Washington Most Insurance Companies Are Seeking An Overall Hike In Premiums For Obamacare Health Insurance In Indiana Next Year., Indianapolis Star Washington Bureau USA TODAY NETWORK But Hoosiers who buy plans through the federal exchange created by the Affordable Care Act might see only a small increase or no increase in their cost. They might, however, have to switch plans to keep rates down. "Relative to the other states we looked at, Indiana has relatively lower expected premium increases and, in fact, some decreases for the really popular plans," said Chris Sloan, senior manager at the health care consultancy Avalere, which analyzed rate filings in eight states and the District of Columbia. The insurance markets created by the federal government for those who don't get coverage through an employer or a government plan such as Medicare and Medicaid remain in flux. Health insurers are still trying to figure out what to charge so they don't lose money, now that they can no longer deny coverage because of someone's health status. Two companies that sold 2016 plans in Indiana, UnitedHealth Group and Southeastern Indiana Health Organization, are not doing so next year. But other insurers are expanding their reach in Indiana or considering entering the state's market. Consumers continue to benefit from the premium subsidies available to those earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level about $97,200 for a family of four. About 80 percent of the approximately 196,000 Hoosiers using the exchange qualified for assistance. But enrollment has been slower than expected, particularly among the younger and healthier populations, which forces prices up. Only about 40 percent of the Hoosiers estimated by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation to be eligible to buy exchange insurance have done so. When the exchanges started in 2014, plans offered in Indiana cost more than in many other states. A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found the average premium for the cheapest "silver" level plan the most popular tier of coverage was higher in Indiana than the national and regional averages in 2014 and 2015. But Indiana experienced the largest average decrease in 2016 premiums: 12 percent. That pushed rates for the cheapest silver plans below the national and regional averages, according to the report. Some of the drop came because rates were higher to start, said John Holahan, a health care expert at the Urban Institute and one of the authors of the foundation's study. Indiana also benefited from a lot of competition among providers, particularly from insurers with experience offering Medicaid plans and from provider-sponsored plans. "Every insurer is caught in this position that they don't want to lose money, but they don't want to raise premiums so much that you have no market share," Holahan said. "It's a good situation because you're really getting them to compete." For next year, however, only one company Celtic Group is seeking an overall rate decrease, according to filings with the Indiana Department of Insurance. Celtic, which already has the lowest premium average, $378 a month, wants to lower rates an average 5 percent. Centene Corp., the parent company of Celtic, did not respond to requests for comment. The largest proposed overall rate increase in Indiana, according to the state, is Anthem's 29 percent. In its rate filing, the Indianapolis-based insurance giant cited the continued increase in the cost of health care both the price of services and how much they are being used. Physicians Health Plan of Northern Indiana is hoping its requested 25 percent average increase will keep it from paying out more for care than it has been collecting in premiums. "We're seeing a lot more utilization and usage of the benefit than what we would have expected and have to price to adjust for that," said Chief Financial Officer Jim Brunnemer. "We are a not-for-profit, but we can't sit here and lose tremendous amounts of money on the program." Besides increasing medical costs, other major factors contributing to rate increases include the phaseout of some of the federal help initially given to insurers to get the exchanges running. Insurers are, however, getting a boost from a temporary suspension of the Affordable Care Act's tax on health insurers. But Brunnemer said Physicians Health Plan's board continues to discuss whether it makes sense to remain in the exchanges, which are taking longer than expected to stabilize. "All the carriers and participants are still trying to adjust to it," he said. A spokeswoman for UnitedHealth Group declined to say why the company is leaving Indiana's market. Southeastern Indiana Health Organization did not respond to requests for comment. While two of the eight insurers now selling plans are getting out, Aetna Health Inc. filed proposed offerings, which could add another lower-cost option to Indiana. Aetna spokesman Rohan Hutchings said the company hasn't made a final decision on whether to enter Indiana's market. "We have preserved our options to enter certain new geographies, pending careful evaluation of market conditions," he said. The Indiana Department of Insurance has until Aug. 23 to review the rate filings before submitting them to the federal government. Enrollment for 2017 plans begins in November. Avalere analyzed proposed rates in states where complete data is available. The consulting company found a proposed average 6 percent increase for all silver-level plans in Indiana. But there's an average 1 percent decrease for the second-cheapest silver-level plans, which are the ones used to calculate the amount of consumer subsidy. "You can see the market as a whole going up 6 percent, but then someone has come in ... and offered a lower-priced plan," Sloan said. "In states like that, it's important to shop around and see what else is available and whether you can get a better deal because, in this case, most likely you can." The consulting company Avalere calculated proposed rate changes for silver-level plans sold in Indiana through the federal health care exchange. The monthly premium costs are averages for rates that have not been finalized and do not include cost reductions through subsidies available to those earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Also, insurers base premiums on customers' age and residence and whether they smoke. Average silver plan monthly premium for 50-year-old male, nonsmoker in Indiana: 2016: $466. 2017: $493, up 6 percent. Average lowest-cost silver plan monthly premium for 50-year-old male, nonsmoker in Indiana: 2016: $365. 2017: $366, up less than 1 percent. Average second-lowest-cost silver plan monthly premium for 50-year-old male, nonsmoker in Indiana: 2016: $383. 2017: $379, down 1 percent. Requested health insurance rate changes 2016-2017: Health insurers had to file proposed rate increases with the Indiana Department of Insurance, which can seek changes. Anthem: 29 percent increase overall (ranging from 19.8 percent to 41.1 percent for individual plans). Physicians Health Plan of Northern Indiana: 25.1 percent increase overall (from 4.3 percent to 76 percent for individual plans). CareSource Indiana Inc.: 15.5 percent increase overall (from 9.5 percent to 19.4 percent for individual plans). MDwise Marketplace Inc.: 11.5 percent increase overall (from 11 percent to 15 percent for individual plans). IU Health Plans: 9.9 percent increase overall (from 6.3 percent decrease to 43.4 percent increase for individual plans). Celtic: 5.3 percent decrease overall (from 39.9 percent decrease to 34 percent increase for individual plans). Source: Indiana Department of Insurance SHARE By Len Wells of the Courier and Press A Grayville, Illinois, man accused of beating a dog to death has been jailed on a felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty. Joshua D. Nash, 31 is being held in the White County jail at Carmi on the class-4 felony charge. In criminal information filed in the case by White County State's Attorney Denton Aud, Nash is accused of using a metal "t-rod" to beat the dog repeatedly. Investigators say the rod is typically used shut off water meters. The alleged incident happened on May 4, police said. Nash remains in the White County jail under $20,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing set for June 15 in White County Circuit Court in Carmi. In an unrelated case, Nash has also been charged with aggravated drunk driving with a revoked license, a class-4 felony. Chris Carlson / Associated Press Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump drew cheers during a rally Friday in Fresno, Calif., when he declared he could solve the "insane" water crunch farmers find themselves in. SHARE By Jill Colvin And Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press FRESNO, Calif. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, "There is no drought." Speaking at a rally in Fresno, Calif., 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." "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 to cheers at a rally that drew thousands. Trump's rallies Friday in Fresno and San Diego drew vocal crowds of protesters, many carrying signs critical of Trump's plan to wall off the U.S. border with Mexico. About a thousand Trump foes demonstrated outside San Diego's convention center. Police said they made three arrests, including one man who climbed a railing separating protesters from officers. His arrest led protesters to spray water and throw empty plastic bottles at police. In another tense exchange, demonstrators lurched toward Trump supporters when they left the center after the rally, prompting police to shove back the crowd. In Fresno, Trump said he spent 30 minutes before the rally meeting with more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles. "They don't understand nobody understands it," he said, adding that, "There is no drought." Trump appeared to be referring to water that runs naturally from the Sacramento River to the San Francisco Bay and then to the ocean. Some farmers want more of that flow captured and diverted to them. The three-inch Delta smelt is a native California fish on the brink of extinction. The smelt has become an emblem in the state's battles over environmental laws and water distribution. Politically influential rural water districts and well-off corporate farmers in and around California's Central Valley have been pushing back against long-standing federal laws protecting endangered fish and other species, saying federal efforts to make sure endangered native fish have enough water is shortchanging farmers of the water they want and need for crops. Water authorities say they can't do it because of the water rights of those upstream of the farmers, and because of the minimum-water allowances needed by endangered species in the bay and by wildlife in general. 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, water distribution plans, and other projects. Trump said, "If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive." California is the country's No. 1 agriculture producer. The state's five-year drought is raising the stakes in water disputes among farmers, cities and towns, and environmental interests. California last year marked the driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow. A count by The Associated Press found Thursday that Trump has reached the required number of delegates to officially clinch the Republican nomination. In this May 27, 2016, photo Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Fresno, Calif. It started with Mexicans being publicly accused by Trump of being criminals and rapists. It escalated to ejections, to sucker punches, to pepper spray. And now violence and strife seems to be a commonplace occurrence out on the campaign trail. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) It started with Mexicans being publicly accused by presidential candidate Donald Trump of being criminals and rapists. It escalated to ejections, to sucker punches, to pepper spray. And now violence and strife seems to be a commonplace occurrence out on the campaign trail. As the 2016 presidential campaign turns toward the rapidly diversifying West, it has officially buried any thoughts of a post-racial United States, with racial and ethnic groups at the center of the most public strife seen in the political arena since the height of the civil rights movement. Much of the violence has revolved around the ascendancy of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, first toward minorities and now by minorities protesting his policies. On Tuesday, protesters in New Mexico opposing Trump threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades. Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center. Karla Molinar, 21, a University of New Mexico student, participated in a planned disruption of Trump's speech and said she had no choice because Trump is sparking hatred of Mexican immigrants. Trump, among other things, has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and declared that he will build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Trump is causing the hate to get worse," she said. Earlier this year, demonstrators against Trump swarmed outside the hotel near San Francisco airport, forcing the candidate Trump to crawl under a fence to enter the hotel where he met with local GOP power brokers. Other protesters tangled with authorities and damaged police cars after a Trump rally in Orange County, California. Earlier, the violence was aimed toward minorities. For example: A black woman was surrounded, cursed and shoved by white onlookers at a Trump rally in Louisville, Kentucky in March. Latino demonstrators Ariel Rojas was kicked and dragged by a white Trump supporter at a rally in Miami in October. A black male protester, Rakeem Jones, was punched from behind by white Trump supporter John McGraw as Jones was being ejected from a rally by police in North Carolina. McGraw was later arrested. Video captured Trump supporters physically assaulting Mercutio Southall Jr., an African-American activist, at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama in November. Southall said afterward he was called several expletives by the crowd and later compared them to a "lynch mob." While political violence is not unknown, like the 1968 violence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where 119 police and 100 protesters were injured, rarely has it been targeted so specifically at minorities, said Matt Dallak, a professor of political management in the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. He also laid much of the responsibility on Trump, who started his political campaign by comparing undocumented immigrants from Mexico to criminals and rapists. The crowds at Trump's rallies are feeding off him "demonizing particular segments of the population, including racial minorities" he said. "When you are whipping people up, it contributes to an atmosphere that leads to the potential of political violence. Words matter," he said. Trump says he does not encourage violence; the fault, he says, lies with the demonstrators. But the political rhetoric is feeding into misplaced myths about the contributions of minorities to this society, said Sol Trujillo, founder and chair of the Latino Donor Collaborative. "We're a country of breaking barriers, not erecting barriers," he said. Ken Burns, an Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, said some of Trump's comments and actions like forgetting that he had repudiated a Ku Klux Klan leader "that is the wink-wink dog whistle that signals to our unreconstructed brothers." "We'd like to believe in our better selves but in point of fact, a lot of us aren't that," said Burns, who explored racial tensions in his documentary, "Jackie Robinson." No one has died yet this campaign season. However, violence including some that has been fatal has often been suffered by minorities participating in political processes and social protesting. For example, an estimated 150 blacks and three whites were killed after white Louisianans attempted to take over a courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana on Easter Sunday after losing a statewide election to reconstructionists in 1872, which became known as the Colfax Massacre. And Rev. George Lee was gunned down in Belzoni, Mississippi in May 7, 1954 for his attempts to get blacks to vote. In August 1955, World War II veteran Lamar Smith was shot on the courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi, for urging blacks to vote. Lee had turned down police protection because it was offered only on the condition he stopped his voter registration efforts. ___ Associated Press writer Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report. You may have a new city councilor. Take a look at Evansville's new voting map Voters planning to cast a ballot in next year's city election will want to double check who their city council representative is. Daniil Kvyat will start the Monaco Grand Prix from eighth position on the grid after no punishment was handed down for failing a technical scrutineering. The Russian, competing in his second event back with the Toro Rosso team after being demoted by Red Bull, reached Q3 en route to the ninth fastest time, though this becomes eighth place by virtue of an impending grid penalty for Kimi Raikkonen ahead. However, Kvyat faced a penalty of his own after a 'front floor' defect was found, the FIA technical delegate reporting a 'vertical deflection under a vertical load of 4000 Newton exceeded 5mm'. Referred to the stewards for further consideration, it was eventually determined that damage to the floor during Q2 contributed to the failure and was not down to it being 'illegal' As a result, Kvyat will start eighth, though the man himself was frustrated that the aforementioned floor damage arguably cost him a better grid spot. "I think I hit the kerb really hard at Turn 14 - the Swimming Pool - and I think something broke. The last three corners I was just a passenger, I just couldn't turn, so I lost a lot of lap time there and unfortunately it ended up being a s**t lap." In a strong session for Toro Rosso, Carlos Sainz will start from sixth position, the Italian team well placed to consolidate its current fifth place in the standings. When Doug Nordman (@MilitaryGuid) retired from the military, he sensed a need for a retirement roadmap for service members, veterans and their families. In this video, the author of The Military Guide to Financial Independence & Early Retirement explains how he came to write the book and retire in Hawaii. He also reveals what he learned from serving his country. Let the free MoneyTips Retirement Planner help you calculate when you can retire without jeopardizing your lifestyle. Pop quiz: Does a sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 30 protect offer twice as much protection as a product with an SPF of 15? Does a higher SPF sunscreen protect someone from the sun longer than a lower SPF sunscreen? Pencils down. The answer to both questions is no. But those who answered incorrectly can take comfort in the fact they arent alone. A 2016 survey from the American Academy of Dermatology showed a large number of people who head out into the sun this holiday weekend wont be properly protected. Of those surveyed, only 32 percent knew an SPF 30 sunscreen wasnt twice as protective as a SPF 15 sunscreen, and more than half thought a higher SPF sunscreen protects from the sun longer than a lower SPF one. Those numbers arent shocking to local dermatologists, who said people make a variety of mistakes when applying sunscreen. I see it in my practice all the time, unfortunately, said Dr. Omar Ibrahim, medical director of the Connecticut Skin Institute in Stamford. Thats unsettling to him, as sun exposure is one of the leading causes of skin cancer the most common form of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, about 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers are diagnosed each year. Melanoma, the deadliest variety of skin cancer, will account for about 76,380 cases of cancer in 2016. The Academy of Dermatology survey included some good news, in that 85 percent of participants knew sunscreen needs to be reapplied after swimming. However, another study, from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, gives further evidence many people arent using sunscreen correctly, including some who are otherwise vigilant about sun protection. In the study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, researchers looked at the sun habits of 758 people with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer, and 34,161 control subjects. They found those with a history of skin cancer were more likely to seek shade, wear protective clothing and apply sunscreen than those without such a history, but still got sunburned as often as those without a cancer history. Researchers said the data indicated even those with the skin cancer history might not be applying sunscreen adequately. Locally, experts agreed many people still know shockingly little about how to protect themselves. Ibrahim said patients he sees seem confused by everything from the meaning of a sunscreens sun protection factor to how much they should apply at once and how often they should apply it. If youre an adult, you should apply the equivalent of what would fit in a shot glass over your entire body, Ibrahim said. One bottle of sunscreen shouldnt last you all summer. Dr. Jason Wilder, a dermatologist with Bridgeport Hospital, echoed those thoughts. Many people use it very sparingly, he said. They use their fingertips. Two fingertips over your entire body just isnt enough. He said people should use two to three bottles of sunscreen a summer, while those in a tropical climate should use a bottle a week. Wilder said beachgoers and other sun lovers should use a product with an SPF of at least 30, which blocks up to 97 percent of the suns rays. No matter the sunscreens SPF, the Academy of Dermatology recommends reapplying every two hours, or after swimming or sweating. Ibrahim said people should wear protective clothing. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Bernie Sanders is seeking to have Dannel P. Malloy disqualified from holding a leadership post at the upcoming Democratic National Convention because of the governors alliance with Hillary Clinton. A lawyer for the Vermont senator sent a four-page letter Friday to convention officials challenging Malloys credentials to serve as co-chairman of the platform committee. The letter singled out Malloy and former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, who was tapped as co-chairman of the rules committee for the July convention in Philadelphia. Gov. Malloy and Mr. Frank have both been aggressive attack surrogates for the Clinton campaign, wrote Brad Deutsch, the legal counsel for the Sanders campaign. Their criticisms of Senator Sanders have gone beyond the dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the Senator and his Campaign. Malloys office referred questions on the governors convention role to the Connecticut Democrats, who said Malloy can wear two hats. Nothing here has changed. Governor Malloy has been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Secretary Clinton, but has said throughout this process, he will advocate for a process that is fair and a platform that stands in stark contrast to the hateful, divisive and dangerous policies of Donald Trump, said Leigh Appleby, a state party spokesman. A request for comment was also left with Clintons campaign. The co-chairs of the conventions Rules and Bylaws Committee, Jim Roosevelt and Lorraine Miller, responded Saturday that Malloy and Frank were legitimately elected and that there was no misconduct by them. Having carefully reviewed your challenge, we find that it fails to meet the criteria for the foregoing reasons and pursuant to regulations of the Rules and Bylaws Committee for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Reg. 3.4 (G)(i) we are compelled to dismiss it, they wrote. Clinton got the better of Sanders in Connecticuts April 26 primary, but had a net gain of one pledged delegate because of the proportional system used by Democrats to award delegates. She won 28, to Sanders 27. The number excludes 16 superdelegates, a group of party leaders and elected officials that includes Malloy. All but one, who is neutral, are backing Clinton. From Iowa and New Hampshire to Massachusetts and Connecticut, Malloy, who is the head of the Democratic Governors Association, has campaigned for Clinton. Not only is Governor Malloy an avowed loyalist of the Clinton Campaign, he is an incendiary critic of Senator Sanders, Deutsch wrote on behalf of the campaign. While justly criticizing Donald Trump and extremist agenda in press remarks, Governor Malloy has gone as far as to draw pejorative comparisons between Mr. Trump and Senator Sanders. Malloy has been a vocal messenger on the issue of gun control, hitting Sanders for his support of a 2005 firearms industry shield law and his opposition to the Brady Bill when he was a member of the House. Named for the late James Brady, the White House aide who was nearly killed during a 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, the legislation established a federal background-check program and mandatory five-day waiting period for gun purchases. Governor Malloy has unfairly ascribed blame for the national gun control laws single-handedly to Senator Sanders, referring to the three-day wait provision of the Brady Bill as the Charleston-Sanders loophole, Deutsch wrote. Malloy has even ventured that Senator Sanders should be held accountable for the death and destruction caused by his mistakes. The letter further warned that the influence of Malloy and Frank over the convention would disenfranchise Sanderss supporters and undermine efforts to unify the party. The campaign has legitimate concerns that Governor Malloys open animosity toward Senator Sanders will make him unreceptive or even antagonistic to the viewpoints of these voters, Deutsch wrote. neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT None of them liked to talk about The Great War when they came back to the area in 1919, and no one is left to record their first-person memories. But several Fairfield County residents raided attics, searched through dusty trunks and took faded photos off their walls and brought their ancestors mementos to the Barnum Museum last week to be digitized and preserved. Robin Swan Filippone of Fairfield brought the discharge papers and commendations that her grandfather kept with him. He was in high school in Bridgeport when he left to sign up, and he was an ambulance driver in France, Filippone told archivists from the Connecticut State Library. Benjamin Bulkley Wyrtzen had been gassed in the war, and he received a letter of commendation from his commanding officer: You can have the proud consciousness of having performed to the tip-top of efficiency your important share of the campaign that led to Americas victory. Wyrtzen also brought home a canteen and mess kit a fellow soldier had given him, engraved with the name of the German prison camp where that soldier had been held. John Tulio, who lived before the war on Hallock Street in Bridgeport, was not yet a citizen when he enlisted in the American Expeditionary Force, his stepson Gene Sabados of Shelton said. He came home with an honorable discharge and memories he chose not to share with his family, Sabados said. Tulios discharge papers will be part of the Connecticut State Librarys collection of World War I material. The state library staff and Adrienne Saint-Pierre, the Barnum Museum curator, met with the donors and scanned the items. Some of the items will be displayed in an exhibit next year on Connecticuts contribution to World War I. Brothers Dave and Tom Bobalki brought a framed photo of the U.S.S. Mississippi that their uncle Chick Bobalki served on during the war to end all wars. He told us he was a fireman, shoveling coal into the ships boilers, said Dave Bobalki of Trumbull. He came home after the war and was a sheet metal worker at GE in Bridgeport. Christine Pittsley, one of the coordinators for the state library project, said the medals, photos, letters and other keepsakes will be augmented by oral histories, to be done by journalism students at Southern Connecticut State University. Weve made four or five stops already and you think youre going to see the same things each time, she said. For example, the first Puerto Rican killed in World War I was from Bridgeport. His fiance filled out the military service questionnaire they sent to veterans, and it is now in our archives and on Ancestry.com Cristobal Rodriguez Hidalgo is honored with a statue in the Puerto Rican town his family came from, Pittsley said. They came before the Greatest Generation and their bravery and triumphs on the battlefields of Europe have faded into the mists of history, but a Connecticut State Library Project seeks to preserve their memory. fjuliano@ctpost.com Once upon a time, going to graduate school was the key to moving up in the food chain, or equipping yourself with the skills and learning to run a company of your own. But that's a thing of the past. Today, you dont have to shell out the big bucks to pick up new skills or learn in the middle of your career. Related: This Is Bill and Melinda Gates' Prediction for the Future of Online Education Now, we have the Internet. And this tremendous resource has endowed all of us with the resources to learn virtually any skill or subject: In fact, theres practically nothing standing between us and the knowledge we want to acquire -- regardless of how little time or money we have to spend. Consider the following wealth of resources just waiting for you to try: Email newsletters that help you keep your ear to the ground 1. Hiten Shah's SaaS Weekly. This is the best newsletter around for anyone interested in SaaS. Each Monday, Shah delivers the best content from all around the web covering every aspect of SaaS, from pricing to product to actionable tips for any founder. Hiten is an entrepreneur, startup advisor and all-round SaaS expert. Hes founded multiple startups with million-dollar run-rates, including KISSMetrics and Crazy Egg, and shares his insights on SaaS and the tech world on his personal blog. 2. Mattermark's Mattermark Daily. Mattermark bills itself as the Bloomberg for tech. Its a powerful business intelligence tool for salespeople and VCs alike to find the startups they want to do business with. And, in addition to its data platform, Mattermark curates some of the best startup-related content on the web. Its daily newsletter, Mattermark Daily, brings together the best content from startup operators and VC investors. That potent combination is why the newsletter has amassed more than 80,000 subscribers and become one of the most influential in tech. 3. Jimmy Dalys Swipe File. If youre interested in content marketing, then you have a lot to learn from creator Jimmy Daly. As head of content marketing for email marketing platform Vero, he grew the companys blog to over 100,000 monthly readers. His personal newsletter, Swipe File, is chockful of insights, not just for content marketers, but for anyone who wants a weekly dose of creative inspiration and tips to work better. From general productivity tips to inspirational stories, Swipe File is well-curated content you dont want to miss. Related: 5 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Should Get Serious About Online Education Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) 4. Coursera. Why go to one expensive college when you can cherry-pick courses from the top universities of your choosing for much cheaper? Coursera gives you the opportunity to do just that -- some of the courses are even free! Whether you want to take Stanfords Intro to Machine learning, an HTML web development course from Johns Hopkins or a classical music course at Yale, Coursera has you covered. 5. Salman Khan's Khan Academy. Founder Khan was tutoring a few relatives in math when he had a huge breakthrough: Instead of teaching everyone at once, why not put the lessons on YouTube where everyone could watch on their own time line? Thus, Khan Academy was born. Its blossomed into a totally free, non-university affiliated library of courses in every subject you can imagine, from beginner to expert level. 6. OpenClassrooms. Its a common issue today. Tons of people want to work in the exciting world of tech, but dont think theres any place for them without engineering know-how. Enter OpenClassrooms. This is the modern vocational school, teaching pre-professional skills for todays world in topics like digital marketing, design and web development. Teach yourself a cool new skill. 7. Codecademy. Codecademy offers automated mini-courses in all areas of coding -- from HTML to Ruby. There are no teachers, so users can go at any speed they want. But if they do get stuck or need help, Codecademy has a discussion forum full of fellow students willing to lend a helping hand. 8. Duolingo. The ever-increasing global connectedness gives us the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world. But what good is it if we cant understand one other? Now it's Duolingo to the rescue. The site offers courses in every language, from Italian to Arabic, to something as obscure as Irish Gaelic. Courses keep students engaged, with a fun, gamified system that gives users points for correct quiz answers. Its addictive and educational. 9. Yousician. Learning a musical instrument can enrich your life, but most people dont think they have the time for lessons. Yousician changes that with lessons for the guitar, piano, bass and ukulele. Upload any song you want to learn and get a step-by-step, interactive tutorial that provides instant feedback. Keep the rockstar dream alive! Learn on the go with these podcasts. 10. The Startup Chat. On this podcast, Hiten Shah teams up with Close.io founder and sales expert Steli Efti to bring listeners actionable advice right from the startup trenches. The Startup Chat is required listening for any founder and would-be startup founder. Together, Hiten and Steli have backgrounds in all things startup -- the duo covers everything from building a remote team, to fund-raising, to delivering a kick-ass product demo. 11. Andreessen Horowitz's a16z podcast. Having backed heavy-hitters like AirBnb, Pinterest and Twitter, Andreessen Horowitz is one of the most prestigious VCs around. This podcast, hosted by a rotating cast of thought leaders from across the startup world, covers the macro topics in tech that will determine the future of the industry. 12. Dan Carlins Hardcore History. On this podcast, historian, political commentator and radio veteran Dan Carlin explores world history in an accessible way. Hes unconventional, puts himself in the shoes of the figures he explores and takes a what-if approach that makes for exciting theater of the mind. Stock up your iPad with these free ebooks. 13. Revolunets Collection of Python Resources. Revolunet offers you the chance to delve into one of the worlds most-used coding languages, with this massive list of free Python ebooks. Python is one of the most versatile coding languages around, but with 60 ebooks to peruse, you'll find that theres no skill you cant learn here. 14. Fifty Shades of Growth. Growth-hacking is all the rage in the startup world these days, and with good reason: Its enabled companies like AirBnb and Uber to reach millions of users extremely quickly. This ebook draws from the best in the business, and has insights from experts like Brian Balfour Sean Ellis and Entrepreneur's Neil Patel. Related: The Latest and Unlikeliest Man to Reinvent Online Education 15. Hubspots Cold Email Hacks. Attention, salespeople! According to a recent survey, over 70 percent of people surveyed reported that they would prefer businesses to contact them via email. It stands to reason then, that if you want to close deals, you need to be a great emailer. Luckily, HubSpot has you covered, with this super-comprehensive guide to cold emailing. Overall, sales is one harshest, most unforgiving jobs out there, so salespeople are after any edge they can get. Theyd do well to check out this free ebook. Related: How Has The Education Landscape Changed In The Recent Past 5 Steps That An Edupreneur Should Keep In Mind While Starting Up 15 Ways to Enhance Your Career (for Free) Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Its hard to fathom where the evil comes from. The 11 men on what used to be Death Row in Connecticut are the embodiment of that evil, a subspecies of human. It is they who have declared themselves as such through their offenses against us set aside their direct victims for just a moment against that fragile contract we live within every day, a delicate web of interaction that lets us proceed with our daily lives. Their vicious attacks on their fellow man define them as something other than human. How does a guy Christopher DiMeo walk into a Fairfield jewelry store and, in cold blood, shoot and kill the owner and his wife, Tim and Kim Donnelly? As he did on How does a guy Richard Roszkowski point-blank shoot and kill a man. Thomas Gaudet and a woman, Holly Flannery, on Bridgeports East Side and chase Hollys 9-year-old daughter, Kylie, down Seaview Avenue and shoot her thiree times the last time in the head as she cried for her life? How do two men Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky invade a home in Cheshire and rape and murder Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her two daughters, Hayley, 17 and Michaela, 11. And the list of atrocities the rape, murder and mayhem visited on totally innocent people by the other savages who were on death row goes. Its a sad fact: Monsters dwell among us. Those 11 men, Connecticuts Supreme Court decided last week, will not be put to death, as their initial sentences would have provided, but will instead spend the rest of their days in prison with no chance for release. For most of us, the debate over the death penalty is a theoretical one. Most of us have not had a family member killed by one of these savages. So lets now consider those direct victims and the families left behind. . Not being a surviving family member of a victim in one of these horrendous cases, I have no conception of what loved ones go through. Tim Donnelly, though, was a friend of mine, as are his remaining brothers and sisters. So the horror of those killings in February 2005 cut pretty close. In 40 years as a newspaper reporter, I have been to homicide scenes. Seen the bodies, bagged and otherwise. They were dead people that I wrote about. Some of them and times never change had been sucked into the undertow of violence and revenge. The Donnellys, though, were people I knew and it was unreal. Its difficult even now to grasp the reality of it. Christopher DiMeo, the man who killed them, and his girlfriend reportedly had a $300-a-day drug habit. Its something of a hard pill to swallow that these mutant figures are going to keep seeing the sun come up, maybe hear the chirping of birds, while the dead are gone and their families suffer every day. The Connecticut Supreme Court last week upheld its earlier ruling that the death penalty in Connecticut is unconstitutional. The court ruled after the Connecticut General Assembly, the elected representatives of the people, decided to ban the death penalty, ending a tradition of capital punishment that dated back to colonial times. This ruling came in an appeal by the state in the case of Russell Peeler, another lower life form, who ordered his brother to kill 8-year-old Leroy B.J. Brown and Karen Clarke, the little boys mother. The little boy had been a witness to Peelers earlier unsuccessful attempt to kill Rudoph Snead Jr., a fallen-out-of-favor associate in Peelers drug operation. Once Peeler succeeded in actually killing Snead in a city barber shop, the little boy was the only witness who could tie Peeler to the earlier attempt. Oh, well. Just kill the kid and his mother and everything will be good. I can accept the Supreme Courts decision because if we as a community get into snuffing out life, were letting a little part of ourselves be like these guys. Michael J. Daly is editor of the editorial page of the Connecticut Post. Email: mdaly@ctpost.com. Pa. is about to vote. Here's what to know about voting and ballot access in 2022 New hearing same result: Death sentence for murder at Lake prison Allen Cox's case has been making its way through the court system for years. Now he is heading back to death row. 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 Revelation: David Cameron has made his true feelings on immigration clear for the first time This was the week David Cameron at last revealed his true thoughts on perhaps the most crucial issue of our time. In last years election manifesto, as in 2010, he said the number of migrants flocking to our shores was far too high and promised to do all he could to cut it to below 100,000 a year. This week, as official figures showed net immigration at 333,000 last year with 184,000 of them from the EU he has changed his tune. Now he declares: Let me say this to those who want to leave the single market and cause all the damage that would do to jobs, growth and investment, I do not believe for one minute that the right way to control immigration is to wreck our economy. In other words, the Prime Minister is saying the population explosion largely caused by uncontrollable EU migration is a price worth paying for the supposed economic advantages of membership. Leave aside that those advantages are highly dubious (yes, migration may boost overall growth, but benefits to individuals apart from migrants themselves have repeatedly been found to be negligible). Forget, too, that the figures from the Office for National Statistics are likely to be significant underestimates, since they ignore widespread illegal immigration, highlighted this week by the arrest of a Briton at a marina in West Sussex, for allegedly smuggling in 17 Albanians. If this demographic upheaval is indeed a price worth paying, who will pay it? Not Mr Cameron, thats for sure nor his fellow members of the Chipping Norton set or the liberals who preach from their chic middle-class enclaves about the joys of diversity. For them, as for many big corporations, the influx of labour from poor east European countries is an unalloyed boon, providing cheap nannies, plumbers, cleaners, caterers and manual workers. But then the cocooned elite dont have to compete with migrants for low-paid jobs, housing or NHS appointments. Nor are their children held back by classmates who dont speak English, in communities changed beyond recognition. Urgent: As TV screens fill once again with images of thousands of migrants crossing from North Africa into the EU, the referendum campaign brings the issue into sharp focus Indeed, for decades this elite has stifled debate on mass migration, though it emerges again and again among the publics gravest concerns. The gag must come off. For as TV screens fill once again with images of thousands of migrants crossing from North Africa into the EU, the referendum campaign brings the issue into sharp focus. By all means, let those who welcome mass migration put their case. But those who see it as a threat to Britains way of life must have a fair hearing too. After all, this week the ONS projected that Englands population will swell by at least four million in eight years with two thirds of the rise accounted for by migrants and births to foreign-born mothers. Meanwhile on long-term trends, as the brilliant Oxford professor of demography David Coleman explains on these pages, the white British population will cease to be the majority in the UK by the late 2060s or much sooner should current high levels of migration persist. And this takes no account of plans to admit Turkey to the EU, giving 80million more the right to settle here. Professor Coleman points out: As numbers in different groups increase, their need to integrate to British society becomes less and less And as the balance of numbers changes, the question arises as to who will adapt to whom. Is this what voters want? Mr Cameron has told us what he thinks is not the right way to tackle the problem. He has yet to say what is. For more than a decade, Sian Williamss smiling face was the one that we turned to every morning on BBC Breakfast. Unflappable, warm and clever, she was the career woman who had it all a top job, a devoted husband and four lovely children.. But then, last December, Sian, 51, was diagnosed with breast cancer and that impregnable carapace of confidence began to crumble around her. For more than a decade, Sian Williamss smiling face was the one that we turned to every morning on BBC Breakfast. Pictured, Sian and her husband Paul In a deeply moving interview, her husband Paul recalls how he wedded three women when marrying Sian. The first was a highly accomplished professional; the second, a fiercely independent woman who could always do perfectly well on her own thank you; and the third a very private, self- deprecating and vulnerable individual. Paul says he always struggled to recognise this third side of his wife, because she kept it hidden. Yet it was the vulnerable Sian who came to the fore when she went in to hospital for what she thought would be a routine discussion about a biopsy only to be told she needed an emergency double mastectomy. After Paul rushed to join her there, he found his wife in a hospital gown looking lost, frightened and fighting back tears. He wanted to be strong for her, yet confesses he was exceptionally poor at reading the signals and couldnt tell if she needed him. As Sian explains in her new book: He never knew if I was strong capable Sian or if I needed help, which was confusing for him. Only now, more than a year after being given the all-clear, can Sian admit the lengths she went to in order to keep her cancer secret from everyone. After the operation, she hid the bottles into which her surgical drains leaked under a big coat so she could still do the school run. While of course its right that everyone copes with a life-threatening illness in the way that suits them best, I cant help feeling that there are unreasonable pressures on Sian and professional women like her to be perfect and unwaveringly brave in all circumstances. She has carved her career in a world where sobbing in the office can lead to demotion. Is it any wonder so many professional women find it hard to hold their hands up and say, I need help. I am in pain. I am frightened.? The one silver lining is that she now accepts her third, vulnerable self. As Paul says so proudly: She will never be quite the same again, yet I have come to adore and admire her all the more. Some journey, some rollercoaster, some woman. Spare a thought for Lily-Rose, Mr Depp Of all the pictures to emerge following the break-up of Johnny Depps marriage to Amber Heard after 15 months, the saddest is of his daughter Lily-Rose. The headlines have been about the paunchy middle-aged stars debauchery and his furious fights with blonde party girl Amber, who has now engaged the worlds top lawyers to try to take an estimated 35 million chunk of Depps 270 million fortune. Contrast: Lily-Rose Depp in happier times and (right) looking forlorn at LA airport as she arrived to celebrate her 17th birthday looking utterly lost and miserable Yesterday, Amber filed a domestic violence restraining order against Depp in a California court, submitting a photo of a large bruise around her eye as evidence. Yet even as the attention was focused on the warring couple, Lily-Rose, his daughter with former long-term partner Vanessa Paradis, slipped into LA airport to celebrate her 17th birthday looking utterly lost and miserable. Its not just young children who suffer when marriages break up. As Christine Northam of Relate reveals, it can be just as damaging for older teenagers. Parting with his fly-by wife will be the easy bit for Depp. Rebuilding his life with Lily-Rose will be the real ordeal. Harry Styles is to appear with Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance in the new movie Dunkirk. The 1D star has had his trademark locks shorn and groomed. Yet can one really imagine Harry and his spoilt celebrity boy-band pals lifting a finger to do anything to save the country, let alone fight for it? And Dunkirk. All that water. What would happen to their hairdos? True price of loving a pet News reaches us cat and dog owners that were being ripped off by the pet insurance companies. They reject four in ten of our claims, costing animal lovers 232 million a year in vets bills for conditions that arent covered. Ive already spent many hundreds of pounds insuring my very healthy four-year-old cat Ted, with nothing to show for it but a few free flea pills. Curious, isnt it, that millions of us rely on the creaking but free NHS for our own health, but are prepared to fork out a small fortune to give our pets private medical insurance. Facebook says sorry for banning images of fat-and-fit, plus-sized model Tess Holliday (below) on the grounds that her proportions depict a body in an undesirable manner. This in a world where we kneel at the altar of Kim Kardashians ginormous bottom! Few scenes can be more moving than that of Vicky Balch, 28, returning to the Alton Towers Smiler ride. It was there last June that the former dancer lost her right leg when the rollercoaster crashed. We usually associate Post Traumatic Stress with those subjected to the unimaginable horrors of war, but in civilian life there can be similar suffering. One year on, Vicky is doing what all those people who have experienced great physical and emotional loss must do revisiting the cause of their pain to prove to themselves that it can never hurt them again the way it once did. Missed the gravy train, Fergie? Pictures of Freebie Fergie on the London Underground looking like a bereaved extra from Peggy Mitchells death scene on EastEnders might make some people think Poor woman! But surely its a Fergie lookalike? To travel on the Tube, Prince Andrews ex would have had to pay her own fare. Pictures appear to have emerged of Fergie on the London Underground looking like a bereaved extra from Peggy Mitchells death scene on EastEnders WESTMINSTER WARS... Supreme Eurocrat Jean-Claude Juncker attacks Boris Johnson, saying a Brexit success led by the former London Mayor would be a horror scenario. Bring it on, Juncks. The last time a foreigner stuck his nose in our business when President Obama warned of dire consequences if we left the EU there was a healthy Boris bump in the polls. Having once claimed that uncontrolled immigration was swamping local communities and leading to worrying consequences in his own Sheffield constituency, David Blunkett now says he has no regrets opening the UK borders to 330,000 migrants a year. He says the Brexit camp should not scare people about immigration. Thats exactly what he was accused of doing all those years ago. The Times devoted almost half a page to the happy news that the Tories Scottish leader, Ruth Davidson, proposed to partner Jen Wilson during a romantic trip to Paris. Congratulations and I wish them every happiness, but I cant help wondering if it had been Ruth and Robert, we wouldnt have heard a word about it. Advertisement In the countdown to the final of Britains Got Talent tonight, judge Amanda Holden has beguiled us by wearing fewer and fewer clothes each day. Yesterday, she appeared naked except for a few cabbages aged 45! on a Go Veggie poster. Surely this is final proof we have seen too much of the vacuous old bimbo. Isnt it time she got the BGTs thumbs-down buzzer treatment with a firm: And its a No from me!? Given two bunches of lily of the valley at the Chelsea Flower Show, the Queen was told they were used as a poison. To which she quipped: Perhaps they want me dead! Speaking for the vast majority of your subjects, Maam, thats the last thing we want. But I cant account for your immediate family. Perhaps Charles should be checking his flowerbeds. Courage from pain After Alice Husbands seven-year-old son, Seth, was killed by a reckless driver talking on her mobile, you might have expected her to be full of bitterness. Yet despite the woman, Amy Asker, being given just a 90 fine and five penalty points, she is not. It ruined her life as well as ours and it would not help to blame her, Alice says. Shell be serving a sentence in her own mind for the rest of her life. All it would do is separate another mother from her children, and they should not be the ones to suffer. A Brown University student has told how he was driven to college by his father after he was diagnosed with blood cancer - only to return home two years later to find that his sick father had aged 20 years. Matthew DiMarcantonio, 20, a sophomore at the Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island, said he 'highly underestimated the severity' of his father's illness when his dad was diagnosed with cancer during his junior year in high school. In a moving video, Matthew, who is from Virginia, told EI8HT that at first he was positive about his father's chances because the cancer was detected before it had spread. Scroll down for video Illness: Matthew DiMarcantonio, 20, a college sophomore, said his father was diagnosed with blood cancer when he was at high school It was not until later, during their first car journey to Brown before the start of his freshman year, that Matthew said the gravity of the situation 'started to hit' him. Matthew told Daily Mail Online that it has been a 'rough journey', adding: 'It's really rough on the family. He lost all his hair, it's started to come back now. He's aged 20 years.' He said because of his weakened immune system, his father, who is 76 years old and prefers to remain anonymous, is unable to 'go out and about too much'. He has undergone a Hematopoietic stem cell transplant after finding a donor through transplant organization Be The Match. As a result of his father's deteriorating condition, Matthew said 'life is going to be very limited for him.' He said: 'He went from looking 50 to looking like he was 70...If it does go OK, this stuff does have a tendency to come back after a few years. The end is inevitable, I'm having to accept that, but it's difficult to accept that of course.' In the emotional video interview, he said when his father was first diagnosed he was optimistic. He said: 'They said his blast cell count was increased a lot. So when I found out about it, I'm a really optimistic person and my dad and I are very similar so I always think regardless of what happens we're going to end up overcoming it. 'And so with that optimism I really highly underestimated I guess the severity of it and what was going to happen.' Optimistic: He said he 'underestimated' his father's illness because it was caught in the early stages Gravity: During the drive to college the reality 'started to hit him', he said in an emotional video interview During their initial drive to Brown, he said they listened to their shared favorite songs before stopping off at a cemetery. 'We had an interesting stop and it really started to hit me there, what was going on and the severity of it,' he said. 'We stopped at the cemetery on the way up here and went to my grandparents' and my uncle's graves and we had a toast of some Champagne. It was really painful.' He said going to an Ivy League school was 'always a big deal' because both of his parents came from poor backgrounds. He added: 'They saw me getting into an Ivy League school right out of high school as the sign the family had made it.' Matthew said the situation is 'like a story you don't want to end'. Dame Joan Collins has just returned from a whirlwind 26,000-mile journey around the world. She took in Los Angeles, New York and Miami, the Caribbean island of St Barts, then Chiles capital Santiago, where she opened a 1980s fashion museum, before flying on to Australia. She also fitted in a visit to Peru, where for the first time she met the extended family of her husband Percy Gibson, who was born there. Id never met them, she says, and after 16 years together it was important for me to do that. I had a bet with Percy that I could travel with no more than three suitcases, which is not a lot for me. But I did it, so I won. Joan Collins says she thinks that Britain has become overcrowded and wants us to leave the EU She describes herself as a gypsy. I cant stay in one place for long. I just cant. I have to move around. I think its because when I was a child during the war I was moved around constantly to avoid the Blitz and went to 13 schools. 'Id just get used to one school and then I was moved back to London. Then the bombing would start again and off Id go. It was literally Brighton, Bognor, Chichester, Norfolk, Ilfracombe those are just the ones I remember. 'I was all over the place. So I think my restlessness became ingrained in me. In my last book, Passion For Life, I wrote a chapter about the different houses I have, and as a child I pretended I had four houses all over the world. Now she really does, of course. For the moment though, shes back home in Londons Belgravia her proper home, she points out, in spite of having places in LA and New York and a villa in the South of France and we meet for a very English lunch in that most English of hotels, Claridges, where she and Percy married 14 years ago. Joan with her beloved sister Jackie (in 2009) before her death in September last year All eyes are on her as she makes her way to the discreet corner table the management always reserves for her. People imagine shes tall from her screen appearances, but in fact shes 5ft 5in, her stilettos adding a further three inches. Joan, who turned 83 this week, is soon re-living a particularly sad part of her trip. She and Percy spent four days in LA mostly seeing Tiffany, Tracy and Rory, the grown-up children of her sister Jackie, the novelist, who died aged 77 last September from breast cancer. Its been terrible for all of us but theyre doing better now and we have to learn to live with it. One of the reasons she wanted to visit Miami was because she was thinking of leaving LA as it held too many sad memories of Jackie. Wasnt she so much fun? LA is so synonymous with Jackie, even though Id spent so much of my working life there, making movies and filming Dynasty. But in the past ten or 12 years, whenever we were there wed see Jackie maybe five times a week. So you know, you have immediate gut reactions when somebody dies. Her large green eyes cloud over as she speaks of the void she feels. The more I think about it the sadder I get. But Tiffany and Tracy found something the other day that Jackie had been talking about for years: stories we used to write about teenagers in the 1950s, when we were young ourselves. Jackie said shed been looking for them. 'Its three books written in Jackies handwriting, with 40 or 50 characters illustrated by me. I originally wanted to be a fashion designer, so I did the fashion and she had the most amazing writing gift. She started at 11 or 12 and she could tell these incredible stories. Shed never been to America or France, but she wrote about those places as if she had. Were thinking of maybe having them published. After she died, Tiffany, Tracy and Rory gave Joan some personal mementos they felt their mother would have wished her to have. Joans also using two Chanel bags that Jackie gave her. Actually she gave me many Chanel bags. She would always give me one for my birthday. She reflects for a moment. I find that when you lose someone so close it gives you a wake-up call about your own life. You realise, Dont waste any time. Do what you want to do. Percy and I now want to travel more and go to places we wouldnt normally see. Joan had no idea Jackie had breast cancer until almost the end. But I used to nag her about getting mammograms as our darling mother Elsa had succumbed to breast cancer in 1962 when she was in her early 50s. I find that when you lose someone so close it gives you a wake-up call about your own life 'I had regular check-ups, religiously, but Jackie refused because she didnt like going to the doctor. We were so close and I loved her so much. I know Jackie would want me to be strong, but its hard to lose somebody so loving. I was extremely upset for a long time. But you have to live with it because were all going there. If were lucky enough we can keep going until we reach a great age. Look at Prince Philip. Hes about to turn 95. Its extraordinary. And the Queen. How fabulous is she? Shes 90 but she does things women of 50 cant do. Standing on her feet for hours, shaking hands with everybody. 'Shes a great example to us all. Joan recalls spotting in the Daily Mail that Lady Killearn, who died last October, had lived to l05. I wonder what her secret was? she says. Probably six tots of whisky a day! Joan was at the Palace last year to collect her Damehood from Prince Charles, and she wants to make one thing clear: shes not a tax exile, and theres no money secreted in offshore funds. A lot of people think I dont live in England. But I pay my taxes in the UK and Ive never taken anything out. I paid my National Insurance from 1950, when I was 17 and started working in films, and only stopped paying it 25 or 30 films later when I went to do Dynasty in the 80s because I took out private health insurance in the States. 'I dont qualify for a state pension though. I know many people who have a great deal of money and also get a pension from the Government. They shouldnt. I dont think I should either. Joan and her husband Percy Gibson in February 2015 In spite of earning millions, Joan didnt invest in a private pension. No, no, no. My whole financial affairs are confusing. Percys brilliant with the money. He looks after the houses and runs our life. However, shes in the driving seat when it comes to politics. 'Joan has strong views and isnt shy about expressing them, and now shes weighing into the EU Referendum debate, tweeting the word Brexit together with three Union Jacks, a thumbs up sign and a heart. Yes, I do feel we should leave, she says of the EU. I think we want our sovereignty and we want to make our own laws. This country is very different from the country I grew up in. Ive seen a big change. This is a tiny island. There are too many people coming in and were going to sink into the sea with so many people. I remember walking down Oxford Street when I was four or five and there were quite a lot of people, but today you cant move. Its too many people and I dont see how this country can afford it. One of the reasons for quitting the European Union is that we give them 350 million a week, which adds up to several billion a year. Think of how many schools and hospitals we could fund with that money. And where is all the housing coming from? But with her inherent zest for life, Joans also brimming with optimism. Dont look back. You know, carpe diem, seize the day. I try to make every day count. You achieve something and you enjoy something. I think we want our sovereignty and we want to make our own laws Shes preparing for her four-month holiday at her luxurious villa in the hills of St Tropez, the setting for her latest novel The St Tropez Lonely Hearts Club, every word of which was written by hand as she hasnt mastered a keyboard. Its a thriller with several murders that captures the sheer decadence of St Tropez says Joan, and features a handsome gigolo named Fabrizio. Hes so naughty he goes round trying to bonk everybody, but underneath you like him because hes such an idiot. One intriguing character is Sophie Silvestri, an ageing 60s sex goddess who hates anybody young. Did Joan base her on any actress she met when she was a film starlet? There were certain actresses I worked with who were very unkind to young people, particularly young pretty girls, she recalls. I was one of Bette Daviss ladies-in-waiting in The Virgin Queen with six other beautiful girls, all between 18 and 20, and she didnt like us at all. She was quite mean to us and told us to get out of her way. But then she was mean to everybody. She wasnt a particularly nice person. 'Joan Crawford was the same. There are a lot of actresses who resent getting old and resent the younger actresses coming up. Im not like that. Ive always tried to be as friendly as possible to everybody I work with. When Joan arrived in Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe warned her to look out for the wolves. So how did she handle the casting couch? I just said No! she says emphatically. Because obviously as I was young it was fun to go out on dates to all the fabulous restaurants. But that doesnt necessarily mean you wanted to go to bed with the guy. Yes, some of them became extremely pushy. But I have to say its not just Hollywood, its everywhere. It still goes on. When the part of a young English girl in Of Human Bondage came up, Joan went to see the producer at his home, which was also his office, in New York. Joan as Alexis in Dynasty The secretary sent me in and he was lying naked in a bathtub. He said, Why dont you jump in? I was trying not to look at what was in the bath as he was talking to me. He asked, How old are you? I said, Im 25. He said, 25? Thats not young in Hollywood any more. 'I looked at him and I thought he was 50 if he was a day. He got more and more outrageous, really. Finally I said, Ive really got to go. I have to meet my boyfriend Warren Beatty. He said, Whos that? I said, Hes a young actor making his debut on Broadway. He then said, Why are you wasting your time on young men? 'And again he asked me, Are you sure you dont want to come in? I said, No thank you and rushed out. I remember walking along the street almost crying. I was so offended. I knew I wasnt going to get the role because I rejected him. Kim Novak got it, and Kims as American as apple pie, you know. But Im not bitter about any of this. These were experiences many girls had. When I was doing my first movie at Ealing Studios the wardrobe department had to hide me in cupboards because some of the producers would try to grab me. Id taken a lift home with them a couple of times, but they were like octopuses, hands all over. So the wardrobe people used to hide me then I would get on the Tube. Yes, I used to get the Tube and the bus. Of course, I dont do it now. I think its changed a bit. Joan had been prepared for such encounters by her parents. Her father, a showbusiness agent, warned her from a young age what could happen. He just said, Beware. Mummy used to say, Men, theyre only after one thing, so I had it in the back of my mind, and I wasnt about to sell out. She arrived in Hollywood as its golden era was on the wane, but soon learned how important it was to dress like a star. She was given make-up tips by Monroes make-up man and shes never forgotten them. Most of todays actresses dont know how to do their own make-up and hair. Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Sophia Loren, we all did our own. Now somebody like Julia Roberts wouldnt have a clue how to do it. And also, the way the world is today, actors and actresses want to look the same as everybody else. They dont want to stand out. I love glamorous women. There were so many in Hollywood. They cared about the way they looked. I enjoy being a woman, I like looking good. I like wearing nice clothes. Why do you think so many men are trying to become women? Because its fun being a woman! Shes preparing for her one-woman show, Joan Collins Unscripted, which Percy is producing. It will tour the UK in the autumn with a night at the London Palladium on 30 September. And soon shell be seen in the new Absolutely Fabulous film in a cameo. She plays a woman relaxing by a pool in the South of France who has a confrontation with a group of French policemen. I have to wear a ridiculous dressing gown! But whatever she does, by her side, as always, is Percy, making sure lifes running smoothly. Percy, whos 32 years younger than Joan, is her fifth husband and theyve been married for 14 years her longest marriage. Its a total love match, but also a friends match, she says. We simply love being with each other. We laugh at the same things. He makes the children laugh. And we have separate bathrooms, which is very important. Were always together. Percy gets teased about being a toyboy, but Joan says the joke has run its course. I think its terribly insulting to call somebody a toyboy at 50, she says. Even at 40, quite frankly. A toyboy is somebody in their 20s. Percy confesses he has trouble keeping up with his wifes energy and drive, but Joan insists retiring isnt on her agenda. I dont feel any different from when I was 40, to be honest, she says. Youve got to keep working. I intend to go on until I drop. n Rupert Everett hadnt been tempted by a TV series for four years until the call came asking if he wanted to play Parisian bigwig Philippe Feron in swashbuckling drama The Musketeers. He signed on the dotted line before you could say, All for one and one for all. Its a great show and a great part, he says. Theres humour, amazing fighting, all the Musketeers are good actors and theyre quite sexy! Luke Pasqualino, who plays DArtagnan, reminds me of David Cassidy and Howard Charles, who plays Porthos, is a bit like Orson Welles. Its hard to know who Rupert will remind viewers of when he debuts as Feron, the corrupt governor of Paris, in the third and it turns out final series of the show. He suffers from a degenerative spine disorder and puts you in mind of Quasimodo as he lurches about, but his sharp brain and passion for cash give him a touch of Wall Streets Gordon Gekko. The final series of The Musketeers promises to be the most action packed yet Hes a fascinating character, says Rupert, who was most recently seen on TV in the BBCs adaptation of Parades End with Benedict Cumberbatch. Ferons the illegitimate brother of King Louis XIII and his mothers a lady-in-waiting, yet hes a villain who doesnt mind seeing people die so long as he doesnt have to do the killing himself. Hes addicted to opium to kill the pain of his crumbling spine and hes been left embittered by the hand life has dealt him. But he also wields great power in 17th-century Paris and hes shrewd. My intention was to create this coiled, complicated, angry, drugged-up, disabled man with a sense of humour and I hope Ive succeeded. Rupert Everett plays Parisian bigwig Philippe Feron The final series of The Musketeers sees our heroes DArtagnan, Porthos and Athos, played by War And Peace star Tom Burke, reunited with Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) after the latter chose life in a monastery at the end of series two. Fans have previously had to make do with just one villain per series; Cardinal Richelieu played by Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi in the first, followed by Comte de Rochefort, played by Hustle star Marc Warren, in the second, but the final series has upped the baddie count. Weve created a monster called Grimaud, played by Matthew McNulty, says Simon Allen, one of the writers. Its not necessarily going to go well for the Musketeers when they go toe to toe with him. Its all part of the BBCs grand plan to ensure The Musketeers goes out with a bang after 30 episodes over two years. The brutal new series sees the Musketeers part of the Kings Guard return from war with Spain to a Paris torn apart and on the verge of insurrection. Theyre charged with averting catastrophe, but they still have their own battles to fight. The opening episode alone contains a stabbing, an amputation and a battle scene that took five days to film. But thats small beer compared to the finale, according to executive producer Jessica Pope. We started saving money on the budget quite early on so we could spend a lot on the final episode, she says. We didnt want to peter out the drama ends with something extraordinary and we believe the audience will be satisfied. Theres even a suggestion that brace yourselves not all the Musketeers will make it to the end of the series. Theyve always survived simply because theyre the Musketeers, says lead writer Simon J Ashford. But for the first time there are doubts about that happening, perhaps with more than one of them. Its not all doom and gloom though. Once again the mood is leavened by some sexy women, including King Louiss wife Queen Anne (Alexandra Dowling), and Constance DArtagnan (Tamla Kari), whos reunited with her husband. Theres lots of fun too. Some well-toned bottoms are on display in the first episode when the Red Guard enemies of the Musketeers have their communal bath interrupted by an arson attack. And in episode three Ruperts character Feron even receives a relaxing massage from Captain Marcheaux, leader of the Red Guard and another major baddie. Rupert was welcomed by the cast and says, There was a great sense of camaraderie. And working in the Czech Republic was amazing, filming in old monasteries and castles. His co-stars had a ball too. Says Matthew McNulty, It was all I could do to stay in character while filming with Rupert as he was so hilarious. Philip Glenister looks totally exhausted. Hes hunched up on a sofa in a London hotel suite, his eyes are red, and his hands and forearms are scaly and raw thanks to an outbreak of psoriasis. He first got the condition when he was in his 20s after a bout of tonsillitis. Now it returns with stress he says, adding mysteriously, the stresses of life. So this is what trying to make it in America looks like. The London-born actor, who found fame a decade ago as 1970s detective Gene Hunt in Life On Mars, is back in Britain after filming his first American show, dark exorcism thriller Outcast. Phillip plays a demon hunter in Outcast, from the creator of hit zombie horror drama The Walking Dead Chasing fame in America had never really appealed to Philip, 53. Hes one of our busiest TV actors and a dedicated family man. He lives in south-west London with actress wife Beth Goddard (her credits include Casualty and Midsomer Murders) and their daughters Millie, 14, and Charlotte, 11, and was happy with the amount of work he was getting here. But when he was offered the role of a demon hunter in Outcast, from the creator of hit zombie horror drama The Walking Dead, it was hard to turn down. I really had to think about it, he says. My wife was incredibly supportive and said, If it works itll be brilliant and if it doesnt, youve given it a go. What you mustnt do is regret saying no to it. Before the offer came in I was thinking Id got to a stage in my life where I didnt want to spend as much time away from home. But I knew I probably wouldnt get an opportunity like this again. Im in my early 50s now. It might lead to something, it might not. But its America and I had to give it a go. Phillip found fame a decade ago as 1970s detective Gene Hunt in Life On Mars (pictured) The job meant him living in South Carolina for six months, and the biggest culture shock was the hours American TV-makers keep. Ive never had to work as hard, he says. We started early in the morning and went on until 10.30pm. The nights got later as the week went on; on a Friday wed start at lunch and go through until 4am. Youd spend all day Saturday recovering. Exhaustion aside, hes pleased he made the leap. He plays the charismatic Reverend Anderson, a hard-drinking evangelist who believes hes waging Gods holy war against the forces of evil on Earth. When a young man named Kyle Barnes, whos been plagued by demonic possession since childhood, enlists Anderson to help him find out why, the pair embark on a full-on fight with the Devil. Its bold, its different, its believable, says Philip. The Walking Dead is more in the realm of the comic book; zombies and stuff. Outcast is different because the characters feel real. Thats what attracts me to a role. Andersons complex. He divorced his wife to follow his calling, but then you see him almost have a breakdown as he starts to question his faith. Oddly, Philips played an American exorcist before in ITV drama Demons in 2009, which was critically mauled and lasted just one series. Im much more comfortable doing this show. Demons was all a bit rushed. The scripts werent great. I was in the throes of doing Ashes To Ashes [the sequel to Life On Mars] and I didnt realise how strong Gene Hunt was in peoples eyes; they werent ready to see me as an American demon hunter. Philip, the son of TV director John Glenister and brother of Hustle actor Robert Glenister, was doing well enough in a non-spectacular way before Gene propelled him into the spotlight. I wonder whether he feels Hunt was a blessing or a curse. Itd be foolish to see it as a curse but people have to get over me being Gene, he sighs. Its six years since I last played him but people still write to me from all over the world about him. Thats a huge compliment but you have to hope it will die down eventually. Since then hes appeared in all sorts, from David Walliams comedy Big School to Shakespeare series The Hollow Crown. He believes that being older works in his favour. Pretty young things are ten-a-penny, whereas if youre looking for a middle-aged hag then Im your man. They look at me and think, Hey, hes real! Its quite a nice niche to have. If Outcast is a hit, hell happily do it again, but wont move his family to America because theyre so settled in London. He already has a new project on the go here, ITV drama The Level, which also stars Rob James-Collier (Downton villain Thomas Barrow) and Amanda Burton. It follows a female police officer whos protecting a shady businessman and drugs trafficker Philips character. Meanwhile, hes hoping for some time away from acting, doing the school run and relaxing at home, until I start to get under my familys feet and my wife tells me to go back to work. Attempting to make sense of Shakespeare while at school was enough to put some of us off the Bard for life. But for TV genius Russell T Davies it was a window into another world. The writer and producer, who revived Doctor Who in 2005, played Bottom in a school production of A Midsummer Nights Dream aged 11 and fell in love with both drama and Shakespeare. It really opened my eyes to what drama is, he recalls now. And for years Ive thought one day Ill do it on TV, Ill do it with an all-star cast and Ill do it for everyone. Russell T Davies played Bottom in a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and fell in love with the play and now he has turned it into a star studded TV showcase And thats exactly what hes done with a madcap magical version of Shakespeares romantic farce thats coming to BBC1 on Monday. By turns funny and tragic, its a very modern take on a familiar tale with some of Britains biggest acting talents delivering the dialogue superlatively. The cast includes Shakespearean heavyweights such as Maxine Peake, who turned in a critically acclaimed Hamlet in 2014, comic actors Matt Lucas and Bernard Cribbins and musical theatre star Elaine Paige, who steals the show as Mistress Quince, the director of an amateur acting troupe called the Mechanicals. Elaine Paige as Mistress Quince Filmed at Cardiffs Roath Lock studios (where Doctor Who is made) and in the Forest of Dean, the TV movie is brimming with the sort of mind-blowing special effects and costumes younger viewers expect from the Doctors adventures, while the top-drawer acting talent will keep Shakespeare purists happy. It motors along brilliantly for people like me who dont know Shakespeare well, says Elaine. A lot of people dont really know his work and dont go and see it in the theatre they consider it something intellectual or high-falutin but a film like this which is pacy and races along makes Shakespeare completely accessible. The play, which Shakespeare wrote in the 1590s, takes place on one evening in Athens in the lead-up to the wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta, the vanquished queen of the Amazons. In the forest Fairy King Oberon has fallen out with his Queen Titania and vows to have his revenge on her. He enlists the mischievous fairy Puck to find a special plant. Its juice, when put on the eyes of someone while theyre sleeping, will make them fall in love with the first creature they see when they wake up. Oberon hopes Titania will fall in love with an animal. Also in the forest, rehearsing a play theyre putting on for the wedding, are the am-dram group the Mechanicals, the most vocal of whom is the arrogant Bottom. Cheeky Puck turns his head into that of a donkey and his hands into hooves, then leads him towards Titania with almost disastrous consequences. Given that the new adaptation is by Russell T Davies theres a liberal sprinkling of the fairy dust that made Doctor Who such a hit youll never see a more believable donkey-faced Bottom and the punky fairies are ethereally beautiful yet menacing but hes also played fast and loose with the plot. Theseus is no longer a benign ruler but has echoes of Hitler while his conquered enemy Hippolyta is trussed up like Hannibal Lecter and disgusted at the thought of marrying him. The joyous final scene, meanwhile, features both a lesbian kiss and a gay clinch. Shakespeare purists will be happy with my interpretation because to be a purist means youre in love with imagination, drama, fun and honesty, says Russell. Every generation reimagines Shakespeare. Theseus in particular is portrayed quite differently in the adaptation and doesnt get his usual happy ending. Russell sees him as a warrior with feet of clay who cant see the magic around him its his lack of vision that kills Theseus, says John Hannah, who plays him as a despicable tyrant. Matt Lucas takes on the role of the bumbling Bottom a weaver transformed into a donkey Its why he has his wife-to-be in a straitjacket thats how he deals with his enemies. The point is its creativity and magic that stops us from being beasts scrabbling in the ground for food. Shakespeare has some complicated thoughts and its not easy, but once you put the effort in youll see that the meaning has echoes for all of us. Humans havent changed that much since Shakespeares day. The same problems society had then are still here now. 'Shakespeare can be interpreted, chopped up and turned into something else, but as long as youre saying his words something will resonate. On the page it can look like a foreign language, but once you say it with the right intent or watch it being performed it all becomes clear. Little Britain actor Matt Lucas, who gives us a brilliantly bumptious Bottom, agrees. Doing things differently keeps Shakespeares work alive because its still living and breathing and changing, he says. Maxine Peake gives the fairy queen Titania an edy new touch in the new production Theres still more to be done with it and thats incredible when you consider its 400 years old. But this is one of Shakespeares funnier plays and the scenes between the lovers are classic farce. Around a quarter of the cast are non-white, and Matt believes this version hits just the right note for the 21st century. If you were doing this 30 years ago the cast wouldnt be so diverse. Its A Midsummer Nights Dream for our times. Theres no point just doing whats already been done. Maxine Peake, an acclaimed actress whose best-known TV work is as the tenacious barrister Martha Costello in BBC1s Silk, and who plays Titania here, says she was nervous not about reworking Shakespeare, but about working with Matt, who becomes her object of obsession in the play. Matt Lucas says that it is 'doing things differently that keeps Shakespeare alive' 'I was quite in awe of him but he was so kind, she says. He told me I was giving him his first on-screen kiss so I tried to do it properly! She says the key to making Shakespeare accessible is to have fun. If you want to get young people or people who usually get turned off by Shakespeare to engage with it, youve got to inject some fun and soul into it. Id never done any CGI before and it takes some getting used to, but it looks incredible on screen. For Elaine, being offered her first Shakespearean role (in his original play her character is male) was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. I like a challenge and to have a first at my time of life isnt bad, she says. She enlisted the help of a friend, Shakespearean actor Nickolas Grace, who spent an afternoon teaching her how to master the rhythm of the verse. He taught me to beat out the metre on my thigh and it worked terribly well. Despite her tutoring she admits she was jolly nervous at the first read-through, and musical theatre fan Russell made it worse by singling her out for attention. Once wed gone around the room saying who we were and the name of the character we were playing, Russell said, Its fantastic youre all here and can I just say how particularly thrilled I am that we have Elaine Paige in the cast. 'Then he started applauding and everyone else joined in and they were all looking at me. I hate being the centre of attention so I wanted the ground to swallow me up. But Id just like to thank him for asking me. Im not normally thought of as an actor any more, but thats where I started so its been nice to get back to my roots. Like all good Shakespeare comedies A Midsummer Nights Dream ends with a party. But this one was choreographed by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips and features flying fairies. Recording that final scene went on for days, says Elaine. Arlene drilled the moves into us but it had to be cleverly choreographed because there wasnt a lot of room; it looks a lot bigger on screen than it actually was. 'Once the actors playing the fairies came in you could see why everything had to be done so carefully, they were coming down with ropes and harnesses and had big sticks in their hands; it could have been quite dangerous. It looks magical on screen you can really see the teams Doctor Who expertise but it wasnt so magical to do! A war of words has erupted between two controversial YouTube vloggers both known for their strong-headed opinions. Australian vegan Freelee The Banana Girl has hit back at U.S. blogger Nicole Arbour after she posted a video entitled: 'Dear Vegans' earlier this week. In the clip Arbour began by making the sounds of the 'most delicious animals', before retorting that vegans tell you they don't eat meat 'before they even say their name'. Scroll down for video Australian YouTuber Freelee The Banana Girl (pictured) has hit out at U.S. vlogger Nicole Arbour Arbour (pictured) posted video this week titled 'Dear Vegans' telling them to 'shut up' On Saturday Freelee posted a vlog in response - but admitted during the first minute 'I have not actually watched all of the (Arbour's) video'. 'I do eat meat because I have these sharp teeth and also steak is delicious,' Arbour states in her video. She then goes on to accuse vegans of being 'the most annoying group of humans known to mankind'. In her video Freelee says her fans had been asking for her to respond - and then proceeds to watch Arbours full video which was interspersed with her 'commentary'. Freelee is famed for eating a 'raw until four' vegan diet where she only eats cooked food later in the day Arbour's whose most notable video was titled 'Dear Fat People' Freelee says her fans had been asking for her to respond to Arbour's vegan video 'She's doing the number one thing I hate and she's making fun of animals, she's making fun of their suffering', the Australian blogger said as Arbour made a number of animal noises. 'They are a someone Nicole - they have feelings, do you think it's f***ing funny when they get their throats slit?' Freelee says. 'If you think that's funny then yes you have a brain the size of a pea', she adds. The Australian blogger then accuses Arbour - whose most notable video was titled 'Dear Fat People'- of gaining weight in an expletive-laden rant. Freelee says Arbour has been 'brainwashed' by 'mainstream propaganda' The two women have since continued their war online, tweeting their videos out to their respective followers Throughout the rest of her video Freelee says Arbour has been 'brainwashed' by 'mainstream propaganda' The two women have since continued their war online, tweeting their videos out to their respective followers. Prince Harry must surely have acknowledged he is now the last single man among his group of friends In brilliant late-spring sunshine, the society wedding reception was in full swing. Surrounded by friends in his inner circle, Prince Harry, in good spirits, smiled as the bride launched her white bouquet into the air. Rushing forward, her arms outstretched, Susanna Warren one of the Princes oldest friends grasped it triumphantly. Making fun of the age-old tradition that whoever catches the bouquet will be next to walk down the aisle, Harry also raised his hands and appeared to try to catch the flowers himself. Captured on camera at the wedding of Carly Moss and Harry Collins at Porthilly Farm in Rock, Cornwall, last month, the light- hearted moment fittingly sums up the current state of Harrys love life. Celebrating yet another wedding of a close friend, the Prince must surely have acknowledged the sad irony that, despite being one of Britains most eligible bachelors, he is now the last single man among his group of friends. Indeed, nine of his inner circle are married and two are in long-term relationships. For as the society wedding season begins in earnest, the 31-year-old Princes recent public admission that he would love to settle down reveals his deep yearning for a family of his own. As he said some months ago: I would love to have kids right now. It would be great to have someone else next to me to share the pressures. At a recent birthday party, a somewhat disheartened Harry confided to television presenter Denise Van Outen: Im not dating and for the first time ever, I want to find a wife. Such is his determination to find the one that Harrys quest for a wife has now taken on the precision of a military exercise. He has decided that he can no longer afford to waste time on relationships that, ultimately, are not destined for the altar. His seven-year affair with Chelsy Davy and the lengthy relationship with Cressida Bonas, which ended two years ago, have made him realise that he must ruthlessly axe liaisons that seem unlikely to lead to a wedding. Prince Harry was captured on camera trying to catch the bouquet at the wedding of friends Carly Moss and Harry Collins at Porthilly Farm (pictured, wearing a bright blue tie, front row on the left) Everyone was having a laugh about Harry going for the bouquet because hes the last of us who have yet to settle down, says a friend. Susanna caught the bouquet, so hopefully shell be up the aisle next but we all feel a little bit sorry for Harry. According to his friends, there is still no one special in his life two years after he split from Bonas. But its not for want of trying. Indeed, the past few months have seen Harry get back in touch with two former flames beauty editor Lady Natasha Howard, and nutritionist Jennifer Medhurst. MARRIED: Zoe Stewart and Jake Warren (left) and Isabella Calthorpe and Sam Branson According to one source close to the Prince, he first dated Medhurst after he split from Davy but got back in touch with her earlier this year. However, she is now in a serious relationship with another man. Another source reveals how the Prince has also re-established contact with Natasha, the Earl of Suffolks daughter. She was once touted as a potential Royal bride. While a Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment on Harrys private life, the Prince has openly voiced his frustrations at the level of scrutiny directed at the girls he dates. In an illustration of just how exclusive and entwined the young Royals social set is, Jennifer and Natasha are old friends. MARRIED: Victoria Von Westenholz and Thomas Mccall (left) DATING: Arthur Landon and Alessandra Balazs Jen and Natasha know each other and they all go way back, says a friend of Harry. Jen first had a thing with Harry after he split from Chelsy years ago. They have always mixed in the same circles and Jen has also dated Harrys best mate, Guy Pelly. Jen got a text from Harry out of the blue at the end of last year. He sends random texts out to girls he knows are single and they usually start with Hey girl, so you never know if you are the only one receiving them. Jen took a chance and she told us she saw a bit of Harry at the start of the year. It was all pretty casual then Harry basically stopped texting. Jen got the feeling there was probably someone else on the scene and now shes moved on and is happily with someone else. When asked about her relationship with the Prince, Miss Medhurst told The Mail on Sunday: We are friends. We have seen each other but as friends. MARRIED: Lottie Fry and Jamie Murray Wells (left) Henry St George and Florence Brudenell-Bruce Harry, of course, is known for his happy-go-lucky nature and irrepressible joie de vivre. He is popular and sociable and, after his time in the Army, he is ready to settle down. Friends, who notice an inner sadness at his failure to meet a suitable girl, insist his Royal speed-dating strategy is an earnest attempt to meet Miss Right, rather than a shallow attempt to play the field. One says: I was with him at a party just before he went off to Orlando for the Invictus Games. I felt a bit sorry for him.f He is really keen to find a girl and settle down. Its just a case of finding the one and you get the impression that hes beginning to feel the pressure. He wants to settle down, get married and have kids like his brother. Lady Natasha, who has a successful career as a beauty writer for Vogue, is 29, of impeccable lineage and should have been perfect for Harry, but for whatever reasons, after reconnecting in recent months she was ruled out the running by the Prince. ENGAGED: Lara Hughes-Young and Tom Inskip and MARRIED: Robert Davies-Jones and Victoria Inskip She was initially mooted as a possible future bride for Harry when they were seen dancing together at the Womad music festival five years ago sparking the inevitable rumours of a romance. At the time Tash, as she is known to her friends, turned Harry down. But according to friends of the pretty politics graduate, she got back in touch with the Prince earlier this year. Theres no heartbreak on either part it simply didnt come to anything and they have both moved on, says a mutual friend. The Prince has stayed characteristically tight-lipped about his private life, telling American interviewer Jenna Bush Hager at the recent Invictus Games that he was single and didnt have a girlfriend. Harry is quite limited by who he can date because the girls he sees have to be discreet and trustworthy. Hes paranoid about the press finding out who he is dating so he does everything possible to keep the relationship quiet, one source says. MARRIED: Natalie Pinkham and Owain Walbyoff and Lizzie Wilson and Guy Pelly When he is in a serious relationship, its not unheard of for the woman he is seeing to be advised by Palace aides on how to keep a low profile. They can be whisked in and out of the Palace without anyone finding out. Harry said in a recent interview he has a massive paranoia about even talking to women, because of the attention it attracts. Even if I talk to a girl, that person is then suddenly my wife, and people go knocking on her door. If, or when, I do find a girlfriend, I will do my utmost to ensure that me and her can get to the point where were comfortable before the massive invasion that is inevitably going to happen into her privacy. MARRIED: Anneke Von Trotha Taylor and Charlie Gilkes (pictured, at Kensington Palace in west London) Back in touch: In recent months Harry has got back in touch former flames Lady Natasha Howard (left) and Jennifer Medhurst This pressure was blamed for the demise of his relationships with Cressida and Chelsy. Meanwhile, Harrys best friends are either engaged, married or having children. Tom Inskip is planning his wedding to his girlfriend Lara Hughes-Young; Guy Pelly is married to heiress Lizzie Wilson; Tom Van Straubenzee has been married and is now divorced; Arthur Landon is set to announce an engagement to Alessandra Balazs; and Jake Warren and his wife Zoe now have twins. A simple home saliva test will tell pregnant women whether they might have a potentially fatal complication. On sale by next summer, it is hoped the test will save lives by giving earlier warnings of pre-eclampsia than existing tests. One of the most common causes of premature birth in the UK, pre-eclampsia is a huge drain on NHS resources, affecting 70,000 British women and claiming the lives of up to six women and 1,000 babies a year. Mothers-to-be undergo regular checks for the condition at antenatal clinics but some cases are caught too late. The new test, which is the first in the world to use saliva to identify pre-eclampsia, can spot problems as early as 20 weeks into pregnancy. One of the most common causes of premature birth in the UK, pre-eclampsia is a huge drain on NHS resources, affecting 70,000 British women Women deemed to be at risk could be given drugs to delay their progression to full-blown pre-eclampsia, in which patients have dangerously high blood pressure, protein in the urine, swollen feet, headaches and nausea. They can also suffer kidney failure, fits and strokes. The Salurate test should be used weekly from halfway through pregnancy and works by measuring levels of uric acid in the saliva. Uric acid is naturally made in the body but, for reasons that are unknown, levels rise in saliva in women at risk of pre-eclampsia. The gadget looks like a folding toothbrush with a foam tip at one end and a piece of paper sensitive to uric acid at the other. To test her levels, a woman places her tongue on the foam tip and folds the brush in two, so the foam touches the paper, which then changes colour. Her doctor will then be notified of any unexpected rises in uric acid levels via a phone app. In a trial involving 900 expectant mothers, the device spotted 30 out of the 34 women who went on to develop pre-eclampsia. Mothers-to-be undergo regular checks for the condition at antenatal clinics but some cases are caught too late In contrast, the blood pressure and urine tests used by the NHS only picked up seven cases. The kit won the IET Innovation Award for healthcare technology in 2015. Its makers, Hampshire-based Morgan Innovation and Technology, hope it will be used by the NHS, as well as sold on the high street. The price is yet to be fixed but it is expected to be around 100 per pregnancy. Morgans CEO Nigel Clarke said: Pregnancy services in the UK are absolutely swamped and we hope this will alleviate some of the pressure. Professor Andrew Shennan, chairman of charity Action on Pre-eclampsia, said many mothers-to-be would welcome a home test. He added: Women still die from pre-eclampsia because it has been missed and these deaths are largely avoidable. Family doctors are being paid 350million a year to look after 'ghost patients' who have died or moved away, extraordinary figures reveal. There are now 2.5 million non-existent patients lurking on surgery lists and the NHS is having to fork out 141 for each one, which equates to an average of 43,750 per surgery. The numbers have soared by a fifth since 2008 despite a supposed clampdown by health bosses encouraging doctors to keep their registers up to date. There are now 2.5 million non-existent patients lurking on surgery lists and the NHS is having to fork out 141 for each one, which equates to an average of 43,750 per surgery Experts say that although many 'ghost patients' are left on registers by mistake, some are kept on by doctors deliberately to earn themselves more cash. In one example, GPs in Streatham, south London, were found to have knowingly kept patients on their list who had died or moved to India and Ireland. This is a discrepancy of 2.51 million and means 4 per cent of those listed with GPs simply don't exist. This figure has steadily risen since 2008 when it was just 2.1million They were also billing the NHS extra cash for carrying out flu jabs and monitoring some patients for long-term conditions. Bosses have repeatedly told GPs to remove patients as soon as they die or move away. But latest figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show there are 57.6 million patients registered with a GP in England compared to a population of 55.1 million. This is a discrepancy of 2.51 million and means 4 per cent of those listed with GPs simply don't exist. This figure has steadily risen since 2008 when it was just 2.1million. But the NHS, which has now amassed a 2.45billion black hole in its budget, is obliged to pay surgeries an average of 141 per patient to cover care regardless of how often they make appointments. This means it is currently losing 354 million a year to patients who don't exist. Jim Gee, ex-chief executive of NHS Protect, the counter fraud organisation, said some GPs were keeping patients on their lists on purpose. Referring to his work cracking down on the practice, he added: 'Some GPs knew perfectly well that patients had moved on but were just receiving the money for them. Some were just turning a blind eye.' Dia Chakravarty, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers will be furious. 'A system which allows over two million more people to be registered than there are in the country is clearly deeply flawed.' An NHS England spokesman said: 'GP practices work hard to keep their patient lists accurate, but patients may not always tell their GPs when they are changing practices or leaving the area. Artrage! The Story Of The BritArt Revolution Elizabeth Fullerton Rating: First, a little quiz for you. Which of the following are real pieces created in all seriousness by Young British Artists of the Damien Hirst generation, and which are silly little jokes, just made up by me? a) A pile of individual sheets of toilet paper, stacked high until they fall over. b) A T-shirt with the slogan Complete A***hole. c) A band in which no one sings or plays an instrument. d) A beanbag that makes different sounds when you sit on it. e) An exhibition called Gallery Connections, in which the artist hooks up leading galleries phone lines to each other, causing confusion. BritArt, as it became known got going in 1988, when Damien Hirst and fellow art students from Goldsmiths college organised an exhibition, Freeze (pictured: Damien Hirst's pickled shark) The answer? They are all completely real. BritArt, as it became known though BriTart might have been more appropriate got going in 1988, when Damien Hirst and fellow art students from Goldsmiths college organised an exhibition, Freeze, in a derelict warehouse in Docklands. No one could have foreseen the impact the show would have, writes their breathless historian, Elizabeth Fullerton, predictably going on to describe it as legendary. It would, she adds, blow apart the elitist hierarchy of the fusty art world and rewrite the rule book 'It marked the vanguard of a revolution that was to smash down the elitist barriers around art, transform the national psyche and put British contemporary art on the international map. Phew! At this point it may be worth remembering that, back in 1988, British artists of the calibre of Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Howard Hodgkin, David Hockney, Paula Rego, Patrick Caulfield and Lucian Freud all occupied key positions on what Fullerton calls the international map. Among those shortlisted for the Turner Prize in the Eighties were Derek Jarman, Gilbert & George and Ian Hamilton Finlay, none of whom could ever be described as fusty. If you were the type who liked your art shocking, there were shocks galore in London galleries in the decades before. Who can forget Carl Andres pile of bricks at the Tate (1972), or Genesis P Orridges Prostitution show (1976) at the ICA, featuring an array of used sanitary towels, or Piero Manzonis famous tin cans filled with his own faeces (1961)? I suppose it could be said that, like excitable children making farty noises with their armpits, the Young British Artists successfully turned shock into their raison detre. Using sliced-up animals in formaldehyde, mutant child mannequins with penis noses and anus mouths, heads sculpted from human blood and casts of whole houses, the artists grabbed the British public, punched them in the face and shook them out of their torpor, is the way Fullerton describes it. But did the British public ever really notice that it was being punched in the face, shaken out of its torpor, and so on? I doubt it. We simply went tut, tut, turned over the page and sank back into a fresh torpor. Once in a while, the sharks and the sheep and the smelly beds would attract a shock-horror headline on page five or six, but nothing remotely on the scale of, say, Edwina Curries eggs, or Alex Hurricane Higgins drunken rampages, or, in our own day, Kim Kardashians pneumatic bottom. The YBAs were aided in this illusion by a grisly combination of the capitalist and the connoisseur (pictured: Gavin Turks Pop) Years ago, Tom Stoppard observed that skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wicker picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art. But what if theres no imagination, either? Step forward the YBAs! Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst could most usefully be classified as literalists, just plonking an object down in the middle of a room in the belief that, because its they who have done the plonking, the object in question must therefore be art. This is an old joke, first cracked a hundred years ago by Marcel Duchamp but, somewhere along the way, they forgot it was a joke and expected us all to treat it with a deadly seriousness. The YBAs were aided in this illusion by a grisly combination of the capitalist and the connoisseur. Charles Saatchi, a bullish ad-man best known for coming up with snappy slogans for the Conservatives, Silk Cut cigarettes and Twix, went around the YBA exhibitions, hoovering all the stuff up. Then Nicholas Serota, the new director of the Tate, rubber-stamped the art with all the traditional certificates, awarding it prizes, giving it exhibitions, slooshing it all over with layers of artspeak for added prestige. This artspeak is as limited and impenetrable as the most off-beat dialect from Papua New Guinea. Anything from a dead mouse to a roll of sticky-tape will be described as being fuelled by anger or prompting questions about the very nature of art or ironic or an indictment of capitalist society or a metaphor for human existence or conjuring associations with Samuel Beckett, Caravaggio and the Eucharist or all of them put together. In 1993 the YBA Gavin Turk stuck five pieces of used chewing gum to the ceiling of a glass cube, gave it a title Floater and sold it to the Saatchi Gallery. Employed by Saatchi to write the catalogue, the art critic Sarah Kent described it as an ironic gesture of disaffection. 'A piece of chewing gum is stuck to the roof of a display case as though it were a relic, a cast of the artists mouth the subject is death and the traces we leave behind. Could you not apply the same words, with equal justification, to the next piece of chewing gum you find stuck to the sole of your shoe? Fullerton is similarly well versed in artspeak. For her, Hirsts famous fly-killing apparatus is guess what? a metaphor for human existence. A video of a naked man dancing to techno music is a eulogy to broken humanity. The vast headshot of Myra Hindley formed from pictures of her little victims stops the viewer in their tracks, forcing them to question their response to the image and ask how much of its power derives from the preconceived notions about the subject. Marc Quinns head made of his own blood conjures associations with Frankenstein, the Aztec tradition of human sacrifice, genetics and the Eucharist. Either you go along with this sort of blither-blather or you dont. The YBAs themselves seem to lap it up, perhaps because they find it so hard to say anything at all. The text of this book is peppered with quotes from ahem! exclusive interviews with the artists, all now in their 50s but still struggling to get to grips with language. IT'S A FACT In 2000 Damien Hirst paid an undisclosed sum to settle a copyright row with toy company Humbrol, which claimed his 20ft sculpture, Hymn, was a direct copy of its Young Scientist Anatomy Set. I couldnt be ******* arsed doing it, says Hirst, explaining why he employs teams of assistants to make his spot paintings. I was just having a miserable, s*** time, is what Sarah Lucas has to say about her life before 1993. If anything links the YBAs, it must surely be a bottomless reservoir of inarticulate self-pity. Nearly 30 years on, Hirst is now the wealthiest artist in the world, his last, straight-to-auction show raising him an additional 111million. Tracey Emin has been made a CBE and a Professor of Drawing and juggles with her extensive property portfolio. Sam Taylor-Johnson, OBE, directed the soft-porn movie Fifty Shades Of Grey. Charles Saatchi deftly sold key items from his YBA collection to an American hedge-fund billionaire, offloading the Quinn blood-head for $2.8million (he bought it for 12,000) and the Hirst Shark for $12million (he bought it for 50,000). A while ago, one of the original YBAs, Mark Wallinger, broke ranks, saying that they specialise in stating the bleeding obvious What is lamentable on Jerry Springer is presentable in the gallery Within this fools paradise, if you look like an artist and live like an artist, then you are indeed an artist. In its earnest way, Fullertons history of BritArt confirms all this, even if it doesnt really mean to. Grotesque caricatures of people and animals straddle Europe: an octopus representing a ravening Russia has tentacles clutching greedily across the continent; Poland is manacled in chains; while the Germans and Austrians are cast, at least in some maps, as heroic. Theyre disarmingly similar to the sometimes brutal drawings by todays political cartoonists. But these curious or serio-comic maps many of which are available to buy at next months London Map Fair hark from a time between 1854 and 1915 when Europe was heavy not only with tension but also conflict. YOURS FOR 1,500 Produced in their thousands, and intended to raise morale, the maps were ephemeral, pinned up for a moments light relief. Not everyone thought they were funny, though. Dutch caricaturist Louis Raemaekers so incensed the Germans they put a price on his head, and he fled to safety in London. But if they reflected the euphoria at the start of World War I, by 1916 the joke had worn thin. There were no cheeky satirical swipes at the horrors of the Somme or Gallipoli, and the maps abruptly fell out of fashion. Hundreds have survived, however, with rare examples fetching up to 10,000. Here is a taster of the most tantalising images. YOURS FOR 1,500 Caricature maps of England and Scotland, 1820s, artist unknown (copied from the 18th-century series of maps by Robert Dighton called Geography Bewitched) Robert Dightons images enjoyed a revival in popularity in the mid-19th century, and were later copied and used for wallpapers and hung in peoples homes. England (left) is shown as a ruddycheeked John Bull figure, well fed, clutching a tankard of ale and riding what the British Museum describes as a dolphin. Scotland meanwhile (below), is a grotesque figure, resembling Punch, kneeling astride a sack. The coastline from the Murray [sic] Firth to the Firth of Tay is formed by his tartan humped back. The original artist, Dighton, became notorious for selling valuable prints stolen from the British Museums collection ironic that many of his own prints now reside there YOURS FOR 6,000 Serio-Comic War Map, Fred W Rose, 1877 Roses most famous map, created during the Great Eastern Crisis of 1877 (which saw uprisings by Balkan countries against their Ottoman overlords), dehumanises the Russian enemy by making it a foul, fat octopus with tentacles reaching out to strange new territories. Enemies were always perceived as less human when represented by animals. Much copied abroad, it inspired a whole sub-genre of octopuses on maps. This image still offends some Russians today YOURS FOR 4,500 Angling In Troubled Waters, Fred W Rose, 1899 The Great Powers are attempting to reel in colonies at the end of the 19th century. Britain has a full bag of fish and has Egypt, in the form of a crocodile, dangling on the end of a hook. Germany, which was late to enter the colonial race, is casting its eye hungrily at Russia. Italy is struggling under massive debt but still manages to hold colonies in East Africa. Tsar Nicholas II carries an olive branch, but is he to be trusted? Printed alongside the illustration are copious references (not visible at this scale) to explain the meaning behind this detailed and complex work The London Map Fair is at the Royal Geographical Society on June 4 and June 5. Admission is free, londonmapfairs.com "Something very dishonourable happened there. And the local police definitely did try to bury it. These remarks were not part of his terms of reference to probe allegations of rampant sexual abuse and gang rapes in Murthal village. But former Uttar Pradesh and Nagaland director general of police (DGP) Prakash Singh was clearly distressed by all that he saw and heard of the three days and nights of relentless mayhem that consumed Haryana during a fierce pro-quota movement by Jats in February. The Jat agitation in February witnessed widespread violence and arson that claimed 30 lives There are no words in English to describe what happened in Haryana, says the eighty-year-old former police officer. Members of the relatively well-off Jat community burnt houses and vehicles, vandalised businesses and allegedly even sexually assaulted women, demanding job and education quotas similar to those provided to underprivileged castes. The role of the police department came under scrutiny following reports that personnel, many from the same caste group as the protesters, either directly or indirectly aided and abetted the rioters. I have been witness to the totality of administration revenue and police. And in situations I have seen them respond with some delay, sometimes with great delay. There are instances where the response smacks of bias and where officers have been partisan. But I have never seen the administration collapsing. Ceasing to exist, Singh, requisitioned by the Manohar Lal Khattar government to probe lapses by government officials in tackling the bloody campaign, told India Today. He said it days after submitting a report detailing the unprecedented abdication of duty by Haryanas police and civil administration. Still to be made public, the 414- page report, put together by Singh with assistance from IAS officer Vijay Vardhan and KP Singh who has since been appointed the state DGP indicts 80 police and civil administration officials who were deployed on key positions in eight violence-racked districts and state headquarters Chandigarh. Apart from those on the lower rung station house officers (SHOs), chowki in-charges, duty magistrates and fire officers in field the list of delinquents also includes top officials like the then Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal, intelligence chief Shatrujeet Kapur, home secretary PK Das and Shrikant Jadhav, inspector general of police in the worst-affected Rohtak Police Range, who was placed under suspension even as the state was burning. Without naming names, Singh says there are numerous instances where the abdication by senior district officers was deliberate and bordering on connivance with the intent-on-violence protesters. You know that loot and arson is taking place in your subdivision, yet instead of intervening you give them (the rioters) two to six hours to wreak havoc, at the end of which you patronisingly step in to say, arre bhai, ab bahut ho gaya ab jao. The tale of what transpired in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Sonipat and Panipat over three days in February is chillingly recounted in 2200 individual testimonies that Singh and his colleagues recorded and collated over 71 days. A 65-year-old Punjabi, who runs a public institution near Murthal, told Singh and the others about 200 motorcycle- borne, guntoting hoodlums sporting I am Jat placards, methodically scouring the national highway to Delhi for cars to burn. The only vehicles spared, he said, belonged to people who paid up. And when they came to torch his premises, a place that cares for the old, infirm and unwell, his frantic calls to the local DSP and SHO went unanswered. The SHO eventually picked up only to shout, You bloody refugee. You deserve to suffer! Fighting to hold back his tears the man, whose family was first forced to migrate from West Punjab (Pakistan) in 1947, told the committee they are preparing to move again. He has no idea where they will go, but says, It has to be somewhere safe. Close by, the proprietor of a hugely popular Punjabi dhabha, who reportedly paid Rs 20 lakh as protection money for his establishment, refused to say a word on record. He would speak to the committee but without the benefit of a video camera or a stenographer latching onto his every word. A devout Sikh whose eatery has benefited from the growing traffic on NH1, he ran a four-day langar (community kitchen) serving commuters stranded because of the protests. At 1 am on February 20, he remembers a rush of young and older women. Their clothes were in shreds. They all wanted to use the toilets. We gave them shawls and blankets to cover up, he said, recalling that he did not ask the ladies for any explanations because they were already so distraught. The dhaba owner also told the committee how the women were literally spirited away by the district SP and DC, who magically appeared 35 minutes after the women showed up. Jat leaders face sedition charges By Ajay Kumar A sedition case was registered on Friday against Jat Sangharsh Samiti chief Yashpal Malik and 125 others for allegedly threatening peace and communal harmony in Haryana by instigating people to launch a fresh quota agitation. Malik had organised a meeting at a local Jat Dharamshala on Wednesday where he announced another agitation on June 5, demanding reservation for Jats, withdrawal of cases registered during the previous protests and compensation to those killed during the agitation in February. Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said the government has put in place a plan to accelerate food production Predictions of a good monsoon this year seems to have brought cheers for the government. Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh told Mail Today in an exclusive interview that the government has put in place a plan to accelerate food production. We are ready for the monsoons. All the schemes that we have launched for the farming communities will now bear rich dividends and benefits for the farmers. The Modi government, however, has handled the past two years of drought efficiently. Though the years 2015-16 witnessed a drought worse that in 2014-15, the government ensured that production did not suffer. In fact, it increased, said the Union minister. The agriculture ministry, Singh said, since he took office, had been working on a composite strategy based on a two-pronged approach: increasing production and decreasing costs. The biggest achievement is the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. It is the biggest financial support structure from the Centre with lowest premium till date. We have also changed norms for providing relief in case of disaster. Earlier, a disaster of 50 per cent was qualified for relief, but we reduced in to 33 per cent. We inherited a wrecked system of agriculture from the previous regime. Therefore, on the policy level, we have focused on increasing production with a simultaneous thrust on decreasing the cost of production. Both these factors have a direct bearing on the overall food security of the country, specifically of the poor, Singh said. The minister said the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the introduction of drought resilient varieties of seeds and advanced varieties of several farm products had been aimed at increasing production. Making neem-coated urea easily available to farmers, expansion of organic farming and measures such as the introduction of soil health card and testing were meant to decrease the cost of production. We are trying to chalk out an integrated system of farming. We have introduced the National Agriculture Market as an e-market that will integrate 585 regulated markets by March 2018. To make allied sectors profitable for farmers, we have increased funding to Natiuonal Bee Board (NBB); four new projects have been launched with a cost of Rs 850 crore in the field of animal husbandry. Production of milk will reach a record 160 million tonnes in 2015-16, Singh said. We have also heralded a Blue Revolution in India. We have consolidated marine and inland fisheries under this umbrella concept. While the earlier government gave `600 as saving-cumrelief per month, we have brought it up to Rs 1,500. The overall fish production has also increased consequently, Singh said. Singh said that technology is now being used at an unprecedented scale in farming, based on Modis Gujarat model. We have launched four mobile apps for farmers. Kisan Vikas Kendras have sent mobile messages to 90 lakh farmers on crops and weather-based advisories, he said. This year, British holidaymakers are expected to spend around 35 billion abroad. Terrorism attacks have dented enthusiasm for certain destinations, such as Turkey and Tunisia, and the Brexit referendum may be causing some people to delay holiday decisions. Nonetheless, the British like to holiday abroad and thousands have already taken to the skies this weekend. Fat buck: Customers, such as the McLaren Formula One team, can load up FairFXs card with dollars via an app Wherever they go, they need foreign currency and invariably they are overcharged when they buy it. Exchange bureaus at UK airports typically take a cut of at least 10 per cent for foreign cash not necessarily in commission, but by offering consumers extremely low rates. Northern airports, such as Manchester and Liverpool are even greedier than their counterparts in the South, such as Heathrow and Gatwick, but across the country,consumers are losing out. Banks and post offices tend to take about 4 per cent, while using debit cards abroad typically incurs a fee of at least 2.5 per cent. The entire industry is complex and opaque, and there are wide variations depending on where holidaymakers buy their currency, with even individual post offices charging different rates. FairFX aims to offer customers a better deal by taking a smaller cut than rivals and making it simple and easy to stock up on foreign money. The group listed on the junior AIM market in 2014 at 45p and the shares have had a rough ride, partly because some founding shareholders sold their stock and partly because chief executive Ian Strafford- Taylor has been more focused on building the business than on telling City institutions about it. However, FairFX has been increasing customers and revenues by more than 20 per cent annually and should grow at an even faster rate this year and beyond. The shares are 30p and offer strong, long-term potential. Strafford-Taylor, an accountant turned investment banker, founded FairFX in 2006. His banking job involved trading huge volumes of stocks and shares at tiny margins per trade and he wondered why the same logic could not be applied to the holiday money industry. Over the years, FairFX has developed into a business that offers three basic services, all accessible via its website. First, customers can order euros or dollars online and have them posted to their homes the following day. Second, customers wanting to transfer large sums of money to buy villas in the sun, for example, can arrange to have cash wired overseas. Smart: FairFX aims to offer customers a better deal by taking a smaller cut than rivals And third, customers can buy payment cards, loaded up with euros or dollars or even sterling. Currently, it offers exchange only between these currencies. The cards look and act like ordinary debit or credit cards (and the sterling one can be used anywhere in the world). The big difference between FairFX and other foreign exchange providers is that it is significantly cheaper. The company uses the professional foreign exchange markets to buy currency several times a day, but instead of taking a cut of 4 to 10 per cent or more, it takes between 1 and 1.5 per cent. That means holidaymakers have more money to spend on eating, drinking and enjoying themselves abroad, because they are giving less away to FairFX than they would to banks, airport currencyfirms or post offices. The firm has also developed an app, which customers can use to buy cards or top up existing ones. And because cards are pre-loaded with foreign currency, customers can buy or top up their cards when the pound is strong. A couple of weeks ago, for example, FairFX saw a number of individuals buying euros when the exchange rate reached 1.30 against the pound. FairFX has 530,000 customers, most of whom are individuals. However, it has about 2,000 business customers, including the McLaren Formula One racing team. Companies buy pre-loaded cards for employees or contractors so that, when workers go abroad on business trips, there is a limit to the cash they can spend. The amount of money spent on travel expenses by UK businesses is more than 30 billion annually so, even though many employees will be less than thrilled to have their overseas spending habits curtailed, there are almost certainly significant savings to be had. Until now, FairFX has acquired customers largely through word of mouth and the odd bit of sponsorship or advertising. Looking ahead however, the group intends to increase marketing expenditure, kicking off with a TV advertising campaign that starts next week, which is expected to add thousands of new customers. The spending increase follows a 5.25 million share placing in March, primarily snapped up by Crystal Amber, an institutional investor, which now owns 24 per cent of the group. Crystal Amber is known for seeking out companies whose shares it believes are considerably undervalued, so the move is significant. FairFX delivered a 35 per cent increase in revenue to 7.4 million in 2015 and gross profits rose 32 per cent to 5 million. However, after investment in the business, the company made a 3.4 million pre-tax loss. Brokers expect revenues of almost 9 million this year, rising to more than 12 million in 2017. A small loss is expected again in 2016, but the group should move into profit from next year. Midas verdict: FairFX is a small player in the holiday and business foreign currency market, but its offer is cheaper than rivals and simple to use. Respected: Jeremy Tigue is backing cancer research Finding a cure for cancer is not just the dream of scientists and doctors even some normally hard-nosed City types share this altruistic goal. The Battle Against Cancer Investment Trust was set up in 2012 to do just what its name suggests, as well as make money for its shareholders. The unusual trust was conceived by Tom Henderson, formerly of investment house Cazenove and hedge fund group Moore Capital. He was inspired by his fathers chairmanship of the Institute of Cancer Research and is a big personal investor in the trust. Henderson and his management team, which includes chairman Jeremy Tigue, the respected former manager of investment trust big daddy Foreign & Colonial, have become bashful since launch and no longer seek publicity for BACIT. The Mail on Sundays request for an interview was politely rebuffed as are all media enquiries. But others are happy to comment, including Jason Hollands of broker Tilney Bestinvest, many of whose customers invested in it at launch. He says the trust, which invests in 15 funds worldwide rather than individual stocks, has delivered steady, positive returns with less volatility than global equities. Investors have enjoyed a smooth ride thanks to the broad global exposure across traditional equity funds, such as Polar Capital Japan Alpha and Majedie UK Equity, and alternative investments that include hedge funds Polygon European Equity Opportunity and Parity Value, which are normally unavailable to small investors. What is surprising but admirable is most of these managers also waive their fees, diluting the impact of double charges often associated with funds of funds. Initially, BACITs managers provided their services free. In lieu of a fee, a donation has been made every year equivalent to 1 per cent of the trusts net asset value to cancer charities half to the Institute of Cancer Research and half to the BACIT Charitable Foundation, which donates to charities selected by shareholders, including Marie Curie Cancer Care and Beating Bowel Cancer. But at the end of last year the reality of looking after hundreds of millions of pounds meant shareholders voted in favour of a 0.19 per cent management fee on top of the charitable donation. BACIT also invests one per cent of its assets a year in the Institute of Cancer Researchs drug discovery programme, meaning it will benefit from any commercial success from these endeavours. One drawback is the shares are trading at a premium of 5.5 per cent, making them relatively dear. Hollands says the nearest similar trust is RIT Capital Partners, which invests in hedge funds and private equity. He says: It has delivered higher returns over three years but has been more volatile as it has greater equity exposure and does not incorporate BACITs charitable structure. Patrick Connolly, of investment broker Chase de Vere, finds BACIT intriguing. He says: It isnt ever likely to shoot the lights out but if you want low volatility and competitive charges, plus the advantage of supporting charities, then this trust fits the bill. With nearly two-thirds of the trust invested in hedge funds it should provide good capital protection. John Ditchfield, of ethical financial adviser Castlefield, is underwhelmed. He says: The fund has returned almost 10 per cent over three years, which compares well with the FTSE All-Share but much less well against global equities. A Cheshire-based dairy supplier has achieved unexpected success in China. Delamere Dairy, based in Knutsford, now sells goats milk in the country after becoming the first company to get permission to export it last year. China has not been a great market for dairy farmers as so much of its population is lactose intolerant. Taste of success: Delamere Dairy sells goats milk in China after becoming the first company to get permission to export it Although goats milk still contains lactose it is naturally more digestable, meaning Asian consumers are able to drink it. Ed Salt, chief executive of Delamere Dairy, said the company has sold around 150,000 litres of goats milk in China and described the country as the last frontier of dairy on the planet. TV shopping channels generate the biggest sales for Delamere Dairy in China. Salt said the company sold 20,000 litres of goats milk in 30 minutes by having someone drink it live on TV. Britain is poised to buy 50 US-made Apache attack helicopters for 425 million, dealing a blow to the UK's last helicopter maker, Somerset-based AgustaWestland. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is expected to announce the order at the Farnborough airshow in July. The Boeing Apaches are part of a larger order of 240 helicopters being placed mainly for the US Army. US sources said this has allowed the UK to get a big discount. Each helicopter is believed to cost 8.5 million. Royal approval: Prince Harry, who flew the Apache attack helicopter in Afghanistan poses during a training exercise in the French Alps in 2011. Britain is poised to buy 50 US-made Apaches from Boeing for 425 million The British Army is understood to have recommended that the Government buy the Apaches 18 months ago, but the decision was delayed after lobbying from AgustaWestland, which wanted to make its own bid. The company's managing director is former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon. The original Apaches were bought from the US in 1995 for 20 million and then the Government commissioned the British firm to upgrade them with new engines and avionics taking the total cost per helicopter to 44million. Gunship: Britain's original Apaches were bought from the US in 1995 for 20 million and then the Government commissioned the British firm to upgrade them These improved helicopters are regarded as having performed significantly better than their wholly US-made equivalents in Afghanistan and were also impressive during the conflict in Libya. The helicopters in the new deal will be the advanced Apache Guardian model and they will replace the British Army's existing 50-strong fleet. They have engines made by the US company GE rather than Rolls-Royce. The crews can also control drones. AgustaWestland, part of the Italian defence giant Leonardo-Finmeccanica, has a 430 million contract to maintain the present Apaches, ensuring the survival of hundreds of jobs until 2019. The firm employs 3,200 staff. Deal: AgustaWestland, part of the Italian defence giant Leonardo-Finmeccanica, has a 430 million contract to maintain the present Apaches, ensuring the survival of hundreds of jobs until 2019 The future of the contract for maintenance work on the Apaches, also currently held by AgustaWestland, is unknown throwing doubt over jobs at the Yeovil site. Two years ago the deputy commander of the Joint Helicopter Command, Brigadier Neil Sexton, called for the advanced Apache to be acquired. He told Jane's Defence Weekly: 'The Army is absolutely sold on the Apache's performance in Afghanistan.' The decision by the MoD is reminiscent of the issues behind the so-called Westland Affair of 1985-86 when the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher clashed with Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine over the future of Westland, as it was then known. She favoured its rescue by a US firm, Sikorsky, while Heseltine favoured its merger with European rivals, including Finmeccanica. The Yeovil plant makes the Super Lynx 300, Wildcat and Merlin helicopters and the AW189 civil helicopter. An MoD spokesman said: 'The Apache programme is currently in its assessment phase and we expect to make a decision by summer 2016.' Britain's biggest food producer, 2 Sisters, has been hit by the first of a wave of strikes after workers complained it planned pay cuts to fund the new National Living Wage. According to staff representatives more than 1,000 workers have been drawn into a series of disputes over pay at the group, which makes Fox's biscuits, Goodfella's pizza and supermarket meals for a number of leading chains. One strike took place last week and a further three are looming at the company's sites across the UK. More than 1,000 workers are understood to have been drawn into a series of disputes over pay at the group, which makes Fox's biscuits, Goodfella's pizza and supermarket meals for a number of leading chains The row is the latest linked to April's introduction of the National Living Wage to replace the lower National Minimum Wage. Workers have complained that other benefits and overtime are being cut to help fund the rise. Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group is owned by multi-millionaire Ranjit Singh Boparan and is chaired by Labour peer and former ITV chairman Charles Allen. A recent report suggested that Boparan's net worth rose 50 million to 850 million last year. Staff at Foxs Biscuits in Wesham John Higgins, secretary for the Midlands branch of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, said: 'This dispute is escalating. People are becoming very frustrated. We're at the factory gate trying to save people on low pay 1,500 or 2,000 a year, while we read in the papers that Boparan could be one of Birmingham's newest billionaires, which has not gone down well with staff.' The Mail on Sunday first revealed the escalating row at the firm's Pennine Foods factory in Sheffield last month. Hundreds of workers have since taken part in a strike at the site, following complaints that workers would be worse off under new contracts. A further 48-hour strike is now planned at the firm's Rogerstone factory in Newport starting on Thursday morning. In a separate dispute, staff at its Pizza Factory site in Nottingham began voting in a two-week ballot on Monday. Sources also said its Fox's Biscuits factory in Batley, West Yorkshire, could be on the brink of balloting for industrial action, possibly within days, pending management's response to existing complaints over changes to pay. Negotiations are being led by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union at Sheffield, Rogerstone and Batley and by Unite in Nottingham. Workers have also begun campaigning outside Marks & Spencer shops in the Sheffield area with more protests planned. 2 Sisters has told staff it plans to cut Sunday and Bank Holiday pay, overtime and time off in lieu for working unsociable hours, but denies it is clawing back money to pay for the National Living Wage. British holidaymakers have refused to let fuel shortages in France caused by industrial action affect their plans for a getaway and many operators are even reporting increased passenger numbers. A spokesman for Eurotunnel told The Mail on Sunday that there were no cancellations due to the strikes. Bookings especially last-minute ones were actually up on last year. People are clearly not being put off by the strikes and the combination of half-term and the long Bank Holiday weekend means were extremely busy, said a spokesman. Busy: British holidaymakers have refused to let fuel shortages in France caused by industrial action affect their plans for a getaway Up-to-the-minute information about where petrol supplies were located were proving very helpful in reassuring people. He added: There is a lot of good information and a lot of petrol around. It was a similar story on the boats. Ferry operator DFDS Seaways said its services were unaffected by the strike action and there had not been a drop in bookings or spike in cancellations. The company said: Were expecting a very busy Bank Holiday weekend with thousands of passengers looking to get away. Booking numbers for the weekend are strong. P&O Ferries said: The fuel situation is continuing to improve and media reports about shortages are at odds with the relatively trouble-free picture we are seeing on the ground. Brimming their tanks: Motorists fill up at one of the last fuel stations before the Port of Dover in Kent Canvas Holidays said fuel was available on main routes and where possible it would provide free accommodation if holidaymakers are forced to extend their stay. Eurocamp said: The effect of the fuel situation on our customers has so far been minimal. No customers have been unable to depart and none has cancelled. HolidayTravelWatch consumer director Frank Brehany advised travellers to check with their holiday operator and insurance company before changing their plans. The owner of Matchless Motorcycles one of Britains oldest motorbike marques is to raise up to 5 million to help revive the classic business. A mini-bond is being sold to small investors through the online finance platform Karadoo. Investors in the Original Matchless Motorcycle Company will receive 6 per cent annual interest for five years. Offer: Investors in the Original Matchless Motorcycle Company will receive 6 per cent annual interest for five years The funds raised will be used to take OMMC to the market with the launch of two superbike models. Franco Malenotti, whose family acquired the Matchless brand and assets in 2012, has joined the board. Production of the hand-built motorbikes is due to begin early next year at the Onyx race engineering factory at Littlehampton, Sussex. The first Matchless motorcycle was made in Plumstead, South-East London, in 1899. All models had a winged M on the petrol tank. During the Second World War, Matchless built 80,000 bikes for the Armed Forces. Britain's peers in Europe spend more than twice as much on state aid to business as the UK, according to figures compiled for The Mail on Sunday. The study by leading economic research group Oxera shows that Britain spent on average 95 (70) a year per head of population on state aid to business and industry between 2009 and 2014, compared with 235 in France and 240 in Germany. The average across the EU is 165 per head, also well above the UK figure. Skid row: Ginetta cars, which gave Boris Johnson a spin, do not get the subsidies of US-made Teslas Germany and France are the two biggest spenders on state aid in Europe and also the economies most similar to the UK in size. The research was compiled from European Commission data on state aid spending that it had approved. While Britain's spending was significantly lower than that of France and Germany over the whole of the six-year period, Germany's spending soared to 500 a head in 2014, the latest year for which figures are available. Oxford-based Oxera said that this could be due to rules introduced that year on how green initiatives were reported. Germany's high level of state aid is due in large part to its support for renewable energy and energy saving measures. Restrictions: Ginetta sportscar boss Lawrence Tomlinson The biggest chunk of Britain's state aid is also on green measures, though it remains far less than that of Germany. The figures come as the upcoming referendum on membership of the EU has once again raised the often cited argument that the UK cannot help its industry because of state aid rules from Brussels. Hopes for a rescue of Tata Steel's UK division are mired in concerns over state aid. Government investment to keep Tata's British steel operations open could be contested under EU state aid rules, as could recent proposals from the Government to make special provision in law to allow the Tata Steel pension fund to change its terms to members. This weekend former Government adviser and owner of the Leeds-based Ginetta sportscar business Lawrence Tomlinson told The Mail on Sunday that EU rules were holding back the British motor industry. He said: 'You can feel the restrictions we get, things like state aid, the number of times that businesses are refused funding due to European state aid law. Well, the Americans don't have state aid law, they just help their businesses grow. 'The Americans gave Tesla cars half a billion dollars developing the electric car. We wouldn't have thought about that over here because it would be state aid.' According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, South African-born Elon Musk's firms, which include electric car maker Tesla, have received $4.9 billion (3.5 billion) in government support. Musk described the report as 'incredibly misleading'. Tomlinson also cited the case of the steel industry, where the US government recently announced a huge 522 per cent tariff on imported Chinese steel to help protect its industry from cheap imports. Green machine: The US Government gave Tesla cars half a billion dollars developing the electric car The tariff comprises a 266 per cent anti-dumping levy and a 256 per cent anti-subsidy duty. Tomlinson said: 'If the steel industry is struggling the Americans won't let it go bust. They subsidise it. So why should we be restricted?' Nicole Robins, senior consultant at Oxera and a specialist in state aid, said the fact that billions of euros is granted to companies every year by EU countries showed that state aid is not banned outright, but is possible through complex rules. 'There are four criteria which define whether government spending is state aid,' said Robins. 'Is public money being spent? Is the measure selective is it targeted at a single company or a small group of companies? 'Does it give an advantage to the companies receiving it? And does it distort competition or distort trade within the EU?' All of the spending detailed by Oxera met all four of these criteria, and so required approval by the European Commission. Robins said such approvals were granted when the aid could be shown to be for some wider public good. She added: 'To be approved you also need to demonstrate that it is limited to the minimum amount necessary and that it is a real incentive. 'That is to say that the investment would not have been done at all without the state aid.' It's been a tough year for Sir Charles Dunstone. The chairman of mobile group TalkTalk faced a reputational crisis when the company admitted a major data leak. Details of up to 4 million customers had been stolen by cyber criminals. Critics slammed the business and the shares slumped. Between early October and early November the shares dived by almost 30 per cent. The collapse in the price knocked more than 260 million off the value of Dunstones own 30 per cent stake. It was the worst thing I have been through as a businessman, admits Dunstone. Good call: TalkTalk chairman Sir Charles Dunstone realised quickly that mobiles would take off In the end the data leak turned out to be far smaller than first feared affecting just 156,000 customers and many criticised chief executive Dido Harding for jumping so quickly to make a public statement. But Dunstone will have none of it and argues that being honest immediately was the right decision for customers and for the business. Dido felt very strongly that she had to warn customers and rather than write them a letter the immediate thing to do was talk to the media, he says. It is one of the slings and arrows of life and business and we got on with it. The debacle put a big dent in TalkTalks profits, which halved to just 14 million. But the group still added almost 150,000 new customers in the months after the leak. People gave us credit for going on the front foot, owning up to the problems, taking the criticism on the chin and dealing with it, says Dunstone. The business has recovered much more quickly from it than I feared. Extraordinarily, our rating as an honest company has soared. But despite all this Dunstone is not so rash as to believe the public will automatically trust him when it comes to the subject of Europe. He is firmly in the Remain camp and says he has been encouraged by other business people to come out and make his views public. You just have to be careful, he says. I am sure people will be sitting there saying: Who the hell is Charles Dunstone and why is he telling me what I should think about Europe? But I am not doing that. I am just telling you what I think. And what he thinks is plain. What business and investors hate the most is periods of indecision and the unknown, he says. And the process of extraction from the EU will be very long. Even if in two years time it is all done, those two years will be incredibly painful. No one would invest any money. No one would understand what was going to happen. The pound would be very weak. That period of insecurity would be incredibly damaging and difficult to deal with. If we leave, the EU would not be very generous in any deal because if someone has left the gang you have to make sure no one else is incentivised to follow them. They would end up being very tough with us and it would take ages to sort. I accept that maybe in ten years time it would have all sorted itself out and we would have new free trade agreements, but the interim would be very uncomfortable. Now, if everyone understands that and still thinks it is worth leaving, then you have to accept that view. Dunstone, 51, is speaking in TalkTalks head office. The group is one of the two that emerged from the original Carphone Warehouse. The other is Dixons Carphone. Dunstone, who is reputedly worth 1.3 billion, is chairman of both. High seas: Sir Charles Dunstone on board his yacht, Hamilton 2 Despite his elevated status in the firm, his office is a glass affair that looks out on to a floor of staff at TalkTalks West London headquarters close to the Westfield shopping centre. The building has the air of a 1960s university. Lots of exposed smooth concrete and steel. It is also an unassuming office for a man who started Carphone Warehouse from a two-bedroom flat in 1989. Mobile phones were then a luxury item. Toys for City types. I have been unbelievably lucky, he says. No one anticipated that mobile phones would get the penetration they did. No one could foresee how the mobile phone would become the remote control for your life. Lucky is certainly how many would see it. Dunstone has homes in West London and Norfolk and enjoys indulging his love of sailing. There is a dinghy at the Norfolk house, though his outings in that are rarer than they used to be. He has a racing yacht and is chairman of Ben Ainslies Americas Cup bid. There is also a gentlemans motor yacht in the Mediterranean, which Dunstone bought and had renovated. A vast photo of the restoration project is on his office wall. Dunstone says he did not originally set out to be as successful as he has been I just wanted to make a living and it took him a few years before he was sure the business would work. When we opened our first shop in Oxford Street and we were putting up posters, there was a guy running a souvenir cart and he said: You are opening up a shop here, are you?, And I said: Yeah, its our first. Then he replied: I have seen every single type of business go into that shop and they all fail. But the one insight we had was that we knew the people who got the most out of mobile phones were the self-employed and small businesses, but the companies were selling them to bankers. The market was targeting the wrong customers. That was our one insight. The merger last year of Carphones retail chain with Dixons was widely derided in the City, but trading figures out last week confounded the sceptics. Sales were up 5 per cent and the companys chief executive, Seb James, described it as a stonking year. Dunstone is satisfied that the merger has been vindicated. But the conversation somehow returns to Europe. While Dunstone remains calm and measured he is clearly exasperated by the quality of the debate, which last week turned particularly acrimonious. The Institute of Fiscal Studies had warned that Brexit could severely hit the economy and force two more years of austerity on Britain. The Vote Leave campaign accused the IFS of being a paid-up propaganda arm of the EU. Its a bit juvenile that whenever anyone comes out with any kind of analysis on what might happen if we exit, they just pour scorn on it, says Dunstone. These people the Bank of England, the OECD, the IMF they dont just make it up. And then to say the IFS is a sponsored mouthpiece of the European Commission is unbelievably insulting. Its puerile. He goes on: Someone said to me the other day: I completely understand what you mean about the economy, but I am not voting out for the economy, I am doing it for sovereignty. But what does that mean? The person was about 70. Now its fine, if youre retired, you have a pension, your mortgage is paid off, then you can afford the luxury of taking a gamble on sovereignty. But if you are 25 years old and you hope to build your career and your prospects, it could be devastating. With less than a month to go until the referendum on membership of the European Union and with the final poll from the British Chambers of Commerce suggesting the race for the business vote has tightened, the Mail on Sunday speaks to two of the biggest stars of TV's Dragons' Den about how they will vote. Their responses suggest that they are as split on the issue as the business community itself. The BCC's poll of 2,200 leading business people found that 54 per cent would vote to remain in the EU, while 37 per cent would vote to leave with 9 per cent undecided. This is a dramatic tightening since the BCC's February survey, which had those opting to remain on 60 per cent and those wanting to leave at 30 per cent, while 10 per cent were undecided. Big debate: We speak to two of the biggest stars of TV's Dragons' Den about how they will vote I had no experience but EU let me export REMAIN: Dragon's Den reject Shaun Pulfrey Shaun Pulfrey, who now exports a million of his Tangle Teezer hairbrushes a month, said: 'I'm going to opt to stay in for the simple reason it's done my business good trading with Europe, and I would like to think it's going to be a great opportunity for others.' The former hairdresser appeared on Dragons' Den in 2007 seeking 80,000 in exchange for a 15 per cent stake in his business but walked away empty-handed after being told his idea was 'hair-brained'. Pulfrey, whose father wanted him to be a fisherman like himself, said: 'There was a lot of work behind the scenes. It wasn't just a stroke of luck. Not one time did I ever doubt myself, did I ever doubt the product or did I even say to myself 'What the hell are you doing?'. Slick: Shaun Pulfrey, who appeared on Dragons' Den in 2007, exports a million hairbrushes a month 'We went from doing 98,000 Tangle Teezers in a year to just under one million a month which we export globally. 'We have more than 300 people in the factories. I have created jobs, I am proud of that. We export to more than 80 countries China, Japan, America, Mexico, the list goes on. 'All the manufacturing is in the UK. In fact the primary factory is in Witney in Oxfordshire, the Prime Minister's constituency. 'I've met him a couple of times and am supportive of any Prime Minister supporting British business. As far as the referendum goes, the thing that's annoying me at the moment is the kerfuffle that's going on getting there. 'Entrepreneurs will always work with the set-up they've got. Free trading in Europe has worked for me very well. 'The rules that are set up now, that I've worked to and worked with, have been very good for my business. 'As someone who hadn't had any experience of owning a business, I'd like to think those opportunities are afforded to other people when they start their business in the near future. 'I think entrepreneurs are people who adapt to situations anyway. I think a lot are saying at the moment: 'Can we just get on with running our business?' ' People buy products because they are good not because we are in the EU LEAVE: Dragons' Den winner Neil Westwood Success: Neil Westwood with Lady Thatchers House of Lords robe, which he bought at auction for 84,000 last year Neil Westwood, who won 100,000 backing for a 40 per cent stake in Magic Whiteboard, a 'whiteboard on a roll', on the show in 2008, has hit out at Lord Sugar's claim that leaving the EU would lead to a 'disaster' for the UK. Sugar, who was appointed an enterprise tsar by the Government on Tuesday, said last week that pro-Brexit Boris Johnson had 'gone off the rails' with his 'outlandish' claims over the referendum. He told Sky News that Brexit would be a 'disaster' and added: 'We have to stay in. It's ludicrous, I don't know what Brexit people are thinking.' Westwood, who is launching Ifindyou, a mobile phone-linked device for locating misplaced keys and bags, said: 'I heard Lord Sugar saying leaving the EU will be a disaster. I have to disagree. The EU economy has failed and they have miserable levels of growth and bailouts. Unemployment is over 20 per cent in a lot of EU countries. 'If Lord Sugar was paying 10 billion a year to be part of a club so wasteful and inefficient he would ask for his money back and fire the bureaucrats. 'We can still trade effectively with countries without having the EU managing the process. 'We can trade with non-EU countries anyway. We sell Magic Whiteboard to 20 countries, 70 per cent outside the EU. People buy products because they are good, not just because we are in the EU.' Westwood, who with his wife now fully owns the 1.2 million turnover Magic Whiteboard, added: 'Far from being a disaster, it is an opportunity to create jobs and invest the billions we send to the EU every year in the UK.' He also said: 'George Osborne says Brexit will cause another recession. We are already back in recession. 'We are on a Worcester trading estate and everyone's sales are down. Osborne knows this and will blame a Brexit for his policy. It comes a week after he lost his temper at a ball boy during another match The 21-year-old ninth seed was given a $6,200 fine by French Open officials He shouted at his brother to 'get out of my box' during a break in play Nick Kyrgios lost his cool on the court again on Saturday, lashing out at his older brother during his crushing defeat by Richard Gasquet at the French Open. The ninth seed was seen screaming towards his player's box during a break in play to tell older brother Christos to 'get out' in his latest outburst. He was issued a weighty $6,200 fine for his behaviour, the largest at this year's tournament at Roland Garros in Paris. It came just a week after he lost his temper at a ball boy who, he protested, did not bring him his towel quickly enough. Scroll down for video Nick Kyrgios lost his cool again on Saturday at the French Open where he was filmed demanding that his brother and fitness trainers leave his player's box (above) Kyrgios, 21, lost in straight sets to the Gasquet on Saturday, describing the match as a 'struggle' afterwards. He required the attention of a physiotherapist during one interval after complaining about a pain in his shoulder. But it was his outburst towards his brother and fitness trainers which garnered most attention. He was filmed flailing one arm towards the area in anger and shouted: 'Get out. Get out of my box.' According to The Herald Sun the star also fumed: 'I'm sick of it'. Neither Kyrgios nor tournament organisers could be drawn on details of the outburst or his fine for it on Sunday. The athlete raised his arm in outrage towards the box while taking a break from the gruelling match against Richard Gasquet He maintained a surly expression as he receiveed treatment from a physiotherapist during another break in play Despite his court manner, the athlete was full of praise for Gasquet later as he made his way out of France for Miami. 'Clay court season is over for another year. Congrats to Richard Gasquet on an incredible performance yesterday, good luck for the rest of Roland Garros,' he wrote on social media. After the match he told reporters he had been 'destroyed' by 29-year-old Gasquet. 'I got absolutely destroyed. Wasn't really fun,' the 21-year-old said. Gasquet, who is to play fifth seed Kei Nishikori in his next match, credited the clay surface with weakening his opponent's game. The 21-year-old was knocked out of the French Open in straight sets on Saturday by French star Richard Gasquet The tennis player was understood to have been shouting at his older brother Christos (seen above at last year's Australian Open) 'This is the best format for me. His service was less painful here than on other surfaces. 'I was able to find the right angles. This being said, it was important for me to win the second set. I knew that one set each it would have been more difficult.' Last week Kyrgios was warned about his behaviour by tournament officials following his outburst towards the ball boy. He also accused umpires of being inconsistent in their policing of players, claiming Novak Djokovic had been let off lightly for putting his hand on umpire Carlos Bernades's arm during play. 'I think we all know in this room if that was me that did that, it would be an absolute circus. 'But he did it and nothing really happened of it. It speaks for itself.' Kyrgios later said he was 'destroyed' by his opponent after being given a $6,200 fine for his on-court outburst He later showed off a more gracious attitude in a Twitter post congratulating his opponent on the win The parents of Kate Steinle, the woman shot by an illegal immigrant on a San Francisco pier in July 2015, are suing the city and two federal agencies for contributing to their daughter's untimely death. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Friday, accuses the Sheriff's Department of failing to notify federal immigration officials that it was releasing Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez from jail. It also says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were at fault for not deporting him from within the jail, and blames the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for providing the gun that killed their daughter. Family: Jim Steinle (right) and Liz Sullivan (center, with son Brad Steinle) are suing the city of San Francisco and two federal agencies after their daughter, Kate, was shot dead by an illegal immigrant in the city last year Shot: Kate Steinle (left) was just 32 when Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez (right) shot her. He had just been released from jail after a drug charge fell through, but local laws stopped the sheriff having him deported Steinle was just 32 on July 1, 2015, when Lopez-Sanchez shot her with a gun that he claimed to have found underneath a park bench, wrapped in a T-shirt. He had just been released from jail by the Sheriff's Department, which ignored an ICE request to keep him behind bars, after the District Attorney dropped a marijuana sales charge against him. The gun was later found to have been stolen from a BLM vehicle two weeks previously. Lopez-Sanchez says the gun fired when he picked it up, striking Steinle in the back, piercing her heart. She died screaming for help to her father Jim, who was with her at the time. Lopez-Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge and is currently in jail. But Steinle's parents say that wouldn't have happened at all if the authorities had been doing their jobs properly - and if San Francisco's 'sanctuary policy' hadn't made it easier for Lopez-Sanchez to walk free. That policy, which was tweaked and re-affirmed last week, bars city employees from cooperating with federal immigration officials in deportation efforts. The law dates to 1989. The sheriff at the time, Ross Mirkarimi, cited the law when defending the release of Lopez-Sanchez, a repeat drug offender and habitual border crosser who had already been deported five times. Sheriff: Ross Mirkarimi (pictured in July 2015, before he was voted out as Sheriff) said he couldn't have Lopez-Sanchez deported due to San Francisco's 'sanctuary policy' which stops city officials aiding deportation Lawsuit: The suit names the Sheriff's Dept as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which the Steinles say should have deported Lopez-Sanchez anyway Despite that claim, the lawsuit says that the sheriff had an obligation to alert immigration officials. It also alleges that ICE knew Lopez-Sanchez was in the San Francisco jail and that agents should have taken him into their custody regardless of what the sheriff did or didn't do. Finally, the lawsuit alleges that the BLM agent was negligent for leaving a service handgun in a backpack in his government-issued car. Steinle's death in July thrust San Francisco into the national debate over immigration. Many politicians, including presidential hopeful Donald Trump, said that the law should have been scrapped. But advocates of sanctuary protections say a clear division between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities is needed to foster trust. Calling the entire episode a 'tragic series of events,' the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The San Francisco Sheriff's Department referred calls to the city attorney's office. Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the city attorney, said the city's 'heart goes out to the Steinle family' but that the sheriff can't be 'held liable for the conduct of a criminal.' Officials with BLM and ICE didn't respond to inquiries for comment Friday. 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. Two more, Shannon Johnson, 45, and Bennetta Bet-Badal, 46, were the most likely to survive but were pronounced dead at a triage station later Nine out of the 14 victims were found in the conference room, three of them clustered near a Christmas tree; t hree others died just outside the building Public health workers had gathered for an annual training session when coworker Syed Farook and his wife opened fire San Bernardino County released the redacted autopsies Friday, six months after the California shooting Three of the 14 people killed during the San Bernardino shooting were found clustered around a Christmas tree in a conference room that had been decked out for the holidays. Autopsies released by the county described the chaotic scene found by investigators after the carnage in December last year. Public health workers had gathered for an annual training session when their coworker Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire, dressed in black and wearing ski masks. Nine people died inside the 85-by-40-foot conference room that day. Three were found just outside the building and two were pronounced dead at a nearby triage station. Scroll down for video Harry Bowman (left), 46, the father of two daughters, died in the San Bernardino shooting after being hit five times. Shannon Johnson (right), 45, was one of the two victims deemed most likely to survive 'The room was in disarray,' the autopsy reports state. 'The chairs, food, property and decorations were strewn about the room. 'There were several dozen cartridge casings around the room. There were multiple bullet holes in the ceiling, walls, furniture and floor.' San Bernardino County released the heavily redacted autopsies as part of a public records request by The Associated Press. Some of the ceiling tiles in the conference room had come crashing down. The body of 46-year-old Harry Bowman, the father of two daughters, was found closest to the northernmost door of the conference room. Bennetta Bet-Badal (pictured left with her husband and right with their three children) was also one of the most likely to survive according to the autopsies. She and Johnson were pronounced dead at a triage station Bowman, who had begun working for the county not long before the attack, was shot five times. Eight other bodies were found in the conference room, some more than 50 feet from where Bowman lay. Three victims, all men, were left clustered near a Christmas tree. Three other victims died just outside the building. Two more, 45-year-old Shannon Johnson and 46-year-old Bennetta Bet-Badal, were deemed the most likely to survive but were later pronounced dead at a triage station nearby. It is unclear how long they lived before then. Johnson's autopsy shows he died of a gunshot wound to the right thigh, though he also was hit in the back, elbow and buttocks. One of his co-workers has credited Johnson with saving her life, saying he held her close when the bullets began flying and told her: 'I got you.' Bet-Badal, a native of Iran who came to the US when she was 18 to escape Christian persecution, died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, according to her autopsy. She had also been hit in the legs and chest. Her three children were 10, 12 and 15 at the time of the attack according to a Go Fund Me set up for the family. Twenty-two people survived the shooting. The San Bernardino attack was the deadliest terror strike on US soil since 9/11. The FBI said Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were radicalized before they met online and communicated privately about jihad and martyrdom before they married. Both died on the day of the attack in a shootout with police. Their autopsies were not released Friday. County spokesman David Wert said the investigations into their deaths had not been finished and had no estimate of when they would be ready. A high school Black merit scholar said he was removed from his graduation ceremony for refusing to take off a traditional African kente cloth. Nyree Holmes, 18, of California was waiting in line to walk across the stage and receive his diploma on Tuesday during Cosumnes Oaks High School's graduation ceremony at Sleep Train Arena. The student said an administrator approached him and told him to remove his cultural cloth from Ghana, which he had hanging around his neck, but Holmes refused. Scroll down for video Nyree Holmes, 18, a high school Black merit scholar said he was removed from his graduation ceremony on Tuesday for refusing to take off a traditional African kente cloth (Holmes pictured wearing his kente cloth) Holmes had worn his kente cloth (pictured) during Cosumnes Oaks High School's graduation ceremony at Sleep Train Arena when he was told he could not walk across the stage with it on 'That represents my blackness,' he said of his kente cloth, as he recalled the ordeal on Twitter on Tuesday. Holmes told Daily Mail Online on Friday that prior to graduation, he had planned to wear a kente cloth to the ceremony. He said he purchased it from a Christian Ghanaian producer on Amazon, and that his desire to wear it stemmed from his lack of an actual, firm connection to his ancestors in Africa. 'I decided to wear it to show my pride in myself, in my culture and my religion,' he told Daily Mail Online. When the administrator approached him on Tuesday, telling him he could not walk the stage with his kente cloth on, Holmes said the administrator dismissed him in a disrespectful way without hearing what he had to say. He said he told the school officials that his kente cloth was a 'cultural piece' and that he refused to be 'forced not to take pride in who I am,' he wrote on Twitter. 'I them [sic] asked him [the administrator] if "his agenda was worth more than my cultural pride." He then says that he has no agenda. 'So he proceeds to tell me that he will have the police remove me. He brings over some "rent-a-cop" so I tell him no as well.' Holmes (pictured left) said prior to graduation, he had planned to wear a kente cloth to the ceremony. He said he purchased it from a Christian Ghanaian producer on Amazon, and that his desire to wear it stemmed from his lack of an actual, firm connection to his ancestors in Africa 'I decided to wear it to show my pride in myself, in my culture and my religion,' Holmes said Holmes said the administrator then stormed off to get police to try and remove him before he got the chance to walk across the stage. In the end, the student was able to walk, but he said police officers were waiting at the other end of the stage. 'I get to the stage and I think I'm home clear. I go through shaking all the hands and smiling feeling as if I won,' he wrote on Twitter. 'Them [sic] when I get to the stairs I see 3 sherriffs at the bottom of the stairs.' Holmes said he was then escorted out of the arena by the three officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. When asked how he felt in that moment, Holmes told Daily Mail Online he felt both shocked and frightened. 'I was pretty frightened as a young African American male with three officers as they were walking me through this secluded corridor where no one else was,' he said. 'I asked if I could get my diploma and drop off my cap and gown, but they told me to keep on walking. 'Once I got a hold of my mom, I told her to meet me outside of the arena and that I was no longer apart of the ceremony. 'There were a lot of mixed emotions. I was shocked and surprised.' Holmes said once outside, his parents, grandparents and aunt met him there, who he said were all equally shocked about the ordeal. He said his dad made an unsuccessful attempt to get his diploma for him since he was not able to get it before they come across another security guard who was able to take him to get his diploma. Holmes recounted the ordeal on Twitter on Tuesday in a long thread that detailed the incident The Elk Grove Unified School District issued a statement which noted a 'student was prohibited from participating in the remainder of the school's graduation ceremony for refusing to follow direction of school officials who were attempting to uphold the established dress code' 'My dad comes across this security guard (black of course) that gets me into the exit to get my diploma,' he wrote on Twitter. 'And then he takes a pic of me and says "much love brother, stay up and achieve more."' While he said he missed out on a majority of his graduation ceremony, Holmes said it was worth it to him. 'I think its important to be culturally proud,' he told Daily Mail Online, adding he hopes to inspire others to be true to themselves and stand up for their beliefs. On Friday, the Elk Grove Unified School District issued a statement regarding the incident which noted a 'student was prohibited from participating in the remainder of the school's graduation ceremony for refusing to follow direction of school officials who were attempting to uphold the established dress code and for ignoring repeated requests to remove unauthorized non-school award regalia,' the Atlanta Black Star reported. 'The District regrets how events unfolded in this instance; however there was no intent to discriminate against the student, as the same rules apply to every graduate,' the statement said. The District noted the student was allowed to walk across the stage and be recognized, taking a picture with the principal wearing the Kente cloth, and was later given his diploma. Following the ordeal, he said he has received a lot of support and kind words on social media, even from celebrities including actor Orlando Jones (shown above) It also said that the District's approved graduation uniform is a cap and gown and that prior to the ceremony, school officials were unfortunately not given the opportunity to speak with the student's family about the student's desire to wear the cloth. Holmes told Daily Mail Online on Friday that the school nor the administrator who approached him has personally contacted him regarding the incident. Following the ordeal, he said he has received a lot of support and kind words on social media, even from celebrities including actor Orlando Jones. 'Ive gotten a lot of emails from people saying they are proud of me so thats a good feeling,' he told Daily Mail Online. 'People from Ghana and other countries have also reached out to me.' However, he said he has also received negative comments from people 'being extremely rude' and attacking his personal character, with some calling him a rule breaker and a criminal. 'I just laugh it off because I know that I am not any of those things,' he told Daily Mail Online. Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has been sacked after eight years as an LBC radio presenter Ken Livingstone's obsession with talking about Hitler has proved very costly. I can disclose that the former Labour Mayor of London has been sacked after eight years as an LBC radio presenter following his anti-semitic remarks. Red Ken had presented a Saturday morning politics show with former Tory minister David Mellor, but hes been replaced by Channel 4 News political journalist Michael Crick. His departure from the national radio station was initially presented as a break to meet broadcasting impartiality rules governing the role participants in the EU referendum and local elections could play. However, LBC now confirms he wont return to his post following his repeated refusal to apologise for his inflammatory remarks last month. Ken Livingstone is not currently presenting on LBC and will not be returning to the station at the end of his contract, a spokesman tells me. The station doesnt discuss presenters pay, but Kens fee is thought to come to tens of thousands a year. Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy was among those to call for Ken to be fired over his comments in which he claimed Adolf Hitler had been a Zionist before going mad and killing Jews. Guru-Murthy subsequently demanded: Is LBC entirely comfortable paying him as a presenter after what he said yesterday? LBCs action will add pressure on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to take action against his old friend and ally Ken. Although Livingstone was suspended for bringing the party into disrepute, the outcome of its National Executive Committee internal inquiry into his comments has not yet been declared. Londons new Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is among those to have called for Ken, 70, to be expelled from the party. However, Livingstone remains unrepentant. Last week he offered to buy a meal for anyone who could prove his comments were anti-semitic, declaring: Not a single newspaper, or radio, or TV programme has produced any evidence that what I said was wrong. Let them eat cake, says Joan at 83 Here's a thorny social dilemma: What do you do if offered a slice of cake with Dame Joan Collinss face emblazoned on it? The Dynasty actresss guests at her 83rd birthday celebrations dealt with this quandary by taking pieces from around the edge of the sponge creation, leaving the centre covered by Joans image fully intact. Loved ones at Joan Collinss birthday celebrations could not bear to cut into a cake with her face emblazoned on it, so instead they ate around the photo of the 83-year-old star The remains of my gorgeous cake! Dame Joan wrote next to this picture she posted online. The actress, whose fifth husband is 50-year-old Percy Gibson, celebrated with friends and family including her younger brother Bill, a property developer, and his wife Hazel. Never far from drama, Dame Joan stayed this week at Champneys Spa in Forest Mere, Hampshire, where troubled actress Sheridan Smith had earlier collapsed and been rushed to hospital. Net-a-Porter queen's ex to wed another fashionista Fashion queen Natalie Massenet has found new love, made a fortune and been awarded a damehood since divorcing French financier Arnaud Massenet in 2011. Now Arnaud has something to celebrate of his own. I can disclose that he has become engaged to a glamorous French stylist, Caroline Sciamma. Natalie Massenet has found new love since divorcing French financier Arnaud Massenet (the pair together, left) and has recently become engaged to glamorous French stylist, Caroline Sciamma (right) Not only has Caroline just given birth to their first child, but Arnaud has helped her launch her own fashion firm just like he did with Natalie. Their son, Leonardo, was born on Carolines 40th birthday on Monday. Were getting married in September, she tells me. Weve bought a house in Tuscany, so we thought it would be a very good place to get married very romantic. We met in Paris through a friend of mine. Arnaud, 50, is a co-director of her new fashion label, Skiim London, which will be focusing on leather and suede. Caroline insists she gets on very well with Net-a-Porter founder Natalie, 51, who is now courting 37-year-old Swedish entrepreneur Erik Torstensson. Fancy a cleaning job with a difference? The Queen is advertising for a maid to clean and care for her historic vases and irreplaceable paintings at Buckingham Palace. The ad on the royal website warns that this is no standard housekeeping role. It says the housekeeping assistants job, whose pay is not disclosed, is about delivering extraordinary service in incredible surroundings. This time last year, 13-year-old Jacub was the very definition of a troubled teenager. With a difficult home life and struggling at school, he was angry with the world and didnt the world know it. Hed explode whenever he was picked on by another pupil, punching walls, slamming doors and throwing anything to hand. He spent much of his time excluded from lessons, and was no stranger to the after-school detention room. Relations with teachers were little better. Unable to look people in the eye, he found it difficult to converse with adults. Youd be forgiven for thinking Jacub was going nowhere and that a life of under-achievement would follow. But youd be wrong. Because the Jacub standing in front of me today is a different boy. Calm and confident, hes quick to catch your eye and engage you in conversation. So, whats brought about this astonishing change? The answer is standing next to him 71-year-old retired carpenter Clive Soames. These are two of the pairs of schoolchildren and pensioners, brought together by the Hairy Bikers in a TV experiment that has proved to be a resounding success. Pictured, from left to right, Kimberley, 13, and Marina with Jacub, 13, and Clive Until last summer, the pair had never met. They were brought together by a TV experiment to see if cross-generational friendships could help both old and young. And though Old School With The Hairy Bikers might have been an unlikely formula for television gold two TV chefs pairing teenagers with pensioners watching the youngsters bond with their older mentors and grow in confidence has enthralled and moved viewers across the country. The idea was born out of research in Japan and the U.S. that suggests getting youngsters together with pensioners not only increases the schoolchildrens confidence and exam results, but also improves the memory and physical strength of the older participants. So, the Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers who both struggled at school set about seeing if it could work in Britain. They looked to Blackbird Leys, a huge housing estate on the outskirts of Oxford that in the Nineties was plagued by riots and joyriding. Even today, nearly half of the residents live below the poverty line. In the middle is the Oxford Academy, a school that in the eyes of the locals is under-performing so badly that 600 of its 1,500 places remain unfilled. In 2014, just 28 per cent of pupils gained a GCSE pass at grades A*-C, which is one of the lowest results in the country. Twelve partnerships were formed of 13 and 15-year-olds teamed with pensioners. Included in the mix were some of the most disruptive and troubled pupils. Many of the older participants signed up because they were lonely. I knew he was at a crossroads in his life and if he took the wrong path it could be disastrous. Pensioner Clive about Jacub, 13 All underwent a series of tests. The schoolchildrens self-esteem and confidence were measured, as were the older members cognitive skills and mobility. Then they met and were teamed up sometimes because they got on well or because theyd shared a similar experience and teachers thought they could help each other. Clive and Jacub came together for both reasons. He just appealed to me, says Clive. I could see he lacked confidence in his abilities, but he just had this energy. I knew he was at a crossroads in his life and if he took the wrong path it could be disastrous. He needed help to take the right path and to use his energy in a good way. Jacub knew he needed help. Diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), he has to take daily medication if hes to be allowed into school. But the drug makes him feel sick and so he often forgets or refuses to take it. Im quite hyper and the majority of people do judge me, he says. This was a chance for me to get to know older people, to change my attitude to them and to prove to them that kids arent bad. I also wanted to build my confidence. But there was another, tragic reason behind the pairing: both had suffered terrible losses. Clives younger son, Matthew, had died of a heroin overdose ten years before, at the age of 35, and Jacubs father had committed suicide when his son was just six. The idea was born out of research in Japan and the U.S. that suggests getting youngsters together with pensioners not only increases the schoolchildrens confidence and exam results, but also improves the memory and physical strength of the older participants. Pictured, Jacub, Marina, Kimberley and Clive Matthew was a clever lad, says Clive, who has another son, 49-year-old Justyn. But its so easy for kids to get peer-pressured into something they wouldnt normally do. They tend to experiment. This is what Ive tried to get through to Jacub. If youre a little bit vulnerable, you do it to please people and this can lead to disaster. One of Jacubs main problems was his temper. Classmates would tease him about his late father, knowing hed lash out. Much of that anger, it would seem, came from the pain of being unable to make sense of his fathers death or to understand why hed left his son. With his mum remarried, it was a subject he found difficult to broach at home, so he bottled up his confusion and sadness. Clive, a calm, gentle man with a delightful twinkle in his eye, proved the perfect foil. Jacub talks to me about his father, says Clive, who has three grandchildren. And I talk to him about Matthew. Its helped us both. One of Jacubs (left) main problems was his temper. Classmates would tease him about his late father, knowing hed lash out I tell him that though we have these losses, life goes on. We always remember them, but we have to carry on. For the experiment, each of the pairings met up for two hours a week, normally at the Academy but often further afield. Clive accompanied Jacub to another school, where he was starring as Tybalt in Romeo And Juliet, and also visited him at home. It was after about four or five weeks that I noticed he was looking me straight in the eye, says Clive. I could tell he was changing calming down and growing more confident. Jacubs transformation was also shown in class, where his punctuality and attention improved. There were fewer detentions, too. As for Clive, he has also got what he wanted out of the project: using his vast experience of life to help someone in need. Even though the cameras stopped rolling in January, the pair are still good friends and see each other regularly (Clives a legend! Jacub declares fiercely). Not all the friendships fell into place so easily. One partnership didnt even get started when the girl involved walked out after just a few minutes. Another ended a few weeks in because the older partner fell ill. After about a month, the future of the project was thrown into question when many of the youngsters began complaining that the older participant wasnt listening to them. Only after an emergency meeting was called and the pensioners were encouraged to change their rather set ways was a crisis averted. Some faced problems they had never expected. Judy Watson, a 66-year-old mother-of-two, was teamed up with 13-year-old Tawne because both had experienced bullying at school. Judy put up with it for years and told no one. I remember one of the bullies had a plaster cast on his arm and he thumped me in the stomach with it, says Judy. I doubled up in pain it was frightening. But back then, you just put up with bullying. Even so, its blighted her life. Judy says the childhood bullying is responsible for a lack of confidence thats dogged her since and stopped her fulfilling her dream of becoming a nurse. So if I can help someone else, I will, she says. Tawne desperately needed that help. Last year, she missed three months of schooling because of bullying. Not only was she ostracised at school, people would throw things at her as she walked home. She also suffered extreme bullying online, with her tormentors discussing how she should kill herself. But during her time with Judy, Tawne revealed a far darker secret: she had been secretly self-harming by cutting herself. After about a month, the future of the project was thrown into question when many of the youngsters began complaining that the older participant wasnt listening to them. Only after an emergency meeting was called and the pensioners were encouraged to change their rather set ways was a crisis averted I didnt know what to do, says Judy. I was so worried about her, that shed do something stupid, but I didnt want to betray a confidence. The participants had been given guidelines that if a pupil revealed anything serious, such as abuse, then they had to tell the school. So I called a teacher. I felt terrible and worried about how Tawne would react when she found out. But the teacher said that if Tawne had told me, it was a cry for help and she wanted me to tell someone. It was and Tawne was given the specialist advice she so desperately needed. And while there are no miracle cures, Judy is quietly confident that her friendship is helping Tawne. When we met, Tawne wore her hair in front of her face, like a wall against the world, she says. We cant go out because theres no one to look after my disabled brother. Ive never been able to go out on my own with Mum. So the attention from Marina means a lot to me. Schoolgirl Kimberley, 13, about Marina But I saw her chatting to friends the other day and her hair was pushed back behind her ears, her face on show. I was so proud of her and knew things were improving. Not all the youngsters had complex emotional needs. Kimberley, 13, just needed some attention. One of five children, her mum struggles to look after her brood, especially as Kimberleys younger brother was born prematurely, weighing just 2lb, and has to use a wheelchair. Were a nice, normal, dysfunctional family, Kimberley joked in the programme, with a smile that hid the toughness of her life as a carer for her younger siblings. But her partnership with Clives wife, 65-year-old Marina, has changed all that. After getting to know each other through the Old School project, the pair headed off to Oxfords Natural History Museum for a day out. I never get to go to places, says Kimberley. Im always in the house helping Mum or doing homework. We cant go out because theres no one to look after my disabled brother. Ive never been able to go out on my own with Mum. So the attention from Marina means a lot to me. I feel really special because she listens to me and shes not always on her phone or on Facebook. I feel more confident and its made me get up and do things such as acting in drama class rather than stay in the background. Marina says: Shes a bright little girl with a wonderful sense of fun, who just wanted a friend and to have some time for herself. Its such a simple idea you wonder why it hasnt been tried before. The Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers who both struggled at school set about seeing if an experiment carried out in Japan and the U.S. could work in Britain With so many children leading complex lives (just one of the 12 children in the experiment lives at home with both parents), who better to give the attention and guidance they need than older people with not only years of experience, but also the time to spend with them? The older people gain so much, too. Following the three-month experiment, tests showed their movement and memories were better, as well as their ability to socialise. Among the younger participants, those taking exams got higher grades than predicted. On the psychological tests, Tawnes self-esteem increased from a score of minus one before the experiment to 61 twice the national average. And Jacubs achievement score merit points awarded for good work or behaviour had soared from seven to 26. Teachers say this has had a ripple-down effect to other pupils and the Academy is now in the countrys top ten most improving schools. No wonder theyve been able to secure 65,000 in grants to continue the project and help roll it out across the country. Jacub is the first to acknowledge its success. Before, I wouldnt speak to people, but now I can go up to someone and say hello, which Im proud of. My anger has calmed down and Im not as hyper as I used to be. With that, the end-of-day school bell rings and he jumps up to go. But hes not heading off home. Instead, hes off to detention for being disruptive in class. Oh well, no one ever said there wouldnt be bumps in the road. The massive EU operation to rescue migrants has effectively become a ferry service across the Mediterranean, it emerged yesterday. Smugglers are setting off from the North African coast in boats with only enough fuel to get them into international waters. They then telephone rescuers asking for help, knowing they will be picked up by EU ships that will take them the rest of the way to Italy. The mission, in which the Royal Navy has destroyed just 27 smuggler boats in almost a year of involvement, has been described as a magnet to migrants. Whitehall officials yesterday refused to make public the cost of our contribution to the EU operation called Operation Sophia. Futile? HMS Bulwark is one of the Navy ships in the Mediterranean patrolling While only nine smugglers have been identified by the British and reported to Italian authorities since the mission began last June, naval ships have ferried thousands of people to mainland Europe. Some 3,700 or more than a quarter of the 13,700 migrants plucked from the sea and taken to Italy in the 9.3million operation have been rescued by British vessels. They cannot be returned to troubled Libya because it is not deemed to be safe and they are therefore disembarked in Italy. David Cameron this week announced a British warship would be deployed off the Libyan coast to boost the effort, but military experts dismissed this as a grand gesture. More than 12,000 migrants have been picked up from the sea in the past week as the warm weather brings the start of another summer of chaos. A cross-party House of Lords report earlier this month warned that claims the search-and-rescue operation acts as a magnet to migrants and eases the task of smugglers, who would only need their vessels to reach the high seas had some validity. The mission does not...in any meaningful way deter the flow of migrants, disrupt the smugglers networks, or impede the business of people smuggling on the central Mediterranean route, it said. HMS Richmond, a Type-23 frigate, which support the EU's operations in the Mediterranean during 2014 David Cameron this week announced a British warship would be deployed off the Libyan coast to boost the effort, but military experts dismissed this as a grand gesture In answer to a parliamentary question about the effectiveness of the UKs naval contribution, Armed Forces minister Penny Mordaunt said the figures show how few boats have been destroyed to prevent them being re-used. She said: HMS Enterprise has been valuable in developing a picture of the maritime environment and smuggling routes. More broadly, we assess that Operation Sophia has left the smugglers unable to operate with impunity in international waters. This is progress on which we can build. Miss Mordaunt added: We remain committed to working with the Libyan Government of National Accord to move to the later phases of the operation once the right conditions are in place and prevent the smugglers from putting people to sea. Tory MP Anne Main, who put down the question, yesterday said she was disappointed that the Government had refused to give details of the cost of the operation, but said it was no doubt a large and significant sum. She added: No wonder the EU do not want us to leave, as we are doing them a huge favour. You have to ask why this EU maritime force is in existence when they are not pulling their weight. They are the ones with fleets in the Mediterranean and yet it is down to us to do the heavy lifting. Despite the Prime Ministers pledge to help Libya, a Downing Street spokesman was unable to say what type of Royal Navy ship would be sent to join the four UK vessels already involved. Criticising the move, Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a former Nato commander and Ministry of Defence director general, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: I think because it is happening at the G7 and we have a referendum this has the nature of a grand gesture. What I think is significant here is that we are having to boost the EU operation. Whatever David Cameron and his fellow European leaders tell us, the enormous one-way flow of migrants to the West is changing Europe irretrievably and for ever. Twelve thousand migrants have been rescued from people-smugglers' boats off the coast of Libya and heading for Italy in the past week alone. And more maybe a million more who come from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia will soon be on their way there, too. For more than 15 years now, I have reported on the steady flow of migrants heading for Europe. In countries across the Continent, I have spoken to those who have travelled thousands of miles, and never ceased to be amazed by their resilience and determination to find a better life. More than a thousand refugees of sub-Saharan origin arrived in Salerno from the Channel of Sicily carried by the Siem Pilot ship In recent days the EU Navy made several rescues of boats from Africa including people with scabies Shocking pictures earlier this week showed the the vessel, crammed with refugees, starting to lean on to its side before refugees start diving into the water as it capsizes I have witnessed fatal tragedies as migrants make their way across perilous seas, despair and disappointment as their hopes turn to ashes, and resentment and anger from Europeans who feel their own countries and cultures are threatened by this relentless tide of incomers. But this week, on the quayside of pretty Porto Empedocle in Sicily, I came across a scene that convinced me more than ever that the explosion in migration is completely out of control. I watched as 540 Syrians, Libyans and Moroccans came ashore from the Italian naval ship that had plucked them from the sea after the boat taking them to a new life across the Mediterranean capsized. Coming down the gangplank they waved at the waiting crowd of TV crews, international charity workers, UN officials, police and Red Cross doctors, as if they were celebrities on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. The crowds cheered back, shouting 'buongiorno' (good morning) and clapping as the arrivals set foot on dry land. Such was the surreal carnival atmosphere that it was almost impossible to comprehend that hours earlier these smiling migrants had been involved in a life-or-death struggle. Or that they were in Italy only because they had paid smugglers, now growing rich in chaotic Libya, for a place on a flimsy wooden boat to illegally enter Europe where they were now being accepted with open arms. Crammed to the hilt, their boat sank after 240 of the passengers had already been taken off and ferried to safety on the Italian navy ship. The arrivals, including tens of pregnant women and at least 107 children, many clutching teddy bears, then lined up to fill in registration forms and have their photographs taken by immigration officers At least five migrants drowned off the Libyan coast on Wednesday after the heavily overcrowded boat they were sailing on overturned, the Italian navy has revealed The remaining 300 passengers had then panicked and rushed to one side of the vessel, tipping it over. Only the best efforts of the navy, who threw scores of red lifebelts and rafts into the water, saved all but a handful of them. The ship's captain, Francesco Lavezzo, took his turn in front of the cameras in Porto Empedocle. He said an uplifting memory for him was when a rescued migrant girl smiled with excitement as she was given a white teddy bear by his crew on board the ship. It was a tear-jerking story and one that sugars and distorts the tragic but ugly truth about this sorry episode. For whether we like it or not, large numbers of those coming ashore in Sicily were not refugees fleeing persecution or war. Many were economic migrants, who may have come from countries run by despots, or live on less in a year than most in the West get paid in a week but who have now slipped into Europe illegally with few questions asked. The port-side party atmosphere also seemed offensively incongruous. For next to the noisy quayside welcoming party stood a line of hearses waiting to take five bodies to a Sicilian morgue. They were the migrants who had drowned after the boat upturned the ones who had not been so lucky. The hearses would be in use again shortly afterwards. A second boat full of migrants capsized the following day and up to 30 were feared drowned as another 88 were hoisted to safety. But it's not just Sicily. Across the water on Italy's mainland, the southern port of Salerno yesterday received more than 1,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who had been recovered by a Norwegian ship. As soon the Siem Pilot docked, those most unwell were taken on stretchers to makeshift medical tents set up on the quay. Among them, 173 were found to have scabies. The arrivals, including tens of pregnant women and at least 107 children, many clutching teddy bears, then lined up to fill in registration forms and have their photographs taken by immigration officers. Twelve thousand migrants have been rescued from people-smugglers' boats off the coast of Libya and heading for Italy in the past week alone Officials said they came from 20 countries, mostly sub-Saharan, including Nigeria, Mali, Cameroon, Somalia, Gambia, and Senegal. They had departed from the Libyan city of Sabratha on Tuesday night in dinghies. What seems incontrovertible about the biggest migration crisis in Europe since the Second World War is the extraordinary number of people who are prepared to risk their own lives, and even their children's, to reach the West. Yes, the risks are huge, but they understand that the odds of survival are stacked in their favour, and greedy people-traffickers in Libya encourage them by telling them so. And there is also an official safety net: under EU rules, member countries have a duty to send their navy to rescue anyone in peril on a vessel in their own territorial waters. These rescue vessels simply act as a magnet for more migrants to try the crossing. They know that if they reach Italian waters, they will most likely survive and be taken to their destination even if the smugglers' craft in which they are sailing does not make it. What is certain is that some of those brought to safety in Porto Empedocle this week will have vanished from Italy within weeks. They will simply walk out of the migrant hostels after taking a hot meal and a shower. The Norwegian ship 'Siem Pilot Stavanger' arrives at Manfredi pier of Salerno port carrying 1,017 refugees Last year, a staggering 47 per cent of the 153,000 migrants who arrived in the country did not even attempt to claim asylum. Many ran away, travelling to northern Europe to try their luck at getting into prosperous Britain, Germany or Sweden. Of course, some do stay in Italy. In the midst of economic woes, the country has been forced rapidly to extend its hospitality. Last year the highest number of migrant housing places Italy had to provide was 67,000. This March that had risen to 106,000. An increasing number of them are unaccompanied children less than 18 years old. They have been sent as forward scouts by their families back home, who one day hope to join them. Each migrant, whether a grandmother, a young man looking for work or a baby, is an extra mouth to feed, another human to clothe who needs a bed to sleep on. No wonder Italy is buckling under the strain. The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini estimates that half a million more migrants are currently waiting in Libya hoping to reach Europe on traffickers' rickety boats. Migration experts have said the true number could be twice that figure. Officials said they came from 20 countries, mostly sub-Saharan, including Nigeria, Mali, Cameroon, Somalia, Gambia, and Senegal. They had departed from the Libyan city of Sabratha on Tuesday night in dinghies For other paths to Nirvana are closing. Migrant numbers on the route from Turkey to Greece, through the Balkans and up to northern Europe have dwindled in the face of border checks and barbed wire fences in less welcoming Austria and Hungary. More than a million people reached Europe that way last year after Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel invited in all Syrian refugees fleeing civil war and the horrors of the Islamic State which has taken over swathes of their country. What a can of worms she opened. What a seismic shift she has caused in Europe. For countless numbers of those who took up her offer were not refugees from beleaguered Syria at all. Thousands upon thousands chanced their luck by pretending to be Syrians, while in fact they hailed from the Balkans, from Albania, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Iraq or from Africa. Today, safely in Germany, many don't even bother to lie about their background and no sanctions are imposed on them for their deception. Last year I did actually meet a Syrian in Calais, a well-dressed man who had booked in to my hotel there. The 32-year-old was a civil servant who had reached Europe by sailing from Turkey to mainland Greece on a traffickers' boat. Once there he headed north to France by train. 'I am going to Britain,' he told me with certainty at the French port. 'I have the cell phone number of an agent here in Calais who I will pay to hide me inside a car on a ferry to Dover. Thousands upon thousands chanced their luck by pretending to be Syrians, while in fact they hailed from the Balkans, from Albania, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Iraq or from Africa 'I am not going to wait with these other migrants in the mud of the camps. They are not Syrians. They are from Africa and Afghanistan where there is no big war like ours.' When you look at the latest asylum claims in the UK, you realise what he said is right. The figures have jumped by more than a third to the highest annual level for more than a decade, according to the Office for National Statistics. In the year to March, the largest numbers came from Iran, followed by Eritrea, Iraq, the Sudan, and Pakistan all countries which certainly have their troubles but nothing like the difficulties facing Syria. Indeed, Syria accounted for only 2,500 of the total 34,687 UK applications. Libya's former dictator Colonel Gaddafi, before he was deposed and killed in 2011, promised the West that he would turn Europe into a Muslim country if the EU did not support his power struggle with insurgents and extreme Islamists. He threatened to allow traffickers to operate unhindered they already existed on a limited scale in Libya and let them flood our Continent. Last month, Frontex, the EU Border Force, warned that terrorists are infiltrating Europe by pretending to be refugees. It pointed out that two of the bombers in last November's Paris attacks arrived on a smugglers' boat from Turkey. At the G7 summit in Japan this week, David Cameron warned that Islamic State is gaining a foothold in Libya, and pledged Britain would send a Royal Navy warship to patrol Libya's coast to help tackle people-smugglers. But he failed to acknowledge that it was his own gung-ho decision to help remove Gaddafi using British armed forces that reduced Libya to the terrifying anarchy it is in today. Frankly, the Prime Minister's gunboat diplomacy smacks of gesture politics. The plan is for the vessel to turn back smugglers' boats but there are simply too many of them. Private health insurers could finally be forced to fund all treatments available on the NHS after one firms refusal to pay for a knee operation was judged to be unfair. Insurers reject thousands of claims for treatment each year from patients who have paid their premiums each month. In some cases, they say no to claims from patients who could have the treatment on the NHS but are in too much pain to join a long waiting list. But campaigners said such cases could end after the Financial Ombudsman Service set a precedent by ruling against one of Britains leading insurers. Insurers reject thousands of claims for treatment each year from patients who have paid their premiums each month (file image) Ombudsman Chantelle Hurn-Ryan said AXA PPP had unfairly refused to pay for 6,000 knee surgery that is carried out on hundreds of NHS patients each year. Customer Michelle Booth, 47, from Oakley, Hampshire, asked the firm to pay for a HemiCAP procedure, after her surgeon recommended it for damage to her left knee following a fall in 2014. During the surgery, a metal disc is inserted into the knee to fill the worn-out surface of the joint, making it smooth again. More than 70,000 people around the world have had the procedure and 350 have it in Britain each year, most of them on the NHS. Some 150 surgeons in Britain are trained to do the operation. But AXA refused because it did not think the treatment would be effective, and the operation had not been endorsed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) the body that approves NHS treatment. Procedures and drugs that are not approved by NICE can still be provided by individual NHS trusts, however. In the end, Mrs Booth was forced to wait five months to have the operation on the NHS. She complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which said AXA should have funded the procedure, and ordered it to pay her 2,000 in compensation for her pain and suffering while on the waiting list. The case, which was first highlighted by the Good Health section of the Daily Mail last year, raises questions about the restrictions being imposed by some private health insurers. One in ten Britons has private health insurance. In 78 per cent of cases this is funded through work schemes. Ombudsman Chantelle Hurn-Ryan said AXA PPP had unfairly refused to pay for 6,000 knee surgery that is carried out on hundreds of NHS patients each year (file image) Brian Walters, of health insurance broker Regency Health in Cheltenham, said: This ruling might make insurers who refuse to fund treatments available on the NHS reconsider. A spokesman for the Private Patients Forum added: This case and the ruling by the Ombudsman will help many other patients get fair treatment under their insurance. Mrs Booth, a former healthcare assistant, said: The decision has righted a wrong. It was never about the money, but the principle that patients with private health insurance should be able to receive the treatment their doctor recommends, not the treatment the insurer recommends. It is ridiculous that private health insurers refuse to fund procedures available on the NHS. Mrs Hurn-Ryan said in the ruling: Ms Bs specialist said he found AXAs decision to be very confusing, as over 70,000 of these procedures have been carried out over the last 12 years. AXA PPP said: The treatment proposed for the member is done by few surgeons in the UK and has not been assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as being proven to be safe and effective. Tougher SATs tests for 11-year-olds were condemned yesterday as unfair, full of tripwires and containing GCSE-level material. More than 600,000 youngsters in primary schools across England sat papers in maths, reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar earlier this month. Ministers made the Key Stage Two assessments more difficult in a push to raise standards. But marks are expected to drop dramatically, leaving hundreds of primaries branded failures when the Department for Education publishes results later this year. More than 600,000 youngsters in primary schools across England sat papers in maths, reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar earlier this month (file image) Government advisers and academics have now analysed the test papers, published online by the Times Educational Supplement, and have given a withering verdict. Anne Watson, emeritus professor of mathematics education at the University of Oxford and a government adviser, said: Im not complaining about difficult questions; there should be multi-stage questions. BUT A-LEVEL STUDENTS WANT HARDER EXAMS! Thousands of GCSE and A-level physics pupils are using tougher practice questions from the Victorian era to better equip themselves for degree courses, it has emerged. Many universities have introduced four-year physics degrees to compensate for students arriving with poor subject knowledge. Physicists from the University of Cambridges Cavendish Laboratory have analysed more than 17,000 physics exam questions, dating back to 1893 and concluded that over time, the questions had become easier, the Times Educational Supplement reported. They have used their research to set up the Isaac Physics website (isaacphysics.org), offering access to some of the hardest exam questions set over the past 120 years. It is now being used by thousands of physics GCSE, AS and A-level pupils every day. On April 10 alone a Sunday 9,275 questions were answered. And on a single day during the Easter holidays, 5,487 questions were tackled. Earlier this year, the National Audit Office warned that physics was being taught by teachers who know little about the subject because of a staffing crisis in schools. But where are the opportunities for children to show their knowledge in a straightforward way? She added: There were a lot of tripwires all over the place.. Professor Watson, who helped write the primary curriculum which schools have followed since 2014, said one of the 40-minute reasoning papers was not fair and reasonable because it was significantly harder than a sample assessment published last year. One question about angles was at GCSE lower to mid-standard level, she said. This years spelling, punctuation and grammar test was condemned by Pie Corbett, an adviser to Tony Blairs government, who said some of the grammatical rules were too complicated for 11-year-olds to grasp. Children are submitting to linguistic pyrotechnics beyond the ken of most adults, he said. The ability to create something that might be of interest or value, is being deadened. Mr Corbett said the daftest question on the paper was one that asked: What is the function of the sentence, How well youve done? He said: But there is no punctuation. Is this a cunning trick? Surely, no examiner would state that something is a sentence when it is not. Meanwhile experts at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, which carries out research and training on improving reading, said the SATS reading test was skewed towards retrieving and recording information rather than understanding meaning. The National Association of Head Teachers wrote to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan this week asking for Key Stage Two results not to be published amid fears of a big dip in childrens achievement. Government advisers and academics have now analysed the test papers, published online by the Times Educational Supplement, and have given a withering verdict (file image) A Department for Education spokesman said: Teachers and development experts were involved in the development of the tests to ensure the papers were at an appropriate standard for KS2 pupils. This is because parents rightly expect their children to leave primary school having mastered the basics of literacy and numeracy. A student who was left with a 'kink' in her nose by a top plastic surgeon has failed in a 35,000 bid for compensation. Mijin Zahir, 27, said she asked Harley Street specialist Shailesh Vadodaria for an 'ideal' nose with 'perfect symmetry'. But waking up after the July 2010 operation, she said she was horrified to see the results of the procedure carried out by Mr Vadodaria, who has featured in Channel 4 show Embarrassing Bodies. Mijin Zahir, 27, said she asked Harley Street specialist Shailesh Vadodaria for an 'ideal' nose In the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Garnham dashed her hopes of winning damages when he ruled that the surgeon had not been negligent. The judge agreed that the slight 'deviation' in the straightness of Miss Zahir's nose had been 'somewhat accentuated' and there was also a 'kink', in her right nostril caused by buckling of the cartilage. But the surgeon had carefully explained to her 'the limitations of surgery' and that the outcome might not meet her expectations, he said. Mr Vadodaria's lawyers said he warned her in clear terms that 'success could never be guaranteed'. Barrister Ranald Davidson told the court: 'The results of cosmetic procedures are variable. A surgeon cannot be held negligent because the result is not perfect.' Exonerating the surgeon, Mr Justice Garnham ruled: 'The cause of the kinking was not negligence on the part of Mr Vadodaria.' Miss Zahir, of Colindale, North London, had claimed 'the whole ordeal has had an enormous impact on my life'. Clara Cowan met Tom Hiddleston yesterday at the 500 Words short story competition Her heartbreaking story of a woman struggling with dementia was inspired by her grandmothers battle with the cruel disease. And while ten-year-old Clara Cowans tale may not have won BBC Radio 2s short story competition for children, 500 Words, yesterday, it moved the nation to tears including the Duchess of Cornwall. Claras entry, The Sands of Time, was read by actor Tom Hiddleston on Chris Evans breakfast show in a live broadcast from Shakespeares Globe in London. The Duchess of Cornwall, a judge in the contest, told the Daily Mail: It really does bring a tear to your eye, doesnt it? What poignant words from such a young girl. Hiddleston, tipped to be the next James Bond, described the story as really heart-breaking and sophisticated and said he had worried about doing it justice. Listeners also praised Claras story on social media. One said they were staggered 10yo Clara can understand dementia so well, while Laura Walker, from Edinburgh, wrote: Claras story was just beautiful. I am 34-year-old woman driving to work bawling eyes out. My granny has dementia too. Beth, from Liverpool, said: Clara wrote a fantastic story which touched me deeply as my mum has dementia. Thank you Clara. Author Malorie Blackman, a former Childrens Laureate, added: It is poignant, heartfelt, evocative and beautifully written. This story brought a lump to my throat. The Duchess of Cornwall, a judge in the contest, told the Daily Mail: It really does bring a tear to your eye, doesnt it? What poignant words from such a young girl' The Duchess later enjoyed tea with actor Tom Hiddleston - who she memorably flirted with when the pair met earlier this month The schoolgirl, from Glasgow, won the silver medal in the ten to 13 age category. She said last night: I wanted to let people know more about what dementia is like because not everyone knows. Her story is in two parts, the first in the words of a dementia sufferer, Kathryn, trying to remember a family trip she took to the beach as a child. It then moves to the point of view of her granddaughter, who shows Kathryn a photo of that trip. Clara, who goes to Lochfield Primary School in Paisley, said it took a week to write. She said it was amazing to hear Hiddleston read her story but added that her mother Suzanne Cowan was more excited than I was. Mrs Cowan said Claras grandmother Kay, who is her mother, is just 72 but is not aware of her condition. The 48-year-old added: Clara has got a wee notebook, where she writes lots of different stories. I got quite emotional when I first read it and again today. She also spoke on air with Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans as part of the live broadcast at Shakespeare's Globe in London It struck a chord with so many people. It is something a lot of people have experienced, and for her to have first-hand experience made it more meaningful. She said of Hiddlestons narration: I thought he did such a beautiful job. He brought it to life. Now in its sixth year, 500 Words received a record 123,436 entries from children aged five to 13 this year. As the title suggests, they must write an original story on any subject and it must be 500 words or fewer. The winner in Claras category was Ned Marshall, 12, for his story e-COURTROOM.com, in which a court case is carried out in the style of a Twitter exchange. Camilla described this years entries as brilliant, adding: It has been an almost impossible task to decide on the winners. The quality of what we read was just breathtaking. It sent shivers down your spine to read such brilliant stories coming from the minds of such young children. After the show, the duchess and Hiddleston enjoyed tea together. The pair first met at the BBC Radio 2 studios a few weeks ago, when Camilla admitted that she was the envy of all the ladies. At the prize-giving, 35-year-old heart-throb Hiddleston treated the finalists to a re-enactment of his first acting role in Toad of Toad Hall, singing: Beep beep beep, rattle bang rattle bang, like a vintage car, hey! Victims of bank fraud may have to foot the bill themselves, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall. Banks, police and mandarins are in secret talks over rules that would hold customers responsible if a fraudster raids their account. Victims would be told it is their fault if their computer software is out of date, they use the same password for several online accounts or if they are tricked by con artists into giving details. Around 5.9million people fall victim to fraud and computer crime every year, losing 755million, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics and Financial Fraud Action UK Currently, banks are supposed to cover all fraud losses unless they have proof the customer was 'grossly negligent'. The new rules could prevent vast numbers of victims claiming a refund. Last night experts branded the proposal a scandal. Marc Gander, founder of the Consumer Action Group, said: 'The City regulator has been very clear that banks must compensate customers who fall victim to fraud if it was not their fault. 'They are already routinely trying to shirk this duty, so if the responsibility is moved officially onto the customer's shoulders it is just going to get even worse particularly for vulnerable and elderly customers.' Around 5.9million people fall victim to fraud and computer crime every year, losing 755million, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics and Financial Fraud Action UK. A huge crimewave over the past few years left banks facing a sharp rise in payouts, with costs ballooning 72 per cent a year. The Daily Mail understands the Treasury has launched discussions with banks to make it easier to blame customers. A set of new rules, which would apply to all banks, is being discussed by a secret taskforce made up of industry and government officials, a source said. Early discussions are understood to focus on making it clear that if people fail to protect themselves online they cannot expect the bank to step in. British intelligence and security organisation Government Communication Headquarters estimates that 80 per cent of cybercrime could be prevented if customers used better passwords and updated their computer's security software. Experts say banks will bully customers into confessing that they have not been careful. Another insider said banks will be able to see how many attempts it took for a criminal to get into the victims' account. If the crook got their password right first time it would help the bank blame the customer. It is thought these will take several years to introduce but could cost bank customers millions. Fraud authorities have openly admitted they cannot cope with the alarming rise in online fraud. Earlier this year Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, head of the Metropolitan Police, said that giving out refunds when customers had not protected themselves 'rewarded bad behaviour' One common scam sees victims sent fake emails from criminals posing as banks, solicitors or HM Revenue & Customs asking for payments to be made into their account. The money is never seen again. Cyber criminals are also targeting victims over the phone, posing as computer experts. Once the victim gives the crook access to their PC, however, they hack their accounts. Earlier this year Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, head of the Metropolitan Police, said that giving out refunds when customers had not protected themselves 'rewarded bad behaviour'. Although banks including Barclays and Santander state in the terms and conditions that customers must keep anti-virus software up-to-date, they rarely use this to dodge claims. But under the plans being discussed in Whitehall, banks could be given the green light to enforce these terms more harshly. A spokesman for trade body the British Bankers' Association said: 'It is a matter for individual banks how they reimburse customers for any losses that result from fraud. The industry is working closely with Government and law enforcement agencies to combat financial crime.' More British troops are to be deployed in Afghanistan under plans being considered by defence chiefs. A training mission will also be extended by at least a year in an admission that the country is descending into further chaos At a Nato summit in Warsaw next month David Cameron is expected to say that Britains 450-strong training mission will extend its stay into 2017, along with US military personnel. And defence officials are looking at increasing security in the capital Kabul, where the mission is based, with an extra deployment of more than 100 soldiers to provide protection. Afghan policemen work at the site of a suicide attack in west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday An MoD source said Britain was discussing options with other nations but, with the Taliban having gained significant ground in recent months and thousands of Islamic State fighters now spreading across the country, there are suggestions that the UK pulled out of Afghanistan too soon. British soldiers were withdrawn in December 2014 a year after the Prime Minister said they could come home knowing it was mission accomplished. But the families of British personnel who were killed in the conflict said further deployments made them question why their children died. Lucy Aldridge, whose 18-year-old son William was the youngest UK soldier to die in Afghanistan, said: Those who have lost loved ones have to face the fact we have done so for nothing. At a Nato summit in Warsaw next month David Cameron is expected to say that Britains 450-strong training mission will extend its stay into 2017, along with US military personnel We do question whether it was worth it. Im not sure it was. It was a mistake to send them and so what do they hope to achieve by sending more? Ian Sadler, whose son Jack was killed near Sangin in 2007, said: David Cameron declared the deployment to Afghanistan over. Obviously the war isnt over; mission creep comes to mind. Swapping their suits for more comfortable attire, David Cameron and Boris Johnson went to the countryside to tell voters how to vote in the EU referendum. The Prime Minister - who cradled a lamb as he fed it a bottle of milk - chose an Oxfordshire sheep farm in his constituency to win over the farming vote. His rival Mr Johnson was quizzed on the Exmoor farm he grew up on and where his father still lives. The Prime Minister David Cameron - who cradled a lamb as he fed it a bottle of milk - chose an Oxfordshire sheep farm in his constituency to win over the farming vote They will both appear in the BBCs Countryfile over two programmes, with Mr Cameron representing Stronger in Britain and Mr Johnson Vote Leave. On one side of the fence, Mr Johnson said that leaving the single market is the way forward for UK farmers. He insisted that farmers will continue to receive support following a Brexit and the loss of European Union subsidies, saying it is an economic no-brainer. The senior Tory also acknowledged that farmers would remain able to employ overseas workers, despite the Brexit campaign making cuts to immigration one of their key messages to voters. Mr Johnson appeared to acknowledge that some of the money which currently goes to Brussels would have to be spent on farmers. Vote Leave has contentiously claimed that 350 million a week goes to Brussels which could be spent on our priorities like the NHS. Mr Johnson indicated that some of that money would have to be spent replacing the subsidies currently paid out under the European Unions Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Our farming industry is vital to this country, he said. Its vital to the way the countryside looks and feels. We need to support it. I think everyone understands it. Its an economic no-brainer. Outside the EUs free movement rules, decisions to allow immigrants to work on farms would be taken in the UK, he said. During his appearance on Countryfile, Leave campaigner Boris Johnson was quizzed on the Exmoor farm he grew up on and where his father still lives I think it would be up to the government of the day. If the rural industry were saying come on, we are desperate, we cant get the crops out of the fields then of course that is an argument people would listen to. But, the great thing is, that will have gone through a democratic process of consent from the British people and they will understand that is necessary for the economy, politicians will take responsibility for it, rather than just saying theres nothing I can do, its all Brussels. But on the other side, Mr Cameron said he believes remaining in the single market and the Common Agricultural Policy are key to the future of rural Britain. Mr Cameron said although support for farmers would continue post-Brexit, they would have greater certainty if the country voted Remain. He said: I believe in the living, working countryside. We want to support our farmers. If you ask me can you tell me exactly what that would consist of then no, I cant. Im saying vote to stay in, keep the Common Agricultural Policy payments we get now, keep Europes markets open, lets make sure we keep improving the regulatory situation we face, because the CAP is far from perfect. Countryfiles Executive Editor, Bill Lyons, said whatever the result after the EU referendum the result will bring 'real changes for rural Britain' (pictured, the Countryfile team) Its improved a lot over our recent lifetimes, but there is more to be done to improve it. He defended free movement rules, insisting they were part of the package required for access to the single market. We support people being able to live and work in different European countries, just as we do, he said. That is part of being in the single market. The single market is not just trade in goods and services, its the idea that ... you can work in different countries as well. In the second programme both of them will argue that Britains environment and the UKs fisheries will be better served by voting with them. Countryfiles Executive Editor, Bill Lyons, said: Whether we choose to stay in the EU or leave, the result will bring real changes for rural Britain. We hope Countryfile will help inform the choices of everyone who cares about the future of our countryside. The first Countryfile EU Referendum programme will be broadcast at 7pm on BBC One this Sunday 29 May 2016. Three Libyan soldiers who applied for asylum after being jailed for a string of sex attacks on British women have had their 'insulting' applications rejected. In a victory for common sense, the men who were being trained here to help bring peace to their home country have now been kicked out of the UK. There was outrage last September when it emerged that Khaled El Azibi, 19 at the time, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, and Mohammed Abdalsalam, 28, were seeking sanctuary despite their 'despicable' attacks. The three Army cadets - (pictured from left to right) Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, Ibrahim Naji El Maarfi, 21, and Mohammed Abdalsalam, 27, have now been kicked out of the UK The drunken trio were convicted of a sex rampage in Cambridge on October 26, 2014. They had roamed the streets looking for victims and assaulted three women in the space of an hour. They groped the terrified women, attempted to put their hands up their skirts and exposed themselves. They had absconded from Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire, where they were among a contingent of 300 Libyan soldiers under training, before carrying out the attacks. They received sentences of between 10 and 12 months but sought asylum after fearing persecution in their home country because of the shame of their crimes in Britain. Yesterday, however, the Home Office confirmed that El Azibi, El Maarfi and Abdalsalam were refused asylum and had been removed from the country. They had been held in detention centres while their cases were being considered. Khaled El Azibi, Naji El Maarfi and Mohammed Abdalsalam carried out the attacks while stationed at Bassingbourn Barracks near Cambridge in October 2014 - escaping from the site on bikes during the night Speaking at the time that their asylum applications were lodged, one of their three victims said she was angered by their 'arrogance to apply after committing despicable crimes'. The woman, who comes from Cambridge, said seeing her attackers' faces again had 'brought what happened flooding back'. 'They subjected me to a horrible, intimidating sexual assault which I will never be able to forget,' she said. 'It is not only an insult to me and the other women they attacked but an insult to all those people who genuinely need asylum here.' MPs were outraged at the farcical situation and said it strengthened the case for scrapping the Human Rights Act. The first deployment of Libyan soldiers arrived at Bassingbourn in June 2014 and were meant to be the vanguard of 2,000 to be trained by British troops to support the new Libyan government. They had been hand-picked as the best candidates to learn how to improve security in their chaotic home country. The training programme was approved despite warnings from Whitehall officials that recreational visits would 'pose significant immigration, security and reputational risks'. However, following the October attacks on woman and the rape of a man, in his 20s, by another two soldiers stationed at the barracks Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud and Ibrahim Abugtila the scheme was scrapped in November 2014. Mahmoud and Abugtila who were aged 33 and 23 respectively at the time are serving 12-year jail terms for the attack, which happened in Cambridge on the same night as the women were assaulted. A mother whose daughter has a fatal and incurable disease has opened up about what it's like to live with a dying child. Peta Murchison, a mother from Sydney's northern beaches, gave hundreds of people a glimpse into her 'weird universe' at TedX at the Opera House in Sydney this week. 'I am a mother of two; Toby is 4 and likes Lego, and jumping off things. My daughter Mia is 6 and likes warm baths, horse riding and hugs,' Ms Murchison started. 'When my daughter dies I will wash her and dress her. I will put flowers in her hair. We will play music, light candles and hold her. Peta Murchison with her daughter Mia, who has Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, or degenerative Batten disease Mia was born in Dublin a healthy baby who walked at 12 months. She suffered her first seizure at age three Peta Murchison with her daughter Mia, and husband Hamish. Ms Murchison gave an inspiring speech about what it was like living with a dying child at TedX Sydney this week Ms Murchison's daughter, Mia, has late infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, or degenerative Batten disease. At present, it has no cure. Mia was born in Dublin a healthy, robust baby who walked at 12 months and passed all developmental milestones. She was energetic - and sometimes bossy. But at the age of three, when the family was living in Singapore, she suffered her first seizure. At first she was diagnosed with epilepsy, but the seizures started to become more regular. Her language and memory deteriorated, and she began to suffer frequent falls. In 2013, she was finally diagnosed with batten disease at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick. 'There is no preparation for being told you child has no future,' Ms Murchison said. Mia with her mum Peta and younger brother Toby (left), who is four-years-old Mia was diagnosed with batten disease at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick in 2013 Mia's condition is fatal and breakthroughs in enzyme and gene therapy are too late for her Breakthroughs in enzyme and gene therapy are too late for their daughter, Ms Murchison said. 'So giving up the fight for her life has been replaced with giving her the best life.' The family moved back to Sydney after Mia's diagnoses and immediately set about finding a school for her. They faced numerous frustrations - paperwork, consultations, stonewalling - but eventually they were included in a 'big school community'. Mia with her school friends on Sydney's northern beaches. Peta says she wants her daughter to have as regular childhood as possible 'It is everything we craved. It gave us hope that we could give Mia a regular childhood, as regular as it can be.' To raise awareness about batten disease, Ms Murchison started a social media campaign called Bounce4Batten, which encourages people to share photos of themselves, friends or family bouncing or jumping with joy. Now, at 6-years-old, Mia is wheelchair bound and can no longer hug her mother. Her seizures are constant. But Ms Murchison said she has come accept there is no cure for her daughter. So when I put flowers in my daughters hair and friends and family come to say goodbye, she told the audience, I will remember the human capacity for hope is so strong that even when youre told there is no hope, somehow you still manage to find it." Mia (right) with her brother Toby. Mia is now wheelchair bound and suffers regular seizures Mia pictured with friends. She suffered her first seizure at the age of three, when the family was living in Singapore Peta preparing for her TedX speech, where she opened up about her daughter's disease and how it had influenced the life of her family Britain is poised at two historic turning points and they go together. Very much depends on the outcome. Rapid population growth, driven by the highest immigration in our history, is destabilising and transforming its population, its environment and its ethnic make-up into something quite new. At the same time, the UK faces a choice about leaving the EU or remaining in it. Some welcome the growth of the population and the increased diversity that it brings. For those who do not, leaving the EU offers a possibility of moderating at least some of that growth, keeping the UK in something like its present size and shape. However, that is only a possibility. The G7 talks in Japan this week involving David Cameron no doubt had the prospect of Brexit at the forefront By itself, Brexit might change nothing; for it would depend on the choices made by any post-Brexit government, in particular on also leaving the European Economic Area (which includes all EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and ending the commitment to the free movement of labour. Until 1997, immigration had been off the policy agenda for 20 years, thanks to an uneasy political consensus to limit inflows. Although trending slightly upwards, immigration was not then very controversial. However, the Blair government began to take down the barriers to migration. According to Blair aide Andrew Neather, one of the aims of the New Labour policy of opening up the UK to mass immigration was to rub the Rights nose in diversity, promoting permanent ethnic change to the permanent electoral advantage of Labour. The steps then taken provoked a rapid upsurge in net migration (inflow minus outflow), which continues to reach record levels: 3.3 million immigrants came to the UK from 2001 to 2014. Immigration, mostly then from outside the EU, had already reached record levels when, in 2004, the Blair government, alone among the major economies of the West, allowed free entry for work to the new Eastern European EU accession countries. Those countries had low levels of income and low social and political development relative to the EU average. Everything pointed to a very large influx, but the government fatuously predicted that 13,000 per year would enter. Officially, 53,000 entered in the first year and 76,000 the next; these figures are now known to be substantial underestimates. Vote Leave have used the population crisis as a key point in their pro-Brexit campaign At any rate, by 2013, 1.24 million people born in Eastern Europe were living in the UK, compared with 170,000 in 2004 the biggest inflow in British history. No forward planning or provision whatsoever was made for the Blairite influx. Indeed, it has been so great that it would have been difficult to make adequate provision. Hence many of our present problems. Naturally, many of these arise straightforwardly from the pressure of population. The UKs population had nearly stabilised in the Seventies and Eighties: birth and death rates were in balance, in some years more migrants leaving than arriving. There were even very small falls in population from 1975-78 and in 1982. New immigration changed all that. Between 2013 and 2014, the population increased by 491,000 one of the fastest rates of any industrial country. That is not all. Women born overseas contributed 27 per cent of all live births in England and Wales in 2014, and 33 per cent of births had at least one immigrant parent a figure which has more than doubled since the 1990s. A post-Brexit government - such as one favoured by Boris Johnson - could decide to limit entry from the EU, possibly favouring highly skilled migrants Taking into account many statistics, migration accounted overall for 85 per cent of population growth from 2001-2012. This week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the total number of EU nationals coming here under freedom-of-movement rules was 270,000 last year. This included a record number from Romania and Bulgaria. Overall migration, including those from outside the EU, was 333,000 in the year to December. What, therefore, is the prospect for the future? In none of the projections by the ONS does the UK population fail to grow to more than 70 million. In the Principal Projection (based on underlying assumptions of what is most likely to happen), the UK population (now 65 million) exceeds 70 million in 11 years, reaches 77 million by 2050 and exceeds 80 million by 2060. That implies an additional 2.9 million immigrants by 2030, not including their post-2014 children. But these official assumptions are far below the actual level of recent net migration: 313,000 in 2014 and 333,000 in the 12 months to last December. Were the 2014 actual inflow to persist, Britains population would exceed 80 million shortly after 2040, in 25 years time, and 90 million shortly after 2060. Another measure is the number of new National Insurance numbers issued. These are given to EU citizens as a requirement to work here. From 2011 to 2015, some 2,234,000 NI numbers were handed out. That greatly exceeds the number of people who arrived from the EU in that period, according to the Office for National Statistics estimates. This implies an undercount of 1.2 million, or about 240,000 per year. ONS has claimed that this is mostly accounted for by short-term migration, not included in the annual long-term migration figures. Indeed, there are many reasons for supposing that net migration will not decline as the ONS assumes it will. On the contrary, it may even increase. Any reduction in net migration to the UK requires at least one of the following developments: Effective operation of the restrictions on welfare negotiated by David Cameron, which are subject to agreement of all the other 27 EU states which could be problematic. Yet all commentators agree that the effects, even if they could be applied, would be nugatory. A resolution of the euro crisis, and eurozone labour market reforms (so that youth unemployment in Greece, for example, falls from its current 49 per cent). Yet economic forecasts and the current outlook do not inspire confidence that such progress can be expected any time soon. Convergence in real wages in Eastern Europe. Big wage differentials, not welfare, are the main attraction drawing East Europeans to Britain. At present, wages in their home countries are between one quarter and one-sixth of the UK level. Of course, the introduction of the National Living Wage here has further increased the attraction of the UK for migrants. Further restrictions on the number of immigrants admitted from outside the EU. But this requires political will and judges to curb their activism in human rights cases for example, further restrictions on the number of people allowed to come here to join their spouse, by increasing residence requirements, age limits on marriage, and proficiency in English language. Ending employers dependency on migrant labour and persuading them to concentrate first on the domestic population for labour. Also, perhaps, an obligation to take on domestic workers in some proportion to overseas workers. The Government should moderate its own dependency on overseas labour, notably for the NHS. UK exit from the EU. A post-Brexit government could decide to limit entry from the EU, possibly favouring highly skilled migrants. Indeed, there would be little point in Brexit without such measures. That would restrict EU inflows, most of which are in low-paid work. Further expansion of the EU is likely to increase migration even more. The apparently relentless drive to the East by the EU Commission will activate further sources of migration as more poor countries are embraced by the EU. Looking to the future, citizens of possible new accession countries (such as Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Kosovo) will be eligible for work in the UK once they join. The Prime Minister, pictured here with Tessa Jowell, is campaigning to Remain in the EU The long-run migration potential from those countries is highly uncertain but it is likely to be large. In case this seems fanciful, recall that an estimated one-third of the population of Albania is already thought to be living in Western countries. Turkey is a special problem. It is not a European country, despite occupying a small corner of the European continent. Its accession would take the frontiers of the EU to those of Iraq, Iran and Syria. Turkeys population is 75 million and rising. Indeed, some of its regions are rock-bottom poor, with very high birth rates. POPULATION CRISIS: FACTS AND FIGURES Between 2001 and 2014, 3.3 m migrants came to the UK Our population rose by 491,000 from 2013 to 2014 one of the fastest rates of any industrial country Official projections suggest the UK population (now 65m) will exceed 70m in 11 years, hit 77m by 2050 and pass 80m by 2060 The cost of immigration between 1995 and 2011, according to a study, was up to 114bn Births in the UK rose from 668,777 in 2002 to 778,805 in 2013. Of these, births to immigrant mothers almost doubled from 110,484 to 196,806 Women born abroad contributed 27% of all live births in England and Wales in 2014, and 33% of babies had at least one immigrant parent 126,000 children of school age have come to the UK from the European Economic Area since 2004 Labour said 13,000 Eastern Europeans a year would come here. Yet 53,000 entered in the first year and 76,000 the next (both figures thought to be big underestimates) Advertisement Repression of press freedoms and conflict with minorities notably the Kurds is becoming harsher. Despite that, the EU is being successfully blackmailed into accelerating Turkeys stalled admission application in return for its help in the migration crisis. For his part, David Cameron remains in favour of Turkeys admission to the EU, a position impossible to reconcile with his promises to reduce migration. Certainly, Turkeys potential for migration is very difficult to evaluate, but it is suggested that it would be about 100,000 per year to the UK. Why does all this matter? Of course, the friends of population growth Chancellor George Osborne, many in the Remain campaign, business periodicals such as The Economist and the FT see no harm in it and much benefit. GDP and overall tax increase, they argue. And, as the BBC and much of the media tell us, as immigration is good for the country, why complain? One becomes weary of pointing out that GDP growth relates to the national economy as a whole and doesnt benefit individuals. A lso, there is the issue of those working in the black economy. It is impossible here to address adequately the arguments about the economic benefits of migration. High-skilled migration is usually a benefit unless it generates dependency and deters domestic training and opportunity. It is true that the immigrant contribution to most aspects of life in Britain will be apparent to everyone. It has brought many illustrious persons to Britain. But on the simple fiscal calculations usually presented, the average benefits per capita are trivial and may be negative. In any case, the benefits of migration accrue mostly to the immigrant. A study in 2014 which included some costs, such as education, as well as tax, earnings and benefits, showed that, overall, immigration from 1995 to 2011 imposed a total cost of between 32 billion and 114 billion, depending on the assumptions made a positive contribution from European Economic Area migrants being greatly outweighed by the net cost of immigrants from the rest of the world. Crucially, few of these fiscal calculations include the large additional costs imposed by migration: the need to build more schools, maternity wards and hospitals, and housing, the pressure on transport and infrastructure such as water resources. Immigrants bring no capital. There is another key factor. Births in the UK have risen strongly since the beginning of the century; from 668,777 in 2002 to 778,805 in 2013. Of these, births to immigrant mothers have almost doubled from 110,484 to 196,806. On top of that, the National Statistician (the Governments principal adviser on official statistics) has disclosed that 126,000 children of school age came to the UK from the European Economic Area since 2004. Schools are correspondingly under great pressure: 880,000 more pupils are officially projected by 2023, mostly as a consequence of immigration. Meanwhile, as immigration continues at a high level, most future housebuilding will be devoted to accommodating it. These facts are seldom raised when the housing crisis is discussed. Diversity imposes costs, too, in new public sector bureaucracies, translators and legal complications. Elsewhere, however much energy efficiency programmes may succeed in reducing energy demand, population growth puts pressure on energy adequacy. Maybe the lights will not stay on if todays high migration levels persist. Finally, immigration is making the most fundamental permanent change of all, in the composition of the population itself. In the 1991 census, the non-white population, mostly of post-1960 immigrant origin, stood at 3 million or 6 per cent of the total in England and Wales. By 2011 this had increased to nearly 8 million, or 14 per cent of the total. Those describing themselves as White British comprised 88 per cent of the total population in 2001. But by the 2011 census, the White British population in England and Wales had declined by 400,000, whereas the non-white population had increased by over three million and the population describing itself as white but not British (many from Eastern Europe) had increased by just over a million. So. What might the future hold for the ethnic composition of the UK? I made a projection in 2010 that if immigration stayed at its long-term rate of around 180,000 a year as it was at the time, the White British-born population would decline from 80 per cent of the total then to just 59 per cent in 2051. Taking the projection to a more uncertain distance, the White British population would cease to be the majority in the UK by the late 2060s. However, should current high levels of immigration persist for any length of time, that date would move closer to the present. Britain would then become unrecognisable to its present inhabitants. Some people would welcome a brave new experiment, pioneering a wider world future. Others, though, might say Finis Britanniae. What does all this mean? Some would welcome it as a move to a more diverse society. But as numbers in different groups increase, their need to integrate into British society becomes less and less, except inasmuch as they are needed to operate in the economy. And as the balance of numbers changes, the question arises as to who will adapt to whom. Some, like many Pakistani Muslims in some Northern cities, continue to live a closed, traditional lifestyle in First World comfort, with little need to adapt to their British surroundings. Such groups increase, while UK space available to the White British diminishes. The former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, recently warned vigorously about the serious consequences of failing to adopt a strong policy of integration, warning of squeamishness about addressing diversity risks allowing our country to sleepwalk to a catastrophe that will set community against community. The truth is that very high levels of immigration make this issue even more pressing than before. I said at the start of this article that Britain is at a tide in its affairs. If immigration is not substantially reduced, the country will be transformed out of recognition by the consequences of a very large population increase: schools, housing, environment, the make-up of the people of Britain, all will change in ways in which no one has been consulted and few want. The coming referendum will not of itself resolve the issue. But it might offer the beginning of the end of an otherwise inexorable change. As they were fleeing she shot a motorcyclists in a drug deal gone wrong She was initially denied parole due to 14 'major breaches ' in prison A woman nicknamed the 'bum-crack bandit' who is serving a six year sentence for a Gold Coast robbery and shooting is closer to an early release after successfully appealing a decision by the parole board. Representing herself in the Supreme Court on Friday, Eboni Pydde, 22, appeared on Friday before Justice Peter Applegarth, to seek early parole from the Southern Queensland Regional Parole Board, according to The Courier-Mail. In May 2014, Pydde was sentenced to six years in prison for shooting and injuring a man during a robbery and drug deal gone wrong at Coomera Lodge Hotel in Gold Coast suburb Oxenford. Scroll down for video Eboni Pydde, 22, (pictured) appeared on Friday before Justice Peter Applegarth, to seek early parole from the Southern Queensland Regional Parole Board Pydde, pictured left with her sister Ingrid, is seeking early parole from the Southern Queensland Regional Parole Board Dubbed the 'bum crack bandit', Pydde was seen on CCTV footage (pictured) robbing the Coomera Lodge Hotel, during which she shot a man in a drug deal gone wrong She successfully appealed a decision of the board to refuse her release on parole on December 1. Her case will now be re-heard by the board. In Supreme Court documents filed on January 4, Pydde said the board had not acted lawfully in the accepted standard of discretionary power'. Initially denying her parole, the board reportedly said Pydde had 14 'major breaches' after she was involved in fighting and subsequently spent five days in solitary confinement at Brisbane Women's Prison. She told Justice Applegarth the culture of the prison and mental health issues had led to her breaches, according to the news report. 'I've spent a lot of time in the detention unit, in solitary confinement because I don't like being with other prisoners. 'Even if I grab (a girl's) hair or their shirt, that is (considered) as being a perpetrator (by jail staff).' She earned her nicknamed when CCTV footage captured a distinctive tattoo on her buttocks as she robbed the Coomera Lodge Hotel in low-slung jeans and a hoodie on December 27, 2011. She wore a hoodie and low-slung jeans during the robbery. The jeans revealed her bum crack and a distinctive tattoo, which police used to help identify her The 23-year-old (pictured in green) was initially denied parole after the board said she had 14 'major breaches' after she was involved in fighting and spent five days in solitary confinement at Brisbane Women's Prison Pydde (pictured here during the robbery) told Justice Applegarth the culture of the prison and mental health issues had led to her breaches Pydde (left) shot Mr Norris from the rear window of her car as he was preparing to ride off on his motorbike. She has been sentenced to six years in jail for the shooting With a silver gun in her right hand, Pydde was seen hopping over the hotel bar and grabbing several bottles of alcohol. Pydde and several associates smashed one of the pub's windows with a crowbar to get inside and also stole money from the hotel gaming area and cans of Red Bull. During Pydde's trial in 2014, prosecutor Brendan Campbell told the Brisbane Supreme Court that during the robbery a man on a motorcycle arrived at the hotel to conduct a drug deal with one of the other burglars. After buying $200 worth of amphetamines, the man was getting ready to leave on his motorcycle when Pydde brandished the silver gun from the rear window of a car. The man was shot three times and was hit in his hand and upper arm. Fashion industry icon Donna Player was reportedly marched out of the office after she was fired by department store David Jones on Tuesday. Surprised staff knew Ms Player would be leaving before she did because emails sent to her former address bounced back and her phone was disconnected, reported The Daily Telegraph. Donna Player is considered one of the most powerful women in Australian fashion. She was fired by department store David Jones on Tuesday Ms Player arrived at work on Tuesday morning where she was told during a meeting with recently-appointed David Jones boss John Dixon that she no longer had a contract. Security guards then arrived to escort her from David Jones's Elizabeth Street head office in Sydney's CBD. Ms Player is a front-row fixture at fashion shows across the globe and is considered one of the most powerful women in Australian fashion with over 30 years experience. She took up her $800,000-a-year job with David Jones in 2012 and was responsible for stocking the store's clothing, footwear, accessories and food merchandise. Ms Player found out her contract had been terminated after the store had already deleted her email account and disconnected her phone Chief marketing officer David Robinson, an employee with the company for over 18 years, also left his job on Tuesday. The management shake up comes after Woolworths took over David Jones in 2014 for $2.2 billion. Former Marks & Spencer executive John Dixon took over as chief executive to revitalise the brand. Mr Dixon thanked his two departing employees for their contribution to the business in a press release on Tuesday. Chief marketing officer David Robinson (far left) left David Jones on Tuesday after more than 18 years of service to the company Mr Dixon said: 'Our business is undergoing a significant transformation and the changes announced today will deliver a world-class leadership team. 'The creation of two new executive roles, combined with the introduction of new skills and experience, reflects key areas of strategic focus and will extend our capabilities during this exciting phase of the business' development.' The ex-husband of a Florida mother who was last seen in a grocery store last month likely used a chainsaw to dismember her, authorities said. Investigators believe Air Force Staff Sgt Steven Williams killed his former wife, 30-year-old Air Force veteran Tricia Todd, and used the chainsaw, which has not been found, to dispose of her remains. Authorities are still searching for Todd's remains, but said they found her partial remains in a container full of acid on Thursday in the Hungryland State Preserve, CBS12 reported. Scroll down for video Steven Williams (left), the ex-husband of 30-year-old Air Force veteran Tricia Todd (right) likely used a chainsaw to dismember her, authorities said on Friday Williams has been charged with murdering Todd, who last seen smiling inside a Florida grocery store last month (pictured) Authorities are still searching for Todd's remains, but said they found her partial remains in a container full of acid on Thursday in the Hungryland State Preserve The Martin County Sheriff's Office said as part of plea deal in which Williams confessed to her murder, he led authorities to the site of her body, located in the Hungryland Preserve. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told People on Friday that investigators believe Williams has not been entirely truthful with them. 'He said he shoved her, she hit her head and then he placed her body somewhere out in the wilderness and wasn't sure whether she was dead or alive,' Snyder said. He also added that 'the condition of the body doesn't support [Williams'] version of the events.' Authorities said on Friday that detectives along with anthropologists are continuing the 'painstaking measures' to locate and collect the remains of the murder victim. They noted they will work throughout the day and into the evening. Todd (left and right) was reported missing after failing to pick up her daughter from hospital on April 27 The Martin County Sheriff's Office said as part of plea deal in which Williams confessed to her murder, he led authorities to the site of her body, located in the Hungryland Preserve Williams, who is charged with second-degree murder and child neglect, made a plea deal on Thursday and will receive a 35-year prison sentence. Todd was last seen 'smiling and in good spirits' as she picked up groceries from a Publix supermarket in Hobe Sound on April 26, just a few hours before she vanished. Snyder said Todd's two-year-old daughter was present when her mother was killed. Todd was murdered just hours after she was seen on surveillance footage at the store, investigators said at a press conference on Wednesday. After leaving the shop, the mother was told by Williams, 30, that her two-year-old daughter was not feeling well. Williams - who had traveled from North Carolina to visit the girl - went with Todd to Martin Memorial South Hospital that night. She went to the bed and breakfast where her ex-husband was staying and was said to have left at around 2am the next day. Todd was reported missing later that morning when she failed to pick her daughter up from the hospital. Her car was later found near her home with the keys still in the ignition. Her credit cards and phone - which was missing - had not been used. Todd's (left and right) family said they would strive to make sure her daughter knew how much her mother loved her before she was killed Police and hundreds of volunteers have spent the last month searching for Todd, but investigators said earlier this month that there was 'not one scintilla of evidence of a crime'. Williams was charged with second-degree murder and child neglect on Wednesday and is being held without bond at Martin County Jail. Williams was interviewed earlier this month and passed a lie detector test, NBC News reported. Earlier this month it was revealed that Williams and Todd were involved in a domestic violence incident in 2014 in North Carolina but he was not arrested. He said when she was last seen she appeared to be in 'good spirits' but her social media presence suggested she was 'having some kind of emotional angst within herself'. Todd's younger brother, Nathan, 19, insisted she was a 'perfectly happy individual'. He said: 'Tricia's a tough girl. Tricia loves God and God loves her. 'I have something that I know for a fact, and that's that God's in control and that God will take care of it.' He added: 'You could put a hurricane through her, she would (still) go pick up her daughter.' Police and hundreds of volunteers have spent the last month searching for Ms Todd, to no avail Video courtesy: WTVJ Todd's family said they would strive to make sure her daughter knew how much her mother loved her before she was killed. 'The confirmation of Tricia's death is beyond heart-breaking and indescribably painful. We will miss her vibrant love of life, her servant's heart, and her beautiful smile,' a statement from the family said. 'Tricia's life was a testimony of God's grace and mercy. While we mourn our loss, we know that Tricia is not truly lost, but in the arms of her loving Heavenly Father. 'This assurance gives us hope in knowing we will one day be together again. 'Tricia's little girl was blessed with a loving mother and we will make sure that she knows just how much her Mommy loved her every day. 'She is in a safe, healthy home environment and being surrounded with the love of her family. 'Tricia's compassion and love for others and, most importantly her love for God, will live on in the heart's of all who knew her. 'The love and prayers from people around the world are sustaining our family during this difficult time.' No one was injured in the robbery and police are hunting the suspects But when they approached the kid he punched one of the men twice Boy's parents and shop clerk were ordered to lie down in the floor But the family trip was interrupted after two armed gunmen burst in The youngster, 7, and his parents had been in GameStop to pick up a toy This is the moment a brave seven-year-old, armed only with a stuffed toy, tackled an masked gunman during an armed robbery. Surveillance footage shows the masked suspects walking past the youngster, who is not being named as the robbers are still at large, as he browsed the toy section at GameStop in Silver Spring, just outside Washington. One of the men, pulled a gun on the store's clerk and the boy's parents who were in another part of the store, and ordered the onto the floor behind the desk. Scroll down for video When one of the two suspects went to grab the youngest hostage, he hadn't bargained on him fighting back This is the moment a brave seven-year-old, armed only with a stuffed toy, tackled an masked gunman during an armed robbery But when his accomplice went to grab the youngest hostage, he hadn't bargained on the brave boy fighting back. Video shows the kid, with his plush Yoshi doll still in his arms, punching one of the suspects twice before he was overpowered. 'He punched him,' the boy's father told The Washington Post. 'Two left hooks while holding the Yoshi doll.' 'He saw somebody who was a stranger, who seemed most dangerous to him and he tried to defend himself,' the man told Fox 5. 'I think it was his natural instinct taking over there.' No-one was injured in the robbery, which occurred at just before 9pm Friday at the Colesville Road branch, Silver Spring. Police are still hunting for two men who made off with cash from the register. The boy's father, a government affairs consultant, said he, his wife and their son had been returning from dinner at a Japanese restaurant when they decided to treat their son to a Yoshi toy - a turtle/ dinosaur based on the character from the Super Mario games. Surveillance footage shows the masked suspects walking past the youngster, who is not being named as the robbers are still at large, as he browsed the toy section One of the men, pulled a gun on the store's clerk at the Colesville Road branch, Silver Spring, of GameStop One of the suspect forced the clerk and the boy's parents to get down on the floor behind the counter The robbers stole an unspecified quantity of cash before fleeing the store. Police are still hunting the suspects Their son had just picked up one of the toys and was about to rejoin his parents in another part of the store when the gunmen entered. The youngster's dad said that he and his wife were ordered to the floor. But concerned about his seven-year-old, he had insisted that 'I need my son!'. After a brief tussle with the boy, he was brought over to join his parents on the floor as the men proceeded to rob the store. 'I'm just grateful we were together, as a family, at that moment,' the man said. 'It was a terrifying situation. You just want to grab them and hold them tight to you, and you want it to end, quickly.' The shopkeeper was so imrpessed with the youngster's actions that he decided to let him keep the Yoshi toy at no charge. While his dad said: 'We're proud that he is a strong, brave young boy.' It sounds like something out of a science-fiction movie, but the Chicago Police Department says its crime-predicting computer algorithm helped them carry out the largest gang raid in recent memory. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced on May 20 that police had arrested 140 people on drug and weapons charges with the help of the Strategic Subject List (SSL). That list is compiled by a computer that examines a person's history and life then gives them a 'danger rating' - and it has left a civil liberties group horrified, Yahoo News reported Wednesday. Predictions: With violent crime rising in Chicago, police have taken to using predictive software to avoid scenes like these. Their algorithm looks at a person's history and associates and gives them a danger rating 'Theres a police database thats populated with secret information, and people cant challenge the accuracy of it. Thats where our concern is,' Karen Sheley, director of the Police Practices Project for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, told Yahoo News. 'What we have now is a list based on information that isnt made public, and we know that people cant protest being on it in any way.' Built by the Illinois Institute of Technology, the software looks at an individual's criminal record, gang affiliations and network, then puts them on the SSL with a rating out of 500 - the higher the number, the more dangerous they are. It does not take into account their race, age, sex or neighborhood, police said. The technology has been likened to to Tom Cruise film 'Minority Report,' in which police use psychics to arrest potential murders before they can commit their crime. Of course, that's not an option for the real-life cops, who instead use it to identify people they need to keep an eye on. That's what led to the raid earlier this month, in which police brought in 23 weapons, $45,000 in drugs and 140 people - 95 of whom were documented gang members and 117 of whom were on the SSL. And police say that beyond that bust, more than 70 percent of those arrested for murder, more than 80 percent of those arrested for shooting crimes and more than 74 percent of shooting victims were on the SSL. The startling use of technology is necessary, some believe, due to the ever-rising levels of violence in the city, which saw 51 homicides in January - the largest since 2000 - and a total of 468 murders last year, an increase of 12.5 percent on the year before. Police also say that they put the algorithm to work proactively, trying to dissuade at-risk people from committing crimes, either with home visits or by calling in people on parole or in gangs. 'We try to educate this population on the lifestyle that theyre in and warn them. Were giving them a chance to turns their lives around.' Anthony Guglielmi, director of communications for the Chicago Police Department, said. A 25-year-old Indigenous man was found dead in his prison cell at the Alexander Maconochie Centre on Friday morning, despite police telling a court that prison was the safest place for the man after he was horrifically beaten behind bars last year. ACT Police say their criminal investigations detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the young mans death. Fairfax Media has reported that a coronial inquest will be held into the circumstances of his care and supervision. Steven Freeman was beaten within an inch of his life in April last year - just hours after entering the ACT prison - though upon recovering from an induced coma, he was returned to the Centre. Steven Freeman, 25, was found dead in his cell at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in the ACT on Friday This decision came in spite of his mother telling a court she had received a phone call warning her he would be killed if he returned. Mr Freeman's mother, Narelle King, said she had lost her son because corrective services guards didnt do their job out there. He should never have gone back there after what happened to him, she said. "My son was never a violent man. He just stole a few cars. The young man was jailed on charges of disqualified and drink-driving, riding in a stolen car, possessing an offensive weapon with intent, and escaping arrest. Corrections minister Shane Rattenbury said the event was a tragedy and of the deepest concern. On behalf of the ACT Government, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the individual. This will be a difficult time for them and I ask that you respect their privacy, he said in a statement to media. The young man's death comes only a year after he was horrifically beaten in the prison, and put in to an induced coma There are particular sensitivities surrounding the individual and, as such, I will be launching an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the care and supervision of the detainee during their period of incarceration. I am advised that the discovery was made when Corrective Services staff were notified by a detainee that they were concerned about the health of another detainee. I am further advised that no disturbances were reported around the time of the incident. Julie Tongs, the chief executive of an Aboriginal health service, who called for an independent inquiry after Mr Freeman was attacked last year, said his death was heartbreaking and had left her angry. 'The government were warned that he was an at risk individual and they did nothing about it,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I don't know how many more Aboriginal people have to die or how many more children have to be removed before they start listening to what we have to say.' The police taskforce investigating Melbourne's notorious Apex gang have called for witnesses following a spate of violent robberies. Police say three early morning attacks this week in Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-east, where a group of men have assaulted victims with knuckle dusters have prompted Taskforce Tense to investigate. One man told police that he was approached by three men on Mason Street at 5.25am on Tuesday when they demanded he hand over his valuables. Scroll down for video The police taskforce investigating Melbourne's notorious Apex gang have called for witnesses following a spate of violent robberies and have released CCTV footage of two men they would like to speak to Police say three early morning attacks this week in Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-east, where a group of men have assaulted victims with knuckle dusters have prompted Taskforce Tense to investigate A man told police he was approached by three men at 5.25am on Tuesday when they demanded he hand over his valuables. Police have released CCTV footage of two men they would like to speak with He attempted to flee from the men, but they caught up with him and assaulted him, stealing his bank card, mobile phone and cash. The following morning, two more assaults occurred on Thomas Street within five minutes. One victim told detectives he was walking south at 4.35am when three men approached him and demanded his wallet and mobile phone. When he refused they allegedly punched him in the face but he escaped. Five minutes later another man also walking south was approached by two men armed with knuckle dusters. Without saying anything they punched him in the face and head. They stole the man's mobile phone, cash and a distinctive red and black backpack. The three men are perceived to be of African appearance. Victoria police established Task Force Tense late last year to deal specifically with the threat of the Apex gang. Investigators have released an image and CCTV of two men who they believe may be able to assist with their enquiries Anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report to www.crimestoppersvic.com.au Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Graham Ashton, said 'intensive work' began in November last year to deal with the gang and extra resources would be brought in. 'That group has been, in our view, responsible for what has been a range of motor vehicle theft, aggravated burglaries,' Mr Ashton said. 'We have been dealing with it for more than year, rising theft of cars and break ins.' The primarily Sudanese-based Apex gang were filmed causing chaos in March as more than 100 members clashed in Federation Square and on Swanston Street in front of families attending a Moomba community event. The primarily Sudanese-based Apex gang were filmed causing chaos in March as more than 100 members clashed in Federation Square and on Swanston Street at Moomba festival Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Graham Ashton, said 'intensive work' began in November last year to deal with the gang and extra resources would be brought in Investigators have released an image and CCTV of two men who they believe may be able to assist with their enquiries. The disturbing moment the remains of a 66-year-old hiker were discovered inside her tent two years after she went missing, was caught on camera. A crew filming Animal Planet reality series North Woods Law captured the distressing scene, which shows Maine police uncovering the makeshift campsite that Geraldine Largay had made as she waited for a rescue team that never came. The October 2015 footage, acquired by InsideEdition.com, shows a visibly shaken Maine Warden officer pulling back the tarpaulin of Largay's tent to see her remains, which were inside her sleeping bag, underneath. The harrowing moment the remains of a 66-year-old hiker who went missing three years ago was caught on camera, while a crew were filming Animal Planet reality series North Woods Law Her skeletal remains were discovered by the Maine Warden Service on October 16 on property owned by the U.S. Navy in Redington, three miles away from where she was last seen Geraldine Largay, 68, from Brentwood, Tennessee, vanished in Maine on July 23, 2013, but a journal found alongside her body reveals she survived until at least August 18 Officers are also filmed examining her possessions, which were all contained in resealable bags. Her driver's license is shown to the camera, giving confirmation, if any was needed, that this was Largay's final resting place. Warden Kris Maccabe, who was at the scene, told the camera: 'There's nobody that wanted to bring her home more than we did. I really feel for the family.' Perhaps most distressing was the discovery of her journal, which contained a heartbreaking final request, dated August 6: '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, from Brentwood, Tennessee, survived for at least 26 days after she got lost while going off the trail to relieve herself, just off the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Her last journal entry was dated August 18. Officers are also filmed examining her possessions, which were all contained in resealable bags Perhaps most distressing was the discovery of her journal, which contained a heartbreaking final request, dated August 6: 'When you find my body, please call my husband George and my daughter Kerry' Her driver's license is shown to the camera, giving confirmation, if any was needed, that this was Largay's final resting place In the journal Largay left messages for her family, including a note instructing those who find her body to call her husband and daughter In a 1,500-page report into her death, seen by the Boston Globe, the Maine Warden Service reveal Largay attempted to text her husband after getting lost, but the messages never went through because of poor reception. Wardens believe Largay went to higher ground in an attempt to get better signal before making camp on a raised knoll. Her kit, which included a tent, Mylar blanket and rain gear were all used during her almost month-long ordeal before she died from lack of food and exposure. Following her disappearance, the Warden Service launched one of the largest and most extensive search operations in its history in order to try and track her down. The search area covered 23 square miles and involved teams of wardens and volunteers scouring the terrain. At one point a dog crew led by wardens came within 100 yards of her campsite, according to the Portland Press Herald, but her remains were not discovered. Wardens say the fact that the remains were inside a sealed tent likely meant the dogs were unable to pick up on her scent. The area where she was discovered was described as being so densely forested that only trained wardens had been allowed to search there. The property where Largay's body was recovered is part of a U.S. Navy's survival skills training facility. The Navy uses the area for its Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape program and as such it is remote and not easily accessible. The warden service said in a statement that the search for Largay was 'one of Maine's most unique and challenging search and rescue efforts'. Her family said in a statement on Friday: 'Gerry was doing exactly what she wanted to do. She'd hiked a thousand miles - after 200 miles of training hikes the year prior - and as the warden's report indicates, she was lucid and thinking of others, as always, until the end. 'While we grieve for Gerry, we do not second-guess any of the efforts to find her when she went missing. 'We witnessed firsthand the passion and commitment of the hundreds of game wardens and volunteers who searched for her.' The Warden Service documents indicate she'd left behind in a motel room a GPS device that could've sent an emergency signal. It was her husband (left) who had reported her missing in the summer of 2013, when she never arrived at their prearranged meeting point A photo taken by another hiker and included in the Maine Warden Service report on the disappearance of and search for Appalachian Trail hiker Geraldine Largay shows Largay in the back of the Poplar Ridge lean-to in Redington Township Authorities believe Largay wandered off the Appalachain trail in order to relieve herself, but got lost and was unable to find her way back. Phone records show she tried to text her husband, but had no signal Largay's family issued a statement after her remains were found saying: 'After all of the communication and information from everyone involved including the Medical Examiner's Office, Navy, and the Maine Attorney General's Office, these findings are conclusive in that no foul play was involved and that Gerry simply made a wrong turn shortly after crossing Orbeton Stream. 'We wish to thank all of those who gave their time and prayers while searching for our wife, sister, mother, and grandmother. 'We especially would like to thank the entire Maine Warden Service for their dedication to this case. 'It became apparent from day one that this was personal to them and they would not rest until Gerry was found. Advertisement Police have been forced to use pepper spray and arrest seven people after anti-racism and anti-Islam protesters violently clashed at rival rallies in Melbourne. More than 300 people, some draped in the Australian flag and most with their faces covered with some wearing Guy Fawkes mask, had to be separated by up to 500 riot police on Bell Street in Coburg on Saturday morning. Protesters from the True Blue Crew and the United Patriots Front are marching for the Stop the Far Left protest which is held at the same time as the No To Racism rally. Scroll down for video Police were forced to use capsicum spray during a rally involving anti-racism and anti-Islam protesters in Melbourne on Saturday morning Desperate to calm down the crowd riot police were seen using the capsicum spray on numerous occasions One protester was brought down to his knees as the spray hit him directly in the face Officers were eventually able to settle down the demonstrator in order to restrain him Police detain a man as the clashes between the rival protesters turned violent in Coburg A riot officer stands on guard ready to aim his capsicum spray at demonstrators who continue to cause havoc as photographers pose ready to take photos while wearing goggles A man is pictured sitting down on the side of the road attempting to relieve his pain with water after being capsicum sprayed Members from the far-left Anti Fascist Action group gathered to join the No To Racism rally and concealed their identities by covering their faces The two groups that planned the rival rallies at Bridges Reserve on Saturday morning tried to break police lines once they were separated. There are reports some protesters were bashed with flag poles despite there being mounted police attempting to control the crowd,' reported the Herald Sun. UPF leader Blair Cottrell threatened rivals by saying 'force and terror' will be used before telling supporters the anti-racism demonstrators were 'smashed.' Demonstrators for the No To Racism rally, which included members from the Anti Fascist Action, gathered to protest the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, off-shore detention centres and Islamophobia A demonstrator wearing the Australia flag to cover his face also attempted to escape from the riot squad as they used capsicum spray Members of the Anti Fascist Action group were protesting the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, off-shore detention centres and Islamophobia There are reports some protesters have been bashed with the Australian flag as the rally heated up Police were forced to make arrests as protesters turned violent throwing punches and crates at rivals One man aids another protester while wearing gloves in a bid to avoid touching the OC spray covering the man's face Seven arrests were made as the clashes occurred, two were charged with possessing prohibited weapons Commander Sharon Cowden has since condemned the clashes calling the violence and inappropriate behaviour 'cowardly,' after authorities were forced to make a number of arrests for riotous behaviour, police assault and carrying prohibited weapons. 'We saw inappropriate and often cowardly behaviour with people wearing masks and hiding their identity.' 'People hide their identity and I believe it makes them more violent when they are on the streets,' she said. 'What happened today is not on and we will be looking at the footage, finding out what else we can do, to track these people down and bring them to justice. 'There was clashes on both sides so I condemn the behaviour of both sides but mostly it's the extremes. 'You get the extremes and they are often very cowardly and they will come along and they are looking for a fight and that's what we saw today. Commander Sharon Cowden has since condemned the clashes calling the violence and inappropriate behaviour 'cowardly' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged demonstrators to respect each other as well as stating Australia is 'the most successful multicultural society in the world' Police are expected to continue looking at footage in hopes of bringing certain protesters to justice Commander Sharon Cowden praised the efforts of police in maintaining the crowd and ensuring no one was seriously injured Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also said 'we are the most successful multicultural society in the world' before calling on protesters to respect each other. 'We are united, we have so much in common, and we are stronger and more prosperous as a nation because of that diversity,' he said. 'My message today and every day, as your Prime Minister, is that mutual respect, respect for each other, giving the respect to others that we ask them and expect them to give to us, that is the key to our success.' Greens Leader Richard Di Natale blamed the riots on the 'toxic debate' off asylum seekers in Australia. 'We need both the Labor Party and particularly this Government to rein in the comments it is making,' he said. 'It's contributing to ugly race politics, the consequences of it are the ugly scenes we have seen in Melbourne today.' Senior police and weapons checkpoints have been present since early morning at the protest costing tax payers approximately $1.7 million. Police are expected to continue their investigations by examining footage in hopes of bringing certain revellers to justice. Greens Leader Richard Di Natale blamed the riots on the 'toxic debate' off asylum seekers in Australia The riot police stood between the opposing demonstrators in an attempt to stop a clash from occurring but protesters tried to break the police lines Roads were closed, mounted police were present and weapons checkpoints were organised for the protests Tax payers have been forced to pay approximately $1.7 million for resources used to manage the protests Members from ANTIFA wore Guy Fawkes mask and held signs saying 'there is no authority but yourself' and 'Muslims are welcome, racists are not' An old woman attempts to continue her daily routine as she walks past a group of protesters Mother's generally don't take too kindly to other women disciplining their children. But Karen Alpert of Chicago not only thanked the strict stranger, she took to her blog to say that other mothers should do the same - and the post has since gone viral. She told ABC News that while most parents 'bite their tongue before they tell another kid to stop it', she thinks they should instead have the courage to speak up if a child needs telling off. Karen Alpert of Chicago (pictured with her family) wrote a blog post thanking a stranger who disciplined her son Holden (pictured) when she wasn't able to Alpert (left and right) said that while most parents 'bite their tongue before they tell another kid to stop it', she thinks they should instead have the courage to speak if a child needs telling off. She runs a blog called Baby Side Burns Alpert, who also has a seven-year-old daughter named Zoey, says she applauded the mom who told her son to 'knock it off' because it was likely not an 'easy decision to make'. The incident played out earlier this week when she brought her son Holden, 4, and a friend to a playground. The situation escalated when Holden began swinging on the monkey bars with another child but hadn't waited his turn, causing another mother to reprimand him. Albert then walked over and did the same. But Alpert explained that when a situation happens, parents are so angry at their child that they forget to thank the other parents for helping. So, on Tuesday she dedicated a post in her blog babysideburns.com to thank you to the mother for stepping in. The post has since gone viral and been 'liked' nearly 400,000 times showing the message clearly resonates with other mothers. The situation escalated when Holden (far right) began swinging on the monkey bars with another child but hadn't waited his turn, causing another mother to reprimand him. The post has since gone viral and been 'liked' nearly 400,000 times and clearly resonates with other mother's. In the post, she explains how her son pushed in front of another girl at the monkey bars and continues: 'Now before I continue, I just want to say that yes, I know I should have been there when this all went down, but unfortunately I was on the other side of the playground with my sons friend who was crying. 'So no, I wasnt there, but does that give you a right to discipline my kiddo? Does that give you the right to talk to him sternly and tell him to knock it off? 'Does that give you the right to act like you are the person in charge when he is actually MY child? 'Ummmm, yes. YES IT DOES.' She adds: 'Because even if you arent his parent, you are the adult. Which means you are smarter than he is. 'And yeah, I know there are probably a-holes out there who would be all pissy about some stranger getting mad at their kiddo, but not me.' She signs off the post: 'Im sorry I wasnt there to do my job, so thank you for helping me do it.' Alpert told ABC she hopes her post will encourage more parents to support one another. A woman who has launched a racial discrimination case against students and university staff for $250,000 is now asking Facebook to provide documents to support her legal action. Cindy Prior, who was formerly employed at Queensland University of Technologys Indigenous office, is seeking the details of a Facebook account from which a racist comment was allegedly made, The Australian reports. Lawyers acting on behalf of Ms Prior will use the Hague Convention to formally request the information from Facebooks corporate headquarters in Ireland. Cindy Prior is seeking damages totalling $247,570.52 from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and three students under the Racial Discrimination Act The paper reported that the details are being sought in relation to evidence given by one of the students named in the lawsuit, Calum Thwaites, who has denied posting anything from the account in question and claims his reputation has been damaged. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Susan Moriarty and Associates, the Brisbane legal firm representing Ms Prior, for comment on the matter. Mr Thwaites is one of three students who, along with three university staff, are being sued by Ms Prior under the Racial Discrimination Act. Three students had been trying to access computers in the Oodgeroo Unit at Queensland University of Technologys Brisbane campus in May 2013, when Ms Prior asked them whether they were Indigenous. When the men responded they were not, Ms Prior told them they were in an Indigenous space for Aboriginal Torres Strait students, court documents filed in the Federal Circuit Court allege. She asked them to leave and they did, according to court documents seen by Daily Mail Australia. Ms Prior was employed as an office administrator at the Indigenous Oodgeroo Unit at Queensland University of Technology (pictured) Soon after leaving Oodgeroo, one of the students, Jackson Powell, wrote to Facebook page QUT Stalker Space. I wonder where the white supremacist computer lab is, he wrote, according to court documents. Several other posts followed, some of which were critical of the existence of the indigenous-only space. One post, which was attributed to Mr Thwaites, allegedly said: ITT n*****s. Mr Thwaites has strongly denied writing the comments and says the account was a fake set up as a prank by friends. The Australian reports that he has provided documents from Facebook supporting his claim. Three male students were using computers in the lab at Oodgeroo Unit at Queensland University of Technology before they were asked to leave by Ms Prior (stock image) Ms Prior will request the email address and phone number with which the account in Mr Thwaites name was was set up, along with metadata history and details of when and from what device the account was deleted. Ms Prior has accused the students of racial vilification, alongside professors Anita Lee Hong and Sharon Hayes, and equity director Mary Kelly. Lecturer Dr Hayes is accused of saying that kicking a non-Indigenous person out of an Indigenous computer lab seems a bit silly. According to court papers, she also suggested asking students whether they were Indigenous could be in breach of university policy. Ms Prior is seeking damages which total $247,570.52, claiming the actions of the students and staff was 'reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate her' and other Indigenous people. Ms Prior went on sick leave after the incident and she said it affected her work life. Soon after leaving Oodgeroo, one of the students, posted to Facebook about the incident. The post attracted more comments, some of which were critical of the existence of the indigenous-only space The Flyboard was created by French water sport enthusiast Frank Zapta in 2012 and to the water to try the extreme sport Flyboarding is the latest craze to take off on the Gold Coast as Advertisement If you've ever dreamed of flying through the air then Flyboarding might be as close as you'll get. Flyboarding is the latest extreme water sport taking off on the Gold Coast. The rider straps their feet into boots that are attached to powerful water jets that propel them up to 15 metres through the air. Scroll down for video High flying: Flyboarding (pictured) is the latest extreme water sport taking off on the Gold Coast On a Flyboard the rider straps their feet into boots that are attached to powerful water jets (pictured) that propel them through the air If you've ever dreamed of flying through the air then flyboarding (pictured) might be as close as you'll get Stand and deliver: The Flyboard (pictured) was created in 2012 by French water sport enthusiast, Franky Zapata Ritchie Gregg, from Jetpack Flyboard Adventures on the Gold Coast said the sport (pictured) had grown in Australia since its introduction in 2013 The Flyboard was created by French water sport enthusiast Frank Zapta in 2012. Ritchie Gregg, from Jetpack Flyboard Adventures on the Gold Coast said the sport had grown in Australia since its introduction in 2013. 'In the last 12 months it's really taken off,' he said. He credits much of the popularity to being able to offer customers a better price per ride. 'It's only $99 for half-an-hour now, but it used to be about $240.' Mr Gregg said that his company had conducted about 10,000 rides nation-wide, with more than 5,000 of them on the Gold Coast in Queensland, the home of the sport in Australia, since last year. Flyboarding (pictured) is becoming increasingly popular in Australia, particularly on the Gold Coast Ritchie Gregg, from Jetpack Flyboard Adventures on the Gold Coast said flyboarding had really 'taken off' in the last 12 months Mr Gregg says Jetpack Flyboard Adventures have conducted around 10,000 rides (pictured) across Australia last year, with over 5,000 of them on the Gold Coast in Queensland since last year Up and away: The Flyboard can reach heights of up to 15 metres Watch this: The Flyboard user pictured here is filming her ride on a GoPro camera Water is forced under pressure to a pair of boots with jet nozzles to thrust the rider through the air (pictured) Cruising: Mr Gregg said Flyboards are easier to use than water jet packs because the water pressure pushes from below, not behind A Salt River Police Department officer is accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a woman in his custody. Scottsdale police say 45-year-old Jay Hun Wu was arrested late on Thursday on suspicion of kidnapping, sexual abuse, unlawful sexual conduct of a peace officer, assault and tampering with physical evidence related to a March 29 incident. A woman reported that Wu sexually abused her near her home as he gave her a courtesy ride home when she was the subject of an investigation, authorities said. Scroll down for video Salt River Police Department Officer Jay Hun Wu (pictured) is accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a woman in his custody Police said the woman told Wu he could drop her off outside her apartment, but he allegedly kept driving and would not let her out despite requesting him to stop repeatedly, according to ABC15. Wu allegedly drove more than two miles away from the woman's home near Via Linda and Shea Boulevard and drove to 96th Street and Via Linda where he pulled over and parked next to a wall. He then went to the back seat, opened the door and told the woman he needed to 'pat her down,' according to police. As he 'pat her down' he allegedly touched her chest and buttocks underneath her clothing. A woman reported that Wu sexually abused her near her home as he gave her a courtesy ride home when she was the subject of an investigation, authorities said Police said he then gave her his business card and 'requested that she call him if she needed anything,' according to ABC15. The victim immediately told her family about the incident and then notified the police department, according to the Arizona Republic. GPS tracking on the officer's car reportedly confirmed the victim's allegation that he carried on driving past her residence, court documents stated. Court documents also indicate that Wu did not deny the allegations and apologized repeatedly to the victim during a 'confrontation call' between her and Wu, according to ABC15. Wu was arrested on Thursday after a traffic stop, following a nearly two-month investigation, according to the station. He remained in custody on Friday and faces a June 16 preliminary hearing, according to police. Court documents A Salt River Police Department spokesman said Wu is on administrative leave, but would not specify when the leave began or comment further. In an apology, Ms Ward said: 'These were private comments not public' Her comments were made after a state ceremony celebrating diversity Safe Schools manager Roz Ward has quit for branding the flag 'racist' The manager of a national organisation which promotes gay pride and gender diversity in schools has resigned after calling the Australian flag 'racist'. Safe Schools Coalition manager Roz Ward made the comments on Tuesday following a ceremony in Victoria where the Rainbow flag symbolising LGBTI pride was raised over Parliament House. Ms Ward said on Facebook: 'Now we just need to get rid of the racist Australian flag on top of state parliament and get a red one up there and my work is done,' reported News.com.au. Safe Schools manager Roz Ward (left) resigned on Friday night after calling the Australian flag 'racist' in a Facebook post Ms Ward resigned on Friday night and issued an apology for the comments. She said: 'These were private comments that were never intended for the public domain,' reported The Age. Victorian Liberal MP Nick Wakeling said Ms Ward's comments about the flag were 'appalling'. The Safe Schools Coalition is made up of schools working together to create safe and inclusive environments for same sex attracted, intersex and gender diverse students, staff and families. Ms Ward made the comments after the Rainbow flag - an international symbol of LGBTI pride - was raised above Victoria's Parliament House In response to Ms Ward's resignation, the Victorian Gender and Equality Commissioner said the government would continue to proudly support the programme. Commissioner Rowena Allen told The Age: 'Ms Ward has acknowledged that the post was inappropriate and may have caused offence, even if meant in jest, and posted in private. 'The Safe Schools program is not about any one person, it's about providing safe and inclusive environments for all LGBTI kids at school.' A Las Vegas judge has shocked legal experts, including a legal defenders' union, by ordering a defense attorney handcuffed in the middle of a court case for speaking out about her client. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Conrad Hafen ordered public defender Zohra Bakhtary to be 'quiet' Monday as she spoke out on behalf of her client, who faced six months of jail time. When she continued to object, he ordered her handcuffed and made her sit with inmates in the jury box while he heard the rest of the case - and sentenced her client to the full six months, The Huffington Post reported. Bakhtary, a Clark County public defender who has worked in Hafen's courtroom for at least one day a week over the past year, was defending a client accused of violating probation when - according to Hafen - she interrupted him. 'There's been a progression of steps in the courtroom where I've tried to let her know it's not proper decorum for her to continue to talk over me or interrupt me after she's already made her argument,' Hafen told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Monday. 'Once an argument is made, then you have to allow the judge to respond, so there's a clear record, and you shouldn't be interrupting the judge as the judge is making a ruling.' However, Bakhtary told The Huffington Post that Hafen interrupted her. And a court transcript obtained by the site would appear to lean in her favor. The transcript begins with Bakhtary saying, 'But there has to be some leniency in this department.' Hafen responds: 'No, there doesn't just.' 'There has to be some indicative circumstance-' she responds, but is apparently cut off by Hafen. 'No. No, there doesn't,' he replies. 'Let me show you the leniency... I'm going to take a few minutes and we're going to explain everything because I'm going to debunk this theory of yours. Okay, Zohra?' He continues: 'Just so everybody knows, this defendant was charged with a felony and a gross misdemeanor. Okay?' Bakhtary then replies 'Judge, I would ask the Court not to-' to which Hafen tells her to 'be quiet.' The pair exchange what appear to be agitated remarks, with Hafen repeatedly stopping Bakhtary's objections mid-sentence before ultimately having her handcuffed. According to the Review-Journal, he later told a guard to 'un-cuff Zohra,' adding: 'I think she's learned a lesson.' Bakhtary told The Huffington Post that Hafen's order was 'extremely offensive.' 'Every day I zealously represent my clients,' she said. 'Every individual who goes through our criminal justice system has a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. 'It is a frightening day when a lawyer is locked up for fighting on behalf of her clients and their rights. The Court's constitutional duty is to listen to arguments, not silence them.' And Phil Kohn, Clark County's chief public defender, said that he'd never before seen one of his defenders being restrained in such a fashion. He added that Hafen's repeated use of Bakhtary's first name was unprofessional. 'I believe in decorum. All parties should respect each other,' he said. 'It should be "Mr." or "Ms." or "Your Honor." The fact that he's talking to her as "Zohra" - this is kindergarten stuff.' He also told the Review-Journal that he was concerned that the video and audio recording devices in Hafen's court were not turned on. While that's not a legal requirement, it does mean exactly how the pair phrased their remarks has been lost. But the strongest language was reserved for the Clark County Defenders Union, which wrote a letter to the media rebuking the judge. It says Hafen 'violated one of our most sacred, fundamental and constitutionally protected rights' by stopping Bakhtary from 'speaking on her client's behalf.' It also said the fact that Hafen's recording devices were 'habitually turned off' was 'alarming' and 'convenient.' Hafen himself did not respond immediately to questions from The Huffington Post, but did tell the Review-Journal that he didn't think 'there would be a hangover from this.' 'Shes tenacious. Its probably why today happened,' he said. 'But I dont believe for one second that this will deter her from doing her job zealously. I know that she will continue to fight for her clients. As far as Im concerned, its behind us. Initial investigations suggest fire may have been caused by a gas leak at the time and there have been no No one on in a blaze at North St Mary's on Friday night A massive blaze has gutted several industrial buildings overnight. Five buildings were damaged in a fire at North St Marys in Sydneys west that required 50 firefighters to put it out on Friday night, ABC reported. Emergency services were called to the scene on Plasser Crescent at about 9.50pm following reports a building was well alight. Scroll down for video A massive blaze (pictured) has gutted several industrial buildings overnight Five buildings were damaged in a fire at North St Marys in Sydneys west that required 50 firefighters to put it out on Friday night No one was on the premises at the time and there have been no reports of any injuries. Officers from St Mary's Local Area Command attended and commenced investigations. The fire was being treated as suspicious but a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that initial investigations suggest the blaze may have been caused by a gas leak. Crime scene examiners will continue to search for forensic evidence on Saturday. No one was at the premises at the time and there have been no reports of any injuries A 20-year-old woman was slashed across the face with a knife as she fought off two attackers who tried to drag her into a bush. The woman was walking through Gardiner Park in the Sydney suburb of Banksia around 11.30pm on Friday when the two men attacked her from behind. NSW Police said one of the men grabbed the woman while the other slashed at her face, legs and chest with a knife. A 20-year-old woman was slashed across the face in an attack by two men in south Sydney on Friday night The attackers then tried to drag her into the bushes before she fought her way free and ran to a friends house where she rang police. She suffered minor gashes to face and chest in the attack and was taken to St George Hospital for treatment. The attack shocked the town of Banksia in Sydneys south. One resident said the attack was very disturbing news for the community, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Another said: I'm so pleased she fought back and managed to escape I'm sure she saved herself from being raped. The woman was walking through Gardiner Park in the Sydney suburb of Banksia when she was attacked around 11.30pm Detectives from the St George Police Force are investigating the attack. Police said there was no description of the attackers available at the moment. They urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. A 55-year-old woman who died after suffering serious internal injuries while on the zip line attraction at Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah Friday struck a collapsed tree, authorities confirmed Friday. Lisa Lambe, from Hilton Head, South Carolina, was found suspended in a zip line harness Friday afternoon and was immediately brought to the ground where paramedics tried - and failed - to revive her. Police now have evidence that winds had caused a tree to collapse in her path, delivering the fatal blow, Fox13now reported. Scroll down for video Lisa Lambe (pictured), 55, died after suffering 'serious internal injuries' while on the zip line attraction at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah Friday. Police now believe she struck a collapsed tree 'If you ever think of a freak accident, this is probably the text-book definition of that,' Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office told the station. 'We believe that most likely it was either leaning on the line as she hit it, or it fell into her path as she came down.' Lambe, who was travelling at speeds of between 30 and 65 mph, would have died within minutes of hitting the tree - or possibly on impact, the medical examiner said. The incident occurred Friday around 5.30pm as Lambe was on her last span of the zip line's five spans, Czar Johnson, director of mountain operations, told The Daily Herald of Provo Saturday. Initially what had caused her injuries was a mystery, but according to a statement by Utah County Sheriff's Office, investigators noted a tree near the zip line that was broken at the top. They 'recovered evidence from the tree that shows Lambe came into contact with it, which was consistent with her injuries at the scene,' the statement continued. 'Investigators believe that high winds caused the tree to break and fall into Lambes path in this unfortunate accident. 'There is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in this case,' it concluded. Cannon said to Fox13now that in order for criminal wrongdoing to be a possibility, 'Essentially somebody would have had to do this with the intent of hurting somebody.' He added that there was 'zero evidence at all that that happened.' The zip line tour resumed normal service Monday after getting the all-clear. In a statement, Sundance said: 'Sundance goes to great lengths to operate our ZipTour excursion with safety as the top priority. 'This includes daily, monthly, seasonal and annual inspections of all lines, foundations and equipment. Both local authorities and the zip-line manufacturer have inspected the Sundance ZipTour and have cleared all spans for full operation. 'Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family of Mrs. Lambe.' The resort offers summertime 'zip tours' that allow visitors to take in scenery while riding a zip line with a 2,100-foot vertical drop, according to the website. Guests can control their speed and cruise at about 65 mph. Labor is leading in the polls during the third week of the election campaign Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is continuing to parade through poor polls, which have most recently put the 'underdog' Labor party the preferred party ahead of the July election. Mr Turnbull said it had been a 'great week' despite dropping in several polls including the 7News-ReachTel poll, released on Friday, which has Labor ahead 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis. Earlier in the week Newspoll and Essential had Labor leading the coalition 51-49 per cent, reversing the Fairfax-Ipsos result from the previous weekend. Scroll down for video Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured left) and wife Lucy (centre right) take selfies during a tour of the Head Space Youth Mental health service in Bondi Juction, Sydney on Saturday Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (centre left) is continuing to parade through poor polls, which have most recently put the Labor party the preferred party ahead. Bill Shorten (right) said he is the 'underdog' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was seen greeting indigenous people during a visit to the aboriginal community of Maningrida in Northern Territory on Friday. He claims Labor is the underdog with 21 seats needed to win the July 2 election 'This has been a great week. We've been rolling out examples of our national economic plan day after day,' Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney on Saturday. 'Our economic plan is committed to driving jobs and growth right across Australia and Australians can see that. We're very pleased with the reception we're getting.' Mr Turnbull has campaigned in the marginal seats of Carpicornia (Qld), Eden-Monaro (NSW), Corangamite (Vic) and La Trobe (Vic) this week, and says his message is getting through. Three weeks into the two-month campaign, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor still had the harder job ahead of it, needing 21 seats to win the July 2 election. 'The sort of swing required to do that has been achieved very rarely in Australian history,' he told reporters on Saturday. 'That's why I understand that we're the underdog.' 'This has been a great week' - Malcolm Turnbull (pictured right in Bondi Junction) said despite dropping in several polls including the 7News-ReachTel poll, which has Labor ahead 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis 'The sort of swing required to do that has been achieved very rarely in Australian history' - Bill Shorten said of Labor's journey ahead of the July 2 election Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said people had been 'very disappointed' in Mr Turnbull, who ousted Tony Abbott as prime minister last September. 'He spoke about a new politics when he took over the leadership and what they've seen is the same policies,' he told reporters in Sydney. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie said the prime minister had 'fizzled' so far because he's being stifled by his party. 'I would really love to see the man be able to get in his boots and do it himself and show us how it is done properly. I just don't think he has been let off the strings,' she told the Nine Network. Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, is to close its offices in Jersey, Isle of Man and Gilbraltar, and admits decision is in part due to the April 3 leak. The announcement made by the company Friday comes nearly eight weeks after more than 10 million documents from the firm were published. The papers exposed how a raft of prominent leaders, politicians, celebrities and wealthy individuals around the world used Mossack Fonseca to start up or run offshore entities to hold their assets. Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, is to close its offices in Jersey, Isle of Man and Gilbraltar. Pictured: The Neptune House building (L) where the Mossack Fonseca law firm is situated at is seen in the British colony of Gibraltar The announcement made by the company Friday comes nearly eight weeks after more than 10 million documents from the firm were leaked Following the exposure of the 11.5 million documents, Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson (pictured) resigned Officially the company has said the closures are part of a 'consolidation of its branch network' but also admitted the change was connected to what it called its 'head office data intrusion'. The tweet from the company read: 'It is decision has been taken with great regret, as Mossack Fonseca has had a presence in these locations for more than 20 years.' At its peak, the company had a global network that extended to more than 40 countries, Although offshore companies are not in themselves illegal, the sudden publication of the information drew attention to possible tax avoidance and money laundering crimes in some cases, and embarrassed some figures trying to keep their finances secret. News of the closure of Mossack Fonseca's offices in Jersey and Isle of Man -- two Crown dependencies of Britain -- and Gibraltar -- a British overseas territory jutting off from Spain -- was reported earlier this week by local media in those territories and the BBC. The law firm in Panama did not confirm the information on Thursday when contacted by AFP. While its tweets Friday said those closures were happening, they made no mention of another report circulating this week in US media, about Mossack Fonseca's affiliate in the state of Nevada resigning as the agent for 1,000 companies it administered there. The tweet from the company read: 'It is decision has been taken with great regret, as Mossack Fonseca has had a presence in these locations for more than 20 years.' Celebrities named in papers included Jackie Chan (left). And it was claimed on May 10 that Emma Watson (right) set up an offshore company named in the Panama Papers and used it to buy a 2.8million London home British Prime Minister David Cameron finally admitted in April - after several days of stalling - that he had benefited from a Panama-based offshore trust set up by his late father MF Corporate Services, which is based in Las Vegas, filed notice on May 23 that it is to resign as registered agent for all 1,025 entities on its books, according to the Guardian. The company also remains under investigation in the British Virgin Islands. Following the exposure of the 11.5 million documents, Icelandic prime minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned. It also caused political scandals in the UK, Argentina, Malta, Australia and Pakistan. British Prime Minister David Cameron finally admitted in April - after several days of stalling - that he had benefited from a Panama-based offshore trust set up by his late father. Celebrities named in papers included Jackie Chan, Heather Mills, Stanley Kubrick and Simon Cowell Meanwhile, more high profile names have recently come out of the woodwork. It was claimed on May 10 that Emma Watson set up an offshore company named in the Panama Papers and used it to buy a 2.8million London home. The Harry Potter star, who earned 20million playing Hermione Granger in the series of blockbuster films, purchased the property through Falling Leaves Ltd, a company based in the British Virgin Islands. Over a lifetime women pay more than $1000 in taxes on sanitary products She helped launch the social media hash tag 'stop the vagina tax' Radio host Bianca Dye questions why items such as condoms avoid tax Women reignite the debate as to why sanitary items are taxed in Australia World feminine hygiene day has reignited the debate on why the Australian government continues to classify sanitary products as luxury items causing them to be taxed. Gold Coast radio host Bianca Dye was selected by Modibodi Australia, a protective leak-proof underwear brand for periods, to be an ambassador for 'stop the vagina tax.' The 42-year-old has since been 'stoked' with the selection, taking to social media to question the government as to why it chooses to tax products that are essential to women. Women are once again questioning the government as to why sanitary products are classified as luxury items and are taxed 'How can the government say a tampon is a 'luxury item'?' wrote Ms Dye on Instagram. 'Do you know how many women especially homeless struggle to buy them and have to use newspapers? 'It's disgraceful! Condoms are not taxed! But an essential 'sanitary item' is and none of the millions made off our periods goes back into helping the women of Australia who are suffering and it's time we let them know this is not ok.' There sanitary items currently have a 10 per cent GST (Goods and Services Tax) charged on tampons and sanitary pads. It is reported that women will pay more than $1000 in taxes on menstruation products over a lifetime. Gold Coast radio host, Bianca Dye, proudly took on the roll as an ambassador for 'stop the vagina tax' with underwear company Modibodi Australia A 13-year-old student from the Central Coast was met with a slew of online abuse from people she considered friends after breaking up with her boyfriend, highlighting a worrying trend in cyberbullying. When I broke up with my boyfriend, I was constantly getting text messages that said how horrible I was, said Nadia Banfield,13. Her mother Sylvia told Daily Mail Australia the bullying reached extraordinary levels, going from being tripped by her now ex-boyfriend's friend, to receiving hundreds of text messages a day telling her to kill yourself or get a coffin. Nadia Banfield, 13, was bullied by her peers after breaking up with her boyfriend. She says it left her feeling 'depressed' Nadia wasnt alone in her experience. New reports say bullying among children is on the rise and the bullies are getting younger. Figures from a Childrens e-Safety Commission report say instances of cyberbullying among 12 and 13-year-olds are on the rise, as more tweens are given smartphones and constant access to social media. Despite trying to block and ignore her bullies, Nadia soon found herself struggling to cope. It left me depressed I found myself agreeing with people just so they would stop, she said. Office of the Childrens eSafety Commissioner complaints manager Julia Cornwell McKean told the Daily Telegraph the majority of complaints, 64 per cent, related to nasty comments. Girls were the victim of bullying in almost seven out of ten cases and the most commonly complained about form of bullying was found to be edited images of the victim, with offensive words or images added to the picture. The key message here is for kids to manage their privacy settings to check them and secure their photographs, said Ms McKean. For Mrs Banfield, finding out her child was being bullied online left her feeling helpless and angry. The Central Coast teen is one of a growing number of 12-13-year-olds who are being cyberbullied, as 83 per cent of teenagers now have access to smartphones When other people say go kill yourself, you see some people take it so seriously. It upsets them a lot because they dont know where they are in life, she said. Being a teenager is a very difficult time. Its so foreign to me, the concept that someone I dont know says Im a fat s*** or whatever that couldnt even impinge on me. Its an age thing. They are so worried about what everyone thinks of them. Its overwhelming. Mrs Banfield says a source of her helplessness is knowing she cannot always be present to help, and must rely on her daughter to tell her if something happens something she thinks resonates with other parents. The mother-of four said this became clear to her when her child was bullied for having an unpopular friend. Nadia had a friend at school who was constantly picked on. It got to the point where my daughter was so bullied for hanging around with her that she had to stop, she said. [The girls] mother has come to me and said shes seen her daughter pushed up against the wall, and she was able to step in and say hey get your hands off her but only because she was there at the time. Its really hard. Dealing with a teenager is a full time job. Many schools have implemented anti-bullying programs and resources such as Kids Helpline exist to help children facing a hard time or being bullied, however almost every module or piece of advice is reliant on the victim approaching someone about their issues. Nadias mother believes she has raised a confident and ambitious young woman, and hopes other children who are being bullied can have the same confidence to go to someone they trust. If you need to speak to someone about being bullied, visit kidshelpline.com.au The 60 Minutes crew that botched a child recovery attempt in Lebanon should be sacked, says the family of a former soldier jailed for his role in the operation. Adam Whittington, an ex-Australian soldier and child recovery specialist, has spent more than 50 days in a Beirut prison for his role in the Sally Faulkner kidnapping incident. His family says the entire 60 Minutes team 'should have gone down' for the scandal, rather than sacking just producer Stephen Rice, reported The ABC. Scroll down for video Former Australian soldier Adam Whittington was jailed for his involvement in the botched 60 Minutes child abduction attempt Tara Brown was arrested alongside senior producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment. The 60 Minutes crew is pictured with Nine news boss Darren Wick (second right) after their release from jail last month Working for Child Abduction Recovery International, Mr Whittington travelled to Lebanon alongside a 60 Minutes team in an attempt to recover Ms Faulkner's two children from her partner, Ali Elamine. They were arrested after snatching Ms Faulkner's children off the street, although Mr Elamine dropped kidnapping charges against the 60 Minutes team after reportedly receiving a significant payout from Channel 9. The entire crew involved in the operation have kept their jobs following a review by the network, with the exception of Mr Rice. The family of Mr Whittington say the entire 60 Minutes crew should have been jailed for their role in the botched Lebanon child recovery attempt. His father David is pictured at a protest outside Channel 9's headquarters in Sydney Speaking to the ABC about the incident, Mr Whittington's uncle Vince Pisani said Mr Rice should not have been 'thrown to the sharks'. He said: 'This poor guy, he was doing the same job as the other three. 'I think they're all responsible for it, not just the one. They just copped that out and chucked him to the sharks.' Mr Whittington's mother Georgina said: 'Channel 9 should admit that they hired Adam and have the decency to ring me and explain what happened' Mr Whittington's mother Georgina said the entire crew needed to take responsibility, rather than throwing her son and Mr Rice under the bus. She told The ABC: 'If one gets under the bus, they should all get under the bus. Channel Nine employed all of them, so what's good for some should be good for all the others. 'First thing, I think Channel Nine should admit that they hired Adam and they should have the decency to ring his wife and tell her, or me, as his mother, and tell us what's happened. 'Why did they leave him behind? If it's good for five people, four people, it should be good for the other four. It's wrong. It's wrong what Channel Nine did.' Stephen Rice (right) pictured with Tara Brown on their return to Australia on April 21 after being released from jail in Beirut after facing kidnapping charges over the botched child 'recovery' operation. Mr Rice has since been sacked by Channel 9 An independent review into the incident was released by Channel 9 on Friday. The review found that a series of 'inexcusable errors' had led to the 'gravest misadventure in the program's history'. Torrential weeks in Texas and Kansas have left at least two people dead and five others missing, officials said Saturday. The threat of severe weather has now lessened in Texas but more flooding could happen as rivers and waterways keep rising slowly. 'The skies are clear and things look good. But we want to make sure people understand that we are not out of the woods yet, We have to keep an eye on water that's coming through our bayou system,' a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management in Harris County said. Other parts of the US got drenched Friday, including Kansas, and a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean brought rain and wind to the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. Scroll down for video Torrential weeks in Texas and Kansas have left at least two people dead and five others missing, officials said Saturday. Pictured, people escape a flooded Spring Creek in Magnolia, Texas on Friday The threat of severe weather has now lessened in Texas but more flooding could happen as rivers and waterways keep rising slowly. Pictured, three men escape after a truck became flooded in Magnolia Friday An 11-year-old boy went missing in central Kansas after he was swept away by a swollen creek Friday night, the Wichita Fire Department said Saturday. Officers have brought two cadaver police dogs to take part in the search. The boy fell into Gypsum Creek around 7:30pm Friday as he was crossing a footbridge. Rescuers spent three hours looking for him before water levels receded too much and they had to give up. The search resumed Saturday morning. The department said on its Facebook page that crews are searching every inch of the creek in what is now a recovery effort. Two motorists are also missing in separate parts of Washington County. One vehicle was located without its driver, and the other hasn't been found. Pictured, a flipped truck belonging to a missing man Authorities are searching for two other missing people whose vehicle was swept off a flooded roadway near Austin in Travis County. Pictured, a car and a home sit in flood water in Magnolia Friday More than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places on Thursday and Friday in Washington County, prompting authorities to perform more than 50 water rescues. Pictured, water rushes down a canal in Brenham, Texas Two people have died in Washington County, Texas, located between Austin and Houston. One of them was found dead in a mobile home that was swamped by floodwaters and a second person was found in a vehicle that had gone off a road and into a submerged ditch, Washington County Judge John Brieden said Saturday. More than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places on Thursday and Friday, prompting authorities to perform more than 50 water rescues. The torrential rainfall swelled rivers and other waterways, washing away mobile homes and flooding other structures. Two motorists are also missing in separate parts of the rural county. One vehicle was located without its driver, and the other hasn't been found. Officials fear that it may be submerged and won't be located until floodwaters recede, Brieden added. Authorities are searching for two other missing people whose vehicle was swept off a flooded roadway near Austin in Travis County, which saw up to nine inches of rain this week. Harris County officials asked about 750 families in the Northwood Pines subdivision to voluntarily evacuate their homes and apartments on Saturday due to rising water in several rivers and creeks in the Houston area. Officials also warned residents living near the west fork of the San Jacinto River, north of Houston, that rising waters were likely to flood homes, even those that are elevated. In Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston, authorities told residents the Brazos River was likely to rise to the highest level ever recorded in the county, which county Judge Robert Hebert called 'a serious incident.' The city of Simonton issued a mandatory evacuation for most of its 800 residents, which is going 'rather smoothly' according to Mayor Louis Boudreaux. The National Weather Service said an EF1 tornado hit Thursday in Bryan, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. Bryan officials said 153 homes were damaged, including 53 with major damage. In Wisconsin, another EF1 tornado damaged about 25 homes and knocked out power to the village of Brandon on Friday, but no one was injured. The torrential rainfall swelled rivers and other waterways, washing away mobile homes and flooding other structures. Pictured, cattle are herded out of a flooded pasture Friday in Chappell Hill, Texas 'We want to make sure people understand that we are not out of the woods yet,' an emergency management spokesman said Saturday. Pictured, two men look at a vehicle stranded in rising water in Austin, Texas Made a quick getaway after horror interview in Sunbury on Saturday A liberal candidate who gatecrashed a Bill Shorten campaign event made a quick getaway after a horror media interview leaving one of his supporters in the lurch. Chris Jermyn failed to explain the Coalition's health policies when asked before announcing his hatred towards journalists. Mr Jermyn and his supporter Bruce Lancashire held party posters out the front of the Sunbury Community Health Centre in Victoria on Saturday. Scroll down for video Chris Jermyn (right) failed to explain the Coalition's health policies when asked before announcing his hatred towards journalists Chris Jermyn gatecrashed a Bill Shorten campaign event but made a quick getaway after a horror media interview leaving one of his supporters in the lurch Mr Jermyn was asked by a journalist whether he supported lifting the freeze on the Medicare rebate for doctors and to articulate the federal government's policy Mr Shorten was due to announce $2 million for a child health hub if he wins the election. Mr Shorten shook Mr Jermyn's hand as he arrived and joked at least he got to see one leader this election. Mr Jermyn was asked by a News Corp journalist whether he supported lifting the freeze on the Medicare rebate for doctors and to articulate the federal government's policy. 'Look clearly my position is that of the federal government,' he said. 'The government's policy is very clear. Nonetheless I think we've got the leader arriving now so I'd like to have a listen to what he's got to say.' Mr Shorten made light of the Liberal candidate's blunder during his press conference. Mr Shorten (pictured) made light of the Liberal candidate's blunder during his press conference Mr Jermyn (left) and his supporter Bruce Lancashire (centre) held party posters out the front of the Sunbury Community Health Centre in Victoria on Saturday 'I understand he was questioned about what is the Liberal health care policy and to be fair to this poor fellow he said he didn't know,' Mr Shorten said. The health care policy if (Prime Minister Malcolm) Turnbull is re-elected will mean that 14.5 million Australians will pay more to go to see the doctor.' Mr Jermyn fled before the press conference was over, leaving Mr Lancashire behind to answer questions about his whereabouts. The media caught up with Mr Jermyn, but he refused to answer questions and drove off in his car. 'This is why I hate journalists,' he said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull avoided questioning about Mr Jermyn's performance, saying it was Mr Shorten who deserved scrutiny over policy. The media caught up with Mr Jermyn, but he refused to answer questions and drove off in his car Baker is in Australia to direct Breath, film adaption of Tim Winton's book Listed for between $3.3 million and $3.5 million on McGrath Estate Agents Actor Simon Baker has put his North Bondi home on the market Mentalist actor Simon Baker has put his lavish cliffside apartment on the market. In the country to make his debut directing role for the film Breath, based on Tim Winton's novel, Baker has listed his Sydney beach getaway for between $3.3 million and $3.5 million, according to Domain. The art deco penthouse on the Ben Buckler headland awards sweeping views of Bondi Beach from its rooftop balcony. Scroll down for video Mentalist actor Simon Baker and wife Rebecca Rigg have put their lavish North Bondi cliffside apartment on the market In the country to make his debut directing role for the film Breath , based on Tim Winton's novel, Baker has listed his Sydney beach getaway for between $3.3 million and $3.5 million The stunning location and limited estates available within the enviable location makes the apartment incredibly exclusive The home is just a short stroll to the Bondi Beach precinct and has incredible views of the Pacific Ocean The 250 square metre space has double the floor space of its neighbouring apartments The apartment's previous owners amalgamated two apartments on the top floor of the building to make more space The property had been Baker and his wife Rebecca Rigg's Sydney holiday home since they purchased it in 2014 for $2.63 million The 250 square metre space has double the floor space of its neighbouring apartments after its previous owners amalgamated two apartments on the top floor of the building. The home has three double sized bedrooms, chic bathrooms and two separate locked garages. Aside from the incredible views, attention to detail has been paid with an incredible stairwell to the rooftop terrace, American oak floorboards in French Grey, a Miele gas kitchen and Italian-tiled bathrooms. The apartment at the northern end of Sydneys iconic Bondi Beach in the exclusive Ben Buckler peninsular is on offer The art deco penthouse on the Ben Buckler headland awards sweeping views of Bondi Beach from its rooftop balcony Security intercom entry, refurbished oceanfront building, Stroll to North Bondi's dining scene, shops and Bondi Beach Aside from the incredible views, attention to detail has been paid with an incredible stairwell that leads to the rooftop terrace The property had been Baker and his wife Rebecca Rigg's Sydney holiday home since they purchased it in 2014 for $2.63 million. In selling the property, the pair opted for a $6.5 million Bronte family home which they purchased last year. For more information on the chic beachside sanctuary, visit the listing. The kitchen plays host to a fully integrated Miele gas kitchen and marble island benchtop One of the seven in the building, the apartment on offer is one of two in the building to have a rooftop patio Three double bedrooms and incredible views over Sydney's Eastern suburbs make the apartment an incredible beachside sanctuary A light-filled kitchen and dining room are built upon American oak hardboard floors Chic Italian-tiled bathrooms offer a modern look to the exclusive North Bondi apartment An oversized open plan living with zoned lounge and dining are complemented with full ducted heating and airconditioning Police are investigating the cause of a mystery fire that burned through one of their patrol cars on Friday evening. Officers from Yanchep and North West Metro Response in Western Australia were sent to investigate a disturbance on a bush track in Two Rocks. Once they had finished their patrol and returned to the road, officers noticed flames on the bottom of the Yanchep vehicle. A police patrol vehicle was travelling off a bush road when the officers travelling behind it realised there were flames on the bottom Police attempted to extinguish the mystery fire, but were unable to do so. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services arrived soon after to put out the blaze, though the car had been completely destroyed. Officers involved were unharmed, and the fire is not believed to be suspicious. Police were unable to put out the fire, and the car appears to have melted slightly from the flames Teenage boy due to appear before magistrates in Queensland on Monday The girl is in an induced coma at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Neighbours said they heard screaming coming from the suburban house Boy, 17, allegedly set the girl on fire after dousing her in petrol at 4pm The teenagers are believed to have argued at a house in south Brisbane A 17-year-old girl is in a coma after allegedly being doused in petrol and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend during an argument. The teenager has burns to her arms, legs and upper body after the incident in a south Brisbane suburb on Friday afternoon. Her ex-boyfriend, who is also 17, has been charged with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm. He will appear before magistrates on Monday. Scroll down for video A 17-year-old girl was allegedly doused in petrol and set on fire by her teenage boyfriend (above) after an argument on Friday Paramedics were called to an address in the south Brisbane suburb on Friday at around 4pm where they found the girl having been set ablaze. According to The Today Show, neighbours rushed to the girl's aid after hearing screaming on the residential street. She was treated at the scene before being taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital where she remains in a serious condition. The girl's family were desperately hoping for her recovery on Sunday as she remained in hospital. Her mother was understood to have flown from elsewhere in the country to be with her. Police revealed the incident occurred after an alleged argument between the pair. The girl's family made an emotional plea for her recovery on Sunday as she remained in a coma in hospital The girl (left) remains in an induced coma in hospital. The 17-year-old boy has been charged with acts intending grievous bodily harm Neighbours in the suburban street where the alleged attack took place (above) said they heard the girl screaming The girl remains in an induced coma at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (above) 'Around 4pm it is alleged the man became involved in a verbal argument with a 17-year-old woman, known to him. 'Police will further allege the man then used a flammable liquid to set the woman on fire,' said a Queensland Police spokesman. 'The woman was treated by paramedics for serious burn injuries to her arms, legs and upper body. 'She was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital for treatment,' they added. There was no update on the teenager's condition on Sunday. Police have today charged a man with one count of acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm. An explosion in Kent has injured two people as fire crews battled through the night to control a raging blaze from a gas mains. Images posted on Twitter showed huge flames coming from the mains and witnesses described how the sky 'lit up' after the explosion. One man was rushed to hospital while another was treated by paramedics at the scene near Estuary Business Park in Whitstable. Images posted on Twitter showed huge flames coming from the mains, and witnesses described how the sky 'lit up' after the explosion The cause of the blaze has not been revealed but witnesses say that construction workers had been working on the gas pipes in the area. Nick Ward told Kent Online he had been alerted to potential problems eight hours before the 10pm explosion. He said workers from Southern Gas Networks had knocked on his door at 1.30pm and told him that somebody had 'gone through the main and they were trying to fix the problem'. A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said this morning: 'Crews continued to keep the fire under control through the night and cooled the surrounding boundary using main jets and ground monitors. 'Southern Gas Networks isolated the gas main by 2.45am and fire was extinguished. Duty of care was handed over to the lead engineer, at which time crews left the scene.' Beth Hicks, 28, told local media: 'I saw fire from Mcdonald's - there was a huge orange glow. It's crazy.' The two people hurt in the blast are not thought to be seriously injured. A spokesman for Kent Police said: 'Two men have been treated at the scene by ambulance staff for injuries not described as being serious.' Advertisement It might sound like a fantastical idea ripped straight from a fairy tale, but the opportunity to live in a 12th century castle may actually be possible - if you have a spare 1.5 million that is. Wilton Castle in Herefordshire is located on the bank of the River Wye, in the heart of the Wye Valley - an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty straddled between England and Wales. The motte-and-bailey castle, which was originally built to guard the river crossing and protect the border, acted as a base for soldiers for 300 years. Location, location, location: Wilton Castle in Herefordshire is based on the bank of the River Wye, in the heart of the Wye Valley The five-bedroom castle is a Grade I Scheduled Ancient Monument and has been restored by the current owners for the past 10 years The current owners, Alan and Susan Parslow, described the house as a 'historic paradise' but say they are now looking to downsize History: The motte-and-bailey castle was originally built to guard the River Wye crossing and protect the border from potential invaders In the 16th century a Tudor manor house was constructed from parts of the castle walls, but the building was later destroyed in a civil war. The castle was purchased by Guy's Hospital in 1731, who owned it for 230 years, before it was bought by a private buyer in 1961. In 1832 The Mirror described the property as: 'One of the ivy-mantled relics that lend even a charm to romantic nature on the banks of the Wye. 'Its shattered tower and crumbling wall, combine with her wild luxuriance, to form a scene of great picturesque beauty.' Today the five-bedroom mansion is a Grade I Scheduled Ancient Monument that has been carefully restored by the current owners for the past 10 years. It features elements of Norman, Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian architecture as well as the romantic ruins of the Tudor manor house. According to The Times, the current owners, Alan and Susan Parslow, described the house as a 'historic paradise' but say they are now looking to downsize. In the 16th century a Tudor manor house was constructed from parts of the castle walls, but the building was later destroyed in a civil war The castle features elements of Norman, Elizabethan, Georgian and Victorian architecture as well as the ruins of the Tudor manor house The castle was purchased by Guy's Hospital in 1731, who owned it for 230 years, before it was bought by a private buyer in 1961 The beautifully restored Wilton Castle has been described as a perfect venue for weddings and musical functions The property is on sale through Roscoe Rogers and Knight for 1.495 million, and comes with the outhouse, the medieval ruins, a dry moat and two acres of land. There is also the opportunity to purchase the title of Lord of Wilton Castle, according to the estate agents. But The Times reported that due to an agreement with English Heritage, the castle must be shared with the public for 28 days of a year. Wilton Castle has been described as a perfect venue for weddings and musical functions. It boasts a large reception room as well as a study and former chapel and on the first-floor there is the characterful addition of exposed stonework. While outside a private driveway leads to a parking area alongside stables and visitor facilities. The property is a stone's throw from the nearby town of Ross-on-Wye and it is also close to Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff airports. The property is on sale for 1.495 million, and comes with the outhouse, the medieval ruins, a dry moat and two acres of land Due to an agreement with English Heritage, the Grade I Scheduled Ancient Monument must be shared with the public for 28 days of a year Labour of love: The current owners spent 10 years meticulously restoring the property, which was built by the Normans in the 12 century Researchers have found that fitness trackers are so inaccurate with their calorie counting, they are getting readings wrong by up to 40 per cent. A new study has revealed that trackers made by Fitbit and Jawbone underestimated the calorie burn for household chores and notably overestimated it during vigorous exercise. In a review of two wrist worn and two hip-worn trackers, readings were accurate enough with 'sedentary exercise' - but overestimates ranged from 16 to 40 per cent for anything more strenuous.. Researchers found in a study of four trackers that included the Fitbit One (left) and the Fitbit Flex (right) they overestimated calorie burn during vigorous exercise by up to 40 per cent The news of inaccurate readings comes as three law suits have been filed against Fitbit, claiming its heart trackers are 'inaccurate'. In the study researchers from Ball Sate University tested two wrist-worn trackers - the Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP24, and two hip-worn trackers, the Fitbit Zip and Fitbit One - on 30 adult participants of different ages and fitness levels. The members lay on a bed for ten minutes and then exercised for five minutes at a time while a metabolic analyser measured their calorie loss. For exercises classed as 'sedentary', all four trackers were accurate to within eight per cent of the analyser's calorie count. But for exercises that simulated household work, all the trackers except the Fitbit Flex underestimated calorie output by 27 to 34 per cent. And during strenuous exercise, none of the trackers were accurate in their readings - with overestimates ranging from 16 to 40 per cent. Fitbit, the most popular brand of tracker, sold 21.4million devices of the 115million trackers sold around the world last year, according to the research company Gartner. In the study researchers from Ball Sate University tested two wrist-worn trackers - the Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP24 (pictured), and two hip-worn trackers, the Fitbit Zip and Fitbit One - on 30 adult participants of different ages and fitness levels Alexander Montoye, a study researcher, revealed that they decided to do the tests to find out how well trackers actually worked since they first became popular in 2013. He told The Times: 'We found irregularities in several areas but still, for a lot of people, fitness trackers can be a great motivational tool.' A Fitbit spokesman claimed their trackers are 'not intended to be scientific or medical devices' and are instead designed to 'provide meaningful data'. A spokesman for Jawbone called the UP24 a 'relatively old product' which used 'older technology'. The news comes as a class-action lawsuit slammed Fitbit devices, specifically Surge and Charge HR, for being 'highly inaccurate', which was highlighted in a recent study conducted specifically for the case. Researchers found the PurePulse monitor in the devices is off by up to 20 beats per minute after comparing results with a Zephyr Bioharness but Fitbit told DailyMail.com that 'the study is flawed'. THE LAWSUIT AGAINST FITBIT Three people, including Kate McLellan are suing the company, claiming Fitbit's heart rate monitor does not work. Speaking to NBC News, Ms McLellan said: '[Fitbit] made it seem like it was my fault, like I was using it wrong, and said it's not meant to track your heart rate all of the time.' However, Fitbit believes that the case does not have merit. They have stressed that their trackers are designed to provide meaningful data to help users reach their health and fitness goals and are not scientific or medical devices. 'The study is very flawed, as it compares the Fitbit devices with the Zephyr,' a source close to Fitbit told DailyMail.com. 'Researchers give the implication that the zephyr used to conduct the study has been proven and validated, but it hasn't.' 'There isn't a gold standard device that can be accurately compared to Fitbit.' The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by individuals who bought the devices to help the track their heart rate, some because it was suggested by a doctor due to medical history and opted in to buy one of the more expensive models. 'Our claim is that Fitbit knowingly marketed and sold devices equipped with the PurePulse technology that do not in fact accurately measure heart rates during the very types of moderate to intense exercise Fitbit shows people doing in its ads,' Jonathan Selbin, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in New York City and one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, told DailyMail.com. The study was performed by researchers from California State Polytechnic University. They tested the heart rates of 43 healthy adults using Fitbit's PurePulse heart rate monitors, as well as a consumer-grade ECG device. Customers have given McDonalds first-ever fries-only store a mixed reception - from praise to a campaign by salty locals to shut it down. The popup 'Fries With That' store in the inner western Sydney suburb of Glebe opened its doors on Friday offering a range of Loaded fries and toppings, free of charge. Crowds of customers flocked to sample the Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli, Caesar, Curry, Pesto and Parmesan, Gravy, Chipotle and Peri-Peri-chip toppings. But one group of locals were not loving the idea of having a McDonalds restaurant in their suburb, and worried the temporary set up could become permanent. A hungry customer tucks into an array of loaded fries at McDonalds fries-only concept store in Glebe The popup 'Fries With That' store in the inner western Sydneys Glebe opened its doors on Friday Crowds of customers flocked to sample the Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli, Caesar, Curry, Pesto and Parmesan, Gravy, Chipotle and Peri-Peri-chip toppings Some customers took to social media to praise the store and the new toppings But others were less convinced, joining the growing opposition to the store Some customers took to social media to praise the store and the new toppings, sharing images of themselves tucking into the sauce-laden chips. But there has been a whirlwind of opposition, with police attending the scene on Friday after reports a brick had been hurled through the stores window. Locals argue the store was stealing business from local cafes and the belief it may be a sneaky ploy for a permanent restaurant. When rumours started spreading following the McDonald's sightings, local mother Amanda Tattersall formed a committee to fight the 'really sneaky' invasion by the 'multinational' which residents feared would turn their much-loved quirky street into a 'homogenised' strip mall. They launched a campaign with slogans 'we're not loving it' and 'Not on our Corner' with a slashed through McDonald's logo. Ms Tattersall has launched a communityrun.org petition in which she states: 'We don't want McDonald's in Glebe. Glebe has a wonderful cafe culture. Opening a McDonald's, under any name and in any form, will take business away from that village community. Scroll down for video But locals are up in arms about having a McDonalds opening in their suburb and cast doubt on the temporality of the store Opposition to the store centered on stealing business from local cafes and the belief it may be a sneaky ploy for a permanent store After its 'Loaded Fries' campaign was a success last year, the restaurant chain decided to introduce 'Fries With That,' to a temporary store in the Sydney inner west suburb of Glebe for the weekend 'We all know that most of your food is bad quality (no matter how much you pretend otherwise) - high in fat, high in sugar, made with poorly sourced ingredients. We know around the world that you pay your workers low wages too. 'Residents of Glebe and visitors to Glebe don't want to encourage a business that is bad for our health, the environment and doesn't respect the need for living wages.' Ms Tattersall told Daily Mail Australia that Glebe residents wanted 'McDonald's to take its Starbucks cafe back to America and not impose it on Glebe'. The topping selected by customers out of Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli, Caesar, Curry, Pesto and Parmesan, Chipotle, Gravy and Peri-Peri will join McDonald's regular menu Glebe Point Road (pictured) is described as a place where you can 'rub shoulders with artists, intellectuals and book lovers Protesters brandished Australian flags and used them as weapons when two rival rallies violently clashed in in Melbourne's north. Demonstrators from the True Blue Crew and United Patriots Front (UPF) were marching to 'Stop The Far Left' at the same time as the 'No To Racism' rally by anti-racism and anti-Islam groups on Bell Street in Coburg on Saturday morning. Mounted police attempted to control the crowd but protesters were bashed with flag poles baring the Australian flag, while others regressed into violent brawls on the street. Scroll down for video Protesters brandished Australian flags (pictured) and used them as weapons when two rival rallies violently clashed in in Melbourne's northern suburb Coburg Demonstrators from the True Blue Crew and United Patriots Front (UPF) were marching to 'Stop The Far Left' at the same time as the 'No To Racism' rally by anti-racism and anti-Islam groups (pictured) About 500 riot police separated the groups and used capsicum spray when the rally took a turn for the worst and reports have heard anti-racism protesters' baited police as they moved up Sydney road. Footage captured by 9NEWS showed protesters stabbing one another with the end of flag poles while others threw punches at anyone in close range. The chaotic brawl had more than 300 people draped in the Australian flag and most with their faces covered with some wearing Guy Fawkes masks. Police made seven arrests amid the violent scuffles with two people arrested for riotous behaviour, one for assaulting a police and one for hindering police, while one was arrested for robbery. Footage captured at the rally shows protesters stabbing one another (left) with the end of flag poles while others threw punches at anyone in close range (right) Anti-racism protesters chanted 'Nazi Scum, off our streets' while UPF (pictured) members carried a sign which read 'No Refugees. Our home, our future' The two groups hurled abuse at each other during the marches with some swearing and others making derogatory remarks. Anti-racism protesters chanted 'Nazi Scum, off our streets' while UPF members carried a sign which read 'No Refugees. Our home, our future.' UPF leader Blair Cottrell threatened rivals by saying 'force and terror' will be used, before telling supporters the anti-racism demonstrators were 'smashed.' Demonstrators for the No To Racism rally, which included members from the Anti Fascist Action, gathered to protest the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, off-shore detention centres and Islamophobia. The two groups hurled abuse at each other during the marches with some swearing and others making derogatory remarks UPF leader Blair Cottrell threatened rivals by saying 'force and terror' will be used, before telling supporters the anti-racism demonstrators were 'smashed' Commander Sharon Cowden has since condemned the riot calling the violence inappropriate and 'cowardly'. She said: 'We saw inappropriate and often cowardly behaviour with people wearing masks and hiding their identity I believe it makes them more violent when they are on the streets. 'What happened today is not on. We will be looking at the footage, finding out what else we can do, to track these people down and bring them to justice. 'There were clashes on both sides, so I condemn the behaviour of both sides but mostly it's the extremists. Seven arrests were made as the clashes occurred, two were charged with possessing prohibited weapons Authorities have said the violence was attributed to extremists within both groups blaming both rivals for their 'cowardly' behaviour The riot police stood between the opposing demonstrators in an attempt to stop a clash from occurring but protesters tried to break the police lines 'You get the extremists and they are often very cowardly and they will come along looking for a fight and that's what we saw today.' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on protesters to respect one another and said: 'We are the most successful multicultural society in the world. 'We are united, we have so much in common and we are stronger and more prosperous as a nation because of that diversity. 'My message today and every day, as your Prime Minister, is that mutual respect, respect for each other, giving the respect to others that we ask of them is key to our success.' Police were forced to make arrests as protesters turned violent throwing punches and crates at rivals Commander Sharon Cowden praised the efforts of police in maintaining the crowd and ensuring no one was seriously injured Police were forced to use capsicum spray during a rally involving anti-racism and anti-Islam protesters in Melbourne on Saturday morning Greens Leader Richard Di Natale blamed the riots on the 'toxic debate' off asylum seekers in Australia. 'We need both the Labor Party and particularly this Government to rein in the comments it is making. 'It's contributing to ugly race politics, the consequences of which were seen in Melbourne today.' Senior police and weapons checkpoints have been present since early Saturday morning costing tax payers approximately $1.7 million. Police are expected to continue their investigations by examining footage in hopes of bringing violent demonstrators to justice. Desperate to calm down the crowd riot police were seen using the capsicum spray on numerous occasions One protester was brought down to his knees as the spray hit him directly in the face Officers were eventually able to settle down the demonstrator in order to restrain him Police detain a man as the clashes between the rival protesters turned violent in Coburg A riot officer stands on guard ready to aim his capsicum spray at demonstrators who continue to cause havoc as photographers pose ready to take photos while wearing goggles A man is pictured sitting down on the side of the road attempting to relieve his pain with water after being capsicum sprayed Members from the far-left Anti Fascist Action group gathered to join the No To Racism rally and concealed their identities by covering their faces A demonstrator wearing the Australia flag to cover his face also attempted to escape from the riot squad as they used capsicum spray Members of the Anti Fascist Action group were protesting the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, off-shore detention centres and Islamophobia One man aids another protester while wearing gloves in a bid to avoid touching the OC spray covering the man's face Commander Sharon Cowden has since condemned the clashes calling the violence and inappropriate behaviour 'cowardly' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged demonstrators to respect each other as well as stating Australia is 'the most successful multicultural society in the world' Police are expected to continue looking at footage in hopes of bringing certain protesters to justice Greens Leader Richard Di Natale blamed the riots on the 'toxic debate' off asylum seekers in Australia Roads were closed, mounted police were present and weapons checkpoints were organised for the protests Tax payers have been forced to pay approximately $1.7 million for resources used to manage the protests Members from ANTIFA wore Guy Fawkes mask and held signs saying 'there is no authority but yourself' and 'Muslims are welcome, racists are not' An Iraqi asylum seeker in Britain allegedly tried to join ISIS after six months because he did not like living in Sheffield, a court has heard. Shivan Hayder Azeez Zanagana, 20, known as Aziz, lived with his brother in South Yorkshire between November 2015 and May this year, when he was arrested. Aziz is said to have become homesick and missed his mother and siblings. Aziz, who appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, left Iraq after being injured in a car bomb explosion and entered the UK illegally in September, having travelled via Italy. Zanagana travelled to Sheffield (pictured) to live in November 2015 but could not settle and wanted to return to Iraq amd join ISIS, it is alleged He went to live with his brother in Sheffield in November but allegedly soon began planning to return to Iraq and join ISIS with Aras Mohammed Hamid. Hamid, 26, an asylum seeker who had been in the UK for eight years, is also suspected of trying to smuggle himself out of Britain to join Daesh. Hamid was discovered in the back of a lorry at Dover on May 19 while Aziz bought a plane ticket using his Iraqi passport, the Daily Telegraph reported. The pair are accused of plotting to return to northern Iraq and join a Kurdish group who are fighting alongside ISIS (pictured) Zanagana and Hamid are charged under terrorism laws of plotting to join the Salahaddin Battalion, a Kurdish group fighting alongside ISIS. Ahmad Ismail, 18, has been charged with failing to inform the authorities of Hamid's alleged intentions. He was arrested at the al-Noor mosque in Birmingham on May 17. Ismail was arrested at his home in Coventry on May 22. Aziz is charged with one count of preparing for acts of terrorism contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. Hamid is charged with one count of preparing for acts of terrorism, one count of assisting Aziz to prepare for an act of terrorism, and one count of possessing a false identity document. Ismail is accused of failing to disclose information to police of an offence involving the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism, contrary to section 38b of The Terrorism Act 2000. A new study suggests that sharks have their own personalities and individual responses to their environment. Researchers at Macquarie University's Department of Biological Sciences in Sydney led the study, which placed Port Jackson sharks in unfamiliar environments and measured how each of them reacted, according to Phys.org. 'Over the past few decades, personality research has shown that nearly 200 species of animals demonstrate individual personality,' lead author of the study Evan Byrnes said. A study led by researchers at Macquarie's Department of Biological Sciences in Sydney have discovered that Port Jackson sharks (pictured) have their own individual personalities 'Over the past few decades, personality research has shown that nearly 200 species of animals demonstrate individual personality,' lead author of the study Evan Byrnes (left) said 'Personality is no longer considered a strictly human characteristic, rather it is a characteristic deeply ingrained in our evolutionary past.' Port Jackson sharks are nocturnal sharks found in South Australia, and often in the waters off of Port Jackson. During the study each shark was placed in a new tank and given shelter. They were then timed on how long it took them to emerge from the shelter and explore their new surroundings. The second behaviour test focused on their ability to handle stress. Each shark was handled like they would be if caught by a fisherman before being released back into the water as their reaction was noted. Port Jackson sharks (pictured) are nocturnal sharks found in South Australia, and often in the waters off of Port Jackson They were then timed on how long it took them to emerge from the shelter and explore their new surroundings Their behaviours were consistent as each trial was repeated, proving that some sharks are better at reacting to stress and bolder than others. 'We are excited about these results because they demonstrate that sharks are not just mindless machines. Just like humans, each shark is an individual with its unique preferences and behaviours,' said Associate Professor Culum Brown told phys.org. The results may influence how we now look at the top predators and how to manage shark populations which may now be more complicated, Mr Brown said. 'Understanding how personality influences variation in shark behaviour such as prey choice, habitat use and activity levels is critical to better managing these top predators that play important ecological roles in marine ecosystems.' The Iraqi army has begun its advance on the ISIS stronghold of Fallujah after the US-led coalition pounded terrorist positions with constant airstrikes over four days. Among the terrorists killed, was the area's commander, who was one of 70 jihadis killed in the airstrikes. More than 50,000 civilians are being held hostage by ISIS as the Iraqi army encircles the jihadi stronghold. Among those killed in the airstrike was Maher Al-Bilawi, who is the commander of all ISIS forces in the city. Scroll down for video The Iraqi army has begun its assault on the ISIS stronghold of Fallujah to rout the remaining 1,000 terrorists 70 ISIS terrorists including their commander Maher Al-Bilawi were killed by an airstrike in Fallujah, Iraq The 1,000 remaining terrorists are holding 50,000 civilians who are trapped in the city has human shields Small numbers of civilians have been able to flee the city, avoiding the attentions of the 1,000 remaining jihadis Colonel Steve Warren, spokesman for the US-led coalition said the terrorists 'are holding the civilian population captive so that they can hide behind them'. In a weekly update of operations across Iraq and Syria, Warren said: 'We've killed more than 70 enemy fighters, including Maher Al-Bilawi, who is the commander of ISIL forces in Fallujah.' Warren said the Al-Bilawi commander was killed two days ago while an Iraqi officer and a local official had reported his death last week. Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces on May 22-23 launched an offensive to retake Fallujah, one of only two major Iraqi cities still controlled by ISIS, the other being Mosul. ISIS fighters holed up in Fallujah are believed to number around 1,000 and while the myriad forces involved in the operation have moved closer, none have yet entered the city proper. Fallujah is one of the terror group's most important bastions. It was the first Iraqi city to fall out of government control in January 2014 and was the scene a decade earlier of some of the worst fighting US forces had seen since the Vietnam war. Iraqi forces began their attack on Fallujah on May 22 assisted by US and coalition bombers and drones ISIS have been accused of using civilians as human shields in Fallujah as terror group loses ground in Iraq ISIS has been losing ground around their strongholds in Mosul and Fallujah in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria The city has been surrounded by pro-government forces for months and concern has been mounting among humanitarian groups that the population was being deliberately starved. Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director said: 'The situation inside Fallujah is getting critical by the day.' Despite plans before the operation for safe corridors, few civilians have managed to flee the Fallujah battle in recent days. The biggest group slipped out on Friday. Police Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat said: 'Our forces evacuated 460 people... most of them women and children.' One of the lucky civilians who managed to flee the city with more than ten of her family, Umm Omar said: 'ISIS gave us food that only animals would eat.' Across the border, the ISIS Syrian capital Raqa was also coming under increasing pressure. A Kurdish-Arab alliance has launched an operation to retake the city, where an estimated 300,000 people still living there are becoming increasingly desperate to flee. According to anti-ISIS activist group Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), residents were paying smugglers 270 each to try to escape. Hamoud al-Musa of RBSS said: 'There is nearly no one walking in the streets. People are afraid of a brutal onslaught from the warplanes, whether coalition, Russian, or even regime. He said ISIS had set up a few new checkpoints in Raqa city and was 'amassing its forces on the front lines' further north, he said. UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said a total of 592,700 Syrians were living under siege, an increase of some 75,000 from a previous estimate. Personalised text messages could help prevent young Australians from binge drinking, according to new research. Researchers at Melbourne's Burnet Institute asked young adults aged between 18 and 25 to complete a questionnaire during a night out to trial the use of personalised text messages. The survey tracked their alcohol consumption, how much they spent and how they were feeling and in response they received tailored texts about their drinking. Lead researcher Cassandra Wright from Burnet's Centre for Population Health said many of the participants were surprised by the impact the text messages and said the research project was an 'eye opener'. Researchers at Melbourne's Burnet Institute asked young adults aged between 18 and 25 to complete a questionnaire during a night out to trial the use of personalised text messages Participants of the study received personalised text messages such as: 'Have fun but stay classy. Eating a bit now is a good first step.' 'You said you'd only have 6 drinks tonight but you've already had 7... What's your game plan?' 'Don't forget you have work tomorrow at 8. Going to feel fresh?' One participant in the study was concerned that the SMS feedback might feel like someone nagging them. But found the experience rather positive. 'I felt like someone was just checking up on me. It was sort of nice.' Speaking to the ABC, Ms Wright said she considers the research project a success. 'We had people saying 'I've never actually noticed how much I was drinking before, I never tried to keep track', and others saying 'I reached my spending limit and I thought yep, OK, it's time to go home'. 'Mobile phones are permanently in young people's hands. The intervention aside, this is a really exciting study because it allows us to collect alcohol-related data in real-time, it reduces issues with reporting related to memory-loss, and it's convenient.' The survey tracked participants alcohol consumption, how much they spent and how they were feeling and in response they received tailored texts about their drinking (stock image) The success of the pilot project has led to VicHealth and Gandel Philanthropy giving their support to an expanded study with 270 participants and more complete testing and evaluation (stock image) One participant in the study was concerned that the SMS feedback might feel like someone nagging them, but found the experience rather positive (stock image) The success of the pilot project has led to VicHealth and Gandel Philanthropy giving their support to an expanded study with 270 participants and more complete testing and evaluation. Ms Wright said if the next phase of the study was successful, there would be a bigger study that would generate automated text messages. 'It's a really big data base of thousands of different messages that are applicable to different situations and different times of night,' she said. Mohamed Roble, now 18, who survived the Minnesota bridge collapse in 2007, is now believed to have traveled to Syria to join ISIS A teenager who survived the Minnesota bridge collapse is now believed to have joined ISIS in Syria and may have used his payout from the accident to pay for weddings and cars for other fighters. Mohamed Roble, now 18, who was on a school bus that plunged 30ft off the I-35W bridge in 2007, is thought to have traveled to Syria via Istanbul in fall last year in order to live with his uncle. Roble is believed to have made the trip just a month an a half after his 18th birthday, when he was due to receive at least $65,000 for injuries he suffered during the accident. According to court testimony from three other Minnesota men on trial for attempting to join ISIS, Roble was part of a group attempting to travel to the Middle East and join the terrorist organization. The men said that the group were aware that Roble had access to money and were pressuring him into paying for their own trips, though it appears they were unsuccessful. But in one conversation secretly recorded by an FBI informant, defendant Guled Omar, 21, revealed that after Roble arrived in Syria he was handing out cash 'like candy'. Omar told the informant that Roble had paid for weddings and cars for other fighters while living with his uncle, a man called Abdi Nur. The men spoke on Skype with both Roble and Nur while they were in Syria, while another witness said the teen's Facebook account was filled with images of guns and other fighters. He also regularly wrote about how he felt blessed to be in 'sharm', a Koranic term used for an area of the Middle East that includes Syria. Roble was weeks from his 11th birthday when the school bus he was on plunged 30ft toward the Mississippi river during the accident, leaving him with headaches, back pain and post-traumatic stress disorder Roble was due to receive a payout of at least $65,000 from the crash shortly before it is thought he went to Syria, and is believed to have used the money to buy cars and weddings for fighters out there Roble was on board a school bus with five of his siblings when the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1, 2007, at the height of the afternoon rush hour. The group was returning from a school trip that day when the bus, carrying 62 children and staff, dropped 30ft toward the river, coming to rest near a semi truck that had burst into flames. In total 13 people were killed, though fortunately nobody on the school bus died, while another 145 people were wounded. Roble was just weeks from his 11th birthday when the accident happened. Roble's identity was revealed during a trial for Guled Omar, 21, a member of the same Somali community on trial for also trying to join ISIS Following the accident, Roble was reported to have suffered from headaches, arm, neck and back pain, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder. A letter from Roble's therapist, presented in court, claims that 'he was the most traumatized of all the siblings' on board the bus. The therapist adds that Roble turned to religion after the accident, and 'worked on his spiritual belief that "God had saved him for a purpose."' Therapy records show Roble's parents believed he was having a hard time dealing with the disaster, and that he did not follow through with counseling. In an initial session, Roble was found to meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, believing that 'he is a jinx, and that there is something wrong with him'. In 2009, a judge approved a $53,500 settlement from the state of Minnesota to be invested in an annuity in order to compensate Roble for the accident. On his 18th birthday Roble was due to receive access to an account containing $65,431.22, though it is unclear whether he claimed the money. It is also possible that Roble was in line for even more cash, as he also took part in two other lawsuits, though the outcome of those cases is secret. Omar is currently on trial alongside Hamza Naj Ahmed, 21, Adnan Abdihamid Farah and Abdirahman Yasin Daud, both 22, who are accused of plotting to join ISIS. Following the bridge collapse (pictured) Robles told his therapist that he believed he was a 'jinx', but said he was clinging to the belief that 'God has saved him for a purpose' Adnan Abdihamid Farah (left) and Abdirahman Yasin Daud, both 22, from Minnesota, are also being tried for one count of conspiracy to commit murder abroad after also trying to join ISIS Last week, Omar admitted having discussions in which he talked about arranging a traveler's route from the U.S. to Syria running through Mexico that could be used to send fighters to America. He also confessed to having discussions about getting martyred overseas, but said the threats were just 'empty boasts' and he was 'trying to sound like a big, bad man who knows what he's doing'. The men, who are all charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder abroad, are part of a Minnesota Somali community that has experienced repeated problems with people vowing loyalty to foreign terror groups and attempting to run away and join them. Teachers at Aurukun in remote Queensland were evacuated on Wednesday following a wave of violent incidents. It comes days after principal Scott Fatnowna (pictured) was attacked with an axe The Queensland government is reviewing the schooling in a troubled, remote community following a wave of violent incidents. Queensland's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk attended an urgent crisis meeting at the Aurukun township on Friday where she defended the government's decision to withdraw teachers from Aurukun's school. Earlier this week teachers had to be evacuated for the second time in a fortnight after school principal Scott Fatnowna was attacked and carjacked for a second time in two weeks. The first incident earlier this month caused the evacuation of the school's 25 staff and the arrest of six people after Mr Fatnowna was attacked with an axe as he tried to stop people breaking into the homes of two teachers. Ms Palaszczuk told the remote indigenous community that the state government was making every effort to ensure the town's long-term education needs were met. 'We all know how important education is and it is indeed my priority to ensure that all children receive a good quality education,' Ms Palaszczuk said in the town square. 'I don't care where they live in Queensland, every single child deserves the best education.' Queensland's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) attended an urgent crisis meeting at the Aurukun township where she defended the government's decision to withdraw teachers from Aurukun's school Ms Palaszczuk and Education Minister Kate Jones spoke to around 200 people in Aurukun (pictured) for more than an hour, following a Friday morning tour of the town and meeting with the Aurukun Shire Council Ms Palaszczuk told the remote indigenous community that the state government was making every effort to ensure the town's long-term education needs were met Ms Palaszczuk and Education Minister Kate Jones spoke to around 200 people in the town square for more than an hour, following a Friday morning tour of the town and meeting with the Aurukun Shire Council. Ms Jones said the government would conduct a review in consultation with the community. 'In the interim we will be looking at a review of the school to ensure we are listening to the community about how they want education provided here into the future,' she said. 'The education of our children is our number one priority. I say that as the education minister and as a mother.' Aurukun elder Phyllis Yunkaporta told the premier she was opposed to the school being closed, but put the responsibility back on the community's parents. 'Children who are running amok and are not getting an education have to be home with their parents, their grandparents,' she said. 'We need to show love to our children.' The police station will continue to be manned 24 hours for the foreseeable future according to Police Minister Bill Byrne. Shocking footage from Aurukun emerged earlier this month of a group of women brawling in front of police. The video shows a number of young women throwing bare-knuckled punches as onlookers stood by. Police Minister Bill Byrne said the police station will continue to be manned 24 hours for the foreseeable future Violence has been prevalent in the small remote town of late with shocking footage emerging earlier this month of a group of women brawling in front of police A German opposition leader had a cake shoved in her face during a party meeting, in what is believed to have been an act of protest about her anti-migrant position. The Left Party parliamentary co-leader Sahra Wagenknecht was pictured shortly after the incident covered in the pudding, despite her colleagues' efforts to shield her from view. She cut a humiliating figure, smartly dressed for the party meeting while covered in chocolate icing and crumbs. Attack: The Left Party parliamentary co-leader Sahra Wagenknecht was pictured shortly after the incident covered in the pudding, despite her colleagues' efforts to shield her from view It is believed the cake was thrown by an activist during the party meeting in Magdeburg, according to the dpa news agency. A group calling itself the 'Anti-Fascist Initiative "Cake for Misanthropists"' was spotted distributing flyers after the meeting, pointing to Ms Wagenknecht's stance on the refugee crisis as the motive. Ms Wagenknecht has highlighted the limits to Germany's ability to take in migrants and refugees, insisting that 'not all refugees can come to Germany'. The position has set her at odds with others in her party. The Left Party is the biggest opposition group in the German Parliament but has seen its support slip as the nationalist Alternative for Germany party woos protest voters. Shock: A group calling itself the 'Anti-Fascist Initiative "Cake for Misanthropists"' was spotted distributing flyers after the meeting, pointing to Ms Wagenknecht's stance on the refugee crisis as the motive Vladimir Putin has warned that Romania and Poland could be caught in the 'crosshairs' of Russian rockets for hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security. The Russian president said Moscow would be 'forced to carry out certain measures' against the European nations, at an Athens conference on Friday. Earlier this month the U.S. military - which says the shield is needed to protect from Iran, not threaten Russia - angered Russia by switching on the Romanian part of the shield. Vladimir Putin has warned that Romania and Poland could be in the 'crosshairs' of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its securit Work is also 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.' The Russian president said Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to retaliate to the missile shield and would be 'forced to carry out certain measures' against the European nations, at an Athens conference on Friday Speaking at a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (right) on Friday, 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 Putin also 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. He blamed the U.S. 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. He said the argument that the U.S. missile project was needed to defend against Iran made no sense because an international deal had been reached to curb Tehran's nuclear programme On Saturday, Putin will visit the autonomous Orthodox Christian monastic community of Mount Athos, joined by the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Athens is keen to maintain its traditionally close ties with post-Soviet Russia, despite its participation in EU sanctions against Moscow, and a gas pipeline project designed to limit Russia's regional energy dominance. Russia is one of Greece's main trading partners, but business has been hit by the sanctions and a drop in commodity prices. Greece is also keen to reverse a slump in tourist arrivals from Russia last year, and attract interest from Russian companies in the planned privatization of rail and other transport services. Putin's latest warning comes as Russia successfully tested an anti-satellite missile capable of wiping out U.S. navigation, communications and intelligence devices Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, noted that Putin's visit comes just days after Athens reached a deal with eurozone bailout creditors to continue rescue loans, under a deal that expands power of a state privatization committee. 'Improving relations with Russia on multiple levels is a strategic choice,' Tsipras said. 'Of course ... when the disagreements exceed our powers, we can act a positive influence within the EU and NATO.' Putin's latest warning comes as Russia 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 defence purposes, describing it as 'a new Russian long-range missile defence'. Australia is world's only inhabited country with no mention in the report References to Australia were scrapped from a UN report on climate change and World Heritage sites after objections from Canberra, in a move scientists and activists called 'extremely disturbing'. The study, jointly published Thursday by UNESCO, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the United Nations Environmental Programme, previously featured a chapter on the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and Tasmanian forests. But the Environment Department stepped in to remove those sections over concerns it would have a negative impact on the country's tourism industry. Australia is the only inhabited country in the world with no mention in the report, which did not reference any other countries removed. Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is suffering its worst bleaching in recorded history, has been removed from a climate change report 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 $6 billion annually to the economy, mainly through tourism, last year narrowly avoided being put on the World Heritage endangered list. The site is currently in the throes of its worst bleaching in recorded history at the hands of climate change and weather phenomena. About 93 per cent of the reefs along the 2,300 kilometre site have suffered bleaching, with scientists fearing coral on the the northern coast of the reef might have died. The coral reef system contributes an estimated AUS$6.0 billion annually to the economy, mainly through tourism References to Australia were scrapped from a UN report on climate change and World Heritage sites after objections from Canberra 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.' Cracked earth is visible as a result of declining water levels at Wivenhoe Dam: the Environment Department stepped in to remove all mention of Australia from the report Scientists and activists called censorship of report 'extremely disturbing' 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. 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. 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'. The discovery will allow you to completely restore movement to the limb Amputees and stroke victims would benefit from the new discovery Complex signals to the brain have been decoded to allow movement Victorian scientists have developed a way to return the sensation of touch Researchers have developed a robotic arm which will allow amputees and stroke victims to experience the sensation of touch and return full human movement to their missing limb. Complex signals to the human brain which control movement have been decoded which has helped develop a method to directly send messages from the brain to a mechanical arm. The development is being overseen by the St Vincent's Hospital-based Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery in collaboration with researchers from six centres including the University of Melbourne. Scroll down for video At the moment the hand can only get sensory feedback from looking eventually this will be transformed to feeling both weight and the sense of touch St Vincent's Director for Orthopaedics Peter Choong told ABC a prototype arm will be developed later this year and refining reverse signalling processes to the 'limb' is one of the main focuses for his team. The concept will expand from current robotic limbs - that use electrodes or 'buzzes and clicks' to assist in a person's senses. The enhanced limb will function by 'using the patient's own nerves, tissues, muscle and nerve engineering' hooked up to an artificial limb to allow movement to occur naturally. Mr Choong said: 'We already have amazing developments in prosthetic limbs, and this research is more about allowing a person to have feel control on that limb, just like it were a normal human limb. 'It's really very exciting. If you're a patient who has lost a limb or part of a limb, something like this holds out hope for perhaps rebuilding them, allowing them to function much more normally than they do today.' University of Melbourne robotics engineer Denny Oetomo told 9NEWS the team working on the research don't think of the arm as a 'tool' but rather a 'limb'. University of Melbourne robotics engineer Denny Oetomo (pictured) will help in the development which will allow amputees and stroke victims to experience the sensation of touch Complex signals to the human brain which control movement have been decoded which has helped develop a method to directly send messaged from the brain to a mechanical arm Ultimately 'sensory feedback' is one of the biggest challenges of the project according to Mr Oetomo. He told the Herald Sun: 'At the moment you can only get feedback by looking (at the prosthetic hand). 'You don't know what you are squeezing or how hard you are squeezing,' he added. The collaborative group is pushing for an Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) to be built at a cost of $180million, reported 9News. St Vincent's Director for Orthopaedics Peter Choong (pictured) said a prototype arm will be developed later this year and refining reverse signalling processes to the 'limb' is one of the main focuses for his team The project is estimated to cost leading centres $60million each, along with a further $60million pledged by the state government. Plus a high cost for those undergoing medical treatment to purchase the limb Developments at the site will include prosthetic legs and technology to help people who have been affected by incontinence. An estimated to cost for the new centre will be $60million from each collaborator, along with a further $60million pledged by the state government, reported 9News. In a further breakthrough, collaborative work between St Vincent's Hospital, the University of Melbourne and the University of Wollongong has seen muscles 3D printed onto microchips. This development will allow communication between the tissues and the limb. Ultimately 'sensory feedback' of the arm (left) is one of the biggest challenges of the project according to Mr Oetomo (right) Developments to follow the sensory hand (pictured) will include a prosthetic legs and technology to help people who have been affected by Incontinence Electrodes, allowing movement messages to pass from the brain directly to the robotic machinery, have also been manufactured. Professor Robert Kapsa told the Herald Sun the discovery made the prospect of a fully-functioning robotic arm a possibility. He said: 'The artistry at the moment is that we are creating the chip that is able to connect biological and mechanical movement through electronics to create sensation precepts' in the brain. 'We can connect nerves and muscles on a chip and read the signals.' Small marinas and ports across the UK are vulnerable to terrorists and organised criminals because they are unpoliced, according to the National Crime Agency. The agency claims there is an absence of checks at hundreds of ports across the country and they are so busy with one-off arrivals that one marina official compared them to an NCP car park. An internal assessment, seen by The Times, highlights concerns about the frailties at the UK border. Some of the smaller ports are being perceived as a more convenient alternative for people smugglers to use as they will avoid the rigorous security checks enforced at major ports and the Channel Tunnel. Earlier this week, 17 illegal immigrants from Albania were discovered at Chichester harbour in West Sussex (pictured) Border Force, which is responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the UK, admitted early this year that few routine checks were carried out on tiny marinas, reports The Times. Earlier this week, 17 illegal immigrants from Albania were discovered at Chichester harbour in West Sussex on a catamaran that had just arrived from France. The vessel was stopped only because officers from Hampshire Constabulary Marine Unit were searching for a missing person. A British man was charged by police with facilitating illegal immigration. The assessment comes after a National Crime Agency operation foiled a gun-smuggling network in which automatic weapons worth 100,000 were seized. They were from the same European supplier that provided the weapons used in the infamous Charlie Hebdo attacks in January 2015, when 12 people were killed. The weapons taken by the NCA were brought into the country by a British gang at Cuxton marina near Rochester, Kent. Their haul consisted of 22 assault rifles, nine sub-machine guns and 1,500 rounds of ammunition. In June 2009, two French men were arrested for smuggling 21 Asian women into the country at Brighton marina (pictured) An internal NCA assessment said: 'The investigation has confirmed the risk... that general maritime offers crime groups access to the UK in what is generally an unpoliced area. 'There is no generic border control at small marinas around the UK coast.' The NCA has now teamed up with Border Force and police forces to launch Project Kraken to urge the public to report anything suspicious they notice at ports and marinas. Their new initiative led to the arrest of suspected people smugglers after a tip-off came in relating to a boat in Devon. The agency revealed that it was seeing cases of migrants trying to enter the country through smaller ports and marinas - which were perceived to have lower levels of security. David Bolt, chief inspector of borders, said that large numbers of boats were sailing into British waters from outside the UK with few checks. An NCA spokesman said that it was working with law enforcement partners in the UK and abroad and it is having success. Harrowing footage shows a 27-year-old woman telling officers about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband - less than six months before he was charged with shooting her dead. Kimberley Nicole Perkins, 27, appears in a body cam video released Friday, telling police Sam Clark Jr once grabbed her by the throat, twisted her leg so hard she thought it would break and held a loaded gun to her head. She was found dead in a canal in St Louis Parish, Louisiana, in March this year. Clark Jr, who is currently facing a murder charge, confessed that he had shot her according to the sheriff. He was arrested in October 2015 and charged with domestic abuse after Perkins told police her situation was so distressing she had stopped feeling scared for her life. Scroll down for video Kimberley Nicole Perkins (right), 27, appears in a body cam video released Friday, telling police Sam Clark Jr (left) once grabbed her by the throat, twisted her leg and held a loaded gun to her head Perkins (pictured in the body cam footage) was found dead in March with two gunshot wounds to her head. Clark Jr admitted he had shot her, according to the sheriff 'He put a gun to my head the other night. He put a loaded gun to my head and threatened to shoot me,' Perkins, a mother of four, says in the body cam video published byLive 5 News while holding a baby against her chest. 'And you know what? I wasn't scared. I was ready for it to happen.' Clark Jr placed the first domestic violence call that night in October 2015, telling the dispatcher he needed someone to come to their home in Livonia because his wife had money in her pocket, which she was 'not supposed to have'. 'I'v got $500 missing out of my cabinet. Okay? And I want to find out what's going on,' he can be heard saying in a recording published on Live 5 News. As Perkins tries to leave the house, he addresses her while still on the phone with the dispatcher. 'You're not leaving. You're not leaving. Kim, don't leave this house. Kim, don't leave this house because you know you're doing wrong,' Clark Jr says. Police responded to the call that night. One of them, Sergeant John Thibodaux, wore the body cam that taped Perkins's shocking statement. It taped the row between the couple, during which Clark Jr points accusingly at his wife and says he wants her to get a drug test. 'I want to find out where my money is going,' he adds. Perkins then appears, telling Thibodaux away from her husband: 'He grabbed me around my throat and choked me and twisted my leg to where it almost broke, I'm telling you.' Perkins (pictured right in a Facebook shot) told officers in October 2015 that she felt 'ready for it to happen' when Clark Jr (pictured left in a mug shot) held a gun to her head When Thibodaux asks her when that happened, she said: 'Tonight.' Perkins told police Clark Jr kept the key to the gun cabinet and that she didn't have access to it, Live 5 News reported. The row then escalates as the baby begins to cry. Officers can be seen telling Clark Jr he cannot force his wife to take a drug test and that he cannot control her. Perkins told Thibodaux once inside the house that her husband had put a loaded gun to her head the previous night. That's when she said she had stopped feeling scared. Perkins declined to press charges against Clark Jr that night after officers asked her if she wanted to do so, Live 5 News wrote. But she had physical marks on her neck corresponding to the abuse she had just described. 'It's pretty obvious she was grabbed around the throat,' an officer says in the video. 'It is a f****** hickie,' Clark Jr replies. 'It's two of them, one on the back of her neck and another on the front of her neck.' The officer then asks: 'Okay what about the other day when you put a gun to her head?' 'I ain't put no f****** gun to her head,' Clark Jr says. Clark Jr (pictured) was charged with domestic abuse that night and later received a six-month sentence. He now faces a second-degree murder charge in his wife's death The physical marks made it possible for them to arrest Clark Jr, as Louisiana legislation enables law enforcement to protect people they think are victims of domestic abuse. 'Why are you all arresting him?' Perkins asks in the video. A hearing was needed before a bond could be set for Clark Jr, as per Louisiana legislation. But Perkins changed her story during the hearing, Live 5 News reported, and said she wanted her husband to be released. Clark Jr's charges were reduced from felonies to misdemeanors and his bond was set at $5,000. He received a six months sentence, the maximum penalty, earlier this month, Live 5 News wrote at the time. Clark Jr, who has been charged with second-degree murder following Perish's death, remains in custody at St Landry Parish Jail. An autopsy determined that Perish died of two gunshot wounds to the head in March. Her husband admitted he had shot her according to St Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz, the Times-Picayune wrote. She had written on Facebook the night before: 'If I die, say Sam Jr' - her husband's first name. 'She was a piece of property to him,' Lieutenant Aaron Biddy, one of the officers who responded to the October 2015 call, told Live 5 News. Brexit could bungle an accidental victory if 1.5 million young people currently not on the electoral register fail to register to vote by June 7, warned Ed Miliband. The former Labour leader who was destined to become Prime Minister until an astonishing electoral collapse, said in addition to the 1.5 million 18-24-year-olds missing from the register, there are two million aged between 25 and 35 also absent from the list. Potential voters have only until June 7 to register, or they will be denied the opportunity to cast their ballot on June 23. Scroll down for video Ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband, pictured today, warned Brexit could win if young people do not register to vote He said 3.5 million people aged between 18 and 35 were absent from the electoral register The Brexit camp could be handed accidental victory if millions of young voters missing from the electoral roll fail to register, ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband is warning. Mr Miliband is issuing a 'call to arms' aimed at pro-European voters who only have until June 7 to register for the right to take part in the first EU referendum for more than 40 years. The intervention came as David Cameron indicated he still regards Boris Johnson as a 'substantial' potential future successor, despite the former London mayor's increasingly bitter, and personalised, battle with the PM over Britain's future in Europe. Ex-Labour leader Mr Miliband warned that 1.5 million of the six million 18-24-year-olds eligible to vote are not registered, nor are a quarter of the eight million 25-35-year-olds. 'Today is a call to arms to all young people to register to vote. Let's be clear about the danger: a decision not to vote is a decision to let someone else decide your future. 'Young people can decide this referendum. If they don't use their vote, the danger is this referendum will be lost,' Mr Miliband was saying. The ex-Labour leader insisted the Leave side offered a narrow, pessimistic future which pretended to be about national freedom. 'When the Leave campaign is asked about the future - future jobs, future opportunities, future growth - they have one answer: they just don't know. 'Those words should ring in the ears of every child, student and parent. Not knowing is not a path to prosperity, not knowing is the road to recession. 'Be in no doubt: if young people don't exercise their vote, this referendum will be lost and so will many of their futures. 'If young people don't want the Leave campaign to narrow the horizons of the world that they will live in, it is vital that young people register and vote,' the former Labour leader was saying. Leave campaigner and Tory MP James Cleverly hit back, saying: 'Ed Miliband's cynical attempt to convince young people otherwise will fool no-one. After his failed efforts to court the youth vote via Russell Brand last year, you'd think he would know better.' The move came as Mr Cameron said he would not reconsider comments that Mr Johnson, George Osborne and Theresa May were all figures who could step into his shoes when he steps down, as he has promised he will before the next general election. The PM 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.' Leave campaigner Jacob Rees Mogg, pictured, criticised both campaigns for misleading the electorate Meanwhile, prominent Leave campaigner and Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg stood by a report by the Treasury select committee he is a member of which strongly criticised statements from both sides in the campaign. The committee said Vote Leave's 'core' campaign claim Brexit would deliver a 350 million-a-week windfall was 'highly misleading'. And it said the Remain side's claim that families would be 4,300 a year worse off if Britain was outside the EU was 'likely to be misconstrued by voters' and had 'probably confused them'. While the findings are embarrassing for both sides, the committee chairman, Tory MP Andrew Tyrie, said Vote Leave were guilty of 'by far the most serious' offence. He called on them to repaint their battle bus, which has been touring the country with Boris Johnson and other prominent Out campaigners and carries the slogan: 'We send the EU 350 million a week - let's fund our NHS instead.' However, Mr Rees Mogg told The Press Association: 'I care nothing about the bus. I am not concerned about charabancs. That is not at the heart of the debate. Advertisement The Major General's Review kicked off from Buckingham Palace today in a vibrant display of pomp and pageantry. More than 1,400 officers and men took part in the first of two rehearsals for the Queen's annual birthday parade, the Trooping the Colour, on June 11. As colossal Union Jack flags fluttered from the tree-lined streets, members of the Household Cavalry - Her Majesty's official bodyguard - paraded down with two hundred horses. Trumpets and French horns provided a tuneful backdrop as four hundred musicians from the Massed Bands of the Household Division and corps of drums marched by. Major General Edward Smyth-Osborne, CBE, the Major General Commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District, was on hand to take the salute. The scenic route extended from Buckingham Palace, along The Mall to the Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall and back again. It was free to attend and spectators could catch a sight of the patriotic display from along The Mall or the edge of St James' Park. A second rehearsal will take place next Saturday called the Colonel's Review, followed by the Trooping the Colour where the Queen will take a salute. The Major General's Review kicked off from Buckingham Palace today in a vibrant display of pomp and pageantry More than 1,400 officers and men took part in the first of two rehearsals for the Queen's annual birthday parade, the Trooping the Colour on June 11 Major General Edward Smyth-Osborne, CBE, the Major General Commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District, took the salute Four hundred musicians from ten bands and corps of drums marched to the tune of trumpets and horns as one and some 113 words of command were given by the Officer in Command of the Parade As majestic Union Jack flags fluttered from the tree-lined streets, an array of officers and men took part in the scenic procession Members of the Household Cavalry - the British Army's official bodyguard of Her Majesty - paraded down with two hundred horses The Household Cavalry - made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals - navigated around roadworks as they travelled to Horse Guard's Parade Two policemen patrolled The Mall as the Major's General's Review took place on Horse Guards Parade The procession was free to attend and spectators could catch a glimpse of the patriotic display from along The Mall or along the edge of St James's Park The gallant parade brought cars and buses on the busy London roads to a halt as horses trotted past in their hundreds Two tourists couldn't believe their luck as they stumbled upon the parade and stopped on a grass verge to view the spectacle The Household Cavalry were a striking display in patriotism with heavily decorated royal red jackets and white gloves A second rehearsal will take place on the following Saturday called the Colonel's Review, followed by the Trooping the Colour which the Queen will attend and take a salute at Turnbull said 39,000 more indigenous people in jobs under the coalition Malcolm Turnbull has been put on the spot by AFL great Michael Long in front of a crowd of thousands over an election commitment made by Bill Shorten. Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten took part in the Long Walk, named after the AFL legend, to the MCG ahead of the Dream Time clash between Essendon and Richmond on Saturday. In a speech Long made ahead of the walk, he referred to the $10.7 million boost Mr Shorten pledged for the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre earlier this week. Scroll down for video Malcolm Turnbull (centre) has been put on the spot by AFL great Michael Long (right) in front of a crowd of thousands over an election commitment made by Bill Shorten to boost the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (centre) with his wife Lucy Turnbull (left) walk with Indigenous Leader Michael Long (right) as they take part in the AFL's Long Walk to the MCG for the Dreamtime game Essendon play Richmond in Melbourne onSaturday In a speech Long made ahead of the walk, he referred to the $10.7million boost Mr Shorten pledged for the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre earlier this week Long said he wanted to give Mr Turnbull the chance to reply. Mr Turnbull approached the microphone, insisting that since the coalition was elected, there were 39,000 more indigenous people in full-time jobs. He was talking up his government's $115 million commitment to support jobs and entrepreneurship for indigenous Australians when a heckler interjected. 'Answer the question, Malcolm.' Long said in his powerful speech that it was time to get history right. Malcolm Turnbull (centre) with Indigenous Leader Michael Long (right) shake hands with an elder during a smoking ceremony as they take part in the AFL's Long Walk Thousands turned out in rainy weather to walk alongside both leaders, pausing for an indigenous smoking ceremony along the way. Above, Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten shake hands before The Long Walk 'Constitutional recognition must occur,' he told thousands gathered in Melbourne's Federation Square. 'It's time for a treaty.' Thousands turned out in rainy weather to walk alongside both leaders, pausing for an indigenous smoking ceremony along the way. The walk commemorates Long's historic 2004 trek from Melbourne to Canberra to lobby Prime Minister John Howard for indigenous issues to be put on the national agenda. Mr Shorten got a rousing applause after declaring this was and always will be Aboriginal land. Mr Shorten got a rousing applause after declaring this was and always will be Aboriginal land Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (centre) with his wife Lucy Turnbull (left) greet a fellow walker He said Australia had 'unfinished business' until there was equal treatment of Aboriginal people and insisted he would dedicate himself to the cause. He later received a yellow Tigers scarf with an Aboriginal dot painting print that his daughter instantly claimed. Andrew Hughes, a Tigers fan from Kalgoorlie, said it meant a lot to see the national leaders walking to support reconciliation. 'They've pulled their socks up,' he said. Advertisement Fashionista Queen Letizia led the tributes and celebrations as thousands of people gathered in the centre of Madrid today for Armed Forces Day in Spain. King Felipe VI was dressed in full air force uniform alongside the glamorous Queen Letizia, who wore a black and white suit jacket, as they paid tribute to their fallen servicemen in the Spanish capital. Shouts of 'Long live the King' and 'Viva Espana' could be heard from the crowd. A smaller group also whistled as the queen walked by. When they arrived, the Spanish royals were welcomed by Defense Minister, Pedro Morenes, and the chiefs of defence, army, navy and air force. Elite acrobatic flying team 'Patrulla Aguila' (Eagle Patrol) perform aerobatics and release trails of red and yellow smoke representing the Spanish flag. After the official ceremony, there was a parade, featuring the navy, Civil Guards and Royal Guards, to conclude the celebrations which cost a total of 140,000 euros. Armed Forces Day in Spain started as a purely military celebration in 1978. But that year it was decided to celebrate the holiday near May 30 to honor King Ferdinand III of Castille, whose death anniversary is observed on this day. Ferdinand is remembered for his military accomplishments. Spain's King Felipe smiles to his wife Queen Letizia during a military parade ceremony marking Spain's Armed Forces Day in Madrid The Spanish royal family and thousands of people gathered in the centre of Madrid today to celebrate Armed Forces Day in Spain Shouts of 'Long live the King' and 'Viva Espana' could be heard from the crowd. A smaller group also whistled for the Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena King Felipe VI was dressed in full air force uniform alongside Queen Letizia, who wore a black and white suit jacket, as they paid tribute to their fallen servicemen in the Spanish capital Spanish elite acrobatic flying team 'Patrulla Aguila' (Eagle Patrol) perform aerobatics and release trails of red and yellow smoke representing the Spanish flag during the Armed Forces Day King Felipe VI of Spain salutes as he attends the Armed Forces Day Hommage today in the Spanish capital - Madrid Queen Letizia is renowned for being a fashion icon, not only in Spain, but across the world. Today she wore a white and black suit jacket Queen Letizia of Spain and Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenes attend the Armed Forces Day Hommage today King Felipe VI was dressed in full air force uniform (left and right, with Queen Letizia) as he laid a wreath in honour of Spain's fallen servicemen King Felipe VI was dressed in full air force uniform alongside Queen Letizia, who wore a black and white suit jacket Queen Letizia looked glamorous in a white and black suit jacket, with a black skirt, as King Felipe VI waved to the crowd in Madrid Queen Letizia of Spain and Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenes shares a joke during the Armed Forces Day ceremony in Madrid Queen Letizia looked chic in a black-and-white skirt suit with a flattering tailored waist, while Defence Minister Pedro Morenes went for a smart pin-stripe suit with an eye-catching red tie Clark yelled at them to get out, and two intruders dutifully obeyed She said the intruders were shocked to find her in bedroom closet Clark hid in the closet of Marion County, Oregon home when they entered She immediately texted her mom, who told her not to answer the door Jensen Clark, 18, was home alone when the doorbell rang several times A teen who hid in a closet when two intruders broke into her family home has been lauded for scaring them off when she was discovered. Jensen Clark, 18, was home alone when she heard the doorbell of her Marion County, Oregon home ringing repeatedly on Wednesday. She texted her mother who then called 911, but managed to fend off the pair all by herself by yelling, 'Get out of my house', according to the sheriff's office. Jensen Clark, 18, (left) was home alone when she heard the doorbell of her Marion County, Oregon home ringing repeatedly on Wednesday. She obeyed her mother's orders not to answer, and hid in a closet (right) Clark texted her mother Gena Young when she heard the doorbell ringing, and followed her instructions not to answer. Young, who was out running errands at the time, called 911 as Clark updated her through text messages, KATU reported. Clark saw a man and a woman take a few items from their family shed into a car, before she heard footsteps inside the house. She quickly hid in a closet and draped a blanket over herself all while texting her mother, who was frantically updating the 911 dispatcher. Clark told her mother she loved her, and moments later wrote: 'They found me.' 'I heard the door open to the room that I was in, and that's when I started getting really, really scared,' the teenager told ABC. Tiffany Wicke (right), 38, and Jestahn Jackson (left), 37, were charged with burglary and taken to the Marion County Jail after Clark reported the incident Clark reported the incident and Wicke and Jackson were charged with burglary. They were released from Marion County Jail because it was over capacity, but they will be arraigned in early June The intruders were stunned to find her in the closet, and Clark said: 'At that point, they're both looking at me, we're all in a two foot radius, all right next to each other. 'No one knew what to do you know? It's disbelief; you don't expect this to happen.' Clark managed to take charge of the situation, and the intruders immediately obeyed when she demanded they leave. Tiffany Wicke, 38, and Jestahn Jackson, 37, were charged with burglary and taken to the Marion County Jail after Clark reported the incident. The sheriff's office issued a statement commending Clark's response, saying: 'Calls for service like this are some of the scariest situations a resident can face. 'In this case the victim did everything right to protect herself and aide in the capture of Ms. Wicke and Mr. Jackson.' The Irish navy rescued 123 people and recovered one body after intercepting a 12m long rubber craft 30 miles north west of Tripoli. The rescue operation began at 8am after the Irish vessel, the LE Roisin spotted the dingy struggling in the water. Irish naval personnel spent two and a half hours transferring the migrants from the un-seaworthy dingy to the LE Roisin using a pair of high-powered Rigid Inflatable Boats. Scroll down for video Irish naval personnel rescued 123 migrants from a dangerous rubber dinghy 30 miles from the Libyan coast Unfortunately, the body of one man was recovered from the dangerously overloaded vessel, pictured today It took two-and-a-half hours to rescue the 123 survivors from the deadly dangerous smuggling boat The boat was spotted 30 miles north west of Tripoli as it attempted the perilous journey to Sicily Unfortunately, the body of one man was recovered from the migrant's vessel. According to the Irish Defence Forces, those rescued were given food, water and medical treatment. Sea conditions at the time of the rescue were described as good. The LE Roisin has rescued 519 people since beginning operations on May 11. The naval vessel is remaining on station in the area in case it is required to intercept another migrant ship before unloading the survivors. An Italian navy ship saved 101 migrants on another rubber dinghy, and a ship of the Italian coast guard, which co-ordinates all the rescues by various navies, cargo vessels and humanitarian organisation boats, reported rescuing 322 migrants from a boat in distress. Pope Francis held up a life vest he was given by a young migrant when he visited a camp in southern Italy Pope Francis spoke to the young people, including some migrants who visited the Vatican from southern Italy One of the children handed Pope Francis a drawing showing migrants needing rescue from the ocean Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, taking 135 survivors, along with 45 bodies, from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock on Sunday. At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis told several hundred children, among them many migrants, who travelled from the Italian south to see him, that migrants 'aren't a danger but they are in danger'. Among the audience was a Nigerian youth, who lost his parents in 2014 as the family tried to reach Italy by sea. Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed dismay that some European nations have refused to accept migrants fleeing poverty or war, and have even thrown up fences and other barriers to thwart the arrivals from journeying northward after reaching the continent's southern shores. In France, an Afghan migrant died after being hit by a truck near the coastal city of Calais. Pas-de-Calais region Secretary-General Marc Del Grande said the 25-year-old was hit while he and about 50 other migrants were laying branches on the highway in an effort to slow traffic. Migrants gathered in Calais routinely try to hop aboard trucks in an effort to sneak into Britain. Princess Anne joined Nicola Sturgeon and naval leaders to mark the centenary of the largest naval battle of the First World War. The royal lay wreaths with the First Minister at a service in Fife, Scotland, on Saturday to remember those involved in the Battle of Jutland in the First World War. More than 8,500 British and German seamen died off the coast of Denmark in the 36-hour battle which began on May 31, 1916, and changed the course of the war. Princess Anne joined Nicola Sturgeon and naval leaders to lay wreaths to mark the centenary of the largest naval battle of the First World War The Battlecruiser force deployed at Jutland sailed from the Firth of Forth, and wreaths were laid at Rosyth Parish Church with Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, marking the start of a week of commemorative events. A minute's silence was held following the ringing of a bell made from the hull of HMS Tiger, a battlecruiser that suffered damage during the Jutland campaign. Ms Sturgeon and other dignitaries later visited the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in South Queensferry where 40 casualties from the battle are commemorated or buried. They were then joined by Jutland descendants, local school pupils and school children from Wilhelmshaven in Germany at the private service. Ms Sturgeon said: 'This centenary commemoration is an opportunity for us to honour and pay tribute to the many thousands of sailors from both sides who lost their lives during the Battle of Jutland. 'The sacrifices made by those who fought in this battle, the largest naval encounter of the First World War, and by other seafarers throughout the conflict must never be forgotten.' The Princess Royal lay a wreath during a service at Rosyth Parish Church in Rosyth, Fife, to commemorate over 8,500 British and German seamen who died off the coast of Denmark in the 36-hour battle The service was carried out to remember the fatalities of the battle which began on May 31, 1916, and changed the course of the First World War The final event of the day took place at Hawes Pier where HMS Kent recreated the departure of the Battlecruiser force. Fife's depute provost councillor Kay Morrison said: 'These commemorations provide an important opportunity for communities to come together to honour those who sacrificed their lives during the Battle of Jutland, one of the most significant naval battles of the First World War. 'The events in Fife and South Queensferry are also about remembering the sacrifices made by all of those who contributed to the war effort, and ensuring that their compelling stories are told for generations to come. 'Our naval heritage is an integral and valued part of Rosyth's history. Scotland, and Rosyth's naval dockyards, played a vital role in the UK's war efforts and the focus for these commemorations is reconciliation.' Several hundred people lined the street outside the church in bright sunshine to watch the Princess Royal and other dignitaries arrive. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tours an exhibition with Noah Duncan (left), 13, and his mother Brenda (right) at Rosyth Parish Church in Rosyth, Fife Several hundred people lined the street outside the church in bright sunshine to watch the Princess Royal and other dignitaries arrive On Tuesday - exactly 100 years since the battle started - members of the UK Government and Royal Family will join descendants of those who fought for a service at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall on Tuesday. They are being remembered on Orkney as the British Grand Fleet was launched from Scapa Flow to repel 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 failed to significantly challenge the British again during the conflict. German president Joachim Gauck will join the Duke of Edinburgh 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. 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. '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.' A minute's silence was held following the ringing of a bell made from the hull of HMS Tiger, a battlecruiser that suffered damage during the Jutland campaign (pictured the HMS Warrior in 1916) Cops hunting for a missing teenager who was last seen bleeding and screaming as she was dragged across a highway by an armed suspect are now searching a remote area in California. Officers are now combing Sonoma Coast State Park, to the north of the state, for any sign of Pearl Pinson, 15, after she was abducted while walking to school on Wednesday. Detectives from the Solano County Sheriff's Office said that new leads had led them to believe Pinson might be in the area, but refused to say what information had been uncovered. Police searching for Pearl Pinson, 15 (left), have concentrated their efforts on Sonoma Coast State Park, in California's north, four days after cops say she was kidnapped by Fernando Castro, 19 Helicopters and search teams were focused on a four-square-mile area around the mouth of the Russian River in a remote area of Sonoma covered with wild oak Spokeswoman Christine Castillo said: 'Our number one priority is to bring her home to her family, and we do believe that is possible. Earlier today, officers called off the search after no trace of the girl was found. The Solano County Sheriff's Office, which still believes she will be found alive, said investigators will continue following up on leads. 'There are indications she could be possibly injured, and that is still a concern. We want to locate her and get her any medical attention she needs.' Pinson was last seen being dragged across a highway while bleeding and screaming by an armed man that cops say was Castro Officers on foot and helicopters were seen searching a four-square-mile area at the mouth of the Russian River on Friday afternoon, the Press Democrat reports. Detectives criss-crossed an area of steep, thick wild oak on Friday looking for Pinson, with the search resuming this morning. Deputies have been searching for Pinson since a witness reported seeing her being dragged across a freeway on Wednesday morning in Vallejo by a man police believe was Fernando Castro, 19. Blood and Pinson's cellphone were found on the pedestrian overpass where she was taken. Detectives caught up with Castro the following day after his gold Saturn sedan was spotted driving through Santa Barbara county, hundreds of miles to the south, before he attempted to flee. Castro shot at officers and then drove to a trailer park where he attempted to get into a different vehicle before being shot dead, according to police. Despite Castro's death detectives still do not know where Pinson is, or why she has not sought help. Authorities believe that Castro and Pinson knew each other, though the exact nature of their relationship remains unclear. 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. Officers say new information led the to search Sonoma, but that have not revealed what they discovered, saying only that the 'best leads' are there Jesse Leroy Brown didn't have the easiest of upbringings. Raised in a shack with no electricity or heating and working long hours cotton picking, perhaps it's no surprise he wanted to escape his Mississippi hometown. Brown would watch planes fly over the fields and dreamed of one day taking to the skies himself, despite his friends laughing at him and saying it would never happen. He wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and asked him why there were no black men flying in the military, with the commander-in-chief writing back, saying it would happen one day. Unhappy with waiting for change to come to him, Brown chased his dream and went on to become the U.S. Navy's first black pilot. Pioneer: Jesse Leroy Brown was the U.S. Navy's first ever black pilot and inspired a generation of African-American airmen Hero: Brown, pictured in an F8F Bearcat plane, was killed during the Korean War in 1950 at the age of 25 Brown had always been ambitious, speaking French by the time he made it to high school and designing an irrigation pump for an engineering firm, CNN reported. He was determined to attend a white college so he would be considered by the Navy, but that came at a cost. The bold teenager was beaten up by white police officers who called him a 'smart n****r' for attempting to overcome the racial divide. Brown refused to give up and worked to raise the college funds he needed to attend Ohio State, following in the footsteps of his sporting hero Jesse Owens. The university did not have many black students, but it did have a Navy program for young men looking to become pilots. Instructors warned him that the Navy would never hire a black pilot, but Brown ignored them and months later passed his exams and headed onto training at Naval Air Station Glenview in Illinois. Fighter: Brown was determined to attend a white college so he would be considered by the Navy, and made it despite being beaten up and ridiculed along the way Brown qualified as a pilot in 1949 and was stationed on USS Leyte, which was then sent to fight in Korea He was bullied by white and black people alike at the base, with flight instructors racially abusing him and jealous black workers in the kitchens serving him half-portions. In a letter to his wife Daisy, he called himself an 'earthbound crow'. 'Even the mouths of the brother food handlers dropped when I showed up,' he added. But flight instructor Roland Christensen took Brown under his wing, and by 1949 he was a qualified pilot. 'If I become a pilot, every black man can become anything he wants to be in the Navy,' he told a friend during training. 'I'm the beginning of things to come.' Brown was stationed on USS Leyte, which was then sent to fight in the Korean War. Brown (pictured with fellow pilots) as flying in a mountainous area near the Chosin Resevoir, north east of North Korea's capital Pyongyany, in 1950 when disaster struck Camaraderie: Brown, pictured with his crew on board USS Leyte, died after crash landing in North Korea He was flying in a mountainous area near the Chosin Resevoir, north east of North Korea's capital Pyongyang, in 1950 when disaster struck. One of Brown's unit radioed in to tell him that he was hemorrhaging fuel. If I become a pilot, every black man can become anything he wants to be in the Navy. I'm the beginning of things to come. Losing power and too low to bail out, he made the decision to ditch his Corsair plane in a snowy field just off the mountain. After a heavy landing, Brown's plane was a wreck and his legs were pinned inside the cockpit. Close crew member Captain Tom Hudner saw that Brown's plane was on fire and heroically dived down and crash landed his own plane as he tried to rescue his friend. Hudner could have been discharged from the Navy for deliberately ditching his aircraft but was instead later given the Medal of Honor for his bravery. Hudner could not heave Brown from the wreck and radioed in a helicopter, telling the rescue team to bring an ax. But even after they arrived, the 24-year-old pilot could not be freed. Brown could not be freed from the wreckage of his plane by rescuers (pictured) and had to be left at the side of the mountain Hudner (right) was given the Medal of Honor for his efforts to save Brown, and met his friend's wife, Daisy (left), at the ceremony Hudner was given a $9,000 reward for his bravery by residents of his hometown, but he gave it all to Daisy so she could get a college education As the day turned to night, Brown's breathing became shallower, but his spirit remained strong. 'Tom,' he said. 'Just tell Daisy how much I love her.' The helicopter's pilot told Hudner they had to leave as his aircraft did not have the correct instruments to fly at night. Left with a choice of leaving without Brown or staying out on his own and freezing to death, Hudner took one last look at his comrade before climbing into the helicopter. 'If it wasn't Jesse down there, I don't know if I'd have taken the chance I did,' Hudner later said. 'If it had been me down there on the ground, Jesse would have done the same thing.' Brown's shipmates and fellow pilots raised the equivalent of $24,000 for his two-year-old daughter. Hudner was given a $9,000 reward for his bravery by residents of his hometown, but he gave it all to Daisy, because Brown had told him that he wanted her to have a college education, rather than work in a white man's kitchen for all of her life. Brown had a frigate - the USS Jesse L. Brown - named after him in 1973. And his bravery and determination inspired hundreds of other African Americans to become pilots. He was also praised by Presidents Truman and Reagan, with the former inviting Daisy to the White House. President Reagan honored Brown in 1987, saying: 'Jesse didn't consider the race of those he sought to protect. And when his fellow pilots saw him in danger, they did not think of the color of his skin. They only knew that Americans were in trouble.' A 91-year-old World War II veteran was left for dead after his caretaker allegedly beat him with his oxygen tank following an argument about her pay, police said. Michael Nicholas Tristano was clubbed in the head by an aluminum oxygen tank several times on May 15 and taken to the hospital after his caretaker Elena Erickson called 911 a day later. Erickson, 45, who has cared for Tristano for more than a decade, told police she wasn't home at the time of the attack and found him in a pool of blood and urine when she arrived at his North Port, Florida home. Michael Nicholas Tristano (left) was clubbed in the head by an aluminum oxygen tank several times on May 15 by his caretaker of 10 years, Elena Erickson (right), according to police Tristano told detectives Erickson arrived at his home on May 15 around 7.45pm, and the two argued about her pay. After Tristano refused to give her a blank check, Erickson used a portable oxygen tank and struck him in the head while he was sitting in the dining room,CBS reported. Tristano started bleeding and tried to wrestle the tank away from his caretaker, suffering bruises and cuts on his arms in the process. Erickson eventually gave him paper towels to soak up the blood from his head, but refused to call 911. Police found blood on a portable oxygen tank similar to the one pictured (file photo) Tristano tried to go to the bathroom to access his Life Alert necklace, but Erickson prohibited him from leaving the table, according to an arrest affidavit cited by CBS. According to Tristano, Erickson hit him two more times around 10.30pm, and used a chair to pin him down on the floor after he fell over. He drifted in and out of consciousness, and authorities said he was close to death. Erickson called 911 the next morning. She said she found him in a pool of blood and urine when she arrived at his home and denied any connection to the beating. Erickson has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and tampering with evidence, CBS reported. She has been held in Sarasota County Jail since Thursday on $300,000 bond. Tristano suffered a cut over his eye and several lacerations on his head, as well as cuts and bruises on his arms. He has been released from hospital and expected to make a full recovery. The North Port Police Department issued a statement saying: 'Mr. Tristano, a World War II veteran, knows what toughness is all about. 'He was able to survive the night. When he could not be reached by family in the morning they knew something wasnt right. 'After emergency care and a brief stay in the hospital, he is recovering and has already returned home.' A 19-year-old boy has been publicly executed in Libya after he refused four times to repent for swearing. Amjad Mohammed Ben Sasi had allegedly blasphemed during a dispute with a neighbour in the coastal city of Sirte. He was consequently hauled before an Islamic State Sharia court three times and on each occasion the youth stood his ground. Some soldiers take rest before entering into combat (file image) - Amjad Mohammed Ben Sasi had allegedly blasphemed during a dispute with a neighbour in the coastal city of Sirte 'Amjad was a proud and angry young man,' Salah Salem Ben Sasi, the teenager's uncle told The Times. 'He was fed up with Islamic State rule in Sirte. His attitude was "Do what you like, I am not apologising".' But he paid the price for his defiance and on the fourth day was brought into the main square where the blasphemy charge was read aloud to the public. Amjad Ben Sasi remained resolute to the end, and when he was asked if he had any final words he turned to the man who was about to kill him and said 'My name will live longer than yours', the uncle recalled. 'The executioner replied, "We shall see", and shot him twice in the back of the head.' The town and marketplace of Sirte (file image) - But he paid the price for his defiance and on the fourth day was brought into the main square where the blasphemy charge was read aloud to the public and executed The man then shot dead a second bound prisoner, a former policeman. Amjad Ben Sasi was murdered in December but his body has yet to be returned to the family for burial. Salah Ben Sasi recounted how ISIS responded to the family's many requests for his corpse by saying Amjad Ben Sasi had no right to an Islamic burial as he was a non-believer. ISIS took control of Sirte last Spring - the capital of the terrorist group's three self-styled Libyan provinces. While many civilians have fled, the number of fighters in the area has escalated from 3,000 to as many as 6,500 in just over three months, according to the UN and the Pentagon. It's said the recruits come via the desert road from Khartoum but only 30 per cent are Libyans. The rest are Arabs as well as men Chad, Niger, France and India. Initially when ISIS tightened their grip on the region in 2015 they left the locals to their own devices and kept their distance. Soldiers prepare to fight in Sirte (file image) - ISIS took control of Sirte last Spring - the capital of the terrorist group's three self-styled Libyan provinces Public killings have become a regular occurrence, with the dead (either shot or beheaded) strung up, or left to hang on ropes from beneath a bridge on the south side of Sirte New legislation banned smoking and music, closed women's cosmetic shops, made the face-covering niqab compulsory for women and taxes were enforced across a wide range of businesses such as property rental and farming. But while people were flogged or fined, executions were uncommon. However in autumn last year more oppressive enforcement began following the arrival of an Isis leadership cadre from Iraq and jihadists confronted leaders from the citys Salafi community and hostile members of the local al-Furjan tribe. Public killings have become a regular occurrence, with the dead (either shot or beheaded) strung up, or left to hang on ropes from beneath a bridge on the south side of Sirte. Many families suffer the same woe as Amjad Ben Sasi's when they are prevented from collecting the body of their murdered relative. Some even resort to smuggling the corpses away in the night in order to bury them. Salah Ben Sasi for one is envisaging revenge once Sirte is recaptured. A Louisiana lawmaker argued against a bill requiring public school students to recite excerpts from the Declaration of Independence because 'only Caucasians were free' at the time it was penned. While the Declaration of Independence states 'all men are created equal', it took nearly a century later before the 15th amendment allowed men regardless of 'race, color, or previous condition of servitude' to vote. Barbara Norton said it was 'unfair' to require children to recite the founding document, given it was written when slavery was still widespread. Republican representative Valarie Hodges shelved the bill, which required public school students in grades four, five and six to recite a passage every day. Barbara Norton (left) argued against a bill sponsored by Valarie Hodges (right) that would require students between the fourth and sixth grades to recite passage from the Declaration of Independence every day During a debate in the Louisiana House of Representatives, Norton said: 'For the Declaration of Independence only Caucasians were free. 'And for you to bring a bill to require that our children will recite the Declaration of Independence, I think it's a little bit unfair.' She suggested the founding fathers were hypocritical and said it was unfair 'to ask those children to recite something that's not the truth'. According to the Advocate, the bill would have required students between the fourth and sixth grades to recite the passage: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal... 'That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 'That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.' Norton and another representative Patricia Haynes Smith, also argued against the bill since it bears resemblance to the literacy tests used to disenfranchise black people during the Jim Crow era. In some cases, voters would be asked to read or recite the entirety of the Declaration of Independence before they were allowed to vote. Other lawmakers added amendments, suggesting students recite from various historical texts, from Martin Luther King Jr's 'I have a dream' speech to the 14th amendment. Hodges called the amendments 'poison pills', according to the Advocate. Norton and another representative Patricia Haynes Smith, also argued against the bill since it bears resemblance to the literacy tests used to disenfranchise black people during the Jim Crow era Although Hodges backed down and shelved the bill, she told KTAL-TV: 'They really just don't get it and to me I really feel that it's as important as math and English and conjugating verbs.' She also expressed her shock 'at the hatred that was expressed at the forefathers and this document' during the debate. House Speaker Taylor Barras had to step in and mediate the increasingly heated exchange between Norton and Hodges, while three others proposed additional historical texts for students to recite, NOLA.com reported. Fox News reported that Norton argued that Americas founding document was racist. 'It is outrageous that our ELECTED OFFICIALS are unable to discern the difference between a statement of TRUTH... and past behavior!!! a blog post on a Greater New Orleans Tea Party forum reads. Advertisement A WWII plane was fished out of the Hudson River and hoisted onto a barge Saturday, one day after the crash that killed its 56-year-old pilot. William Gordon, a father of two from Key West, Florida, was taking part in a promotional flight for the American Airpower Museum when witnesses saw the plane, a single-seat P-47, spewing smoke before it went down. Scuba divers recovered his body around 10.30pm on Friday, about three hours after the crash. Police divers and Army Corps Of Engineers personnel retrieved the plane the next morning. It was taken to a heliport in lower Manhattan, where investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board will examine it to determine what caused the plane to fail. Scroll down for video Police divers and Army Corps Of Engineers personnel fished out the P-47 from the Hudson River on Saturday morning (pictured), the day after it crashed into a water, killing its 56-year-old pilot The plane was hoisted onto a barge (pictured) and taken to a heliport in lower Manhattan, where investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board will examine it to determine what caused the crash Witnesses saw the plane (pictured being retrieved on Saturday) spewing smoke before it went down into the Hudson River. Scuba divers retrieved William Gordon's body about three hours later Gordon, a father of two from Key West, Florida, was taking part in a promotional flight for the American Airpower Museum when he crashed. The plane (pictured on Saturday) was scheduled to perform at the Jones Beach Airshow this weekend for Fleet Week Gordon was trying to crash land the plane, which was experiencing mechanical issues, when the tragedy struck The pilot had attempted to get out of the aircraft before it became completely submerged in the river William Gordon, 56, was killed after his aircraft, the WWII vintage P-47 Thunderbolt plane he is pictured with here, crashed into the Hudson River on Friday Gordon (pictured in a Facebook shot) had a son, a daughter and three grandchildren. He sometimes certified other pilots to perform low-level aerobatics and had been the Chief Pilot at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Red Hook in recent years Witnesses could actually see Gordon (pictured in a Facebook shot) struggle as he tried to get out of the plane before it became completely submerged in the water. One of them said he couldn't escape and the plane 'kept going down, down, down' Gordon, originally from upstate Copake, in Columbia County, was a veteran air show pilot with more than 25 years of experience, according to promotional material for an air show last month. He sometimes certified other pilots to perform low-level aerobatics and had been the Chief Pilot at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Red Hook in recent years. 'If anyone could have landed that on the water short of Chesley Sullenberger, I'm here to tell you it's him. I rode with him for years,' his stepbrother Fred Schneeberger, 57, told the New York Daily News. 'You ask anybody who worked with him, he was an airplane mechanic, certified, helicopter-rated, jet-rated, instrument-rated. This wasn't your backwoods woodpecker.' Gordon had a son, a daughter and three grandchildren. The American Airpower Museum had organized Friday's promotional flight to mark the 75th anniversary of the P-47, which it will celebrate this weekend. Scott Clyman, the museum's flight operations pilot, called Gordon 'an extraordinary pilot' 'who understood the powerful message our aircraft represent in telling the story of American courage and valor'. 'The FAA will determine the reason for the in-flight failure but we know this much; Bill was a nationally respected pilot and we were lucky to call him one of our own,' Clyman said in a statement. A witness to the crash, Hunter College student Siqi Li, saw smoke spewing from the plane and thought it was doing a trick. 'It made kind of a U-turn, and then there was a stream of smoke coming from it,' Li told the New York Daily News. 'It was tilting down toward the water. I thought they were doing some sort of trick. I didn't realize it at first, but it was a plane crash.' The FAA said the aircraft, which went down near the George Washington Bridge around 7.30 pm, was among three planes that had departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, just east of New York City. The other two aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely. Museum spokesman Gary Lewi said the plane was kept at the museum and was taking part in an air show at nearby Jones Beach this weekend. 'We are saddened by the news that the WWII P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed over the Hudson last night. The pilot was a friend to us all and we send our deepest sympathy to his family and our friends at the American Air Power Museum. The Bethpage Air Show will continue as planned, but with heavy hearts,' a statement on the air show's website read. The P47-Thunderbolts were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War II. They first went into service in 1942, with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island. The one that crashed in the river flew periodically, including to other air shows, Lewi said. Search and rescue boats (pictured) began looking for the P-47 after it crashed into the Hudson River around 7:30pm on Friday. It was among three planes that had departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, just east of New York City Rescue teams (pictured) waited on the shore following the crash. New Jersey State Police had first inaccurately reported that the pilot had been rescued around 9pm and only suffered minor injuries, according to the NYPD NYPD and FDNY Harbor units and the Coast Guard remained on the scene at the 79th boat basin on the Upper West Side on Friday night in the moments following the crash New Jersey State Police had first inaccurately reported that the pilot had been rescued around 9pm and only suffered minor injuries, according to the NYPD. Witnesses could actually see Gordon struggle as he tried to get out of the plane before it became completely submerged in the water. NYPD and FDNY Harbor units and the Coast Guard remained on the scene at the 79th boat basin on the Upper West Side on Friday night. Divers spotted the pilot in the plane's cockpit around 9pm. One witness attempted to jump into the river to rescue those on board but was pulled from the water, according to the Hackensack Daily Voice. Witnesses who were eating at Frank's Waterside Restaurant in North Bergen told ABC 7 they saw the aircraft fall into the water nose first. 'The front glass was off and the guy was trying to get out,' witness Camara Dodd told the station. 'He just couldn't get out, the plane kept going down, down, down, just gone.' One witness posted a photo of the plane on Snapchat, showing it as it crashed along the river on Friday evening. One witness described seeing a stream of smoke coming from the aircraft while it tilted down toward the water Another witness who was biking along the Hudson captured the moment the plane crashed into the river. Gordon's stepbrother said Gordon of all people would have been able to land the P-47 on the surface The P-47 that crashed in the river (pictured) flew periodically, including at air shows. The P47-Thunderbolts (one of them is pictured) were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War II A UC Berkeley student has come forward and detailed her alleged nightmare encounter with a professor as she joins other women who have taken legal action against the male faculty at the school. While in her final year at the university, Nicole Hemenway claims she had multiple uncomfortable and inappropriate encounters with her thesis adviser Blake Wentworth. Hemenway, now 24, was earning a degree in South Asian studies when she approached Wentworth and asked if he'd become her adviser. She said Wentworth is well-known and well-connected in the field, and as time went on and the encounters grew more sexual in nature, she feared speaking out would destroy her career before it began. Nicole Hemenway, 24, (pictured) said she was harassed by UC Berkeley professor during her senior year and is now joining other women in forming a case against him The professor advised Hemenway from the fall of 2014 to the spring of 2015. Early into their academic relationship Wentworth pulled Hemenway aside as she left class, she said. She claims he was in tears and told her other students were complaining that he had 'harassed' them. He took Hemenway behind a building, she said. There he allegedly told her not to report if he ever made her feel uncomfortable because he could lose his job. He also called Hemenway a 'gorgeous young woman' and said other men in the department thought she was an 'obvious target' for sexual harassment, according to a complaint obtained by the Guardian. He allegedly said other men were 'jealous that such beautiful young women are always coming and going from my office'. During a private meeting in Wentworth's office, he told Hemenway he was interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with her after she graduated, it is claimed. 'I will always honor professor-student boundaries. Once you graduate, that's an entirely different scenario. I look forward to the day when you graduate But until then, just know that I will never come onto you or make you feel uncomfortable. Got that, honey?' the Guardian reported, quoting a complaint made by Hemenway. According to Hemenway, Wentworth called her 'honey' and 'honey bear' repeatedly and put his hands on hers while complimenting her and staring deep into her eyes. California graduate students Erin Bennett (center, right) and Kathleen Gutierrez (center, left) speak at a news conference on the campus of UC Berkeley last month Both filed a complaint regarding alleged sexual harassment by a University of California Berkeley professor Hemenway said after this encounter in February of 2015, she avoided Wentworth as much as possible. She even tried to skip her own graduation so she wouldn't be forced to interact with him. Hemenway filed her own case against Wentworth to add support to two fellow students who claim they were harassed and have also filed their own cases against him. 'He got plenty of warnings. My harassment never should've happened if Berkeley was doing its job... His rights have taken precedence over our rights,' Hemenway told the Guardian. Last fall, UC Berkeley determined an allegation against Wentworth was credible. He is not the only professor to garner complaints. The school made public documents saying claims against 19 professors accused of misconduct had been substantiated. Eleven of those professors resigned or had contracts terminated but none were fired. Wentworth was among those professors complained about but not fired. Still, the school will not comment on his employment status and it is believed no disciplinary action was taken against him. At least seven students have given written testimony complaining about Wentworth's behavior. UC Berkeley has had an issue with harassment of students, making public a document saying claims against 19 professors accused of misconduct had been substantiated - 11 of whom resigned or were terminated but not fired. Blake Wentworth, the man accused of harassing Hemenway, was among those complained about but not fired Hemenway said she now fears she won't be able to pursue her chosen career of South Asian studies. 'I understand so well now what barriers to entry in a male-dominated field means and how difficult it is to cross those barriers. The system isn't made for me,' she said. In April, UC president Janet Napolitano announced reforms to help the school increase accountability of investigations, improve the reporting process for victims, develop sanctions that match the seriousness of substantiated complaints, and ensure that processes are completely in a timely manner, the Guardian reported. The creator of the valley, Phillippe Abjean, said the valley iss a way of keeping Brittany's heritage alive Each statue represents a saint from the French region and costs up to 10,000 to create and install The intricate statues have been created as part of a 50-year project in an eerie remote Brittany valley Advertisement These eerie looking figures are the first in an extraordinary 50-year project to create a 10 million 'Easter Island' of 1,000 statues in a remote valley in France. The intricately carved monoliths - each nearly 15ft tall and made from granite - are slowly taking over a country valley in Brittany. The statues recognise the area's local Catholic saints and rich Celtic heritage, and the project is inspired by the statues of Egypt's Valley of the Kings and the Moai of Easter Island. Eerie: A set of statues have been installed in a remote valley in Brittany, France, as part of a 50-year-long project Each of the statues takes around a month to make and costs 10,000 - and they all pay homage to Brittany's heritage Some 64 of the statues currently stand in the valley with artists from all over the world working on their constructions. Each one takes around a month to make, and costs 10,000. Breton philosopher Philippe Abjean founded the site near Morlaix in north west France - where each of the individual statues come with their own legend. The valley is called 'La Vallee des Saints' and was founded by Breton philosopher Phillippe Abjean near Morlaix in France St Pol De Leon is said to have fought a dragon that was terrorising a Breton island, while St Melor was supposed to have a prosthetic silver hand that could perform miracles. The valley - called 'La Vallee des Saints' or 'Valley of Saints' - relies solely on charitable donations to pay for each individual structure, because there is no funding from entry fees or local or national governments. Sofiane Belhoul, a guide at the valley, said: 'At first it was difficult raising the money, but as the statues have become well known it has become easier.' The valley relies solely on charitable donations for each individual statue because there is no funding from entry fees or the French government The statues bear a strong resemblance to the mysterious heads on Easter Island in the south-east Pacific Ocean There are two rules for each of the statues: they must be a Breton Saint, and a Saint that lived in Brittany between the third and tenth century Indeed, locals in towns around Brittany have provided some of the donations because they either want to pay respect to some of the saints, or have a child or grandchild with the same name. Mr Belhoul, 27, said: 'There are two rules. 'The first is that the Saint must be a Breton Saint, and the second is the Saints must have lived in Brittany between the Third and Tenth century. Various sculpters have put their hands to one of the sculptures already but the whole project is due to last around 50 years More and more people are donating funds to create the intricate statues, which were also inspired by Egypt's Valley of the Kings The Valley's creator Phillippe Abjean views the project as a way of retaining some of Brittany's rich and varied culture 'But there are a lot of Breton Saints, and sometimes they have only to have stayed in Brittany for a single month.' Bretons have kept the memory of many of the Saints alive while in Britain, where there once was a large Celtic and Catholic influence, they have largely been forgotten. Many, like Mr Abjean, 66, view this as an attempt to retain some of the area's culture. On creating the valley, he said: 'The Valley is a place for eternity. It is not religious, it is the soul of Brittany.' Mr Abjean also said: 'In a few million years it is unclear what will remain of Brittany, but perhaps all that does will be these statues' When the site was started, he said: 'It may sound crazy and excessive but I think Bretons are only good in excess. 'The Valley is a place for eternity. It is not religious, it is the soul of Brittany. A man enjoying a bank holiday weekend seaside stroll had to be airlifted to hospital after he was stung by a rare poisonous fish The 70-year-old man was left fighting for breath after being stung by the by the toxic spines on a weever fish at a Welsh seaside resort. The man was near the pier in Trefor on the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales, on Saturday morning when he spotted the creature - and picked it up in the shallows. The man was near the pier in Trefor on the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales, (pictured) on Saturday morning when he spotted the fish - and picked it up in the shallows but was stung, triggering respiratory problems (file photo) A spokesman said: 'Weever fish (pictured) have spines going along their backs. It's a small fish but it has a very nasty sting. 'The man picked it up and it stung his hand (file photo) The fish stung his hand triggering respiratory problems in the septuagenarian and the alarm was raised by a coastguard team. A spokesman said: 'Weever fish have spines going along their backs. It's a small fish but it has a very nasty sting. 'The man picked it up and it stung his hand. 'It's normally not a life-threatening sting but the man began having respiratory problems.' An air ambulance from Caernarfon arrived on the scene and took the man to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor. Weever fish - normally yellow and about four inches long - come into the shallows during warmer weather. They are normally found in the tropics but live in small numbers around the British coast. Weever fish (pictured( - normally yellow and about four inches long - come into the shallows during warmer weather. They are normally found in the tropics but live in small numbers around the British coast (file photo) Sand dunes at Trefor harbour: An air ambulance from Caernarfon arrived on the scene and took the man to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor (file photo) Safety chiefs issued a warning to beach-combers over the fish which buries itself in the sand under shallow water. It stabs a small poisonous spike into the foot of anyone treading on it - triggering a sharp pain and has even been known to cause heart attacks and toxic shock reactions. If swimmers are stung, they should tell the nearest lifeguard who will apply first aid. Coastguards say holidaymakers should wear sandals on the beach and avoid walking through shallow pools. The number of reported cases of stings from the killer fish is increasing. But many go unreported because the fish are almost impossible to detect due to their unusual burying habits. A spokesman for Swansea coastguard said: 'Stings are rare but are very painful. People should get immediate medical advice.' Uploaded pictures of judge and convicted murder friend on Facebook Damien Parker-Stokes and Kyle Cox took photos in Bristol Crown Court Damien Parker-Stokes, 19, snapped his friend being sentenced for murder and posted it on Facebook Two teenage yobs are facing jail after secretly photographing a judge in court and abusing him on Facebook. Damien Parker-Stokes, 19, and Kyle Cox, 18, also uploaded pictures taken covertly of their friend as he was sentenced for a brutal murder. The 'trophy images' were accompanied by messages mocking the law and 'glorifying' Ryan Sheppard, who was jailed for life for mercilessly killing an engineer as he walked home. The thugs, who took the 'trophy images' on their mobile phones, were found guilty of contempt of court by the top judge in England and Wales. The crime carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The pair were prosecuted as the judiciary declared war on those who used social media to disrupt court cases. Attorney General Jeremy Wright, the country's top law officer, urged judges to make an example of them. Parker-Stokes and Cox had illegally taken photos inside Bristol Crown Court after turning up to watch Sheppard sentenced in August 2014. Sheppard, then 17, had been convicted of punching Mark Roberts to the ground in a horrific display of unprovoked violence while high on drink and cocaine in Weston-super-Mare ten months earlier, while a 15-year-old girl he was with filmed the savage attack on her iPhone. Cox took a photo of a judge in a different court and posted the image on Facebook with the comment: 'F*** the judge'. Parker-Stokes took a series of five photographs and a video of Sheppard in the dock, then posted it on the social media site with the words: 'Respect g [gangster] at least u had the balls to admit it....'. Another photo of the killer, taken by Parker-Stokes, included a finger pointing at a sign in court about the prohibition of the use of mobile phones. Parker-Stokes and Cox had illegally taken photos inside Bristol Crown Court after turning up to watch their friend Ryan Sheppard sentenced for murder in August 2014 Cox uploaded the same images on his own Facebook page. It is illegal to take photographs of any sort within the precincts of a court of law in the UK. Police were alerted by Mr Roberts' devastated family and the teenagers admitted taking the photos and placing them on Facebook. Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Ouseley at London's High Court, convicted the pair of contempt of court. The judges said taking photos in court posed 'serious risks to and interefere with the administration of justice'. Ryan Sheppard murdered a man by punching himto the ground in a horrific display of unprovoked violence in Weston-super-Mare They said the offence was aggravated by the 'previous use of a video to record and revel in the murder.' They added: 'It is not hard to see not only the immense distress it would have caused to the family of the murder victim but also the public order consequences which could have arisen.' The Attorney General's Office was concerned that a clear message was sent of significant consequences for those who flouted the ban on photography in courts particularly young people. When interviewed by police, Parker-Stokes and Cox denied knowing that photography in court was prohibited which the judges branded a 'lie'. Solicitor General Robert Buckland said after the case: 'This was a serious case of contempt where individuals used their mobile phones and social media to glorify a defendant being sentenced for murder and to be contemptuous towards the judiciary. 'There are serious consequences for individuals who commit contempt of court. I hope this sends a message to anyone tempted to do the same thing.' The Democratic Party has refused to remove two convention co-chairs after Bernie Sanders accused them of being 'aggressive attack surrogates' for the Clinton campaign. Sanders called for Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank to be removed from their roles after they criticized his position on key issues. Malloy has slammed Sanders' views on guns, while Frank does not agree with the Vermont senator's pledge to take on the big banks. The Democratic Party has refused to remove two convention co-chairs after Bernie Sanders accused them of being 'aggressive attack surrogates' for the Clinton campaign Sanders called for Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy (left) and former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank (right) to be removed from their roles after they criticized his position on key issues Two Democrats co-chair the platform committee and the rules committee respectively. The platform committee considers the party's stance on a wide range of policy issues while the rules committee sets the guidelines governing the convention. The Sanders campaign wrote to Democratic officials, questioning whether the men could act 'fairly and capably while laboring under such deeply held bias'. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said on Saturday that it had reviewed the challenge and was 'compelled to dismiss it'. Officials said Malloy and Frank were elected under party rules and that Sanders' complaint was not in relation to that process. 'Governor Malloy and Mr Frank have both been aggressive attack surrogates for the Clinton campaign,' Sanders campaign counsel Brad Deutsch had complained. Sanders has accused Malloy and Frank of being biased towards Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton 'Their criticisms of Senator Sanders have gone beyond dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the senator and his campaign,' he added. Frank, in what is seen by some as a partial admission of his bias, has vowed to stand down if the Democratic nomination is not decided by the end of the primaries in mid-June. However, Hillary Clinton looks set to have the nomination wrapped up by then. Sanders has claimed the committee appointments earlier this year were made 'in an overtly partisan way'. He said he suggested more than 40 names for three committees but only three people were chosen by DNC Chairman Wasserman Schultz. As millions of Americans prepare to remember the sacrifices of the men and women of the armed forces this weekend, Virginia park wardens are trying to catch those desecrating their history. Staff at Petersburg National Battlefield say the site has been pockmarked by dozens of holes likely caused by relic hunters digging for civil war artifacts. Superintendent Lewis Rogers told WRIC: 'This is an affront to the memory of people who fought and died on this field and it is destruction and theft of history from the American people. Scroll down for video Staff at Petersburg National Battlefield are pursuing relic-hunters who they say have left the site pockmarked with holes while hunting for relics to take home Park chiefs have lashed out at the thieves, accusing them of stealing history and branding their behavior 'disgusting' particularly ahead of Memorial Day remembrances 'This kind of aberrant behavior is always disgusting but it is particularly egregious as Memorial Day weekend arrives, a time when we honor the memories of our friends and family.' It is not yet clear what part of the park had been targeted and what, if any, artifacts had been taken. Rogers said the thieves likely came in with a metal detector to scour the ground before digging down wherever they heard a noise. Tom Philabaum, a visitor from Charlotte coming for the weekend, described the thieves' actions as 'completely despicable' while Pamela Minor characterized the behavior as 'appalling'. More than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died during the battle that eventually saw the defeat of General Robert E. Lee by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant More than 1,000 Union and Confederate troops died during the Siege of Petersburg, the name given to a prolonged trench battle that stretched from Petersburg to the outskirts of Richmond. The ten-month battle ended with the defeat of General Robert E. Lee by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, prompting Lee's retreat from Petersburg and the then-confederate capital. A former television presenter who 'faked his own death' and went on the run for almost 17 years after allegedly trying to blow up a Penthouse model and her former boyfriend has been arrested in London, it has been reported. Roberto Saenz de Heredia, a host with the TV Shopping Network on Foxtel, fled Australia in 1999 after being charged with attempted murder for allegedly sending a bomb to the northern Sydney home of model couple Simone Farrow and Brett Boyd. But de Heredia's days on the run have finally came to an end when the 47-year-old was arrested at London's Gatwick Airport on April 27, after officials uncovered the man travelling on a fake passport was a wanted fugitive, the Sunday Telegraph reports. A former television presenter (pictured) who 'faked his own death' and went on the run for 17 years after allegedly trying to blow up a Penthouse model and her former boyfriend has reportedly been arrested in London The former host had reportedly come out of hiding in Spain to visit his mother and sister who live in England. Before his arrest, de Heredia had last been seen on July 27, 1999, driving a blue four-wheel-drive in Rose Bay, Sydney. Police found the car days later in Kings Cross. The driver's seat and door was covered in blood, leading officers to believe de Heredia had met a brutal end. However a body was not found, and, shortly after, an investigation got underway where NSW Police determined the former television host had staged the incident to fake his own death. Simone Farrow (pictured) - also known as Simone Cheung and Simone Starr - was with her boyfriend Brett Boyd when an explosive device was delivered to their Sydney home Farrow (pictured) worked as a pop singer and model in the U.S. under the name 'Simone Starr' before she was arrested Brett Boyd (pictured before he was injured in the explosion) reportedly had a falling out with the former television host over an $80,000 debt The 47-year-old allegedly sent the explosive device to Mr Boyd's apartment on June 15, 1998, after the two had a falling out over $80,000, the courts were told before he fled the country. The courts were told Mr Boyd, then 29, and Farrow - who went by the same Simone Cheung - were planning to use the money to set up a 'sex website', the Sunday Telegraphs claims. Mr Boyd was severely injured after the package exploded in his face and threw him more than 8 metres in the air. He was almost blinded in the blast, losing his left eye and 80 per cent of vision in his right eye, while also losing his right thumb and suffering facial scars. Mr Boyd was arrested in April 1999, when the model was spotted with a machine gun lurking outside a police station where de Heredia was due to appear as part of his bail agreement. Farrow (pictured), Mr Boyd's former girlfriend, is currently in jail on ice trafficking offences Farrow (pictured) was arrested by AFP officers at Sydney Airport after flying in from the U.S. Prosecutors allege she was a 'king-pin' in a drug syndicate that imported methamphetamine and ice into Australia De Heredia's had been on the run since he was charged with the attempted murder of Mr Boyd (pictured), but the 47-year-old was arrested at London's Gatwick Airport on April 27 Just weeks later on July 7, an unknown gunman shot de Heredia in the shoulder and arm when he returned to his apartment in Sydney. Mr Boyd committed suicide in 2008. According to the newspaper, NSW Police worked with authorities in England and Indonesia to track down the the 47-year-old fugitive. Throughout the investigation, it was uncovered that de Heredia created at least two fake identies and had passports issued in the UK under the names Robert Valentine Shorthouse and Robert Jackson. Mr Boyd was arrested in April 1999, when the model was spotted with a machine gun lurking outside a police station where de Heredia was due to appear as part of his bail agreement Mr Boyd (pictured before the explosion) was severely injured after the package exploded in his face and threw him more than 8 metres in the air He reportedly used the passports regularly since 2011 to travel between England and Spain, where de Heredia had been working as a foreign exchange trader in Spain since he fled Australia. He could now face extradition to Australia. Farrow, Mr Boyd's former girlfriend, is currently in jail on ice trafficking offences. She left Australia to live in the U.S., where she recorded pop songs and worked as a model under a new name - Simone Starr. Controversial former Speaker of the House Bronwyn Bishop is set to join Sky News as a political commentator, just months after she was forced to quit parliament over an expenses scandal. Ms Bishop, the former MP for Mackellar on Sydney's northern beaches, was dumped by the Liberal Party in April after it was revealed last year she chartered a $5000 private helicopter flight to attend a fundraiser. Ahead of her debut on Thursday night, the former MP said she plans to focus her commentary on the important issues this election. Scroll down for video Controversial former Speaker of the House Bronwyn Bishop is set to join Sky News as a political commentator, just months after she was forced to quit parliament over an expenses scandal Ms Bishop was dumped by the Liberal Party in April after it was revealed last year she chartered a $5000 private helicopter flight (pictured) to attend a fundraiser 'I have been an active member of parliament, on the front bench for so many years of my life, I look at the things that are important to me and my beliefs and will continue to do that,' she said, according to the Herald Sun. Ms Bishop is the second high-profile figure of former prime minister Tony Abbott's team to join the news network, after ex-chief of staff Peta Credlin signed on to cover the Federal Election. But the 73-year-old said viewers should not expect her and Ms Credlin to share the same views, just because they were once on the same side. 'Peta Credlin and I come from very different perspectives,' she said. Ms Bishop first joined parliament as a NSW Senator in 1987, before becoming the Member for Mackellar in 1994. She served as Speaker from November 2013 to August 2015. Ahead of her debut on Thursday night, the former MP (pictured) said she plans to focus her commentary on the important issues this election Ms Bishop is the second high-profile figure of former prime minister Tony Abbott's team to join the news network (pictured), after ex-chief of staff Peta Credlin signed on to cover the Federal Election A disfiguring tropical disease that had been contained to Syria has now spread across the Middle East as millions are displaced from the war-torn region. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by bites from infected sand flies. It can lead to severe scarring, often on the face, and regularly goes undiagnosed and untreated. A disfiguring tropical disease that had been contained to Syria has now spread into its neighbouring countries This map shows how the disease has spread out of Syria into countries such as Jordan, Iraq and Turkey This graphic shows the spread of the sand flies across the Middle East that allowed the disease to thrive The disease had been contained to Syria, particularly to regions under ISIS control such as Raqqa, Deir al-Zour and Hasakah. The civil war has devastated the country's medical facilities, seen thousands of health workers killed and hospitals destroyed. Along with the chronic lack of water and bombed out buildings, this created a ripe breeding ground for the sand flies and allowed the disease to thrive. It had previously been claimed by the Kurdish Red Crescent that the spread of the disease had also been caused by ISIS dumping rotting corpses on the streets. This has been refuted by the scientists at the School of Tropical Medicines. As more than four million Syrians have fled the region, the disease has now moved into its neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. Between 2000 and 2012, there were only six reported cases of the disease in Lebanon. But in 2013 alone there were 1,033 cases reported, of which 96 per cent occurred among the displaced Syrian refugees, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Turkey, Jordan, Easter Libya and Yemen have also reported hundreds of cases. With Yeminis migrating to Saudi Arabia, the fear is the disease might spread there too. There could even be refugees with the disease who have reached Europe. Scientists have warned about 'ring fencing' the disease or risking another situation like Ebola WHAT IS LEISHMANIASIS AND HOW IS THIS DEADLY DISEASE SPREAD? According to the World Health Organisation, there are three main forms of the disease and are spread by more than 20 parasites: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: This is the most common form of the disease and causes ulcers on exposed parts of the body. It can also lead to disfigurement, permanent scarring, stigma and disability. Visceral Leishmaniasis: This is the most severe form of the disease and can be fatal if left untreated. The disease targets the major organs and causes irregular bouts of fever, weight loss as well as enlargement of the liver and spleen. Mucocutaneous Leishmaniasis: This is the most destructive form of the disease, eating away at the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and throat. Many of the temporary refugee settlements can increase the risk of picking up the disease because of malnutrition, poor housing, deficient medical facilities and overcrowding. This, coupled with the favourable climate - the sand flies only operate in humid temperatures [a minimum of 27/28 degrees at night] - has created the conditions for the disease to spread. For instance, refugee settlements in Nizip in southern Turkey have reported several hundred cases. Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Waleed Al-Salem, one of the authors of the research was carried out in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: 'It's a very bad situation. The disease has spread dramatically in Syria, but also into countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and even into southern Europe with refugees coming in. 'There are thousands of cases in the region but it is still underestimated because no one can count the exact number of people affected. 'When people are bitten by a sand-fly - which are tiny and smaller than a mosquito - it can take anything between two to six months to have the infection. 'So someone might have picked it up in Syria but then they may have fled into Lebanon or Turkey, or even into Europe as they seek refuge. 'Prior to the outbreak of war there was good control of diseases, parasites and sand flies but when the conflict started no one cared, conditions worsened and the health system broke down, which has created an ideal environment for disease outbreaks.' Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of 17 tropical diseases categorized as 'neglected' by the WHO. To tackle the disease, scientists have called for early detection and treatment, training for doctors, improving conditions in refugee camps and continued surveillance after containing the outbreak. The new political head of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, has become entangled in an extraordinary row over abuse of the honours system. A Mail on Sunday investigation has discovered that the former Labour Cabinet Minister was involved in Anthony Bailey obtaining an honour from Antigua, which he is now abusing to masquerade as a knight in the UK. Baroness Scotland and Bailey, who has described her as a dear friend, collaborated on the charitable work that earned him the honour, an Antiguan knighthood. But he has insisted on being called Sir in the UK, flouting convention and angering Buckingham Palace, which has ordered him to stop giving the impression of being a British knight. Honour: Baroness Scotland is received by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on her appointment as Commonwealth Secretary-General. She had become entangled in an honours row over Anthony Bailey Upset: Bailey received the honour following a 1.1 million investment in schools and church programmes from a charity of which both he and the Baroness (pictured with the Queen) were senior members Prince Charles and David Cameron are among those who have been effectively duped into wrongly referring to him as Sir Anthony. Following The Mail on Sundays investigation, he now faces the ignominious prospect of having his knighthood withdrawn by Antigua. Two of his associates, who received their knighthoods at the same time, have had their honours revoked pending an investigation. Last night Baroness Scotland faced questions about her role in the affair. Bailey received the honour following a 1.1 million investment in schools and church programmes from a charity of which both he and the Baroness were senior members. But she denied being party to the granting of a knighthood to Anthony Bailey or anyone else, and has no opinion on how private individuals comport themselves. Tory MP Stuart Andrew said Baroness Scotland appears to have been particularly brazen in her actions and said the peers involvement placed a question mark against her judgment. Baroness Scotland needs to take responsibility for any role she had in this business, he said. If Anthony Bailey is continuing to use this title in the UK its disrespectful in the extreme to people who have knighthoods who absolutely deserve them. It makes a mockery of the honours system. This business has caused considerable anger at the Palace and Foreign Office. This man is passing himself off as a knight in Britain and wont listen to advice to stop. Government Minister A Government Minister said last night: This business has caused considerable anger at the Palace and Foreign Office. This man is passing himself off as a knight in Britain and wont listen to advice to stop. But Bailey who has strong links to foreign governments, as well as the Saudi royal family and the Vatican has ignored all warnings about the misuse of his award. In response he launched an astonishing attack on the Foreign Office and Royal Household, accusing them of conducting a dirty tricks campaign. Tory Andrew Rosindell has also become embroiled in the saga, as the Romford MP asked no fewer than seven Commons questions about Commonwealth honours in just over a month, at the height of Baileys dispute with the Royal Household. He said last night: While I have received representations from an array of individuals, including Anthony Bailey, regarding the issue of the recognition of knighthoods, I would like to stress that my only interest in this matter is over the principles involved and is not personalised to an individual in any way. Baroness Scotland previously hit headlines in 2009, when she was Attorney-General. It was then revealed that she employed an illegal immigrant from Tonga on a paltry wage of 6 an hour. She was prosecuted for breaking immigration laws that she had helped draft, and fined 5,000. She took up her position of Commonwealth Secretary-General, a position which comes with an 160,000 salary and a grace-and-favour Mayfair home, last month. Row: Anthony Bailey obtained an honour from Antigua, which he is now abusing to masquerade as a knight in the UK. Pictured, Bailey receiving the knighthood at Government House in Antigua in November 2014 The peer previously had Antiguas support to take the job, but it was withdrawn following a change of government on the island. Bailey and his friends were knighted in November 2014 by Antiguas Governor General Sir Rodney Williams who is married to Baroness Scotlands cousin. Sources close to Bailey said last night that he is entitled to use the title Sir which features on his passport, and said the Foreign Office had never tried to stop him. A question on this topic was one of those asked by MP Mr Rosindell. But last night the Foreign Office insisted that Bailey was not entitled to use the title Sir in the UK. A spokesman said: The convention that British recipients of knighthoods from other countries cannot use the title Sir in the UK dates back to 1813. There has been no change to the convention since then and it applies to everyone. The convention that British recipients of knighthoods from other countries cannot use the title Sir in the UK dates back to 1813. There has been no change to the convention since then and it applies to everyone. Foreign Office spokesman Baroness Scotland declined to say last night whether she was aware Bailey was intending to use the title in the UK, or if she thought it appropriate. A spokesman added that she did not petition for his honour, saying: No argument was made on behalf or Anthony Bailey, nor was she involved in the process in any other way. Antiguas Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, confirmed that the knighthood awarded to Bailey who once raised funds for Tony Blair and Gordon Brown is now under review. He said that when his party came to power in June 2014, one of its first acts was to switch its support for the Commonwealth Secretary-General job from Baroness Scotland to Sir Ronald Sanders, a senior Antiguan diplomat. Two of Baileys wealthy friends who were knighted with him in Antigua have already had their honours revoked pending an investigation. All three knighthoods had been arranged prior to Brownes election. By the time we came to office, this was a fait accompli and we honoured the arrangements without any knowledge of the prior discussions, the Antiguan Prime Minister said. One of the other men is Nadmi Auchi, who was convicted of fraud and bribery over the Elf Aquitaine corruption scandal in 2003. The other is Bulgarian businessman Spas Roussev. Mr Roussevs spokesman said he was approached and offered an Antiguan honour in exchange for supporting local charitable projects. However, Mr Roussev had questions about the arrangement from the start. The spokesman added: It became clear that all was not well, the process involved was irregular and not as originally described. Mr Roussev therefore withheld all payments and asked to return the honour, but this was refused. He has been pursued for payment ever since. All three men who were knighted were, along with Baroness Scotland, part of a delegation from an ancient Catholic order, The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, which was revived ten years ago by Bailey, who also styles himself His Excellency. The peer and Bailey flew to Antigua for his investiture as part of a delegation from the order. On the organisations website, the Baroness takes personal responsibility for introducing the order to Antigua. After the 2014 trip to the island, she issued a statement saying she was truly delighted with the visit which had only come after her pleas to Bailey and the other leaders of the order. Anger: Bailey is flouting convention and angering Buckingham Palace (pictured), which has ordered him to stop giving the impression of being a British knight Royal: Two of Baileys wealthy friends who were knighted with him in Antigua have already had their honours revoked pending an investigation. Pictured, the royal family gathered for the Trooping the Colour parade Last Monday, the Order of St George and Bailey hosted a dinner in Drapers Hall in London for the president of Hungary. Tory MP Oliver Letwin read out a letter from David Cameron, which referred to Sir Anthony Bailey. In the official registers the next day, the event is listed as being hosted by Sir Anthony Bailey. Earlier this year, Bailey posted on his Facebook page an invitation from the Duchess of Cornwall to a charity event at St Jamess Palace. Again, he was referred to as Sir Anthony. He lists no fewer than 35 honours and awards on his personal website including the First Class Grade of the Syrian Order of Outstanding Merit from President Bashar al-Assads regime. In 2007, the 46-year-old married Austrian princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg, the great-granddaughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination led to the outbreak of the First World War. The couple have a six-year-old son. At the wedding, Bailey is said to have worn his full papal knight uniform, which he was awarded in 2009, complete with ceremonial sword. Anthony Bailey (pictured in Notting Hill, London) lists no fewer than 35 honours and awards on his personal website The social climber came from relatively modest beginnings. The son of an engineer, he attended a Catholic comprehensive school in Ickenham, Middlesex, before studying at University College London. He went on to work for global PR firm Burson-Marsteller, before setting up his own companies advising states and private bodies including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Yemen and Bahrain, weapons manufacturer BAE Systems, and oil company Shell. He is reportedly able to charge clients 500 an hour. I do the job of a diplomat with the usual embassy, government and royal access, but I charge commercial rates, he once told a journalist. The interviewer wrote: Anthony Baileys connections make Peter Mandelson look like a Welsh hermit. Mr Bailey was a key fundraiser for Mr Blair and is credited with raising 8 million for his flagship city academies project. However, in 2005, Baileys 500,000 donation to the Labour Party was rejected over fears that he was acting on behalf of foreign businessmen. He subsequently received a letter of apology from Labours then chairman, Hazel Blears, saying it should not have happened. A year later he had a 50,600 donation to the party accepted. In 2007 he made a 10,000 donation to Ms Blears and in 2010, he also made a 50,000 donation to David Miliband for his failed leadership campaign. A spokesman for Baroness Scotland who is no longer active in the Constantinian Order said: Patricia Scotland has been a member of the order for over a decade and had a long-standing hope that the orders good charitable works could be extended to the Caribbean, which pre-dated any consideration of being Commonwealth Secretary-General She was asked to join the visit of the order to the Caribbean to mark the start of their work there and was happy to do so. She did not identify nor select those who received the institutional honours. Patricia Scotland had not met, and did not know, Mr Auchi and Mr Roussev prior to attending the ceremony. She did not make any introductions on their behalf nor has she ever advocated for them in any way. If their honours are now being questioned then due process should be followed. As Commonwealth Secretary-General, she has no say in how sovereign member states resolve these matters and will not comment on them. Patricia Scotland has not been and is not now a close ally of any particular administration in the Caribbean, current or former. At the time of her appointment as Secretary-General, the government of Antigua was actively supporting a different candidate for the job, so that point is moot. A photograph taken during a wild brawl between anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters shows a demonstrator who appears to be suffering the after-effect of being pepper sprayed. The picture was taken after police were called in to control demonstrators from the right-wing United Patriots front who were marching to 'stop the far left' in response to a 'No To Racism' rally taking place in Coburg, Melbourne, on Saturday morning. The young man is seen crouched with his back against the wall with a police officer beside him. Scroll down for video An incredible photograph taken in the middle of a wild brawl between anti-Islam and anti-racism protesters The protester was clearly suffering the effects of being pepper sprayed The protester's eyes appear extremely red and irritated from pepper spray, while large streams of mucus are seen pouring from his nose. A red shirt is hanging loose from his neck, and his hands are tied behind his back. It comes after a special taskforce will be created to catch protesters who covered their faces with flags and masks during ugly clashes between anti-Islam and anti-racism groups. A large police presence of about 500 riot squad officers was on hand to try to control the peace, however the day quickly turned violent, with some protesters even being bashed with flagpoles flying the Australia flag. A special taskforce will be created to catch protesters who covered their faces with flags and masks during ugly clashes between anti-Islam and anti-racism groups Police commander Sharon Cowden called those who hid their identity during the protests 'cowards', and said those who behaved 'inappropriately' will be punished Officers also used pepper spray on protesters as the rallies descended into ugly street brawls. Police commander Sharon Cowden called those who hid their identity during the protests 'cowards', and said those who behaved 'inappropriately' will be punished. 'When people hide their identity and I believe it makes them more violent when they are on the streets,' Ms Cowden told the Herald Sun. 'What happened today is not on and we will be looking at the footage, finding out what else we can do, to track these people down and bring them to justice.' About 500 riot squad officers was on hand to try to control the peace, however the day quickly turned violent, with some protesters even being bashed with flagpoles flying the Australia flag Acting Premier James Merlino said: 'Protesters who wear face masks, carry weapons and engage in violent behaviour are cowards, and this behaviour is unacceptable.' Acting Premier James Merlino also told the newspaper: 'Protesters who wear face masks, carry weapons and engage in violent behaviour are cowards, and this behaviour is unacceptable.' It comes after footage captured by 9NEWS showed protesters stabbing one another with the end of flag poles while others threw punches at anyone in close range. The chaotic brawl had more than 300 people draped in the Australian flag and most with their faces covered with some wearing Guy Fawkes masks. Police made seven arrests amid the violent scuffles with two people arrested for riotous behaviour, one for assaulting a police and one for hindering police, while one was arrested for robbery Police made seven arrests amid the violent scuffles with two people arrested for riotous behaviour, one for assaulting a police and one for hindering police, while one was arrested for robbery. The two groups hurled abuse at each other during the marches with some swearing and others making derogatory remarks. Anti-racism protesters chanted 'Nazi Scum, off our streets' while UPF members carried a sign which read 'No Refugees. Our home, our future.' Protesters brandished Australian flags (pictured) and used them as weapons when two rival rallies violently clashed in in Melbourne's northern suburb Coburg Demonstrators from the True Blue Crew and United Patriots Front (UPF) were marching to 'Stop The Far Left' at the same time as the 'No To Racism' rally by anti-racism and anti-Islam groups (pictured) Footage captured at the rally shows protesters stabbing one another (left) with the end of flag poles while others threw punches at anyone in close range (right) Anti-racism protesters chanted 'Nazi Scum, off our streets' while UPF (pictured) members carried a sign which read 'No Refugees. Our home, our future' UPF leader Blair Cottrell threatened rivals by saying 'force and terror' will be used, before telling supporters the anti-racism demonstrators were 'smashed' UPF leader Blair Cottrell threatened rivals by saying 'force and terror' will be used, before telling supporters the anti-racism demonstrators were 'smashed.' Demonstrators for the No To Racism rally, which included members from the Anti Fascist Action, gathered to protest the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, off-shore detention centres and Islamophobia. Commander Sharon Cowden has since condemned the riot calling the violence inappropriate and 'cowardly'. Authorities have said the violence was attributed to extremists within both groups blaming both rivals for their 'cowardly' behaviour The riot police stood between the opposing demonstrators in an attempt to stop a clash from occurring but protesters tried to break the police lines Police were forced to make arrests as protesters turned violent throwing punches and crates at rivals Commander Sharon Cowden praised the efforts of police in maintaining the crowd and ensuring no one was seriously injured She said: 'We saw inappropriate and often cowardly behaviour with people wearing masks and hiding their identity I believe it makes them more violent when they are on the streets. 'What happened today is not on. We will be looking at the footage, finding out what else we can do, to track these people down and bring them to justice. 'There were clashes on both sides, so I condemn the behaviour of both sides but mostly it's the extremists. Police were forced to use capsicum spray during a rally involving anti-racism and anti-Islam protesters in Melbourne on Saturday morning Desperate to calm down the crowd riot police were seen using the capsicum spray on numerous occasions One protester was brought down to his knees as the spray hit him directly in the face Officers were eventually able to settle down the demonstrator in order to restrain him 'You get the extremists and they are often very cowardly and they will come along looking for a fight and that's what we saw today.' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on protesters to respect one another and said: 'We are the most successful multicultural society in the world. 'We are united, we have so much in common and we are stronger and more prosperous as a nation because of that diversity. Police detain a man as the clashes between the rival protesters turned violent in Coburg A riot officer stands on guard ready to aim his capsicum spray at demonstrators who continue to cause havoc as photographers pose ready to take photos while wearing goggles A man is pictured sitting down on the side of the road attempting to relieve his pain with water after being capsicum sprayed Members from the far-left Anti Fascist Action group gathered to join the No To Racism rally and concealed their identities by covering their faces 'My message today and every day, as your Prime Minister, is that mutual respect, respect for each other, giving the respect to others that we ask of them is key to our success.' Greens Leader Richard Di Natale blamed the riots on the 'toxic debate' off asylum seekers in Australia. 'We need both the Labor Party and particularly this Government to rein in the comments it is making. A demonstrator wearing the Australia flag to cover his face also attempted to escape from the riot squad as they used capsicum spray Members of the Anti Fascist Action group were protesting the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, off-shore detention centres and Islamophobia One man aids another protester while wearing gloves in a bid to avoid touching the OC spray covering the man's face Commander Sharon Cowden has since condemned the clashes calling the violence and inappropriate behaviour 'cowardly' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged demonstrators to respect each other as well as stating Australia is 'the most successful multicultural society in the world' 'It's contributing to ugly race politics, the consequences of which were seen in Melbourne today.' Senior police and weapons checkpoints have been present since early Saturday morning costing tax payers approximately $1.7 million. Police are expected to continue their investigations by examining footage in hopes of bringing violent demonstrators to justice. Police are expected to continue looking at footage in hopes of bringing certain protesters to justice Greens Leader Richard Di Natale blamed the riots on the 'toxic debate' off asylum seekers in Australia Tax payers have been forced to pay approximately $1.7 million for resources used to manage the protests Members from ANTIFA wore Guy Fawkes mask and held signs saying 'there is no authority but yourself' and 'Muslims are welcome, racists are not' Footage has emerged that appears to show a UFO flying over a US military base. The video, which was uploaded to YouTube, was shot by a couple in Dayton, Ohio, as they were watching the sunset from their home. The film shows a mystery object in the sky, floating in the air with its pointed end facing downwards, along with strange markings along the side of the craft. The woman, who was filming the object on her phone remarks: 'What the f*** is that?', before adding: 'It looks like it's moving with the clouds.' Mind-blowing: The footage was captured last week near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio Hovering: The craft is seen remaining still as it appears to float in the air for several minutes Another person in the background says: 'That's f***ing crazy.' Just as the camera zooms in on unusual object, it fades from view and disappears into the clouds. 'Oh my god, it f****** disappeared,' another shocked onlooker says. The clip was sent to Secure Team 10 , who describe themselves as: 'the research team bringing exposure of the alien phenomenon and those trying to hide it back to the masses!' Now you see me: At one point, the craft appears to literally vanish from view Now you don't: The craft disappears into the clouds (far right), however it was also captured on film by a second observer (center picture) Tyler Glockner can be heard commenting on the video, calling it 'mind-blowing'. He claims that it is the third sighting of the same object by 'three separate sources' and has video footage that was shot in the same area. 'It's the same UFO. I am simply amazed, we have someone corroborating this sighting,' he says At the end of video, Glockner adds: 'There is no doubt in my mind this is either an alien craft or a very very strange drone - which I highly doubt.' He also suggests that the object could be from this planet however calling it a: 'A back engineered alien craft that's being tested by some black project over at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.' The video was filmed last Wednesday near the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base which is ten miles from Dayton. The base has been subject of numerous tales about UFO's and aliens since 1947. Between 1947 and 1969, the Air Force recorded 12,618 sightings of strange phenomena - with 701 of them classed as 'unidentified'. Between 1947 and 1969, the Air Force recorded 12,618 sightings of strange phenomena 701 of which remain 'unidentified' The sightings were recorded in Project Blue Book, the Air Force's files on UFO sightings and investigations. Headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the programme comprised of just a handful of staff. It came to light in 2015, when amateur historian John Greenewald posted more than 100,000 pages of the documents to his website The Black Vault. He had spent nearly two decades requesting declassified information from the US government regarding UFOs. Nothing portrays the depth of contempt the Mediterranean people-trafficking gangs hold for their human cargo as starkly as the boat graveyard on Lampedusa, the tiny island that is the closest part of Italy to North Africa. The carcasses of wooden fishing boats, some peppered with gaping gashes in their hulls and rotting wooden planks peeling away from the superstructure, might as well bear flashing neon signs reading: Your problem now, Europe. Desperate migrants are packed into these ailing craft which have little or no chance of making the voyage from Libya intact, in the clear expectation that the patrols from Italy and soon the Royal Navy will rescue them. If they are not rescued, its hardly a problem for the shameful traffickers after all, there are more customers and no shortage of unseaworthy death-traps to herd them into. Graveyard: The tiny Italian island is littered with the worn out carcasses of wooden fishing boats, many of them peppered with gaping holes, which have little or no chance of making the voyage from Libya intact Horror: If they are not rescued, its hardly a problem for the shameful traffickers after all, there are more customers and no shortage of unseaworthy death-traps to herd them into. Pictured, a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsizes off the coast of Libya Its impossible to comprehend the misery these tragic vessels witnessed, but at least some of their passengers made it. Plenty more boats lie at the bottom of the sea, along with the migrants who boarded them, sinking along with hopes and dreams of a new life in Europe. Most of the Lampedusa wrecks were once part of fishing fleets off the Libyan coast. As I walk through the boat graveyard, I find one vessel on which the deeply charred timbers around the engine area hint at the horrors its occupants experienced. Another is full of holes along the gunwales which may have been caused in a collision with another boat. The wood around the holes crumbles to dust between my fingers. Last week, we saw again how lethal these death-traps are in the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean, with 80 bodies recovered from stricken vessels, and a further 100 migrants missing after a trawler capsized. The Italian Coastguard said 10,000 migrants were rescued last week. According to the latest figures, a million migrants arrived in Europe by sea last year. The illegal migrant route through Libya, which involves a dangerous boat ride of more than 320 miles to Italy, has replaced the journey from eastern Turkey across the Aegean to the Greek isles, due to a heavy crackdown by European and Turkish authorities in that region. Danger: The Italian Coastguard said 10,000 migrants were rescued last week. According to the latest figures, a million migrants arrived in Europe by sea last year. Pictured, the boat graveyard of Lampedusa Death-trap: The illegal migrant route through Libya, which involves a dangerous boat ride of more than 320 miles to Italy, has replaced the journey from eastern Turkey across the Aegean to the Greek isles, due to a heavy crackdown by European and Turkish authorities in that region Rescue: The Italian Navy tries to get as close as possible to where the migrant boat capsized, but at least five people died in the disaster including the mother of a nine-month-old girl who had to continue her journey alone It has been reported that 47 per cent of the 153,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year did not claim asylum. Many absconded, making their way to more prosperous Britain, Germany or Sweden. Two Senegalese migrants told me the story of their perilous journeys to Europe. Babakar and Abdullah, who both claimed to be 17, met at the migrant centre, rather than in their home country. Both gave their reason for making the journey as poverty. There were 125 people squeezed into an inflatable plastic boat only 15m long. It had SOS written on the side. We knew we would never make it across to Italy. Abdullah, who claimed to be 17 Babakar said he was kidnapped in Libya by policemen who beat him every day and told him to tell his family in Senegal to send money. Eventually, he escaped and found a friend from Senegal who agreed to finance his trip. Appallingly, there was no expectation that the inflatable boat would make it to Italy. Before we set off, the trafficker gave us the phone number of a rescue service I think in Italy, but Im not sure. When we reached international waters, we called it. We set off at 9pm and by 4am we had been picked up and were on our way to Italy. Abdullah said that after his mother, a divorced pharmacist, died last year, he as the eldest of four children sold two cows and some land to raise the $1,000 for the journey. In Tripoli he contacted people traffickers and set sail earlier this month. There were 125 people squeezed into an inflatable plastic boat only 15m long, he said. It had SOS written on the side. We knew we would never make it across to Italy, but we thought we would get picked up, so thats why we set off at midday. Risk: Before setting off, migrants are given a rescue number to call once they reach international waters. They never have any hope of making the entire journey with the boat staying intact Upset: It has been reported that 47 per cent of the 153,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year did not claim asylum. Many absconded, making their way to more prosperous Britain, Germany or Sweden Saviours: Even in the most unlikely places, you will find advocates for sending economic migrants back to their home countries. Pictured, some of those rescued by the Italian Navy swim nearer to the ship Argument: Even many of those who preach nothing but human kindness for the refugees fleeing war and famine agree that economic migrants should be 'sent home' I would like to go to France if possible because of the language, but I would also consider England because I have heard it is a good country with lots of jobs. But however agonising the passage experienced by the thousands of migrants arriving each week in Lampedusa and other Italian ports, there is no doubt that those who did survive are now Europes problem, and the debate has begun in earnest about what should happen once the migrants have been rescued. Even in the most unlikely places, you will find advocates for sending economic migrants as opposed to refugees from war or famine back to where they came from, or at least back across the sea. Dr Pietro Bartolo, the most senior doctor in Lampedusa, has been honoured internationally for his humanitarian work, and blessed by Pope Francis, not once but twice. He hit the headlines again only last week when he vowed to adopt a little Nigerian girl called Favour, whose parents were killed in the crossing. He preaches and practises nothing but human kindness for the migrants he has been examining and treating for years, passionately believing that Europe has a moral duty to take them in. But he adds: As for those who are coming here just for a better life, we should send them home. Tragedy: However agonising the passage experienced by the thousands of migrants arriving each week in Lampedusa and other Italian ports, there is no doubt that those who do survive are now Europe's problem Confusion: The debate has begun in earnest about what should happen once the migrants have been rescued Safety: Although these migrants have been rescued and are safely continuing their journey into Europe, they can have little idea of what their futures will hold Mission: The Italian Navy ship 'Bettica' patrols international waters in an effort to rescue desperate migrants History: According to an Italian fisherman in Lampedusa, the boat graveyard on the island has built up over several years. Pictured, a helicopter takes part in the massive rescue mission off the coat of Libya Humanitarian: Despite the efforts to rescue migrants cast into the sea, there is no end in sight to the misery measured by the boats in Lampedusa's graveyard Dr Bartolo says the vast majority of those desperate enough to attempt the sea voyage are likely to be genuine refugees, and that ageing Europe needs new blood to do the jobs Europeans wont do. He even goes much further than most politicians and urged the European naval ships not to stop at merely rescuing the migrants, but actually weigh anchor in Libya and provide safe passage for them. Manuel Esposito, 57, a fisherman at the Old Port in Lampedusa, said the boat graveyard had built up over several years. Every so often, the coastguards bring another one to add to the collection, he said. We look at some of them and wonder how they even floated, never mind getting across the sea. It is a very sad sight. Two potential links to terrorists have been found by European police sent to carry out security checks on the thousands of migrants arriving in Greece, a top secret report reveals. The leaked Europol file reveals officers made 68 hits on their database of criminal suspects while searching new arrivals. At least one terror case is linked to people smugglers helping Syrian refugees cross the Mediterranean to Turkey. Probe: The leaked Europol file reveals officers made 68 hits on their database of criminal suspects while searching new arrivals. Pictured, a migrant rests after disembarking in the Sicilian harbour of Catania, Italy It will heighten fears that Islamic State chiefs are using the migrant crisis to smuggle battle-hardened jihadis into Europe where they can carry out devastating attacks on civilians. At least one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up in Paris last year had entered Greece on a migrant boat with a fake Syrian passport. Europol, the EUs police body, handed its file to top officials earlier this month. It states: There are 68 hits against Europol databases. Two cases indicate specific counter terrorism related investigative leads, of which one case also points at organised crime links. It will heighten fears that Islamic State chiefs are using the migrant crisis to smuggle battle-hardened jihadis into Europe where they can carry out devastating attacks on civilians. Pictured, two refugee children look on as a bulldozer crushes a refugee camp at the Greek border The report also reveals that MI5 and the FBI have started sharing some of their intelligence with EU police chiefs in the wake of the terror attacks on Paris and Brussels, which revealed deadly flaws in the French and Belgians security services. The database now has details of 4,044 foreign fighters and their associates. A leading British expert has warned pregnant women and couples looking to conceive to think twice about travelling to parts of the US including Florida, home to Walt Disney World because of the growing threat of the Zika virus. Those considering holidays to southern states including Texas, Louisiana and Florida which contains Miami, Cape Canaveral and the Florida Keys should look at alternatives, said Professor Jimmy Whitworth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. There is currently no evidence that mosquitoes on the US mainland are infected with the virus, which can leave babies with under-developed brains if their mothers are infected during pregnancy. Professor Jimmy Whitworth said he thinks mosquitoes could be carrying the Zika virus in the US in a couple of months and warns that people might have to reconsider visiting Disney World, pictured But Prof Whitworth said he believed the situation could change as the summer heat builds and with it the number of mosquitoes. His assessment is backed by US scientists. Prof Whitworth told The Mail on Sunday: At the moment, if you said to me, Im going to Disney World tomorrow, Id say, Go for it! Thats fine. Because we dont think theres any Zika in mosquitoes in the US right now. But will there be, in two or three months time? Well, there might be, as the situation might change. The warning comes after more than 100 scientists said the Rio Olympics should be moved or postponed because of the outbreak. To continue would risk spreading Zika globally, they added. Zika is carried by the Aedes aegypti species of mosquito, which has swept the virus throughout South and Central America, and the Caribbean. Transmission is now occurring in Mexico, on the USs southwestern border, and Cuba in the east, 90 miles from Key West. Prof Whitworth stressed Zika was only a minor health risk to most people. Four in five of those infected experience no illness and, in those that do, symptoms are usually limited to fever and mild joint pain. Health workers pictured earlier this year spraying insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus, at the Sambadrome in Rio A scientist prepares a mosquito sample that will be tested for the Zika virus at the Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, in Kissimmee, Florida If you are not pregnant or not thinking of getting pregnant, then I dont think it is something to worry about, he said. But the virus can wreak havoc with the developing foetus, curtailing brain and head development to produce a condition called microcephaly. He said pregnant women and those trying for a baby need to consider their plans and, if there is an alternative to going to those parts of the US, strongly consider it. He added: They should think twice and seek up-to-date expert advice. Public Health England said it was monitoring the international situation closely. Sir John Major has launched a powerful attack on 'shameless and distorted' attempts by Brexit leaders to persuade voters that Britain should leave the EU. And he warned that cutting ties with Brussels would 'blow a 40 billion hole' in the UK's economy. The former Prime Minister said the way the Leave campaigners had behaved was 'a fraud on the British people' and accused its leaders of 'boorish and sneering' attacks on David Cameron. They had 'peddled falsehoods' about the cost of Britain's membership of the EU and fanned immigration fears with 'the worst type of dog-whistle politics'. Sir John Major has launched a powerful attack on 'shameless and distorted' attempts by Brexit leaders to persuade voters that Britain should leave the EU The ferocity of the former Tory leader's attack in an exclusive article for The Mail on Sunday will send shockwaves through his party. Normally renowned for his restraint, he spoke out after becoming enraged by tactics used by Vote Leave, which is spearheaded by Boris Johnson. His article follows fury in Downing Street at personal attacks on Mr Cameron by Vote Leave. The former London Mayor has called the Prime Minister's pro-EU comments 'demented'. And last week, he effectively accused Mr Cameron of lying for failing to deliver on his promise to curb immigration. The June 23 referendum has triggered one of the most bitter splits in the Conservative Party. Sir John, whose Government in the 1990s was scarred by attacks by Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said Vote Leave was guilty of 'cavalier exaggeration of likely EU immigration'. He argued: 'We are not, as they [Vote Leave] warn, facing the risk of 88 million migrants from Turkey and the Western Balkans: this fear-mongering is the worst sort of 'dog-whistle' politics. Boris Johnson himself said [Turkish entry to the EU] is not remotely on the cards. Yet Vote Leave persist in raising more scare stories.' Sir John added: 'Let's keep people out' is an easy slogan with a murky history.' He said Vote Leave had resorted to 'irresponsible and provocative oratory' on immigration and 'phantom fears with puffed-up false statistics and downright untruths'. The ferocity of the former Tory leader's attack in an exclusive article for The Mail on Sunday will send shockwaves through his party He was equally scathing about the hotly disputed claim emblazoned on Mr Johnson's Vote Leave red battle bus that Britain pays 350 million a week to the EU, because it failed to take into account the rebate and subsidies the UK gets for sectors such as agriculture and science. 'We do not pay 350 million a week to the EUthe figures on every lick of paint on their battle bus are false,' he said. If Vote Leave succeeded, it would 'blow a 40 billion black hole in Britain's budget'. But when experts supported such claims, they were called 'wrong' or derided as 'stooges of the Prime Minister'. He added: 'The Prime Minister and Chancellor are denounced with boorish monotony with sneering asides that they 'won't be there for long.' Sir John said he did not dispute the patriotism of Leave campaigners, but added that he was 'dismayed by the way they have conducted this campaign, which I believe to have been a fraud on the British people. The very least the British public should expect from our politicians is that they be accurate and truthful. Vote Leave offer a mixture of confused or distorted facts. 'Their tactics are to ignore the arguments and abuse their critics. The British people deserve better. Voters are contemptuous of such evasion and political trickery.' In a separate article for The Mail on Sunday today, anti-EU Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg rules out the idea of a second referendum if the margin of victory for either side on June 23 is small. With many pollsters predicting a victory for Remain, some anti-EU campaigners are pinning their hopes on a rerun. But Mr Rees-Mogg says: 'Whatever the outcome, the verdict has to be respected. There must be no rerun just because one side does not like the outcome.' He acknowledges there could be economic 'uncertainty' if Britain breaks free of Brussels, but says it could bring advantages. There could be a fall in the value of the pound but that was 'not necessarily a bad thing'. 'An overvalued currency makes industries less competitive.' He also pokes fun at the Remain campaign for their lack of passion, contrasting it with the enthusiasm of Brexit supporters. He says: 'Those who want to vote Leave have a passion for freedom, while the Remainers merely say, 'Always keep a hold of nurse for fear of finding something worse.' Exclusive article by John Major: 'This is an unforgiving fraud on British people' We have less than one month to go before casting possibly the most important vote of our lifetime. The arguments upon whether to remain in or leave the EU are complex. The very least the British public should expect from our politicians is that they be accurate and truthful and focus on our long-term wellbeing. The Remain campaign has doggedly tried to do this. Vote Leave consistently fails to do so: instead they offer a mixture of confused or distorted facts that mislead rather than inform. Those who challenge statements that are flimsy or demonstrably untrue are either personally disparaged, or accused of being part of a mythical 'Establishment plot'. Boris Johnson in front of the Vote Leave campaign bus which carries a claim that Britain gives 350m a week to the EU - a figure Sir John has rubbished International bodies, such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, are told they are 'wrong', or stooges of the Prime Minister. The highly respected Institute for Fiscal Studies is told that it is a 'paid-up propaganda arm' of the EU. Friendly overseas governments are criticised for 'interfering'. Overseas investors in the UK receive the same crass response even though they provide jobs for our people and taxes that pay for our public services. The Governor of the Bank of England is castigated for warning of risks to the UK economy even though if he failed to do so and the risks materialised he would be accused of gross negligence. So, too, would the Prime Minister and Chancellor, who are continually in the line of fire for presenting Government reports that warn of the risks of leaving Europe. They have a responsibility to the British people to ensure all facts are before them, yet their statements are denounced with boorish monotony by Vote Leave, and with sneering asides from their acolytes, who taunt that those occupying No 10 'won't be there for long'. When Michael Heseltine voiced dismay over foolish and inflammatory references to Hitler, he was dismissed as being 'from another era', the clear implication being that, because of his age, his views don't matter. On that basis, one can only assume that Vote Leave believes the arguments put forward by Michael's contemporary, Nigel Lawson, don't matter either. Such playground name-calling is not only irrelevant but is offensive to millions of elderly voters who although born in 'another era' still have opinions, hopes and ambitions that matter very much indeed. It is highly unlikely that Turkey will join the EU for many, many years (if ever). And Vote Leave knows this. As Boris Johnson himself said: 'It is not remotely on the cards' The tactics of Vote Leave are clear: to ignore the arguments and abuse their critics. But the British people deserve better than that as they search for the facts required to reach a balanced judgment before June 23. I suspect the silent majority is irritated by, even contemptuous of, such evasion and political trickery. A couple of weeks ago, in a speech in Oxford, I sought to bring clarity to a number of issues where I believed the British people were being misled: notably, the cost of the EU, immigration and sovereignty. True to form, instead of addressing the argument, Vote Leave's only response was that I have 'always been wrong about Europe'. This was an odd reply especially since I kept the UK out of the euro and refused to sign up to the Schengen Agreement on open borders. Nonetheless, their evasion met its purpose and, once again, diverted the debate from their own misinformation. So now, as the referendum vote comes nearer, I again ask the senior figures of Vote Leave to correct the inaccuracies and falsehoods they are peddling to the British people. First, we do not I repeat not pay 350 million a week (the equivalent of 18 billion a year) to the EU. Vote Leave knows this. Yet, despite being urged to stop repeating such an obvious untruth not least by the UK Statistics Authority they continue to do so. The facts are simple and clear: during the past five years after taking account of our rebate and money returned to the UK our average net payment to the EU was 7.1 billion. Last year, the figure fell to just over 6 billion after payments to our farmers, businesses, scientific research and for regional aid such as flood defences. But there is a much bigger point: the Institute for Fiscal Studies says that even if we stopped paying anything into the EU, the economic damage caused by leaving it would blow a 40 billion black hole in the nation's budget. So, far from saving money if we left Europe, it would, in fact, cost us a very great deal more. 'Let's keep people out' is an easy slogan with a murky history but Vote Leave needs to explain who their policy would affect, and how they will implement it Even at this late stage, I hope Vote Leave will end their shameless distortion of the truth and admit, publicly and clearly, that the figures they use on every piece of literature and every lick of paint on their battle bus are wholly false. Their refusal to do so is simply breathtaking. On the issue of immigration from Europe, again Vote Leave seems more focused on raising fears than setting out facts. Their cavalier exaggeration of likely immigration flows has been the most distasteful aspect of this referendum campaign. I understand very well the concern felt by many people about the current scale of immigration. This is an important issue. So let me turn again to it, in the hope of flushing out what Vote Leave's plans for border control may mean for present and future migrants. First, a statement of fact: we are not, as they warn, facing the risk of 88 million migrants from Turkey and the western Balkans: this fear-mongering is the worst sort of 'dog whistle' politics. It is highly unlikely that Turkey will join the EU for many, many years (if ever). And Vote Leave knows this. As Boris Johnson himself said: 'It is not remotely on the cards.' Quite so. Yet Vote Leave persist in raising more scare stories. Even if at some far distant date Turkey did join, are we really to believe that every one of her citizens would up sticks and head for the United Kingdom? Of course not. Vote Leave's irresponsible and provocative oratory is intended purely to plant an entirely false image in people's minds. It is fear over fact. Responsible politicians should know better. The entry of any country to the EU is in our hands. We can say No. We the British have an absolute veto on the entry of any country to the EU if we wish to use it. Vote Leave knows this, so what were they thinking of last weekend when they stated the opposite? As one migrant scare story falls apart, Vote Leave raises another. And, to add emotion to their mischief, they warn that European migrants will have a negative impact on the NHS. This is spectacular misdirection, for without the skills of European migrants, the NHS would be heavily understaffed. There are 54,000 EU citizens working in our Health Service as doctors, nurses and ancillaries, and a further 80,000 caring for the sick in Social Welfare. How many of us have been cared for in hospital by European doctors and nurses? Who keeps our public transport running? Who keeps our hotel industry staffed? Who greets us each morning across the counter in coffee shops up and down the country? Collectively, these and other workers contribute far more in taxes than they take in benefit or care costs. Of course, there is a temporary problem of numbers of migrants. I totally accept this. But please note the word 'temporary'. Vote Leave's irresponsible and provocative oratory is intended purely to plant an entirely false image in people's minds. It is fear over fact. Responsible politicians should know better The growth of the eurozone economy now clearly under way will create more jobs across Europe which, in turn, should cut demand to come to the UK. But, in any event, a short-term migrancy flow from Europe should not be the issue that drives the UK out of an economic union that benefits our country immensely, and will continue to do so in the much longer term. 'Let's keep people out' is an easy slogan with a murky history but Vote Leave needs to explain who their policy would affect, and how they will implement it. Specifically, I would welcome their responses to the following points: - Have they considered how their plans to cut EU migrancy would affect the immigration status of EU citizens now working in the UK more than 110,000 of them in the NHS and social care system? - What would be the effect of their policy on our caring services, transport, commerce and industry? - How would their policy on leaving the EU affect British citizens living or working in Europe? When Vote Leave turns its attention to the Single Market, their disregard for truth turns into utter confusion. Not only have they failed to dent the economic case for remaining in the EU, they can't even agree on their own case if we were to leave. Their heads are all over the place on this issue, and yet it is central to the quality of life for every individual and family in the UK. Some in Vote Leave say the UK should leave the Single Market, lose all preferential access to it, and rely on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules in future trade with Europe. It is hard to imagine any single event that would do more harm to our country's wellbeing. Outside the EU, we would have to renegotiate more than 50 free trade agreements, which could take many years to complete and, as the Director-General of the WTO has said, 'leaving the EU would cost the UK many billions in trade tariffs'. The damage to our economic interests would be self-inflicted and severe. Other Brexiteers disagree about leaving the Single Market. They say they would negotiate a different arrangement with the EU. Some want a Swiss arrangement; others a Norwegian arrangement; yet others an Albanian arrangement. In the first two circumstances we would have to continue to pay into the EU budget and accept free movement of people. Not only that, but such a proposal would mean we would have to accept European rules and regulations, while having no say whatsoever in making them. In the third, we would have no access to the Single Market, which would do profound and long-lasting damage to our economy. It's an absolute mess. No wonder the British people are left baffled, bewildered and confused. They need to know what all this would mean for their future, but Vote Leave are in such a muddle themselves that none of them seems willing or able to explain it to others. Moreover, for the UK to have to obey rules and regulations without any influence over them would be an absurd and undignified position for a nation like Britain. It would be an absolute negation of sovereignty on trade rules. Instead of sharing sovereignty (as we do now), we would be surrendering it. Far from 'taking back control' as the Brexiteers trumpet they wish to do, we would be throwing it away. Vote Leave has consistently failed to tell us how they see the UK outside Europe. They have glib slogans, but no solid detail. They know what they are against, but have no agreed position on what they are for. Some of the leaders of Vote Leave are my fellow Conservatives. Others are experienced parliamentarians. I don't doubt their patriotism, nor their commitment to their cause. But I am dismayed by the way in which they have conducted this campaign, which I believe to have been a fraud on the British people. They have, knowingly, told untruths about the cost of Europe. They have promised negotiating gains that cannot and will not be delivered. They have hailed alleged advantages of leaving Europe, while ignoring even the most obvious obstacles and drawbacks. They have raised phantom fears that cannot be justified, puffing up their case with false statistics, unlikely scenarios and downright untruths. To mislead the British nation in this fashion when its very future is at stake is unforgivable. We British are an open-hearted, open-minded, generous-spirited, compassionate people. The majority of us are decent and hard-working, wishing to do the right thing for our families, friends and communities. We have been an outward-looking, internationalist nation for centuries: Great Britons, not Little Englanders. We need to embrace Europe and the wider world, not exclude ourselves from it. There will not be another referendum on Europe. This is it. The decision we take on June 23 will shape our country, our people and our livelihoods for generations to come. I have no doubt that the long-term positives of our country's membership of the EU far outweigh the short-term frustrations of it. Advertisement These fascinating photos serve as a visual love letter to New York, revealing exactly why America's greatest city is visited by tens of millions of tourists every year. The shots, submitted for National Geographic Travelers photographer of the year contest, feature everything from its mesmerising skyscrapers to unusual scenes below ground in the subway. One of the astonishing pictures, taken by Jason Gregory, shows the underbelly of the Manhattan Bridge at night. Gregory set up on the Brooklyn side of the bridge and captured a long exposure as the lights of nearby buildings reflected off the glass-like East River. An equally amazing photo submitted by Michele Palazzo shows a rare moment when New York's streets are empty. In her image, snow swirls around the Flatiron Building during Winter Storm Jonas last January. The annual competition, which closed on Friday, celebrates the best in travel photography with submissions from around the world. The winner receives a seven-day polar bear photo safari for two in Churchill, Manitoba, in Canadas Arctic, one of the most popular destinations for nature and landscape photographers. New Yorkers are used to seeing strange things on the subway. In this case, a woman was carrying a speed limit sign attacked to a post New York has one of the greatest skylines in the world, and its skyscrapers are especially fascinating when they're lit up at night Photographer Jason Gregory set up on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge and captured a long exposure using a 55mm prime lens Photographer Michele Wozniak captured this scene after eating brunch in Greenwich Village on a cool Sunday morning New York is a city that never stops moving. A street scene (left) in Lower Manhattan and Grand Central Terminal's famous clock (right) New York's Tribute in Light (pictured from a Brooklyn rooftop) honours the victims of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks New York's famous Brooklyn Bridge, crowded with yellow cabs, and the Lower Manhattan skyline in the background A rare moment when New York's streets are empty. Snow swirls around the Flatiron Building during Winter Storm Jonas last January Pictured in darkness, the rooftop Brooklyn Grange farm grows over 50,000lbs of organically-cultivated produce per year With the sun rising in the distance, a commuter runs towards a subway station at 110th Street, which divides Central Park and Harlem Green space is at a premium in New York, which is the most densely populated major city in the US Rooftop water towers are one of New York's symbols. This lone tower was photographed as an early summer thunderstorm approached The days of dragging heavy luggage through an airport may be over thanks to a new robotic suitcase that follows its owner like a loyal dog. Called Cowa Robot, the $650 (450) carry-on suitcase moves on its own at a top speed of nearly 4.5mph and can navigate its way back to a passenger within a distance of 164ft. To activate it, all the user has to do is press a hidden button in the handle and start walking it will automatically keep up thanks to high-tech sensors in the case and a tracker bracelet worn by the traveller. Scroll down for video Called the Cowa Robot, the $650 (450) carry-on suitcase moves on its own at a top speed of nearly 4.5 mph High-tech sensors in the case and a bracelet make sure the Cowa Robot stays around 2ft behind its owner Designed by a Shanghai-based startup, Cowa Robot was built with the latest in robotics to avoid obstacles in its path and actively look for its owner if it gets separated, although its programmed to be no more than 2ft behind. It follows at a 45-degree radius and can be programmed to follow a specific path, and it has a handle so it can be dragged when the airport is too crowded. The 10lb suitcase has four USB ports and a built-in battery than can charge a passengers mobile phone or tablet, and has a special compartment for laptops or other devices. It is made from a sturdy German Bayer PC material to protect its contents and has a logo that lights up. Passengers will have to keep an eye on it, however, to make sure no one walks off with it. Thanks to patented technology Cowa Robot can avoid obstacles and look for its owner if it gets separated The carry-on suitcase, which weighs around 10lbs, was displayed at the CES Asia conference this month It is made from a sturdy German Bayer PC material to protect its contents and has a logo that lights up Passengers wont have to fumble with a key when they secure it, as its equipped with a TSA-approved electronic lock that rotates 90 degrees and has an LED light. Earlier this year, Israeli company Nua Robotics revealed a similar suitcase that follows people around on their travels. He plays the late Edward Moore 'Ted' Kennedy in the Reelz Channel mini-series, The Kennedys After Camelot. And on Friday, Matthew Perry was in full politician mode on the show's Toronto set, joined by actress Kristen Hager as Ted's wife Joan Kennedy. Matthew, who is best known for playing goofy Chandler Bing on Friends, was all seriousness here with grey sideburns, longer side-swept hair and retro suit. Scroll down for video Getting in character: On Friday, Matthew Perry was in full politician mode on the show's Toronto set Matthew looked well put-together in a grey, pinstripe suit complete with brown dress shoes. The Odd Couple star, appearing to film a serious scene, completed his look with a white, long-sleeve button up and navy polka dot tie. Just like the late Democratic Massachusetts Senator, the actor's hair was styled in a left side part. Business attire: The actor looked well put-together in a grey, pinstripe suit complete with brown dress shoes On-screen love: Matthew was joined by actress Kristen Hager, 32 Relationship status: The Canadian beauty plays Joan Kennedy, who was married to the United States senator from 1958-1982 Kristen, who hails from Canada, plays Ted Kennedy's wife who was married to the United States senator from 1958-1982. Co-star Kristen got into character wearing a bright blue dress, complete with knee-high boots. In their scenes, the on-screen couple shared what appeared to be an intense conversation, followed by a warm embrace. Pictured behind the duo is a 'no-smoking- sign with a 'Fairmont' hotel, possibly suggesting the show's intended setting in Washington D.C. Her look: Co-star Kristen, who plays Ted's wife Joan, wore a bright blue dress, complete with knee-high boots Hugging it out: In their scenes, the on-screen couple shared what appeared to be an intense conversation, followed by a warm embrace Making a stop: Matthew took time for a quick smoke break in-between scenes The Reelz Channel miniseries follows the 2011 airing of The Kennedys, starring Katie Holmes. The actress will return to reprise her role as Jacqueline Onassis, in the story that follows the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. The drama is set to premiere spring 2017. Real life: Ted Kennedy was pictured during a Boston TV appearance in March of 1964 It was only revealed on Friday that she was calling time on her one-year marriage. But it seems model Elyse Taylor is finding comfort in something else - her adorable bulldog - as she posted a snap to her Instagram on Saturday. The photo shows the blonde beauty cuddling up to her pet pooch, who doesn't seem too impressed with seeing himself on camera as they snapped the selfie. Scroll down for video Sleepy: Elyse Taylor, 29, shared this snap to her Instagram of herself and her bulldog, who didn't seem very impressed to be posing for a photo She has captioned the photo with a string of 'z's and has tagged her location as the trendy neighbourhood of Williamsburg in New York City. The stunning 29-year-old is hiding behind the adorable pooch but part of her glowing complexion is visible as her trademark blonde locks fall loosely around her face. The post comes one day after close friends confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the bombshell model and her husband of one-year, Seth Campbell, called time on their marriage. Split: The Australian model and her husband Seth Campbell have called time on their marriage after tying the knot back in August 2014 According to the source, the pair, who share two-year-old daughter Lila Louise, separated many months ago, though remain on amicable terms following the split. They had been married for just over a year after tying the knot in August 2014 in the US. 'Elyse's main priority is the happiness and well-being of Lila,' a source said of the Victoria's Secret model. Putting their daughter first: The pair, who share two-year-old Lila Louise, separated many months ago, though remain on amicable terms following the split and are putting their daughter first 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. Poser: The stunner often shares snaps of her dog to her Instagram, and also likes to post cute photos of her daughter, Lila Louise 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. She's been using her stay in California to spend some quality time with her sister. And Tamara Ecclestone, 31, certainly seemed in great spirits as she met up with her younger sibling Petra Stunt in Calabasas on Friday. The brunette beauty brought her daughter Sophia along while Petra was accompanied by her eldest child Lavinia, and the family unit seemed in great spirits as they soaked up the sunshine stateside. Scroll down for video Sister, sister: Tamara Ecclestone, 31, seemed in great spirits as she met up with her younger sibling Petra Stunt in Calabasas on Friday for a girly day out with their daughters Treating their children to some ice-cream, the mothers seemed to be enjoying having a girls' day out as they browsed the shopping centre. Clad in a fitted black vest and grey leggings, Tamara looked casual but chic on the outing, wearing her chestnut coloured locks loose and tousled to frame her pretty face. Wrapping a jumper around her waist to highlight her hourglass frame, the socialite finished off the look with a pair of black trainers and aviator sunglasses. Balanced on her mother's hip, Sophia, two seemed to be enjoying her iced treat, beaming broadly behind her gold star shaped sunglasses. So sweet! Balanced on her mother's hip, Sophia, two seemed to be enjoying her iced treat, beaming broadly behind her gold star shaped sunglasses as she focused intently on her cone Ice-cream of the crop: Treating their children to some ice-cream, the mothers seemed to be enjoying having a girls day out as they browsed the shopping centre Yummy mummy! Clad in a fitted black vest and grey leggings, Tamara looked casual but chic on the outing, wearing her chestnut coloured locks loose and tousled to frame her pretty face Dressed in a similar style to her sister, Petra, 27, also opted for a vest and leggings that showed off her toned physique. Brushing her golden tresses into a ponytail, the star also opted for a pair of mirrored aviators but added some extra glamour to her ensemble with a delicate silver necklace. The designer - who also shares twins boys, Andrew and James Robert, with husband James Stunt, was no doubt glad for some female company as she pushed her three-year-old daughter in her buggy. Snap happy: Wrapping a jumper around her waist to highlight her hourglass frame, the socialite finished off the look with a pair of black trainers and aviator sunglasses as she snapped pictures of Sophia Sartorially in sync: Dressed in a similar style to her sister, Petra, 27, also opted for a vest and leggings that showed off her toned physique, whilst she brushed her golden tresses into a high ponytail Both tucking into their ice-creams, the little girls seemed to be enjoying the day with their mums, focusing intently on their cones. The sweet treat was undoubtedly well-deserved by Sophia, who was given a clean bill of health at the dentist the day before. Sharing a snap of her daughter having her teeth inspected, the proud mum wrote: 'Open wide. Perfect teeth,' alongside a heart emoji. She's expecting her second child with her husband John Krasinski. And Emily Blunt looked the picture of happiness as she left a hair salon in Beverly Hills on Friday, looking positively radiant following her pampering session. The 33-year-old actress was rocking a casual and comfy look for her outing, keeping her baby bump covered up in a loose maternity top. Scroll down for video Glowing: Emily Blunt, 33, looked the picture of happiness as she left a hair salon in Beverly Hills on Friday, looking positively radiant following her pampering session Emily teamed her black top with vibrant paisley trousers, completing her off-duty attire with lace-up sandals. The Devil Wears Prada actress added a few key accessories to liven up her look, carrying a beige bag over one arm and donning a pair of neon green rimmed sunglasses. The actress hid her blossoming stomach behind her handbag as she returned to her car with cash in hand for the valet. Emily's sunkissed complexion looked flawless as she made her way through the car park, and a slick of lipstick gave her lips a touch of colour. Keeping it cool: The 33-year-old actress was rocking a casual and comfy look for her outing, keeping her baby bump covered up in a loose maternity top British beauty: The Devil Wears Prada actress added a few key accessories to liven up her look, carrying a beige bag over one arm and donning a pair of neon green rimmed sunglasses Radiant: Emily's sunkissed complexion looked flawless as she prepared to head home Just the ticket: Emily's locks looked full of health and vitality following her salon visit All paid up: The actress hid her growing belly behind her handbag as she returned to her car with cash in hand for the valet Emily's recently been spending plenty of time with her husband in and around the LA suburb of Studio City where they live. However, it looked like she left her man at home for her trip to the salon from which she emerged with hair full of health and vitality. The Aloha actor and his British wife are getting ready to welcome their second child, following the birth of their daughter Hazel two years ago. The couple, who married in July 2010 after dating for almost two years, confirmed their baby news on January 26. Since expectant mothers usually make such an announcement when they are three months along, this means their new baby could arrive next month. Fun and funky: She might be heavily pregnant but Emily didn't let that stop her from wearing a cool and stylish ensemble He has starred in some of the biggest television shows in both Australia and overseas. But for his latest role as the host of the must-anticipated Australian version of Survivor, Jonathan LaPaglia reveals he's feeling a bit out of his depth. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph from a Samoan resort where he is filming, the 46-year-old has described the process of shooting the show as 'kind of daunting'. Scroll down for video Tough gig: For his latest role as the host of the must-anticipated Australian version of Survivor, actor Jonathan LaPaglia reveals he's feeling a bit out of his depth 'I've worked in the US so I've seen this scale, but for TV, this is hectic,' the guest star of Bones and NCIS explained. 'It has so many moving parts at any given moment. It's kind of daunting,' he added. Jonathan, who has most recently been on Australian screens as Dr Patrick McNaughton on Channel Nine's Love Child, commenced the 55-day film shoot for Survivor in Samoa last week. While speaking to Nova 96.9 FM's Fitzy and Wippa show earlier this week, the father-of-one admitted that his role on the show will be more complex than he first thought. Big shoes to fill: Jeff Probst has been the host of U.S. Survivor since the first season, which aired in 2000 'When the job was first presented to me, I looked at it and thought, "That's simple enough," but when I really looked at it, I realised that it's not that simple,' he said during the radio interview. Praising the show's long-standing host Jeff Probst, the Adelaide-born actor added: '[Jeff] is so good at it, he makes it look easy.' During his appearance on the breakfast radio show, Jonathan was also pressed by hosts Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli to reveal who some of the contestants are. While he remained tight-lipped about the details, the actor did say that one of the participants may be recognised by the public as a former sportsman whose profession involved a 'round ball'. As for the age of contestants, the Los Angeles-based actor said: 'The age [range] is from mid 20s to mid 60s.' TV star: The Adelaide-born star is famed for playing Dr Patrick McNaughton on Channel Nine's mini-series Love Child opposite Logie award winning actress Jessica Marais Big fans: The actor and his family, including wife Ursula Brooks, has been polishing up on the Survivor back-catalogue in preparation for his role as host This will be Jonathan's first foray into hosting as well as his move from drama to reality TV. He previously admitted he was surprised by the producers' choice to pick him for the gig. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, he said: 'I'm not sure why they singled me out. 'They know Im into outdoor pursuits and I guess they wanted someone who had some humanity for the contestants, but was also an authoritative figure. The hunky star has been polishing up on the Survivor back-catalogue in preparation for the role and has his whole family - including actress wife Ursula Brooks and their 11-year-old daughter Tilly - are 'totally hooked and obsessed' with the show. Jonathan is famed for playing Dr Patrick McNaughton on Channel Nine's mini-series Love Child opposite Logie award winning actress Jessica Marais, and for his work on The Slap. She is currently promoting her new film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. And now Megan Fox has revealed why she chooses to stay away from social media. The 30-year-old actress told the Sydney Morning Herald, in an interview published on Saturday: 'The way you are bombarded with random people's opinions is very difficult.' Scroll down for video Not a fan: Megan Fox explained she chooses to stay away from social media because being 'bombarded with random people's opinions is very difficult' Expressing her cynicism for social media, the Transformers star explained that being absent from such platforms allows her to remain 'unattached' from people's opinions of her. 'Everyone has a voice now because of the internet and social media. The way you are bombarded with random people's opinions is very difficult. 'You have to be able to become unattached, not detached, but unattached to what that could possibly do to your sense of self. You have to just be centred and maintain a clear bird's-eye-view of who you are and why you're here,' she said. 'You have to be able to become unattached': Expressing her cynicism for social media, the Transformers star explained that being absent from such platforms allows her to remain 'unattached' from people's opinions Back in 2013, Megan decided to cancel her Twitter account. In just one week, she had raked in more than 250,000 followers since starting, but couldn't see a good reason for keeping it. She wrote at the time: 5 days on Twitter and I have yet to discern it's purpose. #WhatIsThePoint ??? A day later she penned a Facebook post addressed to her 33 million subscribers that she cant keep up with something she dislikes so much. Doting parents: Megan is expecting her third child to husband Brian Austen Green, and during the chat described motherhood as 'pretty crazy' Loved up: Megan and Brian already have two children together, three-year-old Noah and two-year-old Bodhi She explained: Some of you may or may not have noticed by now that my Twitter account has been shut down. I thought that 2013 might be the year that I finally blossomed into a social networking butterfly, but as it turns out, I still hate it. Megan is expecting her third child to husband Brian Austen Green, and during the chat described motherhood as 'pretty crazy.' Megan and Brian already have two children together, three-year-old Noah and two-year-old Bodhi. 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. She touched down in tropical Fiji on Friday. But it's not all play and no work for Elyse Knowles as she soaks up the island sun. Taking to Instagram on Saturday, the 24-year-old model shared a photo of her bikini-clad self on set of a Bras N Things photo shoot at the beach. Scroll down for video Bikini babes: Elyse Knowles shared this snap of her bikini clad self alongside models Nathalie Darcas and Gigi Midgley in Fiji on Saturday for a photo shoot 'Stuck in Fiji with these sexy muffins @natdarcas @gigimidgley shooting for @brasnthings_ #wishyouwerehere #neverwanttoleave #heaven (sic),' the blonde beauty captioned the snap, in which she stood in between fellow models Nathalie Darcas and Gigi Midgley. All three stunners showed off their beach bodies in stunning bikinis, with Elyse sporting a bright pink ensemble from the lingerie label's new collection. The classic triangle-cut bikini top revealed a glimpse of Elyse's cleavage, and was teamed with a pair of matching bottoms that featured a bold purple border. 'I'm happy as can be': After touching down in Fiji on Friday, the blonde beauty shared this snap from the beach Her toned stomach and legs were also on display for all to see, as she wrapped her arms around her model pals for the seaside snap. Elyse's golden locks were worn out in loose waves, as she effortlessly posed while standing in the shallow waters surrounding Fiji's Castaway Island. After touching down in Fiji on Friday, Elyse shared her first snap from her overseas adventures. She looked absolutely sensational, flashing her sun-kissed complexion and toned curves in a sexy white dress. Style star: The Melbourne beauty, 24, began modelling at age 10 and she has since had notable success 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)'. 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. Beach babe: She currently boasts over half a million followers, with legions of fans across the world fascinated by the stunning blonde 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. They're known for their catchy chart-topping pop hits. But The Veronica's put more than just their voices on display as they took to the stage to perform at Jupiters Hotel & Casino on the Gold Coast on Friday. The Australian sister act, Lisa and Jessica's Origliasso, showed off their slender frames in racy see-through ensembles, sharing a behind the scenes snap of their sultry stage outfits ahead of the performance. Scroll down for video Showing off more than their voices! The Veronica's Lisa and Jessica's Origliasso, showed off their slender frames in racy see-through ensembles as they take to the stage on the Gold Coast on Friday Lisa showed more skin than her twin, wearing a long-sleeve lace top which showed her black bra worn underneath and ample cleavage. She teamed the sultry garment with a high-waist black skirt and edgy choker. Meanwhile, Jess also opted for a racy black ensemble, but before taking to the stage covered up her flesh-baring ensemble significantly with a pink jumper. In the candid shot, the sisters also showed off their newly dyed blonde locks after ditching their trademark raven tresses. Lisa later shared a snap of herself on stage mid-performance in the revealing ensemble, writing: 'Tonight was epic.' 'Tonight was epic': Lisa later shared a snap of herself on stage mid-performance in the revealing ensemble '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 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.' 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. 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. Hitmakers: The starlets released their last studio album, a self-titled effort, in 2014 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. 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. Scott Disick headed to Las Vegas on Friday to continue celebrating his 33rd birthday. And he was joined on the private jet by his ex Kourtney Kardashian, her sister Khloe and rapper Tyga. Khoe, 31, who filed for divorce this week from Lamar Odom for a second time, and Tyqa, 26, who was recently dumped by Kylie Jenner, were clearly ready to party. Ready to party: Khloe Kardashian, who filed for divorce for a second time from Lamar Odom this week, struck a pose for sister Kourtney on board a private jet headed to Las Vegas on Friday Khloe struck a pose for her big sister who was taking video on her smartphone and Kourtney added the legend: 'Vega$ round 2.' Kourtney, 37, the mother of Scott's three children, had hosted a family birthday party for her former partner at Nobu in Malibu on Thursday night. And she joined her ex for the party weekend in Sin City where he was scheduled to make an appearance at 1OAK night club on Friday night and host a birthday bash at Harrah's Pool After Dark on Saturday. Squad! Everyone was smiling as they wheeled their luggage to the private jet ready to take off from Los Angeles Private jet: The 31-year-old reality star was excited to be heading to Sin City for the weekend High spirits: Khloe gave big sister Kourtney, 37, a funny face in a Snapchat video as Scott found his seat behind her Always online: Khloe and Kourtney were seen giggling as they checked their smartphones Taped for TV: Scott was pictured waiting by a black Porsche as he was filmed for the E! reality series Keeping Up With The kardashians Kourtney and Khloe both wore all black ensembles and left their hair loose. Also on board the private plane were besties Malika and Khadija Haqq, also dressed in black. Earlier in the day, Scott and Tyga had met for lunch in Beverly Hills. Tyga has returned stateside from Cannes where he made headlines by partying with British lingerie model Demi Rose, although he has since denied he has a new girlfriend. Took off at sunset: The large group trouped across en masse to the private plane Kardashian exes: Before boarding the plane, Scott and Tyga had enjoyed lunch together at an upscale Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills Still family: Tyga, who made sure he was wearing plenty of bling, is clearly still considered part of the extended Kardashian clan despite his break-up with Kylie Jenner On the fringe: While Scott and the Kardashian sisters seem happy to still hang out with Tyga, his ex Kylie was conspicuoulsy absent from the outing Sweet treat: Once up in the air, Scott was presented with another birthday cake with lit candles Once the plane took off, it was time for more birthday cake. Scott shared a photo on his Instagram of the chocolate layer cake with white frosting and candles. 'Happy Birthday LD,' was iced on the top - with LD standing for his moniker Lord Disick. And naturally cameras from the family's E! series Keeping Up With The Kardashians were also on board the aircraft to document the trip for an upcoming episode, just as they were the night before at Nobu where Scott was presented with his first birthday cake. All for show: The 33-year-old father-of-three shared a photo of his cake on his Instagram as cameras from Keeping Up With The Kardashians documented the celebration Cheers! There were also plenty of snacks and sandwiches available on board as well as beverages It's his party trip: Scott was seen leading the way as cameras rolled Can't wait: The group were clearly psyched about what lay ahead for them over the Memorial Day weekend No stay-at-home mom: Kourtney, who checked her phone as she walked, was obviously happy to be spending the holiday weekend with her former partner and her sister and friends On Thursday night, Kate Hudson enjoyed an evening out at the opening of Soho House in Malibu, California. And despite having had a late night in California, the Mother's Day actress made time for Hawaii on Friday. The 37-year-old beauty soaked up the sun with mum Goldie Hawn in Hawaii. Bonding time: On Friday, Kate Hudson, 37, soaked up the sun with mum Goldie Hawn, 70, in Hawaii 'Aloha #MamaGoldie,' wrote the mother-of-two. In the snap, Kate showed off her stomach in a white bikini, as she gave a hand signal to her fans. Goldie, 70, rested next to her daughter, wearing a dark one-piece with a floppy hat covering her thighs. Night out: On Thursday, Kate attended the opening of the new Soho House in Malibu On Thursday, Kate attended the opening of the new Soho House in Malibu. Also present was the Wish I was Here's star's ex-fiance, Matt Bellamy, 37, and his girlfriend, Elle Evans, 26. There appeared to be no awkward run-ins, proving that the two are still on friendly terms for the sake of their son, Bingham Hawn Bellamy, four. Looking good: The actress looked like a million bucks in a long black dress with leather jacket When she's not on holiday or enjoying a night out, Kate is busy filming movies. The pretty blonde will appear in two projects this year, following April's release of Mother's Day. She'll join Eddie Murphy, MIke Epps and Oprah Winfrey in Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?, as one of the late comedian's wives, Jennifer Lee Pryor. Additionally, she'll star alongside Mark Wahlberg, Dylan O'Brien, Gina Rodriguez and her father, Kurt Russell, in the based-on-a-true story film, Deepwater Horizon. She's been enjoying a romantic weekend away with her boyfriend Gilles Souteyrand to celebrate their anniversary. And Natasha Oakley flaunted her seemingly endless legs as she lazed on a lavish bed, fit for royalty on Friday while wrapped up in a bathrobe. The 25-year-old shared the snap of herself splayed out in the decadent room on Instagram, writing: 'Back to reality today, can't live like a princess forever.' Scroll down for video 'Back to reality': Natasha Oakley flaunted her endless legs as she enjoyed the last of her romantic weekend with boyfriend Gilles Souteyrand on Friday Wrapped up in a cosy grey bathrobe, the bikini blogger lifted her toned legs and dangled them in the air while beaming a bright smile. Her golden tresses were pulled up into a tight bun and she appeared to be relatively makeup free for the candid snap. Natasha's golden bronze tan stood out against the luxurious fabrics that made up the extravagant room with a chandelier the finishing touch. The Australian starlet and her model boyfriend Gilles are currently enjoying a romantic break in England to celebrate their one-year anniversary. Black beauty: The 25-year-old flaunted her slim figure as she squeezed her 34C chest into a black one-piece from her own swimwear line, Monday Swimwear Meanwhile, just a day earlier Natasha flaunted her slim figure as she squeezed her 34C chest into a black one-piece from her own swimwear line, Monday Swimwear. In one particularly racy photo, the blonde bombshell slipped the straps from the swimsuit down off her shoulders and pulled the bottom up tightly to highlight her shapely hips. She smiled confidently in the photo, indicating that she had no problem that her swimwear was dangerously close to slipping down off her chest - potentially giving her followers far more than they may have bargained for. Whoa! The bikini blogger let the straps slip from her shoulders as she hiked up the bottoms, potentially giving her fans more than they bargained for What's keeping her afloat? The busty social media starlet later cooled off in the pool In another image, she can also be seen riding a bicycle in the lush green fields, smiling as she pedalled with heels on. With a chambray shirt on tied at her waist paired with dark navy jeans the blonde bombshell channelled the double denim look with stylish sophistication. She called the moment a 'notebook moment,' referring to the 2004 romantic film, The Notebook as her blonde tresses breezed around her face. 'Notebook moment': In another image, she can also be seen riding a bicycle in the lush green fields of the area, smiling as she pedaled with heels on Natasha and Gilles are celebrating their one year anniversary, with Natasha sharing a picture of herself in her man's arms to mark the occasion. She had captioned the shot: 'One year of love.' The pair went public with their love in November, but Natasha - who confirmed their relationship to Daily Mail Australia - said they had been dating for six months prior. After glamming up for her daughter Morgan's wedding on Friday, Australian swimmer Lisa Curry opted for a more relaxed outfit the following day. Spotted at Queensland's beachside destination Noosa, the 53-year-old retired sportswoman wore a cool and casual ensemble while enjoying a stroll with boyfriend Mark Tabone on Saturday. Lisa was seen wearing a strappy lavender-coloured linen blouse, teamed with a pair of loose trousers. Scroll down for video Out and about: After glamming up for her daughter Morgan's wedding on Friday, Australian swimmer Lisa Curry opted for a more relaxed outfit the following day while in Noosa with beau Mark Tabone Her top allowed her arms to be on show for all to see, while her trousers were predominantly white, though splashed with a purple palm tree print throughout. Walking along the pavement in a pair of light thongs, the media personality completed her look with a pair of dark sunglasses. Her golden locks were pulled back off her face, while her makeup was kept relatively natural. Cool and casual: Lisa was seen wearing a pale purple strappy blouse, teamed with a pair of loose trousers Relaxed look: Her top allowed her arms to be on show for all to see, while her trousers were predominantly white, though splashed with a purple palm tree print throughout Meanwhile Mark, who is a known Elvis Presley impersonator, ditched his suit for a cool T-shirt and shorts combination. His grey coloured top featured a bold print across the front, and was teamed with a pair of light shorts. Walking hand-in-hand with his lady love, Mark appeared relaxed as he hid his eyes behind a pair of shades. Different look: Mark, who is a known Elvis Presley impersonator, ditched his suit for a cool T-shirt and shorts combination Relaxed style: His grey coloured top featured a bold print across the front, and was teamed with a pair of light shorts On Friday, Mark accompanied Lisa to celebrate her and Grant Kenny's daughter Morgan's wedding to Ryan Gruell. The mother-of-the bride couldn't hold back her joy the day after attending her daughter's wedding with her new beau, taking to social media on Saturday to share some family photos from the day. Lisa shared a snap to Instagram of herself and Mark, captioning the photo 'Beautiful day with @mark66andrew for the wedding of our beautiful daughter Morgan to the love of her life Ryan.' Accessories: Both Mark and Lisa sported cool sunglasses on the day Taking a closer look: At one stage Mark was seen taking off his sunglasses to observe the scenery The former professional swimmer's daughter revealed she was engaged to her high school sweetheart, Ryan, in February 2015. Lisa looked glamorous in a floor-length bright pink gown, which she paired with a gold clutch and a statement necklace. Morgan, 25, is one of Lisa and Grant's three children - including daughter Jaimi, 28, and son Jett, 21 - which they had during their 23-year marriage. The pair were married from 1986 to 2009 and were a prominent fixture on the Australian social circuit. Keeping close: The pair held hands as they made their way down a quiet pathway Beautiful day! On Saturday Lisa couldn't hold back her joy on social media after attending her daughter's wedding with her new beau Mark on Friday They celebrated their one-year anniversary on Monday - and were still having a marvelous time on Friday. Bella Thorne was aglow in more ways than one as she stepped out with her boyfriend Gregg Sulkin for dinner at Roku in Beverly Hills. The 18-year-old - who recently showcased her bikini body for a provocative photo shoot - was dressed up but daring nevertheless in a black printed mini-dress with very deep neckline. Date night: Bella Thorne was all aglow as she stepped out for a romantic dinner with boyfriend Gregg Sulkin on Friday night The red-haired beauty clutched Gregg's hand as she stepped to the eatery in her platform high heels that showcased her slender and toned legs. Bella may or may not have known that her pink brassiere was showing too thanks to the plunging way the wrap-around dress fit her figure. Her hair was styled simply and loose while a thick choker adorned her throat, giving her overall ensemble a saucy look. Starry eyed: The 18-year-old star gave her 23-year-old beau of one year a starry-eyed look as they arrived to Roku in Beverly Hills Watch your step: Bella wore a black printed mini-dress that showed off her slender toned legs Bella carried a pink jacket in her other hand in case she got chilled later in the evening, but seemed in no danger of that judging by the couple's loved up display. The 23-year-old Gregg looked cool in a grey T-shirt and white jeans. Last weekend, Bella dropped jaws as she posed in a skimpy orange bikini for a risque photo shoot in Malibu, California. Closer: The couple clasped hands and seemed so in love He's got you: The former Nickelodeon star wore high platform heels that added a few inches to her slim frame She resembled little like the sweet-faced youngster everyone adored in Shake It Up, Blended and The Duff. A blue patterned scarf was wrapped around her head, with strands of hair let loose. Hoop earrings completed the picture along with a pair of chic shades. Bella must be on cloud nine, having just celebrated her first anniversary with her handsome beau Gregg. Provocative: Bella showcased her bikini body for a provocative photo shoot in Malibu last weekend The couple went skydiving, which Bella documented in an Instagram video that showed them leaping out of the plane one after the other. 'I'm super afraid of heights but this DEFF helped me get over that a little bitl!!' Bella wrote alongside the clip. The pair were said to be moving into a home together in Los Angeles' Sherman Oaks neighbourhood. She rubs shoulders with politicians, Hollywood celebrities and famous business figures on a daily basis. So it comes as no surprise to see Today show presenter Sylvia Jeffreys posing alongside Sir Richard Branson in a post uploaded to Instagram on Saturday. The 30-year-old journalist, who is currently on a tour of Australia with her TV crew, looked chic in a belted penfold shirt which showed off her slender frame. Scroll down for video All smiles: Sylvia Jeffreys posed alongside Sir Richard Branson and a koala named Ivy in a post uploaded on Instagram on Saturday She teamed the form fitting tank top with a pair of black trousers, while showing off her perfect pout for the camera. The blonde styled her glossy locks into barrel curls, while opting for a natural palette of makeup to let her natural beauty shine through. Meanwhile, the 65-year-old entrepreneur, who is worth an estimated $7.7 billion, couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he cuddled up to Ivy the koala. Chic look: The blonde beauty looked free-spirited and stylish as she posed alongside her boyfriend and fellow Channel Nine journalist Peter Stefanovic Off duty styling: Peter looked his standard casual self, opting for comfort in a pair of shorts and a plain T-shirt The Virgin businessman cut a casual figure in denim trousers paired with a loose-fitting T-shirt, while styling his famous blonde locks into a centre parting. Sir Richard was recently in Sydney at the World Business Forum to talk about risk, leadership and ribbing the competition. It also appears Sylvia was lucky enough to interview the wealthy entrepreneur, with the story set to air on the popular breakfast show on Monday. Soaking up the balmy climes: However, his famous brother dressed with a little more flair, sporting striped drawstring shorts and a stylish loose-fitting blue shirt which he kept half unbuttoned to reveal his chest A week earlier, Sylvia joined her boyfriend Peter Stefanovic and his brother Karl on a boat in Sydney. 'Fun, sun and a sausage in a bun,' wrote 30-year-old Sylvia, who flashed one of her tanned legs in a loose, half-unbuttoned floral dress in an image posted to Instagram. The blonde beauty looked free-spirited and stylish, tying her hair up into a topknot and hiding her eyes behind a pair of trendy sunglasses. Peter looked his standard casual self, opting for comfort in a pair of shorts and a plain T-shirt. He added a brown newsboy cap and pair of dark shades, which he matched to his wristwatch. In training: The TV personality told her fans that she was in training for The Sun-Herald City 2 Surf on August 14 However, his famous brother dressed with a little more flair, sporting striped drawstring shorts and a stylish loose-fitting blue shirt which he kept half unbuttoned to reveal his chest. More recently, Sylvia revealed to her fans that she was training for the annual The Sun-Herald City 2 Surf on August 14. 'Training starts now,' she said alongside a picture of herself holding up her entry into the 14 kilometre fun run. 'After a few months off the running track due to injury, I've now got 12 weeks (To. The. Day.) to get race ready,' she added to her upload. 'I'm pumped to be involved in the #city2surf again this year. A wonderful community event. And great motivation to get moving. See you on #heartbreakhill!!'she concluded. She's hardly the shy and retiring type. So it's probably fitting that Karrueche Tran was seen flaunting her figure when she stepped out in Los Angeles on Friday. The brunette, 28, left little to the imagination as she filmed an up-coming social experiment to be aired for the 2016 BET awards, next month. Scroll down for video Leggy display: Karrueche Tran was seen flaunting her figure when she stepped out in Los Angeles on Friday The brunette, 28, left little to the imagination as she filmed an up-coming social experiment to be aired for the 2016 BET awards, next month. Clearly dressed for maximum attention, the actress and model sported a taupe-coloured playsuit which provided quite an eyeful for onlookers. Featuring a wrap-around front and a frilly hemline, the number allowed her to put on a leggy display, which was enhanced with red heels. Naturally, she was also keen to show off her 'zip' detail tattoo, which ran up the back of her right thigh. Clearly dressed for maximum attention, the actress and model sported a taupe-coloured playsuit which provided quite an eyeful for onlookers Featuring a wrap-around front and a frilly hemline, the number allowed her to put on a leggy display, which was enhanced with red heels Strutting her stuff to ensure plenty of people were looking, she packed plenty of attitude into her latest outing. But she's more than just a pretty face, of course. Earlier this tear actress and model Karreuche landed herself a Daytime Emmy Award on Friday at the 43rd annual ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday for producing websoap The Bay. The half-Vietnamese Wilhemina model will continue her role as Vivian Johnson when production on the next six episodes begins this month. Leggy display: Karrueche Tran films a small segment to promote her Store On Melrose in West Hollywood Strutting her stuff to ensure plenty of people were looking, she packed plenty of attitude into her latest outing Amazon Prime will stream the second season of The Bay this summer. 'This is my first year into acting and to be a part of this cast and this show,' the ex-girlfriend of Chris Brown told HipHollywood at the ceremony. 'Winning is really freaking awesome honestly. It's great and this is amazing for my acting career.' The LA native also fronts KaePop with cosmetics line ColourPop, K-INK tattoos with Tattify, and T X K festival wear with This Is A Love Song. She the leggy supermodel who is set to host the upcoming season of Australia's Next Top Model. And Jennifer Hawkins displayed her famously trim pins on Instagram as she documented a wild night out on the town with a female pal on Friday. Clad in a pair of flirty knee-high boots and a black mini-dress, Jennifer looked glamorous as ever as she posed for a selfie with her friend before heading out for the evening. Scroll down for video Leggy lady! Jennifer Hawkins displayed her famously trim pins on Instagram as she documented a wild night out on the town with a female pal on Friday 'Pre dinner snap. Fun times last night!' the former Miss Universe wrote in the caption as the glammed-up girlfriends perched on the side of a bed. Jennifer opted to leave her flaxen mane to hang in loose waves by her shoulders, while adorning her neck with a black choker necklace. Later on Friday, Jennifer shared a photo of herself and her friend posing on a city street during their evening's revelries. Legs eleven out of ten! Clad in a pair of flirty knee-high boots and a black mini-dress, Jennifer looked glamorous as ever as she posed for a selfie with her friend before heading out for the evening on Friday 'Tb to last night #workthenplay #bestcrew #citylights', she wrote in the caption, implying that she had been working on ANTM in the hours before the outing. Three days earlier, Jennifer donned the same pair of thigh-high heeled boots in a snap taken on the set of ANTM. The blonde beauty was seen sitting on a low chair in a black long-sleeved ALX sweater which barely skimmed the top of her long legs. Lounging about! Three days earlier, Jennifer donned the same pair of thigh-high heeled boots in a snap taken on the set of ANTM So nice she wore them thrice! Jennifer also sported the same pair of boots when she attended Mercedes-Benz Presents Maticevski show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week earlier this month '#AusNTM @ausnexttopmodel,' she captioned the image, which looked as though it was taken in a photographic studio. This suggests she could have been filming a promo or even one of the first episodes of the 10th series, which is set to be aired later this year. She will be returning to the judging panel along with Alex Perry as 12 aspiring models battle it out to become Australias Next Top Model. Meanwhile, the Fox8 network recently announced that Megan Gale, a Perth-born supermodel, would be joining as a judge. Queen of the runway: She will be returning to the judging panel along with Alex Perry as 12 aspiring models battle it out to become Australias Next Top Model It's usually an idyllic beach side suburb where ocean lovers bask in the sunshine. But Stephen Amell looked chilly as he rugged up and braved the gloomy weather as he and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 2 co-star Will Arnett hung out in Bondi ahead of the premiere. Donning a blue beanie, the 35-year-old layered for the cooler conditions on Saturday, looking relaxed in a blue jeans, a charcoal T-shirt and leather jacket. Scroll down for video Keeping warm: Stephen Amell looked chilly as he rugged up and braved the gloomy weather as he and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 2 co-star Will Arnett hung out in Bondi ahead of the premiere He finished his look with black and white sneakers, while he kept his unused sunglasses hanging from a pocket in his jeans. Despite the weather, the actor - who stars in superhero series Arrow - appeared in good spirits, smiling and chatting as he posed with Will and Bondi Beach lifeguards. Stephen and Will also posed for a snap alongside a group of young skateboarders in the makeshift ramps where lifesized statues of the four turtles also stood. The handsome pair flew into Sydney on Friday night and were greeted with cries, screams and blinding flashes from cameras of fans who had waited hoping to catch a glimpse of the actors ahead of the premiere, on Sunday. Rugged up: Donning a blue beanie, the 35-year-old layered for the cooler conditions on Saturday, looking relaxed in a blue jeans, a charcoal T-shirt and leather jacket New role: The father-of-one plays the role of vigilante Casey Jones in the second installment of the action flick alongside Megan Fox (who plays reporter April O'Neil) and Will (who plays cameraman Vernon Fenwick) Before the long-haul journey from JFK Airport in New York to Sydney, Stephen took to his Instagram to update his 2.7 million fans of his movements. Don't let my facial expression fool you. I'm having an absolutely unbelievable time on the#TMNT2 press tour,' he captioned the selfie of himself. 'We are wheels up from JFK... Heading to Australia for the first time! The father-of-one plays the role of vigilante Casey Jones in the second installment of the action flick alongside Megan Fox (who plays reporter April O'Neil) and Will (who plays cameraman Vernon Fenwick). Acting duo: Stephen and co-star Will Arnett (R) kept warm in Bondi Bondi rescue: The actor, who stars in superhero series Arrow, appeared in good spirits, despite the weather, smiling and chatting as he posed with Will and Bondi Beach lifeguards Hanging out: Stephen and Will also posed for a snap alongside a group of young skateboarders in the makeshift ramps where lifesized statues of the four turtles also stood Speaking to the New York Daily News, Stephen said he did not need to workout so intensely for the action flick unlike his shirt revealing role in Arrow. 'For "Turtles," which filmed in New York, I didn't have a shirtless scene, so working out was basically was going for some nice runs along the Hudson River,' he told the publication. 'I would literally run from SoHo to the Hudson and then I would just run north for however long I needed to and then come back.' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is in cinemas from June 9. New flick: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is in cinemas from June 9 They may be far apart but two of Australias most famous sisters are just as close as ever. Dannii Minogue gave a loving tribute to her super sister Kylie for her 48th birthday through social media on Saturday, since they wont be able to celebrate it together. Happy birthday to a super star. Super star of music, super star of strength, and the most super sister ever, she wrote on Instagram next to a photo of the two of them. Scroll down for video Sister love: Dannii Minogue gave a loving tribute to her super sister Kylie for her 48th birthday through social media on Saturday, since they wont be able to celebrate it together Tribute: Happy birthday to a super star. Super star of music, super star of strength, and the most super sister ever, she wrote on Instagram next to a photo of the two of them Congratulations for every achievement: music, film, fashion, charity & personal strength. I love you. Danielle x. The accompanying photo was a glamour shot from their December 2014 Harpers Bazaar Australia photoshoot. A year later, the sisters performed together at the X Factor grand final the first time they had shared a stage in 30 years. Double act: The sisters performed together at the 2015 X Factor grand final the first time they had shared a stage in 30 years Throwback: The accompanying photo was a glamour shot from their December 2014 Harpers Bazaar Australia photoshoot Kylie and Dannii dont see as much of each other these days as the older sister is largely based in London with her fiance British actor Joshua Sasse. The two announced their engagement in February but Dannii told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month that she doesn't know if she has started planning the wedding yet. 'I don't know anything about it [the wedding],' the 47-year-old said. So I don't know if she's down the line with plans and I'm not privy to them if she's started. Close forever: Dannii and Kylie as kids in 1980 'I don't know anything about it': Dannii told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month that she doesn't know if Kylie has started planning her wedding yet Her sisters warm words will be some comfort to Kylie after she had to cancel her performance at the Bocelli & Zanetti Night in Milan. Doctors told the songstress to rest her vocal cords after she had been battling a bad cold in the days beforehand. She did however show up to the event, making up for her lack of singing by wearing a black sheer dress adored with brightly coloured flowers, pale makeup vivid red lipstick clashing with her straw blonde locks. He failed to impress behind the wheel when he scored the slowest lap time in Top Gear history when he partaking 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment in 2013. And Damian Lewis was back to give it another shot as the 45-year-old actor was pictured driving up a storm for the motor series around the Dunsfold track in Surrey on Thursday afternoon. The Billions stand-out once again lent his star power to the show, which will this time see Chris Evans at the helm, as he took a modified Mini for a spin both off-road and around the race course for 'Star in a rallycross car'. Scroll down for video Star power: Damian Lewis was pictured driving up a storm for the motor series around the Dunsfold track in Surrey on Thursday afternoon The Homeland actor was prepped by members of the Top Gear team ahead of his ride, with the show's resident driver, The Stig, also sharing some words of rallying wisdom with the handsome flame-haired star. Damian was seen carefully securing his white crash helmet before sitting behind the wheel of the red Mini, with his beaming smile suggesting that the talented thespian was excited for the challenge ahead. The British star exuded typically cool vibes for his day on the course, opting for a denim shirt and beige chinos, while preparing to put the pedal to the metal in a pair of Adidas trainers that looked as though they had seen better days. He's back! The Billions stand-out, who was last on the show in 2013, lent his star power to the series as he took a modified Mini for a spin both off-road and around the race course Welcome advice: The Homeland actor was prepped by members of the Top Gear team ahead of his ride Learning from the best: The show's resident driver, The Stig, also sharing some words of rallying wisdom with the handsome flame-haired star Safety first! A member of the crew helped the star to carefully secure his white crash helmet Ready to go! Damian's beaming smile suggesting that the talented thespian was excited for the challenge ahead The star will no doubt be eager to improve on his previous record, which saw him set the unwanted benchmark for slowest ever driver. Having filmed the episode during the chilly month of January, weather conditions implemented on his ability as the course was covered in snow and ice. Attempting his best nonetheless, Damian eventually managed to skid sideways across the finish line after spinning out of the track's last slippery corner. Modest ride: The star was pictured behind the wheel of a red modified Mini Prepared: Damian made sure the sunny rays didn't impact on his attempt to score high as he wore a pair of tinted shades No holding back: The Mini didn't stay clean for long as Damian whizzed around the track Handsome as ever: The British star exuded typically cool vibes for his day on the course, opting for a denim shirt and beige chinos They'll do the job! Damian prepared to put the pedal to the metal in a pair of Adidas trainers that looked as though they had seen better days Eat his dust! The actor seemed to be giving it his all as he rapidly approached the sharp corners Second shot: The star will no doubt be eager to improve on his previous record, which saw him set the unwanted benchmark for slowest ever driver Fans of the star will have to wait until the new series airs before finding out if Damian managed to improve upon his time when driving in dryer conditions. Meanwhile, new host Chris Evans has insisted that the 'revived' series will be without Jeremy Clarkson's 'blokey and blustery' humour - which the 50-year-old claims wasn't even all that funny. Speaking to The Telegraph ahead of his highly-anticipated debut on Sunday night, the Radio 2 host revealed that the new edition of the much-loved motor show will feature quips of a far less contentious style than those made by his sharp-tongued predecessor. Giving an insight into his hosting style, Chris explained: 'All I can do is a show that reflects my personality, and Im less blokey and blustery than he is. 'Its a very positive frame of mind its a very inclusive frame of mind, its a very cross-demographic frame of mind. All people want to do is giggle along.' Eager to improve? Having filmed the episode during the chilly month of January, weather conditions implemented on his ability as the course was covered in snow and ice Any messages? Damian had one final look at his phone before attempting the course She announced she was expecting baby number two on Saturday. And now Teresa Palmer has thanked the bevvy of fans and friends who sent through their congratulations to the actress and her husband Mark Webber. Taking to Instagram, the 30-year-old showed off her ever-growing bump in a sweet snap, as Teresa held son Bodhi on her shoulders while enjoying a dip in crystal clear water. Scroll down for video So thankful: Teresa Palmer has thanked the bevvy of fans and friends who sent through their congratulations to the actress and her husband Mark Webber 'THANK YOU!! For all the sweetest messages and well wishes on our new little one,' the Australian beauty captioned the shot. 'I cried reading all of your beautiful comments! Means so much to us @likemark.' Famous friends of the couple congratulated Teresa and Mark following their initial announcement. Model Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), who is rumoured to be pregnant as well, led the string of celebrity congratulatory messages, writing: 'More boys!!!! Yay!!!'. 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 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. 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. 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 'More boys!' From her comment, it looks like Lara may very well have been suggesting that Bodhi will soon have a younger brother 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. 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. 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 New mum Tahnya Tozzi also gave her well wishes to the expanding family. 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 is usually seen cutting a glamorous figure. But Rachel Weisz was a million miles away from her glam self when she was spotted on the set of her latest movie project, this week. The 46 year-old, who is married to Daniel Craig, was seen filming scenes on the set of My Cousin Rachel on location in Cornwall on Friday. Scroll down for video Less is more? Rachel Weisz was a million miles away from her glam self when she was spotted on the set of her latest movie project, this week Drama: The 46 year-old, who is married to Daniel Craig, was seen filming scenes on the set of My Cousin Rachel on location in Cornwall, East Sussex, on Friday The acclaimed British beauty, who first shot to fame opposite Anna Friel in The Land Girls, was clad in a frumpy, all-black ensemble. Seemingly make-up free, she also scraped her hair back into an old-fashioned bun which added even more context for her character. Stood among crew-members, she could be seen laughing and joking between takes. The film is an adaptation of the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier and centres around the character of the beautiful and mysterious Rachel (played by Weisz). Also on the set was Game Of Thrones actor Iain Glen and British actress Holliday Grainger. Old-school: The acclaimed British beauty, who first shot to fame opposite Anna Friel in The Land Girls, was clad in a frumpy, all-black ensemble Also seen clutching a lever arch file containing the project's script, she could occasionally be seen learning her lines Acting up: The veteran actress was happily chatting to her crew-members between takes Also seen clutching a lever arch file containing the project's script, she could occasionally be seen learning her lines. Not that this is her only project, of course. In fact, the busy star has a number of projects on the go, recently wrapping up filming of big screen drama Denial. For it she was spotted on set in London for her role as American historian Deborah Lipstad. The biopic, based on the Deborah E. Lipstadt book History on Trial: My Day in Court With a Holocaust Denier, is expected for release in late 2016. Three's a crowd: Also on the set was Game Of Thrones actor Iain Glen and British actress Holliday Grainger Colur-free: Seemingly make-up free, she also scraped her hair back into an old-fashioned bun which added even more context for her character Enjoying herself: The actress certainly seemed to be having a good time during the production process Colur-free: Seemingly make-up free, she also scraped her hair back into an old-fashioned bun which added even more context for her character The film is an adaptation of the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier and centres around the character of the beautiful and mysterious Rachel (played by Weisz) Getting direction: Rachel and the crew filming scenes on the set of My Cousin Rachel on location in Cornwall On the go: The actress could be seen watching intently as cameramen set-up a forthcoming scene Directed by Mick Jackson, the man behind The Bodyguard, Rachel stars as Deborah, the woman behind a legal battle against a man who was a Holocaust denier. Meanwhile, across the Atlanic, her husband Daniel Craig wwas seen arriving at JFK airport in NYC. Dressed down, it was one of the Merseyside-born actor's first appearances since claims he has discontinued his association with the James Bond franchise. Meanwhile, across the Atlanic, her husband Daniel Craig wwas seen arriving at JFK airport in NYC Dressed down, it was one of the Merseyside-born actor's first appearances since claims he has discontinued his association with the James Bond franchise Ronnie Wood and wife Sally Humphreys were seen celebrating their last precious moments as a twosome this week, as they anticipate the arrival of their twins. The couple were caught kissing on the street in London, just five days after he shared his excitement about the birth 'in the next few weeks.' Still glowing, 38-year-old Sally, who's expecting in June, showed off her bump in all black as she lent in for a tender moment with her Rolling Stones rocker husband, 68. Scroll down for video Sharing a kiss: Ronnie Wood planted a kiss on his pregnant wife Sally as they were pictured sharing a romantic moment on the streets of London this week Sally was top-to-toe in a dark shades, keeping comfortable in flat boots while he dressed in his characteristically cool fashion. The rocker wore a purple blazer with an open charcoal shirt and multiple chain necklaces and kooky slipper shoes to the image. Ronnie took to Twitter in his excitement, last week to say: 'I'm getting excited about the arrival of my twin girls sometime in the next few weeks.' Sweet kiss: Sally is pregnant with twins that are due this June Excitement is building: Ronnie and Sally are getting excited about becoming parents Just the two of us: There's soon to be four in their little family when they welcome their first children Expanding the family: The couple are expanding their family, which already includes his four children Ronnie has only recently returned from Cuba where he was touring with The Rolling Stones again but it wrapped up with good time to spare until he becomes a father for the fifth and sixth time in two months. He recently revealed the band's excitement in an interview with HELLO! magazine, explaining: 'The Rolling Stones are all thrilled. Keith [Richards] loves kids, so he's excited, and Mick [Jagger] keeps telling me to give him a year and then he'll be our nanny so now we're calling him 'Nanny Mick'." 'The Stones are one big family. It's all about the kids. In this tour, everyone's been there: (Sir Mick's children) Jade, Karis, James, Lizzy, Gabriel, Lucas and Georgia May; Patti and Keith's girls (Theodora and Alexandra) and Charlie's granddaughter Charlotte. Bigger brood: This will be child number five and six for the Rolling Stones rocker Delighted: He tweeted his excitement last week, saying he simply couldn't wait 'My girls will be two more added into the mix. I hope my girls will be coming on tour with me for years to come.' Ronnie and Sally became husband and wife in 2012 after a whirlwind romance and their first children are due next month. The rocker broke the news that it will be two more daughters in February when he drew an adorable picture to share with fans. She bravely let fans in on her triple cosmetic surgery treats on Thursday afternoon. And Katie Price was proudly showing off the results on Friday night, as she headed out on a date night with her husband Kieran Hayler. Despite splurging on Botox, lip fillers and liposuction all in one day, 38-year-old Katie didn't look too different, but she was certainly feeling chirpier for it. Scroll down for video Looking good: Katie Price displayed the effects of her triple cosmetic treatment gift to herself on Friday night as she headed out to Pure bar in Bexleyheath in Kent Katie practically floated down to Pure bar in Bexleyheath in Kent, hand-in-hand with her man and dressed for a night out. The glamour model was wearing extremely leggy leather shorts and knee-high lace-up boots that showed off her slender pins. To the image, Katie chose to add a simple black jumper while her husband dressed in a casual fashion with giant slashes on the knees of his jeans. Date night: She was positively giddy on the arm of husband Kieran Hayler that night Looking leggy: Dressed up for her night out, the blonde wore leather shorts and knee-high boots It was just one day after Katie admitted to having three alterations during one visit to the surgeon and even 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. 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. Surgery splurge! Katie shared the moment that she had Botox, lip fillers and liposuction in just one day on Thursday 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 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. 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. 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 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.' 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.' Beaming: 'Absolute love my lips and smile with my new lips @macaesthetics (sic),' she wrote alongside another smiley snap 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. 'What a great day all about the selfies haha top @jyy.london my 3D lipo from @macaesthetics botox top up and my lips it's not about my boobs today as everyone seems fascinated,' she affirmed in an another smiling shot that saw Katie lift up her T-shirt to flaunt her taut torso. Katie was joined at the London clinic by her adorable daughter Bunny, one, who looked to be in high spirits despite her mother's lengthy visit. 'Nearly home and my Bunny boo been soo good and still happy (sic),' Katie enthused. He recently jetted to the Canary Islands to film his new movie Allied. But rather than relaxing on the beaches, Brad Pitt found himself in the centre of desert as he worked on dramatic new scenes clad in vintage World War II clothing on Wednesday. Peering out over the sand dunes, the 52-year-old actor looked almost like a mirage as he was bundled out of his car and trekked across the barren landscape. Scroll down for video Not a mirage! He recently jetted to the Canary Islands to film his new movie Allied. But rather than relaxing on the beaches, Brad Pitt found himself in the centre of desert as he filmed dramatic new scenes on Wednesday Clad in a camel coloured jacket and high-waisted trousers, the Oscar-nominated star nearly blended into the background as he got to work on the upcoming movie. Concealing his eyes behind a pair of aviator sunglasses, he finished off his ensemble with a crisp white shirt and military boots. Chatting to a member of the crew, the star seemed in good spirits on the day, despite the sweltering heat and bleak landscape. Blending in: Peering out over the sand dunes, the 52-year-old actor looked almost like a mirage as he was bundled out of his car and trekked across the barren landscape Spicing things up: Chatting to a member of the crew, the star seemed in good spirits on the day, despite the sweltering heat and bleak landscape Vintage vibes: Clad in a camel coloured jacket and high waisted trousers, the Oscar-nominated star nearly blended into the background as he got to work on the upcoming movie The A-lister was not joined by his co-star Marian Cotillard on the day - who is believed to play his sibling in the upcoming historic thriller, which is set in 1942. Brad also stars alongside Mean Girls actress Lizzy Caplan and Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode in the war drama, directed by Robert Zemeckis. The previously untitled film sees Brad's character, Max Vatan, fall in love with French agent Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) during a mission to kill a German ambassador holed up in Casablanca. Desert threads: Concealing his eyes behind a pair of aviator sunglasses, he finished off his ensemble with a crisp white shirt and military boots Lad's day out: The A-lister was not joined by his co-star Marian Cotillard on the day - who is believed to play his sibling in the upcoming historic thriller, which is set in 1942 Man on a mission! The previously untitled film sees Brad's character, Max Vatan, play an assassin Change of scenery: The star had previously filmed scenes for the movie in the English countryside Mixing it up: The Oscar-nominated actor liaised with the crew to ensure he was performing at his best Car-ry on filming! The star was seen heading into the desert in a vintage forties vehicle According to uinterview, 'the two ultimately marry and start a family but Max soon learns that Marianne is likely a Nazi spy'. The film - which is based on a true story - is directed Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future) and also stars Jared Harris (Lincoln) and Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey). Allied is slated for release later this year on November 23. Getting a better view: The star worked on his angles as the crew got to work framing up the shots Millie Mackintosh certainly seems to be celebrating her divorce in style. Having jetted off to the Monaco Grand Prix two days after terminating her marriage to Professor Green, the brunette has been kicking back in a bikini on the same trip as rumoured new beau Hugo Taylor and their Made In Chelsea friends. Currently living the high life on her ninth holiday of the year, Millie's latest sun-kissed posts on Saturday morning prove she's far from hung up on relationship woes. Scroll down for video Carefree: Millie Mackintosh showed off her enviable beach body as she kicked back in Monaco on a post-divorce party The 26-year-old has been taking her mind off the split - which came to a head on Wednesday when the two and a half year marriage was dissolved in 50 seconds - by spending time on a yacht. She let slip that she's holidaying with ex-boyfriend Hugo on his 'Dirty 30' birthday weekend on Friday when she shared and then instantly deleted a holiday picture from the same spot where he's celebrating. Then, came their overlapping posts about mutual lovebird pals Spencer Matthews and Morgane Robart, who complete a cosy four-piece holiday in southern France. Make-up free: The brunette went make-up free as she shared sunkissed posts from the Monaco Grand Prix Guess who: Two days after her divorce from Professor Green, Millie's posts about Spencer Matthews and Morgane Robart in Monaco (right) have overlapped with Hugo Taylor's (lef) Oops: She confirmed that she's holidaying with the couple and her ex-beau Hugo with a string of telltale posts Same view: She's been gushing about her view from a beautiful yacht in Monaco Millie shared a further bikini snap at lunchtime on Saturday, where she played it cool and captioned the shots with information about her accessories and hair styling techniques. Later, Millie appeared to share the same view as rumoured new flame Hugo, when she wrote: 'Not a bad spot to watch the Grand Prix' Millie and her husband were granted a decree nisi at Central London Family Court this week, as she cited 'unreasonable behaviour' as the reason for their marriage breakdown. Ready to celebrate? Millie tweeted and then instantly deleted this bikini-clad post on Friday afternoon, but it reappeared on her page later Not so mellow yellow: A second shot appeared later that afternoon in which she took to the wheel of the boat in her bikini Are they together? Hugo was posting from a yacht in Monaco with friends on the same morning Double date: The alledged new couple were accompanied by lovebirds Spencer Matthews and Morgane Robart 'Monaco-ready': She dropped herself in it when she said that she was bound for Monaco on Friday morning The former Made In Chelsea star and musician-turned-TV presenter, real name Stephen Manderson, were not in court for the hearing. The divorce comes just three months after the couple announced they were separating after living separate lives. In a statement at the time, they said: 'It is a mutual decision, we still care deeply about each other and would like it to be known that it is on amicable terms and we wish each other well.' Meanwhile, at home: Millie's now-ex husband Professor Green was spending the day in a less glamorous fashion, hinting that he was in hospital for the day when he wrote: 'Hospital swag' It's over: Professor Green and Millie, pictured in September 2015, were granted a 'quickie' divorce after just two and a half years of marriage, on Wednesday JET-SET MILLIE'S EIGHT HOLIDAYS OF 2016... and it's only May! Maldives: The beauty kicked off her sun-seeking with a two-week break in the Maldives with one of her close pals in January. Florence: Less than a month later, Millie jetted off to Florence, Italy, for a romantic weekend getaway with husband Professor Green - a holiday that wound up being their last together. Sydney: Shortly after announcing her split, the former Made in Chelsea star flew across the globe to the famous Australian city in early March, where she bonded with her gal pals, including Natasha Oakley. Portugal: Surrounded by her girlfriends, health guru Millie and her pals flew out to Portugal where they indulged in a detox juice retreat - posting plenty of envy-inducing bikini snaps along the way. Dubai: Never one to miss a lavish event, Millie escaped her London pad to fly out to Dubai in late March, where she attended the British Polo Day event. Verona: Millie then hotfooted across to the rather romantic Verona, though this time she is without a man and once again in the company of her girlfriends. LA and Coachella: The former reality star, 26, enjoyed a sun-soaked jaunt to Los Angeles in April, before travelling to Coachella Festival in Palm Springs with a group of gal pals, including Laura Whitmore and Zara Martin Ibiza: Millie's most recent trip has seen her jet to the White Isle with nutritionist pal Madeleine Shaw and her former MIC co-star Caggie Dunlop for a week at The Body Camp They decided to part shortly after returning from a make-or-break holiday in Florence, Italy, which was well documented on their respective Instagram pages. Stephen said they had gone on the break after only spending just one day in each other's company for the duration of 2016. He said: 'It was the first time I had seen her properly in 30 days. We had seen each other like ships in the night, but we werent getting any quality time together. It is good sometimes to have space, but it is also difficult when you miss someone for that long. 'It used to happen when I was touring. You would have a day off and try and have the best day of your life. But then youd just start arguing. That is a relationship.' Back on home soil this week, her new ex-husband was tweeting from the hospital, proving that life in London wasn't quite so glamorous. 'Hospital swag,' he wrote as he captioned a very bland yet humorous selfie in a white robe, at the same time that snapshots flooded in of Millie's ninth holiday of the year. Millie and Stephen started dating in November 2011 after the rapper saw her on the cover of men's magazine FHM. The rapper contacted Millie through her agent and they had their first date at the Groucho Club in Soho. They went public at the Brit Awards in February 2012, with Stephen proposing on holiday in Paris just over a year later. The couple tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Babington House in Somerset in September 2013. Since announcing their split, Millie has been consistently spotted back in the company of her ex-boyfriend and former co-star Hugo. Love's young dream: Millie and Prof Green, real name Stephen Manderson, married at Babington House in Somerset in September 2013 Life goes on: Former Made In Chelsea star Millie was spotted attending the InStyle dinner in London on Wednesday night, a few hours after divorcing TIMELINE OF THEIR ROMANCE November 2011: Couple enjoy their first date at the Groucho Club in London after Professor Green sees Millie's sexy FHM cover shoot February 2012: They go public at the BRIT Awards March 2013: Pro Green proposes in Paris September 2013: Couple wed at Babington House in Somerset July 2015: Millie and Pro Green reported to have a huge row in Istanbul. January 2016: They have a make-of-break holiday in Florence, Italy. February 2016: Couple announce their separation. The wealthy reality stars originally dated for six months in 2011, but Millie dumped Hugo after finding out he had cheated on her. When they first started dating, Millie and Professor Green acknowledged they came from very different backgrounds. Millie was educated privately at Hanford Boarding School in Dorset and her family invented Quality Street, although sold the business years ago. Meanwhile Stephen grew up in an impoverished area of East London and survived being attacked in the neck with a broken bottle in a Shoreditch nightclub in 2009. He is set to take on the role of a lifetime as he stars in the upcoming miniseries based on the life of Paul Hogan. And Josh Lawson, 34, has revealed that the 76-year-old Crocodile Dundee star had been one of his heroes long before he earned the coveted role. 'He's a man who means a lot to a lot of Australians, but he means a lot to me,' the US-based actor said of Paul in an interview with the Daily Telegraph this week. Role of a lifetime: Josh Lawson, 34, (pictured) has revealed that Paul Hogan had been one of his heroes long before he earned the coveted starring role in the upcoming miniseries based around the 76-year-old's life 'As a comedian and an actor and as someone who lives in Los Angeles, I'm not sure how much of that would be possible without the path Paul Hogan paved for a lot of actors.' Josh will be joined by actress Justine Clark in the role of Paul's first wife Noelene Hogan and Ryan Corr as John Cornell, Paul's best friend. Network Seven will produce the series, which is set to retrace the steps of the builder-turned Oscar-nominated actor. 'He's a man who means a lot to a lot of Australians, but he means a lot to me,' the US-based actor gushed about his hero Paul Hogan (pictured) in an interview with the Daily Telegraph this week On set: Josh and his fellow cast-members are currently filming the upcoming series in Brisbane, Queensland Seven's head of drama Julie McGauran told AAP: 'The Paul Hogan project will be a celebration of a beloved icon; an Aussie battler with a larrikin heart who experienced an unexpected, unprecedented rise to international stardom.' Prior to finding international fame, he fronted his own sketch comedy series The Paul Hogan Show, which spanned eleven years, ending in 1984. The series ran for eleven years and included characters such as daredevil Leo Wanker, skateboarding teenager Nigel Lovelace, beer swilling suburbanite Arthur Dunger and magician Luigi The Unbelievable. Paul the funnyman! The icon recently returned to his comedy roots, hitting the road with Hoges Live, a 'combination of stand-up, stories and unseen clips' The icon recently returned to his comedy roots, hitting the road with Hoges Live, a 'combination of stand-up, stories and unseen clips'. 'About 30 years ago I toured the country performing with Normie Rowe and others and we had a blast!' Paul explains on his website. 'Then, when I did the movie Charlie & Boots, only a few years back, I had the time of my life travelling throughout Australia and immediately started looking for an excuse to do it again.' Paul was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Crocodile Dundee, and won a Golden Globe for the film. He is frequently seen driving the world's best cars. But F1 star Jenson Button opted for a change of gear when he was spotted with glamorous girlfriend Brittny Ward in Monaco, this week. The duo were spotted enjoying a motorbike ride throughout Monte Carlo, where they certainly cut romantic figures. Scroll down for video Hop on board: Jenson Button was seen offering a ride to his faithful girlfriend Brittny Ward on Friday, as she accompanied him to the Monaco Grand Prix Putting on a leggy display, the 25 year-old socialite narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction as he hopped on the back of the sportsman's vehicle. Wearing a slinky summer dress, she almost exposed her underwear as she cocked her leg to straddle the bike. Fortunately, she managed to protect her modesty - in part thanks to her dapper man, who helped her. Maybe she's not used to bikes: The brunette seemed to struggle to hop on board the bike, perhaps because she's more accustomed to fast cars Cheeky: Jenson Button's girlfriend Brittny Ward proved she will be the only girl supporting the Formula 1 driver at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend The latest sighting of the pair comes after Brittny stole the spotlight on the French coastline - thanks to a revealing bikini. Showing off her peachy Playboy behind, the lookalike brunette captioned a yacht shot 'Hashtag blessed' as she joined the glamorous pleasure seekers in Monaco. She balanced on one foot, barefoot on the boat and staring provocatively at the camera as she topped up her tan ahead of a long weekend. Jenson's new squeeze certainly seemed to be growing accustomed to the high life, having arrived in the French Riviera three days ago. Back in her swimsuit, the brunette is no doubt due to head track-side at the Circuit de Monaco when Formula 1 returns this weekend. Ready to roll: Jenson was seen for the first practice session of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo circuit on Thursday The ex-wife: Jenson's ex-wife (pictured here at the alaysia Formula One Grand Prix in 2014) was the one supporting Jenson at the Monaco Grand Prix this time last year In happier times: The couple (here in October 2013) split in December 2015 after just one year of marriage On the other hand, Jenson's ex-wife Jessica will be a long way from the GP, since she is working hard in Los Angeles. The Argentine-Japanese model became the centre of attention last year when she hit the catwalk at the Amber Lounge Gala, which preceded the weekend's races. Brittny is certainly the star of her own show on Instagram, filling her feed with pictures that make her worthy rival of his striking ex-wife. Sex(y) on the beach: Jenson Button's model girlfriend Brittny Ward showed off her sculpted physique as she went topless in a new Instagram snap, flashing her white bikini bottoms in a sheer sarong on Sunday Motivation: Jenson Button's girlfriend Brittny Ward used her own incredible bikini body as inspiration for her workout on Wednesday She has yet to share her Instagram feed with boyfriend Jenson, who announced his split from wife Jessica in December 2015. Jenson and 31-year-old Jessica, who tied the knot in a lavish Hawaiian ceremony at the end of 2014, split after just one year of marriage. She recently debuted her new shorter locks. And Katherine Heigl wore her dramatic new look with confidence as she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport alongside her mother Nancy on Friday. The 37-year-old actress looked as radiant as ever as she rocked a casual ensemble to catch a flight out of the city. Scroll down for video Short hair, don't care! She recently debuted her new shorter locks and Katherine Heigl wore her dramatic new look with confidence as she arrived at Los Angeles International Airport alongside her mother Nancy on Friday The Knocked Up star looked effortlessly cool in a light-wash denim shirt, which she paired with easy black leggings and grey flats with scalloped detailing. She toughened up the easy look with a leather jacket and toted her essentials in an edgy stone handbag that was emblazoned with an array of studs and straps. The Hollywood starlet didn't scrimp when it came to her accessories either as she draped a pendant necklace around her neck and wore a myriad of bracelets around her wrist. Stunning: The 37-year-old actress looked as radiant as ever as she rocked a casual ensemble to catch a flight out of the city Her skin looked enviably dewy and boasted a gorgeous glow as the sprightly star giggled while making her way through the terminal. Seemingly having worked up an appetite in preparation for her flight, Katherine was seen nibbling on a granola bar as she sauntered alongside her mum. The mother-daughter duo possess an incredibly close relationship, with Nancy having produced a number of projects in which Katherine stars. The film-maker has worked with the Grey's Anatomy star on movies including The Ugly Truth and Life As We Know It and most recently produced TV series State of Affairs, though the show was only commissioned for one season. Pared-back: The Knocked Up star looked effortlessly cool in a light-wash denim shirt, which she paired with easy black leggings and grey flats with scalloped detailing Strong bond: Katherine and her mother Nancy possess an incredibly close relationship, with Nancy having produced a number of projects in which Katherine stars Meanwhile, Katherine recently revealed that she is still smarting over the now infamous Emmy drama back in 2008 when she withdrew her name from award consideration citing her lackluster storyline on Grey's Anatomy. The screen siren went on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Wednesday and acknowledged that she had made a huge mistake. 'I went in to Shonda (Rhimes) and said, 'I'm so sorry. That wasn't cool, and I should not have said that,' she told Stern. 'And I shouldn't have said anything publicly. I went in because I was really embarrassed.' Enjoying that? Seemingly having worked up an appetite in preparation for her flight, Katherine was seen nibbling on a granola bar as she sauntered alongside her mum. After winning an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy in 2007 for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on the hit ABC show, her name was submitted again for her work on the 2007-08 season. But she opposed the decision, telling the LA Times in a statement in June 2008: 'I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention.' 'In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.' Heigl's actions provoked the ire of showrunner Rhimes and tainted her relationship with her co-stars. She left Grey's Anatomy in 2010 amid reports that she was 'difficult to work with.' She's been inundated with work and high profile events since winning her first Oscar in February. So Alicia Vikander had undoubtedly earned herself some rest and relaxation time as she visited Brazil with a friend. Taking it easy with a glass of wine, the 27-year-old actress soaked up the sights of Rio Janeiro as she looked out over her balcony on Friday. Scroll down for video Wine time: She's been inundated with work and high profile events since winning her first Oscar in February. So Alicia Vikander had undoubtedly earned herself some rest and relaxation time as she visited Brazil Showing off her natural beauty, the Swedish star opted to go make-up free, exposing her tanned and flawless complexion. Bundled up in a chunky grey cardigan, The Danish Girl star looked casual but chic as she soaked up the sun, layering up over a black midi dress. Brushing her chestnut coloured locks into a loose ponytail, Alicia looked insouciant yet stylish as she unwound, puffing on a cigarette, in the company of friends. Holy smokes! Taking it easy with a glass of wine, the 27-year-old actress soaked up the sights of Rio Janeiro as she looked out over her balcony on Friday with a cigarette in hand The pretty brunette was not joined by her boyfriend Michael Fassbender on the day, as he has been jetting around the world promoting his latest film, Ridley Scott's sequel to 2012's Prometheus, Alien: Covenant. The couple met whilst filming romantic drama The Light Between Oceans in 2014, the trailer for which was released earlier this month. The movie, based on the novel by M.L. Stedman, is the story of a lighthouse keeper (Fassbender) on a remote Australian island just after the First World War and his beautiful young wife (Vikander) who yearns to be a mother. Au natural: Showing off her natural beauty, the Swedish star opted to go make-up free, exposing her tanned and flawless complexion whilst she brushed her chestnut coloured locks into a loose ponytail Meanwhile, Alicia will soon begin working on Tomb Raider, replacing Angelina Jolie as the iconic Lara Croft. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she beat out some stiff competition for the coveted role as Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens actress Daisy Ridley was reportedly in consideration. Angelina previously starred as Croft in 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raiser and 2003's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life, films inspired by the popular playstation games. Irina Shayk sure knows how to get attention on Instagrsam. On Saturday the 30-year-old Russian bombshell shared a revealing photo where her chest was on display while in a dainty black lace and beaded bra. The girlfriend of Bradley Cooper was posing with two members of her glam squad. The catwalker had on a large jeweled cross around her neck and her hair was pulled up in a messy updo. The cover girl's caption read: 'That's how we do #Italiano #FamilyPortrait. #Puglia #Pizza @giampaolosgura @anna_dello_russo.' From her note, it appeared as if the siren was in Italy for a photo shoot. Just good friends: Lewis Hamilton and Irina Shayk were seen getting close during their latest outing in Cannes on Thursday evening Synced style: Clearly dressed to impress, the pair even seemed to sport similar outfits for their latest turn on the Frrench Riviera town's red carpet. This comes after the model was seen getting close to race car driver Lewis Hamilton in Cannes on Thursday evening. The pair were spotted getting close as they attended the twenty-third amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Seen having a good chat as they spoke on the red carpet, the pair were laughing and joking ahead of the charitable proceedings. Blue steel: Lewis and Irina show their best serious faces... Appearing animated as they conversed, the pair even pulled funny, Zoolander-esque poses which saw them recreate the Charlie's Angels stance. Moments later, brunette beauty Irina was seen laughing with her hand over her mouth. Clearly dressed to impress, the pair even seemed to sport similar outfits for their latest turn on the French Riviera town's red carpet. Irina sported a floor-length gown with spaghetti straps, the jet-black number was emblazoned with jewels across the decolletage and waistline. Meanwhile, Lewis - already willing to embrace a new look - opted for a sequinned jacket and loafers without socks. Glamorous: Irina, who is dating Bradley Cooper, sported a floor-length gown with spaghetti straps, the jet-black number was emblazoned with jewels across the decolletage and waistline Out and about: Irina with Soo Joo Park, Doutzen Kroes, Lara Stone, Barbara Palvin & Karlie Kloss Is that an unofficial dancefloor? While outside, Irina and pal Karlie cut into a little jig Not that this is the first time they've been seen together in recent days, of course. Twenty-four hours ago the pair were seen partying up a storm at the famous Gotha club, where they were in good company. They were joined by fellow models Doutzen Kroes and Lara Stone were also dancing close by in the VIP area. The day before that Irina could be seen being helped up the stairs by Lewis at The Unknown Girl premiere at the Palais des Festivals. Bodysuit goals: On Saturday, Irina was spotted in a curve-hugging bodysuit while out in London She has four Hollywood movies coming out this year after her big break in The Hunger Games. But when rising star Australian actress Stef Dawson was tapped to appear in ABCs upcoming TV series Cleverman, she rushed home to start filming. The sci-fi series depicts a species from Dreamtime mythology clashing with humans, and uses it as an allegory for Aboriginal issues in Australia. Scroll down for video Special project: Stef Dawson rushed home to start filming ABCs upcoming TV series Cleverman, taking time out from her burgeoning Hollywood career Its something that resonates with me as an actress. Its why I signed up to this crazy life in the first place, to be a voice for something and perhaps help create a change, Dawson told the Daily Telegraph. The 27-year-old said the situation created a scary dystopian future where the government uses the fear of the outsiders to control the population. Its definitely poignant and its current, but then its about things that have happened again and again throughout history, she said. Big break: Dawson, who played Annie Cresta (left) in The Hunger Games alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Sam Claflin (right), said the massive film series launched her career 'Its why I signed up to this crazy life in the first place': Dawson said Cleverman was something that resonated with her as an actress. 'To be a voice for something and perhaps help create a change' Dawson, who played Annie Cresta in The Hunger Games alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, said the massive film series launched her career. In such a huge market, when eyes are upon you in such a big and beloved franchise people start to know you exist and want to bring you in for more things, she said. Her new series, which begins next Thursday and will air in the U.S. at the same time, features the Cleverman who is a conduit between this world and the Dreaming. Social statement: The sci-fi series depicts a species from Dreamtime mythology clashing with humans, and uses it as an allegory for Aboriginal issues in Australia Ryan Griffen, who created the original concept, said he wanted to make 'something cultural that my young son could connect to on a superhero basis'. The ensemble cast includes Aboriginal actors Hunter Page-Lochard and Rob Collins as estranged brothers Koen and Waruu West, alongside Frances OConnor and Games of Thrones star Iain Glen. Sally Riley, head of Indigenous at ABC TV, said the show sets the benchmark for diversity on Australian television. It has an 80 per cent Aboriginal cast. She is one of the UK's most beautiful stars. So it's perhaps no surprise that Kate Beckinsale was typically English rose when she made an appearance at the Oxford Union, this week. The talented actress, 42, wowed fans at the academic institution on Friday afternoon - where she formerly studied French and Russian literature. Scroll down for video Stuning talent: British actress Kate Beckinsale was typically English rose when she made an appearance at the Oxford Union, this week Nailing casual chic, the popular performer - who is busy promoting new movie Love & Friendship - looked beautiful in her choice of attire. This consisted of a sleeveless lace top, which featured a high collar and semi-sheer finish for a sexy-but-appropriate style. She matched the look with a pair of skin-tight black trousers for a monochrome finish, which oozed class. Near-perfect! Nailing casual chic, the popular performer - who is busy promoting new movie Love & Friendship - looked beautiful in her choice of attire Her appearance comes days after she detailed her shock at being told by Pearl Harbor's director, Michael Bay, that she may need to shed the pounds if she wanted to bag her breakout role in the 2001 movie Wearing her hair up in a fashionably messy high ponytail, she also displayed a remarkably youthful appearance. Her appearance comes just days after she publicly detailed her shock at being told by Pearl Harbor's director, Michael Bay, that she may need to shed the pounds if she wanted to bag her breakout role as Lieutenant Evelyn Johnson in the 2001 movie. Appearing on Friday night's The Graham Norton show to promote her new film Love And Friendship, Kate explained: 'I dont think I fitted the type of actress Michael Bay, the director, had met before. Wearing her hair up in a fashionably messy ponytail, she also displayed a remarkably youthful appearance Looking good: The 42 year-old is enjoyed a renewed career high with her latest project, Love & Friendship 'I think he was baffled by me because my boobs werent bigger than my head and I wasnt blonde. 'Id just had my daughter and had lost weight but was told that if I got the part Id have to work out and I just didnt understand why a 1940s nurse would do that. 'And then, when we were promoting the film, Michael was asked why he had chosen Ben (Affleck) and Josh (Hartnett) he said, "I have worked with Ben before and I love him and Josh is so manly and a wonderful actor". 'And then when he was asked about me, hed say, "Kate wasnt so attractive that she would alienate the female audience". 'He kept saying it everywhere we went and we went to a lot of places.' Shocking: Kate Beckinsale was told to 'work out' if she wanted to win a role in 2001 Hollywood action movie, Pearl Harbour Truly beautiful: The talented actress, 42, detailed her shock at being told by the movie's director, Michael Bay, that she may need to shed the pounds if she wanted to bag her breakout role as Lieutenant Evelyn Johnson Stunning: The 42 year-old - who's currently promoting new movie Love and Friendship - made the revelation during The Graham Norton Show, which was filmed in central London on Thursday The film, which documented the Japanese Navy's military strike against the US in 1941, was Kate's first major role and saw her play Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson. It was only her second part in a major Hollywood film - after 1999's Brokedown Palace, which saw her and Claire Danes co-star as teenagers jailed in Thailand on drug-smuggling charges. Since then she has appeared in more than twenty projects, including Underworld, Laurel Canyon and Everybody's Fine. Talking about her childhood and the amount of drive she had, she says: 'I was going through an ugly stage around seven or eight and my best friend, who was totally beautiful, came into school one day and announced she was going to be in an advert. I thought the world had ended. 'I went home and wrote a letter saying how keen I was to be in an ad, and it had to be really soon! But I sent it to the BBC and I didnt know they didnt do ads!'. Action shot: Kate pictured in character during the 2001 film - looking virtually flawless and certainly in shape Line-up: Matt LeBlanc, Emilia Clarke, Graham Norton, Kate Beckinsale, Dominic Cooper and Corinne Bailey Rae during the filming of the Graham Norton Show Big break: It was only her second part in a major Hollywood film - after 1999's Brokedown Palace, which saw her and Claire Danes co-star as teenagers jailed in Thailand on drug-smuggling charges Promoting her new movie, Love and Friendship, she also detailed a party booking that backfired. 'You used to get this free magazine with lots of ads for kissograms and I thought it would be hilarious to book a stripper but when the stripping vicar Reverent Balls turned up he looked like the worse serial killer we really hadnt thought it through. 'There were just four of us posh 14 year-old schools girls and this man. He asked if we wanted a full strip and we all shouted No! He flung off his pants and shouted meet my friend from the mission and it was all tucked into a cheap red elephant thing. She's been focusing on her hair extensions business since waving goodbye to TOWIE. And Lauren Pope was enjoying a weekend getaway over the bank holiday, touching down at Glasgow airport in Scotland on Saturday in a casual ensemble. The 33-year-old beauty showed off her fabulous figure in her off-duty travelling attire, opting for a bodycon top and tight leggings. Scroll down for video Laid-back look: Former TOWIE favourite Lauren Pope was casually clad as she arrived at Glasgow airport on Saturday for a weekend break Lauren styled up her look with a pair of white trainers and a floral bomber jacket, adding a touch of glamour thanks to her tinted shades. The blonde beauty wore her long tresses down in loose waves, looking perfectly polished with a full face of make-up. She was travelling light for the weekend, wheeling a teal suitcase behind her as she left the terminal. Fresh-faced after her flight: The blonde beauty wore her long tresses down in loose waves, looking perfectly polished with a full face of make-up Lauren recently confessed the exposure that TOWIE gave her left her vulnerable to being trolled online. In an interview with MailOnline, the businesswoman spoke of her anger that police were not able to do anything when she was trolled in the past. Lauren revealed: 'I had issues with trolls before and the police did nothing. They were posting private information about me and my family it got really disgusting and sexual. Comfy: Lauren styled up her look with a pair of white trainers and a floral bomber jacket, adding a touch of glamour thanks to her tinted shades 'It was quite a while ago I'm going back a fair few years. It's probably something everyone would get in the public eye. I took it for a long time and then I thought: "Hold on why am I accepting this?" 'I still don't know who it was. I have no idea. It was a barrage of constant messages over the space of a few months.' Left to deal with the situation, Lauren found herself replying to some of the messages she received in a bid to get to the bottom of it. She said: 'I even replied to them a lot saying: "Do I know you? You really are obsessed with messaging me. So I assume I know you. Who's got the time?!" 'I must have really p***ed them off somewhere along the line. But when you're on a show like TOWIE it could just be a young kid who fancies Kirk Norcross. It was mainly appearance based.' She's in the middle of her mammoth Delirium World tour. And while Ellie Goulding took a well deserved break from her schedule to put it an appearance at the Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park on Saturday, it seemed the star couldn't stay away from the music for too long. After dazzling in a pretty feminine frock for the earlier part of the event, the 29-year-old pop princess quickly changed back into one of her trademark looks as she delivered a musical performance at the star-studded event in an androgynous ensemble. Scroll down for video Back at her best! She's in the middle of her mammoth Delirium World tour and while Ellie Goulding took a well deserved break from her schedule to put it an appearance at the Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park on Saturday, it seemed the star couldn't stay away from the music for too long Providing the evening's entertainment, Ellie serenaded the audience in a khaki military jacket by Fay, which she paired with dainty black shorts that boasted a scalloped hem and skimmed the tops of her slender thighs. She traded in the stilettos she wore hours prior for a pair of black combat boots by Dr Martens as she pranced around the tiny set. Earlier in the day. the On My Mind hit-maker embraced a feminine style for her fun-filled day out, donning a pretty pastel pink mesh dress. Edgy: After dazzling in a feminine frock for the earlier part of the event, the 29-year-old pop princess quickly changed back into one of her trademark looks as she commanded the stage in a more androgynous style Ellie's flirty little number boasted a modest, high neckline, fitted bodice and a floaty, tulle embellished skirt. The Burn songstress completed her attire with a pair of bright pink stilettos and some sparkling drop earrings. The blonde beauty coordinated her make-up look to her outfit, enhancing her cheekbones with rosy blush and selecting a matte rose-coloured lipstick. Militant style: Providing the evening's entertainment, Ellie serenaded the audience in a khaki cargo jacket, which she paired with dainty black shorts that skimmed the tops of her slender thighs Best foot forward: Ellie traded in the stilettos she wore hours prior for a pair of black combat boots by Dr Martens as she pranced around the tiny set Ellie is fresh from performing a string of dates in the US before heading to Australia this October for her epic tour. Despite her exhausting schedule, her non-stop touring will no doubt be something that she's relishing, thanks to the announcement that she will take a break from music altogether in 2017. Sharing the news via Twitter, the star was clear to reassure fans that it did not mean that she was 'quitting'. Pretty in pink: Ellie looked lovely in a pastel minidress with a ruffled skirt ahead of her performance Fairytale number: Ellie's flirty little number boasted a modest, high neckline, fitted bodice and a floaty, tulle embellished skirt Ladylike ensemble: The Burn hitmaker completed her attire with a pair of bright pink stilettos and some sparkling drop earrings 'I am not quitting music,' she told her 'I've come too far for that! Just having a break. It's been seven years since I had time off.... Love you all' Ellie has subsequently been enjoying the single life, since calling an end to her relationship with McFly's Dougie Poynter. In an emotional interview, she told The Sun: 'People think I'm invincible but these past few weeks have been tough. 'When you're in the public eye, it seems like you're able to deal with stuff better than anyone else, which is not remotely true. 'I'm not in a relationship any more and that's been hard. Having a break will be a good thing for me and my head.' Well-deserved break: Ellie is fresh from performing a string of dates in the US before heading to Australia this October for her epic tour He's been busy filming for his upcoming period drama Taboo. But Tom Hardy managed to break away from the set to lead a host of famous faces at the Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park, Berkshire, on Saturday. The 38-year-old actor was joined at the event by his wife Charlotte Riley, who looked pretty in a red breton top teamed with a delicate black lace skirt by Isa Arfen. Scroll down for video Handsome: Tom Hardy managed to break away from filming to lead a host of famous faces at the Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park, Berkshire, on Saturday She accessorised with a small black leather bag with gold detailing and a pair of stylish red sandals, which matched her top. Hardy went for a smart casual ensemble of a white checked shirt, dark jeans and a pair of sensible leather boots. His hair was worn closely cropped on the sides and longer on top - reminiscent of the style he sported on set as James Delaney in Taboo. The couple appeared in high spirits and were happy to pose for photographs before they made their way to watch the match get underway. Happy couple: The 38-year-old actor was joined at the event by his wife Charlotte Riley, who looked pretty in an orange striped top teamed with a delicate black lace skirt Laid back: Hardy went for a smart casual ensemble of a white checked shirt, dark jeans and a pair of sensible leather boots All smiles! Charlotte accessorised with a small black leather bag with gold detailing and a pair of stylish red sandals, which matched her top High spirits: The couple were happy to pose for photographs before they made their way to watch the match get underway Pretty in pink: Ellie Goulding looked lovely in a pastel minidress with a ruffled skirt Fairytale number: Ellie's flirty little number boasted a modest, high neckline, fitted bodice and a floaty, tulle embellished skirt All Saints members Shaznay Lewis and Nicole Appleton dazzled in their summery outfits as they smiled for the cameras. Shaznay wore an elegant black and cream dress and accessorised with killer heels and a black clutch, while Nicole stunned in an orange belted number and opted for a fun spotted bag. Actors Luke Evans, James Nesbit and Rupert Penry-Jones all looked dapper in suits and ties at the prestigious party. Well-deserved break: Ellie is fresh from performing a string of dates in the US before heading to Australia this October for her epic tour Joining forces: Tom and Ellie were seen chatting to Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star Noomi Rapace Big smiles: The Anything Could Happen singer was all smiles as she posed alongside the duo Fab trio: Luke Evans, Noomi and James Nesbitt were in high spirits as they enjoyed the sunshine Elegant: All Saints members Shaznay Lewis and Nicole Appleton dazzled in their summery outfits as they smiled for the cameras Dapper: Jon Zammett, head of PR for Audi UK, and James Nesbitt looked smart in their jackets and ties Say cheese! Dervla Kirwan and actor Rupert Penry-Jones seemed happy together as they smiled for the cameras Radio present Nick Ferrari dressed down in a relaxed blue blazer, white chinos and a pair of on trend tan brogues. The stars were out in force to watch Princes William and Harry play in the first match of the Polo Challenge. The royals are raising money for Sentebale, Tusk, The Royal Marsden and WellChild and have raised 9.5million for charities through various polo tournaments since 2007. Dressed down: Radio present Nick Ferrari wore a relaxed blue blazer, white chinos and a pair of on trend tan brogues Stunning: Vicky McClure looked wonderful in a azure blue dress and nude courts Summery: Sam Rollinson modelled Le Specs Sunglasses and Dsquared2 bag, Eve Delf opted for silver Camilla Elphick shoes and Charlotte Wiggins sizzled in Self-Portrait x Le Specs Luxe sunglasses Striking: Actress Amber Rose Revah cut an elegant figure in a stripy sundress and bright orange shawl Egdy: Noomi Rapace was effortlessly chic in a lace cut-out dress and a funky pink jacket Dressed to impress: Ophelia Lovibond (left) and Grace Woodward (right) donned their glad rags Dapper chap: The Hobbit star Luke Evans was clad in a smart grey suit jacket for the occasion Ravishing redheads: Angela Scanlon (L) and Charlotte Spencer (R) opted for summery dresses Mummy's boy: Jeremy Irvine brought his mum Bridget along to the event Taking to the stage: Ellie later emerged to serenade the crowd with her dulcet tones Crowd pleaser: The blonde beauty went down a storm with guests at the polo Leggy look: Ellie donned a pair of simple black, lace-trim shorts with a khaki parka jacket They were first seen partying together during the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month. And Lewis Hamilton and Barbara Palvin were seen side by side again on Saturday - sharing a flirty exchange at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix qualifying session. Victoria's Secret model Barbara, 22, opted for a casual look on the sweltering day, donning tiny denim hot pants with a white top. Scroll down for video Close: Lewis Hamilton and Barbara Palvin were seen side by side at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday She accessorised with a black off the shoulder bag and a pair of matching sunglasses to keep out the glare on the bright day. Barbara was joined for the occasion by Gabrielle Union, who wore a simple white lace summer dress to keep cool. Lewis wore his driving suit as he had been competing in the Grand Prix qualifying session, where he took third position for his Mercedes team. The stunning model has been linked to Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Justin Bieber in the past. Leggy display: Victoria's Secret model Barbara, 22, opted for a casual look on the sweltering day and wore tiny denim hot pants with a white top Looking good: Lewis wore his driving suit as he had been competing in the Grand Prix qualifying, where he took third position for his Mercedes team Family affair: Barbara was joined for the occasion by Gabrielle Union, who wore a simple white lace summer dress to keep cool Meanwhile, Lewis, who dated former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger on and off for seven years, has previously been linked to Kendall Jenner, Rihanna and Hailey Baldwin. MailOnline has contacted both stars' representatives for comment. Earlier this week the pair were spied heading to the beach in Monaco, where they went swimming. Looking totally relaxed, the Hungarian model slipped into just a simple grey T-shirt dress having seemingly enjoyed a dip in the warm waters. Moving on? Lewis, who dated former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger on and off for seven years, has previously been linked to Kendall Jenner, Rihanna and Hailey Baldwin Beaming: She accessorised with a black off the shoulder bag and a pair of black sunglasses to keep out the glare on the bright day And just days before, the duo, who are both L'Oreal Ambassadors, were snapped at Gotha nightclub in Cannes. Arriving together in the same vehicle, the pair seemed to be in a hurry to access the venue, which has been frequented by various stars during the film festival fortnight. A spokesperson for Lewis Hamilton told MailOnline: 'Lewis and Barbara are friends and fellow L'Oreal Ambassadors.' Happy: Gabrielle and Barbara appeared in high spirits as they walking together at the Grand Prix Intrigue: The model has been linked to Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Justin Bieber in the past Just friends: A spokesperson for Lewis Hamilton told MailOnline: 'Lewis and Barbara are friends and fellow L'Oreal Ambassadors.' Strike a pose: Barbara wore a Mercedes team cap to show her support for Lewis' team on the track Life seems to be a nonstop vacation for Paris Hilton. On Saturday the DJ shared a look at her Memorial Day weekend adventure, which looked to be taking place in the tropics. The Simple Life vet posted three photos to Instagram where she appeared toned to perfection in a pretty, plunging bathing suit. 'Life is beautiful,' the 35-year-old captioned one of the images. Life's a... pool for this star: Paris Hilton revealed on Saturday she is spending her Memorial Day Weekend in a tropical destination I love the sun: The stunner had her blonde locks down and her suit seemed to have a palm tree theme The reality star stunner had her blonde locks down and her suit seemed to have a palm tree theme. The tanned socialite is coming off a quick trip to London, where she was seen enjoying the nightlife on Thursday with a female pal. The Beverly Hills native also took time out to see her sister Nicky, who is pregnant with her first child. Splish splash: The 35-year-old DJ was also seen in the ocean as she got wet Before that the perfume mogul was at the Cannes Film Festival where she lit up several parties, such as the amfAR Gala. Hilton seemed to be solo on the adventure. In April it was revealed that she had split from millionaire boyfriend Thomas Gross after just one year of dating. Jet set: The tanned socialite is coming off a quick trip to London, where she was seen enjoying the nightlife on Thursday with a female pals The star started dating the Swiss businessman after meeting at the Cannes Film Festival last May, and was rumoured to have relocated to Europe to be close to him. 'Thomas is my soulmate. I've never been happier. He doesn't like fame, he just wants me', she told Closer magazine. 'With my previous boyfriends, I felt there was always an intention, but with him I know it's all about love.' Actors Topher Grace and Ashley Hinshaw are set to wed this weekend. The That 70s Show star and his fiancee got engaged a year-and-a-half ago, and will tie the knot in upscale Santa Barbara, California on Sunday, reportsPeople magazine. Topher, 37, and Ashley, 27, began dating in 2014 and got engaged in January last year. Tying the knot: Actors Topher Grace, 37, and Ashley Hinshaw, 27, are set to wed this weekend in Santa Barbara, California Topher starred as awkward Eric Foreman in the hit sitcom, along with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson. It is not known if any of his former costars are on the guest list for the wedding. In addition to planning their nuptials, the actors have been busy with a number of upcoming projects. Ashley has appeared in True Detective, Workaholics and True Blood, and her latest movie Me Estas Matando Susana was released in March. She has also signed on to appear in new show Start Up, with Adam Brody and Martin Freeman. Bride-to-be: Ashley shared a photo from her bridal shower on Instagram last month Dazzling: The actress showed off her gorgeous engagement ring on Instagram after Topher proposed last January Topher will next be seen in comedy musical Opening Night and in horror thriller Delirium, both due out this year. He also has a role in Brad Pitt's upcoming Afghanistan political satire War Machine, which has been filming in London. An excited Ashley shared an Instagram photo from her bridal shower last month on Instagram, saying she was surrounded by love. 'Couldn't ask for anything more,' the Indiana native captioned the snap, which showed her beaming under large gold 'Bride' balloons. And the bride-to-be also shared a photo of her dazzling engagement ring soon after her engagement last year, with a Starbucks drink labelled 'Ashley the bride.' Chicago police use algorithm to combat gun violence The Chicago police department is using a unique algorithm in its battle against armed violence, to figure out who is most likely to be involved in a shooting, either as a victim or perpetrator. The computer program takes into account various factors such as criminal records, gang affiliations, gunshot wounds already suffered, or the number of past arrests. Its evaluations are used to create a database called the "Strategic Subject List," which is supposed to help police battle the bloodshed in the city brought on by retaliatory gang violence. Since early 2016, gun violence has already left about 250 people dead and 1,150 injured in Chicago Joshua Lott (Getty/AFP/File) But the exact nature of the criteria used by the predictive algorithm is secret and controversial. The program's principal designer Miles Wernick of the Illinois Institute of Technology, did not respond when contacted by AFP. Critics say the secretive system violates freedoms by stigmatizing people as having an "alleged propensity for violence." But police justify the use of the algorithm by saying it ensures they focus resources on people who are most likely to commit gun violence or be threatened by it. "Chicago is the most racially-segregated major city in the United States. It has the largest and the most persistent American gang problem," said David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. - Daily shootings - Since early 2016, gun violence has already left about 250 people dead and 1,150 injured in the city. The vast majority of these victims were on the Strategic Subject List. "We know we have a lot of violence in Chicago, but we also know there's a small segment that's driving this stuff," Eddie Johnson, the new police chief of the city of 2.7 million people said recently in an interview with The New York Times. Appointed in late March, Johnson, who is African-American, wants to boost the image of the police department following the shooting death of a black teenager by a white police officer. Under his guidance, the Chicago Police Department last week launched a drug and gang raid, arresting 140 people, more than 80 percent of whom were on the list. "For a long time now American police forces have been using computer technology and data analysis to focus on high crime areas and to focus the resources there, to allocate more officers. It's actually on the whole pretty effective in reducing crime," said Robert Weisberg of the Criminal Justice Center at Stanford University. But in Chicago, he said, "this goes a step farther in terms of actually listing individuals." - 'Preventive visits' - The algorithm, regularly updated since its launch three years ago, is mainly used to identify people that might potentially benefit from a personal visit from authorities. These visits give police officers or social workers the opportunity to propose rehabilitation and a way out of gangs, as well as drug treatment programs and other aid. And they also warn those on the list of the potential consequences of gun-related crimes. Studies have shown that offenders were often unaware of the penalties for particular offenses. Thus, someone with a criminal history who is caught in the streets of Chicago with a round of ammunition could be prosecuted in federal court and automatically sentenced to 15 years in prison. Some in Chicago fear that the list could unjustly result in tougher prosecutions and heavier convictions for some. Others worry about the secrecy surrounding how the algorithm operates, and question its effectiveness given the statistics: shootings are on the rise in Chicago, with the threshold of 1,000 shooting victims crossed one or two months earlier in 2016 than in previous years. The question left unanswered is whether the shooting statistics would have been worse without the algorithm. "People literally don't know what goes into the underlying analysis that produces the folks on the list. The list is produced by people in university circles in Chicago. It's produced by academics," said John Jay College's Kennedy. "People not part of their group don't know how these calculations are made, so there is real concern about transparency and questions of underlying bias." The Chicago police department is using an algorithm that takes into account various factors -- such as criminal records, gang affiliations or past arrests -- to figure out who is most likely to be involved in a shooting Scott Olson (Getty/AFP/File) Trump backs out of Sanders debate Days after having embraced a proposal for a televised debate against Democrat Bernie Sanders, Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump rejected the idea in a surprise move Friday. In familiar combative language, the outspoken real estate billionaire attributed his decision to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's virtually insurmountable lead in her party's primary race. "Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and (Democratic National Committee 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," he said in a statement. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Fresno, California on May 27, 2016 Josh Edelson (AFP) "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," Trump added about his condition that he would take part only if the debate were to raise more than $10 million for charity. "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," he said. Trump and Sanders prompted widespread anticipation by agreeing to the unusual idea for a debate earlier this week, with their campaigns saying it should be held in a stadium amid speculation the event would generate record ratings. The Sanders campaign said in a statement shortly before Trump's announcement that it had received offers from at least two television networks. Trump won enough delegates on Thursday to clinch the Republican Party's nomination to run in November's general election. Clinton -- who dismissed the idea of a Trump-Sanders debate as a "joke" -- on Monday reneged on her own campaign's previous agreement to debate the Vermont senator this month ahead of a potentially decisive primary in California and several other states on June 7. Despite her all-but-certain Democratic primary victory, polls show her lead over Sanders in California has evaporated. Blast kills five soldiers and wounds four in Mali: army Five soldiers were killed Friday and four others wounded in northern Mali when their vehicles were hit by an explosion, authorities said. "Two vehicles from the Malian armed forces were blown up by an improvised explosive device causing the death of five Malian soldiers and wounding four others," an army statement said. The government pledged in the statement that "everything will be done to locate and bring those responsible to justice" for the attack between the localities of Ansongo and Indelimane. Soldiers patrol on June 4, 2015 in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali Philippe Desmazes (AFP/File) Mali's vast, desolate north fell under the control of the Tuareg-led rebels who allied with jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists were largely ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013, although they have since launched sporadic attacks on security forces from desert hideouts. Demonstrators face off at Trump rally in California Thousands of pro- and anti-Donald Trump demonstrators faced off outside a rally for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego, with police out in force to head off violence. Authorities said three people were arrested, including one for trying to climb over a railing, but there was no major violence or mass arrests as at Trump rallies in other cities. Following the real-estate magnate's speech inside the city's convention center, police ordered the crowd to disperse, judging it an unlawful assembly. But many demonstrators from both camps refused to leave. Protesters and supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump clash during a rally outside Trump's event in San Diego, California, on May 27, 2016 Mark Ralston (AFP) Several skirmishes erupted as both sides jeered and heckled each other, with some protesters throwing water bottles and rocks. One pro-Trump demonstrator was seen using pepper spray against another demonstrator. Dozens of police officers in riot gear stood between the two groups and at one point moved in to force the crowd to leave the area around the convention center. Authorities in San Diego earlier designated separate demonstration zones for the two sides to prevent them mixing. "I am opposed to the hateful, bigoted, racist language of Donald Trump and his arrogance and intolerance," Martha McPhail, one of the protesters, told the local City News Service (CNS). "I'm for all of our people -- all races, sexes, genders, military veterans -- and he's divisive." Riley Hansen, a 19-year-old Trump supporter who was selling T-shirts of the candidate, said it was time America voted for a businessman. "My dad always told me you need a businessman as president," he told CNS. "I like his policies." Protests in New Mexico turned violent on Tuesday, prompting fears of a similar outbreak of violence at Trump's campaign appearances in California this week. Earlier on Friday, hundreds of demonstrators had also gathered at another Trump campaign appearance in Fresno, in central California, during which the bombastic candidate reiterated his vow to build a wall to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the United States from Mexico. News reports said two women were arrested after refusing to leave the area following the rally. A protester argues with police during a rally against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump outside his event in San Diego, California, on May 27, 2016 Mark Ralston (AFP) Thai man on mend after toilet encounter with penis-biting python A Thai man who fought off a three-metre (10-foot) python that bit his penis while he was squatting on the toilet is recovering, hospital staff said Saturday. Atthaporn Boonmakchuay was admitted after surviving the nightmare encounter with a snake hiding in the toilet plumbing at his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok. "He can urinate as normal and pain from the wound has reduced," Rungnapa Sehawong, a supervisor at the local Chularat 11 hospital, told AFP. A Thai man has fought off a three-metre (10-foot) python that bit his penis while he was squatting on the toilet Joe Raedle (Getty/AFP/File) The 38-year-old was being treated with antibiotics and would likely be released in a few days, she added. In an interview from his hospital bedside after the incident Wednesday, a smiling Atthaporn told local TV channels the toilet appeared empty when he peaked in before taking a squat. "But after a while (the snake) rose from the toilet bowl and bit me," he said, explaining how he grabbed the serpent's neck to prevent it from taking him down. "At first I thought my penis was gone and already torn apart, because it was really very strong," he added. But he managed to pry open the python's jaws, after which his wife and neighbour rushed to the blood-splattered scene to cover the snake's head with a plastic bag. A rescue team later took a hammer to the toilet to free the serpent and release it into the wild, local media reported. US forces in Okinawa under curfew after suspected murder US forces in Okinawa are to be put under night-time curfew for a month following the suspected rape and murder of a woman by a former US marine, officials said Saturday. The announcement, part of a one-month "period of unity and mourning" comes after US President Barack Obama expressed his "deepest regrets" over the killing. Public anger boiled over last week after police arrested a former US Marine, now a base employee, in connection with the death of the 20-year-old woman, who had been missing since late April. People raise their fists as they shout slogans to protest against the US military presence in front of the US Kadena Air Base in Cyatan, Okinawa prefecture, on May 21, 2016 The 30-day period would involve a night-time curfew and other "modified liberty regulations", Lawrence Nicholson, the head of US forces in Okinawa, announced. "This period of unity and mourning will include the postponement of all festivals, celebrations and concerts on our bases and stations," he told a press conference in Okinawa. The island was the site of a World War II battle and is now considered a strategic linchpin but the heavy US military presence has long been a thorn in the side of the two countries' relations. It hosts the lion's share of US bases in Japan and more than half the 47,000 American military personnel in the country under a decades-long security alliance. A series of crimes including rapes, assaults and hit-and-run accidents by US military personnel, dependants and civilians have long sparked local protests on the crowded island. Obama at a joint press conference on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had earlier expressed indignation over the case, extended his "sincerest condolences and deepest regrets". "The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system," said Obama, who was visiting Japan to attend the summit of the Group of Seven rich nations. Obama on Friday visited Hiroshima, which was devastated by a US atomic bomb in the world's first nuclear attack in 1945. He was the first sitting US president to do so and the visit was well received in Japan. Malaysia accepts 68 Syrian refugees Malaysia on Saturday received 68 Syrian refugees including 31 children out of a total of 3,000 it hopes to allow into the predominantly Muslim country with hundreds more expected soon. Last December, the Southeast Asian country accepted the first batch of 11 Syrian migrants who had relatives in Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said the Syrian migrants, who flew into Malaysia via Lebanon, will be allowed to work while the children will be able to attend public schools. Syrian migrants arrive at Subang Air Force base in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur on May 28, 2016 "Malaysia will take in 3,000 Syrian refugees," he told reporters after the arrival of the second batch of migrants. "About 200 more will be coming in the next few months," he said. Zahid said they will be provided with accommodation and financial assistance during their "temporary" stay, with local NGOs providing humanitarian support. As the refugees stepped out of the aircraft and onto the tarmac at the Subang Air Force base, west of capital Kuala Lumpur, they smiled as they clutched their belongings and their children. Last October, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Malaysia would accept 3,000 Syrian migrants over the next three years to help ease the refugee crisis. Europe is facing a strain with the influx of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria and other countries who are seeking asylum. Malaysia, however, is not a signatory to the UN's key refugee treaty hence there are no laws to protect refugees though it accepts them temporarily. Refugees are considered illegal immigrants and are not allowed to seek employment. Sri Lanka says 100 missing in landslides are dead Around 100 people still missing following landslides in Sri Lanka last week are believed dead, authorities said Saturday after failing to find signs of life under tonnes of mud. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 67 bodies had been recovered from the worst hit central district of Kegalle where 99 people were still listed as missing following the rain-triggered May 17 disaster. "The military is keeping up a search, but there is no hope of finding anyone alive now," DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili told AFP. "The 99 people missing in the landslides are believed to be dead." Sri Lankan soldiers engage in relief and rescue efforts following a landslide in the village of Aranayake in central Sri Lanka on May 19, 2016 Lakruwan Wanniarachchi (AFP/File) Heavy rains also triggered floods across much of the country last week and claimed 37 lives in addition to those killed in the landslides, according to the DMC. A military official in Kegalle, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north-east of Colombo, said search operations were hampered by continuous rain in the region. The government has said floods and landslides caused by heavy rain drove over 600,000 people from their homes, but most of them have since returned with water levels subsiding. Heimlich, 96, uses his move to save fellow rest home resident Retiree to the rescue: Dr Henry Heimlich, 96, leapt to the aid of a fellow senior home resident this week, using the maneuver he invented to stop her from choking, US media report. "I ordered a hamburger, and the next thing I know, I could not breathe I was choking so hard," new resident Patty Ris told The New York Times. The doctor, who leapt into action in the middle of the evening meal, developed the first aid technique back in 1974. It involves ending an obstruction in a choking person's airway by giving a hug from behind and squeezing the person's abdomen. A senior home resident in Ohio was rescued after choking on her hamburger by Dr Henry Heimlich, a fellow resident and the inventor of the life-saving technique that clears a person's blocked airway Scott Olson (Getty/AFP/File) "I saw her face was all stiffened up and her skin was turning dark and she could not speak," Heimlich told the Times. "Of all things, I knew she was choking." "When I used it, and she recovered quickly," Heimlich told the Cincinnati Enquirer, "it made me appreciate how wonderful it has been to be able to save all those lives." 'Westerner' among 7 IS suspects arrested in Yemen: police Yemeni authorities on Saturday arrested seven Islamic State group suspects, including one "Westerner", in second city Aden, a police officer told AFP. The arrests are part of a government offensive against IS and Al-Qaeda, which have claimed a wave of deadly attacks in recent months in Yemen's south and southeast. Among these were twin bombings claimed by IS that hit loyalist forces in Aden on Monday, killing at least 41 people. Onlookers gather at the site of a IS-group claimed twin bombing that targeted Yemeni forces in the southern city of Aden on May 23, 2016 Saleh Al-Obeidi (AFP) "We arrested seven Daesh (IS) members, among them a Western Muslim, in Mansura" district of Aden, said officer Munir al-Yafie, who took part in the raid, without giving further details. IS and Al-Qaeda have exploited the power vacuum created by more than a year of conflict between pro-government forces and Iran-backed rebels to expand their zones of control in Yemen. Government forces drove the rebels out of the port city of Aden and other southern provinces since July with support from the Saudi-led coalition which launched its operations in Yemen in March 2015. But authorities have struggled to secure Aden, where Sunni jihadists emerged after the rebels left the city. England's Woakes and Ali pile pressure on Sri Lanka Chris Woakes compounded Sri Lanka's misery in the second Test following a hundred by Moeen Ali as England closed in on a series-clinching win at the Riverside on Saturday. At stumps on the second day, Sri Lanka had collapsed to 91 for eight, a huge deficit of 407 runs, after Ali's Test-best 155 not out had propelled England to 498 for nine declared. "It was perfect, especially the way we bowled," Ali told Sky Sports. England's Chris Woakes (L) celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews (C) on the second day of the second test cricket match in Chester-Le-Street, on May 28, 2016 Scott Heppell (AFP) "To have them eight down is a brilliant evening." He added: "I think it's about time as I felt like I owe the team some runs. To do it today was a great feeling." Woakes, only playing in this match because fellow seam-bowling all-rounder Ben Stokes was injured, took three wickets for five runs in 13 balls to reduce Sri Lanka to 67 for six. Rangana Herath (12) gamely resisted for over an hour before fending Stuart Broad to gully. Three balls later, Broad dismissed Shaminda Eranga when a leaping James Vince at third slip parried the ball before second slip Joe Root clutched the rebound. Lahiru Thirimanne was 12 not out at the close and Suranga Lakmal unbeaten on nought. England were now looking at their second innings victory in as many matches after their innings and 88-run win in the first Test of this three-match series at Headingley last week. Another dire day with the bat for Sri Lanka, shot out for 91 and 119 at Headingley, was made all the worse by a wretched fielding display that was in marked contrast to Friday's brilliant catching. The 27-year-old Woakes, in his seventh Test, needed just 12 balls to strike Saturday, with Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews caught behind off a good length ball that nipped away. Kusal Mendis, who made a gutsy fifty in Sri Lanka's second innings at Headingley, lobbed a gentle catch to gully after a Woakes delivery bounced steeply and took the shoulder of his bat. Mendis's 35 was easily the best score of the innings so far. Five balls later, Woakes had Milinda Siriwardana edging to wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow for a duck. Woakes, who came into this match on the back of a career-best nine for 36 for Warwickshire against Durham, had now completed a double-wicket maiden at a sun-drenched Riverside. Earlier, Ali's second hundred in Tests -- and second against Sri Lanka following an unbeaten 108 in a losing cause at Headingley in 2014 -- took the game away from the tourists. Promoted to No.7 from No.8 in Stokes's absence, left-hander Ali, who made his name as a top-order batsman with Worcestershire but has been used mainly by England as an off-spinner, produced a fine array of shots. But Sri Lanka did not help their cause by dropping Ali on 36 and 105. - Incredible miss - England resumed Saturday on 310 for six, with Ali 28 not out and Woakes eight not out. Both batsmen were soon reprieved, with Ali missed when Dimuth Karunaratne dropped a shoulder-high chance at a wide second slip. Worse followed when Woakes, still on his overnight score, edged Eranga straight behind only for wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal, who appeared not to see the ball until too late, to miss the chance completely. Even allowing for the fact Chandimal was nursing a thumb injury suffered on Friday, this was still an extraordinary error. The drinks break saw Mendis, one of several wicket-keeper/batsmen in Sri Lanka's squad, replace Chandimal behind the stumps. Ali went to his hundred in style, driving paceman Nuwan Pradeep for four. He had made 105 when he miscued a pull off Eranga, only for Siriwardana to make a complete hash of the opportunity on the boundary. Ali, who also cashed in on some woefully slow and fumbling ground fielding, reached 150 by hoisting Lakmal for six. Left-arm spinner Herath claimed his 300th Test wicket by taking his team-mates out of the issue with a caught and bowled dismissal of Steven Finn. But such was England's dominance against an attack where four bowlers conceded more than 100 runs each, No.11 Anderson got off the mark by reverse-sweeping Herath for four. Ali faced 207 balls, including 17 fours and two sixes, in his near five-hour innings before England captain Alastair Cook declared. England's Moeen Ali takes a refreshment break on the second day of the second test match against Sri Lanka at the Riverside in Chester Le Street on May 28, 2016 Scott Heppell (AFP) Aussie Pilley - the biggest surprise in over a decade Cameron Pilley, a 33-year-old Australian, who has never been ranked in the world's top ten, made himself one of the sport's most surprising success stories even before contesting Saturday's final of the PSA World Series finals. Previously best known for striking the ball at a world record 175 miles an hour, and with a relatively modest 13 tour titles, the ultra-tall Pilley added to his startling appearance in the tour's flagship event showdown by the manner in which he reached it. It involved a semi-final win over Mohamed Elshorbagy, the runaway world number one from Egypt, after getting past two other top ten players during the group stages - and managing it all by not really thinking about it. Cameron Pilley, pictured in Dubai on May 27, 2016, during his semi-final against Mohamed El Shorbagy in the World Series Finals Marwan Naamani (AFP) "In the past I have made mistakes by focussing too much on the outcome of matches, on the end result rather than how to get there. So I make a conscious effort not to think about the goals at all," he explained matter-of-factly. "So think about what I can control. That's my game and how to get better." Pilley will know that his wins have been achieved with shortened scoring -- the best of three games and not five -- and that Elshorbagy was impatient and inconsistent after playing more matches this year than any other leading player. Nevertheless he is rightly pleased that he has been superbly accurate, particularly with wall-clinging drives during the sparring which goes on down the backhand side, and that has taken his chances calmly and well. "I feel like I have been playing the best of my career," he acknowledged. "Physically I am feeling really good. Mentally I am still keen. "I made a couple of changes last year, a couple of technical things, and freshened up my training methods, and that gave me a wake-up call too, because I had been having average results. Since then I have been pleased with my form." - 'On a high' - It has been good enough to accumulate just enough World Series points to squeeze into last place among the eight qualifiers while remaining still outside the top ten in the world rankings. Few expected him then to go on to qualify from his group. It is reasonable to suggest therefore that by reaching Saturday's final Pilley has caused the biggest surprise since another Australian, Paul Price, and a Welshman, David Evans, neither top level players, contested a British Open final more than a decade and a half ago, in the year 2000. "Feeling pleased is an understatement, considering I just scraped in to get here," Pilley admitted, before suggesting that losing in the group stages to Gregory Gaultier, the world champion from France his opponent again in the final had actually been helpful. "I was thumped by Greg and I think that did me good, because since then I have been seeing the ball well I think that sharpened me up and gave me a wake up call," he said. "I had been on a high after beating (Omar) Mosaad (the World Open runner-up from Egypt) - and that brought me back down. "I made a conscious effort to cut out the unforced errors, and I did it well. I've been feeling really good on that court. It's nice to play on. My length has been tight and I have hit the back corners." All this has enabled Pilley to contemplate the task of trying to emulate the last Australian to win the World Series finals Anthony Ricketts ten years ago in London. "I watched Ricketts win and it was amazing," he said. So did he dream of achieving the same thing? "Er, well no," Pilley admitted with a half-grin. "Because you have to get into the top eight even to play in it and I had never done that. So I actually never dreamed about doing well in this tournament at all." Cameron Pilley (L) holds the world record for striking the ball, at 175 miles an hour Marwan Naamani (AFP) Wounded Palestinian killed by Israeli soldier buried A Palestinian assailant killed by an Israeli soldier as he lay wounded was buried Saturday in the occupied West Bank, a day after Israel returned his body to his family. Dozens of mourners gathered at a cemetery in the city of Hebron, where Abdul Fattah al-Sherif, 21, was shot in the head by a soldier in March after stabbing and moderately wounding another soldier. A widely circulated video of the March 24 shooting showed Sherif lying on the ground along with another man after being shot and wounded after the stabbing. Relatives and friends chant slogans during the funeral of Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, a wounded Palestinian assailant who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the city of Hebron in March in the West Bank city of Hebron, on May 28, 2016 Hazem Bader (AFP) The soldier who killed him, Elor Azaria, has been charged with manslaughter for shooting Sherif. His trial began on May 9. The 19-year-old also faces charges of conduct unbecoming before the military court in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv. Azaria, who also holds French citizenship, was not present during Sharif's attack but in the footage he is seen appearing later and shooting him in the head without any apparent provocation. His lawyers argued that he thought the Palestinian had been wearing explosives. On Saturday, Sherif's father Yusri, 43, demanded that "a fair sentence" be handed down against Azaria. "The Israelis must judge their own just as they judge the Palestinians," he told AFP. "Imagine if it was the other way around, that a Palestinian had killed someone. They would sentence him to life," he added. Azaria's case has deeply divided Israeli public opinion. The military top brass condemned his actions, but rightwing politicians have argued that he has been unfairly treated. Last month protesters held a rally in his support. Israel's internal security minister on Tuesday ordered police to stop handing over for burial the bodies of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks, defying a supreme court recommendation. In February, Gilad Erdan's ministry laid down conditions for the handover of bodies of attackers from Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Bereaved families would have to commit to burying their relatives at night, with a maximum of 40 mourners, and not allow funerals to become Palestinian nationalist demonstrations. Sherif's father said the family was contacted by Israeli authorities "who proposed we take back his body under certain conditions. "We wanted him back without any conditions. We wanted to bury him like any other martyr." Accused Italian marine returns home from India An Italian marine accused of killing two fishermen in India returned home Saturday pending a ruling on where he should be tried in a long-running case that has soured ties between the two countries. Salvatore Girone touched down in Rome after four years in India, where he was being held pending the resolution of a dispute between New Delhi and Rome over who has jurisdiction in the case. His wife, children and father rushed onto the plane for an emotional reunion, after which he was met on the tarmac by Italy's foreign and defence ministers, raising his clasped hands together in a sign of victory. Italian Marine Salvatore Girone arrives on May 28, 2016 at the Ciampino airport in Rome Vincenzo Pinto (AFP) The newly reunited family was expected to travel straight on to Bari in southern Italy, where locals had planned a homecoming party. Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre are accused of shooting the fishermen while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off India's southern Kerala coast in 2012. Latorre was allowed to travel back to Italy in 2014 for treatment after suffering a stroke. Girone had been barred from leaving but India's supreme court agreed on Thursday to alter his bail conditions allowing him to return, after a tribunal in The Hague ruled this month he should be free to go, pending the final outcome of arbitration. Italy initiated international arbitration proceedings in the case last year, referring the row to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague and asking it to rule on where the men should be tried. Under his new bail conditions, Girone must return to Delhi within one month if the PCA rules that he face trial in India. Italy insists the oil tanker, the MV Enrica Lexie, was in international waters at the time of the incident. Militants strike major pipeline in Niger delta: official For the third time in a week, a militant group has attacked oil and gas infrastructure in Nigeria's increasingly violent oil-producing south, an official said Saturday. The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have been sabotaging Nigeria's oil infrastructure for months in bombings that have forced production to drop from 2.2 million barrels per day to twenty-year lows of 1.4 million barrels per day. Early Saturday morning militants attacked the Nembe pipeline carrying crude exports. A photo taken on March 22, 2013 shows an aerial view of Shell Cawtharine channels at Awoba in the Niger Delta Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP/File) "I am aware that there was a dynamite attack on the pipeline," Nengi James, chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee, told AFP. The NDA appeared to claim the Saturday attack on a Twitter account bearing its name in a post that said it had blown up the "Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny trunk line" at 2:15 am. A followup post threatened "something big is about to happen." Earlier attacks attributed to NDA this week have seen Chevron and Nigeria's state-owned oil and gas infrastructure blown up. Continued violence could result in mass evacuations of staff that would "cripple onshore production of about one million barrels per day," Philippe de Pontent, sub-Saharan Africa analyst at political risk research firm Eurasia Group, said in a recent report. Like other militant groups before it, the NDA wants a fairer share of oil revenues for the impoverished and polluted southern region. The group claims that the majority of the country's oil wealth is owned by people from the country's north and has plans to realise an independent state by October 2016, according to online statements credited to NDA spokesman Mudoch Agbinibo. In response to the sabotage -- which is devastating government revenue at a time the country is facing stagflation -- southern government officials this week urged President Muhammadu Buhari to enter a peaceful dialogue with Niger delta communities instead of using military force to restore oil production. But on Saturday, Niger delta residents said Nigerian soldiers invaded Oporoza, a town in former militant Government "Tompolo" Ekpemupolo's stronghold of Gbaramatu Kingdom. The Nigerian government has issued an arrest warrant for Tompolo, alleging the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) stole millions from the federal government after he started working as a security contractor as part of an amnesty program. There are rumours that Tompolo has been orchestrating the NDA attacks, but the former militant has denied any collaboration. According to Oporoza resident Raphael Gbenekama, more than seven gunboats loaded with armed soldiers invaded the community, shooting and beating up residents while arresting others. As I speak with you I am in the bush where I am taking refuge," Gbenekama told AFP. "The whole community has fled and those who could not run have been rounded up and arrested, but I can tell you that we do not harbour criminals, our people are innocent," Gbenekama said. Arab League chief denounces Israel at peace talks meeting Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi blasted Israel as a bastion of "fascism and racial discrimination" on Saturday at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers that backed France's Middle East peace initiative. The Arab ministers at the end of the meeting adopted a resolution backing "the French initiative and all Arab and international efforts" for peace talks between Israel and Palestinians. In his speech to the ministers, Arabi, who has been a vocal critic of Israel, said the country "has truly become today the last bastion of fascism, colonialism and racial discrimination in the world". Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C-L) Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat (2-L), Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi (2-R) speak during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers, on May 28, 2016 STRINGER (AFP) Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has rejected an Israeli offer for direct negotiations instead of the French multilateral peace initiative, which Israel has turned down. On Saturday, he blamed Israel for stalling the talks. "We tried hard with the Israeli government to implement signed treaties and respect our and their commitments, but they refused," he said. The French initiative involves holding a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, on June 3, but without the Israelis and Palestinians present. An international conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is an eventual relaunch of negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. An upsurge in violence since October has killed 205 Palestinians and 28 Israelis. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say. The unrest has steadily declined in recent weeks. Many analysts say that Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the recent unrest. US blocks cluster-bomb sales to Saudis: report The Obama administration has moved to block sales of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, amid reports of mounting civilian casualties there, a US media report said Saturday. The report in the journal Foreign Policy, citing US officials, said that the White House had quietly placed a hold on the transfer of such munitions to the Sunni kingdom as it carries out a bloody war on Shiite rebels in Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Iranian-backed Huthis since March 2015, trying to roll back their control of wide swaths of Yemen. Human Rights Watch published new evidence alleging a Saudi-led coalition is using internationally banned cluster bombs in Yemen, urging it to stop such attacks that were harming civilians Mohammed Huwais (AFP/File) Asked by AFP for comment, an administration official said that "we are aware of reports that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster munitions in the armed conflict in Yemen, including in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present." "We take such concerns seriously and are seeking additional information," the official added. Foreign Policy said it was the first concrete display of unease by US officials over bombings that human rights activists say have killed and injured hundreds of civilians, including children. Cluster bombs are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles or runways. But because they disperse scores of tiny bomblets over a wide area -- some of which may not explode for years or even decades after being dropped -- they pose a particular threat to civilians. They were banned by an international treaty in 2008, but Russia and the United States, both major suppliers, failed to sign it. The US antiwar group CodePink on Sunday applauded the administration decision, and called on President Barack Obama to suspend all arms transfers to the kingdom. Amnesty International said Monday that the Saudi use of cluster bombs had created "minefields" for civilians in Yemen. It has called, along with Human Rights Watch, for a ban on arms sales to the Saudis. The United States has sold the Saudis millions of dollars' worth of cluster bombs and provided other forms of military support. The reported move on cluster bombs comes amid growing criticism by American lawmakers of the Saudi monarchy. Legislators are unhappy that the Saudis have not done more to fight the militants of the Islamic State group in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. Devils sign French defenseman Yohann Auvitu NEWARK, N.J. (AP) The New Jersey Devils signed French defenseman Yohann Auvitu to a one-year, two-way, entry-level contract Friday. The 26-year-old Auvitu spent parts of the previous six seasons in Finland's top professional league with JYP Jyvaskyla and HIFK Helsinki. Top Kansas court: State not properly funding poor schools TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday rejected some education funding changes enacted by the Legislature earlier this year and threatened to prevent the state's public schools from reopening for the new academic year if lawmakers don't act by June 30. The court ruled on a new school finance law that revised parts of the state's funding formula but resulted in no change in total funds for most of the state's 286 school districts. It was the third school finance law approved in as many years as Republican lawmakers hoped to keep the court from following through on a threat it made in a February ruling to shut schools down. Kansas schools have either finished or are winding up the current academic year. The state's inability to distribute more than $4 billion in aid to them would keep them from opening again in August, and summer programs would be canceled. While many districts have cash reserves, the court's opinion said that without an acceptable state funding system, schools "will be unable to operate." FILE - In this May 10, 2016 file photo, Kansas Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert, center, asks a question to the state as they make their arguments in front of the Kansas Supreme Court, in Topeka, Kan. The judges are threatening again to close the state's public schools and has rejected some education funding changes enacted by legislators earlier this year. The court ruled Friday, May 27, 2016, on a law that revised parts of the state's funding formula but resulted in no change in total funds for most of the state's 286 school districts (Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP File) MANDATORY CREDIT The justices ruled that lawmakers failed to fulfill the court's order in February that funding to poor school districts be improved. Kansas House Speaker Ray Merrick called the decision "disgraceful" and accused the justices of "holding children hostage." Republican Gov. Sam Brownback said the court is engaging in "political brinkmanship." "The court has yet again demonstrated it is the most political body in the state of Kansas," Merrick, a conservative Republican, said in an emailed statement. Lawmakers this year faced a budget crunch that followed massive personal income tax cuts and left most of the work of cutting spending and taking other deficit-closing steps to Brownback. They also were hamstrung by strong political opposition to redistributing funds from wealthy school districts. But the court declared in its unsigned opinion that "political necessities" were irrelevant to its review. The justices also said that legislators' failure to fully comply with its earlier ruling and not action by the court would be to blame if schools remain closed. The court refused to sever education funding changes it found objectionable from others it accepted, rendering the entire school funding system invalid under the state constitution. "Simply put, the Legislature's unconstitutional enactment is void; it has not performed its duty," the court said. Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since the state slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging in an effort to stimulate the economy an experiment watched nationally. Brownback hasn't backed off his signature tax cuts, and enough lawmakers haven't bucked him. The state's lawyers argued that legislators made a good-faith effort to address the court's concerns and the justices had no reason to shut down schools. But lawyers for four school districts suing the state argued that legislators only reshuffled existing funds. One of the districts' attorneys, Alan Rupe , said it would cost the state between $17.5 million and $29.5 million during the 2016-17 school year to comply with the court's latest order, depending on whether lawmakers want to prevent any districts from losing aid as they boost funding for poor ones. "The Legislature needs to get together and fix it," Rupe said. Legislators aren't scheduled to meet again this year except for a brief adjournment ceremony Wednesday, and it wasn't immediately clear what the conservative Republicans who lead both chambers planned to do. Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley called for lawmakers to approve additional spending Wednesday. The court's past rulings have made Republicans increasingly hostile and suspicious of the justices. Six of the seven were appointed by Democratic or moderate GOP governors and only one by Brownback, a conservative. Four of the six justices appointed by previous governors are on the ballot in November to determine whether they stay on the bench. So is Brownback's appointee, though he did not participate in the case. Merrick said voters should consider ousting justices. The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by the Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, districts and followed up on one in 1999 that forced lawmakers to promise big increases in annual spending on public schools. Legislators kept their promises at first but backed off during the Great Recession. The court has repeatedly said the Kansas Constitution requires lawmakers to finance a suitable education for every child. ___ California rushes to allow HIV-infected organ transplants SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California lawmakers approved emergency legislation Friday to allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver before the surgery becomes too dangerous, possibly within weeks. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown promptly signed the bill, which takes effect immediately. The federal government recently authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs to patients who have the disease, but it remained illegal under California law and in more than a dozen other states, a leftover fear from the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Peter Stock poses for photos on the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center campus in San Francisco, Friday, May 27, 2016. California lawmakers approved emergency legislation Friday to allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver before the surgery becomes too dangerous, possibly within weeks. The UCSF Medical Center is one of four U.S. hospitals authorized to transplant HIV-infected organs. Transplant surgeon Dr. Stock says he hopes to perform the operation quickly, but he will need time to do tests and preparation on the patients. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) But advances in testing have since diminished concerns about donated tissue, and antiretroviral medications now allow patients to live for decades with HIV. The California legislation paves the way for any HIV-positive transplant patient to receive organs from living or deceased people with HIV. For patients willing to receive an HIV-infected organ, the wait time could be cut from many years to six months or less. The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is one of four U.S. hospitals authorized to transplant HIV-infected organs. Transplant surgeon Dr. Peter Stock said he hopes to quickly perform the operation on the man and his husband, whose names were not disclosed, but he will need time to do tests and preparation. There are 65 HIV-positive patients waiting for kidney or liver transplants at the hospital, including another man in particularly urgent need of a liver. That man does not have a living donor. California has some of the nation's longest waits for organs, and increasing the supply will help everyone, whether they are HIV-positive or not, Stock said. "There are so many desperate people out there waiting for organs," the surgeon said. "The donor shortage is such a problem. Literally, we lose people every week." Stock received a grant in 1999 to transplant healthy livers and kidneys into patients with HIV. Hundreds of HIV patients have now received transplants for HIV-negative donors, with largely similar rates of success to transplants for non-HIV people, allaying concerns about using immunosuppressant drugs to prevent organ rejection in patients with compromised immune systems, he said. President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2013 to allow trials of HIV-infected transplants, and the Department of Health and Human Services approved safety regulations last year. Doctors at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in March performed the first transplant in the United States of HIV-infected organs using a liver and kidney from a deceased donor. Similar operations had been conducted earlier in South Africa. Just under 121,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, including 21,888 in California, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the U.S. organ transplant system. On average, 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant. "With this legislation, we're saving a life this month, and many more to come," said Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat from Santa Monica who wrote the bill. SB1408 cleared the Legislature without opposition. Dr. Peter Stock poses for photos on the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center campus in San Francisco, Friday, May 27, 2016. California lawmakers approved emergency legislation Friday to allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver before the surgery becomes too dangerous, possibly within weeks. The UCSF Medical Center is one of four U.S. hospitals authorized to transplant HIV-infected organs. Transplant surgeon Dr. Stock says he hopes to perform the operation quickly, but he will need time to do tests and preparation on the patients. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) State Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, urges passage of his emergency legislation that would allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. California law prohibits authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs, but the passage of Allen's bill will allow the procedure to be performed. Both houses of the Legislature approved the measure which now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) 10-year sentence in 'Thunder From Down Under' case in Vegas LAS VEGAS (AP) A Las Vegas man who admitted firing a gun while trying to steal costumes and props from the "Thunder From Down Under" male revue in March 2014 has been sentenced to 10 to 25 years in Nevada state prison. Joey Kadmiri told a Clark County District Court judge on Thursday that he used methamphetamine before the backstage shooting at the Excalibur hotel-casino that police said left two show employees with gunpowder burns. "I want to blame it on the drugs," he said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://bit.ly/22r9Bir ). "But I have to blame it on the person who took the drugs, which is me." FILE - In this July 8, 2014 file photo, Joey Kadmiri arrives at his trial at Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. Kadmiri, who admitted firing a gun backstage while trying to steal costumes and props from the "Thunder From Down Under" male revue, has been sentenced to 10 to 25 years in Nevada state prison. Kadmiri told a judge on Thursday, May 26, 2016, that he took methamphetamine before the March 2014 backstage shooting at the Excalibur hotel-casino that police said left two show employees with gunpowder burns. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, File)LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT His attorneys, Yi Lin Zheng and John Momot, said the 26-year-old Kadmiri was abused as a child by his father, and has continuing mental illness. Kadmiri pleaded guilty last November to felony weapon, battery and theft charges in the "Thunder" case and to battery with a deadly weapon causing substantial bodily injury in a separate domestic violence case. That case stemmed from allegations that he kidnapped, assaulted, coerced and hit a woman with a gun, and confined her to a closet in November 2013. In the shooting case, Kadmiri admitted sneaking backstage at the Australian-themed men's striptease show, where police said he was caught by muscular cast members as he picked through belongings in the performers' dressing room. Two workers were injured, including one who police said was struck by debris from a wall after another knocked Kadmiri's hand to the side as he fired a .44 Magnum handgun near the man's head. Witnesses said Kadmiri was wearing a Sydney firefighters' T-shirt and identified himself as a new cast member when he was arrested. He later told reporters that he needed a disguise because he believed people were trying to kill him. Kadmiri acknowledged in court that he takes medication to counter diagnoses of paranoia and depression, and he underwent several psychological examinations as judges tried to determine whether he was competent for trial. Prosecutors said he faked his mental health issues. Kadmiri stood trial in July 2014 with different defense attorneys on nine felony charges that could have gotten him decades in state prison if he had been convicted in the "Thunder From Down Under" case. Those proceedings ended in a mistrial after jurors talked about evidence before beginning deliberations. Agency probes arrest of husband of Chattanooga mayor's aide NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the domestic violence arrest involving the husband of a top aide to Chattanooga's mayor. Exactly what led to the alleged domestic incident is unclear, but it resulted in the mayor and the city's police chief taking the unusual step of offering statements denying unspecified involvement with the aide. The TBI issued a statement Friday saying it was asked to investigate the arrest of Bobby Stone by Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston. The agency declined to give any more details, and Pinkston was out of his office Friday afternoon. Lacie Stone, who is a top aide to Mayor Andy Berke, went to police Chief Fred Fletcher's house last week after getting into an altercation with her husband, Bobby Stone. According to the police report cited by several news outlets, the Stones had argued about her cellphone, which was crushed during the incident. Police said Bobby Stone dragged his wife by the belt and told her to leave the home, and Lacie Stone told officers she hit her husband in the forehead. When she left the home, her husband allegedly threw a rock through the rear window of her car. Bobby Stone was charged with domestic assault and malicious vandalism, and was later released on bond. His attorney did not respond to a message seeking comment. However, the lawyer, Lee Davis, previously issued a statement criticizing the mayor and police chief for making public statements about the case. Berke issued a statement earlier this week to deny what he called "numerous false allegations about me and other people involved in city government" by Bobby Stone. "Let me be clear: The allegations are absolutely false," Berke said in the statement. Fletcher said in a statement that he had dined at the Stones' home earlier Friday along with his wife and two other couples. An hour after leaving, he said he received a panicked phone call from Lacie Stone saying her husband had hurt her. Fletcher said he told her to come to his home, where he arranged for officers to meet her and investigate the case. "I made it clear that this incident will be investigated the same as any other crime," he said. "I know there have been untrue allegations made about my relationship with Ms. Stone, and they are unequivocally false," the chief said. "Mr. and Mrs. Stone are my friends and I was saddened to hear about this incident. I am glad she called me and was able to leave what she considered to be a dangerous situation." NEW YORK (AP) A small World War II vintage plane taking part in celebrations of its 75th anniversary flew a partial loop while smoke spewed from it and then crashed in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey on Friday, and divers recovered a body from its sunken wreckage, police and witnesses said. The single-seat plane, a P-47 Thunderbolt, crashed on a part of the river near where a US Airways commercial jet carrying 155 people splash-landed safely in 2009 in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson. A witness to the P-47 Thunderbolt crash, Hunter College student Siqi Li, saw smoke spewing from the plane and thought it was doing a trick. Search and rescue boats look for a small plane that went down in the Hudson River, Friday, May 27, 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration say it received a report a World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft may have gone down in the river 2 miles south of the George Washington Bridge. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) "It made kind of a U-turn, and then there was a stream of smoke coming from it," Li told the Daily News. "It was tilting down toward the water. I thought they were doing some sort of trick. I didn't realize it at first, but it was a plane crash." Scuba divers recovered the body of a 56-year-old man from the submerged plane about three hours later, New York Police Department Detective Michael Debonis said. Police identified the body as William Gordon, of Key West, Florida. The body was taken back to the New York shore via police boat. Several police officers carried a stretcher to the dock. The Federal Aviation Administration said the P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, which went down near the George Washington Bridge around 7:30 p.m., was among three planes that had departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, just east of New York City. The other two aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely. The American Airpower Museum is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the P-47 Thunderbolt this weekend. Museum spokesman Gary Lewi said the plane was kept at the museum and was taking part in an air show at nearby Jones Beach this weekend. "Apparently the aircraft suffered an inflight engine failure," Lewi said. "I'm told the aircraft is at the bottom of the Hudson." The three planes, the P-47, a P-40 and a photo plane, had been flying over the Hudson to shoot promotional material for the Jones Beach air show, Lewi said. The identity of the pilot of the plane that crashed was being withheld, he said. North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue co-director Jeff Welz told The Jersey Journal that firefighters and the Coast Guard responded after the Friday night crash. He said the plane sank "pretty quickly." The P47-Thunderbolts were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War II. They first went into service in 1942, with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island. The one that crashed in the river flew periodically, including to other air shows, Lewi said. Search and rescue boats look for a small plane that went down in the Hudson River, Friday, May 27, 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration say it received a report a World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft may have gone down in the river 2 miles south of the George Washington Bridge. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Search and rescue boats look for a small plane that went down in the Hudson River, Friday, May 27, 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration says it received a report a World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft may have gone down in the river 2 miles south of the George Washington Bridge. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Official asked utility if it wanted help to quash order LOS ANGELES (AP) A California oil and gas official offered to try to get the governor's office to quash an order from air pollution regulators that was aimed at a utility responsible for a massive gas leak, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Emails related to the four-month Southern California Gas Co. leak that drove thousands of residents from their Los Angeles homes said the governor's staff discussed the matter, but agency spokesmen said no action was taken to change the order requiring better leak detection and reporting, among other things. The documents released Thursday under a California Public Records Act request show Bret Lane, the chief operating officer for SoCalGas, forwarded a draft of the air pollution abatement order to an official with one of the state agencies that regulate the company. FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2015, pool file photo, crews work on a relief well at the Aliso Canyon facility above the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles. A state official offered to get the governor's office involved in helping quash part of an order from a regional air pollution control agency aimed at the utility responsible for the massive natural gas well leak, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. (Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File) Alan Walker, a supervising engineer for the Department of Conservation's oil and gas division, replied that the proposed order was "absolutely crippling." "How would you feel about me sharing this with folks up my chain ... with a recommendation to have this quashed by the governor," Walker wrote to Lane. "I am fine with that idea," Lane replied. "Thanks Al." Walker later replied that the matter was getting a 10-minute discussion with the governor's staff. "It is at the highest level I can push right now," Walker wrote. There are no further emails after that, but Don Drysdale, a spokesman for the department said the subject was raised on one of many daily conference calls about the Aliso Canyon leak and that Walker's superiors did not share his concerns and no further action was taken. When the leak was first reported Oct. 23 at the largest gas storage facility in the West, the department's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources was in the midst of internal reform. It had been criticized for allowing oilfield contamination to get in federally protected drinking-water aquifers and for having a cozy relationship with the companies it oversees. Bob Stern, former president of the Center for Governmental Studies, said the emails offer an insight into a close relationship between business and government, but not necessarily an improper one. "The fear is always that government agencies are captured by industries they regulate," Stern said. "People always figure the worst. All this is, basically, is a company trying to influence an agency that has power over them." It is not unusual for SoCalGas to work with state agencies as it tries to follow regulations, said Chris Gilbride, a company spokesman. At the time of the Dec. 29 email exchange, the leak from an aging underground storage well was two months old with no end in sight and the company was under scrutiny from several state and local agencies, including the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates air pollution through much of Southern California and is not part of state government. Executives and legal staff for the air district were not contacted by the governor's office to change or remove any language, spokesman Sam Atwood said. He said the local requirements may go further than state rules. In the end, the final order was largely unchanged and SoCalGas stipulated to it. Drysdale said Walker was new to the agency at the time of the email exchange with Lane. "His approach and interaction did not reflect our department's policies or regulatory role," Drysdale said. Walker did not return phone or email messages seeking comment. FILE--In this Jan 7, 2016, file photo, a sign declares the boundary line of the Southern California Gas Company gas fields where a gas well has been leaking methane daily near the community Porter Ranch, Calif. A state official offered to get the governor's office involved in helping quash part of an order from a regional air pollution control agency aimed at the utility responsible for the massive natural gas well leak, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker, file) FILE--In this Jan.7, 2016 file photo, Porter Ranch Estates sit at the foothills near a Southern California Gas Co. gas well that has been leaking methane daily near the community Porter Ranch, Calif. A state official offered to get the governor's office involved in helping quash part of an order from a regional air pollution control agency aimed at the utility responsible for the massive natural gas well leak, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker, file) FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2016 file photo, Tera Lecuona, resident of the heavily-impacted Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles, holds a protest sign during a hearing in Granada Hiulls over a gas leak at Southern California Gas Company's Aliso Canyon Storage Facility. A state official offered to get the governor's office involved in helping quash part of an order from a regional air pollution control agency aimed at the utility responsible for the massive natural gas well leak, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) A look at the Operation Condor conspiracy in South America BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Argentina's last dictator and 14 other former military officials were sentenced to prison Friday for human rights crimes committed during the Operation Condor conspiracy. Here is a look at the clandestine program's main features: WHAT WAS OPERATION CONDOR? It was a coordinated effort by the military dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil to hunt down and eliminate opponents and leftists across the continent and beyond. It operated from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. FILE - In this March 24, 1976 file photo, Argentina's dictator Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla, center, is sworn-in as president at the Government House in Buenos Aires, Argentina. With a world divided by the Cold War, South America's dictatorships in 1975 agreed to start exchanging information on political dissidents, trade unionists, students and any individual suspected of being leftist. The goal was to hunt down and eliminate the enemies of the dictatorships across the continent and beyond. According to declassified documents, various agencies of the U.S. government were aware of the plan. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia, File) HOW DID IT WORK? Operation Condor officially began in 1975, when South America's dictatorships agreed to exchange information on political dissidents, trade unionists, students and anyone suspected of being a leftist, especially those who had sought refuge in other countries. According to declassified documents, various U.S. government agencies were aware of the plan. The covert program involved the deployment of special transnational teams to kidnap subversive "targets," who were then interrogated and tortured in seven clandestine prisons located on military or police bases in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The dissidents were sometimes returned to their country of origin and disappeared. Condor's agents also assassinated political leaders seen as influencing public opinion against the military regimes. Some of their targets were in the United States and Europe. The September 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier, the foreign minister under Chile's socialist President Salvador Allende, was the best-known case. Letelier, and his U.S. aide Ronni Moffitt, were killed by a bomb placed in his car in Washington D.C. Investigators found that the Chilean dictatorship's spy agency, known as DINA, and an anti-Castro group, many of whose members had been trained by the CIA, were behind the assassination. WHO WERE CONDOR'S MASTERMINDS? Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Paraguayan strongman Alfredo Stroessner, Bolivia's Hugo Banzer, Argentine dictator Jorge Videla and Juan Maria Bordaberry of Uruguay. While no representative of Brazil signed the operation's charter, its government cooperated with the program and dissidents were killed and kidnapped in Brazilian territory. HOW MANY VICTIMS? According to a 2015 report by UNESCO's International Center for the Promotion of Human Rights, Operation Condor had 376 victims: 177 Uruguayans, 72 Argentines, 64 Chileans, 25 Paraguayans, 15 Peruvians, 12 Bolivians, five Brazilians, three Cubans, two Americans and a Spaniard. FILE - In this Sept. 1988 file photo, Chile's dictator Augusto Pinochet is flanked by subordinates at a ceremony in Santiago, Chile. With a world divided by the Cold War, South Americas dictatorships in 1975 agreed to start exchanging information on political dissidents, trade unionists, students and any individual suspected of being leftist. The goal was to hunt down and eliminate the enemies of the dictatorships across the continent and beyond. According to declassified documents, various agencies of the U.S. government were aware of the plan. (AP Photo/Santiago Llanquin, File) FILE - In this July 9, 1982 file photo, Argentina's last dictator, General Reynaldo Bignone, arrives for a religious ceremony at the Cathedral in Buenos Aires. A court in Argentina has sentenced the former junta leader to 20 years in prison for Operation Condor crimes. The secret conspiracy was launched by six South American dictators in the 1970s in a combined effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them. The federal court ruled Friday, May 27, 2016. Bignone is already serving life sentences for multiple human rights violations during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia, File) FILE - This March 1, 1972 file photo shows Uruguayan President-turned-dictator Juan Maria Bordaberry posing for a photo with the presidential sash in Montevideo, Uruguay. With a world divided by the Cold War, South Americas dictatorships in 1975 agreed to start exchanging information on political dissidents, trade unionists, students and any individual suspected of being leftist. The goal was to hunt down and eliminate the enemies of the dictatorships across the continent and beyond. According to declassified documents, various agencies of the U.S. government were aware of the plan. (AP Photo/Diario El Pais, File) URUGUAY OUT, NO USAR EN URUGUAY How Alibaba won _ and lost _ a friend in Washington SHANGHAI (AP) In 2011, a respected anti-counterfeiting coalition in Washington escalated its fight against the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, saying that its websites served as a 24-hour market "for counterfeiters and pirates" and should be blacklisted. Fast forward to 2016. That lobbying group, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, called Alibaba "one of our strongest partners," welcomed it as a member and invited its founder, Jack Ma, to speak at its spring conference. Alibaba won and ultimately lost a friend in Washington using legal methods long deployed by corporate America: money and influence. A month after it became the first e-commerce company to join the IACC, Alibaba got kicked out. 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) An Associated Press analysis of public filings shows that as personal and financial ties between Alibaba and the coalition deepened, the group's public comments shifted from criticism to praise, even as others including the U.S. and Chinese governments took a harder line. 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. That, critics say, would benefit the multibillion-dollar counterfeiting industry, which costs U.S. companies money, can imperil consumers' safety and feeds an underground money-laundering industry. Alibaba is at the forefront of China's rise on the global stage, and the anxiety and suspicion that have greeted the company abroad are, to some extent, anxiety and suspicion about China itself. Alibaba was among 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. "Their reputation has preceded them," he said. "Some Americans might think, 'Why don't you go home and fix the problems first?'" When Robert Barchiesi, a gruff-talking former New York cop, took over the IACC, the coalition singled out Alibaba and its Taobao platform for facilitating the large-scale sale of fakes. The U.S. Trade Representative placed Taobao on a blacklist in 2008. Alibaba ramped up its game in Washington. In 2012, Alibaba's lobbying expenditures shot up from $100,000 a year to $461,000, and has remained fairly steady since, according to Opensecrets.org. It has hired several well-connected people, including a former general counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative and a former White House senior director for intellectual property enforcement coordination. "Alibaba has engaged in a thoughtful, customer-focused dialogue with policy makers," said Eric Pelletier, head of international government affairs for Alibaba Group. By the end of 2012, Alibaba was off the notorious markets list. 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 Alibaba to expedite removal of counterfeit goods through a program called MarketSafe. The coalition charged its members $12,500 last year to participate. The coalition had found a way to monetize brands' frustration with Alibaba's take-down procedures. 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, during Robert Barchiesi's tenure. 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 says his holdings represent a "small percentage" of his portfolio. Alibaba's shares shot up 38 percent in one day. It was the largest IPO in history, catapulting Ma to near-mythic status. By 2015, the coalition had stopped complaining about Alibaba to U.S. officials, focusing instead on the "true cooperation and partnership" they enjoyed through MarketSafe. But neither the U.S. nor China was 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. "The slow pace has convinced us that Alibaba is either not capable of or interested in addressing the problem," the group told U.S. authorities. 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, Matthew Bassiur, a longtime friend of Barchiesi's with deep ties to the coalition, 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 the company as its first e-commerce member. Members revolted. Michael Kors and Gucci America quit in noisy protest. Tiffany left soon after, citing governance issues. The coalition suspended Alibaba's membership category the same day the AP published an investigation revealing Barchiesi's Alibaba stock ownership. The coalition's board vowed to commission an independent review. Ma's keynote speech at the coalition's conference was called off; Alibaba's president spoke instead. But Ma came to America anyway, and left no doubt that despite its public relations debacle, Alibaba has succeeded in making inroads with Washington. Reporters spotted him leaving the White House in a crush of black umbrellas last week after a quiet lunch with President Barack Obama. He pronounced the meeting "very good," ducked in 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 http://twitter.com/ekinetz and Butler at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler A man talks on his phone as a woman rides on an electric bike past 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) 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) FILE - In this file photo taken Sept. 23, 2014, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative in a session titled "Valuing What Matters" in New York. 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/Mark Lennihan, File) 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 file photo taken Nov. 11, 2015, Jack Ma, executive chairman of the Alibaba Group speaks in front of a giant screen showing real-time sales figures of e-commerce giant Alibaba, during a press conference for the "Singles' Day" online shopping festival held at National Aquatic Center, also known as the "Water Cube" in Beijing, China. 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/Andy Wong) FILE - In this file photo taken Nov. 11, 2015, Jack Ma, executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, speaks in front of a giant screen showing real-time sales figures of e-commerce giant Alibaba, during a press conference for the "Singles' Day" online shopping festival held at National Aquatic Center, also known as the "Water Cube" in Beijing, China. 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/Andy Wong) FILE - In this photo taken from file video, taken April 14, 2015, International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition Robert Barchiesi is seen during an interview in Washington D.C. Robert Barchiesi is a grizzled, gruff-talking former New York cop who took over at the anti-counterfeiting coalition in 2008. Back then, the IACC, like other groups, took a hard line against Alibaba, urging the U.S. government in 2009 to sanction Alibaba for massive sales of counterfeit goods on its platforms. (AP Photo) US military restricts troops after murder in Okinawa TOKYO (AP) The U.S. military in Japan is restricting celebrations and off-base alcohol consumption in Okinawa after the arrest of a former Marine suspected of killing a woman on the southern Japanese island. The Marine Corps commander in Japan said Saturday the measures are not punishment but an effort to show respect for the victim's family and mourn with the people of Okinawa. "We should not be out shooting fireworks. We should not be out having large celebrations and parties while the Okinawan people are in mourning. If we really believe we are part of the Okinawan community, then we too must be in mourning. And we do," Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson said at a news conference at a U.S. base in Okinawa. Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, U.S. Marine Corps Commanding General of III Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks during a press conference at the USMC Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan after a former Marine was arrested on suspicion of killing a woman on the southern Japanese island. The Marine Corps commander in Japan said Saturday the U.S. military in Japan is restricting celebrations and off-base alcohol consumption in Okinawa in an effort to show respect for the victims family and mourn with the people of Okinawa.(Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT The 30,000 U.S. troops will not be allowed to drink alcohol off-base, and visiting clubs and bars is prohibited. Upcoming festivals and concerts on bases are being postponed until later in the summer. The restrictions took effect Friday and will last until June 24. Police say they arrested 32-year-old Kenneth Shinzato on May 19 after he told investigators where they could find a 20-year-old woman's body abandoned in a forest. Under Japanese law, he can be held for 21 days before charges are filed. The former Marine had married a Japanese woman and was working for a contractor that provided services to U.S. bases on Okinawa. The arrest comes as tensions are already high over a plan to relocate a Marine Corps air station to a less-populated part of Okinawa. About half of the U.S. troops stationed in Japan are on the island, and many residents resent the burden they bear for the defense of Japan and the region. Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, front left, commanding general, III Marine Expeditionary Force, offers silent prayers for a woman who was killed on the southern Japanese island, at the USMC Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan. The U.S. military in Japan is restricting celebrations and off-base alcohol consumption in Okinawa after a former Marine was arrested on suspicion of killing a woman on the island. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT Search for missing teen on Northern California coast ends SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Authorities called off on Saturday a search along a Northern California creek for a teenager who was last seen being abducted by an armed acquaintance after investigators found no signs of the girl. Authorities have no further plans to look for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson in the Willow Creek area of Sonoma Coast State Park, the Solano County Sherriff's Office said in a statement. "Investigators are continuing to follow up on leads in this case and continue to have hope we will find and bring Pearl home," the statement said. 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) Pinson was abducted Wednesday morning as she walked to school. A witness reported seeing a girl with a bleeding face screaming for help as a man armed with a handgun dragged her across a freeway overpass in Vallejo, about 25 miles east of San Francisco. Blood and Pinson's cellphone were found on the ground. Authorities feared Pinson was in grave danger based on the witness' account and have been frantically looking for her. However, the search has been complicated by death of her suspected kidnapper. Fernando Castro, 19, was killed in Southern California on Thursday after police spotted his car and exchanged gunfire with him as he attempted to flee. 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, authorities said. The gold Saturn sedan was spotted on a freeway near San Francisco Bay, prompting authorities to search the water's edge. They narrowed their search on Friday to the rugged Sonoma Coast, where divers, canine units and search-and-rescue teams scoured along the river and coast for Pinson. Sheriff's spokeswoman Christine Castillo did not elaborate on what led investigators to the rural area, saying only that the strongest leads were there. Authorities said the two teens knew each other, but they 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. 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) Expecting worst, holiday travelers find fast airport lines ATLANTA (AP) Fast moving airport security lines at the start of the Memorial Day weekend could bode well for return travelers Monday. Travelers reported moving quickly through airport checkpoints Friday after authorities opened extra screening lanes and used bomb-sniffing dogs to give some passengers a break from removing their shoes. "Wow. I mean, wow," said Mike Saresky, who flew into Chicago from Philadelphia, where he breezed through airport security in 12 minutes and got to leave his shoes on. "I thought it was going to be a lot worse." Travelers pass through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Chicago. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the TSA. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) The extra dogs were concentrated at the nation's largest airports, but they were not used for all screenings, meaning that many travelers still had to observe the usual procedures. But as the busy summer travel season kicked off, the federal Transportation Security Administration tried to offer travelers some relief after weeks of slow-moving lines blamed on an increase in the number of air travelers and a shortage of TSA security officers. A TSA spokesman said the extra dogs would remain well beyond the holiday. At Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, known as the world's busiest, all 16 security lanes at the main checkpoint were open Friday morning as a bomb-sniffing dog and its handler walked among waiting passengers. Wait times were slashed to less than 15 minutes, compared with backups of nearly an hour in recent weeks. "All the natives were telling me, 'Brace yourself,'" said Carl Pluim, who arrived in Atlanta to fly home to Denver. "I left myself two hours before my flight, so I think I'll be OK." When she flew barely two weeks ago, LaGretta Watkin recalled security lines that were "so chaotic" that travelers "could barely move." "But today it's smooth sailing and refreshing," Watkin said as she started a trip from Atlanta to Jacksonville, Florida. "And I'm loving it." The TSA began deploying extra canine teams to the busiest airports months ago. While the goal was to shorten waits at larger airports, the reshuffling could also result in longer lines at airports that lost dog teams. The dogs "have the ability to screen large groups of passengers for explosives, making the removal of shoes and laptops and such unnecessary," TSA spokesman Mike England said. The agency has 900 dog teams nationwide, England said. He declined to say which airports they were sent to for the holiday weekend or how long they might stay. "This is not just for Memorial Day weekend," England said. "I wouldn't expect that it would go away any time soon." At O'Hare Airport in Chicago, which had some of the worst screening meltdowns in recent weeks, lines moved briskly Friday, though still swelled at times. Typical security procedures appeared to be in place, with passengers removing belts and shoes and taking computers from bags and items out of pockets. Bomb-sniffing dogs were making rounds in pre-security areas. Terri Hale, arriving in Chicago from Cleveland, said security there seemed, if anything, tighter than usual. Passing through the millimeter-wave scanner, she was stopped and asked to empty her pocket for what turned out to be a tiny piece of foil from a gum wrapper. "When she found that I was like, OK,'" Hale recalled with a laugh, as a security dog sniffed around her in the O'Hare baggage claim area. Security lines were fairly short at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Arlene Dobren, who was flying to Atlanta, said she and her husband arrived early to find "the lines are like no lines." Harrison Pavlasek, departing for Texas, said he had been prepared to make the best of the situation if lines were long. "It is just one of those things we are going to have to live with," Pavlasek said. "Whether it is the airlines' fault or TSA's fault or our own fault, it is unfortunately the consequences we have to live with at this point in time." Travelers at the San Diego airport said security lines were moving faster Friday than in recent weeks. Adam Hutson noticed improvements as he returned from a two-week trip to Hawaii. "When we left two weeks ago, it was very slow here," said Hutson, a San Diego business manager who waited over an hour in lines on his way to Hawaii. He said his wait leaving Maui was 30 minutes. "I think the scrutiny over the last week has really paid off in a big way," said Gary McGoffin of Lafayette, Louisiana, who was traveling through San Diego on vacation with his wife. Nationwide, AAA estimated that 2.6 million Americans would fly during the long weekend. That's out of an anticipated 38 million domestic travelers, most of whom will probably drive to their destinations. AAA predicted 2016 would have the second-highest Memorial Day travel volume on record and the most since 2005. ___ Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. ___ Associated Press writers Jason Keyser in Chicago, Julie Watson in San Diego, Joe Frederick in New York and Johnny Clark in Atlanta and contributed to this report. A Transportation Security Administration officer watches as passengers put their luggage through an X-ray machine at a TSA checkpoint at Miami International Airport, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Miami. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the agency. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) A K-9 unit checks travelers in line to enter the main security gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Friday, May 27, 2016. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the TSA agency. (AP Photo/Jeff Martin) Travelers walk to gates after passing through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Chicago. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the TSA. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) Travelers walk to gates after passing through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Chicago. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the TSA. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato) Travelers stand in line as they prepare to pass through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Miami International Airport, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Miami. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the TSA. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) A traveler raises her arms as she passes through a screening machine at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Miami International Airport, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Miami. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer vacations for many and a busy travel period, serves as a crucial test for the agency. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) DOD uses undisclosed files to defend sex assault testimony WASHINGTON (AP) The Pentagon is relying on information it won't make public to dispute an Associated Press investigation that found the military misled Congress about sexual assault cases to blunt support for Senate legislation. In a report sent Thursday to a bipartisan group of senators, the Pentagon refers to undisclosed files about several of the cases to challenge AP's findings. But the response, which faults AP for inconsistencies and misunderstandings, fails to conclusively counter the investigation. The report also criticizes a separate examination of the cases by the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders. The group's president, retired Col. Don Christensen, fired back at the Pentagon in a statement Friday. FILE - In this May 24, 2016, file photo, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., second from right, joined by, from left, former chief Air Force prosecutor Ret. Col. Don Christensen, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, , and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., stand near boxed petition papers to be brought to the White House before the start of a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Pentagon is relying on information it wont make public to dispute an Associated Press investigation that found the military misled Congress about sexual assault cases to blunt support for Senate legislation. In a report sent May 26 to a bipartisan group of senators, the Pentagon refers to undisclosed files about several of the cases to challenge APs findings. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) "The Defense Department repeatedly accused Protect Our Defenders of misunderstanding the military justice process," he wrote. "Yet they are the ones who mischaracterized this process to Congress in the first place." Christensen is the former chief prosecutor of the Air Force. Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon said the importance of protecting the privacy of sexual assault victims "inevitably limits the ability of the department to release certain information." Even as the department pushed back, the report acknowledged difficulties in pinpointing its own records. An attorney who oversaw the Air Force's sexual assault cases had died, the department said, leaving that service "unable to determine with certainty" the cases in question for that service. AP's investigation and the study by Protect Our Defenders focused on congressional testimony and correspondence delivered three years ago by then-vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. James Winnefeld. He cited dozens of sexual assault cases involving service members to illustrate for lawmakers that military commanders are more willing to punish sex offenders than civilian district attorneys and local police forces are. Winnefeld retired from military service last year. The Pentagon delivered the report on the eve of a Senate vote on legislation that has divided the chamber and led the military to warn of severe consequences if it's ever signed into law. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would strip commanders of their power to decide whether sexual assault cases should go to trial and give that authority to seasoned, independent military trial lawyers. Protect Our Defenders supports Gillibrand's bill. Senior Pentagon officials have argued that commanders are essential to maintaining good order and discipline in the ranks. Removing them from the decision to prosecute would mean fewer sex offenders will be caught and convicted, they said. Her legislation was first introduced in the spring of 2013 and has won support from at least 50 senators. But it has twice failed to meet a 60-vote filibuster threshold. Another vote on the bill is expected early next month. AP's investigation, published last month, was based on records obtained by Protect Our Defenders last year through the Freedom of Information Act. The amount of documents was small compared with the number of cases. The group filed the requests with the military services shortly after Winnefeld warned the Senate Armed Services Committee about the perils of Gillibrand's bill. He told the committee in July 2013 that there were 93 sexual assault cases that military commanders insisted on taking after local district attorneys refused. The bulk of the cases involved soldiers. "I worry that if we turn this over to somebody else, whether it is a civilian DA or a nonentity in the military, that they are going to make the same kind of decisions that those civilian prosecutors made," Winnefeld said. "I worry that we are going to have fewer prosecutions if we take it outside the chain of command." Among the records Protect Our Defenders received were summaries of the outcomes of many of the cases Winnefeld referred to in his testimony. The summaries, which were prepared by the military services at the Joint Staff's request, presented an often unflattering image of local law enforcement. The documents buttressed the Pentagon's position that Gillibrand's bill would result in fewer sexual assault prosecutions. In a number of the summaries, the steps taken by civilian authorities were described incorrectly or omitted, according to AP's investigation. Other case descriptions were too imprecise to be verified. Also, there's nothing in the records supporting Winnefeld's testimony that commanders intervened directly and insisted that the cases be prosecuted. The Pentagon report contested several of those conclusions. However, it cited "underlying case files" that weren't part of the records provided to Protect Our Defenders even though the group asked for "any and all documents and data" related to the cases. Pahon said the Defense Department "has no reason to believe that the (military) services withheld information that was responsive" to the records requests submitted by Protect Our Defenders. In other instances AP has obtained detailed records through FOIA about sexual assault cases to include investigative reports, trial transcripts, and pre-trial agreements. The Navy judge advocate general's office last year ordered the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to release investigative reports after AP appealed NCIS's refusal to do so. NCIS blacked out all the names in the reports, including the accused. ___ Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner FILE - In this Tuesday, May 24, 2016 file photo, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. front, with, from left, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., alleged rape victim Samantha Jackson, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, to urge the Senate to pass the bipartisan Military Justice Improvement Act, an amendment that will be offered to the National Defense Authorization Act that would establish an impartial, fair, and accountable military justice system to address the crisis of sexual assault. The Pentagon opposes the legislation, authored by Sen. Gillibrand, because it would strip military commanders of their power to decide whether sexual assault cases should go to trial. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) As in 'Celebrity Apprentice,' Trump fosters rivalries WASHINGTON (AP) When Donald Trump acquired a pair of Atlantic City casinos in the mid-1980s, he pitted his managers against each other in a ferocious competition over everything from booking entertainers to attracting high-rolling gamblers. That one of those managers was his wife, Ivana Trump, didn't earn her any slack. "His tactic there, as our success surpassed the Castle's in 1987, was to shove the Plaza's performance in Ivana's face, like a mirror, holding it up for her to see the reflection of a less than successful manager," John O'Donnell, Ivana Trump's rival in the casino wars, wrote in a 1991 book. FILE - In this March 15, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters at his primary election night event at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., as campaign manager Corey Lewandowski listens at left. Trumps penchant for encouraging rivalries and pitting even those closest to him against each other is roiling his Republican presidential campaign as he plunges into the general election. The tensions boiled over last week with the abrupt ouster of political director Rick Wiley, who left the campaign after just six weeks. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) Trump's penchant for encouraging rivalries is now roiling his presidential campaign just as he's captured the GOP nomination, creating deep uncertainty among Republicans about his preparedness for a complex and costly general election campaign. The tensions boiled over last week with the abrupt ouster of political director Rick Wiley, who left the campaign after just six weeks. Wiley found himself caught between Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, one of the businessman's original campaign staffers, and Paul Manafort, a veteran Republican hand who was brought in to bolster the operation in March. While Wiley was originally hired by Lewandowski, he aligned himself with Manafort's vision of a more robust and expensive campaign operation a vision Trump does not appear to have fully bought into. He also was seen as being unwilling to fill top jobs in battleground states with people close to Lewandowski, according to people familiar with the decision. Wiley did not respond to requests to discuss his tenure with the Trump campaign. Trump aides would not make the candidate available for an interview, but they did not dispute the notion that the real estate mogul encourages internal competition. "Of course there's competition because you want the best," Lewandowski said. "That's the type of mindset you have to have in the federal government." Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide who was fired last year, put the dynamic more bluntly: "He loves playing people against each other." Still, Nunberg said he appreciated the competitive environment, crediting it with keeping staffers creative and committed to the organization. But for other Trump aides, the businessman's cutthroat style led to mistrust and paranoia "You can't trust the other guy's people," said Stuart Jolly, who resigned as Trump's campaign field director after Manafort and Wiley were given more power. Jolly confirmed Friday that he is joining the pro-Trump group Great America PAC as its political director. Some current and former Trump advisers blamed the businessman for withholding information about staff changes from his team, sometimes leaving them to learn about internal developments in the media. Some have taken to shopping negative stories about their rivals to the press in a bid to undercut each other in the eyes of the boss even if the stories reflect poorly on Trump. Even more concerning for Trump as he eyes a likely faceoff with Democrat Hillary Clinton is the uncertainty the internal friction has created about the direction of the campaign. People close to the campaign say there are major questions about battleground state hiring, voter targeting efforts and super PAC fundraising. Those close to the campaign insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign publicly. Trump turned his fondness for competition into ratings gold with his television show "The Apprentice," where rival teams battled against each other to impress the boss. Those who failed were unceremoniously fired a made-for-television version of events that sometimes played out in Trump's real businesses. In 1985 and 1986, Trump acquired full control of two Atlantic City casinos in quick succession. Ivana Trump was put in charge of one, named Trump Castle, while the other Trump Plaza was overseen by casino managers hired away from gambling titan Steve Wynn. Castle and Plaza managers were expected to compete over everything from casino entertainers to which property bought more copies of Trump's autobiography, "The Art of the Deal." The most heated competition of all: which casino could draw the high-rolling gamblers who would wager thousands of dollars per hand. By 1987, the larger and more luxurious Plaza was successfully wooing this small but elite set, aided by top-tier prize fights in the Atlantic City Convention Center next door. Instead of allowing the Plaza to establish itself as the unrivaled venue for high-rollers in Atlantic City, however, Trump underwrote Ivana's campaign to compete for them. "If we presented a $100,000 player with a gold Rolex watch, the Castle gave him two," O'Donnell wrote in his book book "Trumped! The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall." In a 1997 interview, Trump said "the stuff O'Donnell wrote about me is probably true," using an expletive to describe his former executive as a loser. When Plaza managers pleaded to Trump that the competition between his two casinos was ill advised, Trump mocked them. "What are you worried about Ivana for," he told one executive, according to O'Donnell's book. "She's just a woman. She can't take the business." The competition described by O'Donnell led to an ill-advised, $70 million addition to Trump Castle, dubbed "The Crystal Tower," and continued even after Trump sent Ivana back to New York and three of the Plaza's top executives died in a helicopter crash. Within weeks of the accident, Trump's Castle team launched a surprise raid on Trump's other casino: It's top executive leased office space directly above the Plaza's marketing department, offering the Plaza team raises of up to 30 percent to defect. ___ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Jeff Horwitz at http://twitter.com/JeffHorwitz Presidential race shows deep seated strife toward WASHINGTON (AP) It started with Mexicans being publicly compared by presidential candidate Donald Trump to criminals and rapists. It escalated to ejections, to sucker punches, to pepper spray. And now violence and strife seems to be a commonplace occurrence out on the campaign trail. They are just a few instances of the tensions that have surfaced in the contentious 2016 presidential campaign, where hostilities have revolved around the ascendancy of Trump, first toward minorities and now by minorities protesting his policies. In San Diego on Friday, protesters waved Mexican flags, shouted obscenities and clashed with police outside a Trump rally while inside, Trump made derisive comments about Gonzalo Curiel, the federal judge who is hearing a class-action lawsuit against one of Trump's business ventures, noting that Curiel is Mexican American as he called the judge a "hater" who had "railroaded" him. In this May 27, 2016, photo Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Fresno, Calif. It started with Mexicans being publicly accused by Trump of being criminals and rapists. It escalated to ejections, to sucker punches, to pepper spray. And now violence and strife seems to be a commonplace occurrence out on the campaign trail. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) On Tuesday, protesters in New Mexico opposing Trump threw burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several, and toppled trash cans and barricades. Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center. Karla Molinar, 21, a University of New Mexico student, participated in a planned disruption of Trump's speech and said she had no choice because Trump is sparking hatred of Mexican immigrants. Trump, among other things, has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and declared that he will build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. "Trump is causing the hate to get worse," she said. Earlier this year, demonstrators against Trump swarmed outside the hotel near San Francisco airport, forcing the candidate Trump to crawl under a fence to enter the hotel where he met with local GOP power brokers. Other protesters tangled with authorities and damaged police cars after a Trump rally in Orange County, California. Earlier, the violence was aimed toward minorities. For example: A black woman was surrounded, cursed and shoved by white onlookers at a Trump rally in Louisville, Kentucky in March. Latino demonstrators Ariel Rojas was kicked and dragged by a white Trump supporter at a rally in Miami in October. A black male protester, Rakeem Jones, was punched from behind by white Trump supporter John McGraw as Jones was being ejected from a rally by police in North Carolina. McGraw was later arrested. Video captured Trump supporters physically assaulting Mercutio Southall Jr., an African-American activist, at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama in November. Southall said afterward he was called several expletives by the crowd and later compared them to a "lynch mob." While political violence is not unknown, like the 1968 violence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where 119 police and 100 protesters were injured, rarely has it been targeted so specifically at minorities, said Matt Dallak, a professor of political management in the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. He also laid much of the responsibility on Trump, who started his political campaign by comparing undocumented immigrants from Mexico to criminals and rapists. The crowds at Trump's rallies are feeding off him "demonizing particular segments of the population, including racial minorities" he said. "When you are whipping people up, it contributes to an atmosphere that leads to the potential of political violence. Words matter," he said. Trump says he does not encourage violence; the fault, he says, lies with the demonstrators. But the political rhetoric is feeding into misplaced myths about the contributions of minorities to this society, said Sol Trujillo, founder and chair of the Latino Donor Collaborative. "We're a country of breaking barriers, not erecting barriers," he said. Ken Burns, an Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, said some of Trump's comments and actions like forgetting that he had repudiated a Ku Klux Klan leader "that is the wink-wink dog whistle that signals to our unreconstructed brothers." "We'd like to believe in our better selves but in point of fact, a lot of us aren't that," said Burns, who explored racial tensions in his documentary, "Jackie Robinson." No one has died yet this campaign season. However, violence including some that has been fatal has often been suffered by minorities participating in political processes and social protesting. For example, an estimated 150 blacks and three whites were killed after white Louisianans attempted to take over a courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana on Easter Sunday after losing a statewide election to reconstructionists in 1872, which became known as the Colfax Massacre. And Rev. George Lee was gunned down in Belzoni, Mississippi in May 7, 1954 for his attempts to get blacks to vote. In August 1955, World War II veteran Lamar Smith was shot on the courthouse lawn in Brookhaven, Mississippi, for urging blacks to vote. Lee had turned down police protection because it was offered only on the condition he stopped his voter registration efforts. While political violence is not unknown, like the 1968 violence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where 119 police and 100 protesters were injured, rarely has it been targeted so specifically at minorities, said Matt Dallak, a professor of political management in the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. He also laid much of the responsibility on Trump, who started his political campaign by comparing immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico to criminals and rapists. The crowds at Trump's rallies are feeding off him "demonizing particular segments of the population, including racial minorities" he said. "When you are whipping people up, it contributes to an atmosphere that leads to the potential of political violence. Words matter," he said. Trump says he does not encourage violence; the fault, he says, lies with the demonstrators. But the political rhetoric is feeding into misplaced myths about the contributions of minorities to this society, said Sol Trujillo, founder and chair of the Latino Donor Collaborative. "We're a country of breaking barriers, not erecting barriers," he said. __ Associated Press writer Russell Contreras in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report. ___ Turkey: 104 Islamic State militants killed in strikes ANKARA, Turkey (AP) U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against the Islamic State group in Syria have killed 104 militants, the Turkish military said Saturday. The state-run Anadolu Agency, quoting military officials, said the strikes came late Friday, hours after rockets fired from Syria hit the southern Turkish town of Kilis and wounded five people. It said the airstrikes and artillery fire also destroyed 7 buildings used as IS headquarters. The claim could not be independently verified, and Turkey has not explained how it can count casualties in Syria. On Saturday, the Turkish military also retaliated after two rockets landed in an field near the town of Oguzeli in the border province Gaziantep, Anadolu reported. The private Dogan news agency said one of the rockets landed in a garden close to Gaziantep Airport, but did not cause any injuries or damage. Cross-border fire from Syria has claimed 21 lives and wounded dozens in Kilis this year. Tourism boom fires Iberian economies but leaves some cold BARCELONA, Spain (AP) With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. While most in the cash-strapped nations are welcoming the influx, some locals have been exasperated by the crowds of tourists. In the first two months of this year, the number of holidaymakers arriving in Spain was up more than 11 percent on the same period in 2015. Authorities predict that Spain is on course for its fourth straight record-breaking tourism year. ABTA, the United Kingdom's largest travel association and Iberia's main market, reports that bookings to Portugal are 29 percent up compared to last year, and are 26 percent higher for Spain. In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 photo, people sunbathe at the Barceloneta beach in Barcelona, Spain. With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) That's broadly seen as good news for the two Iberian economies, which nosedived during Europe's recent financial crisis. But not everyone is cheering. With the boom showing no signs of slowing and the summer vacation season approaching, some locals are fed up with throngs of tourists clogging the narrow streets of the peninsula's centuries-old cities and crowding its celebrated beaches. In Palma, capital of the popular Spanish island of Mallorca, graffiti in English appeared on city walls last month saying, "tourist you are the terrorist" and "tourist go home." In Barcelona, complaints about overcrowding have grown so much that residents elected a mayor last year who is making good on promises to put a brake on new hotel construction and is exchanging ideas with New York City officials on how to cope with the crush. Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, residents in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon grumble about packed sidewalks and heavy traffic. Tourism analysts say security concerns are helping drive business toward the western Mediterranean areas and away from Europeans' other traditional summer hotspots, especially Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey. "The threats from terror have come into play," says Rochelle Turner, director of research at the World Travel and Tourism Council in London, a forum for industry businesses. Turkey's visitor count in April was down nearly 30 percent compared to a year earlier, the tourism ministry said Friday. Spain, Europe's most popular destination after France, hosted 68.1 million tourists last year almost 5 percent up on the previous year with the United Kingdom, France and Germany sending most visitors. The tourist trade brought in 67.4 billion euros ($75.3 billion) in 2015, the national statistics agency says. In the first three months of this year, tourism created almost 89,000 new Spanish jobs. In a country with 20 percent unemployment, that's a welcome development. But some say the surge has to be better managed. "We cannot just keep growing at breakneck speed in terms of volume, filling or exceeding the capacity of some destinations," Exceltur, a nonprofit group formed by the chairmen of the 25 leading Spanish tourist groups, has warned. The people of Barcelona may agree. The Catalan capital of 1.6 million people received 4.2 million tourists in 2005. Last year, that number reached 7 million, triggering alarm. "I'm all for a concept of sensible tourism ... but the truth is we have been invaded, and Barcelona's own success is its own worst enemy," said retiree Rosa Maria Miguel, 65, from the Barceloneta district a historic fishermen's quarter that nowadays boasts an exclusive marina for glamorous mega-yachts. Aime Bwakira, a 41-year-old financial analyst from Toronto, likes Barcelona so much that he recently made his third visit, though he acknowledges the influx of tourists like him can be "overwhelming." "I can certainly sympathize with local frustrations because, while we bring money to the local economy, we also crowd the streets, push prices up and bring noise and rowdiness," he said. "I don't know what the right balance is, but it's not an easy one." Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau is determined to find that balance. "Barcelona has consolidated itself as one of the world's prime destinations, which has its obvious benefits, but also entails high-impact risk that unregulated growth could eventually make the bubble burst," she said recently. Her administration has imposed a moratorium on new hotel accommodation and is mulling the introduction of a "tourist tax" on visitors, with revenue being spent on other sectors in order to spread the benefits. Cruise ships that offload thousands of tourists usually for only a few hours before setting sail again are a clear target for this per-person tax. "Harmony of the Seas," the world's largest cruise liner, capable of landing more than 5,000 passengers at a time, is due to dock in Barcelona on June 5 on its maiden Mediterranean cruise. While Barcelona seeks to slow things down, in Lisbon there's a dash to keep up with surging demand. More than 50 new hotels opened in 2015. Portugal last year received more than 17 million tourists a 9 percent increase on 2014 and a record and in the first quarter of this year, the number of guests increased by almost 15 percent. The visitors are seen as a tonic for Portugal's feeble economy. But as the novelty of being in fashion wears off, grumbles are being heard. One downtown Lisbon parish council official has described the city's residents as "collateral damage" in the boom, as they are squeezed off busy sidewalks and out of popular restaurants. In the medieval Lisbon neighborhood of Alfama, a constant stream of tourists in tour buses, taxis and motorized rickshaws called "tuk-tuks" thread their way through narrow, cobbled streets up to St. George's castle. The picturesque neighborhood is increasingly handing over its homes to lucrative tourist accommodations. ___ Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Ciaran Giles and Harold Heckle in Madrid contributed to this report. In this Thursday, May 26, 2016, photo, a tourist poses for photos behind a bullfighting costume in Madrid's Plaza Mayor in Spain. With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. (AP Photo/Paul White) In this May 25, 2016 photo, tourists taking pictures are silhouetted against Lisbon's old center lit by the setting sun. With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) In this May 25, 2016 photo, tourists have dinner at restaurant tables set outside on public stairs with a view of Lisbon's Saint George castle, in the background. With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 photo, tourists walk along the Ramblas street in Barcelona, Spain. With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) In this Friday, May 27, 2016 photo, a couple rest near to the beach in Barcelona, Spain. With sunny days getting longer and lazier, sparkling beaches warming up and terrorism fears driving customers away from other Mediterranean destinations, Spain and Portugal are reaping an economic bonanza from tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) In this May 24, 2016 photo, a group of tourists riding electric vehicles make their way through a narrow street in the medieval Lisbon neighborhood of Alfama. There is a constant stream of tourists threading their way through the narrow, cobbled streets of the picturesque neighborhood. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) Merkel ally: Germany should avoid another 'grand coalition' BERLIN (AP) A senior ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany should avoid another "grand coalition" of its biggest parties after next year's election, pointing to fatigue among voters in neighboring Austria with constant such alliances. Merkel's conservative Union bloc formed a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats in 2013. It's the third time in post-World War II Germany that the rivals have governed together. In Austria, "grand coalitions" have been a regular feature of post-war politics. In Austria's recent presidential election, both parties' candidates were eliminated in the first round. Volker Kauder, the Union's parliamentary caucus leader, told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung Saturday that "constant 'grand coalitions' have wearied people in Austria. We must avoid that in Germany." Italian, Irish, German ships save over 650 migrants at sea ROME (AP) A flotilla of ships saved 668 migrants Saturday from smugglers' boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, Italian authorities said bringing the week's total of migrants plucked from the sea to a staggering 13,000 people. The rescues by the Italian coast guard and navy ships, aided by Irish and German vessels and humanitarian groups, are the latest by a multinational patrol south of the Italian island of Sicily. The Irish military said the vessel Le Roisin saved 123 migrants from a 12-meter-long (40-foot) rubber dinghy and recovered a male body. A German ship patrolling to intercept smugglers' boats also was involved in four separate rescue operations, the Italian coast guard said Saturday evening. Pope Francis holds a migrant child during a meeting with some 400 children coming by train from the region of Calabria, at the Vatican, Saturday, May 28, 2016. (AP Photos/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, bringing 135 survivors and 45 bodies from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock on Sunday. Other survivors who arrived Saturday in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo told authorities they had witnessed a fishing boat filled with" hundreds" of migrants sink on Thursday, a Save The Children spokeswoman, Giovanna Di Benedetto, told The Associated Press by telephone from Sicily. According to survivors, two smugglers' fishing boats and a dinghy set sail Wednesday night from Libya's coast. Di Benedetto said the survivors were among 500 or so aboard the one fishing boat that didn't sink and the dinghy. "All of this must be verified, of course," said Di Benedetto, but if the survivors' accounts bear out, as many as 400 people could have drowned, with only a very few of those on the vessel that sank able to reach the other boats. Authorities say many migrant boats in the past few years apparently have sunk without a trace in the Mediterranean, with the dead never found. Often the only news about them comes when family members in Africa or Europe tell authorities that their loved ones never arrived after setting sail from Libya. Under a European Union deal, tens of thousands of those rescued at sea and seeking asylum were supposed to be relocated to other EU nations from Italy and Greece, where most of the migrants have landed. But with resentment building in some European countries about taking in more migrants, the plan never really took off, and only a small percentage of those slated for relocation have actually been moved. At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis told several hundred children, among them many migrants, who came from southern Italy that migrants "aren't a danger but they are in danger." The pontiff held a red life vest given to him by a volunteer. He told the children the vest was used by a Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. "She's in heaven, she's watching us," Francis said. Among those in the audience was a Nigerian youth who lost his parents in 2014 as the family tried to reach Italy by sea. Francis has repeatedly expressed dismay that some European nations have refused to accept those fleeing poverty or war, and have even thrown up razor-wire fences and other barriers to thwart their arrivals. In France, an Afghan migrant died after being hit by a truck near the coastal city of Calais. Pas-de-Calais region Secretary-General Marc Del Grande said the 25-year-old was hit while he and about 50 other migrants were laying branches on the highway in an effort to slow traffic, hop on a truck and get to Britain. People jump off a boat moments before it overturns off the Libyan coast, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. On Friday, the Italian navy says it has saved 135 migrants and recovered 45 bodies. (Marina Militare via AP) Pope Francis holds a life jacket which was donated to him by a migrants' rescuer during a meeting with some 400 children coming by train from the region of Calabria, at the Vatican, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The pontiff told the children that it was the vest of Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos: Shes in heaven, shes watching us. (AP Photos/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) Pope Francis and Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, right, hold up a drawing depicting migrants arriving by sea during a meeting with some 400 children coming by train from the region of Calabria, at the Vatican, Saturday, May 28, 2016. (AP Photos/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) Pope Francis holds a life jacket which was donated to him by a migrants' rescuer during a meeting with some 400 children coming by train from the region of Calabria, at the Vatican, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The pontiff told the children that it was the vest of Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos: Shes in heaven, shes watching us. (AP Photos/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) Pilots pay tribute to comrade whose WWII plane crashed NEW YORK (AP) Air show pilots performed an aerial salute Saturday to their comrade who died after his World War II-era plane crashed in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey a day earlier. The P-47 Thunderbolt crashed Friday night during a promotional flight for the American Airpower Museum on Long Island, which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the P-47 this weekend. The plane's pilot, William Gordon, 56, of Key West, Florida, was a veteran air show pilot with more than 25 years of experience. New York City police scuba divers recovered his body from the wreckage of the downed aircraft Friday night, about three hours after the collision. Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27 killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) As bagpipes played in the background on Saturday, pilots flew over the museum in an aerial salute known as a "missing man formation" in a tribute honoring Gordon. Scott Clyman, flight operations pilot for the American Airpower Museum, called Gordon "an extraordinary pilot who understood the powerful message our aircraft represent in telling the story of American courage and valor." Promotional material for a Key West air show last month said Gordon was an "aerobatic competency evaluator" who certified performers to perform low-level aerobatics." The single-seat P-47 crashed on a part of the river near where a US Airways commercial jet carrying 155 people splash-landed safely in 2009 in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson. The plane was pulled from the water and loaded on to a barge Saturday before it was taken to a heliport in lower Manhattan, where investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board can examine it as part of their investigation. An NTSB spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon. The aircraft, which went down around 7:30 p.m. Friday, was among three planes that had departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, just east of New York City. The other two aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely. A witness to the crash, Hunter College student Siqi Li, saw smoke spewing from the plane and thought it was doing a trick. "It made kind of a U-turn, and then there was a stream of smoke coming from it," Li told the Daily News. "It was tilting down toward the water. I thought they were doing some sort of trick. I didn't realize it at first, but it was a plane crash." Museum spokesman Gary Lewi said the plane was kept at the museum and was taking part in an air show at nearby Jones Beach this weekend. Clyman told fellow mourners at a service Saturday that Gordon had always been fascinated by World War II fighter planes "and he quickly demonstrated the skill to master these demanding aircraft." The P47-Thunderbolts were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War II. They first went into service in 1942, with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island. Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Officials remove a plane out of the Hudson River a day after it crashed, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. The World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27 killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) NYPD divers ride a boat on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27 killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) An NYPD boat sits on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) NYPD search and rescue boats sit on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) NYPD search and rescue boats sit on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, 2016, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) NYPD search and rescue boats sit on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) NYPD divers ride a boat on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) NYPD search and rescue boats sit on the Hudson River near the site of small plane crash, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in North Bergen, N.J. A World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft crashed into the river Friday, May 27, killing its pilot. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) In this photo taken from video, search and rescue boats look for a small plane that went down in the Hudson River, Friday, May 27, 2016, near West New York, N.J. The Federal Aviation Administration says it received a report a World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft may have gone down in the river 2 miles south of the George Washington Bridge. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Search and rescue boats look for a small plane that went down in the Hudson River, Friday, May 27, 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration says it received a report a World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft may have gone down in the river 2 miles south of the George Washington Bridge. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) Search and rescue boats look for a small plane that went down in the Hudson River, Friday, May 27, 2016. The Federal Aviation Administration say it received a report a World War II vintage P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft may have gone down in the river 2 miles south of the George Washington Bridge. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) AP-NORC Poll: Interest, not excitement in White House race ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) Mary Heintzelman shakes her head in disgust over the presidential election. "I don't think we have a candidate that's really suitable to be president in either party," says Heintzelman, an administrative assistant from Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Her son suggests she write in a candidate when she votes in November, but the 68-year-old says despondently, "I don't even know who to write in." Heintzelman is hardly alone in her angst over the prospect of a November matchup between presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and likely Democratic pick Hillary Clinton. While 65 percent of Americans say they're interested in the White House race, just 23 percent say they're excited as the presidential contest shifts from the primaries to the general election, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Friday, May 27, 2016 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) The malaise crosses party lines. Majorities of Republicans and Democrats say the election has left them angry, helpless and frustrated. Only 13 percent of Americans say they're proud of what has transpired in a campaign where surprising candidates have thrived and Trump in particular has defied political norms. Election experts say the gap between Americans' high interest and low excitement makes the race to succeed President Barack Obama highly unpredictable. Turnout can be low when unpopular candidates are on the ballot, but the unusual nature of a race between a billionaire businessman who has never before sought elected office and a former first lady who would be the country's first female president could offset voters' sour mood. "We're in uncharted territory here with these two candidates," said Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida who studies voter turnout. He said that while Americans may not be excited about their options, "the negativity gives people something to talk about." "If people perceive the election is interesting, they may still show up to vote even if it's against a candidate," McDonald added. Former Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., predicted voter enthusiasm could increase as the general election heats up, particularly when the nominees meet in debates. "I do believe in some ways there's a reset in the general election," Rendell said. "First of all, you have some voters that paid no attention and only vote in general elections. Secondly, even the ones who paid attention, now all of a sudden there's two candidates and six months." For now, though, some people say they're resigned to an election in which they'll be voting against a candidate instead of for one. That view was pervasive in interviews with more than 30 voters interviewed by the AP in Pennsylvania. Democrats have carried the state in every presidential election since 1992, but Trump's campaign hopes strong support from working-class white voters could swing the state back to the GOP. "Your vote isn't who you're for, it's who you don't want in," Joann Spangenberg, a 48-year-old loan underwriter, said as she stood outside her office in downtown Allentown on a sunny afternoon. "It shouldn't be that way." Spangenberg said the election is generating more interest among her family and friends than in past years, including spurring her daughter to register to vote right after her 18th birthday. But the frequent Republican voter says that while she likely will go for Trump in November, her support is lukewarm at best. "He's what we have left," she said before ducking back into her office. Pittsburgh voter Kim Bowles feels the same way about Clinton. Bowles has been intrigued by Bernie Sanders, but doesn't think the Vermont senator can win, leaving her feeling stuck with Clinton as the only option for stopping Trump. "If you don't vote, you're helping someone else, and I'm not a fan of Donald Trump," said Bowles, 51, as she waited at a bus stop. "So, I've got to vote for Hillary. But it's not easy." Trump formally clinched the GOP nomination last week, cementing his extraordinary rise to the top of the Republican Party. Clinton is still trying to shake Sanders, but it's nearly impossible for Sanders to catch the former secretary of state in the Democratic delegate count. For Ron Zemlansky, a 64-year-old accountant from Catasauqua, an election between Trump and Clinton leaves voters with two bad options. "Trump, I don't think he's qualified," he said. "Hillary, there's too much baggage." Despite voting for Obama twice, Zemlansky said his questions about Clinton may push him to Trump. "Right now, I hate to say it, I'd probably pick Trump," he said. The AP-NORC poll of 1,060 adults was conducted May 12-15 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by telephone. ___ Online: AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/ ___ AP News Survey Specialist Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Thomas Beaumont at http://twitter.com/TomBeaumont Schools preparing for the worst, with active shooter drills CARMEL, Ind. (AP) "Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. This is a drill." With those seven words, calmly announced over the intercom system, an eerie silence overtook a bustling elementary school of 650 students in suburban Indianapolis. Lights were turned off and blinds shut. In some classrooms, doors were barricaded with small desks and chairs. From start to finish, the "intruder drill" at the Forest Dale Elementary School in Carmel took about 10 minutes an exercise now as routine at the school as a fire drill. What might sound terrifying to some parents has become the norm in many schools nationwide after a rash of school shootings. In this May 6, 2016, photo, Forest Dale Elementary School principal Deanna Pitman, right, and Carmel, (Ind.) police officer Greg DeWald welcome students as they return to the school following an intruder drill at the school in Carmel, Ind. More and more, schools these days are conducting active-shooter drills. A government report found that more than two-thirds of the school districts surveyed conduct active shooter exercises. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) More than two-thirds of school districts surveyed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office conduct "active shooter" exercises. Some schools make their drills very realistic, simulating the sounds of gunshots and using smoke and fake blood. In one case, armed police officers with weapons drawn burst into a Florida middle school, terrifying staff and students alike. Staff and teachers are usually given warning that drills will happen. GAO investigators said one district noted "the difficulty of striking a balance between providing knowledge and inciting fear, particularly at schools with younger children." Between 2000 and 2013, there were 25 shootings at U.S. elementary and secondary schools, resulting in 57 deaths, according to the FBI. These numbers include the shooting at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 when an intruder gunned down 20 first-graders and six educators. Students at Forest Dale began participating in twice-a-semester intruder drills even before Sandy Hook. "We do fire drills, but we don't expect there to be a fire. When you get on an airplane, they talk to you about all sorts of safety procedures, but not because they expect the plane to crash, but because you just need to know, just in case," said D.J. Schoeff, a school resource officer in Carmel and a regional director with the National Association of School Resource Officers. But Forest Dale's drills don't have the effects and props that have drawn criticism elsewhere. Playing the role of intruders, Forest Dale Principal Deanna Pitman and Police Officer Greg Dewald walked the halls, jiggled the doorknobs of darkened classrooms, checking for unlocked doors. A staff assistant in an office watching a monitor used the intercom to broadcast the location and description of the intruders, so staff and students could choose how to respond. "Mrs. Pitman is wearing a green blouse today and Officer Dewald is wearing khaki pants with his policeman's jacket," the assistant said. "Consider what you would do if they were in the fifth-grade pod." Fifth-graders scattered from a hallway, leaving notebooks and pencils strewn across the carpeted floor as they fled inside a classroom. At the other end of the school, youngsters streamed outside in lines of two with their teachers to designated safe locations. Students had no advance warning of the drill. Teachers were told there would be a drill, but they didn't know what kind or when. Inside the school, all went mostly according to plan. No children were stranded in hallways. Doors were locked. Only the head of one little child could be seen peeking out from under a desk. The child quickly popped back under the desk as Pitman walked by a classroom window. Outside school, one class went to the wrong safe spot a "lessons learned" moment for future drills, Pitman said. "We had a little bit of concern from parents when we first started the drills," Pitman said after the students were back to class. "I think it was more of the unknown, and not necessarily anxiety over lockdown and intruder drills. Once they know what the teachers are saying to the kids, we don't really get a lot of pushback." Not all schools feel the same way about the drills, and some security experts are cautious about them. "Practice your lockdowns and diversify when you do those, different times of the day, and keep your focus on the other types of threats and day-to-day security issues without getting a tunnel vision focus on active shooters," said school safety consultant Ken Trump. Many schools across the country don't have enough security cameras to capture the entire campus for potential threats, Trump added. He said exiting the building can be risky if there truly is an intruder because of the uncertainty about whether there could be accomplices outside waiting. "You are leaving secure areas and evacuating into you don't know what," said Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland. But a school psychologist, Dr. Melissa Reeves, says schools need to be prepared and conduct age-appropriate exercises like the Forest Dale drill. It's the more realistic simulation drills with props that worry Reeves. "We do not light a fire in the hallway to practice fire drills, so why do we feel the need to bring in a fake gun, people screaming and people with makeup that looks like blood?," said Reeves, a psychologist at a pre-K through 12 school in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the president-elect of the National Association of School Psychologists. "There are other ways we can train staff members and students to be prepared." Jennifer Cassidy, who has a second-grader and fifth-grader at Forest Dale, says her kids never come home talking about the intruder drills. "I don't think that's because they are traumatized or freaked out. I think they just think it's just another part of school," she said. "At first I felt like, I don't understand why we have to do these. Then, after Sandy Hook, I was glad we do these, and I feel completely different about them." In this May 6, 2016, photo, Justin Kay, a 5th grade teacher at Forest Dale Elementary School in Carmel, Ind., makes an announcement of the school's public address system of an "intruder drill." More and more, schools these days are conducting active-shooter drills. A government report found that more than two-thirds of the school districts surveyed conduct active shooter exercises. From start to finish, the intruder drill at the Forest Dale Elementary School in Carmel took about 10 minutes _ an exercise now as routine at the school as a fire drill. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) In this May 6, 2016, photo, books and supplies litter the floor as a class evacuated the area during an intruder drill Forest Dale Elementary School in Carmel, Ind. More and more, schools these days are conducting active-shooter drills. A government report found that more than two-thirds of the school districts surveyed conduct active shooter exercises. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) In this May 6, 2016, photo, Forest Dale Elementary School administrative assistant Heather Fellabaum tracks an "intruder" and announces their whereabouts via the schools public address system as the school holds a intruder drill in Carmel, Ind. More and more, schools these days are conducting active-shooter drills. A government report found that more than two-thirds of the school districts surveyed conduct active shooter exercises. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) In this May 6, 2016, photo, students at Forest Dale Elementary School gather outside the school during an intruder drill in Carmel, Ind. Had this not is been a drill, students would of continued to a designated safe location away from the front of the school. More and more, schools these days are conducting active-shooter drills. A government report found that more than two-thirds of the school districts surveyed conduct active shooter exercises.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy) Turkey's Erdogan condemns US over Kurdish militia insignia ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey's president has pressed ahead with his criticism of the United States over the U.S. troops' wearing the patches of Kurdish forces. In a speech Saturday in the mainly-Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "condemned" Washington and accused Turkey's NATO ally of not being "honest." A U.S. military spokesman said Friday that American troops were not authorized to wear the insignia of Kurdish People's Protection Units, which are fighting the Islamic State group, and said they had been ordered to remove them. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group considered a terror organization. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan salutes in the costume of an " ahi, " a member of traditional Turkish artisan and merchants group, during a meeting in Central Anatolian city of Kirsehir, Turkey, Friday, May 27, 2016.(Presidential Press Service/ Pool via AP) AP Analysis: Hopes for peace dim with new Taliban leader KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, killed in a U.S. drone strike last week. But Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada is a hard-liner who has used his religious credentials to justify the Taliban insurgency that has killed or wounded tens of thousands of Afghan civilians as a "holy war" and his succession has inspired little hope for an end to the bloodshed. For many Taliban fighters, the movement's leadership lost Islamic legitimacy last year, when it emerged that its founder, one-eyed Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for years and that his deputy, a wealthy drug smuggler named Mullah Akhtar Mansour, had been running the war in his name. The revelation caused a split at the top of the Taliban, and provoked mistrust among fighters. Several factions broke away, and some began fighting Mansour loyalists. In this undated and unknown location photo, the new leader of Taliban fighters, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada poses for a portrait. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP) The Taliban leadership is now desperate to close these rifts. After Mansour was killed last Saturday when his vehicle was struck by an American drone in southwestern Pakistan, Akhundzada was swiftly chosen to replace him in an attempt to avoid the tensions that followed Mullah Omar's death. On Thursday, the Taliban religious council released a statement to The Associated Press, saying they believe Akhundzada will bring unity and mend the "mistakes" of the recent past. The new leader will "bring all the mujahedeen (holy warriors) together on a single platform," the statement said. Mansour, nicknamed "the Accountant" because of his wealth, controlled a vast drugs-smuggling empire based in the southern opium-producing provinces that provide the bulk of the world's heroin and fund the 15-year insurgency, one senior Afghan official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Battles between Mansour and his main detractor, Mullah Mohammad Rasool, for control of the smuggling routes spread disillusionment among foot soldiers, the official said. "The Taliban have always claimed that they are fighting not for power, but for Islam, for freedom. So when they started fighting for power, it led to the erosion of their legitimacy among their own rank and file and caused them to become suspicious of each other," he added. Never again would the Taliban leadership "have the unity, authority and position as they had under Mullah Omar." On his Twitter account, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued an ultimatum on Thursday, saying that "Taliban groups have yet another chance to end violence/lay their arms & start normal life. Or they'll face the same fate as their leadership." But analysts say such threats are bound to fail as they effectively call for surrender. Mansour had refused to join Ghani's earlier efforts to start a peace dialogue, instead intensifying the war. When the Taliban and their partners, the al-Qaida affiliated Haqqani network, were linked to an April 19 attack on Kabul that killed 64 people and wounded hundreds, Ghani changed tack and accused Pakistan of using the Taliban to wage war on his country. The new attitude has been welcomed by many Afghans, who regarded attempts to appease Islamabad, which they accuse of harboring the Taliban leadership, as misguided. Pakistan denies such accusations. Akhundzada, a low-profile conservative who was a deputy to Mansour, is seen by many as a natural choice for a movement that, despite battlefield gains, has been in disarray for more than a year. He was close to Mullah Omar, helping formulate religious decrees to justify the war, and like him is a native of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, which was the center of the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime. As head of the Taliban courts, Akhundzada was brutal in his pronouncements and was conspicuously extremist in his views of women, according to Rahmatullah Nabil, a former head of Afghanistan's secret service. Nabil described Akhundzada as a "small-minded man with a weak personality" who has never traveled abroad and so lacks "any familiarity with the bigger issues." Akhundzada's need to consolidate his position could mean escalated violence, as he seeks to be taken seriously as a warrior. Anatol Levin, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, said the United States appeared to have "decided that peace talks are pointless at this stage and, encouraged by the Afghan government, have decided to go for a strategy of decapitating the Taliban." The impact of the divide-and-rule strategy may be emerging as Akhundzada's two deputies Sirajuddin Haqqani, head of the Haqqani network, and Mullah Omar's son, Mullah Yaqoub vie for influence. The two, Haqqani and Yaqoub, have already "divided Afghanistan into two parts" and each wants to control his own section, said one Taliban commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Taliban leadership. The U.S. military does not anticipate any "significant changes on the battlefield in the short term," said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, spokesman for the American and NATO mission in Afghanistan. He expected fierce months of fighting ahead. As Akhundzada consolidates power, he will have to identify dissidents, said political analyst Idress Rahmini. The faction led by Rasool the main detractor to Mansoor have said they will not reconcile with Akhundzada. The new Taliban leader's success and longevity also depends on how he manages his relationship with Pakistan's intelligence agency, said Rahimini. He must handle the relationship "very carefully to avoid the mistakes of the last leader," Rahmini said. Islamabad has protested that the strike on Mansour violated its sovereignty, but it is not known if the intelligence agency colluded in the assassination. If Pakistani authorities did secretly support Mansour's killing, this "shows that Pakistan is supporting the Afghan peace process by removing a Taliban leader who was a barrier to peace," Rahmini said. But, he added, if the attack was conducted unilaterally, this "will have a negative impact on the peace process and we will see an escalation of attacks in Afghanistan." ___ O'Donnell is The Associated Press bureau chief in Kabul, Afghanistan and has reported from Asia since 1990. Associated Press writers Mirwais Khan and Karim Sharifi in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report. In this picture take on Friday, May 27, 2016, members of a breakaway faction of the Taliban fighter guards during a patrol in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan) In this Thursday, May 26, 2016, photo, Rahmatullah Nabil, a former head of Afghanistan's secret service speaks during an interview with the Associated press in Kabul, Afghanistan. . Nabil described the new Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada as a "small-minded man with a weak personality" who has never traveled abroad and so lacks "any familiarity with the bigger issues." (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this picture take on Friday, May 27, 2016, members of a breakaway faction of the Taliban fighters patrol in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan) In this picture take on Friday, May 27, 2016, members of a breakaway faction of the Taliban fighters guard during a patrol in the Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan) In this picture take on Friday, May 27, 2016, members of a breakaway faction of the Taliban fighters guard during a patrol in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan) In this picture take on Friday, May 27, 2016, members of a breakaway faction of the Taliban fighters guard during a patrol in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan) In this picture take on Friday, May 27, 2016, members of a breakaway faction of the Taliban fighters patrol in Shindand district of Herat province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan) This Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015 file photo, shows Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File) In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 file photo, an Afghan man reads a local newspaper with photos the former leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Thursday, May 26, 2016, photo, Rahmatullah Nabil, a former head of Afghanistan's secret service speaks during an interview with the Associated press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Nabil described the new Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada as a "small-minded man with a weak personality" who has never traveled abroad and so lacks "any familiarity with the bigger issues." (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Idea for Burt's Bees land to become park becoming partisan PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A congressional field hearing in the coming week on a proposal to create a national monument in northern Maine underscores how partisan lines have been drawn as Republican lawmakers try to rein in the expansion of public lands by Democratic President Barack Obama. Republican Gov. Paul LePage will deliver opening remarks Wednesday, and he'll be followed by four others who oppose a proposal to donate 87,500 acres of land owned by the co-founder of Burt's Bees to the federal government. Two slots for supporters have gone unclaimed, meaning there will be no formal support. Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, is holding the hearing in East Millinocket at the request of Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin, who opposes the monument proposal. FILE-In this Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 file photo, birch trees show signs of beaver activity on woodland proposed for a national park in Penobscot County, Maine. Proponents of the national park proposal say they see growing support, and they're aiming for an aggressive timetable for making it a reality. A congressional field hearing this week on a proposal to create a national monument shows how the lines have been drawn. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file) David Farmer, spokesman for foundation that brought forward the proposal, called it "a sham hearing." "They've stacked the deck here," Farmer said. "It's a political show. It's more about Bruce Poliquin's re-election and Paul LePage's ego instead of good public policy." Obama has utilized his power under the 1906 Antiquities Act to create 23 national monuments that have protected 265 million acres of land and water. And Bishop has been waging war over the issue, accusing the president of being overzealous in his efforts and of failing to get public input. "The proposed monument designation in Maine's Katahdin region would be another abuse of the Antiquities Act, exercised unilaterally with complete disregard for local residents, businesses and elected officials," Bishop, R-Utah, said in a statement. In Maine, the 87,500 acres east of Baxter State Park is owned by a foundation created by multimillionaire Roxanne Quimby, conservationist and co-founder of the Burt's Bees line of personal care products. Her proposal calls for donating the land valued at $60 million and providing a $40 million privately funded endowment for operations and maintenance. Because of congressional opposition, the only way her goal can be achieved is if the land is declared a national monument by Obama. National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis called the land and endowment "unprecedented" and has deemed the land worthy of protection. But critics fear the national monument designation could stymie industrial development or lead to the taking of land by eminent domain. Poliquin, who represents Maine's 2nd Congressional District, and fellow Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, oppose the proposal. Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree supports it. And independent Sen. Angus King is undecided after backing away from his past opposition. Poliquin brushed aside criticism that the East Millinocket forum is political. "I have encouraged all sides of this discussion to be heard and have invited key proponents and opponents to join," he said. FILE-In this Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, file photo, the Wassataquoik Stream flows through land proposed for a national park in Township 3, Range 8, Maine. Proponents of the national park proposal say they see growing support, and they're aiming for an aggressive timetable for making it a reality. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file) FILE-In this Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, file photo, a sign in opposition to a proposed national park is seen on a home in Millinocket, Maine. The former Great Northern Paper Co. mill closed in February 2013, devastating the Katahdin region economy. A congressional field hearing this week on a proposal to create a national monument shows how the lines have been drawn. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file) Cost of replacing Flint water pipes double estimates FLINT, Mich. (AP) Replacing water pipes due to the lead-tainted crisis in Flint could be at least twice the price of previous estimates, according to a report obtained by a newspaper. Engineering company Rowe Professional Services told the state the average cost for replacing a service water line through a completed pilot project was $7,500. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality previously estimated it would cost $4,000, the Detroit Free Press reported (http://on.freep.com/1TGtTPl ) Saturday. The company's report said costs could be higher if average permit fees of $2,400 per site are factored in. The largest share of that is $2,200, which includes replacing the pavement. This Tuesday, May 24, 2016, image taken from video shows David G. Mata Sr. turning on the faucet in the basement of his home in Flint, Mich. State and local officials are asking Flint residents to flush the pipes in their homes every day for two weeks. Some residents like Mata are giving it a shot, but not all believe the effort will have its intended effect of helping to remove lead particles and coat the pipes. (AP Photo/Mike Householder) Representatives for Flint Mayor Karen Weaver did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment. Gov. Rick Snyder's spokesman Ari Adler said Flint is charging "very large fees," while Weaver has said Flint needs more money from the state for replacing pipes. The report notes other concerns arising during the pilot project, including lead-contaminated soil that needs to be properly handled and disposed. The city already received $2 million from the state to replace about 500 lines. The state has authorized roughly $70 million in funds for the emergency, and Snyder is seeking $165 million more through the budget process. Still, higher costs could hamper negotiations among lawmakers as they deal with lower-than-expected tax revenue and enact a new state budget with less overall spending than initially proposed. So far, 30 lead or galvanized service pipes have been replaced as part of the pilot project. Weaver said the city soon will issue requests for proposals to complete the next phase of the Fast Start pipe-replacement program. Officials' decision to not apply corrosion control allowed water to scrape lead from the pipes after the city switched its water supply from Detroit's municipal system to the Flint River in 2014 to cut costs. That resulted in the contamination of the water supply, elevated blood lead levels for some people in the city and may have contributed to the deaths of at least 12 people from Legionnaires' disease. The financially struggling city of roughly 100,000 people remains under a state of emergency as local, state and federal officials try to deal with the problem. ___ Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com West Bank buries wounded Palestinian who was killed in March HEBRON, West Bank (AP) Over a thousand people have attended the West Bank funeral of a Palestinian who was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier while he lay wounded after carrying out a stabbing attack on security forces in March. Mourners carried the body of Abdel-Fattah al-Sharif at the funeral in Hebron on Saturday. The shooting incident was caught on video and the soldier is now standing trial for manslaughter. The rare case has polarized Israel, with defense officials condemning the soldier's conduct while others supported him. Palestinians chant slogans as they carry the body of Abdel-Fattah al-Sharif, during his funeral, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, May 28, 2016. Al-Sharif was killed by an Israeli soldier in March while lying on the ground seriously wounded after he and another Palestinian attacked IDF troops.(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi) Israel has faced months of Palestinian attacks against civilians and security personnel. So far, 28 Israelis and two Americans have been killed, as well as about 200 Palestinians. Israel says most of the Palestinains have been attackers. The assaults have declined recently but not entirely stopped. Palestinian women stand during the funeral of Abdel-Fattah al-Sharif, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday ,May 28, 2016. Al-Sharif was killed by an Israeli soldier in March while lying on the ground seriously wounded after he and another Palestinian attacked IDF troops.(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi) The mother, left, and relatives gather around the body of Palestinian Abdel-Fattah al-Sharif, during his funeral, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, May 28, 2016. Al-Sharif was killed by an Israeli soldier in March while lying on the ground seriously wounded after he and another Palestinian attacked IDF troops. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi) The Latest: European artists win for cartoons on migrants ROME (AP) The Latest on Europe's migration crisis (all times local): 4:40 p.m. Artists from France, Italy and Belgium have won the Niels Bugge Cartoons Awards, which focused this year on Europe's migrant crisis. Pope Francis holds a migrant child during a meeting with some 400 children coming by train from the region of Calabria, at the Vatican, Saturday, May 28, 2016. (AP Photos/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) Jury chairman Lars Refn says Anne Derenne got a 3,000-euro ($3,335) check Saturday for her interpretation of the "Utopia" theme in "a terrific way." Her cartoon shows an ecstatic couple in a rowing boat approaching a bountiful green island. However, under the water line, it appears it is made up of industrial waste. Runner-up Marco d'Agostino got 2,000 euros ($2,220) while the third prize went to Luc Vernimmen. Refn said Saturday the "Utopia" theme was picked "after Europe almost entered a state of shock over the wave of migrants." The contest was named for the inn near Viborg, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northwest of Copenhagen, where it was held. ___ 4:05 p.m. Italian coast guard and navy ships, aided by an Irish naval vessel, have saved more than 540 migrants from smugglers' boats in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. The rescues Saturday are the latest by a multi-national patrol south of Sicily that has saved thousands this week. The Irish military said the vessel Le Roisin saved 123 migrants from a 12-meter-long (40-foot) rubber dinghy and recovered a male body. An Italian navy ship saved 101 migrants on another rubber dinghy, and a ship of the Italian coast guard, which coordinates all the rescues by various navies, cargo vessels and humanitarian organization boats, reported rescuing 322 migrants from a boat in distress. Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, bringing 135 survivors, along with 45 bodies, from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock on Sunday. ___ 1 p.m. At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis told several hundred children, among them many migrants, who came from the Italian south to see him that migrants "aren't a danger but they are in danger." Among the audience was a Nigerian youth, who lost his parents in 2014 as the family tried to reach Italy by sea. Francis has repeatedly expressed dismay that some European nations have refused to accept migrants, fleeing poverty or war, and have even thrown up fences and other barriers to thwart the arrivals from journeying northward after reaching the continent's southern shores. Palestinian leader wants time cap for any talks with Israel CAIRO (AP) The Palestinian president said Saturday that if an upcoming Paris conference succeeds in relaunching the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, it should also set a time cap and mechanisms to implement their resolutions. Speaking to Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Mahmoud Abbas also said that the Paris gathering due June 3 should also set up a monitoring committee to follow whatever is agreed upon. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to attend the meeting. The Palestinians have welcomed the conference but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of an international conference, saying direct negotiations without preconditions are the best way to reach a final settlement with the Palestinians. In Cairo, Abbas reiterated Palestinian demands that a future Palestinian state have east Jerusalem as its capital and that it be established within the borders that had existed on the eve of the 1967 Middle East when Israel captured the then Jordanian-administered West Bank and east Jerusalem. "When we need to demarcate these borders, we will be prepared to accept a slight exchange of territory," he told the Arab ministers. He also demanded that all Palestinians jailed by Israel be released and also said the Palestinians would never recognize a "Jewish" state as Netanyahu once demanded. The Palestinians recognized Israel in 1993, he recounted, and is sufficient. Sea Shepard founder Paul Watson rams whalers for a living PARIS (AP) He's a fugitive on Interpol's Red List and a marine vigilante who's done jail time for extradition requests. Yet to many, he's also a heroic marine conservationist who risks his life and those of his crew to save countless endangered whales, turtles, dolphins and sharks from slaughter. Love him or loathe him, Paul Watson, the 65-year-old, silver-haired founder of Sea Shepherd and co-founder of Greenpeace is now a celebrity because of his job: ramming whaling boats for a living. Watson has a hit U.S. reality TV series, "Whale Wars," that has aired on the Discovery Channel since 2008 about his organization's fight against Japanese whalers. And his influence reached new heights with the award-winning documentary "Sharkwater," which conservationists say resulted in shark finning being banned worldwide. FOR STORY SLUGGED FRANCE PAUL WATSON - Canadian captain Paul Watson speaks with the Associated-Press in Paris, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Founder of Greenpeace and the controversial Sea Shepherd, anti-whaling activist Watson has a long history of confronting governments, and is on Interpols international fugitives list, but now, France has granted him political asylum. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) Both have attracted a new legion of global fans to Sea Shepherd's controversial approach of battering whaling and fishing ships. The tactics have landed him in the legal hot water even as they boost his renown. During an interview with The Associated Press in Paris, Watson a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen was stopped four times in the street by fans of all nationalities who asked for autographs. "The camera is the most powerful weapon we've ever invented, so we had to utilize that weapon. That's why we created the (reality) show," he said. France has granted Watson political asylum, shielding him from extradition requests by Costa Rica and Japan on charges that he asserts are trumped up. Watson now lives as an international fugitive in a luxurious 18th-century chateau near Bordeaux. "It's not bad," he said with a smile. Japan says Watson allegedly masterminded Sea Shepherd's disruption of Japanese whale hunts in the Antarctic Ocean and thus put whalers' lives at risk during the hunt. Watson's career has been as stormy as the seas he's travelled. Co-founder of Greenpeace in 1969, he left the organization eight years later. "I left Greenpeace because protesting is submissive. Like 'Please, please, please don't kill the whales,'" he said. The same year he founded Sea Shepherd with the mantra using "aggressive non-violence" to protect marine life. "We've never caused a single injury to anyone but all the stories of ramming ships are true," he said, his eyes sparkling. Getting celebrities on board has boosted his cause. It was not until the 1970s, when he got blond bombshell Brigitte Bardot to pose "cheek-to-cheek" with a baby seal on the ice, that he first realized the "power of celebrity." "It got us the cover of every major publication in the world," he said. Now it's an integral part of his organization's outreach. A scary-looking Sea Shepherd ship a camouflaged vessel painted with jagged shark's teeth was docked in front of the world's media at the celebrity-filled Cannes Film Festival this month with activist Pamela Anderson in tow, drawing attention to the campaign against Antibes' Marineland, Europe's largest Sea World-style theme park. Sea Shepherd is suing the marine park for negligence that they claim led to the deaths of an orca and other animals allegations that Marineland officials deny. "I don't love the celebrity thing, but it's what gets the message across," Watson said, citing supporters including Christian Bale, William Shatner, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery and Richard Dean Anderson. "We can't lose because we've got two James Bonds, Batman, Captain Kirk and MacGyver on our advisory board." Isn't he forgetting Robert Redford, who is also on the board? "Robert Redford wasn't a superhero in 'Captain America,' he was a villain," he laughed. Humor is just the veneer on a focused, dogged determination that's carried him through six decades of fighting for the rights of marine life. An Interpol Red Notice is the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today the police organization circulates those notices to member countries listing people who are wanted for extradition. Watson said the original charges from Japan the world's biggest whaling nation date from 2010, when a Japanese whaling vessel cut a $2 million Sea Shepherd boat in half. The Sea Shepherd captain then boarded the Japanese ship "to confront the whaler who just destroyed his boat" and was summarily arrested. Watson claims the captain "made a deal" with the Japanese to suspend his sentence "in return for him saying that I ordered him to board." Watson says the captain wrote an affidavit to the U.S. State Department a year later admitting that he'd lied to Japan, which led the U.S. to ignore the extradition request after briefly handcuffing him when he when crossed the border from Canada. He says the Costa Rica request is also trumped up and is linked to the Japanese charges. Watson's charm comes from his effortless way of making extreme positions seem highly reasonable. He says all the property that Sea Shepherd destroys by ramming it at sea is being used for criminal activity. "So we don't see a problem with that," he explained. ___ Thomas Adamson can be followed at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP Pakistan arrest 2 officials for helping slain Taliban chief ISLAMABAD (AP) A Pakistani spokesman says federal investigators have arrested two officials involved in issuing Pakistani documents to the slain Taliban chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, and his family. Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike a week ago in southwestern Baluchistan province. A Pakistani passport found near the destroyed car identified him as Wali Mohammad. Interior Ministry's spokesman Sarfaraz Hussain says Aziz Ahmed, an official in Baluchistan's capital of Quetta, was arrested on Saturday. Hussain says Ahmed approving a national identity card for Mansour in the name of Wali Mohammad in 2001. This Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015 file photo, shows Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. Afghanistan's government has offered the new Taliban leader a choice: make peace or face the same fate as his predecessor, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File) Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson rams whalers for a living PARIS (AP) He's a fugitive on Interpol's Red List and a marine vigilante who's done jail time for extradition requests. Yet to many, he's also a heroic marine conservationist who risks his life and those of his crew to save countless endangered whales, turtles, dolphins and sharks from slaughter. Love him or loathe him, Paul Watson, the 65-year-old, silver-haired founder of Sea Shepherd and co-founder of Greenpeace is now a celebrity because of his job: ramming whaling boats for a living. Watson has a hit U.S. reality TV series, "Whale Wars," that has aired on the Discovery Channel since 2008 about his organization's fight against Japanese whalers. And his influence reached new heights with the award-winning documentary "Sharkwater," which conservationists say resulted in shark finning being banned worldwide. FOR STORY SLUGGED FRANCE PAUL WATSON - Canadian captain Paul Watson speaks with the Associated-Press in Paris, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Founder of Greenpeace and the controversial Sea Shepherd, anti-whaling activist Watson has a long history of confronting governments, and is on Interpols international fugitives list, but now, France has granted him political asylum. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) Both have attracted a new legion of global fans to Sea Shepherd's controversial approach of battering whaling and fishing ships. The tactics have landed him in the legal hot water even as they boost his renown. During an interview with The Associated Press in Paris, Watson a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen was stopped four times in the street by fans of all nationalities who asked for autographs. "The camera is the most powerful weapon we've ever invented, so we had to utilize that weapon. That's why we created the (reality) show," he said. France has granted Watson political asylum, shielding him from extradition requests by Costa Rica and Japan on charges that he asserts are trumped up. Watson now lives as an international fugitive in a luxurious 18th-century chateau near Bordeaux. "It's not bad," he said with a smile. Japan says Watson allegedly masterminded Sea Shepherd's disruption of Japanese whale hunts in the Antarctic Ocean and thus put whalers' lives at risk during the hunt. Watson's career has been as stormy as the seas he's travelled. Co-founder of Greenpeace in 1969, he left the organization eight years later. "I left Greenpeace because protesting is submissive. Like 'Please, please, please don't kill the whales,'" he said. The same year he founded Sea Shepherd with the mantra using "aggressive non-violence" to protect marine life. "We've never caused a single injury to anyone but all the stories of ramming ships are true," he said, his eyes sparkling. Getting celebrities on board has boosted his cause. It was not until the 1970s, when he got blond bombshell Brigitte Bardot to pose "cheek-to-cheek" with a baby seal on the ice, that he first realized the "power of celebrity." "It got us the cover of every major publication in the world," he said. Now it's an integral part of his organization's outreach. A scary-looking Sea Shepherd ship a camouflaged vessel painted with jagged shark's teeth was docked in front of the world's media at the celebrity-filled Cannes Film Festival this month with activist Pamela Anderson in tow, drawing attention to the campaign against Antibes' Marineland, Europe's largest Sea World-style theme park. Sea Shepherd is suing the marine park for negligence that they claim led to the deaths of an orca and other animals allegations that Marineland officials deny. "I don't love the celebrity thing, but it's what gets the message across," Watson said, citing supporters including Christian Bale, William Shatner, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery and Richard Dean Anderson. "We can't lose because we've got two James Bonds, Batman, Captain Kirk and MacGyver on our advisory board." Isn't he forgetting Robert Redford, who is also on the board? "Robert Redford wasn't a superhero in 'Captain America,' he was a villain," he laughed. Humor is just the veneer on a focused, dogged determination that's carried him through six decades of fighting for the rights of marine life. An Interpol Red Notice is the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today the police organization circulates those notices to member countries listing people who are wanted for extradition. Watson said the original charges from Japan the world's biggest whaling nation date from 2010, when a Japanese whaling vessel cut a $2 million Sea Shepherd boat in half. The Sea Shepherd captain then boarded the Japanese ship "to confront the whaler who just destroyed his boat" and was summarily arrested. Watson claims the captain "made a deal" with the Japanese to suspend his sentence "in return for him saying that I ordered him to board." Watson says the captain wrote an affidavit to the U.S. State Department a year later admitting that he'd lied to Japan, which led the U.S. to ignore the extradition request after briefly handcuffing him when he when crossed the border from Canada. He says the Costa Rica request is also trumped up and is linked to the Japanese charges. Watson's charm comes from his effortless way of making extreme positions seem highly reasonable. He says all the property that Sea Shepherd destroys by ramming it at sea is being used for criminal activity. "So we don't see a problem with that," he explained. ___ Thomas Adamson can be followed at Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP Canadians Warner, Theisen-Eaton lead Hypo Meeting on 1st day GOETZIS, Austria (AP) Canadian decathlete Damian Warner built a slim 7-point lead over Germany's Kai Kazmirek on the opening day of the Hypo Meeting, while Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Canada led the women's heptathlon after four events. Warner gathered 4,424 points after winning the opening 100 meters in 10.15 seconds, the fastest time in the 42-year history of the competition in the Austrian Alps. Last year's winner Kazmirek won the concluding 400 in 47.01 to stay close to Warner. Jeremy Taiwo of the United States, who won the high jump with a 2.18-meter effort, trailed Warner by 51 points in third. World bronze medalist Rico Freimuth had three invalid attempts at the long jump, destroying the German's chances to qualify this weekend for the Olympics. His final opportunity to make the German squad for Rio de Janeiro will be at a meeting in Ratingen, Germany on June 25-26. World record holder and Olympic champion Ashton Eaton skipped the event in order to focus on the U.S. trials next month. In the women's competition, Theisen-Eaton ran a personal best of 23.33 in the 200 meters, the final event of the opening day. The Canadian, who won the competition in 2013 and again last year, gathered 3,972 points for a 40-point lead over Britain's Katerina Johnson-Thompson, also a former winner here. Carolin Schaefer of Germany was 10 points further back in third. Johnson-Thompson won the 200 in 22.79 for her third personal best of the day, after also setting best marks in 100 hurdles and high jump. Honolulu schools to let kids with lice stay in class HONOLULU (AP) Honolulu students who get lice next year can stay in schools that are included in a new education department policy. Schools currently send students home for treatment, KHON-TV reported (http://bit.ly/1Z67gaF). It's unclear why the new procedure will only apply to Farrington-Kalani-Kaiser Complex schools. Hawaii Department of Education officials say the policy is based on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. A letter sent to parents says absences due to lice contribute to chronic absenteeism, though the department does not track that data. The school will notify parents if their child has lice. The student can stay in class if the parent is not able or doesn't want to pick the child up. "The student will go back to class and remain in school until the end of the school day," the letter said. Dr. Kalani Brady, a physician who teaches at the University of Hawaii, said parents shouldn't worry about the change. "What we've discovered in observation is the transmission of (lice) is not really high, and that's why the DOE has made that recommendation," Brady said. Parent Keesha Boyer said the department's letter to parents was upsetting. "It's disgusting to me," Boyer said Boyer said lice disrupt learning. "Is the kid really going to sit there and be comfortable learning, knowing that he has (lice) in his head and scratching and going crazy?" she said. "His focus is not going to be on the learning." Boyer said it doesn't make sense to treat her sons for lice just for the boys to catch it again at Kalihi Kai Elementary School. "He's going to come home, and I'm going to have to treat it, spend hours treating my household, me, my kids, my furniture, my carpet. It gets everywhere," she said. "And then go to school the next day and catch it again? Am I really gonna be doing this constantly?" ___ Drug lord 'Chapo' Guzman's lawyers split on extradition case MEXICO CITY (AP) Jailed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's fight to stave off extradition to the United States has led to a schism among some of the people he's counting on most: his own lawyers. After two of Guzman's attorneys filed an appeal against the extradition request, a third lawyer quickly disavowed it on Saturday. Attorney Jose Refugio Rodriguez told The Associated Press that the move was not authorized by Guzman and his client will not sign off on the appeal, meaning the courts would not act on it. FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2016 file photo, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City, Mexico. After two of Guzman's attorneys filed an appeal against the extradition request, a third lawyer, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, disavowed it on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Rodriguez said that the two lawyers who filed it are not part of the team working on the extradition case. That team is still considering the government's arguments and plans an appeal in the coming weeks that "El Chapo" will approve. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File) "This hurts Joaquin Guzman because it hinders our defense," Rodriguez said. Rodriguez added that the lawyers who filed it, Juan Pablo Badillo and Jose Luis Gonzalez Mesa, are not part of the team working on the extradition case. That team is still considering the government's arguments and plans an appeal in the coming weeks that "El Chapo" will approve. "We have a strategy with Joaquin and we are planning it," Rodriguez said. He suggested that Badillo and Gonzalez may have been motivated by "a desire for notoriety." Gonzalez did not immediately return a voice message seeking comment, and the AP was unable to reach Badillo. Mexican courts recently approved two U.S. requests for Guzman's extradition and formally sent notification to the Foreign Relations Department. However his lawyers have 30 days to appeal and the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court, meaning it could be months before a final decision is reached. The convicted Sinaloa cartel boss is wanted in seven U.S. jurisdictions on charges that include murder, conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, money-laundering and arms possession. Guzman is currently in a federal prison on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas. Authorities suddenly transferred him there in recent weeks from the Altiplano lockup near Mexico City where he was being held before, citing work being done to improve security at the facility. "El Chapo" broke out of a Mexican prison in 2001 and spent more than a decade on the run, becoming one of the world's most wanted outlaws before he was recaptured in 2014. Last year he escaped again through a mile-long (1.5-kilometer) tunnel dug to the shower of his cell at Altiplano. Vuitton show draws fashion world to crisis-hit Brazil NITEROI, Brazil (AP) The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the deep political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label Louis Vuitton. Around 500 guests, including A-listers Jaden Smith and Catherine Deneuve and fashion royalty flown in from New York and Paris, took in Vuitton's Cruise 2017 collection at a futuristic art museum in Rio de Janeiro's sister city of Niteroi. With the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain shimmering in the background, the models strode the catwalk in sporty looks that channeled the street style of this beachfront metropolis and harkened to the upcoming Summer Olympics which will take place here in August. A model walks down a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing a creation from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. The iconic Sugarloaf Mountain is pictured in the background on right. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) For Michael Burke, Vuitton's chairman and CEO, the collection was pure Brazil. "Brazil is about color, it's about positiveness, it's about the future, it's about the body, it's about a strong woman," he said. Cutout dresses in color-block neoprene looked like crosses between wetsuits and easy, breezy sundresses, and the squishy-soled shoes were equal parts sensible boots and the flip flops that are Rio resident's footwear of choice. Filing out of the spaceship-shaped museum in their chic gym wear, the models looked like fitness-crazed aliens determined to help humankind shed a few pounds. Outside the heavily guarded museum, onlookers gathered on the balconies of neighboring buildings to gawk and cheer wildly at the well-heeled guests, who also included a cadre of Brazilian women who are among the Vuitton's top customers. Brazil's wealthy elite have long been reputed to be among the world's most voracious luxury consumers, but the current recession the worst since the 1930s has put the brakes on spending of late. The snowballing political crisis that saw President Dilma Rousseff impeached earlier this month has thrust the South American giant into further instability, even as authorities here scramble to respond to an outbreak of the Zika virus, which has been linked to a terrible birth defect in infants. For Vuitton brass, the very act of holding the first fashion show by a top European brand in Brazil at this troubled time represented an act of defiance against the onslaught of bad news besetting the country. Designer Nicolas Ghesquiere said the show sent a signal to the world ahead of the Aug. 5-21 Olympics, which observers say could see low tourist turnout due to the trifecta of crises. "As the biggest brand in the world, I think it's good to give a strong message to people and say we're not scared," he said, after a makeup artist mopped the tropical perspiration from his brow. CEO Burke went even further. "This was much more than a fashion show. It was about showing our love for this country, out appreciation, about giving back," he said, adding the big-budget event had created temporary jobs for some 5,000 people. "Is it a humanitarian activity? No, I wouldn't go that far. But it has a little bit of that." Jaden Smith waves to fans from a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum where he was attending the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection fashion show, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Models walk down a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing creations from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. The iconic Sugarloaf Mountain is pictured in the background on right. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Models parade on a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing creations from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label.(AP Photo/Leo Correa) A model walks down a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing a creation from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)) A model walks down a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing a creation from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Models parade on a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing creations from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label.(AP Photo/Leo Correa) A model walks down a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing a creation from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Models parade on a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing creations from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Models parade on a ramp of the Contemporary Art Museum wearing creations from the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2017 collection, in Niteroi, Brazil, Saturday, May 28, 2016. The elite of the fashion world flocked to Brazil, defying an outbreak of the Zika virus, an economic meltdown and the profound political crisis afflicting the country to attend a runway show Saturday by revered French label. The iconic Sugarloaf Mountain is pictured in the background on right. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) British woman killed in Thailand speedboat accident 'was on honeymoon' A British woman killed in an horrific speedboat accident in Thailand was on her honeymoon, according to reports. Monica O'Connor, 28, and at least two other people died when a huge wave capsized their boat off the coast of the island of Koh Samui on Thursday. A search operation has resumed for a missing British man - 46-year-old Jason Parnell - who was celebrating his first wedding anniversary with wife Puja when the crash happened. The scene after the fatal speedboat accident in Thailand (Nalinee Siriked/PA) A spokesman for Koh Samui Tourist Police said: "We will not finish until we find him." Mrs Parnell and Mrs O'Connor's husband Tim are both believed to have escaped the crash unharmed. The Angthong Discovery Tour vessel was carrying 32 tourists and four crew members when it overturned after hitting rough waters and strong winds. A German man and a woman from Hong Kong were also among the dead, Koh Samui authorities said. The boat's captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, was taken into police custody following the crash and faces a possible charge of reckless endangerment causing death, which comes with a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Mr Seekakiaw said he had asked all tourists to wear a life vest but that some had taken them off during the journey. 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." 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. Coroner to rule on new Birmingham pub bombings inquests A coroner is set to rule on whether to open new inquests for the 21 victims of the Birmingham pub bombings after years of campaigning by relatives. Louise Hunt, the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, will give her ruling in connection with the twin 1974 blasts on Wednesday, after already holding several review hearings. During those hearings, families of some of those killed have put forward a central claim that the British security services had knowledge of the attacks before they were carried out. The wreckage of the Mulberry Bush pub in Birmingham after a bomb exploded in November 1974 Speaking ahead of any decision, Julie Hambleton, the leader of the Justice4the21 campaign which has called for new inquests, said: "All we want is the truth." Her older sister, Maxine Hambleton, then 18, was one of the victims of a blast which ripped through the underground Tavern in the Town pub, minutes after a bomb destroyed the nearby Mulberry Bush at the base of the city centre Rotunda. The bombings, which injured 182 people, are widely accepted to have been the work of the Provisional IRA, with the terrorist group's former intelligence director, Kieran Conway, recently describing the attacks as "an absolute disaster". A third bomb found in a bag in Hagley Road in Edgbaston, Birmingham, only partially detonated and its remains were later lost by West Midlands Police. A botched investigation by the force led to the Birmingham Six being wrongly jailed for the crime. However, the men were freed in 1991 after their convictions were ruled unsafe by the Court of Appeal. One of their number, Paddy Joe Hill, is expected to attend the hearing after backing campaigners' calls for new inquests. In the 1970s, hearings were opened after the attacks; however, the process was overtaken by the criminal inquiry and the later convictions of the Birmingham Six, so the inquests were never resumed. Ms Hambleton claimed that the botched criminal inquiry had left the victims' relatives without knowledge of even basic facts surrounding the deadly events of November 21 1974. She said: "Why can we not have what other families have? "If anyone is killed in suspicious circumstances they have a right to an inquest, and the coroner then makes the judgment on how they came by their deaths." The review hearings, which began in February, have been attended by victims' relatives and also barristers on behalf of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, the Police Federation and West Midlands Police. At the last such hearing in May, Ms Hunt revealed she had received a "significant" piece of new information. The coroner would not disclose the source but said the information related to the claim that British security services may have had knowledge of the bombings beforehand. Speaking at the hearing on May 12, Jeremy Johnson QC, on behalf of the police force, said: "We have no principal objection to you resuming these inquests but we do say, having regard to the material you have, it has not been shown it's appropriate to resume." He added there was "no evidential basis" for the allegation that the police or security services had any prior warning of the bombings. Relatives of those killed have also indicated they would like the inquests to hear evidence about the response of all the emergency services that night. Ahead of Wednesday, Ms Hambleton said whatever the coroner's ruling she expected a lengthy fight for answers to questions she and other victims' families still have for the authorities, including the British Government. "Obviously we hope that she (the coroner) decides in our favour," she said. "It's already been a long journey. "Whichever way it goes, it will continue to be a long struggle. Joey Essex quizzes Ed Miliband over French 'nicking our fish' Reality TV star Joey Essex has quizzed ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband about the French "nicking our fish" at a Remain campaign event. The TV celebrity was among a specially invited audience in north London to hear Mr Miliband warn young voters they needed to register in order to stop the UK quitting the EU. Mr Miliband was widely ridiculed during last year's general election campaign for agreeing to be interviewed by Russell Brand at the comedian's home. Joey Essex was among a specially invited audience in north London Mr Essex voiced concerns made to him by friends who work at Billingsgate fish market about French trawlers during the question and answer session of Mr Miliband's appearance. Mr Miliband initially asked four young voters who had already addressed the room to answer Mr Essex's question. The ex-Labour leader then said it was important for EU nations to work together. Leave campaigner and Tory MP James Cleverly insisted EU membership was damaging for young people. Iraq gets initial accord for $3 billion Islamic Development Bank loans BAGHDAD, May 26 (Reuters) - The Islamic Development Bank has given its initial agreement to provide $3 billion in easy loans and grants to Iraq, helping the nation cope with a sharp decline in oil revenue, a central bank spokesman in Baghdad said Thursday in an email. The spokesman did not give further details. Iraq earlier this month agreed a $5.4 billion standby loan with the International Monetary Fund. Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari, announcing the agreement on May 19, said the IMF loans could unlock $15 billion more in international assistance over the next three years. Russia does not plan to expand list of banned Western food products MOSCOW, May 27 (Reuters) - Russia does not plan to expand the list of banned Western food products, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev told reporters. Earlier on Friday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered his ministers to draft proposals to extend Moscow's food import ban until the end of 2017. The Agriculture Ministry has already started preparing the draft of the proposal, Tkachev said. Britain's FTSE posts biggest weekly gain since mid-April By Atul Prakash and Alistair Smout LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 ended slightly firmer on Friday, led higher by Royal Mail, with the blue-chip index posting its biggest weekly gain for six weeks. The benchmark index finished up 0.1 percent at 6,270.79 points, a fourth straight day of gains. The commodity-heavy index rose nearly 2 percent this week, buoyed by an oil price rally to more than $50 a barrel for the first time this year, as well as a rise in banks. Shares in Royal Mail rose more than 2 percent, the top gainer in the FTSE 100 index, with traders saying that the stock was helped by a read-across from a report of a possible merger between Belgian and Dutch mail operators Bpost and PostNL. Royal Mail was also buoyed by news that the Unite employees union had cancelled its proposed strike action. The news followed this week's ruling from Britain's telecom regulator Ofcom saying it would not impose new price controls on the company's wholesale or retail products, citing the declining letters market and increased competition in parcels. "Royal Mail is rounding out the session at the top of the pile, with that mid-week ruling by Ofcom evidently still delivering for the firm," Tony Cross, analyst at Trustnet Direct, said. "It's the miners who are struggling once again." The UK mining index fell 1.3 percent amid lingering concerns about global metals demand. Shares in Anglo American, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton declined 1.4 to 2.7 percent. Energy shares also fell as oil markets slipped around 1 percent, retreating from seven-month highs, as traders weighed the prospect of crude production intensifying because of prices near $50 a barrel. The UK energy index fell 0.6 percent, dragged down by a 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent fall in BP and Royal Dutch Shell respectively. "We've had a decent move upwards over the last week or so, helped by the rise in crude above 50 bucks. But if some of these commodity-related stocks and financials start to tail back off again, then the overall market could drift heading into the weekend," TJM Partners head of trading, Manoj Ladwa, said. ADVISORY - Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon (see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development). In a real-time, multimedia format from 0600 London time through the 1630 closing bell, it will include the best of our market reporting, Stocks Buzz service, Eikon graphics, Reuters pictures, eye-catching research and market zeitgeist. Breaking news and dramatic market moves will continue to be alerted to all clients and we will continue to provide a short opening story and comprehensive closing reports. If you have any thoughts, suggestions or feedback on this, please email mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com. South Africa's Sibanye Gold gets court order to stop strike By Zandi Shabalala JOHANNESBURG, May 27 (Reuters) - South Africa's Sibanye Gold obtained a court order on Friday to stop a strike at its Kroondal platinum mine that was launched by workers demanding that they be given transport. Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) began an indefinite strike at the mine earlier on Friday to push for transport because they were being attacked after working night shifts. Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted said the court order meant that any further labour stoppage would be illegal. The hardline AMCU union is the main worker's body at the Kroondal mine located in the Rustenburg platinum belt that has about 7,000 workers. "The company doesn't want to provide transport for its employees and these are basic conditions of employment," AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa told Reuters. Wellsted said the Kroondal mine was "break-even at best" due to low platinum prices and that the strike would place more pressure on operations. "With metal prices being low for AMCU to now go on strike over issues that are being dealt with is irresponsible. This poses a threat of to the viability of the mine," he said. Known for its militancy, AMCU led a record and sometimes violent five-month wage strike at three major platinum producers in 2014. Unions and platinum companies are expected to start wage talks in the next few weeks. Sibanye acquired the Kroondal mine when it bought Aquarius Platinum in October last year for $295 million. It averted another strike by AMCU earlier this year at its gold operations by raising its wage offer slightly. Ex-Guinea-Bissau PM calls government's dismissal "constitutional coup" BISSAU, May 27 (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's sacked 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 premier was sworn in. Opponents of Vaz protested outside his presidential palace on Thursday night, burning tyres and throwing rocks, after he named Baciro Dja as the new prime minister. Vaz sacked Correia and his government on May 12, saying they had proved incapable of managing a months-long political crisis. The ruling PAIGC party has been embroiled in a power struggle since last summer, caused partly by the overlapping duties of the president and prime minister in a semi-presidential system. "We are facing a constitutional coup d'etat because the dismissal of my government is unconstitutional," Correia told Reuters. 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 his own main rival in the PAIGC. But Dja was forced to step down after the Supreme Court ruled his appointment violated the constitution. Dja now has the task of forming Guinea-Bissau's fourth government in 10 months. A spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations chief was "deeply concerned" by the situation following Dja's nomination and the subsequent protests. "He urges all political stakeholders and their supporters to act responsibly, refrain from violence and avoid an escalation of the situation by settling their concerns through dialogue," the spokesman said in a statement. 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. U.S. seeks WTO dispute panel in chicken dispute with China WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel to rule on U.S. claims that China is unfairly continuing anti-dumping duties on U.S. broiler chicken products. The U.S. Trade Representative's office said in a statement it made the request after consultations with Chinese officials on May 24 failed to resolve the dispute over the duties. China first imposed the duties on chicken imports from the United States in 2010 on grounds they were priced below fair market value and this was injuring Chinese producers. China revised the duties lower in 2014 after the WTO agreed with U.S. objections that the original duties violated WTO rules. USTR on May 10 brought a new challenge to China's revised anti-dumping duties, arguing they violate WTO rules partly because China failed to properly calculate U.S. poultry production costs and failed to conduct transparent investigations. The U.S. Agriculture Department estimated U.S. poultry producers lost over $1 billion since the duties were first imposed, with annual U.S. chicken exports to China down over 90 percent from 2009 levels. China currently levies anti-dumping duties up to 73.3 percent and anti-subsidy taxes up to 4.2 percent on U.S. firms including Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride. Spanish journalist held in Colombia freed, two others to be liberated soon BOGOTA, May 27 (Reuters) - A Spanish journalist kidnapped by Colombia's ELN rebels said on Friday she is safe after going missing six days ago in restive Norte de Santander province, but declined to give details on her disappearance. Salud Hernandez is one of three journalists who vanished over the past week while working in El Tarra municipality in the largely lawless northeastern province. She was last seen climbing aboard a motorcycle taxi on Saturday while reporting a story on the illegal drug trade. "Thank you to the Catholic Church, to all my colleagues," Hernandez said by telephone to Caracol television news. "I'm perfectly fine." Hernandez said she would hold a press conference later to tell the story of her disappearance, adding that the two other reporters who vanished in the province will be freed on Friday or Saturday. 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. "Their liberation will also be quick," said Hernandez, adding that she had not actually seen the reporters. The government said on Thursday the journalists were being held by the National Liberation Army (ELN), which operates in the area alongside the larger rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and criminal gangs. The El Tiempo newspaper reported that Hernandez said she was held against her will but treated well. The liberation of the reporters could help move the ELN and the government toward starting peace talks they announced in March that have been delayed by the rebels' continued kidnappings and infrastructure attacks. Hernandez, 59, who writes for Spain's El Mundo and local newspapers, is known for opinion columns highly critical of Colombia's insurgents, the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC talks. Santos has said no official talks will begin until the group frees all hostages. "I demand the immediate liberation of the two RCN journalist who are still in the hands of the ELN," Santos told reporters at a meeting with security officials. The government has been holding peace talks with the FARC since late 2012. First 2016 U.S. tropical storm warning issued for South Carolina May 27 (Reuters) - A tropical storm warning, the year's first for the United States, was issued on Friday by the National Weather Service for the coast of South Carolina, five days before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. The bulletin, posted by the weather service's National Hurricane Center in Miami, warned of tropical storm conditions within 36 hours along coastal South Carolina from the Savannah River north to the Little River Inlet. Tropical storms are defined as a cyclonic weather systems packing winds with sustained surface speeds ranging from 39 to 73 miles per hour (63 to 119 kilometers per hour). The current threat to South Carolina was posed by the formation of a tropical depression off the southeastern United States, marking the second such weather system of 2016, following one that grew into Hurricane Alex in the far eastern Atlantic in January, according to the Hurricane Center. Alex, a rare wintertime storm that threatened the Azores island group far off the coast of Portugal, never came near the United States. If the latest tropical depression strengthens into a tropical storm, it would be named Bonnie, and by next Wednesday would rank as the first of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1 to through Nov. 30. Some strengthening of what is now designated Tropical Depression Two is forecast during the next 48 hours, with the depression expected to grow into a tropical storm on Friday night or on Saturday, the Hurricane Center said. Trump's San Diego rally draws more than 1,000 chanting protesters By Emily Stephenson and Marty Graham SAN DIEGO, May 27 (Reuters) - Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of America's busiest border crossing on Friday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, amid one of the largest counter-protests organized against him. The scene inside the San Diego Convention Center during Trump's speech was relatively placid, while outside demonstrators opposed to his controversy-ridden White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing his rhetoric against illegal immigration. Waving U.S. and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out for anti-trump rallies in San Diego, a city on the U.S.-Mexico border whose San Ysidro port of entry sees nearly 300,000 people a day cross legally between the countries. San Diego is considered a binational city by many who live and work on opposite sides of the border, and about a third of the city's population is Latino. During Trump's speech on Friday, some protesters outside the convention center scaled a barrier and lobbed water bottles at police. One man was pulled off the wall and arrested as others were surrounded by fellow protesters and backed away from the confrontation. After the convention center emptied, clusters of Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators began to mix in the streets, many exchanging shouted epithets and some throwing water bottles at one another. Police in riot gear declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse, herding the crowd out of the city's hotel and restaurant-filled Gaslamp Quarter. San Diego police said on Twitter that 35 arrests were made during the protest. No property damage or injuries were reported, police said. "Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally," Trump tweeted to police afterwards. Trump has weathered months of blowback from all ends of the political spectrum for his immigration policy, which calls for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the United States. Critics have said his plan is needlessly cruel and impossible to implement. At Trump's campaign stops, attendees often chant "build the wall." While Trump is running unopposed in the June 7 California Republican primary, his stance on border control and deportation seems unlikely to resonate with the electorate at large in a state where political fallout from a Republican-backed crackdown on illegal immigrants 20 years ago cost the party dearly. Friday was not the first time Trump has been greeted by civil unrest in California, which is home to the largest Latino population in the country. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests. WAITING FOR "FIRST PLACE FINISHER" Shortly before taking the stage in San Diego, Trump issued a statement ruling out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was also in California, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle. The suggested debate, an idea first raised during a talk show appearance by the New York billionaire, would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California Democratic primary. A day after saying he would welcome a Sanders debate, Trump called the idea "inappropriate," declaring that he should only face the Democrats' final choice. "I will wait to debate the first-place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday, and sought to goad Trump into reconsidering. "Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?" he said in a video clip posted on ABC News' Twitter account. Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity. "I'd love to debate Bernie," he told a rally in Fresno, California. "But the networks want to keep the money for themselves." Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their party's nomination, but opinion polls show he is slicing into her lead in California. Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous. The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. New incentives needed to develop antibiotics to fight superbugs By Bill Berkrot NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) - Drugmakers are renewing efforts to develop medicines to fight emerging antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but creating new classes of drugs on the scale needed is unlikely to happen without new financial incentives to make the effort worth the investment, companies and industry experts said. American military researchers on Thursday announced the first U.S. case of a patient with an infection found to be resistant to the antibiotic colistin, the drug often held in reserve for when all else fails. That put a spotlight on the urgent need for new medicines that can combat what health officials have called "nightmare bacteria." Drugmakers on Friday acknowledged that in the absence of a new way of compensating them, it simply does not make economic sense to pour serious resources into work on new antibiotics. "The return on investment based on the current commercial model is not really commensurate with the amount of effort you have to put into it," said David Payne, who heads GlaxoSmithKline PLC's antibiotics drug group. Other pharmaceutical companies expressed a similar sentiment. In January, some 80 drugmakers and diagnostics companies, including Pfizer Inc, Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson and Glaxo, signed a declaration calling for cooperation among governments and companies to create incentives to revitalize research and development of new antibiotics. It proposed a new business model in which profit would not be linked to higher sales. For example, governments and health organizations could offer lump-sum rewards for development of a successful new antibiotic. A British government panel suggested this month that drug companies be offered up to $1.5 billion for successful development of a new antibiotic. In the United States alone, antibiotic-resistant bacteria causes 2 million serious infections and 23,000 deaths annually, according to U.S. health officials. Unrestrained overuse of current antibiotics by doctors and hospitals, often when they are not needed, and widespread antibiotic use in food livestock have contributed to the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But in recent years, major drugmakers have poured most of their research dollars into highly profitable medicines to fight cancer, rare diseases and hepatitis C. These drugs not only command high prices, they also are typically used far longer than antibiotics. And the companies, which have come under intense criticism in recent months for continually raising prices on popular drugs, say it costs about as much to develop a new antibiotic as it does to bring to market new cancer drugs that can command more than $100,000 a year per patient. "Drug companies can't make an economic case for investing in superbug drugs," said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Gordon said governments and foundations need to get more involved in research and funding to spearhead efforts to combat the problem. To critics who argue that U.S. companies have enormous cash reserves that could be used to address a public health crisis, drugmakers say they have a fiduciary duty to shareholders to maximize profits. ON THE R&D FRONT LINES One reason companies are calling for alternative compensation is that aggressive sales and use of new antibiotics could help create ever more dangerous bacteria that develop resistance to the new medicines. Glaxo and Merck are among the large pharmaceutical companies developing new antibiotics they hope can beat back resistant bugs, while Pfizer is working on vaccines aimed at reducing the need for their use. Industry experts said small, lesser-known companies with promising approaches to tackling resistant superbugs included: Entasis Therapeutics, an AstraZeneca PLC spinoff, Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc ; and Achaogen Inc. "We believe plazomicin, our lead drug in late-stage development, has the potential to play an important role in treating this dreaded superbug," Achaogen Chief Executive Kenneth Hillan said. Allan Coukell, an antibiotics expert at the Pew Charitable Trusts nonprofit research and policy organization, said what is needed is a wave of new drugs based on new chemistry or that work in new ways. "Most of what's being developed are variations on drugs that we've had for decades," Coukell said. Pew has outlined what its calls a scientific roadmap to create a body of work around new drug discovery that companies and academic researchers could draw upon to help jumpstart the process of finding new antibiotics. Glaxo said its experimental antibiotic gepotidacin, in midstage testing, belongs to an entirely new class of antibacterials. "Based on that, we're predicting it would work against infections that could be caused by bacteria that are resistant to available antibiotics," Payne said. Other companies with late-stage studies underway for antibiotics include: Cempra Inc, whose drug was recently validated in a Japanese trial; Medicines Co ; and Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. J&J is also putting money into battling antibiotic resistance. Pakistani PM to undergo heart surgery in London ISLAMABAD, May 28 (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will undergo open heart surgery in London on Tuesday, his family and media said. It will be Sharif's second heart operation in five years. Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, said on her official Twitter account that the surgery would be for "perforation of the heart", a complication from an earlier procedure in 2011. "Prayers are the most effect & potent medicine. Millions will pray for him," she tweeted. Dawn newspaper quoted Defence Minister Khawaja Asif as saying Sharif would be hospitalised for a week after the surgery and would return to Pakistan when his doctors allowed it. Dawn also quoted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the opposition Pakistan People's Party, urging all Pakistanis to pray for the prime minister. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wished Sharif well. "My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health," said a tweet from Modi, who made a surprise visit to Sharif in December as a gesture of conciliation between the two nuclear-armed rival states. Sharif has frequently travelled abroad for medical treatment in the past year. U.S. forces in Okinawa hold month of mourning for murdered Japanese woman TOKYO, May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Saturday announced a 30-day period of mourning at its bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where the killing of a woman has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence in the region. A 32-year-old American civilian working at a U.S. military base in Okinawa was arrested this month for dumping the body of the 20-year-old Japanese woman, a procedural step in murder cases. The attack stoked anger in Japan, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to protest about the killing during talks with U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of the Group of Seven summit in central Japan. Many associate the bases with crime. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations. A senior U.S. military official told reporters all festivals, celebrations and music concerts at U.S. military bases would be postponed during the 30-day period which began on Friday. Media said alcohol consumption outside bases would be prohibited among military personnel and their families along with civilians employed by the military, while they would also be required to observe a midnight curfew. The U.S. military was not immediately available to comment on the details of the restrictions. "There are no words in the English language that can adequately convey our level of shock, pain and grief at the loss of life of this innocent victim," said Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, Commander of the U.S. Marine Forces in Japan. "We are all shocked, we are all stunned, we are all angry," he said. "My request to the Okinawa people is simple: please do not allow this terrible act of violence to drive a wedge between our two communities." Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts 50,000 U.S. nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilians employed at U.S. bases, and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden. Reuters Science News Summary Following is a summary of current science news briefs. Rosetta spacecraft finds key building blocks for life in a comet Scientists for the first time have directly detected key organic compounds in a comet, bolstering the notion that these celestial objects delivered such chemical building blocks for life long ago to Earth and throughout the solar system. The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft made several detections of the amino acid glycine, used by living organisms to make proteins, in the cloud of gas and dust surrounding Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, scientists said on Friday. Brightest laser blows up water in cinematic and scientific first Scientists have recorded the first ever microscopic movies of water being vaporized by the world's brightest X-ray laser. Aside from creating a series of mesmerizing videos, the data gathered at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, in Menlo Park, California, could shed new light on X-ray lasers, and how these extremely bright, fast flashes of light take atomic-level snapshots of some of nature's speediest processes. From hardy pigs to super-crops, gene editing poses new EU dilemma Heat-tolerant Angus beef cattle designed for the tropics with white coats instead of black or red. A button mushroom that doesn't turn brown. Pigs that don't fall sick. These are all ideas thrown up by gene editing, the new technology taking the biomedical world by storm, and one which also promises a revolution down on the farm. NASA to make second attempt at inflating space station test module Astronauts aboard the International Space Station will try again on Saturday to inflate a novel experimental habitat after the fabric module failed to unfurl as planned earlier this week, NASA officials said on Friday. The problem may have resulted from its materials becoming stiff. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, was unpacked 10 months later than expected due to launch delays, manufacturer Bigelow Aerospace told reporters on a conference call. Biotech Regeneron replaces Intel as sponsor of Science Talent Search Biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc on Thursday became the title sponsor of the most prestigious U.S. science competition for high school students, taking the baton from chipmaker Intel Corp. Regeneron pledged $100 million to support the Science Talent Search and related programs through 2026, and doubled awards for the top 300 scientists and their schools, to $2,000 each. Radar images reveal Mars is coming out of an ice age Outrage in multi-ethnic Malaysia as government backs Islamic law By Praveen Menon KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Najib Razak's government threw its support in parliament this week behind an Islamic penal code that includes amputations and stoning, shocking some of his allies and stoking fears of further strains in the multi-ethnic country. Critics believe the scandal-tainted prime minister is using 'hudud', the Islamic law, to shore up the backing of Muslim Malay voters and fend off attacks on his leadership ahead of critical by-elections next month and a general election in 2018. The government on Thursday unexpectedly submitted to parliament a hudud bill that had been proposed by the Islamist group Parti Islam se-Malaysia's (PAS). Although debate on the law was deferred to October by PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang, its submission to parliament brought criticism from leaders across the political spectrum, including allies of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, who represent the ethnic Chinese and Indian communities. Najib sought to ease tensions with his allies on Friday, saying the bill was "misunderstood". "It's not hudud, but what we refer to as enhanced punishment," he told a news conference after meeting leaders of his ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party. "It applies only to certain offences and this comes under the jurisdiction of the Syariah court and is only applicable to the Muslims. It has nothing to do with non-Muslims." He added that the punishments would be limited and canings meted out under the law would not injure or draw blood. Earlier in the day, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a key party in the BN coalition, called the submission of the hudud bill to parliament "unconstitutional". "As we repeatedly pointed out, the implementation of Hudud law is against the spirit of the Federal Constitution, and would ruin the inter-ethnic relationship in the country," MCA President Liow Tiong Lai said. Arguments for and against the introduction of hudud have divided Malaysia for years. Most of the Southeast Asian country's states implement sharia, the Islamic legal system, but its reach is restricted by federal law. Still, the hudud bill appears doomed as the UMNO-led coalition lacks the two-thirds majority needed to pass it into law. The Islamist party PAS is pushing for a constitutional amendment that would allow hudud to be implemented in Kelantan, a northern state where nightclubs are banned and there are separate public benches for men and women. Many fear such a move would open doors for other states to bring in the Islamic penal code. Hudud stipulates ancient religious punishments for Muslims who violate the law. EYEING POLLS Critics say that Najib, with an eye on by-elections for two parliamentary seats on June 18, is seeking to appease the majority Muslim votebank with his stand on hudud and to deflect attention from a multi-billion-dollar scandal at the state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). They allege Najib was a beneficiary of 1MDB's funds, after about $680 million was deposited in his bank account before a 2013 election. Najib has denied any wrongdoing. Some political heavyweights in Najib's party have questioned whether he can lead them to victory in the 2018 general election. However, he has consolidated power by sacking dissenters within UMNO, which has ruled Malaysia since 1957, and using a controversial and repressive colonial-era sedition law to silence other critics. Najib seized on the resounding victory of a coalition partner in a Borneo state election earlier month as evidence that he and his government remain popular. The by-elections in peninsula Malaysia are likely to be a closer contest. Blast kills one at Bulgaria's biggest military plant SOFIA, May 28 (Reuters) - A blast at Bulgaria's biggest weapons maker, Arsenal, in the centre of the Balkan country killed one person on Friday night, the interior ministry said on Saturday. A ministry's spokeswoman told Reuters the accident that killed a 52-year-old man occurred at 2220 local time (1920 GMT) at Arsenal's production unit in the town of Muglizh, 250 km (155 miles) east of the capital Sofia. "There are no other injured people," she said. Bulgarian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident, which is normal procedure in an incident when someone is killed or seriously hurt. Last month, two workers were killed in an explosion at Arsenal, triggering a fire. Motor racing-Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes first to test 2017 tyres MONACO, May 28 (Reuters) - Ferrari, Red Bull and Formula One world champions Mercedes will be first to test Pirelli's wider 2017 tyres in August, Pirelli's racing manager Mario Isola said at a Monaco Grand Prix presentation on Saturday. "This is the first, first version," he said, speaking in front of a demonstration car to show off the bigger prototype tyres. "We are working with the teams to have 'mule cars' available as soon as possible, they will be 2015 cars modified for the new tyres with additional downforce to simulate the performance expected for next year. "When we start, probably in August, we will have a concentrated test plan because we need to find a final version of the tyre by the end of November or December... we don't have a lot of time." Isola said the new tyres would take a lot more speed through the corners, with an expected improvement of four seconds in lap time. The plan was to stay with five compounds for 2017 but that could change once they had been tested. Pirelli have brought a new ultrasoft tyre to Monaco this weekend. The new, wider tyres have eight centimetres more at the rear and six at the front -- equal to about a 20 percent increase on the current size. Turkish rockets, U.S.-led coalition hit Islamic State in Syria -media ANKARA, May 28 (Reuters) - Turkish and US-led coalition airstrikes killed 104 Islamic State militants in retaliation for the latest attack on a Turkish border province, Turkish media reported on Saturday, citing military sources. Pro-government Sabah Daily news reported five people were injured on Friday when rockets fired from Islamic State controlled territory in northern Syria hit Turkey's border province of Kilis. Kilis has been hit by rockets from Islamic State-controlled territory more than 70 times since January, killing 21 people including children, in what security officials say has gone from accidental spillover to deliberate targeting. Militants attack Nembe pipeline in Nigeria's Delta -official YENAGOA, Nigeria, May 28 (Reuters) - Militants have attacked the Nembe pipeline in Nigeria's Delta region, a local official said on Saturday, hours after the Niger Delta Avengers militant group claimed a strike on the facility. Haj row escalates as Iran and Saudi Arabia miss new deal RIYADH, May 28 (Reuters) - An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday. Iran's top haj official Saeed Ohadi said there was still room to find agreement until Sunday night, according to Tehran's official IRNA news agency. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the impasse. "We witnessed a lack of seriousness by the Iranian side in dealing with the issue. It is yet another attempt by them to politicise the haj," Abdulmohsen Alyas, an under-secretary at Riyadh's Information Ministry, told Reuters. After an earlier attempt to agree on haj terms failed this month, Iran's leadership blamed Saudi Arabia for the delay, saying it was "very concerned" for the safety of Iranian pilgrims after last year's disaster. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said over 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. However, counts of fatalities in the disaster by countries who received home the bodies of their citizens showed that over 2,000 people may have died in the crush, more than 400 of them Iranians. Adding to Tehran's anger, King Salman was later quoted in Saudi state media as praising Saudi authorities for a "successful" haj. Pakistani PM to undergo heart surgery in London ISLAMABAD, May 28 (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will undergo open heart surgery in London on Tuesday, his family and office said, in what will be his second cardiac operation in five years. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on her official Twitter account that the surgery would be for "perforation of the heart", a complication from an earlier procedure in 2011. "Prayers are the most effect & potent medicine. Millions will pray for him," she tweeted late Friday night. A statement from the Sharif's office on Saturday said the prime minister was continuing to oversee state affairs in the days before his surgery. "It is however natural and understandable that the Prime Minister will be off from any activities when is actually operated on by the doctors," the statement said. "God willing soon after the surgery, the Prime Minister will be supervising State's affairs with the same spirit and energy." Sharif has frequently travelled abroad for medical treatment in the past year. His last public statements were on Sunday, after the U.S. drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, an attack Sharif condemned as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Sharif well on Saturday. Clash in Guinea over opening of new mosque injures 59 people CONAKRY, May 28 (Reuters) - At least 59 people were injured in Guinea when youths frustrated they were being kept out of the opening of a new mosque in the town of Timbo clashed with police, a hospital director and witnesses said on Saturday. Security officials stopped ordinary people from entering the mosque to allow local dignitaries to pass but youths became angry and threw stones and attempted to rush in, witnesses said. Police responded with teargas and beat back the youths. "There was a huge clash between the police and the young people and clouds of tear gas. I saw old women pushed over by the surging crowd. It was serious," said Latif Haidera, a witness. Mamadou Kouyate, the director of the regional hospital at Mamou, said 59 people were treated at his hospital alone following the incident on Friday in Timbo, which is about 260 km (163 miles) northeast of the capital Conakry. About 85 percent of Guinea's population follows Sunni Islam and Timbo is a centre of Islamic learning and the capital of the Foutah branch of Islam in Guinea. Italy to sell old prisons to build new ones ROME, May 28 (Reuters) - Italy plans to sell historic prisons in Rome, Milan, and Naples, which hold more than 3,000 inmates, to pay for modern ones, the justice minister said in a newspaper interview. Milan's San Vittore prison, opened in 1879 and holding about 750 inmates, Rome's Regina Coeli, built in the 1600s and with more than 600, and Naples' Poggioreale, dating back to 1914 and with almost 2,000 prisoners, could be converted into hotels or private residences, la Repubblica said on Saturday. The prisons are in the heart of their respective cities, with Regina Coeli on the banks of the Tiber in Rome's popular Trastevere tourist neighbourhood. The sale of the prime real estate would be used to build bigger and more modern facilities outside the cities, Justice Minister Andrea Orlando told la Repubblica. Italy's overcrowded prison system, which now holds some 54,000, was built to hold no more than 50,000. Residents of all three cities are going to vote in June for new mayors and governments. The contests will be crucial tests for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party. Talks with the newly elected mayors about selling the prisons can start immediately after the elections, Orlando said. Iraqi Sunni politicians reject visit by Iran's Soleimani to Falluja By Saif Hameed BAGHDAD, May 28 (Reuters) - Sunni politicians in Iraq condemned on Saturday a visit by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani to Shi'ite paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army to drive Islamic State militants out of the Sunni city of Falluja. Three lawmakers from the province of Anbar told Reuters the visit by Iran's al-Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt on Baghdad's assertions that the offensive is an Iraqi-led effort to defeat Islamic State, and not to settle scores with the Sunnis. Falluja, which lies about 50 kilometers (32 miles) west of Baghdad, is a bastion of the insurgency that fought the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led authorities that replaced former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In recent days, Iranian media published pictures of what they said was a visit by Soleimani to Falluja and a meeting he held with the leaders of the Iraqi coalition of Shi'ite militias known as Popular Mobilization, or Hashid Shaabi. It is the second time Soleimani has appeared in Iraqi conflict zones. About a year ago, witnesses said he was present when Popular Mobilization fighters ousted Islamic State militants from cities north of the capital. An Iraqi government spokesman did not confirm Soleimani's visit and stressed that Iranian advisors are present in Iraq in order to assist in the war on Islamic State (IS) in the same capacity as those of the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition. Member of parliament (MP) Hamid al-Mutlaq rejected that, however. "We are Iraqis and not Iranians," he said. "Would Turkish or Saudi advisers be welcomed to assist in the battle?" he added, drawing a parallel between the three regional powers bordering Iraq -- mainly-Sunni Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Shi'ite Iran. "Soleimani's presence is suspicious and a cause for concern; he is absolutely not welcome in the area," said Falluja parliamentarian Salim Muttar al-Issawi. "I believe that the presence of such an official from the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guard could have sectarian implications," said another MP from the city, Liqaa Wardi. Falluja was the first city captured by Islamic State in Iraq in January 2014, and is the second-largest still held by the militants after Mosul, their de-facto capital. The Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, a hardline political organization formed after Saddam's ouster to represent Sunnis, rejected the participation of the Shi'ite militias in the fighting in Falluja. "The militias ... didn't come to liberate areas, as they claim, but to carry out their sectarian goals with direct guidance from Iran," it said in a statement on Friday. Meanwhile, rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia traded accusations over Soleimani's role in Iraq. "The presence of Iran's military advisers in Iraq under the command of General Qassem Soleimani is at the request of the country's legitimate government in order to fight terrorists," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said, according to the Fars news agency. Venezuela gov't, opposition hold talks in Dominican Republic - local media CARACAS, May 28 (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition leaders and top government officials have held talks in the Dominican Republic to lay the groundwork for a potential dialogue to defuse a political standoff and a deepening economic crisis, local media reported on Saturday. The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with Congress after the opposition won a sweeping legislative majority last year. A government delegation including Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez has for three days met with representatives of opposition parties including Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, according to opposition-linked newspaper El Nacional. Government-backed newspaper Ciudad Caracas described the encounter as an "exploratory meeting for the start of dialogue," adding that the meeting included ex-leaders of Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez retweeted state-run broadcaster Telesur saying the government had met with the opposition. A Foreign Ministry official declined to comment. The head of Venezuela's MUD opposition coalition tweeted "There is no 'opposition-government' meeting in the Dominican. Representatives of the coalition are attending a meeting with (the ex-presidents)." International agencies including the United Nations and the Group of Seven industrial powers known as the G7 have pressed the two sides to hold talks amid chronic shortages of food and medicine and electricity rationing. But opposition leaders, who are seeking a referendum to recall President Maduro, have been deeply skeptical of initiating such talks. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that dialogue would simply allow the government to buy time and that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote. A dialogue effort in 2014 brought the two sides together amid months of violent anti-government street protests that left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the talks did not produce any substantive agreements. Opposition leaders accuse the National Election Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 percent according to local pollster Datanalisis. They also say the ruling Socialist Party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December. Clashes between Islamic State, Syria rebels kill dozens near Turkey -monitor BEIRUT, May 28 (Reuters) - Fighting between Islamic State (IS) and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed dozens of people in the last two days, as IS militants keep up an offensive that has led to rapid territorial gains, a monitoring group said on Saturday. Fighters from the militant group entered the rebel-held town of Marea early on Saturday, using at least two car bombs in the assault, and clashes continued later in the day, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An advance by the jihadists on Friday that cut Marea off from another key insurgent-held town, Azaz, was their biggest territorial gain in the northern province of Aleppo for two years, the Observatory said. Islamic State has been battling rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army since late last year, but clashes have intensified in recent weeks. The fighting in the past two days has killed at least 27 civilians as well as 41 combatants, the Observatory said. A U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State carried out air raids on some of their positions in one of the villages that the jihadists had captured, it said. Pope meets children, says migrants "not dangerous, but in danger" By Steve Scherer VATICAN CITY, May 28 (Reuters) - Pope Francis held an emotional meeting with hundreds of children on Saturday, including a Nigerian boy whose parents drowned in a shipwreck, and told them migrants "are not dangerous, but in danger". The meeting followed a surge in migrant traffic this week between Libya and Italy, with more than 14,000 saved from overcrowded boats since Monday and three consecutive days of shipwrecks in which hundreds may have died. Three infants were among 45 bodies recovered at sea on Friday, UNICEF Italy said. Meeting the mostly Italian children who took a special train from southern Italy to the Vatican's own railway station, Francis hugged the Nigerian boy, Osayande, who has been taken in by an Italian family. He showed them an orange life jacket he was given by a Spanish rescuer working to save lives in the Mediterranean. "He brought me this life jacket and, crying a little bit, he said: 'Father, I failed. There was a little girl in the sea and I wasn't able to save her. All I could reach was her life jacket'" the pope said. "What was her name? I don't know - a little girl without a name ... She's in heaven and watching us. Let's close our eyes, think about her and give her a name." The influx of migrants and refugees into Europe in recent years has fanned popular fears of foreigners and prompted politicians to tighten border controls and limit the number of newcomers allowed to stay. The pope has repeatedly sought to underscore the plight of these people, especially the hundreds of thousands who have risked their lives to come to Europe in flimsy boats. He visited the Greek island of Lesbos last month, bringing 12 refugees back on his plane to set an example of how other people and countries should welcome refugees. In southern Italy on Saturday, about 4,000 migrants made it to dry land, many of them exhausted and dehydrated. "The number of minors who make the journey on their own and arrive in Europe is much higher than what we saw last year," Save the Children spokeswoman Giovanna Di Benedetto said. Italian marine arrives home after four years in custody in India ROME, May 28 (Reuters) - An Italian marine who Indian prosecutors accuse of murdering two fishermen during an anti-piracy mission returned home on Saturday after four years in custody in New Delhi. Salvatore Girone, who was held in custody at the Italian embassy in the Indian capital, is one of two marines arrested in 2012 over the fishermen's deaths during the operation to protect an Italian oil tanker. The other marine, Massimiliano Latorre, is already back in Italy after suffering health problems. The marines say they fired on the fishing boat because they thought the Italian ship they were assigned to protect, the Enrica Lexie, was under attack. Indian prosecutors accuse them of murdering the fishermen. India's supreme court ruled earlier this week he was free to go home at least until Italy's dispute with India over jurisdiction in the case, which is now in international arbitration, is over. Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti embraced the uniformed Girone when he arrived at Rome's Ciampino airport. He was also greeted by the foreign minister, the navy's top admiral and relatives. India's Supreme Court said Girone must surrender his passport when he arrives in Italy and he will be required to return to India within a month of an order from the tribunal. The long dispute over the incident has strained relations between India and Italy and its European Union partners. In an effort to end legal wrangling, both countries last year agreed to move their dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which also ruled Girone should be allowed to return home earlier this month. Clashes between Islamic State, Syria rebels kill dozens near Turkey -monitor BEIRUT, May 28 (Reuters) - Fighting between Islamic State (IS) and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed dozens of people in the last two days, as IS militants keep up an offensive that has led to rapid territorial gains, a monitoring group said on Saturday. Fighters from the militant group entered the rebel-held town of Marea early on Saturday, using at least two car bombs in the assault, and clashes continued later in the day, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An advance by the jihadists on Friday that cut Marea off from another key insurgent-held town, Azaz, was their biggest territorial gain in the northern province of Aleppo for two years, the Observatory said. Islamic State has been battling rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) since late last year, but clashes have intensified in recent weeks. The fighting in the past two days has killed at least 27 civilians as well as 41 combatants, the Observatory said. A U.S.-led coalition carried out air raids on IS positions in one of the villages that the jihadists had captured from rebels, it said. IS on Friday encroached from the east on a narrow area of rebel control connected to the Turkish border, through which the rebels have received support. To the west of that rebel-held area is territory under the control of the Kurdish YPG militia and its allies, who have been fighting the rebels but also separately battling Islamic State. One of the Kurdish-allied groups took over a village west of Marea on Saturday, apparently in a rare agreement with the FSA rebels, the Observatory reported. The move could bring the Kurdish-allied group, Jaysh al-Thuwwar, into confrontation with IS in the area. It also further erodes rebel control there from the west. The United States is backing the YPG and its allies in an offensive against IS in the northern countryside of neighbouring Raqqa province, which is home to the group's de facto capital, Raqqa city. India's Sun Pharma gets U.S. subpoena over generic drugs pricing MUMBAI, May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has subpoenaed India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd seeking information about the pricing and marketing of the generic drugs it sells in the United States, the company said on Saturday. The DoJ's antitrust division has also asked Sun Pharma's U.S. unit for documents related to employee and corporate records and communications with competitors. The subpoena comes amid a wider probe by U.S. regulators into steep increases in the prices of generic medicines in recent years. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services started an investigation last year into generic drug prices after prodding from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings. They specifically cited doxycycline hyclate 100 milligram, an antibiotic for which the price doubled in the year through June 2014. (http://reut.rs/1UkyIQw) The DoJ's antitrust division sent subpoenas last year to two generic drugmakers -- Endo International Plc and Mylan -- seeking information on their doxycycline products. Sun Pharma, the world's fifth-largest maker of generic medicines, is one of several companies selling doxycycline products in the United States. In a statement issued late on Saturday, it did not disclose the products over which the DoJ had sought information. Bulgaria to return detained Afghan migrants to Greece SOFIA, May 28 (Reuters) - Bulgaria detained 53 Afghan migrants on Saturday aboard a freight train from Greece and said it would return them to its southern neighbour to "send a strong message" to others who might be tempted to use the same route to western Europe. Greece's border with Macedonia just to the west is now effectively closed to migrants, sparking fears in Bulgaria that they may instead try to transit its territory on their way north. Bulgaria shares a 500 km (310 mile) border with Greece. Bulgaria's fears have grown following Athens' decision this week to shut a makeshift refugee camp, the largest in Europe, on its border with Macedonia due to deteriorating humanitarian conditions. "All of them (the Afghan migrants) are registered in Greece and they will be returned to Greece," said Georgi Kostov, chief secretary of the Bulgarian interior ministry, adding that a further 34 illegal migrants had been detained on Friday night. "(By returning the migrants back to Greece) we want to send a strong message to all who have chosen this route," he said. The ministry said in a statement it would send troops to assist border police in guarding the frontier against an influx of refugees. Niger says kills 12 Boko Haram fighters in gun battle NIAMEY, May 28 (Reuters) - Security forces in Niger killed around 12 fighters of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram who launched an attack in the southeastern region of Bosso close to the border with Nigeria, according to an army statement on Saturday. Three members of the security forces were lightly wounded during Friday's battle and government forces captured machine guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers and mobile telephones from the enemy, said army spokesman Colonel Moustapha Ledru. "The vigorous reaction of the Defence and Security Forces of Niger put the enemy to flight. Around a dozen terrorists were killed and several dozen others were wounded and carried away by the fleeing attackers," he said on national radio. It was not possible to verify the casualty figures independently. Local resident Ibrahim Chetima said townspeople sought shelter in the bush from the fighting, which began at around 5.30 p.m. (1630 GMT) and went on until 8 p.m. Bosso is part of the Diffa region, which houses many refugees and internally displaced people who have sought to evade Boko Haram violence elsewhere. The region has been targeted numerous times in attacks blamed on the militants. BJP motormouths can be trusted to make a bad situation worse with their ill thought-out statements. Living upto this trust, culture minister Mahesh Sharma waded into the simmering diplomatic row over the killing of an African national in Delhi's Hauz Khas. He played down the discontent among the African community by stating that "even Africa is not safe". This attempted defence is objectionable at various levels. Trivialising hate crime It blurs the difference between stray assault and a crime related to discrimination. What kind of an impression will such an intemperate statement create for India across the globe? The minister fails to understand that while all crime is abominable, incidents arising due to a bias against a particular class of people are more revolting. The Africans could have been questioned if their outrage was over a routine incident despite the best efforts of Indian state, but the anger here is not so much due to the state's inability to control crime as the routine victmisation of Africans due to deep-rooted racial prejudice in Indians. The situation is made worse by an Indian state that is indifferent to the plight of Africans. Imagine how the police would have sprung to action if the victim was an American or any light-skinned foreign national (and the foreigner would not have been a victim of such prejudice in the first place). Africa may be unable to protect crime, but the effect of failure is not borne inordinately by a particular identity group. In our case, Africans are being singled out as targets and are oppressed with utter impunity, with connivance of the larger society and the state. The anger is over the racial discrimination that most Indians subject Africans to. The Africans in India for long have been a minority that has silently suffered such prejudice. This smashes their sense of dignity and makes a mockery of the promise of equality that has been enshrined in our Constitution. Also, given how sensitive we our to racial prejudice when we are at the receiving end, doesn't the minister's statement - making light of the Africans' outrage - paint Indians as hypocrites with double standards? The world will now realise that the principles of racial equality and non-discrimination are convenient tools used by Indians when they suit us and ignored when they don't. The ugly truth is, even when we suffer from racism ourselves, we are guided by it. We remain slaves of the racial attitude and our shameful treatment of Africans is its most obvious indicator. Following the example of Sharma, developed nations' governments too can ask India to shut up in case of racial crimes against Indian expats because racial crime is much more in India and their citizens are often survivors of such crimes. Tit for tat? Is the minister trying to suggest that if such crimes are prevalent in Africa, the nationals from the continent should silently suffer crime elsewhere? The statement may be used by our detractors as implying tit for tat. It may be suggest that since Africa is unable to protect Indians, it shouldn't expect India to protect its citizens. What kind of an impression will such an intemperate statement create for India across the globe? A new standard for failure The minister, by justifying our failure using Africa as an example, brackets India with Africa. Should an aspiring superpower be dwelling on equating itself with a region that has one of the worst crime rate statistics in the world? What a mighty and sad fall it has been for the Modi government, which has ended up comparing itself to the standards of Africa after promising to match those of USA and China. The statement undermines the effort of the external affairs ministry to control the damage and adds insult to injury. 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. Indian soldiers from the UN Peacekeeping mission in DR Congo. Sacrifice 156 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 ex-colonial 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. Gone are the days when wars took place among armies, battalions and legions. Gone are the days when lives were lost in millions due to international conflict. Today, wars are instrumented using not guns and troops, but PCs. The silent cyber wars of the 21st century are brewed inside homes, initiated by civilians and won by intellect, not instruments of destruction. This newfound method - through which victory is calculated using hacks - has given birth to a fresh range of soldiers - to be one all you need is an internet connection and a pinch of patriotism. In this brand new warfare, this is what an attack looks like. The Indian railways website was supposedly hacked by a Pakistani hacker, codename Faisal 1337. Although the page has since been taken down by the Indian Railways, a mirror can be found here. These attacks are now frequent as both Indian and Pakistani government websites witness similar assaults. It wasn't long ago when something with similar characteristics were observed on a Pakistani government website. Although some who instrument such attacks on Indias government and civilian websites are adults, the majority of the individuals who formulate these attacks are teenagers, aged between 13-19, 25 per cent of them being female. Hatred is common on both grounds and young minds occasionally find themselves performing such tasks to accumulate attention and elevate social class.Promoting accomplishments is frequent through social networking websites such as ask.fm. One minute a person could be solving algebraic equations as part of their homework, the other they could be hacking into a foreign governments website. According to a source - an active member of PakXploiters - the objective for hacking government/civilian websites is to spread the message about problems people are facing in India and Kashmir. Hackers are organised into groups, every hacker acquires a code name. The leading hacker groups include PCA, Madleets, DAC, Anonymous Pakistan, Pakxploiters, TeamLeets and theyve hacked approximately 20,000 sites in total. Although the primary goal is to bring to light the problems people in Kashmir experience, a secondary goal also exists. As my source opened up, he revealed that specific hacker groups occasionally extract government data. When I inquired what kind of data was usually attempted to be acquired, he said: Useful data data containing information related to Pakistan and Kashmir. He refused to state what happened to the data after it was extracted. Government websites are tricky to hack into. Consequently, civilian website are targeted. Hacker groups combine and sometimes work in synergy. The success of a hacker group is determined by the number of websites it has hacked, some have thousands in their portfolio while some have hundreds as they move up the hierarchy. The secondary aim for hacking civilian websites is to practice skills and in some cases, give Indian hackers the opportunity to update their skills. My source also went on to state that 60 per cent of all Indian websites are vulnerable to such attacks. Donna Huff watched and listened closely as seven tiny Emerald Hill Elementary School kindergartners took turns reading passages from Buzzy and the Pencil on a recent Tuesday morning inside her makeshift classroom adjoining the schools library. As a reading specialist, the 64-year-old longtime educator is responsible for working with students in small groups to help improve their literacy skills while also implementing a long-term plan for their reading improvement. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1974, Huff began teaching at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Richmond where she stayed two years while her husband, Gary Huff, completed his college courses. Since my husband served in Vietnam, he was behind two years so when he graduated from VCU, we moved back to Culpeper, explained Huff, whose family moved to Culpeper from Northern Virginia when she was in the seventh grade. A 1970 Culpeper County High School graduate, Huff always knew she wanted to teach in Culpeper. Huffs senior class was the first to graduate from the new CCHS located on Achievement Drive. It was considered state-of-the-art back then, said Huff, joking about how long its been since her graduation 46 years ago. In 1976, Huff started teaching second-graders at Pearl Sample Elementary School until Emerald Hill Elementary School opened in 1997. Shes been at Emerald Hill ever since. Culpeper County School Board members and administrators celebrated the school systems longest serving employees during the April 11 regular school board meeting. So far, Huff has taught 40 years in Culpeper and 42 years overall. I like watching the students grow and seeing them get excited about learning, especially learning how to read, said Huff. When they first start out they dont think they can do it, but my kindergartners are reading a first-grade book now. During her years at Pearl Sample, Huff taught junior primary students, second and first-graders. Kindergarten wasnt required back then so the junior primary students were kids that werent quite ready for first-grade, explained Huff. Huff also did something called looping thats when a teacher remains with the same group of students for two years. Huff would typically move up with her first-graders to the second-grade the following school year. I tried to give them a consistent boost, said Huff. While many of Huffs peers left for other teaching positions in various counties, Huff stayed in Culpeper. Family kept me here. I could have gone other places, but I had my children here and I didnt want to be too far away. I guess when I graduated I wanted to come back and do something for this community. I really love Culpeper. I think its harder for people to stay in one place in this day and age. You have to go where you can support your family these days and people need two incomes. People are very mobile and even though they might like an area, theyve got to go where they can support their families. EHES Principal Renee Wootten called Huffs longevity with Culpeper schools an amazing legacy of working with students and supporting the education profession. Mrs. Huff has been with Culpeper County Schools for 40 consecutive years and this time has only served to reinforce her love of learning, educating and working with the families and children of Culpeper County, said Wootten. Her kind and gentle demeanor serve as a gentle guide to the love of learning and, most importantly, reading as she currently serves as one of Emerald Hills reading specialists. Married to Gary for 43 years, the Huffs have two daughters Julie and Angie and 12 grandchildren. After receiving her bachelors degree in education from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1974, Huff received her masters degree from James Madison University in education in 1987 and was also certified as a reading specialist that same year. Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Thursday that he has never lobbied in the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government, adding that federal investigators looking into his foreign connections are focused on a very specific lobbyist registration issue. I have never lobbied for a foreign government here. Ever, McAuliffe said during a morning radio appearance on Richmonds WRVA. The Democratic governors remarks came a day after his attorney said the Department of Justice is looking into a potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a federal statute meant to limit foreign influence in U.S. policy. In the first report on the investigation Monday, CNN reported a focus on $120,000 in political contributions to McAuliffe linked to Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang. The media was wrong. Shocking, McAuliffe said when asked about the changing accounts of the investigations target. McAuliffe has said he was not contacted by investigators before media reports surfaced. Wang, through a spokesman, said he too had not been contacted. McAuliffes attorney, James W. Cooper, said the DOJ told him it has no evidence of a violation. Much about the investigation remains unclear. The DOJ generally does not comment on active investigations. Asked why the investigation is continuing if theres no evidence of wrongdoing, McAuliffe said he did not know. Hopefully itll be shut down pretty quickly, McAuliffe said. FARA, which requires agents of foreign entities to register and disclose their activities, is not limited to lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. The law also applies to individuals and companies whose principal place of business is outside the U.S. It covers a broad range of political activity to further foreign interests, including publicity, consulting and the solicitation or disbursement of funds or other things of value for or in the interest of a foreign entity. The restriction on foreign political contributions was originally a part of FARA, according to a Federal Election Commission brochure aimed at foreign nationals, but was later incorporated into federal election law. McAuliffe has said the contributions linked to Wang were valid because the businessman has held a green card since 2007, which makes him eligible to contribute. The donations did not come from Wang personally, but were made by West Legend Corp., a New Jersey-based affiliate of Wangs business enterprise. According to the FEC, companies located in the U.S. cannot make political donations if the contribution is financed by a foreign owner or directed by individual foreign nationals. Wang is connected to the Chinese government as a representative to the National Peoples Congress, Chinas largely ceremonial parliament. McAuliffe also responded Thursday to a Time Magazine report that said he had invited Wang to a 2013 fundraiser at the home of Hillary Clinton, a longtime friend of McAuliffes. The guy was invited to a fundraiser with many people at it, McAuliffe said. People come to fundraisers. McAuliffe, who has accused the DOJ and FBI of leaking information about the probe, said the investigation has nothing to do with Virginia or Virginia politics because its focused on his work as a private businessman. This is a political world were in. Theres a big presidential campaign going on, he said. Im a big boy. I get it. Though McAuliffe has said hes confident hell be cleared and stuck to his published schedule of official events, signs of fallout are beginning to show. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported late Wednesday that McAuliffe will no longer appear at a fundraiser next week for former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat now running for U.S. Senate. In a radio appearance Wednesday, House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, said hes reserving judgment. I sincerely hope its not true, Howell said. I do believe that everybodys entitled to their innocence until proven guilty. Culpeper is getting a brand new Wendys in the same location on the North Main Street traffic circle with improved access. The Town of Culpeper Planning Commission recently approved the site plan for a 3,467-square-foot fast food restaurant at 872 N. Main Street to replace the existing eatery that was built 30 years ago in 1986, according to tax records. The old restaurant will be demolished and the new one constructed starting in about a month, according to the Maryland-based project engineer Geoffrey Ciniero with CMS Associates. Owner Big Bear Holdings, based in Winchester, hopes to have the new Wendys open in the fall, he said. According to Ciniero, the construction project will take about three to four months to finish. He said the new Wendys would be roomier. Vehicular access to the restaurant will be provided off of Route 229 and per a rear access road off of Col. Jameson Boulevard to be built by VDOT as part of a recent condemnation settlement. The new Wendys will better align with the new service entrance, according to Charles Lollar, an attorney representing the franchisee in Septembers settlement. The owner claimed that when VDOT opened its massive traffic circle in the area in 2014 that it ruined the restaurant. "With the roundabout pushed right up against its exit, traffic couldn't circulate and it killed the business," Lollar told the Star-Exponent in September. The owner originally sought more than $1 million from VDOT for taking the land, the roundabout impact and the reported negative effect of a median that now prevents left turns into the Wendy's, according to court documents. The new Culpeper Wendys is a prototypical modern design, said Ciniero. It was designed to have better access due to the traffic circle, he said. The service entrance will also provide access to Pizza Hut next door. LONDON - England - We have witnessed the daily terroristic assaults of Project Fear by the government in this EU Referendum. How do you feel about it? The definition of terrorism is: the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Although there has not been any violence, there has certainly been intimidation in the pursuit of political aims, the aim of course being of scaring the public enough for them to vote to remain in the EU. How does the government feel about resorting to such terroristic tactics to engender fear amongst the population? Well, the orchestrators of this fearful terrorist technique do not feel anything. Their only goal is to achieve their target of a remain vote in the EU referendum, in fact, if they ever felt any form of emotion, these operatives would not function well within Project Fear. It is only up to the public to feel something, they are the targets of this terror technique being employed on a daily basis during the EU referendum. At some points, we would get three or four fearful headlines from prominent institutions told to relay some scripted horrid headline; when the Bank of England says something, it sounds official. When the head of the IMF spouts out a fearful headline or soundbite referring to the EU referendum, people get hot under the collar as the words seep through all news outlets. It is the utilisation of official institutions and offices which shows how the government had no qualms about defiling these organisations with scripted terrorist headlines. Defiling a known institution is exactly what Cameron has done with his terror campaign. How can we trust these institutions again, especially when analysing their skewed pro-EU data and finding so many falsities, blatant lies and massive holes in their data? World War III The governments Project Fear is terrorism, it fits the exact definition of terrorism, and it acts exactly like terrorism, and the government has been using the exact same technique of engendering fear in the populace as ISIS, sans burning pilots in cages. David Camerons pro-EU government uses the same technique a shepherd uses on sheep to herd them into a pen, where the shepherd uses dogs to cause fear upon the sheep and make them move into a pen, Cameron uses governmental institutions, world leaders and the media to herd the masses into acting out of fear, to be herded into only one singular thought pattern, when in reality there are many choices, the government has sought to create a funnel of fear, a corridor where there is no other choice but to choose the path he has created for them. The reality of the EU referendum is that there are multiple avenues and variables, and Camerons role as a seasoned fearmonger is to narrow the field into only one choice for the masses through herding techniques of fear. Repetition The constant repetition of a false piece of information makes it true in the eyes of the public. This technique is borrowed from Nazi Germanys propaganda technique and is being used by the Cameron government mercilessly. The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success. War Propaganda, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925), by Adolf Hitler If one is knowledgeable, there is no fear. Ignorance is a staple that Cameron and his corrupt cronies are counting on and exploiting to full effect. The leaflet Cameron effectively financed by stealing from the taxpayers purse and foisted on the populace is such an example, and was full of inconsistencies, lies and disinformation. It was summarily debunked. Do not fall for the same tricks utilised during the Scottish referendum, as the exact same techniques are now being employed during the EU referendum. Do not fear, do not believe a word they say as it is all calculated to sway you towards a certain point through fear. Do your own research, question everything, cross reference data. Terrorism can also be defined by the state use of fear, and the British people have been attacked by terror techniques for the past two months by their own government, albeit one that has been compromised by internal terrorists. We are now in a period of purdah before the final vote on June 23, and the fearful headlines have died down slightly, but they will continue right up until polling day. There is no fear in knowledge. Vote Leave on June 23. Naseeruddin took potshots at Anupam, who has been vocal about his fight for Kashmiri Pandits, especially their rehabilitation in the Valley. New Delhi: The three-time National award-winning actor Naseeruddin recently took potshots at Anupam Kher, who has been vocal about his fight for Kashmiri Pandits, especially their rehabilitation in the Valley. Naseeruddin, who doesn't mince his words had said, "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person." Now, in an interesting turn of events, Naseeruddin has blatantly denied making statements on Anupam. In an interview to ANI, the actor said, I have not said any such thing, this is all misreporting." When asked Anupam about the controversy, he said, "I contacted Naseeruddin Shah, he has denied making such statements. He (Naseer) told me when I have never said all this for so many years then why will I say it now? Naseeruddin also remarked on two years of the Narendra Modi government and said citizens of the country should give more time to it before making perceptions though he feels a bit worried by the "changes made in few textbooks". He, however, says the government is not "stupid" enough to turn the nation towards "dark ages". "People are taking decisions and making perceptions too fast. I think we should give the government more time. But, there are few things which make me concerned, like the kind of alterations in the text books those are the things to worry about," Shah said in an interview here. The 66-year-old actor was in the capital to promote his film "Waiting" which released on May 27. "I believe the people in the government are not stupid to understand the choices in front of them, either to build a modern India or to take us back into the dark ages. I think they are not stupid to take the second choice. Not for anything else but to at least be in power. I am not leaving the hope. If we will leave the hope it means we have lost the battle," he added. Shah supported noted lyricist Javed Akhtar's statements during his farewell speech in Rajya Sabha saying nobody has the right to question a person's love for their motherland. "I am sad that statements like these (referring to AIMIM MP Asaddudin Owaisi) are made and then they are not even condemned. Like Javed sahab said, 'It is his right to say 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat mata ki jai'. I will say it with my choice not because somebody asks me to,' I support him. Nobody has a right to question my love for my country," he said. Akhtar had slammed Owaisi for saying that he won't chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' because the Constitution does not ask him to do so. He had also condemned right-wing extremists who say Muslims should go to Pakistan. Mumbai: Coming from a filmy family where his father Amitabh and wife Aishwarya have successfully made their mark in the west, Abhishek Bachchan feels that Indian give too much hype to Hollywood. While promoting his upcoming film Housefull 3 with his co-stars at an event, Abhishek was asked whether he has any plans to enter Hollywood, to which the actor replied that he has no such interest. "There is a lot hype given to Hollywood. English is just a language and nothing else. Today there is a huge demand of Hindi films globally. People from Hollywood are coming and doing item numbers and films," said the actor. Abhishek went further on and revealed that while he has not interest to feature in a Hollywood films, hell soon be seen in a Tamil film titled 2.0 alongside Rajinikanth. The sequel to Enthiran, the film is being directed by Shankar. Apart from Abhishek, Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Lisa Haydon and Jacqueline Fernandez were also present at the event. Their film Housefull 3, which also stars Nargis Fakhri, is all set to hit the theatres on June 3, 2016. Chef, which starred Jon Favreau as the central protagonist tells the story of a a chef who loses his job and starts a food truck. The remake of 2014 Hollywood movie, Chef, which will star Saif Ali Khan is slated to go on floors in October. The actor has just finished shooting for Rangoon and has started dubbing for the film. We hear that Saif will only start shooting for Chef once he wraps up Vishal Bharadwajs Rangoon completely. The makers of the Chef remake are waiting out Saifs commitments since they believe his availability can be a problem if he works on multiple projects. Director Raja Menon, who will be helming the remake, says, We have just started the preparation for the film. We are thinking of starting the film post September specifically because of the rains. The film will be largely shot in six to seven locations in North and South of India. Theres a lot of travel involved in the film, so it will be ideal to start the film only post rains. He also added that theyre trying to accommodate the fact that Saif will be involved in Rangoons promotions. The only reason we want to start the film post the release of Rangoon is because Saif will also be promoting the film, so his availability might be a concern. While Saif has been zeroed in for a role in the movie, other parts have not been cast yet. We will start locking the other actors from next month. Right now its all in the initial stages, Raja adds. Chef, which starred Jon Favreau as the central protagonist tells the story of a a chef who loses his job and starts a food truck to feed his creativity, while reconnecting with his estranged family. Following the success of Sarrainodu, Allu Arjun and the films director Boyapati Srinu offered prayers to Lord Varaha Narasimha Swamy at Simhachalam, Visakhapatnam on Friday morning. When they were on their way down from the hilltop, the lift got stuck midway. The lift stopped midway because of a technical problem and everyone started panicking. Finally, the technicians managed to open the lift door and they both came out safely, says a source. Once the film was declared a hit, the director and the actor decided to offer prayers at Simhachalam because the films audio success event was also held there. The duo returned to Hyderabad on Friday evening. Aditi Krishnakumar juggles writing with her career in finance and ekes out time at night and on weekends to dream up stories. (Photo: Facebook) Singapore: A 31-year-old Indian woman author in Singapore has won the 'Scholastic Asian Book Award' for her 32,000-word manuscript rooted in "love of Indian history". Aditi Krishnakumar won the Singapore dollar 10,000 award this week for her manuscript "Codex: The Lost Treasure Of The Indus". Aditi, who submitted her manuscript hours before deadline last September, said she juggles writing with her career in finance and ekes out time at night and on weekends to dream up stories. "There were times when I thought I'd never be able to meet the dealine, though I managed it in the end," said Aditi who has been living in Singapore for the past three years. "One of my biggest challenges was to not get distracted by the internet," The Straits Times today quoted Aditi as saying. The manuscript, to be published by Scholastic Asia, follows Codex "linguist, mathematician and all-round" geek, as she works with Agent Lila Raman to decipher the mysterious script of the Indus Valley civilization, the report said. "It can be a challenge... But I wouldn't change it. I enjoy my job and I love writing," Aditi said as she spoke about writing. "I've always loved reading and I think writing was a natural progression from that. My earliest serious ambition was to be an author and that stayed with me through everything else I've done," she said. "It's a real page-turner. I couldn't stop reading it. It's also a book that has a subtext of interest in the deep history of India, so the book has a contemporary feel, but it is also rooted in an interest in and love of Indian history," American mhistorian and author Leonard Marcus, one of the judges for the award, said about the manuscript. The Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA) is the joint initiative of the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) and Scholastic Asia. While many students in the city get set for their Graduation Day (be it high school or college), probably the most important day at this stage in their lives, here are a few style tips they could use for that grad party theyve been waiting for. Since most of the grad parties are held early either during the day or early evening and the student is usually accompanied by his or her family, one should consider these factors before deciding on that perfect dress. Here are some tips for graduates, friends and family on how to choose an apt outfit for that proud moment of your life when you don that most cherished grad cap. If youre feeling ladylike then go for a formal gown or a knee-length dress. Dont neglect your footwear and focus on the comfort factor too. Top off your ensemble with accessories, but avoid too much bling. A designer watch, a hair accessory and a long chain should do the trick. Designer Susan Fernandes states, These days the young kids whore graduating are in with it. They know exactly what they want to wear. We make a lot of prom and grad dresses for young graduates from the International schools, and it is lovely to see parents coming in with their daughters to choose their gowns. They can wear a gown for their special day as it makes them look elegant and moms can wear sarees. Michelle Salins, a designer confesses she enjoys working on graduation outfits and feels that the trends are changing. Ive designed a few dresses for students in Singapore who wanted corsets and off-shoulder silhouettes, but for Indian grad students, the occasion calls for mothers draped in a saree and daughters in gowns. Pick hues that go with your skin tone you can choose from deep dark shades to pastel ones. Kids have a mind of their own and its always best to go with what they like to wear with a little bit of advice. Amitabh Bachchans granddaughter Navya Naveli dazzled in a gorgeous powder pink cut-out gown gown at her graduation ceremony recently. Designer Reshma Kunhi shares, For graduation ceremony elegant dressing is the key. Teenagers should wear floor length or knee length dresses and avoid those skater dresses that are too short; thigh length is a complete no no. Try pleated or non-pleated high-waisted skirts in solid colours or florals. You can go in for a silk tunic also or elegant silk top with trousers. Here again you need to avoid jeans and tees or leather jackets. Its also a proud moment for the parents who should dress classy. Fathers can wear a suit or trousers and a formal shirt, whereas the mothers should avoid cleavage popping outfits. Ladies, go for a full length gown or an Indian palazzo teamed with a sophisticated printed kurti. If you want to make it a little more formal, dont shy away from a cocktail saree, but no halter necks please. Shaili Kumari, who is from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar, suffers from a condition that causes her eyes to bulge and is forced to endure merciless taunts of frog and alien from other children. The 7-year-old has a genetic disorder called Crouzon syndrome that occurs due to the premature fusion of bones in the skull. The abnormal growth of these bones result in wide-set, bulging eyes and vision problems caused by shallow eye sockets, and eyes that point in different directions. Shaili Kumari with her sister. (Credit: YouTube) Constant bullying by others has made it impossible for Shaili to go to school yet the brave little girl dreams of becoming a doctor one day. But her father Pinti Kumar, 33, is unable to afford her proper treatment because of his meagre salary as a security guard and says that he feels completely helpless to stop the cruel taunts. Her eyes started getting huge gradually over the years and now we cannot allow her to go out alone fearing she will be mistreated, he told the Daily Mail. Shaili was born with eyes that appeared larger than normal but things took a turn for the worse after she crossed her third birthday. Apart from her facial condition, she also began to suffer from epileptic seizures. Although doctors have prescribed medicines for treating her fits, she still complains of pain in her eyes, headaches and weak eyesight. Shaili Kumari is unable to receive proper treatment because of the family's financial condition. (Credit: YouTube) After awareness about Shailis case was raised on social media, she is now waiting to see doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital in Delhi for better treatment. New York City can enforce a rule requiring chain restaurants to post warnings on menu items high in sodium, a New York appeals court ruled on Thursday. In February, a New York state judge upheld the rule, knocking down a challenge by the National Restaurant Association. But the Appellate Division, First Department, temporarily stopped New York City from enforcing it. The court lifted has now lifted that interim order. The rule, believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, requires city restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide to post a salt shaker encased in a black triangle as a warning next to menu items with more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium, the daily limit recommended by the federal government. Violators will be subject to $200 fines. A spokesman said the city would begin enforcement on June 6. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was pleased with the court's ruling on what he called a "common sense" regulation. "New Yorkers deserve to know a whole day's worth of sodium could be in one menu item, and too much sodium could lead to detrimental health problems," de Blasio said in a statement. Christin Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association, said that, while the decision means restaurants will have to comply with what she called an "unlawful and unprecedented" rule, the trade group continued to move forward with its appeal. The group has argued the rule is arbitrary and causes confusion for consumers. In February, Justice Eileen Rakower of state Supreme Court in Manhattan found the city's Board of Health within its rights to adopt the rule, which took effect in December, to help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The sodium warning follows public health crusades by the city under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In 2003, the city banned smoking in bars and restaurants that had not been covered by previous no-smoking laws. Three years later, the city voted to ban transfats in restaurants and amended the health code to require chains to post calorie counts. In 2012, Bloomberg also proposed a ban on selling sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces (0.5 liters), but it was eventually struck down by the state's highest court. Unlike the failed soda ban, Rakower noted, the salt rule did not restrict the use of sodium. Even the WHO said in 1986 that there is no data available on the carcinogenicity of KBrO3 to humans Bread causes cancer. That was the newspaper report that caused many to lose their breakfasts, in an instant. I can only imagine the spittoons of barely-chewed buttered toast, when this news interrupted our morning routine. My mother pointed the article out to me. This is what Ive been telling you for ages. Stop eating bread, she said. I dismissed it instantly, I seldom pay heed to medical research being touted by newspapers and news media to gain spectacular headlines, but curiosity made me research a little bit into this matter. In 1987, H. Kasai et.al. published a study, where they observed a significant rise of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine in the kidneys of mice that were orally administered Potassium Bromate. 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine is one of the major products of DNA oxidation, and Valavanidis et. al. pointed out that oxidative DNA damage, such as 8-oxo-dG, likely contributes to carcinogenesis. Now reading this, were to believe that the science is in, and Potassium Bromate (KBrO3) causes Cancer. This is quite shocking to say the least to the simple observer. This discovery was made nearly 30 years ago, and were just made wise to a potentially life threatening chemical today? That seems like a pretty large blunder. If KBrO3 causes cancer, then why arent packets of bread labelled with the same warning as packets of cigarettes? How is it that our government was so unaware that a few headlines made the FSSAI ban it completely from all foods. This article isnt about KBrO3, rather its about sensationalism and about how we perceive science. The paper, which made our media and governments change their mind about bread overnight, is about orally administered KBrO3 to mice. The WHO recognised this and even stated in 1986 that there is no data available on the carcinogenicity of KBrO3 to humans. Now, before you go ahead and accuse me of being a lobbyist for the flour companies, Id quote another study that H Kasai et.al., cited in another review paper they published in 1990, which stated that Chemical analysis revealed that almost all the additive is converted to KBr during the normal British Baking process, the actual exposure was therefor negligible. So baking actually changes the chemical structure and makes it harmless. There have been no studies that have shown a co-relation between human renal cancer and bread baked with KBrO3 so far. Does that mean its harmless? Does its impact on the kidneys of mice when orally ingested mean that it has no impact when humans consume it baked in flour? I dont have the answers to any of these questions, and Im always glad when my food has less chemicals in it. However, shouldnt someone have presented both sides of this argument, especially since the WHO is still quite unclear about it, especially as it brands KBrO3 as possibly carcinogenic to humans? Were a nation of rash decisions. We banned Maggi because someone found lead in it, when the Singapore authorities, with better equipment, didnt. Our decision-makers seem to ban things as soon as theres a bit of clamour on the news. Then doesnt it fall upon our media to be a bit more nuanced when it presents scientific studies? Does every small find have to be treated as a 9/11, and arent there other decisions apart from banning and not-banning? Were always on the hunt for sensational news that we have begun to treat scientific studies as page 3 news. I recollect my days at University, when a professor of genetics once told me, Science, and hence knowledge is like an ocean, as scientists we delve into it because we enjoy exploring the depths. Sometimes we get really excited and want to show the world what we discovered, so we try to hold on to a bit of the oceans water between our palms and bring it back to land to show it to everyone. However once when we open our hands, everyone is usually quite disappointed because all they can see is salty water. With marriage and joint families, come more responsibilities, but you will have more fun and the children will also imbibe more values. Dr Sasikala Kola, obstetrician and gynaecologist and businessman Narendra Paruchuri got married in 1977. I met him through my mother-in-law, she was my teacher in school, says the gynaecologist. They fell for each other the moment they met. I really liked her the first time I was introduced to her, recalls Narendra, who has now built an impeccable name in the printing industry during his 35 years in the field. For a family full of doctors, falling in love with a person who was not into medicine, was a condition to avoid. My parents were against the wedding because they wanted me to marry a doctor. Thats why they kept delaying our marriage, says Sasi. Narendra adds, There was+ a lot of rejection from her side as I was doing my engineering. They wanted a doctor for their daughter. So they married against the wishes of her parents. There were no preparations for the wedding, it just happened. My parents were gracious enough to come and bless us; and they accepted him into the family, she says. While he adds, One fine day, I came from Bengaluru, where I was working, and decided to get married at the Arya Samaj. I was in my first year of medicine, preparing for my anatomy exams and suddenly, one day I find out that we are getting married in the afternoon. Though it was well-attended by both sides, I only came to know about it in the afternoon. I just got dressed and went for it, recalls Sasi. Narendra says, The only thing on our mind was that we were finally getting married. The moment I tied the mangalsutra I was relieved. Sasi adds, It was such a hurried marriage and in the Arya Samaj they only perform the ceremony for an hour. These days so much goes into wedding preparations, people spend crores, but the actual essence of the marriage gets diluted in all these masalas, she says and adds, Its not important how you get married and what you do, what you wear, who is there around. Those things dont really matter in the long run. All that matters is your commitment and your willingness to share. I have seen weddings, in which crores were spent, going sour within a year. Its not the elaborate event that makes memories; its the lifelong journey that makes memories. When we got married both of us were struggling, he started with a small family business. From a small printing press, to one of the best presses in the world, thats something amazing. I believe, its the divine grace that comes from the previous generations and our parents, feels Sasi. Its the values that helped Sasi choose Narendra. My father always told me: Do whatever you think is right; thats why I went against my fathers wish and got married to Narendra. I knew he was the right person for me. He said, If you love someone, even if you have to go against the tide you should do that and I did exactly that, she says. With marriage and joint families, come more responsibilities, but you will have more fun and the children will also imbibe more values. We think when we get married we will be in a nuclear family but it doesnt happen that way. Whats the secret to a lasting marriage? The couple, who has two sons, Hemanth and Harsha, says, We care and love each other more now, than 39 years ago. We try to be generous with each other to give each other a break, to do small kind things. Sasi adds, The simple things in life. When I come home from work tired and my hands are aching, he gives me a massage. Thomas Thwaites was so fed up with the rat race that he decided to living among goats in the Alps. (Credit: YouTube) A 35-year-old British man was so fed up with the rat race that he quit living in London and went to Switzerland to live like a goat. Thomas Thwaites spent a year making special prosthetic goat legs that would enable him to explore the Alps just like goats do on all fours with even an artificial stomach that would allow him to eat grass. Once in the mountains, Thwaites was not only able to live among the mountain animals but also made a good goat friend who followed him around everywhere. She would muzzle me with her nose and like to have me close. The goatherd told me at the end that the herd had accepted me as one of their number - it was a great feeling, he told the Daily Mail. In order to prepare himself to live the goat life, Thwaites applied for a university grant to study goat psychology and searched for a goatherd in the village of Wolfenschiessen in Switzerland who would let him hang out with his animals whenever they would be taken to their summer pasture. Thwaites got his prosthetic goat legs designed with the help of a clinic in Manchester which assists people who have had amputations. His fake goat stomach, which was created with experts from the University of Aberystwyth, was fixed onto his waist and allowed him to secretly spit chewed up grass inside without letting his mountain friends know. So what lessons did he learn from his experience of living as a goat in the Swiss Alps? I learned something important, and that is that even goats have a hard life and need to fight for their existence. Every day was tough, and that is something that just is part of being alive, he says. He added that goats were better than humans as they lived much more in the moment than we do and can teach us a thing or two about living a relaxed life. Thwaites has now even finished writing a book about his novel experiment titled 'GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human'. Click on the link below to know more: Guests who were interviewed at the launch of Australia's first naked restaurant said that they had a positive experience. (Credit: YouTube) Australias first clothing-optional restaurant, called The Noble Experiment, welcomed guests at its launch on Thursday in the city of Melbourne. The restaurants owners, radio stars Jo Stanley and Anthony Lehmo Lehmann, say that they got inspired when they heard about Buniyadi, Londons first naked restaurant. However instead of ending up being a titillating affair, the occasion turned out to be a celebration about body image positivity with guests of all shapes and sizes present at the venue. Although the guests were provided with robes, many chose to take them off when the partitions between tables were lowered. The response from the customers was so good that Lehmann even declared the next morning that the opening night at their naked restaurant was a full party, reports the Daily Mail. Click on the link below to view the video: New Delhi: A man allegedly murdered his friend in northwest Delhi's Bhalswa Dairy area so that he could blackmail and extort money from another person in Bulandshahr framing him for the murder, police said on Friday. The accused, identified as Dhirender, has been arrested. During interrogation, it emerged that he was earlier involved in two murders. Dhirender, a native of Bulandshahr, is married and has two children. On Tuesday, Dhirender called his friend Sonu for a party at a secluded area and made him drink whiskey for long. Once drunk, he made Sonu call up a woman known to him and say inappropriate things to her. Dhirender made sure that Sonu switches on his phone recorder before making the call, police said. The woman handed over the phone to her husband, Surender, who could easily make out that a drunk man was harassing his wife over phone. Surender threatened Sonu of dire consequences if he called up his wife again. During interrogation, it came to light that Surender was the actual target of accused Dhirender, a senior police official said. Once the call was disconnected, Dhirender allegedly hacked Sonu to death, skillfully took out his mobile's memory card, which contained the phone recording, and left in his pocket a letter expressing love for the woman (Surender's wife) whom he had just called. Police found Sonu's body the next morning and registered a case of murder. Sonu's brother told police that he had left home for a meeting with his friend Dhirender. A police team was sent for Dhirender and it emerged that he was missing, police said. A team was sent to Bulandshahr too and it emerged that Dhirender had come home that day but did not stay there. He was finally arrested yesterday from Swaroop nagar area, DCP (northwest) Vijay Singh said. During interrogation, he told police that he possessed the audio recording of the last telephonic conversation among Sonu, Surender and his wife, which includes the threat given to Sonu. With the help of that, he was trying to extort money from Surender and his brother, also residents of Bulandshahr and known to him for years, but did not succeed so far. New Delhi: Three men allegedly tried to abduct a 19-year-old girl on Saturday and robbed her brother of his mobile phone and wallet before pushing him off a moving car, in which they had offered lift to the siblings in north Delhi's Geeta Ghat area, police said. The girl was rescued after a six-km-long chase by a police team and the accused were arrested, police said. According to police, the incident took place around 7.30 pm when the siblings, were heading towards their home in Wazirabad area, and a car stopped nearby, with its driver asking for directions. Once the girl's brother helped him with that, they were offered a lift to which they agreed. Two other persons were sitting inside the car and soon after the siblings stepped in, the group allegedly started assaulting the girl's brother. They robbed him of his mobile phone and wallet before pushing him off the vehicle near Geeta Ghat, and fled with his sister. The boy then approached a PCR which chased the car. Other PCR teams deployed in the district were informed and the Santro car of the accused was intercepted after a nearly 6 km chase. The accused, identified as Sachin Choudhary (32), Shiv kumar (32) and Saurabh (34), were arrested and a case under charges of abduction, robbery and criminal assault was registered in connection with the matter, a senior official said. It is yet to be ascertained what their motive was and whether the act was planned. The three are being interrogated, the official said. Chennai: State Governor Dr K Rosaiah on Thursday has recommended to the Election Commission to hold the elections in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies as early as possible, preferably before June 1 (Wednesday) in public interest and in the interest of all the concerned parties. The Governors action followed petitions presented to him by the AIADMK candidates for Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, Mr V Senthil Balaji and M Rengasamy respectively, challenging on May 22 challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India to defer the polls in the two constituencies on the grounds that the EC action was without any authority of law and without the consent of His Excellency the Governor. They also contended that the alleged corrupt practices relief upon by the Election Commission to defer the elections can be tested before a court of law and that the deferring of the polls will also shorten the tenure of the member who may be elected, said a Raj Bhavan release here late night. It said after considering the petitions and the detailed report of the EC in the light of the relevant provisions in the Representation of People Act and the Constitution, as well as the various relevant court observations, the Governor had now sent a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner recommending the conduct of the elections in the two constituencies before Wednesday in public interest and in the interest of all the concerned parties. New Delhi: The Congress party seems to be on a downward spiral, with yet another rebellion in the fore. After Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the latest state where the Congress rule stands threatened is Meghalaya, where a faction of the party has accused Chief Minister Mukul Sangma of acting in a dictatorial fashion, a report in Indian Express said. The dissent has been fuelled by the partys loss of Turu constituency in the latest by-elections, which was contested by the Chief Minsters wife Dikkanchi D Shira The party members are also disillusioned as many feel that the party leaders in charge of the region are busy fighting personal battles. Meghalaya Congress chief D D Lapang, from the Khasi tribe, is said to be leading the dissent against chief minister Sangma, from the Garo tribe, with the support of former chief minister S C Marak. The Khasi camp has claimed that Lapang is the undisputed leader of the community. But this time, the party is determined not to let matters go out of hand, with party Vice President Rahul Gandhi plotting hard to quell the rebellion. Gandhi, it is reported, hopes to contain this dissent by handing out a cabinet reshuffle. Rubbishing the concerns, Congress leader Narayanaswamy, in charge of the northeast region, said, Everybody is meeting the Congress leadership, including the Chief Minister. They are getting the support of 30 MLAs and 12 MLAs are supporting us. There is nothing like that (leadership change). Whatever it may be, they will meet the Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) and Rahul Gandhi. They will decide. Echoing similar views, Chief Minister Sangma said that the issue was an internal matter, and the party had an internal mechanism to deal with such situations. "If a Sainik Colony can be set up in Jammu, why not in Kashmir?" BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: BJP on Saturday favoured setting up of Sainik Colony in Kashmir after its alliance partner PDP virtually rejected a proposal in this regard citing non-availability of land for non-state subjects. Read: Committed to bringing back Kashmiri Pandits: Mehbooba Mufti "BJP is in favour of setting up Sainik Colony in Kashmir as well as resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits. If a Sainik Colony can be set up in Jammu, why not in Kashmir?" BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said. He said BJP also favours early resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits who had to migrate out of the state in the wake of militancy in Kashmir. On the establishment of Sainik Colony in Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said her government has not issued any direction in this regard. "No land has been identified yet for establishing Sainik Colony. No direction has been issued for establishing it. The Sainik Board which is registered under an Act (of state assembly) has by-laws which say that land can only be allotted to state subjects. How can you even talk about bringing in non-state subjects?" she said. Mehbooba said the position of the government is that it does not have any land available in Srinagar, Pulwama and Budgam districts for setting up such a colony. The steep increase in power demand has stretched the power distribution infrastructure to its limits, sources added. Chennai: Chennais power demand is constantly crossing 3,000 MW in the last week of May this year as residents continue to battle hot and humid weather. With mercury touching 40 degree Celsius, city residents are turning to air conditioners to get some respite. Increased use of air conditioners has pushed up power demand. Last Monday, the peak power demand touched an all time high of 3,076 MW surpassing the previous record of 3,027 MW on May 29, 2013. Again it crossed 3,000 MW on Tuesday and Wednesday nights as well forcing Tangedco to rein in the demand by resorting to short duration rotational power cuts to avoid tripping of power transformers due to overloading, said sources. The steep increase in power demand has stretched the power distribution infrastructure to its limits, sources added. The peak demand came down to 2,942 MW on Thursday night. A senior official of Tangedco attributed the increase in power demand in the city to two factors one being lifting of restriction and control measures on high tension industries and commercial consumers and the other is increased use of ACs by domestic consumers. The official said the increase in power demand leads to overloading of power cable and transformers. The copper conductors in the cables have certain current carrying capacity and overloading would result in cable fault, the official said, adding that besides, the utility has increased the capacity of power transformers in the substation to meet the increasing demand. The utility has also taken up bifurcation of overloaded feeders at the sub-station levels in Chennai region to optimise distribution of power and to improve quality of power supply, the official said, adding that compared to last year, the utility has received less complaints due to improved power distribution network. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday reserved for May 31 its order on the issue of cognizance on a criminal complaint filed against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for using allegedly "defamatory and seditious" words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the CBI raid at the office of his Principal Secretary. Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra fixed the matter for order after hearing arguments on behalf of complainant, an advocate. "Arguments heard. Put up for orders on May 31," the court said. Complainant-advocate Pradeep Dwivedi sought Kejriwal's prosecution under sections 124A (sedition) and 500(defamation) of IPC alleging there was "seditious intention" behind the remarks which spread "hatred and contempt" against the Prime Minister. He argued that the remarks like "coward" and "psychopath" uttered by the AAP leader against Modi were "defamatory and seditious" and such statements could spread "disharmony" and "disaffection" in the country. Regarding the locus of complainant in filing the plea, the counsel had earlier said that being a citizen of India, he was aggrieved by the comments of Kejriwal and was "competent to file a complaint in a case where statements were made against the Prime Minister of the country." The complainant alleged that when CBI had raided the Chief Minister's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar's Delhi Secretariat office on December 15 last year, Kejriwal had made offensive remarks on his Twitter account against Modi. "Being fully aware of the autonomy and independence of CBI, the accused (Kejriwal), owing to his personal interest and political enmity, made some offending remarks on his Twitter account towards the Prime Minister of this country just because of the said raid by CBI," the complaint said. "On December 15, 2015, the accused posted the remarks on his Twitter account which reads as 'Modi is a coward and a psychopath'. The remarks were made against the democratically elected PM of the largest democracy of the world," it said. The complainant alleged that Kejriwal had "intentionally" used defamatory words with a view to spreading a sense of "hatred and contempt" towards the Prime Minister. Panaji: Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has said the allegations that Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse has links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim need to be proved before any action is taken against him. Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon had last week alleged that Khadse had received several calls from the number of Dawood's wife, Mehjabeen Shaikh, between September 4, 2015 and April 5, 2016. Read: Dawood call logs: Trouble mounts for Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse "At this moment, it has only been alleged that Eknath Khadse has links with Dawood Ibrahim. The same has to be verified," Rijiju told reporters last evening on the sidelines of a programme in Vasco town. "It is not that we will not take action against him but for doing that the same has to be proved," he added. Read: Maha BJP minister Eknath Khadse denies being in touch with Dawood Khadse, however, had dismissed the allegations that he had spoken to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim or that he had made or received calls on his cell phone from Dawoods Pakistan residence. The minister said these allegations are "baseless" and the particular number was not in use for last one year. He had said someone had hacked into his phone and cloned his telephone number. Mumbai Police on May 22 had stated that initial analysis of the cell phone number (belonging to Khadse) indicated that there were neither outgoing nor incoming calls from the number to that of the fugitive (Dawood) during the entire period of September 2015 to April 2016, as claimed by AAP. Read: Dawood call logs: Probe on into 'new elements', says Mumbai police New Delhi: Over a dozen African nationals were attacked in Rajpkhurd village of Chhatarpur, South Delhi on Wednesday night. It is learnt locals objected to the free lifestyle of these men and women who stayed in the area. There were four attacks within a span of an hour, sources said, which hint the attacks may have been organised and pre-planned. Four men and two women have been injured in the attacks and are admitted in hpsital. The Delhi Police on Friday registered four FIRs in the case. All four complainants, in their 30s, have been residing in Delhi for past few years, police said. Read: 23-year-old African national, attacked with stones, beaten to death in Delhi In two cases, the complainants are women -- one a Uganda national and the other a native of South Africa, in the other two, the complainants are two Nigerian men. In two cases in which the Nigerian men are involved is "believed" to have taken place following an argument with the locals, a senior police official said. However, circumstances in the other two cases are not clear, he said. The accused in all four cases are yet to be identified, the official said. Read: Hyderabad: 23-year-old Nigerian attacked with rod over parking dispute Police claimed that these are four separate incidents which have nothing to do with the violence against Indians in Congo, following the youth's murder in Vasant Kunj area here. Police also claimed that the attacks, the causes behind which are yet to be verified, did not take place on racial lines. "Cases of causing hurt and wrongful restraint have been registered in all four cases. Efforts are on to nab the accused," Additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad said. According to reports, the attacks happened between 10:00 and 11:30 in the night. The police have 'ruled out' racist motives. Read: Bengaluru: Mob strips Tanzanian girl, torches her car as police watch Nigerian priest Kenneth Igbinosa, living in the nearby Fatehpur Beri village reportedly said that his car was attacked by a mob when he was returning home with his wife and four-month-old baby. They yelled something in Hindi. Several others joined them and attacked me with sharp planks of wood. I got back in and drove off to save my wife and baby. They smashed my windscreen and rear screen as I drove to my brother Jason's place close by, a report in The Telegraph quoted him as saying. Igbinosas brother Jason, who has acted in Bollywood movies such as Dangal and Sultan, came out of the gym to find his car tyres slashed. He rushed home to find his brother injured. My brother had cuts on his arms and his shirt was torn," Jason said. The incident has happened in the wake of a spate of racist attacks against African nationals in the country. A 23-year-old Nigerian student was attacked in Hyderabads Banjara Hills area with an iron rod over car parking space on Friday. Earlier in February this year another racist attack had grabbed headlines, where a Tanzanian girl was beaten, stripped, paraded naked, and her car set ablaze in Bengaluru. In another incident, a Congolese post-graduate student, Masunda Kitada Oliver, was bludgeoned to death in the national capital last Saturday. The attack triggered a major diplomatic face-off between India and Africa, after African envoys lambasted and warned New Delhi, saying they would consider recommending to their governments not to send any more students to India if nothing was done to stop attacks against African students. There were reports on Wednesday of a retaliatory attack on an Indian shopkeeper in the Congo. African envoys stated that several incidents of harassment of Africans in the country have not been resolved and that prosecution and conviction of the culprits had not happened. They said the problems of racism and afro-phobia existed in India. The African nations also decided not to participate in the African Day celebrations of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to be held on Thursday. Forced into damage-control mode earlier in the day on Wednesday and in a veiled criticism of the perceived hardline position taken by the envoys, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said all criminal acts should not be seen as racially-motivated, adding that thousands of African students continue to pursue their education in India without any issues. Making matters worse, the Union Culture minister Mahesh Sharma said that Africa too was unsafe. The judicial custody of Qasmi was on Friday extended by a special court till June 10. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: A suspected operative of Islamic State, Mufti Abdus Sami Qasmi, on Saturday moved a special court seeking bail in a case of allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches and instigating youths for anti-national activities. District Judge Amar Nath has fixed May 30 for hearing the application of Qasmi, who was arrested on February 5. He is currently in the judicial custody. The petition said, "The extension period of his detention (for completing the period of investigation) expired on May 27 and neither charge sheet was filed nor the period was further extended, hence the indefeasible right to statutory bail arises and the applicant-accused have been entitled to be released on bail." The judicial custody of Qasmi was on Friday extended by a special court till June 10. The NIA has claimed that the probe was on in different parts of the country and the accused had a nexus with the banned terrorist organisation. It said said that the electronic devices like mobile phones, laptops, SIM cards etc., seized from the possession of the accused, had been sent for forensic analysis and the report was still awaited. It also claimed that during the custodial interrogation, Qasmi had revealed the names and codes of his associates inside and outside India and investigation was being carried out to identify them. According to prosecution, Qasmi, a Delhi-based Islamic scholar known for his fiery speeches, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi District in February 5 this year. The NIA has claimed that he had been "delivering provocative and inflammatory speeches and was instigating youths for anti-national activities". New Delhi: In a first in India's electoral history, the Election Commission on Saturday decided to rescind the notification and conduct polls afresh "in due course of time" to two Tamil Nadu Assembly seats following evidence of use of money to influence voters. Earlier, EC had on two occasions postponed polls to Aravkurichi and Tanjavur Assembly constituencies following reports of large scale distribution of money and gifts to voters by the candidates and political parties. Initially, the polls were postponed from May 16 to May 23. On May 21, EC had decided to once again postpone the polls to June 13. Tamil Nadu went to Assembly polls on May 16 when AIADMK returned to power for a second consecutive term. EC said it took the decision after considering reports of observers, special teams of central observers, report of the special team of observers of Aravkurichi and Tanjavur constituencies and representations of contesting candidates. "The EC is satisfied that the election process in the two constituencies, because of inducing electors by candidates and political parties by offering money and other gifts to woo them in their favour, is seriously vitiated and cannot be allowed to proceed and ought to be rescinded so that fresh elections may be conducted de novo in these two constituencies when the atmosphere becomes conducive to the holding of free and fair elections after a reasonable lapse of time," an official said quoting a Commission order. The Commission usually takes such a harsh step when there are evidences that muscle power has been used to influence voters. But cancelling polls following use of money to induce voters is so far unheard of. The state Governor Dr K Rosaiah on Thursday had recommended to the Election Commission to hold the elections in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur constituencies as early as possible, preferably before June 1 (Wednesday) in public interest and in the interest of all the concerned parties. The Governors action followed petitions presented to him by AIADMK candidates for Aravakurichi and Thanjavur, V Senthil Balaji and M Rengasamy respectively, challenging on May 22 challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India to defer the polls in the two constituencies on the grounds that the EC action was without any authority of law and without the consent of His Excellency the Governor. The DMK, meanwhile, on Saturday once again petitioned the Commission to hold polling in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur Assembly constituencies before June 6 and not on June 13 due to the Ramzan season and Rajya Sabha elections to Tamil Nadu. Referring to a Madras High Court directive to EC to take a decision on the polling date for the two Assembly seats by May 27, DMK said it had not yet received response from EC to its request made earlier in this regard. "We have not yet received any communication from you regarding our request, which is ordered to be considered preferably before May 27, i.e. Friday. Hence we are submitting this reminder," DMK Organisation Secretary RS Bharathi said in a memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi. New Delhi: Attacking the Centre over its handling of the economy, Congress on Saturday asked it to pluck up courage to go for bold reforms, saying the party will engage with the government if it means business. "Once the economy stabilised as I believe it had by June 2014, the government should have then given the economy a big push by going for bold structural reforms, taken the difficult the decisions which were pending because UPA did not have absolute majority in the Lok Sabha," former Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters. "Now this government has 282 or may be 283 (seats) in the Lok Sabha, it should pick up the courage and take up bold structural reform and in doing so, it must engage the opposition. The Congress party is willing to engage if the government means business," the Congress leader, who has been nominated from Maharashtra by the party for Rajya Sabha polls, said. On GST, Chidambaram said, the government has failed to engage the Congress party over the three principal objections raised by it. "Either the government should convince us that our objections are unfounded or government must accept our objections if they are well founded and bring about amendments. Such an engagement, such a dialogue, to best of my knowledge, has not taken place across the table," he said. Chidambaram advised the government to reach out to the opposition and consider its suggestions. "Work with opposition, engage the opposition. There is talent and sound advice outside the government. Call them, talk to them. That's the advice I will give any government including my own government," he said. At a press conference on two-years of the Modi government, he wondered that "if agriculture and industry are in distress, what is there to celebrate?" The government's record in agriculture is dismal, he said, adding growth was negative at -0.2 per cent in 2014-15 and a meagre 1.1 per cent in 2015-16 and the government failed to anticipate and tackle the acute distress in rural India. "The Supreme Court has chastised the government in the strongest terms for negligence in managing the consequences of two years of drought and passing the buck in providing drought relief," he said. With regard to industry, Chidambaram said, annual sales growth of all firms in 2015-16 was negative at -5.7 per cent and annual sales growth of manufacturing firms was negative at -11.2 per cent. "These are reflected in credit growth which is at a 20-year low of 9.9 per cent (average for the months of 2015-16). They are also reflected in the slump in merchandise exports which was -15.5 per cent in 2015-16. Another indicator is the Index of Industrial Production which stood at a meagre 2.4 per cent in 2015-16," he said. "All I can point out is there are no jobs, there are no industries, industries are in slump, exports are down for 17th successive month and nobody seems to care. If exports are down, thousands of jobs must have been lost and that's the logical inference. The citizens of this country will drop their own score cards," he added. "The average citizens need jobs and incomes. They do not consume GDP numbers," Chidambaram said. BJP has planned to hold over 200 events across the country between May 26 and June 10 to highlight the government's "successes". (Photo: Screengrab) New Delhi: To mark the two years of the BJP-led NDA government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed an event at India Gate. The event, called Ek Nayi Subah highlighted the achievements of the NDA, which turned two on May 26. Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan, were also present. 9:40 pm: Will join 'Ek Nayi Subah' programme shortly. You can join live, tweets Narendra Modi. "Modi ji's mission is to bring governance to the palms of people," says minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, speaking about Digital India. Mohandas Pai says Digital India is the largest programme of its kind in the world. Read: Ganga will become one of the cleanest river by 2018: Uma Bharti 9:30 pm: A dance performance takes place in front of Gateway of India in Mumbai. Following this there is a live band performance and a message from actress Kajol. Rajiv Pratap Rudy claims that no one used to talk about skill in India before PM Modi. "Earlier youth had to struggle to find employment. Today the government is giving them skills as well as jobs," says Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis added that the government was focusing on skill development for women. 9:10 pm: "PM Modi's Stand Up India, Start Up India has helped the youth of the country start their own enterprises, not be worried about employment," says minister Jitendra Singh. Controversial Union HRD minister Smriti Irani says, "This government's efforts have accelerated skill education in the country," Saare Jahan Se Accha is performed by a choir. Hum Honge Kamayaab is sung by Rajasthan folk singer Moti Khan. Read: 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' way towards women empowerment: Amitabh 8:40 pm: The focus shifts to infrastructure, particularly roadways and air travel. "There are 30 crore middle class families in India. Many of them never dreamt of flying. Modi ji has taken up the task of introducing affordable air travel to the masses," says minister Mahesh Sharma. "Many projects that were lying around, we completed them. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi we shed the policy paralysis that had gripped government," says Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. We want to take our speed of highway construction to 41 km per day, he adds. "Travelling by waterways is far cheaper than road transport. It is a priority of this government," he concludes. Gadkari also speaks about how developing the North East is a serious focus of the NDA government. 8:10 pm: Rajasthan minister Yunus Khan talks about financial inclusion, from Jaipur. A video is telecast on the Mudra scheme that is providing small loans to aspiring entrepreneurs. After this, the Prince Dance Group performs an electronic remix version of Jai Ho. 8:00 pm: The focus now moves to agriculture. "Neem-coated urea, crop insurance scheme, soil health card are some of the schemes that are benefiting the farmer greatly," says agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh. He claims that the Modi government is making prosperity of farmers a reality. "Since independence, if the farmer has been at the centre a government's budget, it has been this time," says Ramvilas Paswan. 7:45 pm: A dance by Padmashree award-winner Gulabo Sapera is followed by discussion on social security schemes of the government. "Our social security schemes, coupled with JAM - Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile - are like a shield for the poor," says minister Jayant Sinha. "Besides financial inclusion, there's a change in the way people think today. People are confident. That's a bigger victory," says minister Najma Heptulla. 7:20 pm: Actor Vidya Balan supports the programme to end open defecation, speaking from India Gate. "I felt no hesitation to join the campaign to build toilets and end open defecation. I could imagine the plight of women who had to go in the open," says Vidya Balan. 7:05 pm: Ministers Najma A Heptulla, Ram Vilas Paswan, Jayant Sinha and actor-lawmaker Manoj Tiwari speak about the government's drive to bring electricity to all corners of India. "Thank you Narendra Modi, thank you Piyush Goyal for bringing electricity to my village," said Tiwari. He says people from UP and Bihar used to leave the state just because there was no electricity, but this was changing under the Modi government. 6:50 pm: Instead of Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel, Nitinbhai Patel, who is her rumoured replacement ahead of the Gujarat elections, speaks from Ahmedabad on the Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan. Surat is showcased as being one of the cleanest railway stations in India. In Delhi, Kailash Kher is on stage. "Earlier we had no idea what work the government was doing. Now we have a clear picture about all the work that is happening around us," he says. Asia's cleanest village - Meghalaya's Mawlynnong is showcased from the Guwahati studio. 6:25 pm: The government has exceeded its targets in building toilets, says minister Chaudhary Birender Singh. He says the governments aim is to make the country open defecation free. Minister Uma Bharti speaks about the efforts to clean the Ganga River. "Previous governments spent the money in an unplanned way. We have a clear, phased approach to clean the Ganga," she says. 6:05 pm: A dance performance from Karnal in Haryana is organised on educating the girl child. Legislator Harvinder Kalyan speaks about the impact of government's schemes on Haryana, says lot of change is happening. Madhavan, Raveena Tandon speak on empowerment of women. "I think the empowerment of women is a lot about conditioning. I think mothers can play a great role in this kind of upbringing," says Madhavan. Raveena Tandon says she helped an orphanage of 30 children and caregivers who were thrown to the streets by their landlord. 5:40 pm: Maneka Gandhi, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Health Minister JP Nadda, Raveena Tandon others on stage now to talk about government initiatives for women and children. JP Nadda said 1 crore 62 lakh children have been provided immunization in the last one year. He says some new vaccines like rotavirus have also been introduced. 11 lakh children saved in February, 13 lakh children in March with the government initiatives, says Maneka Gandhi. She says a national portal for lost and found children has been launched. 5:20 pm: Amitabh Bachchan is on stage to speak about the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme. "Please don't think of women as the weaker gender. If we are talking about inner-strength, then they are far stronger than men," says Amitabh Bachchan at the mega event. He adds that growth is intrinsically connected to the development of women. He interacts with underprivileged girl children who ask him a number of questions. "There is nothing called Big B. You just need to work hard and keep yourself focused," says Amitabh to a student. 5:05 pm: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the NDA government has initiated several steps to curb black money in the economy. "The government launched a massive crackdown on parallel economies," said Jaitley. He said that 22 crore bank accounts had been opened in the last year itself. Attacking UPA's retrospective tax, he said the move had been unpredictable and people wanted predictability in business. Jaitley claimed that the India had been growing much faster compared to the world, but it was difficult to maintain growth when the rest of the world was performing poorly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Narendra Modi government is all set to showcase its 'achievements' over the past two years when it kicks off second anniversary celebrations at India Gate in the national capital on Saturday evening. Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification, will be highlighted during the show. The government had formed a panel of ministers, headed by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and comprising Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, to supervise preparations for the show. BJP has also planned to hold over 200 events across the country between May 26 and June 10 to highlight the government's "successes". A controversy over Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchans participation in the show had led to much political wrangling. Amitabh, whose name has figured in the Panama Papers, was rumoured to host the show. This had brought about a storm of protest from Opposition parties, especially the Congress. However, Bachchan had later clarified that he would merely be hosting a small segment regarding the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign during the programme. Read: NDA govt has not fulfilled any of its promises, alleges Congress The Congress though has attacked the Modi government on its 2nd anniversary celebrations, questioning the rationale behind it. According to Congress leader Anil K Shastri, the Modi government had not fulfilled any of its promises in its 2-year tenure. He said the most laughable promise of Modi was with regard to bringing back black money and depositing Rs 15 lakh each in the bank accounts of every citizen. Read: Congress challenges Modi govt for debate on its 2 year performance "We would like to challenge this government for a debate at any time and any place of their choosing on the 2 years of NDA-BJP Government", Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters targeting the government over its record in governance. Taking a jibe at BJP chief Amit Shah over his claims that there were no allegations of corruption in the last two years, he said that under the Modi regime, several scams have taken place and the Government has hardly taken any concrete steps to deal with them." Tewari also claimed that the economy was in a big mess. New Delhi: In an astonishing development, Delhi Metro Corporation (DMC) has pasted health advisory at stations, which advises mentally disturbed and diseased not to board the train. The corporation which is otherwise considered to be holistic in nature has been chastised for endorsing such a retrograde idea. NGOs have come out in defense of people with psychological disorder and filed a complaint against DMC. According to the notice, leprosy patients will be allowed to board trains only if they produce a certificate certified by a medical practitioner, saying that the disease is non-communicable. The notice is not only discriminatory but at the same time testifies DMCs ignorance. The development comes in the wake of a Supreme Court judgement in favour of an activist with cerebral palsy after he was not allowed to board a plane because of his health condition four years ago, said a psychologist, as quoted in a news report. The diseases mentioned in the notice include chicken pox, mumps, typhus, whooping cough, cholera, measles, scarlet fever, typhoid and tuberculosis. However, when DMC officials were enquired about the notice, they said, These are old regulations followed by Delhi Metro and there is nothing new in the notified rules. The notice was first cited by a social worker who runs an NGO in Delhi. He came across the issuance at Hauz Khas metro station. Lampooning DMC for professing a regressive idea, he said, It is mostly normal people who take to violence. I have never seen a mentally disturbed person creating ruckus in the train. New Delhi: Clearing the air surrounding the reports that a close-aide of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani has surrendered, the Indian Army on Saturday said the top Hizbul operative Taqir Pandita was in fact apprehended by the Army in a well 'coordinated swift operation' on Newa-Pinglana road of Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, reports had started making rounds that Taqir Pandita, a cousin of slain Naseer Pandit of Pulwama's Kareemabad, had surrendered before police in wee hours of Saturday. Army's Northern Command, in a statement, said that they had formed a mobile vehicle check post, to nab the dreaded operative based in specific intelligence inputs on his movements. "The move of terrorist was kept under constant surveillance as the terrorist closed in, he was apprehended by the team of Rashtriya Rifle battalion. Along with one 9 mm pistol, two Chinese grenades and other war like stores were recovered from the terrorist. The terrorist was involved in many terror related incidents in Pulwama area," the statement said. According to reports, both police and the Army have rubbished the 'surrender' theory, saying the nabbing of the militant was a well calibrated and planned effort. "No militant has surrendered before army in Pulwama," N.N. Joshi, an army PRO, told Kashmir headlines. The nabbing of Tariq comes as a major blow to Burhan Wani, who has emerged as the new poster boy of Kashmir militancy in recent times. Tariq, a resident of Kareemabaad, was key member of HM (Burhan Wani) group, which was under the radar of security agencies. Earlier this month, three Hizbul militants were neutralised in an encounter with the security forces in Avantipora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Last year in April, another close aide of Wani, Naseer Ahmad Pandit, was gunned down by forces in Shopian district. Naseer Ahmad Pandit was a former police constable, who used to work as a guard at the residence of a former Jammu and Kashmir minister. He had reportedly escaped with his service rifle to join Burhan-led HM. Burhan Wani, 21, who is son of a government school principal, is known for inciting youth to join the armed rebellion by posting videos and pictures on social networking sites. According to reports, his pictures in fatigues and with a rifle and a video giving a sermon to people about launching a jihad had gone viral in the valley sometime back. Reports also say that about 30 youth have joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in South Kashmir this year alone. Bollywood actor R Madhavan and anchor Neelam Sharma hosted the programme which was also attended by several Union Ministers. (Photo: Screengrab) New Delhi: Top Union Ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office. While the centrepiece event was held at historic India Gate in Delhi that saw Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and many of his ministerial colleagues speak at length about numerous steps taken by the government across sectors, some Cabinet Ministers joined in from different parts of the country, including Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Vijaywada. Read: Live: Beti Bachao, Swachh Bharat focus at govt's anniversary bash The five-hour programme 'Ek Nayi Subah', which was telecast live by Doordarshan across the country, also saw superstar Amitabh Bachchan talking about one of the government's flagship programmes 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'. His participation came amid questions being raised by opposition parties in the wake of his name figuring in Panama papers. The event started with young ministers like Kiren Rijiju, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Babul Supriyo talking about 'new vision, new India' as they heaped praise on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision and making efforts for effective execution of various programmes. "He is the most youthful among us," said Rathore. Bollywood actor R Madhavan and anchor Neelam Sharma hosted the programme which was also attended by Union Ministers Birender Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Ram Vilas Paswan, Uma Bharti, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and JP Nadda. Puducherry: Congress leader V Narayanaswamy was on Saturday named as the Chief Minister of Puducherry after the grand old party held a legislature party meeting earlier on the day. The state party leaders had earlier been to Delhi to consult with the party high command on the choice of Chief Minister. Read: Protests against Narayanasamy's selection as CM Senior Congress leader and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and Party General Secretary Mukul Wasnik attended the meeting as AICC observers. The opposition parties earlier alleged that infighting in the Congress Party is delaying the formation of the government in the state. Former chief minister V Vaithialingam denied any rift in the party on the issue of Chief Minister. He justified the delay, saying that Congress being a national party, has to consult central leadership before reaching at a decision. Bengaluru: Eying a third term in the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, Union Urban Development minister Venkaiah Naidu said he had included Bengaluru in the second list for the Smart City contest. There have been dissenting voices in the BJP against re-electing Mr Naidu, considered an outsider, to the Upper House from the state. Addressing the Vikas Parva rally here on Friday to mark two years of the Narendra Mod led NDA government, Mr Naidu said the state government had not recommended Bengaluru for the Smart City project. But I included Bengaluru in the second list for the competition, he asserted. The Urban development department has finalized 100 cities for the Smart City project, Six cities from Karnataka- Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Davangere and Mangaluru- have already been included under the project. To neutralize his critics who have been opposing his entry into the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, Mr. Naidu said, developmental projects in Bengaluru including the suburban train will be implemented on priority. The NDA government is committed to release enough funds for the overall development of the city. Union minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha said that once the GST bill is passed in both Houses of Parliament, the burden on people will be reduced and the government can concentrate on more developmental works. State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa said his aim was to bring the party to power in the 2018 Assembly elections. Mumbai: In a bid to counter Shiv Senas Shiv Vada Pav stalls that are popular on city streets, the BJP may now start NaMo tea stalls, named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Improvements Committee chairman Prakash Gangadhare of the BJP on Friday tabled a proposal in the BMCs general body meeting to that effect. He has proposed that the civic administration make arrangements to enable setting up of such street stalls in Mumbai. He claimed this would also generate employment. As per Mr Gangadhares proposal, the stalls can be set up in three sizes, depending on the availability of space in the said area. Depending on the size of the stalls, the owner would be able to house utensils, electricity connection, seating area, water connection, sinks, and so on. Meanwhile, to aid interested candidates to kick-start the business, Mr Gangadhare has proposed that loans be granted for this purpose under PM Mudra Yojana. Even as Mr Gangadhare has denied speculations that this move is a bid to capture the hawker class of Mumbai, which has traditionally thrived under the secure policies promoted by Shiv Sena. This proposal was sent to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, to check its feasibility and see if arrangements could be made lawfully to accommodate the stalls. The letter written by Mr Gangadhare to the administration, states, Mumbai has the problem of unemployment in abundance. A lot of people from drought-hit areas are moving to cities, and survive in terrible financial conditions. Such stalls will alleviate their condition. 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 because 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 it 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. New Delhi: Seeking to take the wind out of the BJP's media blitzkrieg, Congress today challenged the government for a debate on the issue of performance of the Modi dispensation in the past two years. "We would like to challenge this government for a debate at any time and any place of their choosing on the 2 years of NDA-BJP Government", party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters targeting the government over its record in governance. Making light of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's threat that the government would reveal the names of Congress leaders involved in various scams, he accused the government of "misusing" CBI and other agencies against its opponents. He said that Congress is unfazed by such actions of the government and would fight them politically and legally. Taking a jibe at BJP chief Amit Shah over his claims that there were no allegations of corruption in the last two years, he said that under the Modi regime, several scams have taken place and the Government has hardly taken any concrete steps to deal with them." "We would like to remind Amit Shah that DDCA Scam, GSPC Scam, Chikki Scam, Chhattisgarh PDS Scam, Lalit Gate, the Vijay Mallya escapade, Bank of Baroda Scam and the Vyapam Scam where more than 50 whistle blowers were killed are some of the shining examples of Modi Government's achievements", he said. On the interview of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in which he has said that he never named Congress president Sonia Gandhi as an accused in the AgustaWestland case, he said that the party does not need certificate from the BJP or its ministers. Claiming that there was policy paralysis during Modi Government, he said that it was less said the better on the matter. "The Number of stalled projects is highest since Modi Government took office. As of March 2016 there are 893 stalled projects, which is an increase of 17 % since March 2014. Is this not policy paralysis?" he asked. Seeking to dismiss government claims, Tewari emphasised that the Indian Economy is in a "big mess." "No domestic investment is taking place, there's a been flight of capital and flight of entrepreneurs in the past one year, the number of business people becoming NRI is perhaps a record," he added. Lucknow: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Congress has on Saturday been reduced to "crowd around a family", which faces all the challenges faced by a political party centred around a family. "The hold of BJP is growing in all states be it Bengal or Kerala. What will happen to Congress no one knows", Jaitley said at the Vikas parv of the party to observe two years of Modi government. "Congress has been reduced to a crowd around a family; their problem is the one faced by a party which is centred around a family", he said. "The first problem of such a party is to see that no leadership develops outside the family, the second is that if there is a powerful generation like Nehru or Indira they make the party strong but if the next generation does not have that strength it drowns alongwith the party", Jaitley said. "Their problem is that they cannot attract crowd without the family and if the family is kept together the crowd does not grow", he said. "It does not seem to now improve. The meaning of Congress free country does not mean the end of the party but the political culture followed by it and remove the blot it had put on way of governance. As an opponent we want Congress to remain in opposition", he said. Making a mention of the idea of federal front mooted by Lalu Prasad, Jaitley said, "it was a tried tested and failed idea tried many times in the past". "The nucleus of any party should have power. For winning Bihar, they needed the support of Lalu and they now are talking about a federal front", he said adding that a party having 15 to 20 seats cannot give stability.Stressing that BJP has been a nationalist party, Jaitley lashed out at the mainstream parties for aligning with fringe elements. "Some people felt they would be regarded as progressive if they aligned with those raising a 'bharat todo ' campaign in Jadavpur and Jawaharlal Nehru University, but they have been rejected by the country", he said. "We hope that Congress will learn something from it. They made a historical mistake in this. We have a historical opportunity to strengthen party, take the country ahead towards development and show that an honest governance is possible. In the history of BJP, it is at its peak in at this point of time," he said. Mumbai: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday asked alliance partner Shiv Sena to look at the "achievements of Modi government and accept the truth", a day after it launched an aggressive poster war against BJP, ahead of the 2017 BMC elections. Amid growing confrontation between the saffron siblings who share power at the Centre and in Maharashtra, Sena had put out a picture of a tiger, the party emblem, mauling a lion in its party mouthpiece "Saamana". The Sena has also put up posters in Ghatkopar Assembly constituency of BJP minister Prakash Mehta saying, "the cat (BJP minister) will have to be shown his proper place", responding to a remark made by the minister. Posters put up in Mehta's turf showed a tiger (Sena) ready to pounce on the cat (Mehta), with the caption: "The cat thinks it is a lion. The artificial mask of this lion will have to be taken off." Commenting on the poster war, Prasad said, "I would hope that they look at the constructive achievements of the Modi government honestly and accept the truth." On the uneasy relationship between the two parties, the minister said that the Sena has been an "old friend" and also a coalition partner at the Centre. The Union IT and Communications minister, who is in the city as part of efforts to mark the NDA government's two years in power, said the Sena minister in the Union government (Anant Geete) is performing well. The photo published in "Saamana" on the day the Modi government celebrated its second anniversary had an interesting caption which read: "This photo from Africa shows a tiger killing a lion trying to trespass into his territory. Territory always belongs to the tiger. Nobody should dare to cross it, even if it's a lion. The Tiger will kill him. It's the tiger's game and the tiger's rule." Though the picture doesn't make any specific reference, the allusion is apparent. Mehta had recently talked about ending the rule of 'tiger' (Sena always equates itself with the tiger) in Mumbai. The saffron combine has been ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with Sena being the major partner, for more than two decades. Against the backdrop of NIA dropping charges against 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh and five other accused, Prasad said, "the UPA government had sought to politicise the investigation and a senior minister was also forced to withdraw the saffron terror statement". Asserting that the NIA chargesheet is based on "proper evidence", Prasad said, "As far as our approach is concerned, we don't see terror with any colour". Chennai: Hitting out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for blaming Centre on the Italian marines issue, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday said the CPI(M) veteran "should have been more rational" as there was no point to score immediately. Parrikar said Vijayan should have raised the matter with the Union Home Ministry or Ministry of External Affairs who deal with the matter. "He should have been more rational because the elections are just over. There is no reason to immediately score a point," the Defence Minister said. On Thursday, Vijayan had blamed Centre's "wrong response" for the Supreme Court's decision to relax Italian marine Salvatore Girone's bail conditions and permitting him to leave for his country. A "big foul play" had been done by the Centre right from the beginning in the case, he had said. "It is here (in Kerala) that the examination and trial has to be held. But a big foul play has been done in this case right from the beginning by the Centre. We were against the Centre's approach before also and we had strongly criticised it," Vijayan had said. New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party over the ongoing power and water crisis in the national capital, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will on Saturday a lead a torch procession. Gandhi scion along with Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee workers will lead the protest from Samta Sthal to Players Building via Rajghat around 6.30 pm. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too have been protesting in front of Kejriwal's residence demanding proper electricity and water supply in the city. However, Kejriwal has assured that his government will take strict action against the power companies if they fail to resolve issues leading outages. The national capital has been reeling under massive power cuts with some areas facing outages for around five hours. Areas like Okhla, Lodhi Colony, Bhogal, Nizamuddin, Jangpura Extension, Masjid Moth, Malviya Nagaar, Kalkaji and parts of Lajpat Nagar and South Extension, have been facing power cuts in the range of two to five hours, making life difficult for the residents in the blistering heat. New Delhi: Attacking the Centre over its handling of the economy, the Congress on Saturday asked it to pluck up courage to go for bold reforms, saying the party will engage with the government if it means business. Once the economy stabilised as I believe it had by June 2014, the government should have then given the economy a big push by going for bold structural reforms, taken the difficult the decisions which were pending because UPA did not have absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, former finance minister P Chidambaram told reporters. Now this government has 282 or may be 283 (seats) in the Lok Sabha, it should pick up the courage and take up bold structural reform and in doing so, it must engage the opposition. The Congress party is willing to engage if the government means business, Mr chidambaram, who has been nominated from Maharashtra by the party for Rajay Sabha polls, said. On the GST, he said, the government has failed to engage the Congress party over the three principal objections raised by it. Mr Chidambaram also wondered whether the Modi government deserves Mr Raghuram Rajan, describing him as one of the most outstanding economists in the world, amid an unrelenting attack by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy against the RBI Governor. Meanwhile, Chidambaram has been nominated by Congress from Maharashtra for the biennial elections to Rajya Sabha while senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Jairam Ramesh have been named from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively. Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans courtesy call on the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Saturday on the third day after assuming office turned into a full-fledged business session with Mr Narendra Modi displaying a rare warmth and taking into account the development aspirations of Kerala . Please consider this as your home was how Mr Modi tried to reassure the new chief minister as if opening a new chapter for the centre-state relationship. Both being shrewd administrators, they preferred to keep their politics apart. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, whom Mr Vijayan met, raised the issue of clashes between the CPM and BJP men in Kerala and wanted the chief minister to check them. Mr Pinarayi asked Mr Singh to first rein in his men and said that he would discharge his responsibility as the chief minister thereafter. Mr Vijayan was fully prepared with the details of the schemes that he wanted to discuss. Instead of taking the ministers, he took his chief secretary and principal secretary along with him, indicating that it was a business session. Mr Vijayans meeting with Mr Modi was in stark contrast to the interactions between the late chief minister E. K. Nayanar and former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, which were never warm. The meeting was cordial. The prime minister told us that Kerala could become a national model on two fronts a state free of open defecation and fully digital Mr Pinarayi said. Rubber issue: Mr Modi suggested the use of rubber by NHAI and defence for roads to overcome the crisis in the rubber sector. Ayurveda: The PM assured there would be no dearth of funds for making Kerala an international ayurveda destination. GAIL pipeline: Mr Modi inquired about the pipeline work and asked the state government to expedite it. The chief minister said his government will give priority to the project. Police modernisation: The centre assured to release funds for modernisation in a couple of months. Another IRB battalion will be raised soon. Centre-state cooperation: Mr Modi wanted the state to work together with the centre for development. The chief minister said his government would also work for ushering in development. CPM-BJP clashes: Mr Modi asked Mr Pinarayi if he could convene peace talks. The chief minister asked the PM to direct his partymen to stop violence first and assured that he would also do the same before convening such a meeting. High speed rail: Mr Modi suggested private investment in the rail sector. The chief minister said the government was not averse to such proposals. Mullaperiyar dam: We have to realise that the commission has given is verdict on the strength of the dam. We have to accept that position and engage the neighbouring state for peaceful resolution, Mr Pinarayi said. US President Barack Obamas presence in Hiroshima, the victim of the worlds first atomic bombing, was statesmanship rich in symbolism. A few former American Presidents have visited the city, notably Jimmy Carter, but Mr Obama on Friday became the first sitting US President to visit the city that Harry S. Truman had atomic-bombed in 1945. Mr Obama hugged a Hiroshima survivor and gave a good speech, as he often does, speaking of death falling from the sky and of the terrible danger the world is in today because of nuclear stockpiles. Obamas gesture is an effort to demonstrate Americas ties with Japan, and the big boy in the neighbourhood, China, has not failed to react. Note Beijings statement about Hiroshima being important, but it being even more important not to forget Nanjing, often referred to in history texts as the Rape of Nanking by Imperial Japan. Mr Obama offered no apology for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It would have been well-nigh impossible. The bombings, though they were terrible, ended a horrific world war not of Americas making, one that had already cost millions of lives. Very few have ever apologised. The British have yet to express regret for the Raj in India. If the excesses of previous ages require expressions of regret, Macedonia and Rome would be saying sorry East, West, North and South, and Mongolia would be on its knees all the way to Poland. Kiren Rijiju, minister of state for home, is relaxed over a cup of tea at his official residence. Presumably there are three reasons the Assam election results, his flight in a Sukhoi and an official visit by a Chinese delegation. In an interview with Sanjib Kr Baruah, Mr Rijiju talks about development of borders and why the Assam win is of national significance and says it will be easy for the Centre to handle issues in the Northeast because of a BJP government in Assam. A high-level Chinese delegation just visited you. Being from Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its own, do you read anything into it? The Chinese embassy in New Delhi sought my time a week back for a big delegation comprising senior trade and business officials from Guangdong province. The fact that a Chinese official team came and met me is itself significant. And I appreciate the gesture of the Chinese people and the embassy. It is a wonderful thing that they recognise us and meeting me officially is a positive thing. A few days back you flew in a Sukhoi. Do you have more such plans? Next I am planning to go to the remotest border areas on foot to stay with the soldiers. In the most remote areas, whenever I have visited our posts, the soldiers tell me I am the first Union minister to have gone there. So on land or on sea, I will go. It is a morale booster. At least soldiers feel people sitting in the ministry are trying to familiarise themselves with the conditions the soldiers endure. What are the implications of the Assam win? It has national significance as the Northeast needs a strong nationalist government becau-se of various security reasons and influx of illegal immigrants. And there will be a constructive engagement with regard to the burning issues of the Northeast. It will be much easier now to tackle various issues because of a favourable BJP government in Assam. What will be the priorities? Development and securing the rights of the indigenous people of Assam and the Union home ministry will take the lead. We will work closely with the Assam government and secure the border areas. Three states in the region have a Christian majority while others are multi-religious. Will the BJP find acceptability? Nagaland has been under the NDA government for the last three terms, the BJP has been part of the coalition in Meghalaya too. In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is supporting a regional party. In the last two byelections in Manipur, the BJP captured both the seats. So the only states where the BJP needs to open its account are Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, we will look for domination of the BJP in the entire North-east. Also, the Congress has been exposed. Northeast people have given enough chances. They have ripped the North-east for six decades. How do you view the border problem? How do you plan to resolve the issues? On the border front, there are three important factors. First, the physical aspect. We will fence unfinished areas along Indo-Bangladesh which have been pending because of lack of cooperation of the state governments. Along Myanmar, we plan robust maintenance of the border. Second, we will have to use technological solutions. Wherever it is difficult, we will deploy technology to guard the borders. Third, we will have to develop our borders. What is the status of the peace initiative with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland and the United Liberation Front of Asom? Our interlocutor is engaging with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) leadership and we have covered substantial ground. Just a few modalities remain. We will consult all stakeholders, including the governments of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Prade-sh. We will hammer out a solution keeping in mind the concerns of neighbouring states. With the Arabinda Rajkhowa faction of ULFA, talks have been smooth and by and large we are in agreement with the demands. We are very hopeful that there is a new government in Assam. So we should get some good news soon. Do you think the issues in Assam can be resolved without Paresh Baruas participation in the talks? It is entirely up to Mr Barua. Anybody who has taken up such activity, if they realise their mistakes and forsake violence, we will welcome them for talks. On the Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur case, there are allegations that under the UPA false evidences were filed? It is a bizarre case. The role the UPA has played in the 2008 Malegaon case as well as in the two other cases. The way the UPA government conducted the exercise is a big fraud. One person was arrested and just to put him under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999, he was framed in two previous cases that were backdated. And the investigation process was completed in hours. An investigation of a terror case under MCOCA is done in hours, is that possible? You will be surprised The Congress wanted to create a belief that there is Hindu terrorism. And they coined it saffron terror. It is an effort to try and paint the Hindu community in a negative light. In the Ishrat Jahan case too there are allegations of false affidavits to frame Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Ishrat Jahan is a known and confirmed terrorist. And the then home minister, P. Chidam-baram, gives a clean chit that she is not a terrorist. It is an anti-national act and he will not do it alone. There must be some people behind him to pressurise him to commit such an act. Whatever he did, it is a complete somersault on what he did earlier. We are also investigating whether some important files relating to the case had been missing or misplaced. The report is almost ready and will come out in the next few days. The probe is nearing completion. Do you buy the argument that the Maoists are on the run? The activities of Left-wing extremists are slowing down and the efforts of the government are showing. The Maoists are feeling the pressure. And that is why at times they make desperate moves. They are at the receiving point. The government is leading a three-pronged strategy. Development: you have to make development reach the tribal peoples; security: enhancing the capacity; and perception management: right information to the affected that whatever the LWE are doing is anti-development, anti-democratic and anti-national. Is the public mood in Kashmir a cause for concern? It has always been a concern. But the governments Central and state are doing their best to bring normalcy. Though the first version of the Mi Band was extremely affordable, the device did have a few missing features that could have added more value to the product. Xiaomis Mi Band was a hit with millions of the health wearables sold in China and a few other countries. The device is a simple intelligent strap with three LED lights and nothing more. Via Bluetooth, the device would connect to your smartphone and inform you about the number of steps you took each day. Apart from this, it also has additional features of monitoring your sleep and alert you about notifications on your phone. The Xiaomi Mi Band Pulse. Though the first version of the Mi Band was extremely affordable, the device did have a few missing features that could have added more value to the product. A simple display to show the time and a heart rate sensor are some of the inclusions that the Mi Band could have implemented. The company did include a heart rate sensor on a different versionthe Mi Band Pulse, and tagged it at a very low price of just Rs 990. Now the company is ready with the next sequel for the Mi Band. The Mi Band 2, which is ready for launch, is reported to be unveiled in China on June 7. The Mi Band 2 will be almost identical to the earlier version, albeit a little broader to accommodate a display screen. The display will show the time, apart from a few other information feeds, such as steps, alarms and others. The Mi Band is expected to be priced a little higher, but given that Xiaomi aggressively prices all their devices, we could probably see the Mi Band 2 priced exactly as the earlier version. The device would face a competition with Micromaxs Yu Fit, which holds almost identical specs of the Mi Band 2. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. In the next few days, do learn how to say, Neyyappam. This traditional celebration delicacy from Kerala a state of nearly 35 million lightly-clothed and mostly Left-leaning souls could soon hit the big time if Google says yes to a massive campaign thats suggesting Android N, become Android Neyyappam. Bit of a background first. The version history of the Android mobile operating system follows a pattern: the first two were named Alpha and Beta and the others were named after confectionery Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat and Lollipop and, Marshmallow. The noted exception was version 4.4, which was called KitKat, a chocolate brand. During his recent visit to India, CEO Sundar Pichai, of Google, took one prominent question will Android name its next version after an Indian dessert? A stumped Pichai said he will consult his mother on this one. Forward to this month and on May 18, Google went live with a link seeking suggestions from the world to help it name its latest version of Android. Thousands sent in their suggestions. But Kerala kicked it up a notch. Google received so many Neyyappam requests that the name is now one of the most prominent named appearing on the site. The link closes June 8. And whats a Neyyappam? In Kerala, students get at least four for good marks, its a given when grandma comes home and is one of Lord Ganeshs favourites when its South Indian on the menu. But, for now, Neyyappam is serious pursuit. Many believe an Indian name for an Android OS version is likely given the competition in mobile OS. Google going desi will be a clever marketing ploy attracting more users in a country that already has over 60 million Android users. The government in Kerala is not far behind either. Kerala Tourism sees an immense marketing potential. A Google click on Neyyappam will inevitably lead to Kerala, said Kerala Tourism director U.V. Jose. We shall turn the local delicacy into a global campaign tool in the little time we have. And like they are about many things, the Malayalis have a popular saying on the snack too: Neyyappam thinnal randundu karyam (eating Neyyappam has twin gains). A win for Google, and for Kerala? Well find out on June 8. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Apple iPhone 7 is expected to launch in September 2016. (shown above is the iPhone SE) Apples new flagships, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus arent expected to be launched until September, but the Internet is already filled with its purported specifications and designs. Based on the rumours, according to a French website NowhereElse, Apple is likely to release its new flagship in two variants- iPhone 7 with a 4.7-inch display and the iPhone 7 Plus with a 5.5-inch display. A leaked image on the website suggests that the device will have quad speakers, two at the bottom and another two at the top for a better audio experience. Another interesting rumour largely about the iPhone7, is believed to support two rear cameras. Also the leaked photos of the models tweeted by onleaks indicate a new layout for the camera and flash. The position of the flash is no longer next to the camera, but immediately below it. In terms of storage, we could see 256GB storage capacity besides the 16GB and 64GB. The rumours also states that 128GB model wont exist. The most controversial rumour so far is the removal of headphone jack. Apple is reportedly planning to slim down the next handset which could interfere with the headphone jack. In order to accommodate a slimmer profile Apple has been rumoured to eliminate the headphone jack altogether and use the Lightning port as the audio output for the headphone. Other rumours on the internet also state that Apple could be opting for AMOLED displays for the next flagship. This comes after reported news about Apple having talks with LG display for supplies. Another news leak that just came in confirms that Apple is working on an all-glass iPhone. The news comes in from a report filed by The Telegraph which confirms the information directly from the chief executive of the company which makes its chassis. However, this move by Apple could substantially increase the size of the next flagship. As for now all these rumours cannot be confirmed. More information will be revealed closer to the launch. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. US has fingers crossed, ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation NSG. (Photo: AP) Washington: In an apparent dissatisfaction over Pakistan's opposition to India becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the US has said it is not about an arms race, but about civilian use of nuclear energy. "This is not about an arms race and it's not about nuclear weapons. This is about the peaceful civil use of nuclear energy, and so we would certainly hope that Pakistan understands that," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Friday. Read: Defence sales: US Senate may vote to bring India at par with allies He was responding to questions about India's membership application to NSG and opposition to it by Pakistan on the grounds that this would give pace to nuclear arms race in the region. However, the US has fingers crossed, ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation NSG. Read: US disagrees completely with China, says India ready for NSG "Look, all I can say is that during his visit to India in 2015, President (Barack) Obama did affirm the US view that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for membership. But it's a consensus body, so we'll wait and see how the vote goes," Toner said. "Deliberations about the prospects of new members joining the Nuclear Supplier Groups are an internal matter among the current members. I don't have much to say beyond that other than that I think they meet regularly," he said. Read: China coordinating with Pakistan to block Indias entry into NSG The upcoming NSG meeting has not been set up for this purpose. "This I not a specific meeting, I believe not set up to particularly talk about this issue," Toner said. "They (Pakistan) have made public their interest, and certainly any country can submit its application for membership. We will consider based on a consensus decision," the spokesman said. Washington: Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of Americas busiest border crossing on Friday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, amid one of the largest counter-protests organised against him. Police in riot gear and wielding batons arrested 35 people in the second scuffle in three days to hit his campaign. The scene inside the San Diego Convention Center during Trumps speech was relatively placid, while outside demonstrators opposed to his controversy-ridden White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing his rhetoric against illegal immigration. Waving United States and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out for anti-trump rallies in San Diego, a city on the United States-Mexico border whose San Ysidro port of entry sees nearly 3,00,000 people a day cross legally between the countries. During Trumps speech, some protesters outside the convention center scaled a barrier and lobbed water bottles at police. After the convention center emptied, clusters of Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators began to mix in the streets, many exchanging shouted epithets and some throwing water bottles at one another. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was quick to defend the UMNO support saying the private members' bill. (Photo: File) Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian government has thrown its support behind an Islamic penal code that seeks to expand the jurisdiction of Shariah Courts by including harsh punishments like amputations and stoning, creating discontent among ethnic allies including the Malaysia Indian Congress. United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which forms the majority party in the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, backed the tabling of a bill in this regard by opposition Islamic fundamentalist PAS party. Barisan Nasional's component parties, including the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), have vocally opposed the implementation of hudud law. MIC president S Subramaniam said the private members bill submitted by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang would subvert the constitutional rights to equality and protection from retrospectively harsher punishments. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) said it was deeply disappointed that UMNO MPs helped to fast track the proposed amendments. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was quick to defend the UMNO support saying the private members' bill proposed by PAS president was not about hudud or the criminal jurisdiction issue. The Prime Minister said there was a "misunderstanding" on the nature of the Bill. He said the proposed bill only touched on the caning punishment meted out by the Islamic Shariah Courts. "It is what is called enhanced punishment and depends on the nature of the crime." He added the matter only concerned the Muslims in the country. Sixty per cent of Malaysians are Muslims. Najib said the implementation of the bill would not only need Parliament's consent, but also the approval of the state Islamic Department and the Rulers Council. He added that he had explained the nature of the bill to the other component parties in Barisan Nasional. The Bill seeks to amend the Shariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965. Islamist party PAS has tried to push through these amendments to the 1965 Shariah Courts criminal jurisdiction act several times, but they had never made it into the House of Representatives. Amid the backlash, UMNO members have tried to downplay the move. Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi said if the amendments pass, they would only apply to Muslims in the state of Kelantan. PAS governs that state and amendments to the Shariah Courts Act were needed for it to implement an Islamic criminal code there. However, lawyers say the amendments would actually expand the legal jurisdiction of Shariah Courts across the country, not just in Kelantan. Under Shariah or Islamic law, the courts will be empowered to dole out punishments that could include stoning or amputations. Opposition party Democratic Action Party (DAP) felt these expansion of powers violated the federal constitution. Protesters stage a rally outside Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, southwestern Japan, after an American working on a US military base in Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of abandoning the body of a woman who disappeared last month. (Photo: AP) Tokyo: The US military on Saturday announced a 30-day period of mourning at its bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where the killing of a woman has reignited resentment of the heavy US military presence in the region. A 32-year-old American civilian working at a US military base in Okinawa was arrested this month for dumping the body of the 20-year-old Japanese woman, a procedural step in murder cases. The attack stoked anger in Japan, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to protest about the killing during talks with US President Barack Obama ahead of the Group of Seven summit in central Japan. Many associate the bases with crime. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by US military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations. A senior US military official told reporters all festivals, celebrations and music concerts at US military bases would be postponed during the 30-day period which began on Friday. Media said alcohol consumption outside bases would be prohibited among military personnel and their families along with civilians employed by the military, while they would also be required to observe a midnight curfew. The US military was not immediately available to comment on the details of the restrictions. "There are no words in the English language that can adequately convey our level of shock, pain and grief at the loss of life of this innocent victim," said Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, Commander of the US Marine Forces in Japan. "We are all shocked, we are all stunned, we are all angry," he said. "My request to the Okinawa people is simple: please do not allow this terrible act of violence to drive a wedge between our two communities." Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts 50,000 US nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilians employed at US bases, and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden. Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the US Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely. The horrific attack was planned by O'Reilly when he first spotted the victim at Glasgow Central Station and offered him a lift home. (Representational Image) Paisley, Scotland: A hairdresser has been arrested on the charges of brutally raping a male chef and forcing him to engage in oral sex at the victim's home in Paisley, Scotland. According to a Mirror report, the victim had to go through horrific seven-hour ordeal when the accused identified as Joseph OReilly tied him to the bed and raped him. O'Reilly has also been accused of slicing off the victim's hair and forcefully stuffing it into his mouth before urinating on him. He also robbed the victim after brutally raping and slashing him. The horrific attack was planned by O'Reilly when he first spotted the victim at Glasgow Central Station and offered him a lift home. After finding out that the victim lived alone in Paisley, the accused pretended to be staying at the same place and offered the victim a shared taxi. O'Reilly then befriended the victim and the duo proceeded to the victim's house for drinks. In his statement to the police, the victim said that he did not expect his new guests to be staying for more than two drinks. But things took a bad turn when O'Reilly turned on the victim after learning that he was a gay. During the trial of the case, the victim told judge that when O'Reilly learnt that he was a gay, he smiled at him in a hostile way and soon opened his pants and forced him into oral sex. He then beat up the poor man, slashed him with a knife, doused him with water and even urinated on him. O'Reilly then tied the victim to the bed with a TV cable and fled the scene after robbing him of his cash and cards. Tied up and bleeding profusely, the victim was freed by his landlord who had come to collect his monthly rent. O'Reilly pleaded guilty to sexual and physical abuse and has been jailed for a term of eight years. Although the accused have not revealed the motive behind Susan's murder, police officials suspect sexual abuse to be the reason behind it. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab) West Midlands, England: In a shocking incident, a couple has been convicted for drugging, raping and murdering a vulnerable young woman at their residence in West Midlands. According to a report in the Mirror, the victim identified as Susan Whiting was attacked with a sharp hammer-like object on her head on August 18, 2015. The accused, Steven Beards, 34, and his wife Julie Beards, 35, had invited Susan for dinner at their place. Under the pretext of dinner, the couple drugged the victim and raped her. Susan, a young woman with learning difficulties, had made friends with the accused couple at a local adult community center. At the community center, the duo befriended Susan and began interacting with her quite often. They would also invite her to their home for dinner and stay over. Accused Julie and Steven Beards who drugged, raped and killed Susan Whiting. (Photo: YouTube ScreenGrab) On August 16, 2015, the duo again invited Susan to their home for another dinner and sleepover. As usual, Susan's mother was asked to pick her up the next afternoon. But when her mother reached the couple's home, she was told that Susan had already left. When Susan failed to return home, a missing complaint was filed the following day. Police officers raided the couple's bungalow and were shocked to find Susan's body hidden under the bed, wrapped in a curtain. Medical examination of Susan's corpse revealed that she died from head injuries and had been drugged and raped. Doctors told police that they found traces of hypnotic drug in her body, adding that there were bruises on her hands which suggested that she was handcuffed. Post the couple's arrest, a trial of the case followed at the Leicester Crown Court where they were found guilty of manslaughter. Although the accused have not revealed the motive behind Susan's murder, police officials suspect sexual abuse to be the reason behind it. "From the moment Susan was reported missing our lives have been turned upside down. She was just 20 years old, an easy-going, loving young lady, enjoying her life. I know she was loved and will be missed by so many people, Susans mother was quoted as saying. Court documents said the appeal was filed Thursday in Mexico City by two lawyers for Guzman, who is considered the world's most wanted drug boss as leader of the Sinaloa cartel. Mexico City, Mexico: Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has appealed the government's decision to extradite him to the United States to face narcotics and murder charges, officials and his lawyers said on Friday. Court documents said the appeal was filed Thursday in Mexico City by two lawyers for Guzman, who is considered the world's most wanted drug boss as leader of the Sinaloa cartel. "We have filed an appeal against the unconstitutional decision by the ministry of foreign affairs, against those who are in a big hurry for 'El Chapo' Guzman to leave for the United States," said one of the lawyers, Jose Luis Gonzalez, in a press conference. The government has 48 hours to respond, officials said. The appeal comes a week after the foreign ministry announced it had agreed to extradite Guzman, who escaped from a maximum-security prison in July 2015 -- his second dramatic jailbreak -- and was recaptured in January. Police caught him after a colorful episode involving a US-Mexican soap opera actress and the Hollywood star Sean Penn, who met with Guzman in hiding. The ministry said it had approved the extradition after receiving assurances from the US government that Guzman would not face the death penalty if convicted, since he could not receive such a punishment under Mexican law. Guzman is wanted by courts in California and Texas. President Enrique Pena Nieto's government had previously balked at sending him to the United States. But after the 59-year-old cartel boss was recaptured in January, Pena Nieto asked the attorney general's office to expedite the extradition process. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to take retaliatory steps but that Washington and its allies had ignored the warnings. (Photo: AFP) Athens: 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 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. "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. 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. 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. The group fears that the flow of Muslim refugees to US would lead to an uprising. (Photo: Via web) London: A group of men in Texas are training to shoot Muslims in case of an uprising and are dipping their bullets in pigs blood or bacon grease so victims would go straight to hell. According to the Independent, 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. 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. Recent fear and distrust has long existed in the US but has been exacerbated due to racist rhetoric during the 2016 US election campaign. Mr Wright named one radical as Mohamed Elibiary, a former top aide to Obama, who was accused of leaking secret documents in an attempt to smear then-presidential candidate as Islamophobic. A report by Trans Action Alliance (TAA), a group comprising civil society and trans people in the province, said that at least 46 transgenders have been killed here in the last two years in Peshawar. (Representational Image) Peshawar: At least 46 transgenders have been killed in the last two years here in Pakistan's restive northwestern Khyber Pakthukhwa province, according to a report. A delegation of transgenders on Saturday met a senior police officer seeking assurance to nab the culprits involved in the murder of Alisha who was shot eight times earlier this week and succumbed to her wounds at a hospital in Peshawar on Wednesday. Police said that two accused have already been arrested in the case. A report by Trans Action Alliance (TAA), a group comprising civil society and trans people in the province, said that at least 46 transgenders have been killed here in the last two years in Peshawar. Earlier this year, four members of the TAA were also targeted. Starting this autumn, more than four million first and seventh graders from Hunan, Henan, Guangdong, Liaoning and other provincial-level regions will use the new books. (Representational image) Beijing: China's primary and secondary school Chinese language textbooks have been revised on popular demand to focus more on traditional culture which was largely destroyed in Mao era, especially during the decade-long Cultural Revolution. Starting this autumn, more than four million first and seventh graders from Hunan, Henan, Guangdong, Liaoning and other provincial-level regions will use the new books. Forty per cent of the content in the previous edition has been changed, said Wang Xuming, president of the Language and Culture Press under the Ministry of Education. Traditional material makes up 30 per cent of the revised primary school textbooks, while it increases to about 40 per cent for secondary school textbooks. "We did so to address the needs of parents, who want their children to learn more about traditional culture," said a senior editor surnamed Zhu in charge of the middle school textbooks. "Now many people cannot even understand the language in classical Chinese books, and parents compete to send their children to commercial training centres for traditional culture," she said. The changes coincided with the 50 years of Mao's Cultural Revolution this month which was largely ignored by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) which discarded his hardline Communist ideology. For 10 tumultuous years from 1966, China underwent massive sociopolitical upheaval that saw countless politicians and intellectuals driven to their deaths, civilians killed in armed conflicts, and cultural relics and artefacts destroyed. "The Cultural Revolution era is long over...We have bid farewell to the Cultural Revolution. We can say it once again today that the Cultural Revolution cannot and will not come back. There is no place for it in today's China," state-run Global Times said in its editorial on 50th anniversary of Cultural Revolution. China has seen a renewed interest in traditional education. "Demand for private education grows when teaching of traditional culture in public schools is not enough," Zhu said. The poetry and essays in the new books were selected not only so that students can learn the language, but also to instruct them on philosophy, Zhu told sate-run Xinhua news agency, adding that 16 excerpts from the Analects of Confucius were included in the middle school textbooks. Zheng Weizhong, director of the primary school department at the press said that students now begin learning classical articles starting in third grade. "We also added stories about Chinese folk art and ethnic culture, such as paper-cutting and the Tibetan Shoton (yogurt banquet) Festival," he said. The change was welcomed by many teachers, but some people questioned the revision. This is the first revision the press has made in more than a decade. Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif's surgery will be conducted at London's The Princess Grace Hospital. (Photo: AFP) Islamabad: Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical check-up, will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in Islamabad on Friday. Mr Asif, a confidante of Mr Sharif, said doctors have advised the Prime Minister to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he will be staying in the hospital for a week. "The Prime Minister will travel after one week, on doctor's permission," he added. Mr Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, confirmed on twitter that her father will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday. "Prayers are the most effective and potent medicines. Millions will pray for him so he will be fine," she tweeted. Maryam then went on to explain her father's medical condition, saying: "In 2011 Nawaz Sharif had a cardiac procedure called 'Atrial Fibrillation Ablation', during which certain complications occurred resulting in perforation of heart which was in turn treated by open heart surgery." Therefore, Mr Sharif had been visiting his doctor for follow up, she said. "After some recent symptoms a team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons carried out some scans and tests, following which they decided to go for an open heart surgery," she said. The Prime Minister will be on specific medication for the next three days before his surgery on Tuesday, Maryam said. "The recovery period and hospital stay will be one week. Nawaz Sharif will travel back to Pakistan as soon as the doctors allow." This is Mr Sharif's second trip to London for medical check-up in few weeks' time. He had gone to London on May 22 for a medical checkup and was supposed to come back in a week. The Prime Minister had undergone a check-up in Pakistan last month following which he decided to visit London for a proper medical check-up. Read: Modi extends best wishes to Sharif for his heart surgery Mr Sharif's surgery will be conducted at London's The Princess Grace Hospital, which is considered one of the best-equipped multi-disciplinary hospital in the UK capital. Mr Sharif, who is in London, has been facing pressure from Opposition political parties at home to conduct a thorough investigation into the Panama Papers leaked documents - that reveal that members of his family own undeclared offshore wealth and expensive property in London. Some leaders in Pakistan have demanded Mr Sharif to step down amid the scandal. The Opposition has been demanding Mr Sharif face parliament and respond to various questions regarding how his family transferred money from Pakistan to set up businesses abroad. According to the leaked documents, Mr Sharif's children owned at least three offshore holding companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. Mr Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing. Delhi Universitys admission committee has recommended seeking help of forensic experts to detect fake certificates, but the university insiders suggest that colleges would need to do more to curb backdoor entries. The university is in the last leg of finalising its policy for undergraduate admissions. Over five dozen undergrad colleges in DU admit more than 54,000 students every year. A DU official said its implausible for all colleges to hire forensic experts because the city doesnt have too many of them. Last year, four students of Delhi College and Arts and Commerce (DCAC) were expelled on charges of forging their academic documents. Similar cases were reported from Ramjas College, Hindu College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Sri Venkateswara College in the last several years, a university official said. Until last year, it was the prerogative of colleges to appoint forensic experts. On the last years admission scam, DCAC principal Rajiv Chopra said fake admissions are not possible without the involvement of college insiders. According to him, one of the four students who was expelled on charges of submitting forged academic documents last year had admitted paying Rs 17 lakh to a tout for securing admission. Chopra said the police investigation has made no headway. No fake admissions can happen without collusion of the college staff. No arrests have been made in this case, he told Deccan Herald. In fact, the expelled students, he said, are fighting a court battle against him. Forensic experts are supposed to screen out forged certificates at the time of admission, but they cant physically examine all certificates. So they might have to rely on the sampling method; they can take 10-20 certificates from every lot and examine, said R N Dubey, a member of the admission committee. To keep a check on forged documents, the administrative officers at colleges generally rely on information provided by the university on CDs, which contain information on class 12 results of various state and central boards. For verification of the certificates submitted by students from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the colleges contact the issuing authorities. According to the DCAC principal, this process sometimes takes more than a year. Two men involved in the murder of an eatery owner in south east Delhis Lajpat Nagar were arrested on Thursday, police said. The two accused identified as Manish, 25, and Robin, 26 are residents of Kotla Mubarak Pur in south Delhi. Manish is the prime accused in the case and is the son of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) employee, police said. His father is at a clerical post in the CBI, said a senior police officer. The duo along with their other two other friends Sagar and Varun were involved in a scuffle with a Lajpat Nagar-based eaterys owner Vasudev, 60, over giving discount in their food bill on Monday night. During the scuffle, Vasudev allegedly slapped one of the four youths. Feeling insulted the four conspired to teach Vasudev a lesson and returned to the eatery after an hour with a pistol. They started beating the eatery-manager and his friend. When the restaurant owner tried to intervene, Manish started firing from the pistol and two gunshots hit the body of the owner. After that the accused fled the place in their Swift Dzire car which had a UP registration number. People present at the spot had noted down the number, said police. When the investigation started, a police team was sent to Noida Transport Authority but it didnt find any vehicle registered at the particular number. Thereafter, the details of Swift cars with similar registration numbers was obtained from the transport authority and finally three such registration numbers were shortlisted. Subsequently, the police teams were sent to the owners of these vehicles and after questioning them, one such vehicle bearing registration number UP 16 AU 9889 was zeroed in. The car was found registered in the name of Pawan Kumar, a resident of Greater Noida. After questioning Kumar, it was revealed that he had already sold it further and presently the car is in possession of one Manish. The police team conducted a raid at his residence in Kotla Mubarakpur but he was found absconding. The police team deployed local sources and information was received that Manish would come at Akash Institute in South Extension to meet his friends on Thursday evening. Immediately, a trap was laid around the institute and Manish was arrested. At his instance, the car used in the crime was recovered from Saini Village in Noida. Robin, the other accused in the case was called in to help the police in the probe to the police station where he was nabbed, said police. The other two accused are still absconding. Police suspect that one of the two absconding accused could be a juvenile. Five men involved in theft of e-rickshaws by drugging drivers have been arrested in outer Delhis Mangolpuri on Thursday. The accused would sell the rickshaws in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and also rent them out to local drivers, police said. Nine e-rickshaws have been recovered from the accused. For the last few months in Delhi's outer district incidents of e-rickshaw thefts after drugging the drivers saw a spurt in numbers. A police team was constituted and given the task of analyzing the crime pattern and work out the theft cases. The team studied the crime pattern and deployed secret sources. On Thursday secret information was received about the culprits. Acting upon the information a team of police officials nabbed the culprits around 10 pm from the industrial area in Mangolpuri near Safal dairy with one stolen e-rikshaw. The thieves had gathered there to sell the vehicle. On sustained interrogation the arrested persons disclosed that accused Lal Bahadur, Satish Kumar and Sanjay used to hire e-rikshaw for a distant destination where it would take at least around 30 minutes to reach. In the middle of the journey they would take a short halt on the pretext of taking refreshments at some juice corner or general store. After sometimes they would offer the e-rikshaw driver juice, cold drink or even water spiked with sedatives. After 15-20 minutes of taking the drink, the driver would fall unconscious and the accused would escape with the rikshaw and the belongings of the driver leaving him in a deserted place. The accused further disclosed that they used to sell the stolen e-rikshaws to scrap dealers in Mustafabad, Ghonda and Seelampur area for a sum ranging Rs 10,000-15000 depending upon the condition of the rikshaws. They further used to sell some of the rikshaws in Sambhal in UP for Rs 18000-20000. They also used to supply some e-rikshaws on rent to local drivers. A day after the Delhi government said that the fate of guest teachers hangs in balance as a policy on regularising their services is pending with the LG, the teachers expressed their unhappiness over the important points in the draft policy. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said that a policy for making guest teachers permanent, which includes age relaxation and weightage according to experience, has been lying with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung since January and alleged that due to this the future of 17,000 guest teachers hangs in balance. The Delhi government-suggested policy includes giving points to guest teachers on the basis of age and the number of years they have worked in the schools. One year experience will fetch .75 marks and the maximum is 2.25 marks for three years, following which an exam will be conducted to select them. However, the guest teachers have termed the policy as a means to fool them and have expressed their disapproval over it saying that .75 marks for one year is too less. We do not want this policy. Even if the LG had approved it, we would have challenged it in the court. Most of the guest teachers have been employed since so many years in the government schools that we at least deserve eight to ten points for one year, said Manish, a guest teacher. He further contested the idea of exam for making the guest teachers permanent. Why should we give the exams when the government had promised to make us permanent during elections and even after that. If they have doubts on our merit, they should check if we are following the recruitment rules, he said. The teachers termed Sisodias press conference on Thursday as a gimmick. There are 9,623 permanent posts for guest teachers and only their files have been sent to the LG. Why did Manish Sisodia yesterday say that 17,000 teachers are suffering? said All India Guest Teachers Association Praveen Tobaria. Tobarias services were terminated by the government recently over poor performance, following which he had challenged the decision in the court alleging that he was removed as he led protests against the government over the issue. If the government cannot make us permanent, they should bring a seven years regularization policy and give us salary on par with permanent teachers, which is what the Supreme Court has said in its guidelines also, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement to raise the retirement age of government doctors to 65 was described as a welcome step by the medical community even though several doctors felt this would mean lesser opportunities for their younger colleagues. The move could be a quick fix to deal with the shortage of government doctors, they said. Extending the retirement age would be the immediate solution to the shortage of doctors across hospitals. But this would also mean that younger doctors will get less opportunities if the number of posts are not increased, said Dr D K Seth, director at Bara Hindu Rao Hospital. At a rally in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, Modi announced plans to raise the retirement age of doctors at central and state government hospitals from the current 60 or 62 to 65. Even though the move may help fill existing vacancies, this cannot be seen as a long-term solution to shortage of doctors. Rural dispensaries perennially suffer from a staff crunch and little is being done to resolve this problem, said doctors. This announcement is a publicity stunt. The government should instead focus on changing the policies so that more young doctors opt for government jobs, said Dr Pankaj Solanki, president of Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA). So many posts are lying vacant, especially those in the primary health units. There are no takers for these jobs as there is no sound infrastructure for doctors to carry out their duties in set-ups like rural dispensaries, he added. Senior doctors felt patients will benefit if doctors serve for a longer time. This has been the demand of the IMA (Indian Medical Association) for over three years now. The average age of joining service for government doctors is 29-30. The doctors retire at a time when patients can benefit the most from the experienced doctors. So this is definitely a welcome step, said Dr K K Aggarwal, honorary secretary at IMA. Enhancing the retirement age will not only benefit patients but also students of medicine. Senior doctors will be able to contribute their experiences to the younger doctors, said Dr A K Rai, medical superintendent at Safdarjung Hospital.Contractual doctors who have been working with government hospitals for a long time feel they should be regularised. Contractual doctors who have been working with government hospitals for a time should be regularised. This would mean they also have access to the same allowances and also come under the new retirement age policy, said a doctor at Rao Tula Ram Hospital. The recently released funds to the East Corporation by the AAP government reached the municipality a day after its class IV employee committed suicide, allegedly because of financial distress. The last salary Hridesh Sharma got was on April 22, for the month of March.The reason behind his drastic step is not yet clear, but the suicide again highlighted the tussle between the Delhi government and the municipalities over the release of funds for salaries. The Bharatiya Janata Party-run municipal corporations routinely complain that they do not get funds in time to pay salaries to their employees. Sharma, 45, who worked in an MCD school, hanged himself at his house in east Delhi's GTB Enclave on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation received Rs 92.29 as global share, the civic agency's cut in city government's taxes, which it can use to give salaries to its staff. But the Delhi government said it had sanctioned the amount of Rs 92.29 crore as Basic Tax Assignments (global share) to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation for paying salaries to its employees on Tuesday itself. In all, the Delhi government has given over Rs 170 crore to the East Delhi Municipal Corporation for 2016-17 financial year, an official said. The Delhi government claimed on Friday that it has already released the first instalment (25 per cent) of funds for 2016-17 fiscal to the three municipalities. A senior official with the finance department of the East Corporation said that the civic agency had got Rs 78 crore in April to be spent only on the education sector. We had received around Rs 78 crore in April as grants in education, which we could spend only in education sector like maintaining school buildings. We received Rs 92.29 crore on May 25. The amount was credited into our account at around 3 pm, said the official. Salaries to some of them were released as and when the corporation received the money. The amount will be credited to their accounts through Electronic Clearance System (ECS), he added. Job to wife Mayor of East Corporation Satya Sharma said on Friday that the civic agency is mulling to give a job to the victims wife and the family will be given Rs 10,000 as funeral charges. On Thursday, the AAP government had requested the Centre to provide Rs 4,087 crore to Delhi as special grants-in-aid for 2015-2020 period as per 14th Central Finance Commission. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday requesting him to include Delhi in the scope of grants-in-aid while drafting the terms of new Central Finance Commission. The 14th Central Finance Commission allocated grant-in-aid of Rs 2,87,436 crore for local bodies for 2015-2020 period. However, Delhi has been omitted from this grant altogether on the argument that only states are covered under the scheme of Central Finance Commission, the letter had said. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in London for medical check-up, will undergo an open-heart surgery on Tuesday, according to his daughter. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz tweeted that her father will undergo the open-heart surgery. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif undergoing open heart surgery on Tuesday. Prayers are the most effective and potent medicine. Millions will pray for him. Insha Allah he'll be fine," she tweeted last night. Maryam went on to explain her 66-year-old father's medical condition, saying: "In 2011 Nawaz Sharif had a cardiac procedure called 'Atrial Fibrillation Ablation', during which certain complications occurred resulting in perforation of heart which was in turn treated by open heart surgery." Therefore, Sharif had been visiting his doctor for follow up, she said. "After some recent symptoms a team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons carried out some scans and tests, following which they decided to go for an open heart surgery," she said. The prime minister will be on specific medication for the next three days before his surgery on Tuesday, Maryam said. "The recovery period and hospital stay will be one week. Nawaz Sharif will travel back to Pakistan as soon as the doctors allow," she added. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also said doctors have advised Sharif to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he will be staying in the hospital for a week in London. "The prime minister will travel after one week, on doctor's permission," Asif, who is also a confidante of the premier, said here yesterday. This is Sharif's second trip to London for medical check-up in recent weeks. He had undergone a check-up in Pakistan last month following which he decided to visit London for a proper medical assessment. He went to London on May 22 for a medical check-up and was supposed to return in a week. His surgery will be conducted at London's The Princess Grace Hospital, which is considered one of the best-equipped multi-disciplinary hospital in the UK capital. Sharif has been facing pressure from opposition political parties at home to conduct a thorough investigation into the Panama Papers leaked documents - which show that members of his family own undeclared offshore wealth and expensive property in London. Some leaders in Pakistan have demanded Sharif to step down amid the scandal. Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing. China's military expansion in the disputed South China Sea poses a growing risk to the region's prosperity and its actions could erect a "Great Wall of self- isolation", US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has warned. "China wants and enjoys all the benefits of free trade and a free internet, while sometimes restricting both as they apply to them," Carter said at graduation and commissioning at Naval Academy in Maryland yesterday. In sum, on the seas, in cyberspace, in the economy and elsewhere, China has benefited from the principles and systems that others have worked to establish and uphold, he said. "But instead of helping sustain those very principles and systems that have served all of us so well and for so long, instead of working toward the, quote, 'win-win cooperation' that Beijing publicly says it wants, China plays by its own rules undercutting those principles," he said. "The result is that China's actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation, as countries across the region allies, partners and the unaligned are voicing concerns publicly and privately, at the highest levels," Carter said. "Such a model reflects the region's distant past, rather than the principled future we all want for the Asia-Pacific." He said in the disputed South China Sea and elsewhere, there is a growing risk to the region's prosperous future. "China has taken some expansive and unprecedented actions in the South China Sea, pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to international law. Its construction and subsequent militarisation of artificial islands on disputed features far surpass all other land reclamation efforts by other nations there, combined," he added. "And when other aircraft, ships, and even fishermen act in accordance with international law near these features, China tries to turn some of them away," he said. China claims all most all of South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan fiercely contest China's claims. Carter said the US is determined to stand with partners in upholding core principles, like freedom of navigation and overflight, free flow of commerce, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, through legal means. "We are committed to ensuring that these core principles apply equally in the South China Sea as they do everywhere else because only by ensuring that everyone plays by the same rules can we avoid the mistakes of the past, where countries challenged one another in contests of strength and will, with disastrous consequences for humanity," he said. Carter said America's focus on upholding principles extends beyond the maritime domain. For example, China wants its companies that depend on the Internet to flourish in the global marketplace so it can lift its people's prosperity. "And yet, China's cyber-actors have violated the spirit of the Internet not to mention the law to perpetrate large-scale intellectual property theft from American companies. That's why the President has been determined to develop international understandings of behavior in cyberspace," he added. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan kicked off the celebrations Narendra Modi government's mega 2-year anniversary celebration on Saturday at India Gate in New Delhi. The actor, who is promoting the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme, said it was time to realise that half the population of the country could not be left behind. The government-sponsored event -- 'Zara Muskura Do' (Smile Please) will feature several performances and programmes to highlight the "achievements" of the Modi government. Modi and most of his ministerial colleagues are scheduled to attend the event at India Gate. Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said that the "56-inch chest" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not decreased "an inch" and asserted that there should be no doubt on that score. He also said if Pakistan does not have the capability to curb terrorist activities in its territory, it should seek India's help. Singh was asked by Rajat Sharma on his programme "Aap ki Adalat" on India TV about Modi's Lok Sabha election campaign in which he had said that a "56-inch chest" was needed to tackle Pakistan. "It has not decreased. I am the Home Minister. I know confidential matters. I have the IB with me. It has not decreased. There should be no doubts on that score. I can only say that the 56-inch chest is there," the channel quoted Singh as saying in a press release. The Home Minister said he wanted to give a message to Pakistan that it should curb terrorist activities on its soil. "If Pakistan feels it does not have the capacity to curb terrorist activities, it should seek assistance from India. If they want, it can happen. They can also seek assistance from other countries of the world," he said. Singh said there has been a 52 per cent decline in infiltration from Pakistan in the last two years. The number of security personnel killed by Maoists has come down. On the terror attack in Pathankot, he said it is because of the government's strategy that the US asked Pakistan to cooperate in the investigation into the attack. The Minister said that "some papers" on the Ishrat Jehan case were missing. "Some papers that should have been there in the Home Ministry files are not available. I have formed a committee to investigate. We will soon get the committee's report. It will reveal who is guilty?," Singh said adding changes were made in the files by persons belonging to Congress because of political reasons. Asked why Pragya Thakur was given clean chit by the National Investigation Agency in the Malegaon blast case, Singh said things became clear once the probe agency went into it. The NIA has been given maximum autonomy that it need not even send files to Home Ministry for legal opinion and it can send them directly to the Law Ministry, he said. To a question why all the witnesses in the Malegaon case changed their version within two years, the Minister said, "Ask the NIA why there was an earlier version and why a different one now." On the issue of blackmoney, Singh said no promise was ever made during the election campaign that Rs 15 lakh would be deposited in everybody's bank account. "I was then the President of the party. It is under my leadership, the party manifesto is prepared. I never made any such statement. There was a perception that given the huge amount of offshore blackmoney present, the average came to Rs 15 lakh per person but this was merely an example nothing else," he said. On Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar's remarks that Muslims eating beef have no place in India, he said, "No. I completely I disagree with this. "All Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Parisis, who are borne in the womb of India, are offsprings of Bharat Mata. All of us have to stay and work together." The Chaudhuris of Latu Mullick Lane in north Kolkata have unknowingly become part of a rather silent movement. Once part of Bengals landed gentry, they now have just this two-storeyed building left to their name. Built some time in late 19th century, the house does not offer much in terms of heritage value, given it was just the residential building of a family that had no great role in uplifting Bengals social or political consciousness. It is buildings like this that interests author Amit Chaudhuri. Chaudhuri does not share any links with the said family, except a surname spelt the same way. Neither is this particular building, tucked away in a dingy lane, part of the initiative that is taking up much of his time these days. The author, however, is concerned with how the heritage tag is used in Kolkata. He feels somewhat disturbed that heritage only refers to buildings that had some role to play, even though the term should encompass much more than just achievements, he believes. Once the second city of the British Empire after London, Kolkata, offers a visual feast of old houses, which stand out for remarkable architecture. These buildings represent not only an era but also stand testimony to the citys history, giving an insight into the structural changes that influenced architecture over the years. Chaudhuris love for the architectural aesthetics in old buildings inspired him to launch the Calcutta Architectural Legacies (CAL), a mission to save old buildings. It is also probably not a coincidence that the acronym spells out as CAL, the name most English-speaking Kolkatans refer to their home town by. CAL is what one would call a citizens initiative, with Chaudhuri bringing together a group of interested people. From conservation architect Partha Ranjan Das to G M Kapur of heritage preservation group INTACH, to activists Bonani and Pradeep Kakkar, ad guru Ram Ray and even Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, they will all pull in their ideas to help conserve buildings that have not found place on states heritage list. Although CAL was formally launched in February, Chaudhuri has been working towards this for more than a year. In an article for The Guardian in June 2015, he laid down his ideas. He pointed out that in Kolkata, a heritage building is a landmark, either because it is a significant institutional building or because a famous person frequented it or lived there. The architectural distinctiveness of the building is a secondary concern, or is a pre-ordained, generic feature of the structure: that is, we already know it qualifies as a heritage structure because it adheres to our idea of what a heritage colonial building looks like, he wrote. The author went on to say that heritage for Kolkata also means we cease to engage with the architectural individuality and difference of buildings and precincts. We dont periodise, falling back on catch-all terms like 'colonial' or historicise; or describe; or define. Simply put, 'heritage' means we dont see, or think about, buildings. While launching CAL, he pointed out that the time has come to rethink words like architecture and heritage in order to save buildings before these are brought down and turned into generic multi-storeyed buildings. CAL would also attempt to move beyond heritage and take the initiative to everywhere in Kolkata. Chaudhuri pointed out how the city developed into neighbourhoods, para in Bengali, which were oases of resident communities, and stressed on the need to preserve their distinct characters, before these fall prey to realtors. He is of the opinion that the heritage tag should include far more than landmarks and involve buildings, which give the city its character. He also talked about the need for residents of such buildings to come forward and join the initiative, if they are keen on preserving their individual heritage, instead of a generic sense of history. Chaudhuris campaign among the urban educate class for more than a year found fruition when Kumartuli Sarbojanin Durgotsav, the Durga Puja committee at the idol-makers district in north Kolkata, decided to turn his efforts into the theme for its Puja offering last year. A much-visited Durga Puja marquee, the committee celebrated its 84th year with a cause that has faced criticism from some quarters as elitist. Disparagement aside, artist Subal Pal persuaded the Puja committee to go with the theme. Chaudhuri observed how a number of aesthetic old buildings are being razed to ground, making way for box-like high-rises, on the Pratapaditya Road in south Kolkata. Pal, who has been noticing similar changes in north Kolkata, felt one with Chaudhuris woes and etched out the theme in his Puja marquee. The artist, however, admitted that without proper conservation of these buildings, there would be no point in having the theme, at a time when such houses are getting lost across the city. the message needs to be sent out to people before its too late, he said. A regular visitor to Europe, he pointed out in his Guardian article how the British have managed to preserve even the most mundane, old buildings, just because of their architectural and aesthetic brilliance. The author, who first started the campaign online and sought signatures, stated in his expression note how the old-world Kolkata is fast falling prey to the real estate mafia. While the online petition received nearly 2,000 signatures in a matter of days, Chaudhuri said, I am an admirer of Kolkatas neighbourhoods. Its architecture is not just confined to colonial legacy or north Kolkata-based buildings owned by landed families. But there are many interesting architectures spread across the city which were built by the educated middle-class in the past, Chaudhuri said. This petition also drew support from Sen, who has spent years amid the heritage corridors of educational institutes in Kolkata, England and the US. The real deal for such an initiative, however, is to get the administrations attention, admitted those pushing the initiative. While Das talked about the apathy of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, which is in charge of refreshing the citys heritage list, Mayor Sovan Chatterjee seemed oblivious to such concerns. Chaudhuri noted how bodies like the West Bengal Heritage Commission, entrusted with the job of refurbishing the list from time to time seem mostly toothless. the list of heritage buildings should be urgently revised and various neighbourhoods should be declared heritage zones, Chaudhuri said. While the author asked for empowering the Commission for better functioning, Das echoed his thoughts. A former member of the commission, he submitted a proposal to introduce transfer of development rights or TDR in 2013. A successful process at Mumbai and Ahmedabad, TDR provides a residential building owner to retain it, with the developer buying the land getting to build elsewhere where new construction is not an issue. There has been no move in the direction of allowing TDR, he said. Chaudhuri hopes that like in Europe, owner of old buildings will take up the cause themselves and fight to preserve the character of their localities. The administration, however, continues to remain aloof, even after the Nobel laureate economist wrote a letter of support to Chaudhuri, stating, We owe to future generations a preserved and un-mutilated heritage of Calcuttas eccentric but exciting old buildings. The two-day premier education expo - Eduverse, eighth edition of Jnana Degula - opened in the city on Saturday. It created a benchmark in professional guidance and set a perfect platform for aspiring students and anxious parents to clarify doubts related to higher education and their careers. The event was hosted by Deccan Herald and Prajavani newspapers at Jayamahal Palace Hotel Grounds in the city. It concludes on Sunday. The key speakers dwelt in detail on the counselling procedure for students who appeared for CET and ComedK exams. There was also a session on career development. Briefing on post-CET procedures, A S Ravi, public relations officer of the Karnataka Examination Authority, stressed the importance of prioritising the course and colleges during online registration, which would play a major role during seat allotment. He gave the example of a student from Ramanagar who missed a chance to study in RV College as he failed to prioritise the course and college carefully. Ravi asked the students to come to the nodal centres with the original documents, including a study certificate for seven years, signed by the block education officer. Under reservation, a student can study engineering at Rs 3,500 a year, if he belongs to the SC/ST community, has studied in the Kannada medium, has a family income of less than Rs 6 lakh, belongs to the rural category and is from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, he said. Do not depend on last years cut-off marks. It only gives an idea to compare and analyse the rank. There is a chance to re-arrange the options after trial mark allotments, Ravi said. Once the final seat allotment process is over, the student will have to download the challan from the website and pay the fees in the specified banks, he explained. Earlier, Rama Rao, an observer of ComedK, briefed about the pre-counselling procedure for ComedK. Asking parents not to pressure students, he said seats are available to even those students who scored 40,000th rank. Its not important which college you join. If you are able to score above 80% marks in all semesters, career opportunities are more, he told the students. The reaction of participants was a testimony to the success of the event. Dr Tara Devi and her daughter Vaishnavi M, a student of Vidya Mandir Pre-University College, Malleswaram, said the speakers clarified all doubts related to CET and ComedK. It was a detailed discussion. Although the CET brochures detail the procedure, we were looking for information on how to go through the online procedure to apply, she said. 9 cr jobs by 2025 In India, manufacturing sector has the potential to contribute to 25% of the GDP and this will enable in the creation of at least 9 crore new jobs by 2025, said M N Vidyashankar, ex-IAS officer and president of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association. He was delivering the inaugural address at Eduverse. Vidyashankar said the civil engineering stream had the potential to create 9.5 lakh new jobs in the next five years, while the telecom sector would create 7 lakh jobs. There are similar opportunities in life sciences and biotechnology. Hailing the central governments Make in India and Stand-Up India initiatives to promote entrepreneurship, Vidyashankar said, The environment for job creation in India is better than anywhere in the world. He gave the example of some of the finest startup ventures started in Bengaluru and one in Israel and encouraged the students to come up with novel ideas to solve problems. Kusum Kamal wanted to join the administrative services to do her bit for the country knowing very little that destiny had other plans for her. It was not until her first child, a girl, was born when she realised that she would have to simply forget about her own aspirations and dreams. Her little girl was not fully mentally healthy and was a slow learner. She was a special child. I immediately realised that the Almighty wanted me to contribute to society in a different way, said Kusum. While taking care of her daughters special needs, it dawned on her that there were many others like her, who too needed special care. And that thought changed everything. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Kusum said that during the course of her daughter Vaishnavis treatment she felt that there was very little the existing schools then could do for her. We got her admitted to schools for special children but there was not much improvement, she said. Kusum, a post graduate in sociology, did B.Ed (special education) and also a course in speech therapy only to properly take care of her daughter. While I managed to bring about significant improvement in my daughters behaviour, I always thought about those, whose children, suffering from similar disorders, found themselves helpless, she said. The thought of doing something for the special children propelled Kusum to launch a centre for them. Today, Kusum runs a school for special children, whom she calls angels, in Lucknow and has completely dedicated herself to it. The school called Parvarish (bringing up), which started in 2012 with just one child, has currently around 60 special children on its rolls. It is a school for special children who have special needs. Parvarish School and Physiotherapy Centre was established to provide and expand mental health services in society, she said. Quality of life This centre aims at providing educational environment to students, improving their quality of life and working on their overall development...we try to provide the best services to society holding a special population and their caregivers too, Kusum said. Currently pursuing PhD in sociology, Kusum is a diabetic and has recurrent bouts of cervical pain. I forget my pain and suffering when I am among my angels, she said. Our school is only for children who are abnormal and are not able to do work...children, who are not fit mentally or physically, she said. The school provides life-long residential care for mentally challenged adults also. Kusum said that she was deeply pained by the attitude of society towards such children. I found that such children were often called as mad, lame and similar other words.how humiliating it must be for them, she said. Here at Parvarish, we call our special children as angels, she said. Parvarish, which is a co-education school, has around 18 dedicated staff members who help Kusum in teaching and taking care of special needs of children. Besides basic facilities, we provide them textbooks, notebooks, school uniforms to make them feel good and confident, she said. No financial help Kusum said that she did not receive any kind of financial help from the government or other agencies. We generate our own resources to keep the school running, pay the salary for the staff and maintain the transport services, she said. She said that the children of poor parents are not charged anything. We try to help them by giving them free education and other facilties, she said. The centre owns sufficient separate areas for classroom, teaching, speech therapy, physiotherapy and psychological assessment along with dance and play activities, she said. Our aim is to make these children normal as far as possiblemany of our students will appear to be normal to a laymanthey are able to take care of some of their needs and have shown that they can learn also, Kusum said. And when Vaishnavi, who is now 13, came rushing into the room and said hello and shook hand, it became more than clear that Kusum had succeeded in her efforts. Children are trained in music, yoga, arts and crafts besides imparting vocational education. They have performed in several state-level cultural programmes and won laurels. All these children need is a bit of love and caretheir hearts are filled with love and they will shower it on those, who feel for them, she said. No wonder children of the school do not want her to leave them even for a minute. I send videos of myself to children, when I am out to attend some conference or seminarchildren would simply insist on seeing mesuch is their love for meone does not need anything else, Kusum said. Kusums husband is an engineer by profession and lends all help to her. It would have been impossible for me to start such a school without his supporteven though I find little time for him and my younger son, I get their full support, she said. Kusum knows that what she was doing was like a drop in the ocean. I want to expand and start this school at other centres in the countryI wish to take care of more and more special children, she said. Kusum wants society to change its attitude toward special children. They must not feel humiliation.instead they should get more love in comparison to normal children, she said. Public Works Department Minister H S Mahadevappa was admitted to Manipal Hospitals in the City after he was down with viral fever on Friday night. He underwent several tests including blood pressure and blood sugar. Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, medical director, Manipal Hospitals, said that there was nothing to worry and that the minister would recover soon. He would be discharged after he would recover completely, Dr Ballal added. CM calls on colleagueChief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the minister at the hospital on Saturday afternoon and spent an hour with him. More stringent regulations to maintain quality of the higher educational institutions are in the offing as the national education policy drafting committee submitted its report to the government on Friday. The five-member panel, headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, also recommended audit of the institutions performance by Central government-trained chartered accountants. In order to improve the quality of school education, the panel has listed a slew of measures like changing the prevailing teaching-learning methods, introduction of age-appropriate curriculum and development of a sound mechanism to keep close track of the performance of both teachers and the students with the use of information technology. On the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) constant pitching, the panel has laid special emphasis on bringing in fresh measures to inculcate values and patriotism among the school students. However, the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry officials remained tightlipped on the finer details of the committees recommendations on imparting of value education to students. The recommendations of the committee are being examined. It will not be appropriate to share the details at this point, an official said. A move initiated by the HRD ministry to overhaul the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) found favour of the education policy drafting committee. The panel also favoured opening of campuses by the foreign universities in India, adding weight to a long-pending proposal of the Union Commerce Ministry. A move was already on within the Narendra Modi government to examine the pros and cons of allowing entry of foreign varsities while the Niti Ayog recently came in support of the Commerce Ministrys proposal. The Ministry is now expected to hold another round of consultation with the state governments on the committees report and its recommendations. HRD Minister Smriti Irani recently said the new education policy will be presented to the nation only after holding an open discussion with the state governments. The committee also favoured the HRD Ministrys move to scrap the system of giving automatic promotion to students at elementary level. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart M Nawaz Sharif may meet in Tashkent late next month. Modi is likely to travel to the capital of Uzbekistan to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on June 23 and 24. Sharif is also expected to attend the summit if he recuperates by then after undergoing the open heart surgery next Tuesday. Modi on Saturday conveyed best wishes to his Pakistani counterpart, who will undergo the surgery at a hospital in London. My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health, Modi tweeted. Sources in New Delhi did not rule out the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Modi and Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tashkent. They maintained that Modis bilateral engagements in Tashkent were yet to be finalised, but he is likely to have bilateral meetings with other leaders participating in the summit. If Sharif also attends the summit, a meeting between the two prime ministers may happen, sources added. If Modi has a bilateral meeting with Sharif in Tashkent, it will be the first such meeting between the two leaders after the January 2-4 terror attack on the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday declared an all out war against corruption and said people who have eaten into the countrys wealth and poors share will be held accountable. Capping his governments second anniversary, Modi said only beneficiaries of Rs 36,000 crore -worth graft, happening through leakages in various schemes which has been checked during his regime, are indulging in obstructionist politics, alluding to the Congress. In our campaign to stop corruption, we saved over Rs 36,000 crore leakages. What will people who got affected due to the steps taken by the government to stop corruption do if not criticise? Modi said in his half-an-hour speech. Modi flew down straight from Meghalaya to wind up the event held at India Gate. He cited instances of detecting 1.62 lakh-crore fake ration cards, fake enrolment of teachers drawing salary worth Rs 540 crore to impress upon governments anti-corruption measures. Undeterred by the Congress questioning Bollywood veteran icons presence at the anniversary celebration at India Gate, due to his name figuring in Panama paper leaks, Amitabh Bachchan featured in a segment show on women and child, focussing on Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. Actor R Madhavan and Doordarshan anchor Neelam Sharma hosted the mega eventEk Nayi Subah (A New Beginning) aired live by the public broadcaster from its makeshift studio at the historic India Gate. Sporting a light saffron-coloured jacket over white kurta-pyjama, Big B interacted with girl students, obliged two among them by reading out their poem on the need to believe in themselves and rendered a couple of lines from his father Harivansh Rai Bachchans famous poem Madhusala. Bachchan, who is also the United Nations ambassador for Girl Child mission, signed off his presence at the anniversary celebration by appearing on a segment themed on Big B on Pride of Being India. Indias longest rail-road bridge on the Brahmaputra in upper Assam might miss the deadline once again. The Bogibeel Bridge is unlikely to be completed before 2018, officials at the project site told Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu who visited the site in Dibrugarh district on Saturday. Earlier, the Centre had fixed 2017 as the deadline for completion of the project. The project has missed several deadlines in the past as well. Prabhu expressed dissatisfaction over this and said that the government will not spare anyone responsible for the delay. The minister told the media that the Centre will enquire into the facts and ensure earliest completion of the bridge. Ironically, the railway authorities failed to give any reason for the delay. Moreover, they couldn't give the exact time of completion of the project. The Bogibeel Bridge is a ray of hope for the people of northeast, which would benefit them immensely in the future. The people are waiting anxiously for the completion of the project. The foundation stone for beginning the project work was laid by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on April 21, 2002. The project was commissioned in 1998-99 and so far, the project cost stands at a whopping Rs 5,000 crore. The 4.94 km bridge, stated to be the lifeline of the northeast, will facilitate connectivity between northern and southern banks of the Brahmaputra in the eastern region of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It was one of the main projects under the Assam accord signed between the All Assam Students Union and the Centre. Prabhu also dedicated four projects to the nation on Saturday at Dibrugarh town railway station. The projects are: Renovated Dibrugarh town station, new station building at Jorhat town, Wi-Fi connectivity to passengers at Guwahati station and reverse osmosis (RO) plant at Guwahati station. In an apparent snub to Pakistan, the United States has said Indias NSG membership bid is not about an arms race, but about the peaceful use of nuclear energy. This is not about an arms race and its not about nuclear weapons. This is about the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and so we would certainly hope that Pakistan understands that, State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington on Friday. Pakistan is opposing Indias NSG membership. He was responding to questions about Indias membership application to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and opposition to it by Pakistan on the grounds that this would give pace to nuclear arms race in the region. However, the US has fingers crossed, ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation NSG. Look, all I can say is that during his visit to India in 2015, President (Barack) Obama did affirm the US view that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for membership. But its a consensus body, so well wait and see how the vote goes, Toner said. Deliberations about the prospects of new members joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group are an internal matter among the current members. I dont have much to say beyond that other than that I think they meet regularly, he said. The upcoming NSG meeting has not been set up for this purpose, he said. This I not a specific meeting, I believe not set up to particularly talk about this issue. They (Pakistan) have made public their interest, and certainly any country can submit its application for membership. We will consider it based on a consensus decision, Toner said. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested three Nigerian nationals during a raid on a house in Anandapura, for possessing drugs. Officials, acting on a tip-off arrested the trio and seized 117 grams of cocaine and other drugs. The accused were said to be selling the narcotics to college students, software employees and those organising parties. One of the accused was an associate of two Filipinos, who were arrested in 2015 while trying to sell narcotics, said an official. The accused were questioned to ascertain the source from where they got the illegal substance and if more number of people are involved. Document verificationAlso their passports and visas are being examined, added the official. Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday sought to downplay the proposed mass casual leave by the constabulary on June 4 as a mark of protest seeking fulfilment of various demands. The government expresses solidarity with the police department, especially the constabulary. The government has initiated a slew of measures in the last two years for their welfare. I earnestly appeal to the lower rung staff to withdraw their decision and be disciplined, Parameshwara told reporters. The Home minister did not have an answer if action would be taken against those crossing the limits of discipline. There are provisions which can be used against the protesting cops. I am confident that none in the police department will protest. Hence, the question of initiating action is purely hypothetical, he said. Parameshwara admitted that the constabulary and lower rung staff were under tremendous pressure. About 25,000 posts are vacant. About 8,500 candidates are under training and they will join the force in six months. The process to recruit another 5,000 candidates is on. This apart, the government will shortly issue a notification for filling up 3,500 posts. The government has given in-principle consent for the recruitment of 15,000 constables and sub-inspectors. Pressure will reduce marginally once these candidates join the force. Hence, I request the lower rung staff to wait for a while, he added. The government has promoted close to 2,850 police inspectors. Some staff who were suspended and some others who have retired are instigating the constabulary, the minister said. He did not reply to a query on the alternative arrangements in case of mass casual leave. State police better paidParameshwara, Kempaiah, advisor to Home Minister, DG&IGP Omprakash, ADGPs Praveen Sood, Alok Mohan and Bengaluru Police Commissioner N S Megharik claimed that constables were better paid in Karnataka than their counterparts in other states. The government will set up a commission to look into the disparities in salaries, the minister said. In some places, a common leave request signed by about 20 constables has been processed. Senior staff have convinced them to withdraw the leave request and in some cases, the request has been withdrawn. Senior officers will convince their subordinates and the cops will keep up the reputation of Karnatakas police force, Parameshwara said. The minister avoided repeated questions regarding improper supply of materials at canteens and poor implementation of welfare schemes for the constabulary. Another edition of mango and jackfruit mela will be held at Lalbagh for three days from May 31 to June 2. Apart from Lalbagh, for the first time, these melas will also be held at Manyata Tech Park and other parts of the City. Kamalakshi Rajanna, chairperson, Karnataka State Mango Development Board and Marketing Corporation Limited said that the melas will be held at Manyata Tech park for 10 days from June 3. From mid-June, the melas will also be held at Majestic, Shanthinagar, Kengeri and Jayanagar. Farmers will sell their produce directly at 10% discount compared to the market price, at the melas. At least 1,000 tonnes of mangoes are expected to be sold at the melas. Once export quarantine permission is obtained at least 15,000 tonnes will be exported to the US, Australia and Malaysia. Around 60 tonnes of mangoes have already been exported to London and USA and 500 tonnes to Gulf countries, Kamalakshi said. We have received an oral communication from China seeking export of mangoes, however, no orders have been placed yet, she added. At least one lakh farmers are engaged in mango cultivation in Karnataka, of which only 4,575 farmers are registered with the Board. Only registered will be will be permitted to sell their produce through the Board. The 30-day mela will be open from from 8 am to 7 pm. Congress leader Sachin Pilot charged the NDA government at the centre with trying to destabilise the Congress governments. Addressing reporters here on Saturday, he said, the centre is destabilising the Congress governments in many states by misusing the CBI. Though the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are facing serious charges of corruption, the centre has not taken any action. People of the country are closely watching all developments and they will teach the party an appropriate lesson in the coming days, he added. The BJPs dream of making India Congress-free will never come true. It shows the arrogance of the saffron party. Though the Congress had won 480 seats in 1984 after the death of Indira Gandhi, the party did not say that the country will be made free of BJP, he added. Agriculture and industrial growth have declined in the last two years. The centre has failed miserably on job creation. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been celebrating his 2-years completion in office. Instead of squandering tax-payers money on celebrations, the government should have used the money to help the drought-affected farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra, he added. JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda has announced that B M Farookh, industrialist, would be the candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka. Gowda said this in an interaction with Deccan Herald. However, he did not explain as to why Farookh was chosen. The JD(S) leader said he would not make any attempts of reconciliation with the five MLAs who have openly rebelled against the party to support the Congress. The MLAs - Zameer Ahmed Khan, N Cheluvarayaswamy, H C Balakrishna, Akhanda Srinivasamurthy and Iqbal Ansari - abstained from the legislature party meeting on May 26. Khan had announced that the MLAs would be supporting Congress third candidate. He also met with Congress leader Digvijay Singh in New Delhi on May 27 in this regard. This rebellion has not surfaced now - it has been going on for the last two years. Let them support Congress. If they want let them come and talk to me, I will not make any attempts, said Gowda. On Saturday, the partys state president H D Kumaraswamy issued a statement saying that the names of the candidates for both the elections will be announced on May 30, following another legislature party meeting to be held on the same day. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar on Saturday levelled two more corruption charges against Textile Minister Baburao Chinchansur and demanded his resignation. Releasing documents and audio clips to substantiate his accusations, Shettar said that Chinchansur had taken a bribe of Rs 2 crore from Ajit, managing director of a Bengaluru-based KBR Infratech Pvt Ltd, to help the company bag KIADB works in his constituency, Gurmitkal, in Yagdir district. Shettar said that there were references establishing involvement of Industries Minister R V Deshpande in one of the alleged scams. Deshpande should immediately clarify his stand and tender his resignation on moral grounds, till the investigation is completed, he added. Demanding a CBI probe into the scams, Shettar said if the minister refuses to quit, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should drop him from the Cabinet. Mounted pressure on RVD Chinchansur had also built pressure on Deshpande for awarding works to the said company, apart from demanding a bribe of Rs 2 crore from the company. In the audio clip, a voice (said to be that of Chinchansur) is heard demanding the amount immediately as the zilla panchayat polls were on. The other voice (said to be that of Ajit) is heard saying that it would not be possible for the company to pay the hefty amount, as it had committed to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Deshpande. It is pretty apparent that the managing director of the company is pleading with Chinchansur to reduce the amount as he has to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Industries Minister Deshpande, said Shettar. The man is also heard saying that Deshpande holds a Cabinet rank, while Chinchansur holds minister of state (MoS) rank, and that it is important for the company to keep both ministers happy. Shettar demanded that works awarded to KBR Infratech (on January 6, 2016) be immediately cancelled. Coerced Jain too Referring to another project, Shettar accused that Chinchansur had accepted a bribe of Rs 2 crore, from a Chennai-based company Sripathi Associates to help it bag Rs 102-crore breakwater/guide bund works at Gangolli port in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district. He said that Chinchansur had coerced Fisheries Minister Abhayachandra Jain into considering Sripathi Associates for the project, though the Fisheries department had refused to consider the company. Jain had issued an order cancelling the tender as it would mean an additional burden of Rs 24 crore on the exchequer. However, Jain subsequently wrote to the government stating that the matter be placed before the Cabinet. Shettar also released an audio clip of a conversation between Chinchansur and Sundar Rajan of Sripathi Associates, to substantiate his allegations. The Area Traffic Control System (ATCS), now being proposed to be introduced in the City by the year-end, is part of the Bengaluru Traffic Improvement Project (B-Trac). Here is a look at this project, introduced by Karnataka for the first time in the country in 2010 for the overall development of the traffic scene in Bengaluru. The state government had initially earmarked Rs 350 crore for the five-year programme and released Rs 44 crore, Rs 35 crore, Rs 40 crore and Rs 175 crore, respectively in the first four years. The Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) is the implementing agency of the works under B-Trac. The city police say they used funds under the project to undertake various programmes over the last few years. The department built a Traffic Management Centre (TMC) and a traffic training institute in Thanisandra, besides upgrading technology in routine work, recalls former City Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari, in whose tenure the B-Trac project was kicked off. Junction improvements and upgradation of signals are the key developments of B-Trac. Many new cameras were added to the city, while the number of CCTV cameras went up marginally. Enforcement cameras were procured and given to the ground force. All these measures sharply increased the fine amount collected, says B Dayananda, who headed the Bengaluru City traffic wing in the past. The police have established how technology can inculcate a sense of discipline among road-users with the help of B-Trac. The surveillance cameras, enforcement cameras and CCTV cameras have not only generated more revenue through penalties, but have also ensured discipline, say the police. Road users have realised that the police can book them for violations with the help of technology. There is increased awareness among the public that they are under the scanner. This, says former Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, MA Saleem, has resulted in the motorists exhibiting better road and lane discipline. The police say there are still many areas that need to be properly covered. Many outlying areas were added to the City and two new divisions were created in 2010. It is high time the topbrass include those areas for the implementation of B-Trac schemes. Proper maintenance of cameras and upgraded signals remains a major challenge for the law enforcers. The department has installed 20 variable message signboards, 336 traffic signals, more than 30,000 road-side signages, used reflective thermoplastic road markings, 175 surveillance cameras, five enforcement cameras and completed six junction improvement projects under B Trac. by Tad Lindley Reputable surveys suggest that somewhere between two and four percent of Americans are atheist. In case you are not up on the lingo, an atheist is a person who denies that God even exists. Christians are at the other end of the spectrum from the atheist. The Christian knows that there is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4, Ephesians 4:5), and will not turn from that truth. But unlikely as it might seem, many Christians are suffering from atheistic tendencies. We will never stand up in public and deny the God that bought us. We will never sue to have the words one nation under God stricken from the pledge. We are not in-your-face atheists; and yet we are Christians struggling with atheistic tendencies. Symptoms of low-level atheism: 1. Worry The number one symptom of mild atheism is worry. Jesus had a beautiful sermon on worry in Matthew 6, Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature [make himself any taller]?Now if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worrybut seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:25-33 NKJV) This is a powerful promise straight from the mouth of God. It tells us that if we seek him and his kingdom first, we will be provided for. Every time we take a thought break and begin to wonder about how we will pay the stove oil bill, or the light bill, or what we are going to do if we get laid off from work in six months, we are worrying. We are actually telling the Lord, Jesus, you know all that stuff you said in Matthew chapter six about how you will take care of us? I dont believe it. I dont believe that you can do what you promised, so I am taking matters into my own hands; Im going to worry about it until the situation is taken care of. 2. Swearing and anger I have only sworn two times since receiving the Holy Ghost. The Lord has the power to change our attitudes and habits. I wish I could say that I never get angry anymore either, but that is not the case. Just like you, I struggle with atheistic tendencies. Every time something doesnt go the way we want it to and we get angry, we are telling the world, I am losing my temper, because this problem is so messed up that not even God can sort it out. When we slam doors, swear, yell, break dishes, speed, or shake our fist at somebody we are in the grip of an atheism attack. You see the Bible very clearly states that there is nothing too hard for God to fix. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NKJV) This is why a person who has been born again can hit their thumb with a hammer and not swear. This is why the sincere Christian can look at a flat tire and say, I guess God needs to slow me down, because he has someone he needs me to cross paths with today. Swearing and getting angry only says, There is absolutely no way that God can turn this flat tire into a blessing! 3. Stinginess Some people are so greedy that they actually rob God. In what way have we robbed God? In tithes and offerings. (Malachi 3:8 NKJV)) To those who would hold back the tithe the Lord has a challenge: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. (3:10 NKJV) The tithe is the first ten percent of a paycheck, a PFD, a TANF check, a moose, Hugo Chavez stove oil, or any other blessing that the Lord sends your way. Every time that we decide not to tithe, we are trusting in ourselves to make ends meet and not trusting in God. Not only that, we are excluding ourselves from the powerful promise of God. Avoiding a major atheism attack If you are experiencing all three of these symptoms on a regular basis, that is 1) you are worrying, 2) you are prone to fits of anger, and 3) you are not tithing and offering, you are at extreme risk for very serious complications from your atheism. The only preventative measure is repentance. Meet with God in prayer. Pour your heart out in godly sorrow and ask for him to deliver you from atheistic tendencies. Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska. Share this: Tweet Email This is an announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Bethel for subsistence fishermen in the Kuskokwim Area. Subsistence fishing in the Kuskokwim River Drainage, from the Yukon Delta NWR boundary at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River up to the confluence of the Johnson River (Section 1), will be allowed from 12:01 p.m. Thursday, July 13, 2017 with gillnets restricted to 6-inch or less mesh, 45 meshes deep, and 50 fathoms in length until further notice. All other previously announced management actions in News Release #10 (Emergency Order #3-S-WR-10-17) are still in effect. Further announcements will be made from the Bethel Fish and Game office, on the State of Alaska web site (http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=cfnews.main), and local radio stations. News releases will be faxed to area villages and local fish processing companies. For additional information or questions regarding Kuskokwim Area fisheries, contact the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office in the Bethel at 543-2433 or toll free at 1-855-933-2433. This news release was issued on July 12, 2017. Share this: Tweet Email by Bethel Community Services Foundation Staff Many of us are at home, heeding the instructions given by national, state and city leaders. Others are at work in fields deemed critical infrastructure- health care, grocery stores, banking, law enforcement, utilities, and many other fields upon which we rely, even at a time when many aspects of daily life have slowed down or stopped altogether. We know that our neighbors, service organizations, educational institutions, and businesses are struggling- and the majority of us are wondering how we can help- how we can do the most good. We are connected (even when maintaining physical distance), we are resilient, and we are thinking of each other. Here is some advice from Bethel Community Services Foundation on some ways you can help: 1. Pick the nonprofit of your choice that is providing critical services and, if you are able, send them a financial contribution. Bethel Winter House Shelter, Tundra Womens Coalition, Emmonak Womens Shelter, KYUK and ONC Senior Services are examples. Any organization that provides housing and homeless-related services, shelter, medical services, communications and food assistance is likely to need your support. They are stretching to meet community needs while also developing and implementing their COVID-19 staffing and stakeholder response plans during this time of crisis. 2. Provide a gift to the YK Delta COVID-19 Response Fund at BCSF. This fund was created to provide urgent funding for the most immediate needs that are resulting from COVID-19. It is a good fit for donors who want to make a financial gift to a COVID-19 relief effort but a) are not sure which local group to choose or b) want the funds to be directed to a range of efforts. BCSF is matching the first $5,000 in individual contributions. This fund will provide support for a number of specific COVID-19 needs in the YK Delta and will be open to nonprofits and community service providers. Prioritization will be given to emergency shelters, homeless prevention efforts (preventing evictions through rent and mortgage assistance and utilities assistance), food security, support for critical communications and other areas of most immediate need resulting from COVID-19 as identified by these responding groups. Gifts to the fund can be made at bcsfoundation.org- click on the YK Delta COVID-19 Response Fund, via our BCSF Facebook Fundraiser, mailed to PO Box 2189 Bethel AK 99559, or over the phone at 907-543-1812. 3. Remember groups whose budgets have been devastated by cancellation of fundraising events, or who are experiencing an increase in requests by people who have suddenly lost income. Bethel Friends of Canines is an example of such a group that relies upon pancake breakfast fundraisers and other events to raise money- and a group which will likely experience more requests for helping with pet spays/neuters or help with emergency pet care costs from people who are now experiencing financial uncertainty. Financial donations are critical; volunteering is also important. 4. YKHC is implementing a plan for community members to volunteer to make masks. BCSF is partnering to distribute mask kits from YKHC to volunteers who wish to help sew masks. The kits include medical-grade material and everything except thread, including instructions. Mask kits are available to pick up at our office at 1795 Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway from 10 a.m. 4 p.m., Monday Friday. Please return completed masks to BCSF. 5. Bethel Friends of Canines needs foster homes for rescued dogs and cats- and with so many people spending their days at home, now is a great time to save an animal or volunteer to walk dogs in the pound or at the BFK9 kennel. 6. Tundra Womens Coalition is expanding its pool of relief advocates in order to ensure that their doors stay open if their existing staff becomes ill or exposed to the virus (while paid, they need people to sign up and be trained). 7. Bethel Winter House is accepting donations of food for lunches served to homeless guests and for evening nightly shelter meals. 8. Call on elders, people with underlying health conditions and quarantined people who cannot leave their homes, grocery shop for others in this situation, check with ONC Senior Services about their needs, and keep an eye on various community Facebook pages where people ask for and offer to help. 9. Virtual volunteerism- ask your favorite organization what more you can do to help them from your home. Maybe theres a tech-based task, or help spreading their messages through your social media channels, or a Do-It-Yourself project theyve just been waiting for someone to offer to do. Its not just money and time; our providers also need stuff. Have a fully-stocked closet, shop or bathroom cabinet? For anyone who happened to have a full inventory of sanitizing wipes, paper towels, cleaning supplies, N-95 masks, other styles/types of masks, gloves, thermometers or hand sanitizer, now is a critical time to share. TWC, the Winter House Shelter and Emmonak Womens Shelter- as well as many of our other responding organizations- are in need of many of these materials. In Bethel, the Lions Club offers a Food Pantry service to respond to individual food needs and space for a monthly Food Bank distribution. At this time, Lions Club International has suspended activity during the COVID-19 outbreak. Susan Taylor is willing to pick up food or snack donations (using an appropriate social distancing plan) and ensure they get to an organization or group that can utilize them. Susan can be reached at 545-7524. ONC Senior Services is also accepting donations of subsistence foods and vegetables for their Meals-on-Wheels program which delivers lunches to elders. Call ONC at 543-2608 and ask for Wilson Green to learn more about how to make a donation of food that they can use. Finally, regardless of our financial, time or pantry resources, we can all offer this: constant support, encouragement and respect to all of the people in our region who are working in health care and as emergency responders and who are deemed essential employees working in critical infrastructure. These role models are implementing plans to keep as many of us as healthy as possible and ensuring we receive essential services during the pandemic. They continue to report to work despite the risk and deserve our gratitude. Share this: Tweet Email 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. Tesla Motors to open Gigafactory in Nevada on 29 July Tesla Motors Inc has scheduled the grand opening of its battery factory outside Reno, Nevada, for 29 July. The company has invited customers who as part of a sales referral programme had steered the highest number of people towards buying a Tesla, and others. Tesla, which started the work on the factory in June 2014, expects to roll out battery-packs from Reno by next year, according to the company's website. The Gigafactory would reach full production by 2020, according to the website. Apart from battery packs to power electric vehicles, the factory would also make stationary batteries at the plant to store solar power at home and businesses. Tesla has advanced its goal of rolling out 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018, two years ahead of schedule. Its Model 3, the mass-market car that Tesla hoped to sell for around $35,000, was scheduled to roll off the factory floor late next year. Tesla will need more powerful batteries to reach the Model 3 production targets and keep its price at that level. The construction of the Reno factory was closely 'monitored' by people who flew drones over it filming every step of the process. Tesla took the decision to build its own batteries, and considering how the rising demand for batteries, it was clearly a smart move, say commentators. Tesla's experience with suppliers, which delayed the launch of the Model X, had led Tesla to believe that third parties could not be relied on especially now that it wanted to move into the mainstream segment, where volumes would become important. Meanwhile, a German publication claimed, quoting some undisclosed sources within the company, that Volkswagen too was planning to build a similar battery plant of its own, but the information had not yet been confirmed. If this indeed turns out to be the case, it would underline the importance of Tesla's move, add commentators. Washington broadly supports India and Afghanistan signing a deal with Iran for a transport corridor opening up a new route to Afghanistan via the Iranian port of Chabahar, as it outflanks the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project with Gwadar as its focal point, according to a Firstpost report. Analysts say Washington is acutely aware that China's plans to develop Pakistan's southern coastal fishing town of Gwadar into an economic hub, potentially redraw the region's geopolitical map. It gives China a new trade link from its relatively undeveloped west to key Arabian Sea shipping routes at the mouth of the oil-rich Persian Gulf - giving it potentially strategic as well as economic leverage. "The massive Gwadar project reveals China's regional power play. There is no comparison in scale and intent between China's role in Gwadar and India's in Chabahar, but the Americans are pleased that India is pushing back against the Chinese expansionist mindset," said author and South Asia expert Adam V Larkey. "The transport corridor will open up a much-needed independent route to Afghanistan via Iran's Chabahar port circumventing Pakistan. This is significant for India and Afghanistan, whose economic stability in turn is important to the United States. There are fissures in Pakistan's relations with the US and Afghanistan, while its ties with old friend China remain rock solid," added Larkey. The Gwadar project is about more than simple trade - its backers hope that once finished, it will bolster Pakistan's economy and potentially give China's navy access to the Indian Ocean. The plan would also strengthen both China and Pakistan's positions versus India, and hedge against US influence in Asia. India's Chabahar investment has been pending for years, in part owing to US sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, many of which were lifted earlier this year. New Delhi will invest $200 million to develop two terminals and five berths at Chabahar. Gwadar is being built as a commercial port and not as a naval facility for China's navy - at least for the time being, but it could potentially be developed as one in the future. Situated on a barren, hammerhead-shaped peninsula in the south of insurgency-ridden Balochistan - and just north-east of the strategically important Straits of Hormuz - Pakistan's generals and China's politicians predict the development of Gwadar will be a game-changer. It would give China a firm and reliable long-term beachhead in the Indian Ocean and close to the Persian Gulf, "effectively making it a two-ocean power," said Claude Rakisits, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Some US senators were caught off guard by the announcement of the Chabahar port deal, but the Obama administration has batted for India. "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," assistant secretary of state for South Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told the Senate foreign relations committee on Tuesday. Biswal assured the senators that the Obama administration has been "very clear with the Indians what our security concerns have been and we would continue to engage them on those issues". OPELIKA Several witnesses from the Wiregrass area testified Friday morning that indicted Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard used his position as speaker for matters related to economic development consulting with the Southeast Alabama Gas District. Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of using his mantle as speaker to obtain a monthly $12,000 consulting contract with the district. He also is accused of lobbying two members of the executive branch, Gov. Robert Bentley and Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield, for initiatives related to the organization. Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz, who sits on the gas district's board along with representatives from 13 other municipalities that own the organization, was called to the stand second on Friday, where he testified about Hubbards involvement with the gas district. Schmitz said Hubbard was hired as a consultant for the gas district to head up economic development in the Wiregrass area, which was suffering from aviation maintenance company Pemcos 2012 bankruptcy. Pemco was the largest lease holder at the Dothan Regional Airport at the time and employed from 300 to 1,200 people at its peak. Schmitz testified that Hubbard, who was under contract with the gas district for $12,000 a month, helped work on negotiations to get Commercial Jet, a Miami-based aviation maintenance, repair, conversion and overhaul company, to relocate to Dothan and fill the needs left by Pemcos bankruptcy. The gas district received a letter from the ethics commission approving the contract, he said, but it explicitly stated Hubbard was not to use the mantle of his office while working as an independent consultant. But Hubbard used his position as speaker of the house to arrange meetings with Gov. Bentley, Schmitz said, which in turn helped secure state funding and other assistance for the initiative. "He (Hubbard) has a lot of influence, and we did get meetings," Schmitz said. "My opinion is he did what he said he was going to do get a meeting with the governor." As a result, Commercial Jet eventually relocated to Dothan. Theyre here and theyre booming, Schmitz said. Lead defense attorney Bill Baxley in his cross examination of Schmitz called getting Commercial Jet to Dothan a blue-ribbon ordeal. It seems to meeveryone involved in this should be patted on the back and thanked, said Baxley. Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell recalled working with Hubbard on several economic development initiatives involving the Southeast Alabama Gas District, and attending multiple related outings with him. Boswell testified that Hubbard's state office and networking ability were key reasons why members of the gas district board unanimously voted to hire Hubbard. Asked if Hubbard's position in the projects as either speaker of the house or as a private consultant was clearly defined, Boswell answered "no." On cross examination though, Boswell said Hubbard did not use his position to get the contract. Baxley had Boswell read aloud a letter from the ethics commission essentially giving approval to Hubbard's consulting contract with the gas district, as long as nothing came before the legislature that would "uniquely affect" the organization. "We do not see any problems with the arrangement... as we discussed at our meeting yesterday, as it is currently being done in several circumstances around the state by various members of the legislature," the document read, later adding that the fact that it is a consulting contract rather than an employment contract, "makes it cleaner." Baxley asked Boswell if he was aware of Hubbard ever using his mantle as speaker to get the job. Boswell responded, "no." Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker testified that he didn't know the specifics of Hubbard's contract with the gas district, but that he felt Hubbard's assistance with Wiregrass economic development was on behalf of his position as speaker. Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, testified about his involvement in certain meetings and efforts in which Hubbard participated to secure the Commercial Jet deal. Repeatedly asked what capacity he believed Hubbard was acting in, Lee answered, "as speaker of the house." Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, was questioned Thursday about Hubbards work with the utility, a supplier of natural gas in the Wiregrass area. He said Hubbard had never spoken to him about his consulting contract with it, 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 the gas district 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. 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 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. APCI: Hubbard hired for contacts as speaker American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. President and CEO Tim Hamrick echoed claims made earlier in the day by Boswell when he testified that Hubbard was hired as a consultant for the organization due to his contacts as speaker of the house. Hubbard is accused of attempting to put language into the 2014 General Fund budget that would have given an edge to the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. a client of Hubbards by making it the only agency with the ability to bid on a contract then-related to Medicaid, and voting for that budget. Hamrick said the pharmacy cooperative gave Hubbard a $5,000-a-month contract to help the organization grow its presence in other states. The contract strictly prohibited Hubbard from lobbying for the APCI within the state, though in an email shown Friday Hamrick thanked Hubbard for championing the temporary language. Baxley argued the exact same email was also sent to a handful of other legislators. Consultant says Hubbard never directed him to use Craftmaster Just after 9 a.m. Friday, the co-owner of a Florida political advertising business hired to produce ALGOP direct mail advertising testified that indicted Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard never instructed him to use his Auburn printing company. Brett Buerck, who co-owned Majority Strategies during the time the business was subcontracting printing work for projects related to the ALGOP 2010 election cycle with Auburn-based Craftmaster Printers, said Friday that he was under the impression that the business in which Hubbard held partial interest was Majority Strategies only option, but asked if Hubbard specifically directed him to use Craftmaster, Buerck told defense attorney Lance Bell, no. Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of using his then position as party chairman to direct money to his business. Buercks business partner Randy Kammerdiener testified yesterday that the company felt it had to use Craftmaster to fulfill the printing orders or that it would not be able to do business with the ALGOP, though Kammerdiener revealed in cross examination from the defense that Hubbard never specifically told him he had to use Craftmaster. Buerck said Kemmerdiener told him their business had to use Craftmaster. I believed they were our only option, said Buerck. Trial resumes Tuesday Trial will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m. Among those expected to take the stand are Jimmy Rane, Will Brooke, Billy Canary, Farrell Patrick, Dax Swatek and Minda Riley Campbell. 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. dpa ElectionsData With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc. The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties. Home Four wheelers Maruti Super Carry LCV Exported To Tanzania & South Africa oi-Ajinkya Maruti Suzuki has confirmed that it has commenced exports of its Super Carry model. The first batch is being exported to Tanzania and South Africa. Surprisingly, the manufacturer has decided to begin exports prior to the vehicle's launch in the domestic market. In India, the Super Carry from Maruti Suzuki will launch by the second quarter of this fiscal year. The Super Carry is a Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), which will be made in India and exported to several international markets. At this moment, Maruti Suzuki has exported only 100 units of the Super Carry. Post Tanzania and South Africa, the LCV model will be exported to SAARC countries as well. Export to other developed countries will also be explored based on demand as well as the need. Only petrol powered variants of the Super Carry have been exported. Maruti Suzuki will be offering its G2B engine in the LCV. There is a high possibility that Maruti Suzuki Super Carry will be powered by a diesel engine for the Indian market. To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. San Diego, May 28 (EFE).- The visit of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to San Diego sparked angry and nearly violent protests that resulted in at least a dozen arrests. The police chief of this Southern California city near the Mexican border, Shelley Zimmerman, said at a press conference that a minimum of 12 people had been taken into custody for different reasons, including refusing to abandon the area. Protests began early Friday outside the San Diego Convention Center and the situation between Trump supporters and opponents turned particularly tense after the candidate finished his speech at the rally, prompting the San Diego Police Department to declare the gathering an "unlawful assembly" and ordering the area evacuated. Hundreds of police were deployed, but there were no reports of officers injured or property damaged. Zimmerman said the vast majority of the thousands of people at the site behaved peacefully, but that the police had to intervene due to the actions of a few violent individuals. Trump kicked off his bid for the presidency last year by denouncing Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug smugglers - though acknowledging that some of them might be "good" - and calling for a giant wall on the southern border. That message is particularly controversial in San Diego, which has a large Hispanic population. "It's important to denounce Donald Trump's message of hate," Enrique Morones, the director of the Border Angels, a non-profit organization that, among other things, sets up water stations in the desert to reduce migrant fatalities and advocates for humane immigration reform. "Normally a lot of people come (to these types of events) to support a candidate, but in this case a lot of people have come out to tell this candidate that he's not welcome here," he added. February 24, 2022, the day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, will go down as a tragic date not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for the whole civilised world. Local motorbike racer dies after Pre-TT incident Local motorbike racer Dean Martin has died after crashing during last night's Pre-TT Classic Road Races. The 58-year-old Santon man was involved in an incident at Billown Dip during the 850cc practice which took place on the Southern 100 course. The other rider involved - Liverpool man Jamie O'Brien - was flown to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool; he's described as being in a 'serious but stable' condition. Two marshals were also injured - one suffered head injuries and has also been flown to Aintree for treatment, the other suffered ankle and shoulder injuries and is being treated at Noble's Hospital. Race organisers say a full investigation into the circumstances of the incident is being carried out - the Coroner of Inquests has also been informed. 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. 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. 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 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In an instant, his face was on fire. Flames burned Anselmo Lopezs arms and chest, and the explosion knocked back three co-workers whose eardrums burst. Lopez had been doing maintenance last October, pumping inert nitrogen through pipes at the SunEdison plant outside Houston to flush out a highly volatile gas called silane. When his crew opened a valve, silane leaked and combined with air. The mixture ignited. Though SunEdison over the years had paid thousands in fines from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, safety remained a problem. Lopezs injury which would require multiple skin grafts and lifelong care was the fifth time in nearly a decade that the plant had a toxic release, fire or serious safety violation. Its unusual that OSHA inspectors had been there at all. Most Americans dont know about chemical stockpiles near homes and schools, and often, the government doesnt, either. The U.S. regulatory system is poorly funded and has outdated, complex rules that go unenforced, leaving facilities that handle hazardous chemicals mostly to police themselves, a Houston Chronicle investigation found. The result: a government that reacts only to the worst accidents and does little to prevent them, even though the same mistakes keep happening. OSHA doesnt have enough inspectors to perform its mission, and its fines are paltry, even by its own measure. The Environmental Protection Agency left gaping holes in its regulations despite its own calls for change and the presidents mandate to make improvements. And the U.S. Chemical Safety Board plugs along with a tiny budget, taking on massively complicated investigations and issuing recommendations that go largely ignored by federal agencies. Not enough inspectors Chemical safety experts from around the world gathered last year in Austin for the Global Congress on Process Safety. Presenters and attendees talked in industry jargon about good engineering practices and hazard studies and using data to recognize potential dangers. Everyone was reminded about the importance of constant vigilance. When a speaker wanted to lighten the mood, hed bring up OSHA. As a punchline. Some at the conference had little faith that OSHA inspectors are qualified to evaluate chemical process safety, and even when they are, there arent enough of them. OSHA is charged with protecting American workers but has only 1,840 inspectors roughly the same since 1981 for 8 million U.S. workplaces. Inspecting every facility one time would take 145 years, according to the AFL-CIO. Only 267 OSHA inspectors have specialized training for about 15,000 chemical facilities. In 2011, the agency began a chemical emphasis program, but it looks at a relatively small number of plants. An analysis by the Chronicle and researchers at the Texas A&M University Mary Kay OConnor Process Safety Center ranked thousands of facilities in greater Houston on their potential to harm the public. OSHA did not inspect most of the top 55 facilities in the last five years. Sam Mannan, Ph.D., director of the OConnor center and one of the nations pre-eminent experts on chemical safety, advocates for third-party inspections because federal agencies arent doing enough. The EPA is embracing the idea in a proposed rule change over the strong objections of industry. Rigorous enforcement creates a dialogue between government and industry, Mannan said, and ensures that companies breaking rules dont fall through cracks. OSHA penalties are mostly unchanged since 1990. Fines for four deaths after a preventable gas leak in November 2014 at the DuPont plant in La Porte totaled $372,000, about half of 1 percent of an average days revenue for the corporation. The head of OSHA, Assistant Labor Secretary David Michaels, told a Senate panel in December 2014 that our criminal penalties are virtually meaningless. The imbalance between fines for environmental violations and catastrophic safety problems can reach the absurd. In 2001, a sulfuric acid tank exploded at a refinery in Delaware, killing Jeff Davis. His body had virtually decomposed, Michaels said. Workers had long warned the company about problems with the tank. OSHA issued a $175,000 fine. Because the incident polluted air and water and killed wildlife, EPA prosecuted Motiva Enterprises and won a $10 million verdict, Michaels said. Can you imagine telling Jeff Davis wife, Mary, (and) their five kids that the fine for the hazards associated with his death was one-fiftieth of the fine associated with killing fish and crabs? he said. Not a wide enough net The EPA is the only federal agency specifically tasked with protecting the public from chemical accidents and wields the biggest hammer in enforcement. But it traditionally has been focused on preventing and cleaning up environmental damage. It commits less than 1 percent of its $8.2 billion budget to chemical safety and employs only 35 inspectors to police more than 12,000 of the most dangerous facilities nationwide under its Risk Management Program, or RMP. That program, the agencys chief prevention strategy, requires those facilities to develop emergency response procedures and to consider worst-case scenarios for toxic releases. Only about 280 facilities in the Houston area are required to file such plans, according to federal data. And the EPA ignores an entire category of risk. For years, experts have asked the EPA to regulate reactive chemical dangers, which the agency itself along with OSHA suggested after a New Jersey disaster in 1997. In 2002, CSB researchers found 167 accidents over a 20-year period that involved uncontrolled chemical reactions, causing 108 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage. But regulations have never been updated to include reactive dangers. There are other gaps. Fuel retailers are exempt under the RMP. Farmers using ammonia as fertilizer, such as the ammonium nitrate that killed 15 in the West Fertilizer Co. explosion three years ago, also are exempt. Hundreds of dangerous chemicals arent covered. The EPA has one other tool when it comes to avoiding chemical accidents the General Duty Clause of the Clean Air Act. The clause instructs businesses to identify hazards, design and maintain safe facilities, prevent accidental releases and minimize consequences if a release occurs. Its a powerful and broad enforcement tool for EPA, said Jean Flores, an environmental law attorney in Dallas who represents industrial clients. The EPA typically doesnt use it to prevent accidents, mostly just to punish companies for chemical leaks. Not enough follow-through The Chemical Safety Board is to the chemical industry what the National Transportation Safety Board is to airlines, railroads and trucking firms. With fewer than 50 employees and an annual budget of just $12 million, the CSB has investigated only 29 of at least 500 chemical incidents since 2010. Investigations are prioritized based on the number of deaths or damage. Even when it does investigate, the CSB has no authority to force change. It only makes recommendations. In 2006, the board called on OSHA to create an industry standard for combustible dust after three separate explosions left 14 dead and more injured. After more accidents and deaths, the CSB in 2013 called the dust standard a Most Wanted Chemical Safety Improvement. To date, no standard has been set. In 2010, after a refinery explosion in Washington state, the CSB recommended requiring inherently safer technologies, like substituting equipment or chemicals for less dangerous ones. Water plants, for example, could use liquid chlorine instead of gas, which can spread into neighborhoods. It hasnt been done. 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. In Washington, that surprises no one. Since 2002, the CSB has issued 57 formal recommendations to federal agencies. Only 14 have been adopted. The NTSBs recommendations over 40 years have had a clear impact on public safety. Investigations spurred improved regulations on everything from commercial truck driver training to de-icing aircraft. It helps that aviation and rail incidents require reports to the federal government, and all fatal motor vehicle crashes are reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. There is no reporting requirement for chemical incidents. The CSB relies primarily on media reports to track incidents nationwide, so not even the government has a clear accounting of the injuries, property and lives lost to chemical mishaps. In all, fewer than 400 federal inspectors through OSHA, EPA and CSB provide oversight for the chemical industry, with a combined budget of less than $50 million a year. The industry, by comparison, with about 15,000 manufacturing plants, has spent an average of $191 million annually on lobbying since 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Not enough action One moment three years ago was supposed to redefine everything in chemical safety. Firefighters rushed to a fire at West Fertilizer. Fourteen minutes later, 12 of them died in a blast that also killed three others and barely missed hundreds of students who had been in nearby classrooms hours earlier. The perils of ammonium nitrate had not been explained to first responders in the Central Texas community of West, nor to those who lived blocks away. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently announced the initial fire was set intentionally by an unknown person. The CSB said the explosion could have been avoided with better regulatory oversight, plant construction, hazardous materials handling and zoning. The town had grown perilously close to the plant over the years. Vanessa Allen Sutherland, the boards chairman, in January had harsh words about the state of chemical safety in America, citing too many violent detonations and runaway reactions and a lack of adequate federal, state or local oversight. The boards report on West reads like dozens that have come before. Government failed. Industry failed. Laws didnt work as intended. President Barack Obama, in Wests aftermath, issued Executive Order 13650. It called for an updated law on safety in chemical processing, mostly unchanged since 1992. It ordered federal agencies to figure out how to disclose more information to the public. And it asked them not just to improve emergency response and readiness, to thwart the kind of carnage seen at West, but also to stop accidents from happening. Peter Boogaard, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said recently that the White House remains committed to preventing similar incidents from occurring at chemical facilities and increasing overall chemical facility safety and security. The executive order working group representing EPA, OSHA and others has blown multiple deadlines and is in danger of leaving its work unfinished before the end of Obamas presidency. OSHA has acknowledged it will take years to update process safety regulations. There is no guarantee the next administration will pick up the mantle. Agency officials say some progress has been made: EPA is launching a national enforcement initiative in 2017-19 aimed at chemical safety, but it would start with the same list of 12,000 facilities in its Risk Management Program. More than 400,000 locations are required to file hazardous chemical inventories. The agency has proposed updates to the RMP. The changes would require additional hazard analysis for some companies, improved emergency preparedness and updated regulatory definitions, among other things. It wont update or expand the list of chemicals. The EPA says it will put renewed focus on Local Emergency Planning Committees to promote plant safety and improve emergency response. The working group upgraded software to provide better modeling for chemical releases, took steps to simplify an array of federal databases on chemical facilities, expanded inspector training programs and, with West in mind, focused heavily on emergency planning and response. Too heavily for Ron White, the former director of regulatory policy at the Center for Effective Government. Hed like to see more proactive measures. He suspects it will take the deaths of schoolchildren before the EPA will focus on prevention. It will take another disaster, he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When retired U.S. Army veteran Polo Calimag was embedded with an Iraqi Army battalion as part of a team of advisers, he was certain he would not make it home. His death played out in his head again and again like a movie, he said. Ultimately, Calimag did return, but he brought with him the constant vigilance and mistrust necessary to survive in Iraq. My mind wasnt 100 percent me, he said. Even my kids noticed. I got lost between my last deployment in Iraq and here. As a participant in the Open the Door Veterans Project, Calimag is learning to use art to express his feelings about his experiences. A collaboration between the Houston nonprofit Texan-French Alliance for the Arts and the San Antonio arts collective Art to the Third Power, the program teams veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with artists and community leaders to create collaborative public artworks on metal doors. The artwork will be unveiled at a Memorial Day event today at VFW Post 76 on the River Walk. Created with a variety of media, including paint, leather and fragments of a broken mirror, the two-sided pieces depict the veterans experiences in combat and their struggle to transition back into civilian life. Among the works, one door features an image of a soldier trying to put himself back together like a puzzle. Text on the other side reads One piece at a time. Previously, the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts organized a collaboration between artists from Texas and France. Sixty doors set in metal stands were displayed throughout Houston. Karine Parker-Lemoyne, executive director of the group, said the organization uses doors because they are a cross-cultural symbol. For us, Open the Door is about an invitation not to stay behind the threshold, but to step across and open the door to a new culture, to a new way of thinking, a new friendship, to a neighbor, to a dream, to a vision, she said. Parker-Lemoyne decided to bring the concept to San Antonio after researching the use of art therapy to treat veterans with PTSD. Last spring, she met with several arts organizations in town. Patricia Morales, director of the young artist programs at the Southwest School of Art, referred her to Kim Bishop and Luis Valderas of Art to the Third Power. Artists and educators, the couple runs the 3rd Space Art Gallery in the Freight Gallery & Studios complex off of South Flores Street. I just thought theyd be a good fit for people who might be going through something emotional, Morales said. Bishop and Valderas agreed to take on the project. How could we not? Bishop said via email. Both of us have family members deployed in combat areas, and we felt like it was something that we needed to do. Bishop and Valderas asked retired Air Force master sergeant, medical illustrator and sculptor Cody Vance to work as program manager. Being a veteran myself, theres an immediate kinship and understanding that I thought I could help with, he said via email. Psychologist Denise Cardin Abney, who works with veterans on a volunteer basis, has used art therapy in her practice for more than 20 years. I use different kinds of media to bring up the veterans conflicts that they have within themselves that they cant describe using language, she said. In addition to Calimag and Vance, veterans Steven Akana, Tony Fantasia, Paul Kahl and Grant Rogers took part in the project. Each have different levels of arts experience. The group conducted a series of workshops at the Southwest School of Art before the work began. Each door is our own, said Kahl, 50, a former Army nurse who served in Iraq and now does drafting and design work. Calimag, a soft-spoken 44- year-old with closely cropped hair who was born in Mexico, modestly describes himself as a wannabe artist. He worked with artist Terry Ybanez. Bill FitzGibbons, also an artist, served as community leader on the team. The central image on Calimags door is a portrait of his wife, whom he envisioned growing old waiting for his return. When my wife saw the door, and my kids, they were proud of me, he said. Fantasia, a burly 40-year-old with friendly eyes, created a piece on his own. A former combat medic, he served first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq. While he fought to save others lives, Fantasia resigned himself to dying in the line of duty. It took two years for me to get used to the fact that I had a wife and a child, and I was terrified of what I could and would do to them because I was losing my grip on reality, Fantasia said. When Fantasia needed a new wallet, his wife suggested he make his own. He bought leather and a tool kit and discovered he enjoyed working with the material. Eventually he started a custom design business and invited Kahl, with whom he served in Iraq, to work with him. He also runs VetCraft, a PTSD support group. Fantasia used his skill in leatherwork to create one side of the door a series of four doors that represent his journey to reclaiming his life. On the other side of the piece, a constellation of explosions in white forms the outline of a kneeling soldier on a black background. His body is a battlefield, Fantasia said. The free Open the Door exhibition unveiling takes place at 5 p.m. today at VFW Post 76 on the River Walk. VFW Post 76 is at 10 Tenth Street and Avenue B off Broadway. vfwpost76ontheriverwalk.org, 210-223-4581 lsilva@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonian Erwin J. De Luna, a retired state employee and longtime president of the United San Antonio Pow Wow organization, has been elected president of the San Antonio Fiesta Commission, becoming the first Native American to ascend to the volunteer position. De Luna was elected this week and will fill a one-year term beginning Wednesday. He has Taos Pueblo, Navajo and Mexican-American roots and may be a rarity among people in top-level posts of major U.S. festival organizations. De Luna will lead a 12-member executive committee that heads up the Fiesta Commissions 130-member board of commissioners. They represent about 100 organizations that produce official Fiesta events over 11 days in April. Fiesta San Antonio has eight paid staff members. Erwin has given so much to many San Antonio organizations, said Amy Shaw, executive director of Fiesta San Antonio. He just gives, gives, gives, and his wife, Rose Mary, has done the same; and hes a really good guy. Shaw, who has served as executive director since last July, said, Fiesta has long been a celebration of diverse cultures that comprise San Antonio. Its wonderful that the board and leadership reflects the community of people who make Fiesta happen every year. De Luna may be the only or among the few Native Americans leading a major U.S. festival, she said. Well be looking into that. The new president is a native San Antonian who attended Little Flower School and Holy Cross High School on the West Side. He graduated from San Antonio College and attended the University of Texas at San Antonio. De Luna worked in long-term care of the aged and disabled and was a hearings officer for the Texas Health and Human Services Department, he said. He has been involved in Fiesta events since he was a Boy Scout at Christ the King Catholic Church. The troop formed a drum and bugle corps and marched in the Battle of Flowers Parade in 1964, he said. In the 52 years since then, De Luna has been a Fiesta fan and participant. In the 70s, he began volunteering for the San Antonio Conservation Societys Night in Old San Antonio. He became a member of the Fiesta Commission in the late 90s, he said. De Luna said he served on all the commissions subcommittees over the years and moved up its board hierarchy, serving as treasurer, senior vice president, president-elect and now president. I was immersed behind the scenes, he said. Though Fiesta comes once a year, for the commission, its officers and staff, Its a year-round program. Weve already started planning for next years program, he said. In the face of longtime criticism over the lack of diversity in Fiesta-oriented groups such as the Texas Cavaliers, the Conservation Society and the Order of the Alamo, De Luna said the commission has striven to make itself more reflective of the population. In Fiestas 125-year history, it has had 55 Fiesta Commission presidents, the majority white and male. The first woman president was elected in 1967; the first Hispanic in 1979; and the first African-American in 1996. Of the 55, 11 have been Hispanic and three have been African-American, including outgoing President Vonzetta Hickman, according to a list of past presidents. The Fiesta Commission has had a lot of diversity over the years, De Luna said. His election is another step. Im proud to be the first Native American to serve as president. De Luna plans to focus on improving communication between Fiestas leadership, member groups, volunteers and ordinary citizens. We sometimes get information saying I didnt get this, or I didnt get that. Were developing ways to open lines of communication with all our volunteers, business members, to all members of the Fiesta Commission. A monthly newsletter is planned, he said. But much of the work that goes on to organize Fiesta will remain the same, he said. Were known as a party with a purpose, and we want to continue those traditions, he said. So we have a Fiesta for future generations. While Fiesta began as a celebration of the defenders at the Battle of the Alamo and the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, De Luna acknowledged that that history has been told from a Euro-centric perspective and that some Latinos, Native Americans and others have questioned its accuracy and sought a wider view. More recently, historians have worked to better fill voids in textbooks. One side has been seen more than the other, unfortunately, he said, adding Hispanics were on both sides of the conflicts. Texas wouldnt be here today without all those participants, he said. We come from a wide diversity of cultures and traditions. We celebrate it today with all cultures. De Luna will retain leadership of the United San Antonio Pow Wow organization, which promotes native cultures and traditions. Its largest event is held during Presidents Day weekend. During his presidency, De Luna welcomes comments and questions about Fiesta and offered his new email address, president@fiesta-sa.org. Ill try to answer every email as soon as possible, he said. Fiesta 2017 is set for April 20-30. eayala@express-news.net Twitter: @ElaineAyala This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Tubers looking for a perfect experience on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers this Memorial Day weekend will find that they need to spend a little more to help cover the costs of river cleanups and police patrols. Its a move toward fairness, so that everyone tubing is paying into the river fund, Stacey Dicke, the city of New Braunfels parks and recreation director, said of the changes. New Braunfels officials recently expanded a river management fee, raising it from $1.50 to $2 for tubers who use river outfitters and adding the $2 fee for nonresidents who access the Comal River through city parks. Previously, only tubers who used river outfitters paid the fee, which is charged on weekends and holidays between Memorial Day and Labor Day. On the plus side, officials said Friday that the weather and river flows are expected to be just right for tubing, a traditional Memorial Day activity that kicks off the summer season. Dicke said fee-collection booths will be set up in Prince Solms Park and Hinman Island Park, the only public access points on the Comal River. Outfitters will collect the fee from in-city floaters on the Guadalupe River because there is no city entrance to it. New Braunfels residents can avoid paying the fee by obtaining a free Resident River Pass during normal working hours at Dickes office in Landa Park or at the recreation center there. The expanded fee was backed by local outfitters, including Colie Reno of Texas Tubes. If youre going to use the river, whether youre my customer or the citys customer, everyone should pay it or not pay it, he said. There shouldnt be a double standard. Although flooding caused the city to bar recreational activities last week on the Comal, its flow had dropped from over 1,000 cubic feet per second then to 270 cfs Friday. The waters great, said Reno, whose business is on the Comal. If we get the right weather, its going to be a great weekend. The Guadalupe also looks good for recreation, with the outflow from Canyon Lake reduced from above 4,600 cfs Thursday to only 381 Friday. That is a fantastic river flow for tubing, said Mike Dussere of the Water Oriented Recreation District, which oversees water recreation in unincorporated areas of Comal County. He said tubers on the Guadalupe outside the city of New Braunfels pay a $1-per-tube fee that goes to his agency to fund river-related expenses. The National Weather Service forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of scattered showers in the greater San Antonio area today, Sunday and Monday. Right now, its a pretty good bet that well have some scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the weekend, NWS meteorologist Mark Lenz said. zeke@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two San Antonio Police Department officers shot and killed a man Thursday night who allegedly ripped a gun from one of the officers belts during a struggle on the West Side. Police 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 man multiple times in the torso while he had another officers service weapon in his hand. The incident was the departments fifth officer-involved shooting this year, according to department records. Four resulted in death. Authorities have not yet released the names of the officers or the 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 S.W. Loop 410. Police staking out the area spotted the suspect around 10 p.m. and attempted to take him into custody. 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 off one of the officers belt, and at that point a sergeant and a police officer shot him multiple times in the torso, McManus said. The man was taken to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly afterward. McManus said the felony and misdemeanor warrants issued for the man included warrants for assault and drug-related offenses. About an hour before the fatal shooting, police responded to an unrelated shooting at the same location. McManus said two men were in a physical fight when one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other in the arm. Police were able to quickly get the suspect in custody and took the victim, who had nonlife-threatening injuries, to a hospital. Police said that shooting had nothing to do with the fatal encounter that occurred shortly after. Both officers have been placed on administrative duty while SAPD investigates. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Mayor Ivy Taylor has removed a thorn from the side of local developers. The thorn was Amy Hardberger, a water-law expert who has served on the San Antonio Water Systems Capital Improvements Advisory Committee since former Mayor Julian Castro appointed her in 2013. The committee is tasked with updating impact fees: an expense to real estate developers who pass it on to homebuyers to pay for water-supply expansion. On May 16, Hardberger received a letter from Taylor noting her imminent removal. Recognizing that your term expired in 2015, I want to express my gratitude for helping San Antonio become a more globally competitive city, Taylor wrote. I am moving forward with a new appointment, and upon their confirmation, your service will conclude. An advocate for water conservation, Hardberger the daughter of former Mayor Phil Hardberger has been a lone voice of dissent on the developer-driven committee. In 2014, she was the only member to side with a SAWS staff proposal to increase the supply portion of the impact fees to $2,796 per household, the full amount. The rest of the 11-member committee endorsed a smaller increase, to $1,590, a boon to developers that would have left all SAWS ratepayers subsidizing new development through water bills. City Council, including Taylor, later voted for the higher increase. Since becoming mayor, Taylor has proven more deferential to local developers. On May 10, she called SAWS and CPS Energy executives to a meeting with developers so the latter could air complaints about bureaucratic red tape, according to a source close to City Hall. SAWS and CPS Energy are key partners in reaching our goals for San Antonios future, Taylor later wrote in a memo to council members about the meeting. We often think about rates and reliability as contributors to economic development efforts but we also need to remember that the speed and ease of the development process is critical. Hardberger is concerned about development as well, but as it relates to water conservation. She wants the city to require more conservation through land-use ordinances. By 2025, San Antonio is expected to add about 1 million residents, and Hardberger believes attitudes about growth must change. There is a better way (to build), and land use is the biggest opportunity to reduce water use, she told me. The people who are the most in control of land use are (developers) Our ability to move forward is going to be 100 percent reliant on how we decide to develop the land. We need big shifts. Hardberger also has sharply criticized the Vista Ridge water project a $2.8 billion initiative by SAWS to supply up to 16.3 billion gallons a year via a 142-mile pipeline from Burleson County. The mayor has joined the business community in pushing for the pipeline. Her removal of Hardberger this month from the committee will silence a frequent critic of the status quo. Its her prerogative to do it, Hardberger said. I think we can all guess why she did it. We have not seen eye to eye on Vista Ridge Im sure there are some people who would really like me to be quiet. Taylor could not be reached for comment Friday; she was traveling in the Canary Islands on a trade and cultural mission organized by the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Asked why Taylor had removed Hardberger from the committee, her office released a prepared statement: I am taking a careful look at all the mayoral appointments that have been made to boards and commissions, in particular those that have expired, the mayor said. In this case, I want to ensure that my appointment to the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee represents the Real Estate/Building Industry because it is a designated position. The committee, though, already is overrepresented by industry. There are supposed to be community representatives, Hardberger said. My concern is, whos in the room representing the average person? bchasnoff@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Cynthia Dunbar served on the State Board of Education, she worked to strip all Age of Enlightenment references from Texas social-studies textbooks. Now, as the apparent publisher of a wildly controversial Mexican American history textbook being vetted by the SBOE, Dunbar is once again striking a blow against enlightenment. The good news is that her efforts will almost certainly be fruitless. Since leaving the education board five years ago, Dunbar has settled in Virginia, where she works as an administrator at Liberty University. The Christian school hosted Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs presidential campaign announcement last year, and Dunbar ultimately served as Cruzs campaign co-chair in Virginia. Dunbar appears to be behind Mexican American Heritage, a textbook published by Momentum Instruction, whose listed address happens to be the Forest, Virginia residence of Dunbar. Mexican American Heritage with its theocratic broadsides, casual air of cultural insensitivity and determination to define a wide swath of Mexican Americans as communist dupes who reflexively hate the United States and refuse to assimilate in this country feels so much like a product of Dunbars imagination that you can practically spot her fingerprint smudges on the digital text. Back in 2008, Dunbar predicted a terrorist attack within the first six months of Barack Obamas administration, writing that it would likely be the result of a planned effort by those with whom Obama truly sympathizes to take down the America that is threat to tyranny. Not content to accuse Obama of siding with terrorists, she also suggested that he would impose martial law in this country. Unless you consider federal guidelines on school bathroom policies to be akin to military rule, I think its safe to say that Dunbar is a wretched and paranoid prognosticator. Mexican American Heritage springs from that same world view, but cloaks its biases in the trappings of objective history. When it wants to slip in a political point, it often prefaces its pronouncements with there are those who argue, a device that can be used to justify any bit of absurdity. (As in, There are those who argue that Tupac Shakur is secretly living in Maui with Elvis Presley and JFK.) There are those who argue, the book points out, that illegal laborers take jobs from native-born workers while rerouting productive money to a foreign economy. That statement is mild stuff, however, compared to the red-baiting that accompanies almost every reference to the Chicano civil-rights movement. We are told that some worry about the promotion of the Spanish language in this country, because it will lead to lazy Latinos putting less effort into learning English. We also learn that Chicano activists view Mexicos political system as superior to that of the United States, and refuse unlike Republican-leaning Cuban-Americans to be good Americans. During the Cold War, as the United States fought communism worldwide, these kinds of separatist and supremacy doctrines were concerning, the book says. While solidarity with ones heritage was understood, Mexican pride at the expense of American culture did not seem productive. The book extends this blame-the-oppressed mindset to Reconstruction, fretting that voter-registration efforts for newly freed African American slaves meant southern white citizens had been disenfranchised. Fortunately, this drivel is unlikely to end up in the hands of any Texas students. The 2011 passage of Senate Bill 6 and new rules created in 2012 by outgoing SBOE member (and Trinity University professor) Michael Soto gave individual school districts more freedom to pick their own instructional materials. The upshot is that textbook publishers now market directly to the districts, and its hard to imagine any Texas school district touching Dunbars tome. The handful of school districts that are forward-looking enough to offer a course in Mexican American studies are also going to be forward-looking enough to purchase textbooks that are far better suited for that type of study, Soto said. The place where all of the nonsense will be mitigated is in the offices of thoughtful and decent and good-hearted school administrators, who will not in a million years spend taxpayer money on garbage like the one being published by Cynthia Dunbar. Maybe enlightenment will prevail in this state after all. ggarcia@express-news.net Twitter: @gilgamesh470 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HIROSHIMA, Japan President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Friday, telling an audience that included survivors of Americas atomic bombing in 1945 that technology as devastating as nuclear arms demands a moral revolution. Thousands of Japanese lined the route of the presidential motorcade to the memorial in the hopes of glimpsing Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the most potent symbol of the dawning of the nuclear age. Many watched the ceremony on their cellphones. Seventy-one years ago, on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed, Obama said in opening his speech at the memorial. Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us, Obama said, adding that such technology requires a moral revolution as well. In an emotional moment afterward, Obama embraced and shook hands with survivors of the attack, which exposed humanity to risks the president has repeatedly said the world must do far more to resolve. The first of those survivors, Sunao Tsuboi, a chairman of the Hiroshima branch of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, gripped Obamas hand and did not let go until he had spoken to him for some time. I held his hand, and we didnt need an interpreter, Tsuboi, 91, said later. I could understand what he wanted to say by his expression. In another poignant moment, Obama exchanged an embrace with Shigeaki Mori, 79, who was 8 when the bomb fell. Mori spent decades researching the fates of U.S. prisoners of war who were killed in the bombing. For weeks, the White House had refused to say whether Obama would meet survivors. It was a delicate decision. Many survivors long for an apology for an event that destroyed just about everyone and everything they knew, and there were small demonstrations near the ceremony Friday by protesters demanding an apology. But Obama said before his trip that he would not apologize for the attack. Still, Obamas homage to the victims and his speech were welcomed by many Japanese. I am simply grateful for his visit, said Tomoko Miyoshi, 50, who lost 10 relatives in the attack and wept as she watched Obama on her cellphone. Obama, using the slow and deliberate cadence in his speech that he uses on only the most formal and consequential occasions, said the bombing demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. But in the 71 years since the bombing, he said, world institutions had grown up to help prevent a recurrence. Still, nations such as the United States continue to possess thousands of nuclear weapons. And that is something that must change, he said. In a striking example of the gap between Obamas vision of a nuclear weapons-free world and the realities of purging them, a new Pentagon census of the U.S. nuclear arsenal shows that his administration has reduced the stockpile less than any other post-Cold War presidency. We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them, he said, although he quickly added: We may not realize this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe. Still, he said, more was needed. Noting that far more primitive weapons than nuclear arms are causing widespread destruction today, Obama called for humanity to change its mindset about war. The world was forever changed here, but today the children of this city will go through their day in peace, Obama said. 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. People in Asian countries that were brutalized by imperial Japan had warned that a presidential apology at Hiroshima would be inappropriate. Obama not only did not apologize, he made clear that Japan, despite a highly advanced culture, was to blame for the war, which grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in his own speech that this tragedy must not be allowed to occur again. We are determined to realize a world free of nuclear weapons, he said. Obamas visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park had all the pomp, ceremony and planned choreography of a state visit or a leaders funeral. With thousands in attendance and much of Japan watching on TV, Obama walked forward alone at the park and laid a wreath on a white pyramid. He paused before the memorials cenotaph, his head bowed. A moment later, Abe approached with his own wreath, which he laid beside Obamas on another pyramid. After a moments reflection, the two leaders shook hands a clear signal of the extraordinary alliance their two nations had forged out of the ashes of war. Obamas decision to visit Hiroshima was in part intended to reward Abe for his efforts to improve ties and forge a closer military relationship between the two countries. The recent slaying of a young woman on Okinawa and the arrest of a U.S. Marine veteran in the crime, has strained those ties, but coordination between the two nations militaries continues to intensify. Obama also saw the visit as a testament to mankinds ability to forge beyond even the most intense of enmities. Before arriving in Japan, Obama visited Vietnam, where he lifted a long-standing arms embargo. The Hiroshima visit, under consideration since the first days of Obamas presidency, could send ripples across Asia, a region still grappling with the echoes of World War II seven decades after it ended. Leaders in both China and South Korea worry that Obamas visit to Japans deepest wound could be taken by the Japanese as an endpoint to their countrys fitful efforts to come to grips with its own wartime atrocities. But with a reclusive regime in North Korea furiously building more nuclear weapons and trying to perfect the missiles to deliver them, Obama decided that reminding the world why the North Koreans must be stopped was worth any hurt feelings among other countries. Many historians believe that the bombings on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, which together took the lives of more than 200,000 people, saved lives on balance, since an invasion of the islands would have led to far greater bloodshed. But the 30-acre Peace Memorial Park that Obama visited reflects none of that background. The park offers a victims narrative, illustrating in gut-wrenching detail how more than 100,000 people in the city died and thousands more were injured. It provides few of the historical reasons for the bombing, such as descriptions of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the savagery of Japans occupation of China, or the extraordinary death toll of soldiers and civilians in the invasion of Okinawa. A short inscription on the parks memorial arch reads, in part, We shall not repeat the evil. Which evil the bombing or the conflict itself and who is to blame are left unsaid. Such failures by the Japanese to acknowledge their role in the bombings has long bothered the Chinese, Koreans and others who suffered under the empires rule. And with Abe as Obamas host, those wounded feelings could fester. Abe has promoted a version of history that plays down Japans wartime transgressions, and he has moved to give the military limited powers to fight in foreign conflicts, shedding pacifist constraints in place since World War II. The Chinese government suggested Friday that the wartime atrocities committed by Japan on Chinese soil, notably in the city of Nanjing, deserved more attention than the bombing of Hiroshima. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has not commented on Obamas visit and is on a tour of several African countries. Feature Your Listing! Get better results! Make your listing stand out from the crowd! Improve your position and response with our premium listing. Aldi UK has followed the discount chains Australian business by committing to sourcing only eggs from cage-free hens. The companys Australian arm committed to going cage-free after a sustained online campaign by animal rights campaigners culminated in a 15-year-old girl launching a petition on Change.org. More than 40,000 people signed the petition in a matter of days and Aldi responded by announcing that it would stop sourcing cage eggs by 2025. The move was welcomed by animal welfare campaigners and Aldis UK business has now also committed to cage-free sourcing. Tom Willings, former agriculture director with Noble Foods, now a freelance consultant, said that the eggs on Britains supermarket shelves could be completely free range within 10 to 15 years "Aldi currently provides customers with a range of shell eggs, all of which are sourced from the UK and certified to meet British Lion Standards, said Oliver King, corporate managing director at Aldi UK. "We know that animal welfare is an important consideration for our customers and we are committed to continuously improving sourcing practices across our supply chain. "As a result we have committed that from 2025 we will begin phasing out the sale of shell eggs from caged hens in our UK stores. "Meaningful commitments such as these take time to plan and implement. This time frame ensures that we can continue to work collaboratively with suppliers to minimise the impact on their business." In the UK, half of all eggs going into retail are already produced in free range systems. However, in Australia egg industry leaders have criticised Aldis announcement. The Australian Egg Corporation Ltd (AECL) said it was disappointed with the decision by the supermarket group. It said the announcement demonstrated a "fundamental misunderstanding of cage egg farming systems and their impact on hen welfare, and flies in the face of consumer demand." AECL managing director James Kellaway said that, in making the decision to phase out cage eggs, ALDI was ignoring consumer demand. He said retail figures consistently showed that cage eggs were highly sought after, accounting for 51 per cent of all grocery retail egg sales in March this year and close to 70 per cent of total egg sales. "With cage eggs consistently accounting for around 50 per cent of retail sales, it is frankly absurd that Aldi is restricting their customers right to exercise choice," he said. "The egg farming industry wishes to continue to supply eggs from cage, barn-laid and free range farming systems, in line with consumer preferences. The provision of eggs from these systems reflects current demand." "On average, a dozen cage eggs costs $3.31, while free range eggs cost $5.49 In phasing out cage eggs, Aldi will force consumers to pay more for their eggs. Aldi is taking a dictatorial approach to its customers," he said. However, Aldis decision was welcomed by RSPCA Australia, which congratulated the retailer on "listening to the concerns of Australian consumers and committing to supply only cage-free eggs in its stores by no later than 2025." RSPCA Australia chief executive, Heather Neil, said: "ALDIs decision to phase out cage eggs will contribute to ending the inhumane practice of confining hens in cages. "As the third largest supermarket chain in the country, ALDI has the potential to set the bar for other businesses to follow in their footsteps," she said. Although she welcomed the announcement, she urged the company to end the sale of cage eggs earlier than 2025. She said she would like to see Aldi go cage-free by 2018, in line with other major companies in Australia. "There are still 11 million battery hens in Australia and the sooner they can be set free from cruel cages, the better. "Its critical that consumers continue to demand cage-free in retail and food service. Australia needs to banish the battery cage once and for all." In the UK the trend in the egg market is increasingly towards free range. At the Pig and Poultry Fair recently Tom Willings, former agriculture director with Noble Foods, now a freelance consultant, said that the eggs on Britains supermarket shelves could be completely free range within 10 to 15 years if the change in the market continued at its current rate. He told those attending the conference at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, that demand for cage and barn eggs was continuing to fall, whilst demand for free range was increasing. And he said that, if the current trend towards cage-free production in the United States crossed the Atlantic, the switch to free range in the UK could increase. US egg industry leaders are estimating that more than half of the countrys 300-million-bird flock will have to be moved over to cage-free production by 2025 to meet the cage-free commitments made by leading retailers and foodservice companies. Walmart, Subway, Costco, McDonalds, Burger King, Nestle, Sodexo, Aramark, Heinz, Starbucks and Compass Group have made the commitment. Cruise companies Carnival and Royal Caribbean are also going cage-free. "Will we see similar changes here? Well, its happening already," said Tom. "The long term trend is the growth of free range at the expense of intensive demand. "Its not just cage eggs. Barn, one potential alternative value egg, is on a similar trajectory. Since 2009 cage and barn demand combined has fallen from 50 per cent of retail trade to less than 37 per cent. "Meanwhile, free range has grown from 45 per cent to 59 per cent. Extrapolating that rate of change, there would be no eggs from cages on shelves in another 15 years. How many years before we lack the critical mass to make the large colony sites viable? 10?" He said that cage production could be living on borrowed time. Following a successful farmer-led campaign in Devon, NFU Scotland has written to the nations biggest supermarkets asking them to reposition fresh milk in their stores as a healthy alternative to fizzy drinks. Supermarkets in Devon were encouraged by a local tenant farmer to sell one-pint cartons of fresh milk in their sandwich food to go chillers. The response in the Tesco stores involved has been encouraging with the retailer reported to be considering a wider roll-out of the scheme. Last week, NFU Scotland wrote to the four largest supermarket retailers in Scotland Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys - urging them to look favourably on this pilot and urging them to explore opportunities to make fresh milk available in front-of-store convenience chillers in Scotland. With the vast majority of dairy farmers currently receiving some of the worst milk prices in a generation, the Union is keen to see retailers look at fresh ideas to promote and sell milk and dairy products while at the same time guaranteeing that a fairer share of the margin arrives back at the farm gate. Repositioning milk an attractive option in supermarkets Following the successful campaign in Devon, Milk Committee Chairman Graeme Kilpatrick has written to the supermarkets, asking them to reposition milk so that it is an attractive option to those shoppers buying a sandwich lunch or snacks. He said: "The initiative sparked in Devon shows the potential that repositioning milk can have. "As dairy farmers, we want to see shoppers given the opportunity to choose fresh nutritious milk over sugary soft drinks in supermarket chillers, selling it alongside sandwiches and snacks. "That would be a positive development, at little or no inconvenience to supermarkets and, through the Unions ShelfWatch work, we believe there is ample opportunity to increase the availability of convenient milk products in Scottish stores. "Milk is already available in one pint cartons which are an ideal size for the convenience shopper and there is room for manufacturers and processors to develop new products which can build on the appeal of milk as convenient and nutritious. "Good news in the dairy sector is currently hard to come by. The dairy farming crisis is deepening with the majority of Scottish farmers now receiving less than 19p per litre and, for some, their milk price has sunk as low as 11 or 12p. "Many hard-working, long-established family dairy farms are under threat and this presents an opportunity to grow the market. "If successful, then the key is to ensure the rewards are better shared with as many dairy farmers as possible." 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? Angelina Jolie devotes part of "almost every day" to her work with refugees. Angelina Jolie The 40-year-old actress-and-director was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations (UN) 15 years ago and now acts as a special envoy to the UN Refugee Agency, and as well as taking part in high-profile meetings and debates, she also does a lot behind the scenes. She said: "Some part of almost every day in my life is devoted to international issues, whether talking with my colleagues about the news, the underlying factors, what we think needs to be said or done next on the issues we're working on, preparing field visits or speeches. "I often try to meet people with interesting and opposing viewpoints so I can learn." Angelina raises children Maddox, 14, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, nine, and seven-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with husband Brad Pitt and is proud her kids are taking an interest in her work with refugees, with her eldest son even helping her on her latest directorial project, 'First They Killed My Father', which is based on Loung Ung's account of the Khmer Rouge's regime in Maddox's native Cambodia. She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "Maddox has known Loung since he was a baby. It was his urging that pushed me to make the film. "He has been with me every step of the way, from script to post-production. "Shiloh asked to travel with me to Lebanon after I told her of a little Syrian girl named Hala. "She wanted to meet her and she and Pax have shown interest, like most kids do, in what their mom does. So they asked. "I'd never push them to be involved. It's something I believe each person must come to on their own. It has to be an honest and real connection." If you are looking for an alternative animation movie to enjoy this summer, then Long Way North could well be the film that you are looking for. Long Way North Long Way North is a French/Danish animation film and sees Remi Chaye in the director's chair making his feature film directorial debut. This may be Chaye's first feature film at the helm, he is no stranger to this genre of film; having worked in the animation department on the likes of The Painting and The Secret of the Kells in recent years. Long Way North is set to be a film not to miss if you are looking for a different kind of animated feature film summer and here are some great new images to take a look at: Christa Theret is set to voice the central character of Sasha and is joined on the cast list by Feodor Atkine, Antony Hickling, Audrey Sable, and Thomas Sagois. Sasha, a young aristocratic girl growing up in Russia at the end of the 19th century, dreams of the Great North and anguishes over the fate of her grandfather Oloukine, a renowned scientist and Arctic explorer who has yet to return from his latest expedition to conquer the North Pole. Oloukine has passed on his calling as an explorer to Sasha, but her parents, who have already made the arrangements for their daughter's marriage, do not approve in the least. So Sasha rebels against her destiny, flees her home and resolves to go join Oloukine... a long way North. Long Way North is released 17th June. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on It is always exciting when a Ben Affleck movie is on the horizon and he is set to return to the big screen later this year with The Accountant. The Accountant The movie sees Affleck back in a central role as he teams up with Gavin O'Connor for the first time. And a brand new teaser poster for the movie has been unveiled. O'Connor has brought us movies such as Pride and Glory and Warrior in recent years and this will see him back in the director's chair for the first time since Jane Got a Gun earlier this year. The teaser trailer, which was released earlier this month, really does promise much and this could be the best film from O'Connor to date. It really is on course to be one of the autumn movies that's not to be missed. The director has brought together a great as Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, Alison Wright, John Lithgow, and Jeffrey Tambor are set to star alongside Affleck, who takes on the central role of Christian Wolff. Christian Wolff (Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department's Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of- the- art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise. The Accountant is already being tipped as an early potential Oscar contender and I cannot wait to see what O'Connor, Affleck, and co deliver. The Accountant is released 4th November. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Robin Chaurasiya laughs when she tells me she teaches compassion. When I ask her the reason she says, I joke about it because people dont believe me and more importantly, they do not understand. But Robin was used to fighting attitudes from an early age. She campaigned against the US militarys anti-gay Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy when she was still in her twenties. Much has been written about Robins sexual orientation and her abusive past, but there is so much life running through her veins as she interacts with the girls at Kranti, an organisation that is imparting education to kids of Mumbais sex workers, that I see absolutely no point in touching upon them. Robin started Kranti five years ago with Bani Das, Trina Talukdar and Maya Jhaveri. Today, Kranti hosts almost 18 girls, aged 12 to 21or as Robin prefers to call them, revolutionaries who will become agents of social change. Robin has reimagined the syllabus at Kranti and included the 5Cs: communication skills, creative thinking, critical analysis and community organising and compassion. These are taught through the week using interesting concepts like Music Mondays, TED-talk Tuesdays, Thinking Thursdays, etc. Earlier this year, Robin was nominated for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize. She was selected as one of the 10 finalists from over 8,000 entries across the globe. Robin did not win the prize but when Stephen Hawking announced her name as one of the finalists, social media got talking about Kranti, Robin and her revolutionaries. We live in a place where almost 20 girls have to share one toilet. We may have financial problems, but it is the blocked mindset that acts as the biggest deterrent for us. Robin is currently running Kranti using her own funds and with help from some friends. Sometimes we have to lie and tell them that were working with orphans, and when they get to know the fact, everyone in the society wants us to leave, says Robin. Kranti has moved four homes in the last four years. Well fight it, though. I understand these girls and each of them will eventually find their path and their calling, she smiles. You can help the revolutionaries get a better home. Log on and donate at: www.milaap.org/campaigns/home4kranti Deepika Padukone can pull off most looks, from sultry oxblood lips to girly pink-stained cheeks. This time, we are drooling over her gorgeous retro look. You can never go wrong with bright lips and winged liner. Heres how to copy her look: Skin: Prep your skin by cleansing and toning. Allow the toner to dry completely before you apply moisturiser. If youre working this look for the day, use a broad-spectrum sunscreen. If your skin is clear, apply CC cream on your face and neck. If you prefer full coverage, opt for foundation. Eyes: Use a corrector under your eyes and follow it with a concealer. Apply taupe eyeshadow on the crease of your eyes. Use a black gel liner to create a retro winged effect. Finish with mascara. Cheeks: Apply pink powder blush on the apples of your cheeks with a large round brush in dabbing movements. Lips: Exfoliate your lips and hydrate with lip balm. With a lip brush, neatly apply a cream lipstick in vermillion. Photograph: Yogen Shah Body Marine Algae Cleanse and energise with the Body Marine Algae treatment. This rejuvenating massage uses lymphatic drainage techniques and marma pressure points therapy with a Himalayan salt scrub. Price: Rs 9,000 + taxes Duration: 120 minutes WHERE: THE SPA, THE FOUR SEASONS HOTEL, MUMBAI Ayurvedic Experience This treatment uses Abhyanga, a traditional Indian head-to-toe massage technique with warm oil. Its perfect to de-stress after a long week, with its soothing symmetrical strokes regulating the circulatory and nervous system. Its an apt massage to restore and repair worn out tissues. Price: Rs 3,900 Duration: 90 minutes WHERE: SHVASA SPA, HYATT REGENCY, GURGAON Chi Enchantment This hydrating massage will ensure moisturised and balanced skin. The Chi Enchantment treatment starts with a rose crystal body exfoliation followed by an aroma massage that combines elements of Swedish massage, Shiatsu and reexology. The experience ends with a bespoke hydrating rose facial. Price: Rs 8,000 Duration: 180 minutes WHERE: CHI, SHANGRI-LA, BANGALORE Niraamaya Indulgence Get pampered with a refreshing body polish to gently exfoliate followed by relaxing bath under the warm gentle sprays of a Vichy shower further followed by a deep relaxing body massage. Enjoy the aromatic steam bath and continue with one of the signature Niraamaya baths in a candle-lit atmosphere. Round it off with a facial to suit your skin. Price: Rs 13,250 Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes WHERE: NIRAAMAYA RETREATS SURYA SAMUDRA, KOVALAM Vagheggi DL Gold Stem Cell Facial Indulge in an exotic facial that combines cutting-edge biotechnologies like plant stem cells from the buttery bush plant and the nanotechnology of heptapedtide-9 with gold particles. This royal treatment will ensure your skin glows. Price: Rs 6,850 Duration: 75 minutes WHERE: MYRAH SPA, JUHU, MUMBAI Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts That's the simple philosophy of Gloucester, a stunning port just 45 minutes away from Boston. Eat fresh sea food, visit centuries-old lighthouses, or just enjoy the view. A pleasant 45-minute drive from Boston, Gloucester, in Cape Ann, Essex County, is America's oldest working seaport that beautifully blends incredible food, art, adventure, shopping and culture - perfect for a traveller. The heart of this fishing town beats in the vibrant Downtown and the waterfront. There is a lot you can do here to experience its real flavour and quirkiness! WHALE OF A TIME Start your day by meeting the mammoth local residents - the great whales who live just off Gloucester's shores. The cold, rich waters of the North Atlantic draw whales from thousands of miles away each summer (April to October) to slurp up tons of tiny fish and krill. Go whale watching just 24 km off Gloucester's rocky shore or catch cod, haddock and tuna on a deep sea fishing trip. For most people in Gloucester, fishing isn't a livelihood or sport - it's a way of life. They live by a simple philosophy: Go fish or go home. There's nothing in between. Don't forget to halt at the Gloucester's Fishermen Memorial - a famous statue of a man steering a ship's wheel, his eyes searching the horizon, at the scenic seaside promenade. VIEW TO A KILL With shining white sand stretching out into the Atlantic, beautiful Good Harbor is one of the most popular beaches of Cape Ann. At low tide, you can take a leisurely stroll on Salt Island while at high tide, you can enjoy bodysurfing or styrofoam boogie boards. Hugging the shore of the Annisquam River and stretching out towards Ispwich Bay is Wingaersheek Beach, another option to sit and enjoy the view. For a breathtaking view of Gloucester Harbour, head to Cressy's Beach at Stage Fort Park. Savour a seafood meal in a romantic atmosphere or have fun playing frisbee. CULTURE HUB Gloucester is home to America's oldest art colony, at Rocky Neck, with dozens of art galleries. Discover Cape Ann Museum that houses a fabulous collection of paintings and textiles, or interact with the artists to delve deeper into creativity. Maritime Gloucester is a wonderful place on the harbour to explore the historic fishing port's past, present and future. Don't miss the port's renowned music scene and summer festivals, including St Peters Fiesta and Downtown Sidewalk Bazaar. WOODMAN'S FRIED CLAMS New England is rich with regional foods that are rooted in history - Native Americans' maple sap, cheese from Vermont's dairy farms and lobster from Maine fisheries to name a few. While seafood is a specialty and a point of pride in New England cuisine, Boston is every seafood lover's haven. Cod, scrod, haddock, halibut, and trout, lobster, scallops, clams, oysters, and mussels are served throughout the city as well as the surrounding areas. Enjoy outdoor deck dining with river and marsh views and live music or drive around 15 km to devour a hearty portion of fried clams, served with mayonnaise and tomato-chilli sauce at Woodman's of Essex. A self-service eatery, this place claims to be the inventor of fried clams by selling its first batch in 1916. Woodman's is also known for its silky, warming clam chowder, served with a pack of oyster crackers. End your meal with a custard served with American berries (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries), a dollop of cream and a cookie. DEVOUR THAT LOBSTER Put your bib on; this one's a messy meal. Start by twisting off the claws. Crack each claw and knuckle with a nut cracker and remove the meat. Twist the tail off the body. Put a fork upside down in the tail between the meat and the white underside. Pull the meat out in one piece. Take out the black gut that runs the length of the tail. Open under the body by pulling it apart from the bottom middle. Separate it from the small walking legs on either side. Take the meat out from the leg by biting down on it and squeezing the meat out with your teeth. Use the wet napkins to clean up. Ah! Next Story : 5 quick microwave recipes To deal with the huge shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, the government has raised the retirement age of non-teaching and public health specialists and general duty medical officers to 65 years. "It's difficult to make doctors in two years but poor families cannot be forced to live without them. Therefore...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", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday at a political rally in Uttar Pradesh. Vacancies in remote areas Currently, in the Central Health Service, there are 22 vacancies of a sanctioned strength of 104 public health officials with 5 officials set to retire next year. In the non-teaching officers' category, there are as many as 131 vacancies of a sanctioned strength of 598; 22 of these officers are set to retire next year. The category of general duty medical officers has 645 vacancies of a sanctioned strength of 2,198 with 131 set to retire next year. Administrators say it's the unwillingness of specialists to go to places like Lakshadweep, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and other similar remote areas that is the cause for such large numbers of vacancies. Now, govt. service will be attractive By raising the retirement age to 65 from 62 - for non-teaching and public health officials - there will be no retirees during the next three years. In addition, administrators say the posts will become more attractive to the new doctors while filling vacancies through direct recruitment. In addition, ongoing programmes need to be sustained by continuous and intensive monitoring, which requires additional manpower and also the retention of existing experienced public health specialists. Retaining professionals for public sector The general duty medical officers assist specialists and those with a post graduate qualification actually supplement the chronic shortage of specialists. The members of this sub-cadre are engaged in almost all the activities of the Ministry of Health and Family welfare. The members of this sub-cadre currently retire at 60. Because of that, the government is losing experienced professionals to the private sector and other international agencies. Raising the retirement age for this category to 65 will help retain a big pool for another five years, as the government tries to build this cadre from the bottom up. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts Head to Marine Drive this Sunday morning with your yoga mat if you really want to kick that butt! In a prelude to World No Tobacco Day on May 31, this month's edition of Yoga by the Bay , a joint initiative of the NGO I Love Mumbai and holistic health guru Mickey Mehta, supported by The Times of India is all about how to beat your smoking addiction through deep breathing exercises. Mehta, who has designed a special breathing session called Dum Maaro Dum, says, "Don't fall for the name. We're going to turn the negative connotation associated with 'Dum Maaro Dum' into a positive one and neutralise the ill effects of smoking through dynamic breathing." Mehta's special routine will include three kinds of breathing exercises - Chinese, Japanese and Yogic. "The Chinese breathing exercise will be about Tai Chi followed by the Japanese form of intense Ka rate breathing and then all kinds of yogic pranayams to cleanse and empower the lungs," he explains. These breathing exercises are sure to keep people away from their cigarette packs, assures Mehta. "Breathing techniques give you a heightened sense of wellness, fitness and immunity. It's a proven fact that in a state of extreme wellness, one would not resort to smoking or substance abuse." Yoga by the Bay has seen close to 40,000 yoga enthusiasts stretching and bending on the 1.3 km promenade from Kilachand Chowk to Marine Drive flyover since this event kicked off on International Yoga Day last June and became a monthly fixture on the last Sunday of every month. Shaina NC, whose father Nana Chudasama founded the city-centric NGO I Love Mumbai on the principle of bringing the city together, says, "It's been my father's initiative to love the city by loving the environment and it's great to see that despite the heat people turn up in such large numbers." Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts Site Blocked In order to access website you need to accept our cookie policy. View cookie policy. Accept Ileana DCruz loves her pair of sneakerstheyre comfy and provide maximum support to her ankles. You can pair your sneakers with a number of cool outfits to create your own fashion statement, said Ileana when we spoke to her at a Skechers event. I, for one, would wear a pair of sneakers with my red carpet gown if I could! Here are some quick tips from Ileana on five ways you can wear your sneakers. With a maxi dress Going shopping over the weekend? Toss on a breezy maxi and look effortlessly chic as you sift through the flea market. Germany's Adidas Group has announced that it has agreed to sell its American sportswear company Mitchell & Ness.The buyer is a newly formed entity primarily owned by US private equity firm Juggernaut Capital Partners. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in Q2 2016. Germany's Adidas Group has announced that it has agreed to sell its American sportswear company Mitchell & Ness. The buyer is a newly formed entity primarily owned by US private equity firm Juggernaut Capital Partners. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in Q2 2016. Adidas would re-invest the proceeds# Adidas would re-invest the proceeds of the sale into its "Creating the New" strategy, it said in a statement on Friday.As a result of the transaction, the Adidas Group will record a one-time positive P&L impact at the time of closing. The amount, which is expected to be in the low- to mid-double-digit million euro range, will be reported in other operating income as part of the Group's net income from continuing operations."Mitchell & Ness is a strong lifestyle brand that is well known for its authentic headwear and apparel craftsmanship. However, our focus is more on performance sport and operating a brand portfolio with a clear agenda to unleash the potential of athletes and inspire consumers to live active lives. Nostalgia headwear and apparel is not core to this strategy and the sale of Mitchell & Ness will allow us to reduce complexity and pursue our target consumer more aggressively with our core brands," said Herbert Hainer, CEO of the Adidas Group. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India In a damning report , the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights has said that the Uzbek government instead of using cocoon cultivation as a development strategy or means of poverty alleviation, exploits the most vulnerable sectors of the population, such as farmers, teachers, and rural residents dependent on social welfare payments, and forces them to cultivate cocoons under threats of penalties.After a wide survey, the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights concluded that Uzbek government officials use forced labor to reap the profit from silk exports, produced by a system that relies on human rights violations and which contributes to corruption and poverty. In a damning report, the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights has said that the Uzbek government instead of using cocoon cultivation as a development strategy or means of poverty alleviation, exploits the most vulnerable sectors of the population, such as farmers, teachers, and rural residents dependent on social welfare payments, and forces them to# Uzbekistan exports the majority of silk produced, providing the government with a key source of hard currency, but profits are not returned to producers. The state strives to produce ever-greater quantities of silk but, given the current production system, this leads to greater pressure and rights violations against farmers and the further impoverishment of the rural population.This system survives only in the context of an opaque and corrupt state-controlled economy, lack of ownership of land and lack of rule of law. Entrenched interests in the profits from the silk industry in the hands of a small elite serve as a disincentive for true structural reforms, the report said.It called for real structural reforms to transform the silk industry from a system of exploitation to an economic sector that supports sustainable livelihoods to rural residents. Fundamentally, the government must uphold its international and national legal obligations to not use and abolish forced labour. Farmers must be provided real autonomy and meaningful decision-making authority over farming activities on the land they farm, it said.In its recommendations, the Forum has said the Uzbek government must take immediate measures to eradicate forced labour in silk cocoon production, abolish mandatory production quotas, hold government officials who continue to use or ignore the use of forced labour in the silk cocoon production accountable under the law and invite the International Labour Organization to examine compliance with international labor conventions.It also recommended reforming the silk sector by guaranteeing private property rights, especially for farmers and their use of land under lease agreements and using world market prices to establish procurement prices and ending government monopoly control over the silk cocoon market.The Forum also recommended that global financial institutions and donor organisations should ensure that no financing or project support contributes to the use of forced labour. China's faltering growth poses a "significant risk" to the global economy, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has warned.He underlined the dangers of the Chinese slowdown and its potential effects worldwide, particularly since the country had overtaken the US as the largest trading nation in 2013. But he expressed confidence that Chinese policymakers would mitigate the potential downside. China's faltering growth poses a "significant risk" to the global economy, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has warned. He underlined the dangers of the Chinese slowdown and its potential effects worldwide, particularly since the country had overtaken the US as the largest trading nation in 2013. But he expressed confidence that Chinese# Rebounding crude oil prices, possibility of a Brexit and geopolitical risks in West Asia pose new challenges to the SAARC economies, the fastest-growing region of the world, Rajan said at a symposium in Mumbai.Combined with the previous bouts of leveraged expansion, China now has a number of sectors that suffer from the twin ailments of over-capacity and high leverage, Rajan said in his inaugural speech at his inaugural speech at the SAARC Finance Governors' Symposium.Rajan also voiced concerns on the rising bad loans of Chinese banks and weaknesses in the shadow banking system of the world's second largest economy.Bad loans in the banking system are likely to grow over current levelsstressed loans are estimated to be around 5.5 per cent of the bank loan book today. In addition, there may be serious weaknesses in the shadow banking system, which could feed back to banks. Clearly, cleaning up the financial system will be a challenging, but necessary task, Rajan said.The RBI governor who launched a massive clean-up of Indian banks' balance sheets after an asset quality review (AQR) concluded by the central bank in December, said the exposure of Asian banks, including those of India, to Chinese banks is minuscule and, therefore, they are not facing a direct threat.However, some of our countries, though not India, have significant borrowing from Chinese banks, and these borrowings could become costlier if Chinese banks turn inwards. Moreover, financial market losses in China can heighten the risk premia that industrial country investors will charge for investing in our region, and the result could be capital outflows of the kind that were seen last August and early this year, he said.Rajan said south Asian countries have to take steps to limit the impact of external uncertainties such as the next rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, a possibly sharp downturn in the Chinese economy, the proposed exit of Britain from the EU and volatile capital flows. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The Apparel Textile Sourcing Show (ATSC), the first of its kind to be ever held in Canada, will be held from August 22-24 this year in Toronto. The fair will bring together apparel and textile manufacturers from all over the world. Organising this exhibition in Canada is significant as the North American country imports more than $14 billion in apparel and textiles annually, up 20 per cent from 2012, according to Jason Prescott, organiser of the event. Over 200 international exhibitors from China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, US, Honduras, and Peru will be showcasing at ATSC. Thousands of Canadian SMEs, retailers, manufacturers and designers are expected to attend the show. The Apparel Textile Sourcing Show (ATSC), the first of its kind to be ever held in Canada, will be held from August 22-24 this year in Toronto. The fair will bring together apparel and textile manufacturers from all over the world. Organising this exhibition in Canada is significant as the North American country imports more than $14 billion in apparel and # ATSC provides an unparalleled opportunity for Canadian apparel and textile importers and retailers to access the most current importing information from industry insiders and connect with the world's major apparel and textile manufacturers all under one roof, without having to incur the time or expense of travelling abroad, said Prescott. Three days of conference sessions led by acclaimed industry and government experts, covering topics from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade agreements, to best practices and the changing Canadian market will be held at the event. A Made in Canada section, featuring Canadian manufacturers who source apparel and textiles from abroad for their finished goods and Canadian designers who have their designs produced into finished products overseas will display at ATSC. The trade event is being held in coordination with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textile and Apparel (CCCT), and is supported by the Ottawa-based Canadian Apparel Federation (CAF), the Consulate General of China in Toronto, the Trade Office of Peru, and exporting agencies ProMexico and ProColombia. (HO) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Reeling under the impact of cheap Chinese fabrics, Surats textile manufacturers have urged the central govt to act against under-invoicing of fabrics imported from China.Various textile trade associations submitted memorandums to Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding safeguard duty against import of cheap Chinese fabrics. Sitharaman was in Surat to propagate two years of achievements of the Modi government at the Centre, was invited to meet the textile industrialists and traders on Friday. Reeling under the impact of cheap Chinese fabrics, Surat's textile manufacturers have urged the central govt to act against under-invoicing of fabrics imported from China. Various textile trade associations submitted memorandums to Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding safeguard duty against import of cheap Chinese fabrics# She asked the textile industrialists in the country's biggest man-made fabric (MMF) industry to furnish relevant data on Chinese fabric being imported into the country for the central government to initiate appropriate action.We can't impose safeguard duty on Chinese fabrics overnight. The government will have to face many questions in the WTO. However, I suggest the trade to come up with relevant data on Chinese fabric imports and its onslaught on the textile sector," Sitharaman told the textile entrepreneurs.Textile manufacturers in Surat insist that if the government doesnt act fast, it would spell doom for the industry."The industry is running at 50 per cent capacity. Over 2.5 lakh workers are jobless and over 4 lakh powerloom machines closed. This is all due to under-invoicing of fabrics imported from China. Government must act, otherwise the industry is on the verge of closure, said Dhirubhai Shah, managing director of Fairdeal Filaments Limited, underlining the Chinese threat.Earlier this month, the Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) had written to Union Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar demanding that the government slap anti-dumping duty on fabrics imported from China and other countries to save India's domestic man-made fabric (MMF) sector. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India A new chemical safety law is set to come into effect soon in the US with the Senate expected to pass it this week.House Resolution (H.R.) 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, is the culmination of a multi-year, multi-Congress effort to enact the first consequential update of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 40 years, according to a press release from Congressman John Shimkus who piloted the legislation. A new chemical safety law is set to come into effect soon in the US with the Senate expected to pass it this week. House Resolution (H.R.) 2576, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, is the culmination of a multi-year, multi-Congress effort to enact the first consequential update of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in# The White House has said President Obama will sign it into law.There is a widespread acknowledgement and understandable concern that nobody is well served by the current law, Shimkus said in his remarks opening debate on the bill. The legislation before us today is a vast improvement over current law and a careful compromise that is good for consumers, good for jobs and good for the environment.Modernizing TSCA is necessary to improve protections for public health and the environment, to provide the public greater confidence in the safety of US chemicals , and to promote further innovation and economic growth, the release said.The legislation provides the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with more direct tools to obtain testing information on chemical substances an improvement over the lengthy process they now face.It restructures the way existing chemicals are evaluated and regulated allowing a purely scientific evaluation to guide those decisions.The legislation also clarifies the treatment of trade secrets submitted to EPA and ensures the Agency uses only high quality science in their decision making. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India With the US set to rethink the inclusion of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in GSP, Reliance Industries, Ltd. has requested the US International Trade Commission to deny the US Pet Resin Coalition's petition to withdraw GSP duty free treatment for PET imported from India.It said the petitioners have not been adversely affected by the modest level of Indian imports that currently enter the US market. Conversely, GSP benefits have significantly furthered the economic development of Indian producers and the Indian people. Without continued benefits, India will be at a significant competitive disadvantage to other major PET producers like Canada, Mexico, and Oman who receive duty-free treatment," RIL said in a written submission to USITC. With the US set to rethink the inclusion of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in GSP, Reliance Industries, Ltd. has requested the US International Trade Commission to deny the US Pet Resin Coalition's petition to withdraw GSP duty free treatment for PET imported from India. It said the petitioners have not been adversely affected by the modest level# In past proceedings, US International Trade Commission and/or GSP Subcommittee have repeatedly examined PET imports from India in the context of trade remedy and GSP proceedings. In each case India retained GSP status and was found not to be injuring the US industry. The findings of USITC remain valid today, it pointed out.RIL insisted that Indian PET resin constitutes an insignificant share of the US PET market. US PET producers' shipments account for an overwhelming share of the US PET resin market. :The US PET resin market is dominated by four U.S. producers who are part of large multi-national companies that produce and source PET resin around the world. The US industry continues to benefit from a huge market share, the ability to construct new gleaming facilities and dominate key segments of the market.Mexican and Canadian imports dwarf lndian PET resin imports. The US producers' position in the US market is further fortified by imports from affiliates in Mexico that U.S. producers' control. The largest source of imports is from Mexico. 100% of Mexican PET resin production facilities are owned and controlled by the same corporate groups that control two of the key US producers. The domestic industry treats North America as a single integrated market, drawing upon substantial imports from its Mexico and Canada plants to supply the US market, RIL maintained.RIL maintained India will continue to be a marginal supplier to the US market. Under these circumstances, it is inconceivable that continuation of duty-free treatment will adversely affect the US PET resin industry, it said.RILs response came after the PET Resin Coalition filed a petition with the US Trade Representative (USTR) requesting the removal of products from India classified under the HTS subheading from India from the list of articles eligible for duty-free treatment under the provisions of the GSP.The PET Resin Coalition is an ad hoc group of US PET resin producers and composed of DAK Americans, LLC, Indorama Ventures, M&G Chemicals , and NanYa Plastics Corporation, America. Samantha Prabhu has flown to Bangalore to promote her upcoming release, A..Aa. The actress, who caught up with FilmiBeat exclusively, spoke about a few interesting things, other than her last summer release. When quizzed if the smiley ball has any significance in the movie, as it is being seen in each frame in the trailer, along with her, Samantha was surprised to know that we noticed it. She revealed that it indeed has a connect to the story and said its her stress buster in the movie. Talking about A..Aa, Samantha expressed that the film will be one of the best films in her career, both in terms of work satisfaction and the memorable moments that she had on the sets. When asked about her hard-hitting reply to a troll, recently on twitter, Samantha opined that negativity on the social networking platforms is increasing and thinks that the people should know actors are not any machines. The actress maintained that nobody should talk about her marriage until she talks about it, the next time. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - SVG Capital plc (SVI.L) said that it has received a proposal from certain investment funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Alternative Investments & Manager Selection Group and certain investment entities managed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for the acquisition of 100 per cent of SVG's investment portfolio. The Proposal is being evaluated urgently by the Company and the Board will update the market as soon as possible. The Board continues to recommend that shareholders do not accept HarbourVest Bidco's offer. 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) -- 08/24/16 -- First American International Corp. (OTCQB: FAIT) (www.faib.com) (the "Company"), the holding company for First American International Bank (the "Bank"), today reported net income available to shareholders for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 of $386,000 and $894,000 for the first half of 2016. Earnings per share available to common shareholders were $0.18 per share for the second quarter and $0.41 for the first half of 2016, both basic and diluted. Net Income and Results of Operations The Company today reported net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 of $386,000, $0.18 per share, and $894,000, $0.41 per share, for first half of 2016. The income available to common shareholders is after deduction of $199,000 in Troubled Asset Relief Program ("TARP") costs, consisting of preferred stock dividends ($85,000) and discount accretion ($114,000) for the quarter and $397,000 in TARP costs, consisting of preferred stock dividends ($170,000) and discount accretion ($227,000) for the first half of 2016. This compares to a net loss of $5,000, or $0.00 per share, basic and diluted, for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, and net income of $113,000 for the first half of 2015 also after deduction of TARP dividends and discount accretion. The Company also reported a return on average assets of 0.21% for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, compared to 0.00% for the same period in 2015 and a return on average equity of 2.80% for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, compared to -0.04% for the same period in 2015. Due principally to a reduction in mortgage interest rates during 2016, the Company recorded a $1,281,000 pre-tax loss on the value of Mortgage Serving Rights ("MSR") in June 2016, compared to the Company recognizing a $266,000 pre-tax gain in June of 2015. The value of MSR is the market value of the right to earn fees for servicing loans. Because loan prepayment speeds tend to change with changes in interest rates, an increase or decrease in interest rates generally results in an increase or decrease in MSR value. The Company recognized a $751,000 gain in June 2016 attributable to the release of escrow related to the Company's satisfaction of a post-sale performance requirement for the sale in September 2015 of the property located at 135 Bowery, New York, NY. The Company also recorded a one-time severance expense of $235,000 in the second quarter of 2016 in connection with a reduction in staff that resulted from increased productivity and moving branches to a six-day a week schedule; but with alternating weekend days opened at nearby branches, thus ensuring seven-day a week availability in the Bank's key markets of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Flushing, Queens and Chinatown, Manhattan. The net impact of the one-time MSR and severance charges, which were partially offset by the one-time gain for the sale of property, decreased pre-tax income in the second quarter of 2016 by $765,000 ($505,000 after taxes). The increase in quarterly earnings over the same period in 2015 is due principally to a year-over-year increase in interest income of $945,000, or 15%, and a decrease in non-interest expense of $415,000, or 6.4%, which was offset partially by a year-over-year decrease in non-interest income of $865,000, or 42.8% and an increase in interest expense of $405,000 or 41.1%. "I continue to be pleased with our progress in growing core earnings and reducing operating expenses. Although the reduction in the value of mortgage servicing rights is significant, I believe the value of the Bank's mortgage servicing portfolio continues to be strong and a reliable source of income. Although, my optimism continues to be tempered by the impact that the prolonged low interest rate environment, competition and regulatory burdens are having on net interest margin and profitability. As such, our team will continue to focus on generating high quality loans, growing customer relationships and deposits and controlling expenses. The Bank also continues to utilize borrowings and wholesale funding to support growth," said Mark Ricca, President and Chief Executive Officer. Net Interest Income Net interest income for the three months ended June 30, 2016, before provision for loan losses, was $5.9 million, an increase of $540,000, or 10.1%, from the prior year. The increase in net interest income is attributable principally to an increase in average interest earning assets of $151.3 million, or 27.7%, from $546.5 million in the second quarter of 2015 to $697.8 million in the same period in 2016, partially offset by an increase in interest expense from an increase in average interest bearing liabilities of $103.3 million, or 26.1%, from $395.3 million in the 2015 quarter to $498.7 million in 2016. Earnings were also negatively impacted by a 54 basis point decrease in net interest margin from 3.90% for the three months ended June 30, 2015 to 3.37% for the same period in 2016. Interest income increased by $945,000, or 15.0%, to $7.3 million in the second quarter of 2016 from $6.3 million in the same quarter in 2015. The yield earned on loans declined 80 basis points to 4.67% for the second quarter of 2016 from 5.47% in 2015. The decrease was principally due to the continued low interest rate environment and competition, resulting in the Bank originating new loans at lower rates than the existing portfolio. Average commercial real estate loans outstanding increased $107.8 million, including a $49.0 million loan participation purchase at a net yield of 3.32%, and average residential loans outstanding increased $47.1 million for the second quarter compared to the prior year quarter. The average volume of securities decreased from $100.2 million in the second quarter of 2015 to $81.7 million in the second quarter of 2016, as repayments were redeployed into loans. The average yield on securities increased by 38 basis points due to the Bank investing in more intermediate term investments, while also allowing lower yielding municipal bonds to roll off. The net effect of the decrease in volume and the increase in yield was a $15,000 decrease in interest and dividends earned on securities during the second quarter of 2016 compared to the second quarter of 2015. Interest expense increased during the second quarter of 2016 compared to 2015 by $405,000, or 41.1%. The average cost of interest bearing deposits increased 12 basis points to 0.86% in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the same quarter of 2015. This was mostly due to a change in the deposit mix. The average balance of certificates of deposit, our highest cost deposit category, increased by $63.2 million, from $190.0 million in 2015 to $253.2 million in 2016. The average rate paid on certificates of deposit increased by 7 basis points from 1.05% in 2015 to 1.12% in 2016. The average balance of money market deposit accounts and savings decreased by $12.1 million, from $133.1 million in 2015 to $121.0 million in 2016 with the average rate paid increasing slightly from 0.31% to 0.32%. Provision for Loan Losses The Company made no provision for loan losses in Q2 of 2016 or Q2 of 2015. Management believes the existing $9.2 million allowance, aggregating 1.53% of total loans, is appropriate. Non-interest Income Non-interest income was $1.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, a decrease of $865,000, or 42.8%, compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2015. The decrease is mainly due to the reduction in the value of the mortgage servicing rights of $1.28 million which is recorded as a reduction in the gain on sale of mortgages and a decrease of $390,000 in non-deposit investment income, which is principally caused by a regulatory change reducing the earnings the Bank can receive on the sale of certain investments which was partially offset by the additional gain on sale of 135 Bowery of $751,000. Non-interest Expenses Non-interest expenses were $6.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 compared to $6.5 million in 2015, a decrease of $415,000, or 6.4%. The decrease is mainly due to a decrease in occupancy expenses of $191,000, other professional fees of $180,000, and loan related expenses of $109,000. Balance Sheet Highlights Assets Total assets at June 30, 2016 were $729.4 million, an increase of $137.8 million, or 23.3%, versus June 30, 2015. Total loans receivable were $607.6 million at June 30, 2016, an increase of $170.7 million, or 39.1%, compared to one year earlier. The increase is due principally to a $115.8 million increase in commercial mortgage loans, which includes $49.0 million of loan participations at a net yield of 3.32% purchased in December 2015, and an increase of $56.3 million of adjustable rate 1-4 family mortgage loans. Overnight investments decreased by $2.3 million, or 9.8%, to $21.6 million, while investment securities decreased by $18.0 million, or 19.7%, to $73.5 million. These funds were used to fund our loan portfolio. Fixed assets held for sale at June 30, 2015 were $13.1 million. This represented the value of the building at 135 Bowery, New York, NY which was sold during the third quarter of 2015. The Company recognized a $751,000 additional gain in connection with the sale of the property during Q2 of 2016. Asset Quality At June 30, 2016, nonperforming loans totaled $3.5 million, or 0.58% of total loans, compared to $4.5 million, or 1.04% of total loans one year earlier. Total delinquent loans declined by 76% to $1.0 million or 0.17% of total loans at June 30, 2016, compared to $4.1 million or 0.93% at June 30, 2015. The allowance for loan losses was $9.2 million, or 1.53% of total loans at June 30, 2016, compared to $8.3 million, or 1.91%, at June 30, 2015. Deposits Deposits increased by $69.3 million, or 15.6%, from $444.7 million at June 30, 2015 to $514.0 million and were utilized to fund loan portfolio growth. Certificates of deposit were $255.9 million, an increase of $64.8 million, or 33.9%. Demand deposits increased $8.6 million, or 7.2%, compared to June 30, 2015. NOW accounts increased $654,000, or 20.0%. Savings and money market accounts decreased $4.8 million, or 3.6%. Borrowings Federal Home Loan Bank of New York ("FHLBNY") borrowings increased by $66.0 million, or 98.5% to $133.0 million, $45.0 million of the increase is for a three-year term at 1.59% and was incurred in connection the Bank's purchase of $49.0 million in loan participations in December 2015. Total FHLBNY borrowings at June 30, 2016 mainly consist of three year, five year and seven year term borrowings at a higher rate than deposits to help provide a cost-effective source of funding and to help the Bank manage interest rate risk. Junior subordinated debentures The subordinated debentures of $7.2 million consist of the Company's trust preferred securities transaction originated in 2004. Stockholders' Equity Stockholders' equity was $69.4 million, or 9.51% of total assets, at June 30, 2016, a $1.8 million, or 2.7%, increase from June 30, 2015. The increase was due mainly to retained net income. About First American International Corp. First American International Corp. is the holding company for First American International Bank, a community development financial institution ("CDFI") and a minority depository institution ("MDI") with eight full service branches, including offering consumer and business banking and loan products and services, and non-deposit insured investment products and services, serving principally the Chinese-American communities in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in New York City. See accompanying unaudited financial data tables for additional information. Please note that prior period financial information may have been revised to conform to current period classifications, the impact of such changes was not material. The information contained herein is intended to provide the reader with historical information about the financial results of First American International Corp. It is not intended to provide forward looking statements or projections of future results. A variety of factors could cause actual results and experiences to differ materially from historical results and anticipated results based on historical results. First American International Corp. Financial Highlights (unaudited) (in thousands) Balance Sheet Items 6/30/2016 3/31/2016 6/30/2015 --------- --------- --------- Cash and cash equivalents Cash and due from banks - noninterest bearing $ 5,719 $ 5,324 $ 5,819 Due from banks - interest bearing 21,207 44,828 23,123 Federal funds sold 374 948 795 --------- --------- --------- Total cash and cash equivalents 27,300 51,100 29,736 Time deposits with banks 3,697 3,947 3,209 Securities Securities available for sale 44,574 47,874 72,665 Securities held to maturity 28,888 27,776 18,816 --------- --------- --------- Total securities 73,462 75,650 91,481 Loans Loans held for sale 2,770 982 1,683 Real estate - commercial 260,063 221,375 144,268 Real estate - residential 345,286 323,995 289,006 Commercial and industrial 426 227 2,077 Consumer and installment 386 383 720 Unearned loan fees (1,377) (850) (912) --------- --------- --------- Loans receivable, gross 607,555 546,113 436,842 Allowance for loan losses (9,234) (9,223) (8,294) --------- --------- --------- Loans, net 598,321 536,889 428,547 Bank premises and equipment 6,864 7,070 7,678 Fixed assets held for sale - - 13,149 Federal Home Loan Bank stock 6,786 5,674 3,649 Accrued interest receivable 2,453 2,387 2,104 Mortgage servicing rights 6,097 7,351 7,487 Other assets 4,392 4,819 4,543 --------- --------- --------- Total Assets $ 729,372 $ 694,888 $ 591,582 ========= ========= ========= Demand deposits $ 128,078 $ 127,086 $ 119,446 NOW accounts 3,927 2,903 3,273 Money market and savings 126,167 117,980 130,941 Certificate of deposit 255,861 253,591 191,053 --------- --------- --------- Total deposits 514,033 501,560 444,712 Borrowings 133,000 112,000 67,000 Junior subordinated debentures 7,217 7,217 7,217 Accrued interest payable 1,372 1,129 1,111 Accounts payable and other liabilities 4,365 4,274 3,996 --------- --------- --------- Total Liabilities 659,987 626,181 524,036 Stockholders' equity 69,385 68,707 67,546 --------- --------- --------- Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 729,372 $ 694,888 $ 591,582 ========= ========= ========= First American International Corp. Financial Highlights (unaudited) ($ in thousands except per share data) Summary Income Statement Year to Date Quarter ended -------------------- -------------------- 6/30/2016 6/30/2015 6/30/2016 6/30/2015 --------- --------- --------- --------- Interest income $ 14,226 $ 12,451 $ 7,263 $ 6,318 Interest expense 2,679 1,976 1,389 984 --------- --------- --------- --------- Net interest income 11,547 10,475 5,874 5,334 Provision for loan losses 367 - - - Net interest income after provision for loan losses 11,180 10,475 5,874 5,334 Non-interest income 2,611 3,794 1,158 2,023 Non-interest expenses 11,818 12,921 6,106 6,521 --------- --------- --------- --------- Income before income taxes 1,974 1,349 926 836 Income taxes 683 850 342 647 --------- --------- --------- --------- Net income $ 1,291 $ 499 $ 585 $ 189 ========= ========= ========= ========= Less: Preferred Stock dividends and discount accretion 397 386 199 193 --------- --------- --------- --------- Net income available to shareholders $ 894 $ 113 $ 386 $ (5) ========= ========= ========= ========= Year to Date Quarter ended -------------------- -------------------- 6/30/2016 6/30/2015 6/30/2016 6/30/2015 --------- --------- --------- --------- Performance Ratios Return on average assets 0.26% 0.04% 0.21% 0.00% Return on average net worth (less TARP) 3.29% 0.43% 2.80% -0.04% Average interest earning assets/bearing liabilities 107.65% 107.03% 107.61% 107.06% Net interest rate spread 3.10% 3.57% 3.05% 3.63% Net interest margin 3.41% 3.84% 3.37% 3.90% Yield on loans 4.75% 5.43% 4.67% 5.47% Average cost of deposits 0.83% 0.74% 0.86% 0.74% Net interest income after provision/total expense 94.60% 81.07% 96.21% 81.79% Non-interest income to total revenue 15.51% 23.36% 15.94% 32.02% Non-interest expense to total revenue 70.19% 79.54% 72.51% 78.18% Non- interest expense to average assets 1.69% 2.23% 1.69% 2.23% Net Worth and Asset Quality Ratios Average net worth to average total assets 10.14% 11.91% 10.14% 11.91% Total net worth to assets end of period 9.57% 11.50% 9.57% 11.50% Non-performing assets to total assets 0.48% 0.76% 0.48% 0.76% Non-performing loans to total loans 0.58% 1.04% 0.58% 1.04% Allowance for loan losses to total loans 1.53% 1.91% 1.53% 1.91% Allowance for loan losses to NPLs 261.80% 184.10% 261.80% 184.10% Capital, Book Value and Earnings Per Share Risk based total capital ratio (Bank) 15.83% 20.10% 15.83% 20.10% Tier 1 risk based capital (Bank) 14.57% 18.84% 14.57% 18.84% Leverage ratio (Bank) 10.46% 12.60% 10.46% 12.60% Book value per share basic $ 24.23 $ 23.60 $ 24.23 $ 23.60 Diluted EPS available to common shareholders $ 0.41 $ 0.05 $ 0.18 $ 0.00 For further information, please contact Mark Ricca Chief Executive Officer (212) 619-8338 Ext 2823 Searchmetrics, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of SEO software and analytics tools, secured nearly $8m in debt financing. Kreos Capital provided the financial resources. The company will use the proceeds to implement a plan for innovations in the field via new data-driven products features and services. Founded in late 2007 and led by Chief Executive Officer Volker Smid, Searchmetrics provides a search optimization and content performance software suite which contains a large global and historical database, spanning search, content, PPC, social and mobile. The software now in its sixth generation includes rankings of more than 120 million domains and one billion URLs and monitors more than 600 million keywords. In March, the company introduced Mobile App Rankings, giving businesses a new tool to track a particular applications performance against competitors. Headquartered in Berlin, with offices in London, New York and San Mateo, Searchmetrics has raised more than $31m in equity funding over five rounds since it Major investors include Holtzbrinck Digital and Iris Capital. FinSMEs 28/05/2016 PARIS Thunderclaps, rain delays, an inspired home favourite roared on by a partisan crowd -- it was all in a day's work for reigning champion Serena Williams as the world number one roared into the second week of the French Open on Saturday. The 34-year-old American needed all her experience and tenacity to fight off France's Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 7-6(10) in an absorbing contest to set up a last-16 clash with Ukraine's Elina Svitolina who beat 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-4. There was further French disappointment later when popular sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire against unseeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis leading 5-2. Tsonga, who has come closer than anyone to emulating Yannick Noah, the last home man to win the French Open in 1983, walked off with tears in his eyes after appearing to hurt his knee. Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, last year's semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky and unseeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva all booked their fourth-round spots before the rains came. As did rising Austrian Dominic Thiem, the 13th seed, who continued his fine claycourt season to beat German teenager Alexander Zverev 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 6-3. The 22-year-old will face Marcel Granollers next, not more illustrious Spaniard Rafael Nadal who rocked the tournament on Friday when he withdrew because of a left wrist injury. With Roger Federer back in Switzerland with a back injury and twice women's champion Maria Sharapova provisionally banned pending the outcome of an anti-doping hearing, the tournament is already missing some of its star turns. So there was already tension in the air as 21-times grand slam champion Williams stepped on court to face the hard-hitting Mladenovic for the first time in her long career. Everything seemed to be going to plan as Williams took the opening set despite some impressive play from her opponent who used the drop shot to great effect throughout. As the sky darkened and fat rain drops began landing on the clay late in the second Williams seemed anxious to finish the contest but Mladenovic stayed strong and forced a tiebreak just at the moment the heavens opened. When the contest resumed two and a half hours later Williams made a hash of the first few points and trailed 2-5. She recovered to lead 6-5 but made an ugly mess of an overhead on match point, then on her second chance to close it out she walloped a forehand long after pouncing on a loopy Mladenovic drop shot that sat up begging. Williams saved a set point with a swing volley before another match point came and went but she could finally produce her victory roar when her opponent sent a forehand wide at 10-11. "It was very difficult today she played really well," Williams, bidding for a fourth French Open title, said. "She forced me to play my best tennis today." Spain's ever-reliable David Ferrer reached the last 16 for the sixth consecutive year by beating compatriot Feliciano Lopez. Top seed Novak Djokovic was initially moved from the Court Philippe Chatrier to the smaller Suzanne Lenglen Court as organisers re-jigged the programme because of the rain, before Tsonga's misfortune sent him back to the main arena. The Serb took to court at 7.15pm local time (1715 GMT, 1:15 PM ET) and was facing a race against the clock to beat Britain's Aljaz Bedene before light failed. (Editing by Julien Pretot) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma walked through the door of Batla House on the morning of 18 September, 2008, looking for a man about whom he knew just two things: he had missing front teeth, and was likely linked to India's most dangerous terrorists. Huffing from the unaccustomed climb up the stairs, and profusely sweating in Delhi's miserable August heat, Sharma had taken off his bullet-proof jacket. He had no reason to believe the men he was looking for were armed, anyway. He was wrong. Delhi additional sessions judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri's conviction of Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad for Sharma's murder wasn't needed to settle the question of whether the Batla House encounter was legitimate or not: the National Human Rights Commission settled that question in 2009, and the Supreme Court later concurred. In trial courts in Delhi, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, alleged Indian Mujahideen operatives are being tried for the terrorist network's bombings-a process that could go on, as so many other trials do in India, for years. For the families of the hundreds who died in those attacks, though, this is one small step towards justice. Long weeks of investigation preceded Sharma's journey to L18. In the days after the Indian Mujahideen's 27 July bomb attacks in Ahmedabad, police in multiple states had made taken the first steps towards unravelling the network-responsible for multiple, unsolved attacks since 2005. See table here. The Mumbai Police crime branch arrested Afzal Usmani, an organised crime linked figure who had provided the stolen cars used in the Gujarat attacks. Usmani, police sources say, told his interrogators that he'd handed the cars to alleged Indian Mujahideen operative Qayamuddin Kapadia-now being tried in Gujarat. From Usmani, the investigators also learned that top commander he knew as 'Bashir', a man he said had missing front teeth, left Ahmedabad on 26 July for a safe house at Jamia Nagar. The information wasn't shared with other police forces, though, and the hunt for 'Bashir' and Kapadia drew a blank. The second key lead was gathered by the Gujarat Police crime branch. A Bharuch resident contacted the police to report that the vehicles used as car bombs in Ahmedabad had been parked by his tenant. Deputy Commissioner Abhay Chudasma had little to go on, bar one small clue: the mobile phone used by the tenant to communicate with the landlord. It turned out, though, that the phone had gone silent after the Ahmedabad bombings. Phone records, though, helped, Gujarat police investigators determined that the cell phone was one of the five used by the perpetrators between 7 and 26 July the day of the serial bombings. They also learned that the perpetrators had observed rigorous communication security procedures, calling these numbers only from public telephones. But the perpetrators had made one communication security error: between 16 and 22 July, 2008, one of the five Gujarat phones had been used in the Jamia Nagar area. This phone had received just five calls, all from public phones at Jamia Nagar. Then, on 24 July, the phone became active again in Ahmedabad. The investigators soon found evidence of a second link between the Ahmedabad bombings and the Jamia Nagar area. On 19 July, a cell phone used in Bharuch received a call from Mumbai, this made from an eastern Uttar Pradesh number. Immediately after this, a call was made from the eastern Uttar Pradesh phone to a number at Jamia Nagar, registered to a local resident called Mohammad Atif Amin. Putting together this information, the investigators came to believe that Atif Amin either provided shelter to 'Bashir', or the two were one and the same person. Inspector Sharma was asked to settle the issue. Dharmindar Kumar, a sub-inspector with the Delhi Police's counter-terrorism Special Cell, was dressed up in a tie and shirt, and given the unhappy task of doorstepping Batla House flats in search of Bashir. Kumar was to knock on doors, pretending to be a salesman for Vodafone. He heard voices at Amin's door, and called for backup. Head constable Balwant Rana, who was by Sharmas side, knocked on the front door, identifying themselves as police officers. There was no response. Then, the officers walked down an L shaped corridor which led to a second door. This door was unlocked. Sharma and Rana, as they entered, were fired upon from the front of and to the right of the door. When the rest of the special team, armed only with small arms, went in to support Sharma and Rana, two terrorists ran out through the now-unguarded front door. Atif Amin was killed in the return of fire, along with Mohammad Sajid. Mohammad Saif, probably wisely, locked himself up in a toilet. Shahzad Ahmad fled, only to be arrested later-holed up with a prominent Samajwadi Party politician in Mumbai, who eventually brokered his hand-over to police. Experts say that Sharmas team made several tactical errors-errors they wouldn't have made if the Delhi Police had a proper special weapons and tactics unit, or even rudimentary training programmes for search-and-entry procedures. In the United States or Europe, a Batla House-style operation would have been carried out by a highly trained assault unit equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment. Given their resources and training, Sharma and his men did as well as could be expected. Doctors at the Holy Family Hospital in New Friends Colony, and experts at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences Trauma Centre, provided evidence that Sharma he was fired at from two directions. One bullet hit him in the left shoulder and exited through the left upper arm; the other hit the right side of the abdomen, exiting through the hip. The investigators believe that the abdomen wound was inflicted with Amins weapon and the shoulder hit, by Mohammad Sajid. Much was made of a newspaper photograph which shows that Sharmas shirt was not covered in blood, with some activists charging that it demonstrates he was shot in the back. Forensic experts, however, note that bleeding from firearms injuries takes place through exit woundsnot, as in bad pop films, at the point of entry. In the photograph, signs of a bullet having ripped through Sharmas shirt are evident on his visible shoulder; so, too, is evidence of the profuse bleeding from the back. For years now, politicians like the Congress' Digvijaya Singh have sought to cash in on the contention-preying on the insecurities of Muslims in north India about communal retaliation and scapegoating. It's a pernicious politics, founded on dishonesty. In a 2008 article, the University of Delawares Director of Islamic Studies, Muqtedar Khan, lashed out at "intellectually dishonest representatives of Muslims who live in denial. They first deny that there is such a thing as jihadi terrorism, Khan noted, resorting to conspiracy theories blaming every act of jihadi violence either on Israel, the US or India. Then they argue that unjust wars by these three nations [in Palestine, Iraq and Kashmir] are the primary cause for jihadi violence; a phenomenon whose very existence they have already denied. The Delhi court's judgment today isn't the end of the battle: there will be appeals, and cases in other states will take years to finish. It's a small step forward, though, towards ending the denial. New Delhi: In a first in India's electoral history, the Election Commission on Saturday decided to rescind the notification and conduct polls afresh "in due course of time" to two Tamil Nadu Assembly seats following evidence of use of money to influence voters. Earlier, EC had on two occasions postponed polls to Aravkurichi and Tanjavur Assembly constituencies following reports of large scale distribution of money and gifts to voters by the candidates and political parties. Initially, the polls were postponed from 16 May to 23 May. On 21 May, EC had decided to once again postpone the polls to 13 June. Tamil Nadu went to Assembly polls on 16 May when AIADMK returned to power for a second consecutive term. EC said it took the decision after considering reports of observers, special teams of central observers, report of the special team of observers of Aravkurichi and Tanjavur constituencies and representations of contesting candidates. "The EC is satisfied that the election process in the two constituencies, because of inducing electors by candidates and political parties by offering money and other gifts to woo them in their favour, is seriously vitiated and cannot be allowed to proceed and ought to be rescinded so that fresh elections may be conducted de novo in these two constituencies when the atmosphere becomes conducive to the holding of free and fair elections after a reasonable lapse of time," an official said quoting a Commission order. The Commission usually takes such a harsh step when there are evidences that muscle power has been used to influence voters. But cancelling polls following use of money to induce voters is so far unheard of. The DMK, meanwhile, today once again petitioned the Commission to hold polling in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur Assembly constituencies before June 6 and not on June 13 due to the Ramzan season and Rajya Sabha elections to Tamil Nadu. Referring to a Madras High Court directive to EC to take a decision on the polling date for the two Assembly seats by 27 May, DMK said it had not yet received response from EC to its request made earlier in this regard. "We have not yet received any communication from you regarding our request, which is ordered to be considered preferably before May 27, i.e. yesterday. Hence we are submitting this reminder," DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi said in a memorandum to CEC Nasim Zaidi. Mumbai: Opposition NCP in Maharashtra on Saturday targeted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegedly wasting water to clean a road in Amravati ahead of his visit there for an event. "The road between Irwin Chowk and Panchvati Chowk was cleaned for the Chief Minister's event. This was avoidable wastage of water at a time when that district, like several other parts of the state, is reeling under acute water crisis," Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said. "Fadnavis should clarify on the water wastage," Munde said. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said action should be taken against those responsible for water wastage. Malik recalled water was also wasted for preparing a helipad which state Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse's helicpoter needed to land on. At a time when several parts of Maharashtra are facing a severe water crisis, thousands of litres of water were used for a make-shift helipad at a village in Latur where Khadse landed last month for reviewing the drought situation, he said. Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said she would not hesitate to step down if commitments made in the Agenda of Alliance with BJP do not materialise and the chair becomes an "impediment" in fulfilling her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's "vision" for Jammu and Kashmir. In her first address as Chief Minister in the Assembly, she noted that safeguarding Article 370 that gives special status to the state was included in the Agenda, which was "no small feat". She also defended the demand for self-rule for restoration of peace in the state, saying it was "not a sin" and fingers should not be pointed at BJP on inclusion of several of its provisions in their common programme. "The chair will not be my weakness. I will continue in the chair till I feel it is my strength. If I feel it has become my weakness I will not continue. "The commitments I have made which are part of Agenda of Alliance, if those Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) materialise well and good. If not what is a big deal...I have assumed this chair to fulfill the vision of my father," Mehbooba said while replying to the motion of thanks to Governor's address in the Assembly. In a point-by-point rebuttal of the opposition's criticism, the Chief Minister said her father's vision was to find ways for taking Jammu and Kashmir out of the difficult situation it finds itself in. On her party's self rule formula for resolution of Kashmir issue, she said it was in the benefit of both India and Pakistan and most of its features were part of the recommendations made by the Prime Minister's working group set up in 2005. "We have all signed it (working group recommendations). The joint mechanism was also discussed in these recommendations which envisaged 10 representatives from both the countries meeting twice every year. Self rule is not a sin that you will point fingers at BJP time and again on it," she said. "It is in the benefit of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Pakistan and the subcontinent if the state prospers and there is peace. It can become an example for conflict resolution around the world," Mehbooba said. She said the biggest failure of leadership in the state as well as the national level has been the inability to bring the Valley and Jammu regions closer. "Article 370 of Indian constitution guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu as well as Kashmir have the same right under this provision. However, a perception has been created as if this provision is anti- Jammu," she said. Mehbooba said inclusion of safeguarding the Article 370 in the Agenda of Alliance between her PDP and BJP was no small feat. "Although no one can repeal Article 370, do you want them (BJP) to repeal it," she asked the opposition. Advocating good relations between India and Pakistan, Mehbooba said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are the worst sufferers of any hostility between the two countries. "Good relations for Pakistan are necessary for Jammu and Kashmir. Border people get affected when there is firing. The people living near the border in Jammu are the first sufferers and then it spreads to other border areas," she said. Mehbooba said good relations with Pakistan would not only benefit the people of Kashmir only but the entire state. Praising former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his peace initiatives with Pakistan, Mehbooba said, "We had ceasefire along the borders and there was peace and infiltration figures also dropped. Even Pakistan at that time said it will not allow its soil to be used against India. Unfortunately, Vajpayee ji did not return in 2004 (polls)." The Chief Minister said it needs courage like Vajpayee or Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan as the latter "strolled" into the neighbouring country. Stressing that there was scope for cooperation with Pakistan which will benefit both the countries, she said, "They need electricity which we can provide. We need gas which we can get from there." Mufti said the Centre has sanctioned two AIIMS hospitals, one at Awantipora (Kashmir) and one in Samba (Jammu), and two smart cities. They have received an initial grant of Rs 1 crore for preparing detailed project reports for smart cities. Opposition leader Omar Abdullah interrupted her seeking a correction in her statement on the smart cities. "Please don't mislead the House. You said two smart cities have been sanctioned but the order says two cities from Jammu and Kashmir will go through the competition process," he said. "It is an assurance to me from the PM," she said. She also hit out at NC for handing over power projects to NHPC when it was in power and said they were trying to bring back some of the projects. San Diego, Calif Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of Americas busiest border crossing on Friday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, California, amid one of the largest counter-demonstrations organized against him. Inside the San Diego Convention Center was a relatively placid scene for the rally, while outside demonstrators against Trump's controversy-riddled White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing Trump's message against illegal immigration. Waving U.S. and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out to protest Trump San Diego, a city which sits just 15 miles from the Mexican border city and where a third of residents are Latino. Video posted on social media sites showed protesters attempting to breach a barrier set up by police, climbing over railings and throwing objects at officers, who used their night sticks in an attempt to hold back the crowd. At least one arrest was made. Trump has weathered months of blowback from all ends of the political spectrum for his immigration policy, which calls for the building of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. Critics have said his plan is needlessly cruel and impossible to implement. At Trump's campaign stops, attendees often chant "build the wall." Friday was not the first time Trump has been greeted by civil unrest in California, which is home to the largest Latino population in the country. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests. WAITING FOR "FIRST PLACE FINISHER" Shortly before taking the stage in San Diego, Trump issued a statement ruling out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was also campaigning in California, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle. The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California's June 7 primary. A day after saying he would welcome a debate with Sanders, Trump called the idea "inappropriate" because as the Republican presumptive nominee he should only face the Democrats' final choice. "I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement. Sanders campaign had been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the New York billionaire on a talk show this week. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday. "I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now youre telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again," Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account. "Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?" he said. Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity. Id love to debate Bernie, he told a rally in Fresno, California. But the networks want to keep the money for themselves. Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their partys nomination, but opinion polls show he is slicing into her lead in California. Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous. The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trumps support surged two weeks ago. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise in Washington and Chris Kahn in New York, Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. SANTIAGO Chile's President Michelle Bachelet voluntarily testified earlier this week with the national prosecutor's office as part of a probe into alleged tax crimes by her daughter-in-law Natalia Compagnon, the government said late on Friday. While Bachelet has not been accused of any wrongdoing, the case has been one of a number of high-profile money-in-politics scandals to come to light over the last year, sowing discontent among Chileans and dragging the President's popularity to all-time lows. Interior Minister Jorge Burgos disclosed on Friday that he informed Bachelet that he had received a request from the prosecutor's office for the President to voluntarily testify in the probe. "I'm available to testify immediately," Bachelet said, according to Burgos. A Chilean court in January officially pegged Compagnon as a criminal suspect, as investigators look into allegations that she issued false tax declarations, misrepresented her income, and issued fraudulent invoices relating to a real estate concern she half-owns. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara and Anthony Esposito, Editing by Franklin Paul) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Panama City: The law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers revelations is closing its offices in the British-dependent territories of Jersey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar, it has tweeted. Mossack Fonseca "will be ceasing operations" in those territories, "but we will continue serving all of our clients," it said. "This decision has been taken with great regret, as Mossack Fonseca has had a presence in these locations for more than 20 years," the Panama-based law firm added. The office closures were part of a strategy to "consolidate our service office network," it said. The announcement came nearly eight weeks after the first reports about the Panama Papers emerged, divulging details taken from nearly four decades of records from Mossack Fonseca's computer archives. They revealed that many prominent leaders, politicians, celebrities and wealthy individuals around the world used Mossack Fonseca to start up or run offshore entities to hold their assets. Although offshore companies are not in themselves illegal, the sudden publication of the information drew attention to possible tax avoidance and money laundering crimes in some cases, and embarrassed some figures trying to keep their finances secret. News of the closure of Mossack Fonseca's offices in Jersey and Isle of Man two Crown dependencies of Britain and Gibraltar a British overseas territory jutting off from Spain was reported earlier this week by local media in those territories and the BBC. The law firm in Panama did not confirm the information on Thursday when contacted by AFP. While its tweets yesterday said those closures were happening, they made no mention of another report circulating this week in US media, about Mossack Fonseca's affiliate in the state of Nevada resigning as the agent for 1,000 companies it administered there. WASHINGTON U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders expressed disappointment on Friday after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would not debate Sanders ahead of California's June 7 primary. "I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now youre telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again," Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Howard Goller) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. FRESNO, Calif. U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday ruled out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle. The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California's June 7 primary. A day after saying he would welcome a debate with Sanders, Trump called the idea "inappropriate" because as the Republican presumptive nominee he should only face the Democrats' final choice. "I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement. Sanders campaign has been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the New York billionaire on a talk show this week. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday. "I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now youre telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again," Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account. Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity. Id love to debate Bernie, he told a rally in Fresno, California. But the networks want to keep the money for themselves. Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their partys nomination. Opinion polls show he is slicing into Clintons lead in California. Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous. The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trumps support surged two weeks ago. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson in Fresno; Additional reporting by Alana Wise in Washington and Chris Kahn in New York; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Alistair Bell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Ohio's legislature has agreed to make the state the 25th in the nation to put laws on the books allowing for the possession and use of medical marijuana. The decision comes after $20 million in pro-cannabis spending failed to convince voters to pass pro-pot recreational laws last November. Although the bill has gotten the OK by Ohio's Senate and House, it's yet to be signed into law by Ohio's Governor, John Kasich. The former Republican candidate for president hasn't said if he'll sign the measure, so there's a chance he may veto it. The bill only passed Ohio's Senate by three votes, and in the past, Kasich hasn't been a big supporter of marijuana reform. Last fall, the governor indicated in an appearance on Stephen Colbert's The Late Show that he has reservations regarding marijuana reform, saying, "We don't want to tell our kids 'don't do drugs, but by the way, this one is OK.'" Kasich also wasn't a supporter of last November's failed marijuana initiative. If Kasich does give this bill his blessing, Ohio will begin allowing patients with two dozen medical conditions to use cannabis with a doctor's prescription. However, patients will need to rely on out-of-state suppliers until the infrastructure is in place for widespread access to medical marijuana in the state, and that could take a year or more. Generally, Ohio's bill is similar to medical marijuana laws already on the books in similar states, but it falls short in some ways. Specifically, while the law allows cannabis vaping and edibles, it doesn't allow smoking the herb, and patients won't be able to grow their own marijuana at home for use. Instead, marijuana growers will be overseen by the Ohio Department of Commerce, and the state's pharmacy board will handle registering patients and licensing dispensaries. The bill's shortcomings are keeping marijuana advocates from cheering in the streets. The Ohioans for Medical Marijuana and the Marijuana Policy Project are continuing their efforts to amend Ohio's constitution via a pro-pot question that could appear on the state's ballot this November. The group has until July 6 to collect the 305,000 signatures necessary to get their measure on the ballot this fall. If they do, it's unclear if their efforts will produce a different outcome with voters this time around. Nevertheless, the fact that this medical marijuana bill overcame significant pushback to make its way to Kasich's desk is a good first step in marijuana reform. Now, all eyes are on Kasich to see if he signs it. Shares of Bank of America (BAC 1.08%) are waiting for an opportunity to head higher, trading as they do for 40% less than the bank's book value. But what will trigger their ascent? Multiple factors will play into the performance of Bank of America's stock over the months and years ahead, but one in particular is rapidly approaching. It concerns the upcoming stress tests which the nation's biggest banks must pass in order to return more capital to shareholders. The stress tests are typically held in March, though the results this year are due in June. Their purpose is to determine whether banks with $50 billion or more in assets on their balance sheets will be able to survive a severely adverse economic scenario akin to the financial crisis. Banks that make it through the Federal Reserve-administered gauntlet can raise their dividends or boost share buybacks. Banks that are tripped up by the process, however, must typically wait another 12 months before they're given permission to return more capital to shareholders. A bank's performance on the stress tests filters through to its stock price. According to research by Merrill Lynch, which is a subsidiary of Bank of America, banks that passed the last four tests saw their shares increase both leading up to the tests and following release of the results. Banks that ran into trouble, alternatively, saw their shares fall after results became known. "[W]e believe investors remain highly focused on the outcome of the stress tests and a strong capital return plan could signal that a bank feels comfortable with its regulatory position," wrote Merrill Lynch's Erika Najarian. "We expect those banks with high capital payouts or significant improvements in capital return to outperform." Bank of America doesn't qualify as a bank with a high capital payout, though it could see one of the most significant improvements in capital return this year. Both follow from the fact that the nation's second biggest bank by assets has only been allowed to raise its dividend once since the crisis in 2008. In all other years, either it has not asked for permission to do so, or its request has been denied by regulators. You can see in the chart below how this distinguishes Bank of America from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 0.33%) and Wells Fargo (WFC 0.32%), the first and third biggest banks by assets in America, respectively. The net result is that Bank of America's current dividend payout ratio, which measures the percentage of net income distributed via dividends, is only 16%, according to Yahoo! Finance. That's less than half of many of its peers. Wells Fargo's payout ratio, for example, is 37%, while JPMorgan Chase's is 30%. The silver lining to Bank of America's otherwise disappointing payout ratio is that there's only one direction for it to go: up. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and others will probably get approval to boost their quarterly payouts per share, but few have as much room to improve as Bank of America. It's for this reason that the upcoming stress test could serve as a potent and positive catalyst for the stock of the $2.2 trillion bank. The U.S. Navy needs a new missile. Boeing (BA 2.31%) would like to sell it -- but it may not get the chance. Last year, we told you about the Navy's drive toward "distributed lethality." It's a project that boils down to arming as many Navy ships as possible with as long-ranged and as potent weapons systems as possible to ensure that any single Navy warship can undertake offensive, sea-control, and power-projection missions on its own -- so you won't need to drop an aircraft carrier in the middle of an ocean to ensure the Navy can control it. Problem is, the Navy's current standard armament, the Harpoon anti-ship missile, doesn't cover a lot of territory -- about 67 nautical miles' range. To better serve the Navy's needs, Boeing has developed upgraded versions of the Harpoon, known alternately as the Harpoon Next Generation (Harpoon NG) and Harpoon II+, which feature smaller warheads but twice the range of the original Harpoon. Boeing hopes that if the Navy chooses to deploy the Harpoon NG, it will tap Boeing to upgrade existing stocks of Harpoons to the new configuration. Such upgrades wouldn't bring as much revenue as selling all-new missiles (at $1.2 million a pop). But if you assume that, say, two-thirds of the 7,500 Harpoons sold since the missile's introduction in 1977 are still around today, and that the cost of upgrading an old Harpoon is half the cost of buying a new missile (as Boeing says it is), then that's still a $3 billion market opportunity for Boeing from upgrades alone. And there's additional money to be made selling new Harpoon NGs... There is, however, one problem with this rosy scenario: Boeing has a rival. Dueling missiles According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Boeing earns about a 9.8% pre-tax profit on revenues in its Military Aircraft division, which is responsible for production of the Harpoon. Upgrades on existing Harpoons alone, therefore, could be worth close to $300 million to Boeing -- about $0.46 per share over time. To win those revenues and earn those profits, however, Boeing must beat out a challenger from across the ocean -- and another from closer to home. Competing with Boeing for the Navy's new missile contracts is a joint venture between Norwegian defense powerhouse Kongsberg and its U.S. ally Raytheon (RTN). Together, Kongsberg and Raytheon are trying to convince the Navy to buy Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile instead of Boeing's new-and-improved Harpoon NG. Kongsberg's weapon, with a similar-size warhead but a range of only 107 nautical miles, seems somewhat inferior to the Boeing variant at first glance. But that hasn't prevented Norway from using the missile to arm its naval corvettes and frigates. On the other hand, Kongsberg describes the Naval Strike Missile as "the only fifth generation long range precision strike missile in existence," which would seem to suggest that the weapon possesses "stealth" characteristics lacking in Boeing's offering, which could appeal to the U.S. Navy. The Navy is currently testing both missiles for compatibility with its Littoral Combat Ships, equipping the USS Coronado (LCS 4) with the Harpoon and the USS Freedom (LCS 1) with the Naval Strike Missile. Which missile performs better may determine whether $3 billion-plus in revenue goes to Boeing -- or gets shipped off to Norway instead. How can social-media upstart Snapchat, with scant revenues and ongoing net losses, be worth more than twice microblogging platform Twitter (TWTR 2.67%)? The vanishing-video and photo app is reportedly wrapping up a new round of financing that pegs Snapchat at a cool $20 billion, compared with the $9.8 billion market capitalization Twitter currently sports. Let's quickly examine what led to this social-media changing of the guard. How much is Snapchat worth? According to a number of media outlets, Snapchat is quickly finishing a fresh round of financing that pegs the four-year-old company at a valuation of $20 billion. This fundraising round is technically a follow-on to Snapchat's February Series-F financing, which pegged the company at a $16 billion valuation. However, an analysis from private-funding analyst group VC Experts notes that financing could expand Snapchat's valuation to over $20 billion, should all the shares authorized as part of the fundraising actually become issued. TechCrunch and other outlets are reporting that this follow-on offering indeed pushes Snapchat's valuation to $20 billion. If so, this new valuation makes Snapchat the fifth most valuable privately held unicorn -- a start-up valued in excess of $1 billion -- behind other well-known names such as Uber, Xiaomi, AirBnb, and Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing. So now that we understand the specifics of Snapchat's $20 billion valuation, let's see why it sits at more than double that of Twitter. Why is Snapchat worth more than Twitter? The disparity in valuations between Snapchat and Twitter speak as much to Snapchat's seeming overnight success as to Twitter's post-IPO struggles. Twitter's stock has been decimated over the past year, thanks to issues ranging from slowing growth to management hirings and firings. Internal issues at Twitter aside, what about the fundamentals underpinning these valuations? What supports them? Much of the valuation attached to tech companies whose business models are still evolving is based on growth. Tech investors and venture capitalists love companies that are expanding rapidly. And when it comes to growth, Snapchat trounces Twitter, even though Twitter's revenues easily exceed Snapchat's and Twitter is expected to reach consistent profitability this year. The average analyst estimate calls for Twitter's sales to grow 23% and 21% in the next two years, with revenues totaling $2.7 billion and $3.3 billion . Few companies are ever fortunate enough to surpass $1 billion in sales, so Twitter's accomplishments shouldn't be ignored as much as they seem to be. However, with Twitter's user growth having flatlined in recent quarters, its valuation will probably remain constrained as long as investors see no path for it to address an appreciably larger market, profits notwithstanding. Case in point, Twitter's valuation today sits below its pre-IPO value, which was also based on the idea that Twitter could reach a far larger audience than it has today. This need to expand its addressable market, incidentally, is also why I so strongly advocate that newly reappointed CEO Jack Dorsey needs to innovate more aggressively on the product front. Conversely, though it lags Twitter's financial size today, Snapchat is growing like a weed, giving investors hope that it will become the next Facebook, the next hundred-billion-dollar platform. According to reports, the vanishing-video app has seen its engagement stats explode from a reported 7 billion daily video views at the start of the year to in excess of 10 billion at the end of last month. As it turns an increasing eye toward monetization, Snapchat is reportedly targeting between $300 million and $350 million in sales this year, up nearly sixfold from last year. The company appears to yet have settled on a core monetization strategy, like search ads for Alphabet for example. Instead, Snapchat's monetization efforts today rely on a mix of syndicated short media content from its Discover page, sponsored face covering "stickers" or geofilters (as absurd as that sounds), sponsored collections of location or event-specific images called "stories," and the like. With monetization taking a greater emphasis, Snapchat's long-term revenue model should take clearer shape over the next few years. . Investors, it seems, are betting that Snapchat will indeed become the next major force in online media, whereas Twitter's prospects of securing a similarly vaunted position are far less certain thanks to its recent slowdown. While this line of thinking isn't necessarily based on the same fundamental analysis value investors use to shape their investment decisions, it helps explain why Snapchat is worth more than Twitter. Image source: Microsoft. Windows Phone is all but dead. Gartner's latest market estimates show that Windows Phones accounted for just 0.7% of smartphone sales in the first quarter. Now, the product Microsoft spent $7.2 billion to save looks like it will be done for good. The Windows maker bought Nokia'sphone business about two years ago in order to improve its chances of making a dent in the all-important smartphone market. Long story short: That didn't happen. Microsoft is now planning to focus its phone business extensively on enterprises. So, how much did Microsoft's Nokia purchase cost investors? Why did Microsoft buy the phone business in the first place? Microsoft's decision to purchase Nokia's phone business was really a move of desperation. Nokia had previously agreed to exclusively use Windows Phone on its smartphones, but it was reportedly planning to release an Android device. (It eventually released the Android-powered Nokia X about two months before Microsoft closed its acquisition.) Microsoft wasn't ready to give up on Windows Phone even though Nokia was. It agreed to buy out Nokia's struggling device business for $7.2 billion. Microsoft figured owning the hardware and software of its smartphones would allow it to emulate the most successful company in the industry -- Apple. Unfortunately, Microsoft was unable to execute on that vision. Microsoft's share of the smartphone market has actually shrunk over time. When it bought out Nokia in April of 2014, Windows Phone had a 3% share of the phone market. That number has consistently declined every year, and last quarter, Windows was installed on just 0.7% smartphones sold in the first quarter. Big writedowns Microsoft's failure to execute on its vision of competing with Apple by integrating the hardware and software of its smartphones led to a massive writedown at the end of fiscal 2015. Overall, the company wrote off $7.6 billion from the Nokia acquisition, leading to a $2.1 billion net loss. Microsoft determined that the goodwill on its balance sheet was impaired. Phone sales in the second half of fiscal 2015 failed to meet expectations, and its sales mix had lower gross margins than anticipated. Microsoft didn't see the issues resolving themselves and determined its goodwill was overvalued. It wrote down $5.3 billion in phone hardware goodwill -- 98% -- and another $2.2 billion in phone hardware intangible assets, according to its 10-K filed with the SEC. It also faced $2.1 billion in restructuring charges, including severance packages related to 7,800 layoffs. This year, Microsoft is writing off another $950 million. It will also face restructuring charges again after letting go of another 1,850 employees. Microsoft was able to sell its feature phone business for $350 million recently, so it was at least able to salvage that much from the pile of impaired goodwill and intangible assets burning its balance sheet. Overall, the Nokia investment looks like a complete bust. Microsoft investors lost the original $7.2 billion plus the severance fees the company paid from terminating all those contracts. Microsoft also paid for continued research and development of its phone hardware. In return, it received $350 million for the phone business and some hefty tax write-offs. But management says it's not done yet "We're scaling back, but we're not out!" Terry Myerson, Microsoft's VP of Windows and Devices, said in an internal email. Microsoft is instead focusing on the enterprise space, where it has inroads with its Office software. It's betting the combination of security, manageability, and cross-device capabilities will make it appealing to businesses. That's still no sure thing. Blackberrymay think that tone sounds familiar, since CEO John Chen took the same approach after Blackberry was decimated by Apple in the consumer handset market. The company has yet to turn things around in hardware sales. Microsoft is now serving a very niche market with its mobile device hardware. If it can leverage that into software and cloud service sales, then it might be worth it, but the results won't show up in its phone business. With its assets now written down to practically nothing, investors don't have too much left to lose from Microsoft's continued experimentation with smartphone hardware. The article How Much Did Microsoft's Nokia Purchase Cost Investors? originally appeared on Fool.com. Adam Levy owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft and has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Image source: Spotify. 2015 was a big year for music streaming services. Apple launched Apple Music. Jay-Z relaunched Tidal with a cast of musical artists. Pandora continued to stream billions of hours of music to its listeners. And YouTube, a subsidiary of Google -- an Alphabet company -- launched a paid music-streaming service of its own to compliment one of its biggest uses. But the biggest music streaming service in the world -- with 89 million active listeners as of the end of last year -- just released its annual report filings with regulators in Luxembourg. There's a lot of interesting information in Spotify's report that sheds some light on the state of music streaming. Here, I've collected the most interesting takeaways from Spotify's annual report. Spotify is taking an even bigger share of the market Despite the influx of competition last year from big names like Apple and Tidal, Spotify managed to accelerate its revenue growth in 2015. Revenue grew 80% to reach 1.95 billion euros for the year. That's up from 45% growth in 2014, when it recorded 1.08 billion euros in revenue. We already knew streaming revenue was growing rapidly. IFPI's Global Music Report said streaming revenue grew 45% in 2015 to reach $2.63 billion. With Spotify's revenue growing notably faster than the overall market, it took significant share, and now accounts for about $0.80 for every dollar in streaming revenue. And for those that think it's all those ad-supported streamers bolstering Spotify's numbers, consider that Spotify's paid subscription revenue of 1.74 billion euros ($1.89 billion) accounts for 94.5% of IFPI's $2 billion market estimate for paid subscription revenue. With 30 million paid subscribers, it's by far the largest paid streaming service. Apple recently claimed it had 13 million subscribers for Apple Music (which is paid only), but it's unclear how many of those were using their free trial. Additionally, Apple Music's launch in the middle of 2015 likely kept it from making as big of a dent in 2015 revenue numbers. Apple Music's growth may be coming from subscription declines at smaller competitors like Deezer and the shuttering of others like Rdio, of which Pandora bought the assets. It's still really hard to make a profit in music streaming While revenue growth was tremendous for Spotify in 2015, it actually saw its net loss widen 6.3% to 173.1 million euros. Its biggest cost was the amount it paid in royalties. Spotify says that it pays out about 70% of revenue as music royalties, but in 2015 it had to pay 1.63 billion Euros, 83.6% of revenue. In fact, that number has been above 80% in each of the last three years. What's more, that percentage continues to increase. The additional royalty fees are the result of upfront fees and guaranteed minimums paid to record labels. Pandora and YouTube have successfully lowered the cost of streaming music for free. Pandora, which only supports a radio listening experience, is able to pay a set royalty rate per song play set by the copyright royalty board. That rate was just $0.14 per thousand song plays last year, but climbed to $0.17 this year. Overall, Pandora paid just 52% of revenue as royalties. YouTube, meanwhile, is able to pay "about a sixth of what Spotify and Apple pay artists," according to Motley Crueco-founder Nikki Sixx. YouTube benefits from existing performance agreements with music labels to use songs for video plays even though it often functions as a music service for many users. Still, Spotify's results show how difficult it is to make a profit with music streaming. Even with 30 million paid subscribers and 70 million ad-supported listeners, Spotify still can't turn a profit. Its operating expenses are showing good leverage, but it's still moving in the wrong direction net-profit wise. Apple or Pandora investors hoping that music streaming will become a profitable venture in the near future still have a long way to go. The article Spotify's Annual Report Shows How Hard It Is to Make a Profit Streaming Music originally appeared on Fool.com. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Levy owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Apple, and Pandora Media. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Image source: Seadrill. Two years ago, when Saudi Arabia and its fellow OPEC members started to balk at reducing crude production to keep oil prices elevated, they were playing the one card they could to keep long-term market share. The OPEC nations could either accept further losses of market share or keep the market oversupplied for long enough to kill off producers that couldn't make money pumping oil at depressed prices. The second strategy, given enough time, would allowOPEC to eventually regain market share, after which it could let oil prices riseagain -- although not as high as before. That was the theory, and it's really starting to play out as OPEC planned. Non-OPEC production is starting to fall, and the under-investment in drilling from those producers over the last year and a half will make it hard for them to increase output in the near future. Now, the problem OPEC is having is that its members are fighting among themselves over the future of oil supply. Carnage in U.S. oil is incredible There are a lot of ways to illustrate the pain that falling oil prices have caused outside of OPEC. Most telling to me is the massive decline in the number of rigs actively drilling for oil in the U.S. US Crude Oil and Natural Gas Rotary Rigs in Operation data by YCharts We could also point to the failures of Linn Energy, Sandridge Energy, or any of the other 75 oil companies that have filed for bankruptcy since the start of 2015 as signs of the fall of U.S. oil drilling. Offshore, the picture is only marginally better for former high-fliers Seadrill , Noble , and Transocean , and it's only better because they're still alive. But their stocks have been pummeled, and oil companies are now paying them not to drill for oil. SDRL data by YCharts Long-term contracts and the fact that they have only an indirect exposure to oil prices have saved these offshore drillers from worse fates, but like U.S. shale companies, they really need higher crude prices to survive long-term. And it seems like prices could be rising if OPEC wanted them to, but that's not the case today. OPEC has won, now what? If you look at the chart below you can see how OPEC has won versus U.S. shale, deepwater drilling, arctic drilling, and any other "enemies" the cartel may have been targeting. Whereas non-OPEC production increased 2.51 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2015, this quarter, it's expected to fall by 0.54 million barrels per day. Image source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, global oil consumption has risen every quarter, and will rise 1.66 million barrels per day this quarter alone. You might think that an increase in demand and a decrease in non-OPEC production would be a good thing for the cartel, but OPEC hasn't able to coordinate enough to execute in the next phase its strategy. The global oil glut can be attributed to OPEC increasing supply by 0.8 million barrels per day in 2015, and an expected 0.9 million barrel per day increase in 2016. That accounts for about half of the market oversupply in 2015 and essentially all of the oversupply in 2016. Image source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. This increase in supply is largely attributed to Iran, which has been rapidly boosting exports now that sanctions against it have been lifted. But Saudi Arabia had increased its output even as oil prices were dropping, and isn't interested in cutting supply anytime soon. But this strategy has some side effects. OPEC has long acted like a buffer for global oil supplies, increasing production when there's disruption elsewhere and reducing production when the market is oversupplied. But the strategy of the last two years means there's little excess capacity to increase production today. Image source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. As The Wall Street Journal highlighted Tuesday morning, that reduces the cartel's ability to ease oil shocks in the short term. If war heats up in the Middle East or a major pipeline is damaged, we could be in for a big jump in oil prices overnight, and OPEC could do little about it. The stalemate will end when OPEC says so As it stands, oil investors must look to OPEC for a reprieve from the nightmare scenario taking place in the energy industry. The longer the stalemate lasts between Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of OPEC, the longer oil prices are likely to stay low, which will lead to more energy companies going under. A side effect of that could be a sharp spike in oil prices later, as non-OPEC supply falls and OPEC loses its ability to stabilize the market. At the end of the day, this is the power OPEC wanted in 2014, and it is the only group big enough to move oil prices higher in a big way today. But until its members decide to coordinate and put their hands back on the controls, investors and consumers remain in limbo. The article OPEC is Driving Oil Prices, Blindfolded originally appeared on Fool.com. Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Seadrill. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Hey Source: Snapchat How can social-media upstart Snapchat, with scant revenues and ongoing net losses, be worth more than twice microblogging platform Twitter ? The vanishing-video and photo app is reportedly wrapping up a new round of financing that pegs Snapchat at a cool $20 billion, compared with the $9.8 billion market capitalization Twitter currently sports. Let's quickly examine what led to this social-media changing of the guard. How much is Snapchat worth? According to a number of media outlets, Snapchat is quickly finishing a fresh round of financing that pegs the four-year-old company at a valuation of $20 billion. This fundraising round is technically a follow-on to Snapchat's February Series-F financing, which pegged the company at a $16 billion valuation. However, an analysis from private-funding analyst group VC Experts notes that financing could expand Snapchat's valuation to over $20 billion, should all the shares authorized as part of the fundraising actually become issued. TechCrunch and other outlets are reporting that this follow-on offering indeed pushes Snapchat's valuation to $20 billion. If so, this new valuation makes Snapchat the fifth most valuable privately held unicorn -- a start-up valued in excess of $1 billion -- behind other well-known names such as Uber, Xiaomi, AirBnb, and Chinese ride-hailing appDidi Chuxing. So now that we understand the specifics of Snapchat's $20 billion valuation, let's see why it sits at more than double that of Twitter. Why is Snapchat worth more than Twitter? The disparity in valuations between Snapchat and Twitter speak as much to Snapchat's seeming overnight success as to Twitter's post-IPO struggles. TWTR data by YCharts Twitter's stock has been decimated over the past year, thanks to issues ranging from slowing growth to management hirings and firings. Internal issues at Twitter aside, what about the fundamentals underpinning these valuations? What supports them? Much of the valuation attached to tech companies whose business models are still evolving is based on growth. Tech investors and venture capitalists love companies that are expanding rapidly. And when it comes to growth, Snapchat trounces Twitter, even though Twitter's revenues easily exceed Snapchat's and Twitter is expected to reach consistent profitability this year. The average analyst estimate calls for Twitter's sales to grow 23% and 21% in the next two years, with revenues totaling $2.7 billion and $3.3 billion . Few companies are ever fortunate enough to surpass $1 billion in sales, so Twitter's accomplishments shouldn't be ignored as much as they seem to be. However, with Twitter's user growth having flatlined in recent quarters, its valuation will probably remain constrained as long as investors see no path for it to address an appreciably larger market, profits notwithstanding. Case in point, Twitter's valuation today sits below its pre-IPO value, which was also based on the idea that Twitter could reach a far larger audience than it has today. This need to expand its addressable market, incidentally, is also why I so strongly advocate that newly reappointed CEO Jack Dorsey needs to innovate more aggressively on the product front. Source: Snapchat Conversely, though it lags Twitter's financial size today, Snapchat is growing like a weed, giving investors hope that it will become the next Facebook, the next hundred-billion-dollar platform. According to reports, the vanishing-video app has seen its engagement stats explode from a reported 7 billion daily video views at the start of the year to in excess of 10 billion at the end of last month. As it turns an increasing eye toward monetization, Snapchat is reportedly targeting between $300 million and $350 million in sales this year, up nearly sixfold from last year. The company appears to yet have settled on a core monetization strategy, like search ads forAlphabet for example. Instead, Snapchat's monetization efforts today rely on a mix of syndicated short media content from its Discover page, sponsored face covering "stickers" or geofilters (as absurd as that sounds), sponsored collections of location or event-specific images called "stories," and the like. With monetization taking a greater emphasis, Snapchat's long-term revenue model should take clearer shape over the next few years. . Investors, it seems, are betting that Snapchat will indeed become the next major force in online media, whereas Twitter's prospects of securing a similarly vaunted position are far less certain thanks to its recent slowdown. While this line of thinking isn't necessarily based on the same fundamental analysis value investors use to shape their investment decisions, it helps explain why Snapchat is worth more than Twitter. The article Should Snapchat Really Be Worth More Than Twitter? originally appeared on Fool.com. Andrew Tonner has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook and Twitter. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Solar panels on the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Image source: NRG Energy. Warren Buffett's utility in Nevada is having a rough year from a public-relations standpoint. NV Energy, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway , has felt a backlash from residential solar customers after regulators made punitive changes to net metering, and now most of the Las Vegas Strip may be looking elsewhere for energy. MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts have said that paying $102.6 million to leave the utility and find their own energy is better for their businesses than staying with NV Energy. Las Vegas Sands stopped short of committing $23.9 million to leave NV Energy this year but is leaving its options open. As these resorts collectively make up 7% of the demand in NV Energy's territory, this is a big deal for the utility. Why Buffett's NV Energy is losing customers The reason Nevada's biggest casinos want to leave NV Energy has more to do with independence and appearance than the cost of energy. Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, and MGM Resorts have all talked about using more renewable energy, particularly solar energy, which is abundant and cheap in Nevada. But with limited real estate on the Las Vegas Strip, they need to buy power from independent power producers, requiring flexibility from their energy supplier. A 2001 law meant to give incentive for the construction of more electricity supply also gave commercial customers an out from the utility, provided they paid a fee to make sure their leaving had no impact on the broader customer base. Walmart, another large commercial customer, is seeing the virtues of finding its own energy. Image source: SolarCity. This is what data-center company Switch, another large energy consumer in Nevada, tried to do when it battled to leave NV Energy to buy renewable energy on its own. It wasn't until the middle of last year that Switch and NV Energy met an agreement for the utility to sell the company 100% renewable energy and keep it as a customer. Las Vegas casinos aren't as altruistic in their desire to leave the grid, but with renewable energy being inexpensive to purchase and a positive PR move, they're looking at it as an option. MGM Resorts has a large solar array on Mandalay Bay, and Wynn Resorts has talked about powering its Paradise Park expansion with solar. More likely than not, the renewable energy they can get will be augmented by natural gas power as well. NV Energy will still play a role in The Strip's energy As of right now, it looks as if MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts will be leaving NV Energy later this year, but they'll still be using parts of the grid. Even if they buy energy from independent power producers, they'll need to use the transmission and distribution lines NV Energy has in place. And that's allowed by regulators, given appropriate fees. But this highlights a larger challenge for utilities in general. They've had a monopoly on the entire electric industry for a century, and now independent power producers, renewable energy, and companies' desire to control their own energy destiny is changing the dynamic. Why this is a big deal for Warren Buffett's utilities NV Energy'sloss of the Strip's largest casinos really just highlights the broader energy trends taking place in the United States. Homeowners can now build and own solar-energy generation on their roofs and even self-consume most of that electricity with energy storage (although this isn't economical on a broad level yet). Commercial customers such as Wal-Mart, Apple, Switch, MGM, and Wynn are also seeing the benefits of building their own solar power plants and/or buying energy from independent power producers. Energy choice is a wave of the future, and in a state where solar energy is abundant, NV Energy has to adapt to survive. Even Buffett is seeing the disruptive forces in energy, and they could hit his utility business hard if his biggest customers in Nevada start looking elsewhere for energy. The article Warren Buffett's NV Energy Is Losing Customers on the Vegas Strip to Renewable Energy originally appeared on Fool.com. Travis Hoium owns shares of Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Wynn Resorts, Limited. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of Wynn Resorts, Limited and has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. You have to put all of that gold somewhere. Image source: Barrick Gold. ICBC Standard Bank just made a huge bet on gold. Although the details weren't disclosed, China's largest bank now owns one of just seven secret gold vaults hidden in London in what is something of an exclusive gold market. Here's what you need to know. A piece of the action China's ICBC is the world's largest bank by assets. And according to the BBC, China accounts for roughly 25% of global gold demand. So clearly, ICBC needs to be involved in the gold trade in a big way. However, China isn't the world's hub for gold trading; that distinction goes to London. In other words, if ICBC wants to be a bigger player in the market, it has to have a place at the table...in London. And now it does. The vault was opened by Barclays in 2012 and can store up to 2,000 metric tons of precious metals, including gold, silver, and platinum. Although this is a pretty hush-hush industry, it's reported to be one of the largest vaults in the London market. What's the bank really getting? George Soros recently purchased shares of Barrick Gold . He clearly thinks gold is heading higher and that this will, in turn, benefit Barrick's shares as the value of its key commodity goes up. On the other hand, John Paulson, long a gold bull, reduced his stake in SPDR Gold Trust by a million shares between the end of last year and the start of the second quarter (roughly 17% of his gold stake). Since he still has a huge position, that looks more like he's taking some profits than betting against the yellow metal. But here's the thing: These two famous investors are making pretty direct bets on the price of gold. ICIB's massive gold vault buy isn't exactly a bet on gold prices. And it certainly isn't a reason to run out and buy the metal (though some may see Soros' Barrick investment as such a signal). The vault purchase is more of a play on the gold trade, as ICIB acts as the middle man between gold owners, buyers, and sellers. Here's what that means. Gold Price in U.S. Dollars data by YCharts. Although gold is used in industrial applications and in jewelry, one of its biggest uses is as a store of value. That means people, companies, and financial organizations are buying gold simplyto own it. But you don't want to keep a lot of gold just sitting around -- you need to put it in a safe and secure place. You or I might use a safe deposit box for a gold coin or two, but when you're talking about a lot of gold (think thousands of pounds), that just won't do. So big investors have to use secure vaults. Like our safe deposit boxes, these big investors have to pay for the privilege of storing that gold. ICIB is now in a position to benefit from the fees it can generate from storing other people's gold. Equally important, though, is that this move could broaden the company's customer base. By having a location in London, ICIB will now be able to work with customers who wouldn't be comfortable storing their gold in China. In fact, the vault purchase extends ICIB's recent advances in the gold market. For example, just a couple of weeks ago, it became a member of London's precious metals clearing system -- the first new member in over a decade, according to The Wall Street Journal. This is where members settle trades for clients. And ICIB also recently started submitting prices to the London Bullion Market Association, which runs a key gold benchmark. The take away ICIB is clearly looking to get bigger in the gold market. But that's a far cry from betting on the direction of the metal; Soros and Paulson are making those kinds of bets. ICIB is simply setting itself up to be a bigger player in facilitating the trade and storage of gold and other precious metals. Kind of like selling picks and axes, which often turns out to be the better business over the long term. The article Why China's Largest Bank Just Bought a Massive Gold Vault originally appeared on Fool.com. Reuben Brewer has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Following intense negotiations and a close vote, Ohio's senate passed a medical marijuana bill last week that allows patients in the Buckeye state access to cannabis. However, the bill could still end up in the wastebasket if Ohio governor John Kasich decides to veto it. Will he or won't he? Despite admitting to his own use of marijuana when he was young, the Ohio governor has been a sharp critic of the pro-marijuana movement. At a town hall meeting in February, he said he "totally opposed" marijuana legalization. Kasich also suggested last fall on national television that legalizing marijuana sends kids a mixed message about the dangers of drugs. Those views are backed up by his opposition to Ohio's failed pro-pot ballot initiative last year. They're also in keeping with comments in 2014, when he said "no, I am not in favor of [medical marijuana]." Although his comments are worrisome to marijuana advocates, it's not a given that Kasich will veto this bill. Yes, he's remained steadfast in his opposition to recreational marijuana, but he may be softening his opinion on medical use. Earlier this year he said, "Medical marijuana, I think wecan look at it." If that softening tone is any indication, he could follow in the footsteps of his state's legislature and OK this bill. If he does, then it would clear the way for patients with indications such as HIV, epilepsy, and cancer to use cannabis. However, patients will have to get their medical marijuana from outside of the state at first. Hammering out the details of licensing and opening medical marijuana dispensaries is complex, and it could take a year or more before dispensaries are up and running. Unfortunately, the bill doesn't allow patients to grow cannabis themselves. Another marijuana change could be coming Last November, Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected a recreational marijuana proposal appearing on the state ballot. The "vote yes on Issue 3" initiative failed by 65.1% to 34.8%. Issue 3's failure, however, may not be because Ohioans are overwhelmingly against marijuana reform. Significant opposition to Issue 3 came from many cannabis supporters who viewed it as an attempt by a small number of operators to establish a monopoly in the state. Curt Steiner, campaign director for Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, told USA Today after the election that "Issue 3 was nothing more and nothing less than a business plan to seize control of the recreational marijuana market in Ohio." Steiner's comment helps explain why Issue 3 failed even though a Quinnipiac University poll last fall found that Ohioans support recreational marijuana by 53% to 44%. Because the majority of Ohioans say they support marijuana reform, marijuana advocates remain hopeful that a better-designed proposal can pass. Currently, the influential Marijuana Policy Project is attempting to garner enough signatures to get another pro-pot initiative on the ballot this year. Looking ahead If Kasich approves Ohio's medical marijuana bill, then Ohio will become the 25th state in the nation to put medical marijuana laws in place. Although medical marijuana laws vary widely from state to state and many are very restrictive, momentum for medical marijuana appears to be building. If so, then it would appear to be just a matter of time before most states pass similar measures. The article Will Ohio's Medical Marijuana Law Get Stiff-Armed by Its Governor? originally appeared on Fool.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Darryl McDaniels, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rap artist known for being in the hip-hop group Run-DMC, said Friday New York Police Commissioner William Bratton should apologize for his comments which labeled rappers as thugs following a shooting at a concert earlier this week. Brattons comments came Thursday after one person was killed and three others were wounded at a Manhattan concert hall where rapper T.I. was scheduled to perform 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 said the comments were unfair to rappers like Will Smith, LL Cool J, De La Soul and J. Cole. He added that the shooting wasnt a hip-hop problem. "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 AP 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 responded to McDaniels comments late Friday. 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.'" Rapper Roland Collins, as known as Troy Ave, was arrested in the shooting at Irving Plaza. He 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." Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he thought Bratton was "talking out of frustration." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Plenty of folks on social media are letting it be known that they #StandWithAmber following Amber Heard's domestic abuse allegations against Johnny Depp. The 30-year-old actress filed for divorce from the "Alice Through the Looking Glass" actor, 52, on Monday, citing irreconcilable differences. On Friday, she was granted a temporary restraining order against Depp over accusations of violence. "During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me," Heard claims in court documents obtained by ET. "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." EXCLUSIVE: Inside Johnny Depp & Amber Heard's 'Volatile' Relationship and When It All Went Wrong Heard also says she is "extremely afraid of Johnny" and that his temper has "proven many times to be physically dangerous and/or life-threatening." Meanwhile, Depp's attorney filed a memorandum that claims, "Amber is attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse." With Depp's latest film, the sequel to Alice in Wonderland, opening in theaters on Friday, many fans have threatened a boycott on Twitter, while others have shown their support for Heard using the hashtags #ImWithAmber and #WeStandWithAmber. "You should never have to feel afraid to speak up about abuse. #imwithamber" one user tweeted. Others called out the fact that Heard has been a target for criticism concerning her bisexuality since she filed for divorce and has been called a gold digger for seeking spousal support from Depp. (Which Depp previously filed to deny.) WATCH: A History of Johnny Depp's Famous Exes: Winona Ryder, Kate Moss, Amber Heard and More! An Arizona high school has come under fire after denying a cancer survivors request to sit with his graduation class Thursday after he worked to keep up with classes through treatment. Stephen Dwyer withdrew from school in his junior year to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant for leukemia. Dwyer, who is student body president, is 2 1/2 credits short of graduating at Dobson High School in Mesa and will finish in December. A Facebook page supporting Dwyer said the teen wanted to sit on the field in a cap and gown alongside his classmates and didnt even ask to receive a diploma or walk across the stage. After numerous meetings with the district superintendent and school board members, Dwyers request was denied. "This is so black and white to them, they can't even see straight. They are so unwilling to budge and it just is heartbreaking," Jeannie Moore, a family friend of Dwyers, told KTVK-TV. 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. 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. 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. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from KTVK-TV. Editor's note: The following oped originally appeared in Fox News Opinion in 2012 and is being republished for Memorial Day. Memorial Day, what does it mean? As your long weekend unfolds look around. Take in your world and listen. What do you see? What do you hear? Will you hear this long weekend referred to as the unofficial start of summer? Will you hear people talk about parties, barbecues, trips to the lake and the beach, probably. As you feel the warm rays of the sun, smell the inviting flavors of fresh food sizzling on the grill and watch your children run around the yard or splash in the surf there is something you should remember. It is another beach, from a time long since past. You can see that beach in the photo accompanying this article. It is the beach at Buna, Papua New Guinea, and it depicts just three of the young lives this weekend memorializes. The photo is of three dead American GIs. They lie half buried in the sand of an island far from their homes, far from their loved ones. Photographer George Strock's memorable image, taken in February 1943, wasnt published until September of that year. When it appeared in Life magazine it became the first photo published, during World War II, which depicted dead Americans. Censors released this and other graphic photos for a number of reasons. Given the year and the war one of those reasons still shocks me every time I read it. President Franklin Roosevelt was concerned that the public had grown detached from the astronomical price being paid by some so that we could live free. Their faces are hidden, their names were not included. The photograph was accompanied by an editorial explaining the decision to publish such a horrifying image. It asked the question many readers might have Why print this picture. One explanation offered, Words are never enough. Words are never enough. As I read and then write that line, I am reminded of the tradition of the moment of silence. It's a time when each one of us is left to our thoughts, when we go to our most private place. When you observe a moment of silence your mind may be filled with prayer or thoughts of those lost and their families. Or, perhaps, you are filled with that impossible to describe sadness brought on by the memory of someone you loved and can no longer see or hold in your arms. Australian journalist Edward George Honey is believed to be the person who first suggested observing a moment of silence for fallen soldiers. He did so in a letter to a London newspaper just after the end of World War I. In that letter he proposed, "Five little minutes onlyFive silent minutes of national remembrance." Five minutes would seem an eternity for many in this age of instant everything. And, I dont mean to judge the time we live in. Rather, I hope that on this Memorial Day you will share a thought or prayer for those lost. As the sounds of a long holiday weekend fill the air, I encourage you to locate your moment and in that moment to remember. Perhaps you will attend a parade or ceremony and pay your respects there. But if you dont make it to a formal event you can still take a moment to stop and honor the people for which Memorial Day exits. If you find yourself at the beach, take a moment to look out over the sand, to the sea and the horizon. As the waves crash remember for a moment the three men on the beach at Buna. Keep in mind that they are but three of thousands upon thousands who we must always remember. In some small way I cant help but think that as we remember them these brave men and women are found again. And then, when you've finished, if you are lucky enough to be in the company of people you love, break the silence and tell them so. If your gesture surprises them, or catches them off guard, tell them about the boys on the beach at Buna and how, in some small way, they made the moment possible. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana is leading a new Republican campaign to block President Obama from fulfilling a campaign promise to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Daines introduced a bill Thursday that would ban the transfer or release of Guantanamo Bay detainees until either the end of this year or enactment of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. If passed, it would kill any chance the president has of closing the prison before leaving office. Obama is expected to release up to 24 additional detainees from Guantanamo Bay this summer, according to a report. "President Obama is prioritizing a campaign promise over his oath of office by releasing enemy combatants even though several have returned to the battlefield," Daines said in a statement. "This reckless and irrational plan will only entice our enemies instead of serving as a powerful deterrent." Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com Sen. Marco Rubio could shake up the Florida Senate race if he changes his mind and seeks re-election, because his familiarity among voters would likely let him surge ahead of an otherwise obscure pack of candidates in both parties. "The good news for Marco Rubio is he has very high name recognition," Peter Brown, who surveys Florida voters for the Quinnipiac University Poll. Eight Republicans and three Democrats are running in the August 30 primary that will award each party a spot on the ticket. November matchup polls, however, show no candidate has a clear advantage, which is worrisome to Republican party leaders who are fighting to hold onto the Senate majority, and desperate to hang onto Rubio's seat. "If there has ever been a race that has been up in the air on both sides of the aisle, it happens to be this one, at the moment," University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus told the Washington Examiner. Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com A supporter of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has submitted a challenge to how pledged Wyoming delegates were split 7-7 despite the Vermont senator reportedly winning the popular vote. Richard Kusaba, a land surveyor from Kemmerer in southwest Wyoming, said the state party's decision to accept the challenge and forward it to the Democratic National Committee defused animosity that had been building ahead of the convention. "After Nevada, I think the party realized that it needs Bernie Sanders' supporters in order to win the presidency," Kusaba said. In Nevada earlier this month, Sanders' supporters threw chairs and shouted down convention speakers. Later, the state party chairwoman said she received death threats. Clinton won the Nevada caucuses in February, but Sanders backers had hoped to pick up extra delegates by packing county and state party gatherings. Sanders responded to the Nevada turmoil by dismissing characterizations of his supporters as prone to violence and pressing party leaders to recognize that "millions of Americans are outraged at establishment politics." Mary Hales, a member of the Democratic National Committee representing Wyoming and a national convention delegate from Casper, has said she received nasty calls and letters from out-of-state Sanders supporters upset with her earlier pledge to support Clinton. Hales said there were no specific threats to do her harm, but she felt threatened by the calls and letters. She did not complain to the police. On Saturday, the atmosphere in a Cheyenne ballroom was cordial and orderly. Top national advisers to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders worked together as some 300 Democrats' opened the state convention. At a recent party meeting in Philadelphia, Wyoming officials asked Sanders' deputy campaign manager, Rich Pelletier, to attend, Pelletier told The Associated Press. He said his goal in Cheyenne was to ensure a smooth process and that all delegates could express any concerns they have. "It's democratic party with a small D as well as a big D," he said. Marlon Marshall, who is Clinton's director of state campaigns and political engagement, also said he wanted a smooth process. "At the end of the day, we all have the same goals in mind," Marshall said. Wyoming will split the delegates equally but also has four superdelegates that are technically not bound and can vote any way they want at the national convention. They had earlier pledged to support Clinton. Wyoming party chairwoman Ana Cuprill said they agreed to accept Kusaba's challenge in order to seek clarity at the national level. Cuprill, a super delegate, declined to name who she will support at the convention but said she will support whomever has the most pledged delegates. Kusaba has 15 days to draft his challenge and gather enough signatures from registered voters. At least 35 people were arrested Friday as confrontations between protesters and authorities boiled over following a rally from the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in San Diego, police said. Trump delivered a speech inside the San Diego Convention Center as more than 1,000 protesters representing various opposition groups demonstrated outside the venue, Fox 5 San Diego reported. Before Trumps speech, the demonstrations outside were mostly peaceful. However, the protests escalated and several confrontations took place as the rally ended and the crowds inside the convention center spilled outside. Inside, the mood was far less charged, as Trump took repeated jabs at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. He also went on defense against negative media stories and an ongoing lawsuit against his now-defunct Trump University. "I'm getting railroaded by a legal system," Trump complained. San Diego police, dressed in riot gear, maintained a huge presence in the Gaslamp Quarter of the city as some people starting throwing things. The violence prompted police to declare the protests unlawful and they began to disperse the crowd. There was no property damage and no injuries were reported as the police arrested 35 people. San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman vowed before the rally that law enforcement wouldnt tolerate any sort of violence or unlawful behavior, similar to what was seen in Albuquerque earlier in the week. The safety of our public is paramount,'' Zimmerman said. The whole goal is to provide a safe environment for everyone.'' Zimmerman also designated safety zones for those who oppose Trump and those who support him, while they monitored the attendees behavior. Fox 5 San Diego reported that many of the people who were protesting before Trumps rally were gone by the time the crowds became unruly. We came in very quickly and decisively, Zimmerman said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The last thing we want is a mob mentality. By late in the evening, authorities cleared the Gaslamp Quarter and herded several hundred people onto Harbor Drive as police in helicopters called for the protesters to disperse. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Fox 5 San Diego. Congress is racing toward its summer break, but like a procrastinating college kid it has tons of work to catch up on to avoid a report card laden with grades of incomplete or even worse. An abbreviated work period this month produced mixed results at best -- Congress exited Washington without acting on funding the battle against the Zika virus, for starters -- and a full plate awaits when lawmakers return next month from a weeklong Memorial Day recess for a six-week sprint to political convention season and the traditional August vacation. Some signs are promising; others, not so much: ------ ZIKA President Obama's $1.9 billion request to battle the Zika virus has been sitting before Congress for more than three months, but in only the past few weeks have GOP leaders shown any sense of urgency about passing legislation in response. Zika can cause grave birth defects and be spread by certain mosquitoes. The House and Senate have passed competing measures, with the Senate approving a $1.1 billion bipartisan bill that closely tracks Obama's request, at least if one counts the more than $500 million Obama has diverted from unspent Ebola funding toward the total. The House measure would provide $622 million and cuts further into Ebola accounts to help pay for it. A logical outcome would be to pass a measure relatively close to the Senate's level on funding and include offsetting spending cuts as demanded by the House. But politics have infused the Zika measure, which isn't helping. Negotiators have four weeks to reach agreement when they return if they are to meet a July deadline. ------ PUERTO RICO Legislation to ease Puerto Rico's debt crisis has cleared one hurdle with easy approval in a House committee. The legislation now heads to the House floor, where Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will try to unite his fractious caucus behind the bill. The bill to create a financial control board and restructure some of the U.S. territory's $70 billion debt has support from House Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as the Obama administration. Some bondholders are lobbying against it, though, saying it gives the board too much power to decide what payments will be a priority. Senate prospects are unclear. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has suggested the Senate may take up the House bill once it passes that chamber. But some Senate Democrats have complained that the board would take away too much authority from the Puerto Rican government under the House legislation. When Congress returns in June, lawmakers will have just four weeks to act before Puerto Rico faces its largest debt payment of $2 billion on July 1. ------ BUDGET-SPENDING Republicans have given up on trying to pass a broad, if nonbinding, budget plan, instead focusing on passing spending bills for the annual operations of the government. That's not going so well either, at least in the House. There, the issue of gay rights has blown up the appropriations process, scuttling a normally routine energy and water projects on Thursday. Whether it can be revived is unclear, but signs point to the typical omnibus spending package wrapping together most of the spending bills during December's lame-duck session. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has made it a priority to try to revive the appropriations process in that chamber. With Democratic help it's going reasonably well, and three of the 12 bills have already passed. But even with senators on their best behavior, the process can be halting. ------ DEFENSE Democrats blocked the Senate from taking up the annual defense policy legislation before the recess, saying they needed more time to study the more than 1,600-page bill. The postponement incensed Senate Republicans. They say Minority Leader Harry Reid -- who faced comparable stalling tactics from McConnell for years when Democrats controlled the chamber -- was more interested in depriving Republicans of an election-year accomplishment before Memorial Day. The defense policy bill authorizes military spending for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The legislative package also prohibits the administration from transferring detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States, requires women to register for a potential military draft, and proposes numerous changes to the military health system to improve the quality of care. The companion House measure effectively adds $18 billion to core Pentagon programs through a proposed shift of war funding to other Pentagon accounts. The Senate measure doesn't, and the difference is likely to delay a final resolution. ------ OPIOIDS House-Senate bargainers hope to send Obama compromise legislation by July establishing grants and taking other steps to reinforce government efforts against drug abuse. ------ CHEMICAL REGULATION Also left undone is a bipartisan measure that is the first major update of the nation's chief chemical safety law in 40 years. It would for the first time regulate tens of thousands of toxic chemicals in everyday products from household cleaners to clothing and furniture. Supporters say the bill would clear up a hodgepodge of state rules and ensure that chemicals and products used by Americans every day are safer. The House overwhelmingly approved the bill on Tuesday, but the measure ran into a snag in the Senate when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objected to its passage and said he'd not had time to read it. ------ SUPREME COURT With Republican leaders continuing to resist Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, no Senate action on filling that slot is expected until after the November elections -- at the earliest. Five Republican senators are fighting back against what they see as heavy-handed tactics by the Department of Justice to silence climate change skeptics. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., may have shed light on the DOJ tactics at a Senate hearing in March when he pointedly told Attorney General Loretta Lynch, "Under President Obama, the Department of Justice has done nothing so far about the climate denial scheme." Lynch replied, "We have received information about it and have referred it to the FBI." Within days of that exchange, Democratic attorneys general from more than a dozen states fired off subpoenas seeking decades of records from climate change skeptics. Among them: university professors, scientists, corporations and think tanks including the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "It's already had a chilling effect since we got the subpoena 45 days ago," said CEI's Sam Kazman. "This was a subpeona issued by the attorney general of the Virgin Islands for some reason." "It's way more than a chilling effect, it's an absolute freezer effect," he added, citing outside legal fees CEI has paid to fight the subpoena. ExxonMobil was subpoenaed last year by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is seeking the oil company's 40-year-old in-house research about fossil fuels and climate. He told PBS's "News Hour" on Nov. 10 that he believes ExxonMobil may have withheld information that could have hurt the company's shareholder value. "We have to see what documents are in there, but certainly all of the claims would lie in some form of fraud," Schneiderman said. When asked during the same program whether it defrauded the public, Kenneth Cohen, ExxonMobil's vice president of public and government affairs, said, "The answer is a simple no." Cohen added, "The discussions that have taken place inside our company, among our scientists mirror the discussions that have been taking place ... by the broader scientific community." While the recent actions involve state attorneys general, five Republican senators wrote Lynch on May 25 demanding DOJ cease its "ongoing use of law enforcement resources to stifle private debate on one of the most controversial public issues of our time - climate change." Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, author of the letter, told Fox News: "I sent the letter because the attorney general of the United States should not be threatening criminal investigation with respect to someone who chooses to simply exercise their First Amendment rights." First Amendment rights aside, accusations of distorting climate science for political advantage run both ways. That was demonstrated Oct. 6, when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, grilled Aaron Mair, president of the Sierra Club, over satellite data that is at sharp odds with predictions of a rapidly heating planet. "The computer models say there should be dramatic warming," said Cruz, "and yet the satellite measurements don't show any significant warming." A flustered Mair responded, "But senator, 97 percent of scientists concur and agree there is global warming." That 97 percent figure, like so much else about the science of global warming, is the subject of vigorous debate. Meanwhile, the Competitive Enterprise Institute is fighting back, last week asking a D.C. Court to fine the attorney general of the Virgin Islands for allegedly violating its First Amendment rights. In a small, unexpected victory for CEI, the Virgin Islands AG withdrew his subpoena two weeks ago, but not before CEI had incurred considerable legal costs. Bernie Sanders is attempting to wage a fight to the finish for the Democratic presidential nomination -- and to upend the partys rigged system -- by trying to remove key convention officials. The Sanders campaign has called former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy aggressive attack surrogates for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. And it formally requested that Frank and Malloy be removed as co-chairmen, respectively, of the Rules and Platform committees at the Democratic National Convention. The Democratic National Committee on Saturday rejected the request, saying Frank and Malloy were elected under party rules and that Sanders wasn't alleging any violations of that process. Frank and Malloy have been aggressive attack surrogates for the Clinton campaign, Sanders campaign counsel Brad Deutsch wrote in a letter Friday to the party leaders. Their criticisms of Sen. Sanders have gone beyond dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the senator and his campaign. The committees are two of the three most-influential committees at the convention in July, helping shape the partys agenda and message for the general election into November. The other committee is the credentials committee. Two of the three Convention Standing Committees are (apparently) being constituted in an overtly partisan way designed to exclude meaningful input from supporters of Sen. Sanders' candidacy, the letter also stated. Sander and his supporters from essentially the start of the primary season have accused Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and others in the party of playing favorites with Clinton, the establishment candidate. Sanders says Wasserman Schultz limited the number of primary debates to protect Clinton. Under party rules, Wasserman Schultz also made roughly two dozen appointments to the three committees. Meanwhile, Sander supporters allege party leaders have manipulated the process by which delegates are appointed to the convention, creating chaos over such concerns earlier this month at the Nevada state Democratic convention. Sanders continues to stay in the primary race, despite facing very long odds of winning the nomination. And while party officials seem eager for Sanders to drop out, the self-described democratic socialist continues to try to win delegates in the few remaining state contests to try to exert some influence over the party platform being rolled out at the convention. Clinton received the support of over 400 super-delegates before anybody else announced for the race. Thats called an anointment, Sanders said in a recent Time magazine interview, arguing about an unfair primary system. It is clearly undemocratic. It is a way for the establishment to push their candidate forward. Even presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, albeit with the likely motive of hurting Clintons campaign, has come to Sanders defense. The Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, Trump said Friday. Disney has received a lot of flack for raising ticket prices earlier this year. But one California woman was able to score the deal of lifetime when Disney allowed her to use an Orlando theme park ticket that was originally purchased in 1994. Over 20 years ago, Chelsea Herline visited Walt Disney World Resort with her family. Her parents had purchased a 4-day park hopper pass for the vacation but on the final day of the trip, Herline got sick and wasnt able to go to the park, reports FOX 35. Fast forward to present day when Herlines father discovered the tattered ticket while doing a little spring cleaning. "He was cleaning our basement, and he found the ticket in our safe in the basement, so he had kept it for 22 years, and he knew we had a trip to Florida coming up, so he brought the ticket with him," Herline, who is now 26 and lives in San Francisco, told the station. The ticket still had her picture on it from when she was a toddler along with her signature, which she posted on LinkedIn. This girl showed up at Disney World with a ticket from 1994 and they let her in https://t.co/PSNFNe5Wse pic.twitter.com/7ysVHhUrYu HelloGiggles.com (@hellogiggles) May 24, 2016 The family had already planned a trip back to Florida in late April so Herline decided to bring the old ticket alongjust to see what would happen. She walked up to the front gate and presented her ticket from 1994. "I walked up, and there was a girl at the ticket counter, and I approached her with a big smile and I said hi, I have a really old ticket, will you let me in, and so she said, 'Of course!'" After a little Disney magic, the old paper ticket was changed to modern electronic ticket. In 1994, the price of a one-day Disney World park admission ticket was $36. Today, a regular priced one-day pass is $110. "I was very surprised that it worked, but at the same time, the ticket didn't have an expiration date on it, so I thought there was a small chance they would let me in, but I didn't realize it could be that easy, says Herline of the experience. And after 22 years, Herline still found herself acting like a kid all over again spending the day riding new rides, taking pictures with characters and enjoying Mickey-themed food by herself. "This has been a really funny experience. I was not expecting this at all and my parents are loving it that they were able to save the ticket so long, and it's getting this much attention. So, it's pretty awesome!" next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 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. "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. A bite-mark that sent a California man to prison for 23 years for killing his wife has resulted in his conviction being tossed. Testimony about the bite-mark convinced a jury to convict William Richards of murder in the death of 40-year-old Pamela Richards in 1993. But on Thursday Californias Supreme Court vacated the guilty verdict, citing a new state law inspired by the case. The law says expert opinion that the same expert later repudiates is false evidence. The dentist who provided the crucial testimony in Richards case later recanted. He told the jury Richards teeth caused a mark that was found on his wife's hand after she was killed. He later said the injury might not even be a bite-mark. California lawmakers changed the law after the Supreme Court upheld Richards conviction in 2012, rejecting the argument that an experts change in testimony was grounds for a reversal. We're thrilled that Bill's decades-long incarceration for a crime he did not commit will soon come to an end, Richards' attorney, Jan Stiglitz, told the Associated Press. We also hope that this decision will pave the way for other victims of 'junk science' to find a path to freedom. Christopher Lee, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office, told The Los Angeles Times prosecutors were reviewing the matter. A retrial would put Richards, 66, in front of a jury for a fourth time. The first two trials ended in hung juries. The third trial in 1997 ended with Richards being found guilty. It was the only time the dentist testified about the bite-mark, the Times reported. The courts decision comes as California Gov. Jerry Brown weighs releasing Richards on parole, according to the paper. Richards told sheriff deputies he found his wife's body when he returned home from work on Aug. 10, 1993, according to the Times. Prosecutors said she was strangled and bludgeoned, and there was evidence she tried to defend herself. The Supreme Court said in its ruling the case against Richards was based on contested circumstantial evidence. Accordingly, with the exception of the bite mark evidence, the defense had a substantial response to much of the prosecution's evidence against petitioner, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said. Under these unique circumstances, it is reasonably probable that the false evidence ... at petitioner's 1997 jury trial affected the outcome of that proceeding. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A North Carolina police department backed out of sending 50 police officers to the Republican presidential convention in Cleveland in June over concerns about whether the city is prepared to host an event that is expected to bring at least 50,000 visitors to northeast Ohio. Greensboro police made the decision earlier this week to pull its officers from the event, saying the city isnt providing workers compensation for coverage for out-of-town officers and is requiring them to get physical exams theyd have to pay for themselves. Deputy Police Chief Brian James wrote in a memo to the citys police chief that he had spoken with police administrators experienced in planning events like the GOP convention and that they expressed a lack of confidence in the city of Cleveland and their preparedness. "We have a responsibility to ensure that we are sending our officers to an event that is well planned," James wrote. James told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that his memo wasnt intended to take shots at Cleveland police or say they werent prepared to handle the convention. "But for us, for coming out of our jurisdiction into another state, we had hoped that we would have better clarification on different logistical issues, and specifically what our assignments would be going into Cleveland," James said. "And we don't have that information at this time." A spokesman for the city of Cleveland sent an email Friday afternoon that said the Greensboro memo was inaccurate but didn't elaborate. A Cleveland police union official has been sounding the alarm for months about how Cleveland officers are not being properly trained to deal with potentially tumultuous protests. Groups supporting and opposing presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are planning to stage rallies and protests during the convention, which begins July 18. "The city of Cleveland has been absolutely irresponsible for preparation of this convention," Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said Friday. A number of city police departments in Ohio and other states have decided not to send officers to Cleveland, including Cincinnati, Loomis said. A Cincinnati police spokesman said Friday that the previous police chief had discussed sending officers to Cleveland, but his successor decided against it because of the insurance issue and because Cincinnati is hosting the national NAACP convention the same week. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams responded to allegations that the city wasnt prepared in a news conference Wednesday. "A lot has been said that Cleveland is not prepared for the RNC," Williams said. "Well, I'll tell you today, we are prepared." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. Crews resumed their search along a Northern California creek for a teenage girl who was last seen being abducted by an armed acquaintance in Vallejo, about 65 miles south from the area being searched Saturday. The Solano County Sheriff's Office said 65 people from several law enforcement agencies and search and rescue groups are looking for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson in the Willow Creek area of Sonoma Coast State Park. The search on land and along a river for the high school freshman was suspended Friday at sundown. Sheriff's spokeswoman Christine Castillo did not elaborate on what led investigators to the rural area, saying only that the strongest leads are there. "Our number one priority is to bring her home to her family, and we do believe that is possible," Castillo said Friday evening at the search site. "There are indications she could be possibly injured, and that is still a concern. ... We want to locate her and get her any medical attention she needs." The search for the San Francisco Bay Area girl has been complicated by the death Thursday of the young man suspected of abducting her as she walked to school Wednesday. 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. The incident started on Wednesday, when 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. 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 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, authorities said. 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 they 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. 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. Militants of the Islamic State group on Friday seized at least six villages from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border in rapid advances that forced the evacuation of a crucial hospital amid heavy fighting in the area, Syrian opposition activists and an international medical organization said. The advances in the northern Aleppo province brought the militants to within few kilometers from the border town of Azaz, where rebels hold an enclave that is hosting tens of thousands of internally displaced civilians. In recent months, Syrian rebel factions in Azaz, and its border crossing of Bab al-Salama, have separately come under fire from the extremist ISIS group, pro-government forces and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday's advance also effectively cut off a key supply route between Azaz and Marea, another opposition stronghold. Both Azaz and the Bab al-Salama crossing have been a lifeline for the opposition since the town fell into rebel hands in 2012, up until recently. ISIS' news agency, Aamaq, also reported the advance, saying the Islamic State group seized six villages from rebels. The humanitarian medical organization 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 from the facility. The group, known by its French acronym MSF, said a small skeleton team will remain behind to stabilize 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 said. A route known as the Azaz corridor links rebel-held eastern Aleppo with Turkey. That has been a lifeline for the rebels, 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 multilayered conflict, also gained ground against the rebels. That left the rebels in Aleppo with just one narrow corridor to the outside world, through Idlib province. Those in Azaz are now squeezed between ISIS to the east and the SDF to the west and south, while Turkey tightly restricts the flow of goods and people through the border. MSF and other aid organizations warned earlier this month that the humanitarian situation for over 100,000 people trapped in the Azaz rebel-held pocket was critical. On Thursday, Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy for Syria, said he plans for a resumption of peace talks "as soon as feasible" between the government and opposition but that he set no new date and expects that it will "certainly not" come within the next two to three weeks, his office said. The lack of a firm date for negotiations testifies to continued violence in Syria and difficulties for U.N. efforts to ship humanitarian aid to beleaguered Syrians amid fighting between President Bashar Assad's troops and their allies and rebel fighters. The talks were suspended last month with little to no progress. next Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 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. Here is a look at the clandestine program's main features: WHAT WAS OPERATION CONDOR? It was a coordinated effort by the military dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil to hunt down and eliminate opponents and leftists across the continent and beyond. It operated from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. HOW DID IT WORK? Operation Condor officially began in 1975, when South America's dictatorships agreed to start exchanging information on political dissidents, trade unionists, students and anyone suspected of being leftist, especially those who had sought refuge in other countries. According to declassified documents, various U.S. government agencies were aware of the plan. The covert operation involved the deployment of special transnational teams to kidnap subversive "targets," who were then interrogated and tortured in seven clandestine prisons located on military or police bases in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The dissidents were sometimes returned to their country of origin and disappeared. Condor's agents also assassinated political leaders seen as influencing public opinion against the military regimes. Some of their targets were in the United States and Europe. The September 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier, the ex-foreign minister of Chile's socialist President Salvador Allende, was the best-known case. Letelier, and his U.S. aide Ronni Moffitt, were killed by a bomb placed in his car in Washington D.C. Investigators found that the Chilean dictatorship's spy agency, known as DINA, and an anti-Castro group, many of whose members had been trained by the CIA, were behind the assassination. WHO WERE CONDOR'S MASTERMINDS? Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner, Bolivia's Hugo Banzer, Argentine dictator Jorge Videla and Juan Maria Bordaberry of Uruguay. While no representative of Brazil signed the operation's charter, its government cooperated with the program and dissidents were killed and kidnapped in its territory. HOW MANY VICTIMS? According to a 2015 report by UNESCO's International Center for the Promotion of Human Rights, Operation Condor had 376 victims: 177 Uruguayans, 72 Argentines, 64 Chileans, 25 Paraguayans, 15 Peruvians, 12 Bolivians, five Brazilians, three Cubans, two Americans and a Spaniard. A Muslim mob ransacked and torched seven Christian homes in a province south of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after rumors spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman, according to a statement by the local Orthodox Coptic church. Released late Wednesday, it said that during the May 20 attack, the mother of the Christian man, who had fled the village, was publicly stripped of her clothes by the mob to humiliate her. Security officials said the woman was beaten and insulted while being paraded by the mob through the village. They said the mob was made of about 300 men. The officials spoke on Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Ex-marital affairs or sex between unmarried couples are a taboo among both Muslims and Christians in conservative Egypt. They often attract violent reactions in rural areas, where questions of honor could lead to deadly family feuds that endure for years or the ostracization of the perpetrators. Police arrived at the scene nearly two hours after the attacks began and arrested six people, according to the statement by Minya's top cleric, Anba Makarios. He said the family of the Christian man had notified the police of threats against them by Muslim villagers the day before the attack. "No one did anything and the police took no pre-emptive or security measures in anticipation of the attacks," he told a television interviewer Wednesday night. "We are not living in a jungle or a tribal society. It's incorrect for anyone to declare himself judge, police and ruler." Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 90 million people, have long complained of discrimination in the mostly Muslim nation. President Abdel-Fattah 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 consistently victimized when in dispute with Muslims. Criminal gangs have often targeted wealthy Christian families south of Cairo in recent years, kidnapping their children for ransom. There have also been scores of cases in recent years of underage Christian girls lured away from their families by Muslim men who force them to convert and keep them in hiding until they reach adulthood. Christians often complain that police don't do enough to pursue the Muslim perpetrators. Makarios also told the television interviewer Wednesday night that the late arrival of the police gave the attackers "ample time" to do what they had set out to do. With uncharacteristic candor, he said that the crisis in the 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. He said there would have hardly been a reaction were it a case of a Muslim man having an affair with a Christian woman. "If that was the case, the Christian response would not have been anything like what happened," he explained. "It is a disgrace for honest men to remain silent while accepting, seeing or hearing this." Over 50,000 civilians are reportedly trapped inside ISIS-controlled Fallujah as Iraqi forces surround the town and prepare for an all-out assault on one of the militant's last major strongholds in the country. Al Jazeera reported that conditions in the city, under ISIS control since 2014, have deteriorated as fighting between the militants and Iraqi forces has intensified in the past few days. Some residents have been evacuated, but ISIS checkpoints on the main roads has made it nearly impossible for others to flee the city, Al Jazeera reported. The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiites called on Iraqi forces preparing to retake the city to safeguard civilians. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that "saving innocent people from harm's way is the most important thing, even more so than targeting the enemy." Brigadier Rasool Yahya told the news agency that the presence of the civilians inside the town, about 45 miles west of Baghdad, may delay the assault. In Baghdad, Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in the city's Tahrir roundabout. The protesters assembled despite calls earlier this week from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to halt protests so the country's security forces could focus on the Fallujah operation. The Iraqi forces have been backed by air power from the U.S.-led coalition. It is believed that between 500-700 ISIS fighters remain in the city. "Our troops are now in the process of surrounding the city from all (sides)," said Lt. General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, the head of the counterterrorism forces' Fallujah operation. "By doing so, we will besiege the city of Fallujah in full. And then we will start storming city from several directions with new forces." The Associated Press contributed to this report. The latest hot topic for Chinese rappers is a bearded 19th century German philosopher who wrote a book called "The Communist Manifesto." Chinese state media are promoting a new rap song praising Karl Marx, in the latest attempt to leverage popular culture in support of the ruling Communist Party. Entitled "Marx is a post-90" -- China's version of a millennial -- the song extols the communist godfather's supposed coolness with lyrics such as, "Life is full of little accidents, then one day I discovered how awesome he was." "I saw my faith, don't even ask why," it continues. "You are my Venus, my dear Marx." The website of the party newspaper People's Daily said the song proves how Marx continues to appeal to young people and will "never completely go out of style." The site said an accompanying video featuring midriff-baring dancers, a DJ and rappers in backward caps and jerseys has "gone viral." Marx, who died in 1883, sits high in the pantheon of China's communist heroes, although it's unclear how much the author of famous lines such as "the proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains." resonates with young people raised on video games, hip-hop and western fashions. China in recent years has turned to animated short films, rock bands and rap music to promote the Communist Party, government policies and the military. An armed forces recruiting video released earlier this month features a rap-rock soundtrack with lyrics such as "just waiting for the order to kill, kill, kill" over a frantic music-video style montage of aircraft, tanks and guns. Romania and Poland are in the potential crosshairs of Russian rockets because they are hosting parts of the U.S. missile defense shield that Moscow considers a threat to its national security, President Vladimir Putin warned Friday. Putin warned the European nations that Moscow has repeatedly said it would have to retaliate if the missile defense shield was put into place, but U.S. allies have ignored Russias warnings. Earlier this month, the U.S. program was declared operational at a site in Romania, drawing an angry reaction from Russia. NATO said the system is purely defensive and a response to a growing capability of ballistic missiles globally. Washington has said that the shield is needed to protect Europe from Iran and is not a threat. Another part of the shield is getting ready to be implemented 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 said in a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. "It will be the same case with Poland," he said. Reuters reported that Putin didnt lay out the actions that Moscow would take, but insisted that it was not making the first move. It was only going to respond to Washingtons moves. "We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us, Putin added. Putin cried foul over the claim that the defense system was need to protect from Iran. He said that excuse made no sense because of the landmark nuclear deal that was struck to curb Tehrans nuclear ambitions. Putin said the missiles coming out of Europe could easily hit Russia. "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." Putin has made only a handful of visits to EU countries since sanctions were imposed on Moscow two years ago in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia's annexation of Crimea following an internationally disputed referendum. "The issue of Crimea is over forever, based on the will of the people who live there. Russia will never negotiate on this issue," Putin said. Later in the conference, Putin blamed the U.S. for and the European Commission for pressuring Bulgaria from shelving a gas line pipeline that wouldve gone under the Black Sea. He said Russia was going to go through with a similar project in the Baltic Sea. On Saturday, Putin will visit the autonomous Orthodox Christian monastic community of Mount Athos, joined by the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from Reuters. The U.S. military in Japan is restricting celebrations and off-base alcohol consumption in Okinawa after the arrest of a former Marine suspected of killing a woman on the southern Japanese island. The Marine Corps commander in Japan said Saturday the measures are not punishment but an effort to show respect for the victim's family and mourn with the people of Okinawa. "We should not be out shooting fireworks. We should not be out having large celebrations and parties while the Okinawan people are in mourning. If we really believe we are part of the Okinawan community, then we too must be in mourning. And we do," Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson said at a news conference at a U.S. base in Okinawa. The 30,000 U.S. troops will not be allowed to drink alcohol off-base, and visiting clubs and bars is prohibited. Upcoming festivals and concerts on bases are being postponed until later in the summer. The restrictions took effect Friday and will last until June 24. Police say they arrested 32-year-old Kenneth Shinzato on May 19 after he told investigators where they could find a 20-year-old woman's body abandoned in a forest. Under Japanese law, he can be held for 21 days before charges are filed. The former Marine had married a Japanese woman and was working for a contractor that provided services to U.S. bases on Okinawa. The arrest comes as tensions are already high over a plan to relocate a Marine Corps air station to a less-populated part of Okinawa. About half of the U.S. troops stationed in Japan are on the island, and many residents resent the burden they bear for the defense of Japan and the region. They want the air station moved off Okinawa all together. The teacher crisis is real, and were not going to work our way out of it simply by making it easier to hire teachers. Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Release Date, News & Update: Imminent Smartphone Last Chip Against Apple? Things You Need To Know The Samsung Galaxy Note 6 is slowly nearing its official debut, considered to be the companys last line of defense against the impending coming of the iPhone 7. Though the next Apple device is believed to be something that holds less-than-impressive marks, Samsung is making sure that the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 leaves no stones unturned. Judging by how rumors have been piling up in recent weeks, the new Samsung phablet should be something special. But the question now is will the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 be something worth the wait? Is the Samsung phablet truly worth all the attention and hype? With consideration to rumors surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note 6s specs, most are excited. With the powerful features and specs linked to the Samsung Galaxy Note 6, it seems obvious that a lot are keen to see which will be around and left out. But is there really a point of comparison? Does Samsung have to soup up the Galaxy Note 6 despite the fact that Apple is rumored to be coming out with a less spectacular device this September? Either way, Samsung will still want to end the year with a bang with their highly anticipated flagship. The specs alone make it something worth waiting for. The Samsung Galaxy Note 6 will come with a 2K display backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC and 6 GB ram to boot. The bump in RAM is quickly tied up to the high resolution display and to ensure a better performing tablet. But those are not the only ones in tow. The Samsung Galaxy Note 6 will also have an improved camera, an area that may eventually compare it to the iPhone 7s alleged dual-lens camera offering. On the end, Samsung will pin its hopes on a brand new 1/1.7 CMOS camera sensor with an aperture as wide as /1.4, as bared by Sam Mobile. Cap that off with a sultry outer design and added storage, the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 does seem impressive but on paper. Seeing it up and close will still be important and folks just have to wait a bit more as its impending launch nears. Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia was among the right people enshrined on the memorial wall on Saturday, Oct. 21. This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise. Corvallis Police Department THURSDAY, MAY 26 CAR PROWL: 7:51 p.m., 1105 N.W. Ninth St. An officer responded to a report of a car prowl in progress and arrested Timothy Isaac Mross, 31, no address given, and charged Mross with third-degree theft and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. The officer said the investigation revealed that Mross entered a green truck and attempted to enter three other vehicles. Nothing was reported missing from the truck. TUESDAY, MAY 24 STOLEN VEHICLE: 10:39 a.m., 190 S.W. B Ave. An officer arrested Daniel Lee Scott, 24, no address given, and charged him with unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a prohibited weapon after reportedly finding Scott in possession of a stolen black 1998 Mercedes at the Skate Park. The officer also reportedly discovered a dagger in Scott's waistband during the arrest. Scott was booked into the Benton County Jail. Benton County Sheriff's Office FRIDAY, MAY 20 DUII: 3:07 a.m., Northwest Witham Hill and Sylvan drives. Ryan Matthew Hayes, 18, of Corvallis was charged with DUII and possession of alcohol by a minor following a traffic stop. Hayes' reported blood alcohol content was 0.11 percent. When Corvallis volunteer firefighter Carl Niedner heads out to an emergency, he no longer asks himself whether hes doing the best he can to save lives. Because now he knows, and he has the data to back it up. Niedner, a software developer, is the founder/CEO of a program called Code3 Simulator a Corvallis company that is helping fire departments determine the most efficient way to deploy personnel and equipment. The company took the top prize at the 2016 Willamette Angels Conference earlier this month and is projected to become a million-dollar company by 2019. Niedner said hes happy with the recent successes, but hes happier that the product is leading to lives being saved. It seems plausible that deployment optimizations of this kind could save one to three lives annually in a city like Corvallis, Niedner said. Thats pretty awesome. Its the best work Ive ever done in my life. Through a simple graphic interface, Code3Simulator uses predictive modeling to define alternative models so fire chiefs and city officials know where best to place available resources. Essentially, the software allows firefighters to simulate random scenarios based on real-world emergencies to get hard data on the most efficient way to respond to a call. Not knowing can lead to frustration and confusion, Niedner said. From an administrative point of view, its like trying to fly a plane visually in fog without any instruments. Code3Simulator software has been used in a dozen fire departments along the West Coast, including Corvallis, Eugene-Springfield, Salem and Pendleton in Oregon, and Palo Alto and Redwood City in California. Theres a saying that fire service is 200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress, Niedner said. But thats starting to change. People are starting to realize that we need data to make these big decisions. Forged in crisis Code3Simulator got its start in the same way that many innovations do out of a crisis. While the company was officially founded in May 2015, Niedner developed the software in 2011, when the city of Corvallis faced major budget cuts. Faced with a recession, city officials considered dozens of ways to save any costs in every department. For the Fire Department, that meant asking Chief Roy Emery. All municipalities are faced with budgetary challenges at some point, Emery said. They relied on the judgment of the fire chief. For us before, there was no analytics behind it. It was a gut feeling. Theyre just relying on that persons intuition. While some software companies provided statistical analysis for first responders, Emery said every system at the time was far too costly. If the city hired a third-party company to provide analysis, it would mean further spending and possibly further cuts. So when the citys sustainable budget task force turned to Emery with questions, Emery turned to Niedner. It removed that emotional component, Emery said. There was no longer speculation or argument. You have hard data. It gives you confidence that this is the right course to follow. My job is to present factual information to the council, which makes the ultimate decision. The better information I can provide, the better they can make those decisions. In 2012, the cuts hit even harder and the city made the decision to close Fire Station No. 5. The program helped create some of the data to minimize the negative impacts of the decision and prevented further delays in response time to the area following the closure. As a result, Station 2 on Southwest 35th Street became an either/or response station, meaning it would respond to either fire or EMS calls with the appropriate apparatus. You fight like hell to get a station open. And you fight like hell when youre forced to close a station. Its a hard thing, but were not going to get everything we need to run a perfect system, Emery said. So the question becomes, how can we move things around? With Code3Sim, youre looking at it statistically and using data so you know youre putting the money toward where the majority of the calls are. In effect, the city of Corvallis spent a fraction of the cost on analytics and Corvallis became the beta site for Code3Simulator, providing a springboard for Niedner to found his own company. Its filling a niche there, Emery said. Corvallis fire is fortunate to have Carl as a volunteer who worked on this. Its a tremendous thing hes done for us. Its been a great partnership. But Niedner isnt alone. The team has hired several engineers to assist in the development of the system, including Chief Technical Officer Chester Ornes, a co-founder of two startups. Niedner also works closely with Douglas Baily, a Corvallis fire division chief who started as an early sponsor and now works as Code3Simulators sales and marketing lead. Baily said the system is revolutionizing the way fire departments handle deployment. Its as big as the self-contained breathing apparatus, Baily said. I got into this business to help people. Now Im involved in a business that is putting the right resources in the right time and the right place and helping to save lives. Dramatic rescue : Iraqi refugee saves youth from drowning Bonn A young man from Iraq sprang into action when he saw a youth struggling to stay afloat in the Rhine. The rescue had a happy ending. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Anuar Alobaidi is receiving lots of attention right now and its almost a little uncomfortable for him. Its completely normal and humane to help, said the 27-year-old Iraqi through an interpreter. Alobaidi is a refugee living in a facility near the Rhine River. At midday, he was giving his second interview of the day and a camera team was awaiting him outside of the refugee facility. He relayed that he didnt really think too long about what to do, he just jumped in the water to help. On Thursday evening, Alobaidi had been spending the evening at the Rhine promenade with another person from his housing. They were sitting near the Moby Dick drinking Cola. Suddenly, we saw a bunch of people run by us, and they were pointing at the water and screaming, he said. It became clear to them immediately that someone was drowning and they needed to do something. The two men quickly discussed what to do and because his friend did not know how to swim, Alobaidi decided to jump in. I took off my T-shirt and pants and jumped in the Rhine. All in about 30 seconds, he says. Alobaidi grew up in Basra on the Forat River, and fled to Germany about six months ago because of war. In the Rhine, a 16-year-old was fighting for his life, according to police. Police spokesperson Robert Scholten said there had been a swimming accident which left the youth fully exhausted and trying to stay afloat. At 9:45 p.m., witnesses called the emergency number and by the time rescue teams arrived, a crowd of 200 had gathered. Alobaidi was the only one who had taken action in the meantime. A woman called out that I should put the boy on my back and keep his head above water, said the 27-year-old. He was able to get the youth to the pier where the anchor was and hold tight. At that point, others tried to help, four of them also going in the water. Bonn/Region Stormy weather resulted in a train derailment Friday evening. Astronomers hope for better weather to view planets, and attempted thefts were thwarted. Stormy weather led to a train derailment along the Mosel on Friday evening. A landslide was the cause of the derailment. According to the Deutsche Bahn, the train had been on its way to Trier and was unable to stop in time to avoid it. Parts of the route from Trier to Koblenz had to be closed off in both directions. Luckily, no one was injured, and buses were brought in to transport passengers. On the 61 autobahn near Koblenz, hail was so strong that cars had to pull off to the side of the road. Storms also brought down trees in the north Eifel and there was some flooding in Mechernich and Bad Munstereifel. 100 persons in a supermarket in Bad Munstereifel could no longer open the doors because of the high water. Weather forecasters are predicting more thunderstorms, strong rains, hail and high winds for the weekend in many regions throughout Germany, including Bonn and the surrounding area. Google wins Oracle copyright lawsuit over Android code News oi -GizBot Bureau In a much-awaited decision, a jury in California's Northern District federal court declared on Friday that Google's use of copyright-protected code in Android was a fair one and freed the tech giant of any liability. Global software major Oracle, which controls the copyright on the code, had sought $9 billion for the use of the code, accusing Google of software copyrights infringement, technology website The Verge reported. Lava Just Launched Ivory S 4G, Its First 4G Enabled Tablet at Rs 8,799 Oracle claimed that it should receive $475 million in damages in addition to $8.8 billion relating to "profits apportioned to infringed Java copyrights" and crushing Java's chance of success in smartphones, tablets and other products. The two companies have been at odds over whether Google improperly used so-called APIs (application programming interfaces) related to the Java programming language to create its Android operating system. Oracle said that Google has not paid the company for its use of Java which was developed by tech company Sun Microsystems acquired by Oracle in 2010. Back in 2012, the companies took the issue to court but the jury was unable to determine whether Google used Java APIs fairly. In April, Oracle CEO Safra Catz and Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai attended the talks in a court in April for six hours and discussed the lawsuit that Oracle had filed, however, they failed to make any settlements. Google had been denying any wrongdoing and argued that its use of Java is protected by the legal doctrine of "fair use", which permits copying in some circumstances. In 2012, the companies took the issue to court but the jury was unable to determine whether Google used Java application programming interfaces (APIs) fairly. HTC 10 [First Impressions]: Designed Well, Features Impressive Specs, but Priced Obnoxiously! Both Google's Go and Apple's Swift are licensed in a way that would close off the possibility of such a suit in the future, the report added. Source IANS Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Obama Thanks Iwakuni Personnel, Talks of Bridging U.S.-Japan Differences By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, May 27, 2016 President Barack Obama today thanked Marines, sailors and family members at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, for "being the backbone" of the U.S.-Japanese alliance. The president spoke in a hangar on the base before moving to Hiroshima to place a wreath at the site of the first atomic bombing. He is the first president to visit the site since the U.S. Army Air Forces dropped the atomic bomb on the city in 1945, killing more than 100,000 and effectively ending World War II. Obama told the Marines that he is proud that the United States is rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific, and continues to do so. Vital Region "This region is vital to our shared security and prosperity," he said. "That takes security cooperation. It takes trade agreements. It takes relationship building between people. And it takes the proud service of men and women throughout the region working with our outstanding men and women who serve with the armed forces of Japan." The president said his visit to Hiroshima was an opportunity to honor the memory of all those lost during World War II. "It's a chance to reaffirm our commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a war where nuclear weapons will no longer be necessary," he said. The visit is a testament to bridging divides. The United States and Japan were bitter enemies in 1945. The visit shows "how our two nations -- former adversaries -- can be not just partners, but become the best of friends and the strongest of allies," he said. "We see the strength of our alliance on display right here: This base is a powerful example of the trust and cooperation and friendship between the United States and Japan." Marines from Iwakuni have partnered with Japan Self-Defense Forces to aid people around the region; from cyclone victims in Bangladesh to flooding victims in the Philippines. Last month, Iwakuni Marines helped deliver relief to families stricken by earthquakes in Kumamoto that left 49 people dead and thousands homeless. Tessa Snow The president related a story about a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey pilot, Capt. Tessa Snow, who flew aid into the stricken prefecture. One family was so thankful they will name their little girl -- who will be born next month -- after the young captain. "They want their daughter to grow up with the same qualities that Tessa has: honor and courage and commitment, and a willingness to help others," Obama said. "[These are] qualities that define our men and women in uniform." The president said American and Japanese personnel working at Iwakuni demonstrate every day the values of the United States and Japan: freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and respect for the rule of law. "As a result this alliance hasn't been essential to just our two countries, it's an indispensible source of stability and an essential foundation for prosperity in this region and around the world," he said. The president said it was especially fitting he speak to the U.S. troops as Memorial Day approaches. "It's a reminder of the risks and the sacrifices that are part of your jobs," he said. "It a reminder that we have to honor all of those who have given everything for our freedom." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address ESG-7 Hosts Amphibious, Mine Warfare Staff Talks Navy News Service Story Number: NNS160527-23 Release Date: 5/27/2016 1:01:00 PM By Mass Communications Specialist Third Class Sarah Villegas, Task Force 76 Public Affairs SASEBO, Japan (NNS) -- Rear Adm. John B. Nowell, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group SEVEN, hosted amphibious and mine warfare staff talks, May 23-24, with leaders from Japan Self-Defense Forces and various Navy and Marine Corps leaders in the 7th Fleet area of operations. "This is the first blue-green staff talks that the U.S. has ever had with Japan," said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jonathan Brown, amphibious force Marine officer, ESG 7. "This is a relatively new initiative for them [JSDF]." In 2013, the government of Japan announced a national security strategy that aimed to build up joint defense force capabilities that were sufficient for amphibious operations. While the shift toward amphibious warfare has been on Japan's radar since then, this was the first time that the Commander, Amphibious Task Force and Commander, Landing Force had formally joined together from both U.S. 7th Fleet and JSDF staffs. This marked the beginning of many major bilateral certifications, training exercises, and operations. "There are an awful lot of details that get overlooked, like how do you command and control these forces? Who is in command? That's one of the biggest things we're talking about in these staff talks; the transfer of supporting versus supported," said Brown. "There are lots of decision points, execution checklists, and working out relationships between all the units that are supporting this amphibious transition. It's complex, with a lot of moving parts." Not only did commands have the chance to learn about each other's missions and support capabilities, but it also served as an opportunity to build on relationships and alliances in the region. "It's critical that we take opportunities to get the leadership from both U.S. and Japan to talk about how we will operate together in a whole range of operations, from humanitarian assistance and disaster response, like the aid we just provided after the earthquake in Kumamoto, to a more complex contingency response," said Nowell. "As we look at the Japanese developing their amphibious capability, as well as the U.S. and other regional partners leveraging their [JMSDF] expertise in mine warfare, we will continue to see our partnership grow." Many Japanese counterparts said there were many advantages to meeting in person to plan and discuss future operations and exercises. It helped mitigate many miscommunication barriers while giving both CAT and CLF the chance to expound on ideas with each other. "In order for us to operate successfully on amphibious missions, all forces must be included in the discussions," said Rear Adm. Hideki Yuasa, commander of JMSDF's Mine Warfare Force. "That is why we have to meet together for these talks. The Japanese forces are still in the early stages of amphibious operations, but hope to learn as much as possible in order to fight together and get on the same level as the U.S. Navy and Marines. The relationship between the U.S. Navy and JMSDF is already close, but we hope to strengthen it through these talks and operations. We want our relationship to include all forces, including the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, JASDF, JGSDF, and JMSDF." These important staff talks also included tours of key ESG 7 platforms that highlight the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed amphibious capabilities. U.S. Navy Cdr. Morris Oxendine, commanding officer, Naval Beach Unit SEVEN, gave Yuasa and company a tour of Yokose Landing Craft Air Cushion facilities to exhibit how Amphibious Forces 7TH Fleet transports Marines from ship to shore with their equipment and expertise. JSDF leaders also had a chance to see the ships that Marines and NBU-7 Sailors embark on for a wide array of operations. Capt. Kristy McCallum, commanding officer, USS Green Bay (LPD 20), hosted them for a shipboard tour in order to give an idea of how the San Antonio-class dock landing ship operates in the 7TH Fleet area of operations. Commands in attendance included key role players in amphibious forces in the Pacific, such as 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Amphibious Squadron 11, NBU-7, Mine Counter Measures Squadron 7, Japan's Western Army, Japan's Western Air Defense Force, and Japan's Mine Warfare Force. ESG-7 is the Navy's only forward-deployed amphibious force and is headquartered at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, with an operating detachment in Sasebo, Japan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Statement on Aerial Bombardment in South Kordofan and De Facto Expulsion of OCHA Head Joint Statement Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC May 27, 2016 The text of the following statement was issued jointly by the Governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Begin Text: The members of the Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States) are appalled by the Sudanese government's aerial bombardment of civilians in Kauda and the Heiban area of South Kordofan, including the bombing of St Vincent Elementary School on 25 May. The Sudanese government has a responsibility to protect all its citizens. We urge all parties to end the violence and allow immediate humanitarian access to those in need. We believe that the Roadmap presented by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel represents the way forward. The Troika countries are also deeply concerned by the Government of Sudan's de facto expulsion of Ivo Freijsen, the Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan. The Government of Sudan's action contributes to the increasingly difficult environment to address humanitarian needs in Sudan. The humanitarian situation remains critical, with over 5.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid. We fully support OCHA's mandate in Sudan and call on the Government to review this latest decision, and lift restrictions on the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to all Sudanese affected by crisis and conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Sudan: New team of explosive detection dogs arrives at UN mission 27 May 2016 The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in South Sudan said today it will receive 37 new explosive detection dogs as part of an increase in the presence of such dogs throughout the country. In a press release, UNMAS said the explosive detection dogs regularly support UN Police (UNPOL) to conduct searches of protection of civilians sites, cargo and entry points, to detect prohibited or hazardous items, all of which are swiftly removed by UNPOL so that internally displaced people and others under the protection of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) remain safe from harm. Currently, UNMAS has six explosive detection dog teams that focus on entry point control and cargo searches in Juba. In 2015, 19,781 vehicles, 13,587 bags and 970 buildings were searched using these teams. Upon arrival, the dogs will be transferred to temporary kennels in Gumbo, Juba, where they will be acclimatized and paired with their future handlers. Once the dogs are settled they will be paired with expert handlers who will complete additional training tailored specifically to South Sudan, UNMAS said. While some of the dogs will remain in Juba to work at the UN Thom Ping Base, UN House, the protection of civilians sites and the UN airport, many will be transferred to Bentiu, Bor and Malakal. UNMAS emphasized that the dogs are working animals and have been specially trained to perform the roles they will undertake. They are safe and friendly animals and have been screened for illness and disease and received the necessary vaccinations. "The welfare of the dogs is of prime importance to UNMAS, as is the safety of the communities within which they will be working," UNMAS said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address FEATURE: Speaking with UN peacekeepers in Liberia, South Sudan and Central African Republic 27 May 2016 Dr. Catherine Buzmion-Cheong, a United Nations peacekeeper, was working in Liberia when the first case of Ebola was confirmed in the West African nation. "The Ebola epidemic was unprecedented," Dr. Buzmion-Cheong told the UN News Centre from the capital, Monrovia, which is the headquarters for the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). "Initially, the lack of training and supplies, plus the stigma and the fear attributed to the Ebola virus disease hampered a lot of the critical intervention." The highly contagious and fatal virus raced through Liberia and the neighbouring countries of Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone killing thousands of people and resulting in the first ever emergency health mission being deployed by the UN, known by its acronym UNMEER. "As a Medical Officer, my primary goal is the health and well-being of each staff member in the Mission," Dr. Buzmion-Cheong said. Her team was responsible for making sure each UN peacekeeper know about the disease and how it spread. "Still when staff member heard any news about Ebola, they panicked." Her family back in the Philippines was also concerned about her safety and theirs when she visited them from the frontlines of the epidemic, before the country was declared Ebola-free on 9 May 2015. "The stigma in my home country that I was subjected to [] even my colleagues were scared of my presence, because I am in the medical profession," she recalled. "It was difficult to convince my family that I was safe working in Liberia," said Dr. Buzmion-Cheong, who has been with UNMIL since 2005 and working with the Mission in support of national efforts to stabilize the country and assist its people. Dr. Buzmion-Cheong is one of more than 124,000 military, police and civilian personnel deployed in 16 peacekeeping operations around the world. They are all being honoured as "heroes", the theme of this year's the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, marked annually on 29 May. The Day also pays tribute to the more than 3,400 "blue helmets" killed in the line of duty, 128 of whom died in 2015. "They manifest the best attributes of global solidarity, courageously serving in dangerous environments to provide security to some of the world's most vulnerable," said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marking the Day. South Sudan: Protecting civilians and preventing human rights abuses In April and May of 2015, South Sudan's Government forces and allied militia launched a violent campaign in Unity state against an area that was temporarily under the control of the rebel group. In fighting each other, the opposing forces targeted civilians, including through rape and killing, destroying towns and villages and pillaging what they wanted. "People were hiding in swamps," said Jeffrey Buenger, who worked as the Senior Protection Adviser at the UN Mission in the country (UNMISS) and also headed the Protection of Civilians Unit. Mr. Buenger had worked in South Sudan prior to officially arriving there in 2013, after stints with the UN Mission in Mali and more than seven years working in the Balkans on human rights abuses. "Accepting the position was one of the hardest things I could do because this was not a scenario where you could ever be quote-unquote 'successful'," he recalled, agreeing because he wanted to be part of an effort where peacekeeping is not just protecting civilians from human rights abuses but aiming to ease tensions and prevent the conflicts from starting in the first place. At the time he arrived, UNMISS was struggling to protect 30,000 civilians, which then grew to 200,000 at the conflict's peak and remains at 180,000. In his professional capacity, Mr. Buenger works closely with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the Mission who is usually the top UN official in the country as well as with the Force Commander, who oversees the uniformed peacekeepers, and other senior officials to protect civilians when the Government cannot or is unwilling to do so. "We started to try to come up with more creative ways to see how we could interact with the UN peacekeeping force to get them further out," he said, "and working also with UN civilian affairs on a more grassroots level so that they could support conflict mitigation to reduce tensions at a local level." By June 2015, civilians from Leer and the neighbouring counties were fleeing for three or four days to reach the UNMISS Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu. The UN peacekeepers who were from the Mongolian battalion at that time were finally able, in response to the events and after significant efforts across the Mission, to establish a so-called "austere operating base," which basically consisted of tents and a fence, from which they would proactively patrol several counties seven days a week. The additional visibility was in itself deterrence, but it also gave the UN peacekeepers wider scope to reach civilians and to open corridors for delivery of humanitarian aid. "We saw significant reductions in reports of violence," Mr. Buenger said. The numbers of people saved are difficult to quantify since "you cannot prove that this number of people would have been dead had the Force not patrolled. But we saw a shift in Unity State." "Both parties on the ground eventually appreciated our presence because they saw that it was impartial," he continued. "It was to protect civilians regardless of who they were. We are not interested in civilians allied with this side or that side. It's to ensure that the civilian populace is safe particularly women, children and the elderly." Central African Republic: UN Police working with women, children in the communities In the Central African Republic (CAR), Captain Evelyn Borbor is a UN police officer working with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission there, known by it's French acronym, MINUSCA. "The best part is me as a woman here, serving here in a mission and then trying to help my fellow women have a durable peace, be liberated economically and then to be able to help them solve their own problem in this country," said Ms. Borbor, who is the Gender Focal Point within UNPOL. A former Deputy Superintendent of Police in her native Ghana, Ms. Borbor was previously in Cote d'Ivoire where she would do outreach to communities, explaining what UN Police do and how they work with the Government. She would also motivate the women to work together in their communities. "Be united as the twigs of a broom. Together they are strong. But alone, the twig can do nothing and breaks easily," she told villagers. In CAR, the best part of her job, Ms. Borbor said, is meeting women and children: "To give them my experience and to help them have the peace that we are all looking for in this country. Hear directly from other UN Peacekeepers, including Human Rights Team Leader Benedetta Odorisio, Electoral Officer Alain Duplex Ngounou Kampang, and Civilian Affairs Officer Luc J. Madloire Ondouambega. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Stealth Subs 'Absolutely Essential' for US Military by Carla Babb May 27, 2016 One of America's greatest threats to outsiders is 171 meters long and four stories high and can be completely submerged underwater, free to roam the seas in secrecy. The Ohio-class SSBN submarine, carrying a payload of Trident II nuclear missiles, is what Secretary of Defense Ash Carter this week called "absolutely essential". The vessels, strategically positioned around the globe, each carry up to two dozen ballistic missiles that can take out targets up to 7,400 kilometers away. "This is the most important weapon system that we have as far as strategic security, because nobody knows where it is, it always works and it's always on watch," Sonar Technician Senior Chief Jarrad Hampton said during a VOA visit to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay near St. Marys, Georgia, which is home to six SSBN subs. Nuclear triad Officials argue these subs are the foremost prong of the nuclear triad, a term used to describe America's ability to launch a nuclear weapons attack by air, land or sea. Strategic bomber jets and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles make up the first two prongs. Fourteen SSBN submarines filled with hundreds of Trident II missiles make up the third prong of the triad, giving the U.S. the ability to strike anywhere, any place, at any time. Navy Captain Greg Hicks, a spokesman for the military's top general, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joe Dunford, said the weapons system prevents offensive first strikes that could be crippling to the United States. "It provides our country a basis in which we can say, 'If you do harm to us, we will do harm to you,' " Hicks said. The Ohio-class submarines' mobility and ability to disappear beneath the ocean surface is matched by the Trident II missile's reliability. "Every time that we've gone out to do an evaluation," Hampton said, "it goes exactly where it's supposed to go." "They are the number one thing that keeps our nation secure," Hicks added. Aging fleet Thanks to the current number of Ohio-class nuclear subs, according to Hampton, there is never a "gap" in the Navy's ability to respond to aggressive actions. But that ability will soon be threatened if a program is not funded in time to replace the aging fleet. The submarines' hulls last only about 40 years. The first of the current Ohio-class subs are set to retire by 2029. "We're going to have to find a replacement," Hampton said. "We have to get these boats built, outfitted, tested and at sea before the other ones start coming off." And when the new START treaty goes into effect in the near future, the submarines will become even more important, with their payload expected to increase from about 50 percent to 70 percent of the nation's active nuclear arsenal, said Lieutenant Lily Hinz, the public affairs officer at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. Massive investment The first Ohio-class sub took several years to build and commission. Building and commissioning the entire Ohio-class fleet took more than 20 years, from 1976 to 1997. A similar time contribution should be expected for the new fleet, officials say, with a heavy financial investment needed up front to procure the new fleet. Translation: Lawmakers are running out of time to fund a program that officials say can no longer be postponed. The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has money set aside for initial procurement of these replacement submarines, dubbed the Ohio Replacement Program, or ORP, but there is no guarantee that Congress will approve it. "It's the critical survivable and enduring peace of the nuclear deterrent. Gotta, gotta, gotta have it," Carter told sailors at a base in Connecticut on Tuesday. Carter said his biggest concern was that across-the-board budget cuts could prevent the military from getting the money it needs for these updates, if there is a collapse of the bipartisan budget agreement that currently provides relief from these cuts. The last major update to the U.S. military's nuclear infrastructure occurred in the 1980s. The military recently has made billions of dollars in various nuclear infrastructure investments, but it's not enough to cover all the required changes to the aging nuclear enterprise, according to Lieutenant Commander Courtney Hillson, a Pentagon spokeswoman. Senate vote The Senate on Wednesday voted to proceed to the NDAA by a vote of 98-0, clearing the way for formal debate. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, an Arizona Republican, has said final action on the bill would most likely come in June. Some lawmakers have pushed to create a National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund, an account set aside specifically to finance the ORP. If it's created, lawmakers could ensure the sea-based leg of the military's nuclear infrastructure upgrades is funded, without the program having to fight other needed programs for cash. "We can't afford this all at once," Hicks said. "We need to invest over time so that we can afford the system, instead of trying to fund a big bill at the last minute." If approved, plans for the next generation of ballistic-missile-carrying subs call for nuclear reactors that never need to be refueled, according to Hampton, the sonar technician. He said the new submarines would last 40 years, like the current Ohio-class subs, but would provide a "huge cost cut" in operations. Current Ohio-class submarines must refuel about every 20 years. Refueling is extremely expensive and time-consuming, keeping the boat off the high seas for about two years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's new aircraft carrier still needs time before launch, expert says People's Daily Online By Gao Yinan (People's Daily Online) 14:37, May 27, 2016 Popular Science, a monthly magazine of science and technology published in the U.S., recently unveiled the latest development of China's first domestically built aircraft carrier. The article, entitled "China's New Carrier Gets A Ski Ramp," explains that the carrier already has most of its hangar bay installed. The next steps are the ski ramp, control tower island and flight deck. Chinese military expert Cao Weidong said in an interview with Today's Asia that if the project has already progressed to the point of installing a ski ramp deck, then the carrier's launch must not be far off. But the remaining construction still needs some time, Cao added. On the afternoon of December 31, 2015, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that China is building a second aircraft carrier. Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun said the carrier had been designed in China, and would be built in the port of Dalian. The conventionally powered carrier will have a displacement of 50,000 tons, will be able to accommodate J-15 fighter jets, and the fixed-wing on-board aircraft will feature a ski-jump take-off mode. Since the beginning of the year, many modules have already been assembled on China's new carrier, including the below-deck hangar bay and openings for aircraft elevators, according to Popular Science. The carrier is expected to be launched in 2017, with commissioning between 2019 and 2020. Based on the experience of countries like the U.S. and U.K., it can take years to construct and commission an aircraft carrier, reported CCTV. Newport News Shipbuilding started construction of the USS Gerald R. Ford, also known as CVN-78, in November 2009; that carrier was not launched until October 2013. The first Queen Elizabeth carrier started construction in 2009 and was launched in 2014. Its expected service time is 2017. China's carriers will use an electromagnetic catapult to launch aircraft in the future, said Cao Weidong. So far, only the U.S. uses electromagnetic catapult technology, which represents the future direction of aircraft carrier catapult technology, Cao added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese military still capable of fighting, spokesperson says People's Daily Online By Yuan Can (People's Daily Online) 13:43, May 27, 2016 "Chinese soldiers are equipped with courage and strength. They are not only capable of fighting, they are very good at fighting," said Yang Yujun, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference on Thursday. Yang's statement was in response to a question from a netizen who expressed doubts about the military's capability, since Chinese troops "have not fought a single battle in several decades." Yang stated that the reason the Chinese military has not fought in a war for several decades is that China does not worship military power or conflict. China adheres to a path of peaceful development, and pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, Yang said. Although most current Chinese soldiers have not experienced a real battlefield, they have nevertheless proved their ability to deal with life and death situations during a variety of operations, including counter-terrorism, contingency response, international peacekeeping, naval escort and overseas evacuation. China has carefully maintained its military capability since the 18th National Party Congress. "The morale, weaponry, equipment, personnel competence and level of training have all improved notably, resulting in a substantial upgrade of core military capability," Yang said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran downplays US House heavy water vote Iran Press TV Thu May 26, 2016 11:48PM Iran has downplayed a vote at the US House of Representatives to bar the American government from purchasing heavy water from Iran in the future. Last month, the US government completed an $8.6-million deal to buy 32 metric tons of heavy water from Iran. On Wednesday, 251 American lawmakers voted for a bill that would prohibit such purchases next year. The measure is yet to be approved by the US Senate. "The bill would be unimportant even if it is ratified," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said in a TV interview on Thursday night. "Essentially, in line with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), neither the US nor any other country is obligated to buy heavy water from Iran," he said. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany signed an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program known as the JCPOA in Vienna on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks. Under the deal, which took effect in January, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the UN Security Council and the US would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities. "Iran is only obligated to offer its surplus of heavy water to international markets for sale," Araqchi said, adding, "Heavy water is a valuable commodity and there are many who are willing to buy." The United States has, subject to the deal, agreed to buy the heavy water from Iran, and the Islamic Republic is in talks with other countries, which would potentially buy 40 more metric tons, the official said. He said there were attempts underway at promoting Iranophobia by radical forces within the US and the region in order to prevent Tehran from availing itself of the opportunities provided by the JCPOA. These are the same movements, which tried all they could to prevent the nuclear negotiations from bearing result. Now they have turned their focus onto this issue after their failed sabotage attempts, the Iranian official added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Araqchi: Iran never allows breach in JCPOA IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 27, IRNA -- Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said that the US and Zionist regime have not set aside enmity with Iran, but Iran will never allow Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to be violated. Araqchi, also head of Headquarters for Pursuing Implementation of JCPOA, said in an interview on recent bill by the US Congress to prevent purchase of heavy water from Iran that the bill is of no significance, even if approved. He further noted that the bill needs Senate's assent and US President Barack Obama's approval to be a law. Previous efforts in Senate to prevent sales of Iran's heavy water were not successful. Araqchi further pointed out that based on JCPOA, neither US nor any other country is committed to buy heavy water from Iran. Iran's only commitment is to offer surplus heavy water in the international markets. If a customer were not found for it, it does not matter, he said. Noting that heavy water is a valuable product with many customers, the official said, 'The US has bought some 40 tons of Iran's heavy water and we are in talks with other states for the other 40 tons.' 'If no customer were found, there will be no problem in the implementation of JCPOA because neither Americans are committed to buy nor we to sell. We are only committed to put them on sale,' he said. Referring to spread of Iranophobia and its impact on the implementation of JCPOA, Araqchi said that the efforts to promote Iranophobia by the US' hardliners are aimed at depriving Iran of using post-sanctions opportunities. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said last August that Iran would begin to commercialize its nuclear technology after the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) an agreement reached last July between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1). The latest move by the US House follows a similar amendment last month that was blocked by Democrats in the Senate shortly after Washington agreed to purchase heavy water from Iran. Some Congress members, including pro-Israeli lawmakers, have long been trying to derail the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The JCPOA took effect on January 16 and all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted as a result in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Yet, hardliners, basically Republicans, in the US have been pushing against the deal. The JCPOA gives Iran the right to sell, dilute or dispose of the heavy water it has produced under certain conditions. It also allows Iran to sell its enriched uranium material called UF6 - and to buy natural uranium or "yellow cake" in return. 8072**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IAEA: Iran Complying with Nuclear Pact by VOA News May 27, 2016 The United Nations nuclear agency reports Iran is complying with a milestone agreement to limit stockpiles of key ingredients that can be used to produce nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran's stockpiles of heavy water and uranium are within the limits that were agreed upon last year. Iran's uranium has not exceeded the agreed limit of 300 kilograms and its heavy water supplies remain below the 130 ton limit, the report said. The findings were disclosed Friday in the second quarterly report the IAEA has prepared since the accord took effect in January. In July 2015, a deal for Iran to limit stockpiles of the materials was reached with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. In exchange for the agreement, U.N. and Western sanctions on Iran were lifted, including the country's valuable oil exports. But the U.S. has maintained its sanctions on Iran due to the Persian Gulf country's alleged sponsorship of arms shipments in the Middle East and its ballistic missile program. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif requested in May that the U.S. take "more serious and concrete" actions to resolve the matter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqis protest in Baghdad to demand reforms Iran Press TV Fri May 27, 2016 3:9PM Hundreds of Iraqis have taken to the streets of the capital, Baghdad, reiterating their call for reforms as the country remains bogged down in political turmoil. Protesters from several areas across Baghdad gathered at central Tahrir Square Baghdad on Friday, according to the Arabic-language al-Sumaria news website. Security forces were attempting to prevent the demonstrators from reaching the square. The number of the protesters was increasing with Iraqi media saying hundreds of residents of Baghdad's district of Sadr City are flocking to the square. Meanwhile, the Iraqi security forces reportedly used teargas to disperse the protesters. The protests are challenging Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's call on the reform protesters in Baghdad to halt their weekly action as the Iraqi military and allies gear up for retaking the key city of Fallujah west of the country from militants. The Iraqi premier further said the continued demonstrations in Baghdad and elsewhere would exert pressure on the Iraqi forces battling Daesh Takfiri terrorists. Abadi's call was specifically aimed at followers of Muqtada Sadr, a respected cleric based in the city of Najaf, who has mobilized people in Baghdad and other cities against what he calls rampant corruption in Iraq. A series of weekly demonstrations prompted Abadi to introduce a new cabinet earlier this month, but the move failed due to fierce opposition among political factions and triggered more violent protests in Baghdad. At least four people were killed in the clashes between police and protesters last week. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Calls For Revival Of Ties With Europe Ahead Of Greek Visit May 27, 2016 by RFE/RL Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the revival of relations between Moscow and European Union on the eve of his first visit to the bloc this year. Before starting a two-day trip to Greece on May 27, Putin called for an energy alliance with the EU and the relaxation of visa rules for Russians travelling to the EU, despite the EU's economic sanctions against Moscow for its aggressions in Ukraine. "We believe our relations with the EU do not face any problems that we cannot solve," Putin said in an article in the Greek daily Kathimerini on May 26. "A rightful position of the Old Continent in the new international realities can only be secured by combining capacities of all European countries, including Russia." Greece and Russia will sign a "number of bilateral agreements" on trade and the economy during the visit, the Kremlin said. Putin is due to meet Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens on May 27. Putin and Tsipras will unveil a famous icon by Andrei Rublev, the Ascension, which is on loan from Russia's Tretyakov Gallery to Greece's Byzantine and Christian Museum. On May 28, he celebrates 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. Putin in the Kathimerini article said Russia remains interested in developing the South Stream gas pipeline from Russia to southern Europe via the Black Sea. "Currently the work on projected gas supplies from Russia to Greece and Italy via third countries is on, meaning that the pipeline will cross the Black Sea and will run through one of the coastal countries, probably Bulgaria, further on to Greece and Italy," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said. Athens "still favors reviving South Stream in one form or another" despite opposition elsewhere in the EU, he said. After talks between the two countries, they are expected to sign an agreement between Rosneft and Hellenic petrolum on supplies of oil products to Greece. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and Interfax Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/putin-calls- revival-ties-with-europe-ahead-greek-visit- despite-eu-sanctions/27760334.html Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi FM urges Assad departure as part of transition in Syria Iran Press TV Fri May 27, 2016 5:13AM The Saudi foreign minister has insisted again that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must quickly step down from power as part of a political transition in the violence-torn country. Riyadh's position on Assad "has not changed" and the Syrian leader "should leave, as soon as the transition period starts," Adel al-Jubeir told journalists upon his arrival in Moscow on Thursday. Jubeir is in Moscow to participate in a ministerial meeting between the representatives of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Russia. During his visit, Jubeir also met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the conflict in Syria. The Saudi official voiced opposition to Moscow's stance that those attending Geneva peace talks "must truly represent" the Syrian nation. "I would also like to say that we disagree with the position of Russia on the issue of members of the delegation at the Syrian talks. "We believe that the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people at the talks should be the Riyadh Group," said Jubeir, referring to the Saudi-based opposition, called the High Negotiations Committee (HNC). Lavrov, for his part, underscored that "the fate of Syria should only be determined by the Syrian people," stressing that elections should take place "under strict and close international control." On Thursday, UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said there are no plans to resume peace talks over the next two or three weeks. De Mistura told a closed UN Security Council session that more progress was required to strengthen a ceasefire in Syria and deliver humanitarian aid before the negotiations can resume. The talks began in Geneva on April 13 but came to an immediate halt after the Saudi-backed opposition walked out of the discussions and declared a "new war" on the Syrian government. Iran-Saudi tensions During the Thursday meeting with Jubeir, the Russian foreign minister also expressed Moscow's readiness to help resolve "specific problems" in ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Moscow enjoys "good ties" with both sides, said, Lavrov, adding, "We will be ready to use these good relations in order to help create the conditions for a specific conversation on normalization, which can be attained only through direct dialogue of the two sides." He further slammed as "unacceptable" certain attempts to portray disagreements between Iran and the kingdom as a rift in the Muslim world. "We know about the existing disagreements that are purely specific in nature, but we also know about the very dangerous attempts to present these disagreements as a reflection of a split in the Muslim world," Lavrov said. He added that Moscow believes "such attempts to provoke the situation in this sphere are unacceptable. It is in the interests of Islam to ensure unity of all its branches." Ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been tense since Tehran strongly condemned of the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in January. Riyadh later severed diplomatic relations with Tehran following attacks on two vacant Saudi missions in Iran amid a series of angry demonstrations against Nimr's killing. Some Saudi allies, including Bahrain, took Riyadh's lead to sever relations with Iran. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria rejects reports on new Russia-proposed constitution Iran Press TV Fri May 27, 2016 5:49PM Syria has dismissed as "untrue" media reports claiming that Russia has drafted a new constitution for the conflict-ridden country. The Beirut-based al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday that Moscow has finished drafting a constitution which would strip the president of its authority and require a decentralized government to end the five-year crisis as the foreign-backed opposition repeatedly demanded the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before a transitional government is established. "No draft constitution has been shown to the Syrian Arab Republic. Everything which has been said in the media about this subject is totally untrue," the Syrian Presidency said in a statement on its official Facebook page on Friday. "Any new future constitution for Syria will not be presented from abroad, but will be entirely Syrian: discussed and agreed upon by Syrians themselves and after that put to a referendum. Anything else would be worthless and meaningless," the Presidency added. Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of some 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders. In April, Bloomberg reported that Russia and the United States, a major supporter of the foreign-backed Takfiri militants, were working on drafting a new constitution for Syria together. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkish FM slams US for 'two-faced' behavior Iran Press TV Fri May 27, 2016 1:53PM Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed the United States Friday for its "two-faced" behavior, saying it is "unacceptable" that US soldiers are backing Kurdish fighters in Syria. A group of US soldiers are said to be operating alongside members of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an anti-Daesh alliance of Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Turkmen, and mostly Kurdish fighters belonging to the People's Protection Units, also known as the YPG. The YPG has been engaged in battle with Daesh for months, shutting down their supply routes from Turkey into Syria near Raqqah, which is the de facto capital of the terrorist group. Turkey accuses the YPG of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, which has been engaged in a three-decade fight for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast. Ankara and Washington both consider the PKK as a terrorist organization. "If they 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," the Turkish foreign minister stated at a UN summit in Antalya. "It is unacceptable for US soldiers to use the insignia of the YPG, a terrorist group." Washington had earlier announced its participation with other forces in the liberation of Raqqah, but this is the first time images have emerged apparently showing US troops wearing the YPG insignia. Ankara had raised the issue with the US State Department. Asked at a briefing on Thursday if it was appropriate to wear such insignia, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook declined to comment on the photos but said that when special forces operate in some areas, they do what they can to blend in with the community to enhance their own security. The United States does not consider the YPG to be a terrorist group. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Authorities Ready for Humanitarian Operations If Agreed Before Sputnik News 12:23 27.05.2016(updated 12:32 27.05.2016) The Syrian government is ready to support any humanitarian operations on its soil if they are agreed on with Damascus, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad told Sputnik. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Syrian government is ready to support any humanitarian operations on its soil if they are agreed on with Damascus, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad told Sputnik. "I would like to say that the Syrian government provides all the regions with humanitarian aid. While upholding regular contacts with UN humanitarian organizations, it has created a plan to deliver aid everywhere. Any operation of this sort is carried out in coordination with our government and is deemed unacceptable without it, therefore, we do agree on any [humanitarian] operation if it is agreed with us," the ambassador said in an interview. Last week, the Syrian government said that it has supplied over 80 percent of all the humanitarian aid delivered to the population in areas controlled by terrorists. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Goa News online offers latest Goa news from Goa including sports, politics, cultural and local news from Goa. CHICAGO Taking Social Security benefits early comes with a price, yet more than 4 in 10 Americans who are 50 and over say they'll dip into the program before reaching full retirement age. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Thursday found that 44 percent report Social Security will be their biggest source of income during their retirement years. Full benefits begin at 65 or 66 for those born between 1943 and 1954. Americans can begin collecting as early as age 62, but with benefits reduced by up to 30 percent, according to the Social Security Administration. "One thing we know for certain is that claiming early can have long-term repercussions on your fiscal security as you age," said Gary Koenig, vice president of Financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute. Koenig said benefits increase significantly for those who wait, rising around 8 percent more for each additional year past age 66 and up to 70, when benefits max out. "So we encourage people to delay as long as possible," he said. But waiting is a luxury many Americans don't have. Ken Chrzastek of Chicago began drawing Social Security benefits at age 62 and pulled $50,000 out of an IRA after losing a retail job two years ago. He has been unable to find even part-time work. "Hiring a 62-year-old is a liability for a company," he said. The poll found that Americans 50 and over have multiple sources of income for retirement but that Social Security is the most common by far. Eighty-six percent say they have or will have Social Security income. More than half had a retirement account such as a 401(k), 403(b), or an IRA. Slightly less had other savings. About 43 percent had a traditional pension. The average age at which people expect to start or have started collecting Social Security benefits is 64. Just 9 percent said they would wait until after they turned 70. While the retirement age has been rising in recent years, particularly for women, the average American still retires relatively early, at age 64 for men and age 62 for women, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Charles Jeszeck, director of education, workforce and income security for the Government Accountability Office, said there is no one right answer to when people should take Social Security, especially since increases in life expectancy are not spread out evenly between the rich and poor, or between ethnic groups. Included in any discussion about Social Security are lingering questions about its solvency. The Social Security trust fund has been running a surplus every year since 1984. Those surpluses are forecast to stop sometime around 2020, as more boomers start claiming benefits. The Social Security Administration says interest income from the fund should be able to bridge this gap until 2034. At that point, without changes, payments could shrink but not disappear. Gary Burtless, a Brookings Institution economist, said that people taking benefits early or late should have no impact on the trust fund. "It costs the government roughly the same amount," he said. Among the presidential candidates, both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have called for an expansion of Social Security. Donald Trump said during a debate in March, "It's my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is." Many Americans worry that they won't have enough to live on once they stop working, the poll said. Among those with incomes under $50,000, 58 percent say they feel more anxious than secure about the amount of savings they have for retirement. People with higher incomes appear less anxious, but still 40 percent of those with incomes of $100,000 or more worry whether their savings will be sufficient. Alison Cowen, 57, said she doesn't see any path for her to retire_ever. "Not unless a miracle happens," she laughed sarcastically. "I just don't have enough to live on for the rest of my life." The poll said a quarter of workers over 50 say they never plan to retire, a sentiment more common among lower-income workers. Cowen, a saleswoman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, said she didn't save that much when she was younger, and a messy divorce 10 years ago meant she had to start over. "I've got $20,000 in the bank, but I would need to figure out a way increase that substantially before I could ever think of retiring," she said. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 27, 2016) - 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 TORONTO, May 27, 2016 - Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX: WDO) ("Wesdome" or the "Company") and Canoe Mining Ventures Corp. (TSXV: CLV) ("Canoe Mining") are pleased to announce that the parties have closed their previously announced agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") whereby Wesdome has purchased from Canoe Mining, a 100% interest in the Coldstream Project ("Coldstream") and the Hamlin-Deaty Creek Property ("Hamlin"), which are near to Wesdome's Moss Lake properties located 100 kilometres due west of Thunder Bay, Ontario (collectively, the "Properties"). With this acquisition, Wesdome is consolidating its land position in the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt. The acquired land flanks Wesdome's Moss Lake property and includes the former producing Coldstream Mine and East Coldstream gold deposit and their potential untested extensions. This acquisition also eliminates a historically inconvenient property boundary immediately along strike of the 3 million ounce Moss Lake gold deposit. This property boundary area has never been drilled and the acquisition provides the opportunity to conduct further drilling along strike. A 43-101 Technical Report on the Moss Lake gold deposit dated May 31, 2013 titled "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Moss Lake Project" is available on the Company's website. Rolly Uloth, President and CEO of Wesdome comments, "Both properties are near our Moss Lake project. The resulting land position represents a dominant strategic asset in the Shebandowon Gold Belt, including four known deposits which remain open for expansion. These include Moss Lake, Coldstream, Coldstream East, and Hamlin properties." The Shebandowan Greenstone Belt is part of the Wawa Abitibi Sub Province, the world's second largest historic gold producing terrane. Recent studies have recognized that the many showings and deposits in this area are likely part of an extensive IOCG (Iron Ore Copper Gold) mineralized system. The Hamlin Cu-Au deposit, which was most recently drilled extensively by Xstrata, is also part of the consolidated land package. The resulting contiguous land position covers approximately 30 km of the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt. Management believes it is prudent and advantageous to consolidate a significant land position surrounding its largest gold resource at this time and intends to initiate exploration permitting activities immediately. Terms of the Purchase Agreement Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement, Wesdome acquired the Properties from Canoe Mining free from all liens, mortgages, charges, pledges, encumbrances or other burdens with all rights now or thereafter attached thereto (other than with respect to any royalties set forth in the Purchase Agreement). As consideration for the Properties, Wesdome paid or issued (as applicable) to Canoe Mining the following: (a) with respect to the purchase of the Coldstream portion of the Properties: i. an aggregate of $400,000 cash; and ii. 454,545 fully paid and non-assessable common shares in the capital of Wesdome (the "Shares"); and (b) with respect to the purchase of the Hamlin portion of the Properties, an aggregate of $100,000 cash. Duane Parnham, President and CEO of Canoe Mining comments "The sale of our projects to Wesdome offers Canoe shareholders equity ownership in a well-managed attractive gold producer having incredible upside potential as they develop the Moss Lake project" The technical information contained in this news release has been verified by George Mannard, P. Geo., who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties. ABOUT WESDOME Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. is in its 28th year of continuous gold mining operations in Canada. The Company is currently producing gold at the Eagle River Complex located near Wawa, Ontario from the Eagle River and Mishi gold mines. Wesdome's goal is to expand current operations at both mines over the next four years through mill expansion and exploration. Wesdome has significant upside through ownership of its two other properties, the Kiena Mine Complex in Val d'Or, Quebec and the Moss Lake gold deposit located 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. These assets are being explored and evaluated to be developed in the appropriate gold price environment. The Company has approximately 129 million shares issued and outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "WDO". This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "suspects", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "targets", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, this forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include such matters as market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Any forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and subject to change after that date and neither Wesdome nor Canoe Mining undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Contact Lindsay Carpenter Dunlop, Vice President, Investor Relations, 416-360-3743 ext. 25, ldunlop@wesdome.com; or Hemdat Sawh, Chief Financial Officer, 416-360-3743 ext. 27, hsawh@wesdome.com; 8 King St. East, Suite 811, Toronto, ON, M5C 1B5, Toll Free: 1-866-4-WDO-TSX, Phone: 416-360-3743, Fax: 416-360-7620, Website: www.wesdome.com SHARE The Standard-Times publishes news of special events and programs. We do not accept items detailing regular weekly sermons or schedules. Items will be run only once. Church news can be submitted by email at maria.hagland@gosanangelo.com or by fax to 325-659-8133. Forms also are available in the Standard-Times lobby from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Deadline for submission next week is Wednesday before the date of publication. Dates, times, address and a publication number are required. Aglow International Aglow International, Ministerial Alliance San Angelo, 1100 Martin Luther King Blvd., will hold a meeting beginning with praise and worship at 6:30 p.m. June 2. Jan Roberts from the Pregnancy Help Center of Concho Valley will speak. Attendees may bring finger food. Call 325-653-9975 or 325-224-4560 for more information. Belmore Baptist Belmore Baptist Church, 1214 S. Bell St., will have a special Memorial Day tribute to the military at 10:50 a.m. Sunday. There will be a picture display of Belmore members and family members who served in the military. The ASU Color Guard will lead in a flag ceremony. The Sanctuary Choir will present a musical tribute. There will be a viewing of the DVD "The Truth About Muhammad," at 5 p.m. Sunday. An end of school and beginning of summer ice cream fellowship will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday. Church staff birthdays and anniversaries will be celebrated with cake. The Belmore Church Office will be closed for Memorial Day Monday. The Wednesday evening Mission Organizations for children will take off for summer vacation beginning Wednesday. They will resume when school begins. Belmore Youth Unchained will continue to meet throughout the summer at 6:30 p.m. each Wednesday. Senior Pastor, Toby Irwin, will observe his 10th Anniversary at Belmore Friday. Call 325-651-4661 for more information. First Presbyterian First Presbyterian Church, 32 N. Irving St., will begin its summer schedule with Sunday school at 10 a.m. and combined service at 11 a.m. starting Sunday through August 14. Reservations continue to be taken for the METS trip down to Christoval on June 14 to visit the Hummer House and Mt. Carmel Hermitage. Call 325-655-5694 for more information. First United Methodist First United Methodist Church, 37 E. Beauregard Ave., will hold marches and celebrations at 6 p.m. Thursday. There will be a concert of music for organ spanning almost 300 years by music director and organist Rev. David Miron beginning with the virtuoso Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue of Johann Sebastian Bach, composed about 1714, and concluding with music written in this century by American composer Gwynneth Walker. In between there will be music by the French organist and composer Marcel Dupre, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen and American composer William Bolcom. The concert is free and open to the public. The church will offer child care if contacted by Wednesday. Call 325-655-8981 for more information. Sierra Vista Methodist Sierra Vista United Methodist Church, 4522 College Hills Blvd., will hold a churchwide Potluck Brunch at 9:45 a.m. Sunday in the Life Center. People are invited to bring a dish to share, have fun and fellowship. Nancy McClure Gant will provide special music for the offertory at the worship services at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday. The summer format for children's Sunday school classes will begin Sunday. Children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade will meet in the Children's Building where Kelly Duke will help them find the right classroom. The church office is still taking registrations for vacation Bible school. The church office will be closed on Monday, in honor of Memorial Day. Call 325-944-4041 for more information. God loved Nebuchadnezzar. God loved him so much, he gave Nebuchadnezzar dreams about the future. The first time we actually read Nebuchadnezzar's words in the book of Daniel, he laments a mysterious dream that he had in Daniel 2. It was of a large statue made of different materials that was destroyed by a rock and replaced by a mountain. Though Nebuchadnezzar had not told him what the dream was about, Daniel revealed that God himself had given Nebuchadnezzar this dream. God used the dream to show Nebuchadnezzar the kingdoms of history that would follow his and to show him how the Kingdom of God represented by the mountain would supplant them all. Nebuchadnezzar praised Daniel's God because only a true and powerful God could reveal another man's dream along with its meaning. The chapter divisions in Daniel are unfortunate because it was right after this lesser-known story that Nebuchadnezzar naturally decided to build himself a 90-foot golden statue. Because God had seemed to bless his kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar thought it reasonable to force the people of his kingdom to worship an image of his kingdom. Heretofore, Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had proved model citizens. They worked in Nebuchadnezzar's government faithfully and had already demonstrated a submissive and obedient posture toward the government God had placed over them. But in Daniel 3, the command went out that when the trumpet sounds, everyone should bow and worship the statue. The three friends knew from Exodus 20 that God had commanded, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5). God explicitly commanded them to serve the Babylonian government through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 27:17). Now the government they had served in obedience to God so faithfully commanded them to disobey a command of God. This is the moment to disobey, and it is the only moment to disobey. When Christians are obligated to disobey government's laws or officials is actually a remarkably simple issue. When a law or official commands that we do that which God has prohibited or prohibits that which God has commanded, we obey God rather than the law or government official. Daniel himself did this when he was told not to pray. Peter and John did this when they were commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus. Believers in Nazi Germany did this when they gave aid and comfort to Jews thought they had been forbidden from doing so. God had clearly commanded one thing, and the governing authorities had clearly contradicted this command. The question of how we disobey is quite another issue. What we do before and after we disobey matters the most. In every case in the Bible, where you see Godly disobedience to governing authority, you find it exercised by people who were otherwise good citizens. Daniel and his three friends were excellent examples. Until they were commanded to disobey God, they worked for the good of the government under whose authority they found themselves. We are also called to be excellent citizens: to obey the law and pay our taxes. The Christian's default position should be submission and obedience to the government's authority. It means nothing to disobey if all you ever do is to disobey. The other thing that distinguishes Godly disobedience is the way they handle the consequences: they submit to and obey the government. Even after they refused to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and John submitted to being flogged. After he refused to stop praying, Daniel submitted to being thrown into a pit with hungry lions in it. After they refused to bow to the golden statue, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego submitted to being thrown into the same furnace that was used to make the statue. They did not defend themselves. They obeyed God, then accepted the consequences the government assigned to them. When called to give an account to Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Daniel 3:16-18). They trusted God to either deliver them from their punishment (which he did) or to allow them to die. It does not seem they prefer one alternative over the other here. Instead, their priority was to serve and worship God alone. May that be our priority as well. If we find it necessary to disobey our government, it is important that we be ready to accept the consequences. Let God take care of us. He can deliver us. But if not, let it be known whom we ultimately serve. Kyle Hooks is the associate pastor at Angelo Bible Church. Contact him at 325-716-4258 or kyle@lookingupfrombelow.com. You can like Looking Up at facebook.com/lookingupfrombelow. Jennifer Rios/Standard-Times San Angelo Police prepare recover a body below the Chadbourne Street Bridge that was found by a jogger early Thursday morning in the Concho River. Shot/Archived:05.1.14 SHARE Daniel Perez Justin Zamudio/San Angelo Standard-Times San Angelo Police patrol the Concho River near Celebration Bridge by South Oakes Street near the location where the body of San Angelo teenager Daniel Perez was recovered. Michelle Gaitan/Standard-Times After police reported a body in the Concho River near the Chadbourne Street bridge two people react to the news. Shot/Archived:05.01.14 Body of Daniel Perez found Thursday By Michelle Gaitan Friends of Daniel Perez were by the Concho River when the San Angelo teenager's body was taken out of the quiet waters where the river meanders through the city's downtown. "I knew him ever since I was a kid," said John Belarde, a childhood friend of Perez. "He was my best friend. I used to hang out with him every day, we used to have fun; I am going to miss him very much." Belarde and his brother Samuel grew up with Perez and described him as a good friend despite challenges he faced in his personal life. "He used to tell me all his stories," Belarde, 15, said. Belarde said the last he heard, Perez was split from his mother and his brothers, but Perez was looking to change that. "He tried his best," Samuel Belarde added. The brothers said they had been praying that the body found wouldn't be that of their friend, but they will remember him for the person he was. "He was a very strong, warmhearted person," John Belarde said. "When we were young, he was always happy, and the last time I saw him, he was just happy, smiling, just having fun, a very good kid." "We love him and miss him," Samuel said, "and can't wait to we meet again." Perez, 15, was reported missing Monday afternoon and was last seen swimming in the river about 5:30 p.m. that day. Public safety personnel searched the river Tuesday and Wednesday. His body was recovered early Thursday and taken to Lubbock County for an autopsy, police said. They said foul play was not suspected. Jamie Highsmith, spokeswoman for San Angelo Independent School District, said Perez was a student at Central Freshman Campus. Counselors were at the campus Thursday for students and faculty who needed them. That practice is common when a staff member or student dies. The body was discovered by a jogger near the Irving Street water crossing, Officer Tracy Gonzalez said. The jogger called 911 at 6:57 a.m., and officers were on scene two minutes later, police said. "Police responded to the location and located what appeared to be a male subject, deceased, about 3 to 4 feet off the north bank,"Gonzalez said. Police believed at the time he went missing that Perez was in danger because he was under the influence of an intoxicant, according to a San Angelo Police Department Nixle alert. Gonzalez said Lake Patrol officers searched that area of the river Tuesday and Wednesday using dredging and sonar equipment and had the assistance of a second boat from a support agency, but police believe a large pipeline that runs along the north bank of the river interfered with the operation of the equipment. Concrete reinforcing piers snagged the dredging equipment several times, Gonzalez said. Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Eddie Howard was called to pronounce the death. He said verbal accounts indicate Perez died between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday, but that there's no way to know for certain until an autopsy is performed. Preliminary results from the autopsy are expected to be completed in the next day or so, he said. Blood and toxicology tests will take longer. Samples are typically sent to Pennsylvania, Howard said, and it could take six weeks to two months for those results to be complete. The Irving Street low water crossing and the Chadbourne Street bridge were closed much of the day to vehicular and pedestrian traffic because of police activity in the area. After the body was found, a cluster of people could be seen talking with authorities at the site. Some of them were weeping. SHARE Democrats hoped this presidential election would be a cakewalk. In their eyes, the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, spent most of the spring alienating big chunks of the electorate, beginning with women. Meanwhile, the presumptive Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has run a careful, well-funded, well-honed campaign. What could go wrong? And yet, in a spate of reputable surveys Trump has suddenly erased the advantage Clinton had held all year. The average of major polls compiled by the website RealClearPolitics shows the two candidates tied with 43 percent each. In at least three polls, Trump has even pulled ahead by a slim margin. That's been enough to send some Democrats into a swivet. But they shouldn't panic. First of all, polls in May don't have much predictive value about an election that's more than five months away. Four years ago, in May 2012, Mitt Romney was tied with President Barack Obama in the RealClearPolitics average, just as Trump and Clinton are tied today. In November, Romney lost by four percentage points. In May 2008, John McCain was only a little behind Obama, according to the same index. In November, McCain lost by seven percentage points. Or go all the way back to May 1980, when then-President Jimmy Carter held a forbidding 12-point lead over Republican challenger Ronald Reagan in one survey. In November, Reagan won by a wide margin. There's one big reason Trump is doing better than expected in the polls: Republican voters have rallied behind him faster than some analysts expected. Many GOP leaders, beginning with Romney, House Speaker Paul Ryan and presidential runner-up Ted Cruz, have refused to endorse the apparent nominee, but that hasn't stopped rank-and-file conservatives from closing ranks. In an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released this week, Trump's support among Republicans in a head-to-head contest with Clinton jumped to 86 percent, up from 72 percent a month earlier. Democrats, by contrast, are still divided between Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In the same poll, only about two-thirds of Sanders voters were willing to say they would vote for Clinton in November if she wins the nomination. That depresses Clinton's overall number and makes her look weak, but it's probably only a temporary weakness. If history is any guide, almost all of those Sanders voters will move into Clinton's column once she is actually the nominee, especially if Sanders keeps his promise to campaign for Clinton (or against Trump) in the fall. One more factor that should help Clinton: Obama has regained some of his lost popularity. In recent polls, the president's job approval has reached 51 percent, its highest level since his second inauguration in 2013. That means Obama would be an asset to the Democratic nominee in the fall. All that said, Clinton still faces serious challenges. After six years of political gridlock, many voters are yearning for change in Washington, and that should help Trump. In the NBC-Journal poll, 53 percent of voters said they would prefer a president who would bring major changes to Washington, "even if it is not possible to predict what the changes may be." Only 43 percent said they'd prefer "a steady approach (with) fewer changes." Clinton also has a problem with independent and moderate voters. Several polls have shown her losing to Trump among independents. Among moderates, who ought to be a natural constituency for her, the NBC-Journal poll found her running roughly even with the Republican. "The more she pulls to the left because of pressure from Sanders, the less appealing she is for independents in the center," said David Winston, a former adviser to Newt Gingrich. "She has to find a way to appeal to Sanders supporters and also build a majority coalition. That's not an easy task." Guy Cecil, who runs the biggest super PAC supporting Clinton, disagreed. "Obama lost independents in 2012, but he still won the election," he noted. Finally, a problem both candidates face: They're the least-popular candidates ever to win their parties' nominations. Both are viewed unfavorably by a majority of voters the first time that has happened in the history of modern polling. Democrats and Republicans alike appear driven this year by what political scientists call "negative partisanship." They may not like their standard-bearer much, but they loathe the other side's candidate with a passion. So far, both candidates appear to accept that glum sentence. Both Clinton and Trump are running as the lesser of two evils. The polls that show Trump's support rising and Clinton's slipping are neither mirages nor predictions. They're snapshots of a moving target. It's too early to panic. But it's never too early to worry. Challenges with Metadata Metadata as It Stands The Future of Metadata Your city generates a lot of data data about your citizens, your businesses, your roads, the infrastructure that keeps your city livable, and more. Turning this data into useful information requires the proper capture, storage and accessibility of metadata (data about data).Think about the data related to the thousands of incident reports filed by your police department each month. Metadata associated with these incidents allows you to see and identify patterns of where crimes are happening, how quickly it takes officers to respond, what equipment they turn on, etc. This results in a citys ability to efficiently deploy and train its officers, improving the safety of its citizens.Metadata can also reveal on-the-ground outcomes of a citys planning and policy choices. It can be analyzed to help city leaders predict population growth and anticipate where additional resources such as utilities, after-school programs and parks will be needed. It can help untie, or at least loosen, the Gordian knot of rush-hour traffic by analyzing patterns and helping city leaders make decisions regarding when to increase public transportation or improve and expand roads, highways and freeways.My company recently partnered with our local police department, the Austin PD, to organize and structure its data storage for dash camera videos. Merely recording gigabytes of video each day isnt terribly helpful, but when its properly indexed and stored for later search and retrieval, the videos metadata becomes extremely powerful.As useful as metadata is, however, using it isnt always as easy as it might seem.Storing huge amounts of data indefinitely and tagging it with metadata is an investment. To make good use of data, cities need to commit the time and money to properly capture and store it. This financial and resource commitment is growing each year as the volume of data that cities collect grows. Some estimates put the data growth rate at more than 40 percent annually Much of this data is stored in silos, which makes it more cumbersome to access and more vulnerable to data loss. Often, metadata is a game of catchup. Trying to apply structure to unstructured data thats stranded across several network-attached storage servers in various locations can be a huge undertaking without searchable storage.But keeping that data safe when it is searchable is a challenge as well especially considering the ongoing attacks against government computer systems, like the one experienced by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management just last year . Personally identifiable information, like Social Security numbers and information pertaining to ongoing criminal investigations, has to be legally protected and hidden but also accessible to law enforcement and other governmental entities.Adopting a storage solution that works for you will be the key to taking on the data challenges of the future. However, once you find the right solution, the uses for that data are infinite when its properly stored with metadata.The mayor of San Francisco launched an innovative project, DataSF , that gives the public access to swaths of searchable government data. The idea is to help businesses and citizens make better, more informed choices and by being more transparent increase mutual accountability.For instance, one outcome of the new data-sharing project is a partnership with Yelp , the crowd-sourced review site. The application gives users access to the health inspection records for the eateries listed in its popular restaurant reviews. The outcome is that more people are able to avoid unsanitary eating conditions, and restaurants have more incentive to follow city health ordinances.Likewise, Los Angeles recently started a program called CleanStat , which is a database that measures the amount of garbage on city streets. Inspectors examine and grade every street and alley throughout the city. The city supplements these reports with geocoded video footage taken from garbage trucks.For a city that covers nearly 5,000 square miles, guessing at how to combat the trash problem is clearly the best way to ensure the next generation of residents will still be dealing with trash on the streets. On the other hand, getting a comprehensive survey of current conditions and then storing that data with relevant metadata that can be analyzed to develop a strategic solution is the best way to actually fix the problem.Metadata helped Chicago fight its rat problem . Cell phone metadata helps Italy fight organized crime by revealing who influencers are, such as the people at the centers of webs of phone calls. And Boston is using aggregated data from Uber to better understand traffic flow and guide traffic engineers in timing lights and modifying intersections. The application of search and analysis using metadata is limited only by the quality and searchability of the data and the strength of the imagination.As the investment in big data continues to grow , the demand for results from analyzing that data will grow with it. Cities are no exception. They need searchable storage with accurate metadata to retrieve relevant data from the mountain of information they have stored.That mountain will continue to grow, so its better to organize each pebble as its created and make it useful to the city now rather than throw it onto the pile and sort it later. Dont leave your data unusable by haphazardly storing it.Data storage becomes even more important as cities move toward predictive analysis, arguably one of the hottest topics surrounding data today. While data is about what happened in the past, used holistically, it can illustrate trends that predict the future. Parsing data for these trends is impossible if the data is stored in silos with no way to consolidate and search on key elements.Storing your data with metadata is worth the investment. In todays era of limited revenue and tough trade-offs, cities need good information and insight to make effective management and investment decisions. They need just the kind of insight that metadata can unlock. Romain Grosjean insists there are no hard feelings between himself and Max Verstappen, a year after their scary Monaco crash. In a rare mistake for the teen Dutchman, Verstappen slammed at high speed into Grosjean's Lotus and then the Ste Devote barriers during last year's race. Speaking to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf a year later, Frenchman Grosjean dismissed the incident on the basis that "s--- happens". "In my mind, Max made an error typical of a rookie season," said the now Haas driver on Friday. "I found it annoying that he didn't apologise but Max is a nice boy. And he learned, just as I did before as well. "I also came out stronger from setbacks that made me the driver I am now," explained Grosjean. "After Monaco, he (Max) did not go over the limit but still showed many overtaking manoeuvres and other beautiful things," he said. (GMM) F1 cars will reportedly be fitted with a further development of the 'halo' cockpit protection system in 2017. Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said the decision was taken by the FIA as well as team technical directors during a five-hour meeting at Monaco's Novotel hotel on Friday. The decision to definitely push ahead with a controversial covering for the premier open-cockpit formula followed a scary incident in Thursday practice, when a flying metal drain cover was hit by Jenson Button's car. "We must make sure that the risk for all of us (drivers) is reduced to the minimum possible," fellow F1 veteran Fernando Alonso told RTL broadcaster. The 2017 'halo' will in fact be a development of the black carbon version seen on the Ferrari earlier this year, in stylised titanium and possible to open via a hinge. But it is believed the Red Bull-devised 'aeroscreen' - favoured by many in the pitlane - is still in the running to replace the halo for 2018 and beyond. (GMM) According to the latest paddock whispers, Daniil Kvyat could be heading for the exit of Red Bull's F1 programme. Recently relegated from the top team to Toro Rosso, speculation suggests the young Russian might now be in the frame for a move to Williams for 2017, replacing the experienced Felipe Massa. The rumours have coincided with an obviously better mood for Kvyat in Monaco, after admittedly struggling to cope with the shock demotion two weeks ago. "I feel good, I'm having fun again, in and out of the track," he told Brazil's Globo in Monaco. "I'm focused now on getting great results for Toro Rosso so that doors open for me. I'm still young yet I've already driven more than one team, chassis, engine, one of them the best car, so I can say that I am experienced. "Now I have 15 or 16 races to confirm my potential. I see a promising future for me," Kvyat added. He suggested being dumped by Red Bull Racing, while disappointing, has not destroyed his confidence. "My confidence in myself was not shaken," said the 22-year-old. "What struck me were the comments of my former team after Sochi, but after my return to STR I feel stronger. "It may turn out to be the best for me -- as I said, I became stronger. I am very grateful for the support I have here (at Toro Rosso), something that was missing at Red Bull Racing. "Obviously I was not the happiest in Barcelona, but I gained a few years of life in those two weeks and it will all be useful in the future," added Kvyat. Kvyat also hinted that his relationship with Red Bull chiefs Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko - the architect of the driver programme - is no longer good. When asked if he has spoken extensively with them since the post-Sochi decision, Kvyat answered: "No. We have no special relationship and I don't have much to talk with them about. "We talk sometimes, of course, we are human. But I worry about doing my job on the track. We talk when we have to talk. "I feel now I am at the right place at the right time and the future is in my hands. And I honestly feel better with the future in my hands than in the hands of others," he said. Another rumour, reported by Speed Week, is that former Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado, who is in the Monaco paddock, could replace Rio Haryanto if the Indonesian does not find more money to keep his Manor seat beyond Hungary. (GMM) 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. With deepest apologies to pop star Meghan Trainor, this weeks installment in our ongoing soil contamination saga could be titled Im all about that dirt, bout that dirt, no trouble. We had the first selectman continuing his campaign to discredit soil tests that revealed unacceptably high levels of lead and arsenic in the dirt at Western Middle School. He also kept up his threats to arrest the licensed surveyor who took the soil samples, warning him against any further effort to protect students, parents and faculty by testing dirt at other Greenwich public schools. Then there was the New Lebanon School Building Committee looking for new dirt on which to place modular classrooms for 300 or so elementary kids while the town builds them a new school. That search landed at the William Street playground, just down the hill from New Lebanon School. But wait. The towns own tests 14 months ago exposed levels of arsenic sufficiently dangerous as to warrant fencing off large swaths of that neighborhood play area. And the town still has not cleaned up that mess, though it had promised fast action to restore that field. And lastly this week, we had Michael Finkbeiner, the licensed surveyor and forester who is the subject of First Selectman Peter Teseis ire, testing dirt on private land immediately adjacent to Greenwich High Schools Cardinal Stadium field. Lets consider these dirty events in reverse chronological order. Finkbeiner had invited town and school officials to join him this past Thursday morning as he sampled soil at the western edge of the GHS field. Presumably Finkbeiner wanted them to witness his work to allay their concerns over the integrity of his sampling process. Im sure it will shock everyone that town officials refused the invitation. They did, however, repeat their warnings to arrest Finkbeiner for trespassing if he tested public property. Fortunately, the neighboring property owner hired Finkbeiner to test the soil, and he left a free man as he took the samples directly to a lab in Stratford; it is the same lab used by the town when it tests soil. The test results wont be known for a week or so, but Finkbeiners exploration of the property revealed a 15-inch corrugated plastic drainpipe, hidden under rocks, that empties into wetlands on his clients property. This pipe, which appears to be a main drainage culvert for the entire GHS campus, is not shown on any maps submitted over the years to multiple land use agencies in support of applications for many projects at GHS. If a private property owner failed to reveal s/he was channeling storm water into a wetland, there would be fines and other legal actions taken. Some engineers and Department of Public Works officials have some explaining to do. There is no explaining required from the New Lebanon School Building Committee to understand its desire to seek a new site for modular classrooms, once its preferred choice at WMS came up dirty. But why choose another known contaminated site? Well, it seems the group thought the town was close to finishing soil remediation at the playground, but it was wrong. The cleanup has not even started, and there is no immediate work scheduled. And the reason for the delay defies common sense: the town cannot seem to find a spare $67,000 or so to make up the difference between the $165,000 authorized by the Board of Estimate and Taxation and the $232,000 price submitted by the lowest bidder. At any given time in the municipal fiscal year, the town has $30 million to $50 million cash on its books. Last year it quickly and without sacrificing other funded projects found $5 million to cover an emergency sewer line repair near the Grass Island sewage treatment plant. Within days, large numbers of big pipes and heavy construction equipment appeared on site, and engineers and work crews put in long hours to effect the repair. But in the case of the neighborhood playground, for want of $67,000 the DPW had simply postponed the work until the next fiscal year without much public notice. I suspect First Selectman Peter Tesei, or any member of the Board of Education or Board of Estimate and Taxation, could have freed up the relative pittance needed to meet the low bidders price to clean up William Street playground. They should have to explain why it was not a priority. Bob Horton can be reached at bobhorton@yahoo.com. A report from Tech Insider says that Jawbone has already stopped producing its UP line of fitness bands and has already sold them to a third-party reseller. The same report says Jawbone has been struggling to sell its UP bands and needed to resell the inventory in order to stay afloat. It has already been more than a year since Jawbones newest UP4 band was released and so far there hasnt been any word of a successor to the UP4. Besides, we dont know if Jawbone will keep making such fitness bands anymore. To add insult to injury, the same report also states that Jawbone is discontinuing its Bluetooth speaker division and is in the process of finding other parties to buy its surplus inventory. There are also talks of Jawbone selling its speaker business altogether. If you recall, back in November the company had to shut down its New York City office and cut 60 jobs. The mobile electronics industry continues to be as cut-throat as ever. With products coming out so much more often, these devices are designed to become obsolete over the course of the next two to three years and it becomes harder and harder for smaller companies to grab a share of the market. Source | Via Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby. 11:52, 25 OCT 2022 A former taxi driver "took a chance" and drove his children to school because his wife was unwell and unable to drive, a court heard. Yang Yu (36) was serving a five-year driving ban when he was stopped by gardai. Judge Dermot Dempsey said Yu had shown a total disregard for road traffic legislation. He fined Yu 200, banned him from driving for six years and imposed a three-month prison sentence. The incident took place at Gainsborough Avenue, Malahide, last April 4. Gda George Thurlow said he was on patrol at around 9am, when he stopped Yu driving a 2003-registered vehicle. The officer said Yu admitted he was not insured to drive the car. The court heard he has 13 previous convictions, and received a driving ban of five years in 2014. Gamble Defence solicitor Fiona D'Arcy said Yu was married with four young children. He has lived in Ireland for 15 years, is unemployed and on social welfare. Ms D'Arcy said Yu previously worked as a taxi driver but was unable to continue in that field as he was disqualified. She said Yu's wife, who has heart trouble, would normally take the children to school, but on this day she was sick, so Yu took a gamble and drove them himself. The court heard that Yu is completing a course in hospitality and tourism and is due to finish in September. The defendant, with an address at Glen Ellan Court, Swords, admitted before Swords District Court to driv- ing without insurance or a licence. Ms D'Arcy asked the judge not to send Yu to jail, and asked him to postpone sentencing so he could finish his course. However, Judge Dempsey refused to postpone sentencing and imposed the three-month jail term, saying he was not prepared to "leave Yu out and about" as he had "no regard for the Road Traffic Acts". Yu immediately appealed the sentence. A female driver who tailgated an ambulance through rush-hour traffic told gardai who stopped her that it was her cousin in the back of the ambulance. Sharon McDonagh (24) then received a garda escort to James Connolly Memorial Hospital, but admitted at the hospital gates she didn't know the person in the ambulance. She was trying to avoid rush-hour traffic. Judge David McHugh fined McDonagh 100, but she avoided a driving ban. Patrol Garda Ciaran Geraghty said he was on mobile patrol and stopped in heavy traffic when he saw an ambulance, with its sirens and flashing lights, overtaking traffic. Gda Geraghty said a Ford Transit van was tailgating the ambulance. Gda Geraghty said McDonagh overtook at least 40 stationary cars. He stopped the van and spoke to McDonagh, who told him her cousin was in the ambulance. Gda Geraghty then provided a garda escort to McDonagh, at a safe speed, to the hospital. He said she flashed him at the entrance to the hospital and admitted she didn't know the person in the ambulance. Solicitor Simon Fleming claimed it was McDonagh's husband, who was a passenger in the car, who told Gda Geraghty the defendant's cousin was in the ambulance. Disputed Gda Geraghty disputed this, saying the defendant said it to him. Mr Fleming said McDonagh accepted she had made a mistake. He said McDonagh has no children, but needs her driving licence as she helps to bring her nieces and nephews to school. The defendant, of Cappagh Road in Finglas, admitted before Blanchardstown District Court to careless driving at Snugboro Road Extension, Dublin 15 just before 4pm on January 9. Judge McHugh said he would not ban McDonagh from driving. RTE First Dates star Daphney Sanasie, who is accused of harassing celebrity chef Dylan McGrath, has been given four weeks to decide how she will plead. The 26-year-old model is accused of harassing Mr McGrath (39) at various locations in the State from last September 9 until November 21. arrest She has not yet entered a plea, and was ordered to appear again at Dublin District Court on June 24 to allow her time to brief her lawyers. She first appeared at a late sitting of the court last April 15 when evidence of her arrest was given by Gda Colm Kelly of the Bridewell station. At that hearing, the court had heard that the DPP has directed summary disposal of the case, meaning it will stay in the district court and not go forward to the circuit court which has tougher sentencing powers. The offence, at district court level, can result in a fine and a maximum 12-month sentence. Gda Kelly has complied with an order to provide disclosure of the prosecution evidence. However, Judge Cormac Dunne was told yesterday that Ms Sanasie - who has an address at Jamestown Road, Dublin 8 - has recently changed legal firm. Her barrister, Gareth Robinson, told the court he needed time "for disclosure and instructions to be taken". Wearing a white trouser suit and black high heels, the model spoke once, saying "Hi" when the judge greeted her. The South African model was known as Federica Sanasie when she appeared on matchmaking TV series First Dates earlier this year. Star McGrath, one of Ireland's best-known chefs, was a proprietor of Mint in Ranelagh, which was awarded a Michelin star, before opening the Rustic Stone Restaurant on South Great George's Street in Dublin city centre. He later became a judge on the Irish version of MasterChef, which went on to be a massive hit. Fine Gael deputy leader and former Dublin-North TD James Reilly has been appointed to the Seanad by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Mr Kenny has attempted to rehabilitate Mr Reilly's and five other party colleagues' careers by making them senators after their General Election defeats. Chief among those was the former Health and Children's Minister, who narrowly missed out in the Dublin-Fingal constituency. The Deputy Party Leader told the Herald that he was "glad to remain in politics" last night on hearing of his success. "I'm delighted to be in the Upper House, to still be a part of Government and involved in the on-going commitment to improve life for all people in our country," he said. Crisis "One thing I'd like to emphasise is that the restoration of the economy was not an end in itself, but only a means to improve life for all. "I believe that this Government will continue to do that, particularly [in] commitments to address the housing crisis and other issues." Mr Reilly added he didn't know whether he would stay on as party leader as a member of the senate. "I still am the deputy party leader and will continue to carry out that role until the Taoiseach says otherwise." Mr Kenny also threw a life-line to his party colleagues John O'Mahony and Michelle Mulherin from his native Mayo after they endured their own election disasters. Mr O'Mahony agreed to run in Galway-West as the party felt that it would struggle to retain its four seats in the Taoiseach's own back yard. It was felt locally that Mr Kenny's comments calling some constituents "All-Ireland champion whingers" cost Ms Mulherin her Dail seat when she ran in the county. Ms Mulherin told the Herald last night that she was "honoured to represent in the Upper House" . Other fallen Fine Gael TDs to be appointed after suffering at the polls include Paudie Coffey (former deputy for Waterford), Ray Butler (Meath West), and Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim). Mr Kenny has not appointed any deputies from either Tipperary or Kerry, where his party failed to secure a single Dail seat. Former representative for Kerry and minister Jimmy Deenihan lost out along with former Justice Minister Alan Shatter. Tom Hayes and James Bannon were other unsuccessful Fine Gael TDs to miss out on a senate seat. A Fianna Fail source confirmed that Mr Kenny made a "personal offer" to its leader Micheal Martin to chose three senators of the Taoiseach's 11 nominees. This was agreed outside the confidence and supply agreement - the deal which allows Fine Gael to form a minority Government with Independents. Mr Martin chose non-politicians for the three positions offered to him. He recommended senators including Pieta House Founder Joan Freeman, the chief executive of Alzheimer's Society of Ireland Colette Kelleher, and businessman Padraig O Ceidigh. Voice A Fianna Fail source said: "Having campaigned for retention and reform of the Seanad, we wanted to make sure that there were key area specialists appointed." Ms Freeman, speaking on RTE's Drivetime radio programme yesterday, said Mr Martin phoned her on Thursday to consider the position and asked her to "be the voice of mental health". Ms Freeman added she was "shocked" that she was chosen as one of the Taoiseach's 11 nominees. Journalist and lecturer Marie-Louise O'Donnell was the only Independent senator that Mr Kenny had chosen to re-appoint to the 25th Seanad. Mr Kenny also picked advocate for Irish immigrants in the US Billy Lawless, where he has lived for the past 20 years. 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. 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/ The Supreme Court is cleaning up the BCCI. Why doesnt it do the same with MCI, whose reform is far more needed for the good of the country? This was my public lament a year ago. Recently, within the space of a week, the Supreme Court has struck three powerful blows against vested interests to rescue medical education from the morass it had fallen into. First, the court permitted the conduct of the National Eligibility Entrance Examination (NEET) as a common test for all students aspiring for selection to medical undergraduate or postgraduate courses. This was against opposition from private medical colleges, which wanted to conduct their own examinations. Though the Union government later promulgated an ordinance to defer the NEET by a year to permit examining systems and students to prepare for change, both undergraduate and postgraduate admissions will be through the NEET from 2017. READ: SC refuses to stay NEET ordinance, says it will create confusion Then the court declared the practice of private professional colleges charging capitation fee illegal. It affirmed that education was not a business and must be conducted as a not-for-profit activity. This not only upholds the sanctity of education as a non-commercial social enterprise but strikes at a pernicious practice that is at the root of mercenary practices by many doctors. Paying huge capitation fees for entering medical colleges, both at the undergraduate and post graduate levels, creates a huge compulsion for the young graduates to recover that money as quickly as possible when they start their clinical practice. In the most impactful move of all, the court has dissolved the discredited Medical Council of India (MCI) as it is currently constituted and called on the government to come up with legislation to replace it. This follows the trenchant criticism that the Parliamentary Committee on Health recently directed at the MCI. When two pillars of our democracy independently call for scrapping the MCI, the gravity of the situation is obvious. READl NEET will destroy careers, bring Act to bypass SC: DMK MP Medical education, over the past several years, has failed to produce doctors needed for providing appropriate, accessible and affordable health services across India. The maldistribution of medical colleges with concentration in four southern states and Maharashtra and severe paucity in other regions resulted in a very low doctor-to-population ratio in several states. While faulty government investment patterns are partly to blame for this, the archaic rules that the MCI set for recognising new colleges was also a major roadblock for setting up the much-needed medical colleges in resource-constrained regions. Medical students, trained mostly in highly specialised urban tertiary care environments and using their internship period to prepare for multiple post-graduate entrance examinations across the country, emerge unsuited for managing common medical conditions. They are unable to cope with the unfamiliar environment of rural or even district hospitals. Lack of education in humanities limits their social perspective and fails to instill care, concern, courtesy and compassion as the core behavioral traits of young doctors. The multi-disciplinary thinking and health system connectivity are also missing in their education. In a highly depersonalised clinical environment, the missing Es of medical education are epidemiology, economics, ethics, empathy and engagement with communities. Primary health care suffers most because family doctors have not been nurtured, leaving the field open to unqualified practitioners to take over the role of the close and comforting caregiver. READ: Doc issues false certificates for Rs 2000 each in bulk to PU students An independent body of persons with unimpeachable integrity must resurrect and reshape medical education, even if nominated by the government. Apart from medical and public health experts, it must bring perspectives from social sciences, law, economics, management, and information technology. To facilitate inter-professional education ( such as training nurse practitioners or nurse anesthetists or mental health counsellors), an overarching coordination council must be formed to link medical, dental, nursing, public health and allied health professional education. Elected national and state medical councils, revived after a clean-up of the flawed electoral system, should be mandated only to maintain live professional registers and monitor ethical standards. Even as the new body sets out to transform medical education, it should not fall prey to elitism and restrict the production of competent basic doctors sorely needed by the health system in many states of India. K Srinath Reddy is president, Public Health Foundation of India The views expressed are personal The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday postponed polling in two Tamil Nadu assembly constituencies for the third time, saying bribery by candidates continued unabated despite warnings. Polling in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi was first postponed after the Rs 100 crore was seized from the two constituencies days before polling. Polls were rescheduled for May 23. However, Rs 5,72,000 was seized on May 18, prompting the ECI to postpone elections a second time until fair elections could be guaranteed. The poll was scheduled to take place on June 13. Tamil Nadu went to polls on May 16, following which AIADMK returned to power for a second term. In a press statement on Saturday, the commission clarified its decision to postpone the elections for a third time in a row: "To the utter dismay of the Commission, allurement of voters by unlawful means still continued even after postponement of polls." "The Commission's attempt has always been to conduct elections in a timely manner," the press statement continued, "but the important Constitutional mandate of having to ensure free and fair elections cannot be overlooked." The ECI said elections would be held in Thanjavur and Aravakurichi only when "the atmosphere becomes conducive to the holding of free and fair elections after a reasonable lapse of time." Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah has been formally asked to rescind the earlier notification that set the voting date to June 13. The governor on Friday approached the commission and recommended that the elections be held as soon as possible. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Saturday urged the ECI to hold the elections before June 6 due to Ramzan and Rajya Sabha elections. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actors Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan are reportedly not on good terms anymore. According to spotboye.com, it started when Sanjay was in jail and Sallu suggested that he hire his manager to bag projects. Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan at the grand finale of reality show Bigg Boss5. (HT Photo) Though Sanjay hired her, he got no work and later realised that it was because she quoted a high fee to production houses. He let her go and this caused differences with Sallu. Read: Sanjay Dutt faces camera for the first time since he became a free man Salman Khan and his Khandaan have always been a steady support to Sanjay Dutt and his family. Earlier this year, Hindustan Times had reported that to celebrate Dutts release from Yerawada prison, Salman was throwing a lavish party. Dutt was released in February after completing his five-year prison sentence for illegal weapons possession in a case linked to the 1993 terror attack in Indias financial capital Mumbai. Actor Taapsee Pannu, who shot for her film Baby (2015) in Goa , liked the place so much that she decided to buy a holiday home there. And finally, she found the right house in South Goa when she visited in early this month. Everything in this city seems to be in slow motion...perfect for a holiday. After the busy city life we live, this is exactly what one needs to unwind. Houses here are so beautiful. Especially the old Portuguese style ones. I would love to have one as a quick getaway from Bombay on short notice, says Pannu, who hails from Delhi and recently bought a home in Mumbai. Read: Baby actress Taapsee Pannu wants to act in a Punjabi film now Taapsee was instantly inspired to have a vacation home in Goa , which she feels has two extremes to it, one part which is extremely serene and the other part which is totally wild and known for its nightlife. She feels its a nice blend and that why she wants a vacation home here. She has found a property in South Goa which she is planning to buy, says a source. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Although not chasing fame or roles is a conscious decision, actor Randeep Hooda admits that staying low hasnt helped his career much. I think I have been underutilised in many ways. I never chase a role, and maybe thats why it happens, he says. For me, its all about getting a job as an actor. I am not someone who says that I get the best of everything, I have to choose whats the best role for me... and thats how I work in films, I dont run after roles. As an actor, I just want to focus on the acting part, he adds. Read: Time to change the image of Haryanvis in films: Randeep Hooda As an actor, I try and give it my all, when I get a role. Its all about the journey and I want to know and learn different perspectives of different human beings. I dont want to be on the cover of a magazine or be seen at the parties, says the actor, who has earned raving reviews for portraying Sarabjit Singh in the recently released film Sarbjit . While the 39-year-old feels being observant is part of being an actor, he also feels method acting is an overrated word. I think its an overly-abused term. Yes, there are methods to certain roles but thats not the only thing that is important. For instance, in Sarbjit, losing weight was important and it took the life out of me. But more than the physical transformation, it was about the emotional turmoil that he was going through. It was this emotional content that appeals to the audience, he says. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah on Saturday denied commenting on Anupam Khers attempt to represent Kashmiri Pandits. I have not said any such thing, this is all misreporting, Shah told ANI. While in Delhi on Friday to promote his film, Waiting, the three-time national award-winning actor reportedly took potshots at Kher, who has been vocal about his fight for Kashmiri Pandits and for their rehabilitation in the Valley. A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person, he said, according to PTI. However. Anupam Kher told ANI that Shah has denied making any such statements. I contacted Naseeruddin Shah, he has denied making such statements, said Kher. He (Naseer) told me when I have never said all this for so many years then why will I say it now? Shah is also said to have remarked on two years of the Narendra Modi government, expressing concern over how textbooks are being altered under the BJP-led government. Changes made in a few textbooks worry me, he was reported as saying. But, according to PTI, Shah also said that the government is not stupid to take the nation back to the dark ages. People are taking decisions and making perceptions too fast. I think we should give the government more time. But there are a few things that make me concerned, like the kind of alterations in the textbooks... those are the things to worry about, said Shah. The 66-year-old actor also supported noted lyricist Javed Akhtars statements during his farewell speech in Rajya Sabha saying nobody has the right to question a persons love for their motherland. I am sad that statements like these [referring to AIMIM MP Asaddudin Owaisi] are made and then they are not even condemned. Like Javed sahab said, it is his right to say Vande Mataram and Bharat mata ki jai. I will say it with my choice, not because somebody asks me to, he said. Nobody has the right to question my love for my country Akhtar had slammed Owaisi for refusing to say Bharat mata ki jai because the constitution does not mandate it. He had also condemned Right-wing extremists who ask Indian Muslims to go to Pakistan. Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah says his film Waiting is not for the audience, who whistle in the movies of Bollywood superstars Salman and Shah Rukh Khan. The 66-year-old actor stars in the Anu Menon-directed movie along side Kalki Koechlin. It is a simple, sober, sweet and true film written and made by heart. I think no other formula than this can make a film successful. I believe this film will touch everyones heart. Audience, who whistle at or watch Salman and Shah Rukh Khans films, Waiting is not for them. But, thankfully there is a set of audience, who enjoy or like such films, said Shah. Read: Waiting review: Naseerudin, Kalki in a charming and warm film Read: Naseeruddin Shah wants to write a tell all book on Bollywood The actor said the movie is not for single screen theatres and he is aware about the fact that such subject will only appeal to a certain section of audience. This film is not for single screen theatres. Its like there are few plays that are made only for small theatres, but some are for big theatres. If you will watch this film with 2000 people whistling, you will not enjoy it at all. People, who are making films of this league have to accept the fact that they will never be as popular as typical commercial filmmakers. And if somebody wants major fame they should make that kind of movies, he said. Watch: Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki in Waiting trailer Waiting is Menons second feature film after London, Paris, New York, and praising the young brigade of filmmakers Shah said he always had good experiences with new directors. I have never had bad experience in working with new directors. On the other hand, I had some really bad experiences with few veteran filmmakers. A new directors is working on his/her first film. They put their heart and soul in it. There is a fire to prove themselves. Their whole life is on the stake. The hard work by which the first film is made, I feel the second or third film doesnt have that much in it. If you will see the track record of filmmakers be it Govind Nihalani, Ketan Mehta, Kundan Shah, their first film was their best, he said. Follow @htshowbiz for more. Actor Farhan Akhtar (left), who has penned dialogues for films like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), has a new project. The actor will host an award function and has decided to write the script for it. Farhan has always been known for his witty one liners and often has the audience in splits. When he got to know that he will be hosting the award function, he decided to give the script a twist and has added a few quirky dialogues and intended puns to it, says the actors spokesperson. Read: Farhan Akhtar, Shahid Kapoor, to host IIFA 2016 Although, the actor is currently touring the US with his music band Farhan Akhtar Live, hes also taking out time for script-wrting. Farhan is very passionate about his music. He makes sure to write all the songs himself. But he is enjoying writing the script for the award show as well and manages to take out at least some time daily to work on this, says a source, close to the actor. Author Novoneel Chakraborty gifted his readers the last installment of his Stranger Trilogy Forget Me Stranger that revolves around the much known Kolkata born-Mumbai based protagonist Rivanah Banerjee and her life in the new city. With trilogy being quite a trend, author Novoneel says, The Stranger Trilogy traces the character Rivanah. I wanted to sketch the character and her journey in a detailed manner which cannot be accumulated in a single book. My targets readers are young people who dont like reading thick books and with todays generation, it is difficult to hold on to their attention. I am inspired by authors of the western world, where trilogy is a trend. Thus a thriller in a series creates a major hype needed for commercial success. Author Novoneel Chakraborty gifted his readers the last installment of his Stranger Trilogy Forget Me Stranger that revolves around the much known Kolkata born-Mumbai based protagonist Rivanah Banerjee and her life in the new city. When asked about how he creates his characters. The young author says, Rivanah is a small town girl who travels to a metro city, following her dreams. The story in the three books traces her lifes journey, which is also the main theme of my book the inherent concept journey of a person and her transformation, owning to the different experiences that she undergoes. My characters are grey in nature, for example, Ekansh, the ex-boy friend of Rivanah, who mercilessly dumps her but she still feels an uncanny connection with him. They dont fall into categories of good or bad. They are real, having their share of frailties and goodness. My characters are not modeled on a particular person it is what I see around in my world that influences me to create them. With so many writers in the scenario now, Novoneel does not feel much of performance pressure and admits that publishing his first book was a cake walk. When I wrote my first novel, I wasnt even aware about the process of publishing. I had visited a certain publisher with mu manuscripts and they had argeed to print it. So, initially it wasnt that difficult for me. And then my second novel followed which again became a best seller. It was then that I felt the need to create individuality with the creative streak in me providing an adrenaline rush, he says. With back to back best-selling books to be proud of, the author is not a part of the rat race. He says, Someday, when you see a book lying on the table without its cover and prelim pages and no reference to the author, my reader should be able read a couple of lines from the book and recognize that it is my work. That is where I want to reach. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON If Samuel Johnson is to be remotely believed, I am tired of life. Because I am, indeed, tired of London. Not that it is a bad town. Its just that it hasnt reinvented itself as many times as it should have. Concurrently, for a long time, my compass of cool moved towards Singapore. I still think aside from Tokyo, it is Asias most brazenly hip city. It had great design, the alternative publishing scene was heaving and the fashion side to it also ticked with a tony tock. But it was Berlin last year that opened my eyes to a rather eclectic Europe. One that wasnt starched. One that walked with a shuffle. And a song on its lips. One in which modernity and tradition kissed each other on its streets. Taking Wing The Emirates flight to Dubai reaches Dubai at a sweet six thirty in the morning. And before you can say Shake Shack, it goes on to Copenhagen. But before that, a word about the lounge at Dubai. Brilliant Amritsari kulchas. And perhaps the last of the living places that bestows some dignity to smokers. No hole-in-the-wall room giving you a reminder of your nicotine-induced mortality. Instead a ballroom-sized hall that makes a virtue out of the vice. Almost a pat on your lungs. A view of the bustling Norrebrogade neighbourhood (Getty Images) The moment the doors of the aircraft opened in Scandinavian climes, so did our eyes. It was two degrees and we had not packed for such meteorological manipulation. The gentleman who had come to pick us up apologised for the weather. Such graciousness! After twenty years of marriage, every couple needs two bedrooms. Which is why, I chose HAY. They have a bunch of compulsively cool apartments designed by the fabulous Danish brand, HAY. Everything about HAY is eclectic and edgy. To start with, there are no porters. And no room service. But it is still lovely and luxey. There is a great supermarket on the ground floor where you get the best butter chicken I have ever had, made by a brand called Meyer. It also has some splendid wines and flowers. The building that HAY calls its own also has a spiffy coffee-shopcum-bakery, a Japanese restaurant and an Italian joint. But that was of no interest to me once I discovered pita bread, jasmine rice, butter chicken and coriander. Dinner was sorted for the rest of the stay. Decadent Dining Now I must confess that I am not an evening person at all. So I didnt dive into bars or lounges. At 49, it is no longer my age. But I am told that if you wish to soak in the spirit, so to speak, the grand dame of drinking is Ruby. Rumour has it they shake some charming cocktails. Geist is a great place to grab some excellent Nordic fare. Amass too is wonderful, I am told. A man stands with a board advertising a restaurant in Copenhagens busy Stroeget shopping street (Getty Images) However, it was our lunch choices that were quite dazzling. One afternoon, we ate at a tiny but tremendous restaurant called Zeleste. Yannick is the lad at the restaurant. A bit of an India fanboy, which always helps. They have a masterful selection of fine wines. The tasting plate has herring with kale, salmon infused in beetroot sauce and a beef tartare offset with some delicious sauces. The other great lunch place is the iconic Schonnemann. The Aquavit selection there is staggering. It is considered to be the favourite restaurant of Rene Redzepi, who ran Noma. Once there, settle down with some rye bread and order a minced beef steak with garnished onions and egg yolk on top and capers on the side. It is heavenly. It is also imperative that you stop at AC Perchs for tea and scones with strawberries. Read: The age of the Vikings may be long gone, but they still live on in Copenhagen On your way out, look out for the nougat at the till. It is ferociously fabulous. For coffee, go to The Coffee Collective. I had a double espresso and was awake all night. Copenhagen is also home to divine chocolates. And dont get impressed by shops like The Chocolate Hotel. Instead, head to Summerbird. Savour their pralines. Pick up their chocolate sticks that you need to swirl in a glass of hot milk for haute chocolate. High on Tees As far as clothes are concerned, Copenhagen is tee town. Go to a departmental store called Illum. Samsoe & Samsoe, Filippa K, Sand, Mads Norgaard, they are all there. All make tony tees. For candles, drop by at Storm. It also stocks great magazines. Pick up Kinfolk magazine there. A staff member outside the citys world-famous Noma restaurant (AFP) For sophisticated ceramics, go to Stilleben: a Nordic nicety. And if you like typography, go to a store called Playtype. It has silver fountain pen ink and great font-based sweatshirts. And Pantone Rose Quartz and Serenity pencils. And of course, music. I picked up several CDs of Agnes Obel and DVDs of Danish movies such as Nymphomaniac and Open Hearts. And finally have porridge. Go to a store called Grod. It only serves porridge. Connie Nielsen once said, If Copenhagen were a person, that person would be generous, beautiful, elderly but with a flair. A human being that has certain propensities for quarrelling, filled with imagination and with appetite for the new and with respect for the old somebody who takes good care of things and of people. Tak, Copenhagen. Take care. * Factfile Getting there: You can fly to Copenhagen from Delhi or Mumbai via Dubai What to eat: Traditionally Danish food was very rich. These days, a typical lunch comprises buttered rye bread with toppings such as smoked salmon, cod, cheese, beef pickled herrings and eggs. Currency: The Danish currency is called Krone. (1 Krone = Rs 10.21) For local intelligence: Log on to visitdenmark.com Founder of the advertising agency Equus, the writer is an author, columnist and avid art collector From HT Brunch, May 29, 2016 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch BENGALURU: Flipkart, Indias largest e-commerce company, embroiled in a campus recruitment faceoff with IIM Ahmedabad, has got another devaluation jolt: Morgan Stanley has marked down the value of its holdings by 15.5%, the second in less than three months. The US-based mutual fund managed by Morgan Stanley slashed the value of its holding in Flipkart by 15.5%, according to filings with market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pushing its overall valuation of Indias largest e-commerce company to $9.39 billion one-third down from $15.2 billion when it raised $700 million in July, 2015. Morgan Stanley had in April marked down its Flipkart holdings by 27%. Morgan Stanley is not alone. T Rowe Price, another MF, reduced the value of its holdings by 15%, Valic Co1 by 29% and Fidelity Rutland Square Trust II by 40%. Depending on whom you ask, Flipkart is today valued a tad over $9 billion bad news at a time when the company is scrambling to raise funds. Reacting to a previous cut in valuation, Flipkarts new CEO Binny Bansal had told a leading business daily that such devaluations are mostly a theoretical exercise by small investors. Flipkart is said to have been in talks with Alibaba early this year, but the Chinese e-commerce giant did not agree to value it at more than $8 billion, and the deal fell through. Flipkart had termed that report false and baseless. We are well capitalised for the long term and are not looking to raise funds. We believe in raising funds when they are available and always at the right valuation, the company spokesperson said in March. Flipkart is involved in a spat with IIM Ahmedabad for pushing the joining date for 18 new recruits by six months to December, and offering ` 1.5 lakh as compensation for the delay. The company had attributed the deferment to ongoing organisational restructuring, and said in the new structure, a centralised hiring process will not work. Indias largest e-tailer Flipkart has pushed back the joining dates of new recruits from several top B-schools by six months, triggering speculation that a funds crunch and falling valuation are troubling the start-up. A week after the firm deferred the joining dates of fresh hires from IIM-Ahmedabad and Bangalore, students at XLRI in Jamshedpur, ISB in Hyderabad and FMS in Delhi have had similar experiences. Flipkart has not made direct contact with the institute, instead they have informed the students about a six-month delay in the joining date said Rajiv Mishra, chairman of the XLRI placement cell. FMS said the institute is exploring placement options with other online majors such as Shopclues, Paytm and Amazon. Eight students from XLRI (Xavier Labour Relations Institute) and one from FMS (Faculty of Management Studies) have been asked to wait by Flipkart, in addition to 18 from IIM-Ahmedabad and 11 from IIM-Bangalore. ISB (Indian School of Business) refused to release hiring figures. The unusual postponements the company has cited organisational restructuring as the reason sparked rumours that the face of Indias start-up culture is in trouble. Set up in 2007, Flipkart grew on the back of heavy discounts that led to losses of over $40 million a month, experts say. Competitors such as Snapdeal and Amazon were burning half of what Flipkart was spending monthly. But things worsened because of a slowdown in the United States and China. Investors venture capitalists and hedge fund managers started taking a second look at the discount-led model and corrected valuations. Flipkarts valuation fell by a third to under $10 billion. Even venture capitalists known to take risks started looking at a definitive path to profitability. Naren Gupta, co-founder at Nexus Venture Partners, said in a television interview that as most of the unicorns were in e-commerce, there might be a likely demise of one of them. Some of the new recruits told HT they were ready to wait but many were miffed at the lack of professionalism shown by the company, especially in the face of mounting student loan debt. A lengthy post on the companys website said organisational restructuring was the reason behind the delays and the firm was committed to having the new recruits on board by December. Last week, Flipkart burnt its fingers after it pushed back the joining dates of IIM students and offered them `1.5 lakh as compensation for the delay. The placement cell of IIM-Ahmedabad asked the company to confirm that these students would be absorbed by December. The company has cited organisational restructuring for the delay in joining dates. We will get more clarity on the placement next week, after which we will decide our plan of action, said K Sanjay Koushik, media secretary, students affairs council at IIM-A. A statement by ISB said the e-commerce sector was an evolving sector in India and it was only natural to expect high risks given its high growth and corresponding fast-paced development and uncertainties. MUMBAI: The Tatas on Friday rolled out its latest digital initiative, Tata CLiQ, offering to sell high-value branded products, as the Mumbai-based conglomerate attempts to expand customer base. TataCliq is curated by Tata Industries, which owns 90% stake in the venture, with the groups retail arm Trent owning the remaining 10%, and is run by Tata UniStore. TataCLiQ.com brings a smart combination of reassurance and in-store experience of large onground network with the convenience of online shopping, said Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry. The conglomerate has already launched two digital initiatives big data analytics and a healthcare portal as part of a more than Rs 1,000-crore exercise. There are only 30 million regular online shoppers in India and there is immense potential to bring the next 100 million with an offering that builds from their current path to purchase, rather than expecting them to change behaviour, said TataCliq CEO Ashutosh Pandey. TataCLiQ.com aims to achieve this by plugging need gaps across instore and online shopping with its unique phygital services. Phygital implies a blending of physical and digital. The phygital experience will now be available with Westside, Croma, Killer, Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only, Metro and Mochi, collectively over 500 stores. After seeing a large investor interest in ecommerce, domestic players are now seeing a sobering of valuations as rising costs and a crowded marketplace has made it more expensive to operate. But the potential is huge from 2% of overall retail sales, the industry estimates it will touch 11%. Vodafone will not accept the governments offer for a one-time settlement of its pending tax case and press with the ongoing arbitration. Arun Jaitley in his budget for 2016-17 has proposed a dispute resolution scheme for settling pending cases of retrospective taxes. Under the proposal, interest and penalty would be waived off for settling the tax by paying only the principal amount. The Indian tax department had slapped a demand of Rs 7,990 crore on Vodafone for failing to pay capital gains tax on its 2007 deal to buy the Indian assets of Hutchison Telecommunications International. This deal was worth $11 billion (almost Rs 50,000 crore at that time) and the entire tax liability with the principal, interest and penalty is over Rs 20,000 crore. But under the governments resolution mechanism, Vodafone would have to pay only the principal of Rs 7,990 crore to settle this dispute. Top sources in the finance ministry say that despite the on-time offer, Vodafone is unlikely to take the settlement route as the companys shareholders have voted against the move. The shareholders believe that they will win the arbitration filed in the international court since the Supreme Court of India ruled in Vodafones favour, said a finance ministry official who did not wish to be named. Sources say that the companys shareholders feel that it is against the spirit of justice when a country overrules a verdict from its own apex court. Vodafone Plc refused to comment on mails sent by HT. He added that Indias argument will be that tax matters cannot be arbitrated under BIPA (Bilateral Investment Protection Act). Since the money for the 2007 deal came from Vodafones Dutch arm, the telecom giant has moved the Hague-based International Court of Justice claiming violation of the Indo-Dutch BIPA. We have tried the reconciliation route, we have also given them the option of a one-time settlement but Vodafone is not interested, said an official in finance ministry. The official, who did not wish to reveal his identity, said that the British telco wants to go down the long path of arbitration because of their shareholders and legal advisors. The tax department sent a reminder tax notice of Rs 14,200 crore to Vodafone in February, after we realised that the telecom company has no interest in settling the dues out of court said the source quoted above. In 2012, the Supreme Court had ruled in Vodafones favour saying that it did not owe capital gains tax to India. However, the government enacted a tax law with retrospective effect to sidestep the apex courts ruling and imposed the tax on Vodafone. This had caused international furore at that time. Arun Jaitley had proposed the one-time settlement offer keeping in mind the negative sentiment created by retrospective tax demands on companies like Vodafone and Cairn Energy Plc. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON We will change the face of India in ten years, thundered Narendra Modi in a victory speech in Vadodra on May 16, 2014 within hours of his famous general election win. To his critics, this was typical Modi bombast: A leader who had been elected for a five-year term was already talking of a decade in power. Two years later, the euphoria maybe fading, but what is looking increasingly likely is that Modi has every chance of repeating his success in 2019. This isnt just about the afterglow of the BJPs breakthrough win in Assam and the dire obituaries being scripted for the Congress. Politicians and analysts tend to give disproportionate importance to state elections: There is an increasing disjunction between state and general elections. The BJP won all seven Delhi seats in the 2014 general elections but the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept to power in the city state barely eight months later. The BJP-led NDA dominated Bihar in the general elections but it was the Nitish-Lalu-Congress combine that won a two- thirds victory just eighteen months later. Chemistry in a state election is shaped by a strong local connect: Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and a Nitish Kumar in Bihar were the preferred chief ministerial choices here. Arithmetic calculations too change: The Maha-gatbandhan in Bihar in the assembly polls ensured that there was no division in the anti-BJP vote while a meltdown in the Congress vote gave AAP a decisive edge in Delhi. Read | Poll lesson: One size fits all strategy will not work In a general election race though, Modi remains the front-runner because he is the beneficiary of the TINA (there is no alternative) factor. There is no evidence in the last two years that Rahul Gandhi has the appetite to challenge Modi as a pan-Indian leader. Regional satraps have their limitations too. Nitish Kumar has already bared his ambition, even addressing a rally in Modis Varanasi constituency. But attempting to become a national leader without first addressing concerns in your own backyard can cost Nitish as the revival of the jungle raj narrative in Bihar has shown. Kejriwal too has ambitions beyond Delhi as he prepares to venture into the Punjab and Goa electoral battlefields. Clearly, he is carefully choosing to strike in states where the Congress is weakening, but scaling up the AAP model will not happen overnight. Mamata Banerjee too, likes to see herself as a national leader: Notice how she took questions from the national media in Hindi and English first before turning to the Bengali channels during her post-victory press conference. The fact though is, Didi power works in Bengal but has its geographical limits if attempted beyond the state: Recall her failed rally with Anna Hazare in Delhi ahead of the 2014 general elections. The only hope for a federal alternative to Modi is to attempt a United Front-like experiment of the mid-1990s. But this too is easier said than done: The internal contradictions amongst state leaders makes it impossible for them to be seen on a single platform in the near future. Even the Congress, whose social base has been taken over by these regional forces, will find it difficult to completely surrender and accept a B team status across India. Moreover, the country itself will not easily accept a rag tag coalition as a stable option to a Modi-led government. Read | Nitish elected JD(U) president: A new start for the Third Front? Indeed, it is the changing demographics of India that should comfort the Modi camp. Modi symbolises the urban middle class (largely Hindu) yearning for a strong India, an aspirational, meritocratic society that is driven by a desire for speedier growth, less big ticket corruption and yes, a deep suspicion, if not overt hostility, towards the minorities. As the country becomes more urbanised, the Modi model of governance has found a well-defined constituency in the neo-middle class who are convinced that Indias time has come. For this large social group, especially amongst younger Indians, Modi remains an iconic figure of hope. The prime minister has also been strategic: He has pushed aspirational ideas like Make in India and Start up India with pro-poor financial inclusion schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana and Mudra Bank. So, is Modi unassailable? Yes, with three caveats. First, the self-belief that drives the prime ministers high decibel politics can get mixed with self-love at times. The dark triad of narcissism, Machivellianism, remorselessness that one-time Modi backer Arun Shourie spoke of, reflects a concern that despite all his achievements, Modi still evokes more fear than respect among political peers. Running an effective government in a fragmented polity needs consensus building not perennial confrontation. If 2019 were to throw up a hung parliament, Modi may not be an automatic choice of his coalition partners: You just have to read the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna to realise this. Read | Two years of high-flying Modi short on delivery, says Shiv Sena The second, and bigger concern remains the economy. The achche din promise of 2014 was ultimately premised on getting the economy back on track: In more basic terms, it promised more jobs for the young and more money in the wallet. Despite relative macro-economic stability, job-driven growth is still to take off and small and medium enterprises are still struggling. If, as Modis advisers claim, the wheel will begin to turn in 2017, then the prime ministers chances of re-election are virtually guaranteed. Else, hope can rapidly turn to disillusionment. Read | Modi govts 2 years: Low job growth, inflation plague a growing nation Finally, there is one factor which even the prime minister cannot micro-manage. Most weather predictions have indicated an above normal monsoon this year. After two consecutive droughts, the Modi government needs bountiful rain to reduce agrarian distress across rural India. Benevolent rain gods will bring much cheer to the people; it will also perhaps further convince Modi that he is truly destinys child. Post-script: A senior BJP MP joked in parliaments central hall that the BJP and Congress would have the same slogan in 2019: Rahul Gandhi for prime minister. In a post-victory interview to me, Mamata echoed this: Rahul is Modis biggest USP. Even if such comments betray over-confidence bordering on hubris, they do point towards a leadership vacuum in the anti-Modi opposition. Read | With Gandhis at rock bottom, opposition comeback a daunting task Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON If, like me, you formed the impression last week that the BJP had triumphed in the recent state elections whilst the Congress was simply routed, the following facts are not just a useful corrective but proof of how incomplete and, possibly, misleading was the press coverage we initially received. First, Assam. No doubt winning was a huge achievement for the BJP, but if you compare the partys performance in 2016 to 2014, something else also becomes clear. The number of assembly segments it won came down from 69 to 60 and its vote share shrank from 37% to 30%. On the other hand, even after losing, the Congresss vote share was bigger than that of the BJP (31% vs. 29.5%), although thats because it fought more seats. So, despite victory, the BJP has to contend with a declining trend in terms of seats and vote share compared to 2014. READ: Not the end of the road for the Congress Next, West Bengal. In 2014 the BJPs vote share was 17% and it was ahead in 24 assembly segments. Two years later the former diminished to 10% and the latter collapsed to just three. Seen in this light, West Bengal is not just a disappointment but a setback. Third, Kerala. Here the BJP is proud of the fact it opened its account by winning a seat for the first time. That, admittedly, is a critical and credible achievement. However, in 2014 the party was ahead in four assembly segments. In 2016 it won only one. Second, although its vote share increased compared to 2011, it was static at 11% compared to 2014. Third, when BJP spokesmen boast of a 15% vote share in Kerala they are cleverly, but quietly, adding that of their allies to their own. The actual picture is different to the carefully concocted one. Finally, Tamil Nadu. Here the vote share of 6% in 2014 halved to 3% this year. Consequently, the seven assembly segments the BJP commanded two years earlier were completely wiped out in 2016. It didnt win a single seat. READ: In depth: BJP set to make big electoral gains from assembly poll results Now lets step back from the individual state pictures and take an overall view. Apart from the Assam victory, which is stunning, in the other three states West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and Pondicherry (which, incidentally, the Congress won), the BJP won only four seats. Altogether in five states it won 64. In comparison, the Congress won 100. Again, the BJPs overall vote share in these states fell from 17% in 2014 to 13% in 2016. The Congresss vote share slipped from 19 to 18. One last fact, though a little complicated, gives a clear picture of the contrast between the two big parties in these four states and Pondicherry. In 2014 the BJP contested 590 assembly segments and won 104. In 2016 it contested 661 segments but won only 64. The Congress in 2014 contested 749 assembly segments and won 110. Two years later it contested only 344 segments but still won 100. READ: The Congress needs to clear the confusion over its leadership My conclusion is simple. The media over-egged the BJPs performance and presented a picture of grand success whereas the truth is more nuanced and somewhat less glowing. In contrast, the media interpreted the results as an unmitigated rout for the Congress when, in fact, there are many silver linings that could cheer up the dark clouds, including over Assam. Finally, we should always look beyond the headlines no victory is as supreme as the hyperbole suggests. No defeat is as damning as the cartoons portray. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON (The Wall Street Journal, May 24: Indian Prime Minister Is Planning a Weeks-Long Nationwide Party for His Modiversary Bash) People across the country have strongly welcomed the governments decision to celebrate its second anniversary in style. With a third of the nation reeling from a terrible drought, this is the right time to have a gala party to drive away the blues, said a refugee from parched Marathwada, adding he hoped they would serve water at the events. But a Jat from Haryana threatened to shut down Karnal again if they served only water, calling for stronger liquids to celebrate the Jat quota. Whats the point of having the Bharatiya Janata Party if the Bharatiya janata dont get to party, asked a political scientist. READ: NDA anniv: 25 Union ministers and leaders to reach out to people A decadent pseudo-secular historian pointed to the fantastic bashes thrown by the Roman emperor Nero, whose party venue had a ceiling that, when cranked by slaves, rotated like the stars in the heavens while simultaneously flower petals and perfume filled the spacious central room. He added such a ceiling could easily be rotated by RSS volunteers. He said wistfully that Emperor Caligula held delightful week-long orgies. But his hopes were dashed when someone pointed out the present government doesnt like Rome. The idea, said a professor, is to showcase the governments achievements. He suggested theme parties. For instance, he said, the ministers can have a sit-down dinner in which they sit not on chairs but on commodes. That dinner, broadcast by Doordarshan, would send a powerful message about building toilets. A film buff suggested videos. We could show the hero weeping bitterly because he is unable to set up an industry as his village doesnt have electricity. Next we show the village being electrified under the Deendayal Gram Jyoti Yojana so he starts a unit under the Start Up India programme, part of the Make in India scheme, but competition increases because all villages become electrified and industrial units mushroom so he goes bankrupt under the new Bankruptcy Law. He then flees to the UK like Mallya, he explained. READ: PM Modi tries to woo UP through Saharanpur rally: Top quotes A youngster said he loved the governments decision to open discos under its Uday (Ujjwal Disco Assurance Yojana) scheme. A farmer in Bundelkhand said he was a great believer in Digital India. A guy standing in a jam-packed Mumbai suburban train said he liked Stand Up India, but Sit Down India was better. Unfortunately, our brilliant ministers who have accomplished such wondrous things will celebrate the anniversary by holding boring meetings and making tiresome speeches. Contrast the founding fathers of the United States, who, after writing the constitution, had a wild party in Philadelphia in which 55 delegates put away more than 100 bottles of wine, 22 bottles of port, 12 bottles of beer, eight bottles of whisky, eight bottles of cider and seven bowls of punch. Whats more, the innkeeper added a fine for broken bottles, tables and chamber pots. The founding fathers were no doubt assisted in their efforts by the founding hookers, although history is discreetly silent on that point. Their leaders knew how to party; ours do not. We must learn from them. Manas Chakravarty is Consulting Editor, Mint The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A string of electoral defeats, defections and organisational inertia is making pundits predict a dim future for the Congress. Even within, theres a deep sense of despair, a debilitating demoralisation no party with aspirations to power can afford to harbour. We learn nothing, forget nothing, remarked a Congressman of his status quoist party that, he felt, was averse to risk-taking. The phrase was originally used by Talleyrand, the 19th century French statesman for Bourbon emigres who returned home a quarter century after the French revolution. The suggestion was that the Congress, like the Bourbons, refused to reinvent itself. READ: Not the end of the road for the Congress For instance, the last AICC reshuffle and Congress Working Committee revamp was in June 2013. Little has changed in the party since its worst poll debacle two years ago barring the March 2015 appointment of five new provincial party chiefs and a regional committee president. The restoration last November of Capt. Amarinder Singh as PPC chief in Punjab, a state where the Congress could end its victory drought, was needlessly delayed. His mass appeal and utility for the party was a no-brainer. Political strategist Prashant Kishor, who earned fame for his equity in electoral successes of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar, has since been brought on-board and given a prominent role in Amarinders campaign. Kishor essentially is a methods man who could be useful in the madhouse thats the Congresss faction-ridden Punjab unit. In UP, where too he has a role, his prowess will face a tougher test with Congresspersons there less than sanguine about a major turnaround in the partys fortunes. READ: Out of step with todays India For whatever reasons, ad hocism seems to be the Congresss forte. So former Haryana minister Randeep Surjewala holds temporary charge of the media department while old-guard such as V Narayansamy and PC Chacko play stop-gap points-persons for the partys affairs in the North-East and Delhi. The storys similar in Bihar and Karnataka, where the search is still on for successors to sitting PCC chiefs who got ministerial berths last year. To make matters worse, political hobbyists, technocrats and other sets of experts who engage in on-again-off-again flirtations with politics have greater access to decision-making circles. The full-time political professional is forever on the waiting list. No one person in our party trusts another, except perhaps (AICC treasurer) Motilal Vora and (general secretary) Janardan Dwivedi, a former minister joked. In Congress circles, theyre known as Siamese twins, forever in each others company. Some among the technocrats who have the leaderships ear are known for their callous ways perceived as antagonistic by many. Like the villainous Iago in Shakespeares Othello, theyre revengeful at the slightest provocation, grumbled an erudite second-rung leader. Those associated with the partys frontal organisations the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India find the two organisations moribund for want of easy access to Rahul Gandhi. The Congress vice-president has been in charge of these outfits for many years. On account of his larger, pan-Indian responsibilities, he is not exactly a phone-call away from the young cadres. The result: Confusion compounded by defeat. The NSUI hasnt won a single central panel seat in Delhi University Students Union elections over the last two years; the Youth Congress president in Delhi is at daggers drawn with DPCC president Ajay Maken. READ: To make inroads in Delhi University politics, AAP floats teachers body Over the years, the Youth Congress has been a nursery of sorts for young talent groomed for the mother party. Many among those who led the organisation in their youth had an enviable rise in the Congress: Ghulam Nabi Azad, PR Dasmunshi, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Manish Tiwari and Randeep Surjewala. The green shoots arent happening anymore, said a former Youth Congress chief, putting the blame on the long stints of certain leaders at the top. Elections are due next year in seven states. Uttar Pradesh is difficult terrain where the party does not have a social alliance in place unlike its main rivals, the BSP, SP and BJP. But a new-look Congress can retain or wrest power in Uttarakhand, Himachal, Punjab, Goa and Gujarat. Let them getting cracking, surgery or astrology, quipped a veteran of many elections. He felt a lot of deadwood needed to be weeded out to open vistas for fresh talent: We cant remain a party of non-performers. Another senior leader argued fervently for the rehabilitation of what he called the professional politician feeling edged out by the new elite made up of lateral entries to counter the 24x7 politicos in other parties. The crescendo for inspiring, pro-active middle-rung leaders is summed up best by another Talleyrand quote: Im more afraid of an army of hundred sheep led by a lion than an army of lions led by a sheep. The debacle in the North-East that saw the Congress ceding ground to the BJP in Arunachal and Assam where the saffron party has painstakingly worked its way to power shows party managers, old and new, in a poor light. It replicated, in fact, the Andhra fiasco where YSRs son Jaganmohan Reddy walked out before the states bifurcation the way Himanta Biswa Sarma did in Assam. The people who mishandled Andhra and, thereafter Telangana, refusing TRC chief KCRs overtures of an alliance, continue to call the shots in Delhi. The worst fall-out from the Assam fiasco, said a party insider, is that it showed Rahul Gandhi as a factional leader who backed Tarun Gogoi and his son Gaurav at Sarmas expense. Insisting that he not be quoted, a CWC member said the Sonia-Rahul diarchy wasnt working. The Congress president doesnt normally overturn the vice presidents decisions. Yet the partys psychologically split down the middle between two power centres: Under duress or of free will, Rahul is acceptable to everybodyBut everybody isnt acceptable to him. READ: Cong slams BJP govt over scams He felt the high command should end the confusion. Either of the two should assume full control, perhaps for the present Sonia, as the party needs her experience and gravitas to deal with current and potential allies. Beyond that, the party must reach tactical, ideological and electoral clarity to repackage itself as an alternative to the BJP. Our salvation is in becoming the implicit coalition of ideas that we always were at the prime of our party, a Congress veteran from the Indira Gandhi era told me. Our institutional memory matches that of the country. We cannot ideate without relating it to the past and innovating for the present He took a jibe at Congress spokespersons for making comparisons between the 2014 elections and the recent assembly polls to show the slippage in the BJPs vote share. A party that sits on its hands and imagines rosy scenarios in the face of defeat has no future, he said. Scoring debating points may help us create a buzz on twitter, not win an election. An electoral win is what the Congress needs under its belt to make it look more relevant and fit for a future fight. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj may have moved swiftly to soothe African tempers following the killing of a Congolese national last week, but one of her cabinet colleagues on Friday gave a new twist to the diplomatic face-off by asserting that African countries were not safe as well. Union minister for tourism and culture, Mahesh Sharma, told a news agency, 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. His comments could embarrass the government and further complicate the situation at a time when African nations have asked the Centre to take concrete steps against problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India. Slipping into damage control mode after African heads of missions upped the ante, Swaraj on Wednesday spoke to Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung about the murder of 29-year-old Masunda Kitada Oliver and asked for the case to be tried in a fast-track court. She said the government had ordered stringent action against the culprits and would launch a sensitisation programme to stop such incidents. In an apparent backlash against the May 20 murder, local residents in Congos capital Kinshasa fired shots and attacked shops owned by Indians earlier this week. Sharma narrated his own experiences in Africa to flag concerns about safety issues there. When I went to South Africa, I was stopped from going for a morning walk at 6am by people in the hotel, citing security reasons. My post-dinner walk was also dropped for the same reasons. Its not fair to say that India is unsafe, he said. African countries had initially decided to boycott the Centres Africa Day celebrations on Thursday as a mark of protest. But they climbed down from their stand after junior foreign minister VK Singh appealed to African heads of missions to continue the tradition of celebrating Africa Day and reassured them of the safety of their nationals. Swaraj had delegated Singh to meet the envoys. Sharma said his ministry has introduced measures to ensure the safety of foreign nationals. The tourism ministry has introduced a helpline number 1363 for foreign nationals. We also issue certain dos and donts for them here. NEW DELHI: Five days after 60-year-old eatery owner, Pappu Vasudev, was shot dead at his shop by four men following an argument over payment of food bill, two accused have been arrested. Manish Kumar, 25, son of a stenographer in CBI, and his friend, Robin, 26 both residents of south Delhis Pilanji near Kotla Mubarakpur were held on Thursday following raids. The other two suspects, Sagar and a juvenile, are still absconding. According to police, Kumar is the prime accused in Vasudevs murder case as he was the one who had fired at him with a pistol that he had purchased two years ago from Etah in Uttar Pradesh to impress his friends. Kumar worked as chit fund agent. Interrogation of the arrested men, a senior police officer said, revealed that the argument between them and Vasudev started on payment of Rs 1,085 bill for food they had ordered. The four wanted some discount in the bill but Vasudev insisted them to pay the entire bill. An argument broke out during which Vasudev and his friend Shyam slapped Kumars friend Sagar. The four felt humiliated and decided to take revenge from Vasudev. They paid the bill and left the eatery only to return again, said the senior officer. The four reached Robins home where Kumars pistol was kept. They took the weapon and returned to Vasudevs shop in a Maruti Swift Dzire car purchased by Manish some months ago. While the other three entered into a scuffle with Vasudevs employees, Kumar straightaway went to him and shot him twice point blank range. Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP (southeast), said the crime was reported to them around 10.30 pm on Monday. Vasudev was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre where he succumbed to his bullet injuries during treatment. A case was registered and investigation was taken up, said Randhawa. During the probe, we learnt that the car, bearing UPs registration number, was registered in the name of Pawan Kumar, a Greater Noida resident. Pawan was questioned and he claimed to have sold the car long ago. Further efforts revealed that the car was last sold to Manish Kumar, who was absconding since the night of the crime, said Randhawa. GHAZIABAD: T he National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Friday said that the much-awaited Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) is likely to start operation by March, 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the 96km-long road project on December 31 at Noida. NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra, after an inspection visit on Friday, said that two stretches of the DME from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi to UP Gate and from Dasna in Ghaziabad to Hapur have already been awarded to a concessionaire. The officials added that there were several hitches in the smooth implementation of the project like the encroachments in Pandav Nagar, Vinod Nagar, Nehru Camp and Patparganj by unauthorised colonies and slum cluster areas on NH-24 land. We have taken up the issue with the Delhi government. For the Delhi section, we have been provided documents by the Delhi Development Authority, which states that 90 metre right of way land belongs to the government. So, there are no legal hurdles for the land now. For rehabilitation and resettlement of the slums, we are in talks with the government, Chandra said. The Delhi to UP Gate stretch of the DME is slotted for 14 lane development at a cost of nearly ` 937 crore over a stretch of 8.7km. We are also planning to raise the height of the Delhi stretch over river Yamuna from 2.5 metre to 7.5 metre as the river is proposed for inland waterways, he said. Official sources said that nearly 30000 trees/plants will be felled for the entire DME project for which authorities will soon approach the National Green Tribunal for necessary permissions. They added that some of the money for compensatory afforestation has already been deposited with the respective. The officials said that they are in talks with other Delhi agencies, like BSES, DJB, MTNL and IGL among others, as the project would involve utility shifting. Since the work for the Delhi section was awarded to the concessionaire on March 4 this year, the officials said that the work will start by August. The project is expected to make the commute easier for nearly 1.5 lakh cars daily. NEW DELHI: Results of examination at Delhi University are likely to get delayed further as teachers may extend the exam evaluation boycott till Wednesday. The teachers are boycotting the process to protest the University Grants Commissions (UGC) third amendment regulation. Apart from the boycott, the teachers have also planned a march to ministry of human resource development from Mandi House on Monday. Teachers have been protesting against a UGC regulation that would put ad-hoc teachers out of job and also make promotion difficult. In DU alone, 5,000 temporary, ad-hoc, guest lecturers may lose their job by the start of new session, as the new regulation has increased direct teaching hours for assistant professor to 24 hours per week from 16 hours. For associate professors, it was increased from 14 hours a week to 22 hours. The HRD ministry had issued clarification on Thursday and said the working hours would remain unchanged, but teachers dismissed the clarification saying it was not clear on the direct teaching hours and on tutorials and practicals. The proposal to extend the boycott was placed in the Delhi University Teachers Association executive meet. However the final decision on the course of action will be decided on the general body meeting on Saturday. Now the HRD ministry says that the tutorials, remedial classes will not be considered as direct teaching hour. This technically means that the work for teachers increases further. It is the direct teaching hours which are used for hiring. So our agitation will continue, said Abha Dev Habib, physics teacher at Miranda House. NEW DELHI: 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-Rs6 a kg from Rs 15-Rs20 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 atRs 200 per bag of 50kg, 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 1970s 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 Rs 1 by selling 950kg of onions in the wholesale market. Onions are selling for Rs 17-Rs18 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. 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 situation. 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, KVS Sidhu, a Patiala farmer, said. For the past four years, prices of onion touched triple digits and Rs 40-Rs50 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. (With inputs from Chandigarh, Karnal, Pune, Chennai and Bhopal) Parents of a 13-year-old girl from Jharkhand, who has been missing for the past two months, thought they got lucky when they received a call from someone claiming he knows where their daughter is. But for that they will have to deposit money through e-wallet. Sensing trouble, the father of the girl approached an NGO that contacted the police suspecting it might be a ploy to extort money from the girls father. The fears turned out to be true. The person who had called up the girls father was caught in Chennai and he confessed that he collected the details of missing children through social media and contacted their parents to extort money. So, the next time you share details of a missing children on social media to help the family, think twice, as it can easily be misused. NGOs working in the field of child welfare say that they have noticed a trend in which criminals are gathering details of families of missing children through social media. They blackmail the families by telling them that they know the whereabouts of the kid and extort money from them. In Delhi, where majority of population use social media, it is easy to get the detail of parents. Our timeline is flooded with photos of missing children and we often share it with the contact details. But this trend is dangerous and police must raise awareness among parents to deal with it, said Rishikant, an activist with the Shakti Vahini NGO. Data tabled in the Lok Sabha recently revealed that in the past three years more than 22,000 children went missing in Delhi. 9,000 are yet to be traced. Every year, more than 7,000 children go missing and 1,500 of them remain untraced in Delhi -- the second highest in the country after Maharashtra. Many of them are never found. Activists say that most of the missing children are trafficked by organised gangs which push them into a life of bonded labour in big cities or in Gulf countries. Girls are mostly forced into prostitution; many of them sent to villages with poor sex ratio and married off to men twice their age. The intention behind sharing details of missing children might be good but one needs to be careful now. In such cases, details of local police station and control room should be given and the parents must contact police if someone approached them claiming they have the details of children, Rishikant said. Case Study Ram Singh, a factory worker in Sohna, Gurgaon, has spent over R 2 lakh in a month to find his son who disappeared on April 3. Singh said he received calls from unknown numbers, who tell him to meet religious leaders and pay them money to get his child back. So apart from scouring places such as railway stations, bus stops, temples and mosques to find his son, Singh has also paid money to several people who had promised him to reunite him with his son. In Singhs case, criminals have not only exploited him through his contact details on the social media but also from the posters that he has pasted across the city with his sons photo in order to get a clue about him. My son went out with friends but never returned. I lodged a police complaint but till now I havent received any relief. Every morning I go out looking for my son. I hope, one day he will return home, Singh said. In Haryana, more than 3,700 children have remained untraced in the past three years and like Singh, most of the victims are workers who have come to Delhi in search of a livelihood. He doesnt have any other source of income as he has stopped going to the factory. He says that he has taken too much loan to pay those who had promised him clues about his son. A social worker said there are many like Singh who dont think twice before agreeing to pay money to those who promise them to tell the whereabouts of their missing kids. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MUMBAI / DELHI: The Maharashtra Police informed the Supreme Court on Friday that it has registered a murder case against five Haryana Police crime branch officials for allegedly killing Gurgaon-based Sandeep Gadoli in a fake encounter in a Mumbai hotel in February. The high-profile cop-versus-cop case saw another twist with the Mumbai Polices special investigation team (SIT) naming Gadolis girlfriend as an accused. The gangster with a ` 1.25-lakh reward on his head had kept the Gurgaon Police on their toes for over two decades and was wanted in 36 cases, including murder and extortion. Girlfriend Divya Pahuja, considered the sole eyewitness in the case, was made an accused as police claim she acted as a conspirator in the alleged encounter. Pahuja was the only one present in the room except Gurgaon Police and the deceased Gadoli... her name has been added after our investigations found out that she had tipped off the policemen about Gadolis whereabouts, said a SIT officer requesting anonymity. She was constantly in touch with the policemen and her mother on WhatsApp and had been hinting about their location, he added. On Friday, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the SC vacation bench the Mumbai SIT has come to conclusion that it (killing of Sandeep Gadoli) was a fake encounter and five Haryana Police officers and three private persons including a woman have been booked under section 302 IPC. The bench was hearing a petition filed by Gadolis brother seeking a magisterial inquiry and registration of a murder case against the Gurgaon cops. The SITs case against its colleagues in uniform picked up steam after it gathered evidence through CCTV cameras installed in the Mumbai hotel in which Gadoli was killed. The duo checked into Air port Metro hotel on February 6, 2016, following which Gurgaon Police laid a trap leading to the encounter the next day. The incident was captured by three CCTV cameras facing the hotel room. Police alleged Pahuja gave false statements to the SIT, which were later cleared after they got the CCTV footage of the incident. Pahuja gave her statement as it was narrated to her by the policemen as even she claimed Gadoli was the first one to fire bullets on Gurgaon Police and in retaliation they counter fired which led to his death, a police source said. The source said the policemen even tried to damage a CCTV facing Gadolis room and this act was captured by another camera. Police officials have now added sections 193 (false evidence), 182 (giving false information to cause public servant to use his power to the injury of another person) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against the eight cops and Gadolis girlfriend. The apex court bench recorded Rohatgis statement and ordered the SIT to proceed with the probe in accordance with the law. It directed listing of the petition on July 13 after the petitioners counsel, advocate Sanjay Parikh, urged the court to direct a probe by a judicial magistrate into the encounter. He claimed the involvement of an assistant commissioner of police in the encounter. MUMBAI / DELHI: The Maharashtra Police informed the Supreme Court on Friday that it has registered a murder case against five Haryana Police crime branch officials for allegedly killing Gurgaon-based Sandeep Gadoli in a fake encounter in a Mumbai hotel in February. The high-profile cop-versus-cop case saw another twist with the Mumbai Polices special investigation team (SIT) naming Gadolis girlfriend as an accused. The gangster with a Rs 1.25-lakh reward on his head had kept the Gurgaon Police on their toes for over two decades and was wanted in 36 cases, including murder and extortion. Girlfriend Divya Pahuja, considered the sole eyewitness in the case, was made an accused as police claim she acted as a conspirator in the alleged encounter. Pahuja was the only one present in the room except Gurgaon Police and the deceased Gadoli... her name has been added after our investigations found out that she had tipped off the policemen about Gadolis whereabouts, said a SIT officer requesting anonymity. She was constantly in touch with the policemen and her mother on WhatsApp and had been hinting about their location, he added. On Friday, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the SC vacation bench the Mumbai SIT has come to conclusion that it (killing of Sandeep Gadoli) was a fake encounter and five Haryana Police officers and three private persons including a woman have been booked under section 302 IPC. The bench was hearing a petition filed by Gadolis brother seeking a magisterial inquiry and registration of a murder case against the Gurgaon cops. The SITs case against its colleagues in uniform picked up steam after it gathered evidence through CCTV cameras installed in the Mumbai hotel in which Gadoli was killed. The duo checked into Air port Metro hotel on February 6, 2016, following which Gurgaon Police laid a trap leading to the encounter the next day. The incident was captured by three CCTV cameras facing the hotel room. Police alleged Pahuja gave false statements to the SIT, which were later cleared after they got the CCTV footage of the incident. Pahuja gave her statement as it was narrated to her by the policemen as even she claimed Gadoli was the first one to fire bullets on Gurgaon Police and in retaliation they counter fired which led to his death, a police source said. The source said the policemen even tried to damage a CCTV facing Gadolis room and this act was captured by another camera. Police officials have now added sections 193 (false evidence), 182 (giving false information to cause public servant to use his power to the injury of another person) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against the eight cops and Gadolis girlfriend. The apex court bench recorded Rohatgis statement and ordered the SIT to proceed with the probe in accordance with the law. It directed listing of the petition on July 13 after the petitioners counsel, advocate Sanjay Parikh, urged the court to direct a probe by a judicial magistrate into the encounter. He claimed the involvement of an assistant commissioner of police in the encounter NEW DELHI: The JNU academic council has amended its admission policy to give more representation to students from disadvantaged areas, especially women students. It also allowed relaxation to OBC candidates in entrance examination for M.Phil and Ph.D courses. The committee on Friday rejected a standing committees recent proposal to do away with relaxation to OBC candidates in entrance examination for M.Phil and Ph.D courses as well as reduction in concession to female and transgender candidates. The proposal had resulted in protests by students community who demanded that the deprivation points, given to girls and transgender students remain same as per previous policy. Deprivation points are allotted to applicants from backward areas in addition to their score in the entrance exam. The standing committee of the university last month decided to do away with relaxation to OBC candidates in entrance examination for M.Phil and Ph.D courses from the coming academic session but said they would be entitled to a concession of 5 marks in the eligibility criteria. Former JNU students union president Akbar Chaudhary, who was accused in a sexual harassment case almost two years ago by a female student, was found not guilty of the charges by a vice-chancellor appointed appeals committee. The case was filed in July 2014 with JNUs Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) against Chaudhary and joint secretary Sarfaraz Hamid. Both Chaudhary and Hamid resigned from their posts after this. Following the GSCASH report in the case, Chaudhary had filed for an appeal. JNU executive council recently accepted the report of the appeals committee and issued an office order. HT has a copy of the office order circulated in the university. The order said the case did not hold, as it had been found to be a case of breach of mutual trust rather than sexual harassment. The executive council resolved to accept the report of the Appeals Committee that this is a case of breach of mutual trust rather than a sexual harassment, the order issued in January said. An EC member on condition of anonymity told HT, The charges were not correct as per the appeals committee and even GSCASH did not find any substantive charges of sexual harassment. The report was cleared in the EC. Chaudhary refused to comment on the matter. GSCASH, in its report in 2015, had charged him with slandering the girl student. The university had then suspended his hostel facility for one semester. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: A man, who killed his 26-year-old friend for Rs 10,000 at northwest Delhis Bhalswa Dairy, was arrested on Thursday. To evade arrest, the accused, Dhirender, tried to frame another friend in the murder. Investigating the murder case of one Sonu, the police found that one of his neighbours, Dhirender, was missing. A search was launched to trace him and raids were conduted at his house in Bulandshahr, UP. He was later apprehended from a godown in Swaroop Nagar in Delhi. During questioning by the police, Dhirender confessed that he murdered Sonu as he was in need of money. Dhirender reportedly planned to kill Sonu as he was an alcoholic and was an easy target. On May 24, he asked Sonu to join him for a drink. They purchased liquor from a shop in Swaroop Nagar and both consumed alcohol in the bushes nearby. Before killing him with an axe, Dhirender ensured that Sonu got drunk so that he doesnt shout. Before killing Sonu, Dhirender told him that his friends wife was in love with him and that he should call and propose to her. Sonu took the bait and called up the woman. The woman objected and gave the phone to her husband. The man abused Sonu and threatened to kill him. Dhirender recorded the call. A few hours later, Dhirender killed Sonu, said a police officer. After killing Sonu, he put the mobile phone in his pocket to mislead the investigators into believing that it was a love affair to led to the killing. Dhirender also placed a love note in Sonus pocket addressed to the woman he had called, DCP (northwest) Vijay Singh said. Dhirender planned the murder in such a way that the husband of the woman become a suspect, Singh said. During investigation it was found that Dhirender had been involved in two other murder cases. NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday booked four men, who had been earlier arrested for assaulting a 16-year-old boy in southwest Delhis Inderpuri, under stringent sections of POCSO and the IT Act. The police had earlier booked the men, identified as Sumit, Aman, Raju and Shankar, under lenient sections of voluntarily causing hurt and confining a victim. A fifth accused, Sunny Rana, is absconding. The police added the charges of sexual assault on Friday after a section of media reported that the victim had been assaulted on his genitals. The victim was sent for a second medical examination at RML hospital. Joint commissioner of police (southwest) Deependra Pathak confirmed that the police had added stringent sections of the POCSO Act against the accused. Pathak said that the incident took place on May 23 but the police were informed about it on May 25. The victim in his initial statement had only said that he had been beaten up by the five men. He had alleged that he was physically assaulted and threatened. We registered a case of causing hurt and criminal intimidation and arrested the youths, Pathak said. Police later acted on media reports, in which the victim alleged that he was paraded naked and beaten with beer bottles on his private parts. The victim in his second statement on Friday levelled allegations of sexual assault. Narrating the sequence of events, a relative of the minor said that around 11 pm on May 23, the boy saw a two wheeler parked at the local Dawakhana market. My cousin was playing with the scooter and tried to kick start it. The five men suddenly appeared on the spot and accused him of attempting to steal the scooter, said one of the minors relative. The five took him to a nearby room, where they removed his clothes and thrashed him. They shot a video of him while he was being assaulted. They removed his clothes and forced him to sit on glass shards. He was kicked on his genitals, his relative told HT. Before approaching the police on May 25, the victim had tried to commit suicide after learning that his videos had been circulated among all residents in his area. Police said they have added sections of the IT Act. The Delhi government on Friday suspended a junior metrological officer after food and supplies minister, Imran Hussain, found irregularities in the zonal office of weights and measures department of the North West district. T he minister, who conducted a surprise inspection of North West District Zonal Office of Weight and Measures Department at Wazirpur Industrial Area, also issued show-cause notice to the zonal officer. During the inspection, a number of irregularities were noticed. The Laboratory of the district office was found closed even on the Lab Day when it was meant to be open for calibrating the instruments. The officers present could not come up with explanation for the lapses, an official said. During the inspection, it was also observed that a number of verification certificates were lying prepared without any supporting documents, in violation of the rules. The record keeping of the official documents was also not found satisfactory besides the functioning of calibration equipments for auto and taxi meters not being up to the mark, officials said. NEW DELHI: 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 crashlanded on Tuesday. 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 pilotin-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 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 company. Men, who are 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. 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 days to complete the process. Once the plane is dismantled, it will be taken to 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. 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. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON One of the most dreaded criminals of Delhi, Ravinder alias Bholu -- one of the suspects in the sensational murder of former MLA Bharat Singh -- committed suicide under depression at a rented flat in Amritsar. Bholu, who was on Delhis ten most-wanted criminals list, killed himself in March 2015, sources have confirmed. Police officers who had been looking for him all this while are stunned by the revelation. The 36-year-old gangster from Mitraon village, near Najafgarh in southwest Delhi, Bholus death has been confirmed by his cousin and partner in crime, Gopal Gehlot alias Pale. Pale was arrested on Wednesday night by a team of the special cell sleuths. Since Bholu and Gehlot were evading arrest and did not contact their families for the past one year. This is why even Bholus family did not know about his death. Gehlot has told the police that while running from the police Bholu became depressed. He feared that either his rival gang members would kill him or the police would shoot him in an encounter. Bholu was also disturbed because his rival Naveen Khatis gang had killed Gehlots father and he thought his family might also be targeted, said a police officer. Involved in around 30 cases of murder, extortion, and carjacking, Bholu was staying in the flat with Gehlot under a fictitious name, Narender. He had been evading arrests in as many as four cases, including the murder of four members of his rival gang whose charred bodies were recovered from a burnt car at a village in Haryanas Bahadurgarh. Gehlot has told police that Bholu had hanged himself from a ceiling fan a couple of days after Holi, much before the murder of the former MLA Bharat Singh. Bholus name surfaced in the murder only because he was a close associate of Udaiveer Kala, the prime accused in the murder case. Police sources said Bholu was not even in Delhi when Bharat Singh was shot dead at a wedding ceremony on March 29, 2015. A senior police officer, who had been working on cases against Bholu, claimed that his suicide was confirmed by his landlord in Amritsar and neighbours after a team was sent there to verify Gehlots disclosures. As Gehlot had told his interrogators that he himself had completed Bholus last rites at a crematorium in Amritsar, the team checked the records of the crematorium and found Gehlots signature as Narenders (Bholu) family member. We also showed Bholus photographs to the crematorium staff, his landlord and neighbours in Amritsar. They all identified him as Narender who had hanged himself in March 2015. The local police also verified the suicide story, said the officer. He said the cases against him will now be closed. Born in 1979 in a middle-class family in Mitraon village, Bhlou dropped out of school after Class 9 and became a property dealer. He soon joined local criminals and began committing petty crimes like theft and robbery. Bholu graduated in the crime world after committing a murder case along with his accomplices in Najafgarh in 2002. Initially, both Bholu and Naveen Khati worked for the Anoop gang. But the two parted their ways and became rivals over the issue of one-upmanship in crime world active on the southwestern outskirts of Delhi after Anoops death. Their rivalry resulted in frequent bloodbaths and both gangs killed each others members, said the officer. It was the worst 10-15 minutes of my life. Our car was surrounded by armed goons. My husband was being beaten up. I held my four-month-old daughter tight, praying she doesnt get hurt, said Kate Igbonosa, 26, remembering the night of the attack at Rajpur Khurd village. Kenneths wife, Kate, vividly remembers how she tried to protect her daughter from the shards of glass when the car windshield was smashed by the locals that night. Fortunately, the goons did not hit me. My husband managed to start the car and escape from that narrow lane, she said. Kenneth said this was not the first time he had been attacked in Delhi. In October last year, he was slapped by a mechanic when he objected to his racist slurs. There were four mechanics teasing my sister in Chattarpur. I got angry and asked them to stop. I got a slap in return. I did not approach the police then. Four different groups of African nationals were attacked by residents of three villages in Chattarpur area of south Delhi between 9pm and midnight on Thursday. The victims were going home. Around six African nationals said they were racially abused by the residents of Maidangarhi and Rajpur Khurd villages. Police registered four separate FIRs and said the attacks were not planned. Another victim, Lucky, 32, a businessman, who came to the country in November last year, was going to a church with his brother Ben when they were forced out of the autorickshaw. This happened around half an hour before Kenneth was attacked. We were going to an all-night church service in Saket. We were in an autorickshaw when they stopped us. They beat us up black and blue. I have suffered a deep cut on my nose. Read: Six Africans assaulted in Delhi village, cops say attacks not planned Shopkeeper alerted many Africans A middle-aged shopkeeper, whose shop is located near the entrance of Maidangarhi village, recounts the horrific attacks. I had not shut my shop. I could see villagers attacking Africans. Because my shop is located at the village entrance, I could warn the Africans, he said, requesting anonymity. Some locals, who claimed to have helped the foreigners that night, said, Many victims live in Neb Sarai and Rajpur Khurd, so they had to pass through the area. Victims unsure how attacks started While the police said the clash occurred because some Africans were drinking in public, the victims seemed to be clueless why they were attacked. If somebody played loud music then they should be punished. Why would anyone attack churchgoers, said Lucky. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Girls outperformed boys in the intermediate arts (IA) examination conducted by Bihar school examination board (BSEB), the results of which were announce in Patna on Saturday. However, like Intermediate science (ISc) and commerce (ICom), the overall pass percentage of results of IA has witnessed a sharp decline. About 56.73% of the students passed the examination this year, as compared to 86.47% last year. Click here to check your results on the official website. How to check your results: Select the appropriate link (regular or vocational ) and click to go to the log-in page. Log in with your roll code and roll number and the results will be displayed on the screen. Or Click here to directly go to the log-in page. BSEB chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh said the dip in overall results was attributed to serious curb on malpractices for which the state had recently earned a bad image last year. As many as 2,89,881 out of 5,10,903 students passed the examination, of which 11.81% of the students secured the first division. About 37.63% students got the second division, while 7.09% passed in the third division. A total of 2.41 lakh boys and 3.06 lakh girls had appeared in the IA examination. About 56.85% girls and 56.73% boys passed the examination, while results of 1,838 students have been kept pending. Read more: CBSE Class 10 results announced, heres how to check it on board website Rubi Ray of VR College, Kiratpur (Vaishali) topped the chart by obtaining 444 out of 500 marks, leaving Kriti Bharti of Sharda GK College, Maheshkhunt (Khagaria) and Khushbu Kumari of SUK +2 School, Pratapganj (Sapaul) on second and third position respectively. As many as 17 students have been ranked among the top ten in accordance with the marks they obtained. Most of the toppers hail from the downtown areas, except Raju Kumar of TPS College, Patna, who got the eight rank. The BSEB also announced results of IA (vocational course), in which 1,646 students took the examination. About 62.02% students, comprising 55.1% boys and 44.89% girls, passed the examination. Read more: Bihar board intermediate arts (IA) results to be announced today SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Results day is usually bittersweet, but for many of the students who gave the class 10 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam, Saturday afternoon was a happy affair. Examination results declared around noon saw quite a few students secure a perfect 10 CGPA, the cumulative grade point average. Click here to check your results. Though students said they had expected to do well enough, a 10 CGPA was unexpected. Read more: CBSE Class 10 results declared, heres how to check it on board website I have secured full 10 on 10 grade in all the subjects and it still seems unbelievable. I cannot contain my excitement and my parents are over the moon, said Aanchal Thakur, a student of Delhi Public School, Noida. Post 1 pm on Saturday, when the results went live on the boards website, students were crowding computer systems to see how they fared. According to the CBSE grading system, a full 10 is A1, 9 is A2, 8 is B1, 7 is B2 and so on. To calculate the CGPA, students need to add up the best five subjects they scored in and divide it by 5. Read more: CBSE Class 10 results announced: How to calculate your CGPA points Such a grading system has definitely helped boost the confidence of the students to do better in their class 12 exams. As many as 33 students out of a total of 182 have secured 10 CGPA with a grade of A1 in all subjects, said Arun Garg, academic coordinator at Kesari Devi Bajaj Public School in Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad. The next step for students is to decide their stream for class 11 and 12. Read more: CBSE Class 10 exam results 2016: 96.21% pass, girls outshine boys I had earlier thought that I would decide my stream for class 11 and 12 according to how I fared in each subject in class 10. Though I have scored A1 in each subject, the decision has become all the more difficult now. However, I am thinking of taking up humanities as it interests me more than science and commerce, said Ishika Singhal, a student of Sun Valley International School, Vaishali, who scored a perfect 10 CGPA. A total of 1,68,541 students, out of 14,31,861 who cleared the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 board examination, scored a perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average or CGPA score. There were 85,316 boys and 83,225 girls in the list of perfect scorers this year. This years numbers are better than that of last years when 94,474 students, including 49,392 boys and 45,082 girls, got the perfect score. While the number of boys with 10 CGPA is more, girls have done slightly better in terms of pass percentage. Girls secured a pass percentage of 96.36 against 96.11% boys who passed. Last year, the pass percentage of girls was 98.1 while 98% boys cleared the exams. Differently-abled candidates also did well in the exam with 95.18% of them clearing it. The overall pass percentage stood at 96.21, a dip from last years 97.32%. This year, there was an 8.5% increase in the number of students who registered for Class 10 examination. Read more: CBSE Class 10 results announced, heres how to check it on board website Region-wise, Thiruvananthapuram was ahead of other regions with a pass percentage of 99.87 followed by Chennai which followed closely with 99.69. Schools performance The central government-run Jawahar Navodyaya Vidyalayas (JNV) and Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) have done better than independent and governments schools in terms of pass percentage. The Navodyaya Vidyalayas scored a pass percentage of 98.87 followed by KVs where 98.85% students cleared the exam. The pass percentage for independent schools is 97.72 and that for government schools stood at 86.61. Read more: CBSE Class 10 results declared: How to calculate your CGPA points According to CBSE, 85.62% students of government-aided schools have passed. In terms of scoring a perfect 10, independent schools took the lions share with 1,51,061 of their students falling in this category. While 12,719 KV students scored 10 CGPA, 3,209 got the perfect grade in Navodyaya Vidyalayas. The figures of government schools in this regard are not as impressive with 1,242 students from government and 307 students from government-aided schools scoring the perfect 10. Read more: CBSE Class 10 exam results 2016: 96.21% pass, girls outshine boys Girls outperformed boys this year too in the Central Board of Secondary Educations (CBSE) Patna region in the Class 10 examination, results for which were declared by the board on Saturday. With a pass percentage of 98.03, girl students were marginally ahead of boys (97.80). In 2015, the pass percentage among girls was 98.1% against 98% of boys. There were 170 differently-abled candidates who registered this year and 164 out of them passed with an overall pass percentage of 96.47. With an overall pass percentage of 97.88, the Patna region of CBSE, comprising schools of Bihar and Jharkhand, bagged the fourth position out of the total ten regions. However, last year, the pass percentage was 98.10 in Patna region, yet it stood fourth, behind Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Guwahati with an overall pass percentage of 99.87, 99.69 and 98.04, respectively. Read more: CBSE Class 10 results announced, heres how to check it on board website In the Patna region, which covers all schools of Bihar and Jharkhand, 158622 candidates -- 105817 boys and 52805 girls -- appeared for the exam. Out of this, only 51767 girls and 103493 boys passed the examination. The rest are eligible for improvement of performance (EIOP). The examination was conducted over 239 centres in which 997 schools appeared. CBSE Class 10 exam: Students reactions ahead of results from across India Read more: Bihar board intermediate arts (IA) results to be announced at 3pm Read more: CBSE Class 10 results out: How to calculate your CGPA points SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the Class 10 examination results. The results are in the form of Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA): It is the average of Grade Points obtained in all the subjects excluding the sixth additional subject as per the scheme of the exam. Read: CBSE Class 10 board exam 2016 results declared, check it here It is important to be familiar with the boards grading system and its meaning to analyse and understand your performance. Calculating CGPA Though your CGPA is written on the report card, it is easy to calculate it on your own. Heres how you can do it. Add your grade points in the main five subjects, and then divide it by 5. For example, if your grade points for the five main subjects are: Subject 1: 8; Subject 2: 9; Subject 3: 7; Subject 4: 9; and Subject 5: 9 Step 1: Add the grade points: 8+9+7+9+9 = 42 Step 2: Divide it by 5 42/5 = 8.5 So, your CGPA is 8.5. It is now important to understand your result in terms of percentage to evaluate your performance. Calculating percentage from your CGPA In order to convert your overall CGPA into percentage, multiply it by 9.5. For example, In this case 8.5 (CGPA) is multiplied by 9.5, so 8.5 x 9.5 = 80.75% You should know that though both your Class 9 and Class 10 grades are displayed on your report card, only Class 10 grades are used to calculate your CGPA. CBSE Class 10 exam results: Students reactions ahead of results from across India SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With an increase of 0.66%, Chennai recorded a pass percentage of 99.69% in the CBSE Class 10 Secondary School Certificate exam, results of which were announced on Saturday. The all-India pass percentage plunged to 96.21% from 97.32% last year. Read | CBSE Class 10 results announced, heres how to check it on board website Chennai region, which includes Maharashtra, bagged the second position in the country with 161,000 of the 162,000 students clearing the exam held in March. Thiruvanathapuram recorded the highest pass percentage in the country with 99.87%. Girls once again performed better than boys in the region with 99.79% girls clearing the exam against 99.62% boys. Students from 2,154 schools in the region and 15,286 in the country took the exam. Read | CBSE Class 10 results out: How to calculate your CGPA points Only 168,000 students out of the 1.4 million students who appeared for the exam scored a perfect cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 10. Around 50,000 scored 9 and 52,000 scored 8 CGPA. Special-category students from the Chennai region registered a pass percentage of 98.55%, higher than the national and regional average. Read | CBSE Class 10 exam results 2016: 96.21% pass, girls outshine boys SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON If the top performers in Central Board of Secondary Educations (CBSE) Class 12 exam surprised you, wait till you read about the Class 10 results. A whopping 1,68,541 students from across India -- 85,316 boys and 83,225 girlsscored a perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average or CGPA score in the Class 10 exam, results for which were announced on Saturday. With a pass percentage of 96.36, girl students outperformed boys (96.11%) this year too. The overall pass percentage this year is 96.21, marginally lower than last years 97.32%. Area-wise, the Thiruvanathpuram area was ahead of other regions with a pass percentage of 99.87 followed by Chennai region which had a pass percentage of 99.69. Read: CBSE Class 10 results declared, heres how to check it on board website A total of 14,91,293 candidates were registered for Class 10 examination, an increase of about 8.5% candidates over last year. Category wise, the Central Government run Jawahar Navodyaya Vidyalayas have scored a pass percentage of 98.87 followed by Kendriya Vidyalayas which have a pass percentage of 98.85. Independent schools have a pass percentage of 97.72, while government schools have a pass percentage of 86.61. Girls outperform boys With a pass percentage of 98.03, girl students were marginally ahead of boys (97.80). In 2015, the pass percentage among girls was 98.1% against 98% of boys. With an overall pass percentage of 97.88, the Patna region of CBSE, comprising schools of Bihar and Jharkhand, bagged the fourth position out of the total ten regions. However, last year, the pass percentage was 98.10 in the region, yet it stood fourth, behind Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Guwahati with an overall pass percentage of 99.87, 99.69 and 98.04, respectively. students treating themselves to chocolates after achieving full CGPA in the class 10 board examination at Bhopals St. Joseph's Convent. (HT Photo ) Last year a total of 94,474 students scored a perfect 10 CGPA (49,392 boys; 45,082 girls). While the number of boys, who have scored 10 CGPA is more, girls have done better in terms of pass percentage. A total of 14,91,293 candidates were registered for Class X examination which amounted to an increase of about 8.5% candidates over the last year. Differently abled candidates also did well in the exam with 95.18% of them clearing it. Read: CBSE Class 10 exam results 2016: 96.21% pass, girls outshine boys According to data shared by CBSE, 85.62% students of Government aided schools have passed. In terms of scoring a perfect 10 CGPA score, independent schools take the lions share with 1,51,061 of their students falling in this category. 12,719 KV and 3209 JNV students also scored, a CGPA score of 10. Students of Standard Public school celebrating their success in CBSE class 10 board exam in Indore. (Shankar Mourya/HT Photo ) The figures of government schools in this regard are not as impressive with 1,242 students from government schools and 307 students from government aided schools scoring a perfect 10 CGPA. In Odisha region, 96.27% students passed in the CBSE Class 10 examination. Over 75,000 students appeared in the exam in the region comprising three states of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhatisgarh. The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools had a pass percentage of 99.23% followed by Kendriya Vidyalayas 97.1% Odisha was ahead with a pass percentage of 98.56 as compared to West Bengals 95.94% and Chhatisgarhs 94.81%. The nurse is your first point of contact in a hospital, and yet usually remains faceless and invisible. Typically, they say, they are either ignored, sidelined or stereotyped; in smaller cities the discrimination can include being barred from doctors lifts and parking bays. A recent episode of comedian Kapil Sharmas TV show reiterated some of the worst stereotypes, with one actor playing an obnoxious, loud-mouthed nurse while another trotted about in a tiny white uniform and blow-dried hair. This kind of portrayal is rubbish, says Suchita Sawant, principal at the Bombay Hospital College of Nursing. When have you ever seen a nurse with open hair? That may have been just a TV show, but such perceptions, they say, are their biggest bugbear. Theyre tired of being seen as either a sexist joke or unidimensional and faceless. Were all specialising today. Some of us have Masters, MPhils or PhDs in super-specialty courses like cardiology, nephrology, critical care and oncology, says Malathi Rao, deputy director of nursing at Bombay Hospital. But people dont even seem to notice. Read: 5 nursing stereotypes debunked These people include patients, patients relatives and even doctors and hospital staff. When I was enrolling for a Masters in 2004, for instance, a doctor at the hospital where I then worked was surprised to learn that nurses could even opt for a Masters degree, says Sawant. Thats how much we are underestimated. Pointed discrimination within the hospital hierarchy is an issue too. In some Chandigarh institutes, nurses arent allowed to use the same elevators, canteens or parking bays as doctors. In one of the buildings at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, one canteen is for patients and another is for doctors. Where will the nurses go, asks Lakhwinder Singh, president of the PGI nurses association. Nurses at work. We are all specialising today. Some of us have super-specialty qualifications in cardiology, nephrology, oncology, but people dont even seem to notice, says Malathi Rao, deputy director of nursing at Bombay Hospital. (AFP) At the citys Government Medical College & Hospital, the nurses demand for a canteen has gone unheard, but a second canteen has been opened for doctors. The staff parking lots are also not accessible to nurses. Each block has a lift just for doctors. Some time ago a few nurses were asked to leave after they entered a lift along with a doctor, says Vijay Kumar, president of the nurses association at GMCH-32. Big boards reading Only for doctors hang outside lifts, canteens and parking lots. It makes us feel discriminated against, says Singh. Promotions too come after years. An assistant professor is promoted to the next level of associate professor within three years, but a promotion from staff nurse (Grade II) to staff nurse (Grade I) can take about 18 years. Salaries too are raised only after a decade, says Singh. Read: Top 10 most famous nurses in history As most hospital directors are doctors, they overestimate those from their own profession and underestimate nurses, says Malthi Iyer*, a nurse at a medical college in Delhi. We are given step-motherly treatment, she adds. The lack of recognition and basic privileges, poor work conditions and relatively low salaries force many nurses to head overseas in search of better prospects, some even accepting jobs in high-risk countries like Iraq. Two years ago, 46 Indian nurses had to be rescued by the government from that country amid an offensive by ISIS militants. Besides the salaries being on average five times higher than those offered in India, respect for labour is also higher in foreign countries, says A Sindhu, a nurse from Ernakulam who is back in India after a seven-year stint in Bahrain. For instance, the initial diagnosis, in many countries, is done by nurses. But in India the nurses job is seen as limited to administering injections and maintaining a patients health chart. Read: Surgery patients do better when hospitals are good to nurses, says study In the doctors absence, patients trust young resident doctors fresh out of med school more than a nurse with decades of experience, adds Sheetal Tanna*, a nurse at a Mumbai government hospital. It is a matter of perceptions not having changed. Attrition rates, meanwhile, are climbing in Indias hospitals. I am concerned; we are losing our best nurses to other countries, says Usha Banerjee, director of nursing at Delhis Apollo Indraprastha hospital. As healthcare needs rise rapidly in India, this is a matter of grave concern. We have the best trainers in this part of the world, but everyone today seems to join the profession to work abroad. With newer avenues opening up in areas such as clinical research, corporate offices and schools, the future looks set to change. But theres a long road ahead, and the first step is updating the traditional image of the Indian nurse. Nursing is already moving beyond the bedside, says Rao. The need is to create public awareness about this changing image, while simultaneously upgrading nursing skills in terms of education, training and soft skills. (* Names changed on request) Hollywood star Johnny Depp was hit with a restraining order on Friday after his wife, Amber Heard, appeared in court with a black eye, accusing the Oscar-nominated star of assaulting her. Amber, 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 attacks by Depp. Heard submitted pictures to the court showing a bruise on her face that she claims was inflicted during a fight between the couple on Saturday and said she feared Depp might harm her. Amber Heard submitted pictures to the court showing a bruise on her face that she claims was inflicted during a fight with Johnny Depp on Saturday and said she feared Depp might harm her. (Reuters) During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me, she said in a sworn statement. She added that Depp has a totally acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse and that she was scared of his temper. Read: Why Amber Heards divorcing Johnny Depp 3 days after his mothers death Celebrity news website TMZ published a picture showing Heard with bruising around her right eye. It reported that the actress says it was taken shortly after Depp hurled his iPhone at her face on Saturday night. 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 said. In this file photo, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp arrive at The Art of Elysium's Ninth annual Heaven Gala at 3LABS, in Culver City, Calif. Heard was in Los Angeles Superior Court court on Friday and provided a sworn declaration that her husband Johnny Depp threw her cellphone at her during a fight Saturday, striking her cheek and eye. (Rich Fury/Invision/AP) It added, however, that Heard declined to file charges against her husband when police showed up at their residence on Saturday. The website said Heard alleges she is facing an immediate threat of harm from Depp, even though the actor is in Europe promoting his new film, Alice Through the Looking Glass, which was released on Friday. Los Angeles superior court judge Carl Moor ruled after reviewing 40 pages of evidence behind closed doors that Depp was banned from coming within 100 yards (91 meters) of Heard. The order will be reviewed on June 17. Another of Heards attorneys, Joseph Koenig, said in a courthouse hallway that his client was dealing as well as possible with her recent ordeal. Shes having a hard time, its been a long few days, Koenig said. Heard stayed in an attorney conference room around the corner from the courtroom while she awaited the ruling. Depps attorney, Laura Wasser, declined to comment other than to say the petition was granted in part and denied in part. She did not elaborate. The couples separation came less than a week after the death of Depps mother, Betty Sue Palmer, at the age of 81. The pair, who have no children together, have been embroiled in a spat with Australian deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce since Heard failed to declare the couples two dogs when they arrived in Queensland state a year ago. Joyce, who is also the agriculture minister, threatened to have Pistol and Boo put down unless they buggered off back to the United States for breaking Australias strict quarantine laws. Watch Johnny Depp and Amber Heards apology video over terrier-gate Actress-model Heard last month admitted falsifying her immigration arrivals card and was placed on a $720 one-month good-behaviour bond. Her divorce petition asks that she keep the couples house, a Range Rover and custody of the dogs, TMZ said. The petition listed their date of separation as Sunday, two days after Depps mother died. 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, People magazine quoted Depps representative as saying in a statement. Hopefully the dissolution of this short marriage will be resolved quickly. Depp and Heard met on the set of the 2011 film, The Rum Diary, when Depp was still in a 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 of last year before celebrating with a larger event on Depps 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 Heards enchantment with Hollywood glitz, it said, and became increasingly suspicious over her bisexual past and closeness to her lesbian friends. When Sunil Jaglan had a daughter in January 2012, he offered Rs 2,000 to the hospital nurses. They refused and said Rs 100 would be fine. If it was a boy, we would have taken it, they said. Jaglan the sarpanch of Jinds Bibipur village was disturbed. When he got back home, he kept an eye on birth records; he saw that 59 boys were born in the village that year while only 37 girls were born. There were also 69 men above the age of 30 who were unmarried. He met with women elders to understand the anomaly; the answer was obvious. They were first uncomfortable and then said clearly that a boy carries on the family name, the vansh, the girls dont. What was left unsaid was that girls were thus not allowed to be born. Haryana has confronted the issue of female foeticide for years now, but Jaglan made it the centre-piece of his work. He organised a Maha-Panchayat in July 2012, where he claims the slogan of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, was first given. Khaps, increasingly synonymous with acts of grave injustice against women, came together to call for the protection of the girl child. And then, in the middle of 2015, Jaglan went to watch Bajrangi Bhaijan. Inspired, he started a campaign, Selfie with Daughter. Little did he know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address the issue in his Mann ki Baat monthly broadcast. The PM encouraged his listeners to post selfies with daughter, and social media was flooded. Jaglan was ecstatic. Over the years, each government has paid attention to the declining sex ratio in India. But Modi has given it both high-levels of attention, and directly placed the responsibility on citizens and tried to reach out to them with easy to understand, powerful messages. During his election campaign, Modi spoke of the need to tackle the problem. In January 2015, he addressed a conference in Panipat where he said as the PM of India, he was begging citizens to save their daughters. The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign was launched here. Enrolment of girls in school from 2004-14 across the country. Data shows a steady rise in the percentage of girls enrolling in school for an education. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has drawn attention to the issue, starting the campaign Beti Bachao, Beto Padhao (save the daughter, educate the daughter). (Anand Katakam/Hindustan Times) Jaglan credits Modi for making the issue of foeticide and sex ratio central in Indian public discourse. The PM personally feels strongly about it. But he thinks that Modis concern has not quite percolated down the system. Thus is the classic Indian quandary strong on policy commitment, weak in seeing it through implementation. Bureaucrats still think it is something you need to speak on Womens Day on March 8 rather than sustain as a permanent campaign, says Jaglan. Instead, he suggests catching people young, making it a part of school textbooks and working with young married couples to make a change in the next decade. Sunil Jaglan, sarpanch of Bibipur, with his daughter. Jaglan began the Selfie with Daughter campaign which was praised by PM Modi in his radio programme Mann Ki Baat. Jaglan has been working towards righting the skewed gender ratio in his village after the birth of his daughter. There is some evidence of this in Bibipurs government school for girls. A group of Class 9 students were sitting outside after finishing class. When asked whether they were familiar with foeticide, a student said, Yes, when a child is killed in the womb. They recited poems and spoke out against the practice. Santosh, a social studies teacher, said that there is both change and continuity of the practice. There is a change among many parents. It isnt the old time when girls are given less food at home or deprived of education once they are born. But this old mindset of seeing girls as a liability among some persists. Things have improved, albeit marginally, but women contend with being objectified in more ways than one. The most palpable sense that women are seen as instruments is in village politics. Jaglan had his wife stand in the recent panchayat elections, who lost. Himmat Singh, another local leader, is recognised as the Sarpanch among locals. The fact though is that his daughter-in-law is the actual sarpanch. But all matters are dealt with by Singh. The new sarpanch has also just had a child, and for a month will be in purdah and cannot meet outsiders. This paradox of a village at the forefront of improving its sex ratio still treating women as mere instruments lies at the heart of Modis challenge. How he will use his three years at the helm to reform the gender equation is to be seen. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A gala event Ek Nayi Subah was being held at the India Gate lawns in New Delhi on Saturday to mark the completion of two years of the Narendra Modi government. The event is being held in talkathon format with ministers answering queries put to them. Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan flaunted a saffron coloured Nehru jacket with a crisp and pristine white kurta pajama as he addressed the audience with a valuable message around the Beti Bachao, Beti Padao campaign. The 73-year-old was present at India Gate on Saturday and emphasized the importance of education of the girl child. The event was hosted by actor R Madhavan, who looked sophisticated in a black kurta and white pyjama teamed up well with a white stole. Big B also used the platform to interact with girl children from various schools, and even recited lines from his fathers famous Madhushala. The megastar looked very excited and at ease while sharing words of wisdom with the children. The event also includes talk shows on the governments achievements, interspersed with cultural programmes. Full Coverage: Modi govts two years Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju, minister of state for urban development Babul Supriyo and minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were among the ministers to take part in the initial part of the programme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to come towards the end of the event. The Talkathon format allows participants in the social media space to post questions on Twitter which are answered by the guests in real-time. Media has not been invited for coverage. The event is being held in a studio format, an official of the Information and Broadcasting ministry said. The government had also organised a Talkathon last year to mark its first anniversary. (With IANS and ANI inputs) The Maharashtra Police informed the Supreme Court on Friday that it has registered a murder case against five Haryana Police crime branch officials for allegedly killing Gurgaon-based Sandeep Gadoli in a fake encounter in a Mumbai hotel in February. The high-profile cop-versus-cop case saw another twist with the Mumbai Polices special investigation team (SIT) naming Gadolis girlfriend as an accused. The gangster with a Rs 1.25-lakh reward on his head had kept the Gurgaon Police on their toes for over two decades and was wanted in 36 cases, including murder and extortion. Divya Pahuja, considered the sole eyewitness in the case, was made an accused as police claim she acted as a conspirator in the alleged encounter. Pahuja was the only one present in the room except Gurgaon Police and the deceased Gadoli... her name has been added after our investigations found out that she had tipped off the policemen about Gadolis whereabouts, said a SIT officer requesting anonymity. She was constantly in touch with the policemen and her mother on WhatsApp and had been hinting about their location, he added. On Friday, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the SC vacation bench the Mumbai SIT has come to conclusion that it (killing of Sandeep Gadoli) was a fake encounter and five Haryana Police officers and three private persons including a woman have been booked under section 302 IPC. The bench was hearing a petition filed by Gadolis brother seeking a magisterial inquiry and registration of a murder case against the Gurgaon cops. The SITs case against its colleagues in uniform picked up steam after it gathered evidence through CCTV cameras installed in the Mumbai hotel in which Gadoli was killed. The duo checked into Airport Metro hotel on February 6, 2016, following which Gurgaon Police laid a trap leading to the encounter the next day. The incident was captured by three CCTV cameras facing the hotel room. Police alleged Pahuja gave false statements to the SIT, which were later cleared after they got the CCTV footage of the incident. Pahuja gave her statement as it was narrated to her by the policemen as even she claimed Gadoli was the first one to fire bullets on Gurgaon Police and in retaliation they counter fired which led to his death, a police source said. The source said the policemen even tried to damage a CCTV facing Gadolis room and this act was captured by another camera. Police officials have now added sections 193 (false evidence), 182 (giving false information to cause public servant to use his power to the injury of another person) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against the eight cops and Gadolis girlfriend. The apex court bench recorded Rohatgis statement and ordered the SIT to proceed with the probe in accordance with the law. It directed listing of the petition on July 13 after the petitioners counsel, advocate Sanjay Parikh, urged the court to direct a probe by a judicial magistrate into the encounter. He claimed the involvement of an assistant commissioner of police in the encounter. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government was busy in celebrating its two years in power while the farmers of the country are committing suicide. There is a drought all over the country. Farmers are committing suicide, but here at India Gate, Modiji is celebrating with Bollywood stars, Gandhi told reporters at the torchlight procession organised by his party, from the Samta Sthal to the Delhi secretariat to protest against the unprecedented power and water crisis in the city. The BJP government has organised a gala event at the India Gate to list its achievements, which was hosted by Bollywood actor R. Madhvan and attended by megastar Amitabh Bachhan, actresses Raveena Tandon, Madhuri Dixit, and several others. Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi said: Who is hurt when there is selfie politics? Its the farmer, the small businessman who gets hurt. My politics is based on Mahatma Gandhis ideology, I can never do politics of lies and false promises, he said, adding: This country cannot progress with lies. Our party and our party workers dont do PR. They work for the people. Attacking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he said, For India to progress, governments need to stop making false and unrealistic promises and instead work to help the people. Kejriwalji promised uninterrupted electricity and water, but after coming to power all these promises were forgotten. The party that knows how to provide electricity, provide water and works for people will come to power again in Delhi. AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey were detained by Delhi Police for agitating near the Congresss protest venue. Hizbul Mujahideen militant Tariq Pandit close aide of most wanted Hizbul commander Burhan Wani has been arrested, police and army officials said on Saturday. We have arrested Tariq Pandit from Pulwama. We have also recovered weapons from him, said deputy inspector general of police Nitish Kumar. Pandit had featured in pictures with Wani whose many associates have been killed in various encounters. However, Wani, who is a youth icon, is still at large and carries a bounty of `10 lakh on his head. Pandit was one of the 11 militants, led by Burhan Wani, who had posted photographs brandishing assault rifles on social networking sites such as Facebook last year. Earlier in the day, army and the police officials had claimed that Pandit had surrendered. However, top officials later clarified that he was arrested. Read: Fugitive constable, who joined Hizb, arrested in south Kashmir Read: Kashmirs disturbing new reality Army spokesperson NN Joshi said Pandit was apprehended in a coordinated operation on Newa-Pinglana road. A joint mobile vehicle checkpost was placed by the Army and police in the morning based on intelligence inputs regarding militant movement. He was arrested by a team of Rashtriya Rifles battalion and one 9 mm pistol and two Chinese grenades were seized from him, he said. Kumar said, His arrest is a big blow to the Hizbul Mujahideen and other millitants are eager to surrender. We will welcome who ever surrenders and will rehabilitate them. An FIR has been registered and the militant has been handed over to the Pulwama police, the spokesperson added. Pandit was a self-styled area commander and is a very important catch. His interrogation should definitely lead us to the Hizbul Mujahideen network in south Kashmir, the officials said. In April last year, another close aide of Wani, Naseer Ahmad Pandit, was gunned down by forces in Shopian district. Police said Pandit had joined the terror group along with his cousin Naseer Pandit, a cop-turned-terrorist last year. (With PTI inputs) The premier US varsity Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is being roped in to reform pedagogy and curriculum at National Institutes of Technology (NITs) across the country. According to sources, the HRD ministry has approved the matter and will soon ask MIT to depute a team of experts in engineering discipline to visit a few NITs including Srinagar, Jaipur, Agartala among others. The idea is to examine their current academic standards and suggest improvements in various fields including the curriculum being used with reference to the global practices and suggest changes accordingly, said a senior HRD official. Sources said that concerned over poor teaching methods and tools used by the faculty at NITs across the country, the HRD minister Smriti Irani wants to revamp the institutes and a formal proposal will be sent to MIT. We are in touch with the university and they have shown a keen interest in the project, said a senior HRD official. NIT Srinagar was recently rocked by student protests and a number of students had submitted a series of demand to the ministry to upgrade the institute following which they returned to the institute. Read: Banning ABVP in Jammu is varsity V-Cs misuse of autonomy, says BJP One of the major tasks of the team that will visit the institutes from MIT will be to verify the critical understanding of engineering concepts by students in the final year of under-graduation and their ability to use the concepts in real life situations. They will also suggest modalities of industry-academia collaboration in updating the syllabus and will examine the existing pedagogical practices being followed, said a senior HRD official. Recently, the ministry had also decided to engage Standford University to run a quality check by designing a capsule test to measure learning outcomes of engineering students to sharpen their skills before they graduate. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Wednesday said that a spate of negative reports about the governments performance were not an outcome of its policies, but of unsuccessfully manufactured dissent against it. This government treats the four pillars of democracy as equal. Some of those who have been unable to cope with the loss of privilege are the ones trying to unsuccessfully manufacture dissent, he said in an interview to Hindustan Times. He, however, ruled out the possibility of the government monitoring news content. Since all the three mediums (TV, print and digital) have self regulating bodies, we have left it to their best judgment, he said. The Centre, which is leaving no stone unturned to publicise its two year in office, has been accused of imposing food choices by banning beef eating. The government has also faced criticism for allegedly curbing freedom of expression and saffronising education. Rathore dismissed these allegations and claimed that Indias image abroad had not taken a beating, which according to him was reflected in the large number of business houses queuing up to invest in the country. People abroad are extremely positive about our country. And it is because of their confidence in our country that they are investing here, the 2004 Athens Olympics silver-medalist said. The former army officer said that at a time when the global economy was in doldrums, India was being looked at as the one bright spot in worlds economy. Listing his governments achievements, the Jaipur (rural) constituency MP said the policies at the Centre were being drafted with an ear to the ground and claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government was able to provide leadership of commitment. I can frankly say the amount of work that at least I am doing right now is much more than what I did for the Olympics, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said the PDP-BJP government was committed to bringing Kashmiri Pandits and other migrants back to the Valley. Kashmiri Pandits will come back and live happily here, and so will other migrants. This is our commitment, Mehbooba said. The government will set up transit accommodations for Pandits until they feel secure enough to return to their original places of residence, she added. They have been out of the state for the last 25 years, and some of them dont even remember their own addresses. So, how would it be possible for them to feel safe enough to return to their original homes? the chief minister asked. Mehbooba said even the construction of transit accommodation was part of the recommendations made by the Prime Ministers Working Group formed in 2005, and the beneficiaries would include migrant Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. The colonies would be composite in nature, she said, with 50% reserved for Kashmiri Pandits and the rest for other communities. However, there was some ambiguity on whether the colonies would be exclusively for migrants including Pandits or open to everybody. Dont we have Muslim migrants? Dont we have migrants in Jammu? Arent there Sikhs and other people living among them? If we are saying 50 per cent will be Kashmiri Pandits and the rest others, you (the Opposition and separatists) are saying it is an Israel-like situation, she said. The chief minister drew a comparison between the condition of the Pandits and political workers who have left their native places out of fear. How can you ask the migrants to return to their native places when our political workers be it from the PDP, Congress, National Conference or any other party are living under security? You have even provided them with public safety officers, Mehbooba said. Mehbooba maintained that all political parties, whether mainstream or separatist, were on the same page regarding the return of Pandits. The community will help fill the gaps in various fields of everyday life, she added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday dismissed as irresponsible minister of state for home Kiren Rijijus charge that in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government worked in tandem with the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). We were having breakfast with them (LeT) and then invited them over dinner too. These are irresponsible statements, he retorted. In an interview to India Today, Rijiju had alleged that the UPA government had worked in tandem with the LeT in the Ishrat Jahan case. Asked about the way accused in cases such as Malegaon blasts were being acquitted, Chidambaram said, Of course there is a pattern in it. The senior Congress leader said a book released on Friday also hinted at the pattern. How can witnesses suddenly turn hostile after new government comes in? he asked. In an apparent reference to late Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, who had investigated the cases, Chidambaram ridiculed attempts to tarnish the memory of a martyred police officer known for his impeccable record and honesty. Those who have heart and conscience must read Julio Ribeiros passionate article which appeared in one of the newspapers a few days ago. If Ribeiros article did not move our hearts nothing else will, he said. The Congress leader said social tension and high growth do not go together. Unless there is social peace and harmony, unless there is stability for the workers, unless minorities, Dalits and farmers feel secure, we will not whole-heartedly participate in producing goods and services. No country which has recurrent social tension has achieved high growth, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the issue of reappointment of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan was an administrative subject and it should not be an issue of interest of the media, in his first comments in the wake of continuing attack on the top economist in recent months. I dont think this administrative subject should be an issue of interest to the media, Modi said. Besides, it will come up only in September, he told The Wall Street Journal, referring to the three-year term of Rajan which ends in September. Do you support the reappointment of Mr Rajan, the central bank governor? the Prime Minister was asked. Read | Why is Modi still silent on attacks on RBI guv Rajan, asks Congress As an outspoken RBI Governor, Rajan has expressed his views on host of issues, including intolerance and has even described India as one-eyed king in the land of blind in reference to the countrys high economic growth. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy has levelled allegations against Rajan including those of sending confidential and sensitive financial information around the world and asked the Prime Minister to sack him immediately. The BJP leader also accused Rajan of publicly disparaging the Modi government and alleged that he is a member of a US dominated group that was set up to defend Americas dominant position in the global economy. Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said RBI and the government are in continuous dialogue and that relationship will continue. Jaitley also said that he does not approve of personal comments against anyone including the RBI Governor. A sedition case has been registered against All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) national president Yashpal Malik and five other Jat leaders in Jind on Friday. In a rally at Jat Dharamshala in Jind on Wednesday (May 25), Malik and others had given a call for holding protest in many states across the country on June 5, besides calling upon the state police and civil officials indicted by the Prakash Singh committee to fight against the government. Investigating officer ASI Ravinder said Malik and five others were booked for hate speech as they tried to provoke people to protest against the government. They are also reported to have made a statement that they will not let any other caste, except Jats, to live peacefully, he said. Police head constable Suresh Kumar deployed at Maliks rally at the Jat Bhawan had made a video of the event and filed a complaint against Malik and other Jat leaders. Based on his complaint, an FIR under sections 124A (sedition) and 154A (promoting enmity between groups on the basis of caste) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against Malik, Ishwar Singh, Raj Siwach, Krishan Keermara, Krishan Sheokand and RS Ahlawat. A complaint has also been registered against more than 100 other unnamed people gathered at the event. A probe was under way, ASI Ravinder said. Yashpal Malik was among the leaders who led the quota agitation in February wherein several districts of the state were rocked by unprecedented violence and arson. Hailing from Muzzafarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Malik dabbled in real estate business in Ghaziabad and Noida before taking up the Jat quota cause, which he had been promoting for the past many years. CHEAP TRICK TO SABOTAGE OUR JUNE 5 PROTEST: MALIK Hitting out at the government, Malik called the move a cheap trick to sabotage their protest on June 5. Its just another attempt on the part of the government to book Jat leaders in false cases. The government is trying to sabotage our June 5 protest, seeking withdrawal of cases against innocent Jat youths during the quota stir in February, he said. Haryana DGP KP Singh, who was in Jind on Thursday, had said, People from Uttar Pradesh are trying to foment trouble in Haryana by disrupting peace and harmony. Reacting on his comments, Malik said he would like to remind the DGP that he also hailed from UP. The fact that the FIR has been registered two days after my speech shows that it has been lodged on his orders only, he added. Cops to get training for riot control The Rohtak police on Friday launched a training camp for cops to deal with riot-like situations in the district. During the camp, cops will be taught to use weapons like rubber bullets, plastic bullets, teargas shells, spice grenades etc which come in handy to disperse people during riots. A police spokesperson told HT that all the police personnel will be given this training turn-by-turn. Rohtak SP Shashank Anand said experienced trainers will give training to cops to make them adept in using modern and useful weapons. The situation at the University of Hyderabad soured yet again on Saturday after university authorities removed tents put up by students in memory of Rohith Vemula, the Dalit PhD scholar whose suicide in January sparked nationwide uproar. According to the central universitys students, campus security personnel removed two tents erected as a part of Vemulas memorial at the university shopping complex early on Saturday morning. The tents were there till midnight. There were four to five security men there at that time. At around 2 am, the tents were dismantled and taken away in a vehicle, Y Bhaskar, a member of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) for Social Justice, said. The tents contained Vemulas pictures, posters and slogans put up at Velivada (Dalit colony), where he along with four others sat on a dharna before committing suicide, Bhaskar said. Authorities however did not disrupt the Rohith Vemula bust and the memorial containing pictures of BR Ambedkar, Jyotirao Phule and Kanshi Ram. About 40 students, who stayed back on campus during the ongoing vacations, staged a dharna protesting the action. This is nothing but insulting the Dalit scholar. We are contemplating filing a case against the university authoritises under SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act, JAC member said. Read | Remove tents, Rohith memorial: Hyderabad univ to students Earlier, on May 20, university registrar M Sudhakar had sent a circular to the universitys students union president, K P Zuhail, stating that those tents erected without permission would have to be cleared in 48 hours. Students refused to receive and acknowledge the circular, stating that union leaders were away on summer vacations. The circular was apparently issued based on instructions from university vice chancellor, Podile Appa Rao. We have waited for a week for student union leaders to respond to the circular. Since the leaders did not turn up, we have got the tents removed with the help of security staff, Prof Vipin Srivastava, the universitys official spokesperson said. As for Vemulas bust and the other structures, the professor said he didnt know if they would be cleared. The circular only mentions about removal of tents and we have done it. Defending the university administrations decision, Srivastava said the shopping complex was a common place for everybody and a section of students could not occupy it in the name of protests. Unfortunately, media is also biased against the university and has been reporting only one side of the story, he said. Read | Who is playing politics over Rohith Vemulas death? The central university was propelled into national limelight after Vemula committed suicide on January 17. Students protested against the university administration, claiming they drove him to the extreme step, though Vemulas suicide note did not blame anybody. The matter became a political touchstone as Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi reached the campus to show his solidarity and the party attempted to corner the ruling BJP and Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani over the issue in parliament. Read | Oppn attacks govt over Vemula suicide, JNU row; BJP targets Rahul Students at the university also demanded that Rao be removed as vice chancellor. Though initially sent on leave, Rao resumed office two months after the suicide which led to violent protests on campus. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON 1. Virat Kohli 113 v Kings XI Punjab (May 18) Kohli took 50 balls to score 113 that comprised 12 boundaries and eight sixes in a match curtailed to 15 overs per side after rain almost threatened washout. It was a captains innings at a time when RCB had to win everything to reach the play-offs. 2. AB de Villiers 79* v Gujarat Lions (May 24) AB de Villiers scored 73* in the crucial match against Gujarat Lions to take Royal Challengers Bangalore into the IPL final. (AFP) Purely in terms of soaking the pressure and preventing the opponents from snatching the momentum, this innings was better than some of the other centuries hit in this tournament. Not only did de Villiers score the runs required to win the qualifier, he also stayed unbeaten. 3. David Warner 93* v Gujarat Lions (May 27) Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner celebrates the victory over Gujarat Lions. (AFP) The Australian opener was anchoring a chase where no one till No.7 had contributed more than 11. But Warner had made it his mission to guide Sunrisers to their first ever final with an unbeaten 93 that was more about grit and determination. 4. Dwayne Smith 4/8 v KKR (May 19) Dwayne Smith was a key member of the Gujarat Lions bowling unit. (AFP) No other bowler has taken four wickets and conceded this little. Sure this was a Kanpur pitch that lived up to the stadiums name but any seamer could have overdone it. Not Smith though. He swung the ball just enough to dismiss KKR for just 124 and help his team go up to No.2 on the points table. 5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3/19 v KKR (May 25) Bhuvneshwar Kumar has ensured that the Sunrisers Hyderabad dont miss the guile and experience of injured spearhead Ashish Nehra. (AFP) Ashish Nehra wasnt around in the eliminator. Neither did Sunrisers Hyderabad have a huge score on the board. Bhuvneshwar Kumar however came up with show that was capped by one of the best death over bowling performances ever in the tournaments history. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday announced that the NDA government would set up 25 new regional airports in different parts of the country in the current financial year. He also said airfare from these regional airports would be subsidised. The ministry concerned is preparing a Cabinet note on the proposal for setting up the airports, Jaitley said. He regretted that air connectivity was still very poor in the country, with only 80 airports. The regional airports would be a step towards providing people a better and affordable air connectivity, he said. Alice Through the Looking Glass Director: James Bobin Cast: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska Rating: 2/5 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?). 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: Only Johnny Depp can play characters like Mad Hatter, says Sacha 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 more review here 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. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop MUMBAI: The girlfriend of gangster Sandeep Gadoli, who was killed in an alleged encounter by Gurgaon police in a Mumbai hotel in February, has been named one of the accused, along with eight policemen, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Gadoli, who kept the Gurgaon police on their toes for over two decades, was killed in an encounter at a hotel in Andheri (East) on February 7. He was carrying a reward of Rs1.25 lakh on his head and was wanted in 36 cases, including murder and extortion. Divya Pahuja, considered the sole eyewitness in the case, was made an accused, as the police claimed she acted as a conspirator in the alleged encounter, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition filed by Gadolis brother, Kuldeep Singh, on Friday. Pahuja was the only one in the room except the Gurgaon police and the deceased Gadoli. Her name has been added after our investigations found out that she had tipped off the policemen about Gadolis whereabouts, an SIT officer said. She was constantly in touch with the policemen and her mother over WhatsApp and had been hinting them about their location, he added. The duo checked into Airport Metro hotel on February 6, 2016, following which the Gurgaon police laid a trap leading to the encounter the next day. The incident was captured by three CCTV cameras facing the hotel room. The police alleged that Pahuja gave false statements to the SIT, which was later cleared after they got the CCTV footage of the incident. Pahuja gave her statement as it was narrated to her by the policemen. Even she claimed that Gadoli was the first one to fire bullets at the Gurgaon police and in retaliation they counter fired, which led to his death, a police source said. The source added that the policemen even tried to damage a CCTV camera facing Gadolis room and this act was captured by another camera. Police officers have now added sections 193 (false evidence), 182 (giving false information to cause public servant to use his power to the injury of another person) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the eight cops and Gadolis girlfriend. In March, the Bombay high court dismissed the writ petition and all applications filed by Gadolis brother. Singh approached the HC claiming that the encounter was fake and demanded all eight Haryana policemen involved in the incident and the assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Gurgaon, be booked for murder. Singh wanted a second post-mortem of Gadolis body. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mumbai Ashmita Jain, 16, was over the moon to find out she had scored a perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) with 99.6%, possibly the highest score yet in the year in the Class 10 Secondary School Certificate exam of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), results of which were announced on Saturday. Jain, studying in St Josephs High School, Panvel, said she was expecting 98%, which was the highest score last year. The high scores were possible largely because the board decided to scrap the Problem Solving Assessment (PSA) component that comprised questions carrying 10 marks in all five subjects. Students used to find these question of a higher difficulty level. With nearly 70% marks in the hands of the school since the PSA component was replaced by formative assessment- quizzes, tests, debates conducted by the school the number of students scoring above 90% doubled and tripled in city schools this year. Standing sixth in the Chennai region, Maharashtra witnessed an increase by a few points in its pass-percentage 99.68% from 99. 46% this year, while the region emerged second in the country, with 99.69%, up from 99.03% last year. Although the national success rate dipped slightly to 96.21% from 97.32%, number of students scoring 10 CGPAs soared to 1.68 lakh from 94, 474 students. At Navy Children School, Colaba, number of students scoring 10 CGPA doubled this year to 34 from 17. Our results have been much better than last year, said Malika Subramanium, principal of the school. Besides 10 CGPA, number of students scoring between 9.8 and 9.6 CGPA also increased. Similarly, Apeejay School, Nerul saw 104 students scoring in 90s, compared to 71 last year. DAV Public School, New Panvel also had 101 students out of 319 getting 10 CGPA. At RN Podar School, Santacruz, 84 students got 10 CGPA and 92 scored between 9 and 9.2 CGPA. The high marks can be attributed to the fact that majority of the marks were in the hands of the school this year, said Deepshikha Srivastava, principal, Rajhans Vidyalaya, Andheri. Schools were allowed to conduct four formative assessments, in which we mark students on basis of different types of assessments, said Kalpana Kumar, principal, St Josephs High School, Panvel. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MUMBAI: Facing arrest on money-laundering charges, former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Friday shot another letter to chief minister Devendra Fadanvis after a fresh FIR was lodged against him in a disproportionate assets case by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Bhujbal in his letter said the case was filed to deprive him of a bail. On charges of amassing property worth Rs 203.24 crore between 1999 and 2014, the ACB on Thursday registered a disproportionate assets (DA) case against Bhujbal and his family members. The opponents want to destroy the entire Bhujbal family and thus to make this possible, false cases are being registered against us. We are innocent but until it is proved in the court of law, we should remain behind the bars and end our lives there, the letter stated. He, however, added that the Bhujbals will continue to fight even by remaining in jail. Our 50 years of political and social work is at stake. But at this age, how long and how to fight, is the only question before us, Bhujbal wrote in his third letter to Fadnavis. MUMBAI: The blast in a chemical factory in Dombivli on Thursday has once again brought the focus back on the need to shift these industries out of residential areas. Soon after the blast in which 11 were killed and more than 150 injured, industries minister Subhash Desai announced that steps will be taken to avoid similar tragedies in future. While the state government plans to frame a new policy to shift these industries out of the city limits, urban planners said this will not be easy. The plan looks possible on paper but is not easy to implement. Before relocating these industries, the government will have to check if the new location is suitable to them and also if the new location is accessible to the workers. In addition, it will have to provide infrastructure such as power and water in the new area, a former planner with City and Industrial Corporation (Cidco), who did not wish to be named, said. Satish Deshmukh, who was employed with a chemical manufacturing company, said rules were not followed by either by the chemical factories or the civic authorities to ensure that the area surrounding the industries are not populated. According to rules, there should not have been residential development in at least one-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 except very few companies, which are giants in the business, no company took safety measures seriously, said Deshmukh. Environmentalist D Stalin blamed Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for not ensuring that chemical companies take safety measures to prevent these tragedies. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) 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 said. MUMBAI: 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 its 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 a PIL on the irregularities in awarding contracts to defaulting contractors, noted that even though the police registered a case on April 27 against several defaulting contractors, the officers of the department concerned took action only after 21 days. The court also noted that in the meantime, a few of these contractors 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. MUMBAI: The nine- member committee of doctors formed to examine former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is lodged in Aurthur Road jail, submitted a detailed report before the Bombay high court on Friday. The court has now given time for the defense to take a second opinion on the report before arguing on the bail. On Friday, when the court was scheduled to hear the bail application of Bhujbal ----arrested in connection with a money-laundering case ---- on health grounds, the committee of doctors submitted its report before the court. Enforcement directorates advocate Poornima Kantharia contended t hat Bhujbal is given necessary treatment in the jail and was also taken to the hospital whenever needed. Reading the reports, Kantharia said the doctors have opined that Bhujbal needs regular medication but surgical intervention is not needed. However, Bhujbals counsel Amit Desai pleaded that we have just been given a copy of the report, which is in very technical language. We need to understand what the report means before arguing on the merits. Desai pleaded that they need to show the reports to private doctors for their opinion and pleaded for adjournment. The ED counsel, however, objected alleging that no doctors can give same opinion. The court, however, accepting the defenses pleading adjourned the hearing on the Bhujbals bail application to post-vacation. The tussle between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)s alliance partners the Shiv Sena and BJP has now turned into branding contest. To counter the Senas Shiv Vada Pav, the BJP on Friday proposed setting up NaMo tea and food stalls, named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, across Mumbai. The proposal was tabled at the BMCs general body meeting, with BJP corporator and Civic Improvement Committee chairman, Prakash Gangadhare, requesting that license be given for one stall in each of Mumbais wards. The BJP claimed the stalls would help provide employment to both the citys youth and those coming from drought-hit regions. It further said the stalls, which will be set up in legal vending zones, will help people get bank loans through the Prime Minister Mudra scheme. The proposal was put up in the group leaders and once the civic body approves this, the applications from the citizens will be invited. If Shiv Vada Pav can get an approval, then even NaMo tea and food stalls will be approved as it will cater to those in need of jobs, said Gangadhare. The BJP and Sena, who are also in an alliance in the state government, have been in a rocky partnership since the BJP came to power in 2014. Mumbai earlier had Poha stalls put up by the Congress party and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena offering vegetables at low prices. SRINAGAR: 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 6:30am 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. 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. BEIJING: Describing President Pranab Mukherjees visit as very successful and fruitful, Beijing on Friday said India and China will work together on counterterrorism in multilateral fora such as the United Nations and BRICS. China and India will support each other on regional and international occasions and utter their voice together on the international stage, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said as Mukherjee returned to India after a four-day state visit. Mukherjee had one-on-one meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. The two sides exchanged views on terrorism. 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. Hua said disputes like the border problem will not hinder cooperation. The two sides will properly manage and control disputes, so that these disputes will not stand in the way of our practical cooperation. And we will continue to make full use of the special representatives meeting on border question to maintain border peace and tranquility, she said. The two sides have agreed to carry forward our fine traditions, deepen practical cooperation and alleviate bilateral relations. As for specific outcomes, the two sides agreed to maintain high level exchanges to better top level design and put in place improved mechanisms, she added. Hua said 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. During Mukherjees meeting with Li, the Chinese Premier suggested the two sides align Chinas Made in China 2025 campaign and Internet Plus initiative with Indias Make in India initiative and Digital India campaign. 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 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. 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 Modi. Modi said his governments proactive agenda for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood began from the very first day of his government. 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. When twenty-six-year-old Meryl Mammen, a resident of Vasundhara, was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease, little did she know that a cure would prove to be more rare. After spending lakhs on her treatment with not much progress, she is now ready to put herself up for a clinical trial or research -- something that is yet to pick up pace in India. Meryl suffers from Pompes disease -- a condition that happens when the body cannot make a protein that breaks down complex sugar, glycogen, for energy. The disease causes muscle weakness, trouble in breathing and affects the liver, heart and muscles. In the hope of getting better, she wants to put herself up for clinical trial. Unfortunately, there is none happening in India currently. There is not much information about Pompes disease in the country. Due to the lack of clinical trials, there are no new findings. My disease could have even been controlled had there been any research happening here, she said. Also read: People want modern medicine, not miracle cures Meryl had to bear with several misdiagnosis before doctors zeroed in on her condition, when she was 21 years old. At the age of 14, I got a biopsy done and was misdiagnosed with limb girdle muscle dystrophy (LGMD) and started treatment for that, but with no results. After shifting to Ghaziabad, I was told by doctors at Ganga Ram Hospital that I might have Pompes disease. It was only in 2011 that I got a correct diagnosis, she says. She says she even tried to opt for clinical trials being done for LGMD, a term used for a group of diseases that cause weakness and wasting of muscles in the arms and legs. However, after a second biopsy, it was confirmed that Meryl was suffering from Pompes disease. The treatment for Pompes disease only came in India in 2010 -- a year before she was diagnosed with it. It involves enzyme replacement treatment (ERT), which costs us Rs 2.6 crore annually. This was a challenge though with some support from my office, the treatment is going on, Shibu Mammen, Meryls father, who is an official at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Meryl is now part of various groups to raise awareness regarding clinical trials in India. These include Lysosomal Storage Disorders Support Society (LSDSS) which works for raising awareness regarding rare diseases and Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) which works towards raising awareness regarding clinical trials in India. There are trials happening in the other countries for Pompes disease. But their research includes people who are genetically different from us. I can only hope that some day a clinical trial for Pompes disease will start in India and I can be a part of it, Meryl said. The strict rules governing medical trials in India are one of the reasons why there is a lack of it here, say clinical investigators. Any doctor who wants to conduct a clinical trial does so in order to give something to society. However, instead of deploying inspectors to check whether clinical trials are being conducted ethically or not, the government made laws stringent and discouraged doctors from conducting clinical trials, said Dr Shamsher Dwivedi, a clinical investigator in neurology. If a patient wants to take part in a clinical trial, there are some ways to do so. The patients can first check with their doctor who might be able to guide them. They can log on to http://www.clinicaltrial.gov for trials happening globally, or on www.ctri.nic.in for trials in the country. One can put in their disease in the search box provided on these websites and find out if a clinical trial is being done or not, said Viraj Suvarna, chairperson of the investigation council at ISCR. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority (YEIDA) on Saturday said it will offer possession to 1,000 plot allottees out of 21,000 in a 2009 plot scheme by August. YEIDA failed to deliver possession of plots to 21,000 allottees even seven years after the scheme was launched. The authority had launched the plot scheme in 2009 at a cost of `4,750 per sqm. The plots range from 300 sqm to 4,000 sqm. The authority had allotted the plots through a draw in 2009-10. However, it has not been able to hand over possession of these plots to the allottees, who have invested `2,000 crore in the scheme, due to farmers protests. Also read: Residential projects to be inspected mid-construction Many farmers challenged the land acquisition in Allahabad high court and refused to part with their agricultural land. Farmers continue to conduct agricultural activities on their land and the cases are on trial. Also, the farmers were demanding a hike in compensation by 64% and did not let the authority take possession of the land. We have taken possession of 258 hectares in Sector 18 and some parts in Sector 20, two areas where the plot scheme was launched in 2009. We have developed roads, drains and sewage network in blocks A-L. Electricity line will be installed in the next two months. So, we decided to give possession to 1,000 allottees in August, Arun Vir Singh chief executive officer (CEO) of YEIDA, said. We have distributed `260 crore -- hiked 64% land compensation to farmers -- to take possession of land for these blocks from A-L in Sector 18 and block U in Sector 20. Around 60 petitions of farmers are pending in Allahabad high court. If court resolves all disputes, we will offer possession to rest of the allottees, Singh said. The 1,000 plots in blocks A-L range from 500 sqm to 2,000 sqm in Sector 18. Block U is located in Sector 20. I had invested all my savings in buying a plot in this scheme in 2009 with the hope that I will get possession immediately. But sadly, even after 7 years, the authority is not clear when it will give possession to all allottees. This means officials committed criminal offence by launching a plot scheme on disputed land (of farmers), Varun Jain, an allottee, said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Gang wars, firing incidents, murders, robberies, chain snatchings its all happening in the holy city, while the police are left grappling with investigations. With such crimes happening almost every day, raising concerns about the safety of residents, the working of the city cops has also come under the scanner. The latest incident to create ripples is the brutal murder of a 60-year-old man on the 100 Feet Road late on Thursday night. A video grab shows that as soon as the victim, Surinder Singh, is about to enter a hospital there, another man comes from the rear and fires gunshots at him, leading to his death. To demand speedy justice and protest deteriorating law and order in the city, the victims kin raised slogans against the police at Chheharta Chowk on Friday. In the past three weeks, crime has raised its head in a big way. The city has witnessed a couple of gang wars, in which two people were killed and many gunshots were fired, besides around half a dozen murders and various firing incidents. Law and order in Punjab: Why govt kept Sukhbirs meeting with guv secret? One of the gang wars took place near the B-division police station on May 4, in which a man was killed right in the middle of the road. Similarly, two were murdered in Chhehertta and Batala road areas. Two days back, ` 5 lakh were snatched from a security agency employee in the Civil Lines area after pointing sharp-edged weapons at him. The robbers were caught on a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, but remain untraceable. Snatching is another crime that has gone out of control, as locals and tourists fall victim to it almost every day. In fact, two snatching incidents were reported in the city on Thursday. Although the police top brass has been holding meetings at length, nothing concrete has been done to deter criminals who are out to destroy peace in the city. Tall claims fall flat The tall claims of the police that surveillance has been heightened in the city seem to have fallen flat. Although Amritsar police commissioner Amar Singh Chahal has talked about setting up nakas and stepping up patrolling, crimes keep happening not just at night, but in broad daylight too. The state government, too, has claimed many times that Amritsar will be made hi-tech by installing CCTV cameras. With nothing happening on that front, cops are forced to ask traders and residents to install cameras outside their houses and shops. Must read: Why Punjab Police cant cope with crime SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Seepage of water in court room, chambers, retiring and record rooms during rain, no whitewash or renovation since years, trees intruding through the walls, shows the dilapidated condition of the 159-year-old Nahan Kothi that continues to illegally house the district consumer court at Sector 12-A in Panchkula. Seepage, trees taking root in walls and termite-infested doors at the 159-year-old heritage building in Sector 12-A, Panchkula. (Sant Arora/HT Photo) The issue has come to the fore once again with the Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday issuing notice to Haryana government, the cultural affairs department and Panchkula deputy commissioner, on a public interest litigation seeking eviction of the consumer forum from the heritage building. Since its launch in Panchkula on November 20, 1997, the consumer court has been functioning from Nahan Kothi. Before that, SDM court was running from the kothi. Struggle to find an alternative place has been going on since 2004. In this regard, the forum had contacted the DC, but was informed that there was no space in the mini-secretariat, Sector 1. The consumer forums in Haryana come under the food and supply department. In 2006, the building committee, under the chairmanship of Justice JS Khehar, had opined that labour courts, fast-track courts and quasi-judicial courts should run from the judicial courts complexes. The district consumer forum had then applied for space at the district courts complex in Sector 1, which was denied. The same year the Central government decided in principle to release a grant-in-aid of Rs 30 lakh each for the construction of district consumer forums with a pre-condition that the land will be provided free-of-cost by the state government, but still nothing materialised. In 2007, Panchkula DC Rajinder Kataria decided that the forum will be shifted to the upcoming new building of the district courts complex. The new building of the district courts was inaugurated on May 21, 2012, but the consumer forum was not shifted as the district and sessions judge and DC cited the reason, replying to a consumer forums letter, that no decision was taken in this regard by the HCs building committee. Meanwhile, a judgment came from the HC in 2008, in Munshi Ram Vs State of Punjab, which called for removing encroachments from all ancient and protected structures, failing which, the collector could be held liable for contempt. In view of the judgment, archaeology and museums asked the consumer forum in 2009 to vacate the building, but the forums presiding officer wrote to the director, archaeology and museums, that it was already in correspondence with the Panchkula DC to get a building allotted for the purpose, but no building has been earmarked by him to date. In 2013, director, archaeology and museums, again sent a notice to the consumer forum to vacate the building. In 2014, the district and sessions judge sent minutes of the meeting of the building committee, where demand of the consumer forum was rejected on the ground that space was needed for present and future requirements of the district courts, Panchkula. We will make all efforts to protect Nahan Kothi. We will do our best to save it, said DC Garima Mittal. The consumer court that gives justice to people is in danger of losing roof. I will approach the HC for obtaining space at the district courts complex for it, said president of the consumer courts bar association Pankaj Chandgothia. Conflicting statements of Jaitu SHO and Faridkot SSP with regard to an encounter on Jeeda-Dabrikhana road on Wednesday night, in which one Ajmer Singh Jimmy, 24, was shot dead, may aggravate the problems for the police. That the rules were violated by the police is evident from statement of Jaitu SHO Lachhman Singh, who has accepted that the police party was travelling in the vehicle of a liquor firm at the time of the encounter. Interestingly, Faridkot SSP Sukhmandar Singh was of the view that this needed to be verified through investigation. Also, even as the SHO in Friday accepted that one person was accompanying Jimmy when the encounter took place, but the SSP was ignorant of the fact till Friday36 hours after the action. As per the records of Bathindas district transport office, the jeep (PB 03 AJ 3718) in which the police party was travelling at the time of the encounter belongs to Bathinda-based liquor firm ABS Wines Private Limited, house number 52, Housfed Colony. The SHO said that they were using liquor firms vehicle as the official vehicle had gone for repairs. He said that police hire liquor firms vehicle whenever they need. Ignorant of the fact, the SSP said this was to be inquired whether the vehicle used by cops belonged to the liquor firm or not. However, the SSP didnt order a separate inquiry in this regard, saying it will be part of the investigations into the attempt-to-murder case registered against unidentified people on the statement of cops. The SHO told this correspondent that a man was in Jimmys car, but he ran away. Mandeep Singh of Muktsar told the media that he was accompanying Jimmy, but ran for his life when the police opened fire. The SSP was unaware of this until this reporter flagged the issue with him. The SSP said hed look into this as well. Jimmys body was handed over to family after the post-mortem on Friday. It is learnt that police made the family receive the body in lieu of promise to release four people, who had taken Jimmy to the hospital. The four according to police were detained at Bathinda Civil Hospital on Wednesday night and handed over to Faridkot police. The Faridkot SSP, however, denied having anybody in their custody. Faridkot deputy commissioner MS Jaggi said Jaitu sub-divisional magistrate Narinder Singh has been entrusted with the inquiry into the encounter. The SDM couldnt be contacted despite repeated attempts. Jimmy of Thandewala village in Muktsar district was shot dead by the Faridkot police when he was returning from the house of his in-laws in Jeeda village in Bathinda district. Police claimed that Jimmy had opened fire and police retaliated in self defence. Jimmys family had alleged he was killed on the directions of an influential liquor trader. The use of liquor firms vehicle by the police party has given potency to their allegation. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With as many as 8,699 city government school students failing the Class 10 English exam of the Punjab School Education Board announced last week, English still seems be a foreign language for the government-school students. Of 42,890 students who appeared in the English exam, total 34,191 students passed the paper. There are over 20 schools in the district which have recorded poor result in English as compared to other schools. The overall pass percentage in the district has also declined from 62.8% to 65.42%, while the pass percentage in English is 79.72% this year. Pertinent that in Punjab, the English subject has the lowest passing percentage of 83.45% as compared to other subjects. Lack of qualified faculty coupled with shortage of staff in many schools has taken a toll on the pass percentage. Students from rural areas, who are comfortable speaking and writing in Punjabi, are unable to adopt English. Moreover, only four government model schools are English- medium in the district, which is why many students are not well-versed with the subject, said a school principal, seeking anonymity. Experts say due to no-detention policy till Class 8, many students take it easy while appearing for exams till Class 8. However, they fail to pass the successive years as its the time when they face the real hurdle and have to pass all the papers to clear the exam. In many schools, owing to the staff shortage, teachers of other subjects, who themselves are not well-versed with the language, are often asked to take English classes. Moreover, they dont even interact with students in English, resulting in poor results. Sources say many faculty members even teach students in Punjabi while taking English classes. Manjit Kaur, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Hathoor, said, The main reason for a large number of students failing the English subject is no-detention policy, and that the schools have been directed not to fail students till Class 8. At the Hathoor government school, as many as 23 of total 43 students flunked the English exam, including 10 students who got compartment in the subject. At Government High School, Kot Mangal Singh, total 135 students appeared for Class 10, of which 24 students failed to pass the exam. Pradeep Singh, school headmaster, said, Most students who have flunked the exam have failed in English and science. A major reason behind the poor performance in these subjects is no-detention policy till Class 8. At Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Daheru, of total 29 students who appeared for the exam, as many as 26 students have got compartment in different subjects, including 10 in English. Varinder Kaur, school principal, said, Teachers are qualified but students show no interest in English. Many dont even find the subject interesting. A school principal, seeking anonymity, said, To uplift the level of the English in government schools, there is a need to have a practical approach. Though several modern teaching techniques have been adopted to raise the level of science and mathematics, no such methods are taken uplift English. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship Rajiv Partap Rudy on Friday called for strong bankruptcy laws to deal with those stashing black money abroad. He was speaking here on the completion of two years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre when the media asked him why the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had failed to fulfil its election promise of bringing this illegal wealth back in 100 days of winning power. Different countries have different laws, he said, so sometimes dealing with that become difficult and a long process that involves first identifying where the money is stashed. Bringing back black money was a major poll plank of the BJP before the 2014 parliamentary elections. Even after two years, there is no success major success, even though some of the names have come out in Panama papers. There are different treaties with different countries, so we need a strong bankruptcy law to deal with all that, Rudy claimed. He spoke on the Prime Ministers schemes for financial inclusion, crop insurance, free LPG to the poor, and the development and refinancing of micro units. The decision to transfer LPG subsidy into the consumers accounts directly has saved Rs 15,000 crore, said the Union minister, adding: Measures in the finance sector have swelled the countrys GDP (gross domestic product) and foreign exchange reserve, brought in rapid foreign investment, and controlled price rise. Good response to schemes in Punjab He claimed that the Centres skill development programme had been received well in Punjab. Launched on July 5, it has enrolled more than 84,000 people, so far, and ministry is looking an extensive modernisation of the ITIs (industrial training institutes) and building multi-skill-training institutes, besides a model skill centre in each Punjab district, Rudy said. Union minister of state for steel and mines Vishnu Deo Sai, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, national BJP executive member RP Singh, and partys Chandigarh unit president Sanjay Tandon were present. A day after the district police registered a case against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Karanvir Singh Tiwana, the party on Friday alleged that the Shiromani Akali Dal-led government was unleashing terror on AAP workers by registering fake cases against them. Addressing a press conference here, AAP state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, said the government was in fact worried over the rise of the AAP in Punjab. So, it was harassing its workers, he added. The AAP convener said that the party was standing firm by its youth leader Tiwana as it has evidence that reporter Karamjit Randhawa was not injured by the vehicle of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, which was being driven by Tiwana. He said that it was the police, which manhandled the female reporter, and everything was evident from the video, which is circulating in the media. He said that there could be a conspiracy to book the AAP leader, as despite having the video footage, the police registered an FIR against him without probing the matter. We have sympathy with the reporter, as she is injured. But she has lodged a wrong complaint with the police. Its a conspiracy as the reporter had accused the police in her initial statement about the incident, said the AAP convener. There was need to probe the call details of the reporter, as we have information that someone has misguided her to lodge a complaint, he added. He said that not only in Patiala, false cases against AAP workers have been registered at Mansa, Ferozepur and Bathinda districts also. Unable to contest on political issues, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal is using police for terrorising AAP workers, said Chhotepur, demanding cancellation of the FIR against Tiwana. Earlier, Chhotepur, with local AAP leaders, visited Bithaunia village in Ghanaour, where residents were protesting against the poor sanitary conditions caused by poultry farms. The widening of NH24 will impact residential projects located in the developed markets of Indirapuram and Vaishali and emerging markets of Greater Noida West, Crossings Republik, Siddharth Vihar and Hi-Tech City. Real estate experts say that improvement of infrastructure around this corridor is more of a necessity than a choice and any further delay in widening will lead to piling up of unsold inventory around the area. One must remember that unlike other micro markets such as Gurgaon or even Noida Expressway, the Ghaziabad realty market is primarily an end-user market and is largely dependent on the right price, completion status, location and the infrastructure available in the project. There will not be any impact on real estate prices in the next 12 to 18 months. Nobody seems to be excited about the NH 24 story yet because everybody is waiting for actual work to begin on the ground, says Anckur Srivasttava of GenReal Advisers. The immediate beneficiaries once the project is completed will be Indirapuram and Vaishali, which will eventually develop into premium markets in the area. Infrastructure development such as widening of NH 24 will reduce commute time from Ghaziabad to Delhi. There are many residential options in varied budgets available along the stretch and once the project is complete, it will boost demand for these units, says Vikas Bhasin, managing director, Saya Homes, that has two ongoing projects along this belt Saya Gold Avenue and Saya Gold Avenue located in Indirapuram. Maximum appreciation in prices is likely to be seen in affordable markets such as Greater Noida West, Crossings Republik (the Rs 3,000 per sq ft to Rs 3,500 per sq ft market) and even in mid-segment markets such as Siddharth Vihar. Going forward, more affordable projects are likely to come up along the stretch. According to Munish Mishra, VP (sales), Wave City, the widening of NH24 will see the emergence of an affordable housing hub in the area. The NH24 project (Springview Heights) is more or less sold out. We are upbeat about it. Prices have increased after the announcement that work on the widening will begin soon. As many as 400 families have already moved in out of a total of 700. The company plans to launch 2,000 units sometime in 2017, says Vineet Relia, managing director of SARE Homes. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON vandana.ramnani@hindustantimes.com National Highway 24 is a lifeline for people living in Indirapuram, Noida Sector 62 and Crossings Republik as it links Indirapuram to Noida and ensures easy connectivity to Delhi. The stretch running along Indirapuram, however, is a traffic bottleneck of sorts because of its narrowness. Frequent jams have made it all the more necessary to ensure that work on the highway, also known as the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, begins soon. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a Rs 7,566 crore project to widen the expressway in December 2015, previous delays of about six years have put enormous pressures on the authorities to begin work soon. Raghav Chandra, chairman, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), reveals that two packages for widening work have already been awarded. The project is divided into four packages. Package-1 from the Nizamuddin Bridge to the UP border, of 8 km, has already been awarded and Welspun, a company from Gujarat, has won the bid. The biggest challenge Welspun (the concessionaire) faced was removal of high tension electricity lines in the area, which the companys bankers had insisted should be removed by NHAI to enable work to begin. Chandra said it was something the concessionaire had to do as numerous colonies would be affected by the removal of the electricity connections. It should be a work in progress. The lines can be removed as work progresses. Four km out of 8km should be absolutely free for work to start, he says. NHAI has managed to bolster the confidence level of Welspun officials after almost 20 rounds of meetings with their CEO for road projects and they have deposited their performance guarantee, which is 5% of the project cost. Mobilisation of funds had started and the company is likely to tie up their financial package and move forward and start work as they were well within their time. The six-month agreement signed in January left Welspun with two months to tie up their financial package, Chandra says. Package two of the widening project between the Delhi border to Dasna is still pending with the Cabinet for approval. The third package, from Dasna to Hapur, had been awarded to a company called Apco Chetak (Apco is based in MP and Chetak in Rajasthan). Apco Chetak has initiated mobilisation (machinery) and a site camp has been set up. They are on the job. The greenfield package from Dasna to Meerut requires land acquisition and work is in progress. As soon as we get 80% of the land, we will start bidding it out, Chandra explains. As for completion, the project will take about three years to build. Its likely to be completed by the end of 2018, he says. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There is no reason for jealousy in China about a milestone deal signed between India and Iran to develop the strategic Chabahar port as improvement of infrastructure in Central Asia will also provide opportunities for Chinese firms, official media here said on Saturday. China is unlikely to engage in strategic confrontation with India. It is clear that the improvement of infrastructure in Central Asia will also provide opportunities for Chinese multinational corporations, which hope to find potential overseas markets in the region, an article in the website of state-run Global Times said. There is no reason for jealousy in China about a milestone deal signed between India and Iran, it said. China and India will both play a vital role in promoting infrastructure development in Asia. In fact, the two countries have begun to seek cooperation with each other in this regard via the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, (AIIB), it said. Read: Chabahar port not rival to Gwadar: Iran says Pak, China welcome India and Iran have agreed to develop a modern port near the Persian Gulf as well as road and rail links that would allow New Delhi to bypass Pakistan and strengthen trade between South and Central Asia, it said. Pakistan is working with China to develop the deep-water Gwadar Port in its southwestern region. The port is expected to shorten the distance of Chinas oil import route and open up new trade routes for China in Central and South Asia, it said. It is understandable if some people evaluate these projects from the perspective of geopolitics, hinting that China and India are in a race to win strategic trade routes, it said. However, this way of thinking also contributes to the complex situation facing Central Asia, which has long been beset by backward infrastructure and only fringe participation in globalisation, it said. Read: US lawmakers question Indias Chabahar port deal with Iran China is likely to be happy if India can join the ranks of improving infrastructure networks in the region. As a key strategic location connecting East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, India can promote infrastructure development that will be conducive to economic development in the entire region, it said. Indias government has called for efforts to make the country a manufacturing hub through measures such as promoting infrastructure development. It is normal to see India strive to open up new trade routes in Central Asia by financing infrastructure projects such as rail links at the same time as it develops the countrys export-oriented economy, it said. A Sikh-American councilman, who was called a terrorist on Twitter by a Donald Trump supporter, has said the Republican presidential candidates xenophobic political rhetoric has worsened the climate of fear against minority communities across the US. Ravinder Bhalla, councilman-at-large of the City of Hoboken, New Jersey, in an opinion piece on NJ.com said that fear-mongering and divisiveness had never worked to solve peoples differences and no public official, locally or nationally, should ever be telling you otherwise. As Donald Trump and others continue to inject charged xenophobic political rhetoric into our public discourse, the climate of fear directed towards minority communities across our nation has worsened dramatically, Bhalla said. He underscored that diversity and unity is what makes the United States great. We are a nation of immigrants, where each new wave has strengthened and reinvigorated our nation, he said. Bhalla was called a terrorist last week by Robert Dubenezic, an open supporter of Trump after the Sikh-American had tweeted about new bike lanes in his city. Dubenezic replied to his tweet, saying How the hell did Hoboken allow the guys to be councilman? Shouldnt even be allowed in the US #terrorist. Bhalla was quick to answer, exclaiming, Sir, I am born and raised in America. You clearly dont know what it means to be an American #ignorant. Bhalla, who is also a partner at a law firm, said innocent people across America get called terrorist or some other epithet just because of the way they look and now it was my turn to be falsely labelled based on my Sikh appearance. Such offensive remarks raise the question that what should be the proper response of Americans to the rising tide of hate speech and violence in the US in 2016, not only against Sikh-Americans but other minorities like Muslims and Latinos, he said. It is important at a time when loud, bigoted and divisive voices are crowding the public square that we remind the public of this basic fact and celebrate a nation founded on the unifying idea that we are all created equal, Bhalla said. We must continue to call out bigotry and hatred when we see it, but in a manner that does not lower ourselves to the level of those that spew hate speech, he said. Citing data by civil rights organisation Sikh Coalition, Bhalla said Sikh-Americans had seen an increase in cases of profiling, backlash and hate crimes over the past six months. Racists in our own country have desecrated Sikh gurdwaras (houses of worship) and brutally assaulted innocent Sikh Americans. Other minority communities, including the Latino and Muslim communities have also experienced a step up in racially charged incidents, he said. Bhalla asserted that his turban and beard represent his commitment to equality, justice and diversity. These values are not only Sikh, they are also distinctly American, he said. Pakistan has banned airing advertisements of contraceptives on television and radio after complaints that such undesired commercials make children inquisitive about the use of the family planning products. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) imposed the ban last week after it received complaints from parents against commercials of contraceptive, birth control and family planning products on electronic media. General public is very much concerned on the exposure of such products to the innocent children, which get inquisitive on features and use of the products, Pemra said in a notification. Parents have shown apathy on undesired advertisements of such products and demanded a ban on their airing, it further said. The regulatory body warned of legal actions against media organisations failing to follow the directives on such ads. Pemra last year banned an advertisement by a condom brand, calling it immoral and contrary to religious norms. Pakistan is a highly conservative society where discussion of topics even remotely connected to sex is considered as taboo. The ban came despite a government initiative to encourage birth control in Pakistan. The countrys population is growing by around 1.8 per cent a year and is estimated to peak 240 million in year 2030. Prime Minister Narendra Modis much anticipated visit to Israel could turn into a delicate balancing act, with the Palestinian Authority expecting him to include Ramallah in his itinerary to show there hasnt been a major change in Indias policy for the Middle East. Modi is widely expected to visit Israel sometime early next year after Israeli President Reuven Rivlin reciprocates his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjees visit to Tel Aviv last October. We dont protest Indias relations with Israel, said Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the political committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council. We expect Prime Minister Modi to come to Ramallah. Abdullah, who was speaking to a group of visiting Indian politicians, think tank members and journalists in Ramallah, said the Palestinian authority expects and hopes New Delhi will not change its policy in a way that goes against Indias principles. We will invite him (Modi) but as they say you can take the horse to water but you cant make him drink, he said with a laugh. My information is that he is expected to come. Both President Mukherjee and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj who made a two-day trip to Israel in January also travelled to Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Swarajs visit was aimed at preparing the grounds for Modis trip. Though the itinerary for Modis visit is yet to be firmed up, there have been some suggestions that India might de-hyphenate its relations with Israel and Palestine. Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said Israel doesnt have problems if foreign leaders visit Palestine. Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said Israel doesnt have problems if foreign leaders visit Palestine. (Rezaul H Laskar/HT photo) We see the Prime Minister (Modi) devoting a lot of time to Israel and the development of bilateral relations. This is what is important. We will be extremely happy to host Prime Minister Modi, he said during a briefing at the foreign ministry. Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister and a member of the Knesset or parliament from the opposition Zionist Union alliance, was more forthcoming on the issue of Indias relations with Israel and Palestine. Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister of Israel, says she does not see any specific role for India in the standoff between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. (Rezaul H Laskar/HT photo) Not every state needs to choose a side and be either pro-Palestine or pro-Israel. We support a vision of peace with two states for two peoples, she said during an interaction with the Indian delegation. Livni, who is a critic of the hardline policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus ruling coalition, said she did not see any specific role for India in the standoff between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. The problem is not a new mediator, we are past the time of needing a mediator. What we need is direct negotiations with the Palestinians, she said. Nahshon too ruled out any mediatory role for India. (The writer was in Israel at the invitation of the American Jewish Committees Project Interchange) The law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers revelations is closing its offices in the British-dependent territories of Jersey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar, it has tweeted. Mossack Fonseca will be ceasing operations in those territories, but we will continue serving all of our clients, it said. This decision has been taken with great regret, as Mossack Fonseca has had a presence in these locations for more than 20 years, the Panama-based law firm added. The office closures were part of a strategy to consolidate our service office network, it said. The announcement came nearly eight weeks after the first reports about the Panama Papers emerged, divulging details taken from nearly four decades of records from Mossack Fonsecas computer archives. They revealed that many prominent leaders, politicians, celebrities and wealthy individuals around the world used Mossack Fonseca to start up or run offshore entities to hold their assets. Although offshore companies are not in themselves illegal, the sudden publication of the information drew attention to possible tax avoidance and money laundering crimes in some cases, and embarrassed some figures trying to keep their finances secret. News of the closure of Mossack Fonsecas offices in Jersey and Isle of Man -- two Crown dependencies of Britain --and Gibraltar -- a British overseas territory jutting off from Spain -- was reported earlier this week by local media in those territories and the BBC. The law firm in Panama did not confirm the information on Thursday when contacted by AFP. While its tweets yesterday said those closures were happening, they made no mention of another report circulating this week in US media, about Mossack Fonsecas affiliate in the state of Nevada resigning as the agent for 1,000 companies it administered there. Around 100 people still missing following landslides in Sri Lanka last week are believed dead, authorities said Saturday after failing to find signs of life under tonnes of mud. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 67 bodies had been recovered from the worst hit central district of Kegalle where 99 people were still listed as missing following the rain-triggered May 17 disaster. The military is keeping up a search, but there is no hope of finding anyone alive now, DMC spokesperson Pradeep Kodippili told AFP. The 99 people missing in the landslides are believed to be dead. Two survivors hold their sandals as they stand in the mud after a landslide in Elangipitiya village in Aranayaka, Sri Lanka, about 72km northeast of Colombo, on May 18, 2016. (AP) Heavy rains also triggered floods across much of the country last week and claimed 37 lives in addition to those killed in the landslides, according to the DMC. A military official in Kegalle, 100km north-east of Colombo, said search operations were hampered by continuous rain in the region. The government has said floods and landslides caused by heavy rain drove over 600,000 people from their homes, but most of them have since returned with water levels subsiding. Sri Lanka has received emergency aid from other countries, including giant neighbour India which dispatched two naval ships and an aircraft loaded with supplies. His frail frame covered by a gown and his arm in a sling, the wounded Free Syrian Army fighter is being treated in the most unlikely of settings a publicly funded hospital in Israel. The 22-year-old fighter, who does not want to be identified, says he was hurt when militants from Daesh, or the Islamic State (IS), overran his village in Daraa, one of the 14 governorates of Syria. He refuses to give details of exactly how he got to the Israeli border and was brought to Ziv Medical Center in the mountain city of Safed. I wasnt ready for the Daesh when they came to my village and started killing people. Some of the Daesh fighters were Syrians, others were foreigners, he says. The fighter acknowledges he never saw Israelis as friends but his views changed after he was taken care of at the hospital. While growing up, I saw the Israelis as devils. But I changed my mind after they treated me, he says. Injured Free Syrian Army fighter being treated at Ziv Medical Center in the Israeli city of Safed. (Rezaul H Laskar/HT Photo) Will he return to Syria to continue fighting the IS? Inshallah [god willing], says the fighter. They were shooting young people and women. I will go back. Fares, an Arabic-speaking social worker who has been helping the Israeli and foreign staff of Ziv Medical Center to interact with Syrian patients for the past three years, says many Syrians with serious injuries have been treated in Safed. Some have lost hands and legs, others need psychiatric care for trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I copy their life to my life, I especially think about my own children and my old mother, and their problems make me very sad, he says. Fares, the Arab-speaking Israeli social worker who helps doctors and staff at the hospital converse with the Syrians. (Rezaul H Laskar/HT Photo) Since Ziv Medical Center first opened its doors to seven injured Syrians on February 16, 2013, it has treated more than 600 people from the war-torn country. Almost 70% of Syrias medical community have fled and most healthcare facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the fighting began in 2011. You must be pretty desperate to come to Israel for medical help when youve grown up thinking of Israel as the enemy, says a doctor of Asian origin who oversees the treatment of Syrian patients. Once Syrians learnt of the medical facilities at the 350-bed hospital in Safed located west of the Golan Heights, 11 km from the border with Lebanon and 30 km from the Syrian frontier more and more of them began making the journey to Israel. The doctors reel off the cases they have handled the seven-year-old boy whose parents were told he would never walk again even after 17 surgeries in Syria but regained the use of one leg after one operation in Safed and 12-year-old Ahmed, who lost both eyes and a hand and was brought to the border on a donkey led by his brother. In some cases, patients arrived in Safed with bloodstained notes pinned to their clothes giving details of the treatment theyd received in Syria. In other cases, Israeli doctors had to resort to guesswork to ascertain the nature of injuries and the treatment. Officials at the medical centre are reluctant to go into details but acknowledge that the Israel Defense Forces transport the injured Syrians to Safed after providing them basic medical aid at the border. They are also reluctant to give details of how many fighters have been treated at the hospital. Of the 610 Syrians treated at the hospital, 90% were men and 17% were children. All but one child will have some form of permanent disability. We try to save arms, legs, hands and feet because we think of the future of the patients. We want to give them the best chance of getting back to a normal life, says the doctor. Many have dirty wounds that are infected. Most are malnourished. Some, like a 12-year-old girl who had been operated on for abdominal cancer and had gauge stuck to her intestines, couldnt even speak and tell us about their problems. With the IS-linked Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk (Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade) active in Syria less than 35 km from the Israeli border, Israeli officials and the staff of Ziv Medical Center believe there wont be let up in the number of Syrians making their way to the hospital. (The writer was in Israel at the invitation of the American Jewish Committees Project Interchange) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Thousands of pro- and anti-Donald Trump demonstrators faced off Friday outside a rally for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego, with police out in force to head off violence. Authorities said three people were arrested, including one for trying to climb over a railing, but the protests were mostly peaceful and there was none of the violence and mass arrests seen at Trump rallies in other cities. News reports said Trumps hour-long speech inside the citys convention centre was interrupted at one point due to protesters who were quickly removed. Outside the venue, pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators faced off, with dozens of police officers in riot gear standing between the two groups. Authorities in San Diego earlier designated separate demonstration zones for the two sides to prevent them mixing. Police pepper sprayed protesters as they moved them down Harbor Drive in San Diego Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP) Following the rally, police ordered the crowd to disperse, judging it to be an unlawful assembly, but many demonstrators remained. Protests in New Mexico turned violent on Tuesday, prompting fears of a similar escalation at Trumps campaign appearances in California this week. Earlier on Friday, demonstrators had also gathered at another Trump campaign appearance in Fresno, in central California, during which the bombastic candidate reiterated his vow to build a wall to prevent illegal immigrants entering the United States from Mexico. On March 10, 1862, companies of Georgians from Henry, Jasper, Clarke, Spalding, Clayton, Putnam, Fayette, Pike, Morgan, Henry and Greene counties all assembled at Camp Stephens, outside Griffin. Responding to Governor Joseph Browns mandate to raise forces from each county, the companies were hastily mustered in as the 44th Georgia Regiment Volunteers. On April 4, the new regiment was ordered to Goldsboro, N.C. For some soldiers, it would be the first leg of a three-year sojourn; for many others, it would be the first step toward eternity. The 44th was soon allied with the 3rd Arkansas, the 1st North Carolina and the 3rd North Carolina to form a brigade under Brig. Gen. John G. Walker, in the division of Maj. Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes. On May 27, the brigade was ordered to Richmond to counter Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellans advance up the Virginia Peninsula. The Battle of Seven Pines was just over when the brigade arrived on June 1, and the men assumed picket duty, with some skirmishing, until the Seven Days campaign began later that month. During the lull, the 48th Georgia was added to the brigade to replace the 3rd Arkansas. Also, Brig. Gen. Roswell Ripley succeeded Walker at the helm, and Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill assumed command of the division. The 44th Georgia washed its spears at the June 26 Battle of Mechanicsville. The Union left lay along a ridge on the east bank of Beaver Dam Creek, strongly entrenched and supported by superb artillerya position of great natural strength. Ripleys brigade faced the enemy line at Ellisons Mill. To close with the enemy, the Confederates had to descend a high hill, cross a high-banked creek, struggle through abatis, and endure a maelstrom of lead and iron. In the forlorn attack, the 44th lost 335 out of 514 effectives, including Colonel Robert A. Smith, who was mortally wounded leading the charge. A member of Company C wrote his wife afterward: Nine of my companynow lie under the cold ground. Our regiment tried to take that battery but could not do it. At Malvern Hill on July 1, the regiment was again under heavy fire and lost substantially13 dead and 16 wounded. Ultimately, the Seven Days campaign successfully and bloodily concluded, and Ripleys brigade moved to Richmond, where it stayed until the middle of August. On September 5, the brigade crossed the Potomac into Maryland. At the Battle of Antietam on the 17th, the brigade was posted on the left of Hills line, halfway between the Mumma Farm and Dunkard Church. Early that morning Ripley set fire to the Mumma buildings, crossed the Smoketown road and engaged the Union troops in Millers Cornfield. There, the brigade helped drive back the onrushing Federals and rescue Brig. Gen. John Bell Hoods beleaguered Texas Brigade. Ripley was wounded at the Cornfield and was replaced by Colonel George Doles of the 4th Georgia, who led the countercharge that forced the enemy backward. Out of ammunition from constant firing, the brigade was then moved into the West Woods near Dunkard Church to replenish their cartridge boxes and enjoy their rations. They remained there the rest of the day, harassed by intense artillery fire. In the battle, the 44th Georgia lost 17 killed, 65 wounded and 4 missing, out of 162 effectives. The brigade retreated to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where the men rested from the rigors of the Maryland campaign. Colonel Doles was promoted to brigadier general in November and remained in charge of the brigade. John B. Estes replaced him as colonel. At the beginning of December, the men of the 44th Georgia moved to Port Royal, Va., where they remained until urgently requested to move toward Fredericksburg. The next day the brigade marched to Hamiltons Crossing, on General Robert E. Lees right, which was under the command of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson. They were placed in reserve. The division, having been in the front line of the fighting at Antietam, was put in the third line of battle at Fredericksburg, and lost only one killed, three wounded and one missing. The winter of 1862-63 was spent near Port Royal. Except for picket duty, all was quiet in the 44th. When Lee reorganized the army in January, the 12th and 21st Georgia regiments joined the brigade in place of the North Carolina units, making it an all-Georgia brigade. It was then moved to the division of Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes, in Stonewall Jacksons storied II Corps. On April 29, 1863, the brigade was ordered back to Fredericksburg in response to Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hookers feint toward the old battlefield of the previous December. On May 1, the men moved to the Orange Plank road near Chancellorsville. That night, Lee and Jackson planned their famous flank attack to destroy the Federal right wing. The next day, the 44th Georgia, with the rest of the brigade, started at sunrise in a northern direction, then turned left toward the west, in order to circle the unsuspecting enemy. Rodes division, which had led the flanking maneuver, was assigned the first line of battle, stretching for a half-mile on each side of the Plank Road and squarely on the exposed Federal right. The next day, May 3, the brigade assaulted enemy entrenchments near the Chancellor House and drove the enemy away, but at a heavy loss. The 44th Georgia lost 13 killed and 64 wounded. Company I was down to 36 men. The regiment as a whole numbered 348 men and 35 officers. On July 1, the brigade quick-marched to the sound of the guns at Gettysburg, going into line on the extreme left. When the entire Union XI Corps appeared in front of the brigade, the situation became grim. The enemy occupied Oak Hill in front of the Georgians, and immediately began a flanking movement to the left. Doles men fought on the defensive for an hour until Brig. Gen. John B. Gordons brigade of Maj. Gen. Jubal Earlys division came up on the left, linked up with Doles regiments and attacked. The Federals fought valiantly but soon were flanked and had to retreat. With Doles and Gordon pressing home their assault, the retreat became a rout and compelled the entire Federal defense north of Gettysburg to give way. During the pursuit of the routed enemy, Doles men came under fire from an unexpected source. Doles reported later, My line was subjected to and did receive a severe fire from one of our own batteries, from which fire I lost several men killed and wounded. The offending battery was not identified. The brigade was drawn up in line of battle on July 2 to support Earlys attack on Cemetery Hill. For whatever reason, Rodes did not order the advance, and the men, except for heavy skirmishing, remained where they were until the 5th, when the Confederate army retreated. In the action at Gettysburg, the 44th Georgia lost 10 killed, 49 wounded and 9 missing. A survivor summed up the matter: There was an awful fight for three days. I dont think we gained anything there. Following the Mine Run campaign, the brigade went into winter camp near Orange Court House and, except for a bitter winter march in February, rested until May 4, 1864. The Wilderness campaign began for Doles brigade on May 5, when it went into line of battle in the right rear of Brig. Gen. John M. Jones brigade of Maj. Gen. Edward Johnsons division. The Federals attacked before Jones had his men deployed and routed the Confederates already in place, exposing Doles left, held by the 4th Georgia. The regiment wheeled left to meet the flank attack while the 44th Georgia and 12th Georgia engaged on their front, buying precious moments for Lees army. A timely counterattack by Gordons men relieved the Union pressure and restored the Confederate line. On the 6th, the 44th and its sister regiments participated in a night attack on the Union right flank, which, had not darkness intervened, might have forced the entire Federal line out of position. Losses in the hard-fighting 44th Georgia for the two days of combat in the Wilderness were 14 killed, 29 wounded and 2 captured. Three days later, the brigade was in line at Spotsylvania, occupying the center of the western side of a large bulge in the line known as the Mule Shoe. The 44th Georgia was at the center of the brigade. The entrenchments were a scant 200 yards from a pine forest that concealed enemy movements. On the evening of May 10, the Federals bombarded Doles sector, then launched an overwhelming attack. Doles men fought obstinately against 5-to-1 odds. Union Colonel Emory Upton paid tribute: The enemy sitting in their pits with pieces upright, loaded, and with bayonets fixed, ready to impale the first who should leap over, absolutely refused to yield the ground. Nevertheless, the Georgians eventually were forced to yield after heavy losses. The Federals poured through the breach, but once again, a Gordon counterattack, aided by Doles remnant, restored the Confederate line. Losses in the 44th Georgia, which had borne the initial shock of the breakthrough, were horrendous26 killed, 28 wounded and 182 captured. Company I lost 38 men out of 63. The regiment, now reduced to a few squads, participated in the rest of the Spotsylvania campaign, but never regained true fighting strength. It stayed with the brigade until the end, suffering a steady hemorrhage of casualties throughout Earlys Shenandoah Valley campaign in the autumn of 1864. It was present at Fort Steadman on March 25, 1865, and in the final assault at Appomattox Court House, where a flag of truce halted further hostilities on April 9, 1865. Two days later, when the remnants of the Army of Northern Virginia stacked arms, 62 survivors of the 44th Georgia were present for duty, out of the original 1,115 who had left home in 1862. As Captain John Harris remembered years later, The impartial historian, when he collects up the facts and figures, will show that the 44th Georgia Regiment suffered a greater casualty in killed and wounded, in proportion to the number carried into action, than any other regiment on the Southern side. After struggling over the fence along the road, the men of the 35th Massachusetts wheezed and crawled part way up the hill toward the crest. Climbing over a split-rail fence on the hilltop east of Ottos Farm, the regiment continued to advance to the right, in full view of Sharpsburg. A shellburst from a Confederate battery in the field beyond plowed into the regiment, killing two. The regiment halted momentarily, then started to withdraw. At the same time, a Rebel battery on the heights along Boonsboro Pike also fired. Hudson, once again on an errand for Ferrero, sauntered across the bridge with an order for Hartranft when a shell exploded and sent fragments whizzing along the steep hill in front of him. Two more shells burst nearby. The barrage caught Bell about 50 yards from the bridge. He had just slapped Private Hugh Brown on the shoulder as he passed, exclaiming, We did it this time, my boy! Barely two steps away, a ball from the second case shot glanced off his left temple. The impact whirled Bell around in a circle and slammed him on his side. Men rushed to his aid as he rolled down the creek bank into the regiments stacked muskets. Concerned, they asked if he was badly hurt. Bell, the left side of his face quickly reddening with blood, put his hand to his temple and calmly replied, I dont think it is dangerous. He paused. Boys, never say die, he added. Hudson found the left wing of the 51st Pennsylvania sprawled along the creek bottom. He asked, Where is your lieutenant colonel? There he is, sir, wounded. Hudsons gaze fell on a stretcher being borne toward the bridge. The officer being carried stared fixedly in Hudsons direction as he was carried south. His dimming glance hurt Hudson badly. An ugly blue bruise was on Bells left temple. Bell, a newly made friend, was dying. Hudson abruptly turned to meet Hartranft, who was coming down the road. Hudson asked why he had not advanced to support the 35th Massachusetts. Ive no ammunition, Hartranft snapped. The two frustrated officers stood there in the road, at a loss for words. They both had to answer to the moody Ferrero. Eventually, Hudson ventured, Shall I tell the colonel so? If you please, said Hartranft. Hudson jogged toward the bridge. He saw three men from his old company struggling with a very heavy man on a blanket. A quick glance at the hat and the way the men tried to tenderly treat the officer told him that the fellow was Lieutenant James Baldwin. You must excuse me, Hudson called out. Ive got something to do across the bridge. With that, he hurried to deliver his latest message to Ferrero. Lieutenant Colonel Joshua K. Sigfried of the 48th Pennsylvania, upon crossing the bridge, immediately detached Captain Wren and his B Company as skirmishers, with orders to cover the quarry and the ridge to the right. The plucky captain and a couple of his people detoured slightly to check on the Confederate that Wren had shot. They found a dead man lying beside the same tree. Captain, one of the men chimed in, that is your man. Wrens men fanned out and began to scramble up the hill. As the ground widened, the captain sent back for more skirmishers. Brigadier General Sturgis personally sent more men to assist. The skirmishers scrounged the far hillside for souvenirs as they proceeded. They discovered the remains of the 2nd Georgia in a slight entrenchment near the top of the hill. Over 40 Rebels had fallen as a unit in near-perfect formation. Lieutenant Colonel Holmes lay five paces behind his color guard, riddled with bullets. Union soldiers set upon the colonels beautiful dress uniform; one stole Holmes expensive gold watch, others cut the gilt buttons off his tunic. Captain Joseph A. Gilmour claimed a shoulder knot. Two men pulled the polished boots off his feet, then callously flipped a coin to see who would have the matched pair. Corporal Dye Davis of Company B happened upon a dead Confederate whose haversack bulged with johnny cakes. Dye coldly jerked the haversack free from the dead man and poured its contents into his own sack. He started to munch a chunk of the captured cornbread as the company moved out. A friend reprimanded him, commenting that he could not eat anything that came from a corpse. Damn em, man, Dye retorted through a mouthful of bread. The Johnny is dead, but the johnny cakes is no dead. He kept eating away. The Federal regiments down by the creek, on the other hand, acted like vanquished troops. The stubborn Georgians, besides holding the entire corps at bay, inflicting severe casualties and causing the frustrated Yankees to needlessly expend an inordinate amount of ammunition upon inferior numbers, had scored an emotional victory. General Burnside had won his bridgeever after to bear his namebut the crossing had been so delayed as to render his victory meaningless. This article was written by Gerald J. Smith and originally appeared in Americas Civil War magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Americas Civil War magazine today! USING AN OLD TRICK In The Optical Aleutian, featured in your March 1998 issue, author Russell Martin laments the needless Kiska campaign, and well he might. Admiral Thomas Kinkaids remarks that it would be a super dress rehearsal, good for training purposes, will not likely ever be etched in stone. I was on the nearby island of Amchitka at the time. Of the 30,000 troops there, hardly a person believed that the Japanese were still on Kiska. Our bombers had not met with return fire for more than two weeks; there had been no radio beams. The Japanese got out of Kiska with a very old trick. About 16 days earlier, the whole North Pacific had been put on an alert about a hostile task force heading our way. We later heard that when it was about 300 miles from us, the force turned during the night and went home. During the excitement, the enemy on Kiska made their escape. The Japanese government made this into a great moral victory. Morris Bell Gatesville, Texas MENDI CONNECTION I was glad to see the Howard Jones article, All we want is make us free! in your February 1998 issue, about the 1839 slave revolt on the ship Amistad. Mr. Jones was on my Amistad tour of Farmington in November 1997 and admitted that history, in most cases, has omitted the fact that following the 1841 Supreme Court decision, all of the remaining 36 Mendi were brought to Farmington by sympathetic supporters, where they lived in freedom for the next eight months before returning to Africa. Only in Farmington can you walk the same streets, see where they lived, worshiped, and farmed and visit the grave of Foone, one of the Mendi buried in the Riverside Cemetery after he drowned bathing in the canal basin. I am also responding to Diary Omissions, a letter written by Mr. Charles R. Nichols and published in the Mailbox section of the March 1998 issue. Mr. Nichols writes that Samuel Colt presented an 1885 Colt Revolving Artillery Carbine to a member of a Japanese delegation. This would have been difficult to do as Colt died in 1862. Perhaps 1885 should have been 1858? Ernest R. Shaw Farmington, Connecticut Editors: Our apologies, it was a typographical error. The date should have read 1855. WAS HARRY TO BLAME? I have read your June 1998 issue and was especially interested in the article about the Berlin Airlift. Every account I have read about the airlift states that our agreement with the Soviets guaranteed a corridor of access to Berlin. Trumans response to the Soviet blockade should have been a column of tanks escorting our supplies the next day. Instead, he organized the airlift. My father always said, The guy with the biggest mouth is the easiest guy to bluff. Harry got bluffed! This show of weakness probably caused the Korean War and might have caused the Vietnam War. Harry Truman was responsible for some good things, but this was not one of them. Albert Kissel Cincinnati, Ohio NO FAITH IN THE U.N. While reading about Alger Hiss in your June 1998 issue, I recalled some pertinent events that occurred in the spring of 1945. At that time I was a hospital patient and had the opportunity to read the eventful news concerning the formation of the United Nations. Having just spent two years in the Southwest Pacific, I approved of the daily progress of this organization whose objective was world peace. This euphoric feeling was shattered one day when our state department representative, Alger Hiss, proposed that the name of God be deleted from the charter because that name might be offensive to certain nations. The resolution was passed! Then, and ever since, I have had no faith in the United Nations as a peacekeeping force. Leo Kimmett Canon City, Colorado STUDENTS ELECT TRUMAN Your June 1998 article on the presidential election of 1948 brought back fond memories. I was attending Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah, at the time, when the schools Forensic Club held a mock election shortly before the general election to acquaint the students with the election process. While the media was trumpeting Dewey as our next president, our high-school electors chose Truman by a landslide. It was exciting to participate in this process, especially when our surprise choice was confirmed nationally. In that election Truman took Utah by only a 25,000-vote majority, less than half of what Roosevelt garnered four years earlier. Janice Page Dawson Layton, Utah REQUEST FOR INFORMATION I hope you can assist me in my search for information concerning my brother-in-law, First Lieutenant Clarence Raymond Stephenson, 0-754300, who was killed in an air crash in England during World War II. Lt. Stephenson was the pilot of a B-17 bomber with the Eighth Air Force, flying missions out of England. His death occurred on September 6, 1944. I would appreciate any assistance you or your readers can offer as to what caused the crash, the type of mission he was on, if there were any survivors, etc. I was unsuccessful in trying to obtain information from the army records center in Missouri because many of their records had been destroyed by fire. William Gregg New York, New York Thoughts on History One of a magazine editors most painful tasks is cutting perfectly good articles so they fit into the space allotted. As a result, sometimes the more leisurely reflections about the causes and effects of historic events are sacrificed. A case in point is this issues article on the battleship Maine by Michael D. Haydock. One thing that ended up on the cutting room floor was Mr. Haydocks observations on some of the events that followed the Spanish-American War. Haydock wrote, In the years between the death of the Maine in 1898 and her final burial at sea in 1912, the world changed in many ways, and the United States fully assumed its new role as a major power. Under the Rough Rider-turned-president, Theodore Roosevelt, the United States began construction of an inter-oceanic canal across Panama. When the Maine went to its final rest the canal was nearly completed, and the long and dangerous journey from Pacific to Atlantic around Cape Horn, such as that of the Olympia, would soon be an adventure of the past. In the Philippines, an insurrection by natives, unhappy that they were not granted their independence, had broken out and been quelled. By the time the insurrection ended in 1904, 20,000 insurgents had been killed and another 200,000 Filipinos had died from famine and disease. At the height of the fighting, 75 percent of the United States Army was engaged in the Philippines, and American dead eventually totaled 4,200. The United States Navy, faced with enormous new responsibilities in the vast Pacific, had begun construction of a large new base on a blue-green bay of tranquil beauty on the island of Oahu, in recently annexed Hawaii. The natives of the islands had long known the bay for its riches, and the name they had given itPearl Harborstuck. Whatever the cause of the sinking of the Maine had beenand it is likely that debate on that question will never ceasethe United States had entered a new era. It makes you think. What if the Maine had not sunk in Havana harbor? Without the American presence in the Pacific, there through the acquisition of the Philippines from Spain in the resulting war, would the United States and Japan have clashed in the late 1930s? Would the Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the U.S. into World War II? Perhaps when we remember the Maine we should also remember Pearl Harbor. When playing such what if? games, you can assume the smallest event will behave like a falling snowflake that sets off an avalanche. Of course, another theory of history argues that no single person or event, by itself, can have major consequences. Historys weave is made of many threads, and cutting one of them will not noticeably alter the fabric. We also had to delete a small but interesting anecdote from Mr. Haydocks article. It seems that when navy diver Andrew Olsen was exploring the sunken battleship for the first court of inquiry, he removed the ships commissioning pennant and gave it to a friend. The friend put it away in his attic and forgot about it. The pennant remained there for 57 years, until it was rediscovered and presented to Maine Governor Edmund Muskie in 1956 at a ceremony in the Officers Club of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Haydock did not mention Captain Sigsbees bathtub, but I will. It seems that after the Maine was salvaged in 1911, souvenirs from the battleship became quite popular. An Ohio congressman obtained the bathtub and gave it to his hometown of Urbana, Ohio. Urbana did not see much appeal in the battered and rusty relic, so the town passed it on to nearby Findlay. After seeing service as a coal bin and then as a display in the local courthouse, the tub was exhibited in the Hancock Historical Museum, where you can see it today. It is one unusual way to remember what happened to the Maine a century ago. Tom Huntington, Acting Editor, American History By mid-morning on September 17, 1862, the flower of the Union Army of the Potomac, Major General Joseph Hookers I Corps, lay shattered in a sanguinary 40-acre cornfield immediately northeast of Sharpsburg, Maryland.The Federal assault on the Army of Northern Virginias left flank, planned en echelon, had floundered from the beginning. Major General Joseph Mansfields XII Corps came in late, not because the 59-year-old commander was notably slow, but because he had limited communication with both Hooker and the army commander, Major General George McClellan. Mansfield had brought the 10,000 infantrymen of his command in on Hookers left and promptly spread his two divisions in a wide arc that covered part of Hookers line and extended well into the East Woods on his left. Brigadier General Alpheus Williams 1st Division penetrated the North Woods and came up on the rear of the I Corps. At the same time, Brig. Gen. George Greenes 2nd Division became divided, with Colonel William B. Goodrichs 3rd Brigade drifting to the right, toward the Hagerstown Pike. Greenes remaining two brigades, commanded by Lt. Col. Hector Tyndale and Colonel Henry Stainrook, were ordered into the East Woods with the intention of moving in an oblique to the right and coming in on the Confederate flank that had driven Hookers corps out of the cornfield. Tyndales 1st Brigade debouched from the woods and opened a galling fire on Colonel A.H. Colquitts Georgia brigade, which was holding behind a fence just below the North Woods. The Southerners were hit in flank and front at a range of less than 100 feet; the Confederate dead were described as literally piled upon and across each other. The newly formed 28th Pennsylvania came out of the East Woods south of Tyndales brigade and caught the right flank of Brig. Gen. Samuel Garlands brigade in an exposed position. Garland himself had been killed a few days earlier at South Mountain, and command had fallen to Colonel D.K. McRae. The new commander was having a difficult time with one of his regiments, the 5th North Carolina. The 5th was composed of large numbers of newly conscripted soldiers who had performed badly at South Mountain, skedaddling in their initial engagement. The brigades advance was vacillating and unsteady, and the men were under a horrific cannonade. The line came to a sandstone outcropping that provided some cover. Captain Thomas M. Garrett, commanding the 5th North Carolina, was informed that an enemy force was on his right, and accordingly he ordered his infantry to refuse their right and take cover behind some trees. Just then, Garrett later reported, Captain T.P. Thomson came running up to him, shouting: They are flanking us! See, yonders a whole brigade! Thomsons flagrant indiscretion destroyed what little morale remained in the regiment, and the soldiers began to break for the rear, despite the best efforts of their officers. The 28th Pennsylvania fired a coordinated volley with nearly 800 muskets and broke the spirit of Garlands brigade and the heart of its commander. The troops left the field in confusion, McRae reported, the field officers, company officers, and myself bring up the rear. Farther north, at the edge of the cornfield, Tyndales Ohioans continued to exchange volleys with Colquitts Georgians. After a few minutes, the Federals locked bayonets onto their Enfield rifles and charged. The Georgians fought valiantly, as they always did. The 6th Georgia, 250 men strong when the morning began, brought a mere 24 soldiers out of the cornfield. The remainder of Colquitts regiments had been badly decimated as well, suffering 50 percent casualties and losing all their field officers. After a half-hour of fighting the Georgian troops could take no more and broke for the rear, followed closely by the wild-eyed Ohioans. The 28th Pennsylvania took up the pursuit of Garlands brigade while, farther south, Stainrooks regiments entered the East Woods just above the Smoketown Road, driving recalcitrant elements of Brig. Gen. John B. Hoods shattered division before them. The cornfield was cleared of all Confederates, but the Federals had lost Mansfield, the XII Corps commander, who had been mortally wounded minutes earlier in the East Woods. The Federal lines were in disarray.Greenes two brigades were in a precarious situation. The general galloped out to the advanced position of the 102nd New York. Halt, 102nd! he shouted. You are bully boys but dont go any farther! Halt where you are! I will have a battery here to help you. Greene had also learned about Tyndales desperate situation. The 1st Brigades troops had fired off nearly all their ammunition in their fight with the Georgians and now found themselves in the field above the Mumma farm buildings, south of the Smoketown Road. Greene immediately sent for the XII Corps trains. He then galloped toward the East Woods, searching desperately for much-needed artillery. There was now a brief reprieve in the battle. The artillery continued to bellow, but infantry assaults on both sides ceased for the time being as the combatants groped for fresh regiments to throw into the conflagration. The ammunition wagons arrived, and Tyndales brigade was resupplied. The men moved to a slight elevation facing southwest in the Mumma swale and awaited the Rebels.Both Robert E. Lee and McClellan were busy funneling infantry into the West Woods. Lee transferred Maj. Gen. W.H.T. Walkers division from the right and ordered Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws division, marching in from Cramptons Gap, directly into the fray. At about the same time, Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwicks 2nd Division marched into the West Woods to meet its doom. Stainrooks brigade came up on the left of Tyndales brigade and extended the Federal line southwest of Dunker church, just as the 2nd Division was being mauled by McLaws and Walkers divisions. In advance of Tyndales line and just 50 yards west of the church, Captain J. Albert Monroe ordered his six 12-pounder Napoleons of Battery D, lst Rhode Island Light Artillery, to drop trail and fire on elements of Brig. Gen. J.B. Kershaws South Carolina brigade of Walkers division, who were now making their appearance on the field south of Dunker church.As the 8th, 7th and 3rd South Carolina regiments charged toward Greenes division, the 7th Ohio, commanded by Major Orrin J.Crane, fell back below the rise, and the 5th Ohio, under Major John Collins, lay down on the grassy knoll. The South Carolinians came within 50 yards of their objective, but the massed Union forces and their artillery supports poured a series of brutally accurate volleys into the Confederate assault formations.With their dead and wounded littering the open field, the South Carolina regiments withdrew into the woods. Kershaw ordered Captain John P.W. Read to move his two 3-inch guns into position on the hill to the right of the wood for support and directed Colonel Van Manning, commanding Walkers brigade, to form a line of battle. Greene had brought up Captain John A. Tompkins battery of the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, which had gone into position to the right of the burning Mumma farm buildings, where it was immediately fired on by Reads battery. One section of Tompkins Parrott rifles opened on Reads guns, which were masked by a ridge; the other section knocked out one of Colonel S.D. Lees guns and blew up one of Lees caissons. Battle smoke inundated the field, obscuring objects as close as 20 yards away. Greenes men had a difficult time making out Dunker church, which lay 50 yards on their right, though it was obvious that a large body of Confederates had secreted themselves among the trees that surrounded the little church. Three of Mannings five regiments debouched from the West Woods on a poorly aligned and truncated front. The 48th North Carolina swirled around Dunker church while the 30th Virginia halted on the Hagerstown Pike to await the other regiments. The 46th North Carolina, on the left, obliqued to the right as the regiment debouched from the woods, then charged toward the Smoketown Road. The soldiers had little chance of success. Less than 200 yards east of the Confederate position, Tyndales Ohioans waited for the command to fire. When the gray line approached to within 100 yards, the Federals opened fire at killing range. The musketry was brutally accurate, knocking down North Carolinians and Virginians by the score. Manning was unhorsed by the enemy fire and carried to the rear. The Southern assault floundered on the Hagerstown Pike, stumbled at the wormwood fence line that bordered the Mumma farm and then receded. The Confederate troops began to flee for the shelter of the West Woods, then noticed, to their horror, that a line of blue-clad infantry, their colors waving in the morning breeze, was marching down the gentle slope of the Mumma swale. As the tumult of battle roared about them, the Confederate regiments fled before the Federal onslaught. Tyndales men kept on coming, their faces and hands blackened with the residue of burnt powder. While the 102nd New York held the line, the remainder of the brigade joined Tyndales advancing line. On their right two more regiments, the 13th New Jersey and Purnells Legion, came up from the cornfield and East Woods in support. The Federals probed deep into the West Woods, retaking the land abandoned an hour earlier by the defeated 2nd Division. Their advance went to ground 100 yards into the woods when they started taking artillery and small-arms fire from their left. Mannings two remaining regiments, the 3rd Arkansas and 27th North Carolina, both under the command of Colonel John R. Cooke, had been detached to support a brace of 12-pounder Napoleons that had dropped trail about a quarter mile south of Dunker church. The Union artillery soon emptied their ammunition chests and were expeditiously withdrawn. For half an hour, musketry filled the air as Cookes Confederates tried to push back Greenes troops. Elements of Tyndales brigade pushed farther south, and Cooke responded by ordering the left three companies of the 27th North Carolina to center their fire on the exposed point. The close-in fighting caused severe casualties on both sides. The bodies of Federal troops were found the next day stacked two and three high, and the 27th North Carolina suffered 63 percent casualties.The Federal troops withdrew from the exposed position in advance of their salient at Dunker church, and Cooke ordered the men of his command to withdraw into a cornfield and lie prone to draw them on. The remainder of the Confederate regiment formed along a fence facing the enemy and in line with the vacillating battle front. Cookes tenuous position, which was the center of the entire Southern battle line, was held by two regiments that were speedily firing off their ammunition. Meanwhile, Greene had entered the West Woods assuming that elements of Sedgwicks 2nd Division were still ensconced in the northern portion of the woodlands, somewhere on his right. He ordered his two regiments holding the right, Purnells Legion and the 13th New Jersey, to refrain from firing northward for fear of hitting friendly troops. Unknown to Greene, just beyond his front and shielded by smoke, the 49th North Carolina, under the command of Lt. Col. Lee M. McAfee, lay coiled and ready to strike. Elements of the 48th North Carolina and the 2nd South Carolina also came up and took cover as Union artillerists fired salvos into the woods beyond Greenes position.Greenes own artillery support had been severely handled by Confederate sharpshooters and was withdrawn just as the battery chests were being emptied. The replacements, Captain John Bruens 10th Battery, New York Light Artillery, and Captain Joseph Knaps Battery E, Pennsylvania Light Artillery, were forced to clear away dead and wounded animals and men before they were able to unlimber their guns. For about an hour both sides held their ground. The Confederates used the time to reinforce their position. Meanwhile, Greene sent couriers back to the East Woods, desperately calling for help. He knew that he had obtained a lodgement in the center of the Confederate battle line. If the salient could be hastily exploited, the Army of Northern Virginia could be split in half and defeated in detail. No matter what happened, Greene would hold on as long as he could. Colonel Tyndale, in the meantime, had ridden out to Knaps battery, collared a section of rifled pieces under the command of Lieutenant James D. McGill and ordered the protesting lieutenant to haul his guns into the West Woods and provide close support for his infantry. Tyndales actions, however, came a little late.In the nether world of the West Woods, choked with the bodies of the dead and wounded and shrouded in the misty blue-gray smoke of musketry and artillery fire, the North Carolinians struck with a vengeance. On the right of Greenes line, the 13th New Jersey, whose soldiers had observed the Rebels moving to their right and believed that they were surrendering, collapsed and broke under a galling and accurate fusillade of musketry. The New Jersey troops sprinted for the sanctuary of the Smoketown Road and the Federal artillery line. Their flight uncovered the little Maryland command, Purnells Legion, commanded by, Lt. Col. B.L. Simpson, who stoically held on until the overwhelming numbers of gray-clad attackers forced him to retire as well.On Greenes left, the majority of the 28th Maryland, 111th and 28th Pennsylvania also broke for the rear. The color guards of the three regiments and a few other soldiers stayed alongside the 66th, 5th and 7th Ohio at the bottom of the ridge below the church, but a feeling of dread hung over the Federals. The veterans knew that their time in the West Woods was short. Cookes North Carolinians caught McGills rifled pieces coming into battery and dropped a number of horses and artillerists before they could unlimber. Tyndale, who had had three horses shot from under him, was caught in the fire and received his second wound of the dayhe was left for dead on the field. The colonel recovered from his wounds, however, and fought on until 1864, when he resigned his commission due to poor health and returned to his native Philadelphia. The fire that had disconcerted McGills artillerists had come from Cookes left four companies, which he had maneuvered up to the fence and directed to fire upon the Union artillery. Cookes battle blood was raging now. He had been given discretionary orders from Colonel Manning, and he could see that the remnant of Greenes command showed evidence of wavering.Cooke ordered a charge, and the 27th North Carolina and 3rd Arkansas scampered over the cornfield fence below Dunker church and headed toward the Federals. The four North Carolina regiments on Greenes right were pressing hard on his flank, catching the Federals with enfilading fire. Cookes assault from the southwest put an end to any organized resistance. It was time for the Federals to get out.Captain Charles D. Owens Battery G of the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery had unlimbered in the Mumma swale 20 minutes earlier, relieving Tompkins battery, and had gotten into a duel with a Confederate battery to the south. I saw our infantry retreating in great disorder toward me, Owen later reported, and then about 150 yards off, closely followed by the rebels. Low on ammunitionhe had expended 75 roundsOwen limbered up and promptly left the field.Cookes 27th North Carolinians had overrun McGills rifled piece but were taking a pounding from Lieutenant Edward Thomas Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, located northeast of the church. Thomas opened with spherical case shot on Cookes men as they debouched from the woods onto the Mumma field east of the Hagerstown Pike. As the Confederates closed on his guns, the lieutenant ordered up canister. The results were predictably bloody. Cooke rode out to the regiments color-bearer, who was racing desperately to stay ahead of his counterpart in the 3rd Arkansas, and had him guide the troops to the right to avoid the guns. On the right of the 27th North Carolina, the 3rd Arkansas went into the fight with a jaunty fiddler playing a square dance number. Both regiments, new to battle, were experiencing unqualified success, but Cookes little brigade was fighting without support. On his left, the four North Carolina regiments, temporarily under the command of Colonel Matthew W. Ransom, were blasted with double-shotted rounds of canister from Knaps section, posted just beyond the Hagerstown Pike. Ransom withdrew his regiments into the haven of the West Woods. Meanwhile, the 27ths charge carried through the Ohioans, many of whom threw down their guns and surrendered. The vicious assault continued into the Mumma swale, where a large number of Tyndales and Stainrooks soldiers had taken refuge. From behind rows of hay, the Union troops raised their muskets with handkerchiefs tied to them, and the Federals were directed to march for the Confederate rear. Nearly 300 prisoners were taken, although the Official Record only acknowledged 25 prisoners from both Tyndales and Stainrooks brigades. Cookes assault veered right because of Union artillery on his left and Brig. Gen. Howell Cobbs brigade, which had come up on his right. The 27th was low on ammunition as well, and the regiments prisoners, who had not been disarmed, attempted to re-form in their rear. The 27th was forced to run a gantlet of fire and formed up with Cobbs troops just as they were coming under a severe Federal assault themselves. The Federals were repulsed with the last of the 27ths ammunition, and for the remainder of the afternoon, the North Carolinians held their portion of the line without benefit of powder or ball.Captain James A. Graham reported that on four or five occasions Maj. Gen. James Longstreet sent couriers to Cooke ordering him to hold his position at all hazards. Cookes reply was always the same: Tell General Longstreet to send me some ammunition. I have not a cartridge in my command, but will hold my position at the point of a bayonet. Northwest of Dunker church, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson and cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart came riding up to Colonel Ransom. Jackson wanted Knaps guns silenced, and Ransom replied that he had tried and failed and that beyond the guns a line of fresh Federal infantry was making its way onto the field. Jackson ordered a young soldier up a nearby tree and told him to count battleflags. When the trooper got to 39, Jackson called him down. The remaining Confederate soldiers in the West Woods might be able to repulse a renewed Union assault, but Jackson knew they would be unable to launch a new one themselves.Greenes salient in the West Woods collapsed because of McClellans panicky mismanagement of the army. For nearly two hours, Greenes two brigades had held a salient deep within the Confederate lines. They had valiantly provided McClellan with his best opportunity to defeat the Army of Northern Virginia and possibly end the rebellion in the eastern theater. Unfortunately, the soldiers sacrifice had been for naught. This article was written by Robert Cheeks and originally appeared in the September 1997 issue of Americas Civil War magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Americas Civil War magazine today! Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow sat in their Ford V-8 coupe on a quiet Texas country road on Saturday evening, January 13, 1934. They were waiting for Floyd Hamilton and an ex-convict named Jimmy Mullens to return. The two men had slipped through the barbed wire perimeter surrounding Eastham prison farm, part of the Texas prison system, to hide an old inner tube beneath a drainage culvert near the prisons camp 1. Inside the tube were two Colt .45 automatics and several clips of ammunition, placed there in preparation for a jailbreak planned for January 16. At one point the camp dogs started howling and barking in their kennels, but the guards paid no attention. Hamilton and Mullens rejoined Bonnie and Clyde a few minutes later. Barrow then drove to Dallas and dropped off Hamilton, but he kept Mullens in the car so he could keep an eye on him. He didnt trust Mullens. Floyd Hamilton returned to Eastham the following day for his regular biweekly visit with his younger brother, Raymond, who was serving 266 years in prison for auto theft, armed robbery, and murder. During that visit, Floyd filled Raymond in on the details of the proposed prison break. On Monday, an inmate named Aubrey Skelley set out to retrieve the weapons. Skelley was a building tender, a trusty position that allowed him to move about the prison with a certain amount of freedom. He managed to smuggle the inner tube into the camp 1 dormitory and deliver it to Joe Palmer. Palmer, serving 25 years for robbery, hid the inner tube and its contents in his mattress. (Other sources swear the guns were hidden in one of the brush piles Eastham work squads would clear the next day.) Word that the break would take place the following morning reached the two other prisoners who would take partHenry Methvin, serving 10 years for robbery and attempted murder, and a killer named Hilton Bybee. Tuesday, January 16 dawned damp and chilly. A thick fog rising from the nearby Trinity River blanketed the countryside. South of camp 1, Parker, Barrow, and Mullens waited in a thickly wooded area on the edge of a country road. By the dim filtered light of early morning, they could see a clearing in the trees to the north, just beyond a creek that cut across the road. Barrow and Mullens got out of the car and walked toward the clearing. Parker stayed in the vehicle. Barrow carried a Browning automatic rifle capable of firing a 20-round clip of 30.06 armor-piercing shells in less than three seconds. The two men crouched along the creek bank and waited. Through the morning haze, they detected movement, followed by voices and the sounds of tools and horses. Two work crews of prisoners, combined because of staff shortages, slowly moved toward Barrow and Mullens, spreading out and getting down to the business of clearing the brush piles in preparation for spring planting and cutting wood to stoke the camp stoves. Among the workers were Hamilton and Palmer, both of them armed and dangerous, and both of them aware of who was waiting not far awayBonnie and Clyde. In the span of 18 months, starting in the summer of 1932, Bonnie and Clyde had become inseparable and somewhat legendarynot for their robberies, which were mainly petty thefts involving grocery stores and filling stations, but as dangerously tenacious and wily fugitives. By the time the couple arrived at Eastham on that January morning in 1934, Barrow had shot his way out of numerous confrontations and had been linked to the deaths of five lawmen and several civilians. Texan Clyde Barrow was born near Telico in 1910, according to the Barrow family Bible. Bonnie Parker was born the same year in Rowena, Texas. The pair met in early 1930 at the home of a mutual friend in West Dallas. Bonnie blue-eyed, small, and slim with reddish-blond hair and a good sense of humorimmediately caught Clydes eye. Bonnie, in turn, was attracted to the 5 6, dark-haired, headstrong young man. They began seeing each other regularly. Barrow was already heavily involved in an interstate crime ring, and within a few weeks police arrested him at Bonnies home. He was subsequently sentenced to 14 years in the Texas State Penitentiary for two counts of burglary and five counts of auto theft. After a few months in Huntsville prison, Barrow was transferred to the 13,040-acre Eastham prison on the Trinity River 20 miles north of Huntsville. Barrow called Eastham that hell hole, and for good reason. He saw prisoners beaten by guards, stuffed in tin sweat boxes under the blazing sun, and murdered, sometimes for the $25 reward for the capture of escaped prisoners, other times for revenge. It made Barrow so angry that he immediately began conspiring with another prisoner, 19-year-old Ralph Fults, to one day get out of prison, raise a gang, and return to Eastham. Id like to shoot all these damned guards and turn everybody loose, he told Fults. Along the way, the two men decided to break out buddies Palmer and Methvin, who were also housed in Eastham. Bybee, who arrived later at Eastham, was added to the conspiracy as a favor to Fults. Raymond Hamilton wasnt even in the picture initially. But that would soon change. Due to prison overcrowding, Fults and Barrow received conditional pardons, in August 1931 and February 1932 respectively. They met up again in West Dallas and began recruiting a gang for the prison raid, first approaching a friend of Barrows, 18-year-old fugitive Raymond Hamilton. At first, he agreed to take part, but after the men staged several successful robberies to finance the raid, Hamilton took his cut and backed out. I dont care about no cons on no prison farm, he said. On April 19, 1932, Fults was shot and captured during a gun battle in Kaufman County, Texas. Bonnie Parker was captured too, but Barrow escaped. Fults pleaded guilty to auto theft and armed robbery in exchange for Bonnies release. Bonnie, still an unknown, was set free and quickly rejoined Clyde. Fults once again returned to prison. That summer Raymond Hamilton briefly rejoined Barrow. He was arrested in December and began serving a lengthy prison term at Eastham. Barrow held a grudge against Hamilton for backing out of the proposed Eastham raid, and the irony of Hamiltons incarceration there no doubt struck the sometimes laconic Clyde as funny. Several others floated in and out of the so-called Barrow gang throughout 1933, most notably Clydes older brother Buck, Bucks wife, Blanche, and another character named W.D. Jones. Between April and July, the five outlaws were involved in a number of widely publicized incidents, including four gun battles that resulted in the deaths of three police officers. Then Buck and Blanche were captured in Iowa, and Buck died just a few days later from wounds received in a previous gunfight. Jones left the Barrow gang in August, and police arrested him a few weeks later near Houston. As Christmas came and went, Barrows thoughts turned again to the idea of raiding Eastham. Someone else was thinking about the raid tooEastham inmate Raymond Hamilton. A 48-year-old eight-time loser named Jimmy Mullens, about to finish a three-year sentence for burglary, bunked next to Hamilton at Eastham. Raymond promised Mullens $1,000, payable after his escape if he would find Barrow and arrange to have a number of weapons planted in the prison farm compound. Once released on January 10, 1934, Mullens went immediately to Floyd Hamiltons West Dallas home to ask for help locating Barrow. Floyd had a clean record at the time, but he listened to the plan. Later that same day he took Mullens to meet with Bonnie and Clyde. Barrow hesitated about getting involved. Something bothered himJimmy Mullens. Barrow had known Mullens in prison and remembered him as an unreliable and unpredictable drug addict and stool pigeon. Looking at Mullens, Barrow could think of only one thinghe was being led into a trap. Finally, he agreed to help with the raidbut only if Mullens took part. Ill help you out, but I want Mullens to plant the guns himself, Barrow declared. Mullens stiffened. Im not doing it alone, he said. Turning to Floyd, he demanded, Youre coming with me. Floyd reluctantly agreed. Then late in the evening of January 13, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde dropped off Hamilton and a trembling Mullens less than a mile from the main prison compound of Easthams camp 1. Three days later Barrow and Mullens were waiting in the early morning fog for the prison break to begin. The routine at Eastham was that a group of guards collectively called the shotgun ring oversaw each work squad, while a long-arm man, a guard on horseback armed with a high-powered rifle, positioned himself at a distance from the detail. According to the instructions of Colonel Lee Simmons, general manager of the Texas Prison System, the mounted guard had no duty except to stay well clear of the convicts and be in the background ready with his Winchester in case of excitement. Should a convict break past the shotgun ring, the long-arm man would pick him off. Thats the way it was supposed to work. Prisoners Raymond Hamilton and Joe Palmer knew that one of Easthams more notorious long arm men, Major Crowson (Major was his given name, not a title), routinely disregarded the policy. Crowson had a reputation for leaving his post to beat prisoners. In fact, Palmer had once received a severe beating from Crowson. On the morning of the break, Raymond Hamilton jumped squads, meaning he left his 16-man work crew and joined the crew that included Palmer, Bybee, and Methvin. Guard Olan Bozeman, assigned to Palmers squad, noticed Hamiltons presence even before the inmates started for the fields from camp 1. Hamilton and Palmer suspected that would happen but figured Bozeman would delay taking any action until he was in the field. Once there, out of earshot of the main camp, he would probably summon Crowson to help him deal with Hamilton. Sure enough, Bozeman called Crowson over as soon as the work crews arrived in the field. As the two guards conversed, Palmer strolled up to them as if he wanted to ask a question. Instead, he pulled out a weapon. Dont you boys try to do anything, he said. There are conflicting reports about what happened next. Some witnesses said Palmer deliberately shot Crowson for revenge; others claimed Crowson fired the first shot. Another source quoted Palmer as saying, I told the guards to sit still. Dont move and there wont be no shooting. I really thought the guards would stick their hands up. Regardless, at some point Palmer shot Crowson in the stomach. Mortally wounded, the guard turned his horse around and rode back to camp 1 to sound the alarm. Palmer then fired at Bozeman but missed. Bozeman pulled a pistol and returned fire, but his bullet only creased Palmers temple. Palmer fired again. This time the bullet struck Bozemans holstered shotgun and sliced deep into his hip. Bozeman and his mangled weapon fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Raymond Hamilton was fumbling around in the mud. In the excitement, he had accidentally ejected the clip from his own weapon. At that point, Clyde Barrow, still concealed in the nearby creek, stood up and fired a volley from his automatic rifle over the heads of everyone in the field. Guards and prisoners alike dived for cover. Back in the car, Bonnie Parker leaned on the horn to signal the escaping men. Palmer, Hamilton, Methvin, and Bybee began running south toward the sound. Two guards ran away, completely deserting their posts and Bozeman. They were found hiding 500 yards from their squads. Only one guard, Bobbie Bullard, stood his ground, perhaps preventing a mass escape. The first man to raise his head will have it blown clear off! he shouted. Nevertheless, one other convict managed to flee. J.B. French, serving time for robbery, attempted murder, and auto theft, ducked into the underbrush until things quieted down, then slipped into the woods. Guards recaptured him shortly after midnight. French knew nothing of the escape plan and didnt even meet those responsible for his brief taste of freedom. Police later recovered the escape car from a ravine 10 miles northeast of Hugo, Oklahoma, shortly after the robbery of a nearby filling station. By then, Crowson had died from his wound, and state officials were publicly questioning the prudence of placing convicts like Raymond Hamilton and the other escapees on a prison farm so accessible to the likes of Bonnie and Clyde. Lee Simmons, profoundly embarrassed by the raid, responded by firing the two Eastham guards who fled under fire. He also told the dying Major Crowson that he would be resettling accounts . . . . Those fellows had their day. Well have ours. I promise I wont let them get away with it. It didnt take officials long to decide that Bonnie and Clyde were behind the break. It is just a natural conclusion that [it was] his [Raymond Hamiltons] former partner, said Simmons. And if Barrow was there, then Bonnie could not have been far away. And, of course, he was right. Hilton Bybee was recaptured on January 30, 1934, two weeks after the break. In 1937, he escaped again from Eastham. Later that year an Arkansas posse shot and killed him. Raymond Hamilton and Joe Palmer were recaptured separately and returned to prison. Palmer was tried and convicted of the murder of Major Crowson. Hamilton was tried as a habitual criminal. Both men were sentenced to death. Jimmy Mullens was the states key witness against Palmer and Hamilton and received immunity from prosecution. But in 1938, a judge sentenced him to 75 years in prison for a $36 holdup. On July 22, 1934, Hamilton and Palmer escaped from Huntsvilles death house, creating nationwide headlines and further embarrassing Lee Simmons and the Texas Prison System. The embarrassment was short-lived, however, for both fugitives were soon recaptured and returned to Huntsville. On May 10, 1935, they died in the electric chair. Floyd Hamilton received two years in Leavenworth prison for harboring Bonnie and Clyde. After his release, he embarked on a bank-robbing spree, and in 1938 police captured him in Dallas. Floyd was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 55 years in prison. In 1940, he was transferred to Alcatraz, where he tried to escape. The attempted jailbreak cost him nine years in solitary confinement. In 1958, after being incarcerated for 20 years, Hamilton was released from prison. For Bonnie and Clyde, the Eastham break meant the beginning of the end. On February 1, 1934, 17 days after Crowsons death, Simmons met with Frank Hamer, a tough 49-year-old retired Texas Ranger. I want you to put Clyde and Bonnie on the spot and then shoot everyone in sight, he told Hamer. Simmons then told the ex-lawman he had been commissioned as a state highway patrolman. Hamer took to the road within 10 days. Before long he was on his way to Bienville Parish, Louisiana, where Henry Methvins parents lived. There, Hamer met with the local sheriff, Henderson Jordan. The sheriff told Hamer that an intermediary named John Joyner had approached him on or about March 1 to let him know that, in exchange for a pardon from the state of Texas, Henry Methvin would deliver Bonnie and Clyde to the authorities. Sheriff Jordan soon delivered a pardon agreement to Joyner. On May 21 Joyner contacted Hamer with the ambush details. Henry Methvin would find some pretext to part company with Bonnie and Clyde, knowing that the outlaws would plan to rejoin him at his parents home. Hamer and five other law enforcement officers would hide by the side of the graded road leading to the Methvins house and wait for Bonnie and Clyde to drive up. After two days of waitingon May 23, 1934, at about 9:10 a.m.Hamers team heard the steady roar of a rapidly moving vehicle. They knew that only Clyde Barrow would hurtle along a country road at such speed. As the tan Ford V-8 sedan approached, Bob Alcorn, the only officer who could identify Barrow on sight, called out quietly, Its him, boys. This is itits Clyde. As added insurance, Henrys father also signaled his recognition of the fugitives. The officers opened up with a deadly fusillade. When the shooting stopped, Bonnie and Clyde were dead. Both had been shot more than 50 times. An Oklahoma court later tried and sentenced Methvin to death for the killing of police officer Cal Campbell, a murder Methvin committed after making the pardon agreement. The court commuted his sentence to life, however, when officials disclosed Methvins part in the Bonnie and Clyde ambush. In April 1949, after Methvins release from prison, an unknown person knocked him unconscious and placed him on a Louisiana railroad track. A passing train cut the informer in half. With the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde and the execution of Raymond Hamilton and Joe Palmer, Colonel Lee Simmons had fulfilled his promise to the dying Major Crowson. He had indeed resettled accounts. This article was written by John Neal Phillips and originally published in October 2000 issue of American History Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to American History magazine today! Amid the tumult of Saigon falling on April 30, 1975, Tran Thi Lien clung to her infant daughter as her husband, Nguyen Thanh Quang, desperately navigated his family, including nine children, out of a country that in a matter of hours would no longer exist. While their youngest child Lien-Hang T. Nguyen was too young to recall her harrowing experience as the Vietnam War ground to an ignoble end, her in-depth insights into that wars final chapter is turning much of what is known about the war on its head. Through her perseverance and extraordinary access to Vietnamese archives, the former refugee, a Yale scholar and historian, crafted the groundbreaking Hanois War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam, which challenges many long-held assumptions about North Vietnams leadership and military and diplomatic strategies. Now an associate professor of history at the University of Kentucky, Nguyen recently spoke with Vietnam magazine about her life and her work. When did you first come to know of your familys escape from Vietnam? I have no recollections myself of course, as I was about five months old in April 1975. My earliest memories are of when we resettled in Pennsylvania. I remember helping my mother sew Republic of Vietnam flags to give to those attending a reunion at Fort Indiantown Gap for refugees who were there in 1975. I think that was the first time I learned my family had been in a refugee camp. As you grew up, did you learn much about the war? My parents didnt share much of that experience with me as a child. I think they were reluctant because it was too painful for them. They were much more focused on our future in the United States, and they just generally dont like to talk about their personal past. My dad and uncles and cousins on my fathers side, on the other hand, used to like to talk among themselves about the war. When did you begin to learn about your harrowing experience in 1975? The first time I heard about what actually happened to my family was when my parents were forced to tell me about it for a high school homework assignmentand that was only because they wanted me to get a good grade. Even then, though, they just answered questions, and really didnt share the whole story. It wasnt until we revisted the story, this time for a paper I wrote in college, that I learned details about my familys journey to the United States. I interviewed several family members, including my uncle who got us passage aboard a boat on the Saigon River to escape. I also wrote about those in my family who left the North in 1954. That paper was for my very first course on the Vietnam War at the University of Pennsylvania. It was in 1991 and Dr. Walter McDougal, who is a Vietnam veteran, had just started talking about his own war experiences in Vietnam and it prompted him to offer a seminar on the war. He had taught all different aspects of U.S. foreign policy, but had stayed away from the Vietnam War. Then, the first time I went to Vietnam in 1994, I was able to talk to aunts and uncles who werent able to make it over to the United States, and more stories were coming out. And even more recently youve learned more about your personal story? When preparing to talk at the National Book Festival this past summer, I again discussed leaving Vietnam with my parents and they were saying, No, we remember things differently. When I first interviewed my uncle, it was 20 years from when we left. When I interviewed my parents, it was 38 years out, so they had different memories of some of the details. It definitely took a while for everyone to be able to just talk about what happened. I still I cant believe we were able to make it to the United States, based on everything Ive garnered from family members. Was your family all on the Southern side? My fathers side of the family was originally from near Hanoi and they all left in 1954. My father and uncles were in the armed forces. On my mothers side, there were people who joined the revolution, but the majority didnt. The nomitive narrative that I grew up with was from the Republic of Vietnam side, not so much the Communist side. So was it at the University of Pennsylvania that you decided to become a historian and specialize in Vietnam? No, I was initially focused on the American Civil War and I worked with the historian Drew Gilpin Faust, now the president of Harvard, while an undergrad at Penn. The Civil War was my first love in terms of military history. Thats what I wanted to pursue when I applied to graduate school. But then I ended up working with John Lewis Gaddis at Yale, who was focusing on the Cold War era. He was accepting students who had area studies expertise and requisite languages to be able to do research in Communist or former Communist countries. So it wasnt until my Cold War studies that I began focusing on Vietnam. What were you most interested in as a historian? The 1968 to 1973 period really interested me because I was trained in diplomatic history and wanted to focus on the peace negotiations in Paris. One of the big questions of the day was the extent of the Chinese and Soviet roles in the war and whether they had pressured North Vietnam to settle. At that time, since all the Vietnam archives were closed to outsiders, and Beijing and Moscow were not very forthcoming, finding those answers would be like finding the Holy Grail. Your work, however, reaches back into the 1950s. I soon realized I couldnt just jump into the story in 1968, I had to explain a lot of what took place before that. So that was how Hanois War came about. "What was surprising was how Le Duan was able to so dominate the decision making in Hanoi" You are challenging some basic understandings of the North Vietnamese leadership. How surprised were you? I went in with an open mind. Now, I was not thinking that Ho Chi Minh had not been in charge, but I knew the reality was much more complex, so it wasnt that surprising to learn that Le Duan had more control than was previously understood. What was unexpected was how he was able to so dominate the decision making, and the extent of the police state he created. He used the party apparatchiks to pretty much control all levers of decision making in Hanoi and formed an alliance with the minister of security to firmly clamp down on any antiwar dissent. I had thought, prior to my research, perhaps there was some form of collective leadership and decision making and, even if there was a first among equals, it wouldnt be so similar to other systems I had studied as a historian, where one person was able to control everything. You also say failures in socialist construction played a significant role in North Vietnam. To what extent did domestic issues impact North Vietnams war policy? The question of why Hanoi gave a green light to war has long intrigued scholars, and there hadnt been a really satisfying answer, except that of course the revolution was on the right side of history and that the war was inevitable. But when we look closer at what was going on within North Vietnam, we see there were many domestic problems, just as in the South. The difference was, we knew all about those problems in the South, They were very apparent because the international media was more focused, and able to focus, on the problem of nation building in the South. But the situation in the North was always a big question mark. At the time, there was a general awareness of the land reform failures, but not much was made of it. What has been gleaned out of some of the eastern European archives was the extent of the problems with the North Vietnam state planning. So, piecing these factors together, it makes sense to me why Le Duan was recalled from the South in 1957 to take over the Politburo. Revolutionary war was an effective means to deflect attention from domestic problems. This is one of my arguments that has really angered some people. Who is angry with your notions? In terms of this argument, many inside Vietnam and many who were aligned more with the antiwar movement in the West are offended because it portrays the Norths motivations as less heroic. And your portrayal of Ho and General Bo Nguyen Giap as moderates has also drawn heat. They were the moderates. This is the reason I think I get the She must be a Communist treatment from many in the Vietnam diaspora communitybecause in certain ways Ho and Giap come out as the heroes in the story. They would have, I think, probably exerted a moderating influence on how the war would have been waged. But they werent listened to as Le Duan advanced full-scale war at the expense of the North socialist revolution. I think I pretty much angered all sides with the book, which is a good thing. How was it that Le Duan came to determined the war strategy? From my understanding, what Le Duan wanted to do was win the war quickly through exerting the strategy of the General Offensive/General Uprising. He came up with that strategy in his reading of recent Vietnam history that included the 1945 August Revolution, or General Uprising, and the 1954 siege of Dien Bien Phu. He did not believe the North could win by strictly adhering to Mao Zedongs three phases of peoples war. He thought they could bypass that by doing these large-scale attacks against cities and towns in South Vietnam, which would spur an uprising that would have the power to topple the Saigon machine. Ho and Giap were never quite ready to attack the cities, as they believed it would put their strength in the countryside at risk. They were always sort of hedging their bets, you can argue, in terms of how effective their military offensives were going to be. They were more realistic and they pretty much foresaw what would happen in 1964 and 1968. Was Le Duan a true believer or was he misled by bad intelligence? Le Duan saw what happened to Giap after focusing on the cities and towns in the August Revolution, and the power of the masses that were unleashed to defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu. He believed he could really harness that power in the cities and towns of the South and live on as this heroic leader who had the foresight to combine these tactics, which Ho and Giap regarded as huge gambles in which they could really lose big. In terms of intelligence, I would say that in the reading of the materials that have been coming out from Hanoi, he kind of ignored it. In 1968 he ignored all of the dissenting voices in the military and those who said the General Uprising was not going to work. He did try, in 1972, to learn from some of the mistakes and lessons of 1968. Did Le Duan understand what was playing out during Tet 68? Le Duan had sent his right hand man Le Duc Tho to the south, so when the attacks began in January and February, he did have his eyes and ears on the ground, and the sources are very revealing about what was being relayed in real time. But Le Duan was convinced that it would work even though the chance of success grew dimmer and dimmer with each wave. Im not quite sure why he didnt stop. But, until more sources are revealed that could answer these questions, if they do exist, I fall back on human nature. We see military and political leaders make mistakes, yet stay the course, often a result of hubris or their blindness to the realities because they stake their reputation on a certain policy or strategy and have to see it go to the end. Thats what I argue was the case with Le Duan, the same way we can describe President Lyndon Johnsons decision to pursue war because he saw his personal credibility and his nations credibility on the line. In Le Duans case, he also saw that the revolution was on the line. Youve also documented significant antiwar sentiment among the Communists, North and South. We long suspected that there was antiwar sentiment among the masses, north and south of the 17th parallel. I found that there was a lot of resistance to Party Centrals control of the situation. In the North and South, many wanted the war to end, and in the South they wanted to wage the war as they saw fit. They constantly had to deal with Hanois demands. Although I only had a handful of one-on-one interviews, I was able to participate in a closed conference on the National Liberation Front. But I couldnt cite any of those former NLF members and their stories of how they tried to resist orders from Hanoi. But some of those assertions have since been confirmed through other sources and documents and books coming out of Ho Chi Minh City. They are now coming forth and admitting that they didnt like certain directives. How was it that the West was unaware of Le Duans hold on power? The Vietnamese, probably even more so than the Chinese, were really able to keep things under wraps from foreign observers. Now, you can read in the documents that at the time there were some Vietnam experts who did think that Ho Chi Minh wasnt all powerful and that others were really in charge of the Politburo. Some even thought it was Le Duan. But information was so sporadic and sketchy, and the situation was very uncertain. But it wasnt making a difference as I dont think it really mattered to Johnson or Nixon, and their advisers. Within Vietnam, of course Le Duan was well known, but not really until 1970, I argue, does he really go all out. Before that he was just considered one among many important leaders among the Politburo. I argue that he knew he wasnt very charismatic and that it was more effective to allow more charismatic leaders, like Ho and Giap, to stand forward, while he controlled things behind the scenes. The Politburo had chosen to create this cult of personality around Ho Chi Minh, and to good effect as Ho really was good at rallying the people. And that image of Ho remains strong today? There hasnt been really that much of an effort to dismantle Hos image, although stories are coming out that Ho was under attack from rivals and that he really didnt wield real power, but that is not something the Party is promoting. It still maintains that Ho Chi Minh was the leader, and the party leadership was, and is, guided by his teachings. The war legacy is very important for the legitimacy and credibility of the Party today, because that was Hanois greatest victory. How important was the byzantine Hanoi-Moscow-Beijing relationship to the course of the war? This is the Holy Grail. The conventional wisdom was that Vietnam was able to balance China and the Soviet Union during the war. But I found it was much more complicated. They did exert a lot of pressure and forced North Vietnam to do a lot that they would not have done if not for these bickering allies. It was a very important to grasp the extent this ideological rift impacted the war and revolution to understand the war. How effective was Nixons triangular offensive in exploiting the Sino-Soviet-Vietnam entanglement? I think the Nixon strategy actually worked. Most argue that Nixons triangular offensive failed, but I argue that it worked because the Soviets and Chinese exerted pressure on North Vietnam and North Vietnam yielded to that pressure. At the same time North Vietnam was able to maneuver to be protected from the full effect of what could have happened. By 1972 they were able to sort of shield themselves from the big-power machinations. Could there have been peace earlier? No. Neither Nixon nor Le Duan intended to reach peace earlier. Now, perhaps if Hubert Humphrey had won election in 1968, or Le Duan was no longer general secretary after 1968, and then only if Nguyen Van Thieu were no longer president of South Vietnam, as he exerted a lot of pressure on the United States to not negotiate and compromise in Paris. You say there were no clear winners in the war, but what about North Vietnam? Yes, North Vietnam won, but it was not black and white. The North Vietnamese people in the end lost, even those who joined the Party and those who were in the North Vietnamese Army. They sacrificed so much in a war that, if different leaders had been in charge, could have ended sooner. Le Duan was the victor but at what cost? How is it a young Vietnamese American woman gained access to records so long denied to others? I was in the right place at right time. When I first began going to Vietnam, there was a stigma attached to Vietnamese Americans or Vietnamese who left. We were viewed as traitors. So everything was much more difficult for us than even for foreign visitors. But there were policy changes in the late 1990s as Vietnam started trying to entice Vietnamese to come home or invest in the country. Things were changing rapidly, and I think I benefited from it when I began my research there in 1998. But I remember they were still telling me, You need to be someone famous for us to let you in the archives. And I would say, But I cant write a book and be anyone famous without getting into the archives. It was a sort of chicken and egg thing. And when I interviewed folks at Vietnams Military Institute, I dont think they took me too seriously. Why would a young Vietnamese American girl be interested in this and what can she do with what she finds anyway? Did that attitude surprise you? Its understandable if you consider most scholars in Vietnam are typically old men. But I probably did benefit in that people were likely more willing to talk to me because I was a young Vietnamese American woman. I do think that helped in getting stories from former southern revolutionaries. Should we expect more of the archives in Vietnam to open up? I want to say yes, but there have been some steps in the opposite direction. They havent allowed as many researchers in certain archives and they continue to restrict access to certain files. It is still complicated. There has been a very good two-volume work by a journalist who had access to high-level party members on the period right after 1975 leading up to the Third Indochina War. The fact that he could publish is an important opening. But the problem is the archives. Its all about opening them so anyone can gain accessnot just a famous journalist. But Im not sure when that will happen. In your research effort, what was your biggest disappointment? That I didnt hear more voices from below. I wish Id had better access to the sort of materials that related to what the people thought and felt during the war, like when the folks in Hanoi were forced to flee the bombing and move out to the countryside. I also wish I had learned more about those who were arrested or who were under survellience for opposing the war. All the material I gathered about them came from the perspective of those who arrested them. How has your book been received in Vietnam? I really have no idea. I sent some copies to friends at the Military History Institute and and in the diplomatic academy but I havent heard from them. I havent tried to go to Vietnam since the book was released. What is the most intriguing question you would have liked to have gotten an answer to but couldnt? It would be something about Giap, like how much did he hate Le Duan. I tried to interview him in 2003 and was denied. But I think Id like to ask Giap what he was thinking and feeling in 1967, when his closest friends and deputies were being arrested. Could he have saved them? What were his feelings as he watched, unable to protect them or the war effort itself. Is there more to come from you about Vietnam? I would really like to write a complete history of the war next, and this time pay more attention to Saigon. We Were Lob Bombed Too Following up on General Stanley Cherries article (December, Case of the Mysterious Lob Bomb), I was a first lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, headquartered on Hill 55 southwest of Da Nang in the summer of 1969, serving as a fire direction officer and the crater analysis officer. We took two lob bombs in the position. The first was probably a 250-pound bomb that landed in the middle of a 105mm battery, killing a Marine. The second, launched a week later, barely cleared the Fire Direction Center and, by the size of the crater it left, must have been 500 pounds. Miraculously no one was injured. I took out patrols to a village from which the bombs were catapulted. It was amazing how the North Vietnamese could move those bombs across a river, dig holes for them and then catapult them 750 meters without being seen by our watchtowers. It was unnerving, because there wasnt a bunker on Hill 55 that could withstand a direct hit of one of those bombs. Edward Kliewer III San Antonio, Texas As amplification of General Cherries December 2011 article, I was a watch officer in the 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines Fire Direction Center on Hill 55, eight miles southwest of Da Nang in late 1968 and 1969. There were several lob bomb attacks against the Marines there, as the intelligence section of the June 1969 Command Chronology for 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines states: The enemy continues to attack by fire using his relatively newly developed technique of catapulting dud ordnance onto the cantonment, as evidenced by the attacks on 12 May, 20 May, and 27 May 1969. The method remains the same: 250 lb. bombs are refitted with a new fuze, a small hole is dug, a launching charge is prepared, the bomb is placed over the charge and aimed toward the target, and the initial charge is detonated. Jack Wells Cupertino, Calif. Remembering Song Re I enjoyed your article about the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in the Song Re Valley in your December issue. I was the platoon leader of the 2nd Platoon, A Company, 2-8 Cavalry, and went into Landing Zone Pat with the second flight on August 9, 1967. I worked with Captain Robert Thompson during an earlier mission. I saw his gunship get hit and blow up as he was making a run on the anti-aircraft guns in the saddle between Hills 625 and 450, although I did not know it was him at the time. I have attached a picture (above) of Hill 650 while it was under air attack. Robert L. Wilkinson Spokane, Wash. I was pleasantly surprised to see the excellent article by Paul Hart in the December issue concerning the assault into the Song Re Valley in August 1967. I was the commander of Company A, 2-8 Cavalry (Airborne) that made the combat assault onto LZ Pat on August 9. I have never been so proud of my men as I was that day, and of the fearless support given by the chopper crews who supported us in that four-hour firefight. As was so often the case, the fight was totally unexpectedby both sides. The isolated situation that Company A found itself in cannot be really appreciated unless you understand the terrain of the area. LZ Pat was a very steep finger-ridge that jutted south out from Hill 450 on the north, which was in turn connected to the higher Hill 625. While the LZ and Hill 450 had only short grass on the top, their steep sides and Hill 625 were covered with dense brush and forest. All three were occupied by the dug-in enemy armed with heavy weapons12.7mm machine guns, 82mm mortars, 57mm recoilless rifleswhose range covered the LZ from three directions. Once the fighting began, Company A, with 120 men spread along the ridge, was on its own. Reinforcements could not land, nor could I withdraw off the 1,200-foot-high ridge down to the lowland with my wounded. And I was leaving no one behind! Unknown to us was the camouflaged and covered underground fighting position in the center of the LZ, which had several automatic weapons that swept most of the LZ with fire at knee-high level. Other enemy positions were along the slopes of the hills. With the heavy fire incoming from so many directions, it took me a little time to suspect that we had bad guys in the middle of us. Once I did, I tasked Lieutenant Dick Hostikka to form a hunter-killer team from his 1st Platoon and sweep the LZ. They had to do this by low crawl, as standing up meant quickly getting hit. They finally found and eliminated the bunker. The men most exposed were our medics, who ran from wounded to wounded to treat and drag them back to a slight dip in the ridge that provided the only low area. We lost one medic killed and others wounded doing that. The heavy anti-aircraft and orientation of the terrain prevented resupply and medevacs from coming directly in. In an amazing display of courage and flying skill, several pilots finally got to us by approaching from below the top of the LZ ridge, then rising slowly up to us with the chopper skids parallel to the side of the ridge. With a chopper holding position just below the top of the ridge, men were able stand up enough to drag off ammo resupply and load several of the wounded with only few getting hit. Five men in the company were awarded Silver Stars, a number of Bronze Stars with V device, and a Valorous Unit Award was presented. Thanks for telling the story of those heroic soldiers and pilots. Colonel Ray Bluhm U.S. Army (Ret.) X-Ray Visions So much in your December issue touched me personally. Raul Taboada (Eyewitness at LZ X-Ray), who was portrayed in one of Bill Becks sketches, and I rushed to volunteer for the 1st Air Cav in the waning days of July 1965 so we could go to Vietnam with them. I was assigned to the 2-7 and he went to the 1-7. Raul was wounded at X-Ray on November 14. When my company arrived on the 16th to reinforce 1-7, the X-Ray battle was over. My platoon was assigned the left flank of the dry creek bed and the positions near where the 500-pound bomb fell that morning. We found Captain Nadals backpack somewhere outside the creek bed. I was wounded three days later, at LZ Albany. Somehow, Raul had learned about it, and when I arrived in San Francisco, an orderly at the hospital told me that Raul was expecting me. Raul was back in the field by December as an interpreter to the 82nd Airborne in the Dominican Republic. In 1968 he was in the 9th Infantry Division, and in heavy Tet battles in the Delta. We met again in 2001, at a 1st Cavalry reunion for a screening of the movie We Were Soldiers Once. I knew Jack Geoghegan (Ghosts of Ia Drang) from Pennsylvania Military College (PMC) days. He was in the Class of 1963; I graduated in 1964. Jack was an outstanding individual. Soft spoken, but firm and resolute, respected and admired by all. Im glad to learn that at PMC he had not been forgotten. Enrique Pujals San Juan, Puerto Rico An Unlucky Choice of Words? I was an Army nurse in 1968-69 at the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku and was fascinated by Karl Marlantes article in the December issue (The Truth About Lies in Vietnam). It was informative and honestly written, but when I read the line, luckily for me, the battalion commander was killed, I was so stunned that I re-read it several times to be certain that I had read it correctly. I would like to think that this cannot be what Mr. Marlantes meant to write. I suppose it is the word luckily that I find difficult and sad. Perhaps another choice of work could have conveyed the same idea without the same shock. Maggie LaBarbera Bailey Indianapolis, Ind. Karl Marlantes replies: I was trying to convey the irony of what happened, and obviously failed. Had I known the effect that was produced, Id have written it differently. Inspired to Seek Closure Your December interview with Lt. Gen. Ron Christmas took me back to 1969 and the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division at An Hoa combat base, southwest of Da Nang. A visit to The Wall and the Marine Corps National Museum is now high on my bucket list since reading the interview. The generals words have inspired me to seek what I have for so very long avoided, coming face-to-face with myself at The Wall, with my brothers, and come to closure. Semper Fidelis. David B. Bubba McClellan Jacksonville, Fla. Send letters and reunion notices to: Vietnam Editor, 19300 Promenade Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176; or to Vietnam@weiderhistorygroup.com. Become a fan of Vietnam magazine on Facebook. Munfordville, Kentucky, proudly preserves its Civil War heritageincluding, some say, a wartime ghost. By Darleen Francisco Visitors to Munfordville, a small town in central Kentucky about 70 miles south of Louis-ville, are in for a pleasant surprise. The Hart County village is living proof that, as the old saying goes, Looks can be deceiving. For the events that took place in the sleepy little town in 1862 were perhaps more decisive than previously has been thought. Certainly, they were quite dramaticsome might even say haunting. As most armchair historians know, when the Civil War began, Kentucky had chosen a position of armed neutrality. But it still contained strong loyalists for both the North and the South, and a Confederate Kentucky would have thrown open the entire southern frontier of the Ohio Riverincluding portions of Ohio, Indiana and Illinoiswhere 2,600,000 persons had deep sentimental attachments to the South. At the beginning of the war, President Abraham Lincoln, himself a native Kentuckian, was quoted as saying that I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. His emphasis on the importance of Kentucky was not misplaced, because the state was the most crucial of the border states. The Confederate lines of defense extended from Columbus through Munfordville to the Cumberland Gap, with the Confederate headquarters located at Bowling Green. If the Confederates could control Kentucky, they would also control the principal avenueswaterways and railwaysfor invading and waging war in the central United States. The Green River Bridge in Munfordville was a vital bridge for both armies to control. In early October 1861, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston gave a Munfordville native, Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, a direct order to destroy the bridge in order to prevent Union forces from attacking Bowling Green. Knowing that the bridge had been built in part by local people, Buckner protested vehemently, but to no avail. John W. Key and his sons, also residents of Munfordville, had originally been the chief stonemasons for the bridge, and, ironically, it was these same men who placed the explosive charges beneath the southernmost piers. The charge was detonated, and the Keys watched glumly as two spans of the bridge dropped, extensively damaging their masterpiece. In December 1861, Union-leaning workers arrived to repair the bridge, but on December 17, a short, intensive battle was fought, known as the Battle of Rowletts Station. After the battle and the temporary repair of the bridge, Union Brig. Gens. Alexander McCook and James S. Negley arrived to protect the Green River Bridge from further Rebel attacks. McCook quickly ordered the construction of what was to be a five-point fort about 800 yards east of the bridge, to be named Fort Craig. A rifle trench surrounded the work, and to protect the Louisville & Nashville Railroad tracks and bridge against further attacks, he had a stockade of heavy logs and banked earth erected at the south end of the bridge. This would ensure that Union forces had a continuous line of communication between their forces in the South and their base at Louisville. Before the task was completed, however, McCook was ordered to leave, and the job passed to Colonel John T. Wilder. Although he was not a professional soldier and lacked military training and experience, Wilder was determined to devote all his efforts to maintaining and holding the all-important railroad. He strengthened the wooden and earthen stockades and constructed the star-shaped earthen fort that is still visible today. On September 15, 1862, news of Confederate General Braxton Braggs invasion of Kentucky reached Munfordville, and the town was thrown into a state of turmoil. The next day, Bragg moved his entire force of 30,000 men into the area and prepared to capture the Union position. Wilder was a very conscientious, intelligent man. He began to suspect that his troops were no match for Braggs superior forces, and he arrived at an unorthodox solution when asked to surrender. Knowing that General Buckner was commanding a division of Braggs forces, and believing him to be an honorable man, Wilder went into the Confederate camp under a flag of truce to ask Buckners advice, one gentleman to another. When the two men met, Buckner at first protested, telling Wilder that wars are not fought this way. Yet the more the bewildered Kentuckian contemplated it, the more irresistible he found the idea, and he personally escorted Wilder on a tour of the Confederate lines. Seeing that Braggs forces were just as they had been reported, Wilder surrendered the garrison at 6 a.m. on September 17. These events are but a few of the many fascinating occurrences that took place in Munfordville during the war. Dashing young cavalry captain John Hunt Morgan was first sworn into the Confederate Army on the steps of a church in Munfordville that is still standing, and the home of Union General Thomas J. Wood sits gracefully tucked away, surrounded by trees. Wood and Simon Buckner played along the banks of the Green River as boyhood friends, and Buckner stayed at the Wood home on many occasions. When the Civil War began, Buckner cast his lot with the Confederacy, while Wood remained loyal to the Union. After the war, the two resumed their friendship, despite the fact that they had commanded troops that were pitted against one another at Chickamauga and other battlefields. In 1994, the Wood house was the focal point for an intriguing episode. The Hart County News Herald had previously reported that the county attorney who had his offices in the house had implied that it was haunted. When Munfordville held its annual Civil War Days in September 1994, a young girl dressed in period costume had her picture taken behind the Wood house. The temperature that day was reported to have been in the high 80s, yet the girl noticed several spots that felt icy-cold to herso cold, in fact, that it made her uncomfortable, despite the heat. When the photos were later developed, the man who shot them noticed three small clouds of fog close to the ground, exactly where the girl said she had felt the cold spots. The photographer stated that there were no flaws of any kind on any other pictures in that roll of film. An author writing about the episode concluded that if there truly are ghosts in the house, perhaps they looked out and saw what they perceived as familiar figures, dressed in a way they had known. While in Munfordville, visitors can tour the Hart County Museum, which houses a genealogy department and local artifacts of the period, as well as the Old Munfordville Inn and other area attractions. Plans are in the works to use a federal grant to restore local Civil War sites and, with the generous cooperation of three area landowners, to renovate one of the homes overlooking the battlefield to use as a visitors center and a bed-and-breakfast inn. Leaders hope to construct walkways over Fort Craig and across the battlefield, ending at the large granite monument to Confederate Colonel Robert Smith, which is near the railroad bridge. Each September, Munfordvillians host annual re-enactments of the battles there. Among recent events were period concerts, movie screenings, a silent auction, a quilt show, childrens games, artillery night-firing, a parade, an authentic Civil War encampment, and other history-related activities. For more information about annual events held in the area, telephone the Hart County Historical Society (502-524-0101) and speak with Mary Branstetter. Four numbered artist prints, crisply told in stark black-and-white from the watercolor and ink originals created more than a half-century ago, tell the story of the working cowboys West at least, Max Evanss vision of the working cowboys West. And few, if any, have ever argued with Max Evanss vision. Today, hes best-known as a writer, author of The Rounders and The Hi Lo Country (both turned into critically acclaimed movies), the irascible rapscallion who once broke director Sam Peckinpahs ankle I was trying to break his neck. (Evans had a small role in Peckinpahs The Ballad of Cable Hogue), winner of multiple Spur Awards, multiple Western Heritage Wrangler Awards and the 1990 Levi Strauss Saddleman Award for lifetime achievement in Western literature. Hes also the subject of Slim Randles biography, Ol Max Evans: The First Thousand Years. During ten centuries of living (in Max Evans years), he has done it all: working cowboy, soldier (he hit Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944), miner, actor, mystic, but mostly, writer. Yet before he became a literary icon, Evans was an artist in Taos, New Mexico. His knowledge of cowboys is quite evident in the numbered series of prints. Evans describes his creations: Late For Supper: A weary cowhand rides to the bunkhouse in late night. Working cowboys like this one because they know how that ol boy feels. In My Valley: A mystical city rises on a cowboys once-spartan ranchland. That was a prediction I had 57 years ago: the building up all around the ranches. I had this vision of what was going to happen to the ranches. Look Out Ma!: A mare strains against barbed wire to eat hay during a snowstorm while her colt stands guard. I actually saw this on my way from Taos. It was cold, and this late colt was just watching me, like he was protecting his mama. Bustin Drifts: A cowboy herds along a cow, all weary from being pounded by snow and wind. I did a lot of this myself, cowboying on Glorieta Mesa and up in the Hi Lo Country, the name he gave mostly northeastern New Mexico because of the landscape and a popular poker game. Born in Ropes, Texas, in 1925, Evans arrived in Taos in 1949 with this vague idea of becoming an artist. I dont have any idea how I got interested in art, he says. As a little kid, I was always sketching or drawing something, but Id had only three art lessons in my whole life. He brought one painting, a World War II scene titled Normandy Night Fire. The expressionistic oil-on-canvas not only was accepted into a juried art show, it won the honored placement alongside several Taos masters. Eventually, he met Potawatomi Indian artist Woody Crumbo, who became Evanss mentor. Honing his craft, Evans learned to mix mediums and take chances, which he would also learn to do in his fiction. It was Crumbo who told Evans to have some limited prints made of his work. I was barely selling, just had enough to starve on, and Woody told me if I went to see this master printer in Taos Pueblo and have some prints made, I could sell those as limited edition numbered prints and I could peddle those and that would help until I started to sell. And he was exactly right. The prints still sell. A recent set went for $1,000 at an auction in Cimarron, New Mexico. Of course, I was so naive, I think I sold the first 150 without any numbers on them, he says. I started numbering them at 151. Other paintings followed. Working cowboy scenes such as Moment of Truth, painted with a pallet knife, and a painting of his story One-Eyed Sky, which I traded for a bunch of worthless mining stock. He did landscapes such as The Lonesome Land, The Lonely Place, and The Edge of Taos. But mostly, nocturnal scenes that became his trademark, such as Meeting by Moonlight and Ghost Rider in a Ghost Town. I like the night, Evans says. I like moon shadows. Theres a mystery in it, a wonder in the moon shadows. And some of the greatest fun Ive ever had has been in the moon shadows. Eventually, Evanss literary career took off, and he put aside the pallet knife, the oils, the watercolors. I chose writing, and Im glad I did, he says. There were stories already eating at me, that I knew I had to write. Stories like My Pardner, Shadow of Thunder, Xaviers Folly, Bluefeather Fellini, and his one historical novel Faraway Blue, about buffalo soldiers pursuing the legendary Apache Nana. Yet now, Evans is returning to painting. I want to concentrate on short stories, which has always been my first love, and articles, and painting, he says. There are a lot of similarities in painting and writing. Youre telling some story of yourself. Heres the way the sun shines off a bluff or a cloud in my vision. Those kinds of stories dont have to have plots. Theyre complete within themselves. Im just thankful Im going to get another crack at (painting) 1021 years later. Some of Evanss drawings and paintings have been printed in Slim Randles biography, Ol Max Evans: The First Thousand Years, as well as Evans collection of articles, essays and fiction, For the Love of a Horse, both published by the University of New Mexico Press. On September 1, 1814, after the British had left the city of Washington in flames, the noted D.C. lawyer Francis Scott Key rode from his stately home in Georgetown to the White House. Key, 35, came to the torched presidential mansion to ask permission to undertake a delicate mission involving a longtime family friend, Dr. William Beanes, a prominent local surgeon. A few days earlier, British troops had raided several farms just east of Washington, including Beanes. The physician then organized a posse that captured several British soldiers and threw them in a local jail. One escaped and returned with company the next night, August 28, capturing Beanes and two other AmericansDr. William Hill and Philip Weems. The men were rousted from their beds at midnight and forced to ride 35 miles to Benedict in southern Maryland, where the British were about to embark for Baltimore. Hill and Weems were released, but the 65-year-old Beanes was put aboard the Tonnant, Vice Admiral Alexander Cochranes flagship, and the fleet sailed toward Baltimore. Friends of the Beanes family tried to intervene with the British to no avail. One of them was Keys brother-in-law Richard Williams West, who rode to Georgetown to ask the well-spoken lawyer if he could arrange Dr. Beanes release. Though Frank Key, as he was known to family and friends, never publicly explained why he agreed to the request, its likely that he wanted to assuage the shame and guilt he felt following the American militarys sad performance at Bladensburgwhich he had witnessedand its catastrophic aftermath. Key secured permission to intercede from President James Madison and from Commissioner General of Prisons John Mason, who asked 25-year-old Army colonel John Skinner to accompany Key, since Skinner had arranged several exchanges of British naval officers. Mason also prevailed upon the senior British prisoner in Washington, Colonel William Thornton, to have his fellow prisoners write letters describing their humane treatment. Key collected the letters before he left. Key explained the mission in a September 2 letter he wrote to his mother from Georgetown: I am going in the morning to Balt to proceed in a flag vessel to Gnrl [Robert] Ross. Old Dr. Beanes of Marlbro is taken prisoner by the Enemy, who threaten to carry him off. Some of his friends have urged me to apply for a flag [of truce] and go & try to procure his release. In a letter to his father, Key was cautiously pessimistic: I hope I may succeed, but I think it very doubtful. Key left for Baltimore on the morning of September 3. He had conflicting feelings about the vehemently anti-Federalist and pro-war people of Baltimore, about the British and about the war itself. Calling the conflict a lump of wickedness, Key later wrote to a friend, sometimes when I remembered that it was [in Baltimore] the declaration of this abominable war was received with public rejoicings, I could not feel a hope that [the British] would escape. Then again, the extremely pious Key said, when he realized that faithful Baltimoreans supported the war, it gave him strength to go ahead with his missionor, as Key put it: I could hardly feel a fear. In the end, feelings of antipathy for the British outweighed Keys grudge against the Baltimore war hawks. The British, he said, were intent on burning the city, and I was sure that if taken it would have been given up to plunder. . . . It was filled with women and children. Key met Skinner in Baltimore on September 4. The following day, the two men sailed under a safe-conduct flag on an American cartel shipmostly likely the President, commanded by John Ferguson. They found the Tonnant in the early afternoon of September 7 at the mouth of the Potomac River. General Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn welcomed the Americans aboard and invited Key and Skinner to discuss the prisoner exchange over an early dinner. Frank Key did not take kindly to his hosts. Never was a man more disappointed in his expectations than I have been as to the character of the British officers, Key later wrote. With some exceptions, they appeared to be illiberal, ignorant and vulgar, and seem filled with a spirit of malignity against every thing American. Then he second-guessed himself: Perhaps, however, I saw them in unfavourable circumstances. Key and Skinner argued that Dr. Beanes never should have been taken prisoner, because he was a civilian noncombatant. Then they turned the letters from the British prisoners over to their hosts. That seemed to convince the British to let the doctor gounder one condition: Key, Skinner and Beanes could not return to Washington until after the attack on Baltimore. The three Americans were escorted to the British frigate Surprize. On September 10, Key, Skinner and Beanes were allowed to return to their vessel, accompanied by British marine guards. The Surprize towed them into Baltimore Harbor, about eight miles from Fort McHenry, which protected the approach to the city from the Patapsco River. There they dropped anchor and spent the next four days aboard ship. Francis Scott Key had a ringside seat during the entire Battle of Baltimore from his position a mile or two behind the British fleet. Key, Skinner and Beanes saw a large American flag flying over Fort McHenry before the British bomb ships let loose at 6:30 a.m. on September 13. All that day Key paced the deck as hundreds of rockets and bombs burst in the air. Peering though the darkness as day turned to nightat the twilights last gleaming, as he would later put itKey could still make out the Stars and Stripes. None of the men could sleep as the relentless British assault continued hour after hour. The air filled with hissing rockets and screaming cannonballs accompanied by the booming thunder and the flashing lightning of a torrential storm. When the British guns went silent about 3 a.m. on the 14th, the men did not know whether that meant an American victory or defeat. As the horizon lightened, Key, Skinner and Beanes could not tell if Baltimore had survived. Rain clouds obscured the sunrise and a mist hung over the water. Even peering through their spyglasses, the Americans still could not clearly make out the fort or the British ships in what Key would immortalize as the dawns early light. Just after 6 a.m., Frank Key finally saw a flag hanging limply over the fort. But it was impossible to tell if it was the Stars and Stripes or the Union Jack. Then a slight breeze stirred and Key saw with relief that the American flag was still there. Key later said that he felt the warmest gratitude when the British failed in their attack, as well as most merciful deliverance. As dawn broke on September 14, the prolific amateur poet poured out those feelings in four heartfelt verses written on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. I saw the flag of my country waving over a city, Key said 20 years later. I heard the sound of battle; the noise of the conflict fell upon my listening ear, and told me that the brave and the free had met the invaders. Through the clouds of war, the stars of that banner still shone in my view, he said. Then, at the hour of deliverance and joyful triumph, my heart spoke [and I thought] Does such a countryand such defenders of the countrydeserve a song? With that came an inspiration not to be resisted, even though it had been a hanging matter to make a song. Key worked on the verses while sailing back to shore and then wrote out a finished copy the next day at a hotel, most likely the Indian Queen Tavern, at Hanover and Market streets in downtown Baltimore. The following day, September 16, Key presented the verses to his brother-in-law Joseph Nicholson. Nicholson took the verses either to the offices of the Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser ormore likelyto Benjamin Edes print shop on the corner of Baltimore and Gay streets. Edes printed copies of the verses bearing the title Defence of Fort MHenry on handbills and broadsheets and distributed them throughout the city. The text of the song appeared in the daily afternoon newspaper, the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser, on September 20. The newspaper and broadsheet included a short introduction, most likely written by Nicholson. It read: The following beautiful and animating effusion, which is destined long to outlast the occasion, and outlive the impulse which produced it, has already been extensively circulated. . . . We rejoice in an opportunity to enliven the sketch of an exploit so illustrious, with strains which so fitly celebrate it. The article indicated that the song was to be sung to the tune of To Anacreon in Heaven, an English song, popular in pubs, composed by John Stafford Smith about 1775. Very well known in the United States, the tune was the theme song of the Anacreontic Society of London, a gentlemens club that met periodically to listen to musical performances, dine and sing songs. The club took its name from Anacreon, the ancient Greek poet known primarily for his verses in praise of love, wine and revelry. On September 21, the Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser published the song. The following day Defence of Fort MHenry appeared in the Federal Republican of Georgetown. The introduction said: A friend has obligingly favored us with a copy of the following stanzas, which we offer to our readers as a specimen of native poetry, which will proudly rank among the best efforts of our national muse. It is believed that the song was first sung publicly on October 19, 1814, in Baltimore at the Holliday Street Theatre, popularly known as Old Drury, after the performance of a play. Our good Franks patriotic song, Keys aunt Elizabeth Maynadier wrote to his mother on October 27, is the delight of everybody. The effusion became known as The Star-Spangled Banner (from a line in the first stanza) after Carrs music store of Baltimore first published it with that title in sheet music form in November. By 1816 word had spread throughout the young nation that Francis Scott Key of Georgetown wrote the stirring patriotic air. The song took on added significance during the Civil War as the U.S. flag itself came to symbolize national unity. The Navy in 1889 ordered the song to be played at the morning flag-raising ceremony; the Army soon followed suit for the lowering of the colors in the evening. In the early 20th century, Congress considered more than 40 resolutions to adopt The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem. It faced stiff competition from Yankee Doodle and America the Beautiful, but the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and various patriotic groups mounted a concerted lobbying campaign. Soprano Elsie Jorss-Reilly, a member of the VFW auxiliary, performed the song on floor of the U.S. House in February 1930 to prove that it was not pitched too high for popular singing. On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed into law a measure officially naming Keys ode to the survival of Fort McHenry and the city of Baltimore the national anthem of the United States. This story originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of American History magazine. Not too long ago, if you blinked as you drove down one crowded stretch of Route 608 in Fairfax County, Virginia, you were likely to miss a small, ragged plot of land generously called Ox Hill Battlefield Park. Ed Wenzel and a small group of Civil War enthusiasts in Northern Virginia, including the late Brian Pohanka and venerable Clark Bud Hall, knew that feeling well. For some time, they had watched as the site of one of the wars most notable, yet strangely forgotten, battles was being overrun by large commercial and residential developers, given a pass by seemingly indifferent government officials. They realized they had to do something. The Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) was fought during a blinding thunderstorm on September 1, 1862, two days after the Second Battle of Bull Run and 16 days before the Battle of Antietam. About 15,000 Confederates under the guidance of such famed generals as Thomas Stonewall Jackson, A.P. Hill, J.E.B. Stuart and Maxcy Gregg squared off against 6,000 Federal troops on 500 acres of partially wooded farmland; the Union would lose two of its most revered generals in heroic fashion that day: Isaac Stevens and the one-armed Philip Kearny. The engagement ended in a draw, but the Federals succeeded in preventing Jacksons men from overtaking John Popes retreating army at Fairfax Court House and perhaps even continuing on to threaten Washington, D.C., itself. Since Ox Hill was the only major Civil War action to take place in Fairfax County, Wenzel was mystified that the county government had made no effort over the years to preserve its legacy. Hall, Pohanka and Wenzel joined forces to form the Chantilly Battlefield Association (CBA) and, aided by a handful of eager volunteers, began what would become a 22-year quest to right a wrong. When the CBA formed in 1986, developers owned nearly all of the battlefields original 500 acres and were intending to move two disregarded monuments to Kearny and Stevens, erected in 1915, to a small historic park being planned nearby. The developers eventually agreed to establish the park on a 2.4-acre parcel of land surrounding the monuments and proffered $110,000 for park improvements. The CBA also hounded government officials to purchase an adjacent 2.4-acre lot that doubled the parks size. On September 1, 2008the 146th anniversary of the battleWenzel was among several representatives to christen the new Ox Hill Battlefield Park at the corner of West Ox Road (Route 608) and Monument Drive. The park, formerly overgrown by an erratic assemblage of oak, pine and poplar trees, is much brighter and more wide open now, to match this portion of the original battlefield. It contains three new snake-rail fence segments and a 1/4-mile circular stone-paver trail lined with wayside markers that provide a thorough interpretation of the battlea rarity for most battlefields this size. Three hexagonal informational kiosks next to a paved parking lot provide additional insight not only into the battle but the entire war in the Washington area. Efforts are underway to re-create a portion of the Reid Farm cornfield that was the site of much of the fighting, and was where Kearny was killed. Broomsage has been planted to give the impression that corn is growing there. Sites are also reserved for separate monuments recognizing the Confederate and Union forces that were engaged at Ox Hill, which the CBA hopes will be in place by the battles 2012 sesquicentennial. Our goal was to save what we could [of this battlefield] and try to re-create a 19th-century Civil War landscape in the midst of modern, urban Fairfax, Wenzel said. We want visitors to enter the park and escape the noisy, congested world outside; enter a time warp, so to speak, and emerge on a Fairfax County farm in 1862, where brave men would sacrifice and die in the greatest struggle of our nations history. The Ox Hill Battlefield Park may be small, butit will take you back in time. A photographers lens may capture a glimpse of the 21st century outside the park, but within the calm and quiet of the protected acreage, you will be ableto go back to that stormy day in history. Thats the best we can do with the land that we have. The war took its time reaching out-of-the-way Calcasieu Parish in southwest Louisiana, finally blowing into Calcasieu in the spring of 1864. And when the resulting battle was concluded and the casualties tallied, a conflict erupted that pitted shipmate against shipmate and resulted in one of the most unusual courts-martial of the warnot to mention some pretty wretched attempts at poetry. All this over a girl17-year-old Babette Goos, who unwittingly sparked a second Battle of Calcasieu Pass. This tale of adventure, rivalry and unrequited love begins, however, with more mundane subjectslumber, beef and bullets. High-spirited Babette was the eldest daughter of local businessman Daniel Goos, who had come to the United States from the German region of Schleswig-Holstein in 1835. He made his way to New Orleans, where he met his future wife, Katrina. They married in 1846 and moved about 1850 to the timber-rich area near Lake Charles. Goos built a sawmill and a fleet of schooners to send his lumber to New Orleans, Galveston and other ports. Presiding over a family that ultimately included 10 girls and five sons, Goos (pronounced Goss) prospered in his new home as hostilities erupted. But if he sympathized with either North or South, he kept his feelings to himself. Making money interested him far more than fighting a war. Like many others around Lake Charles, he might have believed the conflict had nothing to do with him, but he was savvy enough to seize the business opportunities it presented. When the U.S. Navy began to patrol the mouth of the Calcasieu (pronounced Kal-kah-shoe) River, Goos converted his schooner fleet into blockade runners. The ships took lumber and cotton to Matamoros, Mexico, and brought back food, medicine and other goods. According to old family accounts, Babette and her sisters stitched lucky pennants for each schooner to fly during its dangerous trip. Guile, pluck and perhaps the good fortune supplied by the young womens banners all played a role in the success of the enterprise. Babette noted in her diary that her fathers smuggling proved highly profitable, producing $30,000 for each shipment of cotton delivered to the Mexican port. Goos needed all the luck he could get in 1862, when he attracted the attention of the Union Navy. On July 25, Commander George F. Emmons of the USS Hatteras reported to Admiral David Farragut the discovery of a steamer lying at anchor in the entrance to Lake Calcasieu. Emmons investigated, but quick thinking by Goos averted disaster. Emmons reported that he was assured the vessel was only the property of a Union man who had a family of 13 daughters, and that her boiler was burned out, engines out of order, and of no use to us and could be of none to the rebels. Emmons said he left the ship with her owner, a foreigner by the name of Goss [sic], who has been long a resident of Louisiana, but lately removed here to get out of the way of the rebels, as he alleges. He gave me fresh provisions for the crew and would accept no pay. Although Goos escaped capture, his activities likely helped bring the war closer to home. Union gunboats plied the waterways of southwestern Louisiana to stop Goos and other blockade runners. But the search for smugglers soon evolved into a second mission: finding cattle to feed Union troops. From the earliest days of the war, Confederate leaders recognized the importance of securing southwestern Louisianas large herds of beef. Shortly after hostilities began, Confederate Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell wrote from New Orleans to Secretary of War Judah Benjamin that one company with two 42-pounders had been sent to Calcasieu Pass to build a mud fort to prevent Union foraging parties from reaching the cattle. Nevertheless, the region kept Union forces well fed. In April 1863, Lt. Col. W. H. Griffin of the Texas Volunteer Infantry complained that all the beef, mutton, and pork used on the Federal gunboats [blockading southwest Louisiana and east Texas] are procured on Lake Calcasieu, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, and that it is all important that these depredations should be stopped. Even so, the Federals continued to forage almost at will. In early 1864, the situation on the Calcasieu grew tense. The previous fall, Union forces were embarrassed in an unsuccessful invasion attempt at Sabine Pass, Texas, just 40 miles to the west. Speculation abounded that another attempt might be imminent. On April 21, the Confederacys Trans-Mississippi Department at Shreveport received word that a large enemy transport with 1,000 troops aboard passed Galveston the evening before, heading toward the Calcasieu. Rumor gave way to reality three days later. On April 24, according to local accounts, the USS Wave, commanded by Lieutenant Benjamin Loring, appeared off Calcasieu Pass, fired two rounds at the forlorn and now vacant mud fort, and sailed upstream to the home of a Union sympathizer to await delivery of 450 head of stolen cattle. Four days later, the USS Granite City joined the Wave on the Calcasieu. Although the boats two dozen men from the 36th Illinois Infantry were there to seize cattle and horses, the presence of the Granite City fueled conjecture that a Federal invasion was likely. When Maj. Gen. J.B. Magruder learned of the whereabouts of the Wave and Granite City, he ordered an attack on the Union vessels at once, to disperse, defeat and capture the expedition. A force of up to 300 men commanded by Griffin, including elements of the 21st Texas Infantry, the 11th Battalion of Texas Volunteers, and a battery of the 5th Texas Artillery, moved to drive the Union vessels out. The Confederates surprised the Union gunboats at dawn on May 6, 1864. Both boats were at anchor in a horseshoe bend near Monkey Island at the mouth of the Calcasieu River, and neither had steam in its boiler. They were sitting ducks for Confederate guns, which concentrated first on the Granite City because it had the most firepower. After a 90-minute firefight, during which its pilothouse was demolished and hull battered, the Granite City surrendered. Lorings boat didnt fare much better. Shells ripped into its pilothouse, engine room and boilers. The Wave received 65 direct hits. Confederate marksmen peppered the stranded crew. Loring said the Wave fought for an hour and 35 minutes before being forced to give up. Babette and her family got involved with the captured Union sailors when, about 10 days after the fighting, the Confederates moved the Wave and its crew upriver to Lake Charles. Daniel Goos offered to turn over a building on his plantation for use as an infirmary if Union Dr. Eduard Ver Meulen would treat the wounded of both sides. The physician agreed, and the Goos children went to work whitewashing an outbuilding to turn it into a 50-bed hospital. When the building was ready, Ver Meulen and Goos supervised moving the wounded and sick. The younger Goos daughters had prepared bandages that were taken to the hospital building along with a supply of medicine that Goos had recently brought in from Mexico. According to a Goos memoir, his family took care of wounded troops for more than two months. By day, Babette and her sisters worked with Ver Meulen to care for the wounded. In the evenings, the girls entertained them. A piano was moved into the hospital, and the older girls sang, danced and flirted. Two men from the Federal commandEnsign William Terry and Harry Irwin, an enlisted manfound Babette particularly enchanting. Terry apparently found Babette indifferent to his attention. Undeterred, he pressed his case in verse that reads in part: Oh-h-h Babit! My own darling Babit, Pray, quit that bad habit Of writing cold letters to me! By the heavens above you I swear that I love you. Ill never wed another but thee! Irwin took a more positive approach, describing her effect on the mind of all young men who gaze upon her: Your lovely face with joy does beam Your voice makes music sweet. Your sylph like form, your airy step Your pretty little feet. But tis not your beauty enchants Nor your graces all combined. But your winning, gentle, loving way, Your richly well stored mind. When their wounds healed, Irwin, Terry and some of the other men from the Wave returned to the ship after it arrived in Lake Charles. They remained prisoners, but apparently had enough freedom to visit the Goos home from time to time and to receive gifts from Babette. Terry proved particularly appreciative; a letter to Babette from Ver Muelen, written May 22, 1864, aboard the Wave, reported Terry desires to return thanks for your kindness and consideration for his personal comfort and appreciates his bouquet highly. Although the men on the Wave were fed well enough to keep body and soul together, boredom and a hankering for Louisiana beef got the better of themand soon Babette was embroiled in a plot to rustle up some better food. As recounted in her diary, Babette and a handful of the crew from the Wave borrowed one of her fathers boats and slipped down the river to a place where a local man named Bilbo kept a herd of cattle. She dropped her passengers and returned with some of the crew to her fathers docks. The men who were left behind selected one of Bilbos finest beeves, butchered it, feasted, then returned to the Wave. But when they got there, Sheriff David John Reid Sr., captain of the Home Guard in Lake Charles, was waiting for them. Reid threw them into the guardhouse, and a mischievous lark suddenly became something more serious. On November 24, Irwin faced a court-martial aboard the Wave for communication with the enemy the enemy being Babette. Irwins romantic rival, Terry, acted as judge advocate in the proceedings. The daylong trial ended predictably. Irwin and a second crewman were found guilty for their part in the episode, but the unusual sentence suggests that more than the interests of military justice were being served. Among the terms imposed was a requirement that Irwin and his comrade renounce all claims or interests real or supposed that they may have possess[ed] or desire to possess to and Special Regards from certain Special Ladies resident at Lake Charles & its vicinity. Irwin was barred from communicating with anyone who resided in the Lake Charles area except through such medium as the court shall appoint. Terry sent a copy of the decision to Babette with a note saying only that it was for her information, but the sentence seemed to have little effect on Irwin. If anything, he waxed more affectionate. By December, letters once addressed to Miss Babette E. Goos and signed formally Truly and Sincerely, Harry G. Irwin were sent to My Dear Babette and signed simply, Harry. Even so, Irwin realized what he was up against. I find that I have a formidable rivalin the person of Mr. Terry, he confided to Babette. I never recollected to have seen a man so deeply smitten in my life. On our trip to the boat he done nothing but sigh and has continued to do so ever since, and I fear he will never get over it. But with the war coming to an end and the Federal wounded going back home, time ran out for the dueling versifiers. In a final letter to Babette, Irwin wrote, Wherever I go, or what eer may be my fate, I shall always look back upon the recollections of the times I have passed in the society of yourself and your accomplished sisters and which I can assure you have been amongthe happiest moments of my life, and which will never be erased from memory. Memories would be all that remained. Dear Babette was flattered by the wartime attention from her two suitors, but she was also a practical girl. In 1868 she married Charles Fitzenreiter, a Confederate veteran from New Orleans. He was not very good at poetry, but he made up for that with a rather healthy bank account. Eisenhower scholars have spent much time correcting the record of his presidency, most of it distorted by biased historians and antagonistic pundits. Ikes legacy in civil rights is still the issue that spurs the most debate. Here are some irrefutable facts about what he did. First, Eisenhower desegregated the District of Columbia. When he took office in 1953, an African-American visitor to downtown Washington could not rent a hotel room, buy a meal, attend a movie or easily find a drink of water or a restroom outside the citys black neighborhoods. On the presidents orders, the Justice Department successfully argued the desegregation of D.C. restaurants before the Supreme Court; one African-American newspaper exuberantly declared, Eat anywhere! Eisenhower enlisted Hollywood moguls to pressure movie theaters to desegregate, and he and the first lady refused to attend segregated activities in the city. By the end of his first year, segregation of public facilities had virtually ended. Harry Trumans 1948 executive order to desegregate the armed forces had been only feebly enforced, but Eisenhower fully implemented it. By October 30, 1954, not a single segregated combat unit remained. After two years in the Oval Office, Ike had desegregated the Veterans Administration and military bases in the South, including federally controlled schools for military dependentsprior to the Supreme Courts landmark May 1954 Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision. In 1955, Eisenhower named E. Frederic Morrow as the first African-American executive assistant in the White House. No previous president had ever made such an appointment. He made other strong pro-desegregation appointments, including Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr., a key civil rights adviser who was instrumental in desegregating the nations capital. Eisenhower established a presidential committee to negotiate nondiscrimination agreements with government contractors and appointed a second committee to end discrimination in government departments and agencies. While these committees had no statutory authority, Eisenhower invested them with more executive authority than the committees instituted by any previous president; for example, he tapped Vice President Richard Nixon to chair the contracts committee. Eisenhower proposed, fought for and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957the first civil rights legislation in 82 years. The president presented the comprehensive bill in his 1957 State of the Union address. Contrary to the popular myth that Senate majority leader Lyndon B. Johnsons backroom dealing saved the Civil Rights Act from defeat, the bill was not Johnsons triumph; it was Eisenhowers. Johnson led Southern senators in a fight against a provision that empowered the attorney general to sue in federal court to protect a broad range of civil rights, including school desegregation. He forced Eisenhower to capitulate or face the prospect of passing no bill at all. Johnson and the Southerners also added an amendment guaranteeing jury trials for civil rights violators, a requirement that, given all-white juries in the South, made conviction unlikely. Ike pushed back and won a compromise that softened the amendment. Thanks to Eisenhowers leadership, 37 Senate Republicans supported the final version of the 1957 bill, but the Master of the Senate, Johnson, could muster only 27 Democratic votes. The legislation established the Civil Rights Commission and the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, which have publicized and prosecuted civil rights violations ever since. Eisenhower had broken the Southern stranglehold on civil rights legislation and, with passage of a voting rights act in 1960, set the stage for the groundbreaking legislation of 1964-65. Eisenhowers judicial appointments constituted his greatest contribution to African-American civil rights. On September 30, 1953, Eisenhower selected California Governor Earl Warrena man he knew was liberal on raceto replace Fred Vinson, who had died unexpectedly, as chief justice of the United States. With Congress in adjournment until January, the president made a recess appointment, freeing Warren to work immediately on the Brown school desegregation case, which the Supreme Court would hear in its December 1953 session. On May 17, 1954, Warren announced the courts unanimous decision, striking down its 1896 separate-but-equal ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson. A year later, in Brown II, the Eisenhower administrations Justice Departmentin a brief Ike personally editedproposed that school districts be required to submit desegregation plans within 90 days. But the Supreme Court chose to mandate desegregation with all deliberate speeda phrase NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall declared meant S-L-O-W. When the first Brown ruling was announced, Eisenhower immediately ordered the District of Columbia commissioners to develop a desegregation plan for the citys schools; that was accomplished within a week. In a press conference, Eisenhower made a soldierly pledge to enforce the decision without commenting on the merits of the casea move that many have misinterpreted as disagreement with the ruling. But in addition to Earl Warren, Ike appointed to the Supreme Court four stalwart supporters of desegregation: John Marshall Harlan II, William Brennan, Charles Evans Whittaker and Potter Stewart. Eisenhower also refused to appoint known segregationists to the lower federal courts. In an attempt to depoliticize the appointment process, the president and Attorney General Brownell moved it from the White House to the Justice Department and instituted American Bar Association assessment of potential nominees. When Brownell left office in 1957, Eisenhower continued to appoint pro-desegregation judges in the South. President John F. Kennedy, in contrast, returned to appointing segregationists. As a result, the civil rights movement migrated from the courts to the streets. On September 24, 1957, Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce a federal court order by one of his own appointees to desegregate Central High School. Governor Orval Faubus had deployed the Arkansas National Guard to bar nine black students from attending the school. After meeting with the president and agreeing to change the orders of the Guard to protect the black students, Faubus instead withdrew the troops, leaving the students at the mercy of the mob. That is when Eisenhower acted. In a televised address to the nation on the night of the 24th, Eisenhower vowed, The president and the executive branch of government will support and ensure the carrying out of the decisions of the federal courts, even, when necessary, with all the means at the presidents command. For decades, historians have assumed, thanks to the important legislation passed in 196465, that John F. Kennedy and Lyndon V Johnson were the eras great civil rights leaders and that Eisenhower failed to speak out on the issue. But Ikes record speaks for itself. JFK and LBJ did not commit to the cause until 1963, when horrific violence in the South compelled them to. It is time, finally, to bury the myth that Ike did nothing on civil rights. In the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower was more progressive in advancing African-American civil rights than Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson. David A. Nichols is the author of A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution and Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhowers Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy. [hr] This story was originally published in American History Magazine. For more stories, subscribe here. Ralo of Famerica and Young Scooter of Black Migo Gang are intent on uniting their respective brands and becoming a dream team thats ready to represent the streets of Atlanta. Scooter was the host of Ralos November tape, Diary of the Streets, and Ralo dropped a guest verse on the Freebandz rappers new Street Lottery 3 tape. Earlier this month, they announced Dream Team with a fresh collab titled Survivor, premiered via HNHH. The full mixtape has now arrived, and in addition to Survivor, Dream Team boasts 11 new tracks from the street-certified duo. The lone feature on Dream Team is VL Deck, and there are a range of ATLs top talents on the production side, including Zaytoven, London on da Track, and Dun Deal. Slim Thug went on his Instagram last night to respond to the shocking news of Troy Aves arrest and the accompanying surveillance footage that showed him opening fire in a backstage room at a T.I. concert in downtown NYC on Wednesday night (May 25). In a since-deleted video post, Thug seemed to censure Troy for his reckless behavior, telling him that a real-life club shooting in NYC wont play out as if it were a scene from Belly, the 1998 Hype Williams-directed film that starred Nas and DMX. T.I.s concert at Irving Plaza ended abruptly when multiple shots were fired in a backstage VIP room. One man was pronounced dead soon after the incident, and he was soon revealed to be an affiliate of Troy Aves known as B$B Banga. It was known that Troy Ave was caught in the gunfire, as he had sustained an injury and was being treated at a Manhattan hospital, where he was arrested next day. Reports now say that his gunshot wounds were self-inflicted. News of his arrest came with a surveillance video shared by the NYPD that showed Troy busting into the green room and opening fire. The 30-year-old Brooklyn rapper has been charged with attempted murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. He could face a murder charge pending the results of ballistics tests. Slim Thug began his response video by addressing the younger generation: You new n*ggas aint that smart, man. You new n*ggas be doin a lot of dumb shit. How you think you finna get away with shootin a n*gga in the club, man, he asked rhetorically, Like people aint got cameras everywhere you go nowadays man. Why is you shootin at a club in New York, where you known, and people know who you are? he continued. You was makin some money. I dont care if it was $1,000 a night whatever you perform. Get out the dumb shit, man! This not Belly! You cant just walk in there and chop it up and get away man, it aint real. Thug deleted his video post upon seeing it get covered by online media outlets. He has since shared a follow-up video post to make it clear that his original message wasnt meant as a diss to Troy Ave or anyone in his crew. When I speak, Im speakin on some positive shit, he said. I just hate to see the young homie get locked up. Slim Thug This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In the same week that shareholders rejected several climate change proposals, Exxon Mobil went out of its way on social medial to emphasize that even renewable power sources like wind need oil. And by the way, Exxon pointed out, it sells those petroleum products. On Twitter, LinkedIn and elsewhere, Exxon highlighted that wind turbines need lubricants made from oil. Without them smoothing the operations of complex mechanical components, Exxon Mobil said, wind turbines would grind to a halt. The social media posts came one day before Exxon's annual shareholders meeting. Upon the urging of Exxon's board of directors, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected four of five climate change proposals, including one to support the international climate agreement reached in Paris in December. They did, however, approve one nonbinding measure that could allow a climate scientist or expert to join the Exxon Mobil board. Help from Uncle Sam One way to survive the oil bust: Turn to the federal government. Houston-based KBR said it will buy Virginia-based Wyle - a noted government contractor - during the ongoing energy downturn. The price tag is $570 million. KBR is a spinoff of the oil services company Halliburton. The engineering and construction firm focuses largely on the oil and gas sector. The Wyle deal would make KBR a bigger government contractor to federal agencies such as the Defense Department and NASA. KBR said it would provide services that span the full lifespan of aerospace and defense programs from research and development through operations and maintenance. Houston investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said the deal doesn't make it "overly jazzed about KBR stock," but the acquisition would help diversify KBR revenues during the ongoing downturn. Back to work Baker Hughes CEO Martin Craighead thought he'd be out of the job by this time. Now he knows he still has a $20 billion company to run after the planned acquisition of Baker Hughes by rival Halliburton fell through at the beginning of May when the companies could not overcome the antitrust objections of the Justice Department. So last week, he announced a series of leadership changes to shift the oil field services giant from merging to growing. For instance, Belgacem Chariag, who worked as the chief integration officer of the merger, is the new president of global operations, leading Baker Hughes' day-to-day operations. Likewise, Derek Mathieson, who served as chief technology and marketing officer, is the chief commercial officer of Baker Hughes' newly formed commercial strategy organization, where he will lead Baker Hughes' strategic development and seek out new customers. A Houston offshore rig operator will soon retreat into bankruptcy for the second time in nine months, putting as many as 1,000 jobs in jeopardy as it prepares to liquidate its assets in the face of persistently low oil prices. Hercules Offshore, which has its headquarters in Greenway Plaza, is the first of more than 130 North American oil producers and service firms to twice seek bankruptcy protection since crude prices began their slide in the summer of 2014. Unlike many of these companies, Hercules won't reorganize and return to the oil fields; it said Friday that it plans to file a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy that will allow it to unwind operations and sell off equipment and businesses to pay creditors. The future of its employees remains unclear. Hercules reported at the end of 2015 that it had 1,000 workers worldwide, although it did not disclose how many were in Houston. The company did not respond to specific requests for comment, only forwarding a regulatory filing that laid out its agreement with creditors. The end of Hercules as an active driller may prove to be one of the more dramatic episodes of the oil downturn, but the series of bankruptcies is far from over, analysts said. Market research firm Debtwire estimates 168 North American energy companies were in financial distress this month, and that many of them will likely declare bankruptcy since they have few alternatives after already slashing costs and jobs. More Information By the numbers 2: Number of times Hercules Offshore has sought bankruptcy protection in nine months 1,000: Number of its employees worldwide 168: Number of North American energy firms Debtwire estimates is in financial distress See More Collapse "This is the worst market that most of these companies have ever been in," said Rob Desai, an analyst at Edward Jones. Desai added that will take at least two more years for the offshore drilling industry to recover. Jack-up rigs Hercules drilled primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, carrying more debt than its competitors while owning some of the industry's oldest drilling equipment. Hercules accumulated a lot of that equipment - and a lot debt - in a series of acquisitions after the oil-market crashed along with the U.S. economy in 2009. The equipment, a known jack-up rigs, stand on legs on the sea floor and have few places to drill outside of the shallow waters of the Gulf. That put Hercules at a disadvantage because the most productive days of those fields, pumped for more than a half-century, were long gone. In the years of $100 a barrel oil, when even inefficient drillers could make money, Hercules and other companies had more than 35 jack-up rigs drilling in the Gulf. Today, that figure has dropped to just five, according to the research firm IHS. Oil prices had fallen to about $42 a barrel when Hercules first filed for bankruptcy last August. When it emerged in November, crude prices hovered around $45 a barrel. But the slide soon resumed, plunging to about $26 a barrel in February. Despite eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in debt through the first bankruptcy, many investors believed the company still had too much debt on its books to stay afloat with prices falling so low, analysts said. Crude closed at $49.33 a barrel in New York Friday. "The economics have made Hercules redundant," said Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston. "The employees aren't going to be working for Hercules much longer. With any luck they'll be able to pick up positions with the people who acquire the equipment, but we're dealing with an industry that has had thousands of layoffs already." In its first bankruptcy, Hercules struck a deal with creditors to convert $1.2 billion in debt into stock. It also took on a $450 million loan to help the company keep running through the downturn. Loan default allegations Part of the loan was to cover the final payment of around $200 million for the delivery of a new generation drilling rig, the Hercules Highlander, that Hercules had ordered to undertake a five-year contract to drill in the North Sea for the Danish company, Maersk Oil. The rig was completed in Singapore and due to move to the North Sea in the first half of 2016. The plan was to start drilling and collecting payments from Maersk, which could have provided a steady of cash flow as work became difficult to find elsewhere. But things began to fall apart in April. Certain creditors alleged Hercules had defaulted on the $450 million loan by failing to meet deadlines for offering collateral for the loan and consolidating a foreign subsidiary with another unit, according to regulatory filings. Hercules denied it had defaulted. The lenders who alleged the company was in default were not identified in regulatory filings. But they stood to collect $136 million on top of the $450 million if Hercules failed to meet the terms of the loan. SAN DIEGO - An environmental assessment from two federal agencies released Friday determined that fracking off the coast of California causes no significant impact, thus lifting a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing that was instituted earlier this year. "The comprehensive analysis shows that these practices, conducted according to permit requirements, have minimal impact," Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said in a statement. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Q: How do I make my computer stop bugging me about upgrading to Windows 10? I am on Windows 7 and quite happy. A: Microsoft has done something different with the release of Windows 10. Rather than sell it as an upgrade, the company is giving it away as, more or less, an update. It's kind of tricky because one of the updates from Microsoft is the application that keeps popping up and nagging you about upgrading. As long as this update is installed, your computer will not leave you alone. On top of this, the update will download the install package for Windows 10 that consumes about 6.5 gigabytes of disk space. To be rid of this nag once and for all, you will need to remove the update. The update in question is KB3035583, and to remove it you will need to click Start and type View Installed Updates and then hit Enter. This will bring up the console that shows all of the updates that have been installed on your computer. Look for KB3035583, click on it one time and then click Uninstall. Follow the prompts, and then reboot. Now, you will want to make sure it doesn't come back. Click on Start and type Windows Update. Let the system check for new updates and when it finds KB3035583, you will want to right click it and choose Hide Update. If you see anything else relating to Windows 10 in here, you can hide them as well. If you don't feel like going through all of that, you can use a free app called Never 10. Not only will this get rid of the nagging, it will clean up that 6.5 gig installer file if your system decided to download it. Q: I can't seem to print a PDF file sent from my accountant. The document is encrypted. Is there any way to print this out? A: PDF files are designed to be difficult to modify. This is to help protect the integrity of the data in the file. Of course, if you have a program like Adobe Acrobat (not Acrobat Reader), you can readily edit most PDF files. However, encryption of a PDF file will make it where you cannot edit the PDF file without a password. Encryption can also include placing additional restrictions on the document. If you need to print the information, I suggest having a conversation with your accountant to see what your options are. Last year I wrote about a "death list" of energy companies that some analysts believed couldn't survive a prolonged drop in oil prices. Turns out it wasn't far off the mark. Energy XXI was one of the most endangered, according to the Oxford Club, an investor newsletter based in Baltimore. David Fessler, the club's energy stock analyst, made the determination based on the company's debt compared to equity and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. This week we learned that Energy XXI is indeed over-leveraged at current oil and natural gas prices. The Bermuda-based company with its headquarters in Houston said Tuesday it won't make payments due on two loans totaling $1.54 billion. The company has a 30-day period to reach an agreement with lenders before its creditors could push it into bankruptcy. Also highlighted last year was Halcon Resources Corp., another Houston-based company. The management team didn't take questions during its recent conference call and has hired financial and legal advisers to help it figure out how to deal with its enormous debt, small cash flow and few remaining options. Other companies on the Oxford list are also troubled. Magnum Hunter and Vantage Drilling have declared bankruptcy; Linn Energy, Goodrich and Warren Resources are likely to file soon and Hercules Offshore may put itself up for sale. Fessler's logic, and those of other analysts who made similar lists, was sound. Too much debt compared to equity and earnings is a bad thing, especially in a commodities business known for extreme swings in prices. If executives and investors learn no other lesson from the 2014 collapse of the oil and natural gas sector, let it be this one. After Prince died, my Facebook newsfeed filled with mourning. My friends shared the time he sang "Starfish and Coffee" with the Muppets, told stories of going to concerts and explained in detail how much he meant to them. For a week, city halls across the country got lit up in violet. I teach ancient Greek literature and culture at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and this struck me as both strange and familiar. I sometimes feel closer to the ways of the ancient Greeks than to modern Americans. Yet as I looked at my Facebook feed, I was seeing Greek in all the purple. Traditionally, Americans haven't mourned in public. Funerals here tend to be private affairs - an interior scene at a funeral home, a few family and friends, some flowers. Big politicians may have public funerals, but most funerals - even for celebrities - are closed. Traditionally, too, we let the dead be dead: We may speak in whispers at the wake, but we don't speak of the dead as still living. Instead, we call that "being in denial." But mourning online is changing our rituals. Not only do we mourn people we do not know personally, but the Facebook pages of deceased friends have the potential to live on, turning into spaces where friends and family write public messages, expressing intimate details for all to read as though the person were still alive, or just off vacationing in Thailand. Take this recent post on a deceased Facebook friend's page: "It's been about a year since you've passed and I never got to thank you for being the mentor that you were for the better part of the last decade. I had moved just a couple of weeks prior to your passing and I regret not having paid you a last visit before I'd left." These new forms of grieving erode traditional American boundaries between public and private, and the living and the dead. But in fact, this manner of mourning is really old. Public mourning and maintaining connection with the dead were big in ancient Greece (as they are in other countries today). Funerals were spectacles during the archaic period, the eighth to sixth centuries B.C. Mourning was part theater, part opportunity to show off and part power play. Aristocratic factions made sumptuous displays of their wealth. Groups of women sang dirges over the body of the deceased in elaborate choral performances. Rival families competed to outdo each other with offering baskets to the family of the deceased. Greek mourners also spoke directly to the dead. In the laments that survive, women directly address their deceased male kin because those relationships gave women their identity in the first place. In Homer's "Iliad," after Patroclus, Achilles' closest and dearest companion, is killed, a crowd of women sing lamentations. Briseis (Achilles' war captive) begins. She has watched her entire family die; she has been given over to Achilles to live as a slave. But Patroclus was always kind to her, and she will miss his gentle nature, the way in which he provided comfort in a war-torn world. Her lament is a way of readjusting to a world in which he will no longer offer this solace. She mourns the death of a part of herself. When I read my friends' Facebook posts about Prince and David Bowie, I hear similar sounds of Greek lament. We tell the world that in our morose teenage years, we were consoled by listening to "Ziggy Stardust." We remember dancing to "Raspberry Beret" as a bright spot in a tough summer. We mourn the loss of those who shaped us, who provided kindness in a complicated world. We mourn the death of a part of ourselves. Prince and Bowie were cultural icons who, among their many contributions, questioned typical gender roles. When we listened to their music, we could step outside of ourselves for a little while. Our public manner of mourning these particular figures honors the way they resisted the constraints imposed by traditional male and female roles. Ancient Greek funerals also carried subversive undertones. Funerals allowed women an opportunity to step outside of their traditional roles. Women had few political rights and funerals were pretty much their only opportunity for public self-expression, so they made the most of them. Ancient tragedies (the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides) feature mourning women using their laments as a means of resistance to those in authority. When we mourn the passing of a celebrity on Facebook, to some extent, we are permitted to step outside of our regular role and display a connection with someone we don't know. Mourning on Facebook offers us a chance to do something we couldn't otherwise do. Prince's family isn't going to let me go to his funeral. Nor is David Bowie's. Like the Greeks, we also sometimes struggle for control over the memory of our heroes. For the ancient Greeks, a hero was an intermediary figure between mortal and immortal, one who had the power to help friends and harm enemies from beyond the grave. The thing is, you usually needed the dead body of the hero buried in your territory in order to make use of its powers. If a deceased individual was deemed a hero, a struggle over the corpse could ensue. A classic hero in this sense was Oedipus, as portrayed in Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus at Colonus." Because an oracle said his dead body would bring victory in war, his hometown of Thebes tried to gain control over his corpse, even before he died. To spite them, Oedipus died in Colonus, after announcing that his cold corpse would drink the Thebans' warm blood. Recently, my friends have stopped sharing links about Prince and the Muppets and shifted to posting articles on opiate addiction. Are we digging up Prince's body and moving it to Sparta when we emphasize his possible struggles with pain and pills? Laurialan Reitzammer is associate professor of classics at the University of Colorado. This essay first appeared in Zocalo Public Square, a not-for-profit ideas exchange that blends live events and humanities journalism. Andre Sam-Sin tugged on one thread from the family tapestry and followed it to China. He could've chosen another and ended up elsewhere; it's a varied embroidery. Sam-Sin, who records and performs music as DJ Sun, was born in Holland and grew up in the South American country of Suriname. His father's ancestry is African and Chinese, and his mother was born in New York and raised in the Caribbean. For more than 20 years, he's called Houston home and is currently the music programmer at The Flat in Montrose. The thread he pulled was bound to Soon Sam Sin, an ancestor who left China in 1858 for indentured servitude in Suriname. With support from Asia Society Texas Center, Sam-Sin and photographer Jasmine Lee Richardson spent 10 days in China, visiting that ancestor's hometown and his point of embarkation, where he left his native country for good. "I proposed to them a story," Sam-Sin says. "Something behind where you come from. To explore life that way with audio and video." Their travel and research yielded "QINGXI" (sounds like kingsy), Sam-Sin's third album as DJ Sun and a gorgeous piece of music - ambient and evocative and built around synths, electronics and field recordings. Originally performed at Asia Society with the accompanying visuals, "QINGXI" has more recently been released as a standalone album. "QINGXI" gets its name from a city in south China that was home to Sam Sin more than a century ago. Sam-Sin arranged the album into seven thematic chapters that twist together moods inspired by that ancestor's journey and his own. A year after returning, Sam-Sin continues to exude awe over his travel. He scrolls through hundreds of cellphone photographs, stopping at one of a beekeeper. "Maybe it's just me, but can you see some resemblance there?" he says. The beekeeper proved crucial to the trip's success. Armed only with Google Translate and some information by professors and scholars, Sam-Sin felt disoriented upon arrival in China. Trying to explain his project, he didn't find much warmth at first. "People see a camera or my little field recorder, and they'd turn off," says Sam-Sin, who has hosted the Soular Grooves show on KPFT for 20 years. "One shopkeeper asked if I had a permit, but it wasn't clear what kind of permit. My intuition was it was about money. But this beekeeper, he took me in with open arms." The beekeeper lived at the foot of a mountain in the Qingxi Forest. He shared cultural information and honey and set a more positive tone for the remainder of Sam-Sin's visit. So the album opens almost tentatively with the slow-moving "Nature; Forest," before Sam-Sin moves into a more sprightly sound with a pulsing beat and little fuzzy pulses on "Beekeeper." Sam-Sin sought ties to the past, so he reached out to several scholars, including Tjon Sie Fat, who spent his life studying Chinese migration to Suriname, a pattern that began in the 1850s with the abolition of slavery. Indentured servitude became an early substitute and likely drew Sam-Sin's ancestor to the country. He steered Sam-Sin toward cultural touchstones - towers and burial grounds - built by the Hakka people from the part of China his ancestor called home; Hakka commonly made the trip from China to Suriname. He later visited Macau, the city from which this ancestor would have departed. The historical district of this island city west of Hong Kong is intact, giving Sam-Sin and Richardson a sense of the region more than 150 years ago. Another professor pointed out the barracoons, holding rooms for indentured servants and the likely quarters for his ancestor. Amid the sights and sounds, Sam-Sin found himself contemplating the reasons behind his ancestor's travel at age 20, during a time of war and governmental unrest. "Was it hardship that made him leave?" he says. "Could he have been tricked? Did he have gambling debts? Or was it some sense of elation instead? Looking for a greener pasture He had to know he was starting a new life and he'd never see the old life again." Some parallels are easy to find between Sam-Sin and his ancestor. Their journeys took them to new places. Sam-Sin's father worked with Alcoa, so when Sam-Sin was 14 he found himself living in Victoria, a striking change from the cultural mix in Suriname. "QINGXI" closes with "Journey; Sailing," a composition that gently begins with sea sounds and little Caribbean drum signature, before settling into a mix of peppery percussion and dreamier synth sounds. The piece suggests possibility and a new start. Both Sam-Sin and Sam Sin found new homes at the end of their journeys. Sam-Sin moved here in 1993 to attend the University of Houston and never left. "From a musical standpoint, Houston provided tremendous opportunity," he says. "Maybe it's not the same as L.A. or New York. But it's been a great place for me to be. There's no reason to leave." And though he sees "QINGXI" as a snapshot of the past, he also thinks it provides a map going forward. Given his far-flung ancestry, Sam-Sin is eager to begin again the process of research and roaming, finding inspiration for sounds while considering the complicated concept of home, wherever that may be. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate First, Andy Nixon sought God, then he joined a church of mumblers. Seated among Methodist worshipers on a Sunday morning, he strained to read their lips as they launched into a muddy and - to him - unfamiliar recitation. "Our Father, which art in heaven," he thought they were saying, "hallowed be thy name." For the young college student, the product of a secular Texas upbringing, much about Christianity seemed a mystery. "I never had read the Bible before. I never prayed with any regularity," Nixon said. " I went to church and learned as much as I could. In the wee hours of the morning, I had this overwhelming sense that this was my moment to say yes to God, and I did." Today, at 46, with a Yale University divinity degree and a solid record in the ministry, Nixon is poised to take the helm of downtown's First United Methodist Church, a landmark Houston congregation that traces its past to the city's earliest Anglo settlement. When he delivers his first sermon in July, he will find a financially robust institution that faces both promise and peril as it moves into the 21st century. During the 15-year tenure of the Rev. Stephen Wende, who will deliver his final sermon on Sunday, First Methodist retired $15 million in debt. Under Wende's guidance, First Methodist nurtured its suburban Westchase satellite campus, endeavored to reach out to a greater cross-section of city residents, including the homeless, refreshed children's programs and, in 2014, launched a contemporary ministry targeting young professionals flocking to the city's center. Bishop Janice Huie of the denomination's Houston-based Texas Annual Conference lauded Wende for his stewardship and praised Nixon for the "enthusiasm and creativity" he evinced in his last posting as leader of The Woodlands United Methodist Church's young-adult ministry. "I can't wait to see what new ministries and people he brings to First United Methodist Church, Houston," she said of Nixon. Still, as one of the few remaining churches in downtown Houston and as an outpost of a mainstream Protestant denomination suffering dramatic membership declines, First Methodist confronts stern challenges in coming years. Though First Methodist's Sunday attendance has hovered at about 2,000, membership has dropped from almost 10,000 in 2004 to little more than 4,500 today. Wende attributed some of that decline to an updating of membership rolls, which contained names of those who had died or relocated. But he conceded that shifting demographics also played a part. Only four major churches remain in downtown Houston, and at least one of them, the Episcopal Christ Church Cathedral, once had considered closing. In March, the midcentury chapel of First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 1720 Main, was sold for possible conversion into a special events venue. Wende, though, expressed optimism that downtown's demographics are about to shift again. More than 3,000 residential units in the city's heart are expected to open in the next few years. "Houston, I believe, is on the way back to having a truly vibrant downtown," he said. "And First UMC has been and, I believe, is making the moves necessary to be a key part of that." Beyond demographics, though, First Methodist may suffer from membership ills affecting its parent denomination and, on a larger scale, mainstream Protestant churches across the country. As the Methodist church's foreign congregations continue to grow, membership in the United States plummeted to 7.3 million in 2014 - down about 500,000 from 2009. In March 2015, a top Methodist economist warned other church leaders that the denomination had just 15 years to reverse the downward trend or its American operations might collapse. Although a generation separates them, Wende and Nixon share commonalities in background and vision that portend a smooth transition in church leadership. Both were born in the Dallas area, graduated Yale and disconcerted their parents by choosing careers in the church. Both have significant experience in building congregations. Wende began his pastoral career in 1976 in Kingsville, where he employed the shoe-leather method of church building: knocking on doors and inviting folks to church. In 1980, he and his wife, Karin, relocated to San Antonio, where, over 21 years, Wende was senior pastor of the suburban University United Methodist Church. Fueled by young worshipers associated with a nearby medical center - the median age of members was 31 - the congregation grew from 300 to 5,000 members during Wende's tenure. While associated with the San Antonio church, he obtained a doctor of divinity degree from Princeton University. In 2001, Wende received an invitation from Houston's First Methodist - a position that, at first, held little appeal for the pastor, his wife and two daughters. "Our kids grew up there," Wende said of San Antonio. "We expected to stay there. That church had been both mother and daughter to us." Still, after meeting with church leaders, he said, "We had the realization that this is where God wanted us to be. God was telling us where we were going to move, and we never second-guessed that feeling." As Wende's personal career grew - he served on his denomination's Board of Ordained Ministry, Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry and Task Force for Evangelism - so did his ministry. In Houston, First Methodist renewed its commitment to its city ministry. "First Methodist," Wende said, "was and is a grand church." In addition to English, sermons were preached in Spanish and groundwork laid for Asian-language ministries. Outreach was extended to the homeless, with church pastors hitting the streets to offer religious comfort as well as food and other necessities. Emphasis was directed to programs for children and youth, and, in 2014, $500,000 was spent to renovate the sixth floor of the church's century-old building for use as a contemporary worship center for young adults. At that time, downtown's population, consisting largely of young professionals, numbered more than 3,000; about 9,000 more lived just south of the business district in Midtown. The new ministry, The Source, featured contemporary music and a self-expressive worship style. Its pastors were young and savvy. One wore a nose stud. Unlike Wende, Nixon was reared in a nonreligious family - a circumstance, he said, that colors his ministry to others outside the church. "Education was our God," he said of his suburban Dallas youth. But once in college, where, like Wende, he anticipated studying law, he discerned something was missing. He began studying religion: Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism. Then he had a dream. In the dream, Jesus, clad in a purple robe, knocked on a closed door. As the door dissolved into drapery, Jesus entered Nixon's room and looked at him. Nixon awoke. "I knew that was my invitation to follow him through that door," he said. "I knew that if I did, I would find what I was meant to find." After graduating Washington and Lee University with a degree in political science, he entered Yale. His first posting after ordination was in Arkansas. During his six years as senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Maumelle, Ark., attendance quadrupled. For the past six years, he has led The Loft, a young-adult ministry at The Woodlands UMC, where attendance swelled from a few hundred to 1,600. During the past two years, he also has led RockTheWord, which assists "kingdom-minded" nonprofit groups and churches in humanitarian efforts. Currently, the organization is engaged in $11 million worth of undertakings, including orphanages in Guatamala. Nixon acknowledged that churches "do not always do a good job of explaining their faith and practices to those who are not familiar with them." As a pastor with The Loft, Nixon said, he strove to "meet people as they came." Nixon said he drank countless cups of coffee with the unchurched as they poured out their travails. "They told me of their search for meaning in life, things going on, their struggles," he said. "Slowly, conversation after conversation, I started to understand." Like Wende, Nixon believes downtown Houston, after a number of false starts, is poised to attract an influx of largely young-adult newcomers. And though young adults, studies indicate, are among the least religious, Nixon said he found the group "deeply spiritual." "They are extraordinarily mission-driven," he said. "They are the strongest generation in wanting to make an impact in the world for the benefits of others. They've grown up with social media, and sometimes they've searched all over the Web for information on religion. They may take a little bit of this and that. But I find the idea that they accept nothing - that they are 'nones" - is a vacant description and inaccurate." Nixon said First Methodist has made significant progress in addressing the needs of various church constituencies. "First United Methodist has made the decision to be a pentecostal church in the best sense," he said. "It has dedicated itself to speaking the word of God in the best fashion, be it in a traditional mainline service, a highly experimental modern, relaxed worship environment, or in Spanish or any of the other languages we try to add. We will continue to be creative and innovative." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Historically, shotgun houses were much a part of the city's working-class African-American neighborhoods. The tiny, narrow structures were a constant theme in the works of artist John Biggers, whose artistry transformed a symbol of poverty into one of pride in the black community, particularly in Third Ward. The houses were designed with rooms one behind the other, so the term "shotgun" referenced the idea that a gun could be fired straight through the house without hitting a wall. They were also called row houses. It was this symbolic architecture that captured the interest of artist Rick Lowe when he moved to Houston in 1985. At the time, Lowe, a trained painter from Alabama, was creating works with political themes. He corralled his artists friends to create a united force to get their art in museums and galleries. They decided to create their own space. In 1993, Lowe and six other African American artists took over a block of empty shotgun houses on Holman Street in Third Ward, inspired by Biggers' work. The group - Lowe, James Bettison, Bert Long, Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, Bert Samples and George Smith - established Project Row Houses, a community-based arts and culture non-profit organization designed to give African-American artists an outlet. They initially turned 22 shotgun houses into art installations. More Information PROJECT ROW HOUSES 2521 Holman St. 713-526-7662 www.projectrowhouses.org UPCOMING EVENTS 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Saturday "Art Thinking" with Kenneth Bailey Design Studio for Social Intervention co-founder Kenneth Bailey leads an art-pundit quiz show open to all artists, administrators, board members and arts policy makers. 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. June 4 Toxic Tour with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services A tour of the East End of Houston, where roughly 30 refineries and chemical plants surround neighborhoods where thousands of people live, work and attend schools. See More Collapse Project Row Houses helped revitalize the community, becoming a national benchmark as a mechanism for social change. "When we started, it was on some level to honor the work of John Biggers, who gave us a different narrative of what a shotgun is and needs," Lowe said. "It has a much broader value to the community. It has become a vehicle of change and a symbol of the hopes and dreams of a community." Project Row Houses today covers six blocks. The group established the Row Houses Community Development Council in 2003 to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households. The council now manages 72 low-income rental units, three commercial buildings and 15 houses for arts programs. In addition to art spaces, the organization provides housing for young mothers, tutoring and educational support, a community market, a food co-op and the historic Eldorado Ballroom and Dupree Park, which is located across the street from Project Row Houses. DiverseWorks, a Houston alternative arts organization, helped secure the project's first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1992. Project Row Houses later received a $150,000 Ford Foundation grant, as well as support from other foundations and corporations. With two rounds of exhibits each year, the organization has nurtured a generation of artists, including students from neighboring Texas Southern University, a historically black university. "Project Row Houses provides an opportunity for our students to have a serious studio experience, which elevates them in their own careers," said Alvia Wardlaw, director and curator of the University Museum at TSU. "Rick's fundamental idea of taking the houses and transforming them into art spaces, while involving the community, was groundbreaking. To have these living and breathing spaces be utilized, in a way, is the passing of the tradition of neighbors looking out for and impacting one another." In 2014, Lowe was awarded the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, which has allowed him to channel more resources into the organization's growth. The prestigious award for creativity came with a $625,000 grant to be paid over five years, with the flexibility to pursue artistic, intellectual and professional activities without any strings attached. When President Barack Obama learned about Lowe and his MacArthur award, he appointed him to the National Council on the Arts. "Lowe's pioneering 'social sculptures' have inspired a generation of artists to explore more socially engaged forms of art-making in communities across the country," the MacArthur Foundation website says of his accomplishment. Social sculpture is an art form Lowe helped pioneer, and Project Row Houses is a national model for how art can revitalize a neighborhood. What's next? "We're now trying to generate more support for the artists to help sustain themselves," said Lowe, who credits supporters such as State Rep. Garnet Coleman for shining a light on the organization's work. The city's $33 million revitalization of Emancipation Park, just a few blocks away, will help shape the organization's future. The park will have a new community center, recreation center and swimming pool. "It will bring people from all across the city, so we are looking into - and bracing ourselves for - how to extend our cultural program to capitalize on the influx coming into the park," Lowe said. "Third Ward is not only a place with lots of history, but it also has people who embody that history. We're working to find ways to grow and walk within the complex dynamics of economics and race to fully embrace what Third Ward represents as a force in America." Lowe has traveled the world lecturing and working on projects that reference Project Row Houses. Now, he hopes to bring the world to Houston. He said the group is currently exploring a partnership with the University of Houston to develop a center for social and community engaged art that will offer fellowships, symposiums and seminars. "It will help shine a light on Houston as being one of the most significant places in the country when it comes to arts and community development," he said. Meantime, Lowe continues to garner national recognition for his work. He recently received an honorary doctorate degree from Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles and served as the school's commencement speaker this month. "One of the biggest responsibilities of artists is to utilize their creativity to push things," he said in his address to the class of 2016. "That's the one thing that we should always hold dear. We don't accept things as they are. We want to push them further." AUSTIN - This just in: San Antonio novelist and Our Lady of the Lake literature professor Nan Cuba has left her husband Don for the ghost of Texas' most notorious serial killer. Not only is she spending time with "one-eyed drifter" Henry Lee Lucas, but her monthslong fling with a most unpleasant man is taking place in one of the most idyllic Texas places I know: J. Frank Dobie's Paisano Ranch, 14 miles southwest of town. Tucked away in a canyon guarded by limestone bluffs that channel a twisting, curling Barton Creek, the ranch is named for the swift, intelligent bird we also call the roadrunner. Nan is a friend (at least, I hope she is, after the National Enquirer-style opening of this column). She's also this spring's Paisano Fellow at the ranch, one of two writers the Texas Institute of Letters has chosen annually since 1967 to spend half the year living and working in the house the iconic Texas writer and folklorist enjoyed as his country getaway. At Paisano she's writing a novel loosely based on extensive research she did as a journalist in the 1980s on "the origins of extraordinary violence," with Lucas at the center of her tale. "I see it as a kind of dark comedy, something like the Coen brothers might do," she told me on a recent Saturday over chicken-salad sandwiches and iced tea. Four of us - Nan and me, my wife Laura and Paisano director Michael Adams - had lunch on the covered front porch of the modest house where Dobie and his writerly pals often talked deep into the night about life, literature and Texas. Iced tea, I'm pretty sure, was not their drink of choice. The only thing dark at lunch was the looming, lightning-streaked bank of clouds rolling in from the west. Adams, well aware of how the stream over the low-water crossing can instantly become a torrent, kept an eye on the clouds. Clouds of a metaphorical sort loom over the ranch's future, and thus the future of the prestigious fellowship. Paisano used to be an isolated Hill Country retreat where deer, coyotes and wild turkey wandered at will. It's still wild, but isolated it's not. High above the creek, sprawling cliff-side houses built in the last 10 years are visible from portions of the 254-acre ranch. Paisano's owner, the University of Texas at Austin, knows it has a $6 million property on its hands, undeveloped property available for the use and enjoyment of only two artists annually. "No writer's retreat offers this much time, this much space, this much money," Adams told me, his words punctuated by occasional claps of mighty thunder. Soft-spoken and unassuming, the Killeen native, 69, is a UT-Austin English professor, as well as volunteer fundraiser (UT provides no funding) and hands-on caretaker. He's devoted to Paisano - to the place and the idea - but he knows the program has to adapt. "We're at a turning point," he said. According to the Handbook of Texas, the first owner of the land was James S. Burton, who surveyed it about 1860. Burton sold it in 1863 to Frederick and Lucy Kunze, who built a log cabin a few hundred yards from the spring-fed stream. The present six-room house - three bedrooms with a modern kitchen and bathroom - surrounds that cabin; a portion of the original hand-hewn cedar wall is visible in the main hallway. The idea to use Paisano as a writer's retreat came a few months after Dobie's death in 1964, during a conversation among Bertha McKee Dobie and two of her husband's friends, Frank H. Wardlaw, director of the UT Press, and Lon Tinkle, an SMU English professor and Dallas Morning News book critic. Another Dobie friend, Houston oilman Ralph A. Johnston, paid $76,200 for Paisano to take it off the market and then sold it to UT for $10. He concluded the deal on Aug. 6, 1966, two days before his death. 'The biggest break' Almost every writer in residence at Paisano has been mesmerized by the experience. In the words of the late A.C. Greene, who wrote "A Personal Country" at Paisano in 1968, "It has been a time to find time, a period and a suspension beyond and above the claws of care, beyond the reach of daily drudgery and worry which frustrates creativeness." Stephen Harrigan, author of "Gates of the Alamo" and many other novels, received what he calls "the biggest break of my career" in 1977. "It came at a point in my life when I was a new father, had no money, no time, and no place to write," he wrote in an email. "All at once I had a stipend to live on for six months and all day to work, and 254 bucolic acres to wander about in. I came to Paisano with about 50 manuscript pages of my first novel, 'Aransas,' and left with a completed book. I was there with my wife Sue Ellen, our 6-month-old daughter Marjorie Rose and a lumbering black dog named Eulissa. The dog was in heaven, and so were we." Nan is equally enthralled. A writer, teacher and founder of San Antonio's Gemini Ink, a nonprofit literary center, she published her debut novel, "Body and Bread," in 2013 to widespread acclaim. Now, at 68, the Temple native is the grateful steward, for a little while, of precious time and place. She described a portion of her Paisano experience at the Texas Institute of Letters' annual banquet a few weeks ago: "Every day, something new appears: an iconic roadrunner skittering parallel with the fence; a flock of turkeys on the front lawn, the tom's tail feathers flaring as he struts his mating dance; a black vulture flying so low you hear his wings whoosh ... white-tail deer galloping across the road; coyotes howling from what seems like your front door; and yes, rattlers in the cacti and cottonmouth in the creek." Eye to the future At her desk day after day, she works, uninterrupted, on the novel she's calling "He Didn't Kill Nobody But Mom." (Husband Don, a San Antonio attorney, visits regularly, despite his wife's "fling" with a serial killer; he loves fly-fishing in the creek.) Although the deed entrusting Paisano to UT-Austin stipulates that the ranch "will be operated by the university as a permanent memorial to J. Frank Dobie," Adams feels a sense of urgency about securing its future. He realizes he must strike a delicate balance - opening Paisano to wider use while preserving the serenity that nurtures creativity. He's set up the nonprofit Friends of Paisano - chaired by Cheryl Duff of Houston, Ralph Johnston's granddaughter - and proposed a master plan that includes an environmental preservation strategy and an expanded program for accomplished writers beyond Texas. British writer Jim Crace is the first recipient of the $10,000, monthlong J. Frank Dobie Residency. "My goal is to make this the most prestigious literary retreat in the world," Adams says. It already is, as far as Nan is concerned. Although she's been marooned by high water the past few days and is running low on food, she's in no hurry to leave. "Dobie's ranch" she says, "is sending me into my next life." She calls it Eden. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MAGNOLIA _ Cody Munlin usually takes his custom blue Jeep with 52-inch tires for a spin at an off-road park, but Friday morning the super-sized sport utility vehicle made several rescues through 4-foot flood water in Magnolia. A half-block section of the sloping road, the only way in and out of the Mills Creek Landing subdivision, flooded, stranding residents after as much as 10 inches of rain from powerful thunderstorms hit Montgomery County between Thursday and Friday. Once again, heavy rains led to deaths, flooded roads, damaged homes, power outages, flight cancellations and school closures in the swath of Texas between Houston and Austin. "It is absolutely ridiculous," Waller County Judge Trey Duhon said. "We are not catching a break right now." In Washington County, at least one person was killed and another went missing when floodwaters swept away their vehicles, said Sheriff Otto Hanak. The area was battered with nearly 20 inches of rain Thursday, almost half the yearly average for the county seat, Brenham. Washington County Judge John Brieden, who didn't release details on the drowning, said they are not sure whether a second death there is from drowning or a heart attack. Another man, who abandoned his flooded car, spent hours in a tree before being rescued by a boat, Brieden said. About 40 children spent Thursday night at a Brenham elementary school after buses were unable to get down flooded roads. An Austin-area official reported two people missing from a vehicle. At least 100 homes near Austin were damaged, and nine people were rescued by helicopter from roofs and cars in the area. Washington County performed 50 high-water rescues of residents stranded in cars and houses, while Montgomery County conducted at least 150 by early Friday in The Woodlands, Magnolia, Conroe and Willis. Some 50 roads remained flooded midday, but even more roads were washed out, undermined or otherwise impassable, said Brieden, including Business Route 36 at Brenham's Fireman's Park. Brieden has declared the county a disaster area. On Tuesday, he expects Commissioners' Court to confirm that and ask the state - and ultimately FEMA - for relief. "It's a slow process and we will have to be reimbursed" for work done, he said. At least two American Red Cross shelters were opened to help flooded residents Friday. In Magnolia, Munlin, a 41-year-old inspection engineer, and his friend Matt Boike, 33, started performing their own high-water rescues Thursday night. Boike picked up a neighbor and her three kids and drove them through the flooded road to the other side, where her husband was waiting. "When it rains like this, it's what we do," said Boike, a subsea engineer. His house didn't sustain water damage but a few trees fell in his yard, one on his driveway. They drove the Jeep, nicknamed Beast, over the yard to get out. Munlin and friends attached a boat to the back of the Jeep to get more people across the waist-high water. At one point, six utility workers hitched a ride to cut downed trees out of power lines to restore power to the area. As of Friday evening, 14,000 homes were without power, according to CenterPoint. When Munlin learned a video of one of his trips across floodwaters racked up 13,000 views on Facebook, he shouted to his towering ride, "Beast, you're famous!" Couldn't get home Other neighbors with average-height vehicles couldn't make it home Thursday night. Katherine Shiflet got a call from her neighbor who told her water was rising fast. She asked her to break a window and get her two dogs out, both in kennels. While Shiflet thought the flooding looked worse than it did in April, one thing was better. This go-around, she had flood insurance. It kicked in five days ago. The deluge also shut down several school districts, including Montgomery and Willis. Nicole Vance, a junior at Magnolia High School, drove around Mills Creek Landing Friday with her mother, Alice. Vance looked forward to the start of summer vacation after her last final. Instead, school was canceled. Willis ISD announced Friday that students will not be required to make up the day, but other districts did not detail their plans. The Vance family moved to Magnolia about a year ago, and had grown a bit wary of the aftermath of bad weather. After clearing out downed trees from the April 18 rains, a few more fell down Thursday night. They drove by a house with a downed white picket fence, a "for sale" sign stuck in the grass. "Poor people just put the house on the market a week ago," Alice Vance said. Complicated logistics At the Independence Food Center - known locally as the general store, or just Mike's - in north Washington County, the customers, none of whom had any property lost, had only one conversation topic: how to get from here to there. With so many roads damaged or flooded, a simple trip to Navasota became the stuff of complicated logistics. "How did you get here?" one man asked an older customer. "Helicopter," he said wryly. Claire Wackman, who had driven to Brenham the previous night through sheets of rain and constant lightning -"Spiderwebby, and big, thick bolts," she said - needed to get to her job in College Station. How to do so without backtracking and adding dozens of miles to the journey seemed impossible. "I don't think there's a way for me to go," she said. The National Weather Service predicts a drier forecast through much of the weekend, with a 20 percent to 30 percent chance of rain each day, before another system approaches the area during the middle of next week. Montgomery County opened an emergency shelter at the Wildwood United Methodist Church in Magnolia. Emily Foxhall contributed to this report, which contains material from the Associated Press. The Texas prison system is exposing elderly, ill and disabled inmates to dangerous heat conditions with limited access to safe drinking water, a public health expert testified Friday. Michael McGeehin, a national expert on heat exposure, told U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison that the situation is urgent at the Pack Unit in Navasota, where inmates are trying to force the state to provide an alternative to well water that contains elevated levels of arsenic. "If you're asking me if I can say to a captive population, 'You should continue to drink this water until it gets fixed,' I can't," testified McGeehin, a former division director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. McGeehin capped two days of testimony from authorities in corrections, health and environmental regulation this week as the inmates seek an emergency injunction to force state action. The judge said he could rule on the question of an alternate water supply as early as next week. "It's clear we are all uncomfortable with the circumstances under which these men find themselves," Ellison told the attorneys Friday. Six inmates sued in federal court in 2014 over what they say are inhumane conditions that violate their rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are seeking to turn the case into a class-action lawsuit, which could have broad implications for inmates and prison staff across the state and in other jurisdictions where prisons lack air-conditioning systems. The inmates' lawsuit was triggered by an unprecedented heat wave in the summer of 2011, when 10 inmates died of heat exposure in non-air-conditioned Texas prisons. Two more inmates died from extreme heat in 2012. The families of eight of those inmates filed separate wrongful death suits in 2012 and 2013. Not an 'emergency' The latest lawsuit is the first to challenge state standards for Texas inmates in non-air-conditioned prisons. It was filed by minimum-security inmates at the Pack Unit whose ages, health conditions or psychiatric medications put them at higher risk for heat-related illness or death. The plaintiffs include a morbidly obese 61-year-old who takes medication for schizophrenia, an obese 72-year-old with hypertension and depression that requires medication and 70-year-old with diabetes, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The federal suit claims the heat conditions are not only dangerous but also punitive and calls for the judge to compel the prison to reduce the temperature to a safe level or move vulnerable inmates to safe dorms during heat waves. Lawyers filed the emergency motion seeking an injunction to remedy the compromised drinking water. Arsenic has been found in the well water at the Pack Unit at levels that violate the Environmental Protection Agency's cap for safe amounts, and the Pack Unit operates one of 60 Texas water systems that are out of compliance with the federal standard, according to testimony from Michael Honeycutt, director of toxicology at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Prior to 2001, the EPA's cap for safe amounts of arsenic in an aquifer was 50 parts per billion (PPB), Honeycutt said. A federal law lowered the cap to 10 PPB, he said, and enforcement of that level began in 2006. The Pack Unit put in a new filtration system in 2007, but the water still tests at 25 or 30 PPB, he said. Honeycutt, however, told the judge that the EPA's own recommendations indicate that even those elevated levels do not "constitute an emergency" and would not require anyone to avoid drinking the water. When the inmates' lawyer, Jeff Edwards, asked Honeycutt if he would drink the Pack Unit water, he said he would. Water remedies sought Cody Ginsel, the deputy director of management operations for Texas prisons, testified that he drank two glasses of Pack Unit water the other day. Ginsel said bringing in water and making ice for over 1,400 inmates presented a storage problem. Bottles of water at the commissary sell for about 30 cents but not every inmate has the resources to purchase bottled water. The prison recommends inmates drink up to 2 gallons per day when the heat index rises above a certain level. State criminal justice and environmental officials told the court the water quality must be remedied, and the government has taken steps to make changes. However, state experts said they do not consider it an emergency. A new filtration system should be installed in the unit perhaps as early as January 2017. High doses of arsenic over a long period of time can cause lung, bladder, kidney and skin cancer, said Heidi Bojes, director of environmental injury epidemiology and toxicology at the Department of State Health Services. Bojes testified Thursday, however, that she did not believe the levels inmates were ingesting at the Pack Unit are perilous. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Even without the broken nose and concussion, there's little doubt the October night would have ended badly for Michael Alaniz. The 28-year-old construction worker had gone to a nightclub with a friend, who drank too much and started vomiting inside. Alaniz, the son of a former deputy constable, waited outside as requested by security. But when his friend didn't emerge, he tried to go inside to find her. By the time morning arrived, he'd been arrested for misdemeanor trespassing, strip-searched, beaten and left unconscious in a cell in a Harris County jail, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court. The suit, which seeks a minimum of $500,000 in damages, accuses two unidentified jailers of using excessive force and violating his constitutional rights as he was processed into the jail. "There's a difference between controlling an inmate and abusing an inmate," said his attorney, Allen H. Zwernemann, as the pair stood outside the jail Friday, about an hour after filing the suit. "They clearly crossed a line." A sheriff's spokesman referred questions to the Harris County Attorney's Office, citing the pending lawsuit. "Our Office has just received a copy of the lawsuit filed today," wrote Robert Soard, first assistant county attorney for Harris County, in an email. "We are reviewing these allegations and will respond at the appropriate time." The suit comes as the sheriff's office has faced withering scrutiny for its treatment of jail inmates. A Houston Chronicle investigation last year into the deaths of dozens in the jail found numerous problems with medical care and excessive use of force. The county recently announced new initiatives aimed at reducing the number of people in jail, particularly those facing misdemeanors, and announced a new screening process to help judges decide which suspects awaiting trial can be freed without bail. 'There was no reason' An off-duty sheriff's deputy handcuffed Alaniz as he tried to re-enter the Metropolis & Extravaganza club on Richmond Avenue on Oct. 24. Houston police responded and arrested him on two misdemeanor charges - trespassing and possessing a small amount of marijuana. Police took him to Harris County's Little Baker jail, where guards strip-searched him - despite his protests - in an area where he could be seen by dozens of male and female inmates, the suit says. Alaniz, a slim but spirited construction worker who stands 5'6" and weighs less than 150 pounds, asked for the jailers' names and badge numbers, but they ignored his request, the suit says. The two jailers - both of whom stood around 6 feet tall and appeared to weigh upwards of 250 pounds - led him to a holding cell, where Alaniz said they slammed him to the ground and beat him so hard he lost consciousness for about two hours, according to the suit. He woke several hours later, with blood seeping down his face. He asked repeatedly for medical treatment but was not taken to the clinic until a day and a half later, where medical personnel prescribed ibuprofen, the suit says. He reached a plea bargain with prosecutors two days later after pleading no contest to the trespassing charge. The marijuana charge was dismissed, and he was released from jail the next day, still sporting two black eyes. His father, Daniel Alaniz Sr., insisted he go to Ben Taub Hospital right away. Doctors there told him he had a broken nose and a concussion. "It was a total injustice," said the elder Alaniz, who worked in law enforcement for three decades before resigning recently to care for his ailing wife. "There's no reason at all for what they did. As a father, it comes straight home. I was upset about it, seeing him hurt, the way he was." In one of his first jobs, the elder Alaniz worked at a private jail company. "There was no reason for us to ever hurt or abuse anyone like that," he said. "This is just something that was wrong with these jailers that should never have happened." Consequences continue The jail stay caused much than an unpleasant weekend, Michael Alaniz said. He lost his job after his boss told him he couldn't show up on a construction site until his injuries healed. The beating left him with painful headaches and nightmares, and - despite the fact that his father was a deputy constable with the Harris County Precinct 6 Constable's Office - a paranoid feeling every time he saw a police car. "I've never been knocked out, ever in my life. Never gotten in a fight," he said Friday. "For it to be the first knockout or someone to really hurt me, from a cop, from someone who's supposed to protect me and make sure I'm OK, that was really It was unbelievable. It was stunning to me, how they would treat somebody." Zwernemann said the jailers used excessive force. "We're innocent until proven guilty," he said. "When you're being detained pretrial, you're afforded every right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Those rights were clearly violated." Months after his ordeal, Michael Alaniz remains unbowed. "I just want justice," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BAGHDAD - Five days into an Iraqi military operation to push Islamic State fighters out of Fallujah, residents still inside the city are preparing for a long battle, with some saying they fear being trapped between forces they don't fully trust. More than 50,000 people remain in the center of the Sunni majority city, which has been under control of the extremist group for more than two years. Those who want to leave describe deteriorating humanitarian conditions, but they also say they are wary of the Iraqi government forces who have pledged to liberate them. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the offensive late Sunday night. Backed by airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces are tightening their grip around Fallujah and dislodging IS militants from key areas. "The airstrikes are almost constant," one man said by phone from inside the city Thursday. The resident said that after living for weeks on rice, canned food and processed cheese, those stocks were beginning to run low. While many in Fallujah welcomed the takeover of the city by the Sunni-led Islamic State group as an alternative to what they considered their marginalization at the hands of Iraq's leaders, humanitarian conditions in the city have deteriorated. Located 40 miles west of Baghdad, the city has a history of anti-government sentiment in post 2003 Iraq. After the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam Hussein, the city's 250,000 residents initially supported a Sunni insurgency that rose up against U.S. forces and the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. Militants from al-Qaida in Iraq fought two bloody battles with U.S. troops in Fallujah in 2004 that killed more than 100 Americans and wounded more than 1,000. In 2012, Fallujah was the heart of an anti-government protest movement that mobilized tens of thousands across Sunni areas. The demonstrations were sparked by then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's increasingly sectarian rule that many Sunnis felt had left them without a voice. Clashes between Iraqi security forces and protesters killed dozens in Fallujah, with thousands of young men arrested. Shortly after a bloody raid on a Fallujah protest camp in early 2014, Islamic State militants moved in and took over the town. IS later captured the second-largest city of Mosul and then swept toward Baghdad in a blitz that seized nearly a third of Iraq territory. As Iraqi government troops surrounded Fallujah in summer 2015, residents began reporting increased cases of malnutrition, with the siege preventing food and medicine from entering the city. This week, as the fighting intensified, food and water are becoming even harder to find, residents said. The Iraqi forces don't want the militants to escape the city, and coalition officials estimated earlier this week that 500-700 IS fighters remain in Fallujah. Iraqi military officials insist that safe "corridors" will be established to allow civilians to flee, but residents say IS-controlled checkpoints along the city's main roads have made that nearly impossible. The United Nations said nearly 800 people have fled in the past week. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HIROSHIMA, Japan - President Barack 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 has 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 advance only in fits and starts. "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." 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 later from the effects of radiation. Among the dead were thousands of students mobilized to clear fire breaks in preparation for conventional bombings like those that had hit other Japanese cities. 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 equaled about 16,000 tons of conventional 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 Sadako's memory; Obama gave two of his own to local schoolchildren, and then left two more alongside his inscription in 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," he wrote. In his address, Obama acknowledged that he would fall short of his goal of nuclear nonproliferation that he declared in 2009 at the start of his presidency in a speech in Prague. 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 world's nuclear arsenal "is not enough," he said. "We must change our mindset about war itself, to prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after they've 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. " REYHANLI, Turkey - Throughout the fiasco of the Pentagon's $500 million effort to train and equip a force of Syrian rebels to take on the Islamic State, one small group endured. The New Syrian Army completed the U.S. training course in Jordan, infiltrated into Syria and then, in March, without fanfare or publicity, seized a pinprick of territory from the militants at the remote Tanaf border crossing with Iraq. There they have remained, holding their ground without deserting, defecting or getting kidnapped, unlike many of the other similarly trained rebels whose mishaps prompted the program's suspension last year. Even this modest success is now in jeopardy, however, following an Islamic State suicide attack earlier this month. An armored vehicle barreled into the rebel base shortly before dawn on May 7, killing a number of them and wounding several more, said Lt. Col. Mohammed Tallaa, a Syrian officer who had defected and is the group's commander. The Washington Post agreed not to reveal the precise number of casualties - and the number of rebels at the base - for fear of further endangering the rebels who remain. But, Tallaa said, the attack came as a heavy blow to a force that was already small and suffering from a lack of weaponry and equipment that he claimed had been promised but not delivered. Those who survived are now questioning whether they want to remain at all in their sparsely defended desert outpost to await further attacks, Tallaa said in an interview near the southern Turkish town of Reyhanli. More Information ISIS gains ground near city of Aleppo Militants of the Islamic State group on Friday seized a string of villages from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border in rapid advances that forced the evacuation of a hospital and trapped tens of thousands of people amid heavy fighting, Syrian opposition activists and an international medical organization said. The advances in the northern Aleppo province brought the militants to within 2 miles of the rebel-held town of Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south, another rebel stronghold north of Aleppo city. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Watch said around 165,000 civilians are trapped near the Turkish border as a result of the fighting. Associated Press See More Collapse "I'm not saying the Americans let us down, but there is dereliction of duty. They are not doing what they could," he said. "We don't want the Americans to disrespect the lives of our men." 'We think they can hold' A U.S. military spokesman said warplanes responded to a plea for help when the base was bombed but did not arrive in time because the attack happened too fast. A number of airstrikes have since been carried out against Islamic State positions in the area and new supplies of weaponry have been delivered, said U.S. military spokesman Col. Steve Warren. He said the U.S. military believes the group will survive. "They still have Tanaf, they have been resupplied, and we think they can hold," he said. "We think they have enough firepower, and we are providing support with airstrikes as available." The suicide bombing has further exposed, however, the shortcomings and mistakes that have bedeviled from the outset the U.S. effort to build a force of Syrians capable of taking on the Islamic State. The $500 million Pentagon program conceived by President Barack Obama two years ago got off to a slow start, with the training only beginning last spring. Months later it was suspended, after the first group of trainees was kidnapped by Jabhat al-Nusra and the second group defected, handing over some of their weapons to the al-Qaida affiliate in the process. In March, the training was restored, with the less ambitious goal of working with existing rebel groups in northern Syria's Aleppo province. Those groups are now battling for their survival against Islamic State fighters advancing in the area around the town of Azaz near the border with Turkey. In the meantime, however, the Pentagon has forged ahead with a different alliance, with the Kurdish People's Protection Units, which is seen as a rival or worse by many Arab rebel groups. The group, known as the YPG, is responsible for almost all of the territorial gains made so far against the Islamic State in Syria. Who will on ISIS? As the United States accelerates plans to advance deeper into the Islamic State's Arab strongholds, including a U.S.-backed push by a mostly Kurdish force toward the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, the need for an Arab force that can win the loyalties of those who are living under militant control is growing more urgent, said Bassam Barabandi, a Syrian diplomat from the Deir al-Zour area who defected and lives in Washington. "This is not a Kurdish fight, it's an Arab fight - and most of the Arab Sunnis want to be part of this fight," he said. "The only vehicle that exists is the New Syrian Army, and I have heard from many people that they want to be part of this army." Meanwhile, the New Syrian Army has been left feeling abandoned and vulnerable in its isolated base. It has carried out a number of operations against the Islamic State, always with U.S. support, U.S. officials and rebels say. But it never received the weapons and equipment it had hoped for, the rebels say. It was always assumed that more rebels would join the force, but the suspension of the program meant that none did. The original group of 50 trained by the U.S. military did later increase their numbers by recruiting and training extra fighters themselves, but the force remained far smaller than had been anticipated. "If the program continues like this, there will never be an army big enough to fight ISIS," Tallaa said. "And more than that, we will lose the guys we already have." (Thumbs up) Surf over to artinamericanmagazine.com for Bill Arning's take on the Bayou City art scene. Arning runs the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, our mecca for innovation in the visual arts. His piece is part high-minded essay on Houston art trends, part travelogue, part biography of local artists. He writes, "Houston has often been compared to Los Angeles during the mythic period in the late '60s when it began to manifest its own artistic identity, going through a period of not caring what New Yorkers thought about its homegrown genius art-makers." (Thumbs up) After failing to bigfoot the Austin City Council into relaxing the way it screens drivers, ridesharing company Uber picked up its toys and left town. This week, a group of Austin technology entrepreneurs announced plans to launch a nonprofit answer to Uber beginning next month. "We are coming together to heal the wounds and move forward," said Joe Liemandt, one of the founders of RideAustin. Uber, by the way, is making the same threats in Houston. (Thumbs up) Mayor Turner pulled off a budget magic trick this week that's unprecedented in recent memory. He bridged a $160-million budget gap weeks ahead of schedule, did it without any protest from councilmembers and finished with the process before lunch. Maybe the council didn't join hands and sing "We Are the World," but there were a minimum of layoffs, council members got to keep their slush funds and he squeezed the TIRZ boards, which need solid auditing anyway. That's all good, but there's still a looming pension problem, a campaign promise of hiring 1,000 police officers and unfunded problems like Zika and flooding. So is it a good deal? That answer will come from the ratings agencies. (Thumbs down) In the "he broke it so maybe he can fix it" department, the Houston Municipal Pension Board has brought back David Long to be its executive director. More than a decade ago, Long orchestrated changes to the pension that drove a previously balanced system into a ditch. Former Mayors Annise Parker and Bill White were aghast at the move. "It's a huge problem for the city and for the pension that they've brought David Long back," Parker said. Mayor Turner, who will need to work with the board, was sanguine in his assessment. "I don't care who's at the top," he said. (Thumbs down) Democrats can't seem to get much right these days in Texas. So when they tried to have a Sunday forum for candidates seeking a vacant Harris County commissioners seat, what happened? The sound system failed, emitting eardrum bursting screeches. If you've ever wished you could be deaf to political speech, this debate delivered. Who was responsible? The event was hosted by the Communication Workers of America, who you think would know something about sound. (Thumbs down) HISD administrators were among the distinguished participants in editorial board meetings this week. After listening to them, we turn thumbs down to the Texas Legislature and our courts for a financing system that penalizes children. Three-quarters of HISD students come from low-income households and often need extra support, yet the state is saying the district must send $165 million in local taxes back to Austin to redistribute to other districts. By the way, some of that money goes into the general fund. The Legislature could fix the problem next session, but it will be preoccupied with who uses which bathroom and, of course, open carry part two. (Thumbs down) Speaking of transgender bathrooms, Pearland ISD has hit a new low After the Department of Justice released guidance about accommodating transgender students, Superintendent John Kelly told a community newspaper, "A hostile vocal minority now rules in America aided by an apathetic, unengaged majority. 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." Of course, Kelly's tirade prompted an angry board meeting. We look forward to another one next week where Kelly apologizes for his shortsighted, insensitive view and for bringing his religious views into a domain that is supposed to be nondenominational and inclusive. Precious gifts Regarding "Scalp transplant patient a hair better than year ago" (Page A1, May 15), James Boysen is a very lucky man to have been given this first-ever successful surgery. His gift was multiplied threefold by receiving the same donor's kidney and pancreas. The gifts that James received were donated from my nephew, Jeff. Jeff's heart was also donated and received by his mother's friend who was running out of time waiting for a donor. Once again, doctors were astounded that the heart was a perfect match. Jeff would have turned 34 on May 13. It has been a year since he left us and helped others with his passing. My best wishes for James and his miraculous new start in life. Susan Nadon, Colorado Springs, Colo. Roots of conflict Regarding "Israel celebrates 68th birthday after solemn Memorial Day" (HoustonChronicle.com, May 14), exactly a century ago, an English lawyer and a French colonel working for their prospective governments unrolled a map of the Middle East and drew straight lines across the desert. With one pen-stroke, English diplomat Sir Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francois Georges-Picot created the modern states of the region and carelessly lit the fuse of a thousand conflicts that blaze even today. By drawing a line from Iraq to the Mediterranean, they ignored the ethnic, tribal and religious divides. In this way, Britain and France carved up the Middle East after the First World War, jointly committing a heinous crime that has led to current tragedies in the region. They did it by lying and deceiving the Arabs. They told the Arabs that if they rise up and join the British and French to defeat the Ottoman Turks they will eventually be free and independent and choose their own governments. Ever since, the people of the region have seen only misery. This is a major factor in the rise of ISIS to power. They already are claiming that they have destroyed the Sykes-Picot border line between Syria and Iraq. Ahmad Solomon, Houston Science skepticism Regarding "On fracking earthquakes, science is far from settled" (Page A17, Thursday), Scott W. Tinker, state geologist of Texas, says that there is no such thing as "settled science." In a sense, he is exactly right. Many of the great names we revere in the history of science, such as Galileo, Darwin and Pasteur, challenged the received science of their day. If new views could not challenge established ones, science could not progress. In another sense, however, it is misleading and dangerous to say that there is no settled science. It is one thing for received science to be challenged by better science. It is something else entirely for a scientific consensus to be rejected because that consensus conflicts with ideology or profits. Scientific skepticism is indeed the lifeblood of science. Dogmatic denial by vested interests is profoundly anti-scientific. The situation becomes dangerous when law or public policy is not guided by the scientific consensus but instead defers to the anti-scientific agendas of ax-grinders or big money interests. Keith M. Parsons, Friendswood The Texas Supreme Court forecast a scary future for Texas kids with its Friday the 13th school finance decision earlier this month. While the court repeatedly acknowledged serious flaws in how we support public education, justices refused to do anything about it. What's the point of having a right to education enshrined in the Texas Constitution, and a third branch of government duty-bound to protect it? Having served as a constitutional lawyer for years before coming to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, I am still shaking my head. The ruling comes as the state of Texas kids becomes increasingly dire. We rank 41st in child well-being, with serious disparities between and within our communities, and a chronic underinvestment in public education, as the CPPP's "State of Texas Children" report noted last month. In order to fulfill our promise to the next generation of young Texans, we must ensure that all kids get a quality education, no matter where they live or what their background. The court took a very narrow view of our school finance system and found the structure of the system to be relatively unchanged since the last legal challenge. As a result, the court ruled that the system meets minimum constitutional requirements. In her concurring opinion, Justice Eva Guzman stated, "Good enough now, however, does not mean that the system is good or that it will continue to be enough. Shortfalls in both resources and performance persist in innumerable respects, and a perilously large number of students is in danger of falling further behind." The court, through its opinion, made very clear it is the responsibility of the Legislature to decide the level and quality of public education in the state. Unfortunately, the Legislature has repeatedly turned its back on our children and abdicated its responsibility by settling for the bare minimum. Where do we go from here? We must not let anyone assume that the court provided a victory for Texas' kids. The court did not endorse our school finance system. In fact, it joined the chorus of parents, education advocates and more than half of the state's school districts in calling on the Legislature to revamp the current system and create one that fits the 21st century. That call on legislators to act is growing more critical by the day. The student population in Texas has increased by 20 percent in the past 10 years, and more than 60 percent of Texas kids are considered poor and in need of additional support. Under-resourced and undervalued by our Legislature, schools and teachers are under the increased strain and demand for meeting ever-higher standards. Today, fewer than 1 in 4 eighth-graders can pass the state's reading test, and only 20 percent will go on to college and complete a postsecondary certificate or degree. Let's be clear: This isn't just a fight about funding. It is a fight to decide the number of students per classroom. It is a fight to determine access to science labs, computer courses, and art and music instruction - things that keep students engaged and eager to learn. And it's a fight to ensure that all children, regardless of economic background or the color of their skin, receive the same access to a high-quality education. Our school finance system is in need of a remodel. The basic structure of our system is actually quite strong and has some innovative elements. But it has been more than 20 years since the Legislature studied what it actually costs to meet the increasingly tough academic standards Texas has set. Some of the formulas we use to fund public schools have not been updated in nearly 30 years despite changing technology and student demographics. Our great state has overcome significant political hurdles in the past to make commonsense policy decisions for our kids. In the late 1990s, CPPP worked to establish the Children's Health Insurance Program in Texas and then to extend the same kind of easy enrollment and renewal of Medicaid for children. Back in 1999, fewer than 1 million Texas children had health insurance; now, 3.5 million are covered between CHIP and Texas Medicaid. It is time for the Legislature to make overdue investments in education. The children of Texas deserve a high-quality education, not the bare minimum. Beeson is executive director of the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities. If you were tasked to create a state government from scratch, what would it look like? Would you envision a governance structure that calls for statewide elected officers to regulate agriculture, state-owned land and oil and gas, while tasking the executive branch with appointing the heads of transportation and environmental quality agencies? Doesn't make much sense, does it? But in Texas, that's exactly how it's done. The governor appoints the leadership of several essential agencies that oversee some of the state's most important functions, including the Texas Transportation Commission, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Public Utilities Commission. Conversely, Texas law calls for the election of a single agriculture commissioner, a land commissioner and a three-member Railroad Commission that regulates oil and gas and has absolutely nothing to do with railroads. Many contend that this setup, which was put in place more than a century ago, makes little sense today. Across the country, several states use a cabinet system in which the governor appoints most agency heads. Only 12 states elect agriculture commissioners and just two elect oil and gas regulators. With the goal of increasing efficiency and transparency in state government, we think restructuring is a concept worth exploring. One option to consider includes a series of constitutional amendments that would be put forward for voter approval to make changes to the way the state's administrative officials are selected. The agriculture commissioner would be appointed by the governor rather than elected. The Railroad Commission would be renamed the Texas Energy Commission and combined with the Public Utility Commission, led by three appointed commissioners. This would facilitate a more comprehensive, coherent energy policy that would make the governor responsible for the regulation of electricity generation and distribution, telecommunications, and oil and gas development. Finally, the General Land Office would be abolished and its functions transferred to other existing state agencies. Oversight of beaches would be delegated to Texas Parks and Wildlife, management of the Alamo to the Texas Historical Commission and management of public lands and the Permanent School Fund to the Office of the Governor or the Comptroller. The last time the state undertook a structural change was in 1996, when voters approved a constitutional amendment to abolish the Office of State Treasurer, which was said to be duplicative of the functions of the state Comptroller's Office. The treasurer's duties were transferred to the Office of the Comptroller. As populations grow and needs change, we must strive to streamline and modernize government to ensure the most effective provision of state services. Though the status quo is comfortable and change rarely is, we must resist the temptation to avoid major overhauls that will ultimately improve our state. If we want to change government, we need to change its architecture. Shaking the pillars of government can and often does lead to great outcomes. Larson, a Republican, represents the San Antonio area in the Texas House of Representatives. Never mind Texas. Don't mess with New Mexico! Apparently, it's the Land of Enchantment you have to be careful with if you're a demagogue running for president who portrays Mexico as corrupt and Mexicans as predators. If you're peddling insults and intolerance, you might want to steer clear of those parts. Latinos make up as much as 48 percent of the state's population, and politics there has more sting than a bucket full of scorpions. For New Mexicans, the toughest decisions often come down to a choice not between red and blue but between red and green. While it has a Republican governor, the state is solidly Democratic. Most people know who they're going to vote for, and the only unanswered question is what kind of chile to put on their enchiladas. My father's family comes from New Mexico. My grandparents were married in the southern part of the state, where two of my uncles were born. I still have cousins who live there. And I've covered political happenings in the state - from nearby vantage points such as Arizona, Texas and California - for nearly 20 years. And so I wasn't at all surprised when Donald Trump's appearance at a campaign event in Albuquerque was disrupted last week by activists who oppose his message. There were protests inside the arena and rioting outside. Protesters clashed with police, waved Mexican flags and destroyed property. There's no defending violence and mayhem: The protesters were out of line. Still, what I find appealing is that - in a country where many Republicans who a few months ago were declaring "never Trump" are now embracing the businessman as their party's nominee - New Mexicans aren't going to play that game. They're standing their ground. It starts at the top, where Republican Gov. Susana Martinez refused to appear with her party's presumptive presidential nominee. Last month, she called Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it unrealistic and irresponsible. Four years ago, Martinez said much the same thing about Mitt Romney's plan for illegal immigrants to "self-deport." Martinez spared herself from having to spend an afternoon with Trump by claiming she was "really busy" and "focused on what is going on here in New Mexico." One of the things "going on" in New Mexico is that a lot of people in both parties seem to be disgusted with the mouthy mogul from Manhattan. In most places in America, the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock aboard the Mayflower in 1620 are considered the first settlers of the New World. But in New Mexico - where the capital, Santa Fe, was founded in 1607 - the world was already in full swing by the time the pilgrims came ashore. It's also surrounded by a handful of other Southwestern states - Arizona, Texas, Utah, Colorado - that were, like New Mexico, once part of old Mexico. In the South, Midwest or Northeast, when discussing illegal immigration, the narrative is about an unabated flow of unlawful intruders who trample our borders at will and sometimes compound the insult by committing crimes when they get here. But in New Mexico and the rest of the Southwest, you'll find plenty of people who think the real danger in this debate are those people who divide the population, stoke racial hatred and turn immigrants into scapegoats for all of society's problems. As we have learned over the last year, Trump is the constant critic who doesn't take criticism well. He responded to Martinez's snub by accusing her of "not doing the job" and blaming her for the state's economic woes. Is attacking, in such personal terms, the only Latina governor in the country part of Trump's strategy for winning Latino support? Amid all this acrimony, it's mind-boggling to think that some political observers keep suggesting the governor might make a good running mate for Trump. Wouldn't the fact that Martinez is obviously repulsed by the creep, and refuses to be seen with him, present a slight logistical challenge? Navarrette's column is syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group. Attorneys arguably are only as good as their ability to find the best test case on an issue and bring a lawsuit in the most appropriate, friendliest venue possible. Doing so takes some work, though, as two aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton were reminded earlier this month when they arrived at a Wichita Falls ISD board meeting. As first reported by The Texas Tribunes Morgan Smith, they went to the May 16 meeting as the school board was considering whether to adopt a policy regarding gender assignments to restrooms. This has come from the attorney generals office, who have asked us to look at a policy here and (they said) they would be willing to, on our behalf, go and take this to the court system, said Trey Sralla, the boards vice president. Sralla explained to the other members that, according to the boards own attorney, the school district already had an administrative policy that was compliant with Title IX and the federal governments Dear Colleague letter on transgender students rights in schools with regard to federal non-discrimination protections. The move has riled up Republicans, especially in Texas, who see the letter as a last-minute executive power grab by the president. If someone showed up tomorrow and said they want to use a different restroom, then administratively we could tell them no, Sralla said. If they didnt like that answer, they could take steps I guess youd have to go through the grievance process and then they could take it on to a lawsuit if they wanted to. In other words, there is already a longstanding district practice that allows for case-by-case accommodations for any student who had a specific concern. However, the state wanted us to put into policy, Sralla told a local radio station last week. In a way, they wanted to use Wichita Falls a little bit as a pawn, to be honest with you, to go out and test this in federal court. Nobody was in any rush to change anything in Wichita Falls, so Paxtons team had to move along, then, which is how they arrived at tiny Harrold ISD, about 35 miles northwest of Wichita Falls. Harrolds Superintendent David Thweatt said yes and the rest, as they say, is history. Rest assured the lawsuit is about more than public policy , though. Im fighting back, a fundraising email from Paxtons campaign said, adding that he has enraged the liberal and the radical left with his lawsuit against the Obama administration. If you support what I am trying to accomplish, I need your help. Citing a critical June 30 campaign finance report deadline, Paxton then makes his plea for donations. Your support will send a message: I stand with the Texas Attorney General in his efforts to stop an out of control President, the email concludes. That same day, according to the Chronicles Andrea Zelinski, Paxton attended a political fundraiser for himself at the Austin Club. Bill Miller, the prolific Austin lobbyist, said the attorney general told his guests that if were a superintendent right now, what would he do, hypothetically of course? And he said, If I were a superintendent, dont do anything, according to Millers retelling of it. Just as well. It took a little traveling, but Paxton found what he needed this week: a new lawsuit on political friendly ground for him and a reason to energize his donor base. He can take it from here. The following are excerpts of reports generated by the Texas County Sheriffs Department: A 66-year-old Houston woman reported on May 25 that food, movies, pots and pans had been swiped from her Highway B residence. There are no suspects. A 49-year-old man came to the TCSD office on May 25 and reported that a chainsaw had been stolen from the Royal Oak Charcoal plant on Sumpter Drive at Raymondville. There are no suspects. A deputy was dispatched May 12 regarding a report of property damage at the Lynch Township shed on Boiling Springs Road. A township representative showed the officer where the windshield of a backhoe and tail light of a tractor had apparently been shot with a BB gun. There are no suspects. A Houston man reported on May 23 that his dog had been shot at his Piney Drive residence. A veterinarian who examined the dog said it had not been shot, by had likely been in a dogfight. A Houston woman reported on May 18 that a man had taken her car from her Mineral Drive residence. The woman opted not to pursue charges. Texas County Jail admissions May 23 Anthony R. Spencer Licking PD hold Nathan C. Young failure to appear May 24 Kevin D. Morris Johnson County hold Kent L. Garn Jr. passing bad checks May 25 Marilyn S. Matherly failure to display plates Jessica L. Sedrick burglary Miguel Stolsmark failure to display plates, speeding Lyndall M. Masterson possession of controlled substance Thomas J. Smith burglary May 26 Sean M. Rief involuntary manslaughter Susan L. Dixon stealing Steven R. Parker no drivers license 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. VANCOUVER Canadians should be asked in a national referendum if they want new pipelines so the issue can be settled once and for all, says businessman and TV personality Kevin OLeary. The question should be clear, OLeary told CPACs Peter Van Dusen from the Conservative party convention, where he is testing out the waters for a possible leadership bid. Advertisement Do you want to build pipelines to the East to West Coast of this country? Yes or No? If 51 per cent want to do it, we now have a moral mandate and we dont need to listen to squabbling politicians anymore, and we drive the process through, said OLeary. If he runs for the Tory leadership, OLeary said his message will be focused on government waste and the fiscal direction of the country. Frankly, Im pissed off and I want to do something about it. This is a good place to start, he said. Advertisement OLeary said he bought a Tory membership some 48 hours ago before addressing delegates Friday afternoon as part of the conventions showcase with other potential candidates. Delegates greeted him warmly but some of his critics, such as Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, have been forthright in suggesting OLeary isnt welcome in the Conservative tent. To them, the TV personality had a pretty clear message: Forget about the past, you just lost. That policy doesnt work. That history doesnt work. That message didn't work. This whole party has to reconstitute itself and get in sync with the voting constituency if it ever wants to have a control mandate again, he said. Apparently ... Im leading in the polls. Oh golly, what do I do with that? Many people dont agree with me. I dont care, OLeary said. Im interested in one thing and one thing only: changing the financial and fiscal policy of this country. Its broken, its incompetent, its stupid, its almost physically criminal in some cases. I cant stand seeing my money pissed away, and thats exactly whats happening. OLeary became a multimillionaire in 1999 when Mattel acquired his educational software company. He has gone on to a broadcast career as a financial commentator. Advertisement To those who fear an OLeary run would mean a Donald Trump-like candidate in the race, he said he had no interest in selling an divisive message. I want this party to be an inclusive party. Theres no wall in this country. Im half Lebanese. Im half Irish. I was born in Montreal, Canada. The greatest city on earth, in the greatest province in Canada,, he said. Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary speaks during the Conservative Party of Canada convention in Vancouver, Friday, May 27, 2016. (Photo: Jonathan Hayward/CP) The Tories cant out-Liberal or out-kumbaya Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, nor can they do more sit-ups or selfies, but they can point out how his economic policy will fail miserably, he said. Advertisement The best thing politicians can do for Canadians is get them jobs, he said. No rush to make decision Despite Obhrais comments that OLeary is better suited for the NDP, the outspoken businessman said he feels warmth and energy everywhere. He boasted of an ability to reach 2.1 million Canadians weekly on TV, and said he could probably raise money very quickly if he wishes. Luckily, I have a lot of my own, so to the extent I can use it, I will, OLeary said. Canadian election rules prevent wealthy candidates from bankrolling their own campaigns. OLeary suggested he is in no rush to launch his leadership bid. Its far too early for anyone to announce now, he said. But, he also told CPAC that he might decide to play the role of a kingmaker and help anoint somebody else. I could also make one of these people leader, he said, pointing to the convention floor. Apparently ... Im leading the polls. Oh golly, what do I do with that? Also on HuffPost Conservative Convention 2016 See Gallery Political conventions can be predictable: speeches, applause, debate, repeat. So you can't blame Tory MP Arnold Viersen for taking things to a whole other level. The Alberta MP unleashed two minutes and 36 seconds of rhymes in a video played at the Conservative party convention in Vancouver on Friday. Advertisement "Conservative guys and Conservative gals, you wanna lead this party, you gotta be like our pals," Viersen raps. Yes, raps. Viersen's incredible talent was shown as part of "Tory Talks," a special session where Conservatives presented their ideas for the party, serious or otherwise. "My big idea for the Conservative Party is that we should have the leadership debates in the form of rap battle," said the Peace River-Westlock MP. Advertisement He certainly threw down the gauntlet with gems like: "Guys and gals, we need a selection, for the general election. Gotta pick a candidate, to rock our party's mandate." And that's not all. Viersen also impersonates eight potential leadership candidates, including MP Michael Chong. "I'm your man and yes you can Believe in democracy, it's my policy Electoral reform, transparency's the norm. A vote for me makes Canada strong and free." Put a beat to it Apparently, we had something to do with it. "The Huffington Post put a beat to my farm support statement a couple of weeks ago," Viersen told us in an email. "Since then my colleagues have been bugging me about being a rapper so I thought I would just humour them." Sorry/you're welcome. With files from Althia Raj Also on HuffPost Sinead OConnor once lamented the price of fame in a song called Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home. Well maybe success has made a failure of our housing market, too. Those massive increases in house prices weve seen in recent years (at least in the greater Toronto and Vancouver areas) are beginning to create serious affordability issues and not just for people trying to get into the market. Advertisement According to a new report from TD Bank, one of the country's biggest mortgage lenders, the rising cost of housing in Canada is causing buyer gridlock Canadians are increasingly deciding its just easier to stay put than to upgrade to a better house. As prices rise, the gap between lower-priced and higher-priced homes grows. That means upgrading to a bigger home requires a larger mortgage, or drawing down your savings, even if your existing home has grown in value. Would-be sellers of entry-level homes have seen less price appreciation relative to homeowners within the trade-up segment, wrote Beata Caranci, TDs chief economist. The widening price gap between an entry-level home and a trade-up home becomes a barrier to entry for existing homeowners. Advertisement In Toronto half a decade ago, a typical detached home cost a little over 1.5 times the typical condo. Today, a detached home costs more than two times a typical condo, the TD Bank report found. The situation is more extreme in Vancouver, where a typical house now costs 3.5 times a typical condo. That is, youd need to own 3.5 average condos in order to trade for a single house. That, Caranci says, is at least partly behind the major decline in houses for sale in Toronto and Vancouver. If you cant afford a new home, you wont be selling your old one. Advertisement Rising prices, shrinking supply: The higher house prices get, the fewer homes there are on the market. (Charts: National Bank Financial) Holding back millennial would-be buyers, too Buyer gridlock isnt just affecting those who already own homes its having an impact on would-be first-time home buyers. When existing homeowners give up on buying a home, they keep their house off the market, and that sends prices up. Millennials absorb the trickle-down effect of buyer gridlock, Caranci writes. It limits their options available for purchase. And, after making the plunge, it can prevent a move to the next step. The age of Home Depot Unable to upgrade to a home they can afford, many Canadians are instead spending money on home renovations, in an attempt to turn their existing homes into an approximation of their dream home. Advertisement While that has been very good for the home-reno business, the trend is actually making things worse for those young would-be home-buyers. A home conversion can take what was once considered an entry-level detached residence into the category of a trade-up, further tightening the available and affordable supply at the lower end of the market, Caranci writes. Only a recession can fix this (and it might not) Theres a chance that this problem could be solved by a downturn in the housing market, which could compress the price gaps in different types of housing, Caranci writes. But the catalyst for a housing downturn would likely need to be a nationwide economic recession, Caranci writes. Theres no get-out-of-jail-free-card on this board. TD Bank chief economist Beata Caranci And even if a recession tanked the housing market, it might not help. Land constraints, government policies (like high-density building requirements) and an increasing trend towards urbanization mean demand for single-family homes will likely stay stronger than demand for condos, Caranci suggests. Advertisement Judging by the 2008-09 experience [when Canadian house prices saw a steep but short-lived decline], the degree of narrowing in the price gap would be limited, the TD Bank economist says. Theres no get-out-of-jail-free-card on this board, she concludes. Also on HuffPost: Rona Ambrose is seen during question period in the House of Commons. (Photo: Adrian Wyld/CP) These next few days are like festival season for political people: in Winnipeg the Liberal party is gathering for the 2016 Biennial Convention while over in Vancouver, the Conservative Party are also in the midst of their national convention. Gender equity and increasing the number of female candidates will be a hot topic for both. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his core team have made this a clear priority for this Liberal Party and for the Conservatives, a more gender inclusive party has to be an essential part of their renewal efforts. Advertisement The bar has been raised on expectations. And yet, despite PM Trudeau's ground-breaking appointment of our current gender balanced ministerial cabinet, Canada still has a long way to go before the political landscape is conducive to supporting genuine gender equity. There's the everyday sexism that Michelle Rempel described in her op-ed; the near daily online abuse that Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips says she receives and the hard fact that the numbers of women elected to the House is only incrementally advancing. Canada still has a long way to go before the political landscape is conducive to supporting genuine gender equity. According to the UN a minimum 30 per cent female representation is required to actually have an impact on policy and practice and to reap the benefits that increasing the number of female representatives would generate. Advertisement And to be clear, the case for gender equity in Parliament goes beyond arguments of fairness and representation (even though those should be enough). Research consistently shows that increasing gender equity in government (just as in the private sector) results in increased prosperity for a greater number of citizens. So why are we stuck? Although political parties, activist organizations like Equal Voice and concerned citizens have been long been both calling out and working to advance this issue -- actual progress has been incremental. To actually change the ratio of female MPs we need to also focus on changing the gender ratio of the core positions and roles which form the architecture of the political system and which in turn also help set the tone of the political climate and landscape. The Globe & Mail described the last election as a "landslide for the Liberals but a glacial creep forward for women in Parliament. Canadians voters elected 88 female MPs putting female representation in the House at 26 per cent -- a 1 per cent increase since 2011." Advertisement Equal Voice observed that, "...at this rate it will take another 11 federal elections to reach anything approximating gender balance on the ballot. That's about forty-five years." Clearly it's time for a different and I would argue a more holistic approach to this issue. Specifically, to actually change the ratio of female MPs we need to also focus on changing the gender ratio of the core positions and roles which form the architecture of the political system and which in turn also help set the tone of the political climate and landscape. Now is the time to look to create gender equity in the roles that lead to candidates being nominated, as well as successfully elected. Now is the time to look to create gender equity in the roles that lead to candidates being nominated, as well as successfully elected. This would increase the likelihood of reaching parity in the House. To help further this discussion -- I'm currently working to launch a Political Index that will start by tracking the gender make up of these key roles in the Canadian political landscape. Advertisement In year one, the focus is on collecting and analyzing the data on the gender make up of federal riding associations across Canada and across party lines Riding associations (which are the party's local organization unit) are generally the first point of political engagement for many Canadians and tactically are generally advantageous to have on side to win a nomination (making the executive association of ridings influential on the ground). Not surprisingly, research shows that ideology notwithstanding a party's candidate is more likely to be a woman when the party's riding president is also a woman. But currently we don't regularly measure the gender breakdown of these roles and without data; it is difficult to make a case for change. My hope is that as the Index starts to regularly monitor these numbers, parties, led by their members will commit to making the internal changes that will create a ripple effect -- resulting in a genuine shift in the political landscape. Advertisement For instance, what if all parties agreed to push for a 50/50 split of riding associations executives what impact would that have on the number of candidates elected? Or even in how the process was run and what the norms and expectations are around what political leadership looks like? Going forward in years two and three, the plan is to expand from federal riding association presidents to senior political advisers, the senior bureaucracy as well as federal campaign managers -- trying to assess a full 360 of the political machine since the lack of progress in electing women MPs speaks to systemic barriers throughout the political structure and culture. By starting a data based discussion on the other key roles that lead to a successful campaign, parties can then be held accountable for making the changes and providing the tools that will lead to a genuinely different, more inclusive and effective political system. In any case, it can't hurt to try. Reva Seth is the best-selling author of two non-fiction books, a senior associate at Canada 2020 and the founder of the Optimal Living Lab. On Monday, two Americans who have been held in an Emirati jail for almost two years will find out in court whether they will be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Successful businessmen Kamal Ahmed Eldarat, age 58, and his son Mohamed, who is 33, were tortured into making false confessions and given a sham trial. Monday's verdict will also be a judgment on how the Obama Administration responds when U.S. citizens are violently abused by a repressive ally. The case not only exposes the harsh truth about the "business-friendly" United Arab Emirates, but also Washington's reluctance to publicly criticize its repressive ally. The Eldarats were disappeared into the UAE's secret detention complex run by the State Security Apparatus in August 2014. Originally charged with terrorist-related offenses, they now face the reduced charges of providing foreign aid without the necessary permission after sending humanitarian aid to a Libyan city during its civil war. The U.S. government's response has been shameful, failing to publicly call for the men's release despite U.N. rights groups calling for them to be freed immediately. "We have received credible information according to which the detainees were tortured and forced to sign confessions," said the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez. But the Obama Administration has shown little nerve to call out abuses by its allies in the region, even when Americans are involved. While the president rightly describes ISIS's public beheading of captives as "an assault on all humanity," he falls silent when his friends the Saudis do the same, when Bahrain continues to routinely torture people in custody, or when the UAE crushes peaceful dissent and targets entrepreneurs. The State Department only engaged properly with the Eldarat family--after months of prevarication and stalling--when the U.S. media began to highlight the case. The recent media coverage has revealed that behind Dubai's commercial glitz and claims of being an "attractive business environment," foreign businesspeople can be seized by security services, tortured in secret detention, denied proper access to lawyers, and given sham trials. The UAE's long record of torture, beating and electrocuting prisoners, is getting rare press and social media attention, as is the country's wider system of repression. People from hundreds of cities around the world are posting Freedom #May30 pictures on Twitter, drawing attention beyond this case to the wider pattern of UAE repression. Political parties are forbidden in the UAE, and the authorities have suffocated the country's civil society, jailing dozens of dissidents after unfair trials, throwing out international think tanks, and disbanding local organizations. Internationally prominent academic Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith, educated at Case Western University in Ohio, is also in jail after peacefully expressing his views. Even when high-profile cases like the Eldarats' get to trial, it's difficult to find defense lawyers to represent them because so many attorneys are intimidated from doing this sort of work. But the case has also revealed how weak the Obama Administration is in standing up to its Gulf allies, with the State Department cravenly calling for a vague "expeditious resolution to the case," and rather ridiculously urging "a fair and transparent legal process," knowing there is no such thing in the UAE. It took many months to get the State Department to take much notice of the case at all. There are several key things it has failed to do--Ambassador Barbara Leaf could have attended the court hearings, as senior U.S. officials have in other places, sending a strong diplomatic signal of disapproval. But instead the embassy sent more junior officials to observe the unfair trial. Still these officials should have publicly declared that the trial fell far below international legal standards, but they have stayed silent. State Department spokespeople could have publicly called for independent forensic doctors to be allowed to examine the Eldarats' injuries to document the torture and have it admitted as court evidence. When President Obama met the UAE leaders at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi Arabia last month, he could have publicly raised the case and called for the Americans to be freed immediately and unconditionally. Meanwhile, the State Department announced last week approval of $476 million in new missile sales to the Emirates. The Eldarats are in the dock on Monday but so is the reputation of the UAE's business environment and the U.S. government's record on protecting Americans falsely accused and tortured abroad. This being the Emirates, there is no appeal if the men are convicted. An acquittal Monday would finally end the men's nightmare. If they are convicted, the U.S. and Emirati governments should brace for intense international media scrutiny of how all this was allowed to happen. The opening of the new Cali-Baja Center for Resilient Materials and Systems at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), on May 24, 2016, was expected to be perfunctory, but when Dr. Olivia Graeve, the new Center's first director, stepped to the podium, it all changed. "This center will be filled with the spirit of 'Si, se puede!' It can be done!" Olivia Graeve, Director, CaliBaja Center Most in the audience likely expected an academic speech, heavy on technical descriptions of the organizations and programs on both sides of the U.S. Mexico border that will participate in the CaliBaja Center's collaboration, but what they heard came not from a script, but from her heart. Advertisement CaliBaja Center Director Dr. Olivia Graeve with (left to right) Baja Biomedical Devices Cluster Treasurer Miguel Angel Felix, CANIETI President Jose Elizondo Siller, and Exequiel Ezcurra, Director of the UC-Mexus program of the University of California. Photo credit: Erik Jepsen/UCSD Publications The meeting started late because a concrete truck had tipped over, blocking Interstate 5, and causing guests from south of the border to be delayed more than an hour. Graeve used that delay as chance to gather her thoughts as the growing crowd enjoyed making new cross border connections over coffee, fruit and pastries. When most of the guests had arrived, Dr. Graeve began by explaining her family has roots on both sides of the border. "My great-great-grandmother was born in the Hacienda Santa Maria in Baja California Sur, my great-great grandfather was born in Ensenada in 1886, my grandfather was born in San Diego in 1917, and both my parents were born in Tijuana in 1947, and now three of my siblings join me in having one or more degrees from the University of California." "This region is my home, it is my family's home, it is the home of my friends," Graeve said, "This center will be filled with the spirit of 'Si, se puede!' It can be done!" In developing the CaliBaja Center, Graeve called on her cross border roots: "my mother has always taught me about the importance of collaboration and of believing in each other to gain understanding," she said, an important element in the formation of this new binational research center. Advertisement The joy of binational collaboration expressed by Dr. Olivia Graeve is apparent in the faces of dignitaries in the audience at the CaliBaja Center. From far left to right, UC San Diego Vice Chancellor Sandra Brown, CETYS University Dean of Engineering Miguel Salinas, Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas, Tijuana Secretary of Economic Development Xavier Peniche, Tijuana Mayor Jorge Astiazaran, Mexico General Consul for San Diego Remedios Gomez, and Mexican Foreign Ministry General Director of Special Affairs Mauricio Ibarra. Photo credit: Erik Jepsen/UCSD Publications The Center has two primary goals in bringing together researchers and scholars. The first and most obvious one is to design materials and systems for extreme environments (ultra-high temperatures, extreme pressures and deformations, radiation, acidic conditions, etc.). However, the second goal might be more important: to explore the extreme social and economic contrasts found along the Tijuana-San Diego border, the busiest border in the world, a place where social extremes collide and converge to form a unique social fabric and an emerging bi-national identity. For U.S. General Consul William Ostick, who heads the State Department's Tijuana Consulate, the center represents one of many cross border initiatives "building mutual economic opportunities and delivering tangible economic benefits to the people of the Tijuana-San Diego metropolitan area and the CaliBaja region." He also understands the people part of the equation. The second goal might be more important: to explore the extreme social and economic contrasts found along the Tijuana-San Diego border, the busiest border in the world, a place where social extremes collide and converge to form a unique social fabric and an emerging bi-national identity. "Our ability to provide quality education and build a more competitive regional workforce will drive our economic prospects in the 21st century," Ostick said in his remarks. "To be successful today, workers need bilingual and cross-cultural skills. They also need the practical and theoretical know-how to lead our workforce." Advertisement "Together we must develop a competitive cross border workforce," Ostick said. Olivia Graeve agrees: "one of the goals of the Center is to develop the 21th century engineer who crosses borders seamlessly and has a global world view." Paulo Carreno King, the Mexican Foreign Ministry's Undersecretary for North America, traveled from Mexico City to underscore the importance of the new Center. "With a population of 6.5 million, the CaliBaja region possesses the largest concentration of people along the U.S. Mexico border," he said. "It is strategically located to provide access to regional and global markets and houses one of the leading high technology hubs in the world for medical devices, automotive, aerospace, commercial, electronics and logistics clusters, as well as renewable energy, agribusiness and international trade industry." Like Ostick, Carreno King believes the CaliBaja Center will increase the competitiveness of the two countries with university and industry linkages. "It will carry out research activities and technology development along this dynamic border," he said. "It is important to expand collaboration in higher education, research and innovation to set the foundation for a competitive region of knowledge in the new global economy." "There is no question that the impact of working together across borders will have a tremendous impact on the economy of this region," Graeve said. Dignitaries at the ceremonial ribbon cutting for the new CaliBaja Center included (from left to right) UCSD graduate student Jordan Campbell, CANIETI President Jose Elizondo, Honorary Chairman of the Baja Aerospace Cluster John Riley, Tijuana Mayor Jorge Astiazaran, Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas, unidentified, U.S. General Counsel in Tijuana William Ostick, Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry Undersecretary for North America Paulo Carreno King, Baja Biomedical Devices Cluster Treasurer Miguel Angel Felix, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Professor Victor Castano Meneses, and CaliBaja Center Director Dr. Olivia Graeve. Photo credit: Erik Jepsen/UCSD Publications Advertisement Graeve says the CaliBaja Center will be "the first binational research center on the entire planet." It will include UCSD, the Baja California Center for Nanoscience and Nano Technology at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), and the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE). "This center, to me, to us, is the future." Paulo Carreno King, Mexican Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for North America "Cooperation through academic mobility and exchange programs exposes young people and researchers from both countries to new ideas, models and cultures, resulting in significant positive impact," said Undersecretary Carreno King. "The University of California's U.S.-Mexus initiative brings together existing bilateral programs and activities and stimulates the development of new partnerships involving academia, government, civil society and private citizens," Carreno King said. "It allows us to face common challenges in both Mexico and California such as education energy, environment, health, and culture. By Kica Matos Judge Andrew Hanen wants everyone to know he is really upset with President Obama's immigration policies. He has not only issued opinions that have been noted for their anti-immigrant hostility, but last year he issued an injunction that stopped President Obama's 2014 immigration executive orders from moving forward (the orders, which would have affected an estimated 5 million immigrants, are on hold pending a Supreme Court ruling that will likely be issued next month). As if that weren't enough, Judge Hanen took things even further last week, issuing an order that shocks the conscience and calls into question his judicial temperament. It also paints him as a nativist bully who is using his powers as a federal judge and the familiar tactics of anti-immigrant activists to threaten immigrant youth. Advertisement Judge Hanen's latest order mandates the federal government to provide him with the personal information of an estimated 100,000 young immigrants who received deferral from deportation under executive orders issued in 2012. He made it clear that he would be willing to eventually release any or all of this information to state officials requesting it "on a showing of good cause". For residents of New Haven, CT, Hanen's order have a ring of familiarity, as similar tactics were deployed against the city - not by a judge, but by nativist organizations' intent on derailing one of the city's immigration programs. In 2007, the city embarked in an effort to create municipal identification cards for all city residents irrespective of their immigration status. Thousands of residents, including the undocumented, lined up to apply for the cards. Opposition to this initiative was swift and frightening. City officials received hate mail and death threats. Immigration advocates were followed, harassed and heckled. The hate radio jock and Holocaust denying racist conspiracy theorist Hal Turner suggested that it would be the "perfect opportunity for [sic] drive by shooting using a machine gun...on the lines of Illegal Aliens standing there!" The nativists escalated their efforts by filing a state Freedom of Information request demanding the names, addresses and photographs of everyone who applied for a New Haven ID card. They were supported by the Immigration Reform Law Institute - the same anti-immigrant group that has been advocating on the side of the plaintiffs in the Texas case. (IRLI is the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a hate group.) After a series of hearings, the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, citing the hundreds of threats of violence received by the city, determined that it would be against public safety to release the names of the ID card holders. Advertisement In both of these instances, the tactics were almost identical and the motives clear - to intimidate and terrify immigrants and push them back into the shadows. In Judge Hanen's case, his bizarre type of judicial activism seeks to deter immigrants from coming forward should the Supreme Court rule against him and quash his injunction. But there is one major difference -- unlike those in New Haven, Judge Hanen is not an anti-immigrant zealot affiliated with nativist organizations - he is a federal judge who is sworn to administer justice and faithfully and impartially discharge his duties. In abusing his powers as a judge, Hanen's actions now threaten to imperil the lives of an estimated 100,000 young and law abiding immigrants. It is one thing for a group of anti-immigrant zealots to threaten teens and young adults to foist their agenda on the country. It is wholly something else for a federal judge to do so. Unless he is stopped, the madness of Judge Hanen will lead to tragic results. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. faces reporters at Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 24, 2016, following a closed-door caucus a. On the cusp of the Memorial Day weekend, Ryan called the recent remarks of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald as "disgusting" after comparing wait times to receive VA health care to the lines people wait in for rides at Disney theme parks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Has Paul Ryan become so disaffected with Donald Trump that he quietly changed political parties, when no one was looking? The Washington Post, in an unrelated story, ran a photo of Orrin Hatch standing next to Ryan with the caption (emphasis added): Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), (L), is flanked by House Speaker Ryan (D-WI), (R), while signing the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016, on Capitol Hill May 18, 2016 in Washington, DC Note that "(D-WI)" in there [the "(R)" which follows it stands for "right," and not "Republican," we should add]. The truly odd thing is that this page hasn't been corrected yet (as of this writing), and it's been up for over a full day. So when did Paul Ryan secretly become a Democrat? Heh. OK, we know it was just a typo, but still, it's fun to think about, right? The actual article this amusing photo caption appeared in showed plainly how closed one Republican's mind truly is. A newspaper printed a statement from Hatch that said, in part, "I recently met with Chief Judge Merrick Garland," but that the meeting didn't change his mind on obstructing him in the Senate. The only problem? The meeting hadn't even taken place yet. Orrin Hatch can see the future! Or something. What's really going to be hilarious about the whole Supreme Court nomination fight is when every single Republican who is now blathering on about how the next president deserves to fill the vacancy has to completely flip-flop in a hasty rush to confirm Garland during the lame-duck period -- to deny Hillary Clinton a Supreme Court pick. See, we can predict the future too! We foresee a swamp of hypocrisy awaiting Senate Republicans, which they will fall smack into, the day after the election. Advertisement What else? Our introduction is going to be pretty short, since so much of this week's news belongs in the awards section, we should note. Ken Starr, nemesis to Bill Clinton, got a big demotion at his cushy university job this week -- which certainly will put a smile on the face of every Democrat who remembers the 1990s. It seems even some Republicans are getting seriously annoyed with their fellow party members using the Bible as a political bludgeon, as the House GOP deals with a growing divide within them over the subject of LGBT rights. In a closed-door meeting called by Paul Ryan, freshman Rick Allen of Georgia "read Bible versus calling for the death of homosexuals to argue that a vote in favor of an anti-discrimination amendment was akin to a sin." Ryan called the meeting in an attempt to deal with the growing number of defections on the issue. Last week a vote was held open on a LGBT amendment so that Republicans could be coaxed into changing their votes. Seven of them still wound up voting for the bill. This week, a similar bill got a whopping 43 Republican votes. The problem for Ryan is obviously getting worse fast. This was the atmosphere for Allen's remarks, which were not exactly welcomed by some Republicans: Another Republican lawmaker was so upset by Allen's remarks that he stormed out of the room. "A lot of members were clearly uncomfortable and upset," one Republican aide told The Hill. "It was f---ing ridiculous," an unnamed lawmaker remarked. Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent went on record to criticize Allen's stunt. "I thought the comments were wildly out of bounds and especially inappropriate given that this was supposed to be a prayer," Dent, who was among the 43 Republicans who voted in support of LGBT rights, told The Washington Post. "I believe it's imperative for the Republican Party to make an affirmative statement on nondiscrimination for the LGBT community and deal with religious liberty." Now maybe they know what it feels like when a sanctimonious politician uses religion as an attack in the political arena. You could almost hear secularists saying "Welcome to the club!" in the background. Advertisement In marijuana news, Republican House member Dana Rohrabacher became the first sitting congressman in three decades to admit illegal (by the federal laws he helps legislate) marijuana usage. And, apparently, it worked wonders: Two weeks ago, Rohrabacher said, he tried a topical wax-based marijuana treatment. That night, it was "the first time in a year and a half that I had a decent night's sleep because the arthritis pain was gone," Rohrabacher said. To his credit, the very conservative Rohrabacher has been working across the aisle with some Democrats to -- piece by piece -- dismantle the federal War On Weed. Speaking of the federal War On Weed, statistics show that federal trafficking convictions are way down -- starting (oddly enough) right when Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational use. Up to 2011, roughly six million people a year were sentenced under federal law, but this has now fallen to below four million. That's still far too many, but the trend is encouraging. Recreational weed is also now legal within Washington D.C., which is the only explanation we can come up with for some grade-A idiocy in the Daily Caller this week. All Washington was abuzz with the rumor that Barack Obama had settled on a house to move into after he leaves office. The Daily Caller quickly took the opportunity to point out that the house was (gasp!) less than 1,100 feet from the Islamic Center of Washington. Somebody get the smelling salts, because conservatives are all a-swoon! Advertisement The Washington Post, helpfully, then turned the Daily Caller's logic on its head, by pointing out all the various (and nefarious) liberal bastions that were within 1,100 feet of the home office of the Daily Caller itself. The list is hilarious, including such gems as "Aljazeera (!!)" and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Why, the Daily Caller is in serious danger of being influenced by the NAACP, the NEA, the AFL-CIO, and the Human Rights Campaign! In fact, also in their neighborhood is (Are you sitting down, Daily Caller staffers? We wouldn't want any swooning injuries, of course...) none other than the American Islamic Congress. Pass the smelling salts! While the group isn't technically a Democrat, we're bending the rules for the Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award this week, because it's such a great idea. Billed as the successor to the Occupy Wall Street movement, a new organization was announced this week -- one that could wind up being a lot more effective than a bunch of people occupying a park ever was. The Washington Post had the full story: Capitalizing on populist anger toward Wall Street, a coalition of more than 20 labor unions and activist groups on Tuesday launched a new campaign to reform the financial industry. The group, Take On Wall Street, plans to combine the efforts of some of the Democratic Party's biggest traditional backers, from the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO to the Communications Workers of America. The group says it will aim to turn the public's lingering anger at the financial sector into policy initiatives that could change the way that Wall Street works. Among its biggest targets will be doing away with a law that allows private equity managers to pay lower taxes through something known as the "carried interest loophole." These managers receive a share of profits for any gains they create for their clients, and this income is treated as long-term capital gains and taxed at a lower rate. . . . Unlike previous anti-Wall Street campaigns such as Occupy Wall Street, the new group hopes to organize a campaign that will span state houses and as well as the halls of Congress, potentially forecasting a big fight on financial reform in 2017. "We are going to make this an issue in congressional races. No one will be able to run from this," said Richard L. Trumka, president of the labor union AFL-CIO. People are saying "that they are fed up with Wall Street writing the rules." In addition to the issue of carried interest, the group expects to galvanize support for breaking up the big banks and reviving a version of the Glass-Steagall Act, which prevented the combination of commercial and investment banks. It is also expected to push for a transaction tax, which would force some Wall Street traders, particularly high-frequency traders, to pay a fee every time they buy or sell a stock or bond. Their timing couldn't have been better, really. Because that sounds an awful lot like the platform Bernie Sanders is running on. Maybe Take On Wall Street can actually achieve some solid results that neither Occupy Wall Street nor Bernie Sanders has been able to. It certainly could be a great place for Sanders supporters to rally, once Clinton wraps up the nomination in a little over a week. Sanders aside, though, this sounds like a serious effort to build a populist organization, and the Left has always been lacking in such support organizations to further their agenda. The Right has an infrastructure of think tanks and policy advocacy groups that reaches back decades, so it is indeed good to see someone trying to do the same thing for progressive causes. Take On Wall Street is easily our Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week, and we wish them well and lots of future success. [You can support Take On Wall Street by going to their new webpage and signing their petition.] We certainly had a lot of candidates this week for the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week award. The State Department released their Inspector General's report on Hillary Clinton's private email server, which didn't have any wild new information that wasn't previously known, but was notable for its scathing language. Our guess is it won't help or hurt Clinton much with voters, who have probably already largely made up their minds on what to think about Clinton's emails. The F.B.I. report might do some real damage (whenever it comes out), but the I.G. report didn't seem to have any real bombshell qualities to it. A Transportation Security Administration top official was forced out of the job, after $90,000 in unjustified bonuses was revealed. But it's not exactly a political job, so we don't think it qualifies for the MDDOTW award. Likewise non-partisan but also very disappointing was the news that the National Park Service is now considering selling off "naming rights" to the highest corporate bidders. This is just flat-out an obscenity, folks. Don't believe me? From the story: Superintendents could "accept" gifts of $100,000 or up to $5 million with certification, training and other conditions, the policy states. They won't be able to solicit money directly -- that's prohibited for federal employees. But Reinbold said that "we want superintendents to get more engaged" in the fundraising process, being in the room when outside fundraising groups meet with prospective donors, for example, and acting as experts. The Park Service is commemorating its 100th year with a $350 million fundraising campaign that for the first time allowed large banners in the parks featuring donors' corporate logos. Thankfully, some people are fighting back. Because the idea is, once again, an obscenity and an outrage. "You could use Old Faithful to pitch Viagra," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a watchdog group that's trying to rally the park community to fight the plan. "Or the Lincoln Memorial to plug hemorrhoid cream. Or Victoria's Secret to plug the Statue of Liberty." Every park-loving citizen should immediately register their own outrage, since this is an idea which must be denounced from the mountaintops, obviously. But back to politics. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was certainly the "Democratic Lighting Rod Of The Week" this week, as some are pushing for her ouster as Democratic Party chair, partly to smooth things over at the nominating convention. As "one unnamed pro-Clinton Democratic senator" put it: "I don't see how [Debbie Wasserman Schultz] can continue to the election. How can she open the convention? Sanders supporters would go nuts." This same anonymous source also revealed: "There have been a lot of meetings over the past 48 hours about what color plate do we deliver Debbie Wasserman Schultz's head on." Ouch. This is in the same week that Bernie Sanders endorsed her opponent (in her House re-election primary). Just to rub salt in the wound, Wasserman Schultz received the unwanted endorsement from Karl Rove's super PAC, as well as the Tea Party Express: Advertisement Debbie Wasserman Schultz has played a critical role over the past several years in the massive Republican gains we have achieved at the state level, in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in the U.S. Senate. Yikes. All around, it's been a pretty brutal week for Wasserman Schultz. But there are two better candidates for the MDDOTW award this week, sadly. The first isn't actually a Democratic organization, so reluctantly we've decided not to bend the rules. Even so, the US PIRG organization certainly deserves slamming this week. The group, founded by Ralph Nader to act in the public's best interest (the acronym stands for "Public Interest Research Group"), strongly came out against President Obama's new overtime rules last week. They want an exemption for non-profit groups to force their employees to work over 40 hours a week for low wages, it seems: Organizations like ours rely on small donations from individuals to pay the bills. We can't expect those individuals to double the amount they donate. Rather, to cover higher staffing costs forced upon us under the rule, we will be forced to hire fewer staff and limit the hours those staff can work -- all while the well-funded special interests that we're up against will simply spend more. This is nothing more than scaremongering. Public interest groups are always going to be outspent by corporations. It is a sad excuse for overworking the staff. Here's the thing: people are free to volunteer to work for a non-profit, if they so choose. Anyone who does not -- anyone who gets paid for the work -- actually needs that money to live on. Period. So limiting their time to 40 hours a week or else paying them overtime is actually the right thing to do -- especially for an organization that prides itself (from its own mission statement) that it: "stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being." The hypocrisy is pretty ugly on this one, folks. But we've saved the Most Disappointing Democrat Of The Week this week for a man who made a monumentally stupid and insensitive comment this week. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald -- a person who was brought in because the V.A. was in crisis over waiting times, mind you -- replied in an interview: "When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what's important? What's important is: what's your satisfaction with the experience?" Advertisement This is beyond cringeworthy. Especially as the article also helpfully points out: Disney, it turns out, does collect and analyze extensive waiting time data, which it considers core to its overall customer experience. The company has a system that manages the information. Once again: the previous head of the V.A. had to step down because of the waiting time scandal. Dealing with the scandal was job one for the incoming chief. After failing to adequately do so, to be this dismissive of veterans waiting long periods to see a doctor is insulting (and that's the most polite word we could come up with). Eric Shinseki had to step down for ignoring the wait times. But even he never insulted the people waiting in such a fashion. It's time for Robert McDonald to step down as well, because he obviously doesn't have his priorities straight. [Contact Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on his official contact page, to let him know what you think of his actions.] Volume 393 (5/27/16) This week, we're devoting all out talking points to Donald Trump. This could, in fact, become a regular occurrence for the next few months. Trump is an absolute peripatetic gold mine of things to ridicule, flitting from one to the next with the greatest of ease. Since he provides so much fodder, at times the best thing to do is just devote all the talking points to him. Which we will now proceed to do. Advertisement Bye-bye! Going... going... gone! "Weren't we all, right about now, supposed to be seeing conservatives boldly giving the voters another choice than Donald Trump? Remember that? It was just a few weeks ago that 'Never Trump!' was the rallying cry of establishment Republicans and conservative true-believers, who were (led by the intrepid Bill Kristol) supposed to mount a third-party bid so that conservative voters would have someone they could vote for (while also voting for all the Republicans down the ballot). A few weeks later, and Trump has wrapped up the delegates he needs for the nomination, Republican politicians are falling all over themselves to board the Trump train, and the 'Never Trump!' folks have quietly disappeared, after every single person they begged to run for president turned them down flat. These people obviously couldn't organize their way out of a paper bag -- no wonder Trump thought the Republican establishment was such a pushover!" Rubio gets on board Surely there's room for Little Marco? "I see Marco Rubio suppressed his own bile and is now openly supporting Trump -- after spending months warning America that Trump was a dangerous person to be anywhere near the nuclear launch button. Rubio could even run for re-election in the Senate, now that he's dropped out of the presidential race, but he shows no interest in doing so. Because of this, he would be perfectly positioned to continue to denounce Trump in the strongest terms, since he doesn't have to be worried about what the voters think. Instead, he just stuck his head so far up Trump's rear end that he bumped into Chris Christie. It's really kind of sad to see the death of all self-respect in so many Republicans, isn't it?" The holdouts feel the heat Of course, not boarding the Trump train has its own blowback. "So I guess New Mexico's governor is out of the running for Trump's veep shortlist, eh? Susana Martinez was seen by some as being the perfect demographic choice for any Republican presidential candidate, since she is a Latina woman -- precisely what the party would need to shore up their already dismal support in those two groups. But by not backing Trump (and refusing to show up at a Trump rally in her state), she got badmouthed in a big way. Trump not only said she's 'not doing the job' of governor, he half-jokingly threatened to run for New Mexico governor himself. That's got to be every Republican's nightmare, at this point." Seriously? Art imitating life imitating art. Or something. "I never thought Fox News could be too in the tank for any Republican, but apparently they just managed to do so. They aired a charming show called 'Meet The Trumps' (boy, you just can't make this stuff up, can you?) which was so sycophantic that conservatives were ridiculing it on Twitter. One even likened it to Pravda, which is about as insulting as it gets for anyone who lived through the Cold War. Looks like Fox is totally in the tank for Trump, although even they probably should dial it back a bit if they've reached Pravda-like levels." Advertisement How can you tell Trump is lying? Anyone with half a brain could see that this was never going to happen. That leaves a lot of the mainstream media out, obviously. "Bernie Sanders trolled Donald Trump this week, challenging him to a one-on-one debate before California's primary. Trump immediately said he'd gladly debate Bernie. Of course, like so many off-the-cuff things Trump says, this turned out to be a big fat lie. First Trump tried to back away from his promise by holding the television networks hostage for $10 million in charity money (for "women's issues," hilariously enough), and then when a few networks actually took a bite of that apple, Trump decided he just wasn't interested in debating Bernie. It's gotten to the point where there are just too many 'Trump Tells Whopper Of A Lie' headlines -- it'd now be easier if the media instead ran the occasional 'Trump Actually Tells Truth!' stories instead." His lips are moving, that's how! Add this one to the list of "Things that would have destroyed any normal politician's chances of being elected, but had no effect on Trump whatsoever." Way, way down there at the end (it's a long list!). "The last time Trump skipped a debate, he also used the 'let's raise money for charity' dodge, when he was supposed to have raised (in his own words) 'six million dollars' for veterans. The Washington Post decided to look into his claims, months later. Turns out Trump didn't raise anywhere near what he said he had (big surprise -- Trump lies about money all the time), and that Trump had never actually donated the one million dollars out of his own pocket that he promised that night. So he used and exploited veterans as political props, and then stiffed them at the end of the night. Any other presidential candidate who did something this odious would be finished, it's worth pointing out. After Trump heard the Post was digging into the story, he called up a veterans group's head late at night and quickly arranged for the million-dollar donation. How low can Trump go, one wonders. Promising but not delivering money to veterans' groups is about as low and despicable an act as can be imagined -- but there's plenty of time left before the election, so he'll most likely manage to go even lower before it's all over." A hopeful sign We saved this one for last, because if true it certainly could be a gigantic ray of hope for Democrats. "There's a story making the rounds that hasn't gotten much attention outside the Beltway, but really deserves to. Donald Trump is apparently very disdainful of the 'ground troops' necessary in any presidential election. He's apparently planning on running his general election campaign much the same way he ran in the primaries -- lots of tweeting, lots of call-in interviews on cable news, but little-to-no actual 'get out the vote' efforts at all. Now, Democrats are already much, much better at this sort of thing than Republicans (see: Obama's two victories), but the news that Trump isn't even interested in attempting a get-out-the-vote ground-troops effort is delightful news indeed for Democrats everywhere. Not only should this provide a landslide for Hillary Clinton, it could mean taking control of the Senate or even -- say it softly -- the House in November, as well. So I'd like to publicly address Donald Trump, and point out to him that get-out-the-vote efforts are not manly and were dreamed up by some elitist liberal Democrat. Probably Rosie O'Donnell, in fact. Therefore, he should denounce the practice and announce he won't spend a thin dime on such wimpiness in his own campaign." Chris Weigant blogs at: Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant Full archives of FTP columns: FridayTalkingPoints.com The American employee web page links directly to special pages tailored to the company's workers on each of the partner college web sites, where, in some cases, eager recruiters quickly appear in pop-up windows ready to start a live chat. Some American Airlines workers might end up worse than when they started if they begin such a chat and utilize these alleged employee benefits. DeVry, the University of Phoenix, and Career Education Corp., the operator of American Intercontinental University, all in recent years have been under investigation by multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies for deceptive recruiting and other questionable business practices that have left many students with overwhelming student loan debts and without enhanced career prospects. Advertisement DeVry's CEO abruptly resigned last week in the wake of a major lawsuit against the company by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive advertising; the school has for years claimed a 90 percent job placement rate that was allegedly derived, for example, by counting as placed a DeVry business administration graduate who was working as a server at the Cheesecake Factory. (DeVry says it did nothing wrong.) The University of Phoenix, which also has been under investigation by the FTC, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, has a 4 percent graduation rate for first-time, full-time students in its online division. Last year the Defense Department temporarily suspended the school from enrolling U.S. troops with Pentagon benefits because of what it called "disconcerting" violations of recruiting rules. A 2012 Senate investigation found that the University of Phoenix spent $892 per student on instruction in 2009, compared to $2,225 per student on marketing, and $2,535 per student on profit -- one of the lowest amounts spent on instruction of any of the for-profit colleges the Senate investigators examined. Career Education Corp., meanwhile, has been under investigation by the FTC and the SEC, as well as the attorney generals of 21 states and the District of Columbia. In 2013 it agreed to pay more than $10 million to settle charges brought by New York's attorney general that it significantly inflated its job placement rates in communicating with students, accreditors, and government officials, for example counting as placed in a permanent job a student who worked one day at a health fair created by Career Education Corp. itself. (The company denied the charges.) American Airlines steering its employees to for-profit colleges, some of whose owners are under law enforcement investigation, and all of which are starved for students and charge high prices, seems a questionable employee benefit. Why would American push its employees to those for-profit institutions, when higher quality, lower priced options are often available? Many state schools are more affordable than the for-profit schools on American's list, even taking into account the 5 to 10 percent discounts the for-profits are offering American employees. Advertisement But American Airlines is far from alone in steering employees to troubled colleges. For example, according to DeVry's website, it has educational partnerships with scores of corporations, including AllState Insurance, Archer Daniels Midland, AT&T, Avis Budget Group, Carnival Cruise Lines, Chicago Transit Authority, CIGNA Corporation, the cities of Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, and Seattle, Con Edison, Domino's Pizza, Farmers Group, FedEx, GoDaddy, Kroger, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Macy's, McDonald's, MetLife, Northrop Grumman, Office Depot, Pacific Gas and Electric, Rite Aid, Salesforce, Sony Electronics, State Farm, Subway, Suntrust Bank, TimeWarner Cable, United Airlines, UPS, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department Of Health and Human Services, Wal-Mart, Xerox, even Cirque du Soleil and the FBI. FBI employees have their own page on the University of Phoenix site -- with a 10 percent tuition discount offer, as compared with 6 percent for American Airlines employees and 8 percent for United Airlines employees. While some FBI agents may be enrolling at troubled for-profit colleges based on the Bureau's referral, agents also have been involved in raiding fraudulent for-profits and aiding in the criminal prosecution of college operators. United Airlines employees get the same 10 percent discount as American employees on their own page at the American Intercontinental University site. Home Depot employees get only a 5 percent discount from that school. Poke around and you will find many more such arrangements between major employers and for-profit colleges that are under law enforcement investigation. UPDATE: 05-28-16: I did poke around for another 30 seconds just now, and learned that Home Depot, for one, also has an education partnership, including a "14% tuition grant," with for-profit Kaplan University. Kaplan has a troubling record and in recent years has been under investigation or sued by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, and the attorneys general of Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Advertisement It's easy to see why the for-profit colleges would be attracted to such partnerships, especially because any cash contributions from an employer for employee tuition would ease compliance with the federal 90-10 rule, which requires for-profit colleges to obtain at least ten percent of their revenue from sources other than the U.S. Department of Education. But is any money flowing the other way? Are any of these employers obtaining cash or anything else of value from these for-profit college companies for directing employees to such overpriced schools? For-profit colleges, desperate to sign up new students, cash their checks, and keep investors happy, are willing to pay handsomely for student leads in other contexts. Such arrangements, if they existed, would seem to be a breach of trust by the employer. But even if no such compensation is provided by the for-profit colleges to employers, recommending troubled colleges to employees suggests that, at least, these employers are not doing sufficient due diligence about what constitutes a desirable benefit for their workers. I posed these questions to American Airlines spokesperson Joshua Freed, but the only response he would provide on behalf of the company was: "I can tell you that we try to provide a wide variety of educational opportunities for our employees." Not all for-profit college programs are bad, and there are fine teachers and successful students at even some of the most troubled institutions. Historically, some for-profit schools have sought to work directly with particular employers or industries, tailoring training to industry needs. But looking at the online portals to which employers direct their employees today, it appears they are being herded like sheep into the kind of misleading recruiting process aimed at the general pool of for-profit college recruits, without regard to their employer's need. In that light, on balance, many students can get a better education at a better price at public colleges, many of which now offer flexible options like online classes. Advertisement Employers who offer dubious "benefits" to their workers to attend for-profit colleges that are under law enforcement investigation for deceiving students should be asked by government regulators, media, employee unions, and individual workers whether they are receiving any compensation for steering their employees to these predatory colleges, and whether there aren't superior educational benefits they could be offering instead. And incidentally, the U.S. Department of Education, which last year sent nearly $8 billion in taxpayer money for student grants and loans to seven big for-profit colleges under law enforcement investigation -- DeVry, University of Phoenix, and Career Education Corporation, plus EDMC, ITT Tech, Kaplan, and Bridgepoint -- thus essentially giving those schools the Department's seal of approval, needs to keep asking itself the same question. The human brain is hardwired to judge. This survival mechanism makes it very hard to meet someone without evaluating and interpreting their behavior. While we tend to think that our judgments are based on the content of conversations and other obvious behaviors, the research says otherwise. In fact, the majority of our judgments are focused on smaller, subtler things, such as handshakes and body language. We often form complete opinions about people based solely on these behaviors. We are so good at judging other people's personalities based on small things that, in a University of Kansas study, subjects accurately predicted people's personality traits, such as extroversion/introversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, simply by looking at pictures of the shoes they wore. Advertisement Our unconscious behaviors have a language of their own, and their words aren't always kind. These behaviors have likely become an integral part of who you are, and if you don't spend much time thinking about them, now is a good time to start, because they could be sabotaging your career. 1. How you treat waiters and receptionists. How you treat support staff is so indicative of your makeup that it has become a common interview tactic. By gauging how you interact with support staff on your way in and out of the building, interviewers get a sense for how you treat people in general. Most people act the part when they're speaking to the hiring manager or other "important" people, but some will pull a Jekyll and Hyde act the moment they walk out the door, treating others with disdain or indifference. Business lunches are another place this comes to light. No matter how nice you are to the people you have lunch with, it's all for naught if those people witness you behaving badly toward others. 2. How often you check your phone. There's nothing more frustrating than someone pulling out their phone mid-conversation. Doing so conveys a lack of respect, attention, listening skills, and willpower. Unless it's an emergency, it's wise to keep your phone holstered. A study from Elon University confirms that pulling out your phone during a conversation lowers both the quality and quantity of face-to-face interactions. 3. Repetitive, nervous habits. Touching your nails or face or picking at your skin typically indicates that you're nervous, overwhelmed, and not in control. Research from the University of Michigan suggests that these nervous habits are indicative of a perfectionistic personality, and that perfectionists are more likely to engage in these habits when they're frustrated or bored. Advertisement 4. How long you take to ask questions. Have you ever had a conversation with someone where they talked about themselves the entire time? The amount of time someone allows to pass before they take an interest in you is a strong personality indicator. People who only talk about themselves tend to be loud, self-absorbed "takers." People who only ask questions and share little about themselves are usually quiet, humble "givers." Those who strike a nice balance of give-and-take are reciprocators and good conversationalists. 5. Your handshake. It's common for people to associate a weak handshake with a lack of confidence and an overall lackadaisical attitude. A study at the University of Alabama showed that, although it isn't safe to draw assumptions about someone's competence based on their handshake, you canaccurately identify personality traits. Specifically, the study found that a firm handshake equates with being less shy, less neurotic, and more extroverted. 6. Tardiness. Showing up late leads people to think that you lack respect and tend to procrastinate, as well as being lazy or disinterested. Contrary to these perceptions, a San Diego State University study by Jeff Conte revealed that tardiness is typically seen in people who multitask, or are high in relaxed, Type B personality traits. Conte's study found that Type B individuals are often late because they experience time more slowly than the rest of us. Bottom line here is not to read too much into people showing up late. It's better to ask what's behind it than to make assumptions. 7. Handwriting. There are all manner of false stereotypes attempting to relate your handwriting to your personality. For example, people believe that how hard you press down on the paper relates to how uptight you are, the slant of your writing indicates introversion or extroversion, and the neatness/sloppiness of your writing reveals organizational tendencies. The research is inconclusive at best when it comes to handwriting and personality. If you have an important letter to write, I'd suggest sticking to the keyboard to keep things neutral. 8. Eye contact. The key to eye contact is balance. While it's important to maintain eye contact, doing so 100% of the time is perceived as aggressive and creepy. At the same time, if you only maintain eye contact for a small portion of the conversation, you'll come across as disinterested, shy, or embarrassed. Studies show that maintaining eye contact for roughly 60% of a conversation strikes the right balance and makes you come across as interested, friendly, and trustworthy. Advertisement Bringing It All Together There is no question of more pressing and fundamental importance to modern American constitutional law: Is it proper for judges to broadly and systematically defer to the mere will of government officials when those officials seek to deprive private citizens of what is rightfully theirs? Over the course of several exchanges, it has become apparent that Professor Greg Weiner and I answer that question very differently. Our differing answers are downstream from underlying disagreements about the Constitution's substantive mission and the role of the federal judiciary in furthering that mission. To summarize: Weiner believes that the Constitution is a majoritarian document--that, under the Constitution (to borrow Judge Robert Bork's language), "in wide areas of life majorities are entitled to rule, if they wish, simply because they are majorities." Thus, Weiner advocates judicial restraint--judicial deference to the will of legislative and executive branch officials when their actions are challenged in court, unless their actions are clearly in conflict with the Constitution. In contrast, I believe that the Constitution is primarily designed to protect individual rights--that, under the Constitution, any exercise of government power over private citizens needs to be justified by a constitutionally proper end of government. Thus, I advocate judicial engagement--genuinely impartial, evidence-based judicial inquiry into whether the government's actions are truly calculated to achieve a constitutionally proper end of government, without deference to government officials' beliefs, desires or unsupported factual assertions. Advertisement In spite of our fundamentally differing views, I always enjoy my exchanges with Weiner, and it is a testament to Weiner's fair-mindedness that, in his most recent reply to me, he offers a capsule summary of my understanding of the Constitution and my approach to constitutional decision-making that I can enthusiastically endorse. In his most recent reply to me, he writes: Bernick's model of judicial engagement, in which duly elected legislatures must go before unelected judges and affirmatively defend restrictions on liberty--or, stated in the converse, in which unelected judges operate on a presumption against laws passed by duly elected legislatures--seems to make of the Constitution a series of locked doors through which majorities must pass to attain an outcome. Judges hold one of the keys. Exactly! Yes, the Constitution consists in a "series of locked doors through which majorities must pass to attain an outcome." Yes, judicial engagement requires "duly elected legislatures" to "go before unelected judges and affirmatively defend restrictions on liberty." What Weiner seems to regard as bugs in my constitutional vision and my proposed judicial approach, I regard as salutary features--features which ought to recommend judicial engagement to constitutional conservatives. Those who dedicated their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to casting off a long-established government and creating a new one understood that governments are unique institutions. Governments claim unique authority--the power not only to compel individuals, against their will, to act (or forbear from acting), but to do so legitimately. Advertisement What could possibly legitimate such a claim? One need only read what those who drafted and ratified the Constitution wrote and said about the proper ends of government. James Wilson, perhaps the leading political theorist among the Framers, summed up the consensus view when he wrote that a government that is not designed to "secure and enlarge the natural rights of its members" is "not a government of the legitimate kind." Recalling John Locke, who regarded arbitrary government--under which force can be initiated at the mere will of the holders of political power--as the worst of all evils, James Madison wrote in Federalist 51 that "[i]n a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign as in a state of nature." It is precisely to safeguard natural rights against arbitrary power that the Constitution erects (borrowing Weiner's image) a "series of locked doors" through which majorities must make their way. Hard though it may be to say it, our constitutional jurisprudence at present places Americans under arbitrary government power in "wide areas of life." This state of affairs is in large part the product of institutionalized judicial abdication. Outside of a few limited contexts, assertions of government power over individuals receive the benefit of an effectively irrebuttable presumption of constitutionality when they are challenged in court, thanks to the so-called "rational-basis test"--a doctrine that has been described by the Supreme Court in terms that, taken literally, would render a successful constitutional challenge epistemologically impossible. Immunity doctrines fashioned by the Supreme Court out of whole cloth insulate government officials against civil liability for rights-violations. Administrative law doctrines fashioned by the Supreme Court out of whole cloth require judges to broadly defer to regulators at federal executive agencies when ordinary citizens challenge their efforts to micro-manage ever-broadening swaths of American life. The list of judge-made doctrines of deference goes on and on. But to hear Weiner tell it, the primary threat to our constitutional order at present is judicial usurpation of the political branches' authority. In the piece that prompted our most recent exchange, Weiner drew upon a recent article in which Professor Mark Tushnet argued that progressives should abandon "defensive-crouch liberal constitutionalism" and use the courts as instruments of their political values. Weiner challenged conservative and libertarian proponents of judicial engagement to respond to Tushnet. Advertisement In my reply to Weiner, I pointed out that proponents of judicial engagement can demonstrate that Tushnet's approach as institutionally illegitimate because his approach rests upon the premise that judicial decision-making is inherently political, driven by judges' idiosyncratic values. I contended that no judge who acts upon that premise can discharge their duty to give effect to "This Constitution" as a fixed, objectively ascertainable rule of law. I further argued that judicial engagement is uniquely capable of equipping judges to do their duty and maintain the rule of law established by the Constitution. Weiner has yet to explain why he believes that judicial restraint, which has demonstrably failed to preserve constitutionally limited government in the past, is capable of doing so today. The case for engagement as a superior means of enforcing the Constitution's limits on government power remains unanswered. Weiner has, however, raised an additional objection to judicial engagement, contending that it cannot be squared with the conception of the judicial role articulated by Alexander Hamilton. In his canonical defense of the duty of judicial review in Federalist 78, Hamilton writes that judges are to hold void legislative decisions that they find to be at "irreconcilable variance" with the Constitution. Writes Weiner, "the modifier 'irreconcilable' suggests that judges are not simply to deliver decrees reflecting their judgment as to constitutionality, and still less that they are to start with a presumption against certain laws." Professor John McGinnis, without taking sides in the debate between Weiner and myself, raises the question whether judicial restraint or judicial engagement can be derived from the Constitution's original meaning. I believe that Weiner is correct that Hamilton's "irreconcilable variance" language suggests an expectation on his part that judges would apply a presumption of constitutionality. One can detect in Federalist 78 the marks of what Professor McGinnis has termed the "duty of clarity"--a perceived obligation to invalidate acts of government only if they manifestly contradicted the Constitution's meaning. Advertisement More importantly, I believe that systematic deference to the government in constitutional cases is inconsistent with the Constitution's specific commands, whatever Hamilton, Thayer or anyone else may have thought. While I can only offer a preliminary defense of this position here, I acknowledge the importance of developing a comprehensive defense in the future, as well as the need for proponents of judicial engagement to show (as McGinnis says) that engagement "flow[s] from the Constitution." Consider first Article III, which authorizes "The judicial Power." Professor Philip Hamburger has demonstrated that this language incorporates a duty of independent judgment. The duty of independent judgment, understood as a duty to interpret and give effect to the law of the land without influence from either internal or external will, has its roots in English law but became especially pronounced in America. The importance of independent judgment is highlighted in state constitutions, in numerous Founding-era judicial opinions and in the 1787 Constitution itself, which creates a separate judicial branch, vests "The judicial Power of the United States" exclusively and in "one Supreme Court, and in Such inferior Courts as the Congress may . . . ordain and establish" and guarantees judges life tenure during good behavior, as well as undiminished salaries. Any systematic deference to the mere will of government officials would require a departure from the duty of independent judgment. Genuinely independent judgment requires treating both parties in a constitutional case as presumptive equals; recognizing that one party is seeking to impose its will upon the other; and requiring the party seeking to impose its will upon the other to demonstrate that its actions are consistent with the law of the land. Further, any systematic deference would require judges to deprive litigants of due process of law. The Constitution's guarantees of due process require impartial adjudication. A judge who understands him or herself to be obliged to take the side of the most powerful of parties--the government--is necessarily partial to the government. When the government deprives a citizen of their life, liberty, or property as a consequence of partial judgment, citizens are deprived of what is rightfully theirs without the truly adjudicative proceeding to which they are entitled. Our Constitution is informed by an understanding of the destructive character of arbitrary power that was derived from the experience of living under a government that claimed the authority to bind "the colonies and people of America . . . in all cases whatsoever." This understanding is all too often absent from discussions of political theory. When government officials (to borrow Weiner's language) "attain" "outcomes" that are driven by mere will, the fallopian tubes of the "socially inadequate" may be severed, homes may be bulldozed, terminally-ill patients may be prevented from procuring potentially life-saving medicines and would-be entrepreneurs may die in poverty. That is why the Constitution requires officials in the legislative and executive branches of government to make their way through so many locked doors before they may assert power over their fellow Americans. That is why it leaves the key to the final door in the hands of officials who have "neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment," with instructions not to open the door except under certain conditions. The call for judicial engagement is nothing more or less than a call for judges to act as responsible custodians of the key. There is a Sanders phenomenon. It is real and the factors that have prompted its emergence need to addressed and understood. When this year's presidential primary began, many dismissed the Democratic Party contest as a "done deal". It was assumed that Secretary Clinton would be the inevitable nominee--with the primaries and caucuses being a bothersome but required pro forma affair that Clinton would have to endure, until she had accumulated enough delegates to be declared the nominee. One year ago, Clinton was leading the rest of the Democratic field by between 50 to 60 points with none of her opponents believed to be serious challengers--especially the 74 year old socialist Senator from Vermont. Back then, Sanders support came largely from a core group of progressive activists who were driving his campaign. A year later, much has changed with the gap between Clinton and Sanders, among Democrats, having been narrowed to single digits. When the preferences of all voters (Democrats, Republicans, and Independents) are considered and Clinton and Sanders are matched separately against the GOP's nominee, Donald Trump, a very different picture emerges. The average of this month's polls show Trump beating Clinton by slightly less than 1 point. The same polls averages show Sanders beating Trump by about 11 points. And polls in key battleground states show much the same--with Clinton and Trump running neck and neck and Sanders beating Trump in every state. That's what happened, but the question that needs to be answered is why? Several factors point the way. Part of Secretary Clinton's problem is that she is running for president in a year when voter distrust of and even anger at the political and economic establishments has come to define the national mood. Many voters do not believe that politicians and corporate leaders consider the public's wellbeing in their decision-making. Given this setting, Clinton's claim of experience and her long-standing ties to Wall Street investors have become liabilities. In the contest between Clinton, the ultimate "insider", and Sanders, the ultimate "outsider", Sanders has a decided edge. Then there are the matters of authenticity and trust. Polls demonstrate that voters, especially the young and the growing number of those who declare no affiliation with either party, are drawn to Sanders because they see him as authentic and they trust him. Among voters under 45, Sanders beats Clinton by a margin of 2 to 1. And when all voters are asked who they trust more, Sanders wins by 3 to 1. These two factors, distrust of the establishment and the yearning for a leader who is authentic and can be trusted, form the underpinnings of the Sanders' phenomenon. The "meat on the bones" are the issues he has championed. America is, without a doubt, a wealthy nation. The GDP and the performance of the stock market, despite an occasional dip, appear to suggest a healthy economy. But in spite of this, real incomes for the middle class have been stagnant for decades leaving most Americans struggling to make ends meet. When Sanders points out that the top 1% in the US control more of the nation's wealth than the bottom 90% and when he notes that the American middle class controls a smaller percentage of our nation's wealth than the middle class in any other industrialized country, that message resonates. As does his broader message of economic justice and a reordering of political/economic priorities. While Sanders' calls for "health care for all", tuition-free higher education, and his proposal to pay for these programs by imposing stiffer taxes on the wealthiest 1% are dismissed as unworkable and "socialist", they have been embraced by young and working class voters who are hungry for change. And when he criticizes the corrupting influence of "big money" in our politics, voters respond in agreement. As this election is entering its final round, it is clear that the Sanders phenomenon must be taken seriously. Despite the view of media pundits and the Democratic establishment that the contest is over (a form of voter suppression) and calls that Sanders should withdraw from the race, he continues to demonstrate electoral strength--winning 2 out of the last 3 and 12 out of the last 20 states. At this point, Sanders can legitimately claim the support of about one-half of the Democratic Party's base. This cannot be dismissed. Nor can his observation that he outperforms Clinton with Independents and fares better against the GOP in national and battleground state polls. Democrats would be making a mistake to ignore both the "meta issues" of distrust of the establishment and the voters' desire to have a candidate they can trust, as well as Sanders' far-reaching agenda for political and economic reform. I believe that should he win in California, Sanders can make a strong case urging the party's super-delegates to support his candidacy. It is this group--many of whom had endorsed Clinton before this election had even begun--that have made her margin over Sanders appear to be insurmountable. But even if he does not win, what he represents cannot be dismissed or reduced to any single issue, as many of the press reports on his platform picks attempted to do this past week. What Sanders represents and the far-reaching change in domestic and foreign policy he has advocated and that many voters have endorsed should not be ignored. Responding to voters deeply felt needs, Sanders has given birth to a true progressive movement that, if understood, embraced, and, most importantly, sustained, can, as he has noted, bring revolutionary change to America. It is a phenomenon. The Battle of Jutland British fleet enroute to the Battle of Jutland, May 30, 1916 At the onset of World War I, there were a series of naval battles throughout the world's oceans that saw the Royal Navy largely destroy the German Navy's surface combatants outside of the Baltic Sea. For the bulk of the conflict, the war at sea revolved mostly around anti-submarine warfare. Germany used its U-boat fleet to sink Allied shipping in the hope that it could starve Great Britain and drive it out of the war. The British in turn deployed the Royal Navy to protect the convoys of merchantman bringing in essential supplies and to hunt down and sing the German U-boats. The most significant large scale fleet action of the war would finally come in the spring of 1916. The Battle of Jutland/Battle of Skagerrak was one of the epic naval battles of all time. A popular aphorism at the time was that the Admiral of the Fleet, John Rushworth Jellicoe, "was the only man who could lose the war for Great Britain in an afternoon." The Battle of Jutland would offer an opportunity to do just that. It opened on May 31, 1916 and ended with both Britain and Germany claiming victory. The Commander of the German High Seas Fleet, Admiral Reinhardt Scheer, was intent on making a sortie against the British coast in a demonstration of German naval power. He was confident that his plans were unknown to the main British battle fleet based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, and that he would be able to carry out his sortie and return to Germany before the British Fleet could engage him. Advertisement His confidence was misplaced. The Royal Navy had broken Germany's naval codes. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, able to read Scheer's messages, knew exactly what he was planning. Scheer was not looking for a decisive naval action, simply a propaganda victory to showcase German naval strength. The Royal Navy, offered the opportunity to ambush the German Fleet, quickly prepared for their most important fleet action since Trafalgar. On May 30 the Grand Fleet put to sea. The 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under the command of Admiral David Beatty, leading the way from the Firth of Forth with six battle cruisers, four fast battleships, fourteen light cruisers and twenty-seven destroyers. The main British force, consisting of twenty-four battleships, three battle cruisers and fifty-one destroyers under Jellicoe's command, came from the Moray Firth and Scapa Flow. On the same day more than one hundred warships of the High Seas Fleet left German ports. The German fleet was split into a main force under Scheer and a scouting force under Admiral Franz Hipper consisting of five battle cruisers, five light cruisers, and 30 torpedo boats. German torpedo boats were roughly the equivalent of a Royal Navy destroyer. The German Fleet also deployed Zeppelins to patrol over the North Sea. Positions of British and German fleets at the Battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916 Beatty's orders had been to scout ahead of the main British fleet to a point 230 nautical miles, east of Britain and then turn north to join Jellico's main battle fleet. At 2:20 p.m. the following day, May 31, the British and German cruiser squadrons sighted each other off the Danish coast at Jutland and opened fire. Advertisement Having made contact with the British Fleet, Hipper, turned his German cruiser squadron south to re-join Scheer's main force. In a running battle, with Beatty charging after Hipper, the British Admiral made a classic military blunder. He split his forces; signaling his faster cruisers to steam ahead and engage Hipper while his slower battleships would follow. Meanwhile, as if anticipating his subordinate's poor decision, Jellicoe had detached three of his fastest cruisers to rush to Beatty's aid. As Hipper and Beatty fought their way south, the British lost the battle cruisers Queen Mary and Indefatigable to superior German gunfire. The loss prompted Beatty to remark to his Flag Captain, Ernie Chatfield, on the bridge of the HMS Lion, "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today." Just after 4:30 p.m. he received an unwelcome message from his scouting destroyers: the main German High Seas Fleet of sixteen battleships, six older pre-Dreadnought battleships, six light cruisers and thirty-one torpedo boats was surging towards him. Under a screen of destroyers, Beatty now turned north in order to link up with the approaching Jellicoe. As he steamed north at full speed, fighting a rear guard action with significant losses, the three fast cruisers detached earlier from Jellicoe were steaming south. They missed Beatty's retreating force through a navigational error. Instead, in foul weather, which helped screen them, they arrived off the right flank of the German main force. In one of those fortuitous events on which great battles sometimes turn, they caught the German fleet by surprise; badly mauling the screening cruisers. German HighSeas Fleet enroute to the Battle of Jutland, May 30, 1916 It was now the turn of the Germans to become confused. Scheer received an erroneous report from his right flank that an "enemy force of numerous battleships" had been sighted. In response, he turned to meet the threat. This put him perpendicular to the main body of the approaching British fleet. Shortly after 6:00 pm. the main forces of the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet engaged. Though initially obscured by smoke from Beatty's retreating warships, Jellicoe managed, with his greater speed, to "cross the T" of the German main fleet twice, sending broadside after broadside at the column of enemy ships. The "crossing of the T" was a classic naval maneuver where an attacking force approached perpendicular to an enemy fleet, allowing it to bring all its naval guns to bear on the lead elements of its opponent. Advertisement Scheer finally ordered the High Seas Fleet to retreat and to steam south to its German ports. Jellicoe attempted to overtake it before it could reach the safety of its own minefields. As night fell, despite a series of bitterly fought individual battles, the bulk of the German ships managed to evade Jellicoe's fleet and reach safety. I've been hanging out in the cities that Spain built for a long time. Over the past 35 years, I've gotten to know old towns from Granada and Leon, Nicaragua and Cuenca, Ecuador, to Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Antigua, Guatemala, and Casco Viejo, Panama. Established in 1496, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic predates them all. It's the oldest European city in the Americas and the capital of Spain's first colony in this part of the world. Founded by Christopher Columbus' brother Bartholomew, colonial Santo Domingo might best be described as dignified. It feels more genteel than the cities built in other of Spain's colonies in the decades to follow. Advertisement The structures at the heart of this old town are classic Spanish colonial but simpler, statelier and somehow more refined than their counterparts across the region. Calle Las Damas, the first street of the original city and therefore the oldest street in all the Americas, is lined with 16th-century pale stone facades and runs into Plaza de Espana, the expansive open square at the harbor. The highlight here is the colonial city's first palace, the private home of the first governor of the colony, Diego Columbus, Christopher's son. It's an exceptional example of classic Spanish-colonial architecture. Diego's vice-regal residence marks one edge of the Plaza de Espana, at the water. At the square's other edge, alongside the old town, is a row of restaurants where you can dine alfresco and watch modern-day activity in this harbor that helped build the Americas. Advertisement In colonial Santo Domingo, Bartholomew and Diego created an administrative hub for the activities their sponsoring country imagined for the New World they envisioned. It was from this base that the Spanish managed their conquests of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Peru, Florida, Colombia and Jamaica. In colonial Santo Domingo, the Columbuses built a customs house, a hospital, a cathedral, a university, a library... everything required to launch a new Spain. During its golden age, this city's colonial structures stood as testament to the riches flowing through their benefactors' coffers. Today, Santo Domingo, capital of the country with the fastest-growing economy in Latin America, is chasing a new prosperity. The streets are lively, the harbor busy. Most of the world knows the Dominican Republic for its white-sand beaches. The expanding tourist traffic to this island nation's many coastal resorts is a key driver of the economic growth the country is enjoying. Advertisement And I appreciate a beautiful beach as much as the next girl. But it's Santo Domingo, now that I'm getting to know it better, that is capturing my imagination. My husband and I have been scouting structures for sale in this city's colonial heart, trying to get a handle on pricing to compare with costs for buying today in other, better-known colonial cities. Related Articles: Earlier on Huff/Post50: When anti-Muslim activist, Bill Warner, was invited to speak in Pinehurst, North Carolina, several residents decided to take action. Most people familiar with Warner, who also goes by Bill French, are alarmed by his diatribe against Islam and Muslims. Warner is notorious for his work with his organization the Center for the Study of Political Islam and his book Shariah Law for Non-Muslims. Though the former university professor has no credentials in Islamic studies or related issues, he presents anti-Muslim lectures as scholarly conversations and not what they are: bigotry. Warner gained notoriety in his opposition to the construction of the Murfreesboro mosque in Tennessee. Since then, he has likened Muslim women who wear headscarves to Ku Klux Klan members donning white hoods. He has criticized Muslim refugees' resettlement in the United States and argued that only Christian refugees should be provided sanctuary. Warner has warned that Muslims can be "friendly" but cannot be a "friend" and has emphasized a "war on Islam" as a solution to the "problem of Islam." Advertisement In response to his visit, Moore County residents Paula Irene DeCarlo and Yasemin Kan, organized a grassroots protest against Warner's speech on May 15. A resident of Southern Pines and raised as a Catholic, Paula said she believes that youth can teach adults about diversity and peaceful co-existence. Her son employs music and creativity to defeat messages of hate. Yasemin, a native of Turkey and one of a few Muslim residents in Pinehurst, is dedicated to play her role in challenging the negative stereotypes of Muslims. Paula and Yasemin were joined by residents from other cities in their protest of Warner's speech on May 15th. Some of the protesters represented organizations like Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia and Muslim American Public Affairs Council. Protesters held signs that depicted slogans, "No to Racism, No to Islamophobia" or "To Learn the Truth About Islam, Ask a Muslim." Source: Manzoor Cheema The Pilot, a Pinehurst-based newspaper, published criticism about Warner's visit. In an op-ed on May 14, Michael Pritchett said the decision to host the anti-Muslim activist is in direct opposition to the group's stated values: "I'm disappointed to see that an organization such as the Moore Republican Women's group is supporting such hate speech despite listing on the front page of their website that one of their core beliefs is 'equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.' How is hosting this controversial speaker holding true to your core Republican values when you are intentionally denigrating an entire group of people for their religious beliefs?" Moore County Democrats organized a non-partisan discussion on Islamophobia and racism one day after Warner's visit to Pinehurst. Open to all, this event allowed Moore County residents to learn about Islamophobia, its connection to anti-Black racism and other forms of oppression, and offered strategies to defeat this oppression. A similar event against Islamophobia was organized at Congregational Church of Pinehurst on May 22. Congregants of the church, members of Moore County NAACP and grassroots activists offered their perspectives on how to fight Islamophobia. Veteran civil rights leader and North Carolina NAACP legal advisor, Al McSurely, offered perspectives from the HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) Movement in building a broad-based movement that challenges racism, inequality, sexism, attacks on workers, Islamophobia, nativism, and other injustices. Launched in 2007, HKonJ has been replicated in many states across the country and led to the rise of the Moral Monday Movement in North Carolina in 2012. What started as a depressing episode of Warner's visit to North Carolina turned into a rallying call for a movement against all forms of bigotry and oppression. People from different backgrounds and separated in geography, united to fight anti-Muslim bigotry and intertwine this campaign with other social justice movements. This week, Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, incinerated and vaporized by American nuclear bombs 71 years ago. For the U.S., as with Japan's own wartime atrocities that still deeply rankle the emotions of its Asian neighbors, the profound apology that matters is not about the past but the future. It is about taking convincing actions today that ensure what happened in the past never happens again. That future-oriented apology remains lacking all around. Writing from Tokyo, Ryan Takeshita is not looking for an apology or blame, for which he says Japan's own actions are not exempt. He proposes that, "talking about war as a general evil while not naming a particular country depoliticizes the issue. This approach may be helpful if it encourages the leaders of the world to stop pointing fingers and instead work together as a team for world peace and nuclear non-proliferation." These GIFs show Hiroshima then and now. Advertisement Historian Gar Alperovitz argues that, seven decades after the American bombing, the record is clear: the use of nuclear weapons did not lead to Japan's surrender and was not necessary. Rather, the Japanese military feared above all the imminent invasion of the Soviet Red Army. He also cites key U.S. military commanders at the time, such as Admiral William Leahy, who abhorred the decision. "'It is my opinion,'" he quotes Leahy as saying, "'that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. ... My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.'" Writing from Beijing, Zhang Zhixin says Obama's visit to Hiroshima sends the wrong message to China. In his view, it allows Japanese conservatives to play the "victim" card and fortifies Japan's role as the front line state in containing China's rise. Coming on the heels of Obama's visit to Vietnam, where he lifted the embargo on arms sales, the Chinese have cause to worry that mending one old war wound is portending a new one. As Sam Roggeveen writes from Australia, though Obama said his action was not aimed at China, "Precisely no one, including the Chinese, believes this. So what was achieved by maintaining this fiction?" Former French defense minister Paul Quiles calls for President Obama to convene "a multilateral nuclear disarmament process" in the wake of his Hiroshima visit. His worry is shared by many others concerned that a new arms race is underway as all nuclear powers -- the U.S., China, Russia, India, France, Pakistan and Great Britain -- are competitively upgrading their arsenals. MIT's Max Tegmark and Frank Wilczek point out the "trillion dollar question" -- the amount the U.S. is now spending on modernizing its nuclear forces -- none of the presidential candidates are addressing. Advertisement Writing from Istanbul, WorldPost Middle East Correspondent Sophia Jones reports on United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's frustration that no leader of the advanced nations, except Angela Merkel, attended this week's humanitarian aid summit. She also reports on the civilians trapped in Fallujah, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are trying to take back the city from the self-proclaimed Islamic State. This video of a "sea cemetery" commemorating the deaths of Syrian refugees fleeing the war movingly highlights the ongoing human tragedy. The former British prime minister, Gordon Brown, was at the Istanbul summit in his role as U.N. special envoy for global education. He writes that a new fund -- "Education Can't Wait" -- has been set up to help educate children whose forced exile often lasts years in which they receive no schooling. In this week's "Forgotten Fact," we look at how Libya is saving migrants at sea only to trap them in dire conditions on land. Oxford's Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna see anxiety gripping the world as war, refugees, inequality and falling wages dominate the headlines. Yet, they argue, the "age of discovery" in science and technology promises a new renaissance if everyone shares the benefits. Taking up the issue from the standpoint of Mark Zuckerberg's "Free Basics" offer to Africa, John-Paul Iwuoha asks: "If Facebook's intention is to make Internet access more affordable and available to more people on the continent, how come it doesn't have any data centers in Africa? Why isn't it investing in physical infrastructure and technologies that will bring down the cost of Internet data in Africa?" Writing from Istanbul, Kaya Genc thinks the new prime minister under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Binali Yldrm, may prompt a new turn in Turkey's foreign policy as he seeks to increase the number of the country's friends and decrease the number of its enemies. Genc also says Yldrm will likely be "the last prime minister" as Erdogan consolidates executive power. Mohammad Taqi reflects on the recent killing of the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour inside Pakistan. "Pakistan cannot have its jihadist cake and eat it too," he writes. "It either controls the Taliban and is responsible for their deadly actions or should act against them. Letting its soil serve as a bridgehead against Afghanistan and then crying foul when it is called out for it cannot go on forever." The U.S. Army War College's Ehsan Ahari explores how Islamophobia breeds extremism, bidding up the stereotypes and hatred on both sides. Writing for HuffPost Italy, Roberto Sommella regards the election results in Austria -- in which the Green Party candidate defeated the anti-immigrant Freedom party candidate by a smidgen of the vote -- as a "sigh of relief." The real test for Europe will come from the Brexit vote next month, he says. Writing from Berlin, Alex Gorlach sees the Austria vote as an "appetizer" of what's next in upcoming referendums and elections in Great Britain, France the United States and Germany -- all societies highly polarized between different visions of their own identity. Christian Durr raises another challenge coming Germany's way: the wall of debt that will have to be paid down through current income in the future by a shrinking population. "Successful German businesses would rather invest abroad than in an aging Germany," he writes. "As a result, fewer jobs and less value are created at home. Only the rich can afford a shrinking society." In a video interview, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis makes the case for a "yes" vote in the upcoming Swiss referendum on basic income. Because of job displacement by robots, he envisions an "endowment" for all citizens that shares the wealth created by the new technologies -- a public "trust fund" with dividends paid to all. In this haunting photo essay titled "Memory of a Future," French photographer Laurent Kronental captures portraits of the elderly residents living in the huge, concrete "grands ensembles" housing estates around Paris that were built as a modernist experiment after World War II. HuffPost "Talk Nerdy To Me" host Karah Preiss speaks with Caltech's Rana Adhikari about how one day we will be able to hear the rumble of the first microsecond of the "Big Bang" through gravitational waves. Siddhartha Mukherjee worries about the eugenic "fantasy of perfection" in a Zocalo discussion about his new book "The Gene: An Intimate History." Finally, our Singularity series looks at how all economic activities in the future might be fragmented into free agent tasks much like Uber today. Advertisement WHO WE ARE EDITORS: Nathan Gardels, Co-Founder and Executive Advisor to the Berggruen Institute, is the Editor-in-Chief of The WorldPost. Kathleen Miles is the Executive Editor of The WorldPost. Farah Mohamed is the Managing Editor of The WorldPost. Alex Gardels and Peter Mellgard are the Associate Editors of The WorldPost. Katie Nelson is the National Editor at the Huffington Post, overseeing The WorldPost and HuffPost's editorial coverage. Charlotte Alfred and Nick Robins-Early are World Reporters. Rowaida Abdelaziz is Social Media Editor. CORRESPONDENTS: Sophia Jones in Istanbul EDITORIAL BOARD: Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Arianna Huffington, Eric Schmidt (Google Inc.), Pierre Omidyar (First Look Media) Juan Luis Cebrian (El Pais/PRISA), Walter Isaacson (Aspen Institute/TIME-CNN), John Elkann (Corriere della Sera, La Stampa), Wadah Khanfar (Al Jazeera), Dileep Padgaonkar (Times of India) and Yoichi Funabashi (Asahi Shimbun). VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS: Dawn Nakagawa. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Moises Naim (former editor of Foreign Policy), Nayan Chanda (Yale/Global; Far Eastern Economic Review) and Katherine Keating (One-On-One). Sergio Munoz Bata and Parag Khanna are Contributing Editors-At-Large. The Asia Society and its ChinaFile, edited by Orville Schell, is our primary partner on Asia coverage. Eric X. Li and the Chunqiu Institute/Fudan University in Shanghai and Guancha.cn also provide first person voices from China. We also draw on the content of China Digital Times. Seung-yoon Lee is The WorldPost link in South Korea. Jared Cohen of Google Ideas provides regular commentary from young thinkers, leaders and activists around the globe. Bruce Mau provides regular columns from MassiveChangeNetwork.com on the "whole mind" way of thinking. Patrick Soon-Shiong is Contributing Editor for Health and Medicine. ADVISORY COUNCIL: Members of the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council and Council for the Future of Europe serve as the Advisory Council -- as well as regular contributors -- to the site. These include, Jacques Attali, Shaukat Aziz, Gordon Brown, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Juan Luis Cebrian, Jack Dorsey, Mohamed El-Erian, Francis Fukuyama, Felipe Gonzalez, John Gray, Reid Hoffman, Fred Hu, Mo Ibrahim, Alexei Kudrin, Pascal Lamy, Kishore Mahbubani, Alain Minc, Dambisa Moyo, Laura Tyson, Elon Musk, Pierre Omidyar, Raghuram Rajan, Nouriel Roubini, Nicolas Sarkozy, Eric Schmidt, Gerhard Schroeder, Peter Schwartz, Amartya Sen, Jeff Skoll, Michael Spence, Joe Stiglitz, Larry Summers, Wu Jianmin, George Yeo, Fareed Zakaria, Ernesto Zedillo, Ahmed Zewail, and Zheng Bijian. From the Europe group, these include: Marek Belka, Tony Blair, Jacques Delors, Niall Ferguson, Anthony Giddens, Otmar Issing, Mario Monti, Robert Mundell, Peter Sutherland and Guy Verhofstadt. MISSION STATEMENT The WorldPost is a global media bridge that seeks to connect the world and connect the dots. Gathering together top editors and first person contributors from all corners of the planet, we aspire to be the one publication where the whole world meets. Movie icon--and lately best known for her role on American Horror Story-- Jessica Lange has performed on Broadway only twice before, in two Tennessee Williams masterpieces, The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, and now she's in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. As Mary Tyrone, morphine addled matriarch of the Tyrone family, and wife to James Tyrone (Gabriel Byrne), her presence descending the stairs of the family Connecticut home in the 1920's, illuminated like a specter in the play's final moments, is unforgettable. Mother to Jamie and Edmund (Michael Shannon and John Gallagher Jr. respectively), she is frail, a wounded bird, and symbol of shattered hope, loss, loneliness, and heartache. Last week, as the Tony Awards approach, all four actors attended a luncheon at the Lotos Club; this being a state of the art Peggy Siegal event, guests included theater elite including director Pam MacKinnon, and actors F. Murray Abraham and Patrick Kennedy. Long Day's Journey into Night is nominated for Best Revival with Lange, Byrne, and Shannon listed for best acting honors. But awards were far from the topic of conversation during a panel discussion. Instead, the actors spoke to the depths of character each one had to reach to perform in this play. Family is at the play's center: for O'Neill, love itself will not save you from its terrors. Michael Shannon quoted his friend the playwright and actor Tracy Letts: there is so much love in family, but also the desperate need to get away. Gabriel Byrne noted of the drunken characters, "Alcohol is a way to be ruthlessly honest, an excuse to remove the mask." Brutal and bare as he rues James Tyrone's missed chances, Byrne said he looks into the black hole of the audience and imagines he sees O'Neill in the fifth row. Advertisement Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, U.S., May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Yesterday afternoon I endured the live stream of Donald Trump's "energy policy" speech from the stage at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in North Dakota. Of course, Trump's speech was not a speech on comprehensive energy policy at all, but more of his now typical pandering to the audience in front of him by stringing together slogans lifted directly from conservative orthodoxy. Between his usual sophomoric insults and name calling, he set out a long list of executive actions he would supposedly take to implement his "policy". Unfortunately, his speech contained no substance, even while calling for an "America First" policy which called for our country to slip back into a dark past of polluted water, fouled air, and deadly work conditions. By Trumperizing the McCain/Palin campaign's "Drill, Baby, Drill" slogan from 2008, his ramblings were nothing more than a caricature of what has already been proven to be a short sighted and certainly unwise approach to energy policy. One need only recall the tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 to understand the danger of unbridled and unregulated pursuit of hydrocarbons. Advertisement During his rambling soliloquy, Trump promised to open all federal lands to oil and gas exploration, including the offshore on both coasts as well as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He proposed renewing the Keystone XL pipeline, but with the caveat that the US government get a kickback for approving it. His only reference to renewable energy was to claim that wind turbines kill a "million birds a year" as well as "hundreds of eagles". He also declared that he was going to single-handedly save the coal industry and reopen closed mines, on which he blamed the President and Hillary Clinton for said closings. I'll be blunt about this spectacle from North Dakota. No serious person would mistake Trump's recitation of simplistic slogans and riffing about his latest political enemies as representing anything close to actual policy. It was stupid. Childish. Uninformed. Amateurish. Embarrassing. Pandering. Even those of us in the oil and gas industry know that Trump's declarations are not only unachievable, but are truly absurd. He's going to save coal mining jobs by reopening uneconomic mines. Obama and Hillary are to blame for low oil and gas prices, though they are actually caused by unbelievably effective innovations in drilling and completion technologies that have caused a huge glut of new oil production. His priorities are clean air and clean water, accomplished by unilaterally repealing clean air and clean water legislation. Listening to Trump's supposed polices is like reading an article in the Onion. On the face, Trump is not a serious candidate. Some believe he's "bold and independent", some adore him as an unapologetic reformer, and some believe that he is saying what they are thinking. None of those impressions of Trump are accurately depicted. Trump has proven over and over that he is playing US voters for chumps, appealing to the worst of their predisposed bigotry and ignorance. Trump's energy speech confirms that conclusion, and represents no actual policy declaration whatsoever. Advertisement One thing, though, is clear...Trump should change his campaign slogan from "Make America Great Again" to "Take America Back to 1940". That's actually what his declarations actually propose. New developments in Saudi Arabia and Iran, related to the oil market, may precipitate the emergence of a new battleground in the rivalry between the two countries. This article seeks to investigate where the Saudi-Iran confrontation may lead and whether it could result in the death of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). Iran surprised the oil markets After the imposition of nuclear sanctions by the United States and Europe in 2012 on Iran, the country's oil production decreased by a million barrels per day (bpd). This abatement was the result of a decrease in Iran's oil exports because domestic consumption had not changed. Advertisement In January 2016, the sanctions were removed as a result of an agreement between Iran and the six world powers followed by the endorsement of the UN Security Council. Analysts asserted that it would take a year before Iran can reach pre-sanctions production levels and some expressed suspicion as to whether it could be achieved at all. As an example, the US Energy Information Administration had predicted Iran can produce 3.6 bpd in 2017. The official OPEC-supplied production numbers provided by Iran prior to the 2012 sanctions showed its daily output to be between 3.7 million and 3.8 million bpd. A Bloomberg report in April, however, revealed that, miraculously, Iran had been able to increase the volume of oil it exports to two million bpd in the first half of April. By adding the oil refined in Iran, which is estimated at about 1.6 million bpd, to the exports, the total crude daily supply would be 3.6 million barrels (these figure do not include the exports of light oil recovered from gas fields). This means that Iran's oil production has almost rebounded to its pre-sanctions level, resulting in Iran regaining its position in OPEC. Saudi Arabia's oil policies openly reflect rivalry with Iran Saudi Arabia's decision in 2014 to not reduce its oil production when oil prices began to plunge was primarily an economic one aimed at choking the US shale industry. However, as many experts concluded, exerting pressure on Iran and Russia, with whom the Saudis were in a proxy war in Syria, was their secondary objective. As a result of the Saudi onslaught against American shale producers, "some 77 North American energy companies have now declared bankruptcy since the start of 2015." Most of them have been "small and midsize US shale producers and the service companies that help them drill" according to a May Wall Street Journal report. Advertisement However, Saudis reaction to an April meeting in Doha, where OPEC and, unusually, non-OPEC countries gathered to negotiate a production freeze intended to strengthen prices was completely geopolitical in nature. The talks collapsed after Saudi Arabia surprised the participants at the last moment by demanding that Iran should also agree to cap its oil production at its January level. This would leave Iranian production levels at a rate similar to when sanctions were in effect. Iran had refused to send a delegation to the meeting, arguing that it would not accept a cap on its production to the January level. Iran wanted its market share to return to the level it held before the sanctions were imposed. The upcoming OPEC meeting could be at a critical juncture The more than halving of oil prices in the last eighteen months was a serious blow for Saudi Arabia where oil revenues account for around 90 percent of central government fiscal revenues. The staggering $98 billion budget deficit in 2015 portendeds the trouble facing the oil-dependent kingdom. With a looming dire financial situation, the American consulting firm McKinsey & Co planned an ambitious blueprint for the kingdom's economic transformation and diversification away from oil by the year 2030. Some experts applauded the plan and some criticized it at both macro and micro level. One critique which stands out among the others is that the plan ignores the fact that the suggested reforms will not simply revolutionize the direction of the kingdom's economy. Rather it forces a monumental social transformation--the outcome of which is open to anyone's guess--by eliminating all kind of subsidies in a country where its citizens have long been accustomed to state largesse. Saudi Arabia can achieve "our national vision" even if the price of oil falls to less than $30 a barrel, says Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince, the King's favorite and de facto ruler of the country. Advertisement Against this backdrop, if nothing unexpected happens, Iran will most likely participate in OPEC's June 2nd meeting in Vienna. Iran will likely accept a freeze on its production at 3.8 to 4 bpd, which it is likely to meet by June 2. In other words, Saudi Arabia would face a fait accompli at the June 2 meeting. "Iran would support any move toward market restoration and stability of the market as well as cooperate with OPEC and non-OPEC" an Iranian source told Reuters. Russia, a non-OPEC member and the second largest producer of crude oil, will also attend the meeting and is ready to freeze its production at the January level as it had agreed prior to the Doha summit. Now, if Russia and Iran are on the same page, given the current fiscal difficulties of all OPEC and non-OPEC members, everyone else, including Saudi Arabia's allies will, in all likelihood, back the production freeze. Let us not forget that it was Saudi Arabia that killed Doha. Two scenarios are likely to result from this. First, if the Saudis acquiesce to a Russo-Iranian deal, for the first time since the inception of the Islamic Republic, the Saudis has conceded the strategic leadership of OPEC--the consequence of which, in the long-term, remains to be seen. Advertisement My dad was in the Army in World War II. He was a dental technician in an armored headquarters group and never went overseas. But many of his friends did go overseas and saw combat. What follows are some excerpts from letters sent to my dad. Bill Zerby was attached to the 781 Tank Battalion, 7th Army, in France and Germany. In December 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge, Zerby wrote to my dad that: Advertisement "Here we have plenty of mud and rain and 24 hours a day the field artillery lays down a barrage with everything they have. The outfit is making out pretty well so far. One good thing these boys don't believe in taking prisoners.... We all live in houses and have lanterns for lights. Everything is blacked out at 5 P.M. till dawn." I'd like to repeat Zerby's 3rd sentence: One good thing these boys don't believe in taking prisoners. The fight against the Nazis was tough, and it wasn't just the Germans who violated the Geneva Convention and its rules about taking prisoners. War, in short, should never be sugarcoated. At the end of March 1945, Zerby wrote to my dad again, a letter that contained this telling sentence: Advertisement "Bookbinder [a fellow soldier] sure got a break [by not going overseas] but he better hope he don't get sent to Germany. It seems they don't like the Heb's [Jews]." By this point, Allied troops were beginning to liberate German concentration camps, and beginning as well to realize the murderous hatred the Nazis had for the Jewish people. On a lighter note, Zerby regales my dad with the following story: "The place where we live now is a large estate that belongs to a German big shot. He got chased out and we moved in. He has a wine cellar that runs all over town--all underground passages, and the dates on some of the casks run back to 1755. Well some of the wine was really good. The boys made a tour of the place and took all the best drinks for their own use. Yes, I was in on it too. Now we are tired of it and don't take anymore. Of course it's bolted up now but that don't mean anything." In another letter, Zerby writes about American soldiers hunting for deer. Yes, American troops knew how to have a good time. Wine, venison, and women. After all, who knew from day to day if you'd live to see home again? At the end of 1945, Zerby writes again to my dad that "I am now a proud civilian and no more lousy Army life." And to my dad's mention of a few of their friends from the battalion, Zerby writes with painful honesty: "I don't remember many of those guys anymore. A hell of a lot of them got bumped off also last winter [in action in France and Germany]. I guess we were just lucky." Advertisement Another of my dad's friends was Corporal Ed C. Sarna, who was assigned to a headquarters battery in Divisional Artillery. He wrote to my dad in December 1944 that: "To date, I have seen a number of [German V-1] buzz bombs at a very close range. A little in regards to Germany. If Hitler decided to fight until we hit Berlin, I can sincerely feel that the destruction will wipe Germany right off the map. At our present place - there isn't a place found to be livable. Our forces are really doing a good job of it." The Allies wanted to make sure the Germans knew they had been well and truly beaten in this war, so as to prevent the myth that emerged after World War I that the German Army had not been defeated in the field. This was a sentiment seconded by Corporal Paul Vella, 5th Depot Repair Squadron, Maintenance Division. He wrote to my dad in March 1945 that "You're right, Julie, the Germans are getting the shit kicked out of them and the quicker it's over the better I like it. I sure would like to see the states after a couple of years of being away from it." Corporal Vella also jokingly mentioned the "Soldier's Prayer" in his letter: Please, Dear God, distribute the bullets like you do the pay and give officers first dibs. Yes, there's some grim humor shared in the front lines. Advertisement There's nothing really that special about these letters to my dad - and that's their value. They are the typical sentiments of American dogfaces in Europe in World War II. Men who saw the destruction of Germany and the deaths of their friends. They had no illusions about war, and they didn't spout patriotic platitudes. They just wanted the war to be over so they could get back to living their "real" lives. As one soldier put it to my dad in 1945, "I sure hope that I'll get my discharge soon, I've got plans to complete, my girl is getting tired of waiting so long." And thus baby boomers like me followed. Image Source The popularity of the Winn-Dixie chain of stores has remained for nearly a hundred years - a difficult feat to accomplish in the face of competition such as Wal-Mart. Yet, not only is this chain of stores well-loved, but it has also been featured in popular culture through the book because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo about a dog found in one of the eponymous stores. The book was later turned into a movie in 2005, extending the popularity of the chain of stores beyond its traditional south-eastern US market. History Despite its long-standing association with Florida, the Winn-Dixie stores weren't originally founded in the state. In 1913, William Davis - the founder of Winn Dixie - started working in Clark Mercantile, a small store in the town of Burley, Idaho. In 1914, he purchased the store and soon afterward renamed it Davis Mercantile. However, grocery stores that accepted cash instead of credit started cutting into his business. So he took his brother's advice and in 1925 took a loan of $10,000 from his father to move to Miami, Florida. He used the $10,000 to purchase the Rockmoor Grocery, which he renamed Table Supply a couple of years later. At the same time, he opened four more outlets of Table Supply. By this time, his sons, Artemus Darius Davis, James Elsworth Davis, Milton Austin Davis and Tine Wayne Davis had also joined him in the business. Advertisement In 1931, the second acquisition, this time of the Lively Chain Stores for a sum of $10,000, added 33 new stores to the Table Supply Chain. In 1934 William Davis passed away, leaving the company to his four sons. The company continued to move from strength to strength and in 1939 the four Davis brothers were convinced by Bill Lovett, the owner of the Winn & Lovett chain of stores, to purchase 51 percent of his business which consisted of 73 stores. While the period from 1939 onwards was lacklustre due to World War II, once the war was over, the company used this acquisition to reach even greater heights. In 1944, the Davis brothers moved the company headquarters to what used to be the Winn & Lovett headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida and changed the name of their company to Winn & Lovett. For the next decade, the company continued its spree of acquisitions, taking over names such as Steiden, Penney and Margaret Ann. 1952 was a landmark year for the company. It became the first industrial corporation from Florida to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol 'WIN'. In 1955, continuing its policy of acquisitions, the company took over Dixie home stores, which had a total of 117 stores, and changed the name of the company from Winn & Lovett to Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. By 1969, Winn Dixie had a total of 715 stores throughout the southern states. The checkmark in the Winn-Dixie logo was courtesy of another chain of stores that the company had acquired called Kwik Chek. The 1980s saw a certain decline in the fortunes of the company. Winn Dixie had now passed to the third generation of the Davis family and Robert D. Davis was the man at the top. However, the time he spent leading the company was marked by flat growth rate in gross profits and increased competition from large chain stores as well as convenience stores. In 1988, he resigned his position as chairman - a position which was then taken over by his cousin A. Dano Davis. Despite these changes and other expansions and acquisitions in the 1990s, it became obvious that the company was struggling. In the early 2000s, Winn Dixie had over 1000 stores. However, the stock performance of the company was extremely low, so much that it had to close 156 stores. In 2005, Winn-Dixie filed for bankruptcy and closed 326 stores including all its stores in the states of Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Advertisement In 2006, the company bounced back with a plan of reorganization that was duly filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. In 2011, the company itself was acquired by BI-LO Holdings for approximately $550 million. Brands Winn Dixie is well-known for its Chek brand of soft-drinks. These include options for low calorie and low caffeine. Its budget brand is now known as Clear Value, while the Winn-Dixie brand is at the level of most national brands. The high-end brand made popular by the store is Winn & Lovett, considered a premium brand. Philanthropic Endeavours Since the death of William Davis in 1934, the company has had an association with the Mayo Clinic as the Davis family believed that William Davis' death could have been prevented by better medical advancements. When James E. Davis read Booker T. Washington's book Up from Slavery, he realised the extent of the racial prejudice faced by African Americans and Winn-Dixie started supporting colleges and universities that were considered historically Black. The Stetson University School of Business Administration is another institution that has benefitted from the philanthropy of the Davis family. The Davis brothers endowed the university with a building named Davis Hall in 1967. In the 1990's the company also contributed to the Boy Scouts of America of the Central Florida Council. The contribution was substantial enough that the Camp La-No-Che was renamed to Winn-Dixie Scout Reservation. copyright ianpwatkinson via Getty Images Terracotta Kali Devi Chamundi ferocious Devi mother goddess from Bengal, India. Two men were arrested by Mumbai police this week for allegedly sharing offensively photoshopped pictures of the Hindu goddess Kali on Facebook. According to a report in The Indian Express, the two Muslim men from Madhya Pradesh, were traced down in Mumbai following a complaint by religious fringe organisations in Bhopal. Reportedly, the organisation had warned of a "backlash" if the people behind the offensive post on Facebook page called 'Naadan Parinday' were not arrested. Advertisement The duo has been remanded to judicial custody after the Mumbai police sent them to Madhya Pradesh. The police told IE that one of them had created the image, while the other had circulated it. One of the two arrested, Ali Shaikh works a bodyguard and the other, Abdul Qureshi runs an electronics shop. The men have now been booked under Section 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious intention of insulting a religion or religious beliefs) and Section 153 (A) (promoting disharmony between different groups on grounds of religion and performing acts prejudicial to maintenance of peace). Superintendent of Police (north) Bhopal, Arvind Saxena said before the "volatile" issue could flare up, it was handled swiftly as it "could have caused tension ahead of Ramzan". Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also See On HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - MAY 27: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, with Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay arrives at the Vikas Parv Function to celebrate the completion of second successful year of the Central Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Siri Fort Auditorium on May 27, 2016 in New Delhi, India.( Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) Top Union Ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the achievements of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office. "It's time we realise that half of the country's population can't be left behind by making them feel neglected and helpless. They should be equal partners in the country's development," Bachchan said at the event. Advertisement The event started with young ministers like Kiren Rijiju, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Babul Supriyo talking about 'new vision as they heaped praise on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision and making efforts for effective execution of various programmes. Bollywood actor R Madhavan and achor Neelam Sharma hosted the programme which was also attended by Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Birender Singh, Maneka Gandhi, Najma Heptulla, Ram Vilas Paswan, Uma Bharti, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and J P Nadda. Warning of strict action against people stashing black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said prosecution would be initiated against those found to have parked funds illegally in accounts named in 'Panama Papers'. "If illegal money is found in accounts of those who are named in Panama case, then they will also be prosecuted as in case of HSBC accounts," he said adding, the law to deal with black money stashed abroad has yielded about Rs 4,000 crore. Advertisement Union Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said the government is working overtime to strengthen rural infrastructure which will lead to a "revolution". Maneka Gandhi, Union Women and Child Development Minister, said the government has strengthened anganwadi centres to tackle malnutrition and taken several child reform initiatives to ensure their safety and security. "There was no check on Anganwadis since they were established, as a result of which malnutrition went on increasing. So, we put the entire system on reform mode. Actress Vidya Balan, who fronts the government's sanitation campaign, also joined in the celebrations from Mumbai. The actress said she never hesitated in signing up for the campaign as she understands the problem women in rural areas feel due to the lack of toilets. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said government was planning to send as many doctors as possible to rural areas but for that reasonable infrastructure such a roads and electricity were required. He said government is working on plans to utilise several airstrips lying idle across the country to help ensure more and more people are able to travel by air. Advertisement Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Modi government has changed the style of governance and ended policy paralysis that existed during the previous UPA regime. He added that government has brought in transparency and cut down red tape. Gadkari also said government was finishing many pending infrastructure projects started by the previous government and making efforts to ensure better connectivity in the northeastern states. Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said the Prime Minister has given a deadline of 1,000 days for complete electrification of villages across the country and it is hoped the target will be achieved much before that. The interests of farmers, he alleged, had been ignored for a long time but now with soil health cards they would know what to sow and how to improve productivity. Ganga, considered one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, will become one of the cleanest by 2018, Union minister Uma Bharti said. Advertisement Lamenting that the river has often been used as a gateway to disposing affluents, Bharti exuded confidence that it would be transformed into the 10 most cleanest rivers in the world by 2018. Contact HuffPost India Hindustan Times via Getty Images MUMBAI, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 25: BJP leaders Eknath Khadse and Devendra Fadnavis during a press conference on September 25, 2014 in Mumbai, India. The BJP ended its 25-year-old alliance with the Shiv Sena and decided to contest the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections with smaller allied parties. (Photo by Kunal Patil/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) Till about a few days back, Eknath Khadse was known as a powerful minister in Devendra Fadnavis' cabinet, handling important portfolios like minority development, excise, revenue, wakf, animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries and agriculture. Then allegations that Khadse had been in touch with Dawood Ibrahim surfaced. Aam Aadmi Party Spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon had levelled the allegation against Mr Khadse last week. Ms Menon had alleged, citing the call records obtained from a Pakistani telecom company by an Ahmedabad-based hacker, that calls were made from Dawood's house in Karachi to a mobile number registered in Mr Khadse's name. Advertisement Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis promptly directed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to probe into the allegations. Khadse rubbished Menon's claims and said that the number cited has not been in use for over a year. Now DNA has reported that if the ATS finds links between Khadse and the gangster, Khadse could face strict action. AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon shares the details of how the call logs been hacked of Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse's number in Dawood's call log by the hacker, at Marathi Patarkar Sangh, on May 21, 2016 in Mumbai, India. Advertisement "After the controversies, Khadse saheb looked confident during a cabinet meeting. It seemed to be under control when the issue was localised. But now, since this has become national news, things have taken a serious turn," a BJP minister told DNA on condition of anonymity. "A number of agencies are involved in the investigations and signals emanating from the party high command are mixed in nature however, if it is conclusively proved that Dawood and Khadse were in touch, the party may have to take a decision on him as the issue will have severe ramifications," he added. On his part, Khadse told The Indian Express that this controversy was cooked up by people out to settle scores with him. "In the past, a similar campaign was launched against Nitin Gadkari. I think I am being targeted as I am the most senior minister in the government. An attack on me puts unknown people on centre-stage, said Khadse. He has filed a defamation suit against the AAP activist. "What are the credentials of Anjali Damania who has accused me of land deals and a phone call to Dawood," he asked. According to IE, Khadse had openly declared post the Maharashtra Assembly elections that he was the most deserving candidate to be the chief minister. When Fadnavis was give precedence over him, he had also made his displeasure known to his supporters. Advertisement Twitter The Abhishek Chaubey-directed Udta Punjab, starring Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh, has stirred up a massive controversy with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), popularly referred to as the Censor Board. However contrary to what has been widely reported, the film has NOT been banned by the Censor Board. The Examining Committee (EC), which is the first leg of the screening process before a certificate is allotted to the makers, saw the film last week. The members had a difference of opinion as some felt the profanities in Udta Punjab, used largely by Shahid Kapoor's character, aren't appropriate and demanded cuts. A DNA report, quoting a source, said the EC wanted as many as 40 cuts including a song and scenes of drug abuse. Advertisement Some reports have also claimed that the Boards refusal to give certification to the film is politically motivated. As elections approach in Punjab, the issues of rampant drug abuse, especially among the youth (the film's main theme) has emerged as a crucial issue. The cuts weren't acceptable to the film's production house -- Phantom and Balaji Motion Pictures -- who were okay with an 'Adult' certificate as long as the film was left as it is, a source familiar with the development told HuffPost. The makers now have the option of going to Revising Committee. If the RC also recommends major cuts that are not acceptable to the film's producer, then they can move to Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), a Board that operates out of New Delhi. However, in Udta Punjab's case, the producers have decided to skip the RC process altogether and directly approach the FCAT. Advertisement In a telephonic conversation with HuffPost India, co-producer Anurag Kashyap said, "I've been through the Revising Committee many times [with previous films] and I'd rather skip it because I don't want to get into negotiations with them, ki yeh rakho, woh kaat do (keep this, take that out) etc. When you believe in a film, you want the film to come out completely intact." He added, "I want to follow a democratic process. Sometimes, with the RC, it doesn't feel democratic, because they take their decision and call you in. In the FCAT, you can present your point of view and make your case for why certain scenes or lines in the film are important." However, the main glitch here is time, which the makers are running out of since the release date is fast approaching. Said Kashyap, "The usual process takes a month, month and a half, and we're still trying to figure out how we can go directly to the FCAT, because the release date is coming up soon. Now it's the weekend, so we'll probably find out on Monday." Anurag Shrivastav, CEO of the Censor Board, told Mid-Day, "It's a normal process and I don't understand why this ruckus is being created. There were some differences among members of the EC, so we had referred the film to the RC. But the makers have directly gone to FCAT which will now take a decision." Advertisement Now, if the FCAT also rejects the film (it does so in extreme situations -- like a film that'd potentially create a law and order problem, communal disharmony etc). Then, it would mean that Udta Punjab has been banned -- by the Censor Board, not by the country itself. The producers can approach the Supreme Court and if the Supreme Court feels that Udta Punjab is a piece of filmmaking that would cause major havoc in the country, then the film will be considered officially banned by India. The SC has complete authority to uplift the ban invoked by the Censor Board. Not that it's not happened, but it's extremely rare for a film to be officially banned. Most people, including multiple news outlets, jump the gun as it is fashionable to stand by something that's being 'banned' by the government. Nothing wrong with doing so but at least that decision should come before one starts fighting for an invisible cause. Kashyap explained this in a series of tweets he posted today. 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 While one can only wait and watch what happens to Udta Punjab, due for release on June 17, director Abhishek Chaubey had rightly anticipated the CBFC trouble. In a recent interview with HuffPost, the director revealed that most Bollywood studios were apprehensive of funding his drugs-drama because of its edgy content that could pose a problem with the Censor Board. MANJUNATH KIRAN via Getty Images Onlookers and medias stand amidst the debris in the aftermath of the deadly fire explosion that rocked the Hindu Goddess, Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravur, 60kms North-West of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on the late evening of April 10, 2016. More than 100 people have died and 350 injured when fireworks meant to be lit for festivities caught fire and exploded near the temple where thousands of people had gathered to witness the extravanganza on the early hours of April 10. / AFP / MANJUNATH KIRAN (Photo credit should read MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images) KOCHI -- The Kerala High Court today declined bail to 39 accused in the Kollam Puttingal temple fireworks tragedy that claimed 109 lives in April. The Court, however, granted bail to two other accused stating that they had no active role in causing the explosion. They had only sold some substance to contractors one or two months back, Justice P Ubaid said. Advertisement Refusing the bail to 39 accused, including the temple Trust officials, the judge observed that Kerala has developed a very unhealthy cultural practice that any religious festival or ceremony must be glamorised by fireworks and elephant parade. "It is high time we banned or controlled the use of fireworks and explosive substances during festivals and religious ceremonies." "It is high time we banned or controlled the use of fireworks, explosive substances and elephant parades in connection with festivals and ceremonies. No religion will promote or sponsor such explosive ceremonies," the judge said. The judge also observed that "the officers functioning under law do not have guts and commitments to enforce the law." Advertisement zabelin via Getty Images Muslim rebel with automatic rifle and machine-gun belt SRINAGAR -- In a major blow to the commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Burhan Wani, who has emerged as the new poster boy of Kashmir militancy in recent times, his close aide - Tariq Pandita, surrendered before security forces in south Kashmir today. Tariq, a resident of Kareemabaad, was key member of HM (Burhan Wani) group, which was under the radar of security agencies. Advertisement Earlier this month, three Hizbul militants were neutralised in an encounter with the security forces in Avantipora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Last year in April, another close aide of Wani, Naseer Ahmad Pandit, was gunned down by forces in Shopian district. Naseer Ahmad Pandit was a former police constable, who used to work as a guard at the residence of a former Jammu and Kashmir minister. He had reportedly escaped with his service rifle to join Burhan-led HM. #FLASH: Tariq Pandita, close aide of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, surrenders in South Kashmir ANI (@ANI_news) May 28, 2016 Burhan Wani, 21, who is son of a government school principal, is known for inciting youth to join the armed rebellion by posting videos and pictures on social networking sites. Advertisement According to reports, his pictures in fatigues and with a rifle and a video giving a sermon to people about launching a jehad had gone viral in the valley sometime back. Portland Press Herald via Getty Images WISCASSET, ME - MAY 13: Officials investigate at the scene of a fatal head-on collision on Route 1 at the town line of Wiscasset and Woolwich on Friday, May 13, 2016. (Photo by Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images) In yet another incident of road rage, a newspaper employee was allegedly tortured for two hours in a moving vehicle in Bihar's Patna in the early hours of Friday after his official vehicle met with an accident, news reports said. Rakesh Singh, a production manager with English daily, The Telegraph, was abducted and beaten up by four unidentified men after his jeep collided with an oncoming vehicle. Advertisement According to Singh, he was returning with a colleague from the printing press to his office at around 2 am on May 27, when on a flyover a vehicle coming from the wrong side collided with their official jeep head on. The four passengers of the vehicle then started beating up Singh and later bundled him up into their TUV. They brutally bashed Singh for two hours before leaving him in an unconscious state at the Patna Railway Station at 4 am. The accused, who were apparently drunk at the time of the incident, abandoned their vehicle and fled. Singh was let off after his colleagues, who were with him, started making frantic calls to the police. A Sub Inspector posted at Shashtri Nagar police station has been suspended for dereliction of duty in connection with the incident. Advertisement Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital where he is currently recuperating. "They abducted me and took me towards Danapur. They took away all my money and my ATM cards. They threatened to shoot me if I raised an alarm. After two hours they threw me at railway station and escaped. All of them were drunk,Singh told India Today. "We have registered the case and slapped strongest possible charges against the accused. We will soon arrest the attacker", said DIG Patna, Shalin. On May 13, Rajdev Ranjan, a reporter with Hindi language daily Hindustan was shot dead by criminals in Siwan, Bihar. Earlier in the month, Rocky Yadav, a Bihar lawmakers son was arrested after he allegedly gunned down Aditya Sachdeva, son of a Gaya businessman, for overtaking his SUV on the way to Gaya from Bodhgaya. (With PTI Inputs) Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also See On HuffPost: The Kingston Trio comes to Hutchinson All three current members, have links to and experience with the original group. State Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, Sgt. 1st Class Michael McCarron and Superintendent James Brosnan at Friday's event. The children say the Pledge of Allegiance. Teacher Marie McCarron helps out at the podium. The Williamstown American Legion Post 152 sent its color guard. Veterans organization representatives and veteran Francis Merrigan. Mayor Richard Alcombright invites everyone to the Memorial Day events on Monday. Each grade sang a song for the celebration. Principal John Franzoni takes the microphone to thank everyone for a good job. PreviousNext Brayton School Holds First Memorial Day Celebration Sgt. 1st Class Michael McCarron tells the students to take a moment on Memorial Day, and every day, to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. If there was a simple message for the youngsters at Brayton Elementary School on Friday, it was this: Remembrance isn't just for Memorial Day. Marie McCarron's fourth-grade class this year took up the mantle from the former Sullivan School, which held a pre-Memorial Day celebration for years organized by Anna Saldo-Burke and her third-grade class. The entire school, veterans organizations, local officials and the Richard A. Ruether Post 152 American Legion color guard filled the auditorium Friday morning to sing patriotic songs and hear from speakers. Each guest was introduced and Korean and World War II veteran Francis Merrigan was applauded as he left the room. Guest speaker retired Army Reserve Col. James Brosnan, superintendent of McCann Technical School who served Kuwait and Iraq, noted that the beginnings of Memorial Day, formerly Decoration Day, had begun after the Civil War. Flowers were placed on both Confederate and Union graves to honor their ultimate sacrifice. "Since Lexington and Concord in 1775 started our Revolution, over a million men and women have given their lives to defend this nation and to defend freedom," he said. "That's an awful lot of people in the last several hundred years. They are mothers and they are fathers, they are brothers and sisters, and they will always be remembered by others." While they will always be remembered by their families, he asked the children to also think about them. "You don't have to know their names, you don't have to to know where they died, you don't have to know where their remains are buried," he said, holding up the page of a newspaper with the names and pictures of 33 servicemen and -women who had died just since the beginning of the year. Take a moment, Brosnan said, on Monday to think about all those who died in service to the nation. "It won't take much but it will be always be in your mind that you thanked the men and women who gave their lives." The fourth-graders took turns introducing and recognizing the guests. Colby Chaplin led the Pledge of Allegiance; Yaritza Lopez and Jaden Perras explained the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day and history of the holiday; and Sabriel Spencer read President Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby, who lost five sons in the Civil War. McCarron said the students were excited to put on the event. "I think they really learned something," she said. "The did a lot of research and they were really into it." The other grades participated by singing songs, with the Grades 4-7 chorus singing three songs, including "Let There Be Peace on Earth." "I think about them every day like we all should," McCarron said, adding, "Because freedom comes with a price and those that pay that price should be remembered." Participating fourth-graders were Lillian Brown, Tiana Carver, Colby Chapin, Kaylee Crisman, Alexandra Dargie, Nevaeh Flynn, Alexcia Forrest, Benjamin George, Carter LaCasse, Aubrey Levesque, Yaritza Lopez, Jaden Perras, Angel Pucheta, Sabriel Spencer and Khloe Vanuni. Samsung already released the 2016 models of J5, J7 and A9 PRO which has a superb performance at a budgeted price. All 2016 models are already available at Widget City! Samsung J5 2016: A new variant of Samsung Galaxy J5, named Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 has been released. Samsung Galaxy J5 has a 5.2 inch HD (720x1280 px) display that has a finger touch support, reincarnated with a Quad-core Qualcomm snapdragon 410 processor and a 2GB RAM. J5 2016 also offers a 16gb internal storage, 5.1.1 Lollipop OS and has a 12mp autofocus rear camera plus 5mp front with LED flash. Samsung J7 2016: The Galaxy Samsung J7 2016 comes with a 5.5inch display with a 1080p resolution which is a nice bump with the J7 2015 model you also get an Octacore Exodus 7870 chip and 3GB of ram that is a nice bump again against the 1.5GB of ram of the J7 2015. In addition, we also get 16gb of expandable storage space and a 3300mAh of batteries. Coming with the camera resolution it has a 13MP front and 5MP rear which is very clear view on it's AMOLED screen. Samsung A9Pro: So far Samsung A9 Pro is the most powerful galaxy of the A series. Display comes with 6 inches screen which you can already call it a phablet, it is infused with a Fingerprint Scanner, a 4000mAh battery capacity and it is packed up with a lot of nice little features it has a fast adaptive charging, an amazing battery life, dual sim and an extendable memory card slot running at 4GB RAM. In taking photos you will get 16mp rear camera and 8mp front camera with a stunning 1080p resolution. Widget City Price: Samsung J5 2016 - P10,990 Samsung J7 2016 - P14,800 Samsung A9 PRO 2016 - P24,000 All these reincarnated models are stunning and has superb features and Samsung really hit the spot of change. Back to top Imperial Valley News Center Governor Brown to Host Inaugural Subnational Clean Energy Ministerial in California San Francisco, California - Moving to further mobilize states, provinces and cities in the fight against climate change, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. will convene mayors, governors and other regional leaders from around the world next week at the inaugural Subnational Clean Energy Ministerial (SubCEM) in San Francisco. This gathering will be held in conjunction with the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7), an annual meeting of national energy ministers and other high-level delegates from 23 member countries and the European Commission, where the Governor will also speak. California is now part of a worldwide movement of states and provinces that have committed themselves to combating climate change, said Governor Brown. The inaugural SubCEM will highlight action from states, provinces and cities to use cleaner energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, in addition to Governor Brown, will feature Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and other subnational leaders from the United States, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Kenya, Italy, China and India. This event and these actions complement the CEM7, which brings together national energy ministers and other high-level delegates to promote policies and share best practices to accelerate the global transition to clean energy. Together, these events represent an opportunity to discuss how states, provinces, cities and countries will follow through on the commitments made at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, where Governor Brown and U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz first announced that California would host the CEM7. Wednesday, June 1, 2016 SubCEM Opening Governor Brown will give remarks at the opening of the inaugural SubCEM. When: Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at approx. 9:00 a.m. Where: Westin St. Francis Hotel, Tower Salon A, 335 Powell St., San Francisco, CA 94102 SubCEM Subnational Leadership in Renewable Energy Resources Panel Governor Brown will join Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak to discuss the need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning to cleaner fuels and the rapid scaling and expansion of renewable energy worldwide. When: Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at approx. 9:45 a.m. Where: Westin St. Francis Hotel, Tower Salon A, 335 Powell St., San Francisco, CA 94102 SubCEM Pacific Coast Collaborative Agreement Signing and Media Availability Governor Brown will join Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak and leaders from major West Coast cities to sign agreements highlighting Pacific Coast Collaborative members' commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A media availability will follow the signing event. When: Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at approx. 3:00 p.m. Where: Westin St. Francis Hotel, Borgia Room, 335 Powell St., San Francisco, CA 94102 Thursday, June 2, 2016 CEM7 Opening Public-Private Action Summit Governor Brown will join U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, chair of the CEM7, to open the first public meeting of the CEM7 and deliver opening remarks. When: Thursday, June 2, 2016 at approx. 8:30 a.m. Where: Westin St. Francis Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 335 Powell St., San Francisco, CA 94102 Governor and First Lady Honor Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles H. Keating IV Sacramento, California - On behalf of all Californians, Governor Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown honor Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles H. Keating IV, who bravely gave his life in service to our state and nation. The Governor and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles H. Keating IV, 31, of San Diego, died May 3 in Tall Usquf, Iraq, from injuries sustained in combat. He was assigned to a West Coast-based Navy SEAL Team. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Keating was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. In memorial, Governor Brown ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Keatings family will receive a letter of condolence from the Governor. Governor Brown Issues Proclamation Declaring Memorial Day Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring May 30, 2016 as Memorial Day in the State of California. PROCLAMATION On Memorial Day, we pay tribute to Americans who have suffered and died in war. The custom of marking this day originated just after the Civil War. To help heal the wounds of war, Americans in all parts of the country began decorating the graves of the dead with flowers, a universal symbol of the renewal of life. As a small step in the lengthy task of reuniting a nation divided, we chose to honor all the dead, Union and Confederate, regardless of our own allegiances during that terrible struggle. After the First World War, we expanded our observance to honor all Americans who have fought and died in any of our nations wars. In 1971, the United States Congress declared Memorial Day to be a national holiday observed on the last Monday in May. Today, I ask all Californians to pay tribute to our fallen military heroes. In their memory, I have ordered that flags be flown at half-staff on all state buildings and grounds throughout the state. In addition, I would ask you to participate in the National Moment of Remembrance, and pause at 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day for a moment of silence to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 30, 2016, as Memorial Day. IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 26th day of May 2016. ___________________________________ EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Governor of California ATTEST: __________________________________ ALEX PADILLA Secretary of State Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Issues Consumer Tips for Service Members and Veterans in Honor of Memorial Day Los Angeles, California - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued the following tips to help California servicemembers and veterans protect themselves from scams. Scammers target those serving our country, attempting to prey on their steady and hard-earned incomes. The youngest men and women in uniform are particularly vulnerable as they are often living away from home for the first time and are only beginning to manage their finances independently. On Memorial Day, we honor the military veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our nation, said Attorney General Harris. While we remember the bravery, courage and sacrifice of our veterans, we are also reminded that too many men and women who serve our nation are targeted by scam artists and predators. My office remains vigilant in support of all veterans, will protect servicemembers from fraud, and will hold accountable those who prey upon members of our military. WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR There are many different scams targeting servicemembers and veterans, but scammers tend to follow similar patterns. Here are some of the most common scams of which to be aware: Predatory auto sales and financing. Car dealers located near military bases may try to lure servicemembers with false promises of special deals for military personnel. Often, these so-called deals conceal the terms of purchase for the vehicle and result in the servicemember drastically overpaying for both the vehicle and cost of financing. For example, dealers may insist that military personnel will not qualify for financing unless they purchase overpriced add-ons they do not need. Other times, the dealer may contact a servicemember who previously completed a transaction and drove a car off the lot to inform him that the initial financing fell through and insist on renegotiating for far worse terms. Servicemembers should not rely on oral promises nor feel pressured to enter into any purchase without first reading and understanding the contract. Storage units. Servicemembers may spend months or years away from their belongings and often must rely on storage services while they are gone. During deployment, stored possessions benefit from additional legal protections to prevent them from being sold at auction as a result of a default in rental payments. Unscrupulous storage complexes may claim ignorance of military status or induce servicemembers to sign away their rights in order to auction their property while they are away. Military personnel should notify storage companies of their military affiliation and should not agree to waive the rights designed to protect them. Rental scams. Because they may relocate frequently to unfamiliar places, servicemembers should be particularly vigilant about online scammers who use websites like Craigslist to lure would-be renters into paying deposits for non-existent rental properties. The online advertisements may appear legitimate on the surface, but rentals listed at abnormally low rates or landlords requiring a deposit prior to showing the property usually signal a scam. Particularly with peak Permanent Change of Station (PCS) season fast approaching, military renters should watch out for insistent demands that instill a false sense of urgency and should avoid wiring money to reserve apartments sight unseen. Using installation housing services offices or established property management companies to locate potential housing is advisable. Education rip-offs. Veterans Administration education benefits provide a unique and valuable opportunity for military personnel to pursue higher education. Too often, however, recipients become the targets of disreputable for-profit colleges that are happy to pocket hard-earned benefits but provide little education in return. Servicemembers and veterans should take great care to ensure that they use their benefits wisely by thoroughly researching educational opportunities before using their benefits. The G.I. Bill Comparison Tool may be helpful in determining how to best utilize these benefits. Pension scams. Organizations professing a sincere concern for veterans may approach a veteran or his/her family about helping them qualify for VA pension benefits under the Aid and Attendance Program. These organizations purport to employ financial wizardry to help veterans meet the programs income and asset limitations. But the organizations often charge high fees and receive lucrative undisclosed commissions for the financial products they sell to unsuspecting veterans. Applicants who utilize this assistance may later discover that they no longer have access to their assets or that they are disqualified from other government programs, such as Medicaid. For additional information, see Attorney General Harris Consumer Alert on Veteran Pension Poaching Scams. HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY Be vigilant in any consumer transaction in which your military affiliation is involved. While there are certainly many respectable businesses that offer special deals to servicemembers and veterans, there are also plenty of dishonest merchants who will try to use that information to take advantage of you. Be very careful when you encounter testimonials from your fellow servicemembers or from veterans working for merchants. Many scammers set up their businesses near military bases and hire veterans as salespeople, in an attempt to prey on the trust between military personnel. Sometimes they also offer special deals or discounts to servicemembers in exchange for promoting their goods and services to other members of the military. You should be aware of these practices and careful about relying on claims that seem too good to be true. Know all the terms of any installment purchase you make and look out for attempts to hide any terms from you. Salespeople will often focus a servicemembers attention on the monthly payment for a particular purchase, which can distract attention from a sales price inflated well beyond what a buyer would ordinarily pay. Beware of bait and switch tactics and never sign incomplete documents or contracts you have not reviewed in detail. If you are a victim of consumer fraud, law enforcement is here to help. Contact your local district attorney, consumer affairs department, or the California Attorney Generals Office. HELPFUL RESOURCES The Federal Trade Commission maintains a website full of resources for military consumers. Servicemembers in need of legal assistance should start by contacting their local JAG legal assistance office or the California National Guard legal assistance program. Veterans in need of legal assistance may want to start with LawHelpCa, a website with veteran-specific resources and links to legal aid organizations that offer FREE legal help. Consumers can report predatory consumer activity targeting servicemembers, veterans, or anyone else, to the Office of the Attorney General. To submit a complaint, please use one of the following forms: English: https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company. En Espanol: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform_sp.pdf? : http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform_chin.pdf? Tieng Viet: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/contact/business_corpform_viet.pdf? CDC adds Argentina to interim travel guidance related to Zika virus Washington, DC - CDC is working with other public health officials to monitor for ongoing Zika virus transmission. Today, CDC posted a Zika virus travel notice for Argentina. Local transmission of Zika virus infection (Zika) has been reported in Tucuman Province, Argentina. CDC has issued travel notices (level 2, practice enhanced precautions) for people traveling to destinations with Zika. For a full list of affected countries/regions, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information . As more information becomes available, CDCs travel notices will be updated. Travelers to areas with cases of Zika virus infection are at risk of being infected with the Zika virus. Mosquitoes that spread Zika are aggressive daytime biters. They also bite at night. There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus. The best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites. Some travelers to areas with Zika will become infected while traveling but will not become sick until they return home and they might not have any symptoms. To help stop the spread of Zika, travelers should use insect repellent for three weeks after travel to prevent mosquito bites. Some people who are infected do not have any symptoms. People who do have symptoms have reported fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. The sickness is usually mild with symptoms that last from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon and the number of deaths is low. Travelers to areas with Zika should monitor for symptoms or sickness upon return. If they become sick, they should tell their healthcare professional when and where they have traveled. CDC has received reports of Zika virus being spread by sexual contact with sick returning travelers. Until more is known, CDC continues to recommend that pregnant women and women trying to become pregnant take the following precautions. Pregnant women Should not travel to any area with Zika. If you must travel to or live in one of these areas, talk to your healthcare provider first and strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites. If you have a male partner who lives in or has traveled to an area with Zika, either use condoms, the right way, every time you have sex or do not have sex during your pregnancy. Women trying to get pregnant Before you or your male partner travel, talk to your healthcare provider about your plans to become pregnant and the risk of Zika virus infection. You and your male partner should strictly follow steps to prevent mosquito bites. Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is very likely triggered by Zika in a small proportion of infections, much as it is after a variety of other infections. CDC is working with Brazil to study the possibility of a link between Zika and GBS. For more information on Zika, visit www.cdc.gov/zika. PMH Foundation To Donate $150,000 To Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District Brawley, California - The Pioneers Memorial Hospital (PMH) Foundation continues their spirit and will to give by donating $150,000 to the Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District for the use of their Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) equipment. This is the second of the three installments that will be made by the local Hospital Foundation. The Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS), allows doctors to see what lies below the surface of the gastrointestinal tract, thus enabling them to quickly diagnose and treat diseases. This innovative technique provides Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District physicians the ability to more accurately diagnose tumors by being able to collect both high image resolution images as well as tissue samples in a minimally invasive way, ensuring the best possible treatment for patients. The G-7 Summit at Ise-Shima Japan Washington, DC - The President met with the other leaders of the G-7 in Ise-Shima, Japan on May 26-27 to advance major global economic and political priorities, guided by a set of common values including freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. Promoting International Peace and Security In Ise-Shima, G-7 leaders recognized the challenges of persistent geopolitical conflicts and the rise of violent extremism. The G-7 underscored its responsibility to lead international efforts to tackle these challenges and forge a path forward. Iraq: G-7 leaders expressed support for Iraq, commended Iraqi forces efforts in the fight against ISIL/Daesh, and confirmed their readiness to supplement a potential new International Monetary Fund (IMF) program by mobilizing more than $3.6 billion in bilateral and other direct budget assistance to Iraq, which will help unlock up to $18 billion in assistance for Iraq over three years. Russia and Ukraine: G-7 leaders expressed concern about continued violence in Ukraine and urged all sides to take concrete steps toward the complete ceasefire required under the Minsk agreements. Leaders stressed that sanctions are linked to Russias complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraines sovereignty. G-7 leaders stand ready to take additional measures should Russias actions so require. G-7 leaders expressed support for recent Ukrainian reforms. Syria: G-7 leaders condemned violations of the Cessation of Hostilities (COH), called on all parties to fully implement the COH, welcomed the commitment of the International Syria Support Group to help ensure parties stop indiscriminate attacks, and called on the Syrian regime to allow humanitarian agencies access in Syria. G-7 leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to political transition and to working towards long-term, post-conflict stabilization and rehabilitation of Syria. Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism (CT/CVE): G-7 leaders took steps to increase information sharing to bolster border and aviation security; strengthen coordination of capacity-building assistance to partner countries through entities such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum's International CT/CVE Clearinghouse Mechanism; and deepen cooperation on countering the financing of terrorism. Maritime Security: G-7 leaders reiterated their commitment to a rules-based order at sea, peaceful dispute settlement, and respect for freedom of navigation and overflight. G-7 leaders also reaffirmed the importance of states making and clarifying their claims based on international law; refraining from unilateral actions; not using force or coercion; and seeking to settle disputes by peaceful means including through juridical procedures. Responding to the Global Displacement Crisis With displacement approaching levels not seen since the Second World War, G-7 leaders recognized the global nature of the crisis and affirmed the need to humanely and effectively manage displacement. G-7 leaders committed to bolster global refugee and host community assistance and welcomed efforts to strengthen long-term global capacity and effectiveness to respond to crises. To this end, G-7 leaders asked the World Bank to develop a global crisis response platform that will assist host states in providing sustainable livelihoods and education for both refugee populations and their communities. The platform will help advance the objectives of the Presidents Summit on Refugees that will be held on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September. Achieving Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Global Economic Growth While U.S. businesses have added 14.6 million jobs over a record 74 consecutive months of job growth, global economic growth remains moderate and uneven. G-7 leaders committed to implementing fiscal policy flexibly to strengthen growth, job creation, and confidence. The G-7 stands ready to deploy robust policy responses to bolster short and longer-term growth as necessary. G-7 leaders reiterated their commitment to using all policy tools to strengthen global demand and address supply constraints. In addition, G-7 leaders reaffirmed their exchange rate commitments, including close consultation on actions in foreign exchange markets and not targeting exchange rates. G-7 leaders also noted their intent to promote quality infrastructure investment, including through effective resource mobilization in partnership with the private sector. To this end, President Obama has put forward a bold plan for a 21st Century Clean Transportation System that boosts growth while reducing carbon pollution. The United States has also been promoting infrastructure investment through the Build America Investment Initiative, a plan to encourage public-private partnerships and private investment. Leveling the Playing Field for International Trade and Investment G-7 leaders underscored their commitment to using trade to create economic opportunity for their worker and firms, noting that trade is a key driver of growth and prosperity. Since G-7 leaders last met, the United States, Canada, and Japan have worked with 9 other countries to conclude negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). G-7 leaders encouraged each TPP signatory to complete its domestic process to bring the agreement into force. In addition, the United States and the European Commission committed to applying the necessary political will to reach an ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (T-TIP) as early as this year. Addressing Global Industrial Excess Capacity: G-7 leaders recognized that global excess capacity across industrial sectors, especially steel, is having a negative impact on G-7 economies and workers. G-7 leaders committed to quickly taking steps to address this issue, including through coordinated actions that seek to eliminate subsidies and other policies that contribute to excess capacity. G-7 leaders called on their respective policy experts to coordinate actions, working with other countries affected by this issue. The United States has begun coordinating efforts to address excess capacity with the G-7 and other major steel producers. The United States is currently enforcing 149 anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders involving foreign steel imports. Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA): The United States and other G-7 members are part of a broader negotiation on an agreement to eliminate tariffs on environmental goods. G-7 leaders announced their aim to conclude an ambitious EGA ahead of the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou in September 2016. Moving Forward at the World Trade Organization (WTO): G-7 leaders underscored the critical importance of the rules-based global trading system as embodied by the WTO. G-7 leaders discussed moving forward at the WTO to address outstanding and new issues and called on all WTO members to engage constructively and with a sense of urgency. G-7 leaders also called for the entry into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement by the end of 2016, which will eliminate bureaucratic delay for merchandise shipped around the world. Enhancing Financial Transparency and Tackling Corruption Reflecting their common values of fairness and the rule of law, and in order to promote strong economic growth and sustainable development, the G-7 leaders reaffirmed their aim to enhance financial transparency, combat tax evasion, and tackle corruption. As the G-7 recognizes the continuing need to foster public confidence in tax systems, the United States will continue to show leadership in this area. Enhancing Financial Transparency and Combating Illicit Finance: G-7 leaders reiterated the importance of improving the transparency of the beneficial ownership of legal entities to prevent misuse of these entities for corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing, and money laundering. The actions announced by President Obama on May 6 to bolster the transparency of beneficial ownership information in the United States represented a significant step forward. The United States also continues to work in the G-7 and G-20 to support the Financial Action Task Force. Advancing the International Anti-Corruption Agenda: G-7 leaders pledged continued action on: promoting practical cooperation between countries on asset recovery cases; building capacity in countries vulnerable to corruption; and supporting the work of civil society, the private sector, and journalists to contribute to anti-corruption reform and expose corruption and bribery. Promoting Stability, Innovation, and Growth in Cyberspace G-7 leaders committed to support an open, secure, and reliable cyberspace that promotes economic growth and prosperity. Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to support stability in cyberspace by promoting the application of international law to state behavior in cyberspace, voluntary norms of responsible state behavior in peacetime, and close cooperation against malicious cyber activity. The G-7 reiterated its commitment to protect the same human rights online as offline. Leaders also recommitted to work together on the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure. The G-7 leaders also addressed issues key to the growth of the digital economy. Leaders emphasized the importance of the free flow of data and their opposition to unjustifiable data localization requirements. The G-7 also committed to support transparent policy and legal frameworks and to promote international standards for technology products. They emphasized the importance of protecting intellectual property rights, opposed generally applicable requirements for access to source code as a condition of market access, and reaffirmed that states should not conduct or knowingly support the cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property for commercial gain. Further, leaders committed to promote a multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance. Finally, the G-7 committed to improve global access to the Internet, which aligns with the objective of the U.S.s Global Connect Initiative to bring another 1.5 billion people online by 2020. Addressing Climate Change, Protecting the Environment, and Strengthening Energy Security G-7 leaders recognized the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 and reaffirmed their commitment to address climate change. To maintain momentum, G-7 leaders committed to taking the necessary steps to secure ratification, acceptance, or approval of the agreement as soon as possible, and called on all parties to do so, striving for a goal of having the agreement enter into force in 2016. Currently, 40 countries representing 50 percent of emissions have either joined the Agreement or have committed to work to join this year, putting implementation within reach in 2016. G-7 leaders also committed to complete mid-century low-emission development strategies well ahead of 2020. In addition, G-7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and called on all countries to do so by 2025 the first announcement of a target date to achieve the goal originally outlined by the G-20 in 2009. Leading in International Fora: G-7 leaders pledged to support the adoption of a Global Market-Based Measure to address aviation emissions in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and an amendment to address hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol. The ICAO efforts aim to enable carbon-neutral growth in the civil aviation sector from 2020, while an HFC amendment would help shave up to half a degree off warming by the end of the century. Leaders pledged additional support to the Montreal Protocols Multilateral Fund to help transition away from HFCs. Addressing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants: G-7 leaders recognized the importance of mitigating emissions from other short-lived climate pollutants like methane and black carbon, and resolved to drive down methane emissions. The Obama Administration has set an ambitious but achievable goal to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40-45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. Ensuring Nuclear Safety and Security: G-7 leaders called upon all countries to ensure the highest standards of safety, security, and non-proliferation in nuclear energy programs. Leaders also welcomed the successful outcomes of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit on March 31-April 1 in Washington. Advancing Global Health and the Global Health Security Agenda Recognizing the continued threat posed by diseases such as Zika, and determined to learn the lessons of the Ebola crisis, the G-7 leaders addressed a wide-ranging health agenda in Ise-Shima. This included committing concrete assistance to strengthen country capacity to address infectious disease threats; reinforcing the global health architecture to strengthen the response to public health emergencies; moving towards the goal of universal health coverage; and combating antimicrobial resistance. Advancing the Global Health Security Agenda: G-7 leaders reinforced support for a coordinated approach to assist 76 countries and regions build the capability to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats. The G-7 will offer to assist partners in developing national plans, and will measure progress according to the targets of the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool published by the World Health Organization, which includes each of the targets of the Global Health Security Agenda launched by President Obama in 2014. In preparing for health emergencies, G-7 leaders committed to undergo and share the results of JEEs. The United States is committed to assist at least 31 of the 76 partners to develop national plans, and is currently undergoing a JEE. Supporting Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund): G-7 leaders expressed their support for a successful 5th replenishment of the Global Fund and called on traditional and new donors to support replenishment as well. Growing out of discussions at the G-8 summit in 2000, the Global Fund has saved an estimated 17 million lives since its inception in 2002. Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance: G-7 leaders made a renewed commitment to address the global health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance. Leaders highlighted the need to build country capacity for surveillance and training in judicious use of antibiotics and to preserve the utility of existing remedies, while also discovering new ones, through a robust and coordinated set of approaches. Advancing Womens Empowerment and Gender Equality G-7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and to the belief that women and girls are equal and indispensable agents of change in our societies. G-7 leaders also affirmed the importance of promoting and protecting womens rights and underlined the role of women as key actors to ensure peace and security. The G-7 recognized that the role of women is critical to addressing challenges such as of violent extremism, the global displacement crisis, and protracted conflicts. The G-7 also made specific commitments around empowering women and girls through education, promoting opportunities for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and advancing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. Promoting Sustainable Development With the historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, 2015 marked a landmark year for development. The G-7 resolved to make further efforts to implement its commitments. UK Train Passenger Praised for Refusing to Give Up Her First Class Seat to Old Woman 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 }} It is easy to be cynical about the announcement by the French insurer Axa that, for ethical reasons, it will no longer invest in tobacco companies and will offload 1.3bn-worth of investments it holds in such businesses. In fact, tobacco shares have been on an impressive run this year up close to 10 per cent already but their future looks troubled, given the number of people giving up smoking and increasingly stringent restrictions on packaging. It looks like a good time to cash in. In the UK, just 19 per cent of adults now smoke according to Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), down from 27 per cent two decades ago. However, investors in tobacco businesses have more reason to be optimistic about their prospects than you might think. While smoking is on the decline in Western markets, the opposite is true elsewhere. In developing economies, with huge populations in Asia and Africa in particular, smoking is growing strongly up by more than 50 per cent since 1990 according to Ashs estimates. Moreover, the big tobacco companies are all eyeing the fast-growing e-cigarette and vaping market as a potential new source of revenues. In fact, the sector is so attractive that some investors that have previously pulled out of tobacco stocks are now considering making a return. In the US, the giant pension fund CalPERS has published analysis suggesting that its withdrawal from tobacco five years ago could now be costing it more than $100m every year in lost returns. It is now considering whether to give up giving up. At Axa, however, senior managers insist they are right to take the moral high ground. The company wants to support the efforts of governments around the world on reducing smoking, it says, and feels increasingly uncomfortable with holding shares in companies whose products are harmful to health when one of its most important lines of business is health insurance. So if youre a customer of Axa who shares its view that big tobacco is a nasty industry to be avoided, you can now surely rest assured that your money wont end up in such investments, right? Well, dont rush to that assumption. In fact, Axas announcement only applies to its own holdings in the tobacco industry and, crucially, not to the funds its Axa Investment Managers arm runs on behalf of thousands of investors all around the world. If you invest in one of those funds, youll have to check what its managers policy is on tobacco investment or even whether it has one. But this is just the latest example of the dilemma faced by anyone who wants to invest in accordance with their principles. While its simple enough for you personally to avoid direct investments in companies with which you feel morally uncomfortable whether tobacco stocks, shares in weapons manufacturers, businesses that pollute the environment, or something else as soon as you give your money to a third party, the waters get very muddy very quickly. Just ask staff at the British Heart Foundation, for example, who were shocked to discover a few years back that the charitys pension fund invested in a number of tobacco companies despite the links between smoking and heart disease. Or what about the Church of England, whose past investments have included payday lenders and arms companies? Broadly speaking, there are only two ways to be sure your money isnt being invested in companies that you dont want to support for ethical reasons. The first option is to check individually with every organisation that manages money on your behalf. That means fund managers, including Isa providers, pension companies and your workplace pension scheme, but also charities and similar bodies to which you give money; you should also think hard about the banks and building societies where you deposit money, as they may make loans to companies you dont like. Only by asking every one of these organisations what their policy is on investing in certain types of company can you be sure whether your money is at risk of ending up somewhere you dont want it to go. If there is no policy, its possible youll be an investor in such companies either now or in the future. Option number two is to save and invest only via ethical or socially responsible financial services companies and funds. These organisations explicitly avoid any dealings with specified industries, so that you can too. Even here, however, youll need to read the small print different providers take different views about which industries should be avoided and how exactly to screen out them out. Are ethical investment funds for you? Patrick Connolly, a certified financial planner at independent financial adviser Chase de Vere, warns ethical investment funds require a degree of compromise. Youll need to accept that no single fund is likely to have a policy that sits perfectly in tune with your specific values. Also, ethical investment funds will deliver a different type of return: there will be times when they miss out on the gains made by shares they avoid, plus performance is likely to be more volatile since they are more likely to invest in smaller businesses. Against that, many specialist ethical investors argue that companies that engage in immoral businesses or are socially irresponsible will perform less well over the longer term. Theyre likely to face regulatory sanction, political action such as higher taxes, and to suffer from reputational issues. From a broad universe, Connolly recommends a number of ethical funds for those minded to invest in this way. We like Aberdeen Ethical World Equity, Standard Life UK Ethical, Kames Ethical Equity, Kames Ethical Corporate Bond and Rathbone Ethical Bond funds, he says. 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 }} My colleagues here often accuse me, perhaps rightly, of having an unhealthy obsession about the legal battles of eastern European oligarchs. Well, maybe I have, but theres method in my madness. My interest as I prefer to call it is fuelled by the fact that most of these individuals own big chunks of my home town London. And if they dont, theres a fair bet theyll be the owners of swathes of Surrey or Henley on Thames. So, although they may be foreign by birth, their stories are very much local ones. Today, I spent a happy hour poring over a ruling from Justice Gabriel Moss, handed down in the High Court that morning. It involves the curious case of one Sergei Polonsky, a former billionaire property magnate. His interests once included a skyscraper project by Londons Blackfriars Bridge and a stuccoed slice of Cornwall Terrace, the elegant Nash-designed residences commissioned by King George IV in Regents Park. Mr Polonsky is also, perhaps most famously, known to readers of The Independent for having been punched by our own Alexander Lebedev on live TV a few years back. Currently, he is languishing in a Moscow jail, having been extradited from Cambodia. Hes facing criminal charges of embezzlement in Russia. While he was living in that jungle kingdom, he filed a legal action in London against his Mayfair-based lawyer, claiming he conspired against him to purloin his property empire. And that is what this ruling was about. To understand his situation fully, I have to first introduce yet another bizarre detail into his most peculiar story. At the time of the alleged deceit, Mr Polonsky was in jail in Cambodia (wrongly, he claims), on suspicion of assaulting and illegally detaining the crew of his own yacht. Allegations at the time, disputed by Mr Polonsky, were that he had forced the crew to jump overboard at knifepoint while sailing with friends on New Years Eve, 2012. Due to his incarceration, he claims, he had limited access to phones and email, so entrusted his lawyer, Alexander Dobrovinsky, to sell his property empire. But the lawyer, Mr Polonsky claims, duped him into selling the business to a man he specifically asked him not to because he didnt trust him. The deal, he alleges, left him hundreds of millions of dollars out of pocket. Mr Dobrovinsky denies all the claims. At the time of issuing the legal proceedings against the lawyer, Mr Polonsky presumably had no idea what would happen next. Despite Cambodia having no extradition treaty with Russia, and a court ruling in the country specifically refusing an official extradition request, he was arrested and stuck on a plane back to Moscow. Since then, he has been in jail and, he claims, his confidential communications with his lawyers have been routinely intercepted and handed over to the other side in his civil case. In the light of that alleged interference, he asked the judge that the London case by stayed until after his criminal trial is over, to prevent the alleged leaks affecting his chance of success. All his claims of such interference are vigorously denied and, as it happened, Justice Moss ruled that the case should continue. But he did accept some pretty shoddy practices were routine in Russian jails. His judgement gave credence to the testimony of an experienced Russian lawyer called as a witness by Mr Polonsky who said pre-trial prisoners confidential conversations with their lawyers were routinely recorded, against the law. There was, she said, an internal secret order in remand prisons allowing such recordings to be made. Similarly, she said, it was established practice that, when lawyers visit their clients to discuss their cases, they are ordered to hand over all documentation to be read by the prison authorities. This is particularly in high profile cases where, she claimed, it is hoped confidential details will be leaked. She named another Moscow lawyer who, during a confidential meeting with his client, discovered a recording device stuck with adhesive tape under his chair seat. The bugging device was hardly covert; a small black square box with a dark blue flashcard inserted in it. While the judge ruled there was no concrete evidence such tampering had happened and dismissed the application, he accepted Mr Polonsky faced serious risk of his privileged communications being intercepted, which could have a chilling effect on the civil case. So, with the trial set to go ahead, more interesting tales await. In the meantime, remind me not to get myself banged up in a Russian jail. Goldman Sachs drops a small bomb in Sir Philip Green's lap You can watch select committee hearings in parliament on a live TV feed. But theres no substitute for going down there yourself. Smell the sweat from the tycoon being harangued by the grandstanding MPs. See the victims hands tremble as they sense their careers going up in a puff of smoke. Watch as their consiglieri, usually sitting behind them, tap their shoulders for a quiet word, or slip them a subtle scribbled note. Its fun to watch the MPs, too. Particularly when they score a hit on the miscreant in the dock, or secure a new nugget of information as they did on Monday from Goldman Sachs Anthony Gutman. Mr Gutman, who had been unofficially asked by Arcadia to check out Dominic Chappell before it sold him BHS, dropped a little bomb in Sir Philip Greens lap. He declared, in as many words: We told Arcadia months before they sold him BHS, that this Chappell fellow was a risk We said he was a bankrupt with no retail experience. Kaboom! So far, the impression weve had from the Green camp has been that Chappells failure as an owner of the business came as a bolt from the blue. That cant now be the case. You can see why the pols were pleased. Not only that, but they later managed to ascertain that Sir Philips chairman, Lord Grabiner QC, was not even at the key meeting where the sale to Mr Chappell was discussed. In Sir Philips defence, the committee also heard how Arcadia had demanded Mr Chappell prove he was serious by slapping millions of pounds in his lawyers account. The money appeared the next day. But clearly, as the committee is exposing, Sir Philip called the shots in the BHS show. As the hearings go on, Ive no doubt the impression will grow that he ran it on a toxic fuel of instinct and ego without the checks and balances a business of that scale required. The problem with all these revelations is this: outside the select committee, they will surprise no one. Sir Philip has always been an aggressive, shoot-from-the-hip entrepreneur who dominates anyone who comes into contact with him. But thats not against the rules, and it doesnt make him unlike many other abrasive billionaires. Surely whats more worrying aspect of this miserable saga is that, five weeks in, the administrators still havent found a buyer. Worrying times for BHSs 11,000 employees. The smart executive plants seeds at the Chelsea Flower Show I had a quick chat with Mr Gutman in the corridor before his appearance at the committee. He was, as ever, calm, unflappable and nonchalent. Think Jeremy Irons with a trimmed Romanov beard. See you at the Flower Show tonight? I asked. He grimaced and nodded towards the select committee timetable. Booked until 8pm, it said. Chelseas Gala preview soiree is, without doubt, the biggest event in the City corporate calendar. Everybody in the Square Mile attends. I headed up there long before Mr Gutmans grilling had finished. Funnily enough, among the first people I met were Mr Gutmans fellow Goldman partners, Richard Gnodde and Michael Sherwood, hobnobbing on the shows main thoroughfare. When I told Mr Sherwood a friend of Sir Philips Id just seen his colleague getting put through the parliamentary wringer, he didnt seem overly keen to talk about it. Funny that. Mr Gutman, ever the professional, client man, did make it later that evening. I have to admit, I didnt see him, but thats no surprise given the sheer volume of triple-A business talent on display among the blooms. Lakshmi Mittal, Sir Martin Sorrell, Sir Peter Wood, Dame Helen Alexander, Mike Coupe, Xavier Rolet, Sir Win Bischoff, Nick Leslau, Lloyd Dorfman, Richard Desmond. Everywhere you looked was a tycoon, a FTSE-100 chief executive or a chairman. And his wife, of course. I was hosted by the ever-clubbable Aberdeen Asset Management boss Martin Gilbert, perhaps the best-connected man in the City. As one banker said to me before darting off in search of more potential clients: You can spend six months trying to meet with one of these guys, and suddenly theyre all here in one place. Its not just about winning your next client, though. Chelsea is also where you get your next job. Little surprise, then, that the most popular stand around which to gather was that of a City headhunter. Deals arent actually done among the roses, as is often portrayed. Nor are jobs won. But connections are made. Make no mistake, on Monday night, as at every Chelsea Flower Show Gala night, seeds were sown which will bear much financial fruit in the months and years to come. 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 }} Johnny Depps lawyer has claimed his wife Amber Heards restraining order application against the actor was as a result of the negative media coverage shes received and in order to secure a premature financial resolution, according to court documents. Heard filed for divorce from Depp, citing irreconcilable differences, earlier this week. On Friday, Heard appeared in court, with a visible bruise on her face, to seek a temporary restraining order from Depp alleging that he had been violent towards her last Saturday and on occasions during their marriage. In court documents requesting the order she wrote: I live in fear that Johnny will return to the residence unannounced to terrorise me, physically and emotionally. The temporary restraining order against the 52-year-old actor was granted by a judge at Los Angeles Superior County Court. The order documents show Depp must stay at least 100 yards away from Heard and must not contact her, Heard was also granted residency of their shared house. Her requests for sole custody of their dog Pistol was denied as was her request for Depp to attend anger management. Her claim for spousal support and lawyers fees were not ordered by the judge but could be at a later hearing, according to papers. Amber Heard leaves Los Angeles Superior Court court on Friday, 27 May, 2016, after giving a sworn declaration alleging that her husband Johnny Depp threw her phone at her during a fight Saturday, striking her cheek and eye (AP) In court papers responding to Heards application for the restraining order, Depps lawyer Laura Wasser claimed: Amber is attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse. Her current application for a temporary restraining order along with her financial requests appear to be in response to the negative media attention she received earlier this week after filing for divorce. The negative media attention Wasser references is the media commentary of Heard filing for divorce several days after Depps mother Betty Sue died. Wasser also says that Depp is due to be working for the next few weeks so will not be in the same country as his 29-year-old wife. He is unable to attend the hearing on this matter and has not heard Ambers specific allegations against him He nonetheless has every intention of staying away from Amber and will stipulate to mutual stay-away and personal conduct orders, Wasser wrote. Johnny Depp on screen Show all 16 1 /16 Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Preening: Johnny Depp in 'Mortdecai' Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen With Helena Bonham-Carter in 2007's 'Sweeney Todd' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Depp in Richard Burton's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp with Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands back in 1990 Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Depp with short hair in 2009 film 'Public Enemies' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen In 2012's 'Dark Shadows' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen The actor in 'Finding Neverland', 2004 AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp stars in 2014 sci-fi thriller 'Transcendence' Alcon Entertainment, LLC. Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp in 2006 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp as Tonto in 2013 movie 'The Lone Ranger' Disney Enterprises, Inc Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp and Amber Heard star in 2011 movie 'The Rum Diary' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in 2011 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp stars with Angelina Jolie in 2010 movie 'The Tourist' Rex Feature Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in a scene from 2010 film 'Alice in Wonderland' AP Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp on screen Johnny Depp stars in Michael Mann's 2009 movie 'Public Enemies' Heards sworn declaration in the papers claims: During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me. She claims an incident last Saturday saw Depp allegedly throw a Phone at her and alleges an incident the month before claiming Depp grabbed [her] by the hair and violently shove [her] to the floor. Heard also claims Depp has a substance abuse problem and his relationship with reality oscillates, depending upon his interaction with alcohol and drugs. The only statement Depp has made publicly was prior to the restraining order in response to news of their marriage ending and reports there was no pre-nupt in place and Heard was seeking spousal report. Johnny Depp accused of assault Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the malicious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life, the statement said. Hopefully, the dissolution of this short marriage will be resolved quickly. The Independent has contacted representatives for both Heard and Depp. 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 hairdresser has been jailed after raping, torturing and urinating on a chef in his own home. Joseph O'Reilly, 37, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for a seven-hour attack on the man in his Paisley flat. The High Court in Stirling heard how he tied the victim to the bed, cut off his hair, stuffed it in his mouth then urinated on him. O'Reilly and James Mair, 40, came across the 36-year-old victim, who cannot be named, at a taxi rank in Glasgow, the BBC reported. After discovering that the Polish man lived alone in Paisley, O'Reilly pretended he lived there too, and the men shared a taxi home. The pair were invited into the chef's flat to share some vodka shots before O'Reilly turned on the victim and tied him to the bed using an old TV cable. The victim, through an interpreter, told the court that O'Reilly laughed on finding out he was gay and asked if he liked certain acts. O'Reilly then proceeded to orally rape him twice, cut and torture him before robbing him of his phone and bank card, demanding the PIN. On leaving the flat, O'Reilly told the victim he would kill him if he notified the police or gave him the wrong PIN. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2022 Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews take part in the traditional Pier Walk along the harbour walls of St Andrews before the start of the new academic year PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2022 The Massed Pipes and Drums parade during the Braemar Highland Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2022 Number 12 Company Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks, central London, before commencing their first Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace PA The victim was finally released seven and a half hours later after his elderly landlord opened the door with a skeleton key to collect the rent. O'Reilly later used the bank card to withdraw cash and buy trainers. Mair, 40, was imprisoned for 18 months after admitted assault and robbery charges. The presiding Judge, Lord Turnbull, told O'Reilly:"The whole tenor of events was one which involved a determination on your part to inflict the utmost form of degrading and humiliating circumstances possible on an innocent human being. Nothing could more powerfully illuminate your contempt than your conduct on leaving, when having raped, beaten, slashed and terrified your victim, you then urinated on his body whilst he was tied, prone, to his bed." 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 }} Extra-armed officers are being deployed across Lambeth as police say they are facing a rise in serious violence in the borough. The news comes after a 23-year-old man was shot in the back and legs in Max Roach Park in Brixton at 2:40pm on Friday. Emergency services, including Londons Air Ambulance and Met firearms officers, were called to the scene. The man was taken to hospital where he remains in a stable condition. He is the third reported victim of a shooting in the south London borough this month. On 12 May a man in his 20s and a teenage boy were critically injured in a gun attack in Marcella Road, Brixton. The teenager has been discharged from hospital, but the older man remains in a stable condition, the Evening Standard reports. Chief Inspector Roy Smith from Lambeth Borough said additional armed officers and dedicated foot patrols were being deployed in and around the area. Sergeant Fash Mohammadi, a Duty Sergeant for Local Safer Neighbourhoods Teams, said officers were out on reassurance patrols on Saturday morning following Fridays shooting. Chief Inspector Smith said: "We are aware of a recent rise in serious violence in the borough and have been working with the local community to provide an effective policing response. This includes additional armed officers provided as part of Op Viper and dedicated (non-armed) foot patrols in and around the area. We continue to meet with community members who I know are doing everything they can to support us in preventing further young people being put at risk by this mindless violence." Nick Mason, chair of the Lambeth Safer Neighbourhood Board, said: "We are committed to working with the police, local communities and partners to stop these incidents from occurring. The solution prevention, partnership and continued effective engagement. The local police have our full support." Lambeth is one of six London boroughs being targeted by armed police patrols as part of Operation Viper, aiming to tackle a recent spike in the number of shootings in London. Hackney, Southwark, Brent, Newham and Tower Hamlets have also been identified as shooting hotspots. There were 226 shootings in London in 2015 and 122 this year, with an increase since March. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said: "Firearm use is thankfully still rare in London and rarely affects those not involved in crime - but I am very concerned about the recent increase and we are determined to stop it. 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 }} An explosion ripped through a first-floor flat near Glasgow, setting off a fire and demolishing much of front wall of the building. Two people were taken to hospital after the blast in Burn Street Lane in Bonhill, West Dunbartonshire. Police Scotland said it received calls describing an explosion, and that gas engineers later carried out checks in the area. A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: "One man is being treated at Glasgow Royal Infirmary for burns and another was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley to be treated for smoke inhalation. "Emergency services remain at the scene and a joint investigation with police and the fire service is to be carried out." Major incident declared in Old Bonhill near Alexandria after fire has destroyed the roof of a 2 story block of flats pic.twitter.com/Z8y6wEW0W4 Radio Clyde News (@RadioClydeNews) May 27, 2016 West Dunbartonshire Council set up a rest centre for those evacuated from their homes as a result of the blast. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The leader of Britain First, Paul Golding, has been arrested after the party were surrounded by protestors during a campaign in Leicester city centre. Golding and around 20 Britain First activists set up a stand handing out party leaflets in Gallowtree Gate on Saturday. Pictures uploaded on social media, as well as videos by Britain First, show angry crowds of protestors gathered near the stand chanting losers. Leicester City mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, reportedly confronted Golding during the demonstration saying: This is a multi racial city and you are not welcome here. I have a mandate from 77,000 voters and I say on their behalf, leave Leicester," Leicester Mercury reports. Golding, who turned his back Sadiq Khan during his announcement as Londons new mayor at City Hall earlier this month, was forced to abandon an anti-EU demonstration in Leicester last week after members of the party were escorted back to their vehicles by police. Responding to Sir Peters remarks, Golding allegedly said: We left because we were threatened with arrest if we did not go. We came back to disprove media statements that said we were driven out. We are here peacefully to hand out our leaflets. Britain First controversies Show all 8 1 /8 Britain First controversies Britain First controversies 20 November 2014: Britain First claims credit for success of Ukip campaign With the Tory defector Mark Reckless forecast to win the hotly-contested by-election in Rochester and Strood, Britain First suggested they only campaigned to bolster the Ukip campaign. Prior to the start of the vote some bookmakers had Nigel Farages party as huge 1/100 favourites to take the seat, which would make Mr Reckless their second MP at the expense of the Conservative Party. And with things going so smoothly for Ukip, the far right-wing group Britain First has tried to claim some of the credit Britain First controversies 5 November 2014: Britain First accused of hijacking the poppy as Remembrance Day approaches to promote its own agenda The far-right group used the symbol, which is a registered trademark of the Royal British Legion, on its website masthead and in Facebook posts driving more people to its page. It is seen alongside Britain Firsts logo telling people to take our country back and crudely superimposed into the centre of the European Union flag with a message about national sovereignty. Members of opposition group Exposing Britain First believe many Facebook users are sharing poppy posts without realising who it comes from or what they stand for Britain First controversies 28 October 2014: Britain First accuses Ukip of 'playing political game' with snub over Rochester photo Britain First accused Ukip of playing the political game after Nigel Farages party reprimanded its campaigners for posing for a picture with members of the far-right group. A spokesperson for Ukip said the picture, taken while both parties were campaigning for the Rochester by-election on Saturday, was a mistake would not happen again Britain First controversies 25 October 2014: Britain First starts 'direct action' on Mail and Sun journalists over Lynda Bellingham post Britain First encouraged its followers to boycott the Daily Mail and The Sun after it was accused of using actress Lynda Bellingham's death to boost support. The party has threatened to launch "direct action" on the journalists after they said that the group used the cancer victim's death as a way to gain more attention on social media. Britain First posted a photograph to their Facebook subscribers of Mrs Bellingham with co-star Christopher Timothy, above the caption: "RIP actress Lynda Bellingham. Britain First", which garnered more than 6,000 'likes' and 500 shares Britain First controversies 28 July 2014: Britain First founder Jim Dowson quits over mosque invasions and 'racists and extremists' The founder of Britain First resigned from the far-right group over its provocative and counterproductive mosque invasions. James Jim Dowson, a former British National Party (BNP) member and anti-abortion campaigner, announced his departure on 27 July 2014. While Britain First blamed media pressure and family issues for the decision and said he would be missed enormously in a saccharine post, Mr Dowson publicly shamed the groups tactics as unacceptable and unchristian Britain First/Facebook Britain First controversies 15 July 2014: Britain First 'battalion' invades mosque demanding removal of 'sexist' entrance signs A self-styled battalion of the far-right group Britain First invaded a mosque in south London. The stated aim of the altercation was to demand the removal of sexist signs outside the Crayford Mosque. The signs designate separate entrances for men and women, so they can enter for segregated worship as is the custom in most mosques. Men and women also sit apart in Orthodox Jewish synagogues and some Sikh gurdwaras. A film of the encounter was posted on Facebook, set to dramatic drumming music and ending with the slogan: "Britain First Defence Force. No fear. No retreat. No surrender." Britain First/Facebook Britain First controversies 27 June 2014: Britain First's Facebook page taken down for 'hate speech' Britain Firsts Facebook page was taken down for hate speech only to be restored again an hour later. Facebook claimed the extremist groups page was taken down by mistake but a screenshot posted by anti-fascist campaigners Hope Not Hate seemed to show the social media site had removed Britain First in response to a complaint. With almost 500,000 likes Britain Firsts page has a following that far outstrips the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats, arguably making it the UK's biggest political site Britain First controversies 27 April 2014: Inquiry over far-right Britain First party's use of Lee Rigby slogan on voting slip The election watchdog faced an inquiry over its decision to allow a far-right party to use a slogan referencing the murdered soldier Lee Rigby. The Electoral Commission apologised for allowing Britain First to use the description Remember Lee Rigby on voting slips for next months European elections but Jenny Watson, the chair of the commission, said on Sunday that an immediate and full independent investigation would follow to prevent this from ever happening again PA Golding was later arrested by Leicestershire Police for breach of bail. A police spokeswoman said officers attended the demonstration in Leicester at 11:40am on Saturday in order to facilitate a peaceful protest. A 34-year-old man was arrested for breach of bail and remains in police custody, she added. Britain First confirmed the arrest on their Facebook page. Speaking in a video, Golding previously said: We are not being moved today. The police can get stuffed as far as Im concerned. The far-right group were heckled by around 100 people as they flew two Union Flags and played martial music from their city centre stand. Golding accused the protestors of being traitors from outside of Leicester. 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 Metropolitan Police sergeant accused of racism, homophobia and ignoring a call to a fatal stabbing has been dismissed after being found guilty of gross misconduct. Sergeant Kirsten Treasure, who worked in Croydon, south London, failed to respond to a call for assistance when a man was fatally stabbed. Andrew Else, 52, died after being stabbed 200 times in Selsdon Park Road, Croydon on 24 April, 2014. A misconduct hearing was told Ms Treasure also made derogatory, demeaning, racist and homophobic comments about fellow officers and members of the public on 15 occasions. 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 It was also alleged in May 2014 she refused permission for an officer to investigate a a shoplifting. A month later, she was accused of asking an officer to provide the names of officers who had complained about her behaviour. She allegedly pressured an officer not to give evidence against her. Chief Superintendent Matt Gardner, Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "The catalogue of misconduct by this officer is truly shocking. "PS Treasure has abandoned her sworn oath to protect the people of London and had no regard for the victim, Andrew Else. "Her language and behaviour has left no room for her to remain within a police service which demands the highest levels of integrity and professionalism. "Her attitudes to people, be they colleagues, the public or victims of crime, have been shown to be appalling, the polar opposite of what those of a police officer should be, and it is clear that the panel were fully justified in dismissing this officer." Ms Treasure has been dismissed without notice. 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 }} Tony Blair will not be investigated for breaking any laws in the Iraq War inquiry report, despite claims the intervention was illegal. Sources close to the inquiry, also known as the Chilcot Report, said it would not seek to determine the guilt of innocence of anybody on trial, according to The Sunday Telegraph. The report, due to be published in July, will not make any judgements on the legality or anything like that, that is not the purpose [of the report], the source said. It will instead focus on the decision making behind the conflict and whether any lessons can be learned. Launched by the US with strong UK backing, the war lead to the deaths of between 150,000 and 600,000 Iraqis over four years. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said he was convinced the Iraq War was illegal and that anyone who had committed a crime should be put on trial including Mr Blair, who was Labour Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007. Mr Corbyn, who voted and campaigned against the war, said earlier this week: If [Tony Blair has] committed a war crime, yes. Everyone who's committed a war crime should be [charged]. I think it was an illegal war, I'm confident about that, indeed Kofi Annan confirmed it was an illegal war, and therefore he has to explain that. Recommended Read more Jeremy Corbyn still prepared to call for Tony Blair war crimes probe Is he going to be tried for it? I don't know. Could he be tried for it? Possibly. The Chilcot Inquiry's 2.6 million word report, based on an evaluation of 150,000 documents, has been in production since 2009, when it was launched by Mr Blair's successor as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. It will be released on 6 July. A spokeswoman for Mr Blair said: We arent commenting on a report which is yet to be published. Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on Show all 31 1 /31 Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20169.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20158.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20159.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20160.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20161.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20157.bin AFP/GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20162.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20163.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20164.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20136.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20165.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20138.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20139.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20140.bin AFP/GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20141.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20142.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20156.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20155.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20154.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20152.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20151.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20150.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20149.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20148.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20147.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20145.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20144.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20143.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20135.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20166.bin GETTY IMAGES Where are they now? The faces of the Iraq war five years on 20167.bin GETTY IMAGES The former Prime Minister has admitted he "profoundly" underestimated the complexity of Middle Eastern politics and the chaos that would ensue in Iraq and the wider region following the 2003 invasion and the subsequent removal of Saddam Hussein. Many believe the conflict was indirectly responsible for the rise of Isis in the region. More than half the public say they can "never forgive" Tony Blair for embroiling the UK in the war in Iraq, according to a survey carried YouGov this week. The UN Security Council refused to back the invasion at the time, warning that there was no evidence of supposed weapons of mass destruction in the country, and none were ultimately found. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A senior Momentum organiser has been readmitted to the Labour party following her suspension earlier this month for saying Jewish people were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade. In a Facebook post about the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Jackie Walker, the vice-chair of the left-wing Labour Party-linked movement, wrote: Im sure you know, millions more Africans were killed in the African Holocaust and their oppression continues today on a global scale in a way it doesnt for Jews...and many Jews (my ancestors too) were the chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade which is of course why there were so many early synagogues in the Caribbean. So who are victims and what does it mean? We are victims and perpetrators to some extent through choice. And having been a victim does not give you a right to be a perpetrator." She also asked what debt do Jewish people owe? and said the Jewish Holocaust does not allow Zionists to do what they want as she discussed the Palestinian conflict. Following a meeting in north London earlier this week, the party voted to reinstate her. In a statement to the political blog, Guido Fawkes, a spokesman for the Labour party said: Following the outcome of an investigation, Jacqueline Walker is no longer suspended and remains a member of the party. Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said Show all 14 1 /14 Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Israel and Palestine The simple fact in all of this is that Naz made these comments at a time when there was another brutal Israeli attack on the Palestinians; and theres one stark fact that virtually no one in the British media ever reports, in almost all these conflicts the death toll is usually between 60 and 100 Palestinians killed for every Israeli. Now, any other country doing that would be accused of war crimes but its like we have a double standard about the policies of the Israeli government Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Antisemitism in the Labour Party As Ive said, Ive never heard anybody say anything antisemitism-Semitic, but theres been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticises Israeli policy as antisemitic. I had to put up with 35 years of this Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Naz Shah Its completely over-the-top and rude, but who am I to denounce anyone with all of that. It was wrong. I dont think she is antisemitic, it was incredibly rude but I dont believe she is an antisemite. When the NEC investigation is finished they'll say it was rude and over the top but they wont find any evidence that she actually hates Jews. Weve got to investigate all these charges and the context in which they are made. If she is antisemitic like the other three or four members weve found who are antisemitic, shell be expelled Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On other alleged antisemites in Labour That is part of the classic antisemitic thing about an international Jewish conspiracy that is the reason we need to have an investigation. Ive got an open mind. Ive seen nothing to suggest to me that she is antisemitic. I wouldnt have supported her if I [thought] she was antisemitic Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On whether what Hitler did was legal, as stated by Naz Shah Thats a statement of fact Hitler, Im sure, passed all those laws that allowed him to do that its history literally, Hitler was completely mad, he killed six million Jews. Shes not saying its legal to kill six million Jews: what they were doing in that country allowed them not just to kill six million Jews, kill all the communists, kill all the leftists like me, my father almost died when a Nazi sub sank his boat. I have no sympathy with Hitler Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On another alleged antisemite in Labour No, that is, and thats why shes been suspended or expelled. What Ive said is that in 47 years of the party in all the meetings Ive been in Ive never heard anyone say anything antisemitic. There are bound to be in a party of half a million people youll have a handful of antisemites, youll have a handful of racists. Youve managed to dig out virtually every antisemitic comment that Labour members have made out of half a million people. Ive never met any of these people. Theres not a problem. Youre talking about a handful of people in a party of half a million people. Jeremy Corbyn has moved rapidly to deal with them Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Jeremy Corbyns response to the allegations He met with Naz and she agreed she would stand down while the investigation is going on. He called her in to see her. Theres been a huge investigation of virtually everything that anybody put on the internet many of these people are quite new and recent members of the party that joined in the big influx. 300,000 new people came in Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On his meeting a man accused of antisemitism in London This is the man who called for Muslims around the world to donate blood after the attacks of 9/11 when he came to London I went with him to the Regents Park mosque where he said no man should hit a woman and you should not discriminate against homosexuals. So I cant equate what I heard him say he made no antisemitic statement while he was here in London. I dont investigate people. Ive simply said what I believe to be true which is that Naz was not antisemitic. She was completely over the top, very rude, but that does not make her an antisemite Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On John Manns comments He went completely over the top. I was actually doing a radio interview at the time that he was bellowing that Im a racist antisemite in my ear. Ive had that with John Mann before a few weeks ago screaming that I was a bigot down the phone. Im not an apologist for anyone who makes antisemitic statements. What Im saying is dont confuse antisemitism with criticism of the Israeli government policy Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On calling a Jewish journalist a concentration camp guard whilst Mayor of London I cant tell if a journalist is Jewish or Catholic or anything. If a journalist is chasing you down the street at nine of clock at night you might be rude to them. Some people might have hit him! He said he was just doing his job. We went all the way to the High Court and the judge opened his judgement by saying I hope no one here is going to suggest that Mr Livingstone is antisemitic. We won the case Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On claims about Hitler and Zionism I cant tell if a journalist is Jewish or Catholic or anything. If a journalist is chasing you down the street at nine of clock at night you might be rude to them. Some people might have hit him! He said he was just doing his job. We went all the way to the High Court and the judge opened his judgement by saying I hope no one here is going to suggest that Mr Livingstone is antisemitic. We won the case Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On John Mann Id simply say to John Mann go back and check. Is what I say true, or is it not? The BBC, youve got a huge team of researchers, it will take just an hour or two to go back and confirm. I was asked a question, I answered it. I have never in 45 years since I won my first election, I have never lied. I have always answered the question Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On raising the issue if Hitler It lays you open to people smearing and lying about you. Ive always answered the questions put to me and that simple fact is weve had a handful of people saying antisemitic things in the Labour Party, theyve been suspended, some of them are on their way to being expelled, some of them have been expelled already Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On people calling for him to be suspended All my usual critics but the simple fact is I agree with them; there is no place for antisemitism in the Labour party. For them to suggest I am antisemitic is a bit bizarre considering we worked with Jewish groups and put on exhibitions about the scale of the holocaust, we worked with Jewish groups to tackling the scale of antisemitism back in the 1970s. Ive always opposed every form of racism whether its against black people or Jews. Im going to stay in the Labour party and continue to fight against all forms of racism and discrimination as I have my entire life Following the lifting of her suspension the activist, who is also vice-chair of Thanet Labour party, wrote a blog post for Labour Briefing saying she had not said sorry. She added: "I will never apologise for being an Internationalist, for holding all life as precious, for not valorising one genocide, one holocaust, over any other. "And if you ask if I think anti-Semitism is a major problem in the Labour Party, I would give almost the same response as the one I was suspended for 'No' but with one amendment: anti-Semitism is not a major problem, the suspension process is." She said she had been warned to be "careful of what I say" and her words had been "twisted, mashed and mangled". Ms Walker accused the media of taking her comments out of context to "support their own slapdash, anti-Labour, anti the present leadership, rhetoric". She said there was a McCarthyite campaign referring to the anti-Communist witchhunt in the US in the 1950s against the left within Thanet Labour and suggested that the right wing of the party and the media were collaborating with "Israeli propagandists" to smear the left. Ms Walker said: "The fear in my CLP [constituency Labour Party] is palpable; McCarthyism lives and with the same purpose the destruction of the left. "In this way Israeli propagandists and their fellow travellers, who conscientiously use every minute of their working day and probably more, to uncover racists as rabid as me, are left with a clear run to get on with their dirty work." Ms Walker's suspension came a week after Ken Livingstone was suspended for saying Hitler was a Zionist (Reuters) Her suspension came a week after the suspension of Ken Livingstone from the party after he suggest Hitler was a Zionist while speaking on LBC. Following the uproar, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced he would launch an inquiry into anti-Semitism within the party. He said the party was anti-racist and had a long history of fighting against all forms of it. Jonathan Sacerdoti, of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: "If the Labour Party has truly readmitted a member who publicly subscribes to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories of Jews financing and causing the slave trade, their ongoing inquiry into anti-Semitism can barely be taken seriously." He added that for the Labour Party to readmit people who spread "malicious myths" about Jews "tells us that anti-Semitism in the Labour Party is becoming institutional". 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 }} Britain could unexpectedly leave the European Union if young people do not turn out to vote in the referendum, Ed Miliband has warned. The former Labour leader issued a call to arms to young voters to register before the 7 June deadline for the 23 June vote. He said that in a tight race the votes of young people would decide the election if they took part. Today is a call to arms to all young people to register to vote. Let's be clear about the danger: a decision not to vote is a decision to let someone else decide your future. Young people can decide this referendum. If they don't use their vote, the danger is this referendum will be lost. If young people don't want the Leave campaign to narrow the horizons of the world that they will live in, it is vital that young people register and vote, the former Labour leader said. Turnout amongst young voters has been significantly lower than among older voters in practically all recent British elections. Polls also suggest older voters are also significantly more likely to want to leave the European Union, while younger voters tend to be pro-EU. Mr Miliband took to the campaign trail with Jeremy Corbyn on Friday in an attempt to shore up support for Remain among left-wing voters. Tory MP and Leave campaigner James Cleverly hit out at Mr Milibands call to young voters, arguing that it was cycnical. 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 "Ed Miliband's cynical attempt to convince young people otherwise will fool no-one, he said. After his failed efforts to court the youth vote via Russell Brand last year, you'd think he would know better. The episode comes as another Tory MP and Leave campaigner, Priti Patel, wrote in the Sun newspaper that the immigration system was in chaos and that only leaving the EU would fix it. "There is another great bonus of leaving the EU, we'll be able to design a new immigration system that brings the chaos under control and helps the economy. "It's uncontrolled and uncontrollable while we remain in the EU. If the Government seriously believed the doom-laden propaganda they have been pumping out about the horrors of life after the EU, they would never have called this referendum in the first place. That comment piece comes after it was reported that the Leave campaign would focus intensely on the issue of immigration in the final stages of the referendum campaign. 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 }} Gibraltars chief minister has warned that the British enclave's sovereignty might be at risk if the UK votes to leave the European Union next month. Fabian Picardo said the territory would come under pressure from Spain to consider joint sovereignty in order to continue to have access the single market. Mr Picardo told Sky News: The current Spanish foreign minister has been explicit that [Brexit] might mean closing the frontier ... and that if Gibraltar wanted to have access to the single market and the rights we enjoy today of free movement, we would have to once again consider joint sovereignty with Spain, which no one in Gibraltar is prepared to consider. In 2013, a major dispute over fishing rights saw the Spanish border police impose aggressive controls on movement in and out of Gibraltar, resulting in six-hour queues to enter and exit the territory through the single border crossing. If Britain left the EU, it could pose serious problems for Gibraltars economy, which has boomed in recent years with high growth in its financial services sector and gambling industry. Mr Picardo said the Leave campaign will have a lot to answer for in the event of Brexit. Gibraltar, which sits at the tip of Spains Iberian peninsula, has an adult population of 23,000, representing just 0.05 of the UKs electorate, so while Gibraltarians will get to vote in the referendum, they are unlikely to have a significant impact on the outcome. 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 A recent poll carried out by the Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper indicated more than 80 per cent of Gibraltar's people planned to vote and 88 per cent wanted to remain in the EU. Despite its location, Gibraltar has remained a British territory since the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Gibraltarians voted against a return to Spanish sovereignty for the territory at two referendums, one in 1967 and another in 2002. However Spain maintains it has a claim to the enclave. In the Sky News interview, Mr Picardo referred to remarks that had actually been made by Snr Margallo. This story had previously wrongly attributed these remarks to Mr Picardo himself, but was amended on 28 May. 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 }} John McDonnell has issued a full-throated defence of EU immigration, as the Leave campaign ramps up anti-immigration rhetoric ahead of the upcoming referendum. Last week, on the back of figures showing net migration had hit a record high of 330,000 people a year, key features in Vote Leave shifted their focus towards attacking the free movement of people across the continent. Boris Johnson, previously thought of as a liberal on immigration, attacked cynical pledges about controlling the number of immigrants inside the EU, and said the only way to bring numbers down was to leave. But on Saturday, the shadow Chancellor met the Leave camp on their own ground arguing that the British had been one of the greatest beneficiaries of free movement of people across Europe and that immigration to Britain in particular had helped keep the countrys economy running. Mr McDonnell spoke of the benefits of British people who wanted to work, travel, or retire abroad in other countries. But he also said: Inward migration often keeps our own economy afloat, filling the skills gaps and supporting our aging population to pay its way. I speak as the grandson of an Irish immigrant, and I have to tell you that its been the case for almost a century and a half that migrants have supported this economy and kept it afloat. Im proud that it was mostly Irishmen who built most of the infrastructure on which we travelled to get here today, many of the buildings we work in and hold these meeting in. We have to be straight with people as well: Of course migration on any scale presents its problems of integration and pressure on public services, but all of these problems can be readily overcome. 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 vast bulk of the evidence demonstrates that migrants pay more into the economy than they take out and despite general concerns about migration all the evidence shows that on a one-to-one basis and within communities the nature of British people is to be extremely welcoming to incomers. Our public services, the NHS in particular, and our infrastructure and house building programmes would be in real difficulties but for the staff coming across Europe. In its post-Budget report in March the Office for Budget Responsibility issued calculations which showed that if the Governments target to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands had been met, higher taxes and spending cuts would likely be required. If a government succeeded in reducing net inward migration from what would otherwise occur then that would be likely to create additional fiscal pressures, but it could always choose to offset those pressures through additional spending cuts or tax increases, the watchdog said at the time. Addressing concerns about the impact migration had on public services, Mr McDonnell said the Government should take a more active approach to helping areas that suffered from acute pressures. Where there are pressures in particular areas the simple and obvious solution is specific programmes of Government support to deal with them. To be frank, its not rocket science, he said. Labours shadow Home Secretary, Andy Burnham, has previously suggested that additional funds should be directed to local areas with high levels of migration in order to relieve pressure on public services. Mr McDonnell made his comments at the launch of the Another Europe Is Possible campaign. The group is campaigning to remain in the EU, but to reform it to improve its democratic accountability and social protections. The organisers of the Leave campaign have previously been reticent to focus on immigration because they fear that dwelling on the issue could alienate the swing voters needed to win the referendum. But there has been a noticeable change of course in recent days, which insider have attributed to a persistent lead for Remain in phone polls. This morning Tory MP Priti Patel wrote in The Sun newspaper said it was crazy that there were strict controls on migration for high skilled workers from countries outside the EU like India because we have to let in anyone from Europe who feels like coming here and trying their luck at finding a job. Mr Johnson said on Thursday: What I think is cynical and unacceptable is to say that you can fulfill that pledge when manifestly you cant because of the EU regime. The only way to sort it out is to take back control. The European Union in-out referendum will take place on 23 June, with the deadline to register to vote on 7 June. 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 horrible planned TTIP trade treaty is not a good reason to leave the European Union, Caroline Lucas has said. The Green Party MP said she was strongly against the controversial trade agreement, which is being negotiated in secret between the EU and US, but that Brexit would not save Britain from its effects. She said the British government was one of the main driving forces behind the treaty at EU level and that outside the bloc a Conservative government would likely pursue similar policies. People say how can you support the EU when the EU is negotiating this horrible trade treaty with the US and it is a horrible trade treaty, she said. But you know what? David Cameron and our government is one of the chief cheerleaders for TTIP. The idea that if we left the EU wed have a lovely, cuddly trade policy in its place is a fantasy. Little is known for certain about TTIP because of the secretive way it is being drawn up. However, leaks from negotiations suggest it will include a system called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) included in similar agreements around the world. ISDS establishes an international quasi-court that multinational corporations can use to sue national governments that enact policies that harm their profits or contravene trade rules. At the last election Labour said it would exempt the NHS from the effects of TTIP, but there are concerns such an agreement could be used to push through privatisations or outsourcing through the back door. Figures in the Leave campaign have previously suggested that outside the EU Britain could negotiate free trade agreements with countries around the world, including the United States. Ms Lucas, who was speaking at the launch of Another Europe is Possible an alternative remain campaign that seeks to change the EU said the best way to defeat TTIP and deals like it was to fight against it within the EU. 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 If you put right wing bigotry into the EU, surprise, surprise, you get right wing bigotry out. That is what we have to change," she said The best chance of fighting TTIP is working with our colleagues across Europe, three million of whom have signed a petition against TTIP. 250,000 of whom were marching in the streets of Berlin. The French government themselves are now looking as if they might block it too. That is our best way of defeating TTIP. We need to build a political momentum here for a better Europe but lets make that distinction between the institutions and the current right wing policies of the governments that sit around it. More generally, Ms Lucas said the EU needed to change its end goals too, away from greater competition and privatisation towards more cooperation and stronger public services. I think we need to distinguish between the institutions of the EU and the very broad policies that are coming out of it right now because theres a majority of right-wing governments sitting around that table right now, he added. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz suggested in March this year that Britain would be better off leaving the EU if TTIP passed. He described the agreement as a massive rewriting of the rules with no public discussion. The dangers to our society are very significant, he said at the time. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has however also said the treaty is best fought from within the EU. The in-out referendum on EU membership will be held on 23 June this year. Phone polls suggest a lead for the Remain campaign, while online polls show a closer race. 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 anti-immigration tactics being used by the Leave campaign in the EU referendum amount to a divide and rule trick, Yanis Varoufakis has said. The former Greek finance minister who faced down EU institutions in his previous job negotiating with the Troika said the British establishment was trying to use fear of immigrants to distract from the effects of austerity. Lest we forget: turning the native poor against migrant labour is a variant of the old divide and rule trick that the British establishment honed ages ago to dominate the empire, he said. Today the establishment uses the same trick to dominate the domestic natives to hide austeritys effects and to defect anger towards the other the migrant, the foreigner. The warning comes as the Leave campaign ramps up its anti-immigration rhetoric in a bid to deliver victory in next month's referendum. Boris Johnson this week said the only way migration could be reduced was by leaving the EU, branding his own party's policy on the issue at the last election 'cynical'. Organisers of the Leave campaign have previously been reticent to focus on immigration because they fear focusing on the issue could alienate the swing voters needed to win. With phone polls showing the Remain campaign with a significant lead, however, a change of course has been noticable in recent days. Boris Johnson said last week the only way to reduce immigration was to leave the EU (PA) Mr Varoufakis made his comments at the UK launch of his new project calling for more democracy in the EU, DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025). He explained that though he had himself come to blows with the EU institutions in his previous job, he supported Britain remaining a member of the EU because he feared what its disintegration would herald. 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 Will the European Unions disintegration cause progressive democrats to rise across Europe? he asked rhetorically. To empower their parliaments, to usher in the forces of light and hope, and to usher in the harmonious cooperation between Europeans? Not likely. Mr Varoufakis also lamented the state of the current EU referendum debate, warning that as an economist he believed the statistics on both sides are not worth the paper theyre written on. Last September the former Syriza MP warned that in turn, austerity itself was cover for class war against the poorest in society. Mr Varoufakis, a former professor of economics, came to prominence during the Greek sovereign debt crisis when he led Greeces negotiating team seeking a resolution with its international creditors. On Saturday he described this episode, with resulted in almost no concessions to Greece, as a complete failure on his part. The EU in-out referendum will take place on 23 June. 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 }} Donald Trump has broken another convention of political behaviour, using a campaign rally in California to launch into the federal judge who is presiding over a civil case regarding his now defunct Trump University calling him hostile, a total disgrace - and a Mexican. Judge Gonzalo Curiel, a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, should not only be removed from the case in question, Mr Trump insisted, but also should be investigated. What that investigation would be about, he didnt specify. The judges chambers declined to respond. Recommended Read more Riot breaks out at Donald Trump rally in New Mexico The billionaire thus again showed off two character facets the country has seen before - a thin skin and a willingness to bully. It began with Mr Trump suddenly interrupting his own flow at a rally in San Diego - where Judge Curiels court is located - announcing his desire to talk about him for two minutes. Instead he plunged into an ad hominem rant that lasted nearly 12 minutes. All this while outside the Convention Centre in San Diego on Friday evening, scores of protestors chanted angrily about the Republican presumptive nominee, accusing him of promoting hatred with his words and brandishing pinatas in his likeness, adorned variously with the nose of a pig and eyes in the form of dollar signs. Some were beaten back by baton-wielding police officers after trying to surge out of the protest pen they had been confined in. There were similar scenes at a Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday when protesters, some waving giant Mexican flags, hurled burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several. Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center. Mr Trump has denied having any role in encouraging anything beyond love and peace at is rallies blaming any scuffles and confrontations on the protestors. Yet critics who say he is precisely stoking tension and hatred, particularly against minorities in the United States, will point to the vitriol poured publicly over Judge Curiel on Friday as fresh evidence. When you are whipping people up, it contributes to an atmosphere that leads to the potential of political violence. Words matter, commented Matt Dallak, a professor of political management in the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. There seemed to be many reasons why this particular judge might be a no-go in Mr Trumps view, above all first his handling of the civil lawsuit against Trump University filed by students who paid $35,000 to learn to be world-beating estate agents and said they learned no such thing. The fraud litigation is due to go to trial in Judge Curiels courtroom in late November just after the general election. Mr Trumps lawyers said last month that their client, who may or may not be president by then, has agreed to testify. I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. Hes a hater. His name is Gonzalo Curiel, Mr. Trump told his supporters, inciting a chorus of boos against the absent judge. The judge was appointed by Barack Obama, federal judge. Frankly, he should recuse himself because hes given us ruling after ruling after ruling, negative, negative, negative. I think Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself, he barreled on. Judges in this court system, federal court, they ought to look into Judge Curiel. Because what Judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace, OK? But well come back in November. Wouldnt that be wild if Im president and I come back to do a civil case? Where everybody likes it. OK. This is called life, folks. As if being promoted to the federal bench by the sitting president were not bad enough, Mr Trump derided his alleged ethnic background, getting himself into contortions about his relationship with Latinos - not good, whatever he says - while surely drawing a line in the minds of many of his supporters to the smear he made at the outset of his campaign nearly a year ago when he likened Mexican immigrants to rapists and criminals and vowed to build a wall to keep them out. Ill be seeing you in November, either as president Mr Trump said, without quite finishing the thought.. I think Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself. I think its a disgrace that hes doing this. And then: The judge, who happens to be, we believe, MexicanI think the Mexicans are going to end up loving Donald Trump. Judge Curiel was born in East Chicago, Indiana. 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 }} Maria Teresa Rivera was sentenced to 40 years in jail for the crime of suffering a miscarriage. And yet in El Salvador, a nation with perhaps the most draconian situation in the world for reproductive rights, she is one of the lucky ones. Earlier this month, in a ruling that gave heart to activists around the world, the conviction of Ms Rivera - accused of seeking to abort her child and convicted of murder - was overturned when a judge decided there was insufficient evidence. Having spent five wretched years in a filthy, overcrowded jail, during which time she received no visits from her family, she was finally reunited with her child, Oscar. I am happy that I am with my son, she told The Independent, smiling as she hugged him. But I am fearful because not all of society agrees with what happened. Ms Rivera had no idea she was to be released (Center for Reproductive Rights ) (Center for Reproductive Rights) The case of the Ms Rivera, 33, has drawn attention to a reality that activists in El Salvador have described as nothing less than a battle to control womens bodies. The Latin American nation, which has a population of around six million, is one of just a handful of countries where abortion is illegal in all circumstances. Yet activists say, no country matches El Salvador for the aggressive manner in which those laws are enforced. Prior to 1998, abortion was permitted in cases of rape, incest, where a foetus was injured or if the life of the woman was in danger. Yet that year, amid pressure from religious conservatives, the law was changed to remove any exceptions whatsoever. It is estimated that between 1998 and 2013, more than 600 women have been jailed after being accused of having had an abortion. Campaigners - who were infuriated by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps recent comments that women who had abortions should be punished - say large numbers of those that are prosecuted are women who have suffered a miscarriage. Having been rushed to public hospitals for treatment, the women find themselves transformed into alleged killers. In many cases, women have been handcuffed to their hospital beds by the police. These laws are made by men to control womens bodies, said Sara Garcia, a campaigner with the Citizens Group for the Decriminalisation of Abortion, which has supported Ms Rivera. If the laws were to affect their own bodies, they would not have this kind of law. These laws are a form of violence. Ms Rivera was among a group of women convicted of aggravated homicide and handed jail terms of up to 40 years. The plight of Las 17 has drawn attention both in El Salvador and internationally, and she is the third of the women to be released. However, all the time, the authorities continue to prosecute more women and send them to jail. There are currently 25 behind bars having been convicted under these strict regulations, almost all of them single, poor and largely uneducated - women who do not have the opportunity to catch the two-hour flight to Miami and visit a private clinic. Ms Rivera said the prisoners were often discriminated against (Center for Reproductive Rights ) (Center for Reproductive Rights) Shocking The circumstances of Ms Riveras case are nothing less than shocking. In 2011, the factory worker was at the home on the edge of San Salvador she shared with her son and her mother-in-law - her husband had left several years before - when she awoke with an intense thirst. According to court papers, she fainted and when she came around she experienced a strong urge to defecate. As she sat in the outdoor toilet, she had intense cramps and felt as if a little ball fell from her body. Then she fainted once again, and fell to the ground where she was found by her mother-in-law. Nobody knew she had given birth, and Ms Rivera said she had no idea she was even pregnant. Yet when she awoke at the hospital she was told she had given birth and that police had gone to her home and discovered the dead foetus. She was detained at the hospital and taken before the court where a judge sentenced her to 40 years. An international effort by campaigners around the world - along with pressure from the US State Department - resulted in that conviction being overturned. Maria Teresas release is a victory and symbolises hope for women who have suffered under El Salvadors unjust laws, said Nancy Northup, president of the Washington-based Centre for Reproductive Rights. Women should never face criminal prosecution when they suffer pregnancy complications. The struggle for womens rights in El Salvador is taking place in the context of a deeply unequal society and one that is recovering from the impact of a bloody 12-year civil war between a military-controlled government and left wing guerrillas that left up to 75,000 people dead. Twenty years after the ceasefire that ended that war, El Salvador is once again reeling from violence, most of it killings by rival gangs and the anti-gang operations of the police and military. Earlier this year, El Salvador became the deadliest peace-time country per capita, an inglorious title it took from neighboring Honduras. Ms Teresa spent five years in El Salvador's overcrowded women's jail (Getty) Catholic Church The move to change the law in 1998 to remove the exceptions for abortion was done under pressure from right wing politicians and the Catholic Church, which wields enormous power in the country. The then Archbishop, Fernando Saenz Lacalle, was a member of the ultra-conservative group Opus Dei, and supported the change. At around the same time, the countrys constitution was amended to say that life began at conception, opening up the zealous murder claims against women who may have suffered medical issues beyond their control. Alfredo Vela Cuellar, a spokesman for Opus Dei in El Salvador, said the group supported the total ban on abortion as it believed it helped protect women from attacks and sexual assaults. He said that those campaigning for exceptions to be reintroduced, were proposing that women who had already suffered violence - such as rape - undergo more violence by having an abortion. All the time, there are more options, such as giving away the child, which is a positive alternative, he said. The church has the support of a number of anti-abortion groups. Carla de la Cayo, president of Yes to Life Foundation, the largest anti-abortion advocacy organisation in the country, last year told the Globe and Mail newspaper: Life is sacred you dont have the right to kill someone because someone else will suffer. We leave this decision to God. The limited access to contraception and sexual education in schools, along with the prohibition on abortion, has led to a situation that campaigners say is nothing less than a crisis. It is estimated that in 2014, 32 per cent of the total pregnancies - 24,709 - were of teenagers. An estimated 1,545 were of girls aged between 10-14. Doctors have also said they cannot intervene in emergency situations, such as as ectopic pregnancy, until a foetus is shown to be dead, despite the often pressing threat to the womans life. Meanwhile, alongside this, is an illicit resort to illegal and sometimes deadly abortions. A survey by the countrys ministry of health suggested that there were 19,290 such abortions between 2005 and 2008. Salvadorean activist gives her thoughts on Donald Trump Illegal abortions However, the Guttmacher Institute, a US organisation that works on reproductive health issues around the world, has estimated there are 35,000 a year in El Salvador. An estimated 11 per cent of those result in the death of the woman. Reports suggest that many women resort to the use of drugs designed to treat stomach ulcers. On an evening when San Salvadors traffic appeared to move a little more freely than usual, The Independent met a female doctor who had quit her job with a state hospital after her new boss told to call the police on women suspected of having having had an abortion. She now runs her own clinic, where she estimates she has helped two dozen women terminate their pregnancies. For this, she said, she could be jailed for up to 12 years, but she said she must help women in need. When I was a medical student I was told that we did not need to call the police because if a person thought that was going to happen, they would not come to the hospital, she said. Many of the women dont have access to contraception or else it does not work. Asked about the risk of being jailed, she said: You dont think a plane is going to crash when you get on it, so I work like that. The former guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) have held El Salvadors presidency since 2009, and yet they have been slow to seek to try and change the prohibition on abortion. (A decade earlier, the party allowed its members an open vote on the issue, a decision many of its supporters say was a mistake.) Ms Rivera said she prayed during the difficult times in jail (Center for Reproductive Rights ) (Center for Reproductive Rights) Some activists voice disappointment that a party established on a progressive agenda has not done more for the reproductive rights of women. President Salvador Sanchez Ceren has gone only as far as to say the issue warranted discussion. In an interview in his office in the centre of crowded San Salvador, the countrys deputy health minister, Eduardo Espinoza, said he disagreed with the laws, but that there was little opportunity to change them. He claimed that 100 per cent of women had access to affordable contraception but admitted that sex education was insufficient. He said that his ministry had given instructions to doctors that that they were not required to inform the Justice Ministry, or the police, in cases where they suspected a woman had self-aborted as they were protected by their relationship with their patients. But he said he could not control everyone. You get fanatically religious doctors who see that something has happened and immediately call the police or the law ministry, he said. This violates the presumption of innocence. Pray Ms Rivera said the hardest thing of the five years she spent in jail - a time when she and others were abused by other inmates for having been convicted of aborting a child - was not being able to communicate with her son. The only way she could get messages to him, was via activists, lawyers or members of the media who secured permission to visit the shabby womens jail. (The Independent was not granted permission to enter.) It was horrible, horrible, in the jail. One of my fellow inmates got beaten. It was very crowded and there was not much water. There were 250 women in a dormitory designed for 100, she said. She said that she was not permitted to keep a photograph of her son. And she began to cry when she explained how she would close her eyes to call up an image of him in her head. She said she got through the most difficult time with the support of the other members of Las 17 and by praying at a church inside the jail. Sometimes I would feel sad and depressed. I used to to go the church and pray, she said. It helped a lot. Ms Rivera said she did not know that she was to be released when she appeared before the judge on May 11. As it was, she was set free immediately and had no chance to say goodbye to her fellow inmates. She was taken straight to the offices of the campaigners who had worked for her release, where her son was waiting for her. She said: Before I was sent to jail, I was able to pick him up and hold him. But he has grown too much. 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 }} Former Glee actor Mark Salling has been indicted on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. The 33-year-old actor, who played Noah Puck Puckerman in the musical television series, was arrested last December by Los Angeles Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Court documents said a search warrant had uncovered as many as 1,000 images of child pornography, with the photographs allegedly saved on a laptop, a hard drive and a flash drive. The actor was charged with two counts of child pornography. The first alleges Mr Salling used the internet on 26 December to receive an image and a video depicting child pornography. The second count alleges Salling possessed two videos depicting child pornography three days later. Police said Mr Salling was arrested after they received a tip from a concerned person. Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed, Eileen Decker, US attorney for the central district of California, said in a statement. Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed." Lt Andrea Grossman, Commander of the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said: It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, if you hurt a child you will be held accountable. These images are more than photographs, they are child abuse. 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 The charge for receiving child pornography carries a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison. Possession of child pornography also has a maximum sentence of 20 years. Lawyers for Mr Salling said the actor had agreed to surrender to federal authorities. Mr Salling was also sued for sexual battery in 2013, and settled the case out of court for $2.7m (1.85m) in March this year. 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 }} Authorities in Cleveland will next week lay out plans to deploy as many as one police officer for every ten people expected at the Republican Convention in the city in late July. The huge police presence has been ordered amidst fears that the main event at the convention - the official coronation of Donald Trump as the partys 2016 presidential nominee - could trigger large protests and possible acts of civil disobedience in the north Ohio metropolis. Recommended Read more Donald Trump seeks to discredit judge in Trump University case With outside police departments across Ohio and from several other states set to send reinforcements, Cleveland will flood the area around the convention venue, the Quicken Loans Arena, with roughly 5,000 officers, though a precise level of policing has yet to be agreed. Their job will be to protect the 50,000-65,000 people who are expected to attend, including delegates, entertainers, top party officials and reporters from around the world. While the convention will no longer be contested with Mr Trump now the certain nominee, his rhetoric targeting minorities, including Mexicans and Muslims, has helped trigger loud, sometimes violent protests at his rallies around the country. There were rowdy scenes at a Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last Tuesday when protesters, some brandishing large Mexican flags, hurled burning T-shirts, plastic bottles and other items at police officers, injuring several. Police responded by firing pepper spray and smoke grenades into the crowd outside the Albuquerque Convention Center At a press conference set for Tuesday, officials will push back against reports that they have fallen behind in security planning, triggered in part when the police department of Greensboro, North Carolina, said at the end of last week it had withdrawn its offer to send police to Cleveland for the event amid concerns about insurance arrangements and the competence of their hosts. Despite rumors, the Division of Police will be prepared and is on track with its planning goals, a statement for the office of Mayor Franck Jackson said. Plans concerning outside agency support are still being drafted. No outside agencies have expressed preparedness concerns directly to the Division of Police or to the City of Cleveland. A dispute has also broken out over a decision by the citys police chief not to attach body cameras to thousands of officers who will be wearing riot gear around the arena, saying that while the cameras are available, affixing them would be too difficult. To have those body cameras and not allow us to wear them is absolutely irresponsible, Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis said on Friday. Just when we get used to them and we want them to be around, [the department] tells us, when we probably need them the most, that we're not going to be wearing them. The move has also been condemned by civil rights activists demanding that every step is taken to make sure the rights of protestors are not violated by police, which they say will be impossible given the decision not to use all available body cameras. Not so, said Cleveland police department spokesperson, Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia. We are confident with the operational plan we have in place that we will capture any interaction/encounter with a citizen during the RNC, she said. Many meanwhile see the decision by the Greensboro police department to rescind its offer to send officers a clear vote of no confidence in the Cleveland department. Police work is dangerous by nature. But of course in any situation, we try to plan and prepare as best we can, Lt. Brian James, Greensboro deputy chief of police, told ABC News. Of course, we will be officers working out of jurisdiction, so we are totally reliant on the Cleveland Police Department for direction. We didnt have enough information at this time to send our officers there, so we decided we are not going to send them. Of the 5,000 officers that the city sees being deployed only 1,200 will be from Cleveland itself. Offices from other cities and states will therefore be entirely dependent on their hosts for guidance and protection should they have to respond to any violence. 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 teenage girl who was kidnapped and held against her will for nine harrowing months before being released has told her former tormentor, I still forgive you. The emotional scene came in a packed New Hampshire courtroom as the perpetrator, Nathaniel Kirby, entered guilty pleas to seven charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault, witness tampering, second-degree assault and criminal threatening. He was sentenced to forty to ninety years in prison. Recommended Read more More than 30 men rape teenage girl in Rio and post video on Twitter Some people might call you a monster, but I've always looked at you as human, she told the rapt court on Thursday. And I want you to know that even though life became a lot harder after that, but I still forgive you. The case of the girl, whose identify has not been released because she suffered sexual abuse while in captivity, made national headlines in 2013 when she first disappeared in Conway, New Hampshire, while walking home from school. Police in the rural northeastern state could find no trace of her in spite of an intense missing persons effort. Details of her ordeal in captivity in the Kirby home have now surfaced in court papers. According to prosecutors, Kirby used an anti-bark shock dog training collar to constrain her. He also threatened her with a gun, and promised to harm her family if she attempted to escape. The worst day possibly came when Kirby ordered the girl to write a letter to her mother giving misinformation about where she might be. When he discovered she had used her fingernails to scratch an additional message on the paper he shocked and sexually assaulted her. Adding a strange dimension to the horror of the tale, it emerged that Kirby was also using her as a slave to assist him making forged bank notes. The torment came to an end after police arrested a local prostitute and found she was carrying forged currency, which he had used to pay her for her services. Fearful that the police would trace the bills back to him, he apparently panicked and declared, I have to get rid of everything, including you, the papers said. It was July 2014. Released, the girl managed to remember enough about where she had been to lead detectives to Kirbys lair. He was arrested a week later. The level of detail this victim could remember while she was enduring just unspeakable acts was simply amazing, prosecutor Jane Young said at the court hearing. Kirby had originally pleaded not guilty to some 200 charges that had been filed against him, but changed his mind about facing trial earlier this month, his defense lawyer, Jesse Kirby said. His decision to accept responsibility was solely driven by his desire to not put [the victim], or anybody else, through the rigors and continued stress of a long and drawn-out trial, Mr Kibby's said in a statement. 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 lonely elephant who had been the subject of a campaign to save her from isolation has died in a small zoo in Japan aged 69. Hanako was a gift from the Thai government in 1949 and has lived alone in the Inokashira Park Zoo in Tokyo since 1954. She became a popular tourist attraction and her relationship with her keeper was made into a novel and later a TV series, the Bangkok Post reports. Critics urged the Japanese government to send Hanako back to a sanctuary in Thailand to live out the rest of her days with her fellow animals. A petition launched by animal welfare activists urged Japan to send her back to Thailand, but Tokyo argued the elephant was too old to travel. An independent expert who examined her, American Carol Buckley, agreed with the zoo and suggested improvements could be made to Hanako's living conditions. These included changes to her enclosure and for the zookeepers to spend more time with her. Ms Buckley said it would be too bewildering for Hanako to live with other elephants after spending so long by herself. As a result the zoo built new fencing around her enclosure, but reported that she was too frightened by the changes to go outside. Hanako died on Thursday after she was found lying on her side (AFP) A zoo spokesman, Naoya Ohashi, said Hanako, whose name means flower child, was discovered lying on her side on Thursday morning. Despite repeated efforts to raise her by staff, she died peacefully later that afternoon. Mr Ohashi said an autopsy will determine the cause of her death, but any elephant that remains on its side for long periods of time, at any age, can suffer organ damage. Her regular birthday celebration, when the Thai Embassy brought her fresh strawberries every March, was cancelled this year. Where not to visit if you love animals Show all 9 1 /9 Where not to visit if you love animals Where not to visit if you love animals Monkey shows Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Marine parks Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Tiger shows Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them safe for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Donkey rides Sunning on the beach is great for humans we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Swimming with dolphins Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Canned hunting Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Running of the Bulls Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Horse-drawn carriages City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones. Getty Where not to visit if you love animals Zoos The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further. EPA The elephant had been gradually getting weaker and had been eating less in recent months. Hidemasa Hori, the zoos deputy director and general curator, said: I'm filled with sorrow. 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. Recommended Read more Zoos filling up with geriatric animals as medicine boosts life expectancy Ulara Nakagawa, a Canadian resident whose blog about Hanako inspired the petition to move her, said it was sad that she had had to spend her life living in an enclosure without dirt or grass to play in. She said: "Most tragic is that she was deprived of true, lasting companionship, which is crucial to an elephant's overall well-being. "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. "Rest in peace, Hanako. You will not be forgotten." Additional reporting by AP For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Malaysias government has caused widespread outrage in the multi-ethnic country after adopting an Islamic penal code that will introduce amputations and stoning as punishments for some crimes. Prime Minister Najib Razaks coalition government unexpectedly submitted the bill that had been proposed by the Islamist group Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS). PAS has been pushing federal MPs to amend laws so that it can implement strict Islamic criminal laws, the Straits Times reported. This would include chopping off the hands of thieves. Critics said the prime minister was only using hudud, the Islamic law, in a bid to win the support of Muslim voters ahead of two by-elections in Malaysia, and to fend off attacks on his leadership. However Mr Najib has said the bill has been misunderstood, Reuters reported. It's not hudud, but what we refer to as enhanced punishment, he told a news conference. It applies only to certain offences and this comes under the jurisdiction of the Syariah court [the Malaysian Sharia court] and is only applicable to the Muslims. It has nothing to do with non-Muslims. Mr Najib denied the bill amounted to hudud, and said the punishments would be limited. Hudud is a divisive issue in Malaysia, where most states implement a form of Shariah limited by federal law. The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), which forms part of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition government, described the bill as unconstitutional. 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 MCA president Liow Tiong Lai said: As we repeatedly pointed out, the implementation of hudud law is against the spirit of the federal constitution, and would ruin the inter-ethnic relationship in the country. Mr Najib has been implicated in allegations that a state-owned development company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, was used to siphon state funds, totalling $680m (465m) into his account. Mr Najib denies any wrongdoing. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} North Korea could be behind spate of cyber attacks on Asian banks, according to digital security analysts. Private firm Symantec said it had evidence that thieves had either stolen money or attempted to do so from banks in the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh by using the same piece of code that was involved in the Sony Pictures hack in December 2014, the New York Times reported. The only other time the code has been used was in a series of attacks on banks and media companies in South Korea in 2013 which Washington and Seoul blamed on North Korea though they did not provide independent verification at the time. Symantec said the hackers had managed to steal more than $81m (55.4m) from the central bank of Bangladesh in February this year and failed to steal $1m (680,000) from the Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam in December last year. The attacks have raised alarm bells in the global banking community because it is the first time that thieves have managed to breach Swift, a payment transfer system that is believed to be the most secure in the world. The system, run by a Brussels-based banking consortium, is currently used by 11,000 banks and companies to move money around the world. Inside the daily life in North Korea Show all 19 1 /19 Inside the daily life in North Korea Inside the daily life in North Korea People reading a newspaper at the metro station Inside the daily life in North Korea Thoughts of the leaders on the tram. They have about a dozen of these on every tram, all with different thoughts Inside the daily life in North Korea Young people training for a big upcoming festival Inside the daily life in North Korea People at the Pyongyang's annual marathon Inside the daily life in North Korea Many stars on one of the trolleys in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea An intimidating poster in a primary school in North Korea. Inside the daily life in North Korea Solar panels installed on a street lamp. Inside the daily life in North Korea A poster on the window next to one of the venues we visited in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea Kids playing football next to the Arch of Triumph. After a while tourists were allowed to join, so some of us did Inside the daily life in North Korea Class in an educational center in Pyongyang (where people over 17 years old can attend any classes they choose after school, for free) Inside the daily life in North Korea People waving at me during the Pyongyang marathon Inside the daily life in North Korea People having a great time dancing at a public park Inside the daily life in North Korea A metro driver in a metro station in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea Fireworks to mark the birthday of the Eternal President Kim Il Sung on our last night in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea My wonderful tour guide at a public park Inside the daily life in North Korea One of the parks in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea A person rowing some boats for the day at a river in Pyongyang Inside the daily life in North Korea The National War Museum Inside the daily life in North Korea Public park in Pyongyang Swift has publicly warned that the attacks were part of a co-ordinated campaign against banks but did not explicitly blame North Korea. It also said that connection points to its network had been breached, rather than the system itself. There have been multiple examples of countries using malware and cyber attacks to hurt their international rivals. Security researchers have found evidence linking the US and Israel to attacks on Iranian centrifuges and the Chinese military to attacks on foreign intelligence services, but this is the first time a government is believed to have attacked foreign banks purely for financial benefit. Security researcher Eric Chien told the New York Times: If you believe North Korea was behind those attacks [on Sony], then the bank attacks were also the work of North Korea. Weve never seen an attack where a nation-state has gone in and stolen money. This is a first. 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 Pakistani Islamic council has sparked outrage after suggesting husbands may lightly beat their wives as a form of discipline in their draft of a womens protection bill. In the draft bill, released on Thursday, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said it was permissible to beat a woman lightly should he need to punish her. "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," Pakistan's Express-Tribune reports citing the proposal. Formed in 1962, the CII is a constitutional body that advises parliament on the compatibility of laws with Sharia. Its proposed bill is deemed to be a response to the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Bill 2015, which redefines "violence" to include "any offence committed against a woman" and provides a toll free help line for women, after the council said it was "un-Islamic". Anti-women laws that still exist in 2016 The 163-point draft bill reportedly bans women from appearing in television or print advertising and female nurses from treating male patients. It would also allow husbands to forbid their wives from visiting other men except relatives. The draft has been lambasted by Pakistani media and womens rights activists, who have dubbed the report as ridiculous. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), called for the council of "zealots" to be disbanded, saying: "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, AFP reports. The HRCP estimates 70 per cent of Pakistani women have suffered domestic violence. The countrys largest English-language newspaper, Dawn, published a satirical article on the draft bill with a list of things people could beat other than their wives, including eggs, ketchup bottle bottoms, dirty carpets and It - referring to the Michael Jackson hit Beat it. On Thursday, Female members of the Punjab Assembly criticised the CII proposals, the Washington Post reports. Through their proposed recommendations they have reflected their mind-set, said Raheela Khadim, chair of the Punjab Assemblys standing committee on gender. We are talking about holding wife beaters accountable and they are proposing something in complete contrast, she said. The CII's chairman has since emphasised the bill is still a draft. Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani told AFP: "Islam does not allow violence against women. There may be a dispute between husband and wife but that is something separate from torturing wives." The United Nation's Gender Inequality Index puts Pakistan 147 on a list of 188 countries due to a poor record on women's health, education, political empowerment and economic status. 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 British woman killed in a speedboat accident in Thailand was on her honeymoon, according to reports. Monica OConnor, 28, was travelling on a boat with 32 tourists and four crew members when it capsized off the coast of Koh Samui, one of Thailands largest islands, amid strong winds and rough waters. Ms OConnors husband, Tim, is believed to have escaped the crash unharmed. A German man and a woman from Hong Kong were also killed in the accident. A search operation has resumed for a missing British man, Jason Parnell, 46, who was celebrating his first wedding anniversary with his wife Puja on the vessel. A spokesman for Koh Samui tourist police said: We will not finish until we find him. The Angthong Discovery Tours captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, was taken into police custody following the crash and could face a charge of reckless endangerment causing death, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Mr Seekakiaw said he had asked all tourists to wear a life vest but that some had taken them off during the journey. Amm Pontfuk, a travel agent 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. 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 He is very concerned and professional, normally in bad weather he doesnt 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. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement: 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. This report was contributed to by the 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 }} Children as young as nine are risking their lives in desperate attempts to reach Europe as the number of unaccompanied child refugees arriving on smugglers' boats rockets. More than a third of almost 200,000 migrants to have reached Greece, Italy and Spain so far this year are under 18 and aid agencies are warning of a worrying new trend. Gemma Parkin, a Save the Children spokesperson, said the proportion of unaccompanied children has increased dramatically. 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) There are three times as many as there were this time last year and our staff anecdotally tell us that those chose children are getting younger, she told The Independent. Weve had children as young as nine years old arriving completely on their own. She puts the increase down to an increasing level of desperation from people living in camps for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in North Africa and the Middle East, who are losing hope of being resettled through United Nations programmes. The loss of hope is being felt in communities people feel they have no other choice than to make these journeys, or if they have limited economic opportunities they think their best option is to send their eldest child, usually a teenage boy, ahead to work and send money back, Ms Parkin said. Thats an enormous amount of pressure on a teenage boy. They are incredibly vulnerable to the worst kinds of exploitation and extortion. Last year almost 10,000 lone children went missing in Europe and have never been traced, while teenagers have been among migrants killed in desperate attempts to cross to England through the Channel Tunnel. Refugee shipwreck survivors arrive in Italy As well as risking death and illness, many report having been beaten, tortured and sexually abused during their journey or even in Europe, with allegations of rape in the Calais "Jungle". Humanitarian groups have also voiced concern over the condition refugee children are being housed in in Greece, where they are being detained as part of the EU-Turkey deal. The rising number of unaccompanied minors is particularly stark in Sicily, where the majority of people rescued from ships left to drift off the coast of Libya are taken. According to Save the Childrens figures, of the 33,200 asylum seekers who arrived in Italy between 1 January and 22 May this year, 5,400 were unaccompanied minors and another 500 children arrived with family members. In the first four months of last year, there were only 1,700 unaccompanied minors out of the 26,000 migrants. Among last weeks arrivals was a nine-month-old baby who was orphaned when her mother burned to death in a fuel accident on a smugglers boat. She was one of four Nigerian women who died following a fuel leak in the vessels engine on Wednesday. Her child has been taken into care by Italian social services. 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 Syrian mother who survived a sinking with her two children had fears for her 17-year-old son, who she had not seen since the boat capsized and was not among five dead bodies recovered and taken to shore. 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. But since the controversial EU-Turkey deal dramatically lowered crossings over the Aegean Sea earlier this year, Syrian refugees have been returning to the treacherous Libyan route. Since the start of the refugee crisis it has become the deadliest sea crossing in the world, seeing almost 3,000 people die in 2015, compared to around 800 on the shorter passage between Turkey and Greece. Concerns that the threat of imprisonment and deportation in Greece would force families fleeing conflict and persecution onto the longer Central Mediterranean route have not so far been realised, although the presence of Syrians and Iraqis on a boat that capsized in the second disaster of last week suggested a potential shift. The two nationalities made up the majority of arrivals in Italy in 2014 but deserted the treacherous crossing when smuggling routes to Greek islands opened up earlier last year. Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos (Lizzie Dearden) Theres little evidence but it certainly seems that some Syrians are willing to make the journey even on the most dangerous sea crossing in the world, Ms Parkin said. It has claimed the lives of more than 1,100 people so far this year according to the International Organisation of Migration, which said more than 10,000 migrants had been rescued between Monday and Wednesday last week alone. Federico Soda, director of the groups co-ordination office for the Mediterranean in Rome, said: What we are seeing today is not an emergency in terms of numbers: it is an operational emergency, since thousands of people are risking their life at sea and it is very difficult to save everyone. This year over 1,470 migrants have already died or gone missing at sea. This number would have been much higher without the rescue operations currently active in the Channel of Sicily. A teenage girl arriving on a rescue boat in Sicily (Lizzie Dearden ) (Lizzie Dearden) Save the Children is calling for Italian authorities to provide appropriate accommodation for refugee children separate from adults, with a spokesperson saying: Lone children have specialist needs, have often experienced traumatic events and abuses, witnessed horrific crimes or been trafficked. They have a unique set of rights as children and need specialist care to recover. 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. Britain is to send a warship to the Mediterranean to combat people smuggling as EU operations continue. Speaking at the close of the G7 summit in Japan, David Cameron praised the impact of the controversial EU-Turkey agreement and said he wants to do the same with the central Mediterranean route. The Prime Minister 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. 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 Swiss village, one of the wealthiest in Europe, has refused to take in its government imposed quota of asylum seekers, voting to pay a fine of 200,000 instead. The residents of Oberwil-Lieli, where there are 300 millionaires among a population of 2,200, voted no in a referendum over whether to accept just 10 refugees. Swiss government proposals had outlined a quota across its 26 counties in order deliver on promise to take 50,000 asylum seekers across the country, but Oberwil-Lieli voted by 52 per cent to 48 to reject the refugees. One resident of the village told MailOnline: We do not want them here it is as simple as that. We have worked hard all our lives and have a lovely village that we do not want it spoiled. We are not suited to take in refugees. They would not fit in here. Steve Symonds, Amnesty UK's Refugee Programme Director, called on the West to take on their fair share of refugees. Mr Symonds told The Independent: "Just as it's wrong for richer countries to keep leaving it to poorer countries to host the vast proportion of the world's growing refugee population, so more wealthy communities need to share responsibility with the less affluent. "This is as true in Switzerland and the UK as it is in countries like Lebanon, which are currently hosting very many more refugees than European countries. We all need to play our part or the current crisis will keep getting worse." Andreas Glarner, Oberwil-Lielis right wing mayor, denied that by refusing to accept refugees they were being racist. 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 We were not to be told if the 10 were from Syria or if they are economic migrants from other countries," he said. Yes, the refugees from Syria have to be helped and they are better served by being helped in the camps nearer their home. Money could be sent to help them, but if we are housing them here it sends out the wrong message. Others will come and risk their lives crossing the ocean and paying people smugglers to bring them. Number of child refugees crossing into Europe swells They are not likely to be able to speak the language and if some of the refugees have children they will have to go into the local school where they will need special focus. In April 2016 there were 1,748 applications for asylum in Switzerland compared to 1,376 for the same month the previous year. The Swiss Government has pledged to resettle 3,000 Syrian families fleeing Isis and the civil war in the country. 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 Kurdish woman who has been fighting extremists for three years is spearheading the assault on Isis self-declared Syrian capital, Raqqa. Rojda Felat is the joint commander of an offensive by Kurdish and Syrian rebels on the city - which has been the de-facto capital of the so-called Islamic State since 2014. In her thirties, she heads the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) made up of around 15,000 Kurdish and Arab fighters, who receive training and support from the US-led coalition. Their aim is to liberate Syrians from Isis oppression. The Raqqa Liberation Brigade and Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) forces will accompany SFD during the campaign, Commander Felat said in a statement. The campaign is aimed at repelling terrorist attacks on Shadadi, Tal Abyad and Kobani, ensuring the security of our people. The SDF announced the start of the Northern Raqqa Liberation Campaign at a press conference on 24 May 2016, Rojda Felat can be seen on far-right (SDF) A radical activist, Commander Felat says she is inspired by Bismarck, Napoleon and Saladin as well as women, such as Arin Markin who blew herself up rather than face capture by Isis during the defence of the Kurdish town Kobanu in 2014. She told The Times: My main goal is liberating the Kurdish woman and the Syrian woman in general from the ties and control of traditional society, as well as liberating the entirety of Syria from terrorism and tyranny. My strong beliefs and honest goals help me overcome any obstacles or challenges. The state of weakness that the woman in Rojava [a Kurdish-held territory] and Syria had experienced has gone now. We are not weak any more. Women are playing a vital role in leading and managing the society. Previously, Commander Felat has been involved in battles in Hasakah province and for the town of Shadadi in an operation called Wrath of Khabur. The town took three days to liberate, Salah Jamil, a member of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) told Middle Eastern Eye. "The Yazidi girls were sold at the Shadadi market, and... we took revenge for them, Jamil added. Female fighters are a key part of the offensive against Isis and there are understood to be more than 10,000 women fighting in both all-female and mixed Kurdish battalions. A 21-year-old commander, from the Women's Protection Units, a faction of the YPG, told CNN: "They believe if someone from [Isis] is killed by a girl, a Kurdish girl, they won't go to heaven. They're afraid of girls." In pictures: The rise of Isis Show all 74 1 /74 In pictures: The rise of Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters of the Islamic State wave the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from Islamic State group sit on their tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from the Islamic State group pray at the Tabqa air base after capturing it from the Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Fighters from extremist Islamic State group parade in Raqqa, Syria AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping A video uploaded to social networks shows men in underwear being marched barefoot along a desert road before being allegedly executed by Isis Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Haruna Yukawa after his capture by Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis kidnapping Khalinda Sharaf Ajour, a Yazidi, says two of her daughters were captured by Isis militants Washington Post In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Spokesperson for Isis Vice News via Youtube In pictures: The rise of Isis A pro-Isis leaflet A pro-Isis leaflet handed out on Oxford Street In London Ghaffar Hussain In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters Isis Jihadists burn their passports In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A man collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid A woman collecting aid administered by Isis in Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis controls Syrian Aid Local civilians queue for aid administered by Isis. Since it declared a caliphate the group has increasingly been delivering services such as healthcare, and distributing aid and free fuel In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces detain men suspected of being militants of the Isis group in Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Mourners carry the coffin of a Shi'ite volunteer from the brigades of peace, who joined the Iraqi army and was killed during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Samarra, during his funeral in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Shiite Turkmen family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, arrives at a refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi A photograph made from a video by the jihadist affiliated group Furqan Media via their twitter account allegedly showing Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in Mosul. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamist caliphate in the territory under the group's control in Iraq and Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq Smoke and debris go up in the air as Shiite's Al-Qubba Husseiniya mosque explodes in Mosul. Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory - the city of Mosul and the town of Tal Afar - they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks In pictures: The rise of Isis Islamic extremists destroying mosques in Iraq A bulldozer destroys Sunni's Ahmed al-Rifai shrine and tomb in Mahlabiya district outside of Tal Afar In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces celebrate after clashes with followers of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, in front of his home in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi at his home after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces arrest a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A vehicle burns in front of a home of a follower of Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi after clashes with his followers in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman holds her exhausted son as over 1000 Iraqis who have fled fighting in and around the city of Mosul and Tal Afar wait at a Kurdish checkpoint in the hopes of entering a temporary displacement camp in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees Displaced Iraqi women hold pots as they queue to receive food during the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, at an encampment for displaced Iraqis who fled from Mosul and other towns, in the Khazer area outside Irbil, north Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters wave flags as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters travel in a vehicle as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade with a missile in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from an al-Qaida splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Fighters from the Isis group during a parade in Raqqa, Syria. Militants from the splinter group held a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria, displaying U.S.-made Humvees, heavy machine guns, and missiles captured from the Iraqi army for the first time since taking over large parts of the Iraq-Syria border In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters hold a military parade in their stronghold in northeastern Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria Isis fighters during a parade in Raqqa, Syria In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Syria A member loyal to the Isis waves an Isis flag in Raqqa In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a "crossroads" and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi security forces hold up a flag of the Isis group they captured during an operation to regain control of Dallah Abbas north of Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Isis fighters parade in the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Isis group, demonstrate their skills during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Kurdish Peshmerga troops fire a cannon during clashes with militants of the Isis group in Jalawla, Diyala province In pictures: The rise of Isis Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference Iraqi Prime Minister's security spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta speaks during a press conference about the latest military development in Iraq, in the capital Baghdad. Iraqi forces pressed a campaign to retake militant-held Tikrit, clashing with jihadist-led Sunni militants nearby and pounding positions inside the city with air strikes in their biggest counter-offensive so far In pictures: The rise of Isis A police station building destroyed by Isis fighters An exterior view of a police station building destroyed by gunmen in Mosul city, northern Iraq. Iraq's new parliament is expected to convene to start the process of setting up a new government, despite deepening political rifts and an ongoing Islamist-led insurgency. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree inviting the new House of Representatives to meet and form a new government In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq Smoke billows from an area controlled by the Isis between the Iraqi towns of Naojul and Tuz Khurmatu, both located north of the capital Baghdad, as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces take part in an operation to repel the Sunni militants In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An elderly Iraqi woman is helped into a temporary displacement camp for Iraqis caught-up in the fighting in and around the city of Mosul in Khazair In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi Christian woman fleeing the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kms east of the northern province of Nineveh, cries upon her arrival at a community center in the Kurdish city of Arbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraqi refugees An Iraqi woman, who fled with her family from the northern city of Mosul, prays with a copy of the Quran AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Isis fighters in Iraq The body of an Isis militant killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces on the outskirts of the city of Samarra Reuters In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Iraqi civilians inspect the damage at a market after an air strike by the Iraqi army in central Mosul EPA In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Members of the Al-Abbas brigades, who volunteered to protect the Shiite Muslim holy sites in Karbala against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government, parade in the streets of the city AP In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis Shia tribesmen gather in Baghdad to take up arms against Sunni insurgents marching on the capital. Thousands have volunteered to bolster defences AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq crisis A van carrying volunteers joining Iraqi security forces against Jihadist militants. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the Iraqi government would arm and equip civilians who volunteered to fight AFP/Getty In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters of the Isis group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle down a main road at the northern city of Mosul In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An Islamist fighter, identified as Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni from Britain (R), speaks in this still image taken undated video shot at an unknown location and uploaded to a social media website. Five Islamist fighters identified as Australian and British nationals have called on Muslims to join the wars in Syria and Iraq, in the new video released by the Isis In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Al-Qaida inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad. The fighting at Beiji comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Isis group. While U.S. President Barack Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground, officials said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants attacked Iraq's main oil refinein Baiji as they pressed an offensive that has seen them capture swathes of territory, a manager and a refinery employee said In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants from the Isis group parading with their weapons in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A smoke rises after an attack by Isis militants on the country's largest oil refinery in Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad. Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country's main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian border, trying to blunt an offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized some 100 foreign workers In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group stand next to captured vehicles left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province. For militant groups, the fight over public perception can be even more important than actual combat, turning military losses into propaganda victories and battlefield successes into powerful tools to build support for the cause In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq An injured fighter (C) from the Isis group after a battle with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis aiming at advancing Iraqi troops at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group taking position at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Fighters from the Isis group inspecting vehicles of the Iraqi army after they were seized at an undisclosed location near the border between Syria and Iraq In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq One Iraqi captive, a corporal, is reluctant to say the slogan, and has to be shouted at repeatedly before he obeys Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Iraqi captives held by the extremists Sky News In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group force captured Iraqi security forces members to the transport In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group transporting dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members to an unknown location in the Salaheddin province ahead of executing them In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq A major offensive spearheaded by Isis but also involving supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein has overrun all of one province and chunks of three others In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Militants of the Isis group executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants taking position at a Iraqi border post on the Syrian-Iraqi border between the Iraqi Nineveh province and the Syrian town of Al-Hasakah In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis rebels show their flag after seizing an army post AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Isis militants waving an Islamist flag after the seizure of an Iraqi army checkpoint in Salahuddin Getty Images In pictures: The rise of Isis Iraq Demonstrators chant slogans as they carry al-Qaida flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. In the week since it captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, a Muslim extremist group has tried to win over residents and has stopped short of widely enforcing its strict brand of Islamic law, residents say. Churches remain unharmed and street cleaners are back at work The offensive against Raqqa began on 24 May and rebels are expected to push south from their frontline in northern Raqqa Governorate. It is still unclear whether they will attempt to take Raqqa city. The launch of the SDFs campaign came as activists reported intensive reconnaissance flights in the region and coalition air strikes in Raqqa city and the surrounding countryside. Our campaign is moving very well, Commander Felat told The Times. The more we advance towards Raqqa the more Isiss resistance is increased. 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 }} Barack Obama has called for a "world without nuclear weapons" during a historic speech in Hiroshima, Japan. There are around 15,850 nuclear warheads spread between nine nations, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). As the chart by Statista shows, Russia and the US share 93 per cent of the world's nuclear warheads. Speaking in Hiroshima, President Obama told a crowd that included the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and survivors of the atomic bombing.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. 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. While nine nations to control nuclear weapons, five other countries also host them as part of Nato's nuclear deterrence policy. Which countries have nuclear weapons? Show all 14 1 /14 Which countries have nuclear weapons? Which countries have nuclear weapons? USA Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Russia Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? UK Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? France Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? China Have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? India Say they have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Pakistan Say they have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? North Korea Say they have nuclear weapons EPA/Rodong Sinmun Which countries have nuclear weapons? Israel Believed to have nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Belgium Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Germany Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Italy Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Netherlands Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Which countries have nuclear weapons? Turkey Nations hosting nuclear weapons Getty Legally recognised nuclear states The total number of nuclear warheads in the world is declining, the SIPRI report notes, as Russia and the USA continue to reduce their nuclear arsenals. However, the other legally recognised nuclear states China, France, Russia and the UK are "either developing or deploying new weapon systems or have announced their intention to do so". HMS Vigilant, one of Britains four Trident nuclear missile-armed submarines, at its Faslane base in Scotland (Getty) "All five legally recognised nuclear weapon states appear determined to retain their nuclear arsenals indefinitely," the report concludes. Nato-member states Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey all host nuclear weapons for the alliance. North Korea This picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on April 24, 2016 shows the underwater test-fire of a strategic submarine ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea on April 23, 2016 (KCNA) The isolated communist state is believed to have between six and eight nuclear warheads and has carried out a series of nuclear tests over the last year. The United Nations imposed sanctions against North Korea as a result of its fourth nuclear test in January this year. Kim Jong-un has ordered the country's military to prepare to carry out a pre-emptive strike due to its poor relations with other states. Both the US and South Korea believe Pyongyang is attempting to develop an intercontinental missile system which could put the US in range of a nuclear strike. India INS Arihant during sea trials, December 2014 (NDTV/Wikimedia Commons) India and regional rival Pakistan are expanding their nuclear weapon stockpiles as well as their missile delivery capabilities. Earlier this year India conducted the final trials of its first nuclear-armed submarine, the INS Arihant, making it the sixth country in the world to possess a vessel capable of launching nuclear warheads from under water. Once deployed, the submarine will complete India's nuclear triad, allowing it to launch atomic weapons from land, sea and air. Work has already begun on two more Arihant-class submarines. India intends to have a total of four by 2020. Pakistan A Pakistani commando looks on as Ghauri intermediate-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warhead are transported on launchers during the National Day parade in Islamabad, 23 March, 2005 (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images) Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme began in the 1970s in response to India's development and testing of its nuclear weapons. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who helped develop Pakistan's nuclear bomb, confessed in 2004 that his network had sold nuclear know-how on the black market to states such as North Korea and Iran. In 2015, India's defence minister warned Isis could obtain a nuclear weapon from "states like Pakistan". Isis has also claimed it could buy its first nuclear weapon from Pakistan. However, political analysts see the scenario as unlikely. Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, uses a diagram of a bomb to describe Iran's nuclear program while delivering his address to the 67th United Nations General Assembly meeting on 27 September, 2012, at the United Nations in New York (DON EMMERT/AFP/GettyImages) Israel is believed to have the only nuclear weapons arsenal in the Middle East. In February, Israeli defence minister warned of a coming nuclear arms race in the Middle East in response to Iran's nuclear deal with the US and other Western countries. This saw the lifting of economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for limitations on its nuclear programme, which it insists is for purely civilian purposes. Although Israel neither officially confirms or denies it possesses nuclear weapons, it is estimated to have an inventory of around 80 warheads. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Q Were going to Florida. When paying with a credit card in the US, which is better: settling the amount in dollars, or taking up the option to pay in pounds? Michael Galloway A Enterprises the world over, from hotels to restaurants to shops to ATMs, will often invite people paying by credit card to settle in the money of their home country rather than the local currency. Its known as dynamic currency conversion or cardholder preferred currency - but in my view it would be more accurately known as merchant preferred currency On the face of it, paying a fixed amount rather than being susceptible to currency fluctuations seems a tempting prospect. But in the decade since the practice of offering a choice of currencies became commonplace, I have never seen any circumstances in which it works out as a good deal for the traveller. The cost of getting certainty about the bill is a disadvantageous exchange rate - in my experience, typically 5-8 per cent worse than you would expect even allowing for charges for foreign payments that are made for most British cards. You can demonstrate this for yourself very simply. Suppose the prevailing rate is about $1.40 to a pound. Use the calculator on your phone to divide the original bill in dollars by the amount quoted in sterling. You will probably find its around $1.30. Charitably, there are some British people for whom the invitation to pay in pounds is valuable - typically business travellers whose expenses are handled in sterling. But holidaymakers should stick to the local currency. And in your position, I would either use cash dollars (bought at a good rate in the UK) or one of the rare credit cards with no charges for foreign transactions - I use Halifax Clarity. You can use UK debit cards in the US, but most of them offer an even worse deal than standard credit cards. The only reason I take mine is for use in an emergency. Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a readers question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Last week, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon tried to put to bed questions about whether Britain is planning to deploy the Army to Libya, where, just 200 miles from Europe, Isis has flourished amid a permanent state of chaos after the 2011 Nato-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Fallon said Britain is not planning a combat role for British troops in Libya; if the army were to be deployed in Libya, Parliament would discuss it first. But just two days after his comments the Times reported that British Special Air Service troops are already in Libya and were seen earlier in May blowing up an Isis vehicle laden with explosives near Misrata. Inside Isis secret tunnels Show all 7 1 /7 Inside Isis secret tunnels Inside Isis secret tunnels Network of underground tunnels was discovered by Kurdish forces after they regained the town of Sinjar in Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels A member of the Peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Isis militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Reuters Inside Isis secret tunnels An entrance to the tunnel used by Islamic State militants is seen in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels The secret tunnels allowed militants to freely move underground Inside Isis secret tunnels The tunnels appear to be wired with electricity Inside Isis secret tunnels Some of the tunnels are 30 feet deep Inside Isis secret tunnels Concerns remain that parts of the tunnels are rigged with explosives I first revealed in March that SAS troops were operating in Libya. What is still not clear is who exactly Britain is fighting alongside in a country that doesnt have an effective government or army. No one can deny that the threat to the world posed by Isis is stark and that military action is needed to stem the groups growth across the Middle East and North Africa. However, the Government is not allowing the British public to know anything about where it is deploying British troops in the Middle East, and what they are doing in our name. Over the past year there have been reports of SAS forces operating in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Libya as well as advising allies in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Parliament hasnt been informed about any of these deployments, let alone been given the opportunity to debate them and to decide if this military strategy is in the best interests of the British people. The idea of collective responsibility in our democracy works only when we know what is being done in our name. As British citizens, we cannot be responsible for wars that our Government wont tell us about. But we can certainly feel their consequences. The Foreign Office website is already filled with warnings in its travel advice section, which include the information that British citizens are a target for terrorist groups across the world. Bureaucracy of Islamic State One of the reasons British people are targeted abroad is because of our Armys visible presence in other countries. And now, without our knowledge, British soldiers are being deployed in numerous countries across the Middle East. The Government ought to open up about its war against Isis. As Crispin Blunt, the Conservative MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, recently told me, the Government cannot keep SAS operations secret for ever. Blunt said SAS operations require a veil of secrecy if they are to be effective and he is correct but he argued that, when those operations form part of a wider military strategy, that military strategy should be scrutinised and overseen by Parliament. Going to war is one of the most important decisions a country can take. The British people deserve to know where our Government is sending our troops, what the danger is, and what it is they hope to achieve by sending them into battle on our behalf. Its time for a parliamentary debate about Britains secret wars in the Middle East. Rori Donaghy is a news editor for Middle East Eye. He founded the Emirates Centre for Human Rights, an independent organisation that focuses on human rights abuse in the United Arab Emirates 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 }} A few months ago, a friend and disabled activist posted a blog on his Facebook page lamenting the latest soppy Hollywood film and its stereotypes of disability. I read it and moved on, thinking another cheesy romance wasnt going to attract much attention. Then Me Before You came along. As a disabled woman and wheelchair user, my blood boiled. The film tells the story of a wealthy young man, Will Traynor, played by Sam Claflin, who becomes paralysed after a motorcycle accident. He falls in love with his new caretaker, Lou Clark, portrayed by Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke. But spoiler alert! despite his love for her, he chooses to leave her: the story concludes with Will choosing assisted suicide and leaving his fortune to Lou. Im a member of Muscular Dystrophy UKs Trailblazers, a 600-strong network of young campaigners across Britain. While some of our members enjoyed the book, the vast majority felt deeply unsettled by its premise. Norman Smith told to cut live broadcast due to disability protest We are of course keen for disabled storylines to enter mainstream culture, but Me Before You is misleading and inaccurate. It spreads jarring messages about life as a disabled person to the public. With its fatal ending, Hollywood is again telling people like me that its better to choose death than live as a disabled person. Its saying my life isnt worth it. Such is the anger within the disabled community about this film that activists hijacked a Twitter chat with Claflin, shutting it down early by using the films hashtag #LiveBoldly which, ironically, Claflins character shuns when he commits suicide. There were also protests at the films premiere. The representation of life as a disabled person in Me Before You is a blurred reflection of the truth. Director Thea Sharrock said that she wanted to avoid portraying the realities of living with a disability in the film, such as being hoisted into a bath or being helped to clean, because she wanted to make Wills disability more normal. In doing so, she strips the character and film of any real meaning. Sharrock is right that disability needs to be normalised, but that will only happen when people like her stop leaving my reality on the cutting room floor. Cast Offs - Time to cast a new light on disability Show all 4 1 /4 Cast Offs - Time to cast a new light on disability Cast Offs - Time to cast a new light on disability 264455.bin Cast Offs - Time to cast a new light on disability 264454.bin Cast Offs - Time to cast a new light on disability 264451.bin Cast Offs - Time to cast a new light on disability 264450.bin Hollywood has again allowed, even encouraged, a non-disabled actor to crip up, playing a disabled character who believes his life is over simply because he cannot move. To see a non-disabled actor play a disabled role, yet again, is a real insult to disabled people, who are still hugely under-represented in mainstream culture. We had game changers in Cherylee Houston in Coronation Street, deaf actress and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, and Glee and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy, who casts disabled actors and actresses. We need to build on these successes and push for further inclusion, fair representation and accurate portrayals. Advertising disability as a fate worse than death is offensive and damaging. Its damaging for the young people with disabilities who are watching this film. Its damaging to the public perception of disability. Its damaging to us to how we live and to our aspirations for the future. Disability is an emotive, complex subject that deserves public attention. In the creation of a film as misleading and superficial as Me Before You, we all miss out. 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 }} Theresa May has done two unexpected things recently. What did she mean by them? She appointed Joey Jones, recently deputy political editor at Sky News, as her official spokesman. The Daily Telegraph reported that his appointment prepared the ground for a challenge for the Conservative leadership. I cannot fault the Telegraph: I reported the discovery that George Osborne has 10 special advisers five times the normal limit for cabinet ministers as evidence of his ambition to succeed David Cameron. Joness appointment is a bit different, though, because he has joined the Home Office as a civil servant and not a political adviser. So it could be that the Home Secretary has appointed a respected and experienced journalist to manage communications for her important department. Indeed, May resolutely refrains from the kind of campaigning pursued by those with a more obvious eye to the leadership. Osborne, Boris Johnson and even Penny Mordaunt and Priti Patel have been entertaining MPs the voters for the first stage of the leadership contest and touring local associations the voters for the second stage. May, however, seems to be following the unconventional course of getting on with her job. You have Days Hours Minutes Seconds left to register What, though, did she mean by her decision to support Remain, and her speech that said Britain should stay in the EU but pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights? So keen are some commentators to see leadership calculations in everything that this has been interpreted as trying to be as Eurosceptic as possible thus appealing to the party members while staying in with staying in. Equally, it could be that this is what she believes. Never rule out conviction. Just as I think Johnson is genuine in wanting to leave the EU, perhaps she is sincere in her support for staying in. In his case, I would note that his wife, Marina Wheeler, is an Outer. In Mays case, it was interesting that her speech mentioned Scotland breaking away as a likely consequence of an Out vote, a powerful pragmatic sentiment that I share. When I say some commentators have interpreted Mays record as Home Secretary through the prism of the Tory leadership, I include me. Looking back I have written about her chances of succeeding Cameron including a memorably bad line about Theresa Might and how it was in her interest, if Boris didnt go for Brexit, to lead the Outers herself. Two things happened to scupper that prediction. One was the rising numbers for net immigration, of which Thursdays were the most recent instalment, eating away at her reputation for competence. The other was Johnsons declaration for Leave. Yet she is still third favourite with the bookmakers behind Boris Johnson and George Osborne, and just ahead of Michael Gove. Her career in politics has been a triumph of persistence over the more showy virtues. For a time after her early promotion she was shadow Education Secretary in 1999, two years after becoming an MP, and then party chairman she seemed to be in the shadow cabinets bed next to the door. She was shadow Leader of the House of Commons for four years, but after the 2010 election she went from Work and Pensions in opposition to the Home Office. She is now the longest-serving Home Secretary since James Chuter Ede, who lasted six years and two months until 1951. Recommended Read more Donald Trump is set to win the US Presidency by a landslide She is not an exciting politician. Her technique in the House of Commons is to repeat herself when she cannot answer a question. But she does have a sense of humour. The Daily Mail noticed three years ago that she wore a dress similar to a models and asked, Is Theresa May the new Cara Delevingne? She said: I think we can safely say that the answer to that has to be filed by John Rentoul as a question to which the answer is no. And this month she began her evidence to the Home Affairs select committee by saying: The sign outside says Prostitution; the work of the Home Secretary, which did somewhat concern me as to what youre going to ask me. My simplified version of how the Tory leadership election will work is this: the MPs choose a shortlist of two to put to the party members. They will probably choose an Inner and an Outer and the members will choose the Outer as the new prime minister. Johnson is likely to be the Outer, although I speculated last week that Andrea Leadsom, who is having a good referendum campaign, might supplant him. The Inner slot, on the other hand, is wide open, after the slump in the Chancellors fortunes. A May versus Johnson leadership campaign would be intriguing, and you can never be sure of the outcome of such things. Despite her failure to meet the Governments immigration target a target set by Cameron she has survived. Maybe, when the leadership election comes in three years time, she will still be standing while all those around her have fallen. Winding down with a soft drink and a smartphone as his train glides through the English Midlands, Luke Knight says all the talk on the construction site near Leeds where he works is about immigration. Colleagues plan to vote to leave the European Union when they get the chance on June 23, and he's inclined to do the same. "Small country, too many people," the 22-year-old says to describe their views as the train trundles through Britain's former industrial heartland. "They're all 'out,' definitely." Zach Pritchard, Knight's 18-year-old colleague, says he's undecided - partly, he says, because he wasn't taught about the EU in school and so feels "kind of clueless". Opposite, an older passenger en route to Bristol chimes in, saying he's worried about immigration too, because the country needs to be protected from terrorists. He will vote to leave. The three were among the commuters, day-trippers and holidaymakers encountered along Britain's longest train route, 1,244km. People from across the UK's economic and social spectrum got on and off at 45 stations, from Aberdeen in Scotland through Edinburgh; the former shipbuilding hub of Newcastle; post-industrial cities in Yorkshire; the sprawl of Birmingham; the ports of Bristol and Plymouth and, finally, towns in Cornwall at the southern tip of England. It's a montage of a nation waking up to what Prime Minister David Cameron has called a once-in-a-generation decision. During the 13-hour trip, passengers showed the kind of division that's splintered their government. At stake is a place in the world's largest economic club, one that's grown from six to 28 nations over six decades. The Cross Country train pulls out of the grey granite architecture of Aberdeen every weekday at 8.20am, and finally passes a smattering of palm trees in the Cornish coastal town of Penzance at 9.43pm. The diverse group of passengers had this in common: They all wanted more information. Knight said he knew more about Donald Trump and the US election, while ancient-history student Olivia White from Leeds wanted to know more about potential disruption to European travel. Many said they still don't fully understand what the EU does for the UK, or why it might make sense to leave an alliance their country joined in 1973. At least four said were relying on "gut feeling". David Proctor, who boarded at Montrose, just south of Aberdeen, is taking time to decide. The 31-year-old accounting student and part-time bar worker was more likely to vote to stay in, he said, based on the issues he cares about: unencumbered trade, the economy and the need to keep UK power in check. His vote for Scottish independence in the September 2014 referendum came much more easily, he said. "London doesn't serve us best, but the EU is seen to look after our interests," said Proctor. After the train passed through the Scottish National Party stronghold of Dundee, Sylvia Troon (71) got on at Leuchars. Wearing a blue lapel badge on her jacket that displayed her "yes" vote for Scottish independence, Troon said she wanted to stay in the EU. The mood began to change as the train moved south into the early afternoon. It crossed into England at Berwick, a town that changed hands more than a dozen times between Scottish and English forces even before the 15th century. Emily Edwards was returning home from Berwick, after visiting her sister with her two children, aged eight and four. An archaeologist specialising in prehistoric pottery, she lives near Birmingham and was the first to mention how immigration dominated much of the local conversation. "If you did a poll in our village, they'd want to leave," said Edwards (40), who said she would vote to remain in the EU, as the train passed through the cathedral city of Durham. "But people aren't aware of Europe. There's not much thinking going on." The train meandered south through Darlington, home of the world's first steam-powered passenger railway. Soon it was on to Medieval York, then Leeds and Sheffield, synonymous in Britain with the now-beleaguered steel industry, and then Derby, where Rolls-Royce jet engines are made. In Birmingham, Britain's second-largest city, 22pc of the population was born outside the UK. A YouGov poll in March showed that the city's West Midlands region is one of three where support for leaving the EU, or Brexit, is strongest. For John Charlton (40), the vote's about sovereignty. The software consultant, taking the 40-minute mid-afternoon ride home to Cheltenham Spa, wanted the EU to go back to a simple trade agreement with neighbours. What worries him most, he said, is a "European superstate," a catchphrase of the Vote Leave campaign. "There's only one way it's traveling and it's towards a unified state," Charlton said as the train passed just west of Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare's birthplace. As for breaking from the EU after four decades, "If you don't do it now you'd have to do it 10 years down the line. The definition of a country is sovereignty and control over your borders." On to Bristol, where sovereignty remained a common theme, one that Colin Brown said resonated in his community. The 51-year-old, who works in finance at a law firm, said he's undecided, but he is leaning toward staying in the EU. "The debate is superficial on both sides," he said as the carriages pushed through the countryside toward Devon's cathedral city of Exeter. "'Remain' is about disruption and 'leave' is just very nationalistic." He praised the EU for unifying such things as accountancy standards and some business laws, and for negotiating trade agreements. Immigration, he said, makes the economy more competitive and ultimately boosts employment. The recent history of referendums shows the "undecideds" usually stick with the status quo. In Scotland's independence vote in September 2014, polls suggested it was too close to call before 55pc backed staying in the UK. Kerry Wills (31), a dental nurse, was also among the undecideds. Sitting in a now all-but-empty Carriage B, she highlighted the isolation of Cornwall, which gets more EU aid than anywhere else in England. "We just get on with life here, it's like we're cut off from the rest," she said before the train completed the last leg of its trek to ease into Penzance station right on time. "I will vote but I need to know more about it. Otherwise it's dangerous." (Bloomberg) The Office of the Press Ombudsman last year received 278 complaints about articles published across newspapers, magazines and websites here Stock photo: Depositphotos The Press Council of Ireland has called for libel pay-outs here to be drastically overhauled. Media professionals from across the country gathered in Dublin yesterday for the launch of the Press Ombudsman's Annual Report 2015. Speaking at the event, Press Council chairperson Daithi O'Ceallaigh urged the Government to review damages awarded in libel cases. He said: "It does appear to be that sometimes in this country damages awarded are not quite commensurate with whatever misdemeanour may have been committed. "Maybe we could look at how damages are assessed - let the jury decide on [whether it's] defamation or not, but maybe let the judge decide on the amount of damages." The Office of the Press Ombudsman last year received 278 complaints about articles published across newspapers, magazines and websites here, the report found. Of the 34 complaints subsequently decided by the Ombudsman, 10 were upheld and 15 were not upheld, with the rest either resolved or having insufficient evidence to make a decision. Among the alleged breaches of the Press Council's Code of Practice, 153 were made against national newspapers, 29 against local newspapers and 11 against online-only publications. Almost half related to 'Truth and Accuracy', while 'Privacy' was the second biggest cause for complaint by members of the public. Mr O'Ceallaigh continued: "If you think of the average wage of a Luas driver or the average wage of a painter of the average wage of a carpenter, you're looking at somewhere between 25-55,000 a year before tax. "[Yet] you frequently see damages of up to 70,000, which is equivalent in some instances to two years' wages being awarded for misdemeanours that are not necessarily all that serious." A giant Riu hotel in the Mexican resort of Cancun. The Spanish chain is looking at city markets. International hotel operator Riu, which is 49pc-owned by the TUI travel giant, is eyeing its first property in Ireland, the Irish Independent has learned. The Spain-based hotel group confirmed it's looking at the possibility of opening a premises in Dublin, where there is a significant shortage of hotel rooms. The Riu group operates just over 100 hotels and resorts around the world, in countries such as the United States, Morocco, Mexico and Jamaica. It was established by the Riu family in 1953. Riu Hotels also owns a 3pc stake in TUI. It's the biggest hotel brand within the TUI group and employs around 11,000 people. A spokeswoman for Riu Hotels said the company is examining Dublin as an opportunity for one of its premises. The Irish Independent believes that it may have moved beyond sizing up the market, however. "We are looking into expanding our Riu Plaza city hotels line in major cities in the world, and Dublin is one of them," she said. The Plaza brand is targeted at business and leisure travellers. "We find Dublin attractive because of its beauty, history, and cultural life as well as its leading position as the capital of the country." She added: "We are studying opportunities to invest in Dublin, as we are in other cities such as Buenos Aires, London, Bogota, Paris and Barcelona, but nothing is confirmed yet in any of these destinations." Meanwhile, Hilton Group owner Blackstone Group is planning to sell the former Burlington Hotel in Dublin along with hotel buildings in London and Amsterdam for about 980m. The hotels all operate under Blackstone owned Hilton's DoubleTree brand, and each has more than 500 rooms. Joe Deverell uses his broadband internet connection to monitor the cows at his farm Photo: James Flynn/APX Ireland's rural broadband network can be built out sooner than the Government's 2022 timetable, according to the country's biggest telecoms operators. More than 500,000 rural households could be connected to fibre-speed services in "under three years" once a rollout is greenlighted by the Government. "Once the contract is signed, we can do anything if we put our mind to it," Vodafone Ireland chief executive Anne O'Leary told the Irish Independent. "We can certainly do it within three years." Vodafone and the ESB are jointly bidding to build the State's National Broadband Plan, which aims to connect every rural household and business to fibre-speed broadband by 2022. But business and community organisations say that 2022 is far too late if rural areas want to attract investment and stop depopulation. A faster process could see all rural homes and businesses given state-subsidised access to adequate broadband by 2020 or before. "We think it's possible," said Conal Henry, the chief executive of Enet. "You'd need to be careful but we've looked at the figures and it's possible." Enet, which is currently building fibre broadband networks around regional towns, is also a bidder for the National Broadband Plan contract. A spokesman for Eir, which is a favourite to win the rural broadband rollout contract, declined to comment specifically on timing. However, Eir is thought to be ready to tell the Government that it can complete the vast majority of the rural network in under three years if it wins the state tender. Other bidders for the process say that rural homes need not wait until 2022. "It can be done quicker," said Brian O'Donohoe, managing director of Imagine, one of the companies bidding for the state-subsidised project. "It does depend on what sort of solution you go for. But if involves a combination of fibre and fast wireless, it can definitely be done much faster." The National Broadband Plan contract was due to be awarded this year. However, the new Government has confirmed that it won't now formally award the contract until June 2017. The Government's timeframe currently allows for a 2022 completion of the rural broadband network, barring further delays. The state project promises to connect every rural household and business to fibre-speed broadband. Deadlines Earlier this month, the UK government announced that it was introducing a legal right to broadband access for all British households, regardless of where a dwelling is located. Now, rural organisations say that such a law, which was also introduced in Spain, Switzerland and Finland, should be brought in here. "It's one of the only ways to insure that broadband is actually rolled out to rural regions," said Seamus Boland, chief executive of Irish Rural Link which represents 500 community groups around the country. "We've seen a big shift in broadband rollout deadlines over the last 10 years, partly because the ultimate pressure of a legislative right is not there." The call for such a legal right is being backed by some of Ireland's biggest telecoms companies. "I'm 100pc supportive of it," said Conal Henry, the Enet's chief executive. He added: "There should be one universal services obligation and it should be broadband." A legal right to broadband now "makes sense," said Vodafone Ireland's chief executive, Anne O'Leary. "You have a right to electricity. So it's a fair enough request. However, it depends on how it's done." In Ireland, every home currently has a legal right to access a telephone line, but this excludes broadband or mobile services. The Government currently classifies broadband as an "intervention" service, rather than a legal right. Case study: 'I use cameras linked to my phone to monitor the herd' Getting access to wireless broadband three years ago has been a huge boost for Joe Deverell and his large pedigree farm in Geashill, near Tullamore in Co Offaly. The farm focuses on Hereford cows, beef sucklers and tillage and has a 400-strong herd. "We had dial-up prior to that and we couldn't believe the difference, we went from 1mg to 5mg of data," he says. Mr Deverell now utilises his internet connection to run cameras, monitoring his herd. "We have cameras set up in the shed for calving and one in the yard for security. We can check that on the phone. "It's so handy we can check it from anywhere when you are on the go and at night." Mr Deverell says the Department of Agriculture has an excellent website, but many farmers do not have the broadband capabilities to make use of it. "It's essential for us. Day to day, there are a lot of things we need to do online, from calf registration to motor tax renewal to online forms." From next year, basic payment scheme applications must also be completed online. As a pedigree breeder, the internet also proves essential to Mr Deverell for farm-to-farm sales. "If we are selling bulls to another farm, we can do all the paperwork online there and then when they come to collect the bull. It has cut out so much paperwork. "I see it as important as rolling out the telephone was in the 1960s. From my own point of view, it has cut down on the paperwork significantly. "Even having to post forms, it was all a cost. It's the same as electrification and the modern phone system - this needs to be rolled out," he adds. Artist's impression of the new tower at Dublin Airport. Construction of a new 50m air traffic control tower at Dublin Airport could start by next March after the Irish Aviation Authority invited preliminary tenders this week for the huge project. The 87-metre high tower, which will be built at the same time as the 320m new runway project, is expected to take 18 months to construct. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has told prospective bidders that it expects to award a contract later this year. But a spokesman said that no firm order will be placed until the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) starts work on the runway. The tower will comprise a 17-storey shaft with a control room sitting on top. There will also be an adjacent base building on the ground. The tower, seen above in an artist's impression, will be completed before the new parallel runway is finished in 2020. Initial enabling work for the runway project - which includes a number of ancillary elements such as taxiways - is slated to get underway later this year. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has said that he's opposed to a second control tower being built at Dublin. The IAA argues that the second tower is required to handle increased traffic and to ensure continued safety. Dublin Airport handled 25 million passengers last year and is on track to handle about 27 million this year. A mugshot of a young woman from Arkansas, dubbed 'prisonbae', has gone viral. Sarah Seawright was arrested when she failed to appear at a court hearing in December 2014 after she was charged with dangerous driving. Although she is now fee, having paid a fine, Sarah has become something of a pin-up on social media, garnering plenty of adoring fans. She's not the first. In 2014 Jeremy Meeks went viral thanks to his mugshot which was posted to a California police department's Facebook page. His popularity even bagged him a contract with talent agency White Cross Management. He was signed while he was still serving time for the illegal possession of a firearm. Expand Close The image of Jeremy Meeks that went viral. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The image of Jeremy Meeks that went viral. Jim Jordan, the agent who signed him, said there were movie offers on the table. I'm in a place where I will be able to provide for my family and really change my life,Meeks told ABC News from prison last year. Expand Close Jeremy Meeks with his new manager / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jeremy Meeks with his new manager The father-of-three added, I never thought that everyone in the world would recognise me for my looks, so I feel extremely blessed and very thankful. Nihar Janga, 11, and Jairam Hathwar, 13, were named co-champions in the 2016 National Spelling Bee (AP) An 11-year-old Texan boy has been declared the joint winner of a national US spelling bee after he correctly spelled the word 'Taoiseach'. The Scripps National Spelling Bee saw Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga declared co-champions after a roller-coaster finish. Jairam (13) is the younger brother of the 2014 co-champion, Sriram Hathwar - while Nihar, (11) is the youngest winner of the bee on record. At one point Nihar was asked to spell 'Taoiseach' and he asked, "Is that an Irish word for prime minister?" before correctly spelling the word. Whne he was announced joint winner he said, "I'm just speechless. I can't say anything. I mean, I'm only in fifth grade." It's the third year in a row the competition has seen joint winners. Jairam, of Painted Post, New York, misspelled two words. But both times, Nihar, of Austin, Texas, followed up with a failure and the bee continued. Sriram also got a word wrong during his contest, but his eventual co-champion, Ansun Sujoe, fluffed his chance at the solo title. "I thought it was over, because Nihar is so strong, such a great speller," Sriram said. Each will receive a trophy and 45,000 US dollars (30,000) in cash and prizes. The best spellers have now become fluent in Latin and Greek roots, the bee went to words derived from trickier or more obscure languages - including Afrikaans, Danish, Irish Gaelic, Maori and Mayan. Jairam's winning word was Feldenkrais, which is derived from a trademark and means a system of body movements intended to ease tension. Niram won with gesellschaft, which means a mechanistic type of social relationship. Video of the Day Among the words they got right: Kjeldahl, Hohenzollern, juamave, groenedael, zindiq and euchologion. At his best, Nihar wowed the crowd by shouting out definitions immediately after the words were announced. He looked unbeatable. But given two chances to hold the trophy by himself, he stumbled. Nihar was in his first bee and would have had three more years of eligibility, but he cannot compete again since he won. This was the 89th time the competition was held, and while Scripps' records from early years are incomplete, the youngest known champion was Wendy Guey - who won 20 years ago at age 12. The last to win the contest at his first attempt was Pratyush Buddiga in 2002. Nihar said he did not feel pressure to become the youngest winner for two reasons. Firstly, he never expected to win and second, most of the crowd's attention was on an even younger speller: six-year-old Akash Vukoti. "He did pretty good for a first-grader," Nihar said. "He's going to go places." Nihar and Jairam's parents are immigrants from south India, continuing a remarkable run of success for Indian-American spellers that began in 1999 with Nupur Lala's victory, which was later featured in the documentary Spellbound. The competition has produced Indian-American champions for nine straight years and 14 out of the last 19. Film star Alan Rickman left an estate worth more than 4 million. Rickman, who appeared in screen hits ranging from Die Hard to Harry Potter, died on January 14. His will specified that the bulk of his wealth will go to his wife Rima Horton. The actor, who played Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, revealed last year that he had quietly wed his partner of 50 years in New York in 2012. They had been together since they met as teenagers and had no children. His will showed that he also left a legacy sum to his three siblings David and Michael Rickman and Sheila Innes. The will, one of 41 million stored and digitised by Iron Mountain on behalf of HM Courts & Tribunals Service, dealt with all the star's assets except those in America and Italy. Following his death, many of Rickman's co-stars including Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Daniel Radcliffe paid tribute to the 69-year-old, who had suffered from cancer, as having been a kind and generous actor. His final film, Alice Through The Looking Glass, is due for release in cinemas on Friday. Fans will hear him as the voice of the Blue Caterpillar, Absolem, a role he played in the 2010 film Alice In Wonderland. His last on-screen appearance was in the recently released Eye In The Sky, in which he starred opposite Dame Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul. Dame Helen said it was "Alan as we all knew him and remembered him - so it's a lovely way to say goodbye". File photo dated 28/06/09 of Bruce Springsteen, as the Irish ancestry of the American singer has been unveiled as researchers have uncovered The Boss's great-great-great-grandfather Christy Gerrity was from Co Kildare, Ireland. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday May 27, 2016. See PA story IRISH Springsteen. Photo credit should read: Ian West/PA Wire While Bruce Springsteen's first gig at Croke Park on Friday night was deemed a resounding success by the vast majority in attendance, a number of fans were disappointed by the sound in the Dublin stadium. A small selection of the 80,000 fans in attendance took to social media to complain about the sound quality, which appeared to be a particular issue in the stands, including Cusack, Davin and Hogan. Some fans claimed that many people left the concert early due to their dissatisfaction with the sound. Sound quality appeared to be best on the pitch. Organisers Aiken Promotions have also revealed that they received complaints, but say that these were acted upon during the three and a half hour concert. "A small number of complaints in relation to sound were brought to organisers attention, and we in turn brought them to the sound engineers attention and believe they were rectified," they said in a statement. Sad to see so many nights apparently ruined by sound in Croke Park for @springsteen, took till 3rd @u2 gig in '05 for them to master it. Damien O'Meara (@damien_omeara) May 27, 2016 This would appear to be corroborated by Fingal County Councillor Darragh Butler who tweeted about the "appalling" sound in Upper Hogan around 8pm. However, he later tweeted that it had "improved somewhat" so the gig "turned out okay after all!". sound at gigs in Croke Park is a constant problem.. was bad last night at times for #bruce , but was dreadful for u2 both times i saw them McConnellDaniel (@McConnellDaniel) May 28, 2016 Despite the reported sound issues, however, the vast majority of fans were thrilled with the gig. A kind-hearted Dublin bus driver stopped traffic this morning to allow a swan cross the road with her young chicks. The driver of the 67 bus stopped on his way from Merrion Square in Dublin to Maynooth in Co Kildare. He put on the hazard lights of the bus and allowed the swan's young babies to waddle across the road after her. The young chicks were still grey and fluffy - they only turn white as they grow older. Marie O'Driscoll told Independent.ie that it was 'a heart lifting sight'. A line of cars can be seen behind the bus as the young swan family make their way across the road. Seven people suspected of involvement in stealing five paintings by Irish-born painter Francis Bacon worth more than 25 million have been arrested by Spanish police. The owner of the artworks reported the theft of the paintings and other valuables to the police in July after he returned from a visit to London, a statement said. None of the paintings has been recovered and the investigation is continuing, police said. A breakthrough came in February when investigators received an email from a British firm specialising in art which had been asked to verify the provenance of some works. The person who contacted the firm lived in the northern seaside city of Sitges, police said, and had included photographs of canvases purporting to be by Bacon. The person asked the experts if the works were listed as stolen. Signatures that looked like Bacon's appeared on the reverse of the paintings, which made the experts suspect they could have been added, the statement said. An examination of the photographs' metadata revealed the type of camera used and that it was hired out, clues that enabled police to identify the sender and uncover links to a Madrid-based art dealer and a son of the dealer. The other suspects also received the photographs and were arrested on suspicion of being accomplices and of conspiring to conceal the facts, police said. The heist appeared to have been professionally planned. The paintings were part of a collection owned by a close friend of Bacon who lived in an apartment close to Spain's Senate, a heavily policed neighbourhood, Spain's leading newspaper El Pais said, citing unidentified sources close to the investigation. Bacon often visited Madrid, where he spent time studying Old Master paintings in the Prado Museum, and died in the city in 1992 at the age of 82. Saturday's statement did not say when the arrests were made and did not disclose the names of the suspects. RTE 'First Dates' star Daphney Sanasie, who is accused of harassing celebrity chef Dylan McGrath, has been given four weeks to decide how she will plead. The model (26), who has an address at Jamestown Road, Dublin 8, is accused of harassing Mr McGrath (39) at various locations in the State from September 9 until November 21 last year. Ms Sanasie has not yet entered a plea and was ordered to appear again at Dublin District Court on June 24 in order to allow her time to brief her lawyers. She first appeared at a late sitting of the court on April 15 last, when evidence of her arrest was given by Garda Colm Kelly of the Bridewell station. At her previous hearing, the court heard that the DPP had directed summary disposal of the case, meaning it is to stay in the District Court and not go forward to the Circuit Court, which has tougher sentencing powers. The offence, at District Court level, can result in a fine and a maximum 12-month sentence. Garda Kelly has complied with an order to provide disclosure of the prosecution evidence. However, Judge Cormac Dunne was told that Ms Sanasie has recently changed her legal firm. The South African model was known as Federica Sanasie when she appeared on 'First Dates Ireland'. McGrath - one of Ireland's best-known chefs - runs the Rustic Stone Restaurant and was a judge on the Irish version of 'Masterchef'. It's earlier this week, and my grandmother has just died. My mother is driving me home down grey and twisted country roads and we're silent, thinking. "Katherine from the Irish Independent called", I break in suddenly. "Oh really, what does she want?" Mum answers, her voice heavy with exhaustion. "An article. About the parents of Leaving Cert students. She wants to know what advice I would give them." "What advice you would give them?" she retorts, the indignity of it piquing her interest. "What are you going to write about? Scones with jam and cream?" "Yeah, mainly" I laugh. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Scones with jam and cream." Scones are my mother's speciality. The recipe goes as follows: however much flour she thinks looks right, a splash of sugar on top of that, maybe a bit of baking powder and cinnamon if it's there - not raisins, I'm not keen on those. I'm allowed to whisk up the eggs and milk to bind the mixture together, but the really important part is the butter: she roughly cubes up pats of creamery butter and delves her hands into the bowl - rubbing the flour-butter mixture into fat yellow crumbs with brisk, practised movements. This step is where she puts in all of the love and anger and fear and bravery and confusion she feels. The things that make the scones more than scones. The scones are symbols of comfort. They come with butter if I'm having a bad day, jam if I'm having a really bad day and cream if I'm going through the state exams, the death of a loved one, or the crux of a depressive episode. Really, really, really bad days. I ate those scones while I bombed the Junior Cert, while I conquered the Leaving Cert and while I dropped out of college earlier this year. Regardless of how Mum felt about my decisions, she did not argue or direct me. She just made the scones. She was just there to comfort me when I came home. She trusted that I would do the rest myself. That trust is what makes her such a good mother. I can't give you hard-and-fast advice about how to get your child through the Leaving Cert, because that's their job, not yours. It's their job to excel or pass or fail or drop out pre-emptively, whatever they decide to do: and honestly, it shouldn't matter to you what they decide to do. What matters is that you are there to support them outside of that. I need to carefully define what I mean by support, because I've noticed a growing prevalence of what's called 'helicopter parenting' in Irish schools, especially at college open days. This is what it sounds like: when parents hover nervously over their children's lives, tracking and micromanaging every movement. You are not the author of your child's life. You should not be doing their research and asking their questions, because your overbearing love will stifle their growth. Let them make mistakes and get burned, because they won't learn about fire from you describing it. Just be there to tend to the wounds. My mother is an imperfect being. Sometimes she makes me sadder and angrier than anything else on earth. But she is the wisest mother I could ever ask for. She knows when her opinions and feelings are needed and when they are not. She knows how to listen and console. She knows how to suspend judgment and keep an open mind. She knows to never, ever threaten me with failure or compare me to another child, or mollycoddle me, or take charge of my future. She knows how to make scones. That's all I've ever needed. The drugs company manufacturing a new cancer medicine is demanding such a high price for the drug that it would cost the State 64m over a five-year period. The HSE, which has an additional 7m for new advanced cancer drugs this year, said it could not afford to pay out that amount of money. It was responding to calls by a number of cancer specialists for the HSE to pay for the drug pembrolizumab which, they say, has made a major difference to their patients with advanced diseases. The group of patients had been given the drug made by Merck Sharp and Dohme for free on compassionate grounds over the past year. However, the company now wants the HSE to fund the drug for the patients. It is being assessed by a special group of experts who advise the HSE on the efficacy of a medicine. But they must also look at its value for money based on the price demanded. The HSE has also been called on to make a second drug, Nivolizumab made by Bristol-Myers Squib, available for treatment of patients with cancer of the lungs or kidneys. A similar free access programme which has allowed a group of patients use the drug on a trial basis is ending next week. It must also be assessed along with the price demanded. The HSE said yesterday it must operate within its allocated budget for 2016 and within this prioritise the allocation of resources across the entire health system. The Irish Independent yesterday highlighted the rip-off prices drug companies are still charging for some medicines. A Cork cancer patient said he can get a six-month supply of the drug Bicalutamide in Newry for 50 while paying 144 for a month's supply in the Republic. The HSE said it "engages robustly with manufacturers to achieve the best price and the best value for Irish patients and the taxpayer". A spokesman said that it is widely recognised that Ireland is already paying higher prices for medicines than many of our European neighbour states. "The single biggest barrier to new drugs approvals in Ireland is the high prices that manufacturers are seeking to charge," he said. "Lower prices would enable the HSE to afford more innovative drugs for more patients as they become available. "The HSE will continue to engage with manufacturers in the best interests of patients and the taxpayer," added the spokesman. St Vincent's Hospital cancer specialist Prof John Crown yesterday called on the HSE to approve the drugs, saying they were "game-changers". Patients who could benefit from the drugs are running out of time, he said. Health Minister Simon Harris said the assessment process is ongoing. A young Irish professional woman has described her horror experience of being groped on the Luas in broad daylight. Aoife Kelly, a journalist with independent.ie said she felt angry and ashamed that a man thought that he had the right to touch and intimidate her in public. I felt what I thought was a womans handbag pressing into my backside as the LUAS rocked down the track. But soon the pressure increased and became more rhythmic and it dawned on me that it wasnt a handbag but a hand. Someone was groping me hard, said Aoife. Aoife realised it was the man standing beside her who was groping her, but she had nowhere to go on the packed carriage. He stared back at me and stopped rubbing my thigh but immediately covered my other hand, on the handrail, with his, she said. An official report on public sexual harassment in Ireland hasnt been carried out in 14 years to investigate the extent of this problem. The last report on Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) was in 2002 and found that 42pc of women and 28pc of men experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault in their lifetime. Ellen OMalley Dunlop, member of Seanad Eireann and former CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, called for more research and discussion in the area. We need to challenge this type of behaviour. If its not challenged, the harassment will get bigger and escalate, she said. Ellen said that sexual harassment is underreported by women as they think theyre being petty, too politically correct or that its just a joke. Harassment isnt a joke, she said. Lynn Ruane, independent member of Seanad Eireann said: We need to empower all young people to challenge the culture of sexual acceptance in Ireland. Society has led us to believe that we need to ignore unwanted sexual advances. Ive reacted in the moment to sexual harassment but Ive never followed through and reported it. I never challenged it. Lynn said that theres too much pressure on women to accept harassment and are often labelled sensitive if they report it. Lynn also stressed that its not just women who are affected by public sexual harassment. Men definitely underreport sexual harassment or unwanted sexual encounters. They feel embarrassed or feel as though they should have been able to protect themselves. Its a big problem for everyone. Noeline Blackwell, CEO of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said she is concerned about the underreporting of the issue. We are concerned that rape and sexual assault are quite under reported and so it is hard to get a real handle on the extent of the crimes associated with sexual violence. The recent CSO figures show an increase in sexual assault and rape figures but it is unclear to us whether there is an increase in the prevalence of these crimes, or a greater willingness to report them, she said. While there is very little information available, Garda CSO crime statistics show a steady increase in sexual assaults. In 2005 there were 1,801 and in 2015 there were 2,361 sexual assaults reported. DCU student Fionnuala Jones said that she was sexually harassed at a 1975 concert in the 3Arena recently but didnt report it. One member of a group of lads kept forcibly grinding against me - very deliberately - as well as groping me and attempting to put his arm around me. At one point, he started reaching over me as well trying to take photos of the stage. (Im 55 and he was considerably taller and broader than me so it meant I couldn't see then at all). I smacked his hand out of the way, which annoyed him considerably, so he started putting the camera in my face, trying to take pictures and Snapchat videos of me. According to a recent UK study by YouGov over a third of British women have received unwanted, sexual physical contact in public. The survey revealed that 85pc of women aged 18 to 24 have experienced unwanted sexual attention in public places and 45pc have experienced unwanted sexual touching. If youve ever experienced public sexual harassment and want to share your story email cdevine@independent.ie The pressure on embattled Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan has ramped up as a minister of state described the Policing Authority's criticism of the management of the force as "quite disturbing". Independent John Halligan said he is "deeply concerned" after the Authority expressed "unease" at Garda culture and management in the wake of the O'Higgins Report into allegations of malpractice in the force. And he told the Irish Independent he was waiting to hear Ms O'Sullivan's response to questioning by TDs in the new justice committee before he would express confidence in her. Ms O'Sullivan met with the Policing Authority, which is chaired by Josephine Feehily, on Thursday. Afterwards Ms Feehily said that "recurring deficiencies in policing performance" identified in the O'Higgins Report were "deeply troubling". Mr Halligan said: "There must be dismay at present even within the gardai at all of this, particularly when we have a terrible gang war taking place in Dublin." He said the issues raised by the Policing Authority must be dealt with quickly and efficiently so "we can move on" and so "the people of the country can have absolute and total confidence in the police force". A spokesman for Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the criticisms made by the Policing Authority made no difference to his confidence in Ms O'Sullivan. "The Taoiseach has always had 100pc confidence in Commissioner O'Sullivan and continues to do so," he said. Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald also backed the commissioner. A spokesman said the authority was providing "oversight" and "if it was all compliments, people would fear it was a whitewash." Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan said his party continued to have confidence in Ms O'Sullivan. Taoiseach Enda Kenny attempted to rehabilitate the political careers of five of his Fine Gael party colleagues who suffered defeat in the election, by making them senators yesterday. Among them was former Minister for Health James Reilly. The deputy leader of Fine Gael told the Irish Independent last night on hearing of his success that he was "glad to remain in politics". He said: "I'm delighted to be in the Upper House, to still be a part of Government and involved in the ongoing commitment to improve life for all people in our country." Mr Reilly added that he didn't know whether he would stay on as deputy leader as a member of the Seanad. "I still am the deputy leader and will continue to carry out that role until the Taoiseach says otherwise," he added. Mr Kenny also threw a lifeline to his party colleagues John O'Mahony and Michelle Mulherin from his native Mayo after they were rejected by the electorate. Mr O'Mahony agreed to run in Galway West as the party felt that it would struggle to retain its four seats in the Taoiseach's own backyard. And it was felt locally that Mr Kenny's comments, calling some constituents "All-Ireland Champion whingers", cost Ms Mulherin her Dail seat in Mayo. Deputies Other defeated Fine Gael TDs to be appointed after losing out at the polls include Paudie Coffey (former deputy for Waterford), Ray Butler (Meath West) and Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim). Mr Kenny has not appointed any former TDs from either Tipperary or Kerry, where his party failed to secure a single Dail seat. Former representative for Kerry and minister Jimmy Deenihan lost out, along with former Justice Minister Alan Shatter, whose appointment had not been expected in any case. A Fianna Fail source confirmed that Mr Kenny made a "personal offer" to its leader Micheal Martin to choose three senators of the Taoiseach's 11 nominees. This was agreed outside the confidence and supply agreement. Mr Martin chose non-politicians, including Pieta House Founder Joan Freeman, the chief executive of Alzheimers Ireland Colette Kelleher and the businessman Padraig O Ceidigh. A Fianna Fail source said: "Having campaigned for retention and reform of the Seanad, we wanted to make sure that there were key area specialists appointed." Journalist and lecturer Marie-Louise O'Donnell is the only Independent senator that Mr Kenny has chosen to reappoint to the 25th Seanad. Mr Kenny also picked Billy Lawless, advocate for Irish immigrants in the US, where he has lived for the past 20 years. Jimmy Guerin says gang members are associated with places all over north Dublin Photo: Gerry Mooney The brother of murdered journalist Veronica Guerin has said people are terrified that gang violence will spread out of the inner city. Jimmy Guerin, an Independent councillor in Howth-Malahide, said there was a "real fear" among people in communities throughout the city and county". "People are afraid of going into coffee shops or pubs frequented by gang members," he said. "Unfortunately, gang members are associated with places all over - in Howth, Malahide, Raheny, Clontarf. "People are going to think twice before going into these places because they don't know what's going to happen." A special meeting of an inner city policing committee heard a strong reassurance from senior gardai that those behind the latest wave of murders in the capital will be brought to justice. An emergency sitting of the central area joint policing committee (JPC), which is made up of local gardai, politicians and community reps, was called just days after the latest inner city slaying which saw Gareth Hutch shot dead in broad daylight near his home. Head of the Dublin North Central Garda division, Chief Superintendent Pat Leahy, assured those present that those behind the crimes would be brought to justice "sooner rather than later". The JPC will now draw up a document to send to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who has committed to setting up a task force to deal with gangland crime. Head of the committee, Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam, said he thought the problem needed a "multi-disciplinary" approach with buy in from a number of agencies at both national and local level. It is hoped that the task force will work towards solving gangland crime by addressing the root causes and preventing a new generation getting involved. Mr McAdam also said the meeting made it clear that gardai felt they had enough resources for this investigation. A wood full of bluebells is as picturesque place as one could imagine for children to play. The Sunday Independent's #GreatLittleCountry campaign asked readers to name their most magical places. We asked you to nominate the places that touch your soul, the scenic settings that lift you out of life and take you away to a better place. You came back with fields of bluebells, farmland with cattle a-chewing, beacons flashing from a lighthouse, a carpet of wild garlic, and secret sandy coves. Here are Ireland's most magical places! Dunmore East, Co. Waterford Sitting in the beautiful garden of our friends' cottage looking over Dunmore East. The sunny south east living up to its name. Enjoying freshly brewed coffee and taking in the stunning view of this spectacular inlet. With the aid of binoculars, we could clearly see the lighthouse at Hook Head and the rambling Loftus Hall. As dusk fell, adding to the enchanting setting, the beacons flashed intermittently at Hook Lighthouse. The haunting sound of the seagulls as they swooped to pick up the morsels of bread rolls that we had scattered along the rocks added to the magic of the moment. - Collette Bonnar Black Valley, Co. Kerry Expand Close The Gap of Dunloe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Gap of Dunloe When we first visited the Black Valley near Killarney, the houses were few and electricity hadn't arrived there. Even though it was remote, we were enthralled by the sheer beauty of the place. The mountains and streams were breathtaking and the children enjoyed paddling and fishing. Nowadays we usually drive home through the Gap of Dunloe (above). And we always remember that first visit 30 years ago when we got to the top of a three-mile drive to find a little shop next to a church. We were amazed to get creamy ices from a gas-run fridge. - Colette O'Sullivan Dinan Read More The 7th Tee, Gweedore Golf Club Awesomely beautiful. Panoramic vistas. Crashing waves. Twittering birds. Sandy beaches. Grassy dunes. Rugged coastline. Lonely islands. Resplendent Errigal. Yellow gorse. Salty air. Dark seas. Mackerel sky. Flapping flags. Blooming heather. Quizzical sheep. Faraway fields. Mountain peaks. Turf stacks. Houses and homes. Grassy greens. Mountain trails. Billowing smoke. Shadows and light. Heart-lifting. Soul-reviving. Magical. - Brenda Gallagher Inishbofin Expand Close Inisboffin. Photo by NUTAN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Inisboffin. Photo by NUTAN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images "I will arise and go now, and go to Inishbofin'. While Inisfree was Yeats' Utopia, Inishbofin is mine. Located a 30-minute boat ride away from the picturesque harbour of Cleggan, this idyllic island boasts beautiful white sandy beaches, dramatic sea cliffs, hidden coves, mysterious ruins and rolling hills. This car-free island (only locals have vehicles) is my mecca for peace and relaxation away from the stresses of modern life. Once I place my foot on Bofin pier (every June Bank Holiday weekend) I am transported to another world physically, psychologically and emotionally. - Colette O'Byrne Killeshandra, Co. Cavan A great little place in Co Cavan is Killeshandra - a lovely, friendly town and neighbours. Lakes for all standards of fisher folk, beautiful places to walk or cycle, and great places to eat! Less than two hours from Dublin, too. - Juliet Belton Ballygriffey Wood in Co Clare The most beautiful, magical place at this time of year is Ballygriffey Wood in Co Clare during the bluebell season. It's a lovely, wild, natural wood at any time of the year but it takes on a magical, generous life of its own during this time. I work at the local kindergarten and we took the children for the annual "blue bell wood walk" last week. They ran, skipped and jumped with glee through the curved paths. They dragged large sticks to make dens. They laughed giddily as we played hide and seek in the sunken grassy bunkers and then picnicked afterwards in the sea of bluebells taking heed "to leave no trace". - Nora Cullinan Sandy Hole, Clondalkin It's the Sandy Hole near Corkagh Park in Clondalkin, a shady part of the Camac River where the water runs clear over the stones. On a hot day, hordes of children head there, the older kids charged with minding the toddlers. The younger ones paddle while the older ones take turns holding on to a block of wood, learning how to swim. You might ramble by another time when there's nobody there, only ducks and swans. Just as happy memories spring to mind, you'd see him, a kingfisher in all his glory. - Gertrude Reynolds St Declan's Well, Co. Waterford Expand Close Ardmore, Co. Waterford / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ardmore, Co. Waterford Each year, I descend down a slope under a canopy of green trees and enter the ruins of St Declan's Well in Ardmore. The path is well-trodden and worn. It has slightly sunk, a green womb on the cliffside, sheltered from the sea. The white star-like flowers of wild garlic carpet the soggy ground. Two ancient crucifixes watch over the well-worn figures surviving from the 5th century. A place I came with my grandparents who have now passed. I carry on our tradition of throwing some copper coins into the Well with my niece and nephews. - Elizabeth Rea Cragg Walk, Co. Tipperary I am writing to tell you about The Cragg Walk, situated in Grange Village, Co Tipperary. It is made up of three different walks depending on how energetic you are feeling. It begins in the village or you can park at the badminton hall. There are picnic benches dotted along the walk, or just viewing areas with benches for a rest and a look at the amazing views. At one point you can see four counties. Dogs are allowed, in fact one person walks a ferret on a leash but no cars, bikes, etc. Children can have complete freedom. Up at Wellington Monument, a viewing platform has been constructed complete with telescope. This, to me, is an area of heaven on Earth. - Nicola Bergin The Cavan Burren Expand Close The Cavan Burren, Ireland's ancient East. Photo: Tony Pleavin/Failte Ireland / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Cavan Burren, Ireland's ancient East. Photo: Tony Pleavin/Failte Ireland Tales of giants' graves, druids' altars and ghostly water horses surround the otherworldly Cavan Burren Park, near Blacklion in West Cavan. Its sparse, ethereal landscape, dotted with giant boulders and ancient megaliths, makes you feel like you're walking through the pages of a fantasy novel. Though the unobtrusive signage tells you matter-of-factly that the boulders were deposited here thousands of years ago by giant sheets of ice, as tall as two double-decker buses, somehow the truth seems more fantastic than legend. Running my fingers along ancient carvings, I feel an intimate connection with the past that is both unsettling and reassuring. - Conor Harrington Salterstown, Co. Louth I like to take the bike to Salterstown, it's about two miles south of the village of Annagassan. I cycle over the five-arched bridge across the river Glyde. The estuary is a feeding ground for brent geese, mallard, herons and little egret. Pedaling by the coast is easy. Slieve Gullion is across the bay. It is 20 or 30 miles from the Coolies. I scaled it two years ago. This is the land of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Setanta. Nearby is the Gap of the North, where Cu Chulainn single-handedly fended off the army of Queen Meabh. - Mimi Goodman Holy Island, Lough Derg Cruising Lough Derg we made a stop at Holy Island near Mountshannon, a place of pilgrimage and breath-taking natural beauty. We pondered on the stone slabs in the Saint's Graveyards, the bullaun stones of the Celts, the Abbey built by St Caimin and the High Crosses. Then we saw it soaring overhead - a white-tailed sea eagle. - Julie Shanley Lough Dan, CO. WIcklow My paradise is a remote white sanded, tree-lined beach located on the northwest shore of Lough Dan in Co Wicklow. The idyllic setting where the Inchavore River flows into the lough and is overlooked by the Cloghoge, Kanturk and Scarr mountains. The beach is a peaceful and tranquil place to relax for hours with a good book and a picnic. Heavenly. - John Clowry Strawberry Beds, Dublin Holding Grandad's hand as we walked down the wooded glen to the fairy tree near the Strawberry Beds, Dublin. Dappled patches of sunlight beamed through the Scots pines, birdsong in the air and the sound of a trickling stream. Wanting to reach it but half afraid, I gripped Grandad's hand tighter. Getting nearer. There it is. Huge, aged bark and tentacle roots above the earth, even stretching across the stream to the opposite bank. It's scored with carved initials, hearts shot through with arrows. Grandad brings me to the other side, where there's a door carved at the bottom and a window above. As he starts to tell me the story again, the fairies come alive. Just like magic. - Mary Reynolds Dursey Island, Co. Cork Expand Close Dursey Island cable car / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dursey Island cable car The excitement starts when you board the cable car, and a sense of adventure befalls you as you look down nervously at the sea with its dangerous currents. You let out a sigh of relief when you land on the island, a world where time has stood still - no hotels or pubs, only breathtaking scenery on either side of the island as far away as Kerry. All your worries evaporate, you're in God's country - Dursey Island, Co Cork. - Liz Dennehy Flaggy Shore in North Clare The Flaggy Shore in North Clare. It's at New Quay between Ballyvaughan and Kinvara - half a mile of spectacular coastline that stretches down to Finavarra Point. Whenever I walk it I think of Seamus Heaney and his poem Postscript - "And some time make the time to drive out west / Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore / In September or October, when the wind / And the light are working off each other". You'll see Mount Vernon which was Lady Gregory's summer house. It faces the waters and the wild, with its clean white walls and red-framed windows. George Bernard Shaw stayed here. You'll pass Loch Murree, which is bedecked by swans "the surface of a slate-grey lake is lit / by the earthed lightening of a flock of swans". The walk finishes at Finavarra Point at the 19th-century Martello Tower. From here you can see across to Black Head in Fanore. - Bernadette Kennedy The Cavan Burren (again!) Imagine letting the kids go free to search for fossils, rock art and subtly sculpted stones. Or to explore the beds of long lost pre-glacial rivers. Imagine ancient giants challenging each other to jump over an impossible gorge as you listen to the echoes of your own voice coming back from the depths of subterranean streams. Imagine listening to the song of the cuckoo as you marvel at landscapes stretching from Cuilcagh Mountain to Ben Bulben, and Errigal to Slieve Gullion. There is no need for you to imagine. Instead, just go to Cavan Burren Park. - Seamus O hUltachain Dalkey Island #GreatLittleCountry #DalkeyIsland #beautiful #picnics #boat #trips #summer #Fabulous - Linda O'Reilly Disgruntled: Bus driver Tony Cunningham featured on 'The Last Whites of the East End' Whenever you see a programme with the provocative name 'Whites' in the title, you can expect a few responses. The first reaction, inevitably, is to wonder why mention of the 'W' word is immediately surrounded with racist connotations. The second instinct is to assume that anyone who would agree to take part must obviously be some hideous racist who is hanging on to long outdated notions of white supremacy. In truth, The Last Whites Of The East End was far more nuanced and much more touching than the name suggested. The borough of Newham in the East End is classic Cockey territory. The heartland for West Ham FC, it's the kind of area which, had it been French or Italian, would have been designated as a Unesco heritage site. Instead, it's full of white, working class, English people, and nobody gives a fig about them. Actually, correction - it used to full of white, working class people. These days, a remarkable 43 languages are spoken in the local school and English - both the language and the students - is now a minority. In fact, Newham has the highest proportion of new immigrants in London, with locals complaining that this is driving out those families who have been there for generations, the old, working class stock, who used to work on the docks, factories and markets. What was genuinely illuminating about the disgruntled locals, who resent being forced from their old stomping grounds by new arrivals who don't even speak English, was that they weren't the kind of knuckle head you expect to turn up at a BNP rally. Instead, they ranged from the likes of Lou The Jew to a Bangladeshi trader to an Anglo-Caribbean bus driver. Tony the bus driver was perhaps the most engaging character in a programme which featured some of the most quietly impressive people to have turned up on our screens in a long time. Married to a Romanian woman, their child is, therefore, part British, part Caribbean and part Romanian. But her father fears she will never be a cockney because he feels like a foreigner in his street. What 'The Last Whites Of The East End' proved was that you can have a multi-racial society, but you can't have a multi-cultural one. As ever, the devil lies in the details. The closure of old pubs in an area might seem like a rather absurd complaint, for instance. But to people who had lived there for six generations, the complete transformation of the local landmarks, as well as the fact that white English are now a minority in the area, means that white flight is inevitable. Except it wasn't just white flight, and therein lay the main flaw of the documentary's name. Most of the 'whites' were mixed race to one extent or another and that was the real tragedy - the East End has always been a chaotic and brilliant combination of cultures old and new. But now something has changed and everyone who has ties in the area, regardless of their ethnicity, feels abandoned and betrayed by a political class which, as ever, is happy to use the working class for their sick social experiments. A depressing reminder that ethnic cleansing isn't always conducted by the barrel of a gun... I'm not entirely sure when it happened, but at some stage Brendan O'Connor morphed into a decent presenter. His new show, Cutting Edge won't win any awards for originality, being another panel show but at least it doesn't make the mistake of trying too hard to be funny. This week's episode featured a good row; the kind of decent spat they used to have on 'The Late Late' back when it was good. On this occasion, the set-to was between hacks Niamh Horan and Alison O'Connor, who had rather different perspectives on being a working mother. The more avowedly liberal O'Connor felt more needed to be done to support working mothers, while Horan argued that businesses aren't charities designed to accommodate every whim. The studio audience was cold towards Horan, which in RTE terms means she was saying something right. What was interesting was the reaction to Horan's assertion that some working mothers 'ride the system' and take advantage of maternity leave. That's not in doubt, simply because most people have seen examples of this in the workplace. But that's simply an observation of human nature, and riding the system is not unique to women so it was hardly 'one step away from a call for forced sterlisation', as O'Connor claimed. So, who won? Sod that, I'm not inclined to be handbagged by either of them. But I'll just point out that the best suggestion came from Al Porter who recommended that women start having kids when they're still in school so by the time they go to college their eldest can look after their youngest. Y'see, when you need a practical solution, just ask a man. May I just say what a joy it was to see Elton John appear on The Graham Norton Show the other night. At a time when so many celebrities are so guarded about their private life, it was lovely to see one man who still wants to talk about his kids on a chat show. Premium What will it take to unite Ireland? Opinions are divided There are those for whom Northern Ireland is a geographical fragment of the UK holding true to empire on its western flanks, and those for whom partition is a century-old wrong that must be overturned. Somewhere in the middle are the persuadables people willing to accept either unity or union, so long as the justification is logical. One way or another, the unity conversation is in the air. Did anybody think to send Il Papa a Rulebook for the New Ireland? With Pope Francis now a likely visitor to our shores in 2018, it might be a good idea to bring him up to speed on how things have changed. After all, it's been almost 40 years since John Paul II's visit in 1979, and we're really not the same folk we used to be, at all at all. For starters, it might not be a good idea for him to be kissing the tarmac at Dublin Airport as there will be at least six Ryanair flights backed up on the apron packed with eager punters heading off to hen nights in Bristol, dirty weekends in Oslo and cut-price apartments in Bulgaria. And while we'll no doubt turn out in big numbers to welcome His Holiness, it's highly unlikely that the Phoenix Park will be turned into the world's biggest AirBnB a second time around. Indeed, it's already a bit of a poser as to who we'll send to officially welcome him - Michael D to reel off a few verses of 'Ulysses' is the obvious choice, but what about Mick Wallace, who'd make a decent 13th apostle, complete with flowing locks and chest hair. Back in 1979, we had Bishop Eamon Casey and Fr Michael Cleary belting out the 'Rivers of Babylon' at Ballybrit Racecourse, both of whom were later found to have fathered childrenso maybe the safest option would be to send Mario Rosenstock and Francis Brennan to imitate each other. We should probably alert the Pontiff about the same-sex marriage situation. If the sight of men locked in passionate embrace might be shocking to him, it's probably best we cancel the midnight tour of Temple Bar or the Panti Bliss cabaret. And divorce, which was as alien as the last secret of Fatima in the Ireland of 1979, has now become an over-the-counter transaction. Speaking of counters, we're awash with sex shops these days, with Ann Summers goodies a must at every hen or stag night across the country. We're demented with choice in the leaba these nights. It's gotten to the point where the average Saturday night shopping bag on the number 49 bus will have a bondage kit next to the Aldi apples and pesto. So you see, your Holiness, it's another time, another place. We're also going to need a new soundtrack for this Pope's visit, a man whose Argentinian background must make him a definite runner for decent rhythms. Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' is an obvious choice, but also a highly ironic one given how empty most churches are these days. We've clearly come a long way from Dana's 'Totus Tuus', and if the Holy Father wants to get down with the kids of 2016, an iTunes prep course on Kodaline, Jape or Villagers is advised. Given that the Vatican Main Man is a techie and fond of taking selfies, he'll fit right in with the Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft community of Ireland 2016. Practically everybody has a smartphone here these days - compared to a wait of two years to get a landline installed in 1979 - and if he wants to impart any news to us from the Man Upstairs, it's best done via Skype, Viber or Snapchat. Mind you, anytime we're perplexed about the Divine Mysteries or the Virgin Birth, we can always Google it. No doubt Pope Francis will be invited to suck the froth off a pint during his time here, like Obama and Queen Elizabeth, and he shouldn't have any trouble getting elbow space at most bars, with drink driving laws having decimated the trade. And if he has a yen for a fag, it'll be out back under a half-banjaxed heater. Irish pubs have gone all gastro these days, and it's all about pickled rainbow carrots, roasted tomatoes and slow cooked pork belly with chorizo. For all the complexities in the Ireland of today, Pope Francis will arrive in a country at peace with itself and its neighbours. We may be in debt to Nama, obese from fizzy drinks and addicted to 'Game of Thrones', but we do still like to laugh, have the craic and build entire conversations around the minutiae of the weather. When Pope John Paul II toured the country all those years ago, the real possibility of assassination prevented him from crossing the Border. Nowadays, there's a bus or car crossing that dividing line every minute for cheap petrol. And if Pope Francis gets the urge to tell us: "Young people of Ireland, I love you," we will happily respond: "Right back at you, dude, with bells on." There's been a good deal of mud-slinging, name-calling and general uproar in the arts community of late. Oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson dissed Enda, 'Game of Thrones' star Liam Cunningham slagged off Heather, and actor/writer/director Mark O'Halloran claimed that the Irish arts were "doomed" with the current Government in situ. What on earth can have caused this uproar? It seems that there were several straws that have broken the arts community's back. Let's begin with Enda Kenny's ham-fisted and cliched rhetoric about the importance of the arts while on his recent whistle-stop tour of Washington. With his chest puffed out, the Taoiseach reiterated JFK's opinion that he saw "little of more importance to the future of civilisation than full recognition of the artist". Oh Enda, did you really think anyone would fall for that old guff? For artists who have had to deal with the reality of decimated arts funding, Enda's words were particularly galling. "He borrows the lustre and sheen of the arts," award-winning theatre producer Anne Clarke said, "while failing to invest money in the arts. It's unbelievably frustrating - not to mention exploitative." Michael Colgan of the Gate Theatre agreed. "It's sickening," he said, flatly. "Whenever Obama or Clinton or whoever comes over, we're rolled out and asked to perform. And then the funding is reduced." On top of this, Heather Humphreys was appointed head of a "Frankenstein Department" that will combine Regional Development, Rural Affairs and the Gaeltacht. Oh yes - and the Arts. The word 'culture' has been ditched altogether. For many, this has huge symbolic implications - indicating a serious demotion of the role of the arts. It also seems utterly bizarre that, after the plethora of 1916 centenary celebrations - when the Government never stopped talking about our unique cultural heritage - the word should be dropped like a sack of spuds. Finally, we come to the subject of cold, hard cash - or, rather, the lack thereof. Like the rest of the country, artists have struggled through the recession and want to see some monetary evidence of the fabled recovery Enda keeps banging on about. So far, there's been very little of that. Ireland remains well at the bottom of the European league for government investment in culture and the arts. In 2012, Ireland spent just 0.11pc of GDP on the arts and culture, compared to a European average of 0.6pc of GDP. The general feeling seems to be that Enda only wants to keep using the arts as a convenient soundbite and photo opportunity on his trips abroad. "Words are cheap, it's actions that speak," Anne Clarke says. "And artists will leave Ireland if the arts aren't invested in." This would be a blow, given how much we like to peddle our "creative minds" as Ireland's unique gift to the world. We've already lost our pole position in the Eurovision - the arts could be the next to go. A lump sum of 60m is earmarked for the arts this year. That may sound like a lot, but in reality it has to stretch a long, long way. The Abbey gets 5.8m; some 1.4m goes towards touring productions; 2.6m is distributed to various literary, theatre, and film festivals around the country. Aosdana - aka the Luvvies Parliament - costs 2.6m. Some would say this money is badly spent; others disagree. "We are a lean sector," Willie White of the Dublin Theatre Festival says. "The primary problem is not the allocation of funding; it's the amount of funding itself." But it's not just a case of "give us more dosh" - politicians' basic attitude towards art and culture in general may need to change. The successive governments' lack of understanding of the arts was typified in the nineties and noughties, when a rake of arts centres were thrown up around the country. TDs elbowed to get a picture of themselves cutting ribbons in their local papers. Having arts centres available to communities around the country may be a good thing, but little if any thinking went into the long-term creative infrastructure for these sites. In other words, money was invested in the hardware but not the software of the arts. Today, many of these arts centres act as shells for touring shows, rather than pulsating centres of local creativity. "Politicians like bricks and mortar, and opening buildings," said Willie White. "The arts, such as theatre, are by their nature transient. "Throwing money or a building up is not the solution - it's more complicated. We need a financial and a conceptual shift. We need people with vision and creativity." Unfortunately, those are traits politicians in Ireland aren't exactly known for. There may be another reason why there can seem to be a lack of sympathy for people working in the arts - the perceived pretension. Spending public money on theatre and dance may seem like an indulgence, and it can be hard to believe that it's an investment that works to everyone's benefit. Especially when there are issues like hospital waiting lists, the homeless crisis and failing broadband all across the front pages. The arts can, and often do, get bumped down to the bottom of the list of priorities. "But it's not comparable," Michael Colgan said. "The arts are not a problem. They are also not a luxury. It's an investment. "TDs seem to think the funding is some sort of gift they are bestowing on us, that we should be eternally grateful for this money. "It's like going round to someone's house for a dinner party and expecting them to endlessly thank you for the one bottle of wine you brought. "You're getting a greater return. The money is coming back into the economy." In fact, for every 1 invested by the Arts Council, more than 0.70 returns directly to the exchequer in taxes. "For a net cost of 30 cents, Arts Council investment generates 2.50 in turnover," Eugene Downes from the National Campaign for the Arts explains. "That's more than an eight-fold return on investment." Perhaps the tide is turning, and perhaps the publication of Culture 2025 - the first cultural policy in the history of the State - will provide more assurance for the arts community. "There has been constant shuffling and shifting, we need joined-up thinking and a long-term strategy," Eugene Downes says. Most of all we need a government that listens to the creative community, and a Taoiseach who knows his arts from his elbow. There is lots coming up at Dundalk Gaol over the next few days. The first is a project, 'Guth na nGael', put in place with financial assistance from Foras na Gaeilge's Colmcille programme. This involves a group of young Irish and Scottish native speakers meeting together in Dundalk and Inverness, where they get the opportunity to share and explore their Gaeilge/Gaidhlig as well as sharing music. The plan is to work towards a collaborative performance for Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, Ennis 2016 and the Blas Festival 2016. The Scottish group will be arriving in Dundalk on Friday next, and will take part in collaborative workshops with their Irish counterparts over two days. The second event is the launch of a retrospective exhibition by artist John Kingerlee on Saturday at 7.30pm. This exhibition which will run until 15 July at the Oriel Centre, will feature 100 works of Kingerlee who celebrates his 80th year this month. Guest speakers for the launch include Ros Drinkwater (author at the Sunday Business Post), Morten Lauridsen (renowned American Composer). The artist himself will make a rare appearance at the opening. Megan Mullen (left) pictured with her teacher Monica Loughman (centre) and fellow ballerinas Alana Borza, Victoria Young and Anthony White Budding ballerina Megan Mullen will try her 'plie' at one of the world's top ballet schools later this year. Megan (15) has been chosen to study at the famous Perm State Choreographic Institute outside St. Petersburg in Russia. She is one of just ten international students to have been selected. 'I'm really delighted. It's a dream come true,' said the Junior Cert student. Megan Mullen (15) from Mountpleasant has been dancing since she was three years old, and found her love for ballet flourished under the tutelage of former Perm student Monica Loughman. Loughman is a top Irish ballerina who has been working with the next generation of dancers, and in recent years in she began taking classes in Dundalk. Megan has been with Monica for five years, two in the full time course. 'I have also begun teaching in the last two years, which I really enjoy as well. But dance has been my life,' said Megan. Megan has been to Russia twice where she trained with prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy teachers in St. Petersburg. She performed in La Sulphide and Giselle as a member of the Corps de Ballet and has performed in The Nutcracker twice one of which as part of a nationwide tour. Megan has recently performed Sleeping Beauty Pas de Trois in City Hall, Dublin. She admits that the famously strict discipline required involves a lot of work and practice almost seven days a week. And maintaining the perfect ballet physique requires sacrifice that Megan admits 'isn't always easy'. 'I try to tell myself that I'm burning off everything I eat, but it doesn't always work like that.. you have to watch {what you eat}.' Despite the challenges, the St. Vincent's student says she had has 'always known that ballet was the dream' she wanted to pursue, 'but I cannot believe that it is becoming reality.' Megan adds that her acceptance into the world famous 'Perm Ballet School' is ultimately 'down to hard work and dedication from both Megan and most of all my teachers.' She will leave home in August to begin the year long programme of study at the Russian ballet school. 'Next year would be my transition year, so it is a good time to go,' says Megan, adding that she won't be alone as fellow Loughman students Alana Borza and Victoria Young have also been accepted to the Perm Institute. 'But if I was accepted I would love to stay and train there.' Looks like she is off to a flying start! *Check out Monica Loughman's dance classes in Dundalk on her facebook page, and the Elevate school, Dundalk. Kilcurry National School principal Frank Short says he's disappointed at the theft of a tricolour from the school last Wednesday. The flag, which had been presented to the school last September by the Defence Forces marking the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising was hanging at the front of the school at the time of the incident. The principal noticed the absence of the flag when he was locking the school at around 8:30pm on Wednesday having hosted an open night. Mr. Short said: 'We had a big ceremony here to mark the flag's presentation and the children did a huge amount of work for it and they are very annoyed and upset that the flag is gone. 'They keep asking about it and why would somebody take our flag? What could they do with it?' The school is hoping to be presented with a replica of the flag and they have made contact with local TD Peter Fitzpatrick in an attempt to restore a flag at the front of the school. Mr Short though is wary of the threat posed by those who have stolen the flag and pointed out that a similar incident occurred in another North Louth school a number of weeks ago. There is now a possibility that all flags outside schools may have to be stored inside when the grounds are vacant, according to Mr Short. He said: 'It is a possibility. It will be something that we would have to look at if it is going to be targeted. 'I have contacted Peter Fitzpatrick to ask him to explore the possibility of getting another flag from the State'. The burglary has come as a surprise to everybody connected to the school as tight security has meant that incidents like these have been rare during Mr Short's two decades as principal. He believes that it was a 'quick raid' with the ropes holding the flag cut before it was removed. The principal remains defiant, though, and is insistent that another flag will be erected, to replace the stolen one, even if the school has to purchase one itself. US Vice President Joe Biden is expected to visit Cooley in June to trace his Irish ancestoral routes The eyes of the world will be on north Louth next month as the Cooley Peninsula welcomes US Vice President, Joe Biden. The Vice President is expected to visit the wee county during his official trip to Ireland next month from June 21st to 26th. A major cross border security operation is already being planned for the high profile visit, which is likely to include a mixture of public and private events. Although the itinerary for the visit has yet to be confirmed, Mr. Biden will visit the Cooley Peninsula with his family to trace his ancestral roots which were only established in the last few years. The Vice President's great grandparents were believed to have been originally from the Cooley Peninsula. James Finnegan was born around 1845 and died in 1895 in Pennsylvania, while his great grandmother was Catherine Roche, also from County Louth, and born in 1850. Mr Biden has also previously spoken about the Finnegan family, whom, he said, left Ireland to avoid the Famine. He said his great grandmother Finnegan was the only one who could read Irish, and she used to read letters for those who could not read and she'd write back in Irish for them. The Biden name appears to have come from a Huguenot family which has been traced to Liverpool in 1668. Chairman of Louth County Council, Peter Savage, who is currently researching the links for the American Embassy is also compiling some background of the area ahead of the Vice Presidential visit. 'I am well pleased to have the Vice President of the United States visit Louth and Cooley in particular.' 'Vice President Biden and many others demonstrate the quality and talent, that's inherent in this peninsula, if one reads Michael O'Hanlon's book - 'The way we were' we can well understand the reasons why Mr Biden's Ancestors left Whitestown since it was declared in 1881 by the Medical officer Thomas Carroll to have 'poverty beyond belief,' said Cllr. Savage. 'I am disappointed that the visit is a short one since I believe that had more time been afforded the Biden family they could have enjoyed the scenery and met many people from the area who would have attained similar heights had they gone abroad.' Louth TD Peter Fitzpatrick added: 'US Vice President Biden will be welcomed home to Louth and the Cooley Peninsula with open arms.' 'Vice President Biden is very proud of his Irish heritage and we are very proud of the fact that he has traced his roots back to Co. Louth.' This will be a momentous and historic occasion for everyone in Louth and one which we all very much look forward to.' A Dundalk man with previous convictions for fraud admitted new offences at Dundalk District Court which involved him writing cheques for a bank account that had already reached its overdraft limit. Patrick Dunning, (37), 35 Cherryvale, Bay Estate, pleaded guilty to a number of offences which arose out of incidents in 2015. Judge Flann Brennan heard how Dunning, who appeared in court on temporary release from Loughan House prison in Cavan, went into Briscoe's Expert Electrical in Drogheda on September 30 and claimed he was a friend of the owner. He chose a 42 inch TV and wrote a cheque for 500 for it. The following day, he returned to the same shop and ordered 1,300 worth of items, again writing a cheque for them. The cheques were returned from the bank to the company saying there were insufficient funds to cover them. On the same day, October 1, Dunning went into CTI Business Solutions in Dundalk and paid 490 for a laptop and printer, again with a cheque that bounced. At the Cycle Shop in Dundalk, he wrote a bouncy cheque for 535 for a bike. Dunning admitted ordering a cardboard bailing machine to be delivered to a house. When the company delivered the 7,000 machine, Dunning said he would pay, but despite making a number of efforts to get payment from him, he never did. When he was questioned by Gardai, Dunning made full admissions and claimed he was doing this to pay off a debt. In addition, he said he knew that his bank account had reached the overdraft limit when he had written the cheques. He admitted arranging delivery of the machine but didn't reveal where it was. Dunning told Gardai he was 'under duress to pay an outstanding debt'. Judge Brennan was told Dunning has 28 previous convictions, 27 of which are convictions under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act. He is currently serving a year's sentence, which was handed down in October last year where he was given two consecutive six month terms for theft. Solicitor Frank McDonnell said his client, who is a married man with a family, had been given temporary release to attend court and the crimes were 'driven by very difficult financial circumstances'. The solicitor explained how Dunning had 'tried to open a business in Park Street and had negotiated a letting, ordered equipment and was fitting out the place but his notoriety went before him' and the lease was cancelled by the landlord but Dunning 'had committed himself to the expenses'. Judge Brennan said he had to 'take into account his appalling record'. 'I can't ignore that there are considerable sums involved and he's fortunate that they have been dealt with in this court'. He imposed a nine month sentence. Louth has been snubbed in relation to securing a minister for the area, following the announcement of key Minister of State appointments last week. Neither of the two local Fine Gael TDs, Peter Fitzpatrick or Fergus O'Dowd secured a position. Deputy Fitzpatrick revealed that he spoke with the Taoiseach on Sunday and expressed his disappointment at being overlooked and voiced his concern at the fact that the county was overlooked. Speaking to the Argus, Deputy Fitzpatrick said he was 'personally very disappointed' that he was not selected. 'I have been inundated with calls and texts from Louth constituents voicing their anger and disappointment that Louth has been overlooked particularly with our neighbouring county receiving three ministerial appointments.' He said he would like to wish all new ministers appointed 'the very best of luck and I look forward to working with them in the future.' 'Moving forward, I am very confident that Louth will continue to receive their fair share of government resources and I will work hard to ensure that Louth continues to benefit from the economic recovery.' Deputy O'Dowd added his own concerns about no ministerial appointments for Louth/East Meath. 'I am extremely disappointed for the constituency,' Deputy Fergus O'Dowd said. 'The recent general election saw the party secure 19.5 per cent of the vote, one of the best returns in the country, yet there has been no reward.' He stated that he'd received a number of calls and messages from disgruntled voters who felt the area needed representation in terms of a ministerial role. Labour's Deputy Ged Nash had been previously the Minister for Jobs while Deputy O'Dowd had also held a position before that. 'This will only drive me to work hard for the people of the area,' the deputy stated. 'There are a huge number of issues to fight for and resolve.' He said the FG vote in the region was even more significant given the rise of Sinn Fein. 'It was a remarkable result,' he added. He remarked that he was 42 years in the political world this year and was 'chuffed' by the support he'd been given in recent days from around the country. 'All we can do is fly the flag. I don't mince my words and that may have made me unpopular in the Dail but I will continue to say what I think. A 22-year-old who admitted being involved in an incident in which a Garda was injured last year, and still not returned to work, had his life blighted by a heroin addiction, his solicitor said last week. Tyrone Byrne, 55 Anne Street, Dundalk, admitted a number of offences which arose from various incidents and asked that he be allowed to get treatment for his addiction at the Coolmine Centre. On August 28, Gardai went to seize a Saab car that Byrne was in at Cedarwood Park. There was no insurance and Byrne 'resisted and obstructed Gardai'. A female officer on duty was injured when Byrne tried to move the car, but the defendant is not facing charges over the injury, from which she has not returned to work yet, she sustained. The file was sent to the DPP, who said Byrne should be charged with obstruction alone. He also admitted breaking into a house at Chapel Street on May 28 2014 and stealing a Samsung flatscreen, which was later recovered. Byrne pleaded guilty to stealing a Samsun phone from a display at Tesco on August 10 2014. The 360 phone was not recovered. Earlier last year, on January 1, Gardai went to a the car park of a property in Dundalk after receiving a call about an incident captured on CCTV. It showed Byrne and another person in a car, the defendant getting out and returning to the vehicle carrying buckets of paint. On July 9, Byrne took 10 of petrol from the Tesco station on the Ramparts. Gardai also investigated a burglary at a premises in Park Street in the early hours of September 16 2014. A man in the apartment woke to find Byrne in the flat. The defendant said he had made a mistake about an address. He also admitted stealing a KFC uniform, an iPod and a large number of mobile phone covers belonging to a phone kiosk operator from a house at Anne Street on August 23 2014. Gardai searched Byrne's house on the same street and found a large number of the covers, worth 3,200, along with the KFC hat. And this year, on January 21, Gardai found Byrne in a car at Heynestown 'slumped over the lap of the passenger'. He was arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant and a Michael Kors handbag and some of it contents, which had been stolen in a burglary, were found, along with 22 tablets. He has been in custody since March and has been waiting for a bed to become available. Mr MacGuill said Byrne had already completed a pre-assessment and was ready and willing to take the help. Byrne has previous convictions, including for burglary and trespass. Solicitor Conor MacGuill said to Judge Brennan: 'You're entitled to wonder what's gone wrong. The one word answer is heroin. On a largely regular basis, he finds himself in the way of trouble'. Mr MacGuill said the judge 'could impose the totality of what the court has to offer, but that won't solve the problem'. 'He was not clean when these offences were being committed. He was a serious heroin addict and was also on prescription medication that is available on the streets. He feels responsible for his actions, he's not trying to hide behind his addiction or using it to justify his actions. 'He has taken steps to deal with it while on remand and has completed a pre-admission course to Coolmine. He could instruct me to invite the court to do its worst and not deal with anything, but it (crime) will happen again. 'He has an absolute desire to go to Coolmine and use his best endeavours to complete it'. Mr MacGuill asked the judge not to finalise the case and allow him to go to Coolmine, 'on the strict understanding that he will be back before the court without any reference to anything'. But the judge said he had to look at 'the totality of the matters and the incredible litany of offences' and the fact that a Garda was 'seriously injured'. He said another aggravating factor is the fact that some of the offences occurred when Byrne was on bail. Judge Brennan said: 'I think at this stage it would be remiss of me to not deal with these matters'. He imposed two consecutive sentences of eight months, making the total 16 months. He allowed Byrne to appeal in his own bond of 1,000 with an independent surety of 2,000. Kilcoole is all set to get bake off fever as the village hosts its own baking competition as part of its 1916 celebrations. The Great Kilcoole 1916 Bake Off will take place on Saturday, June 4, in the midst of the Kilcoole Remembers 1916 festival. The bake-off will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., with the winners (including a prize for Best Child's Bake) announced at 5 p.m. in the Chotah Tea Rooms. Named after the yacht that transferred the arms to Kilcoole in 1914, the tea rooms will be set up in the Mill Room at Byrne's Pub and will feature beautiful China, waiting staff in authentic costume and an early 20th century setting. The categories for the bake off are: scones - fruit or plain; fruit cake and Victoria sandwich. For more information on the bake off or the Kilcoole Remembers 1916 festival, visit www.kilcooleremembers1916.com Pupils and staff at St Saviours being presented with their Asthma Friendly Schools Gold Award A Rathdrum school has made a little piece of history by becoming the first school in Ireland to receive the Asthma Friendly Schools Gold Award St Saviour's NS was presented with the accolade on Wednesday, May 11, in recognition of its efforts to support and empower students with Asthma. Depending on their involvement, schools can receive one of three awards - bronze, silver and gold - and St Saviour's NS is the first school in the country to be presented with a gold award. The award programme presented the school with the opportunity to 'educate parents and teachers with our information evening' said Antoinette Doyle, a teacher at St Saviour's NS, who added that an asthma nurse attended the event to inform staff and parents about managing the condition. 'The children took part in lots of exciting activities like eLearning modules, developing photo-series, perfecting our Asthma school rap, poster campaigns and information assemblies,' said Ms Doyle. School principal Heather Lawson added that the programme had been a 'fantastic success' at St Saviour's, educating parents, pupils and staff alike. 'The key message that we have all taken away is that one asthma is managed correctly, children can lead happy, active lives,' said Ms Lawson. One in five children in Ireland has asthma, with kids missing an average of ten days of school per year due to the condition. In light of this, the Asthma Society of Ireland developed the Friendly Schools programme to help schools to support their students with asthma. Ten schools across Ireland participated in the programme in this inaugural year. The society is now taking applications for next years Asthma Friendly School's Award Programme. To register or to get more information, call 01 817 8886 or email jessica.ennis@asthma.ie Heritage and history were the order of the day at County Buildings last Tuesday as Wicklow County Council hosted its 1916 Public Collection Day as part of its 1916 commemoration programme. Members of the public brought along a diverse selection of items, ranging from weaponry and other military garb to intensely private family documents, letters, photographs and papers. Overall, approximately 40 items were presented by members of the public. The vast majority were family items which had been passed down through the years. A number of very personal items were shared on the day, such as the prison issue socks and belt and a prayer book, signed by the owner, a member of the Irish Volunteers, used during his incarceration in Dartmoor prison following his involvement in the Rising. Other items relate to everyday life of the period such as the handwritten notebook of recipes compiled by a young lady; a dancing costume handmade from Irish linen, complete with brass buttons marked with the insignia of the Irish Volunteers, which was originally made by a lady in Rathdrum and helped the owner dance her way to success in many competitions in the early 1900s. A final example of the range of objects brought along on the day were a number of rifles which had been landed in Kilcoole in 1914 and kept in the locality until their use in 1916 and the War of Independence. All of these items have now been digitized and fully documented, and will contribute greatly to the county's archival collection. Wicklow is one of the few counties to host an online community heritage archive, 'Our Wicklow Heritage' which will become a depository in the coming weeks for sharing this information to the wider public in Ireland and abroad, see www.countywicklowheritage.org. The event also saw great participation by historical societies and groups from Bray, Roundwood, Greystones, Wicklow and Hollywood and talks given by local experts, including Brendan Flynn, Stan O'Reilly, Ben Fagan and Brian White, along with the young musicians from Wicklow Comhaltas and all the others who freely gave up their time. Wicklow gained a new minister during the past week as Fine Gael TD Andrew Doyle was appointed as Minister of State for Horticulture at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. 'I am very pleased to be appointed to this brief as it is an area I am very passionate about,' he said. While Minister Doyle did not actively canvass a ministerial role, he says he is delighted that An Taoiseach Enda Kenny selected him. 'It is the Taoiseach's decision and I didn't seek a specific appointment or department but I am very pleased to be appointed to the area of Horticulture,' he said. 'I have responsibility for a number of key areas which need significant work, for example regulation of the greyhound industry, food safety and forestry. As chair of the Agriculture Committee before the elections I was familiar with the brief but now I will be coming at it from a different perspective as Minister of State.' Minister Doyle outlined that the greyhound industry is often a contentious issue which needs to be looked at. 'This is one of the main issues at present. New legislation is being drawn up to regulate the entire industry and how it is run. It can be quiet a contentious one so a lot of engagement is needed,' he outlined. Afforestation is also a key goal which can help with greenhouse gas mitigation, the minister explained. 'Just last week, we finished planting on our own land in Wicklow. It contributes so much to the economy and if we hit our targets, it can make a big contribution to greenhouse gas mitigation. A fund of 117 has already been announced for this. To date we have been reaching about 6,200 hectares per year which we aim to build on and grant support schemes are the way to do this.' Regarding Wicklow, managing the deer population and the TB epidemic is also a key concern which will require 'an informed debate', Minister Doyle added. The renowned and highly popular businessman who hailed from Ballyvourney village, Donal Lehane, who passed away unexpectedly last week when on holidays in Spain, was fondly remembered by the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed this week. Mr Lehane was at the helm of Macroom Motors Toyota dealership along with Lehane Motors and the Cork Lexus garage on the airport road. He was also best known for co-owning the Rochestown Park Hotel with his brother, Johnny. He was married to Lilly and they have two adult children, John and Helen. Those who crossed him on the path of life, regarded him as softly spoken and a true gentleman. Leading the tributes, Minister Michael Creed told The Corkman that Donal's passing has come as "a big shock" to everybody in the mid Cork area where he was widely known. "Donal was known not just for his business activity but equally so for his generous support of local sporting organisations and community initiatives. My sincere thoughts and prayers go to Lilly, his family, colleagues and incredibly large circle of friends," said Minister Creed. The Corkman also spoke to the music composer, Peadar O Riada who heaped a deluge of praise upon his friend, who he described as always having the "Midas touch." "From the very get-go, when Donal started out his entrepreneurial life he had the Midas touch. He started off dealing in pigs in the 1960s and would have travelled the country. While he then went on to form Macroom Motors, Mid-Cork Pallets and later the Rochestown Park Hotel, his wealth was secondary as he was above all a very humble man. He lived in the same house that he was born in. He was very spiritual and a great believer in the local Patron Saint Gobnait and often went to the healing well, " he said. He said right by his side was his brother Johnny. "They were so close as brothers and while Johnny was at the forefront, Donal was at the back but always with a smile. The village of Ballyvourney will greatly miss him. Donal really was a quiet man and very spiritual and his faith meant the world to him." Mr Lehane died unexpectedly on Tuesday, May 17 when on holidays in Lanzarote. He is also survived by his sister Mary, Mairead, and brother Johnny and his late sister, Nora. Mr Lehane will repose at St Gobnait's Church in Ballyvourney today from 5pm with prayers at 8pm. Requiem mass will be held on Friday, at 2pm and funeral afterwards to St Gobnait's cemetery This year sees the welcome return of the Drogheda raft race hosted by Inver Colpa Coastal Rowing Club. Due to complications revolving around insurance in 2015 the raft race was cancelled, to the shock and surprise of its 64 competitors. Thankfully this year the novelty competition will be taking place in conjunction with the Irish Maritime festival and in association with Drogheda's own Inver Colpa rowing club. The raft race will follow the same formula as in previous years with sixteen home made rafts completing in four heats for the prestigious title of the Battle on the Boyne raft race winner. The race takes place on Saturday 9th July from 1pm until 3pm and viewing for the public recommended from St Dominics park. The committee are working in conjunction with Louth Co. council, Irish Maritime Festival and An Garda Suiocana to ensure a successful and enjoyable event. Any interested parties are asked to contact Martin Caffrey for full information and rules for the event. Don't hang around though as entries are limited to 16 rafts. Annagassan has to be one of the best untapped treasures in this part of the world and its Viking heritage is second to none in the country. This is the place where the marauders from the north descended on centuries ago and where a major discovery of that period was made a few years ago. But as you enter Annagassan that rich heritage is not heralded anywhere. Why are there no 'Welcome to Annagassan - home of Viking Ireland' - signs. I know the Dubs might have a problem with that, but so what. The Glyde Inn has its Viking touch, but the wonderful yearly Viking Festival is gone it seems too. I popped into the village and of course headed for O'Neill's supermarket. Their 99s are famous and well worth sampling I might add. It also gave me the chance to chat to Sean O"Neill about soapboxes of all things. We ran a report on the early days of soapbox racing in Dunleer and Sean kindly pointed out that the first winner of the All Ireland was a Clonmore native and now Annagassan resident Peter Begley. He was champion not too far off 70 years ago. I wonder does he still have the car? I also popped down to the harbour and came across the great vessel - Bovinda - the Newgrange Currach. Claidhbh O Gibne is behind the project and it arrived in Annagassan a few weeks ago. As someone said - 'look, the Vikings are back!' Eugene (Gene) Berrill, was born in Market St, Dundalk and raised in Wolfe Tone Tce Dundalk. Educated in The CBS National School and later The Dundalk Technical School. Gene got his first taste for drumming and music from their next door neighbour, Alan Bingham, himself a talented musician, who started him off on a wooden block and a pair of drumsticks. Gene trained as a cabinet maker, but quickly realised his passion for drumming would be more profitable than woodwork, and thus started a career that spanned five decades. Gene's friends remember him playing with numerous bands;The Jay Dee's who later became King Vic and the Subjects, The paragon7, The Pentagon, The Toronto Showband, Al Brady, Furious Man, Young Vikings, Jimmy Shields Band, Woodpeckers, and a few more that he stood in with. When Gene went on tour with the late Jimmy Mackin, he was allowed to play with the band in venues where alcohol was sold but was too young to stay afterwards, so he had to sit in the van whilst the rest of the Band enjoyed a pint or two. Gene moved to London around eighteen years old and worked for a while with Lord Roberts Workshop, which helped British Soldiers and Sailors who had disabilities, by making furniture. Returning to Ireland and moving to Dublin Gene joined the 'Farmers Sons' and then The Cotton Mill Boys, just after their win on Opportunity Knocks, which led to extended tours of The UK, including Country Music Clubs in the American Airforce Bases in England. the Cotton Mill Boys recorded a six week series for RTE with guests such as Marianne Faithfull and Paul Weller. Gene sang Good Hearted Woman on the Album "Flying High'. Next came The Nevada Showband fronted with Roy Taylor and Karen Black. He did a tour in the USA with Freddie White and an Irish tour with Joe Sun, but turned down Joe's request for him to tour Europe. Later he joined the Legendary two piece The Merry Macs, and when they retired he took up the name of a Band he had previously played with The Long Riders, which over the years had various members before becoming the well known and loved three piece. In 2015, The long Riders - Paddy McEneaney Tubby Corrway and Gene - recorded an album to raise funds for the North East Hospice, this was 'Gene's Baby' and was released in November 2015. This has raised funds in approaching 8,000 so far, and this was in no small part due to the promotion of it by Gene's good friend Paul Bailey. Gene worked for a while with Conor Hughes in Beat it Music and was proud to have a hand in constructing the various props that Conor used in his fundraising in Blackrock. He enjoyed working in The Sound Shop with Tommy Leddy whom he described as 'a Gentleman'. Of course there is more to a person than their employment history. Gene's great love was his family Naomi, Colin and Roseann and his grandchildren, Declan, Ella and Oisin. He would have been astounded to see the quantity of likes, shares and comments that his Facebook page 'A tribute to Gene Berrill' got and the number of people who changed their profile photo to a photo of Gene's. A chronic heroin addict who cashed cheques from a cheque book which had been stolen from a Dun Laoghaire cafe has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. Derek Collins (35) was in the 'throws of a heroin addiction' at the time he cashed a total of 2,160 worth of cheques for different amounts in different premises around the Dublin area over a three week period in 2014. Because of his addiction at the time, his memory of the incidents is 'scant' according to defence barrister Irene Sands. Drogheda District Court heard 70 cheques in the cheque book were stolen from Derek Bennett, owner of Harry's Cafe Bar on Upper George's Street in Dun Laoghaire. Mr Bennett discovered the cheques were stolen when unauthorised transactions appeared on his bank account. Collins, who was not charged with the theft of the cheque book, cashed cheques varying in amounts from 100 to 640 in several pubs including Fitzgeralds pub, Vaughan's Pub, Terenure, Keeling's Pub in Donabate and the Mace Shop in Wheaton Hall, Drogheda on dates between November 11, 2014 and November 29, 2014. He attempted to cash a cheque Pheasant's pub in Drogheda on November 9th, 2014. Collins, of Rathmullen Park in Drogheda pleaded guilty to five thefts and one attempted theft on the dates at the different premises. He has six previous convictions. Ms Sands said the 35-year-old unemployed man made full admissions to gardai when he was arrested and was fully compliant with the investigation. 'He made frank and honest admissions,' said Ms Sands, 'He is now taking steps to address his addiction and is on 80ml of methadone.' She said Collins is on rehabilitation course and there has been no trace of heroin in his system for the past three months. 'He is completely committed to getting clean and at the time of the offences he was in the throws of a chronic addiction, hence why his memory is scant,' she said. She said as Collins is on social welfare he is not in a position to reimburse the premises of the amounts he stole from them. Judge Flann Brennan handed Collins the suspended sentence 'to encourage you to stay out of trouble.' New safety measures on the Bridge of Peace prevented a tragedy on Saturday night after a car crashed into reinforced barriers. They were completed last year, but came into full use around 9pm when a car travelling in the northbound lane, coming around from the Rathmullen Road junction, smashed into them, causing considerable damage to both the structure and the vehicle, which had to be towed away. Emergency services were on the scene very quickly and the road was blocked for a considerable time. Louth County Council employees also attended the scene . It is believed the driver was not badly injured. The new barriers were installed as part of an increased road safety initiative in the area. Ten years ago, a Moldovan man was killed when his car careered through a railing on the bridge and into the Boyne River. Transport minister Shane Ross has been invited to come to Drogheda to see first hand the dangers Laurences Gate encounters on a daily basis. Last week, a heavy truck attempted to pass through it and within 24 hours another lorry, realising that they couldnt fit under, veered up Francis Street, colliding with a car coming out of Jim Garry Way. Both incidents have left Cllr Kevin Callan furious - years after he attempted to get the council to close off the gate permanently. Instead of closing the gate completely, it was decided to make it one-way, coming up from Constitution Hill. Cllr Callan has said that no more inaction will be tolerated with Laurences Gate following further images being sent to him by local people of another HGV using the gate to access the town, placing the gate at very serious risk of structural damage. 'I have communicated with the Chief Executive of Louth County Council, Joan Martin, Director of Services for Operations, Paddy Donnelly, Engineers Gerry Kelly and Pat Finn and demanded action be taken immediately in respect of the gate which is now at the point of no return where HGV traffic continue to put the gate in jeopardy and at risk. He says six months ago, elected members supported his call for a traffic survey to be carried out and in principle for the gate to close - but nothing has happened since. We are now at a crucial point, we either send out the message that we will protect the gate and our built heritage or that we are not fit to be left in control of these structures. The Council are responsible for the public roadway, the OPW are responsible for the Gate, we need to close the road, then the gate will be safe and may be used as an amenity for traffic and not as a traffic obstacle which is being destroyed. I am also communicating with the Minister for Transport and Tourism, Shane Ross and requesting he visit Drogheda to visit the gate and see the absolutely disgraceful lack of action and the very real potential for tourism that exists.' A new grouping Close the Gate is holding a public meeting in McHughs Venue on Wednesday May 25 at 8pm to discuss the various options in relation to the gate. Mayor Paul Bell confirmed that he will attend the initial meeting of the Close the Gate group set up by the concerned citizens. He also confirmed that he had recently supported Councillor Kevin Callan in his most recent effort to have the gate closed to traffic when he once again demanded that Louth County Council present a traffic management plan for consideration by Council members and the public in order to allow for the safe diversion of traffic should the road be closed to vehicular traffic. Most people think you have to go to Australia to see Wallabies - or at least Dublin Zoo. But just four kilometres off the Fingal coast a group of these exotic animals are living happily along-side huge colonies of marine birds and animals. Last week a small group of wildlife enthusiasts got an opportunity to visit these colonies on Lambay Island and Rockabill Island off the Fingal Coast. Members of the public won their spot on the trip as part of National Biodiversity Week 2016 which encourages people to get out and experience nature. Participants left Malahide in the morning and travel by boat around the beautiful islands, viewing the bird and marine life that swarm their coasts. Led by marine experts Johnny Woodlock of the Irish Seal Sanctuary and John Daly, they had the chance to observe various species such as Puffins, Gannets, Fulmars, as well as a substantial seal colony. The group also travelled to Rockabill Island where Brian Burke, from BirdWatch Ireland, provided information and answered questions about Roseate terns, a rare breed of bird living mostly on this Island. The Roseate Tern is an incredible bird which travels every year from the Antarctic to the island off Skerries. The Rockabill colony is the biggest colony north of the Azores with 1,200 pairs. Other birds that the groups spotted included Herring Gulls, Kittiwakes Oystercatchers, Turnstones, Shags, Black backed gulls, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Puffins, Arctic terns, Common terns and Roseate terns, but also Grey seals, Common seals, as well as Wallabies. The Wallabies were without a doubt the most unusual sight. A small group of the Australian mammal became visible high on the cliff above the bird colonies. Eoin Grimes, of Skerries Sea Tours, captained the boat and gave the group some insights into the history of Lambay Island and the Wallabies. He explained that the Wallabies ended up on the island in the 1980s when Dublin Zoo had too many of them and the excess got released on Lambay. Mr Grimes also spoke about a terrible sea tragedy that happened on the island when the RMS Tayleur ran aground in 1853. The ship was a full rigged iron clipper ship chartered by the White Star Line. She was large, fast and technically advanced. She ran aground and sank on her maiden voyage in 1854. Of more than 650 aboard, only 290 survived. The event was organised by the Irish Environmental Network and the Irish Seal Sanctuary as part of National Biodiversity Week 2016. Over the coming week some 50 events will be happening around the country they are all free to the public. To find out more visit biodiversityweek.ie. The Irish Environmental Network is an umbrella organisation for national environmental NGOs and has 33 members including the likes of Friends of the Earth, BirdWatch Ireland, An Taisce and the Irish Wildlife Trust. If you have seen a happy couple walking around Balbriggan lately, led by two beautiful guide dogs then it is likely you have just met Andrew Green and his fiancee, Jade and their dogs, Nico and Yanni. Andrew is one of the newer members of the local branch of the Irish Guide Dogs and as the branch prepares for a big fundraiser later this month, he told the Fingal Independent what his dog means to him. Andrew said: 'In 2012 i met my now Fiancee Jade who is also a guide dog owner. She has a black labrador called Yanni. Getting to know Jade and Yanni, I quickly realised that having a guide dog would enhance my independence greatly. When we decided to find a place of our own, I felt the time had come for me to take my application out of abeyance and finally get re-assessed for a guide dog. Finally in November 2014 I trained with my first guide dog Nico, a black lab-retriever cross. Over the last year Nico and I have encountered many ups and downs including a major setback for Nico in the form of an injury which took him back to Irish Guide Dogs for almost seven months. 'With the help and support of the staff at Irish Guide Dogs along with my GDMI, Nico is now back with me and we have since moved to a bigger more spacious house in Balbriggan where the dogs have lots of freedom. Since being assessed for Nico I decided to join the Guidedog Owners' Network of Ireland which has given me a great deal of support and where I have made some truly invaluable friends.' Balbriggan\North County Dublin branch of Irish Guide Dogs in conjunction with Balbriggan Summerfest is having its annual dog walk on Sunday, May 29 starting in the car park of Moriarty's SuperValu Balbriggan. Registration begins at 2.30 pm with the walk starting at 3pm and it costs 10 per dog to register and take part. The donation you make of 10 will go towards the training of guide dogs for blind people and assistance dogs for children who have Autism. There will be a hamper donated by Irish Rosettes pet shop of Cloghran co Dublin and other prizes that will make up a good raffle on the day Joe the Doggie Man is sponsoring a few prizes for the dogs after the walk such as a possible shampoo or a grooming session. Supervalu will also have a free tuck shop there for those able to produce their registration forms Event sponsors include Supervalu Balbriggan, Spec Savers of Balbriggan, Irish Rosettes Pet Shop, Cuddles pet store, Around a Pound, Coco Beans, NomNoms, Doggy Doos and Joe the Doggie Man. The RNLI in Skerries are seeking new recruits for their search and rescue services in north county Dublin. With a current personnel of 18 lifeboat and three shore crew, the station requires new volunteers to get involved in helping the charity with their work which covers Dublin's north east coast. Skerries RNLI has over 100 years aggregate service and has been operating as an inshore lifeboat station for over 25 years. The current Atlantic 85 lifeboat, 'Louis Simson', which was placed on service 2013, provides cover for part of the east coast of Ireland. Last year the RNLI in Skerries saved the lives of 16 people, with the lifeboat launched 10 times. Skerries RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, Niall McGrotty is now calling on anyone interested to come forward and find out more. 'We are looking for anyone aged 17 years and over, working or living in Skerries who is willing to offer some of their free time to join what I believe to be, one of the most exhilarating and rewarding voluntary services that is out there. 'Ideally we are looking for volunteers with daytime availability,' Mr McGrotty explained. 'Every volunteer receives first class training from the RNLI and learns new skills which can benefit them in many walks of life. 'Lifeboat crew members need to have a reasonable level of fitness, have good eyesight and not be colour blind.' 'Anyone who would like to volunteer but feels they would not meet the requirements for lifeboat crew should in no way be put off, as shore crew also play an essential role in the launch and recovery of the lifeboat when it goes on service.' Anyone who feels they have the time and commitment to volunteer for the charity which is on call 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, is asked to contact the station at skerries@rnli.org.uk or Niall on 087 241 8967. Swords TD, Clare Daly has welcomed the Garda watchdog report that found that 'on the balance of probability', details of her arrest in 2013 were leaked to the media by a Garda source. Garda watchdog, GSOC investigated how news of Deputy Daly's arrest on suspicion of drink driving more than three years ago, was leaked to the media. Deputy Daly was later cleared of any wrongdoing and was never charged with any offence on foot of that arrest. It found that on the 'balance of probability', Deputy Daly was right to believe the information came from Garda sources but GSOC also foudn that there was 'insufficient evidence of a criminal offence' to warrant a criminal prosecution. Reacting to the report, the Independents 4 Change TD for Dublin Fingal said: 'I welcome the publication of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission report following their investigation into the leaking to the media of information about my arrest on January 29, 2013. 'The report concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, some of the details relating to my arrest came from within An Garda Siochana and were made available to the media in an unauthorised manner. ' Deputy Daly added: 'I also welcome the acknowledgement that my right to privacy and the presumption of innocence were infringed by these leaks.' The independent TD said: 'I believe that the leaking of information about my arrest, coming as it did at the height of a period during which I was working to expose Garda malpractice, was a deliberate attempt to damage me, and to distract from the issues.' The TD from Swords was critical the report has taken so long to emerge and accused An Garda Siochana of 'stonewalling' through the process. Deputy Daly said: 'While I compliment the work of GSOC staff, the investigation highlights the limitations placed on the investigative powers available to the Commission by legislation. 'For example, it took almost three-and-a-half years for the investigation to come to a conclusion, in part because of stonewalling and non-cooperation by An Garda Siochana. 'In relation to my complaint, I asked GSOC to establish if the information which made its way into the media concerning this incident came from within the ranks of An Garda Siochana. 'I note with interest that this is precisely what the commission concluded.' The investigation stemmed from a complaint made by the TD, concerning the alleged unlawful disclosure of information to the press, both about the fact of her arrest and about whom she requested to be called at the time. Following her arrest on that night, three-and-a-half years ago which was widely reported in the media, Deputy Daly was cleared of any wrongdoing and no charges were ever brought against her in relation to that arrest. The linking of child benefit and school attendance in a bid to combat unnecessary absenteeism has reportedly been included in the draft programme for government. There is a benefit to encouraging better attendance in schools but linking it to child benefit would be almost impossible. Aside from the expense to the state, it would be a mistake to deny families this payment as a penalty for allowing children to be absent from school. The process of linking the two would certainly be difficult to put in place and surely, there is already a mechanism to ensure that parents make every effort to ensure their children attend. For such a proposal to be made, there must be a problem with attendance in certain areas, and of course this must be addressed. It is not in any child's favour to be out of school for extended periods. They lose out so much in these formative years which history has shown us, they may never learn again. Reducing or withholding child benefit would not be the best way to go about it, as this would simply lead to further problems for families who depend on it. Benefits are the only income for some families and they cannot afford to be without it and even if their judgement in allowing days off from school is questionable, they still need that payment. Ultimately the children would be the ones to suffer if any benefits were cut as a penalty for missed school days. Excessive absenteeism cannot go unchecked but there must be a more sensible approach. A similar argument came about in recent years about the validity of means testing for children's allowance. Opposition to means testing the payment came about as it is the only payment given directly to a mother for her children and often as family circumstances change, this is a guaranteed payment that does not. Schools are closed more than enough for parents to be able to arrange holidays or other outings around these periods and medical certificates are accepted where appropriate so any other absence could rightly be questioned by the school. Perhaps the powers that be believe that the only way to change to mindset of careless parents who aren't too worried about attendance records is to hit them in the pocket. Fianna Fail TD for Dublin Fingal, Darragh O'Brien has won a promotion to the high profile post of his party's spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade following the announcement of the party's new front bench by Micheal Martin. Welcoming his appointment to the role and looking forward to the challenge ahead, the Malahide-based TD said: 'I am delighted to be taking over a role with such a proud history within Fianna Fail. 'Since our foundation, a positive, proactive and independent Irish foreign policy has been a core element of the party's vision and has facilitated Ireland playing an important role in global affairs. 'We have often enjoyed a role and influence far in excess of our size or economic output and it is Fianna Fail's belief that we can and should continue to have those ambitions into the future.' Turning to the issues that will face him in the high-profile brief over the coming months, Deputy O'Brien said: 'Ireland and Europe are facing into very uncertain times. There is the immediate threat of Britain voting to leave the EU, a chronic and growing refugee crisis, an unpredictable Russia asserting itself on Europe's borders, the ongoing political uncertainty in the US, ongoing conflicts across the Middle East and Africa to name just a few. ' Ireland may not have the capacity to solve all or indeed any of these issues, but we have an opportunity to assert our analysis as an independent neutral Republic, with an emphasis on human rights, the dignity of the individual and respect for minorities on the international stage.' Setting out how he intends to tackle his ne role, he said: 'Fianna Fail's intention, within the area of Foreign Affairs, is to bring forward policies and positions that build on our proud history, addressing the challenges facing the European and global community in 2016 and helping to establish Irish thought leadership on the big issues we face.' The Fianna Fail deputy will also have responsibility for trade and on that role, he said: 'In the important area of trade, working with our diaspora and leveraging the network of excellent Irish diplomatic activity across the world is something that has the enthusiastic support of my party. 'I also look forward to bringing forward new thinking on how to deepen and expand this activity. 'In the immediate term, I look forward to meeting with key stakeholders across the sector and also playing our part in seeking to positively influence Irish voters in the Brexit referendum.' A testament to the success and resilience of 12 multi-generational family businesses in the Fingal area is featured in a new report commissioned by Fingal County Council and carried out by Dublin City University's Centre for Family Business. The report - Lessons in Resilience and Success: A Snapshot of Multi-Generational Family Businesses in Fingal, was launched by one of the world's leading experts on family-run businesses, Dr Justin Craig, who is Professor of Family Enterprises & Co-Director of the Centre of Family Enterprises, Kellogg School of Management in Illinois, USA, at County Hall in Swords. Between them, they employ over 3,500 and have turnovers ranging from 1.5 million to in excess of 100 million per annum. The featured businesses are Stafford Lynch, Blanchardstown; Country Crest, Lusk; Jenkinson Logistics, Cloghran; Grand Hotel, Malahide; Rockabill Seafood, Balbriggan; Wrights of Howth; Keogh's, Oldtown, Tully Nurseries, Ballyboughal; Keelings, St Margaret's, Donnelly Fruit and Veg, St Margaret's; JH McLoughlin, Balbriggan; Dorans on the Pier, Howth. The project marks the first research output resulting from DCU's Memorandum of Understanding with Fingal County Council and shows that the 12 businesses economic and social contribution as evidenced from their turnover, employee numbers, developments and exports is invaluable and are the hub for investment, growth and opportunity. The businesses are embedded in the community and bolster the local Fingal economy by employing and supplying locally, engaging in philanthropic efforts and promoting their locality world-wide. 'These exemplar Fingal family enterprises reflect many of the characteristics that researchers have identified in successful business around the world. 'They absorb economic shocks, pursue unorthodox strategies and make decisions with future generations in mind,' said Dr Craig. The report provides a snapshot of 12 multi-generational family businesses in Fingal with family involvement ranging from second to fourth generations. The report found that while succession can be a source of anxiety or uncertaintly for some family firms, there was often no documented plan to follow. The report states that any firm aiming to be multi-generational should be encouraged to afford due consideration to any future family involvement especially as it is never too premature to plan for potential next generation involvement. It also recommends protocols should be put in place in the event of death or illness to a key family member. Deputy Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Eoghan O'Brien, paid tribute to the 12 businesses featured in the report and the many other similar firms who play an important role in the economy of Fingal. 'We have many family businesses in Fingal going back for several generations, but up until now, there was very little information collected about the issues they face,' said Deputy Mayor O'Brien. 'This study starts to address some of these issues but it is clear that more needs to be done for family businesses at local, regional and national level.' Having already swept the boards at the Young Scientist Exhibition, the scientifically-minded students of Loreto Balbriggan are now amazing the world with their technological know-how and their appliance of science. The latest young scientist from the school to make an impression on the international stage is young Lauren Murphy, a transition year student at the Balbriggan school who recently travelled to Arizona to represent Ireland at Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair. Lauryn brought with her, an invention she came up with to aid in the physical rehabilitation of people with Multiple Sclerosis. Lauren's father, Gerard has MS and, observing the difficulties that he and other MS sufferers experience with 'clenched fist', Lauren set about developing an aid to help her father perform exercises to improve the action of opening and closing the fist. Having developed her first mechanical prototype and testing it with her father, Lauren has been able to record a marked improvement in his dexterity once a repeated exercise programme is carried out. To explore how to develop her prototype further, Lauren attended the first Hackathon at Alpa, DCU's Innovation Campus, where she presented her idea to DCU software and hardware engineers and campus company, Nuwave Ventures. All were inspired with her work and together they agreed to help her to transform her rehabilitation aid into a smart device that provides feedback to patients in real time as they carry out the exercise. The result is an autonomous device with integrated electronics consisting of a set of sensors and a micro-controller printed circuit board. The device now records data in a meaningful way so that improvements can be identified and it can also be connected to a PC to download the data. The sensors are measuring, force, range of motion and number of actions in a given time. Dr Conor McArdle from DCU School of Electronic Engineering worked in collaboration with Rachit Shah, an industrial engineer at Nuwave Ventures, based at DCU Alpha, to assist Lauren. Conor worked on software development and Rachit engineered the prototype with Lauren, creating the final product with one of the company's 3D Printers. The Intel ISEF (May 8th to 13th) which is the world's largest international pre-college science competition where approximately 1,700 high school students from over 75 countries showcase their independent research and compete for approximately $4 million in prizes. When Lauren returned to Balbriggan, she brought home third prize in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics category for her invention. Before the school had time to draw a breath after that staggering achievement, another young scientist from Balbriggan Loreto who took second place in the individual competition at this year's Young Scientist Exhibition, was preparing to head off to amaze another international audience at the Future Health Summit in City West. Renuka Chintapalli is addressing 160 of the world's foremost health professionals on her Young Scientist individual runner up project 'Developing a predictive tool for identifying FLNc-associated biomarkers of oesophageal cancer metastasis'. Now in it's 14th year the Future Health Summit covers some of the most pressing issues facing modern health service such as mental health, public health system under the over arching theme of Empowering Patients: Informed Choice and Accountability. Renuka is the youngest speaker at the summit and is delighted at the opportunity to speak in such eminent company. The school is justifiably proud of Renuka's fabulous achievement and of the continued stellar success of its science students. 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. A new primary school is needed in Gorey to cope with the growing demand. Cllr Malcolm Bye said there is currently waiting lists in place for all five primary schools in Gorey town and said that a new primary school should be considered to meet the likely growth in demand in the coming years. 'Gorey town has doubled in size in the last two decades and indications are that the town will continue to grow. We have five top class primary schools in town that are well managed and with great facilities and all have had extensions or new buildings in recent years. We will have more information once the Census is collated but evidence suggests that between births and people moving into the area, there will be a growing demand for primary places. We need to plan now to meet likely demand.' He is opposed to any of the existing schools using play areas for further building and feels the Clonattin area will be most appropriate for a new build. 'We anticipated that this could happen with the existing Gorey Town Plan and zoned land for this purpose in the Clonattin area. We will be taking a similar approach with the new Gorey plan but what is important is that we are ready and that we can guarantee any child in Gorey a primary school place in the years ahead.' Cllr Byrne said that some children from the town already attend schools in nearby villages and that trend is expected to continue. This, he said, may help smaller schools maintain numbers. Previously Cllr Byrne has said that the two second level schools in the town could reach capacity within the next five years on the basis of demographic evidence. This is a challenge that already faces Wexford town. There there is an increasing need for a new secondary school as more and more children are forced to go on a waiting list to see if they get a school place. He said that we need to engage in more 'evidence based policy making' in Ireland and that it isn't 'rocket science' to look at the number of children and young people in an area to determine the number of school places needed and likely demand for the future. Cllr Byrne said he has been in touch with the Department's planning unit on the matter. The pilot project where members of the public assist the council in tackling those who park in disabled spaces without a valid blue badge, by texting a special number, has been very successful, Gorey Municipal District councillors were told last week. Several fines have been issued by wardens as a result of texts received, and there have been calls for the scheme to be rolled out nationally. The meeting was told that the Council has developed links with the Irish Wheelchair Association so the warden can confirm immediately if the permit is valid or not. Council official Liz Stanley said that 13 fines were issued in the previous few weeks. Before Fiona and Mark Magennis teamed up with Sligo County Council to develop the Sruth in Aghaidh an Aird trail, there was no access to the top of the waterfall. Fiona said: "When we were moving from the city, we spent a year looking for a place and Sligo kept calling us back. With its mountains, we knew Glencar was the place and we are so lucky to call this home." Mark explained the valley is known as the Swiss Valley, due to its similarity to Switzerland's sights. "It's an interesting place geographically with habitats. There's lots of wildlife too, such as red squirrels, the odd badger and bats as well. "There is lots of birdlife on the cliffs, including ravens nesting. The part overlooking the lake is known as the Grassy Knoll by some." The walkway includes old railway sleepers from Poland and stones from an old wall on the land were also used for a stepping stone along the route. Ray O'Grady, Planner with Sligo County Council, credited Fiona and Mark for opening up their land for the project. "We spent around a year looking at the best options of where to put the route and Fiona and Mark worked closely with us on that. "There were constricted areas in parts and we had to take into account the steep regions when developing the route. "Some of the steps were actually laid by hand and we had a man operating a tiny digger because of the narrow width, he was nearly bigger than it! "There's been significant improvements in recent years to routes along the Sligo Way and the Miners Way. Looking at the Queen Maeve Trail and Killaspugbrone Loop, they've been a huge success, with Knocknarae alone seeing almost 100,000 visitors last year," he added. Along Sruth in Aghaidh an Aird or The Devil's Chimney, the looped walk takes roughly an hour and can be enjoyed by the whole family. It is open year-round and has already been the setting for a marriage proposal. Fiona said: "We met a couple in their seventies and the man had proposed at the top, which was lovely." Directions: The walkway is 12k from Sligo, take the N16 Manorhamilton Road after 8k turn left (sign posted Glencar Waterfall) continue for 4k and the car-park is on the left hand side of the road. Sligo's longstanding links with Kempten were recalled at a reception hosted at County Hall by Cathaoirleach Rosaleen O'Grady for a visiting group fromthe German town. The attendance included President of Sligo Town twinning Dymphna Gorman, Claudia Michna of Kempten Town Twinning, Elected Members, Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes, Noelle Cawley of Sligo Tourism and former Town Clerk John McNabola and his wife Maisie. In her address, the Cathaoirleach said: "Over the last 25 years, the people of Kempten have been both welcome visitors and exceptional hosts, and this has been the foundation of our enduring association. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the signing of our Proclamation of Independence, and we are in the midst of a year of reflection, commemoration and discovery. "As new research is published, new stories are uncovered, new heroes acknowledged, it instils a sense of pride in our history and culture. And it brings to mind a comment from the early days of our Twinning Association - that the only way you can appreciate other cultures and traditions is by fully understanding your own. The Cathaoirleach remarked that Twinning Agreements are not entered in to lightly. "They are informed by extensive research and detailed discussions. "There is genuine consensus that the friendship agreement we enjoy with Kempten is a model of its kind, and only this week we had the pleasure of accepting an invitation to attend August Festival Week in Kempten as a guest of the Mayor." The first contact between Kempten and Sligo involved a student exchange programme, and the networks and friendships established by that initiative provided the inspiration to develop other projects. The association was formalised with the signing of a Charter in Kempten in February 1990 and two months later in Sligo. "In the quarter century since then, our association has developed at many levels. "While the civic authorities have provided the formal basis for the twinning arrangement, it has been the inspiration and catalyst for many other excellent projects in the realms of education, culture, arts, music and tourism. "By any measure we have been enriched by our friendship with the people of Kempten, it is an association I will continue to support and promote," said Cllr O'Grady. Sligo County Council is denying reports it's trying to shut down the popular 'SUP for All' Stand-Up Paddling business on the shores of Lough Gill. Owner of SUP for All, David O'Hara, announced on facebook last week that his company had ceased operating. "Sup for All regretfully wishes to inform the national and international paddling community and to whom it concerns that we have ceased all SUP and lake-shore activities at Trawane Bay pending a Sligo District Court Decision due on June 7th 2016," said the statement. "This legal action, initiated by Sligo County Council, against David O'Hara|SUP for all demands for a cessation of all Stand Up Paddle activity from this location. "SUP for all will clarify our position following the court's ruling," it concluded. Speaking to The Sligo Champion, Mr O'Hara said the case involved "a planning-related issue." "It's for a breach of a planning enforcement order for using my land for SUP business," he said. He claimed the council ordered him to cease using the land the way he was and to remove all paraphernalia such as life jackets, pop-up gazebos and trailer. The business was operating at Trawane Bay which is next to Inisfree and at Killerry townland in Ballintogher. Mr O'Hara said the matter was "ongoing for a number of years." "I'm very disappointed. My wife described it as like a death in the family," he said. "There are some wonderful opportunities that have arisen over the last four years. "I do feel sad that the dream is quenched. That was my life for the last four years. I eat, sleep and breathe it. "It's quite a thing for me personally to see that stop," he said. While the immediate future remains uncertain for David, he says he still has "optimism" that he can continue to work in the Stand-up Paddling business at some level. "We're just waiting to see what the outcome will be on June 7th," he added. The Sligo native doesn't own the land along the shore at Trawane Bay but entered into a 'lease-to-buy' agreement from the owner in 2012. He told this newspaper that in 2012 he made an appointment with Sligo County Council to discuss re-opening the existing toilets at Trawane bay. The toilets were installed in 1978 but were closed some years ago. David claims he had to provide his own toilets for his tourist clients and contacted a company in Ballina to drop a Portaloo onto the site. He also put a container in situ to store his paddles. In a response to a query from The Sligo Champion, Sligo County Council released a statement denying they were still trying to shut down 'SUP for All'. It's also confirmed that no planning application has been submitted to date by Mr O'Hara. "The upcoming District Court hearing relates to outstanding legal costs associated with enforcement action concerning land based elements of a commercial activity at Trawane Bay," said a Council spokesperson. "These items included tents, tables, chairs, pallets, etc which were placed immediately adjacent to the shoreline of Trawane Bay, which is a location of scenic, cultural and environmental significance. "These were removed in recent times although the paddling boards remain on Lough Gill," they said. "Although Sligo County Council's enforcement action did initially seek the cessation of supping, the Council did not subsequently pursue the issue of supping activity at Trawane Bay," they added. SUP for All has received much support online from both local and international supporters of the supping community, even from as far afield as Canada. "Myself, my family and lots of my friends have spent some proper quality time down at Trawane Bay with David, and Sup for all. Kids are supposed to be in places like this. "My own have learned and experienced life lessons here, that will hopefully help to shape them into decent people, finding their thing, and contributing something good to the world, just as David has done at/on Lough Gill. "Let's hope Sligo County Council catch themselves on, and this magical place can keep on giving," said Mark Gaul from Northern Ireland. Neil Gilson from Bearfoot Performance Paddling also posted his support on the SUP for All Facebook page: "Nothing meaningful or useful is accomplished and much is lost or threatened," he wrote. "Not sure how everyone could band together on this but David has created not just a business, but an adventure, a story and exposure for an incredible part of Ireland that reaches worldwide. "That's amazing! And I've never even been there," said Neil, based in the Canadian Rockies. The revelation that some 50,000 patients chose to leave Emergency Departments (EDs) before being seen or without having their treatment completed comes as no surprise to those working in Irish Emergency Medicine. That's according to the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine who say the 2015 figure, revealed in the Irish Independent is likely to be exceeded in 2016 as Emergency Department crowding has been allowed to worsen further this year. IAEM Communications Officer, Dr Fergal Hickey, who is based at Sligo University Hospital says the Association has campaigned for over a decade to to finally bring an end to ED crowding which not alone has resulted in a significant number of unnecessary deaths but has also resulted in inferior medical outcomes for many patients. He said: "Inevitably, there will be many patients among this 50,000 who have suffered an adverse medical outcome as a result of being denied the opportunity to be seen in a timely fashion. Admitted patients who should be in a ward bed are warehoused in EDs in increasing numbers to the detriment of ED patients. The reality is that, by and large, EDs function quite well when they can have patients admitted to a Hospital bed in a timely fashion. "The Association again asks how long those with the responsibility for fixing this problem will continue to obfuscate in the face of further incontrovertible evidence of harm. "How many more deaths will be allowed to occur before the unacceptability of ED crowding is recognised not just in words but by deeds and the necessary solutions put in place to ensure that all those attending EDs can be seen in a timely fashion? "The solution to this problem requires there to be an adequate number of hospital beds available for those who need hospital admission as soon as the decision to admit is made. "The chorus of calls for there to be alternative pathways to hospital admission other than through the ED misses the point that creating more and more doors into a system so woefully short of capacity doesn't of itself create capacity." It's time to get out on your dusty old leathers and feel the breeze flow through your hair as the Gaelic Chapter Ireland return to Wicklow town on their Harley Davidson's this weekend. Each year Robert Doyle of Halpin's Bridge Cafe invites the Chapter to Wicklow. 'Last year over 40 bikers came down so we are hoping for something similar this year. Of course it is all rather weather dependent,' said Robert. He first came up with the idea of inviting the chapter down to Wicklow a number of years ago. 'I have had a Harley myself for years so motor bikes are certainly something I have an interest in. 'When I first invited the Chapter to Wicklow I thought they would make a nice spectacle. 'Kids can sit up on the Harley's and have their photographs taken. Usually the bikers stay for over an hour before heading off somewhere on a spin.' This will be the fifth year the Gaelic Chapter Ireland have come down to Halpin's Bridge Cafe. The Chapter was formed in 2008 and currently has over 200 members. The bikers are also involved in ride-outs and charity appearances. They will arrive this year on Sunday, May 29 at around 11.30 a.m. West Wicklow moved a step closed to having better road access to Dublin as the plan for the proposed N81 Hollywood Cross to Tallaght route was approved for public display. Baltinglass Municipal District members discussed the final Preferred Route Corridor for the stretch of road which was presented to them by the Kildare National Roads Design Team on Monday. Cllr Gerry O Neill expressed delight that a route has now finally been put on display and the public can now express any outstanding concerns. 'I have been calling for this announcement for many months and now at least the landowners on either side of the proposed 300 metre wide corridor will be finally out of limbo. 'To date the people were unsure of the Preferred Route Corridor and unsure of what lands would be frozen within their holdings. I hope that this will move on quickly and we will all have a safer road which will in turn will open West Wicklow for Tourism and development,' said Cllr O'Neill. 'It will also hopefully lift planning restrictions on parts of the old N81 where up to now people were not allowed to build off the present road.' Cllr Pat Doran said that all the district members were in agreement about the merits of the plan, but said that they would have preferred to see less roundabouts and more slip roads and underpasses. He said that the upgrade will be of great benefit to road users, especially those who commute to Dublin daily. A Tipperary man who shot a deer in the National Park has been ordered to pay 1,500 to a Co Wicklow animal charity. Larry Ryan, Piggott's Cross, Carrick On Suir, Tipperary, was before Wicklow District Court last Tuesday, May 17, to answer a charge of shooting a deer in the National Park at Laragh West on October 10, 2014. The charges were brought by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Ranger Wesley Atkinson has worked in the Wicklow area National Park for 25 years. He was driving along the road on October 10, 2014 when he saw what appeared to be hunters on the ridge line to his left. He had all his equipment, including binoculars and a camera, allowing him to observe the people. The court heard that Ryan and the other people had permission to hunt on the private lands but not the national park. They came down the hill into the valley and down to the forest. They left the valley going up to the other side of the mountain. The ranger liaised with colleagues and approached the group. A deer had been shot. Ryan had visitors from Germany with him and he was the owner of two guns. 'He confirmed that what I observed was correct,' said Mr Atkinson. 'He agreed with my summary of events.' Solicitor John Carroll said that his client has always held to permits and regulations and is not involved in any commercial shooting. He said his client was facilitating the German visitors. He said that he had full permission to shoot on adjacent land. 'One of the Germans with him took a shot and hit a deer which broke and went down the valley injured, having been hit in the back,' said Mr Carroll. 'They followed down into the valley thinking that was the correct thing to do.' Mr Carroll said a guest fired a second shot and missed. 'My client took the gun, fired a shot and dispatched the deer,' he said. Mr Carroll added that a code of conduct obliges hunters to follow and dispatch an animal if it is shot and injured. Judge David Kennedy adjourned the matter to September 13 for Ryan to pay 1,500 to the Wicklow Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in which case the charge will be dismissed with the benefit of the Probation Act. A tractor theft that took place in Scotland almost 20 years ago was recalled at Arklow District Court on Wednesday as a police property application was made. Garda William Ryan outlined to the court that there was a question over the ownership of a tractor which was stolen in 1998, details of which came to light through Interpol in 2015. Garda Ryan said that the present owner, Brendan Baker, and the original owner from whom it was stolen, John Turncliffe, were both present in court. The court heard that after the 100 horsepower four-wheel drive vehicle was stolen from Mr Turncliffe, there was no trace of it until last year when Mr Baker made an attempt to register it for use in Ireland. Mr Baker purchased the machine in good faith from a dealer in Northern Ireland in 2011 and spent considerable time and approximately 5,000 in repairs. Garda Ryan said that stolen vehicles 'fall off the database' in the UK after six years. The court heard that after the theft, the number plates were changed, hence when Mr Baker did thorough online checks, the tractor showed up as being in order. Mr Baker told the court that he has not used the tractor since March 2015 when Garda Ryan called about the matter. Mr Turncliffe said that he bought the tractor for 22,000 in 1997. He said that he did not have the original documents in court but would produce them on the next date. The Gardai submitted that Mr Turncliffe is the legal owner as he was the person from whom the tractor was stolen. The court heard that Mr Baker would be at the loss of the 9,000 he paid for the vehicle and the money he spent on repairs but had the option of taking a civil case and tracing back along the line to determine who purchased the stolen vehicle originally. Judge David Kennedy adjourned the matter until June 8 and ruled that the tractor is to be returned to Mr Turncliffe, pending production of proof of ownership. A judge has issued a restraining order, directing Oscar-nominated actor Johnny Depp to stay away from his estranged wife after she accused him of repeatedly hitting her during a recent fight. Amber Heard told a court in Los Angeles that the actor was drunk and high when the incident occurred. "I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorise me, physically and emotionally," she wrote in her sworn declaration. Heard claimed that Depp threw her cellphone at her during a fight on Saturday, striking her cheek and eye. She submitted a photograph of her bruised face when she applied for the restraining order last night. Heard also wrote that the actor pulled her hair, screamed at her and repeatedly hit her and violently grabbed her face. She appeared in court yesterday with a bruise on her right cheek below the eye. Los Angeles police responded to the couple's residence last weekend, but were asked by the person reporting domestic violence not to take a report and the person did not provide evidence. "(The) officers' investigation determined that a crime did not occur," Los Angeles police officer Aareon Jefferson said yesterday. The judge rejected Heard's request that Depp should attend a year of anger-management classes and that the restraining order should extend to her dog, a terrier named Pistol. Heard alleges that the May fight was preceded by an incident in April in which the actor skipped her birthday party and showed up later, high and drunk, and pushed her to the floor. After that alleged incident, Heard wrote, she did not see the actor for another month. The application for the restraining order came five days after Heard had filed for divorce. Depp's attorney last night declined to comment. Court papers indicated Depp was out of the country but that he would agree to a mutual 'stay-away' order. He contends that Heard's filing, along with requests for financial assistance from the actor, appear to be a "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 had separated the day before. She is seeking financial support from the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star, but Depp's legal team has asked a judge to deny the request. Depp has turned to a glamorous divorce lawyer known in Hollywood as the 'Disso Queen' as he seeks to protect his $400m (360m) fortune. Laura Wasser (48), a single mother of two, earned her nickname handling marriage dissolutions on behalf of some of Hollywood's biggest names. She took on Arnold Schwarzenegger, acting for his wife Maria Shriver in their divorce. Other clients include Robyn Moore, the wife of Mel Gibson, Angelina Jolie, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera and Kiefer Sutherland. She usually charges a retainer of $25,000 (22,400) plus $850 (760) an hour, which many celebrities have considered money well spent. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump alleges that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton colluded in her husbands sexual exploits. Allegations against former president Bill Clinton include those made by Paula Jones (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images) The first phase of Donald Trump's election campaign is over. He demolished the credibility of all 16 of his Republican opponents, and is now the party's presumptive candidate for the US presidency. The tactics he used to defeat his opponents may have been crude, but they were also highly effective. In the next phase of his campaign, he will have only one adversary, who seems certain to be Hillary Clinton. Trump is already shaping up for another bruising contest. He has identified the target areas where he believes Clinton is most vulnerable. He has focused, for example, on the various disasters in US foreign policy that began when Clinton was Secretary of State. And, of course, there is also the issue of her unauthorised use of a private email server. But Trump has now chosen to confront Clinton on what might be considered her home ground. He has accused Clinton of complicity in her husband's sexual misconduct. Trump may seem an unlikely champion of women's rights, or advocate of sexual fidelity. He has often used gross and offensive language to describe women. He is also reported to have had numerous sexual affairs, and has even boasted about them. No wonder the revelations about his sex life promised by 'The New York Times' last week were eagerly awaited. However, those who expected sensational disclosures were disappointed. The 'Times' article contained little new information, and nothing that was really shocking. Part of the article dealt with Trump's behaviour at the finals of the Miss USA pageant. He owns the franchise to that event, and it was alleged that he had kissed some of the young contestants on the lips. As it happens, I filmed at the Miss USA contest some years ago when I was making a documentary about Trump for the BBC. It is true that Trump has described the event in predictably crass terms as "the perfect opportunity to look at beautiful girls and make money at the same time". However, I did not witness any evidence of improper behaviour on his part, and none of the contestants suggested anything to the contrary. I remember the response of Miss New Jersey when she was asked if she fancied Trump: "No!" she gasped in horror, "He must be, like, 80 years old!" Trump cannot become the next US president without winning a significant amount of female support, and, according to the latest polls, he is still very unpopular with most American women. That may explain why he has turned to the issue of Hillary's alleged collusion in Bill Clinton's sexual exploits. Throughout the 1990s, there were a sizeable number of allegations made by women who claimed to have had intimate relations with Bill Clinton. James Carville, the lead strategist in his presidential campaign, shrugged these off as mere "bimbo eruptions". But some women claimed to have been subjected to threatening sexual conduct from the future president. One of them even claimed he had raped her. Another of those women was called Paula Jones. She had once worked as a receptionist in the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas. Bill Clinton was state governor at the time, and had asked her to come to his room. Jones claimed that, when she got there, Clinton exposed himself to her and demanded oral sex. I met Paula Jones in the same hotel some years later when I was making another documentary. I didn't warm to her on a personal level, but, on balance, I believed her story to be true. Back in the 1990s, Jones was dismissed by James Carville as the sort of woman that emerges if you "drag a 100 dollar bill through a trailer park". Jones's claims were derided not only by Carville and the mainstream press, but also by many feminists who felt that the Clintons were sympathetic to their cause, and deserved to be protected. Despite the denials of any improper behaviour, the Clintons eventually paid Jones $850,000 to drop her case. When I met Paula, she was convinced that Hillary Clinton was aware of her husband's activities. "She must have known what he did," she told me, "There's no way she could not have known." Now, other women have come forward to testify against the Clintons. These include Juanita Broaddrick, who had claimed that Bill Clinton raped her. Broaddrick also claims that Hillary was aware of this alleged crime, and tried to coerce her into remaining silent. Trump has branded Hillary Clinton as an "enabler" of Bill's alleged abuse, and has just released a campaign ad in which Jones and Broaddrick can be heard sobbing as they describe Bill Clinton's alleged sexual aggression. Their emotional testimony is followed by a soundtrack of Hillary Clinton laughing. The implication that she is cold and heartless is clearly unfair, but it packs a powerful punch. It may seem wrong to hold Hillary Clinton responsible for her husband's alleged offences, but the Clintons have often seemed as much a political partnership as a conventional marriage. As First Lady, Hillary Clinton played a key role in the attempt by Bill's administration to introduce radical health reforms. This time around, Hillary Clinton has announced that, if she becomes president, she plans to put her husband in charge of "revitalising the economy". One of Trump's long-term advisers on media strategy is Roger Stone. I first met him on Trump's private jet, and it was obvious to me that he was a trusted member of Trump's inner circle. Stone regards himself, with good reason, as a master of political spin. At the end of last year, he published a best-selling book called 'The Clintons' War on Women'. It describes in graphic detail Bill's alleged sexual misdeeds, as well as Hillary's alleged attempts to conceal them and slander the women who claimed they had been abused. I have no doubt that Stone's book will provide Trump with plenty of ammunition in the months ahead. It seems that things are likely to get even uglier in this year's race for the White House. Trump's ratings with women can hardly fall much lower. But Clinton's can. Some 668 migrants were saved from boats in distress in the Mediterranean off Libya on Saturday, officials say. They were rescued by Italian coast guard and navy ships, aided by Irish and German vessels and humanitarian organisations, Italian and Irish officials said. The rescues are the latest by a multi-national patrol south of Sicily that has saved thousands this week. The Irish military said the vessel Le Roisin, deployed earlier this month in the humanitarian search and rescue mission, saved 123 migrants from a 12-metre-long dinghy and recovered a male body. A German ship, part of the EU Navfor Med deployment on patrol for migrant smugglers' boats, was also involved in what was a total of four separate rescue operations, the Italian coast guard said. Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, taking 135 survivors, along with 45 bodies, from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock on Sunday. Under a European Union deal, tens of thousands of those rescued at sea and seeking asylum were supposed to be relocated to other EU nations from Italy and Greece, whose shores have received most of the migrants in recent years. But with resentment building in some European countries about taking in migrants, the plan never really took off, and only a small percentage have actually been moved. At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis told several hundred children, among them many migrants, who came from the Italian south to see him, that migrants "aren't a danger but they are in danger". The pontiff held a red life vest, given to him recently by a volunteer, and told the children it was the vest used by a Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. "She's in heaven, she's watching us," Francis told his young audience. Among those in the audience was a Nigerian youth, who lost his parents in 2014 as the family tried to reach Italy by sea. Francis has repeatedly expressed dismay that some European nations have refused to accept migrants fleeing poverty or war, and have even thrown up fences and other barriers to thwart the arrivals from journeying northward after reaching the continent's southern shores. Johnny Depp seemed the picture of rock star cool as he played guitar on stage in Portugal with his band, the Hollywood Vampires. An ocean away, he is facing serious accusations. A judge on Friday ordered Depp to stay away from his estranged wife, Amber Heard, after she accused the Oscar-nominated actor of repeatedly hitting her during a recent fight and leaving her face bruised. Depp's publicist has not responded to a request for comment, and the Pirates Of The Caribbean star made no mention of the allegations during his Friday night concert in Lisbon. The restraining order was issued on the day Depp's latest film, Alice Through the Looking Glass, opened in cinemas, and caps a turbulent week for him. His mother died on May 20 and Heard filed for divorce on Monday. On Friday, she appeared in court with a bruise on her right cheek below the eye, saying Depp threw her mobile phone at her during a fight. Heard 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. A judge ordered Depp to stay away from Heard and not to attempt contact with her before a June 17 hearing. Los Angeles Police responded to a domestic violence call at the couple's home on May 21, but the person who made the call declined to file charges and officers determined no crime occurred. Los Angeles Superior Court judge Carl Moor rejected Heard's request that Depp attend a year's worth of anger management classes, and that the protective order extend to her dog, a Yorkshire terrier named Pistol. The status of the couple's other dog, Boo, was not known. The dogs received worldwide publicity last year when Heard took them in to Australia without proper documentation. Heard and Depp released an awkward video last month apologising for the action. Depp's attorney, Laura Wasser, declined to comment. Wasser wrote in a court filing that Depp was out of the country and would agree to a mutual stay-away order. Heard is seeking spousal support but Depp's response filed Wednesday asked a judge to deny the request. Depp has been working steadily for the past few years, but his work has not always connected with the public. His eccentric heist comedy Mortdecai was a flop, but he rebounded by playing Whitey Bulger in the hit mobster film Black Mass. Depp has also filmed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - the fifth instalment of the long-running franchise - and even played Donald Trump in a satirical comedy for the website Funny Or Die. Last year, he and the Hollywood Vampires - Alice Cooper and Joe Perry - released their self-titled album. His new Tim Burton-directed film, Alice Through The Looking Glass, a sequel to 2010's Alice In Wonderland, has been critically panned. A fighter from the YPG in the northern Syrian province of Raqa Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP / Getty Images US Special Forces, wearing the badge of their Kurdish allies, have been seen fighting Isil near the frontline in the Syrian city of Raqqa for the first time. The commandos were pictured by AFP agency firing an anti-tank missile, or TOW, at a car rigged with explosives in the village of Fatisah, Raqqa province. It is thought they are wearing the insignia of their partner force, known as the YPG, out of solidarity but also to avoid being targeted by Isil snipers. "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," Peter Cook, Pentagon spokesman, said. The US has always maintained its troops are simply advisers assisting its Arab and Kurdish allies away from the frontline. Mr Cook yesterday denied any mission creep, saying the "advise-and-assist role has not changed". The US now has at least 300 Special Forces advisers in Syria's Kurdish-majority northeast where they have been advising the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - a coalition of Arab, Kurdish YPG and Turkmen forces. Washington sees the group as the most effective fighting force to take on Isil and has supported the newly formed alliance with weapons and training. However, Ankara regards the YPG as a terror group, accusing it of carrying out attacks inside Turkey and yesterday said it was "unacceptable" that they should be seen sporting its insignia. The issue has caused tensions between the two Nato allies for months. The offensive against the Islamist group's de facto capital is the most significant since it declared a self-styled caliphate across Syria and Iraq. As opposition forces battled Isil in Raqqa, the Islamist group made important gains just a few miles west in the towns of Azaz and al-Salamah close to the Turkish border. Aid groups warned the jihadist onslaught trapped more than 100,000 internally displaced Syrians living in informal camps near the border, closed by Ankara several months ago. Isil has tried to advance on the towns for months, but yesterday the jihadist group said it launched a "surprise attack" and seized a series of villages near Azaz. Doctors without Borders (MSF) announced it was pulling out most of its staff from their hospital near the border, saying the frontline was now just 3km away. "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 frontlines," said Pablo Marco, MSF operations manager for the Middle East. "For some months, the front lines have been around 7km away from the hospital, now it is only 3km from al-Salamah town. There is nowhere for people to flee to as the fighting gets closer." Meanwhile yesterday the UN refugee agency reported a "spike" in the number of Iraqis trying to flee into Syria to escape the Iraqi city of Mosul, which is controlled by Isil. UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said: "Just picture this: we have refugees fleeing to Syria". The country is now in its sixth year of civil war. The agency says that nearly 4,300 people arrived at al-Hol camp in Syria's northeastern Hasakah governorate in May. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] A man is taken into custody by police after a rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in San Diego (AP) Police officers in riot gear declared a protest against Donald Trump unlawful as they made around dozen arrests outside a rally in California. The presumptive Republican nominee was speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters in San Diego's convention centre. But outside around 1,000 people demonstrated against the billionaire tycoon, in tense scenes which included police pepper spraying some of the protesters. Police arrested one man who climbed a railing separating protesters from officers. His arrest led demonstrators to spray water and throw empty plastic bottles at officers. In another tense exchange, police shoved back demonstrators to separate them from Trump supporters when they left the centre after the rally. Police declared the gathering unlawful after shouting matches erupted and people began hurling rubbish at each other. Inside, Mr Trump made repeated attacks on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. But he was on the defensive over negative media stories and a lawsuit against his now-defunct Trump University. "I'm getting railroaded by a legal system," he complained. Earlier, in Fresno, Mr Trump told California voters that he can solve their water crisis, declaring: "There is no drought." California is in fact in the middle of a drought, and last year capped the state's driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow. But Mr 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 told thousands of supporters at the rally: "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." The comments came a day after Mr Trump outlined an energy policy plan that relies heavily on expanding US fossil fuel exploration and reducing environmental regulations. The rallies in Fresno and San Diego came as ended a campaign swing through the west, drawing vocal crowds of protesters, many carrying signs critical of his plan to wall off the US border with Mexico. In Fresno, Mr Trump said he had spent 30 minutes before his rally meeting more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles. "They don't understand - nobody understands it," he said. "There is no drought. They turn the water out into the ocean." California is the biggest agriculture producer in the US and the state's drought is raising the stakes in water disputes among farmers, cities and towns, and environmental interests. A count by The Associated Press on Thursday found that Mr Trump has reached the required number of delegates to officially clinch the Republican nomination. The plane is removed from the Hudson River in New York (AP) Divers have retrieved the wreckage of a Second World War plane that crashed into the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, killing the pilot. The plane was pulled out of the water by divers with the New York Police Department and the Army Corps of Engineers. It was being taken to a heliport in Manhattan. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will examine the aircraft as part of the investigation. The single-seat P-47 Thunderbolt crashed at about 7.30pm on Friday. The body of pilot William Gordon was recovered hours later. Mr Gordon had 25 years of experience as an air show performer. The plane was taking part in the American Airpower Museum's celebration of the P-47 Thunderbolt's 75th anniversary this weekend. The veteran air show performer was hailed as an "extraordinary pilot". Scott Clyman, of the American Airpower Museum, said Mr Gordon understood the "powerful message" that historic aircraft represent "in telling the story of American courage and valour". Mr Clyman said Mr Gordon "was a nationally respected pilot". The P-47 was among three planes that had departed from the Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, just east of New York city. The other two aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely. Poll: Vote for the Week 9 AIM football athlete of the week Vote here for the Week 9 Anderson-Independent Mail high school football athlete of the week. KEN RUINARD/Independent Mail Veterans and volunteers recently placed more than 1,000 U.S. Flags on graves at M.J. Dolly Cooper Veterans Cemetery in Anderson. SHARE FILE - Retired Army Master Sergeant Gene Harris speaks during a ceremony for the fourth Annual Wreaths Across America at M.J. "Dolly" Cooper Veterans Cemetery. By Abe Hardesty of the Independent Mail Each Memorial Day, the call of duty continues for retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Gene Harris. Harris, who served 25 years in active duty, makes the decoration of military graves part of his routine in and around Memorial Day and three other holidays. The annual tradition is a reflection, he believes, of community patriotism. "It's about patriotism, duty and honor," said Harris, an active member of the local chapter of the U.S. Military Vets MC, one of four groups that decorate the 2,241 graves at the M.J. Cooper Veterans Cemetery four times each year. Once known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day is deeply rooted in South Carolina and in military tradition. "When you see the beauty of all those flags waving together, and know that you had a part in it, it's a good feeling. You get a renewed sense of pride," said Harris, 64, who served in active duty between 1971 and 1997. The Military Vets MC, a motorcycle club made up primarily of veterans from Anderson and Greenville counties, is among a handful of organizations (along with Rolling Thunder, the local chapter of the Combat Veterans Association, and a local chapter of the Civil Air Patrol) that decorate graves at the M.J. Cooper Cemetery and other local cemeteries. The groups also raise funds and place wreaths on headstones each December. "The military is a bonding thing. So is the motorcycle club," Harris said. "That's a big part of this." Cooper cemetery administrator Phyllis Brown said those four organizations "are a constant in the cemetery, helping place (and remove) flags for Memorial Day, July 4th, and Veterans Day." This weekend, the passion of those groups helps keep the focus on the original intent of Memorial Day. "A lot of people confuse it with Veterans Day, which is our day to honor all those who have served," Disabled American Veterans service officer Ken Lewallen said. "But Memorial Day is the day we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield." That was first done in 1862 in Charleston, where grieving residents placed flags on the graves of fallen soldiers in the midst of a Civil War that was a year old. In 1868, in what is considered the first national Decoration Day, Gen. James Garfield made a speech at the Arlington National Cemetery, the site of 20,000 graves of Union and Confederate soldiers, to honor those who perished in the Civil War. May 30 was chosen because it wasn't the anniversary of any particular battle. During World War I, the holiday evolved to commemorate American military deaths in all wars. Congress established Memorial Day as a federal holiday in 1968 and in 1971 changed the date from May 30 to the fourth Monday in May so as to create a three-day weekend for many. That seemed to accompany a shift in tradition, as Americans made fewer trips to cemeteries in favor of more backyard barbecues. The change came at a time when the population had become more mobile and less connected to the military. In a nation where 12 percent of the population was in active duty just two generations ago, less than 1 percent of American families has a direct connection to the military today. Of 309 million citizens, only 2.2 million (0.7 percent) were involved in the military in 2010. The shrinking connection is a concern to many. In his message to 385 graduates last week, Hanna High principal Shawn Tobin pointed out that only six planned to enter the military. "That's 1.5 percent and that's not enough," said Tobin, a former Army Ranger. "Everyone wants to have strong national defense, but no one wants their children to serve." During a recent event at the Belton Museum, 88-year-old veteran Charlie Martin expressed similar concerns. He wonders if young people get the needed encouragement and training for a career in the military. "I tend to think old school, since I am old school," Martin said, "but I get the feeling, just going by the numbers recruited and what I read, that our military isn't as ready as it once was. "The military is going out of its way to be politically correct," said Martin, whose son is a 23-year military veteran, "and I'm not sure that is good for our national defense." Tracy Pruitt, a social studies teacher at Belton Elementary, fears the future impact of a shrinking military. "That's a huge concern. Of those who are planning to enter the military right now, I'd be interested in knowing how many of them came from families with long ties to the military. "I've seen that connection for years," she said. "When I ask young people why they're getting into the military, the biggest reason is family tradition." A 2011 Pew Research study of 1,639 Americans supports that theory. That poll showed that 21 percent of veterans, but only 9 percent of the general public, had a son or daughter who served. The Pew Research also points to the South as the nation's geographic military leader. Those who live in the South (64 percent) are more likely than those living in the Northeast (56 percent) or the West (57 percent) to say they have immediate family ties to the military. Cemetery scenery seems to reflect the intensity of patriotism at this time of year, said Sullivan-King Mortuary President Bolt McClain. "When you go back to the 50s and 60s ... a lot of people spent more time at the cemeteries than you see today," he said. "You just didn't see as much patriotism in the 70s." Military-related organizations have changed that, he said. "You have a lot of groups that place flags on the veterans graves now. Since (the) 9-11 (attacks), I think we're becoming a little more patriotic again," he said. "It seems to me that we've made the full circle in terms of decorating on Memorial Day." Follow Abe Hardesty on Twitter@abe_hardesty Titagarh Wagons announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 26 May 2016 has approved execution of a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with Matiere S.A.S., France pursuant where to a Joint Venture Company between the joint venture partners would be incorporated in India to pursue manufacture of metallic and modular bridges in India and their marketing in neighbouring companies/territories agreed upon in the said agreement, subject to the compliances as may be applicable. The above would be in addition to the Company's existing business of manufacture and sale of Bailey Bridges. Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors. KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary. No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account." www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others. Recent SWIFT data shows that Indias use of RMB for payments in value with China and Hong Kong is on the rise, but the country still shows one of the lowest RMB adoption rates among Asian countries, ranked 38th worldwide.In April 2016, 3.8% of all payments made between India and China / Hong Kong were exchanged in RMB while this was only 0.2% back in April 2014. Since 2014, the Chinese currency moved from position number six to position four for payments by value overtaking the Hong Kong dollar and the British pound. The US dollar, however, continues to lead the corridor with a share of almost 80%, followed by the Indian rupee (7.2%) and the euro (6.3%).China has emerged over the last decade to become Indias largest trading partner, says Michael Moon, Head of Payments, Asia-Pacific at SWIFT. As a result, RMB adoption is slowly gaining traction for payments between India and China. Over time, and in line with the growing importance of this emerging trade corridor, we expect to see greater use of the RMB between these two countries. It is an exciting time for the Indian banking community. Not only are they helping to further internationalise the RMB, but are embracing new tools to support trade growth and financial sector globalisation.Earlier this year, SWIFT and nine Indian banks launched SWIFT India, a joint venture that provides domestic financial messaging service for Indian banks, global banks, securities houses and corporates. SWIFT India will support growth in automation, financial message standardisation, systems and processes for all financial market participants in India. These capabilities encompass all important infrastructure enablers that can support further development of cross-border payments for India.In April 2016, the RMB fell to position six as global payments currency by value with a share of 1.82%. The Renminbi is now trailing the Canadian dollar with a share of 1.83%, showing a minor gap between the two currencies. Overall, RMB payments value decreased by 7.73% compared to March 2016, whilst in general all payments currencies decreased by 4.60%. DLF Ltd posted a net profit of Rs. 1323.90 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 1716.20 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015.Total Income has increased from Rs. 21011.60 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015 to Rs. 24957.80 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2016.The Group has posted a net profit of Rs. 5493.90 million for the year ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 5402.40 million for the year ended March 31, 2015.Total Income has increased from Rs. 81681.70 million for the year ended March 31, 2015 to Rs. 98191.50 million for the year ended March 31, 2016.The residential sector remained soft during the year with muted demand across most micro markets in which the company is present. DLF 5, however, continued to garner good interest and clocked in healthy sales amounting to approx. Rs 2,940 crore. During the last few quarters the company has witnessed large number of inquiries signalling early green shoots of recovery for the sector. The Company believes that the sector can see a turnaround in the near future.The annuity business continues to experience healthy interest and an upward trajectory for the rentals. Since, most of the office stock in Cyber City has been absorbed; the company has started construction of a new project: Cyber Park, with an approximate size of 2.2 msf (including TOD). The company also officially opened its first destination mall: Mall of India, Noida with around 90% pre-leasing.The Parliament has finally approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which the Company believes to be the first step in institutionalising the sector and creating a robust industry wide framework. The company strongly believes that this will be an enormous help in reviving the customer confidence and increasing transparency in the sector.The transaction relating to sale of CCPS by the promoters is currently underway and is receiving good response from the investors. Section I - Background The Conceptual framework of what economists call as the Demarcation between Productive (Economic) Activity and Non-Productive (Non- economic) activity. The economic/ productive contribution of Housewives. Section II - Demarcation of Productive Activity As a general principle, the treatment of different types of non-marketed output depends primarily on the need for overall consistency in the accounts. Generally, a given category of non- marketed output is included if its inclusion makes the national income accounts internally consistent. It can be seen, for instance, that from a purely conceptual viewpoint the consumption by a farmer of his own produce involves a concealed exchange, viz, the sale of output by the farmer in his capacity as a producer to the (same) farmer in his capacity as a consumer. As a general principle, the treatment of different types of non-marketed output depends primarily on the need for overall consistency in the accounts. Generally, a given category of non- marketed output is included if its inclusion makes the national income accounts internally consistent. It can be seen, for instance, that from a purely conceptual viewpoint the consumption by a farmer of his own produce involves a concealed exchange, viz, the sale of output by the farmer in his capacity as a producer to the (same) farmer in his capacity as a consumer. Section III - Economic Contribution of a Housewife Section IV- Valuation of a Housewife Services Section V Legal Lessons Section VI THE INTERNATIONAL PARADIGM SOURCES Prof. M. Guruprasad, AICAR Business School I dont work, I am just a housewife!The above statement is an often spoken and heard expression. Does that mean the housewife does not contribute?Let us consider this regular scenario in the Indian householdShanti is a 45-year-old housewife living in a rural village of India. She hails from a lower middle-class family. She was educated up to 5th grade and then got married while she was 15 years old. Her husband has a small goods shop at the village, and stays in the city 100 km away from home. They have three Children. Her day is always busy. Her daily routine involves getting up at five in the morning. After sweeping the house and straightening up, she sweeps the yard to keep out the dust. Early in the morning, she milks the familys cows and sends the milk to the co - operative. She takes her bath and starts preparing the morning breakfast. After preparing breakfast, she washes the dishes, cleans the kitchen, prepares food for the cattle, and then cleans the cattle shed. By this time it is almost late morning. She starts preparing for lunch by cleaning, cutting, and washing vegetables, then prepares the meal. She has to ensure that her family gets lunch at the right time, as her son needs to get back to his work in the field. She also works on the farm. She is fortunate that the family has a bore well, which makes it easier for her to collect water. Previously, they did not have one and she had to queue for hours in order to get water. She prefers to rest or sleep whenever she has some time off from her work.The above case is part and parcel of many Indian Housewives. It is a way of life for millions.Consider the statement made by the Supreme Court of India few years back. According to the apex court Housewives Are An Invaluable Unpaid Resource And Definitely Not Unproductive!This statement was made in the context of the Census report over clubbing housewives and women engaged in domestic work along with the categories containing beggars, prostitutes and prisoners within the Census; the court stated that such categorization of women is totally irrational and insensitive. According to the Census, the logic behind clubbing housewives along with beggars and prostitutes stems from the fact that none of them directly contributes to the economy. In simple terms, it means that all three categories of people are unproductive. Critics of this report also point out that when government statistics tell us that more women are unemployed by men, this shows blindness to the fact that most women do important wok for long hours at home.Recently, the Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Dr. Raghuram Rajan, while raising a question mark over the way gross domestic product (GDP) is calculated in the country stated that we get growth because people (are) moving into different areas.Value addition to the GDP is important when people move into newer areas of work rather than just a rise in the growth numbers, Rajan said while asserting the need to be careful in counting GDP numbers. To quote him So, in that sense we have to be a little careful about how we count GDP because some time we get growth because people (are) moving into different areas. It is important that when they move into different areas they are actually doing something which is more value added, Rajan said.In this context, the RBI Governor gave an example of two neighbouring mothers who babysit each others child and get paid an equal salary. He said both the mothers getting paid a salary will be an addition to the GDP but may not be an exact reflection of an economic growth.According to him, If mother A went to look after the children of mother B and mother B went to look after the children of mother A, and they each paid each other an equal amount, GDP would go up by the sum of the two salaries. But would the economy be better off? Presumably, kids want their own mother rather than the neighbouring mother. And the economy would be worse off,To understand the above discussions we need to understand the followingIn Economics, the distinction between productive and non-productive activities is crucial to the basic concepts of National Income accounting. A productive activity, in its broadest sense, can be defined as one which involves the use of scarce resources in the provision of goods and services to satisfy human wants. However, according to some economists, not all activities that result in human satisfaction can be included in the definition of productive activities for the simple reason that it will make the concept too far - fetched to be subjected to any meaningful measurement. A line of demarcation has therefore, to be carefully drawn between those activities which can be called Productive in the sense that their contribution can be included in the computation of national income and the other activities of the more general nature which are to be excluded from national income accounting.As a general rule, according to economics theory, all activities resulting in the production of Marketable goods and services are included in the calculation of National Income. However, the institution of the market which lies at the root of the conventional distinction between productive and non- productive activities or between economic and non-economic goods, has gradually failed to provide an effective line of demarcation as we pass from highly developed market economies to underdeveloped countries where the household enterprise is the predominant form of productive activity.Many cases can be cited where convention rather than logic determines then category under which they are actually classified. For instance, take the case of the boy who does not get his pocket money from his father straightaway but has instead, to earn it himself. He may earn it either by offering some service to his father like washing his clothes or cleaning his bicycle, or else by delivering newspapers. In each case there is an exchange of service for money. In the first two cases, the services rendered are not included in the National Income on the ground that they constitute personal services rendered within the household or family. However, in the third case the money earned by the same boy will be included in the national income as a part of the total factor earnings on the ground that it is earned through a productive activity in the form of rendering a marketed service. The most obvious perhaps the most controversial example that can be cited in this connection is that of services rendered by housewives. By convention the services of housewives are not included in the national income. Obviously, such conventions give rise to interesting cases. Similarly, consider a situation a group of housewives makes a formal arrangement under which they cook meals for each other and receive payments for their effort (something similar to Child care mentioned by the RBI Governor). In such a case the services provided by housewives for cooking meals will be considered as a part of productive activity and accordingly the reported national income will show a significant increase even though the actual flow of the total output in the economy will have remained unchanged.Let us consider the opposite situation. What happens in case when a man marries a housekeeper? From the view point of national income measurement, it may cause the reported or measured national income to decline.As observed earlier, their daily chores of cleaning, cooking or raising their children have always been ignored by national accounts - if a man marries his housekeeper and stops paying her for her work, GDP goes down. If a woman stops nursing and day care assistance from another women for her baby, GDP goes up. Thus Housewives are an invaluable unpaid Resource and definitely not unproductive.In this context it is important to note what Dr.Rajan has said. His point was even though Housewives taking care of others children contribute technically to the economy, it cannot compensate the nursing of a child by the mother which has a profound qualitative impact.It should be noticed, however, that the generally accepted practice of excluding all types of household activities while measuring the national income, is based on practical rather than logical reasons. It is extremely difficult for instance, to accurately measure in money terms the value of services rendered by housewives. Moreover, one can always argue that given the broad socio cultural structure of the country, the relative importance of housewives services will not undergo any significant change over a specified period of time so that for the purpose of judging the overall ups and downs of material income it does not really matter whether this particular item is included or not.The general rule that national income includes only market activity is not free from exceptions. In fact, exceptions arise on both sides, i.e, not all market transactions are included and not all non marketed output is excluded. Transfer payments, capital gains or losses, and illegal activities are examples of market transactions which are generally excluded from national income. Similarly, consumption of their own produce by farmers and other producers, net rental value of the owner occupied residential dwellings, and payment in kind received by workers are common examples of non-marketed output that is generally included in the national income.The treatment of non-marketed output becomes controversial issue not so much on account of disputes about its inclusion or exclusion per se as on the account of major differences of opinion on the statistical methods of valuation to be followed. Evidently non-marketed output by its very nature involves the problem of imputation. Since non-marketed output does not pass through the usual process of exchange in the market, its money value is not available directly and the same has, therefore, to be imputed on the basis of some acceptable criterion. Several procedures based on alternative assumptions regarding the imputed valuation involved can be devised for this purpose, and it would not be surprising to find that honest differences of opinion exist among experts regarding a particular procedure that should be followed in a particular case.According to experts, a woman as a housewife contributes to society directly by providing a sound foundation for a well-knit family unit and a stable society and indirectly in development of the society by giving it confident, encouraged and responsible young citizens. She inculcates positive qualities in children, which once imbibed, inevitably become part of their nature and provide guidelines for their wholesome behaviour pattern. The list goes on. Managing domestic help can be a full time job in itself and doesnt substitute for the everyday drudgery of housework that a housewife still performs.Housewives help ensure the smooth functioning of households (imagine if she went on an indefinite strike, or fell sick), but the work they perform (whether cooking, cleaning, or raising kids) isnt recorded as economic activity. Official gross domestic product statistics, in many nations, measure only the value of labor or of goods and services sold in the market. Because work at home isnt part of the market system, and doesnt receive compensation through a wage, this important social and human capital goes unrecorded in official statistics. This is true for all unpaid work, as well as goods and services not intended for, or which never reach, the market (such as fruits and vegetables grown and consumed at home).A housewife generates in each and every member of family a feeling of being wanted and loved. She provides to her spouse a tension-free atmosphere to develop his personality in full and prosper in life. He gets enough time, energy and purpose to pursue/progress in his career without any hassle. To elders she provides a desirable shelter and comfort. She is, in true sense, a trainer of a child from the childs infancy. All these jobs require lots of patience, tolerance and sense of responsibility.The silent contribution made by housewives to the economic development of the country remains to be calculated. The role of housewives in managing homes was invaluable. Imagine a case where we have to spend to you engage professionals to undertake domestic work at Home. We know it would cost us a lot. Then we would understand the role played by housewives to the development of the nations economy. Women today had come to play and occupy top posts in organisations and had made their presence felt in the business fraternity. Besides, they played a great role as chiefs of local bodies. This shows their potential.Housewives are thus an invaluable unpaid resource and their contribution to society is invaluable.Shes everything to everyone the dutiful wife, caring mother and daughter-in-law; the cook, cleaner, and manager.Until few decades ago, women were expected to stay at home, and those who wanted to work were often stigmatized. Today its mostly the other way round.In many societies work in the productive economy is valued far more than work in the domestic household economy. As discussed earlier, by the productive economy, we mean the production of services and goods that people will pay for or buy. By the term domestic household economy, we mean cooking, cleaning, ironing, emotional nurturing, care for children and the elderly. When these things are done within the family, these are not paid for. As discussed earlier, society tracks the productive economy in many ways. When we worry about joblessness we often think of jobs in the productive economy.The role of housewife has certainly changed over time. Family structures have also evolved, often with two incomes in each household. With these changes, domestic work has been redistributed amongst the women, men and children of the family. When it can be afforded, families will hire help for the range of duties to be taken care of within the home.In the past, homemaking skills were taught and passed down through generations. Some men and women choose to care for the home as a vocational choice. Others may be unemployed or underemployed, with more time to care for their home and families. But the reality remains that most people must balance both outside jobs and domestic duties to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of the family and home. The economic reality today has meant the loss of secure, lifetime employment that can provide for a family. Employment is increasingly flexible and insecure, characterized by short-term contracts and part-time, seasonal or temporary positions.Now, having known the immense contribution of a Housewife the question which arises is, how do we value the Housewife services? Often the simplest questions in life have the most complicated answers. Such is the case in measuring the value of non-market activity like volunteer hours, leisure time, and especially the value of a housewife. Critics ask how can something so much a part of our everyday experience as household service be such a challenging thing to evaluate. Of course, at the heart of the matter is the absence of explicit market pricing for housewives since it is considered as non marketed output.Economists have argued for two different methods to measure the value of a housewife: the opportunity cost method; and the replacement cost method.The fundamental idea behind the opportunity cost method is what does the household sacrifice by having the wife stay home to work? In other words, what is the opportunity cost of the housewifes time? If a female worker is earning X Rs/hour, and she decides to forgo an hour of work to do the dishes, the cost of that task is X Rs. The economist then says the X Rs measures the value of an hour of housewife service.The replacement cost approach to the problem asks: how much would it cost to replace the services of the housewife? The idea being one could go into the market place, find the wage for nannies, cooks etc., and then use these wages as the value of the housewife services. Sometimes an average is used, sometimes the wage within each specialty is used.Some experts point out limitations in these methods. The limitations are, that the Opportunity Cost approach assumes your hours of work are completely flexible. The Replacement Cost approach assumes the productivity of the wife and market replacement are the same. Both methods have a hard time dealing with full-time, long-term housewives who have been separated from the labor market for years. Both methods rely on often arbitrary measures of time devoted to household services. Both methods are silent on how to treat housewife services that are not available in the market. Both methods have a difficult time dealing with the commingling of leisure and household services. Despite limitations, both the methods seem to give a closer solution to the complex problem of valuation of Household services.Economists have long argued that, by excluding unpaid work and other important items not measured by GDP (such as the value of a clean environment), official statistics are potentially misleading and skew our understanding of the true contribution of different sectors of the economy. Research by the U.S. Department of Commerces Bureau of Economic Analysis finds that if the value of household production was included in estimating GDP, it would have added $3.8 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2010, lifting it by nearly 26%.According to the United Nations, the unpaid work done by women globally is estimated at $11 trillion USD a year. Globally, women own 1 percent of property overall, and possess less than 5 percent of the worlds income. Yet women do a disproportionately high percentage of the work when also accounting for domestic work. Healthcare Quarterly estimated that in 2007, the annual cost of homemaking (taken at an hourly wage) was an estimated $24 trillion USD when evaluated according to the market rate.Even if some of the contributions of a housewife are intangible and cannot be added to the GDP, it should not mean that their contributions are reduced to a nothing. How can one rule out the facts that even today in India, as per an NSSO survey, more than 50 per cent of rural women and 20 per cent of urban women are engaged in activities like collection of fuel wood, fetching of water after walking for kilometers, and providing a silent latent hand in small household businesses acts that go completely unpaid. Beside these, a large number of women across the country look after livestock, poultry, domestic hygiene, cooking, of course children too, and so on and so forth. Going by the assumption that these housewives work for around 10 hours per day (which again is a conservative estimate, as most of them are found working for more than 12 hours a day), if these women were paid for their daily work, even simply at par with wages set by the government under the Minimum Wages Act, a single women ends up adding a few thousands of rupees per month per family. Almost all of the work done by housewives is economic in nature as in most of the developed countries, the work that housewives do are generally carried out through paid contracts. According to experts, if we were to add the contributions made by housewives to their respective households to the National Income then the GDP would go up by many folds.According to some studies, globally, women spend roughly three times the amount of time spent by men on unpaid work. If that unpaid work were to be valued and compensated in the same way as paid work, it would contribute US$300 billion a year to Indias economic output. Thus, if this gender parity were to be tackled, we are looking at some big time growth in our GDP.Unpaid work, usually in the form of domestic labor by homemakers, exists in all economies, but its especially prevalent in developing economies and traditional societies such as India. A 2011 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development study, sampling 26 OECD member countries plus the emerging economies of India, China and South Africa, found that women overall spend an average of 4.5 hours a day doing unpaid work, roughly 2.5 hours more than men. Women from Turkey, Mexico and India spend nearly five hours more a day on unpaid work than men. India has one of the largest gender gaps in unpaid work, where men spend less than one hour per day on household chores. This is less than China and South Africa (1.5 hours) and Italy, Mexico, Portugal and Spain, and Turkey (two hours). But even in the countries, in which men and women are equal in almost all respects, theres still a slight gap of number of hours per day in terms of unpaid work.It is essential to bring out here that the Supreme Court of India has upheld the economic role of a housewife also. According to the law it is possible to apply opportunity cost in valuing a housewifes services. For instance, the monetary value of cooking for family members could be assessed in terms of what it would cost to hire a cook or to purchase ready cooked food, or by assessing how much money could be earned if the food cooked for the family were to be sold in the locality. Alternatively, the time taken for housewives to produce these services could be compared with the time that is taken to produce goods and services that are commercially viable. This is because the non-financial benefits of housewives are the time spent in attending to children, family members, and the emotional-quotient, of traditional parenting and so on, which cannot be precisely measured.The Supreme Court documented that services rendered by women in the household sustain a supply of labour to the economy and keep human societies going. If their contribution is taken for granted, this may escalate unforeseen costs, in terms of deterioration of human capabilities and the social fabric. This lack of recognition plays a role in women's high rate of poverty and social oppression.The Court opines that, "[o]ne cannot ignore or forget that the homemaker, by applying herself to the tasks at home, liberates her spouse to devote his energy and time and attention to tasks that augment his income and generate property for the family."In a case where the Wife passed away and her husband and children filed a petition under the Motor Vehicles Act to claim compensation. In calculating this, the Court decided that the quantification of her household work will be Rs. 2500/- per annum and hence using a multiplier arrived at the amount of Rs. 40,000/- to be paid as compensation. The appellants, that is, the husband and the children claimed that the compensation amount was far too low. The Court observed that in earlier cases in England dependants were to be compensated only for the value of the services lost to them by the death of a wife and mother. A wifes companionship was ignored, likewise the grief and misery caused by her departure and, so too, a mothers love, guidance and influence in bringing up children. Therefore the term services was very narrowly construed. Therefore the Court opined that a narrow meaning should not be given to the meaning of the word services but should be construed broadly and one has to take into account the loss of constant love and affection as also of personal care and attention by the deceased to her children, as a mother and to her husband, as a wife.In the case of Mehmet v. Perry quantification of housewives services was done under three headings:(a)Loss to the family of the wifes housekeeping services.(b)Loss suffered by the children of the personal attention of their mother, apart from housekeeping services rendered by her.(c)Loss of the wifes personal care and attention, which the husband had suffered, in addition to the loss of her housekeeping services.Thus, In India, there have been cases that have dealt with this issue. For instance in another, it was stated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the housewife provides gratuitous service and had no retirement age, and her death would result in the loss of security in the family and therefore the Court awarded a compensation of Rs. 50, 000. There was an instance of one more case during the early nineties, where the housewife aged 40 years died in an accident. She was self-employed and undertaking stitching work apart from managing the household. The contention that she was earning by stitching clothes was rejected by the Tribunal. This Court accepted this finding but assessed her contribution to the family for purposes of cooking, cleaning, washing clothes etc. at Rs.700/- per month or Rs. 8, 400/- per annum. On this basis, her beneficiaries were awarded compensation of Rs. 1, 26, 000/- after applying the appropriate multiplier.From the line of cases it is evident that arriving at the amount of compensation depends on the facts and circumstances of each case; the economic status of the woman and her family, whether or not she was a working woman as well, what was her age and so on.In National Insurance Company case which looks into the first perspective lays down the following as the modes of quantification Motor Vehicles Act, Second Schedule- gives a value to the compensation payable in respect of those who had no income prior to the accident and for a spouse, it says that one-third of the income of the earning surviving spouse should be the value. The opportunity cost which evaluates her wages by assessing what she would have earned had she not remained at home, that is what the opportunity is lost.The partnership method which assumes that a marriage is an equal economic partnership and in this method, the homemakers salary is valued at half her husbands salary.The replacement method which evaluates homemaking by determining how much it would cost to replace the homemaker with paid workers.An important role is played by the housewife because not only does she perform various tasks at home, but she liberates her spouse to devote his energy and time and attention to his work outside by which income and property is generated for the family. Thus in calculating the value of her housework, her husbands income becomes a very important element. Having stated this, the different modes by which unremunerated domestic activities of women are quantified can be looked into. This can be looked at through two perspectives. First, where, as a result of injury or death, the services of the housewife have been lost and second, where as a result of injury, additional services have to be provided.From a general reading of the cases dealing with this issue in India, it comes to light that Courts either determine the compensation on the actual cost of hiring a replacement of her services, or a more general assessment of the value of the housewifes services based on the current cost of domestic labour.The issue of recognition and quantification of household work by the wife has long been a part of family laws in various countries. Nordic national politicians have long focused on working mothers, giving them subsidies for elderly care and child care and, more recently, financial incentives to share parental leave. Over all, these policies have increased economic growth, raised tax revenue and given women who wanted to work more financial independence, more social benefits, more personal fulfillment - in short, what many would call more freedom. But social engineering is a blunt tool, and some worry that the freedom of working mothers has come at the expense of making outcasts of a minority who want to do things differently.According to experts, the effective way might be to recognize the contribution housewives make to the economy. "It's not about being paid," according to experts , noting that the economic value housewives create remains within their home, "it's about being valued." If ever there was a time to include unpaid housework in GDP figures, it is now, they say. Working mothers have a stake in this, too: They still do most of the unpaid work in their homes. While society recognizes their role in the conventional economy, women stand hidden and unacknowledged in what is termed by Elson as the Economy of Care.In 1990, Carol Lees, a homemaker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, risked a fine or jail time by refusing to fill out her 1991 census form. Lees was protesting the governments classification of her as unemployed, knowing all too well that she worked at least 50 hours per week. In 1991, Lees prepared an invoice to the Prime Minister for $95,843.76: a conservative estimate for three years of her homemaking services, not including overtime. Lees only accounted for the care of one child; the expenses add up when considering the costs of hiring someone to perform a homemakers tasks. These tasks include roles as chef, housecleaner, care provider for children and the elderly, and so on. The bill for all of these services over the course of a year would be just shy of $100,000 a year, or more.Lees was not prosecuted. Following this incident, changes were made to the 1996 census to recognize the economic contributions of unpaid labour in Canada. Canadians were asked to record the number of hours that they spent on tasks related to child and elder care, housework, yard work and home maintenance. Because of these census changes, important data is available about unpaid work. In 1996, 92 percent of women and 85 percent of men performed some kind of unpaid work or volunteerism in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, women performed 1482 hours of unpaid work annually and men contributed 831 hours.In the article What is a Wife Worth the authors mention the three broad factors taken into account when the services of the housewife are lost owing to death or injury. They are expenses or financial dependency (funeral, replacing her service with that of a cook, house maid, medical care and so on) earning potential or service dependency (income she may have earned had she been alive or had not been injured) and non-pecuniary losses or moral dependency (loss of love, care and affection). The authors also mention that in practice, the loss of the housewifes services is always treated as being the husbands loss rather than the wifes, that is, it is seen as the loss of a service which the husband owns rather than a loss by the wife of the capacity to do a particular kind of work.Homemakers are the foundation of the household and society. In order to truly understand the needs and capacities of communities and the nation, their work needs to be recognized and valued.The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only and that is to support the ultimate career. -C.S. LewisPrinciples of Macroeconomics. C. Rangarajan, Bakul H. Dholakia.TIMES OF INDIATHE HINDUBUSINESS STANDARDIndian ExpressSundaytimesCurrent legal issuesBusinessinfocusmagazineMintonlawfirmarindamchaudhuri.comNews centralEconomicaFirst postWSJDairy of a housewifeRappler The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will leave tomorrow evening on 6-day official visit to Japan from 29th May to 4th June, 2016. On arrival in Tokyo on 29th May, 2016, he will have meetings with CEOs of Japanese Companies (Soft Bank/JBIC). Next day, on 30th May, 2016, the Finance Minister Jaitley will attend the 22nd International Conference on The Future of Asia organized by Nikkei Inc. In the afternoon the Finance Minister will have Bilateral Meetings with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, METI Minister (Economy, Trade & Industry) and Health Minister. Next day, on 31st May, 2016, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will have meeting with Chairman, Suzuki Motor Corporation Mr. Osamu Suzuki in the morning. Thereafter, he will participate in 22nd International Conference on The Future of Asia organized by Nikkei Inc. In the afternoon he will deliver Keynote Address at the Roundtable on National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). In the evening Shri Jaitley will have meetings with President, GPIF (Government Pension Investment Fund) Mr. Norihiro Takahashi and President and CEO, JOIN (Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Cooperation for Transport and Urban Development) Mr. Takuma Hatano. In the morning on 1st June 2016, the Finance Minister have meeting with CEOs organized by JIBCC (Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee). He will also hold meetings with President, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Mr. Shinichi Kitaoka and Chairman, Hitachi, Hiroaki Nakanishi (Chair, Committee on South Asia, Keidanren). In the afternoon, Shri Jaitley will attend IIES Symposium on Indian Economy and deliver Keynote Speech there and afterwards he will leave for Osaka. On arrival at Osaka the Finance Minister will meet Indian organizations at India Club. On 2nd June, 2016, the Union Finance Minister will deliver a Lecture on India: Political, Social and Economic Change (TBC) at Osaka University. In the evening the Finance Minister will participate and address the Make In India- Investment Promotion Seminar. Thereafter he will meet select Japanese CEOs and CII delegation. On 3rd June, 2016 the Union Finance Minister Jaitley will leave for Kyoto in the morning. He will reach Tokyo in the evening from Kyoto where he will hold various meetings like meetings with President, ICIJ (The Indian Commerce & Industry Association Japan), Sr. MD, SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), CEO, Eastspring Investments etc. The Finance Minister will leave for back home on 4th June 2016 and will arrive in national capital in the evening on same day after completing his 6-day official visit to Japan. The dream of travelling and living together started from the back seat of the school bus at DPS R K Puram and turned into a reality in 2008 when Vidit Taneja (Vid), 33 and Savi Munjal (Savi), 31, owners Bruisedpassports.com, exchanged rings in court and started travelling as a couple. For Vid, his travelling instinct came from his father, but Savi realised it later when she boarded her first flight at the age of 18. When they started, they never expected the turn of events it would lead to. They never thought they would quit their jobs for travelling. But after travelling 65 countries in the last 8 years they finally did that in 2015 and today they are full-time travellers and run their own travel blog which is not just a source of information for travellers globally but also the source of their livelihood too. bruisedpassports Excerpts from a free-wheeling conversation with the couple, who were recently in town to share their travelling experiences: How and when did the idea of turning into full-time travellers happen? Vid: It all happened in 2008 when I quit my job and joined Savi in UK where she was pursing her P.Hd. It was then we decided to start exploring new places and in the same year we got married so it gave us another reason to explore new places. With time, we started loving it and made it a point to explore at least one place every month. Gradually, we started travelling 12 months and now it is like we travel 365 days. So the selection of places had a pattern or was a random choice? Savi: To be frank, it was never planned. Initially we used to look for the cheapest flights to any place and that would become our destination for the month. As we had not seen major parts of the world, every place was an experience in itself. Is the passion for travel ling inherited or you developed it with time? Savi: I was not addicted to travelling. I boarded my first flight when I was 18 and that too because I wanted to meet him in Singapore. And ever since, I have boarded almost 900 flights in past 10 years. Vid: I have inherited it from my father. In my childhood, during vacations, he made it a routine affair of travelling to at least 3-4 new places within India. holidaylettings What was the idea behind naming the blog 'Bruised Passports'? Vid: After 8 years of regular travelling, if we look at our passports it has become a thick book with three booklets relating all paper formalities of visa. It was in 2013 when we decided to start our own blog that could actually make travelling easier and cheaper for large audiences across teh globe. Thus, we thought of this name. What all information can one find on Bruised Passports? Savi: We write about everything. We write a day-by-day-breakdown blog of how we explore a particular place. We even write about how to finance a trip to make the best in budget. And that comes only if we pen down the details of every single penny we spent in a particular city/country. Apart from this, we write about how to pack for a road trip. The blog also has a section where we include our personal narratives of what we feel about the place, our likes and dislikes. Our mutual love for cafes, photography, market and heritage places also help readers to understand the best places in a city. bruisedpassports What hardships or challenges you people face while travelling to a new place? Vid: Your smile can take you places. We believe in this and on every trip it has made things easier for us. Initially, we had a fear of travelling to a new place but with time we realised that everywhere people are like us and love is what binds them together. When language becomes a barrier, our smile works and things become easy. We always travel with a positive and inquisitive mind that helps us to neglect fear and explore more. Any experience/memory from the first place you people travelled together? Savi: It was freezing in Scotland when we visited in 2008. As it was our first trip we had no clue how to go about the place. After experiencing the food and places, we decided to move out and make friends and surprisingly we made a couple of friends who have become close friends with time. Vid: All my memories travel through my camera and as it was our first trip together so I was trying my new camera. It was a full moon night and we were sitting on grass, gazing at open and clean sky. i.ytimg Both of you had quit your job in 2015. So how do you manage the travelling expenses? Savi: Yes, in 2015 we realised that we can move out and make travelling our full-time profession. Earlier, we had been juggling for a couple of years managing our office work and passion for travelling. As far as expenses are concerned, our blog/website (www.bruisedpassports.com) which has more than 1 million visitors every year helps us generate revenue through Google advertisements. Apart from this, as Vid is a professional photographer, we get photography assignments. All of this together makes us self-sufficient. With a good academic background, I also write for all the leading publications including Huffington post and national dailies. Last place you people visited and a memorable moment from the place? Vid: Last we were at Myanmar and I think the place is amazing for photographers. I used to wake up at 4.30 in the morning and take my rented scooter to drive to Vantage point where there are 2200 Buddhist temples and from behind the temples your get a scenic view of sunrise. It is worth capturing. i.ytimg After travelling to 65 countries, how do you feel about your own country? Vid: Earlier the concept of 'Incredible India' was difficult to understand. But after travelling the world, we have realised that actually India is incredible in every sense. Right from diversified culture to food habits, we have abundant heritage to explore, write and talk about. The only thing we found easier in other countries was government related paper formalities. In India, it is still a daunting task. We can say this because with each trip we face new challenges and that disappoints your patience level. We feel that the government needs to make things a little easy for common people. bruisedpassports How would you describe the entire experience of travelling? Savi: For me it is all about inner happiness. It has helped me to understand that irrespective of caste and color, somewhere we all think alike. It's a humbling thought. Vid: I think for me it is all about education. School and college education is compulsory, but with my experience I feel one should travel to at least one place every year. It not only relaxes you, but also gives a different perspective and keeps you grounded. Researchers from the University of California have reported of a planet about 1,200 light-years away from Earth. In all probabilities, this planet has surface water with a good chance of supporting a habitable world for humans. Called Kepler-62f, it is in the direction of constellation Lyra and is about 40 percent bigger than our planet Earth. "At that size, Kepler-62f is within the range of planets that are likely to be rocky and possibly could have oceans," said Aomawa Shields, lead author and an astrophysics postdoctoral fellow. wikipedia Back in 2013, during NASA's Kepler mission the planet was identified as the outermost of five planets orbiting a star that is smaller and cooler than our Sun. But the mission didn't reveal a lot about the atmosphere, composition or the shape of the planet. The team at the university, in order to determine whether it could support human life, came up with scenarios about what its atmosphere might be like and what the shape of the orbit might be. Talking about it, Shields added, "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." clarksvilleonline.com But since Kepler-62f is much farther away from its star than Earth is from the Sun, it would need more carbon dioxide in its atmosphere to be warm enough to maintain liquid water on the surface. Shields believes for the planet to be consistently habitable throughout its year, it would require an atmosphere that is three to five times thicker than Earth's and composed entirely of carbon dioxide. On Earth, carbon dioxide makes up 0.04 percent of the atmosphere. More than 2,300 exoplanets have been confirmed so far, but only a couple of dozen planets are known to be in the "habitable zone". Two years back, 20-year-old Mashal, along with her two siblings and parents, shifted base from the Sindh province of Pakistan to Jaipur. The parents apparently wanted to avoid religious persecution and make their daughter a doctor but that dream looks difficult right now. Even though Mashal passed her class XII exams with flying colours, scoring 91 per cent, her future looks bleak. Since she's a foreigner on paper, she cannot appear for the all-India pre-medical test, the entrance exam for the undergraduate MBBS course. As per the form, There are only two nationality options in the (application) form: Indian, and Overseas Citizen of India/Non-Resident Indian. I am not in either category, Mashal told The Indian Express. The Indian Express Mashal's parents, who also happen to be doctors by profession, quit their jobs a couple of years back and moved to India in order to secure a bright future for their children. Since her parents, who work at a private hospital in the pink city, cannot afford to send the bright girl to a private college, sitting for the all-India entrance test is her best bet. They (private colleges) charge a minimum Rs 1 crore in a donation. So if she doesnt get admission in a government medical college, we dont see how she can become a doctor, her father said. The family has been doing everything in their power, from requesting the ministries of External Affairs to Health, even the HRD but a solution still hasn't been found, unfortunately. The Rajasthan government also can't do anything about the situation since all the entrance examinations are conducted by the centre. meritnation.com The family has been going through a very difficult time ever since they decided to move from Pakistan. Shifting meant Mashal had already lost a year. As for Mashal's parents (names withheld due to safety concerns), who were practically forced to move out of Pakistan for being Hindus, the ordeal just doesn't seem to end. We continue to live under labels: Hindus there (in Pakistan), Pakistanis here (in India), her father said. Nagaland: land of potholes "Potholes is draining our economy" No road no development Good road is the lifeline of progress Saturday, the 14th of May, saw residents of Nagaland holding such placards, drawing the apathy of the government towards the plight and untold hardships of people due to bad roads. NagaBlog_Protest Imagine a situation where patients are compelled to be airlifted due to deplorable road conditions. Surprised? Don't be! For this is what often happens in Nagaland! Thus, to fight for their right for good roads, hundreds of concerned citizens came together under the banner of Concerned Citizens of Nagaland (CCN) forum and launched the campaign for good roads on the theme Good Roads, Citizens Right. The campaign aimed at portraying the unbearable grievances and untold hardships faced by the public who commute daily through unmotorable roads, even within city limits. Read Also: Second Round Of Cyclonic Storm Hits Nagaland in Two Weeks Leaving More Than 1,000 Homeless The main objective, according to the CCN, is to demand quality roads, which is the right of every citizen. The right-thinking citizens are no longer able to compromise their rights and the Government is duty and honour bound to provide quality development to the people it represents and governs, the CNN asserted. While highlighting the deplorable state of roads even within Dimapur city limits in particular and around the state in general, the forum said citizens of Nagaland felt left behind in terms of development when compared to neighbouring states. Pranjali Bhonde The forum, therefore, appealed to the government to provide quality workmanship for long-lasting and progressive development. CCN further appealed to the government to rescue the citizens through progressive governance in the interest of public welfare. CCN also sought the personal intervention of the governor into the matter to direct the officials responsible to implement road repair works. It expressed hope that the cries of the citizens would not fall on deaf ears and the government would heed the genuine desire of the masses and provide good and lasting roads to the citizens of the state at the earliest on priority. Importance of road transport Pranjali Bhonde The importance of good roads cannot be stressed enough. Effective and efficient transportation provides economic benefits that result in multiplier effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment and additional investments. Consequently, citizens who are deprived of transportation infrastructure miss out on several economic opportunities. The lack of good roads and effective transportation system lead to lack of opportunities and development. Availability of an effective and efficient (satisfactory) transport system is thus, important as it helps facilitate production by increasing accessibility and mobility. NVCO's appeal While stating that deplorable road conditions was one of the major public grievance of the citizens, the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers Organisation (NVCO) urged every citizen to raise their voice against bad roads because bad roads eventually tantamount to human rights violation. The NVCO extended its support and appreciation to every citizen in fighting for their rights. Pranjali Bhonde The NVCO also stated that the Government as a welfare state is responsible for all the bad roads and citizens had the right to demand good roads, while insisting that citizens deserve good roads. Read Also: These Images Of A Dying Tattoo Form Of Nagaland Will Make You Want To Get Inked, Like Now The NVCO has been touring all districts over the past few years conducting awareness programmes on various topics concerning citizens rights. In 2015, the NVCO team had interacted with civil society, tribal hohos, churches, students, youth, women, and district administration during their visit to various districts. Pranjali Bhonde Citing instances of serious patients being compelled to be airlifted to Kohima and Dimapur hospitals by helicopters due to the deplorable road condition, the NVCO maintained that the cost of airlifting in order to save ones life was borne by selling off valuable personal properties. Representation to the Governor of Nagaland The CCN forum also submitted a representation to the Governor of Nagaland, P.B. Acharya through DC Dimapur which was signed by members of Core Group CCN. The same representation was also submitted to the chief minister of Nagaland, minister of road and bridges, minister (NH) and chief secretary. Meanwhile, CCN has reiterated that the campaign was not against any individual, party or government but to draw attention of the government towards the plight and untold hardships of the people. Pranjali Bhonde After the programme, volunteers proceeded to the Holy Cross junction, Nagarjan Junction and Purana Bazaar and pasted stickers on vehicles of willing citizens who shared a common concern for the public cause. Slogan-stickers have also been distributed to concerned citizen volunteers from other districts to reach out to the citizens across the state, it said. The CCN forum stated that the response from the citizens for the campaign was overwhelming, which, it said signified an urgent desire for change in the condition of roads". In Nine Democratic Debates, Not a Single Question About Poverty By Adam Johnson May 28, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " FAIR " - Over 45 million Americans live in povertybut you wouldnt think potential leaders of the country are expected to know or care anything about this, listening to the questions asked by the elite journalists who moderated the Democratic debates this primary season. A FAIR analysis of all nine democratic debates over the past seven months shows that not one question was asked about poverty. By contrast, 30 questions were asked about ISIS or terrorism (almost half of them concentrated in the December 19 debate, which took place days after the San Bernardino shootings) and 11 questions were asked Russia. Ten questions were asked about socialism or communism, all of which were directed at Bernie Sanders. The candidates themselves have brought up poverty, either in their prepared remarks or in response to more abstract questions about the economy. Sanders brought up poverty in all but two debates, broaching the topic 12 times, or approximately 1.3 times per debate. Clinton brought up the issue five times in total, or a little more than once every other debate. According to the 2014 census, 14.5 percent of Americans, or over 45 million people, live in poverty, up from 11.3 percent in 2000. Child poverty (which Sanders points out consistently) is especially troubling, with an estimated 16 million Americans under the age of 18 living below the poverty line. A 2011 study attributed 133,000 deaths a year to poverty-related illnesses. Poverty has also been linked to diminished IQ in childrenin the United States, but not in other wealthy countriesand has been shown to impact economic gains, overall health and quality of life. Put simply: Poverty touches large swaths of America, by any objective metric. Americans are literally a million times more likely to live in poverty than to have been killed by jihadi terror since 9/11: The total figure for the latter is 45, or about 3 people a year. According to the Washington Post (11/23/15), the average American is more likely to be killed by home furniture than a terrorist. While vague notions of inequality or economic anxiety were touched on occasionally, the issue of poverty and its effects remained entirely absent. No specific questions about poverty, its causes or possible federal solutions were asked by any of the moderators in any of the nine debates. If any of the candidates had a plan to ameliorate the plight of the poor, the moderators werent interested in hearing about it. Eight out of the nine debates were hosted by a subsidiary or joint venture of one of four corporations: Comcast, Viacom, Disney and Time Warner (combined market value $383 billion). CORRECTION: The rate per year for Islamist terror deaths was originally given as 0.33, not 3. Candidate mentions of poverty adjusted. Adam Johnson is a contributing analyst for FAIR.org. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamJohnsonNYC. The Speech Obama Should Have Given in Hiroshima By Matt Peppe Barack Obama became the first U.S. President to visit Hiroshima on Friday, more than seven decades after the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped a 10,000-pound atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on the city whose military value was far less than that of Tampa to the United States. More than 70,000 people were instantly killed, and virtually the entire city was flattened. Many survivors would suffer prolonged and unimaginably painful aftereffects of radiation, which would cost at least 100,000 more people their lives. The effects of radiation would harm people for years and decades after the initial explosion. Obama stood at a podium with the epicenter of the blast, the Genbaku Domu, in the background and said that he had "come to mourn the dead." While Obama mourned, there was one thing he did not do: apologize. He said that "death came from the sky." No mention of why. Or who was responsible, as if it were a natural disaster rather than a crime perpetrated by actual people. Obama was either unwilling or unable to confront the truth and make amends. Here's what he could have said to try to do so: May 28, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, an American warplane unleashed the most horrific and inhuman weapon ever invented, immediately imperiling the survival of the entire human species. This act of terrorism was the ultimate crime: a crime of mass murder, a crime of war, and a crime against humanity. The victims, those who died incinerated in a flash, and those who died slowly and painfully over years from chemical poisoning, were never able to see justice served. Sadly, there is no way the criminals who carried out this heinous and barbaric act will ever face justice for their crimes. I cannot change that. But, there is one thing I can do as the leader of the nation in whose name the bombing of Hiroshima was carried out: I can tell you, residents of Hiroshima and the rest of Japan, that I am sorry. I am sorry on behalf of my government and my country. I wish an American President would have come earlier and said this. This apology is decades overdue. It is a small and symbolic act, but it is necessary as a first step for true reconciliation. A nuclear bomb should have never been dropped on Hiroshima. The most important goal of mankind should be to ensure that no nuclear bomb is ever dropped again. Anywhere in the world. Ever. It would be easy to stand here and tell you that there are reasons why the American military and political officials chose to use a nuclear bomb. I could say it served a greater good of saving lives that would have been lost if the war had continued. I could say it was a decision made by people who were dealing with the pressure and horrors of fighting a war. But that would not be the truth. Those would be empty rationalizations. There is no justification for the bomb. Period. The truth is that by August 6, 1945 Japan was defeated and had been seeking a conditional surrender for months. And American war planners knew this. They knew it because they had cracked the Japanese code and were intercepting their messages. [1] Japan was willing to surrender under the condition that their Emperor, who was seen as a God among the Japanese people, be allowed to maintain his throne and not be prosecuted for war crimes. The Emperor himself called for "a plan to end the war" six weeks before the fateful day. [2] After so much unspeakable death and destruction, this reasonable offer should have been met with ecstatic celebration and relief. Instead, U.S. officials disregarded it. They decided that it was necessary not just to defeat Japan, but to leave them utterly humiliated and disgraced. They wanted to demonstrate to their public that they could force another country to lay prostrate in front of them in complete submission. This is the mindset of terrorists, torturers, and sadists. The United States joined with China and Great Britain to issue the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, in which they called on Japan "to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces." These were terms they understood Japan could not accept. Unfortunately, the use of the atomic bomb had become inevitable after the massive investment of time and treasure represented by the Manhattan Project. Military planners worried about "the possibility that after spending huge amounts of money ... the bomb would be a dud. They could easily imagine being grilled mercilessly by hostile members of Congress." Historian and former Nuclear Regulatory Commission employee J. Samuel Walker confirmed that aside from "shortening the war and saving American lives, Truman wanted to justify the expense and effort required to build the atomic bombs." That financial considerations and a self-interested desire for bureaucrats to validate themselves and protect their careers could lead to the single most destructive and cruel act in history is an abomination. It is a deep offense to the idea that people are innately moral, and it makes us ask how in a democratic society we can vest people with the authority to make decisions of such profound impact secretly and without accountability? Walker notes that another consideration for using the bomb on Hiroshima was to put fear into the leaders of the Soviet Union and make them "more amenable to American wishes." Just six weeks earlier the UN Charter had been established. It included the demand that "all members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force" against other states. The drafters could of the treaty could never have imagined such an unconscionable violation of their words so soon after the monumental pact had been written. As horrific as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima was, it did not occur in a vacuum. What no one in mainstream American political discourse has so far been able to admit is that not only was there no justification for the bomb, there was little justification for the war against Japan in the first place. The war was the result of the notion, which first emanated from the Council on Foreign Relations in 1941, that the U.S.'s "national interest" called for a "Grand Area" that consisted of the Western hemisphere, the British Empire and the Far East, while assuming the majority of Europe would be controlled by Nazi Germany. This was translated into a policy that demanded a military confrontation with Japan for control of the Far East. [3] A pillar in this policy was an economic embargo against Japan. Cut off from imports and raw materials from the United States and Great Britain, Japan grew desperate and subsequently sought to expand its Empire. Japan saw itself in need of a sphere of influence involving the same areas in the Far East as the United States. The U.S. had several options to avoid war. For one, they could develop a program of agricultural and economic self-sufficiency which would allow them to insulate themselves from dependence on colonial powers, as well as allow them to steer clear of unpredictable and potentially hostile regions of the world. But for businessmen who wanted to maintain control over the direction of the economy and keep their own fortunes growing at a limitless pace, this was a nonstarter. Instead, they were dedicated to challenging Japan. Hence, the embargo and the buildup for an inevitable military confrontation over Eastern Asia. This is the background to Pearl Harbor. Japan was obviously not justified for attacking sovereign American territory in a blatant act of aggression. But we cannot pretend that it was not predictable or logical from their point of view. Japan felt itself backed into a corner by the embargo. They felt they needed to expand further into Asia. They believed that if they did so, the U.S. military would have attacked them. They were right. Both countries should have worked together to recognize each other's perceived interests, deescalate, and achieve a mutually acceptable compromise. It is the ability to understand one's perceived adversary as a rational counterpart, rather than an evil and irrational enemy, that separates humans from beasts. If we are not able to use this ability, we are no better than a predator seeking his prey. The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima did not need to happen. But the bombing that took place on this site was just a symptom of the war it was part of. War will necessarily produce horrific crimes, some of which are unimaginable at the time they happen. As horrific as the nuclear bomb was, 70 years of technological advancements have made not just the destruction of an entire city, but of an entire country or continent within the realm of possibility. We need to eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth. But that is not enough. Chemical weapons like napalm, Agent Orange, depleted uranium, and white phosphorous; biological weapons like Dengue bacteria and germ bombs; and conventional weapons like cluster bombs, pineapple bomblets, butterfly bombs and land mines are just some of the savage weapons used by the U.S. military alone in the years since the close of World War II to kill and maim millions of people. Many other countries possess similar weapons of mass destruction and have the capacity to do the same. We need to eliminate war. All war. Forever. War is evil, plain and simple. We cannot undo the actions of the past. But we can let them guide us to a better world where we don't repeat the horrors that the people of Hiroshima suffered here 71 years ago. That will be the only way to prevent the victims from having died in vain. References [1] Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. pp. 423. [2] U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey: The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, June 19, 1946. President's Secretary's File, Truman Papers. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=33&documentid=65&documentdate=1946-06-19&studycollectionid=abomb&groupid= [3] Shoup, Laurence H. and William Minter. Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy . Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press, 2004. Matt Peppe writes about politics, U.S. foreign policy and Latin America on his blog. You can follow him on twitter. Faith in Big Trade Deals Keeps Crumbling Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of globalization? By Murray Dobbin May 28, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Tyee " - At the height of the battle over the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement in the 1980s, full page ads promised the deal would bring "more jobs, better jobs." The ads were expensive, but easily afforded by Canada's 160 largest public corporations, who paid for them as the Business Council on National Issues. The ad blitz was intended counter the effective campaign by opponents who warned Canadians that tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs would be lost. Opponents won the battle for hearts and minds but lost the 1988 election on the issue, thus making Canada and the US "free trade" guinea pigs. Hundreds of such deals have been signed since, in spite of the fact that the critics were right. Canada lost some 334,000 jobs between 1988 and 1994 as a direct result. Still, since 1988, the promoters of these investment protection agreements have held sway in large part because of massive support by corporate media. Now, three decades later, citizens around the world are waking up and asking: just whom do governments govern for? Battlegrounds in US and Europe That question is being raised loudly in the E.U. and the U.S. In those two powerhouse economies, opposition to such deals could save us from more of them. On the line specifically are the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Canada's proposed deal with the E.U., the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). If the U.S.-E.U. deal (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - TTIP) fails CETA is unlikely to survive. So-called trade deals empower transnational corporations by radically compromising the nation-state's capacity for democratic governance. This emasculation of democracy is accomplished in large part through the investor-state provisions which allow corporations to directly sue government for profits lost due to environmental, health or other legislation. Governments sign these agreements enthusiastically promising jobs and growth. But, while it has taken almost two generations, millions of American workers simply no longer believe the rhetoric. Fuelling Trump and Sanders Increasingly grim inequality has revealed the broken promise and American workers are pissed. That is in large part what drives the mind-boggling Trump phenomenon in the U.S. It's not exactly class warfare but Trump supporters sense the system as a whole, political and economic, is truly broken. And the support for Bernie Sanders is as close to class conflict as the U.S. ever gets. For the first time in over 30 years, these corporate rights deals are a hot U.S. election issue with all three remaining candidates opposing the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Equally important, the state apparatus itself is showing cracks in its own consensus. This has taken the form of leaks from within the U.S. government about the TTIP and a government study of the benefits of the TPP to the U.S. Both present genuine threats to the future of these agreements in the U.S. And defeats in the US could be the death knell for these deals everywhere. The leak regarding the TTIP came right on the heels of the typical reassuring noises from the Obama administration regarding protection for labour and the environment standards in the TTIP. According to an article titled "The Free-Trade Consensus Is Dead" in The New Republic magazine, "documents leaked by Greenpeace Netherlands revealed that U.S. negotiators working on a trade deal with the European Union have actually been pressuring their trading partners to lower those same standards." The leak was a revelation to the French trade minister who declared that the talks were "likely to stop altogether" as a result. (In 1998 France killed the Multilateral Agreement on Investment -- the largest deal ever conceived.) Alarms from within The second nail in the coffin of free trade consensus in the U.S. came from a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) analysis of the benefits the U.S. could expect from the even larger deal, the TPP. The report, released this past week, will be difficult for promoters to explain away: "...the ITC estimates a worsening balance of trade for 16 out of 25 U.S. agriculture, manufacturing, and services sectors... Indeed, output in the manufacturing sector would be $11.2 billion lower with TPP than without it in 2032... the proposed 12-nation trade deal will increase the U.S. global trade deficit by $21.7 billion by 2032." Could these instances of clear resistance to the accepted wisdom "free trade" deals be the beginning of the end of corporate globalization? I am not suggesting that the governments of developed countries are going to suddenly return to the good old days of the post-war social contract. But what has allowed them to proceed for three decades with political impunity has been the power of ideology to overwhelm evidence and reason. Breaking the spell Neo-liberalism has held sway for so long it has been almost impossible for ordinary citizens to imagine anything different. But now they can -- not just because of political outliers Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders but because Hillary Clinton, a long-time, fervent backer of neoliberal trade deals, is now watering down such enthusiasm on the campaign trail and even switching her position to oppose the TPP. Once members of the political elite begin to question the high priests of free trade the spell is broken and all sorts of alternative political narratives present themselves. It takes an accumulation of unlikely suspects breaking with the consensus before that happens and we have already seen some high-profile defectors from the TPP -- including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, economist Jeffrey Sachs and in Canada RIM co-founder Jim Balsillie. At first the Teflon seemed to hold but there is always a lag time when it comes to cultural change. In Canada, regrettably, Balsillie's warnings about trade deals stifling creativity and consigning Canada to "colonialism" that costs us billions of dollars aren't likely to be echoed any time soon by most members of our corporate elite. It is the nature of ideology that if the medicine doesn't work, increase the dose. Unless more Canadians speak out on these investment protection agreements and get behind their counterparts in the United States and European Union, the Liberal government will keep prescribing the same medicine. Murray Dobbin is an author, commentator and journalist. He is the author of five books and is a former columnist with Financial Post and Winnipeg Free Press. He is a board member of Canadians for Tax Fairness and on the advisory council of the Rideau Institute. He lives in Powell River, BC. Paul Craig Roberts on Press TV debating TTIP Our Prospects Against The Russians And Chinese In World War III By Paul Craig Roberts May 28, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - The Saker reports that Russia is preparing for World War III, not because Russia intends to initiate aggression but because Russia is alarmed by the hubris and arrogance of the West, by the demonization of Russia, by provocative military actions by the West, by American interference in the Russian province of Chechnya and in former Russian provinces of Ukraine and Georgia, and by the absence of any restraint from Western Europe on Washingtons ability to foment war. http://thesaker.is/how-russia-is-preparing-for-wwiii/ Like Steven Starr, Stephen Cohen, myself, and a small number of others, the Saker understands the reckless irresponsibility of convincing Russia that the United States intends to attack her. It is extraordinary to see the confidence that many Americans place in their militarys ability. After 15 years the US has been unable to defeat a few lightly armed Taliban, and after 13 years the situation in Iraq remains out of control. This is not very reassuring for the prospect of taking on Russia, much less the strategic alliance between Russia and China. The US could not even defeat China, a Third World country at the time, in Korea 60 years ago. Americans need to pay attention to the fact that their government is a collection of crazed stupid fools likely to bring vaporization to the United States and all of Europe. Russian weapons systems are far superior to American ones. American weapons are produced by private companies for the purpose of making vast profits. The capability of the weapons is not the main concern. There are endless cost overruns that raise the price of US weapons into outer space. The F-35 fighter, which is less capable than the F-15 it is supposed to replace, costs between $148 million and $337 million per fighter, depending on whether it is an Air Force, Marine Corps, or Navy model. http://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/31/how-dods-15-trillion-f-35-broke-the-air-force.html A helmet for a F-35 pilot costs $400,000, more than a high end Ferrari. http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/10/26/f-35-helmet-costs-400000-4-times-predecessor/73826180/ (Washington forces or bribes hapless Denmark into purchasing useless and costly F-35: http://sputniknews.com/news/20160528/1040395012/denmark-f-35-military-nato-lockheed.html) It is entirely possible that the world is being led to destruction by nothing more than the greed of the US military-security complex. Delighted that the reckless and stupid Obama regime has resurrected the Cold War, thus providing a more convincing enemy than the hoax terrorist one, the Russian threat has been restored to its 20th century role of providing a justification for bleeding the American taxpayer, social services, and the US economy dry in behalf of profits for armament manufacturers. However, this time Washingtons rhetoric accompanying the revived Cold War is far more reckless and dangerous, as are Washingtons actions, than during the real Cold War. Previous US presidents worked to defuse tensions. The Obama regime has inflated tensions with lies and reckless provocations, which makes it far more likely that the new Cold War will turn hot. If Killary gains the White House, the world is unlikely to survive her first term. All of Americas wars except the firstthe war for independencewere wars for Empire. Keep that fact in mind as you hear the Memorial Day bloviations about the brave men and women who served our country in its times of peril. The United States has never been in peril, but Washington has delivered peril to numerous other countries in its pursuit of hegemony over others. Today for the first time in its history the US faces peril as a result of Washingtons attempts to assert hegemony over Russia and China. Russia and China are not impressed by Washingtons arrogance, hubris, and stupidity. Moreover, these two countries are not the native American Plains Indians, who were starved into submission by the Union Armys slaughter of the buffalo. They are not the tired Spain of 1898 from whom Washington stole Cuba and the Philippines and called the theft a liberation. They are not small Japan whose limited resources were spread over the vastness of the Pacific and Asia. They are not Germany already defeated by the Red Army before Washington came to the war. They are not Granada, Panama, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, or the various Latin American countries that General Smedley Butler said the US Marines made safe for the United Fruit Company and some lousy bank investment. An insouciant American population preoccupied with selfies and delusions of military prowess, while its crazed government picks a fight with Russia and China, has no future. 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 . Blair, not Corbyn, was Dangerous Experiment By Jonathan Cook May 28, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - By God, how Tony Blair and his ilk have degraded the public discourse. He warns that a Jeremy Corbyn government would be a very dangerous experiment. In fact, it would not be an experiment at all. Ideologically, it would look a lot like the government of, say, Clement Attlee in 1945, which brought us such dangerous experiments as the National Health Service. And that, of course, was exactly how the welfare state was portrayed by the Conservatives of the time. The real experiment was the series of Thatcherite governments the UK has endured since Margaret Thatchers election in 1979, including the 10 years under Blair and his New Labour party. This dangerous experiment in neoliberalism dug us deep into an economic hole, and made us incapable of showing the solidarity necessary to begin the fight to reverse climate change. In fact, that experiment is looking increasingly likely to prove lethal for the human species. A Corbyn government wouldnt be experimental. It would be a return to the kind of compassion-based politics that once made sense to large swathes of the public before neoliberalism worked so hard to persuade us that we live in a jungle in which only the fittest should survive. It is a mark of the growing disgust with neoliberalism and its outcomes massive inequality, socialism for the rich, political croneyism, compulsive consumption and accelerated climate change that people, especially young people, are turning their backs on their corrupt elites and looking for those like Corbyn and Bernie Sanders old enough to remember a time and politics before the Thatcher and Reagan era. In truth, the biggest danger with Corbyn is that he may not be radical or experimental enough. Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism http://www.jonathan-cook.net/ Here Comes Donald!: Duck By Fred Reed 8 U.S. Code 1324a: (1)In general It is unlawful for a person or other entity (A) to hire, or to recruit or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien (as defined in subsection (h)(3)). Oh God. Oh God. Its Hillary or Trump. The first, a loathsome Gorgon paddling about in the bubbling corruption and fetor of Washington, a political hooker in a plastic miniskirt crooning Ill l do anything for a donation to my foundation. On this soiled caryatid we are going to rest the weight of the nation? ButTrump? A huckstering bully growling, I can whip any man in this bar. He doesnt seem to have looked around the bar very carefully. Ill vote for him because the alternative is too horrible to contemplate, butbut. I read with astonishment his proposed policy toward Mexico. Truculence, ignorance, carney showmanship, and a weird view of Mexico. He sees it as both an enemy country and as a malign being, sentient, diabolical, bent on hurting the United States. This seems to parallel his approach to the rest of the world. His goal regarding Latinosthe prevention of illegal immigration and the repatriation of illegal immigrantsis commendable. A country has the right to determine who enters. Some of his plans would effect this end. Yet he seems to have little understanding of the problem and believes that Mexico, which he despises, is the cause. How so? Americas immigration mess is entirely self-inflicted. In 1965 the United States changed its laws to encourage immigration. Mexico didnt change Americas laws. Ever since, American businessmen have knowingly, eagerly hired illegal immigrants in large numbers and exerted influence to maintain the influx. The American government under Obama encourages illegal immigration, and former administrations have looked the other way. The Democrats push for naturalization explicitly to get the votes. States give illegals drivers licenses, health care, and schooling. Sanctuary cities openly defy laws as, again, does the federal government. Border patrols have been ordered, by Obama, virtually to stand down. None of this was done by Mexico. He is mad about the use of welfare by illegals. Trump quote: U.S. taxpayers have been asked to pick up hundreds of billions in healthcare costs, housing costs, education costs, welfare costs, etc. How much sense does this make? America offers these things and then complains when they are accepted. If you dont want illegal aliens on welfare, dont give them welfare. Is this a difficult concept? Why is Mexico to blame for Americas stupidity? Yet we have Trump eagerly planning ways to punish Mexico. From his web page: There is no doubt that Mexico is engaging in unfair subsidy behavior that has eliminated thousands of U.S. jobs. Fact: American businesses have moved factories to Mexico. Mexico did not force them to do this. In the United States, American businessmen intentionally give jobs to illegals. The illegals accept them. They do not take them. How could they? At gunpoint? Trump is either dishonest, naive, or thinks like a ten-year-old. Then we have: Mexico has taken advantage of us in another way as well: gangs, drug traffickers and cartels have freely exploited our open borders and committed vast numbers of crimes inside the United States. Always Mexico is a conscious, malevolent being. Again Trump is blankly ignorant. Fact: Mexico does not sell drugs in the United States. The cartels do. Mexico cannot control the cartels (as neither can the United States), which dominate large parts of the country, fight battles against the army and police, kill reporters and the families of soldiers known to take part in operations against them. The cartels do far more harm to Mexico than to the United States. Wikipedia: By the end of Felipe Calderons administration (200612), the official death toll of the Mexican Drug War was at least 60,000. [ Estimates set the death toll above 120,000 killed by 2013, not including 27,000 missing. Thats taking advantage of the US? Mexican cops, soldiers, and reporters are dying in Americas drug war. Americans are not. If Trump doesnt know the foregoing, he is anpolitical gerbil proposing policy without bothering to do minimal homework. If he does know it, he is a con man. Mexicans occasionally ask, If Americans dont want drugs, why do they buy them? The market for drugs exists in the first place because Americans very much want drugs: high-school students want them, often middle-schoolers, college kids, high-dollar lawyers, Congressmen on the Hill doing lines of coke at parties, liberals, conservatives, libertarians, the residue of the Sixties. Washington doesnt want Americans to have their drugs. It is Americas problem. Trumps plan to require proof of citizenship to remit money to Latin America makes sense and would be effective. So would eVerify. No reason exists to make life easy for criminal alienswhich, since illegal entry into America is a crime, includes all illegals. But he is going to force Mexico to, grrr, woof, to pay for his border wall, the brown bastards. Quote: Its an easy decision for Mexico: make a one-time payment of $5-10 billion to ensure that $24 billion continues to flow into their country year after year. This is extortionhe could equally say Give us fifty billion or we will bomb Guadalajara. We could profitably use the approach on Canada. It embodies his curious notion that Mexico has responsibility to enforce Americas immigration laws when the US makes no effort to enforce them. Which would be easy, except that America doesnt really want to do it. It is illegal to hire illegals. See USC above. Heavy penalties are on the books. Nowhere, as far as I can determine, does Trump suggest applying those penalties to CEOs, farmers, rich women with illegal maids, and construction firms. Leading a few dozen employers in handcuffs to the paddy wagon would have an immediate effect. Make it a rebuttable presumption that if more than ten percent of a work force are criminally in the United States, the employer knows it. In the case of corporations, deny federal contracts to companies convicted to hiring criminal aliens. As President in control of the Justice Department, Trump could begin enforcing the laws on his first day in office. If Trump wont move against criminal employersif you break the law, you are a criminal, and hiring illegals is against the lawhow can one regard him as more than a grandstanding opportunist? Over and over, the pugnacity, the threatening: Quote: Again, we have the leverage so Mexico will back down. Over and over, if we do this, it will hurt Mexico (or China in other statements) more than it will hurt us. We have the leverage, the power. We can do what we want to them. What if Mexico didnt back down? Here we have fertile ground for unintended and unpredictable consequences. There are things that governments cannot do and stay in power. Caving in to extortion may be one. The demand to pay for a wall would be a Kiss my ass, Pedro moment. It is clearly intended as such. If Mexico said No and Trump blocked remittances, his ego being threatened, it would be seen as a war on Mexico, Mexicans, and Latinos in general. Which it would be. There are at least fifty-five million Latinos in the United States. Most are legal and not going anywhere. How wise is it for the President to attack them as Latinos, to describe them in insulting and inaccurate terms, to blame them for things they havent done, and create antagonism between the US and Mexico? All of this thrills white nationalists, many of whom seem to want revenge as much as they want an end to immigration. But America probably doesnt really need another huge, hostile, self-aware racial group. Perhaps Trump should avoid creating one. Also worth noting is that Mexico is not the banana republic of popular imagination. It is a major trading partner of the US, a nation of about 120 million, the first or second economy in Latin America depending on what Brazil is doing at the moment, with a rapidly expanding middle class. It is also host to enormous investment by American firms. For example, Ford is about to build a $1.6 billion plant here. The Donalds school-yard-bully approach plays well with many of his constituents, but making enemies to the south is not going to help either country. But this is a grown-up consideration. We are talking about national politics. Freds Biography, As He Tells It: Fred, a keyboard mercenary with a disorganized past, has worked on staff for Army Times, The Washingtonian, Soldier of Fortune, Federal Computer Week, and The Washington Times. http://fredoneverything.org/ The nasty divorce battle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, is getting dirtier by the day. TMZ reports that the Hollywood actress has reportedly filed a domestic violence restraining order against Depp, complete with photographic evidence of the alleged violence she had suffered. The actress who filed for divorce on Monday, May 23, 2016, after barely over a year of marriage to Depp, had reportedly cited irreconcilable differences in her divorce petition as the reason for their divorce. Following the revelation that Heards request for spousal support had been turned down, the actress seems to be coming up with new reasons to cash out from the divorce. Spousal support reportedly takes into consideration several factors such as, how long the marriage lasted and the needs of the individuals involved. Considering the fact that Depp might lose $200 million, which is half of his fortune to Heard, due to lack of a prenuptial agreement, Mirror UK reports that the 52-year-old actors seems prepared for battle and has reportedly hired top divorce lawyer, Laura Wasser, to handle the case. A Federal High Court in Lagos has granted the Federal Government injunctions freezing local and foreign assets and funds traced to two Nigerian businessmen, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, as well as their companies Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited (AEDC), Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited (AEBD). The duo are accused of benefiting from some shady transactions with the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. They are also said to owe the federal government the sum of $1.8 billion. In an ex-parte ruling, Justice O. O. Oguntoyinbo granted mareva injunctions restraining the duo from dealing with the funds in some local and foreign banks and assets in Nigeria and abroad, pending the determination of a substantive suit filed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Justice Oguntoyinbo, in the ruling, restrained the defendants, themselves, agents, directors, among others, from giving any instruction demanding, accepting or receiving payment from banks and other companies listed as In Re: 1 34 on the face of the motion paper and or giving any sale or transfer instruction, demanding, accepting or receiving any payment or sale or dividend on the shares owned by the defendants, their servants, agents, privies, sister companies, their nominees in the aforesaid companies and or persons listed as In Re: 28 -39 on the face of the motion on notice filed herein. The banks and companies listed in the motion include Access Bank, Citi Bank, Diamond Bank, Eco Bank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank (local banks). The off shore financial institutions are BNP Paribas (Switzerland), LGT Bank (Switzerland), Standard Chartered Bank (London),Barclays Bank (London), Standard Energy (Voduz, Switzerland), HSBC (London), Corner Bank (Lugano, Switzerland) and Deutsche Bank (Geneva). The companies include Mia Hotels Ltd, First Motors Ltd, V.I. Petrochemical Ltd, Evergreen Realty & Management, Ox Trade Ltd, De First Union Integrated Services, Amity Plus Ltd and Seven Energy International Ltd. This year has brought along mixed fortunes for Celebrity marriages and Johnny Depps is seen on the other flank bearing misfortunes. A Los Angeles judge on Friday issued Amber Heard a temporary restraining order against her husband, Johnny Depp, 52, over allegations of physical abuse. The actors 15 months marriage is about to hit the brick as he has been ordered to stay away from his wife, Heard. In Heards complaints, Depp has been both verbally and physically abusive during the entirety of their relationship. The actress backed up her claim with pictures of her bearing bruises on her face inflicted by Depp. Depp has filed a memorandum of points and authorities in which he rejected Heards claims of domestic violence. It is also reported that Depps movie Alice Through The Looking Glass opened on Friday but calls were made on social media clamouring to boycott the film because of Heards allegations. A man, whose identity was given as James Kafaru Esougi, Friday, allegedly murdered his wife in her sleep in Lagos State. The tragic incident occurred at their No 8 Araromi Street, Egbeda residence. The ugly development is coming barely one month after Lekan Shonde allegedly killed his wife in Egbeda area of the state. According to the sister in-in-law who simply identified herself as Vero, the suspect after committing the crime started manifesting strange characters when they became aware of the incident, The Nation reports. Vero said, We were sleeping when my sisters husband came out to wake the first son to go and urinate. This was about 4am. When the boy went in to wake the mother, he saw that she was not responding. He shook her vigorously and got no response and quickly ran to call me. When I got there, I also shook her with the aim of waking her but got no response. Touching her legs, I observed that it was very cold. I shuddered and quickly removed that cloth on her face. It was then that I saw that the husband had used a knife to slash her neck. He cut the vein that holds the neck and the head. She was in a pool of her own blood. Goose pimples overwhelmed me and the children. They were traumatized as they saw the lifeless body of the mother drenched with blood. When we were doing all these, the husband sat on the floor vomiting black things and defecating right there. Thereafter, I raised the alarm and neighbours came to apprehend him. The police was later invited to whisk him away. Asked if the couple used to quarrel before the murder, Vero said: They used to quarrel a lot. The husband was always beating her. We severally told her to leave the house for him but she declined, preferring to endure for the sake of her children. It was her resolve to endure that eventually caused her, her life. She gave birth to five children for him. They are both from Auchi, in Edo State. My sister was a petty trader but the husband doesnt have any known job. As far as I know, he is jobless. It was my sister that was responsible for providing for the needs of the family. Another eyewitness said the husband is known to be very arrogant and temperamental. The man was very aggressive all through Wednesday and good part of Thursday. He was smoking and feverishly puffing the smoke of the cigarette into the air. He kept throwing away every chair and table that he saw on the way and also quarrelling with everybody that saw. We never knew that he was preparing the ground for the dastardly act he wanted to carry out. The wife sells frozen food at Ijora. We were outside when she returned from her business place Thursday. She was looking very tired and sick. When we asked her what the matter was, she said she wasnt feeling healthy. When we told her to take some days off and rest, she said it would not be possible immediately because she needed to hustle to get money to pay her childrens school fees. She said she would take time to rest after paying the school fees. She had earlier paid the rent. Unfortunately, the rest will end up becoming an eternal one, the source said. Another trader said: The deceased was a gentle person. She was always going out early and coming back late in the night. We are all aware that she was the breadwinner of the family because the husband was always idle. I have serious concern about the future of the children. Before they were taking away by the deceaseds family, they were seriously hungry. They had to go and borrow matches to lit the stove to make something for them to eat. Source: Dailypost Punch President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors have ruled out elaborate celebrations to mark this years Democracy Day and their one year in office. Vanguard Former Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Director-General, Mr Raymond Omatseye, has asked a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, to grant him bail pending the determination of his appeal against his conviction. Thisday Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja inaugurated a National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting high profile criminal cases in the country. The Sun The national and state leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC has been advised to jettison any practice capable of portraying the party as undemocratic Daily Times A former Deputy Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Mr. Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi, has accused the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, (CCT) Mr. Danladi Yakubu Umar, of corruption and bias. Guardian The Kogi State Government on Saturday announced the removal of retired Brig.-Gen Paul Okuntimo as the Chairman, Workers Screening and Verification Committee. Daily Trust The Nasarawa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) in the state of planning to rig the forthcoming Nasarawa/Toto Federal Constituency bye-election holding tomorrow. Tribune Besides sporadic shootings ongoing, no fewer than 10 persons from Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, are said to have been arrested by members of the Joint Task Force (JTF), who invaded the area at about 2:00 a.m., on Saturd The Nation OPERATIVES of the Abia State Police Command have arrested a kidnap kingpin said to belong to a kidnapping gang has been terrorizing residents of the commercial city of Aba. Leadership On assumption of office, the President undertook some foreign trips both within and outside Africa to re-establish Nigerias position in the global arena and solicit support for Nigeria and Africa. Nigerias former Permanent Representative to the United Nations and elder statesman, Dr. Yusuf Maitama Sule, has said it is high time Nigerians began to see and feel the positive impact of the change they voted for a year ago. Sule stated this in Kano on Friday while speaking at a town hall meeting organized by the Federal Ministry of Information and held at the Coronation Hall, Kano State Government House. The acclaimed orator also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to spend the looted money his administration recovered from various public office holders under the immediate past administration on revitalization of health and education sectors. Our schools were dilapidated, our roads were in a sorry state and we have no drugs and other hospital equipment in our hospitals. Use the recovered looted funds to improve services in our hospitals and schools as well as to fix our roads, he said. The Danmasain Kano, who stressed that Nigerians have started feeling the positive impact of the Buhari administration in the areas of security and the fight against corruption, commended the present administrations effort in recovering looted funds. Mr. Sule, however, urged Nigerians to be patience with the present administration, saying it was up and doing to fix the country. Buhari came into power to heal the wounds Nigeria was battling with for many years and there is no way he can heal the wounds without feeling some pains. Nigerians must feel some pains for the time being but when the wounds healed they will enjoy the remedy, he said. The elder statesman noted that Nigerians prayed hard for change and now that it has come, they should continue to pray for President Buhari and his team to fix the country. According to Sule, the president is in dire need of prayers for him to deliver the country even as he expressed optimism that Buhari will never let the country and its people down. The presidency has released President Muhammadu Buharis achievements in the last 12 months, ahead of tomorrows (Sunday) marking of the administrations first year in office. The list as published by the News Agency of Nigeria contains the following: SECURITY: The relocation of the Nigerian Military Command Centre to Maiduguri, since May 2015, contributed to the success in the fight against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country. As at February 2016, the total number of persons rescued by the Nigerian troops during the ongoing operations in the North East came to 11,595 Since December 2015, the well-motivated and rejuvenated Nigerian Military have regained all Nigerian territories previously under Boko Haram control. Prioritized regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and violent extremism, through the operations of the 8,500 strong Multi-National Joint Task Force in NDjamena, the capital of Chad, currently headed by a Nigeria military general. Nigeria has provided $21million USD to the Task Force since June 2015 and is committed to an additional $79 million USD, bringing the total of Nigerias commitment to the Task Force to 100 million USD. Cohesive international support in the fight against terrorism and assistance to victims and communities affected by terrorism, following President Buharis meeting with G7 leaders and other world powers. In May 2016, Nigeria hosted a Regional Security Summit to boost military operations against Boko Haram and forge a global support for the rehabilitation of the IDPs and rebuilding of the North East. In June 2015, the United States announced a 5-million-dollar support for the fight against the terrorists in the sub-region. In April 2016, during the visit to Ms Samantha Power, the U.S Ambassador to the UN to Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, the U.S Government further announced an additional $40 million USD for humanitarian assistance in the sub-region Recruitment of additional 10,000 persons into the Nigeria Police Force is ongoing. The recruitment will address the manpower gap which currently exists in the Nigeria Police Overhaul of the dysfunctional topmost hierarchy of the Nigerian military which resulted in optimal result and degradation of the Boko Haram elements. Was able to bring back our hitherto military allies; which saw the United States and UK governments commit their resources to the fight against the insurgents after previously backing out of negotiations with the previous administration. The Israeli government has also indicated interest in the fight against insurgency. Introduction of the motor cycle battalion (This is so that the Nigerian Army can travel to remote areas that were not accessible to cars/trucks) Realigned our partnership with regional allies by embarking on foreign visits which resulted in bilateral and multilateral agreements to tackle insecurity back home. No more roadblocks and curfews, which normally impeded free flow of movement. Continuous monitoring of activities in the region of war through the use of satellite images and geographical information system is helping in fighting insurgency and strategizing against the enemy. The trips to our neighbouring countries showed the resolve of the President to push Boko Haram elements out of existence by going for the jugular of the group, cutting their arms, food supply routes. Support has thus been mobilized through the Multinational Joint Task Force. Another major stride is the Trans National Organized Crime (TNOC) where the president got partnership with regional allies in the fight against the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons. As part of the reconfigured military partnership, the United States donated 24 mine-resistant armoured vehicles (MRAP) which had protected the Nigerian troops from the menace of Improvised Explosive Devices. Today we have less causalities. Reached out to the G7 countries and achieved the following: intelligence sharing; technical military training; arms deals/donations Overhauling of NIMASA. A reversed policy of the past administration where national infrastructural assets were given to militia leaders to protect as against established bodies like the Nigerian Navy was stopped. The President Buhari government has drafted the army to partner with other security agencies in ensuring the security of our national infrastructure and this is already yielding the desired results. A major ring of pipeline vandals in Lagos state were captured recently in a joint operation by security forces led by the army. The government has renewed its fight against oil bunkering The Nigerian Navy has recorded tremendous success lately in apprehending vessels used by oil thieves. This operation has improved security on our water ways and it has also helped improve the revenue of government. Deployment of sophisticated weapons to ensure vandalism is contained by setting up a pipeline security force in stamping out the menace. Effective Management of the Separatist Biafran Movement Improving the technical capacity of Nigerian Police Force. We now have a forensic lab and GSM tracking device. We now have a more IT integrated Police force. Restructuring of Nigerian Immigration to stop cross border crimes. NSCDC has become more proactive in the prevention of pipeline vandalization, with arrest of several pipeline vandals. Joint operations involving various security outfits in curbing the menace of the herdsmen in the country has been set up. The use of surveys and updated mappings across the country as strategies for preventing threats among ethnic groups in Nigeria. CORRUPTION Right from the moment he won the Presidential Election in 2015, the impression of the President as a no nonsense and incorruptible leader sent a signal to looters of public funds, with many of them returning funds that had been stolen under the previous administration. To create a frame work for prosecuting the war against corruption and institutionalize probity, President Buhari set up an Advisory Committee on War Against Corruption. The anti-corruption battle is gaining ground with several high profile cases already in the courts. The administration is being guided by the rule of law in the prosecution of corruption cases. President Buhari enlisted the support of multilateral institutions like the World Bank and IMF, security agencies, Western countries and other friendly nations to locate and repatriate stolen assets. At a London summit on anti-corruption, President Buhari announced that Nigeria will begin the full implementation of the principles of the OPEN contracting data standards. In the first quarter of 2016, President Buhari embarked on trips to the Middle East to sensitize the governments on the need to repatriate stolen assets and hand over the looters for trial in Nigeria. In January, Nigeria and UAE signed Judicial Agreements on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters. In March 2016, the Federal Government and the Swiss Government signed a Letter of Intent On the Restitution of Illegally-Acquired Assets forfeited in Switzerland. Under the agreement, Switzerland will repatriate $ 321 million USD illicitly acquired by the Gen. Sani Abacha family. In March 2016, the Presidential Committee set up to probe contracts awarded by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2011 to 2015 announced the recovery of over N7 billion from indicted companies and individuals. ECONOMY Implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has provided greater visibility of government revenues and cash flows. Between June 2015 and April 2016, the Federal Government TSA collection clocked N3trillion. To further instill fiscal discipline, President Buhari directed the closure of all multiple accounts in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, thereby plugging loopholes for leakages with new technology. The opaque accounting structure of the NNPC has been reconstructed to be more transparent with the closure of more than 40 accounts. As a corporate entity, NNPC is now accountable and more transparent in operations, publishing its monthly financial reports. The President also resolved the lingering shadowy oil swap deals that had cost the country billions of dollars and left it at the mercy of a few rich Nigerians. To alleviate the suffering of Nigerians in September 2015, President Buhari directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to disburse N689.5 billion as bailout to 27 states of the federation to pay salaries. To stimulate the economy and reduce poverty, in April, 2016, President Buhari approved deferment in the payment of the bailout as states were still reeling under the burden of the fall in commodity prices. Records of more than 34,000 ghost workers draining the nations resources were expunged from the Federal Civil Service, saving N2.29 billion monthly. In 2015, President Buhari ruled out the appointment of a government delegation for pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. By this decision, the government saved about one million U.S dollars and N30m of local expenses Enforcement of the Bank Verification Number: Also the BVN has ensured that the menace of ghost workers are being identified and dealt with, while looters with multiple accounts can no longer hide their loot undetected. Social Protection: Groundwork for social intervention/palliatives for the poor is being put in place as data is being collated by the economic planning office of the VP in conjunction with the World Bank. Reorganization/restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a focused, accountable and transparent institution with autonomous Units (Upstream; Downstream, Gas & Power; Refineries; Ventures and lean Group Headquarters) Reduction of operational deficits in NNPC by over 50% as at March 2016 as a result of Increased Transparency and Commercial focus Conduct of NNPC outstanding Annual Audits from 2011 to 2014, and the publication of Monthly Financial and Operations Reports to ensure transparency Introduction of third party financing in order to eliminate direct funding of cash calls by the Federal Government Renegotiation of existing service contracts under Joint Venture and Production sharing contracts (PSC) Operations by about 30% leading to operational efficiency improvements and cost reductions Elimination of the Offshore Processing Agreement (OPA) through the introduction of the Direct Sales and Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme with reputable off-shore refineries thereby yielding annual savings of US$1 billion Resuscitation of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries presently producing about 7 million litres of products per/day Repair of products pipe lines and the resuscitation of supply of products from Atlas Cove-Mosimi- Ibadan- Ilorin after a six year lull Repairs of Escravos/ Warri and Bonny/Port Harcourt crude oil pipe lines Introduction of a Price Modulation framework for downstream petroleum product pricing to encourage responsiveness to market dynamics Guided deregulation of the downstream sector to allow market forces determine product price and eliminate subsidy payments Introduction of the initiative on refinery co-location to increase domestic refining capacity and minimize the drain on scarce foreign exchange for product importation Commenced policy reforms for gas monetization, flare out and infrastructure development, to fast track power supply and economic diversification. POWER Under President Buhari, the Federal Government agreed to a 50 million Euro (about N11.15 billion) loan agreement with French government for capacity-building and upgrade of power training facilities in Nigeria. Nigeria signed a $237 million agreement with World Bank to improve power. Chinese solar power manufacturers agreed with the Federal Government to set up solar panel manufacturing business in Nigeria. President Buhari has signed an agreement with the Chinese government to improve Nigerias power infrastructure ENVIRONMENT Presidential approval for the Implementation of United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report 2010 for the clean-up of Ogoniland with regards to oil pollution and inclusion of stakeholders in the process of implementation. Continuation of the implementation of the Great Green Wall project to fight and contain desertification in Northern Nigeria initiated by past administration. JUDICIARY Since assumption of office, President Buhari has maintained a clear stance on the rule of law and respect for separation of powers. powers. The President has focused on the strengthening of institutions with key appointment of professionals. Appointment of 30 new Federal High Court Justices NATIONAL IMAGE On assumption of office, the President undertook some foreign trips both within and outside Africa to re-establish Nigerias position in the global arena and solicit support for Nigeria and Africa. President Buhari has continually pushed the agenda for enhancing Nigerias global image by always demonstrating Nigerias credentials in the 2015 general elections, which saw the country scoring high on peaceful transition. President Buhari strongly supported the emergence of a Nigerian, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, as President of the Africa Development Bank. Source; NAN The Lagos Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Princess Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, on Tuesday, visited Mrs Idowu Yusuf, the mother of triplets who was abandoned by her husband because she had multiple births. Her visit followed an exclusive report published last Saturday by The Nation on the plight of Idowu and her triplets. Akinbile-Yussuf arrived at the distraught nursing mothers residence at No 4, Agesinjaweifa Street in the Temidire area of Alagbado, a Lagos suburb at about 11 am. She donated cash gift, beverages, baby food, and diapers among others items. Speaking, the commissioner urged the father of the babies to come back home for the sake of his children and wife. She said the state government, led by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, has initiated training programmes that would make people in the state self-reliant. Her words: I was really touched after reading the story in The Nation newspaper last Saturday. Children are supposed to be source of joy to parents. But it is sad that the father of the babies bolted because of lack of money to take care of them. I want to, therefore, urge him to return home because his children need him more than ever before. The fact that he is jobless does not mean he should abandon his family to fate. People, like the father of the babies, who are jobless can participate in some of the training programmes initiated by the state government to make them self-reliant. It was learnt that the Executive Secretary of Agbado/OkeOdo LCDA, Hon. David Famuyiwa has also donated cash and other items to the mother of the identical triplets, named Ameerat, Ahmed and Zainab. In the story, Idowu cried out for financial support and the return of her husband, Isiaka Yusuf, who allegedly absconded from home shortly after she was delivered of a set of triplets on April 6, 2016. The couple has two other children- Yusuf,10, and Mariam,7,before the birth of the triplets. The Nation learnt that Idowus husband, a cab operator, has been out of job lately. He was said to have abandoned his wife and the babies in a private hospital where they were born through Caesarian section, after he was asked to pay the sum ofN500, 000 as hospital bill. Speaking from hiding, the absentee father of the babies told our correspondent in a telephone conversation that May God not turn our joy into sadness. I had to abscond after doctors at a private hospital, where my wife was delivered of the triplets, demanded a whopping sum of N500, 000 as cost of carrying out Caesarian operation. It was my wifes relatives who contributed about N250, 000 as part payment before my wife and babies were discharged. It was not my intention to abandon my family, but I lost my job as a cab operator after the engine of the car I was driving knocked down and the owner has refused to change or repair it. I felt ashamed of myself and decided to stay away, since I dont have any means of taking care of my wife and children. While thanking Akinbile-Yussuf and others for their kind gesture, Idowu said: I really dont know what to say, but to thank the commissioner for her kind gesture. May God continue to bless her and others who have shown interest in my plight. Source: TheNation Nnamdi Kanu: Appeal Court go decide di Ipob leader Stay of Execution mata later BBCNnamdi Kanu and new head of his defence team, SAN Mike Ezekome Di Appeal Court... Pipo dey tink say we be twins but we no relate at all Tunde Ososanya Broadcast Journalist BBCHabibat (left) and Anuoluwa (right) I bin wan enta bus, and... Premier league weekend report Who dey top six now Getty ImagesNewcastle players celebrate as dem score against Tottenham Newcastle United impressive early season form... Who be Rishi Sunak wey go be UK new prime minister? Getty Images Former chancellor Rishi Sunak go be UK next prime minister. Di 42 year... Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu says one of the agencies under his ministry has developed a pesticide that is very effective against tomato Pest Tuta absoluta which has recently ravaged tomato farms in Nigeria, causing tomato scarcity. Onu made this known in Abuja on Friday in a meeting with a delegation from the KIDS-FEST who paid him a visit in his office. KIDs-Fest Foundation is part of a global project founded by a German woman named Sussane Prahl in Sarajevo over a decade ago. According to the Minister, the National Institute for Chemical Technology, (NARICT) in Zaria developed the pesticide agent using natural resources available in Nigeria. He said that the pesticide was a ready solution to the rampaging pest and that there was no reason whatsoever to go outside the country to import a solution. Nigeria, following the leadership provided by President Muhammadu Buhari will soon be in a position where other nations can copy from her rather than Nigeria copying at all times from other nations, he stated. Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has promised to ensure prudent management of the states resources. He also vowed to fulfill all his electoral promises. The governor, who also flagged off the Tam David West Boulevard said he would continue to deliver quality service to Rivers people. He urged investors to key into the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Project, saying his administration has provided a conducive environment for their investments. This project is critical to the development of our State and we shall need the support and collaboration of Public Private Partnership for us to achieve set objectives, the governor said. The Sole Administrator of the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, Ambassador Desmond Akawor commended Governor Wike for funding the organization to execute the project in record time. Making headlines this week a global player unveiled their secret weapon CEO, a premium funder revealed a first of its kind launch and a major bank is mulling an insurance sell-off.Kara Raiguel will take on the new role, replacing the retiring Tad Montross the Wall Street Journal reported.In a memo to Gen Re staff obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Jain, the leader of Berkshire Hathawys reinsurance business praised Raiguels time with the company.As to the CEO position, I have happily selected my colleague at the Reinsurance Division, Kara Raiguel, Jain said.Kara, an actuary by background, has been a key player at our Reinsurance Division for over fifteen years (and for the last ten, she has been my secret weapon). It would be difficult to overstate her accomplishments during that time.The Elantis Learning Academy (ELA) The ELA will see the premium funder tour Australia and New Zealand throughout the year with an educational offering designed to help brokers with all aspects of their business.The business is reportedly valued between $3 billion and $4 billion and the sale will be used to raise funds and boost capital for the major bank. If you enjoy researching and analyzing economic issues and their related data using math and statistics, and if you enjoy making forecasts, designing policies and advising others through reports and presentations, then working as an economist might be an ideal career choice for you. Weve interviewed two economists with very different job descriptions to give you an idea of the possibilities this field offers. Key Takeaways Being an economist is about more than analyzing numbers. Economists need to write well and communicate clearly. Being an economist offers opportunities to work with all types of data and a wide variety of firms. As an economist, you may choose to work in a variety of businesses and industries, including academia. Scott Anderson, Chief Economist, Bank of the West Scott Anderson is chief economist for Bank of the West, a bank with over $101.4 billion in assets and more than 10,000 employees in 24 states as of March 2020. He has worked there since August 2012; previously, he was a director and senior economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis for 11 years. Before that, he worked for Moodys Analytics and the International Monetary Fund. Anderson holds a bachelors degree in economics from the University of Minnesota along with two degrees from George Washington University: a master of philosophy and a doctorate in economics. Anderson is 44. It took him 12 years to earn his degrees. He says his coursework was challenging, and he had to pass comprehensive exams in macroeconomics, microeconomics, monetary theory, international trade, and finance to earn his master's degree. He also needed to write and defend his dissertation to earn his Ph.D. What made his experience particularly challenging was that throughout his graduate studies, he worked as a research assistant, and after the first year, he also had a teaching fellowship. Anderson and his bank are based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Because they are three hours behind the major government and financial centers on the East Coast, he wakes up at 5:00 am to read the news as it breaks and to review the government economic reports as they get issued. When a major report is released, such as the latest jobs report, he will email a brief analysis to his colleagues and media contacts. I discuss what the new data mean for the economic outlook, the Federal Reserves monetary policy, and the markets. Following that email, a few journalists likely would call me and Ill provide commentary to help them write their articles, he says. He does his early morning work from home, which allows him to spend time with his children before they leave for school. Another analytical activity for Anderson is his detailed three-page U.S. Outlook, which he drafts every Thursday and distributes by email early every Friday morning. This report provides a detailed forecast table of the major U.S. economic indicators, interest rates, oil prices, and the dollar over the next two years; it also peeks at the releases for the coming week. As an economist, being able to write well and interact with people in other professions should be equal to your number-crunching abilities. I cant emphasize enough the importance of not just being a good writer, but also being able to write quickly, concisely and in a compelling way that grabs the readers attention and that focuses on the most relevant information, Anderson says. Once Anderson is at his office, he meets with his executive team and briefs them on economic and financial trends as well as the upside and downside risks that they should be focusing on to help the bank succeed in todays economic and banking environment. In between meetings, he usually works on a presentation for an upcoming speaking event. Youd be surprised at how much public speaking comes with being an economist for a company like ours, Anderson says. For anyone considering this kind of position, Id suggest taking some public-speaking classes or presentation training. Its important to keep the presentations lively and interesting, and to keep the audience engaged, he says and adds that his presentation training also helps in conversing with reporters. His job frequently takes him to the other states where his bank operates, where he spends time with clients and prospects, answering their questions about the economy and its major drivers. I enjoy breaking down what could be perceived as a complicated economic issue and helping people not only understand whats happening but also if and how it impacts their own financial situation, Anderson says. On any given day I wear many hats: Im a mathematician, a pundit, a researcher, a writer, and a teacher," said Anderson. Its hard to say that theres a typical day for me, but the variety and excitement are definitely what I love most about my job. Anderson tries to balance work with spending time with his family and friends. He tends to work at least 60 hours a week, but very much enjoys the work. Although Ive been an economist for more than 20 years, I never get tired of digging through economic and financial data, connecting the dots, thinking through various scenarios and providing my own point of view of where the economy is headed, he says. 1:46 A Day In The Life Of An Economist As an economist, it will important to learn to balance your work with your personal life, as typically economists have very busy careers. Mike McMahon, Senior Manager of Rates, Economics and Energy Risk Management, Snohomish County Public Utility District, Everett, Wash. Mike McMahon, 64, is the senior manager of rates, economics and energy risk management for the Snohomish County Public Utility District in Everett, Wash. His primary concerns are rates and risk management for an electric utility that covers a 2,200 square-mile area north of Seattle and that has a $712 million annual budget. He holds a bachelor of arts in economics from Western Washington University, and he holds both a master of arts and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington. McMahon typically works from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and his days consist of providing economic analysis on both recurring and temporary issues. Yesterday, a story came out that our biggest customer, a major manufacturer with worldwide sales, is going to increase production, McMahon says. I spent part of the morning trying to determine what this might mean for our energy sales and the local economy. This morning, he is working on a PowerPoint presentation for an upcoming meeting with the Board of Commissioners to discuss passing on a power-cost increase to the utilitys customers. He needs to collect information from different parts of the company about things such as customer usage patterns and power costs in order to determine the impacts on the utilitys various customer classes. Working on this presentation will occupy much of his time over the next 10 days, he says. The recurring issues McMahon handles include sales forecasting, which is largely an exercise in the microeconomics of demand analysis with some regional multiplier analysis, McMahon says. Another of his recurring roles, that of energy risk manager, is almost perfectly suited to an economist, he says. It brings together the concepts of supply and demand with the statistical concepts of probability distributions. He also chairs a short weekly meeting of the Energy Risk Management Committee. In the days preceding the meeting, he supervises two analysts in updating a risk model that he builds and maintains to quantify the utilitys power-market risk exposure. He also provides a formal quarterly report to the Board of Commissioners on the Energy Risk Management Committees activities. If you want to be influential, be prepared to talk in front of people, McMahon said. The outlook that an economist can bring to most issues will capture peoples attention and they will want to hear more. He also attends biweekly, hourly meetings of the short-term power-supply strategy group, which considers the latest information on the utilitys generating resources and power demands. At the meeting, we decide on our short-term power purchases or sales into the wholesale power market, McMahon says. He is also frequently asked to analyze legislative bills for the utilitys legislative affairs group. Occasionally, he makes presentations about the economic analysis of current issues such as carbon pricing in the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions or the recent federal budget and what it might mean for the utility and its customers. He also attends and often makes presentations at the biweekly Board of Commissioners meetings. His workdays can run much longer than his usual 8-to-5 day when hes preparing for major commission decisions such as changing the prices charged to customers, and he occasionally works weekends. He can schedule his vacations fairly freely as long as he keeps upcoming commission-decision timelines in mind. I would tell students taking economics classes that the concepts they are learning actually work and can be applied in the business world, McMahon says. Throughout the year, Im applying the concepts of price and income elasticities of demand, discounting and present value analysis, opportunity costs, and multiplier analysis. He advises economics students to take classes in statistics, accounting and law. The Bottom Line Being an economist isnt just about analyzing numbers; you have to be able to communicate clearly. The career offers opportunities to work with all types of data and to work for a wide variety of firms. Anderson and McMahon are two economists who have forged careers in different ways. An airline exchange-traded fund (ETF) can provide diversified exposure to the air travel industry, including aircraft manufacturers, airline operators, airports, and terminal services. The U.S. airline industry includes major carriers such as American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV). Driven by a surge in leisure and business travel, the industry has seen a sharp rebound in demand from the lows during the pandemic. This has occurred as jet fuel prices have risen, boosting costs for carriers. The recovery, nonetheless, has been uneven. Throughout the summer, flight delays and cancellations have plagued the industry, as airlines cope with staffing concerns and other issues affecting logistics. For investors optimistic about the industry's long-term recovery, an airline ETF provides a way to get broad-based exposure to that trend. Key Takeaways Airline stocks have underperformed the broader market over the past year. The best (and only) airline ETF is JETS. The fund's top holdings are American Airlines Group Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., and Delta Air Lines Inc. There is only a single option when it comes to ETFs focused on the airline industry: the U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS). The airline industry has underperformed compared to the S&P 500 in the past year. The benchmark S&P 500 Airlines Industry Index has provided a total return of -21.0% compared to the S&P 500's -3.7% return, as of Aug. 10, 2022. Note that this index includes only U.S. companies and is not a perfect metric for JETS, which has a global focus. All of the data below are as of Aug. 11, 2022. Performance Over One Year: -20.3% Expense Ratio: 0.60% Annual Dividend Yield: 0.04% Three-Month Average Daily Volume: 5,520,150 Assets Under Management: $2.7 billion Inception Date: April 28, 2015 Issuer: U.S. Global Investors JETS is the only pure play airline ETF. As of June 30, 2022, the date of its most recent fact sheet, this fund allocates roughly 74.5% of its portfolio to airlines and companies involved in the aviation industry (aircraft manufacturers, terminal services companies, and airports), with just under 25% invested in companies involved in transportation infrastructure, internet, transportation, and commercial services. Just over three quarters of the fund's holdings are securities domiciled in the U.S., with smaller allocations to companies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Although JETS is a multi-cap ETF, it is weighted predominantly toward large-cap and mid-cap companiessmall-cap companies make up just 4.3% of the portfolio. Overall, its investment strategy is to track the U.S. Global Jets Index, although the fund doesn't guarantee 100% replication and may invest in securities not included in the index. Below, we look at the top 10 holdings for this fund. Experience As an Associate Director for ATB Turnaround and Restructuring Group, Chris works to come up with creative solutions for challenged companies. He assesses and mitigates loan losses and risks for the recommendation of financing projects. His experience in analyzing financial statements and projections of companies in his role as an Associate Director in ATB Oilfield Services gave him insight into the oilfield service sector of some of the largest drilling, fracking, and waste management companies in Canada. Chris gained expertise in research during his years as a writer for Investopedia, covering stocks and commodities, and as a Research Associate for CBRE Group, including the commercial real estate market. He is active in volunteer groups and is on the Board of Directors for the Young Professionals in Energy (YPE), Calgary chapter. Chris is also a current member of the Global Shapers Community and a lead mentor for the Junior Achievement's Company Program. Unlikely as it may seem, there are some beneficiaries who prefer not to receive inherited assets. The reasons vary. Often the beneficiary would like the assetssuch as a traditional or Roth IRA or other inherited retirement planto be given to someone else. Other times the intended beneficiary does not want to be taxed on the assets. A common estate planning strategy for married couples is for each spouse to leave the other all of their assets to take advantage of the unlimited marital deduction. The unlimited marital deduction allows married couples to delay the payment of estate taxes upon the death of the first spouse because after the surviving spouse dies, all assets in the estate over the applicable exclusion amount will be included in the survivors taxable estate. Doing this will reduce the size of the deceased's estate and eliminate the immediate estate tax upon the first spouse's death. In 2021, the estate tax exemption (exclusion amount) is $11,700,000, rising to $12,060,000 in 2022. Note the amount is per person, not per couple. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as of 2011, estates can pass the decedents unused exemption to their surviving spouse. Furthermore, the surviving spouse might not need the inherited money to support their lifestyle, yet the decedent's assets will be included in the survivor's estate at the time of the survivor's death. How can this be avoided? Key Takeaways Common reasons for disclaiming an inheritance include not wishing to pay taxes on the assets or ensuring that the inheritance goes to another beneficiaryfor example, a grandchild. Specific IRS requirements must be followed in order for a disclaimer to be qualified under federal law. It's important to find out what your state's requirements are as well. If a beneficiary properly disclaims inherited retirement assets, their status as a beneficiary is fully annulled. Can You Refuse an Inheritance? The answer is yes. The technical term is "disclaiming" it. If you are considering disclaiming an inheritance, you need to understand the effect of your refusalknown as the "disclaimer"and the procedure you must follow to ensure that it is considered qualified under federal and state law. A qualified disclaimer can be useful in cases where someone has not set up an exemption trust prior to their death. The qualified disclaimer enables the beneficiary to refuse part or all of the assets, rather than to receive them. The assets would then pass to the contingent beneficiary and bypass the estate of the first beneficiary as if the first beneficiary was never named as a beneficiary at all. In the case of an intestate death, state law will determine the next beneficiary. Requirements for Using a Disclaimer For tax purposes, disclaiming assets is the same as never having owned them. However, it's also possible to disclaim only a percentage of the inherited assets. For these reasons, it's important to follow the precise requirements of a qualified disclaimer. If the primary beneficiary does not follow these requirements, the property in question will be considered a personal asset that they have given as a taxable gift to the next beneficiary in line. According to the IRS, the person disclaiming the asset must meet the following requirements to use a disclaimer: Provide an irrevocable and unqualified refusal to accept the assets. Make the disclaimer in writing. Disclaim the asset within nine months of the death of the assets' original owner (one exception: if a minor beneficiary wishes to disclaim, the disclaimer cannot take place until after the minor reaches the age of majority, at which time they will have nine months to disclaim the assets). The person disclaiming cannot have benefited from the proceeds of the disclaimed property. The person disclaiming cannot have the assets indirectly passed to them. The person disclaiming must have no influence over who is the contingent beneficiary. Some states require the disclaimer to include a statement that says the person disclaiming the assets is not subject to any bankruptcy proceedings. Anyone disclaiming assets should seek legal advice on the laws of their state of residence. What Becomes of the Assets? The person disclaiming the assets does not get to choose who is next in line to receive the disclaimed property. Instead, the assets will pass to the contingent beneficiary selected by the original owner, as if the first beneficiary had died prior to inheriting the assets. Additional Requirements for IRA Heirs 2019 and Prior Before the SECURE Act went into effect in December 2019, beneficiaries of IRAs had the ability to "stretch" IRA distributions over multiple generations. It was an effective wealth transfer method that minimized taxes. Inherited IRAs had required minimum distributions (RMDs) that had to be taken every year, based on the life expectancy of the person who inherited the IRA. This method was especially beneficial for younger beneficiaries who had a long remaining life expectancy, as they could "stretch" the length of time they had to take IRA distributions while allowing the remainder to grow tax-free. This could have been a reason to pass an inheritance to a younger beneficiary in the past. 2020 and Later The SECURE Act has modified the rules around inherited retirement plans considerably for any plan owner who died on Jan. 1, 2020, or later. Under the new legislation, beneficiaries are classified as one of three different categories: eligible designated beneficiaries (EDBs), designated beneficiaries (DBs), and those not considered designated beneficiaries. Eligible designated beneficiaries are anyone designated by the IRA owner who is one of the following: Their spouse A minor child A chronically ill individual A disabled individual Someone not more than 10 years younger than the IRA owner Non-person entities such as trusts, charities, and estates are in the third category, not classified as designated beneficiaries. Most non-spouse beneficiaries will, therefore, fall into the second category of designated beneficiaries. This includes most adult children. Individuals in the DB category must withdraw all inherited IRA funds within 10 years of the death of the original account holder. Additionally, second-generation beneficiaries who inherit in 2020 or later are no longer able to "stretch" their distributions, even if the original IRA owner passed away prior to 2020. They will instead be subject to the 10-year payout rules. Therefore, if a beneficiary in the second or third classifications described above is due to receive an inheritance, it may make better financial sense to disclaim the asset if the contingent beneficiary is in the EDB category. Example of Disclaiming an Inheritance For example, assume that Julio designated his adult son, Tim, as his retirement beneficiary. Julio passes away in February 2020. Julio's wife (and Tims mother) Priya is still alive, and she is the contingent beneficiary listed in Julio's plan documents. Although Tim is due to receive the inheritance, he would have to withdraw the funds over the following 10-year period. After speaking to an attorney, Tim decides to disclaim the inheritance so the funds can go to his mother. Priya is then able to take the funds out of the account over a longer period of time using the life expectancy method. This would also be beneficial if she were in a lower tax bracket than Timfor example, if Tim were in his prime earning years while Priya had already retired. Planning Ahead If you have an IRA and you wish to give your primary beneficiary this added flexibility when they inherit the IRA, you need to plan ahead. You should ask yourself these two questions: Do I have a current will? Did I or my lawyer include a contingent beneficiary in my will? To answer these questions, you'll have to find your will and double-check its contents. Also, don't forget the IRA beneficiary form you filled out when you opened your IRA. The form has spaces for you to name primary and contingent IRA beneficiaries. Check with your IRA custodian to confirm they have the correct information or have your lawyer check on your behalf. It is important to update your IRA beneficiary form as changes occur in your family or your personal situation (e.g., divorce or the death of a beneficiary). Keep in mind that the disclaimer is irrevocable; the person who disclaims the property can't come back later, after a business fails or the stock market slumps, for example, and reclaim those assets. Leaving an Income Another estate planning tool that relies on disclaimers is a disclaimer trust. You can use this type of trust to make sure your beneficiary will have an income from the disclaimed property. Assets up to the amount of your available exemption amount can transfer to the trust after your death, but the surviving spouse has nine months to decide how much to put in the trust, depending on their situation and the inheritance tax laws at that time. Typically, your surviving spouse will be the income beneficiary of the trust, but they cannot withdraw any principal. Following their death, the trust assets usually pass to the next beneficiary in line, thereby avoiding federal estate taxes along the way. A disclaimer trust can give your survivors the flexibility they need to deal with shifting exemption amounts, tax laws, family needs, and net worth. Plus, it is a method of post-mortem estate planning that gives you some control over who eventually ends up with your assets. When executed correctly, a qualified disclaimer trust could save a family hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxes. Tax Reasons for Declining an Inheritance Sometimes, the costs of receiving a gift may be greater than the benefits of the gift, as a result of tax implications. In these cases, refusing the gift may be the tax-efficient thing to do. Trusts, as just described, and qualified disclaimers are used to avoid federal estate tax and gift tax, and to create legal intergenerational transfers that avoid taxation. As noted above, if an individual makes a qualified disclaimer with respect to an interest in the property, the disclaimed interest is treated as if the interest had never been transferred to that person, for gift, estate, and generational-skipping transfer (GST) tax purposes. Someone who makes a qualified disclaimer will not incur transfer tax consequences because they are disregarded for transfer tax purposes. Keep in mind that 12 states and the District of Columbia also have estate taxes, and six states have inheritance taxes. And note that your estate has to be sizable for federal estate taxes to kick in: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) raised the federal estate tax exemption through 2025; remember that in 2021, the amount is $11,700,000, rising to $12,060,000 in 2022. Other Reasons to Disclaim Inherited Assets In addition to reducing federal estate and income taxes, there are a few more reasons why a beneficiary may want to disclaim inherited assets: To avoid receiving undesirable real property, such as an eroding beachfront property or property with high real estate taxes that may take a long time to sell To avoid subjecting the assets to creditors in case the primary beneficiary is involved in a lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding To benefit another family memberfor example, a college-age grandchild who could use an inherited car To take advantage of another beneficiary's lower income tax bracket For example, let's say Julio designates his son, Tim, as the sole beneficiary of the assets in his retirement plan. When Julio dies a few years later, Tim stands to inherit the money, but if he does, he will no longer be eligible for student aid at college. Tim decides to disclaim the assets. He therefore properly disclaims the assets and is now treated as if he never was the designated beneficiary. As explained above, if Julio previously designated a contingent beneficiary, that person (or entity), would become the successor beneficiary. The Bottom Line Trusts can be used in estate planning to give individuals and couples greater control over how assets are transferred to heirs with the fewest tax consequences. Sometimes, however, disclaiming assets makes the most sense. No special form or document must be completed to disclaim inherited assets. A letter usually suffices, providing it meets the requirements listed above. To ensure that any special requests are honored by the custodian/trustee of a retirement account if you are disclaiming those assets, check first with the custodian/trustee regarding the manner in which these requests should be handled. Talk to your tax professional to find out under which circumstances tax consequences could arise when disclaiming inherited assets. These may not apply to you, but they may apply to the successor beneficiary. Some disclaimers may require court approval if, for instance, the individual disclaiming the assets is mentally incapacitated or a minor. As with any financial planning decision, it is best to seek the advice of a professional who specializes in this area to avoid making errors that can complicate estate executions. Use the information here as a guide to issues you should discuss and options to consider; it should not be used as legal advice. As president of the United States, Donald Trump was likely the wealthiest individual to inhabit the White House and his net worth remains a topic for debate. In 2015, Donald Trump claimed in a press release that he was worth more than $10 billion, however, his net worth as of 2022 is estimated at $3 billion. Key Takeaways Donald Trump is the founder of The Trump Organization, a private entity. He is required to submit a financial disclosure document each year, although numbers are self-reported and dont provide an accurate estimate of his net worth. Forbes estimates Donald Trump's net worth at $3 billion although Trump has claimed the value at $10 billion. The Trump Organization Since 1976, Donald Trump grew his wealth through global commercial, resort, and residential real estate development under the umbrella of The Trump Organization. As a private entity, The Trump Organization is not required to publish financial statements in the same manner as a publicly-traded company. Donald Trump famously refused to publish his tax returns, which would show his annual income and taxes paid or owed. Although The New York Times published abbreviated information from Trump's tax returns on Sept. 27, 2020, the disclosure failed to provide details about his actual net worth. As a former president, Trump completes a required annual financial disclosure to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Government financial disclosures may list assets and investments but in estimates and broad value ranges. In 2021, many of Trump's properties were valued at "over $50 million," however, these estimates are self-reported, unaudited, and also differ from numbers The Trump Organization has reported to state and local tax officials. 71 The number of properties in the portfolio owned and operated by The Trump Organization. This total includes commercial and residential real estate, golf courses, hotels, and personal estates. Assets In May 2022, Forbes estimated Trumps net worth at $3 billion, falling short of the $10 billion estimates that Trump suggested while running for office in 2015. Forbes' numbers marry with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which placed the former presidents net worth at $2.97 billion in August 2020.Forbes has attempted to break down Trump's net worth by assets. Net Worth The value of all assets minus liabilities. Much of Trumps wealth is tied to multi-use buildings in Manhattan, including retail real estate in the busy Midtown district. His highest value asset is a 30% stake in the office and retail space at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, valued at $2.2 billion, with a debt value of $950 million on the property. The Trump Organization owns several exclusive golf properties estimated at $730 million, including clubs in Scotland and Dubai. Trump's private golf club in Palm Beach, Fla, Mar-a-Lago, is valued at $350 million. Trump holds approximately $275 million in cash and liquid assets. Other personal assets include three Florida homes and his 11,000-square-foot residence in New York City, the Trump Tower penthouse. Residential units throughout the United States and around the globe have an estimated value of $340 million. This includes hotels and residential locations in Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Europe, Asia, and South America. Donald Trump announced in October 2021 that he was creating his own social media platform. Truth Social, held through Trump Media, garnered Donald Trump $430 million from investors. The Donald Trump brand, including his licensing and management business, is valued at just over $50 million. Trump holds roughly $275 million in cash and liquid assets. Other personal assets include three Florida homes and his 11,000-square-foot residence in New York Citythe Trump Tower penthouse. Trumps vast real estate empire includes approximately residential units throughout the United States. This includes hotels and retail locations in Chicago, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. What Are Donald Trump's Estimated Liablities? Trump has a lengthy financial record which includes corporate bankruptcies and lawsuits. In 2021, Trump Organization owed $590 million in debts due within four years by 2025. What Prominent Real Estate Locations in New York City Has Donald Trump Owned? Donald Trump has owned and sold many buildings in New York including the Plaza Hotel, the St. Moritz Hotel, now the Ritz Carlton on Central Park South, and the land under the Empire State Building. What Is Considered One of Trump's Bad Investment Decisions? In 2014, Donald Trump partnered with an Azerbaijani family that U.S. officials called notoriously unethical. The building, a five-star hotel, and residence called the Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku in Azerbaijan has never opened. The Bottom Line Donald Trump's net worth has ranged in estimates from $3 billion to $10 billion. With his private firm, The Trump Organization, and its limited public disclosures, it has been difficult to capture the true net worth of his global commercial, resort, and residential real estate as well as his licensing and social media ventures. Healthcare Stocks With the Most Momentum Price ($) Market Cap ($B) 12-Month Trailing Total Return (%) McKesson Corp. (MCK) 342.88 49.3 69.9 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) 276.78 71.0 50.7 Signify Health Inc. (SGFY) 28.97 6.8 45.9 Russell 1000 N/A N/A -18.7 Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) N/A N/A -6.5 Source: YCharts McKesson Corp.: McKesson is a global healthcare company that provides products, distribution, and services to a broad range of customers including retail pharmacies, specialty practices, surgery centers, physicians' offices, healthcare providers, and nursing homes. McKesson announced on Sept. 19 that it reached an agreement to acquire Rx Savings Solutions, a specialist in prescription pricing and benefits. The deal is valued at up to $875 million, with $600 million to be paid up front and up to an additional $275 million to be paid contingent upon Rx Savings Solutions' financial performance through 2025. McKesson is a global healthcare company that provides products, distribution, and services to a broad range of customers including retail pharmacies, specialty practices, surgery centers, physicians' offices, healthcare providers, and nursing homes. McKesson announced on Sept. 19 that it reached an agreement to acquire Rx Savings Solutions, a specialist in prescription pricing and benefits. The deal is valued at up to $875 million, with $600 million to be paid up front and up to an additional $275 million to be paid contingent upon Rx Savings Solutions' financial performance through 2025. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.: See company description above. See company description above. Signify Health Inc.: Signify Health offers healthcare payment programs to governments, employers, health systems, health plans, and physicians that cover millions of people. Its major customers include the U.S. government's Medicare program. Signify reported on Aug. 3 earnings results for Q2 2022. Net losses significantly widened as revenue climbed by 15.7% YOY. Revenue growth was driven largely by improvement in the company's Home & Community Services business. Net losses include a $519.9 million loss on impairment related to Signify's exiting of its Episodes of Care Services segment. Key Trends in the Healthcare Sector The COVID-19 pandemic and technological advances have accelerated several key trends across the healthcare sector that provide potential opportunities for investors. Two of these include telehealth and healthcare wearables. Telehealth: Telehealth connects patients with health professionals using technology such as video calls and health apps. These services allow people in regional areas, or those who can't easily travel, to access medical advice in their homes or workplaces. A survey conducted by the Bipartisan Policy Center showed that 63% of respondents had used telehealth as a preventative service, prescription refill, or routine visit for a chronic illness. Moreover, eight in 10 surveyed said their primary health issue was resolved and that they would likely use telehealth in the future. Investors can gain exposure to telehealth through stocks, including Teladoc Health, Inc. (TDOC), Doximity, Inc. (DOCS), and American Well Corporation (AMWL). Healthcare Wearables: Wearable electronic devices allow consumers and or patients to wear technology that collects their personal health and fitness data. Healthcare wearables can send a user's health information in real time to a doctor or other health professional for regular monitoring. Some of the more popular healthcare wearable devices include smart health watches, ECG monitors, blood pressure monitors, and biosensors. A survey conducted by Insider Intelligence found U.S. consumers' use of healthcare wearables increased from 9% to 33% in the past four years and will continue to grow as new health-tracking technologies emerge. Key stocks involved in healthcare wearables include Garmin Ltd. (GRMN), Wearable Health Solutions, Inc. (WHSI), and of course, Apple Inc. (AAPL). Advantages of Healthcare Stocks In the wake of the pandemic, the healthcare sector will likely see further public and private investment, helping to drive innovation and profits. Moreover, an aging baby boomer population continues to underpin the space, creating additional demand for medical products and services. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. national healthcare expenditure is expected to reach $6.2 trillion by 2028, highlighting the sector's size. The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed herein are for informational purposes only and should not be considered individual investment advice or recommendations to invest in any security or adopt any investment strategy. Though we believe the information provided herein is reliable, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. The views and strategies described in our content may not be suitable for all investors. Because market and economic conditions are subject to rapid change, all comments, opinions, and analyses contained within our content are rendered as of the date of the posting and may change without notice. The material is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry, investment, or strategy. According to Iraqi officials, Iraqi production halted on last Wednesday due to explosion at two oil wells near territory controlled by Daesh in northern Iraq. It was not immediately clear who had laid the charges at Khabbaz oilfield, 20 kilometres southwest of Kirkuk, in a region under control of the Kurdish peshmerga forces. The field has a maximum production capacity of 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) but was producing around 10,000 bpd before the attack, said officials from the state-run North Oil Company that operates the reservoir. According to sources, police had tried dismantling un-detonated explosives found at a third oil well. The Khabbaz field was damaged last year after an attack by Daesh, which seized a third of the Opec producers territory in 2014, including at least four small oilfields. The militants have since been pushed back in some areas by an array of Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes. A fire broke out last month at a mothballed natural gas production well at Khabbaz. As top crude exporter to India, Iraq overtook Saudi Arabia in the month of April for the first time since December last year. Saudi Arabia also loses its top position to China, which is notably the biggest oil consumer of Asia. Reportedly, Russia has taken the 1st position for exporting in China. Overall, April oil imports by India rose 6 percent from March and are up 9.9 percent in the first four months from a year ago. For the first four months of 2015, imports fell 0.6 percent from a year ago because of refinery outages. Iraqi oil exports to India were 960,700 barrels per day (bpd) in April, a 41 percent jump from March and 79 percent higher than a year ago, data obtained by Reuters and compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Analytics showed. India imported about 787,700 bpd of oil from Saudi Arabia last month, about 14 percent lower than a year ago, the data showed. Iraq accounted for 22 percent of April Indian imports, up from about 15 percent a year ago, while Saudi Arabia's share dropped to 18 percent from about 25 percent a year ago. A. K. Sharma, head of finance at Oil India Corp. stated, "Iraqi oil is much more beneficial than Saudi because they are better priced. There is a significance difference in prices." Iraq has consistently maintained their official selling prices (OSP) below Saudi Arabia. In April, Iraq set the OSP for its flagship Basrah Light crude at a discount of 2.60 a barrel to Middle East benchmarks, 20 cents under the OSP for comparable crude grade Arab Medium. Overall, Indian crude demand rose in 2016 as refiners normally avoid maintenance shutdown in the first quarter to meet annual crude processing target for the fiscal year. Also, Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest refiner, boosted imports after commissioning the 300,000-bpd Paradip refinery. For Indian imports, Iran is also raising its share. The country accounted for about 9 percent of overall purchases in April compared to about 7.2 percent a year ago. Overall in January to April, Iranian oil accounted for about 7.4 percent of Indian imports from about 4 percent a year ago, becoming fifth-largest oil supplier to India compared with the eighth position a year ago. On the losing side, Latin American suppliers exported 8.2 percent less crude to India during January to April. The region's share in Indian imports declined to about 16 percent from about 19 percent a year ago as its oil has become uncompetitive in the ongoing price war. The company, which spends 10 per cent of its revenue on branding/marketing, would launch its TV commercial this year. It has plans to spend 50 per cent of its total investment on branding/marketing on digital platforms. According to reports, due to a car bomb in a Shiite Muslim district of Baghdad at least 52 people got killed, and Islamic States have claimed the responsibility of this human made disaster. Security has gradually improved in the Iraqi capital, which was the target of daily bombings a decade ago, but violence directed against the security forces and Shiite civilians is still frequent. Large blasts sometimes set off reprisal attacks against the minority Sunni community. The fight against Islamic State, which seized about a third of Iraqs territory in 2014, has exacerbated a long-running sectarian conflict in Iraq mostly between Sunnis and the Shiite majority that emerged after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Such violence threatens to undermine U.S.-backed efforts to dislodge the militant group. Wednesdays attack in Sadr City could also intensify pressure on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to resolve a political crisis that has crippled the government for more than a month. As per sources, a pickup truck packed with explosives went off at rush hour near a beauty salon in a bustling market. Many of the victims were women including several brides who appeared to be getting ready for their weddings. The bodies of two men said to be grooms were found in an adjacent barber shop. Wigs, shoes and childrens toys were scattered on the ground outside. At least two cars were destroyed in the explosion, their parts scattered far from the blast site. Rescue workers stepped through puddles of blood to put out fires and remove victims. Smoke was still rising from several shops hours after the explosion as a bulldozer cleared the burnt-out chassis of the vehicle used in the blast. Islamic State said in a statement circulated online by supporters that it had targeted Shiite militia fighters gathered in the area. Iraqi forces backed by airstrikes from a nearly two-year-old U.S.-led campaign have driven the group back in the western province of Anbar and are preparing for an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul. But the militants are still able to strike outside territory they control. The ultra hard line Sunni jihadist group, which considers Shiites apostates, has claimed recent attacks across the country as well as a twin suicide bombing in Sadr City in February that killed 70 people. Nihar Janga, an 11-year-old fifth-grader from Austin, Texas, successfully spelled the word "taoiseach," and won the US Scripps National Spelling Bee. After being given the word, Janga asked: is that and Irish word for prime minister? It is, said pronouncer Jacques Bailly, a previous Bee winner. Janga correctly spelled the word, bringing cheers from the crowd. He was named co-champion of the 2016 competition along with Jairam Hathwar, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Painted Post, New York, on Thursday after battling 25 rounds head to head in the final of the national competition, the Irish Times reports. The spelling bee ended in a tie after Hathwar successfully spelled feldenkrais, a type of somatic education, and Janga nailed gesellschaft, a type of social relationship. Jairams brother Sriram was a 2014 co-champion. "Taoiseach, is this an Irish prime minister?" pic.twitter.com/vtH6IcrTRV Silvia Killingsworth (@silviakillings) May 27, 2016 Both boys will receive a $40,000 cash prize and a trophy. The tie is the third in a row in the spelling bee, which has been held since 1925. The event was held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at National Harbor, Md, and was televised on ESPN. After the win, Janga, the youngest champion since 2002, thanked his mother and told reporters: I cant say anything. Im just in fifth grade. The finalists were determined from more than 280 competitors after two days of written and oral tests in a Washington suburb. Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Chattanooga in 1863 (Nov 22) when Cork born Major General Patrick Cleburne kept a cool head and saved the Confederates. Americans often mention and honor those who died serving the nation on celebratory days such as Memorial Day and elsewhere on this site you'll find an excellent article on the Irish/Irish-American recipients of the Medal of Honor. However, there's one group of Americans who did not die serving the United States of America who we also honor this day. Memorial Day is also for those Americans who died fighting for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, although it took a good few years for everyone to agree on that. Of course, among those Americans who died fighting for the Confederacy was a large contingent of Irishmen. At the moment I'm reading Green, Blue and Grey, which is about the Irish involvement in the war and I have to admit I'm surprised by how many predominantly Irish units there were in the southern army. I'd never really considered how many Irishmen had made their way to places like Birmingham, AL or Nashville, TN before 1860 or that so many New Orleans Irish had joined the Confederate cause. Although I had a vague idea that Irish units faced each other at Fredericksburg, the book's author points to numerous other battles where Irishmen were opposite each other. Patrick Cleburne was one of two foreign-born Major Generals in the Confederate Army. Cleburne was from Cork and was a senior partner in an Arkansas law firm when the war started. Cleburne joined as a private, was elected Captain and was soon a General. His cool head saved the Confederates at the battle of Chattanooga in November of 1863. Cleburne was killed at the Battle of Franklin, TN in 1864. To my shame, I have to admit I had only a vague idea about the Davis Guards before I read this book. The Davis Guards - named for CSA President Jefferson Davis - were 47 men, all Irish, who prevented a Union flotilla carrying 5,000 men from entering Texas via the Sabine River. The Davis Guards were led by Dick Dowling from Tuam in Galway and his foresight and planning saw off the flotilla, forcing its retreat. The Davis Guards were "the only Confederate unit to be awarded a medal of honor during the war by the Confederate government." * Originally published in 2010. Norways largest farmer-owned dairy co-operative TINE are to open a new Jarlsberg cheese production facility in Ireland. The project will see TINE form a partnership with Dairygolds existing speciality cheese factory in Mogeely, Co Cork. Dairygold Chief Executive Jim Woulfe said: Dairygold is pleased that TINE has chosen to invest in a new Jarlsberg production facility in Mogeely in partnership with Dairygold. Dairygold currently produce Jarlsberg cheese for TINE in Mogeely, under a relationship that goes back over ten years. The proposed new investment will enable TINE and Dairygold to further develop what is already a strong relationship between the two like-minded farmer-owned businesses. Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O Connor, said I'm delighted to hear of Dairygold bringing the production of a world-class Norwegian cheese brand to Ireland, home to the finest dairy production capability in the world. Michael Creed, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said Speciality Jarlsberg cheese will give Irish milk yet another welcome route to an internationally established cheese market. Adding value to top quality Irish milk is a key part of Irelands strategy for the development of the agri-food sector. Gardai are investigating after shots were fired at a young couple who were out walking in Dublin's Kilbarrick last night. Three shots were discharged at about 10.30pm on St. Berachs Place at the junction of Swans Nest Avenue. The new leader of the Labour party has said he expects the country to go back to the polls within the next 12 months. Brendan Howlin was speaking after meeting party councillors for the first time since he was elected. Such was the observation of a contributor to BBC 4 the other week, and I understand where he was coming from. The Brexit debate whether the UK should remain in the EU or exit from it has rumbled on so long that people are getting bored, and voter boredom makes for unpredictable results. Almost everything to do with the possible departure of the UK from the EU is unpredictable. The only country which has ever left the EU before was Greenland, but Greenlands departure from the EU does not offer much precedent value compared to the impact of the second largest economy in the Union leaving the trading bloc. There are all kinds of claims about what might or might not happen post-Brexit, if that is the outcome of the decision by UK voters on June 23. While many of the consequences are, indeed, uncertain, the position in relation to taxation is clear-cut and mainly to do with the internal taxation issues for the UK itself. Vat is completely a European tax, so the British would have free rein to make whatever changes to their Vat system they wished, without any hindrance from the EU. Other taxes follow some of the constraints of the EU treaties, and so again there would be scope for changes not currently permitted such as special tax rates for different industries. Many of us might feel that the UK decision to stay or leave the EU will be of little practical consequence. But from an Irish perspective, post-Brexit changes to the tax regime on the imports and exports between ourselves and Great Britain will undoubtedly affect us. There are customs duties and tariffs, levied on certain products traded between nations. Consumers also pay Vat which is applied by the businesses when they buy goods and services. Being part of the EU means being part of a customs union and a freetrade area. In essence, this means that no EU country can impose tariffs on another countrys exports to favour their own domestic economies, and all EU countries apply the same tariffs to products coming in from outside the EU. So, for example, the British cannot levy tariffs on Irish food exports, in the same way as we cannot levy tariffs on their food exports, but both our countries must levy the same tariffs on food from countries like the US or China which are not EU members. If Britain decides to leave the EU, these favourable tariff arrangements between our countries will cease. Many items such as clothing which we import from the UK will become more expensive. Thats a problem for UK exporters, but it is also a challenge for Irish importers. The other headache for Irish importers following Brexit is a change to the Vat regime. Vat applies to goods and services, and traders must account for it. But Vat payments by traders on imports from EU countries are deferred compared to Vat payments on imports from non-EU countries. Because of this Vat position and all else being equal, it is cheaper for importers to import items from EU countries that from non-EU countries (which is the whole purpose of this rule in the first place). These Vat and customs duty changes arent optional should Britain decide to leave the EU. They must happen unless the British can put alternative arrangements in place. Alternatives to EU membership already exist, for example those enjoyed by Norway under an arrangement known as the European Economic Area. The Swiss have customs benefits within a grouping called the European Free Trade Association. Of course, every difficulty provides its own opportunities and it is possible that any new agreements brokered between our two nations post-Brexit might well suit our exporters and importers even better than the current EU position. There are already favourable income and capital tax terms which are independent of the EU Treaty for businesses with operations on both sides of the border and the Irish Sea. These favourable terms should be extended to the customs and Vat issues which arise in cross-border imports and exports. The caveat here is that Ireland could be restricted in what we can negotiate with the British because of our own membership of the EU. The follow-on if Britain leaves the EU will be interesting. There is, however, no guarantee that it will be fun. Brian Keegan is director of taxation with Chartered Accountants Ireland Finance Minister Michael Noonan yesterday confirmed the statistic as of the end of April. It compares to a vacancy rate of 6.3% last November. However, the vacancy rate is down on a peak level in June of last year of 40%, where out of 50 positions, 20 were unfilled. Mr Noonan said: The division is currently in the midst of a recruitment campaign aiming to fill a number of these vacancies at varying levels of experience. The Central Bank has informed me that at the end of April 2016, the enforcement division had 53.8 active staff, out of a complement of 71.5. This equates to 75% of their target complement. The enforcement division is multi-disciplinary and uses a wide range of powers to investigate cases across the financial services sector. The allocation of staff within the division to cases will depend on the requirements for each case. Fianna Fails spokesman on finance Michael McGrath yesterday said it is deeply concerning that so many positions at the Central Banks enforcement unit remain vacant. In view of the regulatory breaches that contributed to a very costly banking crisis in the past decade, it is deeply concerning that so many positions remain vacant, he said, adding: In sectors such as insurance, banking and moneylending, strong regulation must be matched by rigorous enforcement so as to protect consumers and ensure adequate deterrents are in place for errant financial service providers. 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 leaders said in a communique released yesterday at a summit in Ise-Shima, central Japan. Escalated geopolitical conflicts, terrorism and refugee flows are complicating factors in the global economic environment. British prime minister David Cameron has focused on the danger to growth and jobs of choosing to leave the 28-nation bloc in the June 23 vote. While German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the UKs place in the EU had not been a major subject for discussion at the summit, she said leaders wanted to show their support for the British premier. Its 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, Mr Cameron told reporters after the summit. I think that when you have that sort of agreement it is really worth listening to. He repeatedly cited the support of multinational bodies, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as he campaigns to keep Britain in the EU. He already had the individual support of G7 leaders. Asked if he stood by a comment in November that Britain could thrive outside the EU, Mr Cameron said the UK is an amazing country but would perform better if it stays in the bloc. 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? Bloomberg He said that failure to do so would delay the broadening of competition in Irish banking. The new Programme for Government says that no more than 25% of the States near-total holding in AIB will be sold before 2019. An initial share sale, depending on market conditions and the appetite for banking shares, is expected to start next year. However, speaking at a Fine Gael meeting last night, Mr Hayes currently an MEP for Dublin said that targets should be widened and that the Government should commit to selling 50% of AIB by 2019. The country paid far too high a price for saving the banks...Whats important, now, is to recover as much as possible of the investment, and the future sale of AIB is critical in this regard. The total State investment in AIB was 21bn and, by July, close to 6.5bn will have been recovered from AIB, he said. He added: The new government should sell AIB as soon as it is practical. In my view, its not in Irelands long-term interest to have large State holdings in the banking sector. It doesnt help competition in the sector. It discourages new entrants from coming into the banking market, offering new products and competing with the pillar banks for business. If ever we need new entrants, its now. The Government should make a firm commitment that the States holding in AIB should be no more than 50% by the start of 2019. It is important for the Government to get out of the banking business, because it often leaves the Government entangled in the sometimes competing interests of corporate profit and customer protection. He said that while Finance Minister Michael Noonan was correct to postpone a decision to sell AIB shares in a depressed market, the key requirement was to sell as the market rose. AIB should not be sold, until there is clear evidence that there is strong competition in two critical markets mortgages and lending to businesses, particularly the SME sector, Mr Hayes said. Minister Noonan has many issues to take into account, in coming to a conclusion on the disposal of AIB. The international financial system remains volatile; timing the sale of bank shares will take judgement and a measure of luck. The latest update on the liquidation of IBRC formed from the embers of Anglo and Irish Nationwide shows that the special liquidators now expect to pay an interim dividend of 25% to unsecured creditors before the close of the year. Among the list of unsecured creditors is the State which is owed 1.1bn. The first payment to unsecured creditors is due to be made in the coming months meaning a range of bodies including local authorities, credit unions and the State are set to receive a cheque by the turn of the year. The liquidators Eamonn Richardson and Ciaran Wallace of KPMG now expect to be able to pay unsecured creditors 75%-100% of their claims. It is understood the unsecured creditor payouts are likely to be made in full however, which would open the door for junior bondholders who have submitted claims worth about 285m. While the liquidators said they do not anticipate making payments to subordinated, or junior, bondholders the larger-than-anticipated 2.23bn surplus and the likelihood of the unsecured creditors claims being met in full means bondholders may yet be in line for a multi-million euro payout. Subordinated bondholders would be entitled to payment once there are proceeds of the liquidation left over after 100% of all admitted claims made by unsecured creditors have been paid. Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the exact scale of the eventual payout to unsecured creditors was still unknown as a number of factors had yet to be finalised. The special liquidators inform me that they hope to be in a position to make an interim distribution by 31 December, 2016 of 25% of all admitted claims made by unsecured creditors. Their expectation is that the eventual unsecured creditor dividend will be in the range of 75% to 100% of all eligible claims. The special liquidators further advise me that this eventual dividend range is subject to change depending on future events which are outside the control of the special liquidators. The ultimate level of dividend paid to each creditor cannot be known until such time as all loan assets are sold, the total level of adjudicated creditors is finalised and the other contingent creditor claims which may crystallise, including those from litigation, are known, Mr Noonan said. The 2.23bn surplus represents a further increase on the last-reported 1.85bn surplus which emerged last year. Mr Noonan said he was pleased with the progress made by the liquidators. A number of tasks remain to be completed including hundreds of ongoing legal cases which are yet to be resolved, he said. There remains a number of tasks in the liquidation to be completed including the ongoing management of over 350 legal cases which has reduced from circa 700 cases since March 2015, the completion of the creditor adjudication process, the work with the Commission of Investigation, the management of the remaining loan book of circa 3.7bn and the realisation of all remaining assets. I am confident the special liquidators will deliver on these and all remaining tasks. I am satisfied with the financial outcome of the liquidation to date which has far exceeded our expectations and has not resulted in any further cost to the Irish taxpayer, Mr Noonan said. Starting out in Sweden, France, or Germany, a company is not European its Swedish, French, or German. Tax regulations, postal tariffs, financial systems, labelling, copyright and data protection rules nothing is harmonised. Failing to get member states to accept more uniformity, European bureaucrats seize every chance to fix whats not broken and regulate what doesnt need regulating. The European Commissions recent Digital Single Market proposals are a good example: They put off removing geographical blocks (so-called geoblocking) on digital content, but they contain a requirement for Netflix and other video-on-demand services to include no less than 20% European content in their catalogues. Even in the US, e-commerce transactions spanning several states are a legal grey area. Its not easy for internet retailers to collect different sales taxes for every state they ship to, so most of them dont, giving rise to arguments over their legal base. In the EU, independent nations charge different tax rates, and speak 24 different languages to boot. Earlier this year, the European Commission found that 63% of the websites it studied blocked customers from buying outside their home countries. Many of them let a user pick a product or service and then, at the final stage of the order, rejected an address or a credit card. Its no less frustrating when a YouTube video you want to see is replaced by a flickering back screen with the message that this content is blocked in the viewers country; when a movie that is out in the UK is not available to a German Netflix user; when you cant watch the same movies on holiday in a neighbouring country that you can watch at home. Andrus Ansip, European Commission vice president for the digital single market, comes from Estonia, perhaps the most digitally advanced EU country, but also a tiny one. No matter how technologically advanced they are, start-ups in his country and elsewhere in the EU cant scale as fast and as efficiently as US firms. No wonder Ansip says he hates geoblocking. Yet businesses dont want the EU to issue regulations against the practice. The European e-commerce association, Emota, has told regulators that the industry itself should work out best practices. Its main fear was that the EU would force all businesses to sell to customers, regardless of where they are, and then deal with the consequences such as delivery and tax intricacies. Unwilling to be passive and unable to overcome the resistance of business lobbies, the commission settled on a bizarre compromise. Its proposal is to allow customers in any EU country to check the prices in any other country and then buy wherever the prices are best. Yet, in a twist that renders this meaningless, the retailers wont be obliged to deliver. A Belgian will be able to buy a cheap refrigerator in Poland, but hell need to organise the delivery himself. If that doesnt sound very digital-age, tough luck. Retailers are happy, though. They will only have to charge local taxes and they wont have to deal with cross-border shipments. As for customers well, no one entitled them to tell the businesses how they should operate; they can take it or leave it. The new proposals specifically exclude audio and video content. Apparently, copyright issues are even harder to resolve than tax and logistical ones, Video hosting and video-on-demand services are contractually bound not to show certain content in certain countries, and removing these barriers would involve negotiating with rights-holders and making sure their compensation doesnt suffer from cross-border access. They make more by selling rights to every individual country. An EU-wide license wouldnt make economic sense to many of them, and bureaucrats fear less European content would be produced. On these grounds, France, for example, has advocated limiting the EUs interference to making sure digital subscriptions are portable that the same movies can be watched wherever a subscriber travels in Europe. The lobbying power aligned against making copyright EU-wide content producers, TV channels which buy licences for specific markets, governments like the French one worried about the preservation of national language and culture is too great for the European Commission to overcome, so it pushes the issue down the road. All that bureaucrats such as Ansip can do at this point is envy US companies success in obtaining global licenses for mostly US-made content. That kind of envy manifests itself as more meaningless regulation for instance, the requirement that Netflix and other similar services include no less than 20% of European offerings in their catalogues. The European Commission itself admits that diktat wont change anything. Netflix and YouTube already have 21% each of EU-produced content. All the proposed new regulation accomplishes is to make the EU look silly, as if its forcing US platforms to accept and sell below-par local material. A true European common market for all kinds of digital commerce would mean a single system of postal tariffs and EU-wide copyright on all kinds of content. A unified value-added tax would also help. An agreement of the 28 member states on all these matters would make the EUs market of 500m consumers larger than that of the US. Americas truly single market has given its companies a colossal lead. But eliminating internal borders would at least help narrow the gap. Instead, theyre perpetuating the protection of European firms within their small home markets and preventing truly global players from emerging. Bloomberg Ms Mitchell was speaking at the opening of Brown Bag Films 30,000sq ft animation studio in Dublin yesterday. Brown Bag Films is behind Disney programmes such as Henry Hugglemonster, created by Irish writer and illustrator Niamh Sharkey. Please let our children doodle in classrooms, was her message to teachers across Ireland. Her remark was referring to where creativity can lead to, when it comes to boosting the economy. Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor made a humorous remark referring to encouraging creativity in the classroom and how we want to encourage Irish talent for dynamic and innovative companies across all sectors of our economy, a spokeswoman from her Department said. The animation studio, a subsidiary of 9 Story Media, already employs 184 people between its Dublin, Manchester, and Los Angeles offices. They company plans to bring this number to 255, by 2018. Brown Bag Films was also behind the Oscar-nominated cartoon series, Give Up Yer Aul Sins. Brown Bag is a great Irish success story since its foundation 22 years ago and is a fine example of what an innovative Irish company can achieve in the global market. This exciting company is successfully competing in the dynamic and very competitive world of creative animation, Ms OConnor said. Brown Bag Films is currently working on the computer-generated adaptation of the Richard Adams novel Watership Down for Netflix and the BBC. The studios managing director, Cathal Gaffney, said that he is currently recruiting new talent for shows like Watership Down and Doc McStuffins. John Crown said it is likely that the new drugs will be approved sometime this year, but it could be too late for a small number of patients, who need them now. Prof Crown said cancer specialists have to give patients another drug, called ipilimumab, also known as ipi, which is not as good; is more toxic; and just as expensive as the new drugs. The HSE is assessing the cost of providing the two cancer drugs pembrolizumab (pembro) and nivolumab (nivo) which are already available elsewhere, including in Greece. The supply of pembro, under a compassionate-use programme, has already ended. A similar access programme, for nivo, is due to end next week. Experts have found that the drugs are successful in treating cancers, including melanoma, kidney tumours, and certain types of lung cancer. The HSE says the drugs are being carefully considered, under a process of health-technology assessment, to determine value-for-money and patient benefits. Pembro has an estimated five-year cost implication of 64m to the State, at the price being sought by the company. The single, biggest barrier to new drugs approvals in Ireland is the high prices that manufacturers are seeking to charge, the health authority stated. Prof Crown said cancer specialists are giving patients ipi, which is not as good as the newer drugs, and is just as expensive. The new drugs are not only more active, in terms of their anti-cancer effect, but they are also safer, he said. I am seeing patients, right now, and I am telling them there is a drug I want to give you, but I am going to give you something that is not as good and is less likely to work and, by the way, will cost the health service just as much. He has a patient, with melanoma, who was given pembro when ipi failed, and is now in remission for two years. Prof Crown said that up to 150 people die from melanoma every year. There is good evidence that we can make those people live a lot longer and we can possibly cure a large proportion of them. Consultant oncologist at the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore, Kyran Bulger, said the initial pricing for pembro was 134,000 per patient per year. Dr Bulger, who was speaking on RTE radio yesterday, said he had used pembro to treat two patients, who had just months to live, and described the results as spectacular. He had exhausted all options and gave the drug in desperation. Now, several months later, the cancer has disappeared. We are clinicians. We look after people its desperate when you cant do anything for them, said Dr Bulger. Fianna Fail health spokesman Billy Kelleher said it is not good enough that medication that could save lives is being denied. The Irish Cancer Society said it does not comment on drugs under negotiation between payers and pharmaceutical companies. In an unconventional move, Mr Kenny gave over three of the 11 nominations to Mr Martin. Two former ministers and a number of failed Fine Gael TDs have also been chosen among Mr Kennys nominees to the Seanad. But opposition party Fianna Fail were given the power to select three people Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House; Aer Arann founder Padraig O Ceidigh, and Colette Kelleher, CEO of Alzheimers Ireland. Speaking after her nomination Ms Freeman said: I found out yesterday afternoon, I got a wonderful call from Micheal Martin asking whether I would consider it. He said would I consider being the voice for mental health and I think they were the most important words I could have heard. Three of the nominations were given to Micheal Martin and he had the right and the ability to chose a person that he might work well for this country, she told RTEs Drivetime programme. We campaigned for reform of the Seanad and as part of that government reform we asked that we would have the option of naming three members to the Seanad, a Fianna Fail spokesman said. Former Childrens Minister James Reilly has also been selected by Mr Kenny to join the Upper House meaning he may now stay on as deputy leader of Fine Gael. Six of the 11 chosen by the Taoiseach are former Fine Gael TDs and this also includes former junior environment minister Paudie Coffey, who lost his seat in the recent general election. Other TDs who failed to retain their seats who have been selected are Michelle Mulherrin, Ray Butler, Frank Feighan, and John OMahony. Mr Kenny has also selected Billy Lawless who is an advocate for Irish immigrants in the US as one of his nominees. Broadcaster Marie-Louise ODonnell, who was among Mr Kennys nominees in 2011, has been selected again. However, a number of people who had been tipped for positions missed out, including former ministers Jimmy Deenihan and Tom Hayes, and Anne-Marie Dermody and Averil Power. Meanwhile no location has yet been found to house the Seanad while extensive restoration and refurbishment work is carried out on Leinster House. The National Museum and City Hall have both been suggested , while another option is the possibility of holding the Seanad in the Dail chamber on non-sitting days. The Heritage Council is distributing the funding to the projects after assessing more than 400 projects. The scheme supports the continuing conservation and development of Irish heritage through local community-based groups. Athy Heritage Centre Museum is receiving 10,000 for the conservation and restoration of the interior of the Quest Cabin the cabin where Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton spent his final hours. A total of 154 projects across Cork city and country have received funding totalling just over 57,000. The largest amount of funding went to the AK ILEN Company for the conservation of wooden ships, AK Ilens deck, and to Robbie Crichton for the conservation of the north and south towers of Donnybrook House. Both of these projects received 10,000. Other projects receiving funding include the Cork LGBT Archive/Cork Gay Project which received 6,000 for acid-free boxes to store, sort, and catalogue a LGBT heritage collection, including a variety of objects and documents reflecting Corks LGBT Heritage. St FinBarres Cathedral is getting 7,000 for stained glass window protection and water ingress. Heritage Council chairman Conor Newman said the diverse range of projects being funded reflected Irelands cultural identity and distinctiveness as a people. If properly resourced, they have the potential to give back to the community and to the country for generations to come. They are a hugely popular initiative, and while we werent able to support all of the projects which applied, I am very pleased that so many projects will benefit. These projects keep threatened aspects of our heritage alive and provide people with an opportunity to be directly involved in developing the future of their places. Many of the projects reflect years of ongoing work at community level to protect our heritage for the future, he said. Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts, and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys, said funding can also contribute to job creation. Schemes such as this one help to conserve our heritage, support the local economy, boost tourism, and make our country a better place in which to live and work. By continuing to invest in our heritage, we can show that historic buildings and places are not only an intrinsic part of Irelands heritage, but can also provide a real boost to job creation in the construction, conservation and tourism sectors, she said. The 26-year-old model of Jamestown Rd, Dublin 8, is accused of harassing Mr McGrath, 39, at various locations in the State from September 9 until November 21 last year. The charge is contrary to Section 10 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. She has not yet entered a plea and was ordered to appear again at Dublin District Court on June 24 to allow her time to brief her lawyers. The Co Louth woman was raped and strangled in Melbourne, Victoria, by Adrian Bayley who then buried her remains in a shallow grave. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison, a jail term he unsuccessfully appealed. While the young womans family decided against an inquest, coroner Ian Gray felt he still needed to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding her death. He said: Bayleys sexual offending and violent offending history and the fact that he was a prisoner on parole at the time he murdered Ms Meagher are relevant to matters of public health and safety and prevention. Mr Gray linked the killing to the deaths of two other women in the Victoria region which occurred in and around the same time: Each woman was killed by a man with a violent offending history. Two of the men were on parole at the time they killed the women, and one had recently completed his parole period. As shown by these murders, each of these men after their release continued to pose a risk, particularly to women. Mr Gray pointed out that in 1990, when Bayley was aged 18, he raped a young woman. Two months later, while on bail pending trial for that offence, he attacked and attempted to rape a 17-year-old girl. Another few months later, he attacked a 16-year-old girl but she managed to escape. He was sentenced to five years in prison for the three offences. Then in 2001 he was arrested and charged with 16 counts of rape against five women over the course of a six-month period. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison but was released on parole in 2010. He re-offended in February 2012, and was sentenced to three months imprisonment in Geelong on a charge of causing serious injury. He appealed the sentence. Adrian Bayley Mr Gray pointed out that Bayley was on parole and on bail when he murdered Ms Meagher. The coroner examined reports on assessments made of Bayley while he had been in prison up to 2010. A sex offender programmes risk assessment tool found he was at high risk of sexual re-offending. At the start of his parole after emerging from prison, he was allocated a special case manager by Community Correctional Services (CCS). That case manager reported that Bayley gave contradictory statements about his ability to control himself after drinking alcohol and also admitted he had a row with his girlfriend before drinking. Despite those admissions, he was not referred for re-assessment until after his conviction for assault. Gillian Meaghers death was preventable, said Mr Gray. A more rigorous, risk-averse approach by CCS and Adult Parole Board would have led to the cancellation of Bayleys parole either when charged with the Geelong offence, or when convicted in the Magistrates Court. He said the approach taken was difficult to understand. If the approach was consistent with adult parole practice at the time, it was a flawed practice as it did not bring dangerous and high-risk parolees immediately to account, he added. In this sense, it appeared not to prioritise the interests of public safety. As a consequence of reforms, that approach would not now be an option. The man, who works for a private care home provider, says he was summarily dismissed last Monday after two co-workers complained about him after they claimed they saw him engaging in a sexual act posted on Facebook. He says the video was forged and posted by someone attempting to blackmail him in what is known as the internet honey trap scam. He has never got a copy of the video which was deleted very soon afterwards, the court heard. His lawyers yesterday obtained permission to serve at short notice on the care home his intention to seek an injunction restraining the employer from giving effect to his dismissal. He also seeks a declaration the dismissal was in breach of fair procedures. His counsel told Ms Justice Miriam ORegan the man had an unblemished work record with the care home. Two co-workers, including the daughter of one of the people who sat on a disciplinary board to deal with his case, complained about the video. Counsel said the video was a forgery and edited in such a way to say his client was engaged in the sexual act. Somebody had attempted to blackmail him in what is now known as a web honey trap scam which has already received a certain amount of publicity, counsel said. The man was suspended following a disciplinary hearing on May 9. At the end of it, the chairman said they were now going down the road of proving his innocence and the hearing was adjourned. Counsel said this meant he was guilty of something and had to prove his innocence. The day before the hearing was due to resume last Monday, he received a letter from his employers solicitors stating there was no doubt he was the man in the video and he was being summarily dismissed, counsel said. Leaving aside the fact that he had not been allowed to put his side of the case, the disciplinary process had not even finished at this stage, counsel said. Ms Justice ORegan granted permission for service of the proceedings at short notice on the defendant and said the matter could come back to court next week. The application was made on an ex-parte basis. Mr Callinan and the Fianna Fail TD had a secret 20-minute meeting ahead of the appearance of Sgt McCabe before the PAC at the height of the Garda crisis. It has emerged that, at the meeting, which took place in the car park of Bewleys Hotel on the Naas Road in Dublin on January 24, 2014, the commissioner sought directly to convince the PAC not to hear evidence from Sgt McCabe. This was six days before Sgt McCabe finally did give testimony in private to the committee. Every effort was made by those within the Garda Siochana at senior level to discredit Garda Maurice McCabe, Mr McGuinness told the Dail during the debate on the OHiggins commission report. The garda commissioner confided in me in a car park on the Naas Road that Garda McCabe was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him. Mr McGuinness also revealed that he was told of vile stories about Sgt McCabe at the time which he said were promoted by senior Garda officers. John McGuinness It has been confirmed to the Irish Examiner that it was Mr Callinan who sought the meeting with Mr McGuinness. Calls to the former commissioner for a response yesterday from the Irish Examiner went unanswered. The meeting took place in the days before Sgt McCabe appeared before the committee to outline his knowledge of extensive abuse of the penalty points system. The previous May, an internal Garda investigation had found there was only minor abuse, but this result has since been discredited. Sgt McCabe approached Mr McGuinness with his concerns over the loss of public money in the abuse of the penalty points system in November 2013. Maurice McCabe Mr McGuinness determined that the PAC should hear from Sgt McCabe in a move that caused some unease in government and Garda circles. Mr Callinan, then the Garda Commissioner, voiced opposition to the hearing. Six days after the secret meeting, on January 30, Sgt McCabe appeared before the committee behind closed doors for more than three hours. He was described by several committee members as a highly credible witness. A week later, Mr Callinan appeared before the committee on the penalty points issue for nearly seven hours, during which he described the actions of Sgt McCabe and former Garda John Wilson as disgusting. Speaking at Thursdays debate about attitudes towards Sgt McCabe at the time, Mr McGuiness said: The vile stories that circulated about Garda McCabe, which were promoted by senior officers in the Garda, were absolutely appalling. Because they attempted to discredit him, he had to bring forward various pieces of strong evidence to protect his integrity. Mr McGuinness went on to speak highly about Sgt McCabes bona fides and credibility in his dealings with him. In the workings of the Committee of Public Accounts over the past five years, one of the most impressive witnesses who came before us and the only witness who came before us in private session was Sgt Maurice McCabe, said Mr McGuinness. Everything he said was supported by documentary evidence. Sgt McCabes appearance before the PAC marked a turning point in the Garda crisis which ultimately led to the departure of Mr Callinan, the then justice minister Alan Shatter and his top official, Brian Purcell, later in 2014. Last years Fennelly Commission report concluded that the visit by Mr Purcell to the home of Mr Callinan at the behest of Taoiseach Enda Kenny was the immediate catalyst for his retirement. However, the report also stated Mr Callinan decided to retire and that he could have decided otherwise. Mr Kenny said it was correct that he sent Mr Purcell to Mr Callinans home to make it clear the grave concerns that the Taoiseach had. If it loses the appeal, motorists could face a premium of more than 50 added to their car insurance bills. The Court of Appeal ruled in March the MIBI should cover the cost of the 1,700 claims involved which total 90m. Earlier this month, when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal, it described the issue involved as a very serious one. The news websites reporter had permission to film the class during a ministerial visit but Ombudsman Peter Feeney ruled that the issues sensitivity meant personal consent should have been sought before using the segment. Concerns about the way children featured in newspapers comprised 4% of the 278 complaints to the Press Ombudsman last year but made up four of the 10 cases which were upheld. Mr Feeney appealed to journalists to be aware of their considerable responsibility to childrens interests. He was speaking at the publication of the Press Councils annual report where Council chairman, Daithi OCeallaigh, also warned of the challenges posed by online news sites. Mr OCeallaigh said the comment sections which follow articles presented particular challenges because of the lack of controls. This is an area thats very difficult, very complex and sometimes quite unpleasant, he said. It is an area where members of the public are going to find difficulties so we need to think how we can handle this. He also said written reports on radio and TV websites are not covered by the Press Council or the Broadcasting Authority so there is nowhere to complain to. Ombudsman Peter Feeney Concerns were also expressed about the damage caused to paid-for journalism by social media. Mr Feeney said the tailoring of news content on social media sites to match the interests of the user meant users only get the news they want to hear. This has serious implications for the ideal of informed citizens making objective choices, he said. The tailoring of content to reflect users online purchases was also a real worry for anyone who believes that prioritising news stories must not be contaminated by any commercial considerations. Guest Roy Greenslade, journalism professor at London City University, said social media would eventually kill newspapers but he said it should not destroy journalism. Mr OCeallaigh also appealed for reform of libel payouts in the courts, suggesting that juries should decide cases but judges should assess damages which he said had become excessive. Mr Greenslade criticised publishers who take libel cases, saying it opposes the principle of press freedom. Of the 278 complaints made last year, 133 were outside the Ombudsmans remit; 79 were referred for publishers to resolve; and 34 were decided by the Ombudsman, who upheld 10, relating mainly to privacy, children, and accuracy. Father-of-two Mariusz Daniel Sarzynski, aged 37, of Bective House, Beaufort Place, Navan, Co Meath, used a razor he hid from prison officers to inflict cuts to his arms that resulted in his bleeding to death. He was found unresponsive in his cell on August 26, 2014, and was pronounced dead a short time later at Tallaght Hospital. Returning an open verdict by majority, the jury recommended 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. Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail raised the issue yesterday after a damning statement from the Policing Authority about the ongoing fallout from the OHiggins whistle-blower report on Thursday night. After meeting privately with Ms OSullivan on Thursday, the independent Policing Authoritys chair, Josephine Feehily, said the body has deep unease about the handling of the Maurice McCabe saga including incorrect claims he was motivated by malice. News / Africa by Agencies Bloemfontein - More than 1,600 firearms were seized by the Hawks at a gun shop in Bloemfontein, owned by Danish national Peter Frederiksen who is accused of collecting women's genitals and storing them in his freezer, Free State police said.The firearms were confiscated on Thursday on suspicion that Frederiksen might have used them for other crimes, said police spokesperson Brigadier Billy Jones.About 75 firearms had no valid licences.Jones said explosives, which include hand grenades and rock breakers commonly used for ATM bombings, were also confiscated."Our ongoing investigation into this matter will [determine] whether the individual was involved in other criminal activities and whether any of the firearms were used in the commission of crime by other people," he said.Frederiksen was arrested on September 17 last year after 21 clitorises were found in the freezer of his Langehoven Park home in Bloemfontein.He faces charges of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, manufacturing, distributing and possessing child pornography, conspiracy to murder and bigamy.He is also being investigated for the murder of his wife, 28-year-old Anna Matseliso Molise, who was gunned down outside her home in Maseru, Lesotho.Following his arrest, Frederiksen allegedly hired wheelchair-bound Motlatsi Moqeti, 31, to have Molise killed.Molise would have been a key State witness in the case against her husband.During cross-examination by prosecutor Amanda Bester, Frederiksen told the court that he learned of his wife's death through the media.Frederiksen is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on June 15. Ms Feehily previously held the role of chair of the Revenue Commissioners, a position she was appointed to in 2008, and remained in until the end of 2014. She was the first woman to hold the position. During her time in Revenue, she headed a number of projects which saw tax takings increase. The largest project she oversaw was that of the introduction and roll-out of property tax. Ms Feehily received criticism in 2013, after letters were sent to homeowners, asking how they planned to pay the tax in 2014. She appeared before an Oireachtas committee on finance, public expenditure and reform on the matter. Ms Feehily stated that Revenue began writing to 988,000 property owners on October 21, 2013, but said mistakes were made in the basic way the letter was written. In 2011, she had been embroiled in another letter-related controversy, when Revenue sent out notices to 115,000 pensioners informing them that they were underpaying their taxes. We caused confusion and distress to some people, and Im sincerely sorry for that, she said at the time. Prior to her time in Revenue, the Limerick woman held a number of positions in the Department of Social Welfare and the Pensions Board. Ms Feehily then joined the Revenue Commissioners in 1993, as head of human resources, later rising to the role of assistant secretary. She was born in Limerick City but moved to Clarina during her childhood. She currently lives in Co Meath. At the time of her appointment to the head of the Policing Authority, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, and Fianna Fails former justice spokesman Niall Collins commended her ability to lead the body. Ms Fitzgerald said Ms Feehily had stellar performances in other areas and has huge management experiences. Mr Collins, who is now Fianna Fails jobs spokes-man, said at the time, her appointment would play a central role in providing the necessary leadership and support to An Garda Siochana at a time of great change for the force. However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said there would be an independent deficit because it was a government appointment. Given Thursday nights statement, it would seem she is leaning towards the former. Sligo-Leitrim TD Martin Kenny had told the Dail on Thursday he was aware of further garda malpractice in his own constituency. The Sinn Fein TD claimed gardai had engaged active criminals as informants and used informers to entrap people. However, reacting to the fresh accusations, Garda Ray Wims, GRA representative for SligoLeitrim division, said the complaints should have been brought forward to the relevant authorities and said he had been unaware of the claims before they were raised in the Dail. However, it has since emerged that GSOC has already looked into some allegations raised by Mr Kenny, which the TD failed to mention in the Dail. In a statement, GSOC said: A small number of the cases listed by Deputy Kenny have either already been investigated by GSOC, or are currently under investigation. We will not comment on the investigation of any of the specific cases. The Ombudsman Commission has arranged a meeting with Deputy Kenny next week to discuss the matters he has raised. It appears to me that a number of serious allegations can be made every week now against members of and Garda Siochana in the chamber under the protection of Dail privilege. However, Mr Kenny reiterated yesterday that the whistleblowers who approached him first engaged with Garda authorities about their concerns in 2009 and again in 2012 and 2014. Throughout that period of time, while feeling frustrated by the inaction of the authorities, they remained engaged with the appropriate mechanisms, he said. He added that the whistle-blowers were told in 2015 that while the concerns of the garda had been acknowledged there would be no further investigation. Garda Wims, meanwhile, said there has to be confidence in the system set up for investigating allegations of garda misconduct or alleged garda misconduct particularly when elected politicians are making these allegations. He asked Mr Kenny who used his Dail speaking time to call for a commission of investigation into the allegations to bring forward his complaints to a formal process. Speaking on RTEs Morning Ireland, the GRA executive member also said the allegations came as a complete surprise to him. A Garda statement yesterday said that two people were arrested in connection with the murder of Gareth Hutch last Tuesday. It is thought their genders, and ages, were not officially released as gardai fear that members of the Hutch gang would kill them. They were detained using special anti-gang offences under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007. This allows for suspects to be detained for up to seven days on the authorisation of senior officers and the courts. It is not clear what role the women are suspected of playing in the murder, as CCTV footage, which captured the shooting, shows that two males were involved. Garda sources said they might have provided logistical support in the murder. Detectives suspect that a 30-year-old INLA man was the main shooter in the killing. Six people have been shot dead by the Kinahan crime cartel, four of them in the north inner city. Three were members of the wider Hutch family. Prior to the murder of Gareth Hutch, Eddie Hutch was shot dead at his home in nearby Ballybough, while Gary Hutch was gunned down in Marbella, Spain, last September. A 29-year-old man, thought to be one of the gunmen in Tuesdays attack, handed himself in after the murder. Gardai suspect he did this for his own safety. The third person arrested yesterday, also under the 2007 provision, was held in connection with the murder of dissident republican Michael Barr last April. Michael Barr The Tyrone man was shot dead as he worked in the Sunset House pub in the North Strand area. Barr was suspected of providing a safe house to a gunman, also a dissident from Tyrone, who took part in the Regency Hotel attack on February 5. Kinahan lieutenant David Byrne, from Crumlin in south Dublin, was shot dead in that attack, in which three men, dressed as elite gardai, brandished AK47s. The Tyrone gunman and Barr are both suspected of playing a role in supplying that weaponry. A man was arrested earlier in the week in connection with the murder of Eddie Hutch brother of Gerry The Monk Hutch. Chief Superintendent Pat Leahy said on Thursday that he expected successful investigations in relation to the four murders. I am absolutely confident, and I wouldnt say this lightly, that we will be successful in these investigations and I suggest we will be successful in some of them sooner rather than later, he said. He accepted that many of those involved in the murders were local people, but said there was an international element to those ordering and paying for the killings. Ms Roche, who founded the charity Chernobyl Children International (CCI) in Cork in 1991 and who has overseen the delivery of some 100m worth of humanitarian aid to Chernobyl affected regions, was presented with the citys highest civic honour by Lord Mayor Cllr Chris OLeary, at a special meeting of Cork City Council yesterday. Mr OLeary said he wanted to honour Ms Roche for her outstanding humanitarian and advocacy work over three decades: You are a shining example of what focus, commitment and dedication to a cause can achieve and you have demonstrated what is possible when one person dedicates their life to making positive change. Ms Roche said by granting her the award, Cork City was sending a loud message of hope and solidarity to the innocent victims of the nuclear tragedy, letting them know they are not forgotten. We honour you with this. We are with you in your loss and struggle, your pain and heartache, she said. Speaking to the Irish Examiner afterwards, Ms Roche said she cannot lead CCI forever. But, for as long as I am able and for as long as people will have me, it will be my privilege to keep going, she said. For as long as I feel I can make a difference, I will be on that frontline. Its where I feel most alive. And for as long as those kids need support, Ill be there, shoulder to shoulder with them. Special meeting of #corkcc underway to confer freedom of the city on Adi Roche #Cork pic.twitter.com/iWTOh7EViH Eoin English (@EoinBearla) May 27, 2016 She began working with victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster within months of the catastrophe and founded CCI in 1991 with Mary Ahern, 86, from Ballinlough, who was in the audience yesterday. Also present were Ms Roches husband Sean and Anna Gabriel, from Bandon, one of the first Belarusian children to be adopted by an Irish family. Ms Roche paid tribute to CCIs heroic volunteers and generous donors for their unwavering support and praised the thousands of families who have opened their homes to the young victims of Chernobyl. I salute you all, You are the lifeblood of our charity, she said. Earlier Ms Roche planted a silver birch outside City Hall, a species of tree which grows profusely in the Chernobyl region. Furniture designer Eileen Gray was one of Irelands most pioneering women, yet most of us have never even heard of her. Thats all set to change now Orla Brady is playing her in a new movie, writes Esther McCarthy. It was quite an event with thousands of people converging on east Cork for the weekend. Over 30 nationalities that we know of, and as one hassled visitor complained to me there wasnt a bed between here and Cork. Fortunately, we found her one but the event certainly created a huge buzz and generated a lot of excitement in the greater area. There were many highlights. The thought-provoking 15 minute talks in the Grainstore on a whole range of topics; Food in a Warzone with Kamal Mouzuwak from the Lebanon; Seaweeds Eat them, Meet Them, with Prannie Rhatigan; Ella McSweeney chaired a panel on Farming the Soil; Prue Leith founder of Leiths Cookery School in London spoke about her life in food; Elizabeth Luard, Sacred Food was also riveting but one of the most thought-provoking of all was Ted Dinan of UCCs talk on the relationship between our gut and our psychological wellbeing. Ari Weinzweig from Zingermans in Ann Arbor in Michigans talk was entitled A Lapsed Anarchist, his subject, how to create a successful business and a happy workforce. Many of these presentations will be up on the Litfest website within the next couple of weeks. The Big Shed where the Fringe takes place was rocking. The food stalls were specially selected for their great food. My Goodnesss Heavy Nettle shot and an Irish take on pupusas made with potato, charlock and wild garlic was a huge hit as were Ivan Whelans sausage, egg and chips. Ivan had three fryers on the go, Choose Your Fat. There was Pat Whelans dripping, fresh pork lard or sunflower oil for the vegetarians. The homemade sausages, frankfurters, bratwurst, and boorwurst were made by Fingal Ferguson of Gubeen who was doing a beautiful Gubeen plate with a selection of his cured meats. Back to Ivan, the artisan mustard came from Graham Kearns, Co Meath, the ketchup, sauces and salsas were handmade. The Bloody Mary and Bloody Shame (non- alcoholic) made from homemade tomato ketchup caused quite a sensation. The Drinks Theatre (see www.litfest.ie ) was also a wow; wines, craft beers, cider, fermented drinks. In fact, a session on fermented drinks with John Wilson and Virginia OGara was packed out at 9.30am on Sunday, how wonderful is that? Arun Kapil of Green Saffron also had long queues for Spicy John Dory and salmon with peas and coconut flakes as did The Rocket Mans falafel pockets. Lolo had his entire family serving crepes and many other good things. There were Joe and Sandra Burns Farm Vegetable Chips and much much more. The Ballymaloe gang did a brilliant job of giving chefs, speakers and guests a taste of the very best of Ireland. Can you imagine the sun shone on both days with only two thunder showers to remind us of how it could have been. However, this column is about food and as ever there were many highlights among the cookery demos at the Cookery School and here are just a few, Ill share some more with you all in the next couple of weeks. Ottolenghis Garlic Spiced Farinata with Whipped Butterbeans Farinata is a flatbread made from chickpea flour, which makes it gluten-free as well as delicious. The edges are dry and crisp, while the centre is more soft and squidgy, allowing you to scoop up the topping when you eat it. Start with either tinned or dried butterbeans here, which you then cook. Both work just as well. Serves 4 200g (7oz) flour (aka chickpea flour) 60ml (2fl oz) olive oil 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 tbsp sumac 1 tsp nigella seeds tsp chilli flakes flaky sea salt Whipped Butterbeans 1 x 400g (14oz) tin cooked butterbeans, drained and rinsed (240g/8oz) drained weight) 100g (3oz) cream cheese 1 tsp lemon juice 2 tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tsp for drizzling 1 spring onion, thinly sliced 1 small preserved lemon (10g/oz), flesh and skin finely chopped Place the chickpea flour in a large bowl. Slowly add 450ml (16fl oz) of water, whisking constantly, until well combined. Set aside for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 240C/ 475F. Place all the ingredients for the whipped butterbeans in a food processor with three quarters of a teaspoon salt. Blitz for 1-2 minutes, until completely smooth and aerated and then spoon into a small bowl. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and set aside. Add the oil for the farinata to a large iron skillet which will retain the heat well (if you dont have one use a heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan). Place on a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes, until it starts to sizzle but doesnt take on any colour. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic out of the oil to a small bowl. Add the sumac, nigella seeds and chilli to the garlic; mix together and set aside. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil left in the pan into the chickpea flour batter along with 1 teaspoon salt. Whisk well and set aside. Tip 1 tablespoon of the garlic oil in the pan out into a separate bowl, leaving 1 tablespoon left in the pan. Return the frying pan to a high heat and, once the oil starts to smoke, pour in half of the batter, swirling the pan to form an even layer. Heat for 30 seconds, until the batter starts to bubble and then sprinkle over half of the garlic mix. Transfer the pan to the oven for 10 minutes, until cooked through and golden-brown. Use a spatula to remove the farinata from the pan and rest on a large plate. Keep warm (or you can return it to the oven for the last two minutes of cooking time for the next farinata) while you cook the second farinata in the same way, using the last tablespoon of garlic oil to do so. Slice into wedges and serve warm, with the whipped butterbeans alongside for spreading over. Claire Ptaks Rhubarb Ice-Cream Acidic fruits, such as rhubarb, make great ice-cream flavours, because they stand up to the richness of a creamy custard. If you are making this ice-cream when the trees are still in blossom, throw in a few handfuls of petals (preferably not from the gutter) in place of the vanilla for a heady, honey-like hint. For best results, this should be made in an ice-cream maker. If you dont have one, freeze the mixture until solid. For the custard 350g (12oz) whole milk 150g (5oz) caster sugar 4 egg yolks 600ml (1 pint) double cream (a large pot) 1 vanilla pod a squeeze of lemon juice (if needed) For the rhubarb 1kg (2 lbs) rhubarb 180g (6oz) caster sugar 1 vanilla pod In a heavy-based pan, warm the milk, caster sugar and vanilla pod, seeds scraped, until just beginning to bubble. This wont take long, so while its heating up, put your egg yolks into a bowl and whisk. Pour the double cream into a large bowl with a sieve resting on top of it and set aside. When the milk is ready, temper the yolks by pouring a little of the milk into them, whisking as you go. Now pour the tempered yolks back into the remaining warm milk in the pan. Stirring continuously, heat until the mixture starts to thicken at the bottom of the pan. Strain the custard mixture into the cold cream and whisk well to prevent the custard from cooking any further. Cover and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour to cool. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Cut the rhubarb into batons and lay in a baking dish. Coat with the 180g (6oz) caster sugar and add the vanilla pod, then cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the foil then roast for a further 20 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft and falling apart. Allow to cool. Blitz the rhubarb in a food processor, then stir into the ice-cream custard base. Taste the mixture and add a squeeze of lemon juice or a pinch of sugar to adjust if needed. See tip about sweetness. Pour into your ice-cream maker and churn for about 20 minutes, following the manufacturers instructions. Freeze for an hour before serving. Ottolenghis Burnt Spring Onion Dip with Kale Serves 6 Spring Onion Cream 1 head of garlic 2 tbsp olive oil 150g (5oz) spring onions (about 12-14), ends trimmed then sliced in half lengthways leaving 110g(4oz) in weight 1 tbsp sunflower oil 150g (5oz) cream cheese 110g (4oz) soured cream coarse sea salt and black pepper Kale 90ml (31/3fl oz) olive oil 6 garlic cloves, thinly slices 3 large red chillies, de-seeded and finely sliced 550g (20oz)curly kale, washed though stems removed, cut widthways into 3-4cm (1 - 1 inch) slices (450g/16oz) 2 tbsp lemon Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7 (200C/400F fan) Slice the top quarter off the head of garlic, horizontally, and discard. Place the remaining garlic in the centre of a square of foil, with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Wrap up the garlic, place it on a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes until soft. Set aside and, when cool enough to touch, squeeze out the garlic cloves, discard the skin and, using the flat side of a sharp knife, crush to form a puree. Set aside until ready to use. Place the spring onions in a bowl and brush with the sunflower oil. Sprinkle over 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Place a small griddle pan on a high heat and ventilate your kitchen. When the pan is smoking hot, add the spring onions and chargrill for 5-6 minutes, turning halfway through, until black and burned all over. Set aside to cool and finely chop. Transfer the spring onions to a bowl and add the cream cheese, soured cream, and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the roast garlic puree and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix well and set aside until ready to use. Put the oil for the kale into a large saute pan and place on a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chilli slices and fry for 4-6 minutes, stirring constantly, until crisp and golden-brown. Add the kale, along with one and a half teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper, and cook for 3 minutes you might need to do this in two or three batches stirring often, until the kale is cooked but still retains a bite. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and serve warm, on a large platter or individual starter plates, with dollops of the spring onions dip spooned on top. HOT TIPS We discovered lots of new artisan products over the weekend. Grahams Wholegrain Mustards from Co Meath are quite a find; they are made from a carefully selected brown and yellow mustard seeds and aged for 2 months to let the flavours develop, the end result is really worth seeking out; www.grahams-condiments.com/wholegrain-mustard/ This is Seaweed: Paul O Connors little tins of certified organic dried seaweed also caught my eye, great to sprinkle over salads, soups, add to breads, mashed potato, eggs and pasta dishes check out his website for the story, www.thisisseaweed.com Burren Slow Food Festival: May 28/29 at the Pavillion, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare. Many highlights include cookery demos with JP McMahon from Anair, Oonagh ODwyer, Evan Doyle will talk Wild and Slow, Burren Slow Food Banquet, oyster, wine and stout tastings, whisky and chocolate, champagne and wild salmon and lots more. www.slowfoodclare.com #burrenfoodfest The sideboard is my favourite piece of furniture, so when I recently came across a picture of one on Facebook going by the intriguing name of Explosion, and which opened in a way that suggested it was actually exploding, a serious play with Google was required. It unveiled the designer maker as Sebastian ErraZuriz, a Chilean born, London-raised artist and designer who straddles the boundaries between the two disciplines of art and function and which has resulted in a body of work created by him which includes furniture, installation and performance art. I have designed hundreds of things, from a pair of shoes to a motorcycle to the interior of a private jet, he says. Nevertheless, I feel these are all part of a bigger project that I am trying to create, and each one of these doesnt constitute a big achievement yet. These are modest words from a man with a prolific output that earned him celebrity status in his native Santiago, thanks to a number of art stunts, including the planting of a tree in the middle of Chiles national stadium. It transformed the space into a park in memory of political prisoners who were tortured under Pinochets rule, and finished with two Chilean teams playing a match around the tree. Now based in New York, ErraZuriz hasnt lost the urge to create an artful stunt. I had 50 giant screens in Times Square, he says, inviting people to yawn, feel contagiously tired, and go back to their homes to talk with their families instead of continuing to consume more stuff they dont need. Another conversation-provoking work, Buy Nothing, comprises a piece of brightly coloured plastic and cardboard packaging, emblazoned with point of sale jargon, as if it were something worth buying, but with absolutely nothing in it. At a glance its witty, but look again to see the underlying and deadly indictment of our consumer society. Ironically, the success of Buy Now bought ErraZuriz his first car and invited enquiries from big corporations, but along the way there were things that never made it into production. A wine company to whom he suggested putting the label underneath so the bottle would stand out on the shop shelf, eventually copied a label from Bordeaux. His floor tile design which when wet would have revealed the words Caution Slippery When Wet was rejected in favour of a floral motif. It must be liberating to straddle the worlds of art and design, but he says: Its something I try not to think about, but try to feel and follow my intuition. I understand art and design as a gradient of greys going from black to white. There is no specific wall in between the two disciplines. Im inviting people to look at furniture design and to forget that were talking about furniture. Instead, to see it as a way of breaking a box. I love the idea of creating beautiful furniture, nevertheless I am much more interested in using the medium as an excuse to trigger peoples curiosity and create a connection with them. With his work showing in places like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Vitra Design Museum, his private clients are mostly art collectors, whom, he says, already have their walls filled up with great artworks and want to continue filling up their house with high-end pieces, each of which can take anything between four and 16 months to make. Working at a relentless pace and with such a vast body of work behind him, I didnt expect him to be able to name a favourite piece, but hes decisive. Its Look Again, a design for the front door of an art gallery. Referring to the custom of looking though a security peephole to see who is outside, he says, Weve been closing an eye for centuries, its about time we opened the other one and looked again. So he added a second peephole, but it looks inward rather than outward, for any opportunistic passers-by to take a look inside, even at night, thanks to ErraZuriz persuading the owners to leave on the lights. The Look Again door is the general metaphor for everything I do, he explains. Im trying to get people to stop and look again at things in a different way, to question the way things could be different. THERE is, now, a threat to the stability of the State. Not for the first time, the forces of law and order face a fundamental crisis. Not the words of a hawk, but of a veteran community worker in Dublins north inner city who has been at the coalface of various crises going back 30 years. We cannot have a situation where a community lives in fear, Fergus McCabe told the Irish Examiner this week, where people are being killed, where people are witnessing it. That is a failure of the State. The threat posed by the Kinahan crime cartel comes against the background of a renewed crisis within the organisation tasked with tackling it. That crisis threatens the functioning of the gardai, an organisation that has been on the operating theatre undergoing surgery, without anaesthetic, for the last six years. It has been haemorrhaging its very lifeblood, both in its ability to do its job in terms of its staffing, training, experience, and morale and its relationship with the outside world in terms of its treatment of victims, its circle the wagon culture and its very credibility. Its not the first time the State has been threatened by gangland. It happened during the very dark days of 1996 and in the 2006 to 2009 period, when gangsters literally gave the State the two fingers and gangland murders reached a peak. It must be sickening now for community leaders in the north inner city that it has taken slaughter on its streets for the Government of the day to sit up and promise action. Four people in a square mile have been shot dead one at his home, one on the street, one in a pub, and the most recent in a flats complex car park. One of them, Martin ORourke, a 24-year-old homeless man, was shot dead in a botched attack targeting a member of the Hutch gang on Sheriff St. Martin ORourke He left behind three children, aged four, two, and 10 months. His fiancee, Angelina, is pregnant with their fourth. Three members of the wider Hutch family have been shot dead Garry last September in Spain, Eddie in Ballybough on February 5 and Gareth on North Cumberland St last Tuesday. In all, seven people have been murdered in the Kinahan-Hutch feud six at the hands of the Kinahan cartel. Their campaign, it appears, is to wipe out as many as possible of the Hutch gang, including family members the bulk of whom are not involved in crime. A criminal civil war was how one detective described it this week, but a very one-sided one. Local Social Democrat councillor Gary Gannon said it was an extermination. And in a particularly sinister twist, the Kinahan cartel, based on the southside and abroad, are using local guns for hire in the north inner city to shoot their neighbours. These criminals, though deadly, are reckless and sloppy and anyone children, adolescents, the elderly is liable to be caught up. Mr McCabe, chairman of Young People At Risk North Inner City (YPAR), said: Murderers are thumbing their noses at the State. This is a fundamental crisis we are facing. But community leaders in the north inner city, and in other working-class communities, have been highlighting interlinked issues for decades with limited responses by successive governments. The list is long, covering everything from education to jobs, from drug services to drug deaths, from health services to youth projects, from open drug dealing to the wealth of dealers, from young people and the drug trade to drug debts and intimidation. They have seen the partnership, built up since 1996, between the State and communities being dismantled. They have seen political interest and wider public interest, including that of most of the media blow like the wind, only to be replaced by the dogma of austerity, which decimated community and youth projects and local health services. As Sandra Mullen of Clondalkin Drugs Task Force told the Tonight with Vincent Browne show on Thursday night, the areas with the greatest need were the ones hardest hit. For years, local groups have cried out for better policing, for local gardai to build up relationships with young people and for a constant presence to reassure communities. Some 2,500 gardai have been taken out of the force, 140 in the north inner city alone, since 2010. That haemorrhage will take many years, if not decades, to reverse. All the time the communities hardest hit suffer and suffer. As Anna Quigley of the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign has repeatedly put it, local people keep their heads down and their eyes closed, such is the fear out there. People feel abandoned. Both she and Mr McCabe, and organisations such as the National Family Support Network, point out that the situation is far worse now than in the mid-1990s after the murder of Veronica Guerin and Detective Garda Jerry McCabe. Back then working class communities rose up and took to the streets and, in some cases, evicted dealers from their homes. That cannot happen now. Another veteran activist, Susan Collins of Addiction Response Crumlin has said that its not just individuals that are intimidated, but entire communities. These communities need to be rebuilt, she said. Only because bodies are piling up in the north inner city has the current Government promised action. The Taoiseach has said there will be a task force for the area. But the local activists are no fools. They have been here many, many times before. Mr McCabe said the bane of these bodies is that their reports just gather dust. The Taoiseachs words cant be just rhetoric, he said. It has to be real and it has to be long term, said Mr McCabe. The issue is not what cant be done, the issue is what can be implemented. The credibility of the Taoiseach, the Government and the State is on the line. You can just imagine Enda Kennys face on Thursday night. You can audibly hear the thumping of tables and screaming when the no-holds barred statement came out from the new independent Policing Authority. For two weeks, Fine Gael, as well as their new best friends in Fianna Fail, have done their best to kill off this controversy engulfing Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan. That strategy was blown out of the water by new Policing Authority boss Josephine Feehily and her team, which clearly believes something is badly rotten in the state of the gardai. Like a powerful matriarch, Ms Feehily, who is a former head of the Revenue Commissioners, commands almost unrivalled respect among the political class. As someone who has watched her at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over the years, I know she is the consummate no-nonsense professional, who suffers no fools. Her reputation is well deserved. Her appointment to the new Policing Authority was a rare moment of inspiration from Mr Kennys government. Since the statements release on Thursday night, the pressure has been placed firmly back on Ms OSullivan to illustrate clearly that she is up to the job of reforming the force. So far, she has simply failed to do so, and finally we have a body of authority and sufficient clout saying so. However, the statement was scathing in its criticisms of garda failures and Ms OSullivan has only a matter of days to recover some ground. She has many issues to deal with. The authority voiced serious concern at the impact on victims and at the systemic performance and management failures, dismay at the familiarity of performance failures through various inquiries and reports going back to the Morris Tribunal into matters in Donegal. Ms Feehilys group expressed deep unease at the organisation as evident in the report. It is also clear the authority spoke to Ms OSullivan about the raging issue about what instructions she did or did not give to her legal team in relating to how to handle whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe. In the view of the Policing Authority, the pressing performance and public confidence issue which arises from the current public discussions of transcripts relates to the Protected Disclosures Act, the treatment of disclosers and the culture of the gardai, the authority said. In response to questions, the commissioner outlined the legal constraints within which she is operating. The meeting of garda officers in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, which we believe was addressed by the Tanaiste in the Dail, was also discussed. As Commissioner, Ms OSullivan has to face being grilled by the authority twice next month in order to illustrate her capacity to reform. Worse for the commissioner, these outings will be in public. However, it was Ms Feehilys comments in the wake of the four-hour meeting which really packed a punch. She said the recurring deficiencies in policing performance evidenced in the OHiggins final report were deeply troubling. 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, she said. The authority also gave Ms OSullivan some homework to complete before their meeting on June 13. They called on her to publish the Garda Siochana Protected Disclosure policy at the earliest possible date as should be the Garda Siochana Public Attitude Survey. The Policing Authority also expects to see a formal Garda Siochana response to the findings and recommendations made by Judge OHiggins. Independent TDs such as Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have long criticised the Government decision to have the authority under the remit of the Minister of Justice. This they say undermine its independence. However, Ms Feehilys opening salvo would give a very clear sign that she intends maximising her powers as much as possible. However, as powerful as a contribution the Policing Authoritys statement was, another contribution on Thursday was equally significant. Fianna Fail TD for Kilkenny John McGuinness, who is the ex-chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, made an interesting contribution to the Dail debate on the OHiggins report. He said: I gave an account of when Garda McCabe came before the Committee of Public Accounts. Every effort was made by those within the Garda Siochana at senior level to discredit Garda Maurice McCabe. The Garda Commissioner [Martin Callinan] confided in me in a car park on the Naas Road that Garda McCabe was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him. The vile stories that circulated about Garda McCabe, which were promoted by senior officers in the garda, were absolutely appalling. Because they attempted to discredit him, he had to bring forward various pieces of strong evidence to protect his integrity. During the course of that time, we have to recognise that the political establishment was of absolutely no help to him. Every effort was made to ensure he would not appear before the Committee of Public Accounts. Every effort was made to dampen down the strong evidence he put into the public domain, which he had to do to protect himself, to inform us about what was going on with penalty points and other issues. As my colleague Mick Clifford and I report today, Mr Callinan sought the meeting with Mr McGuinness in order to dissuade the committee from its desire to hear from Sgt McCabe. This revelation by the straight-talking Mr McGuinness, who himself took a risk in disclosing the meeting, is truly significant, because it cuts to the core of the culture within the gardai that in reality, dissent was seen as disloyalty. Speaking out meant you were a rat, a traitor, and meant you as a whistleblower deserved to be shunned, isolated and worse. This was important because the bringing of Mr McCabe before the PAC was a significant step forward in terms of establishing the credibility of what he was talking about. Almost every member of the committee at the time described him as a credible witness who deserved to be taken seriously. All of this evidence which is beginning to emerge does not paint a picture that the lot of a whistleblower in the gardai is any better today than when it was in 2002 when the events in Donegal began to surface. Painted as the new broom, Ms OSullivans willingness or ability to change the culture of the gardai is in question. The onus is very much on her and Frances Fitzgerald to demonstrate in the coming weeks that a real sea- change in the gardai is underway. When you hear of officers such as Nick Keogh and Keith Harrison who, off-duty, having spoken out and suffered significantly as a result, it appears an awful lot of work remains to be done. However, from a political point of view, surely the Policing Authoritys refusal to allow this controversy die means Fine Gael and Fianna Fail can abandon their disinterested stance and drive through the sort of changes we all want to see. A US jury found that Google did not need permission to use a rivals programming tools as it built Android, which is now the worlds leading smartphone operating software, and a key part of Googles multi-billion dollar Internet business. Tech firm Oracle had claimed Google stole its intellectual property and reaped huge profits by copying pieces of its Java programming language. But the jury in the US District Court found that Google made fair use, under copyright law, of Java elements that help different software programmes work together. Oracle, which had sought $9bn in damages, says it will appeal. Googles supporters including other tech firms, trade associations, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation internet rights group say an Oracle victory would hamper innovation by making software co-operation more difficult and expensive. Google argued that because it used only a small part of Java to create Android, a much larger system of software built for a new purpose, it qualified for a fair use exemption from copyright. Oracle and its allies argued that the company should be paid for the use of its code. While Google lets smartphone manufacturers use Android software without charge, it makes billions of dollars by showing advertising to people who use Google services, including its search engine and maps, on Android devices. The high-profile dispute was a clash of Silicon Valley titans. While much of the trial focused on arcane aspects of computer programming, jurors heard testimony from prominent tech executives and two multi-billionaire moguls, Google co-founder Larry Page and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who appeared on video. The jurys verdict is Googles second victory in the case. US Judge William Alsup sided with Google in 2012, ruling that the APIs were not protected by copyright. An appellate court sent the case back for a second trial. Oracle general counsel Dorian Daley said: We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market. Google welcomed the jurys finding: 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 company said. News / Local by Luthando Mapepa A CHIPINGE man was last Tuesday fined $100 for bashing his wife after being denied conjugal rights.Manica Post reported that Oliver Musomo (20), of House Number 3886, Gaza E, Chipinge was convicted on his own plea of guilty when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Poterai Gwenzhira on assault charges.Prosecuting, Witness Nyamundaya told the court that on May 8, around 12 midnight, Musomo wanted to be intimate with his wife, Locardia Dhliwayo (20), but the wife refused, much to the chagrin of her sex-craving husband."Musomo then went to sleep on the ground with their child. After some minutes Musomo asked Locadia to be intimate again and Locardia refused.Musomo assault Locardia several times on the right shoulder and face. She sustained bruises and had a swollen face, forcing her to lodge a complaint with the police," said Nyamundaya.When asked why he assaulted his wife, Musomo said he was angered by her actions to deny him his conjugal rights."I beg for a lighter sentence. It was anger that led me to assault my wife who had refused to be intimate with me. I suspect she was cohabiting with another man," said Massimo.He was fined $100 or 30 days in prison. Even before it occurred, though, 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 arms. The two governments hope Obamas tour of Hiroshima, where an atomic bomb killed thousands instantly on August 6, 1945, and some 140,000 by the years end, underscores a new level of reconciliation and tighter ties between the former enemies. We come to ponder the terrible force unleashed in a not-so-distant past, Obama said after laying a wreath at the cenotaph in the citys Peace Memorial Park. We come to mourn the dead. 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 them with flesh melting from their limbs. Aides had said Obamas main goal in Hiroshima was to showcase his nuclear disarmament agenda, for which he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. We remember all the innocents killed in the arc of that terrible war, a solemn Obama said. 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. Barack Obama embraces Shigeaki Mori, a survivor of the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. A historian, Mori is the creator of a memorial to the US prisoners of war who were among the 140,000 casualties of the attack. Picture: AP/Carolyn Kaster Obama said earlier he would honour all who died in World War Two but would 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. The White House had debated whether the time was right for Obama to break a decades-old taboo on presidential visits to Hiroshima, especially in an election year. 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 said in written responses to questions published in The Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Survivors have said an apology from Obama would be welcome. I want Obama to say Im sorry, said Eiji Hattori, 73, a toddler at the time of the bombing who now has three types of cancer. If he does, maybe my suffering will ease. If Obama apologised, I could die and meet my parents in heaven in peace, he said. Earlier, protesters outside the peace park could be heard demanding an apology. Five atomic bomb survivors and their families attended the ceremony. 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. Reuters 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. Mrs Parnell escaped unharmed. Burma Fearing Extreme Weather, Farmers Scale Back Rice Cultivation Last years floods and other extreme weather events have prompted many farmers in Burmas Irrawaddy Delta to leave some of their land fallow. ZALUN TOWNSHIP, Irrawaddy Division Aung Kywe remembers how he had to stand by helplessly last year when massive floods in the wake of Cyclone Komen affected the Irrawaddy Delta and destroyed half of his 14 acres of paddy. That traumatic experience came on top of years of decreasing yields, Aung Kywe said, adding that this monsoon season he will leave much of his land in Kawkatkyi village, Zalun Township, fallow to avoid risking loss of money with another failed harvest. Paddy plots on the lower-lying land are almost sure to be flooded, he said, adding: Paddy yields have also decreased year by year, from 100 baskets per acre to 75 baskets. A basket of rice weighs around 25 kilograms. In neighboring Maubin Township, also located in the heart of Burmas rice bowl delta region, farmers spoke of similar measures to limit exposure to what many believe are increased occurrences of climate change-related extreme weather, such as drought, heat and floods. Kyaw Minn, from Palaung village, said: I will not grow monsoon paddy this year, but will cultivate other seasonal crops when the water level drops after the rainy season. Farmers in the delta generally grow two rice crops, one in the rainy season and one in the cooler season in lower-lying areas that are fed with receding flood waters. They might also grow a third, short-cycle crop, such as beans, in the hot months before the monsoon. Thein Aung, chairman of the Independent Farmers League in Irrawaddy Division, said that because of rising concerns among farmers, vast areas of land will go uncultivated this year. The farmers from our villages will not be growing paddy in a total of 200,000 acres situated on the lowlands, he said, before adding that the impact on overall paddy production would probably be limited as these fields are some of the least-productive tracts. The Irrawaddy Delta is home to millions of subsistence farmers whose income and food security relies on their annual harvest, and to a lesser extent fishing. The drop in rice production follows the devastating impact of Cyclone Komen, which ravaged the agricultural sector with heavy flooding in 12 out of 14 states and divisions from June to August last year. Some 260,000 acres of monsoon paddy fields were flooded and 52,000 acres damaged, according to official figures, which showed that the cyclone and flooding killed 120 people nationwide and affected more than 400,000 households. Sein Win Hlaing, chairman of the Paddy and Rice Producers Association, said: Rice production declined by 20 percent last year due to the weathers impact. He added that the fall in rice production would hamper Burmas export volume, which stood at around 1.5 million metric tons of rice before 2015. Cyclones and other extreme weather are set to increase further and this trend should ring alarm bells with the agriculture sector and the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government, said Tun Lwin, an independent meteorological expert and former government official. Traditional agricultural methods are no longer suitable for the changing weather conditions, he warned, adding that the monsoon would be shorter and produce more volatile weather. Ba Hein, the minister for agriculture, livestock and natural resources for Irrawaddy Division, said development of the agricultural sector and of the water management infrastructure was ignored by previous, military-led governments. The delta has many rivers and streams, and these have not been properly managed, he said, adding, however, that the state government had limited funds to improve water management infrastructure and that it was unlikely that the central government would provide more resources soon. His administration, Ba Hein said, would focus on helping farmers find solutions to the changing weather conditions and boost overall agricultural development by, for example, launching new contract farming systems in cooperation with the Myanmar Rice Producers Association. Thike Soe, an officer of the Agricultural Department in Maubin Township, said his department was trying to educate farmers about the changing weather patterns and the need to use different rice varieties in order to adapt to the changes. There will be a shortage of water supply for cultivation and crop yields may decline. So, they should grow rice seeds that can be harvested in a shorter period, he said, adding that such varieties were available to farmers on local markets. Soe Tun, chairman of the Myanmar Rice Association, echoed this idea but stressed water management should be improved in order to harness available water resources in times of drought. Myanmar has some alternative sources of water supply, including four major rivers. If the water from these rivers can be used efficiently, the countrys agricultural sector is sure to resurge, he said. This story originally appeared on Myanmar Now. Burma Rangoon to Remove Unpopular Concrete Traffic Blocks Concrete traffic blocksblamed for worsening congestion and causing accidentsare to be removed across Burmas largest city, reversing a policy of Rangoons previous mayor. RANGOON To alleviate worsening congestion in the city, and in response to numerous car accidents, the Rangoon Division government is gearing up to remove concrete traffic blocks currently placed between the lanes of busy roads, according to Rangoon Traffic Police Col Aung Ko Oo. Col Aung Ko Oo said the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), Rangoons municipal council, would oversee the removal of the concrete blocks at eight sites in the city, including Myaynigone Junction, Eight Mile, and Pyay, Ahlone, Insein, Kabaraye Pagoda, Parami and Shwegondaing roads. But firstly, blocks will be removed from a section of downtowns Anawrahta Roadalthough some will remain in place for safety reasons, which he would not specify. According to Aung Ko Oo, the Rangoon Traffic Police had recommended to the divisional government that the concrete blocks be substituted with strips of vegetation or iron fencing, to divide the lanes of traffic. They also recommended creating more one-way systems, and better signposting of smaller link roads, as a means of managing congestion and improving safety. The concrete blocks, once removed, will be kept at a location in the Sawbwar Gyi Gone area. Their ultimate destination has not been made clear. Under the previous mayor of Rangoon, Hla Myint, 1.6 billion kyats (US$ 1.4 million) were spent on the concrete blocksover 44,000 in total costing a little over 30,000 kyats (US$25) eachpartly to designate separate bus lanes, intended to curb the aggressive over-taking habits of Rangoon bus drivers. Rangoon residents have complained that the concrete blocks, which were installed in busy road sections across the city, have not eased the citys traffic volume. Additionally, the blocks have caused a number of accidents, with vehicles crashing into these solid barriers. The project was considered a waste of public funds. Kyaw Kyaw Htun, who represents Hlaing Constituency-1 in the Rangoon Division Parliament for the National League for Democracy, submitted a proposal last week on the subject of Rangoons mounting traffic congestion, which was approved in the divisional parliament on Thursday. Kyaw Kyaw Htun had claimed that removing the concrete blocks, regulating street vendors, and installing better sign-posting for smaller link roads, could decrease traffic congestion by 15-20 percentalthough he envisaged it as a long-term strategy. We should not get rid of the street vendors. Because they are our citizens, we must understand their situation, said Kyaw Kyaw Htun. Kyaw Kyaw Htun said he had advised the divisional government to develop an open-air market in a convenient location where the street vendors could operatealthough he considered it unlikely to be implemented soon. Kyaw Kyaw Htun also stated that the 960 police officers currently supervising traffic in Rangoon were insufficient. Around 120 extra traffic police officers are to be sent from the capital Naypyidaw to Rangoonalthough Kyaw Kyaw Htun was skeptical that this would improve conditions markedly. We should not expect too much, said Kyaw Kyaw Htun. As another means of addressing traffic congestion, the divisional government is currently searching for large car parking sites in Rangoons outskirts. However, with limited public transport options besides overcrowded buses, it is unclear what effect this would haveif anyon congestion in the city center. Myo Win, owner of the Dagon Hlaing bus line, which operates in Rangoon, welcomed the removal of the concrete blocks. He claimed that they had harmed his business, because the separate bus lines created by the blocks were too narrow; when a solitary bus breaks down, it effectively blocks the routes of multiple bus lines, prompting chaos. Myo Win claimed that a city bus could complete its route almost six times in a day before the previous mayor installed the concrete blocks, after which it could manage only three laps [an argument which does not seem the take into account the sharp increase in traffic volumes in recent years]. This slower passage harmed some private bus line owners so gravely that they sold their all vehicles, he said. Earlier this week, the Rangoon Division Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee (popularly known by the Burmese-language acronym Ma Hta Tha) announced that bus lines in Rangoon Division would be reduced from 357 to only 50. A regular criticism from Rangoons residents was that public bus routes regularly overlapwith as much as 20 bus lines plying some road stretches in central Rangoonworsening traffic congestion and the efficiency of bus services. Kyaw Soe, a minister in the previous Rangoon Division government, has admitted that the 129.8 billion kyats (US$ 110 million) spent on road flyovers over the previous five years have failed to substantially alleviate traffic problems in the city. In December, the Rangoon Division government announced that a traffic control center would be constructed around Peoples Park, with an estimated cost of 20 billion kyats (US$ 17 million). Burma This Week in Parliament (May 23-27) The Irrawaddy keeps you up to date on the week that was in the national legislature. May 23 (Monday) The Union Parliament approved the resignation of Kyaw Tint Swe from membership on the national legislatures Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission following his appointment as minister of the State Counselors Office. It approved the name change of a ministryfrom Ministry of Health to Ministry of Health and Sports. It also approved the presidents proposal to arrange agricultural loans for farmers for the 2016-17 fiscal year, allocating 5 billion kyats (US$4.2 million) in loans from Burmas Central Bank. May 24 (Tuesday) The Lower House received the draft law to annul the Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts, which was sent by the Upper House. May 25 (Wednesday) The Lower House approved the draft law to annul the Peoples Council Law, which the Upper House had also earlier approved. The Peoples Council Law (Law No. 8/1974) was enacted during the rule of the Burma Socialist Programme Party under the late Gen. Ne Win. Under the law, the party formed councils at different levels to supervise administrative and judicial work. The Lower House also approved the draft law to revoke the State Council Law (Law No. 10/1974), which had also been earlier approved by the Upper House. Under the law, the State Council has the overall power to manage the country. May 26 (Thursday) The Union Parliament approved the draft law to annul the Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts. In the Lower House, two lawmakers submitted urgent proposals, requesting the government take care of damage to roads, bridges and mobile towers caused by heavy rains and serious food shortages in Chipwe, Low Saw, and Khaung Lam Pu of Kachin State. Concerned ministers explained their response plans and the Lower House put the two proposals in the record. May 27 (Friday) In the Upper House, the minister for transportation and telecommunications replied to questioning from lawmaker Sai Than from constituency No. 5 of Karen State, saying that his ministry had no plan to issue licenses for smuggled unlicensed vehicles. The Upper House was informed that the Lower House had approved the draft laws to annul the Peoples Council Law and the State Council Law. Business The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (May 28, 2016) Investors advised of new government scrutiny; Rangoon-Mandalay rail upgrade coming; tin still booming in Wa region; Thai firm eyes Chevron stake; and Bhutan gets new flight rights. PwC Warns Investors Over Increased Scrutiny Investors in Burma may find themselves under increased scrutiny if they have entered into business agreements with local companies tied to the previous administration, a major accounting and consulting firm has warned. In an article published in the Bangkok Post newspaper this week, a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting (Thailand), the Bangkok branch of the global firm known as PwC, wrote that political change in Burma could bring uncertainty. A National League for Democracy-led government took power in late March, and while the military retains control of key security-related ministries, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi can be expected to take a degree of control of the countrys economy. Myanmars NLD has not publicized a comprehensive economic plan, but the authorities have verbally committed to increasing transparency, fighting corruption and challenging many of the crony capitalist characteristics of the old system, wrote manager George McLeod. That could mean reviewing government contracts, land deals and tax arrangements, the article said, adding that the new circumstances may force [existing foreign investors] to examine their relationships and the possibility that their local partner could have their public works projects, tax records and other past conduct revisited. New investors, meanwhile, should look at how their local partners attained their wealth, especially if they may have benefited from relationships with officials in previous administrations. Local companies engaged in sensitive or highly regulated sectors with significant government touchpoints such as natural resources, arms or rice exports [pre-2010] could be especially prone, it said. Myanma Railways to Tender $2.2b Upgrade Burmas newly formed Ministry of Transport and Communication will call for private companies to bid to take part in an upgrade of the railway line connecting the countrys two largest cities, state media said. The Global New Light of Myanmar said the work on the Rangoon to Mandalay line was valued at US$2.2 billion. It did not say who would fund the project, but noted that the governments rail operator, Myanma Railways, was working with Japans aid agency, JICA, which has injected large sums into infrastructure projects in the country in recent years. Citing Myanma Railways General Manager Ba Myint, the report said a transparent tendering process would begin before the end of this year, and the upgrades themselves would go on for 10 years. The first phase of the upgrading project will kick off on the Yangon-Taungoo railroad section next year following the tender process. it said. Upon completion, entire journey from Yangon and Mandalay will take only eight hours. Industry Group Says the Tin Industry in Burmas Borderlands Is Still Booming The special administrative region of the Sino-Burmese border area controlled by an ethnic Wa armed group continues to turn out large quantities of tin ore and stockpiles remain sizable, a tin industry organization has said. ITRI, a UK-based company that represents and provides data on the tin industry, this week published a news article headed with the words Myanmar tin ore trade still booming. It cited Chinese customs data that show Chinas imports of tin ore and concentrates from Burma totaled more than 46,000 tons in April. That makes total output from Burma for the first four months of the year 174,868 tons, of which about 21,000 tons is pure tin, ITRI said. While detailed information on where the tin comes from is not available, analysts say the vast majority of tin mined in Burma comes from the Wa Special Region 2. The region is controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Burmas biggest non-state armed group. The army was formed by former cadres of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) after the party disintegrated following a 1989 mutiny. It is believed to have been provided with advanced weaponry from China. Tin concentrates mined in huge quantities in the regions Man Maw area are refined inside China. Huge increases in the exports over the past few years have fueled a slide in global tin prices. ITRI said that while production would decline during the next few months due to seasonal rains, production would rise again after October. However, this forecast is based on some widely divergent underlying trends, the body said. Mining activity at some 200 sites in the Man Maw area is reported by informed sources to have declined considerably this year, with the number of workers having [been] more than halved from peak levels, it said. However there are sizeable stockpiles of ore above ground and available for processing and there is always a possibility of new sites being discovered and exploited. Thai State Energy Firm Wants to Buy Chevrons Burmese Asset PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) is hoping to buy at least one of US firm Chevrons oil and gas assets in Burma, a company official reportedly said. Reuters said Pannalin Mahawongtikul, executive vice president for finance, discussed the explorers plans with reporters. The company is part of the larger PTT, a public company spun off from Thailands state energy firm. The government retains a majority stake in the group. We focus on projects which are operating, so that we can book revenue immediately after the purchase, Pannalin said, according to Reuters, signaling that Chevrons stake in the Yadana gas field was the major investment target outside of Thailand. The newswire reported last month that Chevron was looking to offload its 28.3 percent stake in the Yadana and Sein gas fields in the Andaman Sea. Frances Total is leading the consortium that produces gas from the fields and sends most of it to Thailand via pipelines. Chevron is also selling an offshore oil and gas exploration block it won in a tender and on which it has signed a production sharing contract with the government, Reuters said, as part of efforts to preserve cash amid low global energy prices. Burma Gives Tiny Bhutan New Aviation Rights: Report The Burmese government has revised an agreement with Bhutan to allow airlines from the tiny Himalayan country to fly in and out of Burmese airports, according to Bhutans publicly owned newspaper. The newspaper, Kuensel, said in a report that a delegation from Burmas Department of Civil Aviation had visited Bhutan and signed a new version of a 2002 agreement on aviation services between the two countries. Since that agreement, Bhutans first private airline, Bhutan Airlines, has commenced operations and currently flies from the Bhutanese cities of Jakar and Trashigang to airports in India and Thailand. The new agreement means the airline, as well as national carrier Druk Air, have the right to operate passenger and cargo services with unrestricted capacity, frequency and aircraft type to and from all points in Myanmar other than Yangon and up to a total of five services each way per week to and from Yangon, the report said. It also predicted that many of the people of Bhutanwho number only about 750,000would be keen to visit their fellow Buddhist-majority country. With many holy Buddhist sites in Myanmar, Bhutanese pilgrims are expected to explore Myanmar as a destination, it said. The agreement is also expected to promote trade between the two countries. Dateline Irrawaddy: There Should Be No Political Prisoners In A Democratic Country This weeks panel discusses political prisoners, security sector reform, and ongoing human rights abuses in Burmas conflict-wracked ethnic borderlands. Ye Ni: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, well discuss human rights in the context of the new governments 100-day plan. I am joined by Ko Aung Myo Min, executive director of Equality Myanmar, and Ko Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Im The Irrawaddys Burmese-language editor Ye Ni. Soon after U Htin Kyaws government assumed power, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi announced the release of many political prisoners. Proposals were then submitted to the parliament to revoke legal provisions used by the previous military, and military-backed, governments to prosecute political dissidents. Ko Aung Myo Min, what do you think of these actions? Do you think there will be further human rights progress in the months to come? Aung Myo Min: We have said that there should be no political prisoners in a democratic country, and we are grateful that [the government] has released them. It is also good that [the government] is trying to amend laws that can turn anyone into a political prisoner at any time, and is talking about ceasefires [between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups] and national reconciliation. But then, it is undeniable that the new government faces serious challenges in introducing change. The power of the military is still felt in all branches of executive power. While elected lawmakers sit in the parliament, the military still holds 25 percent of seats. And in some cases, I have found that [military representatives] have argued with and opposed elected lawmakers. There is now a substantial degree of civilian participation in government. The president and most ministers are civilians. But then, the military and the army chief still have the final say on really important issues, and we still cant change this. As a result, there may be friction between the new government and the old [military-dominated] bureaucracy. But at the same time, things may proceed successfully if the military is willing to cooperate. YN: Ko Bo Kyi, is it reasonable to say that all political prisoners have now been released? Bo Kyi: It cant be said that all political prisoners have been released. There are still arrests being made. Currently, 64 [political] prisoners are still serving time, and over 100 are facing trialso the number of political prisoners may even increase. But we cant just talk about numbers: We have to find and address the cause. There are still political prisoners because there is no rule of law[people] cant enjoy their rights to the full. As long as civil wars, land disputes and industrial disputes remain unresolved, there will still be political prisoners. Im not suggesting that these problems be solved within 100 days. But they need to be comprehensively settled in the long run. Meanwhile, the parliament should define political prisoner, so that political prisoners can be treated with respect in prison and permitted certain entitlements. The socialist concept that all those placed behind bars should be treated the same is a major hindrance to prison reform. Prisons are overcrowded, further eroding the fundamental rights of prisoners. There are situations in which prisoners are not treated as human. For example, Insein Prison [in Rangoon] can accommodate only 5,000 prisoners; when numbers reach 8,000 or above, they have to sleep on their sides. This is not how a human should be treated. There are many ways in which prisoners [in Burma] are denied their right to life, good health and wellbeing. We need to think about prison reformbut reforming the prison system is not enough; we also need to enact associated security sector reforms. And we should work towards judicial independence, and provide security for judges so that they can make judgments without bias. Reforms will succeed only when we take all these things into consideration. YN: Ko Bo Kyi, Im interested in what you said about human rights progress being linked to security sector reform. Ko Aung Myo Win, the U Thein Sein government formed the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to address human rights issues [in Burma]. What are your thoughts on the functioning of that commission and its complaints-handling mechanism? Do you think it is up to the task? AMM: To be frank, it is not up to the task. That commission is responsible for both promoting and protecting human rights. But in terms of handling complaints and facilitating justice, its power is very limited and it does not receive proper recognition [from the government]. The commission is not authorized to make rulingsinstead it forwards its findings about human rights issues to relevant government departments and offers advice. This bestows on ministerial and departmental personnel, who are charged with taking practical action, a very important rolebut responses have generally been inadequate, despite the submissions of the human rights commission. The human rights commission does not have the power to influence the army. For example, the commission investigated the case of Ko Par Gyi [a freelance journalist who died in military custody in 2014] and released a report, which called for the case to be transferred [from a military court] to a civilian court, and be heard publicly, because the military itself was implicated in the case. This didnt happen. We heard that the suspects were tried at a military court. It seemed like a show of disrespect for the human rights commission. And the commission could do nothing. The military in the end just issued an empty statement saying that the suspects had been punished. This shows that much remains to be done in terms of reforming the security sector. Human rights abuses happen most frequently in ethnic minority areas where rule of law is weak and armed clashes [between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups] are going on. The human rights commission cannot prevent human rights violations happening in ethnic minority areas. And the army does not take responsibility. Where are we supposed to find the rule of law? YN: If only the military were willing, security reforms could be made. But take a look at the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law [enacted by the previous government in 2012 but based on earlier, colonial-era legislation], which permits local authorities to perform random house searches to check for unregistered overnight guests. Do the military still need to enforce these laws on the grounds of security? Can we say they are wrong to do such things even when they are done from the perspective of national security? Or can we say that they are right, because it guards against instability? BK: We have to ask the following questions: Are we a real sovereign country? Can the military, which have taken responsibility for national security over successive periods, really protect the country? We have to consider national security alongside the security of the individual. Everyone is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of their country. But while formulating laws, we must approach [them] not only from the perspective of national security, but from the perspective of personal freedom. If we pay too much attention to security, our country will go back to dictatorship. If we pay too much attention to personal freedom, it may disrupt the stability of the country. We have to strike a balance. The practice of authorities checking houses for overnight guests dates back to the colonial period. The British imposed such laws to suppress Burmese patriots, and to prevent people from actively supporting them. These laws have been applied in subsequent periods, however, with the military regime using them to suppress people and prevent them from supporting political dissidents. Its harmfulness is such that, even if a person living independently returns to sleep overnight at their parents house without informing the authorities, he and his parents could be fined or imprisoned. Such practices should be curtailed even in conditions of instability and chaos. Personally, I would suggest annulling the entire law. However, other surveillance mechanisms should be upgraded to protect the people and prevent crime. Our current surveillance capacity is lacking; it seems as if they can only catch those [criminals] who dont run. To enhance surveillance capacity, we need to have security sector reform. YN: Ko Aung Myo Min, how would you compare the human rights situation in ethnic minority areas under the U Thein Sein government with the situation now? AMM: It cant yet be said that the human rights situation [in ethnic minority areas] has improved. There is gunfire even as [the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups] talk of ceasefire. Human rights violations are still going on. Furthermore, the Unlawful Associations Act [which criminalizes contact with ethnic armed groups] threatens everyone in such areas. We still see abductions, torture and killings in northern Shan State and in Kachin State. The rule of law is deteriorating further there. In recent years people had begun to overcome their reluctance to file complaintsbut now they think that, even if they complain, nothing will happen. This feeling has spread like an epidemic. It seems that people have no faith in the law, and have adopted a fatalistic attitude. The camps of internally displaced persons are proof of human rights violations. Due to clashes, there are even camps in places such as Hsipaw [a highway hub town and tourist destination in northern Shan State]. Kachin State still has many camps and the number is increasing in Arakan State. That people have been forced from their homes is an abuse of their human rights Sometimes the situation is complex. Previously, clashes occurred between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups, but they are increasingly taking place between ethnic armed groups. No matter which side commits what, innocent civilians are robbed of their security. Villages are destroyedwe dont know by whomand it is bad regardless. There are now camps in Arakan State which were not there before. And because of hatred and misunderstanding between communities, the two sides feel insecure and remain suspicious of each other, which could contribute to renewed conflict anytime. So, I have found no evidence that the human rights situation has improved in such areas. YN: Thank you for your contributions! News / Local by Liberty Dube IN a bizarre incident, a Masvingo man went berserk and axed three family members aged two, four and eight to death before attacking the siblings' parents.Munyaradzi Kudzizvara (39) struck the deceased, Anesu Dzinoruma (2), Margret Dzinoruma (4) and Leticia Dzinoruma (8) twice each on the head.Manica Post reported that Kudzizvara, who was so determined to kill the whole family, left the axe stuck on Anesu's head before dragging her out of the hut.The siblings' parents, Angella Kwangwari (30) and Ernest Dzinoruma (32) escaped death by a whisker after they stormed out of the kitchen hut and sought refugee from neighbours.Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Charity Mazula, said Kudzizvara was arrested soon after committing the heinous crime. He is assisting police with investigations.She urged people to desist from violence and find amicable ways to solve problems."We will not hesitate to bring to book perpetrators of violence and criminals who put the law into their own hands," she said.The incident happened last Tuesday in Zimhungu Village under Chief Ndanga in Zaka."Ernest had gone outside to relieve himself when he saw Kudzizvara wandering around the homestead. He tried to chase him away, but Kudzizvara became violent and confronted Ernest who was half naked. The latter, sensing danger, rushed to a nearby homestead to seek refugee. Kudzizvara took advantage of Ernest's absence and stormed into the kitchen hut. He grabbed an axe and struck Kwangwari on the left hand," she said.Ernest returned and entered into the kitchen hut intending to rescue his family, but before doing so, an axe-wielding Kudzizvara charged at him before the two wrestled. Kwangwari managed to get out of the hut and locked the door and left the three children outside.The infuriated Kudzizvara returned with venom and destroyed the door using the axe.He entered the hut and struck Leticia with an axe twice on the head before he pounced on Margret twice on the head. The two died instantly.He went on to strike Anesu on the head twice before he left the axe stuck on her head. He dragged her body outside the hut. She died a few minutes later.Ernest teamed up with his relatives and neighbours and managed to apprehend Kudzizvara. They handed him over to the police. NASA dismisses the claims of ex-Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft, Nathan Myhrvold, that the former's model to calculate the sizes of asteroids is terribly flawed. As per Cornell University Library post, Myhrvold had voiced his criticism through a research paper that he recently submitted to the journal Icarus, in which he claimed to have found certain parameters lacking in the method devised by NASA to estimate asteroid sizes. In 2009, NASA had initiated the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, which aimed to capture images, observe and analyze objects in the solar system. In late 2010, another phase of the mission called NEOWISE was started, which used the data collected by the WISE to calculate the sizes of 158,000 asteroids. Myhrvold, who is the founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures in Washington, said that the NASA model fails to take into account Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation, which states that shinier surfaces emit less heat, or the difference in calculation when estimating the size of a large object with reference to a much smaller object. He insists that this causes NASA's results to be off the mark by more than 100 percent. NASA, in a statement released online two days ago, insists that its errors only come to about 15 percent, which is inevitable in a calculation of this nature where all the variables are not yet known. It also points out that its findings have been independently corroborated by two other infrared telescopes, AKARI and IRAS, as reported by Space.com. Amy Mainzer, principal investigator for NEOWISE, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California, insists that Myhrvold's study has many errors that have been pointed out by them. She further draws attention to the fact that Myhrvold's paper has not yet been peer-reviewed, a process where independent experts scrutinize another's work, which in itself affects the credibility of his claims. She also points out that NASA's calculations have the validation of peer review behind it. Verizon has finally struck a tentative agreement with labor unions on Friday after a four-week labor dispute. An agreement was reached between Verizon's workers, unions and management to end the strike and sign a new four-year contract, US Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced today. According to Perez, both parties are in the process of finalizing the negotiations in writing, after which the proposal will be submitted to Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) labor union members for ratification. The labor secretary, who has helped with the 13-day negotiation, said that he is expecting the 36,000 striking workers to be back on the job by next week. "This tentative resolution is a testament to the power of collective bargaining," Perez said. "I commend the leadership of Verizon, CWA, and IBEW for their commitment to resolving these difficult issues in the spirit of constructive engagement." While no specific details were released, CWA said that the agreement involves Verizon adding "good union jobs" on the East Coast, CNN Money reported. CWA Chris Shelton said in a statement that the agreement in principle is "a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people." IBEW also declared that details of the agreement will be shared with its members soon. Verizon workers have been working without a contract for August, which sparked the start of the 44-day strike on April 13. Workers expressed their concerns about Verizon outsourcing 5,000 jobs to Mexico, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, and has also complained about poor working conditions and pensions being capped at 30 years of service. Verizon released its own statement today, saying that the tech giant is pleased with the agreement in principle. Chief Administrative Officer Marc Reed declared that the agreement is in tune with the company's goal of "creating high-quality American jobs". "We look forward to having all of our employees soon back at work in their regular positions and doing what they do best - serving our customers," Reed said. Tesla, through an email sent directly to current customers' emails, released invites to the opening of their Gigafactory, which will be held on the night of July 29. The factory, located in Reno, will manufacture batteries for the company's electric cars of the future. Tesla is hoping that through the construction of this factory and the mass production of batteries, costs will be minimized by at least one third. This alone will significantly decrease the price of Tesla's electric cars. According to Market Watch, construction on the factory began in June 2014 and is expected to reach full production capacity by 2020. Tesla is spending at least $5 billion to construct the Gigafactory. It will be as big as 5.8 million square feet and is slated to double the production capacity of the lithium-ion battery worldwide. Other than batteries for its electric cars, the Tesla Gigafactory will be churning out stationary batteries, which store solar power for homes and businesses. These stationary batteries store solar energy in the evening and improve the management of power grids and are already being produced in the Reno factory. At the end of May, the factory was only 14% finished, Fortune has reported. As such, the publication believes that Tesla will not be ready for their grand opening as planned. However, the company has been hosting smaller events in areas of the factory which are already fully constructed. Less than three months ago, Tesla and SolarCity hosted an event centered on the future of solar power for the legislators of Nevada. Tesla's upcoming Model 3 will reportedly be cheaper than its Model S and Model X predecessors, which sold for around $80,000 to $150,000. At $35,000, the Model 3 is already racking up reservations - as many as 400,000. In order to meet its customers' demands, Tesla has committed to speed up production of the unit. Just this week, Tesla raised another $1.7 billion in a follow-on offering that should fund the necessary acceleration of production. The wait is finally over! More than a year after Hyundai promised an update to its infotainment system, the Apple Car Play and Android Auto feature has arrived. Silently dropping the good news to its patrons, Hyundai updated its MyHyundai page to include the two new features. At the bottom of the page, consumers will find the clickable names of the features. Clicking on any of the two would load a corresponding tab that presents FAQs about the chosen feature. On the Apple CarPlay page, Hyundai explains the upside of plugging the iPhone to the infotainment system and taking advantage of the mobile apps one can use while on the go. The highlighted apps of the Apple CarPlay feature are Voice Control via Siri, Calls & Messages, Navigation and Your Music. Similarly, the Android Auto page highlights the same four apps. The only difference is that the Voice Control app is powered by Talk to Google. In addition, the Android Auto support page also advertises other apps that drivers can use while embarking on a road trip. Some of the apps mentioned here are iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Spotify, Threema, NPR, KIK, and Pocket Casts. The update is downloadable from the MyHyundai.com and tech-savvy drivers can install it on their own. CNET reported on its Road/Show website that to manually install the update, one can either download the software to a USB memory stick or an SD card. After which, installation is as easy as following the directions that automatically appear on the screen upon plugging in any of the two devices. For not-so-tech-savvy car owners however, it is best to have the update installed by the nearest Hyundai dealer. The help is not free of charge, though, with the rate increasing based on the amount of time it takes to upload the data to the infotainment system and the model of the car. Installation starts at $50. However, the entire updating process could take more than two hours so the fee could go up. Additionally, USA Today noted that the update installation at Hyundai dealers will not be available in the remaining days of May. Car owners will have to ask for the update in June. The Apple CarPlay and Android Auto update is currently available to a select number of models, including the 2015 Sonata, 2016 Sonata, 2015 Genesis, 2016 Genesis, 2016 Elantra GT, 2016 Tucson, 2017 Santa Fe Sport and the 2017 Santa Fe. On Tuesday, May 24, tech and legal experts explored questions about artificial intelligence (AI) at an event sponsored by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The half-day program was co-sponsored with the University of Washington Tech Policy Lab and university's School of Law. This is just the first of four events scheduled by the White House that will focus on implications of autonomous machine research. According to The New York Times, at the event on Tuesday, AI experts were analyzing the benefits of autonomous systems that are increasingly able to make decisions with little or without human input in important areas like health, transportation and warfare. The researchers also tried to respond to the question whether their creations will replace humans in too many jobs and create a crisis on the workforce market. As the AI technology has rapidly progresses, the question of government oversight has reemerged just 8 years after leading AI scientists said the field did not need to be regulated. However, researchers at the conference said that despite improvement in areas like speech understanding and machine vision, A.I. research is still far from matching the learning capability and flexibility of the human mind. The deputy chief technology officer in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Ed Felten, said that the A.I. community keeps making big progress with new advances in technology, but still has many challenges ahead. Dr. Felten added that the issues of machine learning and A.I. systems are of great importance for the government, and the event was an opportunity to become more coordinated in how to address them. According to Employee Benefit Adviser, artificial intelligence machines are gaining the ability to seek and respond to meaningful patterns. This is getting closer to what it means to think, closer to human intuition. Practical applications of AI are face recognition, speech recognition and pattern recognition to identify scenes and objects. In order to achieve fascinating results from these artificial intelligence machines, deep learning algorithms are using big data in huge databases combined with computing speed. But compared with the neural nets in human brains, computers cannot yet match the fluidity of the human mind. They can only recognize patterns related to narrow field and have no ability to generalize beyond that. Computers might never be able to replace human creativity that can generate new ideas. Computers are just programmed for a single purpose and if they can solve problems, even to games similar to Go, but with different rules. Computers are programmed for a single purpose. Computers can never replace humans that are good at coming up with new ideas. It is not only about solving problems but also about finding problems and opportunities. Science fiction is now science fact? Researchers narrow the gap between man and machine, developing a robot that can sense and react to pain. The technology is expected to improve interaction between machines and humans, especially in the industries. Two researchers at the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany presented the project at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Stockholm, Sweden. One of the goals of the research was to provide machines with the ability to avoid damage to internal and external parts. The model's responses are similar to how humans react and respond to pain through assessment. The model then avoids the source of pain, thereby successfully preventing further damage its body. However, the idea raises concerns, especially for those familiar with Isaac Asimov's portrayal of artificial intelligence. Some of Asimov's science fiction stories involve self-aware robots with sinister or at the very least apathetic motives. Johannes Kuehn, one of the researchers, maintains that pain is the body's protective and preventive response to stimuli. "Pain is a system that protects us," Kuehn said in an interview with IEEE Spectrum . "When we evade from the source of pain, it helps us not get hurt." A prototype controller showcased the technology, installed with a BioTac tactile fingertip sensor that is pressure and temperature sensitive. The design is similar to human skin structure, calibrated to simulate pain from different levels of force, pressure or temperature. The system also delivers pain signals in repetitive spikes, similar to neurons. The pain controller reacts after classifying the signals as light, moderate or severe. Teaching robots this range of stimuli is crucial in the development of artificial intelligence, according to a BBC report. Kuehn said the technology not only protects robots from damage but also ensures a safer working environment in industries which involve manually-operated machines. Machines able to detect damage early on can pre-empt potential harm to humans, by sending reports or shutting down operations. Kuehn noted the increasing trend in automation, with robots operating in close proximity with humans. The technology can help minimize accidents in industries and can also streamline operations by ensuring efficient coordination between the automated and manual aspects of production. Researchers at Harvard University discovered an unlikely contributing factor to the progress of Alzheimer's disease, caused by a by-product of the body's response to infection. The discovery solves one mystery surrounding the development of the disease. The research shed new light on the cause of Alzheimer's disease, exposing evidence of factors that contribute to nerve cell breakdown in the brain. The findings may help in the development of a cure. As confirmed in a Forbes report, Alzheimer's disease progresses as the brain becomes increasingly susceptible to infection. Normally, there's a barrier between the blood and brain cells that keep blood pathogens at bay. This barrier weakens with age. Alzheimer's develops when these pathogens invade the brain. The Harvard research discovered new details on how the brain defends against infections, though. It turns out the pathogens are isolated in protein cages (beta amyloids). Upon containment, pathogens die but the beta amyloid cages remain intact. These cages accumulate defective tau proteins that destroy surrounding nerve cells. Tau proteins assist in cell maintenance, but the mass of defective tau proteins around beta amyloid cages eventually cause inflammation, destroying more nerve cells. Alzheimer's disease is caused by the exponential destruction of these nerve cells. The research was conducted inside living organisms, specifically in roundworms and mice. Though it's yet to be confirmed if the findings apply to humans, there's also no evidence on the contrary. Previous research was conducted outside living organisms, with similar results. According to the research, the newly discovered cause offers new targets for Alzheimer's disease medications. "It remains unclear whether A is fighting a real or falsely perceived infection in AD. However, in any case, these findings identify inflammatory pathways as potential new drug targets for treating AD." The findings are promising but remain inconclusive, with possibilities open for other causes of Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Association website estimates more than five million Americans have the disease and it is currently sixth in the leading causes of death in the United States. One of Android's biggest problems remains the fact that it is difficult for tablet and smartphone users to get access to new updates and releases. Google's Android operating system is in many cases more fully featured than its Apple competition. However, fragmentation keeps holding Android back. Months after they are released by Google, most Android phones are not updated with the newest versions of Android. According to statistics made by experts in the industry, Apple can expect the uptake of its latest version of iOS to top 85 percent in just 1 year. But the newest Android release might make it onto fewer than 10 percent of devices in a similar timeframe. The latest version of the operating system is used by only few of Android's 1.4 billion users. According to ZDNet, Google keeps a list ranking smartphone OEMs based on their speed in pushing Android updates out to devices. There are also reports claiming that Google intends to make this list public. A Bloomberg report analyzed Google's relationship with smartphone manufacturers and came to the conclusion that the company is addressing aggressively Android's biggest problem, fragmentation. According to the same publication, Google will use a two-way approach in order to remedy the problem. The first way is just practical. Google will streamline the update process in order to help manufacturers to keep up. The other way is more coercive, the company is considering shaming publicly the OEMs that are slow to push the latest Android update. According to Gizmodo, Google's list is ranking top phone makers by how up-to-date their handsets are, based on operating system versions and security patches. Earlier this year, Google already shared this list with Android partners and has discussed it, making it public. Due to differing philosophies about their role in how smartphones should work, both operating systems have inherent weaknesses and strengths. Google is ready to use such aggressive measures in order to correct the Android's biggest issue, because fragmentation strikes deep at what makes iOS and Android different. Some of Microsofts Surface Book and Pro 4, especially with the i7 processor, have suffered from sleeping sickness where a cold boot (size 9 or larger) is needed to reactivate it after it goes to sleep. The issue has variously been blamed on an Intel Skylake bug, Microsofts own Surface firmware, NVIDIAs drivers (on the i7), NVMe solid state disk driver, unspecified programs that are not written properly for S2 sleep mode (CPU context and contents of the system cache are lost because the processor loses power), or the Ready to Detach driver that allows the screen to electronically disconnect from the keyboard. Whatever the cause, there have been problem on some machines. In the January review of the Surface Book, I mentioned this "elephant in the room" as long term Windows blogger Paul Thurrott was pretty critical of the lack of transparency and communication from Microsoft over how it planned to fix this. I did not experience any issues during the review but nor did I really load many third-party Windows programs (not apps) which I now suspect is a major contributor to the sleep issue. The good news is that a raft of driver updates on 16 and 24 May, may have fixed the issue - v11.0.11.1006 improves system stability resuming from sleep or hibernation and increased reliability of touch and pen capabilities. Although it is too early to be definitive, comments on various sites indicate that affected owners are now happy. To put this in perspective, it took 11 driver and firmware updates to cure the issue! Please note that iTWire's open source proponent Sam Varghese has put up a contrary article. Time will tell if the bug is cured - for now it appears to be so. The question remains is The Surface Book or the Surface Pro 4 the "must have" desktop replacement device in 2016. Before Apple aficionados respond, the iPad Pro is a very competent product, but it is not a desktop replacement for the Mac OS X devices, so I am not making a comparison to it. Sales of Surface Pro and Book have been healthy. In Q1, 2016, they brought in US$1.1 billion for Microsoft compared with $713 million during the same period last year. Having reviewed the HP x2 Elite (an enterprise class device above the similar looking Spectre x2) and the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S I would have to say that I prefer the Surface Book and Pro 4 for different reasons. The Surface Book has an amazing 13.5, 3000 x 2000 resolution, 3:2 ratio, IGZO LED screen that offers just that little extra real estate for Word and Excel. The keyboard is superb. It is a real notebook replacement. I have not seen a review yet that does not heap praise on the Book and then proceeds to gag a little at the price. The 8/128GB, i5 costs A$2299 and the 16/512GB i7 costs $4119. For that, you get a tablet, pen, and integrated keyboard that runs everything a notebook or desktop can throw at it. An architect friend has five i7's in his small practice. He flogs them to death using CAD and visualisation software, takes them on site and has not had a scrap of trouble. The tablet is amazing I dont lose architectural details when I use them on site. The Surface Pro 4 has been hailed as even more perfect than the Surface Pro 3 widely regarded as the device Microsoft got right on the third go. I admit a fondness to the Pro format as a frequent traveller and the new Type Cover with island keys and a glass trackpad fixed any issues I had with the Surface Pro 3 Type Cover. The key advantage of this device over the newer USB-C only devices is that it sacrificed a millimetre or two in thinness to incorporate a full sized USB 3.0 and a mini-display port. The Surface power connector is also a dock connector that gives it real flexibility. Models include. Intel Core m3 (mobile), 4/128GB $1349 Intel Core i5, 4/128GB, $1499 Intel Core i5, 8/128GB, $1999 Intel Core i7, 8/256GB, $2499 Intel Core i7, 16/256GB, $2799 Intel Core i7, 16/512GB, $3399 All models have the 12.3, 2736 x 1824 IGZO display and the new Pen but exclude a Type Cover at $199.95. At the moment, you can find tax time "specials" at major retailers. There is a great feature comparison here. Plugging in a smartphone at a charging kiosk is akin to unprotected sex. While you may be getting a dose of power, your data could be flowing back to a nefarious cybercriminal. Kaspersky Labs, a global security company, tested some smartphones running Android and iOS operating systems to understand what data the device transfers externally while connected to a PC or Mac for charging. This is different to a poisoned charger hack which does not involve data but how are you to know what is at the other end of an airport kiosk charger? It showed that mobiles reveal a litany of data to the computer during the "handshake" (a process of introduction between the device and the PC/Mac it is connected to), including the device name, device manufacturer, device type, serial number, firmware information, operating system information, file system/file list, electronic chip ID, phone number, and more. Is it a major security issue? Yes, and no. As smartphones tend to be personal taken with you almost everywhere, cybercriminals can use the unique device ID to collate data held in the dark web. If a phone is not password or biometric protected and set for USB Host (data and charge) all data can flow freely from the device you only have to plug in your smartphone to a PC or Mac to reveal its file system and copy away! In fact, this technique was used as part of the cyber espionage campaign conducted by Chinese authorities against protesters in Hong Kong. And the Hacking Team group also made use of a computer connection to load mobile devices with malware. But it gets worse. Kaspersky found that using a regular PC and a standard micro USB cable, armed with a set of special AT commands they were able to re-flash a smartphone and silently install a root application. This amounts to a total compromise of the smartphone, even though no malware was used. It is strange to see that nearly two years after the publication of a proof-of-concept demonstrating how a smartphone can be infected through the USB, the concept still works. The security risks here are obvious: if youre a regular user you can be tracked through your device IDs; your phone could be silently packed with anything from adware to ransomware; and, if youre a decision-maker in a big company, you could easily become the target of professional hackers, warned Alexey Komarov, researcher at Kaspersky Labs. And you dont even have to be highly-skilled to perform such attacks, all the information you need can easily be found on the Internet. How to prevent this Only use your own charger Turn off data transfer over USB or get a USB data block adaptor Password protect your smartphone Encrypt everything on your device If you have an Android device install a paid antivirus/malware app. iPhone does not allow such apps so take extra care. You can read more at Kasperskys blog here. News / Local by Staff Reporter A director of an Estate Agent Property Connect has been dragged top court for allegedly duping a home seeker and defrauding her of $14 000.Shadreck Muvaka 45 pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Harare magistrate Bianca Makwande.It is alleged that on August 2015, Otilia Mabika intended to sell her house in Mvurwi so she assigned the accused who is an agent to advertise the house on her behalf.He allegedly the same year complainant saw the advert in the newspaper stating that the house was on sale and went to view it.On the same month he went to Muvaka's office where he met the accused and was told that the house was still available.It is alleged that Muvaka went to tell the complainant that he had the mandate to sell the house from the owner and showed him the titled deeds.The complainant deposited $400 for the agreement of sale and further $20 000 towards the purchase of the house.He was issued with the receipt as proof of payment. It is alleged that on August 24 the same year another $1 450 was deposited as money for conveyance and transfer fees of the house in complainant's name.After all being done the accused became evasive leading to the complainant approaching the true owner of the house Mabika who told him that she never tasked the accused to sell the house.A report made to the police led to his arrest. If you receive an SMS or MMS with the question "Is this your photo?" or "WTF?! Is this u photo?" delete it immediately. Its a refreshed version of the Marcher malware for Android. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has reissued a warning about a new raft of SMS/MMS messages that ask you to install a Flash Player to see a photo. It installs malware that can hijack mobile banking and steal login credentials and more. The irony is that Adobe Flash Player plug-in for mobile browsers was discontinued in August 2012. iTWire has more information on Marcher in two articles titled: If you view porn dont do it on Android and dont do it in Australia and Banking malware targets Android smartphones. Check Point has a good overview of Marcher here and says it has thousands of variations of the message anything to get you to click on the link. While Marcher's previous versions were common enough, this one allows attackers to bypass two-factor authentication by convincing users to grant additional permissions, thus SMSs sent to the device can be pilfered, Check Point says. The apps targeted in this campaign are all Australian and include the following: Westpac Bank West Commonwealth Bank of Australia George Bank ING Direct Australia Bank of South Australia NAB National Australia Bank Marcher also targets PayPal, and other samples were reported to target a broad range of banks across various countries. But Marcher goes the extra mile and lures users into logging into their accounts by spoofing notifications from the apps. Once they log into the app, their credentials are stolen. ACMA recommends If everything is hunky-dory at NBN Co and it is well on course to meet and exceed all its targets by the end of the financial year, why is the organisation's chairman Ziggy Switkowski so desperate to defend its complaint to the AFP about leaked documents? The former head of Telstra has gone to great lengths to mount his arguments in the Fairfax press this morning, but it looks like he did not have a second reading or get a second opinion before he sent off his musings to be published. On the one hand, Switkowski claims that NBN Co is sailing well: it is set to meet or exceed targets for network rollout, paying customer numbers, and revenue. Plus, he adds, retail service providers and end users have positive assessments and all the technology platforms used are functioning as per spec. All information, he says, which is not news, but could have been obtained from the rollout footprint which is updated each week. Then why, one may well ask, is this genteel man so hot and bothered about the leak of documents, which, he later, claims in this same opinion piece were used to spread disinformation about NBN Co? It appears that Switkowski is not exactly inclined to favour the democratic model in areas like this. He whinges that as NBN Co is subject to great scrutiny by government bodies and the government itself not surprisingly, I would say, given that is owned by the government it should not have to put up with documents being removed from its possession and given to the media. In the process, Switkowski forgets that this is exactly what happens in democratic countries. And Australia, last time I looked, is not yet modelling itself on some African dictatorship. At times, Switkowski's thought process appears dangerously close to that of a dictator, as when he writes: "While NBN has much commercially sensitive and national-interest material in its possession that must be kept confidential, the organisation accepts a very high level of commentary, and diverse and often expert opinion about our strategy and operations." Accepts? It is the right of every citizen of this great brown land to criticise government and its functionaries and functions in any way they like, as long as they do not indulge in defamatory or libellous speech. This is not some privilege that we need Switkowski to extend to us. Switkowski claims that those who used the leaked documents as source material ended up making false claims. "Contrary to media commentary, the documents did nothing to highlight poor management of the business. There are no 'cost blowouts' or 'rollout delays' to the publicly released plans all one has to do is compare the data that is readily available," are his words. Now I am acutely aware that journalists get things wrong at times. But for Switkowski to allege that the ABC, News Corporation, Fairfax Media, and Delimiter all made similar mistakes is stretching a very long bow. For the sake of argument if they did all err, why not merely issue a correction? Why not show them up rather than sic the attack dogs of the AFP into action? For their part, the AFP were happy to take the chance to examine the metadata of journalists in order to decide where they needed to carry out raids. And so we had the extraordinary spectacle of federal police raiding a political party in the midst of an election campaign. Switkowsi argues that this was the "right" thing to do when "confidential and commercially sensitive information was unlawfully leaving the company, and that this was ongoing over many months". NBN Co has no competitors. It uses your tax dollars and mine. It cannot whinge when the truth is outed. Switkowski seems to have forgotten this. If he doesn't like being held accountable, Switkowski can move to take the company private, run on its own funds and do what the hell it likes. As long as it is a public venture and public ventures have a notorious habit of overrunning costs and wasting money it is accountable to every Australian citizen. And the media is there to keep it honest. Android is a good mobile operating system (OS) shame that it is such a mess with seven main versions (and dozens of updates) that it makes Android security seem like an oxymoron. According to Googles statistics, 7.5% of devices use Marshmallow, 35.6% Lollipop, 32.5% Kitkat, 20.1% Jelly Bean, and the rest go back to Gingerbread or Froyo, not to mention Android forks and custom variations. Then there are the new 24,093 devices identified this year alone that are running Android. Google is apparently threatening to name and shame handset makers in an attempt to get them to update devices quickly. It has not had much success even after it formed the Android Update Alliance in 2011 where signatories agreed to update devices for at least 18 months after release. At that time, only Samsung and LG committed to monthly "security" updates, but only on their recent phones. Even other significant makers have declared that if a handset is over three years old, then one must forget about any updates. They say extra investment is a hard sell when Android handset margins are so thin, and they get their profits when people buy new phones, rather than when they update existing devices. Google needs to do what Apple does (84% of its devices are on iOS 9.x). An up-to-date operating system is the key to securing it from past vulnerabilities like StageFright. The problem is that this open software encourages handset makers and telco carriers to "customise" it. Instead of issuing an over the air (OTA) update as Apple does, it can take weeks, months and sometimes never for a tardy telco to approve any update on its network. For this to happen quickly, every modification to Android needs to be done as an App rather than a kernel change. Google is hoping the early preview of the latest Android N operating system will give phone manufacturers more time to adapt their phones. In reality, it is time for Google to re-architecture Android and only give new versions to handset makers and carriers who agree to let it do OTA updates a much lengthier process for sure. But this is doubtful as Google gets so much of its revenue from advertising on Android that it would not want to jeopardise this. Ironically fragmentation is also a Windows issue. While Apple is applauded for its OTA approach with iOS and OS X, Microsoft has received so much criticism for trying to do the same thing with Windows 10. You can read more on Android fragmentation at OpenSIgnal. 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. News / National by Stephen Jakes The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has reported that for April show a total of 139 violations up from last month's 123.The orgsaniastion said the month under focus had 292 victims altogether. Of these victims, those from the new party on the block, Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) were 23 people (7.5%), which is a third of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) victims which stood at 22.6% which translates to 66 people."This showed that while ZimPF members were now also a target of Zanu-PF, MDC-T was still more on the receiving end of violations. April reports were littered with cases of forced contributions of money towards the Independence Day celebrations. People, mostly villagers, were forced to contribute between $1 and $2 for the celebrations. While in most cases villagers, who have always been vulnerable at the hands of Zanu-PF driven demands made the contributions, some were unable to afford due to crippling poverty which has spread across the country," said ZPP."Villagers were threatened with non-inclusion in food aid distribution exercises. According to food distribution guidelines the management and distribution of food and other relief is supposed to be based purely on criteria of need and not on partisan grounds, and without adverse distinction of any kind like the requirement to contribute to independence celebrations."The organisation said it was noteworthy in a number of instances across the countryside that while villagers complied into paying the requested amounts they, however, did not attend."Low attendances at the Independence Day festivities were recorded. But as well, there were also instances of forced attendances. While traditional leaders continue to play the vanguard role of ensuring their people toe the Zanu-PF line, it is worth mentioning that there are some pockets of resistance among these leaders where they are protecting their people. For example in Hwedza, Mashonaland East some chiefs protected their people from the demands of contributing money for the Independence Day celebrations," said ZPP."Discrimination around food distribution continues to rear its ugly head with some members of the opposition denied access to the food. In some instances, the elderly and other vulnerable members of the communities are going without food aid which would be intended for them as traditional leaders and councillors favour their own people from the ruling Zanu- PF party."ZPP said the month also saw a chilling incident where ZimPF member, Antony Kambaza (48), of Freza Farm, Ward 20 in Bindura North had his house and motor bike burnt by Zanu-PF supporters. According to ZimPF Kambaza was targeted because of his membership of the new party but also additionally because he is ZimPF leader, Joice Mujuru's nephew."The impunity of Zanu-PF agents also reared its ugly head when in Chinhoyi a church interdenominational (mubatanidzwa) meeting where Mujuru was set to officiate at was prevented from taking place. The entrance to the venue was locked thereby making itimpossible for the meeting to proceed," ZPP said."Some accusations and other threats were also issued as organisers were accused of having ulterior motives. Intra-party conflict was also recorded in April in Zanu-PF, ZimPF and in MDC-T, with the ruling party and the opposition party recording six instances of intra-party conflict compared to one instance in the Zimbabwe People First. Disrupted meetings were quite common in April where the main victims were ZimPF, where Zanu-PF youths would come and disrupt their meetings despite that the meetings would have been cleared by the police. Examples of disrupted ZimPF meetings include one in Redcliff and another in Mutoko, among a few others." News / National by Stephen Jakes A man from Chikombedzi in Chiredzi has appeared in court after chopping off his father's head with a machete and then removed some parts which he said were to be used for rituals that were going to make him rich.Masvingo Mirror reported that Rodrick Chauke (23) of Davata Village, under Chief Sengwe in Chikombedzi, chopped off his father`s head and removed his right hand after he was allegedly told by a traditional healer that if he brings his father`s hand he will be rich.Chauke appeared before Chiredzi Resident Magistrate Constance Mutandwa on Monday facing murder charges.The State led by Doubt Phiri alleges that on March 1, 2016 Chauke came back from South Africa and was not feeling well. In May he visited a traditional healer Solani Chirhilele for herbal medication and on May 12, during the night he fought his wife Constance Baloyi for unknown reasons and his wife sustained injuries on her back, neck and right hand.The State said his brother and father tried to restrain him from assaulting his wife and it was during that commotion that the accused armed himself with a machete and ambushed his father James Musikwa and chopped off his head.He also amputated Musikwa`s right hand and wanted to remove his inner parts. Relatives searched for Musikwa only to find his lifeless body later. Asked why he committed the offence, Chauke said he was told to do so by a traditional healer for him to be rich.He said he was told to bring his father`s palm. Chauke was not asked to plead when he appeared before Mutandwa and was remanded in custody to May 30, 2016. News / National by Stephen Jakes Harare Residents Trust has accused the Kombi drivers for on daily based reducing members of many families through accidents deaths."The behaviour of kombi drivers has left several families without one or more of their relatives after they were hit and died, with others being hit and severely injured for life," said the trust."Last week, a school girl was hit and died on the spot while two others from Girls High School were left injured at the corner of Leopold Takawira Street and Samora Machel Avenue."The trust said a pregnant woman was also recently hit, and with her baby, died, sadly, at the hands of kombi drivers and their touts, misbehaving, and being allowed to cause havoc in the central business district."These developments are sad, and should end. How best should this be addressed? The HRT joins the families of those who have been killed by reckless kombi drivers in the CBD in mourning their beloved ones and pray that their souls rest in eternal peace,and that those who have been injured receive speedy healing from Jesus Christ our Lord," said the trust. A former Epic Systems employee is suing the Verona maker of electronic health records software, alleging the company improperly denied him and some other workers overtime pay. Credit: Mark Hoffman SHARE By of the A former employee who wrote technical documents for Epic Systems Corp. has won a second round in his lawsuit contending the Verona maker of electronic health records software improperly denied him and some other workers overtime pay. The ruling this week by the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago could make it easier for many workers around the country to press claims for overtime. The court ruled that employers cannot require workers to agree to individual arbitration in disputes involving overtime pay. The decision which contradicts decisions by other appellate courts affects agreements that bar workers from participating in collective or class-action lawsuits for wage-and-hour claims. The agreements have become increasingly common among employers in recent years. "It's a very significant decision for employees, certainly in the Seventh Circuit and we hope ultimately nationally," said Caitlin Madden, a lawyer in the Madison office of Hawks Quindel, one of two law firms, along with Habush Habush & Rottier, that represented the employee, Jacob Lewis. Epic declined to comment on the decision. The company employs about 9,700 people, almost all of them on its campus in Verona. In April 2014, Epic sent certain employees an email that contained an agreement requiring individual arbitration for any wage-and-hour claims. Employees were deemed to have accepted the agreement if they continued to work at Epic. Less than a year later, in February 2015, Lewis, a former technical writer, sued Epic in the U.S. District Court for Western Wisconsin in Madison, alleging the company violated federal and state labor law by denying him and other technical writers overtime pay. His complaint said more than 250 workers were affected. Epic asked the court to dismiss Lewis' lawsuit, contending he had agreed that wage-and-hour claims would be handled by individual arbitration. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb denied Epic's motion in September, and Epic appealed the decision to the Seventh Circuit Court. The appeals court upheld Crabb's ruling this week, saying two sections of the National Labor Relations Act "render Epic's arbitration provision unenforceable." The court's decision is significant, Madden said, because one worker can't afford to file a lawsuit for overtime pay without joining with other workers in a collective action. "When an employer tells workers, 'If you want to bring a claim, you have to do it on your own,' it makes it very hard for workers to assert their rights," she said. Workers who want a job also generally don't have the option of refusing to accept the agreements. Bernard "Bud" Bobber, a lawyer in the Milwaukee office of Ogletree Deakins, a law firm that specializes in employment law, said that employers have turned to the arbitration agreements because of the increase in lawsuits over overtime pay. "In the last 10 years, there has been an explosion of wage-and-hour litigation," said Bobber, who was not involved in the lawsuit. Plaintiffs' lawyers like the lawsuits because they can recover attorney fees directly from the employer, he said, as opposed to receiving a percentage of a settlement or award. The National Labor Relations Board had ruled that the agreements violated the National Labor Relations Act, but its decision was reversed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which consists of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, Bobber said. Two other appellate courts also have ruled that the arbitration agreements did not violate federal law. The Seventh Circuit Court's decision could send the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court. It also means that the collective or class action lawsuit against Epic now can proceed. Darya Pronina (right) of Waunakee Middle School and a friend look on as Dan Frankel, from the scientific instrument-maker Bruker Corp., demonstrates a single-crystal X-ray diffractometer in a lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Credit: Libby Dowdall SHARE A bluestone crystal (above) grown by Allison Kaelin of Oshkosh High School received the high school award in the best-quality category. Ilia Guzei The winner in the best-quality category for middle school was an alum crystal (right) grown by Kameron Hughes of John Long Middle School in Grafton. Ilia Guzei By of the A high school student from Fond du Lac and a team of middle school students from Berlin grew the best overall crystals in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's third annual crystal-growing contest. Kevin Kollmann of Fond du Lac High School won the top $200 prize for his bluestone, and Brittany Kaatz, Brielle Behnke and Enrique Botello of Berlin Middle School won $200 for their alum crystal, organizers said. The contest has a deeper motive beyond seeing which students can grow the best crystals, said Ilia Guzei, director of the X-ray crystallography lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We are also making the campus more accessible to smart, motivated students from around the state," Guzei said. "When they approach graduation, we want them to think about science and higher education, and to think about attending one of the nation's leading chemistry departments right here in their home state." In a crystal, atoms, molecules or ions are arranged in a uniform, repeating, three-dimensional pattern. Examples are diamonds, table salt, sugar and snow. The contest challenged participants to grow a large, well-formed crystal made from specified inorganic compounds. More than 600 students and teachers from 23 high schools and 12 middle schools grew 108 crystals for the contest. The finished products were evaluated by a committee of judges for more than three hours for weight, clarity, lack of broken edges and other factors. Allison Kaelin of Oshkosh High School and Kameron Hughes of John Long Middle School in Grafton also won $200 each for growing the best quality crystals. Their category was judged without taking weight into consideration. By of the When the price of oil broke above $50 last week, energy stocks once again beckoned. Had the moment finally arrived to buy big energy stocks again? Would the price of oil stay high enough to take some of the pressure off producers? Or would it drive production increases that would quickly create too much supply, squelching profits from a different angle? It will take some time to increase production, which has declined as energy prices swooned following their peak in 2008, said Ted Levin, a partner at Grant, Koehler & Levin Ltd. in Mequon. That means there could be shortages during the next several years, he said. So energy may be a good bet. But given continuing volatility in oil prices, Levin has an alternative to investing directly in energy stocks. Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI, $17.85), Houston, owns and manages energy transportation and storage assets. Kinder Morgan is the biggest oil and gas pipeline company in North America, operating what is essentially a toll road for the energy assets that flow through its pipelines, Levin said. "Kinder Morgan is a way to play a bet on oil prices without getting totally burned if the price of oil goes down," he said. The company generates roughly $5 billion a year of cash flow, Levin said. Well-known investor Warren Buffett started buying its shares earlier this year, he said. The shares are definitely for value-oriented investors, though, Levin said. An article in Barron's two years ago suggested there were problems with Kinder Morgan's cash flow accounting, Levin said. The issue hasn't been resolved, but the company is standing by its methodology, he said. Kinder Morgan's stock was crushed last year amid concerns about its high valuation and onerous debt load. The company's debt rose by $10 billion, to $40 billion, over the last two years, Levin said. Consequently, ratings agencies demanded it lower its dividend or risk losing its investment grade status which would increase the cost of borrowing and require many loans to be secured. "So they did the unthinkable to most investors and slashed the dividend late last year from roughly $2 a share down to 50 cents a share," Levin said. The company is using the money saved from the dividend cut to fund capital expenditures, pay down debt and possibly repurchase some of its shares, he said. Kinder Morgan's shares were also hurt by low oil prices, even though Levin says the company is not as vulnerable as purer energy plays. It makes money on the amount of oil and gas moving through its pipelines, not the price consumers are paying for the products. "There's a misconception in terms of how dependent the company's earnings are on the price of the underlying commodities," Levin said. "We think there's an overreaction here." Other energy companies have struggled, and a number of them have gone bankrupt over the last six to nine months, Levin said. But Kinder Morgan's bonds are trading in a way that does not suggest that the smart institutional investors are worried about its future, he said. "It's definitely a company in the penalty box right now, but this creates an opportunity for patient investors," Levin said. The biggest risk is the possibility the price of oil could decline again, causing investors to sell the company's shares, even though they aren't as severely affected by energy prices, Levin said. But his outlook is for oil prices to rise, given that big production companies have slashed their budgets, and global demand about 99 million barrels a day is roughly equal to the available supply of 100 million barrels a day, he said. The shares have a 52-week trading range of $11.20 to $42.50. If oil prices can stay above $40 a barrel, Kinder Morgan's shares should have no problem getting into the $20s by the end of this year, Levin said. ABOUT THIS The Journal Sentinel focuses on one Wisconsin money manager or analyst in this weekly feature, looking at a trend that helps investment pros make their decisions. Attendees lined up by the dozens to get signed copies of author Josh Linkner's book after he presented the keynote address at the ASQ World Conference On Quality And Improvement in Milwaukee recently. Credit: Steve Jagler SHARE Josh Linkner founded four tech companies and has written two bestselling business books. Aaron Eckels By of the The graveyard of corporate brands is littered with the corpses of companies that did not adjust to the changes on the horizon and paid the ultimate price. Circuit City. Blockbuster. Pan Am. Compaq. Kodak. Encyclopaedia Britannica. "They failed to innovate, they failed to change, they failed to adapt and then ultimately, they simply failed," said Josh Linkner. Linkner thinks he has the antidote to business antiquity and even obsolescence. "Be a disrupter. This type of thinking allows us to win," Linkner said. "The models of the past are no longer going to get us to the promised land. ... Create a culture that encourages and embraces fresh ideas." Linkner speaks with a level of credibility on the subjects of disruptive innovation and corporate model reinvention. He was the founder and CEO of four tech companies, all which he sold for a combined value of more than $200 million. He is the author of the bestselling business books "Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity" and "The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation." Linkner was twice named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and is a recipient of President Barack Obama's Champion of Change Award. Linkner, a regular columnist in Forbes magazine, continues to be on the cutting edge. He is the founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners, investing in and mentoring more than 100 start-ups. He and his partners are key drivers in the reinvention of downtown Detroit. "Something magical is happening in the city of Detroit," said Linkner, who was born and grew up in the Motor City. While appearing as the keynote speaker to an audience of business leaders from around the globe at the ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Milwaukee recently, Linkner identified five "obsessions" for effective corporate innovators: 1. Get curious "Curiosity is the real building block of creativity." He said corporate leaders must ask the key questions of "Why?" "What if?" and "Why not?" 2. Crave 'what's next?' Successful software companies, for instance, engage in "planned obsolescence." Linkner said, "Software 5.0 puts Software 4.0 out of business." 3. Defy tradition Don't keep doing something the same way simply because that's the way you've already done it. 4. Get scrappy To understand what Linkner means by that, do a Google search for "TNT" and "Push Button to Add Drama." Then prepare for your jaw to drop. 5. Adapt fast Linkner cited a nimble billboard advertising and marketing competition between Audi and BMW that is winning market shares for both companies in Los Angeles. The latest, greatest corporate "disrupter" to capture Linkner's attention is Dollar Shave Club co-founder Mike Dubin. The CEO knew he and his male friends were sick of paying too much for the latest gimmick razors mass-produced by the likes of Gillette Corp. Believing men would prefer a more personal, convenient and affordable option, Dubin invested $4,000 to rent a video production team and a warehouse, "because he didn't even have his own yet," Linkner said. The result was a video that was an immediate viral hit on the internet in the first week. Dubin challenged Gillette by offering quality razors for $1 per month, delivered to your door. In 2014, Dollar Shave's annual sales grew to $65 million. A year later, the company secured another $75 million in financing led by New York-based investor Technology Crossover Ventures. Why did it work? "Because the message was so compelling," Linkner said. "Be a disrupter." Steve Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Send C-Level ideas to him at steve.jagler@journalsentinel.com. Josh Linkner Title: Tech entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author and venture capitalist Education: Bachelor of science in advertising, University of Florida Age: 45 If you could do one thing in business over again, what would that be? "Chose my partners more carefully." Best business advice ever received:"Man who says it can't be done should not interrupt man doing it." (Chinese Proverb) As a visitor, what do you like most about Milwaukee? "Great vibe, great restaurants. Love the arts scene." Trey Bradenburg installs motor controls so the solar panels at the states largest single solar project on a former coal ash landfill owned by Alliant Energy Corp. in the Town of Beloit can move to follow the sun throughout the day. Credit: Michael Sears By of the Mission accomplished, or failing to take the lead? That sums up two views of Wisconsin and its approach to meeting a state target set by the Legislature for how much clean energy Wisconsin should have. Wisconsin met its renewable energy target in 2015 but still lags the nation in generating power from wind, solar and other renewable electricity sources. Wisconsin utilities can brag that 10% of the state's electricity came from renewable power sources last year. But that's still below the 13% average nationwide, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration. A report from the state Public Service Commission shows that some utilities went above their mandate, with Xcel Energy in Eau Claire and WPPI Energy of Sun Prairie leading the way with 20% and 15%, respectively, of their electricity supplied by renewables last year. Other utilities, including We Energies in Milwaukee and Wisconsin Public Service in Green Bay, used credits banked from prior years to meet the target each was required to meet by the state law that created the renewable portfolio standard. We Energies generated about 6.7% of its electricity with renewable energy last year. Advocates are pushing for the state to follow the lead of others and expand Wisconsin's renewable target. But utilities say the federal Clean Power Plan or its successor policy will be a big driver for more renewable energy. "Some utilities continue to lead the way on renewables, with Xcel producing over 20% of their power from renewables, and the municipals and co-ops continuing to exceed their targets," said Tyler Huebner, executive director of Renew Wisconsin, a Madison nonprofit that has been tracking the industry's growth. "Another big take-away is that Wisconsin is behind many of our neighboring states. In Iowa, over 30% of the power comes from renewables, and in Minnesota it's 17%," said Huebner. "We're here at around 10%, with not much discussion about how to increase that number." There's been little or no appetite for legislation on renewable energy in Madison in recent years. Some Republicans have introduced bills to repeal the state's renewable target, while Democrats have introduced bills to expand the target. None of the proposals has advanced. Much of the inaction could be seen as a waiting period, as state officials await clarity on what happens with the Obama administration's greenhouse gas rules. Those rules, which target emissions from coal and natural gas-fired power plants, would lead to more construction of renewable energy projects in Wisconsin if they are upheld. Wisconsin is among coal-reliant states that have challenged the Clean Power Plan in court, and arguments in a federal appeals court in Washington are now scheduled for September. Allen Leverett, the new CEO of WEC Energy Group, parent company of We Energies, said this month that his company is analyzing various ways to comply with a climate change mandate that he considers "inevitable." But expanding the state's renewable target isn't something Wisconsin will need to do on its own, Gale Klappa, WEC chairman, said in an interview. The biggest driver of a big renewable expansion will be the Clean Power Plan, if it survives the court challenge in any form similar to what has been proposed. "We really need to see what the Clean Power Plan is going to drive, and that will really set the stage for the next 15 years," he said. Some utilities are continuing to push to add more renewables. Xcel Energy is doing so at its Eau Claire utility, in part to help it prepare for the Clean Power Plan and its own carbon-reduction target. Adding more wind and solar also helps it meet Minnesota's more aggressive renewable goals. Last week, Richland Electric Cooperative broke ground on a major solar initiative that's one piece of what Dairyland Power Cooperative is moving forward with more than 15 megawatts of solar across 12 different locations. Meanwhile, the state's largest single solar project, in the Town of Beloit, is expected to start generating power next month on a former coal ash landfill owned by Alliant Energy Corp. Hanwha Q Cells is building the project, at an approximate cost of $5 million. It includes more than 7,700 solar panels, all mounted on tracking systems so they can follow the direction of the sun throughout the day. Alliant Energy, which already generates 11% of its power from renewables, has signed a deal to buy power from the solar project for 10 years. At that point, Alliant can exercise an option to buy the project, said project manager Kim Halverson. The PSC report is one of several reports out this month tracking Wisconsin's progress on clean technology and sustainability. The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council this month released a statewide report looking at Wisconsin's progress on a variety of fronts that encompass sustainability, from environmental progress to achievement on economic and social benchmarks. The annual sustainability report for the state "sought to balance out both 'good news' about what is happening in the state with opportunities where we could do better," said Tom Eggert, executive director of the council. On energy and the environment, the report noted that Wisconsin tripled its number of solar installations last year. On the other hand, the state's electricity rates were the highest in the Midwest, according to the report. In a state-by-state analysis, the market research firm Clean Edge ranked Wisconsin 29th on a variety of clean technology metrics, from how much wind and solar capacities have been installed to how they compare in financial capital and policy for clean technology. Nearby states that have been more aggressive in adding wind power fared better in the report. That includes Iowa, which ranks first in wind generation nationally and 23rd overall, and seventh-ranked Illinois, which is leading on policy and financial capital. SHARE By of the A Milwaukee man has been charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child younger than 16 for allegedly attacking a 10-year-old girl in West Allis, according to a criminal complaint. Daniel Angel Rivera, 37, was charged as a habitual criminal repeater because of a drug conviction in 2012, according to the complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. According to the complaint, Rivera accosted two girls, ages 5 and 10, walking to school shortly after 8 a.m., April 21 at S. 61st and W. Lapham streets, grabbed the older girl and forced her to fondle him. He eventually let go of the girl, who grabbed the younger girl before both girls fled. A car captured on surveillance video near the scene of the assault was later traced to Rivera, according to the complaint. In December, 2012 Rivera pleaded guilty to felony possession with intent to deliver cocaine and sentenced to two years in prison and four years of extended supervision, according to state court records. If convicted of the current charge he could be sentenced to up to 66 years in prison, according to the complaint. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally in San Jose, Calif. Credit: Associated Press Is it any wonder voters don't trust Hillary Clinton? Her chronic obsession with secrecy laid out in a new report on her email practices while secretary of state makes them wonder what she's trying to hide. The report by the State Department's inspector general last week was damning not only because she failed to comply with department rules but also because she failed to cooperate with investigators. The Office of the Inspector General spoke with Secretary of State John Kerry and former secretaries Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice but "through her counsel, Secretary Clinton declined OIG's request for an interview." What's more, eight former State Department employees, most of whom were appointed by Clinton, refused to talk. Why the secrecy? In this case, that's hard to say. But it does fit a Clinton pattern going back decades. When she ran the Clinton administration's health care project in 1993, the meetings were secret. When she was under investigation for the Whitewater land deals, she resisted releasing the records. She still hasn't released transcripts of her multimillion-dollar speeches to Wall Street bankers. This latest news about her private email server operated out of the Clintons' home in New York is of a piece with the rest. The report concluded that Clinton didn't seek legal approval for her use of the private email server and that agency staff wouldn't have approved it if they had known because of obvious security risks. Clinton handled email in a way that was "not an appropriate method" for preserving public records, the report said, and it found that while Clinton said the system was secure, she never provided details to officials responsible for ensuring that it was. In fact, when IT staff raised concerns about the system, they were told to "never to speak of the Secretary's personal email system again," the report says. There was every reason to fear for the security of the system. Indeed, the report found several cases in which either Clinton or her aides expressed fear that the server she shared with her husband, the former president, Bill Clinton, might have been hacked. There is no evidence that it ever was. Clinton has not adequately explained her actions or even acknowledged she understands the severity of the issue. We get it: She is overly cautious after years of political attacks and wants to shield herself from more attacks. Understandable. But hiding emails from the public only reinforces a well-deserved reputation for secrecy and raises concerns about what kind of government she would lead if elected president in November. Her halfhearted attempts so far to explain away her secret email server are not reassuring. News / National by Stephen Jakes An MDC-T official Chalton Hwende has claimed that Zanu PF thugs have set alight the home of the party's national executive member Memory Mbondiah for refusing to attend the ruling party's one million men march in Harare.Zanu PF youth conducted the march in Harare on Wednesday in solidarity with President Robert Mugabe's endless rule."Zanu PF thugs in Chief Samambwa village Bako ward 7 Zhombe constituency burnt down the village of an uncle of our National Executive member Memory Mbondiah after he refused to go to Harare to attend the Zanu PF March," Hwende said. The University of Wisconsin-Madison campus: It may be time for a citizen commission to examine the UW System. Credit: Mark Hoffman SHARE By Almost 35,000 students graduated from college in Wisconsin this month. They and their families were proud of that accomplishment. They believed that their own investment in higher education would pay off in a better life. The public agrees: Wisconsin needs a strong affordable higher education system. Economic development experts agree that talent will be the key differentiator in state and regional economic success. Beyond those points of agreement, the University of Wisconsin is in disarray this commencement season. It has been a cascade of surprises and bad news. The faculty on five UW campuses Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, La Crosse and River Falls voted "no confidence" in the leadership of the UW System and the Board of Regents. Some faculty are leaving Wisconsin. That was in response to cuts of $250 million from the requested two-year budget and changes in parts of faculty governance and tenure. The budget cut followed the disclosure of a billion-dollar slush fund later re-characterized by UW leadership as a "reserve." The disclosure followed a proposal by the chancellor of UW-Madison to separate the flagship campus from the UW System. That idea failed in the Legislature. Shortly thereafter, the chancellor left Wisconsin to head a private college on the East Coast. The chancellor was replaced by a former Obama administration official. Politicians responded to the UW complaints and faculty no-confidence votes with claims of underworked and overpaid faculty. UW president Ray Cross responded that the "war of words is not helping the university." That may be the academic understatement of the year. The list of public, student and faculty concerns about the UW is long. Budget cuts over two decades; frozen tuition; racial gaps on the Madison campus; severe underfunding of UW-Milwaukee now a Tier 1 research university; uncompetitive faculty salaries, difficulty of high school students to gain admission to the flagship Madison campus; and a continued "brain drain" of more than 10,000 graduates each year to other states. All of that in a state with high taxes and 30 years of slow economic growth. The issues are real but the facts behind the dispute are not easy to find. A starting point is the UW Data Digest released last month and the UW System Fact Book released earlier this year. There are surprises in the reports. For example, some of the UW financial pain is self-inflicted. The UW-Madison's business-sponsored research has not increased in 10 years. It is a critical measure of university-business relations. It remains at one of the lowest levels in the Big Ten. Although UW-Madison is a major federal research center, the ranking for science and engineering research has declined for over a decade. That ranking dropped from fourth to 12th. The Data Digest also confirms the brain drain of graduates only 36% of UW-Madison graduates remain in Wisconsin. Other reports show below average investment income and higher than average investment expenses at UW. The university has more than $7 billion in assets, yet it lacks a consolidated financial report. Both the UW System and UW-Madison have vacant positions for chief financial officer. The number of "politically correct criteria" for investments was the highest of the peer institutions. These are internal UW choices not the result of any legislative mandate. Given the heat of the recent UW debate, it is surprising to see that Wisconsin state and local per capita spending on higher education ranking ranks 14th highest in the country. Minnesota, a state frequently cited by faculty as more attractive than Wisconsin, spends less and ranks 29th in total per capita higher education spending. One of the key differences in Wisconsin is the local spending on higher education supporting both the two-year UW campuses and the technical college system. According to the 2015-'16 Wisconsin Blue Book, Wisconsin spent $4.9 billion of state dollars and $1.3 billion of local dollars on higher education. Only a handful of states use property tax dollars to support higher education at that level. How does Minnesota spend less, but is seemingly more attractive to faculty? Minnesota did a comprehensive relook at its higher education system in 1991. Ironically, Ray Cross, now UW System president, served on the Minnesota reform commission. Minnesota maintained the flagship University of Minnesota system, but created a second combined system of state universities, two-year colleges and technical colleges. Most other states have reformed their higher education systems for the 21st century. Oregon under the leadership of a Democratic governor entirely restructured its higher education system. Oregon created independent regional universities in 2013 governed independently and aligned with local needs. In its history, Wisconsin addressed critical strategic issues with citizen commissions independent blue ribbon commissions appointed either by the Legislative Council or by the governor. Active civic leaders headed them. The multi-faceted Kellett Commission restructured Wisconsin state government, created the Department of Natural Resources and its final recommendation was the creation of the University of Wisconsin System in 1971. Bill Kellett, then chairman and CEO of Kimberly Clark headed it. The Kellett Commission was appointed under Republican Gov. Warren Knowles, but its final recommendations regarding the University of Wisconsin came under Democratic Gov. Patrick Lucey. That was 45 years ago and the Wisconsin higher education structure has not been reformed since. Similarly, Democratic Gov. Tony Earl appointed the Wisconsin Strategic Development Commission in 1984. It was co-chaired by Lt. Gov. James Flynn and Hal Kuehl, CEO of Firstar Bank Wisconsin's largest financial institution. A Democratic governor appointed the commission, but the next governor, Republican Tommy Thompson, adopted many of its recommendations. Other blue ribbon commissions followed on long term care, on workforce development, on welfare reform and on government efficiency. They had similar patterns citizen and stakeholder involvement; strong private sector leadership; and bipartisan support from governors. In the increasing hyper-partisanship of Wisconsin politics, the blue ribbon commission approach has been largely abandoned under both Gov. Jim Doyle and Gov. Scott Walker. It has been seemingly more important for politicians and agency heads to maintain control of the process than to build broad public input and support. Higher education is critical to Wisconsin's future its prosperity and its quality of life. It has been 45 years since the last comprehensive higher education reform in Wisconsin reform engineered by a citizens blue ribbon commission. Much has changed in the world in 45 years. It is time for another blue ribbon commission on higher education. Tom Hefty is the retired head of Blue Cross-Blue Shield United of Wisconsin. SHARE By , Madison Wisconsin Assembly district boundaries that Republicans drew up five years ago have robbed Democratic-leaning voters of their voices, attorneys argued Friday as they wrapped up a federal trial over whether the lines are constitutional. Gerald Hebert, an attorney for a group of voters who sued over the boundaries, told the panel that the boundaries represent the worst example of gerrymandering in modern history and punish Democrats and their supporters by diluting their voting strength. "Their right to vote is fundamental," Hebert said during closing arguments. "It's our voice in the government. It's the only voice many of us have. It's not right to target people and harm them because of their voting history. What did they do? They had the nerve to participate in the political process and go to the polls." Brian Keenan, a state Justice Department lawyer who is defending the boundaries, countered that the districts reflect that Wisconsin has been trending increasingly Republican. Partisanship is to be expected when one party draws legislative boundaries, he said, adding that there's no way to legally measure partisan gerrymandering. "This is actually democracy," Keenan said during his closing. "The Republicans won the 2010 election. The Constitution gives them the right to (draw district lines)." Legislators redraw Senate and Assembly district boundaries every 10 years to reflect population shifts. The task was one of the first chores Republican lawmakers took on after they seized control of both houses and the governor's office in November 2010, passing a bill less than a year later that reshaped the districts. The voter group filed a lawsuit last summer alleging the Assembly boundaries marginalize Democrats by splitting their supporters across districts and consolidating Republican-leaning voters. Hebert said during closing arguments Friday that the plan reduced the number of swing districts from 19 to 10. The group has asked a three-judge panel to declare the Assembly districts unconstitutional and redraw them if legislators don't. Such a ruling could give Democrats an opening to make gains in the November election as they try to claw their way back into the majority. The plaintiffs face an uphill battle, though. The U.S. Supreme Court hasn't been able to come up with a legal standard for deciding when redistricting becomes unconstitutional gerrymandering. Their attorneys spent much of the four-day trial trying to persuade the judges to adopt an equation they've proposed for measuring when a party has far exceeded the number of votes its candidate needs to win a district. State attorneys maintain the equation lacks any sort of constitutional basis and there's no way a court can measure gerrymandering. Keenan worked Friday to show the districts simply reflect how the state has grown more Republican and that partisan maps don't guarantee a party victory by calling a pair of political analysts to the stand Friday. Sean Trende, an elections analyst for the Real Clear Politics website, testified that his research shows more Wisconsin counties, particularly in rural areas, have been trending Republican since 1996. Nicholas Goedert, a LaFayette College political scientist who studies gerrymandering, testified that partisan maps often backfire in wave elections where the opposing party sweeps to victory across the country. Goedert also testified that the plaintiff's gerrymandering equation is "chaotic" and that using it to definitively state whether gerrymandering occurred based on the results of just one election is "dangerous." The plaintiffs tried to show that both analysts were clearly working for Republicans. During cross-examination by Hebert, Trende said he has donated to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as well as four Republican candidates, including John McCain and former President George W. Bush. He also said the state is paying him $300 an hour to testify. Goedert said the state was paying him $175 an hour to testify. The judges U.S. District Judges Barbara Crabb and William Griesbach along with 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kenneth Ripple aren't expected to issue a ruling for at least several weeks. In its suit, the law firm said at the time it had been waiting more than 10 months for the DNR to provide records in one case. And in another, it took more than sevens months to get the documents it asked for. Read Full Article Five stats that say the Brewers will be better in 2023 (and five that say they won't) Richard Harris, a Mukwonago native, is being awarded a Silver Star for heroism in Afghanistan in 2011 while he was serving in the U.S. Army Special Forces. Credit: Richard Harris SHARE By of the Richard Harris checked for his buddy's pulse but found none. He had repeatedly called Danial Adams' nickname but "Slim" didn't answer. Through a hail of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, Harris had gone to his friend's side on a mountain in Afghanistan's Wardak province. His first thought was to render first aid. But it was too late. For his actions during an intense firefight with insurgents, the Mukwonago native is being awarded a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor. A ceremony is scheduled June 3 at his base in Colorado Springs, Colo. While Harris, 35, is proud to receive the medal, he has mixed emotions because his friend was killed in the firefight. He wears a KIA bracelet with his friend's name. The American flag patch that Adams was wearing when he was killed is now on Harris' body armor. "Slim was everything to the team. He was the apex of our team he guided us, directed us, trained us and mentored us," Harris, a sergeant first class, said in a phone interview from Colorado. On Sept. 13, 2011, Harris and his team were patrolling on all-terrain vehicles when they were ambushed and became separated. An insurgent force estimated at 20 to 30 began firing rocket-propelled grenades, sniper rifles and AK-47s at the five-person Army Special Forces unit. Harris took cover behind a small shed, returned fire and yelled for Adams. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded near Harris, showering him with shrapnel, rocks and debris, and knocking him out. When he came to, Harris could see Adams on the ground. Harris' headset was knocked off and he couldn't hear his buddies calling him on the radio. There were trees on the mountain side but no cover between Adams and the insurgents firing their weapons from behind a mud wall. Harris noticed that Adams' body had been moved by the insurgents who he suspects were trying to drag the U.S. soldier to their position. Firing his M-4 rifle, Harris ran to Adams, who was known by his call sign "Zulu 1." "I was really upset. When I got to him initially, I was under so much fire, all I could do was throw grenades over the wall and return fire from my M-4. I'm calling his name and I don't see him moving," said Harris, who then dragged Adams downhill, closer to the enemy to take cover behind the mud wall and not expose his back to gunfire. "When I got to the wall, I could check his pulse as soon as I could take my eyes off the enemy. When I did find out for sure he had been killed in action, I grabbed his hand. I remember his sunglasses were on, I pushed up his sunglasses, his eyes were open a little bit. I closed his eyes and held his hand and said a 10-second prayer for him and his family." Harris realized he wasn't hearing the radio and put his headset back on. On the radio a team member asked about Adams. Harris spoke words that were difficult to repeat; he had to say "Zulu 1 is KIA." Harris met up with his team, airstrikes were called in, mortars were fired at the insurgents, Adams' body was loaded on to an ATV and medevaced out. They returned to their base in darkness and rain. The unit, part of 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group based in Stuttgart, Germany, had arrived in Afghanistan just two weeks earlier. Although Harris and his fellow soldiers would come under fire throughout that seven-month deployment, the unit did not lose anyone else. Harris joined the Army several months after graduating from Mukwonago High School, where he ran on the cross-country team. He was working for his parents' construction company and feeling adrift, not sure what to do with his life, when he called a recruiter because he was interested in the military's college benefits, he said. His mother remembers him coming home after visiting the recruiter and telling her he planned to join. "I was afraid and didn't want him to. But he was so positive and elated. He just went for it," said Holly Day-Janowski, who named her oldest son after her father, a Korean War veteran. A large group of family members and friends is traveling to Colorado to attend the medal ceremony. "We're all so very proud and thankful to him and his service to our country. He just never gave up and stuck with it all this time and continued to pursue his dreams and career. That's what he wants to do is serve and protect," his mother said. Harris, who is married and has two daughters, served four years in the 101st Airborne Division, deploying twice to Iraq between 2005 and 2008, and attending the Army's Air Assault and Ranger schools. He was selected for Special Forces, spent six months learning to speak Russian and became a weapons sergeant. Harris has served two deployments in Afghanistan with Army Special Forces and is scheduled to return soon to Iraq. Harris, who received a Purple Heart for his injuries from the rocket-propelled grenade, had lost other buddies in combat but the loss of Adams was particularly difficult because he was his leader. "He chose to be the first person on the ATV that day and we were following him. The ambush erupted and I saw him get low on his ATV and just gas it. Basically just drove right at it and I followed. Whatever he was going to do, I was going to do," said Harris. In Afghanistan, Harris attended a ramp ceremony for his friend before Adams' body was shipped home to Oregon. He later got in touch with Adams' family and talked often with Adams' two sons, both of whom joined the military after their father's death. Harris has stayed in contact with Adams' wife Melany and has visited her on Memorial Day. Harris' commander nominated him for a Medal of Honor for his actions on that day; last year he learned he was receiving a Silver Star. When the medal is pinned on his dress uniform, Harris said he will be thinking of the one person he wishes could be there Adams. "This award is for Slim, it's for my team, it's for all the men who served and paid the ultimate sacrifice," Harris said. 05/27/2016 Jacksonville State University's CORE Scholars Dual Enrollment program will be hosting student workshops on campus in June and July this summer. Dual enrollment students will be learning how to utilize the online library for research, how to navigate through Blackboard for online courses, and how to utilize myJSU and Office 365 successfully. Interested students can find more information about the program and the workshops here. The workshops will be from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Houston Cole Library on June 13, 15, 20, 22 and July 11, 18, 25 and 27. If you see a CORE scholar on campus, be sure to welcome them to the Friendliest Campus in the South! For more information about the CORE program at JSU, please click here. Reddit Email 0 Shares Maan News Agency | Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah gestures during an interview at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on September 7, 2014 (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani) Ramallah (Maan) Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah issued a statement Thursday condemning Israels illegal practice of destroying Palestinian water infrastructure as atrocious. Israel uses every means possible to chase Palestinians away from their ancestral land, Hamdallah said. Water is life, and if you dont have water you cannot exist. His condemnation comes days after Israel handed out demolition notices for four water wells and agricultural structures in the village of Qusra, south of the city Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank. In a statement from Israels Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to Maan on Friday, a spokesperson said that enforcement measures were taken against the illegal structures in area C, due to the fact that the wells were built without the required pre-construction permission from the Israeli Civil Administration. The water wells, which were built with Dutch financial support, were not the first of internationally-funded wells in the occupied Palestinian territory to be under threat of demolition. Last week, Israel threatened to demolish four water tanks in the town of Beit Ummar, close to Hebron, which had been constructed as part of a UN-funded water development program. In addition to water wells, Israel regularly destroys Palestinians homes and structures, many of which have been funded by donor countries. In 2016 alone, Israel destroyed over 600 structures. The majority of these demolitions, such as the impending demolitions of the wells in Nablus, have been carried out in Area C under full jurisdiction of the Israeli military where nearly all Palestinian applications for building permits are denied by the Israeli authorities, forcing communities to build illegally. The destruction of water infrastructure is atrocious; while Palestinians struggle with water shortages, Israeli settlers use scarce water resources to fill up their swimming pools, said Jamal Dajani, Director of Strategic Communications and Media for the Prime Minister. Dajani called upon donor countries to take action to protect Palestinian farmers from illegal Israeli incursion, since the legal process of taking their cases to Israeli courts can be too expensive and time consuming for Palestinian residents to afford without aid. While Palestinians are repeatedly subject to demolitions and land seizures in the West Bank, they are also subject to disproportionately low access to vital resources. Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory consume approximately six times the amount of water used by Palestinians; this discrepancy is even greater when considering water used for agricultural purposes. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israel uses 86 percent of the water extracted from the Mountain Aquifer, which is a trans-boundary resource that is supposed to be shared between both sides in an equitable and reasonable manner. In a UN Security Council briefing on Wednesday, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov slammed the continued demolitions being carried out in the occupied West Bank, noting that the number of structures that have been demolished or confiscated in 2016 already exceeded the total for all of 2015. Although many of the structures that have been demolished are not dwellings, said Mladenov, the loss of water wells, solar panels, and animal shelters has impacted the livelihoods of over 2,500 people. Via Maan News Agency - Related video added by Juan Cole: TeleSur: Palestinians Protest Poor Living Conditions Reddit Email 0 Shares By Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | After protestors invaded Baghdads Green Zone, Iraqi Kurdish politicians fled home. Despite the fact that their absence could paralyse Parliament, they say they wont be back until certain conditions are met. After the first set of demonstrations during which protestors made it inside Baghdads highly protected Green Zone, where the Iraqi Parliament and various embassies are located, Iraqs Kurdish politicians decided to withdraw from the capital. The Iraqi Kurdish MPs, who form one of Iraqs most significant voting blocks in Parliament, said they wouldnt return until the Green Zone could be guaranteed safe and the various Shiite Muslim political parties and their associated militias had made peace with one another. Most of the protestors who broke into the Green Zone were supporters of the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and many of them were opposed to other Shiite Muslim parties too, those who seem more interested in maintaining the current balance of power than enacting any real reforms. The situation in Baghdad has become a more dangerous place as the political feuding now appears to be spilling onto the capitals streets. During the days when protestors were in the Green Zone, several of the Iraqi Kurdish MPs were harassed and attacked and one was trapped in a government building. The Iraqi Kurdish parties issued a statement together that said, These events have made us reconsider our participation in the political process in Iraq. The Shiite Muslims have monopolized power since 2003 and thats why we have this situation. Last weekend protestors once again gained entry to the Green Zone although this time they were quickly driven out by security forces. Despite the fact that the Iraqi Kurdish politicians from the semi-autonomous northern region and the federal government in Baghdad have had a lot of problems in the past around oil, money, borders and security mostly this is the first time that the Iraqi Kurdish politicians have withdrawn like this. The Shiite Muslims have monopolized power since 2003 and thats why we have ended up in this situation, a critical Tariq Gardi, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Baghdad his party is the largest Kurdish bloc in Parliament told NIQASH. The Iraqi government never kept the promises it made to the Kurds two years ago when the government was formed, says Hoshyar Abdullah, an Iraqi Kurdish MP in Baghdad and senior member of the Change movement. And the power-sharing political system in Iraq has proven to be useless and it has failed. We dont want to return to Baghdad until the Shiite Muslims have their house in order, says Ahmed al-Haj Rashid, a senior Iraqi Kurdish MP in Baghdad representing the Kurdish regions Islamic parties. At the beginning of May, several senior Iraqi politicians made the trip up to Iraqi Kurdistan to try and convince the Kurdish MPs to return. The first contingent included the Sunni Muslim Speaker of Parliament, Salim al-Jibouri, who was there representing the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. And there have been further visits since. As the US-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War explained: The Kurdish parties control a significant proportion of the [Parliament] and have the ability to help determine a quorum as well as advance and dismiss legislation. Their unified walk-out gave the Kurds a new source of leverage as Iraqs political process remains paralyzed without their participation. On May 16, the Iraqi Kurdish MPs met and formulated a set of demands that would need to be fulfilled before they returned to Baghdad. They say they want to be sure that Baghdad is safe for them. They also want the Iraqi government to maintain the political power sharing system that says that the Kurdish get a certain percentage 20 percent, in fact of top jobs. Iraqi Kurdish allies also got involved in the campaign to persuade the Kurds back to Baghdad. Matthias Mitman, the US Consul General in Erbil, says he called the Kurdish politicians and asked them to return to Parliament. The US ambassador in Iraq tried to persuade us too, Gardi notes. But I believe the problems here have reached a point where the US can no longer help resolve them. It is just too late. With the walk out from Baghdad, there has once again been discussion about the Iraqi Kurdish possibly withdrawing from the country. After all if the Iraqi Kurdish are not participating in the government, the argument goes, why are they there? Nobody knows how the Kurdish politicians will figure in a reformed government, if reforms ever go ahead. Iraqi Kurdish opposition party, the Change movement, has come up with an alternative plan for this that it wants to discuss with the other Kurdish political parties. They have suggested that an Iraqi Kurdish politician simply be given the portfolio for Kurdish affairs, rather than unrelated jobs in other ministries. The plan was widely criticized. If the Kurdish people were given the opportunity they would become independent, suggests Muthana Amin, a senior member of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, whos also an MP in Baghdad. They would not opt to stay part of Iraq. But the Kurdish certainly cannot declare independence from Iraq without the approval of both regional and international allies. And they cannot turn their backs on the political process in Iraq without resolving at least some of the outstanding problems between themselves and Baghdad. Ihsan al-Shammari, a politics professor at Baghdad University and head of a local think tank, The Iraqi Centre for Political Thought, told NIQASH that he thinks the Kurdish politicians wont go back to Parliament without having some of their most important conditions met. Al-Shammari also points out that two of Iraqi Kurdistans major parties, the Political Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, and the Change movement, originally a breakaway of the PUK, have formed a new union possibly with persuasion from their Iranian allies to whom these two parties are closer. Meanwhile The KDP, the other major party in Iraqi Kurdistan and within the Kurdish alliance in Baghdad, remains on its own. While some analysts believe this means that half of Iraqi Kurdistans representatives will return to Baghdad, al-Shammari thinks that this split within the Kurdish MPs means that they are less likely to return. Via Niqash.org - Related video added by Juan Cole: CCTV: Iraq lifts curfew after protesters leave Green Zone News / National by Crime Reporter POLICE in Harare and Bulawayo have arrested more than nine suspects and recovered half a kilogramme of gold and various goods worth over $65 000 that are believed to have been smuggled into Zimbabwe in separate incidents.Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said they arrested a man in Bulawayo after they found him in possession of 542,4 grammes of gold worth $20 611,20."On May 23 at around 1000 hours, detectives from Minerals and Border Control Unit received a tip-off to the effect that the accused was in possession of gold."The details reacted to the tip off and met the accused person at corner Herbert Chitepo and Conaught Street, Bulawayo. They conducted some searches which led to the recovery of 542,4 grammes of gold from the accused person's jacket," she said.She urged all those dealing in gold to acquire licences and that gold dealers should process all their minerals through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in order to curb leakages.Meanwhile, police arrested eight suspects along the Harare-Masvingo Highway and in Harare after they allegedly smuggled various goods."On May 23 2016, at about 0230 hours, police intercepted two Trip Trans buses along the Harare-Masvingo Highway carrying suspected smuggled goods. The buses were heading towards Harare and were escorted to Willowvale Bak Storage, where the goods were inspected by Zimra officials," Snr Asst Comm Charamba said.She said several goods valued at $38 740 were found to have been smuggled into the country.In another related incident, police intercepted a Hino truck that was parked at Number 12 Leopold Takawira Street in the city centre and recovered 188 boxes of 12x1kg Ellis Brown powdered milk valued at $7 896 that were smuggled from South Africa.Snr Asst Comm Charamba warned all those that are involved in smuggling activities that the long arm of the law will soon catch up with them."Transporters should desist from assisting individuals to smuggle goods into the country by evading checks at the point of entry or exit."Police will not allow those bent on derailing the country's economic blueprint, Zim-Asset initiatives and hence we will arrest all law breakers," she said. Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | President Obama in Hiroshima gave an anti-war speech. He said, 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 realize this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe. We can chart a course that leads to the destruction of these stockpiles. We can stop the spread to new nations and secure deadly material from fanatics. Although it is true that Obama has been the least successful president in some time in reducing nuclear stockpiles, there is one area where he has had success in reducing world tensions, and that is with regard to Iran. Moreover, the Iran breakthrough has implications for both nonproliferation and for conventional warfare. A war on Iran was one of the central objectives of the Cheney/ Neoconservative faction in the George W. Bush White House, and had their war of aggression on Iraq not gone sour, the would have likely gone on to Tehran. The standing War Party in Washington has figured out how to pursue conventional wars of aggression in the face of public skittishness: They simply hype a country they want to plunder as an unconventional threat i.e. as a country that could have nuclear weapons or even chemical and biological weapons. It was pure propaganda that Bushs brain, Karl Rove, melded these together as weapons of mass destruction, so that they could equate some old canisters of mustard gas to an atomic bomb. Unfortunately for the Bush warmongers, the Baath regime in Iraq had actually destroyed its chemical stockpiles, so they were left empty-handed when it became clear that Iraq had no nuclear weapons program at all. That is, nuclear proliferation is only one danger. The other is that even the appearance of such proliferation has been turned by the unscrupulous into a casus belli where the wrong regime undertakes it. The chain of events unleashed by Bushs Iraq War killed many more people than did the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Obama continued, We must change our mindset about war itself to prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after theyve 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. And perhaps above all, we must reimagine our connection to one another as members of one human race. Obamas major breakthrough was to convince Iran, which has never given any evidence of wanting a nuclear weapon (as opposed to the ability to enrich uranium for fuel and to use that ability as a deterrent to foreign aggression) to take steps to reassure the US and the world about its intentions. Most urgently, that required Iran to mothball the heavy water reactor it planned at Arak (the Iranians have concreted in its core), to reduce the number of active centrifuges they are running for enrichment, and to reduce their stockpile of low-enriched uranium of the 19.25% enriched variety (ostensibly produced for their medical reactor, which makes isotopes for treating cancer). Iran has done all of these things as required and in a timely way, and is subject to the sort of regular inspections that make effectively deter cheating (the signatures of highly enriched materials are easily detected and linger for months, and cant be cleaned up). Critics of Obama can point to other instances where he was not as successful as in Iran, can point to his long war and failed troop escalation in Afghanistan, his backing for the Saudi attack on Yemen, his fascination with drone-assassination, and the many covert actions he pursues. Even Bill Clinton was less of a war president than Obama. But surely it is possible to praise his instance of successful peace-making even when he hasnt been universally a peace-maker. Historians will see Obamas Iran diplomacy as one of the greatest achievements of his presidency, and perhaps as a turning point in anti-proliferation through diplomacy. Future leaders should take a lesson from Obama; when there is a war you dont want fought, then resolve the outstanding issue and spike the warmongering. The Military-Industrial Complex is so powerful in both parties that sooner or later they will get a candidate into the White House and a pliable Congress, and they they will want to turn some ramshackle third world piggy bank upside down and shake out its billions into their accounts. The MIC made trillions off the Iraq War. So anti-proliferation diplomacy is necessary both to deter further stockpiles of nuclear weaponry *and* to remove a pretext for war-making from the War Party in Washington. With regard to Iran, Obama has probably succeeded in forestalling a US attack on that country, though both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have taken an aggressive posture toward it. And, both will be lobbied by the Netanyahu regime in Israel and by Saudi Arabia to heighten tensions with Tehran. As we consider the poignant moment when the president of the United States hugged a Hiroshima survivor, and as we mourn our war dead (on a day that was founded as an anti-war commemoration) including 4,425 killed in Iraq for no good reason we have reason to treasure the achievements of determined diplomacy in resolving the Iran nuclear issue without more bloodshed and terror from the skies. - Related video: The White House: President Obama Participates in a Wreath Laying Ceremony [JURIST] The Alabama Supreme Court [official website] on Friday vacated its prior ruling refusing to recognize same-sex adoption. In its short opinion [decision, PDF], the court stated that the Court of Civil appeals and the Jefferson Family Court erred in giving full faith and credit to a Georgia state court decision declaring the woman the adoptive parent of her then same-sex partners children. The court had ruled [decision, PDF] earlier this year that it would vacate its decision so long as it was determined that the adoption decree appeared on its face to have been rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. The US Supreme Court held that it was [decision, PDF]. Same-sex marriage and adoption rights remain in a state of legal uncertainty despite the Supreme Court ruling [JURIST report] last June that states must allow same-sex marriage and recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state. In March the Alabama Supreme Court dismissed petitions that sought a ruling declaring the states prohibition on same-sex marriage valid [JURIST reports]. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore [official website] had instructed state judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses [JURIST report] in January. The Alabama Supreme Court had ruled in March 2015 that the states ban on same-sex marriage was legal, and Moores order stated that ruling remained in effect despite the Supreme Court finding such bans unconstitutional. Moores order had caused confusion among probate judges, with some defying the order and issuing same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] licenses. Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Friday urged [official report] the Myanmar Parliament to reconsider a proposed law that they say has the potential to limit free expression and peaceful assembly. HRW acknowledged that the proposed law would replace a more restrictive law that had previously imprisoned activists, but said that the statute under consideration still contains shortcomings that could be overcome by consultation with legal experts, bringing the law within international standards of speech and assembly. According to HRW Asia Director Brad Adams, [t]he government needs legal reforms that dont just weaken the tools of repression, but removes them entirely. Myanmar [BBC profile] replaced its decades-old military rule with ongoing democratic reform since 2011, following the military-government handing the reins over to a quasi-civilian government after successful civilian elections in 2010. Last month 69 political prisoners were released [JURIST report] who had been jailed for more than a year without trial. In March Amnesty International said [JURIST report] that Myanmars new government has been presented with an historic opportunity to change the course of human rights. Also in March Myanmar released [JURIST report] 46 underage child recruits from the military as part of a UN joint action plan. In January the country began [JURIST report] the process of releasing the first set of 102 mostly political prisoners days before a democratic power transfer took place. A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] warned [UN News Centre report] Friday that the severe financial crisis facing the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] is negatively impacting its ability to function. Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the OHCHR issued a briefing [press release] Fridaymorning in which she stated that if the IACHR does not receive additional funds, the ability of the rights systems currently in place to respond to potential violations could be severely curtailed. Shamdasani said, [w]e urge States to reaffirm their commitment to human rights by providing the Commission with the required resources to fulfil its crucial mandate and indeed to strengthen this key institution. The Commissions robust defence of human rights in the region should be encouragednot punished. The IACHR is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States whose mission [backgrounder] is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere. The IACHR reported earlier this week that financial restraints will force it to lay off [press release] nearly half of its staff at the end of July. News / National by Daniel Nemukuyu A HARARE woman is suing Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Prophet Walter Magaya for $500,000 on the grounds that the man of the cloth had a sexual affair with her but reneged on his promise to marry her. The woman, Angela Charakupa, who is a member of PHD, claims Magaya used her and dumped her despite earlier promises to marry her and to buy her a flat and a car.Charakupa is demanding $500,000 from Magaya for allegedly bedding and dumping her.Apart from the damages, the woman is demanding an apology from Magaya for all he did to her. Failure to pay the damages claimed, Charakupa said, she will file a lawsuit at the High Court. The woman was once employed by PHD Ministries in the International Relations section but she said she left employment after being promised marriage.Charakupa, through her lawyer Ashton Debwe of Debwe and Partners, on Thursday wrote a letter of demand to Magaya seeking damages for breach of the promise to marry.She also fears for her life following discoveries that Magaya reportedly had multiple sexual partners.In the letter, Charakupa said she joined PHD as a member in March 2014 and two weeks later she was employed by the church. She was involved in the marketing of the church brand based at the Waterfalls office in Harare.Around September 2014, the woman claims she had an affair with the church leader who promised to marry her. "We're further instructed that thereafter, a love affair developed between yourself and our client. "We're further instructed that as a result thereof, and in September 2014, you then promised to marry our client, purchase a flat for her, a vehicle of her own choice and also give her some money that would greatly improve her social status," reads the letter.The lawyers added that Magaya, during the relationship with the woman, would be intimate with her while pampering her with gifts and goodies. "We're also further told that during the existence of the engagement, you would give her some gifts and money and engage in sexual intercourse with her on the understanding that you would marry her," the letter reads.The lawyers said they have full details of the sexual relationship. Charakupa said Magaya's attitude changed mid-last year and he drifted away from her. "However, in or about mid 2015, and to our client's dismay, you repudiated the said agreement by displaying conduct that clearly amounted to refusal to proceed with the promised marriage."We're informed that the said repudiation is wrongful. We're further instructed that the aforesaid breach was injurious to our client resulting in her leaving your ministry's employment in December 2015," the letter reads. The woman claims she has suffered contractual and delictual damages.She claims to have suffered loss of financial benefits of the promised marriage. The woman says her personal dignity and reputation have been severely impaired. "We're aware that some of her former workmates and other members of the ministry were aware of the said relationship," the letter reads.Charakupa said during her other duties as a counsellor in the church, she discovered that Magaya had other sexual affairs, putting her at a health risk. "We're further informed that our client was a counsellor in your ministry and as such would be consulted by many girls for counselling sessions where she learnt that you have multiple sexual partners."As a result thereof, our client is now extremely concerned about her health condition and has been advised by her close relatives to undergo some medical tests," the letter reads. Magaya is yet to respond to the claim. News / National by Prosper Ndlovu VICE President Phelekezela Mphoko has called on Zimbabweans to name and shame corrupt officials to weed out the vice, which he blamed for stifling development in the country. Addressing delegates who are attending the two-day Zim-Asset Bulawayo stakeholders' engagement conference, the Vice President said the time had come for Zimbabweans to stand up and fight corruption."There's one animal which we've to talk about very seriously corruption. Please, please, the leaders of this workshop, khulumani ngayo (talk about it) lingesabi amagama (don't be afraid of names). If I'm rotten say it please," said VP Mphoko drawing applause from the large audience."Some road funds have been availed for the city of Bulawayo but thieves stole it. Some road projects are hanging in the balance to date and we can't live like that as a people. We've children and grandchildren who, when they grow up, will find nothing, completely nothing and they'll just know about history. The ministers are here, let's find solutions to this, ask them questions that pertain to their portfolios and get answers."VP Mphoko said the conference, which ends today, presented an opportunity for Bulawayo residents and the business community to get feedback on progress in the implementation of Zim-Asset, particularly on issues that affect the city's economy.He said the government was ready to work with all concerned parties in revitalising the city's industry and infrastructure as part of efforts to create more job opportunities.The VP challenged the business community and local leaders to also play their part. "Bulawayo is our city. We've a very big task, not only to sit down and talk like what other conferences do. What the President and First Lady, the government and people of Zimbabwe want is to come up with tangible proposals on issues that affect people, things that will help us revive this economy," he said."Let's pinpoint them as we're here instead of just pontificating like pastors. We've to exchange views. We've ministers here and people responsible for certain things. Bulawayo should not collapse in your hands, never. Other people played their part. That's why there's this infrastructure and other things that are decaying in our hands. This meeting must be frank because outside that we can't achieve anything."VP Mphoko tasked Agriculture Deputy Minister responsible for livestock, Paddy Zhanda, to explain why the Cold Storage Company (CSC) was not being resuscitated despite being a critical economic pillar that could earn the country increased gains through exports.He was also critical of the Ministry of Home Affairs and openly took its Deputy Minister Obedingwa Mguni to task over the issue of having people travel to Harare to access registry services such as obtaining a passport."Shoot from the hip on these men," charged VP Mphoko. He also called for the banning of haulage trucks in the transportation of coal saying this was the business of the National Railways of Zimbabwe."Let's remove these trucks from the road because they're causing a lot of damage and are killing people. As citizens we're here for you. You've have to say things and not just sit there doing nothing. What's important is that Bulawayo is for us all. Let's talk to each other and address our problems," said Mphoko.He said the conference was supposed to be led by the First Lady Grace Mugabe who could not attend because of other commitments. The VP urged participants to come up with concrete implementable resolutions. Several Cabinet ministers, business executives and ordinary citizens are attending the meeting. News / National by Staff reporter National Economic Consultative Forum spokesperson and former chairman of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Mr Nhlanhla Masuku (61) has died.According to his wife Mrs Carol Masuku, he died at AMI Hospital on Tuesday due to complications from diabetes."He was a loving father and husband. He was a great and loving friend. A man who loved his nation and who would do anything in his power to ensure Zimbabwe was empowered," she said.He will be buried at his rural home in Ntabazinduna tomorrow.He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.At the time of his death he was organising an investment conference for Zimbabwe in London alongside his friend Mr Brian Pearson, the President's Office and Ministry of Economic Development.Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colonel Christian Katsande (Retired) paid tribute to Mr Masuku as a man who worked tirelessly for his country."We worked with Nhlanhla for a long time."President Mugabe said we should bring Government and the private sector together within the smart partnership framework via NECF. Masuku headed the media, information and publicity committee of the NECF and was also chairman of ZITF."Briefings to President Mugabe on NECF were also done by him. He also led the NECF interactive guide to brand Zimbabwe locally and internationally. The Tripartite Negotiating Forum was a legacy of foundation established by Nhlanhla," he said in a speech during Mr Masuku's funeral service at Nyaradzo Funeral Home yesterday.Mr Masuku was born in Bulawayo on March 25, 1955 and brought up in Gweru.He was awarded a scholarship to go to Goromonzi High School for having one of the top two standard 6 results in the country.He was then asked to leave following what was construed as political unrest which resulted in him having to trek through the savannah scrub with his two friends one of which was Paymore Mangwende to Francistown, Botswana and entered into a refugee camp.Apart from chairing ZNCC and ZITF, he was a past vice president of the Sadc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, former vice chairman of the Industrial Development Corporation and former director of IDC subsidiaries such as Sunway City, Almin Metal Industries, IDC Agrotech, National Furniture Industries and Modzone.Mourners are gathered at 2 Cynthia Road, Mt Pleasant in Harare. News / National by Staff reporter Opposition parties have said President Mugabe's Million-Man March speech on Wednesday stipulating that the opposition was clueless on how to revive the economy, shows that the nonagenarian leader could not clean up his own mess.Addressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters who convened at Robert Mugabe Square for the million man march President Mugabe made sensational claims that the country's opposition is clueless on how to turn around the economy."Our opposition is peculiar," said President Mugabe adding that he could not point out a single gesture from the opposition which is meant to revive the economy.However, MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu said that Mugabe is the chief culprit responsible for the downfall of the country's economy."In his heart of hearts, President Mugabe knows that he has been the number one impediment to the socio-economic development of Zimbabwe," said Gutu.He added that the Tsvangirai led Movement for Democratic Change proved it that it can change the country's economy during the inclusive government era."Mugabe knows that MDC has very viable and bankable alternative policies that can help turn around the economic fortunes in record time."Our performance during the inclusive government period clearly proved that the MDC has got what it takes to take Zimbabwe to the next level," he said adding that MDC is not going to limp come 2018 elections.Zimbabwe People First spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo echoed the above sentiments saying that President is one who messed the economy of the country."He is the one who messed up Zimbabwe's socio-economic development and now he wants to blame it on others," fumed Gumbo.Gumbo, who is the former spokesperson of Zanu-PF also queried the basis of President Mugabe's allegations."How can Mugabe judge if one can boost the country's economy when they have not been in power. He said that Mugabe needs to give others a chance to turn around the country's economy.Jacob Mafume, People Democratic Party, (PDP) spokesperson had no kind words for President Mugabe. He said that President Mugabe has ripped the country's economy apart."Mugabe is the biggest destroyer of this country's economy, why then does he want to blame the people who have never got a chance in the office," said Mafume. News / National by Staff reporter WAR veterans have come out guns blazing challenging President Robert Mugabe to stop continuously demonising and labelling them as a Zanu-PF affiliate.The former freedom fighters also warned Mugabe that any attempts to retire or remove them from Zanu-PF as well as the security establishment on the basis of age was tantamount to perpetuating the regime change agenda of security sector reform.In an interview with NewsDay Weekender on Thursday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) spokesperson Douglas Mahiya also called Mugabe to order on his claims that the ex-fighters were operating outside the party."We do not agree with the statements that war veterans are speaking from outside the party. Our liberation movements, Zapu and Zanu, were banned by Ian Smith (the last Rhodesian Prime Minister) and resuscitated by war veterans' blood, sweat and tears," Mahiya said.He was responding to Mugabe's speech at the "million-man march" on Wednesday, where the veteran politician said: "Our war veterans must work within the party. They must not be preaching their own voices outside the party, no!"But Mahiya said war veterans were unhappy with their continued demonisation from some quarters."We are equally worried that these quarters within the party refuse to accept that war veterans have an interest in Zanu-PF approximated to ownership," he said."We should have been told during the war that we did not belong to the party and needed not join. Had that been made clear to us, then we would have dealt with those issues in the appropriate manner at the appropriate time."Mahiya added: "We need to make it clear that war veterans cannot be retired or removed from Zanu-PF as well as the security establishment. Any attempts to retire us on the basis of age is to us a cover to perpetuate the regime change agenda of security sector reform. Regime change to us means to rid Zanu-PF and the security establishment of the liberation component, which will not be tolerated under any circumstances."The war veterans' spokesperson, however, also said Mugabe's leadership came from God."We agree the President's leadership came from God and no man should interfere with that. But we feel war veterans should be allowed to assimilate into the party at a higher level, and not be forced to join at cell level when we are over 50 years. By the time we reach the central committee, most of us could be in the 100s, that is if we would be alive after all," he said.With most of Mugabe's lieutenants using the million-man march to seemingly affirm Zanu-PF's so-called "one centre of power" principle and First Lady Grace Mugabe going one better by declaring Mugabe would rule even from his grave, the former freedom fighters broke ranks.Mahiya said there was a deliberate ploy by some elements within Zanu-PF to alienate certain sections of the freedom fighters."Everyone who crossed the border into Zambia or Mozambique to us is a full freedom fighter and their failure to have finished certain phases of training cannot be used to withdraw from them their status as a war veteran," Mahiya said, adding the vetting of war collaborators should be completed before the Heroes holiday in August.Another war veteran, who declined to be named, challenged the assertion that there was one centre of power in Zanu-PF."We plead with the party's leadership to explain to us the principle of one centre of power. We hope it does not mean that power is vested in one person because if that is so, then it is against the Zanu-PF constitution and traditions of the party," the former freedom fighter said."The principle of having one centre of power needs to be explained. Power resides in the people as represented in the central committee in between congresses. Anything beyond that is unheard of to us and is dictatorship." News / National by Staff reporter Former Vice President Joice Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) party, whose leading lights have intimate knowledge of President Robert Mugabe's governing Zanu-PF, says today's million-man march by the former liberation movement is a "kick-start" of its rigging strategy for the 2018 national elections.Speaking ahead of the controversial Zanu-PF demonstration in Harare today, ZPF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said yesterday that the march was also intended to hoodwink the world to believe that Mugabe still had the support of the majority of Zimbabweans, notwithstanding the country's dire state.Mujuru, Gumbo and dozens of ZPF's other bigwigs are former Zanu-PF stalwarts who were hounded out of the ruling party in 2014 on untested allegations of plotting to oust and assassinate Mugabe.Gumbo warned Zimbabweans that Zanu-PF, through today's march, was kick-starting both its campaign and rigging machinations for the country's eagerly-anticipated next national polls that are a mere two years away."The march is being used as a tool to kick-start the campaign for the 2018 national elections that are slipping out of the ruling party's grip."It is intended to shore up support for a decaying party and government that has misruled the country for the past 36 years and has brought untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe," the former Zanu-PF spokesperson said.The march, a brainchild of Zanu-PF youths aligned to the party's Generation 40 camp (G40), has since been embraced grudgingly by the faction loyal to embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa - apparently after Mugabe arm-twisted dissenting war veterans to take part in it.Gumbo said Zimbabwe was in an "abyss of despair, yet the corrupt and inept" Zanu-PF wanted to portray a rosy picture to long-suffering citizens and the outside world."The march is also about creating an impression to the outside world that Zanu-PF and its government are not short of ideas on how to resuscitate an economy that is already on life support, and that they should be trusted and supported."Above all, the march intends to provide a platform for the nonagenarian leader to hoodwink his people into believing that finally there is light at the end of the tunnel for a country that is already in the abyss of despair."By the wildest stretch of imagination, the march is not voluntary but coerced. It's all about them and their parochial and egoistic interests. The poor and cash-strapped businesses are being forced to donate vehicles and funds for fuel and food," Gumbo said, urging people to boycott the "worthless partisan political gimmick".He also reiterated claims that have been made by other opposition political parties that Zanu-PF was abusing traditional leaders to force people to comply with the party's demands."Traditional chiefs are forced to ensure their subjects' participation as well as contribution to the march in cash or in kind. In return, the chiefs are promised more authority over their subjects and other State benefits."Both supporters and non-supporters of Zanu-PF are forced to participate even if intimidation and violence have to be used."If they (the organisers) had grown up in the sixties and seventies and had been called upon to serve the (Ian) Smith regime to frustrate the struggle, they would have gladly organised a five million-man march in support of the iniquitous regime," Gumbo also charged. News / National by Staff reporter Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been ill, has told his enemies, some of whom have been scripting epitaphs - that he will soon be back to take on Zanu-PF and its leader President Robert Mugabe and cause "pain".The veteran opposition leader, a thorn in the flesh for Zanu-PF for almost two decades now, was recently flown to South Africa after falling sick.His illness, though mild, left many of his loyalists pensive but they were some who took it as a sign that the indefatigable Tsvangirai was worn out for wear.In a statement, the veteran opposition leader - who recently led a march in Harare that jolted Zanu-PF from its slumber - said he is on the mend and will soon start the task to demand answers from Mugabe and his "hangers on"."I am equally aware, however, of the morbid wishes of some of my fellow countrymen. But I want to assure them that ... Tsvangirai will soon be back to be the usual pain to those at the helm of mis-governance; those who oppress the people and who are turning a blind eye to all this sickening poverty around us."I remain fully aware of and concerned with what we are all going through collectively as a people and as a country," said Tsvangirai.The former prime minister, the only man to ever defeat Mugabe in an election, also had kind words for those who wished him well, expressing his "heartfelt thanks to you all for the overwhelming support you continue to give me in my temporary period of indisposition".Yesterday, thousands of Zimbabweans, who cobble a life in the informal sector, were commandeered to the so-called Robert Mugabe Square (which the MDC calls Freedom Square) for a solidarity rally with the 92-year-old Mugabe.While Mugabe's trips to faraway foreign lands for medical care have always been covered in a thick veil of secrecy, the MDC last week released a statement of their leader's sickness."I am told that they have closed the country down today. All the suffering and struggling vendors have been asked to close shop and join a march to prop up the ego of ... Mugabe. It is lost on them that it is the country - and not the people - that must be on a brave march to stability and progress," said Tsvangirai.While other African countries commemorated Africa Day yesterday with cultural programmes, celebrating being an African, Zimbabweans were forced to watch a so-called one million-man march that failed to live to its hype."To friends and foe alike, I want to assure you that I am recovering. I assure you that I must not be the cause of any national uncertainty."The irony is that yes, I may be indisposed, but I am more worried about my country and its economy that seems to be in a far much worse state than my personal state of health. It is the country that we all love that needs urgent healing."It is our country that must be the biggest worry for all of us, not only for our personal sake but for the sake of the legacy we must leave behind for future generations," said Tsvangirai.But as the nation hurtles towards the critical 2018 elections -there is a growing sense of despair among the have nots - who watch helplessly as dreams of brighter days fade into oblivion."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," said Tsvangirai. An explosion rocked the third floor of the packing warehouse at the Western Sugar factory in Scottsbluff about 10:15 a.m. this morning. It is unknown if anyone was injured. The plant was immediately evacuated. An active fire was under way, with zero visibility, according to Scottsbluff firefighters at the scene. Smoke was visible shortly after the fire was reported, but it had dissipated by 11 a.m. A HAZMAT team from the Scottsbluff Fire Department entered the building wearing air tanks. Six tire trucks and four or five other emergency vehicles, including Valley Ambulance, were at the scene. State Patrol, Scottsbluff Police and Scotts Bluff County sheriff's deputies blocked traffic on adjacent streets. About 50 workers from the factory, which is owned by a growers cooperative, stood outside watching the emergency crews. An explosion at the factory in July 1996 toppled three storage silos at the plant, killing one worker. - Keep checking www.kearneyhub.com today for more updates on this developing story. They will stop in Kearney June 2. The motorcyclists will pick up letters about childrens mental health written by youths, their families and other supporters and will deliver the letters to lawmakers at the State Capitol. The ride is presented by the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Behavioral Health and several family organizations, including Families Care Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education; Magellan Healthcare; and Nebraska Families Collaborative. As the owner and general manager of iFixOmaha, I am in the business of repairing mobile electronics. For the past several years, we have fixed smartphones and tablets for thousands of Nebraskans, school districts, corporations, local businesses of all sizes, and nonprofit organizations. Our team is well-trained and professional, and our staff can repair anything put in front of it as long as we have the right tool for the job. In our repair industry and this includes the farming industry there are a few critical tools that we are inexplicably missing and, in the interest of every Nebraska consumer, should be made available. These tools are not items we can hold in our hands. The tools we now need exist digitally and make full diagnostic service possible for mobile electronics. If left unchecked, we will certainly see the demise of an industry that has sprung up out of a genuine need for value, choice, and service for the consumer. Manufacturers, such as Apple, are starting to limit repair to within a manufacturer-approved ecosystem by digitally locking modular components to specific devices. This practice allows the monopolization of repair, which is profitable for the manufacturer but at an enormous cost to the consumer. The best way to restore competition is through legislative change. We are working to pass fair repair legislation in Nebraska, LB1072, so that every consumer and every small business has access to the parts, tools and service information they need. My business is a proud supporter of this bill as it will bring fairness to the repair industry and promises to protect the consumer by allowing choice, value and service to remain in our industry. It makes available the digital tools and protections required to serve our customers adequately. Were hoping to continue to save folks time and money just like weve done for the past several years. Now is the time to take action on behalf of Nebraska consumers and support LB1072. To learn more about the legislation and the issues surrounding it, please visit: http://www.ifixomaha.com/support-right-to-repair/. Jason DeWater, Omaha Disability Rights Nebraska was created to assist individuals with disabilities and their families in protecting and advocating for their rights. From its beginning, Disability Rights Nebraska has promoted the principles of equality, self-determination, and dignity of persons with disabilities. Disability Rights Nebraska is independent of any public or private agency which provides treatment or services to people with disabilities. The board of directors will be conducting its annual public meeting at The Archway on June 11. A part of the meeting will be a public comment period from 11-11:30 a.m. Anyone with concerns about abuse or neglect of a person with a disability, access to community services, special education, employment, voting rights, or any other issues that affect people with disabilities have an opportunity to share these concerns. For more information visit the website at www.disabilityrightsnebraska.org John Lakey, Kearney Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, visits the church of the Protaton, dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin, in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Saturday, May 28, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the northern Greek peninsula of Mount Athos, on a visit to the autonomous Orthodox Christian monastic community there. Third right is Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzia.(Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form News / National by Staff reporter The Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC will follow up this week's Bulawayo demonstration with yet another one in the city of Mutare in early June, party officials told the Daily News.Apparently, buoyed by last month's seemingly successful demonstration, the MDC will hold its second "freedom demonstration" in Bulawayo this Saturday and then on June 11 all roads will lead to Mutare.MDC-T Manicaland province spokesperson Trevor Saruwaka said they have already informed the police 19 days in advance of their plans to demonstrate as is required by the law."Although this demonstration is going to be spearheaded by the MDC every effort must be made to engage other stakeholders who are suffering at the hands of Zanu-PF."These include churches, civic organisations, other political parties, vendors, workers, genuine war veterans and students among others," Saruwaka said.He said they were confident of doing better than Harare or whatever will happen in Bulawayo because of what he termed the province's "historic, well-registered detest of Zanu-PF"."A modest target of 10 000 demonstrators was set. Mutare must be painted red on 11 June 2016."Party regalia and anything red must be worn on the day," he said.The Mutasa Central legislator, who has in the past organised villagers in his constituency to demonstrate against partisan food distribution, said the plan is to make sure that the opposition party regains its foothold in the province that was lost rather controversially in the 2013 elections."It was clear during the deliberations that our province has come of age, the spirit of unity, respect and tolerance was evident throughout the meeting."The contributions made were purposeful and constructive."With this attitude the prospects of sweeping everything in the next elections are becoming more and more realistic," Saruwaka said.He said mobilisation for the demonstration would be done across the province aided by an on-going rebuilding exercise targeting major urban centres such as Rusape, Mutare, Chipinge and Nyanga."These programmes, go beyond strengthening the party, they must also serve as mobilisation and strategising platforms for the 11th of June freedom demonstration'," he said.20 of the 26 district chairpersons attended in person with the other six represented at a variety of other levels.Amid a deteriorating economy, corruption and worsening living conditions, the MDC is now piling pressure on President Robert Mugabe and his government to shape up or ship out before the 2018 elections.During the Harare demonstration Tsvangirai led from the front and the MDC supporters here expect him to once again take the lead.Following Zanu-PF's sweeping victory in 2013 that ended the coalition government the economy has been in a free fall, government has been struggling to pay its employees and public debt has been ballooning something that has given birth to a new wave of protests. News / National by Stephen Jakes MDC-T National Chairman Lovemore Moyo described the one million man march conducted by the ruling Zanu PF youth in Harare last Wednesday as an action by mentally challenged people who were celebrating their poverty caused by President Robert Mugabe and were thanking him for that.Addressing party supporters during the march against economic crisis, disappeared $156 billion from the diamonds revenue and cash crisis currently rocking the nation, Moyo said the nation witnessed a demonstration of lunatics who despite traveling long distances and enduring the tedious traveling which also gobbled their little available cash, the youths were thanking Mugabe for destroying the country and rendering them jobless.Over ten thousands people took party in the march which the police had on May 5 tried to block saying the [participants would be a threat to security of the State and individuals in the city."Lunatics, the fools gathered in Harare purporting to support a 92 year old man who is dying. They were thanking him for rendering them jobless," Moyo said.Party leader was not at the march as reports state that he was recently air lifted to South Africa for medical treatment and the party's Vice president Thokozani Khupe told demonstrators that he was recovering well and would be joining the struggle for democracy soon.However the demonstration was peaceful and participants called for Mugabe to resign and go back to his Zvimba home. 977 Shares Share The diabetes community has been set ablaze after UnitedHealthcare announced an agreement for Medtronic devices to be the preferred in-network, durable medical equipment (DME) provider of insulin pumps. Starting July 1, 2016, UnitedHealthcare patients will be funneled toward using a Medtronic insulin pump instead of offerings from manufacturers like Tandem and Animas. Many diabetes advocates have eloquently voiced their outrage and have been rallying under the hashtags #MyPumpMyChoice and #AccessMatters, and I strongly echo their sentiment that this policy puts profits before patients. Its unacceptable, and both UnitedHealthcare and Medtronic deserve any negative publicity that results from such a short-sighted decision. To add another layer to the discussion, though, what I find particularly insightful about the controversy is that it highlights the distinction between medication and medical technology. I rarely blink an eye when my patient has to switch brands of insulin, so why is it such a big deal when they have to switch brands of insulin pumps? Technology is intensely personal Whether its Apple vs. Samsung, Xbox vs. Playstation, Nikon vs. Canon, or BMW vs. Mercedes, fierce loyalties are found among their users. Beautiful photos of phones and smartwatches adorn billboards across the city, evoking emotions such as envy and desire in a way that no medication can. When buying a new device, theres a curious sense of satisfaction when finally choosing a model after poring over reviews and comparing individual specifications. Making that choice creates a personal connection before it even arrives in your hands. On a personal level, many of my most touching diabetes patient interactions are due to technology. A recently-emigrated woman came to my office and was overjoyed to find that she could obtain an Omnipod pump, as it hadnt been allowed by her previous nationalized health system. Additionally, I love watching the eyes light up in patients and their family members when they first learn about continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and the ability to view their blood sugars on their phone. In diabetes, harnessing technology to manage a chronic condition brings a sense of empowerment that medications alone can never do. Removing the ability to choose medical devices only adds to the sense of helplessness that underlies too many other aspects of diabetes. Technology is defined by interaction For medications, pharmaceutical companies create chemical compounds that elicit a desired physiologic effect. Their competition will create a slightly different chemical compound with a similar mechanism of action, and these medications are grouped into the same class (e.g., Humalog and Novolog insulin). For the most part, they are interchangeable to patients and providers, and insurances frequently prefer one over the other. No big deal: Just swap out one pill (or pen/vial) for another. But for devices, focusing on the desired outcome only tells a portion of the picture. For reference, choosing a smartphone is about more than making phone calls and browsing the web. As Apples success has shown, the overall user experience of gadgets often matters more than functionality. The iPhone was not the first smartphone (remember Blackberry?), but its intuitive and simple user experience expanded the smartphone audience from working professionals to college students, children, the elderly, and everybody in between. When using an unfamiliar smartphone or computer operating system, even a simple task like sharing a photo can seem Herculean. With health technology, the stakes are exponentially higher as potentially lethal medications must be managed by complex user interactions with software dashboards and calculators. Being forced to switch between differing interfaces of insulin pumps and other diabetes technology creates confusion/frustration at best, and gaps in diabetes management at worst. Put simply, there are no class-equivalents in the world of devices because they encompass a complex interplay between software and hardware. A Medtronic Pump is as similar to a Tandem Pump as a Blackberry (they still exist!) is to an iPhone. Competition breeds innovation To be clear, the outrage isnt regarding the quality of Medtronics insulin pumps, or whether they are inferior or superior to the competition. Rather, the issue is that eliminating competition and choice in the insulin pump market stifles creativity and innovation. We live in such an exciting time for diabetes technology. For insulin pumps alone, there are touch-screen pumps (Tandem), tubeless patch pumps (Omnipod), color screens (Tandem, Omnipod, and Animas), and cartridge-based pumps (Asante). Each of these features are appealing to different types of users. Its not one size fits all. Evidenced by Tandems 20 percent decline in stock after the UnitedHealthcare announcement, its hard to believe that such product diversity would exist in a world where insurance companies anoint a winner. Would Android and iPhones have come as far as they have if wireless carriers preferred Apple and required a prior authorization for any Android phone? In the above timeline, notice that Medtronic Insulin Pumps did not noticeably upgrade their user interface for over ten years until after the 2012 release of the Tandem T: Slim. Now, the upcoming Medtronic 640G incorporates a dramatic redesign that seems to take some design cues from its competition. Had the Tandem never come to market, I suspect that the next Medtronic would look similar to the previous generations. Deeper implications beyond diabetes The digital health revolution is underway, and the future of health technology includes fascinating devices like wearable (or even implantable!) sensors and novel drug-delivery mechanisms, affecting specialties from psychiatry to pain management. Ive often beaten the drum that diabetes technology has been a harbinger of the future of health technology (continuous glucose monitors preceded the current infatuation with wearable sensors by about 10 years), and this weeks news suggests a bleak future where established, larger device manufacturers can outmaneuver innovative disruption by strategically partnering with insurance companies. Free markets and capitalism have been serving the best interests of technology consumers for decades, and such interference by insurers would negatively impact health devices in all areas of medicine. Call to action So what should we do? Make your voice heard, and raise awareness of the issue by sharing posts like this on Facebook and Twitter. Reach out to the pump manufacturers, tell your doctor, and vocalize your displeasure to the insurance companies. DiabetesMine has compiled a helpful list of action points and will continue to cover the issue as it develops along with other advocacy sites like Diatribe. As the world of glucose meters have shown, it might be a UnitedHealthcare-Medtronic partnership now, but whats to prevent UnitedHealthcare from switching to a different pump manufacturer when their current agreement expires? Thats why we must act now and make it clear that we will not take it lightly when insurance companies try to dictate which medical devices we use and prescribe. David Ahn is a physician. This article originally appeared in TechCOYD. Image credit: Shutterstock.com News / Regional by Prosper Ndlovu The First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe yesterday said Bulawayo is on a path to robust re-industrialisation, having survived the devastating effects of economic sanctions that led to the collapse of many companies and loss of jobs.In a keynote address read on her behalf by Zanu-PF Women's League deputy secretary, Eunice Sandi Moyo during the Zim-Asset Bulawayo stakeholders' engagement conference, the First Lady said numerous initiatives embraced under the Government's economic blueprint had started impacting positively on the city's economy.She called for speedy implementation of turnaround strategies that are anchored on technological innovation to ensure achievement of desired targets within a short space of time."Despite the challenges it has faced over the years, this city awaits a bright future for economic turnaround. Bulawayo still has vibrant think tanks that can steer it forward and it mustn't be allowed to die."My message to Bulawayo is that of hope, resilience and innovation as the city moves forward to embracing new forms of development models that can impact positively on its development," said the First Lady during the conference being held at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.She said Bulawayo has distinguished itself through its resilience amid a challenging economic environment, which has seen it forge ahead to reclaim its traditional industrial status."Bulawayo does have its success story and it needs to be told to show that some companies have been innovative in moving forward without necessarily waiting for bailout from the Government and they have built confidence around Bulawayo's economy," said Mugabe."Companies like Arenel, Choppies, United Refineries and Afroflex have increased their foothold on the continent. Yes some are closed, but these haven't given up and as such we need to cultivate that survival spirit, which should be cross cutting."These companies have contributed to employment creation and empowerment to families and the community at large.The First Lady said the implementation of Zim-Asset has gained momentum under the 10-point plan approach enunciated by President Mugabe last year.The plan seeks to harness collective efforts from both private and public sectors towards economic progress. The First Lady stressed the need to strengthen monitoring and evaluation processes to enhance results based management that was adopted by the Government to increase accountability of public officials and achieve set goals.Zim-Asset was adopted in 2013 as a five-year economic blueprint by the Zanu-PF Government after the harmonised elections.Amai Mugabe said the four clusters under Zim-Asset food security and nutrition, value addition and beneficiation, infrastructure and utilities, social services and poverty eradication required a sound infrastructure backing and solid production.She underscored the need for deliberate efforts in revitalising agriculture and the agro-processing value chain as well as focus on energy, water, transport and ICTs sectors, the unlocking of potential of SMEs, restoration of confidence in the financial services sector, promoting joint ventures and modernising labour laws.The First Lady said turning Bulawayo's economy around should also be buttressed by the resuscitation of key parastatals such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe, whose role is critical in making the city a regional industrial hub.She said the recent familiarisation tours done by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko and Chief Secretary to the Office of the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, in March and April this year, show the interest Government has in revamping Bulawayo.Amai Mugabe said the declaration of Bulawayo as a Special Economic Zone would yield increased economic activity, liquidity and employment. She added that SEZs would spur revitalisation of local industry, regional linkages through broad road networks, rail linkages and strategic positioning that would place Bulawayo as a perfect regional manufacturing hub.The meeting, which is running under the theme "Consolidating Bulawayo's Growth Through Zim-Asset", is meant to bring various ministers closer to the people to clarify issues that affect them.VP Mphoko, Cabinet ministers: Dr Chris Mushohwe (Information and Media and Broadcasting Services), Simon Khaya Moyo (Policy Implementation), Tshinga Dube (War Veterans), Sithembiso Nyoni (SMEs), Samuel Undenge (Energy), deputy ministers Paddy Zhanda Obedingwa Mguni and Thokozile Mathuthu (Information, Media and Broadcasting Services), parliamentarians and the business community attended the meeting. SHARE Maxwell Thomas Watne, 8, uses his screwdriver to gently tap the top of a flag for a maker at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Bremerton Friday. Watne was helping his neighbor, Boy Scout Michael Strong of Troop 1541 from Silverdale Lutheran Church, place flags. The boys were preparing the cemetery for a service at Forest Lawn scheduled for Monday. (Larry Steagall | Kitsap Sun) By Kitsap Sun Staff Memorial Day events will be held around the county Sunday and Monday to honor servicemen and servicewomen killed in the line of duty. In addition to the services listed below, the annual Fred Ross Memorial Run will be held Sunday. All motorcyclists are invited to meet at 10 a.m., and the riders will arrive at the Washington State Veterans Home at Retsil around 10:30 a.m. On Monday, the Kitsap Sun will run a complete list of the veterans killed in action from World War I until present. Sunday Bremerton Veterans Salute Miller-Woodlawn Memorial Park will present a candlelight service in the park at 8 p.m. Sunday, including Keith Highlanders Pipe Band, and musical selections by the Ladies Quartet, and a National Guard Table of Remembrance. The event will conclude with fireworks. There will be historical military memorabilia on display throughout the weekend. Visitors are advised to arrive and park their vehicles early. For more information, call Susan Teale at (360) 377-7648. Monday Silverdale Concert and Silent Ceremony Silverdale Sunrise Rotary Club is sponsoring its annual Memorial Day concert and silent ceremony on Monday at 5 p.m. at the Kitsap County Veterans Memorial in Waterfront Park, Old Silverdale. The Duncan Creek String Quartet will play tunes from different decades, followed by a silent ceremony of veterans laying a wreath on the memorial and a taps echo duet at 6 p.m. Seating is limited. Members of the public are encouraged to bring their own chairs and dress for the weather. Bremerton Morning Ceremony Fleet Reserve Association Bremerton Branch 29 will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 5409 Kitsap Way. Capt. Catherine Wilson, commanding officer at Naval Hospital Bremerton, will be the speaker. The Marine Corps rifle detail from Bangor will fire the salute, and the Navy Band Northwest bugler will play taps. Port Orchard Tribute American Legion Post 30 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2669 and their auxiliaries will conduct a tribute ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday at Sunset Lane Memorial Park. The park is at 1000 Bethel Ave., off the roundabout. Post 172 Putting On Two Bainbridge Events The American Legion's Colin Hyde Post No. 172 will sponsor two events on Monday one for everybody and one for Legionnaires, Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion and friends. The public is invited to attend the high school memorial ceremony to honor the dead, remember the cause for which they fought and affirm trust in the future. It will begin at 10:45 a.m. at the veterans memorial. There will be a brief service. Afterward, group members and the public will decorate the area surrounding the monument with flowers and flags. Immediately after that event, the Legionnaires, Auxiliary and Sons of the American Legion will proceed to the post hall at 7880 NE Bucklin Hill Road for the main program, which will start at 11:15 a.m. Guest speakers will be Bill Adams, a Navy veteran who served in Iraq, and Dennis Tierney, pastor at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. The post invites Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from on or off the island and their families to attend the events. Ceremony Aboard the Turner Joy The public is invited to attend a Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m., on the fantail of the historic destroyer USS Turner Joy. The ship is located near the Bremerton ferry terminal. The ceremony is being sponsored by the Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Navy League Council. Navy League President Guy Stitt will serve as the moderator. Chaplain Ronald Brown, Navy Region Northwest, will offer a Memorial Day prayer. And, Rear Adm. James A. Symonds, commander of Navy Region Northwest, will be the guest speaker. Colors will be presented by the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets. A memorial wreath will be laid in honor of those that have fallen. The District 4 VFW Ceremonial Honor Guard will perform taps and the rifle salute. Parking is available at the convention center. Coffee and doughnuts will be provided. SHARE By Arla Shephard Bull, Special to the Kitsap Sun BELFAIR From helping teachers troubleshoot the technology in their classrooms to sharing with them the latest apps and technology that can bolster their lessons, North Mason High's Students Will Advance Technology team has teachers covered. The new student-run technology help desk debuted recently at North Mason High, where teachers and administrators have kept the team busy. "Some days we don't get anything done but running around helping teachers," teacher Brooke Quam said. "We're working to recruit more students, especially girls. It's hard because it's the end of the year and it's a lot more work than your typical elective class." Quam developed the program over the December holiday break, after North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach approached her about starting a class modeled after a similar program at an East Coast high school. "We have a beautiful new school, and it's filled with all this brand-new technology," Quam told North Mason School Board members May 19. "I sat down after winter break to look at how to go about this." Junior Adam Brownawell, freshman Isaac Johnson and seniors Donovan Rodgers and Devin Weeks make up the team. They developed a website, nmhshelpdesk.wordpress.com, and Twitter handle, @swatnmhs, where teachers can access resources and ask questions. "It's always been in me to help people and I've always had a passion for technology," Weeks said. "I joined SWAT expecting it to just be a help desk but that was not entirely true." The students created video tutorials on the latest apps for educators, such as Edmodo and GeoGebra, to help teachers easily understand and use them; the website also shares information about tools like OneDrive and Skype for the classroom. The SWAT team spends hours researching those technological resources, but they're also available to come to the classroom and teach students how to use a service, such as Microsoft Office 365. "We want to inspire and educate and empower," Weeks said. "We think it's a very important thing for not just the schools, but the community." Quam said she wants to teach the students not only how to help others learn technology, but also how to develop customer service skills. "This is a real business scenario for them," she said. "We learn how to answer the phone and how to handle things with grace and composure. It's fun to watch them do their video tutorials and learn how to inject some humor in them, since they can be dry." Brownawell said the SWAT team gives him work experience to put on his resume. "I've never experienced a class like this," he said. "The Help Desk is the perfect class for anyone looking to advance themselves into the technological age. (It) allows students to express their inner geek by helping teachers, students and community members learn, fix and work with their technology. Quam hopes to offer the class every trimester next school year, in all periods. "This totally speaks to what the business community has been asking for," said School Board member Laura Boad. "They want people who are knowledgeable about technology. This is an awesome program. I know it will explode next year." Members of the Kitsap County SWAT team storm the Silverdale Community Center during a tactical training event on Friday. The man on the floor played a hostage-taker in the exercise, which was held in a building that is scheduled to be demolished soon. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) SHARE Titan grabs on to Kitsap County Sheriff's Office Deputy Shane Hanson as Titan's handler, Deputy Joe Hedstrom, leads a K-9 unit demonstration on Friday. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) SWAT Cmdr. Lt. Russ Clithero talks about the simulated ammunition used during Friday's tactical training. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) One of the "gunmen" hits the floor as KCSO SWAT team officers burst through the door at the Silverdale Community Center for a tactical training event on Friday, May 27, 2016. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) KCSO SWAT team officers take control of "gunmen" at the Silverdale Community Center for a tactical training event on Friday, May 27, 2016. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) Related Coverage Silverdale marks a milestone By Andrew Binion of the Kitsap Sun SILVERDALE The armed men holding county Commissioner Ed Wolfe hostage on Friday in the shuttered Silverdale Community Center were getting antsy. "I'm done talking," one shouted. "I'm ready to kill him." Right about then a flash bang exploded on the opposite side of the room, drawing attention away from another explosion near the armed men, opening up a port hole in a nearby wall. Then another explosion opened up a door and in swarmed a squad of SWAT commandos. Within seconds the gunmen were on the ground, paramedics were being called and Wolfe was hurried toward shelter. The gunmen were actually firefighters and Wolfe was never in any danger, but the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office demonstration of SWAT tactics, police dog handling and use of force were meant to show the public how the Sheriff's Office operates in tense, life-threatening situations. Wolfe, who said his heart continued to pound long after the demonstration ended, said it served to show the public how the county's public safety agencies train to keep people safe. "We live here for a reason," he said. "And it's not just the water and the beauty." The county's 21-member regional SWAT unit can assemble in about 45 minutes to an hour, said commander Lt. Russ Clithero. It is mainly made up of deputies, but also includes Bremerton and Bainbridge Island police officers and "tactical medics" from Poulsbo Fire Department and South Kitsap Fire and Rescue. And while the explosives used in the demonstration to breach the door are rarely used in the team's 20-year history they have been approved for use twice, and the situations were resolved by other means officials said it is important for SWAT members to train for any circumstances. "So that we are prepared and ready to go every day," said Sheriff Gary Simpson. Deputy Joe Hedstrom and his tracking dog, Titan, showed how the dog can be controlled by voice and that despite the high-risk situations Titan rushes into, police dogs are trained to see their jobs as playing. "It's all a game to them, it's all fun," Hedstrom said. The event also included a demonstration to show how officers walk into situations where they are always reacting to threats, which puts them at a disadvantage when confronted by a dangerous person. Joe Vlach, director of operations for the Central Kitsap School District, acted as an officer confronting a suspicious person and in two of the three scenarios the person pulled a pistol. In the last scenario, the suspicious person played by Deputy Scott Eberhard pulled out a cellphone, showing that officers must make split second decisions and are almost always at a disadvantage to know what might happen. "This guy knows what he is doing, the officer doesn't," said sheriff's office Sgt. Kurtis Lont. The community center that hosted the demonstration, once used as a church and named after former county Commissioner Billie Eder, is scheduled for demolition. News / Regional by Nduduzo Tshuma MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, down with a yet to be revealed illness, is likely to miss the party's Bulawayo demonstration today as he is said to be still "recovering" in neighbouring South Africa.In an act of desperation, the party was late yesterday engaged in a road show as a last minute attempt to drum up support for their demonstration. The demonstration comes after a historic Zanu-PF One Million Man March in Harare on Wednesday whose success is reported to have rattled the MDC-T leadership.MDC-T Bulawayo deputy spokesperson, Felix Magalela Sibanda, yesterday said Tsvangirai's deputy Thokozani Khupe would stand in for her boss who was recently flown to South Africa for treatment. "He isn't feeling well though recovering very well so we can't abuse him, he has to fully recover. Our president works with a team, our vice president (Khupe) will be leading from the front accompanied by members of the national standing committee," said Sibanda.However, informed sources within the party said desperate efforts were being made to fly Tsvangirai into Bulawayo this morning. "Tsvangirai is the face of the party and his presence would have a serious impact. Plans are underway for him to fly into the country tomorrow (today) though he won't be able to march with the party members," said the source."If it happens that Tsvangirai comes, he will play a minimal role in the whole thing because he has not fully recovered."The demonstration is the second by the party after the first was held in Harare last month with a handful party supporters taking to the streets and leaving a trail of destruction in the capital.Sources within the MDC-T Bulawayo structures revealed yesterday that the road show was a last minute effort to boost numbers for the demonstration in a province where the party is reeling under factional fights and widening divisions.The party has also reportedly acquired transport to bus supporters from Matabeleland North, South and Midlands provinces to give an impression that the party still enjoys a lot of support in Bulawayo.However, Sibanda yesterday denied the claims saying the demonstration was an entirely provincial function and the party would hold similar initiatives in all the country's provinces.MDC-T lost its stranglehold on Bulawayo province after Zanu-PF won back five seats in last June's by-elections and another in December leaving the two parties with six constituencies each.On Monday, the Zanu-PF deputy youth league secretary, Kudzanai Chipanga, said the party was not worried by the MDC-T demos as they were no longer a factor in the country's politics."Those MDC-T demos will always be a desperate attempt for relevance. The person fronting those demonstrations is a tried and tested failure so we are really not worried about them as they have no impact at all. The people will be able to see for themselves the numbers," he said. Stuff reports: Imagine heading down to Oriental Bay in July and looking out over the harbour on one of those typical calm, blue sky Wellington winter days. You know, the ones that follow the southerly storms and remind us of why we live here. Now imagine doing all this while lounging in a hot, outdoor, saltwater swimming pool. One Wellington businessman is working on making the fantasy a reality. Prefab owner Jeff Kennedy is a member of the Better Te Aro Collective, which wants to rejuvenate the central city. His idea is to create a hot pool complex next to Freyberg Pool, where the old open air, saltwater Te Aro Baths once were. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. SHARE By Jack H. Mccall Jr., Special to the News Sentinel General Sherman said: "War is hell." Facing machine guns and artillery on the slopes of Montfaucon, an impregnable German fortress overlooking the Meuse Valley in France in 1918, one American doughbo" turned to another and quipped, "Sherman wasn't emphatic enough, was he, old cookie?" The inferno, horror and tragedy of war in particular, World War I is the recurring theme of "Betrayal at Little Gibraltar," written by former Knoxvillian William Walker. American history has far too many examples of battles won or lost under exceedingly desperate circumstances, later found to have been needless or preventable. Custer's Last Stand is the prime example. The 2011 fight for COP Keating in Afghanistan, commemorated in Clinton Romesha's "Red Platoon," is a recent case. But, 99 years ago, American troops were assigned to crack one of the toughest nuts on the Western Front: the fortified hill of Montfaucon. This assault would launch the Meuse-Argonne offensive, intended to end the war in one fell swoop after four blood-soaked years. It was with good reason that the French, years before, dubbed the looming, rocky mass "Little Gibraltar." Montfaucon was the key to a major portion of the Kaiser's Hindenburg Line; its capture could shorten the war by weeks or months. Machine-gun bunkers, barbed-wire webs and hidden artillery positions studded its slopes. To top it off, Kaiser Wilhelm's son, the Crown Prince, built a secret observatory with a gigantic armored periscope that could see the Allies' positions for over 25 miles and rain down deadly accurate artillery fire. In "The Lord of the Rings," J.R.R. Tolkein wrote of a malevolent, all-seeing eye atop a tower by a mountain ringed by fire. Montfaucon was Tolkein's fable come to life and it took the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers, in a matter of days, in September 1918. The product of 20 years of research, Walker's book is well written, impeccably researched and lavishly illustrated. It sets a gripping pace and makes a compelling case that the slaughter at Montfaucon was not only preventable: it was the result of in one word ego. One man emerges as the prime candidate. In an army riven, in the midst of a titanic struggle, with unexpected challenges and chaotic demands, this general was enough of a careerist not to lose sight of the goal of advancing his own career over that of his fellow officers. It gives away nothing of Walker's masterful account to identify this officer, Robert Bullard, as setting in motion a chain that led to the slaughter of GIs. To call Bullard's actions a dereliction of duty is understatement. Walker would choose a more telling and pungent word: murder. The poignant images of doughboys silencing German machine guns by human-wave attacks are a searing indictment of the direct consequences of Bullard's egotism. Montfaucon can be seen as an American version of the Charge of the Light Brigade, but the truths of what happened there were shrouded for years. Two former officers doggedly documented "the reason why" but, as Walker makes plain, those truths were ignored or suppressed. Born and raised in Knoxville, Walker now lives in Virginia. As a youngster, he daily saw Medal of Honor recipient and Great War veteran Buck Karnes. Walker's own great-uncle, a combat victim of 1918, is memorialized on the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial. So, Walker's interest in the "War to End All Wars" started at a very early age, here in Knoxville. "Betrayal at Little Gibraltar" goes far to right an almost-forgotten wrong that took place almost 100 years ago. It reminds a modern generation of the truth of the Roman adage, "War consumes all" and its first casualty, as has been said, is often the truth. News / Regional by Sukulwenkosi Dube PLUMTREE'S main supply dam has almost dried-up owing to poor rains which were received during the last rainy season.Addressing residents at a meeting here, Councillor Bakani Tshuma, said the local authority was getting its water from Mhlanga Dam which is located about 14 kilometres away, but due to the water crisis it is planning to turn to Mangwe Dam which is 56 kilometres away.Tshuma said the local authority has an uphill task of rehabilitating the water pipe system to the new supply dam."The town's water supply is now in a critical state as Mhlanga Dam has almost dried up. Our next option is to turn Mangwe Dam into our supply dam. The challenge however that is the pipes to that dam have to be rehabilitated."Council is struggling to get this activity on track because of financial constraints," he said.Clr, Maxwell Washaya, told residents that they owed council up to $1,040, 000 in unpaid water bills. He said council was owed over $3 million for all the other rates including water.He urged residents to settle their bills in order to ensure uninterrupted water supplies.Recently, the town council resorted to a massive water disconnection exercise in a bid to force rate payers to clear their debts.The council later advised rate payers to pay 25 percent of their debts in order to be reconnected, but residents petitioned city fathers asking to be allowed to pay 10 percent of the required amounts."The petition was received but it has not been taken into consideration. In the meantime you are encouraged to pay 25 percent of what you owe in unpaid water bills so that the pipe system can be rehabilitated," said Plumtree Town Council chairperson, Paulos Vini Hobane. Book lovers can find all sorts of lists on what to read: bestsellers, new books, beach books, notable mysteries, and so on. The Internet, libraries, bookstores and newspapers do a good job of keeping us up on reading choices. Recently I came across a British website listing what they say are, according to their reader base, the top "must reads" for adults today. They call it their "To Be Read" pile, and it comes from having surveyed 300,000 self-described "reading addicts." I like to test myself, since I would comfortably describe myself as a dedicated book lover and constant reader, and I did pretty well on this list as would most serious readers with only three books named that I have not read. Since the list wasn't given in alphabetical order, I suppose we can presume it is presented from the top down, and the first one on the list is "War and Peace," the Russian classic by Leo Tolstoy. Next came "Gone With the Wind," by Margaret Mitchell. Check. Check. They wouldn't rank as the top two on my personal choices of "must reads," but this isn't my list. The other top picks: "Lord of the Rings" (JRR Tolkien), the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling), "Moby Dick" (Herman Melville), and "100 Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquis, considered by many English-teacher types to be the perfect novel. The only one of the top seven that I have not read is "The Silmarillion" by Tolkien. In fact, embarrassingly enough, I've never heard of it, but I am not an avid fantasy reader which may explain my ignorance. "Lord of the Rings" was enough for me. There were in all 189 books suggested by readers who responded in this list-call. Others that made the must-read list include "Pride and Prejudice," "Anna Karenina." "Ulysses," "1984," "Catch 22," and "To Kill a Mockingbird." I suspect most adults who like to read and keep up with what's going on in the literary world have read all of these, as well as most of the others, although I doubt we'd all agree on the "must" and "best" accolade. I am a real Ken Follett fan, for instance, and I have read everything he wrote, but I am not sure I would put "The Pillars of the Earth" on the list as a must-read. "The Kite Runner" was on there as well, which, if nothing else, is fodder for those of us who were stunned when some high school parents wanted to ban the book from their child's assignment. Among those I definitely agree are must-reads are "Tale of Two Cities" and "Les Miserables." As good as they were, I would probably not give "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" the everybody-must-read honors. There were two others on the list which I have not read: "Under the Dome" and "A Suitable Boy." Stephen King is one of the best writers around, but I'd guess the TV series spun off "Under the Dome" may have influenced this pick as a "must." I'll skip that one since I lost interest in the series after just a few segments. I really should invest in a copy of "A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth, which came out in 1993 and is one of the longest novels ever published: 1349 pages (1488 pages softcover) and 591,552 words. I'd better get started now, because "A Suitable Girl" is due for publication next year. Ina Hughs may be reached at inamackie@yahoo.com. James White's Fort (ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE STATE OF FRANKLIN DAY James White's Fort, 205 E. Hill Ave., hosts a "State of Franklin Day" 10 a.m.-4 p.m. today. The free event marks the pioneer time in Tennessee. Before Tennessee became a state in 1796, a group of settlers in Upper East Tennessee briefly formed the State of Franklin. At the fort, the time period marked will be 1786, when settlers are seeking recognition for their area from the United States government. Admission is free; donations are accepted. BIG BACKYARD STORYTIME Help commemorate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service at a special story time at Barnes & Noble at 11 a.m. today. "Our Great Big Backyard" is from former First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager. The picture book is a tribute to our national parks and the importance of connecting with nature. Coloring and activities to follow. Barnes & Noble is at 8029 Kingston Pike. Info: 865-670-0773, http://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780061775741-0 BEEFED-UP SALUTE Shoney's Restaurants will honor America's fallen military members this Memorial Day by serving a free All-American Burger to all veterans and active duty military members. Service members will be treated to Shoney's Signature favorite All-American Burger cooked to order (w/cheese if requested), along with French fries and a beverage. Shoney's offer is available on Monday, May 30, while supplies last. Limit of one burger per military service member. Shoney's military guests will be asked to provide proof of military service. Offer is valid for dine-in only. Tax and gratuity are not included. ZOO DISCOUNT Who knew that May 29 is "College Savings Day?" Zoo Knoxville knows and is offering children $5.29 admission to the park on Sunday. Children ages 4 to 12 get in to the zoo only on Sunday for $5.29. The offer is made with the TnStars College Savings 529 Program. TnStars representatives will be at the zoo 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to provide information about the program. Zoo Knoxville is located off Interstate 40's Exit 392A. Admission for children ages 4 to 12 is normally $16.95. Adult admission is $19.95; parking at the zoo is $5 per vehicle. BLOCK PARTY KnoxTenn invites folks to Central Street for a Sunday, May 29, block party from noon to 10 p.m. Local musicians Andy Wood, Dixieghost, Big Country's Empty Bottle and Kelsey's Woods will perform. Food trucks and local breweries will be selling their wares. All proceeds will be donated to Dogwood Arts and Cure Duchenne. Admission is free. Info: Joe Fox: 865-621-9493 Photos by Clayton Hensley/Special to the News Sentinel This view from the Burra Burra mine site in Ducktown looks out over the Copper Basin. SHARE The blue line helps visitors to the area know whether they are in Copperhill, Tenn., or McCaysville, Ga. The Hiwassee River offers a much calmer experience in Polk County than the more famous Ocoee River. The rapids of the Ocoee River are one of the biggest draws to Polk County. By Clayton Hensley, Special to the News Sentinel Just a couple of decades ago, the view from the top of the old Burra Burra mine site in Ducktown, Tenn., was enough to break someone's heart. For almost as far as the eye could see, the scars of years of copper mining and smelting left the area devoid of vegetation. All that was visible was the bright red clay soil and the effects of decades of soil erosion and pollution. Today, the view provides a much more refreshing feeling. Reforestation efforts have paid off, and only a few remnants of the mining effects can still be seen. Rich copper deposits were discovered here in 1843, but today, tourists are the prospectors, here to discover a land filled with history, natural beauty and plenty of small-town charm. The Copper Basin sits in the far southeast corner of Tennessee straddling the Georgia and North Carolina state lines. The majesty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the wilds of the Cherokee National Forest and the rush of the Ocoee River are just a few miles away from this once-bustling hotbed of copper mining. Today, the twin towns of Copperhill, Tenn., and McCaysville, Ga., have become tourism magnets. Throughout their blended downtown folks can choose from a wide variety of places to shop. There are an outdoor store, a Christmas shop, arts and crafts stores and even a hometown IGA. As people pop in and out of the shops they are sure to notice a big blue line running through the IGA parking lot, across the street and up the side of a building. The "blue line" marks the state line. It's a quirky feature people seem to love as they stop and take "two state" selfies or pose for pictures with a foot in each state. Even the outdoor tables at the Pearly Gates Cafe and Store get in on the act with a blue line on the concrete tables. While it seems like "one" town, there are plenty of reminders that Copperhill and McCaysville are different places. In the heart of "town" a rustic silver-painted steel bridge crosses a river which is called the Toccoa on the Georgia side of the bridge and the Ocoee on the Tennessee side. As people stroll across the bridge it might be difficult to imagine how this shallow and peaceful waterway turns into a fierce flowing river attracting whitewater enthusiasts from all over the world. It may also be hard to imagine the river submerging much of the downtown during a flood in the early 1990s. The resurgence in tourism is certainly evident in Copperhill and McCaysville, but not so much in the old mining community of Ducktown located just a few miles north. Most of the buildings "downtown" sit empty, as do some of the old buildings associated with the old Burra Burra Copper Mine. For folks wanting to learn more about the area's copper mining industry or just enjoy one of the best views in the Copper Basin, this is the place to visit. A small nondescript building high atop a hill in this small town houses the Copper Basin Museum. Scattered across the lawn are old pieces of mining equipment and old smelting pots, but what is sure to garner the most attention is what visitors find at the overlook. From here it is easy to gaze across the basin and the high peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains encircling it. An old mining pit filled with a pool of blue-green water lies directly underneath the overlook. The eroded red clay slopes above the pool of water is now dotted with a few small trees, but it is still relatively easy to see what happened here for more than 100 years. The Copper Basin is a unique part of Polk County, a place defined by small towns and wilderness escapes. Much of the county is covered by the Cherokee National Forest. In the heart of it all is the Ocoee River Gorge, a place where exhilaration is easy to find. Whitewater enthusiasts enjoy the thrill of river's rush while drivers along U.S. 64 soak in the beauty of the forest-covered peaks looming high above the road. A place where it all comes together is the U.S. Whitewater Center, home to the 1996 Olympic Whitewater competitions. Part museum, visitor center and retail shop, the center focuses on all things whitewater and is still home to several competitions. A pedestrian bridge at the center takes people high across the Ocoee for an unforgettable view of the river bed and the stunning scenery all around the center. While the Ocoee gets most of the attention in Polk County, it isn't the only river worth visiting here. The Hiwassee River comes in from North Carolina. It flows at a much slower pace than the Ocoee. In the riverside community of Reliance, weatherworn buildings like the old Union Church and an old Texaco station (now an outdoors outfitter) make up a small historic district along the banks of the river. Just a few miles downstream, the small farms dotting the landscape near Reliance give way to steep-sloped mountains and thick forests. The shallow waters of the river make it possible to venture out well past the banks, do a little fishing or get your hands on some freshwater mussels. So, step back into time, take steps in and out of two states, or step into the water. It's your choice in the southeast tip of Tennessee. Dr. Philip Kronk is a semiretired Knoxville psychologist. SHARE "Every organism is a melody which sings itself." Uexkull "It is the soul that sees and not the eyes." Descartes In last week's column, I shared how individuals, with different psychiatric diagnoses, experience the passage of time differently. Today we will look at the dimension of space. We engage and exist in a real everyday world of sounds, colors, intense feelings; a world of forms, rhythms and movement, all in an arrangement of lived space. More so, we interact with space, encounter it and experience it with our bodies. As one philosopher said, "I am my body." Psychologically lived time and psychologically lived space make us human, or keep us from being fully all we can be. Life is like a piano that makes music, and space is the keyboard that allows that melodic expression. Otherwise, life is a quiet, unexpressive and restricted sound that gives no pleasure. Space is a dimension that we take for granted. This is because space can have more aspects than we can imagine. Space can be wide or narrow, attractive or repulsive, open or closed, near or far and small or large. It can also have different psychological meanings to different psychiatric patients. The obsessive compulsive patient may become very focused on a narrow and focused space (obsession), and feel a compelling need to continually focus on it in a repetitive fashion (compulsion.) The obsessive compulsive individual will narrow his spatial interactions with the world to a very small (seemingly, harmless) area of existence, but he will miss out on so much. The patient who hoards great amounts of 'stuff' has found another way to fill a world that feels empty. All emotional disorders may be viewed as a constriction of the individual space that a person lives in. In essence, the potentially endless spatial and emotional horizons of their existence has narrowed, shrunk or disappeared. They have become less responsive to others and to the larger, outside social world. This is why effective, humane psychiatric treatment must include a broadening of the patient's social interactions, along with medications and therapy. The German psychiatrist, Thomas Fuchs, M.D., Ph.D. has told us that the patient with a borderline personality disorder is unable "to establish stable and reliable attachments and role identities." Dr. Fuchs notes that these individuals are "tossed about in their lived space, unable to find a supporting ground and a reliable center of their existence." The depressed patient also lives in a rather restricted space of existence. This is why these patients also need movement in their lives. They need to exercise, to leave their homes, to walk, to expand the spatially-imposed prisons of their minds and bodies. I know that these are difficult things to both prescribe and to do, but they are necessary elements of a successful treatment. Henri Ellenberger, the former Menninger School psychiatrist, once reminded us that, "Sorrow constricts attuned space, and despair makes it empty." The female patient in an abusive and violent relationship needs to "move away" to another space, hopefully, one occupied by other supportive, caring females. If not, she is at great danger of returning to that abusive space that is, at least, knowable, if not safe. The anxious patient also lives in a restricted, fearful life space, afraid to open his eyes more fully to horizons not easily trusted. Finally, I share the words of the famous French philosopher, Merleau-Ponty, who wrote that "What guarantees the healthy man against delusion or hallucination is not his reality testing, but the structurer of his space." I trust that man's words. He loved music and dancing the night away with friends. --- Philip Kronk, M.S., Ph.D., is a semi-retired child and adult Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychologist. Dr. Kronk has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and a post doctorate degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology (the use of drugs to treat mental disorders.) He writes a weekly online column for the Knoxville News Sentinel's website, knoxnews.com. Dr. Kronk can be reached at (865) 330-3633. 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. In this photo taken March 21, 2016, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla is interviewed in New York. Seeking to defuse tensions, the DNC said Friday, May 27, 2016, it will hold public hearings around the country to develop the platform for its summer convention, a focal point for supporters of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Wasserman Schultz announced that a 15-member platform drafting committee will hold hearings in Washington on June 8-9, Phoenix on June 17-18, St. Louis on June 24-25 and Orlando, Florida, on July 8-9, about two weeks before the Philadelphia convention. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, will be in Knoxville for a private fundraiser Thursday but will not attend a rally of Knox County Democrats as originally planned. The fundraiser will be at the home of Leanne and Rusty Comer, 7151 Sir Arthur Way, in the Deane Hill area beginning at 6:30 p.m. Their son, Scott, is employed at the DNC. Knox County Democrats planned to have a rally at their headquarters at 311 Morgan St., which Wasserman Schultz was to attend before the fundraiser, but Cameron Brooks, party chairman, said he was notified Wednesday she would not be at the public event. "When the head of the Democratic Party comes to our community it is my belief that they should be accessible to everyone, not just those with the means to give money. I am extremely disappointed that her appearance at our rally was canceled," Brooks said. Young Democrats may attend for $50 minimum and general admission is $250 minimum per person, Democrats said. Bill Owen, a former state senator who represents Tennessee on the DNC, said he hopes to tape Wasserman Schultz for the Democratic TV program on Community Television while she's here. She represents the 23rd District in Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. "We're very excited about having the chairman of the DNC. We think the Democratic Party in Knox County is working hard and will work to elect Hillary Clinton as the next president," said Owen, a Clinton supporter. Wasserman Schultz is getting flak nationally, particularly from the supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, for her handling of some campaign issues. There is talk of possibly replacing her before the Democratic National Convention in July in Philadelphia. Politico reported Sanders recently endorsed her opponent in the Democratic primary in Florida, Tim Canova. TRAINING WOMEN: The Tennessee Women's Political Caucus, which describes itself as a multi-partisan organization promoting full and equal participation of women in government, hosts a political workshop today in Knoxville to encourage more women to get involved in politics. The caucus, which has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, is having the workshop from 2-4 p.m. at 311 Morgan St., where the Knox County Democratic Party headquarters is located and which serves as the headquarters of former state Rep. Gloria Johnson, seeking re-election in November. The workshop will be led by Gabby Salinas, the caucus president, and Deidre Malone of the Carter Malone Group, both of Memphis. CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL Iva Chikosh holds her cat, Chiffon, in her apartment on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 in Knoxville. The Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee's Office on Aging has lost the primary supporter of a program that helps low-income senior citizens feed their pets. SHARE Iva Chikosh's cat, Chiffon, eats in their apartment on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 in Knoxville. The Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee has lost the primary supporter of a program which provides pet food for seniors in need. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) A sign hangs on Iva Chikosh's apartment on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 in Knoxville. Chikosh receives food for her cat Chiffon through the Knox County Community Action Committee, which provides pet food for seniors in need. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) By Kristi L. Nelson of the Knoxville News Sentinel Iva Chikosh's 13-year-old cat is her best friend and only companion. Chikosh, 85, adopted Chiffon from the Young-Williams Animal Center in 2007. "Someone had adopted her and brought her back, probably because she bites," Chikosh said. "But she doesn't bite that hard. I'm glad they brought her back, or I wouldn't have her. And I love her." They share a small apartment in a senior housing complex that's a testament to Chikosh's love of cats. Nearly every square foot contains blankets, posters, figurines, a clock, stuffed animals and other feline-themed items. Chiffon clearly rules, as Chikosh happily accommodates her needs. But that may soon be harder to do. Chikosh, a retired licensed practical nurse on a fixed income, has benefitted from the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging's "Feed a Pet Project," which works with the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine to provide food for low-income seniors' pets. Alhough the program sometimes receives donations of pet food through the community, said CAC program manager Misty Goodwin, the bulk of the pet food came from a national pet-food company, Hill's Pet Nutrition. This week, she received word that company will no longer donate pet food, leaving CAC with enough food to serve only 50 of the 150 seniors the agency usually helps each month. Community donations usually bring in enough to feed 25 pets. The company didn't respond to a request for comment. Goodwin has placed collection barrels for pet food in front of the L.T. Ross Building, 2247 Western Ave., and at the Asheville Highway Animal Hospital, 4516 Asheville Highway. A social media campaign and some news coverage have brought in donations, but Goodwin worries about sustaining the program in the long run, after the publicity dies down. Along with contacting pet-food companies, Goodwin hopes to find local businesses to sponsor the program with regular food drives, or individuals who will commit to donate a bag of food each month. "We especially need food specifically for older animals and weight control," Goodwin said. "A lot of our seniors have animals who are also older." Chikosh adopted Chiffon after her cat Patches, who was 16, died in 2007. Snowy, the cat she had before Patches, lived to be 17, she said, and moved across the country with her, from her Florida hometown to California, then to Knoxville in 1999. Now Patches and Snowy, their names embossed next to butterflies, reside in a lavender urn beside Chikosh's bed. She plans for her remains to be mixed with theirs. If Chiffon dies first, she'll join them; if not, Chikosh has a friend who's agreed to adopt her. "She's very good company," Chikosh said. SHARE By News Sentinel Staff The Knoxville Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Safety Office are partnering up to increase seat belt enforcement on Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, and will be the main focus for the increased enforcement from May 23 to June 5, according to a news release. The Tennessee Highway Safety Office is also putting more of an emphasis on nighttime seat belt enforcement. "Nationally, 59 percent of vehicle occupants who were killed in traffic crashes overnight in 2013 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash," said Tennessee Highway Safety Office Interim Director Jason Ivey in a news release. Tennessee's seat belt use rate is 86.2 percent, which classifies Tennessee as a "low-use" state on a national level. The move comes as Tennessee celebrates its 30-year anniversary of seat belt legislation. A mandatory seat belt law was passed in 1986, and has been updated twice; once in 2004 and again in 2015. The press has done a lousy job of protecting American freedoms in recent years. But I have a modest proposal for improving press performance: Elect a white male Republican. When Bill Clinton was inaugurated as president, actor Ron Silver, then a Democrat, was there. And when fighter jets flew over the Lincoln Memorial, he was reportedly at first upset at the military symbolism, but then reminded himself that since Democrat Clinton was being sworn in, those are our planes now. Were seeing something of a reverse-version of this phenomenon as large swathes of the commentariat realize that we might wind up with a President Trump. Suddenly, sweeping executive power (fine with many under President Obama) is being portrayed as a possible threat to the republic. Which, to be fair, it is. But only now do they care. At National Review, Charles C.W. Cooke poses this question to folks on the left: Has Donald Trumps remarkable rise done anything to change your mind as to the ideal strength of the state? A sensible view is that we might not want the government as a whole, and the president in particular, to possess more power in general than we would be willing to allow when our political enemies were in power. Because experience demonstrates that, just as for Ron Silver their planes became our planes when the White House changed hands, so too our president becomes their president when it changes in the other direction. But while that view might be sensible, it doesnt seem especially common. Though a few people are evenhanded on executive power law professor John Yoo, for example, who supported sweeping antiterror policies under both President Bush and President Obama most seem to regard stretched authority as necessary and proper when a president of their party does it, and as an imperial presidency when the other party does. Heres a hint: Its the imperial presidency pretty much all the time. But its nice to see the prospect of a Trump administration reminding folks on the left of this, particularly as the journalist and pundit classes are dominated by lefties. Its terrible, were told, that Trump is issuing veiled threats to journalists though Obama joked about auditing his enemies, seized journalist phone records and threatened a journalist who refused to reveal sources with imprisonment. Trump would be a warmonger, were told, although in fact Barack Obama has been at war longer than any other U.S. president, if without any particular success. Trump would arrogantly ride roughshod over any opposition, though Barack Obama famously used I won as an excuse to ignore opponents and bragged that he had a pen (and) a phone to bypass congressional disagreement. (And hes used them a lot.) Many of the journalists and pundits who see Trump as the next imperial president were silent over these Obama actions. Like Ron Silver with his fighter jets, they saw Obamas envelope-pushing as fine because it was by their own president. Id like to think that pointing this kind of thing out would address the problem, but my faith in our political classes is pretty low right now. So, given the realities, I have a suggestion for limiting the imperial presidency that will probably work: Only elect straight, white male Republicans. In our current system, the biggest check on presidential power is public criticism, and despite the rise of niche media such as Fox News and talk radio, the kind of public criticism that actually has an impact mostly comes from the left-controlled mainstream media. With a black Democrat in the White House, those organs have often been loath to criticize the president themselves, and swift to assume that anyone who does offer criticism is partisan, and probably a racist to boot. But with a white male Republican in the White House, all criticisms will be presumed valid. Every president has some wiggle room, but white male Republicans have less in our system. So if you want the imperial presidency to wiggle less, thats whom we should elect. And if thats what it takes to get the press to do its job of scrutinizing and criticizing power, then thats what we need. Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and the author of The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself, is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors. SHARE A look at recent events in the news that pleased us ... Cleanup funds: Knoxville has received $350,000 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfield cleanup grants to remediate contamination at the site of the former McClung warehouses on Jackson Avenue and the former Sanitary Laundry on Broadway. The city will contribute a 20 percent match, a combined $70,000 for the two sites. The grants are good for three years, and both projects will likely take that long, said Anne Wallace, deputy redevelopment director who oversaw the applications. The city had previously been awarded $500,000 in brownfield assessment grants that allowed the city to identify what and where contaminants are on the two sites. Minority recruiting: Knoxville police have been visiting predominantly black churches, traveling to nearby military bases and attending minority-focused job fairs in hopes of recruiting a more diverse class for the department's first police academy in three years. So far, the department has received more than 250 applications since posting job listings late last month. Of the 389 officers on the force, 81 percent are white men. Better prepared: Fewer freshmen at Tennessee colleges and universities need remedial classes, the Tennessean reported. Data in the Tennessee Higher Education fact book show a four-year decline, from 77 percent in 2011 to 63 percent last fall. Education officials point to the data as evidence that a program providing extra academic support in high schools is working. Wrongful death: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park said Monday the black bear it euthanized earlier this month was not the one that attacked a hiker sleeping in his tent near the Spence Field shelter. The determination was made after officials received DNA analyses comparing samples from bears found near the shelter where the attack occurred May 10. The park said it had recently had multiple incidents of bears ripping into tents in the backcountry. Excursions derailed: The Secret City Excursion Train, an Oak Ridge tourist attraction, will cease operations next week. For the past seven years, EnergySolutions has allowed the Southern Appalachian Railroad Museum, a nonprofit entity that sponsors the Secret City Excursions, to use the Heritage Railroad short line at no cost. EnergySolutions said on Thursday it will no longer allow passenger traffic because of liability concerns. News / Regional by Staff reporter A WOMAN from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo who allegedly claimed a wallet containing 2,800 rands and $50 that was left by a customer at a Chicken Inn counter has been arrested after she was exposed by CCTV.Brenda Chipo Jojo appeared before magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure facing a theft charge.She pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody to today.Allegations are that on April 29, Christian Mudawu left his wallet on the counter and Jojo, who was at a Chicken Inn outlet at the corner of Leopold Takawira and Fort Street noticed the wallet.The wallet contained ZAR2,800 and $50. Jojo approached Mandlenkosi Sibanda, the shift manager at around 2AM on April 30, 2016, crying stating that she forgot her wallet while buying food with her husband.The court heard that the manager refused to give Jojo the wallet, although she had stated the exact amount of money that was in the wallet.Sibanda allegedly told her to bring her husband.Jojo returned two hours later with a male counterpart and introduced him as her husband.The manager recorded their particulars and gave them the wallet.On the same day, the owner of the wallet, Christian Mudawu, came asking for his wallet.The offence was discovered when CCTV footage was replayed to identify the actual owner. The complainant paid back the money to the owner.The complainant identified the accused on May 21, 2016 at the same shop and she was arrested. - SHARE In response to a letter about Knox Hertitage's "Fragile 15" list, every time I see or hear the phrase "highest and best use" I want to ask why that is almost always interpreted as generating the most revenue possible. There are other excellent uses for property. Aesthetics and enjoyment can also be best uses. Our downtown buildings may not generate the revenue that downtown Charlotte, North Carolina's, tall, ugly buildings do, but our downtown is becoming famous for historic structures and good times, making it a destination for tourists as well as area residents. There was a magnificent building called the Vendome on Clinch Avenue, torn down in 1942 for surface parking. The Tennessee Valley Authority destroyed the north side of Wall Avenue, which had many significant buildings, including the St. James hotel, the home of now famous recordings of area musicians. Now TVA says it doesn't need the towers. Highest and best uses? Surely not parking lots and unwanted towers. "Progress" is often used as an unjustified excuse to tear down history and replace it with something of lesser quality or nothing at all. Remember the New Sprankle Building? The site is still a parking lot. Count me among those who think the Greyhound station is not attractive. There were people who thought the Pickle mansion was just an ugly old house. There are disagreements about what is worth saving and what is not. Let's put aside pettiness and look at what could be done with the Greyhound station. Imagine it as a restaurant and small retail shops. This would be an asset to the evolving Magnolia-Central area and a logical outgrowth of the Old City. I agree that we can't save everything, but let's save what we can and make Knoxville an even better place to work and live. Larry Dearing, Knoxville Susan G. Komen Knoxville grants $347,988 to fund local breast cancer programs KNOXVILLE Susan G. Komen Knoxville has granted $347,988 to provide thousands of women and men with no-cost breast health screening, treatment support, and education programs throughout the next year. The need is great in our communities and we are pleased to partner with eight programs in our 16-county area that will provide vital services to those who need it most, said Amy Dunaway, executive director of Komen Knoxville. In 2015, these programs provided more than 4,500 women and men with access to breast cancer screenings, diagnostic services and financial assistance while in treatment. As a result, 45 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer. Early detection is the key to reducing breast cancer mortality; When treated early, the five-year survival rate is 99 percent. Komen Knoxville serves Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Caliborne, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Sevier, Scott and Union counties. The financial support from our organization delivers services for patients who would not be able to afford them, said Kim Parks, director of community programs. At a time when state and federal dollars are being cut and demand for free or low-cost breast cancer services is high, we are proud to be a resource that makes an impact and saves lives. An assessment by Komen Knoxville found two areas of local need: access to screening mammograms and breast diagnostic services for the uninsured and medically underserved; and access to financial and other support services for patients in breast cancer treatment. We are confident that through our grantees programs, these services will be available for those who need them, Parks added. Komen Knoxville raises funds through events like its annual Race for the Cure, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22 at Worlds Fair Park. Online registration and fundraising begins June 1 at www.komenknoxville.org. Published May 28, 2016 By Choi Sung-jin A tug-of-war is going on between troubled shipbuilders on one side and their creditor banks and financial regulators on the other over how much money these companies need to get over their collective crisis. The three major shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) plan to raise about 6 trillion won ($5 billion) combined through selling assets, including headquarters offices, and other self-help efforts. However, the financial authorities and creditors said the "self-rescue fund" should be at least as large as 10 trillion won if the shipbuilders are to survive amid uncertain business prospects in the years to come. Financial market sources also agreed on the size of the self-effort fund, taking into account labor and other fixed costs and maturing corporate debentures for the next three years or so. The creditor banks will decide the final size of the fund after the accounting firms complete their audits of the shipyards' financial conditions. A bank official queried, though, "I am not sure whether we should let these accounting companies conduct due diligence, a very important process determining the life or death of the global shipbuilders." Currently, Samjong KMPG and Samil PWC are conducting due diligence of SHI and HHI, respectively. Samjong is also doing a stress test on DSME. Based on the results of these audits and inspections, the financial authorities will decide whether they will let the shipyards keep afloat on their own through debt rescheduling or put them under court receivership. The problem is whether the officials can trust the results of the accounting firms, financial industry sources said. These accounting companies have recently come under fire for aggravating the already ailing businesses with poor auditing and even abusing classified information they acquired during audits for their own gain, the sources added. "Major accounting firms in Korea have fallen far short of playing their original roles as the watchmen of the capital markets,'" said an analyst. Deloitte Anjin, for instance, has been auditing DSME, the starting point of the ongoing restructuring of the shipbuilding industry, since 2010. Anjin has failed to find the problems of the shipbuilder throughout the years, always presenting a "clean" opinion. When DSME was found later to have cooked its books, Anjin acknowledged it had made "presumption errors," belatedly reflecting losses of 2.4 trillion won on DSME's 2013-14 performance, reversing its surplus to a deficit. The accounting firm also changed its words about DSME's sustainability, describing the outlook as "unclear." Samil PWC, an outside auditor of Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), issued in March its auditing report of the shipping operator in financial crunch, concluding that HMM "can subsist as a business corporation." But less than 100 days later, HMM is conducting desperate negotiations over charter fees amid unclear prospects of survival. EY Han Young diagnosed another troubled shipper, Hanjin Shipping, as "capable of subsisting" in April. Later in the month, however, Hanjin proposed to its creditor banks it needed them to reschedule its debts, saying, "Normal operation is next to impossible." These accounting firms blame the businesses for providing them with insufficient data, but financial experts say that's a lame excuse. "Accounting firms conduct their analysis mainly based on past data, and so they are not suitable for auditing shipbuilders, whose businesses depends on order receipts in the future," said a researcher at the Korea Institute of Finance. "There are not many alternatives but to strongly punish the accounting firms when they do such poor work. Clearly, they need to correct the current situation." The accounting firms' moral laxity is another problem. Some of the largest accounting firms, most of which are affiliated with global accounting giants, have long been suspected of using undisclosed information for their own benefit or for that of their clients. "We are aware of controversies about the moral laxity of the accounting firms," said an official at the Financial Supervisory Service. "The government will soon come up with steps to streamline the currently chaotic situation and improve business practices." By Ko Dong-hwan A container ship operated by cash-strapped Hanjin Shipping has been released on Friday days after being impounded in South Africa for unpaid charter fees to its owner. The vessel resumed operation at 5 p.m. (local time) three days after it was detained in Richards Bay on the country's east coast, according to the Korean shipper. "We agreed with the ship owner that the normal vessel operation is the most important for interests of the both parties," Hanjin said. "We agreed to resume operation first and decide on the charter fees through additional negotiations." Hanjin did not identify the owner of the ship with 82,000 deadweight tonnage that carries grain and minerals. The vessel was detained while Hanjin was negotiating with tonnage providers to get rates cut on chartered ships, a crucial first step outlined by bondholders of the financially-troubled company. Hanjin operates 95 container ships and 56 bulk carriers, 91 of them chartered by foreign owners. 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. News / Regional by Thobekile Zhou Matabeleland North minister of State Cain Mathema has appealed to the Chinese government to build a tractor assembly plant in Lupane.Speaking at a handover ceremony of Lupane China-Africa Friendship Primary School Project in Zimbabwe, Mathema sais the assemble plant would assist farmers to acquire equipment."Am requesting your excellency (China ambassador) that most of our farmers here in Lupane are small scale farmers, we would love to have a business joint venture with Chinese firms to have a smaller tractor assemble plant.'That would assist farmers to deliver their produce to markets easily."Lets think around that".China Ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping pledged to assist set up the assemble line.Mathema said Zimbabwe and China have deep historical relations, and the school construction cement that.'It reflects the deep relations with China. Historical . China has always been with us."Our Lupane State University is being built by a Chinese company". By Choi Sung-jin During his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama stopped short of stepping toward the monument dedicated to about 30,000 Korean victims of the American bombing, a few hundred meters away from the central facility. In paying respects to all of the victims, President Obama included "thousands of Koreans," along with over 100,000 Japanese and a dozen Americans held prisoner during the atomic bombing of the city 71 years ago. A foreign ministry spokesman in Seoul said Obama's mention of the Koreans was significant. Some critics, while acknowledging the event's bilateral nature between the U.S. and Japan, pointed out the Korean government's poor diplomatic responses, though. Until about a month ago, the Korean diplomats seemed to have all but given up on Obama paying a visit to the monument for Korean victims. As public opinion called for Seoul to make efforts toward that direction, however, officials belatedly made demands to the U.S. government in "such a strong tone as to astonish experts at the Washington think tanks," diplomatic sources said. U.S. officials said they attempted to minimize President Obama's time and movements within the facility to avoid unwanted encounters with Japanese protesters who demanded an apology, as well as subdue the displeasure of conservatives in the U.S. with the visit itself. Obama stayed at the peace memorial for about 50 minutes. His visit was mainly aimed at emphasizing that the U.S. has accomplished an alliance of rapprochement with a former enemy. "There was little space for Korea to get in, as neither the host nor the guest really wanted that," a diplomatic watcher said. "Yet Seoul could, and should, have pushed harder, because out of the 80,000 Koreans in the Japanese city in 1945, about 50,000 were bombed and 30,000 died, around 10 percent of the total number of victims." Attracting the attention of diplomatic observers in this regard was President Park Geun-hye's visit to Africa during Obama's visit. With President Park half the globe away, the Japanese and U.S. leaders might have felt it less of a burden to reject Seoul's diplomatic request, another observer noted. According to some in the Japanese media, the Tokyo government had considered inviting the Korean president to the G7 meeting to further stress enhanced ties between Japan and Korea particularly since the two governments agreed on ways to settle the sex slavery issue several months ago. A Cheong Wa Dae spokesman accompanying Park's African visit said they have not received any "official" invitation from Tokyo, adding that the president's visit to Africa had been planned long before Obama's Hiroshima visit was decided. Critics, however, pointed to President Park's summit diplomacy being seemingly irrelevant with pressing global events. During the Asia-African conference in April 2015 where leaders of all major countries met and discussed issues concerning the two continents, President Park visited four South American countries. For Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Obama's visit to Hiroshima was a diplomatic victory whereby he could emphasize Japan's victimhood and thus hide or reduce his country's atrocious role as the aggressor. Even Obama's omission of a formal apology seemed to help Abe, as it will make it easier for the nationalistic Japanese leader to forego any apology to the former Asian victims of Japan's invasion, the observers said. In contrast to Seoul's lukewarm response, the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement calling for the separation of regrets of America's atomic bombing of Hiroshima from Japan's "responsibility as a perpetrator." By Ko Dong-hwan After the South Korean Navy fired warning shots at two North Korean vessels that intruded beyond the de facto western maritime border into South Korean waters on Friday morning, the North warned that it will not hesitate to fire upon any ship that trespasses into their territorial waters. The General Staff of the North's Army said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Saturday that the South Korean navy fired the warning shots according to their "premeditated plot" to heighten inter-Korean tension. "The reckless military provocation was evidently prompted by a premeditated sinister plot to bedevil North-South relations and further aggravate the tensions on the Korean Peninsula," the statement said. "From now on, we will open fire on any warship of the South Korean puppet forces without warning if it intrudes even 0.001mm beyond the Military Demarcation Line of the West Sea." South Korean top tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is likely to file a countersuit against Huawei Technologies Co. with a U.S. court in July, industry watchers here said Friday, after the Chinese company launched lawsuits claiming Samsung's infringement of its patents. Earlier this week, Huawei brought two suits against the world's top smartphone maker with a U.S. federal court in California and the Chinese city of Shenzhen, seeking financial compensation for the alleged unlicensed use of 4G technology. Industry watchers forecast that Samsung will take the counteraction sometime as early as July, since it usually takes at least two months to review a complaint in patent infringement battles. "A Samsung-Huawei suit is likely to proceed slowly as the two sides are likely to pursue negotiations outside of the court after judging several circumstances," an industry watcher said. Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, claimed Samsung and its affiliates gained huge profits by using the firm's technology without its permission. Industry watchers further forecast that this will take a different course than an earlier patent battle between Samsung and its U.S. rival Apple Inc. Samsung filed a countersuit against Apple in April 21, 2011, just four days after Apple first launched a patent infringement suit with the U.S. federal court of the Northern District of California. Soon, Samsung filed multiple suits in different countries, including South Korea, Japan and Germany. "It will be very different from a Samsung-Apple suit, which was very spectacle," the watcher said. Experts further forecast that there is very slim chance that Samsung may take legal action here or in other countries since more than half of Huawei phones are sold in the Chinese market. The latest lawsuit highlights the rise of Asian competitors as technology creators and possible patent wars between tech firms. Samsung sold 81.18 million smartphone units around the globe in the first quarter of this year, taking up 23.2 percent of the total, followed by Apple with 14.8 percent and Huawei with 8.3 percent. (Yonhap) A recent hacking attempt on South Korea's Air Force's website apparently used methods mostly employed by North Korean hackers, a military source said Friday, raising suspicion that Pyongyang might have been behind the cyberattack. Military authorities have been conducting an investigation into a suspected hacking attempt into the official website of the Air Force after a malicious code was found on May 11. It remains shutdown, and a temporary website has been in operation. "We cannot determine who might be behind this, but similar hacking methods have mostly been used by North Korean hackers," a source close to the investigation told reporters on condition of anonymity. "Our investigation has found that hackers inserted a malicious code into the main homepage of the website by taking advantage of weak points in its welfare service-related reservation system," he added. The attack on the website infected 10 personal computers run by the Air Force, but none of them led to leaks involving sensitive military or private information, he said. "We are currently conducting a thorough review of the overall Internet system being operated by the Air Force. ... The website can return to normal starting next week if no more problems are found," he said. (Yonhap) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected a hospital under construction as his sixth official public activity since he disclosed his future state policies at the party congress early this month, the North's official news media reported Friday. According to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim, chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, visited the Ryugyong General Ophthalmic Hospital under construction in Pyongyang to give instructions, and said that to provide the people with a modern general ophthalmic hospital was his longtime plan and desire. The agency did not elaborate on when the visit was made. "What is important in building the hospital is to ensure good interior and exterior construction so as to make the most of its characteristics as a multi-functional and general health service center, even manufacturing glasses," Kim was cited as saying. While stressing that the hospital become the country's most developed ophthalmic center, Kim said the party would be entirely responsible for the provision of modern medical equipment and various facilities necessary for the hospital's operation, the agency said. Kim said the hospital is "a powerful demonstration of the advantage of the country's socialist health care system in which the party and the state take full responsibility for the life and health of the people." Kim expressed belief that the hospital would be successfully completed before Oct. 10, the ruling party's founding anniversary, according to the agency. (Yonhap) South Korea on Friday unveiled a set of measures aimed at helping firms that suffered losses from the shutdown of a joint industrial park in North Korea. The measures, worth a total of 520 billion won (US$440 million), were drawn up in a government meeting headed by Lee Suk-joon, the top official in charge of government policy coordination at the Prime Minister's Office, following a review of past support measures and losses suffered by the firms, according to a government press release. In February, South Korea shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex, located in North Korea's border city of the same name, in response to the North's fourth nuclear test and its long-range rocket launch earlier this year. The complex housed 124 South Korean companies which altogether employed more than 54,000 North Korean workers to produce labor-intensive goods such as clothes and utensils. Since its opening in 2004, the park had served as a major source of hard currency for the Pyongyang regime and a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation. Under the latest support measures, insured firms will receive up to 7 billion won to cover losses to their fixed assets such as land, factories and machinery, while uninsured businesses will receive up to half that amount. For losses to liquid assets such as raw materials and finished products, the government will cover up to 2.2 billion won, up from the maximum 1 billion won covered by an existing trade insurance plan. The government also said it will compensate South Korean businessmen working inside the complex for the material and psychological damage caused by the park's shutdown. The compensation will amount to six times the average monthly wage of the North Korean employees at the park. (Yonhap) Opinion / Blogs QN A level Divinity Revision Question|27 May 2016 | COMMENT OVER VIEW ANSWERS QUESTION DEMANDS CONTACTS Discuss the relationship of Kings and prophets -pt 31- The 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?- 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 2~Discuss the relationship.+263777896159 (WhatsApp)Witness Dingani ( like Facebook page)witnessdingani@gmail.com (E-mail)"Success and failure are not matters of chance but choice" - Unkown Opinion / Columnist "After the so called million man march in Harare where crowds were rented and school heads suffered extortion to surrender school buses by force, President Mugabe is at it again. His foreign trips never cease and it seems like he gets sick if he spends a single month in Ha-rare," mourned MDC-T spokesman Obert Chaurura Gutu."So far this year his trips have gobbled a whopping $80 million and there is not a single achievement made through his insatiable appetite for air travel."There is no doubt that President Mugabe loves globe-trotting; here is a man who loves trav-elling and delivering grand and officious speeches regardless how low key the occasion hap-pen to be. His latest trip to Papua New Guinea, which prompted Gutu to write, being one such occasion; Mugabe will be the only foreign head of state attending the meeting.Yes President Mugabe's globe-trotting had gobbled millions of dollars every year and given he has been in power for 36 years and counting it has gobbled billions of dollars and the na-tion has precious little to show for it. The people of Zimbabwe have known President Muga-be is incompetent, corrupt and a murderous tyrant for years and hence the reason why they have risked life and limp to elect MDC on the understanding Tsvangirai and company would bring democratic change and regime change.MDC had the golden opportunity during the GNU to bring about meaningful democratic changes in Zimbabwe and they wasted the chance because MDC leaders were distracted by the gravy train lifestyles being in government offered and they forgot they were there to implement the democratic reforms. It is rich that Comrade Chaurura Gutu should be mourn-ing about President Mugabe's insatiable appetite for luxuries and globe-trotting when it was the same insatiable greed that made MDC forget why they were is the GNU.President Mugabe loves this highflier lifestyle and so did Morgan Tsvangirai the difference between the two men is that whilst the former in all his globe-trotting and wallowing in lux-uries he has never for one minute lost sight of his goal of ruthlessly establishing and retain-ing a one-party cum one-man dictatorship. The latter, Tsvangirai, was so easily distracted from his set task of implementing the democratic reforms. The ease with which President Mugabe has con Tsvangirai and his MDC friends into doing nothing about implementing the reforms, which would have effectively ended his dictatorship, during the GNU years is the stuff of legend!Ever since the day Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe his head swelled beyond all proportion blinding him to reality. Tsvangirai was given the opportunity to hob-nob with the world leaders like President Barack Obama and Tsvangirai did not just have the cheeky of telling them Mugabe had changed but ignored their warning that the tyrant had not changed.Tsvangirai, like Mugabe, loved globe-trotting but did not know where he was goingIf Morgan Tsvangirai had not been so single track minded about the globe-trotting, the chas-ing of women and all the other trappings of high office and instead had implemented the democratic reforms then we would not be in this tragic situation stuck with a wasteful ty-rant but worst of all stuck with the dictatorship! It is ironic that the people who should have ended the dictatorship are mourning about the globe-trotting as if that was an attainable dream with the dictatorship still firmly in place.--------------Nomusa Garikai The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more PRESS RELEASE LaRouche Activists Drive Campaign to Declassify 28 Pages of the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry; Four New Co-Sponsors on H.R. 14 May 27, 2016 (EIRNS)The mobilization by the LaRouche movement is driving the campaign to declassify the 28 pages of the 2002 Joint Congressional Inquiry report. The New Jersey office of the movement reported that about six weeks ago an email came out from Rep. Leonard Lances (R-NJ) office in which he asked constituents to answer a poll on whether or not the classified 28 page chapter of the Congressional Inquiry Report should be released to the public. He explained that he had, in fact, read the classified chapter of the 9/11 Report. In a phone call on May 25 to Lances Washington, D.C. office, the staffer who the LaRouche activist talked to, quoted the result of that polling of his constituents: the result, not included in any later emails, was that 85% of those responding wanted the 28 pages released. The question to constituents was: yes to release, no to not release, or unsure. Rep. Lance regularly does town meetings, and LaRouchePAC activists have intervened in at least six of them over the last several years. On Thursday, May 26, four new House members signed on as co-sponsors to the Walter Jones bill, H.R. 14, bringing the total to 67 members of Congress. The new signers are: New York Reps, Louise Slaughter (D) and Tom Reed (R) and Texas Reps, Al Green (D) and Randy Neugebauer (R). In addition, today, the progressive blog, Peoples Voice published three items from EIRNS and LaRouchePAC on the 28 pages, including a lengthy excerpt from the May 20, 2016 webcast that quotes Jeffrey Steinberg on the spreading mobilization to expose the Anglo-Saudi terror machine and on the real nature of the FBI as a British-created instrument of terror to destroy the United States. PRESS RELEASE Xinhua Ridiculed the G-7 Fantasies, Calls for the Members To Join the Real World May 27, 2016 (EIRNS)The Xinhua reporters on the scene of the G-7 Summit in Ise, Japan, published an hilarious analysis of the clown show it was. As the G-7 leaders gathered, they write, "ambitions are running high for guiding the world. However, the rich country club is embarrassingly finding its clout declining as the global political and economic landscape changes." They quote Abes call for the G-7 to take "leadership in guiding the world by showing the best path forward to achieve regional and global peace and prosperity." Such an aspiration from the rotating presidency, good in nature, is hard to actualize as the G7 is facing increasing difficulties not only in steering the global economy but also in bridging differences among its own members." The authors note that as recently as the turn of the century the G-7 nations represented two-thirds of the world economy, but that has now fallen to less than half. They note that Japan, at least, has "called for boosting public spending to drive global growth," but that the US and Germany oppose that, favoring austerity. They also note the dumping of Russia from the G-8 "scrapped the United States and the major European countries an important channel to seek dialogue with Russia." With the decline of the G-7, they add, "mechanisms including the Group of 20 are becoming more relevant and progressive platforms for world leaders to discuss ways to cope with global challenges, including financial crises and impediments to the world economic recovery." I n fact, China is now aggressively organizing for the G-20 meeting in September, which will be held in China this year. Xinhua then calls for the West to wake up to reality: "The Group of Seven, on its part, should have a clear picture of the changing situation, abandon its overweening and hegemonic behavior, and jointly seek a new model of international relations featuring no confrontation, mutual respect, and inclusiveness with the developing countries. The seven of worlds most industrialized nations could indeed play a more constructive role in making the world more prosperous and balanced. The rich countries should meddle less in issues that could intensify regional tensions, but instead contribute more to humanitarian and environmental agendas for which they bear unshirkable responsibilities due to historical and realistic reasons." They conclude ironically by quoting Time magazine: "Once upon a time the G7 countries ruled the world. Today, not so much." PRESS RELEASE London Is the World Center of Drug Money Laundering May 27, 2016 (EIRNS)Italian book author Roberto Saviano held a speech in the House of Commons May 26, exposing London as the world center of money laundering. Saviano had been invited by Labour MPer David Lammy, who had told the Independent that he is afraid that the home-price bubble in London is inflated by drug money. Saviano was also scheduled to speak at Kings College. The text of his speech at the House of Commons is available only in Italian so far. However, he granted an interview to the Independent on Sunday, in which what he said had more or less the same content. "The City of London is the money-laundering centre of the worlds drug trade, according to an internationally acclaimed crime expert. U.K. banks and financial services have ignored so-called "know your customer" rules designed to curb criminals abilities to launder the proceeds of crime, Roberto Saviano warned. Mr Saviano, author of the international bestseller Gomorrah, which exposed the workings of the Neapolitan crime organisation Camorra, said: "The British treat it as not their problem because there arent corpses on the street." "His warning follows a National Crime Agency (NCA) threat assessment which stated: We assess that hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars of criminal money almost certainly continue to be laundered through UK banks, including their subsidiaries, each year." On drug traffic, "Mexico is its heart and London is its head," Saviano said. Saviano referred to former UN anti-Drug Czar Antonio Maria Costa, who said that banks have been dependent on drug money because of the crisis of liquidity, and described the case of HSBC, which was fined a giant sum of money by US authority, but this had no repercussions in the UK. PRESS RELEASE More Warnings of War from American and Russian Voices May 27, 2016 (EIRNS)Two leading voices opposing the Obama Administration and NATOs escalating provocations against Russia have spoken out this week again, warning of the imminent danger of general war. A dire warning came from Gen.-Col. Leonid Ivashov, President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, in remarks to the Russian publication, Zavtra, published Thursday. In Ivashovs view, these are serious preparations for war. And not only in and around the northwestern borders of our country, but along Russias entire perimeter. The U.S. National Security Strategic, adopted early last year, marked the start of active preparations for the military phase. It was stated there that there exists no multi-polar world, because there is no alternative to American leadership. The reason for these military preparations, he said, is that Russia is quietly, but steadily changing the world. As a result, America is losing its leadership of the world and blaming the Russians for that. In his latest weekly interview with New York City radio host John Batchelor, Prof. Stephen Cohen warned that "hot war," not "Cold War" is the danger faced now because of Obamas and NATOs actions. Prof. Cohen escalated his attacks on Western policies, by directly comparing the military buildup along the Russian border by NATO to the buildup by Hitler before the launching of Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union in 1941. There were no parallel buildups of NATO forces at any time during the Cold War, which prompted Cohen to warn that we may already be beyond the danger of a new Cold War, and facing a hot war. US and NATO officials, Cohen warned, have recently made clear this is only the beginning of what will be a very large-scale and permanent amassing of military power on the new Eastern Front. And Moscow, while remembering the German invasion of 1941, is reacting accordingly by mobilizing its own forces on its Western territories and promising more counter-measures. Even scarier is that even though the alleged threat of ongoing Russian aggression, which Washington and Brussels officials cite as justification, clearly does not exist, no critical questions about the NATO build-up have appeared in the American mainstream media, only applause and calls for more and bigger military exercises, as a recent New York Times editorial put it. PRESS RELEASE Setting Up the SCO Development Bank Is on the Agenda, Says Kazakh Foreign Minister May 27, 2016 (EIRNS)During the upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Ministers of Finance, scheduled to be held in Bishkek in September, the issue of establishment of the SCO Development Bank will be discussed, Foreign Affairs Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov said this week, and Kazinform reported today. Idrissov spoke at the 3rd meeting of the Heads of the SCO Supreme Financial Control Authorities in Astana. He said, "The SCOs trade and economic dimension is very important and promising for Kazakhstan, since there are many plans for development of this dimension within the Organization. We have to carry out quite serious work on creating the mechanisms to ensure economic, trade and investment activity within the SCO. The point at issue is the SCO Development Bank." It is evident that the proposal is at a nascent stage, and it has not been revealed so far, what will be the source and amount of financing of this bank. Nonetheless, a development bank which will participate in the development of SCO countries will be a welcome addition. An SCO Development Bank will add to the expanding credit sources and availability from the new AIIB, BRICS New Development Bank and others. The proposal was first floated by Russia. On Dec. 1, 2015, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put forward such a proposal, as reported by Itar-Tass, cited by the Caspian Times. "The creation of mechanisms for financial provision for the organizations projects is long overdue," the minister said at a meeting of SCO foreign ministers, the article noted. "Our financiers consider the scheme of the establishment of the SCO Development Bank, as best likened to the successful operations of the Eurasian Development Bank in the region, for being the most effective. We currently are discussing this option with colleagues," Lavrov added on that occasion. Subsequently, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang also endorsed the SCO Development Bank proposal. Right under our feet. Thats where David Perry believes the next agricultural revolution will come from the millions of unseen microbes in soil that play a crucial but complicated role in the well-being of plants. Perry believes that he can repackage beneficial bacteria and fungi as something akin to human probiotics and deliver them to plants to alter their microbiome in ways that will boost growth, increase resistance to drought, disease and pests, and reduce farmers reliance on fertilizers and pesticides. Like Perrys Cambridge, Mass.-based Indigo, a slew of other start-ups and all of the top international agro-industrial companies BASF, Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta, Arysta LifeScience -- are rushing into a market that analysts believe could more than double in value, to $4.5 billion, by 2019. Advertisement That shift has created a buyout market for California start-ups. BayerCropScience paid $425 million for AgraQuest of Davis, Calif., in 2012, largely for its enormous collection of bacterial strains. In 2013, Monsanto acquired key assets of Agradis and Synthetic Genomics, two related La Jolla-based companies that own large microbial libraries as well as patented genome analysis techniques. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. DuPont bought Taxon Biosciences Inc. of Tiburon, Calif., for an undisclosed amount last year. Big Bio and Big Ag arent more than a degree removed from Indigo, either. Astrazeneca, Nestle Health Sciences and Bayer CropScience formed a strategic partnership last May with Flagship Ventures, the MIT-rooted fund whose in-house incubator, VentureLabs, birthed Indigo as Symbiota in 2014 and reflagged it as Indigo in February. Indigo will offer two commercial products this year, said Perry, who came aboard as chief executive last year. The companys laboratory and field tests of a microbe-based seed coating showed a 10% increase in yield for several crops, including corn, soy, wheat, cotton, sorghum, canola, chickpeas, tomatoes and strawberries, Perry said. If we do that well, we make healthier plants, and healthier plants have a greater yield and need fewer chemicals and fertilizers and water to produce that yield, said Perry, a serial entrepreneur who previously launched several companies in California (including one that suffered a spectacular implosion during the dot-com bust). University of Arizona microbiologist Betsy Arnold was wooed to work on Indigos science team by MIT bioengineer and inventor Geoffrey Von Maltzahn, a principal in Flagship Venture Labs. Fresh out of Duke University with an undergraduate degree in biology, Arnold was collecting leaf samples at the Smithsonians Barro Colorado nature preserve in Panama to see what was eating them and what was causing disease. In a petri dish held up to the light, the leaves looked like a stained-glass window. Arnold thought maybe she was just a sloppy microbiologist, but soon realized that she had stumbled into leaves packed with biological hitchhikers, or endophytes, colonizing leaf tissues. It blew my little mind, said Arnold, who soon changed her focus. She now runs a microbiology lab at the university that collects and studies this type of fungi. She said she played a little hard to get when MITs Von Maltzahn came calling. Im really happy with the academic lifestyle and I didnt feel the need necessarily to interact with industry, she said. Arnold soon was intrigued by Von Maltzahs approach, which narrows down from the millions of microbes found in soil to just the ones that have migrated into plant tissue -- like the ones she found in the leaves in Panama. Those should be the microbes the plant has selected as most beneficial, Indigos science team theorizes. I am really hopeful, and that doesnt come with my experience with outside parties, Arnold said. That comes from my experience working with plants and microbes and recognizing the potential for whats here. Scientists believe that so-called agricultural microbials offer enormous promise, though not without equally big challenges. Evolution may be the biggest hurdle. With vast populations and fast generation times, microbes have the upper hand, warned Joel Sachs, a UC Riverside microbiologist who has studied rhizobia bacteria and pea plants. If you think about an evolutionary battle between a plant and bacteria, bacteria are going to win every time, Sachs said. Theres very little evidence, when you actually do experiments, that theres been anything thats really helpful he added. Surendra Dara, a University of California Cooperative Extension entomologist who has been seeking biological alternatives to chemical fumigants used on soil, said he has seen mixed results from experiments with several microbial treatments already on the market. The microbes not only successfully out-competed others that are harmful to the plant, they also boosted plant growth, he said. Unfortunately, a lot of growers dont have faith in these products, he said. A lot of scientists are getting into this area because there is some promise. Scientists have known since the 19th century that microbes could be beneficial to plants, not just causes of disease. They found that rhizobia bacteria, which form nodules on the roots of legumes such as beans and clover, helped convert nitrogen into a more usable form for plants in exchange for feeding off the plants sugars. That helped explain why crop rotation had helped keep fields fertile for centuries. But microbes largely were left behind amid the rise of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Those ushered in the biggest sustained expansion in food supply in human history, but left a legacy of environmental damage, including nitrates in water and toxic traces in food. The industry has since turned back toward the soil, combing the combined plant-microbe hologenome for the key to fighting pests and disease. Snippets of that DNA now are routinely spliced into a plants genome. A gene in Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil bacterium that produces a protein lethal to several species of corn borer, has been added to corn. But genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have run up against suspicious consumers and food health advocates, who fear that they will introduce strains that could later prove dangerous while giving corporations a monopoly over seeds. Pitched battles over labeling such foods have been waged in several states and in Congress. Many farmers now find themselves in an uncomfortable position of choosing between chemicals and GMO crops to boost yields any further, said Perry, who grew up on a farm in Tulsa, Okla. For the first time, farmers are sort of being vilified for their choices in how they grow their crops, Perry said. Sometime this year, Perry hopes to offer them an alternative that came from right below their feet. ALSO Faraday Future seeks approval to build electric cars in California California regulators approve battery storage to help avoid summer blackouts Watchdog group shows cozy emails between state regulators and utility executives geoffrey.mohan@latimes.com Follow me: @LATgeoffmohan Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has jumped into the dispute over whether Norwegian Air International is competing fairly against its U.S.-based rivals and she is taking a position critical of the Obama administration. Norwegian Air, a subsidiary of Norway-based Norwegian Air Shuttle, one of Europes biggest low-cost carriers, has been accused by U.S.-based carriers and their unions of skirting U.S. and European labor laws by establishing a base in Ireland but hiring pilots out of Asia to save money. Norwegian has denied the charges, and a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation said the agency investigated and found no basis to deny Norwegian a permit to fly to the U.S. from Ireland on that basis. Advertisement See the most-read stories this hour >> Norwegian already flies from its base in Norway, but a base in Ireland would give the carrier greater access to U.S. airports. Norwegians chief executive, Bjorn Kjos, urged the Obama administration to move ahead with the permits final approval, saying the low-cost airline will create much needed competition and affordable fares to consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. But Clintons labor campaign director, Nikki Budzinski, released a statement saying that Clinton was urging the Obama administration to reject Norwegians permit. Workers in the U.S. airline industry deserve rules of the road that support a strong workforce with high labor standards not attempts by airlines to flout labor standards and outsource good-paying jobs, Budzinski said. Clinton rival Sen. Bernie Sanders also called on the federal government to deny Norwegians permit. We must do everything we can to prevent a global race to the bottom in the airline industry, he said in a statement. No word yet if Republican nominee Donald Trump will side with the Obama administration or with Clinton and Sanders on the dispute. ALSO SpaceX successfully lands rocket at sea for third time What would it take to put CBS and Viacom together again? LAX arrivals are slowest at getting to the gate after landing, study finds hugo.martin@latimes.com For more travel news, follow Hugo Martin on Twitter: @hugomartin Every great city deserves a significant symphony. Few acquire them. Often for prosaic reasons. Mozarts 38th symphony is known as the Prague Symphony because it had its premiere during the composers first visit to the city. Vaughan Williams Second Symphony, the London, evokes a quotidian day in the life of the British capital. Arvo Parts Symphony No. 4, Los Angeles, however, is otherworldly. It is the penetratingly spiritual Estonian composers portrait of the City of Angels, with emphasis exclusively on heavenly beings. A work of iridescent beauty, the symphony for strings, percussion and harp eases us out of our daily metropolitan grind and summons our radiant guardian angels. No other city has a symphony anything like it. Advertisement What ultimately makes Parts Los Angeles special to L.A. is how well it suits Walt Disney Concert Hall. A Los Angeles Philharmonic commission, the symphony was given its premiere by Esa-Pekka Salonen in 2009, and Thursday night Gustavo Dudamel brought it back to conclude the second program in his Mozart & Part festival. The performance was intense and luminous. Part was on hand and came on stage for a bow looking deeply affected by it, warmly embracing Dudamel. The string writing is exceptional. The violins, enhanced by shimmering crotales and resplendent bells, create a sonic halo that hovers over the audiences head. What other 73-year-old composer (Parts age when he wrote the symphony) can still hear such high frequencies? The heaving lower strings and bass drum are the ground shifting beneath our feet. Our angels must be summoned because we possess inner devils, and the transformations to higher planes in the symphony are not always without violence. This is music meant for Disneys translucent acoustics. But the inspiration of Dudamels program went beyond that to create a spiritual space that was both uniquely Disney and something beyond. The first half of the concert began with Parts poignant Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten and with a video by Bill Viola, Inverted Birth, that the artist describes as five stages of awakening through a series of violent transformations. Gustavo Dudamel, pianist Inon Barnatan and the L.A. Phil perform Mozarts Piano Concerto No. 17. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times ) Mozart came between the two. The Piano Concerto No. 17, with Inon Barnatan as soloist, seemed, perhaps, a little out of place on this Partean cloud nine. But it reminded us that this was still a symphony concert, and Barnatans playing was lively and wonderfully expressive. In the slow movement, moreover, Mozart offers unmeasured silences that produce a momentary sensation of being lost in space, which is hardly usual in a Classical period concerto. A cosmic vision Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil perform Arvo Parts Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times ) But back to Part and Viola. The Cantus, written in 1977 for strings and bell and but six minutes long, sets a scene. A bell tolls. High strings slowly begin a series of descending lines. Lower strings move more slowly, the lower you go, the slower. There is a long crescendo throughout. The system is simple, but the acoustical effect is disconcertingly not. The ear doesnt know where, so to speak, to look. The result is downright cosmic, a visceral sense of planets in motion. Benjamin Britten is no more, but the world works on a grand plan. Violas video from 2014 is only slightly longer than Parts Cantus. It was shown on the enormous vertical screen that had been created a dozen years ago for the Tristan Project, the collaboration between Viola, Peter Sellars and Salonen in a unique production of Wagners Tristan and Isolde. Inverted Birth is, as the Tristan Project was, a purification ceremony. An actor, Norman Scott, stands covered in a black, oily substance. On the soundtrack a newly released recording of Violas early work in experimental music shows him to have been an engrossing musician are drops of a viscous fluid and a deep bass drone. The fluid gushes up rather than down, changes color and eventually become a clear liquid washing Scott, who experiences wrenching trauma, clean and pure. Bill Viola takes a bow after his video and sound installation Inverted Birth was shown at Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times ) To watch this in the darkened Disney as part of an evening of Mozart and Part is a radically different and overwhelming experience than a casual viewing of the video in a museum or gallery. It also produces a radically different effect than the typical concert experimentation with video as accompaniment to, or illustration of, music. One went back into the concert hall after intermission with a mind for Parts 35-minute symphony. L.A. summons its angels Dudamels approach to the Los Angeles had its obvious differences with Salonens, which the L.A. Phil recorded on a stunning CD on the ECM label. Salonen supplies glistening clarity and wondrously penetrating bass. Dudamel offers his fuller, more all-embracing sound. He is also slower. But Part happens to be a hands-on composer, and one can be fairly certain that in both cases this is exactly what the composer wanted. Arvo Part and Esa-Pekka Salonen at the 2009 world premiere of Parts Symphony No. 4, Los Angeles, commissioned by the L.A. Phil. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times ) It is also worth noting that for all its spiritual unearthly intent, the symphony is ultimately of use in this imperfect world. At the premiere, Part added a political context, dedicating the symphony to the then-jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who the composer felt would be a far fairer leader of Russia than its president. The angels went into action. In 2014, Vladimir Putin pardoned Khodorkovsky, who shortly afterward attended a performance of the Los Angeles in Zurich. A work of iridescent beauty, the symphony...summons our radiant guardian angels. No other city has a symphony anything like it. Mark Swed on Arvo Parts Los Angeles The final performance of The Angels program of Mozart & Part was Friday night. On Saturday and Sunday, the L.A. Phil concludes Mozart & Part with Dudamel conducting the premiere of a new version for strings of an earlier Part choral work surrounded by two Mozart symphonies. Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mozart and Part: World Premiere of Greater Antiphons When: 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday also Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mozart and Part: Organ Works When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles Cost: $26.50-$213.50 Info: (323) 850-2000, www.laphil.org MORE: Dudamel makes Mozart and Arvo Part a matter of life and death 109 cellos and one obsession in Walt Disney Concert Hall Matthew Aucoins Evidence is evidence of a young composer on the rise Why Andriessens daring and difficult Theatre of the World will stand the test of time mark.swed@latimes.com On Twitter: @markswed Hot off their debut at Baselworld Watch and Jewellry Show, the annual spring event in Basel, Switzerland, comes several new, uber-luxe watches to the U.S. market from the 165-year-old Swiss luxury timepiece maker Patek Philippe, considered to be among the most prestigious brands in the world for watch aficionados. During private media appointments at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills this week, representatives from Patek Philippe showed an assortment of new watches for women and men, including the World Time Ref. 5230, named one of the brands most complicated designs. The model, which has been made for about 80 years, has been updated, and the case, dial and hand designs have been reworked. The new watch also shows the change in global cities designated for various time zones. The rose-gold version of the World Time Ref. 5230 watch from Patek Philippes Complications collection has a complex design that has been updated. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Advertisement The World Time Ref. 5230 comes in 18-karat rose gold and 18-karat white gold. Heres a look at the backside of the watch. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) According to timepiece news websites, this watch is more than $48,000 almost the price of a BMW 5 Series car. According to Jessica Kingsland, public relations manager for Patek Philippe USA, the price range for the mens and womens timepieces shown in Beverly Hills was $20,000 to $400,000. Gearys Beverly Hills, the luxury jewelry and houseware items store, has a location dedicated to Patek Philippe timepieces on North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and a flagship Gearys location is on North Beverly Drive. The store also has Rolex-specific stores at the Westfield Century City shopping center in Los Angeles and on North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Larry Pettinelli, Patek Philippes U.S. president, holds one of the Swiss timepiece companys latest luxury watches during a private showing at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on May 25. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Gearys will receive the new [Patek Philippe] timepieces this fall, Kingsland said in an email. Patek Philippe & Co. was founded in 1851 by Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek and French watchmaker Adrien Philippe. Heres a look at some of the new Patek Philippe watches. A white-gold mens watch from Patek Philippes Grand Complications collection. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) A rose-gold womens watch from Patek Philippes Calatrava collection. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) A rose-gold womens watch from Patek Philippes Complications collection. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) A rose-gold mens watch from Patek Philippes Complications collection. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Follow me on Twitter: @marquesharper Comedian, actor and marijuana activist Tommy Chong celebrated his 78th birthday at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake Tuesday night at a hybrid event that managed to be part touching tribute, part pot-themed comedy show and part product launch party (his name and likeness appears on packaging for the new Chongs Choice cannabis brand) attended by more than 700 people. And, despite the hazy clouds of cannabis smoke filling the venue, it presented a pretty clear picture of how the stoner class might socialize in a future when marijuana use has moved more mainstream right down to having a proud gift-bag sponsor, Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand Photo/Genics + Co. whose product line includes a $42 hashish-scented candle. (This is where we need to remind readers that although several U.S. states have legalized adult recreational use, here in the Golden State the legal purchase of cannabis is restricted to those holding valid recommendation paperwork issued by a California-licensed physician.) The weed theme was in overdrive with pinatas shaped like pot leaves; a leaf-emblazoned green, white and black version of the Stars and Stripes; a bar serving up drinks like the Gin and Chronic (gin, pineapple, grapefruit cordial, celery shrub and East Imperials Burma tonic water) and ladling out Blue Dream punch (a combination of tequila, aloe vera juice, bianco vermouth, cucumber, lime and orange bitters); and a dedicated smokers lounge thick with smoke that all but obscured a table full of gummy worms, Rice Krispies Treats, Oreo cookies, popcorn and chocolate chip cookies (that by our count was decimated in under half an hour). The capper to a scene already bordering on the surreal was a folding table in one corner crowded with items that resembled disassembled smoking devices. A sign just to the right read: Not a pipe interactive pipe museum. Advertisement One of the most popular locations at the event was an in-house medical marijuana dispensary stocked with Chongs Choice product (flanked by racks of brand T-shirts and bowls of give-away stickers, naturally) accessible to anyone who was able to present the proper legal paperwork. The only thing that proved more popular at least in the early part of the evening, anyway was Delta 9 Herbal Evaluations on-site setup, including a doctor to provide legally valid, on-the-spot recommendations, with event organizers picking up the $40 tab for the first 50 patients. (Our favorite overheard line of the night came from a seventysomething gentleman waiting in this line who, apropos of nothing, turned to the crazy-haired hipster next to him and said: I was there when Abbie Hoffman turned himself in. (Hoffman was an activist/anarchist of the 60s and 70s who famously skipped bail and hid from authorities for half a dozen years before surrendering in September 1980.) Shortly after 10 p.m., the party buzz shifted from the dispensary and makeshift medical clinic areas to the studios 5,000-square-foot Stage 1 space, where, for the next hour and a half, a lineup of comedians took turns riffing on a wide range of topics although almost all of them made at least a passing reference to marijuana in front of an audience that included producer Lou Adler (who directed Cheech & Chongs feature-film debut Up in Smoke) and the green-suited Bishop Don Magic Juan at whose table this reporter accidentally found himself sitting at. (Youre at the Bishops table, we were told before given the heave-ho.) The free-flowing, smoke-blowing comedy jam was hosted by comedian James Davis, who kicked things off by pointing to the birthday boy seated in the audience. Look at Tommy Chong, Davis said with a note of bewilderment, Hes 78. His Facebook [account] is popping, and he looks good. He looks like the guy in those Dos Equis commercials. The event included an on-site dispensary as well as a doctor to issue the recommendations required under state law for medical marijuana patients to legally consume cannabis. (Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times ) Then he looked into the crowd and asked, Where [are] my indicas at? Where [are] my sativas? name-checking the two different species of cannabis plant. After receiving enthusiastic applause, he observed, If youre used to popping bottles, well, youre not that guy tonight. Among those taking the stage were Andrew Santino, Eric Andre, Jordan Rock, Luenell, Saturday Night Live cast member Jon Rudnitsky (who, for the record, does a decent Donald Trump impression), Erik Griffin (familiar to Workaholics fans as Montez Walker) and identical twin brothers Kenny and Keith Lucas (creators of Lucas Bros. Moving Co., the Fox TV series featuring animated versions of themselves) whose mirrored mumbling-meets-mimicry stage patter was enough to make even the stone-cold soberest in the audience feel a little tripped out. Last up was Chongs longtime partner in comedy crime, Cheech Marin, who took to the stage ever so briefly to offer a birthday greeting that included the appropriately Cheech-like observation: You [expletive] made it to 78, man! After that, a frosted-green sheet cake decorated with spliff-shaped birthday candles was brought forward, and Chong headed to the stage. Well, happy birthday to me, he said in his familiar semi-bewildered-sounding drawl. After blowing out the candles, he made it clear that at least one of his birthday wishes was to make it an annual affair. Im going to make this an annual event as long as I can. We need more than just 4/20, Chong said. We need 5/24. And, instead of giving me gifts, Im going to give you gifts next year thats a promise. Because I dont need anything; Ive got everything I need. Ive got the most gorgeous wife in the world Shelby shes the reason Im here today. If it wasnt for that lady, Id probably be in Vancouver. So thank you very much and enjoy the rest of the night. Does the world need another holiday to celebrate all things marijuana-related? Probably not, especially since, despite the rising tide of public acceptance, the Drug Enforcement Agency still considers pot a Schedule 1 drug. (That category, which includes heroin and LSD, is for substances with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.) But then again, in an era when there are more celebratory days than the 365 days in a calendar year (May 27, for example, happens to be National Cellophane Tape Day, National Grape Popsicle Day, National Dont Fry Day and National Heat Awareness Day), the bar is obviously set pretty low. And, frankly, if anyone can start a grass-roots movement for a second stoner holiday, its Tommy Chong, whose bearded visage might well belong on the Mt. Rushmore of the modern marijuana movement. On a side note, if the wished-for annual celebration actually does happen, a quick check of the online National Day Calendar reveals that it will join other May 24 observances: National Escargot Day, National Scavenger Hunt Day and Aviation Maintenance Technician Day. ALSO: Marley Natural launches high in the Hollywood Hills California is poised to become the center of Cannabis culture Bernie Sanders gives Tommy Chong the cold shoulder but it is chill For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me @ARTschorn. UPDATES: May 28, 2016, 10:27 a.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly characterized the sponsorship of Photo/Genics + Co. That brand was a gift-bag sponsor, not the events presenting sponsor. Youve had it. Enough of traffic on the 405, the wait list for a seat at SoulCycle, the lines at Trader Joes. Grab a group of friends and haul out: Its time to start thinking about summer vacation, so why not make it a fitness reboot? These three fitness destinations are easy drives, all about 100 miles from DTLA (although, sorry, you might still have to get on the 405 for a bit). They offer healthful options galore that will get you out of your house and your head. OJAI Ojai enjoys a year-round Mediterranean climate and lots of ways to stay active. Watch for the mystical pink moment when the sun starts to go down and the mountains radiate with various hues of pink and red. Advertisement Where to stay The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa is famous for its award-winning Spa Ojai. The cozy Su Nido Inn is in the heart of the village -- and also hosts small yoga classes. The Lavender Inn is a historic bed and breakfast, also in downtown. Where to get your burn on Ojai is surrounded by mountains, so hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, even horseback riding are all options close to downtown. The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy manages more than 2,000 acres of public access lands crisscrossed with beautiful trails of all levels, easily accessible by foot and bike. Nearby Los Padres National Forest presents opportunities for hiking, climbing, camping, fishing and swimming. Local outfitter Trails by Potter offers guided hikes and outdoor adventures. Or, scale some rocks with certified operator Alex Bury of Ojai Rock Climbing. For guided horseback rides contact Ojai Valley Trail Riding Company. The Oaks at Ojai offers day passes for all kinds of classes, including Zumba, aqua aerobics, belly dancing and more. Sacred Space Yoga Studio specializes in Iyengar and restorative yoga, also classes in intuitive movement and the Feldenkrais movement method. LA JOLLA (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times ) Visitors have been drawn for decades to the Spanish-style seaside village, and there are plenty of active options in, on and around the ocean. Where to stay The La Valencia is a Mediterranean-inspired classic pink hotel right on the La Jolla Cove. The 1926 hotel has long hosted film stars, writers and social icons and recently underwent a gorgeous renovation. Where to get your burn on La Jolla Cove is protected, so no surfing or boogie boarding is allowed, which means its a great place for kayaking, snorkeling and diving. La Jolla Kayak has kayak and bike rentals and tours. Surf Diva Surf School offers surf and stand-up paddleboard private and group lessons, as well as rentals. Trilogy Sanctuary, a new yoga/juicing retreat just blocks from La Valencia, offers Sky Yoga classes -- aerial yoga classes of all levels on its rooftop. Theres also a FitWall studio in nearby Solana Beach (the FitWall apparatus is sort of like a static rock climbing machine that uses your body weight for a challenging workout). BIG BEAR Once the snow season is over, Big Bear Lake abounds with fitness fun. And its quite amazing how clear and star-studded the skies are up there. Where to stay Your best lodging option is to rent a charming cabin: vrbo.com and bigbearcabins.com are good places to start. Bear Creek Resort has private cabins with hot tubs and spa packages. And Lagonita Lodge offers a $99 room if you call the resort directly at (909) 866-6531 and mention Wolf Total Fitness (see below). Where to get your burn on Whether youre an experienced mountain biker or just a beginner, Snow Summit is your spot. Its lift-served bike park features advanced trails and upper-level features such as bridges, step-ups and berms. If you dont know what those are, you should start on the Small Wonder beginner trail and new Skill Builder Park. Details: teambigbear.com. Wolf Total Fitness has a slew of classes and offers a day pass for $15 and a weekly pass for $28. Big Bear Yoga offers plenty of indoor classes, but for a real treat, teachers take groups of six or more up the mountain and lead a class on a cliff, in the trees or lakeside. Peg Moline is author of The Doctors Book of Natural Health Remedies. health@latimes.com ALSO What you need to know to protect your skin this summer Grab your yoga mat and hit the road for one of these summertime festivals Surfing icon Laird Hamilton shares his 10-point plan to live forever With the unofficial start of summer comes the deep dive into outdoor, exposed-in-the-sun activities synonymous with Southern California living. But all of that extra time at the beach, road-tripping, hiking, volleyball playing, barbecuing or even just driving around when its so crazy hot and sunny outside comes at a price, including burned skin, accelerated aging and even cancer. Yet Americans arent getting the memo and taking action to protect themselves, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Only 14.3% of men and 29.9% of women reportedly regularly use sunscreen on their face and other exposed skin. Advertisement And the National Cancer Institute reports skin melanoma cases have been rising on average 1.4% each year over the last 10 years. If thats not enough to convince you to start adding sunscreen to your daily routine, theres this: A LOreal Research study reports that 80% of visible facial aging seems to be caused by UV exposure. We are more susceptible to melanoma in L.A. because we have more chances of sunburns thanks to our year-round amazing weather and beach culture, says Beverly Hills dermatologist and facial plastic surgeon Dr. Ronald Moy, former co-chief of the UCLA division of dermatology. Experts share seven sunscreen tips to help keep you safe this Memorial Day weekend, and beyond: 1. AVOID THE SUN AT ITS PEAK This one is obvious, but bears repeating: Limit your time in the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when rays are at their most intense. 2. LOTION IS NOT ENOUGH Wear UV protection sunglasses, broad-brimmed hats and protective clothing including Ultraviolet Protection Factor (particularly UPF 30+) clothing. People who wear just sunscreen get more burned than someone also wearing a hat or other clothing, says Sonya Lunder, senior analyst for the Environmental Working Group. 3. SLATHER IT ON Apply about a shotglass full of sunscreen every two hours, says Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi. Every time you sweat it out you have to apply it again. And in case you are wondering: All skin colors need sun protection. 4. READ THE LABEL Look for a broad spectrum sunscreen, which will protect you from both UVB and UVA rays. UVB rays are the chief cause of sunburn and skin inflammation, says Moy. UVA rays play a major role in skin aging and wrinkling. Both UVB and UVA rays can cause gene mutations and skin cancer. 5. RETHINK SPRAYS & TOWELETTES Sprays and towelettes may not give uniform adequate protection, says Moy. Traditional sunscreen cream is the best way to ensure maximum protection. 6. OH BABY The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not exposing babies under 6 months to sun. If unavoidable, apply an SPF 15 or higher sunscreen. 7. ARE SUPER-HIGH SPFS WORTH IT? Just for context, SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays, SPF 30 blocks 97% and SPF 50 blocks 98%, says Moy. SPF 15 or higher is recommended. EIGHT TOP SUNSCREENS There are conflicting opinions about some sunscreen ingredients. (For example, safety flags have been raised about retinyl palmitate and oxybenzone, ingredients commonly found in some sunscreens, so be sure to scrutinize labels.) For guidance, we turned in part to the Environmental Working Group, the nonprofit organization that each year releases a lengthy list of its top picks for healthy sunscreens, as well as Consumer Reports recommendations. Here are eight that hit a variety of price points: California Baby Summer Blend Sunscreen SPF 30 ($19.99, californiababy.com) Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50 sunscreen (About $8.99 at retailers including Target and Wal-Mart) La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Melt-in Sunscreen Milk and La Roche-Posay Anthelios 50 Mineral Daily Tone Correcting Primer ($35.99, $39.99, LaRoche-Posay.us) Ocean Potion Protect & Nourish Sport Cooling Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 30 (about $4.99 at drugstore.com and other retailers) Neutrogena Beach Defense Sunscreen Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 30 (About $7.99 at Target and other retailers) MDSolarSciences Mineral Moisture Defense SPF 50 ($39, mdsolarsciences.com) Sun Bum Signature Face Stick SPF 30 ($14.99, shop.trustthebum.com) health@latimes.com Welcome to your three-day Memorial Day weekend. How that happened, were not entirely sure, but well take it. Which means its the start of the summer season, more or less, and thus weve been thinking about where to eat brunch in Los Angeles, barbecue and lots of ice cream. So Jonathan Gold reviews Hanjip, a newish Korean barbecue place which is not in Koreatown but in Culver City. And Jenn Harris checks out the new wave of chefs who are adding brunch to their menus, elevating the omelets and eggs Benedict and biscuits and gravy to new levels. And Noelle Carter and I profile ice cream makers, one old school and one whos doing crazy science experiments in his ice cream lab. In other words: Enjoy your holiday weekend. Amy Scattergood Advertisement Korean barbecue in Culver City Chef Chris Oh holds beer and a 48-ounce tomahawk steak at Hanjip, a Korean barbecue restaurant. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times ) At Hanjip, the newish Korean barbecue restaurant from chef Chris Oh and restaurateur Stephane Bombet, there is much meat, including an excellent rib-eye and a tomahawk steak that will run you $150. Also: watermelon soju with pop rocks. You are not in Koreatown, are you? Brunch, brunch and more brunch The crispy potatoes with smoked salmon, egg yolk, seaweed and roe at the Alma restaurant at the Standard in West Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times ) Who doesnt love brunch, especially on long weekends? Lately, L.A.'s brunch game has been seriously elevated, with many of the citys best chefs adding it to their menus. Mozza, Connie & Teds, Animal and Alma are all now serving happy weekend daytime food. Welcome to summer. Old school ice cream A vintage photograph at Fosselmans Ice Cream shop. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) Among the many ice cream shops in this town (check out our updated list), Fosselmans Ice Cream Co. is among the oldest, a neighborhood shop thats been in the same Alhambra location since 1941. I talk to the Fosselman brothers who run the place, almost a century after their grandfather started the business in Iowa. New wave ice cream Tyler Malek is head ice cream maker for Salt & Straw, which means he\'s the dreamer in chief of those surprising flavors. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) Noelle Carter spends time with Tyler Malek, one of the founders of Salt & Straw, the Portland, Ore.-based ice cream company. Malek is only in his 20s, but hes already perfected some pretty amazing recipes including fermented carrots as well as making ice cream based on a Bach composition. Eat what Obama and Bourdain ate Bun cha ha noi at Pho Ngoon in San Gabriel. (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times ) This would be in Vietnam, where the president was recently, and where he joined Anthony Bourdain for a meal of bun cha ha noi at a Hanoi restaurant. Jonathan Gold finds four local restaurants that serve the dish. Birria and a haircut Food writer Gabriel Carbajal heads to South L.A., where he finds Birrieria Gonzalez, a food truck run by Los Angeles native Oscar Gonzalez that is conveniently parked next to a barbershop. There Gonzalez is serving his familys beef birria tacos, wrapped in Tijuanas signature cone-shaped form, to an increasing number of consomme-sipping Angelenos. Your City of Gold reminder: Its playing. Maybe go see it. Maybe dont go hungry, which brings us to ... Jonathan Golds 101 Jonathan Golds 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers. Check us out on Instagram @latimesfood In the Kitchen: Sign up for our weekly cooking newsletter Check out the thousands of recipes in our Recipe Database. Feedback? Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com. A group of senior Los Angeles Fire Department inspectors says the agency has put the public at risk by cutting corners in a frantic effort to clear a backlog of thousands of large buildings overdue for safety reviews. In interviews with The Times, the inspectors said their superiors have hurriedly deployed inexperienced firefighters to the task of examining buildings and lowered the standards for structures to comply with fire codes. The result, the inspectors say, is that apartment houses, hospitals, studios, high rises and other buildings across the city have been improperly declared safe. Advertisement They are changing the definition of what a complete inspection is, said Capt. Gary Carpenter, a Fire Department veteran of 26 years. They are saying the inspection is complete, and the public thinks the building is safe. The building is not safe. The public thinks the building is safe. The building is not safe. LAFD Capt. Gary Carpenter In a statement Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the inspectors complaints are the subject of an internal LAFD investigation and an independent inquiry by the citys civilian Fire Commission. I expect both to be completed thoroughly and promptly, Garcetti said. Safety can never be compromised, and bureaucracy can never be an excuse for inaction. Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas and Fire Marshal John Vidovich, who oversees inspections, declined to be interviewed. Terrazas said in a statement, however, that he could not comment on specific complaints by the inspectors because of the internal probe, but that his administration takes these allegations seriously. The LAFD launched its drive to bring inspections up to date last year after a Times investigation found about 6,800 buildings were months or even years overdue for a safety review. The departments effort, named Operation Catch-up, included assigning more firefighters to serve as inspectors and an overhaul of the bureau responsible for ensuring that buildings meet city and state standards for sprinklers, alarms and other lifesaving equipment, officials said. Inspectors have blamed the lag in building checks mainly on staffing shortages. In a report released this month, Terrazas and Vidovich claimed to have cleared nearly all of the overdue inspections. But the inspectors who spoke to The Times said those numbers were bogus. Thats all fraudulent, said Capt. Dave Riles, a 23-year veteran of the department. Many of the inspections that were counted as completed, Riles and others said, were performed by poorly trained firefighters who were pressured by supervisors to relax safety rules and overlook violations. They were told to put blinders on, said Battalion Chief Jerome Boyd, the head of one of the LAFDs largest inspection units. More than 100 firefighters recently voted in favor of a no-confidence resolution aimed at Vidovich, said Capt. Frank Lima, president of the firefighters union. Operation Catch-up is a shell game, Lima said. Half a dozen inspectors told The Times of schools, movie studios and hotels allowed to pass scrutiny even though they did not meet standards enforced in the past. Inspector Aaron Walker said that when he visited St. John of God nursing home in Jefferson Park, he found that the operators lacked the required documentation that shows employees had been trained in what to do in case of a fire. For that reason, Walker said, he intended to cite the property for a violation. He said he learned days later that another inspector had subsequently signed off on the building. This is putting the public in jeopardy, said Walker, who has been an inspector for nearly 10 years. Some little thing they overlook could turn into a big thing. An attorney for St. John said that her clients were unaware of the dispute over inspections, but that the property is in compliance with all safety codes. Former Inspector Carlos Gallegos, who retired this year after three decades with the LAFD, said he recommended that the city take legal action against the owners of a two-building commercial property near downtown for failing to correct several violations he found. But then another inspector visited the Alameda Street property, the location of film shoots, and cleared it, Gallegos said. Theyre just trying to create numbers, he said of Operation Catch-up. It was clearly just a bean-counting operation. The Alameda property is owned by Forever 21 founder Do Won Chang and his wife, Jin Sook Chang. A spokeswoman for them said the structures have been inspected several times and passed. Gallegos said he had been told by his superiors to be creative in closing inspection cases quickly. Thats not the way I operate, he said. Im not going to watch the news at night and see something go up in smoke that I inspected. The Times investigation last year found that the LAFD was lagging on inspections for a third of the structures it considers the most critical because theyre occupied by large numbers of people. Nearly half of them were more than a year overdue for an inspection. In addition, thousands of smaller apartment buildings had never been inspected, in violation of state law. Meanwhile, a separate LAFD program for inspecting hazardous waste sites is also in disarray. Last year, state officials threatened to strip the department of the program after its inspectors failed to monitor hundreds of chemical factories, gas stations and laboratories where spills of dangerous materials could endanger the public. John Paine, a California Environmental Protection Agency official, said the LAFD was unlikely to fix its problems without turning over many inspection duties to civilians. The LAFD is one of the few departments in the state that still use firefighters as waste inspectors, Paine said. We would like to see it completely civilian. ALSO North Coast marijuana growers fear a takeover by Big Alcohol Coroner releases autopsies of San Bernardino terror victims: The room was in disarray The handsome undercover cop smiles. Is he entrapping gay men or cleaning up a park? William Richards was the obvious suspect in the murder of his wife: Pamela was planning to leave him for another man, her killer did not rape her or steal anything, and Richards had no airtight alibi. After three trials the first two juries hung Richards was finally convicted of murdering Pamela. A prosecution expert at the third trial but not at the first two testified that a crescent-shaped mark on Pamelas hand came from a bite that matched the unusual pattern of Richards bottom teeth. The dental expert later said he had been wrong, but the California Supreme Court decided 4-3 in 2012 to uphold Richards conviction anyway. Advertisement The case against petitioner was strong, retired Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote for the majority back then. On Thursday, the California Supreme Court changed its mind and decided unanimously to overturn Richards conviction, citing a new state law that revised the legal meaning of false evidence. Now 66, Richards has served 23 years in prison for the crime. The California Innocence Project has spent nearly 20 years trying to free him. With the exception of the bite mark evidence, the defense had a substantial response to much of the prosecutions evidence against petitioner, wrote Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who had been part of the majority that upheld Richards conviction. She noted that all the evidence against Richards was circumstantial. Under these unique circumstances, it is reasonably probable that the false evidence presented at petitioners 1997 jury trial affected the outcome of that proceeding, the chief justice wrote. Alarmed by the 2012 Richards decision, innocence projects and a class at the University of the Pacifics McGeorge School of Law helped persuade lawmakers to instruct courts that false evidence grounds for a new trial includes discredited forensic testimony. The revision reflected the views of the three justices who dissented: Goodwin Liu, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar and Ming W. Chin. Richards asked the state high court to reconsider his case in light of the new law. Forced to apply a different legal standard and analysis, the justices determined Richards conviction could not stand. Richards won his case a month after a parole board recommended he be released, a decision that is now before Gov. Jerry Brown. Alex Simpson, a law professor and co-founder of the San Diego-based California Innocence Project, said he hopes San Bernardino County prosecutors will decide not to retry him and allow him to leave prison without the stain of a murder conviction. The difference between being paroled for murder and not having a murder conviction in the first place is important, Simpson said. He said investigators failed to find Pamelas true killer because they focused almost solely on her husband the night her body was found. Christopher Lee, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County district attorneys office, said prosecutors were reviewing the matter in order to determine the appropriate course of action. Richards told sheriffs deputies that he discovered Pamelas body after returning home from work shortly before midnight on Aug. 10, 1993. The couple had been married for more than 20 years and both openly had affairs with others. They lived in a camper in a remote setting in the high desert. At the time of her death, Pamela, a waitress, was 40. Her husband was 43, a mechanical engineer. He had clocked out from work the night of the murder at a time that would have left him only minutes to strangle and bludgeon Pamela. When investigators arrived, they found her body outside. She was naked from the waist down. Her head was crushed. One eye was left dangling. A blood-splattered cinder block sat next to her head. Deputies could not find any footprints or tire tracks other than the couples and those of the investigators, but the soil on much of the property was hard-packed and might not have shown prints. The couples dogs, usually hostile to strangers, had been roaming the property, leading police to believe that the animals knew the attacker. Investigators also found a paper written by Richards in Pamelas purse. The paper listed how their assets should be divided. Although there was evidence of a struggle Pamela broke a fingernail trying to defend herself and had several defensive wounds there were no bruises or scratches on her husband. A blood splatter expert testified that the bloodstains on Williams clothing and shoes corroborated his statements that he had not killed Pamela but had cradled her head after finding her body. Justices Liu and Carol A. Corrigan wrote dueling concurrences Thursday about the relevancy of the bite mark evidence. Corrigan said it was impossible to say that the bite mark evidence caused the third jury to convict because there were many differences in the three trials. Liu said the bite mark evidence had been critical. It was only at the final trial, where the false evidence was admitted, that a jury convicted Richards, Liu wrote. Richards learned his conviction had been overturned Thursday, and it was quite a shock, Simpson said. He has been trying to prove his innocence for more than 20 years, the lawyer said, and he has now gotten to the point he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. ALSO San Diego police, anti-Donald Trump protesters clash amid violence Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin Coroner releases autopsies of San Bernardino terror victims: The room was in disarray Maura.dolan@latimes.com Twitter: @mauradolan 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. In Bakersfield, Bernie Sanders tries a Donald Trump tactic -- mockery -- against Donald Trump Night falling in Bakersfield with a picturesque small(er) town flair. pic.twitter.com/nJScbqyafY Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) May 29, 2016 Donald Trump is usually the presidential candidate who taunts his competitors, but on Saturday night Bernie Sanders gave him a dose of his own tactics. Sanders has been trying to pressure Trump into a debate; at one point this week, Trump indicated he was interested, prompting Sanders quick acceptance. But then Trump backed out, with a slight at Sanders. Now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher, Trump said in a statement. Before 3,000 Bakersfield fans gathered at the Kern County Fairgrounds, Sanders paid him back in mockery. And I say to Donald Trump youre a big macho guy, Sanders said. If you have any guts, come on down and lets debate. He noted Trumps back-and-forth over whether to meet with Sanders and encouraged him to change his mind again let us have a debate. Sanders wants a debate in order to draw a contrast with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner who has refused to debate Sanders before the last major primaries on June 7. He did not mention her stance, but did slightly increase what has been a muted criticism of Clinton in recent days. He expressed pride in not accepting support from a super PAC he has benefitted from one but its dwarfed by those helping Clinton and noted that was one of the major differences between Clinton and himself. Later, he expanded his criticism to her position on fracking, the oil and gas extraction method blamed by many in the region for spoiling the water supply. One of the looming crises facing our country and the world is whether or not we will have enough clean drinking water, he said. Which is why I believe we have got to end fracking. Now that is not Secretary Clintons point of view, and I urge her to change her mind. The crowd booed, and Sanders moved on with his speech. cathleen.decker@latimes.com Good morning. I'm Paul Thornton, The Times' letters editor, and it is Saturday, May 28, 2016. If you're traveling this morning for the three-day weekend, good luck navigating those Transportation Security Administration security lines. Wait times for Los Angeles International Airport can be found here. Here's a look back at the week in Opinion. As far as presidents making history goes, this is a big deal: President Obama paid a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, on Friday, marking the first time a sitting commander in chief traveled to one of the two cities incinerated by American atomic weapons at the end of World War II. Whether that conflict would have ended without the eternally controversial decision by the U.S. to use its deadliest weapon against Japan was the subject taken up by filmmaker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick on The Times' op-ed page this week. Their verdict: Japan was ready to surrender, bomb or no bomb, and President Truman's decision to destroy the two cities with nukes was more about showing off American power than bringing the war to a close. They write: 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 became known only 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. Click here to read more. Letter writers side with Truman. Since President Obama announced earlier this month that he would be visiting Hiroshima, for the most part readers some of whom were in uniform in 1945 and credit the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki with preventing their deaths have said the United States has nothing to apologize for. Readers whose letters on the topic have been published this week (here and here) echo that sentiment. Donald Trump is a "parody of American manhood." The sexual boasting, the condescending or outright insulting treatment of women, the open discussion about the size of his penis all this, writes Stephen Marche, is an overcompensation, and it forms the substance of Trump's campaign. L.A. Times Hillary Clinton is in denial when it comes to her email problem. Doyle McManus notes that the State Department inspector general's report contains nothing good for the former secretary of State who now wants to be president. Rather, Clinton's spin that the report "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" is not reflective of reality. L.A. Times Of course you'd read this in the New York Times: Things aren't so good right now in L.A. and California. Former Los Angeles Times reporter and columnist Hector Tobar writes of a city "gray and beaten down, an older man trying to fit into a younger body," and where voters are increasingly moving to the margins occupied by Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump supporters. Tobar writes approvingly of the "whole Manhattan vibe." New York Times Dear Chicago: Get out. Love, Los Angeles. Joe Mathews laments the decline of local institutions run by the Windy City's elite, including the Dodgers (owned by Chicago-based Guggenheim Partners) and, yes, the Los Angeles Times. The Chicagoan in the White House has even snarled West L.A. traffic enough for lefty Angelenos to regret their votes in 2008 and 2012. Zocalo Public Square Don't blame the TSA blue shirts for long airport waits; blame members of Congress. They're the ones who imposed the September 11 Security Fee on flying passengers in part to speed up screening at airports and then pilfered those funds to pay down the federal debt. In the meantime, a record number of Americans are flying. The Times' editorial board tells Congress to get serious about security and fully fund the TSA. L.A. Times Feminists have an obligation to see "Ghostbusters." The franchise reboot contains an all-female cast of ghostbusters, drawing howls of protests from the nerd purists nostalgic for Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. The dust-up lays bare Hollywood's longtime sidelining of women as creators and subjects of movies, writes Andi Zeisler. L.A. Times Write me: paul.thornton@latimes.com. A representative for U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn said Friday that her campaign will return $1,500 from a businessman fined in a campaign money-laundering case at Los Angeles City Hall. Hahn campaign spokesman Dave Jacobson said the congresswoman, who is running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, did not know that the contributor, businessman Peter Barker, was fined $170,000 in 2013 for laundering dozens of campaign donations. Barker, president of Anaheim-based Barker Management Inc., admitted to Ethics Commission investigators that he had personally reimbursed his employees or their spouses for 68 donations in violation of campaign finance laws. Two years after receiving that fine, he gave $1,500 to Hahns supervisorial bid. Advertisement Once the Times notified the campaign about the issue, the campaign immediately directed its compliance team to return said contribution, Jacobson said in an e-mail. Barker, whose company specializes in managing affordable housing developments, had no comment on the contribution -- or Hahns decision to return it -- when contacted by The Times. Hahn, a San Pedro Democrat, and two other candidates are running in the June 7 election to replace Supervisor Don Knabe in a sprawling district that stretches from Diamond Bar to Marina del Rey. Knabe aide Steve Napolitano, who is also running, said Hahn has not gone far enough in erasing a perception problem about the donor. Hahn, he said, also should return $10,000 in donations provided by Barker and his company to her congressional campaign in 2011. If shes going to give it back for this campaign, she should give it back for other campaigns as well, he said. Jacobson, the Hahn spokesman, said her congressional campaign account is no longer active and therefore cannot return any money. The citys ethics laws prohibit donors from giving money under someone elses name. Barker did so repeatedly in city contests over 12 years, bypassing campaign contribution limits, according to the Ethics Commissions 2013 report. In Los Angeles, donors are limited to no more than $700 per council candidate per election cycle, and no more than $1,400 per election cycle for each citywide candidate -- mayor, city attorney and city controller. Of the nearly $42,000 in donations improperly reimbursed by Barker, $7,000 went to Hahn while she was serving on the City Council, the report states. That laundered money went to both her re-election campaigns and her office holder account, which pays for meals, travel and other expenses. Kathay Feng, who heads the watchdog group California Common Cause, said Hahns decision to accept the $1,500 donation even after Barker was fined raises questions about her campaigns work in vetting donations. It suggests that there are not tight controls, she said. The Ethics Commission opened its investigation into Barker after The Times reported on the campaign fundraising activities of Advanced Development and Investment, a Los Angeles-based developer that repeatedly received city funding to build affordable housing projects. In 2012, the commission fined the company $165,000, saying company employees had laundered at least 33 donations. Two months later, the commission turned to Barker, one of the companys subcontractors. In its report, the panel found that Barker had reimbursed 53 contributions to council members and council candidates in amounts ranging from $500 to $700. Fourteen of those contributions went to Hahn. Although Barker received a significant fine, investigators said they found no evidence of wrongdoing by Hahn or other recipients of the contributions, which included Mayor Eric Garcetti and Council President Herb Wesson. ALSO L.A. will convert motel units to 500 apartments for homeless vets San Diego police, anti-Donald Trump protesters clash amid violence Coroner releases autopsies of San Bernardino terror victims: The room was in disarray david.zahniser@latimes.com Twitter: @DavidZahniser Surging numbers of Haitians and migrants from other countries have been arriving at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in recent days, hoping for admission to the United States. More than 200 men, women and children were huddled together inside the ports pedestrian entrance Thursday, sleeping under blankets on the tile floor as they awaited processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Outside the facility in Tijuana, about two dozen people seeking U.S. entry had gathered a group that included Haitians, Mexicans and French-speaking men who said they were from Congo. There have been so many people ....There are some that dont even have a blanket to cover themselves. Yuleni PASrez, who sells newspapers in Tijuana, speaking of the migrants Advertisement One, who gave his first name as Cedric, said he was a 25-year-old mechanic from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince who had been working in Brazil. I have left my country to look for a better life, like a lot of people, he said in French. He did not provide details as to how he had arrived at the border, except to say that he flew into Tijuana. Another man, who did not give his name, communicated in broken Portuguese and Haitian Creole that he had left Haiti in 2013 for work in Brazil. To get to the San Ysidro border, he had crossed through several countries, including Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. He said he was not seeking political asylum but was searching for a better life. U.S. officials do not authorize interviews or photographs inside the port of entry, where inspectors on average process close to 25,000 northbound pedestrians a day. A statement issued by Customs and Border Protection said that recently, we have seen an uptick in the number of Haitians arriving at San Ysidro with no status in the United States. While asylum-seekers routinely present themselves to authorities at U.S. ports of entry, the reasons for the recent spike were not clear. The Haitians are being processed on a case-by-case basis, according to the statement. After that, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement makes a determination on admissibility into the United States. Haitians traditionally have crossed to South Florida by boat, risking treacherous waters to get to the United States. Often they are intercepted by the Coast Guard and returned home. Very few Haitians make it to dry land, said Cheryl Little, a Miami immigration attorney. Brazil welcomed large numbers of Haitians after an earthquake devastated the island in 2010. But some have been leaving after encountering hard times in Brazil, Little said. The South American nation is enduring one of its deepest recessions in years. In Tijuana, merchants near the border crossing said they began seeing a significant spike in the number of migrants walking up to the port without immigration documents last weekend. There have been so many people, since Sunday, said Yuleni Perez, who sells newspapers. There are some that dont even have a blanket to cover themselves. The head of the Tijuana office of Mexicos National Migration Institute, Rodulfo Figueroa, said that some migrants claim to be from non-European countries in Asia and Africa with whom Mexico has no diplomatic relations, and thus cannot be deported. In those cases, the migrants typically are released from immigration custody and given a set period of time, often about 20 days, to leave Mexico or else legalize their status by launching a political asylum application or other means. Figueroa could not say whether the migrants were arriving on their own or through smugglers. Its a mixed bag. Im sure some are connected to smuggling networks, but some are not. The crowding at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, he said, was the result of U.S. Customs and Border Protection receiving more asylum requests than it can process in a short time period. In the meantime, migrant shelters, the Tijuana city government and Mexicos federal migrant protection unit, Grupo Beta, have offered assistance. Some of them dont want to move because they dont want to lose their place in line, Figueroa said. U.S. officials are using the old Customs facility at San Ysidro to process the migrants, said Jackie Wasiluk, an agency spokeswoman. In the interim, Mexicans and other tourists needing an I-94 form for U.S. visitors who are traveling more than 25 miles from the border are temporarily being directed to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, she said. After an initial processing, ICE officers from the agencys Enforcement Removal and Operations division are responsible for determining whether [the migrants] will remain detained or released while their immigration cases undergo further review by the immigration courts, ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com Dibble writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune Over the past year, scientists have studied Californias trees from the air, the ground and even using X-ray technology. Each time, they have arrived at some version of a similar dreary conclusion: The states ongoing drought is wreaking havoc on forests, killing millions more trees at each check. But a study published recently online in the Open Journal of Forestry offered a refreshing and counterintuitive piece of good news. A NASA research scientist found the drought did not stop trees, shrubs and other foliage from regenerating in areas ravaged by wildfires. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> I think a lot of people were expecting that wed see trees dying even in the Santa Cruz Mountains because the reservoirs there were really low. But they were pretty much undaunted by [drought] in their growth, said Christopher Potter, the author of the study. The continued greening in the Santa Cruz Mountains stands in stark contrast to the southern and central Sierra Nevada. Millions of trees have been decimated there by a bark-beetle infestation, which has been exacerbated by drought. Potter, who works at NASAs Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, said the research shows that theres no way to just lump all the forests in the state together. Drought will affect each one differently, and some more than others. But as the hot summer months loom, Potter said there was also a downside to so much greenery. We have that much more fire fuel up in the mountains, he said. Potters study focused on forested areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains, paying special attention to the areas scorched by the 1985 Lexington fire and the 2008 Summit fire. Both of those blazes were followed by droughts in California, and Potter wanted to know if the water shortages affected how quickly vegetation in the charred areas grew back. Using satellite imagery and indicators of moisture stress, Potter found that the density of live, green plant cover in the study area dropped significantly after the Lexington fire in 1985. Just four years later, however, the vegetation recovered to about 95% of what it had been before the blaze, despite a severe drought. A similar pattern emerged after the 2008 Summit fire. Green plant cover dropped as a result of the fire, but then recovered to 88% of what it had been within seven years. California experienced two multiyear droughts over that span, which may have slowed, but did not stop the trees and shrubs from regenerating at impressive rates. Though his studys scope was limited to the Santa Cruz Mountains, Potter said the findings suggest that even under the current conditions of warming, we havent reached a point yet where the coastal forests are not able to immediately regenerate and come back and fill in. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> That picture contrasts sharply with the dismal situation in much of the rest of the state. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that more than 27 million trees died in 2015, shattering the record 3.3 million that died the year before. John Heil, a forest service spokesman, said results from a survey performed this month could arrive as soon as next week. Experts say parts of the Sierra Nevada have been especially hard hit. Over several years, Potter said, the drought created an environmental impact that was almost equivalent to burning the entire area. It was as if, in many of these areas, the equivalent of a wildfire burned very slowly over three years. Christopher Potter, author of the study It was as if, in many of these areas, the equivalent of a wildfire burned very slowly over three years, Potter said. It didnt ignite, but burned it up in a very slow, no-smoke kind of way. The forests in the Sierra get very little moisture from the atmosphere, which Potter said helps explain why they fared worse than the forested parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains that he studied. There are many, many days when those forest areas and woodland areas are bathed in a nice blanket of fog, Potter said of the coastal regions. And while it may not give them a good soaking into the soil, it gives them a lot of relief. Californias forests are diverse, said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant, so we see the impacts of drought and the severity vary from region to region. Although he acknowledged that the winter rains have allowed many trees to grow again, Berlant cautioned that the amount of water inside those trees is still far less than it should be. Thats a concern for us, he said. The less water thats in the trees, the faster a fire is able to go from tree to tree. Officials have worried that the state got just enough precipitation for new vegetation to spring up and serve as fuel for a wildfire later this year. The renewed greenery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, while welcome, could pose a similar problem. Youve got sort of a reservoir of burnable material, Potter said. And although it will be more difficult to ignite than dead wood in the Sierra, on certain hot and windy days, whether its green or dead and brown, it will burn and nothings going to stop it. ALSO Did you call 911? Heres how one man reached out to his rescuers Many Haitians have been arriving in San Ysidro, hoping to get into the U.S. L.A. will convert motel units to 500 apartments for homeless vets matt.stevens@latimes.com Twitter: @ByMattStevens Authorities 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 Sheriffs 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. Sheriffs Deputy Christine Castillo did not say what the nature of the new information was but said it came out of the investigation into the Bay Area girls disappearance. Advertisement 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, Castillo said 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 Sheriffs Department said Friday that surveillance cameras captured images of Castros 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 were searching the waters edge. Authorities said the two teens knew each other but emphasized that they believe Pinson was taken unwillingly. Rose Pinson, the missing girls older sister, said she had heard Castros name but had never met him and described him as an acquaintance, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald. Everyone is looking for Pearl. We arent doing so good, Rose Pinson said at a vigil Thursday. Shes always happy, she loves to laugh, loves to ride her long skateboard. Blood and Pearl Pinsons cellphone were found on the pedestrian overpass where she was taken Wednesday. A day later and hundreds of miles away, Southern California sheriffs deputies spotted and pursued Castros 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. ALSO San Diego police, anti-Donald Trump protesters clash amid violence Coroner releases autopsies of San Bernardino terror victims: The room was in disarray Glee star Mark Salling had videos of young girls on his laptop and flash drive, federal indictment says The Port of Los Angeles has struggled more than a decade to clean up Cabrillo Beach. In 2000, officials began putting lids on trash cans. Next, they increased litter pickup, capped and moved sewer lines and told parents not to let their children wear diapers in the water. In 2007, they even replaced all the sand at the beach. Despite all those efforts, which cost more than $20 million, the San Pedro attraction made Heal the Bays annual Beach Bummer list for 13 straight years. The influential list ranks the states 10 most polluted beaches based on high bacteria counts. Advertisement It was tremendously frustrating and painful for them, said Mike Schaadt, director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which is located next to the beach. The port wouldve been happy to write a check for any amount to solve the problem. Recently, however, Heal the Bay announced the beach had skyrocketed from its dismal D rating to a crisp, clean A. The possible reason for the turnaround? A recently installed canopy of wires that keeps seagulls and pigeons away from the beach. Its the only thing thats changed recently, so you kind of have to correlate those two items together, besides the weather, said Leslie Griffin, a scientist with Heal the Bay. According to the latest Heal the Bay report, water quality at the inner part of Cabrillo, by the restrooms, improved drastically during the summer months of 2014 and 2015. A variety of factors probably contributed to the increased water quality, experts said, and the states ongoing drought was undoubtedly a major reason. About 97% of Southern California beaches received an A or B grade for water quality during the busy summer months, according to the report, a historical high. The leading cause of water pollution at beaches is storm-drain runoff, which flows untreated to the coast and often is contaminated with motor oil, pesticides, yard waste, animal waste and other pollutants. Wires on Cabrillo Beach installed to keep the birds away have helped improve the water quality there. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times ) This was the fifth year in a row of below-average rainfall in Southern California, and as a result, its beaches experienced less urban runoff, which likely led to the improvement of overall grades, the report said. But the wiring also played a large role in the improved water quality at Cabrillo. In 2013, the port installed wires designed to keep seagulls, pigeons and other birds away. The work was an extension of a similar $700,000 project completed in 2010. The long, thin wires, which hang over the beach like utility lines, are designed to reflect sunlight and scare away the birds. Other beaches, including Mothers Beach in Marina del Rey, use similar devices, while some locations have installed fake coyotes and even used falconers to keep gulls away. At Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz, which has been ranked No. 1 on the Beach Bummer list for three years in a row, workers are installing wire mesh on the pier to keep birds from roosting, said Jon Bombaci, Santa Cruzs wharf supervisor. But the inner part of Cabrillo Beach has its own challenges to keeping the water clean. The beach is protected from strong currents and waves by a manufactured structure. While this leads to a serene environment for toddlers and children, not to mention nervous parents, it also cuts down on water circulation. Its always been a dilemma, said Kathryn Curtis, the marine environmental supervisor for the port. Eel grass also grows by the inner beach, further restricting water flow. But the vegetation provides valuable habitat for marine life and cant be removed, Curtis said. The unprotected part of the beach, where ocean currents are not affected, has consistently received high marks from Heal the Bay. When she first began trying to improve Cabrillos water quality, Curtis said she assumed there would be a quick solution. We all thought the bacteria was coming from one source, and we would fix it and everything would be fine, she said. As the years dragged on and potential fixes didnt move the water quality needle, and as Cabrillo became a longstanding member of the Beach Bummer list, Curtis said frustration mounted. But she and others also understood that there wouldnt be a magic bullet. Its a very complicated situation, she said. Griffin warned that birds quickly get used to wiring and that Cabrillos improvement could be short-lived. And port officials will continue to try to find sources of bacteria and study whether the water is safe for humans, Curtis said. Port officials believe it is, although Heal the Bay scientists say enclosed beaches are best avoided. For now, though, Curtis said shes ecstatic that Cabrillo is no longer on the Beach Bummer list. Were thinking of popping a bottle of champagne, she said. jason.song@latimes.com Twitter: @byjsong Glee star Mark Salling was indicted Friday on charges that he downloaded and was in possession of child pornography on his Apple laptop computer, federal officials said. The 33-year-old Shadow Hills resident was named in a two-count indictment, according to the U.S. attorneys office in Los Angeles. He is expected to surrender and be arraigned on the charges on June 3. Salling, best known for playing Noah Puck Puckerman on the high school-based Fox series, received at least one illicit image and a pornographic video of young girls on Dec. 26 via the Web, according to the U.S. District Court indictment. Advertisement On Dec. 29, he also was in possession of a 16-gigabyte USB flash drive that contained two videos showing girls who were younger than 12, according to the indictment. It doesnt matter who you are or what you do, if you hurt a child you will be held accountable, Lt. Andrea Grossman of the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force said in a statement. These images are more than photographs, they are child abuse. Salling was the subject of a Los Angeles Police Department investigation in December. He was arrested on state charges in connection with possessing child pornography. He was released on $20,000 bail. Detectives with the LAPDs Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force went to Sallings home in the 9900 block of Helen Avenue in Shadow Hills in December, where they found thousands of images and videos depicting child pornography, Grossman said at the time. Investigators seized his laptop, hard drive and the flash drive from his home. They are still reviewing evidence in that case. Once LAPD detectives realized the scope of the collection, Sallings case was referred to federal investigators, the U.S. attorneys office said. If convicted of the charges, Salling faces up to 20 years in federal prison, authorities said. ALSO Men linked to Sinaloa cartel arrested at Hooters with over 53 pounds of meth Kate Steinles family files federal lawsuit blaming government for Bay Area slaying Teen boy charged with fatally stabbing woman who took him into her West Hills home For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. Law enforcement officials on Saturday resumed their search for a missing 15-year-old Bay Area girl along the rugged Sonoma County coast and in other parts of the state as frantic family members await word of her fate. Pearl Pinson was abducted on Wednesday in Vallejo while walking to a school bus stop near her home. Authorities think Pearl is injured, based on witness accounts and evidence found at the scene of her abduction. Her alleged assailant was killed in a shootout with deputies. As of about 10 a.m. Saturday, the Solano County Sheriffs Office said more than 65 law enforcement and search-and-rescue personnel had been deployed across 25 square miles in the Willow Creek. Advertisement Local authorities, working with the FBI, had turned their attention to the area around the Russian River on Friday. But officials noted that they were also looking in other parts of the state, including Marin and Santa Barbara counties. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> We do believe she may be here, or there may be evidence to lead us to believe she was here at one point, Solano County sheriffs representative Christine Castillo told KCRA-TV at the time. This case spans from Northern to Southern California. On Saturday morning, officials began walking a remote area along the Russian River looking for signs of the teen, aided by helicopters, according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. Family members have issued a plea for her return. 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. 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. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> Hours after the alert, Castro was spotted at 3:10 p.m. near Los Alamos heading south alone on the 101 Freeway, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Kelly Hoover. 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 for a time. A woman who lived in the home managed to escape without injury. Castro then jumped into a Toyota Tundra truck at 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. Castro was identified as the gunman by Santa Barbara County sheriffs officials on Friday. Solano County sheriffs officials had named Castro as the shooter on Thursday. ALSO Search for abducted teen Pearl Pinson moves to Northern California coast Trump praises police for handling thugs in San Diego; 35 arrested Murder conviction reversed in 23-year-old case that turned on a bite mark UPDATES: 2:58 p.m.: Updated with new information about the scope of the search. 11:15 a.m.: Updated with new information about the search area. This post was originally published at 8:48 a.m. The city of Los Angeles has approved a deal for nonprofit and private developers to convert nuisance motels into 500 permanent supportive apartments for homeless veterans. Officials called it a major step forward toward developing large-scale housing for hundreds of homeless veterans. Advocates say about 2,700 homeless veterans remain in the county, despite an intensive drive by local and federal officials.. Under the deal, developers will purchase underutilized, often run-down motels from private owners and convert them to efficiency apartments. The citys housing authority will issue vouchers funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which will cover residents rent and provide supportive services, including case management and counseling. Advertisement Further financing is expected to come from Proposition 41, which directed $600 million in bond money to fund housing for poor and homeless veterans. The novel scheme is expected to short-circuit the years of red tape and financing issues that often delay homeless housing developments and have the apartments ready to open by January, officials said. The vouchers are good for 15 years, and the deal is expected to enable landlords to turn a profit. Instead of allowing blighted properties to decay, lets use them to make powerful change in our communities by giving our veterans the access to services and housing that they need and deserve, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a written statement. The citys housing authority on Thursday awarded 400 rent vouchers to Shangri-La Construction, a unit of Shangri-La Industries, founded by Hollywood producer Steve Bing, and Step Up on Second, a nonprofit homeless housing agency. The team has 60 days to secure sites. Volunteers of America, a nonprofit affordable housing group, will develop 100 units at a motel near its existing project in North Hollywood, Philip Mangano, the federal homelessness czar under President George W. Bush, called the project a national model and said it demonstrated how private capital and social service agencies can team to produce large-scale homeless housing. Nobody else is doing this around the country, said Mangano, who participated in discussions with Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert A. McDonald that led to the deal. There are business people involved [in homeless housing] but not to this scale. What I like about the project is its immediate, said Volunteers of America President Bob Pratt. Making these homes available for vets right now, that makes it unique. Tod Lipka, president of Step Up, said his agency teamed with Shangri-La on a smaller motel conversion that created 34 units of homeless housing in Hollywood, but nothing of this caliber. New permanent supportive housing can take four or five years, and produce 30, 40 or 50 units at a time, said Lipka. Four hundred is exciting. Lipka said his group is looking at building at several different sites so homeless veterans can stay in their own communities, ideally close to medical facilities. Housing Authority President and Chief Executive Douglas Guthrie said residents are less likely to oppose the housing in their neighborhoods because it will replace motels that are not of the highest order. Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer has sued a handful of so-called nuisance motel owners for allegedly tolerating rampant drug activity and prostitution. Heidi Marston, special assistant to McDonald, said the VA is hoping the county will approve a similar plan. The county housing authority has discussed the idea with developers but has no specific proposal before it, spokeswoman Elisa Vasquez said. ALSO San Diego police, anti-Donald Trump protesters clash amid violence Men linked to Sinaloa cartel arrested at Hooters with over 53 pounds of meth Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin gale.holland@latimes.com Twitter: @geholland San Diego police arrested 35 people Friday during protests that followed Donald Trumps rally here, drawing praise from the presidential candidate on Twitter. Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. Greatly appreciated! Trump wrote. At least 18 people received medical attention. San Diego police reported no property damage during the protests, which drew an estimated 1,000 people. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> In the Gaslamp Quarter, police declared an unlawful assembly because of violence about 4:40 p.m., announcing in Spanish and English that crowds needed to disperse. Officers with riot gear were moving among the crowd. By 6 p.m. police appeared to have restored order. Several people threw plastic bottles, some of which hit police officers, near Petco Park on L Street between 5th and 6th avenues. Also nearby, a man burned a Trump Make America Great Again hat among a crowd. Tensions grew and several small fights broke out in the same area when anti-Trump crowds started to mix with his supporters. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> TV news video showed some protesters throwing objects at a line of police officers outside the San Diego Convention Center while Trump spoke inside. At least one protester tried to climb up to where the officers were. The video showed officers using batons to push him back into the crowd. ALSO Frantic search for missing teen Pearl Pinson stretches from Sonoma to Santa Barbara Murder conviction reversed in 23-year-old case that turned on a bite mark Surge of Haitians crowd San Ysidro, seeking entry into the U.S. In the week before Memorial Day, Venice residents noticed the frustratingly familiar sight of graffiti. But this time, the location was especially egregious: Vandals scrawled big, white letters over part of a mural memorializing Vietnam War veterans. Its sad and shocking, said Venice Chamber of Commerce Vice President George Francisco. Such ignorance and animosity. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The damage, he said, feels especially personal -- his father was a Green Beret in Vietnam and did two combat tours. The mural along Pacific Avenue has a message at the top reading You Are Not Forgotten and bears the names of 2,273 soldiers counted as either prisoners of war or missing in action in Vietnam. After the murals dedication in 1992, the artist, Peter Stewart, said he was inspired to paint the wall after attending a welcome-home parade for Operation Desert Storm veterans. Since then, the now-fading mural along one of Venices main streets has become an important icon. When longtime resident Stewart Oscars drove by Wednesday evening, he noticed the damage and turned to his wife and friend. Holy mackerel, he blurted. Look at this thing. Oscars, who lives a mile or so from the mural, said he felt instantly nauseous. His mind raced with memories of his classmates who had fought in Vietnam -- a couple of whom he understands never returned. He thought, too, of Memorial Day and how veterans families will feel when they see the vandalism. Its like a direct attack, he said. If you have any sense of history, youd never do this. Oscars said the graffiti stretched on for about 100 feet. Thats lots of names, Oscars said. Those are people. He snapped some photos and sent them to everyone he thought could help -- the Los Angeles Police Department, Westside City Councilman Mike Bonin and L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer. He said he hadnt heard back from anyone but was still hopeful that the mural could be repaired. Bonin released a statement condemning the vandalism as a disgusting and disrespectful act. He said his office has spoken with employees at the Board of Public Works and at L.A.'s Office of Community Beautification and plans to have the mural cleaned as soon as possible. Francisco, the chamber vice president, said he had exchanged emails with staffers in Bonins office, who said they had submitted a priority graffiti clean-up request for the mural. An LAPD spokesman said the sheriffs office was investigating because the mural is painted onto a Metropolitan Transportation Authority building. Lt. John Sullivan of the sheriffs transit service bureau said he hadnt heard of any arrests in the case. ALSO 2-year-old girl dies in Malibu car crash; driver faces DUI charge Trump praises police for handling thugs in San Diego; 35 arrested Murder conviction reversed in 23-year-old case that turned on a bite mark marisa.gerber@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @marisagerber Police divers and Army Corps of Engineers personnel retrieved the wreckage of a World War II plane from the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey on Saturday after the vintage aircraft crashed during a promotional flight, killing the pilot. The P-47 Thunderbolt crashed Friday during a promotion for the American Airpower Museum, which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the P-47 this weekend. Scuba divers recovered the body of the pilot, 56-year-old William Gordon, of Key West, Fla., about three hours after the crash. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Gordon was a veteran air show pilot with more than 25 years of experience, according to promotional material for a Key West air show last month. The website for the April air show says Gordon was an aerobatic competency evaluator who certified pilots to perform low-level aerobatics. Scott Clyman, flight operations pilot for the American Airpower Museum, called Gordon an extraordinary pilot who understood the powerful message our aircraft represent in telling the story of American courage and valor. The FAA will determine the reason for the inflight failure but we know this much. Bill was a nationally respected pilot and we were lucky to call him one of our own, Clyman said in a statement. The single-seat P-47 crashed on a part of the river near where a US Airways commercial jet carrying 155 people splash-landed safely in 2009 in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson. The plane was loaded onto a barge Saturday and taken to a heliport in lower Manhattan, where investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board can examine it as part of their investigation. A witness to the crash, Hunter College student Siqi Li, saw smoke spewing from the plane and thought it was doing a trick. It was tilting down toward the water. I thought they were doing some sort of trick. I didnt realize it at first, but it was a plane crash. Siqi Li, a witness to the crash It made kind of a U-turn, and then there was a stream of smoke coming from it, Li told the Daily News. It was tilting down toward the water. I thought they were doing some sort of trick. I didnt realize it at first, but it was a plane crash. The FAA said the aircraft, which went down near the George Washington Bridge around 7:30 p.m., was among three planes that had departed from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, on Long Island, just east of New York City. The other two aircraft returned to the airport and landed safely. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> Museum spokesman Gary Lewi said the plane was kept at the museum and was taking part in an air show at nearby Jones Beach this weekend. The P47-Thunderbolts were the heaviest single-engine fighter planes used by Allied forces in World War II. They first went into service in 1942, with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island. The one that crashed in the river flew periodically, including to other air shows, Lewi said. ALSO This Chinese laundry ad is racist, but its hardly the first Lesbian adoption ruling reversed by Alabama Supreme Court 96-year-old Dr. Heimlich uses his signature maneuver to help woman choking at senior living center UPDATES: 11 a.m.: This article was updated with the news that the plane was retrieved from the water as well as additional information. This article was originally published at 8:18 a.m. Good morning. It is Saturday, May 28. Heres what you dont want to miss this weekend: TOP STORIES Calls for investigation: Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) is calling for an investigation into OxyContins manufacturer after The Times reported that the painkiller often wears off early, opening up patients to an increased risk of addiction. The senator wants three federal agencies to launch probes into Purdue Pharma. These are serious allegations. 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, Markey wrote in a letter to the U.S. attorney general. Los Angeles Times Campaign funds: Its up to Gov. Jerry Brown whether to allow a measure on the November ballot concerning the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in the Citizens United case. The state Senate voted Friday to ask voters whether they want California lawmakers to work to overturn the decision. The governor has not indicated whether hell sign the bill into law, but two years ago he warned against putting non-binding measures on the ballot. Los Angeles Times Advertisement Criminal behavior: When police execute undercover lewd conduct stings, are they helping clean up the neighborhood or unfairly targeting gay men? Southern California police agencies used to conduct such stings to cut down on sex in public places, but changing sexual attitudes are putting such operations in a new light. 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. Los Angeles Times In hot water: The city of Irwindale is suing Huy Fong Foods, the maker of Sriracha, for unpaid fees. City officials accuse the foodmaker of not honoring a 2009 agreement to make annual payments in lieu of paying taxes. This isnt the first time the two sides have tangled. The city sued in 2013 after residents complained of the odor during chili grinding season. Daily News Take a load off: Anyone headed to the concert festival Desert Trip, snarkily referred to as Oldchella, take note: The concert promoter changed its mind and camp-style folding chairs will no longer be allowed into the venue. What are they going to do, sit on the ground for three days? Im sure most people wouldnt have bought general-admission tickets if they knew that would be the case, said one concert-goer. Los Angeles Times Got any Tums? What food will you be able to find at the Sacramento County Fair this weekend? Deep-fried avocado taco. Deep-fried Twix bars. A pastrami and deep-fried chicken sandwich. Sacramento Bee THIS WEEKS MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA 1. Where are all of these people going? This animated map will tell you where everyone is commuting to and from. Curbed LA 2. This Australian reporter was shocked to see the chef at one of Los Angeles most famous taco trucks put a taco on a soft tortilla. LAist 3. Thanks to the housing crunch, it may be time to rethink the California bungalow. Boom 4. Heres what happens when a California town goes dry. The Atlantic 5. Could these worms be the key to Californias drought? Good ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEKS GREAT READS Golden States golden years: California is sliding into middle age, figuratively speaking, writes Hector Tobar. Once or twice in our youth some of us rioted, and some voted for initiatives against immigrants and gay marriage. As stressed out as we Californians are, we wont be doing anything that self-destructive this election year, he writes. New York Times Young conservative: Columnist Steve Lopez went to Irvine to meet a young Republican running for the Orange County Central Committee. Heres a kid who wants to be a part of the undercarriage of the party machine, aspiring to an unpaid job in which hed join other loyalists to register voters, man the phones, knock on doors and get out the vote for candidates and ballot measures, he writes. Los Angeles Times LOOKING AHEAD Monday: More than 7,500 motorcyclists are expected to ride in the 17th annual West Coast Thunder in Moreno Valley. Friday: The 98th annual Beaumont Cherry Festival will begin. 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. California is renowned for the extent to which its citizens are allowed to make law at the ballot box. But heading for Gov. Jerry Browns desk at the moment is a proposal that would needlessly clutter the November ballot. It is a a purely advisory question, one whose approval by the voters would have absolutely no practical effect. The governor should use his veto power to block this empty exercise. SB 254 is called the Overturn Citizens United Act, a reference to a wrongheaded 2010 Supreme Court decision holding that corporations have a 1st Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts on election-related advocacy. But the name of the bill is misleading: It would do nothing to overturn Citizens United. Rather, if signed by the governor and placed on the November ballot, it would allow voters to express an opinion and that is all it would be about whether elected officials should use their powers to try to reverse the decision. Using their powers would presumably mean proposing and ultimately voting for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Advertisement This is the Legislatures second attempt to place an advisory Citizens United referendum before the voters. A similar question was removed from the November 2014 ballot after it was challenged in the state Supreme Court. Eventually the court ruled that such advisory questions were permissible. But permissible doesnt mean useful. SB 254 describes its Citizens United question as a voter instruction, but state legislators and members of Congress would be as free to disregard its results as they are to disregard any other advice about how they should do their jobs. Its more accurate to describe the proposed referendum as a publicly financed opinion poll. But whats the harm of using the election machinery to conduct such a poll? Gov. Brown already put his finger on the problem when he noted, with regard to the measure that was challenged in 2014, that we 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. Precisely. In November, voters may be asked to consider as many as 20 ballot measures. Brown should have the courage of his convictions and veto SB 254. The veto message is already written. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Los Angeles County supervisors are pressing Sacramento for authority to place a millionaires tax on the Nov. 8 ballot to pay for an ambitious program to combat homelessness. State Senate leader Kevin de Leon wants to help house the homeless by using part of an entirely different, but already existing, millionaires tax that is collected for mental illness programs. Some L.A. City Council members, meanwhile, want to sell housing-for-the-homeless bonds, which would be repaid by property taxes, but in case that doesnt work out they are also asking for ballot language for a sales tax, a marijuana tax, a billboard tax and a tax on transferring real estate all for dealing with homelessness. One or more of those homelessness tax measures may end up on the ballot in November, a ballot that is likely to also include an extension of temporary state sales and income tax increases, a transportation sales tax, a parks parcel tax, a school construction bond, a tobacco tax and there may be more. As the time approaches to secure a spot on the fall ballot, officials trying to deal with homelessness are scrambling for revenue, sometimes tripping over one anothers feet, sometimes tripping over even their own. Two Board of Supervisors hearings got heated as members debated options, timing and the degree to which someone else Sacramento? Washington? ought to be paying. At the county Hall of Administration, at City Hall and at the state Capitol, the lobbying and jockeying can appear unseemly and frankly more than a little frightening when all those potential tax increases are added up. Advertisement How worried should we be? Lets hold that question in abeyance, at least for the present, and focus on the positive: Elected officials are finally taking the homelessness crisis seriously. City, county and state officials too often hatch plans without taking the time to think them through, to consider costs or to vet alternatives, but this time they are at work. The plethora of tax plans should be viewed as part of a work in progress, a process of brainstorming, not always tidy and not yet fully baked. They are pieces in a puzzle one piece to help the mentally ill, another to construct housing, yet another to provide supportive services, etc. that dont yet fit together. The time will come soon very soon when officials have to narrow their options, join forces, fit the puzzle pieces together and present a persuasive case (if they can) that they are prepared to deal with homelessness, that they need additional money to do it, and that it is in the interest of voters to approve it and taxpayers to pay it. By the Fourth of July, the state budget will be finalized and city and county plans must crystallize. In the meantime, a little lobbying and jockeying are just part of the process. There are reasons elected officials are discussing so many varieties of taxes. Each possible revenue measure carries some political or policy baggage, so each must be weighed against the others. Polls show that a county millionaires tax has the best chance of success on the ballot. A county sales tax, for example, would need four votes on the Board of Supervisors to get on the ballot, but probably cant muster more than three. If it did get on the ballot it would compete with the top priority of Sacramento Democrats extension of the temporary sales and income tax increases that voters approved in 2012 in the form of Proposition 30. It would compete with Metros transportation sales tax, which is supported by many of the supervisors. And it wouldnt raise as much revenue as some of the alternatives. How about a property tax? Thats the way local government formerly would have addressed a problem for which it needs more money, but new taxes based on property value are not permissible under Proposition 13, which has been in place now for nearly 40 years. The county could instead ask voters to approve a parcel tax a flat amount assessed on each piece of real estate or on each square foot of improved property, regardless of the propertys value. But that would directly compete with a proposed parcel tax that the Board of Supervisors already is considering for the November ballot to pay for parks, recreation, open space and cultural facilities, to succeed a previous parcel tax that expired last year and another due to expire in 2018. A majority of the Board of Supervisors has zeroed in an income tax on the wealthy up to 1% on any personal earnings over $1 million. But no city or county in California currently imposes income taxes. Only the state can do that. The county is lobbying for a change in the law that would allow voters here to consider the tax, but state lawmakers are wary, in part because they dont want to lose focus on De Leons plan to redirect the existing state millionaires tax which voters approved in 2004 as Proposition 63 toward housing for mentally ill homeless people. But the county is lobbying Sacramento hard, because polls show that a county millionaires tax has the best chance of success on the ballot. And of course it does most voters dont earn more than $1 million a year, so wouldnt have to pay the tax, so have nothing to lose if they vote for it. Like taxes on smokers or any other narrow group, taxes on the rich are popular. People who have spent decades in politics know that popular means politically viable. They can get it done. They follow the polls. Thats fine up to a point. Lets hope, though, that they follow more than just the polls. Its a given that any effort that requires more money will require some group to pay more. But any new tax must make sound policy sense. It must offer the best chance of dealing with homelessness, not just to alleviate the misery of people on the street but to develop more effective ways of addressing mental illness, crime, poverty and other problems that are intertwined with homelessness. The elected officials who are currently cobbling together ballot measures must turn their attention, in short order, to constituents who will want to see a viable, unified and cost-effective plan. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook President Obama laid a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Friday. It was a historic visit, the first of a sitting U.S. president to either Hiroshima or Nagasaki since the end of the Pacific War in 1945. In both Japan and the United States, an emotional controversy had simmered over whether Obama would or should apologize for the atomic bombings. For many Americans, his presence alone in Hiroshima symbolized an unwarranted and offensive apology for those unprecedented attacks. But the atonement debate was beside the point, yet another way for Americans to avert their gaze from the suffering of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Americans on the whole still deny the other side of the story what happened beneath the mushroom clouds to the hundreds of thousands who died instantly, and more than 300,000 others who suffered in unimaginable ways from their injuries, burns and whole-body, high-dose radiation exposure. Advertisement Seventy-one years later, we still hear in letters to the editor and op-eds by veterans, pundits and everyday citizens that the Japanese started the war by bombing Pearl Harbor, so they deserved what they got. (As the author of a book on Nagasaki after the bombing, I have personally received numerous vitriolic emails and letters to this effect.) We still hear that the atomic bombs ended the war, forced Japan to surrender and saved a million American lives by avoiding a costly Allied invasion. This narrative, filled with partial truths and numerous omissions, was created by U.S. government officials after the war to quell opposition to the use of the atomic bombs. But the atonement debate was beside the point, yet another way for Americans to avert their gaze from the suffering of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We continue to oversimplify that history. We do not question the bombs role in ending the war, even as historical documentation cannot definitively link the Nagasaki attack to Japans decision to surrender. We do not acknowledge that whole cities are not military targets. Of the 74,000 deaths in Nagasaki through the end of 1945, only 150 were military personnel. Why can we not hold multiple truths at the same time? Yes, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, committed atrocities against whole cities of civilians in China, tortured and killed Allied POWs, and tenaciously waged a war in the Pacific it could not win. And, the United States and its Allies bombed and incinerated all or part of 64 Japanese cities cities filled with innocent men, women and children who had no say in their militarys actions and then waged nuclear war on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These facts co-exist. Forcing them into a position of simple causality, however, strips us of the ability to analyze such complex historical events honestly. To say that the Japanese people deserved being burned and irradiated keeps us stuck in a revenge mentality that limits our capacity for self-examination and can only lead to further devastation. President Obama spoke to some of these co-existing truths at Peace Memorial Park. He held aggressor nations accountable for the war which grew out of the same base instinct for domination, for conquest, that had caused conflicts among the simplest of tribes. And he acknowledged without apologizing the terrible force that was unleashed 71 years ago and the horrific effects on the human beings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Before embracing two aging survivors, Obama said that the souls of those who perished ask us to look inward. To take stock of who we are and what we might become. Obama demonstrated the kind of response we expect from others, including Japan: a whole-hearted seeing and understanding of the profound harm caused. The United States burned alive more than 180,000 Japanese civilians before Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killed and irradiated hundreds of thousands more in the atomic bombings. Before an apology is even possible to consider, these truths need to be acknowledged as meaningful parts of history our history. Nagasaki survivor Yoshida Katsuji who was 13 years old when his face and body were brutally burned and disfigured in the bombing says: The basis of peace is understanding the pain of others. Every step we take toward such empathy moves us, and our volatile world, closer to the possibility of peace. Susan Southard is the author of Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook Roberto Torres deserves a raise. That sums up most of the reader reaction to an article meant to convey the cross-cultural harmony on display at an Orange County restaurant where Torres, an immigrant from Mexico, worked his way up over 25 years from dishwasher to head waiter. Along the way he learned to speak enough Vietnamese to mingle with his Little Saigon customers. Most of the dozen or so readers who wrote about the article zeroed in on this single sentence, similar to another writer whose letter was published Friday: Torres makes $10 an hour, and though hes grateful for the steady work, he said he still feels he needs to advance. You cant say our readers dont have an eye for injustice. Venice Beach resident Dorothy Mountain writes of her delight reading the article turning to sadness: Advertisement I read with pleasure the article regarding Torres, a 25-year employee at a Vietnamese restaurant in Westminster. That pleasure soon turned to sadness when I read what Torres gets paid for working seven days a week, learning to speak Vietnamese so he can communicate with the customers and, most importantly, being crucial to the owners success: a lousy $10 an hour. How shameful. Sure, Torres is happy. But wouldnt it be nice if he was paid what hes worth? Lenore Navarro Dowling of Los Angeles wonders if other employees are paid below minimum wage: The fusion of Latino and Vietnamese cultures, epitomized in the Westminster Song Long restaurant, features the humble rise of Torres from behind the scenes to head waiter. Clearly he merits the position, fluent in Spanish and conversant in Vietnamese, and having acquired social skills and an understanding of Vietnamese culture and customs. However, why does he not merit wages higher than the state minimum of $10 an hour? This raises the question about other employees and whether they are paid below minimum wage. While there is cause to celebrate the success of both immigrant populations in Little Saigon, there is still cause for concern that wage inequality exists. Corona resident Delfina Armengol says the article highlights the different struggles of two immigrant groups: I feel saddened and offended after reading that a trusted and loyal employee who, after many years of being instrumental in the growth and success of a restaurant owned by Vietnamese immigrants, is being paid $10 an hour for working seven days a week. This is lauded as a badge of honor and fairness? It must be understood that the success of more recent immigrants from Vietnam, though commendable, usually involves people with backgrounds that yield faster mobility. They have an education, money, and established contacts (similar to the Cubans who fled the Fidel Castro regime), as opposed to the poor and uneducated masses who venture the horrific trail to El Norte, where the constant fear of deportation keeps them humble and silent. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has jumped into the dispute over whether Norwegian Air International is competing fairly against its U.S.-based rivals and she is taking a position critical of the Obama administration. Norwegian Air, a subsidiary of Norway-based Norwegian Air Shuttle, one of Europe's biggest low-cost carriers, has been accused by U.S.-based carriers and their unions of skirting U.S. and European labor laws by establishing a base in Ireland but hiring pilots out of Asia to save money. Norwegian has denied the charges, and a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation said the agency investigated and found no basis to deny Norwegian a permit to fly to the U.S. from Ireland on that basis. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) wants members of Congress to picture the face of a constituent when they vote on legislation about the nation's foster care system. So this week, she brought foster kids to Washington. Ninety-nine young people trailed representatives through the halls of the Capitol, telling their stories between hearings and meetings. Bass said its usually hard to get her colleagues to focus on foster kids issues. "In the scheme of things these kids dont measure [up] to Iran, to water or oil," Bass said. "They just dont unless you do something deliberately to raise attention. So she brought the kids to the Capitol in hopes of letting them talk to lawmakers. Members of Congress really get a first-hand feel of what its like for these kids, she said. Bass started the Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Program five years ago, during her first term. It was the idea of her then-Deputy Chief of Staff Jenny Wood, who is now a chief deputy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children, Youth and Families Administration. The program brings young people who have recently left the foster system to Washington for a three-day trip that includes a discussion with foster care policy experts at the White House, sightseeing, and, this year, an inspirational speech from Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels, who was in foster care as a child. The program has grown and now the newly created National Foster Youth Institute runs the all-expenses paid program along with several foster support groups including FosterClub and Casey Family Programs. https://twitter.com/fosterclub/status/735191236248764416/photo/1 Bass said the institute and support groups create an organizational structure to stay in contact with the youths. The institute is also holding meetings with foster youths and members of Congress in their home districts. There are an estimated 400,000 American children in foster care at any given time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says. Its my hope that they stay engaged, Bass said. The idea is that they will go back and talk to their friends and family that are in the system and they will form a network within the congressional district that stays in touch with them. In the halls and committee rooms of the Capitol, the crowd was peppered with young people in suits and lanyards. Representatives wore blue ribbons on their lapels. Several members were upset that they didnt have a young person, or didnt understand why they got left out, which I love, Bass said. Bass said the institute works to pair local youths with politicians from where they both live, which makes it harder for lawmakers to tell themselves there isnt a problem back home. I completely assume that members are unaware. If Im from Colorado, and somebody comes to me from New York, well, you know, thats a big city, she said. Thats why it needs to be their member. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) said he was inspired by George Garcia, the UC Riverside senior who shadowed him. Garcia emphasized that many foster children dont get a chance to attend college, much less graduate. He wanted to make sure I knew that people like him are outliers, Takano said. They spoke about resources available to foster children attending college, and as a result of their conversation, Takano said he plans to meet with students and college leaders to talk about coordinating resources for former foster children attending college in his district. https://twitter.com/RepLowenthal/status/735824755794776066 The shadow program has already influenced legislation, including provisions to end human trafficking of foster children. Bass shared an anecdote lawmakers heard from a young woman a few years ago. She felt being in foster care prepared her to be trafficked. She basically was drawing the analogy that 'there is nobody in my life unless they are paid to be in my life, so Im always viewed as a commodity,' Bass said. She fell for her pimp because he was the first person who told her he loved her. https://twitter.com/RepKarenBass/status/735468884581572608 Bass' shadows, Thessalonia Logan, 23, and Martin Moreno, 18, both of Los Angeles, joined Bass in a private meeting with mayors visiting from Colombia and sat behind her at the dais during a Judiciary Committee hearing. Their eyes widened when Bass showed off the schedule for the day, including multiple instances where the congresswoman and the shadows were supposed to be in three places at once. Shes really busy. I still appreciate that she took the time out to have us shadow her, but its crazy to see how she works, Logan said. They chatted as they rushed between meetings and huddled in her office to talk about college hopes, problems with social workers and life in Los Angeles' foster care system. Moreno wants to become a surgeon and plans to mentor foster children. He graduates next week from John H. Francis Polytechnic High School and has a full ride scholarship to Humboldt State University. Morenos said his 22-year-old sister was awarded custody of him last year after their mother battled drug addiction and the family was evicted and moved into a homeless shelter. He said his sister had to put her education on hold to take care of him. I truly appreciate that, and for me to be able to make that up I want to pursue medicine, he said. Logans grandmother was awarded custody of her as a newborn. When her grandmother died, Logan and her seven siblings bounced between aunts who were verbally and physically abusive, according to her biography. Not wanting to be separated from her siblings, she didn't come forward about the abuse until she turned 18, when she could move into transitional housing provided through the Department of Children and Family Services. She said Congress should work on creating a better support system for children in foster care. If they had more of a support system where they wouldnt feel so scared to speak up about whats really going on, she said. Logan works full time as a security guard and is studying part time at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. She wants to earn a psychology degree and become a social worker. "I've been in the system, I know what goes on. I want to help other foster youth or any youth in general so they won't have to go through what I went through," she said. Bass said after her shadows left that she feared Logan "could teeter. She had tried to share her own experience of putting off earning her own degree, requiring her to retake several courses, to suggest to Logan that she should get back to her community college coursework. I saw her light up when she heard that I didnt just go through school in four years. To me that is really important, the congresswoman said. sarah.wire@latimes.com Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter Read more about the 55 members of California's delegation at latimes.com/politics ALSO: 'It's not supposed to be this way': Why it's getting more difficult for foster families Updates on California politics After nearly 30 years of selling books, notably romance novels, Books on Broadway in Costa Mesa will close next month. The used bookstore at 143 Broadway, about two blocks from The Triangle, plans a closing party for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 11 before shuttering a few days later. The store asks party guests to bring food to share and a bag or box to collect unsold books, which will be donated to charities. Until then, the store is having a liquidation sale. Nearly all titles are $1. Books on Broadway started in 1987 as New and Recycled Romances. Founder Toni Bruner was a self-proclaimed romance novel addict, so she opened the store using her own inventory and quickly gained a loyal following. A 1993 Los Angeles Times profile reported that customers were like a gossiping sorority, discussing their latest reads off the shelves. In 2012, Bruner sold the store to Sharon Patch, a Costa Mesa resident, and Flora Schoonover of Santa Ana. On Tuesday, Costa Mesa resident Bob Williams stood outside Books on Broadway having a smoke break. A year ago, Williams was the stores savior. To prevent it from closing, he came in with a check and a commitment to join the ownership team. I want this community asset to stay here, Williams said at the time. This is a resource that just needs to stay. But the trios plan to revive the store hasnt quite worked out. Despite consolidating the space from 960 square feet to 480, sales havent been strong enough to keep the business going. Williams said there are still customers who want real books the printed word over the electronic one. But, he lamented, they apparently just dont read fast enough to keep Books on Broadway in business. Weve just decided that its time go let it go, Patch said while standing among the stores estimated 25,000 books, stacked floor to ceiling. About 80% of the inventory consists of fiction titles. Of those, about half are romance novels. Patch said about 5,000 titles are being sold to The Ripped Bodice, a romance bookstore in Culver City that opened this year. Newport Beach resident Debbie Sterner has been a Books on Broadway regular for about a decade. On Tuesday, she sat in a corner of the romance novel section, gathering titles and placing them in a yellow plastic shopping basket. A few feet away, a quotation from Thomas Jefferson was on the bathroom door: I cannot live without books. Sterner would agree. I want a book to hold in my hand, she said before grabbing one off a cart. She then set it back. I guess Im just so old. She lamented her lack of local used bookstore options once Books on Broadway closes. I might just get stuck going on Amazon, she said. But I hate doing that. Amazon owns the world, Patch chimed in from behind the cash register. Unfortunately, Williams added from across the room. The UC Irvine Jewish community hosted a rally near the campuss Langson Library on Thursday that had participants singing and dancing to live music and waving American and Israeli flags as they moved about to tunes such as We Shall Overcome and Johnny Cashs Ring of Fire. While the gathering was a joyous occasion for the participants, it came after a months worth of tense relations between the campus Jewish community, its allies and a host of other groups, including the Muslim Student Union, which sponsored an anti-Zionism week that coincided with Yom Hashoah, the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, on May 4. Tensions reached new heights by the middle of the month, when UCIs chancellor, Howard Gillman, issued a campuswide alert May 19 that said anti-Israel protesters crossed the line of civility when they disrupted a film screening the night before. Rabbi Blue, center, plays guitar and dances with a supporter during Thursdays pro-Israel rally at the UC Irvine campus. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot) According to media reports, the showing of Beneath the Helmet, a film about Israeli soldiers, took an unexpected turn when about 50 people shouted outside the event, forcing campus police to intervene and escort attendees away from the commotion and profanity. Former Israeli soldiers were in attendance, scheduled to talk in a panel discussion about their military experiences. Among the demonstrators chants were Long live the intifada, a phrase associated with pro-Palestine beliefs against the Israeli occupation. According to Gillmans alert, the protesters interrupted the screening, blocking classroom exits to the extent that participants feared for their safety and called campus police. While this university will protect freedom of speech, that right is not absolute, Gillman said. As I mentioned in a campus message at the beginning of the academic year, threats, harassment, incitement and defamatory speech are not protected. We must shelter everyones right to speak freely without fear or intimidation and allow events to proceed without disruption and potential danger. UCI police and administrators are investigating the incident. Supporters dance around Rabbi Zevi Tenenbaum, of the Rohr Chabad at UC Irvine, and Rabbi Blue, holding the microphone, during a pro-Israel rally Thursday at UC Irvine. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot) In Facebook statements posted this week, Jewish Voice for Peace, a pro-Palestine group, called the May 18 protest wholly peaceful. The statements said participants which included members of black, Muslim, Latino and Native American student groups, among others didnt violate campus policy or block exits. They alleged that UCI Republicans and pro-Israel groups falsified details of what happened. Our demonstration was held to protest the presence of military and police forces on campus, which threaten the lives of black and brown people every day, Jewish Voice for Peace said in a Facebook statement Wednesday. The connections between the Israeli Defense Forces and military, colonial and genocidal regimes all over the world are numerous, and we wholly condemn them. The organization said students have consistently challenged police and military presence on UCIs campus, only to face harsh consequences by administration and by conservative media outlets. It added that having the Israeli soldiers on campus that evening triggered harsh feelings from students who have lost land and loved ones as a result of the Israeli occupation. In talking about providing a safe environment for all students on campus, administrations double standards must be acknowledged, the group said. Rabbi Zevi Tenenbaum, co-director of the the Rohr Chabad at UC Irvine, speaks during a pro-Israel rally Thursday at UCI. Our message here today is that we will be allowed to celebrate our Judaism, Tenenbaum said. We will be able to advocate for our cause, the pro-Israel cause. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot) On Thursday, Rabbi Zevi Tenenbaum, co-director of UCIs Rohr Chabad, addressed a crowd of about 100 people without opposition. He noted that the afternoon rally coincided with Lag BaOmer, a Jewish holiday. In a news release issued Wednesday, Tenenbaum said Rohr Chabad was originally planning a beach barbecue for the holiday, but after the disruption at the Beneath the Helmet screening, it chose to hold a high-profile event on campus instead. Our message here today is that we will be allowed to celebrate our Judaism, Tenenbaum told the crowd. We will be able to advocate for our cause, the pro-Israel cause. Tenenbaum said the UCI Jewish community will not be intimidated. We will not be run off our campus. We will express our views. We will stand in true solidarity and support for the state of Israel and their right to defend themselves against the threats that they are threatened with every single day. In an interview Friday, Thomas Thorkelson, vice president of the Orange County Interfaith Network, said discord among religious communities at UCI isnt new. He added that UCIs struggles are indicative of conflicts seen on campuses nationwide. Its an unfortunate situation when ideas have to be presented in a way that they will create an atmosphere of anxiety and fear, Thorkelson said. Then the people who have that anxiety sometimes react in a way that exacerbates the issue instead of respectful listening and respectful attempting to understand the viewpoint of the other side. In almost 21 years, Joe Blackburn served four sentences in five prisons between the Mexican border and Sacramento. At 54, drug and gang activities had taken away much of his freedom. But on May 22, Blackburn, now 64, put on a black cap and gown for Brandman Universitys 2016 commencement ceremony. He walked not in a prison yard but to the rhythm of Pomp and Circumstance to get his hands on a sociology degree from the Irvine-based affiliate of Chapman University. That degree brings him one step closer to his mission of one day opening a facility to help released convicts like him get back to a regular life. Its been 11 years since Blackburn was last in jail, where he learned he had and was treated for bipolar disorder. It was like being born again, he said. I was determined to not fall back into the drugs, the gang life " Joe Blackburn, right, prepares to walk onto the stage at Brandman Universitys 2016 commencement ceremony. (Alexandra Chan / Daily Pilot) A life of mischief Blackburn grew up in El Monte, the only child of a mechanic and a housewife. I was in as much trouble as I could get, he said. I was just a complete and total delinquent. Blackburn is still unsure of what drew him to destructive acts, such as setting off firecrackers and breaking windows, but theorizes that he was seeking stress-relief. My emotions were always out of whack, he said. In as many as four or five times a day, I would switch from being a maniac to being depressed. I was in and out of juvenile hall and a part of street gangs. Everything a person could do wrong, I did. Blackburn first landed in prison in 1974. His first term lasted four years. He wound up incarcerated again 10 years later. Then time between terms grew shorter and shorter. One day, during a stroll in the prison yard, a sign called out to him. It was a poster, which referenced a 1995 class action lawsuit that helped ensure California inmates received mental-health care. The idea of talking to a shrink was inconceivable to me, Blackburn said. He started seeing a psychiatrist in Centinela and then other counselors at Lancaster then Soledad. It helped. In 2001, a psychiatrist in Soledad diagnosed his manic-depression and adjusted his medications accordingly. My emotions were no longer dragging me down, Blackburn said. I still have those feelings, but its not out of control. The motorcycle clubs, the street gangs, the selling drugs, I had no desire to do that stuff anymore. While serving his last term, Blackburn was baptized in the Soledad chapel, feeling born again as the preacher dipped his head into a pool of water. After being released, he lived as a parolee at a Christian ministry in Canyon Country. He soon enrolled in College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, where he studied from 2011 to 2013 before transferring to Brandmans on-site satellite campus Joe Blackburn walks across the stage at Brandman Universitys 2016 commencement ceremony to shake Chancellor Gary Brahms hand. (Alexandra Chan / Daily Pilot) First day of classes On the first day of adjunct professor Dan Randolphs undergraduate criminal justice class at Brandman, he had all of his students share about themselves. When it came time for Blackburn, the professor did not know what to expect. I usually get answers like I transferred from College of the Canyons or I worked at Applebees, not Ive been to prison several times but now Im happy to be here, Randolph said. But it was easy for me to see he was fully engaged in discussion, lecture and offering perspective. It was coherent, intelligent and objective Never confrontational, never threatening. Randolph began teaching at Brandman in 2004. During Blackburns time at Brandman, he had taken three courses with Randolph, earning all As. Suzy Mix, who helps Brandman students with financial aid, registration and applications, recalled that Blackburn had such a thirst for knowledge. Instructors would even come to me before class to say hes involved, engaged, and hes a great writer. Blackburn plans to get his masters in psychology and then a doctorate in sociology to build the foundation he believes he needs to reach his mission. What we need is a facility for guys getting out of prison, somewhere they can go to have sleep, food and someone there to counsel them instead of turning back to crime, he said. To establish it, Ill have to have the background and credentials. I need to carry this through. The Costa Mesa Sanitary District has finalized the acquisition of its new, larger headquarters near John Wayne Airport. Whats more, the district did it without racking up debt. Last month, directors approved a $5-million budget to buy and remodel their new nerve center at 290 Paularino Ave. a spending plan that called for the district to finance roughly $3.2 million over 20 years. On Thursday, they opted to scrap the financing component and use cash. Being debt-free, I think, makes a lot of sense for us, board President Mike Scheafer said during Thursdays board meeting. I think this is the way to go, myself, agreed board Vice President Arthur Perry. Not financing is expected to save the district more than $1 million in interest, said district General Manager Scott Carroll. Forgoing financing only recently became a possibility, Carroll said, after the Orange County Sanitation District iced a proposal to install a large sewage pipeline through Talbert Regional Park in Westside Costa Mesa. The effort was indefinitely suspended due to escalating costs and the uncertain prospect of boring beneath the Santa Ana River. The Costa Mesa district had expected to kick in about $7 million for the project money that would have been used to decommission a handful of pump stations the pipeline would have rendered unnecessary. The district already had set aside about $3.7 million for that purpose, Carroll said. With the pipeline off the table for now, those funds became available. We dont know when, or if, that project is ever going to come to fruition, he said. The board decided it would be more prudent to spend that money now. District cash will cover a little more than $3 million of the roughly $5 million price tag to secure and renovate the Paularino property. Another $770,000 or so is expected to come from fixture fees. The remainder will come from the sale of the districts current digs at 628 W. 19th St. Sanitary district board members voted in closed session May 18 week to sell that property, which officials say is too cramped to serve the districts needs, to the Rogers Family Trust for $1.3 million. Carroll doesnt know what the trust plans to do with the building. The board had previously voted May 13 to accept a $1.31-million offer from a different prospective buyer, Charles Co., but the firm backed out for unknown reasons a few days later, Carroll said. The 19th Street property is in escrow, and the district officially received the deed for the Paularino property on Thursday. Though the Paularino property is now officially in the districts possession, its not time to cut the ribbon just yet. A good deal of work is planned to modify the building to suit the districts needs. Some of the more substantial changes include renovating restrooms so they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and building a larger boardroom with space to seat about 30 community members. The current boardroom is a much tighter squeeze, with room for only four or five outside visitors. As part of the sale agreement, the sanitary district has the option of leasing the current headquarters building through the end of the year for $1 a month. The goal is to move into the Paularino building in November, Carroll said, but who knows what happens once we start knocking down walls? Were very appreciative that the Rogers Family Trust gave us that little bit of a cushion, he said. Plans to tear down a long-vacant former pool hall in Montrose to make way for a 28-unit condominium project won support from the citys Design Review Board on Thursday. Commissioners voted 3-0 to recommend the development, which now heads to the Planning Commission and the City Council for further review because a zone change is required to build it. NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in the 818 >> The Mix, located at 2612 Honolulu Ave., has been closed for several years and its lot was recently acquired by Metro Investments for $2.3 million. The groups principal is Commissioner Art Simonian, who abstained from voting on the proposal. Metro Investments started meeting with residents in the area last year to gather feedback on the project. The final design is four individual structures that are two stories each and no more than 36 feet tall at the highest point, according to planning staff reports. The driveway entrance will be on Sycamore Avenue, not Honolulu, which some residents said they appreciate because it would keep cars from slowing down and trying to get into the parking lot off of the main Montrose thoroughfare. Grant Michals, president of the Montrose Verdugo Sparr Heights Homeowners Assn., said hes glad the structure will be landscaped with different varieties of trees along Sycamore and a courtyard for open space as well. The park-like setting was extensively discussed at those community discussions so this project is reflective of that, he told commissioners. Commissioner Sevan Benlian spoke positively about the proposal, saying its a good fit for the neighborhood and he appreciated the dialogue between the developer and residents. Join the conversation on Facebook >> I think this should set a precedent that these developers can learn from on how to reach out to the community and working with the community, he said. Commissioner Vrej Mardian said he likes the way the design consisted of several structures so that the massing of the overall project is broken up. The only addition he asked to be included was more places to sit in the courtyard along Sycamore, he said. The commons space should have more seating, Mardian said. With lush landscaping and mature trees, I think thatll be a plus. This area needs to be used. The development will consist of 20 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units. There will also be 67 parking spaces and seven guest parking spaces. The project site is made up of two different zoning areas, so the developer needs to change the zoning by being granted a precise plan design overlay, which requires approval from the Planning Commission and the City Council in the coming months. Prior to the Mix, the building was a bar called Lady Janes, and before that, it was the Three Oaks, a family restaurant. -- Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com Twitter: @ArinMikailian -- ALSO: State may pitch in for Armenian American Museum construction in downtown Glendale Glendale seeks contractors to build shade structures at Maple and Maryland parks Glendale school board adopts G2' map, officially setting voting districts If you want to experience Chinas innovation boom, a good place to start would seem to be the Hi-tech Development Zone in Chengdu, a city known for spicy cuisine, riverside tea houses and panda bears. The zone, a 32-square-mile swath of gleaming office buildings on the citys outskirts, is home to more than 31,000 companies, according to its website. Yet, on a recent weekday afternoon, many of the zones buildings appeared to be collecting dust, and its perfectly straight roads were empty to the vanishing point. Chinas growth has slowed to its lowest rate in more than two decades, and the Communist Party is attempting to boost innovation and entrepreneurship as part of a vast transition to keep the economy afloat. China no longer wants to be known for imitation and piracy it wants to be the leader of the pack. Advertisement Earlier this month, top party officials unveiled new guidelines projecting that China will rank among the front-runner countries in innovation by 2030, according to the state-run New China News Agency. Lavishly funded software parks, incubators, science universities and innovation conferences are springing up across the country, far from established tech hubs in Beijing and Shanghai. Chinese state media have held up Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, as a model of innovation in the countrys rapidly developing southwest. On the surface, its an unlikely match. The city, home to more than 10 million people, prides itself on laziness its inhabitants are famously more inclined to spend their days sipping tea in parks than grinding away in offices. Yet, in recent years the city has developed both upward and outward, its population swelling and its quiet, leafy streets giving way to forests of glass-and-steel skyscrapers. Innovation is part of the master plan. The Chengdu government, backed by private funding, has set up seven start-up focused funds flush with more than $100 million, Bloomberg reported in mid-April. In November, the city hosted the 2015 Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair, which drew delegations from dozens of countries, according to state media. Chengdu has a Silicon Valley dream, but the dream is now faced with a bottleneck problem. Startup-Partner.com, a Chinese news website For all that, its software parks are mostly empty, its start-ups share no spirit of collaboration and, as the Chinese economy falters, many entrepreneurs are struggling to attract capital. Chengdu has a Silicon Valley dream, but the dream is now faced with a bottleneck problem, said a late-April report on Startup-Partner.com, a Chinese news website focused on venture capital. As a city full of entrepreneurs and investors, Chengdu hasnt yet had a real unicorn company, a start-up valued at over $1 billion. (Link in Chinese) The Hi-tech Development Zones success and the reasons for its apparent emptiness are difficult to gauge. Phone numbers on its official site went through to disconnected lines, and emails to representatives went unanswered. Charlie Moseley, 34, the American founder of the local lifestyle website Chengdu Living and creative director of Tap4Fun, a gaming company, said that Chengdu is a good place to live, with temperate weather and friendly, laid-back people. But, he said, I get the impression that game companies in Chengdu are really struggling were meeting hard economic times right now. I know that a lot of people are looking for jobs; I know that salaries are not going up; I know that employers have a huge amount of leverage while hiring, he continued. Tap4Fun is a good example of that. We have the craziest hiring process of all time everyone who applies here has to read a book [Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apples Success by Ken Segall] and then undergo a series of tests. The hoops that you can make prospective employees jump through are not like anything Ive ever seen. Not that Chengdu is devoid of dynamism. Its start-ups range from Camera 360, a popular camera app, to AllTech, a medical imaging company. Chen Qinqin, 28, moved to Chengdu from Beijing last fall and founded a health food delivery service, a relative rarity in a city whose cuisine consists primarily of infernally spicy fare. Two months ago, she got two or three orders a day; now she gets 20 to 30. Chengdu has a big market for everybody; theyre very open, they take to new things very quickly, she said. Chengdus greatest strength is its ready supply of well-educated workers some local, others from elsewhere in China who can enjoy a laid-back, cosmopolitan city with a much lower cost of living than Beijing or Shanghai, said Duncan Clark, chairman of the Beijing-based consulting firm BDA China. I would say these factors are more important than specific government initiatives, he said in an email. The government at best can create the conditions for innovation to emerge. Yet critics say that Chinas innovation initiatives are weighed down by a rigid education system and strict government controls on information, and that when it comes to entrepreneurship, a country cant simply spend its way to the top. James Kang, chief executive officer of Sichuan Revotek, a Chengdu-based company that has developed technology for the 3-D printing of blood vessels, said that the citys laid-back attitude has helped him build a team of young, intelligent employees who are not desperate to break off and start their own ventures. He added that they often need more guidance than many American start-up workers. Kang, a Chinese-born academic at the University of Louisville, explained that blood vessels 3-D-printed with bio-ink could mark a breakthrough in regenerative medicine a way to deliver stem cells to the heart, liver and brain to rejuvenate their own self-repair mechanisms. Right now we cannot make a heart, but we can make blood vessels, he said. The idea is we will create a small environment to make stem cells grow and differentiate the way we want. The company has 62 employees. Its technology is still in a testing phase. Chinas start-up scene is not like the U.S., he said. U.S. culture encourages originality, it encourages creativity. But Chinese culture, basically the way young people are educated, is to follow, not to create. This is a cultural problem. The government in terms of the political environment now in China, and all of the policy strongly encourages, even forces people to be innovative, he said. But innovation doesnt come from the outside, it comes from the inside. Im sure in the long run it will definitely be successful, but it will take a long time. Yingzhi Yang in the Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report Follow @JRKaiman on Twitter for news from Asia ALSO Chinese kids who climb 2,500-foot ladder may get stairs Trump meets with farmers and declares the states water problem so insane In historic visit to Hiroshima, Obama calls on the world to morally evolve Governmental institutions and humanitarian aid organizations are pledging to improve delivery of assistance to the worlds most needy and vulnerable people, reduce administrative costs and work to boost funding and its effectiveness. Through a so-called Grand Bargain a group of donors agreed at the recent U.N. World Humanitarian Summit to be more transparent, improve planning for disasters, and ensure that a greater portion of the money gets to local and national responders. So just how important is money, who gives it, and who gets it? Advertisement Last year, the United Nations appealed to donors for some $20 billion in humanitarian assistance to help the aid community respond to various global crises, and received about half -- $10.7 billion, according to Jens Laerke, deputy spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. An estimated $17 billion more was raised through donors who channeled their money directly to aid organizations and governments that might not have been part of the U.N. appeals, according to data from Development Initiatives, a Britain-based research organization. Together around $28 billion was donated for humanitarian aid, according to the group, which analyzed statistics from the U.N., the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and private sector sources for its annual Global Humanitarian Assistance report that is scheduled to be published in full in June. Members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent deliver aid boxes, some from the German Red Cross, to the besieged rebel bastion of Douma, a flashpoint near the Syrian capital in May 2016. (Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP/Getty Images ) It is the third consecutive year of increased funding, said Charlotte Lattimer, senior policy & engagement adviser for Development Initiatives. Most of the donations came from world governments, with the United States continuing to dominate, according to data provided by Development Initiatives prior to the release of the groups report. The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided more than $6 billion in humanitarian assistance in 2015 to more than 60 new and long-running emergencies, including conflicts, health epidemics and refugee influxes. Meanwhile, worldwide private contributions rose to $6.2 billion last year, up from $5.5 billion in 2014, according to Development Initiatives. Its a huge amount of money, Lattimer said. Yet, it still wasnt enough, humanitarian aid experts say. How can $28 billion not be enough? Its not much relative to the scale of need, said Nigel Timmins, humanitarian director for the international aid confederation Oxfam International. The scale of need is enormous. More than 125 million people across the globe require humanitarian assistance due to a combination of conflict-related crises and natural disasters, according to U.N. statistics. Some 60 million are displaced people and refugees. The emergencies are spread across the globe. They include the nearly 6-year-old war in Syria that has caused almost 5 million people to flee the country and displaced around 6.5 million others inside the country, according to Brian Hansford, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. In choppy seas, a Syrian father helps his daughter off the raft that brought them from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos, some of the 3,000 arriving daily during the months of October and November 2015. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times ) Last year, the U.N. appealed for $7.3 billion just to meet humanitarian needs for the Syria crisis and received around half that amount, according to the agencys data. Meanwhile, the fighting in Syria has spilled into Iraq, triggering an internal conflict that has left 10 million in need, according to U.N. data. Conflicts in South Sudan and Yemen, food insecurity and widespread drought from Africa to Asia and the Americas are among the crises that are expected to drive the continued need for economic assistance, officials say. Whos getting the most funding? Last year, the most well-funded crisis was Iraq, which had roughly 74% of its needs met, Lattimer said. But in Gambia, which has chronic poverty and persistent food shortages, funding was sparse. The West African nation received just 5% of the donations requested in U.N. appeals last year, according to Development Initiatives. So far this year, not a penny has been donated toward the $11 million the U.N. has requested, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Financial Tracking Service. The reason some countries attract more funding varies, Lattimer said, but include factors such as the scale of the tragedy, media attention given to a certain crisis, and geographical and historical ties. Ethiopians line up to receive aid distributed under a European Union-funded project, in the Shinile Zone of Ethiopia near the border with Somalia. (Mulugeta Ayene / Associated Press ) Donors are pulled in different directions by multiple large-scale crises that are happening at the moment and are faced with tough decisions about where to allocate their finite resources, Lattimer said. Its hard for a place like Gambia to get international attention when you have crises in Syria and Iraq going on at the same time. Whats the impact of the shortfall? It can be dire, humanitarian experts say. Many people get a substandard service or no service at all, said Timmins of Oxfam. You are forced into making a choice about what you fund and what you dont fund. Last year, for example, the U.N. World Food Program was temporarily forced to reduce its level of assistance to more than 5 million displaced people in Syria and neighboring countries due to underfunding. New funding secured earlier this year has since allowed the agency to reinstate its food assistance to Syrians. A paralyzing funding shortfall also led to the suspension of 184 U.N. health clinics across parts of Iraq leaving some 3 million people without access to healthcare, according to the agency. A file photo from 2012 show children warming themselves by a stove fueled by paper they collected around the camp. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 internally displaced people had settled in informal settlements around Kabul in search of jobs and shelter. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times ) So can the so-called Grand Bargain help? Many specialists in humanitarian aid agree that overall the commitments included in the plan are sound. Greater transparency, the increased use of cash instead of material assistance and making it easier to fund local responders, these are important steps in the right direction, said Christina Bennett, a research fellow and international aid policy analyst at the Overseas Development Institute, based in London. Timmins, the Oxfam official, said his agency also welcomed the pact but was keen to see whether it would translate into results, particularly with regards to empowering local responders and being proactive and planning ahead for predictable emergencies, such as floods and drought. While they are saying the right things, there is nothing in the document that suggests this will be a road map for reform, Bennett said of the deal. The recognition is there, the rhetoric is there. What we need to see now is concrete action on the part of the international players to make those changes. ------------ FOR THE RECORD June 2, 12:20 p.m.: An earlier version of this article referred to the war in Syria as more than 4 years old. It is in its sixth year. President Obamas historic trip to former enemy nations in Asia got off to a bad start this week when, just after he announced a grand gesture of reconciliation with Vietnam, he learned that its communist government was intimidating dissidents he had invited to meet with him privately. Obama fumed over the matter on his way out of Hanoi and his aides voiced his fury to their counterparts, but they soon encountered what they took as a heartening sign. More than 2 million Vietnamese people, young and old, lined the streets to welcome Americans back to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, many of them camping out overnight despite the governments decree that such an assembly would not be allowed. Advertisement It was like a ray of light, said one Obama administration official who was in the presidential motorcade. The sight bolstered Obamas impulse in his final years in office to write U.S. foreign policy in bolder, potentially historic, strokes. His trip to Vietnam and Japan shaped up as a testament to his inclination to push forward while setting aside criticism, as the normally cool president repeatedly confronted both complaints and deeply emotional situations. The most powerful sign of Obamas reach for history came at the end of the week, when he stood in front of the people of Hiroshima to own responsibility for the worlds only uses of nuclear weapons seven decades ago and to promise to pursue a new alliance against the use of such military might in the future. Despite the resolve, the week leading up to that memorable ending was filled with internal White House drama as the president and his aides encountered a series of ups and downs. Early in the weeklong trip, the traveling White House was irritable over coverage of Obamas lifting of a half-century-old arms embargo against Vietnam. Aides objected to reports that suggested Obama had given up too much without extracting human rights concessions from President Tran Dai Quangs government, which has a record of harsh treatment of journalists, activists and government critics. Then, just after arriving in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, one of Obamas strongest international allies, confronted him aggressively in public with a contentious complaint about the slaying of a woman in Okinawa. A former member of the U.S. military has been accused in her death, spurring widespread outrage in the country and resurrecting the longstanding tension over the U.S. military presence there. In the same news conference, Obama visibly bristled at a question on whether he worried about handing over to a new president the drone killing program he has so dramatically expanded. The question was prompted by Obamas order to use an armed drone to kill the leader of the Afghan Taliban as he traveled in Pakistan, a sovereign country where Obama did not ask permission to strike. In an implicit nod to the history between the U.S. and Vietnam, the country hed left hours earlier, Obama argued that there were few parallels between the U.S. deploying a half-million troops to Asia during the war there and the strikes he has taken against terrorists trying to kill Americans. The difference, he suggested, is one of proportion, even though he maintained his responsibility to use U.S. power to protect Americans. There are going to still be times where our U.S. fighting forces have to be deployed or have to take actions, Obama said. And we have to do so in a way that is prudent, that is proportional, and that is mindful of the fact that any kinetic action, no matter how targeted and how justified, also can create tragedy. Hiroshima and U.S. military power were on his mind as he answered, he revealed. One of the things that I hope to reflect on when Im in Hiroshima, and certainly something I reflected on when I was in Vietnam, is just a reminder that war involves suffering, and we should always do what we can to prevent it, he said. Indeed, aides said, Obama was wrestling with what to say in Hiroshima, where on Friday he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the worlds first nuclear attack. An estimated 140,000 died instantly or of the aftereffects of the atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, that helped bring about the end of World War II. Obama cast aside his early version of the speech he planned to give, which employed trademark Obama oratorical devices like telling the personal stories of victims and outlining the way forward. He wanted more of an elegy, he told Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security advisor who was helping him write the address. Rhodes took it apart and began to piece together a new draft. As he did, Obamas mood was darkened by heartbreaking personal news. Cassandra Butts, a close classmate in law school and friend to him and First Lady Michelle Obama, was found dead in her Washington home after a brief illness. Butts was a trusted confidant who first met Obama in the financial aid office when they were both at Harvard Law School in the late 1980s and early 90s. After Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004, she took a leave from her think tank job to help him set up his office. Obama was somber and unsmiling as he met Thursday and Friday with other global leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Ise-Shima, Japan, rewriting his Hiroshima speech three times during breaks. He forced a brief smile for the G7 group photo. Finally, he headed to Hiroshima, the last stop on a trip that likely will only be long remembered for what happened there. Rhodes furiously incorporated Obamas final changes into his remarks while the president spoke to Marines just before taking a helicopter ride to the memorial in Hiroshima, near the river that victims plunged themselves into to escape the heat and flames of the explosion. Obama took a paper copy to the lectern to speak. We have known the agony of war, Obama said. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons. Afterward, he met one bent and scarred survivor, an elderly man who was a young engineering student when the blast of the bomb burnt his entire body. Sunao Tsuboi, white scars across his face, cane in hand, greeted the president with a warm smile and immediately launched into a welcome that Obama interpreted mainly through body language. Speaking in Japanese with no pause for his translator, Tsuboi gestured broadly toward the sky as he spoke and gazed warmly at the president, Obama later told aides. One phrase made it into English: I have been waiting so long for you to come here. 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 Twitter: @cparsons Donald Trump brought his anti-immigration rhetoric to the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico on Friday, May 27, resulting in one of the largest demonstrations thus far organized against him and the arrests of at least three dozen protesters. Throngs of marchers convened outside the San Diego Convention Center to raise their voices to the presumptive Republican nominee, who has vowed to deport millions of immigrants if he is elected. "We're going to build a wall," Trump told supporters gathered inside the venue, leading to a flood of skirmishes erupting near the arena. Police Intervene Police brought out their batons when some protesters tried to climb into a secure area where officers were monitoring the situation. Just last month, protesters burned an American flag and an effigy of Trump at another California rally held for him. "I don't agree with a lot of things that the presidential candidate Donald Trump has put out there," said protester Judith Castro. "Like the fact that he's using racism, discrimination." As the rally ended, police swarmed the area in riot gear, warning people they were part of an unlawful assembly and that everyone who remained there illegally and was subject to arrest. Inside, Trump boomed, "Honestly, folks, we have leadership right now in this country, especially at the top, that is grossly incompetent. They don't know what the hell they're doing." Trump Vows to Deport Millions Besides vowing to deport millions, Trump has also pledged to build a wall along the southern border to further keep immigrants out that he insists Mexico would be forced to pay for. Trump's plan entails forcing Mexico to foot the bill for the wall by threatening to cut off the flow of billions of dollars in payments that immigrants regularly send home to loved ones. By contrast, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has committed to a plan of immigration reform. The soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1-181st Field Artillery Regiment returned to their home station armory in Chattanooga after completing a successful annual training exercise at Volunteer Training Site Tullahoma. During the course of the two week annual training the soldiers of HHB, 1-181st, commanded by CPT Justin G. Woodward and 1SG Danny Duncan, continued certification and proficiency on prescribed Artillery Tables, completed individual and collective Army Warrior Tasks and participated in a multi-day battalion, field training exercise. Additionally, HHB, 1-181st was a key participant in Operation Winter Storm Olaf, a statewide Defense Support of Civil Authorities exercise, involving several state agencies and units of the Tennessee Army National Guard. HHB soldiers were primarily responsible for search and rescue operations, as well as command and control operations for Operation Winter Storm Olaf. At the conclusion of annual training, HHBs own Fire Direction Center Section, led by SGT John Tucker, was awarded the Battalions best section by LTC Brad Steverson and CSM Russell Wright. "As always, the leaders of HHB, 1-181st would like to express their tremendous gratitude and appreciation to the consistently supportive families, friends and employers of our soldiers," officials said. HHB, 1-181st, stationed in Chattanooga serves as the battalion headquarters for 1-181st , the Tennessee National Guards High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Battalion. Many of the individual soldiers of HHB, 1-181st have served multiple deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn. The soldiers of HHB serve in a variety of military occupational specialties and our always seeking interested applicants. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates The sunshine is here and we're all getting that urge to go and enjoy some fish and chips by the sea. But in this part of the East Midlands we're pretty landlocked so the need to escape to the coast is always strong. That means that, while many of us will be packing up our buckets and spades and heading to the coast, some will be having second thoughts because of the distance. And wherever you go it's going to take you a little while - unless you head to Leicestershire's secret beach in Bosworth Water Park. So, in honour of the great British seaside, we've picked out some of our favourites along with how long it takes from Leicester. They include firm favourites Skegness, Blackpool and one or two places that are a little unexpected. Whitby This charming place is probably most famous for its fish and chips. With a three hour car ride, the trip to Whitby is slightly further up the east coast than Scarborough and Robin Hood's Bay - but it's worth those extra few miles. (Image: PA) Hunstanton Sunny hunny is only a two hours drive. Famous for its lavender, the Norfolk resort is a firm favourite with folk from Leicestershire - Hunstanton is perfect for couples and families. The town is one of the few places that offers stunning sunsets on the east coast, due to its location. (Image: Getty Images) Blackpool At a two hours and 42 minute drive from Leicestershire, Blackpool beach is arguably Britain's most famous seaside resort. With the Pleasure Beach, the trams and Tower, Blackpool sits on the Irish Sea. The town still attracts millions of visitors every year. (Image: Manchester Evening News) Skegness This Lincolnshire favourite is just two hours away at 88 miles from Leicestershire. The resort was made famous after Butlin's opened their first centre there in 1936. Ever since then, Skegness has been a popular location for East Midlands residents. (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto) Scarborough The North Yorkshire town is one of the most popular places in the country to head for a day trip. You've got the North and South Bay, both offering a variety of different attractions, and is a three hour drive from Leicestershire. Laois GPs have warned the public that assurances over the future of services at the Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise cannot be believed. In a lenghty statement warning that the loss of many key services is now on the cards, the GPs say the public will pay a heavy price if they continue to believe commitments given. Despite assurances from HSE Management and Public Representatives that the future of MRH Portlaoise would be secure, the evolving reality is not so, said the latest statement issued by the GPs. They said the HSE promised consultation with themselves and their hospital colleagues but this commitment 'fell by the wayside'. There has been no meaningful consultation with us. Indeed we believe that the Clinical Leads for each specialty & HSE DML Management have been unable to reach consensus on how to safely secure the future of services at MRH Portlaoise, said the statement. The doctors outline the multiple consequences of downgrading the hospital to a Model 2 hospital with no Emergency Department (ED/A&E), Paediatric or Maternity services. The say trolley numbers remain at staggering levels despite approaching Summer and there is no capacity to facilitate patients at any other centre in the group without huge capital investment, but they say this is not possible in a timely fashion. The GPs say the current system cannot cope with effectively removing an entire hospital from the acute accident and emergency system. The doctors say they are told on almost a fortnightly basis to avoid referring patients to the EDs in Portlaoise and Tullamore because they are full. The GPs point to the ambulance service and its gross understaffing and an inability to reach target times. A lack of joined up thinking by management is clear, if they plan to transfer Portlaoises quota of emergency patients to hospitals with no available beds. This plan is reckless in the extreme and shows no regard for patient safety. Considering these issues alone raises questions as to the competency of management in suggesting such a plan, say the doctors. Th GPs say the paediatric service at Portlaoise is excellent but the HSE continues to starve disability and early intervention services in Laois, Offaly of resources and now suggests that removing inpatient care for children, including those with complex health needs and disabilities, is a patient safety improvement. In relation to maternity, the doctors say that having made significant gains in terms of patient safety and resources, the maternity services management now plan to dismantle this and remove access to local maternity care for mothers. However, they say that the Coombe Womens Hospital is at capacity and will not cope with Portlaoise's cases. In relation to mental health the GPs say the ED is a vital support for Mental Health and Psychiatry services locally, especially for those who are suicidal. The GPs say waiting lists in the midlands are unacceptably high with some patients waiting up to two years for surgery in Tullamore. The doctors argue that by increasing ED attendances and raising levels of acute admissions here, without appropriate investment and planning, will further exacerbate delays and reduce elective surgery admissions. On Primary Care the doctors say there has been difficulty attracting and retaining GPs. Without a functioning service at MRH Portlaoise, this will get worse they say. Patients already have difficulty in accessing GPs. Midoc is overburdened and faces difficulty filling shifts on a regular basis. Removing services will result in collapse of primary care services in the area, warn the GPs. It is also argued that the recruitment and retention of high quality staff is a major problem and reports of further frontline recruitment embargoes in recent days will do nothing to alleviate this issue. The doctors say that downgrade will remove more training posts from the services including psychiatry, paediatrics, obstetrics and medicine. They say at least seven posts will be removed from the Midlands GP training scheme. Many GP trainees tend to remain in the area where they completed their training, however, downgrading the hospital will make Laois undesirable to work in Primary Care, say the doctors. Laois GPs will continue to advocate on behalf of our patients, community, families and friends who rely so dearly on a safe, well resourced fully functioning hospital, including ED, Maternity and Paediatric Departments. We call on HSE Management, the Department of Health, Ministers with Health Responsibilities and our local elected representatives to deliver on previous commitments and ensure that services are retained and enhanced for the benefit of all in the region, they say. The statement is signed by Drs Michelle Byrne, Simon Honan, John Madden, Sean Montauge, Mary Sheehan and Gerry White on behalf of the Laois Faculty of the Irish College of General Practioners and the MIDOC out of hours GP service members. Three principal council by-elections were held this week. In East Staffordshire (DC), Labour made a gain from UKIP in Stapenhill ward. They polled 44.3% and increased their vote share by 12.5% to take the seat and move their representation on the Council up to 13 Councillors. Hugh Warner polled 1.5% for the Liberal Democrats with the party not having a stood a candidate last year. Elsewhere, there were two confortable holds for the Conservatives in Hambleton (DC) and North Yorkshire (CC). The Tories polled 48% and 48.3% in Northallerton South ward and Northallerton division respectively. There was no Liberal Democrat representation in either contest. Next week, six principal Council by-elections will be taking place across England, Scotland and Wales. In Lewes (DC) Will Elliott will be hoping to secure a hold for the local Lib Dems in Lewes Bridge ward. In addition, Janet Baah will be the Lib Dem candidate as the party defend a seat on Lewes Town Council. The party will also be fielding candidates in contests in Lambeth (LB), Dorset (CC), Mid Suffolk (DC), Argyll & Bute (UA) and in two seperate by-election in Denbighshire (UA). There will also be a deffered election in Rushmoor (BC), although no Liberal Democrat candidate is standing. For a detailed list of this weeks results please click here. If you would like more information on all the forthcoming by-elections and details on who to contact to help, click here. A big thank you as always to those who come every week to 23 New Mount Street in Manchester to make calls at ALDCs By-election HQ, funded through fighting fund donations. If you can help us fight in even more wards, please donate here. * ALDC is the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners Great to speak earlier at @StrongerIn event on importance of young people voting in the #EUref Use your voice! pic.twitter.com/SqjYKhPvTx The young Liberal Democrat who has led such a strong effort in East London, Elaine Bagshaw, today urged young people to register to vote so that they could make sure Britain stays in the European Union. Speaking at a Stronger In event in London, she said: If you dont want that snatched away, you need to speak up and use your voice. We have nothing to gain from leaving Europe. We have everything to lose. Well have a privilege that we have enjoyed and benefitted from taken away from us and the generations that will follow us. If you havent already, register to vote here. Heres her speech in full: Voting in this referendum is incredibly important because this time every vote counts. Whether youre in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh or Liverpool. Whether youre 19 or 90. Your votes are equal. Your vote and your voice is powerful and it matters. Its so important to have your say because this vote really matters. We wont get another crack at this in 5 years like a general election. This is it. Im really passionate about opportunity. About everyone having the chance to succeed regardless of where youre born, the colour of your skin, who you love and anything else that makes you, you. Staying in Europe gives us so many opportunities. To live and work in other countries, experience different cultures, to live alongside people from Europe and to learn about them and ourselves. If we vote to leave, we lose all of that. Those opportunities that you and I have now, and that our younger relatives, friends and siblings have will be quickly and cruelly snatched away. We have nothing to gain from leaving Europe. We have everything to lose. Well have a privilege that we have enjoyed and benefitted from taken away from us and the generations that will follow us. If you dont want that snatched away, you need to speak up and use your voice. Get registered by 7th June make sure if youre a student that youre registered in the place youll be! So register at home if thats when you are, or get a postal vote. Turn up on the 23rd June to use your vote and have your say. And lets stay stronger in Europe. Womens voices have been sadly lacking in the EU referendum debate so far. Even the BBC debate on Thursday night had but one female panellist. Whats particularly annoying about that is that Diane James comment that she didnt know if wed need visas to go to France is being much lampooned and Liam Foxs that he didnt really know what would happen to the economy if we left the EU (but hes willing to give it a go anyway) is being largely ignored. Anyway, Thursdays debate was perfectly gender balanced and was conducted with the theme of #disagreewell. This is all about leaving the bluff and bluster at the door and having a grown up conversation. It sounds good, but would the reality reflect that. Well, with a priest and a diplomat making up half the panel, along with our Sal, you would think so. It seems to have been relatively good-humoured. One point that came up in the Scottish referendum was made here. In Scotland, it was we might be poor, but at least well be free and a very similar argument was made by Rev Giles Fraser, arguing for Brexit. I find it incredible that supporters of Leave are happy to take an economic hit which by its nature will impact on the poorest and most vulnerable in all sorts of ways. Sal was able to neutralise the idea that wed somehow get our democracy back pointing out that our democracy is far from perfect and essentially gave Ann Widdecombe a job for life. Frankly, Id much rather the EU was there to act as a check on a power-hungry Tory government which is trying to stitch the system in its favour on not much more than a third of the popular vote. Heres a flavour of what went on: The debate moved on to democracy within the EU and Wall suggested it was better for everyone if nations pooled their sovereignty. Fraser countered and said this was not a debate about economics. I would be happy for us to be poorer if we could have our democracy back. The idea we should trade our democracy for a few percentage points in our economy is lunacy. Brinton made the point that our democracy in the UK was not perfect. The reason Ann [Widdecombe] never lost her seat in the House of Commons is because we dont have a fair voting system, she said. The lively debate continued onto whether there was a moral case for either leave or remain. Absolutely not, said Brinton. But I use my faith to inform my views. On this Widdecombe agreed. There is no moral superiority on either position. There is not a monopoly of Christian virtue on either side. Afterwards Brinton told Christian Today she was inspired by Revelations reference to a multitude from every nation, tribe, people and tongue. As a Christian I want us to be part of that. Wanting to remain in the EU is saying there are benefits of remaining together. There is no mention of either economic apocalypse or immigration in the report, so it may be that this debate was more civilised than just about every other news programme for the last 2 months. The problem is that all the major television events/non-debates feature people from whom you are not likely to get thoughtful, inspiring contributions. As in Scotland, the Liberal Democrats are having to fight for air time, just as we did in Scotland. The Remain campaign should realise that the message that we have, that positive celebration of the EU and what it means in terms of peace and prosperity, what it does to make the world a better and fairer place, could be the melody that inspires people out to vote. In an election where turnout is going to be key, and they only need to win by 1 and were in a very tricky situation, we need to use all the arguments at our disposal. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings Beijing extended its real estate restrictions in an eastern suburban district on Thursday to cover business property to force out speculators. Families without household registration in Beijing, unmarried Beijing residents who already own homes and families that own more than one home are among those no longer eligible to purchase corporate apartments in Tongzhou District under the new property rules jointly issued by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the municipal government of Tongzhou District. Tongzhou has been increasingly targeted by property speculators, who are betting that its designation as the new administrative center for Beijing will raise the value of real estate in the district. Those from outside Beijing will only be allowed to buy corporate apartments in the district if they have made tax and social security payments in Beijing for over five straight years. The rules also stipulate that office space can only be sold to companies for business purposes. Authorities previously introduced restrictions on residential property purchases in the district in August last year to curb speculation that sent home prices soaring. Yet speculators have since begun grabbing up business properties in the district, some of which have been converted into residential units for home buyers. Regulators said they fear this practice, if not effectively tackled, could potentially lead to more population influx than the district is prepared to handle and hurt the district's ability to house businesses if office space is not used for its original purpose. This week the Psychoactive Substances Act became law. Over at Politics.co.uk, editor Ian Dunt wrote a scathing review of the official Home Office guidance to retailers. As he says, the guidance seems to be a melting pot of every prejudice you could imagine against young people: The Home Office clearly envisions a youthful sub-class of drug fiends, unable to stay off the stuff even immediately ahead of purchasing it. Laughing gas has a mild effect which lasts for about a minute, so its unlikely the user would be intoxicated on it literally while purchasing more. Perhaps the Home Office doesnt know this. Or perhaps they assume they are eating all sorts of drugs and are still high off them while going for a laughing gas chaser to finish off the evening. Or maybe they wrote this guidance in the same spirit in which they wrote the law: without due consideration for logic, legal validity or objective reality. The drug fiend stereotypes go on and on. Do they have physical symptoms of intoxication such as bad skin, weeping eyes, rash around the nose? God help you if youve got spots or hay fever: the Home Office knows youre a wrong un. This reminded me of how, under the previous Labour administration, carrying two mobile phones or ordering a vegetarian meal on a plane would be enough to raise suspicions of you being a terrorist. Helen Duffett wrote about that at the time.: So far-fetched have been recent grounds for arrest, or for flagging yourself up as a terrorist suspect, that people keep asking me if Lib Dem Voice is running a series of hoax posts. (Weve had lingering near street ironworks, ordering vegetarian airline meals, handing in lost property, scaring ducks, putting your bin out on the wrong day, looking at things and easily the most heinous, in my opinion going equipped with balloons.) I thought I was joking (albeit darkly) when I said on LibDig that people might one day be singled out for their taste in music, but even that now appears to have happened. Home Office Watch features the terrifying ordeal of a jazz musician arrested by anti-terror police who had taken his soundproofed studio, replete with wires, as a sign of bomb-making. I took it a bit further on my own blog, looking at all the ways I filled the supposed criteria for being a terrorist, pointing out that what really wasnt funny was that you could find yourself locked up for 6 weeks without even knowing why. We have a camera terrorists like to take pictures of things, you know. I personally dont take photos of sewer covers but thats just weird, not a sign of malevolence of purpose:-) We have a laptop, a desktop and are considering purchasing another laptop. Could our accumulation of technology be used for purposes more sinister than storing music, blogging, Twitter, e-mailing and Club Penguin? We have a car and I travel occasionally. The Government suggests that someone may be a terrorist if they travel but is vague about where they are going. Im worried now. Is it sufficient to say Im going to see family up north? What about saying Im going to work? Or to the shops?? Should I always tell my friends and family the exact address Im going to? Maybe we should always make sure the Police know where were going, and why, just to be on the safe side? That could be an idea for another protest along the lines of the CC all your e-mails to Jacqui Smith day tell her what you are doing on a particular day, right down to the last detail:-) So, years later, the Home Office still hasnt got any more realistic or in touch and Parliament is still passing very poor legislation because they can. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings 10 Things to Know About Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis) on the Face and Neck A dermatologist shares essential facts about the itchy condition, including what triggers eczema on the face and neck and how to get rid of it or at least improve it. THE Cranberries are gearing up to make a return to the stage for the first time in nearly four years. The Limerick group will play a show in Lublin in Poland this week, their first time performing live together since late 2012. In recent weeks the Cranberries have been rehearsing in the Irish Chamber Orchestras building in UL, where they were captured in full flow by local photographer Ken Coleman, a digital media artist who has worked with a number of bands. Ken, who got to know songwriter and guitarist Noel Hogan through the Pigtown Fling project which formed a central part of City of Culture in 2014, took a stylised poster image and snippet of promo video of the group for the upcoming tour, an initial 10 dates the Cranberries will play before the end of September in Europe and the US. The UL interactive media graduate, 35, from Lisnagry, said the four bandmates were relaxed and happy in each others company when he photographed them, also capturing them on video, which Noel has since released online. I got a couple of shots of them and the video and you can see at the very end that they are having a good chat, they were laughing and joking amongst themselves, he said. Noel asked me if I would be interested in doing a couple of shots of the lads, because they were trying to get together for the tour. They are all in different places at different times, so we had a very small window of opportunity to get it done on a Sunday evening. We knocked it out in about an hour and a half; green screen, live video, and the stills from that last practice before they packed up. There was no real brief, I just went at it as I usually do, my own kind of style, and they were happy with the first draft I gave them. Ken has collaborated with local bands on similar projects and is also working with an American death metal band, but said it was a nice step up to work with an act of the profile of the Cranberries, who have sold an estimated 40 million albums worldwide. "What is exciting is the international reaction - the video had 300,000 hits in a day, the Instagram had 48,000 likes, he said. For my own personal thing and from a career point of view, it is good, because I have been working on this now professionally for ten years, pretty much to the month, added Ken who is gearing up to unveil a new digital art piece as the curators choice for June in the Hunt Museum Noel has been drip feeding pictures through the bands Instagram, with the hint emerging that they might be recording new music. Their last album, Roses, was released in 2012 and the Cranberries took it on a huge world tour. However, they did not play in Limerick, and have only done so once in almost 20 years, performing three songs at the Special Olympics opening ceremony in Thomond Park in 2010. Efforts are ongoing, the Leader understands, to try and rectify that and to bring the quartet home for a show, but nothing has been finalised. While they were rehearsing at the ICO building, a number of fans turned up and were warmly received by the group, who signed autographs and posed for pictures. FOR Cllr Stephen Keary, the proof of the pudding was in the eating. By the time his motion, the last item on the agenda, was reached at Mondays meeting of Limerick City and County Council, it was almost 7.30pm. And the meeting had started just minutes after 3pm. My reason for bringing this motion is very very appropriate, he began, before going on to say that the council was not functioning as it should. The bi-monthly meetings, brought in with amalgamation in 2014, were not working, Cllr Keary argued. Other councils had found this out too and had reverted to monthly meetings, he pointed out. Now, he wanted Limerick to do the same. Besides being too lengthy and time consuming, he argued that bi-monthly meetings inhibited the statutory process. If something cannot be approved at a meeting, another two months is lost before it can be done, the Croagh councillor said. Backing his colleagues proposal, Cllr Jerome Scanlan said one result of bi-monthly meetings was the plethora of special meetings that had to be organised because the two-month time span was too long. But Fianna Fail leader in the council, Michael Collins, cautioned against taking any decision without a review by party leaders and the executive. We have had very much a settling-in process, he said. Maybe we could do business a little differently. Monthly meetings would not resolve the problems that are there, he argued, and he asked Cllr Keary to hold off on his motion to allow time to tweak the process. Secretary Christy OConnor pointed out to councillors that the Local Government Reform Act allowed for decisions to be made at municipal district level as well as at full council level. There had been discussion in the Metropolitan area about how the meetings are run, he said. Rather than change it at todays meeting, we should be looking at how the meetings are run, Mr OConnor said. But Cllr Keary was not for deferring. Cllr Lisa Marie Sheehy had brought a similar motion a year ago, he argued, and a report had been promised but nothing had happened. I am putting it to the floor, he declared. But Cllr John Gilligan hit back. You could spend your life at meetings. We seem to be doing it more and more, he said. Simply adding another meeting is not the solution. Then it was the turn of Sinn Feins Cllr Seamus Browne who stepped in to disagree with that. This council needs to conduct its business on a monthly basis, he said. We have had far too many special meetings. We are also getting some motions coming back out of date from the SPCs. This was on the agenda a year ago. I think it is time we brought it to a conclusion today, he said. Sometimes I wonder whether I am in the Senate the Dail or the European Parliament, Cllr Kieran OHanlon declared in a reference to topics that were not, in his opinion, the proper business of a local authority. A monthly meeting would mean extra costs and an unnecessary burden on officials, the Fianna Fail councillor pointed out. Deputy chief executive Pat Dowling said it was now timely to review standing orders in their entirety and not wait five years. We all need a serious dose of cop-on, Fine Gael leader, Cllr John Sheahan said. But he understood the frustration behind Cllr Kearys motion. He himself had proposed that the various Strategic Policy Committees meet between the bi-monthly council meetings to facilitate motions and decisions but nothing had come of it. However, he suggested that they wait to July and if there isnt serious movement between this and then on meetings and procedures, they would then take Cllr Kearys motion. Declaring that the whole process of changing management structures, was a total and utter quagmire, Cllr Keary refused to withdraw his motion. But he did agree to defer it, leaving the councillors free to go home, after four and a half hours. FIFTY refugees fleeing from violence in Syria have been resettled in Limerick city and county. As part of a national and international resettlement programme, 100 Syrian refugees will be resettled in local housing by the end of the year. Limerick agencies have agreed to offer protection to those who have fled their home country. According to sources, the 12 families that have resettled in Limerick are getting on very well and enjoying themselves. This resettlement programme is being implemented in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] and Irelands commitment to the programme. The Department of Justice and Equality has asked the council to chair an interagency working group to assist with the resettlement. The agencies involved in the programme include the An Garda Siochana, the HSE, Tusla child and family agency, Limerick Diocesan Office, Limerick Childcare, Paul Partnership, the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, the Department of Social Welfare and the Department of Justice. The council has committed to accommodating 25 families. Those admitted under the resettlement programme will have the same rights and entitlements as an Irish person, under the 1951 Geneva Convention. It is believed that most of the Syrians who have resettled were previously in refugee camps in the Lebanon and Jordan which have no infrastructure, no electricity, and water is scarce. Doras Luimni director, Leonie Kerins welcomed Limericks involvement in the resettlement programme. She said that there are not enough resources to provide for refugees in the camps because of the volume of people. They are facing shortages, such as food, medicine, and they are not able to provide schooling for the children who are spending years in the refugee camps. And I am absolutely sure that the families that are coming to Ireland, in particular to Limerick, will be incredibly relieved to be able to start a new life in a safe country, in a safe place, she added. Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr Liam Galvin also welcomed the Syrian refugees this week. He said: Over the last week, I saw families avail of homes in Abbeyfeale and the joy on their faces was incredible. So, I can only imagine how good the Syrian families feel right now. Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins, who urged the Government to play its part in the refugee crisis, said: The unprecedented levels of migrants and refugees fleeing war-torn regions in the Middle East and North Africa presents a serious humanitarian and political challenge to Europe. Ireland must play its part in assisting those in need of refuge at home and in providing help on front line camps. Refugees based here in Ireland and the communities they are placed in must be afforded the supports they need to fully integrate into Irish society. FROM a zero budget production to strutting down the prestigious red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, Limerick was able to match international movie standards at one of the biggest events of its kind in the world. The strong Limerick contingent at last weeks festival consisted of Mungret actor Nigel Mercier, who starred in a Belfast-based film, Mothers Milk and Cookies; Steve Hall and his team for his short, Safe; Paddy Murphy and his team for his short film, The Cheese Book; Cashell Horgan for his City of Culture bursary film, The Clockmakers Dream; and renowned Limerick-raised actress, Ruth Negga. Mr Hall, who showcased his post-apocalyptic drama Safe starring Zeb Moore and Adam Moylan said he is hopeful about securing distribution for a number of projects. It was an incredible experience. All the time, I kept saying to myself: How did I get here? For me, as a filmmaker, it really opened my eyes as to how to get business done. It was fantastic because we went over with a short and a feature, with the idea of doing business with both. And we had a lot of meetings about the short and the feature. He added that it was a spellbinding experience to walk down the same carpet as Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, Mel Gibson, and George Miller. That was absolutely incredible. Even thinking about it gave me goosebumps. As we were queueing up to get into the entrance of the red carpet, Bittersweet Symphony was playing over the intercom, and surreal isnt even the word for it. This is second to the Oscars. I cant describe it. It was magical. Mothers Milk and Cookies, Safe and The Cheese Box were selected to make their world premiere at the Short Film Corner; Horgans film made it to the Cannes Animation Day; and Negga starred in the world premiere of American film, Loving. Mr Murphy said he was delighted that biopic drama The Cheese Box starring Kevin Kiely, Jr was received well at the festival. It was brilliant to see a collection of films that were so varied, so diverse, and each of films appealed to people. And this just shows that what is coming out of Limerick is really reaching the standard that matches the rest of the world. And it was remarked that if this is what people are capable of with no funding, just imagine what we could do with funding. Mr Mercier said the festival offered the young filmmakers to sell their feature ideas for investment and distribution, at the beach front Pavillion, where film boards from around the world met with up-and-coming directors and writers. I think Cannes is about getting to meet people whom you never normally meet. Film festivals are the only festivals where you get to meet these people; producers, directors, investors, actors - everybody is in the one place. So, it was about getting out there and chatting to people. And when we came back, we all said to ourselves, We have got to do this again, he said. The Richard Harris Film Festival was also promoted at a Limerick movie night, at Morrisons Irish Bar, last Wednesday. Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Inc is pushing into smaller cities in China, as it continues to invest heavily in the Chinese market despite a softening economy, the company's CEO said. A passenger passes by a banner for Estee Lauder cosmetics, July 2, 2011. [Wu Changqing/For China Daily] Its China sales grew 8 percent in the last quarter, down from the company's historic highs of 20 percent, led primarily by gains in e-commerce and mobile commerce. "We are not going to combat the market in China - meaning (even) if China is slowing down, we will stay there, stay focused and continue to invest in China," said Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO of Estee Lauder. "I don't think we have the ambition to influence the total Chinese economic trend, but we have the ambition to stay focused and continue investing during the ups and during the downs. At this moment, there's a little bit of down, but it's not dramatic, it's just a bit of softening and we're still growing in China. For us it's going very well," he said. Estee Lauder will increase its distribution in the country, investing online. It has a partnership with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Tmall platform, which Freda said has been a good partner for building its business because the company is able to control the image, equity and execution of the brand. Tmall has brand partnerships with many retailers from the United States that run their official stores on the e-commerce platform, selling to customers who are wary of fake goods that proliferate on the web. The New York-based cosmetics giant owns more than two dozen brands in makeup, skincare, fragrance and hair care, including Clinique, MAC, Bobbi Brown and Smashbox. Freda said that Estee Lauder is also planning to invest in freestanding stores - in particular with entry-level brands like MAC - in areas where there are no department stores. 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. Here's a trivia question for armchair historians: Was the first Memorial Day celebrated in Columbus, Georgia, or Columbus, Mississippi? According to strict calendric interpretation, Columbus, Mississippi, celebrated the holiday first, on April 25, 1866, but only because newspaper editors fudged the date, said Richard Gardiner, an associate professor of history education at Columbus State University in Georgia, and co-author of "The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday" (Columbus State University, 2014). Columbus, Georgia, where the concept of honoring the soldiers who died in the American Civil War originated, celebrated it a day later, on April 26, 1866, along with dozens of other cities, Gardiner said. Related: 6 Civil War myths, busted Columbus, Mississippi, may have celebrated Memorial Day first, but "what's not true is that they came up with the idea," Gardiner told Live Science. In fact, there are many contenders for where Memorial Day started. Some say it started in Waterloo, New York, in 1866, and President Lyndon B. Johnson even signed a proclamation saying so in 1966. But historians have since discredited that claim, Gardiner said. Still, some people still trumpet the claim, including the village of Waterloo itself. Here's why: In the 1880s, a reporter interviewed a source who thought that Waterloo celebrated the day in 1866, but the newspaper later ran a correction saying it was actually 1868. Still, not every newspaper that ran the story included the correction, leading some people to think that Waterloo was the first to celebrate the holiday that Americans call Memorial Day, Gardiner said. Others, including David Blight, a professor of history at Yale University, say the first Memorial Day happened in Charleston, South Carolina, according to The New York Times. On May 1, 1865, workmen honored and buried dead soldiers from the Union Army at a racetrack that had been turned into a war prison, Blight told The New York Times. However, there's no evidence that this event sparked the national holiday, Gardiner said. People have honored dead soldiers and decorated their graves since the beginning of time, he added. "It's not a question of who was the first person to decorate a grave," Gardiner said. "That does not create a holiday." How Memorial Day started Memorial Day's date has changed over the years, but the very first holiday was planned for April 26, 1866, in the wake of the American Civil War. In January 1866, the Ladies' Memorial Association in Columbus, Georgia, passed a motion agreeing that they would designate a day to throw flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers buried at the cemetery, Gardiner said. However, the ladies didn't want this to be an isolated event, so Mary Ann Williams, the group's secretary, wrote a letter and sent it to newspapers all over the United States. "You'll find that letter in dozens of newspapers," Gardiner said. "It got out, and it was republished everywhere in the country." In the letter, the ladies asked people to celebrate the war's fallen soldiers on April 26 the day the bulk of Confederate soldiers surrendered in North Carolina in 1865. "That's what many people in the South considered to be the end of the war," Gardiner said. Even though Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, "there were still 90,000 people ready to fight. And until those 90,000 surrendered on April 26, the war was effectively still going on," Gardiner said. [Album: Faces and Injuries of the Civil War] But the date wasn't printed correctly in every newspaper, which led Columbus, Mississippi, to celebrate the holiday a day earlier, on April 25. Despite the mix-up, Columbus, Mississippi, is often credited as the birthplace of Memorial Day, Gardiner said. In one of his 2010 weekly addresses, President Barack Obama said just that: "On April 25, 1866, about a year after the Civil War ended, a group of women visited a cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi, to place flowers by the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen at Shiloh," he said. Gardiner said, "I don't contest that. But the evidence is abundantly clear that they were simply following what the newspaper had suggested that they do." Rather, it was the women of Columbus, Georgia, who thought of the idea, he said. Flowers for all On April 26, 1866, people across the South heeded Williams' letter and threw flowers on the graves of Civil War soldiers. Some Southern women noticed that Yankee graves, interspersed with the graves of their loved ones, sat untended, Gardiner said. "They start to see these Union graves that are just laying there, kind of barren," he said. "Their hearts are warmed. Their hearts start to feel bad for the mothers who have lost these children. So, they start to throw flowers on the Yankee graves. And then that story gets published everywhere." The Memorial Day celebration on April, 26, 1866, in Columbus, Georgia. (Image credit: Columbus State University Archives) In the North, the poet Francis Miles Finch wrote "The Blue And the Gray," a poem that says, "They banish our anger forever/ When they laurel the graves of our dead!" Many Southern women repeated the practice on April 26 in 1866 and 1867, and in 1868, "the story was just so strong and so well known that the authorities in the North said, 'Look, we've got to take this thing and make it national,'" Gardiner said. In May 1868, the day became a federal holiday. But there were few, if any, flowers blooming in the North in April. So, the government pushed the date up a month, to May 30, so that people could decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with wildflowers, Gardiner said. Memorial Day remained on May 30 until 1971, when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect. This act mandated that federal holidays occur on Mondays, and made Memorial Day the last Monday in May, Gardiner said. [Mysterious Unclaimed Civil War Images] As the holiday spread, people placed flowers on the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers, even if one had been a former enemy. For instance, in 1868, a girl named Jennie Vernon in Indiana sent a wreath with a letter to officials, asking that they lay flowers on a rebel soldier's grave, according to Gardiner . "My dear papa is buried at Andersonville [Georgia], and perhaps some little girl will be kind enough to put a few flowers upon his grave," she wrote. Long-standing debate Memorial Day's many changes underwent scrutiny, however. When it became nationally recognized in 1868, some Northerners resisted, saying they shouldn't follow a Southern idea. Likewise, some people in the South were upset that the North was "stealing" their idea, Gardiner said. That's why some Southerners still celebrate Memorial Day on April 26, he said. But overall, the holiday has brought people together. Americans still honor it today, with celebrations and remembrances of people who have died fighting for their country, Gardiner said. Original article on Live Science. You are here: Home New power transmission lines in Beijing's suburban district of Tongzhou were put into operation on Sunday, ahead of a planned move there by the capital's municipal departments. A new subsidiary administrative center for the municipal government is due to open in Tongzhou next year, to help relieve pressure on public services in downtown Beijing, where the central government is located. The center will be equipped with a "first-class" upgraded power supply over the course of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), according to Beijing Electric Power Company, which is responsible for the installation work. Once complete, the 14.3 square-kilometer administrative center's power distribution network will offer charging facilities for electric cars every kilometer, the company said. Since January, 20.5 kilometers of power lines have been upgraded in the district and 53 power transmission towers have been built. Subsequent work will include expanding transformer substations and carrying out new transmission and transformation projects, the company said. Pride and self-satisfaction were probably the two chief adages to sum up the atmosphere in Cnoc Mhuire on Monday as the Granard Secondary School unveiled its latest annual magazine- 'Feach 2016'. A mainstay of the long established north Longford school since the early 70s, 'Feach' has readily become the envy of second level establishments up and down the county. Pupils from the school's Transition Year Media Studies class, ably assisted by their teacher Pauric Hanlon, were once again the brains behind its creation. To add to the occasion, Irish Independent columnist and former Longford Leader Editor Eugene McGee was on hand on Monday to officially launch its 2016 publication. Speaking ahead of those proceedings last Friday, Mr Hanlon said there was no secret behind the magazine's continued success. There is a lot of planning involved, he explained, while casting an eye over a photocpied draft of the end product. The students write it and put it together in Media Studies with the teachers also having an input as well. You really need to be the type of person that keeps everything though. Right now, I have a file for Feach 2016. You have to be prepared to record everything as the year goes by. That meticulous attention to detail is very much illustrated in the extensive array of topics that are covered throughout the 43-page publication. From music to sporting excellence on the field of play, there's not much Mr Hanlon and his batch of aspiring young scribes haven'tconsidered. It's all about the kids at the end of the day, added Mr Hanlon. We want them to feel the emotion of it all. There were warm and appreciative words too from school Principal Moira Mahon. She said the endeavours displayed by students and teachers alike in Feach's sustained success was not to be underestimated. The standard is very high, it really is, she enthused. Mick Conlon started it and Pauric has taken it over and brought it to another level. I'm very proud. The trustees of the school (CEIST) ask for a report of school activities from the year and what I usually do is send them a copy of Feach as it's the whole year encapsulated into one. Copies of Feach 2016 are on sale for 5 from the school and from local businesses. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Travel & Local Attractions, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: May 28 2016 The New York State Governors Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) today launched a new social media campaign, the #BuckleUpNY Challenge. Albany, NY - May 27, 2016 - The New York State Governors Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) today launched a new social media campaign, the #BuckleUpNY Challenge, as part of its annual seat belt enforcement mobilization, which is taking place statewide through June 5. As part of this new campaign, New Yorkers are encouraged to take a short video encouraging others across the state to #BuckleUpNY and share it on social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Xfinity driver Ross Chastain was the first person to issue the #BuckleUpNY challenge at a press conference in Watertown last week, where he challenged Chiefs of Police across the state to take this first-ever social media challenge. Margaret Ryan, Executive Director at New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, in turn accepted the challenge. Every year across New York State, law enforcement agencies mobilize as part of a national education and enforcement campaign to make certain that motorists are wearing their seat belts, said Acting GTSC Chair and DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner Terri Egan. Here in New York, were trying new things to get the word out. Last week, we launched a new Protect Your Melon campaign with Xfinity driver Ross Chastain, and this week were launching a new #BuckleUpNY challenge on social media. My challenge is for all New Yorkers to buckle up day and night, to protect themselves and their loved ones, and stay safe throughout the year. See Executive Deputy Commissioner Egans #BuckleUpNY Challenge here. As part of the Buckle Up New York effort, the New York State Police and local law enforcement agencies will use marked and unmarked vehicles, checkpoints, and roving details to aggressively ticket unbelted drivers traveling the state's roadways. New York's seat belt law is a "primary enforcement law," which means that a law enforcement officer may stop motorists for not having a seat belt on. Governor Cuomo announced in August that a record 92 percent of New Yorkers are buckling up and regularly using seat belts, making 2015 the sixth consecutive year that seat-belt use stayed at or above 90 percent, according to the New York State Seat Belt Observation Survey, conducted each year by the University at Albany Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research. New York was among only 19 states and the District of Columbia with seat belt use rates of 90 percent or higher. Buckling up also means ensuring that children are restrained properly. As part of the GTSC's Child Passenger Safety Program, state and local police agencies, along with various community safety partners, offer free child car seat inspections by certified child passenger safety technicians year-round. In November, Governor Cuomo announced the alarming results of Child Passenger Safety Week seat check events, during which 88 percent of the 931 seats inspected were found to be improperly installed. Technicians found that only 112 had been installed correctly, which demonstrates the importance of learning how to properly install car seats and taking advantage of the state and locally sponsored safety check events. More information about upcoming child safety seat checks can be found here. Additionally, GTSC recently supported the launch of a new "Save Face: Buckle Up" electronic billboard displayed across the state to remind New Yorkers of the dangers of not using seatbelts. The billboard image can be viewed here. For more information about New York State law and buckling up correctly, click here. Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases The shortage of nurses from hospitals in China has affected the quality of medical service in the country. The deficiency of nurses is in the millions Zhang Weichi, a nurse from the Neurology Department of Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, was offended by the rudeness of a neurologically disabled patient who spit on her face when she attempted to collect sputum from her. On that particular night, Zhang started to question her choice of becoming a nurse, a profession that is overwhelmed by samples of blood, urine and sputum. Her negative feelings are not groundless; the severe shortage of nurses in China has imposed great challenges on an occupation that involves a heavy workload, frequent night shifts and low pay. According to the World Health Organization, the average proportion of nurses to a country's total population is around 0.5 percent, while in China it's only 0.1 percent. In Norway the country with the highest proportion of nurses in its population, there are 17.27 nurses for every 1,000 people. Based on criteria decided upon more than 30 years ago, hospitals are required to secure a supply of nurses whose number is equal to that of doctors. But the figures are so outdated that they can poorly reflect to the demand of today's medical landscape, said Shang Shaomei, the dean of the School of Nursing at Peking University. The dean also pointed out the disparity of the number of nurses between big cities and other regions. In Beijing, the rate was 5.3 per 1,000 in 2015, but in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, the rates were only 1.4 and 1.3 per 1000 respectively. The meager incomes cause the huge loss of nurses Recently a young drug addict who had been in coma was admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit (ICU) at Chaoyang Hospital. When he regained consciousness several days after his arrival, the man relapsed into drug addiction, verbally and even physically abusing any nurse who approached his bed. No female nurse would enter the room, so the hospital asked a male nurse -- Gu Wenjie -- to take care of him until he left. "Actually, I was scared too," Gu said, "but the man is critically ill, there must be a nurse to take charge of the ICU." The patient attacked Gu whenever he approached. When the patient left the hospital he did not show a slight sign of remorse for his brutal and violent manners towards the nurses. The shortage of nurses has resulted in a heavy workload, and frequent night shifts and high-risk-and-low-return working conditions have led many nurses to quit. In April this year, more than 40 nurses from The Second Hospital Affiliated to Suzhou University announced their departures all at the same time in response to their small salaries, which were 2,000 yuan (US$305) a month each. Their exodus caused dysfunction in the operation rooms. Moreover, the Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University on the east side of Shanghai has met with difficulties in recruiting nurses without whom the wards cannot open. The contributions by nurses at hospitals have always been neglected and the low salary may be the major reason they leave their posts, Shang said. To maintain a stable distribution of nursing services, hospitals should improve human resources management, making reasonable returns to the nurses who deserve them, subsidizing junior nurses and broadening career prospect for senior ones, Shang said. In the current world, all major civilizations are faced with crises. In essence, all major civilizations are engaged in competition to see who can be the first to walk out of current difficulties via reforms, as the winners will be the leaders of the global civilization throughout this century. The case is more so between China and the United States. The real competition between the two countries does not lie in the internationalization of the renminbi, nor in the TPP, but in who can resolve their domestic issues via institutional reforms. The United States is battling with its own problems. The country is experiencing a chaotic presidential campaign and frequent street and campus protests. The fundamental reason is globalization's impact on America's society during the past three decades. The U.S. has to establish a basic and highly-effective social welfare system to pacify the results of the unsuccessful system implemented during this period of globalization. This inevitably calls for more tax contributions from those who benefited during the same era, especially Wall Street. The U.S. Federal Government receives 75 percent of its tax revenues from personal taxes, but personal tax is a major reason for wealth polarization, instead of acting as a stabilizer to ease the social income gap. Wall Street blockbusters receive most of their income from capital appreciation, blessed by a low tax rate of 15 percent. By contrast, the income tax rate is between 25-30 percent, or even higher sometimes, making itself a cause of public resentment. In the American society that highly respects freedom and individualism there are talented entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and there is also homeless, helpless, low-income group that needs to be taken care of. The latter group of people tends to have trouble finding jobs, as most of them may have chronic alcoholism and drug problems and cannot meet the blood test standards required by many employers. Therefore, the government has to take responsibility to look after and treat this underprivileged group. An advantage of the United States lies in the fact that the rule of law is deeply rooted in everyone's mind. However chaotic the presidential campaign is or fierce the public's protests are, once the legal agency kicks in, society will basically accept the court's ruling, and this is the cornerstone of economic and social reforms in the United States. By contrast, Europe is experiencing an opposite situation, which is extremely high social welfare. Normally, 40 percent of an European country's GDP goes to government expenditure, and half of the government expenditure goes to social welfare. Most countries in Europe, except Germany, need revolutionary reforms on their social welfare systems. The fundamental reason why Germany managed to stay firm amid the global gloom is the basket of reform on social welfare unveiled by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the 1990s. The United States needs radical reforms today to support these vulnerable groups, perfect basic social security, and ease social conflicts. Reflecting on ourselves, China also has social conflicts. Therefore, we should face these issues directly, innovate our approach, and come up with new ideas that should include the following three aspects. First, we need a precisely adjusted modern market economy. In this aspect, Germany is the teacher. The modern market economy has been widely accepted and become a mainstream political economics thinking, although a set of practices are needed to carry out the precise adjustment. Again, Germany and Singapore have set the standards for us to follow. For example, in the medical system, the government should motivate the enthusiasm of pharmaceutical companies, doctors and hospitals, but in the meantime should have a set of policies in place to provide primary medical care. The real estate market is another example. It should abide by the market economy, in terms of the developer, property management, residents and dealings of second-hand properties. However, the government adjustment must be in place in order to ensure the basic housing needs of middle-and-low income families and prevent housing prices from fluctuating too drastically. Second, the idea and system for the rule of law must take root. In this aspect, the United States is the teacher. As long as the legal system starts to intervene, most people will accept the result. In comparison, the current Chinese society has a weak foundation for the rule of law. Public opinions, morals, politics and even the human relations can prevent the legal system from functioning properly. This is akin to taking an anchor away from society. Third, there must be a group of ideal, restricted and motivated ruling elites. In this aspect, Singapore is the teacher. Ruling elites must have sublime pursuits, because only in this way can trust be established in society, staying clear of corruption. At the same time, these ideal ruling elites must be restricted and motivated, to reap benefits on par with their performances. Ideals alone cannot assemble a group of ruling elites for long, and neither can an institutional restriction or stimulation. If China's reform can make breakthroughs in the three abovementioned aspects, China will undoubtedly realize modernization in all economic and social aspects. China's comprehensive strengthening can be among the world's best, and Chinese civilization can have a higher appeal across the world. In that way, the current China-U.S. struggle will be completely overturned. The author is a chair professor at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University. The article was translated by Chen Boyuan. Its unabridged version was published in Chinese. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Iranian media outlets affiliated with the state reported yesterday that Iraqi militia Harakat al Nujaba, or Movement of the Noble, bombarded opposition positions in Khan Touman, southwest of Aleppo, on May 25. This occurred in advance of a ground assault by the Syrian army and resistance groups to retake the city. Earlier this month, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its allies lost the town to Jaysh al Fath, a jihadist-led alliance of rebel groups that includes Jabhat al Nusrah, al Qaedas branch in Syria. The pro-Assad coalition sustained heavy casualties in the ambush, with at least 17 military advisors dead and 21 wounded. Nujaba acknowledged the loss of 11 combatants. The battle garnered significant public attention both in the Middle East and on social media. Suffering the most stinging defeat in Syria yet, the Guard has vowed revenge. Seeking to downplay the loss, Iranian media outlets linked to the IRGC and the state claimed shortly after the ambush that Nujaba on May 9 launched IRAMs at Khan Touman. Purportedly destroying two BMB armored vehicles and a 23-millimeter cannon mounted on a technical truck, and killing dozens Nusrah fighters during the attack. Iranian media again claimed yesterday that Nujaba missile units bombarded the town and sporadically undertook ground operations. The media, however, denied reports that the full operation to retake the town has begun. They claim that Nujaba is launching skirmishes and artillery fire to soften defenses and clear the surrounding areas of Khan Touman in advance of an offensive. According to Iranian media, Nujaba missiles on May 25 destroyed two tanks, an armored personnel carrier, and a 23-millimeter cannon mounted on a technical truck belonging to Nusrah. Nujaba also reportedly destroyed a Fath BMB armored vehicle with a Kornet anti-tank guided missile. Iranian media claim that Nujaba fighters have killed 23 and wounded 18 Nusrah combatants. Nujaba is also involved in the ongoing operation to retake Fallujah in Iraq, This is where Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC Qods Force, and Akram Abbas al Kaabi, the leader of Nujaba, have both been spotted. Amir Toumaj is a independent analyst and contributor to FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Fighters, including some children, shown in a training camp belonging to the Islamic State in Lanao group Over the past two months, both the Islamic State and several groups in the Philippines loyal to the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on Filipino troops. In the past two days, social media accounts belonging to Islamic State groups in the Philippines have claimed three attacks, but gave no dates for the purported violence. On May 26, the accounts said that there was a clash between the soldiers of Dawlah Islamiya (party of Allah) and Soldiers of government (party of shaytan) and that a tank was captured in Butig. Additionally, the accounts claimed that fighters from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, engaged with soldiers in Maguindanao. CNN Philippines reported that the town of Datu Salibo in Maguindanao sees almost daily skirmishes between Filipino troops and BIFF and that Butig suffers the same reality with jihadists. In another claim, jihadists reportedly ambushed a Filipino military truck in Lanao Del Sur. The last reported ambush of its kind happened back in February when an army convoy traveling between Marawi and Cotabato was ambushed, which left one soldier dead. However, suspected Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) fighters ambushed a military truck in Sulu, wounding seven Filipino rangers on May 26. ASG is also suspected to be behind the killing of a soldier in Sulu, also on May 26. On May 20, the Islamic State released an official claim of attack on Filipino troops, saying its forces wounded a group of soldiers in Basilan. The Islamic State also claimed an attack on a Filipino army position in Maluso, Basilan, on May 9. According to the statement, fighters loyal to the Islamic State killed one and injured another. The jihadist group also claimed capturing weapons during the raid. In late April, the Islamic State in Lanao released photos showing the beheadings of two purported spies of the Philippines. The Islamic State did not give a location, but last month the jihadist organization claimed that its fighters in the Philippines have killed more than 100 Filipino soldiers in recent clashes. The Filipino government vehemently denied the obviously high number saying that only 18 of its soldiers have been killed in the southern Philippines area of Basilan. The Philippines also reported that 28 militants from ASG, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, were killed in the clashes. Other groups allied with the Islamic State in the Philippines have not yet released media showing clashes with the Filipino government. ASG is the largest group to pledge to the Islamic State, as well as the most experienced and capable in confronting the Filipino security forces. However, the Philippines claimed it killed two members of Ansar Khilafah, another group that has sworn its loyalty to the Islamic State, recently in the southern Sarangani province. In response, Ansar Khilafah claimed an IED attack in General Santos City, which caused minimal damage. It also released photos of the two fighters killed a few days later. In Maguindanao, the Filipino government blames most IEDs on BIFF. In March, it said over 20 IED attacks were the responsibility of the group. One of those IED blasts killed five civilians, including a young child. Caleb Weiss is a research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa. 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. Diana Shipping Inc. today announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it entered into a time charter contract with Bunge S.A., Geneva, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Naias. The gross charter rate is US$5,000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of about five (5) months to about seven (7) months. The charter commenced yesterday. The Naias is a 73,546 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2006. The Company also announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it entered into a time charter contract with Bunge S.A., Geneva, for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Artemis. The gross charter rate is US$5,350 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum ten (10) months to about thirteen (13) months. The charter is expected to commence on June 6, 2016. The Artemis is a 76,942 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2006. The employments of Naias and Artemis are anticipated to generate approximately US$2.3 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charters. Maritime forces from North Africa, Europe, and the United States concluded exercise Phoenix Express 2016 with closing ceremonies in Souda Bay, Greece May 27. Phoenix Express, sponsored and facilitated by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), is designed to improve regional cooperation between partner nations, increase maritime domain awareness, information sharing practices, and operational capabilities to achieve safety and security in the Mediterranean Sea. Capt. Bryan Durkee, Commodore, Task Force (CTF) 67 stated, Phoenix Express is a great opportunity for us to work operationally and tactically in the maritime for the safety and security in the Mediterranean. At no time is it more important to be aware of what is going on in the maritime environment. The best part is to bring our North African and European partners together with U.S. allies to work on safety and security in the Mediterranean." This years Exercise Control Group (ECG) and Combined Maritime Operations Center (CMOC) were hosted at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center (NMIOTC) located in Souda Bay, Greece but training took place throughout the Mediterranean Sea to include North African nations territorial waters. The at-sea portion of the exercise tested North African, European, and U.S. forces abilities to combat sea-based illicit activity. Scenarios focused on irregular migration, illicit trafficking, and movement of materials for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Participating forces conducted 27 boarding in five days at sea. Search and rescue, visit, board, search and seizure, and medical response drills were completed. Residents of New York City toured the USS Bataan (LHD 5) during Fleet Week New York, May 27, 2016. Once on board, the New Yorkers had the opportunity to explore the ship, interact with the Marines and sailors and learn about some of the different weapons systems, vehicles and gear the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit utilizes. We came to New York City to show the people what we do and that we appreciate their support, so that is exactly what we are doing with these displays, said Cpl. Marcel Gaud, an administration specialist with the 24th MEU. Since the ships ported, thousands of residents waited in line to meet the men and women of Americas sea services. This has been really wonderful, said Adam Greisson, a resident of the New York. I have had the opportunity to speak to the pilots, mechanics, and crewmen so far and had a great experience walking through and learning about the [CH-53] Super Stallion and the [MV-22B] Osprey. At this years Fleet Week, Marines displayed mortar systems, machine gun weapon systems, sniper rifles, amphibious assault vehicles, rotary-wing aircraft, water purification systems, communication gear, and bomb suits. They have shown nothing but interest and are trying to get past an outer shell, said Gaud. And not only get to know what we do and how we do it, but they want to know about the person inside the Marine. This year marks the 28th year New York has hosted Fleet Week and the citys residents still welcome the service members with open arms and hearts. Fleet Week is very special, said Greisson. It is a chance to honor everyone who serves and I am very glad our wonderful city can be a host to some very deserving young men and women. The USS Bataan is open for tours to the public until Monday, May 31, 2016. More Media Gold And Silver At Significant Support. New Story Developing With the holiday weekend, the focus will be on charts only for, ultimately, they reveal the truest story of what is developing in any market. There is one more trading day in May, next Tuesday, but we are using ending data from Friday, the 27th, for the monthly charts. The rally in both gold and silver has been a significant change in market behavior, and these changes are telling the world that the decline from 2011 may have ended. We note the ending action at 1, on the monthly chart. Besides the obvious support and resistance areas, what stands out are the two high volume months when price closed lower each time, once in March, and now for May. Volume is the energy behind every move. Without it, no trend can be sustained. Always remember, exceptionally large volume is when smart money movers are in action, either covering old or taking new positions, in the market. It is during these high volume events that one can see the footprints left behind by smart money movers. We define smart money as those who move and influence market direction, to keep it simple. To put bars 2 and 3 into context, when bars overlap, especially moving sideways, it is the struggle/battle between buyers and sellers for control. The volume for bar 2 was the highest since the 2011 all time high for gold. It was interesting when there was no further downside movement in April. When price stops on a dime, as it were, under heavy selling pressure, it can only mean one thing. The apparent selling pressure was overwhelmed by opposing buyers in numbers great enough to halt any further decline. That means what looks like a selling month, for March, was actually net buying. What is interesting about the lack of downside follow-through, after March, was that the low at the end of the month was where buyers took total control, and that specific low should now become important support on any subsequent retest because it was at the point where sellers could not move the market even a penny lower. In the process of ending, Mays volume was even higher, so the battle between buyers and sellers was at an even greater pitch than in March. Yet, when one views that action, May was nothing more than another overlapping bar, and the exceptionally high selling effort did nothing to carry price lower, at least up to that point. We all remember the surprise selling minutes when billions of dollars worth of gold were dumped on the market with impunity and no care for market impact, were the seller so concerned. There are fewer of those kinds of market dumping and their impact has lessened, considerably. When we talk about changes in market behavior, March and May exemplify the significance of that change. Gold is not selling off to lower swing lows, as occurred in the past. In the present rally/decline, the decline portion has not even approached the half-way retracement level, an indication of relative underlying market strength. We see March and May as messages from the market, advertising its intent. Some little skirmishes designed to take ones attention off that intent may yet follow, and that is when weak-handed players get lost in the shuffle. This is the developing story as we see it, and it pays to lock onto further developments in order to take advantage of potential new upside trends that leads to greater probability for being profitable by harmonizing with the trend. Because of the high volume that stopped at the March low, discussed above, that stopping area should now become support. Chart comments explain it further. We will instead add to the observation of volume increasing as price declined. Smart money sells high and buys low. When smart money is active, volume increases. If smart money were selling gold, the highest volume would occur near the swing highs, and not after a $90 decline. The highest volume is at the low, [so far], so smart money is trying to hide its hand as it buys into the decline. Also, smart money has deep pockets, very deep, so they are not concerned with day-to-day price action even when price moves against them. They know price is going higher because they are the ones behind the move. A $20, $30, $40 move, even more, against them is no big deal. Most often, it is smart money moving price against their position to shake out weak hands, and they keep buying whatever is sold from those who cannot afford such a move against them. Smart money does not like company. It is their purpose to create as many situations as possible to shake people out of the market. The current reaction is one such effort. We often mention synergy between the various time frames. Right now, there is a consistent synergy from the monthly on down as price moves into a reaction area of support. As you look at the daily chart, what has been the net move from early February to the end of May? Zero, practically speaking, but look at all the noise the distraction in between. It appears that smart money is preparing for the advance almost everyone else has been waiting for. If we are on target with this assessment, gold should start exhibiting stopping activity to end the current down trend from the May high, and price should start showing evidence that an uptrend continues to develop. Silver. Second verse, nearly the same as the first. The details vary, but a developing story of support that keeps ostensible selling activity at bay is unfolding. It is a little bit like the United States supporting fighting ISIS. After 13 months of arming bombing ISIS, there has been no apparent effect, except that they are stronger. In comes smart money Russia, and using its incredibly effective aerial bombing, [new, increased and stronger volume], there was a change in the developing story. ISIS was getting its ass kicked, and the trend has been turning. This is the importance of observing new developments pertaining to volume, because it is a market changer and driver. April saw evidence of sharply increased volume in silver while price rallied. That is a market message of which to be aware. The story continues evidenced by the significantly smallest range bar at the end of the current decline from the May swing high. Why is the range so much smaller? Sellers are ineffectual, and buyers are stepping in to take control. If one does not pay attention to these market messages, it is easy to not maintain a focus on this larger picture, and instead, just look at the somewhat random day-to-day noise activity designed to keep people confused and bogged down in more meaningless details. Silver has declined somewhat more grudgingly than has gold. It is more compact in the charts, which makes sense due to the considerably lower prices per ounce for silver as opposed to gold. The gold:silver ratio has been wavering in the 74.5 76+ to 1 area, recently, but that is still lower than the previous readings at 84:1, several weeks ago. We see a new story developing [changes in developing market activity that create a change in direction]. There can be a little chaos during the transition, but a steady focus and careful price selection should begin to pay off. Here is a close-up picture of when price took off to the upside in April in this 4 hour chart, starting with the left-hand side activity. Now on the right side, price has returned to retest that April rally. During this correction, you can see how the level of price direction slowed considerably, starting on the 19th with its sharply higher volume. The down-sloping channel defines the near-term trend, down, and price is struggling at the lower channel line. This tells us buyers have been unable to successfully counter the efforts of sellers, and until that changes, the shorter term trend will remain down. Should a change begin, at or near these levels, it will be a buying opportunity. By Michael Noonan http://edgetraderplus.com Michael Noonan, mn@edgetraderplus.com, is a Chicago-based trader with over 30 years in the business. His sole approach to analysis is derived from developing market pattern behavior, found in the form of Price, Volume, and Time, and it is generated from the best source possible, the market itself. 2016 Copyright Michael Noonan - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. Michael Noonan Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. At last years Rooster Walk, Dennis Hoy waved his arm across the hill below him and said, I have never seen so many abandoned lawn chairs, coolers and bags at any other festival. The point being, he added, is that Rooster Walk is such a comfortable, safe and secure place that you can walk away from your stuff and not worry about anything happening to it. Rooster Walk calls itself a Music and Arts Festival, but to locals, thats secondary. Primarily, its a yearly reunion. You go to catch up with and hang out with your friends and, depending on your age, their grandchildren or grandparents as well. Its a given that people who live out of town and you havent seen since last Rooster Walk will be back. When they come home at Christmas, they might be holed up at home with their families and youll never see them. This weekend they, and probably their extended families, are out in the sun, and then under the stars, at Pops Farm. Children are free to run around and play because no matter where on Pops Farm they wander, theres a Martinsville mom who knows them and will wipe their tears and give them a Band-Aid if they fall and scrape a knee. An estimated 5,000 people are at Rooster Walk this year. No matter how many out-of-town music lovers attend, its a party for Martinsville and Henry County folks. Doesnt this experience make you wonder about other music festivals youve attended? By being an out-of-towner yourself to those, what real at-its basis party atmosphere were you missing? Overall, Pops Farm is the playground of Martinsville and Henry County residents. However, Rooster Walk belongs to Edwin The Rooster Penn and Walker Shank and Matt Wade and their family and friends. Penn and Shank died in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and the festival was created in their honor. Then tributes were added on for Matt Wade, who passed in 2010, and Todd Eure, who passed in 2013. The four were graduates of Martinsville High School and friends. Rooster Walk is organized by their high school friends in their honor, and weve all been invited to this, the areas biggest and best party. The For Alison Foundation announced it will provide four scholarships to the Roanoke Symphony Orchestras Summer Music Institute, a week-long, intensive orchestra institute for students ages 9 to 17. The For Alison Foundation was established to honor the passion and memory of Alison Parker and supports those striving to sustain the arts in the communities where she lived. Parker was a fervent supporter and advocate of the arts and an active performer in many mediums, including music, theater and dance. In January 2015, Alison was part of the television broadcast and internet webcast of the RSOs Discovery Concert, an orchestral concert for school children. Alison attended so many Holiday Pops concerts when they came to Martinsville, said Barbara Parker. As a journalist in Roanoke she believed in the RSOs contributions and commitment to the community and to music education in Southern Virginia. She would be proud to know she was able to support it. The RSOs Summer Music Institute is held at Hollins University as an immersion experience for students passionate about classical music. In addition to eight hours of daily instruction with the areas top musicians and educators, students will get to work, live and play on a college campus for one week. Michelle Smith, director of the string orchestra division of SMI has seen the impact first-hand: The transformation, improvement, and quality of performance achieved by these young musicians in such a short time is truly incredible. The For Alison Foundation is providing a potentially life-changing experience for students who are incredibly talented and dedicated, but lack the financial resources to attend SMI without assistance. We are humbled to be chosen and honored to play a part in Alisons legacy through this gift, added RSO Executive Director David Crane. At the age of 90, James A. Rich Jr. remembers clearly his days as a young man in Europe during the World War II. The French government remembers too. It recently awarded Rich the French Legion of Honor for his role in liberating France in the war. The distinction was first awarded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. Rich received the award and medal in a ceremony along with 15 other World War II veterans at the French embassy in Washington, D.C., on April 15. French Consul General Michel Charbonnier presented the award and praised the men for their demonstrated devotion to freedom, brotherhood and democracy. Rich speaks plainly about his role in the fight: We freed the French from the Vichy government because they were siding with the Germans and we had to get rid of them. He volunteered for the Army while still in high school and after being promised he would be allowed to finish school. He joined the same month he turned 18. Although he makes it sound easy in the retelling, he has quite a harrowing tale to relate. Crash landing and rescue Stationed in England, Rich was a waist gunner, manning the mid-section of a B-17 bomber, known as a Flying Fortress, with the 96th Bomb Group. He started out bombing southern France, but in February 1945, was over Berlin when his plane was shot down. My plane was hit over Cottbus, which was the marshalling yard where the trains went into Berlin. We crash landed and all nine men survived, he said. The Russians captured us. They had never seen an American. Before crashing, however, the crew had thrown out all the extra weight in the plane after getting hit to try and get over the mountains. They had even dropped the ball turret, which was a spherical turret under the belly of the plane that housed two machine guns. The ball turret weighed 1,700 pounds. We sheared the bolts off as the pilot screamed to get rid of something else, Rich recalled. Ive often wondered where it landed. Out of gas and with only one engine left, the pilot saw a little pasture. As he touched down, the last engine went out. He jumped the road and we went into a farmers field. We headed for the trees, which would have killed the pilot and co-pilot, but the right-hand wing hit a pile of manure and twisted the plane around, said Rich. The hole in the bottom of the plane from the missing ball turret was a good thing too, according to Rich, because the mud started coming up through the hole and helped stopped them. Then the Russians started coming out with AK-47s and we thought we were going to die. They had never seen an American plane, but the radio operator jumped out and shouted Amerikansty, Amerikansty and pointed to the stars on the side of the plane, he said. They put their guns down and welcomed the crew. The pitiful thing was that we were put up in a farmhouse that night with a woman and her daughter-in-law. The day before the Germans had lined up all the men against a wall in the town and shot them. There was blood on the wall of the house outside. The woman had lost her husband and son the day before, said Rich. Finally found The crew stayed in the town for about three weeks and gave their K-rations to the people in the house. They also found one old man in the town who had been a caretaker in the Roman Catholic Church and been allowed to live because he was so old, Rich said. He could speak a little English and we went to see him one night. He wanted to take us out on parade because they were so proud to have Americans there. Ive never seen such a parade, he said. Then one day the men were eating dinner in the house and a pack of Lucky Strikes landed on the table. We looked up and there stood an American major in full dress. Ill never forget that, he said. He had been flying around with a Russian pilot looking for downed planes. The crew was about to start their long, circuitous trip back to England. Those Russians were crazy, I dont mind telling you, Rich said with a quiet laugh. The pilot took off from that muddy place and then circled back and the crowd had to scatter. Some of the people had to fall on the ground so the wheels wouldnt hit them. They spent two nights in Poland where there were banquets every night, then flew to an American base in Russia. After two weeks they got a B-24 Becky and flew to Tehran to get around Germany and picked up three American POWs and flew them to Cairo. We stayed there two or three days and saw the pyramids it was kind of a vacation, he said. On our next plane we stopped at Athens, Rome, Naples and then landed at Paris on March 5, 1945, on my 19th birthday. I celebrated by going to the Moulin Rouge. Then I left and went back to England and started flying again. After the war After the war ended, Richs pilot asked if he wanted to go to Frankfurt as part of the occupying troops and he said, Yes, I want a dachshund. When they landed in Frankfurt two two-seater Cubs were parked under their wings, one of which was Gen. George Pattons. We asked where he was and were told he was on a Jeep coming there, Rich said. We asked if he would let us take a picture and (the aide) said, If youve got a camera, hell stay all day. Rich and his friends visited with Patton and Rich said hell never forget the last thing Patton said to them: Gentlemen, dont let this [the war] happen again. With his voice shaking, Rich added, But it might. If we get a wild dictator, it could happen again. Rich said he had a good time in his remaining time in Europe. We flew nurses all over to show them the devastation and we flew ground crew personnel to Casablanca to catch ships home, he said. Coming home He returned home to Danville in December 1945 and settled down to a career, mostly selling industrial and mill supplies to the tobacco and cotton industry. He married Dollie Ann McCubbins, who died in 2014, and they are parents to four children. Its not much of a history, Rich said. I just served like the rest of them. I took the chance of getting killed, but thats just what you did. He doesnt remember being afraid. I was too busy doing other things to be afraid, like when we dropped that ball turret. I think most would say the same thing, he said. You knew your job and you did it. He keeps up with his 96th Bomb Group, even though he said its right sad when he gets the newsletter because it is so full of deaths. I was the youngest one on my crew and the rest are all gone, he said. The biggest thing is you sit around and remember. It goes over and over in your mind, but Im proud of what we were able to do. When you look at the pictures of the concentration camps my goodness. If he doesnt forget, France also doesnt. On the award he received are written these words: The French authorities have decided to award you the highest French distinction, the Legion of Honor, as a recognition of your participation in the liberation of France ... We are forever grateful to the men and women who fought for our freedom and to whom we owe it today. SUNDAY'S WORD is cavalier (kav-uh-leer). Example: Anne was irritated by his cavalier attitude. FRIDAYS WORD was reliant (ri-lahy-uh-nt). It means to depend on someone or something. Tom is reliant on money from home to pay for his food while attending college. Due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend, AAA Mid-Atlantic released its Weekend Gas Watch on Friday. The headline is: Get Your motor Runnin--Motorists to enjoy the lowest Memorial Day gas prices since 2005 Despite the steady increase, drivers remain on target to pay the lowest gas prices for the Memorial Day holiday since 2005. Though gas prices are at their highest point for the year as we approach the holiday with todays average of $2.32 per gallon, up five cents per gallon on the week and 17 cents per gallon on the month, prices remain 42 cents below year ago prices. Even with prices inching up recently, motorists are set to enjoy the lowest gas prices for the Memorial Day holiday weekend in years, said Martha Meade, Manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Road trips typically rule the busy summer travel season and Memorial Day is no exception. AAA is projecting the highest travel volume for the unofficial start of summer in 11 years. AAA projects more than 38 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend, which is an increase of 700,000 compared to a year ago. That is the second-highest Memorial Day travel volume on record and the most since 2005. Nearly 34 million (89 percent) holiday travelers will drive to their Memorial Day destinations, an increase of 2.1 percent over last year. Use it or lose it is a well-known problem where government agencies race to spend unused budget authority before it expires at the end of a fiscal year, often on unneeded goods and services. A report on Wednesday stated that: The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) approved a bipartisan proposal from U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to empower federal workers to identify and cut down on unnecessary federal spending. By a vote of 9-5, the Committee voted to approve the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, which would allow federal agencies to give bonuses of up to $10,000 to federal employees who save taxpayer money by finding and reporting unnecessary federal spending. The bill expands an existing program that allows U.S. government inspectors general to reward federal employees with a bonus for finding and reporting wasteful or fraudulent spending. Under the Warner-Paul proposal, that program would be expanded to include unneeded or surplus end-of-year funds. Spending at federal agencies in the last week of the fiscal year is 4.9 times higher than the weekly average the rest of the year but research shows that the quality of spending is lower than the rest of the year. Under the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, federal employees who identify unneeded or surplus funds will be eligible for a bonus worth 10 percent of the savings, up to $10,000. Under the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, federal employees on the front lines of government spending will have a personal incentive to save taxpayer money and counter the current end-of-year rush to exhaust all funds, while 90 percent of the identified savings will be redirected to the U.S. Treasury to reduce the deficit. National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste have endorsed the legislation. Our bipartisan proposal encourages federal agencies to return unused funds instead of rushing to spend-down their appropriations at the end of every fiscal year. When we empower federal employees to identify surplus funds instead of encouraging the use it or lose it mentality, we are better stewards of taxpayers dollars, said Sen. Warner. I hope the Senate will move soon to approve this commonsense approach to government efficiency and federal spending. Why do we like to criticize government? The following scenario may be far out, but there are those that believe its how some government agencies work. It goes: Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota. All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. Well, he says, I figure the job will run about $900. $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me. The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, I can do this job for $700. $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me. The Chicago contractor doesnt measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, $2,700. The official, incredulous, says, You didnt even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure? The Chicago contractor whispers back, $1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence. Done! replies the government official. And that, my friends, is how the new stimulus plan will work. Fairy Stones annual Childrens Fishing Day has been a hit with families who take their kids to the fishing clinic for years. It will be held from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, June 11 this year. Children ages 4-12 will learn fishing skills, such as casting, knot-tying and basic water safety at various skill stations. Parents or guardians must stay with children for the entirety of the event. Then each participant will put their new skills to use in an actual fishing environment. Lunch will be provided. Parking is free and volunteers are welcome. Pre-registration is required as spaces are limited. Call Fairy Stone at 276-930-2424 if you have a little one or more that you would like to participate. Weve worked a long time promoting I-73 in Henry County and Virginia, Skip Ressel said Tuesday night, but the time has come to give up on this dream. It is not going to happen anytime soon. One could have heard a pin drop inside the Henry County Administration Building. Ressel, after all, is the president of the I-73 Committee of Martinsville and Henry County. He has spoken passionately about Henry Countys need for the proposed interstate highway on countless occasions. For Ressel to stand before the Henry County Board of Supervisors and tell them that the time has come to give up on I-73 is a bit like hearing Walt Disney announce that he doesnt think the whole theme park thing is going to pan out. It was similarly surprising to hear other I-73 advocates including Max Kendall and Sammy Wright stand before the board and say that they agreed with Ressel 100 percent. However, just because I-73 isnt happening anytime soon doesnt mean that Ressel and the other supporters dont have a plan. Russell said the funds already set aside for 73 specifically, an $8.5 million earmark should instead be repurposed to create a connector road that would join Patriot Centre at Beaver Creek Industrial Park to Virginia 57 and on to U.S. 58. I-73 was first proposed in 1991. If the highway plan were a person, it would be old enough to rent a car. After all that time, why is there now a push to make alternate plans? The answer has to do with orphan earmarks. An orphan earmark is defined as an idle project that has had less than 10 percent of its total spent. In a March article, USA Today reported that by the time the House of Representatives banned earmarks in 2011, there were $13 billion in unspent earmarks nationwide. In more than 3,500 cases, the article continued, not a single dollar of the earmark was ever spent sometimes because the earmark was poorly written, sometimes because the project was already paid for, and sometimes because the project collapsed under its own weight before ground could be broken. The $8.5 million set aside locally for I-73 fits the bill of an orphan earmark, and thats bad news, because theres an increasing federal push to gather up all of those earmarks and re-allocate them. If that were to happen to Henry Countys I-73 earmark and it increasingly looks like a question of when, not if that means the $8.5 million set aside for road development in the county could potentially disappear. Ressels new plan is borne of pragmatism; if I-73 cant be built in Henry County before the government takes the earmark away, the theory goes, lets instead see if we can repurpose that money for another useful county corridor that could potentially be built within our lifetimes. Now, to be clear, the federal government has not said the I-73 money specifically is going away, but in recent months, members of Congress have made it clear that if the project isnt moving along, they want to move those dollars elsewhere. There is also a bill, S1544, in the Senate Appropriations Committee, which would rescind all unspent earmarks allocated to the Department of Transportation and instead transfer them to the Highway Trust Fund. The corridor that Ressel proposed would be a boon to Henry County. Currently, a truck trying to get from Patriot Centre to Route 58 has to pass through 14 traffic lights. The new corridor would eliminate all but one light, making it a comparative cake walk to transport goods out of the industrial park. County officials are considering repurposing the earmark and investigating the creation of the new corridor. That $8.5 million likely wont come close to covering the cost of the project, but its a good start. Theres just one catch. If a change is to happen, it has to take place before Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. We cant rule out the possibility that I-73 will eventually be completed and pass through Henry County. In the short term, however, refocusing our efforts on a smaller, more attainable goal is a smart move. SPRINGFIELD -- When staffing company United Personnel was looking for new office space, President Tricia Canavan knew she wanted to keep the company in Springfield and she knew she wanted to locate in the northern end of downtown. "We love being in the Innovation District," Canavan said. "We love being near the Union Station, near New England Public Radio, where all these good things are happening." United Personnel hosted an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday for its new offices at 289 Bridge St. in the Stearns Building, which dates back to 1912. The offices face a corner of Steiger Park, once the site of the Steiger Department Store, and are across Bridge Street from the under-construction Springfield Innovation Center at 270-280 Bridge St. The office, home to about 20 employees, opened just before the holidays but the ceremonial celebration waited until Thursday. Canavan thanked building owner Thomas P. Dennis Jr., president of The Dennis Group engineers down the block on Main Street, for renovating the space. TSM Design also has offices in the building. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno praised the company, saying it has a history of doing right by Springfield going all the way back its founding by Canavan's mother, Mary Ellen Scott, in 1984. United Personnel provides staffing services for many of the region's largest employers, Canavan said. The list includes the new CRRC MA rail car plant being constructed in East Springfield, Smith & Wesson and Yankee Candle. Some workers are assigned as temporary employees and some are hired permanently through United Personnel. At 289 Bridge St., prospective employees can apply, take assessment tests and learn more about job opportunities. United Personnel's administrative offices are upstairs. It's Professional Division Office is a block away at 1550 Main St., the former U.S. Courthouse. United Personnel also has offices in Northampton and in Pittsfield. Canavan also announced Thursday the creation of a scholarship fund in the company's name that will help deserving students from the Gateway Cities of the Pioneer Valley continue their educations. The fund will be administered by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. How much is a restaurant worth? Unlike pricing a house or car, there's no easy way to put a dollars-and-cents valuation on an eating establishment. Instead, assessing the worth of a business must take into account a variety of considerations some tangible, others much less so. A restaurant business may certainly own assets like real estate, fixtures, and furnishings that it is relatively easy to put a price on, but the entity's true worth is often more about its reputation and the loyalty of its customer base. Accountants have a rather nebulous label with which they label such intangibles - they call them "goodwill." Restaurant Hospitality, a trade journal for the dining out business, recently ran a feature on how one specialized business broker values restaurant properties. Mel Jones, principal of Paramount Restaurant Brokers, Inc., a Scottsdale, Arizona-based specialist in valuing restaurants, has developed a relatively simple strategy by which a restaurant's potential selling price can be estimated. As is the case with valuing any going business concern, cash flow, the amount left over after all the bills are paid, is a primary consideration. Cash flow, however, is only part of the equation. The second challenge in sound business valuation is to come up with some measure of the operation's viability, both current and future. Jones does do by developing a multiplier he applies to that cash flow number; the product represents his judgment as to what a reasonable selling price should be. The multiplier, which ranges from 1 to 6, is developed from assessments of factors like the restaurant's pattern of revenue growth, the lease terms on the space out of which it operates, the condition of various owned furnishings and equipment, as well as general restaurant industry market trends in the community and/or region in which the restaurant is located. Restaurants in California, Jones gives as an example of the location factor, tend to be worth higher "multiples" of cash flow because of that part of the country's great year-round weather. For more information on Jones' pricing technique, go to restaurant-hospitality/management-tips; Jones' website is sellingrestaurants.com Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College's hospitality and culinary arts program and has over 40 years of restaurant and educational experience. Please send items of interest to Off the Menu at the Republican, P.O. Box 1329, Springfield, MA 01101; Robert can also be reached at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com by Derek Dunham , Columnist, May 27, 2016 The New York Times called it laugh-out loud, but Bettyville, a bestselling memoir, is about a subject many might not view as humorous: a Boomer-generation man returning from New York City to his roots in Missouri to care for his aging mother. In an interview with CBS News, author George Hodgman, a nationally known book and magazine editor, expressed surprise that his memoir, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, has given him a reputation as the Mick Jagger of Elder Care. He called himself, the care inflictor, an unlikely guardian and someone who until recently thought the Medicare doughnut was a breakfast special for seniors. Yet ,Hodgman persevered in his journey of caring for his mother as she dealt with dementia, and his experience inspires some valuable lessons about caregiving. advertisement advertisement 10 Caregiving Lessons from Bettyville 1. Laughter really is the best medicine. Hodgmans book is filled with witty observations, such as, When dealing with elderly women, a trip to the hairdresser and two Bloody Marys goes further than any prescription drug. 2. Love can be expressed in small ways. His mother liked it when hed comb her hair, rub moisturizer on her dry skin, or help her remember names of her favorite hymns. 3. Everyone needs a break now and then. At one point, Hodgmans mother said they both could use a haircut. So off she and her son went to St. Louis to a nice beauty salon. 4. Pet therapy really works for both loved one and caregiver. When his mother was really ill, she would forget her symptoms as she became engrossed in her dogs activities. Hodgman was also comforted by the sound of the dogs paws clicking on the floor or the feel of his warm fur. 5. Familiar foods can provide comfort. Betty loved it when her son made foods from her past, such as burnt sugar cake. 6. In care, one size does not fit all. An assisted living facility that offered fancy workout rooms and fascinating lectures didnt appeal to Hodgmans mother. Betty eyes an exercise bike as if it were a guillotine, he wrote. 7. Some things can be let go. He had to give up on trying to get his mother to wear shoes other than her comfortable old sandals. 8. Just being there is important. On bad days, when things are tough, she wants me always in sight, he wrote. 9. The challenges of caregiving are major but so are the rewards. On Bettys journey I have learned something I had not known. I am very strong, strong enough to stay, strong enough to go when the time comes, wrote Hodgman. I am staying not to cling on, but because sometime, at least once, everyone should see someone through. All the way home. 10. Caregivers need support. He was touched by gestures like fresh flowers left in his mailbox and hugs from members of his mothers church. As marketers to a generation of Boomer caregivers, all of these lessons are important, especially #10. Caregivers are under incredible stress, and most dont get the support they need. In fact, according to a study by Caring.com, 69% of respondents reported that caring for a loved one is their number one source of stress. From respite care to shopping and cleaning services, there are many ways to support stressed-out caregivers. But its hard to understand their needs unless youve actually been in their shoes. Books like Bettyville should be required reading for their valuable real-world insights that can inspire solutions that work. Learn more about Bettyville at www.hodgman.com. One of the biggest challenges many new parents face is lack of sleep. But getting up on numerous occasions throughout the night to calm a crying infant is part of the job, right? According to a new study, it doesnt have to be; letting a baby cry themselves to sleep may lead to a better nights rest for all parties. Share on Pinterest Ignoring a childs cries may result in better sleep for infants and parents, say researchers. The study suggests a behavioral technique known as graduated extinction which involves letting a baby cry until they fall asleep can lead to longer sleep duration for the child and their parents. Study co-author Michael Gradisar, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Psychology at Flinders University, Australia, and colleagues recently published their findings in the journal Pediatrics. The study results may come as a surprise to parents, who are likely to have become accustomed to waking from slumber in response to their infants persistent cries. Its natural for parents to worry about having their babies cry at bedtime, says Gradisar. While its well documented that sleep deprivation can cause family distress, including maternal depression, were hoping these results will add another element to how parents view their responses and how they manage their own and their babies sleep behavior. Graduated extinction and bedtime fading The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial, which involved 43 infants aged 6-16 months and their parents. All infants had been experiencing nighttime sleep problems from around the age of 6 months. The parents of 14 of the infants were required to use the graduated extinction method for 12 months. Also known as the Ferber method, this technique involves ignoring a childs cries, checking on them only at specific times with increasing intervals. The idea is to teach the child to accept that nobody will come to their aid when they cry, which will reduce their crying and improve their sleep. The parents of 14 of the infants used a gentler technique called bedtime fading for 12 months. This involves gradually delaying a childs bedtime each night. The idea is that this will make a child drowsier and more likely to fall asleep. The parents of the remaining 14 infants acted as controls and did not use any of the sleep behavior interventions. Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. Advertisement When the first race-based drug, BiDil, was approved by the FDA a decade ago to treat African Americans with heart failure, advocates heralded it as a way to narrow health disparities between whites and blacks by targeting the group that suffered the most from the disease.Yet the drug had not actually been shown to be more effective in African Americans than other patients, critics noted. What's more, it was only marketed to African Americans after efforts to obtain FDA and patent approval for use in the general population failed, leading many to question the commercial motivations for classifying it as an "ethnic" drug.Race is also a common factor in prescribing ACE inhibitors, a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease. "ACE inhibitors have been shown to be less effective in blacks than whites, but one result of using race to dictate therapy is that individual black patients whose hypertension would respond to ACE inhibitors may not be offered one," the authors say."What we even mean by race has always been murky and is becoming even more so given changing demographics," said Royal, an associate professor of African and African American Studies and director of the Center on Genomics, Race, Identity, Difference at Duke's Social Science Research Institute. Someone who self-identifies as black, such as President Obama, likely has ancestors from multiple so-called races.Given the genetic diversity that exists within racial groups, and the similarities between different groups, it is likely that a drug labeled for use in African Americans will not work for all African Americans, and that some non-African Americans would also benefit from the drug.But getting drug manufacturers and clinicians to go beyond a race-based approach won't be easy, the authors say.The makers of the clot-inhibiting drug Plavix, for example, were sued by the Attorney General of Hawaii in 2014 for failing to disclose that the drug was less effective in patients with certain inherited forms of a liver enzyme called CYP2C19.Sharing such information with the public likely would have decreased sales in the state, as the variants are more common in Asians, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders - who make up more than half of Hawaii's population - than in whites.Technological advances in DNA sequencing and analyzing large datasets will continue to generate insights about the genetics underlying differences in drug response. The data deluge will only further highlight the pitfalls of using imprecise race categories to prescribe drugs."Prescribing medications on the basis of race oversimplifies the complexities and interplay of ancestry, health, disease, and drug response," the authors write.Eventually, optimizing drug treatments to a patient's unique genetic makeup, lifestyle, environment and other factors, rather than race, could help ensure that patients receive the right drug at the right dose - an approach called precision medicine."There are many hurdles to overcome if a precision medicine approach to health care is to replace the use of race in treatment decisions," the authors say.One barrier to understanding the complex interplay between genes, environment and lifestyle is the lack of participant diversity in biomedical research and clinical trials. Addressing the problem will require recruiting more participants from minority groups to better reflect the diversity of the U.S. population.We will also need cost controls for drugs found to be effective only in a few, the authors say.Lastly, moving beyond race-based drug prescriptions will depend on the ability to equip health care providers with the resources and training they will need to collect and make sense of more types of data.The authors say, "If the major challenges can be overcome, precision medicine could lead the way in reducing and ultimately eliminating the use of crude racial and ethnic census categories in drug prescribing."Source: Eurekalert Advertisement As the nation seeks answers about what happened in Flint, Dr. Jacobs believes a critical question has gone unasked: "How did that lead get into our pipes and our paint in the first place?" He points out that industrial groups and paint companies continue not only to make lead-containing products, but also to block public health efforts to stop these sources of lead contamination. "Those 'normal business operations' mean that these companies continue to make new lead-based paint in other countries, contaminating even more homes," according to the author.Dr. Jacobs notes that, in 2000, he helped to craft a Presidential task force plan that would have eliminated lead hazards by 2010. "But Congress never funded it adequately, and as a direct result, the problem has dragged on needlessly, with much higher costs for property maintenance, special education, crime, health care, litigation - and, of course, human suffering."In his commentary, Dr. Jacobs outlines a three-point plan that "focuses on the fix" for childhood lead poisoning - identifying and eliminating all sources of lead exposure:- Find It: Comprehensive programs are needed to increase testing for lead in homes and pipes, as well as expanded screening of children at risk - especially among Medicaid-eligible children. Dr. Jacobs calls for adequate funding and staffing for effective efforts in every state and large city. He emphasizes the inadequacy of the current "medical model" - in which lead-exposed children aren't identified until after they have been poisoned.- Fix It: Once lead hazards have been identified, corrective action needs to be taken immediately using proven interim methods. In addition, long-term full-scale programs are needed to eliminate all lead drinking-water pipes and all residential lead paint from the US housing stock. Dr. Jacobs also highlights the need for special education assessment and programs for lead-poisoned children.- Fund It: Dr. Jacobs also calls for accountability for companies that have continued to produce lead-contaminated products, long after the hazards were recognized. He writes, "Industry must help pay to help fix the problem, not just pay their lawyers to drag out court cases for decades and overturn verdicts that have held them accountable." He makes the case that fixing lead hazards is an "economically sound" investment, with a cost-effectiveness even higher than that of childhood vaccines. He also calls on Congress to end the disinvestment in communities and to appropriate the necessary funding.Dr. Jacobs urges public and environmental health professionals, engineers, and housing professionals to insist on the necessary funding and effort to meet the continuing challenge of lead poisoning. He concludes, "As the nation increasingly turns to its public health professionals for answers, we must speak clearly and forcefully, communicate accurately based on what the science tells us, focus on securing resources needed for solutions, and then make sure that both short and long-term fixes are really working."Source: Eurekalert Baby massage is a longstanding parenting tradition that has been in practice for more than thousands of years. It is followed in various cultures, including Asian, African, Russian, and since 1990, has gained massive popularity in the U.K. too. Many studies have shown that infant massage offers several benefits. Massaging your baby is a great way to express affection and care. The added benefits of massaging a baby are improving digestion, aiding circulation and enhancing weight gain. Here is a simple guide to comprehending the basics of massaging a baby and getting started. Infant massage is a lovely way to bond and have a fun time with your baby. Natural baby oils or moisturizers can be used for massaging babies. Begin with a gentle, stroking touch and glide your fingers smoothly over the babys skin. Then, massage the babys wrists, ankles, and fingers. The soothing strokes of parental hands can boost the production of oxytocin hormone (the feel-good hormone) in the baby. During the massage routine, sing or hum to make it more soothing for the baby. A regular baby massage offers numerous benefits. In general, massaging a newborn largely helps the baby to stay calm, relaxed, cry less and sleep better. In addition, it also boosts the immune system and promotes physical and mental strength. Massaging stimulates the release of hormones, like oxytocin, prolactin, and other endorphins that elevate the mood. Baby massage evidently assists to alleviate your mood swings and improves parenting skills that make you feel empowered as a parent. Always ensure that you plan massaging time ahead. Advertisement Infant massage benefits the baby as it: Improves the duration of sleep and leads to increased levels of relaxation. Improves muscle tone and lowers muscle stiffness. Regulates the sleep/wake cycle of the baby. Enhances the production of hormones. Supports digestion and aids in toning the digestive tract. Through released endorphins, it helps remove emotional stress. Promotes infant-parent attachment. The power of touch is emphasized in Kangaroo care of newborns as well. Kangaroo care is holding a baby in an upright position along with skin to skin contact. Various studies have revealed that kangaroo care can immensely help premature babies by improving the oxygen level in blood, regulating the body temperature and enhancing weight gain. Infant massage is one of the most gratifying experiences guaranteeing pleasure and amusing moments for both, the parent and the baby. Traditionally, babies who are massaged on a regular basis are more likely to have a special bonding with parents. Consequently, it leads to better relationships with others too. Massage is a great method of relaxation for babies and parents, as well. Some of the parental benefits of a baby massage routine are: Staying closer to the baby. A time for both parent and baby to relax together. An opportunity for dads to spend quality time with their babies. Helps assess babys body and behavior. Boosts confidence and parenting skills to care for the baby. Initially, you may start by massaging the baby's legs. Do this until the baby gets used to it. Then gradually get going with a massaging routine; simply move on to baby's legs, arms, hands, and body. After a period of time, it gradually helps in reading the babys cues. There are many massage mediums like natural baby oils and creams for massaging babies. Choose the best oil considering the babys delicate skin type. Almond oil is widely used for massaging babies due to its various benefits. Almond oil is rich in Vitamins A, D and E and helps moisturize the babys skin. Coconut oil a natural moisturizer can also be used for massaging babies. Check out the step-by-step guide to starting the massaging routine: Take a small drop of almond oil or moisturizing cream. Rub it on your palms. Gently massage the baby's skin, starting with the legs. Affectionately squeeze the baby calves and thighs. Then, place both the hands on the babys center and get going with the chest and tummy. Use fingers to stroke in an outward direction, in small circles. Just continue the skin-to-skin contact process until the infant sleeps. Advertisement This step-by-step guide, if followed as a routine, serves the best to help in soothing, stretching, strengthening the immune system, and digestion of the baby. Select the right time and space to offer the baby. For instance, choose a time when the baby is between feeds as at that time, the baby would not be too full or too hungry. Do not massage just before the babys nap. A good time to start massaging is when the baby is awake, alert and all set to respond. Some may even wish to schedule the massage time before bedtime and after a bath. Usually, massage before bedtime allows your baby to calm down and prepare for sleep. Watch the babys signal and wait until the baby is interested in its own surroundings, and then commence the massage routine. Normally, parents are advised to look for positive responses before a massage, with certain specific actions or words that the baby can recognize positively. Typical Requisites for a Massage Routine Choose a quiet and comfortable room for the massage. Be sure that the baby lies down on a neat towel or a folded sheet, with a changing mat beneath. Be certain to turn off the mobile phone and check whether there are any other distractions. You may play some soft music and hum it along so that the baby enjoys it thoroughly. Have a quick check for the following: Set the mood of the room with the exact lighting. Natural baby oil or a moisturizing cream. Towels, mats, and sheets. Set of dress, clean nappies. Ideally, a daily massage would be enough but there are no specific rules; a baby massage can even be done more than once a day. Nevertheless, giving the newborn a daily massage is an excellent tactic to boost the babys immune system. Marine Private Willie Bedford of Milwaukee has a photo. Army Private First Class James Ledin of Glidden has a photo. Marine Staff Sergeant Robert Walsh of La Crosse has a photo. Their photos and more than 1,100 others were collected by volunteers from throughout Wisconsin over the past eight years as part of a national effort to put a face to the names listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The images will be part of a new Education Center the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is building on the National Mall. Wisconsin was just the fifth state in the nation to find a photo for every resident listed on the Wall and, thanks to a new exhibit created by Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, you wont have to travel to see them. The group has announced a new traveling exhibit Wisconsin Remembers: A Face for Every Name - that debuts this Memorial Day weekend at The Worlds Largest BratFest in Madison. Seeing all 1,161 photos together is incredibly moving. The fact that this was made possible by volunteers across the state makes it all the more powerful, Michael Telzrow, director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, said. Wisconsin lost men from 71 of our 72 counties. This exhibit will ensure our communities can remember those who were killed in the war, he said. When you look into the faces of these men, you see their potential and you imagine what they might have accomplished had they come home, Mike Crane, director of WPR said. WPR and WPT are committed to collecting and preserving the stories of our state the Face for Every Name project is just one example of that commitment, but its a very special one. Wisconsin Remembers will be a part of the Wisconsin Veterans Museums traveling exhibit program. Groups can request to host an indoor exhibit in their communities for just the cost of shipping. The outdoor version of the exhibit will also be on display at The Highground Operation Persian Gulf Welcome Home on July 19-25 in Neillsville. Collecting the photos for this project was a moving, life-changing experience, noted Bryce Kelley, a former teacher who with his students helped find more than 600 of the photos. Seeing the finished project for the first time, brought a flood of emotions the faces of all of them, from each of our Wisconsin cities, towns, and villages, put together in one place, is so powerful and so moving, it is beyond words. Wisconsin Remembers will ensure that the lives of these men are forever remembered and that their stories will always be told. To request the traveling exhibit, contact the Wisconsin Veterans Museum at (608) 261-0542 or email TravelingExhibits@dva.wisconsin.gov As the parent of a junior at the University of Wisconsin, I want my son to have a great education for a reasonable price. As governor, I want that for every college student in Wisconsin. That is why I am proud to have signed into law four straight years of tuition freezes for resident undergrad students in the UW System. The freeze has saved the average student more than $6,000 in tuition costs over four years compared to where it was headed during the decade before the freeze. This helps make college more affordable for students and working families. Ironically, resolutions passed by faculty on several UW campuses include language about the affordability of higher education. They also reference changes to the UW System budget. Where were these resolutions years ago when Governor Jim Doyle cut $250 million from the UW System? The difference is Governor Doyle allowed the UW System to make up most of it on the backs of students through higher tuition. In fact, tuition went up 118 percent during the decade before our four-year tuition freeze. That amounts to an increase of more than 8 percent per year. Where was the outrage then? In addition, it is important to note the UW Systems total annual operating budget is today the largest it has ever been. Thats right, even with the adjustments from state government, which account for about 2 percent of the entire budget; the overall budget is bigger than at any time in University of Wisconsin history. So why are so many UW faculty upset? Well, the new rules also allow UW officials to shift resources to areas in greater student demand should the need arise. Setting priorities based on a budget is a common sense practice, and it is one that Wisconsin families and businesses are engaged in every single day. Our university system should be no exception. Instead of keeping a course where a handful of students sign up, campuses can reassign resources to help students get the courses they need in order to graduate on time. Most of us would call that common sense. If the decision to discontinue any academic program will result in the layoff of a professor, a faculty committee has the ability to review it. The new rules also provide greater accountability for professors and subject them to performance-based reviews. According to the University of WisconsinMadisons website, a student from Wisconsin enrolled for the 2016-2017 academic year will have estimated costs totaling more than $25,000. The costs for a non-resident student are more than $48,000. If a student is paying more than $100,000 or nearly $200,000 for four years of college, I believe we should hold performance-based reviews of professors for the sake of our students. If a professor isnt meeting expectations, the new policy requires UW campuses to support professional development opportunities so the professor can improve his or her performance. This is not only good for students, it allows professors to improve as well. Despite the doom and gloom rhetoric, we didnt eliminate tenure. We eliminated the job for life guarantee that tenure once provided for faculty regardless of their performance. Now we are asking for accountability and flexibility to add value to our university system. As for free speech, there should be equal protections for everyone on campus, not just tenured professors, to engage in a free and open debate of ideas. The bottom line is students deserve access to high quality education that is affordable for them and the working families that help support them. We must look to deliver value and excellence to Wisconsin, not guarantee job for life tenure. The common sense reforms recently enacted do just that. Col. Roger E. Stiles, USAF, Ret., 83, died peacefully Wednesday, May 25, 2016, surrounded by his loving family at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, June 10, at First Presbyterian Church in Chippewa Falls, with the Rev. Dr. Karel Hanhart officiating. Burial with military honors conducted by the Chippewa Falls Patriotic Council will follow in Forest Hill Cemetery, Chippewa Falls. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at Pederson-Volker Funeral Chapel and one hour prior to the service Friday at the church. Memorials in Rogers honor may go to the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program, 2820 E. Park Ave. Bldg. 128, Chippewa Falls. A full obituary will be in the Sunday, June 5, newspaper. Pederson-Volker Funeral Chapel & Cremation Services is serving the family. Visit pedersonvolker.com to express online condolences. 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. Joseph Martin is being held on suspicion of criminal mischief, burglary, felony driving while intoxicated and other counts. His bail is set at $30,000. The draft rule released Thursday spells out a broad framework for states to consider as they design new accountability systems to improve schools and narrow achievement gaps. "We expect states and local school districts to set high standards for all students, regardless of their background, and to identify schools, or groups of students, who are not performing well," Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said during a school visit. "Where entire schools have been struggling for years, we expect decisive steps to achieve substantial improvement." The proposed rule is the next step in the implementation of the bipartisan education law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in December. The law revamps the widely criticized No Child Left Behind Act and returns to states more control over schools and education policy. One key provision of the law is a shift back to states on how schools are held accountable for how they educate their students. Another provision requires more transparency with parents and communities about how their schools are performing. Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he would review the draft rule to ensure it abides by lawmakers' wishes to "restore responsibility to states, school districts, and teachers to design their own accountability systems." Alexander, a chief architect of the new education law, said he was disappointed that the proposal seemed to include provisions Congress had rejected. He did not elaborate, but said he would try to overturn the regulation if the final version "does not implement the law the way Congress wrote it." The head of the National Education Association also planned a close review of the proposed rule. "We want to ensure that the Department of Education's proposed accountability regulation, as well as its forthcoming regulations, use every tool at our disposal to ensure that each and every student in America receives not just the same opportunities and resources, but equitable opportunities to succeed," said NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia. A 60-day comment period on the regulations ends Aug. 1. King discussed the new regulations with White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz during a visit to J.C. Nalle Elementary School in Washington. The school has been involved in successful turnaround efforts in recent years. Under the new law, states may design accountability systems that consider measures beyond test scores and high school graduation rates. The proposed regulations say states may decide what weight to give to each of those indicators of success and others such as school climate, chronic absenteeism and parent surveys as long as they measure the performance of all students, including "sub-groups of students" such as racial minorities, kids from low-income families, and special education students. The accountability plans would have to be submitted to the Education Department for review by July 2017. Under the proposed rule, states must identify failing schools at least once every three years. Those considered most in need would be: the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools high schools with graduation rates below 67 percent for all students schools with chronically low-performing sub-groups that have not improved after getting additional resources For the lowest-performing schools, states and school districts would have to come up with their own turnaround plans, "selecting evidence-based strategies tailored to local needs." States would also have to assign a "comprehensive, summative rating for each school to provide a clear picture of its overall standing," the rule says. On transparency, states and districts would have to work with parents to design new, multi-level and comprehensive ratings systems for schools and performance. The ratings would go beyond a "pass" or "fail" benchmark and would also include information on how well English-language learners are doing, as well as specific information about how much money districts are spending per student. The ratings would have to be made available to parents and others, each year, and no later than December 31. Federal money for school improvements would continue to be set aside for the schools most in need. PORT AUSTIN Authorities say 280 chickens were killed Friday morning after a dog got loose at Bird Creek Farms, located on Grindstone Road on the east side of the village. According to the Huron County Sheriffs Office, deputies were called to the scene about 8:30 a.m., where it was determined that a husky found at the scene was responsible. In all, 120 hens and 160 six-week-old chicks were killed. The dog reportedly wandered away from its owners residence, just blocks away within the village. The dogs owner, a 26-year-old Port Austin female, was originally unknown, but was later located through the use of social media. The value of the loss has not been determined, but it is believed it will exceed several thousand dollars, the sheriffs office reported. One of the owners of the farm, Scott Steigerwald, told the Tribune the incident would not affect a grand opening that Bird Creek Farms planned for this weekend. The event this morning did not impact our ability to serve the best organic chicken at our tap room in dishes such as chicken and waffles and curry chicken, Steigerwald said. He said the farm has hundreds of chickens that survived. This wont impact our customers at the farmers markets in Port Austin and Birmingham and the fine restaurants like The Farm in Port Austin and Gold Cash Gold, Roses Fine Foods and Selden Standard in the Detroit area. The dog was taken to the Thumb Animal Shelter until its decided whether charges will be sought. The sheriffs office reminds dog owners not to allow their pets to wander at large because they are responsible should their pets injure someone or damage someones property. Bird Creek Farms comprises 40 acres of alfalfa, annual vegetables and a stretch of the Bird Creek watershed. According to the business website, a large, multi-breed laying flock lives on the farm. LANSING Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township, and Paul McIvor, state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8594 in Yale, paid tribute in the Senate late this week to those from Michigan who have given their lives defending our country. McIvor was Pavlovs guest for the Michigan Senates 22nd Annual Memorial Day Service. Each year, the annual ceremony honors the servicemen and women who fought with bravery to defend our nations freedom. Also on hand for the service were Douglas McIntyre of VFW Post 6965 in Ubly, Philip Mauer of the Thumb Veterans Organization Post 1 in Ubly, and Marvin Emming of the VFW Parisville Post 5740 in Ubly. Displaying colors at the ceremony were Blue Star Mothers Post 382, from St. Clair; VFW Post 7573, from New Baltimore; and American Legion 293; from Sebewaing. Not knowing the final resting place of a relative is unsettling and unnerving. Many cemeteries today have fallen into decay and records have been lost. When there are no surviving relatives to ask, no cemetery records or when a cemetery has fallen into ruins, even the Internet can hinder a search. This is common to those who research family genealogy. A recent experience I had started with a Civil War veteran and a small piece of paper. This piece of paper gave the name of my great-grandfather, his military rank of private and he served in the company a, 22nd Regiment of the Pennsylvania Calvary. It also provided the name of the St. Elizabeths Cemetery in Washington, D.C., a date of death, and the name of the Vermont Marble Co. (which is still in business today). The space providing a grave number is blank. Resources I investigated kept leading me to a dead end. I found the St. Elizabeths East Cemetery and continued hitting obstacles. I made an important decision. Because the cemetery was adjacent to a national landmark and our Homeland Security was on the premises, I decided to ask for help from the federal government. Information on the Internet stated that prior consent was needed and a federal escort was necessary to visit St. Elizabeths East Cemetery. I wrote a letter to Congresswoman Candice Millers office to locate the final resting place of my great-grandfather, and it was there that a stranger now known by the name of Anthony Lewis decided to help me. Although it is not customary, Lewis enlisted the help of the U.S. Coast Guard and a volunteer who is an employee of the U.S. Coast Guard, Karen Newhouse. This information was pending. Then I received an important message through, www.findagrave.com, which provides memorials of loved ones. What transpired was astounding. I was contacted through www.findagrave.com by the great-granddaughter of my great-grandmother Lydias second marriage. I am the great-granddaughter of Pvt. John Yoders, and his wife, Lydia Ann Yoders (her first marriage). We both were searching for answers to our ancestry. We are strangers to one another. This individual (now known as Pauline) provided me with the final resting place of my great-grandfather, Pvt. John Yoders in Section 12, Row 5 and Grave 465. I felt love, peace of mind and the closure I had been looking for since 2010. That was the beginning. I contacted Lewis immediately. He told me that the U.S. Coast Guard was going to provide our family with information they collected about our great-grandfather, with the understanding that this is not part of their duties the Coast Guard would performed for civilians. It helped provide us with some valuable information that our great-grandfather had an amputation. I was convinced that the veterans at St. Elizabeths East Cemetery were forgotten because of the circumstances surrounding their deaths. It was amazing to learn that about 400 veterans are interned at St. Elizabeths East Cemetery, that had no military services, no mourners and given a simple graveside service by one of five hospitals Protestant chaplin. The information included that our U.S. Coast Guard have volunteers who maintain St. Elizabeths Cemetery on a regular ongoing basis. They have also provided a wreath placing ceremony between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Pauline provided me with the name of a retired historian for St. Elizabeths Hospital, where my great-grandfather had been a patient during the last eight years of his life. The hospitals previous name was the Government Hospital for the Insane. Medical records did not provide much information about the diagnosis of my great-grandfather. Psychiatry was just forming and beginning to understand how the mind works. They did not know about post traumatic stress disorder), concussive forces of artillery shelling or mental illnesses and drug therapy known today. On April 23, 2016, there was a special service conducted at St. Elizabeths East cemetery. A Medal of Honor was given to the great-great-granddaughter of Joseph Noil, a U.S. Navy veteran at his graveside. That same day, my great-grandfather had his first civilian visitor. This was his first visitor in more than 100 years; it was a stranger who placed an American flag at my great-grandfathers headstone. This stranger was Dr. Jogues Prandoni, the retired historian with St. Elizabeths Hospital. He helps descendants locate and connect with their ancestors at the St. Elizabeths East Cemetery. Prandoni asked me to provide St. Elizabeths Hospital archives with the biography of my great-grandfather for future descendants. Medical records from St. Elizabeths are requested through the National Archives Records Administration in Washington, D.C. and my document will be included with his medical records. On Nov. 12, 2015, the 118th anniversary of the death of my great-grandfather, a surviving U.S. Navy serviceman stood in the White House in Washington, D.C., receiving his (Congressional) Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama. The greatest honor we all can give our veterans is to never forget their sacrifices they made to serve our country. My great-grandfathers sacrifice was his mind being lost to the Civil War. I am humbled and appreciate all the strangers involved, who came together to honor a Civil War veteran, my great-grandfather, Pvt. John Yoders. Gail Nichols, Bad Axe The former commander of the Marines' Wounded Warrior Regiment will do jail time in a case centered around a downward spiral of misconduct that his defense attorneys attributed to severe combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. Col. T. Shane Tomko, 53, was sentenced to two months and a $20,000 fine, which was suspended to $10,000 after pleading guilty Friday to conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and violation of a lawful general order. He admitted to sending inappropriate and sexual messages to a female corporal under his command at the Wounded Warrior Regiment, violating a series of military protective orders imposed on him by his command at Quantico, and appearing at a May 6 arraignment intoxicated with a .208 blood alcohol level, and driving under the influence. He also acknowledged the illegal use of prescription testosterone, which his defense attorneys said he needed and was later legally prescribed. The May 6 appearance resulted in Tomko being ordered to the brig to await his trial; his 21 days of pretrial confinement will be counted against his sentence. "Be well, and take care of yourself," Military Judge Col. Pete Rubin told Tomko, as he read the sentence. Tomko will serve his sentence at Naval Consolidated Brig Chesapeake, Virginia, where prosecuting attorneys said he could receive mental health treatment at the nearby Portsmouth Naval Hospital. He was permitted to remain on active duty. In keeping with a pretrial agreement, more serious charges including abusive sexual contact and fraternization were withdrawn and all but $10,000 of his fine was suspended. He will also request retirement according to the agreement. Witnesses who testified in Tomko's defense, including four generals, used phrases like "meltdown," "sudden decline" and "come off the rails" to describe the change they had observed in him over the 18 months, beginning prior to his relief from the Wounded Warrior Regiment due to loss of confidence in his ability to command. Tomko, who was visibly holding back tears for much of the proceedings, spoke on his own behalf through sobs, struggling to remain coherent as he addressed his statement to his wife, Marine Lt. Col. Liza Tomko, who was present in the gallery. "I can't tell you the number of times in my life I've been told I needed to get help, but how could I?" Tomko said. "The only thing I knew how to do was work hard." Tomko spoke of a 33-year Marine Corps career with repeated combat deployments, including one as the commander of Kilo company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, as well as command tours in which he had to send young Marines off to war, sometimes never to return. Thirteen times, he said, he had to inform parents that their child had been lost to combat. "It's not like you can get home from the office and say, 'I had a good trial,' or 'I did a lot of paperwork today,'" Tomko said. "I got home from the office, and, I killed a bunch of people today." Tomko's character witnesses included Julie Vinnedge, whose son, Lance Cpl. Philip Vinnedge, was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2010. Tomko delivered the news to Julie Vinnedge at her home near St. Louis, Missouri, she said, and remained a constant presence in her life to assist her with her grief. Asked to describe her idea of good military character, Vinnedge said, "Semper Fidelis. Always faithful, loyal. Col. Shane Tomko. That man right there is what I'd call a Marine." But Tomko's distinguished career and his diagnosed post-traumatic stress was not an excuse for his misconduct, government attorneys said. They emphasized that Tomko had received full-time, and sometimes inpatient, mental health treatment since late 2014. Col. Peter Houtz, the lead prosecutor, said Tomko suffered from "Bathsheba syndrome," referring to the fall from grace of the biblical King David. After sending inappropriate text messages to subordinates, Houtz said, Tomko had reached out to those subordinates in violation of a military protective order to ask them to destroy the evidence. Tomko's spiral of misconduct that resulted in protective orders, then restriction, then ultimately an order to the brig, was a result of losing control over his situation, Houtz said. "This continued misconduct we did everything we could to address it, and it didn't work," Houtz said. Tomko's defense attorney, Maj. Geoff Shows, said after the trial that he wasn't satisfied with the sentence. "The Marine Corps got this one wrong," he said. Shows said he wasn't sure if Tomko would appeal the case. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is asking Americans to offer one minute of silence on Monday, Memorial Day, as a solemn reminder of the day's true meaning. For so many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another three-day weekend, filled with barbecues and department store sales that signify the start of summer, the group states in a Facebook posting. That's why IAVA is once again setting out to remind America what Memorial Day is all about. IAVA spokeswoman Cynthia Olson said this is the fifth year that the group has run its "Go Silent" campaign. It's promoting it through its Facebook and Twitter accounts as "#GoSilent". More than 6,000 people have already taken the pledge to #GoSilent at 12:01 pm ET on Monday, Olson told Military.com in an email Thursday. The #GoSilent campaign allows for a shared, nationwide experience. The Campaign is designed to help people feel a part of Memorial Day. She said the minute of silence will coincide with a number of events in New York, Washington and elsewhere. IAVA will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial Day is one of the most important and moving days of the year for veterans, the group said, because so many have lost friends and family. Through its #GoSilent campaign, the organization seeks to honor those who have died in service and also bridge the civilian/military divide by helping all Americans remember those who fell. -- Bryant Jordan can be reached at Bryant.jordan@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at@BryantJordan. 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. A retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant who returned to England this month for the first time in 71 years to visit the country he defended during World War II has died during his "final mission." Melvin Rector, 94, served in England with the 96th Bomb Group in 1945 as a radio operator and gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. Operating out of RAF Snetterton Heath in Norfolk, Rector flew eight combat missions over Germany during the spring of the final year of the War, with his plane coming back one time dotted with bullet holes on its wings, Stars and Stripes reports. Rector, hoping to return to the base, decided to leave his home in Barefoot Bay, Fla., to visit Britain as part of a travel program organized by the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. "He planned it for like the last six months," Darlene O'Donnell, Rector's stepdaughter, told Florida Today. "He couldn't wait to go." Susan Jowers, who accompanied Rector on the trip, said on May 6 he stepped foot on British soil for the first time in 71 years and visited RAF Uxbridge in London. After Rector toured the Battle of Britain bunker, a command center where airplane operations were coordinated during D-Day, he told Jowers he felt dizzy. There, right outside the bunker, Rector quietly died on the soil where he risked his life to defend decades ago. "He walked out of that bunker like his tour was done," Jowers told Florida Today. "He completed his final mission." Rector's daughter, Sandy Vavruich, said he never got to visit RAF Snetterton Heath again, but "he couldn't have asked for a better way to go." Before his remains were sent back over the Atlantic, Jowers was honored in a special service filled with servicemen and women from the U.S. and British Armed Forces, Stars and Stripes reported. The American Embassy in London donated a flag to drape over Rector's coffin. "I do know of his sacrifice and his family's sacrifice, so you do him and his family a great honor by being here today," one American serviceman said. Rector's funeral will be held in the U.S. at the First Baptist Church of Barefoot Bay on June 9. (Editor''s note: This story originally reported that Master Sergeant Rector was a member of the famed "Memphis Belle" B-17 crew; such was not the case. He served with a different crew in another Flying Fortress of the 8th Air Force.) On Tuesday night, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump disparaged New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, probably the most prominent Hispanic Republican officeholder in America, saying at a rally in Albuquerque that she has a bad record and "she's got to do a better job." At the same rally, where windows were smashed and Trump and his supporters clashed with demonstrators, the candidate also mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren's claim to Native American roots by repeatedly calling her "Pocahontas." And House Speaker Paul Ryan, sitting down with reporters on Wednesday, wanted to talk about policy? It wasn't going to happen. The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis, noting Trump's attack on Martinez, asked Ryan, "Do you have a partner who's interested in party unity?" "She's a friend of mine, and I think she's a good governor. I will leave it at that," the speaker replied. Would the speaker's policy agenda include plans for deporting millions of people, as Trump has suggested? "That's not in our agenda," Ryan said. Should Trump apologize for belittling prisoners of war, the physically disabled and women's appearances? "I'm focusing on what we can control here in the House," Ryan said. And what he can control is, well, not much. Ryan had wanted a sit-down with reporters for a "pen and pad" session to talk policy. But, unbeknownst to the speaker, his staff released a flock of photographers into the room just as questions were starting. "Jeez. Good grief. Goddamned," Ryan said with a laugh when the barrage of shutter clicks began. He can probably blame Trump for that, too. Late Tuesday, Trump campaign officials leaked word that Ryan, who had said he wasn't ready to endorse Trump, would indeed be endorsing Trump as soon as Wednesday. This, like much of what comes out of Trump's campaign, was false. But it turned Ryan's policy session into another installment of his soap opera with Trump. "I don't know where all this got from," he pleaded when CNN's Manu Raju asked whether he had made a decision to back Trump. "I have not made a decision and ... I have nothing more to add." What the speaker did have to contribute was an albatross of a metaphor. "We're a big-tent party with lots of different wings of the Republican Party, and we [he and Trump] clearly come from different wings of the Republican Party there's no two ways about that," he said. "The question is, if we're going to unify, can we figure out what is the common foundation that ties all these wings together?" Actually, if you tie a lot of wings together and attach them to a foundation, it's pretty obvious what will happen: That bird won't fly. "Republicans in the House have said, look, Paul Ryan eventually has to endorse Donald Trump," Fox News' Chad Pergram informed the speaker Wednesday. "Why not just rip the Band-Aid off?" Replied Ryan: "I'm really focused on my day job." But he surely has to be focused on a momentous calculation: He could withhold support, potentially costing Trump the presidency and perhaps losing his House majority. Or he could support Trump and have Trump define conservatives, and Republicans, for years even if it's with isolation, trade wars and racial strife. "My worry," one top Republican official remarked during the primary campaign, "is not that Trump will lose the general election. It's that he could win." Cementing the alienation of women, immigrants and non-whites would shorten the fuse on the demographic time bomb underneath the GOP. Ryan seems to be hoping that Trump, in exchange for the speaker's endorsement, will offer him a token concession: some sort of blessing of his agenda of economic growth, national security, health care, anti-poverty measures and limits on presidential power. "We need to normalize these ideas," the speaker said. But there is no way to finesse this, no fig leaf big enough to cover the gap between them. How does he square Trump's expansive view of executive power with his own plan to limit such power? "That is one of my big concerns, not just with Donald Trump but with whoever the next president may be." Is he concerned that Trump doesn't share his views on entitlements? "We're going to focus on our own proposals." Is Ryan disappointed there aren't more discussions with Trump? "I can control what I can control." But Ryan can't control Trump, nor win real concessions from him. As the highest-ranking Republican in America, he has a stark and binary choice to make: tie his and his party's future to Trump, or walk away. The Blue Jays have placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 15-day DL with a quad strain, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets. Taking his place on the active roster will be lefty Aaron Loup, whos returning from an elbow injury. Tulowitzki played yesterday against Boston (striking out four times) but missed the previous two games due to quad tightness, during which time the Jays used Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney at shortstop. The injury occurred when he was stealing a base against the Yankees on Tuesday. Its been a somewhat disappointing season thus far for Tulowitzki, whos batted just .204/.289/.383 in 190 plate appearances this year. Its been a slow start to Tulos Blue Jays career in general, in fact he hit .239/.317/.380 down the stretch in 2015 after arriving in a high-profile trade with Colorado. Loup has been a regular in the Toronto bullpen the last four seasons, with a 3.11 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in a big-league career spent entirely with the Jays. The team had been using a six-man bullpen, and Loups addition gives the team its usual complement of seven relievers. The move also gives the team a second lefty to go with Chad Girodo. MACKINAC ISLAND - Come Wednesday, Mackinac Island will be buzzing with presenters and guests gathered for Michigan's premier business and government policy retreat. The Mackinac Policy Conference is an annual event hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber. It comes after the more local Detroit Policy Conference, which the chamber puts on in February. Chamber spokesman Jim Martinez said the Mackinac conference is 36 years running, while the Detroit conference started in 2012. "We see our role as hosting engaging, thought-provoking programming that moves our region and state forward," Martinez said. "Recently, you've seen some of the issues discussed in Detroit appear on stage in Mackinac and vice versa, keeping the dialogue going throughout the year." So what happened at the February conference? Presentations focused on the revival of Detroit's neighborhoods, the issue of poverty in the city and strategies for expanding employment. Former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing spoke on minority inclusion, or exclusion, in Downtown Detroit's renaissance. He said black developers don't get the same opportunities as big-name businessmen like Mike Ilitch and Dan Gilbert, and that the city has a void in black leadership and media presence. He ended a 10-minute barrage against economic exclusivity with a call to action, urging local leaders to include more minorities in business dealings. "I hope you look to include as many people in your businesses as possible," he said. Some of those themes will likely carry over into the Mackinac Policy Conference. Detroit's current mayor Mike Duggan, is one of many movers and shakers scheduled to speak at the four-day Mackinac conference. They include Dan Ammann, president of General Motors Corp; Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, of Hurley Medical Center and a key player in bringing Flint's water crisis to light; entrepreneur Rick DeVos, founder of ArtPrize in Grand Rapids; and Daymond John, co-host of TV's "Shark Tank." Duggan's keynote address will take place on Wednesday. If his keynote builds off themes of the Detroit conference, he will likely point to recent city-backed efforts in long-neglected neighborhoods, in addition to projects downtown. At the Detroit Policy Conference, Duggan commented on the need for efficiency in thinly spread city services, including the Detroit Police Department. Expect some buzz from the Regional Transit Authority of Southeastern Michigan, too, as a master plan for a millage on the Nov. 8 ballot will be released just before the conference starts. While the Detroit-based conference focused on the city, the Mackinac Policy Conference will line up some of the city's issues with what's happening statewide and nationally. The main pillars of the Mackinac Policy Conference are entrepreneurship, urban education and investing in the future. It's chaired by Dennis Archer Jr., the founding principal and president of Archer Corporate Services and Chief Executive Officer of Ignition Media Group. Despite the business focus Mackinac Policy Conference delves deep into the political realm. The agenda includes a traditional speech from Gov. Rick Snyder, along with conversations about the national political landscape and upcoming elections, but it won't include presumptive nominees Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump. Quicken Loans founder and Detroit real estate tycoon Dan Gilbert is also scheduled to speak Wednesday. Gilbert may address the issue of inclusion as his real estate arm Bedrock Detroit transforms the downtown area. He might also take the time in the spotlight to announce new plans for projects in Detroit. Many would be curious to hear his plans for Book Tower, or future plans for the Woodward Corridor following the Nike store opening. Stick with MLive.com for more coverage of the Mackinac Policy Conference. Ian Thibodeau is the business and development reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. He can be reached at ithibode@mlive.com, or follow him on Twitter. ANN ARBOR, MI - Frightened parents and students breathed a sigh of relief Friday afternoon when a lockdown was lifted at Huron High School. Police were called to the school, 2727 Fuller Road, about 1 p.m. May 27 for a report of a masked intruder. The school was put on lockdown and police searched the building, but no suspect was found, police said. Students were then released. Gra Snyder, 15, said she feared her school was the victim of a mass shooting when the lockdown began. "A bunch of teachers started yelling at us and telling us to go back in our classrooms," Snyder said. "At first we thought it was just like a senior prank or something and they didn't want us to be out while it was happening. Then we were told that we were going to go into lockdown and that it wasn't a drill." After the lockdown ended, she met her relieved father, Matt Snyder, 45, outside the school. "I was really nervous at the beginning when I first heard about it," he said. "Right now I'm feeling really kind of tired after the whole ordeal. I'm very relieved." Hear more from Huron High School parents here. Darcie Moran covers cops and courts for MLive and The Ann Arbor News. Email her at dmoran@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter @darciegmoran. A power line equipment failure cut power to nearly 1,147 residents and local businesses in Pittsfield Township on Saturday, May 28. (DTE Energy) ANN ARBOR, MI -- A power line equipment failure cut power to nearly 1,147 residents and local businesses in Ann Arbor and a small portion of Pittsfield TownshiP on Saturday, May 28. The outage covers an area south of Washtenaw Avenue and north of Turnberry Road, between Platt Road and the I-94 business route, according to DTE Energy's online outage map. Some customers have had power restored, but some may not regain electricity until after 5 p.m., said Jill Wilmot, manager of corporate communications for DTE Energy. There are currently no hazards to buildings or roadways in the area, Wilmot said. Pittsfield and Ann Arbor fire and emergency crews were called to the arcing power line at 2:41 p.m., said Capt. Jim Budd of the Ann Arbor Fire Department. Residents in the area described seeing blue arcs of electricity sparking from a pole located near Packard and Burton roads. Budd said two wires had crossed while swaying in the wind caused the surge. Crews determined there were no hazards at around 3 p.m. Ben Solis is an intern with MLive & The Ann Arbor News. Email him at bsolis@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @bensolis1. It is no surprise to hear President Barack Obama direct Americans to allow transgender students to decide where they shall go to the restroom/changing room and to provide accommodations for such. Furthermore, Obama threatens to enforce the decree by withholding federal funds from schools that refuse to comply. This is merely another move to weaken the Christian faith in this country, an effort that has been going on for years. Christians have been incrementally losing ground in the moral battle for our nation. We have allowed this descent to take place, thinking each nibble is just a little thing, but it has gotten to the point where Christians need to stand up against this strong arming and fight for what is right. Obama has done more to destroy the Christian foundation of this country than anyone I know. Although he claims to be a Christian, such assertions are implausible since his actions consistently oppose Biblical beliefs and principles. This bathroom issue creates an extremely dangerous situation for the future of our young children, especially females. To expect our public schools to no longer provide the most elementary expectations for the security and safety of our children is reprehensible. It is clear to me that Obama is more interested in the transgender agenda than destroying ISIS. Speaking of transgender equality, they made the decision to become a minority group when they chose to change their birth gender, yet the rest of us (99.7 percent) are expected to give up our privacy rights so this group can feel comfortable. When I rst ran for office six years ago, I clearly stated that I was a conservative Christian. That has not changed. I believe that God wrote his laws on my heart, as he does to all who belong to Him. Those who refuse to follow His rules are denying Him so that they may indulge in their own selfish pursuits. As a Christian, I am asking for all Christians to stand with me and be counted. Close It has been confirmed that the production will start filming in Morocco, though the details on the filming is still scarce. According to Metro, the fourth season of the mystery series will have some scenes filmed in Morocco. However, it is still unclear as to where the storyline of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will lead. The filming of the first episode reportedly has been completed and the second one is still in works. The filming of the first episode was done in Cardiff, Wales, and seems that some the third or the fourth episode will be shot in Morocco, according to Ecumenical News. Meanwhile, it is also confirmed that Toby Jones will be joining the cast of "Sherlock" as a mysterious villain. Jones has starred in a number of British shows like "Detectorist" and "The Secret Agent". His voice was also heard in several "Harry Potter" movies. On the other hand the series co - creator Steven Moffat was delighted to introduce Jones in the series. "Delighted to have Toby Jones on board, bringing to life one of [Sir Arthur Conan] Doyle's finest villains," he said, according to Deadline. While Cumberbatch and Freeman will be positively returning in the upcoming season, with Amanda Abbington (as a pregnant wife), rumors are also in the air about Tom Hiddleston joining the cast as Sherrinfold Holmes. Even creator Mark Gatiss also mentioned that they would love to have the "Avengers" star on board. However, with Hiddleston's hectic schedule, it would be hard for him to join the cast. "Sherlock" season four is slated to be on air in January 2017. Copyright 2020 Mobile & Apps, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. [May 27, 2016] South Africa B2C E-Commerce Market 2016 - Research and Markets Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "South Africa B2C E-Commerce Market 2016" report to their offering. South Africa is one of the largest B2C E-Commerce markets in Africa and also among the regional leaders in Internet and mobile phone penetration, this new report shows. While only about half of South Africa's population has Internet access and just one third of Internet users made purchases online in 2015, the demand for online shopping services is growing. The share of Internet users who plan to make purchases online is nearly twice as high as the share of those who already buy over the Internet. In 2016, B2C E-Commerce sales in South Africa are predicted by multiple sources to grow at a double-digit rate and break the threshold of 1% of total retail sales. Faster and more flexible delivery are cited among the top five factors that could help drive Internet retailing in South Africa still further. The lack of trust in delivery is reflected in the ranking of the product categories most purchased by online shoppers in South Africa in 2015, as cited in this report. This ranking is topped by digital and small item purchases, suchas ticket reservations and books. Payment safety is another online shoppers' concern, as safer payment is desired by two-thirds of them. Some of South Africa's prominent E-Commerce companies include online mass merchant and marketplace Takealot.com, which joined forces with another online retailer, Kalahari.com in 2015. Specialist online retailers, such as consumer electronics merchant Makro and clothing merchant Zando are also among the leaders. Moreover, foreign E-Commerce platforms such as Amazon.com (News - Alert), Ebay.com and Alibaba.com are among popular destinations for South Africa's Internet users, indicating further potential for the cross-border online shopping trend. Key Questions Answered - What is the market size of B2C E-Commerce in South Africa and what growth is expected in the next five years? - Which are the main drivers and challenges to online retail development in South Africa? - Which important trends have emerged in South Africa's Internet retailing? - What do online shoppers in South Africa buy and how do their pay for their purchases? - Who are the E-Commerce market leaders in this country? Key Topics Covered: 1. Management Summary 2. Overview and International Comparisons 3. Trends 4. Sales and Shares 5. Users and Shoppers 6. Products 7. Payment 8. Delivery 9. Players Companies Mentioned - Alibaba.com - Amazon.com - Bidorbuy.co.za - eBay.com - Goldman Sachs - Kalahari.com - MTN (News - Alert) - Makro - Naspers - PriceCheck - Silvertree Internet Holdings - Takealot.com - Woolworths - Zando For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/sqs86c/south_africa_b2c View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005713/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Bamako (AFP) - The family of a Malian civilian who died after being arrested by peacekeepers following a deadly jihadist attack claimed his death was due to abuse in custody as the UN Friday promised to "shed light" on the incident. Five Chadian peacekeepers were killed in the ambush in northeast Mali on May 18 and a sixth died of his wounds on May 24, according to the latest toll from the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Three suspects were arrested, one of whom "died on May 19 in the hours following his apprehension" while the other two were released, MINUSMA said last week as it announced the launch of an internal inquiry. The victim was an elderly Tuareg shepherd named Almoustapha Ag Intisniyiken, who was detained with his son and another relative, his family told AFP. "If they had not arrested my father with violence, he would not have died," his son Ousmane Ag Almoustapha told AFP by telephone, speaking in the Tuareg language which one of his relatives then translated. "We were behind our flock when the Chadians fired shots. The animals scattered and ran and they arrested the three of us," he said. "They started hitting us with the butts of their guns to make us confess that we were involved in the attack. We said weren't, but that we saw three gunmen on motorcycles coming from the site of the attack," he said. "Then they separated us from my father. It was afterwards I learned he had died," he added. - Internal investigation - Another member of the dead shepherd's family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "for us, it was not a natural death"."I'm grateful that MINUSMA have said we are going to learn the truth," he added. Questioned about the family's accusations, MINUSMA spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said there was an inquiry was underway and she "did not want to prejudge the outcome of these investigations". "MINUSMA will share the relevant findings of the internal investigations with transparency and if there is an error/misconduct, they will assume responsibility," Achouri said in an email to AFP. The investigation "is ongoing but we are ensuring it will be concluded as soon as possible", she said. Its goal is "to shed light on the circumstances of the attack" including the arrest of the three suspects and the death of one of them, she said. Islamist group Ansar Dine has claimed responsibility for the attack. Ansar Dine was one of several Islamist factions that conquered vast swathes of the Mali's north in 2012 before being repulsed by French troops. A landmark peace agreement was reached last year between the Mali government and the rebels, but jihadist violence remains a threat and the government has been unable to maintain security with domestic forces alone. Five Malian soldiers were killed and four others wounded Friday in northern Mali when their vehicles were blown up by an improvised explosive device, the army said. The Mali mission is the most dangerous active deployment for UN peacekeepers and has been hit by sharp internal tensions since its launch in July 2013. 28.05.2016 LISTEN The Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa constituency, K.T Hammond has described the conduct of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Charlotte Osei as unserious. The EC Chairperson has come under fire for among others, undertaking a rebranding exercise which critics say is unnecessary especially when it has other pressing matters to deal with ahead of the November elections. Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Adansi Asokwa legislator stated that the decision to replace the Commissions logo among others seems to suggest that Ms. Charlotte Osei is joking with Ghana. We don't have a lot of time to go. Madam Charlotte is joking with Ghana. At the end of the day she is superintending over all that is going on, K.T Hammond stated. Go back to Supreme Court K.T Hammond also challenged the plaintiffs who sued the EC over the credibility of the voters register to return to court to seek a clearer interpretation of its ruling on the case. The apex court on May 5, asked the Electoral Commission to expunge from the current voters' register the names of all persons who registered and voted in the 2012 elections, with the National Health Insurance card as a proof of identity. But the EC after studying the ruling said its understanding does not suggest the use of any new process to delete the names of those who registered with NHIS cards, since at the time of registration, there was no law barring them. The NPP MP however advised the applicants to go back to the court to get a clearer understanding of the ruling. I would have wished the Supreme Court would have made a clear and plain ruling but their ruling raises a lot of eyebrows. They should quickly go back to the Supreme Court for clarification. By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah Adu Boahen 28.05.2016 LISTEN When we talk of bequests left to the living by the dead, we often think of material things. Buildings, for instance, Or farms. In the case of the late Professor Adu Boahen, books that can be held in the hand although spiced with a fairly abstract concept, namely, a precedent set in relation to courageous political activism, that can inspire those alive and kicking to be brave enough to expose themselves to personal risks (if necessary) in trying to improve the living conditions of those less fortunate than themselves. Prof Adu Boahen, as was made marvellously clear at the Event that was held on 24 May 2016 in Accra to commemorate the 10thanniversary of his joining his ancestors, left a worthy legacy to all Ghanaians, especially with regard to what must concern them most living in freedom as proud Ghanamma; a people able to choose their own governments, and prepared to be unsparing and vocal in their critical evaluation of the performance of those governments, once elected; and on a continuing basis. I shall be devoting future columns to the speeches made at the commemoration by such august figures as Nana Dr S K B Asante, a classmate of Adu Boahen's, who was chair for the occasion; Prof Addo Fenning, who, I think, has annexed unto himself, Prof Adu Boahen's title of Uncrowned Doyen of Ghanaian Historians; and Mr Henry Kwasi Prempeh, a social and political commentator whose observations on our national affairs scythe through legal and political issues seamlessly. His views on the state of the media in Ghana, and why we have a multiplicity of media and yet see the media making such woeful impact on government policy and social developments, will, of course, merit a lively discussion. What we all failed to notice at the Event, though, was the complete and utter self-effacement of the Adu Boahen siblings, who organised it and made sure that it went ahead without the slightest hitch. The evening belonged to their father, and they discreetly allowed it to be so. Even the auction that took place to raise funds for the just-launched Adu Boahen Foundation, was handled with good taste and magnificent humour. There was also a breath-taking cultural show, at which a worthy successor to President Kwame Nkrumah's Okyeame Akufo (the gifted herald who used to introduce the Osagyefo the President with amazingly-constructed appellations in Twi and ended up with the invitation: Kwame, Kasa! Kasa! before the President spoke on the radio) made himself heard. What kind of tongue has that man got? I intend to find out! As I predicted in my last column, the choice of MCs for the occasion was quite inspired. Dr Ebow Daniel and Ambassador James Aggrey-Orleans were both at their loquacious best and were able to draw plenty of laughs, even though the occasion was necessarily a most solemn one. Also worthy of note was the role played by Professor Akosua Adoma Perbi, head of the Department of History. Prof Perbi generously sacrificed part of her time at the podium to tease out from another lady, the story of how her dancing at the 37 Military Hospital bedside of Prof Adu Boahen, aroused the (then) bed-ridden Professor from his near-coma. The lady told us that according to the Prof's wife, Auntie Mary (who has been described by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Flag-bearer of the NPP, in these words: as fearless, staunch and loyal a consort as could be found!) Prof had not spoken a word for two days, but the lady's dancing which, in all likelihood, was rather eccentric not only enabled the Prof to recover his speech but his sharp tongue as well. But who told you you are not mad? he asked the dancing lady. This anecdote both brought Adu Boahen back to life to those who knew him, and also brought the house down. The final word of the evening was spoken by Nana Akufo Addo, a doughty comrade-in-arms to Prof during the anti-Unigov campaign of the mid-1970s, and at the hustings, during the 1992 election, at which Prof Adu Boahen demonstrated enormous bravery and stood for the presidency against the incumbent, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. Nana Addo, too, managed wittily to bring Adu Boahen back to life to us. The rest was silence a sad, reflective silence, during which we each had to wonder whether the Almighty would be as kind to us as he had been to Adu Boahen, whom He had enabled to live such a life that even when he was no longer on earth, his name was on every tongue. And a good ten good years after his demise, at that; by which time, most dead people tend, sadly, to be completely forgotten. Since the Event, I have been privileged to talk at length to one of Adu's children, Kwabena, who is making huge waves at the cutting edge of the bio-engineering and the related electronic world in the United States. In my opinion (and I know journalists are constantly urged to bury any ambitions they may harbour to become prophets a warning that is particularly apposite in Ghana, where the Prophet Obinims of this world have turned prophecy into a profitable but deceitful enterprise!) Kwabena will, in a few years time, be at the pinnacle of a breakthrough in research into the computer-brain synergy, on which he and a group of scientists have been engaged at Stanford University, in the US, for some time now. Since computers now rule all aspects of our lives, nothing that affects their development can be hidden for long, and I urge you to follow Kwabena's career with unusual interest. The project, if successful, will, I strongly believe, be such a game-changer in the computer industry and therefore, (I repeat) in how we all live that Ghana's name, through Kwabena Adu Boahen, will for ever be associated with the new development, which is an exponential increase in the ability of super-computers to do unimaginable calculations, whilst through mimicking the human brain -- consuming only an infinitesimal proportion of the electric power currently needed to make super-computers work today. Kwabena talks about his ideas on Ted at https://www.ted.com/talks/kwabena_boahen_on_a_computer_that_works_like_the_brain?language=en I am so excited about Kwabena's project that I shall devote my next article to a discussion of his ideas. Do not be disappointed, therefore, if you have to wait a little longer to read about what the speakers said at the Adu Boahen commemorative Event. I assure you I wouldn't make such a sacrifice if I wasn't 100 percent convinced that the interview with Kwabena should take precedence over what we said about his father, who was well-known enough already, whereas Kwabena or Buster (as his Legon Primary School, Mfantsipim and KNUST mates knew him) has been rather off-screen in Ghana, having done all his post-graduate studies in the US. 28.05.2016 LISTEN "...The Government and people of Ghana have two major preoccupations: the first is to develop this country as fast and as best as our own resources will enable us to do, with a view to raising the standard of living of our people, and enabling them to live a much fuller life than has been possible in the past. We embarked upon this work through our First Development Plan which is now completed, and we propose to continue the process of development through the Second Development Plan which we have already launched and carried through its first six months..." (Kwame Nkrumah, 9 January, 1960) . Readers who have been following this discourse know exactly what our primary interest is. It is to provide the most credible, fact- and data-grounded versions of the actual performance of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana compared to Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore. We are proving that the Ghana-Singapore thesis where Kwame Nkrumah is placed second fiddle to Singapore's Lee Kwan Yew is bunkum, without data or fact at bottom. Unless you are a mad man, the period you would be interested in would be 1957-1966, more precisely 1960-1966, being the period there is comparative data for the rational man. This is the period and the approximate time the two leaders were titular heads of their states. Fact is, only mad, irrational men (and they are always MEN as far as we know), will sit in their living rooms in Accra and Kumasi, and in some foreign capitals, and compose data-deficient articles and comments that blame Nkrumah for the inadequacies and failed leadership of those same 60-year old men and their friends, decades after the passing of Kwame Nkrumah. It is as absurd as they come! BACKGROUND ON RELEVANT ECONOMIC DATA Fact is, in 1966, when Kwame Nkrumah's government was overthrown by Ankrah-Harlley-Afrifa-Nunoo-traitor bunch backed by "rascal" Busia and the Johnson CIA, Ghana owned an amount from all sources that was less than 30% of Ghana's annual GDP at that time. In comparison, the British national debt-to-GDP ratio, was a whopping 75%. For the British, owner of a large empire system that included Ghana, India, and Singapore, etc., that GDP to debt ratio been consistently higher since the late 1930-1940s, a period that covers World War II. By 1936, Singapore was already a major commercial, trading, and industrial port. In 1939, the British completed construction of a massive 54.39 square kilometer (21 square mile) naval base in Singapore. It was not only the largest dry dock in the world, it was also the "third-largest floating dock", and could hold "enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months." Naturally, by 1936 Singapore already had a Shell oil refinery, an airfield, flying boat station, etc. The British never bothered to construct an oil refinery in Ghana in 80 years. But Kwame Nkrumah did, in less than 10 years at the helm, in 1963. All those British investments in Singapore, and that singular British military expansion in that "Crown Colony" required education, training, and employment of thousands of Singapore workers on an industrial scale. In other words, the naval base was a massive economic and development booster for Singapore. Economic "empowerment" programs of that kind benefit generations at that location and region, including benefits for the unborn, even after lost wars. And it was surely not the People of Singapore who paid for all of that, if we have a critical bone in our skull, intellectual, as some of us claim we are. To the point, that massive naval port project cost the British and its Empire, Gold Coast included, a whopping 60 million...($3.8 billion in 2016 dollars). Needless to say, if we must connect the dots, throughout World War I and World War II, the Gold Coast contributed massively to the British economy and their war efforts. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that the Gold Coast actually subsidized the British "war and peace" efforts to the benefit of the British and Singapore, in more ways than one. Kwame Nkrumah had a sense for all those linkages, the critical mind he was. In a recent publication, Professor Kwame Botwe Asamoah provides the following observations by DR. Kwame Nkrumah about the Gold Coast of the 1950s, a short decade after the British spent that massive 60 million on the naval port in Singapore: "...In his address on the eve of Ghanas independence, Nkrumah pointed out that 'when spending 124 million during the course of the Five Year Development Plan, the CPP...received 1 million in aid from...(Britain)...It was not a large proposition and we had in return made our contribution to the gold and dollar resources of the sterling....The Gold Coast has contributed, on an average, 25% of the net dollar earnings of the British colonial territories, and, taking into account our contribution of around 9 million a year in gold, in the five years from 1951 to 1955 in which the CPP have been in power, the Gold Coast contributed a net positive balance of 150 million to the gold and dollar reserves of the (British) sterling area. It will be seen therefore, that though the Gold Coast is small and, by Western standards, not a very wealthy country, it has made a significant contribution to maintaining the stability of the sterling area..." (In Botwe Asamoah, 2015). If Ghana contributed an average "25% of the net dollar earnings of the British colonial territories"....(excluding ~9 million a year in gold), we must conclude that as much as 15 million ($950,000,000 in 2016) of those funds for the naval port in Singapore, to the extent none of that would have been effectively fire-walled (or as much as $950,000,000 in 2016 dollars), actually originated from the Gold Coast. Those funds were used to develop Singapore for the use of the British and Singapore, all the way up to 1957, to the events on the eve of the independence of Ghana. In contrast, the construction of the Port of Takoradi was the single most expensive project ever undertaken by the British in the Gold Coast. But, this was a project to serve their own British mercantile interests a decade before the massive Singapore project, in 1928. Even so, when colonial over-lord Gordon Guggisberg trimmed his 10-Year Development Plan for the Gold Coast: "...from 1919 to 1928 because of trade recession after the first world war, he retained the construction of the Port with two other projects namely, 4800 km motor roads construction and the Kumasi/Accra railway line...The funds for the three projects totalling about 12million were generated locally and farmers contributed a great deal of it..." In fact, according to some other sources, the cost for the most expensive project the British ever constructed in the Gold Coast, in Takoradi, probably did not exceed 3 million. Again, all paid to the penny by the People of the Gold Coast. Here is a look at GDP per capita, if we must avoid that minor, but important, distraction. GDP COMPARED, GHANA VS. SINGAPORE (1957) One of the more outrageous character traits of Nkrumah-bashers like Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe and Kwabena Yeboah who recently confessed that he has been "....making this point for years - this is how Dr. Nkrumah short changed Ghana's development to augment his fanciful united continental Africa...", is, you never can tell what they were for, before they changed their minds on anything. Further, they never have data to back up what they say, except to present coup plotter narratives and Johnson-CIA talking points, with large doses of Cold War era newspaper headlines. Before that "fanciful united continental Africa", Kwabena Yeboah told the world: "...First of all, I am a firm believer of Dr. Nkrumah and his accomplishments for our country and believe he is in a league of his own in projecting the African Personality - no African, present or past, has been able to match this attribute, not even Mandela...". So, we must now scratch Nkrumah's "fanciful united continental Africa" and replace with Nkrumah's uncommon "... accomplishments for our country...he is in a league of his own in projecting the African Personality." And, we are supposed to see that as objectivity, even balance, from their side of the discourse. Maybe Kwabena Yeboah imagines playing the role, em, "projecting the African Personality", could be done for a song, for zero pesewas! Maybe, that is the reason they never bother to tell Ghanaians exactly how much Nkrumah gave ungrateful Africans who were not Ghanaians, for "fanciful united continental Africa". Nice try! So, these same Nkrumah-bashers without data worthy of a scrap of respect, it is they who want the whole world to know about their intellectual prowess, their achievement as professors, the contracts they have signed that conveniently prevent them from directly addressing issues they themselves started, and to support their mouth and electronic pens with their own data, for all the world to know. In sum, we see it as the height of absurdity that like many politicians in Ghana, these so-called scholars and intellectuals never have data. They never speak with data, preferring instead, to speak in fanciful literature prose as they re-cycle coup plotter narratives and Johnson-CIA talking points long discredited by same US Government in official files. To compare Ghana vs. Singapore under this context, an elementary, but rational question to ask is, what was the GDP per capita when they both started. What was the GDP per capita when it ended for one such that it was no fair comparison if one were to compare one with the other when the other was gone from the scene (either dead, infirm, deposed, etc.). For us, the starting point for a Singapore-Ghana comparison is 1957, being the year Gold Coast became "independent" Ghana and the year the British granted Singapore "complete internal self-government" and statehood. British-educated lawyer Lee Kwan Yew would be elected Prime Minister of Singapore 2 short years later, in 1959. Fact is, after the unprecedented, massive accumulation by the CPP internal government of "124 million" during 1953-1957 for the "Five Year Development Plan" for which the then Gold Coast only "...received 1 million in aid" from Britain, at the end of 1957, Ghana's GDP per capita was just about 47% of Singapore's. There is data from the World Bank and other sources. How, pray tell us then, confederate-matemeho intellectuals, tell us how Ghana and Singapore could have started on equal footing. Further, all village idiots can fairly estimate that it would be a lot easier to sell port and stevedoring industrial services at a prime location such as Singapore had, with its natural port, compared to selling cocoa beans, timber, and produce overseas for which the same Britain had never bothered to establish a single productive factory in over 80 years of crown colony plunder of the Gold Coast. To be more precise, in 1960, Ghana's GDP per capita was $182.98, compared to $427.88, for Singapore. (That suggests Singapore's was 133.84% higher than Ghana's). Again, how, pray tell us, tell us how Ghana and Singapore could have started on equal footing. NKRUMAH'S GOVERNMNT SURPASSED SINGAPORE'S: Four years later in 1964, through the efforts of the CPP government, Ghana's GDP per capita was $230.44, compared to $485.36, for Singapore. (That suggests Singapore's was now just 110.62% of Ghana, a reduction (or catching up by Ghana) of 23.22%). The next year, in 1965, through further development efforts by the CPP government, the difference in GDP per capita between the 2 countries had shrunk to approximately 93.86%, from a high 133.84% in 1960. This catch-up of Ghana to Singapore is seen a lot visibly in the graph below. The simple graph shows changes in the rate of growth/decline in GDP per capita between Ghana and Singapore during 1961 and 1970. The figure clearly shows that in terms of that rate of growth of GDP, Ghana outpaced Singapore during the years 1963-1965. In other words, Ghana was actually on track to perform even better in later years thanks to the industrialization and import substitution programs of the Nkrumah government. But Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana-Centered/Ghana-Proud government was overthrown in 1966 by the hands of a traitor bunch of corn-flake-eating, ice-cream puffing intellectuals and brainless military and police brass who wanted to have their corn flakes and ice cream to keep, after they had eaten them all. It is that class of so-called intellectuals, mad men, all of them, who, practically 60 years later, want to tell the world that Kwame Nkrumah is responsible for Ghana's development miasma, in 2016. That is as irrational as they come. SOURCES: 1. Prof Lungu. Only mad 60-year olds fault Kwame Nkrumah for Ghana's development quagmire (1) (2). Ghanaweb (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/browse.archive.php?date=20160515/) (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Only-mad-60-year-olds-fault-Nkrumah-for-Ghana-s-development-quagmire-440970/) 2. Kwame Botwe Asamoah, Ph.D. THE FALLACY OF BRITAIN LEAVING HUGE SUMS OF MONEY FOR KWAME NKRUMAHS GOVERNMENT, 2015. (http://www.ghanahero.com/Visions/Nkrumah_Legacy_Project/Botwe_Asamoah/The_Fallacy_of_British_Leaving_Huge_Sums_of_Money_v2.pdf/). 3. History of Singapore, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Singapore/). 4. Bob Hackett. Singapore at War! 2016. (http://www.combinedfleet.com/Singapore.htm/). 5. David Meredith. The Construction of Takoradi Harbour in the Gold Coast 1919 to 1930: A Case Study in Colonial Development and Administration. 1976, Transafrican Journal of History, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1976), pp. 134-149. 6. GhanaPorts, (http://www.ghanaports.gov.gh/page/27/Takoradi-Port-Our-History-And-Future-/). 7. Robert Hill. The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Vol III, September 1920 - August, 1921. Visit for more information: www.GhanaHero.com . Read Mo'! Listen Mo'! See Mo'! Reflect Mo'! Prof Lungu is Ghana-Centered/Ghana-Proud! Subj: Only mad 60-year olds fault Kwame Nkrumah for Ghana's development quagmire (3). (Definitive Serial). Twitter: https://twitter.com/professorlungu Support Fair-Trade Oil Share Ghana Campaign/Petition https://www.change.org/p/ghana-fair-trade-oil-share-psa-campaign-ftos-gh-psa/ Brought to you courtesy www.GhanaHero.com27 May 16. 28.05.2016 LISTEN By Ken Sackey, GNA Accra, May 26, GNA - Parliament has said Ghana must urgently train more qualified people as police personnel to sharpen the country's reaction to the current and emerging national security threats. The House contended that it had become imperative to re-evaluate the country's internal security situation because the recent surge in violent crime was 'very disturbing' and could destabilise the peace and cohesion of Ghana. The Members were reacting to a statement made on the floor of Parliament by Mr Isaac Osei, the MP for Subin, which highlighted the need for national response to the personal security of Ghanaians. They said it was necessary that the security agencies took proactive measures to assure citizens of their safety and security. The legislators' concerns arise from the gruesome murder of one of their colleagues, J.B.Danquah-Adu, who represented the Abuakua North Constituency, the recent attack on Dan Kwaku Botwe, the MP for Okere, at his residence, the rising spate of political violence and armed robbery, ethnic and religious intolerance and the contentious issue of itinerant herdsmen challenging locals for grazing land. Mr Osei, whose statement dwelt on the need for security for citizens in general, and lawmakers in particular, noted that although personal safety was primarily a responsibility of the individual, there were national security implications that required a national response. He said it was important to bring the police-citizens ration to as close as possible to the U.N's ration of one policeman/woman to 500 people within the shortest possible time. The lawmaker commended the increased Police visibility in the cities and on highways, which they said had bettered some security concerns. They, however, called on the authorities to ramp their efforts to contain all threats to the peace, safety and properties of citizens. He also called for the swift application of Ghana's laws in prosecuting offenders, be they highway robbers, break-in assailants or political thugs to restore confidence in the Police Force and the judicial process of the country. Mr Emmanuel Bandua, the MP for Biakoye, said though every Ghanaian deserved protection, some citizens by the nature of the service they rendered to the country and the society should be given some level of personal protection to enable them to move and work without fear. He said the safety of citizens should be the utmost consideration of the security agencies, while its lack could be detrimental to national security. On the issue of the Fulani herdsmen, the lawmaker called for a tracking system to monitor the number of cattle entering the country and their movement to enable the security agencies to forestall avoidable clashes with locals. He also called for a policy that encouraged the ranching systems in order to avoid the free-ranging that was causing conflicts between communities and cattle herders. Major Derek Oduro (Rtd), the MP for Nkoranza North, for his part, urged the security agencies to be proactive and reactive, calling for efforts to enhance the operational capacity of security personnel to enable them to carry out their roles as the legitimate guardians of the people. GNA By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Koforidua, May 28, GNA - President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday said much as government would not renege on its mandate to create jobs, tertiary institution graduates should also initiate entrepreneurial skills that could make them self-reliant and major employers. He said with the rising graduate population in Ghana and the entire world, it was becoming extremely difficult for government alone to absorb them and, therefore, developing enterpreneurial skills would help in reducing the high incidence of unemployment. President Mahama said this when he addressed the 16th and 17th graduation ceremony of 354 students of the All Nations University College, a private university in Koforidua, on the theme:"The Growth and Development of Private Universities, and the Impact on the Socio-economic Development of Ghana." The President said government's determination to making Ghana the education hub in the West African sub-region was manifesting in the numerous infrastructural projects throughout the country. He said more than 15,000 foreigners were schooling in Ghanaian tertiary institutions and gave the assurance that the provision of more facilities would spur more foreigners to come to Ghana. President Mahama commended the university for taking the bold initiative of establishing the first private university in Ghana giving courage to others to follow up in that direction. "Your innovation in science and technology, engineering, electronic, oil and gas and communication engineering are very commendable," he said. Dr Samuel Donkor, President and Founder of the university, appealed to President Mahama for the Government to grant them a Presidential Charter to enable them to be independent in their academic activities. That, he said, would enable the university to admit and train more students. Dr Donkor said his outfit would continue to build on the foundation by integrating the values of the mission statement and provide cutting edge quality higher education in an increasingly competitive global dynamic society. He challenged Africans in the Diaspora, especially in North America, to support the development of the continent by investing in human resource development through quality higher education. Dr Norman Cook, a retired official of the Canadian International Development Agency, called on the graduates and students to eschew self-doubt in every endeavour they undertook. The All Nations University College (ANUC) was established by the All Nations Full Gospel Church, Toronto, Canada through the All Nations International Development Agency. Its mission is to develop a new breed of leaders for the continent with holistic education that emphasises academic excellence, Christian values, discipline and ethical values in a Christ centered environment. After years of preparations, the university opened its doors to 37 pioneering students on November 4, 2002 for the Business and Computer Science undergraduate programmes. Today ANUC has 12 accredited programmes and more than 2500 students. GNA President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday said much as government would not renege on its mandate to create jobs, tertiary institution graduates should also initiate entrepreneurial skills that could make them self-reliant and major employers. He said with the rising graduate population in Ghana and the entire world, it was becoming extremely difficult for government alone to absorb them and, therefore, developing enterpreneurial skills would help in reducing the high incidence of unemployment. President Mahama said this when he addressed the 16th and 17th graduation ceremony of 354 students of the All Nations University College, a private university in Koforidua, on the theme:The Growth and Development of Private Universities, and the Impact on the Socio-economic Development of Ghana. The President said governments determination to make Ghana the education hub in the West African sub-region was manifesting in the numerous infrastructural projects throughout the country. He said more than 15,000 foreigners were schooling in Ghanaian tertiary institutions and gave the assurance that the provision of more facilities would spur more foreigners to come to Ghana. President Mahama commended the university for taking the bold initiative of establishing the first private university in Ghana, giving courage to others to emulate. Your innovation in science and technology, engineering, electronic, oil and gas and communication engineering are very commendable, he said. Dr Samuel Donkor, President and Founder of the university, appealed to President Mahama for a Presidential Charter to enable them to be independent in their academic activities. That, he said, would enable the university to admit and train more students. Dr Donkor said his outfit would continue to build on the foundation by integrating the values of the mission statement and provide cutting edge quality higher education in an increasingly competitive global dynamic society. He challenged Africans in the Diaspora, especially in North America, to support the development of the continent by investing in human resource development through quality higher education. Dr Norman Cook, a retired official of the Canadian International Development Agency, called on the graduates and students to eschew self-doubt in every endeavour they undertook. The All Nations University College (ANUC) was established by the All Nations Full Gospel Church, Toronto, Canada through the All Nations International Development Agency. Its mission is to develop a new breed of leaders for the continent with holistic education that emphasises academic excellence, Christian values, discipline and ethical values in a Christ centered environment. After years of preparations, the university opened its doors to 37 pioneering students on November 4, 2002 for the Business and Computer Science undergraduate programmes. Today ANUC has 12 accredited programmes and more than 2500 students. CEO of Tigo, Roshi Motman has been awarded as the Outstanding Woman in Technology for this year. It follows her role in the telecommunication sector for the year under review. The award also forms part of four prizes Tigo picked up at the 6th Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards. Tigo was also adjudged winner of; 'Brand of the Year'', 'Innovative Product of the Year' for Big 6, as well as 'Social Impact Award' for its flagship Corporate Social Responsibility project Shelter 4 Education. Commenting on the feat, Roshi Motman said, 2015 was a fantastic year for the business. We invested millions of dollars in various within the business to ensure continued growth, long term sustainability and customer satisfaction. The strongest component of any company is its people, so I thank every member of my senior leadership team and the wider team for their consistent output and go-getting attitude. For her 'Outstanding Woman in Technology' award, she indicated, It's a real honor to be recognized this way. It is my hope that in the very near future a lot more women will venture into this industry to make a real positive and meaningful difference to the sector. Women have a lot to offer in the telecoms and technology space, and I'm very privileged to have done that. In recent years, the company has undertaken numerous investments to improve its network quality and customer experience. Marketing campaigns such as 'Drop that Yam', and 'Yensor nkoaa' have been a phenomenal success. The overall brand experience has caused customers to react positively to the new, vibrant Tigo brand. Big 6, the winning Innovative Product of the Year, gave unrivaled value to prepaid customers through various data, streaming music, talk time and bonus packages. Again, Shelter 4 Education was recognized for the tremendous impact it has had in communities across the country where schools were built, renovated and equipped with learning material. The far-reaching efforts of the project have garnered enormous support from government stakeholders, opinion leaders, and other corporate bodies. The Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards, is Ghana's premier platform for celebrating top performers within the industry. It seeks to recognize excellence in the ICT industry by rewardingdistinction in product development, service delivery and innovation. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana The Ashanti Regional Police have arrested about 150 suspected criminals in Kumasi. According to them, the arrest forms part of the Regional Commands resolve to rid the regional capital of criminals. The move follows the surge in crime related activities in the region over the past few weeks. Speaking to Citi News, the Police Public Relations Officer in the region,Chief Inspector, Godwin Ahainyo said, the suspects are currently being screened for possible prosecution. He added that an identification parade will be held from next to allow residents to identify persons that have terrorized them before. We conducted some swoops at certain areas like Aboabu, the Race course area, Mayanka, the affordable housing area and apprehended this number of persons. We did this just to show the public that we are on the ground making sure that crime within the metropolis is minimized. He said during their swoop, we also got some substances suspected to be Indian hemp. We also had certain powdered substance which we suspect to be cocaine but then we have to send it to the forensic lab in Accra for it to be examined. So we will be screening them. There would be an identification parade from next week and those who will be identified will be sent to court. 4 robbers terrorizing Kumasi The Ashanti Regional Police Command had earlier said they have gathered intelligence on some four suspected robbers believed to be behind the recent robbery cases in the region. Within the last few days, there have been two consecutive robberies in the regional capital, Kumasi, leaving many residents in fear. A Police officer was shot and killed at Denkyemmuoso after some robbers raided a hotel while another resident was killed at Ahenema Kokoben. Addressing journalists on Monday after a Regional Security Council (REGSEC) meeting, the Regional Commander, DCOP Kofi Boakye, allayed fears of residents of Kumasi assuring them that the Police will do all it can protect them. Robbery has been down for a long time but we are suspecting that a new group of robbers have emerged in the area. We know they are three or four who have been terrorizing people around Kokoben and the outskirts of Kumasi. And for this one, we are working around the clock 24/7 to arrest the perpetrators, he said. By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Ningo (GAR), May 28, GNA - The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is holding a citizenship week celebration for 45 basic schools in the Ningo-Prampram District to mark its 2016 year of activities. The celebration, which was started on May 26, would end on June 3. It is on the theme: 'A Disciplined Ghana' with a sub theme: 'Ghana: The Power of One'. The citizenship week is a flagship programme of the Commission which gives pupils the opportunity to interact with those in leadership positions and prominent persons in society to learn some virtues from them as role models and mentors. Madam Gifty Agyeiwaa Badu, the Ningo-Prampram District Director of NCCE, advised the school children to eschew cheating in exams, disrespect to the elderly, environmental degradation, under-age voting, and rioting among other vices. The schools she visited were Kinder Paradise, Abia SDA Junior High, New Ningo D/A Junior High 'A', New Ningo Junior High 'B', Someh Rahama Islamic and the Kpatcheremidor D/A schools. Alhaji Sa-Rhack Nartey, the District Chief Executive for Ningo-Prampram, asked the pupils to spend more time with their books and less time to watch television and avoid engaging in activities that could jeopardise their future. He urged them to show respect to their teachers, parents and the elderly and advised parents to desist from attacking teachers whenever their children were disciplined. GNA business Maran warrant case: HC unconvinced by SpiceJet reasoning Spicejet has claimed that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) do not seem to be willing to grant the necessary approvals. you are here: The idea of raising that much capital? Call us lazy, but it just seems like a lot of hard work. We prefer the financial newsletter publishing business. Subscribers and other people we meet often ask us why we dont start an investment fund. Our simple reply is that it seems to us like a whole lot of effort and risk for limited relative reward. That doesnt mean its a bad business. But the effort expendedoh boyno thanks. According to its latest annual report, Platinum Asset Management Ltd [ASX:PTM] had revenue of $360.4 million for 2015. From that, it made a profit of $213.5 million. Thats good. Scratch that. Thats great. But in order to generate that return for the companys owners, it needs $24 billion in funds under management. Thats a margin of less than 1% of funds under management. In other words, we compare the funds management industry to other high volume, low margin businesses such as the airline and auto industries. Granted, funds management is different in that they can still make money in a downturn. Thats because they charge a fixed percentage fee, regardless of performance. But the idea of raising that much capital? Call us lazy, but it just seems like a lot of hard work. We prefer the financial newsletter publishing business. And we definitely prefer the financial newsletter publishing business over another type of funds business, hedge funds. As Bloomberg reports, its not looking like a good year for those poor fellows: The $2.9 trillion hedge-fund industry may lose about a quarter of its value in the next year as performance slumps, said Tony James, Blackstone Group LPs billionaire president. Its kind of a day of reckoning that we face here, James said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg TV Canadas Pamela Ritchie at a conference in Toronto. There will be a shrinkage in the industry and it will be painful. Thats going to be pretty painful for an awful lot of places. Shrinkage in any place is always painful. We recommend avoiding it where possible. Of course, its always hard to feel pity for someone when the article talks about the billionaire president of a company. But it has been tough for hedge funds. Mostly because, from our view, theyre no longer really hedge funds. The concept of a hedge fund is that investors and fund managers should use them as a way to hedge their exposure to other investments. But in reality, most hedge funds are actually absolute return funds. That means theyre not really hedging anything. Theyre looking to make a big gain, using big bets on the market. After all, if hedge funds were really doing their job, youd think they should be living the high life. Global markets have risen and fallen enough for hedged investors to make some money one way or the other. Chinas CSI 300 index is down 18.5% this year. Brazils IBovespa index is up 14.1% in local currency terms, or 26% in US dollar terms. What about the oil price? Commodities are a traditional investment of choice for the hedge fund industry. Even after the recent rally, crude oil is down 51% since 2011. But its up 35% since the start of this year. Is there any point to this? Not really. We tried to think of one as we tapped this out. But weve come to a dead end. Our only conclusion is that, rightly or wrongly, we dont think much of the funds management industry. It can be lucrative, but its just not our thing. Speaking of Like your way to a loan For longer than we care to remember, weve written to you about debt and credit, and what our companys founder, Bill Bonner says will be the final reckoning when the current money system collapses. But until then, companies around the world are looking for innovative ways to make as much money from providing credit, without necessarily increasing risks. Whether they succeed in that goal is another matter. We have our doubtsbig doubts. However, an interesting note dropped into our email inbox this morning. It came from none other than the inventor of the Daniel Rule, one of our in-house marketing specialists, Dan. Dan wrote this to me and our tech expert, Sam Volkering: What happens when your credit score isnt just based on loans and credit card history? (The following information is from the internet of all places, there are links herebut its the internet so take it all with a grain of salt.) Allegedly the credit systems being developed by Alibaba and Tencent will be looked at for the future of Chinas credit score. Your purchase history goes to impact your Credit with Alibaba. Alibaba reportedly offers bonuses for people with higher scores: Being more easily found by potential partners on a dating site, faster check-ins at hotels, Priority taxi bookings. Offering promotions for people with high credit scores, including access to a high-speed VIP check-in at Beijings Capital International Airport. Your social media posts and links you share can impact your Tencent Credit. The Internet giant, which owns popular instant messaging app mobile QQ and WeChat, is a firm believer that birds of a feather flock together. By analyzing the quality of peoples social networks, combined with each individuals online behavior, such as whether or not to pay bills on time, Tencent said it can provide useful information to help financial institutions know their potential debtors better. Chinas government-mandated credit system is separate but will be looking at Tencent and Alibaba (as well as 6 other companies in the pilot project) for ideas on the state run algorithm. Its expected to be implemented and mandatory by 2020, according to the State Council planning document. Its clear from the text that Chinese authorities dont want a credit system thats completely focused on finances; rather they paint the new system as a way of rewarding sincerity (and punishing insincerity) throughout society. On the basis of the general requirement to strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and judicial credibility construction as put forward by the 18th Party Congress, establish and complete a social credit system, commend sincerity and punish insincerity as put forward by the 3rd Plenum of the 18th Party Congress, establish and complete a social credit system as put forward in the CCP Central Committee and State Council Opinions concerning Strengthening and Innovating Social Management, as well as accelerate the construction of a social credit system as put forward in the 12th Five-Year Planning Outline of the Economic and Social Development of the Peoples Republic of China (hereafter simply named the 12th Five-Year Plan), this Planning outline has been formulated. The planning period is 2014-2020. Heres a video talking about it that confuses and kind of combines all three separate Credit Score systems however we havent actually seen Chinas official one so we dont know if they will be pulling private data FROM these private companies. Its an interesting thought on what a Social Score from the government could lead to and all the ways companies are looking to use BIG DATA to encourage their customer base into certain behaviours. (Share pictures of our products and receive discounts in the future, etc). UmEnjoy? Dan PS: Youd better hope that these companies have good data security. Who says the Chinese cant innovate? In the future, it seems that if you want to borrow money, you better be nice. In that case, your editor had better borrow as much as we can now. Weve got no chance of getting a loan in the future. Maybe thats a good thing. Feds investigate Saying that, Alibaba may have other things to contend with. As the Wall Street Journal reports: Federal regulators are investigating the accounting practices of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the e-commerce giant whose blockbuster U.S. stock-market debut helped win a wide following for Chinese tech firms. The company disclosed Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission asked Alibaba to provide details of its accounting for a delivery affiliate, its operating data for the largest online shopping day of the year, and related party transactions in general. Weve got no idea what that means. But its probably not good. The article also fails to note that, since reaching a peak in November 2014, above US$120, the stock has fallen 36%. Its now trading at US$75.59. Thats still above the IPO price of US$68. How have they done it? The other thing we often write about is Australias ballooning federal government debt. Our view is that it will just keep growing and growing. The larger it gets, the more difficult it will be for the government to ever repay it. In that case, how come the Kiwis now appear to be heading back in the right direction? As Bloomberg reports: New Zealands government has left the door open to dangling tax cuts at next years election after projecting larger and growing surpluses in its latest budget. The operating surplus will be NZ$719 million in the year ending June 30, 2017, compared to the NZ$356 million projection made in December, Finance Minister Bill English said Thursday in Wellington. Surpluses in 2018 and 2019 will also be larger than projected less than six months ago as the economy grows faster than expected. English, who delivered the first surplus in seven years in 2015, has said the government is less concerned with minor overs and unders in the budget balance and more focused on repaying debt. Core government debt will fall to 24.9 percent of GDP in the year ending June 30, less than the 26.9 percent projected in December. The government borrowed heavily to maintain public services and welfare payments after the global financial crisis, then to fund the recovery from devastating earthquakes that hit Christchurch in 2010-11. Debt has climbed from as low as 5.5 percent of GDP in 2008. Well, theres a potential poke in the eye for folks like your editor who say theres no turning back after the build-up of giant debts. The experiences of our New Zealand friends deserve further investigation. We shall report back when we have news to tell. Cheers, Kris Sayce, Publisher, Money Morning May 28, 2016 More Messy Meddling In Libya by Let us look at the latest 'comedy of errors' in Libya courtesy of the U.S./UN & UK and their appointed Presidency Council (PC) and Government of National Accord (GNA). East Libya ordered four billion Libyan dinars to be printed by a Russian factory and first deliveries are starting and will be available through banks from the 1st June. Last week the PC wrote to the US Government saying the four billion was counterfeit. The US issued a formal statement, not from Washington, but on the Facebook page of the US Embassy in Libya stating they agreed, it was counterfeit. But the other day, the PC/GNA and PM designate Fayez Serraj himself made a volte face and said indeed that the currency being printed in Russia is legal. What is this currency confusion? Will the United States retract its statement saying that the democratically elected and internationally recognized Tobruk government is printing counterfeit currencies? Is Serraj trying to make nice with the Kremlin? Questions abound. But whats even more sickening is that the Islamic State (IS) in Libya reads all the same social media we do. They know Libyas political spectrum and troubles like the currency double play works to their advantage. Let us look at the military reality on the ground. Despite all denials by the UK and U.S. governments, there are certainly British Forces in and around Misrata working with militias to attack Libyan Islamic State. Yet the legitimate Libyan National Army (LNA) is securing strategic positions in the Sirte basin, and, to the west of Tripoli, the Zintanis, who fall under the LNA, pose a direct threat to the IS backers in Tripoli. They are also controlling most of the gas and oil that flows through its territory to the only oil ports to the West of Tripoli. In addition one other militia just outside Tripoli has just declared their allegiance to the LNA. So the ludicrous decision by the Americans, Brits and Italians in Vienna on Monday the 16 May to arm Islamist militias under 'Libya Dawn', which importantly include the Misratan militias, seems to be proceeding with some help from Western armies but no one is admitting it. Did it not occur to them to arm the legitimate LNA commanded by Gen. Khalifa Hafter who was ratified in his position by the legitimate House of Representatives (HOR) parliament in Tobruk? Hafter understands the situation clearly and is pursuing Tobruks interests in going after Libya IS home base of Sirte. The PC/GNA is a mirage; it does not exist. It controls only the small territory where sits a naval base, popularly called the bunker where so called PC/ GNA members all selected by the UN/US/UK can meet visiting dignitaries. Most of the time these jokers are outside Libya. Serraj was just in UAE and Saudi Arabia for example. Why go to Saudi and the UAE by the way? Both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are supporting Tobruk. Is Serraj trying to make new friends with promises of future concessions in Libya in exchange of new support even if the Muslim Brotherhood and ex-Libyan Islamic Fighters Group (LIFG, an AQ affiliate) are still ruling Tripoli with Western backing? Another of many mysteries surrounding Western policy in Libya. Lets be clear: Serraj's position has effectively been hijacked by Misratan, Abdel Rahman Swehli and members of his family (which include the Deputy designate PM Maetig) where he, Swehli, heads the currently illegal State Council. No diplomat, policymaker, stakeholder, or other see this relationship. Astonishing and naive. A question I have asked before but must ask again. Why is the international community persisting in this charade? This travesty is going to blow up literally in Western faces. Whats the remedy to fix this sham? There is only one Libyan politician that can inhabit the international stage as an equal to any foreign counterparts and that is Dr. Mahmoud Jibril. His public persona is unequaled in the Libyan political spectrum. There is no one in Libya that has his stature and credibility. His desire is to secure the Libyan population and not play regional or religious games. He even has an economic plan to save Libya that is favorable and uniting. Why didn't the international community at least have picked him instead of unsuccessful and rather dubious businessmen like Serraj and Maetig. Or if not the sophisticated and urbane Jibril, why didn't the International community pick the Libyan Army and its Commander, Gen.Khalifa Hafter? The answer is simple unfortunately America and Britain are blindsided by their love affair with the Muslim Brotherhood and their adherents in Libyas West and specifically in and around Tripoli. This error in judgement will cost the West and particularly the EU dearly in so many ways. Posted by b on May 28, 2016 at 6:15 UTC | Permalink Comments home Faith Missionary nun dies of gunshot wounds from soldiers in South Sudan Sister Veronika TerAzia RackovA of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters (SSpS) died of gunshot wounds and multiple other injuries four days after being attacked by three soldiers on May 16 in Yei, South Sudan. In a report by the National Catholic Register, Slovak news sources stated that Marin Kramara, spokesman of the Slovak Bishops' Conference (SBC), has confirmed the death of the missionary sister on Friday, May 20. The gunmen opened fire while the Slovak nun was driving the St. Bakhita ambulance after delivering a patient to Harvester's Health Centre, according to the Catholic Radio Network in South Sudan, as reported by the Vatican Radio. She was shot at the stomach and suffered injuries to her pelvis as well as fractures. Sister Veronika was taken to a local hospital where she underwent a surgery; she was later flown to Nairobi, Kenya for further treatment. A medical doctor also died from the attack. A holy mass in memory of the missionary nun was held at Yei's Christ the King over the weekend. During the gathering, the Vicar General of Yei Diocese, Father Zachariah Angutuwa Sebit, told the mournful congregation that the Slovak nun knew she was dying during her last hours. The Yei government has already reported the arrest of three soldiers from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA). The army was deployed for night patrol in Yei municipality to protect civilians as the country prepared to celebrate the 30th anniversary of SPLA. "Precious indeed is the life given for mission," a post on the order's Facebook page states as a tribute to Sister Veronika. It adds, "Thank you so much for all your precious prayers and support extended. Though we are in deep pain and sorrow for the death of Sister Veronika, we offer peace, healing and compassion to the people in South Sudan, for whom she gave her life, especially those who wounded her. May the love of the Triune God be sown in every heart." Sister Maria Jerly, Provincial Regional Superior of the SSpS sisters, informed journalists in South Sudan that the members of their congregation working in the country will continue in their mission despite the great torment brought about by the tragic death of their religious sister. Sister Veronika served as the head of the St. Bakhita's Medical Centre in Yei and has served in numerous countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Ghana. 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. In an attempt to intimidate his nephew, Aemond threatened to take out Lucerys' eye and later went after the young prince on dragon's back. The situation escalated to a bad one when Lucerys' dragon Arrax blew fire on Aemond's dragon Vhagar. "If it requires removing all cabinet ... A Seminole County family said their pet dog stopped a poisonous snake from potentially getting into their home. Seminole County dog bitten by coral snake Dog wasn't able to breath on its own Family trying to raise funds for dog's medical bills Craig Thompson said his dog, Dallas, is a very special member of the family. "My two younger daughters are struggling with chronic illnesses, so when they're home, he's with him," Thompson said. Thompson said Dallas found a coral snake on Monday on the lanai of the family's home in Oviedo. Dallas bit the snake and killed it. "He was in his protective territory and he did what he thought he needed to do," Thompson said. The poisonous coral snake apparently bit Dallas on his tongue before the snake died. The family didn't even realize their dog suffered a snake bite until Dallas wasn't doing well and then noticed the dead snake on the back porch. "He would just fall down and he was foaming at the mouth," Thompson said of Dallas. The dog even stopped breathing while at the vet. "He was unable to move his limbs and he was basically paralyzed at that point," said Dr. Christina Chan, a veterinarian at Affiliated Veterinary Specialists in Maitland. Since the snake bite, veterinarians at AVS have kept Dallas alive by keeping the 2-year-old dog on a ventilator. The dog began breathing on his own again Friday morning, though. "At least hes getting better," Thompson said. Wildlife experts said coral snakes aren't aggressive unless provoked. Dallas' vet said theyve only seen about a dozen cases over the years of snakes biting dogs. Chan said that in Dallas' case, getting bit on the tongue made it worse because it didn't take long for the snake's venom to take effect. Thompson said he's spent about $20,000 to save the family's dog, but he said it's worth it. "Yep, we love him dearly," Thompson said. "You never know what you're willing to do until you have that happen." Chan said Dallas should recover, but it will take several weeks of rehab. The Thompsons have set up a GoFundMe account to help raise some of the money they spent to keep Dallas alive. The family said they had pet insurance, but they said it didn't cover the snake bite. This Gofundme.com site is not managed by Bay News 9/News 13. For more information on how the site works and the rules visit http://www.gofundme.com/safety A standoff between an armed murder suspect wanted in two shootings and Orange County deputies ended early Saturday morning. Manuel Feliciano, 50, alleged shot and killed a woman Friday night at a home on Yucatan Drive Another person was found shot inside a home on 2nd Street Feliciano was later located inside a home on Annadale Avenue where he barricaded himself The incident started Friday night when deputies were called to a home on Yucatan Drive about a shooting. When deputies arrived, they found a 45-year-old woman dead at the home around 5 p.m. Two children, ages 4 and 7, were also found inside the home. According to deputies, the 7-year-old made the 911 call. The children were not injured. Around 6:43 p.m., deputies were called to home in 5200 block of 2nd Street for another shooting. There, they found a 34-year-old man with critical injuries. The victim was taken to the hospital and according to authorities is listed in critical, but stable condition. Deputies were able to locate the suspected gunman, identified as Manuel Feliciano, 50, at a third home on Annandale Avenue around 7:34 p.m. Capt. Angelo Nieves, with the Orange County Sheriffs Office, said Feliciano fired shots from inside the residence as deputies approached. Two deputies returned fire which caused the suspect to retreat back into the residence, deputies said. Just after midnight, the SWAT team was able to enter the residence and take Feliciano into custody. He was taken to the hospital for unknown injuries. No deputies were injured during the standoff and shooting. Investigators believe the shootings stemmed from a domestic dispute. The two had some prior relationship that had ended, said Sheriff Jerry Demings. What set this individual off to approach the victim we are not certain what happened, but we do know there have been recent allegations of domestic violence that involved the subject and the deceased. Demings also said the man who was shot at the second home was Feliciano's former employer. "The second victim it is my understanding that that individual is a former boss and someone who may have terminted his employment earlier in the day. So he has some kind of personal vendetta," said Demings. About 30 to 40 homes in the area near Annandale Avenue were evacuated during the hours-long standoff. Feliciano was released from the hospital booked into the Orange County Jail Saturday morning. He faces charges of first degree murder with a firearm and attempted first degree murder with a firearm. Following in the footsteps of the Plainview High School Powerhouse of the Plains Band and its record string of 78 consecutive First Division ratings in UIL marching competition, the Plainview Area United Way closed out its 2016 drive with its own 41st consecutive victory. On Thursday, PAUW officers joined with agency representatives to celebrate over doughnuts the successful completion of the 2016 drive. With a goal of $300,000, the final total for the 2016 campaign, reports Executive Director Leigh Ann Bradley, is $306,376.95. David A. Allen Jr. was born in December 1920 in Poynor, southwest of Tyler. He is now 95 years old. On Oct. 17, 2015, from his home in Schertz, near San Antonio, he gave an interview about his time training as a glider pilot in WWII. After training in Breedloves pre-glider school at Finney Field north of Plainview, David Allen travelled to Wickenburg, Ariz., for basic glider training. After that he headed to Albuquerque, N.M. He stayed briefly in a holding place for glider pilots in Albuquerque in September 1942 before leaving for Dalhart Army Air Field in late October 1942. The first entry in Allens pilots log book for Dalhart is dated Nov. 5, 1942. On that date he noted that he flew an Aeronca L-3A. He listed this flight as From: Local - To: Local, meaning that he took off from Dalhart AAF and landed there too. A similar entry was made for Nov. 6. He had four flights in a Taylorcraft L-2A rated at 65 horsepower starting on Nov. 13 and ending on Nov. 28 with the other two flights being on Nov. 17 and 23. By this time, he had amassed a total of 96 hours 35 minutes flying time from all of his training air fields. Then on Nov. 29, he switched to the Piper Cub Cruiser for training before returning to an Aeronca L-3A the next day. Allen again trained in a Taylorcraft L-2A rated at 65 horsepower from Dec. 1 through Dec. 4. He continued training in the same type aircraft on Dec. 12 and 15 and again Dec. 18 and 19. His last entry in his pilots log book for 1942 at Dalhart AAF was on Dec. 23. He flew in an L-4A Piper Cub that day. His total training time at all air fields in 1942 was listed as 112 hours 20 minutes. In the comments section of his pilots log book during this time, he listed himself mostly as Student, but sometimes he marked himself down as Instructor, thus indicating that he spent some of this time training some less experienced pilots. Allen stayed in Dalhart for Christmas 1942, but did not do anything special over the holiday. He said that he did not have a girlfriend while in Dalhart. Allen resumed powered pilot training at Dalhart Jan. 12, 1943, in a Taylorcraft L-2A. He did this through Jan. 14. He skipped a week and then had one last entry for powered flight training in his log book at Dalhart Jan. 21, 1943. Not including his time training at Dalhart in a WACO CG-4A glider, which was not recorded in his pilots log book, Allen accrued a total of 117 hours 5 minutes of flying time by Jan. 21, 1943. His total flying time at Dalhart AAF in powered aircraft was 27 hours 5 minutes. He explained that even though Dalhart AAF was an advanced glider training site where glider pilots like him trained in WACO CG-4A assault gliders, they also trained in a variety of single-engine powered planes. Allens glider pilot training record was kept on another form called an Individual Flight Record (Heavier Than Air) which was the same size as an ordinary 8.5x11-inch business letter. His first entry on this record at Dalhart was on Jan. 25, 1943. He trained in the WACO CG-4A glider for 2 hours 30 minutes total that day on local flights. His flew 45 minutes as the student pilot with one landing. He also spent 1 hour 45 minutes as a passenger in the glider while other students took their turn flying it. On that day, the glider made three landings, thus indicating that there were probably three student pilots in the glider along with one instructor. On Jan. 26, he logged 1 hour 15 minutes in the WACO glider both as student and passenger with two landings listed. On Jan. 28, 29 and 31, he logged another 6 hours 40 minutes, both as a student pilot and passenger in the WACO. They made a total of 11 landings on these three days. During January 1943, he also logged 3 hours 40 minutes of night flying. His flight record was signed by Capt. James S. Edney, assistant director of training at Dalhart AAF. In February, Allen logged another 6 hours 40 minutes of training in the WACO CG-4A glider at Dalhart. On Feb. 1, he had three glider flights involving 10 landings over 3 hours 45 minutes. The next day, he trained for 3 hours 5 minutes both as a student and passenger with three landings. On his last day of glider training, Feb. 3, he flew for 40 minutes with another three landings. His total night training in February was 2 hours 25 minutes. His flight record was signed Capt. Roscoe A. Betz, assistant director of training. Allen said that the runways were grass and that smudge pots were used to light up the airfield during nighttime training. He did not recall any paved or concrete runways at Dalhart. I recall flying off the grass; thats all I recall, sir. We never flew off any runways, remembered Allen. He said that he graduated from Dalhart AAF in Class 43-3 on Feb. 8, 1943, and left there sometime later that month. His next stop was Ardmore, Okla., which was just a holding place for the glider pilots. He stayed there for a few weeks before heading on to Louisville, Ky., which was just another holding place. He did not do any pilot training at either location. Oh, we had the training: crap so to speak. Forced marches, such as this, he laughed. It was just killing time. Alliance, Neb. was his next stop where he was assigned to the 80th Troop Carrier Squadron, 436th Troop Carrier Group. More about David Allens time piloting aircraft in WWII will be discussed in the next article. Readers are asked to visit the Breedlove-CPTP website at www.breedlove-cptp.com for more details about the glider program of WWII. Anyone with information about the Plainview Pre-Glider School at Finney Field should contact John McCullough at 806-793-4448 or email johnmc@breedlove-cptp.org. NOTE: This is the 47th article in a series on Clent Breedloves Plainview Pre-Glider School at Finney Field to train combat glider pilots during World War II. The series is researched and written by John W. McCullough, a graduate student in history at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. May 29, 1946: Cpl. Bert W. Roberts qualified as a U.S. Army paratrooper on May 13, competing five jumps from an airplane while in flight at the 11th Airborne Division Jump School, Sendai, Japan. --Marvin L. Graham, husband of Mrs. Betty J. Graham of Plainview, has been promoted to technician fifth while serving in the Philippines with the 619th port company. He has been overseas eight months. --Lucile Flowers has gone to Amarillo where she has accepted a civil service job with the Bureau of Reclamation. For the past three months, she has been taking a special advanced shorthand class as Plainview (Watsons) Business College. May 29, 1956: O.P. Rutledge, retired Floydada businessman, was named Floyd County judge on Friday to fill the unexpired term of the late W.E. Grimes, which runs through 1958. His selection was made by the commissioners court. --Thomas Edward Cain, son of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Cain, will receive his doctor of medicine degree Monday from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. --Jimmie Dee Haston, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.D. Haston, Route 2, will be a summer graduate of Texas Tech. He plans to teach vocational agriculture. May 29, 1966: Three sets of twins graduated from Plainview High School on Friday, Shirley and Sharell Harris, Steve and Vicki Rodgers and Barbara and Dean Sitton. --Plainviews three city swimming pools opened Saturday. They are located at Booker T. Washington and Frisco Schools, and at 16th and Garland. Admission is 25 cents for children and 50 cents for adults, with season passes costing $10 and $20. --Jerry Austin, Plainview police, has been promoted to city detective. He has been with the department since 1962, serving as a patrolman and most recently in records. He replaces Bill Pickering, who has moved to Grand Prairie. May 29, 1986: Two new members of the city council, Terry Clements and Alton Jackson, were sworn in Tuesday night by Mayor Gene Ridlehuber. The two won a special runoff election earlier this month. --The Plainview City Council has canceled its contract, effective Sept. 30, with the county to provide rural fire protection outside the city limits, including most of Westridge. That contract has been in place for 10 years, with the city billing the county $379 per run, per truck. The city has been seeking higher compensation. --Delbert and Imelda Wesley, who owned Tulia Paint and Decorating for eight years, have opened Wesley Paint Center at 2112 W. Fifth in Plainview. Compiled by Doug McDonough WALLINGFORD A local woman is facing extradition to Florida to face a grand theft charge after a motor vehicle stop earlier this week. Gloria Holmes, 63, of 78 Southwind Drive, was pulled over around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday on East Center Street, near Reynolds Drive, for operating an unregistered motor vehicle. While police were checking her background, they found that there is a warrant in Florida charging her with grand theft, said police spokeswoman Lt. Cheryl Bradley. Police didnt have details on the case. Holmes was initially held in lieu of $125,000 bond, but was later released on a promise to appear at Meriden Superior Court on June 30, according to court records. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Life is hard for Oberlin College's activist undergraduates. Protesting against the injustices of society takes so much work and energy that they have little time for less important chores like studying and taking tests. And the elite Ohio liberal arts college has not been very sympathetic. When the students asked that all grades below "C" be abolished and that they be paid a salary for all the time they spent protesting, the administration balked. In the May 30 issue of the New Yorker, Nathan Heller writes about the plight of the activist students struggling emotionally and academically in a culture they find toxic. In the wake of the police killing of Tamir Rice in Cleveland, more than 1,300 students signed a petition calling for the college to discontinue giving out any grade lower than a "C" for the semester. The rationale was that students had to neglect their studies because they had been protesting so diligently, so they shouldn't be penalized. "Students felt really unsupported in their endeavors to engage with the world outside Oberlin," Megan Bautista told Heller. Bautista identifies as "Afro-Latinx," with "x" signifying independence from overdetermined gender roles. Zakiya Acey argued for banning midterm exams in favor of conversations. "Because I'm dealing with having been arrested on campus, or having to deal with the things that my family are going through because of larger systems having to deal with all of that, I can't produce the work that they want me to do. But I understand the material, and I can give it to you in different ways. There's professors who have openly been, like, 'Yeah, instead of, you know, writing out this midterm, come in to my office hours, and you can just speak it,' right? But that's not institutionalized. I have to find that professor." Jasmine Adams, a member of the black-student union, took issue with the curriculum. "We're asking to be reflected in our education, I literally am so tired of learning about Marx, when he did not include race in his discussion of the market!" She also criticized the college for not having enough disabled students. "When I came here, I'm, like, 'Where are the people who are disabled?'" Adams told Heller. "I know so many disabled people at home. "It does not reflect the real world." Adam was one of the supporters of a letter of 50 nonnegotiable demands submitted to Oberlin President Marvin Krislov. They included a request for an $8.20-an-hour activism wage, the dismissal of nine Oberlin employees deemed insufficiently supportive of black students and the tenuring of black faculty. While some of the demands may have had merit, Krislov wrote in a public editorial: "I will not respond directly to any document that explicitly rejects the notion of collaborative engagement." Some white students have rallied to their oppressed comrades. In an op-ed piece for the college paper, Chloe Vassot urged white students like her to speak up less in class in certain circumstances. "I understand that I am not just an individual concerned only with comfort but also a part of a society that I believe will benefit from my silence," she wrote. As Heller writes, "She told me that it was a corrective for a system that claimed to value marginalized people but actually normalized them to a voice like hers." In the meantime, the college must guard against further offending its sensitive students. Hopefully the food flap that reared up in December has been resolved. At that time, students protested the inauthenticity of the cuisine at the school's Afrikan Heritage House and the use of the wrong ingredients in the cafeteria's sushi and banh mi dishes. Geez, Oberlin, get your act together! If you look up the hashtag #PrisonBae on Twitter, youre going to wind up seeing Sarah Seawrights mugshot. The woman is currently setting social media on fire for her stunning looks, similar to the way convicted felon Jeremy Meeks made headlines a couple years ago for his piercing eyes and good looks. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Behind the double thumbs-up, impish smile and round, half-moon eyes lies a Paul McCartney more complex than public perception lends itself to. As biographer Philip Norman writes in Paul McCartney: The Life, McCartney is more than just the cute Beatle thumping away on a left-handed violin-shaped bass or the elder statesman of rock who continues to sell out stadium concerts lasting more than three hours. McCartney is, in fact, a workaholic and perfectionist who, despite his vast fame, has been underestimated by history and who, despite his undoubted genius, is in his own way as insecure and vulnerable as was his seeming total opposite, John Lennon. Thats quite a turnaround from Norman, the author of several music biographies including the excellent John Lennon: The Life. Normans seminal 1981 biography of the Fab Four, Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation, was on the receiving end of criticism for its over-glorification of Lennon and bias against McCartney, notwithstanding his pronouncement that Lennon was three-quarters of the Beatles. If apology can take the form of biography, Paul McCartney: The Life is it and, thanks to tacit approval from McCartney to interview relatives and close friends, Norman delivers the most thorough and insightful biography of Paul McCartney to date. Ruminations on The Beatles already fill the pages of countless books and websites, which is one reason why the success of Normans book lies not in its retelling of stories about performing Eddie Cochrans Twenty Flight Rock or grueling, Preludin-fueled nights on Hamburgs Grosse Freiheit and Reeperbahn streets, but in its depiction of McCartney as a son, friend, lover, avant garde enthusiast, divorce plaintiff, vegetarian activist, DIY farmer and marijuana aficionado. More Information Paul McCartney: The Life By Philip Norman Little, Brown, $32 See More Collapse Some of the books best moments depict McCartneys relationship with his father, Jim (the man who told his son it should be She loves you, yes! yes! yes!), and the lifelong influence his father had on him: With Wings, his drive to reinvent himself often gave way to a rather touching desire to please his father by including songs that reflected his fathers taste in music. On The Beatles breakup, Norman details the consequences of Allen Kleins disastrous management and how McCartney was often on the losing end of 3-vs.-1 arguments over finances, album releases and his doubts about Klein: Even the best-informed commentators knew nothing about the ostracism, marginalisation, back-stabbing and humiliation within the band that hed endured over the past months, yet still gone on trying to hold it together. Yet, McCartney too at times could be callous, bossy and demanding, and not just his in-studio domineering over George Harrison and Ringo Starr, each of whom briefly quit the band as a result. Apple Corps execs grew accustomed to the bollockings he could deliver and his way of emphasizing points with pokes of a forefinger. When first wife Linda began interviewing for a ghost-written autobiography, McCartneys hostility to a project that might shed light on their blissful marriage resulted in a shout of, Theres only one effing star in this family! And, even into his 70s, McCartney is still galled, Norman writes, to see the order Lennon-McCartney on compositions which Lennon had little or nothing to do with. Normans excellent insight into McCartneys interest in the avant garde which the author convincingly argues was far greater and pre-dated Lennons is surpassed by his account of McCartneys nine-day jail sentence for carrying marijuana into Japan in 1980. Held at Kosuge Prison, prisoner No. 22 was awoken at 6 a.m. each morning for roll call, rolled up his thin sleeping mat, tasked with cleaning his 10-by-14-foot cell with a miniature dustpan, and was terrified of being raped. Two things helped McCartney survive the ordeal: entertaining his fellow inmates with a cappella versions of Yesterday and old standards beloved by his father, and the fierce competitiveness that the other ex-Beatles knew so well. Such stories add up to make Paul McCartney: The Life an honest account of one of the most influential people of the 20th century all without whitewashing or sensationalizing. For everything the book excels at, however, there are some mistakes and odd phrases. McCartneys expansive musicianship is deserving of its own book, and, typo or not, misidentifying the iconic Hofner 500/1 bass as 550/1 is a cardinal sin in the land of Beatles gear. Normans occasional use of throwaway lines can frustrate as well. Writing that Wings was McCartneys creation of a band as big as (The Beatles had) ever been is a bizarre claim if not a laughable one by any measure. Further, declaring that the others really were just sidemen for Paul as he pronounced their collective epitaph on the Abbey Road track The End is an odd way of describing a song that features Ringos one and only Beatles drum solo and Paul, George and John trading fuzz-drenched guitar licks. But for each annoyance, Paul McCartney: The Life is loaded with wonderful passages, fascinating stories and cracking humor. In all, Paul McCartney: The Life is a largely masterful account, the kind of biography fitting McCartneys continued prowess and genius. Or, as McCartney said at the end of one Beatles take, Keep that one. Mark it FAB. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO From chill hangout spots in midtown to fine dining in the Stone Oak area, 23 restaurants were hit with a long list of violations during this weeks health inspections. To make the Express-News' list of dirtiest restaurants, an establishment must earn a score of 89 or below or anything less than an "A" during a random city inspection. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District has completed the transition from a demerit grading system to a 100-point scale, where 100 is a perfect score and 90-100 represents an "A" grade. Notable names to make the dirty list include Stone Oak-areas J Prime Steakhouse at 1401 Loop 1604, which was cited for no soap at hand washing sinks, and I-10 Icehouse at 9518 Console Drive, which received demerits when an employee did not wash their hands between switching tasks. But improper hand sanitation is just one filthy practice observed this week by inspectors; an overflowing grease barrel that was drawing pests, insects, mold and cross contamination hazards were found in other establishments around town. Get all the highlights from this week's dirtiest restaurant list in the slideshow above. RELATED: San Antonio restaurant inspections: The worst reports from last week The San Antonio Express-News examines hundreds of restaurant inspections each week conducted by the San Antonio Food and Environmental Health Services division to bring you the eateries with scores of 89 or below. Restaurants are graded on a 100-point system, where 100 is a perfect score, and demerits are based upon the number of violations found during a regular food establishment inspection. There are three categories of demerits and each are assigned a demerit score of 3, 2 or 1 points, according to the health division. Scores and demerits listed are only representative of the state of the restaurant at the time of inspection and are surveyed at random. rsalinas@mysa.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two weeks ago, Adrian Harrison pedaled his bike to Dignowity Meats on the East Side, intent on finding a job. A dog trotted gamely behind him as he wheeled up to the restaurants co-owner Chris Acosta and asked if he had any openings. Acosta told the 15-year-old they didnt hire workers that young. Adrian said he didnt need work for himself, it was to earn money for the medical care of his dog, Roxy, who has a fractured leg that needs mending. Acosta, 29, talked to the teen about options and places he could apply for work. Adrian left and returned several days later after he had struck out at several businesses. Then Adrian hatched a plan. He asked Acosta if he could sell handmade bracelets for $1 apiece to restaurant patrons to help raise the money. Acosta agreed. So the gregarious teen, with his dog nearby, is selling his wares at the eatery at 1701 E. Houston St,, where the aroma of smoked brisket is thick in the air. And recently, Dignowity Meats hosted a crawfish boil, with proceeds going to help with Roxys medical bills and shots. Acosta set up a Go Fund Me page with a goal of $300. To date, supporters have donated $1,320. The website is: https://www.gofundme.com/26j3azws. Donors from other cities, including Boerne, Fredericksburg and Houston, have inquired about helping the cause. His story turned into wildfire and spread, Acosta said, as the dog rested at Adrians feet. People have just showed amazing support. Adrian said he rescued the dog from an abusive owner in March. While walking home near W. W. White Road, he heard a dog yelping as if it were hurt. He said he looked around and saw a man punching and kicking a dog. Something instinctive made him approach the man and ask why he was hurting the animal. Its mine, it doesnt matter, he recalled that the man said. Adrian asked if he could take the dog; the man told him he didnt care. The teen said he picked up the cowering dog and carried her a half mile to his home. He took the canine to the Emergency Pet Center on Broadway Street, where staff said Friday she had been treated for blunt trauma that had caused a fracture to her right forelimb. The injury requires surgery, but Adrian and his family couldnt afford to get it done right away. So he set about raising the money to help his new companion. As long as shes in my life, Im good, Adrian said. Shes been my best friend since I got her. The teen said his mother put up the first $30 to help the dog get the necessary surgery. Acosta said one of Adrians neighbors paid the $136 medical bill for Roxys initial treatment at the Emergency Pet Center. The network of willing donors keeps growing. Neighbors, young and old, stop by the restaurant to check on the dogs well being. And customers like Lucas Torres, who saw Roxys story on a television newscast, drove by to contribute to the fund. It was just touching, Torres, 45, said, after he handed Adrian a few folded dollars at the take-out window. He took care of her after they were abusing her. You dont get that often. I just wanted to give him a few bills to help out. The cheerful teen thanked Torres for his contribution. Acosta said next Friday, theyll take the dog to the center for new X-rays and to schedule an operation for her fractured leg. Without him, Roxy would be gone, Acosta said. We just facilitated for him. Its all him. vtdavis@express-news.net SAN ANTONIO A man was seriously injured in a stabbing that occurred Saturday morning on the South Side. The stabbing occurred at about 2:50 a.m., Saturday, in the 200 block of West Dixon Avenue. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Daily blood tests and insulin injections, progressive blindness, kidney failure, foot and leg amputations, plus death at an early age. These are some of the costs of diabetes affecting at least 14.2 percent of adults in Bexar County. Thats more than 150,000 people with 400,000 more of our families, friends and neighbors considered prediabetic and at serious risk for developing the disease that destroys the bodys ability to process the sugars we eat and drink. The rising tide of diabetes, beyond causing immeasurable pain and suffering to individuals, is creating a crushing burden for our community as a whole. The actual costs of diabetes in human lives and in dollars merit adding up. There are almost 2,000 lower-limb amputations in Bexar County each year. At $38,000 per amputation, the annual cost is $76 million. Much of this is attributable to diabetes. For the 2,500 diabetics whose kidneys have failed in Bexar County, a year of dialysis, at the Medicare discount price of $80,000 per person, costs $199 million. Researchers who have been studying the national diabetes epidemic and the costs associated with the 22 million people in the United States afflicted believe we are on an unsustainable course. This is especially true here in San Antonio. San Antonians need to be asking, What can be done to begin to turn the tide of diabetes and who cares enough to do it? The recent SA2020 San Antonio City Dividends report estimates that reducing diabetes prevalence by just 1 percent would save $16.1 million per year in health care expenses. Such sizable savings would seem sufficient incentive to at least begin what will necessarily be a long-term struggle to build a local culture of health. Unfortunately, the $16.1 million in savings are realized slowly and only indirectly as they are translated into lower health insurance rates for employers and individuals who purchase policies. This distant benefit appears to be trumped by the present disincentive for prevention for local health care systems, which would suffer a corresponding $16.1 million annual loss of revenue. One potential way out of this dilemma is through the Medicaid 1115 waiver. The waiver agreement between the state of Texas and federal government constitutes a very sizable redirection of Medicaid funding away from sick care and toward prevention. Moreover, the waiver is specifically designed to offer health care systems opportunities to work together toward common goals. In Bexar County up to this point, $1.16 billion in waiver funds have been split into 125 different, institution-based projects to reduce costs, improve medical care quality and measurably increase health the Triple Aim. Many of these innovative projects have been successful at the institutional level, but all of them together have had little or no measurable impact on health communitywide. In fact, important measures of health, such as the number of people with diabetes, continue to get worse. The 16-month extension of the Medicaid waiver through December 2017 is an open invitation to local health care systems to pool resources and collaborate to address the most serious public health problem we face. A successful beginning would be a strong statement that we are faithful stewards of this large amount of money and deserve its continuance. Besides, it is the right thing to do. Dr. Donald Berwick, one of the great leaders of U.S. health system reform and the inventor of Triple Aim, in a recent Journal of the American Medical Association called on health professionals to go beyond financial incentives to hear the voices of the people served. He calls us to a new morality to articulate, model and fiercely protect moral values intolerant of individual or institutional greed in health care. We should listen. Thomas Schlenker is a physician and former director of the city of San Antonios Metropolitan Health District. Last summer, a friend called on a Sunday morning. He had just heard that state Sen. Troy Fraser would not run for re-election in Senate District 24. The friend suggested that I run. My wife and I are farming our vineyard in District 24. I was born and raised in the district, and we have owned a home in the district for the last 10 years. I truly love the area, so it appeared to be a great opportunity to expand my interest in public service to the state level. Having never run as a Republican in a party primary, I had no idea what lay ahead. I, along with many other conservative Democrats in Texas, started voting Republican during the Reagan period. But I wasnt active in the Republican Party. After winning a nonpartisan election for San Antonio City Council in 2009, I began attending Republican events but was never considered a Republican office holder. Texas Senate District 24 is a Republican district because of gerrymandering. So I ran as a Republican. I never held a Republican Party card, but my license to carry a handgun worked until I ran into the constitutional-carry folks who believe that they already have that right from the Second Amendment. At each candidate forum, one of my opponents placed fliers detailing my past contributions to Democrats from my nonpartisan years on each seat. When I explained that my constituents in San Antonio were more interested in a new fire station than my political contributions, the audience was shocked. One opponent repeatedly declared that my previous contributions to Democrats were grounds for disqualification as a Republican. When I mentioned my public service in San Antonio, voters in District 24 only saw a city boy trying to steal their water and push uncontrolled growth into their rural areas. As a farmer, I know that we need workers in Texas, so I proposed issuing worker permits instead of building a bigger border wall. The reaction was unanimously negative. Pointing out the political inconsistency that building a border wall required acquiring private land by using right of eminent domain strongly opposed by conservative voters did not save the day. Finally, the endorsement of me by the Austin American-Statemen sealed my fate. I finished next to last. I gained a deep respect for the voters in Texas Senate District 24 and comfortably accept that I clearly am not their idea of a true conservative. What is difficult to accept, however, is the increasing domination that the extremes of the political spectrum have over both political parties. While I had a front row seat to the polarization occurring in the Republican Party in a state race, it is also occurring at the national level. The current success of a liberal populist in the Republican party and an independent socialist in the Democratic party is shocking. The results of primary elections are now determined by party activists from opposite ends of the political spectrum, widely separated by divergent ideological positions and social beliefs. Since these activists are more than willing to commit their time and money to push their extreme positions, its no surprise that they control the party and play a dominant role in selecting candidates for the general election. However, one outcome of this trend to increasingly extreme points of view is that more and more voters in the middle majority are not active in either the Republican or Democratic party. The result of this primary process is that, often, the two candidates in the general election are not remotely aligned with a majority of the general population. We could well be headed in that direction in the race for president. The solution is not a revival of the current parties or the creation of new parties. Instead, the answer is to bypass the highly partisan primary system by coalescing with independent voters who are willing to support independent candidates in the general election. Placing an independents name on the general election ballot is not a difficult process in Texas. First, the candidate must be an independent by not voting in a party primary or participating in a party convention in the current calendar year. Then the candidate must secure, by petition, just 500 signatures from independent registered voters who can vote in the race for which the independent candidate is running. Much as with an independent candidate, an independent voter is defined as a person who has not participated in a party primary or convention in the current calendar year. Texans are independent by nature and feel a responsibility to participate in the political process. A movement, not a party, is the best approach to turn independent Texans into independent voters. Today, many Texans believe that the profound split between the two national parties at all levels has produced a government incapable of solving the problems facing our states and the nation. The extreme elements on both sides are in a death struggle for total domination of all three branches of government to force their positions and beliefs on the total population. Since total domination is the goal of both parties, we will continue to lunge between long stretches of gridlock where we are today and short interludes of one-party control. Neither is healthy for our country, our families and our economy. Forming independent coalitions to elect candidates willing to and capable of negotiating lasting solutions for the difficult problems facing our nation is our best opportunity to break the current cycle of political bullying. The answer is not creating a parliamentary form of government with multiple parties. The answer is coalescing the middle majority to elect independent candidates who reflect their beliefs candidates who, with hard work and tough negotiations, can deliver a responsive and effective government. This is a new approach and it wont be easy, but theres no doubt that the current system is broken. Its time for the great middle majority of Americans to realize that there is an independent way. Reed Williams is a former member of the San Antonio City Council, representing District 8. If Hillary Clinton wins in November, Bill Clinton will occupy a doubly unique role in U.S. political history not just as the first first husband, but also as the first first spouse who used to be president. Obviously he wont spend his time baking cookies. So what will he do? Recently, Hillary Clinton stirred up a flurry of comments by suggesting that Bill Clinton would be in charge of revitalizing the economy. You can see why she might want to say that, since people still remember the good times that prevailed when he was in office. What I want to do right now is talk about the lessons the Clinton I boom actually holds for a potential Clinton II administration. First of all, it really was a very impressive boom, and in a way its odd that Democrats dont talk about it more. The Clinton-era expansion surpassed the Reagan economy in every dimension. Bill Clinton not only presided over more job creation and faster economic growth, his time in office was also marked by something notably lacking in the Reagan era: a significant rise in the real wages of ordinary workers. Mostly, Clinton had the good luck to hold office when good things were happening for reasons unrelated to politics. Specifically, the 1990s were the decade in which American business finally figured out what to do with computers. This led to a surge in productivity. The technology takeoff also helped fuel a surge in business investment, which in turn produced job creation at a pace that, by the late 1990s, brought America truly full employment. And full employment was the force behind the rising wages of the 1990s. Oh, and, yes, there was a technology bubble at the end of the decade, but that was a fairly minor part of the overall story and because there wasnt a big rise in private debt, the damage done when the tech bubble burst was much less than the wreckage left behind by the Bush-era housing bubble. But what was Bill Clintons role in the boom? Actually, it was fairly limited, since he didnt cause the technology takeoff. On the other hand, his policies obviously didnt get in the way of prosperity. And its worth remembering that in 1993, when Clinton raised taxes on the wealthy, Republicans uniformly predicted disaster. It will kill the recovery and put us back in a recession, predicted Newt Gingrich. None of that happened, which didnt stop the same people from making the same predictions when President Barack Obama raised taxes in 2013 a move followed by the best job growth since the 1990s. One big lesson of the Clinton boom, then, is that the conclusion conservatives want you to draw from their incessant Reaganolatry that lavishing tax cuts on the rich is the key to prosperity, and that any rise in top tax rates will bring retribution from the invisible hand is utterly false. Hillary Clinton is proposing roughly a trillion dollars in additional taxes on the top 1 percent, to pay for new programs. If she takes office, and tries to implement that policy, the usual suspects will issue the usual dire warnings, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that her agenda would hurt the economy. The other big lesson from the Clinton I boom is that while there are many ways policymakers can and should try to raise wages, the single most important thing they can do to help workers is aim for full employment. Unfortunately, we cant count on another spontaneous surge in technology-driven private investment to drive job creation. But some kinds of private investment might grow rapidly if we take long-overdue steps to address climate change. And in any case, not all productive investment is private. We desperately need to repair and upgrade our infrastructure; meanwhile, the federal government can borrow money incredibly cheaply. So, will Bill Clinton play an important role if Hillary Clinton wins? I have no idea, and dont much care. But it will be important to remember what went right and why on Bills watch. Watching the excellent documentary Ebola in America: Epidemic of Fear is to relive the confusion and controversies of the summer of 2014: the initial public health mistakes, the divided and unclear responsibilities, the hysterical coverage on cable TV. But it is the political role played by Republicans and conservatives that stands out, and not in a good way. At every stage, elements of the right made a reasonable, science-based response to Ebola more difficult. Against the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie quarantined a nurse returning from West Africa who had tested negative for the disease. Some conservative media outlets spread false information about the disease to exaggerate an impression of public health incompetence. But it was Donald Trump who led the opposition. He tweeted: The U.S. must immediately stop all flights from EBOLA infected countries or the plague will start and spread inside our borders. Act fast! And: Ebola is much easier to transmit than the CDC and government representatives are admitting. Health officials were not lying. Travel to and from West Africa was essential for medical personnel and aid workers to defeat the disease at its point of origin. Trumps ban would have made Ebola materially more likely to spread beyond control. What kind of politics is ascendant in America? A distrust of institutions that borders on conspiratorial. Here is Trump again: Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesnt feel good and changes AUTISM. And: I am being proven right about massive vaccinations the doctors lied. And: So many people who have children with autism have thanked me amazing response. They know far better than fudged up reports! Lying doctors. Fudged reports. It would all be disturbing if it were not conspiratorial nonsense. No connection has ever been demonstrated between vaccinations and autism. Trump is undermining a consensus for vaccination that builds up herd immunity and saves the lives of children. Who else is plotting against us I mean, other than public health officials and your local pediatrician? Well, the Mexican government, because they send the bad ones over because they dont want to pay for them. Even more disturbing, there are the thousands and thousands of Muslims in New Jersey who Trump claims celebrated after the Twin Towers collapse. For proof of this, he linked to an article at the Infowars website, run by Alex Jones, who has famously argued that the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks. And then there are the black criminals who are responsible, according to a Trump retweet, for 81 percent of homicides against whites. Except that this turned out to be a racist myth from a white supremacist source. And then there is the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Does Trump really believe that liberals may have ordered a hit on a Supreme Court justice? We do know he finds such ideas useful. Trump emerged in conservative circles by questioning President Barack Obamas citizenship, and thus the legality of his presidency. As a leader, Trump has succeeded by appealing to stereotypes and ugly hatreds that most American leaders have struggled to repress and contain. His political universe consists of deceptive experts, of criminal Mexicans, of lying politicians and bureaucrats, and of disloyal Muslims. Asked to repudiate David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan, Trump hesitated, later claiming a bad earpiece. Asked to repudiate the vicious anti-Semitism of some of his followers, Trump responded, I dont have a message to the fans. Wouldnt want to offend the fans. This is not flirting with the fringes; it is French kissing them. Every Republican official endorsing Trump should know: This is the company he keeps. This is the company you now keep. michaelgerson@washpost.com The upshot of the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump phenomena is that both parties are moving to the left. Sanders and Trumps styles and affects are very different the rumpled, oddball lecturer in Socialism 101 vs. the boastful, power-tie-wearing business mogul but they have worked in tandem to ensure that the center of gravity in this falls presidential election will be further to the left than it has been in decades. By seizing the initiative in their race from the beginning to what looks like an increasingly bitter end, Bernie Sanders has made Hillary Clinton, the cautious inheritor of a family political legacy built on centrism, into the mouthpiece of a watered-down version of his left-wing populism. No matter how much Bernie Sanders hates the banks, Hillary Clinton despises them just as much (past paydays notwithstanding). In effect, Sanders and Trump have executed a squeeze play on the Madam Secretary. Sanders pushed her to the left on trade and Social Security in the primary, when she disavowed the Trans-Pacific Partnership that she helped negotiate and embraced increasing Social Security benefits. She probably wont be snapping back to the center on those issues in a general election because it would open her up to Sanders-like attacks from Donald Trump. Such is the shift in the tectonic plates of our politics that the presumptive Republican nominee for president, endorsed by voices on the right ranging from Sean Hannity to Mitch McConnell, is making a far-fetched but not entirely irrational pitch for the support of fans of a Vermont socialist. Its unlikely that anyone currently Feeling the Bern is going to shift to wanting to Make America Great Again. Trumps un-PC pronouncements alone are presumably enough to repel Sanders supporters. Yet there is enough overlap in Trump and Sanders the protectionism and noninterventionism, the belief that the political and economic system is rigged that Trump might as well give it a try. If the grass-roots movement that Sanders has built will pressure Democrats all the way to the Philadelphia convention and beyond, Trump has arguably done more to pull the countrys politics portside. He has, for now, managed to do what the Democrats and the media have been attempting for most of the Obama era: to kill off the tea party as a national force. By dividing it, eclipsing it and making its animating concerns of limited government and constitutionalism into afterthoughts, Trump has neutered a heretofore potent vehicle against Big Government. With or without Sanders, the Democrats were going to drift in a more progressive direction. It was far from inevitable, though, that the Republican Party would de-emphasize its opposition to growth in the size of government. That is entirely the doing of Trump. The irony is that an era of Republican politics characterized by insistence on doctrinal purity and anger at Beltway dealmaking is ending with Trump at the helm of the GOP. Its a little like the agitation of the French Revolution, all aimed at achieving more liberte, egalite, fraternite, concluding in the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. However ideologically indistinct Trump was during the primaries, he has gotten fuzzier since becoming the presumptive nominee. The lazy line on Donald Trump is that hes a far-right populist. Not at all. Hes a centrist populist. The key to moving the GOP to the center wasnt high-minded scolding about its tone and unreasonableness as Jon Huntsman, John Kasich and Jeb Bush all attempted but an extremely combative tone and a few signature unreasonable positions. Once Trump established his reputation as a bomb-thrower, it didnt matter that he was to the left of everyone else in the field or promised to spend most of his time as president cutting deals. Between Sanders moving Clinton further from the center and Trump moving the GOP toward it, the socialist and the mogul have forced American politics to take a collective step to the left. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com Doris Reynolds Let's Talk Food Doris Reynolds is the author of When Peacocks Were Roasted and Mullet was Fried and a four-part DVD, A Walk Down Memory Lane with Doris Reynolds. They are for sale in the lobby of the Naples Daily News. SHARE No sooner had the Daily News been delivered last Wednesday that I got an email from John Wilhelm, who hails from southern Indiana. Sheila Mesulam's entertaining and informative article about hot dogs inspired him to complain about the lack of Coney dogs in Naples. He wrote: "It seems that in Naples no one knows has to make and serve Coney hot dogs. Even the place called Coney Island on North 41 does not know what we know as Coneys in southern Indiana. I made them a batch of Coney sauce and took it to them. After all, if you call your place Coney Island, you should at least use the correct sauce on them." Mr. Wilhelm included a recipe for what may be the ultimate Coney sauce and if you're inspired to turn out your own Coney dogs, the recipe is below. The Coney Island dogs were invented way back in 1914 when George Todoroff of Jackson, Mich., opened a restaurant, Todoroff's Original Coney Island. The first recipe for the sauce served on the enhanced dogs contained beef heart, while the hot dog itself was not boiled or steamed. Over the years, there have been innumerable variations of the Coney dog. In 1917, the Detroit and Flint Coney dogs made their appearance. While closely related to the Jackson, Mich., variety, these dogs are characterized by a drier chili sauce. Cincinnati, meanwhile, was not about to be left out of the Coney wars. Greek immigrants, eager to display their ingenuity, produced the "cheesy Coney," replete with their famous chili, onions and shredded cheese. On your next visit to Coney Island, the one so popular with New Yorkers, do not attempt to order a Coney dog. The island is rife with hot dog stands, offering the wonder wienies in a variety of ways but, alas, no authentic Coney Dogs. However, there are areas of central and western New York state where the term "Coney Island dog" is used to describe a spicy variety of the traditional pork hot dog. Not satisfied to enjoy traditional methods of serving hot dogs, a pair of vaudevillians, Neil and Carl Fletcher of Dallas, Texas, concocted the corn dog. They set up a stand at the Texas State Fair and were mobbed by young and old alike. It had taken the pair several months to create a batter that was successful in sticking to the wiener while frying. This was in 1942, and the corn dog is now a traditional treat served at carnivals, circuses, children's parties and theme parks. Hot dogs, plain and simple, are delicious in their own right; especially since there are so many varieties. But when embellished with mustard, ketchup, onions, sauerkraut, salsa, cheese and pickle relish they turn into an ambrosial treat that is relatively inexpensive and satisfying to young and old. John Wilhelm's Coney Island Sauce 3 pounds ground beef 2 19-ounce cans tomato puree 2 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon mustard 1 tablespoon salt or to taste 1 tablespoon pepper or to taste 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon oregano (dried) 1 medium onion, chopped Combine all ingredients and cook until boiling is reached; reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 hours. Place the best hot dog you can find on a warm hot dog roll, (after roasting, boiling or barbequing the dog), add a generous helping of the Coney sauce, open an ice-cold beer and ENJOY! You now have experienced a Coney Island. Hot Dog. Note: In my experience preparing pasta sauces and other tomato-based sauces, I find a shorter cooking time produces a very tasty sauce. In preparing this sauce I would cook it for about an hour or an hour and a half. Take your choice. Corn Dogs Vegetable oil (for deep frying) A cup unsifted all purpose flour (for dredging) 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal 1/3 cup unsifted all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt or to taste A cup milk 1 egg, well beaten 2 tablespoon vegetable oil 10 ready-to-eat frankfurters (1 pound) Place oil in a deep-fat fryer and heat to 375 degrees. Place A cup dredging flour in a pie pan and set aside. Mix the cornmeal, 1/3 cup flour and salt in a 2-cup measuring cup. Add the milk, egg and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Mix well and set aside. Thread frankfurters onto wooden skewers. Roll in dredging flour to coat, shaking off excess. Dip the frankfurters (hot dogs), one at a time, in cornmeal batter, then fry in oil until golden brown; about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 10. Ask Doris Q: I took a cooking course when I lived in Ohio. One of the best dishes we made was a garlic bread which was easy to make and really delicious. In moving, I lost the recipe and hope you have one. ? Earnestine Farnsworth, Naples A: This is an easy recipe that sounds ideal to serve at barbecues. Garlic Quick Bread 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder 1-1/2 teaspoons salt A cup butter 1-1/4 cups milk 1 egg 3 large cloves garlic, more or less depending on taste About 2 hours before serving: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease well a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, with a fork, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives used scissor-fashion, cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until moistened. Turn dough onto well-floured surface; knead until smooth and not sticky, about 5 minutes. Shape dough into a loaf; place in pan. With a sharp knife, make 6 diagonal slashes, A-inch deep, across the top of bread. Bake for an hour and 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan immediately onto wire rack; cool for 30 minutes. Slice and slather with butter or garlic butter. Makes one loaf. Doris Reynolds is the author of "When Peacocks Were Roasted and Mullet Was Fried" and "Let's Talk Food." They are available for sale in the lobby of the Naples Daily News. Also available is a 4-part DVD, "A Walk Down Memory Lane with Doris Reynolds." Contact Doris Reynolds at foodlvr25@aol.com. SHARE Conductor Yaniv Segal, center, leads Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at Artis "Naples in Naples, Fla. Four jazz composers were selected to work with a mentor composer for EarShot Jazz Composers Orchestra Readings. Their pieces were performed in Haynes Hall by the Naples Philharmonic. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Yvette Janine Jackson, composer of "Atlantic Crossing," left, talks with Sonia Jacobsen, composer of "Carried by the Winds," Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at Artis "Naples in Naples, Fla. Four jazz composers were selected to work with a mentor composer for EarShot Jazz Composers Orchestra Readings. Their pieces were performed in Haynes Hall by the Naples Philharmonic. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Corey Perrine/Staff (2) Conductor Yaniv Segal, center, leads an orchestra Wednesday at ArtisNaples. Four jazz composers were selected to work with a mentor composer for EarShot Jazz Composers Orchestra Readings. Robin Holcomb, front left, composer of "All the While," fine tunes her piece while seated next to mentor composer James Newton. Related Photos EarShot Jazz Composers Orchestra Readings By Harriet Howard Heithaus of the Naples Daily News Four visitors at ArtisNaples Hayes Hall knew exactly where to sit Wednesday afternoon. The chair was labeled "HOT SEAT" in big, blocky red letters. One by one these four composers, vetted and tutored over a year, would take a turn in that seat. But they generated their own heat in it as the alchemy of the Naples Philharmonic transformed the slender notes on their scores into live music for the first time. Hayes Hall never seemed so cavernous. These "nervous and excited" four, as California composer Yvette Janine Jackson described their group, are fortunate. Earshot, a collaboration of the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute and the American Composers Orchestra, chose them from among more than 200 applicants nearly two years ago. The mission: Create jazz works for orchestra, with the luxury of sculpting and polishing them with full musical readings before their premieres. The orchestra rehearses the work one day and gives it a formal reading the next; even better, each composer works with a mentor, a veteran composer, during the three-day intensive. Molding the work Wednesday afternoon rehearsals with the four composers Naples selected for its first year with Earshot were an exercise in restrained intensity. Naples Philharmonic Assistant Director Yaniv Segal and 50 musicians of the Philharmonic played through the compositions in chunks, with Segal stopping to shoot questions to the composer or crisply deliver instructions gleaned from the 15-minute sessions he'd had with them. In Sonia Jacobsen's "Carried by the Winds," musical tempos a handful, sometimes subtly different were causing confused looks. And at least five minutes of preperformance instruction had not erased them. "It'll make sense," Segal reassured the orchestra. He wanted more change in Nathan Smith's "The Wyoming Incident": "There's a dramatic character shift at measure 35," he warned. Later: "Be conscious when you're playing these triple eighths because underneath, there are triplet quarters being played." And occasionally he invoked what may be the international language of musical tempo "It's taka-taka-taka-taka." Despite rehearsal garb dominated by T-shirts, capris or shorts and sandals or neon running shoes, the musicians, equipped with pencils for score changes, were ready with questions even into Thursday: "Should that be a C-sharp there or a C natural?" in Jackson's "Atlantic Crossing." "Both," Jackson reassured them. "It's going to clash, yes." Defining jazz There was some confusion among a dedicated baker's dozen who had come to the first rehearsal and 46 who attended the Thursday night final readings, as well. Was what they were hearing jazz? At intermission Wednesday, Richard Lechtner, of Naples, indicated he was still waiting to hear it. "I'm a jazz aficionado, and I'm from '50s and '60s. This isn't hitting what I think of as jazz," he said. That said, he added, "I really didn't know what to expect when I came here." He added that he found Robin Holcomb's series of vignettes, "All the While," thoroughly listenable. His companion, Joe Scott Jr., who calls himself a classical music devotee, liked the Holcomb piece on that level, citing what he felt showed influences from Leos Janacek and Leonard Bernstein. But he was excited by Jacobsen's "Carried by the Winds," which he called "fabulous." It called for cellists to rub their strings, used bows for percussion and required flutter-tonguing among the brass. Composer Nathan Smith addressed that sense of dropped connection in his own approach to "The Wyoming Incident," based on a New York historical event: "It's not necessarily the genre of jazz as much as it is the attitude of jazz." Derek Bermel, American Composers Orchestra artistic director and one of three mentors at this session, explained it further in a question-and-answer session Thursday night. Jazz approaches to technique and style are "part of the fabric of American music," he said. "We're trying to bring that back into the story." James Newton, Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute director and another mentor composer, called the jazz influence what sets American music apart: "If we don't incorporate our diversity into our compositions, we're a pale imitation of European music." Development for all The JCOI and ACO are also trying to build smoother paths to American-composed orchestral music. The four who were in Naples are among 16 composers who will be given the chance to rehearse and refine their works with three partner orchestras across the U.S. this year via the Earshot network. Its partners arrange industry speed dates for their visiting composers. Philharmonic librarians, section leaders, even stage hands met with the composers in Naples for insight sessions on how this orchestra works. "It's not only a reading with an orchestra, a wonderful opportunity in itself. It's a real enrichment, a development intensive for composers," said Michael Geller, president of the ACO. It's also a tidal wave of information that washed over the three days composers spent in Naples. "Everything has happened so fast," said Jackson, whose "Atlantic Crossing" will be a segment of a musical work on the African-American experience. "We have to go home to absorb it all." The composers weren't the only group developing their skills. Teresa Edwards, of Naples, who came to both sessions, made her way to the mentor composers' table scores during the intermission Thursday. "I can't even read music, but I want to see how it's written," she said, looking for a trombone glissando in "Carried by the Wind." Edward suggested that at some point the Philharmonic consider using the same concept as its piano camera, which screens the pianist's hands, to focus on score pages during a performance. But in her written thoughts after Thursday, she cheered the Earshot readings: "If some of those people knew what was available in this two-day eye- and ear-opening clinic then Naples residents could add their enjoyment and education to the mix. A multilayered event for sure!" Artist Damien Hirst's "Gone But Not Forgotten" on display at the Faena Hotel. The 10-foot-tall woolly mammoth is covered in 24-carat gold leaf. (Ryan Kasley/Staff) SHARE The open-air galleries of Wynwood Walls are just as enjoyable at night. (Ryan Kasley/Staff) Visitors to the Perez Art Museum Miami relax on the veranda overlooking Biscayne Bay. (Ryan Kasley/Staff) Thousands of people flood Ocean Drive after the April 10 Miami Beach Pride parade. (Ryan Kasley/Staff) By Ryan Kasley It's only a two-hour drive from Naples, but Miami is unlike any other city in Florida, or unlike anywhere else in the entire country. It's always been unique, famous even, for its heady blend of Latin American cultures and South Beach glam; a place where celebrities cross paths with locals in the hotel lobby, where hotshots peacock past open-air eateries on Ocean Drive in neon pink Lamborghinis, and visitors from around the world sweat out hangovers in the shallow cerulean waters of the Atlantic. It is still all those things, but over the past decade a slew of massive redevelopment efforts have taken place at breakneck pace, completely transforming the city and surrounding area. Storied art deco hotels have undergone much-needed renovations in a race to compete with the onslaught of new ultramodern accommodations. Towering glassy all-white condominiums, many still under construction, have tripled the downtown skyline. "Starchitect"-designed arts and culture hubs offer an alternative to the 24/7 party scene. Residents now flock to fringe neighborhoods, injecting new life into long-overlooked locales. There have never been more options tempting the inquisitive traveler to expand their itineraries beyond the beach. I grew up in Naples, yet somehow never managed to make the short trek across the Everglades save for a brief visit to tour the University of Miami. Granted, I moved out of state after college, and would not have had as much fun until I turned 21 anyway. But these excuses did nothing to curb my co-workers' enthusiasm for heckling me about it. When I moved back to Naples in December, a flood of text messages began pouring in from friends of mine, from New York to Paris, asking me about Miami and if we could visit. I began to feel like a trip was necessary to maintain my credibility as a Floridian. Fortunately, I have a great friend who lives there. Since March I've made three weekend-long trips to visit him. He's been an excellent host and tour guide. Together we've checked the mandatory things to do and places to visit off the list, as well as enjoyed forays into the lesser known and (sometimes) more exclusive side of the 305. Whether you're a snowbird needing a vacation from your vacation, a young Neapolitan in desperate need of nightlife, or an out-of-stater who's accumulated enough sky miles on your rewards credit card for a round-trip ticket, Miami is the answer. Today, I humbly share my newfound insider knowledge in the hopes that you'll come to love this multidimensional, sometimes crazy, always fun city as much as I do. South Beach This 2-mile stretch of shoreline, bounded by Fifth Street to the south and 24th Street to the north, is where the crazy happens. Iconic art deco hotels line Ocean Drive, with their street-level bars and restaurants spilling out onto the sidewalk. If you're not staying at one of these hotels, one could easily make a day out of stumbling back and forth between bar and beach. Flip-flops, sandy feet and bathing suits are the norm at any of these places. Be sure to catch the famous drag show at Palace on the corner of 12th and Ocean, every Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The traffic-stopping boozy brunch is welcome to all, and a South Beach staple. If you're looking for a quieter place to stay or a nicer bar to sip cocktails, a short stroll north on the Miami Beach Boardwalk, which buffers the beach from Ocean Drive, will take you to a cluster of luxury hotels. Top picks include The Ritz-Carlton, SLS, Delano and Loews, where chic poolside oases offer guests upscale rest and relaxation. Sorry, but clothes are required for these establishments. Mid Beach After a day at the beach, plan on taking a disco nap then heading a little further up the shore to Mid Beach, which, after a string of new hotel openings, is the hottest 'hood in town. Note: Dress to impress you will not get in the door to the clubs here otherwise and if possible, your group's male-to-female ratio should favor the ladies. Yes, these places are that exclusive (or trying to be), but it's often worth it. I was enjoying live music in the plush Living Room at the Baz Luhrmann-designed epicenter of all the buzz, Faena Hotel, when the Rolling Stones walked in with owner Alan Faena, about a week before their concert in Cuba. And later that night, at the Faena's Gatsby-esque Saxony Bar, I was mid-sip in a prohibition-era cocktail when Usher was discretely escorted to a private room. If you can schmooze friends in the area ahead of time to get on the list at any private parties, do it. If not, ask around about what's happening that night. Last weekend, a deejay hosted an intimate 100-person gathering at the Tropicale bar at The Edition. This party had a wonderful, relaxed vibe compared to neighboring watering holes. Everyone was sociable, groups were mixing and mingling, and I met some amazing people. Downtown and Brickell Make a sojourn inland for a day and visit the Perez Art Museum Miami's (PAMM) world-class contemporary art collection. After, grab a cocktail from The Herzog & de Meron-designed building's Stephen Starr restaurant and bar, Verde, and enjoy stunning views of the Biscayne Bay underneath the monolithic veranda. Nearby, Bayfront Park will likely have some type of outdoor concert or event to cap off the afternoon. The soon to be completed Frost Museum of Science, which abuts PAMM, will add another stellar option to your day on the bay. South of downtown, across the Miami River, is Brickell. There isn't much to see in this now densely populated neighborhood where many of downtown's young finance bros have decided to call home, but there are plenty of good places to eat and drink. Start off with a beer at the low-key Blackbird Ordinary, then over to SoCal Taco Co. for crafty tequila incarnations and new takes on classic tacos. Around the corner is the waterfront American Social, where I recommend loading up on less expensive drinks before Ubering over to posh riverside quay River Yacht Club. Undoubtedly, a parade of increasingly larger yachts will make their way to this lively outdoor lounge reprieve. Wynwood Miami's answer to Brooklyn, Wynwood is an up-and-coming hipster neighborhood north of downtown replete with art galleries, microbreweries, surprisingly expensive boutiques and, in this case, graffiti art. Colorful, grungy and weird, this off-the-beaten path patch of converted warehouses is a must for beer lovers and alt-art aficionados alike. Amble through the shops and galleries on Second Avenue, but be sure to hit the main attraction, Wynwood Walls, an open-air six-building complex with graffiti art from around the world. Then make the rounds to Wood Tavern, Gramps and J Wakefield Brewing for small batch and other hard to find craft beers. SHARE Tu'quincy Luvjoy Tompkins A Pembroke Pines man was arrested Friday accused of trying to withdraw $1,000 from two Naples banks with a fraudulent credit card. Tu'quincy Luvjoy Tompkins, 23, tried to withdraw $500 from a Bank of America branch at 4898 Davis Boulevard, according to a Collier County Sheriff's Office report. But the bank had received a warning from another Bank of America branch at 2412 Pine Ridge Road that two males had entered the office and used a fraudulent credit card with the same number as the card Tompkins was using. Deputies later discovered Tompkins had tried to withdraw $500 from the Pine Ridge Road branch. The Davis Boulevard branch declined the transaction because tellers suspected the card was fraudulent and the signature on the bank statement didn't match the signature on the driver's license, according to the report. A bank employee observed that Tompkins was becoming nervous and eager to leave the bank, but deputies arrived before he could flee. Tompkins told deputies he got the card from a woman who had pressed his name on it and advised him to begin using it. Tompkins has been charged with two felonies of grand theft and two felonies of fraudulent or illegal use of credit cards. Here are some things to know about voting in Collier County Joe Bozzo thought the leathery creature sunning itself on a pile of dirt along a rural road in Golden Gate Estates was an alligator. That was at first. As soon as I passed it, I said, Thats no alligator, said Bozzo, senior land manager for the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed. He was sure he recognized it for what it was: an invasive lizard species that has become Floridas newest nonnative threat. Bozzo pulled over, jumped out of the drivers seat of the Ford F250 crew cab and dove into the backseat to dig his camera out of his backpack. The pictures he snapped of the Argentine black and white tegu lizard crossing Shady Hollow Boulevard back in March have become Exhibit No. 1 in an all-out effort to stop the invasive species spread in Collier County before it can start. Biologists hope its not already too late. Before Bozzo got his photos, the only two known breeding populations of tegu lizards in Florida were in Hillsborough and in Miami-Dade counties, where hundreds of them are pulled out of the wild each year. Now, invasive species fighters want the publics help in figuring out whether Collier County is home to another one. Postcards are popping up in some 7,200 mailboxes in rural Collier County this week to alert neighbors about tegus in their backyards and to encourage people to report sightings to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Southwest Florida Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area. It feels like we have a tide coming, said Conservancy of Southwest Florida wildlife biologist Ian Bartoszek, the CISMAs invasive animal leader. Were not going to throw up our hands. Were going to try and stay on top of it. The CISMA amounts to a network of rapid responders that can confirm an invasive species sighting and then get after the job of tracking it down. For a lesson in what can happen when an invasive species is left unchecked, look no further than the Burmese pythons that have overrun the Everglades and are blamed for wreaking havoc on native wildlife. The threat from the tegu is similar: They eat birds and alligators, their eggs, fruits and vegetables making them a threat to native wildlife and agriculture. Adding to the concern is an unconfirmed sighting of a tegu by biologists checking out Bozzos find and a confirmed tegu sighting in Lehigh Acres in July. It just leads us to believe we should be cautious and check into it, said Jenny Ketterlin Eckles, a nonnative wildlife biologist with the Conservation Commission. The tegus atop Floridas Most Wanted List are ground dwellers (not in trees), have stripy, black-and white hides, grow up to 4 feet long, and lay up to 35 eggs a year. They are not to be confused with myriad other iguana and lizard species Nile monitor lizards, green iguanas, spiny-tailed iguanas and the smaller class reptiles like knight anoles and brown basilisk that already have gained a talon-hold in Southwest Florida. Its a tegu the invasion fighters are after. Hitches in getting the postcards out more quickly mean they are hitting mailboxes just as tegus are preparing to crawl into their burrows to hibernate from about September to February. The hope is that someone will recognize the tegu with the forked tongue crawling across the front of the postcard and remember seeing one, Ketterlin Eckles said. Trappers have failed to catch much more than skunks in pursuit of Bozzos find, and tegu reports since then have been unconfirmed. It could be that the tegu Bozzo spied is a released or escaped pet, just a single, solitary, lonely tegu out in the wilderness on the edge of Bird Rookery Swamp, said Bartoszek, with the CISMA. Or maybe not. It takes two tegus to tango, he said. _____________________________________ If you see a tegu Report tegu sightings to the Exotic Species Hotline at 1-888-IveGot1 (1-888-483-4681) or online at Ivegot1.org. SHARE By Frank Gluck, The News-Press UnitedHealthcare plans to withdraw from the 2017 Affordable Care Act exchange in Florida, which could leave nearly 80,000 residents of Lee and Collier counties with Florida Blue as the sole provider of coverage on the individual market. The company announced last month it planned to exit Obamacare exchanges in 30 states, including Florida. A UnitedHealthcare spokeswoman confirmed it will send out its required 180-day advanced withdrawal notice to policy holders in June. "Individuals will continue to have access to their health benefits until the end of 2016," said UnitedHealthcare spokeswoman Maria Gordon Shydlo. "This decision will not impact our commercial, Medicare and Medicaid businesses in Florida." Nearly 50,000 Lee residents and more than 28,000 in Collier enrolled in Obamacare plans on healthcare.gov for 2016, and those plans were limited to offerings from Florida Blue and UnitedHealthcare. President Barack Obama's goal for expanded health care coverage included exchanges available to individuals without insurance that would offer competitive plans from multiple companies. The competition is supposed to help keep the insurance plans affordable. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation would not say if any other providers might enter the local market, saying any such interest is a trade secret until application reviews are complete in August. Laura Brennaman, policy and research director for the patient advocacy group Florida CHAIN, said she expects other insurance companies will offer exchange plans in Southwest Florida next year. "If indeed there is only one carrier in the counties' marketplace, I think that does not bode well for consumer choice, certainly," Brennaman said. "But I think we may be leaping to judgment to think that there is not going to be another carrier or two who may also step into the local marketplace." Brennaman noted some insurance providers who sat out from the exchange in 2016, such as Cigna and Harken Health, will re-enter the Florida marketplace. Some regional players also may expand statewide, she said. Lynne Thorp, who oversees Affordable Care Act sign up efforts here as director of the Health Planning Council of Southwest Florida, said she is "not at all concerned" about UnitedHealthcare's departure from the exchange because other affordable plans will be available. Jodi Ray, director of Florida Covering Kids & Families at the University of South Florida, which has received the state's largest share of federal grants to help with sign-ups, agreed. "At least in our area, United is not a low premium issuer (I) imagine it's the same throughout the state and most consumers are price driven," Ray said in an email. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week said 11 providers will offer plans on the exchange in Florida next year. Insurers are seeking an average 13.3 percent increase in premiums next year, though the proposed rates vary wildly. The highest comes from Humana, which is asking to raise rates by as much as 43.6 percent. These are only proposed increases and may bear little resemblance to premiums that actually take effect next year. They also don't factor in tax credits a majority of policy holders receive to offset costs. People also may switch plans to better fit their needs or budgets. Last year, nearly 40 percent of Florida exchange users did so, federal officials said. "Last year, the average monthly premium for people with Marketplace coverage getting tax credits increased just $2, from $82 to $84 per month, despite headlines suggesting big rate increases," said Jonathan Gold, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services. "People in Florida understand how the Marketplace works, and they know that they can shop around and find coverage that fits their needs and budget." SHARE Retired physician Dr. Hugh Payton wears one of his patented unilateral personal oxygen delivery systems, called the Uni-Flo2. Payton spent his most of his career in rural family practice in Ohio but now the 94-year-old retired seasonal Southwest Florida resident is working on marketing the oxygen delivery system which he says will replace the two-hose tubing commonly used by patients. (David Albers/Staff) Retired physician Dr. Hugh Payton holds one of his patented unilateral personal oxygen delivery systems, called the Uni-Flo2. Payton spent his most of his career in rural family practice in Ohio but now the 94-year-old retired seasonal Southwest Florida resident is working on marketing the oxygen delivery system which he says will replace the two-hose tubing commonly used by patients. (David Albers/Staff) Dr. Hugh Payton poses for a photo with his 1981 Dodge Ram pickup which he used in his medical practice for house calls in Jeffersonville, Ohio. (Photo provided by Campbell Cauthen) Related Photos Rural Ohio Family Doctor By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News At age 94, old-time country doctor Hugh 'Ted' Payton is not exactly idling away the golden years. He conferences with business partners. He promotes his latest invention on Facebook to oxygen users. He's got people. Payton's industrious character embodies the Greatest Generation. Persevering in the service of others the doc was always thinking how he could make life better for his patients. That led him to inventing. "You see a problem and it keeps cropping up and cropping up," Payton said. "And you figure, what can I possibly do?" He may have hit on his biggest invention yet. Raised in Oklahoma amid the Depression, he served Stateside in the U.S. Navy during World War II and arrived in Jeffersonville, Ohio, population 900, in 1946. He was the sole doctor and coroner until he retired nearly 50 years later. He doctored seven days a week, sometimes making 10 house calls a day. "Had to," he said. "Nobody else around." The part-time Naples resident still has the faithful '81 Dodge Ram truck he drove to house calls in Jeffersonville, 40 miles southeast of Dayton. If you saw 'Doc Payton' bearing down in the rearview mirror, you'd best give him room, friend and town funeral director, David Morrow, 76, said. "You didn't want to get in his way because he would run you over," Morrow said. "He did not suffer slow speeds." Payton delivered thousands of babies in farmhouses, saved nearly severed limbs after tractor accidents and set countless broken bones of devilish farm boys. When the phone rang at 3 a.m., there was no question who needed help moving a patient or a body. Doc arrived lickety split anywhere and expected the same of you, Morrow said. There was no hospital nearby for many years, let alone pharmacy. "We didn't have a drug store so we were dispensing our own medications," Payton said. The country doctor Payton and his wife of 72 years, Jo Ann, divide their time between Naples and near Asheville, North Carolina. He calls her "sugar." Their life together has been a dream, his wife, 92, said. She only wanted him to be the best doctor he could. "He never turned anyone down," she said. "If someone didn't have the money to pay the bill, he said they already had problems. He wasn't going to add to their problems by asking how they would pay the bill." They both are from Oklahoma. They met when Payton was in medical school at the University of Oklahoma and a bad tooth sent him to a dentist. She was the dental assistant. They wound up in Jeffersonville by way of Dayton. Payton was a U.S. Navy physician but the war ended before he could be shipped to the South Pacific. The Navy sent him instead to a veteran's hospital in Dayton. When his obligation to the VA hospital ended, he approached a doctor in private practice about joining him. They were too poor to move anywhere far. The other doctor said he had the ideal town for Payton, meaning Jeffersonville, and arranged financing for an old house. Open your practice on the first floor and live in the two rooms on the second floor, the other doctor told him. "This man was a total stranger to me," Payton said. "We were poor as church mice." It took some time for people in Jeffersonville to accept him, given he was 24. One of his first patients, an elderly woman with a broken hip, called him to her home. "She said when I walked in, 'I called for a doctor not a little boy,'" he said. "That made me realize I was a little boy at the age of 24." Jo Ann Payton liked the simpler life; farmers are good people. For five years, they lived in the two rooms on the second floor above the practice. Their three children were born 16 months apart and she had to keep them entertained and quiet in the day. They didn't have toys so they made circus trains out of boxes. "We always played with my pans. They loved my pans," she said. "They couldn't do in the afternoon because we lived above the office." Every Christmas Eve, they piled in his truck to drop off presents to the townspeople, sneaking around the farm dogs to drop the goods on front stoops. Pulling out of each driveway, he' d honk to announce Santa had visited. Payton remains beloved in Jeffersonville. "Doc was an icon in our small town and county," Morrow, the funeral director, said. "Everybody called him 'Doc' or 'Doc Payton. If we were serious about something, it was Dr. Payton." "We laugh about him being made out of cast iron," Morrow said. "He is tougher than all get go." The inventor His inventing side is something most people in Jeffersonville don't know about, Morrow, the funeral director, said. Payton developed a plastic umbilical cord clamp, to replace steel clamps, in the early 1960s. He invented a walking cast. He connected a push lawn mower and a riding mower side by side for a wider swath. "It worked beautifully," he said. "I used it all the time in my own home." He secured patents on his half dozen inventions. Patents didn't prevent his ideas from being stolen. He didn't have marketing know-how. His wife was used to him spending money on inventions, even though they've never brought in a penny. At least not yet. "It keeps me home and out of mischief," Payton said. Payton came up with the idea of a single prong nasal insert for oxygen in 1988. He was 67. The single-prong nasal breathing device is a cannula delivering supplemental oxygen for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD. The compassionate country doc always knew what troubled his patients. "I took care of a lot of people who were on oxygen," Payton said. "They were so miserable with the double prongs. How it irritated their nose and their ear and the constriction of the chin and all that stuff. I thought, surely there's a better way." His device is called Uni-Flo2 for a unilateral patient oxygen delivery system. He has partners in a company, UPODS, to market it, deal with manufacturing and negotiate contracts with health care businesses. "This will go," he said. The thin plastic tubing goes behind the ear to the front of the face and nostril. He used an EKG patch as an adhesive to keep the tubing secure. He got a patent. He pitched it to Medtronic, the medical device company but it was rejected. Payton dropped the whole thing. When he retired in 1992, he sold the original house and practice together to someone who liked the set up. "I sold it off to a young boy I had delivered," he said. "He went to medical school." Back to the drawing board Payton's idea for the single prong nasal device was reborn in North Carolina. Payton and his wife moved to Black Mountain, east of Asheville, to be near their daughter. A respiratory therapist mentioned the breathing difficulties of a patient and nostril ulcers from a double prong device. "He was my father's best friend," Campbell Cauthen, 63, the respiratory therapist, said about Payton. Cauthen suggested revisions to the device based on his training and experience in industrial design. "I've adopted Dr. Payton as my second father," Cauthen said, who is one of the business partners for the device. "I want him to see his dream come true." They added a thin wire in the plastic tubing to contour to the face; the nasal insert is at a 70 degree angle for better fit and a flare at the top to keep oxygen in the nasal passage between breaths. A clear adhesive can secure the tubing behind the ear and cheek and a clip on the plastic tubing secures it loosely to the shirt. Eighteen months ago, an Atlanta-area medical device product development expert, John Stephens, agreed to meet Payton. "We drew it up on napkins," Stephens, 58, said. "I think this has a good chance of success because it addresses all the issues, the nose irritation and it increases the oxygen level." What's critical is that it gives dignity to people who have been tethered to an annoying dual prong device, he said. Stephens is the chief operating officer in the company handling the product development and manufacturing. There are negotiations with major medical companies. Payton and his team will have a booth at a convention of home health companies in October in Orlando. He and the retired country doctor speak daily. "We kind of have this standard morning call," Stephens said. "He's very active. His mind is sharp." Emergency personnel work the scene of a car crash at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Creekside Boulevard on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in North Naples. Authorities on scene said two cars were involved in the crash and three people were taken to the hospital with injuries. (David Albers/Staff) SHARE Emergency personnel work the scene of a car crash at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Creekside Boulevard on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in North Naples. Authorities on scene said two cars were involved in the crash and three people were taken to the hospital with injuries. (David Albers/Staff) Emergency personnel work the scene of a car crash at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Creekside Boulevard on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in North Naples. Authorities on scene said two cars were involved in the crash and three people were taken to the hospital with injuries. (David Albers/Staff) Emergency personnel work the scene of a car crash at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Creekside Boulevard on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in North Naples. Authorities on scene said two cars were involved in the crash and three people were taken to the hospital with injuries. (David Albers/Staff) Emergency personnel work the scene of a car crash at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Creekside Boulevard on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in North Naples. Authorities on scene said two cars were involved in the crash and three people were taken to the hospital with injuries. (David Albers/Staff) Related Coverage 3 seriously injured in North Naples collision By Maria Perez of the Naples Daily News Christopher Wade, one of the three people seriously injured in a two-car crash on U.S. 41 North and Creekside Boulevard on Tuesday died, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. Wade, 28, of Naples, died Tuesday at Lee Memorial Hospital, troopers reported Saturday. The two other people involved in the crash, David Monestime, Jr., 23, of Naples, who was traveling with Wade, and Renee Smith, 56, of Bonita Springs, were hospitalized with serious injuries. Wade was driving a 2004 GMC Envoy north on U.S. 41 approaching a red light at Creekside Boulevard around 8:10 a.m. Smith was driving a 2011 Ford Mustang south on U.S. 41 in the left turn lane to turn onto Creekside Boulevard, approaching a flashing yellow left turn arrow signal. Wade did not stop at the traffic light, the FHP reported. When Smith turned left at the traffic light, the Mustang crashed into the Envoy, troopers said. The impact caused the Envoy to travel toward the northeast corner of the intersection and strike a traffic light pole, according to FHP. All three victims were wearing seat belts, and alcohol was not a factor in the crash, according to the report. FHP is investigating the crash, and charges are pending. NCEF Early Childhood Development Center (Photo provided by the Greater Naples YMCA) SHARE By Alexi C. Cardona of the Naples Daily News The future of early childhood education in Collier County is looking bright. The Greater Naples YMCA will now operate the NCEF Early Childhood Development Center at Florida SouthWestern State College's Collier Campus. The college put out a bid request in April asking childhood education providers to submit proposals to operate the center. Collier Child Care Resources, an early childhood education provider, had been running the center since July 2013. The organization's contract ends June 30 and the YMCA will begin its operations July 1. The YMCA was awarded the contract last week. "The YMCA has a great reputation in the community and we're excited to be working with them," said Teresa Morgenstern, communications director for FSW. "We're making sure these children get the best educational experience, that they're prepared for kindergarten and beyond." According to the Florida Department of Education's Office of Early Learning, Collier County is in a red zone for early childhood education. The county scored less than 70 percent on literacy assessments in 2013 and 2014. "We want to have an impact on turning Collier County from a red zone to a high-performance area," said Paul Thein, YMCA president and CEO. "With some of the wealth in the community and the Y's role as a mission-driven nonprofit, we can do better." The YMCA will implement its GOLDplus curriculum, which tracks children's educational and developmental milestones, at the center. The organization also plans to keep the art and music programs Collier Child Care Resources had. "One of our big goals is to have both teams merge into one fantastic education team and implement our curriculum with theirs," said Mollie Skidmore, lead voluntary pre-kindergarten instructor at the YMCA. A top priority, Skidmore said, is to make the transition to a new curriculum and staff as smooth as possible. "Change can be hard for children and we want to be sure we make the switch as smooth as possible for them," she said. "We won't skip a beat and the kids won't miss a day." Thein hopes the current staff will apply for some of the teaching jobs through the YMCA. He also wants parents to know that they can reach out with any questions or concerns they have about the change. "We're not just a daycare," said Michelle Blackmon, the YMCA's director of early education. "We're not just teaching kids numbers and the alphabet, either. We're focusing on the whole child fine and gross motor skills, their health, psychology, vision, pediatrics. We help them grow." The YMCA will host a parent forum at 6 p.m. May 31 at the FSW Weiss Hall. SHARE Kudos With Memorial Day coming up, there was an appropriate moment of gratitude this week for Vietnam veterans those getting some recognition this year that they didn't get when they returned home decades ago. Across the state and nation, there have been ceremonies since late March to commemorate the final departure of U.S. troops from the southeastern Asian country in 1973. A handful of Vietnam veterans and their representatives attended Tuesday's Collier County Commission meeting to accept a proclamation from commissioners as part of an ongoing remembrance of 50 years since the Vietnam War. The 50th anniversary recognition of the long, controversial war is continuing through Nov. 11, 2025. "Throughout this commemoration, let us strive to live up to their example by showing our Vietnam veterans, their families and all of the men and women who have served our country the fullest respect and support of a grateful county," the proclamation states. The document presented to Collier Veterans Services Manager Eddie Hartnack, retired Army Sgt. John Blatner and others says the war called up 3 million servicemen and servicewomen; about 58,000 died. Others came home with shrapnel injuries, or suffering from post-traumatic stress or the effects of Agent Orange after pushing through the stifling heat of jungles and rice paddies. "Collier County appreciates the sacrifices that our Vietnam veterans made in defending our freedom, and believe it is important that we acknowledge them for their courage and sacrifice," the proclamation says. Kudos Another Memorial Day salute goes to Collier County Honor Flight, which completed its ninth mission last weekend by escorting about 65 veterans and their volunteer guardians to the nation's capital. The surviving veterans of World War II and the Korean War visited the National World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, while also getting to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. In conjunction with the event, there was a special honoring of 83,000 POW/MIAs. Honor Flight is a same-day event that starts at Naples Municipal Airport at 3:30 a.m. and ends with a 9:30 p.m. landing and celebration at Southwest Florida International Airport before the trip back to the Naples area. In the works is the next mission for June 11 the first all-woman Collier Honor Flight with about 66 participants from all branches of service. This one will depart on Elite Airways from Naples airport about 8 a.m. and return about 7:30 p.m. The itinerary in Washington, D.C., includes a stop at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. More information about participating in or donating to Honor Flight, which formed as a nonprofit in 2013, is available at www.collierhonorflight.org. Kick When a Collier County School Board meeting to begin formulating next year's budget veered to a discussion of a federal communique about transgender bathrooms, a wrong turn followed. The debate became whether to put it on the agenda of a June School Board meeting. Doing so carries with it the opportunity for citizens to speak on the topic at the meeting. On the typically 3-2 divided board, only member Kathleen Curatolo seemed concerned about doing so. "This should not be a political issue," she said, noting it should be about affected children and families. So far, we'd concur with that assessment. We've opined that there are more serious concerns about the well-being of today's children, yet we'd classify this as a societal issue for schools, not a political one. So we'd consider it fair for people to exercise their First Amendment rights to speak at a public meeting, as other board members supported. Curatolo took the wrong turn by saying the board should "not listen to extremists as we have done this evening on the budget." We understand there's a stark difference of opinion in the community when it comes to the school system. But let's not label anyone an "extremist" for taking their time to show up at a meeting to air their views. We share board member Erika Donalds' immediate umbrage that use of the term "extremists" was "offensive to the members of the public that we serve." SHARE H. H. Hermann, Naples U.S. health care If any presidential candidate were sincere in proposing an alternative to Obamacare, he/she would need the power of a President Roosevelt to convince the American people of a new national health program. Consider the idea of a single-payer system based on Medicare that would include medications and long-term care. There would be no out-of-pocket premiums or co-payments or deductibles. Costs would be controlled by financing from public sources. Sources would include current federal spending for Medicaid and Medicare. There would be a payroll tax on businesses less than what businesses pay currently for coverage. There would be an income tax on households, with a surtax on high incomes and capital gains. A tax on stock transactions would be implemented while state and local taxes for health care would be eliminated. Practitioner and clinics would be paid predetermined fees for service without any need for costly billing procedures. Hospitals would negotiate an annual budget for all operating costs. This is not socialized medicine. It involves the socialization of payments for health care but leaves private ownership at the level of the infrastructure. The major change is in payment. There is irony in this proposal. Congress and lobbyists will come to the defense of Obamacare. Medicare for all cuts off huge subsidies for private insurance and pharmaceutical companies. If 230 million people are added to the Medicare system, it will become three times as big as it is currently. It would more than triple the tax rate. Is this what the American people want to replace Obamacare? SHARE Liza McFadden President and CEO Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy By Liza Mcfadden, Tallahassee President and CEO Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy More than 25 years ago, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy set out to achieve a singular goal empower families, parents and children, through literacy. During this season when we congratulate graduates from kindergarten to college it seems timely for us to consider the millions who don't complete their degrees. Through our work, we have observed many challenges and barriers that confront the disadvantaged. Low literacy levels in particular are linked to poor health, fewer economic opportunities and a lifetime on welfare. Breaking down these barriers and building a pipeline to literacy and beyond requires incredible commitment. Not surprisingly, once these families are empowered, they become their own strongest advocates for success, continuing on a bright path toward education, employment, and involvement in their own communities. At our Foundation, we are committed to that success, which is why we fully support our families in realizing their dreams beyond literacy. For those who continue to a postsecondary setting, we need programs that can support students through college so they graduate, in the same manner that we support students to get their high school diploma no matter their age. Postsecondary education is a wildly different landscape from traditional high school. In many ways, today's college experience looks a lot like our adult literacy programs, in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds are juggling not only their studies, but also jobs and children. For the same reasons this Foundation supports online learning, partnerships with early literacy programs and other unique support systems, we urge policymakers, institutions, and community organizations to encourage efforts to enable postsecondary students to persist in school and graduate. Forfeiting a college degree wipes away more than a million dollars in lifetime earnings. Education is the ultimate weapon to build our middle class. How can we, as a nation, do a better job supporting today's generation of postsecondary students? First, we must remember that the majority of students in the system today are working part-time while on campus or while taking classes. This is critical to fully understand because it shows that so many students cannot afford to leave the workplace and forgo earning income in the name of completing a traditional college path. Kudos to corporate leaders such as JetBlue, which recently began paying for their employees' online college tuition. Starbucks and CIGNA are also incentivizing and making access to online education easier for their employees, but these opportunities are unique. And kudos to policy leaders like Gov. Rick Scott who focused Florida's college system to offer $10,000 bachelor's degrees. Secondly, today's students are more diverse than the previous generation. Many struggle with language issues that are not indicative of their intelligence, but limit their ability to successfully obtain education and careers commensurate with their skills. Our Foundation has been very concerned about the lack of adequate literacy programming currently available to ensure English language learning opportunities. We've announced a $7 million Adult Literacy XPRIZE competition to develop phone apps to teach adults to read. One of the criteria to win is that the app must help English language learners. This effort is focused on teaching the most basic literacy levels, but the need is evident for an expanse of English language programs so that immigrants can rise up and attend college. Consider, for example, the estimated 20,000 adults on waiting lists for adult literacy programming in Los Angeles, and that's reflective of waiting lists across the U.S. Specifically, there are a host of programs that policy-makers can embrace to help make college a reality, such as allowing for more flexibility within the federal financial aid program that rewards part-time enrollment and doesn't unnecessarily penalize students who may choose to complete their studies over a longer period of time. We can also better target existing federal funds and grants to programs that enhance learning in the postsecondary sector so that workplace skills and experiences translate to college course credits in the right environment. Finally, we must provide students with far more information during the application process so they fully comprehend the commitments of resources and time to complete their degree and ultimately, achieve their dreams. We should start this conversation now while candidates up and down the ballot begin making their case to voters between now and the fall. Lawmakers at every level of government from the president to our local mayors should support today's students since they are our next innovators and job creators, and our next generation of leaders. __ The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has championed the cause of literacy as a civil right for all Americans for the past 25 years. SHARE Laurie Cowan Phillips is vice chair of the board of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. By Laurie Cowan Phillips, Naples Board Vice Chair Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, a time to encourage teens to think about their future plans, and take steps to prevent unintended pregnancy so they can reach their long-term goals. According to the 2013 Collier County Florida Health Assessment, the teen birth rate in Collier County is 48 per 1,000 females ages 15-19. This is higher than that of the state (40) and considerably higher than the national benchmark (21). Teen birth rates have gone down in Collier County, and in the U.S. teen pregnancy and birth rates have reached a historic low with more young people delaying sexual activity and using birth control when they do have sex. Unfortunately, rates in Collier County continue to exceed the national rates, and rates for women of color are even higher than rates for those of Caucasians. Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida believes unequivocally that all young people should have access to the sex education and health care they need to stay healthy, and support from their families, schools, and communities to set goals and decide for themselves if, or when, they want to become a parent. Planned Parenthood is proud to be a leading provider of sex education and reproductive health services to teens in Naples and Immokalee, helping them plan their future and prevent both unintended pregnancies and STDs. The Guttmacher Institute cited that, as of 2013, more than a million Florida women ages 1344 were in need of publicly funded family planning services. Lack of access to comprehensive sexual health education and effective contraception has economic implications, too. According to research by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 34 percent of young teen mothers earn neither a college degree nor a high school diploma, and less than 2 percent of teen mothers earn a degree by the time they turn 30. Teenage pregnancy deters increased education, leading to significant amounts of lost earnings and more public expenses, too. High-quality sex education and access to family planning services are critical to helping teens stay safe and healthy. Unfortunately, laws regarding women's health have been enacted in Florida to restrict access to these very critical services. HB 1411 is one example of this. Set to go into law on July 1, this bill not only places medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion but it also defunds Planned Parenthood, stripping away thousands of women in Collier County from being able to access preventative family planning and services like birth control, STD tests, and cancer screenings. This bill will have a profoundly negative impact on all Floridians, but especially those who already face systematic barriers to care, such as our farm worker community in Immokalee. Planned Parenthood is an important part of Florida's health-care system and we are committed to helping teens stay safe and healthy. We work every day to educate teens about sexual health, communication skills, and relationships so they can make healthy decisions. Parents are the primary sex educators for their teens, and we encourage them to help their teens identify plans for the future, consider the impact an unintended pregnancy could have on those plans, and help them set short-term goals to ultimately achieve their dreams. Access to health care, resources, and education should not depend on who you are or where you live. All young people deserve the sex education and health care they need to stay healthy, as well as support from their families, schools, and communities to set goals and decide for themselves if or when they want to become a parent. Planned Parenthood is proud to provide sex education and health services that help all residents of Collier County, and especially teens, plan their future. Despite political opposition, we will always continue to provide care. No matter what! Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Little Rock, Ark.-based startup Mortgage Peer Network was chosen as one of 10 companies to participate in FIS' VC FinTech Accelerator Program. The program, geared toward emerging financial technology companies, is designed to provide startups with mentorship, training and investment. The other nine companies hail from around the U.S. and overseas. The program was first announced last December by FIS and the Venture Center. Mortgage Peer Network said it will use the accelerator's capital investment to fuel its company launch. The company had created a platform that is meant to assist lenders in generating new borrower leads. To do this, the platform utilizes information it collects on the lending environment based on social media, changing consumer buying habits and increased regulation. "Working with the Venture Center will enable us to bring MPN to market much faster and with a better footing than we would have been able to otherwise," MPN founding partner Greg Ellis said in a news release Thursday. MPN's selection was in part based on organizers' interest in the goals of the platform. "The core premise of MPN around peer benchmarking and real-time consumer feedback for lenders is the right tool for improving and growing their business in an increasingly competitive marketplace," VC FinTech Accelerator managing director Gary Dowdy said in the release. Investigators looking into salmon farming industry 'Red tide of biblical proportions' (NaturalNews) An algal bloom that carries a potent neurotoxin is spreading hundreds of miles along Patagonia's coast, and the Chilean salmon farming industry is being blamed for what is quickly becoming Chile's worst environmental crisis in modern times.The algal bloom has been rendering seafood toxic , and depriving countless fishermen of their livelihood. It has been dubbed the "red tide," because it turns the sea water red as it spreads its deadly poison across wide areas of water.While scientists believe the unseasonably warm temperatures have played a role in this phenomenon, the main culprit is said to be the country's salmon industry. The regular dumping of rotten salmon into the ocean has caused huge piles of salmon food and feces to suffocate part of the sea floor. Nutrients are routinely dumped into the floating salmon cages used by farmers, which then fall on to the sea bed, and this could provide the perfect conditions for the toxic algae to thrive.The algal blooms emit a central nervous system-paralyzing toxin that can be fatal not only to fish and marine animals, but also to birds. Eating shellfish that comes from areas affected by the red tide can poison humans.Regional prosecutor Marcos Emilfork stated that an investigation into the problem is currently underway. He said: "I want to categorically affirm that we are investigating the possible criminal acts in regards to the dumping of dead salmon into the sea."He added: "Environmental crimes are extremely serious and are a priority," and noted that guilty parties could end up in prison.Chile is taking the matter very seriously, with President Michelle Bachelet naming a scientific commission to look into the disaster and the role that human activity might have played.Marine biologist Hector Kol used strong language to emphasize the seriousness of the disaster. He said: "The problem we now have is a red tide of biblical proportions. Chiloe has changed, the sea is toxic. Right now we have a red tide with symptoms of diarrhoea, amnesia and paralysis from near the Straits of Magellan to Valdivia." The Chiloe area is one of the hardest hit, and the stretch he referred to covers more than 1,200 miles of coastline.The government has declared some areas emergency zones where activity is not permitted. Commerce on the island has ground to a halt. Fishermen have now blocked access to Chiloe to protest what they feel is insufficient government compensation for their losses, in a move that has left locals and tourists stranded.Dante Montiel, the municipal secretary for the city of Castro in the affected Chiloe area, likened the salmon industry to a missile that disintegrated the area. "We now have the consequences: environmental and social disintegration," he said.Meanwhile, salmon farmers are quick to defend themselves, saying that they adhere to high environmental standards. It has been a bad year for the salmon industry, after high temperatures led to an infection that wiped out around a fifth of the country's farmed salmon industry, which is worth billions of dollars. Around 27 million salmon died, many of which were ground up and made into fishmeal for healthy fish to consume. A further 20 million pounds were buried in area dumps. Sei whales, sardines and squid have also experienced mass die-offs, while dogs have been dying after consuming poisoned shellfish.Experts believe that the red tide could last for several months. Last year, an unusually large and dense toxic algal bloom led to the shutdown of countless crab, clam, sardine and anchovy fisheries in California, Washington and Oregon. (NaturalNews) The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently announced a disgraceful revision to its diagnosis guidelines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The group now says that children as young as four (the previous minimum screening age was six) can and should be screened for mental health conditions and, if diagnosed, given the same aggressive drug therapies as older children.The revision comes as a shock to many who recognize the ever-encroaching assault against health freedom that is the mental health screening and treatment industry. Based on the changes, preschoolers on upward can now be identified and targeted by psychiatric "experts" for taxpayer-funded mental health screenings, and parents who refuse to allow their children to be screened can potentially be charged with child abuse.It is important to note that a primary goal of the pharmaceutical industry and its medical group allies is to diagnose as many children as possible with conditions like ADHD in order to enroll them into aggressive drug therapies. And one way in which this cohort is accomplishing its goal is by gradually chipping away at a parents fundamental right to make the ultimate decision in medical protocols and treatment for their own children.This is why Congressman Ron Paul recently reintroduced the, which prohibits federal funding from being used to pay for universal or mandatory mental health, psychiatric, or socio-emotional screenings. The bill specifically addresses the issue of Big Pharma and medical groups jointly trying to bypass parental consent with their deceptive screenings.But this bill, known as HR 2769, currently sits in a pile of other pending and unaddressed legislation at the offices of the congressional Early Childhood Education and Secondary Education Committee. And according to, a group advocating for parental rights, the committee knows little or nothing about it because it has yet to even look at it.Ablechild.org is asking the public to call the committee's chairman John Kline at (202) 225-2271, and urge him to present HR 2769 before the other committee members for consideration and approval. You can also reach the office of the committee directly at (202) 225-4527 ( http://www.ablechild.org/ ).To learn more about HR 2769, visit: In a news report, it was revealed that Tom Cruise actually trained to become an astronaut and expressed his intent to join the US Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. Fortunately for Cruise, his reel-to-real dream did not push through because the Columbia mission in 2003 ended up crashing, killing all the crew on board. In 2002, Cruise narrated the movie Space Station 3D which paved the way for the actor to get access to NASA. The director of the movie recently revealed that Tom Cruise wanted to be a real-life astronaut citing his ability to fly jets and his own Gulf Stream IV plane. In 2013, Cruise played a space military astronaut in the fiction movie, Oblivion. Tom Cruise was given hands-on training by astronauts from the International Space Station mission according to a report by Mirror. It wasn't his first encounter with NASA. In early 2000, the actor approached the Former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and told him how NASA's website is a 'three clicks to oblivion' because it is a bit difficult to understand for non-scientists. The surprisingly space-geek and actor, offered NASA to help them redesign their website to which O'Keefe agreed. "So I took him up on the offer and it changed the appearance of that website in a way that made it inviting, interesting, folks wanted to participate," said O'Keefe in an interview with SpaceNews in 2015. According to reports, Cruise was already introduced to NASA in Florida and underwent initial training with an introduction course on how to replicate walking in a space suit inside a water tank. "He had a very good chance of doing so but then the accident happened and that was the end of that", said Toni Myers, director of the movie 'Space Station' in an interview with Daily Mail. NASA said the accident was caused by a malfunction of the system. "The physical cause of the loss of Columbia and its crew was a breach in the Thermal Protection System on the leading edge of the left wing" said NASA in the official report. The foam caused a breach leading heated air to penetrate the shuttle's system causing the crew members to lose control of the shuttle and also the disintegration of the spacecraft. Because of this incident, the award-winning actor's dream was cut short and that was the end of his training with the US premiere space agency. But his contribution to NASA's entertaining website can is still evident until today. Sheriffs deputies on Friday continued their hunt for a third suspect linked to a double shooting that killed one Novato High School student, identified as a 17-year-old from Marin County, and injured another. "Id like to say were really, really close, but the fact of the matter is that were being very cautious in what steps we take in regards to apprehending the suspect," sheriffs spokesman Lt. Doug Pittman said. The coroner on Friday identified the shooting victim as Edwin Josue Ramirez Guerra of San Rafael. Forensic tests scheduled for early next week are expected to help officials determine the cause and manner of death. "The past two days have sent shock waves throughout our town," said Mayor Pat Eklund, who described her hometown as a "peaceful" and "safe community." "These crimes are not a normal occurrence" in Novato, Eklund stressed. Marin County sheriff's deputies, Novato police and search-and-rescue teams raided two homes Thursday afternoon and arrested two Novato High School students, both minors. Tactical teams first secured a residence near Rowland and Novato boulevards where they detained one homicide suspect, Marin sheriff's officials said. The teams then moved to a second location on the 1400 block of Leafwood Drive, where a second suspect was detained. Search teams also combed the hillside near the Marin Country Club neighborhood, where the attack occurred. The lone surviving student is said to be improving, deputies said. Investigators have not revealed a motive, but addressed reports that an alleged sexual assault off-campus might be related. "Were aware of that case," said Pittman, who didnt know of any "connection direct" to the ongoing investigation. "It does involve minors who live in the area so the reality is we know that there are some common names," he added. On Friday, Eklund offered condolences to the victims' families and assured them that officials are doing everything they can to solve this case. "Violence will not be tolerated in our city," she said. "Any life lost is one life too many not in our town." Wednesday's crime scene is about five miles south of Novato High School. Pittman said a victim called 911 around 5 p.m. He reported he had been shot and stabbed on Fairway Drive near St. Andrews Drive. He told deputies that three people were behind the attacks, but deputies couldn't find them. The student had to walk about a third of a mile to get to a point where he had cell service to make the call, Pittman said. During their search, sheriff's deputies found a second victim Guerra dead on a hillside from apparent gunshot wounds. A candlelight vigil is being planned at 7 p.m. Sunday near the Novato High School library, according to social media. An inmate is on the loose after walking away from Ben Lomond Conservation Camp in Santa Cruz County Friday night, according to California Department of Corrections officials. Leroy Hampton, 46, left the camp at 13575 Empire Grade Road at 10:15 p.m. Camp staff members saw Hampton leave and were unable to stop him, CDCR spokesman Jeffrey Callison said. The roughly 110 inmates at the camp help extinguish fires. Several law enforcement agencies are searching for Hampton who is 5 feet 11 inches tall and 178 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. He was convicted of first-degree robbery and started serving his sentence June 7, 2001, Callison said. Hampton was set to be released April 27, 2019. Hampton was last seen wearing a gray sweats and is from Fresno County, Callison said. Anyone who sees Hampton is being asked to call 911. San Francisco police have identified the officer who fatally shot Jessica Williams last week in the Bayview District as Sgt. Justin Erb. Williams was fatally shot around 9:45 a.m. last Thursday, May 19, nafter police attempted to pull her over on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle on Elmira Street. Police said she crashed while trying to flee, then attempted to drive the vehicle forward and backward while officers tried to detain her. Erb fired a single shot, fatally striking Williams, who was transported to San Francisco General Hospital and pronounced deceased. Later that day, as activists and reporters massed at City Hall, Mayor Ed Lee announced that Police Chief Greg Suhr would resign. Deputy Chief Toney Chaplin has been appointed acting chief until a permanent replacement is selected. Solano County health and social service officials announced Friday that a resident has the county's first case of the Zika virus. But health officials said county residents are not at any risk of contracting the virus. The officials said transmission of the virus occurs mainly through two mosquitoes, which are not native to the Bay Area and are not established in the county. County Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas said residents cannot contract the virus through casual contact as they might catch the flu or measles. He said for a while the virus is in an infected person's blood, so it could be passed from one person to another through a blood transfusion or organ donation. It's also possible mosquitoes that transmit the virus could make their home in the county, which would then put residents at risk. The Solano County Mosquito Abatement District could not immediately be reached for comment. Solano County's Deputy Health Officer Dr. Michael Stacey said the most effective way to prevent the spread of the virus is to avoid traveling to places where the virus is being spread, which is mainly in Central and South America. The resident who has the virus recently traveled to Central America, according to county officials. The virus has been linked to a disease called microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with smaller heads. It's also been linked to pregnancy loss, poorly developed brains in fetuses and newborns and impaired growth in fetuses and infants. The virus can be transmitted sexually, so health officials are encouraging men to use condoms correctly and consistently or abstain from sex. Matyas said so far the transmission has occurred from men to women. He said it might be possible for women to transmit the virus to men during sex, but so far no such cases have occurred. The deep unpopularity of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has led to an unprecedented level of excitement at the Libertarian Party's presidential nominating convention in Orlando this year. Libertarian officials said Friday as the four-day convention began that 985 delegates and 344 alternates were attending from all 50 states a record. Dues-paying members have increased by 30 percent since the beginning of the year, Libertarian officials said. "There's a lot more energy. ... There's so much attention being given to the Libertarians," said former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who with running mate William Weld, the former Massachusetts governor, are considered front-runners for the nomination. There are 18 declared Libertarian presidential candidates, including Johnson, who was the party's presidential nominee in 2012, and John McAfee, founder of the anti-computer-virus company that bore his name. Johnson earned about 1 percent of the popular vote in 2012 for the political party that champions limited government and individual freedom. "There's so much excitement," said Austin Petersen, a Missouri businessman who, some say, poses the greatest threat to Johnson. "The Libertarians have never seen so many good, quality candidates. ... We've just never seen this much attention to our party, ever, before." Not running for office, but mingling with the Libertarians were Iron Man, Frozen's Elsa, Mario Brothers characters and other costumed fanboys and fangirls who were attending a comic-book convention at the same resort and had to walk through the Libertarian exhibition hall. Also mixing with the Libertarians and the MegaCon fans were Florida judges, whose meetings at the resort brought a large presence of uniformed law enforcement officers. Johnson doesn't have the fund-raising ability of Clinton or Trump, and he said he is instead relying on news media appearances to boost his name recognition in an effort to reach the necessary 15 percent threshold to qualify for the presidential debates this fall. "I don't think there is any question that we will be at 15 percent if we are in the polls," Johnson said Friday. "That's really the key is getting in the polls." Johnson hopes to appeal to supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, with whom he shares many positions on social issues, although not economic ones, he said Friday. "Those same Bernie Sanders supporters ... are going to find themselves philosophically siding with me more than they do with Hillary Clinton," Johnson said. "When it comes to Bernie, we agree on so much, but when it comes to economics, we get to a 'T' in the road and he goes one way and I go the other." Rep. Lou Lang announced an agreement with Gov. Bruce Rauner Friday to extend the states medical marijuana pilot program to 2020. "Governor Rauner and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin deserve credit for their willingness and commitment to reform and extend Illinois' medical marijuana program, Lang said in a statement. I want to thank them for their cooperation to find a bi-partisan legislative compromise on improving a program designed to ease the pain and suffering of seriously ill individuals, including children." A variety of changes were made to the program. Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) and terminal illnesses were added to the list of qualifying medical conditions that can be treated as part of the program. Patient and caregiver ID cards will now be valid for three years, instead of one. Fingerprinting will also not be required to renew those cards. Under the new agreement, doctors will no longer be required to recommend cannabis. Instead, they will certify their relationship with a patient and confirm a qualifying condition. Minors who are part of the program will also be allowed two caregivers under the new plan. The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will also be reconstituted. Additionally, a new procedure will be created to accept patient petitions for new conditions to be added to the program. Illinois lawmakers will return to Springfield Sunday to hash out a potential budget plan with the deadline to make a deal coming at the end of the month. The General Assembly will also be in session on Memorial Day. The deadline for the legislature to pass a budget with a simple majority is Tuesday. House Democrats, led by Speaker Mike Madigan, pushed through an out-of-balance budget plan Wednesday. The bill will now be sent to the Illinois Senate. Gov. Bruce Rauner has made it clear that he plans to veto the measure. Meanwhile Rauner continued to push for a bipartisan, balanced budget. "I ask the rank and file members, the Democrats and Republicans in the legislature, do the right thing: stand up for your people in your district and your people in the entire state of Illinois, Rauner said during a press conference. Get a balanced budget, a truly balanced budget and get reforms to grow our economy and protect property taxpayers from the brutal burden on them. Madigan also said he was open to budget negotiations. Were prepared to negotiate with the governor, find the revenue to pay for the spending plan, Madigan said during a Friday press conference. My first choice is raise taxes on the wealthy. The states budget impasse dates back to July of last year and has largely hinged on a battle between Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature over the governors pro-business, union-weakening Turnaround Agenda. The stalemate has adversely affected state funding for health and social service groups, as well as the states public colleges and universities. Two men are accused of sexually assaulting a far south suburban bartender as she went to the bathroom while working over the weekend. Police said the alleged assault took place around 1:30 a.m. Saturday at a bar in the 100 block of East Washington Street in Momence. A 38-year-old woman was working as a bartender when two male customers assaulted her in the bars restroom, authorities said. The victim identified her alleged attackers and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Momence Police Chief Jeff Cavender later requested the assistance of the Manteno Police Department in the case after discovering the two suspects both had personal and professional affiliations with members of the Momence Police Department. On Thursday, Manteno police charged 39-year-old John Harrison and 45-year-old Thomas Madison, both of Momence, with criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint. Both men are being held at the Jerome Combs Detention Center pending a bond hearing. It was not immediately known if either had an attorney. A felon already in jail for allegedly sexually abusing a Lincoln Park jogger has been charged with raping a woman he met on a social networking website two years ago, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. Timothy Reliford met the then 18-year-old victim in person at Union Station on June 10, 2014 after they started chatting on Tagged, Assistant Cook County States Attorney Marilyn Salas-Wail said. The pair ended up walking to a Brown Line train station and got into a train. Reliford eventually exited the train, but the woman stayed on. A few days later, Reliford called the woman over to his apartment, in the first block of West Division Division, Salas-Wail said at Relifords bond hearing on Friday. The woman agreed but only to tell Reliford that she didnt want him to contact her anymore, Salas-Wail said. When she tried to leave, Reliford allegedly blocked the woman from going and threw her on the bed. Reliford ordered her to take off her clothes, Salas-Wail said. The woman refused, so Reliford proceeded to choke her before pulling down her pants and raping her, Salas-Wail said. The woman called police after she left Relifords apartment. She was taken to a local hospital where a rape kit was taken. Earlier this month, police were notified that there was a hit on the Combined DNA Index System matching Relifords DNA. The victim identified Reliford, who is currently in jail on $250,000 bail for a 2015 incident involving another woman. In that case, Reliford is accused of threatening a jogger in Lincoln Park with a BB gun before groping and kissing her. That victim begged him to stop, and was able to defuse the situation by asking him if they could just hold hands and walk instead. She led Reliford to her high-rise, where she immediately told security, who called police, prosecutors said at the time. Before she went inside, Reliford asked allegedly if they could stay in touch and kissed her again. Reliford has a history of felony convictions dating back to 2002 for attempted armed robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, deceptive practices and residential burglary, according to prosecutors. Judge James Brown on Friday ordered Reliford, now 32, held in lieu of $250,000 bail for the 2014 sexual assault. A man who already had multiple convictions for burglary has been charged in connection with two break-ins at an iconic Chicago popcorn shop. Armando Vadillo, 51, of the 3900 block of N Clark St in Lakeview is facing two felony counts of burglary after he was identified as the suspect who broke into Nuts on Clark twice in late May, according to police. The first burglary at the store, located in the 3900 block of N Clark St, occurred around 1:25 a.m. on May 20. The second break-in was on May 27 at 2:05 a.m. When officers arrived on the scene, they secured a perimeter and found Vadillo a short distance away, according to police. He was identified as the offender in both burglaries using surveillance video, officials said, and had allegedly broken into the business through the air conditioning duct. According to police, Vadillo has multiple previous convictions for burglary. He was most recently sentenced to seven years in prison in 2012, but released on parole. The popular snack shop was also burglarized twice in the beginning of April, but Vadillo is not facing charges in connection with those incidents. Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed a plan to reduce Chicago's payments to its police and fire pension funds for each of the next five years. He says it's the kind of "irresponsible" practice that led to Illinois' deep financial woes. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said after the Friday veto that the Republican governor "just told every Chicago taxpayer to take a hike." Emanuel says it will lead to "the Rauner tax." The Legislature approved the measure last year. Democrats said it would save the retirement funds without crushing taxpayers. Chicago's payments to the funds are set to jump to $840 million this year, up from $300 million. The legislation would have set the 2016 payment at $619 million. Rauner called the measure "a game politicians like to play with taxpayers' dollars." A Lindenhurst man accused of making pipe bombs in his home detailed in his journal plans of killing as many people as he could before killing himself, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. In an entry dated last weekend, Michael Suopys, wrote about seeking revenge against people who had wronged him, including members of his own family, according to a complaint filed in federal court on Friday. Suicide not without revenge, the 28-year-old who said he was losing his mind allegedly wrote. Suopys vowed to kill himself by ingesting a gas. But before doing so, he said he was going to make their lives hell, the complaint said. This is going to be a war I lose, but in doing so, I am going to drag down many with me. The method of suicide is going to be inhert [sic] gas inhalation. Ill take out as many people as I can without getting caught and when this does happen, Ill have my bottle of gas with me to make my escape. After receiving a tip, federal agents went to Suopys home last week where he readily admitted that he had two pipe bombs in his room and that he was in the middle of making nitrocellulose when the authorities came to his door, the complaint said. Suopys described the nitrocellulose a highly flammable compound used in explosives as very dangerous and voluntarily told the agents how he was making it, the feds said. Suopys allegedly continued to tell the agents that he had worked with black powder before but wanted to make a more powerful grenade that he could use to defend himself against the government or if there was no law. One of Suopys parents who opened the door for the agents told them that Suopys had suffered from depression for most of his life. That parent also said they were aware that Suopys was doing chemistry projects in his room but did not know what he was specifically doing, the complaint said. Suopys eventually allowed the agents to search his room but told them they couldnt look through his digital media accounts, computers or black notebook. Inside, agents found two pipe bombs with wicks and a cotton-like substance consistent with nitrocellulose and an empty steel pipe, the complaint said. After obtaining a warrant, the agents went through Suopys journal. I have successfully made nitrocelluose [sic], federal authorities said Suopys wrote on Feb. 29. This explosive is more powerful than any of my previous black powder mixes. Suopys was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bail last Sunday on a felony charge of possessing bombs containing an explosive substance. A local traveler said her vacation plans were put on hold because of a medical emergency. But instead of a smooth rescheduling process, she said she had to spend hundreds of dollars in rebooking fees before finally getting the resolution she was seeking. Laura Voss said she cancelled a flight last summer due to a cancer diagnosis. She needed surgery to remove a kidney, which was scheduled several days before her flight. Voss received a travel voucher to use at a later time. Since I have recovered, my son and I made new vacation plans and was charged a $200 rebooking fee for each ticket, Voss wrote to NBC 5 Responds. Voss said she and her son did make it to North Carolina this month, almost a year after their original planned vacation. However, she said she spent months trying to get United Airlines and Expedia to remove the rebooking fees. So that is when my husband suggested I contact NBC 5 for help, Voss wrote. NBC 5 Responds contacted United regarding Voss rebooking fees. The airline responded by saying it would look into the matter. Voss said she was told she would have to wait until all of her travel plans were completed before the refund process could continue. Later, the airline later told us it was processing a refund to Expedia. And Voss told us what followed was more waiting. More phone calls, sitting on hold for 90 minutes, being told that I had to call United back numerous times, Voss wrote. Finally, Voss said her family received a $400 credit. Nobody should have to go through such an ordeal to get a refund, especially for a medical emergency and since all my documentation was in order, Voss wrote. Expedia issued a statement to NBC 5 Responds. We appreciate NBC 5 Chicago reaching out to us on behalf of Ms. Voss and regret the inconvenience and this experience has caused her, the statement read. Ms. Voss has been refunded for the change fees in full. Expedia said it offers travel insurance so travelers an best prepare for unexpected circumstances ahead of travel. Travel experts also urge travelers to consider travel insurance, which they say may protect against rebooking fees. AAA said its a good idea to purchase the insurance as soon as possible. If you wait too long, sometimes that length of time will cost you in the end, said AAA spokesperson Beth Mosher. Mosher also said travelers need to check the policies of different airlines and look what happens should they need to cancel or rebook their flight. Some airlines have much more forgiving policies than others, Mosher said. Former Glee actor Mark Salling was indicted on child pornography charges by a federal grand jury Friday. Salling was charged with receiving and possessing child porn on his laptop computer and a flash drive, according to the U.S. Attorneys office of the Central District of California. The images, depicting young girls, were allegedly seized from Sallings Shadow Hills home in December. The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesnt dovetail with reality. As our investigators can attest, the defendants in child pornography cases come in all ages and from all walks of life, said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles, in a written statement. While people are often surprised when high-profile individuals come under scrutiny in such investigations, we hope cases like this will raise awareness about law enforcements vigilance to combat the online sexual exploitation of children and hold those involved, regardless of their position, accountable for their actions. If convicted, Salling faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the two charges. Salling, through his attorney, has agreed to surrender to federal authorities next week to face the charges in the indictment. He is expected to be arraigned at that time, according to The Associated Press. Salling is best known for playing Noah "Puck" Puckerman on "Glee." A small vintage World War II fighter plane taking part in a photo flight ahead of an air show crashed in to the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey Friday evening, killing the pilot onboard, police and witnesses said. The P-47 Thunderbolt, a single-seat propeller plane, was on a flight to shoot promotional material for the Bethapage Air Show in Jones Beach when it went down in the water about two miles south of the George Washington Bridge at about 7:30 p.m., according to officials. Chopper 4, the first news helicopter on the scene, showed police, fire and Coast Guard boats and helicopters swarming the area as they searched for the pilot, later identified as William Gordon of Key West, Florida. Scuba divers recovered the 56-year-olds body about three hours after the crash, according to NYPD Det. Michael Debonis. The plane suffered some sort of mechanical issue and the pilot tried to ditch in the Hudson, said Gari Lewi, a spokesman for the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport on Long Island, which owns the plane. It's not clear what the source of the problem was. Dozens of witnesses saw the plane now down, and at least one caught the moment the aircraft hit the water on video. That footage shows a large splash in the Hudson River, as a man off-camera can be heard saying, did it just crash? Other people off the camera wonder aloud whether they had actually seen a plane crash before one says We gotta call 911. Diners at Waterside Restaurant in North Bergen, New Jersey, tell NBC 4 New York they saw the small vintage plane appear to start landing, then suddenly plunge into the water nose first. "We saw it splashing into the water and disappearing," said Sabine DeMeuter. "We were in shock." They say they saw the pilot try to get out but he appeared to flail in the water and then sink with the plane. "He tried to get out out, and then it pulled him right down inside," said Nick Ciccolella. Other witnesses say they saw the smoke hit the water and at first thought it was an air show for Fleet Week, which draws thousands of people to the nearby Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for events including live demonstrations. New Jersey State Police erroneously said earlier the pilot had been rescued and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but NYPD Deputy Chief Rodney Harrison said in a news briefing a short time later that the pilot remained unaccounted for and that New Jersey State Police's report that he was rescued was "inaccurate." New Jersey State Police later retracted its statement, saying there had been "conflicting reports from scene of plane crash" and that it could "no longer confirm swimmer in water was pilot." The P47-Thunderbolt was the heaviest single-engine fighter plane used by Allied forces in World War II. The aircraft first went into service in 1942 with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island. Lewi said the museum was going to honor the planes 75th anniversary of coming into service this weekend at the air show. The plane that crashed was supposed to fly in this weekends airshow. The one that crashed in the river flew periodically, including to other air shows, Lewi said. The site where the plane crashed Friday, near the Edgewater Marina, is a little less than 5 miles upriver of where U.S. Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the river in 2009 in what is now commonly referred to as The Miracle on the Hudson Jonathan Dienst and Michael Gargiulo contributed to this report. Hundreds of volunteers came out to decorate the graves of Connecticuts fallen, remembering those who died fighting for our freedom. Among those planting 1,500 flags at West Hartfords Fairview Cemetery were veterans who wanted to make sure those who paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our freedom were not forgotten. Its our job to honor those who gave their life for this country, said Kenneth Hungerford, a Korean War Veteran. Hungerford considers himself one of the lucky ones. During his ten years in the service, he witnessed the horrors of war. If you were in the service youre with buddies. You try to save each other, said Hungerford. Denise Halls father began bringing her family to Fairview Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend 35 years ago to place flags at the veterans graves. She continues to carry the torch drawing hundreds of volunteers each year. Dozens of boy scouts were among the volunteers. Hall said she hoped some of the scouts would be inspired to serve their country. Look at how many men and women have served our country and died in service. It really makes you reflect on what the weekend is all about, said Hall. If they didnt do what they had done, they didnt serve their country, I wouldnt have my freedom and thats very precious, added 41:27 Constance Collins, a World War II Veteran. Collins, 92-years-old, served stateside for the Navy in World War Two, drawing maps of the Pacific for bombers to follow. I felt like I was doing something for my country. You know, I was part of the war, she said of joining her sister in signing up for the military. Shes still finding a way to serve and proud to be part of the patriotic show of support for her fellow service members and remembering the service and sacrifice of the troops who didnt make it home Were very very lucky to live in a free country, she added. Police in Willimantic are warning residents to be on alert after several car break-ins on the south side of the city. Police say the break-ins occurred during overnight hours in neighborhoods south of the Frog Bridge. The suspect or suspects used a rock or a brick to bust open vehicle windows and enter. In each incident, the items stolen were in plain view. The department reminds residents to hide valuables such as wallets, purses and/or electronics should be secured in a truck or out of sight from thieves. Anyone with information on the break-ins should contact Willimantic police. 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 search is underway for the gunmen suspected in a deadly shooting in Fort Worth early Saturday morning. Officers said shots were fired shortly after 2:30 a.m. as a group was leaving a party near the 2300 block of Anna Street. According to police, a 22-year-old man was struck after two people opened fire near the group. The man, who was not identified, was rushed to John Peter Smith hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced deceased shortly after, police said. Investigators did not release suspect information. Bryce Dejean-Jones, a guard for the New Orleans Pelicans, was fatally shot after he kicked down the door of a Dallas apartment early Saturday morning, police said. According to police, officers were called to the Camden Belmont apartment complex on the 2500 block of Bennett Avenue at 3:20 a.m. regarding a shooting. The resident of the apartment, whose identity was not released, was sleeping when he heard a man, identified as 23-year-old Bryce Dejean-Jones, breaking down the front door, police said. The resident, armed with a handgun, called out and heard no response. As Dejean-Jones kicked open the bedroom door, the resident fired his gun, police said. #nbcdfwnow Email residents got today regarding a shooting involving Pelicans player Bryce DeJean-Jones. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/V96l2phS8a Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseNBC5) May 28, 2016 Dejean-Jones left the apartment and collapsed. He was later brought to a hospital and pronounced dead from a gunshot wound, according to the police statement. Agent Scott W. Nichols said Dejean-Jones was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Bryce was visiting his girlfriend in Dallas for his daughters 1st birthday. This was the first time Bryce visited her new apartment," Nichols said in a statement. "Later that night, Bryce came back to the apartment. Incidentally he went to the wrong apartment on the third floor just below his girlfriends fourth-floor apartment. He was attempting to enter the apartment which led to him ultimately being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bryce was then shot and killed." The New Orleans Pelicans, in a press release, said the team is "devastated" over the loss of Dejean-Jones. It is with deep sadness that the Pelicans organization acknowledges the sudden passing of Bryce Dejean-Jones. We are devastated at the loss of this young mans life who had such a promising future ahead of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bryces family during this difficult time. [[381218631, C]] Dejean-Jones signed a three-year contract with the Pelicans in February after joining the team in January on consecutive 10-day contracts. In Dejean-Jones' only NBA season, which ended in February because of a broken right wrist, the 6-foot-6 guard started 11 of 14 games and averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds. Nichols said Dejean-Jones had nearly completed his rehab and was set to begin shooting with his right hand again next week. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called it a "tragic loss." "Bryce inspired countless people with his hard work and perseverance on his journey to the NBA, and he had a bright future in our league," Silver said in a statement issued Saturday. National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts, who had posted a link to the story of Dejean-Jones' death on Twitter and wrote that it was "The news I pray every day I never have to hear," said "Bryce's dedication and hard work on his journey to the NBA will forever serve as an inspiration to us all." Dejean-Jones was a part of the 2014-15 Iowa State team that went 25-9, captured a Big 12 title and made a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. He was fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.5 points in 33 games. He shot a career-best 47.6 percent in his lone season as a Cyclone. "This is a very, very sad and tragic day for everyone that's a part of the Cyclone basketball family," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. Former Cyclones coach Fred Hoiberg, now the coach of the NBA's Chicago Bulls, added in a statement that Dejean-Jones was a "passionate and talented player that lived out his dream of playing in the NBA through hard work and perseverance." He also played college ball at the University of Southern California and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dejean-Jones was suspended late in the 2013-14 season from UNLV for conduct detrimental to the team, and announced that he was leaving USC midway through the 2010-11 season. Several NBA players reacted to news of Dejean-Jones' death on Twitter Saturday. "Crazy how life is man," wrote Brooklyn Nets guard Shane Larkin. "Prayers out to Bryce Dejean Jones and his family." Quincy Pondexter, one of Dejean-Jones' teammates with the Pelicans, said "This Can't be real life... Rest easy lil bro." The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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. Officials are investigating two incidents of possible animal cruelty at Southern California high schools, and at least one of them may have been part of a senior prank, authorities said. Baby, a 5-year-old goat, went missing May 19 after its owner says a group of teens from Ganesha High School in Pomona broke into her property and took her. "They came in the middle of the night and stole her from our property and took her to the school and painted on her and who knows what else they've done to her," the owner, who asked not to be identified, said. Baby was found with a broken leg on school campus the next day, a Ganesha High School student told NBC4. "It's one thing to do a prank and one thing to do this, hurt and animal," the student said. Its owner says her face was swollen and her body, painted in the school's colors, was half shaven. "If they can do this to an animal what can they do to a human?" the owner said. Baby died Thursday following surgery, her owner said. The Inland Valley Humane Society was investigating the incident. Pomona Unified School District issued a statement, saying the "safety of our students, staff and campus facilities, as well as superlative respect to our local community" is a priority. "As a high school ranked in the top 4th percentile in CA by U.S. News & World Report, we take our role as a model academic high school very seriously and we do not condone injustices toward people or animals," the statement said, highlight their "zero-tolerance policy for deviations to academic and safety standards." In a separate incident, two rabbits were found dead Friday morning at Riverside Polytechnic High School, according to the Riverside Unified School District. District officials said staff arrived on campus around 5:30 a.m. and found three dead rabbits as well as toilet paper, trash, graffiti with inappropriate language and symbols and broken windows. The Riverside School District initially said the incident was an apparent senior prank, adding it was "disheartened at this unfortunate news." However, Michael Roe, principal at Polytechnic High School later said that these incidents were not part of a senior prank but rather "a coordinated effort to vandalize our school," and called the acts "unnerving." "To carry out this kind of act on a high school campus - or anywhere in the community for that matter - is cause for concern and proportionate action," Roe said in a statement. "I am incredibly proud of the response from the Poly community - the district, RPD, parents, wealth of students and staff who have denounced these cowardice acts." Officials also said the district was working the Riverside Police Department to comb through multiple angles of video footage from the incident, and will be interviewing students who may have been involved. Recent attacks on gay men in West Hollywood have some people on edge and they'd like to see better security for the bustling night life along Santa Monica Boulevard. Brandon Ackridge said that after only having two drinks Saturday night he blacked out after leaving Mickey's bar and when he woke up he was in the intensive care unit with his face and body covered in bruises. Ackridge, who works as a bartender and go-go dancer in West Hollywood, believes somebody dropped something in his drink before he was assaulted while walking home. "I remember coming out of the doors and that's the last thing I recall," he said. "The doctor said when he did my blood test the things that showed up in my blood were consistent with date-rape drugs. The reason they don't think I fell is there's no scrapes. It's all clean bruises on both sides all the way down my body." This comes just one month after Christopher de la Cruz was attacked a few blocks away. De la Cruz said two men beat him and held him at knife point while calling him a homophobic slur. Ackridge said he's not sure if he was targeted because he's gay, but he's worried after hearing about similar attacks. "Someone posted on my page that someone got beaten up by the Abbey the same night I did," he said. Word of the assaults comes as no surprise to Chris Martinez who is straight, but works in West Hollywood. He said somebody recently tried to drug his drink at a bar on Santa Monica Boulevard. "It's just sad, crazy," he said. "But that's the night life. You gotta be careful. You can't lose sight of your drink." The motive for the attacks isn't known, but Ackridge said he'd like to see more security protecting the bar district in Boys Town. "It makes me want to stay home," he said. "It shouldn't be like this. This is a beautiful place." A UCLA facilities employee arrested in 2014 by campus police is suing the department and the University of California Board of Regents, alleging that he was targeted because he is black. Claudius Gaines' lawsuit, which alleges civil rights violations, also names as defendants Officer Brandon Young, who is white, and Officer Fabiola Leon, whose ethnicity is not mentioned in the complaint. The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday additionally alleges assault and battery, false imprisonment and negligence. Gaines is seeking unspecified damages. "This lawsuit concerns the ominous subject of racial profiling being committed by members of the UCLA (campus police) against members of the African- American community who happen to travel around the Westwood campus," the lawsuit states. UCLA issued a statement saying the university "strongly disputes the allegations made in the lawsuit and will vigorously defend itself in the course of the litigation. The University of California Police Department seeks to ensure that its police officers apply the law equally to all persons. All officers receive ongoing training to recognize implicit bias and to prevent racial profiling in carrying out their law enforcement duties," the statement says. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge, David Cunningham, was himself a previous victim of racial profiling by UCLA police, prompting the department to retrain every member of its staff on the problem and pay $500,000, according to a claim filed and settled on the judge's behalf by attorney Carl Douglas, who also represents Gaines. "The UCLA Police Department has had a troubling history of racially profiling minority motorists who are driving off-campus through the streets of Westwood," Douglas said in a statement. According to Gaines' lawsuit, he was leaving work between 11:30 a.m. and midnight Aug. 27, 2014, to drive his truck to his Inglewood home when he was stopped near the UCLA campus. Young was driving the police car, the suit states. "Mr. Gaines ... believes that Young pulled him over (even) though he had not broken any law or public offense, but because he looked like he didn't belong in that neighborhood," the suit says. After being told to produce his driver's license and registration, Gaines put both hands on the steering wheel, according to his suit, which says one of the officers then grabbed Gaines by his arm and ordered him out of the truck. He was arrested for allegedly resisting, delaying or obstructing a police officer. "Claudius Gaines did nothing to justify this use of unreasonable force or false imprisonment against him," the suit says. The suit alleges Young and Leon were not properly trained by the department to avoid racial profiling, as well as excessive force and false imprisonment against motorists with whom they interact. According to UCLA's statement, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office filed misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer and resisting arrest charges against Gaines. A jury failed to reach a verdict in the case on Nov. 4, according to the university. A juvenile driver turned himself in Saturday, 17 hours after striking a woman and teen crossing the street in Granada Hills before driving off, police said. Just before 10 p.m. Friday, a 53-year-old woman and a female teen were walking near Balboa Boulevard and Chatsworth Street when they were struck, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The woman was taken to a hospital in critical condition and the teen suffered minor injuries, police said. The vehicle, only described as a black sedan, did not stop and drove off westbound. According to a witness, the driver yelled something out, stuck his left arm out of the window and made an obscene gesture. Police were looking for surveillance videos from nearby businesses before the juvenile turned himself in at 3 p.m. Saturday accompanied by an adult. He was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run. A $25,000 reward was being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. The 53-year-old was in critical condition. The sun was shining in Simi Valley, but darkness loomed over Madera Elementary School. The usually fun Friday afternoon was replaced by moments of silence and a dozen grief counselors helping heartbroken students and teachers with Thursday's tragedy. Fourth-grader Angel Zevallos was fatally struck by an SUV after he was pushed into oncoming traffic as he was horsing playing on his way home from school, police said. Zevallos suffered major head injuries and was taken to a hospital in critical condition. He was taken off of life support later that night and died, police said. "It's a complete accident," said Jake Finch, a school spokesman. "Sometimes things happen and sometimes they're tragic. That's what we're trying to explain to the kids." Candles were placed at a memorial for Zevallos on Royal Avenue just west of Sinaloa Road, where the crash took place. With their Angel gone, mourners say the school will never be the same, but will heal together with Zevallos' family. 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." Miami-Fire Rescue responded to reports of heavy flames and smoke spewing from a home in Miami Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred at a home near the intersection of Northeast 55th Street in Miami around 2 p.m. Rescue crews say flames shooting more than 50 feet in the air could be seen spewing from an abandoned single family home. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within 30 minutes, preventing it from spreading to nearby homes. The cause of the fire is unknown. No reported injuries to any firefighters. Katharine the great white shark is making her way back down Florida's east coast. Florida Today reports that shark's satellite transmitter pinged near the Florida-Georgia border on Sunday and then near Daytona Beach on Wednesday. Chris Fischer, founder of the shark-tracking group OCEARCH, says Katharine's movements over the past two years demonstrate a transition from an immature shark to a mature shark. Scientists believe she might be pregnant. OCEARCH researchers captured Katharine off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in August 2013 and attached a transmitter to her dorsal fin. She measured 14 feet, 2 inches long and weighed 2,300 pounds. The next year, Katharine became OCEARCH's first Atlantic great white shark to migrate past the Florida Keys into the Gulf of Mexico. Satellite data shows Katharine has traveled nearly 29,000 miles since being tagged. It was a mostly quiet start to the long Memorial Day weekend in Miami Beach Friday with not many arrests reported. The celebration that leads up to Memorial Day falls during Urban Beach Week, which means a lot of people and the possibility of crime. So far Miami beach police say crime is down with only 18 arrests, 6 of them felonies and the rest misdemeanors. Officers said that's not uncommon for a Friday night. "We are noticing a much calmer crowd, during the day we are seeing families out here with strollers and we hope that continues for the remainder of the weekend," police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said. "We want people to have a good time but do so responsibly." Business owners said this year seems different from previous years. "So far it's great, the police and the city they are really taking care of the streets and they are in charge of the crowds," said Safa Majeed, owner of Fresh on Fifth. Fresh on Fifth is right across from one place police were stationed on Miami Beach, at Ocean and Fifth. Police say they will maintain a heavy presence on foot and in their vehicles and will be cracking down on intoxicated drivers and people causing trouble. An altercation at a barbershop in northwest Miami-Dade quickly escalated, resulting in a man being shot Saturday. The shooting took place at a barbershop located at 1120 NW 119 St. in Miami Saturday afternoon. According to Miami-Dade Police, three men were standing in front of a barbershop at a strip mall, when the men got into a verbal altercation. The situation escalated, and one man pulled out a gun and shot 35-year-old man Williamson St. Hilaire in the abdomen. Hilaire was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital Trauma Center. Hilaire sustained critical injuries. Investigators are looking for two black males in their mid twenties to early thirties seen fleeing following the altercation. A Long Island man broke into a grocery store, stole an ATM and loaded it onto a stolen school minibus, police said Saturday. David Hughes, 61, broke the glass door of a Bravo supermarket in Westbury early Friday and grabbed the store's cash machine, Nassau County police said. Hughes then loaded the ATM onto a yellow school bus that he had stolen earlier, investigators said. Hughes was caught on surveillance video sliding the stolen machine into the bus, supermarket manager Victor Perez said. There was about $3,000 in the ATM, he said. Hughes was arrested later Friday in Queens after someone called police to report a suspicious person in a school bus. The ATM was on the ground next to the bus. He was charged with burglary and grand larceny. It wasn't clear if Hughes had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. A salvage team has recovered a small vintage World War II fighter plane that crashed into the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey Friday evening, killing the pilot onboard. The Army Corps of Engineers lifted the aircraft out of the river Saturday. The plane was taken to the Downtown Manhattan Heliport near Wall Street. The P-47 Thunderbolt, a single-seat propeller plane, was on a flight to shoot promotional material for the Bethpage Air Show in Jones Beach when it went down in the water about two miles south of the George Washington Bridge at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday, according to officials. Police, fire and Coast Guard boats and helicopters swarmed the area as they searched for the pilot, later identified as William Gordon of Key West, Florida. Scuba divers recovered the 56-year-old pilots body about three hours after the crash, according to NYPD Det. Michael Debonis. The plane suffered some sort of mechanical problem and the pilot tried to ditch in the Hudson, said Gari Lewi, a spokesman for the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport on Long Island, which owns the plane. It's not clear what the source of the problem was. Diners at Waterside Restaurant in North Bergen, New Jersey, told NBC 4 New York they saw the small vintage plane appear to start landing, then suddenly plunge into the water nose first. Other witnesses say they saw the smoke hit the water and at first thought it was an air show for Fleet Week, which draws thousands of people to the nearby Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for events including live demonstrations. Bethpage Air Show organizers said in a statement posted online they will proceed with the event "with heavy hearts." Unbelievable- just got this video. Good Samaritan dives in water to search for pilot who crashed in Hudson. #nbc4ny pic.twitter.com/k9cbVSG9Ni Michael George (@mgeorge4NY) May 28, 2016 "The pilot was a friend to us all and we send our deepest sympathy to his family and our friends at the American Air Power Museum," the statement read. Gordon was a veteran air show pilot and had more than 25 years of experience, the AP reported, citing promotional material on a website for a Key West air show last month. Gordon was an "aerobatic competency evaluator" who certified pilots to perform low-level aerobatics, according to the site. Just saw this fighter aircraft go down on the Hudson River @ABC7 @NYDailyNews pic.twitter.com/WtVJRWF5uK Rob (@robflash_) May 27, 2016 Just saw a plane go down in the Hudson River. Hope all are okay. Carla Nager (@CarlaNager) May 27, 2016 Dogggg!!! Just witnessed a plane crash into the Hudson River!! Danny Giraldo (@PrettyBoy_DG) May 27, 2016 The P47-Thunderbolt was the heaviest single-engine fighter plane used by Allied forces in World War II. The aircraft first went into service in 1942 with the 56th Fighter Group based on Long Island. Lewi said the museum was going to honor the planes 75th anniversary of coming into service this weekend at the air show. The plane that crashed was supposed to fly in this weekends airshow. It has flown periodically, including to other air shows, Lewi said. The site where the plane crashed Friday, near the Edgewater Marina, is less than five miles upriver from where U.S. Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the river in 2009 in what is now commonly referred to as The Miracle on the Hudson Jonathan Dienst and Michael Gargiulo contributed to this report. 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. 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. 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. The Libertarian Party's nominating convention opens Friday in Orlando, Florida, where they will pick their candidates for president and vice president just as they have every four years for the past 45 years, NBC News reported. But this year it is different. The two major party candidates are the most unpopular than any nominees in recent history. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's unfavorability ratings rest at historic highs among voters and 47 percent of respondents saying that they'd consider a third party candidate in the latest NBC News/WSJ poll. With voters potentially looking for a third option and the Libertarian Party gaining widespread access on state ballots for November, the Libertarian Party could be in a coveted position heading into the general election. As many as 900 to 950 delegates of the 1047 are expected to attend. This is likely to be the largest convention since the party's first convention 45 years ago. A candidate would have to obtain close to 500 delegates to win. A baby girl was injured in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on City Avenue in Lower Merion early Saturday morning. The accident, which involved three vehicles, occurred on City Avenue at Merion Road around 1:30 a.m. The crash caused at least one of the vehicles to catch fire. A 6-month-old baby girl was injured in the accident and taken to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Officials have not yet revealed her condition. Officials rescued a father and his young son after a tree branch fell on top of them at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem, Pennsylvania Saturday afternoon. Officials say a family was having a picnic under a tree at the park, located on 3401 State Road, when a branch snapped and fell about 50 feet. The father heard a cracking sound, picked up his 4-year-old son and tried to get out of the way but the branch fell on top of both of them. "Everybody was screaming," said Sonaida Fernandez, a witness. "Everybody was running to the tree." The father and son were trapped underneath the branch until first responders arrived and freed them. "There was one guy trying to help," said Juanita DiGiannantonio, another witness. "He took the tree off the guy. The tree was so heavy but he removed it but he told the man to stay still." The father and son were both taken to Aria Torresdale Hospital where they are being treated for lacerations. Officials have not yet revealed their conditions. Trees at Neshaminy State Park are normally surveyed after storms. Assistant Regional Park Manager Barbara Davey told NBC10 the tree limb seemed healthy after inspection and there was no forewarning. "Trees fall all the time but we do our best to make sure that in our heavy day use areas that we inspect all the trees as much as we can," Davey said. "We will reinspect all the trees in the area. We do it over and over again." The area of the park where the tree branch collapsed will remain closed off for the rest of the weekend until park rangers determine no one else is in danger. Three new current and former U.S. Navy officers have been charged in a widespread bribery scheme involving a Singapore business that overbilled the U.S. government by more than $20 million, according to court documents unsealed Friday. In January 2015, "Fat Leonard" Glenn Francis pleaded guilty to bribing senior naval officials in exchange for specific U.S. Navy warship movements so his company could overbill the Pentagon. Francis and his company Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) provided husbanding services, like fuel, tugboats and trash removal, for Navy ships and submarines in various Pacific ports. Thirteen people have been charged for accepting gifts ranging from cash, luxury travel, high-tech gadgets, dinners and prostitutes from Francis and GDMA. Nine have pleaded guilty. On Friday, federal prosecutors announced the investigation has expanded and three new defendants have been charged. U.S. Navy Captain Michael Brooks, retired, 57, of Fairfax Station, Virginia and Lieutenant Commander Gentry Debord, 47, of Singapore each face one charge of conspiracy to commit bribery. Commander Bobby Pitts, 47, of Chesapeake, Virginia faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and two counts of obstruction of official proceedings, federal officials said Friday. Brooks served as the U.S. Naval Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines from June 2006 to July 2008. He retired from the Navy in 2011. In a complaint filed Friday, Brooks is accused of giving Francis and others inside GDMA access to write U.S. Navy documents and correspondence. Brooks then submitted that as his own work, prosecutors alleged. In exchange, Brooks asked for and received the services of prostitutes he referred to by code names shakes mocha shakes and high tea, court documents allege. Pitts was in charge of handling logistical needs for the U.S. Navys Seventh Fleet from August 2009 to May 2011. He's accused of giving Francis an internal NCIS report detailing the governments probe into GDMA for contract fraud. Debord worked in the Western Pacific in different logistical and supply positions. Hes accused of giving Francis internal documents about the governments investigation. Each defendant faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel Dusek, U.S. Navy Captain (Select) Michael Misiewicz, Lieutenant Commander Todd Malaki, NCIS Special Agent John Beliveau, Commander Jose Luis Sanchez and U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Dan Layug have pleaded guilty in the case. Former Department of Defense civilian employee Paul Simpkins awaits trial. A candidate running for San Diego City Attorney was arrested Friday as protesters flooded the streets of downtown San Diego in the aftermath of a heated rally held by presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Hours after Trump delivered a speech to supporters at the San Diego Convention Center in downtown San Diego, unrest continued on the streets with violent protests that resulted in 35 arrests, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) said. Bryan Pease, a San Diego-based attorney, was among those taken into custody as officers outfitted in riot gear worked for hours to control the massive crowds and avoid violent clashes between Trump opponents and supporters. In video captured by NBC 7's News Chopper, Pease can be seen walking in front of a line of officers in San Diego's Barrio Logan area while holding a sign that reads, "Bryan Pease City Attorney." Moments later, several officers break away from the police line and charge at Pease, taking him to the ground and handcuffing him. Pease recorded his take-down and arrest on his cellphone, too, and NBC 7 obtained that video Saturday. In his video, Pease Is heard asking officers, "Am I being ordered to move? I'm not blocking any traffic. I'm in the median -- in middle of the road." Officers charge Pease and take him down, his cellphone flying onto the ground. As his phone lies on the ground, several officers walk by, the police line advancing. Pease sent NBC 7 an email about his arrest early Saturday morning. In the email, Pease wrote, in part: "I was tackled by several police officers for filming their riot today following the Trump protest, when they forced all protesters all the way to Barrio Logan. I was then held for 10 hours in a cramped, filthy jail cell with 20 other individuals similarly falsely arrested until our bail of $500 each was processed." Pease was released from jail Saturday morning. He spoke with NBC 7 shortly after his release. Pease said he wasn't trying to get arrested at Friday's rally aftermath but was there as a "free speech attorney and legal observer." In the moments leading up to his arrest, Pease said he was trying to take a stand against what he viewed as police overstepping their legal boundaries with protesters who, in his opinion, were behaving peacefully and were miles away from the site of the rally. He said the officers at the event were an example of the "militarization of the police department." "This was like a military occupation of Barrio Logan," Pease told NBC 7. There were some protesters, probably, on both sides that needed to be arrested. Thats why law enforcement is there. But then I saw the police forcing the peaceful protesters completely out of the area and they didnt stop there." As local political candidate, Pease said he has campaigned very vocally about the need to "hold the police department accountable and make them respect free speech rights and Constitutional rights." Pease said he was there with a bullhorn expressing his views on the situation and said the scene got a bit chaotic. At one point, he said police fired pepper balls at protesters. According to SDPD Lt. Scott Wahl, Pease was arrested and booked for "refusal to disperse" after he was ordered by police to leave an area filled with protesters. After protesters refused to leave downtown areas, the police department declared "unlawful assembly." There were no reported injuries or property damage amid the chaotic scenes downtown. Pease said SDPD should have only declared "unlawful assembly" and arrested those protesters who were directly involved in the violence, but let the others protest peacefully. When asked if his arrest generated publicity for his City Attorney run, Pease said he does think this incident will help his campaign, or at least help him reach a broader audience of voters who agree with him. My guess is that because he was inflaming things he was someone they needed to neutralize so they can continue on, gain control, criminal justice professor and former police officer Kevin Lachapelle told NBC 7. I really believe that the police showed tremendous restraint. NBC 7 reached out to the police department Saturday for further comment on the arrests during the Trump protests, including Pease's case. Wahl sent NBC 7 this statement via email: "We are proud of the professionalism, restraint and patience displayed by all of the involved officers and deputies during Mr. Trump's visit to San Diego. They provided a safe environment to allow for the freedom of speech. Our decision to declare an unlawful assembly came as a result of violent behavior and unlawful acts within the crowd of protestors. We are very pleased with the outcome of yesterday's event." Several Trump University playbooks will be released to the public after a San Diego judge ruled for them to be unsealed with limited redactions Friday. The Washington Post asked U.S. Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel to intervene in order to ask for thousands of pages of documents to be unsealed in one of the class-action lawsuits against Donald Trump and the now-closed Trump University. In a San Diego courtroom, Judge Curiel issued the documents to be unsealed less than two hours after hearing from all parties involved. In the class action lawsuits, Trump University is accused of misleading students with unfulfilled promises of teaching them the secret to being successful in the real estate business. The allegations outlined in court documents include Trump University, which took in over $40 million, was fraudulent and deceptive. Students paid up to $35,000 for real estate seminars, according to court documents. Two class-action lawsuits against the now-closed Trump University are being heard in San Diego courtrooms, another lawsuit is based in a New York court. The San Diego cases include: Cohen v. Trump, a nationwide class action lawsuit and Makaeff v. Trump, a class action in California, Florida and New York. Click here to read more about the Trump University lawsuits. Trump denies the allegations in the lawsuits. His attorney, Daniel Petrocelli said, the case is unwarranted; (Trump) will defend himself fully." The hearing Friday involved the Cohen v. Trump case. Trump's attorney Jill Martin did not oppose the unsealing of most of the documents but argued specifically against unsealing some, including the Trump University playbooks. She argued they contain trade secrets and if released would harm the business model of Trump University. Dan Laidman, the attorney representing the Washington Post, argued for them to be released citing the public's right to know, among other things. He said, here there is a heightened public interest because Donald Trump is running for president and is making his business record a prime part of his candidacy. These records and this lawsuit illuminate important things about this record. Trump University has not been enrolling or holding live events since 2010; so, that undermines any argument for trade secrets. One of the attorneys representing the members of the class-action said she agreed that the playbooks and other documents should be released and available to the public. In his ruling, siding with the Washington Post, Judge Curiel asked for all documents except for the playbooks and a few other documents be unsealed immediately. Curiel ruled the playbooks should be unsealed by June 2 after phone numbers and non-corporate email addresses (those not ending in trumpuniversity.com) are redacted. Click here to read the unsealing ruling from Curiel. Earlier this month Curiel set a trial date in the other class-action lawsuit being heard in San Diego. It is scheduled for November 28. During his rally in San Diego Friday, Trump said he will be in court for the trial. Trump also discussed the Trump University lawsuits at the rally. We are in front of a very hostile judge, he said. Frankly he should recuse himself. This is not the first time Trump has said Curiel is biased against him. In February he told Fox News, the judge is biased against him because of Trumps call to build a wall along the border. Thirty-five people were arrested Friday in an "unlawful assembly" outside the San Diego Convention Center following GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's first visit to San Diego, according to San Diego Police Department (SDPD). SDPD had declared the gathering at the Trump Rally an "unlawful assembly" as of 4:30 p.m. Friday. Thousands of protestors and Trump supporters began gathering since the morning near the San Diego Convention Center. The crowd turned violent and officers moved in, wearing full riot gear and some carrying bags of tear gas. SDPD Chief Zimmerman said there will be overnight police presence in the Gaslamp area. Zimmerman said most of the crowd in downtown had been dispersed within an hour after dispersal order were given. As of 6 p.m., protestors had blocked Harbor Drive between Downtown San Diego and Barrio Logan. Police in full riot gear were marching down Harbor Drive towards Barrio Logan, attempting to push the crowd back. At least three people were detained on the bridge. According to the legal dictionary, an unlawful assembly is "is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group are about to start the act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then termed a riot." SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman said around 4:30 p.m., several fights broke out in the crowd and protestors had started pushing and shoving. According to a tweet by SDPD, as of 4:49 p.m., dispersal orders had been given and it was considered a misdeanor offense to stay in the area. Officers with batons had slowly pushed the crowd back down to Harbor Drive. Multiple people were pepper sprayed. 5th arrest we've seen after Trump Rally at Convention Center. Police have cleared protestors from Gaslamp #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/7UD8n0phjJ Omari Fleming (@OmariNBCSD) May 28, 2016 The San Diego MTS tweeted that all green line trains will turn around at the Convention Center until further notice. But police and fire will remain in the Gaslamp area throughout the night. According to SDPD, there was no property damage or injuries reported. No other information was immediately available. Police were out in Arlington, Virginia, Friday night checking IDs at bars after seeing an alarming increase in the number of high-quality fake IDs in the area. Arlington County police said more underage people are using the IDs to buy alcohol and get into bars. Last weekend police confiscated 25 high-quality fake IDs. Police said the majority of the IDs had North Carolina and South Carolina addresses. Throughout the summer, officers will be working with businesses in Clarendon to authenticate identification documents and recognize fake IDs, police said. Young people caught with fake IDs are often unaware of the consequences, police said. A person caught using another persons drivers license, altering their own drivers license or reproducing a fake ID can be charged with possession of a false identification, which has a punishment of up to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine or identity theft, which has a punishment of up to 12 months in jail and up to a $2,550 fine, police said. A fire at the Arlington Cemetery Metro station caused major delays on the Blue Line Saturday as thousands visited the Washington, D.C. area for Memorial Day weekend. The Arlington County Fire Department said just before 5 p.m. a train's brakes were on fire at the Arlington Cemetery station. A spokesperson for Metro said the "small" fire was extinguished and it was caused by extremely hot brakes. There were not passengers on the train at the time, Metro said. The train off-loaded at the Capitol South station. Blue Line service was restored about 7:10 p.m. and Metro said riders should expect residual delays. Trains were single-tracking between Pentagon City and Arlington Cemetery for about an hour after service was suspended for a time between the Rosslyn and Pentagon City stations. The Silver Line also experienced delays in both directions because of the issue. Arlington County fire officals said one injury was reported, but later said that injury was not related to the fire. A Prince George's County teacher has been arrested after police say he had sexual contact with a 17-year-old student on school grounds. Police charged 45-year-old Vincent McDuffie, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with sex abuse of a minor. McDuffie is a teacher at Forestville High School. The student said he had sexual contact with her several times in March and April on school grounds during the school day, police said. McDuffie was arrested on Thursday and admitted his involvement with the student, police said. Prince George's County Public Schools released the following statement about McDuffie's arrest: "Prince George's County Public Schools is aware of the arrest of a Forestville High School teacher on Thursday. We will cooperate fully with law enforcement in its investigation. Based upon the admission made by the teacher to the police, we have placed him on leave without pay and will immediately seek his termination. Any behavior that brings harm to a student will not be tolerated in any way in PGCPS. We remain keenly focused on our commitment to ensuring a quality education in a safe environment for the children of PGCPS." Police ask that anyone with information call the Prince George's County Police Department's Children and Vulnerable Adult Unit at 301 (722) 4930, call anonymously at 1 (866) 411-TIPS or test "PGPD plus your message" to CRIMES. It was late October 1942. World War 2 was moving into North Africa, and American troops had just landed at Guadalcanal two months earlier. Back in Washington, D.C., in a hallway of the basement of what was then known as The District Building, Brig. Gen. Charles W. Kutz, appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Engineer Commissioner for the District of Columbia, stood among a crowd of D.C. government employees and dedicated a Roll of Honor listing the names of 829 D.C. government employees serving in the war. As the war went on, names were added to the large glass plaque. By the end of the war, the names of 1,869 men and women were listed. In 1959, 14 years after the war ended, District commissioners voted to approve $175 to have the honor roll updated, for what they assumed would be one final time. The Legend that hung over the plaque still read those who are serving. It was updated to read those who served our country in World War II. The 6-foot-high glass plaque with gold leaf engraving remained as a testament to those brave men and women for generations. Until the late 1990s, when the plaque disappeared. Missing Plaque Honoring DC Veterans Found After Decades In 1995, District leaders leased the building to the federal government, which set about a massive renovation of the historic building, which stands on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House. It was during those renovations that the Roll of Honor and the 1,869 names it carried were torn down and discarded. The only memory of or proof the plaque ever existed was a photo found by Bill Rice, a member of Friends of the DC Archives. Rice brought the picture to the attention of this reporter in 2010, after I had lead the effort to have the press room in the John A. Wilson Building rededicated in honor of Maurice Williams, the WHUR reporter killed in the building during the March 9, 1977 terrorist siege. The plaque honoring Williams also was discarded during the federal renovations. After scouring the building for weeks and asking anyone I could, Larry Cooper, a longtime Wilson Building employee found me in the sub-basement snooping around. I told him what I was looking for. A week or so later, Cooper found me in the halls of the Wilson building and told me a janitor may have what I was looking for. He took me to a janitor's closet on the fifth floor of the building, directly across from the main Council chambers where I had spent countless hours over the years. The two of us made our way through the paint cans and trash cans and ladders, and there in the corner were several large pieces of the plaque. I walked down the hall to the office of the Chairman of the Council to tell him what we had found. Vince Gray, a lifelong Washingtonian who had worked in the Wilson building for years, knew immediately the significance of the find. Along with Cooper, Chairman Gray and I carried out three large sections of the plaque. But all we could determine was that it was a list of names. There was no legend to explain their significance. Cooper and his staff secured the pieces for safekeeping. In November 2010, Gray held a press conference and launched the Chairmans Challenge, asking the public for help determining what the plaque represented and whose names appeared there. For the next several years, through several transitions in leadership in the Wilson Building, the plaque remained in limbo. People, including myself, had moved on or lost interest. Or so it seemed. Two years ago, Josh Gibson came on board at the D.C. Council as the new public information officer. He quickly earned a reputation for his witty tweets. He wasnt tasked as an historian, but his love of the District and the Wilson Building lead him to want to solve the mystery. Gibson pulled old blueprints of the building, but they provided no clues. He began by sifting through old newspaper archives, but his searches for D.C. government employee plaque were dead-ends. It turned out the ever-changing English language was to blame. 'Employees' was spelled differently in the 1940s, Gibson explained. "But, when I searched 'District government employes' with one E, all of a sudden things started to pop. Gibson found articles from the Evening Star, The Washington Post and The Washington Times-Herald from 1942 and 1959 describing the dedication. It turns out this type of plaque was called a roll of honor, Gibson discovered from the news reports. It was installed in October 1942, mid-war, listing the District government employees who were serving in the war. With the date of the dedication, and knowing that is was called a roll of honor, Gibson had more to go on. "That takes us to the commissioner's minutes. Back in the '40s, the District was run by three federally appointed commissioners," Gibson said. Since those commissioners were federally appointed, all the records from those years are housed at the National Archives in Suitland, Maryland. "With the dates of the newspaper articles, we knew which minutes to look in and those told us further information, the company where it was ordered from, the exact name of the material, the inscription on the plaque." Gibson said. While the manufacturer was unable to provide the original purchase order, the commissioners' minutes did provide the inscription atop the plaque. But Gibson wasn't satisfied. He called upon a former D.C. employee who was now with the federal government. Dan Tangherlini had worn many hats in the District government, but now was the head of the General Services Administration. The GSA had been in charge of the renovations of the Wilson building in the 1990s. "Dan put me in touch with the photographer who took pre-construction photos for the GSA, and she was nice enough to give me all her negatives, more than a thousand." Gibson said. "Among the 1,000 pictures, there was one oblique picture of the plaque, but it was high enough quality we could zoom in and get additional information." Now, Gibson had two pictures of the plaque, and he was able to determine beyond any doubt the plaque's meaning and history. While nobody knows for sure how the plaque made its way from a wall on the ground floor to a janitor's closet on the fifth floor, Gibson has a theory that someone recognized its value as it was being discarded and set it aside. "The contractors tried to take it down, damaged it and thats how it ended up in the closet, where it remained for quite some time." He said. Until the fall of 2010, 68 years after it had first been dedicated, when the chairman of the Council, a building employee and a reporter carried it out of that closet in pieces. Today, the plaque is in about a dozen pieces, stored safely in a nondescript room in the Wilson Building, under the watchful and caring eye of Gibson. But the mystery was not completely solved until a few weeks ago. While the majority of the plaque had been recovered and pieced back together like a jigsaw puzzle, a corner of the plaque was still missing. Also missing, three names. Those missing pieces had Gibson back in the fifth-floor janitor's closet, down on his belly crawling through the dust bunnies. In the dark corner of the closet, he felt four small jagged pieces. "They looked inconsequential," Gibson said, holding the pieces. "But when you place them back in the puzzle, they're three names of people who served our country who would have been forgotten." "That was the literal last missing piece of the puzzle," he continued. Today, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announced plans to have the plaque restored, and on Veterans Day 2016, the plaque and the names it preserves will once again be back on the wall of the Wilson Building. Gibson deservedly takes pride in the work he has done to solve the mystery and restore the plaque, but he says there is a lesson everyone can learn from the names on the plaque -- the names of men and women who, like D.C. residents today, have no vote on whether or not to go to war, but choose to serve their country like so many other Americans. "The names represent every branch of the armed services, including the WAVES [Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service], the women's volunteer corps [and] men and women of all races," Gibson said. "It's a tribute to the diverse makeup of D.C. today." Two young boys testified Friday in the trial of their father, a Virginia CEO accused of killing the boys mother and making it look like a suicide. Michelle Castillo, a mother of five children, was found hanging in a basement shower in an Ashburn home March 20, 2014. She and her husband, Braulio Castillo, were in the middle of a bitter divorce, and he was barred from the home. Because of his age, 8-year-old Zack Castillo testified via closed circuit television from a smaller courtroom. He told the prosecutor he saw his father the night before he woke up to find his mom missing. He said he initially was sleeping in his moms bed until she told him to move. He then went to sleep with his older brother Jonathan but left his special blanket behind. He testified he saw his dad bring the blanket into his brothers room during the night. During cross examination, the boy contradicted his testimony about seeing his father that night, but the prosecution got him to reaffirm that he had. Braulio Castillo broke into tears, wiping his eyes. With 11-year-old Jonathan, prosecutors focused on questions his dad asked him about the homes security system. He testified his father asked if there was a security camera. He also testified his father asked for the alarm system numbers in exchange for a gold coin. Defense attorneys spotlighted many inconsistencies between statements Jonathan made previously and what he testified to Friday. A Prince George's County Public Schools task force created to assess how to keep students safe from sexual abuse and other threats will release its findings and recommendations regarding the Deonte Carraway case Tuesday afternoon. PGCPS created the Student Safety Task Force after Carraway, a school aide, was accused in February of victimizing 19 elementary school students inside a school in Glenarden, Maryland. Some citizens expressed concerns because they were allowed to participate in task force meetings. PGCPS said in a statement that members of the public can help review the district's work to keep students safe by completing a survey, but not by attending the meetings. "It is important to note that the task force has a lot of work to complete in a short amount of time," the district said in a statement. "The communitys input is critical to the work of the task force, which is why the task force is seeking confidential input via a survey." Carraway made videos of children having sex with him and each other at the school, at a church and at other locations in Maryland, according to the criminal indictment. He was arrested Feb. 5 after the uncle of a 9-year-old boy saw a nude image on the child's phone, according to police. Carraway pleaded not guilty to numerous counts of sexually exploiting children. Editor's Note: This story has been updated. A woman living in Virginia made more than $1 million returning fake designer handbags to high-end department stores for refunds, according to charging documents. Praepitcha Smatsorabudh, who lives in Arlington, is charged with wire fraud. Smatsorabudh bought pricey, designer handbags from department stores, then bilked those stores out of money by returning fake, less expensive handbags to the same stores for refunds, according to prosecutors with the Department of Homeland Security. She resold the legitimate designer handbags for a profit. In charging documents, federal investigators said the designer handbags she purchased cost an average of $2,000. Homeland Security, which is leading the investigation, said it traced suspicious purchases to Smatsorabudhs apartment along South Greenbrier Street in Arlington and to her workplace in Fort Washington, Maryland. In at least one case detailed in court records, investigators said Smatsorabudh purchased an authentic ruby red Celine Ring handbag from a department store in October. Within weeks, she returned an inauthentic bag, they said. She then posted a Celine Ring handbag on eBay in December. Smatsorabudhs attorney declined to comment to News4 after her court appearance Friday. A federal judge in Alexandria ordered her held until the next scheduled court appearance Wednesday. 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: 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 they exchanged messages with Clinton on her personal account. In March 2015, President Barack Obama told CBS News he did not know his secretary of state was using a private 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. 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." 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 help the presumptive GOP nominee in the general election. And he cites Clinton as his main motivation. "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." "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." Two people have been hospitalized with severe injuries after a crash witnesses say involved two vehicles and a pedestrian Friday evening in Framingham, Massachusetts. According to witnesses, a pickup truck ran into the back of the white SUV and hit a man who was on the sidewalk. Fire officials confirmed that one patient had been airlifted to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and that another had been transported to the same hospital on the ground. Both sustained injuries that may be life-threatening. Rainy Ferriere looked outside when she heard the crash. "I saw two guys in the truck and they start yelling at one guy who was on the ground," she said. 'They start hitting the guy and kicking." Ferriere says from what she saw, the two men from the truck had something against the man who was hit. "The way the guys in the truck reacted - like hitting the guy and saying a lot of bad words - I felt like they had something with this guy," she explained. Witnesses tell necn the two men from the truck took off on foot. Police began a search of the area and, with information from neighbors, tracked them down to a house a block away. Some took pictures as one was taken into custody, and witness video shows a dog being sent in. "They actually just surrounded," said Alexandrea White. "They were yelling to come out with their hands up. No shots were fired. They were armed and ready to go, though, if something did happen." "There was cops all around. Guns already pointing. We figured something was happening," said Tashali Little. "Some guy in a Lakers jersey came out and he walked out with his hands up, and he was really calm, put something down, and they took him into custody right away." State police sent K-9 and CSI units to assist Framingham Police in the search near the intersection of Grant Street and Howe Street. At this point, there is no official word on what happened. Stay with necn as this story develops. Vermont's state archivist is helping put a face to the names of service members from Vermont who were killed in Vietnam. "It is a needle in a haystack, so to speak," Tanya Marshall said. The archivist is seeking 23 photographs currently missing from the Wall of Faces, a digital project from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The VVMF has been working to locate a photo for each of the more than 58,000 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The online memorial contains biographical information of service members and space for web users to offer reflections about each person's life and service. The 23 photographs Marshall is looking for are of men who all lived in Vermont at the time they enlisted or were drafted. "We've identified family members we believe we can contact," Marshall told necn in an interview at the archivist's headquarters in Middlesex Friday. "It's not uncommon from that era for people to not have a lot of photos, and if they do, they're family photos." Perry Melvin, the president of the Vermont State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America, praised Marshall's efforts and said he hopes she locates all the photographs she's seeking. "They're going to see those names and if they click on, they're going to see a face and have some biographical information," Melvin said of what a visitor to the online Wall of Faces will find if they want to learn more about a service member who was killed in action. "And all of a sudden that person's real. But without that, the wall is just a bunch of names." Marshall said she has been using various research techniques to find information about the Vermonters killed in Vietnam, and spreading her call for photos on social media. Each day, from her Twitter handle @VTStateArchives, Marshall has been tweeting a plea to the public to help locate the missing photos. Recently, Marshall notched a big success, she said, locating a photo on Ancestry.com of Staff Sergeant Gelasio Gomez, from Barre, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968 at age 29. "You can tell he went into the service with goals and ambitions," Marshall said, observing Gomez's big smile in the portrait she submitted to the VVMF's Wall of Faces. "[Locating the photo] was very satisfying. I just wish we were able to find more." Marshall said she was inspired to launch the project after learning of Oregon's success in matching photos to names that had been missing on the Wall of Faces. "If the state of Oregon can do it, and they have over 700, I think Vermont can do it," Marshall told necn. The archivist is asking Vermonters to post about the search on Facebook and Twitter, to try to raise awareness in hopes of reaching people who may have photos. She also said she will attempt to track down yearbooks in the cases of service members who completed high school before joining the military. Marshall promised to keep at her project, hoping to shrink to zero the number of missing photos of Vermonters who gave all in Vietnam. "I'm thinking of reaching out to my colleagues in other states and have them embrace it as well," Marshall told necn. Web users can conduct an "advanced search" on the Wall of Faces to locate names of fallen service members who still need photos to illustrate their information. An 18-year-old student spent the last four months creating portraits of all 411 students graduating from Boston Latin. "I just expected people to be like 'Wow, that's a cool picture,' and be on their way," said 18-year-old Phillip Sossou. "But what happened was a lot of people were crying." The detailed drawings are donning the senior hallway, where everyone has been walking by in amazement. Even his teachers couldn't help but be proud. "At one point, he was trying to do 16 pieces of work a day just to actually meet the 411 goal," said AP art teacher Stephen Harris. "Monday through Friday, I'd stay in school until about 3-8," said Sossou. "He tries to bring joy to his classmates, and I think this was definitely a way he could do that," said guidance counselor Andrea Encarnacao. The happiness comes at a time where students are being pushed apart, dealing with racial tensions. Sossou hopes after this, things will change. "This will sort of bring about a sense of community," he said. "That's definitely what we need right now, because we're really fractured." Everyone had something positive to say about their portraits. And the artist is soaking up all the love. "I'd do this again," he laughed. These pictures won't be on the wall too much longer - the students will be able to take theirs home before graduation. Sossou will attend college in the fall and then pursue a career in animation. The state of Massachusetts has voted to suspend the license of a doctor who allegedly prescribed medical marijuana to the suspect in a crash that killed a trooper. John Nadolny, the 57-year-old medical director of Canna Care Docs, a medical marijuana dispensary with several locations, is accused of improperly prescribing the drug on "multiple occasions." David Njuguna of Webster appeared in court last week on charges of motor vehicle homicide in the death of Massachusetts State Police trooper Thomas Clardy. Prosecutors say Njuguna went to a medical marijuana dispensary shortly before the crash and got three joints. Police found one of those joints partially smoked and a second one missing from Njuguna's car, according to prosecutors. "As of this point, he's not going to be able to prescribe to anybody, for the time being," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said of the doctor. A New Hampshire State Police trooper who is lucky to be alive took a break from his recovery and down exclusively to talk with necn Friday. Ryan Hickey was outside his cruiser when he was hit by a passing car last weekend. He is still in a lot of pain, his arm is in a sling, and he can only walk with the help of a cane on one side and his fiance on the other. But he says the past few days have put his whole life in perspective. "It makes me appreciate what I have, and what I've been given," Hickey said Friday afternoon. These days, breaks come a bit more often, and his footsteps might seem fragile, but Hickey is stronger right now than ever before. "Just to have him walking is - it's incredible," said his fiance, Paige Minotti, who has been by his side since the crash. At 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Hickey was outside his cruiser assisting Trooper Jake Wood in a traffic stop on the Everett Turnpike in Merrimack. "I never heard the car, never saw the headlights, there was no warning," he said. "It just happened, you could hear the sounds and I could feel the pain." He had been hit by a passing SUV. "Getting the phone call saying that he's hit by a car, you just think he is never going to walk again," Minotti recalled. Hickey's equipment was thrown off his body. His radio was disconnected and he laid there on the pavement, yelling to Trooper Wood. "I was helpless," Hickey said. "I owe him a lot. I don't even know if we'd be having this conversation if Jake wasn't there." After three days in the hospital, Hickey was released just in time to walk himself into Merrimack District Court to face the man who allegedly ran him over. When asked whether he feels lucky to be alive, Trooper Hickey responded immediately, "Oh, absolutely. I say it all the time. It was a matter of inches." Despite the dangers that come with this job, Hickey says he was born to protect and serve. "I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself," he said. And as he works toward that greater good, Hickey is asking people to remember. "We are sons, we are daughters, we are fathers, we are mothers," he said about his fellow troopers. "At the end of the day, our goal is just to go home." So, on this holiday weekend, as you head out to visit your families, think of Minotti, who will always be anxiously waiting for her fiance to walk through the door in time for dinner. "When you see them on the side of the road, you just see the badge, but there is so much more," she said. "Just move over and give them some space, because we want them home." When necn asked Trooper Hickey what was going through his mind in that moment after he was hit, he said, "making sure everyone else was OK." And that, he says, is what it means to be a New Hampshire State Trooper. A man suffered life-threatening injuries after crashing into a tree Friday evening in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. The patient, a 23-year-old man, struck a tree near the Charles George Landfill on Dunstable Road. Tyngsoborugh Police responded to the call around 7 p.m. The man was airlifted to Tufts Medical Center. State police are on the scene investigating the crash. A grand jury has indicted a Massachusetts man wanted in the stabbing death of his 76-year-old neighbor. Prosecutors say 24-year-old Tyler Hagmaier of Plymouth stabbed Quincy College professor Vibeke Rasmussen more than 30 times in her apartment across the hall from his. Rasmussen was found on May 6 after she did not report to work. That night, Hagmaier's car was found more than 130 miles away at the French King Bridge in Gill. Authorities believe Hagmaier jumped into the Connecticut River in an attempt to kill himself, but his body has not been found. Friday, a grand jury in Plymouth County returned an indictment charging Hagmaier with murder. Massachusetts State Police subsequently obtained a warrant for his arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call (508) 947-8087. Who is The Daily News Athlete of the Week? Here are the 7 nominees. high-school Champaign, IL (61820) Today Rain. High around 65F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.. Tonight Occasional light rain. Low 44F. S winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Nearly 75 percent of hospitalized patients receiving opioids for pain management are not monitored according to hospital guidelines. A study led by University at Buffalo nursing researcher Carla Jungquist reveals that the vast majority of post-operative patients given opioid medications through intravenous infusions are not monitored often enough to detect respiratory depression, a potentially deadly result of overdose. Post-operative patients are at highest risk for respiratory depression during the first 48 hours of recovery due to the combined effect of anesthesia and opioid medication, says Jungquist. "No one should go into a hospital and leave dead because we were aggressive with their pain management yet didn't provide safety measures," says Jungquist, PhD, assistant professor in the UB School of Nursing. The study, "Avoiding Adverse Events Secondary to Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression," was published earlier this year in The Journal of Nursing Administration. The researchers analyzed more than 4,000 patient records at eight hospitals around the nation. The data uncovered whether nurses followed protocol to monitor blood oxygen saturation, respiratory rate and level of sedation every two to four hours for the first 24 hours after surgery. The results found that just under 27 percent of patients received all three assessments every four hours. And only 8 percent of patients received the assessments every two hours. Nurses measured sedation scores least often, with a third of patients receiving this assessment every four hours. The finding is concerning, says Jungquist, since excessive sedation can precede respiratory depression. Jungquist attributes the poor compliance to excessive workloads for nursing staff and to hospitals lacking policies that enforce guideline compliance. "When hospitals have a death, they quickly get on board and adopt policies that are more aggressive," says Jungquist, who recommends that hospitals shorten four-hour intervals to every two hours. "Practice is starting to change, but it has taken way too many years and too many deaths." Although hospitals don't track or report near misses - unplanned events that could have resulted in death or injury - the study found 55 instances where nursing staff used naloxone, an emergency treatment for opioid overdose. Those instances accounted for more than 1 percent of patients. No patients who were assessed every two hours using all three measures received naloxone. "What if they didn't catch it quickly enough?" says Jungquist. "We can avoid adverse events if we step up monitoring. When we find a patient who is sensitive to opioids, institute pain management strategies that include opioids only at a low dose. It is certainly feasible. Practice just needs to change." New research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that the world's estimated 60 million refugees, displaced from their homes due to conflict, persecution or human rights violations, may need at least 2.78 million surgeries a year, something thought to be very difficult to arrange in the midst of their upheaval. The researchers say that the findings, published online May 25 in the World Journal of Surgery, shed light on something that few governments and humanitarian aid organizations 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. "We are facing the largest forced migration crisis since World War II," says study leader Adam Kushner, MD, MPH, an associate in the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School. "And while surgery is a critical component of health care, it is often neglected in times of crisis. Without access to timely and safe surgery, many people will become disabled and many will die -- outcomes that could have been prevented. What many people also do not realize is that many types of surgical care are easy to do and very cost effective." 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. In times of war, surgeries related to trauma, violence and burns may be particularly needed. The researchers could not say exactly how many refugees receive surgical care annually. For their study, Kushner and his colleagues 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, a number similar to the target minimum surgical rate of 5,000 per 100,000 published by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. Eighty-five percent of the world has surgical volumes that fail to meet the minimum target of 5,000 per 100,000 - particularly in the regions of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, which host 78 percent of all forcibly displaced persons globally. At the end of 2014, 59.5 million people were living as forcibly displaced persons, a number that has steadily increased in recent years, according to the UNHCR. The agency estimated that 218,000 persons entered Europe by sea in October 2015 alone, many of whom were seeking refuge from the violence in Syria. While up to five percent of the population at large will require surgery, the World Health Organization estimates that as many as 15 percent of pregnant women will experience obstetric complications requiring surgery for conditions such as protracted labor, pre-eclampsia or ectopic pregnancy. The prevalence of pregnancy among displaced women of reproductive age is between six and 14 percent, they say. Pediatric needs are also very high, Kushner says. 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. "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 says. "But surgery is a basic need and nobody talks about this." Oncologists from NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine will discuss their latest research findings at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, June 3-7 in Chicago. The presentations will cover a variety of disciplines and treatment approaches, with a focus on this year's meeting theme: the future of patient-centered care and research. Among the institutions' total of 48 sessions, two abstracts have been selected for inclusion in the Best of ASCO program, which highlights the most cutting-edge science and research presented at the meeting. Dr. Dawn Hershman, leader of the Breast Cancer Program of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, will discuss the risk of neuropathy in patients receiving chemotherapy, and Dr. Adrienne Phillips, assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and assistant attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will present information about a novel antibody that combats CCR4 in adult T-cell lymphoma. The crisis of lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Mich., continues to make headlinesbut it's just the most prominent example of an "ongoing and needless tragedy of childhood lead poisoning," according David E. Jacobs, PhD, CIH, a noted authority on childhood lead poisoning prevention. Dr. Jacobs writes in the June Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, published by Wolters Kluwer. The "debacle" in Flint should spur urgently needed but long-delayed action to address the continuing crisis of lead poisoning in the United States and around the world, says Dr. Jacobs, Chief Scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, Md, and adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. He proposes a three-point plan to identify and eliminate sources of lead exposure nationwide. Three-Point Plan for Eliminating Lead: 'Find It, Fix It, Fund It' Two new studies, also in the June issue of JPHMP, illustrate the deficiencies of current childhood blood lead screening programs and housing code processes that ignore lead poisoning and other chronic health issues. "Together, both articles demonstrate the need for more robust and effective responses to lead poisoning, which causes 675,000 deaths around the globe," Dr. Jacobs writes. He adds that at least 535,000 US children have elevated blood lead levels. As the nation seeks answers about what happened in Flint, Dr. Jacobs believes a critical question has gone unasked: "How did that lead get into our pipes and our paint in the first place?" He points out that industrial groups and paint companies continue not only to make lead-containing products, but also to block public health efforts to stop these sources of lead contamination. "Those 'normal business operations' mean that these companies continue to make new lead-based paint in other countries, contaminating even more homes," according to the author. Dr. Jacobs notes that, in 2000, he helped to craft a Presidential task force plan that would have eliminated lead hazards by 2010. "But Congress never funded it adequately, and as a direct result, the problem has dragged on needlessly, with much higher costs for property maintenance, special education, crime, health care, litigationand, of course, human suffering." In his commentary, Dr. Jacobs outlines a three-point plan that "focuses on the fix" for childhood lead poisoningidentifying and eliminating all sources of lead exposure: Find It. Comprehensive programs are needed to increase testing for lead in homes and pipes, as well as expanded screening of children at riskespecially among Medicaid-eligible children. Dr. Jacobs calls for adequate funding and staffing for effective efforts in every state and large city. He emphasizes the inadequacy of the current "medical model"in which lead-exposed children aren't identified until after they have been poisoned. Fix It. Once lead hazards have been identified, corrective action needs to be taken immediately using proven interim methods. In addition, long-term full-scale programs are needed to eliminate all lead drinking-water pipes and all residential lead paint from the US housing stock. Dr. Jacobs also highlights the need for special education assessment and programs for lead-poisoned children. Fund It. Dr. Jacobs also calls for accountability for companies that have continued to produce lead-contaminated products, long after the hazards were recognized. He writes, "Industry must help pay to help fix the problem, not just pay their lawyers to drag out court cases for decades and overturn verdicts that have held them accountable." He makes the case that fixing lead hazards is an "economically sound" investment, with a cost-effectiveness even higher than that of childhood vaccines. He also calls on Congress to end the disinvestment in communities and to appropriate the necessary funding. Dr. Jacobs urges public and environmental health professionals, engineers, and housing professionals to insist on the necessary funding and effort to meet the continuing challenge of lead poisoning. He concludes, "As the nation increasingly turns to its public health professionals for answers, we must speak clearly and forcefully, communicate accurately based on what the science tells us, focus on securing resources needed for solutions, and then make sure that both short and long-term fixes are really working." Research to target bacterial infant diarrhoea in the developing world using bacteriophages A University of Leicester researcher has been awarded funding to develop bacteriophages to target bacterial infant diarrhoea in the developing world where it causes significant mortality. The University of Leicester has announced that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Professor Martha Clokie, of the Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at the University of Leicester, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled 'Developing bacteriophages to eradicate infant Shigella'. Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Professor Clokie's project is one of more than 40 Grand Challenges Explorations grants announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To receive funding, Professor Clokie and other Grand Challenges Explorations winners demonstrated in a two-page online application a bold idea in one of five critical global heath and development topic areas. The foundation will be accepting applications for the next GCE round in September 2016. Professor Clokie is a bacteriophage biologist at the University and much of her work focuses on the fundamental science needed to underpin the development of phages as novel therapeutics to treat bacteria that are difficult to treat using conventional antibiotics. She said: "Phages (viruses that kill bacteria) could be given to patients to treat bacteria that cause disease, or they could be given to manipulate human gut bacteria when they have got out of balance, and are associated with disease. "Key questions in using phages for treatment or manipulation purposes, is how good are specific phages at removing the bacteria that we intend them to eliminate, and how do they alter the 'resident' microbes associated with guts? "Phages are predicted to be far less damaging to 'resident' and 'helpful' gut bacteria than conventional antibiotics but to answer this question properly, we have brought together a multidisciplinary team from the USA, Bangladesh and Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Nathan Brown has spent the last five years at Oregon State University determining how phages impact bacterial and viral communities in Lakes. He will be joining the University of Leicester to apply the techniques he has learned to a Shigella model. "We will capitalise on expertise here at the University of Leicester in order to determine the efficacy of phages to Shigella, and establish how they change the gut flora. This will be key to future developments where we hope to use phages to target bacterial infant diarrhoea in the developing world where it causes significant mortality." Dr Nathan Brown, a phage biologist from Oregon State University added: "In 1919, Felix d'Herelle - one of two discoverers of bacteriophages - first showed that phage therapy was effective against Shigella in patients with dysentery. Nearly 100 years later, our team is excited to work with talented experts and use the considerable technological resources at University of Leicester to determine how phage therapy changes the complex gut ecosystem and impacts Shigella infection." Source: University of Leicester About 800,000 strokes occur in America each year; that's about one every 40 seconds. Houston resident Joe Carrabba experienced one of them. Carrabba was having a massive stroke last year when UTHealth's Mobile Stroke Unit assessed him, performed a CT scan and administered drugs to dissolve blood clots. The Unit is a modified ambulance that has the specialized training and equipment which first responders do not to diagnose and treat stroke patients en route to the hospital. When a stroke occurs, every minute counts. Because of the Unit's quick action, Carrabba spent only four days at the hospital before he made a full recovery and was sent home. "I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for the Mobile Stroke Unit," he said. UTHealth's Mobile Stroke Unit the nation's first is one of many ways the UT System's 14 health and academic institutions are fighting stroke through research, technology and patient care. Last year, UT System Chancellor William H. McRaven launched "Leading the Brain Health Revolution" one of eight audacious strategic initiatives described as Quantum Leaps. This particular initiative aims to understand, prevent, treat and cure the diseases of the brain, such as stroke. "We will make a tremendous investment in leveraging and connecting all the cutting-edge science occurring at our UT System institutions to discover new knowledge and solutions to neurological diseases," McRaven said. "This Quantum Leap will drive collaboration, incentivize partnerships and demand scientific and clinical cooperation between our talented physicians and researchers." Although May is designated as National Stroke Awareness Month, UT System institutions are fighting year-round to defeat stroke and continue Leading the Brain Health Revolution. Technology New stroke-related technologies have been developed by several UT System institutions. For example: UTHealth in Houston used telemedicine to enroll patients remotely into a stroke clinical trial - the first of its kind. UTHealth also launched a clinical trial investigating the use of a physician-monitored app to help first-time minority stroke patients become healthier. At UT Health Science Center San Antonio, physicians are using devices called stent retrievers to extract clots from stroke patients with large-vessel occlusions. Meanwhile, UT Dallas researchers Michael Kilgard, Ph.D., and Robert Rennaker, Ph.D. have conducted clinical trials stimulating a key nerve to correct unwanted changes in the brain following a stroke. Their work helped Dallas-based startup MicroTransponder develop its Vivistim System device, a medical device designed to stimulate the vagus nerve in stroke patients to restore lost arm function. Kilgard and Rennaker will receive $2.3 million from the National Institutes of Health over the next five years to test the effectiveness of using vagus nerve stimulation to enhance stroke recovery. Research Researchers at institutions across the UT System are launching studies with the potential to dramatically improve stroke prevention and treatment. Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today An international team of researchers, led by Clay Johnston, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the Dell Medical School at UT Austin, released a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which did not find that the prescription drug ticagrelor was better than aspirin the current standard in reducing the risk of stroke, heart attack or death in patients who suffered a minor stroke, also known as a TIA. UT Austin researchers also discovered that patients who rely heavily on their better-functioning side after a stroke can actually limit the recovery or worsen the use of a limb damaged by stroke. Researchers from UT Southwestern in Dallas are studying nursing protocols to better triage and treat stroke patients using telemedicine. It will be the first study using a new consortium of medical centers known as The Lone Star Stroke Consortium . Patient Care UT Southwestern's Robert D. Rogers Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center part of UT Southwestern's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute is among an elite group of stroke centers recognized nationally for its exemplary care of specialized stroke cases. It received certification by The Joint Commission and American Heart Association/American Stroke Association as an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center. For patients with high-risk or specialized stroke cases, this means quick access to the best care, the highest-trained team of neurosurgeons and neurovascular experts, and ability to use the latest stroke treatments and technologies available. This access to specialized care changed Fort Worth resident Kellie Whitton's life. Whitton was diagnosed with moyamoya disease a rare condition that causes constriction of blood vessels in the brain and life-threatening strokes six weeks before her wedding. Babu Welch, M.D., a UT Southwestern associate professor of neurological surgery and radiology, performed a brain bypass surgery to move an artery from her scalp and attach it to one in her brain that was not affected by her condition. The 3-hour surgery was a success, and Welch even minimized the necessity of shaving Whitton's head since she was determined not to postpone her wedding. "Dr. Welch was able to part my hair and go in through the hairline," Whitton said. "That's one of the reasons I really love Dr. Welch, because he is so hands-on. I completely trusted him with everything, and his team." Jamshedpur: Two miners were killed while nine others hospitalised following an accident in one of the mines of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) at Turamdih, on Saturday, an official said. The employees of Turamdih mine were cleaning slash accumulated in the mine when the mishap took place, said Sub-Divisional Officer (Dalbhum), Suraj Kumar. Nine of the injured miners were admitted to Tata Main Hospital and they are in stable condition, he said. The rescue operation of another person was on, Kumar said. The Chairman and Managing Director of UCIL, Diwakar Acharya said the detail of the incident was being awaited. Going by the initial report, Acharya said, the employees of Turamdih uranium mine were cleaning the slash which accumulated in the mine. Water had gushed in suddenly causing the mud to flow and trapping the miners, he said, adding that one Milan Karmakar and another miner were killed while seven to eight miners were rescued. All of them were rushed to Tata Main Hospital, where they were admitted, he added. Chief Minister Raghubar Das expressed grief at the incident, an official release said, adding he assured the families of the injured all possible help. New Delhi: A five-hour long jamboree will be organized at India Gate in New Delhi on Saturday evening to mark two years of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with senior union ministers and chief ministers of all BJP ruled states will attend the event. BJP president Amit Shah will also be present. Film personalities including Amitabh Bachchan and Anupam Kher will be grace the occasion. Several top business tycoons and foreign envoys are also expected to attend the celebrations. Multiple security agencies have made elaborate arrangements in and around the venue to secure the VVIPs. The entire area has been cordoned off and CCTV cameras installed at vital locations. NSG commandos will guard the venue during the event and entry for the grand event is restricted. The main attraction of the celebrations will be the mega show titled 'Ek Nayi Subah' (A New Dawn) and 'Zara Muskura Do' (Please Smile). The shows will have several performances and programmes highlighting the Modi governments "achievements". Various schemes and programmes, particularly Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India and Rural Electrification will be highlighted during the show. A small segment of the event on 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign will be hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. Recently, Bachchan was criticised by the Congress for agreeing to host the event after his name appeared in the Panama Papers leaks. Later, he clarified that he is only hosting a small segment on 'saving the girl child' and not the entire show. "I am the UN ambassador for girl child education. I am not hosting the two years of Modi government event. In fact, Madhavan is hosting it," he had said. "If illegal money is found in accounts of those who are named in Panama case, then they will also be prosecuted as in case of HSBC accounts," he said at a gala event organised by the government to celebrate the Modi government's two years. Jaitley said the government came out with a law in the last fiscal to deal with black money stashed abroad and was now focusing on domestic black money. Warning of strict action against people stashing black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said prosecution would be initiated against those found to have parked funds illegally in accounts named in 'Panama Papers'.Hundreds of Indians have been named in the leaked 'Panama Papers' about entities having accounts in offshore tax havens.Stating that those failing to make the disclosure under this scheme face imprisonment up to 10 years, Jaitley said the law to deal with black money stashed abroad has yielded about Rs 4,000 crore. New Delhi: After coming under attack from Anupam Kher for questioning his stand on Kashmiri Pandits, Naseeruddin Shah has denied media reports that he questioned the former's campaign. Shah called the reports, which claim that he said "Kher has never lived in Kashmir and now suddenly he is a displaced Pandit", "misreporting". The war of words between the two Bollywood actors broke out after Shah reportedly targeted Kher. "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person," Shah had reportedly said. Calling his comments ridiculous, Kher replied that he did not need a certificate from anyone to speak about any issue. He questioned the logic of Shah's comments and added that by that logic NRIs should not think about India. "Shah Saab ki Jai Ho. By that logic NRIs should not think about India at all," Kher tweeted. Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar and Ashoke Pandit took Kher's side. "You don't have to be Kashmiri to fight for #KashmiriPandits plight. Every Indian should condemn the brutality and support their resettlement," Bhandarkar said. But Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid came out in support of Shah. "He is not a Kashmiri Pandit and he was never here. He has usurped land from his relatives and is an actor," Rashid said about Kher. Kher has been supporting the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley. James BobinJohnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Rhys Ifans, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman (Voiceover)There's a thing about adaptations, either you stay true to the basics or you pick up segments from the basic to built something new altogether. 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' falls into the latter category. Based on the works of renowned English writer Lewis Caroll, the film is a sequel of 2010 gothic adaptation of children's favourite 'Alice In Wonderland'.James Bobin-directed feature is everything a fantasy fiction lover would like it to be; colorful, majestic and full of wonder. However, that's all you get from the film. Inspired from the works of one of the best writers of 19th century, the film carries nothing more than the title. The depth and bewilderment of a child is missing.In Bobin's world, Alice is now a ship's captain fighting the odds and defying the society by being a woman of her own choices. She remembers her last trip to the Wonderland and enter that world again only to find Mad-Hatter in a sick state. This time Alice has to race against time, save Hatter's family from the past and reunite them to save him from his sickness. The plot completely diverts itself from the book where Alice is still naive, the story is all about chess levels, Red King, Dreams and Reality. However in the end a more comprehensibly line of Carroll's "Life, what is it but a dream?" puts a fitting end to Alice's journey in the wonderland.Tim Burton's 'Alice In Wonderland' was gothic, dark and over the top. It drifted you away with its story and overall an enjoyable experience. The sequel matches its predecessor in terms of excellent graphics and raises hopes with the adventure, but there is something missing beneath all the floss - an in-depth story.Talking about the characters and the actors, everybody seem to justify their parts well. Mia Wasikowska as Alice is strong-willed and optimistic but her naive nature and innocence is lost. Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter has brought a new vulnerability with him this time , Anna Hathaway as White Queen is still the same, absent minded and soft. Helena Bonham Carter as Red Queen overshadows everyone (including Alice). Sacha Baron Cohen as Time is wise, self-indulgent and new to Alice's 'nothing is impossible' optimism.Yes, the imagery and the characters want you to stay in the movie forever, escaping the realities of life but the symbolism of story is missing. The essence of Carroll's work is the symbolism of sufferings which the makers have replaced with morals like staying true to yourself, honouring family and being loyal to friends.So where does this sequel stands? Well, surely this adaptation is not meant for fans who live in Carroll's world of symbolism and alternate reality. The film is frost with justifiable roles by all and a treat for graphic lovers. The story is flat with little ups and downs and its preachy nature makes it a film for children.Go for it if you love Burton style flamboyancy and for Alice's brave nature. The film will disappoint the fans of original work but will definitely make you escape from your 'reality'. It is dreamy but gets torn between the concept and execution.Enjoy this subtle, feel good film just as a lighter sequel of a heavy film and not as a classic literature adaptation.Concluding the film's theme in one line, as Hatter puts it, "If Dreams are not reality? Who's to say which is which?" Watch: Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koechlin Take Our Internet Acronyms Quiz May 28, 2016 02:32 PM IST iVideos iVideos Share Whether you are using the Internet on a daily basis, or being happy maintaining a safe distance, it is indeed the most puzzling place. The reason? Internet language changes, evolves every single day. And the way Internet slang words have begun to change language, there is no way users cant be aware of it. But are actors Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin familiar with the most-used, never-heard slang words? We looked up the words on slang dictionary, and quizzed the Waiting stars on their recent visit to New Delhi. In addition to the session which soon turned into a quick crash course of trendy Internet acronyms, we also spoke to the actors about their film Waiting. Watch it here. Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has surprised his own party leaders and shocked his arch rival HD Kumaraswamy by fielding a third candidate from Congress in the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for June 11. Retired IPS officer and educationist KC Ramamurthy filed nomination on Wednesday sending shockwaves across the JDS camp. There are four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka. Depending on the party strength in the Assembly, the ruling Congress can easily win two seats, main opposition BJP one seat and the JDS can manage one seat with the support of 5-6 independents. Till Wednesday, everybody was under the impression that there would be no contest. But the retired cop jumping into the poll fray is giving tense moments to both Congress and JDS leaders. The JDS has decided to field a Mangalore based businessman BM Farooq after Infosys founder NR Narayanamurthys wife Sudha Murthy declined the offer of a Rajya Sabha seat. The Congress has finalised the names of former Union ministers Oscar Fernandes and Jairam Ramesh for the first two seats from the state while the BJP has re-nominated Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu for the fourth consecutive term from the state amidst a strong online and mainstream media campaign against sending a Telugu speaker to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. Reacting to the campaign, Naidu said that he was free to contest from anywhere in India. Virtual split in JDS Former prime minister HD Deve Gowdas JDS has 40 MLAs. They still need five-six additional votes to win the Rajya Sabha seat. But, five-six JDS MLAs have revolted against the party indicating that they will back the Congresss third candidate. According to sources JDS state chief HD Kumaraswamy has managed the votes of six independent MLAs for the party candidate. Even if these independents vote, JDS will not be able to win the seat unless all 40 MLAs of the party back Farooq. Congress Strategy The Congress has 122 votes. It has 32 extra votes. Siddaramaiah is eyeing five JDS rebels and 11 independents. If he manages it, his third candidate will win. But the Gowdas who are known for deft handling of any political crisis. They are reportedly in touch with at least half a dozen Congress MLAs who are unhappy with the party. If these Congress MLAs cross vote defying party whip, the third candidate will lose and Siddaramaiah will suffer a big setback. Speaking to News18.com in New Delhi before returning to Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said, "I am confident of Ramamurthys victory. Gowdas are known for horse-trading and selling the seat to businessmen. Wait for the results on June 11." Reacting to Siddaramaiahs charges Kumaraswamy said, "Entire state knows that Siddaramaiah is trying to split our party. He is offering some of our MLAs big money to defect. He is actually into horse-trading, not us. He said that JDS was confident of Farooq's victory. In the past an official Congress candidate had lost due to cross-voting. The Rajya Sabha election is now generating a lot of political heat in rain-drenched Bengaluru, which is also getting ready to welcome the monsoon in the next two weeks. New Delhi: The purchase of a Rs 48.25 lakh swanky 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-third 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. Actor Naseeruddin Shah, under fire for questioning Anupam Khers support for Kashmiri Pandits, feels that bans and stifling of dissent has grown under the Narendra Modi government. "Bans and stifling of dissent has always happened, but it has grown under this (NDA) government. Congress too curbed dissent when in power. Movie kissa kursi Ka was banned, Sanjay Gandhi had personally destroyed the negative, what could be worse than that, in terms of censorship. Congress has banned Satanic Verses and Jesus Christ Superstar. I don't want to turn pessimistic. For me, losing faith would be admitting defeat. I cant be cynical and lose hope," he said. Claiming that the Centre had failed to live up to its promise, he said, "I think the people who bought the promises are the ones who are disappointed." "I can't say I am over the moon about it, nor can I say that I am terribly disillusioned. Because what's been happening, apart from the stifling of dissent, that is more than it used to be - otherwise the bans, the partisanship, the parochialism, that was always there. So it's not that everything was hunky-dory before," he added. The recent elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry saw the Congress losing in the first and fourth but managing to claw back in Puducherry. For the BJP, Assam was the big trophy as the state gave the party-led alliance its first government in the Northeast. The diagnosis should have been completed by now as more than two years have passed since the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, when the Congress managed just 44 MPs which later went up to 45 after a bypoll win. The party should have been working on the long and hard road to recovery. For some Congress leaders there's the consolation that data brings. The nine-time Lok Sabha MP from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, points to the numbers to show that the Congress has less to worry about than is being made out. After all, the Congress suffered a bitter defeat in 1977 after the Emergency. Indira Gandhi even lost her own seat in Rae Bareli. Yet, three years later she was the Prime Minister again. In 1981, Indira Gandhi was the party president and Rajiv was second-in-command. Older Congressmen would complain about his "arrogance" and his new-fangled ideas and privileged friends - the "computerwallas". Will Rahul really do better than his mother who won two Lok Sabha elections for the Congress and kept a coalition government in power for 10 years? Why does the Congress need to pick between the mother and the son who are by all accounts extremely close. Over the last 15 years or so, the essential difference between Congress and BJP has gone beyond secularism and Hindutva. Politics is a game of ups and downs. I think the next story will be to recover from the downs. I mean there is no question that in the history of successful political parties, it's not so much that defeats and setbacks matter but the process of recovery from there and the BJP keeps pointing the fact that there were only two seats in 1984 and where they are now, says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Elections in India over the last few years have followed a similar pattern. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marches on, the Congress retreats. It is only a few regional parties which have managed to challenge the BJP but the Congress despite being present across the country has failed miserably to challenge BJP's spectacular rise."Geographically our state governments cover about 45% of India's population contradicted with the lowest ever point as far the Congress is concerned. It has lost state after state and has been reduced to 45 seats in the Lok Sabha. I am told that the population that Congress state governments cover is about 7-8% of India. So having taken a very obstructionist attitude in the last two years, the Congress now finds itself pushed to the margins in state after state. The big question is, whether the Congress is the new Third Front," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley quipped after the recent election results.Even if one dismissed what Jaitley says as a winner's political rhetoric, there's no denying that the party that won India its Independence and has ruled longer than any other party, is in the ICU.Over the last few days, there have been several obituaries of the Congress. Today Karnataka is the only major state where the party is in power and veteran Congress leaders agree that a drastic course correction is the need of the hour.Digvijay Singh, the party's motormouth, has spoken of a major surgery. But surgery suggests that there is a need to go inside the body of the Congress and fix something.But the 2016 Assembly elections prove that despite all the introspection and the AK Anthony Committee report that never became public, the diagnosis may be wrong."Satyavrat Chaturvedi has said cardiac surgery has to be done. It seems though, the Congress is a party which is very good at prescribing stuff for itself for example, there are a lot of reports on what can be done to correct the ideological course of the party and to effect organisational changes but none of these historically from the 1980s onwards have been taken on board," says political commentator Nistula Hebbar."In 2014 itself, there was an Antony committee report which nobody has seen and we keep waiting for this miraculous AICC reshuffle which is supposed to empower the party vice-president and elevate him to the president's position. It's been two years of Modi government. It seems like there's a great reluctance within the party to even think of what can be the solution," she says."If you look at the last Assembly, last week's Assembly elections, the Congress has gone up in all the states except Kerala, both in terms of seats and in terms of vote share. So it is not statistically correct that the Congress has gone down. If we look at the figures, it's the hype which the BJP has created as if you know, it has been a tremendous feat for them and they are all on the upswing. Results demonstrate that the Congress has gone up in terms of vote shares and seats, and the BJP has gone down in terms of vote share and seats," claims Nath.It's true the numbers don't lie. Vote share figures suggest that the Congress has done better in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam compared to its performance in the Lok Sabha elections two years ago.So yes, the BJP has lost out since the Modi wave of 2014. But in that election, people were voting for Narendra Modi for the post of Prime Minister. In 2016 they were voting for chief ministers. That's where the Congress has been found wanting.Congress leaders argue that the party is too entrenched across the country to be written off completely.Like Sachin Pilot who at 38 is one of the party's younger leaders. The former union minister moved to Jaipur to rebuild the party in Rajasthan after it was demolished in the last assembly and parliamentary elections."My experience has been that even though we've been in the opposition in Rajasthan, we are in a greater force for voicing people's concerns. I see people look up to the Congress whenever they feel they have been betrayed in some sense or the other but for us to be able to reach out and that's our job, I don't think any political party would expect people to come to them, the party has to reach out to them in more ways than one," says Pilot.Even if the Congress is not doing that badly in terms of vote share and can tap into a support base on the ground, yet it is at the lowest ever point in its history."People thought Indira Gandhi was a problem in 1977. They thought Sanjay Gandhi was a problem in 1977 and there was a split," Digvijaya says on the 1977 elections.But he maintains that for him the leader number one is Sonia Gandhi with the leader number two is Rahul Gandhi.There are historical precedents but the recent string of defeats has left the Congress demoralised which is in stark contrast to the BJP, which has a dedicated cadre as well as RSS shakhas it can fall back on.Moreover, Congress workers are used to working on the basis of patronage. But when the party is out of power, there is no patronage to hand out. It also means a shift in how the party operates.But those roadblocks can be overcome. The real challenges are the crisis of leadership and who is really the boss: Rahul or Sonia Gandhi?The second challenge is more fundamental. Has the Congress become the party of entitlement? Is it no longer the big banyan tree that allowed opportunity and diversity? Is it just the party of dynasty?Many Congress leaders say that one of the biggest problems they face is that they don't know who's the boss. Is it Sonia Gandhi, the party president? Or is it Rahul Gandhi, the vice president and heir apparent?But the situation is not unique as the Congress has seen a similar arrangement earlier too.But the equation today seems more complex, not just to party workers but also to state leaders. It has led to internecine warfare and the creation of multiple camps."There's a huge confusion in the Congress whether it's Sonia's Congress or Rahul's Congress. It's not just the junior leaders even the senior ones, even if they want to go and the states which are coming up for elections, they go to Sonia because many of them are very comfortable with Sonia. In fact what I was once told was by someone as senior as Anthony is that he goes to meet Sonia and she listens to them for an hour or so and then she says 'I think you should go to Rahul and speak to him'. So when they go to Rahul, he listens to them but not for an hour, he just listens to them for around 10 minutes and says I'll talk to my mother and then get back to you," says CNN News18 Deputy Chief of Bureau Pallavi Ghosh."Now, that's what the confusion is. They don't know whose Congress it is. I know it would have been easy if they were not very different in their working styles. Sonia's way of handling is completely different from Rahul's way of handling and that's where the confusion increases. Sonia is more kind of compromised and status quo, she'll listen to everyone actually trying to find a middle path. Rahul is like -- my way or the highway. So people don't know which extreme they've to go for and that I think is the biggest problem," adds Pallavi.According to her there is a Sonia group and there is a Rahul group."Sonia's group is pretty the old guards, it's people like Ahmed Patel, Janardhan Dwivedi, Ambika Soni and the new is for Rahul. It is Amit Akshara, Kaushal Vidyarthee, there is Randeep Surjewala, Ajay Maken and they are completely different from each other. There is not much of an interaction. I mean, Anthony is of course, somebody who is common to both the groups but barring that there is no interaction between the people who are part of the Sonia group and are part of Rahul's group," she points out.The two camps might well be a contributing factor. Many senior Congress leaders are vocal off-the-record but the vast majority is unwilling to face the camera."It has become too controversial," they say. Only journalists are willing to say publically what a section of Congress is saying in private: Sonia should hand over the baton to Rahul."If I was Congress president and I really wanted the vice-president to be the president, I would tell him, "Son, you please take over and make your own mistakes and learn your own lessons," because leadership is about taking charge -- the good, the bad and the ugly. It can't be worse than what has happened till now. It can only get better because as far as I see in 2017, there are plenty of states, which are going into polls where the Congress can if it pulls its act together. It is the only alternative to the BJP and therefore, it's not a bad time actually to take charge and to give charge to somebody who you want to see succeed," says Nistula.Clearly the problem is not between Sonia and Rahul, but between Sonia's people and Rahul's people. As the two groups jostle for prominence, it is the Congress that loses out.In 2004 the BJP painted itself as the party of aspirational India, trumpeting the India Shining slogan. The Congress, on the other hand, said that India was shining only for the rich.It won that election and the one after that on the back of welfare schemes like the MNREGA and farm loan waivers.But ever since Narendra Modi launched his election campaign in 2013, the BJP has created a new narrative that projects the Congress as a feudal party and its welfare schemes as largesse handed out by some lord to the poor.However, Congress leaders call it unfair."See the Congress has been in the country for 130 years and we are a party that has always adapted and changed itself with societal changes from pre-Independence to post Independence to social equality movements to anti-poverty alleviation programmes, economic reforms, IT revolution. All these are the changes that the Congress has self-realised and made. No party can survive for so long unless it adapts itself and flexible enough to be able to connect with the larger masses," says Pilot."So the Congress has continuously been an organisation that has been able to mould itself to what is required and I think that process continues. We have always had a good mixture of people with a lot of experience and people who are full of fresh ideas, are imaginative and more importantly hard-working. That balance I think is very essential for the Congress party to move forward," he adds.The comments are reasonable enough and certainly the next generation of Congress leaders are a dynamic lot -- modern and well educated. Many are mass leaders with constituencies of their own.But there's a problem. Over three quarters of them, if not more, are dynasts and come from political families."Many stalwarts of Congress will lose and the BJP is here to stay for the next 20 years. Rahul Gandhi and Tarun Gogoi have humiliated me like anything. So this is, in one way, an individual accomplishment for me but people have not voted for this. People have voted to resolve the bigger identity crisis and the development of Assam," says Himanta Biswa Sarma, the former Congress leader who switched over to the BJP and won in the recent Assam elections.At an intuitive level, there is something to the criticism. The Congress is dynastic at the very top and though Rahul spent several years trying to create a channel for a new generation of young leaders to rise from the ranks, the party's future still consists of dynasts.So is the Congress increasingly out of touch with aspirational India? Sachin Pilot's father, Rajesh Pilot, was one of Rajiv Gandhi's hand-picked ministers.So does Sachin think dynasty has a place in today's aspirational India?"See I don't think being born to a family could be a disqualification but one has to really work hard and prove himself or herself. I am very proud about the family I belong to but I have worked amongst people, I have won elections, I have lost elections, I have worked in the government, I am working in the organisations and ultimately the judge are the people. If they vote for you, the collective wisdom of a few million people, I don't think can be brushed aside easily," he says.He is right about the fact that dynast or not, the fate of every politician is decided by the voter. But the problem with the cult of dynasty is that it overshadows the Congress's traditional liberal values.Former Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani says there is a space for the party in India. "I think there's a huge opportunity in India for a Central Left liberal secular party which accommodates India's diversity. That needs to be re-emphasised again and again," he adds.India needs a two party system. Democracy only works on the basis of choice and the Congress through the ages has been India's liberal party standing up for the values of diversity and liberty that this country was founded on.In the months ahead India will get the answer as to whether the Congress can reclaim its traditional role? There is a good opportunity for the party to reinvent itself or lose itself in groupism and petty politics. "We are bringing them back. We cannot put them to risk and throw them straight into their native villages. This is like throwing pigeon among cats," she said in the state Assembly. Even though the Peoples Democratic Party has an uneasy alliance with the BJP, she heaped praises on the Prime Minister for starting a dialogue with Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed on Saturday that her government will bring back the Kashmiri Pandits into the Valley but added that it would be done at the right time.While sending out a warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mehbooba added that she will quit if the agenda of alliance agreed upon between former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not fulfilled."I will give up the chair if the agenda of alliance is not fulfilled. I am here to see that the vision of my father is implemented fully. If not, I will quit. This is clear. The agenda of alliance is a map to resolve the Kashmir issue," said an emotional Mehbooba in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly."The process of dialogue with Pakistan had stopped. We made coalition with BJP because we cannot ignore the mandate of Jammu. We did not do what National Conference did in 1987 - ignoring the mandate of people for chair. That time National Conference paved way for militancy in the state," Mehbooba said.Hitting out at the NC on the issue of Sainik Colonies, Mehbooba said it was NC founder Sheikh Abdullah who had laid the foundation of the project.She also targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for failing to raise the issue of attacks on Kashmiri students in other parts of the country. Like the big-hitters of Silicon Valley, the Chinese manufacturer whips up a buzz ahead of each new product launch, as rumors of what's to come get the internet chatting. The firm's upcoming handset, the OnePlus 3, is no exception. The Chinese manufacturer, OnePlus, released its first smartphone in 2014, making an impression with its minimalist and innovative approach to advertising. At the time, the firm's CEO and sole shareholder, Pete Lau, starred in videos posted on social networks announcing his intention to launch a smartphone equipped with the best components on the market but with a competitively low price tag. To achieve that, he ditched all the usual promotional costs and cut out all kinds of middlemen. The OnePlus One was sold exclusively on the company's website, with the first handsets available by invitation only. The phone went on to sell over a million units. 1. Looks After the OnePlus X, which went on sale at the beginning of 2016, the manufacturer is expected to lift the lid on a new premium smartphone, the OnePlus 3, on June 14. Reliable leaks, originating from the Chinese regulator TENAA Certification, reveal a handset with a slim and stylish design that looks similar to the iPhone 6s. Its dimensions are listed as 152.6 x 74.6 x 7.3mm for a weight of 160 grams. 2. Core Like its predecessors, it's set to come with top-of-the-range components, with leaks suggesting a 5.5" Full HD (1080p) AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of SSD storage, and 8 and 16 megapixel cameras. 3. Battery The OnePlus 3 should also get a 3,000mAh battery and the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, Android 6.0.1. It is expected to come with a USB Type-C connector. 4. Biometric Security Other unverified leaks suggest the presence of a button on the front with an integrated fingerprint reader. 5. Price The phone is expected to sell for between $335-$391 (300-350), which is almost half the cost of a 16GB Apple iPhone 6s with lower-grade specs. On May 23, OnePlus took to its forum to announce a giveaway of 30,000 free (apart from shipping costs) OnePlus Loop VR Headsets. These were all claimed in just a few days. With inputs from AFP Relaxnews San Francisco: Artificial reality startup Magic Leap is accusing two Silicon Valley employees of stealing the closely guarded secrets behind its technological tricks. The allegations of betrayal and skullduggery surfaced in a lawsuit that Magic Leap filed late Thursday in federal court after the two workers, Gary Bradski and Adrian Kaehler, sued the company for wrongful termination earlier this week. An attorney for Bradski and Kaehler denied the company's allegations. The legal tussle over intellectual property and stock options highlights the rising stakes in artificial reality as more technology companies bet it will produce the industry's next big breakthroughs. Since its inception six years ago, Magic Leap has emerged as one of artificial reality's most intriguing startups while raising $1.4 billion from a list of investors that include Google and China's Alibaba Group. The last round of financing completed earlier this year valued the Dania Beach, Florida, company at $4.5 billion, even though it hasn't released a product yet and hasn't even disclosed a timetable for doing so. Magic Leap instead has released videos providing tantalizing glimpses at what it's working on: a pair of goggles that will project three-dimensional, life-like images within the real world. The company describes the technique as "mixed reality," although it's known as "augmented reality" through most of the technology industry. Other headsets, such as Facebook's Oculus Rift, that immerse users in a completely fabricated world are examples of what's known as "virtual reality." Whatever its technology is called, Magic Leap has enthralled the media with its demonstrations and the pedigree of its backers. In a recent cover story, Wired magazine hailed Magic Leap as "the world's hottest startup." Google, now part of Alphabet Inc., has become so intertwined with Magic Leap that its CEO, Sundar Pichai, sits on the startup's board. But the battle with two of the 85 employees located in its Mountain View, California, office threatens to drag Magic Leap into the mud. Jack Russo, the lawyer representing Bradski and Kaehler, said the wrongful termination suit filed against Magic Leap will prove the company tried to wrest away employee stock options worth millions of dollars without a valid reason. He predicted the evidence will make other top engineers reluctant to work for Magic Leap. Russo also painted an unflattering picture of Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz. Russo said Abovitz went into a "fit of rage" after Bradski and Kaehler tried to negotiate "consulting freedom" clauses in their contracts. Magic Leap declined to comment on Russo's statement or the wrongful termination suit. In its federal lawsuit, Magic Leap depicts Bradski and Kaehler as traitors who schemed on company time for at least a year while planning their own artificial reality startup. While doing so, Bradski and Kaehler stole some of Magic Leap's patented technology and also shared some of the secrets with outsiders, while mining the company's business connections as they tried to launch their startup, the suit alleges. The lawsuit alleges the duo's duplicity involved "some deep learning techniques utilizing robotics." Bradski is a robotics expert hired by Magic Leap in 2013 to serve as its senior vice president of advanced perception and intelligence. Kaehler also was hired in 2013 and reported to Bradski, most recently working as a vice president of special projects. The Virginia State Parks system celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. The first six state parks opened on June 15, 1936, with three of those parks opening in western Virginia Douthat, Fairy Stone and Hungry Mother. The parks system is celebrating its birthday by giving away prizes to people who log their experiences on a contest webpage at bit.ly/80thingscontest. Report 40 or more adventures and you will be entered into a drawing for a $500 overnight stay at a state park. Families who visit five different state parks between May 21 and June 30 can earn a Virginia State Parks Passport good for free parking at all Virginia State Parks. Also, a partnership between the Library of Virginia, the Science Museum of Virginia and state parks is providing nature backpacks to libraries across the state, which include the Bedford, Lynchburg and Campbell County systems. The Roanoke Times has commemorated the anniversary with these checklists for things to do at eight parks (the list includes Natural Bridge, which is slated to become a state park this year, and combines New River Trail and Shot Tower). Ten activities are listed for each site, for grown-ups and kids, which add up to 80 adventures for the 80th year. DOUTHAT 14239 Douthat State Park Road, Millboro Opened: 1936 Size: 4,545 acres; 50-acre lake Special attractions: Mountain trails, beach, full-service restaurant, small-stream fishing Checklist: - Catch a fish in Douthat Lake - Ride a mountain bike - Hike to a waterfall - Attend a concert at the amphitheater - Dine on rainbow trout at Lakeview restaurant For the kids: - Have fun at the beach - Learn geocaching with a park ranger - Take a nighttime owl hike - Keep a list of plants, trees and animals you see - Roast marshmallows and make smores FAIRY STONE 967 Fairystone Lake Drive, Stuart Opened: 1936 Size: 4,741 acres, 168-acre lake Special attractions: Fairy stone hunting, swimming, original cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps Checklist: - Spend a weekend in an original 1930s cabin - Rent a canoe or kayak - Take the difficult Iron Mines Trail hike - Read the legend of fairy stones, cross-shaped staurolite stones - Cook a meal outdoors For the kids: - Hunt for fairy stones - Splash in the shallow-water playground - Sing songs, tell stories or just hang out by a campfire - Go fishing (maybe for the first time!) - Help Mom and Dad pitch a tent. GRAYSON HIGHLANDS 829 Grayson Highland Lane, Mouth of Wilson Opened: 1965 Size: 4,502 acres and over 5,000 feet high! Special attractions: Wild ponies, Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival & Guitar Competition on June 18, gateway to Mount Rogers Checklist: - Hike the Rhododendron Gap Trail when the plants are in bloom in June - Look at the wild ponies, but dont touch - Listen to bluegrass bands during Wayne Hendersons festival - Hike to the top of Mount Rogers, Virginias highest peak at 5,729 feet - Learn about rock climbing and try bouldering For the kids: - Count the wild ponies, but dont feed them! - Hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail - Learn the difference between evergreen trees and deciduous trees - Visit the 200-year-old cabin and learn how pioneers lived - Look for animal tracks on muddy trails CLAYTOR LAKE 6620 Ben H. Bolen Drive, Dublin Opened: 1951 (operated as a local park in the 1940s) Size: 472 acres, 4,500-acre lake with 3 miles of frontage Special attractions: Haven Howe house, beach, Claytor Lake Summer Festival on June 11 Checklist: - Ride bicycles on Claytor Lakes relatively flat park roads - Run the parks 5-kilometer cross-country trail - Rent a pontoon, motorboat, paddleboard, canoe, kayak or bike (or all of the above) from Claytor Lake Water Sports - Sleep in a tent during the Great American Campout on June 25 - Take a wildflower walk For the kids: - Download maps and brochures from www.kidsinparks.com and use them on the Shady Ridge Trail - If you are an advanced swimmer, take a leap from Claytor Lakes diving platform - Visit the nature exhibits at the Howe house - Make trail mix for your hike peanuts, granola, raisins and M&Ms are a great recipe - Be totally quiet for one minute and count how many different birds you hear SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE 1235 State Park Road, Huddleston Opened: 1983 Size: 1,148 acres, 500 feet of public beach Special attractions: Virginias second-largest freshwater lake, monthly bluegrass music concerts, numerous programs and lectures Checklist: - Take a tour boat ride - Go birdwatching especially for ospreys and purple martins - Fish off the pier (fishing license required!) - Water ski or tube for the first time - Grill the fish you caught For the kids: - Build a sand castle - Ride a pontoon boat - Take a hayride - Take photographs of different mushrooms in the woods - Help your family make dinner NATURAL BRIDGE 15 Appledore Lane, Natural Bridge Opened: Natural Bridge will become a state park this year. Size: 1,500 acres Special attractions: 500-million-year-old, 215-foot-high limestone arch, recreated Monocan village, the Caverns at Natural Bridge Checklist: - Take the hike to the bridge, of course - Visit the newly renovated hotel - Check out the Rockbridge Center - Come hungry to the weekly Grand Surf and Turf Buffet - Hear a live band during the Natural Bridge Music Series For the kids: - Find the initials G.W. on the bridge - Look for creatures in Cedar Creek - Visit Cascade Falls - Learn history about the Monacan Indians - See a stalactite in the Caverns at Natural Bridge NEW RIVER TRAIL AND SHOT TOWER 116 Orphanage Drive, Max Meadows Opened: Trail 1987, shot tower 1968 Size: 57-mile linear park Special attractions: 39 miles of the New River along an old railbed, Foster Falls recreation and camping area, 200-year-old shot tower that once made ammunition Checklist: - Rent a horse at Foster Falls Livery and hit the trail - Spend the day biking and camp at one of four campgrounds - Visit the Draper Mercantile during your bike ride - Tired of biking? Rent a canoe - Take a break at the shot tower For the kids: - Splash in the New River at Foster Falls - Climb all the way to the top of the shot tower - Holler loudly as you ride through a tunnel - Ride a horse for the first time - Climb aboard the red caboose at the Galax trailhead HUNGRY MOTHER 2854 Park Blvd., Marion Opened: 1936 Size: 3,334 acres, 108-acre lake Special attractions: The Restaurant at Hungry Mother State Park, Discovery Center, beach Checklist: - Hike the tough Mollys Knob Trail and get a view of Mount Rogers on a clear day - Relax at a Friday night concert at the gazebo - Pack a picnic for a hike - Check out the parks Hemlock Haven cabins - Try Mollys Cheesy Chicken at The Restaurant, named after the original hungry mother For the kids: - Grab a Park Pack at the Discovery Center and explore the park - Make a craft, such as a survival bracelet, during a ranger-led session - Learn the legend of Molly Marley, the hungry mother for whom the park is named - Try a new activity, such as paddleboarding or geocaching or something else you havent done - Search for salamanders on a hike GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us. Carmona must sign off on SSA The SSA (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed in the Senate since May 10. Newsday understands the legislation was subsequently proofed by Parliament secretariat staff and vetted by the office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. An assent copy was prepared and printed (this version omits a date of assent) and sent to the office of the Solicitor General. Solicitor General Carol Hernandez is understood to have duly prepared a legal report certifying that the legislation went through the required process. This legal report was then signed-off by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi. Once these processes were completed, Parliament sent the legislation to Presidents House on May 16, almost two weeks ago. Parliament officials yesterday said the legislation was yet to be returned by Presidents House. Asked if legislation had been assented, President Carmonas secretary Gregory Serrette would not say. Im not too sure, you know. Let me put you on to the communications department. It is understood the normal length of time it took Presidents House to assent legislation in the Eleventh Parliament was one to two days. However, most of the laws assented have been financial bills. During the Tenth Parliament, more complex pieces of legislation often took longer to assent, but the period did not normally exceed five days, according to persons close to the procedures. Former Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide yesterday warned it is not within the power of the President to withhold assent on his own volition. He said while on the face of it Section 61 (2) states a president may withhold assent, this is subject to other provisions of the Constitution which make it plain that the President, generally, acts on the advice of Cabinet. I dont think he can refuse to sign, the former Chief Justice told Newsday. The general provision governing the exercise of his powers, Section 80, would apply. In the absence of an express provision otherwise he must act on the advice of Cabinet or the minister under the authority of Cabinet in charge of the matter. I dont think he has any power to not assent and there is no exception in the Constitution with regard to the giving of his assent. The former Chief Justice said if the President were to withhold assent this would have implications for democracy. I dont think he has that sort of role of being the ultimate protector of the people, de la Bastide said. I dont think he has been thus anointed. There is no case for it as long as we call ourselves democratic. Section 80 of the Constitution says in the exercise of his powers the President acts in accordance with the advice of Cabinet. Section 81 of the Constitution empowers the President to seek information from Government on any matter relating to the Government. In his inauguration speech in March 2013, Carmona said, Powers you think I have, I do not. Powers you think I do not have...I do. Mayaro man drowns at sea The victim was identified by his 71-year-old mother, Yvonne Gobin. According to reports, 33-yearold Marlon Schultz of Gill Street, Mayaro was last seen walking on the beach front in the vicinity of Church Street. A short while later, lifeguard Rishi Madhoo found a body in the water and he pulled it to shore. District Medical Officer Dr Ebife, visited the scene and ordered the removal to the Sangre Grande mortuary. It remained unclear how Schultz drowned because he was described as a good swimmer. Cpl Pierre of the Mayaro Police is investigating. . Prof Deosaran: Verify threats The public is already in a state of great uncertainty following the deaths of the SRP constable (Jason John), soldier (Jerry Leacock) and security guard (Curtis Noel) and in such a situation, rumours find fertile ground. The country is in no mood to be further destabilised. Deosaran told Newsday that while he did not disagree with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys assertion on Wednesday that there was a plan to destabilise the country, the rumours needed to be verified. So far, none of the relevant authorities has given a verification one way or the other, except to leave the rumour hanging and causing panic among the public, he said. Deosaran observed, too, that the national security agencies were caught between a rock and a hard place because if there is truth to the rumours they can be held liable. So, it is important to know the source of the rumour, he added. During the post-Cabinet news briefing on Wednesday, Rowley told reporters that while the source of the recording has not been determined, it is something that has an origin that we can identify as being realistic. The PM also said there were elements, persons and entities whose interests will be served if T&T was destabilised by such threats. He said while the Government did not have information to determine if the threat was real that kind off information, real or otherwise, hast he potential to be a destabilising influence. Tears as baby Kristiano laid to rest So said Imam Jamal Ali who added that the parents of two-month-old baby Kristiano Aziz, who died at a daycare centre in Barrackpore, may never get all of the answers surrounding their babys death. This is the society we are living in. We hardly find answers and we have to live with the pain until we die, Ali said. At the time, he was officiating at the funeral service of baby Kristiano at the familys Perry Young Road, Indian Walk, Moruga home yesterday evening. An autopsy performed by Pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov revealed that baby Kristiano died from airways obstruction to the nose and mouth also known as positional asphyxia. On Monday the babys mother Lisa Ramjattan arrived at the Step by Step Daycare in Barrackpore to find her child dead. No foul play was suspected in the infants death. We are living in a society where everyone is hurting and this hurt goes from one generation to the other. The society is hurting so badly. There are children and parents hurting and they go to sleep with this hurt in their hearts and minds and they wake up the next day as miserable people, the Imam told mourners. Ali who said the pain of losing a baby may also cause the parents to blame themselves as they search for closure. He said others may be wont to point fingers of blame at the parents. Sometimes we like to play the blame game and say the mother should not have done this or that or that the father should not have sent the child to that place. Many of us drop our children at daycare...so do not point any fingers at the parents, he advised. There are certain things in life we just cannot change and no matter what we do, it will happen. It is destined to happen. We need to turn to Allah for answers and justification, he said. The Bear Attacked, So She 'Popped It Right in the Nose' Canadian carriers Telus and Koodo have started rolling out Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.The software update schedule of Telus suggests that Android 6.0 Marshmallow will be available for the Galaxy Note 4 from May 23 onward. Now Galaxy Note 4 owners on Telus as well as Koodo have confirmed receiving the latest software update."FYI, Telus Note4 folks, get your 6.0.1 now!" said a Reddit user."I'm on Koodo with an unlocked Eastlink model. Just started downloading the update now," said another redditor. Although some Galaxy Note 4 owners have confirmed receiving the latest Android operating system, others have complained that they have not received the latest update."It's mentioned that the Note 4 will receive the update on 23rd of May, well I didn't receive anything yet," said a disappointed Telus Galaxy Note 4 owner.Customers should note that carriers normally release a software update in phases and some customers may have to wait longer than others. If customers do not get a notification, they can manually check it from Menu > Settings > About Device > Software Update >Update.Reports suggest that the software release weighs about 1 GB. Customers who want to download Android 6.0 Marshmallow on their smartphones should have a strong Wi-Fi connection. It is also advisable to have at least 50 percent battery charge before starting the software download. Galaxy Note 4 owners in many other parts of the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and others have reported to have received the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update, and finally Canadian customers will be able to enjoy the new features of the operating system.Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 4 during the IFA event in September 2014 and it came running on Android 4.4 KitKat. The phablet has received Android 5.0 Lollipop update in many regions and the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software release was much awaited by customers. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Duos, the latest flagship smartphone with dual-SIM support from the South Korean tech giant, is now available at a reduced price of $630 on eBay. The listing on the retailer suggests that the reseller is offering a massive discount of $270 on the Galaxy S7 Edge Duos.9tronix, a reseller on eBay with a positive feedback rating of 98.6 percent is offering the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Duos with model number G935FD at an attractive price of $629. The white and silver variants of the phone have gone out of stock, but it can be availed in other colors like gold and black. The G935FD variant of Galaxy S7 Edge comes with an internal storage of 32 GB. This model is powered by Samsung Exynos 8890 chipset. It does not support Sprint, Verizon and other CDMA carriers. However, users will be able to use SIM cards from GSM carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile on the device. It features a hybrid SIM card slot that allows users to use a SIM card or a microSD card on the second slot.The reseller is offering free shipping to buyers in the U.S. It will ship the smartphone to various countries like the U.K., Australia, Japan, China, South Africa, France, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, and more. Buyers outside of the U.S. are required to bear shipping and handling charges. The Galaxy S7 Edge comes with a 5.5-inch S-AMOLED Quad HD dual edge curved screen. The Exynos 8890 chipset includes an octa-core processor that comprises of 2.3 GHz quad-core Mongoose CPU and 1.6 GHz Cortex A53 quad-core CPU along with Mali-T880 MP12 graphics. The SoC is supported by 4 GB of RAM.The smartphone features a 12-megapixel rear camera that comes with features like OIS and LED flash. Its frontal camera is of 5-megapixel. Other specs of the Galaxy S7 Edge include fingerprint reader and a 3600 mAh battery that supports wireless charging. Just ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit, China said Friday that more than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan's World War II violence is "more worthy of remembrance." Even though the Hiroshima bombing claimed 140,000, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi declared that the killing of civilians in Nanjing "deserved greater reflection". "Hiroshima is worthy of attention. But even more so Nanjing should not be forgotten," the ministry's website cited. "Victims deserve sympathy, but perpetrators should never shirk their responsibility," he said. There were 300,000 people who were killed in a six-week massacre, rape, and destruction after the Japanese army came into Nanjing in 1937. Academics put the number lower. For instance, China historian Jonathan Spence calculated that 42,000 soldiers and citizens were massacred and 20,000 women raped. The state-run China Daily newspaper wrote Thursday that the "atomic bombings of Japan were of its own making". It said that present-day Japanese officials were "trying to portray Japan as the victim of World War II rather than one of its major perpetrators". While Japan condemns the Hiroshima bombing, China's ruling Communist party also recalls brutal killing by Japanese soldiers who occupied China during the War. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "justified" said the China Daily. It was "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 neighbors and its refusal to accept its failure that had led to the US dropping the atomic bombs," it added. A commentary published Friday by China's Communist party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, said that Japan had "disregarded the feelings of Asian countries, manipulated historical facts, abandoned peaceful promises, and created threats to the regional security situation". At first, Republican contestant Donald Trump accepted Bernie Sanders' challenge for a debate. He changed his mind Friday, declaring: "it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher." Sanders first applied for a debate to "Jimmy Kimmel Live," in which Trump came as a guest on Wednesday. Initially, Trump agreed, saying: "If I debated him we would have such high ratings. Take that money and give it to some worthy charity." Taking it as an affirmative, Sanders looked forward to the debate via Twitter. Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs confirmed Thursday morning that the idea of the debate was not merely empty social media rhetoric. "Of course, we're interested. It was Bernie's suggestion," he said. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, had turned down the idea of debating with Sanders on Fox News, though he had agreed. However, on Friday, Trump, who just 48 hours earlier had declared that the debate with Sanders would raise $10 million for women's charities, suddenly turned around, declaring that it would be "inappropriate" to debate Sanders, who is second behind Clinton in polls and delegates just before the Democratic National Convention. "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," Trump said. "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, women's 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." Recently, mental health professionals found that military suicide rates are not necessarily due to combat. Studying more than 163,000 soldiers showed the researchers that at the peak of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army soldiers most at the risk of suicide were those that never got deployed. Suicides were the highest among those that were only a couple of months into service. Although the findings were surprising, they did not automatically indicate that deployment is protective and works against suicide. "It is more likely that those who are not deployed are already at a higher risk for suicide, and that is one of the reasons they were not cleared to deploy," said Alan Peterson, a military mental health researcher from the University of Texas who wasn't involved in the study. Earlier suicide rates among soldiers were lower than among people in the general population, but in the wars of the last 15 years, the rates have shot up. "Suicide rates in the army have traditionally been about half of those in a similar civilian population," said Robert Ursano from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and lead author of the study. "During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rates increased and surpassed those of civilians. They have remained high." Examining soldiers attempting suicide between 2004 and 2009, Ursano's team found that the 9,650 soldiers in the sample could be separated into three groups---those that were deployed recently, those who got deployed earlier and those who were never deployed. Results showed that those who were never deployed, along with women, were more than three times as likely to commit suicide than the other groups. Moreover, soldiers in the first two years of service and those who got a mental health diagnosis in the previous month were at high risk. Worryingly, in spite of the study showing those who were never deployed totalling upto 40 percent of all the soldiers involved in the study, they made up 61 percent of those who committed suicide. "During deployment, when the enemy is trying to kill you, the natural human reaction is one of self-preservation," Peterson said. "This may help explain some of the reduced risks for suicide during deployments." After deployment, the risk to the soldiers shoots up in the fifth month after their return. "Service members have more time to think about their deployment experiences," Peterson said. "Those with PTSD, depression, substance-use disorders and guilt and shame related to deployment are at increased risk for suicide." "Our goal is to identify who, when and where people are at risk," Ursano said. "This provides helpful information on which groups to develop interventions for as well as possible mechanisms [that] increase risk." The findings were published in the May 25 issue of JAMA Psychiatry. New Delhi: Celebrating second anniversary ofhis government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said a"change" has come in the last two years through goodgovernance and vowed to root out corruption and make lifeeasier for the people who have been "looted" for years. Bharatiya Janata Party's mega show is being held at India Gate in New Delhi to celebrate successful two year term of governance. The event has been a remained in controversy ever since Amitabh Bahchan's name had came forward as the host of the show. Opposition had slammed BJP for including Amitabh Bachchan as the host of the show on a back drop of serious allegations against him in a scam. Though the air was cleared later that Big B will be there not as a host of the whole show, but will be presenting a small segment. Big B's small presentation is on the promotion of NDA's initiative 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign. The government is organising the eventZara Muskura Do (Smile Please)-- which will have several performances and programmes highlighting its achievements. The show is being beamed across the country by Doordarshan. HERE ARE THE LIVE UPDATES: For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the class 10th results 2016. The students may check there results on official portal of CBSE. The CBSE class 10 results has been announced for all regions in one go on three websites-www.results.nic.in, www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. The schools will automatically receive their 10th results on board official email ids already registered with the Board. (Also Read: CBSE class 10th results 2016 declared: Steps to check your results at www.cbseresults.nic.in, www.cbse.nic.in) Students may also use check results via Android mobile app DigiResults. According to the board, of the total 14,99,122 registered students for CBSE Class 10th examination, 8,92,685 are boys and 6,06,437 are girls. (Also Read: 96.21 per cent pass Class 10th CBSE examamination, girls outshine boys ) HRD Minister Smriti Irani had earlier this week assured students during a Facebook chat that the result for CBSE Board exams for class X and XII will be declared on time before the end of this month and, as per a decision taken earlier, state boards are also expected to declare their results by May 31. Schools under the Delhi region are advised to collect the results from the office of the respective Zonal office after declaration of the result. People are advised not to visit Boards office for collection of results, the statement said adding, the process of verification will be displayed on CBSEs website shortly. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. East Khasi Hills: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning arrived in Mawphlang village, East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. Playing a sport he indulged himself with the locals, went on to beat the drums to enjoy the musical morning. Here are the live updates: For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: The scheduled release of actor Irrfan Khans upcoming movie, Madaari has been deferred by almost a month to July 15. The Nishikant Kamat directed film was earlier supposed to hit the screens on June 10. As the director of this film, I want complete justice to be done to the subject of the movie. Hence I am convinced with the producers decision of postponing the release date, Kamat said in a statement. The Piku actor, who has also produced the film, says he is in agreement with the decision of pushing the release date by almost a month. I am in agreement with the decision of the makers to change the release date of Madaari, Irrfan said. The movie is inspired from several true life incidents. It also stars Jimmy Shergill. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: The US has asked Pakistan to go after terrorists especially the Taliban leadership, days after an American drone killed Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the countrys troubled Balochistan province. We continue to cooperate closely with Afghanistan, but also urge Pakistan to go after terrorists, especially Taliban leadership, and that cooperation continues, State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. Meanwhile, a former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, James B Cunningham, said the drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour inside Pakistan should send a signal that the United States will not tolerate terrorist safe havens. I hope that this is the beginning of a message that we will not tolerate any more the strategic challenge that is posed by the leadership of the Taliban being in Pakistan and having a safe haven there. I hope that this is the beginning of a new phase in the effort to bring the Taliban into a political discussion, he told the Atlantic Council. It is rumored that senior parts of the ISI (Pakistans intelligence agency) may have been involved in setting Mansour up. The official account is that we informed Pakistan of the strike after it took place. In places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, conspiracy rumors will circulate for some time, he said. Cunningham hoped that this would force Pakistan to rethink the wisdom of providing safe heavens to terrorists. I would hope so. I have seen some commentary from some Pakistani observers that this may encourage a rethinking of the policy that the ISI has been pursuing. That is what is necessary. That's what we, the US, have been arguing for years; that's what we need to find a way to accomplish, he said. We have a core strategic objective here, which is to bring the conflict to an end. In order to do that we need to make clear to the Taliban leaders that they will not prevail by terror and by military means. And we, the international community, need to make clear to the ISI that we are no longer going to tolerate the kind of policy that they have been pursuing, the former top American diplomat said. Cunningham argued that to really get to a peace discussion, the Taliban have to come to the conclusion that the option of military force and terror will not get them back to the establishment of the emirate, which is what they want. In order for that to happen, the status quo needs to be disrupted and that means we need to find a way to impact the safe havens in Pakistan, he argued. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Srinagar: In a major blow to the Burhan group of militants, Tariq Pandit, a close aide of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, surrendered in Pulwama district of South Kashmir region on Saturday, officials said. "Tariq Pandit, a close associate of Burhan Wani, and a commander of HM outfit surrendered before the security forces", a senior police officer said. Tariq Pandit surrendered before the officers of 55 Rashtriya Rifles deployed for anti-militancy operations, defence sources said. Pandit had been seen in pictures that were posted on social media, showing Wani and his aides wielding weapons and wearing army fatigues. Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old youth from Pulwama district, has become a militant icon for more than six months now to lure educated local youth into the cadre of insurgent groups. Security forces have not been able to arrest him yet. Security forces have announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone leading to crucial information about Wani. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul has asked the Centre to build a rail corridor along the foothills of the state for better connectivity. The rail corridor will provide linkages for agriculture, horticulture, medicinal plants and mineral sectors, the chief minister had told the North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary session at Shillong yesterday. Calling for an effective air connectivity, he said seven airstrips were being developed by the Defence Ministry /Airports Authority of India, which must be commissioned on priority, an official statement said here. He asked for the assistance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the airport project at Itanagar within this year. The chief minister also sought a single window clearance for issues relating to power projects and steps for promoting tourism besides more fund allocation to the NEC. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dehradun: Accusing Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat of misusing public money, BJP today demanded that a case be registered against him and the DG of Information and Public Relations for putting out advertisement aimed at personal image building in violation of a Supreme Court directive. Referring to a full-page advertisement put out by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations in several newspapers on May 23, BJP spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan said it was not at all related to matters of public interest and welfare. Putting out ads in newspapers and the media is the governments prerogative and we have no objection to that. But a look at the content of the ad makes it clear it is not related to any matter of public interest. It has been brought out clearly to push the political agenda of the CM and is also highly critical of CBI which was to interrogate him just a day later in connection with the sting CD case, Chauhan said. Alleging that the advertisement was virtually Rawats mercy petition before the people of the state a day before his interrogation by the investigating agency, the BJP leader said it was like an election poster painting the CM as the survivor of a conspiracy to finish him politically. Chauhan claimed the advertisement put out by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations at the behest of the chief minister was not just violation of the Supreme Court ruling against spending of public money over personal image building of a politician but was also against the CBI. It was as a result of this ad that there was a protest against CBI in New Delhi, he said, demanding that a case be registered against the chief minister for alleged breach of peace. The party will soon call on Governor K K Paul seeking a direction to the law enforcement agencies to register a case against the CM and the Director General of Information and Public Relations for publishing the ad. The advertisement shows Rawat thanking the deities of Uttarakhand, its people, his MLAs and the Congress central and state leaderships for their support during the recent political crisis in Uttarakhand. It also speaks of a conspiracy to finish Rawat politically by dragging him into a CBI probe and lowering his image in the eyes of the people of Uttarakhand. Chauhan said the DG of Information and Public Relations must be booked as he issued orders for putting out the ad which was critical of the countrys apex investigating agency and thus became party to a political campaign. How can a government official become part of a political campaign to vilify the CBI, he asked. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Barasat: Nine persons, including six children, were injured when unidentified persons hurled a bomb at a victory rally of Trinamool Congress at Kipalpur in North 24 Parganas district today. The bomb exploded in the victory rally, injuring three Trinamool Congress supporters and six children standing nearby, a police official said. While one injured TMC supporter and a child were admitted to the Bashirhat hospital, others were discharged after first aid. Police were enquiring into the identity of the people who hurled the bomb into the rally before escaping, he said. New Delhi: In what can be termed as snub to Pakistan, US said that NSG is not about an arms race, but about peaceful use of nuclear energy. This is not about an arms race and it's not about nuclear weapons. This is about the peaceful civil use of nuclear energy, and so we would certainly hope that Pakistan understands that, State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters yesterday. Recently, Pakistan has been opposed to India's entry in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Though Pakistan has been opposed to Indias joing NSG on the grounds that this would give pace to nuclear arms race in the region. US has already made it clear that joining of the new members is an internal matter among the current members. The upcoming NSG meeting has not been set up for this purpose, however. Here are some of the important things you need to know about NSG: About NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group is a multinational body that aims to reduce nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials. It was formed by the signatories to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Objectives of NSG: NSG was formed in response to Indian nuclear test in May 1974. Its main objective has been to ensure that nuclear energy only be used for peaceful purposes and not for weapon-making. Indias stand in NSG: In November 2010, President Barack Obama announced US support to India's participation in NSG. Also during his India in January 2015 visit Obama said that India was ready for the NSG membership. Pakistan applied for the NSG membership in May 2016, probably to block India's entry into the group. But Chinas foreign ministry offered conditional support for Indian membership in the NSG. China is against Indias entry into NSG membership on the grounds that it is yet to sign the NPT. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Scoot, the long-haul budget arm of Singapore Airlines, today launched its operations in India with flight services to Chennai and Amritsar from Singapore. The airline will operate a daily direct service to the Tamil Nadu Capital from Singapore with a 335-seater Boeing 787-800 aircraft while Amritsar would have three-times-a-week operations service with a 375-seater B787-900 plane. Besides, it has already announced to launch services from Jaipur from October this year. On the Chennai-Singapore route, Scoot will take place of SIAs another subsidiary airline Tigerair which has been operating 12 flights a week with narrow-body aircraft. India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. Guests from India can now fly to amazing destinations in our Asia-Pacific network through the Singapore hub, as well as onward with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tigerair in the SIA Group portfolio, Chief Commercial Officer for Scoot and Tigerair, Leslie Thng said. Scoot also plans to scale up frequency from Amritsar to four times a week, starting July 2. New Delhi: Welfare and security of Indians abroad must be the top priority of Indian missions, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today told over 120 Indian envoys posted across the globe. In her address at the annual meeting of the Heads of Missions (HoM), Swaraj said ensuring welfare of the diaspora community has been a major focus area of the government and the missions must work towards it. The welfare and security of Indians abroad must be your first priority. EAM @SushmaSwaraj tells Heads of Mission in her address, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. In his address, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said the gathering was an excellent opportunity to think collectively about foreign policy objectives. The annual gathering of the Heads of Missions began yesterday and will continue till May 31. During the course of the annual gathering, issues various issues relating to foreign policy, governments flagship programmes and Indias economic and trade relations with various countries are likely to be deliberated. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Ahead of his visit to China, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy today met President Pranab Mukherjee. The meeting lasted for 35 minutes, according to sources. Swamy apprised the President about his visit to China starting tomorrow and some other issues. Later, Swamy left for a 10-day visit to China during which he will meet senior Chinese leaders and discuss issues relating to economic cooperation and national security among others. He is visiting China at the invitation of Chinese Peoples Institute of Foreign Affairs, a leading think-tank of Chinas Foreign Ministry. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi : Warning of strict action against people stashing black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said prosecution would be initiated against those found to have parked funds illegally in accounts named in Panama Papers. If illegal money is found in accounts of those who are named in Panama case, then they will also be prosecuted as in case of HSBC accounts, he said at a gala event organised by the government to celebrate the Modi governments two years. Hundreds of Indians have been named in the leaked Panama Papers about entities having accounts in offshore tax havens. Jaitley said the government came out in the last fiscal with a law to deal with black money stashed abroad and was now focusing on domestic black money. Stating that those failing to make the disclosure under this scheme face imprisonment up to 10 years, Jaitley said the law to deal with black money stashed abroad has yielded about Rs 4,000 crore. Answering questions on economy, Jaitley said a good monsoon will give further boost to growth. With a helpful global economic scenario, he said, India can achieve 8-9 per cent growth rate, but it would be difficult to achieve this rate in a slowing world economy. The economy is growing this year, which we also call green-shoots... If monsoon is good this year, then rural economy will get boost and overall Indias economy will benefit, he said. First time, India has emerged as the fastest-growing major economy in the world. We are growing at 7.5 per cent. Compared to other countries we are growing at a faster rate, (but) it is still below our expectation. If world economy growth helps our economic growth, then countrys growth (will) increase. In a fast-growing world, we can grow at 8-9 per cent. If world is growing slowly, then it is a difficult challenge to achieve 8-9 per cent growth, he added. Jaitley said the government has taken action against those who had illegal accounts in Liechtenstein, a tax haven, and HSBC. Taxation authorities completed assessment of those people and filed criminal cases against those who had stashed money illegally in Liechtenstein, he said. We signed agreement with Switzerland and got details of those people (having accounts in HSBC). We completed assessment of those people who had accounts in HSBC, Switzerland. We assessed Rs 6,000 crore black money which was in HSBC. We filed criminal cases against them, he added. Talking about macroeconomic trends, Jaitley said a low global demand is a problem as global trends impact the domestic market scenario. Urban demand is on rise in India. Sales of automobiles, cement are going up, so the urban demand is increasing. I think, real challenge is to increase the rural demand, he said. Referring to issues related to taxation, Jaitley said, Goods and Services Tax (GST) will lead to economic integration of India. It will also bring taxation rate down in long-run. It will make the economy more competitive and it will also add to larger revenue (collection). Hopefully it will also add to the GDP itself. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. According to state law, fines, penalties, and license money shall be appropriated exclusively to the use and support of the common schools ... . An exception is fines for overloaded vehicles. Seventy-five percent of those funds go to state highways; 25 percent go to the county general fund where the fine or penalty is paid. Fifty percent of money forfeited or seized in enforcing drug laws goes to counties for drug enforcement. Vehicles seized in drug law cases may be used by law enforcement agencies or sold with the proceeds going to schools. County Court Traffic Sentences Donal Hiemer, 61, Shelby, traffic signal violation, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Patrick Manwarren, 27, 2017 Sixth St., no valid registration, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Skylar Arthur, 19, Fremont, speeding, 73 mph in a 55 mph zone, and no operator's license, $200 fines and $48 court costs. Cassandra Calderon, 28, Grand Island, speeding, 84 mph in a 60 mph zone, no child passenger restraint and no operator's license on person, $250 fines and $48 court costs. Pamela Stephens, 51, 318 Pershing Road, traffic signal violation, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Brandon Jacobson, 19, 1915 10th St., speeding, 44 mph in a 35 mph zone, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Yosniel Blanco, 23, Miami, Florida, improper turn, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Charles Cogman, 43, 2480 E. 37th Ave., no valid registration, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Christine Hanson, 35, Platte Center, speeding, 74 mph in a 65 mph zone, and no seat belt, $50 fines and $48 court costs. Joshua Robinson, 30, Omaha, fictitious license plates and no valid registration, $75 fines and $48 court costs. Cecilia Wielgus, 34, 2117 Sixth St., passing a school bus, $500 fine and $48 court costs. Tyler McBride, 20, American Fork, Utah, failure to maintain control, $25 fine and $48 court costs. Francisco Cerros III, 20, 3337 E. 28th St., speeding, 77 mph in a 55 mph zone, $200 fine and $48 court costs. Robert Dunachek, 35, Neligh, traffic signal violation, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Labrina McKiernan, 20, 2907 28th St., No. 4, speeding, 69 mph in a 50 mph zone, $125 fine and $48 court costs. Juana Hidalgo, 42, 6098 56th St., No. 514, speeding, 64 mph in a 50 mph zone, and no seat belt, $100 fines and $48 court costs. Julie Miller, 40, Lincoln, speeding, 63 mph in a 45 mph zone, $125 fine and $48 court costs. Abbey Wright, 26, Duncan, speeding, 71 mph in a 60 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Kristin Williams, 64, 7 Whitesurf Drive, speeding, 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs. Criminal Sentences Francisco Mendez-Villalva, 41, Norfolk, no operator's license, $350 fine and $49 court costs. Mitchell Ryan, 24, 1922 Fourth St., failure to appear, five days in jail, credit for six days already served, and $49 court costs. Atlacati Marin, 19 2155 10th Ave., theft-shoplifting $0-$500, $250 fine and $49 court costs. Armando Quezada, 47, Schuyler, attempted Class I misdemeanor, $250 fine and $49 court costs. Jeremy Taylor, 34, 1471 25th Ave., protection order violation and attempted criminal trespass, 45 days in jail, credit for 59 days already served, and $49 court costs. Magdiel Vazquez-Rosabel, 22, 2519 Sixth St., theft-shoplifting $0-$500, $150 fine and $49 court costs. Chandler Brown, 20, Central City, minor in possession of alcohol-19/20, $250 fine and $49 court costs. Tayler Buell, 18, Bellwood, second-offense possession of K2 or marijuana-one ounce or less, $400 fine and $49 court costs. Kaitlyn Dozler, 26, Norfolk, second-offense driving under the influence, 10 days in jail, credit for nine days already served, $500 fine, operator's license revoked for 18 months and $49 court costs. Brittany Harder, 25, 3607 16th St., driving under suspension, $50 fine and $49 court costs. Karasel Jansen, 22, Omaha, driving under the influence-.15+, six months probation, $500 fine, operator's license revoked for one year and $49 court costs. Uriel Nunez-Tapia, 21, Schuyler, no operator's license, $225 fine and $49 court costs. COLUMBUS Richard Henderson still has the physical and emotional scars from his year in Vietnam. One is visible on his left forearm, where an AK-47 bullet tore through the flesh, and the other can be seen in his eyes when talks about the war. Ive been trying to forget this stuff for years, the Columbus man said. It just doesnt go away. Henderson was working in a sawmill for a Black Hills mining company when he received the draft notice. It was Feb. 12, 1969 six months after his 20th birthday when the Alliance native learned he was a member of the U.S. Army. He wasnt prepared for the news. I kept thinking, well Im 20 years old, Im not going to have to worry about it, Henderson said. And I had no plans of going into the service. Actually, he briefly considered enlisting in the Air National Guard a couple of years earlier, but his father Howard, a World War II veteran, advised against it. He said theyll take you quick enough. Youll end up in the service anyway, Henderson recalled. His father was right. After basic training in Fort Lewis, Washington, the U.S. Army specialist boarded a plane at Travis Air Force Base in California en route to the war in southeast Asia. It was a whole new world for the young man from western Nebraska. I felt like I was climbing out right into a blast furnace it was so hot and humid there, Henderson said. Probably 120 in the shade or something. Henderson was part of an infantry battalion with a straightforward task. They walked for miles, a few days on end, looking for enemy forces during daylight before setting up temporary camps protected by land mines ahead of nightfall. The soldiers were part of a mechanized unit with personnel carriers and tanks before being transferred to the Dau Tieng fire support base in southern Vietnam. Hendersons job remained the same. Huey helicopters dropped the men off, then they trudged along roads, across rice paddies and through jungle so thick it had to be cut with machetes in search of the enemy Viet Cong. We would walk for two, three days, said Henderson. Choppers picked the men up and returned them to base for a couple days of rest before the process repeated. The local mans mission didnt change until his ninth month in Vietnam, when the unit was patrolling near Katum close to the Cambodian border. Enemy fighters opened fire on the American infantrymen as they approached a canal, forcing the unit to call for air support from Cobra helicopters. Then all of the sudden it got quiet, Henderson said, and the men were ordered to advance. Henderson was halfway across the canal with his M60 machine gun held high above his head when the gunfire started again. There we were like sittin ducks out in the middle of this canal, said Henderson, who took a bullet before retreating behind a bush. Im lucky that it just creased it there, it went in and out, or I could have lost my whole arm if it would have been just a little bit farther over, Henderson said, pointing to the scar on his left forearm. Three or four others were also wounded, but the 67-year-old veteran cant recall how seriously. Those are the details hes worked hard to forget. Henderson, who received the Purple Heart for his injury, spent his final three months in Vietnam cleaning weapons and outhouses at the Dau Tieng support base. Nasty job, but somebody had to do it, he said with a grin. The soldier was told to stay out of San Francisco a hotbed for political activists who opposed the war when he returned to the States in September 1970, but there was no avoiding the backlash. It wasnt very welcoming at all, he said. People looked down on us for what we tried to do over there. We were called baby killers and spit on. We werent treated good. We didnt get any respect at all for being over there. Henderson, who moved to Columbus in 1987 and retired from the Schuyler meatpacking plant in October 2014, still battles post-traumatic stress disorder. But he doesnt completely distance himself from his service during the Vietnam War. The local man makes it a point to attend the Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Reunion each year, which he says is part of the healing process. Hes also looking forward to the June 6 honor flight that will take 500 Vietnam War veterans from Nebraska to Washington, D.C, a place Henderson has never visited. I think it will be closure for me, said Henderson, who will get his first look at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honoring more than 58,000 American service members killed in the war. I could tell them welcome home, thanks for what you did. Its just something I feel I need to do. 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. COLUMBUS Lon Jochens considers himself one of the lucky ones. The 70-year-old Vietnam War veteran thinks of other soldiers who served and never made it home. Im just thankful things went the way they did. Im very blessed things went the way they did for me, he said. Jochens served 14 1/2 months in the United States Army after getting drafted in 1968. He had just graduated from Wayne State College with a business degree and put off finding a permanent job because he knew his time was coming. He would be following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom were military veterans. My dad served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and my maternal grandfather served in the Navy during World War I, so there was a little bit of history in the family of men serving in the armed forces," Jochens said. "One side of me was kind of curious and wanting to know what it was all about, and there was the other side of it that thought if I dont have to know, I dont want to know." While in basic training in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the Hoskins native was trained in artillery before being sent to Vietnam in mid-January 1969. Once I got over to Vietnam, I remember the sergeant lining a bunch of us up. He had an M16, as we all did, and said, Youve had all this stateside training on how to use your M16. Forget everything you learned back there. He crouched over and put the weapon on automatic and he emptied the magazine. He said you arent going to have time to bring your weapon up to your shoulder. This is the way you are going to be shooting. Just pray and spray, Jochens said as he held his arm by his waist to mimic the sergeants action. Jochens was assigned to a landing zone firebase near the coast. The first night in on the firebase, I remember the section chief telling me that I was the replacement of the guy that was killed in our section two weeks prior in a mortar attack. That was kind of a dose of reality, he said. Also sobering was the first day of action. The first fire mission was a little bit of a reality check. I remember thinking, This is it. This is it. We are trying to do some people in. We are trying to kill some people. But at the same time we were trying to help our own troops out, trying to bring in fires as close as we could to help our troops and help someone who was in trouble, he said. Jochens later transferred to two different sites, the first an Army base next to Phu Cat Air Force Base. He was located there from May until November in 1969 before spending the next four months at an artillery headquarters in Nha Trang. He defines his tour of duty as being boring interspersed with periods of pandemonium. One of the chaotic moments came during his final few months in Vietnam. When I went down to Nha Trang, I thought I was going to a relatively secure place but first night in I and another fellow were caught in a mortar attack. Ten rounds went off around us and he got hit with the first round in the face. There was just really no place that was secure. You could get mortar anytime, Jochens said. He said he knows his experience in Vietnam was a lot better than others who went through life-changing traumas. I saw dead bodies over there but I wasnt exposed to the threat of being shot on a continual basis or engaged in combat day after day like some of these guys were. It is easier for me to share my experiences. Some guys were traumatized and they cant talk about it. It is painful for them. I can understand that, he said. Jochens return home wasnt met with much fanfare or disdain like some soldiers experienced after coming back from serving in Vietnam. His welcome home, as he puts it, was seeing the sun reflect off the snow-capped mountains in British Columbia as his flight paralleled the coast before landing in Washington. In America, an aunt who lived in Washington picked him up before he flew to Eppley Airfield in Omaha where he met up with his parents. The most difficult transition for him back home was hearing fireworks explode on the Fourth of July. The noise startled him, taking him back to the mortar fire he heard while serving in the Army. Jochens wasnt the only one in his family who served during the war. A cousin died in action about three months after Jochens arrived in Vietnam. His cousin is buried near Norfolk. Probably one of the more emotional moments I had while coming back was one Sunday morning, we went to church where he is buried. His mom saw us after the service and she came up to us. That was tough, Jochens said with tears in his eyes. His experience has created a bond with other veterans, which he said is gratifying. It is a pretty easy connect if someone has been in combat, a veteran. There is a bond from one veteran to another regardless of when and where they served, he said. Jochens will be sharing that bond with 17 others from Columbus and many more Vietnam veterans when they travel to Washington, D.C., on an honor flight. The flight will take off June 6, when veterans will visit war memorials at the nation's capital. Accompanying Jochens on the trip will be his wife, Sandra. The couple has lived in Columbus since the 1970s. Jochens worked at Behlen Mfg. Co. for 39 years and his wife was employed at Columbus Community Hospital. Jochens said he is really looking forward to the trip, which is free for veterans. Im really appreciative of the folks who have donated money to it and the people who have organized it. That is a tremendous effort on their part, he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY Angelica Idrovo, like millions across the country, is anxiously awaiting an impending U.S. Supreme Court decision that could quell or stoke fears that she could be deported. Idrovo, 20, moved to the Danbury from Ecuador with her parents and two younger brothers in December 2009. In November 2014, President Barack Obama announced two programs by executive action that could shield roughly 4 million people from deportation and grant them the legal right to work in the U.S. Idrovo said she and her two brothers would be included in that group. It was absolute happiness, she said. It was a feeling that we would get out from the shadows. But her elation was short-lived. Texas and 25 other states sued to block the new initiatives soon after they were announced, and lower courts have ruled in their favor. The programs have never taken effect, and the Supreme Courts decision on the matter could come later this week as its term is wrapped up. I was devastated, she said. I felt like I was small again. It has been over a year that I could have worked at a better job, over a year that I could have gotten more scholarships for universities, she said. Idrovo, who graduated from Naugatuck Valley Community College last week, recently went to Washington, D.C., with her brother to hear the Supreme Court arguments in the case. Last February, the Texas federal court preliminary blocked the presidents executive actions. About nine months later, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the lower courts ruling, causing the U.S. Justice Department to seek a Supreme Court review of the decision which was granted this January. A Supreme Court decision is expected by late June. A decision in favor of the administration would allow the programs to take effect in the waning months of Obamas presidency. A loss or even a tie vote (possible because of the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalias death in February) would block them for the foreseeable future. The programs announced by Obama in November 2014 would apply to parents whose children are citizens or are living in the country legally called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). Eligibility also would be expanded for the presidents 2012 effort that allowed certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their 16th birthdays and have lived in the U.S. since June 15, 2007, to receive a renewable two-year work permit and exemption from deportation. More than 700,000 people have taken advantage of that earlier program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Under Obamas 2014 action, DACA was expanded to people of any age who entered the country before the age 16 and lived in the United States continuously since Jan. 1, 2010 and extended the period of DACA and work authorization from two to three years. This is the program that Idrovo thinks that she and her brothers would be eligible for. Lisa Rivas, a Danbury immigration attorney, said applications had been drafted and an expected opening date set for the 2014 program when the injunction was issued. Since then, everything has been on hold, she said. Unfortunately, I meet people on a daily basis and I have to tell them, I cant help you, theres nothing I can do for you. We can only tell people what we hope the program will be in the future, she said. She said she keeps a list of undocumented immigrants in the Danbury area that she thinks would qualify for the two programs. It has grown to more than 30 names. The ACLU has joined a broad coalition of civil rights groups in an amicus brief that supports the Obama administration in the case. Immigrants to our country have made great contributions to our culture and economy, said Dan Barrett, the legal director of the ACLU of Connecticut. People who have immigrated here, put down roots, become a part of our society and pose no threat to others ought not to have to continually look over their shoulders in fear. The opposing states, joined by congressional Republicans, argue that Obama doesnt have the power to effectively change immigration law. When he announced the measures, Obama said he was acting under his own authority because Congress had failed to overhaul the immigration system. The Senate had passed legislation on a bipartisan vote, but House Republicans refused to put the matter to a vote Fundamentally, we dont think the president has the statutory or constitutional authority to issue these executive actions, said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. House Republicans told the court that Obama is claiming the power "to decree that millions of individuals may live, work and receive benefits in this country even though federal statutes plainly prohibit them from doing so." The administration and immigration advocates say the immigration orders are neither unprecedented nor even unusual. Rather, they say, Obamas programs build on past efforts by Democratic and Republican administrations to use discretion in deciding whom to deport. The programs also could be revoked by the next president, as Republican presidential contenders have promised. Some fear that would leave people who have provided the government with information about themselves in greater peril of being deported. Immigration advocates acknowledged that some people might not be willing to raise their hands until they know the outcome of the presidential election in November. The Supreme Court case might not even address the issue of executive authority if the justices determine that Texas and the other states don't have the right to challenge it in federal court. Such a resolution, which could attract support from both liberal and conservative justices, could enable the court to sidestep the potentially divisive details over immigration and avoid a 4-4 tie. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY - The states fastest-growing city is keeping pace with the demands its newest residents are making on services and resources. For now. But the pressure Danburys growing population is putting on schools, parks, roads, housing and the citys diverse culture is enough to keep leaders up at night. It is a good problem to have, but it is still a problem, said Mark Boughton, the citys longtime Republican mayor. We have to meet this challenge. Estimates the U.S. Census released last week show Danburys population grew by 0.9 percent to 84,650 from mid-2014 to mid-2015. The next fastest-growing city in Connecticut was Stamford, with a one-year population increase of 0.5 percent to 128,875. The numbers are not news to Danbury, which has responded in recent years with a smart government initiative, with quality-of-life ordinances, and with a planned $50 million expansion of Danbury High School. But the numbers do preoccupy city leadership - particularly at the school district, where an average recent annual enrollment increase of 1.5 percent has jumped to 2.5 percent. The irony is that while Danbury is scrambling to find space, neighboring towns are in various stages of closing down schools due to dwindling enrollment. Were strained and the city is strained, said Sal Pascarella, the superintendent of the 11,000-student Danbury school district. Were crowded - absolutely. While city leaders welcome growth - and attribute it to Danburys low crime, low unemployment and low housing costs - there are several areas of concern about the rapid population increase: The potential for single-family homes to be converted into apartments, leading to more density than neighborhoods were built to handle; Wear and tear on roads and sidewalks that outpace the citys ability to upgrade them; The possibility that city students may have to be sent from overcrowded schools to neighboring suburban districts, with tuition paid by Danbury taxpayers; Overcrowded parks and ball fields; The need to acclimate newcomers to city codes and customs. In response, the school district has hired a demographer to conduct neighborhood interviews and gather data about growth indicators such as building permits to better understand city population trends. City Hall also teamed up with the school district and hired a Hartford consultant to lobby state government for more aid. Danbury had the highest rate of new housing units in Fairfield County in 2015, according to state numbers. And that didnt include the 275 downtown apartments known as Kennedy Flats on Main Street, which began renting in the spring. The new Danburians The 765 new Danburians in the latest Census numbers are a mix of immigrants from abroad and metropolitan New Yorkers, observers said. Some of the newcomers are attracted to Danburys central location and its natural resources, including Candlewood Lake. The housing is affordable, the services are good, and the lake is here, said Sharon Calitro, the citys planning director. And at 700 acres, Tarrywile is the largest municipal park north of Central Park. Boughton agrees. The people who are coming in are much younger than we have seen, the mayor said. They are active and they want recreation. Young families also want good schools. Nowhere is the citys growth more manifest than in the school district, which has the largest high school in the state and where students speak 40 different languages. The 24-classroom addition at the high school, which is expected to begin construction in the fall, will increase the buildings capacity to 3,500 students. If enrollment continues to increase at its current rate, the high school after its expansion could reach capacity again in six years, Pascarella said. While city officials think Danburys population growth will level off before that, they say the state has to take on greater responsibility for funding schools. This is a not just a Danbury problem, Pascarella said. It requires a regional solution. The city has been lobbying the state to award growing districts with needy students such as Danbury a larger share of state aid. Students who come from families with smaller incomes and students who speak English as a second language require more resources to teach, they argue. When I started here 10 years ago, 30 percent of our students received free or reduced lunches, Pascarella said. Today it is 50 to 51 percent. The citys large Latino community, which was a source of tension as recently as a decade ago, is a draw for those who are attracted to Danburys diversity. In a report earlier this month by an online financial data site, Danbury was ranked just behind San Francisco as the 21st most diverse city in the country. The report singled out Danbury not only for its ethnic diversity but also for its varieties of social class, household income, educational attainment, and family makeup. The good news is people want to live in Danbury because of our low crime rate and our low unemployment rate, and that is something we should be proud of, said Boughton. But we absolutely have to recognize this growth as a challenge. rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A group of funeral home workers sat at the bar inside the Heritage Hotel in Southbury one night, about a week after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Meanwhile, a group of young journalists were at a nearby table. An editor, concerned about the mental toll, told one reporter shed be limited to covering no more than three of the funerals that week. In the back of the room, a group of grief counselors who were staying at the hotel compared notes after an emotional days work. In formal and informal ways, people whose jobs required them to confront details of the Dec. 14, 2012, mass shooting of 20 children and six educators coped by talking about it. But the one group of professionals exposed to the most horrible scenes and stress of that day Newtown police were, outside special counseling sessions set up for the department, least free to talk about it. And now-retired Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe was perhaps in the loneliest position of all. Kehoes wife, Lori, has written about it, and its a rare glimpse into a profoundly isolating experience. Its part of a new U.S. Justice Department report that urges police chiefs across the country to adopt mental health programs that help officers cope with on-the-job trauma, including the aftermath of mass shootings. Mike does not get upset. He is always cool, calm and collected. He doesnt bounce off the walls, she wrote. A few weeks after the shooting, he came home and was pacing and absolutely agitated beyond agitated. He was concerned about his officers committing suicide. The suicide rate for police officers is higher than the general publics, according to The Badge of Life, a group of current and retired officers working to prevent police suicides. Studies show there are about 125 to 150 officer suicides a year, and more than 200,000 officers are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or some other form of emotional stress, the group said. Lori Kehoe said even though friends, family and the whole country and community, really, wanted to help Newtown and those most affected, it was difficult to find help. Many family and friends were supportive, but a lot of people couldnt deal with the trauma. They would break down crying on the phone. Or people were afraid to call because they didnt want to intrude, she wrote. And the last thing you want to do when something dramatic like this happens is dump it all on someone who cant handle it. I relied on the people who called me to be my support system, because I didnt dare reach out. I was isolated, but, at the same time, saturated with the media. Newtown was on the news for three or four days straight. You couldnt turn on the TV without seeing it. Most police departments train to respond to mass shootings, but few prepare officers for the psychological fallout, according to the 140-page Justice Department report, which the former Newtown chief helped prepare. Its recommendations include choosing trusted mental health service providers, creating peer support programs and designating mental health incident commanders to help officers cope with more common events, such as car crashes, suicides and domestic violence. Law enforcement experts say it has been a struggle to create conditions in which officers feel comfortable coming forward for help. Are we there yet? No. Thats why this report is so significant because it raises awareness, said Jim Baker, director of advocacy for the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Alexandria, Va. Lori Kehoe wrote that her 20 years of experience as a hospice nurse probably saved her marriage. Understanding the process of grief, I was able to identify a little anger this week, depression the next, bargaining, denial, she wrote. Recognizing those stages allowed me to give Mike all the room he needed and understand the changes that were happening. By the first anniversary of the shootings, Lori Kehoe was close to a mental and emotional breakdown, almost to the point of not getting out of bed. Even though Im a nurse, I didnt know about trauma. I didnt know what trauma could do to a person or that there was such a thing as PTSD by association, she wrote. I was so angry. I was mad at everyone and everything. I was depressed beyond belief, alone and isolated. Lori Kehoe eventually got treatment at the West Coast Post-Trauma Retreat Center in California. They taught me that the trauma actually changes your brain you can see it on an MRI, she wrote. The treatment was necessary, and it changed my life. I absolutely came back a new woman, and I got better and better after treatment. Today, were good. Lori Kehoe said in the report that police departments and communities need to understand if this affects the officer, it affects the family. They may never talk about it, but its still happening, she wrote. And in some ways, I was lucky. Many people react to trauma with alcohol abuse and out of control behavior that creates chaos. That did not happen to my officer. The foundation that has been distributing money raised to help Newtown in the aftermath of the shooting is in the process of surveying residents for advice on what programs should be funded with about $4 million that remains in the fund. Previously funded programs have included mental health services for town employees and residents. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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. Social App Empowers People to Share, Gather Feedback, And Refine Ideas Within a Trusted Community TORONTO, May 26, 2016 /CNW/ -- GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), the world's largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses, today launched Flare, a first-of-its-kind, community-based app that helps bring business ideas to life. Flare empowers people to share ideas and get guidance from friends, fellow entrepreneurs, and experts in a fun and collaborative way, providing an immediate resource to receive feedback and drive new concepts or ideas forward. New business ideas come from everywhere and everyone, but only a fraction of them go beyond the initial stage to become something bigger. In a recent survey conducted by GoDaddy, 57 per cent of Canadian respondents reported having come up with a concept for a business, product or service, but only 38 per cent actually pursued it. The biggest barriers for not taking action: people didn't know what to do next (29 per cent) and fear/self-doubt (26 per cent). "Everyone has ideas, but too often they don't go anywhere," said Rene Reinsberg, vice president of Emerging Products at GoDaddy. "We created Flare because we recognized the need for a community where people can get impartial feedback on ideas and connect with others to help them turn those ideas into something meaningful. Whether you've just had a fleeting thought and want to explore where you might be able to take it, or you've been dreaming of creating your own business your whole life, Flare is the first place to go for someone that wants to take the next step." Flare also enables people to give back to the community by becoming advisors. It gives people the opportunity to share their knowledge in a given field or discipline with others seeking advice. By supporting a concept, advisors can play an active role during its developmental journey. Followers can also pledge to be a future customer, providing a valuable signal to the entrepreneur about demand and marketability of his or her new product or service. "We are delighted that Canadians will have the opportunity to share their ideas, get immediate feedback, and build a social community of advisors," said Jill Schoolenberg, vice president of GoDaddy Canada. "Flare will make it easier for people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams." Flare Features: A simple, easy-to-use, elegant interface reminiscent of popular social media feeds Quickly give feedback by swiping left/right to dismiss or be reminded of an idea if it becomes popular Tap on an idea to learn more. Love an idea to follow its progress and shape its direction Spread ideas by easily sharing them via social media Explore ideas that are nearby Quickly poll your followers for directional feedback regarding pricing, desirability, feasibility, among other things See all of your followers, across all ideas, and their expertise Gauge interest of your followers in being future customers via pledging Flare represents the latest example of GoDaddy's ongoing commitment to develop innovative technologies and products designed to empower entrepreneurs whether they're looking to simply get started with a new idea, get online, or grow a business. Flare is available immediately in the Apple App Store. It will launch next month on Google Play for Android devices. To learn how GoDaddy can help your small business, visit: godaddy.ca Connect with GoDaddy on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. About GoDaddy GoDaddy's mission is to radically shift the global economy toward small businesses by empowering people to easily start, confidently grow and successfully run their own ventures. With more than 14 million customers worldwide and more than 62 million domain names under management, GoDaddy gives small business owners the tools to name their idea, build a beautiful online presence, attract customers and manage their business. To learn more about the Company, visit www.GoDaddy.com . 2016 GoDaddy Inc. All Rights Reserved. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150330/195302LOGO SOURCE GoDaddy Inc. For further information: Mike Martin / Cindy Watson, StrategicAmpersand Inc., [email protected], (416) 961-5595, https://www.godaddy.com President Muhammadu Buhari has highlighted key victories by his administration in fighting Boko Haram, attempting to strengthen a weakeni... Buhari commended the decision by his administration to relocate the Nigerian Military Command Centre to Maiduguri, since May 2015.This he believes contributed to the success in the fight against Boko Haram and reclaiming all territories previously held by the terrorist organisation.The former military general vowed to continue making strides in fighting corruption with significant progress being made by institutions such as his anti-graft agency and Advisory Committee on War against Corruption.Buhari also highlighted his efforts to reinvigorate the oil sector by introducing ways for the country to cut costs and improve profits.The relocation of the Nigerian Military Command Centre to Maiduguri, since May 2015, contributed to the success in the fight against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country.As at February 2016, the total number of persons rescued by the Nigerian troops during the ongoing operations in the North East came to 11,595Since December 2015, the well-motivated and rejuvenated Nigerian Military have regained all Nigerian territories previously under Boko Haram control.Prioritized regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and violent extremism, through the operations of the 8,500 strong Multi-National Joint Task Force in NDjamena, the capital of Chad, currently headed by a Nigeria military general.Nigeria has provided $21million USD to the Task Force since June 2015 and is committed to an additional $79 million USD, bringing the total of Nigerias commitment to the Task Force to 100 million USD.Cohesive international support in the fight against terrorism and assistance to victims and communities affected by terrorism, following President Buharis meeting with G7 leaders and other world powers.In May 2016, Nigeria hosted a Regional Security Summit to boost military operations against Boko Haram and forge a global support for the rehabilitation of the IDPs and rebuilding of the North East.In June 2015, the United States announced a 5-million-dollar support for the fight against the terrorists in the sub-region. In April 2016, during the visit to Ms Samantha Power, the U.S Ambassador to the UN to Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, the U.S Government further announced an additional $40 million USD for humanitarian assistance in the sub-regionRecruitment of additional 10,000 persons into the Nigeria Police Force is ongoing. The recruitment will address the manpower gap which currently exists in the Nigeria PoliceOverhaul of the dysfunctional topmost hierarchy of the Nigerian military which resulted in optimal result and degradation of the Boko Haram elements.Was able to bring back our hitherto military allies; which saw the United States and UK governments commit their resources to the fight against the insurgents after previously backing out of negotiations with the previous administration. The Israeli government has also indicated interest in the fight against insurgency.Introduction of the motor cycle battalion (This is so that the Nigerian Army can travel to remote areas that were not accessible to cars/trucks)Realigned our partnership with regional allies by embarking on foreign visits which resulted in bilateral and multilateral agreements to tackle insecurity back home.No more roadblocks and curfews, which normally impeded free flow of movement.Continuous monitoring of activities in the region of war through the use of satellite images and geographical information system is helping in fighting insurgency and strategizing against the enemy.The trips to our neighbouring countries showed the resolve of the President to push Boko Haram elements out of existence by going for the jugular of the group, cutting their arms, food supply routes. Support has thus been mobilized through the Multinational Joint Task Force.Another major stride is the Trans National Organized Crime (TNOC) where the president got partnership with regional allies in the fight against the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.As part of the reconfigured military partnership, the United States donated 24 mine-resistant armoured vehicles (MRAP) which had protected the Nigerian troops from the menace of Improvised Explosive Devices. Today we have less causalities. Reached out to the G7 countries and achieved the following: intelligence sharing; technical military training; arms deals/donationsOverhauling of NIMASA. A reversed policy of the past administration where national infrastructural assets were given to militia leaders to protect as against established bodies like the Nigerian Navy was stopped.The President Buhari government has drafted the army to partner with other security agencies in ensuring the security of our national infrastructure and this is already yielding the desired results.A major ring of pipeline vandals in Lagos state were captured recently in a joint operation by security forces led by the army.The government has renewed its fight against oil bunkeringThe Nigerian Navy has recorded tremendous success lately in apprehending vessels used by oil thieves. This operation has improved security on our water ways and it has also helped improve the revenue of government.Deployment of sophisticated weapons to ensure vandalism is contained by setting up a pipeline security force in stamping out the menace.Effective Management of the Separatist Biafran MovementImproving the technical capacity of Nigerian Police Force. We now have a forensic lab and GSM tracking device. We now have a more IT integrated Police force.Restructuring of Nigerian Immigration to stop cross border crimes.NSCDC has become more proactive in the prevention of pipeline vandalization, with arrest of several pipeline vandals.Joint operations involving various security outfits in curbing the menace of the herdsmen in the country has been set up.The use of surveys and updated mappings across the country as strategies for preventing threats among ethnic groups in Nigeria.Right from the moment he won the Presidential Election in 2015, the impression of the President as a no nonsense and incorruptible leader sent a signal to looters of public funds, with many of them returning funds that had been stolen under the previous administration.To create a frame work for prosecuting the war against corruption and institutionalize probity, President Buhari set up an Advisory Committee on War Against Corruption. The anti-corruption battle is gaining ground with several high profile cases already in the courts. The administration is being guided by the rule of law in the prosecution of corruption cases. President Buhari enlisted the support of multilateral institutions like the World Bank and IMF, security agencies, Western countries and other friendly nations to locate and repatriate stolen assets. At a London summit on anti-corruption, President Buhari announced that Nigeria will begin the full implementation of the principles of the OPEN contracting data standards.In the first quarter of 2016, President Buhari embarked on trips to the Middle East to sensitize the governments on the need to repatriate stolen assets and hand over the looters for trial in Nigeria. In January, Nigeria and UAE signed Judicial Agreements on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters.In March 2016, the Federal Government and the Swiss Government signed a Letter of Intent On the Restitution of Illegally-Acquired Assets forfeited in Switzerland. Under the agreement, Switzerland will repatriate $ 321 million USD illicitly acquired by the Gen. Sani Abacha family.In March 2016, the Presidential Committee set up to probe contracts awarded by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2011 to 2015 announced the recovery of over N7 billion from indicted companies and individuals. Implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has provided greater visibility of government revenues and cash flows. Between June 2015 and April 2016, the Federal Government TSA collection clocked N3trillion.To further instill fiscal discipline, President Buhari directed the closure of all multiple accounts in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, thereby plugging loopholes for leakages with new technology. The opaque accounting structure of the NNPC has been reconstructed to be more transparent with the closure of more than 40 accounts. As a corporate entity, NNPC is now accountable and more transparent in operations, publishing its monthly financial reports. The President also resolved the lingering shadowy oil swap deals that had cost the country billions of dollars and left it at the mercy of a few rich Nigerians.To alleviate the suffering of Nigerians in September 2015, President Buhari directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to disburse N689.5 billion as bailout to 27 states of the federation to pay salaries.To stimulate the economy and reduce poverty, in April, 2016, President Buhari approved deferment in the payment of the bailout as states were still reeling under the burden of the fall in commodity prices.Records of more than 34,000 ghost workers draining the nations resources were expunged from the Federal Civil Service, saving N2.29 billion monthly.In 2015, President Buhari ruled out the appointment of a government delegation for pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. By this decision, the government saved about one million U.S dollars and N30m of local expensesEnforcement of the Bank Verification Number: Also the BVN has ensured that the menace of ghost workers are being identified and dealt with, while looters with multiple accounts can no longer hide their loot undetected.Social Protection: Groundwork for social intervention/palliatives for the poor is being put in place as data is being collated by the economic planning office of the VP in conjunction with the World Bank.Reorganization/restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a focused, accountable and transparent institution with autonomous Units (Upstream; Downstream, Gas & Power; Refineries; Ventures and lean Group Headquarters)Reduction of operational deficits in NNPC by over 50% as at March 2016 as a result of Increased Transparency and Commercial focusConduct of NNPC outstanding Annual Audits from 2011 to 2014, and the publication of Monthly Financial and Operations Reports to ensure transparencyIntroduction of third party financing in order to eliminate direct funding of cash calls by the Federal GovernmentRenegotiation of existing service contracts under Joint Venture and Production sharing contracts (PSC) Operations by about 30% leading to operational efficiency improvements and cost reductionsElimination of the Offshore Processing Agreement (OPA) through the introduction of the Direct Sales and Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme with reputable off-shore refineries thereby yielding annual savings of US$1 billionResuscitation of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries presently producing about 7 million litres of products per/dayRepair of products pipe lines and the resuscitation of supply of products from Atlas Cove-Mosimi- Ibadan- Ilorin after a six year lullRepairs of Escravos/ Warri and Bonny/Port Harcourt crude oil pipe linesIntroduction of a Price Modulation framework for downstream petroleum product pricing to encourage responsiveness to market dynamicsGuided deregulation of the downstream sector to allow market forces determine product price and eliminate subsidy paymentsIntroduction of the initiative on refinery co-location to increase domestic refining capacity and minimize the drain on scarce foreign exchange for product importationCommenced policy reforms for gas monetization, flare out and infrastructure development, to fast track power supply and economic diversification.Under President Buhari, the Federal Government agreed to a 50 million Euro (about N11.15 billion) loan agreement with French government for capacity-building and upgrade of power training facilities in Nigeria.Nigeria signed a $237 million agreement with World Bank to improve power.Chinese solar power manufacturers agreed with the Federal Government to set up solar panel manufacturing business in Nigeria.President Buhari has signed an agreement with the Chinese government to improve Nigerias power infrastructurePresidential approval for the Implementation of United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report 2010 for the clean-up of Ogoniland with regards to oil pollution and inclusion of stakeholders in the process of implementation.Continuation of the implementation of the Great Green Wall project to fight and contain desertification in Northern Nigeria initiated by past administration.Since assumption of office, President Buhari has maintained a clear stance on the rule of law and respect for separation of powers.The President has focused on the strengthening of institutions with key appointment of professionals.Appointment of 30 new Federal High Court JusticesOn assumption of office, the President undertook some foreign trips both within and outside Africa to re-establish Nigerias position in the global arena and solicit support for Nigeria and Africa. President Buhari has continually pushed the agenda for enhancing Nigerias global image by always demonstrating Nigerias credentials in the 2015 general elections, which saw the country scoring high on peaceful transition.President Buhari strongly supported the emergence of a Nigerian, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, as President of the Africa Development Bank. President Muhammadu Buhari had embarked on 30 foreign trips since his inauguration about a year ago. Investigations showed that the Pr... President Muhammadu Buhari had embarked on 30 foreign trips since his inauguration about a year ago.Investigations showed that the President travelled abroad 17 times in 2015 and 13 times this year, so far.An analysis carried out by a local newspaper showed that Buhari travelled out of the country four times in June 2015; three times each in September 2015 and November 2015; twice each in July and December 2015; and once each in August and October 2015.Shortly after his inauguration, Buhari on June 3 and 4, 2015 travelled to the Niger Republic and Chad Republic for consultations on how to tackle terrorism in the country and the region.On June 7, 2015, he travelled to Germany to attend the G-7 summit and proceeded to South Africa on June 13, 2015 for the African Union Summit in continuation of talks on anti-terrorism fight.In July 2015, the President embarked on a four-day official visit to the United States of America on the 19th and proceeded to Cameroon for a two-day visit on the 29th.The only foreign trip he made in August 2015 was a one-day visit to Benin Republic on August 1.That visit was also for the continuation of talks on the Boko Haram sect.In September 2015, Buhari embarked on a one-day visit to Ghana on the 7th; a three-day official visit to France on the 14th and travelled to New York for the 70th United Nations General Assembly on September 24.The only trip he made in October 2015 was when he travelled to New Delhi in India on October 27 for the Indian-African Forum.On November 22, 2015, the President travelled to Tehran, Iran for the third Gas Exporting Countries Forum; on November 26 he proceeded to Malta to participate in the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting while he travelled to Paris, France on November 29 for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.On December 3, 2015, Buhari went to South Africa to participate in the Forum on China/Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg while he travelled to the Republic of Benin on December 10 for the funeral rites of late President Mathieu Kerekou.The President travelled out of the country four times in January 2016.The trips included the one he embarked on January 8 to Cotonou, Benin Republic for a meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the Niger Basin Authority; his January 17 three-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates; his January 27 three-day official visit to Kenya; and his January 29 Addis Ababa, Ethiopias trip for the 26th Summit of African Union Heads of State and Government.Buhari embarked on foreign trips five times in February 2016.They included his February 2 trip to Strasbourg, France to address a special session of the European Union Parliament; his February 3 trip to London for Supporting Syria and The Region Conference; his February 19 trip to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt to participate in the Business for Africa, Egypt and the World Forum; his February 22 trip to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman Al Saud and lesser hajj, as well as his February 29 trip to Doha, Qatar for talks with Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani.In March 2016, Buhari travelled twice. He travelled on March 14 to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea for conclusion of agreement on Joint Maritime Policing and on March 29 to Washington DC for the 4th Nuclear Security Summit.He travelled on April 10 to the Peoples Republic of China for a one-week official trip; and on May 9 for an Anti-corruption summit organised by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in London.In the wake of the criticisms that trailed the trips, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had published an opinion in which he explained that Buharis foreign trips were not for enjoyment.He explained that Buhari had slashed the number of members of his delegations on the trips to a tolerable or the bearable minimum.He claimed that the President went to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016 with 32 officials in his delegation, including his cook, doctor and luggage officer while, according to him, former President Goodluck Jonathan went to the same meeting with 150 officials and family members in 2014.He also said that wherever they were given government accommodation and feeding, members of Buharis entourage received reduced allowances, thereby saving the government some money.Justifying the trips further, Shehu said, In public diplomacy, experts say that it is better conducted through face-to-face interaction than through third parties. This is even more so at the level of heads of state.To do it by proxy is to miss the effect of fostering strong interpersonal relations between leaders, by which nations benefit. President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors have ruled out elaborate celebrations to mark this years Democracy Day and their one yea... President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors have ruled out elaborate celebrations to mark this years Democracy Day and their one year in office.Investigations revealed that this decision was not unconnected with the current downturn in the nations economic fortunes.Before now, past administrations usually marked May 29, Nigerias Democracy Day, with fanfare. This years event is particularly special as it is also doubling as the first year in office of President Buhari and many state governors.But it was learnt that tomorrows event would be without any fanfare.Buhari was inaugurated on May 29, 2015 to succeed former President Goodluck Jonathan, having won the March 28, 2015 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.Since the return of democracy on May 29, 1999 with the inauguration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, May 29 of every year has been observed as the nations Democracy Day.One week-long activities are usually lined up every year to commemorate the day.It was learnt on Thursday that such programmes would not hold this year due to the economic crisis facing the country.President Buhari had recently explained the shabby economic situation in the country at the second National Executive meeting of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja.Buhari had said that the fall of oil price was a disaster and as a result, 27 of the 36 states of the federation were finding it difficult to pay salaries.It was further learnt that to commemorate the day, the President would only make a nationwide anniversary broadcast on Sunday.The President is expected to use the opportunity of the broadcast to list the achievements of his administration in the last one year and solicit further support from Nigerians.He had earlier promised to disclose the amount so far recovered by his administration from looters in the speech.The second programme for the day, it was further learnt, would be an interdenominational anniversary church service that is slated for the National Ecumenical Centre, Abuja.Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to lead top government officials and friends of the nation to the service being organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.It is a low-key celebration. The major item on the agenda is the Presidents broadcast to the nation, a Presidency source said.The government had on Wednesday declared Monday, May 30, a public holiday to commemorate the Democracy Day, which falls on Sunday.Also, many governors have said there will be no elaborate celebrations to mar their one year in office.It was also learnt that the governors shunned elaborate celebrations because of the huge amount of money required to fund the activities that might be lined up for the anniversary.It was learnt that logistics, which is key to the celebrations, would likely gulp about 40 per cent of the money if the governors chose to make the celebrations elaborate.According to findings, the governors decision came as a result of the decline in the federal allocations to the states following the fall in the international price of crude oil. President Muhammadu Buhari said Friday that he remained committed to the finding of the over 200 Chibok girls seized in April 2014 by th... President Muhammadu Buhari said Friday that he remained committed to the finding of the over 200 Chibok girls seized in April 2014 by the terror sect, Boko Haram.He said on the occasion of this years Childrens Day celebration that the recent rescue of Amina Ali Nkeki and Sarah Luka all of Chibok was evidence that government is unwavering in this task.Represented by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Muhammad Bello, Buhari also called for an end to all forms of abuse and exploitation against the child, including abduction and forced early marriage.No child or indeed any Nigerian, he said, should be put through the brutality of abduction, violence or forced marriage in whatever form, stressing that every girl has a right to education and choice of life.He spoke of the urgent need for all stakeholders, including parents and communities at all levels to protect children against any form of violence.He directed the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to liaise with other agencies to work out appropriate programmes including actions and measures that would help in tackling violence and abuse against children.While wishing children happy celebration, the President urged them to be responsible citizens by respecting constituted authorities as well their parents, teachers and elders.He called on parents to teach their children to live a life of honesty, dedication and love for the country.In her address, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Jumai Alhassan who was also represented at the occasion by the Ministrys Permanent Secretary, Hajiya Binta Adamu Bello said that government would not leave any stone unturned in protecting the rights of the children. 50 Imams and Islamic scholars have been sponsored by Kano state government for training on guidance and preaching techniques in Saudi Ara... 50 Imams and Islamic scholars have been sponsored by Kano state government for training on guidance and preaching techniques in Saudi Arabia, Governor Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has disclosed.According to a statement issued yesterday May 27, by Ameen K. Yassar, Press Secretary to the Governor:He made the disclosure when members of the state Izalatul Bid Wa Ikamatus Sunnah, an Islamic non-governmental organization paid him a courtesy call on Tuesday, adding that the sponsorship would continue gradually as the economy of the state improves.The training, according to the governor, would expose them to preaching techniques and update their knowledge of religious and secular issues in the light of rapid globalization.Stressing that the importance of the training to the propagation of Islam cannot be over emphasized, he lamented that some religious scholars, instead of guiding their followers to do right, they distance them from the right path because of lack of preaching techniques.Governor Ganduje said his administration recently introduced monthly allowances for Imams and their supporting personnel, explaining that each Imam would get a monthly stipend of N20, 000, their deputies, N15, 000 each while every Muazzin will take home N10, 000.The governor appealed to members of the Izala group to educate Muslims on right of passage during Friday Congregational Prayer, noting that unnecessary blocking of roads during the prayers is against Islamic precepts.He urged the religious leaders to continue supporting and praying for President Muhammad Buhari to succeed, adding that the state government is ready to partner with any organization for the progress of the state and Nigeria at large.Earlier, the state chairman of the group, Sheik Sani Sharif Umar said they were at Government House to introduce newly elected members of the state branch, assuring that they would support the government to achieve its goals. Newly appointed manager of Manchester United Jose Mourinho wants to gain revenge on former club Chelsea.Mourinho, 53, is on a mission to show the Blues how wrong they were to get rid of him back in December.A close friend of the Portuguese told journalists: Jose is still very sore about the way things ended.And winning trophies with United is the best way to get back at those he feels betrayed him at Stamford Bridge.Jose will always love Chelsea the club and the fans but there is no love lost for those who were behind his sacking.Of course Jose has wanted the Manchester United job for a while and he knows what's expected of him.But United are getting more than the best manager in the world.They're getting Jose Mourinho with a massive point to prove." Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, has denied that he conspired with a member to sneak in a bill that would expand ... Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, has denied that he conspired with a member to sneak in a bill that would expand the application of Sharia law in Nigeria.Abdullahi Salame, representing Gwadabawa/Illela federal constituency, Sokoto state, had promoted a bill which would expand the criminal aspects of the Sharia as well as make it applicable nationwide, and not just in the 12 northern states that adopted the Islamic legal code.Dogara, a Christian from Bauchi state, had been accused of allowing the bill to go undebated in collusion with Salame.But responding to inquiries on his twitter handle @Speakerdogara Friday evening, the speaker said bills are always gazetted before they are scheduled for Second Reading and Gazettes are public documents.He described as crass ignorance of the legislative process for someone to insinuate that a Bill could be sneaked in and passed.He said the bill in question only seeks to amend the provision of the constitution to make some criminal aspects of Sharia applicable.The speaker explained that being a constitutional amendment Bill, the Bill is not a regular Bill that can be said to have passed second reading, passing it only meant its in the mill.According to him, all such Bills are read and referred to the House Special Ad-Hoc Committee on Constitution Review for Legislative fireworks, and that only the House Special Ad Hoc Committee on Constitutional review can propose a final Bill on constitutional review.As it is there no proposed Bill from the Ad Hoc committee yet. So the Bill in question is just a working document. Those talking about sneaking a bill are either ignorant of the process or plainly mischievous.The Special Ad Hoc committee is bound to consider it just like all other references to the Ad Hoc committee. In real sense its only when the said Ad Hoc committee proposes it to the House that we will have the Bill to vote on.The Ad Hoc committee is free to recommend or reject it and where it rejects it the Bill dies there and as such its no use allowing debates on such Bills that are for reference.He assured that the bill will be thoroughly debated and examined by our in-house experts serving on the Special Ad Hoc Committee.If it passes the Ad Hoc committee, it will now be debated by the House in plenary nd be subjected to 2/3rd vote.In any case, recommendations from the public on constitutional amendment are accepted by the House without debate, and advised those concern to get a copy of the bill as it is a public document having been gazetted. The Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Lawal Shehu, on Saturday confirmed that hoodlums snatched five ballot boxes in the on-going bye... The Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Lawal Shehu, on Saturday confirmed that hoodlums snatched five ballot boxes in the on-going bye elections in the state.He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the boxes were snatched at Ugwar ward of Toto Local Government Area of the state.He said INEC officials reported the snatching of ballot boxes containing electoral materials in units 003,004,005,006 and 008, adding that he had directed his men to ensure the recovery of the boxes and arrest of culprits.We are doing our best to ensure violence- free election; to also ensure the protection of lives and property, as such we will not allow any person or groups to cause distraction, he said.He called on voters to remain peaceful, law-abiding and respect constituted authorities in order to have free air and acceptable bye- election. Meanwhile, a former senator, Abubakar Sodangi, has lauded the peaceful conduct of the exercise.I want to commend the INEC and the electorate for their peaceful conduct; I urge them to sustain the tempo, he told NAN, after casting his vote.Also speaking with journalists, Ahmed Musa, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant for the Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency, expressed optimism that PDP will win the bye-election. He also praised the electorate for their peaceful conduct and urged them to maintain their good conduct.Murtala Sodangi (APC-Nasarawa Central), who is also the chairman, House Committee on Urban Development, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, urged voters to be patient with the APC- led federal and state government in order to enjoy the more dividends of democracy.Sani Bawa, former chairman of Nasarawa Local Government area of Nasarawa state and a chieftain of the APC in the state, also commended INEC and the electorate for the peaceful conduct of the exercise. Nigerian Army has described the Niger Delta Avengers as criminals, vowing to crush them. The Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Bu... Nigerian Army has described the Niger Delta Avengers as criminals, vowing to crush them. The Chief of Army Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai who spoke after commissioning an apartment for soldiers and a giant size generating set at the 2 Amphibious Brigade in Port Harcourt said the army will not fold its hands and allow the groups to continue to kill its soldiers on locations in the region.Major General Buratai also called on communities in the region to help the military fish out members of the Niger Delta Avengers in their midst. They have been attacking our troop locations, killing our soldiers. We will not tolerate them.We will deal with them according to the law. We will look for them wherever they are. They are not agitating for anything , they are just into crime. Communities should be patriotic enough to expose these criminals.They have noting to fear. They should help fish out these criminals killing our soldiers, we will not tolerate that. They must come out to help.They have noting to fear. Everybody, every Nigerian should expose these criminals. They have noting to fear, he said.Earlier, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, had commissioned 12 refurbished gunboats at Okrika local government area and a 40 bed space apartment for soldiers in the area. General Olonisakin who was accompanied by other service chiefs to the exercise said security agencies will no longer allow criminals destroy national assets in the region. President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday disclosed that the military had so far rescued 11,595 persons held captive by the Boko Haram sect b... President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday disclosed that the military had so far rescued 11,595 persons held captive by the Boko Haram sect between May 29, 2015 when he was inaugurated and February 2016.He said since December 2015, the military had regained all territories hitherto occupied by the sect.These were contained in a document tagged Fact sheet on President Muhammadu Buharis first year in office made available to journalists by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.The document highlighted the achievements of the administration under categories such as security, anti-corruption war, economy, power, environment and judiciary among others.The statement read in part, The relocation of the Nigerian Military Command Centre to Maiduguri, since May 2015, contributed to the success in the fight against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country.As of February 2016, the total number of persons rescued by the Nigerian troops during the ongoing operations in the North-East came to 11,595.Since December 2015, the well-motivated and rejuvenated Nigerian military have regained all Nigerian territories previously under Boko Haram control.According to the document, the present administration prioritised regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency and violent extremism, through the operations of the 8,500 strong Multi-National Joint Task Force in NDjamena, the capital of Chad, currently headed by a Nigeria military general.It added that Nigeria has provided $21m to the Task Force since June 2015 and is committed to an additional $79m, bringing the total of Nigerias commitment to the Task Force to $100m.Another major stride of the administration, the statement stated, is the Trans National Organised Crime where the President reportedly got partnership with regional allies in the fight against the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.On anti-corruption war, the statement said although the campaign was gaining ground with several high profile cases already in the courts, the administration is being guided by the rule of law in the prosecution of corruption cases.It said Buhari enlisted the support of multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, security agencies, Western countries and other friendly nations to locate and repatriate stolen assets.In March 2016, the Federal Government and the Swiss Government signed a Letter of Intent on the Restitution of Illegally-Acquired Assets forfeited in Switzerland.Under the agreement, Switzerland will repatriate $321m illicitly acquired by the Gen. Sani Abacha family.In March 2016, the Presidential Committee set up to probe contracts awarded by the Office of the National Security Adviser from 2011 to 2015 announced the recovery of over N7bn from indicted companies and individuals, the statement added.On economy, the government said the implementation of the Treasury Single Account has provided greater visibility of government revenues and cash flows. It said between June 2015 and April 2016, the Federal Governments TSA collection clocked N3trn.To further instill fiscal discipline, President Buhari directed the closure of all multiple accounts in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, thereby plugging loopholes for leakages with new technology.The opaque accounting structure of the NNPC has been reconstructed to be more transparent with the closure of more than 40 accounts.As a corporate entity, NNPC is now accountable and more transparent in operations, publishing its monthly financial reports.The President also resolved the lingering shadowy oil swap deals that had cost the country billions of dollars and left it at the mercy of a few rich Nigerians.To alleviate the suffering of Nigerians in September 2015, President Buhari directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to disburse N689.5bn as bailout to 27 states of the federation to pay salaries.To stimulate the economy and reduce poverty, in April, 2016, President Buhari approved deferment in the payment of the bailout as states were still reeling under the burden of the fall in commodity prices.Records of more than 34,000 ghost workers draining the nations resources were expunged from the Federal Civil Service, saving N2.29bn monthly, it added.On power, the government said it agreed to a 50 million Euro (about N11.15bn) loan agreement with the French government for capacity-building and upgrade of power training facilities in Nigeria. A year into office, Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has been judged to be Nigerian 2015/2016 Governor of the Year based on a comparat... Kazeem A 23-year-old Nigerian student has been hit with an iron rod in a suspected racist attack in Hydeeabad,south India just days a... Kazeem A 23-year-old Nigerian student has been hit with an iron rod in a suspected racist attack in Hydeeabad,south India just days after Africans protested increasing cases of racism targeting blacks in the Asian country.Damilola Kazeem was allegedly hit by a man described as his neighbour following an argument over the use of a parking space in the area.The suspect was subsequently detained .The Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asked local authorities to probe the matter which came on the heels of African diplomats cancelling African Day celebrations.The ministrys spokesperson tweeted: Reports of a Nigerian student injured in Hyderabad: EAM [External Affairs Ministry] @SushmaSwaraj has urgently sought report from state govt, is monitoring the case.Emmanuel Omurunga, chairman of the African Students Association in the state of Telangana, said: The situation in India is no longer safe for us. Even the police are not willing to help us when we approach them.In a similar attack recently, a Congolese national, Masonda Ketada Oliver, was beaten to death by a local mob after an argument. Three men chased the man hurling stones. The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Friday, explained reasons why it is difficult for the government to spend monies rec... The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Friday, explained reasons why it is difficult for the government to spend monies recovered from corrupt government officials.Osinbajo said such proceeds of corruption cannot be utilised unless and until the courts give orders forfeiting those assets.The Law Professor said this at a media forum organised to discuss President Muhammadu Buharis achievements in his first year in office, the governments vision, agenda and plans.According to him, the monies are not spendable monies until such a time when the court decides. But we intend to be as transparent as possible.We have a line in the budget N350billion which we intend will be funded using recovered monies, he explained.Osinbajo reiterated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buharis administration to transparency and accountability, saying the government intends to run a country where integrity is the rule and corruption is the exception that is the system were prepared to run. The Campaign for Democracy on Friday called on the British Government to return Nigerias looted fund in its custody as a means of suppo... The Campaign for Democracy on Friday called on the British Government to return Nigerias looted fund in its custody as a means of supporting President Muhammadu Buharis administration on corruption.The group in a statement by its President, Ifeanyi Odili, and Secretary, Abdulahi Jabi, said it agreed with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who described Nigeria as a fantastically corrupt nation, but noted that the British government allegedly encouraged corruption in Nigeria.According to the CD, Camerons statement was a huge embarrassment and affront to the collective intelligence of the Nigerian people, especially when the British government over the years, did nothing to stop Nigerias looted funds from entering its country.The statement reads, We put it to the British Government and other international communities that they are guilty of aiding and abetting Nigerian and other African leaders to perpetrate this act of criminality.They receive and convert all the ill-gotten wealth from Nigeria to boost their economic fortunes, by conspiring to protecting and hiding the identities of the looters.By virtue of local and international laws, receivers of any proceed of corruption or stealing is culpable and should be prosecuted accordingly.The CD therefore called on the British Government to tender an unreserved apology to the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a sovereign nation because funds meant to develop the country were being channelled into the British economy by corrupt leaders.The CD recalled the mental torture suffered by Africans during the era of British slave trade and full colonisation of the black race.The group said, What can be more corrupt than the inhuman treatment meted out to the African man than these aforementioned crimes against humanity?It is very critical to understand the policy drive of the new administration in Nigeria under President Buhari to repatriate all the looted funds in the custody of the international communities. Fresh facts emerged yesterday on why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors had to dump Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff as National Chairm... Fresh facts emerged yesterday on why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors had to dump Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff as National Chairman at the May 21 convention ground in Port Harcourt,reportsA high ranking chieftain who gave an insight into why the governors fell out with Sheriff, revealed that the governors had settled for Sheriff as chairman based on promises he made to finance the partys 2019 presidential campaign with N40 billion.He was also said to have promised the governors that he would deploy five private jets for the partys electioneering campaign in 2019.The PDP chieftain, who is a key stakeholder in the North East zone, however said the governors started to suspect Sheriffs motives a few days to the May 21 convention.The party chief, who spoke with our source yesterday on condition of anonymity, said the governors later found that Sheriff had sold them a dummy.Said the source: Contrary to his promise to fund the party, they discovered that the ex-PDP chair was spending the partys lean resources on the few party activities he held during his tenure.Sheriff also exploited the ambition of some of the partys sitting governors, particularly the governors in the southern states, to become the partys vice presidential candidate in 2019.The ex-party chairman had approached five of the governors in separate secret meetings with promises of the partys 2019 vice presidential ticket, with him as presidential candidate.The truth is that some of the governors actually fell for it and they were already scheming along with him without knowing there were five of them fighting for the same ticket.The source further revealed that it was during a recent interaction at a critical meeting that the governors discovered that Sheriff had indeed promised five of them the partys vice presidential ticket.The governors were alarmed when they found that Sheriff had sold them a dummy. It dawned on them that Sheriff had wanted to transmute from chairman to the partys presidential candidate along the line.The party chieftain said it was then that the governors realised that the N40 billion and five campaign jets promised by Sheriff were a bait to become chairman and presidential candidate.But in a swift reaction, Sheriff said the allegations against him were far fetched and that the governors themselves know the truth.His Media Adviser, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, who spoke to our source on the telephone yesterday, said the governors were only being clever by half.According to him, virtually all the PDP governors from the south were scheming to become vice presidential candidate in the 2019 election, and it was the scrabble for the ticket that tore them apart.He refuted the claim that Sheriff did not spend his personal resources on the party, insisting that all the governors, except the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who also has a plane at his disposal, made use of Sheriffs private jets on one occasion or the other.Bwala said: Almost all the governors from the South want to be Vice President in 2019, and that was the source of the conflict. It was this bitter struggle that brought the party to its present situation.And if they were expecting to get N40 billion from Sheriff just to make him chairman, then they have lost the moral ground to complain for not getting the money as easily as they had wished. They should wait until Sheriff himself is ready to tell the entire story exactly the way it is.Commenting on the lingering crisis, another party source told our source that it was a court case filed against the party with Sheriff as one of the plaintiffs that finally broke the camels back.A few days to the botched Port Harcourt convention, Sheriff and two members of the partys sacked National Working Committee (NWC) had approached a court in Lagos to halt the convention.Plaintiffs in the suit were the ex-National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo; ex National Auditor, Adewole Adeyanju and Sheriff. The suit specifically sought to stop election into the offices of National Secretary, National Auditor and National Chairman.The plaintiffs had averred that their tenure would not be expiring until 2018 and that their positions were not vacant.But when the governors and other party stakeholders confronted Sheriff on the suit, he claimed that his name was included as one of the plaintiffs without his consent, a claim that the party chiefs took with a pinch of salt.That showed the governors the red light. They discovered at the last minute that they were dealing with a man that was ready to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds at the same time, the party source said. The University of Ibadan (UI) will be holding a parent and stakeholders forum to resolve the crisis, which led to the closure of the unive... The University of Ibadan (UI) will be holding a parent and stakeholders forum to resolve the crisis, which led to the closure of the university, a few weeks ago.The meeting titled University of Ibadan parents/stakeholders forum is scheduled to hold at Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, on Tuesday, 7 June, 2016, at 11am.In a statement signed by Olujimi Olukoya, registrar of the University, parents are urged to attend the meeting without their wards, as students are not yet allowed on campus.Following the recent development that led to students being advised to vacate the campus, the Management, Senate and Council of the University of Ibadan, have at various levels been deliberating on ways to address this problem with a view to finding lasting solution and ensuring resumption as soon as possible, the statement read.Parents and other stakeholders in the UI project are cordially invited to this forum we specially covet your presence and valuable input at this important meeting.Kindly note that students are yet to be recalled and as such should still stay away from the campus. Thank you for your support at all times.Students have taken to social media to describe the meeting as a Parents, Teachers Association (PTA) meeting, reminiscent of their primary and secondary school days.Ayantola Alanyande, the Students Union public relations officer (PRO), in another statement, urged students to remain calm and resolute in their demands for justice and basic amenities.While we await the decision of the University on Motes case, electricity and water supply, and resumption date, we have our fingers crossed and keep undying strategies to ensure that our victory is certain, the statement read in partOnce again, disregard any post launching attacks on the Union leadership and throwing such divisive darts in the minds of students.Like the Vice Chancellor of the University himself said yesterday tough time never lasts, but tough people do, we remain committed and undiscouraged in this struggle. This is a moment of social change and it comes with both loyalty and betrayal. But, we have chosen to serve you loyally. The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Friday described the Goodluck Jonathans administration as sick, weak and corrupt. He sa... The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Friday described the Goodluck Jonathans administration as sick, weak and corrupt.He said the victory of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2015 presidential election saved the country from total collapse.Mohammed was in Kano alongside five other ministers for a Town Hall meeting designed to educate and enlighten Kano residents on President Muhammadu Buharis achievements in the last one year.The meeting which was organized by the Ministry of Information in conjunction with Kano State Government was conducted in Hausa language for effective communication.Other ministers that made the trip to Kano included Gen. Abdulraman Bello Danbazau (Interior), Hajiya Aisha Abubakar (Minister of State for Trade and Investment ), Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources), Hajiya Zainab Ahmed (Minister of State for Budget and Planning) and Bawa Buari (Minister of State for Solid Minerals).The ministers took turns to enumerate the plans, agenda and achievements of President Buharis administration to Nigerians.Mohammed said, For the first time we have a President whose integrity is what is actually driving the force in this country. But we inherited a very sick government, the type that is inflicted with so many sicknesses and everythingsickle cell, and any kind of sickness you knowEbola! Anything you can think about. Honestly, we came into government at a very bad time, but for the fact that God loves this country and we won the election, because if any other political party had won the election, Nigeria would have seized from existing.I am not exaggerating because they will not have the courage or discipline to manage the economy. Everywhere we go, we see that Nigerian situation is very simple- a man that was earning N100, 000 a month, all of a sudden that is slashed to N30, 000 a month, he must make painful adjustment. If he has two wives, one will have to go, if he has four children in school, two will have to sit back at home.But we went there and the President said we are not going to retrench one person, we will be battling with it and, everything that we have done so far, like the introduction of the TSA and setting up of efficiency units, discipline is what has helped this country to even maintain an even cure. We are fortunate today that gradually, things are improving, and I will always say that change is not an instant coming, it takes time. China sign two agreements with Sudan to build nuclear reactor Published: May 27, 2016 China has signed two agreements with Sudan, its close ally in Africa to build 600-megawatt (MW) atomic reactor. It was the first of its kind project to be built by China in African country. The two framework agreements in this regard have been signed by state-owned China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) with Sudan. These agreements include nuclear power development and building a 600 MW atomic reactor. Key facts These agreements may involve a blueprint for nuclear power development for Sudan in the next decade and building the first nuclear power station in the country. As part of agreement, CNNC has not disclosed the contract value and also the type of nuclear technology to be used for the reactor. But experts believe that China may use its homegrown reactor design Hualong One, a type of third-generation technology. In recent years, Sudan has faced power shortages and is seeking to build two 600-MW pressurised water nuclear reactors to meet the growing demand for electricity. China in Nuclear Production China being house worlds largest number of reactors under construction is planning to use its experience into nuclear exports to other countries. Chinese nuclear companies are making huge inroads in global nuclear markets, including Britain and Argentina. Earlier CNNC had clinched deals with Argentina to build two nuclear reactors. CGN, another domestic energy giant, has partnered with Electricite de France to build 3 reactors in Britain. China already has a long standing nuclear cooperation with Pakistan as it has built several nuclear power reactors and is currently building two 1100 mw reactors in Karachi. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016 Topics: Africa China-Sudan International Nuclear energy Latest E-Books WASHINGTON (AP) The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all. Punjab and Haryana HC stays quota for Jats, five other communities in Haryana Published: May 27, 2016 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities provided by the Haryana government. The reservation for these communities was provided under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category as per provisions of Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016. The court gave its ruling on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the above Act which was passed unanimously by the Haryana Assembly in March 2016. The five other communities which were provided reservation under the Act were Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Muslim Jats, Rors and Tyagis. They were entitled to 10 per cent reservation in government services and also admission to educational institutions. Earlier the Supreme Court also had ruled that Jats could not be treated as backward, the state assembly had no right to pass the law. However, the Supreme Court, in the case of Ram Singh and others versus the Union of India, held that Jats were not backward socially, educationally and politically. Comment The Act provided 10 per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutions, and 6 per cent in Class I and II posts. It was provided in exclusion to the already notified 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (Block A and B) and 10 per cent to Economically Backward (EB) Persons. Thus, it had violated the reservation ceiling of 50 per cent imposed by the Supreme Court. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016 Topics: Haryana High courts Reservation Latest E-Books Union Government approves NIMZ in in Kalinganagar, Odisha Published: May 27, 2016 The Union Government has given its final approval to setting up of National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Kalinganagar, Odisha. It will come up on a massive area of 163 square kilometres and on completion will be the third NIMZ of India. For execution NIMZ project, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has approved fund of Rs. 4241 crore. Of this total amount, estimated Rs. 3816 crore will be invested for the first phase of the project which will be completed by 2020. NIMZ in Kalinganagar will create employment opportunities for around 1.5 lakh people. It will help Odisha grow as a manufacturing hub and also help Paradip ports growth. About National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) Under National Manufacturing Policy (NMP), Union Government in 2014 had announced to set up 16 NIMZs to boost manufacturing sector. Till 2013-14, 16 NIMZs were set up, 8 of them are along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). NMP aims to enhance the share of manufacturing sector in GDP to 25% and create 100 million employment opportunities over a decade. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016 Topics: Business Economy manufacturing sector Odisha Latest E-Books : ? VIDEO This website is intended for U.S. visitors only. Cowboys inclusions Jahrome Hughes and Coen Hess are well aware of the targets on their backs when they line up against the Dragons on Saturday. The challenges come two-fold for both players. Hughes will step up from the fullback position at Intrust Super Cup level to the front line at NRL level, while Hess' physical challenge shifts from playing second row in the under-20s to a front-row or lock role in top grade. Both will line up in their second NRL games, with Hughes making his debut as an 18-year-old with Gold Coast and Hess arriving onto the scene for the Cowboys in Round 25 last year against the Warriors. Five-eighth Hughes predicts a Dragons parade down his side of the field as they look to test the youngster's mettle. "They are probably going to throw heaps of tackles down my end and I'm just going to have to keep making them and making them. But I'm happy to do that, I'm sweet," he said. "I don't mind defending. Obviously it's going to be a bit different to defending in the Q-Cup, but I've just got to get my body in front and help out the edges. "I think they will see me and Ray named in the halves and I think they will try to target us, but we've both going to play to the best of our ability and the boys around us are going to help us so we will be all right." Over the last couple of seasons the Cowboys have done a good job protecting playmakers Johnathan Thurston and Michael Morgan, with workhorse back-rowers Ethan Lowe and Gavin Cooper ranking sixth and seventh respectively in total tackles by a second-rower in the NRL. That 'bodyguard' role has been a staple of the Cowboys' defensive system, and Hess says his halves can feel safe again this week. "The systems we have in place in defence always cover the halves in general, so we just follow our systems and hopefully guys like Jahrome can get protected," he said. "I guess being a younger fella, all the old heads want to get one on you. "Jahrome, being in the front line of defence might be a bit different for him." At just 19 years old, Hess in particular has been touted as one of the key players of the Cowboys' next generation, with Saturday seen as a gauge as to the progress of the Junior Kangaroo. "I've been pretty happy with my form recently, so I will be looking forward to taking that into this weekend. I'm playing in the front-row or in the lock position this week, so it's a different role," he said. "I've packed on two or three more kilos since last year, and I feel a lot fitter, so that's a credit to the pre-season that we do here. "I feel pretty comfortable at the weight I am now, and my fitness. "[NRL] is a lot faster and everyone's a bit bigger... the bigger bodies, the bigger hits. "A few more bumps and bruises the next day." Horses will return to the iconic Balmoral Park in Crete next year, but they'll compete at a much more leisurely trot. HITS Inc., an upstate New York-based company that's staged show jumping events for more than three decades, acquired the historic 70,000-seat race track out of bankruptcy court, after Illinois cancelled all its racing dates this year. The new owner plans to turn the Balmoral Park, where Al Capone and Jack Dempsy once hung out, from a harness racing track into a hunter/jumper equestrian center. The goal is to stage 14 shows annually in partnership with Showplace Productions Pat Boyle. "Pat is known for offering horse shows with terrific amenities, and together well continue that," HITS President and CEO Tom Struzzieri said. "HITS is known for building spectacular venues, and offering big prize money. Those two together should make quite a team." Work will start this week on remodeling, including renovating the stables and adding six hunter rings and four jumper rings. The first equestrian shows are expected to begin in May 2017. The Grand Prix stadium will feature Balmorals original tote board and finish line as the stadium side walls which will add some historic flavor to the improved show park, Struzzieri said. Its imperative for a brand new ring to go through a winter. It takes a year for a great ring to mature, so time is on our side, and a Chicago winter will be good for it. The new management is promising a "world-class equestrian venue" that will host "the most prestigious outdoor international competitions." Keep in mind that this venue is only 30 minutes from Soldier Field in Chicago, Boyle said. With three tiers of VIP space, we are going to be able to offer that same Sky-box experience to both our corporate guests, and our existing sponsors and friends." "I cant wait to establish Chicago as the newest world-class show jumping venue, Boyle said. When rates on the Indiana Toll Road rise July 1, drivers of cars and motorcycles who use electronic transponders will pay the same rate they've always paid though that might last only through the end of the year. Since the toll road lease was implemented in 2006, the state has reimbursed the toll road's operator the difference between the discounted transponder rate $4.65 for the entire 157-mile length of the toll road and the full rate paid by those without transponders, which grows to $10.50 on July 1. But "the rebate period will roll off Dec. 31 of this year," according to James McGoff, toll road oversight director for the Indiana Finance Authority, the state agency that owns the toll road. Through April 30 of this year, the total rebate paid to ITRCC by the state has amounted to more than $187 million, McGoff said. The rebate was originally set to end June 30, but was extended to Dec. 31 by an Indiana Finance Authority resolution of March 17. That resolution declared an extension to be in the "best interest of the Indiana residents using the Indiana Toll Road." But at this time, "no consideration has been given toward further extensions," according to McGoff. The rebate has been funded from the $3.8 billion payment made in 2006 by the Australian-Spanish consortium that leased the road for 75 years. Most of the rest was spent on the state's Major Moves road building program. And toll road operator, Indiana Toll Road Concession Co., isn't prepared to comment on what will happen with tolls after Dec. 31, according to a company spokeswoman, who said company officials are concentrating on infrastructure projects underway this summer and haven't decided how they'll address tolls next year. The lease would allow the company to charge the full rate after Dec. 31 for all vehicles, with or without a transponder. ITRCC has increased regular tolls annually since 2008 including for two-axle vehicles paying with cash, and for all larger vehicles in accordance with standards set in its lease with the state. On July 1 of this year, the rate for cash-paying drivers of two-axle vehicles will rise 30 cents, to $10.50, for a trip along the entire length of the road. Rates for other classes of vehicles also will rise, including a $1 increase for five-axle semitrailers to $42. The rebate program, where the state pays the private operator for the transponder discount, sweetened the lease deal for some legislators who were resisting it. The legislators saw the discounted transponder tolls as a benefit to residents near the toll road, who are the most likely to have the electronic devices and to use it daily. ITRCC went bankrupt in 2014, but the following year, the Australian consortium IFM Investors spent $5.72 billion to bring it out of bankruptcy. That money went mainly to pay bondholders of the bankrupt company; the state received none of it. IFM Investors pledged significant upgrades to the road. This year, ITRCC has begun a $200 million road and bridge rehabilitation project, as well as a $70 million effort to reconstruct its travel plazas. Some students in Northwest Indiana are learning that Memorial Day is not just another day off, but also a day that has great meaning for the nation. Memorial Day is a U.S. federal holiday created to remember those who died while serving in the country's armed forces. Hammond Gavit Middle/High School teachers Annmarie Caballero and Kate Osan, who teach world civilization to freshmen, invited five Vietnam War veterans from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 802 to their classrooms earlier this month to talk about the significance of the holiday, their life experiences and their war memories. The teachers said the vets shared their thoughts about the draft in force at the time, the conditions in Vietnam and stories about the friends they lost during the war. Gavit freshman David Hacker said he didn't really understand everything he read in books before meeting the veterans. "It meant so much more to me to hear their stories. When they talked, I could almost see it happening," he said. "It was just amazing. They fought for us, and we just pretty much sit here and reap the benefits." The holiday originated as Decoration Day after the Civil War in 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of war dead with flowers. Memorial Day, which is to remember those who died while serving, is not to be confused with Veterans Day, on Nov. 11, which celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. Freshman Nicole Brown said the vets' stories were touching. "Just listening to them speak gave me goosebumps. I couldn't fathom the experiences they had at such a young age. They were only 18 and 19 when they went to war," Brown said. "I think they were very brave and courageous. I don't think I could do that at 19." The vets displayed photos of themselves and others from the war period. The vets who visited were Angel L. Rosario, a sergeant in the Marine Corps who served in Vietnam in 1970-71; Frank Garcia, a sergeant with the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam in 1968-69; Tony Moreno, an E4 with the 173rd Airborne of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam in 1970-71; Anthony DeBella, an E4 with the 577th Engineers of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam in 1967-68; Dave Tall and Joe Sanchez. Caballero said this is the second year vets have visited the students. "It's around the time that we teach about the Cold War, and following up on World War II," she said. "We also cover the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We invite the veterans to bring history to life for our students." At Hammond's Maywood Elementary School, students wrote letters to service men and women in honor of Memorial Day. Hammond Assistant Superintendent Theresa Mayerik said her father, Stephen Nedza, who died last August, appreciated the letters students wrote. He was among those who went to Washington, D.C., in October 2014 as part of the Chicago Honor Flight. Last year, Hosford Park Elementary School second-grade teacher Christine Cashen brought the Lake Ridge School Corp. youngsters to the Veterans Cafe in Merrillville to talk with vets and hear their experiences. This year, they went to the Griffith-Calumet Township Library, which has a Memorial Day display honoring veterans. "At that age, they can tell you if they have a grandparent or other relative who served in the military," Cashen said. "We tell them that Memorial Day is a good time to take a flag and put it out at the gravesite of a family member who served in the military." EAST CHICAGO East Chicago police Officer Eddie Bastardo and his K-9 partner, Mitt, visited Harrison Elementary School on Thursday to thank the students for raising money for a bulletproof vest for the dog. Pre-K through sixth-grade students filled the schools auditorium to watch Principal Gloria Velasco Campbell present a check to Bastardo and the East Chicago Police Department, which used the funds to custom order the vest for the 3-year-old German shepherd. He works in a dangerous job, Velasco Campbell, 63, of Crown Point, told the students. For his protection, we wanted to supply him with a vest he could wear. Mitt often is sent out on duty when gang or narcotics units serve high-risk warrants, said Bastardo, 39, of East Chicago. A lot of the time, he is sometimes the first one to enter when its an unknown situation, he said. Its important for him (to have a vest), being the first one to go in. Bastardo told students that since their last visit in October, Mitt went through six weeks of training in Elkhart before he joined the police force. Bastardo added that Mitts hard work reflects the type of dedication students should aim for. He also thanked students for their help in protecting Mitt. A lot of people think, Oh, its just a dog. But Mitt, to me, is part of my family, Bastardo told the students. From me and Mitt, we thank you guys for everything youve done. After building a relationship with Bastardo at Holy Trinity Croatian Churchs Back to School Fair in September 2015, fourth-grade teacher Christine Kolavo learned that a lack of funding deterred the initial investment in K-9 vests. Kolavo worked with Bastardo to educate students about the Police Department as part of the schools Red Ribbon Week, and eventually made it the schools goal to raise money for Mitts vest, which cost upward of $700. There was a big push for character education for our students in this new school year, said Kolavo, 58, of Hammond. It sounded like an incredible opportunity for the students to zero in on some of the character traits we had been trying to teach them community involvement, and just caring and compassion to beyond ourselves. Throughout the academic year, Harrison teachers put collection cans in their classrooms and hosted two separate popcorn sales, each of which raised more than $300. The kids would go home and the parents would know that the sale of the popcorn, the profits, would go strictly for this endeavor, Kolavo said. We were able to raise enough for a vest for Mitt. That was over $700 $718.90, to be exact. Students who attended the presentation said they raised money by asking their parents, doing chores, buying popcorn and collecting change from their piggy banks at home. Everybody came together, Kolavo told students. Together, when everyone pitches in and does a little bit, look at what we can do. A lot of people think, Oh, its just a dog. But Mitt, to me, is part of my family. From me and Mitt, we thank you guys for everything youve done. East Chicago police Officer Eddie Bastardo to Harrison Elementary School students CEDAR LAKE A citizens petition asking the question of whether the town should withdraw from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) be put on the ballot led to a sometimes contentious discussion during a recent Town Council meeting. The Town Council approved an ordinance to withdraw from the IURC, a move made by 92 percent of Indianas municipalities, in April. A petition presented by Donald Wigley and others, however, asked that the measure be put on the ballot. When Town Attorney David Austgen and others said there is a procedure to follow with regard to protesting the withdrawal, and that that procedure did not involve bringing a petition to Town Council, Wigley opted to present the petition to Council President Randy Niemeyer. What you do with the petition is your responsibility, as far as Im concerned, Wigley said. Utility rates have been a contentious issue in town before. Cedar Lake acquired three private utilities and rates are different depending on what part of town it is. Wigley, who lives in Havenwood, said his bill for wastewater is $48 alone. Were both elderly. Im 81, he said. Before we turn on the faucet we have a negative balance. However, Town Council members say the issue is more complicated than simply different rates for different neighborhoods. The purchase of each utility came with debt, and rather than spread the costs to the rest of taxpayers, the town decided to keep rates the same, which is in line with Indiana statute, Austgen said. Council members have said opting out of the IURC returns control back to the town, control which it will need as it continues to grow and expand services. Councilman Greg Parker believes strongly enough about this step that he said if the plan to withdraw from the IURC didnt go through, Id make a motion to sell off (the utility) and let it go back into private hands. Police Chief Rick Baker stated Ruble was traveling on Franklin Street approaching Third Street when the 12-year-old juvenile rode through the intersection.Third Street has a stop sign, Baker said. The bicyclist should have yielded to the vehicle. When it ran through the intersection, Ruble hit the brakes and hit the rear wheel of the bicycle, causing the juvenile to be thrown from the bicycle. Shopping is fun, but what puts a fine flair to it is finding a fabulous shop with anything but ordinary stories to tell and items to sell, such as the following Duneland destinations: OGara and Wilson Booksellers Antiquarian Booksellers, the sign says, denoting expertise as well as age. Their story began in 1882 in Chicago, morphing into a University of Chicago resource for generations of profs and students. Enter Joseph OGara, who turned it back into a bookstore that acclaimed late author Saul Bellow called the best bookstore in America. OGara continued a generations-long history of apprenticeships, taking on Doug Wilson in 1972. In 2013 the economy wrote a new chapter, forcing a move to downtown Chesterton, but Wilson and his wife, Jill, already lived there and love it there. The economics of bookselling have followed Doug and Jill Wilson to Indiana. Theres competition from charitable organizations receiving donated books, then selling them for a pittance, says Doug Wilson, without needing to pay taxes or employees. And the Internet has turned the book trade topsy-turvey, he says. A book Wilson has seen only two copies of in 40 years is possibly now only rare locally. I would be willing to pay well to get it, but looking online I may find 40 copies, because now youre looking worldwide. The price will usually plummet. But there are other sources for stocking Wilsons store. People bring books in, and if a large, private collection sounds promising, Well make a house call and make a fair offer. Auctions, estates, and other booksellers are also good sources. Wilson suggests customers pick a section to browse, then come back and see another section. Otherwise, serendipity made elude you. You cant know you want it if you dont know it exists; finding it is a revelation and delight. Other items might be missed, too, like the autographs, artwork, photographs, and book-related collectibles and antiques. Wilson hasnt found an apprentice to carry on the tradition, but Jill is so smart, she picks up things on her own and in some ways has trained me. Still, for Wilson, its all good. I realize its unusual for someone in my generation to be able to do the same job for my whole working life; I consider myself a very fortunate fellow. Schoolhouse Shop Talk about your evolution: The Schoolhouse Shop in Furnessville is several shops that evolved from a two-room schoolhouse converted into a 600-square-foot department store. The building has great character architecturally, says Schoolhouse Shop president Jim Ruge; the 1886 building of local brick in an Italianate style has a bell tower that Ruge says lends a nostalgic look and a tranquil shopping environment. With vice president/manager Roy Krizek, Ruge seeks to tempt with specialty shops like the Magic Pantry, with its hundreds of artisan food products and gourmet items that are hard to find in high quality, says Ruge. And now the patio is open until October, weather permitting, for lunches that include salmon or tuna mousse or chicken salad, with pretzel bread, fresh fruit and a small dessert. Ruge is also principle buyer of Dune Clothiers, two rooms of clothing for men and women, offering Lake Michigan coastal casual linescomfy styles in very high quality and made in America. The Tree House Toy Room carries games, model airplanes, educational books, baby items, and high-quality, plush stuffed animals. Other shops offer home decor accessories, gifts for all occasions, and greeting cards, and Lake Effect Florals is a complete floral shop specializing in weddings. A two-room schoolhouse may sound small, but its easy to spend an afternoon enjoying the destination department store shopping experience, says Ruge. And its all under one roof. Through 2050, Indianas population is expected to rise 15 percent, with the dominant force behind that change being the states aging baby boomer generation. According to Indiana University, while the first boomers hit traditional retirement age (65) in 2011, the entire generation will be ready to leave the workforce by 2030. It will be at that point that the senior population in Indiana will have jumped from 13 percent in 2010 to 20 percent. This begs the questionwill Indiana be ready? Here in Northwest Indiana, companies are already responding to the shifting needs of older citizens, with hospitals updating their emergency care facilities so they can better meet seniors needs, and residential firms constructing state-of-the-art housing units in many communities that resemble resorts more than traditional living facilities. Symphony of Chesterton, in fact, one of the newest living facilities in the Region, offers more than 76,000 square feet of senior living apartments and recovery suites for those in need of top-of-the-line nursing and rehabilitative care. In addition to concierge-style delivery of services and activities, Symphony of Chesterton also has a rehab center, movie theater, game room, restaurants, walking trails and a chef on site. Robin Gobber, regional marketing manager at Addison Pointe Health and Rehabilitation Center, also in Chesterton, says its important to provide services that best meet the needs of the people they serve. Addison Pointe, for example, focuses on patients who need therapeutic care. (Addison Pointe) has 60 private room suites for rehab to home patients, as well as 20 semi-private rooms for long-term residents, she says. One of the many amenities that set us apart from our competition is our therapy. In addition to having its own therapy team, Gobber says, Our team uses state-of-the-art therapy equipment, which allows us to have exceptional therapy outcomes. We also provide outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy. For Ro Hamersley, who works as admissions director for Chesterton Manor, instilling a sense of family also is essential in operating a high quality senior living facility. We have employees who have been here for 20 to 30 years, she says. Weve become family to residents, and family to the families. Chesterton Manors services varyfrom short-term rehab to Alzheimers care. Her most frequent inquiry, however, is from family members or friends of former residents. You come into this building and you feel that family atmosphere, whether its short term or long term, Hamersley says. WESTCHESTER TWP. One person is dead following a crash at U.S. 20 and Brummit Road in Westchester Township, in an unincorporated area of Chesterton, police said. Police identified the victim as Russell Fanus, 88, who was transported to Porter Regional Hospital, and subsequently died from his injuries. Porter County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Sgt. Jamie Erow said Porter County sheriff's officers responded to the accident at 5:49 p.m. Friday. The initial investigation shows that a gray 2015 Buick Enclave driven by 82-year-old Donald Pratt, of Chesterton, was facing east on U.S. 20 waiting to turn north onto Brummitt Road. Another vehicle, a silver 2012 Ford Edge driven by Robert Marsh, 49, of Michigan, was heading west on U.S. 20 approaching Brummitt Road in the north lane. According to the report, Pratt began his left turn, as westbound traffic in the south lane of U.S. 20 was stopped waiting to turn south onto Brummitt Road. Pratt did not see the silver Ford Edge approaching in the north lane. The report said that Marsh was unable to avoid collision with the vehicle driven by Pratt. The three passengers in Pratts car, all from Chesterton, were transported for injuries. Erow said the front-seat passenger, 79-year-old Barbara Kreft, was transported to Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary for a broken femur. Both rear passengers were transported to Porter Regional Hospital. The report said Judy Cabe, 65, complained of neck and back pain. The other rear passenger was Fanus. Erow said no citations were issued and alcohol is not believed to be a factor. Agencies assisting were the Porter, Beverly Shores and Burns Harbor police departments, along with the Chesterton Fire Department, Porter EMS, Joes Towing and Porter County Central Communications. VALPARAISO City firemen and utility workers saved 11 ducklings Friday that were trapped in a sewer on Roosevelt Road near the Five Points roundabout. The call came in early Friday morning, a mother duck was in a panic at the sewer grate in front of the Cancer Health Treatment Center. Firefighters arrived, blocked off the road and removed the grate as mama duck waddled nearby, watching. With the help of a fishing net a man had in his truck nearby, firefighters scooped up the ducklings and placed them a cardboard box. City workers then arrived with a special camera they dropped down into the sewer to make sure no baby ducks were hiding in the sewer main. A call was made to the Indiana Department of Resources, and a plan was then devised to relocate the ducklings and their parent to the pond behind the Village Park Apartments near the Valparaiso Family YMCA. With some ducklings in the box, some in the net and one in a firefighter's hand, the rescuers began the walk to the pond with the mother duck following cautiously. Emergency vehicles followed along to prevent the humans and the ducks from being struck by cars. When the mother duck saw the firefighters approaching the pond, she flew into the water, where one-by-one the freed ducklings lined up to join her. While opponents of a proposed new rail line through Northwest Indiana race to compile their arguments and alternatives by a June 15 deadline, those behind the project have already come up with a deal they hope will win over landowners. If the project wins government approval in the next year and a half, the landowners in the path of the 278-mile rail line will be offered $20,000 per acre, free residential electrical service and the ability to access the rail lines. That last item is being called a "game changer" by Frank Patton, chairman of Great Lakes Basin Transportation, speaking last week at a Times Editorial Board meeting. "That commodity almost doesn't exist," he said. The offer was put together in hopes of sealing the necessary deals with landowners without the need for the railroad to exercise its rights to take the land needed through eminent domain. If the deal is rejected, the case would go to court and a judge will place a value on the land that is less than the $20,000-an-acre offer and without the other two perks, said Great Lakes Basin Railroad President Jim Wilson. "The last thing you want to do is go to court," Patton said. Nick Snow, an attorney for Residents Against the Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, or, RAILED, told landowners during an opposition rally earlier this month to avoid making agreements to give up their property, because thats when "they start putting dots on the map." The proposed rail line between LaPorte and Wisconsin has stirred up anger and fear among residents along the proposed route through south Porter and Lake counties. Chief among them is Porter County government, which is compiling its response, and possible alternatives, before the public comment period ends, Porter County Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center, told The Times Editorial Board on Thursday. "I think the way the guy went about this thing is disingenuous," Good said. Good said he and other officials were made aware of the proposal late in the process and without benefit of a formal presentation. Those with Great Lakes Basin Transportation also bypassed regional planners. "This is not something that's ever been discussed," he said. "This is not something that's been in our planning." Moreover, two major railroads said last week they are not interested in using the new rail line. Norfolk Southern's letter to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board said, in part, "we are not inclined to think that the proposed Great Lakes Basin route would work well with our system or that we would be a user of the route." The letter follows an earlier statement by Union Pacific Railroad, stating the company is not interested in moving forward with discussion on the rail bypass project "an exceedingly expensive idea with no publicly identified funding sources." Patton said he has 15 investors lined up so far, all from the Midwest. Porter County Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, whose Boone Grove area farm and house are in the railroad's path, said the proposal threatens the areas where most residential growth is occurring. "It's quality of life for us in Porter County," she said. Wilson said the line would begin with 40 to 50 trains each day, though its daily capacity would be up to 110 trains. The tracks will be separated from many of the roadways along its route so as to improve safety and not interrupt traffic, he said. Quiet zones will be pursued where there are crossings, Wilson said. "We definitely want to be a good neighbor," he said. "We're not just here to run a route and run roughshod over anybody." Patton said there are national interests at stake in improving the flow of rail traffic through the heavily congested Chicago area. "The United States of America has to better compete in the world markets," he said. Freight traffic is expected to pick up by 45 to 50 percent nationally during the next 20 to 40 years, and there simply isnt enough capacity in Chicago to handle that many trains, Wilson has said. The bottleneck is worsened by the 25 percent of trains that must pass through Chicago on the way to somewhere else, but have no actual business there. The proposed urban bypass, which would be the first constructed anywhere in the country in more than a decade, would cost an estimated $8 billion and would be the largest railroad project in the United States since 1911, he said. Once the public comment period on the proposal ends next month, the project will undergo about a year and a half review by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board before a determination is made, Patton said. "We've got a lot ahead of us, to say the least," Wilson said. MOSCOW Nadiya Savchenko, a pilot who returned to a heros welcome in Ukraine after two years in Russian custody, declared Friday she would run for president if thats what Ukrainians wanted. Her comments are sure to send a thunderbolt through Ukraines 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. 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, echoed 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 partys reputation of favoring Ukraines oligarchs. She said she would stick with that party and was anxious to come to work at parliament next week. A 48-year-old woman was stabbed to death at a YWCA in Brooklyn today, and police say a fellow resident of the facility is in custody. Police were called to a dispute at the YWCA on Third Avenue and State Street in Boerum Hill around 7 a.m. Saturday. They found the victim stabbed several times in the back and torso. Police say she also had defensive wounds to her arms. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police sources say the attack happened in the victim's room and her alleged attacker fled to back to her own room. Sources say that suspect was taken to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Police have identified the suspect as 55-year-old Dorothy Curry. She's been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. They say a knife was found at the scene. The facility houses low-income and homeless women. One resident tells us she's shocked that an conflict became deadly. "There are occasional fights and arguments, but nothing like this. Yeah, I do feel safe. There's security 24 hours a day," the woman said. "I'm really sad that there was a problem there. People sit out, and say hello it's just sad, I guess it could happen anywhere, but they're good neighbors." The YWCA issued a statement saying the women were long-time residents and neither had a history of violence. The statement read in part: "Our 24-hour on site security responded to the incident immediately and no other residents were harmed. In the face of today's tragedy, the YWCA Brooklyn staff are offering increased support and counseling services to our 285 residents." A day after he said he was open to the idea of debating Democrat Bernie Sanders, the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, backs down. And Democrat Hillary Clinton is still dealing with fallout from her use of a personal e-mail account and private server when she was Secretary of State. Our Grace Rauh has the story. There will be no debate between Trump and Sanders. But as recently as Thursday, the Republican candidate expressed interest in the idea, first floated by Sanders. "We could have a lot of fun with it. I'd love to debate Bernie," Trump said Thursday. Trump had said he would do it if the debate raised money for charity. But now, he's changing his tune. "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," the Manhattan native said in a statement. Clinton has refused to debate her Democratic rival Sanders, a Brooklyn-native, before the June 7 primary in California. Polls show Clinton's lead in the state has evaporated and the two are now running neck-and-neck. The former New York senator is also back to defending her use of personal e-mail and a private server at the State Department. A report by the department's inspector general found that she did not seek or receive permission for the set-up. "This report makes clear that personal e-mail use was the practice for other secretaries of state," Clinton said in an ABC News interview Thursday. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell also used his personal e-mail at the State Department, but the report says the department had a stronger directive to use government e-mail for official business under Clinton. "I don't know how she can continue to run, I'll be honest with you," Trump said. Clinton says if she could go back, she would do things differently. Separately Friday, Trump made his case for the White House in California, but not without hundreds of protestors also making their voices heard. About a thousand demonstrators marched in the streets of San Diego before Trump's speech. The New York real estate mogul's campaign in California has been met with several protests. But inside Trump's rally, he said he welcomes coverage of the protests because it also displays the large number of supporters he has attending his events. Trump also said his platform will be much better for minorities in this country than Clinton's. "We're going to be great with the Latinos because I'm bringing back jobs," Trump said. "The Latinos, African-Americans we're doing great with African-Americans, they want jobs." "And Hillary Clinton can't do a damn thing for them, and she never will. And guess what? She doesn't want to, OK?" Trump continued. "She couldn't care less." On the Democratic side, Clinton took part in a community event on breaking down racial barriers in Oakland on Friday. She pushed for criminal justice reform and racial inequity issues. Rival Bernie Sanders was further south in San Pedro, where he said he's far from out of the race. "We can win here in California. We can win in many of the other states coming up on June 7th," Sanders said to supporters. "With your support, we can go into the Democratic National Convention with a great deal of momentum and we can come out with the Democratic nomination." Sanders currently trails Clinton by nearly 800 delegates. 913 delegates are still up for grabs. Miriam Millers arms move like liquid. But when she was a student at the School of American Ballet, a teacher used to tell her that they looked as if they came out of a washing machine in other words, shapeless. Ms. Miller, a member of New York City Ballet, laughs about that now. At just 19, she has already performed in roles that more experienced dancers still dream about, including Titania in George Balanchines A Midsummer Nights Dream, a regal part performed by the tallest and most glamorous principals. (She shares the role with Sara Mearns and Teresa Reichlen.) Last spring, when Ms. Miller, who hails from Iowa City, Iowa, made her debut in the part, her loveliness was like a balm. At the time, the big news was that she was still an apprentice, the lowest rung on the City Ballet totem pole. In January, she joined the corps de ballet; during the winter season, Ms. Miller made another momentous debut, this time in Balanchines Agon. On Thursday, Ms. Miller reprised her Titania (and will again on Saturday night). It was a rich performance, despite some wobbles in the pas de deux with her Cavalier. What follows are edited excerpts from a conversation on Friday morning. It can be hard to be in a ballet company when you start getting meaty roles like this. Do you have any friends left? The worlds biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, is poised to receive $22 million in financial aid from Connecticut in an effort to keep it from moving its headquarters out of the state. The financial commitment to Bridgewater, the $150 billion fund founded by the billionaire Ray Dalio, is occurring as Connecticut is fighting to keep companies from leaving the state after a tax increase last year. In January, General Electric announced it would move its Fairfield, Conn., headquarters to Boston after 41 years. The money will go toward the expansion of Bridgewaters headquarters in Westport and facilities in Wilton and Norwalk, according to the State Bond Commission. A commission meeting on Friday approved the funding, which includes $2 million for employee training and a $17 million loan. If Bridgewater creates 750 jobs over the next five years the loan will be forgiven. An earlier proposal by Bridgewater to build a $750 million campus in Connecticut was withdrawn in 2014 because of public opposition to the project, according to a local news report. Centenary United Methodist Church in Bonne Terre will sponsor a three-evening study of the Book of Revelation presented by the Rev. Dr. Keith Heifner, 6:30-7:30 p.m. nightly, June 7-9 in the Cornerstone Building adjacent to the church. A brief fellowship time will follow each session all are welcome. June 7, "How Did we Get to Left Behind?" introduces the concept of dispensationalism and how it has informed and influenced thinking about Revelations and the meaning of Christian faith. June 8, "Take that Rome -- or how to Deal with a Bully" discusses how many people believe that the images in Revelation point to the ultimate fall of the Roman empire, and how to deal with oppression and unfair treatment. This will also give insight into dealing with struggles in the world today. June 9, "Are you still there, God?" shows the unique ways that, more than anything else, Revelation is a call to trust God, remembering that God has been faithful up to now. There are many "not so obvious" symbols in Revelations that are reminders that God is faithful. The Rev. Dr. Heifner, a Bonne Terre native, attended the University of Missouri and Emporia State University in Kansas. He received two graduate degrees from Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri. He also earned additional certification through CARE and Counseling in St. Louis, Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, and Topeka State Hospital in Topeka, Kansas. Ordained in the Missouri East Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Heifner pastored congregations in Missouri for 10 years. He then transferred to the West Michigan Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church to serve on the counseling staff of the Samaritan Center of Southcentral Michigan in Battle Creek, Mich. For six years he served as Executive Director of the agency. Finally, Heifner returned to the local church, pastoring 13 years in Michigan. He also taught in the psychology department at Spring Arbor University for six years. Today, Heifner and his wife, Becky, live in Naples, Fla. For directions to the church or further information, contact the church office at 573-358-2238. Late Friday, First Look Media, which was founded by Mr. Omidyar, said that in keeping with its mission to protect the First Amendment, it would be helping to organize supporting briefs for Gawkers appeal. The possibility that Gawker may have to post a bond for $50 million or more just to be able to pursue its right to appeal the jurys verdict raises serious concerns about press freedom, Lynn Oberlander, general counsel for First Look, said in a statement. We welcome the support at the appellate level, Gawker said in its own statement. In some ways Silicon Valleys reaction is not surprising. A journalists job, at least in theory, is to ask questions and print the truth, which means it is less than loved in citadels of power. But in Silicon Valley, even the media hates the media. Gawker can burn in hell, the TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington said on Twitter, though he also called Mr. Thiel cowardly for not being open about financing the lawsuits against Gawker. TechCrunch began as a site that worked hand in hand with start-ups to chart their progress. For Ken Shotts, who teaches ethics and strategy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Mr. Thiels secret campaign against Gawker brought to mind General Motors pursuit of Ralph Nader 50 years ago. G.M. set private detectives on Mr. Nader to get the dirt on him that would nullify his criticism of its Corvair car. G.M. went beyond the pale, and was punished. The president of G.M. was forced to appear before Congress and apologize for harassing and intimidating the companys critic. Companies face constraints, said Mr. Shotts. Thats a good thing. Individuals are less constrained, and billionaires hardly at all. From this perspective, what Mr. Thiel did was less of an aberration and more of that old Silicon Valley stand-by: a new product launch. It is now out of stealth mode and getting good reviews among potential users. An 8-year-old boy brought a loaded semiautomatic pistol to an elementary school in Brooklyn on Friday, the police said. The episode occurred at Public School 91 on Albany Avenue. A teacher there discovered the gun, which was loaded with four rounds, around 11:30 a.m. when the boy refused to put down his pack, the police said. The teacher lifted the backpack, noticed that it was unusually heavy, opened it and found the gun, the police said. The teacher told school officials, who called the police. The police said there were no arrests, but that they were looking into who owned the gun and how it came into the boys possession. In recent months, Families for Excellent Schools, a pro-charter school advocacy group that often opposes Mayor Bill de Blasios education policies, has said that New York Citys schools are growing more dangerous under Mr. de Blasio. The organization recently joined a group of public school families to sue the Education Department, contending that students were being deprived of their right to an education free of violence, bullying and harassment. An operative for Al Qaedas affiliate in Yemen who was trained in bomb-making by Anwar al-Awlaki and agreed to carry out an attack targeting Americans and Israelis at Heathrow Airport in London was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday in Manhattan. The operative, Minh Quang Pham, 33, never carried out the attack after returning home to Britain in summer 2011, and in a letter to the judge, he said he had only agreed to the plot in order to get out of Yemen and return home. Mr. Pham, who was extradited from Britain to the United States last year, pleaded guilty in January to three terrorism-related charges. But the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said Mr. Pham had not carried out the attack because he knew he was under surveillance by the authorities after returning to Britain. Mr. Pham traveled secretly to Yemen in 2010, swore allegiance to the terrorist group, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or A.Q.A.P., and worked on its online propaganda publication, Inspire. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey signed legislation on Friday that will help Atlantic City, the struggling seaside resort, avoid bankruptcy and give local officials time to develop a recovery plan before the state intervenes. Mr. Christie had been a forceful advocate for the state taking broad control in Atlantic City as it contended with mounting debts and the closing of several casinos in recent years. The governor had questioned whether city officials had been willing to enact the deep cuts needed to resolve the citys financial crisis. On Friday, Mr. Christie said that the new measures would hold officials in Atlantic City accountable and allow the state to take the reins if the city falls short in mapping out a turnaround plan. For Atlantic City officials, the final countdown starts today, Mr. Christie, a Republican, said in a statement. They know that if they fail to change their tendencies of wasteful spending and mismanagement, my administration will be empowered to immediately step in and do the job for them. A vintage World War II plane crashed into the Hudson River during a promotional photo shoot on Friday night, killing the pilot, the authorities said. The plane, a P-47 Thunderbolt, belonged to the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, N.Y. It was with two other planes a P-40 from World War II and a contemporary aircraft in an area off West 79th Street in Manhattan when it crashed around 7:30 p.m., said Gary Lewi, a spokesman for the museum. Divers from the New York Police Department recovered the body of the pilot around 10:40. The authorities identified the pilot as William Gordon, 56, of Key West, Fla. Saudi Arabia has frustrated American policy makers for years. Ostensibly a critical ally, sheltered from its enemies by American arms and aid, the kingdom has spent untold millions promoting Wahhabism, the radical form of Sunni Islam that inspired the 9/11 hijackers and that now inflames the Islamic State. The latest chapter in this long, sorrowful history involves tiny Kosovo. With a population of only 1.8 million people, Kosovo has sent more of its young people per capita than any other country to fight and die in Iraq and Syria. Since 2012, some 314 Kosovars have joined the Islamic State, including two suicide bombers, 44 women and 28 children. Even Belgium, widely seen as a hotbed of extremism after the attacks on Paris and Brussels, lags behind it in the recruitment rankings. As detailed by Carlotta Gall in a recent article in The Times, Kosovo is in this position largely because Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states have spent years developing and funding a network of imams, mosques and secretive associations there. And while there is no evidence that any group gave money directly and explicitly to persuade Kosovars to go to Syria, senior officials in Kosovo told Ms. Gall that extremist clerics and groups have spent heavily to promote radical Islamic thinking among young and vulnerable people. The issue is they supported thinkers who promote violence and jihad in the name of protecting Islam, Fatos Makolli, head of Kosovos counterterrorism police, told her. The United States and NATO invested heavily in helping Kosovo gain independence from Serbia in 2008 and establish democracy. That Saudi Arabia should be using Kosovo as a breeding ground for extremists, or allowing it to be used as a breeding ground by any Saudi entity or citizen, is a cruel reminder of the contradictory and even duplicitous behavior of Americas partners in the Persian Gulf and helps to explain why its relationships with those countries have become increasingly troubled. THE Supreme Court ruled correctly on Monday when it found that Georgia prosecutors in Foster v. Chatman had illegally barred African-Americans from serving as jurors in a death penalty trial. But the decision does not end racial discrimination in jury selection. The best way to do that is to limit the number of jurors that lawyers can strike for no reason at all to just one or two per side. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers can exclude any number of prospective jurors for legitimate reasons if a juror knows the defendant, has formed an opinion about the case or is unlikely to be impartial. But lawyers can also dismiss several more potential jurors simply because they do not want them without explaining why. In federal felony trials, the prosecutor has six peremptory challenges and the defense usually has 10. In federal death penalty cases, each side has 20. State numbers vary. In the Foster case, which dates from the 1980s, the prosecutors eliminated people simply because of race. Timothy Foster, a black man, stood accused of killing an elderly white woman when he was a teenager. The prosecutors worked conscientiously to exclude the potential black jurors; they marked their names with a B and highlighted each black jurors name in green on four different copies of the juror list. Those jurors were ranked against one another in case, one member of the prosecutorial team said, it comes down to having to pick one of the black jurors. The plan worked, and an all-white jury sentenced Mr. Foster to death. We come to ponder a terrible force, President Obama said of his purpose in going to the Hiroshima memorial on Friday, the only sitting American president to do so in the 71 years since the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, killing 140,000 people. He mourned the victims and called for a global moral awakening on nuclear weapons. His message would have been all the more powerful had he also announced concrete plans for bringing the world a step closer to his nuclear-free vision. Visits to war memorials are often fraught, and this one more than most. There were debates about whether Mr. Obama should go at all, whether he should meet survivors of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and whether he should apologize for Americas decision to drop the bombs, which ended World War II in the Pacific. Mr. Obama made no apology and affirmed that Japan was responsible for the war, which grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes. That was important, given that Japans prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has often sought to rewrite the history, portraying Japan as a victim of the war as well. As for the future, Mr. Obama said it could be one in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening. Reprising the soaring words of his 2009 speech in Prague, he declared, We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without nuclear weapons, while acknowledging that it is unlikely to happen soon. NEARLY 40 years ago, Roots transfixed Americans first as an overnight best seller by Alex Haley, then as an ABC mini-series, which drew 100 million viewers, still the record. It made the slave trade and black history inescapable parts of national popular culture and produced a unique moment when ordinary Americans talked about slavery in workplaces, bars, churches and schools. This Memorial Day, the History, Lifetime and A&E channels will start broadcasting a four-night remake of the series. And while its a good bet that it will also draw millions of viewers, its an equally good bet that for almost all of them, the story of Kunta Kinte and his descendants is at best a dim cultural footnote. For all that Roots says about American slavery, its career as a cultural artifact speaks even more about how America talks about its own history. Roots was a hit because no one had ever read or seen anything like it. Popular memory of the antebellum South was still dominated by images of happy slaves and benevolent masters. The most watched TV program before Roots was Gone With the Wind, the 1939 Civil War epic that NBC broadcast over two nights in 1976. When Roots dethroned Gone With the Wind the next year, it wasnt just about ratings: It seemed to displace the power of racist fictions like Gone With the Wind and The Birth of a Nation to write history with lightning, to quote the phrase President Woodrow Wilson is said to have used to praise the latter, D. W. Griffiths own Civil War epic. Haley wrote with an entire lightning storm. He tried to marshal the power of history on a mythic scale to advance black history. INTERNATIONAL An article on April 28 about Germanys struggle to integrate some of the million migrants who flooded the country last year and to decide whom to deport referred imprecisely to the handwritten grammar notes taped to the walls of a meeting room in Cologne where asylum interviews are conducted. They listed conjugations of German verbs, not declensions (that term is used in reference to nouns, adjectives and other parts of speech, but not verbs). NEW YORK An article last Sunday about how two Manhattan buildings would look if they were built according to current codes misidentified the law that resulted in the development of so-called dumbbell tenements throughout New York City. It was the Tenement Law of 1879, not the Tenement Law of 1901. BUSINESS DAY An article on Friday about an appeals courts rejection of an arbitration clause that prevented employees of Epic Systems, a Verona, Wis., health care software provider, from pursuing class actions misstated the location of the court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in some copies. It is in Chicago, not Madison, Wis. WEEKEND ARTS A report in the Inside Art column on Friday about an exhibition of work by the artist Simon Starling at Japan Society in Manhattan, using information from the society, referred incorrectly to the exhibition. It is the second solo exhibition there that features a non-Japanese artist, not the first. (Ansel Adamss work was exhibited there in the 1980s.) As New York Republicans went to the polls for their primary April 19, some opponents of Donald Trump clung to the hope that Ted Cruz, or perhaps John Kasich, might deny Trump a few delegates in some of the state's congressional districts. One reason for that hope was New York's highly restrictive voter registration rules, which required party-changers to register as Republicans many months earlier in order to be eligible to vote in the GOP primary. Some crossovers who intended to vote for Trump, the thinking went, would discover when they arrived at the polls that they could not do so. The #NeverTrumpers were hoping, in other words, that rules limiting voter participation might help their cause. Likewise, during the primary season some anti-Trump Republicans paid close attention to the GOP delegate-selection process in Colorado, Wyoming, and North Dakota, the three states that chose not to have presidential preference votes in 2016. Winning there depended on the participation of a relatively small number of highly motivated Republicans who worked through precinct, county, district, and state caucuses. Yes, several thousand Republicans participated in conventions there, but there's no doubt Colorado, Wyoming, and North Dakota had less voter participation than nearly all states with primaries. For #NeverTrumpers, fewer voters equaled higher hopes. Trump called the system in those states "rigged" and accused some Republican leaders of trying to frustrate the will of the voters. "It's about the voters, it's not about the bosses," Trump said the week of the New York primary, which he won with 60 percent of the vote. "We're going to show that it's about the voters. I win all of the time when it's up to the voters." Now Trump has effectively clinched the Republican nomination, and one conservative voice against Trump has radically upped the ante on limiting voter participation. In a May 20 Washington Post op-ed, David Harsanyi, a senior editor at The Federalist, argued that millions of voters are so ill-informed that they cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions and must therefore be "weeded out" -- barred from voting "for the good of our democratic institutions." "By weeding out millions of irresponsible voters who can't be bothered to learn the rudimentary workings of the Constitution, or their preferred candidate's proposals or even their history, we may be able to mitigate the recklessness of the electorate," Harsanyi wrote. Harsanyi proposed a test for voters along the lines of the test given to immigrants seeking to become United States citizens. The test would pass constitutional muster, Harsanyi said, because it would somehow "ensure that all races, creeds, genders and sexual orientations and people of every socioeconomic background are similarly inhibited from voting when ignorant." Poll taxes, literacy tests, and other impediments to voting have been ruled unconstitutional by courts or outlawed by legislation for many years. Harsanyi is by no means the first conservative to suggest a test for voting. After Harsanyi's article appeared, National Review's Jonah Goldberg tweeted, "I've been making a similar argument for years," linking to pieces from 2007 and 2014. Others have proposed similar ideas. In March, National Review's Kevin D. Williamson, a determined Trump opponent, expressed his hope that the constitutional structure of checks and balances might somehow stop a Trump victory, since it is "designed to frustrate 'We the People' when the people fall into dangerous and violent error of the sort with which they are now flirting." The various discussions of Trump and voting raise questions about the position conservatives and Republicans have taken on the most contentious voting-related issue of recent years, the fight over voter ID. For a long time, conservatives and Republicans have advocated commonsense measures to ensure the integrity of elections. Those measures boiled down to one thing: a voter should be able to prove who he or she is when voting. The solution, voter ID, was not only reasonable but publicly supported and approved by the courts -- after all, if one has to present ID to board a plane or buy Sudafed, why is it overly burdensome to require the same to vote? Democrats have long responded by accusing conservatives and Republicans of attempting to suppress the vote. Conservatives and Republicans strongly denied the charge. But now, with the new conservative/Republican arguments made in the context of Trump's rise -- a test for voting, limited-participation elections, condemnations of democracy in general -- it's hard not to wonder whether Democrats were right about the other side all along. There are clearly some conservatives and Republicans who dislike the voters' choice -- Trump -- so much that they would limit the voters' right to choose. One last issue. The Democratic charge of GOP voter suppression almost always came with an allegation of racism -- the accusation that Republicans were specifically trying to disenfranchise minority voters. Now, however, conservative and Republican voter-limitation talk comes in the context of Trump's victories in the GOP primaries, which mostly did not involve minority voters. So perhaps the best way to describe what is happening is that Trump's success has brought to the fore an anti-democratic streak that has long been present in some conservatives and Republicans. Among many other contributions, her work helped settle a debate about the function of the hippocampus in retrieving and reliving past experiences. Some scientists had argued that once a strong memory was stored, the hippocampus was not critical to retrieving it. Dr. Corkins work with H.M. showed that such a memory getting lost in the woods at camp, say, or hitchhiking across the country was still partly retrievable without the hippocampus. She found, however, that the narrative richness of the memory was gone. Loose impressions remained, but the story was lost. Image Henry Molaison, known in published reports as H.M. to protect his privacy Gist memories, she called them. She was able to take this single case and do such meticulous work on the anatomy and its effects on memory that it helped settle these questions, said Morris Moscovitch, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. That is one hallmark of her work. The other is how much she cared for H.M. She wasnt merely using him she became his caretaker, she took care of him like family. Suzanne Janet Hammond was born in Hartford on May 18, 1937, the only child of Lester Hammond, who worked in engine parts sales, and the former Mabelle Dowling, who worked for the local Department of Motor Vehicles. She grew up in West Hartford just down the street, as she said many years later, from Dr. William Beecher Scoville, the brain surgeon who operated on Mr. Molaison in 1953. It was the era of the lobotomy, and Dr. Scoville was one of a number of swashbuckling surgeons doing experimental surgeries they would be unethical today for a variety of mental problems, including schizophrenia and severe depression, with often disastrous consequences. Mr. Molaison was that rarest of cases: Notwithstanding the seizures, he was mentally healthy and lucid, both before and after the surgery, making him an ideal experimental subject. Dr. Corkin, after graduating from Smith College with a degree in psychology, knew exactly where she wanted to go: to Dr. Milners laboratory at McGill. She focused on studying how the brain represents touch, an area of research many students found too laborious to take on. SAN FRANCISCO The Biometric Information Privacy Act of Illinois is not a law many are familiar with. But if you have ever shared a photo on social media, the little-known statute turns out to be one of the nations toughest regulations for how companies like Facebook and Google can use facial recognition technologies to identify you online. For now. On Thursday, an Illinois state senator, Terry Link, introduced an amendment that would have weakened the law by exempting photo-tagging technologies that are now commonly used on social media. The proposal also had the potential to extinguish several class-action lawsuits against technology companies like Facebook by retroactively removing the right of Illinois citizens to sue companies that might have broken the law in the past. The amendment was lobbied for by Facebook, according to a person involved in the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity. And it helps to illustrate how from drone aircraft to genetic information and statutes that govern how companies sell consumer information to data miners, tech companies are in a capital to capital fight to keep new laws from being passed or to soften those already on the books. The Illinois biometric privacy act is one of the best new privacy laws in the country, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Its bad news for consumers when Internet companies start lobbying against good privacy laws. If theres anything impossible to parody successfully onstage, or for that matter, off, its performance art. Thats a minor mistake Sofia Alvarez makes in her new play, Friend Art, an otherwise insightful comedy-drama about the evolving relationships among four friends living in New York. Its perhaps unfortunate that the play, at the McGinn/Cazale Theater as part of Second Stage Uptowns summer season, begins with its artist character, Lil (Anabelle LeMieux), nattering on about her childhood fears, her only prop being, for some unfathomable reason, a cantaloupe. Still, it does put you in immediate sympathy with her friends in the audience, Kevin (Aaron Costa Ganis) and Molly (Zoe Chao), an engaged couple who find themselves in the awkward position of burbling generic enthusiasm about the performance. Before Lil arrives to receive their tepid congratulations, Kevin remarks to Molly that one advantage of their imminent move to Virginia, where he will go to law school, is that they will be spared such endurance tests. While Kevin and Molly, a former actor who now works at a law firm herself, appear to be on steady career and domestic tracks, the same cannot be said for Lil and Nate (Constantine Maroulis), a onetime one-hit rock star, who have recently broken up but remain friends. Over drinks Lil even finds herself defending Nate against Kevins casual remark that his cheating proved he didnt love her. WASHINGTON In his pledge to aggressively expand American oil and gas production, and his framing of that push as a salvation for the nations economic and fiscal health, Donald J. Trump is following in the footsteps of decades of Republican politicians. But in a market where domestic oil production is already higher than it has been in 40 years, and natural gas production is at a historic high, those proposals have run up against a major problem: the global economy. As the presumptive Republican nominee spoke in Bismarck, N.D., this week, in the booming Bakken oil fields not far away, oil and gas workers were actually being laid off, victims of their own success and the global energy glut they have helped produce. Plunging oil and gas prices have pointed to a fundamental flaw in Mr. Trumps argument: At a certain point, production of oil and gas will push prices too low to justify even more production. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries especially its leading producer, Saudi Arabia also gets a say. If it decides to keep the spigot cranked, the bar for profitable American production gets higher, investment falls and the sector contracts, regardless of Mr. Trumps intentions. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the state Legislature had failed to equitably fund public schools, once again giving the state until June 30 to fix its financing system or face a court-ordered shutdown of schools. The ruling was the latest volley in a long battle over public education in Kansas. A lawsuit from a coalition of school districts led the Kansas Supreme Court to order the Legislature in 2014 to increase funding to poorer districts. The court and the Legislature have been at odds ever since. In February, the court said that a solution proposed by lawmakers, to use block grants to allocate funds, had failed to address inequities in schools. In response, the Legislature passed a bill that it said gave poorer districts a fair share of funding. Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, signed the measure in April. In a 47-page ruling, the court rejected that bill, saying the Legislatures formula creates intolerable, and simply unfair, wealth-based disparities among the districts. PLAINS Oklahoma: Veto of Abortion Bill Stands Doctors who perform abortions in Oklahoma will not face felony charges after the State Senate adjourned for the year on Friday without trying to override Gov. Mary Fallins veto of a bill to make the procedure a felony crime. Anti-abortion Republicans in the Republican-controlled Legislature wanted Senator Nathan Dahm to try for the two-thirds vote needed in both chambers to override the Republican governors veto. It is a felony for non-doctors to perform abortions. Governor Fallin has signed numerous anti-abortion bills, but said Mr. Dahms bill was vaguely worded and would not survive a legal challenge. The Senate president pro tem, Brian Bingman, said he did not believe Mr. Dahm had the 32 Senate votes needed. (AP) WEST California: Lawsuit in Killing by Illegal Immigrant The parents of a woman killed on a San Francisco pier by a man who was in the United States illegally filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday against the city and two federal agencies. In their suit, the parents of Kathryn Steinle accuse the San Francisco Sheriffs Department of failing to notify federal immigration officials that it was releasing Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez from jail last year. They are also suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal Bureau of Land Management. A B.L.M. ranger reported that a gun had been stolen from his car in downtown San Francisco. Mr. Lopez-Sanchez says he found the gun and it fired when he picked it up, unintentionally striking Ms. Steinle in the back. The killing thrust San Francisco into the national debate over immigration. It is a sanctuary city where undocumented immigrants without criminal records are generally protected from federal deportation agents. (AP) SOUTH Alabama: Justice Seeks Reinstatement Chief Justice Roy Moore is suing the state agency that filed ethics charges against him. His lawyers filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, asking a court to order his immediate reinstatement as head of Alabamas court system. The suit says a law that led to Chief Justice Moores automatic suspension when charges were filed against him this month is unconstitutional. The lawsuit also cites news reports and reporters questions about possible charges against him in claiming that the commission violated confidentiality provisions. The commission filed a complaint accusing Chief Justice Moore of willfully failing to respect the authority of federal court decisions that cleared the way for same-sex marriage. (AP) WASHINGTON As many of his Republican colleagues were sliding into disconsolate resignation, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska sat on a riverbank recently and wrote a meandering missive calling on someone to challenge his partys presumed nominee, Donald J. Trump, for the presidency. Why shouldnt America draft an honest leader? he wrote on Facebook. You know ... an adult? Mr. Sasse, 44, a baby-faced former college president who outsmarted a bevy of better-known Republicans to win his seat in 2014, has stood out largely for his conservative voting record, and perhaps for his children, who are home-schooled half of the time in Senate committee hearing rooms and on his office couch. But Mr. Sasse is now best known for his strident and counterintuitive opposition to his partys standard-bearer, one of the last remnants of Never Trump in a Capitol slipping into the vortex of the moguls general election campaign. The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, has not given Mr. Trump an endorsement notwithstanding occasional unfounded claims by the candidates aides that one is coming but the two men continue to have what the speaker has called productive conversations on policy issues. Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona, both Republicans, have treated Mr. Trump like an insufferable relative at a family wedding. But Mr. Graham said he recently had a cordial phone call with Mr. Trump on foreign policy, and Mr. Flake has said he is still deciding whether to endorse the businessman. CARACAS, Venezuela The courts? Closed most days. The bureau to start a business? Same thing. The public defenders office? Thats been converted into a food bank for government employees. Step by step, Venezuela has been shutting down. This country has long been accustomed to painful shortages, even of basic foods. But Venezuela keeps drifting further into uncharted territory. In recent weeks, the government has taken what may be one of the most desperate measures ever by a country to save electricity: A shutdown of many of its offices for all but two half-days each week. But that is only the start of the countrys woes. Electricity and water are being rationed, and huge areas of the country have spent months with little of either. The Feel-Good Vote That Could Sink Britains Economy by Peter S. Goodman (May 22) examined next months referendum in Britain on whether the nation should leave the European Union, a move sometimes termed Brexit. The article attracted 317 comments to nytimes.com. The following have been edited and condensed. A Brexit will only hurt the British economy if Brussels decides that it will hurt the British economy. The trade barriers that would presumably go up are entirely artificial. Any actions by the E.U. to penalize Britain if it leaves should be framed in that light. Alec Dacyczyn, Maine So Im voting and Im genuinely undecided. There is a democratic deficit in the E.U. and they have treated the Greek economic crisis with incompetence and a lack of empathy. Ditto the migration crisis. On the other hand the loudest outers are not people I would care to spend time with and their vision for my country post-exit is the opposite of mine. Michael, London Even if there really was a likelihood of a shaky economic future, that is a price well worth paying for being out of the Soviet-style superstate that the E.U. is becoming. Im voting to leave. Brother White! The young man taking orders behind the counter at Royal Rib House greeted John White, who was next in line for ribs, with a smile. Mr. White gave a wave. Behind him was a long queue snaking out of the store and down a sleepy block in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on a warm spring evening. Judging from the handshakes and hugs given out, many customers were regulars, catching up with friends they see once or twice a week as they picked up their rotisserie-style barbecue and soul food from Royal Rib House. But often enough there were also those returning to the neighborhood from other parts of Brooklyn or farther afield. What united them was a deep love of fall-off-the-bone ribs. Once inside the small waiting room, those in line became serious. Customers waited to place their order with one of the young men working behind the gate, a vestige of a time when running a restaurant in the neighborhood was a riskier proposition. Jason Barnett was busy packing orders and chopping meat with a loud thwack, pausing only to share a quick word with a customer who asked to pass along a hello to Mr. Barnetts mother, Carole Grier, who does most of the cooking. WASHINGTON -- The mere possibility of a Donald Trump presidency -- gold-plated faucets in the house first occupied by John and Abigail Adams -- will perhaps have a salutary effect. It might demystify an office that has become now swollen with inappropriate powers and swaddled in a pretentiousness discordant with a republic's ethic of simplicity. This wholesome retreat from presidential grandiosity would be advanced if on Jan. 20, 2017, the 45th president delivered the following inaugural address: My fellow Americans, brevity is not only the soul of wit and the essence of lingerie, it is, on occasions such as this, polite. You who are arrayed in front of me, losing the feeling in your feet as you stand on the frozen Mall, should be spared a long soliloquy by someone who, as a presidential candidate, inflicted on you an excruciating amount of talk. Besides, you have hired me only to administer one of our three branches of government, and only for four years. So let's avoid unseemly excitement about today's routine transfer of power. Years ago, Dallas Cowboy Duane Thomas said this about another recurring extravaganza, the Super Bowl: "If it's the ultimate game, how come they're playing it again next year?" I may ask Mr. Thomas to be my press secretary, if I decide to have one. I probably will not have one because I hope weeks will pass without having to bother you with reminders of my existence. Weeks during which there will be nothing much of importance to hear from or about me as I go about the humdrum business of seeing that the laws enacted here on Capitol Hill are faithfully executed. In the next four years, beloved entertainers will die, local law enforcement disputes will occur, March Madness will come and go -- and I will have nothing to say about any of these things because they are unrelated to my duties, which do not include serving as national pastor-cum-pundit. As is traditional, at the conclusion of these remarks I shall eat lunch in the Capitol with Congress. But before doing this, I shall pay a tribute to Congress, which the Constitution's Article I establishes as the first branch of government. My tribute will be to delay joining its members for the 10 minutes or so it will take to sign a stack of executive orders nullifying most executive orders issued by my predecessor. He used them to wield executive power to institute policies and alter laws that properly should be initiated by Congress. This will be enough business for Day One of my first 100 days. And I promise you this: On the 100th day of my administration, America will be ... pretty much indistinguishable from what it is today. Would you, my over-excited countrymen, really want it any other way? Would you really want to live in a nation that can be substantially changed in a matter of a few months by a hyperactive government? For efficiency, and to minimize unnecessary folderol, I am going to take a minute right now to deliver my first and last State of the Union address. It is this one sentence: Things are much better than they once were -- slavery? gone; the Oregon Trail? replaced by the Interstate Highway System -- but things could be better. There. Wasn't that less disagreeable than the annual midwinter prime-time pep rally that presidents stage because of the Constitution's blurry mandate that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information" about the country's condition? How quaint. As though Congress is interested in information. After today's lunch, Congress should try nibbling at the edges of our problems, many of which Congress created to please you, the clamorous people. To you I say: We have nothing to fear but your insufficient fear of what has been done on your behalf and at your behest. In the 2016 "contest of opinion through which we have passed" -- Thomas Jefferson's decorous description, at his first inauguration, of the ferocious 1800 campaign -- a trillion words were spoken, approximately none about the public's appetite for unfunded government entitlement programs. If you want the United States to be Puerto Rico writ large -- or, even worse, Illinois -- just stay the course you are on. In words Lincoln spoke at his first inauguration, the nation's fate is "in your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine." Adoption and its emotional complexities, heightened by the issue of race and the weight of history, are the themes running like a live wire through Tanya Barfields play The Call, which is having its New England premiere at TheaterWorks in Hartford. These are big topics made monumental and deeply affecting by the implications of an African childs adoption by a couple that is Wonder Bread white. Natural dialogue and superb performances powerfully propel the couples struggle to become parents toward a crisis and, ultimately, a hopeful conclusion, but an even larger theme dominates. The plays director, Jenn Thompson, suggests in the playbill notes that the theme is the call to love. More than that, it is our shared humanity. The playwright signals as much in the opening line, So, there you are, Cradle of Mankind . The moment you hear it, the phrase simply seems to be a cue for a 30-something black couple, Drea (Maechi Aharanwa) and Rebecca (Jasmin Walker), to continue telling a story about their African safari adventure, which they are relating to their older white friends, Annie (Mary Bacon) and Peter (Todd Gearhart), over dinner. Even most New Yorkers have forgotten that Congress passed the Bill of Rights in New York. According to The Curious Case of Kiryas Joel: The Rise of a Village Theocracy and the Battle to Defend the Separation of Church and State (Chicago Review Press, $27.99), New York State is also where the establishment clause of the First Amendments freedom of religion protections was cynically abridged exactly two centuries later. Written by Louis Grumet with John Caher, the book recounts the political and constitutional maneuvering behind a state law passed in 1989 empowering the Satmar Hasidic enclave in Orange County to establish its own public school system. The insular, muscularly politically incorrect Satmars in the village of Kiryas Joel wanted, as the authors write, to have their cake and eat it, too that is, to segregate the village from secular society while wringing every public service it might be entitled to from government. That presented a predicament: How to pay for the education of students with special needs who were ostracized because of their religious reclusiveness when they were assigned to classes in the secular school district. By 1973, the Italianate painting studio that Thomas Cole had designed for himself in Catskill was in decrepit condition. His heirs sold it, and the new owners demolished it. The building was constructed in 1846 as part of a family enclave called Cedar Grove, a property that included the artists still-standing Federal style home, as well as an adjacent storage barn that housed his former studio. This year, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site celebrates the construction of Coles New Studio, a replica built upon the footprint of the original building, and according to the artists architectural plan. The spaces inaugural exhibition, Thomas Cole: The Artist as Architect, through Oct. 30, is a pleasant surprise. Those familiar with Cole, an English emigre who is considered to be a founder of the Hudson River School, Americas first indigenous art movement, know of his passion for capturing the identity of the newborn nation in his paintings. But his ambition to influence its architectural character, the subject of this exhibit, is less known. In this gem of a show, the curator and catalog author Annette Blaugrund provides an architectural perspective to Coles story that is particularly fitting for the New Studios debut. Image The painter Thomas Cole. Credit... Asher B. Durand, via Berkshire Museum Two drawings of Coles original studio one by Frederic Edwin Church (1848), another by Jasper Francis Cropsey (1850) illustrate both Coles architectural talents and the restoration teams meticulous attention to his specifications: an entrance portico, stately floor-to-ceiling paned windows, a low hip roof and decorative bargeboard with acorn-shaped finials. Mindful that the interior would function as a gallery, not a work space, restorers painted the walls an iron-ore red and added moldings to tame the buildings sweeping 18-foot ceilings. These touches lend an intimacy to the expansive, light-drenched space, making it more inviting to art viewers JEFFREY L. FALICK Royal Oak, Mich. To the Editor: Thanks to Frank Bruni for his column on the way Facebook warps our worldview. These days, given the near universal penetration of social media, Im encouraged every time I see an article about the enormous effects (largely harmful, Im afraid) that they are having on us. As a professor of literature, Im particularly concerned about the effect these media are having on the ability of students to process difficult, emotionally and intellectually complex texts. As Mr. Bruni notes, the preference engines of social media lead us away from opinions that are unfamiliar to us. I fear that the decline of complex reading ability means that even if students are able to access diverse opinion, theyre less able to understand it. I think a connection can be made to the astounding success of Donald Trump. As a lover of textual ingenuity, Im most struck, in Mr. Trumps speeches, by the mind-numbing syntactic simplicity of his utterances, by the lack of logical coordination and subordination, and by the repetition of basic subject-verb-object sentences with little in the way of coherent connection. Our social media, and now our politics, are leading away from the complex syntax that allows for full living and thinking. NICK WILLIAMS Poland, Ind. The writer is an associate professor of English at Indiana University. To the Editor: Re The Real Bias Built In at Facebook (Op-Ed, May 19): Zeynep Tufekcis article was well considered and shed a lot of light on the algorithm-driven decision-making process, but theres another aspect that I think should be included. If my opinions skew liberal or conservative, its likely that my list of friends also reflects that. Im more likely to have Facebook friends who tend to have similar views and opinions to mine. As I follow their posts more, that bias dominates my newsfeed. As I diversify my ideological portfolio, the biases should mathematically mellow a bit. DAVID W. JONES Liberty, Mo. To the Editor: If there is bias at Facebook, what would be wrong with that? Im a conservative, but I believe that as a public company Facebook is under no obligation to be objective. Lebanon, Va. LATE on Christmas night 2013, April Hileman was summoned for a drug test. She had broken the curfew imposed on her by a drug court and relapsed with the opioid pills shed been hooked on for six years. Earlier that day, Ms. Hileman had driven to a neighbors house here in far southwestern Virginia to buy a handful of Suboxone pills, or Box, as the drug is sometimes called. After she tested positive, Judge Michael Moore of Russell County ordered her to jail, and her 3-year-old daughter spent the rest of the holidays with relatives. Like methadone, Suboxone prevents dopesickness and reduces cravings, without getting you high. It is now the gold standard for opioid addicts in medication-assisted treatment, or M.A.T. A combination of the opioid buprenorphine and the anti-overdose drug naloxone, Suboxone is supposed to give addicts a chance to get their lives together before they taper off it. But Suboxone can get you high if you inject it or snort it or take it in combination with benzodiazepines, a sometimes fatal blend. And Ms. Hileman, then 24, did all those things. Among public health officials, the effectiveness of M.A.T. has become an article of faith; after all, treatment with buprenorphine and methadone has been found to cut opioid overdose deaths in half when compared to behavioral therapy alone, and its hard to argue with that. An addict treating his opioid disorder with Suboxone, many argue, is no different from a diabetic taking insulin. But increasingly, law enforcement officials and many former addicts and their families are lining up on the other side, arguing that Suboxone only continues the cycle of dependence and has created a black market that fuels crime. The world is witnessing the largest exodus of refugees in generations, spawned by armed conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. But witnessing is perhaps the wrong word. Many world leaders, including those who run most of the richest countries, are choosing to look the other way. They are more interested in barricading their nations from the fallout of conflict than in investing in peacekeeping and stability. This willful neglect was on display last week at the inaugural World Humanitarian Summit, convened to face the needs of the worlds most vulnerable people. Most heads of state from the richest nations including the United States didnt bother to show up, drawing a rebuke from the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. Its disappointing that some world leaders could not be here, especially from the G-7 countries, he said at a news conference on Tuesday. We have reached a level of human suffering without parallel since the founding of the United Nations 70 years ago. Even if some of the wars can be brought to an end, it will take decades and billions of dollars to meaningfully address their ramifications. The challenge of doing so will be compounded by the expanding needs of people displaced by climate change and natural disasters. Springfield, Mass. ITS hard to imagine worse luck than getting locked up for a crime you did not commit. And yet for people who have been convicted and later cleared almost 1,800 in the United States since the late 1980s the unlucky streak may continue. It turns out that where you spent your prison years determines how much help you get starting over, if you get any at all. Take Mark Schand, who spent 27 years in the Massachusetts prison system for the 1986 murder of Victoria Seymour, a 25-year-old killed by a stray bullet outside a nightclub in Springfield. For years, defense lawyers argued that Mr. Schand, who at the time was preparing to open a clothing store, was miles away from the crime, that witnesses had been coerced and that evidence had been manipulated. Mr. Schand eventually brought in investigators from the New Jersey innocence organization, Centurion Ministries, who persuaded a crucial witness to recant. In 2013, a judge granted a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, and he freed Mr. Schand. The local district attorney later dismissed the charges. By then, Mr. Schand had missed out on raising three sons, pursuing a career in retail and living with his wife, Mia. Yet he wasnt particularly bitter. I was just happy I was out, he said. And I figured Id just focus on that day forth. As they sliced and diced state programs this month to close a budget deficit, Republicans controlling the Oklahoma Legislature cruelly targeted some of the states most vulnerable citizens the working poor by cutting an average $147 a year from the income of 200,000 households. This may seem negligible to the states wealthy and middle class, but not to a poor family with a breadwinner struggling at the margins. The method chosen is deplorable cutting the state share of the earned-income tax credit for low-income workers, a federal program widely praised as an effective lift from poverty. Its one of the most valuable antipoverty programs on the books today, Carl Davis, research director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, told The Tulsa World. After years of enacting generous tax cuts for the wealthy and for the powerful oil industry, however, the Oklahoma Legislature was facing falling revenues and resorted to an assortment of questionable cuts to close a $1.3 billion deficit. None is more regressive than penalizing the working poor. It will net an estimated $29 million for the state coffers while cutting $312 for a family with three or more children and a parent earning $13,850 a year. The federal earned-income credit program, based on income and family size, is not affected; only the state share is being cut. In contrast, Oklahomas tax breaks for the oil and gas companies among the most generous in the nation gave the industry $470 million in tax relief last year, according to a Reuters report on how the states deficit problems have been aggravated by a steep drop in oil prices. IN his Pentagon office, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has a picture of a war memorial in a working-class neighborhood of South Boston, his hometown. Dedicated in 1981, it commemorates local troops killed in Vietnam: 25 young men, several of them friends since childhood, died in combat there. Inscribed at the bottom of the polished black granite surface are the words If you forget my death, then I died in vain. Few sentences better distill the spirit of Memorial Day. On Monday, President Obama is expected to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, where, since 1864, more than 400,000 fallen troops have been interred. He may also pay homage to the troops still fighting in the nations two longest wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan neither officially declared, neither actually over. For those who have lost loved ones in battle, a different and quieter sort of memorializing is likely to take place in homes, churches and neighborhood cemeteries. I miss you posts will be left on Facebook pages remembering lost sons and daughters. Veterans will gather with their former units, recalling buddies over beer and burgers. Parents, children and spouses will lay wildflowers, notes and bottles of liquor near simple grave sites in remote towns. These are the places where so many service members come from and where so many return to in death. Created after the Civil War, Memorial Day is an odd holiday, at once a solemn commemoration of those killed in war and a day of beach outings and backyard barbecues celebrating the start of summer. Rarely does it serve as a time to reflect on the policies that led to all those deaths. Obviously, the challenges faced by conservatives are not the same as those faced by blacks, reflecting centuries of discrimination that continues today. Ive often written about unconscious bias and about how many whites just dont get it. But liberals claim to be champions of inclusiveness so why, in the academic turf that we control, arent we ourselves more inclusive? If we are alert to bias in other domains, why dont we tackle our own liberal blind spot? Frankly, the torrent of scorn for conservative closed-mindedness confirmed my view that we on the left can be pretty closed-minded ourselves. As I see it, there are three good reasons for universities to be more welcoming not just to women or blacks, but also to conservatives. First, stereotyping and discrimination are wrong, whether against gays or Muslims, or against conservatives or evangelicals. We shouldnt define one as bigotry and the other as enlightenment. When a survey finds that more than half of academics in some fields would discriminate against a job seeker who they learned was an evangelical, that feels to me like bigotry. Second, theres abundant evidence of the benefits of diversity. Bringing in members of minorities is not an act of charity but a way of strengthening an organization. Yet universities suffer a sickly sameness: Four studies have found that at most only about one professor in 10 in the humanities or social sciences is a Republican. Ive often denounced conservative fearmongering about Muslims and refugees, and the liberal hostility toward evangelicals seems rooted in a similar insularity. Surveys show that Americans have negative views of Muslims when they dont know any; I suspect many liberals disdain evangelicals in part because they dont have any evangelical friends. Palo Alto, Calif. IT did not take long for the tech industry to become the new establishment, and to assign itself the rights and responsibilities that come with such prosperity. In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett unveiled the Giving Pledge, a take on the old industrialist Gospel of Wealth for a new era of the superrich. Since then, many of Silicon Valleys most moneyed founders and chief executives, including Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, Pierre Omidyar, Tim Cook, Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg, have signed on to give most of their wealth to a vague philanthropy. Peter Thiel, the serial tech-firm founder, entrepreneur, investor, libertarian and presumptive Donald J. Trump delegate, is not a signatory, but apparently feels no less passionately about using his wealth to make his world a better place. Last week Mr. Thiel revealed that he had funneled in the ballpark of $10 million to legal support for plaintiffs suing Gawker Media, most notably Terry Bollea, a.k.a. Hulk Hogan, who recently won a $140 million judgment against the company in an invasion of privacy case. Mr. Thiel made no secret of his grudge against Gawker, since the companys Valleywag blog revealed his homosexuality in a 2007 post that lampooned the straight male culture of Silicon Valley more than Mr. Thiel himself. (Mr. Thiel is, notably, an investor in the tech site Pando, a media property that regularly insults him in more direct terms.) YARNELL, Ariz. LAKEWOOD DRIVE snakes across the western quadrant of this tiny mountainside town, a serpent of cracked asphalt where bright-green foliage thrusts up amid blackened tree trunks. A trailer stands in a lot where a brick-and-mortar home once stood. Around a bend, a new house has emerged from a jumble of ashes and crumpled metal. Almost three years ago, a wildfire raged through this community in central Arizona, upending the lives of its 600 residents. Nineteen firefighters died battling the fire, but that is not the only burden for the people of Yarnell. It seemed to me the town has had to walk through all the stages of grief, said Kathy Montgomery, who lives just north of here and housed friends and pets displaced by the wildfire. First, there was the collective trauma of a quarter of Yarnell residents becoming homeless overnight. That was a shock that everyone felt to some degree, and there was a lot of disorientation. Everything looked different with familiar landmarks gone. The whole landscape had been transformed beyond recognition. This is the kind of dystopian reality facing the people of Fort McMurray, Alberta, nearly a month after a vast, quick-moving wildfire a multiheaded monster, in the words of the mayor, Melissa Blake devastated the city and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of panicked residents. The physical damage was immense, but its only now, as the first evacuees start returning on Wednesday, that the full magnitude of the disaster will begin to be felt: Lives as well as homes need to be rebuilt. Each Saturday, Farhad Manjoo and Mike Isaac, technology reporters at The New York Times, review the weeks news, offering analysis and maybe a joke or two about the most important developments in the tech industry. Mike: Ahoy, Farhad. I cant wait for the holiday weekend, when I plan to abscond from my life of doing absolutely nothing in the city to doing absolutely nothing in the country. Farhad: Wait, its a holiday? I couldnt tell I still have to chat with you, which isnt much of a holiday. Oh, snap! Mike: Indeed. Onto the news. So, Amazon stopped honoring partial refunds on most items that drop in price after you buy them, probably a reaction to the many start-ups that track that sort of thing and alert users to when they can get a refund from Amazon. Probably smart, although I am bummed that I now have to buy toilet paper full price, no matter what. On Aug. 18, 2014, a crowd gathered outside the downtown St. Louis office of Jay Nixon, the governor of Missouri. The governor, responding to protests in Ferguson over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, had just activated the National Guard, and the demonstrators outside his office were outraged at what they saw as heavy-handed tactics. When the police ordered the protesters to leave, nine refused. And so it came to pass that Hedy Epstein, wearing a black T-shirt with the words Stay Human printed in white letters, was handcuffed, taken to a nearby substation and charged with failure to disperse. She had turned 90 three days earlier. I really didnt think about being arrested or doing anything like that, Ms. Epstein told Newsweek after the confrontation in St. Louis. I was just going to be somebody in the crowd. I guess maybe I was impulsive. Someone said, Who is willing to be arrested if that happens? I said, Yeah, Im willing. Ms. Epstein, a Holocaust survivor who spoke widely about the persecution of the Jews in Germany, and who spent most of her adult life working for a broad range of social justice movements, died on Thursday at her home in St. Louis. She was 91. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is seeking to bar allies of Hillary Clinton from leading the powerful rules and platform committees of the Democratic National Convention in July, escalating his battle with party leaders. In a letter sent on Friday to party officials, lawyers for Mr. Sanders said that the appointments of Barney Frank, the former Massachusetts congressman, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut violated party rules. Mr. Frank is to co-lead the rules committee, and Mr. Malloy the platform committee. In the letter, Mr. Sanderss lawyer Brad Deutsch said that both men have been harsh, vocal critics of Senator Sanders, and equally active supporters of his challenger, Hillary Clinton. Mr. Frank has called Mr. Sanders outrageously McCarthyite for his suggesting that Mrs. Clinton would be influenced by her speaking fees from Wall Street; Mr. Malloy has led efforts among Clinton allies to attack Mr. Sanderss record on gun control. Under convention rules, Mr. Deutsch said in the letter, their open criticism of Mr. Sanders made them unfit to co-lead the committees. In 1977, a year after the military took power in Argentina, Mr. Molfino, then 15, went into exile with his mother, an activist with the Montoneros, an urban guerrilla group. Mr. Molfino became a messenger for the group, hiding microfilm in toys and cigarette packs, and shuttling between Europe and Central America. In 1980, the Montoneros set up a base in Lima, Peru. On June 12 that year, Mr. Molfino was returning to the house where his mother was staying, only to find armed officers surrounding it. He called her from a pay phone. It was the last time he spoke to her. After her kidnapping, Ms. Gianotti de Molfino was transferred to Bolivia and then Spain, where she was forced to take an overdose of pills and left to die in a hotel room. Two other members of her group were also abducted and were ordered to be permanently disappeared. The episode still haunts Mr. Molfino, now 54. I spent a month sketching out what I could have done to save her, if Id had weapons: Boom, a grenade here, boom, gunfire there, like Rambo, he said, crying. But it was impossible. In other South American countries, efforts to bring violators of human rights to justice have sputtered. But over the past decade, Argentina has carried out scores of trials in which at least 666 people have been convicted of crimes during Argentinas dirty war of the 1970s and 80s. Prosecutors on the Operation Condor case broke new ground in accountability, said Francesca Lessa, a researcher at the University of Oxfords Latin American Center who closely tracked the trial, referring to how they successfully pursued crimes beyond Argentinas borders. Although amnesty laws were passed in Argentina in the 1980s, prosecutors exploited legal gaps to push ahead with the investigation. MEXICO CITY Corruption is so woven into daily life in Mexico that it has been enshrined in a common saying: El que no transa, no avanza he who doesnt cheat doesnt get ahead. Payoffs and bribes are the price of doing business, an invisible line in the budget that usually goes unchecked. But a package of anticorruption measures being weighed by the national legislature could become a turning point in the countrys relationship with corruption. At the center is an ambitious initiative to impose public disclosure rules for all public servants, at all levels of government. Called 3 de 3 or 3 out of 3 the initiative would require government officials to reveal their assets and potential conflicts of interest, as well as prove that they are paying taxes. WASHINGTON The comparison was inflammatory, to say the least. Former Gov. William F. Weld of Massachusetts equated Donald J. Trumps immigration plan with Kristallnacht, the night of horror in 1938 when rampaging Nazis smashed Jewish homes and businesses in Germany and killed scores of Jews. But if it was a provocative analogy, it was not a lonely one. Mr. Trumps campaign has engendered impassioned debate about the nature of his appeal and warnings from critics on the left and the right about the potential rise of fascism in the United States. More strident opponents have likened Mr. Trump to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. To supporters, such comparisons are deeply unfair smear tactics used to tar conservatives and scare voters. For a bipartisan establishment whose foundation has been shaken by Mr. Trumps ascendance, these backers say, it is easier to delegitimize his support than to acknowledge widespread popular anger at the failure of both parties to confront the nations challenges. But the discussion comes as questions are surfacing around the globe about a revival of fascism, generally defined as a governmental system that asserts complete power and emphasizes aggressive nationalism and often racism. In places like Russia and Turkey, leaders like Vladimir V. Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan employ strongman tactics. In Austria, a nationalist candidate came within three-tenths of a percentage point of becoming the first far-right head of state elected in Europe since World War II. Weve boosted our exports significantly, but probably too rapidly, so that weve now got the wrong price pyramid, with a lot of wine sold very cheaply, said Rafael del Rey, the director of the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market, an institute that researches and promotes the countrys wine. In recent years, France and Italy have jostled for the top spot as the worlds biggest wine-producing nation, with Spain third, well ahead of countries like the United States, Chile and Australia. The bulk producers in Castile-La Mancha are understandably proud of the state-of-the-art irrigation, harvest mechanization and storage systems that they put in place, with help from European Union subsidies. Coupled with relatively low labor costs, their infrastructure has allowed them to lower the price of their wine to half that of Frances. But Mr. del Rey offers a telling comparison between Spain and Italy. In 2000, both countries exported their wine at the same average price, 1.41 euros per liter. By 2014, Italy was selling its wine for an average of 2.5 per liter, or $2.78 under the current exchange rate, while Spains sold for 1.17, or $1.30. In that period, Italian exports rose 15 percent in volume and Spains 154 percent. But Spains export revenue reached only 2.6 billion, about half the value of Italian exports. Spains bulk wine has displaced Italys on the European market, particularly in France. Spain now sells about 500 million liters to France, 90 percent of which are bulk exports, at an average price of four-tenths of a euro per liter. BAGHDAD American commandos are on the front lines in Syria in a new push toward the Islamic States de facto capital in Raqqa, but in Iraq it is an entirely different story: Iran, not the United States, has become the face of an operation to retake the jihadist stronghold of Falluja from the militant group. On the outskirts of Falluja, tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police officers and Shiite militiamen backed by Iran are preparing for an assault on the Sunni city, raising fears of a sectarian blood bath. Iran has placed advisers, including its top spymaster, Qassim Suleimani, on the ground to assist in the operation. The battle over Falluja has evolved into yet another example of how United States and Iranian interests seemingly converge and clash at the same time in Iraq. Both want to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. But the United States has long believed that Irans role, which relies on militias accused of sectarian abuses, can make matters worse by angering Sunnis and making them more sympathetic to the militants. While the battle against the Islamic State straddles the borders of Iraq and Syria, the United States has approached it as two separate fights. In Syria, where the government of Bashar al-Assad is an enemy, Americas ally is the Kurds. Several witnesses from the Wiregrass area testified Friday morning that indicted Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard used his position as speaker for matters related to economic development consulting with the Southeast Alabama Gas District. Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of using his mantle as speaker to obtain a monthly $12,000 consulting contract with the district. He also is accused of lobbying two members of the executive branch, Gov. Robert Bentley and Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield, for initiatives related to the organization. Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz, who sits on the gas district's board along with representatives from 13 other municipalities that own the organization, was called to the stand second on Friday, where he testified about Hubbards involvement with the gas district. Schmitz said Hubbard was hired as a consultant for the gas district to head economic development in the Wiregrass area, which was suffering from aviation maintenance company Pemcos 2012 bankruptcy. Pemco was the largest lease holder at the Dothan Regional Airport at the time, and employed from 300 to 1,200 people at its peak. Schmitz testified that Hubbard, helped work on negotiations to get Commercial Jet, a Miami-based aviation maintenance, repair, conversion and overhaul company, to relocate to Dothan and fill the needs left by Pemcos bankruptcy. The gas district received a letter from the Alabama Ethics Commission approving the contract, he said, but it explicitly stated Hubbard was not to use the mantle of his office while working as an independent consultant. But Hubbard used his position as speaker of the house to arrange meetings with Gov. Bentley, Schmitz said, which in turn helped secure state funding and other assistance for the initiative. "He (Hubbard) has a lot of influence, and we did get meetings," Schmitz said. "My opinion is he did what he said he was going to do -- get a meeting with the governor." As a result, Commercial Jet eventually relocated to Dothan. Theyre here and theyre booming, Schmitz said. Lead defense attorney Bill Baxley in his cross examination of Schmitz called getting Commercial Jet to Dothan a blue-ribbon ordeal. It seems to me everyone involved in this should be patted on the back and thanked, said Baxley. Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell recalled working with Hubbard on several economic development initiatives involving the Southeast Alabama Gas District, and attending multiple related outings with him. Boswell testified that Hubbard's state office and networking ability were key reasons why members of the gas district board unanimously voted to hire Hubbard. Asked if Hubbard's position in the projects -- as either speaker of the house or as a private consultant -- was clearly defined, Boswell answered "no." On cross examination, though, Boswell said Hubbard did not use his position to get the contract. Baxley had Boswell read aloud a letter from the Ethics Commission essentially giving approval to Hubbard's consulting contract with the gas district, as long as nothing came before the Legislature that would "uniquely affect" the organization. "We do not see any problems with the arrangement ... as we discussed at our meeting yesterday, as it is currently being done in several circumstances around the state by various members of the Legislature," the document read, later adding that the fact that it is a consulting contract rather than an employment contract "makes it cleaner." Baxley asked Boswell if he was aware of Hubbard ever using his position as speaker to get the job. Boswell responded, "no." Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Parker testified that he didn't know the specifics of Hubbard's contract with the gas district, but that he felt Hubbard's assistance with Wiregrass economic development stemmed from his position as speaker. Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, testified about his involvement in certain meetings and efforts in which Hubbard participated to secure the Commercial Jet deal. Repeatedly asked what capacity he believed Hubbard was acting in, Lee answered, "as speaker of the house." Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, was questioned Thursday about Hubbards work with the utility, a supplier of natural gas in the Wiregrass area. He said Hubbard had never spoken to him about his consulting contract with it, 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 the gas district 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, Bentley, Canfield and Rep. Paul Lee regarding Commercial Jet. The subject of the meeting, he said, was that a plan to get Commercial Jet 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. APCI: Hubbard hired for contacts as speaker American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. President and CEO Tim Hamrick echoed claims made earlier in the day by Boswell when he testified that Hubbard was hired as a consultant for the organization due to his contacts as speaker of the house. Hubbard is accused of attempting to put language into the 2014 General Fund budget that would have given an edge to the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. -- a client of Hubbards by making it the only agency with the ability to bid on a contract related to Medicaid, and voting for that budget. Hamrick said the pharmacy cooperative gave Hubbard a $5,000-per-month contract to help the organization grow its presence in other states. The contract strictly prohibited Hubbard from lobbying for the APCI within the state, though in an email shown Friday, Hamrick thanked Hubbard for championing the temporary language in the budget bill. Baxley argued the exact same email was also sent to a handful of other legislators. Consultant says Hubbard never directed him to use Craftmaster Just after 9 a.m. Friday, the co-owner of a Florida political advertising business hired to produce ALGOP direct mail advertising testified that Hubbard never instructed him to use his Auburn printing company. Brett Buerck, who co-owned Majority Strategies during the time the business was subcontracting printing work for projects related to the Alabama Republican Party's 2010 election efforts with Auburn-based Craftmaster Printers, said he was under the impression that the business in which Hubbard held partial interest was Majority Strategies only option. But asked if Hubbard specifically directed him to use Craftmaster, Buerck told defense attorney Lance Bell, no. Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of using his then position as party chairman to direct money to his business. Buercks business partner Randy Kammerdiener testified Thursday that the company felt it had to use Craftmaster to fulfill the printing orders or that it would not be able to do business with the Alabama Republican Party, though Kammerdiener revealed in cross examination from the defense that Hubbard never specifically told him he had to use Craftmaster. Buerck said Kemmerdiener told him their business had to use Craftmaster. I believed they were our only option, said Buerck. Trial resumes Tuesday Trial will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m. Among those expected to take the stand are Jimmy Rane, Will Brooke, Billy Canary, Farrell Patrick, Dax Swatek and Minda Riley Campbell. 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. Most parents with even a shred of common sense know that a 4-year-old is too young to be left home alone for any amount of time, even while Dad runs a short errand. But what about 10 or 12: Are those appropriate ages to leave a child home alone? California, like most states, does not have a law that says, specifically, how old a child needs to be to stay home alone. That decision is left up to parents, and its an issue every family faces at some point. Leaving a child home alone has some benefits, said Sabrina Schuck, Ph.D., executive director of the Child Development School at UC Irvine. Being able to stay home alone and care for yourself is a healthy part of a childs development and builds confidence in kids, she said. The American Academy of Pediatrics lists 11 or 12 as an appropriate age to leave children at home but only during the day and for no more than about three hours. The National SAFE KIDS Campaign recommends that no child under 12 be left home alone. It varies greatly by a year or two depending on race, ethnicity, gender and years of education, and there are a lot of different perspectives that are cultural norms, Schuck said. Experts say a key factor to consider is the childs maturity level. For a child who is immature or impulsive, or has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety or another developmental issue, 12 may be too young. If you feel your child is developmentally ready and meets all these criteria and the environment is safe, leaving them for a short time while you are at the grocery store a half-mile away is probably the best way to start, Schuck said. Continue to assess your childs comfort with being left alone. Find a balance between safe risks and letting your child find some independence. The California Department of Education offers a checklist of factors for parents to consider when assessing if their child is ready to be left home alone: Is your child scared to be home alone? Is she responsible? How good is the child at solving problems? Would he spend his time responsibly? Will the child be home with an older sibling, and if so do they get along? Would the older sibling resent watching the younger child? Is your neighborhood safe? Will a neighbor or another adult living nearby be available for an emergency? Are guns locked away safely so the child cant access them? Set expectations Establishing clear rules can help settle uncertainty, according to the California Department of Education and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Here are some guidelines to consider: Clarify which, if any, friends may come over. Make it clear which snacks the child is allowed to eat. Reinforce the idea that he should never open the door to a stranger. Teach her what to do if there is a fire, power outage, medical crisis or other emergency. Set guidelines for the use of things like the stove, computer, television, tools and swimming pool. Tell him to keep doors locked and make sure he knows how to avoid getting locked outside accidentally. Schuck noted that there are unique challenges when teens are left home alone: Poor health choices when picking what to eat, who they let in when alone, access to tobacco and alcohol. Finally, leave a fully charged cellphone with the child so you can call or text her to check in. SACRAMENTO The latest round of gun-control bills speeding through the Legislature should offer a reality check to those of us who own firearms: Democratic leaders will never be satisfied closing the latest round of loopholes. Every year they push new rounds of reasonable and common sense gun laws, few of which seem reasonable given they target law-abiding owners. To many legislators, the Second Amendment is the real loophole. Most Register Opinion readers already know this, of course, but they might not understand some other dismal realities: Law enforcement is generally not on our side on this. For instance, Assemblyman Jim Cooper, the Elk Grove Democrat the Sacramento Bee refers to as law enforcements man at the Capitol, is the author of several of the latest Assembly bills. Some sheriffs have opposed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsoms anti-gun initiative likely headed to the November ballot, but others are actively championing new restrictions. Furthermore, California Republicans have been complicit in the current mess. Sure, the vast majority of them oppose new gun restrictions and give thunderous pro-Second Amendment speeches in the state Capitol. Yet Republicans deserve a large portion of blame for creating what Ive long referred to as the states infrastructure for confiscation given their support for the Armed Prohibited Persons System. As a way to prove they are eager to take guns from the hands of criminals, legislators passed APPS in 2007. Were the only state with a database that cross-references names of gun owners with names of those who because of criminal convictions, mental illness or the issuance of a restraining order are no longer allowed to own them. The state Department of Justice then sends agents to the door to confiscate those weapons. The Legislature authorized an audit of the program under a 2014 law and gave it $24 million in additional funding. Last year a group of GOP legislators sent a terse letter to Attorney General Kamala Harris complaining she hadnt hired enough new agents and her department didnt confiscate nearly enough supposedly illegal weapons. It was a good way to chide an attorney general who is running for U.S. Senate, but consider it in the context of the latest legislative flurry. One Senate bill would prohibit the possession of detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. If it passes, the owners would need to sell them to a licensed dealer, transfer them out of state or turn them in to law enforcement to be disposed of, according to the Bee. APPS looks like a model for state officials to potentially grab newly created contraband. Furthermore, the state auditor and gun-rights groups estimate the APPS list is anywhere from 37 percent to 60 percent inaccurate, which means Justice Department agents are going door-to-door to take guns from many people still legally allowed to own them. Has the GOP outsmarted itself here? These fundamental issues dont muster discussion in our one-party state. The current debate centers on intra-Democratic rivalries. Newsom, who is running for governor in 2018, is building his campaign around his statewide initiative proposal. (Supporters have submitted their signatures.) Senate Majority Leader Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, isnt a Newsom supporter and already has moved his similar package through the full Senate. Some of these basically are harassment bills. One would limit your ability to lend out guns to family members. Another would require background checks for ammo purchases. (Note to readers: Stock up on ammo now.) Others are silly. If you craft a homemade gun, you would be required to give it a serial number and have a background check. Im guessing many people who make such guns do so to evade detection. Another would create a Firearms Violence Research Center at the University of California destined to be yet another government-funded propaganda center. As columnist Dan Walters noted, the Democrats rammed their 11 bills through to pressure Newsom to drop his initiative, which they fear will bring out pro-gun voters in the general election. The number of guns owned by Californians has soared over the past two decades, and the population has grown dramatically yet firearms-related deaths have fallen over the years. Is gun violence a problem of gun supply by legal owners or the behavior of criminals? Whatever happens to these bills this year, the Legislature will ignore the obvious answer and be back again next year with more. For gun owners, theres little left to rely on other than the courts. Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. He is based in Sacramento. He was a Register editorial writer from 1998-2009. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org The California Highway Patrols annual Memorial Day weekend maximum enforcement period began at 6:01 p,m. Friday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Monday. That means officers will be watching to make sure motorists buckle up and arent driving distracted or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. With any holiday, we see an increase in the number of motorists on the highway people like to get out and travel and we just want to enforce the law and make sure that people are getting where they need to go safely, CHP officer Mike Martis said. Theyre going to be focusing their efforts everywhere, he said. Its just going to be a blanket type of enforcement. Over Memorial Day weekend last year, 31 people died in collisions in California and two-thirds of those killed in the California Highway Patrols jurisdiction were not wearing seat belts, according to the agency. In addition, more than 1,200 people were arrested for driving under the influence. The agency has conducted maximum enforcement periods for more than 60 years, Martis said. And in the early 2000s, the CHP joined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in its annual nationwide Click It or Ticket campaign. This year the campaign began May 23 and runs through June 5. In 2015, nearly half of people in fatal collisions across the country were not wearing seat belts, according to the NHTSA. Its been proven time and time again that seat belts save lives, Martis said. If you get into a serious accident, a seat belt gives you a chance. Contact the writer: 714-796-7762 or jkwong@ocregister.com or on Twitter: @JessicaGKwong Several years ago, the Pew Center on the States released an important report that caught the attention of criminal justice officials, policymakers and the public. The report found more than one in 100 American adults was confined to an American jail or prison. The report also highlighted that inmates were being released after longer sentences with few skills or connections in their local communities in other words, they were being released with a high chance they would be re-arrested. The public and public officials sought a more balanced approach. In an attempt to reduce costly recidivism, this approach involved providing treatment and training for people who were being incarcerated or released to community supervision as part of probation or parole. These efforts became known as reentry services. The importance of reentry services for offenders has gained public prominence. The Department of Justice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch recently underscored this by announcing National Reentry Week April 24-30. During this week, the Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. attorneys offices and others will coordinate and promote various reentry events, such as job fairs, mentorship programs and other community activities like the ones we organize frequently from this center. The Santa Ana BI Day Reporting Center, funded by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and operated by BI Incorporated, is an example of how offender reentry programs can offer great benefit to local communities. The Santa Ana DRC delivers intensive supervision, treatment and training so offenders develop the skills and motivation to live a crime-free life. The CDCR diverts offenders to the program who pose lower risk to community safety but higher risk of failing probation or parole. Participants attend classes that focus on reducing criminal issues and technical violations. These issues include substance abuse, anger management, life skills, cognitive skills and employment and educational training. Importantly, when former offenders succeed in these programs, they are less likely to commit new crimes and cycle back to jail or prison. That helps reduce incarceration costs and premature need for expanded prisons or jails. Make no mistake: Offenders who go to reentry programs like ours do hard work. They commit to regimented schedules, rules and classes in which they must contribute to successfully complete it. But when they do, we take time to celebrate along with them on the path to reintegration. This month, we hosted a transition celebration a graduation for more than 20 former offenders who successfully completed the Santa Ana DRC. Approximately 100 people turned out to mark this milestone and encourage these individuals to keep up the good work. Our guest speaker, Dr. James Binall, assistant professor of law, criminology, and criminal justice at Cal State Long Beach, shared his own personal story. We had in attendance members of the Orange County Public Defenders office, Department of Child Support Services, Fullerton College Extended Opportunity Program & Services, EDD-Workforce Services, Phoenix House, Orange County Reentry Partnership (OCREP), UC Irvine Student, STAND Development Organization, Starting Human Organization and, most importantly, family members of these graduating participants on hand. Our theme for the night: Keep Moving Forward. These are special nights that remind us that with hard work, offenders given a second chance and the right treatment and supervision can break old habits. California corrections officials deserve credit for supporting this progressive community-based program that has the potential to reduce repeat criminal behavior and save taxpayers significantly. Yadira De Santiago is the program manager for the Santa Ana BI Day Reporting Center. Senator Marco Rubio on Thursday opened the door a crack to staying in the U.S. Senate next year amid a concerted effort by his Republican colleagues to push him to run for re-election. The Florida Republicans decision could be crucial to keeping the Senate in Republican hands, given that none of the many Republicans running for his seat have Rubios name recognition or fundraising prowess in the pivotal battleground state. After Rubio was approached by other senators, including Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, asking him to reconsider, he softened his oft-repeated declaration that he will be a private citizen come January. Now, Rubio who said he would not stand for Senate re-election when he announced his failed presidential bid said it is unlikely he will change his mind before the Florida filing deadline on June 24. The states primary will be held Aug. 30. Late Thursday, Rubio received more encouragement from Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who mocked Rubio as Little Marco during their primary race. 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! Trump tweeted. An Opening This is just something that happened today or what have you. For me, I need time to even talk to anybody about it, but my sense of it is nothing has changed in my thinking, Rubio told reporters at the Capitol. Cornyn said he was encouraged at Rubio softening his stance. To me that sounds like an opening, he said. That causes me to be hopeful. Rubio would clearly be the partys strongest candidate, Cornyn said. Its hard to get name ID in a state as large as Florida, Cornyn noted. Its kind of like Texas, and youre doubly hamstrung by the fact that the primary is late in August and theres only so much you can do in a short period of time to turn that around. So he certainly would be the favored candidate, it seems to me. Cornyn predicted other efforts would be made to persuade Rubio. I wouldnt be surprised to hear that Senator Rubio is being contacted by all sorts of people, Cornyn said of the nascent effort to draft him to run. Im not aware of any specific plans. Im just saying that theres a lot at stake. Close to Universal Cornyn said nearly all of the Senate Republicans agree and want Rubio to run. I think its as close to universal as you can get around here, he said. Getting in this late presents some complications for Rubio, who would have to gear up his campaign apparatus and potentially face an ugly primary. Part of the reason why its unlikely hell reconsider his decision, he told reporters, is that Florida Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a close friend, is seeking the seat. Rubio recently attended a fundraiser for Lopez-Cantera. He declined to answer what he would do if Lopez-Cantera urged him to run, smiling and saying he doesnt answer hypotheticals. Hes focused on his campaign and I think hes doing well, you know, hes a good friend and I think hed be a good senator, Rubio said. Crowded Field Two House Republicans are also running for the nomination David Jolly and Ron DeSantis. Rubio did say voters have yet to focus on the race, and he slammed the Democrats running, Representatives Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson. Its not like the Democrats have the greatest candidate, Rubio said. One guy keeps exaggerating his biography and the other guy is a certified lunatic, so. Democrats, who need to win five seats to control the Senate outright, view Florida, a state President Barack Obama won twice, as a prime pickup opportunity. With Republican Sen. Bob Huff termed out, three candidates are vying to take his spot in the state Legislature. The race for Senate District 29 has two financial front-runners for the district that straddles three counties Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange and includes parts of Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Placentia, Stanton and Yorba Linda. Former Irvine mayor Sukhee Kang, a Democrat who moved into the district last year, and Republican Ling Ling Chang, elected to the Assembly in 2014, each had more than $300,000 in cash on hand as of Thursdays campaign finance filings. A second Democrat candidate, Josh Newman, had $21,835 on hand. Chang said she was encouraged to make the Senate run by Republican leaders. If Republicans lose this seat, Democrats could pass a tax increase without a single Republican vote, Chang said of the 26-14 party split in the Senate, which leaves Democrats a seat shy of a super majority. Chang, who emigrated from Taiwan with her family when she was 3, said she wants to build a better future for the state by strengthening the local economy and protecting small businesses. Chang said she introduced legislation as a assemblywoman to make the state more friendly to small businesses. Its the small business owners that have expressed concern about the regulations that are being imposed, Chang said, citing the states $15 minimum wage that will take effect in 2022 and Obamacare as concerns. Other priorities include education, public safety and water storage. Kang, a businessman and adjunct professor at Chapman University, said he has three top issues he would address as senator: economic development, education and transportation infrastructure. I believe those are the top policy areas that contribute to Californias economy and the quality of life, he said. A first generation immigrant who served as the first Korean-American mayor of a major United States city, Kang said he will also be vigilant in watching out for small businesses. As a small business owner, I always look at the economy as the top priority in our district and state, Kang said. You have to work across the aisle. Newman, a newcomer from Fullerton who runs an organization that helps veterans find jobs, said he is most concerned with unemployment among vets, education and infrastructure. It is obvious that the cost of education has become very burdensome, Newman said. We as a state have not maintained the bargain with our residents to continue giving Californians the best education at an affordable cost. Newman said his organization, ArmedForce2Workforce, helps about 80 veterans a year with career planning and other personalized services. Young vets coming home are having an unreasonable amount of trouble finding civilian employment, Newman said. Changs endorsements include Huff, U.S. Representative Ed Royce, Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, Yorba Linda Mayor Tom Lindsey and the California Small Business Association. Kangs endorsements include the California Teachers Association, the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, the California Democratic Party in addition to dozens of endorsements from state and local officials and community leaders throughout Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Newmans endorsements include Bike the Vote L.A., Evolve California and community leaders such as Chair of the California Democratic Party Veterans Caucus Shawn Terris and Chair of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County Dan Jacobson. Contact the writer: 714-796-7868 or desalazar@ocregister.com Re: CSUF commencement speaker heckled as she uses Spanish, criticizes Trump [News, May 26]: Afterward, the commencement speaker, Maria Elena Salinas, said, Its really sad. And its a testament to what has happened to our country. Our country is really divided. Is she so lacking in common sense that she cannot see that bringing her politics into the speech to a group of people there to applaud the accomplishments of the graduating students and denigrating one of the candidates for president is not in and of itself dividing? Then, to deliver part of her rant in Spanish is the epitome of dividing. James H. McGee Orange No apologies After reading Reflecting on Hiroshima [Front page, May 27], I had many mixed feelings. First, I thought of the horrific suffering of the innocent Japanese civilians. But then I thought of all the American lives that were spared by not invading the Japanese mainland, and the many Japanese civilians who would have died as a result of the planned bombing campaign prior to the ground attack. Let us not forget the many horrific war crimes that were committed by the Japanese military, and, even after Hiroshima, Emperor Hirohito would not surrender. Nagasaki would not have been necessary had he done so. Consider what would have happened if Hirohito, Hitler, Stalin, Hamas, ISIS or al-Qaida had such a bomb. Would they drop it on a Hiroshima- or Nagasaki-size city, or would they hit Los Angeles or New York? We could have dropped it on Tokyo, but we only did what was necessary at the time. No apologies. Ronald A. Fante Garden Grove Tip for service, not price Re: Past the tipping point [News, May 26]: I have no reluctance to tipping for outstanding service, but what is the rationale for basing the tip amount on the price of the meal? The service for a $16 meal is probably the exact same as for an $8 meal, yet on a percentage basis the tip should be twice as much. This has always put me in the anti-tipping mood and has considerable effect on the amount I tip. Alan Dougherty Mission Viejo Rich hypocrites Author Stephen King has decided to lead a group of writers in protest of Donald Trumps candidacy, because he appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society. Isnt suspense, violence and horror what King does for a living? Its made him one rich hypocrite. At recent Trump rallies weve seen liberal goons show up with a Molotov Cocktail, throw horse feces at Trump supporters, (I witnessed this at Costa Mesa rally), destroy public property including police cars, burn signs and pepper spray young children. Sickening really. But be sure of this: Liberal pundits and their willing victims will continue undaunted in their accusations that Trump is the problem. Just like King moralizing about murder plots and the macabre, while salting away millions, fiction or not, liberals have convinced the weak-minded that they are the victims and Trump the perpetrator. This element of the Left cannot satiate their hatred for their imagined oppressors nor expiate their victim narrative until they lay claim to that which is not their own, be it your money, or your freedom of speech. Jim Golding Costa Mesa Good to be a professor Re: Cal State agrees to faculty pay boost of over 10.5% [News, May 25]: The California Faculty Association asked for a 5 percent pay raise yet the California State University Board of Trustees opted to give them a 10.5 percent raise. For the the full professor averaging $96,6000 a year and at the conclusion of this agreement time period, that is a $13,000 a year raise. Who does the board of trustees actually represent? I know the trustees will just shaft the students and their parents with increased tuition fees and then allow the professors screw them further by raising the prices on self-authored textbooks. What a wonderful world. Dan Miller Lakewood Pot, meet kettle So Secretary Clinton used her private email for official, nonclassified government business just as the four secretaries of state did before her. And whos calling them out? Sounds as though what we need is an official, up-to-date, printed, nonparty-slanted rule book for all government offices, both appointed and elected clearly stating their responsibilities and parameters. Bonnie Compton Hanson Santa Ana No on Measure E Everyone in California complains about high taxes well here is your chance to do something about it. Vote No on Irvines Measure E. This is nothing more than a tax on businesses and homeowners. For me, that tax would probably be around $350 a year. I agree that the schools in Irvine are amazing and should be kept that way. I also understand that they get a budget of many millions of dollars from the state to maintain their schools. Why do they need more money? They seem to be able to build new pools, new stadiums and the like whenever they feel like it. Maybe what they need to do is learn to budget existing funds better and put the money where it is truly needed rather than trying to put yet another tax on the overtaxed citizens of Irvine. There is a simple solution, however: Those of you that feel strongly enough about this issue can write a check to the Irvine Unified School District and specify that the money be used for upgrading facilities. You also would not have to wait for this tax to become law you could write your check today. Please, no more taxes especially for things I am already taxed for. Dan Clifford Irvine Obama haters Re: Commencement condemnation [Letters, May 25]: The letters to the editor have exposed a new defense for Obama. Its called Obama haters. By using that term, they can discredit any criticism of Obamas failures in domestic policy or foreign affairs. If we are haters, then we obviously cannot be objective in out criticism. It is an extension of their practice of calling us racist, when they have no better defense. The recent defense of Obamas commencement speech totally missed the point. A commencement speech is about the future, it should be uplifting, not an opportunity to attack your political foes. It doesnt matter if the presidents criticisms were correct. The venue was not appropriate. James Haynes Irvine IRVINE Conservative students at UC Irvine, battling what they see as a liberal PC culture on campus, have invited a provocative speaker next week sparking a call to create a safe space for students. The UCI Republican Club, along with the UCI Young Americans for Liberty, on Thursday will host commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, tech editor for the conservative news site Breitbart. Yiannopoulos has a knack for stirring controversy. He has written that he chose to be gay to irritate his parents. He calls feminism a cancer. He labels white, straight men the most maligned and demonized in society. And his words describing these and other opinions are considered by many not so politically correct. In all, the perfect speaker for students like Ariana Rowlands. We feel that political correctness here at UCI really dominates the minds of many of the students and infringes upon the students ability to form well-informed opinions, said Rowlands, 19, president of the UCI Republican Club. They only hear one side of the story. And its usually the side of the left. Conservatives on campuses, when we open our mouths, a lot of the times we face censorship, Rowlands said. If you say the gender pay gap isnt real, they will argue with you and call you anti-feminist. If you support cops, you are a racist. Theyll misconstrue what you say and make it worse. Posters for the event, Social Justice is Cancer, prompted Douglas Haynes, UCIs vice provost for academic equity, diversity and inclusion, to issue a campuswide communication earlier this month that says, Bigotry has no place at UCI. He encouraged students to attend safe-zone training. Safe zones on campuses are a relatively new concept, meant to encourage inclusivity, discourage discrimination and protect students from uncomfortable or dissenting views. Some, however, call the zones another way to coddle todays college students by stifling free speech and restricting a free exchange of ideas. At UCI, the Cross-Cultural Center and the LGBT Resource Center plan to host a counter event the same night that Yiannopoulos speaks. People have the opportunity to share poetry, spoken word, art, feelings, ideas, and other expressions related to recent events on campus around unpleasant, hateful, unnecessary attacks on our various marginalized communities, reads a post on the UCI LGBT center Facebook page. Some Orange County Republican leaders, including Party Chairman Fred Whitaker, are supporting their younger counterparts and encouraging UCI police to offer security for the event. Student leaders plan to meet with administrators and UCI police next week to go over logistics. The extreme form of political correctness on college campuses isnt just silly. Its a real threat to American principles, Whitaker said. Free speech is how we avoid totalitarianism. It is not uncommon for Yiannopoulos campus events to draw protesters. Contact the writer: 714-796-7829 or rkopetman@ocregister.com Rooms at the Westhampton, N.Y. library used by children and seniors touched off high microwave readings on an Acoustimeter. This reporter yesterday toured the two floors of the library and found peak readings of six volts per meter in the first floor room used once a month by the library board, weekly by a bridge group, and which is used for many other purposes. A reading of six volts, highest possible on the meter, was found in the rom. It is what would be found near a cell tower, says the user manual of EMFields Solutions. Those with electro-magnetic sensitivity experience adverse health effects if volts per meter exceed .30, says EMF Fields. Also high in the board meeting room were average microwatts per square meter which were in the 2,500 to 5,000 range. Bioinitiative in 2007 set 1,000 as the maximum allowable in a public area but in 2012 lowered this to 5 meaning it thought just about any constant pulsed microwave radiation background in a public place was unacceptable. Several services are available that would measure the radiation in the library including healthydwellings. Tom Moore, president of the Weshampton Free Library, who is the husband of Mayor Maria Moore, said in a statement earlier this year that the library is in full compliance with radiation standards set by the Federal Communications Commission. No Place in Library had Green Readings High voltage and microwatts per square meter readings were found in the teenage room on the first floor opposite the board meeting room and in the childrens area on the second floor. Children, because of thinner skulls and smaller bodies, are especially at risk from radiation, said a panel May 3 in Baltimore that included EMF health advocate Devra Davis. The most complete overview of radiation threats is in a 54-part essay by Camilla Rees of Electromagnetichealth.org. No place in the library resulted in a green reading on the voltage meter which is the point where most people with ES do not experience significant adverse health effects. The readings were in the red zone on the Acoustimeters voltage/meter scale. Readings below .30 receive a yellow rating and those below .05 receive a green reading. The RF meter model AM-10 measures frequency response from 200 Megahertz to 8 Gigahertz. Library Director Waskiewicz Absent We went to the library shortly after 4 p.m. yesterday (Friday) and was told that library directory Danielle Waskiewicz had gone home. The Acoustimeter readings were shown to several people in the board meeting room and we expressed astonishment at the 6-volts that were recorded, saying this represented a hazardous situation especially for library employees who are subjected to the radiation throughout the day. The people in the room listened to us and looked at the Acoustimeter but did not have an immediate reaction. We handed out our business cards and told them we have 300+ stories on microwave radiation on the ODwyer website. We showed the Acoustimeter readings to a library staffer but she said that the subject was not something she could get involved in. We said her health was something that she should be involved in. We "Bothered" Patrons A library employee approached us after a few minutes and said we were bothering patrons of the library and asked us to stop doing whatever we were doing. The library has no materials whatever on the dangers of pulsed microwave radiation. The Library of Paris, biggest in France, removed all Wi-Fi from its buildings in 2008. This was sought by the library staff since it was enduring the radiation throughout the day. Haifa, the third largest city in Israel, shut down Wi-Fi in all its schools last month after a half-hour TV program showed the dangers of radiation from numerous sources including cellphones; cell towers; computers that do not have a wired Ethenet connection, mouse and keyboard; high-powered industrial-level routers in classrooms, and radiation from wireless utility meters. Request Made for EEEA Deal While in Westhampton Beach we also went to the office of Mayor Maria Moore and delivered a copy of our Freedom of Information request to see the agreement with the East End Eruv Assn. that the WHB trustees may sign at their meeting June 2. We asked to see Mayor Moore but Maureen Jones, her assistant, said Moore was in a meeting. We have asked Moore for a copy of the agreement which WHB had indicated it will adopted at the June 2 meeting. Lawyers who have read the EEEA deal with Southampton have said that such an agreement would put WHB in a very bad bargaining position should there be a disagreement of some type in the future. SH agreed that the lechi markers attached to utility poles are not signs and that the erection of the eruv is not an unconstitutional establishment of religion under the First Amendment. Opponents of eruvim, which include about 95% of WHB residents according to previous Mayor Conrad Teller, say both statements are false. Lechis cannot only be seen by someone who looks closely at utility poles, but the eruv of the Hampton Synagogue in WHB is depicted in color and detail on the Synagogues website as are eruvim throughout the U.S. An eruv, if officially adopted in WHB, will be publicized far and wide, say opponents and will therefore be highly visible. The key element of an eruv is that the local government must approve of it. That is why the EEEA has gone to such lengths to wring this out of SH, Quogue and now WHB. Residents say its common sense that placing religious symbols permanently on utility poles is a violation of the First Amendment and cite legal opinions by law professors Alexandra Susman of UCLA Law School and Marci Hamilton of Yeshiva University that support that view. Injunction Could be Sought Opponents of the WHB eruv are exploring obtaining an injunction to prevent the June 2 meeting from passing the deal with EEEA. Lawyers have advised that subject matter must be serious for an injunction to be obtained but the opponents of the eruv say that the breach of the Constitution that would take place is certainly serious. They could argue that the Moore administration has withheld details of the agreement from the public as well as the press and never had a town hall on the subject despite arguments about it that have raged since 2008. The local Federal Court would be asked to order delay of any vote on the agreement until after the WHB election June 17 and after a town hall on the matter. Lawyers say those asking for an injunction may have to post a bond. Supreme Court Against "New" Symbols Proponents of seeking an injunction say that legal moves are the only thing that WHB officials will respond to. Criticisms and requests by citizens and the press are ignored, they point out. The lawyers challenge threats by the EEEA to dump "millions" of fines and court costs on WHB, saying those threats are "pure fiction." Attempts to collect anything from WHB for defending the Constitutional separation of church and state could result in the Supreme Court taking up the issue, they said. The Court's decisions on religious symbols in public places are that long-standing symbols such as the Ten Commandments on a public building are permissable but not permissible would be currently placing such symbols on a buildling. This would make the proposed eruv in WHB impermissable since it is something new, say eruv opponents. No other religion in WHB has anything permanent on village property, they note. Markings for Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, etc., are all temporary, they say. Rise in Autism Found Retired Canadian Army Captain Jerry Flynn says there has been an explosion in autism in children in Canada that appears to mirror the explosion in wireless technology. He wrote May 22 to Prime Minister Justine Trudeau and members of the Canadian Parliament that the rate of autism in children in the U.S. was one in 25,000 before 1970. In 1970, he said, it had climbed to one in 2,500; in 2000, one in 150, in 2004, one in 125, in 2008, one in 88, and in 2013, one in 50 and one in 27 in populated cities. Quoted are statistics compiled by the Australian ADHD Foundation. Asks Flynn: Why does no one connect todays tragic explosion in Autism in children with the comparable explosion in wireless technology? Each and every wireless device emits hazardous low-level, pulsed, non-thermal radio/microwave frequency radiation. He includes cellphones, wireless utility meters, wireless computers, cordless phones, GPS satellites and cellphone towers. They never shut off, he said. Tragically, he said, for all Canadians, the Government of Canada refuses any dialogue whatsoever on pulsed non-thermal wireless radiation, which scientists have long linked to Autism and a host of other neurological diseases, as well as diseases of the central nervous system and immune system. People and politicians need to realize that the non-thermal radiation, while invisible, is cumulative, said Flynn, who notes that Google has plans to launch 200,000 Wi-Fi balloons at 62,500 feet under a program called Project Loon. Space X plans 4,000 satellites 750 miles high. OneWeb says it will hoist 648 satellites, drones and lasers. Outernet plans low orbit microsatellites. Global Union Against Radiation Deployment from Space (GUARDS) has a website with descriptions of health and environmental hazards of high-altitude radiation for commercial purposes. Virtually the entire global population will be irradiated non-stop by 2020 whether they like it or not, says Flynn, who spent 22 years in its Electronic Warfare unit. Great Plains Communications, an independently owned company based in Blair, Nebraska, has acquired Pinpoint Network Services and the Pinpoint Broadband business divisions of Pinpoint Holdings regional fiber company. The acquisition, completed earlier this year, adds 1,200 fiber miles to Great Plains 8,000-mile fiber optic network, which encompasses Nebraska and extends into Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota and Illinois, said Todd Foje, the companys chief executive. The 106-year-old telecommunications company did not disclose the terms of the deal. The acquisition increases the companys connectivity to out-of-state locations, including key data centers in Chicago and Denver, and will improve network reliability with the addition of multiple, or redundant, fiber optic routes, Foje said. J. Richard Shoemaker, chairman and president of Pinpoint Holdings Inc., said the acquisition allows Pinpoint Holdings, a diversified communications company based in Cambridge, Nebraska, the ability to refocus on other Nebraska opportunities. Great Plains provides cable television, telephone services and high-speed Internet to customers in the health care, education, finance, agricultural and other industry sectors, as well as to residential customers in rural communities throughout Nebraska. Great Plains also is in the process of increasing Internet speeds to business and residential customers in the areas it serves, including the Nebraska counties of Chase, Cherry, Custer, Dawes, Knox, Perkins and Red Willow. The upgrades are scheduled to be completed by years end. Great Plains employs about 220 in Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as a telephone company in Creighton, Nebraska, and moved its headquarters to Blair 89 years ago. Contact the writer: 402-444-1142, janice.podsada@owh.com People who manage family fortunes may be so concerned about preserving wealth that they miss chances to create new wealth, according to a man who helped build a company from zero to a value of $10 billion in four years. Ron LeMay, managing director of the investment firm OpenAir Equity Partners of Kansas City, Missouri, said Omaha and Kansas City are similar in that much of the communitys wealth stems from risks taken by entrepreneurs of two or three generations ago. We have people drinking from wells they didnt dig, LeMay told a meeting this week of the Association for Corporate Growth, attended by about 120 people at Happy Hollow Country Club. He was the No. 2 executive during the years Sprint PCS built its wireless communications network, a process he said was full of risk but ended up with $10 billion in newly generated value. If people feel responsible for preserving wealth, he said, its difficult for them to put that money into startups that have a good chance of failure, even though failing at one project may lead to success in another. Communities like Omaha and Kansas City can help overcome the stigma of failure by bringing early-stage investments out into the public arena and celebrating them, including those that fail, LeMay said. Establishing a physical hub for entrepreneurs and investors to come together would help, he said. For example, investors could learn how to figure the value of a startup company and how to perform due diligence so they could decide whether to put money into a project. When investors listen to a financing pitch from an entrepreneur, LeMay said, too often they want to know projected sales, profits and other numbers. Thats completely inappropriate for early-stage businesses, he said, and may prompt the entrepreneur to make meaningless guesses about the future. By connecting people who have common goals of creating successful businesses, LeMay said, a community could overcome the risk aversion that starves potentially successful businesses of the cash they need. Even large companies should have chief innovation officers and risk committees who focus on ideas outside the status quo, LeMay said. Entrepreneurs need to be persistent in pursuing their ideas, he said. Youve got to be fundamentally optimistic to move the ball forward. Assembling the right people for a project, including top leadership, also is vital, he said. If you dont have the right team, you have no shot at it. Memorial service: St. Paul United Methodist Church, 5410 Corby St., will celebrate the Memorial Day holiday with a single service Sunday at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary. Worship will include music from the Joy Bells, the Nova String Quartet, the churchs combined vocal choirs, trumpeter Curtis Pelster and soloist Marta Brabec. A commissioned musical work, by area composer Michael McCabe, will highlight the sermon text of the Rev. Dr. Keith Johnson. Rummage sale: Church of the Holy Spirit Episcopal, 1305 Thomas Drive in Bellevue, will have its annual rummage sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and June 4. Free coffee and a doughnut from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, and free slice of pizza from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 4. Forum series: First Central Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, will continue its Open Forum series June 5. Sessions are free and begin at 9:10 a.m. The church is at 36th and Harney Streets. The topic will be Habitat for Humanity: More Than Just Building Houses. The featured speaker will be Janneane Gerot, faith and special projects manager at Habitat for Humanity of Omaha. For more information, call 402-345-1533. Workshop planned: The Rev. William J. Jarema and Tim Fogle, both from the Mercy Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will present a retreat titled Body Stories: Exploring Our Body Wisdom at St. Benedict Center in Schuyler, Nebraska, on June 11. This workshop will address symbolic woundedness, the wisdom of disease, unlocking past hurts, healing of memories, breath work, and inner explorations through imagery, storytelling and imagination. Program fee is $30. Lunch is available at the Center for $10.50. For more information, call 402-352-8819 or go online to StBenedictCenter.com. Shawn Hawkins of Omaha graduated from Performance Instruction & Trainings Pit Crew U pit crew training program. PIT is a state licensed pit crew training school in Mooresville, North Carolina. The school also has a welding program Pit Weld U for those interested in a career as a fabricator or welder in addition to its pit crew training courses. Besides pit crew training for individuals and teams, PIT also provides corporate team building initiatives and Lean Performance programs. Other honors, awards and recognitions include: During Hastings Colleges day-long Celebration of Excellence April 19, Nicole Delphia of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, was named the 2016 Bronco Award recipient at Honors Convocation. Established in 1924, the Bronco Award is the colleges highest non-academic award granted to students. Delphia served as president of the Hastings College Model United Nations, Political Science Club, A Catholic Thing, Local Global Community and Hunger/Homelessness Awareness Week. She was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honorary, the Student Association Senate, the Student Association Executive Council Community Relations Committee and Ignite: Servant Leadership Group. Hastings College is located in Hastings, Nebraska. The 2016 inductees into the Hastings College Pro Rege Society include J.T. Tim Daugherty of Omaha, and Lyle Fleharty and William Nottage-Tacey, both of Hastings, Nebraska. The dinner and induction ceremony, during which Hastings College recognized the individuals for their longstanding dedication to the College, was held at Lochland Country Club in Hastings on April 21. Membership in the Pro Rege Society is the highest non-academic recognition Hastings College bestows. Criteria for selection includes service to Hastings College, philanthropic contributions and commitment to the college over an extended period of time. Ann Marie Bosshamer of Kearney, Nebraska, will be recognized as the newest University of Nebraska-Lincoln Block and Bridle honoree. The Block and Bridle Club focuses on building leaders in the livestock and meat industries. The award recognizes those who have contributed to Nebraska agriculture through leadership, service, youth projects, community activities and involvement with UNL. Bosshamer is the executive director of the Nebraska Beef Council, where she leads a team to collect and manage beef check-off funds in the state. Robert Gruidel of Papillion was named the Nebraska Nursing Facility Associations and Nebraska Assisted Living Associations 2016 Resident of the Year. The award recognizes an outstanding individual who contributes to the well-being of fellow residents and the facility they live in. Gruidel was nominated by the staff at Papillion Manor, where he resides. The University of Nebraska Medical Center presented awards to seven faculty members for meritorious teaching, service or mentoring during its annual meeting on April 20 at the Durham Research Center Auditorium on the Omaha campus. Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, associate professor of pediatrics, UNMC College of Medicine and medical director of the Nebraska Medicine Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Newborn Nursery, received the Spirit of Community Service Award, which recognizes continuing commitment to helping underserved or isolated communities by sharing expertise, resources, talent and time without remuneration. Darwin Brown, assistant professor of physician assistant education, UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, and Dr. Ashish Sharma, associate professor, psychiatry, UNMC College of Medicine, received the Outstanding Teacher Award. The award is given for excellence in teaching activities including providing an environment conducive to learning, developing rapport with students, promoting the importance of interpersonal relationships with patients and colleagues, and using continuous skill-building in instruction. Gloria Borgstahl, professor, UNMC Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, and Joyce Solheim, professor, UNMC Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students Award. The award recognizes faculty who exemplify excellence in the mentoring of graduate students. Carol Casey, professor, internal medicine, UNMC College of Medicine, and Lani Zimmerman, professor, UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division, received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Junior Faculty Award. The award recognizes faculty whose mentoring helped the mentee achieve rank advancement, research productiveness, clinical care accomplishments and placements in publications by providing assistance with grant proposals, teaching enhancements and family/work-life balance. University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Zach Paris was honored with a DownBeat Award for Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist Graduate College Outstanding Performances. This marks the 39th year of the Annual Student Music Awards at DownBeat. Paris is a student at UNLs Glenn Korff School of Music. Two individuals were honored for extraordinary service at the University of Nebraska Medical Centers Omaha commencement ceremony May 7 at Baxter Arena. Margaret Brink, of York, Nebraska, a longtime public school teacher turned national leader in the field of local public heath, will receive the J.G. Elliott Award for her decades of service to her fellow Nebraskans. Dr. Sina Bavari, who earned his Ph.D. degree at UNMC, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree for his high distinction in the advancement of science and service to the United States. Lincoln Fire and Rescue received the American Heart Associations Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Award for its treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks. LFR received a Silver Award in 2015 and was the only Nebraska agency to receive the Gold Award this year. Fourth-graders at St. Margaret Mary School celebrated the schools 10th Pioneer Day on May 20. The day demonstrated how Nebraska students experienced education in 1888. A one-room schoolhouse environment was created in two classrooms. Handmade quilts were hung to hide modern day conveniences. The students and teachers dressed as pioneers, used chalkboards and slates, and packed authentic lunches to enjoy outside. The students were taught how to play games like marbles, shinny and chain tag. They made old-fashioned bread and churned butter for a snack, and pinwheels for toys. Pioneer Day marked the completion of their Nebraska history studies. Other local school news includes: New principal of Indian Hill: Robert Holzapfel has been named as the next principal of Indian Hill Elementary. Holzapfel will succeed Sharon Royers, who retires at the end of the school year. Holzapfel is a 1992 graduate of Bellevue Christian High School. Young artist: Gretna Senior High School student Cal Switzer recently won the 23rd annual John Shildneck Young Artist Competition sponsored by the Lincoln Municipal Band. Switzer, a graduating senior who plays trombone, was selected from a group of finalists through a live audition on May 1 in Lincoln. He will receive a $400 prize for winning the contest. Walk at Lunch Day: Linden Elementary in Fremont celebrated the Blue Cross Blue Shield National Walk at Lunch Day on May 4. Accompanied by music, students and staff walked during lunch recesses. This was the fourth year Linden Elementary participated in the BCBS National Walk at Lunch Day. Ishrat Jahan encounter, the ugly face of politics Feature oi-Pallavi By Pallavi The death of a college student and the death of democracy. The naked truth of Ishrat Jahan encounter is yet to be unravelled completely, but it is clear that there is a lot beyond what meets the eyes. Talk about politics getting dirty? The allegation and the evidence behind the alleged kidnapping and encounter of Ishrat proves exactly that. The story is confusing since all you get to hear the words 'BJP', 'Congress' and fake encounter. The encounter was as if done to set scores. While the BJP kept on harping that the Congress is yet to be punished for its role in the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 or the several encounter cases of 'fake encounters' approved by it in the successive years, the Congress too does not leave any stones unturned to remind it of India's holocaust days in the Gujarat riots. BJP plays victims Much to the surprise of the onlookers, the mud slinging is rather dramatic in Ishrat Jahan's case. The Congress has been portrayed as the villain and the BJP the innocent victim. [Read:Ishrat Jahan: Two key documents may have been destroyed ] In the Ishrat case, the JP pointed that the Congress had staged this to taint the BJP. The conspiracy was hatched by Sonia Gandhi and the then Home Minister P Chidambaram executed this to target the Modi government's coming of power. The fire is fuelled by politics The 2004 encounter suddenly hit the headlines again when the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley said that he had heard about Ishrat Jahan, the 19-year old girl who was gunned down by the Gujarat Police in 2004. [Read: Missing Ishrat files not traced as May 31 deadline approaches ] The issue was strategically played upon in the Parliament when the BJP cropped the topic up just before and during the first half of the Budget session. This was used as a tool to blunt the allegations by Congress who said that Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani drove Dalit student Rohith Vemula to suicide. Details, an eye opener Nirmala Sitharaman, before the beginning of the budget session claimed that the then home minister P Chidambram had signed the first affidavit that was submitted in a Gujarat court in 2009. The affidavit clearly maintained that Ishrat was a Lashkar operative. When the court asked for a second affidavit, after realising that the details were dubious, Chidambaram paid more attention and found that there was no evidence against Ishrat Sahan, except for claim made by an unfamiliar Pakistani website. However, the news appeared after the encounter. Sitharaman further said that the Congress wanted the "political elimination" of BJP. Whatever be the reason, it was sheer display of political ploy that finished a young story....too short. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 15:32 [IST] Politics of 'apology': How a peace-time US president is battling it out against China Feature oi-Shubham By Shubham US President Barack Obama has been seen making a lot of soft gestures during his trip to Hiroshima which the Americans had nuked in 1945. It is being debated whether Obama's latest trip to Asia---in Vietnam and Japan---is an 'apology tour'. The soft gesture has a hard message in it Whether Obama, who is nearing the end of his presidential tenure, has genuinely spoken on Hiroshima or not is something only he can tell. But there is no doubt that behind all the soft posturing, there is a hard foreign policy goal and it is about containing China in Asia---something the Obama Administration has vigorously aimed for. It makes little sense in apologising for something which had happened under different circumstances Apology makes little sense in the realm of international politics since decisions there are taken in response to the situation in hand. Sources in the White House said the US president does appreciate the fact that Harry S Truman, who was the US president when Hisroshima and Nagasaki were nuked, made the decision for the right reasons. Even surveys have shown a majority of Americans favouring the use of nuclear weapons against Japan. This statement clears all doubts. A peace-time apology for a war-time crime makes little sense. No government ever has a business in rectifying the past mistakes rulers live in the present. Obama's humanitarian gesture is inspired by the motivation to corner the Chinese by reaching out to its regional rivals like Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Obama has reached out to Philippines, Japan, Vietnam---all to stop China In November last year, Obama said during his visit to the Philippines that the US would hand over two ships to that country to boost its maritime defence capabilitues. The inner message was clear: The US is never going to be cowed down by China near the latter's territory. Will Obama issue an apology for the USA's disastrous moves in West Asia? The US has also lifted embargo on the sale of weapons to Vietnam, another country where it had committed atrocities during the Cold War, making clear its intention to form a regional balance of power against Beijing. The US president has shown a hurry in pushing the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal despite opposition from many Democrats. Obama also worked on boosting relation with India Obama also saw the US making all efforts to boost its relation with India as another strategy to counter China. He became the first US president to be present at the Republic Day ceremony in India last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited him as his own move to flex the diplomatic muscle vis-a-vis China and Pakistan. Eyeing 2 aims in one move Through his sympathetic words and gestures, Obama is eyeing to kill two birds with one stone. One, as has been said above, he is making his last major effort to prevent China's military and economic rise and secondly, he is trying to make up for all the disappointments that his stint in the White House saw by going down in history with a lasting legacy (he also became the first US president to visit Cuba in almost nine decades when he set his foot there in March) of peace. What is Nuclear Suppliers Group? Feature oi-Shubham By Shubham While Chine and Pakistan have expressed concerns over India's membership of the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group), the US has defended her saying India's NSG membership is not about arms race but civilian use of the nuclear energy. [India's NSG membership not about arms: US to Pak] Here we take a look at the NSG and India's position in relation to it: The NSG is a multi-national body which aims at reduction of proliferation of nuclear weapons. It is a 48-menber body which was established to stop civilian nuclear trade from being used for military purpose. History behind the setting up of the NSG: The NSG was set up in response to India's first nuclear test in May 1974. It first met in November the following year. The Indian test proved that certain non-weapons specific nuclear technology could be used for developing weapons. Nations that were already signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treat (NPT) felt the need to further limit the export of nuclear equipment and materials of technology. A series of meetings held in London between 1975-78 resulted in arriving at the agreements on the export guidelines and they were published as INFCIRC/254 (essentially the Zangger "Trigger List") by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). [India ready for NSG membership: US] The listed items could only be exported to non-nuclear states if certain IAEA safeguards were agreed to or if any exceptional circumstance related to safety existed. The name London Club came as a result of a series of meetings in London. It was also referred to as the London Group or the London Suppliers Group. India hasn't signed the NPT or CTBT Though the NSG has been open to welcoming new members to its clan, the group has so far opened its doors only to nations that have signed the NPT or Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). India has signed none of the two treaties. The membership of the NSG helps in easing the transfer of technology and raw materials among the participant countries and US firms. ['China helped block India's NSG membership bid'] India's position vis-a-vis NSG In July 2006, the US Congress amended laws to allow civilian nuclear trade with India. In 2008, the NSG members agreed to grant India a "clean waiver" from its existing rules that stopped nuclear trade with a country which has not signed the NPT. The West supported India's membership to the NSG In November 2010, US President Barack Obama spoke about his country's support to India's participation in the NSG. France and the UK also expressed their support for India's inclusion in the NSG. In January 2015, Obama said during his visit to India that the latter was ready for an NSG membership. His countrt reiterated the same earlier this month as well. China and Pakistan opposed the idea While Chima offered a conditional support to India's membership in the NSG, Pakistan applied for an NSG membership in May this year, may be to stop India's entry into the group. China has opposed India's bid to get an NSG membership saying India was yet to sign the NPT. Moreover, it is also trying to get Pakistan an entry into the club. However, China sent a signal on Friday (May 27) that it might reconsider its stand on India's membership to the NSG following a meeting between the presidents of the two countries---Xi Jinping and Pranab Mukherjee---during the latter's recent visit to Beijing. Bihar: When asked to take off hijab to check for bluetooth device, Muslim student leaves exam centre Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000 Bihar: Now, criminals steal SUV car from JD(U) MLA's residence India oi-Mukul Patna, May 28: It looks like nefarious elements rule the roost in Bihar. At a time when ruling JD(U) alliance is already facing flak for deteriorating law and order in the state, this will once again excerabate Nitish Kumar's cup of woes. Reportedly, Kavita Singh, a sitting legislator of JD(U) has alleged that a SUV was stolen from her house in Patna. Singh, who later registered an FIR in the case said that the car belonged to her brother Rakesh Singh. Narrating the incident, MLA said that last night her brother came to meet her from Saran. In the morning, when we woke up, car was missing. Kavita Singh was quoted by the India Today as saying, "The police said they will look into CCTV footage and try to find out where the vehicle might have been taken but even after 24 hours there is no information". Singh also slammed Government for not not taking steps to contain rising crime in the state. "Administration should be pro-active in tackling crime. It's because of the lapses in administration that crime has increased in Bihar", ruling MLA said in whimphering tone. OneIndia News Haryana triple blasts: IB says message was to govt India oi-Vicky New Delhi, May 28: A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has decided to look into the three blasts that took place in Haryana since Januray. While two blasts were reported on the Delhi-Panipat train in January and May another one took place on a bus on Thursday. An Intelligence Bureau official informed OneIndia that all the three blasts are similar in nature and the same components had been used. Even the modus operandi was similar and it can be assumed that it was a terror attack. The officer also said that the reason behind the blasts could have been to send out a message to the governmeWho is bombing Haryana? Is there a message and pattern in the 3 blasts? A mixture of chemicals had been used in the Improvised Explosive Device. This was the same component that had been used in the train blasts as well. However what has foxed investigators is that the pattern of the bombing. Who is bombing Haryana? Is there a message and pattern in the 3 blasts? The bomber has chosen to plant the bomb in the train blasts after the passengers had disembarked. In the bus bombing the bomber chose to plant it when it was less crowded. This does give an indication that the bomber is trying to convey a message rather than cause mass destruction. When the first blast took place in January, investigators felt that it was the work of a novice. However he has been preparing the exact bomb and this gives the indication that he is not a novice, but the act of making a smaller bomb is intentional. Blast in Haryana state bus; 9 injured When the first blast had occurred on the Delhi-Panipat train in January investigators had suspected the role of the SIMI. Earlier this month another blast occurred on the same train and interestingly the bomb was planted at the same spot. In the explosion that took place on the bus yesterday, an IED was used. The bus was however not too crowded. In the low intensity explosion, 8 persons were injured. The IEDs, circuits and batteries used to trigger the bomb were exactly the same in all the three incidents. According to the Superintendent of Police of Panipat, Rahul Sharma, the bombs were identical in nature. He informed that the IEDs were planted in the same spot in both the incidents of January and May. It is still unclear who is behind these incidents. However observing the signature of the bomb, it becomes clear that it is the handiwork of the same person or the group. The persons has been planting bombs either after passengers have disembarked or in a bus which is less crowded. These are indications that the person is attempting to send out a message rather than cause any large scale damage. Moreover the bombs that have been prepared are low intensity in nature. When the first blast took place in January investigators had suspected that it could have been a novice bomb maker and he got the timing wrong. However looking at the other two incidents it becomes clear that the bomber has been preparing low intensity explosives and planting them only with an intention to scare. The NIA which is likely to help the Haryana Special Investigation Team says that it is important to find out the motive of the bomber first. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 11:49 [IST] Ishrat Jahan: Two key documents may have been destroyed India oi-Vicky New Delhi, May 28: For the Union Home Ministry to probe the change in narrative regarding the Ishrat Jahan case, finding two documents are extremely crucial. The documents include a copy of the affidavit that was vetted by the then Attorney General which was submitted in the Gujarat High Court and also a second draft of the affidavit in which the changes are alleged to have been made. The Home Ministry had appointed a one man committee to trace these files. However the committee comprising B K Prasad has failed to trace these files which increasingly gives the doubt that it may have been destroyed. He is due to submit his report by May 31. Files missing: These files are extremely crucial for the probe. It has been the allegation of the NDA government that the UPA had changed the narrative in the case. While at first it was stated that the encounter was a bonafide one, from 2009 onwards, the union government (UPA) had changed its stance in the court suggesting that it was a staged encounter. The Union Home Ministry which had constituted a probe had assured to look into the matter. While there are statements from various persons indicating that the narrative in the case had changed, the missing files would be able to join the dots. Hence finding them becomes extremely crucial to the investigation. The one man committee has been probing this case and has even questioned several officers who were part of the Home Ministry. While some officers have given their statements there are others the committee has not been able to contact. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 8:41 [IST] Fire breaks out at industrial estate in Mumbai, no one hurt 'NaMo tea stalls' not BJP's official scheme: BJP Mumbai president India oi-PTI Mumbai, May 28: BJP today said the 'NaMo tea stalls' on city roads, as proposed by a party corporator in Mumbai, is not its official concept. 'Namo' refers to the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I read reports that the concept was proposed by our corporator Prakash Gangadhare with a view to generate employment and provide convenience to the common man," BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar said. "We respect that sentiment. But this is not BJP's official concept. This is the corporator's personal concept," he said. When Gangadhare mooted the idea, it was viewed as a bid to counter the Shiv Sena's efforts to promote 'Shiv' vada-pav eateries across the mega-polis. Backing Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor over his stand on the naming of schemes and assets after the Nehru-Gandhi family, Shelar said, "There should be a limit on how many roads, junctions, buildings and schemes in Mumbai should be named after a person or persons in a family." PTI Naseeruddin Shah health update: Actor doing well, likely to be discharged from Mumbai hospital on Friday Naseeruddin Shah takes potshot at Anupam Kher; know what he said India oi-Mukul New Delhi, May 28: National award-winning Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah thinks the citizens of the country should give more time to the Narendra Modi government before arriving at opinions on it. In a recent interview, the 66-year old actor said that the government is not "stupid" enough to turn the nation back to the "dark ages". However at the same time, the actor also expressed shock over the recent changes made in school textbooks. "People are taking decisions and making perceptions too fast. I think we should give the government more time. But, there are a few things that make me concerned---like the kind of alterations made in textbooks. Those are the things to worry about", Shah, who was in the Capital on Friday to promote his latest film Waiting, said. "Not for anything else but to at least be in power. I am not giving up hope. If we do so, it means we have lost the battle," he added. Shah's remarks came at a time when the NDA government at the Centre is celebrating its second anniversary in office. Shah takes on Anupam Kher The actor also took potshots at his Bollywood colleague and veteran actor Anupam Kher who has been vocal in favour of the Kashmiri Pandits of late. "A person who has never lived in Kashmir has started a fight for Kashmiri Pandits. Suddenly, he became a displaced person", Shah said about his A Wednesday co-star . Kher was quick in replying to Shah's remarks. "Shah Saab ki Jai Ho. By that logic, the NRIs should not think about India at all," Kher said on Twitter. Shah supports Javed Akhtar Shah also supported lyricist Javed Akhtar's statements during his farewell speech in Rajya Sabha saying nobody has the right to question a person's love for their motherland. "I am sad that statements like these are made and not condemned. Like Javed Sahab said, it is his right to say Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai. I will say it out of my choice and not because somebody has asked me to. Nobody has the right to question my love for the country," he said. OneIndia News (With inputs from PTI) India always views war as last resort, but... : PM Modi to armed forces in Kargil PM Modi is now just a click away....in person India oi-Pallavi New Delhi, May 28: Surprised? Well, don't be. PM Narendra Modi is actually eager to meet the citizens of the country. All you have to do is just answer these 20 questions on his developmental schemes and get swept to 7, Race Course Road. The central government, as part of MyGov initiative, is organizing a contest for Indian nationals, giving them the opportunity to meet their iconic PM-Narendra Modi. Participants are required to answer 20 questions- subject matter ranging from the government's solar initiative to the Beti Bachao Andolan- to meet the PM personally. Technically, the initiative has been taken to see the awareness regarding the government's schemes, among the public. The 20 questions are randomly picked from question bank so that there are no chances of overlapping between two candidates. The participant has to click on one of the four options and a scoreboard is displayed to show how much one has scored. The website says that the winner will be declared on the basis of the maximum questions answered. And if two candidates get the same score, the one having answered within the least time span will be adjudged the winner. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 14:16 [IST] Pragmatic Chandrababu Naidu will count on Modi government India oi-IANS By Ians English Tirupati, May 28: At the annual convention of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) here, one couldn't miss the mood of grassroots party activists: it was anti-Centre, if not anti-BJP. Still, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is pragmatic enough to realise that negative vibes with the centre won't do. Even as the Narendra Modi government celebrated its two years in office, the TDP cadres in Andhra Pradesh made it clear that they want the central government to deliver on the commitments made when the state got bifurcated. The TDP is a partner in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but the cadres at the three-day 'Mahanadu' are not parroting the Modi government's "achievements" and schemes. They are much more concerned about the development of the state, which hinges on how the Centre supports the Chandrababu Naidu government's agenda. "The division of Andhra Pradesh was mishandled. The Congress-led UPA government went ahead with the reorganisation in an undemocratic manner and in a hurry for political gains. Now the Centre is not sure about giving special category status," one Andhra Pradesh minister told IANS. "The state administration is seriously burdened with several challenges, all of them resulting from omissions, commissions, contradictions and inadequacies in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014," the minister added. In their speeches, the district-level TDP activists also talk of challenges facing the state government. Their list is a lengthy one -- from the state being without a capital city to the problems in the economy, and the need to create jobs and wealth as has been the people's expectation. And in that respect, TDP seems to be putting the ball in the Centre's court, playing up the 'Telugu pride' to the hilt. While the TDP leaders are backing their supremo Chief Minister Naidu, they argue that there's growing disenchantment among the people and the Centre must immediately step in to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. "Despite financial constraints, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has mobilised the public and activated the government machinery. He is making tireless efforts to achieve faster economic growth that is sustainable. However, there is lack of institutional and financial resources," TDP farmers' wing chief V. Pratap Reddy told IANS. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi should support Andhra Pradesh till we achieve a level playing field with our neighbours in terms of development and human resource indices," Reddy added. "The people of Andhra Pradesh never wanted bifurcation of the state. Now everyone knows that development of the state is dependent on the central government fulfilling the commitments made with reference to the Reorganisation Act," said E. Sujatha, a TDP leader from Visakhapatnam district. In this context, she said the message from the TDP's annual convention 'Mahanadu' is not favourable for the BJP which is "too much busy in celebrating two years of the Modi government". "Prime Minister Modi talks about being a catalyst of development. But in Andhra Pradesh the need of the hour is creation of an ecosystem for development and provide appropriate financial package to help us achieve the state's potentials." Sujatha told IANS. So will the TDP jump the boat and quit NDA? The question hangs heavy here at the 'Mahanadu'. However, senior leader and TDP representative in Delhi K. Ramamohan Rao rejected such a possibility. "We do not want to be like a complaining partner in the BJP-led NDA. Granting of 'special category' status to Andhra Pradesh is a pending issue. But we want to look beyond and we will continue to cooperate with the Centre. We want their assistance for the backward regions of coastal north Andhra and Rayalseema," he told IANS. It may be noted that even as the demand for central assistance grows in Andhra, a BJP document claimed that a lot of funding was provided to the state. "Even for bridging the revenue deficit, the Centre has released Rs.2,304 crore in 2014-15 and later Rs.500 crore," stated the BJP document which was released in Andhra Pradesh on the occasion of Modi government's two years. The document also stated that the central government has further released Rs.7,430 crore as part of Rs.22,113 crore deficit that the 14th Finance Commission projected for 2015-20. While the tone of the BJP document is not hostile, there's an undercurrent of antagonism between the two sides at the grassroots level. For example, a few days back a section of BJP leaders criticised Chief Minister Naidu for planning a Rs.52,000-crore capital city in Amravati. The plan should have been more realistic, they said. But the maze of demands, claims and counter-claims doesn't seem to have any effect at the top level of leadership. According to observers here, Chandrababu Naidu is a pragmatic leader, who understands the political reality clearly. Naidu knows that confrontation with a powerful Centre won't serve any purpose, the observers said. And that's the message which the TDP chief is also sending across to party workers, urging them "not to fall in the trap of confrontation" with the Modi government over 'special category' status to Andhra. The chief minister keeps referring to his May 17 meeting with the prime minister and says that Modi has "assured" him to look into the requests of the state. Party insiders say that the TDP was founded on a strong anti-Congress plank. Therefore, the party cannot join hands with the Congress. According to these TDP leaders, nothing will happen in the next two-three years in the so-called Third Front. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is an ally of the Congress and TDP cannot go with him. Only Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal has had a good equation with the TDP in Parliament. So in these circumstances, Chandrababu Naidu will remain in the NDA and continue to cooperate with the Centre. And in return, he would try to extract maximum benefit for Andhra Pradesh. IANS Will Pakistan cooperate on Mumbai 26/11 probe? India oi-Vicky New Delhi, May 28: The United States of America told Pakistan yesterday that it needs to cooperate with India on the Mumbai 26/11 attack probe. The US has been issuing such statements for long, but the big question is will Pakistan listen? Mumbai 26/11: Enough of the revelations, act instead India however must not expect too much from Pakistan on this case. It was after all a state sponsored attack and Pakistan would go out of its way to protect its own. An officer with the National Investigation Agency says that there are certain things that Pakistan could do if it really is serious and decides to cooperate. What can Pakistan do? First and foremost allow a team of the Indian investigators to question Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed who were the masterminds of the probe. They figure as accused in the case filed by both the Mumbai police and the NIA. Pakistan would also do well if acted entirely on the confession made by David Headley before the US court as well as the court in India. These testimonies have been accepted by both courts. Headley had made several revelations before the courts and also the FBI which clearly indicated the hand of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the ISI in the attack. More importantly, Pakistan could give information about Sajid Mir, who continues to be a mystery man. His name has cropped up several times and he is the one who handled David Headley apart from guiding the attacks. Mir's information is very crucial to the probe as there is a great deal of suspicion that he was a former ISI man pushed into the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to oversee the attacks. The role of two Majors in the Pakistan army is also under the cloud. Investigations have revealed that Majors Sameer Ali and Iqbal had played a crucial role in the case. Both were part of the establishment and were with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba cadres from day one till the attack ended. While these are aspects that Pakistan will deny outright and term it as a fiction of imagination, the least they could do is at least speed up the trial against Lakhvi. There is a sense of fear in the courts while handling the Lakhvi case. None of the lawyers are ready to fight against him and judges have sought to be recused in the case out of pure fear. If Pakistan is serious then it could set the system in order and ensure that a fair and fearless trial is conducted. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 11:24 [IST] 9 killed as bus plunges into canal in Bangladesh International oi-PTI Dhaka, May 28: At least nine persons were killed and 30 others injured in Bangladesh when a bus they were travelling in fell into a canal on Dhaka-Barisal Highway, police said. The incident occured yesterday afternoon in the Samaddar area of Madaripur, when the front-left tyre of the bus, carrying over 60 people, blew out as it reached Samaddar Bridge, causing the bus to crash through the bridge's railing and plunged into the canal. While five passengers died on the spot, fire service and police teams pulled out the bus in which three more bodies were found. Another victim died on the way to hospital, Madaripur sadar police Officer-in-Charge Ziaul Morshed was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune today. Four of the deceased have been so far identified and include a 40-year-old woman, two men aged 60 and 50 besides the bus helper Abdur Rashid. Other victims, including the driver, have not been identified yet, the report said. The condition of many of the injured was critical, according to doctors. PTI Fire breaks out at industrial estate in Mumbai, no one hurt 'Thank God' movie review: Check what audience say about Devgn-starrer Rupee gains 26 paise to 82.62 against US dollar in early trade Dombivli factory blast death toll touches 12; owners charged Mumbai oi-Shubham Dombivli (Maharashtra), May 28: The death toll in the explosion in the chemical factory explosion in Dombivli in Thane district of Maharashtra went up to 12, said an official in the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). While 11 were dead till Friday, the rescue team found the body of a civilian on the site on Saturday morning. While six bodies were recovered on Thursday, four were found on Friday while another person died in the hospital, the NDRF said, according to PTI. The NDRF also assured after investigation that the toxic gases spreading from the factory in the area did not pose any risk. The factory contained containers of propargyl alcohol, a liquid chemical which is toxic if ingested or inhaled and causes corrosion if it touches the human skin, the NDRF said. Meanwhile, the owners of the factory were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The police have approached the factory inspector and other departmental officials to ascertain the exact reason of the blast and fire in the plant on May 26. The blast which was followed by a huge fire damaged more than 600 establishments within two-kilometre radius of the site. The Maharashtra government has ordered a probe into the incident. Oneindia News [with PTI inputs] For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 13:21 [IST] Rahul Gandhi hits out at Kejriwal, Modi; leads 'Mashal Juloos' protest New Delhi oi-Sandra New Delhi, May 28: The Congress on Saturday, led by its vice president Rahul Gandhi took out a 'Mashal Juloos' protest against the AAP government over the water crisis in the city. Several Congress leaders took out the protest from Rajghat to Delhi Secretariat raising slogans against AAP government. Speaking at the event, Gandhi said: "It is an age of Internet, and selfies. In India, Modiji and Kejriwalji think they can fool people everytime." Slamming Kejriwal, Gandhi said: "When MCD workers went to Delhi CM to put forth their grievances, CM said that I can give you one month salary, but can't do anything more. This country cannot progress with lies. Our party and our party workers don't do PR. They work for the people. Delhi: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi at the Mashal Juloos protest against AAP Govt, over water crisis issue pic.twitter.com/LrnoQsSktv ANI (@ANI_news) May 28, 2016 "Kejriwalji promised uninterrupted electricity and water, but after coming to power all these promises were forgotten." For India to progress, governments need to stop making false and unrealistic promises and instead work towards helping people, Gandhi added. "My politics is based on Mahatma Gandhi's ideology, I can never do politics of lies and false promises. I may have suffered for speaking what I feel, I don't make false promises. But I can see, slowly, people of India and Delhi are realising that this country cannot move forward on false promises, not by hollowness, but blood and sweat," the Congress vice president said. Meanwhile, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey and Raghav Chaddha were detained by police near Rahul Gandhi's protest venue in Delhi. The AAP leaders were there to have a conversation with Gandhi. OneIndia News Amid differences, Congress chooses V Narayanasamy as next Puducherry CM Puducherry oi-Shubham Puducherry, May 28: Former Union minister of state V Narayanasamy has been unanimously elected as the Congress Legislature Party leader to become the next chief minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry. The Congress-DMK alliance won the recently held election in the UT though it failed to dislodge the AIADMK government of J Jayalalithaa in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The announcement was made by former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik who were deputed as observers by the party high command after discussions with the newly elected MLAs. The Congress won 15 seats in the 30-member Assembly in the May 16 election. The DMK won two seats, giving the alliance the required majority of 16. Dikshit said the decision to pick Narayanasamy, a former Union minister of state, was backed by all the MLAs, Pradesh Congress Committee chief A Namassivayam and former chief minister V Vaithlingam. Party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi congratulated Narayanasamy over the phone. Namassivayam's supporters protest The Congress was facing differences in its ranks over the choice of the chief minister. As soon as the news about Narayanasamy's election broke, supporters of Namassivayam protested against the decision. They alleged that though Narayanasamy said he was not in race for the CM's post, he worked behind the scenes to ensure that he won the chair unopposed. Oneindia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, May 28, 2016, 17:21 [IST] Community Its now easier than ever to connect and chat with others in your local area. You can connect with your community by asking general questions, give area updates and recommendations and even let your community know about local events that are taking place. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade will be attending the 8th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States in Port Moresby next week. Jamaican media reports, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith is on her way to Papua New Guinea. Jamaica's Foreign Affairs Ministry says, with Jamaica assuming Chairmanship of the Caribbean Forum of ACP States on July 1, its participation in the Summit - the highest decision-making body of the ACP - takes on added significance. Minister Johnson Smith says the Summit is an important space in which the Group will seek to further strengthen and reposition itself as a more effective international force on the global scene. This is especially in the context of the imminent expiry of the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement in 2020. The Summit, under the theme: Repositioning the ACP Group to Respond to the Challenges of Sustainable Development starts next Monday. NBC news/ ONE PNG Mexico iGaming takes Center Stage at Juegos Miami Published May 27, 2016 by Sol FH The upcoming Juegos Miami conference from May 31 to June 3 will be an excellent resource for all things gaming. The Juegos Miami conference is set to begin on May 31 at the amazing Biltmore Hotel in Miami. This event will essentially pool all forms of gaming, whether land-based or online, and how its focus on the growing Latin American and Caribbean markets. This years conference will focus on the gaming explosion that is expected to occur in the Mexican market with crucial information for operators and stakeholders. A group of professionals with deep understanding of Mexicos gaming industry will be on hand to discuss the expected gaming boom, including Rodrigo Galvan the Managing Director of JSJ Gaming. Mexico has a population of around 120 million, which includes over 60 million online users and 11 million mobile users. The potential for the online and mobile gaming industries therein are immense and Juegos Miami will offer insightful information about it all. Since Mexicos outdated regulation regarding the legalization of video lottery terminals and Class II and Class III machines was updated by the Supreme Court, Mexico is poised to become one of the biggest iGaming industries in the world. It looks like it will only be a matter of time until complete online gaming legislature is created and its legal operation begins. Current legislation with regards to gaming dates back to 1947 and Mexicos Senate has been talking seriously about the positives and potential negatives about rewriting these laws. One of the main points will be that iGaming operators would need to base their servers within Mexican borders and an all new governing body, the National Institute of Games and Lotteries is to be introduced. We have to take into consideration the existing opportunity in Mexico, being the second country in Latin America in terms of fixed and mobile broadband internet usage," Galvan related. "Gamers are likely to play all type of games that fall into the category of games of chance and raffles, but specifically bingo, lottery, electronic bingo and table games." A total of 30 keynote speakers will be heard at the conference including professionals from all ends of the industry. Vermont Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders joined Bill Maher for a wide-ranging discussion before the California primary election. Bill Maher introduced him, saying, "There are three candidates in this race, only one of them has a positive rating with people. Bernie Sanders is here!" (Cheers, cheers and more cheers!) The Bernie Sanders campaign just released this info to supporters: Thanks in no small part to your efforts on the phones last weekend, voter registration numbers in California saw a big surge right before the May 23rd deadline. We also learned this week that -- according to a poll from the Public Policy Institute of California -- we're now within striking distance of a victory in California on June 7th. Thanks to your support, we've won 21 primaries and caucuses so far this year -- a result that no one would have predicted when we launched this campaign just over a year ago. California represents the biggest prize of all, with 475 pledged delegates at stake, and a victory there would send a gigantic signal to the political establishment that our movement has real staying power. Enjoy eleven great interview minutes with Sanders in California. Pro-Life Choice As a senior medical student in 1973, the year the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade case made abortion legal in America and a political issue, I decided to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology. My choice began forty-three years of conflict. After counseling hundreds of patients as they made and lived with decisions about unplanned pregnancies, attending seminary, writing a novel, and listening year after year to political argument on the issue, I have decided that both the pro-choice and pro-life movements are right in some ways and missing the point in others. A woman has a right to choose what happens with her body. A baby has a right to life. Two people are involved in this decision. The legal question becomes at what point does the state have the right and responsibility to intervene when two people's rights conflict? A brief look at the history of abortion is helpful. Abortion has been a part of every known human culture. The medicine women of hunter-gatherer communities knew which herbs would end a pregnancy and used them before people were even sure what caused pregnancy. Economics have always entered into the decision. One of the highest abortion rates in America happened during the Great Depression in the 1930's. When children were going hungry already, women did not want to bring more into the world. History's point: making abortion illegal does not prevent it. What making abortion illegal does do is select poor women to suffer disproportionately. Women of means still find safe ways to accomplish it, where poor woman are reduced to unsafe efforts to abort themselves or back alley butchers. Making abortion legal did increase the abortion rate, initially. In 1973, according to the Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate per 1000 women was 16.3. Over the next seven years it increased to 29.3. After two years at that rate, even though abortion remained legal, the rate has fallen back to 16.9 in 2011. The reasons for the decline are not known for certain, but better birth control is one reason, a reason to support Planned Parenthood. After reading the Roe v. Wade majority opinion, I believe the Supreme Court got it right. In the first 14 weeks of pregnancy risk to a woman's health aborting a pregnancy is less than carrying the pregnancy to term, and the fetus is totally dependent on its mother's womb. The Court considered these two medical facts in reaching its 7-2 decision that abortion should be unrestricted until 14 weeks. After 14 weeks the woman's risk of abortion increases and is equal to the risk of carrying a pregnancy to term. This medical fact was the basis of the Court's decision to allow restrictions on abortion that protected the life of the mother between 14 and 28 weeks. At 28 weeks, the Court determined that the fetus was viable outside the womb and ruled that abortion could be banned except to save the mother's life. Since 1973 with improved medical care the age of viability has been reduced. Twenty percent of fetuses survive at 22-23 weeks; fifty percent survive at 25-26 weeks, and ninety percent survive at 27-28 weeks. The intent of the Roe v. Wade decision was that abortion should be banned at viability, and this change in the age of viability needs to be addressed. This discrepancy in age of viability is the basis of partial-birth abortion which I believe the Court intended to ban. In 2016, a more appropriate age of viability when considering elective abortion is 22 weeks. Why does all this matter? Since 1973 over 55 million abortions have occurred in America. Three in ten women have had at least one abortion by the age of 45 years. While many of these women are comfortable with their decision, millions suffer regret, shame, guilt, and sadness. A visit to the National Memorial to the Unborn website will confirm this truth. Fifty-five million children have died before birth leaving only a question as to how their lives would have changed the world. Family members also suffer. For these millions abortion is personal not political. In 1992 the Lexington Herald published a Sunday supplement on the abortion issue. A reporter asked every OB/GYN doctor in town if they did abortions and if not, why not. I agonized over what I would say. I didn't perform abortions, mostly because I thought it was taking human life that I was committed to save, but I still believed abortion should be legal and said so. My conflict became public, and I got dozens of letters from people who agreed with my conflicted position. I have read that conflict is the basis of every good novel. After receiving those letters, I decided to try writing a novel. I hoped that the writing would help solve my conflict. I hoped that by telling a good story people who were closed-minded on the issue might see that dealing with unplanned pregnancy is complicated, that abortion is not an easy way out, that preventing unplanned pregnancy is best. The novel, Saving Jane Doe, is published and available everywhere and I have peace with my pro-life choice position. I believe that I am right, but what I know for certain is that I would rather be compassionate than right. Cover (Image by Morgan James Publishing) Details DMCA [You can find more information about me and the novel at www.carolynpurcellmd.com.] (updated below) In January, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon delivered a speech to the Security Council about, as he put it, violence "in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory," noting that "Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation" and that "it is human nature to react to occupation." His use of the word "occupation" was not remotely controversial because multiple U.N. Security Resolutions, such as 446 (adopted unanimously in 1979 with three abstentions), have long declared Israel the illegal "occupying power" in the West Bank and Gaza. Unsurprisingly, newspapers around the world -- such as the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, the BBC, the LA Times -- routinely and flatly describe Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza in their news articles as what it is: an occupation. In fact, essentially the entire world recognizes the reality of Israeli occupation with the exception of a tiny sliver of extremists in Israel and the U.S. That's why Chris Christie had to grovel in apology to GOP billionaire and Israel-devoted fanatic Sheldon Adelson when the New Jersey Governor neutrally described having seen the "occupied territories" during a trip he took to Israel. But other than among those zealots, the word is simply a fact, used without controversy under the mandates of international law, the institutions that apply it, and governments on every continent on the planet. But not the New York Times. They are afraid to use the word. In a NYT article today by Jason Horowitz and Maggie Haberman on the imminent conflict over Israel and Palestine between Sanders-appointed and Clinton-appointed members of the Democratic Party Platform Committee, this grotesque use of scare quotes appears: Reprinted from Reader Supported News The fight for the right to vote in the United States (Image by YouTube, Channel: TED-Ed) Details DMCA ection Protection Bulletin, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, with bestselling investigative reporter Greg Palast and Flashpoints' host, Dennis J Bernstein. This week they are joined by actress and Voto Latino spokeswoman Rosario Dawson as they delve into what Greg calls the hysteria machine and voter fraud. Dennis Bernstein: Today we'll delve into the hysteria machine and hear from Voto Latino's Rosario Dawson, who was at UCLA on May 10th with Greg and other media experts on a panel called The Urgency of Now. Please set this up for us, Greg, and give us a bit of history and background on voter fraud in America. Then tell us a little bit about what Rosario Dawson had to say on the subject at UCLA. Greg Palast: Bill O'Reilly from Fox News, and the other foxes in the foxhole, talk about the massive amount of voter fraud in America. But it's also coming from the mainstream. Why all these cries of voter fraud? There are about six people a year -- in a major election year -- arrested in the US for committing voter fraud. So why all this hysteria about people voting fraudulently? I call it the hysteria machine. The purpose was laid out by Rosario Dawson, the actress from "Sin City." She's also the voice of Voto Latino. She tells us why they are hysterical about voter fraud. "That they are trying to manipulate the vote is outrageous. It is fearmongering so people can pass ridiculous legislation to suppress people from voting." Rosario and I talked about how the hysteria machine is used to suppress the vote. How do they do this? By saying there are fraudulent voters, they can come up with ways to eliminate the fraudulent voters. If someone is impersonating a dead person -- or if a dead person walks into a voting booth -- how do you stop the zombies from voting? You require photo ID. Last week we talked about how Kansas, Alabama, and Georgia voters now need to prove their citizenship, which is not so easy. Driver's licenses and Social Security cards don't work. It's very difficult. What is the purpose? Do they have non-citizens voting? In Florida, 181,000 people were accused of being illegal alien voters and only one Republican from Austria was arrested. It's not a crime that happens, but it's a very good crime you can accuse people of, without any evidence, and not even arrest anyone, but you can take their vote away. Rosario said, "You have this pre-crime thing. You haven't done the crime, but we are going to anticipate it and penalize you for it. We're going to judge you already and take you off the roster. The idea I grew up with of innocent until proven guilty no longer applies. Now you are guilty until you prove yourself to be innocent." For example, in Florida 181,000 people -- almost all with Hispanic last names -- were sent letters by the Republican administration headed by Rick Scott, telling them to appear in court and prove their citizenship before they can vote. How did they get those names? They said they had deported somebody with the last name of Hernandez, so everyone with the last name of Hernandez in Florida must prove that they are a citizen. This is not a joke. People with the last name Koch don't have to prove they are citizens. Rosario is saying that, in effect, they are being accused of committing a felony of voting illegally without any evidence at all. DB: Greg, please put this in a national context. Is this a methodical program, a pattern and practice being instituted now? Is this new? Palast: It's not new, but it's accelerating. The Ku Klux Klan used to scare away voters of color wearing white sheets. Now they use spreadsheets. For example, in Florida, Kansas, Alabama, and other states they are accusing illegal aliens of voting. We've previously talked about how in Kansas they are running a program for 30 Republican-controlled states called Cross Check where they are accusing people of voting twice. They've arrested two people and accused 7.2 million of voting twice -- overwhelmingly voters of color. DB: What do you mean accused? How do they accuse somebody? Palast: They simply run names through computers. For example, in 2000, I uncovered that Katherine Harris had a list of 92,000 names of voters who supposedly were convicted of felonies in Florida so could not vote. If they criminally re-registered, it would send them back to prison. But she removed those people, almost all African-Americans. That elected George Bush as president. They used a computer, knocked off these voters from the voter roles, and in most cases didn't notify them. One young man, a Gulf War veteran, came back from the war and took his five-year-old kid to the voting station to show him what Martin Luther King Jr. has done for African-Americans. "Now we can vote," he said -- but they said he couldn't vote. "You are a felon." In front of his kid. He had never even gotten a traffic ticket. That was a shameful racist incident and that's how they stole the vote in 2000. The lesson the GOP learned from the Florida purging was how to imitate that in other states. So the felon purges spread across the nation. Instead of being ended, they spread to places like Colorado. When it was under Republican control, they removed 50,000 voters of color as felons, even though it's not even illegal for a person convicted of a felony to vote in Colorado. In most states it isn't illegal. In New York, California, you can vote if you have a felony conviction, just not from prison. They learned from Katherine Harris how to do it, and they expanded it. They use lists of names. A real name from the list is Maria Hernandez. They claimed that Maria Isabel Hernandez voted a second time as Maria Christina Hernandez in another state. So both Maria Hernandezes, with two different middle names, had their registrations cancelled -- given no notice -- because they had a common first and last name. Who has common first and last names? African-Americans, as a leftover from slavery, often have names such as Washington and Jackson. Immigrants often have names such as Rodriguez and Hernandez, etc. Eighty-five of the most common 100 last names in America are predominantly voters of color. That's how they remove people. Not with Klansmen in white sheets, but guys with computers and spreadsheets. They do it quietly. Sometimes you are notified, and sometimes not. It's all about accusing people of committing a terrible crime for which almost no one gets arrested, such as voting twice, voting illegally if you are a felon from prison, or voting for someone else -- which is why they supposedly need the voter ID. They create this hysteria. They said on Fox News that two million illegal aliens have voted in US elections. This is not just some Fox News nut. Hans Von Spakovsky, the guy who claims the two million illegal alien voters, was appointed to chair a commission by President Barack Obama on how to improve voting in America. I'm not making that up. DB: Who pays for the spreadsheets, the research? How can we track the money here? Palast: Rosario talked about the money boys and who is behind this. It's not just Republicans stealing votes from Democrats. That's not at the core of it. "It's a very calculated, manipulated effort. There are a lot of people conspiring to make that happen, because this isn't just one person or a few people who benefit from it. The entire system benefits from things going they way they are going." What she's talking about is the money behind vote purging. It's not necessarily partisan. Follow the money. Hans Von Spakovsky and other so-called experts are pushing the idea that there are millions and millions of fraudulent voters: illegal alien voters, double voters, criminal voters, dead voters, people impersonating other voters. Where does this come from? There is a pamphlet put out by the Heritage Foundation, which is at the center of this hysteria machine. It's called "Does Your Vote Count?" This is typical of what Heritage puts out. Why do we care about Heritage? That's otherwise known as the Koch Foundation. The Heritage Foundation was founded, funded, and maintained by the billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch. The pamphlet says types of voter fraud are: impersonation fraud at the polls, false registration, duplicate voting, fraudulent use of absentee ballots, buying votes, illegal assistance at the polls, ineligible voting, altering the vote count. This is their list of terrible voter fraud crimes involving millions of people in a massive conspiracy to vote illegally. The obvious solution is to remove people with common names, because they have obviously voted twice. You require people to have photo voter ID so you can't impersonate someone else. Indiana started requiring photo voter ID despite the fact that in 100 years of record keeping, not one person was found to have impersonated another to vote. Why? Because it's five years in the slammer if you do that. For one vote. They are going to organize this on a multi-million-person basis? Why are the Kochs so intent to create and build this hysteria machine that will remove voters? They are not very partisan. Most people think of them as Republicans, but they aren't. David Koch was going to run for governor of Kansas as a Democrat. They've been in other parties, such as the Libertarian Party. They are for the Koch Party. They are for themselves. They have an agenda. For example, they need the XL pipeline to be completed because at the end of the pipeline are their refineries, which would get that discounted filthy Canadian oil. They have a money interest in this. This is what Rosario was trying to get across. Follow the money. There are people who make a profit by manipulating the system and preventing you from voting -- especially voters of color. There is money to be made. DB: In the 60s, with the move toward voter rights and the battle for voter registration, the powers that be, the racists, and the Klan used to accuse black folks of illegal voter registration. Then they'd have long Grand Jury investigations and put old people on buses to various Grand Jury operations and intimidate them. That's what brought us the voting rights protections that we got through Lyndon Johnson. They are gone now. We've got the same forces trying to undermine any kind of voter protection. The only thing that's changed is the methods. The electronic actions can steal votes without people knowing what's going on. The Honorable Preet BhararaU.S. AttorneySouthern District of New YorkOne St. Andrew's PlazaNew York, New York 10007212.637.2200Re: Stolen New York Primary and Relevant Fraudulent ActivitiesDear Mr. Bharara,A highly principled New Jersey attorney whom I know for years, without hesitation, cited your name when asked for a recommendation as to the best person to speak with in the New York area regarding the fraudulent activities surrounding the New York Primary. I am originally a New Yorker and, since 1992, a resident of Florida. You offer a vestige of hope for justice being served.The Southern District, the oldest court under the U.S. Constitution, predating even the Supreme Court could bring some restitution by getting things right in 2016 by a Federal Court order for the New York Primary to be redone. A link to Stolen The 2016-Primary ; Deja Vu of the 2000 Election, my opinion editorial published on OpEdNews.com, provides relevance to the fears of millions.Another article concerning the unfortunate chapter in United States history when the Supreme Court usurped our right to a fair election, 'On This Day' 2000: Al Gore Concedes 'Stolen Election' to George W. Bush, is here. In 2016, advocates for honest elections nationwide have watched and contacted mainstream media, telephoned, written letters, faxes, emails and shown up at meetings, primaries and caucuses.On May 2nd, they sent a moveon.org petition to New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, signed by over 6,300 individuals, with hundreds of New Yorkers commenting on their observations and experiences of voter fraud and suppression in expressing their choice for candidates in the New York Primary. Because of the approaching convention, Mr. Schneiderman's relative lack of response, and relative inaction by his office, we must consider other alternatives to request formally that a Federal Court order a redone primary, complete with safeguards, monitors, forensic computer experts, and observers.Some skeptical journalists ask how could a planned purging intentionally target ethnic groups. Anyone familiar with New York City (Brooklyn and the Bronx in particular) would have clear demographic criteria to do so. Because of the ties between Schneiderman and Clinton's political machine in New York, perhaps we should have addressed the letter and petition to you in the first place. If we get continued non-responsiveness from Schneiderman's office, we will ask you to ask for a federal order for a new New York Primary. This is not an obstructionist effort and it is not an electioneering stunt. The petition was created and offered as a sincere solution to an egregious election failure at a level unprecedented in American history.In view of the gravity of this situation, I am compelled to share this correspondence with the appropriate news editors. Any remedial effort, even including assessing criminality, audits, recounts, and affidavit ballots all fall short of the real solution which is a new New York Primary ordered by a Federal Court.The strongest grounds for such an order derive from 200,000 violations of Federal Civil Rights and Election Law statutes. Further, although this might be secondary in terms of principle cause for rapid federal judicial response, please consider that documented proof of fraud exists from New York, Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Iowa, Colorado, Massachusetts, Ohio, Wyoming and from Washington state, and, most recently, warnings about fraud and dirty tricks 11 days before their primary in California! "Silenced Before We Could Speak" Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Reprinted from www.huffingtonpost.com 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 47 Trump +4 Sanders 48, Trump 44 Sanders +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. 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. Reprinted from Paul Craig Roberts Website The Saker reports that Russia is preparing for World War III, not because Russia intends to initiate aggression but because Russia is alarmed by the hubris and arrogance of the West, by the demonization of Russia, by provocative military actions by the West, by American interference in the Russian province of Chechnya and in former Russian provinces of Ukraine and Georgia, and by the absence of any restraint from Western Europe on Washington's ability to foment war. Like Steven Starr, Stephen Cohen, myself, and a small number of others, the Saker understands the reckless irresponsibility of convincing Russia that the United States intends to attack her. It is extraordinary to see the confidence that many Americans place in their military's ability. After 15 years the US has been unable to defeat a few lightly armed Taliban, and after 13 years the situation in Iraq remains out of control. This is not very reassuring for the prospect of taking on Russia, much less the strategic alliance between Russia and China. The US could not even defeat China, a Third World country at the time, in Korea 60 years ago. Americans need to pay attention to the fact that "their" government is a collection of crazed stupid fools likely to bring vaporization to the United States and all of Europe. Russian weapons systems are far superior to American ones. American weapons are produced by private companies for the purpose of making vast profits. The capability of the weapons is not the main concern. There are endless cost overruns that raise the price of US weapons into outer space. The F-35 fighter, which is less capable than the F-15 it is supposed to replace, costs between $148 million and $337 million per fighter, depending on whether it is an Air Force, Marine Corps, or Navy model. A helmet for a F-35 pilot costs $400,000, more than a high end Ferrari. (Washington forces or bribes hapless Denmark into purchasing useless and costly F-35.) It is entirely possible that the world is being led to destruction by nothing more than the greed of the US military-security complex. Delighted that the reckless and stupid Obama regime has resurrected the Cold War, thus providing a more convincing "enemy" than the hoax terrorist one, the "Russian threat" has been restored to its 20th century role of providing a justification for bleeding the American taxpayer, social services, and the US economy dry in behalf of profits for armament manufacturers. However, this time Washington's rhetoric accompanying the revived Cold War is far more reckless and dangerous, as are Washington's actions, than during the real Cold War. Previous US presidents worked to defuse tensions. The Obama regime has inflated tensions with lies and reckless provocations, which makes it far more likely that the new Cold War will turn hot. If Killary gains the White House, the world is unlikely to survive her first term. All of America's wars except the first -- the war for independence -- were wars for Empire. Keep that fact in mind as you hear the Memorial Day bloviations about the brave men and women who served our country in its times of peril. The United States has never been in peril, but Washington has delivered peril to numerous other countries in its pursuit of hegemony over others. Today for the first time in its history the US faces peril as a result of Washington's attempts to assert hegemony over Russia and China. Russia and China are not impressed by Washington's arrogance, hubris, and stupidity. Moreover, these two countries are not the native American Plains Indians, who were starved into submission by the Union Army's slaughter of the buffalo. They are not the tired Spain of 1898 from whom Washington stole Cuba and the Philippines and called the theft a "liberation." They are not small Japan whose limited resources were spread over the vastness of the Pacific and Asia. They are not Germany already defeated by the Red Army before Washington came to the war. Rose City Park School.jpg Tests run in March turned up elevated lead levels in two drinking fountains and six sinks at Rose City Park school building, home to more than 500 children in ACCESS Academy and first- and third-grade classes from Beverly Cleary School. (Google Maps) Portland Public Schools plans to test the water at every school building this summer after tests at two schools, Rose City Park and Creston, found unsafe levels of lead flowing from sinks and drinking fountains. Parents at Rose City Park say they are extremely upset that school district officials waited until this week to tell them that tests conducted eight weeks earlier revealed lead levels as much as double the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "action level" of 15 parts per billion. And parents across the city turned apoplectic Friday when Superintendent Carole Smith confessed in an email to families and employees that, once tests showed that toxic threat, the district kept that water flowing and gave no warnings against its use for nearly two weeks while repairs were completed. That contradicted the district's earlier representations. Spokeswoman Christine Miles told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday that students were denied access to the tainted water "immediately" once results were known. Parents want action on lead A small group of Rose City Park parents, representing both Access and Beverly Cleary families, said they expect the district to do the following: - Provide bottled water at all schools until tests prove all water sources are safe. - Show a work plan with a timeline, budget and staff to test every school before school starts in August. - Install lead-certified filters in every sink and drinking fountain that tests positive for any level of lead after mitigation, not only those at 15 ppb. - Communicate the lead test results for every sink and fountain at each school, and any mitigation plans if needed, in a clear, family-friendly manner. - Tell families with children who have been at any contaminated Portland school since 2001 how they can test their child for lead exposure. - Show how the district will conduct regular, recurring testing in future years. "Portland Public Schools regrets not having notified families and staff as soon as the tests indicated that there were elevated levels of lead," Smith wrote. Late Friday, the district sent yet another statement, announcing it would turn off all of its drinking fountains and bring in bottled water for drinking and food preparation for the remainder of the school year. And once testing happens this summer, the statement said, officials will turn off and keep off any water fixture that doesn't meet lead safety standards. "We are taking these steps out of an abundance of caution for our students, our teachers, and our staff, as we work to determine whether additional schools have elevated levels of lead in the drinking water," Smith said in the statement. Parents at Creston and Rose City Park had said they worried students at other Portland schools could also be drinking tainted water. The last time Portland Public Schools did widespread water quality testing, 15 years ago, the results showed "most schools have at least one location where lead levels are above 15 ppb," then-Superintendent Jim Scherzinger wrote to parents. "There is ample reason to assume that retesting all schools in the district will yield a similar outcome to that found at Rose City and Creston," said parent Emily Patterson, whose son attends third grade at Rose City Park. Patterson had called on the district to provide bottled water at every school through the end of the school year, now two weeks away. No one knows how long the faucets and fountains at Rose City Park and Creston had been emitting lead, since they had not been tested since 2001. In its statement late Friday, the district said it would provide on-site blood screening at the two campuses starting the week of June 6. More than 550 students attend classes in Rose City Park School in Northeast Portland, and 400 go to Creston in Southeast Portland. "Parents are worried. I am worried," said Andrea Paluso, whose fifth-grader is wrapping up his third year in the Rose City Park building and whose third-grader goes there, too. "I am definitely going to take my kids to get their blood tested." Martha Ruttle, whose daughter attended first and second grade in one of the Rose City Park classrooms served by a tainted water fountain, broke down in tears, realizing that she unknowingly sent her child into that setting day after day. "I feel very betrayed," she said. A team of environmentally minded parents convinced Portland Public Schools to test the water at Creston K-8 school in Southeast Portland. Lead levels in one drinking fountain were more than twice the federal "action level" of 15 parts per billion. Portland Public Schools arranged to test the water at Rose City Park after a parent, concerned by what happened in Flint, Michigan, insisted on it. A team of parents also pressed for testing at Creston. Those tests detected high levels of lead coming from sinks at both schools and from two drinking fountains at Rose City Park and one at Creston. Nothing in state or federal law requires schools to test drinking water for lead or recommends how frequently faucets and fountains should be retested after being found safe. But many Portland parents are adamant that it should happen more frequently than every 15 years, the school district's current interval. Their concerns mimic the outrage that surfaced among Portland Public Schools parents in 2001, when the district last conducted thorough water testing. At the first 40 schools tested, 35 had unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water. So district officials shut off every drinking fountain and some sinks and hauled in five-gallon jugs of clean water for students to drink instead. The last documented testing before then had taken place in 1991. Parents were livid: How could the district not have records of systematic testing since a decade earlier? Then-facilities director Pam Brown had no good explanation, but vowed the district would do better: testing more frequently, keeping good records, and making sure parents and the public could see results. And, for one year, it did. The district tested every fountain and faucet -- and made upgrades and repairs at each one that gave off lead-laced results. Some sinks and fountains still gave off lead, however, presumably from pipes deep inside school walls or underground. In those cases, the district installed filters and retested for lead. About 1 percent the filter-equipped faucets and fountains still emitted too much lead. But it turned out in every case that the filter was faulty, and a new filter took care of the problem, Andy Fridley, Portland's current senior manager for health and safety, wrote in a memo to the Rose City Park school administrators this week. When all the filters were replaced in summer 2002, Fridley wrote, about 10 percent of the fixtures were tested for lead, and every test came back negative. Since then, the district has done no systematic testing of water quality, "assuming" that the filters were 100 percent effective, Fridley wrote. In fact, the filters the district uses, Pentair Pentek model CFB-PB10, are not certified as effective for lead reduction. Miles said the district had already budgeted and planned to test all fountains and faucets this summer before news of the tainted water reached parents this week. It is unclear how often the district monitored and replaced the water filters it was counting on to keep student and employees safe. Fridley agreed to be interviewed about water quality monitoring Friday morning but later said he had been asked to delay the interview until after 4 p.m., with the district heading into the long Memorial Day weekend. At 3:30 p.m., district lobbyist Courtney Westling said the district would delay the interview past 4 p.m. Both she and Fridley slipped away quietly for the weekend without answering a single question from The Oregonian/OregonLive. Rose City Park school, built in 1912 and added to in 1977, is currently home to Access Academy, a magnet program for gifted students, and first- and third-grade classes from overcrowded Beverly Cleary School. In March, several sinks in two science classrooms and three other rooms were found to be giving off lead-tainted water. So were two drinking fountains, one on the first floor and one on the second. Students were allowed to use those fountains and sinks until they were repaired, which took almost two weeks. Follow-up tests on May 6 tests showed they were safe. Repairs to the science room sinks didn't stop lead emissions, so no one is allowed to drink from them, officials indicated. Creston, built in 1949, is a K-8 school. In March, a kitchen sink, a classroom sink and a drinking fountain all were found to be emitting high levels of lead in the water. Water from the fountain was found to contain 33 ppbs of lead. Tests run in April also showed high lead levels in a kitchen sink, a classroom sink and library faucet. It is unclear whether and how those problems have been addressed. -- Betsy Hammond @chalkup 503-294-7623 Portland Public Schools has shut down its drinking fountains the same day its superintendent apologized for letting students and teachers at two district schools keep drinking tainted water after tests showed unsafe levels of lead. The district will also use bottled water for all food preparation; supply bottled water to all faculty, students and staff for the rest of the school year; and use disposable plates and utensils through the end of the school year, according to a district news release. Tests at Rose City Park and Creston found unsafe levels of lead flowing from sinks and drinking fountains. The district released the information in a statement distributed around 7:45 p.m. the Friday before a holiday weekend, hours after The Oregonian/OregonLive and other news outlets reported the district's apology for allowing children to drink led-tainted water from affected fixtures. "In addition to providing safe drinking water to all of our students, we will be taking immediate action to examine the protocols and procedures that resulted in delayed notification of our families and delays in shutting off impacted water sources," Superintendent Carole Smith said in a statement. "We are taking all of these steps out of an abundance of caution for our students, our teachers, and our staff, as we work to determine whether additional schools have elevated levels of lead in the drinking water." Portland Public Schools also explained the changes in an email to district families and staff around 8 p.m. The district and Multnomah County will offer on-site blood lead level screening beginning the week of June 6 for Rose City Park and Creston students, officials said. It will also provide "comprehensive district-wide water lead level testing" as planned during the summer, officials said. "Fountains, sinks, and fixtures will not be put back into service until water lead level test results meet or exceed the standard," the news release says. Portland Public Schools said it will provide more information about blood lead level testing to the families of all its students. -- Jim Ryan and Betsy Hammond jryan@oregonian.com; betsyhammond@oregonian.com Following an apparent stall in negotiations, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday extended the state's cease-and-desist order prohibiting Southeast Portland's Bullseye Glass from using toxic metals in furnaces without pollution controls. Brown initially issued an order May 19, hours after the state received test results showing unsafe lead levels in the air at the Children's Creative Learning Center, a nearby daycare. Bullseye burns lead in some of its furnaces to make glass. Oregon's environmental and health regulatory agencies asked Brown to extend the order because the previous risks continued to exist, the state said in a news release. The order, which had been slated to expire Sunday, will last until June 8 but could be rescinded early if an agreement is reached. "I will continue this prohibition on the use of toxic metals in uncontrolled furnaces as long as necessary to protect the well-being of children at the nearby daycare center and other residents," the governor said in a statement. The company did not meet the state's noon Friday deadline to sign a legally binding agreement about its use of the metals in its furnaces. Jim Jones, a Bullseye spokesman, could not immediately be reached late Friday. The company has said the order restricted production of about 80 percent of its glass line. Bullseye responded to the governor's first order by questioning the state's determination that it was the source. In a statement, the company said earth-moving equipment digging up soil at the daycare may've been responsible. Bullseye later deleted that claim after neighbors pointed out that no equipment had been used on the days when lead spikes were detected. The Department of Environmental Quality bristled at the company's characterization. "DEQ is confident Bullseye is the source of the emissions," the agency said in its request for Brown to extend the order. "Such claims by the company continue to indicate a lack of recognition of the impacts that its operations have to the surrounding community." -- Rob Davis and Fedor Zarkhin rdavis@oregonian.com 503.294.7657 Democratic superdelegates: By nominating Hillary Clinton -- as seems increasingly likely -- the Democratic superdelegates threaten to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Against the likely Republican opponent, polls consistently show Bernie Sanders having a larger margin of victory (by several percentage points) than Hillary Clinton, and thus a greater chance of the advantage holding up until November in the face of the inevitable GOP attacks. Perry Hutchison Tigard Get rid of the word 'wall': I am so impressed by the case presented by the young Hispanic demonstrators. ("Tomorrow we'll be nurses," said one organizer. "We'll be lawyers. We'll be doctors. ... We are here and we are staying.") We have a growing need for these professionals (except lawyers; check the statistics). Mexico and Central America clearly don't -- so let's open the southern border and we can harvest even more students of high promise. Open borders will send a truly welcoming and nondiscriminatory message: "Come on in and demand your rights!" It's best to remove the word "wall" from our vocabulary; it has such strong connotations of discrimination. We don't want anyone to be offended. I was also anguished to read that "Madison High School's Rose Festival princess said she had been mistaken for a foreign exchange student while traveling with the other princesses." Can the people who mistook her be punished for this heinous act? Hue Miller Newport This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Michigan Department of Education official congratulated Chestnut Hill Elementary School Thursday for its recognition as a high-achieving Blue Ribbon School. Youre among the top of the top in the entire country, said Erika Bolig, director of the departments Office of Evaluation, Strategic Research and Accountability. You have all worked extremely hard, and were very proud of all you have accomplished. Bolig gave brief remarks to the student body and staff as well as parents and others who gathered in front of the school for a community celebration of the award Chestnut Hill received last fall from the U.S. Department of Education. The school was one of 335 across the country and only 13 in Michigan to receive the 2015 Blue Ribbon honor. Chestnut Hill was honored as an Exemplary High Performing School - words now mounted on the front of the building above the school name. Also on hand was the Midland High School Chemic Pride band, which played the Star-Spangled Banner as the U.S. flag and a flag commemorating the Blue Ribbon honor were raised. Chestnut Hill Principal Tracy Renfro pointed out the schools new flagpole, which was paid for mostly by the efforts of Cub Scout Pack 3791. Den leader Tom Hoblet said the troop, which is based at Chestnut Hill, raised about two-thirds of the $1,500 cost of the pole. Perhaps the most rousing part of the ceremony was when the student body sang a blues-tinged song composed last fall and first introduced at a school celebration of the Blue Ribbon honor in November. Were one of 13 schools within our state. Yes, Chestnut Hill is really, really great, the students sang, followed by the chorus, Oh yes, its true, we are blue! Renfro thanked the students, teachers, support staff, parents and others who helped the school achieve the award, then students blew bubbles and teachers released blue balloons. Midland Public Schools Board of Education Trustee Patrick Frazee, whose two children - a kindergartner and a first grader - attend Chestnut Hill, also was at the ceremony. All these teachers and students have worked so hard, Frazee said. The official citation from the Blue Ribbon Schools Program said the school provides a dynamic world-class education Staff members work with the community to provide new challenges and opportunities with the goal of maintaining a nurturing environment and developing challenging programs in which students will become cooperative and ethical citizens who take action in the world. In November, Boling. Renfro and Chestnut Hill teachers Margaret Doan and Amanda VanHoey traveled to Washington, D.C., to accept the award. Bolig said Thursday her department nominates the top 13 public schools in the state out of 200-300 that quality. There are over 4,100 public schools in Michigan. There was a time when schools could self-nominate for the award, but its now entirely based on data Its based on very rigorous standards, she said after the ceremony. She said the department sees it as particularly noteworthy when a school whose population is classified as at least 40 percent disadvantaged wins the award. Those schools, which include Chestnut Hill, typically are known to have additional challenges. A school cant be considered again for nomination as a Blue Ribbon school for five years after receiving the award, Bolig said. Renfro noted that just a few years ago Chestnut Hill received the unwelcome news that it was deemed a Focus school by the state. That designation came in August 2012 because of what was considered to be too large a gap in achievement between the top 30 percent and the bottom 30 percent of its students. A team formed to address the issue found no clues in demographics or subject-specific strengths or weaknesses, but did find a key factor was a lack of connection to the school. The staff then focused on building community and getting to know students better. Within a year, Chestnut Hill went from being a Focus school to receiving the coveted Reward school designation from the state. Renfro said she is proud of the strides the school has made. Thats how I always introduce myself, she said. Im the proud principal of Chestnut Hill Elementary School. An 36-year-old Isabella County inmate attempted suicide on Friday, officials stated. Corrections officers at the Isabella County Jail were alerted by another inmate that Cory Theis, from Grand Rapids, was attempting suicide at 3:41 p.m. Corrections staff immediate located Theis, who had attempted to hang himself in a shower with a bedsheet. He was quickly assessed and corrections staff began CPR stated a release. CPR along with an AED was administered, the AED did not indicate a shock during the process. CPR was continued until Mobile Medical Response arrived. MMR paramedics, along with the Mount Pleasant Fire Department, continued CPR and treatment. During this time Theis began to breathe on his own and regained a pulse. MMR transported Theis to the McLaren-Central Michigan emergency room before he was transported to Saginaw Covenant. The last condition update received listed Theis in critical condition and unconscious. Theis was currently being held in the Isabella County Jail on a Michigan Department of Corrections parole detainer and was also waiting to be sentenced on a recent conviction, several felony charges including: home invasion 1st Degree, conspiracy to commit home invasion, breaking and entering, larceny of vehicles and fraudulent activity. The investigation of this matter was turned over to the Michigan State Police to investigate, which is normal protocol. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette released his 2015 U.S. Income Tax Return Friday afternoon. The second-term attorney general had an adjusted gross income of $453,831. Schuette and his wife, Cynthia, paid federal taxes of $80,863, state taxes of $19,636, City of Lansing taxes of $526, FICA of $7,062, and Medicare $1,652 for a total of $109,738 taxes paid for 2015. Keeping a promise to provide transparency to the citizens of Michigan when he ran for office in 2010, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is again voluntarily releasing his annual federal tax return, a news release stated. During the year, Schuette earned $106,301 in wages; interest of $1,703; $150,560 of dividends; had capital gains of $152,062; IRA distributions of $726; pension income of $42,439; along with $40 in other income. The Schuettes donated $48,093 to charity in 2015. To avoid conflicts of interest, Schuette placed his financial assets in a blind trust when he took office in 2011. State Sen. Jim Stamas welcomed Maj. Gen. Gregory J. Vadnais and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Sgt. Matt Rassette of Midland to the state Capitol on Thursday for the Michigan Senates 22nd Annual Memorial Day Service, which honored Michigans fallen soldiers. Stamas, a U.S. Army veteran, read the names of the Michigan residents killed in action during the previous 12 months. 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. Tapped downtown Midlands craft beer festival will return on June 18. The event will take place along Main Street in downtown Midland and will feature: A craft beer tent featuring Michigan breweries, Live music by Big Brother Smokes and The Straight Eights, An outdoor street festival on Main Street with crafts, food and other artisan goods, Tap takeovers at five Downtown Midland bars and restaurants. Last years event was such a huge success, we knew we had to bring it back again, said Lacey Todd, DDA Events coordinator at the City of Midland. It goes beyond beer. Tapped is a celebration of Michigan craftsmanship that includes the unique food, music, art and crafts made right here in our home state. The Craft Beer Tent will be open from 2 to 6 p.m. and feature Michigan craft breweries. Tickets are available for $20. Each ticket includes six tasting samples and a commemorative tasting glass. Additional sample tickets can be purchased at the event. Were anticipating another sellout, so everyone should plan on getting their tickets to the Craft Beer Tent as soon as possible, Todd said. Craft Beer Tent tickets are available online at TappedBeerFest.com or by visiting one of these locations in downtown Midland: Ace Hardware, Chemical Bank, Comerica Bank, Grape Beginnings, Michigan Brew Supply and WhichCraft Taproom. The Makers Market, which is free to the public, will be open on Main Street from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will feature downtown Midland businesses, artisans from across Michigan and a variety of food trucks. When the Craft Beer Tent closes, tap takeovers will begin in Midland bars and restaurants. Each establishment will feature a specific brewery: Deckers (Tri-City Brewing Co.) Diamond Jims (Dragonmead Microbrewery) The H (Arbor Brewing Co.) Oscars (Mountain Town Brewing Co.) WhichCraft Taproom (Saugatuck Brewing Co., New Holland Brewing, Vander Mill Cider) Grape Beginnings Winery will be offering a special wine tasting event. Additional information, including a full list of participating breweries, can be found at TappedBeerFest.com. Mary Pitchford, who was honored by friends, family and co-workers for her 34 years of service and devotion to the Coleman community. Mr. Moustaches Phone repair, which held a grand opening ceremony for its new Midland location. The winners and participants of the Greater Midland Dow RunWalk. Caitlin Lambert, who overcame an injury and is training for the upcoming Across America Tour. The athletes who participated in the Special Olympics Summer Games at H.H. Dow High School. Thirteen middle and high school students who graduated with CEO status at the 2016 Young Entrepreneurs Academy commencement. H.H. Dow High, which achieved Level 1 certification in Marzano High Reliability Schools for its safe and collaborative culture. Delta Q-TV, which received two Michigan EMMY nominations for the historical documentary, SETTLING IN: Immigrants & Cultures that Built Mid-Michigan. The performers in Coleman Elementary Schools production of Our Country Tis of Thee. Papa Joe Lubbehusen, who was honored for his generous contributions to the Alzheimers Associations Walk to End Alzheimers. Brian Oswald, who was inducted into the University of Idaho Hall of Fame. Lauren, who won the Midland County Juvenile Care Centers Photography Exhibition. Chestnut Hill Elementary School, which was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School for its academic excellence. Area fifth-grade D.A.R.E. graduates, who celebrated their completion of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program with local law enforcement officers. Robert Green, who celebrated his 90th birthday. Helen Moening, who celebrated her 98th birthday. Loren Smith and Nathan Scholtz on their engagement. Jack and Marilyn Boone, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Larry and Linda Burgess, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Eugene and Jane Collis, who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Thanks for assistance with Special Olympics To the editor: On Saturday, May 21, we hosted our annual Special Olympics Area Summer Games meet. On behalf of the Area 30 Management team and the Special Olympics athletes, I would like to express our sincere thanks to all the volunteers and organizations who made our meet a tremendous success. Thanks to all who volunteered their time and efforts. We had about 80 athletes from Midland, Bay City and Tawas compete in track and field events and bocce. Everyone involved, whether an athlete or volunteer, had a great time. We would especially like to thank the following people for ensuring our meet was a success: the Sanford Knights of Columbus who have provided us with manpower support for the past 28 years, McDonalds Restaurant which provided lunches for all athletes and volunteers, the Midland Fire Department for providing medical coverage the past 31 years and Dow High School for enabling us to use the track facility. Lastly, thank you to all my Special Olympics volunteers who are so stupendous and make our program the premier in the state; you know who you are and I thank you! We thank all the above for their community support and goodwill. We look forward to another successful tournament next year. MARY ADAMS Area Director Special Olympics Midland Thanks for donating food To the editor: The National Association of Letter Carriers and Rural Carriers would like to thank everyone who participated in the Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Saturday, May 14. Your generosity was overwhelming and it was one of our best years ever. This year we collected 36,956 pounds of food at the Midland Post Office alone. Thank you to the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry volunteers who came to the Midland Post Office to assist and collect the food to be distributed to our local food banks. We would also like to thank the many helpers for your assistance unloading the letter carriers vehicles and weighing the food collected. Thank you everyone for your donations of food. TERRI ROSS Secretary, Branch 2317 Midland Post Office Midland EFPN grateful To the editor: The Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network hosted its fourth Mobile Food Pantry of this year at Trinity Lutheran Church in Midland on Thursday, May 19. The give-away of 18,466 pounds of free food was funded by the congregation. Our 66 volunteers served 288 families (833 individuals). In addition to the usual canned and boxed foods, families received potatoes and watermelon as well as frozen chicken, beef and fish. The network is very grateful to the many donors of food, money and time to the networks mission of always food in every home. The next event of this year will be on Thursday, June 23 at Blessed Sacrament Church on Swede Road in Midland; registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Also, Midland County residents in (financial) need of food during the year may dial 211 and request the Midland County EFPN for food assistance or may dial the network directly at (989) 486-9393 to leave a message. SALLY ANN SUTTON Member, Board of Directors Midland County EFPN Thanks for Kiwassee Kiwanis Club for supporting ACT Uganda To the editor: We would like to thank Kiwassee Kiwanis Club for choosing the HEAL (Health is Elemental to All Life) program of ACT Uganda (www.actuganda.org) as the recipient of a $5,000 grant. This grant provides much-needed funds to kick-start the HEAL program which has been in development for just over a year. This program, one of four key programs of ACT Uganda, will provide a comprehensive self-sustainable pathway toward improved individual and village living conditions in Muko Subcounty, Uganda. HEAL is based on a successful program conducted for many years in Chile (Educacion Popular En Salud - EPES). The health care needs could include health-specific issues such as malaria, alcoholism or mental illness, or more social/behavioral-related issues such as spousal or child abuse or teen pregnancy. Again, thank you Kiwassee Kiwanis Club for your generosity and support! DIANE BUSCH Midland ACT Uganda U.S. Board Thanks to walkers To the editor: For A Brighter Tomorrow held a Walk For Addiction Recovery on Saturday, May 14. There were 157 participants and many furry friends. It was wonderful to see so many people in our community coming together to bring awareness to the disease of addiction. We would like to thank our sponsors Ayre Rinehart, Chemical Bank, Ieuter Insurance and Bierlein Companies Inc. for their support. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who participated in our walk. We remain dedicated to helping those in our community in recovery. LORI WOOD JACKIE MAXWELL MARY KNOWLTON Midland The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Thursday, May 26 1:48 a.m. Police were called to an assault and battery in the 1700 block of South Saginaw Road. Wednesday, May 25 3:09 a.m. Police made arrests for aggravated assault, resisting and obstructing, and cocaine possession in the 4500 block of North Saginaw Road. 9:39 a.m. Officers were called to a probation violation in the 200 block of West Ellsworth Street. 10:48 a.m. A wedding ring was stolen from an Edenville Township home, and was found by the owner at a Village of Sanford resale shop. The suspect is a relative of the owner. A report is being sent to the prosecutor. 1:56 p.m. A Lee Township man, 24, was arrested on a warrant after he went to the Midland Law Enforcement Center to update his address with the states sex offender registry. 2:03 p.m. Police investigated a case of fraud in the 4500 block of Paine Drive. 2:29 p.m. A deputy was sent to North Eight and West Saginaw roads for a report of a drug deal between motorcycle riders. No one was found in the area. 3:14 p.m. A Larkin Township couple, ages 61 and 58, reported someone charged a total of $116.18 to their debit card in Florida. 4:10 p.m. A Larkin Township woman, 56, reported someone opened a credit card in her name. 4:27 p.m. Two trash cans, valued at $65 each, were stolen from the end of a driveway on East Lakeshore Drive. 4:47 p.m. A vehicle parked in Lincoln Township was damaged by a rock thrown by a lawn mower. A greater focus on health and well-being is driving sales of products like home air purifiers, with many people thinking these devices will make indoor air cleaner. But health experts say the machines are mostly unnecessary unless a person has a lung condition like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They advise homeowners to take other steps to clear the air before investing in one of these devices, especially since ongoing maintenance and expense are required to ensure that the units work properly. Adjust your expectations Dr. Clayton Cowl, chair of the division of preventive occupational and aerospace medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and a pulmonologist, said buyers need to understand the limitations of air purifiers. "I think it's a waste of money for people who feel that sticking (one) in their home is suddenly going to rid them of all respiratory diseases. That they'll never be ill, and that's all they need, and they're completely protected. That is not the case," he said. Patti Solano, director of lung health for the Lung Association in Greater Chicago, said air purifiers won't clean the entire home, either. Portable air purifiers, the most common, at best can improve a room. But for people who have lung conditions, investing in better filters for their furnace and buying a portable air purifier can help, Solano said. She said the best air purifiers use true high-efficiency particulate air (true HEPA) filters, which are proven to trap 99.97 percent of particles of 0.3 microns in size. "We're looking at these more for patients who have asthma, COPD, anyone that might have any kind of lung disease. These do help," she said. True HEPA filters, as opposed to "HEPA-type" filters, can trap most pollens, dust and pet dander, she said. Additionally, some air purifiers have carbon filters to remove tobacco and cooking smoke. Ed Perratore, senior editor for home and appliance at Consumer Reports, said that in its tests, the best-performing air purifiers were the Honeywell HPA300 ($300, 435-square-foot room) and the Whirlpool Whispure APK1030K ($349.99, 500-square-foot room). What to watch for Solano said that, because there are so many different models on the market, buyers need to do their homework. She said the Environmental Protection Agency's website has a thorough review of what shoppers should consider on its Indoor Air Quality page. Perratore, Cowl and Solano said homeowners should stick to filter-type air purifiers and avoid those that use ozone to clean the air. "It can act as a respiratory irritant. So it paradoxically does harm as opposed to actually helping," Cowl said. Solano said ozone is used extensively for water purification and helps decontaminate unoccupied space from certain chemicals and biological contaminants -- for instance, after a fire -- but she pointed out that ozone in water is not the same as ozone in air. Aside from fan speeds, Perratore said that, in its testing, Consumer Reports found there's little need to pay more for any special features on portable air purifiers. Fan speeds are important because portable air purifiers are noisy, and they're usually used in bedrooms. However, Perratore said that when the devices are used on low speeds, they sometimes aren't as efficient. The two top Consumer Reports picks work well on high and low speeds. Solano, Cowl and Perratore said the units work best when they're in rooms where the door is shut and are cleaned as well as possible to remove lung irritants. The filters must be changed regularly. The maintenance and cost of these devices may make them a last resort for people without lung diseases, Perratore said. True HEPA filters for the Honeywell and Whirlpool units are $35 and $99, respectively. Then there's the energy cost to run the units, he added. There are also limits to what portable air purifiers can catch. EPA notes that large particulates like dust mites and cockroach allergens may not be caught by these units. And Cowl said people who suffer from seasonal allergies may not get that much relief from having the air purifiers around. "I don't think any air filtration system will completely prevent that," he said. Other options Before buying an air purifier, Cowl, Solano and Perratore suggested checking out other options for cleaning indoor air. Better furnace filters can trap pollutants, Cowl said, but those must be changed regularly too. Look for the minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) for air filters. This rating (1 to 20) is a standard for overall effectiveness. The higher the MERV rating, the more particulates the filter will screen out. True HEPA filters are rated between 17 and 20. However, Cowl said, many furnaces aren't designed to use true HEPA filters, so they may cause the furnace to work harder. Pillow and mattress encasements can limit dust mites in the bed, Solano said. And keeping a clean home is half the battle. BLOOMINGTON The Bloomington Police Department is seek the public's help in locating four missing Bloomington teenagers. Manuela Knackstedt, 15, was reported missing at 6 a.m. Friday after she could not be found at home. She was last seen at 1:30 a.m. She is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing about 125 pounds and having black hair and brown eyes. Sh was last seen wearing a red shirt and blue jean shorts. She is believed to be in the Bloomington-Normal area. Alyssa Dedianous, 17, who is listed as a runaway, was reported missing on Friday. She was last seen in Bloomington on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning in the company of a female named Callie (last name unknown). Dedianous is described as white, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 110 pounds and having brown hair and brown eyes. Police still are seeking Marquaysha Brooks, 17, who was last seen at 7:30 a.m. May 17 and reported missing the following day. Officials believe she may be in the Chicago area. Marquaysha is described as African-American, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing approximately 185 pounds and having black hair and brown eyes. Marshun D. Collins, 16, was reported as a runaway on May 7 after he left a family member's residence in Bloomington. He was last seen on May 8 in Normal. Collins is described as African-American, 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing approximately 160 pounds and having black hair and brown eyes. Bloomington Police do not have current photos of the girls. Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the BPD at 309-820-8888. NORMAL Serving as a principal is more than managing a building, its about leading a school. Thats the opinion shared by seven aspiring principals who graduated this month with master's degrees through Illinois State Universitys new principal preparation program. We were the guinea pigs, said graduate Jamie Hartrich, who recently accepted the position of principal at St. Marys Elementary School, Bloomington. The program's first cohort spent three years studying interpersonal relations, school-related law and ethics, research in education and how to evaluate staff. They interned under mentors and contributed to a book on the neuroscience of education leadership. ISU formed the program in 2013 after Illinois required educators to complete more rigorous training before taking a seat as principal. The former administrative program was eliminated due to outdated competency standards. This was the second masters degree for a few of the graduates. For others, like Brian Swanson, this was the first journey through graduate school. The goal of this program was to ensure that we are truly prepared for principalship, said Swanson. I feel more confident now about that role than I would have otherwise. Swanson is currently a special education teacher at Lexington High School and is applying to administrative positions. Jennifer McCoy was an English teacher at Pontiac Township High School and will be associate principal at Parkside Junior High School, Normal. She said that while established principals are not required to complete the new certification, the program will zero in on educators who want to be principals for the right reasons. Its not just about moving up in the pay scale, said McCoy. Its important to understand this is the direction you really want to go." The program includes two years of classes and one year of interning under an administrative mentor at a local school. Stacie France will take the position of associate principal at Chiddix Junior High School, Normal, for the upcoming school year. She said the internship experience was exciting. My mentor principal had leadership experience in her active role and I had expertise in current trends and ideas. We collaborated and really worked well together, said France. Other cohort members had similar experiences, but not without hard work. Being an intern was challenging because youre not the principal. You can analyze data and create a plan, but implementing that plan with someone else in the leadership position was sometimes difficult, said Hartrich. The future principals are eager to get into schools to positively affect students and staff. Education is a tough field to be in, said McCoy. We can find that passion again. Thats why were all here. I want to get that enthusiasm back in schools. I want to emphasize that I care about every student every day," said Swanson. "That will be my mission and vision with help from my teachers and administrative team." During their studies, the grad students worked with ISU professor Linda Lyman to publish a book, Brain Science for Principals: What School Leaders Need to Know, now available on Amazon. Neuroscience is a growing field. Were learning so much about the brain through new technologies that let us learn about what had formerly been a mysterious organ, said France. The purpose of the book is to share some of that cutting edge research in a palatable format with school leaders. The 24 chapters focus on questions about learning and how principals can apply the concepts in schools. One topic deals with stress in school. As soon as kids become stressed, their brain shuts down, said Hartrich. If students are stressed over math, you can eliminate their stress level by breaking down the assignments into smaller pieces. McCoy said the techniques can be used in communicating with staff, especially if bad news needs to be delivered. We learned how to deliver the information in a package for them to easily receive instead of shut down, she said. The book was written for principals and any school leaders in mind. It includes information we found beneficial. The other three graduates who completed the program are Christine Paxson, Matt Heid and Patricia Valente. When the final car, a white Outlander Sport, rolled off the local Mitsubishi assembly line six months ago, it lingered there for a while, giving workers a chance to have a moment, maybe reflect on their part in making a truly international product, maybe snap a selfie. After that, a severely-reduced work force just made parts. And there was no ceremony when that ended a couple weeks ago. The Mitsubishi logo was already off the building. The seven flags that once proudly flew over the main entrance were gone. Last week, the cafeteria closed. This week a food truck visited the plant each day so the 170 people remaining from a workforce that once numbered 3,900 could grab some lunch before they returned to assigned tasks like sorting materials and sweeping floors. All thats left is for them to show up Tuesday, sign some documents and go home. Jerry Berwanger thinks Tuesday will be especially hard. Hes 67 and has managed the plant for the past 10 years. The company asked him to delay his retirement 18 months ago to see it through pending labor contract negotiations. But then it quietly informed him the plant would be shuttered, a dark secret he would have to hold close for several months. Last July, he was en route to Detroit to inform United Auto Workers leadership of the coming shutdown when the news leaked in Japan. So the awful task of telling the 1,200 workers gathered for a hastily-called meeting fell to Ryosuke Kagimoto, the on-site president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors North Americas manufacturing. Kagimoto began to speak in his limited English and then broke down, sharing the pain of those hearing the news for the first time. After a long pause, he finished his remarks, ending with a deep, sorrowful bow. Theres nothing here that caused this place to go under, Bergwanger tells me, his Hawaiian shirt and blue jeans a bit incompatible with the plants executive board room where we talk. It wasnt the people. It wasnt the quality. We did everything we could to cut costs here. It was that we just didnt have the product. To put it another way my words, not his Mitsubishi didnt care enough about the American market to develop vehicles that would sell here in big numbers. Berwanger figures the plant had to make 75,000 cars a year to break even. In 2000, production peaked at 222,000 with two shifts of workers. Nine years later, when the recession hit, it made only 24,000, ceasing production for a third of the year, yet still needing to pay union workers under their no-layoff contract. Production rebounded to 64,000 cars by 2014, but by then Mitsubishi was focused on markets in southeast Asia. Whats ironic is that just as our plant is closing, Mitsubishis American market share has inched up in a year on pace to set a record for U.S. auto sales. And after seven years of losses, the company has made money in North America the past two years. Japanese automakers clearly can succeed in this country. Think Toyota, which sold 2.5 million vehicles here last year, 70 percent of them manufactured in its six U.S. plants. But some companies havent made it work. Think Suzuki and Isuzu. They exited the U.S. market years ago. Mitsubishi still sells cars in America. Theyre just not being made here. Bergwanger figures he and Kagimoto will be the last ones out of the plant Tuesday. There will be one final look around and perhaps an enduring thought about what might have been. SAUNEMIN Every Memorial Day, Tim Shubert would call his father, Anton, and thank him for his service to the country. He always remarked that I didnt need to do that, said Tim, a Saunemin native now living in Goshen, Ind. But I would tell him that once in a while, he didnt get to have the final say on every matter. Anton Shubert served in the U.S. Army during World War II from 1943 to 1945 and then returned home, farming the land until his death in 2011. Anton got married in 1944, but other than that, family members knew little about his time in the service. He'd graduated in 1941 from Saunemin High School, and received the Army Good Conduct Medal and European African Eastern Service Medal with two bronze stars. He never really talked to anyone about what he did or what transpired, his son Gerry Shubert, of Pontiac, told The Pantagraph. I even asked him what happened to his dog tags. He said he lost them, but didnt say much else about them. The answer may never come, but 72 years later, the tags were returned to the family after an Italian woman found them in a field on her property. Anton Shubert told family members he was in Italy and participated in the Battle of Anzio that began on Jan. 22, 1944. He said that at one time, he spent 42 days in a foxhole, Tim Shubert said. Late in life, he got sick with pancreatic cancer and I asked him if he was afraid to die. He told me no, that he just didnt want to be in pain. Then he told a story about being in a tank and hearing German soldiers walking on top of that tank. I think he felt like he could have died much younger and every day after that was a gift. He was asked a lot about what happened overseas and he usually said something like I dont know. That might have just been his way of saying that he didnt want to talk about it. The tags were found 70 to 80 miles north of the beaches of Anzio by a woman named Ilaria Grandi, Tim Shubert said. Through obituaries and translation websites, Grandi tracked down Tim through the Elkhart Christian Academy, where he taught until two years ago. She sent the tags to the school, and school officials handed them over to the family. She has given us a tremendous gift, Tim Shubert said. Memorial Day this year will be much more special. This was another touch of my father that I never saw coming. You just dont know what type of legacy you are leaving, and at different times, things from your past will come to the surface. This, for us, is still kind of a surreal experience. But its exciting as well. Whenever you feel like giving up on your dreams even though it's just a stone's throw away, think about the likes of Martece Yates who prove that everything is attainable with strong will and hard work. It's old news to hear someone graduate late but every story of long-earned success is extraordinary, and that of Martece Yates' is no exception. The Washington Post tells the tale of Martece Yates who graduated from college 20 years later than most people would in their lifetime. In the 1990s, like any other decent high school student, Yates applied to universities and got a couple of acceptance letters. And you all know what would happen next, she didn't go to any. In 1988, a businessman offered to pay for the college education of Yates and 66 other students from Kramer Middle School as part of his "I Have A Dream Program." The students would enjoy free schooling if they can graduate from college within six years after high school. In an account published on Southeast67.com, Martece Yates recalls that day when she found out that she was chosen to be part of the program. She was very excited because it had always been her dream to go to college. "It wasn't like our (family) circumstances were despair. But when it came to college, I would have been first generation. So, it was just amazing that someone who was rich wanted to do this with their money. It gave me my first sense of charity," she wrote. Even with high hopes and diligent work as a high school student, Martece Yates' ticket to college was thrown away. Her mother got addicted to drugs and she and her sister had to take charge of the household. When it was time to choose a college she got accepted to, she declined and chose to stay at home. She was afraid her mom would overdose and harm herself. For the next 19 years, she would work an administrative job at American Health Care Association. Yates would then have her own family with the said job helping her raise two children, and what got her to college in 2009. She managed to juggle her studies, full-time job and family life all at the same time, in order to graduate from Trinity Washington University on May 21,2016 with a Bachelor's degree in Nursing. "Martece Yates, B.S.N.!" getting that announcement at graduation. I'm excited about it; I can't wait. I mean, of course, I've taken the tougher road, but you know, it's all about completing it at the end. And then all the people I get to thank afterwards," Martece Yates said in a profile published on Fulfilling the Dream. Martece Yates fulfilled her dream at 40. She is now a college graduate. Do you have your own inspiring story or know any that has inspired you? Feel free to share it below in the comments section and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates. After recently revealing that Billy Brown had a secret family before he married his current wife Ami, the daughter they never heard of for the past 30 years is coming to the reality show. The fourth episode of "Alaskan Bush People" Season 4 titled "Growing the Wolfpack" is going to feature Billy's past, which according to the synopsis could undermine his family's future. Half-Sister To Join The Pack In the preview clip released by Discovery Channel, the Brown family gathers together and talked about their half-sister, Twyla. Radar Online has confirmed that Twyla is now 44 and lives in Billy's native town, Texas. Billy married Twyla's mother as a teenager, but things didn't work out and Twyla mother took her away. After 30 years, they're meeting again. The matriarch, Ami, said that it is a "profound" thing for her children to let a stranger in. Brown's youngest Rain said in the clip her worry about how Twyla will react to meeting them, saying "What if we scare her?" What Will Tear The Family Apart Billy can also be heard in the clip saying that they've spent their lives making the family strong and he doesn't want "this thing" to tear them apart. Whether he was referring to the past that's making a comeback in his life with his daughter Twyla will be revealed in the episode. The fourth season of "Alaskan Bush People" has promised to tackle the legal woes Billy and Bam are facing. They had pleaded guilty of fraud, lying about their residency, People Magazine reported. "Alaskan Bush People" airs every Friday at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel. A new report released on Thursday by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) stated that around 1.2 million U.S. college students were drinking alcohol on an average day last year, while more than 700,000 were using marijuana. Experts said that although the figures are not anymore new, the trend is already alarming. Alarming Number Of US College Students Drank Alcohol, Used Marijuana in 2015 SAMHSA's report called "A Day in the Life of College Students Aged 18 to 22: Substance Use Facts" showed that on an average day in 2015, there were 1.2 million full-time and 239,212 part-time U.S. college students who drank alcohol. Moreover, there were 703,759 full-time and 195,020 part-time college students who used marijuana. The report also stated that there were 2,179 full-time and 453 part-time U.S. college students who drank alcohol for the first time on an average day last year. There were also 1,326 full-time and 453 part-time college students who used marijuana for the first time. Dr. David Dean, behavioral research scientist at SAMHSA, told USA Today that the recent report shows U.S. students start to explore alcohol and marijuana during college. "There is a great deal of development that is still occurring during this age, particularly neurophysiological development, that can be inhibited by substance abuse," he warned. Parents Of College Students Play A Vital Role In Changing The Alarming Trend According to General Arthur Dean, chairman and CEO of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, the figures are not new but the trend is already alarming. He added that parents of college students play a huge role in changing the social norms related to alcohol consumption and marijuana use. "Parents have the greatest influence on children, and they need to have solid discussions (with students) about the dangers of alcohol use and the impact it can have on academics and social life," Arthur Dean stated. Arthur Dean added that the trend should be changed because these college students may become dependent on alcohol and marijuana later in life. He also warned that drinking alcohol or using marijuana can impact on the college students' behavior for the rest of their lives. Share your thoughts about the alarming number of college students who drink alcohol and use marijuana on a regular day. Leave some comments below. "Transformers" fans have been waiting for more news and updates about "Transformers 5." To build the hype for the upcoming film, Michael Bay teased fans with the first photo of the vehicle that we will probably see in "Transformers: The Last Knight." Michael Bay Shares First Photo Of 'Transformers 5' From Cuba According to Movie News Guide, "Transformers 5" director Michael Bay turned to Instagram and posted a green car parked on the street. He captioned it with "CUBA! Second American Movie shot in Cuba. Transformers. Amazing place!#transformers." At the time, it is difficult to tell if the car will be an Autobot or Decepticon. CUBA! Second American Movie shot in Cuba. Transformers. Amazing place!#transformers A photo posted by Michael Bay (@michaelbay) on May 25, 2016 at 10:39am PDT Fans were quick to speculate that the vehicle will be one of the vehicles that we will see in "Transformers: The Last Knight." One fan hopes that the green car will be the new company of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots. However, there are also speculations that the green car is just a random car that Bay shot to announce the arrival of "Transformers 5" in Cuba. Well, we will see. The green car is adorable and many believe that it will be a good addition to the Autobots. Per Movie Web, the car is the one you usually see on the streets of Cuba, where newer models are not allowed. The report suggests that if an Autobot or Decepticon is hiding in the place, then it should disguise itself in a classic car from the 50s or 60s due to the country's restriction on importing foreign vehicles. What do you think of the photo? Was it something from the 50s or 60s? 'Transformers 5' Will Have A Major Crossover Meanwhile, Parent Herald previously reported that there will be a potential crossover in "Transformers 5" and "Rom." Forbes suggested that Hasbro is planning to adapt "Rom," the old Parker Brother's story in the big screens and they might be introducing it in "Transformers: The Last Knight." These speculations spring from the fans' observations. Per the report, "Transformers 5" used a different font in its logo for "Transformers: The Last Knight." The font is similar to what was used in "Rom" suggesting a potential crossover. What do you think of the green car, should it be an Autobot or Decepticon? Do you want a crossover in "Transformers 5?" Share your thoughts about "Transformers: The Last Knight" in the comment section below. "Transformers: The Last Knight" will hit the big screens in 2017. The Duchess of Cambridge is demanding that Pippa Middleton get married soon - but not to Prince Harry. Allegations say that the Duchess of Cambridge, with the support of Prince William, wants Pippa Middleton and boyfriend James Matthews to settle down and essentially be more like the royal couple. Pippa Middleton and James Matthews reportedly recently dashed pair-up hopes with Prince Harry when they began living together. Pippa Middleton allegedly took up residence at James Matthews' home following a getaway to Corsica. Although Prince Harry recently took to task allegations by papers that he and Pippa Middleton had hooked up in the past, fans are still waiting to see how things would develop. Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton gained fan support as an unofficial royal love team after the Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge got married in 2011. But recent claims say that the Duchess of Cambridge, with the support of Prince William, are now unwittingly breaking the hearts of those rooting for the love team between Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton. Celeb Dirty Laundry alleges that the Duchess Of Cambridge is urging Pippa Middleton and James Matthew to make things official with marriage vows. Not only does the Duchess Of Cambridge want to hear wedding bells for Pippa Middleton and James Matthews. Claims say that the Duchess Of Cambridge wants Pippa Middleton and James Matthews to have children and get involved in charity. However, Pippa Middleton has more in common with Prince Harry, Prince William and the Duchess Of Cambridge without urging from anyone. Pippa Middleton has reportedly not been hanging about to snag Prince Harry, James, Matthews or anyone else but has engagements of her own on social work. According to Independent.ie Pippa Middleton is already involved in charity and had, in fact, been supporting Disability Snowsport UK ParaSnowBall 2016. Prior to that, People reports that Pippa Middleton raised as much as $275,000 earlier this year as an ambassador for the British Heart Foundation. The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William have not been getting on Pippa Middleton and James Matthews' case. Furthermore, whether Pippa Middleton marries James Matthews or someone else in the future (sliver of hope for Prince Harry fans here), the humanitarian go-getter will likely do so on her own terms. School kids in a remote Chinese village need to climb 2,625 feet of bamboo ladder on a cliff face to reach home upon return from boarding school. They have to take the same route when they would be going back to school. 6 To 15 Years Old Washington Post reported that this is the routine taken by more than a dozen kids every two weeks. These children are so young with some of them only aged 6. The oldest in the group is 15 years of age. The crude bamboo ladder they are using to reach their schools is a series of 17 bamboo ladders joined together. According to locals where the children live, the ladder is as old as the village itself. Many Have Died In interview with China Daily, one of the locals, Chen Jigu said that when a ladder would show signs of rotting, then they would be replacing that ladder. The steep climb is very dangerous for children and even for adults alike because people have already fallen from the stairs. Once you fall, you have nowhere to go but straight to the abyss. Government officials, however, said that the kids and the villagers alike would soon find an end to their difficult ordeal. The 72 families living in the village would soon enjoy stairs. When the stairs are installed, they would no longer have a hard time going to the marketplace to buy food or to sell stuff. According to Fox News, a team of 50 officials has already gone to visit the said village and would be making concrete actions to get their stairs in place. The Communist Party Secretary General said that the most important issue they want to solve is the transport issue. He said that it will pave the way for them to make larger-scale plans and look at opportunities in tourism in these areas. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Saturday Link Love is a new feature where I collect and post links to various articles Ive come upon over the past week. Feel free to share any interesting articles youve come along as well! The more the merrier. Note: Inclusion does not imply full agreement. New Favorite Tumbler: Headless Women of Hollywood, on FeministingBy decapitating the woman, she becomes an unquestionably passive object to the male gaze, the Tumblrs creator, comedian Marcia Belsky, explains. This Is What the Future of American Politics Looks Like, on PoliticoWhat were seeing this year is the beginning of a policy realignment, when those new partisan coalitions decide which ideas and beliefs they stand for. Do white people want merit-based admissions policies? Depends on who their competition is, on VoxIndeed, the degree to which white people emphasized merit for college admissions changed depending on the racial minority group. How We Marginalize Abuse Survivors: Valuing Forgiveness over Protection, on HA Reaching OutBut Joseph is smart. He decides to protect himself before he forgives his abusers. The Numbers are Staggering: U.S. Is World Leader in Child Poverty, on Raw StoryAs UNICEF reports, [Childrens] material well-being is highest in the Netherlands and in the four Nordic countries and lowest in Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and the United States. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Governor Gina Raimondo, left, looks on as D.O.T. truck driver Dee Pandolfi embraces Vice-President Joe Biden after introducing him at the East Providence D.O.T. on Friday. Iran's 10th Parliament Sworn In 05/28/16 Report by RFE/RL; photos by Islamic Republic News Agency The new Iranian parliament that was formed from elections held in February and April has been sworn in at its opening session in Tehran. The 290-member Islamic Consultative Assembly held its first meeting on May 28 with a fresh crop of reformist lawmakers who are expected to back President Hassan Rohani's efforts to modernize Iran's economy and social policies. Their victories ended the 12-year dominance of conservative hard-liners in the parliament. President Hassan Rohani addressing the new legislature Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei sent a message to the parliament opening, warning lawmakers to beware of "the schemes, charms, and impudently excessive demands" of Western powers. He urged parliamentarians to be true to the ideals of the country's 1979 Islamic revolution. Rohani addressed the new legislature, saying Iran needs $30 billion to $50 billion in annual foreign investment in order to reach its target of 8 percent economic growth. President Hassan Rohani addressing the new legislature The new parliament is expected to choose a speaker and a presiding board early next week. Incumbent speaker Ali Larijani -- a conservative -- and reformist Mohammad Reza Aref are the leading candidates vying to become speaker. Reformists associated with Rohani now hold 133 seats, while conservatives hold 125, according to an analysis conducted by the AFP news agency. The 29 independent lawmakers -- three mandates are vacant after two elections were nullified and one elected member died in a car crash -- will play an important role in determining the tone of the new assembly. Analysts say the shift in power will help advance Rohani's agenda of warmer relations with the West, increasing personal freedoms, and greater rights for women. The new parliament includes a record 18 women, an achievement Rohani said made him "very happy." The polls were the first political test for Rohani following the nuclear deal reached last year between Iran and world powers. Iran curbed its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions. But Tehran is eager to be integrated into the world economy after years of isolation and has complained about how long it is taking for the accord's economic benefits to be felt. We hope not to see these scenes in the 10th Parliament! (cartoon by Farsheed Rajabali, Ghanoon) In his speech to lawmakers, Rohani praised Larijani for supporting the nuclear pact and called for greater "interaction" between parliament and the government to "solve the problems and crises of the country." Rohani, who came to power in a landslide victory in 2013, is eager to improve economic conditions ahead of presidential polls in May 2017. He is expected to seek reelection. With reporting by dpa, AFP, and Vox.com Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Tehran, Riyadh Fail To Agree On Hajj Arrangements For Iranians 05/28/16 Source: RFE/RL Saudi Arabia and Iran failed to reach a deal on arrangements for Iranians to attend this year's Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, with officials from both countries blaming the other for the impasse. Tehran will not send Iranians on this year's Hajj pilgrimage unless their safety is ensured, after a stampede last year killed hundreds. Tehran will not send Iranians on this year's Hajj pilgrimage unless their safety is ensured, after a stampede last year killed hundreds. Saudi officials accused Iran of walking out of talks early on May 27, despite their having offered "solutions" to Iranian demands. They said agreement was reached in some areas, such as using electronic visas which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran. The Iranian government "will be responsible in front of Allah Almighty and its people for inability of the Iranian citizens to perform Hajj for this year" the Saudi pilgrimage office said, adding that the kingdom "has stressed its categorical rejection to politicize Hajj rituals." Pilgrims at Kaaba, Mecca performing the Hajj ritual (file photo by Medi Ghasemi, ISNA) Saeed Ohadi, head of Iran's pilgrimage office, said the "lack of a unified decision" by Saudi officials is delaying an agreement. Iranian officials have vowed not to send pilgrims to Saudi Arabia unless their safety is ensured. Last year, hundreds of pilgrims were killed during a stampede outside of Mecca that Tehran has blamed on Saudi mismanagement. Iran said at least 460 Iranians were killed in the incident. Based on reporting by Al-Jazeera.com and AFP Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org More Than 30 Iranian Students Lashed 99 Times Over Party 05/28/16 Source: RFE/RL Iran's judiciary says more than 30 students have received 99 lashes each for violating the Islamic republic's morality code. Mizan, a news agency affiliated with the judiciary, on May 27 quoted the prosecutor in Qazvin as saying the punishments were meted out in the northwestern city. No date was given. "Following a report about a large number of young boys and girls mingling together in a villa around Qazvin, all those taking part in the party were arrested immediately," Esmail Sadeghi Niyaraki said. Niyaraki said the students at the graduation party "were half-naked, consuming alcohol, and were engaged in indecent behavior." He said the students, who participated in a graduation party, were arrested, interrogated, and were each given 99 lashes within 24 hours. Alcohol is illegal in Iran, and mixed dancing is banned, especially if females do not wear a veil. Related report by Iranian daily Arman Based on reporting by AFP and The New York Times Copyright (c) 2016 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org Tehran Symphony Orchestra gives first performance with new conductor 05/28/16 Source: Tehran Times TEHRAN -- The Tehran Symphony Orchestra performs its first concert with new conductor Shahrdad Rohani at Vahdat Hall on Wednesday night after the Vienna-based Iranian maestro Ali Rahbari resigned from the orchestra earlier in April. Conductor Shahrdad Rohani acknowledges the audience during a concert with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra at Vahdat Hall on May 25, 2016. (photo by Asghar Khamseh, (photo by Asghar Khamseh, Mehr News Agency Some musicians, including violin virtuosos Arsalan Kamkar and Bardia Kiaras, and drummer Milad Omranlu, who separated from the Tehran Symphony Orchestra under Rahbari, accompanied the orchestra at the performance. Pieces by Russian composers Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff and Alexander Borodin, and German composer Ludwig van Beethoven highlighted the repertoire of the orchestra in the first part of its performance. It also performed pieces by Iranian composers Hossein Dehlavi and Heshmat Sanjari. "I selected maestro Heshmat Sanjari's 'Dance of Circle' for this concert because this great musician made very substantial contributions to the progress of the orchestra," Rohani said at the concert. Rohani got a surprise when the orchestra celebrated his birthday by performing "Happy Birthday to You" when he had left the stage for an intermission. "Sure, I will never forget this night," said Rohani after returning to the stage while his voice was full of emotion. "I am happy that this celebration was held for me in my homeland this time," he added. Rohani, who has led some prestigious orchestras, including London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was appointed to the orchestra on May 8. He has also been the guest conductor for Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony and the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras. "The Salesman" director, stars receive warm welcome at home 05/28/16 Source: Tehran Times TEHRAN - "The Salesman" director Asghar Farhadi and the film's stars Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidusti got a tremendous welcome on Friday morning after arriving in home with the two awards they won at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. "The Salesman" director Asghar Farhadi (L) and the film's stars Shahab Hosseini (R) and Taraneh Alidusti acknowledge fans during their arrival at the Imam Khomeini International Airport on May 27, 2016. (photo by Mohammadreza Nadimi, "The Salesman" director Asghar Farhadi (L) and the film's stars Shahab Hosseini (R) and Taraneh Alidusti acknowledge fans during their arrival at the Imam Khomeini International Airport on May 27, 2016.(photo by Mohammadreza Nadimi, ISNA Highly surprised to see the awaiting crowd, they were received by a large number of cineastes and fans at the Imam Khomeini International Airport, Persian media reported. Farabi Cinema Foundation Managing Director Alireza Tabesh, filmmaker Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, actors Amin Tarokh, Habib Rezai and Nima Raisi were seen amid the happy crowd. "The Salesman" was this year's only film to win two awards at Cannes. Shahab Hosseini received the Palme d'Or for best actor and Farhadi was presented with the best screenplay prize. Shahab Hosseini (photo by Mehr News Agency) The film is about Emad (Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidusti) who move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. An incident linked to the previous tenant dramatically changes the young couple's life. Surrounded by the reporters, Farhadi in his short speech expressed thanks to all the individuals who had come to the airport from long distances and promised to respond to all the questions during the press conference set for May 30. Asghar Farhadi (photo by Mehr News Agency) "Iran's cinema was missing a position in such an (international) event and this must have happened someday. However, we made our best efforts to be worthy representatives for the cinema of Iran and thank God it happened," Hosseini told the reporters at the airport. "I am happy with the happiness of my people. Of course, happiness is not just to make comedy films all the time. If we can bring happiness to people with our success, it is a positive act, and I thank God I have done my duty. Also, any event which brings an honor and respect to the people of this land makes me glad," he added. (photo by Mehr News Agency) Asked about his feeling on receiving the most significant award in the history of Iranian cinema, he replied, "Thanks God, I have done my duty to my homeland." He also added that he prefers to continue his career in his own country. Alidusti on her part was overwhelmed to see the huge number of fans and said, "I guessed there would be a warm welcome, but could not guess this many number of people. I hope we can be good representatives for the cinema of Iran. "I hope this success would act as a bridge for more appearance of Iranian cinema in international arena," she added. Big banks are bringing cardless technology to their Inland ATMs. Friday, Bank of America announced a broad rollout of the mobile phone-enabled technology to 5,000 locations, including 45 in the Inland Empire. Customers will be able to use phones with stored bank information as digital wallets instead of pulling out their ATM cards. Those ATMs will display a contactless symbol, which is used to identify devices compliant with the EMV Europay, Mastercard and Visa standard for credit and debit payments. Customers will be able to use phones with stored bank information as digital wallets at those sites instead of pulling out their ATM cards. Earlier in the week, Wells Fargo Bank announced that this summer is will offer a mobile app for Android users called Wells Fargo Wallet. It will allow them to use their phones for transactions at millions of NFC-enabled payment terminals worldwide. NFC stands for Near Field Communication, two devices talking to each other from about 2 inches apart. Wells Fargo expects that by the end of the year more than 40 percent of its ATMs will be NFC-enabled. Inland ATMs will be part of the rollout, according to Jim Smith, head of Wells Fargo Virtual Channels. Mobile banking is the fastest growing channel in Wells Fargos history, Smith said in an email. Five million of the banks customers, about 38 percent, use Android phones, and they log into the bank on an average of 17 times a month. Contact the writer: fbuck@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9551. Beaumont has a few things in common with San Bernardino and Stockton, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Insolvency, years of deficit spending and borrowing from restricted accounts to shore up the citys general fund are among the issues that state auditors and local officials have identified as problems in Beaumont. Seven former city officials have been arrested on several charges including embezzlement and misappropriation of funds. But there are also some key differences that have led Beaumont officials for now to rule out filing for Chapter 9 protection as an option. Why file for bankruptcy? Filing for Chapter 9 under federal bankruptcy law, also known as reorganization, allows cities breathing room to restructure debts, defer payments and get their finances in order. Its often seen as the last resort for municipalities with only a small number doing so since 2010. San Bernardino, Stockton and Detroit are among the most notable. In San Bernardinos case, city officials described their circumstances as dire in July 2012 as they faced an immediate cash-flow shortage and were uncertain if they could make payroll and pay vendors. The reason to file bankruptcy is if you have obligations coming due that you know you wont be able to satisfy, be they payments for example to CalPERS or ongoing costs, said Michael Sweet, a San Francisco attorney with the firm of Fox Rothschild who specializes in bankruptcy, including Chapter 9. Detroit and Stockton left bankruptcy with plans that allowed them to reduce payments to bondholders. San Bernardino, which is still working on its exit plan, is proposing to do the same. San Bernardino also used the Chapter 9 process to renegotiate its contracts with labor groups. I think what they all had in common is the council determined there was no other alternative but bankruptcy, Sweet said. But I would expect any city council faced with that question would look at every other alternative before making a decision to file. What are the disadvantages to filing for bankruptcy? Seeking bankruptcy protection can be both costly and time-consuming. San Bernardino has been in bankruptcy almost four years and has spent millions in legal and consulting fees. Vallejo spent $15 million in bankruptcy costs, Sweet said. Beaumont, which broached the subject of bankruptcy in its budget plan released last July, noted that Stockton spent over $20 million. Are Beaumont officials getting any help making a decision? Two advisors helping Beaumont put together its financial plan are familiar with the bankruptcy process. Michael Busch, of Urban Futures, has also been working for San Bernardino. Bob Deis is the former Stockton city manager who helped put together that citys exit plan, known as a plan of adjustment. Where do Beaumont leaders stand right now? City officials say filing for bankruptcy is not a viable option for Beaumont. They cite some notable differences between Beaumont and the cities of Stockton and San Bernardino in explaining why. Unlike those cities, Beaumont is not dealing with general fund debt and retiree health plans. Also, the city does not need to break labor contracts as its agreements are already open for renegotiation. Although the citys general fund is insolvent, officials are hoping to find other ways to solve the problems. Last year, the council cut its general fund by $4 million and officials will release a budget plan for the next fiscal year in the coming weeks, Councilman Lloyd White said. We are working on a work-out plan which is a five to ten year plan to getting the city back to solvency and back on the right path, he said. Much of the citys debt is through community facilities district bonds levied on thousands of homeowners. In essence, they are carrying the debt instead of the city. We dont really have significant debt that could be excused by a bankruptcy, White said. Sweet said it makes sense for the city to look at other solutions as filing for bankruptcy is not only costly but can be damaging to a citys reputation. Could the citys stance change? Beaumonts budget plan included a very significant caveat. If the city unexpectantly experiences a major financial hit such as losing a major lawsuit before the city recovers to solvency, then protection under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code may be an option, it states. A potential big hit looming on the horizon for Beaumont is a lawsuit from the Western Riverside Council of Governments in which it could owe more than $60 million in uncollected regional transportation fees more than twice its general fund budget of $29 million. The city is appealing a trial court judgment that found that Beaumont owed $42.9 million in transportation fees, retroactive interest of $14.8 million, and $8,246 per day until the money is paid or if the case is overturned on appeal. White said the citys stance has not changed since the time of the budget report and it is waiting to see what happens with the case. The ski town of Mammoth Lakes faced a similar situation in 2012 after it was hit with a $43 million court judgment in favor of a development company. The town filed for bankruptcy but it was dismissed from court after it agreed to a settlement with the company. Even then, bankruptcy attorney Sweet said hes not sure if filing for bankruptcy helped. You have to wonder if they might have settled without having to file, he said. Contact the writer: 951-368-9558 or ighori@pressenterprise.com In some ways, even Riverside, the biggest city in Riverside County, still feels like a small town. Imagine what it was like back in the early 20th century. In every town in the county, everyone truly must have known everyone else. A young man named Burr Bates learned this the hard way in 1904. John and Mary Bates moved their family from Minnesota to Riverside in 1892. They had several children, including Burr. He spent his early school years in Riverside. But by the time the 1900 census was taken, Mary and her five youngest children, including 16-year-old Burr, were living with her widower son-in-law in Winchester. Marys husband, John, was not recorded as living with his family. It appears Burr Bates went to high school, but he quit in 1900 and never graduated. Based on reports in the local papers of the time, it seems he drifted somewhat aimlessly after leaving school. In March 1901, a Riverside newspaper referred to him as a popular bicyclist, although there was never another mention of Bates and that hobby. At the end of 1902, he went to work in a livery stable in Temecula, but a few months later he was back at home. In March 1903, he took a job in Little Lake. Five months later, he went to Warners ranch to help drive cattle. Then in November 1903 it was reported he was working with the Hemet dray company. Bates stayed in Hemet the next few months. Hemets population at that time was under 1,000 people, and the city was well aware Bates lived there. On Jan. 10, 1904, a horse vanished from a Hemet mans barn. The horse reappeared in Riverside the next day, where it had been traded for another horse and some cash. It was noted in Hemet that Bates had disappeared at the same time as the horse, and he was the immediate suspect. Bates later said he took the new horse and the cash to San Bernardino and lived it up. Very soon, Bates heard the Riverside County sheriff was after him. He hopped on a train for points north and ended up in Bremerton, Wash., where he enlisted in the Navy and began training on a ship. In August, Riverside County Sheriff P.M. Coburn learned of Bates whereabouts. He wired authorities in Washington, who took Bates into custody. Coburn caught a train and, in as quick a trip as was possible in those days, he made it to Washington, cut through any Navy red tape and returned with Bates to Riverside in a week. Bates fessed up to his crime and pleaded guilty. According to the Sept. 7, 1904 Riverside Daily Press, the district attorney said, From what he says of himself, he was leading a hard life before he committed the crime. As it was his first offense, the judge sentenced Bates to one year at San Quentin. After Bates left prison, his trail went cold. He appears to have come back to live in this area, but the only mention found was in 1933, when a man named Burr Bates was a state executive committeeman for District 5 of the Disabled American Veterans. It seems after his brush with the law, Bates stayed out of trouble and out of newspapers for good. If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com. UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox suffered no shortage of optimism in giving a state of the campus address to the Citizens University Committee this week. Wilcox, who came to UCR nearly three years ago, touted everything from increased graduation rates to rises in the amount of research funding the school has attracted since he arrived. He said improvements in both academic areas and in the physical characteristics of UCR will accelerate over the coming years. Were taking off at a steeper slope and the next 10 to 15 years are going to be something to behold, Wilcox said at the committees breakfast meeting on Wednesday, May 25. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the chancellors speech was the outlining of the just-completed Physical Master Plan study. The study is a projection of growth for the campus, anticipating an increase in enrollment from the nearly 22,000 this year to 30,000 by 2030. Additional buildings will dot the campus landscape under the plan, but most will be clustered on the eastern and northern edges. Part of the plan includes a long-talked-about events center, parking lot and student housing complexes north of Linden Avenue, where the vintage duplexes built for military personnel during World War II still house graduate students. Whats new in the plan is a transportation hub that would be created by extending University Avenue farther east from its current terminus, where it bends left and becomes Canyon Crest Drive. The road extension would accommodate a bus terminal that, in partnership with the Riverside Transit Authority, would create a central stop for all buses serving the university. It would tie in service to the nearby Metrolink station. In addition, there are plans for growth off campus, as well. On June 6, ground will be broken on a new building for citrus research. The biosafety-level 3 plant will be built at Rustin and Marlborough avenues north of campus. The lab will concentrate on research on the huanglongbing bacteria, which causes the devastating citrus greening disease. Wilcox was critical of the way UCR looks to outsiders, particularly those passing by where the 60 and 215 freeways cross paths. We want to open it up, he said of the visual characteristics of the campus. Part of the plan calls for a new building on the east side of the freeway, directly above the terminus of Martin Luther King Boulevard. The name and function of the building have not yet been determined. The plan calls it the core campus south extension and says it will enhance institutional identity on the southern hillside. Wilcox said the recent agreement with California Air Resources Board to relocate its emissions lab from El Monte to Riverside was an example of the way the university can help in bringing more high-tech jobs to the region. The lab will employ 400 people, mostly in technology-based jobs. Weve got to get more engaged in economic development and being a catalyst for the community, Wilcox said. Thats on our agenda for the next three to four years. The increasing amounts of research money the school has attracted will help as well, he said, referring to the $101 million the school received in the current fiscal year. Most of this money hires people, he said. **** Area middle school and high school students will be invited to become anti-hackers for a week this summer. The Air Force Associations CyberCamp Program will be partnering with San Bernardino Valley College to give 50 local students the chance to learn about cyber safety, cyber ethics and critical network security skills. The camp program establishes teams of students in the role of IT administrators faced with identifying the weaknesses in their systems. The program is free, but students and their parents must register. To access the registration site, visit eventbrite.com and search for 2016 AFA CyberCamp in Riverside, CA. Contact the writer: mmuckenfuss@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9595 Opioids like Vicodin and Percocet are commonly prescribed to dull pain after medical procedures and to treat chronic pain. They also commonly languish in medicine cabinets, sometimes for years, making easy pickings for someone with an addiction. The consequences can be deadly: More than 165,000 people died in the U.S. from overdoses related to prescription opioids between 1999 and 2014, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Im guilty of keeping them too long myself. Until last month, when I turned over a freezer bag full of unwanted and expired medications on the twice-a-year National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, I had a bottle left over from a dental procedure three years ago. Alternatives? What are consumers to do the rest of the year if they want a safe alternative to flushing unwanted drugs down the toilet or tossing them into the garbage? Drugs that are flushed can taint our rivers, lakes and water supplies. Drugs in the trash also may harm the environment and can be found by children, pets and even adults looking for a high. There are a growing number of year-round disposal sites in California, but your options depend largely on where you live and what kind of drugs youre trying to unload. For instance, it might be difficult to find a place that will accept controlled drugs, which include legal drugs that are closely regulated by the government, such as addictive opiates. In reality, it might be hard for you to find a convenient place at all. Its very time-consuming and you may get the runaround, warns Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the California Product Stewardship Council, a nonprofit that created the website DontRushToFlush.org. (The group also calls on pharmaceutical companies to share in the cost of drug disposal.) The safest and most environmentally responsible option is to take unwanted medications to a drug take-back site. But theres no consistent, statewide collection system because theres no consistent source of funding, Sanborn says. Its whoever can afford to offer it and whoever wants to do it, she says. Some communities, mostly in Northern California, have adopted ordinances to operate drug collection programs funded by drugmakers. They include Alameda, Marin and Santa Cruz counties. One is pending before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. But most of these programs are not yet up and running, Sanborn says. Disposal sites So, to find sites near you, start with DontRushToFlush.org, where you can search by California ZIP code. Pay attention to the search results, which explain whether controlled drugs are accepted. (Some other medications such as chemotherapy drugs also come with specific disposal instructions and locations. Same with sharps, such as hypodermic needles.) For more options, try the states CalRecycle website at calrecycle.ca.gov. Click on the Consumers tab and then on the Medication Waste link, where youll be directed to a not-very-user-friendly search page. To find take-back sites that definitely accept controlled drugs, check the federal Drug Enforcement Administrations website at deadiversion.usdoj.gov/ drug_disposal/ or call 800-882-9539. It turns out the most convenient option may be a new one. The drugstore chain Walgreens announced plans to install medication disposal bins at 500 stores nationwide. The effort began last month in California with 50 stores, says Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso. The bins are available during pharmacy hours usually 24 hours and accept prescription medications, including controlled drugs, and over-the-counter medications. They dont accept sharps. Our goal is to get at the misuse of medications as well as to help curb the rise in overdose deaths, Caruso says. DontRushToFlush.org has integrated participating Walgreens stores into its search results, or find a list of stores here: http://bit.ly/246LNQ4. If your search is still coming up short, try checking with your garbage hauler, local household hazardous waste program, pharmacy or hospital, or local law enforcement agency. Finally, if you cant find a convenient disposal site, most government agencies including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggest you throw unwanted drugs into the trash following these rules: Remove the drugs from their containers and mix them with dirt, kitty litter or used coffee grounds to make them unappealing to kids and pets and to dissuade anyone who might be hunting for drugs. Before tossing in the trash, place the mixture in a sealable plastic bag or other container to prevent it from leaking. Scratch out any personal information on prescription labels to protect your privacy before disposing of medicine containers. And though Sanborn and some others disagree, the FDA says some drugs should be flushed if you cant find a take-back site because they may be especially harmful and, in some cases, fatal with just one dose, says spokesman Christopher Kelly. The list of drugs, which you can find at http://1.usa.gov/1YWB4q7, includes Fentanyl, Oxycodone and other opioids. We believe that this risk far outweighs any potential risk to human health or the environment that may come from disposal by flushing, the FDA says. This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, a service of the California HealthCare Foundation. Contact the writer: AskEmily@kff.org Five men with alleged connection to a Mexican drug cartel were arrested and more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine were seized as part of an undercover drug sting Thursday, state officials said. The suspects met with undercover agents in the parking lot of Hooters, 725 N. Milliken Ave, according to a California Department of Justice statement. A total of 53 pounds of methamphetamine valued at more than $2.6 million were seized from group, which is suspected of being associated with the Sinaloa cartel, authorities said. Benjamin Machado-Morales, Heriberto Coronado-Martin, Eric Villareal-Aguilar, Eduardo Ruano-Alvarez and Hector Marroquin were arrested on suspicion of transportation of methamphetamine, possession for sales of methamphetamine, and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine after the men met with undercover agents in the parking lot of Hooters restaurant in the 700 block of N. Milliken Avenue, according to the California Department of Justice statement. Child endangerment charges are also pending for Villareal Aguilar. They were booked into the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department West Valley Detention Center. The first Hillary Clinton campaign office in the Inland Empire is opening Sunday, May 29 in Colton. The office at 223 S. Rancho Ave. will have a grand opening 3 p.m. Click here to RSVP. These offices will serve as platforms to communicate why Hillary Clinton is the only candidate who can break down the barriers that are holding Americans back and build ladders of opportunity and empowerment in their place, a campaign news release read. Clintons campaign has opened offices throughout California ahead of the states June 7 primary. While Clinton is all but assured of getting enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination, a loss to Bernie Sanders in the solidly blue state would give Sanders campaign new life and deliver a humiliating blow to Clinton. Clinton and Sanders held separate rallies in Riverside on Tuesday. Sanders also spoke to supporters in San Bernardino, Cathedral City and Pomona. A Temecula-based company that makes riot shields, face shields for riot helmets and other types of protective gear is a finalist for a multimillion-dollar contract with the Mexican Army, which is looking to bulk up its forces in response to cartel-backed violence. Roy Paulson of Paulson Manufacturing said Friday his company is competing with six Chinese distributors and two Mexican firms for the deal to provide full-body riot shields and face shields, which would be worth more than $2 million. This would be a really big deal for us if it goes through, he said. Paulson already runs his Temecula factory five days a week, 24 hours a day. If he gets the Mexican deal, which is complicated by multiple layers of both U.S. and Mexican red tape, hed ramp up production to seven days a week and hire more workers. Competing for the bid has been an interesting experience for Paulson, who has flown sales representatives to Mexico City more than a half-dozen times to answer questions and present Mexican officials with samples of his gear. His competition is coming in at lower price points but Paulson said the quality of his gear which was designed to the exacting standards of the U.S. military is second to none. Hes hoping Mexican officials take that into consideration and weigh the costs of replacing substandard equipment when they award the contract, which will be announced in around two weeks. Everyone has had bad experiences with buying things cheap but in this case there is a risk of people getting hurt, he said. Paulson Manufacturing was founded by Tom Paulson, Roys father, following World War II. In the mid 2000s, Roy Paulson started focusing on exporting his companys wares to European and Latin American markets, a reaction to Chinese companies that were flooding the market with less expensive versions of his products. I got tired of playing defense and I said, I want to play offense. Its much more fun to play offense, he told The Press-Enterprise in 2010. Paulson has since become a mentor of sorts for other Inland executives who are interested in tapping foreign markets and he has worked to change U.S. policies that were hindering trade. In addition to the long-running battle against drug cartels, a war in Mexico that shows no signs of ending any time soon, the Mexican Army and its police forces have used riot gear to maintain the peace in its expansive capital city during protests. Paulson said his gear has been battle-tested for those sorts of operations here in the U.S., citing use of his equipment by the Anaheim police force and other large departments. Contact the writer: 951-368-9698 or aclaverie@pressenterprise.com As a young boy, Adrian Valdovinos loved to follow his mother around in their small kitchen and ask questions. Whats that, Mom? Why are you adding that? Can I help? Bibiana Burgos remembered. His twinkling and mischievous green eyes peered out from underneath a sometimes-wild mop of dark, curly hair as he watched his mother expertly and gingerly float from refrigerator to stove making Colombian family favorites, including arroz de coco con cangrejo y platanos amarillos a regional dish of rice, coconut and crab with fried yellow plantains. That was his favorite, Burgos said. He would always ask me to make it, and when he was about 10, he started following me into the kitchen and learning how to make it himself. As he grew up, his passion for food and cooking intensified, leading him to settle in a future in the culinary field. I have a sister who lived in England, and he was going to go live with her so he could study to become a chef, the proud mother said in a phone interview Thursday. He was very excited. Those dreams shattered Aug. 12, 2006, when 16-year-old Adrian was gunned down in the bathroom of Community Park at Church Street and San Bernardino Avenue in Redlands. We were devastated, said the 48-year-old mother, who now lives outside of California. His brothers and sisters loved him so much, and they were destroyed by his death. Burgos said Adrian was a popular senior at Redlands High School, and dozens of his friends some she had never met filled the Catholic church where the family held his service. It was overwhelming for me, she said. I was still mourning my son, my boys death, but it felt so good to know that he had touched so many lives and that he was so well-liked. Nearly a decade after his death, Burgos has been sent into an emotional tailspin after learning that four men had been arrested in her sons homicide and subsequently released. It was just too much for me, she said. Burgos became physically ill and ended up in the hospital. Thats where I found out I was two months pregnant, she said. I think the shock was just too much, and I lost the baby. Three Redlands men and one from San Bernardino were arrested in connection with Adrians death, but they were released, confirmed Lt. Travis Martinez, adding that the investigation was ongoing. I cant say too much to compromise the case, but we are definitely still working it, he said. On May 19, Burgos daughter called her while sobbing, telling her that two men were arrested May 18 in Adrians shooting. I had so many emotions at one time, Burgos said. I was relieved, angry, hopeful and sad. Eager to learn about their first court appearance, she called Redlands police and learned they had been released. She then learned two other men also were arrested and released in the case. The arrests and releases of the men tore open old wounds for the family. I know thats why I ended up in the hospital, she said. I couldnt work for a week. I didnt know what I was feeling. The recent cluster of arrests was not the first in Adrians case. Less than three weeks after the shooting, Redlands police arrested a 19-year-old admitted gang member who they believed had confronted Valdovinos and shot him unprovoked. He later was released without being charged. Despite the unbelievable lows of learning the men who may have killed her son were back on the streets, Burgos said she hasnt lost faith in the Redlands Police Departments ability to solve Adrians slaying. She said Detective Todd McMeans words continue to stick with me. He told me that Adrians case would be solved, and I believe him. To this day, I have faith in Redlands police and in God that they wont let the people who did this to my son not be punished. My son was not an animal to be killed the way he was, she said. He was a person with people who love him to this day. I want those who did this to him to know that. He is loved. Anyone with information should call the Redlands Police Department at 909-798-7681. Contact the writer: beatriz.valenzuela@langnews.comTwitter: @BeatrizVNews Boy Scouts to present top Award to 2 people RIVERSIDE Riverside Fire Chief Michael Moore and Tom Hunt, president of the Riverside Unified School District Board of Trustees, will receive the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Boy Scouts of America, Mount Rubidoux District, California Inland Empire Council. They will be honored June 9 at the Mission Inn, where there will be a reception at 6 p.m. and dinner an hour later. The event is open to the public, with tickets starting at $125. Information: Tracy Youden at 909-793-2463, ext. 123 Staff report RIVERSIDE The 15th annual Rally Round the Flag barbecue is set for June 10 at the March Field Air Museum. The deadline to RSVP is Friday. Admission is $35 per person or $20 for active-duty military. There will be a no-host bar at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6 p.m. The event is hosted by the Moreno Valley Chamber of Commerce and the museum. RSVP: 951-697-4404 or office@movalchamber.org Staff report RIVERSIDE The following is the June meeting schedule for three support groups that meet at the Riverside Medical Clinic: June 8: Alzheimers Family and Caregiver Support Group. Psychiatrist Rajagopal Keerthy Sunder will be the featured speaker. June 9: Prostate Cancer Family Support Group. Joe Christie and Tracy Hoffman of AbbVie will present The Man Plan. June 15: Endometriosis Family Support Group. Dr. Sonia Rebeles, an expert in minimally invasive, benign gynecologic surgery, will be the featured speaker. The meetings will begin at 7 p.m. in lower-level classrooms 1 and 2 at the medical clinic, 7117 Brockton Ave. Information: 951-682-2753 or RMCcharity.org. Staff report COLTON The Inlandia Institue will celebrate the launch of Growing Up Aleluya by local author Ernest F. Garcia on June 18. The free event will begin at 2 p.m. at the Colton Area Museum, 380 N. La Cadena Drive. Growing Up Aleluya chronicles Garcias upbringing in a Colton barrio. He will read excerpts from his memoir and discuss the book. Garcia is professor emeritus and former dean of the College of Education at Cal State San Bernardino. A school is named for him in Colton. Information: Cati Porter 951-790-2458 or cati.porter@inlandiainstitute.org Anne Marie Walker TEMECULA Wanda Allen, owner of Follow Up Sales Strategies, a business that helps professionals increases their sales, will be the featured speaker at the June Professional Womens Roundtable luncheon. The meeting will last from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at The Grill Room at the Temeku Hills Golf Club, 41687 Temeku Drive. The cost is $20 for members and $25 for guests. Information: 951-300-6676 or pwronline.org Manny Otiko Send items for possible inclusion in Community Notes to community@pressenterprise.com. Although Im not a Pollyanna far from it, some would say I do find myself looking for the silver lining. When a terrorist attack hit San Bernardino Dec. 2, I thought surely something good would come out of it. With the worlds attention focused on this little-known, poorly understood Inland Empire town, Maybe, just maybe, help for its long-standing problems (poverty, crime, low educational attainment and the like) would be forthcoming, once people knew. I reached out to San Bernardino folks I thought would be able to tell me whether this has happened. The answers I got were not what I was expecting. But they did give me hope. Hillel Cohn, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Emanu El in San Bernardino, still wears his SB Strong lapel pin every day. He told me that clergy from the areas many religions coming together at vigils for the shooting victims was the catalyst to form a group called the Inland Valley Interfaith Alliance. RELATED: All the latest developments related to the San Bernardino shooting The alliance brings together clergy and laity to talk about the areas problems and strategize how to address them, Cohn said. It includes many denominations of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he told me, naming religious leaders including some new to the area but already digging in to help with the recovery. Reaching across religious lines, building cooperation among faith communities, the alliance hopes to forge lasting bonds of understanding, he said. It has taken part in Common Ground peace walks in San Bernardino, marching against gun violence and gang activity. Rev. Norman Copeland, pastor of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in San Bernardino, said the alliance has enabled the religious community to have a reasonable discussion about what to tell their congregations, so people of faith are not left alone to their own interpretation of whats going on. Hopefully out of this dialogue, we can begin to empower people to support one another and understand one another, he said. If that message is being preached from pulpits in the region, that indeed is something positive to come from the tragedy. Positive efforts are emerging on smaller scales, too. RELATED: Officers on scene reflect 6 months after tragedy Former Mayor Pat Morris told me he, his wife and several other members of their church have begun working weekly with San Bernardino High School seniors on life skills and planning for their futures, including college. After the shootings, the teenagers brainstormed what they could do to reach out to people directly affected by the shootings, Morris said. They decided to bake cookies for employees of Inland Regional Center, where the terror attack took place. Three times this semester, they made hundreds and hundreds of chocolate chip cookies, (including) cards and notes to tell them, the community continues to think of them, Morris said. Morris led the committee that worked out how to divvy up $2.5 million in charitable donations that poured in after the shooting. More than 6,000 people in 43 states sent donations as little as $5 and as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars, Morris said; many enclosed notes offering care and concern. Thats certainly something positive coming out of the tragedy. A few national media returned after the tragedy to tell other stories about San Bernardino. C-SPANs Book TV did programs on the terror attack, the memorial being planned for the victims and a new book on global terrorism. But it also did segments on books about the Earp clan, Mojave pioneers and the Arrowhead Springs resort. As part of their flying tour of the United States, James and Deborah Fallows visited San Bernardino months before the shootings to learn about the citys efforts to overcome its problems. San Bernardino became the lead in James Fallows article in his American Futures series in The Atlantic magazine, to contrast what everyone knew about San Bernardino with what the Fallowses had learned earlier about the city, including an arts movement covering derelicts buildings with murals and a nonprofit technical school teaching computer-controlled machining to unskilled locals. Our main hope is that the attention on the city might be some kind of galvanizing moment that will help be the basis of a turnaround, he wrote in an email. (My hope, too.) Some help doesnt come quickly. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, told me he is working with the San Bernardino police and sheriffs departments to seek reimbursement for the costs of responding to the Dec. 2 attacks. The application was finally completed last week. Aguilar recently got language inserted in an appropriations bill to create a liaison position in the Department of Homeland Security to help future communities struck by mass tragedies to navigate the reimbursement process. In addition, Aguilar and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, co-wrote a letter to a Congressional subcommittee advocating additional funding for Homeland Security to address the problems. Bipartisan cooperation is certainly an encouraging outcome of the tragedy. Its so rare in Congress these days. I also asked Greg Devereaux, CEO of San Bernardino County, which lost many environmental health employees in the attack, what good he has seen come from the tragedy. He said the words of Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attacks, continue to be an inspiration. Giuliani spoke to many of the countys 19,000 employees on Jan. 4, exhorting them not to let the terrorists win. They want to inspire fear, Devereaux said of terrorists. They want to disrupt our way of life, our sense of normalcy. Giulianis message was that San Bernardino County, like New York, must do everything in its power to emerge stronger and more vibrant than before the attack. He firmly believes that is how you combat terrorism, Devereaux said. If you emerge stronger economically, they dont win, we do. Weve taken that to heart. Devereaux personally has spoken to a number of investment groups, encouraging them to consider the areas real estate for their portfolios, not because they feel sorry for us, but because the business case justifies it, he said. The terror attack also brought county employees closer together, Devereaux said. Were paying more attention to trying to take care of one another and care for one another, he said. And theres a sense of that in the community, too. It happened in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11. Its happening in Paris and Belgium now. And its happening in San Bernardino. Out of horrific acts of terror, communities are growing stronger. Just six months since the San Bernardino mass shooting, it may be too early to tell. But already there are signs the community and its people will emerge stronger. Contact the writer: 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@pressenterprise.com With Californias June 7 primary approaching, the San Bernardino County elections office is opening early voting locations Tuesday, May 31 at the Ontario Conference Center, 1947 E. Convention Center Way and Victorville City Hall, 14343 Civic Drive. Early voting at the elections office in San Bernardino, 777 E. Rialto Ave., started earlier this month. Voters can drop off their vote-by-mail ballots prior to June 7 at the early voting sites as well as city clerks offices and county libraries. Early voting will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and on June 4. On primary day, June 7, the elections office will be open for voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com The Ashanti Regional Minister, Alexander Ackon, has rejected reports of a breakdown in law and order and a rise in crime levels in the region. His remarks come on the back of the protests that followed the alleged beating to death by police of a twenty-seven-year old male in Krofrom. The deceased, one Osei Tawiah was allegedly brutalized after some Police men on patrol duties mistook him for a criminal. Speaking on Eyewitness News in reference to incidents of robbery, Mr. Ackon said robbery cases had reduced in the region. If you want to count in terms of incidents, it is on the lower side but every incident of robbery is a very serious and we need to tackle it as that. No escalation of violence in the region He stated at there were occurrences of serious crimes like murder but that was no indication of a rise in crime in the region. According to him, Occasionally issues are very serious particularly when they involve murder and those like that but I wouldnt agree that there is escalation of violence or anything about security being down. The regional minister acknowledged that there was room for improvement security-wise but there was however no evidence of a security break down. I believe that there is nothing about losing security but we need to up our game in the context of new ways of behaving To be honest, if you know Kumasi or the Ashanti region, there is no indication of security breakdown. Source: Citifmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Police Administration and other allied security agencies have devised a comprehensive strategic election-day security detail to provide protection for the entire electoral process. This includes providing security for electoral officials, electoral materials and voters, as well as special strategy to police the movement of electoral materials before and after elections. Mr John Kudalor, the Inspector General of Police, who disclosed this at the police/media encounter dubbed: IGPs Dialogue Series, said the security apparatus had also woven another security web to contain the euphoria and consternation that followed the announcement of the results. The aftermath of the election is as crucial to the security agencies as the voting day, he said. In view of the security arrangement, personnel for election duties from all the security agencies would be trained in modern models of election security to bring them up to speed to deal with any infractions. He said the modern models of election security also sought to ensure that the personnel approached their duties with the required levels of professionalism in the maintenance of law and order before, during and after the election. The IGP also reminded the political parties to religiously comply with the Public Order Act 491 to enable the police to make security arrangement for them anytime they planned to hold any special event. Mr Kudalor said the security agencies were leaving no stone unturned in the quest to secure the election; we owe it a duty to our forbearers, ourselves and posterity to deliver another peaceful election. We cannot afford to go back on the progress we have made as a nation, therefore, let us work hard in our individual and collective capacities to chalk another electoral success. The IGP said to demonstrate the Police Administrations determination to ensure a violent free election it had set up the National Election Security Taskforce charged with the responsibility of protecting the polls. He said the police had conducted a national security audit which had identified all flash-points and vulnerable areas and had comprehensive operation strategies in place to take care of them. Mr Kudalor said the police and the military had workable rules of engagement to ensure that the military came in when the situation overwhelmed the police. Media practitioners asked series of questions which bordered on general policing, perceived political interference in security operations, how to reduce occasional clashes between police and media practitioners during operations, and crime in general. Other issues raised by the media are the mandate of security detail for presidential and vice presidential candidates, the status of party vigilante groups, and how to control hate speech peddlers. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Multinational Brazilian companies working on the 695.6-kilometre Eastern Corridor Road project, have achieved four million man-hours without any accident, Otavio Schaitza, in charge of Communications for the project has said. The Odebrecht Engineering and Construction International and Andrade Gutierrez are the consortium with more than over 65 years experience in the construction industry working on the national route N2 starting from Tema roundabout to Kulungugu, North-Eastern border with Burkina Faso. Schaitza said in a statement issued in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency said in March this year, the Eastern Corridor Road Project Team realised four million man-hours without a single accident resulting in grave injury. The communication official attributed the outcome to good safety education and practices that resulted in having more than 30,000 man-hours in training sessions. The companies also uses collective protection equipment that create safe work environment for workers. The Joint Venture Partners commit to international best practices in upholding safety of their employees and when they are employed, they are made to go through more than 30 man-hours training sessions in work safety education, best work practices, how to use collective protection equipment and how to create a safe work environment for all workers, the statement said. According to various international safety organisations, falls from height, trench and scaffold collapse, electric shock, arc flash or blast, failure to use proper personal protective equipment and repetitive motion injuries are common causes of accidents recorded on construction sites, it added. Benjamin Manu, an employee who operates one of the heavy duty equipment used in the construction of the road was quoted as saying: We undergo a lot of training on health and safety; our employers are very thorough on that. They teach us how to operate our equipment well, safety procedures for situations like work in heights, use of electricity and use of power tools. The equipment we also use are state-of-the-art and in very good conditions. The eastern road is conceived as a north-south trade corridor, providing a shorter access to Tema Port and improving integration between Upper East, Northern and Volta regions also between Ghana and Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The Ministry of Roads and Highways awarded the rehabilitation and improvement works of Lots five and six of the Corridor- a 209 km passing through the towns of Damanko, Bimbilla, Yendi, Gushegu and Gbintiri, as well as 63 other communities- to the Joint Venture Eastern Corridor Road. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. John Alexander Ackon, says tackling the destructive activities of illegal gold miners is his major priority. He said he was determined to do everything to rein in the miners, wreaking havoc on the environment and threatening the very survival of the people. Speaking at a press soiree held by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Kumasi, he stated the pollution of water bodies and destruction of forest reserves and farmlands would have to stop. Mr. Ackon noted that access to good drinking water was already becoming a huge difficulty to many a rural dweller. The evening party provided the opportunity for the Regional Minister to interact with journalists and chart a common course to speed up the development of the region. He touched on the tension between the people of Agogo and nomadic Fulani herdsmen and said they were making progress in efforts at de-escalating the situation. Mr. Ackon said what he found refreshing was that all the stakeholders were beginning to appreciate the need to dialogue to find a common ground. He encouraged the youth in the area to come to the negotiating table to help find enduring solution to the problem. He used the occasion to remind the journalists to maintain high standards of professionalism to assist protect the peace as the nation readied to go to the polls later, this year. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa constituency, KT Hammond has described the conduct of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Charlotte Osei as unserious. The EC Chairperson has come under fire for, among others things, undertaking a rebranding exercise which critics say is unnecessary, especially when it has other pressing matters to deal with ahead of the November elections. Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Adansi Asokwa legislator stated that the decision to replace the Commissions logo among others seems to suggest that Ms. Charlotte Osei is joking with Ghana. We dont have a lot of time to go. Madam Charlotte is joking with Ghana. At the end of the day she is superintending over all that is going on, K.T Hammond stated. Go back to Supreme Court K.T Hammond also challenged the plaintiffs who sued the EC over the credibility of the voters register to return to court to seek a clearer interpretation of its ruling on the case. The apex court on May 5, asked the Electoral Commission to expunge from the current voters register the names of all persons who registered and voted in the 2012 elections, with the National Health Insurance card as a proof of identity. But the EC after studying the ruling said its understanding does not suggest the use of any new process to delete the names of those who registered with NHIS cards, since at the time of registration, there was no law barring them. The NPP MP however advised the applicants to go back to the court to get a clearer understanding of the ruling. I would have wished the Supreme Court would have made a clear and plain ruling but their ruling raises a lot of eyebrows. They should quickly go back to the Supreme Court for clarification. Source: Citifmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Deputy Energy Minister John Jinapor has disclosed that President John Mahama has assigned Finance Minister Seth Terkper oversight responsibility of the Power Ministry. According to him, Mr. Tekper is currently acting as minister in-charge of Power. The clarification follows the confusion in the minds of many as to who heads the ministry after the resignation of the substantive minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor in January this year. Speaking on Joy FM Saturday, the former presidential spokesperson stated that hes not the substantive Minister of Power, adding that people should not mistakingly give him that elevation. The Acting Minister for the sector is the honourable Finance Minister Seth Terkper and he has been very helpful especially with the finance arrangements, he stated. Dr. Kwabena Donkor who headed the ministry resigned his post following his failure to fulfill his promise of ending the power crisis which adversely affected businesses and Ghanaians for three years. Source: kasapafmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The recent tour of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo in the Volta Region seems to have bolstered the party in the region so much that the regional executives are confident of securing 30% of the valid votes to be cast in this years general election. The Regional Chairman of the NPP, John Peter Amewu, in a voice full of confidence, said that the party was also confident of winning three parliamentary seats. He made the announcement in Ho recently when he addressed pressmen and thanked them together with the chiefs and people of the region for their rousing welcome, support and hospitality during Nana Addos tour. In a bid to achieve this target, the regional executives have put into motion a comprehensive strategy dubbed, Agenda 3/30 to ensure that votes Nana garners in the region will secure victory for the NPP. The Regional Secretary, Jospeh Homenya, said the partys regional executives were solidly on the ground working tirelessly to achieve this agenda. One key evidence is that the party achieved one of its targets by preventing the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) from adding names of Togolese nationals to the voter register. He was optimistic that the rank and file of the party in the region were more than ready to work together and focuse in achieving the Agenda 3/30 to give the NDC the shock of their lives. The party currently has no seat in the region; thus does not have a representation in Ghanas parliament as the only seat they had (Nkwanta North) was taken by the NDC in 2012. Before that the party used to have another seat in the Akan Constituency, thanks to an independent candidate who aligned himself with the party during the Kufuor administration. Enthusiasm Mr John Peter Amewu observed that the enthusiasm and love the Volta Region is developing for Nana is scaring the NDC hence, making some fallacious claims. He asked, You (the media) were with us, did you see anyone being bused? Change is coming to the Volta Region and the NDC is only afraid. He urged people of the region to fully support the NPP and vote for Nana Akufo-Addo to enable him build on the legacy of former President Kufuor. Mr. Amewu later reminded the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of his promise to investigate the assault on him by one Superintendent Theodore Holormey at Metsrikasa in the Akatsi North District of the region during the recent limited voter registration exercise. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Protesters clashed in the multicultural Melbourne suburb of Coburg this morning, with riot police working to separate scuffles between members of both anti-Islam group United Patriots Front and anti-racist protesters repping NO To Racism. Not sure this guy could be classified as extreme left #coburg pic.twitter.com/kVrLdhVwQu Miki Perkins (@perkinsmiki) May 28, 2016 The anti-racist contingent were reportedly chanting Nazi scum, off our streets and pelting the rightwing demonstrators with oranges. This all came after UPF meathead leader Blair Cottrell who has been accused of association with Nazism even before the rise of his organisation said that he would use force and terror against opponents. Two people were apparently arrested during the clash. Fascist mob on Bell St; two lines of police separate them from #antifa. A no of folks have been OC sprayed. #Coburg Andy Fleming (@slackbastard) May 28, 2016 Clashes between anti-racist groups and the numerous splinter groups associated the far right have been more common in recent months, with the continuous internal drama of the UPF and its satellite organisations (seriously, 99% of their Facebook is sooking about other patriots) not stopping them from making appearances. Police had earlier warned that they would not tolerate violence at this planned rally and they were out in force, with reports that a number of people were pepper sprayed. Source: News.com.au. Photo: Getty Images. WOAH! Former Australian Idol host James Mathison has announced that hell be standing as an independent candidate for the seat of Warringah currently held by Tony Abbott. The 38-year-old television personality was arrested earlier this month for protesting the removal of Moreton Bay Fig Trees along Anzac Parade in Sydney. The vocal environmentalist and social justice activist has gone with the slogan Our Chance for A Change, and will be primarily using social media to advertise his campaign, which will include the hashtag #TimesUpTony. Mathison says theres disdain for Abbott in his current electorate, and that Abbotts divisive stances on marriage equality, refuges and climate change dont reflect the caring and compassionate nature of Warringah. He spoke to The Daily Telegraph about his campaign: People here dont overly trust Labor but they cant stand Tony, so what do they do? They just sleepwalk into the polling booth and do what theyve always done. Were asking them to think what if there was another option? What if there was an alternative to those three? Someone who grew up in the community, lives in the community and is prepared to listen to your needs and not just jet around the country, jet around the world and promote their own agenda? Again from The Daily Telegraph, heres some of James Mathisons manifesto: Tony Abbott: He creates this sense that youre either with me or against me. He doesnt go Im going to try and bring the community along with me. Youre either with us or against us and thats really divisive across the board. Marriage Equality: I think marriage equality is so important. It tells the world what sort of nation we are. Are we accepting? Are we tolerant? And we definitely are. We dont need a plebiscite, we dont need a conscience vote, we just need a bit of political backbone. Asylum Seekers: You can turn back the boats, you can stop them from coming, but the people who are locked up, you have to treat like humans and we havent done that making sure the people who are locked up arent treated like animals is the final piece in that policy puzzle. Think Mathison is crazy for even considering contesting Abbotts seat of Warringah? Maybe that is crazy, maybe its crazy to think you can win a safe seat like this, but I think its even crazier to reward someone who has just not delivered for the community and has deceived the nation over and over and over again. So, there ya go. If you wanna keep an eye on Australias newest pollie, James Mathison will be using his social media accounts (his Twitter is here) to talk about his policies with video messages. Source: The Daily Telegraph. Photo:Twitter / @jamesmathison. Making money...that's God awful. I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say, enough of that, all money should go directly to Washington. Personal achievement cannot be tolerated. American interests should be subservient to the world-order. Co-founder of the Safe Schools Coalition Roz Ward has stepped down from her LGBTQIA advisory role with the Victorian state government after a private Facebook post was sent to mainstream media corporations. According to SMH, Ward posted an image of a rainbow flag to her personal Facebook page, and captioned the image, Now we just need to get rid of the racist Australian flag on top of state parliament and get a red one up there and my work is done. In a written statement, Ward apologised for any offence the comments caused the government and members of the LGBTQIA community. These were private comments that were never intended for the public domain. They in no way reflect the views of Safe Schools Coalition Victoria or the Victorian Government. VIC Gender and Equality Commissioner Rowena Allen confirmed yesterday that she had accepted Wards resignation from the LGBTI Taskforce Education Reference Committee. Ms Ward has acknowledged that the post was inappropriate and may have caused offence, even if meant in jest, and posted in private. The Safe Schools program is not about any one person, its about providing safe and inclusive environments for all LGBTI kids at school. Allen said that the incident wouldnt change the state governments proud support of the Safe Schools program. Source: SMH. Photo: Youtube. Two major players in Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling have accused Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane of attempting to litigate federal antitrust claims in state court. Chesapeake Energy Corp., three of its subsidiaries, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and one of its subsidiaries make the accusations in a notice filed Friday removing a suit Kane filed in December 2015 from Bradford County to U.S. Middle District Court. Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane The complaint, which has been amended twice, accuses Chesapeake of denying thousands of Marcellus Shale property owners natural gas royalty payments to which they are entitled. Chesapeake and Anadarko, which is headquartered in Texas, are accused of agreeing to allocate certain territories for the acquisition of leases, resulting in lower bonus and royalty rates. The first amended complaint asserted claims under the state's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The attorney general's office did not respond to defense motions to dismiss that complaint but filed a second one the defendants contend alleges that certain joint venture endeavors between Chesapeake and Anadarko in effect violate the Sherman Act and Federal Trade Commission Act. The companies state in their removal notice they believe this is the first time in the history of the commonwealth an attorney general has sought to assert antitrust claims in state court. The case must be heard in federal court because Pennsylvania does not have an antitrust statute, they say. They call the antitrust claims novel and say issues raised by the commonwealth will have significant ramifications for joint ventures across all industries. Joint ventures are prevalent throughout the United States and abroad and are especially significant to the oil and gas industry due, in part, to the capital-intensive nature of the business, they say. "In order to compete in modern markets, competitors sometimes need to collaborate," the court document states. "Competitive forces are driving firms toward complex collaborations to achieve goals such as expanding into foreign markets, funding expensive innovation efforts and lowering production and other costs." The attorney general's attempt to transform the Consumer Protection Law into a state antitrust statute is undermined by her own statements there is no commonwealth antitrust law, Chesapeake and Anadarko say. Kane's name does not appear in the removal notice, but there are a number of references to the attorney general. Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma, has called baseless the allegations it engaged in a "self-dealing scheme" that resulted in increased deductions being passed onto landowners and it vowed to fight them. It is one of a number of suits alleging Marcellus Shale property owners were promised certain amounts in royalties when they signed leases to allow drilling but received lower payments once wells started producing gas. Man falls from 3rd story.jpg A man was badly injured after he fell through a third-story window in the 300 block of Market Street in downtown Harrisburg Friday night. The unidentified man fell from the middle window of the top floor pictured at left. A firefighter is pictured right rinsing blood from the sidewalk at the scene. (Eric Veronikis everonikis@pennlive.com) Harrisburg - An adult male was rushed to Hershey Medical Center after he fell through a downtown third-story window Friday night. The man was rushed to Hershey Medical Center and when asked about his condition, police only said "it doesn't look good." The incident occurred above Eddie's men's clothing store in the 300 block of Market Street at about 10:45 p.m. The man was found lying amid shattered glass on the sidewalk, in a pool of blood. Police do not believe the incident is criminal. Officers taped off the scene as they continued to investigate at 11 p.m. Firefighters arrived to wash the blood off the sidewalk as police investigated the scene. No additional information was immediately available. HARRISBURG - A male under the age of 18 was rushed to a local hospital after he was shot in the city's uptown section Friday night. The victim suffered what is believed to be non-life-threatening-injuries, police said. Police responded to a report of multiple shots fired with a person down at about 9:30 p.m. They found the male victim in a park. He had been shot at least one time in the leg, police said. No additional information was immediately available on his condition. Officers swarmed the residential area, searching the park and neighboring streets for evidence. Several blocks near North Fourth and Emerald streets remained closed as police continued to investigate the area, interviewing neighbors and looking for bullet shell casings at 10:30 p.m. There were at least 14 evidence markers placed at the scene. Police did not say whether they have a suspect. Neighbors watched police investigate from porches and behind police tape on a humid, and what has proven to be a dangerous, start to Memorial Day weekend. Three people have been shot in Harrisburg in just more than 24 hours. A man and woman were shot in midtown just before 4 p.m. Friday. Both suffered what is believed to be non-life-threatening injuries. Police did not identify either of the victims. The man was shot in the left arm and the bullet went into his chest. He was rushed to Hershey Medical Center and was in surgery when officers arrived. The woman was shot in her right hand. She was rushed to Harrisburg Hospital and is expected to recover. An investigation continues into both shooting incidents. Restaurant Inspections.jpg (PennLive) Many midstate food establishments are inspected each week and come through with no problems. But some in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties had violations during inspections conducted from May 1 to May 7. In Cumberland County, inspectors found loose or broken wire on fryer baskets at in a number of kitchens, which had the potential to get into food. In York County, when inspectors quizzed employees about safe food handling, reportable illnesses and other hygiene issues, the employees failed miserably. At a Dauphin County establishment, employees were storing their aprons in the restroom. In Lebanon County, inspectors visited a number of school cafeteria, with mixed results. Lancaster County inspectors noted mold on food containers and ants crawling on utensils near the dishwashing machine, among other violations. Open trash bins were a concern at a Perry County food establishment. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture oversees restaurant inspections in the state. Inspection reports are "snapshots" of the day and time the inspections took place. In many cases, violations are corrected on site prior to the inspector leaving. Click on the links below to see how restaurants and other food establishments in the region fared: Chuck Ardo Kathleen Kane Chuck Ardo, the seventh spokesman for Attorney General Kathleen Kane, said Friday that he planned to resign his post next week. (PennLive/AP file photos) On a cold day about 13 months ago, Chuck Ardo cornered me in the foyer of the state Capitol press room. He had some news. He'd just signed on as Attorney General Kathleen Kane's seventh press secretary. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped. "You're insane, you realize this?" I told him, half-seriously, half-kidding. As he had so many times before, he laughed that same easy laugh he always did, letting me know he was in on the joke. He shook his head, and looked down at his feet. It was just something he had to do, he told me. And he knew what he was in for, he said. It was a sign both dispiriting and encouraging. Dispiriting because it meant Kane had already gone so far off the rails that only a fixer of Ardo's caliber could potentially save her. Encouraging because it meant there finally might be some stability in the chaotic office at the top of Strawberry Square. And it still wasn't enough. On Friday, after 13 months on the job, and a decade-and-a-half in Harrisburg working as the public face of people whose actions often defy explanation, he finally quit. He said he'd run out of good answers. It's tempting to ask why it took this long. But the reason made perfect sense. "It just got to the point where I could no longer try to explain the inexplicable," he told PennLive's Wallace McKelvey. "You know, when you're dealing with an ordinary crisis, the general rule is to fess up and fix it. In this case, every crisis seems to have led to a new crisis, more controversy." Ardo stepped on board just as the 800-employee office was suffering through the worst of the Scranton Democrat's public conflagrations. Through a grand jury probe, the levying of criminal charges and the tragicomedy of personnel decisions that sometimes meant that Ardo himself ended up being named in litigation, he somehow did his job with a humor and grace under circumstances that would have flattened anyone else. He's one of the rarest kinds of public servants and spokesmen: He speaks with a candor underlined by the knowledge that he'll occasionally be required to spout indefensible nonsense. And when you call him on it, he'll concede the point with humor. But he can also be a tenacious and fiercely loyal advocate, motivated by a belief in the system that only comes from understanding his own unique story - one that saw his family flee occupied eastern Europe for Israel and finally to the United States. If there's someone with an innate understanding of the best the American political system can offer, it's Chuck Ardo. Ardo put those skills to work for Ed Rendell, another titanic ego. On a long ride through western Pennsylvania in early 2003, with me behind the wheel, Ardo recounted the times Rendell had fired him on the campaign trail the year before. Rendell did that a bunch more times during his stormy, eight-year tenure in the governor's office. Until that last time, when Ardo finally had enough, and headed out the door. So it was back to private life - until Ardo managed to find the one job seemingly more impossible than explaining away Ed Rendell's eccentricities, foibles and gaffes: He went to work for Linda Thompson. It wasn't a move from a frying pan to the fire. It was a move from the fire to another, hotter fire. Under Thompson's troubled mayoralty, Harrisburg was in economic chaos and had become a national case-study in how not to manage a city. Thompson's Marie Antoinette moments in the top spot have passed into legend. And Ardo toughed it for as long as he could. In 2011, when he finally quit, Ardo told PennLive's Editorial Board that he'd "made a judgment at some point that talking about this was more important to the city's well-being. ... I fundamentally believe the public has a right to know, and this is an issue that transcends what is normally an unspoken contract between a spokesperson and the person he or she represents." And then it was back to private life again. He doted on his grandson. And he spent time with his wife. And when we ran into each other on the street or in the Capitol - he just couldn't stay away - every conversation began with him asking for an update on my daughter, whom he'd cradled in his arms when she was just an infant. Then came that conversation in the hallway outside the Capitol pressroom. I offered all the arguments I had for why he shouldn't take the job. He listened, indulgently, but his mind was pretty clearly made up. Over 13 months, we had plenty of conversations about life in the funhouse mirror that is Kane's Attorney General office. For 10 of those months, Ardo went unpaid as a result of the state budget impasse. The conversations were occasionally funny, often sad, and almost always ended with Ardo laughing and shaking his head in disbelief at the inconceivable set of circumstances that he had to explain and sometimes justify. "I could no longer in good conscience do the job she had hired me to do," Ardo told McKelvey. "I'm not particularly religious and there are lots of people who would wonder about my ethics, but I try to be honest and I try to be transparent. It's difficult to do this job with those values." And that, in two sentences, is how you can tell how bad things are for Kathleen Kane. When Chuck Ardo deserts you, you're truly alone. One of the most disappointing things about the Obama administration (and we know that some of you have long, long lists) is this: Despite its early promise that it would be the most transparent administration in history, it has failed to deliver on that promise so thoroughly that it has become clear that it never had any intention to do so. Weve noted before the administrations penchant for secrecy and its willingness to track down and punish whistleblowers, but its worth going over again: The Obama administration has prosecuted more leakers under the Espionage Act than all other administrations combined. The administration also has worked to undermine reforms to the federal Freedom of Information Act. In fact, as a recent column by Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post noted, the administration has set records for rejecting or stonewalling Freedom of Information requests. Thats not all, as Sullivan wrote: It has threatened to send a New York Times investigative reporter to jail for his attempts to protect a confidential source. In 2013, the Justice Department secretly seized telephone records from The Associated Press as it attempted to discover the identity of a whistleblower. These are not exactly the actions one might expect from the most transparent administration in history. Administration supporters respond by citing statistics showing that President Obama almost certainly will leave office as the most-interviewed sitting president in history. Hes on track to give more than 1,000 interviews during his eight years in office. But take a closer look at those interviews: According to a recent study by Martha Joynt Kumar, a political science professor at Towson University, many of them consist of one-on-one sessions with reporters interested in a single topic. In Kumars words, that gives Obama the opportunity to talk about subjects that interest him in a setting and manner of his choosing with journalists selected by his aides. These interviews are good deals for journalists who might specialize in a certain topic, such as trade: They have a green light to ask any question they want, as long as its on the agreed-upon topic. Obama also likes to give interviews to people who arent likely to ask hard-hitting questions, such as late night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel or actor-comedian Zach Galifianakis. But Obama rarely gives the green light to wide-ranging, on-the-record interviews with hard-news reporters. For example, Sullivan reported that Post reporters havent had an opportunity to interview the president since late 2009. And Obama has shied away from question-and-answer sessions and press conferences. As of the time of Kumars study in mid-2015, Obama had only held 274 of those interactions, much fewer than Bill Clinton and even George W. Bush. These sessions give reporters the opportunity to get answers that havent been thoroughly packaged and processed beforehand. No wonder that the administration hasnt favored that approach. Its not that the president isnt capable of holding his own during these sessions in fact, Kumar notes an answer he gave during a press conference that stretched out to some 1,900 words, three times the length of this editorial. Its just that this administration seems intent on staying on message to a degree that makes previous administrations seem like amateurs. And this tone, set at the top, flows down to the rest of the federal government: Any reporter whose beat includes the federal government has stories to tell about how access is drying up. Our hope is that a new president can reverse this trend, but our hopes arent high: After all, the current administration has created a stunningly effective blueprint for secrecy. (mm) EJPS receives COPS School Violence Prevention grant The district was one of eight in the state to receive funding for improving safety technology throughout the buildings. The Vietnamese central bank has adjusted restrictions on property loans to keep the real estate market from overheating. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said in its circular released on Friday that it will raise the risk weight of property loans at commercial banks to 200 percent from 150 percent. The new restriction will take effect on January 1, 2017. In addition, the central bank has also set new restrictions on how banks use their funds. Accordingly, banks will be allowed to use no more than 60 percent of their short-term funds for medium- to long-term purposes including mortgages until the end of this year. The ratio will then be adjusted to 50 percent in 2017 and 40 percent by 2018. The central bank at first planned to hike up the risk weight of loans to property sector to 250 percent instead of 200 percent. Also in early draft, the rule that requires banks to use no more than 40 percent of their short-term funds to make medium and long-term loans was intended to take effect immediately, not until 2018. The new rule is expected to prevent a property bubble by causing banks to curb real estate loans. The property market gained steam last year as economic growth resulted in rising incomes and after the government allowed foreign buyers to own property for up to 100 years last July. Instead, Vietnamese forces were in total control of security throughout U.S. President Barack Obama's three day visit earlier this week. Before Obamas trip to Vietnam, chopper Marine One was brought to Hanoi for escorting and emergency rescue on the president's route from the airport to the hotel and vice versa. However, Vietnams air force didnt accept this option, reassuring that aerial security would be kept during U.S. Presidents trip. Marine One then stayed behind at Noi Bai Airport in case of emergency. Marine One at Noi Bai International Airport. Photo by Reuters Vietnam also didn't accept U.S. securitys request to have snipers deployed at vantages points around the airport and the venues on Obamas agenda, or to check Vietnams diplomatic cars in the receiving delegation. Military force in position to protect Air Force One Two days before the trip, security force at Noi Bai Airport cooperated with local police to inspect the roads around the airport. Twice a day, Vietnamese soldiers searched for landmines and bombs. Vietnam was in charge of aerial authority but allowed a U.S. secret agent in the control tower to monitor air traffic controllers. Vietnamese soldiers search for landmines and bombs around U.S. President's residence. Photo by VnExpress/Ba Do All doors were shut Residents living along the road facing Noi Bai Airport were requested to keep all doors and windows shut. Vietnam and the U.S. sent 200 security officers to the airport and hundreds of police officers have been mobilized to set up outer perimeter protection. The U.S. security force also installed jamming devices to prevent remote activation of explosives. Both countries security forces used a secret frequency to communicate. Fully armed American sniper on watch during President Obama's visits. Photo by VnExpress/Ba Do After the U.S. President left the airport, the two Air Force Ones and Marine One chopper were put under strict protection. Fuel for these aircrafts was thoroughly checked and sampled before and after pumping. The aircrafts were required to be parked in an all-day floodlit area and under continuous CCTV surveillance. Obama traveled to Vietnam on May 23 for a three-day visit marked by a historic lifting of U.S. lethal arms embargo. He is the third U.S. President to have visited Vietnam. The BDS rolled into the small town of Llangynog, home to Revolution Bike Park in Powys, Wales. A packed house of 250 riders signed in to showcase their skills on this, one of the favourite tracks on the BDS calendar.Practice started at 09:30 with riders using the famous and most efficient Pearce Cycles uplift system of Land Rovers and trailers to shuttle them up the hill. With the uplift running until 18:00 a number of riders entered into double digits for training runs with time to spare for lunch and a few short breaks. Live timing is now in place for all rounds of the BDS throughout practice. This gives the riders live trackside data from each training run. A private track that showcases big jumps, technical dense woods, and berms. Though the morning started off with a misty veil of cloud it soon cleared up and the sun was out. Are we in for another dusty, sunny weekend of fast and loose riding?Off the uplift, the riders had a small push up to the start to witness the stunning Welsh countryside that Powys has to offer. They then rode onto a straight loose gravel section and into the first few berms.Riders were then brought into the woods where they hit the first jump. A quick peek out into the open riders were then straight back into the woods. Rutted berms and roots had the riders getting pretty sketchy.After another short rutted, tight wooded section, the riders were airborne with the jump section. Perfect opportunity for riders to get stylish on the bike.Back into tight woods. Ruts, roots and a slick layer of mud was a dangerous combination when riders were speeding down a tight section.Out of the woods and into the open. The stump section. This section really allowed racers to get creative with their lines. Stump gaps being a big decision for most riders. A few more berms carried the riders into the last wooded section. Most riders legs were burning by then. More loose mud had riders holding on and pushing through.A drop sent the riders through to the flat out grassy corners, tucking low, jumping and a sprint across the finish line. Coming to the end of practice elite riders had the track to themselves, allowing them to get a full practice run in.Phil Atwill had a practice time of 3:15.379 giving him the fastest practice run of the day. The legend, Steve Peat followed under a second away in second. Also under a second away from Phil, Michael Jones had the third fastest time in timed practice. Live practice times here. Griffin Benger Finds Day 1b Success in 2016 Unibet Open Malta Main Event May 28, 2016 Frank Op de Woerd Day 1b of the 2016 Unibet Open Malta Main Event saw another 145 players flock to the brand new tournament room of Casino Malta in the InterContinental Hotel. Once again 10 levels of play were on the schedule. Things got off to a quiet start, with most of the tables silently playing cards without much uproar or excitement. That was except for Table 2, where Rene Kuhlman and Hormiz Kamil blasted away at each other with friendly, but loud, banter. It was Team Holland versus Team Sweden, and for most of the day the two and their table mates battled it out with a lot of laughs. Table 2 was the sole table with an above-average audio level, before Global Poker League commentators Griffin Benger and Sam Grafton entered the room. The two continued the fun and games they've showcased on the GPL live streams the past few weeks. The rivalry started with Grafton declining Benger a swap, and the two took jabs at each other via twitter all day. Grafton big timing his pall Benger on the swap must have motivated the latter to do well. Benger played just about every other hand and won most of them. Benger gathered a sizable stack early on, while Grafton was diminished to the role of short stack. Grafton eventually busted in the last level of the day when he pushed his ace-nine into ace-jack and kings. Benger, in the meantime, lead the tournament with a stack of 180,000. He ended the day with 174,200, not quite leading anymore, but still one of the bigger stacks in the room. The man leading the way when the dust had settled was Erik Scheidt with 292,200 in chips. Both Kuhlman and Kamil busted in the tail end of the day, with Kuhlman losing kings to ace-jack and Kamil losing ace-queen to Benger's flush draw with five-three. Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts Rank Player Chips 1 Erik Scheidt 292,200 2 Charlo Azzopardi 244,200 3 Mathias Christensen 221,200 4 Stefan Mattsson 213,800 5 Tomasz Kotlowski 174,500 6 Griffin Benger 174,300 7 Romain Nardin 174,200 8 Kwok Wing Tang 162,900 9 Christian Ostfelt 151,400 10 Ivan Neytchev 147,200 Forty-three players survived Day 1b and will return on Saturday for Day 2 of the Unibet Open at 12 p.m. local time. Combined with the 50 players that survived Day 1a, a total of 93 return to battle it out for that first-place prize of 65,000. Thirty-six players will get into the money, a stage of the tournament that should be reached halfway through Day 2. In fact, the goal is to play to a final table on the penultimate day. PokerNews.com will again be on site for coverage of all the action, so stay tuned. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+! Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print This is one of the funniest things Ive ever seen on Fox & Friends, a show that makes me LOL for its sheer foolishness at least 4 times a day. This HIGH-LARRY-US segment demonstrates the perils of live television. Quick backstory: Those Foxy Friends were sending out Indy cars to pick up guests and drive them in to the show. Thats not the funny part. It was raining and these cars are open air. Wait! Thats not the funny part yet. The Indy car broke down on the way to pick up Karl Rove. And, even thats not the funny part. Heres the funny part: Near the end of Laura Ingrams regular weekly segment kissing Donald Trumps ass, they decided to throw to Rove who is decidedly in the #NeverTrump camp, even if he doesnt fly the bumper sticker to see if his car arrived yet. Now WATCH: Laura Ingraham and Karl Rove demonstrate depth of GOP divide with testy exchange about Fox News transportation arrangements [If you skip ahead to 7:45, youll miss most of Ingrahams BS]: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Ive watched it dozens of times now. My favourite parts? First they are all laughing, joking around like this is just the usual tomfoolery on The Curvy Couch. However, these insults are real. The shivs are out. Doocy recognizes how strong was Ingrams first volley. BURN! he tries to interject, but Rove is already fighting back. Then Kilmeade gets a few words in edgewise, Oh my goodness. This is this is really gone off the rails. Then Doocy looks like he wants to push that pen right through his brain before he says, And, by the way, to the producers who thought the crosstalk between Laura and Karl was going to be hilarious? Lets not do this again Kilmeade adds, Its just a little too angry. In the end Rove lamely defended himself by saying his family loves him. Scene! CUCKOLD OREILLY: No, thats not a new song by The Who. Its our 2nd funniest story of the week: You cant make this up. Yes, folks, Americas Best Husband Bill OReilly Sues Faithless Cheating Monster Of An Ex-Wife, while Ex-wife of Bill OReilly puts on a brave face as friends lash out at Fox News host for his bitter attempt to wreck her happiness after he sues her for tricking him into financing an existing extra-marital relationship. This made headlines wherever good headlines are made. A sample: Heres the funny part: The Falafel King is asking the court for this lawsuit to be sealed because Big Tee Vee Star. The not-so-quick backstory: Years ago Family Values OReilly paid off a multi-million dollar lawsuit in which a former-employee accused him of inappropriately sexual phone conversations (that some people say must have been recorded because they were quoted as if verbatim) in which he threatened to use both a loofah and a falafel (separately! Whaddaya think he is? Sick?) on her in the imaginary shower scene he was describing. Im sure that had nothing whatsoever to do with The Falafel Kings eventual divorce. However, it was an ugly divorce by all accounts. Before it was granted Loofah Lad used his influence with the NYC police department to have his exs new boyfriend investigated. He also tried to have the church grant him an annulment at one point, as if they had never been married, making their children bastards, I guess. Speaking of those kids, a judge recently denied OReilly custody of them because, as they testified, he beat their mother. Now he wants $10 million dollars from her because SHOCKER!!! he believes he was lied to during a divorce. TO BE FAIR: Who hasnt been? Wait! Thats the funny part. That and the fact that The Falafel Kings next book is going to be about a man he has grown to admire: King Henry VIII. Its going to be called Killing Anne Boleyn. I made that up. But the funny part is it could be true. LOOFAH LEFTOVERS: Homophobia Bill OReilly rants: Letting trans people use the right bathroom is a push to wipe out gender OReilly: Equal Access To Bathrooms For Transgender People Is A Violation Of Everybodys Rights WATCH: Bill OReilly shouts down guest who refuses to believe transgender bathrooms are state-run conspiracy to make us believe there is no difference in gender I Cant Even Finish One Sentence: Powers Battles OReilly Over Trans Bathroom Rights Bill OReilly: Conservatives Are Being Oppressed And Marginalized By Bathroom Bills Racism: Bill OReilly Uses Freddie Gray Officer Acquittal To Lecture African Americans (Again) Bill OReilly Absurdly Imply Freddie Gray Is To Blame For His Own Death OReilly Blames Freddie Grays Death On His Lifestyle OReilly: Black Lives Matter Is Killing Americans Bill OReilly: #BlackLivesMatter Is Killing Americans Bill OReilly Ties Black Lives Matter to Increase in Murder Rate Bill OReilly Accuses Black Lives Matter Of Killing Americans WATCH: Guest takes Bill OReilly to task for blaming Black Lives Matter for thousands more Americans being murdered Bill OReillys sick cop fetish: In Fox News land, white cops are always right, black men always to blame: While Bill OReilly demonstrates a persistent yearning to lecture and comment on the bad culture and life style of inner city and other black communities, he chooses to be silent on the poor behavior and despicable culture and lifestyle that are common to many of Americas police departments. Where is Bill OReillys condemnation of a police culture and lifestyle in cities such as Chicago where an internal report revealed that its police officers have no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color? And what of Baltimores problem plagued police department and its tradition of abuse and thuggery against the black community? Has Bill OReilly demanded accountability for a police culture and lifestyle that encourages officers to choke black men to death while they cry I cant breathe!, summarily execute 12-year-old children in the street, and kills black people for the crime of sleeping in their car? Did Bill OReilly condemn a police culture and lifestyle where a New York police officer let an innocent man bleed to death while the former called his union representative for guidance about how best to explain the killing? But, OReilly is such a supporter of the PoPo, hell have one investigated for dating and later marrying his ex-wife. Defending Trump: WATCH: Bill OReilly begs Hillary Clinton to attend Fox debate and stick up for capitalism against Bernie Sanders OReilly Cautions Trump Against Tawdry Attacks on Clintons: Not Sure Its a Good Bill OReilly confronts Donald Trump over Bill Clinton attacks: Im not sure thats a good idea Trump Defends Aggressive Tack Against Clintons I Have to Fight Back the Way I Have to Fight Back Trump Just Blasted the VP Candidate Bill OReilly Claimed Was the Only Choice For Him to Win Tune in next week when well, no doubt, have more loofah laffs at the poor cuckolds expense. MEGYN KELLY PRESENTS PABLUM: One of the best articles FFF read this week was How Megyn Kellys Softball Interview With Trump Signaled Fox News Complete Surrender: While Kelly huddles with her manager and agent and tries to figure out what went wrong after a long-running media love fest, the larger story thats come into focus is how Fox News, led by Kellys genuflection to Trump, has signaled its institutional surrender to the presumptive GOP nominee. Fox News has been bullied and beaten into submission by a Republican front-runner who had the audacity to pick a fight with Roger Ailes and the mass media mouthpiece of the Republican Party. Sure, holdouts like Charles Krauthammer, Stephen Hayes and Greg Gutfeld remain staples on the Fox News lineup; holdouts who have dismissed Trump as a conservative joke for months. But their numbers, and certainly their sway, seem to be shrinking as the cable channel clumsily and belatedly maneuvers itself into its traditional campaign role: a cheerleader for, and ferocious defender of, the RNC. Like much of the Republican Party, as well as large portions of the conservative movement, Fox News is fumbling its way onto the acceptance mark as it comes to the final stages of its weird grieving process over the Trump nomination. Eight in 10 Republican voters now want party leaders to rally behind Trump, according to the latest New York Times/CBS poll. Heres the funny part: Fox News CEO Roger Ailes reportedly snickering with glee over failure of Megyn Kellys Trump special Also worth reading: Megyn Kellys Guide to Surrendering to Donald Trump CNN Panel Criticizes Megyn Kellys Softball Trump Interview: She Didnt Press Him Megyn Kelly waves a white flag: Fox News completely belongs to Donald Trump now Despite her epic Trump stumble, heres How Megyn Kelly Could Become the Most Powerful Woman in TV News because the whole world wants to know Whats Next for Megyn Kelly? Which might explain why this newspaper is Obsessed Much? WaPo Now Up To 10 Different Post-Mortems of Megyn Kelly Fox Special. And, just to remind you, her show demonstrates she has her own issues with race: However, I suspect Little Miss White Privilege will continue to fall up. FREDDIE GRAY VERDICT: Theres no funny part to this. Heres how Fox News reported in the aftermath of the Freddie Gray NOT GUILTY verdict: Fox Host Accuses Prosecutor In Freddie Gray Death Of A Rush To The Spotlight Fox Guest: Prosecutor In Freddie Gray Death Prosecuted Police Officers For Political Reasons Fox News legal analyst: Shame on Baltimore prosecutor for seeking justice for Freddie Gray However, it was surprising this truth was broadcast at all: Attorney for Freddie Gray family stuns Fox News Greta Van Susteren: The whole networks approach to the black community is racist Freddie Gray Family Attorney to Greta: Foxs Approach to the Black Community Is Racist Theres nothing funny about how Fox News covers stories that are, at the core, about Race. WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Usually Brain Brian Kilmeade can be trusted to say something extremely stupid or offensive or both. This week, while he didnt disappoint in that regard . . . Brian Kilmeade Validates Government Sponsored Transphobia Again! Take That, Iroquois: Foxs Brian Kilmeade Hypes Poll Finding Some Native Americans Arent Offended By Redskins Team Name Foxs Kilmeade: I Really Believe Weve Done More For Victorias Secret Models Than Anyone Else Fox Host Wonders If Abuse Suffered By Transgender Detainees Is Even Worth Avoiding . . . he also managed to blow up Donald Trumps latest attack on Hillary Clinton by accidentally blurting out the truth: Fox Host Contradicts NRA Lie Hyped By Fox, Admits Clinton Wont Abolish Second Amendment Fox and Friends admits Hillary Clinton wont actually take your guns away Thats the funny part. More funny parts? Fox & Friends Airs Wrong Picture, Misidentifies A Woman Of Color Senate Candidate Watch Fox & Friends guest flip out over Hillary Clintons criticism of Donald Trumps gun policy WATCH: The only thing Fox News Ainsley Earhardt got wrong about Pittsburgh cops Beyonce boycott is everything Fox & Friends misidentifies Hispanic woman Senate candidate as black woman Senate candidate Thats why they make me laugh. Every! Single!! Day!!! THE TRUMP DUMP: Fox News will say anything to defend and/or support the GOP Strongman. Heres this weeks proof: Tune in next week when theyll find new ways to defend the indefensible. CLINTON CONTEST: FFF is still looking for the first positive Hillary Clinton story on the Fox News Channel. This week Fox Hosts Author Of Error-Filled Book Clinton Cash To Recycle Debunked Smears About Hillary Clinton in order to promote the new movie. Fox News has provided a lot of free publicity for this piece of fiction as the Google search FOX NEWS CLINTON CASH attests. Also this week: Fox Takes Clinton Out Of Context In Effort To Distract From Trumps Hope For Housing Crisis Fox Attacks Hillary Clinton For Turning Down Fox News Debate Bill OReilly: Mrs. Clinton Should Answer Questions From People Like Me Bill OReilly: Hillary Clinton Is Soft On Capitalism, Even Though She Has Taken Huge Advantage Of It Herself With no winner this week, well add more Clinton Cash to the super duper prize wheel for next week. FOX BYTES: Fox News-style sociology: There is a Ferguson effect because police officers say there is one theyre afraid of everyone Fox News Channels Jesse Watters Thinks the Climate Crisis Isnt Real Because Spring in New York Has Been Freezing Foxs Keith Ablow Slams Obamas Agenda For Millennials Living With Parents Texas Attorney General tells Fox & Friends that transgender Bathroom Battle is about men deciding to be women and switching back the next day Fox News Gripes About Overtime Pay Expansion Ben Stein Calls Obama A Super Narcissist For Staying In D.C. After Presidency Kyle More Cast As John Hinckley Jr. In Adaptation Of Bill OReillys Killing Reagan For NatGeo Foxs Krauthammer: You Cant Try Guantanamo Detainees Because You Might Actually Have To Acquit Them Foxs John Roberts Highlights Roger Stones Statement That Trump Paid Kathleen Willey So She Could Attack Clintons Headly Westerfield has been writing Fox News snark and criticism for 7 years. Hes Head Writer at the Not Now Silly Newsroom, where he writes about race relations, among other things. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print So you remember that big apology tour President Obama never made outside of the imaginations of his Republican enemies? Syndicated columnist and Fox News panelist Charles Krauthammer says that during Obamas visit to Hiroshima, the president Closed the circle of that apology tour right that apology tour he never made. In fact, if you go to USA Today you find the headline: Sympathy for victims but no apology as Obama makes historic Hiroshima visit. Thats right, because Obama also drew criticism for not apologizing. The following exchange took place Friday on Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier. Watch courtesy of Media Matters for America: BRET BAIER (HOST): Charles, you wrote a column about this, and how President Obama is a foreign policy idealist. Explain that. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Well, we saw it today. I mean, heres a guy who went around the world when hes inaugurated I dont know if you want to use the word apologize, but confessing to a long history of Americans sins. From the maltreatment of the Indians, to the coup in Iran in 53, the coup in Guatemala, how were arrogant towards Europe, the list is very long. And its sort of he closed the circle of that apology tour today in Hiroshima, and to say it wasnt a formal apology, of course he wasnt going use the word and yes, he did speak of war in the abstract. But he did it in Hiroshima. If you want to do a speech about war in the abstract, you do it in Prague, which is what he did in 2009. When you do it in Hiroshima, of course youre talking about World War II, of course youre talking about American dropping the war [sic], and of course the implication is that we have a sense of guilt about it, if not an overt apology. Look, this is a visit he should have made next year as a private citizen, in which case he can speak like a naive private citizen about escaping the logic of fear. What other way is there of dealing with nuclear weapons other than the logic of fear, i.e. deterrence? Eliminating them is never going to happen, it would weaken us. Do we want to be without nuclear weapons when theres a nut case, Pyongyang whos [sic] acquiring them, apocalyptic, genocidal mullahs in Iran who are acquiring them? Of course not, and the president speaking as president was representing the United States, I thought it was embarrassing, his utopianism and the implicit apology dishonored our nation. Not something he should have done. Because Krauthammer prefers his dystopianism instead, with lemonade made from our tears. Of course, if you listened to or have read Obamas speech, you notice first thing that the word apology never appears in it. Just like it never appeared during that earlier tour. President Obama did not apologize to Japan. USA Todays article explained (unfortunately not to the fact-challenged Krauthammer) that, Fridays visit was the first by a sitting U.S. head of state and appeared carefully crafted to focus on reconciliation, rather than troubling questions of wartime blame or responsibility. Yeah In fact, Uri Friedman at The Atlantic advised Thursday that President Obama would will neither question the decision to drop bombs on two Japanese cities, nor dwell on its results. How did Friedman and others know this? Because Obama himself said he would not apologize, and explained, Its important to recognize that in the midst of war, leaders make all kinds of decisions, its a job of historians to ask questions and examine them. What President Obama said isnt really very complicated, Mr. Krauthammer, though why he said it may be above your intellectual paygrade. There is actual news here; you dont have invent something more congenial to your preconceptions in order to report a few simple facts and make an cogent argument against it. An obvious problem for Krauthammer is that the world is not the black and white place he makes it, and he has no real argument because you can force black & white thinking on a world that is anything but. Sadly, though Fox News is not our only new sources, it is the news source of choice to millions of Americans who will not look beyond its false offerings to find a shred of our shared reality at some other mainstream media outlet, let alone alternative outlets as can be found everywhere these days. So when Krauthammer talks about President Obama finishing his apology tour in Hiroshima, that was was an apology simply because it was said in Hiroshima, that if it hadnt been intended as an apology, it would have been said in Prague, the Republican rank and file will take up the cry and the lie. Lets face it folks: when Krauthammer criticizes Sarah Palin, it is the pot calling the kettle black. The only difference is that hes a little easier to understand. So apparently all this makes sense in Krauthammers Palinesque mind. But it flies in the face of every fact to say that because Obama opposes nuclear weapons that he apologized for dropping two of them on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945. We all know if Obama had said it in Prague, Krauthammer would still be babbling incoherently about apology tours. As visa exemptions for five countries in Western Europe have become effective, the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam has jumped by 30 percent on-year, the General Statistics Office said today. Last month, the number of foreigners choosing Vietnam as travel destination reached approximately 757 thousand, up 30 percent on-year. Most visitors traveled by air, accounting for 85 percent. The rest arrived in Vietnam by sea or by road. After 10 months of visa exemptions for the U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy becoming effective, Vietnam welcomed 697.2 thousand visitors from Western Europe in May, marking a 13.9 percent increase on-year, with Italian visitors experiencing the biggest jump of 30.1 percent, followed by visitors from the U.K., 23.3 percent, and Spain, 22.4 percent. However, the number of visitors from Europe fell by 22.8 percent on-month amid the overall drop of 4.1 percent. Oceania is the continent that saw the biggest drop this month, with only 158 thousand visitors, down 33.7 percent. In contrast, visitors from Asian countries have seen a second consecutive rise as Vietnam welcomed nearly three million this month, up 3.9 percent. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print SE-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 Chinas growing power, embolden nationalists and authoritarians, and unravel Obamas 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 were not talking about issues but personalities or character. Obama, a Democrat, issued his most extensive analysis to date of his own partys 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) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print When Donald Trump told Republicans that his campaign had money, it was a lie. In meeting with Senate Republicans, Trumps campaign privately admitted that they have no money and will not be able to run television ads until after the GOP convention in July. The Washington Examiner reported: Donald Trumps campaign has alerted Senate Republicans that he wont have much money to spend fending off attacks from Hillary Clinton over the next couple months. The notice came when Paul Manafort, Trumps senior advisor, met with a group of Senate Republican chiefs of staff for lunch last week, sources familiar with the meeting told the Washington Examiner. The admission suggests that Trump will be far more dependent on the GOP brass for money than he has led voters to believe, but its consistent with his reliance on the Republican National Committee to provide a ground game in battleground states. They know that theyre not going to have enough money to be on TV in June and probably most of July, until they actually accept the nomination and get RNC funds, so they plan to just use earned media to compete on the airwaves, one GOP source familiar with Manaforts comments told the Examiner. Trump is also refusing to use his own money to fund his campaign. In other words, what Donald Trump is telling the voters is completely different from what is happening behind closed doors. When Republicans nominated Trump, they thought that they were getting a billionaire who could help the party raise money while throwing his own cash into the pot for his White House bid. What the GOP is stuck with is a deadbeat who talks a good game that they are going to have to fund in the general election because he is either unwilling or unable to pull his own weight. Donald Trumps wealth appears to be a myth, and it is obvious that Trump is using the Republican Party to build his cult of personality. Donald Trump has no intention of giving anything back Republicans. Trumps inability to run ads in June and July is a gift to Democrats, who should be blanketing the airwaves over the next two months. Democrats have a chance to define Trump, and he cant fight back. Supporters should expect to see Democrats strike early and often before Trump can even get his ads on the air. Donald Trumps business sense has struck again. This time, Trump has bankrupted his presidential campaign and is expecting Republicans to pick up the tab. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Republican nominee Donald Trump erupted for a racist rant against the American-born judge in the Trump University case and destroyed any chance that the GOP had of passing him off as anything less than a deranged, self-serving, racist. Video of Trumps 12-minute rant against the judge: Trump said: I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. Hes a hater. His name is Gonzalo Curiel. He is not doing the right thing. And I figure, what the hell? Why not talk about it for two minutes? Were in front of a very hostile judge. The judge was appointed by Barack Obama, federal judge. Frankly, he should recuse himself because hes given us ruling after ruling after ruling, negative, negative, negative. What happens is the judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think thats fine. I think Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself. Im telling you, this court system, judges in this court system, federal court; they ought to look into Judge Curiel. Because what Judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace, OK? But well come back in November. Wouldnt that be wild if Im president and I come back to do a civil case? Where everybody likes it. OK. This is called life, folks. The judge was born in Indiana, not Mexico. Consider for a moment that Republicans want voters to believe that this man, who seems to base judicial competence on whether not rulings are issued that favor him, is the person who the Republican Party wants voters to believe has the judgment needed to appoint Supreme Court justices. Trumps rant that he said would take two minutes kept going on for 12 long spiteful minutes. The fact that Donald Trump is petty is not news. The decision by Trump to use his platform as the Republican nominee for such a self-serving purpose should give voters across the country pause. Donald Trump destroyed any hope that the Republican Party had of selling him as presidential. Criticizing individual judges while also insinuating that there is a conspiracy against him is flat out crazy. Republicans have put a deranged racist in charge of their party, and frankly, whatever the consequences of their decision may be, it couldnt happen to a more deserving bunch. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print *The following is an opinion column by R Muse * After a far too lengthy presidential primary race, some Democrats are beginning to express their frustration with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). There are valid reasons for the frustration with Sanders, the least of which is his intent to transform the Democratic Party to conform to his socialist vision; not unlike Donald Trump hijacking the Republican Party to conform to his nativist fascist vision. What is very interesting, is that like what many Americans have noticed about Donald Trump, no small number of Americans have noticed that, as The Washington Post noted, Mr. Sanders is not a brave truth-teller. He is a politician selling his own brand of fiction to a slice of the country that eagerly wants to buy it. It proves that many progressives like being told everything they want to hear. Now, many Sanders supporters who believe they are progressives may not like hearing that, but it is true, in a sense. The sense is that many of the Sanders supporters are not progressives at all or they would never condemn real progressives such as one of the guiding lights of the modern progressive movement and founder of the Center for America Progress, John Podesta, as a corrupt corporate shill. The Washington Post editorial board issued a scathing, but truthful, condemnation of Mr. Sanders last week saying its time for Sanders to start being honest with his supporters. The truth is that the time for Mr. Sanders to start being honest was several months ago; but better to say it late than never say it at all. Forget for a moment that Sanders has proposed an agenda founded on fantasy in this political environment; not that his ideas are bad, they certainly are not. However, they are never going forward until every Republican in Congress is transformed into a tax and spend socialist; a transformation that Senator Sanders has no clue how to initiate. The Posts editorial focused on Sanders supporters nasty behavior in Nevada when they shouted, cursed, and threw chairs because they didnt get the rules changes they demanded during a state party convention. The outraged Sanders supporters attempted to get more delegates than the caucus results and when they couldnt get their way they attacked the process as unfair and the state chair and her family received death threats. As a veteran Nevada politics reporter, Jon Ralston put it, Despite their social media frothing and self-righteous screeds, the facts reveal that the Sanders folks disregarded rules, then when shown the truth, attacked organizers and party officials as tools of a conspiracy to defraud the senator of what was never rightfully his in the first place. This kind of outrageous, Trump-supporter actions are a direct result of months of incitement and criticism from the Sanders campaign claiming that any- and everyone not embracing Bernie and his agenda, or acquiescing to rule changes to allow Sanders to win, is corrupt and a corporate shill. Or, as WaPos editors framed it, Senator Sanders has fostered a toxic mix of unreason, revolutionary fervor, and perceived grievance. That fostering is not unlike Republicans inciting evangelical fundamentalists to perceived grievances; they are already without reason. It is, as the editorial board said, Bernie Sanders campaign selling his own brand of fiction. Although there is generally copious amounts of fiction during a campaign, at this late hour as the Post claimed Mr. Sanders denies reality when he tells supporters he still has a plausible pathway to the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Sanderss irresponsibility is sadly unsurprising. He has indulged and encouraged hyperbolic feelings and that most of the nation agrees with a left-wing agenda but is trapped in a corrupt system, and that nothing but a political revolution will do. The fiction is that most of the nation agrees with Sanders agenda and that a political revolution will accomplish anything. Historically, political revolutions only produce death and destruction, they never accomplish anything like Sanders campaign claims. Besides, no matter how many times they say it, a socialists political revolution is never going to transform even one Republican, much less the entire party, into tax and spend socialists. Only votes change the system and its why bitching and moaning about a corrupt corporate system driven by money is bitching about fiction. This may come as a revelation to many Americans on the Left, but money does not cast votes. People cast votes; and most American people are not close to being ready to vote to have their taxes hiked dramatically to give Senator Sanders acolytes a bunch of free stuff. And, many Democrats are not close to being receptive to an Independent politician from Vermont attempting to transform the Democratic Party into something resembling Bernie Sanders and unhinged Obama critic Cornel West. The Washington Post editorial ended saying, It is past time for Mr. Sanders to be honest with his supporters, before they take the campaigns irresponsible ethos to greater extremes and thereby help ensure the election of Donald Trump. One might add that it is time for Mr. Sanders to be honest with Democrats and either admit that hubris will not allow him to see reality or confess that his decades-long antipathy towards Democrats will help elect Donald Trump. Because although he is building his bona fides with young angry Emoprogs with no conception of how government operates, he is harming the Democratic Partys chances of winning in November. Senate Democrats see it, rank and file Democrats fear it and by his campaigns own admission, Bernie Sanders doesnt even think about it and its beginning to appear he doesnt care about it either. (Sherlock / Facebook)Sherlock In what could be one of the most exciting reports that ever emerged regarding the filming of "Sherlock," it has been confirmed that production will start filming in Morocco very soon, though details on the report are very scarce. According to Metro, the fourth season of the hit series will have some scenes filmed in Morocco. However, everything else is under wraps and it is unclear what will lead Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock and Martin Freeman's Dr. John Watson to the humid region. Filming in Cardiff, Wales started in April and it has been reported earlier that the first episode has been completed, while the second is already under works. It appears that some of the scenes to be shot in Morocco will be part of either the third or fourth episode. Another exciting confirmation is that of Toby Jones joining the cast as none other than the mysterious villain. Jones has starred in a number of British shows such as "The Secret Agent" and "Detectorists." He has also appeared on "Wayward Pines" and his voice was heard in several "Harry Potter" movies. According to Deadline, series co-creator Steven Moffat said of Jones, "Delighted to have Toby Jones on board, bringing to life one of [Sir Arthur Conan] Doyle's finest villains." It has yet to be revealed which villain he will be but fans are ecstatic to see his antagonist at play. While Cumberbatch and Freeman are obviously coming back to reprise their roles, it has been a hot rumor over the past months that Tom Hiddleston may crash into the cast to play the role of Sherrinford Holmes. (REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE) A photo of actor Tom Hiddleston arriving at the BAFTA awards in London on February 8, 2015. Hiddleston is said to be joining the cast of Sherlock as the third Holmes brother According to a March report by Unreality TV U.K., the buzz around Hiddleston's possible entry into the hit BBC series has been steaming over the past months. Creator Mark Gatiss said earlier this year that he would love to have the "Avengers" star on board. However, due to Hiddleston's rather hectic schedule for 2016, it would be hard to get him on set if he ever does get tapped to play Sherlock's brother. "Sherlock" season four is slated for release in January 2017. John Rowe, who lives in Rochester and graduated from Dover-Eyota High School in 2014, attends Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, where he studies worship arts. Every year, the the Worship Arts Program there creates an album, "Canyon Worship," of mostly original and some cover songs recorded by its students. This year, one of Rowe's songs is featured on it. "We have to audition the songs, so we write songs and submit them to the showcase, where we audition them again," Rowe said. "If we make it into the showcase, they display our songs, and from the showcase, they pick the songs to put on the album. This year, one of my songs made it onto the album. The song is called 'Scarred,' and I wrote it with my friend Kaitlyn Price. "We tried to put a different perspective on why Jesus went to the cross and died for us," Rowe said. "Even though he had endured all this pain, he was beaten and scarred, and even though we rejected him, he didn't turn away from us and stayed so he could give us eternal life. The love that he has for us was the lens we looked through when we wrote the song." Rowe has been writing songs since he was a senior in high school. "I definitely think my songwriting has improved since then," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Rowe not only wrote the song but sings and plays several instruments on the recorded track. "I was in choir and band in high school," he said. "I was in band until 10th grade and then started playing drums and picked up the guitar my junior year of high school. Ever since then, I've been playing guitar and piano and drums." School is done for this year, so Rowe is back in Rochester, where he is spending his summer as an intern at Autumn Ridge Church. "I get to work with the youth ministries, building worship with them, and (I) get to go on some of their mission trips, and I get to plan the Sunday night activities that we do for the youth group," he said. "I'm also leading worship for Saturday and Sunday services once or twice a month." The album is available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and Rhapsody. North star Daniel Wolfe, morning anchor/producer at KTTC-TV for almost five years, had his final show in southeastern Minnesota on Wednesday. "It's hard to believe I've been waking up that early for that long," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Wolfe is heading to KBJR in Duluth, where he'll be evening anchor, which means no more waking up for work in the middle of the night. "It will be easy to get used to a 'normal person' sleep schedule," he said, "but it will be weird for a while being awake on weeknights in the evening and at night. It's just extremely rare that I'm awake beyond 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday." Wolfe says he'll miss the morning team. "It's been almost the same personnel both in front of and behind the scenes for all that time," he said. "I'm really going to miss them all. I have a lot of good memories here in Southeast Minnesota. One of my most memorable experiences was covering the May 2, 2013, snowstorm as it happened. We were just reacting to what seemed like the impossible like everyone else. "Delivering the latest power outage/road closure info, our reporter getting stuck in the snow on live TV, and Jonathan Keggesbeing so excited that he ran a mile in knee-deep snow to get to the station, it's just one of those epic events you always dream of covering," he said. Wolfe lived in Kentucky and Nebraska before moving to Minnesota. He met his wife, Carissa (originally from the Twin Cities), while they were both attending Winona State. "I'm extremely excited to head to Duluth," Wolfe said. "My wife and I love northern Minnesota and surprisingly don't mind cold and snow. We love fishing, hiking, canoeing and just being outdoors, and 'up north' is one of the best places in the country to do all of the above." Congratulations and good luck, Daniel! 50th Anniversary David Mead and Gwen Koth met at Westmar College in LeMars, IA. They were married at United Methodist Church in LeMars, IA, on May 28, 1966. They are blessed with two sons and daughter-in-laws. The International Syria Support Group announced after its recent meeting that all parties, including Russia and Iran, have agreed to strengthen the Cessation of Hostilities, to ensure humanitarian access in Syria, and to move toward a political transition. The challenge we now face, said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, is to transform these possibilities into a reality of an agreement. The first step is to transform the cessation of hostilities into a comprehensive ceasefire. In a statement, the International Syria Support Group, or ISSG, called on all groups to stop the indiscriminate use of force. We welcome Russias commitment to work with the Syrian authorities to halt aerial bombardments over areas predominantly inhabited by civilians or parties to the cessation, said Secretary Kerry. The ISSG statement also calls on all parties to the cessation of hostilities to disassociate themselves physically and politically from Daesh and al-Nusrah. To that end, the U.S. remains committed to helping prevent the flow of foreign fighters, weapons, and financial support to terrorist organizations. The delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria remains of supreme importance. Starting June 1, if the United Nations is denied humanitarian access to any of the areas in need, the ISSG calls on the World Food Program to carry out a campaign of air bridges and air drops. In addition, the World Food Program will accelerate air drops in Deir al-Zour, where it has already provided some 460 metric tons of food to more than 100,000 people. Aid to these areas, said Secretary Kerry, must be a step towards a full, sustained, and unimpeded access throughout [Syria.] And finally, there must be substantive discussions on reaching a framework agreement for a political transition in Syria by August 1. Those talks should address the structure, membership, operational rules, and roles and responsibilities of a broad, non-sectarian, transitional governing body. The fate of millions of Syrians hangs in the balance. Thats why its critical that all parties to the conflict immediately implement the steps agreed to by the International Syria Support Group. JEN:There are just a couple weeks of school left in Rochester which, if I remember correctly, is prime "Senior Skip Day" time. I remember my Senior Skip Day fondly but as a parent I'm torn about the tradition. So we asked Shane Baker, a longtime Century High School teacher, to give us his view. SHANE:Thanks for having me. JEN:OK, 'fess up: Did you participate in Senior Skip Day as a teen? SHANE:I didn't. I was on Student Council, and word on the street was that we'd be removed from the group if we skipped. More importantly, Norma Baker was my mom, and I enjoyed living INSIDE the house. If I had skipped class, that privilege would've been in jeopardy. JEN:I get it. My dad was Jim Haugen the juvenile officer in my town. The one time I did skip school, he saw me from his squad car and HE called the principal. I was grounded forever. FOREVER. ADVERTISEMENT MISSIE:I bet it was worth it. JEN:So not worth it. MISSIE:Well, I don't recall a Senior Skip Day at my school. But my mom was Sallie Otto and she didn't need to say a word. JEN:I totally did Senior Skip Day but I didn't technically "skip." A dozen of us went to my friend's hunting cabin the evening before and spent the night, so I was officially "out of town" with my parents' approval. It is one of my hands-down, favorite high school memories. MISSIE:I actually think that with the pressure kids are under these days to be perfect, they deserve to let loose (in a responsible way), and we should let them live a little. But how on earth do 600 seniors organize themselves into ONE day? JEN:Social media, baby! How we ever managed it in the '80s is a mystery. Has Senior Skip Day already occurred this year? SHANE:Yes. For the last few years, it's been the Monday after Prom which was a couple weeks ago. JEN:So the teachers knew all about it? ADVERTISEMENT SHANE:We usually find out about it ahead of time, and most teachers have a decent plan in place to deal with the disruption. Kids are always shocked when we bring it up and start planning for the "one day plague." MISSIE:It's kind of a drag kids can't be sneaky anymore. Though, this year, they DO have whooping cough as an excuse. You know, I almost feel bad for the kids left behind. SHANE:The kids who are left behind are usually athletes, kids who may be on the cusp of passing, and/or the ones whose parents aren't on board with skipping. Realistically, even though kids will say "everyone does it," I'd guess less than 50 percent of our seniors participate. MISSIE:I did a little digging yesterday and found out that Senior Skip Day is an unsanctioned day unexcused. But there's no set limit to the amount of unexcused absences a kid can get. And I did find out that it's clear when some parents are blatantly lying and others are just honest. SHANE:As a school, we're expected to follow the discipline protocols. Teachers are not required to accept work from unexcused absences, a student could be assigned detention, etc. However, where it gets tricky is that as a teacher, I don't want to either a) promote or sanction lying; b) punish a kid/family for being honest; or c) create an unnecessary barrier between myself and a student at a time when they might really need an advocate. I think most teachers err on the side of: "Senior Skip Day is annoying and really, pretty disrespectful, but when you come back, we'll work together to help you be successful." JEN:I guess I feel that if my kid has good grades and has proven to be a responsible student by the time he's two weeks from graduation then why not? MISSIE:Agreed. But don't tell anyone I said that. SHANE:You know, all kinds of great learning happens outside the classroom. So if a kid is out there doing something, it's hard to fault them. On the other hand, if Senior Skip Day is about sleeping in late, watching TV, or playing on the cell phone, then I say it's a total waste. But if you're going to Ferris Bueller it go to museums, parades, famous landmarks, and are out there making memories, and you're OK with any consequences that might come your way? Then I'd guess the trade-off is worth it. Of course, you could do that in a legitimate way without being sneaky about it. ADVERTISEMENT JEN:Right. You could do that on the weekend. But that doesn't make such a good story. SHANE:"Ferris Bueller's Super Cool Saturday with His Buddies" would not have sold tickets. As the Memorial Day holiday weekend approaches, I have news to announce about how the Post-Bulletin will be produced on major holidays. As of Memorial Day, May 30, we'll no longer publish a print edition on major holidays. This will allow just about all of our employees and carriers a chance to be home with family and friends on those holidays. We'll have robust online coverage at Postbulletin.com through the long weekend, and the website will be open to all users, unmetered, on May 30. We'll also publish a larger, more news-packed edition in advance of holidays on Saturday, May 28, in this case. This change will allow us to leverage our resources and improve what we do online during the holiday weekends, and again, it allows more P-B employees and our hundreds of carriers a chance to have a full holiday weekend. We'll do the same on July Fourth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and we'll remind you as we approach each holiday. Our offices will be closed on Memorial Day. Customer service will be available as usual until 3 p.m. Saturday, May 28, by calling 507-285-7676. If you have news, call the newsroom anytime at 507-285-7700 or send email to news@postbulletin.com. Death notices and obituaries received by noon Monday will be posted that day. ADVERTISEMENT The Post-Bulletin is the largest news organization in southern Minnesota and has one of the most visited news websites in the state. We're committed to providing the news and information you count on 24/7, online and in print. Thank you for your support. We couldn't do it without you. Randy Chapman Publisher, Post-Bulletin Drive into just about any town surrounding Rochester, and you'll see new homes being built. It's getting easier to spot them all the time. New home construction is up in all the cities that serve as bedroom communities for Rochester. A survey conducted by the Post-Bulletin of 11 communities surrounding Rochester from Chatfield to Pine Island and Dodge Center to St. Charles found that 168 construction permits had been granted for new, single-family dwellings in 2015. That's a huge jump from the 65 granted in those communities just five years before. It didn't get much worse than in 2011. Only Byron and Kasson issued single-family dwelling construction permits in double digits, 18 and 16 respectively, that year. Several cities issued none at all. "Definitely, 2011 was the bottom of the housing market," said John Eischen, executive director of the Rochester Area Builders Association. Looking solely at Rochester's numbers, there were 191 permits in 2011, he said. A healthy Rochester market would be more like 500. "If I'm healthy in Rochester, I'll be healthy in the surrounding communities." Need to build ADVERTISEMENT The lack of building during the past several years has led to something of a shortage in the marketplace. When it comes to housing, new home construction needs to pick up the pace. "I think it's very urgent," Eischen said. Eischen quoted estimates from the state of Minnesota that say Rochester and its surrounding communities will need 7,000 new rental units and another 7,000 new single-family homes by 2030. Those estimates were made before Destination Medical Center became a driving force of potential growth in the region. "We're going to grow," he said. "And one of the basic human needs is shelter." David Todd, city administrator for Pine Island, said his city has seen slow but steady growth in new housing since 2011, when six permits were issued. In 2015, a dozen were issued, and he expects 2016 to look a lot like last year. "We never really dipped," Todd said. "From 2011 to 2013, our numbers were static." Pine Island's modest growth in new housing can be tied to the improving economy and the improvements Pine Island Schools have made, building a new elementary school and refurbishing its existing building. Going forward, DMC will be a major engine for growth for the city. "Our change is closely tied to the economy and how Rochester grows," Todd said. "We fit the bill of that bedroom type community." ADVERTISEMENT Building your own success One of the communities that has fared the best with new housing has been Kasson, trailing only Byron in new home construction. Like Todd, Kasson City Administrator Theresa Coleman said her city has benefitted from investment in its school system along with an improving economy. But Kasson has another arrow in its quiver. "We do have an agreement with Mantorville Township and Dodge County for orderly annexation," she said. That has led the city to bring new land into its city limits. "We have developments in all different directions," Coleman said. Including 14 new home construction permits in 2016, the city has seen a total of 150 since 2011. All that development has come at a price. Coleman said the city will need another water tower to keep up with demand. And each of those new developments needs city services sewer and water, snow plowing, and street maintenance that cost money. "It works two ways," she said. "It does add to the tax base and makes it possible to provide services. But it creates new demand for those services." In fact, Kasson has grown so much that the city will add a library, something it could have never afforded without a bigger tax base. That's a big step for a city where those new residents all seem to be working in other places. "It's not that we've added employers necessarily," she said. Not fast enough ADVERTISEMENT While the building of homes throughout Rochester's bedroom communities has picked up, it's not enough. "We're in recovery," Eischen said. "By no means are we booming." For the smaller communities, that means doing whatever is necessary to entice builders. Eyota, for example, has had a program since 2012 to waive the sewer availability charge and water availability charge SAC and WAC fees for new home construction. "It's a big deal for homeowners," Eischen said. "Any way you can keep the total cost down on a home, it'll be more for the homeowner." John Wade, chairman of Journey to Growth, said estimates point toward 35,000 jobs being added regionally in the next 20 years. "The fundamentals of our economy are solid," Wade said. "Housing clearly plays a role to retain and recruit the workforce we'll need in the future." That growth, whether in Rochester or nearby, will impact the housing needs in the towns surrounding Rochester. "Not everyone wants to live in a large town," Eischen said. "Some of these extremely talented doctors might want to live in the smaller towns." An informational meeting about the possibility of bringing the Penguin Project theater program to Rochester will be hosted by Words Players at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Northrup Building, 201 Eighth St. NW. The Penguin Project pairs special-needs actors, ages 10 to 21, with age-appropriate peer mentors in the rehearsal and production of a play. The Penguin Project was founded by an Illinois pediatrician to give children with special needs an opportunity to participate in theater. At the meeting, the viability of a Rochester production in 2017 will be discussed. The meeting will be in Room 201 of the Northrup Building. When construction of the building that houses the American Legion was completed in 1911, Europe in general and Flanders in particular might as well have been on the moon. To farmers and their children who tilled swampy fields with horses, the world beyond their homesteads involved train trips to Kenyon, Dodge Center, Faribault and Rochester. Newspapers brought word that Europe was becoming a powder keg. Nationalism and other dangerous isms threatened dire consequences. When war came in mid-summer 1914, kings and prime ministers on both sides were certain the fight would end in glorious victory before winter winds blew. Celebrating citizens showered marching troops with flowers. The soldiers who would be lost would be honored with pomp that included lily bouquets, which symbolizes the restoration of innocence to fallen warriors' souls. President Woodrow Wilson, then in a hotly contested re-election campaign, insisted that American boys would never spill blood in Europe. But some promises aren't kept, and the distance between Flanders and West Concord melted away. The silent sentries in drab green uniforms at the Legion good friends that I haven't met yet found that to be true. They'll be watching from their photographic posts Monday when veterans once again unfurl flags and check the condition of the guns that will fire to honor the dead. Many in the American Legion will wear poppies, a tradition that started long before Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971. ADVERTISEMENT The speaker, who will speak at two cemeteries and the city park, will check his notes one more time before the small troop leaves the building. His words will likely include a poem written by a peacetime Canadian doctor turned soldier who honored a fallen friend as best he could. "In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the guns below." John McCrae the poem's author died in a field hospital, but the poem proved a useful recruiting and war-bond selling tool for the Allies. The idealism that brought Doughboys to Europe withered quickly under machine gun fire. More than 8 million soldiers died before it was over; monarchs fell, communism rose and the war fought to end all wars, failed its mission. Most Americans didn't want to take part in the second world war. Isolationism held sway until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The last good war, an oxymoron to those who mourn the dead, was followed by stalemated Korea and Vietnam. If the weather cooperates, a large crowd will gather at the Concord Cemetery. The long and narrow road that runs through the cemetery is lined with flags. While the honor guards gather, families will mingle and read names etched in granite. The junior high band will assemble and children will clutch small Stars and Stripes. A prayer will ask that no more soldiers die and a preacher will remind that hope is more than an impossible dream because humans are called to a better thing. Love remains the highest calling; though to love one's enemies is a tall task. ADVERTISEMENT The speaker will invite people to return to the Legion for treats. Soldiers' sacrifices must be honored; it is not dishonor to recite Pete Seger 's words from the protest song Where have all the Flowers Gone? Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards, everyone. Oh, when will they ever learn? I'll try to find " All Quiet on the Western Front .'' The book, written in 1930, ends with the last survivor of a platoon reaching out to touch a butterfly floating above a trench's muck. A sniper shoots and the last of a lost generation dies seeking a better thing. Hope remains that people who gather for distant future Memorial Days will shake their heads in disbelief that massed armies and arsenals once seemed reasonable solutions. MINNEAPOLIS The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that would set up a trust fund of more than $65 million to compensate some 440 clergy abuse victims plus other creditors, with just more than half of that amount coming from insurance. The plan also would create a $500,000 fund to pay for counseling and incorporate the terms of a settlement reached with Ramsey County in December that allows for greater legal oversight of the archdiocese over the next three years, with the goal of changing its organizational culture to ensure that no more children are abused. Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a statement that he believes the plan is fair, but knows that some people may object and that the plan may need to be modified. He said his ultimate goal "is to work earnestly with everyone involved to find a fair, just and timely resolution." But attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm has filed most of the abuse claims against the archdiocese since Minnesota gave survivors of past abuse a new three-year opening to sue, called the plan "predictably deficient." He said the archdiocese is offering only 1 percent of what it's capable of paying. "What this archdiocese is doing is betraying the pledges that they've made to be transparent and to be accountable," Anderson said. "These survivors were betrayed by predatory priests for decades. The officials concealed that and betrayed the survivors again. And now by proposing and trying to coerce this plan upon them, it's a further betrayal." ADVERTISEMENT Anderson reiterated a claim he and a creditors committee made earlier this week that the archdiocese has $1.7 billion worth of assets it could use to compensate victims a contention that the archdiocese disputed and he repeated his accusation that the archdiocese is sheltering assets to avoid big payouts. Among other things, he faulted the archdiocese for listing the St. Paul Cathedral and three Catholic high schools as having no value. The archdiocese has reached settlements with Home Insurance, State Farm and Catholic Mutual Insurance Co. totaling $33.2 million, according to the filings, but other insurers are still unwilling to pay. Any money recovered from them would raise the amount available for victims. The archdiocese would contribute $13 million in cash to the trust fund, including money from the sale of church properties, while parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations would pay $14.7 million, primarily from insurance. The archdiocese statement said that the filing is an important step in the process because abuse victims can't be compensated until the bankruptcy court approves a reorganization plan. The court has already approved more than $5.4 million in professional fees and expenses, but there were still unpaid bills estimated at $4.1 million, according to the filings. "The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys' fees and bankruptcy expenses; and, in turn, less money is available for claimants," the archdiocese said. A fight early Friday that left one man in critical condition with multiple stab wounds was out of character for Rochester's hub for nightlife on historic Third Street Southwest. The area has a number of restaurants and bars and sees a high amount of traffic, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. Fights are not uncommon, said Rochester Police Dept. Capt. John Sherwin. Rochester police have responded by placing Community Action Team officers and additional patrols in the area on Fridays and Saturdays. Those additional patrols were not in place Thursday night or into the early hours of Friday when police were alerted to two groups of people fighting. When police responded, they found a man had been stabbed. "It is scary, and none of us want that happening in our community," said Sgt. Jon Turk, supervisor of the police department's Community Action Team. ADVERTISEMENT Should the incident be a cause for concern for Rochester residents who patronize the downtown area? "I don't think so," Sherwin said. "I think the statistics would show that downtown given the number of people there and the number of people who are out having a good time we have relatively few incidents." Turk agreed: "I don't want people to be concerned about coming downtown," he said. "If we had incidents of violence like this that were taking place on a regular basis, then I think people would be concerned and might reconsider. But right now, from what I've seen this year and even from last year on some of our patrols, that level of violence has not occurred down there for a while," Turk said. Businesses on Third Street see relatively few issues, a general manager at one establishment said. "We're pretty low key down here on the corner," said Kelly Griffin, general manager of Grand Rounds Brewpub, said. "It's pretty easy going." Grand Rounds closes at 10 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Griffin said the relatively early closings help staff members and patrons to "stay out of all the craziness that happens after midnight." The victim of the stabbing was conscious Friday but refused to cooperate with police, Sherwin said. The suspect is still in custody awaiting charges. ADVERTISEMENT Sherwin added the incident was not a "random crime." "The individuals who were involved to this were all well known to us in law enforcement," he said. ELKO Congressional candidate Rick Shepherd of Sparks will meet with voters at 1 p.m. on Memorial Day in the city park, behind Northeastern Nevada Museum. Shepherd is one of two Democrats in the primary for Nevadas District 2 seat in Congress currently held by Republican Mark Amodei. An Independent American and a nonpartisan candidate are also running. Shepherd describes himself as a former Republican on his website, adding I am a progressive candidate and a proud Bernie Sanders supporter. ELKO An Auschwitz and Dr. Josef Mengele survivor gave three life lessons to Elko students this week never give up, dont be prejudiced, and forgive. Eva Kor spoke via Skype to about 100 sixth, seventh and eighth graders from Elko Institute for Academic Achievement and Flag View Intermediate School. I am a survivor of Auschwitz, a survivor of medical experiments conducted by Dr. Mengele and now that I am 82 years old, I am trying to survive old age, she told the students. When she was 10 years old, her parents, two older sisters and she and her twin were put into a cattle car and taken to Auschwitz. There she and her twin, Miriam, were separated from their family. They became part of a group of twins that Dr. Josef Mengele experimented on in the Nazis concentration camp. About 3,000 children were used in the experiments. Kor said the first night going to the latrine she found three children dead on the floor. She made a decision that she and Miriam would do anything to survive. She and her sister were used in two types of experiments. She was given injections. No one knows for sure what was in the injections, but most suspect it was diseases, Kor said. She became very sick and while Mengele looked at her chart he said she had two weeks to live. Eva said she was between life and death for two weeks. I kept telling myself I must survive, Kor told the students. It took two weeks for her fever to break. When she was returned to the barracks, Miriam looked like the living dead. Neither sister talked about what happened to them in the camp until 1985. I think children cant talk about experiences until they feel physically safe, Kor said. In 1985, Miriam told Kor that she had been in isolation for two weeks while Kor battled the fever. If Kor had died, Mengele would have killed Miriam and done autopsies on both twins. After Kor survived, Miriam also was injected with unknown substances that they later found had stunted the growth of Miriams kidneys. About 200 children were found alive by the Soviet Army when the camp was liberated on Jan. 27, 1945, and the majority of the children were Mengele twins. After being in refugee camps, they were taken to their aunt in Romania, which was under Communist control. Eva said while she was in the Communist Party she learned at age 14 that she wasnt a good Communist. When an officer questioned her about not being at a parade, Eva told him she thought it was more important to study than to be at another parade. The officer told her when you are in the Communist Party, you are not supposed to think. You are supposed to follow orders. She said she decided then that she didnt want to be in the Communist Party. Eva and Miriam immigrated to Israel in 1950 and this is where they first felt unafraid. She and her sister both received an education and joined the Israeli Army. She met her husband, Michael Kor, a Holocaust survivor and American tourist, in Israel and they were married in 1960. She became a U.S. citizen in 1965. First Life Lesson When the concentration camp was liberated, Eva said she and her sister didnt understand what was going on, but their first taste of freedom was from the chocolate cookies the Soviets gave them. For me to realize that Miriam and I were alive, that we have triumphed over unbelievable evil, that my little promise to myself that first night in the latrine became a reality and that was an unbelievable experience, she said. Never, ever give up on yourself or on your dreams, because if you give up nothing will happen, she said. She told the children that growing up is hard even if you grow up in the U.S. with loving parents and even if your parents can afford nice things. She asked the children for a favor. Kor asked the children to concentrate on developing their minds, hearts and morality rather than material goods. Kor also told the students the best way to improve themselves is to help others. If you see a piece of paper on the floor, pick it up. You immediately have improved your environment, she said. If you see somebody who needs help, help them. Youre going to make them feel good and it will also make you feel good. Become the best you that you can be. You are going to be happy. Your parents are going to be very proud of you and youre going to be a plus, a big asset to your community. Second Life Lesson Kor told the students that life lesson No. 2 was prejudice. She said Hitler was successful because of prejudice and prejudice is still rampant today. I am prejudice, she said. Not against any race or religion or ethnic group. I am prejudice against you. She told the children she doesnt like todays styles that are too sexy, full of holes or baggy pants. She doesnt like tattoos, body piercings or T-shirts. When she saw teens that looked like bums she assumed they were drug users and bad students and asked the teacher about them. The teacher said they were very good students and had never used drugs. I was shocked, she said. I realized that even I have to take the time to get to know the person. So in the last 17 years I have made an effort to try to get to know each person before I pass a judgment on them. One person at a time that is the only way I can do it. Third Life Lesson I have forgiven the Nazis, she said. I have forgiven everybody. She said she was a good victim for many years because she was angry at everybody. Her view of life started to change after her sister died in 1993. She wanted to make changes for peace in her life and she founded the CANDLES Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. CANDLES stands for Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors. A professor from Boston College asked Kor to speak and requested she bring a Nazi doctor with her. She told the professor she didnt know where she would find one. She eventually found one, Dr. Hans Munch, who knew Mengele. He wouldnt travel to Boston, but he asked her to come to Germany to talk with him. When she met him, he was very respectful and said he would sign a document that he was a witness to what happened in the camps. After talking with him, Kor said she wanted to thank him. This revelation led her to wanting to forgive Mengele. Kor said when she wrote her letter of forgiveness, all the pain was lifted from her. I was no longer a victim of Auschwitz, she said. Nor was I a prisoner of my tragic past. I was free of Auschwitz and I was free of Mengele. She told the students forgiveness is the best revenge because once you forgive, your perpetrator no longer has power over you. Anger is a seed for war, she said. Forgiveness is a seed for peace. Questions and Answers After her presentation the students asked questions. One boy asked if she thought her belief in God or her religion helped her survive. Kor said no. She said she arrived in the camp a very religious girl, but after seeing the dead children she discarded everything she was before and focused on surviving. However, she said that doesnt mean others didnt survive because of their faith. One of the girls asked is she thinks her experience would have been different without her sister. Kor said sure. Kor said Miriam helped her maintain her humanity. The children also asked about life after the camp and how she came to trust other people again. Kor said life never became normal for her because she still has ailments from what was done to her as a child. However, she was able to trust people again when she moved to Israel and she stopped being a victim once she forgave. Forgiving was a gift to myself, she said. Charter school teacher Lori Lynch said Kor is the fifth Holocaust survivor to appear in her classroom. Earlier this year her students Skyped with Holocaust survivor Sidney Finkel, who wrote Sevek and the Holocaust: The Boy Who Refused to Die. We spend a lot of time learning about the Holocaust, she said. Lynch said it is important to remember and acknowledge the Holocaust so it doesnt happen again. She said it is important for the students to hear a firsthand account so they understand what happened. Hadley Noren, the Flag View librarian, agreed and said Gov. Brian Sandoval has a program that encourages Holocaust education throughout the state. RENO The Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Corrections Silver State Industries are hosting a saddle and halter-trained wild horse and burro adoption event on June 11 at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center located at 1721 Snyder Avenue, south of Carson City. Twenty wild horses and one burro from herd management areas on BLM-administered public lands in California, Nevada and several born in facilities in Nevada will be offered for adoption at the NNCC corrals. Of the wild horses offered for adoption, thirteen are saddle-trained and seven are halter-trained. The female wild burro is halter-trained. Public viewing begins at 9 a.m. and a competitive-bid adoption conducted by an auctioneer follows at 10 a.m. The starting bid on all saddle-trained horses and the burro is $150 and halter-trained horses start at $125. The animals range in age from 1 to 7 years old and vary in weight and color. The animals are trained at the NNCC by inmates in the Nevada Department of Corrections program and receive at least 120 days of training. A catalog of the BLM wild horses and burro offered for the June 11 adoption is posted on-line at http://on.doi.gov/1DP3LhB. Frequently asked questions about the program are answered at the same site. Directions to NNCC: From Minden: Take U.S. 395 North (Carson Street). Take Snyder Avenue (NV State Route 518) east for 1.5 miles. Turn right (south) at the NNCC sign and look for directional signs at the far south end of the facility. From Reno: Take I-580 South/U.S.-395 South. Follow to Fairview Drive in Carson City, exit 38. Go east (left) roughly 0.3 miles. Turn right (south) onto Edmonds Drive and go about 2.5 miles. Turn right (west) onto Snyder Avenue. Turn left (south) at the NNCC sign and then look for directional signs at the far south end of the facility. Potential adopters are asked to enter the NNCC from the north side and watch for signs and event personnel at the extreme south end of the facility directing event participants to the horse corrals and parking. NNCC rules prohibit the public from wearing any blue clothing, blue jeans, tank tops or shorts at the auction. Also, please no cell phones, cameras or recording devices. For more information contact John Axtell at 775-885-6146. From the start of the 2016 session, lawmakers knew they'd face plenty of hurdles. The session would be a mere 11 weeks and they would have to contend with plenty of construction hassles as work on the massive Capitol renovations. Here is a look at what lawmakers got done this year in St. Paul and what proposals failed to advance. BIG HEADLINE: What got done: Body cameras After two years of debate, lawmakers finally agreed on guidelines for the use of police body cameras. Under the measure, the majority of footage would be classified as private. ADVERTISEMENT The only instances when the footage would be public are if an officer fired his or her gun or if an officer's use of forced results in "substantial bodily harm." Subjects of the body camera footage would have the option of making the videos public themselves. Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, have called on DFL Gov. Mark Dayton to veto the legislation, saying it heavily favors law enforcement and would protect officers who engage in misconduct. Dayton has not said whether or not he will sign the bill. The Rochester Police Department is already using body cameras. Broadband funding Lawmakers came together to pass $35 million to help expand high-speed internet access in Minnesota. A coalition of groups representing cities, townships, schools and technology organizations pushed hard at the Capitol this year for funding. Dayton originally proposed spending $100 million on broadband infrastructure this year. The DFL-led Senate had sought $85 million and the GOP-led House had proposed $47 million. Drug sentencing reductions Lawmakers approved sweeping changes to the way the state sentences drug offenders. The measure reduces the recommended prison sentences for first-degree sale and possession of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine from seven years to five years. Meanwhile, it toughens penalties for individuals convicted of carrying drugs across state lines or carrying a firearm. ADVERTISEMENT The goal of the bill is to lessen penalties for drug addicts while enacting harsher penalties for drug "kingpins." The legislation grew out of a compromise reached with county attorneys, prosecutors and law enforcement. It is estimated it will free up more than 600 prison beds over time. Preschool funding Heading into the session, Dayton told lawmakers that getting preschool funding topped his list of legislative priorities. He held firm to his demand for funding. In the final negotiations, Dayton vowed he would not sign off on a $300 million spending bill unless it had $25 million for preschool. Schools in high poverty areas that offer preschool would be prioritized for funding. It would enable an estimated 3,700 four-year olds to attend preschool. Presidential primaries Democrats and Republicans came together to dump the state's caucus system in favor of presidential primaries. Citizens' frustration with long lines and crowded conditions during the March 1 caucuses helped fuel the change. Voters do not have to register with a party ahead of time in order to cast a ballot. However, it would require voters to publicly disclose their party preference. The next presidential primary will be in 2020. ADVERTISEMENT Racial inequality Dayton announced early on in session he wanted $100 million to help tackle racial economic disparities. The issue captured lawmakers' attention after U.S. Census data released last year showed the household income of black Minnesotans dropped by 14 percent between 2013 and 2014. Ultimately, lawmakers agreed to spend $35 million to try to reverse that trend. Tax cuts A bill with $260 million in tax cuts successfully passed the Legislature this session. The measure includes property tax relief for businesses and farmers. Also included is a first-in-the-nation tax credit for college graduates paying off student loans and tax cuts for families that contribute to 529 plans to save for their children's college costs. The bill also expands the childcare tax credit. BIG HEADLINE: What didn't get done Construction projects A $1 billion public works bill that would have funded construction projects across the state failed in the final minutes of the session. Several local projects were included in the doomed bill, including $5 million for Rochester International Airport's U.S. Customs expansion, $25 million for Winona State University's Education Village, $15 million for a rail grade separation in Red Wing, $3.6 million to repair the historic Lanesboro Dam, $1.5 million to expand The Reading Center in Rochester, $5 million to upgrade Red Wing's waterfront and $500,000 to upgrade Oronoco's wastewater infrastructure. Some lawmakers are urging the governor to call a special session in order to pass the bill. Drunken driving Efforts to require more people convicted of drunken driving to have ignition interlock devices installed failed to advance this year. Rochester DFL Rep. Kim Norton had been pushing to require anyone convicted of a DWI to have an ignition interlock device installed. The devices, which are the size of a cellphone, are a breathalzyer that attaches to a car's dashboard. Drivers must blow into a tube, and if the device detects a measurable amount of alcohol, the car will not start. Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, had a bill that would have required drivers to get an ignition interlock after their second DWI offense. Critics said they were worried the devices were not reliable enough and could accidentally prevent people who had not been drinking from driving. Gun regulations There was plenty of talk about increasing gun regulations this session but proposals got no traction at the Capitol this year. Among the measures being pushed was a requirement that background checks be required for all gun purchases including those made at gun shows and online. But the closest that proposal got to legislative action was an "informational only" committee hearing in the Senate. High-speed rail A bill pushed by Red Wing DFL Sen. Matt Schmit to establish a 15-member advisory group focused on a potential high-speed rail line from Rochester to the Twin Cities failed to advance. Efforts to pass the bill came as a private company North American High Speed Rail Group is considering building a $4.2 billion high-speed rail line from Rochester to the Twin Cities. Critics of the project had testified in support of the bill, saying it help ensure citizens' voices are being heard as the project moves ahead. The private group said it didn't believe the legislation was necessary and some lawmakers questioned whether such a group is needed before the rail's route has been determined and some environmental analysis is complete. Real ID Lawmakers failed to reach a deal on how to bring the state's driver's licenses into compliance with the federal Real ID law. Currently, Minnesotans cannot use their driver's licenses to access federal facilities, such as nuclear plants and military bases. Beginning in 2018, Minnesotans will be unable to board commercial flights using their driver's licenses. Instead, they will need identification that is Real ID-compliant, such as a passport or an enhanced driver's license. Initially, it appeared Real ID legislation was on the fast track at the legislature this session. Lawmakers agreed to repeal a law prohibiting the state to plan for Real ID. But negotiations between House Republicans and Senate Democrats over implementing Real ID fell apart. One of the biggest areas of disagreement was undocumented immigrants. The House bill would have specifically prohibited undocumented workers from getting non-Real ID compliant licenses. The Senate bill did not address the issue. Transportation Efforts to reach agreement on a long-term transportation funding package collapsed in the final days of the session. Lawmakers and the governor agreed on the size of the need $600 million in additional money per year. The sticking point proved to be two issues how to pay for it and whether to fund metro-area transit. Democrats favored a gas tax hike and wanted a half-cent metro-area sales tax to pay for transit, including the proposed Southwest Light Rail line. Republicans were vehemently opposed to raising the gas tax and including transit funding in the final bill. Dayton offered two compromise plans in hopes of bridging the gap. One of those plans dumped his calls for a gas tax increase in favor of a substantial license tab fee increase. But he remained firm on his demand for transit funding. With lawmakers unable to reach an accord, they instead moved ahead on a $1 billion public works measure that included $700 million for road and bridge improvements. That bill failed to pass. ST. PAUL When it comes to the 2016 legislative session, the focus continues to be on what failed to get done. That was evident during a Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday featuring Southeast Minnesota lawmakers. Several legislators said they were disappointed that a $1 billion public works bill that included $700 million in transportation funding failed in the final minutes of the session. "It is a little disappointing in the end to not have that final bill passed in the Senate. There it is just right on the end zone line, and it doesn't quite cross," said Rep. Nels Pierson, R-Rochester. The bill failed to pass in the chaotic final minutes of the session. It cleared the Republican-led House but stalled after the DFL-led Senate amended the bill to include funding for light rail. GOP House Speaker Kurt Daudt and DFL Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk have accused each other of breaking a deal reached in closed-door negotiations. The bill includes millions of dollars in funding for construction projects across Southeast Minnesota. Those projects include $5 million for Rochester International Airport's U.S. Customs expansion, $25 million for Winona State University's Education Village, $1.5 million for The Reading Center in Rochester and $5 million to upgrade Red Wing riverfront just to name a few. ADVERTISEMENT Sen. Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna, told the crowd of about 50 business leaders that the legislative process needs to change to avoid these types of situations. "The leaders said they had an agreement and they really didn't, and they are now both blaming each other and pointing their fingers at each other, and we could have had an open process," Jensen said. House Taxes Committee Chairman Greg Davids, R-Preston, was eager to talk about what lawmakers did get done $260 million in tax cuts. "We can continue to talk about what did not happen, or we can talk about what did happen," Davids told the crowd. He said the tax bill he authored will provide relief to a wide range of people. It includes property tax cuts for businesses and farmers. There are also tax credits for graduates paying off student loan debt and for veterans and parents who make contributions to 529 plans to save for college. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton has not decided whether he will sign the bill. "The tax bill is an amazing document. It's an historic document, and I'm really hoping that the governor decides to sign the bill," Davids said. Lawmakers also approved $300 million in additional spending, with sizable investments in preschool and broadband infrastructure. Plenty of other high-profile bills passed, including guidelines for the use of body cameras by police and a switch from caucuses to presidential primaries. But all of that work is being overshadowed by the lawmakers' failures. Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said she is disappointed lawmakers couldn't pass a public works bill also known as a bonding bill. Historically, lawmakers pass large bonding bills in even-numbered years. Norton said, in her view, that was the Legislature's No. 1 job this session. ADVERTISEMENT "We have failed the people of Minnesota this year in not passing that," Norton said. Several lawmakers told the crowd they want to see the governor call a special session so lawmakers can pass a bonding bill. Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, went so far as to print out the governor's phone number on fliers she passed out and urged people to call him. "I would encourage you to call the governor, ask for that special session right away," Nelson said. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said the $1 billion public works bill that failed to pass was "riddled with errors" because it was rushed through at the last minute. She also wants the governor to call a special session, but she wants to see changes made to the bill. Among them, she wants $20 million for renovations at Rochester Community and Technical College included in the bill. She added, "Rochester really asked for very little in the bonding bill this year." 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 There's a meme floating around the Internet: If Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are in a boat and it capsizes, who wins? America. A year ago, it was almost unthinkable that the Republican Party's presidential nominee would be the bombastic real estate mogul, especially given the party's deep bench and the strength and talent of its field. As many pundits have explained, Trump's views and past statements belie the claim that he is Republican at all. Lies, it seems, are Trump's currency. ADVERTISEMENT Even six months ago, it was laughable that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would not only still be in the race by now but would also be giving the likely Democratic nominee, Clinton, a run for her money. Sanders is still drawing huge numbers of devoted supporters to his rallies and has vowed not to suspend his campaign before the party's July convention in Philadelphia, further delaying Clinton's attempts to coalesce the party around her. Clinton's persistent troubles arising from her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state continue to plague her campaign and keep her "honest and trustworthy" ratings at embarrassing lows. The Republican and Democratic parties are both in turmoil, sharply divided over the candidates who have survived the primary season. And come November, American voters will face a choice between two of the most dishonest, disliked and corrupt candidates in modern political history. Which is why the calls for a third-party run are not only compelling, but such a candidacy may represent the only acceptable choice for millions of Americans. While many anti-Trump conservatives began floating the idea of an independent run after Trump started collecting delegates, support has increased in recent weeks. Several names have been suggested, including an unabashed Trump critic, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and former Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, both Republicans. ADVERTISEMENT But the most probable candidate for a third-party claim is Mitt Romney. Romney's name isn't necessarily associated with victory he failed to earn the Republican nomination in 2008 and lost a disappointing general election race to President Barack Obama in 2012. Criticized for his stiffness and capacity for making politically tone-deaf comments, Romney did not garner enough enthusiasm in his own party to defeat a strong incumbent. But he quickly proved that charisma is not the equivalent of leadership or wisdom. In the ensuing years, Romney has become a respected party elder, in part because, as writer David French explains, he's been vindicated by events. While he was roundly mocked for his declaration that Russia posed the greatest geopolitical threat to the U.S., Romney correctly predicted the failure of Obama's "reset" strategy with Russia and the subsequent rise of Vladimir Putin. Perhaps more important, Romney possesses integrity, a virtue lacking in both front-runner rivals. In March, Romney addressed the Republican Party passionately, detailing why Trump was not acceptable to represent the GOP in the general election. ADVERTISEMENT He opted not to endorse any of the candidates who remained in the field but made clear that even with Clinton as a rival, conservatives should feel uncomfortable voting for Trump. To be clear, were Romney to stage a third-party run, he'd likely endure vilification within his own party. Still, a recent Washington Post-ABC poll tested a hypothetical three-way race and found that among registered voters, Clinton gets 37 percent, Trump 35?percent and Romney 22 percent without Romney even entering the race. With so much at stake this election cycle, and sadly no good choices available, little time remains for an alternative candidate. Still, a Romney run would represent a better option for conservatives and a better option for America than either of the current candidates. Cynthia M. Allen is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Today's elite college students face a unique set of pressures. On the professional side life is competitive, pressured, time-consuming, capitalistic and stressful. On the political side many elite universities are home to an ethos of middle-aged leftism. The general atmosphere embraces feminism, civil rights, egalitarianism and environmentalism, but it is expressed as academic discourse, not as action on the streets. This creates a tension in the minds of some students. On the professional side they are stressed and exhausted. On the political, spiritual and moral side they are unfulfilled. On the professional side some students are haunted by the anxiety that they are failing in some comprehensive but undefinable way. On the spiritual side they hunger for a vehement crusade that will fulfill their moral yearnings and produce social justice. This situation a patina of genteel progressivism atop a churning engine of amoral meritocracy is inherently unstable and was bound to produce a counterreaction. In his essay "The Big Uneasy," in the current issue of The New Yorker, Nathan Heller describes life at Oberlin College in Ohio. In his penetrating interviews with the activist students you can see how the current passion for identity politics grows, in part, as a reaction against both sides of campus life. The students Heller interviewed express a comprehensive dissatisfaction with their lives. "I'm actually still trying to reconcile how unhappy I've been here with how happy people were insisting I must be," one student says. "Whatever you do at Oberlin as a person of color or a low-income person, it just doesn't work," says another. ADVERTISEMENT Many of these students have rejected the meritocratic achievement culture whole cloth the idea that life is about moving up the ladder. "I don't want to assimilate into middle-class values," one student tells Heller. "I'm going home, back to the 'hood' of Chicago, to be exactly who I was before I came to Oberlin." "Working my piece of land somewhere and living autonomously that's the dream," another says. "Just getting ... out of America. It's a sinking ship." On the other hand they want a moral life that is more vehement, more strenuous than anything being offered by their elders. Oberlin College is as progressive as the day is long. But in mid-December, a group of students gave the Oberlin administration a list of 50 nonnegotiable demands, asserting that "this institution functions on the premises of imperialism, white supremacy, capitalism, ableism, and a cissexist heteropatriarchy." The identity politics the students have produced inverts the values of the meritocracy. The meritocracy is striving toward excellence; identity politics is deeply egalitarian. The meritocracy measures you by how much you've accomplished; identity politics measures you by how much you've been oppressed. In the meritocracy your right to be heard is earned through long learning and quality insight; in identity politics your right to be heard is earned by your experience of discrimination. The meritocracy places tremendous emphasis on individual agency; identity politics argues that agency is limited within a system of oppression. The meritocracy sees the university as a gem tumbler, a bouncing place where people crash off one another and thereby hone their thoughts and skills. The students Heller describes sense the moral emptiness of the current meritocracy and are groping for lives of purpose. At the same time they feel fragile and want protection protection from rejection, failure or opposing or disturbing ideas. What one sees in the essay are the various strains of American liberalism crashing into one another: the admiration for achievement clashing against the moral superiority of the victim; the desire to let students run free, clashing against the desire to protect the oppressed from psychologically unsafe experiences. The current identity politics movement, like all previous forms of campus radicalism, is sparked by genuine social injustices. Agree or disagree with these students, it's hard not to admire the impulse to serve a social good and commit to some lofty purpose. On the other hand, this movement does not emerge from a place of confidence and strength. It emerges from a place of anxiety, lostness and fragility. It is distorted by that soil. Movements that grant themselves the status of victim lack both the confidence to lead change and the humility to converse with others. People who try to use politics to fill emotional and personal voids get more and more extreme and end up as fanatics. ADVERTISEMENT There is a vacuum at the heart of things here. The meritocracy has become amoral. We ask students to work harder and harder while providing them with less and less of an idea of how they might find a purpose in all that work. If we slowed down the frenetic pace of competition, and helped students think about vocation the meaning and purpose of work then life would have a firmer base. Political life whether left or right, radical or moderate wouldn't be distorted so much by inner pain. David Brooks is a columnist for the New York Times. In general, you shouldn't pay much attention to polls at this point, especially with Republicans unifying around Donald Trump while Bernie Sanders hasn't conceded the inevitable. Still, I was struck by several recent polls showing Trump favored over Hillary Clinton on the question of who can best manage the economy. This is pretty remarkable given the incoherence and wild irresponsibility of Trump's policy pronouncements. Granted, most voters probably don't know anything about that, in part thanks to substance-free news coverage. But if voters don't know anything about Trump's policies, why their favorable impression of his economic management skills? The answer, I suspect, is that voters see Trump as a hugely successful businessman, and they believe that business success translates into economic expertise. They are, however, probably wrong about the first, and definitely wrong about the second: Even genuinely brilliant businesspeople are often clueless about economic policy. An aside: In part this is surely a partisan thing. Over the years, polls have generally, although not universally, shown Republicans trusted over Democrats to manage the economy, even though the economy has consistently performed better under Democratic presidents. But Republicans are much better at promoting legends for example, by constantly hyping economic and jobs growth under Ronald Reagan, even though the Reagan record was easily surpassed under Bill Clinton. Back to Trump: One of the many peculiar things about his run for the White House is that it rests heavily on his claims of being a masterful businessman, yet it's far from clear how good he really is at the "art of the deal." Independent estimates suggest that he's much less wealthy than he says he is and probably has much lower income than he claims to have, too. But since he has broken with all precedents by refusing to release his tax returns, it's impossible to resolve such disputes. (And maybe that's why he won't release those returns.) ADVERTISEMENT Remember, too, that Trump is a clear case of someone born on third base who imagines that he hit a triple: He inherited a fortune, and it's far from clear that he has expanded that fortune any more than he would have if he had simply parked the money in an index fund. But leave questions about whether Trump is the business genius he claims to be on one side. Does business success carry with it the knowledge and instincts needed to make good economic policy? No, it doesn't. True, the historical record isn't much of a guide, since only one modern president had a previous successful career in business. And maybe Herbert Hoover was an outlier. But while we haven't had many business leaders in the White House, we do know what kind of advice prominent businessmen give on economic policy. And it's often startlingly bad, for two reasons. One is that wealthy, powerful people sometimes don't know what they don't know and who's going to tell them? The other is that a country is nothing like a corporation, and running a national economy is nothing like running a business. Here's a specific, and relevant, example of the difference. Last fall, the now-presumed Republican nominee declared: "Our wages are too high. We have to compete with other countries." Then, as has happened often in this campaign, Trump denied that he had said what he had, in fact, said straight talker, my toupee. But never mind. The truth is that wage cuts are the last thing America needs right now: We sell most of what we produce to ourselves, and wage cuts would hurt domestic sales by reducing purchasing power and increasing the burden of private-sector debt. Lower wages probably wouldn't even help the fraction of the U.S. economy that competes internationally, since they would normally lead to a stronger dollar, negating any competitive advantage. The point, however, is that these feedback effects from wage cuts aren't the sort of things even very smart business leaders need to take into account to run their companies. Businesses sell stuff to other people; they don't need to worry about the effect of their cost-cutting measures on demand for their products. Managing national economic policy, on the other hand, is all about the feedback. I'm not saying that business success is inherently disqualifying when it comes to policymaking. A tycoon who has enough humility to realize that he doesn't already know all the answers, and is willing to listen to other people even when they contradict him, could do fine as an economic manager. But does this describe anyone currently running for president? ADVERTISEMENT The truth is that the idea that Donald Trump, of all people, knows how to run the U.S. economy is ludicrous. But will voters ever recognize that truth? Paul Krugman is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, a professor at Princeton University and a columnist for the New York Times. Theres talk of a debate between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. It would occur before the California primary. Sanders says hes up for it. Trump said so too, but now it seems he may have been joking. For Sanders, a successful debate against Trump could propel him to victory in California, something he dearly would love to achieve. However, it wouldnt propel him to the nomination. Hillary Clinton has that locked up unless the email scandal takes her down. Lets focus, therefore, on the calculus for Trump. The advantage of debating Sanders is obvious. It would give Trump the opportunity to win over Sanders voters in the general election. Conventional wisdom now holds that there are a good many Sanders voters to be won by Trump. And why not? Both candidates are insurgents who have attracted disaffected, anti-establishment voters. Surveys suggest that 20 percent of Sanders voters already favor Trump over Hillary Clinton. There is the potential for others to join them. The disadvantage of debating Sanders is also obvious. It would give Trump the opportunity to lose Sanders voters in the general election. For Sanders, the debate would represent an opportunity to rip into Trump. He has every reason to do so. This is a man whom Sanders likely despises for reasons of ideology, biography, and probably personality. Moreover, flogging Trump would help endear him to Democrats, thus promoting his goal of winning in California. We know that Trump doesnt take attacks lying down. When Sanders rips into him, he probably will rip into Sanders just as hard and considerably more nastily. This, of course, would alienate the Vermont mans supporters. Many of those who are thinking of supporting Trump would likely conclude that Hillary Clinton isnt really so bad. If Trump were deft enough to deflect Sanders attacks, rather than punching back harder, the debate could be a big success for the tycoon. But most of what we know about Trump tells us that the light touch isnt in his arsenal and that he would respond to Sanders the only way he knows how with ridicule, venom, and abuse. Trump shouldnt be ridiculing or abusing Bernie Sanders. He should not debate him. The ad below for laundry detergent is currently airing in China. Less than a minute long. Just take it in and ponder how our racial sensitivity enforcers here would react. (Tom Friedman was unavailable for comment.) Not to worry: Im sure President Trump will ban the import of this Chinese product. More about this ad, and the Italian version that preceded it, here. For once the Libertarian Party nomination might actually be worth having, with some polls showing the likely nominee, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, pulling 10 percent of the vote while still a virtual unknown and before any kind of campaign has been run. It is not hard to imagine a scenario in which the negative campaigns of Hillary and The Donald drive enough voters to the mild-mannered Johnson to tip enough states to throw the race into the House of Representatives, or even win the Electoral College outright. Disgust with the negative campaigns of the two major party nominees is partly how Jesse Ventura won the 1998 governors race in Minnesota. Even failing either of these outcomes, a strong showing by a Libertarian ticket could prove a breakout moment at long last, putting the Libertarian Party in a position to exert some real gravitational influence on both parties going forward. But naturally libertarians, being essentially anti-political by core ideology and purists in practice, seem determined to blow this potential breakout opportunity. The party nominating convention is under way in Orlando, and Johnson is already running into trouble because of his suggested running mate, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld. Politico reports: But here in the corridors of the Rosen Centre Hotel and Resort at the Libertarian National Convention in Orlando, it could all fall apart as anti-authoritarian Libertarian Party activists, loath to be defined as Republican-lite, are increasingly and loudly critical of Weld, who joined their party only weeks ago. Johnson seems to sense his dream ticket could be in trouble. The former two-term governor of New Mexico was booed at a convention forum on Thursday for calling Weld the original libertarian. And Weld did little to help himself at a Friday night vice-presidential debate in which he got a chilly reception from the hardcore audience of Libertarian true-believers. Asked who did more damage to America President Obama or President George W. Bush Weld gave a classic politician answer. Id rate it a tie, he said. He used the word miasma in his closing statement. At one point, Weld said he would stay in the United Nations an idea anathema to many in the crowd and said that when people think of Libertarians they often think of unattractive people in their neighborhoods. Weld advocated cutting taxes. One of his opponents yelled, Taxation is theft! Im wondering whether Weld really wants the VP slot with comments like this. Or maybe he really just doesnt know libertarians and libertarianism all that well. (More reporting here from Reason magazine.) Already you can hear lots of rumbling among libertarians that they arent excited by a Johnson-Weld ticket. Hard core libertarians are essentially indistinguishable from Marxists: both believe in the withering away of the state, and the utopian inclinations of both make it impossible to perceive the wisdom of the old saying that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Compromise? Never. Nominate a running mate who is less than perfect on the libertarian PC scorecard? Not gonna happen. If this convention ends in a train wreck, I predict the Libertarian Party will blow their greatest opportunity yet, and finish with the usual 1 percent of the vote they always get. Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases yesterday following the testimony of defendant Guled Omar. Omar was the only one of the three defendants who elected to testify on his own behalf. I infer that defendants were advised by their capable lawyers to exercise their right to remain silent and put the government to meeting its burden of proof against them, but that Omar chose to reject that advice. I am quite sure that the other defendants saw the wisdom of their attorneys advice during the cross examination of Omar by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Winter. Omar was an effective witness on his own behalf during direct examination on Thursday. He spoke directly to the jury. He was sympathetic. He had explanations. He was somewhat believable, or believable at least in part. For every guilty act or incriminating statement he had an exculpatory account. Winter started clumsily and, I thought, inefectually. His points were weak or obscure. He was disorganized. He struggled. He had a hard time locating the material on the basis of which he sought to impeach Omar. Winter nevertheless got on the right foot after the lunch break. He quickly played a succession of audio clips of conversations recorded by co-conspirator turned informant Abdirahman Bashir. The clips are devastating. They show the other side of Omars face. He ran out of explanations. He acknowledged (mostly) that he said what the transcripts showed. He said he didnt mean it. He was pretending, or boastful, or conflicted. He began to wilt. He lost his mojo. I thought it fell apart for him on cross examination. Omars testimony gave the prosecution the opportunity to revisit some of the greatest hits recorded by Bashir. Omar is the guy who received the names and addresses of 16 pilots (and family) from one of the Minnesota men with ISIS In Syria. His friend in Syria wanted Omar to murder them. Omar recoiled from the message, not because it was an invitation to murder, but rather because it was hot (Thats my observation, not a point made on cross examination.) As for the various messaging accounts involved in the instructions from Syria: I deleted everything. Winter showed Omars efforts to avoid detection by law enforcement. I was precautions, bro, he explained to his friends. Winter revisited Omars discussion of his friends who were turned away from their attempted travel to Syria at JFK Airport. Referring to the FBI, Omar said: The kufar, they learned their lesson. The kufar have his number. Which reminds me. Observing the several FBI witnesses who have testified at trial, I have reflected that this is one institution President Obama has not yet ruined. If he and his friends had succeeded in making it to Syria, Omar asserted to his friends: We would have done crazy ass damage or we would have all been shaheeds. What did he mean? He didnt seem to know what he meant. Omar is also the conspirator heard saying on one of the recordings that once they learn the spots in Mexico, they would be able to help ISIS enter the United States. They already look Mexican. Theyre Arab. And one more thing: Theyll do crazy ass damage. Wallah, we have a big opportunity. Well, he had a big opportunity. The attorneys representing the other defendants didnt touch Omar. They had no questions for him. Omars attorney tried briefly to limit the damage on redirect, but he failed. Time and again, Omar asserted that he was just boasting or trying to impress his friends. He was trying to sound like a bad guy who knows what hes doing. On some points, Omar contended, he was confused in [his] head. By the conclusion of his testimony on redirect he had run out of explanations. Given the limitations of the form, Star Tribune reporter Stephen Montemayors article on yesterdays proceedings doesnt quite capture what happened. With that the government and defendants rested. Closing arguments will commence Tuesday morning. Judge Davis is going to give the parties time to review the evidence with the jury and make their case. He said he was not going to rush things; the closings would give the jury a lot of information to digest. He thinks he will instruct the jury and submit the case to them on Wednesday. Bako Sahakyan sends congratulatory address in connection with the day of the First Armenian Republic ddress in connection with the day of the First Armenian Republic On 28 May Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory address in connection with the day of the First Armenian Republic. The address runs as follows: Dear compatriots, On behalf of the Artsakh Republic authorities and myself personally I cordially congratulate on the Day of the First Armenian Republic. The 1918 battles of Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Gharakilisa occupy their worthy place in the heroic chronology of our people's history. During their centuries-long history the Armenians become convinced many times that the main guarantee of secure life is an independent statehood, its consistent reinforcement and faith in their own strength. The Four-day April war when Azerbaijan once again tried to carry out its genocidal policy towards the Armenian people has demonstrated this too. But, it faced the force and spirit of the Armenian army and was unable to carry out any of his aggressive goals. Today it is everybody's duty to keep alive the victorious spirit of our hero ancestors in the memory of generations to come, having before our eyes their example, guided by the national ideology and selfless patriotism, do everything possible for the two Armenian states develop day by day, become stronger and more powerful. The only way to accomplish this is a consolidated and cohesive work, aggregating the potential of world-spread Armenians and efforts of any individual Armenian for the benefit of the solution of paramount national issues. Only in this way we can forge new victories and go to a secure future. I once again congratulate our whole people on the state holiday and wish peace and great successes. CENTRAL INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE ARTSAKH REPUBLIC PRESIDENT Trump certainly keeps things interesting, doesnt he? Paul reviewed the reasons for and against a Trump debate, concluding its a bad idea. That just made me think that Trump was more likely to do it, and who knowshe may well still change his mind. But what is Trump possibly thinking in attacking the judge in his Trump University civil case? (Its also less than shrewd, even for Trump, to refer to the Indiana-born judge as Mexican simply because of his surname. Brilliant.) Is this some deep-dish strategy to set up a delayed charge against Hillary Clinton that goes something like this: Trump gets sanctioned by the judge for contempt of court (a distinct possibility), so that when the Justice Department declines to indict Hillary he can shout about a double-standard? Seems far-fetched, but you never know with Trump. If this is the kind of erratic performance we get from Trump from now to November, every theme park in America may as well shut down its roller-coasters, because Trump is going to put them out of business. Speaking of Sanders, months ago he couldnt shut up about the wonderful socialism of Denmark, but when asked this week about the results of Venezuelan socialism on Univision, he got all snippy and changed the subject: LEON KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure that you know about this topic: various leftist governments, especially the populists, are in serious trouble in Latin America. The socialist model in Venezuela has the country near collapse. Argentina, also Brazil, how do you explain that failure? BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: You are asking me questions LEON KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure youre interested in that. BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I am very interested, but right now Im running for President of the United States. LEON KRAUZE, UNIVISION: So you dont have an opinion about the crisis in Venezuela? BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Of course I have an opinion, but as I said, Im focused on my campaign. No doubt he found himself in the same position as Debbie Whazzername-Schultz a few months ago who twice couldnt come up with a distinction between socialism and standard issue Democratic Party liberalism. Saudi Arabias Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has said pilgrims from Iran may not perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year. The ministry said in a statement on Friday that the decision followed the refusal of the Iranian Organization of Hajj and Visits mission to sign minutes of concluding arrangements of Iranian pilgrims. The statement also said the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the political head of the Kingdom, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,had directed the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to respond to the desire of the Chairman of Iranian Organization of Hajj and Visit and the accompanying delegation to come to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for signing the minutes of concluding arrangements of Iranian pilgrims arrival to perform Hajj rituals for the Hajj season 1437H. The ministry formally received the delegation and provided all facilitations to them, including enabling them to perform Umrah. After that, continuous meetings were held on 18-19/08/1437H for long hours. The two sides dealt with all topics that have been discussed in previous meetings. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah suggested a number of solutions for all points requested by the Iranian Organization of Hajj and Visit, the statement said. It also identified the areas in which the Iranians raised issues to include the issuing of visas electronically from inside Iran in accordance with mechanism agreed by the Saudi Foreign Ministry as well as the transporting of pilgrims equally between the Saudi national carrier and Iranian national carrier. Other areas are approving the Iranian request by letting it to be diplomatically represented through the Swiss embassy in order to take care of Iranian pilgrims interests. The statement said the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah immediately coordinated with the competent authorities to implement the requests by the Iranians. However, it said, at dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements of the Iranian pilgrims affairs. Accordingly, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is confirming that the mission of the Iranian Hajj and Visit Organization which refused to sign the minutes on arrangements for Iranian pilgrims for the Year 1437, will be responsible in front of Allah Almighty and its people for inability of the Iranian citizens to perform Hajj for this year. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has also clarified that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has stressed its categorical rejection to politicize Hajj rituals. Upon directives of the Kingdoms wise leadership, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is always ready to cooperate for serving the pilgrims and facilitating their arrival procedures, the statement said. A year ago, Muhammadu Buhari was Nigerias Rorschach test, upon whom Nigerians could project their disparate yearnings, following widespread disenchantment with the administration of Goodluck Jonathan. To govern, however, is to choose, and the choices the leader of this diverse entity called Nigeria makes in a 12-month period, are what has largely revealed his personality. Like any new leader, especially one dogged by security threats and plummeting economic indices, President Buhari wishes he could have had it less tough. Mr. Buhari stated earlier this year that he wished he hadnt been elected president at a time Nigeria was grappling with severe insecurity and low crude oil prices at the international markets. But I say why me? Why is it that it is when they have spent all the money, when they made the country insecure that I returned? Mr. Buhari lamented in a February 5 interview with Al-Jazeera. Why didnt I come when the treasury was full? Oil price was over $140 per barrel and when I came, it slipped down to $30. Why me? Although Mr. Buhari still frequently blames his predecessor for running the country aground, bequeathing only a virtually empty treasury to him, he also committed ample embarrassing gaffes in terms of policy pronouncements and his deliberate indifference to the public mood. Since Mr. Buhari did not participate in any debate during the campaignand the number of times he made stump speeches for himself could be counted on fingertipsit is hard to suggest that the president would, in hindsight, wish he had not pit an ardent campaign against his major challenger, Mr. Jonathan. Juxtaposing the current state of his presidency with the euphoria that greeted his emergence as winner of the historic 2015 elections, here are some low-hanging fruits that require no legislation that Mr. Buhari should have plucked to assert himself clearly as a leader who has both the moral and intellectual astuteness to effect the fundamental changes Nigerians have long craved. Disclosure of Assets Mr. Buhari is arguably the first-ever Nigerian leader that was elected into office on the perceived strength of his character as a conviction politician that could decisively deal with corruption Nigerias worst bane. To further convince Nigerians that he was, indeed, a frugal and incorruptible man, Mr. Buhari, in one of his speeches, said he would publicly declare his assets upon assumption of office. He also said he would prevail on his appointees to do the same. Shortly after his swearing in, Nigerians began demanding copies of Mr. Buharis assets declaration documents as submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau. And the president began prevaricating about the matter immediately. At first, he released a statement claiming to have fulfilled his public assets declaration vow on June 6, 2015. That turned out to be misleading. Mr. Buhari only submitted his assets declaration form to the CCB as every government official is mandated to do. Under intense public pressure, the president released a statement enumerating his assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The statement was at best imprecise, with no clear details of listed assets. It failed to provide addresses of landed of properties, vehicle models, assets of spouse and children as required by law, and more. The presidency assured those details would be available to every Nigerian once they were verified by the Code of Conduct Bureau. The bureau has since done so, but Mr. Buhari still refuses to come entirely clean on how much he is worth, even though the Ahmed Joda transition committee advised that immediate public declaration of assets would be a quick win for Messrs. Buhari and Osinbajo. Questioned during a presidential media chat in 2015, a visibly itchy president questioned why he was singled out, from amongst the governors and other political leaders. Till date, a day away from the governments first birthday, the president has failed to disclose his assets by sending the photocopies of what he submitted to CCB to the media, as former President Umaru YarAdua did. Reap as you vote The ethnic and tribal sentiments that have for long been a feature of Nigerias elections were palpable in the outcome of the 2015 general elections. The results showed that while the people of the north embraced Mr. Buhari in large numbers, those in the south-south and south-east overwhelmingly voted to keep their own in office. Notwithstanding, a plurality of Nigerians had expected that the president would govern fairly and inclusively in order to heal whatever wound the election may have left behind. Alas, theres little evidence to show that Mr. Buhari did this. Instead, he began by appointing mainly northerners to the consternation of even those who were amongst his staunchest allies. Mr. Buhari appointed dozens of aides in the first weeks of his administration without ceding any of the positions to the southeast. Asked how he intended to implement an inclusive development of the south-south, Mr. Buhari delved into the results of the elections, speaking of how the limited support he received from the area would certainly reflect in his governments policies and programmes to them. When pressed on the consistent complaints of marginalisation by the South-East,, a visibly irritated president asked in his maiden media chat on December 30, 2015: What do the Igbos want? Public mood and local media Upon assumption of office, President Buhari was met with incessant and devastating attacks by suspected Boko Haram members. It took intense public criticisms for him to issue a single statement condemning the attacks. He was quiet most times. He showed similar reluctance with the herdsmen crisis across the country. The killings in Agatu and other southern communities were not condemned by the president for weeks. Most went without a single statement of condolence from his office. But the president was swift in condemning terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, Grand-Bassam and elsewhere. Similarly, Mr. Buhari hardly speaks to local media. From when he would name his ministers (in U.S.) to how he wont let the central bank devalue (in Paris) the president has made most of the key pronouncements abroad. Talking to local media would have helped him better understand and gauge public opinion. Presidential Air Fleet From a Boeing 737 to choppers, those who should know said there are about 11 aircraft in the presidential air fleet. His campaign assured Nigerians that some of those aircraft would be disposed of if the president won the elections. Not one has gone yet. Why Mr. Buhari has not sold any of them or even addressed Nigerians on why he couldnt sell remained unclear. Appointment of ministers Mr. Buhari failed to appoint his ministers early. From the moment he took over on May 29, 2015, till October ending when he finally released names of his prospective ministers, Mr. Buhari claimed he was taking his time to appoint the best. In hindsight, very few people believe the presidents appointment was worth the time he spent shopping for them. Some analysts have blamed the late appointments partly for the declining state of the economy. Given the prolonged fall in oil prices even before the elections, they argue, appointing a top economic team early enough could have helped stabilise the system and assure investors. The president missed that opportunity. With budget, its business as usual in Abuja. Given that one of Mr. Buharis rallying cries during the campaign was a promise to eliminate waste within his administration and streamline state agencies and parastatals, history has recorded that Mr. Buharis first budget was marred by irregularitiesembarrassing and administrative irregularities. It failed to send the much-needed signal to unscrupulous civil servants that a new sheriff was indeed in town. It was a disaster. Being Nigerias most effective salesman. Of the 30 foreign trips Mr. Buhari made in his first year, hardly did he return from any without dropping a bombshell. While some were inadvertent gaffes, too many others were as deliberate as they were damaging. Nigerias president has travelled to distant lands to castigate his people as criminals, corrupt and unruly and even urged foreign investors to be wary. Although a plurality of Nigerian foreign policy analysts have condemned the president for his outbursts, some of his supporters say he was being honest. That could seem an afterthought. If the president does not want to sell Nigeriawhich is actually part of his job he should, at least, not de-market it. The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja, has concluded plans to organize its inaugural Buharimeter Town Hall Meeting. The town hall, aimed at bridging the gap between the government and the governed, is expected to bring together federal government officials, academics, civil society, political parties, members of the diplomatic community and other relevant stakeholders. This town hall is organised to assess the one year in office of President Muhammad Buhari and his All Progressive Congress (APC) government, said Idayat Hassan, CDD executive director. It will afford the government an opportunity to report back to her constituents and give the citizenry an opportunity to engage directly with government on burning national issues. We at the CDD believe that this interaction is critical to strengthening democratic accountability in Nigeria. The meeting, according to the group, is slated to hold on Thursday, June 2, at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Kwali Ladi Way, Abuja, between 10am and 1pm. The statement said the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, would lead the government delegation to the meeting, which will be broadcast live on African Independent Television (AIT) and livestreamed/liveblogged on Amplified Radio, Premium Times and social media platforms. Buharimeter is a project of CDD, supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the Department for International Development (DfID). It is conceptualized to provide methodical and systematic assessment and evidence-based report on the performance of President Muhammadu Buharis (PMB) administration against its electoral promises. The Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Nikolay Udovichenko, on Saturday announced that the Nigerian and Russian governments plan to sign an agreement for the establishment of a multifunctional scientific research nuclear centre in Nigeria. Mr. Udovichenko, who disclosed this in Lagos at this years Alumni Congress of the Soyuznik Alumni Association in Nigeria, said the Nigerian and Russian governments had been negotiating for the centres establishment. The theme of the congress was Harnessing The Potentials of the Nigerian Graduates of Higher Institutions of former USSR States. Bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and Russia is blessed with huge potential in every avenue. Nuclear energy development is another area with good prospects for our two countries cooperation. This June, we expect to sign a bilateral agreement for the establishment of a multifunctional scientific centre in Nigeria, he said. The envoy also said that his government was working at reactivating its trade representation in Nigeria, to further promote trade and economic relations between the two countries. Mr. Udovichenko, who said that thousands of Nigerians had over the years benefited from quality education in Russia, also announced his governments plan to sustain the scholarship programme for more Nigerians. The envoy said that it was imperative for such Nigerians to use their knowledge for the development of their country, as well as strengthening ties with the Russians. The president of Soyuznik and chairman of the ceremony, Henry Ajomale, said the association was made up of academics, medical doctors, engineers, diplomats, political administrators and heads of professional organizations trained by the Russian government. Mr. Ajomale expressed the gratitude of the beneficiaries to the countries that formed the former Soviet Union for bequeathing a lasting legacy, with which they could contribute to the development of Nigeria. We should not forget to celebrate our common heritage as beneficiaries of a unique programme by the former Soviet Government that gave us the opportunity to become what we are today, he said. The Soyunik Alumni Association of Nigeria, is the association of Nigerian graduates trained by the Former Soviet Union and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). (NAN) Former president of the Senate, David Mark, has told Nigerians not to despair in the face of the daunting economic and socio-political challenges but to remain steadfast for democracy to endure. In a goodwill message to Nigerians marking this years democracy day, Mr. Mark noted that it was by deliberate choice and design that the nation chose presidential democracy as the best form of government because it is representative and participatory . The 2016 democracy day, Mr. Mark said, was unique because it is the first time in the last 17 years of uninterrupted civilian administration that an opposition political party is in charge. In spite of some criticisms, he said the foundation the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration put in place for 16 years guaranteed the atmosphere that enabled an opposition party to win elections. Mr. Mark stated: The PDP provided the enabling environment for democracy to thrive. It never hindered or prevented opposition parties from operating. Everyone had access and the political space was free for all. For 16 uninterrupted years , the PDP discharged firmly and competently the popular mandate of governance of Nigeria through four unprecedented political transitions which included the first ever transition of power from a ruling political party to opposition party in our country. By this, the PDP ensured that after a largely fruitless search since independence, democracy as a form of government has come to stay as the norm. Today, whether the same scenario is available in our country is up to the citizenry to judge. Whether life is better now or then is however debatable. All the same, this is our country. Which ever side of the divide one finds him or herself, we must strive to play such roles honestly and patriotically in order to make our country a better place, he said. He urged governments at all levels to initiate policies and programmes that are in consonance with the wishes and aspirations of the people, saying that any programme or policy that tends to bring misery on the citizenry cannot be adjudged a good package. Niger Delta Avengers, the new militant group that has launched multiple attacks on oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta region, has carried out its third consecutive attacks on oil facilities in the region. The group announced its latest assault on Saturday morning, saying it blew up Nembe 1, 2 and 3 gas and crude trunk line that linked Brass and Bonny. The pipelines belonged to Agip and Shell Corporation. The Avengers announced the attack via its Twitter handle Saturday morning. At About 2:15am on Saturday the @NDAvengers blow up Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny Trunk Line belonging to Agip and Shell, the group tweeted. The group also reiterated its threat to carry out an activity that will shock the world. Something big is about to happen, the militants tweeted in a follow-up tweet. The Avengers has launched several attacks on oil and gas infrastructure since February 2016, demanding a sovereign nation of the Niger Delta people. The group said its aim is to cripple Nigerias economy while demanding the secession of the Niger-Delta region. When PREMIUM TIMES called Shell Nigeria to confirm if the company is aware of a new attack on its facility, a voice on the other end said the companys head of public relations does not work on weekends. An Agip Nigeria receptionist also made similar statement to PREMIUM TIMES that the companys spokesman is only available Monday to Friday. Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has called on the Federal Government to use dialogue instead of force to resolve the Niger Delta crisis. He said the incessant bombing of oil facilities would hamper the flow of revenue for the nation. The Niger Delta Avengers, a new group of armed militants, have in recent weeks bombed oil pipelines in the region. Although the government is mustering military campaigns against the militants, Mr. Fayose said a soft approach could handle the problem. The governor, who made this disclosure during a media interview on Saturday, also barred the states striking workers from benefiting from the next round of salary payments. The workers had embarked on strike since Wednesday, demanding the payment of their December 2015 deductions amounting to N512million. The Federal Government should use dialogue to resolve the Niger Delta issue and stem the tide of incessant bombing of oil facilities that is impending the flow of revenue to the nations coffers, he said. He also said only workers who are not on strike would be paid their salary from the little monthly allocation that came from Abuja. Workers at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital under the auspices of JOHESU have written that they are not on strike and people like that will be paid from what came from Abuja, he said. Since I have no power to stop workers from going on strike, I wish them well, but we need to understand what the situation is like. They cannot say that I have not consistently been alerting Nigerians since late last year that a time like this is coming. In fact, the next allocation may be smaller than the one we are complaining about now. Mr. Fayose said that embarking on strike was not the solution to the poor resources available to the government, which led to irregular payment of salary in the last few months. The governor said the state was handicapped by the continuous reduction in statutory allocations coming to the state and the general economic recession in the country. For the April allocation shared in May, we got N752 million, while our wage bill is N2.6 billion monthly, he explained. The previous month we got a little over N1 billion and that has been the trend since last year. We have had to combine two monthly allocations to be able to pay a month salary, but since the beginning of this year, it is that three allocations are not even enough to pay a month salary. When you compare what we got from January to May, 2015 and what we got in the same period this year, we have a shortfall of over N6 billion. Some are talking about our internally-generated revenue, there is nothing to hide. All the records are there for all to see and I have always told labour leaders to go and verify. The highest we have recorded is N302 million a month. There was a month we had N181 million. Mr. Fayose pointed out that since he assumed office he had consulted with a committee of stakeholders made up of Labour leaders every month the allocation papers arrive from Abuja, noting that the committee had been responsible for sharing the allocation. If I am not hiding anything from labour leaders and workers, I expect them to understand. I feel their pain, but there is a limit to what I can do in this type of situation., he noted. Governor Fayose said the economic situation of the state was worsened by the indiscriminate borrowing the Kayode Fayemi administration embarked upon. The N25 billion they raised from the capital market, the nearly N30 billion commercial loans, the UBEC, water scheme, fertilizer and other loans they incurred, led to the deduction of about N1 billion from our allocations monthly, he highlighted. Where were the labour and their leaders when they were borrowing all these monies? I reiterate again that no administration should be allowed to borrow beyond its tenure. On the staff audit conducted by the government last year, he said 315 ghost workers were detected through the exercise and that the report would soon be made public. Serzh Sargsyan: We got back (video) Today, at the Battle of Sardarapat compound Serzh Sargsyan accompanied by His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, the highest leadership of the Republic and guests participated in the festivities dedicated to the Republic Day. President Sargsyan laid a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Sardarapat and paid tribute to their memory. The President of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief Serzh Sargsyan greeted the participants of the military parade dedicated to the holiday and congratulated them on the occasion of the Republic Day. Later, the President of Armenia and attendees of the festivities watched the cultural program dedicated to the event. In Sardarapat, the President of Armenia gave a congratulatory speech dedicated to the Republic Day. *** Remarks by President Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of the Republic Day My fellow compatriots, I congratulate you on the occasion of the Republic Day. For us, this is first and foremost a salvation holiday. We saved our last piece of land and the last remnants of our nation residing on that piece of land. No matter how difficult to accept, but that was the truth. The bleeding Armenian nation on the verge of desperation was able through the supernatural exertion to stand up to the enemy, to prevail, and throw the enemy back. Many consider the heroic battles of May and their victorious outcome a miracle. We prevailed, we survived, and we liberated ourselves. Our independence and our statehood were not a gift to us. We paid for them the price nobody has ever paid. We did it alone; moreover, we did it despite the blows of the destiny. With May 28, the foreign subjects and refugees had become citizens of a State. They became people who had solid ground beneath their feet and had a State behind them. It was a State they had to build; it was a state, which they had to serve to; it was a State, which they could make demands to; it was a State to criticize with the anticipation of making it better. It was a State, which had to turn its almost lifeless populace, half of which were also orphans, into a political nation; it was a State, which had to bring up a new generation, re-born generation, which would be capable to register new scientific, cultural, and military achievements. It was a State, which predestined the existence of the Soviet Armenia and todays Republic of Armenia. My fellow compatriots, Military hostilities that unfolded at the early April revealed more vividly some realities good or bad, within and around us. Among all that the most important one for me was our new generation the generation born with the independence, generation that proved to us and to all that they are the masters and guardians of our State. Those, who created the May 28 in 1918, would only dream of a regular army, such as ours, and of a new generation, such as this one. And they are with us, now. There will be no new Sardarapat since by and large it was a war of desperation. Those who fought there did not know what countrys citizens they were of, and if they were citizens at all. There will be no new Sardarapat since there stands a State. There is a generation born with independence, which wants to move in step with the contemporary world and it will; a generation, which wants to move its country forward and it will; a generation born with independence, which grasped the bequest of May 28 better than anyone else. All this stems from the fact that in their families and in their schools the bequest of May 28 was also grasped properly. We as a State, as a nation and as a society grasped the bequest of May 28 well. My fellow compatriots, On May 28 our nation stepped back from the verge of the abyss. We stepped back and moved towards the rebirth, towards creation, and toiling. We got back. Glory to the Republic Day! Long live the Armenian nation! Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has sacked the Chairman of the Civil Servant Screening Committee, Paul Okutimo, following alleged high handedness and refusal to comply with the terms of reference laid down for the screening by the state government. The governor, who held a meeting with the organised labour at Government House in Lokoja on Friday evening, said the recent preliminary report which was released by the retired army general was not approved by him. He sympathised with those affected by the purported lists which he said has caused discomfort for many families in the state. According to the governor, the screening was not meant to witch hunt anybody but to sanitise the entire system. The governor charged the new Chairman of the Committee, Jerry Agbaje, to live up to the expectations of the people and ensure the exercise is completed within two weeks. The Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC in the State, Onu Edoka, at the meeting commended the governor for his workers friendly disposition. Mr. Edoka was among those labelled ghost workers and sacked from service. The NLC chairman, who led other labour leaders to the meeting said the governors emergence was a manifestation that he had a divine solution to the problems confronting the state. He promised that labour would justify the confidence reposed on them by ensuring that the screening exercise is effectively carried out without any let or hindrance. The Nigeria Labour Congress, Ekiti State, has said it is prepared to enter into negotiations with the government if the latter is willing. It also accused the government of insensitivity, as it had shown little interest meeting with the labour leaders. Labour commenced an indefinite strike on Wednesday to demand the payment of the December 2015 deductions amounting to N512million. The chairman of NLC in the state, Raymond Adesanmi, told PREMIUM TIMES that although the unions were willing to negotiate with government, there was no sign that the government was forthcoming. If they call us, we will negotiate with the government. We are ready to negotiate, but as I speak to you they are not ready, Mr. Adesanmi said. For us we are at peace. We will continue our strike which is very effective with the full compliance of members. He explained that the government arranged for a meeting with labour earlier on Friday, but called it of. The government slated a meeting with us, and they also canceled it, citing unforeseen circumstances. I dont know if there is anything unforeseen in Ekiti right now, Mr. Adesanmi said. But Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said there was no plan to meet with labour because the governor had not been around. The governor is coming into town and he is the only one who can make any decision relating to negotiations, he said. According to him, with the pull out of health workers from the strike, labour is left with schools and local government employees. A first class traditional ruler in Ogun State, the Olota of Ota, Moshood Oyede, is dead. The monarch, who spent 19 years on the throne, passed away at University College Hospital,UCH,Ibadan following protracted illness, family sources said. Passage rites for the traditional ruler have already commenced as his remains are due in the town on Sunday, the source said. In announcing the monarchs passage on Friday night, it was gathered that the traditional council wrote a letter to the Ogun State Government through Ado-Odo/Ota local government council, signed by the Secretary Olota in Council, Bamgboye Osunlabu. A palace source said residents would stay off the streets between the hours of 11pm till dawn when the final passage rites of the deceased is in progress. He said the rites were expected to last for seven days, while residents would be expected to abide by the rules guiding the funeral rights of a monarch of his reputation. Meanwhile, traditional and palace chiefs met on Saturday to fine-tune arrangements for a befitting final passage of the monarch. Vigenin: It is time to replace the status quo Concluding a two-day visit to Azerbaijan today, the OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys Special Representative on the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria) reiterated the need for increased parliamentary communication in favour of efforts for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In Baku, the Special Representative met with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Ogtay Asadov, Minister for Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov, and members of the Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE PA. It is time to replace the status quo, which continues to have unacceptable human consequences, with efforts that can finally bring peace to this troubled region, said the Special Representative. The recent agreements on finalizing an OSCE investigative mechanism and expanding the OSCE presence in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone are important positive steps. In both Azerbaijan and Armenia, I have urged authorities to build on these developments in the near future. On the parliamentary level, I plan to continue working with parliamentarians from the region and beyond to increase broad-based political will in favour of a comprehensive settlement, continued Vigenin. The Special Representative reiterated that there is no military solution to the conflict, calling on all sides to stop aggressive rhetoric and to make space for more constructive efforts for peace. He also expressed support for the Minsk Process. The Minsk Group and its Co-Chairs have my full support in their efforts to facilitate a peaceful solution. To support the official efforts, in the coming weeks I will propose some concrete ideas to my colleagues for further communication and exchanges at the parliamentary level, said Vigenin, noting that the OSCE PA Annual Session in Tbilisi, 1-5 July would serve as an opportunity for initial discussions. While in Baku, Vigenin participated in an official celebration on the occasion of Azerbaijan's Republic Day. I was pleased to personally convey my appreciation for the recent releases of a number of human rights defenders and opposition politicians from prison in Azerbaijan. The momentum of these positive developments should be capitalized on, and I hope to see more efforts by the authorities to improve the space for NGOs to work and contribute to all aspects of society in Azerbaijan, said Vigenin. The visit to Azerbaijan follows meetings earlier this week in Armenia and in Georgia, where Vigenin held a range of high-level meetings. Vigenin was appointed Special Representative on the South Caucasus by OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva in February 2016. In his mandate, he is tasked with promoting dialogue in all segments of society, in particular at the parliamentary level, in order to encourage reconciliation and rehabilitation with regard to the protracted conflicts in the region. This weeks visit is his first to the region as Special Representative. Vigenin is a former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria and currently serves as Deputy Head of the OSCE PA's Bulgarian delegation. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. DENVER, May 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Quiznos, one of North America's premier quick-service restaurant chains and pioneer of the toasted sub, today announced they would be the primary sponsor of 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier for the historic 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. Lazier will wheel the No. 4 Quiznos Lazier Burns Racing Chevrolet in his 19th Indianapolis 500 competition, while celebrating the 20th anniversary of winning the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing". "As a restaurant brand born in Colorado, we are proud to support one of our own on this national stage," said Susan Lintonsmith, Quiznos Global Chief Marketing Officer. "Buddy's hometown pride runs deep and his legacy on the track is unprecedented. We look forward to cheering him on from Denver this weekend." Quiznos is known for its hot, flavorful, high-quality subs. With locations across the United States and 34 countries, Quiznos is one of the world's premier quickservice restaurant chains offering chefinspired sandwiches and salads made with premium ingredients. Quiznos was founded in 1981 by chefs who discovered that toasting brought out the best in every sandwich ingredient. "I am beyond thrilled to represent Quiznos in the Indianapolis 500," said Lazier. "For Quiznos to also be from Colorado is a true thrill for me to share this historic weekend with." Lazier, 48, is one of the sport's most experienced and successful drivers at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). A fan favorite and familiar face at the Brickyard, Lazier is the oldest driver who qualified this year. Regardless of his age, his resume is unrivaled at the famous oval. With five top-five finishes, including one win and two second-place finishes at IMS, Lazier knows his way around the track. In addition to his own racing career, Lazier is helping guide the racing career of his 17-year-old son Flinn, who has been dominating the karting world and is also running Formula Vee. The epic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29 airs on ABC and the INDYCAR Radio Network, with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. ET Sunday. The Quiznos motorsports program is represented by BRANDed Management. For news, updates and info, follow Lazier on Twitter at @Buddy500Lazier. Klint Briney 305.915.7652 [email protected] SOURCE Quiznos ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MDV-SEIA is deeply disappointed that Governor Hogan vetoed the Clean Energy Jobs Act. Governor Hogan ran his campaign on supporting jobs in Maryland. With this veto, Governor Hogan is sending a clear message that the Administration does not support job creation in a high growth, private-sector industry that provides well-paying jobs and opportunities for career advancement. "Honestly, we're confused. Governor Hogan ran his campaign on supporting Maryland jobs. That's what our industry brings. This veto puts thousands of solar jobs and hundreds of local companies at risk. Moreover, this veto endangers the livelihood of thousands of Marylanders and will stall millions in economic investment," said Omar Terrie, Policy Director for MDV-SEIA. It is very unfortunate that Hogan has not followed the independent advice of Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Analytics Report clearly identified the State's dependence on the public sectors. The recommendations explicitly stated "the ability to bring back more mid-wage jobs and reinvigorate key private sector industries, independent of the federal government, with relatively low skill or education requirements will be key to Maryland being able to outperform in the years ahead." Hogan just missed his best opportunity to follow expert advice. Nearly three-quarters of Maryland voters, 71 percent, support expanding Maryland's clean energy standard to 25 percent by 2020. Support crosses political party lines. A majority of Republicans, Democrats and Independents support the Clean Energy Jobs Act. There is wide support for this proposal across the state-in rural, urban and suburban communities. Hogan clearly did not listen to the will of the people that put him in office. Hogan wrote in his letter to Speaker Bush explaining his reasoning for the veto that "under the existing law, Maryland retains its status as a national leader." The Governor's veto leaves the state with a lackluster RPS that is far from the leaderboard. We encourage Governor Hogan to engage with the industry to learn more about local solar businesses and jobs so that this type of shortsighted decision, which will have severe impacts on the industry's growth, is not repeated in the future. MDV-SEIA would like to assure its members that we will work with House and Senate leadership, the broader coalition of renewable energy supporters, and other key stakeholders in order to explore all options available to us in rectifying this erroneous decision by the Governor. Contact: Omar Terrie Policy Director [email protected] PRLog ID: www.prlog.org/12561474 SOURCE MDV-SEIA Related Links http://www.mdvseia.org WASHINGTON, May 28, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau: FIRST AUTO COLLISION Profile America Saturday, May 28th. The first recorded automobile accident involving two vehicles occurred on this date in 1896 in New York City. Henry Wells of Springfield, Massachusetts was driving a new Duryea Motor Wagon, the first automobile model to be made and sold in the U.S. Unfortunately, he collided with Evelyn Thomas of New York, riding a bicycle. Thomas went to the hospital with a broken leg, and Wells spent the night in jail. Now, there are close to 5.7 million motor vehicle accidents reported to police per year, with nearly 30,000 of them fatal crashes. There are more than 31,000 insurance carriers in the U.S., with auto insurance premiums adding to the industry's $1.7 trillion of annual business done. Profile America is beginning its 19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. Sources: Duryea Motor Wagon/accessed 2/19/2016: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-06-16/travel/9606180315_1_auto-industry-tailpipe-emissions-duryea-motor-wagon Accident/accessed 2/19/2016: https://wanderingbrooklyn.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/strange-but-true-the-first-car-accident-in-u-s-was-in-nyc-and-it-involved-a-bicycle/ Fatal crashes/page 6/accessed 2/19/2016: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812101.pdf Accidents and cyclist deaths/accessed 2/19/2016: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812234.pdf Insurance carriers /NAICS 5241: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=BP_2013_00A1&prodType=table Insurance revenues/NAICS 5241: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ECN_2012_US_00A1&prodType=table Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91889LOGO SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau Related Links http://www.census.gov If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Place of Mountain Dance sculpture not clear yet Mountain Dance sculpture, which was in the territory of Dvin Hotel for about 30 years, has been fully restored and at present the place of the sculpture is being discussed. I have proposed two-three places. We will see which will be the most appropriate place. One is Main Avenue, another- the section between Shahumyan Square and Myasnikyan Statue. Both are under discussion, sculptor Tigran Arzumanyan told A1+. For three years he raised an alarm about the destruction of the sculpture. Then it was transferred from the territory of Dvin Hotel and was restored with the efforts of the sculptor. Tigran Arzumanyan worked on the sculpture for 11 years. He would like the sculpture to be installed in its former place. But I think Dvin Hotel is carrying out big projects. How can we keep it and install only in 2019? he said. The Ministry of Culture and Yerevan Municipality are discussing the place of the sculpture. Washington, May 24 : Solar storms four billion years ago may have provided the crucial energy needed to warm Earth and seed life despite the Sun's faintness, new research has revealed. Some four billion years ago, the sun shone with only about three-quarters the brightness we see today, but its surface roiled with giant eruptions spewing enormous amounts of solar material and radiation out into space. The eruptions also may have furnished the energy needed to turn simple molecules into the complex molecules such as RNA and DNA that were necessary for life, said NASA researchers. "Back then, Earth received only about 70 percent of the energy from the Sun than it does today," said Vladimir Airapetian, solar scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. That means Earth should have been an icy ball. "Instead, geological evidence says it was a warm globe with liquid water. We call this the 'Faint Young Sun Paradox'. Our new research shows that solar storms could have been central to warming Earth," he added. Understanding what conditions were necessary for life on our planet helps us both trace the origins of life on Earth and guide the search for life on other planets. Until now, however, fully mapping Earth's evolution has been hindered by the simple fact that the young Sun wasn't luminous enough to warm Earth. Scientists are able to piece together the history of the sun by searching for similar stars in our galaxy. By placing these sun-like stars in order according to their age, the stars appear as a functional timeline of how our own Sun evolved. It is from this kind of data that scientists know the sun was fainter four billion years ago. Such studies also show that young stars frequently produce powerful flares - giant bursts of light and radiation -- similar to the flares we see on our own Sun today. Such flares are often accompanied by huge clouds of solar material, called coronal mass ejections or CMEs which erupt out into space. NASA's Kepler mission has found stars that resemble our sun about a few million years after its birth. The Kepler data showed many examples of what are called "superflares" - enormous explosions so rare today that we only experience them once every 100 years or so. Yet the Kepler data also show these youngsters producing as many as 10 superflares a day. While our sun still produces flares and CMEs, they are not so frequent or intense. What's more, Earth today has a strong magnetic field that helps keep the bulk of the energy from such space weather from reaching Earth, the authors said. Our young Earth, however, had a weaker magnetic field, with a much wider footprint near the poles. This newly discovered constant influx of solar particles to early Earth may have done more than just warm the atmosphere; it may also have provided the energy needed to make complex chemicals. In a planet scattered evenly with simple molecules, it takes a huge amount of incoming energy to create the complex molecules such as RNA and DNA that eventually seeded life. While enough energy appears to be hugely important for a growing planet, too much would also be an issue -- a constant chain of solar eruptions producing showers of particle radiation can be quite detrimental. Such an onslaught of magnetic clouds can rip off a planet's atmosphere if the magnetosphere is too weak. Understanding these kinds of balances help scientists determine what kinds of stars and what kinds of planets could be hospitable for life. The research was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Tokyo, May 24 : Ahead of a planned visit by US President Barack Obama to Hiroshima, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday said the US atomic bombings of the city and Nagasaki were "extremely regrettable". Kishida, whose lower house constituency is in Hiroshima, said the action of the US against the two cities ran contrary to the basic understanding of humanitarianism as regards international law, Xinhua news agency reported. Obama on Monday told Japanese broadcast NHK in an interview that he will not apologise for the US atomic-bombings on the two cities during World War II in 1945. Obama is expected to pay a courtesy visit to Hiroshima this Friday as the president will be in Japan for the two-day Group of Seven leaders' summit to be held in Mie prefecture of central Japan. It marks the first such visit to one of the A-bombed cities by a sitting US president. "Due to the atomic bombings, many lives have been lost and an extremely regrettable humanitarian situation was brought about," Kishida said on Tuesday. "The stance of the Japanese government has always been that the atomic bombings do not conform to humanitarianism, which constitutes a philosophical basis of international law." Calls from survivors, known here locally as "hibakusha" and their relatives, as well as from relatives of the hundreds of thousands who died in the wake of the atomic bombings, for Obama to issue and official apology have been rampant. If the president truly believes and hopes that his calls made in Prague in 2009 for a nuclear weapon free world will continue to be deemed credible, then, along with his ongoing non-proliferation efforts, an earnest apology for the attacks at this historic occasion, could underscore his and the US's true sentiment and stance on the issue on the perfect global stage, according to some petitioners. Many are still reeling from diseases associated with radiation from the atomic attacks, which themselves eviscerated the lives of at least 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki. The media in Japan reported on Thursday that activists and scholars in the US have also been urging Obama to meet with the "hibakusha" and apologise to them in person on Friday. While polls on Monday also showed that a vast majority of Americans believe that Obama should not apologise for the bombings. The Americans believe that the bombings were necessary to force Japan to end the violence and atrocities during the World War II in 1945. Japan surrendered after six days of the US bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 respectively. NHK said as many as 74 people had petitioned the White House on Monday, saying the president should do more towards non-proliferation efforts around the globe. They also called for Obama to discuss the historical situation surrounding the deadly nuclear attacks, NHK reported. Japanese scientists were also, according to some legitimate historical military accounts, not far from developing their own nuclear weapons, which, if had come to fruition, could have seen an even more disastrous outcome of WW II. The matter of an apology has become further knotty owing to the fact that Japan currently has stockpiles of weapons grade nuclear materials, with this situation putting Japan under a hypocritical spotlight, exacerbated by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump strongly suggesting that the US stop trying to prevent its allies, specifically Japan and South Korea, from obtaining nuclear weapons, so as to lessen their reliance on the US nuclear umbrella. The remarks were quickly blasted by many corners, including those in Japan and South Korea, as well as from Obama himself, but the sentiment expressed by Trump has irked and added to rising tensions in this region, as the election race in the US is far from over, while the outgoing president is winding down his foreign policy initiatives. New Delhi, May 24 : Activists of the Congress and Bhartiya Janata Party on Tuesday held separate protests outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here against the water and electricity supply crisis in the capital. BJP workers led by party state president Satish Upadhyay during their protest demanded adequate supply of water and electricity to Delhi's residents. Police used water canons to disperse the crowd. Speaking to IANS, Delhi BJP spokesperson Pravin Shankar said: "We feel that there is adequate amount of water and electricity to supply to Delhiites, but the Delhi government is unable to manage the resources." He also alleged that the Delhi government allows private players to make "short purchase" in the peak hours which leads to power cuts and voltage fluctuation. The women's wing of the Delhi Pradsh Congress led by Delhi Mahila Congress president Barkha Shukla Singh also staged a noisy demonstration at Kejriwal's residence on the issue of water and power crisis. Kolkata, May 25 : A senior Congress leader in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu of "influencing" the election results in an assembly constituency where a BJP candidate got elected. Referring to the Kharagpur (Sadar) seat in West Midnapore district, from where state BJP president Dilip Ghosh emerged winner, former Bengal minister Manas Bhunia said Prabhu had done the "manipulation" during his visit to the railway town. "Prabhu came here and manipulated the railway officers, staff, contractors and the administration," Bhunia, an ex state Congress president, told IANS. Ghosh pulled off a surprise victory, getting the better of nonagenarian Congress candidate Gyan Singh Sohanpal, who had won ten terms from the constituency, and was undefeated since 1982. Bhunia termed Sohanpal's defeat as "unfortunate" from the railway town. Kharagpur is a bustling divisional headquarters under the South Eastern Railway. Bhunia claimed that lack of time was a major reason for the Congress-Left Front alliance in the state coming a cropper in the polls. "The LF and the Congress have conflicting political ideology. But we did not get enough time for proper assimilation and synchronisation to ensure reciprocal transfer of votes," he said. Although Bhunia himself retained his seat from Sabang, the LF-Congress could secure only 77 seats (Congress 44, Left Front 32 and an independent backed by the alliance). The Trinamool Congress emerged victorious by capturing 211 seats in the 294-member assembly. However, Bhunia said an in-depth study and analysis was needed to comprehensively identify the reasons for the debacle. But the Congress leader did not buy the argument by a section of the Left that the Congress failed to transfer its votes as per expectation to the Left candidates in some of the constituencies. "Congress also has the same allegation against them," Bhunia said. He said the future of the alliance would depend on the decisions by the Left and the Congress, both at the national and state level. Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress for striking an "under the table deal" Bhunia said: "Seven per cent votes of the BJP went to the Trinamool, through scientific manipulation of transfer of votes by the RSS machinery." Ahmedabad, May 26 : The Congress on Thursday lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led government for what it said was failure on all counts, as Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel called the opposition leaders a bunch of "copycats and blockheads". Congress leader Manish Tewari told reporters in Ahmedabad that the Modi government had failed on parameters of internal security, economy, foreign policy, communal harmony and upholding the principles of federalism. "We want to ask the prime minister as to how he has been able to better the life of the common man in the last two years? This is the basic question the prime minister needs to answer. You promised 'achhe din' and 'Sabka saath sabka vikas'," Tewari said. He listed out what he called Modi government's failure, including intolerance, attack on federalism in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. "If he had an iota of shame, he would have resigned the day courts made observations against the way the central government had tried to upstage the Uttarakhand government," Tewari said. Calling Modi's foreign policy a 'sair sapata' (fun travel), the Congress leader said India had achieved nothing from Modi's frequent foreign travels. "This is a government that has no idea about its own policy of dealing with Pakistan. The United Progressive Alliance (government) firmly dealt with China but today the relationship seems to have gone completely awry, with China opposing India on more than one international platform. What has global rallies of Modi with the Indian diaspora achieved?" he asked. On internal security, Tewari pointed out at attacks on paramilitary forces in Naxal- dominated areas and terrorist attacks in Punjab. On the economic front, he said the government claim of 7.5 percent growth rate are due to the change in base year. "They have shrunk the Indian economy and it is not growing beyond 4.5 percent and not as per the statistical web created by the NDA. Not one job has been created compared with the promised two crore jobs. People are being fooled by launching various schemes, nothing else," he alleged. As for corruption and scams during the UPA rule, Tewari said not one person had been convicted by the courts so far. On the other hand, addressing a rally to celebrate her and Prime Minister Narendra Modi governments' two years in office, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel said the Congress was copying the state government's 'Lok Samvad Setu' programme by holding 'lok darbars' at taluka headquarters. "They are not using their brains even in copying. If they indeed did so, India would not have become Congress-mukt," she told the gathering. She said the Congress was unable to do anything original. "I, along with my ministers and government officials, go to the people and solve their issues on the spot. The Congress cannot solve even one issue because its leaders don't have the ability. What is the use of holding such darbars then?" she asked. In response, Tewari said it reflected the "arrogant attitude of the BJP, and that they don't care about democratic values". Tokyo, May 27 : The second and final day of the G7 leaders summit began on Friday in Japan's Ise-Shima, where they are expected to adopt a strategy to promote economic growth and an anti-terrorism action plan. The leaders of Germany, Canada, the US, France, Italy, Japan and Britain began meetings in which they will seek to solidify the results of Thursday's discussions, EFE news reported. The leaders agreed to implement fiscal stimulus measures and structural reforms according to the situation in each country, as a joint initiative to put an end to the current global economic uncertainty and to revive growth. The declaration that the leaders are expected to make under the title 'Ise-Shima economic initiative' will include specific points such as the significance of investing in infrastructure, education and the digital sector and underline the importance of propelling free trade agreements, diplomatic sources stated. The G7 leaders also plan to approve another declaration on security and foreign policy including a coordinated strategy aimed at combating the rise of terrorism and violent extremism in the Middle East as well as the need to aid refugees fleeing war in Syria. By the later half of the day, they will discuss these topics and be joined by leaders of six emerging market countries in Asia and Chad, which holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, who were invited by Japan on the occasion of the first G7 summit held in Asia in eight years. The heads of Chad, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and Laos will also hold talks with their G7 counterparts on climate change, energy, stability and peace in the Asia Pacific as well as health and development policies. The meetings will be held at the exclusive hotel located on the Kashiko island where the leaders are staying and conclude mid afternoon when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama will leave to make an historic visit to Hiroshima, one of two Japanese cities hit by a US atomic bomb in 1945. Tokyo, May 27 : Over 300 passengers and crew on Friday were evacuated from a Korean Air plane in Tokyo after a fire broke out in its left engine, BBC reported. Flight 2708 was preparing to take off from Haneda airport in the Japanese capital en route to Seoul, officials said. The engine was sprayed with foam by fire crews on the runway, which was temporarily closed. No injuries were immediately reported and the cause of the fire is not yet known. There were 302 passengers and 17 crew members on board. Tokyo, May 27 : Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) have agreed that the potential risks faced by the world economy should be objectively perceived and jointly solved, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after their summit concluded on Friday. Abe said the global economy was witnessing a contraction, with emerging economies registering deceleration in growth and developed countries suffering from deflationary pressure. If the risks were not properly handled, it would very likely fall into a crisis, Xinhua news agency quoted Abe as saying. He said the G7 leaders have agreed to use all possible policy measures to raise demand in the global market and bolster economic growth. The two-day summit has put particular emphasis on the discussion of global economy. In a joint declaration adopted at the summit, G7 leaders reiterated that global growth was an "urgent priority", and the seven countries were committed to employ a more "forceful and balanced policy mix" to achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth pattern. Tirupati, May 27 : The murmurs are growing louder with every passing day in Andhra Pradesh. The demand is clear: the state must be accorded 'special category' status by the Centre. And pressure is mounting on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leadership to extract that status from the Narendra Modi government. As the three-day annual convention of the TDP began here amid much fanfare, party supporters told IANS it is high time that the Centre be told to accord the 'special status'. In case that doesn't materialise, then the TDP should pull out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the supporters said. E. Sujata, a district-level TDP leader from Visakhapatnam, told IANS: "It is high time we get the special status as was promised during the division of the state. We are with TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu and supported his decision to join the NDA in 2014. But the BJP-led NDA government should now deliver on that promise." A similar view was echoed by Laximinarayan Naidu of Tirupati. "We want the NDA government to deliver quickly on the promise of railway zonal headquarters at Visakhapatnam," he told IANS. Laximinarayan -- who was earlier a supporter of the YSR Congress of Jaganmohan Reddy -- said that he now believes that "only Chandrababu Naidu can ensure the state's progress" because he is "an experienced CEO". And that's the reason, Laximinarayan said, he joined the TDP. However, the supporters also say that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has his limitations and it is for the central government to do the needful. It may be recalled here that on May 17 the chief minister had presented a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to revive the demand for 'special category' status and other central assistance. But in recent times there have been confrontations between the TDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadres at the district level over a range of issues. Notable among them is the release of funds to Andhra Pradesh. However, the BJP state unit has claimed that Rs.1950 crore has been given as a special central assistance as per the recommendations of NITI Aayog. The claim is disputed by the local TDP leaders who also say that the party's support base is swelling as YSR Congress activists are switching sides. Meanwhile, at the annual convention -- the Mahanadu -- supporters remained ecstatic, buoyed by the hope that the state would move ahead under the leadership of Chandrababu. On Friday the event began with the unfurling of the party flag at the sprawling Nehru Municipal High School ground here. Ahead of his speech, chief minister Naidu garlanded the statue of N.T. Rama Rao, the party's founder, whose birth anniversary coincided with the Mahanadu. "Whatever may be the hardship, we have to rededicate ourselves for the welfare of the people who with a lot of hope gave power to us," Naidu said in his speech. "Development and people's welfare are the two eyes of our government," the chief minister said, adding that he's the "first servant of the people". In his speech, the chief minister also recalled the sacrifices made by the workers and leaders for the growth of the party. Indeed, the Mahanadu is a celebration of the party cadres. So what's the agenda of this mega event? TDP sources told IANS that at the Mahanadu party leaders would review implementation of the welfare schemes in Andhra Pradesh. The party would also adopt 28 resolutions, of which eight are to be on Telangana and the perceived "failure" of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government there. The issue of farmers' suicide will come up for deliberation, besides ways to empower local bodies and creation of 'smart' villages. (Nirendra Dev can be contacted at nirendra.n@ians.in) Tokyo, May 27 : A Korean Air passenger plane terminated takeoff from Tokyo's Haneda airport on Friday after its left engine caught fire, affecting the travel of some 70,000 people with over 400 flights cancelled as a result of the accident. The Boeing 777-300, bound for Seoul, South Korea, caught fire soon as it was taking off around 12.40 p.m. (local time), Xinhua news agency reported. The 302 passengers and 17 crew members aboard the plane were evacuated. At least seven people sustained scratches while evacuating, and 30 people felt unwell through inhalation of smoke. Several passengers reported hearing a pop sound and saw flames around the engine before the aircraft abruptly stopped on the runway. The police said there were no immediate signs of terrorism being involved in the incident, while Korean Air said: "Efforts will be made as soon as possible to determine what caused the defect in the engine." The aircraft has been used by Korean Air since 1999, with no record of problems before, said the airline. The runway the plane was due to take off from was immediately closed until the stricken airplane was removed about six hours later. Three other runways were temporarily closed too but resumed operation around 2.30 p.m. The runway disruption caused 400 flights to be cancelled, affecting some 70,000 travellers. Imphal, May 27 : Two wholesale traders were caught here in Manipur on Friday while adulterating packets of a popular brand of iodised salt. The Kangleipak Students' Association (KSA) activists found the traders indulging in the adulteration of Tata Salt. The incident comes at a time when Manipur is facing a growing demand for re-introduction of the British-era Inner Line Permit system to regulate entry and stay of non-Manipuris in the border state. Both the traders hail from other states. A KSA activist said: "On learning of some suspicious activities some of our members raided the shop and warehouse of Rakesh Kumar in Imphal. Some employees were found disgorging salt from the 500 gram packets and adding some unidentified materials after which the scissored-off portions were sealed using glues." Tokyo, May 28 : A Korean Air passenger plane terminated take off from Tokyo's Haneda airport on Friday after its left engine caught fire, affecting the travel of some 70,000 people with over 400 flights cancelled as a result of the incident. The Boeing 777-300, bound for Seoul from Tokyo, was reported to have caught fire at the left engine soon after it began its takeoff run down the runway, Xinhua news agency reported. The 302 passengers and 17 crew members on board the plane were forced to evacuate. The police said there were no immediate signs that terrorism was involved in the incident, while Korean Air said in a statement later that "efforts will be made as soon as possible to determine what caused the defect in the engine". At least three flights scheduled to arrive at Haneda were redirected to nearby Narita airport, while over 407 flights were cancelled as the runways were closed for hours. Beijing, May 28 : China on Friday said it was strongly dissatisfied with a statement by G7 members, in which they expressed concern over the South China Sea. Leaders of the G7 countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US -- and representatives from the European Union, convened in Japan's Ise-Shima for the summit, which ran Thursday through Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. "As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, adding that such action was not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does not accord with the G7's position as a platform for managing the developed economies. "China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done," Hua said, urging G7 members to avoid irresponsible remarks and do more that is beneficial to regional peace and stability. Hua called on G7 members to be objective and fair and abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes. "As the world is faced with a complicated economic situation, the G7, as a platform to discuss world economy, should focus on economic and development issues of global concern," Hua said. As the holder of the G20 presidency this year, China hopes G7 members will join the agenda of G20, which is more representative platform, and play a more constructive role in global economic governance, Hua said. What China has done in the South China Sea falls entirely within China's sovereignty, and is completely legal, reasonable and blameless, Hua said. China firmly maintains the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the wilful trespassing of naval warships, Hua said. She said China opposed the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigation freedom." In fact, regarding China's efforts to settle the South China Sea disputes through negotiation and consultation, more and more countries and organisations have shown their understanding and support, Hua said. Washington, May 28 : Clashes erupted in US' San Diego city on Friday night hours after Republican Party's likely presidential nominee Donald Trump held a rally. At least three people were arrested after protesters and Trump supporters engaged in fistfights, shouting matches and hurled water bottles and eggs despite police efforts to keep them separated, Politico reported. The anti-Trump protesters, a group of about 7,000 people, outnumbered the Trump supporters who saw fit to engage them as they left the San Diego Convention Centre downtown following Trump's rally. A circle of protesters cheered loudly as they surrounded a man holding up a red "Make America Great Again" hat as he used a cigarette lighter to set it aflame. "F--- Trump! F--- Trump!" they roared. "Go home! Go home!" answered the Trump supporters. Even as there was no room to move, police officers continued to push protesters and reporters, with some toppling over in the fray. Police pepper-sprayed several protesters, CNN reported. In a message to the San Diego Police Department, Trump applauded the officers' response to the protesters. "Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally," Trump tweeted. "Greatly appreciated." New Delhi : US President Barack Obama's Hiroshima speech (May 27) is a very carefully crafted document and merits some scrutiny - both for what it contains and what is ostensibly excluded. Predictably, Obama did not apologize for what the US did in August 1945 and this was stated even before he began the Japan visit. The visit itself was high on symbolism for it was the first time in 70 years that a White House occupant has chosen to visit Hiroshima and Obama is to be commended for this decision. Yet there is a sharp contrast in the high symbolism and the less than modest substantive outcome of the visit. Hiroshima is recalled annually every August to remind the world of the apocalyptic death and destruction that a nuclear weapon can wreak. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki are deep scars that remain indelibly etched on the global consciousness. Whether the US was justified in using this capability remains debatable even now - seven decades later. But as in all such cases of historical import, it may not be valid to critique in hindsight certain decisions taken by a nation's highest political authority in the dust and fog that a protracted conflict such as World War II poses. The question that still lingers is: Should the US apologize for Hiroshima? Whatever be Obama's personal determination, it was evident well before his visit that a formal apology was not on the table and his Japanese hosts did not expect one. However, the spirit of forgiveness is invoked in an elegantly elliptical manner - an Obama trait - when the US president noted: "We see these stories in the hibakusha (survivors of Hiroshima). The woman who forgave a pilot who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb because she recognized that what she really hated was war itself. The (Japanese) man who sought out families of Americans killed here because he believed their loss was equal to his own." Thus, in an adroit and elegant manner, the imperative of forgiving is underlined. and the Japanese interlocutor is being acknowledged for forgiving, and empathizing with the American adversary of August 1945. The appropriate reference to a nuclear weapon-free world has been made by Obama at Hiroshima - but as in the case of the 2009 Prague speech, the caveat is unambiguous: "We may not realize this goal in my lifetime." Yet it must be averred that this visit is important and the Obama speech draws attention to the nuclear sword of Damocles and the need for a solemn commitment that they will never be used again. As much as 93 percent of the global nuclear weapon inventory is held by the US and Russia and their perception about the use of a nuke in certain exigencies is both instructive and disturbing. Since the current focus is on the US, the policies adopted by the White House are anomalous and alarming. Over the last year, the US has cautioned Rusia against nuclear sabre-rattling but chose to remain curiously ambiguous about the Pakistani threat to take recourse to tactical nuclear weapons against India. And, going back to 2003, the rectitude and integrity of the US was irreparably sullied in matters nuclear when it unilaterally decided to attack Iraq on charges of nuclear transgression that were palpably untrue. Will the US do a Hiroshima-Nagasaki again? This is the central question that remains excluded from the Obama speech and while the US remains sceptical of a commitment to no-first-use as a dilution of the efficacy of deterrence, societal trends are cause for concern. Scott D. Sagan, an eminent nuclear expert in the US, has reviewed a number of surveys carried out among average Americans in relation to the use of a nuclear weapon and Obama and the nuclear apex in the Beltway would be well-advised to ponder over the findings. Certain exigencies were posed to respondents in a poll and these included an Al Qaeda target and a 21st century variation of Pearl Harbor carried out against US assets by Iran. A fairly high percentage - 59 percent - supported the use of a nuclear weapon against Iran. The corresponding figure in August 1945 against Japan was 23 percent. Based on these poll findings, albeit with very small numbers, Sagan concludes (Wall Street Journal, May 19): "Would we drop the bomb again? Our surveys can't say how future presidents and their top advisers would weigh their options. But they do reveal something unsettling about the instincts of the US. public: When provoked, we don't seem to consider the use of nuclear weapons a taboo, and our commitment to the immunity of civilians from deliberate attack in wartime, even with vast casualties, is shallow. Today, as in 1945, the US public is unlikely to hold back a president who might consider using nuclear weapons in the crucible of war." Now that the Republican nomination is sealed, it will be instructive to note what candidate Trump will say about the Obama speech and the relevance of nuclear weapons in the US security strategy. The Obama nuclear vision outlined first in Prague and reiterated eloquently in Hiroshima will have a Barmecidal contour to it if the current American orientation is not objectively reviewed and progressively altered towards nuclear restraint and related fidelity. (28.05.2016 - C Uday Bhaskar is Director, Society for Policy Studies (SPS). The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at cudyabhaskar@spsindia.in) Beijing, May 28 : Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday congratulated their Nepalese counterparts on the Himalayan nations's Republic Day. In his congratulatory message to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Xi said China and Nepal are as close as lips and teeth, and have maintained traditional friendship for generations. China hopes to see a peaceful, stable and developed Nepal, and willing to offer further possible support to help Nepal develop its economy and improve its people's livelihood, Xinhua quoted Xi as saying. The Chinese president said he attaches great importance to developing the China-Nepal ties and is glad to work together with his Nepalese counterpart to push forward bilateral comprehensive partnership of cooperation. Li Keqiang, congratulating Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, said: "China and Nepal always enjoy an equal and mutually beneficial relationship, get along well with each other and are mutually supportive." China supports Nepal's endeavour to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, Li said. On May 28, 2008, the first meeting of Nepal's Constitutional Assembly abolished the country's 240-year-old monarchy, turning it into a federal multi-party representative democratic republic. Seoul, May 28 : North Korea on Saturday warned it will fire at any South Korean warship that crosses the disputed western maritime border. "From now on, we will open direct fire on any warship of the South Korean forces without warning, if it intrudes into the extension of the Military Demarcation Line of our side even 0.001 mm in the hotspot of the West Sea," the North Korean army said in a statement released by state-run news agency KCNA. The warning comes a day after the South Korean navy fired five warning shots when two North Korean boats - a fishing boat and a patrol boat - crossed the disputed western sea boundary that separates the territorial waters of the two countries in the Yellow Sea. The two boats immediately retreated to the northern part of the waters after the shots. In its statement, the North Korean regime rebuked its neighbour for its "reckless military provocation", which it said stemmed from "a premeditated sinister plot to bedevil the North-South relations and further aggravate the tension on the Korean Peninsula". Srinagar, May 28 : The opposition National Conference (NC) and Congress on Saturday walked out of Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly to protest against the lack of adequate relief for the victims of the 2014 floods. Raising slogans against alleged failure of the Mehbooba Mufti-led state government to help the victims of unprecedented floods of September 2014, members of NC and the Congress party started raising slogans against the state government immediately after speaker Kavinder Gupta called the house to order. NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah had lambasted the PDP-BJP government in a speech in the assembly on Friday for its alleged failure on every front. Omar told Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday: "New Delhi has only given you blessings and nothing else." Mufti is scheduled to make a statement in the house on Saturday to reply to opposition's charges of failure to help flood victims and on alleged connivance to set up separate colonies for Pandit community and ex-servicemen in the Kashmir Valley. New Delhi, May 28 : Nawazuddin Siddiqui is earning plaudits for his act as a notorious serial killer in "Raman Raghav 2.0", but getting into the skin of the character was not an easy task for the actor. The actor says it was a 'disturbing' experience for him as there was a time while shooting for the movie when lines between right and wrong got blurred. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's "Raman Raghav 2.0" narrates story of the serial killer Raman Raghav, who went on murder spree in Mumbai in the 1960s. It features Nawazuddin as the serial-killer, who was known by the name Psycho Raman, alongside Vicky Kaushal, who plays a police officer. The actor, who craved a place for himself in the land of glitz and glamour with films like "The Lunchbox", "Gangs of Wasseypur", "Miss Lovely" and "Liar's Dice", says some roles live with you despite the completion of the film, and Raman Raghav was such project. Asked about the impact of playing the role of a serial killer had in his life, Nawazuddin said: "Of course it has an impact especially when it is such a kind of role then the magnitude of the impact is greater". "You know what, I fell sick in between of the shoot of the film, so when I was hospitalised I was only thinking and talking about the scene I had shot before getting admitted. When you have to portray role of a person or believe in a notion that you don't believes in your personal life then it can get disturbing," Nawazuddin told IANS over phone. He added: "So somewhere I could not tell what is right and what is wrong. Those lines in my life got blurred. Then what happens is that film gets completed but it stills remains alive in your life as it is said that 'if you take something from the character then it also takes a lot of things out of your life." The actor, who also has "TE3N" ready for release, shared the quest to get life back on time takes a while. He said: "At the end of the day, there comes a saturation point in your life, then you have to regain normal life, your social life." Talking about his role, Nawazuddin said: "It is a different role because it is not a normal character. He has a different thought, different philosophy and when you essaying that character then you need to feel his thought then only you will be able to do justice to it. "If you see the role with a normal life perception then it is very disturbing. He is not at all normal." "Raman Raghav 2.0" is yet to release in India, but is already making the right noises on the foreign shores. The film was applauded at the 69th Cannes Film Festival with hollywoodreporter.com stating that "Siddiqui's demented serial killer ups the scare ante" and variety.com commenting that "the verve and nerve of Kashyap's filmmaking continues to excite." The film is slated for June 24 release. New Delhi : For three years, Uttar Pradesh farmhand Pradeep Kumar, 24, has been treated for a disease that India largely eliminated 11 years ago: Leprosy, one of humankind's oldest diseases - it is commonly mentioned in the Bible - is notorious for the visible disfigurement of victims and their subsequent ostracisation. In 1991, when India began economic liberalisation, leprosy was reported in nearly 26 of 10,000 people. Within 14 years, that prevalence rate - thanks to concerted efforts and multi-drug therapy - had been cut 25 times to less than one per 10,000, the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold for "elimination" as a public-health problem. In 2000, the world met the WHO aim for the global elimination of leprosy, caused by a slow-growing, rod-shaped bacterium. Between 2001 and 2005, when India achieved the target, a 61 percent fall in leprosy was reported globally (763,262 to 296,499), largely because of a four-fold drop in cases from India (615,000 to 161,457). Since then, especially in the last five years, experts have suggested a degree of stagnation and lack of new approaches in leprosy control in India, with even the WHO calling for a global summit in 2013 to address stalled progress. Indeed, leprosy appears to have dropped off the government's radar. Today, Kumar is one of roughly 125,000 Indians who have consistently been diagnosed with leprosy every year, 58 percent of the new cases detected globally. The prevalence rate is about 0.69 per 10,000, but this means 88,833 Indians still have leprosy. These are the official data. India could have twice as many leprosy cases as reported, even up to four times, said Sunil Anand, executive director of The Leprosy Mission Trust India, an NGO running 14 hospitals. For instance, a 2013 study based in Uttar Pradesh and a 2009 Maharashtra study point to India's under-reporting of leprosy. When India's fight against leprosy stagnates, so does progress towards a leprosy-free world. New global targets hope to restart India's battle against leprosy Earlier this year, the WHO unveiled a new anti-leprosy strategy, with a 2020 deadline and targets that will compel India to get moving on leprosy again. Target 1: Reduce the number of children diagnosed with leprosy-affected disabilities to zero Where India stands: Of 11,365 new child cases identified in 2014, 245 had visible deformities caused by leprosy. In technical parlance, such cases are called grade-II disabilities. Target 2: Reduce the new patients diagnosed with leprosy-related deformities to less than one per million population Where India stands: India's grade-II disability rate has risen from 3.72 per million to 4.48 per million over the last three years. Target 3: Overturn laws that allows for discrimination against leprosy patients. Where India stands: India has many archaic laws that discriminate against leprosy victims. Some of them: The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, both accept leprosy as grounds for divorce, annulment or separation. The Orissa Municipal Act, 1950, Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1965, Orissa Gram Panchayats Act, 1964, Rajasthan Municipality Act, 1959, among others, disqualify leprosy victims from holding civic posts. Section 56 of the Railways Act, 1989, and Section 8(4) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, can be cited to deny persons affected by leprosy the right to travel in the railways or to obtain a driving license. Most of these laws were written before the development of multi-drug therapy (MDT) for leprosy, the WHO-prescribed standard treatment since 1981. India has not revised these laws since. A strategy for success: Mass training Reducing the number of new cases with leprosy-related deformities hinges on early detection and treatment, something India is currently not focusing on. After India eliminated leprosy as a public health problem in December 2005, leprosy services fell off the government's priority list. They were integrated with general health services to cut costs. Identifying leprosy was now the responsibility of poorly trained frontline primary health care workers, who also run higher priority programmes. "ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers and multi-purpose workers are more focused on maternal and child health targets and other diseases than leprosy," said Anand. "Also, they are trained only to suspect and refer (to doctors) possible leprosy cases." Over five campaigns between 1997 and 2005, grassroots leprosy health workers were trained en masse to identify the disease. That effort has largely ended. The budget for leprosy fell over three straight years, IndiaSpend recently reported, probable cause for the lack of training. Bring back surveillance to identify hidden cases A lot of patients delay treatment because of the continuing stigma of leprosy. Before December 2005, repeated drives persuaded leprosy victims to sign up for treatment. Today, however, "we are relying too heavily on self-reporting by patients, which presupposes high awareness and an encouraging social environment, while frankly, we are not very good at either," said Bhushan Kumar, former head, Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh. Instead, Bhushan Kumar suggested surveillance in endemic areas to identify (and treat) hidden cases, and vaccinating or prescribing preventative medicine to people at high risk of contracting leprosy, such as those with a relative suffering from the disease and those living in endemic areas, such as Chhattisgarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, which have not achieved "elimination". "Research shows that a second dose of BCG (tuberculosis vaccination) or the Mycobacterium W (MIP) vaccine could help prevent the development of leprosy in a large number of patients," he said. (28.05.2016 - In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. The author can be contacted at respond@indiaspend.org) Los Angeles, May 28 : Actor Mark Salling, who is known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman in the comedy television series "Glee", has been reportedly indicted for possessing child pornography. Salling was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of child porn after his laptop was seized last year, reports tmz.com. One of the counts involved a memory drive that reportedly contained "images involving a prepubescent minor and a minor under 12". US Attorney Eileen Decker said: "Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed and every time it is viewed". If convicted of "receiving child porn", the actor faces a minimum of five years in prison, up to a maximum sentence of 20 years. But for the charge of possessing child porn, he could face 20 years for that alone. New Delhi, May 28 : A gala event "Ek Nayi Subah" was being held at the India Gate lawns here on Saturday to mark the completion of two years of the Narendra Modi government. The event is being held in "talkathon" format with ministers answering queries put to them. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Urban Development Babul Supriyo and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were among the ministers to take part in the initial part of the programme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to come towards the end of the event. The Talkathon format allows participants in the social media space to post questions on Twitter which are answered by the guests in real-time. The programme is being telecast live on various channels of Doordarshan including DD National and mediapersons have not been invited for the coverage. "Media has not been invited for coverage. The event is being held in a studio format," an official of the Information and Broadcasting ministry said. The government has hired Geometry Global Encompass Network, an event management company, for the programme. The government had also organised a "Talkathon" last year to mark its first anniversary. Imphal : Imphal May 28 (IANS) : The agitation over the Inner Line Permit (ILP) continued here on Saturday as hundreds of students held a protest march in Imphal East district. While the police didn't intervene, the students formed a human chain and shouted slogans. Meanwhile, a group of women continued their relay hunger strike over this issue. They have been demanding the release of students who were arrested during their anti-migrant agitation. In a separate incident, the Kangleipak Students' Association (KSA) demanded the release of five activists who were arrested on Friday after they allegedly paraded two traders accusing them of adulterating a popular iodised salt. These activists reportedly caught traders D. Pradhan and Rakesh Kumar who were allegedly adulterating the salt. The traders were later paraded before mediapersons. However, the police arrested the activists instead and registered a case against them. KSA secretary Angoutomba Khuman said the matter can snowball into a major controversy if the activists are not released. "The government will be held responsible for the consequences," Khuman said. Gurgaon, May 28 : Eight members of a gang involved in illegally conducting sex determination tests have been arrested at Rewari in Haryana, officials said on Saturday. A team comprising of Gurgaon deputy civil surgeon Neelam Thapar, drug control officer Amandeep Chauhan and Gurgaon Red Cross Society's secretary Shyam Sunder conducted a raid on Friday midnight. Those who were arrested have been identified as Naresh, Pawan, Sonu, Charan Singh, Sarita, Satbir, Bharat Ram and Rajkumar, hailing from Haryana and Rajasthan. Sarita, a pregnant woman and her father Satbir, were arrested for Sarita's foetus sex test. A case has been registered at Khol police station in Haryana's Rewari district, around 87 km from Gurgaon. Charan Singh, a quack from Alwar in Rajasthan, was a school dropout, Red Cross secretary Shyam Sunder told IANS. The team busted the gang with the help of a pregnant woman Rashmi along with witness Parambir. When Parambir (sent by the team) went for Rashmi's foetus sex test, Sarita was also undergoing the same test. Naresh, Pawan, Sonu and the fake doctor Charan Singh charged Rs.17,000 per test. "We are questioning the accused," a senior police officer said. Some equipment and medicines were also seized. New Delhi, May 28 : Actress Raveena Tandon, who along with her craft is also known for backing social causes, joined the celebration of two years of the Narendra Modi government here on Saturday, and urged people to lead girls towards success by imparting education. After megastar Amitabh Bachchan took to the stage to promote the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao' campaign at the event, 'Ek Nayi Subah', held at India Gate here, Raveena took part in a panel discussion, stressing on how education can lead women towards better living. She said: "Beti bachao, Beti padao is very important because she will move ahead with education only... A woman keeps the family together and leads it towards success and prosperity. It is important for our foundation - our mothers, sisters and daughters - to get education... To give them strength so that they can move forward and show the world what they can do." Raveena, who has been in the film industry for 25 years, added: "I don't think I am capable enough to change the country, but I try to do whatever I can do wherever I think I can pitch in." The actress, who has also been vocal about animal welfare, shared how she helped a group of 30 girls when they were asked to vacate an orphanage overnight. The 41-year-old said: "I was associated with an orphanage, which was on rent. The landlord got greedy and asked 30 girls to vacate when they got a better deal. So some of the staff members called me to explain the situation and I said that they can come to my place anytime. They were with me for one year." Raveena was not the only one to help the girls find a new home, her friends like Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan from the industry also extended their help. She said: "I took donations from them and bought land and built an orphanage." The "Mohra" star took a bold step to adopt two girls in the 1990s before getting married. She says she was determined and "nobody could stop" her. "I got them home when I was 21. I thought they deserve a better life," she said. New Delhi, May 28 : Former home minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday said there was a pattern in the Malegaon blast witnesses turning hostile, especially after the NDA government came to power. "Of course there is a pattern in it. How do witnesses turn hostile after the new government is in place? And why tarnish the memory of a martyred police officer who is known for his impeccable record, integrity and honesty?" Chidambaram told media persons, referring to then ATS chief Hemant Karkare, killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, who initially led the probe and named 14 accused. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) gave a clean chit to Malegaon blast key accused Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur and five others, dropping terror charges against them and paving the way for their early release from prison. On the allegations that the home ministry under the UPA government was working in tandem with Lashkar-e-Taiba, Chidambaram sarcastically said: "Yes, we were having breakfast with Lashkar and then invited them over for dinner too. These are irresponsible statements." New Delhi, May 28 : Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti on Saturday suggested that sanitary napkins should be provided in women toilets in rural areas. Speaking at the event "Ek Nayi Subah", which was held at the India Gate lawns here to mark the completion of two years of the Narendra Modi government, Bharti said, "In rural areas, women and girls in school face the problem of going out (during menstruation days)... I would request if sanitary pads could be provided in the toilets so that it could help women and children get help instantly." Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, who was also present at the occasion, assured that he would follow her recommendations of providing sanitary napkins in women toilets in rural areas. He also said that on a priority basis, toilets should be built in the areas of Ganga where approximately 1,500 Panchayat's reside. Speaking on the topic of Swachcha Bharat, Singh said: "PM Modi first made the call that an initiative about cleanliness needs to be started and its effect was seen across the country... Our target (of building toilets) 95 percent, we have surpassed that target and built more toilets." "I don't believe that by building toilets that our mission, our objective will be achieved. The mentality of the people should be shaped in such a way that it reflects that yes today the nation is going in a direction where we have to maintain cleanliness," he said. In India, Sikkim has been declared as open-defecation free state. "Apart from Sikkim, four more states namely Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka and Gujarat are following the same path (free of open-defecation). More than 86 percent of rural areas of Punjab has seen our initiative of Swachchata Abhiyan bring a change. In the coming years, a dozen more states will become open-defecation free," Singh said. On the massive Ganga river project, Bharti said that cleaning the river is a mammoth task and filled with challenges. "For hundred years, whatever industrialisation, urbanisation and privatisation has taken place, it has considered Ganga as a space where it can release its effluents. We have been trying to reverse the damages from the past 29 years. Almost Rs.4,000 crore was spent on this but the funding pattern was such that the money was spent and the pollution in the river was also increased," Bharti said. "Now, the government has allotted Rs.20,000 crore funding in which we have decided that in 2016 October, we will show Phase I of Nirmal Ganga, in 2018 October we will show Phase II and in 2020 the final phase of the project," Bharti announced. According to Bharti, the cleanliness work has already begun at some of the places where Ganga flows as well as at some of its tributaries such as Ram Ganga and Kaali Ganga. She also said that warnings have been issued to industries to implement zero liquid discharge principle. "By 2018, Ganga will be among world's ten cleanest rivers," Bharti promised. Neeraj Jain, chief executive, WaterAid India, said that building toilets has a direct impact on women and girls. "In a research it was found out that 23 percent girls drop out of school because of absence of toilets. Today is International Menstrual Hygiene Day... In India, 66 percent women defecate in open to maintain their menstrual hygiene. Installing toilets is bringing a major change in the lives of these women. It will also bring a change in their health which will impact the future generation," Jain said. Mumbai, May 28 : Actress Vidya Balan says that she is not aware about reports claiming that her husband, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, was miffed with her for supporting fellow actress Kangana Ranaut in her "battle" with actor Hrithik Roshan. Asked about this, Vidya, at an event for her Marathi film "Ekk Albela", a biopic of yesteryears dancing star Bhagwan Dada, said: "Since you are telling me, there must have been, because I'm not aware." There have been reports that Kapur was upset with Vidya's comments supporting Kangana in her bitter conflict with Hrithik related to their alleged relationship, sharing of personal pictures, messages and police complaints. At the trailer launch of her film "Te3n", Vidya had said that she had great admiration for Kangana as she was standing up for herself and gave her "more power". Her comments reportedly didn't go down well with Siddharth as his production house Disney is the producer of Hrithik's 2017 film "Kaabil" and Vidya's comments could create an awkward situation between him and Hrithik. The reports also claimed that Kapur doesn't like to get into controversies and Vidya talking about the Hrithik-Kangana fight had made him a part of one. Vidya also revealed that her husband Siddharth has a lot of film posters. "It's his passion, he collects them. He has 60-70 posters; we can't put it up all at once, so we change them. But since we have got married, one poster that I haven't changed is of 'Albela'." She also noted that Bhagwan Dada is supposed to have learnt dance from Kapur's maternal grandfather, Sam Aaron. "He was a pioneer in bringing all the western forms of dance to India. I think I was just meant to do this (film)... there are things that are beyond you and this is definitely one of them." People searching for a lawyer want someone who is flexible and accessible Recently, Billy was interviewed by Textron Aviation about his high performance Cessna aircraft, which he purchased at the end of 2014 and was his first of this brand after having been disappointed with three separate Cirrus models. The Cessna TTX features sophisticated technology and stylish good looks, commented Johnson. It also has a reputation for dependability and reliability, which is important because when people are counting on me for help, its crucial that Im able to get where I need to be. Ive logged around 900 flight hours for both personal and professional reasons, and Im thrilled that I can continue this level of accessibility across the state and the country. Personal injury lawyer Billy Johnson of the Johnson Law Firm is a native of Pike County, KY, who is proud to represent his fellow Kentuckians in their legal matters. Though he makes his home in beautiful Pikeville, he welcomes cases from across the state. He knows that it may sometimes be necessary to visit clients in other communities and that many cases, no matter where they originate, may require travel in order to extract the most detailed information for the best possible resolution. To that end, Billy saves a lot of travel time by flying his own Cessna TTX rather than driving or flying commercially. People searching for a lawyer want someone who is flexible and accessible, remarked Johnson. Being able to fly myself opens a lot of opportunities and allows me to travel great distances in a fraction of the amount of time I would spend traveling by car. This saves valuable time, for me and for the client. Of course, I also get the added benefit of seeing this magnificent country of ours from the air and Ive been fortunate enough to have legal matters require my presence as far away as Houston, Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Nashville, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. Work has taken me to Birmingham, Alabama and Hershey, Pennsylvania as well as to Kentucky cities like Louisville and Bowling Green. Louisville is great example of the amount of time saved by having my own aircraft. An approximately three-and-a-half-hour car ride is reduced to a 40-minute flight. I even had the pleasure of flying internationally on a case that brought me to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which saved considerable time in border crossing alone. About the Johnson Law Firm Founded by Billy Johnson in 1998, the Johnson Law Firm is heavily involved in the community and invites people to stop by to find out for themselves why the firm is known as the nicest place in town. Located at 229 Main Street in Pikeville, Kentucky, the firm serves all of Kentucky. For more information or to get help with a potential claim, call 1-606-433-0682. Continuously improving, TruVision Health just released two brand-new products that utilize some of nature's most powerful essential oils. truSOOTHE - Get That Tingly Feeling Soothe away the aches and pains of your day with TruVision Healths truSOOTHE. Combining natures all-star essential oils, this powerful blend will hit the spot immediately. From peppermint to eucalyptus and all the magic in between, you will love it's swift soothing relief. Suggested Use: Apply this muscle soothing creme to sore/stiff areas. Avoid applying to sensitive areas. For more information visit http://www.TruVisionHealth.com/products/truSOOTHE PURE Essential Oil - Clean Air Never Smelled So Good This all-new blend of essential oils is formulated to purify the air around you and leave you feeling refreshed. Diffuse PURE to rid the air of unwanted odors and environmental threats all while leaving the air with an invigorating and refreshing scent. Suggested Use: Diffuse to purify and freshen air. Mix 5-10 drops of PURE with a small spray bottle to wipe counters and appliances. PURE may be used to soothe bug bites and other skin irritations. (Test sparingly on first application. Dilution may be necessary.) Eliminate laundry odors by adding a few drops to the rinse cycle. Add 1-2 drops per shoe to eliminate foot odor. Avoid direct sun contact after immediate application (Blend is photo sensitive) For more information visit http://www.TruVisionHealth.com/products/PURE 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 Travel Security App - FoneTrac Employee travel to or from Mexico creates unique security challenges. IMG GlobalSecur, a leading international security consulting firm http://www.theimg.com/, is proud to announce a 'think piece' post to its FoneTrac blog explaining how a travel security app can be used to enhance employee travel security to/from Mexico as well as improve employee monitoring solutions, including itinerary-like information. "Employee travel to or from Mexico creates unique security challenges," explained Chris Hagon, CEO of IMG GlobalSecur. "Daily travel to or from Mexico can create a false sense of security among corporations and their employees, until an event such as a security or medical emergency brings information awareness to the forefront. This post explains how using an innovative travel security app can increase employee monitoring compliance in a fully transparent way." To read the post in full, please visit http://www.fonetrac-go.com/blog/2016/05/employee-monitoring-mexico/. There, in addition to an explanation of how a smartphone travel security app can be used for employee travel security to or from Mexico, interested parties can explore the lively blog about travel security issues. To learn more about the FoneTrac travel security app, in general, visit http://www.fonetrac-go.com/. Travel Security to/from Mexico: the Power of an App Mexico, of course, is a foreign country even though it lies on the border with the United States. However, many companies send employees both back and forth the border between the two countries often on a daily basis. This frequent travel can create a false sense of security, and create difficulty securing employee compliance with "check ins" and itinerary monitoring. In comparison with a trip to China or Saudia Arabia, a trip to Mexico may not have a detailed itinerary. Yet the employer is still obligated to keep track of employees, so that in the event of an emergency they can be informed and updated. Indeed, employees themselves can benefit from the ability to access 24/7 help via the GlobalSecur system, as for example in getting assistance during a medical emergency on how to navigate the Mexican health care system. This new blog post explains how to think about employee security in Mexico while leveraging the power of the smart phone. Platform Agnostic, With Many Capabilities for Real Time Information With support for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry as well as Windows Phones and both Android and Apple tablets, FoneTrac is not only platform-agnostic, which is useful for organizations with many employees using different types of phones. It is also, in contrast to competitive apps, more than a mere travel safety app; it is a gateway app that works with the GlobalSecur network to access real people, in real time, with on-the-ground experience at countries around the world. About the Incident Management Group (IMG) Incident Management Group is a leading international security consulting firm. Corporate or business organizations concerned about their need for robust travel security solutions can reach out to the IMG Group for assistance. The companys experts provide services such as executive, employee, VIP, and expatriate travel security, workplace safety, duty of care management, risk and threat assessments, workplace violence prevention, crisis management planning, and more. Tel. (877) 887-9914 F.A.S.T. Global Marketing have outlined the importance of taking the time to invest in your brand to make sure that it is something to be proud of. F.A.S.T. Global Marketing recently launched a new website in order to aid with their upcoming expansion plans. The firm felt a new website would attract more attention to their brand and would clearly outline their business mission to attract suitable candidates. About F.A.S.T. Global Marketing: http://www.fastglobalmarketing.com/about-us/ The simplistic, video-aided design perfectly outlines the companys goals, what they do, their services, their clients and their latest news. F.A.S.T. Global Marketing believe that the video offers an added layer to the website, clearly honing in on their Chicago roots. The firm has also chosen bold colors which match their logo and stick to their branding so it is easy to recognize. F.A.S.T. Global Marketing have chosen an impactful design that they believe captures the attention of the user. The layout is also extremely easy to navigate and quick to use. The firm state how this is vital as a website that is complicated will be unusable and will not help visitors to find the information they need. F.A.S.T. Global Marketing have outlined the importance of taking the time to invest in your brand to make sure that it is something to be proud of. The firm also revealed the importance of making sure the brand is recognizable and that people can identify with the colors, look and feel of the brand to associate it with the company name. F.A.S.T. Global Marketing state that one of the most important things for any brand is to make sure their website is easy to use and mobile optimized, so that a user can access it any place and any time. F.A.S.T Global Marketing is an outsourced sales and marketing firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The firm specializes in a personalized form of marketing which allows them to connect with consumers directly on behalf of their clients brands. By using face-to-face marketing techniques to establish long-lasting and personal connections between brand and consumer the F.A.S.T. Global Marketing are able to increase their clients customer acquisition, brand awareness and brand loyalty. The firm offer their services on a no win no fee basis which means they are able to guarantee a high return on investment even in times of economic downturn. This is therefore a hugely cost effective source of marketing for their clients. F.A.S.T. Global Marketing aim to grow their workforce and believe that the clearly defined goals on their new website will help to attract quality candidates and therefore encourage business growth. Nan Samons shows off her Essex County Legend award at the annual Essex County Older Americans Heritage Month celebration. I really feel that I've learned and gained so much from being a long-time volunteer in the community. It surely has enriched my life. Past News Releases RSS Bloomfields 5th Annual Restaurant... Century 21 Cedarcrest Realty in... Tracy Chan, Multiple Award-Winning... Nan Samons has spent a lifetime giving back to others and serving the community. On May 11, it was the countys turn to give to her, when Samons was honored as a 2016 Essex County Legend. The award, which is given by the Essex County Division of Senior Services, is bestowed upon older adults in recognition of their service. It was given as part of the 10th Annual Essex County Older Americans Heritage Month celebration, held at The Priory restaurant in Newark. Samons, formerly of West Orange, was nominated as a Legend by Frances Bucien, the coordinator of the JCC MetroWests kosher congregate lunch program in South Orange, where she met the honoree. Samons now lives at South Orange Bnai Brith Federation House, a senior living community owned and managed by the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jersey (JCHC); the non-profit organization participates in the congregate lunch program. Nan and her SOS colleagues have come to the lunch program to promote volunteerism, computer literacy, joint initiatives with the students of Seton Hall University, and the South Orange senior discount card, said Bucien. This is a well- deserved honor. Her award was presented by Deborah Collins, Director of Small Business Development and Affirmative Action of Essex County. County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver also attended and spoke at the ceremony. Samons was recognized as a founding member of South Orange Seniors (SOS), a group dedicated to improving the lives of older adults in South Orange, as well her other community service. East Orange resident, Inez Elliott, also received an award. Samons, who was characteristically humble about the recognition, said that, I really feel that Ive learned so much and gained so much from being a long-time volunteer in the community. It surely has enriched my life. One of the biggest rewards has been my work with SOS. The organization was instrumental in getting the senior discount card initiated with area merchants and it works with town officials to advocate for the needs and interests of seniors in town. She previously served on the boards of both Jewish Family Service Association and Jewish Child Care, which eventually merged to become Jewish Family Service; she was a fundraiser and speaker for the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), and served many local organizations and initiatives throughout the years. Sixty years ago, Samons co-founded Playhouse Nursery School in West Orange, a cooperative preschool that she said made a major dent in the community. After she retired at age 82, she decided to volunteer at Saint Barnabas Medical Centers same-day surgery center, serving as a liaison between patients and their families and physicians. She also teaches knitting at the public library and walks three to four miles a day. I mentioned to an SOS colleague that I should really cut back a little but she replied that Id find something else to do instead. Im truly very lucky, she said. ### About the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jersey Founded in 1983, the Jewish Community Housing Corporation of Metropolitan New Jersey (JCHC) owns and manages more than 470 apartments in four buildings for older adults in Morris and Essex counties in northern New Jersey. The non-profit organization offers seniors a range of options in terms of services, amenities, location, and cost, all within a traditional Jewish environment. The JCHC provides housing, programs, and services for the independent elderly as well as those who need assisted living. For more information, go to http://www.jchcorp.org. Joyful Jenny Prototype I really wanted to give our girls dolls that celebrated childhood, taught life lessons and encouraged the simplicity of fun and experience." Past News Releases RSS Maple Box Dolls Seizes Opportunity... Shauna Altes is blazing a trail. "As a mom, I was unhappy with the doll options available in the store aisles today. I really wanted to give our girls dolls that celebrated childhood, taught life lessons and encouraged the simplicity of fun and experience." And she's not alone. Moms and grandmothers are lining up to get a piece of the action, raising more than 60% of their goal on kickstarter in the first 4 days. "We are still very small, not very many moms know about us and to have this kind of response in such a short amount of time really tells me that moms everywhere feel the same way I do." says Altes. "It's actually interesting, we have a large demographic of grandmothers who are captured with the nostalgia of the dolls and are in turn buying them to keep at "grandmas house" for their littles when they come to play." So what exactly are Maple Box Dolls? They are a collection of ethnically diverse dolls that arrive in your mail once a month with a storybook, a craft to complete, a recipe to make, and a charm to collect. The first box arrives with a charm bracelet. "This is the doll your Mom wished she could've given you" says Grace Everitt, a family friend. "They are really sweet looking and the fact that they arrive with a curated list of turn key activities really turns it into an automatic playdate with your daughter." Monthly cost of box is $39.95 and is geared towards little girls aged 4 - 9 years old. Shauna Altes, a successful entrepreneur, founded Maple Box Dolls in 2015 when she noticed that there was a lack of sweet fun dolly options for young girls to be found within a realistic price point. She saw how parents were struggling to find the time to curate fun experiences with their kids and decided to marry the time proven doll industry with the convenient modern subscription based business model. Maple Box Dolls is currently active on Kickstarter with a very excited following of moms and little girls. The company is releasing each new character doll in the line individually on Kickstarter for a total of 12 doll sets that will continue to build on the Maple Box Dolls story About Maple Box Dolls Maple Box Dolls is a toy company founded in 2015 by Shauna Altes, an entrepreneur and business owner from Daytona Beach, Fl., and currently operating out of the University of Central Florida Business Incubator at the Daytona International Airport. Maple Box Dolls is focused around creating experiences for parents and little girls, with the characters featured in Maple Box Dolls stories demonstrating sweet, positive life lessons in this highly interactive fashion. Maple Box Dolls nurtures a generation of girls who are more confident, and courageous by teaching them powerful life skills. Learn more about Maple Box Dolls at mapleboxdolls.com and follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/mapleboxdolls Twitter at Twitter.com/mapleboxdolls and Instagram at instagram.com/mapleboxdolls Dont say if, when you speak about Garegin Nzhdeh (video) Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan has a very positive opinion on the statue of Garegin Nzhdeh unveiled today, I am proud of installing Garegin Nzhdehs statue in the heart of Yerevan. As for the appearance of the statue, which has been much discussed recently, I disagree with those opinions; every person has his opinion and listening to the sculptor, what kind of character he saw, I can understand that he can see the character of Nzhdeh in this way. It is important that Nzhdeh has his place in Yerevan. In reply to the question whether the statue mustnt have been installed at Garegin Nzhdeh Square, where the statue of Soviet figure Suren Spendaryan is placed, Taron Margaryan disagreed, When the square was named after Garegin Nzhdeh, there had already been a statue. We planned, established a committee dealing with the issue of installation of Garegin Nzhdehs statue in 2015 and tender was announced. Decision was made to place the statue in this park. For the installation of Nzhdehs statue this park was reconstructed still in 2013. To the remark that Garegin Nzhdehs statue was installed just in the park near Republic Square on purpose, because the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) office is also situated in this territory, the Mayor noted, I think that there are offices of various parties in this territory and the HHK office has no connection with this area. The statue was installed near Hanrapetutyan Street, in this renovated park. In reply to the question whether Taron Margaryan spoke to architect Levon Igityan and urged him not to speak about this or that old building of Yerevan using inappropriate vocabulary, the Mayor answered, Every person has his opinion, Levon Igityan is also honored citizen of Yerevan and has long path behind him, I respect it. As for his definitions about this or that building, it is simply his professional opinion. Those rude expressions arent addressed to Yerevan, they relate only to a certain local building. All specialists have their own opinion, me for example, I dont think so. In reply to journalists question, if Garegin Nzhdeh was alive, how he would assess the activities of the HHK, Taron Margaryan answered, Dont say if, when you speak about Garegin Nzhdeh. Ann Patchett leads a busy life: her novel Commonwealth is being released in September by Harper, her recent vacation in Norway with her husband included an assignment for Conde Nast, and she is co-owner of indie Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn.where theres always work to be done. I was up half the night mopping, Patchett says. The bookstore is expanding. Weve taken over the store next to us and had the wall torn down. Last night we were putting books on the shelves and cleaning the floors. The construction workers were supposed to mop, but they mopped like men, which is to say the floor was filthy beyond imagination. They would put the mop in the bucket, and then they would run it around, and then they would put the mop back in the bucket, and then they would run it around again. Thats just moving the dirt! Still, gracious and practical, she works through a variety of scheduling issuesmine as well as hersso that well have the time to talk about Commonwealth. Ive always been writing this story, Patchett says of Commonwealth. A group of strangers are thrown together by circumstance and form a community, a family. A sampling of her past novels supports this description. The Patron Saint of Liars (1992) takes place in a home for unwed mothers. Bel Canto (2001) portrays a group of hostages, including an American opera star, held somewhere in South America. State of Wonder (2011) follows a medical researcher as she tracks down her former professor, now living with an indigenous tribe deep in the Amazonian rainforest. In Run (2007), an accident connects some of Bostons poorest citizens with its most powerful. Commonwealth focuses on a family reconfigured by divorce and spans 50 years. Im drawing more directly from my own life for the characters and action, Patchett says. But its the same emotional content I used in Bel Canto to describe what it was like to be held captive with a group of people you dont know. The family in Commonwealth starts out as two separate families: the Keatings (Fix and Beverly; their two girls, Caroline and Franny) and the Cousins (Bert and Teresa; their boy, Cal; their girls, Holly and Jeanette; plus baby Albie on the way). Berts flirtation with Beverly at a christening party changes the domestic landscape. Beverly divorces Fix, and Bert divorces Teresa. Bert and Beverly marry and relocate from California to Virginia, taking Fix and Beverlys daughters with them. Teresa is left to raise her and Berts four children alone. Patchett clarifies that this family portrait, though inspired by autobiography, is only vaguely autobiographical. For example, whereas Fix shares Patchetts fathers history, their personalities differ. Theyre both cops in L.A., but my father was an extremely private person, a much more sophisticated man. That said, my father died while I was writing this book, and the details of taking care of someone with a terminal illness and the suffering that comes with a very prolonged deaththose things come straight from life. Both my stepfathers are in very poor health right now, and sometimes I want to pull the book back and write more because there is so much to say about this journey of caretaking and who bears the responsibility. She adds, Emergency rooms are a motif for me. I think someone gets stitches in all my novels. As for the Keating-Cousins in particular, Patchett speaks about their nature as a blended family. Those children are more blended than most families Ive known. They make a scrappy little team. The forging and fraying of personal alliances is another recurring theme of Patchetts work. She describes her idea of family as fluid. If you spend a few nights at my house, Ill start to think of you as family. I think the sense that Franny and Carolineand Fix for that matterfeel toward Teresa reflects my vision of family: shes one of ours, even if I cant exactly explain how. This comment of Patchetts refers to a scene late in the book in which Franny, Caroline, and Fix escort a reluctant Teresa to the hospital. One of this novels pleasures is its variety of settings and moods. Scenes set in the Hamptons are chaotic and humorous. The six children, together in the Virginia woods, are scary and magical. Among Patchetts favorite scenes are those depicting Franny and Albie as their friendship evolves over the years. Patchett recalls her own childhood with fondness: The 70s were a different time as far as parenting was concerned. People left their kids in the car with the windows cracked while they went to the grocery store. My girlfriends and I sold raffle tickets in rundown apartment complexes at night in our Catholic-school uniforms. We were free-range children. We were put outside in the morning and gathered back in the nightno T-ball, no dance lessons, no birthday parties. I loved the freedom of my childhood. Other themes in Commonwealth include the effects of tragedy, the corrosiveness of lies, and the power of storytelling. This last is most fully explored when Franny confides her family history to novelist Leo Posen, who in turn writes a novel about it. Albie recognizes himself in Posens novel and learns something he never knew. At first I imagined Leo Posen as a playwright, and Albie accidentally winds up seeing the play of his life, Patchett says. But I couldnt figure out a way to get him to the theater. According to Patchett, her own familys reaction to the book has been very positive. Theyve been incredibly supportive, the same way theyve always been supportive of my work, she says. We all tell our story, and we all hold something back, either because we think its trivial or embarrassing or wont show someone in a good light. Novelists do it with people they make up. Maybe thats what the book is about. Patchett resists my attempts to get her to characterize Commonwealth the way I would: as personal as the best of her memoirs, as affecting as her best fiction. I do think its my best novel, she says. But in all fairness, I always think every novel I write is my best. You learn every time you write a book, and then you take that new knowledge and experience into the next book. Hopefully, every time you raise the bar. Every time, I try to do something that feels really hard: having 10 main characters in five locations over 50 yearsthat felt really challenging. We change the subject, landing on the bookstore, which, mopping aside, clearly gives the author great joy. I love being able to promote books Im crazy about, Patchett says. And I love recommending things to people in the store. Walking through the store and seeing people with books in their hands, Ill stop and say, What are you reading? And Oh, if you like that, you should read this. Or That one youve got is not so great: lets put that back and get something else. Patchett has just finished writing her latest blog entry for the bookstore. This is such a good year for fiction. I loved Jane Hamiltons book [The Excellent Lombards], and I loved Louise Erdrichs book, LaRose, and I loved the Edna OBrien book [The Little Red Chairs]. OBrien rocks my world. And the Colson Whitehead out in September, The Underground Railroad, is fantastic. Patchetts writing career includes seven novels, two memoirs, the Orange Prize, the PEN/Faulkner, the New York Times bestseller list, Times 100 Most Influential People list, and her early stint at Seventeen magazine. The biggest difference then and now, she says, speaking as a novelist, not a Seventeen writer, is then I believed that if I had a good idea for a story to tell, it was worth telling and it was worth your time to read it. Now I have to feel like I am going to be telling something that I alone have to tell. Its not enough for me to think Im a writer, and you need to listen to what I have to say, which is what I thought when I was 25. At 52, I think this has to really, really, matter. Its a busy life, Patchett says, but who doesnt have a busy life these days? I dont have children. I dont have a regular job. I dont have the distractions of the phone and the Internet that rule other peoples lives. Still, theres barely enough time in the day to play with the dog. And yes, Patchetts already thinking about her next book. I have a really good idea for a novel Im excited about, she says. I just have no idea when Im going to start it. Judi Goldenberg is a freelance writer in Asheville, N.C., and a frequent contributor to PW. Thirty-five hours a week. Unpaid. I wish I were surprised when I see offers like this. As a Mainer who attended a state university, now living in the big (to me) city of Boston, I feel that a graduate program is necessary for me to overcome a skill and status gap resulting from my background. But unpaid-internship offers frequently come by way of mass emails from my publishing graduate program, boasting of opportunities to make something of myself. As I sign my life away on ever more student loans, working as much as I can to defray them, its disconcerting to face an industry that wont pay me for my work. I am intimidated by an industry that says my work will only earn experience and connections. Every intern knows the ephemeral value of these earnings. Whereas money directly translates to heat, food, transportation, stability, and legitimacy, gaining experience and making connections are vague goals that dont necessarily result in careers. No industry is above politics, and as politicians debate unemployment, unpaid internships emerge as a strange stepchild. An entry appears on our resumes, but are we employed? We work, but is that labor enough to earn a wage? The answers are as uncomfortable as they are clear. There is no wage gap wider than the one between nothing and something; there is no unemployment starker than working without compensation. As students fall ever further into debt, as wages depress and dissipate entirely, young people need an ever-higher amount of wealth to vault past this pit of unpaid labor. Without family money, without living in an area with good jobs and good schools, the opportunity to accrue enough capital to be able to skip the need for paychecks becomes almost impossible. The Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division requires that workers be paid at least minimum wage, as long as they are not trainees in programs that do not displace jobs and do not benefit the employer. Currently, it seems, most unpaid internships should be illegal, and yet, in the past few decades, they have become the model for entering many major industries. Unpaid internships have thrived in this legal twilight between outdated laws and unfunded enforcement. School approval does not redeem unpaid internshipsif anything, it makes them worse. Course credit does nothing to obviate the illegality of unpaid internships and only casts a sheen of legitimacy. Credit, after all, is never given, but paid for. If we were to see interns as workers as well as students and adults, we would see them paying to work, not once but twice: once to live, and a second time for credit. As court cases are waged for back pay, the discussion of the rights of interns is delayed and the likelihood of using unpaid interns becomes higher, but even as the law churns in various courts, the moral, political, and economic consequences of unpaid internships, for the interns and the industries that use them, remain. I want to work in publishing because its the business of articulating and distributing ideassometimes groundbreaking, sometimes disruptive, and sometimes clarifying. All I propose is a moment of clarity: please, step back and reconsider what unpaid internships mean. They cheapen the work of publishing: figuratively, in that a hard days work no longer means a days pay, and literally, in that a wage of zero forces a race to the bottom that excludes all but the wealthiest and the luckiest. When the entrance to working in publishing is based on affordability rather than talent, passion, creativity, or perspective, the field inevitably shrinks. Until the publishing industry can collectively decide, both financially and in principle, to support its future, I fear the stubborn homogeneity of its workforce will leave it unprepared for a world of ever-changing markets, technologies, and people. As a young worker in a precarious economy, passionate but anxious, ambitious but scared, all I ask for is mutuality. The internship paradigm has reoriented us to thinking that I alone must invest in myself, that I alone, or my family, must have money before I can be sellable, worthwhile. Demands such as these, especially from someone in the millennial generation, tend to come across as entitled. All I want, however, is what generations before the internship craze have received: a fair shake. I want to work for you. Welcome me, train me, pay me, and I promise that if you give meif you give usa chance, the investment will pay off. The bottom line, quite literally, is that if our work is worthwhile, we deserve to be paid for it. Nicholas Moore is a publishing graduate student in Boston aiming to work in acquisitions. Readers Respond We recently ran a feature on new middle grade books that deal with mature topics such as suicide and gender identity. It sparked some heated commentary from our readers, some of whom feel that these books are deeply necessary, while others think they unnecessarily add to young peoples worries. Heres a sampling of the comments on the article, which you can read at publishersweekly.com/maturemiddle: As children become more savvy, its even more important for authors/teachers/parents to be able to connect with them on their levelespecially when the topic is tough. Knowing these books are becoming more readily available is heartening!Courtnay Sander Walsh There are so many kids issues on their small plates already and they grow so fast! I hope adults in their lives give them more playtime than worries.... Please dont dump more worries!Lynn Lu Children in the middle grades ARE dealing with suicide, mental health, sexuality, and all of the other issues of society. Many are dealing with these without any support. These books are the support they need. Not every child will read them, but the ones who do will find their world a bit less confusing.Barbara Markwell From the Newsletters Tip Sheet Adam Ehrlich Sachs, author of Inherited Disorders (Regan Arts), picks 10 really and legitimately funny books. Religion Bookline Coming this spring: three different books about shame, all titled Unashamed. Childrens Bookshelf The story behind the forthcoming U.S. publication of Into the River (Polis), the first book to be banned in New Zealand in more than 20 years. Global Rights Report The scoop on the Anna Fekete Finnish crime series, which is getting bought up in territories across Europe. Podcasts The Week Ahead PW senior writer Andrew Albanese on a new lawsuit filed against one of the Big Five over e-book royalties. More to Come Glen Downey, chair of strategic thinking at the York School in Toronto, talks about using comics in education, how visual thinking can be encouraged in students, and the future uses of comics as a communication tool. KidsCast Chris Barton talks about his new picture book biography, Whoosh! Lonnie Johnsons Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions (Charlesbridge). PW Radio Nathaniel Philbrick discusses George Washington and Benedict Arnold in his book Valiant Ambition (Viking). And PWs Shannon Maughan discusses the rise of digital audiobooks. The most-read review last week on publishersweekly.com was, once again, The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley (HMH). Blogs ShelfTalker Score one for the indies: how to win customers over, one at a time. Local Radio A pair of on-air personalities make the leap from broadcasting to book publishing this week with new memoirs. Bobby Bones, born Bobby Estell, had the top-rated morning show in Austin before Clear Channel moved him and his show to Nashville in 2012, changing the format from top 40 to country and taking the program national; Bare Bones debuts at #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction, and #7 in the country overall. Brooklyn-born Angie Martinez, nicknamed the Voice of New York, worked at Hot 97 for two decades before making a very high-profile departure for Power 105.1; My Voice lands at #9. Heres a look at how each book did on the authors home turfs. First-Week Designated Market Area Sales Bare Bones total print unit sales: 19,605 Austin, TX, and Nashville, TN: 22% Rest of the country: 78% My Voice total print unit sales: 6,043 New York, NY: 54% Rest of the country: 46% (See all of this week's bestselling books.) On Their Minds Two new books on the Hardcover Nonfiction list zero in on brainpower. At #13, Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani, founder of educational technology company Mindvalley, walks the line between business book and self-help title. Lakhiani, who launched the Omvana meditation app, proposes that nonconformist thinking is the key to success. Super Mind by Norman E. Rosenthal, at #25, is a research psychiatrists exploration of transcendental meditation. His 2011 book, Transcendence, covers some of the same ground; its sold about 29K copies in hardcover and trade paper. New & Notable The Fireman Joe Hill #3 Hardcover Fiction, #10 overall Our starred review called this fourth novel by Bram Stoker Awardwinner Hill, who is Stephen Kings son, a superb supernatural thriller with a heroine whos impossible not to root for. Draplin Design Co. Aaron James Draplin #10 Hardcover Nonfiction Graphic design rock star Draplin shares the process of developing logos, brand identities, and more for a diverse client list that includes Target, Esquire, and the Obama administration. Plated Elana Karp and Suzanne Dumaine #11 Hardcover Nonfiction Culinary powerhouse Clarkson Potter published this cookbook from the meal-kit company of the same name; many of the recipes incorporate feedback from Plated customers. Gene Genie Siddhartha Mukherjee lands at #2 in Hardcover Nonfiction with The Gene, which deftly relates the basic scientific facts about the way genes are believed to function, while making clear the aspects of genetics that remain unknown, according to our starred review, which also praised the book for including familial information, [which] grounds the abstract in the personal to add power and poignancy to his excellent narrative. Mukherjee, an oncologist, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for The Emperor of All Maladies, which has sold 342K copies in hardcover and trade paper. The hardcover debuted with 7,060 print units sold; The Genes first-week sales beat that by almost 6,000 print units. Top 10 Overall Rank Title Author Imprint Units 1 Oh, the Places Youll Go! Dr. Seuss Random House 47,995 2 Me Before You (mass market movie tie-in) Jojo Moyes Penguin 31,890 3 Me Before You (trade paper movie tie-in) Jojo Moyes Penguin 27,630 4 Me Before You Jojo Moyes Penguin 23,045 5 15th Affair Patterson/Paetro Little, Brown 20,620 6 The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) Rick Riordan Disney-Hyperion 20,249 7 Bare Bones Bobby Bones Morrow/Dey Street 19,605 8 Make Me Lee Child Dell 15,411 9 The Last Mile David Baldacci Grand Central 13,949 10 The Fireman Joe Hill Morrow 13,863 All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted. The University of Regina Press, located in Saskatchewan in western Canada, is a relatively new publisher: it was launched in spring 2013, out of the ashes of the decades-old Canadian Plains Research Center Press, the universitys former publisher. But the press has already established itself as an important force for Canadas aboriginal cultures, aiming to bring new life to endangered languages. June 2 marks one year since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its initial report, which offered 94 calls to action to repair the countrys relationship with aboriginal people, referring to this part of Canadas past as cultural genocide. For instance, the report includes stories of children who were beaten for speaking their native languages in government- and church-run residential schools. To help address this history of oppression, this June URP will release a book titled 100 Days of Cree by Neal McLeod, a professor at Trent University and a poet. The nonfiction book is divided into 100 themes and offers Cree words and English explanations for everything from traditional subjects such as powwows and medicine to modern subjects such as Facebook and Star Wars. It also includes a guide to pronunciation written by Arok Wolvengrey, a linguist and the author of a Cree-English dictionary. When we think about indigenous languages, theres a part of us that thinks theyre dying languages, URP publisher Bruce Walsh said. And then this manuscript comes in that demonstrates a living, vital language. McLeod said that he and Wolvengrey worked to keep a balance between traditional usage and modern adaptations. To revitalize our languages, we have to do two things: we have to document the classical terminology, because within that terminology are all of our metaphors and idioms; but we also have to think of how to put old words together, to coin words, to describe the contemporary world. According to Walsh, in addition to publishing scholarly books, he aims to publish cool, fun, playful, and accessible books that appeal to young people. Thats why URP plans to also publish a word-a-day Cree book later this year, as well as a mobile app on the language in spring 2017. Cree has more native speakers in Canada than any other aboriginal languageabout 83,000, according to 2011 census dataand there are dozens of other native languages at a greater risk of becoming extinct. URP is in the midst of an ambitious project called the First Nations Language Readers. The press has already published five Language Readers, each of which features traditional and modern stories told in both the aboriginal language and English, covering obscure languages such as Blackfoot and Lillooet; the goal is to cover 60 or more aboriginal languages. Other URP titles include James Daschuks nonfiction book, Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life, which has sold more than 21,000 copies, and Joseph Auguste Merastys 2015 memoir, The Education of Augie Merasty. Walsh said books like this are important because they educate the public about Canadas censored history. The Truth and Reconciliation report reinforced that the path were on is the right path, Walsh said. ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL -- First Army hosted an observance May 16 in Heritage Hall honoring Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent for their military and civilian contributions. The observance included Asian food and a performance by the University of Iowa Thai and Southeast Asian Dance Group. Guest speaker was Alma Reed, vice president of the Philippine Cultural Group of Michigan, a non-profit cultural group dedicated to sharing and retaining Filipino heritage. Ms. Reed, a native of Cebu, Philippines, spent much of her life in Iowa before moving to Michigan last year. Asians and Pacific Islanders have a long history in the United States, she said., "One of the earliest groups to arrive here were Filipino sailors in the 1700s who settled in Louisiana. Then during the 1840s, Chinese sailors and merchants arrived in New York and California. Prejudice and discriminatory laws prevented Asians and Pacific Islanders from fully blossoming, she said. It was only with the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act that the countrys Asian and Pacific Islander population began to grow significantly." Despite sometimes being treated poorly by their adopted country -- including World War II internment camps -- Asians have served the United States with pride, she said. Asian Americans have been a big part of the U.S. military, Ms. Reed said. In World War II, a substantial number of Asians served in the U.S. Armed Forces, many in combat and some as translators and interpreters. That tradition of service has continued with an Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki, and U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a retired Illinois National Guard lieutenant colonel who lost both her legs in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. First Army Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Michael S. Tucker noted some significant contributions Asians and Pacific Islanders have made to the U.S. "If it had not been for Chinese workers, we would not have completed the Transcontinental Railroad for another 30 years, he said. How terrific it is that the Department of Defense carves out time for us to recognize the diversity of our great country. That diversity is our strength. QPR striker Conor Washington has secured his place at Euro 2016 after Northern Ireland named their 23-man squad for next month's tournament on Saturday. QPR striker Conor Washington has secured his place at Euro 2016 after Northern Ireland named their 23-man squad for next month's tournament on Saturday. The Rs forward will head to France in June following the confirmation that Irish manager Michael ONeill has included him in his team for the competition. The news comes following Northern Irelands 3-0 friendly win against Belarus on Friday evening in Belfast. Washington scored for the Irish at Windsor Park, his second goal in three matches for Northern Ireland. Its incredible, Washington exclusively told QPR PlayerHD. To get this opportunity after coming into the squad so late is amazing. As a young boy you dream about pitting yourself against the best players in the world. Im really looking forward to it now. Loading... Northern Ireland play their first Group C match against Poland on 12th June in Nice before facing Ukraine on 16th June in Lyon. Their final group match will be against Germany on 21st June in Paris. Washington, who only made his international debut earlier this year, has three caps after qualifying through his grandparents. Their final friendly before the tournament begins takes place away to Slovakia on 4th June. See also G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now! HRW, May 25, 2016 (Kabul) Afghanistans government should urgently act to end wrongful imprisonment and humiliating, scientifically invalid virginity exams of women and girls, Human Rights Watch said today. Despite a pledge from President Ashraf Ghani in a February 2016 letter to Human Rights Watch to prevent the imprisonment of women accused of running away from their family, Afghan police and prosecutors continue to engage in the abusive practice. President Ghanis promise to end the practice of arresting women and girls for running away is an important step forward for womens rights in Afghanistan, said Heather Barr, senior womens rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. But to make a real difference, the president needs to issue a clear and binding order that immediately changes how every police officer and prosecutor handles complaints against women and girls. For too long, women and girls fleeing violence have been treated as criminals while their abusers go free. The government should take concrete steps to implement the promised reform and ensure that women and girls who have been the victims of violence are protected by the legal system, Human Rights Watch said. This woman (above left) was a failed suicide bomber, sentenced to 4 years. Shahperai (above right) a 22-year-old woman sentenced to 15-year for fleeing from a cruel husband. This woman (above left) was a failed suicide bomber, sentenced to 4 years. Shahperai (above right) a 22-year-old woman sentenced to 15-year for fleeing from a cruel husband. In Afghanistan today, hundreds of women and girls are imprisoned on charges of moral crimes, Human Rights Watch said. These so-called crimes include running away from home, and committing or attempting to commit zina, or having sex outside of marriage. Human Rights Watch estimated in 2013 that half of all women in prison and about 95 percent of girls in juvenile detention in Afghanistan have been arrested on moral crimes charges. Human Rights Watch research found that in most cases, the women and girls accused of these crimes were fleeing forced child marriage or domestic violence. In some cases, women and girls who have been raped were charged with zina, alongside their rapist. In a March 2016 letter to President Ghani, Human Rights Watch outlined five steps the government should take to fully implement the presidents commitment to end imprisonment of women who run away from their families (see appendix). The steps include reforming the law so that moral crimes are no longer grounds for arrest. Zina is currently a crime under the Afghan Penal Code and is punishable by five to 15 years in prison. Running away is not a crime under Afghan law, but police and prosecutors often treat it as a crime, sometimes bringing charges as attempted zina. The Afghan government is currently drafting a new penal code. The new penal code should bring Afghanistan into compliance with international law by ending criminalization of consensual sex between adults, Human Rights Watch said. It should also include comprehensive penal provisions providing a clear and inclusive definition of sexual assault, incorporating rape and marital rape. The penal code should also adopt a clear provision regarding the age of consent to sex identical for boys and girls, set tough penalties for an adult who has sex with a child below the age of consent, and ensure that such children are treated as crime victims and not targeted for zina accusations. Adopting a modernized penal code would be a crucial advance for Afghan society, Barr said. President Ghani should ensure that the new law upholds womens rights under both the Afghan constitution and international law, by removing all references to moral crimes and adding new provisions to protect women and girls from abuse. Human Rights Watch also called on the government to ban all use of virginity examinations. At present, women and girls accused of moral crimes are routinely subjected to invasive vaginal and rectal examinations by government doctors. These examinations purport to provide information regarding whether the woman or girl is a virgin and whether she recently or habitually engaged in sexual intercourse. Reports describing these findings are used in criminal prosecutions and frequently contribute to convictions and long sentences for women and girls found guilty of moral crimes. In reality, so-called virginity tests have no scientific validity. Their use is based on the mistaken belief that virginity can be determined by examining a woman or girls hymen to determine whether it has been broken during sexual intercourse. In fact, some girls are born without a hymen, hymens often break during daily non-sexual activities, and some hymens remain intact after sexual intercourse. These factors make virginity examinations so unreliable that the World Health Organization has said that they have no scientific validity and health workers should never conduct them. President Ghani can end the abusive and unscientific use of virginity exams with the stroke of a pen, Barr said. Its well past time he did so. Human Rights Watch letter to Ashraf Ghani regarding moral crimes and virginity exams Appendix to March 17, 2016 letter from Human Rights Watch to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan responding to the January 29, 2016 Statement by the Government of Afghanistan on the Human Rights Watch Report Re: Government of Afghanistan reforms regarding moral crimes charges This memo is a response to the following passages in the statement issued by the Afghan government: In order to prevent the imprisonment of women accused of running away from their family, the President recently asked the Supreme Court to issue a ruling on the application of article 130 of the Constitution that is the basis for the courts decision to sentence such women. In December 2015, the Supreme Court issued a judicial ruling that bars judges from imprisoning women for running away from family. Running away from home is not defined as a crime by law, but from the misinterpretation of a constitutional provision that has created a wrong practice, which is now being stopped. Since the statement was issued, Human Rights Watch has made requests to the Presidents Office for a copy of the Supreme Court judicial ruling alluded to above, and has received some clarifications regarding the contents of the ruling, but not a copy of the actual ruling. We understand that it is accompanied by a second document, a paper prepared by the research and studies directorate of the Supreme Court that responds to questions from the Presidents Office regarding whether zina charges should be brought against victims of rape. Our understanding is that this paper states that the scholars have reached a consensus that a haram act of zina has occurred only when a mature person with full consent has committed it, therefore a person who has not consented to zina but has been forced to engage in sexual intercourse is instead under law a victim of rape. We would be very grateful if you could share with us a copy of the full text of these two documents. Our comments below are based on the statement above and the clarifications we have received from the Presidents Office. We commend the Afghan government, and in particular President Ghani, for taking up these two important issues: 1) the practice of charging women and girls with the so-called offense of running away; and 2) the practice of charging women and girls with the offense of zina when they have been the victims of sexual assault or statutory rape. Human Rights Watch has been calling for reform on these issues for many years, including most recently in a 2012 report based on 58 interviews with women and girls imprisoned for moral crimes, as well as several follow-up statements, which documented a sharp increase in the number of women and girls imprisoned on these charges. The previous administration had been unwilling to pursue reform on this issue. We also noted with dismay the memos issued by the Supreme Court in 2010 and 2011, in which the Court advised that running away should be treated as a crime if a woman or girl flees somewhere other than to a relative. We appreciate the steps that your government has now taken, and hope that the government will follow through vigorously to ensure that the proposed changes are fully implemented and have the desired effect of ending these harmful and illegal practices. The following are some key steps that we believe are necessary in this regard: 1) Reform the Penal Code provisions on moral crimes and sexual assault Under international law, Afghanistan has an obligation to end all arrests and prosecutions of moral crimes. International law does not support the criminalization of consensual sex between adults. As part of the revision of the Penal Code, the government should remove articles 426 and 427 from the Penal Code, and replace them with comprehensive penal provisions providing a broad and inclusive definition of sexual assault, incorporating rape and marital rape. The government should also adopt clear law regarding the age at which a young person can consent to sex, set tough penalties for an adult who has sex with a child below the age of consent, and ensure that such children are treated as crime victims and not targeted for zina accusations. We urge the government to consider the guidance from the United National Handbook for Legislation of Violence Against Women in regard to formulating these provisions. Until Afghan law is reformed to abolish moral crimes, we recommend that the government take the following steps to stop the harmful practices of charging women and girls with running away and charging rape and statutory rape victims with the offense of zina. 2) Abolish not only running away charges but also attempted zina charges As the Supreme Court has noted, running away is not an offense under the Penal Code, and should never be used as grounds for arrest, detention, prosecution, or conviction. However, Human Rights Watchs research indicates that ending the practice of charging women and girls with running away will not be sufficient to end abuses by justice officials in running away cases. The use of running away charges seems to have diminished in recent years, in recognition that running away is not an offense under statutory law, but that does not appear to mean that women and girls who would have been charged with running away now go free. Instead, police, prosecutors and judges appear to be moving ahead with arrest, prosecution and conviction in many of these cases, but doing so under the rubric of attempted zina rather than running away. Police, prosecutors, and judges have argued to Human Rights Watch that, in their view, attempted zina charges are justified when there is evidence that a woman or girl left their familys home without permission, or was in a location where shady things are happening, or was in the company of a man who is not a halal relation. In our view, this is a misapplication of Afghan law, as well as a violation of Afghanistans obligations under international law. None of these circumstances meet the requirement of Penal Code article 34, which requires that in order for a finding of criminal intent, the will of the doer to commit an act which produced the crime. Charging an individual with a crime based on the attempt to commit any offense, including zina, also requires that the facts satisfy the following requirements of article 27 of the Penal Code: (1) Initiation of a crime is the starting of an act with the intention of committing a felony or misdemeanor, but whose effects have been stopped or offset by reasons beyond the will of the doer. (2) Only the decision to commit a crime or performance of preliminary works is not considered initiation of crime. The fact that a woman or girl has fled her home, has spent time in an unsafe or unsupervised location, or has been in the company of a man who is not a halal relation cannot reasonably be seen as sufficient evidence that this woman or girl has started the act of committing zina. It is very difficult, in fact, to identify circumstances in which zina has not occurred, but the evidence would legitimately support a finding that an individual has started an act with the intention of committing zina. Charging individuals with attempted crimes makes sense in cases where it can be clearly determined that an attempt has taken place but has not been completed: for example, a murderer fires a gun at the intended victim, but misses, or a burglar breaks the window of a home but is attacked by a dog before entering. There is no comparable set of facts in regard to the offense of zina; rather the charge of attempted zina has been used by prosecutors to continue the practice of prosecuting women and girls for running away. The governments decision to end the prosecution of women and girls for running away will not have its full effect or perhaps even an incremental effect unless the government also prohibits police and prosecutors from pursuing attempted zina charges. We urge you to do so. 3) Direct justice officials to inquire into consent in all zina prosecutions The government has taken an excellent step by instructing that victims of rape should not be charged with zina. However, this reform should not require rape victims to bear the burden of defending themselves from a charge of zina by raising lack of consent. Instead, the government should instruct all police and prosecutors that in all zina cases they should investigate whether women and girls gave their consent to sex, from the earliest stages of arrest and throughout the duration of the case. Judges should be offered training on this issue. In the event that evidence indicates that one or more individuals did not consent to sexual intercourse or were below the age of consent, those individuals should be treated as crime victims. There should be no criminal charges brought against victims, and any pending charges should be dropped immediately and victims informed of this. As warranted by the evidence, the perpetrator or perpetrators should be charged with sexual assault (under a revised Penal Code) or rape under the Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (article 17). Police should also be informed and trained regarding their responsibility to detect cases of sexual assault and rape and to refer for prosecution all matters where evidence suggests that a rape or sexual assault has been committed. 4) Inform justice officials of new rules on running away and rape cases, and ensure full compliance. In Afghanistan, as in many countries, there are often significant gaps between the instructions issued by the central government and the practice of police and prosecutors at the provincial and district level. In order to ensure that full implementation of the governments ban on the use of running away charges and the charging of rape victims with the offense of zina, the government should take steps to distribute clear and compulsory guidance on these two issues to all police station and prosecution offices. Justice officials who do not comply with the new rules should face employment sanctions up to and including dismissal. This information should also be made available to judges at the provincial and district level. 5) Ban all use of virginity exams As the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) documented in a recent report, the vast majority of women and girls accused of moral crimes are subjected to vaginal and rectal examinations sometimes repeatedly performed by government doctors. These doctors then prepare reports, which are used in criminal prosecution, which purport to provide information regarding whether the woman or girl is a virgin and whether she recently or habitually engaged in sexual intercourse. In the AIHRC study, out of a sample of 53 women and girls as young as 13 who had been accused of moral crimes, 48 had been sent for virginity exams. Twenty were examined more than once up to four times in two cases. One woman said that there were six people in the room watching the examination. So-called virginity examinations have no scientific validity. Many people mistakenly believe that virginity can be determined because the hymen is always broken when a woman or girl has sexual intercourse for the first time. In fact, some girls are born without a hymen; hymens often break during daily non-sexual activities; and some hymens remain intact after sexual intercourse. Purported virginity exams are so unreliable that the World Health Organization has said that they have no scientific validity and health workers should never conduct them. There is no requirement in Afghan law that virginity exams be conducted or submitted into evidence in criminal proceedings. President Ghani should immediately, by decree, ban all government doctors from performing virginity exams and ban all prosecutors from submitting reports gathered through such exams into evidence. realclearworld Newsletters: Mideast Memo The influence of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington remains a subject of intense debate in the United States. However, as uncertainty grows throughout much of the Middle East -- and a geopolitical and economic cold war blossoms between two regional heavyweights -- rulers across the region are increasingly vying for the attention of Americas elected officials. Few do a better job of covering the comings and goings of Mideast power brokers on Capitol Hill than Al-Monitors Congressional Correspondent Julian Pecquet. The Memo reached out to Pecquet this week for his thoughts and insights on Mideast lobbying efforts in the nations capital. RCW: Pro-Israel lobbying has received a lot of attention in press and policy circles in recent years, but the same cannot be said of the efforts of other Mideast nations. Can you give us a brief overview of Mideast lobbying in Washington? Pro-Israel lobbying in Washington stands out because its rooted in popular support for Israel. That gives groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) tremendous leverage, but can also complicate things by forcing them to seek out a bipartisan consensus position -- especially post-Iran deal. Other countries dont have U.S. voters in their arsenal. Instead, theyre forced to rely on armies of former officials and assorted influence-peddlers and image-makers to get their way. Often times in the Middle East, those goals include preserving the status quo or trying to put some controversy or other to bed rather than seeking any positive development. Thats what youre seeing right now with Saudi Arabias massive $9 million a year campaign to kill legislation allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom. The Saudis are also working hard to preempt the inevitable negative media coverage from the pending release of a 2002 preliminary inquiry into the attacks. The same is true of Egypt. Since late 2013, Cairo has been working with the Glover Park Group to shake off the pariah status that followed President Mohammed Morsis overthrow, and lift all remaining restrictions on military and economic aid. The Lebanese, for their part, want to protect their banking industry from new sanctions on the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. And the United Arab Emirates has kept a close watch on the debate over the Export-Import Banks reauthorization, which the UAE has relied on extensively to help build its world-beating airline industry. Other actors want a shot at political power, with interesting regional dynamics. These include the Iraqi Kurds bid for more autonomy (which Baghdad has lobbied against) and the Syrian oppositions efforts to gain support against Bashar al-Assad (with an assist from the Saudi lobby). RCW: Among other things, Al-Monitor tracks Mideast lobbying on Capitol Hill. Which Mideast country -- or countries -- might surprise the casual American observer for its outsize influence in our nations capital? Morocco has to be one of the most interesting cases. The kingdom spends upwards of $3 million a year on more than a half-dozen lobbying and PR firms -- not to mention a seven-figure donation to the Clinton Foundation -- to project a friendly image. Mind you, were talking about a relatively poor country thats still eligible for Millennium Challenge Corporation grants. All of that lobbying is directed at one main goal: obtaining U.S. approval -- or at least tacit acquiescence -- for its exploitation of the disputed Western Sahara, where Sahrawi activists have long demanded a vote on independence. The campaign has been largely successful, with neither the State Department nor Congress in any great rush to upset the apple cart and undermine a longtime Western ally by ushering in a potentially ungovernable new state on its borders. Another player with outsize influence is Jordan, whose King Abdullah II has parlayed the kingdoms strategic position and his personal popularity with Congress and the executive branch into a $1.275 billion aid package this year, and all without any need for lobbyist middle-men. RCW: Youve reported on Egypts inability to properly account for all of its American aid dollars. Where does that issue stand? Is Congress growing impatient with Cairo? Its important to remember that the report youre talking about found fault with the Obama administration, not Cairo. American officials are the ones who are supposed to abide by congressional rules when doling out aid, and their failure to do so has certainly been noticed by lawmakers as they prepare to unveil their foreign aid spending bills for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. What effect that will have is another matter. Much of the controversy centers around human rights vetting for military training and equipping, a policy commonly referred to as the "Leahy Law" after Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Leahy is the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations foreign aid panel, but he has already been overruled once by his three colleagues in the House and Senate when they restored the State Departments ability to provide military aid even absent progress on democracy and human rights in the December 2014 omnibus spending package. By and large, Congress has given up on hopes of Egypt improving its democratic record anytime soon. Instead, the $1.3 billion in annual security assistance aims to help Cairo battle the Islamic State and prevent other partners, such as Russia, from filling the void. There is a growing sense however that other countries in the region are more deserving of American taxpayers support. That could impact the $150 million in economic aid the Obama administration had planned for Egypt this coming year, with Tunisia often mentioned as a better candidate for at least some of that money. RCW: Are congressional critics of the Iran nuclear agreement in a holding pattern until the next administration, or do they have a plan of attack against the Islamic Republic? Republican leaders in both the House and Senate certainly want to act on Iran; the fact that the House and Senate held no fewer than three hearings this week alone on the deal and its implementation should attest to that. But they have also made it pretty clear that they want to do so with at least token bipartisan support, which is also a priority for AIPAC after last years bruising fight over the nuclear agreement. Top Republicans and Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations panels have been working together for months to come up with compromise legislation to slap new sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile tests. Theres also broad agreement to renew the soon-to-expire Iran Sanctions Act, which would allow the United States to snap back sanctions on the vital energy sector if Tehran violates the nuclear deal. Will the two parties reach that sweet spot that satisfies hawkish Republicans without risking a presidential veto that could kill the bill and further polarize the debate over the Iran deal? Only time will tell. RCW: Describe Congresss role in Syria policymaking. Defense Sec. Ash Carter recently accused Congress of micromanaging the Pentagons efforts there. How accurate is that charge? Congresss role is now almost purely reactive. Proactive efforts to try to get the Obama administration to create a no-fly zone or create a safe haven for Christians and other minorities have gone nowhere, and lawmakers have been left with the option of signing on the dotted line -- or not. Many of them are wary of handing the administration a blank check however, especially after the fiasco of the Pentagons first train-and-equip mission -- hence Carters admonishment. Thats why they keep asking uncomfortable questions (How are the rebels getting vetted? What happens if Assads forces attack them?) and want to preserve some oversight over how appropriated money gets moved around from one training program to another. RCW: Thirty-four Senate seats will be contested this fall, along with all 435 House seats. What Mideast issues might play a role among voters in districts and states across the country this election season? At a time when American voters are displaying an unusual amount of angst at the state of the world, its actually pretty remarkable just how little they seem to care about foreign policy particulars. Certainly Donald Trump has managed to tap into a deep well of resentment over the impression that Washingtons elites havent been acting in the publics best interests on the world stage, but its not clear whether that will carry over to any specific policy questions beyond broad distrust of trade deals. The nuclear deal with Iran is probably the only specific Middle East issue that could conceivably swing tight races across the country, and even then only in a handful of cases. Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk for instance has long taken a lead role in sanctioning Iran; his challenger, wounded war veteran Tammy Duckworth, voted for the deal. The deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi might also make an appearance, but only tangentially as an effort to paint Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, as incompetent and untrustworthy. Beyond that, expect a lot of platitudes about who would do a better job protecting Israel and keeping the American people safe from ISIS and assorted radical Islamists, with very little in the way of actual policy prescriptions. The likely face-off between Trump and Clinton however will represent an interesting role reversal, with a non-interventionist Republican battling a hawkish Democrat. RCW: Sen. John McCain of Arizona appears to be in for a tight re-election campaign. How would the loss of the hawkish senator affect Mideast policy on the Hill? Probably not much. While McCain has consistently used his perch atop the Senate Armed Services Committee and his popularity with reporters to argue for a more forceful American presence in the Middle East, especially in Syria, the reality is that the White House has hardly budged. If anything, its McCains very own Band of Brothers of fellow GOP hawks -- the so-called Three Amigos -- that has unraveled: Sen. Kelly Ayotte is in trouble in New Hampshire, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina barely registered before dropping out of the presidential race in December. Syrias implosion over the past five years has been a humanitarian disaster that has killed or displaced millions and threatens to tear Europe apart. Keep Americans out of it, seems to be the mantra from the White House and voters of both parties. Feedback Questions, comments, or complaints? Feel free to send us an email, or reach out on Twitter @kevinbsullivan. *** Hungry for more Mideast news and analysis? Check out our new site, Real Clear Middle East. Property details: ( Iron Gate Lake Estates ) Nice 2.66 acres , VIEW LOT on Shasta Lane, power, Home to the South. Near by areas along the Klamath River, Iron Gate Hatchery is a salmon and steelhead hatchery that releases fish back to the Klamath River. Fishing, boating and hunting are a few of the many activities available in the area. Yellow perch, in addition to several other game species, are often a great catch in Iron Gate Reservoir and Copco Lake. The towering Mt Shasta is only 1 hour away and it offers rec... Price: $ 1,050 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: Shasta Lane Zip/Postal Code: 96044 Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Vacant Residential Lot Location: 960**, Hornbrook, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Vacant Residential Lot Property details: Buyers Note: You are bidding on the down payment (premium). Price is $7,500 (financed) + winning bid + $199 processing fee The Seller is pleased to offer a selection of Owner Financing packages designed to suit your needs, all with excellent terms! Low Monthly Payments: as low as $124.12! Please ensure that you review the full terms offered below before bidding. Cowboy Country Getaway! 10.00 acre ranch site in northeastern Elko County Nevada View from your lot looking south to Pilot Peak and ran... Price: $ 1 Seller State of Residence: Utah Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Single Family, Agricultural Location: 898**, Elko, Nevada You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Single Family, Agricultural Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Property details: Gorgeous 20 acres Southern California residential land in San Bernardino County Weekend mountain retreat. Bring a cabin, or camper, or RV before build a house Magnificent 360 mountains view. Excellent location. Deeded road access Owner Financing with 0% interest or only $189 a month Beautiful property is 20 acres, perfect shape, 660 x 1,320. Sits in mild mountains area; there're peaks and valley on the property and around. Absolutely beautiful terrain. It has 2 dirt roads ... Price: $ 200 Seller State of Residence: California Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Location: 322**, Jacksonville, Florida You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Residential Yamaha employees recently put in a hundreds of hours of community service at the at the San Bernardino National Forest. They were joined by family, friends, and local Girl and Cub Scouts. The 60+ volunteers put in signs and kiosks, planted native seeds, and worked to restore the staging areas and surrounding trails. Yamaha volunteers have in the past worked eight restoration projects in the San Bernardino National Forest, including projects around the Pinnacles, Cactus Flats, Big Pine and Coxey Meadows area. They've planted more than 4,000 trees to date. Yamaha Works with SOCAL Mountains Foundation Yamaha ATV/SxS group marketing manager Steve Nessl had this to say: Yamaha is proud to continue its longstanding working relationship with the Southern California Mountains Foundation and U.S. Forest Service as we create models for productive private-public collaboration with the shared goal of increasing safe, responsible access to popular public off-road riding areas. The Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative is dedicated to those who work and play outdoors. This commitment includes financial investments through quarterly Yamaha OAI (Outdoor Access Initiative) grants, as well as the hands-on loyalty from our passionate employees. Stacy Gorin, a Southern California Foundation executive officer, stated: Yamaha is a valued partner of the Southern California Mountains Foundation helping to support our OHV (off highway vehicles) program and many of the 2.4 million visitors who come to enjoy the mountains each year. In all their years of support for the program, Yamaha volunteers made a positive, significant impact on the San Bernardino National Forest, completing projects from the Big Bear area to across the mountains at the Summit Staging Area. About Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative: The Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative is dedicated to those who work and play outdoors including, but not limited to, those who rely on off-highway vehicles (OHVs) to ride, camp, hunt, fish or farm. Supporting the outdoor enthusiast, the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiatives mission is to provide practical support for efforts that promote safe, responsible use of OHVs, educate the public on proper recreational land use and wildlife conservation practices, and protect appropriate and sustainable access to public lands. Each quarter, Yamaha accepts applications from non-profit or tax exempt groups (clubs & associations), public riding areas (local, state and federal), outdoor enthusiast associations and land conservation organizations, and agricultural communities with an interest in protecting, improving, expanding and/or maintaining access for safe, responsible and sustainable use by motorized off-road vehicles. Our committee will review each application and award funds to deserving projects. You can learn more about how to apply for the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative grant right here. This Oct. 2011, photo provided by Principle Power shows a WindFloat Prototype (WF1) handoff to ocean going tug vessel, Sado River Estuary near Setubal, Portugal. Massive wind turbines could end up floating in deep ocean waters off Hawaii's shores under proposals to bring more renewable energy to the islands. Two companies have proposed offshore wind turbine projects for federal waters off Oahu as Hawaii pushes to meet its aggressive renewable energy goals. Hawaii has set a goal for its utilities to use 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2045. (Joshua Weinstein/Principle Power via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT The pleasant, light green foliage of spring was met in Franklin County this week with two bits of good news on the energy front. Oil giant Kinder Morgan formally withdrew its application to the federal government to build a natural gas pipeline through the county, the final nail in the coffin of a proposal that would have cut a swath through protected forests, farms and fields of this historically conservation-conscious region. Around the same time, our state leaders moved closer to a long-term energy policy that encourages not gas pipeline infrastructure that would tie us to petroleum products for decades, but rather requires electric utilities to invest in clean wind and hydro power. Canadian hydropower and offshore wind projects would become more prominent pieces of the states overall energy landscape under a long-awaited bill House lawmakers unveiled Monday. While renewable energy advocates have said the bill does not go far enough, it sure beats a 30-inch diameter pipeline running under the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers. The measure requires utilities to solicit long-term contracts of 15 to 20 years with providers of hydroelectricity and offshore wind a step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and replacing energy that has left or will be leaving the New England energy grid in the coming years, including the scheduled 2019 shutdown of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth. The House bill calls for importing an additional 1,200 megawatts each of Canadian hydro and offshore wind. The wind projects would be limited to federal waters only. Environmental groups had called on lawmakers to include at least 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind. A single megawatt can power up to 1,000 homes. The state Senate is likely to draft its own version of the bill, with yet a different mix of green priorities. The good news is that all three branches of our state government want to grow our green energy portfolio. They may have to work out a compromise on how much hydro and how much wind, but thats far preferable to staying stuck in the fossil fuel age. Even Saudi Arabias young leadership is trying to get out of that game in the long term. Gov. Charlie Bakers proposal does not specifically address offshore wind and calls for procuring twice as much hydro as the House bill. But the governor on Monday, reflecting on the House bill, said he was pleased to see the discussion move forward. So are we, and were sure the same is true for those pipeline foes who are taking a victory lap this week. SHARE Architectural firm receives honor Nichols, Melburg & Rossetto Architects and Engineers was ranked as a California Top Design Firm by Engineering News in 2015. The Redding firm also was named one of the top 300 architecture firms in the United States by Architectural Record. Nichols, Melburg & Rossetto moved up nine places to number 57 in the Engineering News Record (www.enr.com) rankings. The Redding company moved up 33 places to number 172 in the Architectural Record (http://bit.ly/1sguGQ4) rankings. Nichols, Melburg & Rossetto is in its 49th year and has offices in Redding, Chico and Santa Rosa. The company has 28 registered architects. Go to www.nmrdesign.com for more information. Plumas VP joins Women's Forum BJ North, executive vice president of retail banking/commercial lending at Plumas Bank, has been nominated and selected for membership into the International Women's Forum Nevada Chapter. The organization's mission is to improve global leadership and cultivate women leaders. North joined Plumas Bank, which has two branches in Redding, in 2008. She oversees the bank's branch network, commercial loan group and marketing. Prior to joining the bank, North was chief advancement officer for Truckee Meadows Community College. Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-2819 or at david.benda@redding.com. Amber Sandhu/Record Searchlight file photo Voters in Siskiyou County face a decision next month: embrace en masse a half-cent hike to sales tax or likely lose funding for what the county says is a badly needed new jail. The question comes as Sheriff Jon Lopey (above) released crime data showing Siskiyou County saw violent crime shoot up 4 percent and property crime increase by 10 percent. SHARE By Sean Longoria of the Redding Record Searchlight Voters in Siskiyou County face a decision next month: embrace en masse a half-cent hike to sales tax or likely lose funding for what the county says is a badly needed new jail. The question comes as Sheriff Jon Lopey released crime data showing Siskiyou County saw violent crime shoot up 4 percent and property crime increase by 10 percent. The county , excluding Yreka, Mount Shasta and Weed, which all have their own police departments, saw 183 violent crimes in 2015 and 447 property crimes, with increases noted in all types of crime, according to data provided by Lopey. Lopey pointed to familiar woes among he and his contemporaries for the increase continued challenges from the now 5-year-old plan to shift lower-level state prisoners to county supervision and, more recently, the passage of Proposition 47, which reclassified several crimes as misdemeanors. That's left the 107-bed jail nearly full most days with felons and no room for lower-level suspects, officials said. "It is undeniable that jail overcrowding due to factors like (AB 109) and laws like Prop 47 have had unintended consequences on the law enforcement community and other branches of the criminal justice system," Lopey said. "It's still important to hold criminals accountable and the bed space simply does not exist to adequately house habitual criminals creating significant problems in our local communities." Law enforcement in Redding and Shasta County credit the same two factors as contributing to increases in crime for both jurisdictions. Some $27 million of the new jail will be funded by state bonds through Assembly Bill 900, designed to help counties cope with inmates transitioning from state prisons to local jails. But the remaining more than $9 million for the project falls on the county, which has turned to voters to help fund the deficit. The California Board of State and Community Corrections, which awarded the money for the jail, has given the county until September to commit to building the jail or lose the grant money. Supervisors placed the tax on the ballot in January. The county auditor controller estimated the tax would raise as much as $1.9 million per year for the county and that would be used to secure a loan for the project before it hits shoppers in October. Siskiyou County isn't alone in asking its residents to pay extra to bolster public safety. Redding is also seeking a half-cent sales tax to fund public safety and will put the question to voters in November. Anderson passed one in 2014 and the funding increase has contributed to a drop in crime year-over-year, city officials have said. Red Bluff has also passed a public safety sales tax. In those cases, however, the cities sought general sales tax increases, which only need a simple majority of votes to pass. Anderson and Red Bluff voters approved and Redding voters in November will be asked to approve an accompanying advisory measure to push the money toward public safety matters. Supervisor Ed Valenzuela said he and his colleagues approved the higher threshold to dedicate the money to the jail project if passed, the money can't be spent on any other purpose and as a measure of transparency for voters. "I think it's a better sales pitch to the public," Valenzuela said. Fellow Supervisor Michael Kobseff said the sales tax also will be paid by those passing through the county, either en route to elsewhere or on vacation. Siskiyou County isn't a tax-friendly place but support for the increase even among die-hard tax opponents is strong, said Kobseff, whose district includes the central county area surrounding Interstate 5. "When they understand the dilemma the county is in a lot of these people are out advocating for Measure S," he said. Hung Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight University Preparatory School graduate Jessica Leach receives a hug from friend Zach Jackson in front of the school before Friday evening's commencement ceremony in the David Marr Auditorium. University Preparatory School's graduating class celebrated its commencement in Redding on Friday night. The class this year had 102 students, 96 percent of whom are going to college, said Principal Shelle Peterson. Of those, one is going to the University of Southern California, two are going to Stanford, two are going to University of California at Berkeley and one will attend University of the Pacific. Another is going to Franklin University in Switzerland, Peterson said. Several other students are going on to either trade school or the military, she said, including two students who are joining the U.S. Air Force and one joining the Navy. The Class of 2016 had two McConnell Foundation Scholarship recipients with each getting $30,000 for college. Rather than one valedictorian, there were six co-valedictorians: Erick Blankenberg, Karlyn Chin, Beau Forest, Melia Matthews, Addison Morris and Grace Van Kirk. In addition to Forest, students Erin Berglund and Samuel Chimenti also spoke at Friday's ceremony. Record Searchlight file photo Quentin Bealer, right, is shown with defense attorney Shon Northam during an earlier Superior Court appearance in Tehama County. SHARE Marysa Nichols By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight As the Sacramento trial of a Red Bluff man accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl draws near, the jury is taking a four-day break for the Memorial Day holiday. With jurors taking Friday off in the trial of 42-year-old Quentin Bealer, they won't be returning to Sacramento County Superior Court until Tuesday as the trial resumes. Bealer's murder trial, which began in late April and was moved to Sacramento due to extensive pre-trial publicity, has seen a lot of witnesses, so far. Among them included a forensic entomologist for the defense who testified in the murder trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman acquitted in 2011 of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. But the trial also has seen Bealer take the witness stand in his own defense. Although his story has changed over time, Bealer steadfastly maintains his innocence in the 2013 strangulation death of Marysa Nichols of Red Bluff. The teen's body was found Feb. 28, 2013, lying facedown in a creek bed between the high school where she was a freshman and Bidwell Elementary School, her yellow tank top tied tightly around her neck and her right breast exposed. Bealer's DNA was found on the shirt, a state Department of Justice criminalist has testified. Although prosecutors maintain Bealer killed the teenager, defense attorney Shon Northam, a former Tehama County deputy district attorney, is trying to poke holes in their case. Northam, who has said law enforcement conducted a poor investigation of the case and did not follow up on a number of leads, is trying to show that Bealer's DNA found on the girl came from a cigarette he had given her. Earlier this week, a defense witness and DNA expert also reportedly testified that a small amount of DNA found on the back of the teenager's right ear doesn't match Bealer or the girl. But he could not say to whom it belongs. Bealer, who has admitted to being a drug addict, was arrested March 2, 2013, after he turned himself into police following the release of a surveillance video that showed a man matching Bealer's description outside the high school. Bealer told police he was the man in the video surveillance, but that he had nothing to do with the teenager's death. Jim Schultz/Record Searchlight Branden Matthew Gagnon speaks with his defense attorney Friday before being sentenced to 11 years in prison. SHARE By Jim Schultz of the Redding Record Searchlight A Redding man was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison after being convicted last month of a series of domestic violence-related charges, including choking a woman with a wire until she was unconscious. "This easily could have been a homicide case," said Shasta County Superior Court Judge Stephen Baker before sentencing Branden Matthew Gagnon to prison. Gagnon, 29, was convicted by a Shasta County jury in April of six felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, false imprisonment by violence and corporal injury. The jury also found true an allegation that Gagnon personally inflicted great bodily injury in the commission of domestic violence. "He's a monster," his victim, who is not being named by the Record Searchlight, said before sentencing. "The (prison) years that are given (to him) aren't enough for what he's done to me. This man has ruined my life forever." Shasta County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ben Hanna urged Baker to impose a maximum 14-year sentence, saying Gagnon nearly killed the woman and repeatedly abused her. "Often times, we don't hear about this level of violence until it's too late," he said. Redding defense attorney Michael Borges, who represented Gagnon, urged an eight-year prison sentence before Baker imposed the 11-year term. Police and prosecutors have said Gagnon and the woman argued Jan. 21, 2013, outside a home off Highway 273 and that Gagnon knocked her to the ground and dragged her into the home. Inside, Hanna said, Gagnon choked her with a wire, rendering her unconscious and nearly killing her. Gagnon then called 911 to report that he had found the victim hanging in the house from the wire in what he said was an alleged suicide attempt. In addition to that incident, Gagnon also threatened and assaulted her with a knife earlier that same month while a young child was in the home. According to an investigator with the Shasta County District Attorney's Office, the relationship between Gagnon and the woman was one of extreme abuse for many years. But that violence escalated to a point on Jan. 21, 2013, when the woman was admitted to Mercy Medical Center in a comatose state after she was allegedly beaten and choked into unconsciousness by Gagnon. She eventually regained consciousness after she had been placed on life-support in a medically induced coma. Due to the violent nature of his crimes, Gagnon will be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. SHARE By Amber Sandhu of the Redding Record Searchlight After a group of University of Oregon students trashed Lake Shasta last weekend, a university fraternity student believes he's found a way to help make things right. About 90 tents and trash were found abandoned at Slaughterhouse Island Campground last weekend, according to the U.S. Forest Service, which ended up cleaning the mess that included empty liquor bottles, bags of food, plastic furniture and human excrement. "We were all disappointed. It's hard to see something like that," said Caleb Couturie, 19, a University of Oregon student and president of Alpha Sigma Phi. "We know we made a mistake, but we want to fix it." Couturie's fraternity was not at the campground last weekend, he said. But feeling a sense of collective responsibility, he wanted to do something for Shasta County. He brainstormed with members of his fraternity and decided the best way to give back would be through something that benefited youths. He called around a few places and got in touch with Shasta Family YMCA, where he learned about its summer project to send foster kids and children who live in single-room motels to Camp McCumber in July. To fund this, the YMCA just scored a $6,000 grant, but it needs to equally match another $6,000 to send 40 children at a low cost or free of charge. Kristen Lyons, executive director of Shasta YMCA, said community support for the camp fundraising has been great so far, and they've raised $3,000 already. Lyons said if more money is raised, they'll be able to send more kids to camp, since McCumber has the capacity. So when Couturie called asking how he could help, it all fell into place. "We were thrilled. It seemed like the perfect partnership," Lyons said. "They saw a need, and it shows that they definitely care." Couturie was sent a list of supplies that included sleeping bags, water bottles, bug spray, flip flops, youth-sized bathing suits, sunscreen, flashlights, to name a few items that help kids at camp. Couturie said he's going to distribute the list, and depending on how people want to donate, he'll start taking in money and supply donations, and then either he or other members of his fraternity will drive down to personally deliver the items. "It's great to see students coming together for one common goal," Couturie said. In addition to Couturie's outreach, the University of Oregon released a statement on its website Friday afternoon, apologizing for the Lake Shasta incident. Lambda Chi Alpha Zeta Omicron Zeta has accepted responsibility for the incident and members are planning to travel on Memorial Day weekend to help clean up Lake Shasta. They have other plans they hope to establish as well, such as partnering with the Shasta-Trinity National Forest through their volunteer program to raise money for cleanups, trail repairs and community education. They will also partner with an environmental organization to do outreach with the university and fraternities to increase awareness about conservation efforts, and will continue to work with the U.S. Forest Service and the university in the ongoing investigation. SHARE First, let's get the outrage out of our system. How dare those disrespectful brats, apparently mostly from the University of Oregon, stagger off back to school cradling their throbbing heads without cleaning up the disgusting mess they made of Slaughterhouse Island on Lake Shasta. The U.S. Forest Service reckons it cost about $10,000 to clean up the hazmat scene that was left behind by this edition of Animal House: The Great Outdoors. Congratulations, kids. You've humiliated yourselves, your Greek community, your university and (most importantly) your moms. Surely, surely they taught you better. Don't ever do that again. OK. Now that we've got that straight, a few words for our friends and neighbors here in Shasta County who are justifiably outraged. This is what it is no more, no less. It is a large group of students, but they represent a teensy fraction of the total at U of O, and a fraction even of the total Greek organization membership there. The university in 2015 counted more than 24,000 enrolled and 3,677 "involved in Fraternity and Sorority Life." The trash, tents and body fluids left behind at Lake Shasta are not evidence that the university is turning out extraordinarily lousy human beings, nor are they proof that the next generation is truly going to Ruin America and Everything It Once Stood For. Ever since the Greatest Generation saved this country for us in World War II, their children have had the time, resources and luxury of partying like there's no tomorrow until tomorrow comes, the kids are born, the mortgage comes due and they join the PTA or start running a company. Woodstock, anyone? Altamont? Palm Springs in the 1980s? Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s? This is not some new phenomenon. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously. We should never tolerate the disrespect that was shown at Slaughterhouse Island. And while we need Lake Shasta to continue to be a destination for all kinds of folks looking to let their hair down in the warm weather, we don't need it to get this particular reputation. We just should keep it in perspective. We appreciate the apologies by the university and the fraternity whose tell-tale ice cooler was left behind. One fraternity last week reached out to the Shasta Family YMCA to show their good will in a tangible way by helping send local foster kids to summer camp. If they want to help our community as a sign of contrition, we'll take it. And we'll take our northern neighbors at their word that this was, ahem, a learning experience. We expect better, but we appreciate the business. So let's keep it clean, and keep 'em coming. In one of the biggest catches in recent months, a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant Tariq Pandit, a close aide of the terror groups poster boy Burhan Wani, was on Saturday arrested after he surrendered to police in Pulwama. Considered as a category A militant, Pandit figured prominently with Burhan in various pictures and videos that were posted by the terror group last year. Pandit carried a cash reward of Rs three lakh for information leading to his arrest. There were conflicting reports as senior police officials of Pulwama district in south Kashmir said that Pandit had surrendered but the army maintained that he had been apprehended. A senior police official said that he was put under arrest after he surrendered to the army unit in Pulwama. A defence spokesman issued a statement saying that a major blow had been dealt to the banned Hizbul Mujahideen with the arrest of Pandit in a well coordinated swift operation on Saturday on Newa-Pinglana road in the district. He said based on specific intelligence input regarding the movement of a Hizb militant near Karimabad, a joint mobile vehicle check post was established by army and police in the morning hours. The movement of the terrorist was kept under constant surveillance. As the terrorist closed in, he was apprehended by the team of Rashtriya Rifle battalion, along with one 9 mm pistol, two Chinese grenades and other war like stores were recovered from him, the spokesman said. He said the militant was involved in many terror-related incidents in the district. However, police officials said that Pandit had joined the terror group along with his cousin Naseer Pandit, a cop-turned-terrorist, early last year. After Naseer was gunned down by army in Shopian during an encounter in April this year, Pandit started sending feelers to the authorities for surrender, the officials said. An FIR has been registered and the apprehended terrorist has been handed over to the local police station, Pulwama, the defence spokesman added. He was among the 11 Hizb militants who, defying the convention, posted their photographs on social media networks. Pandit was a self-styled area commander and is a very important catch. His interrogation should definitely lead us to the Hizb Mujahideen network in south Kashmir, the officials said. The Hizbul group, led by Burhan, continues to give worries to the security agencies as the officials feel the militants bravado of hogging the limelight on social networking sites was to attract more youths to join militant ranks. Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters and protestors clashed outside an election rally of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego as police in riot gear and wielding batons arrested 35 people in the second scuffle in three days to hit his campaign. People from both sides screamed at each other and threw water bottles, as the police tried to control the situation, firing pepper-balls. IMAGE: Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators clash outside a campaign event for US presidential candidate Donald Trump in San Diego, California. Photograph: Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters The clash between pro and anti-Trump groups occurred after the Republican leader ended his speech in San Diego in the western California state on Friday, with several people throwing stones and plastic bottles, some that hit police officers. Police were deployed in riot gear as the billionaire from New York addressed a massive rally at a convention centre. After issuing orders to the crowd of roughly 1,000 to disperse, police began forcefully and aggressively pushing protesters -- who were waving Mexican flags and holding anti-Trump signs -- checking them with their batons. Some protestors also scaled barriers, according to reports. At least 35 people were arrested, police said, adding that no property damage was reported and no injuries were reported. "Crowd behaviour has become unlawful. An unlawful assembly has now been declared. It is illegal to remain in the area," the San Diego Police said in a situational update, adding its forces would be deployed till late in the night. Later, Trump appreciated the police for handling the "thugs". "@SanDiegoPD- Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. Greatly appreciated!" he tweeted. At his rally, Trump also responded to US President Barack Obama's comments a day ago that world leaders are rattled by his campaign rhetoric and assured his supporters that he would get along well with foreign leaders. IMAGE: Supporters of Donald Trump shout at anti-Trump demonstrators outside a campaign event. Photograph: David McNew/Reuters "I happen to be a nice person, folks. I'll get along great. I will get along so great with these countries. I will get along so great," Trump told thousands of his supporters. "He (Obama) said today that our trading partners and countries that we have relationship with, they're rattled. I said, "Yay, oh, that's so good," Trump said. Someone grabbed a man's "Make America Great Again" hat and burned it, according to San Diego Tribune. Officers in helmets, masks, pads and with long wooden batons massed in lines, then moved slowly toward the unruly protesters. By evening, police had managed to move and disperse the crowd, and few were left, the daily reported. Trump was in the city near the Mexican border to hold a rally ahead of the 7 June California primary and in his San Diego rally pledged to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants. This is the second anti-Trump protest in three days. His rally in New Mexico on Tuesday turned violent as protesters toppled barricades and threw rocks, burning T-shirts and plastic bottles at police officers, injuring several people. IMAGE: Police advance down the street and trolly tracks to force demonstrators away after a campaign event. Photograph: David McNew/Reuters Earlier in Fresno, Trump denied that there was a major drought affecting the state, saying instead that when he becomes president he will "start opening up the water". "Great rally in Fresno, California- great crowd! Thank you!" he said in another tweet. At the San Diego rally, Trump said the US under his presidency would start winning again. "Every single country no matter what -- name a country -- we lose. We don't win anymore. We're going to start winning. We're going to win with trade. We're going to win with our military. We're going to start winning again," he said amidst applause. Trump alleged that the countries like Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, who are being protected by the US are not paying money. "Then you look at the NATO countries -- 28 total, many of them aren't living up to their obligations," he said. "They have been abusing us. They have been abusing us. This isn't 40 years ago when we could have done whatever we want." IMAGE: Anti-Trump demonstrators burn Donald Trump's campaign items outside a campaign event. Photograph: David McNew/Reuters Continuing with his criticism of Hillary Clinton, Trump said the Democratic presidential frontrunner and former secretary of state is a "very boring" speaker. "I watched Hillary Clinton last night, which was hard to do because she's a very boring speaker," he said. "I will not say because it's not politically correct and it's not a nice thing to say, so I will not say that she shouts into the microphone and it drives everybody crazy. So I won't say that. "But I found it very hard to watch. And then she lies. Now, you know, I called somebody a liar, but I don't say that anymore because that person is now in the past. I say that person is in the past. And with Hillary, we say "Crooked Hillary," he said. IMAGE: Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses a rally in San Diego, California. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters "But I've got to add another word because I never saw anything like this last night. She was saying that "I want Japan to arm with nuclear weapons." I never said that. She was saying, "I love the dictator in North Korea." I don't love the dictator -- bad guy, OK? Bad guy. "She was saying all sorts of things so bad, and so false, total lies. And we're not going to let her get away with it. We're not going to let her get away," Trump asserted. "Take a look at what's going on with our military that we love. We can't beat ISIS. We're going to beat Islamic State. We're going to beat them quickly. We're going to knock the hell out of them. We shouldn't have been there in the first place, but we're going to knock the hell out of them. And we have to rebuild our country," he said. Halloween events, fall festivals pack October in Abilene, Big Country From family-friendly to frightful, there are plenty of opportunities to don the costumes and scare up some treats. The service would be familiar to any Episcopalian. Eucharistic Prayer A, the Prayers of the People, the confession, all came from the same Book of Common Prayer used in Episcopal churches. But this service differed in a few ways. 'We're not a church,' said Bryan Stewart, the priest leading the service. 'We're just a community of worshippers.' That might be a fine point to some, but to the approximately 20 people gathered in Carleton Chapel on the campus of McMurry University Sunday evening, there is a huge difference between the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Abilene Anglican Fellowship, which meets monthly at McMurry. An ad that ran in Sunday's Reporter-News gives a hint: 'Looking for traditional biblical Anglican worship?' the ad asked. The words 'traditional biblical' are the key. The Episcopal Church in the United States is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, is the spiritual leader of the communion. Michael Curry is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Abilene is home to two Episcopal churches, Heavenly Rest and St. Mark's. The local churches are members of the Diocese of Northwest Texas, with Scott Mayer as bishop. The Abilene Anglican Fellowship is affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America, made up offormer Episcopalians who split from the church over issues of human sexuality and, in some cases, the ordination of women to the priesthood. They believe their views are 'traditional biblical.' Some of the worshippers at Sunday's service are struggling with their decision to leave an Episcopal parish for the Anglican Church in North America. 'It's a very wrenching thing,' said Gerry Cates, who attended Sunday's service with his wife, Carol. They were members of Matthews Presbyterian Church in Albany before moving to Abilene in 2010. They have been visiting Heavenly Rest since then and went through the church's confirmation class. But a decision made at the Episcopal Church's general convention held last summer in Salt Lake City didn't sit well, and they decided to make the move to the Anglican Church in North America. Delegates to the Episcopal convention last summer approved a marriage equality resolution allowing same-sex couples to be married in an Episcopal church if the local priest is willing. The passage of the resolution came days after the June 26, 2015, ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage for all Americans. For some, like Mark McCarty, that was the last straw. McCarty was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest for 60 years before deciding to leave over the same-sex marriage issue. To him, it is a matter of biblical interpretation. He says no one has been able to show him a Bible passage that OKs same-sex marriage. He prefers the 'traditional biblical Anglican worship' referred to in the newspaper ad. Deciding to leave Heavenly Rest was painful, McCarty said. He will miss the beauty of the building itself, the bell tower, the music and grandeur of the service. But, McCarty said, he believes staying at Heavenly Rest for those reasons, when he opposes the Episcopal Church's theology, would be wrong. 'That's idolatry,' he said. 'That's building worship.' Sunday's Abilene Anglican Fellowship service drew more people than usual, possibly because of the ad in the newspaper, with 10 to 12 normally attending, said Stewart, the priest in charge. Stewart is a religion professor at McMurry and got permission from the university to hold the monthly worship service in the chapel, located in the campus center. Stewart has a master of divinity degree from Covenant Theological Seminary and a doctorate from the University of Virginia. He was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in North America by Jack Iker, bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth. That diocese split from the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth in 2008. Scott Mayer, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas, is serving as provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, while Iker is bishop of the diocese that is affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America. Stewart also is associate rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Breckenridge, which left the Episcopal Church in the United States to affiliate with the Anglican Church in North America. Stewart grew up as a Presbyterian but moved to the Episcopal Church in the United States because of the church's rich liturgical tradition. Stewart teaches courses at McMurry on the beliefs and practices of early Christians and found a spiritual home in the Book of Common Prayer, which is used in both the Episcopal Church in the United States and in the Anglican Church in North America. 'It was a connection with something ancient and historic,' Stewart said. Like others who left the Episcopal Church for the Anglican Church in North America, Stewart cites the same-sex marriage ruling. Stewart is married and the father of three children. He said he and his wife grew increasingly uncomfortable with the Episcopal Church's teachings. 'We just did not feel that was a historic experience of the Christian faith,' he said. Stewart was ordained in the Anglican Diocese of Fort Worth, led by Iker, a bishop who does not believe in the ordination of women to the priesthood, despite the Episcopal Church's former presiding bishop being a woman. Stewart isn't as adamant about that issue as the same-sex marriage resolution. 'For now,' he said, 'I trust my bishop's leading on that.' The Abilene Anglican Fellowship will not meet again until August due to Stewart's summer schedule. A notice of the fall schedule will be posted on the fellowship's Facebook page in August. When services reconvene just before college classes start up again, Stewart is hopeful that the same worshippers, and new ones, will show up. The worship service may be especially attractive to people who have left the Episcopal Church, but Stewart invites anyone who is interested. 'We're happy to have whoever wants to come,' he said. NOLAN-DIVIDE The annual Memorial Day Service will be held Sunday at the Nolan-Divide Community Center. Service will begin at 11 a.m. with a short business meeting and special program. Flower sprays will be presented to families of those who have passed away and were buried in the community since last Memorial Day. After the program there will be a catered lunch $12 for adults, $6 for children 12 and under. The price includes drink and dessert. BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH ERICKSDAHL Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church will host its annual Memorial Day Weekend service at 6 p.m. Sunday. The services will be held in the cemetery located on the church grounds in Ericksdahl. This annual memorial serves to honor those who have lost their lives in military service. The memorial also recognizes, by roll call, those Armed Services Members interned at Bethel. Guest speaker for the memorial will be Carol Cain, Associate Director of the National WASP Museum. The National WASP World War II Museum seeks to educate and inspire all generations with the story of the WASP: Women Airforce Service Pilots-the first women to fly American military aircraft-women who forever changed the role of women in aviation. Following the service, sandwiches will be served in the church basement. Everyone is invited to attend. The address for the church is 10625 FM 600 N, Avoca. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL INFORMATION WANTED Information about churches' Vacation Bible School for the summer can be included in this column. Please send information on the theme, time, date, church address, ages involved, and contact number, to woodwardj@reporternews.com or fax to 325-670-5242. Send news of your religious organization or group to Religion Editor, Abilene Reporter-News, P.O. Box 30, Abilene, Texas 79604; fax it to 325-670-5242; or email it to jan.woodward@reporternews.com. Deadline is noon Monday. CLYDE The Clyde Volunteer Fire Department recently purchased new rescue equipment with a $8,493 grant through Texas A&M Forest Service's Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program. Among the new equipment purchased through the cost-share program were vehicle stabilization and rescue struts. 'These rescue and stabilization tools are new additions and we will use them along with our Jaws of Life,' Clyde VFD Chief Billy Dezern said. 'The tools are more advanced and very beneficial in helping us stabilize a vehicle while we are doing extrications. This new technology makes the process safer for the Volunteer Firefighter as well as for the victim.' Dezern strives to keep safety at the forefront in the department. 'I have been with the department for 38 years and a lot of things have changed, but any improvement that increases the safety of our department and the public should always be a priority,' Dezern said. Texas A&M Forest Service is committed to protecting lives and property through the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program, a cost-share program funded by the Texas State Legislature and administered by Texas A&M Forest Service. This program provides funding to rural VFDs for the acquisition of firefighting vehicles, fire and rescue equipment, protective clothing, dry-hydrants, computer systems and firefighter training. The Taylor County District Attorney's Office on Friday charged a 36-year-old man with murder in the shooting death of a 27-year-old woman last week, the Abilene Police Department announced. Charles Newman remains in the Taylor County jail on other charges. His bond for the murder warrant was set at $500,000. Police arrested Newman on May 19 on suspicion he used the identity of Kendra Keppler, the dead woman, to obtain money from her bank account. He was charged with fraudulent possession of identifying information, a third-degree felony, for which bail was set at $10,000. He had also violated his parole. Police found Keppler's body in a residence in the 3900 block of Whittier Street on May 18. Her body was decomposing and appeared to have been there for several days, according to a police affidavit. In a statement to police, Newman's wife allegedly said her husband told her that he shot someone in the head, according to an affidavit filed by an Abilene police detective. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Newman's clothing to determine if there is physical evidence that proves he was present at the time of the homicide. After finding Newman in possession of Keppler's vehicle, police questioned him and he admitted to taking her vehicle as well as entering Keppler's home on the afternoon of May 18 and seeing her corpse, the affidavit states. He did not call police to report the death, as required by law. We live in an age of an information explosion, the keynote speaker for Premier High School's graduation ceremony said Friday night, but that doesn't necessarily mean people are smart. 'No matter how much information you have, there's still a shortage of wisdom,' said George Price, superintendent of the Abilene District of the Northwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. The program for the ceremony listed 67 graduates of Abilene's only charter high school. State Rep. Susan King was the scheduled speaker but was replaced by Price. No reason was given for the substitution. Other speakers for the ceremony, held at Highland Church of Christ, included valedictorian Joseph Chacon and salutatorian Vanessa Guerrero. Guerrero thanked parents, the faculty, and staff of Premier High School for making graduation a reality. 'All of you have encouraged us through all the years,' she said. Guerrero urged her fellow students to be proud of their accomplishments, but not to be content with where they are now. 'We've just got to keep going forward,' she said. Chacon received a scholarship from the Texas Education Agency for his high academic ranking. In his valedictory address, Chacon said the only way to find true happiness is to follow the words of Jesus: 'Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself.' The keynote speaker, Price, served as pastor at numerous churches in the Northwest Texas Conference before becoming superintendent. He chose the Old Testament book of Proverbs for his message about wisdom. Most of the time, Price said, people have a certain image in mind when they think of heroes. 'We usually try to model upward,' he said. But Agur, the author of Proverbs Chapter 30, verses 24-28, saw it differently. He advised that there are four things that are small in size but that are exceedingly wise the ant, the coney (a rodent-like creature that lives in rocks), the locust and the lizard. Ants are wise enough to 'know what time it is' and begin storing food in the summer for the coming winter. Coneys 'know where safety lies' and blend into the rocks so they are disguised. Locusts have no leader, but by banding together they are powerful enough to devour a field in seconds. Lizards are small enough to be caught by hand, but they are clever enough to make their way into a king's palace. Just like those creatures, wise humans will know what time it is in their lives, they will know their safety lies with others and in God, they will work together, and, like the lizard, they will do something unexpected with their life. Price congratulated the graduates but encouraged them to see Friday's ceremony as a beginning. 'May it only be a precursor,' he said, 'to many special moments henceforth.' Plenty of opportunities exist this Memorial Day weekend to honor the military men and women who died serving their country. Chief among them, perhaps, are ceremonies planned at Abilene's Texas State Veterans Cemetery, 7457 West Lake Road, on Monday, with an accompanying flag-laying on Sunday. Roy Dixon, himself a veteran and a volunteer at the cemetery, said the latter event is always well-attended. 'We have droves of volunteers that come out on Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. and put flags on every grave,' he said. 'All they need to do is drive up, and we will have a crew that shows them where to park. It gets crowded pretty quick.' Cemetery director Alecia Linahan said that family members of individuals buried in the cemetery are invited to place flags on relatives' graves first, then volunteers from Dyess Air Force Base and the general public help put flags on the remaining graves. 'Abilene is very rich in volunteers,' Linahan said. 'We put a flag on each grave to honor those who defended our country.' On Monday, ceremonies at the Veterans Cemetery kick off around 10:50 a.m., with the Abilene Community Band playing, followed by welcoming comments around 10:55 a.m. The main part of the ceremony kicks off at 11 a.m., Linahan said, with much pomp. 'There will be a presentation of colors by the Dyess Honor Guard, and the Voices of Dyess will sing the national anthem,' she said. A flyover by the Commemorative Air Force, and words by guest speaker Col. Michael Bob Starr are planned. Families of veterans and honored guests will be recognized, and the whole ceremony will wrap up with the playing of Taps, a gun salute, and the retiring of colors. Memorial Day ceremonies will also be offered at 9 a.m. at Elmwood Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 5750 U.S. Highway 277 South. The event will include food, music, an honor guard, and Col. David M. Benson, Dyess Air Force Base's 7th Bomb Wing Commander. Dixon said Memorial Day was 'wonderful' to time to honor 'those who have gone on before us, especially those who died in service to their country.' Linahan agreed, saying that honoring veterans is vital, even for those who have never had a relative who served. In her experience, many people now fail to properly honor the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. 'So many of our young people look at Memorial Day as a time to go to the lake and barbecue,' she said. 'I think we've lost that just a little bit, passing that (legacy) down to our families.' Monday's ceremony, in particular, may be something many have never seen, Linahan said. 'I think it's very important for families to come out, see the graves, walk through here, and see the flags and hear Taps,' she said. 'There are a lot of people today, I'm sure, who have not seen honors conducted. It's a very patriotic day, and I think it's good for everyone to come out.' Today in history: On May 28, 1998, comedian/actor Phil Hartman, best known for his skits on 'Saturday Night Live,' is shot to death by his wife, Brynn, in their L.A. home. She also kills herself. Born in Canada, Hartman, 49, started by designing album covers and did the logo for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He got into improv and later created the character of Pee-Wee Herman. In 1986, he joined SNL and had a record 153 appearances on the show, winning an Emmy in 1989 for writing. J. E. James, Stamford Some readers may have missed the news that a federal judge, in a lawsuit filed by the House of Representatives, has ruled the Obama administration's payment of insurance subsidies under Obamacare is unconstitutional. The Affordable Care Act provides that when insurance companies sell policies at a discount to low income people, the government will make up the loss incurred. The trouble began when the administration requested funding from Congress to pay the bill none was forthcoming. Obama's minions then took the novel position that since Congress had authorized the concept of the program, they really didn't have to appropriate the money. The administration could spend whatever it thought necessary. We are not talking chump change here. The cost estimate for the next 10 years is around $1 trillion. The judge noted tartly that the Constitution says: 'No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.' You might think a Harvard law school graduate could read and understand that provision. You would be wrong. The judge stayed her order giving the Justice Department time to appeal. A White House spokesman says the president is confident of prevailing on appeal. Why so confident when it looks like an open-and-shut case against them? It's because many of the judges that sit on the D.C. Court of Appeals are Democrats, and apparently Obama believes they won't care what the Constitution says, either. Personally, I think helping poor people get health insurance is not a bad idea. Trampling the Constitution to accomplish that end is appalling and should offend every American who values the foundations of our government. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below This just in... German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has suggested that the European Union might gradually reduce sanctions if Moscow takes steps to fulfill its obligations under a peace accord with Ukraine. "I hope that by the end of June there will be progress and then we can see if we can reduce the sanctions step by step, or if we stay with the measures we have right now," Steinmeier told reporters on a visit to Tallinn on May 27. "If there is no progress, an evaluation will also be necessary," he said. "It is not our aim to maintain the sanctions but to resolve the conflict." Steinmeier has previously said that resistance to the sanctions is growing within the EU, so finding unanimous agreement among all 28 EU members before the sanctions expire next month will be difficult without compromise. His willingness to consider providing some sanctions relief to Moscow contrasts with statements this week by British Prime Minister David Cameron and EU President Donald Tusk that they expect the sanctions to be extended without change. The Group of Seven economic powers, which includes Germany, also called for extending the sanctions on May 27. Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax The fight against extremists from the Islamic State (IS) militant group is heating up on two fronts. Since May 23, a coalition consisting of the Iraqi army and primarily Shi'ite militias, backed by U.S. air strikes, has advanced towards Fallujah, 40 kilometers west of Baghdad. There are estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians remain in the city, and some residents told USA Today that IS fighters are using them as human shields. "The Islamic State began moving families living in the outskirts to the center," resident Salem al Halbusi said by telephone. "They are locking some families down inside the hospital building," added al Halbusi, who did not want other information about him disclosed to protect his safety. The civilian populace could slow Fallujah's liberators down, but those who have successfully fled the city told Reuters that the trapped population could starve before Islamic State is defeated, or be killed while they are trying to flee. Either way, all eyes will be on the coalition that the United States has helped build. As David Patrikarakos wrote earlier this week for RFE/RL, even if the IS militants are defeated quickly in Fallujah, there is a risk that sectarian tension could be inflamed further in the process. Defeating IS militarily is just the first step toward healing Iraq's and Syria's sectarian wounds and ensuring that another, similar group does not emerge. A similar pattern is playing out in the battle for Raqqa in northeastern Syria, the capital city for the self-declared Islamic State. As Wladimir van Wilgenburg explained earlier this month, efforts to defeat IS on the Syrian side of the border are being led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that includes both Arab and Kurdish fighters. But while the SDF is diverse -- and becoming more so -- it is still dominated and led by the People's Protection Units (YPG), the fighting branch of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is closely associated with Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Escalation In Turkey The problem with this is that the PKK -- which is designated as a terrorist organization by both the United States and Turkey -- is effectively at war with Turkey, a NATO ally and a major stakeholder in the outcome of the war in Syria. In April, U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby told the press corps that "YPG's not a designated foreign terrorist organization. PKK is. Nothing's changed about that." Crucially, however, Turkey does not see a distinction between the PKK and the YPG. Neither do several experts whom RFE/RL consulted in researching this article. One source in territory controlled by the Kurds, who wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns, told RFE/RL that there is no doubt that the YPG reports directly to the PKK's guerrilla leadership. A report by The Atlantic Council's Aaron Stein and Michelle Foley has established the link between the YPG and PKK, and Kurdish fighters have also confessed that the two are part of the same organization. That report suggests that Turkey was willing to tolerate the YPG as long as IS and the Kurdish group were fighting each other, but that tolerance has reached its end as the fighting between Turkey and the Kurds has heated up. U.S. soldiers are supporting the YPG on the ground in Syria. Photos taken this week by an AFP photographer show U.S. Special Forces soldiers operating alongside Kurdish fighters near the front lines in Raqqa Province. Some of those soldiers are wearing patches of the YPG and their all-female battle unit the YPJ -- patches that, as Syrian expert Michael Weiss points out, are derived from the PKK's flag. On May 27, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists that "wearing an insignia of a terrorist organization by U.S. soldiers, who are our ally and are assertive about fighting against terrorism, is unacceptable. Our suggestion to them is that they should also wear Daesh [IS], al-Nusra, and al-Qaeda insignias during their operations in other regions of Syria. They can also wear the Boko Haram insignia when they go to Africa. Hours later, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led coalition against IS, announced that the soldiers had been instructed to stop wearing the patches, a reversal from statements made by the military just the day before. Fighting between the PKK and Turkey has escalated in recent weeks. On May 13, a PKK fighter shot down a Turkish AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter with a Russian-made shoulder-fired SA-18 missile. Experts at The Aviationist and in Turkey said this was the first time the PKK has successfully used an antiaircraft weapon against a Turkish aircraft. While the source operating in Kurdistan told RFE/RL that the PKK have had such weapons for some time, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War suggested that, while the weapon could have come from Syria or Iraq, "more likely that the PKK acquired the weapon from an external actor." A likely candidate for supplying the weapon is Russia, which has seen its relationship with the Turkish government disintegrate since the Russian air campaign in Syria began last September. Tensions rose when the Turkish air force shot down a Russian jet in November following several warnings from Turkey that Russian jets were violating its airspace. The idea that Russia -- or its allies in Syria and Iran -- could be arming the PKK has been amplified through the Turkish press. The Anadolu Agency has reported that, according to its sources, such efforts began sometime in December after the Russian jet was shot down. Regardless of whether this is true, such accusations could fuel a proxy war between Turkey and Russia, which could further inflame the region. Pyrrhic Victory? But which side of that proxy war does the United States take if its main allies in the fight against IS in Syria are the very fighters that Turkey says are waging war against them across the border? In February, there were heavy clashes between YPG fighters in northwestern Syria and multiple rebel groups, which had been backed and trained by the CIA and Turkey. One now-infamous video showed a rebel group, Liwa' Suqour al-Jabal (The Mountain Hawks Brigade), firing a U.S.-made TOW antitank missile into a YPG tank in the town of Azaz. This led some analysts to conclude that the United States was "in a proxy war with itself" in Syria since it supports some Syrian rebel groups and, via the SDF at least, the Kurdish YPG. This has two potentially dangerous consequences. The first is that Turkey is a NATO ally that is already under immense pressure. Turkey has signaled that it feels abandoned, or even betrayed, by U.S. policy in Syria, a sentiment which could weaken the NATO alliance. But Turkey is also a Sunni state, and the Sunnis already feel that they have been the victims of U.S. policy in Iraq and Syria. Both of the major offensives against IS, in Syria and in Iraq, could further exacerbate this dynamic. The sectarian tension between groups that the U.S. currently backs -- whether it's the Shi'ite/Sunni tensions in Iraq or the Kurdish/Sunni tensions in Syria -- should not be easily dismissed. One should remember that it was sectarian tension in both Iraq and Syria which gave rise to Islamist extremism and sectarian violence there, and the Islamic State militant group is just the newest and most radical incarnation of that tension. Victory over Islamic State is important, but if it weakens the NATO alliance or sets the stage for future sectarian conflicts, it could only be a Pyrrhic victory. The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shi'ites called on Iraqi forces battling to retake the city of Fallujah from Islamic State militants to protect civilians trapped there. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that "saving innocent people from harm's way is the most important thing, even more so than targeting the enemy." His comments were delivered at Friday prayers on May 27 by his representative Ahmed al-Safi in the holy city of Karbala. Rights groups have expressed concern about the tens of thousands of civilians estimated to still be in Fallujah, which has been in IS hands for more than two years. IS has prevented the civilians who remain there from escaping the city, which has been under heavy bombardment from Iraqi and coalition forces since they launched an offensive to retake it on May 23. Since December, IS has cut off routes out of the city, according to the United Nations, creating a shortage of food and medicines and forcing families to use unsafe water sources. Based on reporting by AP and dpa The Ukrainian military says that fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatists has intensified in eastern Ukraine. Senior government official Andriy Lysenko said on May 28 that one soldier had been killed in recent fighting. Russia-backed fighters have accused the army of carrying out dozens of attacks in recent days as both sides charge each other with not observing a ceasefire. The uptick in violence saw a patrol from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission shot at in the Donetsk region on May 27. The mission's chief monitor, Ertugrul Apakan, condemned the attack, in which nobody was injured. Amid the increased violence, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for greater foreign assistance and has appointed former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his adviser. Rasmussen said on May 28 on Facebook that he will do his utmost to promote security, economic reforms, and stronger EU ties in his new capacity. Poroshenko has not specified on what issues Rasmussen will be advising. Rasmussen described the security situation in eastern Ukraine as alarming. He also said Ukraine must fight corruption and implement reforms. Russian Duma member Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax that Rasmussens appointment was a hostile gesture toward Russia. It shows that Ukraine has chosen the West and NATO as the vector of its drifting movement, he said, describing Ukraine as a beachhead against Russia that will be used sooner or later. Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Councils International Relations Committee, said on Facebook that Rasmussens appointment, like many other Ukrainian moves, is for show because Ukraine badly needsattention from the outside. With reporting by Interfax, TASS, and dpa The new Iranian parliament that was formed from elections held in February and April has been sworn in at its opening session in Tehran. The 290-member Islamic Consultative Assembly held its first meeting on May 28 with a fresh crop of reformist lawmakers who are expected to back President Hassan Rohanis efforts to modernize Iran's economy and social policies. Their victories ended the 12-year dominance of conservative hard-liners in the parliament. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei sent a message to the parliament opening, warning lawmakers to beware of "the schemes, charms, and impudently excessive demands" of Western powers. He urged parliamentarians to be true to the ideals of the countrys 1979 Islamic revolution. Rohani addressed the new legislature, saying Iran needs $30 billion to $50 billion in annual foreign investment in order to reach its target of 8 percent economic growth. The new parliament is expected to choose a speaker and a presiding board early next week. Incumbent speaker Ali Larijani -- a conservative -- and reformist Mohammad Reza Aref are the leading candidates vying to become speaker. Reformists associated with Rohani now hold 133 seats, while conservatives hold 125, according to an analysis conducted by the AFP news agency. The 29 independent lawmakers -- three mandates are vacant after two elections were nullified and one elected member died in a car crash -- will play an important role in determining the tone of the new assembly. Analysts say the shift in power will help advance Rohani's agenda of warmer relations with the West, increasing personal freedoms, and greater rights for women. The new parliament includes a record 18 women, an achievement Rohani said made him "very happy." The polls were the first political test for Rohani following the nuclear deal reached last year between Iran and world powers. Iran curbed its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions. But Tehran is eager to be integrated into the world economy after years of isolation and has complained about how long it is taking for the accord's economic benefits to be felt. In his speech to lawmakers, Rohani praised Larijani for supporting the nuclear pact and called for greater "interaction" between parliament and the government to "solve the problems and crises of the country." Rohani, who came to power in a landslide victory in 2013, is eager to improve economic conditions ahead of presidential polls in May 2017. He is expected to seek reelection. With reporting by dpa, AFP, and Vox.com A suggestion that men should be allowed to "lightly beat" their wives from an Islamic religious body was met with outrage in Pakistan on May 27. The proposal was included in a draft bill released by the Council of Islamic Ideology on May 26, which was posed as an alternative to a law giving women greater rights and protection that was enacted in the province of Punjab in February. The Islamic bill says: "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 for intercourse without any religious excuse; or does not take a bath after intercourse or menstrual periods." Leading the outraged response to the proposal, 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 media satire on matters laid down by Pakistan's conservative Islamic authorities. The draft bill was also slammed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which condemned it 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 group said. Women have fought for basic rights for decades in Pakistan, where so-called honor killings and acid attacks remain common. Online comments were even more blunt and derisive. "This body should be dissolved, preferably in acid," wrote one Twitter user. The Punjab women's protection law that the Islamic council seeks to change is aimed at curbing domestic violence against women. It defines "violence" as "any offense committed against a woman," including acts of emotional abuse, stalking, and cybercrimes. The law provides a toll-free help line for women, and establishes residential shelters for abused women. It also allows courts to order the attachment of GPS trackers to violators of the law to monitor their movements. The Council of Islamic Ideology, which was formed in 1962 to advise parliament on the compatibility of legislation with Shari'a, has previously spoken out against the Punjab law. The council's recommendations are not binding, and it has drawn widespread criticism in the past for other rulings -- including in 2013, when it suggested making DNA evidence inadmissible in rape cases. Following the wave of criticism on May 27, the council's chairman, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, insisted that the group wants to protect women from violence and believes that "light beating" should be used only as a last resort after other ways of persuading a woman to comply with a man's wishes fail. "Light beating does not mean violence," he told a press briefing in Islamabad, saying it can mean hitting one's wife with a handkerchief or hat in a way that leaves no bruises or scratches. "The issue has been blown totally out of proportion. Everyone condemns violence. People need to be educated to stay away from violence," he said. "Fathers and husbands do not have permission to cause physical damage to their daughters or wives...They should avoid inflicting any kind of physical injuries." With reporting by AFP and The Express Tribune ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained opposition activists who planned to hold a rally to challenge next month's early presidential election. Bibigul Imanghalieva, a member of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan, Forward) party, told RFE/RL by phone that she and several of her colleagues were detained for several hours early in the morning in different parts of the city before they could hold the demonstration, which was to fall on October 25, Republic Day, which commemorates Kazakhstan's declaration of state sovereignty in 1990. According to Imanghalieva, leading activists, Aset Abishev, Aidar Syzdyqov, and Qanatkhan Amrenov, were among those detained. She added that she and other activists were released three hours later. Imanghalieva says she and other members of the unregistered party had officially filed a request with the Almaty city administration last week asking for permission to hold a rally on October 25. Other activists told RFE/RL that the chairwoman of an independent group of election observers, Arailym Nazarova, was also detained by police. Her mobile phone has been switched off since the morning of October 25. In the capital, Astana, police cordoned off a square near Zhengis (Victory) Avenue where activists had planned to gather, not allowing anyone to enter the site. At least two activists were detained there. Opposition activist Amangeldy Zhakhin said on Facebook on October 25 that police did not allow him to leave the village of Shortandy on October 25 as they tried to prevent his trip to Astana, the capital, where he planned to organize a rally to question the election, scheduled for November 20, at which incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will face off against five relatively unknown candidates. Activists in the cities of Aqsai, Pavlodar, and Oskemen also said they were blocked from travelling to Astana to take part in a rally. Toqaev, who has tried to position himself as a reformer, called the early presidential election on September 1 while also proposing to change the presidential term to seven years from five years. Under the new system, future presidents will be barred from seeking more than one term. Critics say Toqaev's initiatives have been mainly cosmetic and do not change the nature of the autocratic system in a country that has been plagued for years by rampant corruption and nepotism. Toqaev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who had run the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, chose Toqaev as his successor when he stepped down in 2019. Though he was no longer president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of elbasy or leader of the nation. Many citizens, however, remained upset by the oppression felt during Nazarbaev's reign. Those feelings came to a head in January when unprecedented anti-government nationwide protests started over a fuel price hike, and then exploded into countrywide deadly unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich Central Asian nation's wealth. Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaevs relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges. In June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum removed Nazarbaev's name from the constitution and annulled his status as elbasy. Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow has no choice but to retaliate over the U.S. missile shield in Europe. Speaking during a visit to Athens on May 27, Putin also warned that the presence of elements of the shield in Romania and Poland would put people living there in danger. "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 said. "It will be the same case with Poland." Putin, who did not elaborate on how Russia would retaliate to the missile shield, also insisted that Russia was not taking the first step, only responding to moves by Washington. Moscow has long said the establishment of a U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe poses a threat to Russia's security. Washington has repeatedly said the systems will protect NATO members from short- and medium-range missiles, particularly from rogue states in the Middle East. Poland on May 13 broke ground on the northern section of the U.S. missile defenSe shield that was launched in Romania a day earlier. The system is due to become fully operational by 2018. Based on reporting by Reuters New details about the death of Iranian teenager Asra Panahi have emerged that contradict the Iranian government's statement that the official cause of death was heart disease. Panahi reportedly died of her injuries after being beaten for refusing to sing a pro-regime anthem when her school was raided by agents. According to the Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates (CCTS), authorities for the city of Ardabil took students from Shahed high school to a pro-government demonstration and asked them to sing an anthem that praises Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. After the pupils resisted, the security forces attacked the students and beat many. Ten were taken to an unknown place by security forces, while seven others were injured. Iranian officials have denied that security forces beat the students and have said Panahi died in a hospital on October 14. They have since given conflicting causes of death, at first saying it was from congenital heart disease and then later suicide. But the CCTS says it has confirmed that Panahi died on the same day government forces attacked the school. Furthermore, eyewitnesses and relatives have confirmed to RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Panahi was taken to a hospital after being beaten, died there, and then was buried in a cemetery in Ardabil. Officials have also had Panahi's uncle, Ali Panahi, give several interviews backing up their claims on the cause of death, but several relatives said the statements were made under duress. Another family member was also shown on state TV parroting the official line that her death had nothing to do with the attack on high schoolers. The unrest, sparked by the death of another young woman, Mahsa Amini, has swept across the country over the past month. Amini died while in police custody in September after being detained for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. Eyewitness reports said the 22-year-old was beaten while being arrested by police, while the authorities said she died of "underlying diseases." Former Iranian soccer star Ali Daei, who is also from Ardabil, has challenged Iranian lawmakers to tell the truth about what is happening in the country and to be accountable after Kazem Musavi, the representative of Ardabil in parliament, denied Panahi's death was due to being beaten. "History has proven who the liars are," said Daei, a former forward with German soccer giants Bayern Munich and the former Iranian national team captain. Security forces have waged a violent crackdown on protesters around the country, killing scores, injuring hundreds, and detaining several thousand people. As the scattered anti-government protests rage across Iran for a fifth week, universities and schools have turned into a major battleground between the protesters and the authorities The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights says the authorities have killed at least 215 people, including 27 children. Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda Saudi Arabia and Iran failed to reach a deal on arrangements for Iranians to attend this year's Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, with officials from both countries blaming the other for the impasse. Saudi officials accused Iran of walking out of talks early on May 27, despite their having offered "solutions" to Iranian demands. They said agreement was reached in some areas, such as using electronic visas which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran. The Iranian government "will be responsible in front of Allah Almighty and its people for inability of the Iranian citizens to perform Hajj for this year" the Saudi pilgrimage office said, adding that the kingdom "has stressed its categorical rejection to politicize Hajj rituals." Saeed Ohadi, head of Iran's pilgrimage office, said the "lack of a unified decision" by Saudi officials is delaying an agreement. Iranian officials have vowed not to send pilgrims to Saudi Arabia unless their safety is ensured. Last year, hundreds of pilgrims were killed during a stampede outside of Mecca that Tehran has blamed on Saudi mismanagement. Iran said at least 460 Iranians were killed in the incident. Based on reporting by Al-Jazeera.com and AFP Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he will do his "utmost to promote security, economic reforms, and stronger EU ties" in his new capacity as an adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Rasmussen made the comment on Facebook on May 28, one day after Poroshenko announced the appointment. Poroshenko's announcement did not specify on what issues Rasmussen would be advising. Rasmussen described the "security situation" in eastern Ukraine as "alarming." He also said Ukraine must fight corruption and implement reforms. Russian Duma member Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax that Rasmussen's appointment was "a hostile gesture" toward Russia. "It shows that Ukraine has chosen the West and NATO as the vector of its drifting movement," he said, describing Ukraine as "a beachhead against Russia" that "will be used sooner or later." Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Council's International Relations Committee, said on Facebook that Rasmussen's appointment, like many other Ukrainian moves, is "for show" because "Ukraine badly needsattention from the outside." With reporting by Interfax William E. Bussells Jr., a decorated World War II veteran, went missing in August 1959. After the war, Bussells became a spotter pilot in the prominent menhaden business in the Northern Neck. The spotter plane he was piloting over the Chesapeake Bay collided with another plane. The body of the other pilot, Jesse England, was recovered shortly after the crash. Bussells body was never found. Bussells is one of 77 Northern Neck menhaden watermen who will be honored today at the Reedville Fishermens Museum with the unveiling of a nearly 8-foot-tall shiny black monument. All 77 watermen died at sea in search of the small, oily fish that have driven the Northern Necks economy for generations. Reedville wouldnt exist without the menhaden, said Reedville Fishermens Museum Executive Director Shawn Hall. And now we get to honor those who lost their lives. The process of creating a monument took about two years and required collaboration between the Reedville museum and the Kilmarnock Museum. The idea was conceived by an upstate New York man who asked the directors to keep his identity anonymous. There was no single list of Northern Neck menhaden watermen who had died at sea before the monument project. The museums relied on retired watermen and local experts such as Sandy Sherrill, of Kilmarnock, to compile the list, which Carroll Ashburn, president of the Kilmarnock Museum, said was the hardest part of the project. Sherrill has about 1,000 cards with detailed information on the menhaden boats, she said. The cards have information on the size, dates in use and what happened to them, among other details, she added. Im excited theyve finally done something, Sherrill said. Its something thats been going on for what seems like forever. Its a part of our culture. Reedville is home to Omega Protein, the U.S.s leading provider of omega-3 rich fish oil, which is made from menhaden. Individual donations paid for part of the monument and Omega picked up the rest of the bill, said Hall, the Reedville museums director. Boat sinkings were the most common cause for watermens deaths, Ashburn said. That was the case for 13 watermen in December 1942, eight of whom were from the Northern Neck. On Dec. 18, 1942, the 13 fishermen on the Parkins died after the lifeboats they were in sank. The sinking of the Parkins was the most deadly Northern Neck menhaden incident thats part of the monument project. Two men on the monument, Lawrence Darby and Phillip Veney, died in 1957 but probably killed each other in an altercation, according to museum notes. Because they died at sea in search for menhaden, however, their names are included on the monument. The most recent menhaden waterman death came in 2011, according to museum notes, when Earl Smith, of Morattico, died. Despite the comprehensive two-year search for names, organizers expect to add more to the monument, which was placed last Thursday, after its unveiled and public awareness increases. Its a living monument because we know that once this comes out, theyll say, Oh, well my grandad was killed, Hall said. So theres plenty of space and its designed so we can easily carve in additional names. It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search? Search for: Search A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Ricky Javon Gray, sentenced to death for the slayings of two young sisters in Richmond more than a decade ago, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his appeal. Gray, 39, and accomplice Ray Dandridge, 39, killed seven people in Richmond in 2006, including four members of the Harvey family, murdered in their Richmond home on New Years Day. Dandridge was sentenced to life, and Gray to death, for the capital murders of the Harvey daughters, Ruby, 4, and Stella, 9. Grays lawyers are asking the justices to take the case, in part, to determine the obligations of state courts to provide adequate review of alleged constitutional violations and the obligation of federal courts to resolve such allegations when state court review is inadequate. They allege Virginia courts unreasonably failed to provide Gray with a meaningful opportunity to develop and present allegations challenging the constitutionality of his death sentence. The Virginia Attorney Generals office has until June 23 to respond to the 32-page petition filed on May 20, challenging a 2-1 ruling by a panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court stayed its ruling in February stopping Grays execution set for March 16. In arguing against the stay, the attorney generals office wrote in court filings that there was no reasonable probability the U.S. Supreme Court would agree to hear the case and no significant possibility the 2-1 decision would be reversed even if the justices took the case. Robert Lee, one of Grays lawyers, disagreed with the government and said at the time that, The Court of Appeals granted a stay because it found there is a significant possibility that the Supreme Court will decide that Mr. Gray was not provided a full and fair opportunity to present the facts of his case. Among other things, Grays petition complains that the Virginia Supreme Court did not order a hearing to get to the bottom of disputed allegations. Grays lawyers wrote that Gray also wanted to submit an affidavit from one of the jurors who sentenced him to death. According to a footnote in Grays petition, the juror, whose identity has not been disclosed, said, it was her sincere decision that Gray should be sentenced to life without parole. But the instructions from the judge led her to incorrectly believe that unless the jurors were unanimous in recommending a life or death sentence they would remain at the courthouse indefinitely. Grays lawyers say the woman reported that had she known that under state law Gray would have been sentenced to life if the jury did not reach a unanimous death sentence she would not have abandoned her position in favor of life. Coca-Cola European Partners plc (CCE) announced Saturday that the combination of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc., Coca-Cola Iberian Partners S.A.U., and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetranke GmbH is now complete. This combination creates the world's largest independent Coca-Cola bottler based on net sales and serves over 300 million consumers across Western Europe. With pro forma 2015 net sales of approximately 11 billion euros and pro forma 2015 EBITDA of approximately 1.8 billion euros, Coca-Cola European Partners is a consumer packaged goods company in Europe. Shares of Coca-Cola European Partners are expected to start trading under the ticker symbol CCE simultaneously in Amsterdam, New York, and London, on Tuesday, May 31. In Spain, trading is expected to start on Thursday, June 2. John Brock, CEO of Coca-Cola European Partners plc, said, ""This is a very exciting time for Coca-Cola European Partners, as Europe continues to represent an outstanding platform for long-term, profitable growth. Coca-Cola European Partners has the portfolio, the customer relationships, and the innovation, flexibility, scale, and speed needed to capture this opportunity." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Kerala high court has stayed National Green Tribunals order which directed the state government not to register passenger cars that have diesel engines larger than 2.0-litre. The stay which is valid for the next 2 months has been issued following a petition from Nippon Toyota which claimed that there are illegalities in the NGT order and it was passed without hearing the manufacturers of diesel engines. Earlier this month, NGT came up with Kerala diesel ban after hearing a petition filed by Lawyers Environmental Awareness Forum (LEAF) which said that the states top cities feature in the list of most polluted cities in India. However, the high court chose not to impose a stay on the ban on diesel vehicles that are older than 10 years in top 6 cities of the state including Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram. The stay is effective for 2 months. NGT imposed the diesel ban in the state even as SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) was arguing against the Delhi diesel ban. The auto industry body recently stated that around 5,000 jobs were lost in addition to production loss of 11,000 units due to the ban in Delhi. SIAM also argued that the 2.0-litre limit is arbitrary and the extension of the ban to other states would result in even greater loss. On the other hand, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) condemned SIAM for underplaying the role of diesel vehicles in Delhis pollution woes. Meanwhile, Toyota Kirloskar Motor is revisiting its strategy and may not launch new premium products in the country. Via Economictimes.Indiatimes.com With the number of riders traversing what is arguably the toughest road trip on a motorcycle increasing by the year, Royal Enfield has announced the opening of their first ever service center in Leh, Ladakh. Called Venture Third Pole, this state of the art facility is located at Arya Tara Complex, Housing Colony, Leh-Manali Highway, Leh 194101. Royal Enfield stated that this new service center has been opened to support their consumers from around the world who make it a point to traverse the difficult terrains around Leh on Royal Enfield motorcycles. Royal Enfield has long been associated with the Himalayas. For over 60 years, riders have trusted RE motorcycles in these difficult terrains, and opening a store in the heart of Leh is the best thing they could do to support their consumers. The connection does not end there. Earlier this year, Royal Enfield launched their all-new motorcycle called Himalayan. This motorcycle has been built for one purpose, to tackle the Himalayan region with utmost ease and comfort. Apart from this, the Chennai based motorcycle brand has also announced their first ever women-only Himalayan Odyssey, registrations for which are now open. Not only the participants will be women, the team which will be handling the ride will also have only women staff (crew, technicians, doctors, etc). Himalayan Odyssey is an annual ride event organized by Royal Enfield. This years edition will include two groups, the regular as well as women-only, which is being done in association with STRE She Travels on a Royal Enfield. Both groups will be flagged off from Delhi on the 9th of July. They will take separate routes, and converge in Leh. The ride ends on 23rd July. More details can be found at Royal Enfields official website. Hirelings kills man, injure five in Jawf br> SANA'A, May 28 (Saba) - A citizen was killed and five others injured by an attack carried out by Riyadh' hirelings in Jawf province, a security official said on Saturday. The attack was one of tens of violations of UN-backed ceasefire announced early in April committed by the Saudi aggression and its hirelings in several provinces during the past 24 hours. The Saudi fighter jets waged two air raids on al-Masloub area and targeted al-Moton district with artillery shells as the hirelings tried to advance towards the district, the official added. The fighter jets launched more than 30 air raids on al-Amaliqa military camp in Harf Sufyan district of Amran province. The aggression also dropped flash bombs in Melh area in Nehm district of Sana'a province. It waged two sorties on Harib-Nehm area and a raid on Serwah district of Mareb province. The Riyadh's hirelings in Dhalea province targeted the army and popular committees sites in Najd al-Qarin area. In Taiz province, the official said the hirelings pounded the army and popular committees sites in al-Qushba and al-Madrab areas in al-Waze'yah district, Jarah Mount, Usaiferah area, al-Amri Mount, Dhubab city. The Riyadh's hirelings in Baidha province targeted al-Wabia area with mortars. The Saudi warplanes waged an air raid on the north of Mukairas district in the province, he said. The violations also included the Saudi warplanes nonstop flying on the skies many provinces such as the Capital, Taiz, Mareb, Jawf, Amran, Sana'a, Baidha and Dhalea, the official said. HA/AF Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [28/May/2016] Kansas coach Bill Self is still looking for a big man to emerge The commemoration of the Samoa Observer News Groups 40th birthday this weekend is a timely reminder about the importance of press freedom. It goes without saying that without press freedom, it would be impossible for a newspaper like the Samoa Observer to operate, and do so with liberty to ask questions of the leaders our readers want answered. That said, when it comes to the freedom of the media to do its work, we believe there is much to be celebrated in Samoa. True that such freedom is not absolute but thats life. But its fair to say we are a lot freer than some of the countries near and far. Indeed, while things are not perfect and probably never will be the idea that we can confidently talk about press freedom in a peaceful and politically stable environment are achievements to be proud of. We say this because in some parts of the world where freedom of speech and expression are stifled and trampled upon, the term press freedom is a foreign concept. What happens instead is that there is so much oppression and unimaginable suffering that citizens know nothing more than pain and sorrow. In Samoa, however, wed like to believe that freedom of the press is respected by everyone including the Government. In yesterdays edition of your newspaper, it was heartwarming to note all the well wishes all the way from leaders to the average Samoan and how much they appreciate the work that has been done over the years. The words of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi come to mind immediately. In paying tribute to the Samoa Observers commitment to press freedom, Tuilaepa said: In any Government, the need for a newspaper such as the Samoa Observer is critical, a newspaper that is not timid. They report what they see and interpret it the way they see it. We know it hasnt been easy. Prime Minister Tuilaepa is correct. The pursuit for quality journalism, the type that makes a difference is not easy. But it is absolutely necessary. In fact if there was ever a time in history where this kind of journalism is needed, it is now. The point was made by the Deputy Director of the International Press Institute (I.P.I.), Scott Griffen, who is in Samoa for the Samoa Observers celebration. At this time, press freedom could never be more important. It is always important and always will be important. There are a lot of challenges right now in every part of the world with press freedom, he said. Theres backlash, if you want, in many countries including the ones where we take press freedom for granted, like the United States, for example. He added that press freedom is under siege in different parts of the world and it is very important to continue the fight to protect it. We are losing some good examples of press freedom so it is still important to keep fighting for press freedom everywhere in the world, including here in Samoa to Europe and I.P.I. wants to support those efforts wherever it can. Well thats good to know. But why is press freedom important? Why do we need a feisty independent newspaper and journalists to do their work? In Samoa? Former Head of State, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, gives us a reason. In his congratulatory message, Tui Atua hit the nail on the head, answering the question of why we need a free independent media. Today Samoa is at a cross-road in her history, Tui Atua wrote. It is faced with a new colonialism that I see to be more dangerous than that faced by our constitutional forefathers. The forces controlling this new colonialism is beyond the reach of the average or ordinary Samoan. It is camouflaged and lives insidiously from both outside and within ourselves. Those probing articles published by the Observer that have unpacked this new colonialism are critical to our education on how best to identify it, understand it and deal with it. The Observer has not shied away from publishing these kinds of articles and for this they should be supported and commended. Such articles are a must for all democratic societies. As a spiritual people we must pay attention to how this new colonialism attacks all that is sacred. In the neo-colonial space nothing is holy, especially that labelled customary or traditional, nor even it seems the rule of law. As a spiritual people we must pay attention to how this new colonialism attacks all that is sacred. In the neo-colonial space nothing is holy, especially that labelled customary or traditional, nor even it seems the rule of law. As Savea passionately reasoned in an article to the Pacific Journalism Review, even the rule of law has become subservient to the biases of those in power. When only one political party controls the making of laws, it is only a short step away from them also controlling the interpreting and enforcement of those laws. The point is that in light of these recent developments in the social, economic, spiritual and political sphere of this paradise we call home, we believe an objective media driven by critical thinkers is vital. It goes without saying that when the medias objectivity is removed and stunted, it loses its power to make a difference. Which is why constructive critical thinking is absolutely necessary. It goes without saying that a free press means free people. Have a wonderful weekend Samoa, God bless! The Ministry of Police is investigating the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl, Elisapeta Sua, from Tuanaimato. This is according to a public notice issued by the Police yesterday afternoon. The young lady went missing on Sunday 13 May, 2018, around 1 - 2pm from her grandparents home at Seesee. She was last seen wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and a red ie lavalava. Police are appealing to anyone who has seen her or has any information that may lead to her location to please contact any nearest Police Station or call phone number 22222 immediately. Samoa is ready to host the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting. So declared Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa, during the Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in Fiji. Fiame was speaking of behalf of the incoming Chair of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who has been on a book tour in New Zealand. Samoa is getting ready to host the 47th meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, and we are really excited to soon assume the role of Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Fiame said. We are also really looking forward to working with you all to give life to the theme of this years Forum, The Blue Pacific. Samoa sees this not just as a theme for the meeting, but as an enduring narrative for the Forum. Fiame said the theme of the meeting is intended to strengthen the participants common understanding of the Pacific region, drawing on our shared ocean identity, ocean geography, and ocean resources. It aims to strengthen collective action as one Blue Pacific Continent by putting The Blue Pacific at the centre of regional policy making and collective action for advancing the Forum Leaders Vision for the Region, she said. I believe that the Blue Pacific presents an excellent opportunity for us by which to navigate our region through a changing world. I will be looking forward to your perspectives on how the Blue Pacific can support our regions engagement with other countries, other regions, and the broader international community. Samoa Dispute over will of former C.J. heard in Court The hearing into a dispute over the will of the former Chief Justice, Patu Tiavaa... By Matai'a Lanuola Tusani T - Ah Tong 25 October 2022, 10:00AM A new era for Netball Samoa was celebrated earlier this week. This follows the launching of their four-year partnership deal with Netball New Zealand by the New Zealand High Commissioner to Samoa, David Nicholson, on Thursday at the National University of Samoas gymnasium. The partnership provides a $4 million grant to Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Cook Islands for a span of five years. The partnership focuses on supporting sustainability between Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netball Samoa and Netball New Zealand, including Nobesity Samoa and the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture. The objective is to reduce non-communicable diseases through the active lifestyles and increase awareness of activity and nutrition. The ceremony was made extra special with the presence of Pacific Sporting Partnership Programme Manager, Ivan Harre of Netball New Zealand, and former New Zealand Silver Ferns coach and captain, Waimarama Taumaunu. Harre said their aim is to develop the capability of Netball Samoa in both primary and secondary schools. He added they also have a strong coaching programme so they can work with teachers, parents and anyone who wants to be a netball coach. We have a good coaching programme and well be training people in Netball Samoa to deliver it and well have experts from New Zealand coming over in the next four years. Taumaunu said she is delighted to be back in Samoa for the fourth time now this year. I am delighted to be back in Samoa and being part of a programme to help Samoa Netball and young Samoan netballers to learn how to play netball better, improve the coaching they receive and to get all those young women who I coached so many years ago, to get those numbers in the court again, and get those competitions going again. So while the programme in line helps to improve international team outcomes, it also improves health outcomes for all Samoans. Gaualofa Matalavea Saaga acknowledged Netball New Zealand and New Zealand Pacific Sports in their efforts to help Netball Samoa. ESAs Rosetta orbiter has detected volatile glycine and phosphorus in the fuzzy atmosphere of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Amino acids are biologically important organic compounds containing carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, and form the basis of proteins. Hints of glycine (C 2 H 5 NO 2 ), the simplest amino acid, were found in the dust samples returned to Earth in 2006 from Comet Wild-2 by NASAs Stardust mission. However, possible terrestrial contamination of the samples made the analysis extremely difficult. Now, the ROSINA (Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis) mass spectrometer on the Rosetta spacecraft has made direct, repeated detections of glycine in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkos atmosphere. This is the first unambiguous detection of glycine at a comet, said Dr. Kathrin Altwegg, principal investigator of the ROSINA. The measurements were made before 67P reached its closest point to the Sun perihelion in August 2015 in its 6.5 year orbit. The first detection was made in October 2014 while Rosetta was just 6.2 miles (10 km) from the comet. The next occasion was during a flyby in March 2015, when it was 9.3-18.6 miles (15-30 km) from the nucleus. Glycine is very hard to detect due to its non-reactive nature: it sublimates at slightly below 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius), meaning that little is released as gas from the comets surface or subsurface due to its cold temperatures. This accounts for the fact that Rosetta does not always detect it. We see a strong correlation of glycine to dust, suggesting that it is probably released from the grains icy mantles once they have warmed up in the coma, perhaps together with other volatiles, Dr. Altwegg said. At the same time, we also detected certain other organic molecules that can be precursors to glycine, hinting at the possible ways in which it may have formed, she added. Unlike other amino acids, glycine is the only one that has been shown to be able to form without liquid water. The simultaneous presence of methylamine and ethylamine, and the correlation between dust and glycine, also hints at how the glycine was formed, Dr. Altwegg said. Another exciting detection made by ROSINA is of phosphorus, a key element in all known living organisms. For example, it is found in the structural framework of DNA and in cell membranes, and it is used in transporting chemical energy within cells for metabolism. The multitude of organic molecules already identified by ROSINA, now joined by the exciting confirmation of fundamental ingredients like glycine and phosphorous, confirms our idea that comets have the potential to deliver key molecules for prebiotic chemistry, said Dr. Matt Taylor, Rosetta project scientist. Demonstrating that comets are reservoirs of primitive material in the Solar System, and vessels that could have transported these vital ingredients to Earth, is one of the key goals of the Rosetta mission, and we are delighted with this result. The results were published online today in the journal Science Advances. _____ Kathrin Altwegg et al. 2016. Prebiotic chemicals amino acid and phosphorus in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Science Advances, vol. 2, no. 5, e1600285; doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1600285 With the worst of El Nino now over, there is a general sense of relief that one of the strongest weather events on record didnt lead to food shortages and spikes in food prices, particularly for rice. During the 2007-2008 food crisis when there was also an El Nino, albeit a milder one, rice prices on the world market more than doubled. This time, prices went up by a more manageable 10-15 per cent despite rice stocks dipping at their lowest in three years. Everybody has apparently learned from the last food crisis, says Samarendu Mohanty, social sciences division head of the International Rice Research Institute, on the sidelines of the 15th Review, Planning and Steering Committee Meeting of the Consortium for Unfavourable Rice Environments held in Manila (24 May). Massive information and warnings about a strong El Nino since early last year prepared governments for its onset. A number of countries increased their seed buffer stocking to ensure production normalises immediately once favourable weather returns. But Mohanty says that the most important lesson from the 2007-2008 food crisis is not to panic. At that time, major rice-exporting countries such as India and Vietnam restricted rice exports, causing panic buying among rice-importing countries like the Philippines. Some countries purchased more than necessary, which drove up prices. Advances in rice research and technology in the past decade have managed to save millions of farms worldwide, which otherwise would have been rendered unproductive and useless. More countries have now resorted to adopting salt-tolerant, drought- and heat-resistant rice varieties in unfavourable environments. Mohanty, however, warns of complacency as politics and successive disasters could easily sway policies and affect supplies in the market. Moreover, he says research should continue to provide better varieties and more profitable returns to encourage farmers to continue planting rice. This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk. Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise has reportedly cheated death. The actor was supposed to be a part of the crew on board the Space Shuttle Columbia that crashed in 2003, tragically killing all its seven members. According to a report, Cruise was supposed to join the astronauts of the US space shuttle, which blew up over Texas 13 years ago while re-entering the atmosphere of the earth. The space junkie star had hoped to join the ill fated mission after NASA gave him a secret astronaut training. The induction saw him go through a space suit walking course in a simulated space environment created with a water tank. The actor's space ambitions were revealed by film director Toni Myers, who worked with Cruise on the film Space Station 3D. "Tom wanted to be an astronaut, he flies his own GulfStream IV Jet and he's qualified as a pilot," Toni Myers said. "He was very enthusiastic about doing Space Station 3D but the deal was he also wanted to fly in the Space Shuttle. He had a very good chance of doing so but then the accident happened and that was the end of that." Incidentally, the Hollywood star has always been keen about astronomy and been a part of many sci-fi films, including the 2013 release Oblivion where he played the role of an astronaut. Interestingly, the Top Gun star is also a big believer of aliens, and feels that it is arrogant to think we are the only living beings in the Universe, "but I've never met one" he has said. Cruise, who is a scientologist, apparently also forced the American space agency to redesign their entire website during the early 2000s. In addition, once the actor had let out his plan to pay $191245 for a ticket on the Virgin Galactic space flight by Richard Branson, However, his recent status about the same flight is not known, especially in the wake of the failed test flight killing the co-pilot in 2014. The Columbia Space Shuttle exploded due to a broken piece of its foam insulation striking the craft's left wing. However, it is not clearly known why Tom Cruise actually did not make the flight, luck perhaps. Oklahoma lawmakers passed a bill that would revoke the license of an abortionist doctor and send him to jail. The bill was approved by the Republican-dominated Senate and awaits the signature of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. Nathan Dahm, the author of the bill and a Republican said this is their proper function, to protect life. The Senate Bill 152 would make abortion a felony. It is punishable by up to three years in prison. It also calls on state medical boards to invalidate licenses for the execution of an abortion. On the other hand, it allows an exemption for the abortion necessary to preserve the life of the mother, according to Reuters. Medscape reports that the Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA) contradicts the bill and they are urging Governor Fallin to exercise her veto pen. Sherri Baker, MD, and OSMA President said that it is simply unconscionable that, at a time when the state already faces an unyielding physician shortage, the Senate would waste its time on a bill that is patently unconstitutional and whose only purposes are to score political points and alarm physicians across the state. Wes Glinsman, the association's director of state political and legislative affairs said that OSMA does not take a position on the legality of abortion, yet as long as the procedure is legal; it opposes any legislation that would override a physician's judgment or interfere with the physician-patient relationship. Likewise, Amanda Allen, a legislative counsel of Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) stated that the bill will almost certainly lead to expensive court challenges that the state of Oklahoma merely cannot defend in light of longstanding Supreme Court precedent. Governor Fallin is on the short list of possible vice presidential choices of Donald Trump. She has signed 18 bills constraining access to reproductive health care services since she had her office 5 years ago. She is given 5 days to sign or veto the latest antiabortion legislation before it certainly becomes a law. Germany-based researchers are working on robot units that have artificial nervous system that would allow them to feel pain. This feature would help them in responding quickly to a dangerous situation that could lead to system damage. It is also a means to protect humans who could be working with them. The system, the scientists, said would be according to the results of human pain research. Sami Haddaddin and Johannes Kuehn, researchers at the German Leibniz University of Hanover, already made a presentation of this idea during the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation held in Stockholm, Sweden. In his presentation during the conference, Kuehn said: "Pain is a system that protects us...When we evade from the source of pain, it helps us not get hurt. The researchers have designed a pain reflex response that is attached to a Kuka robotic arm that has the ability to respond just like how humans do. Interestingly, they have also based the robot's artificial nervous tissue to human skin. This means robots would be able to feel various degrees of pain. In an interview with BBC, Professor Fumiya Iida said it is important to include this kind of feature, particularly the use of stimulus. He said, this makes robots more intelligent. Meanwhile, The Washington Post, said in its report that there was also a study published in a journal called Scientific Reports that detailed another research on how humans feel empathy for robots. The "electrical brain activities" of humans were observed using electroencephalography devices as they were shown photos of violence both against humans and robots. The results revealed that humans expressed emotional concern even on robots-but with less degree of emotions than their fellow humans. This showed, according to the report, that human are seemingly emotionally attached to robots, given their exposure to robots who "act like humans". Facebook and Microsoft has announced on Thursday that they will work together in laying the 4,000 mile subsea Internet cable in the Atlantic. The joint project is dubbed as MAREA, which is a Spanish word for tide. It will provide up to 160 terabits per second bandwidth. This means the speed could be about 16 million times faster than the average connection at households. According to Najam Ahmad, vice president of network engineering of social media company Facebook, "If you look at the cable systems across the Atlantic, majority land in the Northeast somewhere." He added, "This gives so many more options." The rationale behind the project is the need of the two tech companies to quickly move information anywhere in the world given their expanding data centers. Laying subsea cables is not actually something new. Many tech companies have been pouring in their resources on improved networking infrastructure in the recent years. Google has also invested on undersea cables laid in US, Japan, South America, and some other parts of Asia. This also aimed to respond to the demand of the users for faster and more reliable services from Google. In a statement, Microsoft said the new project also considers interoperability with other networking equipment. The statement read: "This new open design brings significant benefits for customers: lower costs and easier equipment upgrades which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation." Microsoft also sees this as an opportunity to meet the changing and growing demand of its consumers. The company claimed it had to increase its bandwidth for their clients to seamlessly experience Microsoft could services such as Skype, Bing, Office 365, and Azure. USA Today reported that this project, MAREA, will be the highest-capacity underwater internet cable across Atlantic once completed. Google is now officially cleared of copyright infringement raised by Oracle regarding the use Java in Android. A jury in San Francisco has finished deliberating on the case filed by Oracle. The company sought up to US$9 billion to cover the damages. But Google clearly won the battle. In a written statement, Oracle General Counsel Dorian Daley said, "We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal." Google, meanwhile, expressed gratitude over the jury's verdict. There was only one question stated on the special verdict form. It is to determine whether Google's use of Java Application Program Interface (API) was indeed a "fair use" as defined under the copyright law. All members of the jury answered "yes" favoring Google. The case was filed in year 2010. During his closing arguments, Oracle attorney Peter Bricks said, "They copied 11,500 lines of code." He added: "It's undisputed. They took the code, they copied it, and put it right into Android." But Google has argued that Java has always been free and open, and this included the use of Java APIs. US District Judge William Alsup, said "I salute you for your extreme hard work in this case...With the thanks of your United States District Court, you are now discharged. I would like to come in the jury room and shake each of your hands individually." The decision is also beneficial to programmers to answer the issue on the use of APIs. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has also argued that there was an earlier decision that APIs are subject to copyright raising issues for both programmers and the public. Oracle can still appeal on the case, but it will take again several years for the jury to reconsider the decision. Comets have been blamed by scientists to be the ones that brought mass destructions and extinctions that brought about the end of the dinosaurs. However, new studies show that comets may have actually brought back the necessary building blocks of DNA and proteins necessary to life on the planet. In a report by The Daily Mail, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft brought back evidence that suggest these icy objects were the ones that brought life to our planet. The spacecraft, which had been orbiting the duck-shaped Comet 67P, also known as the Churyumov-Gerasimenko, since August 2014, discovered that the comet has amino acid glycine, and the mineral phosphorous hidden under the enormous block of ice and dust. Gylcine is one of the 20 protiens found in all living creatures, while phosphorous forms part of the DNA molecules. Rosetta scientist Kathrin Altwegg, from the University of Bern in Switzerland said in the study published in Science Advances, "Having found glycine in more than one comet shows that neither Wild 2 nor 67P are exceptions." The presence of glycine also implies that it is common -- found in regions of the universe where stars and planets are formed. She also added that amino acids are common in the universe, which means that life could start in many places other than the earth. However, this is the first time that phosphorus was found around a comet. Donald Brownlee, a scientist from the University of Washingon and lead scientist to the current comet sample return mission said, "Meteorites and now comets prove that Earth has been seeded with many critical biomolecules over its entire history." However, despite the presence of these life-giving elements, Altwegg noted that amino acids are not enough to form a living cell. "It's the multitude of molecules which make up the ingredients for life." Californian lawmakers are rushing through an emergency legislation to allow for HIV-infected organs to be used in transplants for HIV patients. The decision was made to allow a man with HIV to reveive a part of his HIV-positive husband's liver before it is too late to perform surgery. According to The Daily Mail, the federal government already recently authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs for patients who have the disease, but it is still illegal under California law, as well as in more than a dozen other states. Democratic governmor Jerry Brown, said before that he would sign the bill promply as soon as the State Assembly and Senate passed it. As Brown spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said, it is "a life-saving matter." ABC News reported that by Friday, the bill has already been approved by legislation, and transplant surgeon Dr. Peter Stock said that he hoped to perform the operation quickly. However, he will still need time to do the tests and preparation of the patients. Organ transplant for HIV patients have been a problem these days. At any given time, around 122,000 people in the US are waiting on organ transplants. The San Francisco Medical Center -- one of four US Hospitals authorized to transplant HIV-infected organs -- 65 HIV-positive patients are waiting their turn in an operating room. In fact, California is among the states with the longest waits for organs, and increasing the supply could help everyone -- whether they are HIV-positive or not. Stock said, "There are so many desperate people out there waiting for organs. The donor shortage is such a problem. Literally, we lose people every week." The state has banned donation of HIV-positive organs, blood, and semen in the 1980s and 90s, for fear of the AIDS epidemic during the time. The law, which was reversed by the HOPE Act, prevented doctors from using these said organs, even if they were intended for patients who are HIV-positive as well. Author of the HOPE Act bill, Senator Ben Allen from Santa Monica noted, "With this legislation, we're saving a life this month, and many more to come." New York City is stepping up its efforts to meet the needs Americans with mental illness. The city is planning to make mental first aid kid as available and widespread as CPR! According to Yes Magazine, 25% of Americans have mental illness. This phenomenon is associated with high social, financial, and emotional costs. The World Health Organization also reported that depression should not be underestimated as it is the main cause of disability worldwide. More people are suffering and miss more time from work from depression compared to any other medical problem," shares Bryan Gibb, Director of Public Education for the National Council for Behavioral Health. Gibb added that left untreated, a person with depression is at risk of committing suicide. He claimed that depression is the no.1 cause of suicide. Apart from these harrowing facts, Yes Magazine claimed that one more dilemma associated with depression is that if it is misunderstood, interactions with the police can end in tragedy. For instance, in 2014, Ezell Ford, a man diagnosed with multiple anxiety disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia was ultimately shot and killed by a Los Angeles officer. In New Mexico on the same year, James Boyd, a homeless man with mental illness was also shot by the police, as reported by Fox 8. These cases indicated that there is a critical need for law enforcement officers to be more aware of mental illness and the approaches they should carry out when interacting with people with the disorders. Joseph Coffey, a trained police officer in dealing with people with mental illness, emphasized this. "If an officer can recognize what they're seeing may be a manifestation of mental illness, they can take a more appropriate action-which may not be arrest," Coffey said. This is why New York city is entering a partnership with the National Council for Behavioral Health to make these trainings now accessible to complete communities. In particular, ThriveNYC, a public initiative started back in November 2015 will donate $850 million in funds for mental health programs for the next four years. Around 25,000 first responders to crisis situations such as police officers and firefighters will receive mental health first aid training. With this initiative by the New York City, it is highlighted that mental illness is not a joke, and as such, it should be taken as seriously as physical illnesses and injuries. Hence, the "first aid" when necessary. If the trainings reach the whole community, bystanders will become more experienced in preventing deaths, evaluate harmful circumstances, and pursue the needed medical treatments, as reported by Fox News. Alien hunter believes he has found a way to "project our presence across the whole universe". A top physicist, who claims to get this projection by using an experimental laser beam technology, thinks that it is time to transmit a message to alien civilization and make our presence known in the universe. Phillip Lubin is a scientist at the University of California, who has strong connections to NASA, has written a paper that urges humanity to stop being frightened of communicating with the extraterrestrials. The study recommended the use of experimental directed energy laser systems that is being developed right now to transmit a message to every corner of the universe. According to Lubin, directed energy has already been used to produce laser weapons that can destroy trucks from a mile away. However, NASA has also recommended to use it to operate deep space mission crafts and also to stop the course of asteroids. Recently, NASA gave the alien hunter a grant called Innovative Advanced Concepts to build spaceships that use directed energy for other world explorations, Xtreme Tech reported. In addition, Lubin believes that there are several reasons for a civilization to use directed energy systems. He further explained that if other civilizations have the same environment as the Earth, they may also use directed energy system for some applications like planetary protection against "debris" like comets and asteroids, propulsion and illumination or scanning systems to study their local environment. Lubin also said that directed energy systems were easily spotted and may be identified at broad distances and may be identified across a whole horizon as well. This means the "beacon' can be used to get the attention of the aliens, though they may also identify the people without using their knowledge. The alien hunter said he is hopeful that if advanced clivilizations exist, they are not as frightened as the people of the earth are to send out, or else, there will be a defeaning silence in the universe, Independent reported. NASA and Bigelow Aerospace will make a second attempt to expand the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) at 9 a.m. EDT Saturday on May 28. The module is currently attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and the first effort at inflating it had failed. The US space agency will reportedly broadcast the event live on NASA TV. The first attempt to inflate BEAM, which incidentally took place on Thursday, was not successful. The unit's diameter and length did not expand with the increased pressure as expected. The operations were brought to a hold, and remained at standstill, following which the habitat was depressurized on Friday afternoon. The next attempt to expand the space module will be led by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams in the forefront. BEAM will be expanded when the ISS is in the right position for the astronauts to work in the sunlight. The module designers need video communication in daylight to closely observe the process. Once the space room is successfully inflated, a series of leak checks and other preparations will be run through. Subsequently, the astronauts onboard the space station will enter BEAM through ISS's tranquil module. Additionally, the crew will keep on reentering the module throughout the course of the technology demonstration, spread out over a span of two years, to assess sensor data and monitor other conditions inside it. Expandable modules like BEAM are developed to take up less room on spacecraft; however on being inflated they allow more volume for working and living in space. The first test of an expanded BEAM, will allow the experts to understand the efficiency of the habitat, particularly its success in protecting against solar radiation, space temperature extremes and space debris. The second attempt for inflating BEAM can be watched live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/6540154. The coverage will begin at 8:45 a.m. EDT on Saturday. 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. RELATED: Watch Mom, Daughter Elephants Reunite After Years Apart 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. RELATED: Baby Elephant Gets Rescued After Falling Down a Well 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. RELATED: Prince William Appeals to Chinese to Save Elephants "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. Striking personality differences have just been observed in Port Jackson sharks, which are relatively common sharks in the waters off of southern Australia, including near Port Jackson. The study, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, adds to the growing body of evidence that shark individuals of many, if not all, species are distinct, unique beings just as no two humans are exactly the same. RELATED: Top Shark Spots Identified: Photos "Over the past few decades, personality research has shown that nearly 200 species of animals demonstrate individual personality," lead author Evan Byrnes of Macquarie University said in a press release. "Personality is no longer considered a strictly human characteristic, rather it is a characteristic deeply ingrained in our evolutionary past." Personality in humans helps to define who we are and how likely we are to respond to certain situations. Some people tend to be bold risk takers, for example, while others are often more wary and careful. Prior research suggests that such inclinations are due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Many aspects of behavior are relatively stable and predictable over time, and it is these general consistencies that define someone's personality. The researchers designed trials to test the sharks' boldness, which is a measure of the propensity to take risks, but it also influences individual health through its correlation with stress hormones and more. Seventeen juvenile male and female Port Jackson sharks were caught at different locations within their habitat for the study. Video: 4 Freshwater Animals More Terrifying Than Sharks Press Release May 26, 2016 PHL Pavilion's 'Muhon' Tackles Pressing Issues on Built Heritage Preservation "Are we demolishing buildings before we have had the time to fall in love with them?" This is the question posed by the curatorial team behind the Philippine Pavilion's exhibition, Muhon: Traces of an Adolescent City, for the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale. Nine heritage buildings and markers interpreted in three ways--its original state (History), current condition (Modernity) and the projected future (Conjecture)--are featured at the Philippine Pavilion. Each marker has a story to tell yet seemingly conversing with the other markers. Leandro Y. Locsin, Jr., who makes up the curatorial team together with architects Sudarshan Kadkha Jr. and Juan Paolo dela Cruz, explained that muhon, which is roughly translated as monument or place-marker, conveys the idea of staking a claim to a place in the universe. However, following the Second World War, Metro Manila has gradually been growing at a frenetic phase and is currently perceived in its adolescent stage where it experiences an identity crisis. "The primary objective of the exhibition is to question the debilitating mindset of a damaged identity ascribed to the conflict between fashion and commercialism and a desire to conform to a preconceived notion of self and history," said Locsin. Muhon, thus, aims to make sense of the implications of the careless destruction of cultural heritage and the relative lack of social consciousness about the issue. It also tries to converse with the overarching theme of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition titled Reporting from the Front directed by Chilean Architect Alejandro Aravena. According to La Biennale di Venezia, Reporting From the Front is about "bringing to a broader audience, what is it like to improve the quality of life while working on the margins, under tough circumstances, facing pressing challenges. Or what does it take to be on the cutting edge trying to conquer new fields." Locsin explains that the original impetus and the thesis of Muhon is the neglect and demolition of post-war buildings and urban features. "The true test of architecture's value is in the way it endures through time and the manner in which it resonates with people on many deeper levels. It may take a generation for society to appreciate the value of a building beyond its novelty as a product of its time, susceptible as architecture may be to the whims of changing needs, interests, taste and fashion," Locsin said. Senator Loren Legarda, the visionary behind the Philippines' participation in the Venice Biennale, said that Reporting from the Front and Muhon: Traces of an Adolescent City both highlight the fact that a thoughtful mind builds not just for today, but also to meet the needs of the future we can only predict. Legarda said that the Philippine Pavilion tackles a subject that is a concern in the country today because of the seemingly wanton disregard for the historical and cultural value of built heritage. "Our heritage, both tangible and intangible, is constantly under threat of extinction. We have already lost some of our historic structures from natural catastrophes and long years of neglect. With every instance in which our built heritage has been toppled down and turned to rubble, we lose a part of our identity and that unifying element that binds us as a nation," said Legarda. "As we offer the world a glimpse of our built heritage through Muhon, we initiate a dialogue on the progress of our architecture and issues on preservation and conservation of our heritage," she said. The nine participants and the subject buildings and urban elements featured in the Philippine Pavilion's Muhon are Poklong Anading for KM 0; Tad Ermitano for Pandacan Bridge; Mark Salvatus for Binondo; Eduardo Calma for the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC); Jorge Yulo for Mandarin Hotel; 8x8 Design Studio Co. for the Magsaysay Center; C S Design Consultancy for Pasig River; Lima Architecture for the Makati Stock Exchange; and Man~osa & Co. for Tahanang Pilipino or Coconut Palace. The Philippine Pavilion in the 15th Architecture Biennale is the country's first participation in the history of the Architecture Biennale, but it has participated twice in the Art Biennale--first in 1964, then in 2015. This year's Architecture Biennale has 63 National Pavilions in the Giardini and Arsenale, and in the historic city center of Venice. Aside from the Philippines, other countries participating for the first time are Nigeria, Seychelles and Yemen. Press Release May 26, 2016 SMARTMATIC OWES PUBLIC EXPLANATION OVER DISCREPANCIES IN ELECTRONICALLY-TRANSMITTED COCs - MARCOS LAWYER Aside from an unusually high number of undervotes, the camp of Vice Presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. asserted that Smartmatic owes the public an explanation over the discrepancies found in the electronically-transmitted Certificates of Canvass in several provinces. In an interview at the close of the 2nd day of the official canvass, Marcos' lead counsel Atty. George Garcia pointed out, for example, that in the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Ilocos Sur, the provincial Canvassing and Consolidation System (CCS) transmitted the COCs when there was incomplete transmission of results in the municipal level. "How can the provincial CCS transmit (the COC) to the Comelec (Commission on Elections) when the program says it should be 100 percent transmission of all municipalities in that province?" Garcia queried? Garcia cited that in the case of the two provinces the respective Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) were unaware the municipal transmissions were incomplete until the Comelec en banc ordered them to recheck and recompute the results. They later found out that election results in one municipality was not included in the first provincial COC transmitted to the Comelec. "How can this happen when Smartmatic assured us that their machines are accurate and reliable?" Garcia said. "It's their obligation to the Filipino people. They were the ones who supplied to us the machines, they were the ones who supplied to us the system, they were the ones who assured that it will be 99.9996 percent accurate, then an explanation is a must," he added. Garcis said that unless clarified and addressed properly such issue would likely raise questions over the results of the elections. "What if there was double transmission or no transmission at all yet the results reflect there was one?" Garcia said. He said because of the discrepancies and the unusually high percentage of undervotes uncovered during the official canvass for the position of President and Vice President losing candidates in other positions are probably now re-checking the results in their own area to find out what really happened. Meanwhile, Garcia also said the public also has the right to know why there was such a high number of undervotes for the position of Vice President, which totaled about 3.2 million for the first two days of the official canvass. He explained that they arrived at the figure by deducting the total number of votes for the position of Vice President from the total number of votes cast. "It's true that some voters opted not to vote for a certain position and that's normal. But take note of the percentage, that's 3.2 million voters who did not vote for Vice President," said Garcia. With such a hotly-contested election and the high voter turnout of over 80 percent, Garcia said the high number of undervotes should be explained. He said areas where large number of undervotes occurred were in the Visayas and Mindanao. Earlier, the camp of Marcos sought a systems audit of the central and transparency server of the Comelec over the introduction of a new script by a Smartmatic personnel without proper authorization from the Comelec en banc. It was shortly after this action, according to Marcos, that he began to lose his lead over his closest rival and eventually overtaken in the unofficial partial results of the elections posted by a poll watchdog group. Marcos insisted only such an audit would clear doubts on the results of the elections. However, the Comelec turned down such request. Press Release May 27, 2016 COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS THREATEN LIVES, ENVIRONMENT -- LEGARDA Senator Loren Legarda today renewed her call on government to tap cleaner and less wasteful sources of energy, expressing alarm over the adverse environmental impacts of coal-fired power plants in the country. Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, lauded the Aquino administration's order to agencies of government to review the country's energy policy, which may see the Philippines moving away from carbon-intensive coal power generation. "I am in full support of President Benigno Aquino's order to government to review the current energy policy and I hope he will seize the opportunity to push for pro-environmental projects to mitigate climate change which our country badly needs. Our goal to reduce carbon emissions will be impossible if we will continue to allow the construction and operation of additional coal-fired power plants, the nation's top source of greenhouse gas emissions and the primary cause of global warming," she said. The Climate Change Commission (CCC), chaired by President Aquino and led by three Commissioners, recently issued Commission Resolution No. 2016-001, which mandates the agency to lead an "urgent and comprehensive" review of the government's energy policy within the next six months and conduct "a national policy review and framework development on energy, through a whole-of-nation approach, in accordance with a low carbon development pathway and national goals and targets for climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development." The Philippines has been taking an active role in addressing climate change as it is among those that acutely feel its effects, which include extreme weather patterns. Legarda noted that in the past five years, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources granted at least 21 coal-fired power plants an Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC). "I am optimistic that with the CCC Resolution, stricter standards will be followed in the issuance of ECCs for plants, which should include the measurement of their GHG emissions and impacts on health and the environment," she stressed. "The Philippines is contradicting itself when it says it wants a strong agreement in climate change yet is allowing the proliferation of new coal power plants. Effectively, by such proliferation we are contributing to our own destruction and we lose the high moral ground as we call on other parties to reduce emissions," Legarda concluded. Villar hails signing of law against agricultural smuggling Sen. Cynthia Villar hailed the signing into law of the bill imposing stiffer penalties against the smuggling of agricultural products. Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food and principal sponsor of the bill, said the law boosted the campaign against smuggling which continues to threaten the livelihood of farmers as well as the food security in the country. Republic Act No. 10845 or the act declaring large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage was signed into law by President Aquino last May 23. "With this measure now enacted, we have a better shot at curbing the perennial problem of smuggling in the agriculture sector. Harsher penalties are now imposed to serve as deterrent to smuggling activities," Villar said. The Nacionalista Party senator also expressed optimism that the process of prosecution will largely improve with smuggling now a non-bailable charge. Under the law, the amount of smuggled agricultural product subject to economic sabotage is equal or more than P10 million for rice, and equal or more than P1 million for other agricultural products such as sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish, and cruciferous vegetables. Violators will face a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of twice the fair value of the smuggled agricultural product and the aggregate amount of the taxes, duties and other charges avoided. "Economic saboteurs deserve to be severely punished under this new law. They threaten the livelihood of small and subsistence farmers because the presence of smuggled products unjustly lowers market price, making it almost impossible for locally-produced goods to compete," she added. Villar also authored seven other bills on agriculture signed recently by the president; namely, RA 10848 (Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund extension act), RA 10817 (Halal Act), RA 10816 (Farm Tourism Act), RA 10825 (Marine hatchery in Surigao City and Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte), RA 10826 (Marine nursery in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat), RA 10813 (Multi-species freshwater hatchery in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte), and RA 10787 (Marine hatchery in Lingig, Surigao del Sur). California kids will get one of the most rounded educations on sex and sexuality in the country under new legislation that advocates called a victory in providing information that could prevent disease and teen pregnancy as well as sex-based violence and prejudice. The new mandate ensures that public school students get a comprehensive sex education, offered at least once in middle school and once again in high school. That means teaching about condoms and emergency contraception, abstinence and abortion, sexual consent, gender identity and sexual orientation. Under the measure signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week, individual parents can opt out, but schools cannot. I think this new law really vaults California into a leadership role nationally on this issue, particularly in terms of the content related to LGBTQ youth and needing to affirmatively address gender identity and sexual orientation, said Phyllida Burlingame, reproductive justice policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of California, which co-sponsored the legislation. California school districts have been required to offer curriculum on HIV/AIDS prevention, but sex education was optional. While most districts chose to offer it, the content and the topics covered varied widely, with some avoiding contraceptives in favor of abstinence or avoiding sexual orientation or gender identity entirely. The new law was backed by a list of education leaders and community groups as well as the state PTA, Burlingame said. This is something that educators in California really felt they needed, she said. Its in the interest of local education agencies to have a clearer, stronger law at the state level. Nathaniel Y. Downes/The Chronicle Some districts ahead The law kicks in Jan. 1, and while some districts will have to create sex education and HIV/AIDS prevention courses or revamp the ones they have now officials in San Francisco and Oakland said theyre already in compliance. Oakland, for example, offers a weeklong sex education course in ninth-grade English and science classes in the spring. The classes include physiological and anatomical information as well as practical knowledge like condom demonstrations, in addition to conversations about sexual consent, values and norms and healthy relationships, said Ilsa Bertolini, program manager for the districts HIV/STD prevention program. Were teaching all of our students to communicate all of their needs effectively to become consenting, healthy adults, she said. I think it gives the students a chance to talk about what they read and hear and see. Parent Miranda Martin has a fifth-grader in San Francisco schools and believes her daughter should get not only the ABCs in schools, but information on sex and sexual health as well. I kind of think the more the better, as long as its in the right environment, she said, adding that she believes schools are a safe and supportive place for those conversations. You have no idea what theyre being exposed to out of school. California sees 5,000 new HIV infections each year, a statistic linked to high rates of sexually transmitted diseases. The gonorrhea rate for teenagers 15 to 19 is 185.2 per 100,000 in the state, but is much higher for African Americans and black females in particular, who have a rate of 1,397.5 per 100,000. Nathaniel Y. Downes/The Chronicle Our schools are a critical environment for providing young people with the knowledge and skills that they will need to protect their sexual health, said the bills author, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego. This is about empowering all young men and women whatever their orientation or gender to make the healthiest decisions possible. Still, sex education is always a touchy topic, and the Bay Area has seen its share of controversy. In Fremont last year, parents protested when the district adopted a health textbook that they considered too sexually explicit, with its diagrams of male and female sexual organs in various stages of arousal. The school board backed off the book. Alameda protest Nathaniel Y. Downes/The Chronicle In 2009, many parents in Alameda were outraged and some sued after the district sought to reduce bullying with 45 minutes of yearly instruction on differences in families and other topics related to sexual orientation. The second-grade lesson included a story about two male penguins adopting an egg and raising the chick. The district eventually broadened the curriculum to include gender, religion, race and other issues that may be associated with bullying. The law signed by the governor Thursday emphasizes that schools must affirmatively recognize that people have different sexual orientations and, when discussing or providing examples of relationships and couples, shall be inclusive of same-sex relationships. This legislation ensures that all students have access to medically accurate and unbiased sexual health education, said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. By affirmatively recognizing that people have different sexual orientations and teaching pupils about gender identity, LGBTQ youth will be safer in school. New laws critics The Legislature passed the measure in late September, largely along party lines, and the governor signed it with little fanfare. But some critics saw politics infringing on education. School districts now have no choice based on their own community attitudes whether sex education is appropriate and the degree of sex ed is appropriate, said Brad Dacus, an attorney and president with the Pacific Justice Institute, which focuses on cases related to religious freedom and parental rights. The law requires districts to communicate how successfully treated HIV-positive people can have a normal life expectancy, which offers a positive spin on AIDS, Dacus said. At no time should political agendas shortchange a straightforward and truthful education, he said. The controversial provisions, without question, make this legislation a huge mistake for the health and safety and balanced truth that is needed for students in our public schools. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker A rare coral species never seen before is growing in the water of the deep, cold Pacific a few miles offshore from the Sonoma County coast. Unlike the corals that form spectacular reefs in the shallow waters of tropical oceans, the bone-white animal that biologist Gary Williams discovered is a solitary creature barely 15 inches tall, with a thousand mouths that feed on microscopic plankton borne by the current flowing past its whip-like stalk. It is one of more than 5,000 coral species that thrive in the oceans from Alaska to Antarctica and that come in all kinds of colors from vivid blue and green to yellow, orange and various shades of pink and red. Williams, of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, found the new species in a rocky area of the sea floor about 30 miles west of Jenner in what is now the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The new coral is flourishing amid an abundance of other animals that include starfish, sea worms, snails, sponges, sea cucumbers, crabs, nurseries of catsharks and skates, and at least 34 varieties of other fish. 1,000-plus species The coral was growing in an area of the sanctuary called the Rittenberg Bank. Among its relatives there and in the nearby Cochrane Bank are more than 1,000 other coral species with names well known to hobbyists with home aquariums: pink lace, cluster cup, Christmas tree, cockscomb, bubblegum, sea pens, sea fans and red whips. There was also a black coral, a bushy creature with a branching skeleton often used for jewelry and whose California species is normally found far to the south. This is the farthest north it has ever been encountered, Williams said. The hard corals that build reefs near the surface are in increasing danger now from the warming oceans and their increasing acidity, Williams said, but up to now we havent found evidence that these soft corals ... in deeper water have been affected. But the oceans a big place, its currents and sea temperatures vary, and we cant tell when theyll be threatened too. Williams said he is concerned that most people believe all corals in the world build reefs. But the reef builders comprise only 15 percent of the estimated 5,350 coral species worldwide, he said. Coral hunter Williams, the academys curator of invertebrate zoology, is one of the worlds leading coral experts. He is credited with discovering more than 100 coral species around the world, and found his most recent one during a survey of the Farallones sanctuary aboard the R/V Fulmar, a research vessel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He and his NOAA colleague, marine ecologist Peter Etnoyer, used the Fulmar to observe and sample the abundant life below. The ship carried a small, deep-diving unmanned ROV remotely operated vehicle that photographed the environment and collected key examples. Handout photo/NOAA We were cruising along above the bottom, Williams recalled recently, and the ROV was down there sending up video and images from about 600 feet deep, and I spotted this thing and said, Whats that? Ive never seen anything like that before! Can we collect it? Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The strange white, whip-like object was standing almost straight up, anchored to a roughly wrinkled rock by its holdfast, with countless tiny pink and white brittle stars on its trunk. The brittle stars were competing for food with the corals hungry polyps, whose tentacles were gathering detritus carried in by the ocean current flowing down the coast from Point Arena in Mendocino County, about 60 miles north. Other coral of the new species were flourishing nearby. Named for its home The Fulmars crew used the ROV to snag the unknown coral and bring it to the surface, where Williams preserved his discovery in alcohol before carrying it back to his laboratory at the academy. After months studying every detail of its body and comparing it with details of all the 200 other species in the group called Swiftia, he determined it was an entirely new species of gorgonian octocoral. He named it Swiftia farallonesica in honor of its home in the sanctuary and has published its description in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. David Perlman is The San Francisco Chronicles science editor. Email: dperlman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: daveperlman Two Central Valley irrigation agencies slapped with unprecedented penalties last year during the states drought-related crackdown on illegal water users are likely to see their cases dropped. In a dispute that has been closely watched by Californias farmers and water managers, the State Water Resources Control Board moved to dismiss its complaints that the Tracy-area irrigation districts were taking river water illegally. The agency acknowledged there was insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing. The cases were widely viewed as a test of the states power to regulate longtime water rights holders. Last year, Californias historic drought prompted state regulators to enact sweeping restrictions on pumping river water. The restrictions limited access even for those with water rights dating to 1914 and earlier known as senior water rights and long considered ironclad. The Byron Bethany Irrigation District, which serves about 160 farms and the 15,000-person community of Mountain House, faced a $1.5 million fine for pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta after state regulators told it to stop. The nearby West Side Irrigation District, which provides about 45 growers with delta water, faced potential $10,000-a-day fines for the same reason. The Byron Bethany district holds senior water rights on the southern end of the delta. The West Side district has slightly newer water rights on the deltas Old River. Both challenged the states complaints against them, maintaining that they were entitled to take the water that the state accused them of stealing. Byron Bethany also argued that the state didnt have the authority to regulate pre-1914 water rights. The water board held hearings in March in which state regulators and the water districts presented their arguments. Members of the agencys governing board serve as the decision maker. In proposing Thursday to drop the cases, water board regulators acknowledged that they had used flawed methods to measure water draws and had failed to prove the districts did anything wrong. At the same time, however, state officials stood by their power to govern senior water rights. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. We conclude that the board has the authority to take enforcement action against the unauthorized diversion of water under claim of a pre-1914 water right, state regulators wrote in a proposed decision to drop the case, which will be taken up by the five-member governing board June 7. Byron Bethany officials, however, portrayed the proposal to drop the complaint as a validation of its claim on delta water. This day is a long time coming, district officials said in a statement. We maintained all along that we were legally exercising our pre-1914 senior water right. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: kurtisalexander San Franciscos first fashionable neighborhood was not Pacific Heights, Presidio Heights or Nob Hill. Rather, it was a onetime South of Market landmark that barely exists today Rincon Hill. Residents of Yerba Buena, the Mexican-era town that preceded San Francisco, used Rincon Hill as a bucolic escape. Unlike most of the citys sandy terrain, it was a wooded promontory covered with shrubbery and small oak trees, and it had a beautiful view of the bay. The first great party held in the city, a Fourth of July celebration in 1836, took place there. In Sixty Years in California, William Heath Davis recalls hunting deer on the south side of the hill in the early 1840s. The fact that it was covered with poison oak does not seem to have detracted from its charms. According to the 1853 classic The Annals of San Francisco, the first structure on Rincon Hill was an Indian-rubber tent erected in November 1849 by one of the books three authors, John H. Gihon. At the time, the Annals notes, there were only a few buildings between Rincon and California Street, and steep sand hills came down to the bay along most of the route, which rendered it necessary for the pedestrian, when the tide was in, to wade up to his waist in water in passing from the city to the point, he being compelled to follow the line of the beach. Sprouting mansions Later, squatters occupied part of Rincon Hill and had to be removed by a contingent of 20 soldiers from the Presidio, who destroyed their shanties. The shacks were about to be replaced with mansions. As Albert Shumate writes in Rincon Hill and South Park: San Franciscos Early Fashionable Neighborhood, wealthy pioneers began building large homes atop the hill in the early 1850s. Among the prominent citizens who eventually erected estates were bankers Edward Church and Peder Sather after whom UC Berkeleys Sather Gate is named and industrialist and future Mayor Thomas Selby, whose 200-foot-high shot tower on Howard Street, used for smelting bullets, was the most prominent landmark in town for years. Associated Press Union Iron Works founder Peter Donahue built a 40-room mansion at Bryant and Second streets. A number of writers also lived on Rincon Hill, including Bret Harte, Charles Warren Stoddard and Henry George. In addition to the imposing domiciles, the area became the center of San Franciscos hospitals. One of the largest buildings in the young city, the U.S. Marine Hospital, was built in 1853 at Harrison Street between Main and Beale, on the site of Gihons old rubber tent. The German Hospital later to become Ralph K. Davies Medical Center and the French, Italian and Swiss hospitals were all located a few blocks away. Meanwhile, a few vestiges of the old days hung on including a Chinese fishing village with about 150 inhabitants on South Beach, on the south side of the hill. By 1868, however, all of South Beach had been filled in and the village had disappeared. Changing the land Rincon Hill was soon joined as an exclusive neighborhood by adjoining South Park, an English-style oval. But their moment in the social-register sun was brief. They died not the death of a thousand cuts but of one: the Second Street cut. From the citys birth, many citizens had dreamed of leveling its hills, which they believed stood in the way of progress. In 1853, the citys civil engineer, Milo Hoadley, submitted a plan calling for the leveling of Telegraph and other hills, an idea that alarmed the landowners who lived there. A special three-member board decided Hoadleys plan would be too expensive, but it did order some streets to be graded. The ensuing grading left some buildings standing at the edge of sheer 15-foot drops, but that did not faze John Middleton, a pillar of the community who was a member of almost every civic committee. After being elected to the state Legislature in 1867, Middleton introduced a bill to cut down Second Street, which ran through the middle of Rincon Hill. His reasoning was that flattening Second Street would make it possible for heavy teams of horses to access the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. wharves, located south of the hill at the end of Brannan Street, and make the southern end of Second a valuable commercial route. Middleton proposed to lower the crest of the hill, at Harrison, by 87 feet, and build a bridge across the chasm. Both houses passed the bill and it became law in March 1868. Some San Franciscans were appalled. The Alta newspaper warned that the cut would leave the houses of the powerful teetering on the brink of a precipice. May we never have to write their epitaphs, How have the mighty fallen. Improvement march But many supported it in the name of progress. A piece in the Alta reflected the widespread view that a few influential people should not stop the march of improvement. The Alta itself came around: It predicted that all the land in the neighborhood would be of added value and gushed, We have done more in a score of years in changing the topography of the city than Venice did in five centuries or Amsterdam in two, and those cities, like ours, were built up partly in defiance of nature. The cut, an enormous undertaking that cost $380,000 and required 250 teams and 500 men, proved to be a complete disaster. As predicted, elegant houses were left exposed on the edge of sheer cliffs. The cuts steep banks slid down during the rainy season. Far from increasing, property values in the area collapsed. And the wealthy on the once-elegant, now-bisected hill began leaving. After Nob Hill was made accessible in 1873 by Andrew Hallidies cable car, high society began moving there. In 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson called Rincon Hill a new slum, a place of precarious sandy cliffs, deep sandy cuttings, solitary ancient houses and butt ends of streets. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Racist hoodlums The Second Street cut became the haunt of racist hoodlums who would hurl rocks at Chinese immigrants traveling to Chinatown from the Pacific Mail wharves a brutal pastime they called rocking the Chinks. The cut became known as Apache Pass. Today, the western end of the Bay Bridge rests atop what little is left of what was once the most exclusive neighborhood in San Francisco. Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco, awarded the 2013 Northern California Book Award in creative nonfiction. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: metro@sfchronicle.com Trivia time Previous trivia question: What esteemed San Mateo organization was found to own one of the areas largest warehouses of bootlegged liquor? Answer: The San Mateo Chamber of Commerce. This weeks trivia question: What famous San Franciscan was known as the Generous Miser? Editors note Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Gary Kamiyas Portals of the Past tells those lost stories, using a specific location to illuminate San Franciscos extraordinary history from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond. His column appears every other Saturday, alternating with Peter Hartlaubs OurSF. This is the best time of the year. It is a time for high school proms, for pomp and circumstance, for new beginnings. We went to a commencement at the University of San Francisco the other day, and you could almost feel the optimism in the air. Commencement is an old rite, full of color and tradition. Springtime in the dour groves of academe. As is customary, at the peak of the ceremony, each new graduate is called by name. Their family and friends clap and yell for them on their short walk to get their diploma a brilliant 30 seconds of fame. Happy chaos Afterward, on the lawn, a scene of happy chaos. One big family surrounded the new college graduate and heaved him up in the air, cap and gown and diploma flying. And why not? The whole world lay ahead. And now summer is ahead, stretching endlessly until Labor Day, months from now. Up at Lake Tahoe and in the High Sierra, the snow of winter is melting and the meadows are full of wildflowers. Summer is a time of long days and perhaps a surprise around the corner. Summertime in the city is like that, too, and even a mundane trip to the grocery store can produce a surprise. On the day after the USF commencement, we took a ride to the Diamond Heights shopping center. Ill walk home, I told my faithful companion. She was dubious. 1 park leads to another But I set out, and only a few steps from the shopping center was Christopher Park, a wide expanse of lawn, with benches, ringed by trees. There was a path leading down, and just then, only five minutes from the shopping center, I was in Glen Canyon Park, a bit of wild country in the middle of the city. A small treasure, only 70 acres. A trail led down and forked off to the right, to an outcropping of red rock. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle The trail sign said this was the Coyote Crags. Coyote Crags? I must have been in Glen Park a hundred times and never heard of the Coyote Crags. Theyve been there for thousands of years, too. You learn something every day. A little farther, along the headwaters of Islais Creek, where the little stream is lined with arroyo willows and seep monkey flowers, and is the home of damsel flies. Its a pretty little world in the canyon. Not far away, another path, this one called the Gum Tree Girls Trail. Again a surprise. I had never heard of the Gum Tree Girls. It turns out, they were three women Geraldine Arkush, Zoanne Nordstrom and Joan Seiwald who lived in the Glen Park neighborhood. Back in the 60s, the city and the state of California had great plans to solve San Franciscos traffic problems. Lots of freeways were the answer. One of them was proposed to connect Interstate 280 with the western part of the city. It would run through part of Glen Canyon and tunnel under Twin Peaks. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. These neighborhood women got wind of the plan. So they protested, they spoke against the idea of a freeway in Glen Canyon Park. They spoke in favor of the eucalyptus trees blue gum trees and the little creek. It was classic Not in My Backyard San Francisco activism. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle Neighborhood victory In the eyes of the establishment, they stood in the way of progress and a splendid new freeway. Who were they to argue with people who knew better? Clifford Geertz, a city engineer, didnt think much of these pesky women. He called them the Gum Tree Girls. The name stuck, the neighbors won, and the freeway was never built. Now we have a park with a tiny creek ringed by Coyote Crags and a trail named for the Gum Tree Girls. At high school and college commencements in this optimistic time of the year, speakers will tell the new graduates about how they really can make a difference. Some people, marked by the scars that life gives everyone, will smile when they hear that. Life is tougher than you think, theyll say to themselves. Youll see. Its true, but a summertime walk in a pretty little San Francisco park on the Gum Tree Girls Trail will show that sometimes good things can happen. Thats the best surprise of all. Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His column appears every Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: carlnoltesf When Ed Lee completes his second term in 2020, hell become San Franciscos second-longest-serving mayor in more than 70 years. It may seem hard to imagine that people will one day speak of the Ed Lee era, but after nine years in office, thats what it will be. Hes a bit of an odd fit for San Francisco, which generally likes its mayors to be larger than life. You could say that at a diminutive 5 feet, 5 inches, Lee is easy to overlook. Hes not a futuristic orator like former Mayor Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, or wily and quotable like Chronicle columnist and ex-Mayor Willie Brown. Even Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is no ones first choice for a sound bite, seems to have more dash and verve. (Feinstein, who became mayor after the assassination of George Moscone in November 1978, is the longest-serving mayor since Angelo Rossi, who served three terms beginning in 1931.) Lee, to his staffs annoyance, is rarely quoted at length in media accounts. But in all fairness, were trying. You could say his comments are strictly vanilla, but thats unfair to vanilla. His public speeches invariably begin with How bout those Giants/Warriors/49ers? and tail off into eye-glazing statistics and platitudes. He isnt helped by a penchant for malaprops, like the time at a Warriors tip-off luncheon when he reminded fans that they could pick up a bobby-head doll. And yet, here he is, the once and future mayor. He gets criticism from every side. Critics wave low approval ratings in his face, and when he was introduced by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a rally here this week, there were boos and catcalls. Awkward. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Lance Iversen/The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Show More Show Less But to those folks we ask: OK, whos your alternative? Lee won the 2011 election by more than 10 percentage points over Supervisor John Avalos. Last year, for all the grousing about his leadership, opponents couldnt even muster a credible challenger, and he won with 55 percent of the vote. His nearest challenger had just 15 percent. And even then, the progressives muttered that since it was such a weak field he should have won by more. And, they added, it was a low turnout election. Its the ultimate no-win situation. Economic surge It all points to a difficult truth. You dont really steer San Francisco as mayor, you get aboard, hang on for dear life and wait to see what happens. In Lees case, what has happened is an economic boom. Ten thousand people are coming to San Francisco each year, the tourism industry is pulling in $10 billion a year and the unemployment rate is 3.1 percent, according to the California Employment Development Department. So you had a no-drama mayor in office during an economic surge. Thats a formula for re-election, and, sure enough, thats what happened. Now for the hard part. Second terms are always tough, but Lee has a weird political jujitsu going on. Even his successes are turning on him a bit. For instance, one of his hallmark initiatives was to give a hefty tax break to businesses that relocated in the blighted Mid-Market neighborhood. The Twitter tax break is revitalizing the seedy stretch of the citys signature boulevard as tech companies move in with their trendy employees. But now were hearing that some of those same companies are finding it hard to hire and keep employees because of the citys famously expensive housing costs. Retail stores and restaurants are having the same problem finding salespeople and wait staff. Lee and nearly everyone else in City Hall are furiously producing plans to create more affordable housing, but after years of the city fighting any development, were way behind the building curve. This will take years, and the frustration will only grow. And then and stop me if youve heard this one theres homelessness. Every mayor for the past 40 years has battled this issue, and the story is always the same: Its a huge unwieldy problem, and no one seems to have a good answer. Focused on solutions Its fair to say Lee has it worse than previous mayors. First because the homeless population is growing steadily and discouragingly across the country, and second because the highly visible tent cities have become a symbol for his ineffectiveness. But boo if you want, I still think Easy Ed is a good choice to take this on. Hes not going to grandstand or get into a political spitting match. Hes a genuinely nice guy whose staff likes and respects him. He may not solve homeless camping on sidewalks or the need for affordable housing, but hes focused on the right problems and working for solutions. The other factor is now he has a worthy adversary. Savvy Supervisor Aaron Peskin is perfectly placed for a mayoral run after Lees term ends, and hes already doing a nice job of positioning himself supporting Lee on some issues, opposing him on others. Watching this play out will be fascinating. And when was the last time someone said that about Ed Lee? C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: cwnevius One advantage Hillary Clinton has over Bernie Sanders in the upcoming California presidential primary is that her voters know how to vote. Let me explain. Clintons people are longtime registered Democrats. The ones who vote by mail and thats most of them these days automatically get a Democratic presidential primary ballot in their packets. Many of the Sanders supporters who are driving up his poll numbers are young, first-time voters. Many registered as no party preference, or decline to state. Decline-to-state voters dont automatically receive a presidential primary ballot in their packets. They have to submit a mailed application to their county elections office to get one, and that application has to be delivered by Tuesday. The ones who miss the deadline can still go down to their polling place on election day and vote in the Democratic presidential primary, but theyll have to specifically request a Democratic ballot. All these little hurdles could make a big difference in the final count. As for Clinton backing out of debating Sanders before the primary: Why should she debate? She is running for president of the United States, not president of the progressive society. Besides, Hillary has more important things to worry about. Like picking a running mate. My suggestion: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Her consumer protection credentials could help bring young Sanders voters into the fold. She could also ignite excitement on the Democratic side in a Clinton vs. Donald Trump contest. It would be the skirts versus the suits assuming Trump doesnt pick a woman as well. And that would be quite a matchup. The folks at Pets Are Wonderful Support PAWS had their annual gala at the Fairmont Hotels grand ballroom the other night. And I have to say, in many cases the pups were better dressed than their dates. As part of the program, the group honored Wilkes Bashford, who was a founding member. And they did him proud. Everyone has a favorite dog story. Heres mine. A while back, my daughter Susan went to the rescue shelter and got a dog. She named it Talulah. Well, from day one Talulah was a complete handful. She wouldnt listen to anyone. Then one week Susan had to go to Napa for a couple of days, so she asked a friend to watch Talulah. The friend knew Talulah was rambunctious, but she agreed anyway. When my daughter got back, her friend said Talulah had indeed been out of control. The friend had gotten so frustrated that she started speaking Spanish, her native language, to the dog. Suddenly, Talulah was following commands like a pro. It turned out her previous owner had trained her in Spanish. So Susan learned a few Spanish phrases, and now everything is muy bueno. The new Apple Store on Union Square is well worth the walk up Stockton Street for a look. Considering the crowds, you might not be able to get in, but the streetscape is something to see. The little plazas new steps finally match the surrounding buildings. The Ruth Asawa fountain has been cleaned up, so you can actually see the intricate inlaid images of San Francisco. Of course, the plaza area includes a living wall of plants, which seems to come with every new building in the city these days. The adjacent Hyatt Hotel has gotten into the act as well, installing speakers in its sidewalk planters so you can enjoy music as you walk by. Movie time: If you feel like taking a fun ride in a time machine, check out The Nice Guys. Its a buddy movie set in Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Ryan Gosling plays an in-over-his-head private detective and Russell Crowe is an overweight enforcer. The plot revolves around a daughter getting revenge on her crooked mother. But the real kick is seeing how badly we dressed back then. Can you really believe we thought it was hip to wear Hawaiian shirts under blazers? Can you believe some people still do? Im happy to report that cafe society is back on Nob Hill. The Big 4 restaurant is packed, as are the bars at the Fairmont and at the Top of the Mark, where Ricardo Scales holds court at the piano for hordes of happy tourists. The best part is you can listen to the music and hear yourself think at the same time. I was waiting to cross at the gridlocked corner of Third and Mission the other day when I spied a young traffic control officer standing on the curb as cars repeatedly blocked the intersection. Arent you supposed to be keeping these cars from pulling in and blocking everyone? I asked. Yeah, thats what they said when they sent me down here, he said. Well, why arent you doing it? He turned, looked at me and said, I dont know how. I havent been trained in that yet. Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com Sara Weinberg, 27, used to spend a lot of time glued to her iPhone 6. She placed the smartphone next to her pillow and woke up to the sound of its alarm. After a day of scanning the phone for emails and texts, her nightly ritual was reading Facebook on its bright screen, then listening to a podcast before dozing off. It was kind of like my buddy, especially when I was bored, Weinberg said. But last year, Weinberg decided to cut the cord on the Internet for four days. The Los Angeles resident paid about $500 to register for Camp Grounded, a summer camp for adults in Mendocino. The venue bans digital devices, drugs, alcohol and business conversations. Campers like Weinberg ditch their real names and adopt camp nicknames like Mochi. Then comes the real challenge relearning how to chat up strangers and make connections without hiding behind a screen. This summer, more than 2,000 people, many of them employees of the Bay Areas tech giants and startups, will participate in six Camp Grounded events in California, New York, North Carolina and Texas as a way to reconnect with fellow human beings without a laptop, smartphone or Apple Watch. Campers get to know each other through activities like yoga, songwriting workshops, archery, nighttime singalongs and performances. Organizers say that structured events like these give people time to truly disconnect from the Internet and focus on whats happening in front of them. At night, they sleep in bunk beds no screens allowed. Tim Hussin/Special to The Chronicle A lot of technology is made to make life easier, but you reach a tipping point where life becomes so convenient that you arent challenged in a way that makes you grow, said Brady Gill, camp director for Camp Grounded. Its particularly prevalent in the tech sector, where free meals and laundry service become chains of convenience that keep people locked to their desks. Ordering food by pressing a few buttons on an app doesnt exactly encourage people to be social either, Gill said. Less than a decade into the smartphone era, other efforts to get people to log off have surfaced. A San Francisco school challenged students to stop using devices for three days. In February, an Analog Dating Night banned smartphones. Any swiping left or right came as minglers squeezed past each other among the trucks at SoMa Streat Food Park. The idea for Camp Grounded came after the success of smaller off-the-grid retreats organized by Digital Detox, an organization founded by Levi Felix and his fiance, Brooke Dean. Felix wondered what the retreats would be like if they had even more people. He Googled summer camp for adults. When he didnt see any results, his group held the first Camp Grounded in 2013 in Mendocino, Felix said. The $700 four-day event, originally intended to be a one-time thing, has become quite popular. Some sessions sell out. This year, organizers offered a low-income sliding scale for payment, with the cheapest package at $385. When Weinberg told some friends that she was attending Camp Grounded and wouldnt be able to respond to their messages right away, some called her brave because they wouldnt do it themselves. After a long bus ride from San Francisco to Mendocino, she turned in her iPhone 6. Mochi, her camp nickname, was born. Without a phone to show a funny YouTube video, conversations quickly ran deep. Weinberg bonded with a woman who was also experiencing turmoil at her workplace, and shortly after Weinberg came home from camp, she left her job at marketing agency Midnight Oil and joined BuzzFeed as a client services manager, where she no longer responds to work email after 6 p.m. She also tries to do things more in person, less through messaging. If she needs to talk to people at work, shell walk over to their desks. This weekend will be Weinbergs third time at Camp Grounded. The first time, she experienced phantom phone pain when she saw a group of campers make a human pyramid and wanted to digitally capture the moment. Then, she thought, instead of Instagramming the moment, she could intragram it look at the image with her eyes for 10 seconds so she could remember it. Youll form a much stronger memory, instead of snapping something on your phone, Weinberg said. Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: thewendylee This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The bullying, DaNille Lemon said, was unrelenting. Some kids teased her for being light-skinned, while others called her the N-word. The taunts piled up, a daily load the San Francisco girl carried through elementary school and then middle school. She couldnt bring herself to tell anyone and was too shy to stand up for herself. She simply wished for a space at school where bullying was banned a safe corner to sit in, a small refuge from the cruel words. At Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School this week, DaNille sat on a small red couch inside a 10-foot-square area along the wall of the cafeteria. Tables are placed around the couch, and the space is outlined by blue tape on the floor. This, the eighth-grader said, is that safe place. DaNille created the space this school year not for herself, but for the younger students she saw going through the same onslaught of bullying she faced. And for that, the 14-year-old will be awarded a city Peacemaker Award from a nonprofit group that specializes in mediation efforts. In the six years the group has been handing out the awards, shes the youngest recipient. DaNille calls the taped-off area the No Flex Zone. Flexing, she explained, means showing off or trying to look cool. In other words, no flexing means you cant be a jerk or a bully to someone inside the zone. I would see the eighth-graders pushing and shoving the little sixth- and seventh-graders, DaNille said. I felt it was my job to help our school become a better place. And honestly, she said, she was just fed up with the taunting and teasing. I saw it everywhere. You cant go anywhere without getting bullied, DaNille said. I saw that for myself and I saw it for other people. Originally a class project She had been bullied for so long that she felt the anger welling up and the need to fight back like the Incredible Hulk, basically, she said, a smile pushing through her shyness. DaNille created the safe space as a project for her peer resources class, an elective course that teaches leadership and advocacy skills. I think the No. 1 thing about her is determination, said DaNilles peer resources teacher, Tamar Sberlo. When youre trying to change the environment youre in, you need to be a visionary to see what doesnt exist and then be determined to create your vision. The school is thinking of adding no-bullying zones to other places on the Portola neighborhood campus. Despite the best efforts of teachers and staff at any school, bullying can be pervasive. Having a place advertised as harassment-free reminds students to stop and think, school officials said. The No Flex Zone gave DaNille and other students the authority to stand up to bullies, and staff backed them up, she said. And she never expected to win anything for her efforts. Just want to make my mark The Peacemaker Awards, presented by Community Boards, honor people working on conflict resolution and mediation, the focus of the nonprofit organization. DaNille will receive the Gail Sadalla Rising Peacemaker Award, recognizing those young people between the ages of 12 and 24, but typically given to a high school senior. DaNille exemplifies what it means to be a peacemaker. Im sure no one wants to see bullying in any place, said Marynoel Strope, spokeswoman for Community Boards. But it seems to me it would be comforting for students to see (a safe space) at school. This fall, DaNille will be a freshman at Burton High. I really just want to make my mark, to do something important, she said. The old me wouldnt ever be seen doing this. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: jilltucker It all started with a late-night snack. Or really, if were being specific, two Cornish hens. Feeling hungry during a brainstorming session, tech veterans Matt Van Horn and Nikhil Bhogal decided to tackle a cooking project. When Van Horns wife came home to find the two birds roasting in the oven, she was confused. She said, What are you guys doing? Arent you supposed to be working on your idea? recalls Van Horn, who had met Bhogal while working at Path, a social networking-enabled photo-sharing and messenger service similar to Instagram. Now the two were looking to start their own company. Van Horn had worked on the business end; Bhogal, who had previously been at Apple and had his name on a few photo patents, was the engineer. Neither of them had any experience in the food sphere. But something clicked. We looked around the kitchen and said, Why hasnt this changed in such a long time? says Van Horn. The two lamented the fact that the oven was essentially a dark box that left its owner wondering what was happening inside; that stove-top cooking required so much hovering; and that the microwave though smart in theory produced such unappealing, soggy food. That was three years ago. Since then, Van Horn and Bhogal have developed the June Intelligent Oven, a smart countertop device that helps bring the kitchen into the tech age. Alongside them, an industry has moved forward to build the connected kitchen, the latest evolution in the world of smart devices. Connected Kitchen X Sure, they're all "smart." But are they really? And better yet, are they useful? We check out a selection of connected devices. Click on each item to judge for yourself. Anova sous vide machine X Smart sous vide machine with WIFI, which lets users control the device from another location. Price: $199 Ball Freshtech Jam and Jelly Maker X Automatic jam and jelly maker. Heats and stirs the jam for you so you can observe through the glass top. Price: $79 Biem Butter Sprayer X Takes a stick of solid butter and turns it into a liquid for you to spray. Price: $100 Chime X Like a smart coffee machine but for chai. Allows you to select how you want it and brews accordingly. Price: $399 Drop Scale X Smart scale that connects to recipes, measures ingredients and scales accordingly. Price: $100 Flatev X Individual tortilla press. Dough is held in pods. Push a button, tortilla is pressed, cooked and released. Price: $437 Hapifork X Tracks your eating habits, even alerting you if you're eating too quickly. Price: $100 iGrill X Bluetooth thermometer that allows you to walk away from your grill. Price: $25-100 iSommelier X Reduces decanting time from hours to minutes by filtering and purifying ambient air, infusing wine with oxygen, and controlling temperature of the wine. Price: $1,699 Juicero X Fresh-pressed juice at the touch of a button. Chopped produce comes in a pouch that you attach to the machine, which cold-presses it. Price: $700 June Intelligent Oven X A smart oven that recognizes your food, tells you how it should be cooked, and allows you to watch and manage the process from your phone. Price: $1,495 Pantelligent X Smart pan that has computer in the handle. Attached app tells user exactly when to do each step, whether heat is too low or high, etc. Price: $199 Philips Smart Pasta machine X Mixes and weighs dough and produces fresh pasta. Price: $349 Picobrew X Allows you to brew craft beer at home. Price: $999 Smartplate X Tracks and analyzes everything you eat and automatically enters data into your phone. Price: $149 Somabar X Robotic bartender that allows you to create mixed drinks. Price: $429 Teforia tea maker X Automated tea infuser that changes brewing specs based on different types of tea. Price: $1,299 Such developments are no surprise, as the food and tech industries continue to collide at an astounding pace. Silicon Valley experts are putting their technological know-how where their mouths are, confident that home cooks are in need of devices that will do the actual cooking, brewing or infusing for them or, at the very least, make the process a little easier. There are WiFi-enabled devices with companion apps that allow you to cook remotely. There are Keurig-inspired, highly engineered one-touch appliances think smart juice presses, tea machines and even a robot-like machine that spits fully cooked tortillas out of its mouth. And there are those devices that will be virtual teachers, like intelligent pans and, of course, the June, which recognizes the food put inside and helps the cook carry it to an ideal state of doneness. These new toys are meant to drive people back into the kitchen, offering a technological show alongside the ability to produce something edible. These new devices, suddenly ubiquitous, make the Jetsons Rosie once a robot extraordinaire seem downright archaic. There are a few trends driving this, says Michael Wolf, the founder and chief analyst of NextMarket Insight, who advises companies on smart home devices. Theres an interest to cook more at home, to understand where food is coming from, to get away from processed food, he says. Plus, he explains, the science is becoming more accessible. There have been real advancements in censor technology and core cooking technology and software technology, says Wolf, adding that traditional kitchen appliances are getting a makeover, too. Smart refrigerators, stoves and even slow cookers, which have been around forever, are being remade with new technologies. Wolf says all of these appliances will eventually do more interesting things, like remote shutoff. Adam Blank, vice president of merchandising at Williams-Sonoma, is seeing more connected devices in the marketplace, and he plans to add to the assortment at his stores. He admits that when selecting products, hes more inclined to get behind a product if the smart feature adds a benefit to customers lives at home hes especially fond of the Philips Smart Pasta Maker, which does everything from weighing the ingredients to kneading the dough before producing fresh pasta. Its definitely a game-changer for customers who want to re-create authentic pasta dishes that they typically enjoy at restaurants, Blank says. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle Many of these smart toys seem beneficial and necessary, while others like the fork that tells you to slow down or the $150 plate with cameras embedded to recognize and track your food seem, well, not. The fastest-growing category in the connected kitchen stems from what one might call the Keurig effect, in which one-touch machines rely on single-use pods to supply any number of beverages (or in the case of the Flatev, tortillas). Keurig pioneered the one-touch machine for coffee as early as 1998; others have followed suit. Its what Gaurav Chawla and Samip Bhavsar, two guys with backgrounds in business and tech, are doing with their Chime chai machine; what Allen Han, who also has an engineering background, has done with Teforia, his intelligent tea infuser. There are also personal brewing systems for beer and cocktail machines for aspiring mixologists. Its endless. But what happens when cooking or infusing, or mixing, or brewing is being done by something thats not altogether human? Does it take the pleasure out of the cooking process? Steven Boyle / The Chronicle Take the Pantelligent, which, for all intents and purposes, is a perfectly good idea. Its a smart pan promising to teach its users how to cook, and the operating instructions consist of two simple steps: One: Download the app on a smartphone. Two: Cook a piece of salmon. Pretty simple, given that the app is meant to guide you through the entire process of cooking the fish (or whatever you might want to sear or saute). And that can be helpful, since many home cooks are going in blind when, say, pan-frying a piece of fish, flipping it with fingers crossed and having to cut into the middle thereby destroying the presentation to know if its cooked to the right point. Connected Kitchen A day in the connected kitchen To its credit, the Pantelligent produced a perfectly cooked, beautifully bronzed piece of salmon. But I spent about 11 of the 17 minutes adjusting the knob on the stove as a Siri-like voice barked at me that my heat was too high or too low. It was like trying to get rid of the static on an analog radio. Even if it educates, it also kind of defeats the purpose of making life easier if youre chained to the stove. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. On the other hand, some of these machines are pretty foolproof, and the pleasure is in not having to go through the process. But often, as in life, the cooler the machine, the deeper youll have to dig into your pockets to actually get one. Of all the machines I saw or researched, the Juicero was one of the few Im still coveting. Much as I rolled my eyes at the concept packets of cut-up produce are popped into a machine and cold-pressed until death. Then I actually tried it. The juice is awesome, and theres zero mess. It was all pretty much juice nirvana, if youre into that kind of thing. Juicero founder Doug Evans was, unlike many of his connected kitchen counterparts, a food guy first, so he preaches that the product needs to be the best part of the package. He ran Organic Avenue, a juice bar in New York, for 12 years before deciding that the masses needed industrial-strength juice in an easy format. People who have a juicer at home use it 1-2 times a month, Evans says. People who have a device like a Nespresso or a Keurig use it 1-2 times a day. And the machine is a beaut, a countertop appliance thats all clean white curves and will blend into any modern kitchen. But it retails for $700, and thats before you start buying the packets, which sell for $5-$7 each. Evans expects many machines to sell first in offices and retail outlets which is the same story for devices like the tea-infusing Teforia but still, the price instantly puts the machine out of the reach of most individuals. Some founders have recognized that cost in addition to the finished product is also key to finding an audience. Stephen Svajian is the co-founder and CEO of Anova, a smart sous vide device that cooks food submerged in a water bath and retails for $200. That price tag seems relatively affordable compared to other sous vide machines, some of which can creep up to quadruple digits (and arent even as smart). Its allowed Svajian who has been working with this type of device in the chemistry field for decades to bring it to the masses, while educating new consumers. Prior to our launch, people had the conception that sous vide was for chefs and foodies, Svajian says. But by lowering the price and using technology as a teaching tool, its become more mainstream and given cooks more confidence in the kitchen, he says. And having that assurance, Van Horn would argue, is really what its all about. Were definitely not doing this just to create a gadget, he says, explaining that his mission with the June is to change the way people think about food and cooking. For us, its How do we lure people into the kitchen for the first time, or back into the kitchen, so they feel like they can be confident to make dinner on a busy Wednesday, whether they know how to cook or not. Right now, the June recognizes about 25 foods, but like many of these devices, it will continue to get smarter as more people use it for different purposes. Home cooks can, with the help of an embedded touchscreen in its glass facade, do everything from roast vegetables and sear fish to broil meat and bake cookies. And you can bet it makes a darn good Cornish hen. Amanda Gold is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: agold@sfchronicle.com Twitter: AmandaGold Instagram: @agold_sfchron Book Zoo, one of several bookstores in the bustling Piedmont Avenue neighborhood of Oakland, has shut its doors. A tiny, 500-square-foot store that sold only used, eclectic titles most of its 7,000 books were out of print Book Zoo closed Thursday. I had a small shop, and a small shop has a hard time getting by, store owner Erik Lyngen said by phone. The usual suspects changing tastes in reading matter, shall we say were to blame for the closing, he said. To be fair, our rent did not go up, Lyngen added. But it was always too high for this kind of business. Most of what he earned, he said, went toward paying rent. He didnt disclose what the rent was. Book Zoo had been in the neighborhood for six years after relocating from two other spots in Berkeley and Oakland. It sounds maybe inauspicious, Lyngen said with a laugh, but the store had been in business for roughly 13 years. A number of the bookstores in the area Owl & Co., Dr. Comics & Mr. Games, Spectator, and Black Swan are all on busy Piedmont Avenue, whose shops and restaurants draw a lot of pedestrians. The bookstores have promoted the street as the Bay Areas biggest book row. Book Zoo, just off the avenue, at 14 Glen Ave., attracted less foot traffic. Next door is Issues, a store specializing in magazines. Lyngen prides himself in collecting unusual books; two titles the store featured on Twitter were The Girdle of Chastity: A History of the Chastity Belt and All About a Container Ship. The weirder, the better, Lyngen said about the books he liked but werent destined to become bestsellers. So, I sort of made it hard on myself. But Lyngen isnt giving up as a bookseller. He plans to start an Indiegogo campaign to fund a Book Zoo bookmobile that will hit the road in the fall. Its a new, permanent and inevitable form of retail, he said about the mobile business. Im actually excited about getting out and getting the books to the people instead of sitting and waiting for people to find me. Were not down and out. This is a new chapter. More information: www.bookzoo.net John McMurtrie is the book editor of The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jmcmurtrie@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @McMurtrieSF Mayor Libby Schaaf was spelling out the huge anxiety around gentrification in Oakland during last weeks event on income inequality sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of California. Normally you would celebrate when an employer like Uber moves its headquarters into your city because its going to create 2,000 to 3,000 jobs, Schaaf explained. And yet theres a huge fear that those types of jobs are actually going to create more poverty and drive poor and even working-class families out of a city theyve called home for generations. Schaaf noted that three of the five most expensive cities to rent an apartment in the United States are in the Bay Area: San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. This is how income inequality is really manifesting itself in Oakland ... an absolute fear and anger around gentrification, Schaaf said at the panel I moderated in Sacramento on Monday. I turned to panelist Ashley Swearengin, mayor of Fresno, and asked whether gentrification was a stress point in her city. Her one-word answer: no. What I was actually sitting here thinking is: Could we somehow merge Oakland and Fresno? Swearengin said, drawing laughter from the audience. The two mayors contrasting portrayals of a common challenge serious gaps in wealth and opportunity underscored the findings of a new PPIC report, Income Inequality and the Safety Net in California. On a statewide level, the trend is readily apparent. Since 1997, the per capita gross domestic product has increased by more than 30 percent in California, the PPIC report noted. Over this same period, top incomes have grown at more than double the rate of low and middle incomes. This seems contrary to the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats. The Fresno-Oakland experiences make plain that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to addressing the disparities in wealth and more important for the long-term preservation of the California Dream: opportunity in a state this large and diverse. One city suffers the effects of overbuilding and a sparse employment base, while the others housing prices and rents are feeling the pressure of a regions hyperprosperity. Swearengin attributed Fresnos predicament to the years we blew out our borders to stretch into erstwhile farmland that was cheap, flat and easy to convert to residential. As our community has expanded dramatically over the years, we have left behind neighborhoods with no underlying economy to really support and maintain those neighborhoods, Swearengin said. So weve ended up with this very stark line between neighborhoods with discretionary income and a very high concentration of neighborhoods south of that line. Amplifying a theme in the PPIC report, Swearengin suggested the state needed to come up with strategies to help buffer the distribution of jobs and investment between the coastal and central areas of the state. Bay Area incomes at the bottom, middle and top are roughly twice that of incomes in the Central Valley and Sierra region, the report said. The latter two areas also had a more pronounced wealth-poverty divide. There were two clear takeaways from that session. One was how many points the two mayors, Schaaf a Democrat and Swearengin a Republican, had in common: Each expressed an unalloyed commitment to addressing both poverty and economic development in their communities. Such is the nature of big-city mayors, who tend to be held accountable by results and can ill afford the ideological rigidity and partisan sideshows that too often preoccupy our elected representatives in Washington or even Sacramento. Another bottom line was apparent in both the report and the panel discussion: Education is essential to keeping this disturbing trend from metastasizing into a permanent affliction on the state. Last year the PPIC issued a report that projected California would be short 1.1 million college-educated workers by 2020. Schaafs Oakland Promise program attempts to raise funds for efforts to triple the number of college graduates from the city; Swearengin cited Fresnos development of an entrepreneurship curriculum in fifth and sixth grades and a high school dedicated to entrepreneurship to uplift the skills and expectations of the citys youth. Neither mayor had a firm answer for one of the PPIC reports daunting concluding questions: What level of income inequality is acceptable or economically optimal? After all, a certain level of inequality is inevitable, and in many ways beneficial to a society: It creates an incentive for hard work and ambition. But when someone born in the bottom fifth of economic strata has just an 8 percent chance of reaching the top fifth in his or her lifetime a national statistic invoked by Swearengin, a Republican something is terribly amiss. The existential threat to the California Dream is real, it is ominous and, as the new report shows, it is growing. John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: JohnDiazChron A state of great prosperity and deep poverty Among the findings in a new report by the Public Policy Institute of California: Going up, going down 39.7% Increase in incomes statewide in the 90th percentile between 1980 and 2014. 5% Increase in incomes statewide in the 50th percentile between 1980 and 2014 18.6% Decrease in incomes statewide in the 10th percentile betwe e n 1980 and 2014 Variations among regions $252,000 Income threshold for 90th percentile in Bay Area, 2014 $184,000 Income threshold for 90th percentile in Los Angeles County, 2014 $147,000 Income threshold for 90th percentile in Central Valley and Sierra, 2014 Whos falling behind? Single-parent families are 2.2 percent more likely to fall in the bottom quintile of incomes statewide. Families with workers who have less than a high school diploma are 2.6 times more likely to be in the bottom quintile of incomes statewide. There is no sorer subject than San Franciscos housing crisis, where rents soar past $3,000 per month and an average home goes for over $1 million. But beware the solution contained in Prop. C, a measure that obliges builders to set aside 25 percent of new units at below-market levels. The idea is appealingly simple. As developers rush to cash in on rising prices, there should be ample money to save a larger slice at discount prices for residents being priced out. The city now has a 12 percent requirement that should be boosted in a booming market. But this higher number doesnt rest on any justification. The prime sponsors, supervisors Jane Kim and Aaron Peskin, say it originates from past deals that increased so-called inclusionary housing in developments sponsored by the Giants and others on Treasure Island and Hunters Point. But these projects come with major concessions such as cheap land and other subsidies that made the numbers work for sponsors. Prop. Cs boosters offer a promise. A city controller study will consider the 25 percent figure to see if it will choke off new building as some housing experts believe. If a lower number is warranted, sponsors promise to bring it down to sustainable levels. But thats only a pledge and one that may be hard to honor in the super-charged atmosphere of housing politics. The measure comes with City Halls big blessing, with all 11 supervisors and Mayor Ed Lee in favor. Prop. C gets at least one thing right: It removes the subsidized housing figure of 12 percent from the city charter and leaves it to lawmakers to set as conditions warrant. Builders and developers, who might be expected to oppose any exaction on their trade, are going along with Prop. C. Why? Because a long line of projects awaiting approval will be exempted after late-inning negotiations. This deal-making bought off the measures would-be opponents. The measure is a flawed way to deal with an important subject. Subsidized housing should be encouraged, but not with arbitrary numbers and no serious study. Vote no on Prop. C. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Oakland moved into the national spotlight Friday morning when Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, dropped by a Jack London Square restaurant to hear from local leaders about what the city is doing right. The hour-long discussion focused not only on the type of long-term troubles that plague cities, including soaring housing costs, crime, education concerns and lack of economic opportunity, but also on what Oakland is doing to deal with those problems. I want to know how the federal government and me, particularly, can be a better partner, Clinton said. I want to be a champion for Oakland and all the other Oaklands in the country, hardscrabble cities scrambling to come up with innovative solutions to their problems. Focus on rehabilitation The former secretary of state was joined by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Antwan Wilson, Regina Jackson, CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center, and Derreck Johnson, owner of the Home of Chicken and Waffles, where the event was held. For Clinton, the small, hastily arranged event was a chance to play small ball, highlighting her interest and familiarity with the arcane details of urban policy, something so far almost totally ignored by Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee. Johnson, for example, talked about his willingness to hire people on parole or probation to work in his restaurants, estimating that about 70 percent of his workers were ex-offenders. There are a large number of people getting out of prison, he said. If they cant get a job, then what? Clinton quickly answered that government at all levels had an interest in seeing that former prisoners receive the basic skills they need to find and keep a job, casually citing Delancey Street in San Francisco and other programs in Charlotte, N.C., and Reno as examples of successful efforts to bring people who have served their time back into the mainstream. Not all problems have easy answers, Clinton said. When Schaaf talked about how Oakland has some of the fastest-rising rents in the country and how the city is struggling to ensure its longtime residents can remain in the city, Clinton had concern and sympathy but little else. There are advantages to fixing up neighborhoods, but its a big price to pay if you move people out, she said. People who fought through the bad times need to share in the good times. Common struggles The affordability crisis has repercussions far beyond housing. While Jacksons East Oakland center is running a wide range of innovative programs for young people in the community, the people youre working with wont be in Oakland in 10 years, Clinton said. But gentrification and housing affordability are problems cities across America are struggling with, with only limited success. I wish you well, Clinton told Schaaf. Most of (the work) has to be done at the local level. With Clinton locked in a tight June 7 Democratic primary battle with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, even the most wonkish policy event is political. The former first lady reminded the small crowd of invited guests that she had spent a summer working in Oakland in 1971, clerking for a local law firm. When she arrived at the restaurant just after 9 a.m., she worked the room, greeting the dozen or so diners before walking over to the kitchen. Hello in there. How are you all doing? she asked. She called the white-jacketed staff out for a group photo after the event. Glad the Warriors won last night? Clinton asked one diner as she left the restaurant. Avenging Trump The event also was a bit of political payback for Schaaf, a Clinton supporter still upset that Trump characterized Oakland as one of the most dangerous places in the world in a New York Times interview earlier this month. Despite what some people say about the safety of this city, she told Clinton, welcome to Oakland. Schaaf and the others on the morning panel were pleased to see Clinton and to have a chance to talk about what their city is doing and what can be done to help. Its wonderful that (Clinton) really wants to hear from people doing the work on the ground, the mayor said. She didnt just listen, she heard. Johnson, who got a call from the Clinton campaign Thursday night asking him to host the event, said he quickly agreed, even though it meant closing on a busy Friday morning. I wouldnt have closed if it wasnt important, he said. As a political candidate, (Clinton) goes to five-star hotels and restaurants and rich donors homes and I understand that ... but something like this means shes reaching out to everyday, working-class individuals. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: jfwildermuth During his rehab stint with Triple-A Nashville last week, Josh Phegley often texted fellow catcher Stephen Vogt for updates from the As clubhouse. We definitely missed each other, said Phegley, who was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list Friday. We got the crew back together, and were going to try to string together some wins and get this team rolling again. Phegleys return gives Vogt a proven backup behind the plate. When facing left-handed starters, as was the case Saturday against Detroits Matt Boyd, manager Bob Melvin can plug Phegley into the lineup without worry. Phegley injured his right knee last month when he slid into first base at Toronto to avoid a collision. The soreness worsened and, after receiving a cortisone shot, Phegley sat out more than a week. Eager for live at-bats, he had planned early last week to ask Melvin for a rehab assignment. I didnt even have to mention it, said Phegley, who went 3-for-4 Saturday. We were all on the same page at that point. He went 6-for-19 (.316) with an RBI in five rehab games. Its good to have Phegs back, said Melvin, whose club still has 11 players on the DL. Now were starting to feel like were semi-whole again. Pitchers at bat: In little more than a week, the As begin a five-game road stretch against National League clubs. Two weeks ago, the preparation process began with pitchers bunting in the cage. They progressed to taking full swings and, during Saturdays batting practice, some were making contact. Early standouts include Kendall Graveman and Rich Hill. Briefly: Right-hander Zach Neal, who pitched in the ninth inning Saturday, will not make his previously scheduled start Tuesday. Possible replacements include Eric Surkamp (3.91 ERA, Nashville) or Daniel Mengden (0.79 ERA, Nashville). ... Right-hander Sonny Gray, who was placed on the 15-day DL last Sunday with a strained right trapezius muscle, threw a bullpen session of 35 pitches Saturday. He probably will throw off a mound Tuesday. Right-hander R.J. Alvarez (elbow), who had his second bullpen session Saturday, is expected to throw to hitters Tuesday. Right-hander Liam Hendriks (triceps) will throw a bullpen session Monday. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) threw from 105 feet Saturday. Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. On deck Sunday vs. Tigers 1:05 p.m. CSNCA Pelfrey (0-4) vs. Hill (7-3) Monday vs. Twins 1:05 p.m. ESPN Santana (1-3) vs. Graveman (1-6) Tuesday vs. Twins 7:05 p.m. CSNCA Duffey (2-3) vs. Neal (0-1) Leading off The swag: On Saturday, 15,000 fans received a Josh Reddick bobblehead that was inspired by the right fielders over-the-wall catches in a 2014 Cactus League game in which he twice robbed the Giants Michael Morse. Connor Letourneau During his rehab stint with Triple-A Nashville last week, Josh Phegley often texted fellow catcher Stephen Vogt for updates from the As clubhouse. We definitely missed each other, said Phegley, who was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list Friday. We got the crew back together, and were going to try to string together some wins and get this team rolling again. Phegleys return gives Vogt a proven backup behind the plate. When facing left-handed starters, as was the case Saturday against Detroits Matt Boyd, manager Bob Melvin can plug Phegley into the lineup without worry. He injured his right knee last month when he slid into first base at Toronto to avoid a collision. The soreness worsened and, after receiving a cortisone shot, Phegley sat out more than a week. Eager for live at-bats, he had planned early last week to ask Melvin for a rehab assignment. But I didnt even have to mention it, Phegley said. We were all on the same page at that point. With the Sounds, Phegley relished the chance to tinker with his swing. He hit .316 with an RBI and two runs in five rehab games. By the time he rejoined the major-league club Friday, Phegley had renewed self-belief in his approach at the plate. That could be a nice development for an As team that entered Saturday batting .179 over its past eight games. Its good to have Phegs back, said Melvin, whose club still has 11 players on the DL. Now were starting to feel like were semi-whole again. Pitchers at bat: In little more than a week, the As begin a five-game road stretch against National League clubs. Those series in Milwaukee and Cincinnati mark Oakland pitchers first chances this season to hit in games. Two weeks ago, the preparation process began with players bunting in the cage. They progressed to taking full swings and, during Saturdays batting practice, some were making contact. Early standouts include right-hander Kendall Graveman and left-hander Rich Hill. Usually the guys that have been in the National League are a little more ready to do stuff like that, Melvin said. We have some guys that can swing. Briefly: Right-hander Sonny Gray, who was placed on the 15-day DL Sunday with a strained right trapezius muscle, threw a bullpen Saturday of 35 pitches. Gray looked good, Melvin said, and will probably throw off a mound Tuesday. Right-hander R.J. Alvarez (elbow), who had his second bullpen session Saturday, is expected to throw to hitters Tuesday. Right-hander Liam Hendriks (triceps) will throw a bullpen session Monday. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez (shoulder) threw from 105 feet Saturday. The former All-Star felt great, which is encouraging, Melvin said. As lineup: LF Crisp, CF Burns, 2B Lowrie, 3B Valencia, DH Davis, 1B Butler, C Phegley, SS Semien, RF Smolinski. Tigers lineup: 2B Kinsler, RF Martinez, 1B Cabrera, DH Martinez, 3B Castellanos, LF Upton, CF Maybin, C Saltamacchia, SS Iglesias Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: Con_Chron Until recently, humans released non-native animals pretty much whenever they felt like it. Need foxes for hunting? Import them from Europe and set them free in California. Bought some European deer for the zoo? Throw a few of them out in nature too (seriously, this happened in the 1940s). This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A fire with flames that soared up to 40 feet high burned part of a sidewalk homeless encampment Saturday morning in San Franciscos Potrero Hill district. The blaze, which spread to a nearby warehouse, engulfed a tent, shopping cart and other materials at 15th and Carolina streets, was reported shortly before 11 a.m. Firefighters were able to put the fire out within 15 minutes of arriving on the scene, said Bryan Rubenstein, a battalion chief for the San Francisco Fire Department. No injuries were reported. Smoking materials, including a crack pipe and cigarettes, were found at the scene and determined to be the cause of the fire, Rubenstein said. The encampment was located alongside a warehouse that suffered extensive damage to an exterior wall, Rubenstein said. Flames spread about 30 feet along the metal wall of the building and broke inside, igniting fuel and other material stored there. Fire officials at the scene had no initial estimate of the damage. Firefighters were forced to cut a hole through the wall to get a hose into the building and put the fire out, Rubenstein said. About a dozen tents were pitched on the sidewalk by the building, which houses AT&T vehicles, in an industrial part of Potrero Hill. Homeless people in the area said the items burned belonged to a man who wasnt there at the time of the fire. Ben Calalo, 27, who lives in the area, said he was on his way to work when he saw the flames and smoke from the other side of the building. He ran back home to make sure his wife was safe. It was really huge, Calalo said. Ive never seen a fire that big. Kimberly Veklerov and Kevin Schultz are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email:kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: kveklerov Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: KevinEdSchultz The San Francisco police officer who fatally shot an apparently unarmed woman last week was a sergeant who has been on the force for 15 years, police said Friday. Sgt. Justin Erb, 45, was identified as the officer who fired a single shot May 19 that killed 29-year-old Jessica Williams. Police officials said Erb and another officer, who has not been identified, suspected Williams of driving a stolen car. Erb was hired in 2001 and was promoted to sergeant in 2011. He could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. The incident on Elmira Street near the Bayview was the third controversial fatal shooting by San Francisco police in less than six months, and it led to the resignation later that day of Chief Greg Suhr. Williams was an enigma, friends and relatives said at a vigil Friday night at Third and Palou streets in the Bayview attended by about 50 people. Formerly Jessica Nelson, Williams severed ties in her hometown of Sacramento and moved to San Francisco as a teenager. Williams had five children, who are being raised by a sister, said her cousin Porsche McCullough Bowens. She was not a saint, but she never tried to hurt anyone, McCullough Bowens said. She loved people and was very carrying. She always wanted to carry other peoples burdens in addition to her own. Another cousin, Jakira Brown, flipped through old photos of them together. In one frame, the two girls stand side by side grinning. We grew up together, but I really dont know her now, Brown said. When she left Sacramento, she really broke away from the family. Much of Williams time in San Francisco was spent on the streets, her family said. Tamara Aparton, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, said Williams had been in the criminal justice system, but all her convictions were misdemeanors. Soon after Nelsons move to the Bay Area, she met Jennifer Williams, who became her street mom. Their bond was so strong that she changed her last name. We were her street family, Jennifer Williams said. We took care of her, and we loved her so much. She was a strong and talented woman, and a little bit bossy. Theres no reason for her to die the way she did. Its senseless. On Thursday, Mayor Ed Lee told The Chronicles editorial board that there has to be consequences for the sergeant, adding that in my view, generally, this was not supposed to happen. He did not specify what those consequences might be but said the Police Department needed to have accountability and discipline. Police have said little about what led to the shooting. Before his resignation, Suhr said Williams had driven off as Erb and the officer tried to question her but that she crashed into a utility truck a short distance away. At some point, Erb fired into the vehicle, killing her. Police said at the time that no weapon had been found on Williams but that they still planned to search the car. They have not said what the results of that search were. The Police Department limits the circumstances under which officers may shoot at moving vehicles because of the danger to bystanders if the driver is hit. But police have not said whether the car Williams was driving was moving when Erb shot her. Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: LizzieJohnsonnn SHANGHAI In 2011, a respected anticounterfeiting 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. This is the tale of how one of Chinas 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 werent enough to defuse the deep loathing that has greeted one of communist Chinas greatest capitalist success stories. Alibaba, which includes Yahoo among its major investors, is at the forefront of Chinas 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 anticounterfeiting coalition, Alibaba got kicked out. An Associated Press analysis of public filings shows that the coalitions 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 Securities and Exchange Commission into Alibabas accounting practices and sales data, disclosed last week, has raised further questions about how the company does business. Today, Alibaba is a $15.7 billion e-commerce conglomerate that supports the livelihoods of tens of millions of merchants. Some 423 million shoppers last fiscal year picked through the billion listings that Alibabas platforms host on any given day. Making its money Alibaba doesnt sell any merchandise. It merely facilitates transactions, deriving much of its revenue from advertising. Alibabas 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 Macys, 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 Alibabas ecosystem has proven remarkably conducive to counterfeiting. They feared Alibabas inclusion in the anticounterfeiting coalition would lend it undeserved credibility. In U.S. court filings, Gucci America and other brands belonging to Frances 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 $2,318 may magically drop to $150. And despite the companys repeated admonitions that it stands with brands in the global fight against fakes, skepticism reigns. After Robert Barchiesi, a gruff-talking former New York cop, took over the anticounterfeiting 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 in 2008 placed Taobao on a blacklist of markets notorious for sales of fakes. Alibaba responded by upping its game in Washington. In 2012, Alibabas 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 people that Alibaba hired, including a former chief of staff for the Treasury Department 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, hiring three people 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 policymakers, 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 anticounterfeiting coalition told the trade representative in 2012 that Taobao topped its list of concerns. Advertisements for fakes of (coalition) 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. Taobao agreement The next year, 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 make money from the frustration with Alibabas take-down procedures. It was also starting to look like a family business. Barchiesis daughter-in-law, Kathryn Barchiesi, provided investigative support for MarketSafe. The coalition says the program is not profitable, but those fees helped it more than double its revenue, to $2.6 million, under Robert Barchiesis leadership. In 2011, a fresh-faced man named Matthew Bassiur hired Barchiesis 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 Barchiesis other son, James Barchiesi, a contract for fiscal and operational management. Big payouts 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 Alibabas 2014 public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, Barchiesi went on CNBC and deflected attention from Alibaba, saying counterfeiting on Alibabas sites was a microcosm of a bigger problem. He praised the company for working in good faith with the coalition. What Barchiesi didnt 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. Alibabas new shares shot up 38 percent in one day. It was the largest IPO in history, catapulting co-founder Jack Ma to near-mythic status. 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 Alibabas platforms had been widely criticized for selling large quantities of counterfeit goods. It urged Alibaba to enhance cooperation. The next month, Robert Barchiesis friend, Bassiur, started work as Alibabas 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. Many protests U.S. luxury brand Michael Kors was the first to quit in protest. Its general counsel, Lee Sporn, told the coalitions 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 walkout 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. Alibabas 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 Barchiesis ownership of Alibaba stock. The AP investigation also mapped the personal and financial ties between Barchiesi and Bassiur, and documented Barchiesis use of family members to help run the coalition, including hiring his sons firm as the coalitions 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 APs report, the board informed members that the coalition was suspending Alibabas membership category, pending further discussion. The board said Barchiesis performance and accomplishments as president have been exemplary, and he has the boards full confidence and support. If European regulators get their way, Netflix may soon have to do more than just offer Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with French subtitles. Last week, European officials proposed a set of rules that could force Netflix and other video streaming services to carry a minimum amount of local content in individual countries and to help pay for its development. The plan is intended to help level the playing field with national broadcasters, which are already required to fund television shows and other programming in their home countries. The changes form the building blocks for Europes broad plan for a single digital market, a strategy that officials say they hope will help bolster the regions sluggish economy. U.S. technology giants are expected to be the most affected at first, because companies including Apple, Facebook and Netflix still dominate much of the online world for Europeans. For Netflix and other streaming services, the proposals, which could go into effect next year at the earliest, might complicate their international expansion plans. Netflix, in particular, has outlined ambitious growth proposals. The company said last year that it wanted to operate in 200 countries by the end of 2016. Netflixs objections to the latest European plan are as much about profit as principle. The company already produces content in Europe, such as Marseille, a show about French politics that is similar to House of Cards, and the series Suburra, about organized crime in Italy. The company sees these and others filmed in the local language as a fundamental way to attract international viewers. But Netflix and others do not want Europe to set specific quotas for the amount of such content, arguing that doing so would limit viewer choices because many Europeans want to watch American, not local, programming. We appreciate the commissions objective to have European production flourish, however, the proposed measures wont actually achieve that, Joris Evers, a Netflix spokesman in Amsterdam, said in a statement. European officials said they would give individual countries the power, if they so choose, to force video streaming services to help pay for the production of local content, like movies and television programs. Such rules would apply to all companies that provide services to a countrys consumers, whether such streaming services were based in the country or not. The way we watch TV or videos may have changed, but our values dont, Gunther Oettinger, the European commissioner in charge of the digital economy, said in a statement. With these new rules, we will uphold media pluralism. Such rules already exist for traditional broadcasters, like the BBC in Britain and the TF1 Group in France. On average, they pay the equivalent of millions of dollars each year, roughly 20 percent of their annual revenue in the countries where they operate, to support local content. The authorities did not specify how much the national fees might be for streaming services. European policymakers said that online streaming rivals invest only around 1 percent of their annual revenue in local content. Netflix has been able to sidestep funding rules, most notably in France, because its European headquarters is in the Netherlands. Streaming services will also be required to ensure that at least 20 percent of their online content is from Europe, and that those movies and television programs are given prominence in their digital catalogs. A report funded by the European Commission recently found that both Netflix and Apple already meet this requirement. The commissions digital plans are subject to the approval of the European Parliament and individual member states, a lengthy process that could lead to significant changes. Europes proposals on digital services are only the beginning. The European Commission said that it would also propose new copyright rules in the fall that could force companies like Google to pay online publishers when using their content in Google News, for instance. Officials also said that they are reviewing potential new rules to control how companies like Facebook and Amazon operate in the 28-member bloc. They said they want to make it easier for people to move their digital information between online platforms by the end of the year, giving them greater control over data that companies collect on their daily digital lives. I want online platforms and the audiovisual and creative sectors to be powerhouses in the digital economy, said Andrus Ansip, the European Commission vice president in charge of the regions digital single market proposals. They need the certainty of a modern and fair legal environment: That is what we are providing today. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate This article originally appeared on KQED.org In her campaign for Barbara Boxers U.S. Senate seat, California Attorney General Kamala Harris often mentions the record settlement her office negotiated with five of the largest mortgage lenders after the home foreclosure crisis. The deal that brought about $20 billion in relief to California won national media attention for Harris. But the mortgage meltdown continues affecting homeowners to this day. In the home Rosario Frisse rents in a quiet neighborhood in Antioch a city about 45 miles east of San Francisco there arent many decorations on her walls. Even though shes been living there for a few years, there are unpacked boxes on her patio outside and more in the garage. This is not my home, she said. The home she once owned sits about a mile away. In 2009, Frisse lost the house after her adjustable mortgage was raised to an amount she couldnt afford. Her husband was working with the bank to modify the loan. At one point a deal looked promising and they were waiting on an offer from the lender, she said. The offer never came. Instead, the lender foreclosed on Frisses house and it was sold at auction, she said. That year, 632,573 Californians received a foreclosure filing, including a default notice, scheduled foreclosure auction or bank repossession, according to RealtyTrac. The national settlement that was announced in 2012 was supposed to provide some debt relief to homeowners and fix the way banks communicated and worked with people like Frisse, whose homes were in jeopardy of being foreclosed. Attorney General Harris was crucial to negotiating the national settlements terms, since California had the countrys highest number of foreclosures. She even refused to sign onto an initial deal because it wasnt enough money. But eventually she would settle. Harris Was In a No-Win Situation Harris played a bad hand relatively well, said journalist David Dayen, whose new book, Chain of Title, examines the mortgage crisis. Dayen also followed the national settlement closely and is part of the group of critics who believe the banks should have been prosecuted. There was certainly enough evidence, he said. This was finally a bit of leverage over the financial industry on behalf of homeowners that we did not see at any other point in this crisis, certainly not to this degree, said Dayen. But prosecuting would take time. Plus, even if Harris wanted to fight the banks, there needed to be a bigger coalition not just her, said Dayen. Meanwhile, Californians were losing their homes. In 2012, Harris and 48 other attorneys general settled with five of the largest mortgage lenders, including Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. In the end, the banks provided about $20 billion in relief to California. The lenders were credited for providing certain types of relief. About $9.2 billion went to short sales. Thats when people still lose their home but the impact is less damaging to the homeowners credit than a foreclosure. Around $4.5 billion went to debt relief on the second mortgage. The best possible type of relief homeowners got was debt relief on the first mortgage known as first mortgage principal reduction which attempted to bring the value of the loan down to the value of the home. Roughly 33,000 homeowners received an average reduction of $137,280. But for all the settlement relief that homeowners received to help them stay in their homes, the smallest number got a first mortgage reduction. The most widely distributed relief, which was given to about 200,000 homeowners, was the $1,500 in restitution that Rosario Frisse got. That was like a slap in the face for a lot of us, she said. More Than Just the Cash One of the best things Harris did, according to Dayen, was to appoint UC Irvine professor Katherine Porter to lead the special monitor program. Her job was to hold the lenders accountable over the settlement period. I took calls on day one, said Porter. In the end, her office responded to over 5,000 complaints. A website was quickly created for homeowners to check their eligibility in the settlement something that wasnt done at the national level. Porter and others also spoke with attorneys and judges who needed help understanding the settlements terms, she said. Porter told KQED the media were focused on the billions of dollars in settlement money, but Harris real achievement was the reforms she was pushing for simultaneously in the California Legislature. When it was passed in 2012, the Homeowner Bill of Rights meant that all banks and lenders had to obey the new rules, not just the top five lenders in the settlement. The reforms meant there is now a single point of contact to prevent miscommunication. There are restrictions on dual tracking, which prevents foreclosure on homeowners who are in the process of modifying their loans. And homeowners were given the ability to sue lenders. The servicing standards helped everybody. Every homeowner, said Porter. For the most part, banks and lenders were making more of an effort to change under the settlement, she said. But when housing counselors were asked how the banks are doing now, four years later, some have said lenders are still violating the reforms that were intended to be permanent. In my view thats grounds for new prosecution, said Dayen. Since the national settlement, Harris has reached other smaller related agreements with lenders. A spokesman for Harris U.S. Senate campaign said she would continue her fight to prevent the risky practices that caused the financial collapse, but he declined to give specifics. Harris has used her power in other ways. She recently wrote a brief on behalf of a homeowner in a case that went to the California Supreme Court. She also put her shoulder into a law that would cover widows, widowers and other survivors in the Homeowner Bill of Rights. The Settlement Is Hard to Measure There is still no true accounting of whether the government did enough to help struggling borrowers during the foreclosure crisis, according to Carolina Reid, a UC Berkeley professor who studies the impacts the foreclosure crisis had on communities of color. Federal data exist on who gets loans, and we know that African- American and Latino families disproportionately got the worst loans. But we dont know much about the families who get loan modifications, even those who were helped from the settlement. Theres no race or neighborhood data. It would have been great to look at each of the loan modifications and understand who got them and, more importantly, who didnt, she said. The amount of mortgage lending to African-American and Latino families has dropped since the recession. Banks are almost too cautious in some cases and not lending to some families who would make great homeowners, she said. Rosario Frisse saw some friends and neighbors keep their homes because of the settlement. It was a celebration when they did, she said. Beginning in 2009, the year she lost her house, she fought hard on behalf of homeowners. She caravaned with a group called Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization to Washington, D.C., to protest the banks, and she spoke at rallies. That didnt help her save her own home. Frisse said her husband now wants to move back to Missouri, where theres family. She wants to stay in California. But at the same time there are no pictures on her walls. And there are still unpacked boxes that tell her shes not home yet. Copyright 2016 KQED. To see more election coverage, visit kqed.org/election2016. California Counts is a collaboration of KPBS, KPCC, KQED and Capital Public Radio to report on the 2016 election. The coverage focuses on major issues and solicits diverse voices on whats important to the future of California. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Stevie Wonder kicked off the fourth annual BottleRock Napa Valley festival with a headlining set that opened on a political note and closed with a bizarre, rambling tribute to his fallen musical comrades. Taking the main stage at the Napa Valley Expo on Friday, May 27, for the first night of the three-day event, Wonder took some time to have a heart-to-heart election year moment with the crowd, telling them to vote with a conscience. Please remember you hold the future in your hands, the 66-year-old Motown star said. Division is unacceptable. Prejudice and hatred is unacceptable. Wonder then regaled the BottleRock crowd approximately 40,000 people, officials said with a quick succession of his most beloved hits, as he led his large band through jubilant versions of Jammin, Sir Duke and My Cherie Amour. But midway through his set which came after a day of performances by artists like Lenny Kravitz, Cold War Kids and Grouplove things went slightly askew. Wonder abandoned his own songbook, choosing instead to play covers of the Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand and the Box Tops The Letter, while peppering his time onstage with long, random monologues and riffing. Then, as an odd addendum to his much talked about homage to Prince at the Billboard Music Awards, where he performed alongside Madonna, Wonder asked the crowd, Can we celebrate Prince here tonight? He rewarded their enthusiasm with a trip through his iPod, playing Princes Kiss and When Doves Cry not covers, mind you, but the original recordings as the musicians in his group silently swayed along. It didnt stop there. He turned the interlude into a full-on tribute to the musicians who have died in the past few months, queuing up the Eagles Hotel California in honor of Glenn Frey, Natalie Coles This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) and David Bowies Fame, letting them play through as the audience looked on, slightly bewildered. Are you with me?! Wonder shouted over and over. Perhaps sensing the roar was thinning and curfew was approaching, he pulled out a last minute save, blasting through a nine-minute rendition of Superstition that had people dancing out of the gates. BottleRock continues through Sunday, May 29, with performances by Florence + the Machine, Death Cab for Cutie and Red Hot Chili Peppers. BRENHAM, Texas At least two people are dead and five people are missing after this weeks torrential rains in Texas and Kansas, officials said Saturday. The same areas face the possibility of even more rain over the long Memorial Day weekend. Its not going to take very much rain to get us in those flood stages again, said John Brieden, a judge in Washington County, Texas, where more than 16.5 inches of rain fell in places Thursday. 1 Plane crash: Police divers and Army Corps of Engineers personnel retrieved the wreckage of a World War II plane from the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey on Saturday after the vintage aircraft crashed during a promotional flight, killing the pilot. The P-47 Thunderbolt crashed Friday evening. Divers recovered the body of the pilot, William Gordon, 56, of Key West, Fla., about three hours after the crash. The plane was loaded on a barge Saturday and taken to a heliport in Manhattan, where investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will examine it. 2 Florida shootings: A Florida man is accused of killing his girlfriend, shooting his boss and then firing at deputies before being captured after a seven-hour standoff. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Manuel Feliciano, 50, was captured early Saturday. Demings said Feliciano fatally shot his 45-year-old girlfriend at a home Friday evening in front of her two children. Her name was not released. An hour later, Feliciano allegedly shot his 34-year-old boss who had fired him earlier Friday. The man is hospitalized in critical condition. No deputies were injured, but Feliciano was taken to a hospital. He is being held on murder charges. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is seeking to bar allies of Hillary Clinton from leading the powerful rules and platform committees of the Democratic National Convention in July, escalating his battle with party leaders. In a letter sent Friday to party officials, lawyers for Sanders said the appointments of Barney Frank, the former Massachusetts congressman, and Gov. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut violated party rules. Frank is to co-lead the rules committee and Malloy the platform committee. In the letter, Sanders lawyer Brad Deutsch said that both men have been harsh, vocal critics of Sen. Sanders, and equally active supporters of his challenger, Hillary Clinton. Frank has called Sanders outrageously McCarthyite for his suggesting that Clinton would be influenced by her speaking fees from Wall Street; Malloy has led efforts among Clinton allies to attack Sanders record on gun control. Under convention rules, Deutsch said in the letter, their open criticism of Sanders made them unfit to co-lead the committees. Their criticisms of Sen. Sanders have gone beyond dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the senator and his campaign, Deutsch wrote. The chairs therefore cannot be relied upon to perform their convention duties fairly and capably while laboring under such deeply held bias. Democratic officials replied Saturday with a letter from Jim Roosevelt, a retired health insurance executive, and Lorraine Miller, who head the partys permanent rules and bylaws committee. They said the appointments did not violate party rules, and that Sanders had not demonstrated otherwise. Sanders efforts to disqualify the Clinton backers mark his latest bid to ensure that his ideas and supporters are well represented at the convention in July. And his battles with Clinton supporters have become increasingly bitter. This month, Sanders supporters erupted in protest at a state party meeting in Nevada, with some threatening the partys chairwoman there in a dispute over the selection of convention delegates. Sanders is preparing a major push to influence the partys formal platform, and Frank and Malloy will each wield substantial power over that process. Deutschs letter indicates that if necessary, Sanders will take his battle over the credentials of Frank and Malloy to the convention in Philadelphia. Both men were chosen in January by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, who has clashed with Sanders over her scheduling of primary debates and, more recently, his supporters attacks on other Democratic leaders. The DNC said Friday it will hold public hearings around the country to develop the platform for its convention. Schultz said a platform committee will hold hearings in Washington on June 8-9, Phoenix on June 17-18, St. Louis on June 24-25 and Orlando on July 8-9. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The US Senate has supported scrapping of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s catfish inspection program because critics argued that the program was wasteful and unnecessary. The vote took place on May 25th and the Senate approved by 55-43 a resolution that would make the regulations void. Supporters, including Senator John McCain, said the programme violated commitments to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and would result in a lawsuit that would cost the US its agricultural exports. They criticised its intention to protect US catfish producers by raising barriers for catfish imports from Vietnam and other nations. The resolution still needs the House of Representatives' approval and President Barack Obama's signature to take effect. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP told Vietnam Television on May 26th that it was good news for Vietnam's tra fish industry that faced numerous difficulties in exporting tra fish to the US. It would also create a positive impact on tra fish export activities in the future. That action showed that the quality of Vietnamese tra fish products exported to the US was implemented as per the commitment of local firms' towards food hygiene and safety, he said. Local tra fish processors and exporters should promote further management for their production, processing and export activities to reach strict standards on food quality at export markets, including the US, he said. According to VASEP, in the first four months of this year, the US was the largest export market for Vietnamese tra fish products. Total export value of Vietnamese tra fish to the US had a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent to USD115.1 million. Catfish is a popular fish in the US, with the market dominated by local producers mostly from southern states such as Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama. In recent years, they have been rivalled by cheaper Asian imports. In 2008, to protect domestic production, the US Congress created the inspection program, which includes anti-dumping duties targeting Viet Nam's tra and basa fish. On December 2nd, 2015, the USDA tightened catfish-related regulations. Observers said these regulations would affect both foreign and domestic producers and would cost the local industry millions of dollars. On December 9th, 2015, two senators, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte, introduced a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to nullify the USDA's catfish inspection program./. The host official noted with satisfaction the rapid and encouraging development in the countries cooperation, particularly in politics, economy, development cooperation, education and training. He appreciated the ambassadors efforts during his term in Vietnam, adding that his contributions have intensified the comprehensive partnership between the two nations. Hugh Borrowman thanked Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh along with the Foreign Ministry for their cooperation with, and assistance, for him to fulfill his duties. He pledged that in his new post, he will continue reinforcing Vietnam and Australias comprehensive partnership in a result-oriented fashion./. The Vietnamese leader made the call while addressing the first working session of the expanded G7 Summit in Ise-Shima, in Japans Mie prefecture, on May 27th. He reiterated Vietnams commitment to join hands in realising the Paris Agreement which was reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-21), in the context that climate is changing quickly. Vietnam appreciates the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure in Asia and the Japan-Mekong Connectivity initiatives launched by Japan, and welcomes the support provided by other G7 member countries, including the US and the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) for sustainable development in the Mekong River basin through a new initiative on the Sustainable Infrastructure Program (SIP), he said. Welcoming prioritised issues raised at the Summits agenda, the PM said the matters are crucial and urgent to peace, stability and sustainable development in Asia-Pacific and the world at large. We are well aware that peace and development in Vietnam is closely linked with peace and prosperity in the world. Contributing to handling regional and global challenges is the responsibility and interest of each country, regardless of its development status, he said. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also applauded Japans new initiatives in major areas like ensuring peace, stability and development in the Middle East, health care and gender equality, along with the countrys efforts in assisting Africa. He underlined that prosperity and sustainable development in Vietnam, Asia and the world may be ensured only in a peaceful and stable international environment. The leader highlighted increasingly complex challenges to regional peace and security, firstly maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom in the East Sea. Unilateral activities that go against international law and regional agreements such as the large-scale reclamation of man-made islands, changing the status quo, and scaling up militarisation are seriously threatening regional peace and stability, he said. The situation requires concerned parties to show restraint and address disputes by peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), enhance trust-building measures and preventive diplomacy and work towards the early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), he added. Together with ASEAN nations, Vietnam welcomes the G7 nations to raise their voices in support of efforts to guarantee maritime and overflight security and freedom, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of international law and regional agreements. The PM called on the group and the international community to make further responsible contributions to consolidating a peaceful and sustainable environment in Asia-Pacific and the world at large. The expanded G7 summit saw the participation of leaders from G7 members - Japan, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada and Italy along with representatives from the EU, and invited guests, including leaders from Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. The expanded G7 event includes two sessions focusing on high-quality infrastructure, regional security, womens rights, health care, the 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals, and cooperation with Africa./. Speaking in San Francisco on Thursday, Hillary Clinton told supporters that Donald Trump is not fit to be president. He roots for himself, the former secretary of state proclaimed, and thats the type of person who should not be president of the United States. By that standard, Clinton herself has no business running to win the White House. Last week, the State Departments independent watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, issued a report on Clintons email records management. The report includes information that shows that practically everything Clinton has said about her use of a private server is false. Last year, Clinton said that she used the private server for convenience. She talked as if she had not given the matter much thought. That claim was unbelievable at the time. Given the familys extensive history of being under investigation, she of all lawyers had to know that government correspondence belongs to the people, not the placeholders. As the Washington Post editorialized, the new report shows that Clintons decision was not a casual oversight. The secretary of state was so busy trying to protect her self-interest that she repeatedly ignored warnings about cybersecurity risks. Even after the inspector generals report was released, Clinton continued to spin lies. She told ABC News and CNN that her use of a private server was allowed. It was not. Indeed, the report found that her modus operandi presented significant security risks. State Department officials warned of hacking attempts, which she did not heed. In an email she explained, I dont want any risk of the personal being accessible. So she risked national security. According to the report, when staff spoke up about those risks, a staffer was told never to speak of the Secretarys personal email system again. Last week, the Associated Press reported that Clinton claimed, I have provided all my work-related email. Wrong again. Clinton handed over some 30,000 emails the rest she said were personal. But the inspector generals report found that she handed over no emails received in her first two months in office and no sent messages for the first three months. In addition, investigators discovered no copies of 19 emails, provided by the Department of Defense, exchanged between Clinton and then-Gen. David Petraeus. What else is missing? It is impossible to fathom. Clinton misled the public when she said that she would cooperate fully with investigators. Im more than ready to talk to anybody anytime, she said in May. But through her lawyers, Clinton declined to be interviewed by Inspector General Steve Linick or his staff. Thus Californians probably will vote in the June 7 primary without the benefit of knowing what Clinton has to say for herself on the legal record and with an FBI criminal investigation pending. Thats how little regard she has for Democratic primary voters. Clinton roots for herself. She clearly saw the State Department as a private fiefdom, hence her use of a private server. She put national security at risk. She lies even when there is abundant evidence that she is not telling the truth. Confront her with contradictory evidence, and she continues to make fantastic assertions. She relies on her supporters willful gullibility. In many ways, Hillary Clinton is not all that different from Donald Trump. Debra J. Saunders is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: dsaunders@sfchronicle.com Twitter: DebraJSaunders Clinton enablers respond blah blah blah Talking Points Memo editor Josh Marshalls response to the inspector generals report was a typical pro-Clinton reaction. The ledes of a lot of stories present this as a rough hit for Clinton, bad news blah blah blah. Lets focus on the essential point: Despite the fact that there are some real questions about the impartiality of the IG, the report says the issues with management of the Secretary of States emails are of long standing and go back with the last five Secretaries of State. Left out of Marshalls talking points: While Secretary of State John Kerry and former Secretaries Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell agreed to interviews, Clinton declined. Clinton is the only secretary of state to conduct all of her government email on a private server. SAN DIEGO Donald Trump campaign rallies drew vocal crowds of protesters in San Diego and Fresno on Friday, all under heavy police presence after similar events around the country that led to violence and arrests. About a thousand Trump foes demonstrated outside the San Diego Convention Center, some engaging in shouting matches with the candidates supporters and many carrying signs critical of his plan to wall off the U.S. border with Mexico, which runs just south of the city. I marvel that this presidential election has come to this, said San Diego City Councilman Todd Gloria, a Democrat who joined the protest. Officers in riot gear pushed the crowd back after the two sides surrounded a patrol car, screaming and hurling empty water bottles at each other. The sides faced off after Trump supporters left the rally around 4 p.m. Police later declared the gathering unlawful, ordered people to leave the area and warned they would use tear gas. At least three people were arrested. Earlier in the Central Valley, several hundred demonstrators chanted, held signs and marched around a downtown Fresno arena where the presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke to supporters. The Fresno protesters a largely young and Latino crowd chanted Keep hate out of our state and held signs with slogans such as Trump needs to be dumped. After the demonstration had largely dispersed, a woman was arrested for refusing to move as a police line advanced to clear the area. Another woman was similarly arrested later. Trumps 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 damaged police cars and threw bottles last month in the Orange County city of Costa Mesa, leading to 17 arrests. NEW DELHI: Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said it is "possible" for the country to reach top 50 in the World Banks Doing Business ranking in the next few years. "The fresh ranking will reflect that it is possible for us to reach that position of 50, not immediately, in the next few years," Sitharaman said in a Facebook interaction on completion of two years of the NDA government. India now ranks 130 out of 189 countries in the ease of doing business, moving up 12 places from 2014, according to the latest World Banks Doing Business report. Asked about reports claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was an "autocratic leader", Sitharaman described him as a "professional governing leader" and "certainly not an autocrat". On the controversy in Jawaharlal Nehru University where some students allegedly raised anti-national slogans, Sitharaman, who is an alumni of the educational institute, said she "felt sad at the developments". "You are celebrating a cause on a day remembering Afzal Guru who was hanged for attacking Indian Parliament. You want to commemorate the day when the man who attacked our Parliament was hanged?" the Minister said, adding that the JNU students union (JNUSU) should have an introspection session. Sitharaman gave 9 out of 10 to Modi Governments performance for the first two years, and said that big schemes being launched are keeping ordinary citizens at the core. Read Also: President Pranab Mukherjee Arrives in China to Boost Bilateral Ties UPI Threat: Mobile Wallet Providers Forced to Expand Their Business Strategies STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An ex-con from Brooklyn has admitted to brutally stabbing the beau of a female friend in a dispute last year in Mariners Harbor. Santos (Macho) Camacho, 47, pleaded guilty Thursday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to attempted second-degree murder. It was the top count against him stemming from the July 15, 2015 incident. According to authorities, Camacho and the victim fought at about 11:45 p.m. in the bedroom of a Mersereau Avenue home. Police did not say what sparked the battle. Camacho found a knife and wounded the victim in the back, face, arm and chest, said authorities. The man's lung collapsed, and one of the knife thrusts severed an artery in his face, police said. Cops found the knife underneath a table, said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the case. In exchange for his plea, Camacho will be sentenced June 15 to five years in prison and four years' post-release supervision. The defendant's upcoming prison stint will be his third. In 1991, he was sentenced to one to three years behind bars for a drug-related conviction, and in 1994 he was sentenced to four and a half to nine years for robbery and drug-dealing, online state court records show. Both convictions occurred in the Bronx. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.--Three hundred twenty students rocked the boat as Curtis High School celebrated prom Friday evening sailing the Hudson River on the Cornucopia Majesty from Hoboken, N.J. I was a perfect summer like evening as they arrived and strolled along Pier 13 to board the boat. Here is a look at last year's prom. Check out our photo gallery from last night's festivities! NOTABLY DRESSED Elyja Williams wore a gray suit and bright red shoes which added the perfect accent to Abigail Castilo's vibrant green gown. JOIN OUR COVERAGE As part of our coverage, we invite you to join in on the fun by tagging all prom photos #SILive. Not going to the prom, or just curious as to how much fun everyone is having? You can follow along as we provide live coverage on Instagram and Twitter. Want to buy a photo print? You can do so by clicking the "Purchase Photo" button in the gallery above. 2016 STATEN ISLAND PROM SCHEDULE May 6 St. Peter's Boys High School May 12 Moore Catholic High School May 18 Monsignor Farrell High School GRACE Foundation May 21 Staten Island Academy May 26 Notre Dame Academy St. John Villa Academy May 27 New Dorp High School Petrides High School Curtis High School June 3 Port Richmond High School June 6 St. Joseph by the Sea June 8 St. Joseph Hill Academy Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School June 9 College of Staten Island High School for International Studies Bishop Patrick V. Ahern High School June 10 Wagner High School June 11 Tottenville High School The Hungerford School June 17 McKee/Staten Island Technical High School June 28 New World Preparatory Charter School Did we leave your school out? Let us know in the comments. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Best Canadian Blog 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 About Kate Why this blog? Until this moment I have been forced to listen while media and politicians alike have told me "what Canadians think". In all that time they never once asked. This is just the voice of an ordinary Canadian yelling back at the radio - "You don't speak for me." (goes to a private mailserver in Europe) I can't answer or use every tip, but all are appreciated! Katewerk Art Support SDA I am not a registered charity. I cannot issue tax receipts. Reconnaissance Man Economics for the Disinterested ...a fast-paced polar bear attack thriller! Want lies? Hire a regular consultant. Want truth? Hire an asshole. Weather Shop Click to inquire about rates. Dow Jones What They Say About SDA "Smalldeadanimals doesn't speak for the people of Saskatchewan" Former Sask Premier Lorne Calvert "I got so much traffic after your post my web host asked me to buy a larger traffic allowance." Dr.Ross McKitrick Holy hell, woman. When you send someone traffic, you send someone TRAFFIC. My hosting provider thought I was being DDoSed. - Sean McCormick "The New York Times link to me yesterday [...] generated one-fifth of the traffic I normally get from a link from Small Dead Animals." Kathy Shaidle "Thank you for your link. A wave of your Canadian readers came to my blog! Really impressive." Juan Giner - INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group I got links from the Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Instapundit yesterday - but SDA was running at least equal to those in visitors clicking through to my blog. Jeff Dobbs "You may be a nasty right winger, but you're not nasty all the time!" Warren Kinsella "Go back to collecting your welfare livelihood."Michael E. Zilkowsky Intelliweather Seismic Map Comments Policy Read this Best Of SDA Hide The Decline The Bottle Genie (ClimateGate links) You Might Be A Liberal Uncrossing The Line Bob Fife: Knuckledragger A Modest Proposal (NP) Settled Science Series Y2Kyoto Series SDA: Reader Occupation Survey Brett Lamb Sheltered Workshop Flakes On A Plane All Your Weather Are Belong To Us Song Of The Sled The Raise A Flag Debacle (Now on Youtube!) (.mwv Video) Abuse Ruins Life Of Girl Trudeaupiate Kleptocrat Jeans Child Labour I Concede Small Dead Feminist Protein Hoser: THK Interview The Werewolf Extinction Dear Laura (VRWC) We Wait Blogging The Oscars Jackson Converts To Islam Just Shut The HELL Up Manipulating Condi Gay Equality Rights In fact it appears that Banjo isn't the only famous poet with close ties to Binalong. "Robyn Sykes, a recent Australian Women's Bush Poetry Champion, is a local farmer there," explains Lavis, adding, "perhaps it must be something in the water there." Finally, mention on these pages of Banjo's comical poem Mulga Bill's Bicycle brought back childhood memories for Mark Straughair whose "1975 sixth-grade teacher at St Patricks Christian Brothers College in Albury, Jack Mullavey, made all the boys learn the Banjo classic by heart". "It was a class contest to see who could learn it first without making an error," recalls Straughair who, every time he drives over Conroys Gap [which features in the poem] on the highway near Binalong, confesses to making his "poor son and wife endure yet another unbidden rendition of the first couple of stanzas." "I think they are just maybe getting a bit tired of it," muses Straughair. Fact File: Henry Festivals: If you are a Henry Lawson fan you are spoilt with choice this June long weekend (June 11 -13). Not only are Grenfell (3 hours' drive north-west of Canberra, www.henrylawsonfestival.com.au ) and Gulgong (five hours' drive north, www.gulgonghenrylawsonheritagefestival.com) hosting their annual Henry Lawson festivals, but to mark 100 years since he lived in Leeton (four hours' drive west), there is an open day (10am 5pm) on Sunday June 12 at the Riverina town's Henry Lawson Cottage. "There will be an unveiling of an interpretive sign on the significance of the building and Henry's connection, an opportunity to inspect the cottage, and poetry recitals, before afternoon tea at 2pm," reports Wendy Senti, president of the Leeton Family & Local History Society. For more information on the Leeton bash: Ph 02 6953 2613 or wendytom71@bigpond.com Did You Know? Closer to home, a bronze cast of Henry Lawson's right hand is on permanent display in Treasures Gallery at the National Library of Australia. Open daily with free admission. SPOTTED Take me to your leader! While sampling the waters of Yandyguinula Creek near Hoskinstown as part of their annual autumn Bug Blitz, the crew from Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch stumbled across this unusual letterbox. "We immediately thought of your occasional series on wacky and weird letterboxes," reports Woo O'Reilly, Waterwatch Facilitator, who promptly dispatched the photo to this column's inbox. The robot-like repository wasn't the only unexpected find, during Bug Blitz, for O'Reilly and her net-wielding team they also found a rare Toad bug (Family: Gelastocoridae) "It's ugly and brown with a warty appearance, bulging eyes and the ability to jump suddenly on its prey," exclaims O'Reilly. The Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch crew found this rare Toad bug. O'Reilly is definitely on the money with her description of the macro-invertebrate, but in the interests of biodiversity (which despite the antics of some organisations isn't just about cute, cuddly critters) I share it with you today. If you've seen an uglier bug please let me know. Oh, and for the record, as water bugs are an excellent indicator of stream health Waterwatch staff and volunteers collect data on water bugs from our waterways each autumn and spring. Details about future Bug Blitz's can be found at www.act.waterwatch.org.au No experience necessary. MAILBAG Talking Toadstool The remains of the "talking toadstool" on Red Hill which recently featured in the column's photo quiz prompted a number of readers, including Sam Paterson, to ask which other Canberra points of interest did the 1970s coin-operated tourist information devices once grace. According to ArchivesACT which documented the chattering contraptions in one of their "Finds of the Month" , apart from Red Hill (one on the Woden and one on the city side) they were also installed atop Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie, City Hill, and Government House and Scrivener Dam lookouts. The Red Hill 'talking toadstool' shortly after it was installed. During the week, while rummaging through The Canberra Times photo library, this column uncovered a photo of the Red Hill "talking toadstool" shortly after it was installed. The photo, published on April 9, 1973, features a "Miss Bronwyn Davis, 15, and Miss Mandy Johnson, 16, listening to the "mushroom" with the lights of the city twinkling away prettily in the darkness behind them." Both ladies would now be in their late 50s. I wonder if they are still in Canberra? CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/by/Tim-the-Yowie-Man-hvf8o WHERE IN THE REGION? Where is this in the region? Credit:Thomas Schulze Clue: Not far from our northern border. Degree of difficulty: Medium - Hard Last week: Congratulations to Silvano "Mushy" Sartor, of Karabar, who was first to correctly identify last week's photo as the old logging cart located in the courtyard between the Forestry Building (#48) and the Geography Building (#48A) at the ANU. It was an easy win for Sartor who regularly sits next to the old cart to eat his lunch. The old logging cart in the courtyard between the Forestry Building (#48) and the Geography Building (#48A) at the ANU. Credit:Ed Wensing Ed Wensing, who submitted the photo and who is currently completing his PhD at the ANU, reports that "the campus is a delightful place to spend time undertaking research as there are many spots like this courtyard where you can find a quiet corner to do some reading or writing". Canberra will avoid a sharp decline in apartment prices in the next year despite decade-high levels of building approvals, a property expert has forecast. But another veteran in the real estate industry said the government needed to act to change the unbalanced dominance of units in the city's property market. The Mayfair apartments, a 16-storey residential complex soon to be built in Civic, is part of a rapidly expanding number of apartments being approved across the city. Credit:Jay Cronan Domain Group chief economist Dr Andrew Wilson said the latest Bureau of Statistics showed building approvals for 1350 units in the March quarter, quadruple the figure from the same period last year. There were 4154 approved in the year to March, easily the highest for the decade. But Dr Wilson said what might appear to be an oversupply in units - reflected in apartment sale prices falling by 4.7 per cent in the year to March - was not the problem it might be in other capitals. A former president of the Australian Medical Association has warned businesses they will need to embrace a "wellness culture" to hold on to staff in the future, as the costs of absenteeism and presenteeism where staff at work are not functioning at their best rise. Dr Kerryn Phelps, a GP for 35 years, said the modern trend for employees to have up to 10 jobs in their lifetime meant unhealthy workplaces would lose out. Delnas Metal Roofing received silver status from the ACT government for its healthier workplace last year. (L-R) Mick Marmont, Mark Benson, Tony Caulfield, Peter Van Den Heuvel, Dwane Paterson, Molly Hurst and Henry Lawson. Credit:Rohan Thomson "A wellness culture will become important, and the default, if they want to attract and retain good people," she said. Presenteeism costs Australian businesses an estimated $26 billion a year, far exceeding the $7 billion lost on absenteeism, the first female AMA president told the National Workplace Wellness Symposium in Barton this week. Penalty rates, higher education fees, same-sex marriage and trust will be the key issues first-time voters will consider at the ballot box, if a Gungahlin College election forum is any indication. Students had the chance to discuss their topics of interest with a panel of politicians, candidates, academics and youth activists on Friday afternoon. Senator Zed Seselja, ANU's Dr Jill Sheppard, forum moderator James Grubel, ACT Youth Coalition's Emma Robertson, Fraser MP Andrew Leigh and Greens Senate candidate Christina Hobbs. Greens Senate candidate Christina Hobbs, Liberal senator Zed Seselja and Labor Fraser MP Andrew Leigh fielded the questions alongside the Australia National University's Dr Jill Shepherd and the ACT Youth Coalition's Emma Robertson. Subjects ranged from short-term interests, such as penalty rates, university affordability and same-sex marriage, through to long-term issues ranging from the women's pay gap to the stability of the Asia-Pacific region. Giralang residents have rejected a government minister's call for compromise on the long-delayed building of a supermarket in the suburb. But frustrated developers, held up for five years by legal challenges from competing supermarket stakeholders, said they were the driving force behind negotiations even though the government had done some of the "heavy lifting". Giralang residents from left, Sarah Hulbert, Susan White, Noel White, Margaret Matthews and Paul Leighton remain frustrated by challenges to the approved plans for a 1500-square-metre supermarket. Credit:Elesa Kurtz Planning Minister Mick Gentleman told the Giralang Residents Action Group last month the government had been working hard to encourage the commercial parties to reach an agreement which would deliver an outcome for all involved, and was "confident that a resolution will soon be reached". "We are of a firm belief that in order for any shops to be delivered to the community that some compromise must be reached," he said. She is one of Australia's most respected and recognisable journalists with a career spanning four decades, but Lisa Wilkinson's media path all began with an ad in a newspaper's "women and girls employment section". "When I talk to students now and say I found my ad in the women and girls section, they actually laugh uproariously, they think I'm joking, which I think is a wonderful sign," she said. Journalist Lisa Wilkinson has a career spanning four decades. Credit:James Brickwood Aged 18, her application for the role of "secretary/editorial assistant/Girl Friday" (the latter she says she still does not understand) at teen magazine Dolly was successful. It remained the only job she had ever applied for, she told a crowd of teachers at the Australian Education Union ACT's awards night at the National Press Club on Friday. She was offered the Dolly editor position at 21, a position which allowed her to give a young Nicole Kidman her first photo shoot and magazine cover. In four years she tripled the readership before Kerry Packer offered her the top job at Cleo, which she successfully revamped and led for a decade. Aonghus Stevens was 15 when his business got off the ground. "I'd been sitting in a history class reading about how drones had been used in a military sense and thought they were an interesting piece of technology," he said. "I went home, did a bit of research and saw that they weren't really being sold in Australia." Working from his bedroom and using his student email address, he began to sell drones. The operation grew into a million-dollar business. Mr Stevens wanted to expand and offer drones as a service, using the unmanned aerial vehicles to capture images and data for clients. He was doing his HSC at The King's School in 2011 when he tried to raise capital for the venture; 40 or 50 pitches were knocked back. You see, not all is hunky dory over at Hunky Dory. Like the Burger King Suicide Burger, which consists of four beef patties, four slices of cheese, bacon and special sauce, squished between two buns. The Heart Attack burger joint in Las Vegas topped that, with the Quadruple Bypass Burger, all 9982 calories of artery-choking goodness. But little old Melbourne might just take the cake with Hunky Dory, a fish and chip chain that proves that when things goes bad, they go really bad. There have been some aptly named fast food over the years. First, The Age broke the news that its claimed fish of the day was not dory at all, as we would call it in Australia, but cheaper farmed Vietnamese basa fillets marketed in Australia as Pacific dory from the Mekong River Basin in Indochina. That would be the Mekong River that has an estimated 220,000 tonnes of toxic waste dumped in it every year by large factories, and is considered one of the most polluted rivers in the world. The very basa fish that the US Food and Drug Administration claims is contaminated with heavy metals and banned antibiotics, including mercury. In 2007, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service surveyed 100 fish from this very river and detected 14 antimicrobial chemicals, including "sulphonamides, tetracyclines, penicillin, quinolones, flouroquinolones and antimicrobial chemical groups". Which means the fish from this river are fed with antibiotics. Amid all of this, and given that Hunky Dory served tonnes of this fish every year through its seven Melbourne stores, you'd reckon owner Greg Robotis was having a fairly bad week. But it actually did get worse. Canterbury Bankstown's administrator Richard Colley is an old hand. He is a past general manager of Bankstown Council. But it is his track record of taking over the running of Wollongong Council, which was sacked in the wake of an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into bribery, that provides a blueprint for this idea of an extended "administration" period for the new councils. Colley was appointed in 2010, one of a string of Wollongong administrators, after elections were suspended for four years. Before that, he had conducted an inquiry into Shellharbour Council in 2008, recommending it be dissolved for four years because of dysfunction. In 2014, he recommended administration for the sacked Central Darling Shire for unrestrained spending. Whining, backbiting local politicians can't compete with the pure efficiency of an administrator writing policies, guidelines and getting things done. Inside the Canterbury Bankstown "entity", the bureaucrats are finally off the leash. One insider questioned what a bunch of councillors and mayor should have to do with the brand strategy anyway, when the focus group process will give local businesses, potential investors and the community "buy in". And if you simply don't show up? You get fined. But how does it affect the outcome if you're forced to vote? And what would happen if we were given a chance to tick a box marked "nil"? Those are some of the questions a team of academics from Australia and the US, including Ben Greiner and Anne Sastro from the UNSW, asked in a paper examining the curse of the swing voter. What would happen if an explicit "nil" vote option was added to the ballot in both compulsory and voluntary voting systems? Australia is one of the few industrialised countries with compulsory voting. Our average share of invalid votes of about 4-5 per cent ranks us number 46 in countries by fraction of invalid votes, but, the researchers say, it is very high compared to other industrialised countries. Britain, by comparison, only has a share of invalid votes of about 0.2 per cent. In a compulsory voting system, the only way of not influencing the election outcome for a voter (aside from paying a fine if you don't show up) is casting an invalid vote, and it's probably no surprise that countries with compulsory voting systems show higher ratios of invalid votes. The researchers point out some uninformed voters may suffer a "psychological cost" when casting an invalid vote, as it is not a vote officially legitimised by the voting system. "If this psychological cost is high enough, these uninformed voters would rather cast a vote on one of the candidates." (We can see the big parties rubbing their hands at the prospect.) The researchers examined the behaviour of nearly 300 subjects who were each given $5 to participate and asked to choose between candidates with the chance to earn small financial incentives and incur small costs for their decisions. Kind of real life, hip pocket situations. Two trials were run, one using a voluntary voting system, the other compulsory. In the compulsory version, a large financial penalty was imposed for failing to vote. In the study, some voters were given a signal helping them to be "informed". Others were given none. And what did they find? "When voting is voluntary and a standard ballot is used, 55 per cent of the uninformed voters chose to vote for a candidate, A or B, rather than abstain, despite having no reliable information. The other voters abstained, and we did not observe any invalid votes. "When voting was compulsory (but still using the standard ballot), there is no abstention at all. However, we observe an invalidation rate of 14 per cent ... and it is the only condition in which we observe any invalidation among uninformed voters. The invalid ballot papers observed in this treatment were all completely blank, providing evidence of strategic invalidation as opposed to voter errors." But then this. "When introducing a nil-vote ballot paper under voluntary voting, still more than half of the uninformed voters (55 per cent) decided to vote. However, 39 per cent of these did not cast a vote for one of the candidates, but for the nil vote, therefore not affecting the election outcome. Under compulsory voting, offering a nil-vote ballot paper reduced the share of uninformed voters from 91 per cent to 58 per cent, as many pick up the nil-vote." That's a big change. And it appears to be a change welcomed by voters. "We show ... that when some voters have psychological benefits from voting, adding an explicit nil vote option to the ballot can change the outcome of the election and improve the welfare of the voters, both when voting is voluntary and when it is compulsory," the authors conclude. "For some of these voters, having a nil vote option on the ballot would make a difference, as the nil vote is an officially endorsed, legitimate voting choice. Therefore, the nil vote option could decrease the number of uninformed voters voting for one of the candidates, and hence reduce some noise in the election outcome." So next time you're poised over the ballot box and don't know what to do, consider that if there was an option to vote nil, you'd likely be happier. But it's doubtful the major parties would agree to such a reform. After all, the parties get funding for every vote they receive. So for now if you're undecided, better ask yourself "who'd ya rather?" Hooray for Overland magazine, which is offering a 2016 writer's residency to a woman with perhaps the most desperate shortage of time, space and resources for writing: a sole primary carer of one or more children. The successful applicant will get an office at Victoria University "with enough space to accommodate small children if necessary"; a $6000 stipend; and a mentorship with writer Alison Croggon, all spread over three months. If you want to apply, be quick: entries should be in by midnight tomorrow (May 29). Novelist Kim Brooks: Credit:Sarah Shatz It should be pretty obvious why a sole parent would find this residency such a godsend, but in any case Overland tells us that research by organisations such as VIDA, the Stella Prize and Women in Literary Arts Australia has shown that women writers often struggle to find the time and space to concentrate on their craft. If they are also sole parents, they might find themselves increasingly isolated and their creative careers marginalised. A couple of recent articles by American writers offer some disturbing personal ruminations on not just practical but also philosophical difficulties of being a writer and a mother (and these aren't even sole parents). Despite a pragmatic quality to her family environment her father a banker, her mother a psychotherapist Bonham Carter says she grew up surrounded by fairytales. "Lewis Carroll has always been around me, I have always loved Wonderland and Alice and all the icons and the imagery and sort of ingredients of Wonderland, not necessarily the story but Alice herself," she says. Iracebeth, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), returns in Disney's Alice Through the Looking Glass. It would have seemed portentous that the director Tim Burton, to whom Bonham Carter was married, was asked to re-imagine the Alice in Wonderland story for the Disney studio in 2010. The first film offered Bonham Carter a chance to play the part of the Red Queen, a part so gloriously out of control it's not difficult to see why she leapt at the chance. Bonham Carter had met Burton while filming Planet of the Apes. She then featured prominently in a number of his films, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The pair had two children together Billy and Nell but in December 2014, announced that they had "separated amicably". Sacha Baron Cohen in Alice Through The Looking Glass. As a mother, Bonham Carter says she tried very hard to bring fairytales into the lives of her children. "The house is pretty fairytale-like," she says. "Nell's bedroom as a baby was a caravan stuck on the side of the house ... [and now] she has an attic room because I love Cinderella. It's all enchanting, but of course, she is such a pragmatist, she said, 'Come on Mum, I've started off life in a caravan and now I'm in an attic'." Bonham Carter's performance brings an unexpected but powerful depth to Alice Through the Looking Glass. Unsurprising, perhaps, for an actress whose body of work is so varied, from The Wings of the Dove (1997) and The King's Speech (2010) to Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter series (20072011) and, more recently, the film remake of the American television classic Dark Shadows (2012), the musical Les Miserables (2012) and Cinderella (2015). Her resume has one curious inclusion: the year she spent on the 1980s crime drama Miami Vice. Bringing up the topic elicits a wry smile from her. The devil is in the detail: what seems like a year in the annals of television history was actually filmed in not much more than a week, she says. "It was 10 days in Miami, it was fun, it was like completely being a fish out of water. "A lot of things I did for fun. I feel sorry for journalists because they have to try and make some sense of it, but there is no sense. It's just random and a mess." Setting aside the fast cars and white-seamed pantsuits of Miami Vice, there is little doubt that Bonham Carter is a considered actress. Each part seems to be chosen carefully, and each part, once accepted, is assembled in the most traditional of manners. In the case of the Red Queen, there are layers upon layers, small touches and large notes and, in some moments, even a bit of Carry On queen Barbara Windsor. The mention of that last detail elicits a smile from Bonham Carter. "Oh, good," she says. "Yeah. There's a lot. I'm glad. "I like the idea that there's a prism and other people pop out because that's what I do," she says. "I do go around stealing from people. There was a bit of Bette Davis, there was a bit of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard because she always ... there's a sense of narcissism and the need for attention." In Alice Through The Looking Glass, Burton hands the director's baton to James Bobin. In one sense, Bobin inherits an established style book, so some of his choices are curtailed by the parameters laid down by Burton in the original. "He [Bobin] inherited a lot, obviously, but he made it his own. He's a really graceful man. He's a real gentleman, very clever, very creative. "It's also focused on different characters. James had people like Sacha [Baron Cohen] with him as he had already worked with them. A bit like Tim and Johnny [Depp] have in that long relationship. It was really interesting to watch James and Sacha work together because they have that shorthand. They're certainly worth seeing, exhausting every possibility and inventing everything." Of all the film's new elements, the most notable is Baron Cohen's Time, a half-clockwork, half-human master of the fourth dimension. Cohen's portrayal is unusually sensitive, even compelling. "I think it's his blue eyes," Bonham Carter says. Baron Cohen is "totally unpredictable, like a hyperactive child sometimes," she says, quickly qualifying with: "I'm not saying that, I'm not." She also had to be firm with her co-star. "He is very inventive, and he's fun, but ... I'm pretty direct with him. Sometimes I think what Sacha doesn't appreciate is that he's just telling a story. The weight isn't always on his shoulders. A lot of the time it's just playing the scene, not inventing the scene. He comes from such an improvisational background. He can't but help improvise. It's interesting." Compounding the challenge: that pesky soundstage where it was shot. "There was not much atmosphere," she says. "You know the problem is this room is huge, and you see everything. It's generalised lighting, so there's no sense of focus, there's no sense of, 'OK we're imagining'. "On most sets you realise where the drama is," she says. "What's in front of, what's the imagined reality and what's off, but here there was no demarcation between me and Sacha trying to work in, and seeing absolutely every other member of the crew basically bored out of their head, I don't blame them for playing Sudoku. It was hard because it was completely sterile." In such moments, she reiterates, a deeper commitment is needed. In this case, to delve into the childhood of Iracebeth of Crims the story's Red Queen and rip open a Pandora's box of emotions. There is a festering wound from her childhood, Bonham Carter thinks, when her physical differences to those around her were made clear. "She wasn't broken I don't think, she was deeply hurt. I think that's what all bullies have. They've always got a great sense of insecurity and inferiority." Now she is on the eve of her return to the stage in Nina Raine's London hit Tribes, playing Sylvia, a woman whose experience mirrors her own. Belo has 20 years experience in stage acting, screen work and drama teaching. Her stage credits include Fame the Musical, Hair, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Steel Magnolias. She hasn't been seen on stage for several years, however, due to significant hearing loss. Two years ago, she hit rock bottom, believing she'd never work in theatre again. "My deafness is something I've always worked really hard to disguise," Belo says. "I lost hearing in my right ear when I was 14. My left gradually went down from around that time, but I was always performing. Always singing. I went through NIDA and performed lead roles in huge musicals, TV and film, all on my deaf ears and no one really knew. I got by on lip reading and feeling vibration." Actor Ana Maria Belo is talking, talking, talking. She talks with her hands. She talks with her eyes, her shoulders, her expressive face, and, of course, with her voice. Conversation is a full-body experience for her. Listening to her speak, there is no way you would know she is deaf. "When I first read Tribes I was left sobbing for hours. I have never seen my own thoughts written out so precisely for a character before. Sylvia isn't a character I was born to play; Sylvia is a character that I have to play." The Erskineville-based actor was born into what she calls a "loud Portuguese family". "Everyone shouted all the time," she says.She first noticed her hearing loss aged 14, lying in bed, listening to a musical Christmas card. "When you opened it, it played a Christmas carol," she says. "I was lying on one side and when I opened it there was no sound. I thought the battery was dead. But when I sat up and listened with the other ear, I could hear it. Then I checked my Mickey Mouse watch, which also played a tune. One ear, fine. The other, nothing." Belo had a condition called cholesteatoma, an abnormal skin growth in the middle ear behind the eardrum. "Because there is very little oxygen in there it eats away at the ear drum and the bone," Belo explains. "Two years later, at 16, I had a mastoidectomy, where they removed the skin ball and took all the bones out. But I kept performing. No one knew." Her hearing in her "good ear" began to decline, too, hastened by two major losses. One came after a two-hour ride on the back of her boyfriend's motorbike. When the bike stopped and she took her helmet off, "it was like every sound was coming at me at once," Belo recalls. "Every sound was distorted; it didn't feel of this world. That lasted two days and then it disappeared." The second significant loss came after attending a Greek-Serbian wedding. "The reception was so loud, it was like a rock concert," Belo says. "I was having a great time, but the next day my head swelled up and I had the distortion again, but this time with pain. Any sound, even my breathing, was incredibly loud. It was like a roaring, like a washing machine in your head." As I say: awkward. Gerald Stone (front), executive producer of 60 Minutes, with journalists (from left) George Negus, Ian Leslie, Jeff McMullen and Jana Wendt. Because from that 1984 interview it sounds as if 60 Minutes was able to play pretty fast and loose with the notion of risk even way back then. A generation of viewers grew up wondering when a stray bullet or one of Margaret Thatcher's handbags might knock George Negus' head off right there in our living rooms. And here's Stone again, on Friday, essentially revealing the truth: that this was not an isolated case of stupidity that sparked headlines with the gist of "Grandma pistol-whipped in Nine baby snatch fiasco". It was Stone's opening remark to ABC 702's Richard Glover: "One of the things that just struck me was how lucky that program has been because 60 Minutes has always been prepared to take risks that come with what I like to think is cutting edge TV journalism. We always tried to keep the risks in relation to the situations involved and I think they got to the stage where after 37 years of never having a major disaster they were simply just too complacent." In other words, the bomb was ticking for the nearly 40 years since Kerry Packer first snapped up the rights to the famed 60 Minutes brand from US network CBS and created a celebrity-reporter driven juggernaut that at its 1980s peak had a third or more of the TV audience tuning in every Sunday night. Here's where 60 Minutes went right in 1979, and also where it went wrong. When Packer opened his wallet for the 60 Minutes experiment, he stacked it with credible talent on-air and off - Stone and original reporters Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie were all ABC veterans. And as Stone was fond of explaining, the program adopted a maxim from US founding producer Don Hewitt that has become part of program folklore: If you're covering the Great Flood, don't serve up an expert on flood mitigation. Interview Noah. Excellent start. But what the Australian 60 Minutes did was something the hallowed American institution would never do: if Noah was cagey about talking, Nine would open up its chequebook. It was a high-risk, high-reward approach that changed television journalism for good. With a handful of exceptions - I find it hard to begrudge Lindy Chamberlain the $250,000 of Packer loot that secured her story after release from prison in 1986 - it was not often worth it. And when you look at the fallout from the Beirut disaster - during which a producer tossed a huge payment to a child abduction agency - you can see that in 2016 the program is reaping what it sowed. With that in mind, the internal inquiry report is good but not good enough. (And if Nine thinks the nation is swallowing the sacrifice of one producer as fitting atonement, it's mistaken.) Much rests on Sunday night's exploration of its own sins, with reporter Michael Usher to interview Stone. They can rest assured the nation will be on high alert for a self-interested bit of image polishing. But 60 Minutes has bigger problems to weigh. It's ratings are getting embarrassing and have been for a good while. Since the movable feast of reality TV invaded our lives, the once rock-solid Sunday night staple has been shoved about the schedule like a re-run of The Brady Bunch. It's time for a big, bold move - something Kerry Packer himself might have done in the face of clear evidence the old ways weren't working. With Noah as our guide, here's an idea: with the ark taking water, pack up the sinking ship and sail to safer waters. Yes, it's time. Abandon Sunday night to the cooks and the talent quests. Move 60 Minutes to a week night. Refresh and reboot. Retire the chequebook. Revamp the look - remember when the entire nation could tell you who the 60 Minutes team was without a second thought? Ray, George, Ian, Jana. Try asking a random sample of Australians to list the reporting team now and see how far you get. (One imagines Tara Brown has universal name recognition, but not for the reasons you'd hope.) There are too many faces now, some popping in and out as guest reporters, and the gravitas of old is missing. Liz Hayes and Charles Wooley, who one suspects would never have let themselves be caught up in this Beirut mess, are the only links to the glory days. Streamline it. Sink your teeth into fewer but more consequential stories. And as for a timeslot, why not go for broke: Monday night, 8.30. Yes, I know what else is on then. It's Four Corners, coming off Australian Story, and leading into Q&A - an evening of high-quality ABC current affairs programming whose audience numbers suggest an appetite for excellent story telling and engagement with the issues of the day. 60 Minutes knows storytelling. And Australia might be willing to give it another chance to show off its legendary skill - but only if the program shows it's serious about reinventing itself for a new era. CSIRO's deep cuts to its science programs have come under fresh criticism with the head of a global network of monitoring stations warning Australia will lose key researchers that will dent the country's ability to manage future climate change. Almost all the staff at CSIRO's Yarralumla, ACT site researching how vegetation is responding to rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns information that feeds into the world's main climate models have been told their jobs are "surplus to needs", senior scientists say. The latest revelations about the impacts of the jobs cuts first announced in February come as more questions are raised about the suitability of Larry Marshall to head the agency. Fairfax Media reported on Friday Dr Marshall was chosen as CEO despite questions over his record as a scientist and Silicon Valley entrepreneur. It wasn't as if I hadn't been warned. When I'd called to inform her I was planning to travel through the electorate on a sort of 2016 election-campaign Motorcycle Diaries, she had said she wasn't doing any more interviews with the national media, thank you. Independent MP Cathy McGowan is the only crossbench MP left guaranteeing supply and confidence. Credit:Meredith O'Shea She was concentrating on winning every vote possible and wanted no distraction. She's struggling to regain the seat of Indi, which she held from 2001 until she lost it in 2013, the only Liberal seat to fall in that election. Things haven't been going well since her self-inflicted hit when she claimed the Wangaratta Hospital had lost $10 million in federal funding because the electorate had turned its back on her. Marty Corboy's daughter Bridget Corboy, 4, watches National Party leader Barnaby Joyce put his country hat on Fiona Nash. Credit:Mark Jesser Around the corner and up Wangaratta's main street, however, the sitting Member for Indi, Independent Cathy McGowan who tore Indi from Mirabella's grasp in 2013 was perfectly happy to be bothered by a biker reporter. She was surrounded by a boardroom of senior supporters and advisers all eager to impart how McGowan had "democratised" Indi politics. An anti-Sophie Mirabella billboard on the Midland Highway in Indi. Supporters wore the team colour, orange, and thus had no difficulty striking up conversations with other supporters all over the place, building the movement. If that sounded a bit, well, cuddly, McGowan and her close advisers had no apologies. It worked, McGowan said, and produced results. There was, for instance, a problem with mobile phone "black spots" all across Indi, a beautiful electorate of hills, valleys, mountains and plains sprawling from Kinglake, a hamlet on a ridge just north of Melbourne, clear to the Upper Murray in the far north-east of Victoria. McGowan had harnessed the knowledge of far-flung constituents, drawn up a map of the most pressing problem areas, persuaded Telstra to compare its map with hers ... and got 30 more phone towers, with more to come. When the Communications Minister Mitch Fifield turned up the next day to support Mirabella's campaign, he all but confirmed it, travelling to Indigo Valley McGowan's home territory and declaring it was on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's "black spots" program. Right next door to McGowan's Wangaratta electorate office is campaign headquarters for Marty Corboy, who is standing for the Nationals. He could hardly be more different from McGowan and her followers but, in the way of country folk, they get along without rancour. Corboy is a very conservative Catholic from a family of 10 who, at the age of 36, already has six children and a seventh on the way. Home schooling is the Corboy way, and an early experience with political candidacy was with the Family First party. He says he discovered Family First wasn't for him, and departed for the ranks of the Nationals. He uses Facebook, too, but his site has only a few hundred "likes" compared with the 7000 on McGowan's (Mirabella's site has about 4500). Corboy is heavy on traditional placards wired to roadside fences all over the electorate to build a presence. The question facing Corboy's boosters is how his socially conservative stance may fare in Indi's biggest city, Wodonga, where 40 per cent of the electorate's voters reside. Wodonga, a relatively progressive city with a concentration of educational institutions, turned out in large numbers for McGowan in 2013. Interest in Corboy's campaign rose significantly, however, when the Nationals' leader Barnaby Joyce blew into town and effectively wrote off Mirabella's chances of regaining Indi. Corboy, said Joyce, was the Coalition's chance in the electorate. Considering Joyce is also deputy prime minister, the mention of the "Coalition's best chance" seemed particularly pointed. He supported Mirabella at the last election. Meanwhile, Ken Jasper, a wily old Nationals man who sat in state Parliament for the party for 34 years and holds much sway in the Indi area, supports Corboy, too. This is a clearly strategic move: Jasper caused something of a sensation and much anger among Coalition supporters in 2013 when he backed McGowan. Though Liberal frontbenchers have visited Indi to support Mirabella's campaign, the drop in confidence at senior Victorian Liberal Party level where crucial funding is held has become an open secret. Indeed, Mirabella implied on a much-criticised 7.30 interview that she suspected Victorian Liberal Party HQ was leaking against her. And as far as her relationship with the party in Melbourne went: "Quite frankly, it doesn't matter what Collins Street says. It matters what the people of Indi say." And that has been her problem. When Mirabella came to Indi in 2001, it was among the safest of Coalition seats and had been held for most of the previous century by either the Liberals (and its predecessors) or the Country Party. Her popularity initially surged and, in 2004, she won the seat with a mighty vote of more than 66 per cent. But then began a slide, election by election. She has since admitted she had devoted too much time to Canberra politics and to being a warrior (of the right), and has promised to pay more attention to the electorate. The grassroots campaign of McGowan and her followers swallowed many Liberal votes that shifted from Mirabella in 2013, and many more that might have gone to the Nationals if the party had run. The decision by the Nationals to run Corboy changes the mix and adds a layer of uncertainty and difficulty in predicting a result. The base "rusted-on" Liberal vote cannot be discounted, and nor can that of the Nationals. Mirabella got the highest vote in 2013 at 44.7 per cent. McGowan got 31.2 per cent. It came down to a swag of preferences from minor parties. This time the Liberals and the Nationals, the traditional Indi powers, will swap preferences, granting one or the other a stronger chance than if only one was in the contest. McGowan will need a strong lead if she is to hold on.The betting markets have McGowan way out in front, although more sober long-time observers in Indi find it hard to believe she is priced by Sportsbet at $1.15, Corboy at $6 and Mirabella at $11. Sometimes, however, you need an old hand to judge what may really be going on.Tim Fischer, former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, spends much of his time these days on the cattle property run by his wife, Judy Brewer (who is a first cousin of McGowan), in the glorious rolling hill country south-east of Wangaratta. Wearing his political pundit's cap, Fischer has no good news for those trying to wrest Indi from McGowan, least of all for Mirabella. "Leaving all my biases aside for the moment, clearly Cathy McGowan is well in front," he says. "Marty Corboy is closing the gap and it would seem he's lifted the Nationals vote ahead of the Liberals." Fischer treats politics philosophically these days. He and Brewer's eldest son Harrison takes some delight in announcing in his father's presence that he is going to vote Labor. Bronwen Wilson feeding deer fawns. Credit:Thom Rigney The "for sale" ad for the zoo that Alisha had spotted in 2005 showed then-owner Steve Junghenn, who had opened it about five years earlier, standing by a red stag with snow-capped Mount Buller in the background. "100 acres with your own private zoo," read the ad, as Wilson recalls. The advertised price was more than $1 million, including animals. Wilson eventually bought the zoo from Junghenn in December 2005 for $800,000. She knew a bit about caring for cows and horses from her early life on the farm, but nothing about exotic animals. What little she learnt about lions was gleaned during two weeks' work experience with a keeper at Melbourne Zoo, before she moved to Mansfield. "They're just like big cats," the keeper told her. Arriving with her family and a 50-year plan in tow (which would see her through to her mid-90s), Wilson felt an unflappable certainty about her decision, one she admits is hard to explain. The zoo simply satisfied her three criteria, she says, as if that's all she needs to say. Murphy with Djuma the white lion. Credit:Thom Rigney Wilson held firm on the zoo, even when Rodney decided to leave and move to Cairns in early 2007. A few months later, Alisha, who had struggled to adjust to her new school, went north to live with her father. Just over a year after moving to Mansfield, Wilson found herself a single mum to Jordan, with a menagerie of wild animals in tow. "It was nothing to do with the zoo," Wilson says of her marriage breakdown. "We're very different people and it just reached the point where it was unworkable. He didn't want to come to the country. I was driving the whole thing and he was an involuntary participant." As for her daughter, Wilson says she respected her reasons for leaving. Worse was to come. One afternoon, she was driving Jordan home from town when he said he could see two mums in the car and two trees outside, where there was only one. He was diagnosed with double vision, which required regular treatment. For the next two years, Wilson had to drive him most weeks to an eye specialist in Albury, roughly a five-hour round trip. But the hardest thing about running the zoo alone, she says, was butchering livestock to feed her animals. She would start before dawn on an unwanted cow or horse from a farm nearby, slicing and hacking the meat until it was time to wake Jordan. After dropping him at school, she'd go back to butchering hoping that no tourists arrived early to see her covered in blood and muck. One morning she had to shoot a lame horse, and stood in shock over the body. "All my youth was spent riding horses, so the realisation that I had now put down a horse was pretty shocking. After that, I was happy not to do it any more." The butchering is now done by Dave Murphy, Wilson's partner and co-manager of the zoo. Murphy works in a meat shed by the zoo, often waiting until the cool of evening, when the flies are quiet and tourists have gone home. Before Murphy joined her, Wilson had been running the zoo alone for two-and-a-half years. She was rarely lonely. "I used to view it as my little island in the world," she says. "It was my sanctuary away from everything, somewhere where I could be relaxed and feel at peace." Wilson met Murphy, who managed the farm next door, when he came over to help deliver hay, doing odd jobs or rescuing Wilson's car when she bogged it on a back road. They were out walking one evening in February 2008, inspecting overflow pipes he had installed for the dam, when Wilson was bitten on the ankle by a tiger snake. Murphy drove her to the doctor in Mansfield. An ambulance took her to hospital in Wangaratta and she spent three days in intensive care. Murphy, a 66-year-old with a moustache and cowboy hat, moved in with Wilson in May 2009. At the end of my visit, the baby fawn Wilson has been caring for stops breathing. She cradles it and leaves it in the tall grass, with its head tucked under a leg, so that its mum might know it is dead. An eagle circles in the bright sky overhead. Come tomorrow, crows will have pecked out the fawn's eyes. Animals are less complicated than people, Wilson explains. "There's a lot less drama," she says. "But things do go wrong." "OI, Robbie," Dave Murphy hollers. "Get over here, you old bastard!" His hands are poking through the small rectangular gap in the lions' enclosure. Robbie (also known as Rubani) is a 12-year-old tawny lion, as is the 13-year-old lioness Delilah. They are separated from two white lions, Djuma and Matimba, by a tall metal fence. Robbie and Delilah amble over to the side of their cage and Murphy drags his fingers through their coarse fur. They like a scratch, he says. When it's my turn to pat Robbie, I squat an arm's length away, ready to jump back. His fur feels like a dog's three days shy of a wash. He growls and pushes his bulk against the bars. "Show them no fear but be respectful of them," Murphy says. "Animals are animals." He's spent much of his working life managing cattle properties, horse studs and hobby farms. To pass the time on a tractor one day, he calculated that he had sliced and squeezed the testicles from 48,000 calves. Some evenings, after the zoo closes, he brings out a beer, sits with his back to the bars, and talks to the lions. They seem to enjoy each other's company. "You can feel their warmth through the fence," Murphy says. Robbie turns his rear towards us and lifts his tail. "Look out, he's going to pee!" A strong, narrow stream shoots through the air, splashing me in the face and Murphy in his ear. Warm lion piss drips down my nose. I'm surprised it doesn't stink. Murphy roars. "You old bugger! You bloody old bastard! You old prick!" So it goes when you're running a zoo. Days start at 8.30am, driving to town to collect whatever old and excess fruit and vegetables are available for free at the local supermarkets to feed the animals. The zoo's seven monkeys three white-fronted capuchin, three rhesus macaque and a bonnet macaque eat, in total, about four kilograms of food a day. Two resident wombats consume three kilograms a day. Working alongside Murphy and Wilson are Wilson's two children. Jordan is now 17 and Alisha, who has returned from Queensland, is 24. She is also studying business marketing at Swinburne University, in Melbourne, and finishing her final units online. The zoo opens at 10am. Tickets are sold. Feed buckets filled. Animal enclosures mucked out. Lawns mowed. Every afternoon, there's another supermarket run. Deers enjoy watermelon. Sheep like strawberries. Wilson once served them buckets of mushy berries. They looked like they were wearing lipstick, she says. The four lions eat the equivalent of a big cow every 10 to 12 days. Lions are pretty easy to look after. "You just feed them and clean their enclosure," she says. "I love their raw power but they're also soft and gentle. Sometimes they lie down together and kick like kittens with all their paws going." When she was young, Wilson thought she might like to be a hermit, with a plot of land in the mountains and a horse and cart and vegetables and a cow. She would lie on her back in a paddock and try to feel the world turning. Later, she deferred an agricultural science degree to become a yoga teacher and lived in an ashram in northern NSW for seven years. Even now, she sometimes hides when tourists come by. "The world is so busy with stuff that it's easy to get distracted," she says. "The best days here are when the power has failed and there is no hum of motors, no phones, no computers, and it's just quiet." As a crowd of about 100 gathers around Murphy for this afternoon's lion feeding, Wilson and I walk along the zoo's long dirt driveway. Buried beneath six elm trees at the top of the driveway are the two old lions Kitwe and Monbu that were the star attractions when she bought the zoo in 2005. Monbu died of leukaemia at the age of 18 in 2011. His brother Kitwe, Wilson's favourite, was almost 20 when he died of pneumonia 18 months later. "I didn't tell anyone for about three months after he died, because I didn't want to talk about it," she says. "Kitwe was symbolic of the optimism we came here with of the future." When Wilson bought the zoo, a big day might have brought 100 visitors. Now, it's more than 300. The white lions, transferred from the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra in 2012, are a big drawcard, she says. "People sometimes connect with animals more easily than they do with people, particularly mammals, anything that is warm and furry." Today's crowd dwindles after the lions have eaten their fill. Murphy walks over and we three sit on the verandah as the sun descends. Wilson likes to sit and listen for frogs croaking and kangaroos thumping the ground. Caring for animals is like learning a different language, she says. "You have to be slower and more measured." A friend tried to shield Amber Heard from Johnny Depp, her husband, during a drunken rampage, according to court papers filed as part of her application for a domestic violence restraining order. Depp has denied all the allegations and his lawyers accused his wife of using the allegations to "secure a premature financial resolution". On Friday, a Los Angeles judge ordered Depp, 52, not to come within 100 yards of Heard. In the court papers released on Saturday, Heard alleged her husband had "a long-held and widely acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse". Madeline Rowe stands over the central heating vents to stay warm in Coburg, Melbourne. Credit:Josh Rowe When they renovated their home about 10 years ago, they installed ducted heating. "When it gets chilly the kids hog the ducted heating vents in the morning and everyone loves them," Josh says. He says the ducted heating is very efficient because the temperature can be set in each room. "And when we did the renovation we put in high-grade insulation and put the windows in the right places," he adds. Experts say the very first thing to do is to keep a lid on the costs of heating is to ensure the home is properly insulated. Chris Barnes, a team leader at consumer group Choice, says ceilings should be insulated, doors and window draughts stopped-up, windows covered at night and doors closed between heated and unheated areas. While is commonly believed that gas heating systems are cheaper than electricity, the notion has been questioned. Barnes says gas prices are set to rise and it is no longer a given that gas heating is going to be cheaper than electricity. Cameron Chisholm, the energy program associate at the Grattan Institute, writing for The Conversation last year, said many people like gas heating because it heats quickly, it is easy to control the temperature and you do not need to stand directly in front of it to feel the heat. However, gas prices will rise because of expansion of the Australian gas export industry. The Grattan Institute's October 2014 report, Gas at the crossroads, shows reverse-cycle air conditioners can have less than half the running costs of ducted gas heating. Choice's Chris Barnes agrees that electricity is generally cheaper than gas for heating. "For heating a large space or a large house, the reverse-cycle airconditioner is starting to look like a no-brainer," he says. Chisholm goes further to argue that even before the expected increases in gas prices kick in, households could make considerable savings by replacing gas appliances with energy-efficient electric ones. As always, it is worthwhile shopping around for energy providers. That is not just with a view to switching providers, but just as a check on whether or not you are getting a good deal, says Laura Crowden, a spokesperson for iSelect, a financial products comparison website. Discounts are now fairly common with energy providers, but an iSelect-commissioned Galaxy survey of 1200 people shows 31 per cent of households are still on standard retail energy plans without discounts. Crowden says the biggest discounts, of about 30 per cent, are for paying on time. Some providers offer a further discount, generally 1 or 2 per cent, for paying bills online by direct debit. As well as straight-up discounts for paying on time, there are always special offers. "Increased competition means some retailers are offering generous introductory offers or rebates to entice new customers such as credit awards towards your accounts," Crowden says. Most retailers offer flexible payment options, where the pay can be paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Crowden says some provide bill smoothing so there is no bill shock, where the energy retailer divides annual usage into even monthly instalments. Sometimes the cheapest plan may not be the best value option over the longer term, Crowden says. "For example, many people get enticed by generous pay-on-time discounts but pay their bills late and end up paying a lot more," she says. Energy concessions, rebates and eligibility conditions vary from state to state. Some states offer rebates on energy bills to lower-income earning families. For example, families in NSW who have received the Family Tax Benefit A or B during the previous financial receive the Family Energy Rebate of $150. There is no equivalent rebate for families in Victoria. There are discounts on energy bills throughout Australia for holders of various concession cards, like the pensioner concession card and health care card. Best deals NSW: Mozo says some of the best deals include CovaU's Freedom Save, which has a 16 per cent pay-on-time discount. That works out at $364 a quarter compared with the typical NSW electricity bill of $462 a quarter. In NSW, Dodo Power and Gas's Market Offer has a $100 credit on the first bill and a 20 per cent pay-on-time discount, or a cost of $370 on typical electricity use. PowerShop's Online Saver has a 4 per cent discount plus a 12 per cent discount when the bill is paid through the provider's online shop, or a cost of $369. Victoria: More competition means lower prices. Globird Energy's GloSave has a 32 per cent pay-on-time discount and a 1 per cent direct debit discount, or a cost of $255 a quarter compared with the typical spend in Victoria of $392 a quarter. It is the skill that has seen a 65 per cent surge in demand in the past three years. But for many entering the job market it is as ambiguous as "synergy". Creativity, the Foundation for Young Australians says, is the way of the future, according to its survey of 4.2 million job ads in April. But what does it mean and can you teach it? A revolutionary online tool is set to unravel the hidden mysteries of retirement village fees. While their glossy brochures portray an idyllic lifestyle of comfort, convenience and simplicity, retirement village costs are a different story. Joy Alleyne at home in a retirement village in Cooranbong, south of Newcastle. Credit:Liam Driver Fair Trading receives dozens of complaints from consumers each year that relate to misleading or indecipherable pricing structures. However, Fairfax Media can reveal that KPMG has won a $128,000 tender from the NSW government to research and develop an application which, for the first time, will enable retirees to compare fees. TAFE NSW has appointed a new tier of 14 general managers, and signed a $1.65 million contract with McKinsey to "comprehensively restructure" before an expected 2018 national takeover of vocational training. The millions of dollars being poured into head office, at the same time as classes, teaching staff and disability support workers continue to be cut at TAFE campuses, has angered parents and students. James Hollamby, who is deaf, is unhappy with Tamworth TAFE cutbacks. Pictured with his mother Kate. Credit:Gareth Gardner Kate Hollamby has been told that the disability support worker who is vital for her son James, 34, who is profoundly deaf and autistic, to participate in classes at TAFE's Tamworth campus has lost her job. "She is a deaf person herself. We have never had such a terrific support worker. She uses a deaf person's first language, Auslan, and is the hub of the deaf community in Tamworth," said Ms Hollamby, who lives in Quirindi. Two thirds of violent men who attend behaviour change programs completely stop abusing their families within two years, but they always fear slipping back into their old ways. The first Australian study into the long-term effects of interventions for domestic violence perpetrators found that court-ordered participants in behaviour change programs were the most likely to stop being violent. Behaviour change programs are highly effective for domestic violence perpetrators. Monash University followed men who attended behaviour change programs in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia for two years after they completed the program. Monash social work professor Thea Brown said 65 per cent of men were classed as violence-free at the end of the study. This meant they no longer physically, emotionally or sexually abused their partners, or made them afraid. Peacekeepers travel to world's war-ravaged regions without guns, without armour, but with the courage to put their lives on the line. Major Peter Williams of Brisbane knows the perils well, having travelled to South Sudan as a peacekeeper in 2010. He said the public knows very little about peacekeepers' work. The Governor's Representative Luke O'Brien lays a wreath for those lost at war after the UN Peacekeepers march. Credit:Bradley Kanaris "The wider public doesn't necessarily know what (peacekeepers) do on missions and don't understand the conditions under which they live," Major Williams said. "We don't have rifles, we're unarmed, we don't have body armour and we go into situations at times where there are angry people with guns. A teenager has been charged after allegedly setting a 17-year-old female on fire in Brisbane's south. It is alleged about 4pm Friday the man, 17, became involved in a verbal argument with the woman at an Avalon Court home in Marsden. A teenager has been charged after setting a 17-year-old woman on fire in Brisbane's south. Credit:Tom Threadingham Police allege the man then set the woman on fire, leaving her with serious burns to her arms, legs and upper body. He was charged with acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm and will face Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday. Two bushfires that ignited in country Victoria last year could have burnt 25,500 hectares and threatened houses and lives, if not for earlier planned burns which removed fuel, according to the state environment department. One of the fires, at Tallarook, ignited under severe fire conditions last October and burnt 557 hectares. Another fire at Wensleydale near Anglesea burnt only 11 hectares. Environment department says the Wensleydale fire last October would have posed a more serious threat if fuel reduction burns had not taken place in 2011 and 2015. Credit:Channel 9 But modelling by the state environment department using the bushfire simulation tool Phoenix Rapidfire, found the Tallarook fire had the potential to burn 7500 hectares. The modelled bushfire zone included most of the Tallarook State Forest and nearby settlements, including 65 properties. It is wild, secluded and absolutely stunning. Yet tourists stay less than 40 minutes on average in the region that takes in the Twelve Apostles despite the almost six-hour round trip from Melbourne. Then they spend about 18 cents in the local economy. Its wild, secluded and stunning. Now it has wi-fi. Credit:Damien White The state government hopes to remedy that by spending $9.8 million on the 28-kilometre Shipwreck Coast. That money will provide Wi-Fi at the Twelve Apostles viewing platform, which may encourage tourists to linger a few minutes longer as they post their selfies on social media. A credit card stolen from Richmond in early May has been used in liquor stores, supermarkets and at fast food outlets in Melbourne's outer easter suburbs. Cardinia detectives have been told the credit card was stolen from a Suzuki Swift, parked near the corner of Stewart Street and Punt Road, between 7.30pm on May 7 and 2am on May 8. Cardinia detectives released images of a man they would like to talk to. Police said the stolen bank card was used on May 9 at businesses in Cockatoo, Emerald and Bayswater. Detectives released images of a man who may be able to assist with their investigation. In Gong's warehouselike complex of cages, visitors walk into a deafening cacophony. Huskies, Rottweilers, golden retrievers and other breeds bark and paw at the wires. Retired Tosa fighting dogs lie listlessly, some with their snouts badly mangled. Below the cages, faeces piles up, creating an overpowering odour. Adam Parascandola, who works for Humane Society International, ties up a dog at a dog farm in Wonju, South Korea. Credit:New York Times Dog traders visit these farms to buy animals when the summer's dog-eating season approaches. At current rates, a 36-kilogram dog goes for $US250. They transport the dogs in cages so crowded they can barely move or even suffocate before they arrive at slaughterhouses for electrocution. From the slaughterhouse, wholesale meat dealers supply the carcasses to back-alley dog-meat restaurants, where customers, many of them older men, enjoy a hot bowl of vegetables, spicy condiments and shredded dog meat. Lola Weber, left, and Adam Parascandola, who work for Humane Society International, remove a dog from a dog farm in Wonju. Credit:New York Times "Dog is raised and supplied just like cabbage is," Gong said. Koreans call the dog dish "bosintang," or "soup good for your body". It became popular when the nation was destitute and meat was scarce. Koreans are fiercely proud of their culinary history. Even those who shun dog meat often bristle at foreigners who criticise the practice; to them, eating snails is unthinkable and force-feeding ducks to produce foie gras cruel. A dog rescued from a dog farm in Incheon, South Korea. Credit:New York Times But as South Korea has become wealthier, its tastes and attitudes toward animals has changed. Keeping pets has become more commonplace. Television programs on raising companion animals or rescuing abused dogs are popular. In parliamentary elections in April, one small party championed animal rights. Increasingly South Koreans, especially the younger generation, find the idea of eating dog meat appalling. Gabriel Wildgen, center, campaign manager of Humane Society International, and a volunteer remove a dog from a dog farm in Wonju, South Korea. Credit:New York Times "Grandpa strokes my poodle on his lap and says, 'This is just the right size for a bowl of bosintang'," said Kim Yoo-na, 14, who recently visited a pet accessory store in Seoul with his mother. "He's joking, but whenever he says that, I snatch my dog from him". Animal rights groups hope the campaign to free more dogs will boost public awareness about the animals' plight before the Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018, when the country will be more sensitive to its international image. Abby Hubbard, deputy director of the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, with a dog that was rescued from a dog farm in Incheon. Credit:New York Times "There is widespread public ignorance about the dogs bred for meat - the myth that these dogs are somehow different from 'normal dogs' has fostered a societal indifference to their suffering," said Wendy Higgins, a Humane Society International spokeswoman. "Our experience at all farms has shown that every breed of dog imaginable is found on a dog meat farm, including the pure breeds that are popular as companions," she said. Gong said he had moved to his valley to breed special-purpose animals, like guide dogs for the blind, after his music cafe in Seoul went bankrupt in the 1990s. Oversupply and plummeting prices for specialty dogs forced him to sell the animals for meat. Ten years ago, he began to raise dogs for meat full time. "I am not particularly proud of eating dog meat, but I don't think it's something we should be ashamed of either," he said. "No nation should be criticised for its food." Gong saw no long-term future for his trade. Surveys show that most South Koreans now eat chicken, beef or pork instead of dog meat on boknal, days when they traditionally eat food they believe helps beat the summer heat. None of the young people Gong knew, including his son, would touch dog meat. He said the image of dog farms was "not good". One day recently, Gong saw off 17 of his dogs, the latest batch to be flown to the US under the deal with the animal protection group. He said he "felt better" when he saw pictures of the dogs living happily as family pets abroad. He said he might try growing mushrooms now. Tehran: More than 30 college students were arrested, interrogated and within 24 hours were each given 99 lashes for attending a graduation party that included men and women, Iran's judiciary has announced. The punishments, which were believed to be part of a wider crackdown by a judiciary dominated by hard-liners, were meted out in Qazvin, about 145 km north-west of the capital, and were carried out in record time, according to Mizan, a news agency affiliated with the judiciary, reported on Thursday. . Iranian worshippers including army cadets, perform their Friday prayer at Tehran University campus in Iran in recent weeks. Credit:AP The Qazvin prosecutor, Esmail Sadeghi Niaraki, said that more than 30 female and male students - the women were described as "half naked," meaning they were not wearing Islamic coverings, scarves and long coats - were arrested while "dancing and jubilating" after authorities received a report that a party attended both by men and women was being held in a villa on the outskirts of Qazvin. PNA says Population Becoming Much Richer, and Fast In a press release entitled "Updated Santa Monica Ellis & Eviction Map IllustratesGentrification and Resident Displacement," a neighborhood group charges that Santa Monica is "transforming into an exclusive tourist destination and high-income community with less and less room for its low-income residents." The Pico Neighborhood Group says that the updated Santa Monica Ellis & Eviction Map, released today by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project in partnership with the Pico Neighborhood Association and the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, illustrates the displacement crisis, as rising housing prices and Ellis Act evictions exacerbate market pressures on low-income residents, forcing them to relocate outside of the City. One thing that is clear from the maps is that gentrification is not limited to the Pico Neighborhood but it is impacting long term renters in other neighborhoods in Santa Monica, said Maria Loya The interactive map tracks the impact of the Ellis Act on Santa Monicas population over time. Since the Ellis Act was enacted by the Ca. State Legislature in 1986, giving landlords more power to transform their buildings, almost 2,000 rent controlled units have been lost in Santa Monica. The Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA), with support from the Santa Monica Rent Control Board and the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project created the interactive map. Two maps were created to demonstrate the overall impact of the Ellis Act over time and and second map the shows the Ellising and eviction that have occurred in the past three years and the location of where the evictions are taking place within the City of Santa Monica. The map can be accessed on the internet at: http://www.antievictionmappingproject.net/santamonica.html and https://antievictionmap.squarespace.com/santa-monica-3 We are seeing an increase in the misuse of the Ellis Act throughout California that needs to be addressed locally and at the statewide level, stated Erin McElroy, the projects director. A key partner in the maps creation was the staff of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board who provided the data for the maps creation. The Ellis Act continues to be a pernicious force in our neighborhoods. Between 2013 and 2014, withdrawal notices rose nearly 75% and between 2014 and 2015 the number of units affected increased nearly two-fold from 85 units to 153 units. It is time for Ellis Act reform on the state level. In Santa Monica, we must continue to be ever-vigilant and work to protect our residents by informing them of their rights and protections under the Ellis Act and continuing to closely monitor post-Ellis activity, particularly in the realm of short term rentals., said Nicole Phillis, Rent Control Board Chairperson. We envision a Santa Monica that is diverse but this vision is being threatened daily by market pressures through the development of market rate housing. The Expo Light Rail line, lacking an aggressive affordable housing strategy will exacerbate the displacement of low income residents. We need to develop a comprehensive strategy to protect current residents from displacement. Protecting the diversity that makes Santa Monica a vibrant community must include a thoughtful approach including, zoning protections, affordable housing, quality jobs and workforce training for local residents, stated Cris McLeod, Chair of the Pico Neighborhood Association. Donald Trump Appears at Exclusive Home The ink is barely dry on the joint fundraising agreement between Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee, but discord is already brewing. As Trump sweeps through California this week holding high-dollar fundraisers to benefit the party and his campaign, a small group of Trump loyalists planned to huddle at an unofficial finance meeting Wednesday to discuss whether the party has Trump's best interests at heart, according to one GOP donor. Chief among their concerns: A fundraising agreement that they believe could fill the RNC's coffers but leave far less to benefit the candidate, as well as a finance team composed of veteran GOP fundraisers with little allegiance to Trump. Trump's first fundraising event was expected Wednesday evening at the home of investor Thomas Barrack Jr., and tickets start at $25,000, the Los Angeles Times reported. Barrack's home is in Santa Monica. A police officer told KTLA that extra security was added around the Santa Monica home after violence following a Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday night. Parts of San Vicente Boulevard were blocked off early Wednesday evening. Even as the Trump campaign and the RNC begin to work together more closely, the concerns among some financiers highlight the lingering distrust Trump backers feel toward the Republican Party. "I don't think the RNC is 100% committed," to helping the billionaire businessman, the GOP donor said. "If Donald Trump's seven points down in October, they're going to put that money toward Senate races and House races." Trump, who funded much of his primary campaign from his own fortune, has only just begun to lay the groundwork to raise his goal of roughly $1 billion for the general election. He recently tapped Steven Mnunchin - a newcomer to the GOP fundraising scene who has previously donated to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton - as his finance chair. But most of the fundraising effort is being run out of the RNC, with the party providing the necessary staff and resources. "We have built probably the most impressive fundraising operation in political history with some of the most prominent and successful Republican fundraisers," said Sean Spicer, disputing the notion that the party wasn't fully supporting Trump. Under the joint fundraising agreement, Trump can hit up donors for nearly $450,000 to benefit his campaign as well as the GOP. The first $5,400 of those checks goes directly to the Trump campaign. A Santa Monica home owner by investor Thomas Barrack Jr. is shown on May 25, 2016, when it was expected to host a fundraiser for Donald Trump. But some donors are still hoping to convince the campaign to hold a series of fundraisers focused on bringing in smaller, hard dollar checks to pump up Trump's primary and general election accounts. "Some of us are going, 'Hey, we've got six weeks to really make it rain,'" before Trump officially becomes the nominee and can no longer accept primary dollars, according to the donor. Meanwhile, a disjointed web of super PACs supporting Trump has only compounded the confusion. None of them have been even tacitly blessed by the candidate - who spent months railing against big donors - leaving some contributors who'd like to cut six-figure checks still sitting on the sidelines, multiple donors said. Several of the donors unveiled by one of the super PACs as prominent supporters told CNN they still haven't given a cent to the group. Who did it best: Cast your vote for the high school football player of the week South Milwaukee Police are trying to raise $2,500 for a K9 program The South Milwaukee Police Department wants to add a K9 unit in 2023 or 2024 and a contest for a $2.5K grant could help kickstart funding. La Habana, May 27, 2016 (SPS) - The Embassy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Cuba has actively took part in the celebration of the 53 anniversary of the African Union (AU), according to press release of the Saharawi Embassy in Cuba. The week began with a meeting between the diplomatic corps accredited in Cuba with the Vice President of the Councils of State and President of the National Assembly of People's Power to review bilateral relations between Cuba and the African continent, the challenges facing the African people and ways to consolidate and deepen these relations. The President of the Cuban Assembly declared that his country maintains diplomatic relations with 53 African countries except Morocco Guinea Bissau's ambassador as Dean of the African diplomatic corps recalled that Africa will not be free and independent while Western Sahara continue occupied, reaffirming that we will not cease until the Saharawi people decide their future.SPS 125/090/TRA W hether you love a good Rose, or you're more into sparkling wines, you could do much much worse than exploring the bottles produced in our very own country. England's offering has never been better and what better excuse to explore it than during English Wine Week (May 28-June 5). There are currently 580 vineyards in the UK, so there are plenty of vines that are ripe for exploring. Head to the West Country to sample your way through the Camel Valley vineyard in Cornwall - its Rose is award-winning and not to be missed. Or if you're into your sparkling wines, Nyetimber in Sussex is a must-visit, as is Hambledon in Hampshire. So next time you're thinking of doing a booze cruise to France, why not look a little bit closer to home? Click through our gallery above for our edit of the six best vineyards every wine lover should visit. Follow Kate on Twitter @kate_lough and Instagram @kateloughtravel Additional research by Premier Inn T he British Soap Awards have kicked off with stars arriving en masse on the red carpet in London this evening. The awards will see fan favourite Danny Dyer from EastEnders up for the best actor award, while Coronation Street's Alison King is in the running for best actress having left the show after 10 years. Kieron Richardson, who will compete with Dyer for best actor, arrived at Hackney Town Hall along with cast-mates Nikki Sanderson, and Andrew Hayden Smith. Dyer, who plays Mick Carter and wore a dark blue suit, green waistcoat and black tie for the occasion, arrived with Kellie Bright, who plays his on-screen wife Linda Carter, as well as Luisa Bradshaw-White, who plays Tina Carter. This is the third time Dyer has been nominated for best actor. He has yet to win the award. The actor said: "If I don't win I'll be gutted. I'll be absolutely gutted, I ain't going to lie to ya. "Everyone will say they'll be fine with it, but I will be really upset and I will sob me heart out." I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! winner Vicky Pattison, 28, who was attending to present the best newcomer award, said she was a big fan of Dyer. "Anything Danny Dyer is up for I'm rooting for that. I love him," she said. Eastenders' Lacey Turner, who is up for best actress, hit the red carpet in a sophisticated yellow frock, while her Coronation Street rival King arrived at the awards in a floorlength, animal print gown. Reunited couple Lucy-Jo Hudson and Coronation Street's Alan Hassall stepped out together at the event. The annual awards are once again hosted by Phillip Schofield while a string of stars will dish out the gongs in recognition of the best storylines in soap-land. The ceremony itself will take place at the Hackney Empire. A teenage boy is fighting for his life in hospital after he was stabbed repeatedly in south-east London. The 16-year-old was rushed to hospital after police were called to a council estate in Payne Street, Deptford shortly after midnight. His condition is said to be critical after he was found suffering with stab wounds. A cordon has been put in place outside surrounding homes and businesses with forensic investigators spotted at the scene. Taped off: A cordon has been in place since shortly after midnight One man, who did not want to be named, said: When I arrived for work the road was shut off and police were carrying out a search of the area. A Met spokeswoman said no arrests have been made as enquiries continue. Police in Lewisham remain at the scene and are investigating. M indless vandals sprayed graffiti and daubed the f-word on a London ambulance while it was on a call-out to a patient. Paramedics have been forced to take the emergency vehicle out of service while it is cleaned up following the shocking incident in Hanwell, west London, at about 9.45pm on Friday night. London Ambulance Service assistant director of operations Lucas Hawkes-Frost said: This sort of mindless action is incredibly frustrating and there can be no excuse for it, as it only impacts on the care were able to provide to Londoners. Emergency services personnel were united in fury against the vandals, with many posting angry comments on social media. A London Ambulance Service spokesman declined to confirm what was daubed on the back of the vehicle. But it is understood to have been the word f*** - in the same red spray paint used on the side of the ambulance. A brave woman has described the moment she found the courage to fight off her attacker after he ripped her necklace from her and punched her to the ground. The victim, aged in her 40s, was grabbed from behind before her jewellery was snatched from her during an evening walk in Croydon. When she tried to stop the attack, the man allegedly punched her in the face and she fell to the ground. The womans attacker then tried to grab a bangle from her wrist but he ran away when she fought back. The victim, who asked not to be named, told the Standard: I was terrified, I screamed for help. The guy threw another two punches at my face, since I was not letting go of my bangle. At that point of time I didn't feel any pain. I can't explain how I felt the courage to fight a man who was much taller and stronger than me. I felt like I had to match up to his fight in order for me to survive. The woman, who has a teenage daughter, said she has been left too afraid to leave the house alone since the attack, which happened in Sutherland Road at around 7.45pm on May 13. Police said she was taken to hospital after the assault and will need ongoing treatment. My daughter, who is 13, had to see my face bleeding and bruised. She was in tears when she saw me, the victim said. I no longer travel to work or anywhere alone since I am very much afraid this may happen again. Still I feel the chill travel down my spine when I recall the time I was attacked. The value for the jewellery may not much but it meant a lot to me since my mum had bought it for me with her savings. I don't believe it should have been torn from me in such way. Detectives are appealing for help tracing the suspect, who is described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s and about 5ft 7ins tall. Describing what it would mean to her for police to catch the suspect, the woman said: I want to see this gruesome man brought to justice after all the mental and physical pain he has left me and my family in. Anyone with information is asked to call PC Chris Martin at Croydon CID via 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A 51-year-old London man has been charged under modern slavery laws with keeping a person in servitude. Toi Van Le, of Tanners Hill in Deptford, was arrested in Birmingham on Wednesday by West Mercia Police following an investigation into cannabis production, according to the force. He appeared in front of magistrates in Shropshire on Saturday charged with holding a person in slavery or servitude contrary to the Modern Slavery Act. Le is further charged with arranging or facilitating the travel of another with a view to exploitation, and faces eight separate counts of producing cannabis. The alleged offences are all said to have been carried out across the country. He was remanded in custody to appear at Shrewsbury Crown Court on June 27. A man has been jailed for six years after police discovered homemade explosives at his home in east London. Police found several explosive devices at the home of 41-year-old Ian Michael Shingler in Rainham, after responding to an emergency call from a man threatening to shoot himself. The surrounding homes were evacuated when police made the discovery with neighbours forced to leave their homes until the area was made safe in July last year. Shingler was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to at an earlier hearing to having an explosive substance under suspicious circumstances, contrary to Section 4(1) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883. He also admitted to possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. Shingler, of Plough Court, Broadis Way was also sentenced to six months in prison for possessing an indecent image of a child, to run concurrently with the other offences. He was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for a period of ten years and must sign the Sex Offenders Register for seven years. Two offences relating to possession of a firearm and an explosive device were ordered to lie on file. C ruel thieves have deprived an elderly brother and sister of their life savings after they tricked their way into their London home by pretending to be gas engineers. Two men arrived at the house at Hillrise Mansions in Waltersville Road, Islington, at around 1pm on Thursday and gained entry when they told the siblings, who are in their 80s, they were from the gas board. Once inside, the pair searched the property and found 20,000 in life savings in a box hidden at the bottom of a wardrobe. They then made excuses to the unsuspecting victims and left the house with all the cash. Police have appealed for help to track down the thieves, which has devastated the elderly pair. DC Joe Marston, Islington CID, said: "This was a despicable crime carried out against vulnerable elderly siblings who trusted that these men needed to check their boiler. "They are devastated and are still trying to come to terms with what has happened." The suspects have been described as two white males. The first is thought to be 5ft 6ins tall and was wearing short-sleeved green top and black gloves. No details have been provided on the second man. Anyone with information should call police on 101 and ask for Islington CID or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. A Metropolitan Police sergeant has been sacked after failing to respond to a fatal knife attack in which a man was stabbed more than 200 times Sergeant Kirsten Treasure, who served in Croydon, south London, also made racist and homophobic slurs about colleagues and members of the public. Ms Treasure was dismissed after a two-week case found her guilty of gross misconduct and breaching the Met's professional behaviour standards. The hearing found that on 15 occasions she made derogatory, demeaning, racist and homophobic comments about fellow officers and members of the public. In April 2014, Ms Treasure ignored an initial call for police assistance following reports that a man had been attacked in New Addington. Andrew Else, 52, died when he was stabbed more than 200 times by paranoid schizophrenic Ephraim Norman, 24, who was later detained indefinitely in Broadmoor maximum security hospital after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Scotland Yard said officers were on the scene of the attack within seven minutes, but Ms Treasure failed to properly respond to the call for help. She and another sergeant were placed on restricted duties while an investigation was carried out, interviewed under caution and a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, but no criminal charges were brought and the case against the second officer was dropped. But Ms Treasure later lied in a misconduct interview about the events. She also refused to investigate a shoplifting case and pressured an officer into not giving evidence against her, the hearing was told. Chief Superintendent Matt Gardner, from the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, described Ms Treasures misconduct as truly shocking. He said: "Her attitudes to people, be they colleagues, the public or victims of crime, have been shown to be appalling, the polar opposite of what those of a police officer should be, and it is clear that the panel were fully justified in dismissing this officer." Additional reporting by Press Association. A young man is in hospital with life-changing injuries after the car he was travelling in crashed into a van before hitting a tree at a busy road junction in Tottenham. Shocked bystanders rushed to help after the Vauxhall Astra collided with a parked van, mounted the pavement and struck a tree shortly before 8am this morning. Police said the driver fled the scene of the crash, in Great Cambridge Road at the junction with White Hart Lane, leaving two men, aged 28 and 29, trapped inside the vehicle. Passersby flagged down medics from a passing ambulance, who stopped to help treat the men before firefighters arrived to free them from the car. The 28-year-old was rushed to an east London hospital where he remains with life-changing injuries, police said. The older man was taken to a hospital in north London with injuries not thought to be life-threatening or life-changing. Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit are investigating. Detective Constable Charlie Pulling said: "This is a busy area and there were a number of other road users who were in the vicinity at the time of the incident. "I am appealing to anyone who may have seen the collision or the events leading up to it, to please come forward and assist us with our enquires. "We believe that there were three people in the vehicle at the time of the collision and it appears that the driver is still outstanding. "We are unsure whether or not he sustained any injuries and it is of paramount importance that we trace him immediately." Anyone with information is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Alperton on 020 8991 9555 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A n 8-year-old boy has been taken to hospital after he was struck by a car in what is believed to be a hit-and-run collision in south London. The child was found by police and medics who responded to a report of a crash between a car and a pedestrian in Brixton at around 11.20am. The collision took place in New Park Road at the junction with Doverfield Road, close to Brixton Hill where a bus and a car collided hours earlier. The boy has been taken to a south London hospital where officers are awaiting an update on his condition. Police said they are investigating after the car failed to stop at the scene. Anyone with information should contact police at Lambeth on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 A brilliant graduate from north London plunged 650ft to his death in an Indian gorge just a week before he was due to return home. Victor Fox, 22, from Muswell Hill, plummeted into the deep ravine after his motorbike hit a rock on the treacherous road in the Uttarkashi district in the north of the country. Emergency crews mounted a rescue effort but the young adventurer died before he could be taken to hospital. In a statement, his parents Roger and Gordana Fox said: All his family and friends are devastated by the loss of a brilliant, affectionate, caring, smart and popular boy. Our family is incredibly proud of what he achieved in his short life and have been comforted by the warm words of his friends, some of whom we had not previously met. The crash happened on May 12, a few days before Victor was due to return home. This week a memorial service was held at Highgate School, where friends and family gathered to pay tribute to the philosophy graduate. He was said to have been travelling with three friends Will Murphy, James Hester and Dom Grimshaw. Speaking at the service, Mr Murphy described Victor who graduated from Bristol University with a first as a born adventurer. According to the Ham&High, he said: Victor brought so much energy, character and laughter to every situation. We loved him for his intelligence, his ridiculous sense of humour, his beautiful cheeky face, his impressive balance of work and social life, his mature rationality in all situations. Victor was a born adventurer. K en Livingstone has been sacked as a presenter on LBC radio in the wake of his controversial comments about Hitler that sparked an anti-Semitism storm. The former Mayor of London is understood to have been let go after eight years with the station over the claims Hitler was a Zionist before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews. After MPs demanded action he was suspended pending an investigation for bringing the party into disrepute. Today the company owns LBC, Global, confirmed it had severed ties with the disgraced politician. A spokeswoman said: Ken Livingstone is not currently presenting on LBC and will not be returning to the station at the end of his contract." Speaking to the Telegraph, a defiant Mr Livingstone claimed he had been sacked for telling the truth, adding: They just think theres a lot of controversy surrounding me. But thats actually one of the reasons people listen to the programme. They want someone boring who can bring the listening figures down. Ken Livingstone on Hitler on LBC The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said the move to fire Mr Livingstone followed pressure from the organisation. Communications director Jonathan Sacerdoti said: We applaud them for heeding our calls. Having offended Jewish people, and others committed to decency and anti-racism, Ken Livingstone proceeded to repeat his comments as widely and frequently as possible in the media. Global has now removed his most prominent outlet for doing so. Mr Livingstone has not been presenting his normal Saturday morning show with former politician David Mellor in recent weeks because of impartiality rules governing broadcasters in the run-up to the EU referendum. A terrified Costa Coffee customer broke his arm when he hurled himself through a window after mistaking mischievous students for a terror attack, it has been reported. The injured man threw himself out the cafe in Didsbury, Manchester, after he became convinced the cafe was under siege. He was said to be one of many panicked customers following the disturbance on Wednesday. The chaos was sparked by shouting and several gunshot-like bangs which later turned out to be students throwing trays on the floor, the Manchester Evening News reported. One woman told the newspaper a frantic customer told her after the incident she immediately thought about the Paris attacks in which 130 people were slaughtered in November. She said: 'I was sitting having a coffee when there was a really loud shout. At first I thought it was just someone messing about, but then I heard some massive bangs. It sounded like shots were being fired. It was not just me who thought that. Other people were running around trying to get out on to the balcony but the door was locked. I think that's why the man went for one of the front windows. When I looked round I could only see his feet hanging from the window. He was climbing out head first. To be honest I wasn't surprised by his reaction because we all thought an attack was happening. Greater Manchester Police confirmed they responded to reports of a disturbance at 3.50pm. A police spokesman said a man was taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm. No further action was taken. In a statement, Costa Coffee told the newspaper: "Our store team worked closely with the Greater Manchester Police regarding this unfortunate incident. "We wish the gentleman involved a speedy recovery." A brave seven-year-old boy clutching a stuffed toy was captured on CCTV landing two left-hooks on an armed robber during a shop raid. Footage shows two armed suspects storming the video games store in the town of Silver Spring near Washington DC in the US before pointing a gun at staff members. In the CCTV, released by local police, a young boy is seen strolling around the shop before stopping and staring at the robbers as they head for the cash desk. Toy doll in hand, he is then seen gamely punching one of the crooks at least two times before being dragged out of frame. Appeal: Police have released the startling footage in an effort to trace the robbers / Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department According to his father, the robber then took the child to his parents where he was ordered to lay on the floor. The dad, whose identity has not been revealed in reports, said of the encounter: He punched him. Two left hooks while holding the Yoshi doll. He told the Washington Post: It was a terrifying situation. You just want to grab them and hold them tight to you, and you want it to end, quickly. D ozens of people were arrested after violent clashes broke out at a Donald Trump rally in California. Police in San Diego made 35 arrests as supporters and opponents of the Republican presidential nominee came to blows on the streets as people emptied a convention centre where the controversial politician had spoken. Riot officers were deployed to separate the groups who were reported to have thrown stones, water bottles and used pepper spray in the skirmishes. Mr Trump was in the city, near the Mexican border where he has promised to build a wall to keep out immigrants, ahead of the California primary on June 7. Violence: Protesters and supporters of Donald Trump clash in San Diego / Mark Ralston Riot police: Specialist officers were deployed to keep the peace / Eugene Garcia/EPA Afterwards, he tweeted to police: Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. One protester, Martha McPhail, told the local City News Service: "I am opposed to the hateful, bigoted, racist language of Donald Trump and his arrogance and intolerance. "I'm for all of our people - all races, sexes, genders, military veterans - and he's divisive." But Trump supporter Riley Hansen defended the controversial businessman. He told CNS: My Dad always told me you need a businessman as president. I like his policies. Nominee: Donald Trump is the last remaining Republican to contest the presidential nomination after his rivals dropped out of the race / Getty Images The San Diego Police department said no-one had been seriously injured amid violent scenes while no property was damaged. Mr Trump is running unopposed in California after all his Republican rivals dropped out of the race. The billionaire businessman has reached the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination but it has yet to be formalised. He is widely expected to contest the presidency with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton later this year. A pilot was killed when a vintage World War Two plane crashed in the Hudson River in New York. The single-seater P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft went down a few miles south of the George Washington Bridge at around 7.30pm on Friday. The crash sparked a huge emergency rescue response as half a dozen police and fire boats trawled the river to search for passengers. Police in New York said the body of a man, believed to be the pilot, was recovered from the submerged plane three hours later. He has been identified as 56-year-old William Gordon of Key West, Florida. Student Siqi Li, who witnessed the crash, told New Yorks Daily News: It made kind of a U-turn, and then there was a stream of smoke coming from it. An investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash with engine failure cited as a possibility. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was one of three that took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York, to celebrate Fleet Week a US military celebration. The remaining two aircraft returned safely to the airport. In 2009, an airliner with 155 passengers and crew made an emergency landing in the river in what became known as the "Miracle on the Hudson". Pilot Chesley Sullenberger was hailed a national hero after he steered the US Airways flight to safety after the plane struck a flock of geese. A British woman killed in a speedboat accident in Thailand was on her honeymoon, according to reports. Monica O'Connor, 28, and at least two other people died when a huge wave capsized their boat off the coast of the island of Koh Samui on Thursday. A search operation has resumed for a missing British man - 46-year-old Jason Parnell - who was celebrating his first wedding anniversary with wife Puja when the crash happened. A spokesman for Koh Samui Tourist Police said: "We will not finish until we find him." Mrs Parnell and Mrs O'Connor's husband Tim are both believed to have escaped the crash unharmed. The Angthong Discovery Tour vessel was carrying 32 tourists and four crew members when it overturned after hitting rough waters and strong winds. A German man and a woman from Hong Kong were also among the dead, Koh Samui authorities said. The boat's captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, was taken into police custody following the crash and faces a possible charge of reckless endangerment causing death, which comes with a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Mr Seekakiaw said he had asked all tourists to wear a life vest but that some had taken them off during the journey. The Foreign Office said it was supporting the British families involved. 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. Additional reporting by Press Association. S hocking pictures of Amber Heard's bruised face have been released after she claimed her estranged husband Johnny Depp threw a phone at her. Photographs were submitted by the actress to Los Angeles Superior Court as a judge issued a restraining order against the Pirates of the Caribbean star. Heard claimed in a statement her estranged partner hurled her mobile phone at her during a fight on Saturday, which struck her cheek and eye. She said in her declaration at court that the actor was high and drunk when the incident happened. Amber Heard leaves the Superior Court of Los Angeles in Los Angeles on Friday / Reuters She added: "I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorise me, physically and emotionally." Judge Carl H. Moor ordered Depp to stay 100 yards away from Ms Heard and also ruled he shouldn't try to contact her. Split: Actors Amber Heard and Johnny Depp / Jason Merritt/Getty However, a request for him to attend a years worth of anger management classes was rejected by the judge. Heard's filing states the fight was preceded by an incident in April in which the actor skipped 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's attorney, Laura Wasser, declined to comment. Depp is currently in Portugal for a performance with his band Hollywood Vampires. J oey Essex has grilled former Labour leader Ed Miliband about the French nicking our fish at a Remain campaign event. The reality TV celebrity was among an invited audience in north London as Mr Miliband warned young voters to register in order to stop the UK quitting the EU ahead of next months referendum. The Towie star expressed concerns made to him about French trawlers when he visited Billingsgate fish market during a question and answer session. Before Mr Miliband took the question he said: Thanks for getting out of bed Joey to which the celebrity replied cheers mate. Joey then asked: I went down Billingsgate fish market at the weekend and I was speaking to the guys there and they kept telling me basically the French nick our fish. Better together: Ed Miliband insisted it was right for Britain to remain in the EU / Matt Cardy / Getty They fish in our waters, well they dont nick our fish but they fish in our waters and then they take the fish back to France and ring us up and say how much do you want for the fish. Before giving his response, Mr Miliband hesitated and said: really glad I called you Joey. Without elaborating further, Mr Miliband admitted there were issues with EU fishing quotas but insisted it was right for Britain to remain in the EU. He said: Being a member of a club means you dont always get your own way. You dont always get what you want but you have to look at the balance of the argument between what we gain and what we lose. Id say the balance of what we gain is far, far more than what we lose. He later added it was important for EU nations to work together. Leave campaigner and Tory MP James Cleverly insisted EU membership was damaging for young people. He said: "Ed Miliband's cynical attempt to convince young people otherwise will fool no-one. After his failed efforts to court the youth vote via Russell Brand last year, you'd think he would know better. Mr Miliband was criticised for agreeing to be interviewed by the comedian at his home in the run-up to last years general election. Additional reporting by Press Association I f you thought you just heard the nation scream at their TV in unison, you were right daredevil Alex Magala just appeared on Britains Got Talent again. The sword-swallower raised everyones pulses in his first audition, sliding down a pole while holding a long silver blade in his throat. He stepped things up for the semi-finals, falling into a set of giant drills and things got even more intense for the final. As well as getting judge Amanda Holden to pull a sword out of his mouth, Magala then slid down a pole into a revving chainsaw, stopping himself with just centimetres to spare. The judges were once again wowed at the life-risking lengths Magala was willing to go to. Now you decide to fall on a chainsaw. You have serious issues, but in all the years all of us have been doing this show Ive never seen anything like this, said an impressed Simon Cowell. You pulled off the scariest trick yet in the final. David Walliams said it was an incredible, death-defying act, and also praised Magalas presentation. Britain's Got Talent: Past Winners - In pictures 1 /17 Britain's Got Talent: Past Winners - In pictures 2007 Paul Potts Ken McKay/Rex 2008 George Sampson Ken McKay/Rex 2009 Diversity Ken McKay/Rex 2010 Spelbound Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2011 Ant and Dec [Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly] with Jai McDowall Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2012 Ashleigh and Pudsey Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2013 Attraction Ken McKay/Thames/Rex 2014 Collabro Tom Dymond/Thames/Rex 2015 Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse Syco/Thames/Splash News 2016 Richard Jones Syco/Thames/Corbis/Dymond 2017 Tokio Myers Syco/Thames/Dymond 2018 Lost Voice Guy Dymond/Thames/Syco/REX 2019 Colin Thackery Dymond/Thames/Syco/Rex Features Great idea, taking your top off in the final, Walliams joked. Extra votes! Alesha Dixon called it one of the best acts I think Ive ever seen on this show. While the chainsaw stunt was undeniably impressive, viewers at home were left on edge by Magalas performance. Could his chainsaw antics be enough to win the show? And would he even be able to perform live at the Royal Variety Show if he did win? ITV, 7.30pm Russia stands ready to implement various energy projects together with European countries, but it will do so only if its partners offer relevant guarantees, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "We are ready to consider any [energy] projects, regardless of the context of political relations with any country in Europe, with our neighbors. We are ready to implement any project. But we need guarantees in advance. We are not going to buy just words that something is of great mutual interest," Putin said at a press conference in Athens on Friday when asked about the future of South Stream and other joint energy projects with Europe. "We won't waste money on this," he said. Russia is determined to proceed with the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project, Putin said. "I hope nobody will hamper at least this project," Putin said, adding that Moscow is ready to work "in southern Europe as well." Putin said he had "just recently signed a memorandum between an Italian-French and Greek company and Gazprom, and our partners are analyzing these opportunities now." The decision not to implement the South Stream project was not Russia's, Putin said. "As is well-known, we were determined to implement South Stream across Bulgarian territory. We were stopped from doing that. Under American pressure and under the European Commission's pressure, the Bulgarian government in fact evaded the implementation of this project. After that, we had no choice but to stop this project," Putin said. After that, a route across Turkey was offered, Putin said. "I'll disclose a little secret to you: our Turkish partners first demanded that the current gas prices be adjusted in advance, which we hadn't agreed on. But this is not the main problem, we would have reached agreement on this. But, again, we didn't see support from the European Commission," he said. America has 1.5 times as much oil as the combined proven resources of all OPEC countries; we have more natural gas than Russia, Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia combined; we have three times more coal than Russia. Our total untapped oil and gas reserves on federal lands equal an estimated $50 trillion. So said Donald Trump while delivering his first speech on energy. He went on to say that if he is elected president he will make the United States completely energy independent by reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. I say excellent! We could and should be energy independent. Then he followed that statement with this one: Im going to ask TransCanada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline. Whoa, slow down Donald. Pull out that smart phone of yours and open up Map Quest. Zoom out just a little from Bismarck, North Dakota, where you gave that speech and you might notice that Canada (that would be on top of North Dakota, Donald) is a foreign country! Just 30 seconds earlier you said you would make the U.S. energy independent REDUCING the need for foreign oil. What? Do you plan to annex all of Canada and make it our 51st state? Or do you not know that Canada is not part of the United States? And while you have Map Quest open, look slightly to the left and find Alberta, Canada. Draw a straight line to Steele City, Nebraska, then onto to Port Arthur, Texas. You will then know the exact route of the Keystone XL pipeline you want so badly. Donald, what in the heck do you think will happen to that DilBit (not crude oil) that flows through that pipe to Port Arthur, to companies like Valero? Did anyone tell you that the oil refined here will not make it into the gas tanks of American cars? Did anyone tell you that Port Arthur lies in a Foreign Trade Zone and can export products tax-free? Did anyone tell you, Donald, that Valeros strategy is exporting to Europe and Latin America? Hasnt anyone told you that we simply do not need the tarsands oil from Canada? And have you not figured out that every barrel of Canadian oil that Texas would refine means one less barrel of American oil that Texas can refine. The Keystone XL could very well cost American jobs, not create them? And listen to me, Donald Trump. We have all heard you countless times tell us how China is taking advantage of the U.S. Well, who do you think has invested over $30 billion dollars into those Canadian tarsands mines? If you guessed China, you would be right. And guess who wants to get their $30 billion in oil back? If you said China again, you are waking up! Well, China and Canada have a problem, and the problem is us, or should I say the U.S. We are in their way. Anyone with even a tiny bit of common sense knows that, and can easily see that the TransCanada Keystone XL is a pipeline through America, not to America! So for you Donald Trump to stand before the American people and say you want energy independence followed immediately by saying you want a foreign country to ship us more oil sounds more like it came from Donald Duck than Donald Trump. Mr. Trump, do your homework. You are asking us to believe in you. I have to say it is hard for me to believe in what you want to do, when I cant even believe in what you say. Theres still time. The facts on the KXL are so obvious. TransCanada is trying to get Chinas oil to the Gulf of Mexico where it will be refined and exported, and you want to help them? Wake up and smell the DilBit, Donald! DilBit Donald, that kind of has a ring to it. I know you like nicknames; remember Lying Ted, Lil Marco, and now Crooked Hillary? DilBit Donald hummmm. Should DilBit Donald give TransCanada a permit to ship Chinas Canadian oil through the heartland of America, taking private landowners property through eminent domain for private gain, risking our surface and groundwater, knowing it will then be refined and exported to other countries? Let me know at greg.awtry@starherald.com Along with Memorial Day weekend, considered the unofficial start of the summer season, comes a slew of outdoor-related news, including a few cautionary safety notes. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission urges boaters to keep safety in mind when youre out on the water. Lifejackets arent optional for children under age 13 or anybody being towed by a boat on skis, a tube, or other similar device or operating a personal watercraft. Theyre a good idea for anyone who doesnt know how to swim. For anyone born after Dec. 31, 1985, the Nebraska boating safety course is also mandatory for operators of anything that has a motor and floats. Speeds over 5 mph are prohibited near any swimming area, dock or boat ramp. You can also get ticketed for not having all required safety equipment. That includes the prescribed number of life jackets and throw cushions, as well as fire extinguishers and bailing devices required on most boats. For a list of what is required, check out the 2016 Boating Guide at BoatSafeNebraska.org. Its a good idea to look out constantly for other boats, swimmers, floating logs, stumps and other hazards. Whether youre in a boat or not, keep an eye on young children at all times when near the water, including a pool or hot tub. Stay off the water if a storm might bring hail or lightning. Responsible boaters are also being asked to help curb the spread of invasive species. A good fishing spot that I once visited, Goose Lake Wildlife Management Area in Holt County, has been closed all spring due to an infestation of a weed known as European watermilfoil. It will reopen beginning May 28 after Game and Parks completes treating the lake. Watermilfoil can spread rapidly, because even a dry fragment of stem or leaf can take root and form a new colony, and plants can grow up to 2 inches per day. It forms dense mats that crowd out native vegetation and prevent boating, fishing and swimming. Boaters will be required to inspect their boat, trailer and equipment and remove any vegetation before leaving the area. Nebraska Public Power District is sending a similar message about invasive zebra mussels, which can hitch rides between lakes in boats and on trailers. NPPD is concerned because zebra mussels can clog intake structures on dams and power plants as well as inflicting millions of dollars in damage to recreation, water systems and fisheries. Over the past few years, zebra mussels have been found in or near Nebraska waters, most recently in 2015 at Lewis & Clark Lake along the Nebraska-South Dakota border. Its not a bad idea to always remove all plants, animals, fish and mud from boats, trailers and other equipment between trips, draining water from bilge, live wells, ballast tanks and any other equipment holding water and power washing the boat and trailer before launching in another lake. Even if youre not a big fan of outdoor recreation, you can get hurt just grilling dinner. Inspect your gas grill for stale grease, leaks and cracks and teach children to stay away from hot grills. Position grills away from buildings, deck railings and overhanging branches. Cook food thoroughly and keep perishable dishes cold to avoid food poisoning, and keep uncooked meats, including dishes containing meat juices, away from other foods. Concerns about the Zika virus serve as a reminder about the importance of using insect repellent. Here, weve got West Nile disease as well as ticks and other pests to worry about. Ive learned to take along sunscreen and bug spray the stronger the better and plenty of water when Im outdoors for long periods. As an old-timer whos had a couple of pre-cancerous spots frozen off my forehead, I now stick with a wide-brimmed hat and a good pair of sunglasses. If you crave an occasional adult beverage, save it for the evenings when theres no driving to do. You can get ticketed for boating under the influence, and youre at greater risk of drowning or running somebody over when youve had a few too many. Dont drink and drive any type of vehicle, and dont ride with anyone whos been drinking. Its the same advice you always hear, but it works. As somebody whos spent a few long afternoons waiting while rescue crews searched for drowning victims, I guarantee you dont want your summer ruined by an avoidable tragedy. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has stated the need for strengthening the defense capabilities of Ukraine. "We must provide our army with the necessary resources and weapons and, finally, decide on pumping up the defense budget instead of debates in parliament," he said. According to a press release, Turchynov believes Russian President Vladimir Putin started the public blackmailing of Ukraine, saying that shooting in Donbas won't stop until the Constitution of Ukraine is amended and terrorists are amnestied. "Undertaking responsibility for violation of the ceasefire and the violation of the Minsk agreements, Putin publicly threatened Ukraine with the continuation of military provocations until the Moscow scenario of Ukraine's dismemberment is realized," Turchynov said. According to him, thus Moscow has demonstrated it is not going to fulfill the Minsk peace agreements, the first provisions of which are ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine and the restoration of Ukrainian control over the eastern border. More than two dozen volunteers turned out on Saturday to help place American flags on the graves of veterans at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery. Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery, which is between Scottsbluff and Mitchell, was one of several cemeteries where volunteers spent a few hours during the weekend laying flags, and remembering and honoring veterans. At Fairview Cemetery on Friday, more than 150 volunteers showed up, many of them young children. Friends, family members and residents were welcome to come and participate. On Saturday, more than a dozen volunteers from SWBC came to help plant flags at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery. Each group had 25 flags to place. Marebelle Cano brought her daughters Emmy and Jaslyn to help out. We cam because we wanted to show our support for veterans and our community, Marebelle Cano said. Volunteers diligently followed instructions from Beth Linn, chairperson of the Scotts Bluff/Banner County Veterans Service Office, about how and where to place the flags before setting off to find their assigned locations. According to U.S. Flag Code conventions the flag should be placed in the center of the monument/headstone. If the veteran shares a monument with a spouse, the flag is placed in the center of the veterans side of the monument or on the side of the veterans monument in front of other flowers, where the veterans information can be read. Tracy Nelson heard about the opportunity to volunteer at work. She volunteered as a way to give back to veterans. Our boss came and told us about volunteering, she said. I thought it was an awesome idea. The flags are not only a way to remember veterans, they are part of preparations made during the weekend to get ready for Memorial Day activities on Monday. Memorial Day honors men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally called Decoration Day, remembrances date back to the end of the Civil War as a way to honor the dead. In General Order No. 11, General John Logan proclaimed, The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971 and is observed during the last Monday in May. Memorial Day dates back to 1868 when, in the aftermath of the Civil War, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan designated May 30 as Decoration Day, when flowers would be laid on the graves of fallen soldiers. Since 1971, the day has been a national holiday, held annually on the last Monday in May. Volunteers will be needed to help remove flags from Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff and Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery on Tuesday, May 31 at 1 p.m. at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery before going to Fairview Cemetery to pick up the flags there. For more information about volunteering, contact Beth Linn at 308-631-9932. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe U.S. ambassador in Kyiv hopes Ukrainian authorities will condemn publication of journalist lists on Peacemaker website The publication of personal information of journalists who had been accredited in the Donbas territories not controlled by Kyiv by the Mirotvorets (Peacemaker) website inflicted a lot of harm, and similar situations should not repeat in future, United States Ambassador in Kyiv Geoffrey Pyatt said. Speaking at a media forum in Lviv on Friday, Pyatt expressed the hope that Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and the government would make a clear statement and condemn the people who published this list. He said that the people who published this list had done a stupid thing. Such publications will not allow foreign journalists go to eastern Ukraine, he said. Ukraine needs the help of Western media to get the truth about Donbas events across, he said. In May the Mirotvorets website published lists of more than 4,000 journalists who have been accredited in the self-proclaimed Donbas republics. The list includes the names of Ukrainian and foreign journalists, their mobile contacts and duration of their stay in the territories of the DPR and the LPR. The Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv opened a criminal case under the Article on obstruction of lawful professional activities of journalists. The Mirotvorets center website published an updated list of journalists accredited in the so-called DPR, containing 5,412 entries, on May 20. The Mirotvorets center website published another list of journalists accredited in the so-called DPR, containing 293 entries, on May 24. Friday, 27 May 2016 00:05:24 (GMT+3) | San Diego The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today said that the G7 Ise-Shima Leaders' Declaration released at the conclusion of the G7 Ise-Shima Summit in Japan is "an indication that the steel industry's concerns are clearly being heard and acted on by heads of governments around the world." Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO, said, "The number of US jobs lost in the steel industry since January of 2015 has climbed to nearly 15,000 - primarily due to the high levels of unfairly traded imports fueled by the massive build-up in steel capacity in other countries. We are pleased that the leaders of the G7 governments recognize the severe impacts that global steel overcapacity and interventionist policies in the steel sector around the world are having in the US and other countries, and applaud the commitment of these leaders to address these critical issues." He said global overcapacity in steel is estimated by the OECD to be about 700 million metric tons today. More than half of that overcapacity - 425 million metric tons - is located in China. "There is a global problem that needs a global solution. Market-distorting government policies have prevented adequate industry adjustment in some markets in response to changes in global demand. The Chinese government in particular needs to accept responsibility and address its role in creating this massive steel glut. We especially appreciate the leadership and commitment of President Obama and his administration to address the surge of steel imports and the market-distorting policies and practices that have enabled it, and we are grateful for the efforts of all the governments involved in the G7 Summit, and in other fora, to make progress on these vitally important issues," Gibson concluded. AISI and eleven other steel industry associations representing all of the G7 countries earlier this week released a statement urging summit participants to address the global steel overcapacity issue in their discussions. Friday, 27 May 2016 23:31:29 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo A 31-year-old Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) worker died this week, following a fire at the companys Presidente Vargas mill located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. According to a media report, Aluenio Francisco Alves Gouveia died at a local hospital and was the fourth companys employee to die from the fire that broke out at CSNs galvanizing warehouses on March this year. Denis da Silva, 37; Renan Martins, 29 and Wanderley dos Santos, 38, were the other three workers who died following the fire. At the time of the incident, four workers were wounded and one was heavily injured. CSN told SteelOrbis at the time output wasnt affected. The fire broke out in one of the companys galvanizing warehouses, where there are two galvanizing lines. Out of these two galvanizing lines, one was hit, but CSN will probably perform maintenance works at it. A third galvanizing line, which was close the other two, wasnt affected, so output didnt stop in that third galvanizing line, a spokesperson said at the time. Friday, 27 May 2016 00:06:19 (GMT+3) | San Diego New York-based law firm Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC announced Thursday that a class action lawsuit has been filed against of New York-based law firm Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC announced Thursday that a class action lawsuit has been filed against of Gerdau S.A. and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Gerdau securities as American depositary receipts between June 2, 2011 and May 15, 2016. The Company was engaged in a bribery scheme in collusion with As a result of the foregoing, Defendants' statements about The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: The Company was engaged in a bribery scheme in collusion with Brazil 's Board of Tax Appeals (CARF). Gerdau had defrauded Brazilian tax authorities of roughly $429 million in taxes. Gerdau 's Chief Executive Officer, Defendant Andre Bier Gerdau Johannpeter and other directors and employees of the Company had engaged in bribery, money laundering, and influence peddling. As a result of the foregoing, Defendants' statements about Gerdau 's business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. On or about March 26, 2015, Brazilian authorities announced that a Federal Police investigation, dubbed Operation Zelotes, had uncovered a multibillion-dollar tax fraud scheme at the Ministry of Finance, reporting that as many as 70 companies had bribed members of the CARF, a body within the Finance Ministry that hears appeals on tax disputes, to obtain favorable rulings that recused or waived the amounts that the companies owed. On or around March 29, 2015, it was reported that Gerdau was among the companies under investigation. On February 29, 2016, Gerdau announced that it would delay the release of its fourth-quarter financial results as the Company "analyze[d] the case records involving Gerdau in the recent phase of [the] Zelotes Operation." On May 16, 2016, various news outlets reported that Brazil 's federal police had accused Gerdau of evading $429 million in taxes and indicted a total of 19 Gerdau personnel, including Defendant Johannpeter and some of the Company's executives, directors and lawyers, on corruption-related charges including bribery, money laundering, and influence peddling. When the Wood River power plant in East Alton ceases operations this week, it will mark the first in a string of plant closures that could idle 30 percent of Southern Illinois electricity capacity. Wood Rivers first unit fired up in 1954, so the 465-megawatt coal-fired plant probably didnt have many more years left anyway. But, according to its owner, it wasnt age or tightening regulations on coal power that prompted the November decision to shutter the plant on June 1. While coal plants across the country are being retired due to increasingly stringent environmental rules and competition from cheap natural gas, Southern Illinois is in a unique situation. Wood Rivers owner, Houston-based power plant operator Dynegy Inc., points to an esoteric electricity auction that it says prevents the company from recouping the costs to operate many of its downstate Illinois coal plants. In addition to Wood River, Dynegy announced this month plans to idle 1,800 megawatts at its Baldwin and Newton coal power plants starting in September. Newton, about 125 miles east of St. Louis, and Baldwin, less than 50 miles southeast, would each keep one power unit operating, but Dynegy says it could mothball another 500 megawatts at one of its plants. Company management indicated it hopes that can be done at Newton, which would completely shutter the plant and let the company avoid installing expensive pollution controls. Dynegys announcement follows recent turmoil in the downstate electricity market. Prices skyrocketed last year, prompting complaints by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigans office that Dynegy controlled enough generation in the region to unfairly influence rates. After federal regulators ordered changes that allowed more power to be imported into Illinois, a component of electricity prices fell by half this year. Dynegy announced shortly afterward it would idle the Newton and Baldwin units. Southern Illinois politicians, however, immediately blamed the closures on new environmental regulations from the administration of President Barack Obama. The Democrats War on Coal has threatened to devastate two more communities in Illinois with this announcement that power plants in Baldwin and Newton will be retired, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, said in a May 4 statement, a day after Dynegys announcement. But even Dynegy says its more complicated than that. Every year, MISO, the grid manager for Southern Illinois, Eastern Missouri and parts of 13 other states, holds a so-called capacity auction that determines the price paid to power plant operators that agree to be ready to pump electricity into the grid when demand is highest. Downstate Illinois is deregulated, so Ameren Illinois customers can shop for power from different sources. Most of MISO, on the other hand, is made up of regulated utilities such as Ameren Missouri that own both the wires and the power plants. Theyre guaranteed a rate of return by state commissions. Dynegy argues that those regulated utilities dont rely on the capacity auctions to recover costs but can sell their electricity into a deregulated market such as Southern Illinois at low prices that depress rates. Mixing these two regulatory regimes together in the same capacity auction puts all generating units in Central and Southern Illinois at financial risk, regardless of fuel type, shifting jobs and the economic benefits of hosting generating plants from Central and Southern Illinois to neighboring states, Dynegy said in a November statement announcing the Wood River retirement. Dynegys solution? Move all of Illinois into the electricity market that already covers Chicago and states to the east, many of which are deregulated. That would put Dynegy on even footing, it argues. On Thursday, Dynegy said it would file legislation moving downstate Illinois into that market, known as the PJM Interconnection. While Illinois Senate Majority Leader James Clayborne, D-Belleville, said he supported the move, the legislative session ends Tuesday. Plus, the proposal has been thrown into a swirl of energy legislation led by the states biggest generator, Chicago-based Exelon Corp., which is pushing a bill to prop up nuclear plants that it says are losing money and may need to close. But the biggest obstacle to Dynegys plans is the year-old Illinois budget impasse that still shows little signs of resolution. Weve had discussions over the course of the past couple of years, and certainly Exelon has been trying to do similar things, Dynegy CEO Bob Flexon told analysts earlier this month. I have to say, though, it hasnt gotten much traction. The state is preoccupied with budget issues and infighting, while the utilities to the west are just taking over the generation responsibilities for the state of Illinois. Critics say a move to PJM, where electricity prices are higher, would essentially be a subsidy for Dynegys plants. None of the market dynamics should be a surprise to Dynegy, they add. Dynegy acquired many of its Illinois plants from Ameren Corp. in 2013 in a transaction where Ameren essentially gave the plants away, asking only that Dynegy take on the plants debt. Nobodys changed anything since Dynegy bought the plants, said Howard Learner, executive director of the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center. I get it, Dynegy is trying to maneuver around to maximize profits. But the notion that its somehow unfair because they were shocked to find out the plants were in a competitive market, come on. The pressure on Dynegy plants is likely to get even more pronounced as Amerens transmission subsidiary finishes large projects in Illinois that will allow more electricity to be imported into the state, said UBS Investment Research analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith. The lowest cost outcome in this instance is simply relying on other states to provide the power, he said. The question becomes: Do you want to support in-state coal plants or do you just want to say, Lets just buy from elsewhere. Dynegy will have to contend with opposition from Madigans office, which says Dynegys legislative proposals could cost Illinois ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Ameren, too, opposes a move to PJM. We have serious reservations about the legality of the proposal and the cost implications for customers, Ameren Illinois President Richard Mark said in a statement. Our initial review indicates that a move like this could cost our customers hundreds of millions of dollars. While Dynegy has three years to redeploy the coal units it is mothballing, analysts at Guggenheim Partners wrote this month that they saw a move to PJM as unlikely. If history is any precursor, these units will likely move from mothball status to permanent shutdown, Guggenheim wrote in a May 4 research note. NEW YORK When you see the Broadway smash Hamilton if youre lucky enough to see it, that is you should know that something important quietly happens at intermission. The walls get bigger: Stagehands add 8 feet to the brick walls at the back of the stage. Its a subtle change, reflecting the musicals transition from showing the nations birth in Act 1 to building a nation in Act 2. Its a touch supplied by David Korins, who earned his first Tony Award nomination for his deceptively simple-looking set. The scenic designer, who has created worlds for Grease Live! and Kanye West, isnt bothered if the audience doesnt pick up on the change. No one sees it. Theyre busy reading their programs and buying merchandise or whatever they are (doing). But when they come back in, subtly, the massing of the walls and the set is different, he said. I think if one person understands, either consciously or subconsciously, those walls have grown, thats a profound difference to know that weve taken the time and the energy to create that for them. Korins work in opera, film, concerts, theater and TV ranges from sleek, hyper-minimalist to homey and crafty. People tend to call him when the job is going to be hard, as in lots of locations and items that will defy physics. Thats why he was the perfect guy for the job for the musical about Alexander Hamilton. Here was a sweeping, epic story that took place over 30 years and multiple places. When I read the piece and I listened to the music for the very first time, I felt a swirling, circular motion to the thing, he said. I didnt really know what that meant. I just sort of filed it away in my mental Rolodex. Korins started by investigating every location and detail from history, from the spot where Hamilton died to the size of George Washingtons desk. He then devised a theatrical metaphor for the show: scaffolding, to both reflect the process of nation-building and to allow the actors to witness history being made from two levels. Perhaps Korins masterstroke was the advocacy of two massive turntables, which lent fluidity and energy to a story that involves a swirling hurricane and the circular relationship between Hamilton and Aaron Burr. His design is one of these unconscious and yet deeply felt parts of our show, said director Thomas Kail, who had previously worked with Korins on the sports-themed plays Magic/Bird and Lombardi. With a turntable, we could have stillness and movement relative to each other, said Kail. It allowed us to express the inevitability of time. That we could be standing still and yet we move. Korins is quick to note that not all his ideas were home runs. At the end of a very early version, cast members pulled out sections of the stage to reveal a reflective pool where Hamilton and his wife were reunited after his death. In the end, it was too distracting. Im looking to do what is best for the narrative, he said. To me, there were a lot of way cooler things I could have done for Hamilton. I felt I did exactly what I had to to make the story as best told as it could be. And thats my goal always. The Tony nomination caps a busy few years for Korins, who runs a 15-member design firm in midtown. He has done the designs on Broadway for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Misery with Bruce Willis and Motown the Musical, which is returning to the Great White Way. He studied theater design at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and cut his teeth building some 100 sets at the Williamstown Theatre Festival before coming to New York and funding a theater company with every cent he could spare. Hes built sets for tours by Kanye West, Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli who all wanted a slightly more heightened theatrical experience and immersive shows like David Byrnes Here Lies Love about Imelda Marcos. I remember people early on saying, Its so different designing movies from TV or theater from rock concerts. I dont see that at all. I see things much more holistically. The design of a piece of theater and a restaurant, in my mind, are the exact same. His subtle touch means that when he designs for the opera, the stairs are a little smaller so a diva can move gracefully down them. But when he designed the set for The Pee-wee Herman Show, he made the steps taller so Pee-wee would look like a little kid clumping up the stairs. If he has a mantra, its probably whatever works best. I like to think that my hallmark is literally that I dont have a hallmark, he said. You dont look at the thing and say, Oh, thats a David Korins set. Kyiv can regain control over Donbas only through implementing Minsk Agreements - Putin Kyiv can regain control of Donbas only through the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. "The issue of Donbas can be settled - and Mr. Prime Minister [of Greece] has just mentioned this - exclusively through the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, the key element of which is political," Putin said at a press conference following negotiations with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday. Putin so commented on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's remark that, after Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko's return to Ukraine, Kyiv would retake Donbas and Crimea as well. The amendment of the Ukrainian constitution is the primary objective on this way, Putin said. "The matter concerns decentralization, as they like to say in Ukraine. By the way, they could use Greece's experience in this as well. The incumbent president formerly served as minister of the interior and decentralization," Putin said. Ukraine should also pass legislation on amnesty, Putin said. "How can you hold elections and how can you reintegrate people into government institutions and into the state if they are criminally prosecuted?" he said. Two teens have been charged after police say they took an honor student's vehicle at gunpoint in University City and crashed it while being pursued by officers in East St. Louis. Damontay Hudson, 17, and Angelo Pollard, 17, both of East St. Louis, were charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and stealing a motor vehicle. Bond was set at $300,000, cash-only, for each. The charges came last week after the May 18 robbery. The victim, Christian Barnes, told the Post-Dispatch he was sitting in his 1999 Pontiac Grand Am at 10:45 p.m. outside of the 6400 block of Cates Avenue, talking to his father on his cellphone, when he was approached by three youths. One tapped on the window with a gun and told him to get out of the car. "I put my hands up and laid the cellphone on the car seat as I was getting out," said Barnes, who turned 18 this week. The youth with the gun pointed it at Barnes as he was getting out of the car. After the carjacking, police tried to track the stolen Grand Am through the cellphone, which was still in the car. East St. Louis police spotted the Grand Am and briefly pursued it. The car crashed in the 1500 block of Baker Street. The three youths inside ran. Officers caught Hudson and Pollard, according to police. Barnes at first was elated with the arrests and getting his car back. Then he saw the Grand Am. The car had extensive damage from the crash. To make matters worse, he was faced with a $500 deductible, a mounting impound fee from the tow yard and the loss of his phone, which wasn't found. A gofundme account has been set up to help him cover the cost of the repairs. Barnes graduated from Ritenour High School in the top 2 percent of his class and plans to major in computer science this fall at Washington University. He said he was lucky to walk away from the carjacking. "I thought about all the things I have planned for myself and that things could have really gone bad," he said. ST. LOUIS An employee of a St. Louis-area drug treatment facility offered a client illegal drugs, provided drug testing kits to help him pass his official drug tests and falsified records to cover up his drug use, a $10 million federal lawsuit claims. The lawsuit, filed May 13, also alleges that the now former employee violated her ethical duties and state regulations while having a sexual relationship with that client, Michael Schwartz. Schwartz died at 32 of a heroin overdose on March 27, 2015, in the basement of his mothers Jefferson County home. The suit, filed on behalf of Schwartzs estate and his mother, names the Assisted Recovery Centers of America LLC, or ARCA Midwest, as well as former employee Sheryl Castro, other staff and ARCA officials. ARCA has outpatient facilities in St. Louis and Town and Country. Castro denied all the allegations in a telephone interview Friday. The suit says that ARCA violated a series of state regulations for a comprehensive drug treatment program by failing to properly review and oversee Schwartzs treatment and their own staff. It also says that ARCA was required to report illegal drug use, missed appointments and failure to comply with his recovery plan to Schwartzs probation officer within two business days, but did not do so. That meant the judges who were supposed to be overseeing his criminal cases had no knowledge either. Castro, a registered medical assistant who is at times listed in Schwartzs records as his managing therapist, acknowledged Friday that she gave Schwartz drug tests to take home but said that it was so he would know when he was drug-free and could take a Vivitrol shot. Vivitrol blocks opiate receptors in the brain. Castro said that she had the approval of an ARCA executive to do so. She also denied any sexual relationship with Schwartz and said that she never met him outside of work. We talked a lot. He almost kind of like became a friend. And I cared about him. I would have never done anything to hurt him, she said. Percy Menzies, ARCAs president and founder, declined to comment on the suit. He said the center helps more than 400 heroin addicts a month, treating the very, very challenging disease of addiction as a chronic illness. Menzies said ARCA is one of the leading clinics to use Vivitrol injections. Castros online LinkedIn page says she stopped working at ARCA in November. Jonathan Ries, a lawyer for ARCA, declined to comment on pending litigation, matters involving patients or staff, or the release of partial evidence, referring to medical records and text messages obtained by the Post-Dispatch. Schwartzs father, who goes by Mike Schwartz, said, I just dont know how they defend this. I know my son was a drug addict, and I know he could have overdosed at any time. But they didnt do their job. He claimed that Castro sabotaged his treatment because he could depend on her to cover for him. The elder Schwartz said he wonders if any other ARCA staffers reviewed the documents in his sons file or his treatment. And he thinks one of the reasons his son overdosed is that he was using more heroin to compensate for the Vivitrol. He wants his sons story told as a warning to the families of other patients and to judges with probationers at ARCA drug treatment facilities. The whole thing is so wrong, said Michael Schwartzs mother, Brenda Fischer. Failed drug tests Michael Schwartz had battled a heroin addiction for years and was arrested repeatedly for heroin possession. After a series of probation violations on heroin possession cases in St. Louis, St. Louis County and Lincoln County, judges ordered him to get long-term drug treatment, followed by outpatient substance abuse counseling. After a year at the Ozark Correctional Center in southwest Missouri, Schwartz enrolled with ARCA on July 21, 2014. The ARCA staff was aware that he had relapsed, based on his statements and a drug test at that time. They gave him a series of medications to help him withdraw from opiates, according to his ARCA records. The medical records were also provided to the Post-Dispatch by the familys lawyers. His records show six drug tests that were positive for opiates, and another that was positive for THC, or the main psychoactive compound in marijuana. Records also document two missed appointments and several occasions when Schwartz admits relapsing or using heroin. The suit alleges that ARCA was required to notify Schwartzs probation officer of his failure to comply with treatment. It was filed by Larry Bagsby, a St. Charles lawyer, along with lawyer Karie Pennington. Bagsby said, You have to realize that the entire criminal justice probation system is set up for these community-based treatment centers to be essentially a Praetorian Guard. If they dont yell out what the danger is or the violation is, nobody else is going to know. Schwartz was on probation from three different circuit judges, Bagsby pointed out, who were clueless about all these violations. And thats all because of ARCA. One of them, St. Louis Circuit Judge Thomas Frawley told the Post-Dispatch that he had received no reports about failed drug tests or missed meetings. All he received while Schwartz was at ARCA was a client action plan. The only indication of trouble was a note that Schwartzs permission to travel to Indiana had been revoked. Asked what Schwartzs probation officer knew, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections said that all probation and parole records are closed. The medical file contains a therapists discharge summary dated Oct. 6, 2014, that says Schwartz never attended counseling; did not respond to contact attempts. But four days later, Castro wrote and signed a letter To whom it may concern saying, Michael has completed the program and can attend unlimited group therapy sessions and is encouraged to do so for as long as he would like. The suit says that Castro falsified the letter, and others that falsely said that Schwartz had attended counseling sessions. In the interview, Castro denied that, insisting that she only wrote letters if Schwartz actually had attended counseling sessions. She said that when she wrote the letter, Schwartz had completed two months of treatment. She also differentiated between the two kinds of treatment Schwartz received: medical and therapy. The suit alleges that ARCA and employees were reckless, negligent and indifferent to Schwartzs safety by ignoring their contractual duties, refusing to implement training and supervision of staff and allowing a single employee to manipulate Michael and his addiction for her own sexual purposes. Had staffers told Schwartzs family what was going on, drastic and immediate intervention could have occurred by Michaels parents and siblings, the suit says. A spokeswoman for the Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, said that commission officials were not aware of the incidents surrounding Schwartzs death but would look into it. That investigation could result in an on-site evaluation or affect ARCAs accreditation status. Thousands of text messages The lawsuit says that Michael Schwartz and Castro exchanged thousands of phone calls and text messages beginning in August 2014. Text messages were only recoverable for the last month of Schwartzs life, however. Those messages, identified in the lawsuit and in a report provided to the newspaper by Bagsby, appear to come from Castro and document their relationship and her knowledge of Schwartzs drug use. Schwartzs father also allowed the Post-Dispatch to review those messages still stored on his sons phone. Asked about texts that discuss drug use and the sexual relationship, Castro asked for copies and said she would call a reporter back. She was provided with screenshots of some exchanges, and 25 pages of a report that listed dozens more. She did not call back Friday. According to the lawsuit, in the texts Castro admits fabricating letters to Schwartzs probation officer, providing him with drug testing kits so he could test himself to make sure he was clean before seeing his probation officer and giving him a drug that he had no documented history of using. In the texts, Schwartz wrote on March 8 that he is worried about failing a drug test when he sees his probation officer. He asks Castro for a test kit. The test is positive, according to texts on March 10, and Castro recommends one of them drinks to either help him clear his system or pass the test. Schwartz says he will postpone the meeting until he tests clean. Castro tells him hes playing with fire both ways, explaining that she means hes risking prison and his life. He passed the test. The texts become increasingly flirty. They also discuss his ability to override the Vivitrol shot. Its stupid, Schwartz acknowledges, Waste of money and risking trouble. She responds, and ur life silly. The discussion becomes increasingly sexual before the two meet at her house early on the morning of March 20, 2015, according to the text messages. Later texts say Schwartz was on Adderall while they were intimate. It is a prescription stimulant for attention-deficit disorder and other medical uses that also is widely abused to stimulate concentration and sexual performance. Nineteen hours later, he writes that he has to use again, meaning drugs, or I wont sleep. Im still wired. In a text appearing to come from Castro, she suggests sleeping meds, but Schwartz insists he has to use drugs. Id rather you not but if you do anyway and I know u will be careful dont go crazy or extreme, she writes. He would later tell her that he was up almost two days straight. On March 25, he went to ARCA. He admits in texts being nervous about what he told another staffer. Bcuz I lied saying I was getting my shot cuz I didnt want to say I was getting a letter for groups and get check to see if I had been going. Castro replies, Ur fine Ill think of something if she asks Im good like that lol, then asks by the way u told me u were gonna go to the groups didnt ya? The next day, Castro repeatedly texts Schwartz to encourage him to get his Vivitrol shot, but he resists. She later tells him that she has his shot out and warming up, but he says he will get it in the morning. U promise u wont be bad I gave u letters to help you I just want you to be OK I dont mean to nag u especially not now just want you to stay out of jail and alive is all, she texts. He asks her if she will sell him some Adderall the next morning. I wouldnt make you buy them I would just give u some I sold the rest of mine on Monday I get a new Rx on the 3rd but a cpl of my friends take them also how many you wanting and Ill see if they have some, she replies. He asks for five to six pills or some methamphetamine. The conversation continues and he asks for drugs again. She tells him what she has, and later says she will pick up prob a gram of something on her way home. Castro said Friday that although she takes Adderall, she never gave any to Schwartz. She said she does not use meth, nor did she offer him any. She also said that while Schwartz may have asked her for drugs, it didnt mean that he got any. The next morning, March 27, Schwartz fails to show up to get his shot. Castro texts, Hey its 11 and u havent come and got ur shot yet. Hey r u ok? Please text me and let me know. Hey dont mean to bother you but Im worried about you Mike, she writes. But Schwartz has taken a fatal dose of heroin. The postmortem exam lists his time of death at 1:20 p.m. On March 27. Brenda Fischer said she met with Castro after her sons death. She gave Castro a framed picture of Schwartz, and one of his favorite T-shirts. Castro later sent her a photograph of that picture in her home. They also met at the cemetery, and Castro would later send several pictures of flowers shed placed on Schwartzs grave. The gunman was identified as Orlando Harris, 19, a recent graduate of the school. One survivor heard him say he was 'tired of everybody' in the school and that his gun jammed at one point. It was a muggy day in Mississippi, just south of Memphis, as spring storms gave way. Eboni Boykin, inside her grandparents living room, was regrouping after moving out of her dorm room in New York. For once in her life, she was no longer thinking about college. Its behind her now, just like Normandy High School, and the hours shed spent working and studying to prepare for this point of her life. Shes just bought a used car with cash shes saved. Now shes looking for a job. In 2012, Boykins story captivated St. Louisans as she overcame obstacles of poverty and made an ascent to the Ivy League from Normandy High, where the dropout rate is in the double digits. She spent her childhood bouncing from school to school as her family moved in and out of homeless shelters, eventually landing in a one-story home in Pagedale. Her destination was Columbia University one of the eight Ivy League schools for which she had aimed. She got there on full scholarship. Now Boykin is 21. Her Facebook profile shows her in a pale blue cap and gown, smiling as she joined about 8,000 graduating students on May 17. They walked out of Columbias student center into the chilly morning. Her mother, Lekista Flurry, was among the thousands in the noisy crowd, visiting her daughter for the first time since shed left for college. I thought it would be anticlimactic, Boykin said. I was so ready to go at the end. I was like, This place has put me through the wringer. I cant take one more class. The sense of accomplishment she felt was unexpected. When she graduated from Normandy High, the ceremony felt like another exercise to her, just part of a process. But this graduation was different. It marked the end of a journey that Boykin began by herself and endured largely alone, one that was scary at times and unexpectedly rewarding. During the past four years, shes reached inside herself again and again to overcome the burden she felt as a first-generation college student growing up in poverty. She arrived in New York to start her freshman year at Columbia without a parent to help her move into her dorm room. She found herself in classes filled with students prepared by some of the most elite high schools in the country. When professors called on her to discuss a text, she felt like melting. I struggled for a while, she said. The part that really got me was feeling alone, feeling like youre capable of doing what theyre doing, but youre not supposed to because of who you were. As a child, Boykin learned to press on. And so at Columbia she did as well. She studied Italian. She immersed herself in romantic poetry, Renaissance women writers, Shakespeare and art history. Her junior year, she spent a semester studying at Queen Mary University of London. It was a much-needed break, she said. There, she fell in love with theater and drama. Boykin took her backpack and traveled to Italy, where she explored hidden churches in Rome and the canals of Venice. She visited Paris and Berlin. And through it all, she continued to re-evaluate herself and her world in the context of everything she saw. Its hard to reconcile some of those images with how I grew up, she said. Its really weird to have both of those things in your head at the same time. During her time in college, she landed internships at the Melissa Harris-Perry Show, and cable networks MSNBC, HLN and Lifetime. Earlier this year, she wrote and directed a 13-minute film called Afterbirth, a piece thats part horror, part comedy about a college grad haunted by a 5-year-old girl who calls her Mom. Boykin is working to get funding to submit it to film festivals. Her ideal job would be in film or television production, in front of or behind the camera. We cant overstate enough the importance of diversifying the images were putting in front of people, she said. Next weekend shell drive her new car six hours to Atlanta. Shes trying to land a job there. ST. LOUIS The house on Mississippi Avenue in Lafayette Square has an anchor sandblasted on a glass pane mounted above the front door. Stained-glass windows on the door let in a rainbow of light, streaming across walls covered with framed postcards and photographs of steamboats of the Mississippi River. Mark Twain books line the wooden shelves, and one mans photograph pops up throughout the front hallway and sitting room. Horace Bixby. Steamboat pilot of three rivers, Civil War pilot aboard a Union ironclad, and the man who taught Mark Twain whose real name was Samuel Clemens the dos and donts of piloting the Mississippi, featured in Twains Life on the Mississippi. The house was built by Bixby in 1877. Larry and Andrea Heugatter have owned the house for 15 years and see themselves as custodians of the home, preserving both the Victorian decor and Bixbys legacy. Jane Favela, Bixbys great-granddaughter, recalled: Life on the Mississippi was required reading and quoted all our lives. Visiting the house took it off the pages and into our hearts. Bixby is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery near the Busch family mausoleum, but he never had a formal grave marker. Instead, a small footstone grown over with grass marked the Bixby family plot. This month, after raising money to pay for a grave marker, the Heugatters and four of Bixbys descendants, now living on the West Coast, dedicated the captains new gravestone in the cemetery. When we saw the many beautiful monuments that other important St. Louisans had marking their resting places, we resolved that Bixby deserved to be honored among them, Larry Heugatter said. A home like a museum The Heugatters have spent the past 15 years building a collection of Bixby-related items, turning their home into what could be considered a museum dedicated to him. When buying the house, that respect for the history of the home was a requirement of previous owners Tom and Lynne Keay. Tom Keay, a retired high school history teacher, wanted to be sure the integrity of the house would be preserved. They actually refused to sell it to some people who said they were going to come through and rip everything out and make it modern, Larry Heugatter said. When we were looking at it, we actually wrote them a letter telling them how much we cherished the history and would preserve it. Before buying the house, neither Larry nor Andrea Heugatter was interested in history, let alone the steamboat era. Andrea Heugatter saw herself as more of a science person. But it was the story behind the house that drew them in. Now, the couple spends their free time either researching Bixbys life or fixing up the house. Their Boston terrier is named Bixby. They scan antiques stores for steamboat items. Once, Larry Heugatter found a painting of a snag boat Bixby piloted later in his life. I think I know more about his family than I do my own, Andrea Heugatter said. If anyone had ever told me that I would spend this much time on a house, I would have thought theyre crazy. Their daughter, Katherine Becnel, even wrote her college admissions essay about how the house influenced her love of history. She now works at the Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Delaware River. A family connection Ten years ago, while researching Horace Bixby, Larry Heugatter came across an Edwina Bixby living in Chicago. Thinking it was more than a coincidence, he decided to give her a call. He must have been very convincing on the phone, Edwina Bixby said. Edwina Winnie Bixby, 74, is the captains great-granddaughter. She and her sister, Jane Favela, 71, attended the dedication, along with Alejandra Favela, Jane Favelas daughter; and Mary Anne Bixby, the widow of their brother, also named Horace. None of the Bixby descendants knew the house existed before the Heugatters contacted Edwina Bixby. As children, they knew their great-grandfather had been a riverboat pilot with Twain, but no details. First-hand stories died with their grandfather, Horace Bixbys son. This made our great-grandfather become more human, like a real person, Jane Favela said. You could almost feel the spirits of the people that lived in that house. All four Bixby descendants spent the weekend of the dedication learning about Horace Bixby from the Heugatters. Larry Heugatter recalls Alejandra Favelas taking off her shoes to run her toes through the grass above Horace Bixbys plot. Horace Bixbys headstone will now be added to the cemetery map and guided tour, said Richard Lay, Bellefontaine Cemeterys vice president of customer relations. The irony of it all? Its been said that Horace Bixby hated the attention he received after Twains Life on the Mississippi was published. To his annoyance, once the book was published, he couldnt escape reporters prodding him for details on his friendship with Twain and letters from strangers who had read the memoir. Now, 104 years after his death, hes still the object of attention. The pardoning of Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko has no relation to the Minsk Agreements, as she was pardoned in response to a request by the relatives of the journalists who died in eastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "This has nothing to do with the Minsk Agreements, because the Minsk Agreements say about individuals held in Donbas and in Ukraine, those taken away from the Donbas territory," Putin said at a press conference following negotiations with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday. Putin said one of the dead journalists' widow and sister had asked him to pardon Savchenko. "As a matter of fact, this is what was the basis [for the pardon], this is what counts most," Putin said. Putin said he had been discussing Savchenko's pardoning and her return home with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for quite a long time. "The first problem that we faced in this respect was to return to Russia the two Russian citizens convicted by a Ukrainian court and held in a penitentiary in Ukraine at the time," Putin said. "Second. I could not have made this decision without knowing the opinion of the close relatives of our deceased guys, the deceased journalists," he said. I can assure you the only thing Spire cares about is profits over people. Their executives sat in silence and stared at us as we told them if they raised their rates again, people would suffer. The sanctions that were introduced in September 2015 against a number of Russian and other foreign journalists were revoked by a National Security and Defense Council resolution on May 20, as being confirmed by presidential decree No. 224/2016 on Friday. The sanctions were lifted on 29 individuals, according to a copy of the resolution, published on the presidential portal. RIYADH (Reuters) - An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday. Iran's top haj official Saeed Ohadi said there was still room to find agreement until Sunday night, according to Tehran's official IRNA news agency. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the impasse. "We witnessed a lack of seriousness by the Iranian side in dealing with the issue. It is yet another attempt by them to politicize the haj," Abdulmohsen Alyas, an under-secretary at Riyadh's Information Ministry, told Reuters. After an earlier attempt to agree on haj terms failed this month, Iran's leadership blamed Saudi Arabia for the delay, saying it was "very concerned" for the safety of Iranian pilgrims after last year's disaster. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said over 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. However, counts of fatalities in the disaster by countries who received home the bodies of their citizens showed that over 2,000 people may have died in the crush, more than 400 of them Iranians. Adding to Tehran's anger, King Salman was later quoted in Saudi state media as praising Saudi authorities for a "successful" haj. Saudi Arabia's haj ministry said it had met a number of Iran's concerns, offering electronic visas, a deal on air transport for pilgrims and diplomatic representation by Switzerland for Iranians in Mecca. (Reporting By Angus McDowall and Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Opposition Bloc to seek Ukrainian Rada re-election, formation of govt trusted by people KYIV. May 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The Opposition Bloc party intends to seek the re-election of the Ukrainian parliament and the formation of a government truly trusted by the people, Yuriy Boiko, a co-chair of the Opposition Bloc party and head of its faction at the Verkhovna Rada, said at a party congress on Friday. "We urge the people to consolidate around our progressive program and force political bankrupts to go ahead of schedule. The coalition of war, misfortune and failure must go. They must vacate room for people who know and love their country," Boiko said. The Opposition Bloc's mission is "to return society peace and confidence in its own abilities, overcome the civil conflict, and consolidate the people," he said. "We are the only political force consistently defending the policy of peace and an alternative socioeconomic course," Boiko said. The Opposition Bloc has a clear action plan, Boiko said. "It's necessary to reset the government and re-elect the parliament. A government of national trust must be formed. We are ready to be its foundation," he said. Boiko underscored the importance of implementing the Minsk Agreements for peace to settle in Ukraine. "We need concrete steps to ensure security in the conflict territories and hold elections in line with Ukrainian law there," he said. Boiko called for thinking already now how to live after the war is ended. "In the near future, Ukraine, the European Union and Russia will sit at the negotiating table and talk about Europe's future. We should become a political force advancing this possibility both on the parliamentary level and through working with our partners. This format will determine the entire European continent's future," he said. Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular (Popular Force) party attends an election rally in Lima, Peru, May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Janine Costa LIMA (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. However, 57 percent of respondents in the Datum survey said allegations that her party is linked to drug-trafficking and money laundering were correct, compared to 38 percent who considered them false. (Reporting By Mitra Taj; Editing by Andrew Hay) Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (C) speaks during the 16th PetroCaribe Ministerial Council in Caracas May 27, 2016. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition and top government officials said on Saturday they met with a group of mediators in the Dominican Republic to lay the groundwork for a dialogue amid a political standoff and a deepening economic crisis. The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with the legislature after the opposition won a sweeping majority last year. Both sides said they met with former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and former presidents Martin Torrijos of Panama and Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken to Zapatero to welcome the initiative and said that the United States stood ready to help the mediators.. The opposition's Democratic Unity coalition said its representatives told the mediators that any talks with the government would have to include discussion of a recall referendum on Maduro's rule, the release of jailed opposition leaders, foreign humanitarian assistance to cope with chronic shortages and respect for laws passed by the congress. "These points were taken by the ex-presidents to the representatives of the ruling party, with whom there has been no direct encounter whatsoever," the coalition said in a statement. "This has been an encounter with the mediators. Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez wrote via Twitter that government officials had also met with the same mediators. "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs that it has held the first encounters for a dialogue between the government and the opposition," wrote Rodriguez. Opposition leaders have been deeply skeptical of talks with the government, describing them as a stalling mechanism that would allow Maduro to gain time. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote. The two sides held talks in 2014 amid months of violent anti-government street protests that left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the dialogue did not produce any substantive agreements. Opposition leaders accuse the National Electoral Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 percent according to local pollster Datanalisis. They also say the ruling Socialist Party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December. Maduro insists his government is the victim of an "economic war" led by business leaders with the backing of Washington, which has been an ideological adversary of Caracas since the presidency of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Gareth Jones and W Simon) Unless we do something drastic soon, we're in for a big redrawing of coastal boundaries, said Victoria University's Dr James Renwick. New Zealand will pass an important climate change milestone within weeks, a leading researcher says. Readings of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) will hit 400 parts per million at the Baring Head Clean Air Monitoring Station on Wellington's south coast within weeks, Dr James Renwick predicted. He is a professor of physical geography at Victoria University and was a lead author on the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) . The last time CO levels were at 400ppm, about 3 million years ago, earth temperatures were 2-3 degrees Celsius higher and sea levels were about 20 metres higher, Renwick told an AntarcticaNZ conference on the weekend. "Unless we do something drastic soon, we're in for a big redrawing of coastal boundaries," Renwick said. Read more: * Australia's global warming milestone about to be passed * Confirmed: Australian CO2 level rises above symbolic 400 ppm milestone * No rush to sign on the dotted line of climate accord * Second hottest February on record sparks fresh concerns * Houses will be 'red-zoned' due to climate change * Stuff climate change page In simple terms, the climate can be changed by either altering the amount of sunlight arriving or by changing the amount of greenhouse gases such as CO in the atmosphere, he said. "That's what we've been doing." Aaron Wood . While there is variation in the atmosphere due to events such as El Nino, "the background trend is very obviously upward," Renwick said. The best known atmospheric monitoring station, at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, passed 400ppm in November. The Australian monitoring station at Cape Grim on Tasmania passed 400ppm in mid May. "We're leaving a big fingerprint on the earth ... it's a kick in the guts," Renwick said. The fifth IPCC report was a "great thing but it was out of date as soon as it' was published," Renwick said. "Every week a new (academic) paper comes out." "We're starting to get a much more detailed picture of what's happening globally," Renwick said. Skeptics claim climate records are too short from the early 1970s in the case of Baring Head given the millions of years of climate history. Renwick said the geological record, ice cores and the like provided enough data to be confident that predictions would turn out to be accurate. Last year 196 nations signed a climate change agreement in Paris with the intention of capping global temperature increases at 2C by 2030. That was a "political" target, not a scientific one, Renwick said. This week's budget phased out an emissions trading scheme subsidy that was used by businesses to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. What happens when families wait years for their lost loved ones to return? Australian climber Maria Strydom died on Mt Everest last week. Unlike so many who perish at altitude, her body is being recovered. Some families go years without that closure, until one day they get a phone call. CAMPBELL MONTGOMERIE (Died: January 2004 - Found: November 2012) When Liz Montgomerie finally saw the wreckage of the helicopter crash that killed her son, she wished she hadn't. FACEBOOK Maria Strydom succumbed to altitude sickness while climbing Mt Everest last week with her husband Robert Gropel. Campbell Montgomerie, 27, and his girlfriend Hannah Timings, 28, disappeared over Fiordland during a helicopter flight in January 2004. Now, his parents were in another chopper, hovering over the scene where he died. The two flights were made nearly nine years apart. "You could virtually see what would have happened," Liz Montgomerie said. READ MORE: * Focus on Mt Everest as third person dies * Fiordland helicopter crash pair identified * Shock for families as helicopter wreck is discovered * Father, son killed on world's highest peak * Marty Schmidt's daughter travels to K2 to collect remains "The picture I had in my head wasn't nearly as bad as what actually probably happened." Campbell Montgomerie and Hannah Timings left Queenstown the day after New Year's Day 2004, bound for Milford Sound. After hitting bad weather, they set down at Howden Hut on the Routeburn Track and stayed the night with trampers. They were never seen alive again. A news story the next day about the missing helicopter included its registration number. Campbell Montgomerie died in a helicopter crash in Fiordland in 2004. The wreck, and his body, were found in 2012. Photo: Supplied "I knew in my heart of hearts that he'd gone," Montgomerie said. "But it was just still the unknown and the hope that he may have survived or a miracle." There was no miracle. Liz and Ian Montgomerie's son was almost certainly dead. But, with no confirmation, there was a void. "People kept asking us what was happening and we didn't know," Montgomerie said. "People wanted to grieve." A memorial service was held two months later. The Montgomeries owned two farms and three run-offs around Auckland and Waikato and some of their more than 30 workers brought farm implements up to the family home for the service. The Montgomerie kilt, which Campbell favoured on formal occasions, was on display along with his wet weather gear and gumboots "still attached where he'd sort of jumped out of them". "I think if he'd been there," Montgomerie said, "I couldn't have coped as well." Liz Montgomerie, left, and her daughter Chris. Photo: Kevin Stent/Fairfax NZ When a police officer called in November 2012 to say that Campbell had been found, her first instinct was relief. "I thought, 'That's great'. I suppose you think in some silly way I'd hoped he might have survived and he's gone to a different continent and he might pop up somewhere else." Just as they did in 2004, the Montgomeries flew from Auckland to Queenstown. Soon after they were in a helicopter above the site where their son died at Humboldt Creek, about 20 kilometres east of Milford Sound. His body was removed and taken home, where friends visited before he was cremated. "But his soul's down there," Montgomerie said. "It was a part of the world he always loved. I'd said to someone, 'Even if we found him I think I'd take him back there to scatter his ashes'." Ian Montgomerie died last year, within three weeks of being diagnosed with leukemia. He was 72. The pain of his only son's death and the discovery of his body hit him hard, his wife said. "Cam was his successor. He was the one that was going to take over all the things that we'd built up over the years and that was all destroyed, just gone. "He did [carry on] but you could see the spark had gone. You still get up and you still farm, you have to, but the purpose had gone." Montgomerie has three daughters and nine grandchildren but "the two men in my life [are] gone". She still has Campbell's ashes and faces a decision she never thought she would have to make. "I don't really like it much. I don't know what I want to do with them. I don't know whether I want to take them back down there. "I wish I didn't know. I wish they hadn't found him." STEPHEN ANDERSON (Died: January, 1987 - Found: March, 1997) Stephen Anderson was always on the move. His brothers and sisters, they were settled, but not Stephen. He liked going places and if the mood took him, he went. Maybe that was why he left the Berlins Hotel in the Buller Gorge early on New Year's Day, 1987. He and some friends had farewelled 1986 at Westport the night before. They were riding their motorbikes to Nelson when they stopped in for a drink. "He just left the pub earlier than the other guys and said, 'I'll see you at the next stop'," Stephen's brother Peter Anderson said. "And he was never heard from again." A week of searching turned up nothing. It seemed likely that Stephen had come off the road somewhere in the gorge but with no trace of him, the rumours started. He had some gang associates gossipers love a criminal connection. There was talk he wanted to get away from a woman, or had just upped sticks and left. It wouldn't be the first time he'd gone off and done his own thing. Stephen Anderson aged about 24 or 25. Photo: Supplied On Mother's Day that year, the family knew it wasn't a vanishing act. Stephen always called his mum on Mother's Day. "When she never heard from him, she knew," Peter Anderson said. "[Disappearing] sounded like something he would do. He was quite capable of doing that. But he still would have kept in contact with Mum. And that's why Mum knew straight away something drastic had happened. But we never knew how til he was found, really." In March 1997 a couple were fossicking for relics at Lyell, the site of a nineteenth-century goldmining town in the Buller Gorge, when they found a wrecked motorbike. A helmet with a skull inside, still wearing sunglasses, was found nearby. When Maureen Anderson heard the bike was a Bonneville 750, she knew it must have been her son and called the police. A few days later, Peter Anderson borrowed a van from his work and the six surviving Anderson siblings drove to Murchison and Nelson pick up the bike and their brother's remains. More than 100 bikers turned up to Stephen's funeral to escort his body to the crematorium. "He valued friends more than he valued anything material," Peter Anderson said. "Turned out he had a lot of friends. They remembered him well enough to turn up at his funeral ten years down the track. It was a good send off. It was good to be able to give him a send off because there'd been nothing before." Peter Anderson went ten years not knowing what happened to his brother. Photo: Iain McGregor/Fairfax NZ Anderson's parents have both since died. His mother, especially, never really talked about his disappearance. Never let on that it bothered her. It wasn't until he was found and laid to rest that the family finally confronted his death. "If you never get a resolution then there's a certain amount of grief you don't get rid of because there's no outlet," Peter Anderson said. "It wasn't until after we found him that I realised how much it had affected me. It was just a feeling," he exhaled deeply, for effect, "we know what happened. And we've got him home. It was a great, great relief to find him and to definitely know." Three or four years before he died, Stephen Anderson fell down a shaft at work and badly broke his leg. The year he was laid up recovering was the most Peter Anderson saw of his brother he was tied to one place. When he was mobile once more he was off, using the compensation money from the accident to buy the Bonneville. He didn't stop moving until the day he died. Sequoia Di Angelo went to Pakistan last year to find out if human remains found on K2 were those of her father or brother, who died on the mountain in 2013. Photo: Supplied/Mark Green MARTY SCHMIDT AND DENALI SCHMIDT (Died: July, 2013 - Not found) Sequoia Di Angelo decided on the spot she had to go to Pakistan. The online video, posted by a Swiss climber, showed human remains found on K2, the world's second-highest peak. There was a chance they could be those of her father or her brother. New Zealand mountaineer Marty Schmidt and his son Denali died on K2 in 2013, most likely killed in an avalanche. Like so many before them, they lay where they died. "I saw the video and within 12 hours I had booked a ticket and went on a shopping spree [for climbing gear]," Di Angelo said. Di Angelo and her father had a difficult relationship. They had just started communicating again after a six-year rift. She wasn't the first to hear when he and her brother died. "I think a part of me was hoping that it might be them [on the 2015 video] because I felt like I needed to be more connected to it than I was. "It was the reason of me feeling like I needed to be the one to find them. To bring myself that bit closer to what happened and to prove to others I was worthy of being that person." Di Angelo had spent two years making the best of her father and brother's deaths. Denali was an artist and she organised a touring exhibition of his paintings. A film of her father's life was in the works. These were good ways to honour their lives; not so good for coping with their deaths. The relentless positivity eventually wore thin. "I don't know if I've faced it, and I don't know if I will ever face it," Di Angelo said. "Now I'm at this strange position in my life where how far do I go with this story and how I feel like I'm pushing through my grief and honouring my father and brother versus the eternal question of should I just be living my own life in my own way." New Zealand mountaineer Marty Schmidt, left, and his son Denali, were likely killed by an avalanche while climbing K2 in 2013. Photo: Supplied Pakistan helped. Di Angelo made the 16-day trek to and from K2 base camp with five Pakistani guides who didn't speak English. With isolation came perspective. "I kind of learned on that journey that other people's opinions don't matter," she said. "I was really able to be alone in a very beautiful and powerful landscape and to get away from life that we live here . . . for me to have memories and touch on those moments and realise that's what matters." Di Angelo saw and held the head she had seen on the video and felt sure it wasn't her brother. Tests later confirmed it. The remains were wrapped in white burial cloth and laid at the K2 memorial. If Marty or Denali Schmidt are ever found, Di Angelo hopes they are left in place. She thinks. "I can't say no question. My opinion's changed so much in two years. Ask me again in five. But for right now I definitely prefer that." The mother of an autistic boy who went missing for nearly four hours says she is incredibly grateful to "the wonderful, kind people" who helped out in to search. Nathan Daniel Callaghan, 10, was found hiding in a house opposite his family home on Winara Ave, Waikanae, after being reported missing just before 5pm, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. Hundreds of searchers had gathered to look for Nathan, who was reported missing around 4.45pm on Saturday. VIRGINIA FALLON / FAIRFAX NZ Police cars in Elizabeth St, Waikanae, as part of the search for missing 10-year-old boy Nathan Daniel Callaghan. Cries of "they've found him" echoed around the streets of Waikanae after Nathan was found just before 9pm. Nathan 's mum Kathryn described the "building panic" when Nathan went missing. Speaking at the family home, she said: "It's a terrible feeling when you ring the police and then time goes by and they say they have to get search and rescue. It's levels of panic." Kathryn said Nathan was in good health. "We now just have to make out house resemble Fort Knox even more than it does now." She said Waikanae residents were trustworthy and would often go out leaving a window or a door open. "Nathan would have tried the doors and windows and climbed inside." Searchers from as far as Johnsonville are still turning up to look for Nathan who attends a school in Porirua. A huge social media drive saw hundreds call for people to be on the look out for Nathan. There was palpable relief among the searchers afterwards. "Well done Waikanae coming together in a time of need. Was a lot of people out searching when I was driving around. Glad hes found," Erica Clancy said on social media. Police also thanked the Waikanae community and the wider public for the support and "kind thoughts" during the search. Concerned residents had taken to the streets in huge numbers in the rain as they search for the missing boy. Searchers with torches and cellphones had gone door to door in Winara Ave and Elizabeth St in the Kapiti Coast town. Fears were high after Nathan was reported to have a "particular fascination with water" - and residents were asked to check waterways. Nathan had a mental age of two or three, police said. People living within 200 metres of the intersection of Elizabeth St and Winara Ave were asked to pay particular attention. Police were providing no details about the incident that occurred at the rural Waikato school on Friday night. Police detectives and photographers are at a rural Waikato school but police are not yet saying why. Scene tape was up at Ohaupo School, about 16km south of Hamilton, on Saturday morning. Police officers and detectives were investigating the area and taking photographs but the region's district command centre will not yet release information on what they are looking into. GEORGE HEARD/FAIRFAX NZ An incident at Ohaupo School near Hamilton was being investigated on Saturday morning. "We're just investigating an event that happened last night," Senior Sergeant Pete Simpson said. Until the CIB could investigate further, no more information will be released, Simpson said. It's understood there was a quiz night at the school on Friday night. * Do you know more? Contact newsroom@fairfaxmedia.co.nz Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has stressed the issue of restoration of Ukrainian control over the state border is the key one for the implementation of the Minsk agreements. "The issue of borders is the key one in the context of implementation of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said during the events dedicated to the Day of Border Guard of Ukraine. Ertugrul Apakan, the chief monitor of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, is dismayed by two instances of violence that jeopardized the SMM and prevented it from efficiently monitoring the situation in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. "An SMM patrol came under small-arms fire during a foot patrol in Avdiyivka-Yasynuvate area in Donetsk region on May 27; none of the patrol members was injured. Also today, the SMM's long-range unmanned aerial vehicle was downed while flying near 'DPR'-controlled Horlivka," the OSCE said in a press release available on its website. "I strongly condemn violence against our people and assets, serving to provide objective and impartial information on the situation in Ukraine. The SMM's freedom of movement is guaranteed by its mandate and reiterated by the Minsk Package of Measures, and interference with the work of the Mission constitutes a gross violation of both," Apakan said. He also called on the parties to address both incidents and hold those responsible to account. "This violence against the SMM is unacceptable. Impunity for people who threaten, violently mistreat or attack the SMM, or who violate its freedom of movement, must end," he said. Ceylon Shipping Corp secures full-term Certificates for MV. Ceylon Breeze from DNV GL View(s): DNV GL, a leading classification society with 150 years long tradition in maritime industry and presence in over 100 countries, has added to its registry as of March 2016 a new vessel built for Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC). Bulk carrier Ceylon Breeze built at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard Co, Ltd China will be flying the Sri Lanka Flag, with home port Colombo and is the first of two sister vessels having a registered length of 199 metres and displacement of 63,323 DWT, the CSC said in a media announcement. The vessel was built to DNV GL Class Rules under close supervision of CSCs own supervisors and the DNV GL consultants. Recently the full-term certificates of MV. Ceylon Breeze were handed over to CSC Chairman Shashi Dhanatunge by DNV GL Country Manager Maritime, Lal de Silva. Mr. Dhanatunge confirmed that the Board of Directors of CSC instructed its Technical Manger and onsite supervisors to focus on the quality and finish in addition to the guaranteed performance and class agreed by the shipyard. Land Ministry to digitise land bank By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s): Land being the costliest asset in realty has often been at the epicentre of land fights, property crimes and frauds. Sri Lankas Land Ministry now is mulling to digitise its land bank in a bid to curb these issues, a top minister said. Theres a proposal to digitise all lands, John Amaratunga, Minister of Lands (in addition to his other portfolios Tourism and Christian Religious Affairs) told the Business Times. He said that he had a discussion with some parties recently on this and their proposal was interesting. The main reasons cited for this digitisation effort are to detect and prevent fraud and to improve data analytics while streamlining processes in the ministry, he added. In order to ensure that the lands of the country are suitably managed the Ministry of Land is assigned with the responsibilities such as preparing and implementing policies related to conserve state lands, land settlement, acquisition of lands for public purposes. Mr. Amaratunga said that the ministry has been directing the efforts in developing common systems with collaboration of all related parties. Currently there are 43 land registries across the country and it is estimated that over 20 million deeds have been stored in those registries, according to data by ministry officials. Lawyers and Notaries are finding it difficult to find the land related information due to many problems including access and lack of space in land registries in general, they said adding that the low access of registers for investigating deeds at the Land Registry has caused major issues. A ministry official added that digitisation will help the registers against ageing, excessive handling, and damage by termites and even by natural disasters which is also an integral problem. Removal of pages and alterations of records have also been longstanding predicaments and protecting these registers from such abuses is also a critical requirement. It will also pave the way towards automation of Land Registries by computerising deed registration system and facilitating amalgamation of Title Registration and Deed Registration in the long term, the ministry official said. Availability of information associated to connected transactions of a land will be an added advantage, he said adding that a digitised system would support other activities such as searching for a land by name, owners name and other critical parameters. Pains of labour in the Post-Civil War Development in Jaffna View(s): The welfare of working people is sine qua non for economic and social development of societies. More than a quarter century of civil war in Jaffna (1983-2009) has destroyed several institutions that are the lifeblood of economic and social well-being of democratic societies. The vanguard institutions of labour such as collective bargaining through labour associations/unions, labour departments (government regulator), and indeed labour standards have been dissipated in the name of national liberation and national security. These institutions have been subsumed into the overarching imperatives of Tamil nationalism, Tamil national liberation struggle, and the national security of the state. Objectives The objectives of this study are to understand and document the legal, livelihood, and social conditions of the working people in Jaffna town six years after the military conclusion of the civil war in May 2009, and sensitize the governments (national, provincial, and local), private businesses, non-governmental organizations, international development partners, and other stakeholders on the protection and promotion of the welfare of the working people in post-civil war economic and social development in Jaffna and beyond. Methodology A questionnaire based survey of a sample of working people in different occupations, businesses, and households was undertaken during the middle of 2015 in the Jaffna town and the suburbs. A total of 258 workers were interviewed through a questionnaire by labour union personnel. The designing of the survey instrument (questionnaire), selection of the sample, and the enumeration of the survey were undertaken by the labour union personnel themselves. The role of the Point Pedro Institute of Development (PPID) has been the guidance and contribution to the processing and tabulation of the survey data and most importantly writing up this report. Results The results of the survey reveal that most employers in Jaffna town are flouting the statutory labour laws in the country in terms of minimum wage, maximum number of hours of work per day, maximum number of days of work per week, payment of overtime pay, payment of EPF/ETF, annual leave entitlement, employment contract, etc. Moreover, the survey reveals that a vast majority of the employees are unaware of their statutory rights to minimum wage, maximum number of hours of work per day, maximum number of days of work per week, overtime and EPF/ETF payments, annual leave entitlement, employment contract, etc. In all of the foregoing women are worse off than men. The labour force participation rates among women in the districts of Eastern and Northern Provinces are significantly lower than in the 17 districts out of the Eastern and Northern Provinces. According to the Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2014, while the all-island labour force participation rate of women was 35 per cent, the labour force participation rate of women in the Jaffna district was 25 per cent and just 15 per cent in the Mannar district (the lowest in the country). Moreover, whereas the womens labour force participation rates in all the districts out of the Eastern and Northern Provinces were above 30 per cent, it was significantly lower than 30 per cent in the districts of the east and north (barring Vavuniya district where it was 32 per cent). Thus, the very low labour force participation by women in the east and north could be a result of appalling conditions of employment as well, among other factors. The bulk of the workers is in low paid jobs with minimal labour standards, social protection, and security of tenure, which are not conducive to decent work and sustainable livelihoods. It is high time that the local and provincial governments and the national government and private businesses take urgent action to remedy the situation. The non-governmental organisations and the international development partners could play a pivotal role in sensitising the governments and the businesses to comply with the national and international labour standards and empowering the workers to demand their due human entitlements. It is true that businesses also have incurred enormous financial and material losses during the course of the civil war which have not been compensated by the state to date. However, such losses cannot be an excuse to exploit their employees; thus, one injustice cannot justify another. At a workshop held in Jaffna on 05th December 2015, the Labour Commissioner for the Northern Province highlighted the fact that many employees are averse to their employers having a register to mark attendance because the lack of attendance register could mask unauthorised and unofficial absenteeism of the employees. Furthermore, many employees in the Northern Province are also averse to paying EPF/ETF contributions in order to boost their take-home pay and therefore do not mind if their employers do not pay them EPF/ETF. According to the Regional Head of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in Jaffna, there has also been a growing practice of employees complaining about their employers to the Human Rights Commission rather than to the Labour Department. The four pillars of Decent Work enunciated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, including Sri Lanka, are: (1) Employment creation and enterprise development. (2) Social protection. (3) Labour standards and rights at work. (4) Labour governance and social dialogue. It is argued that, the foregoing pillars of Decent Work are necessary to promote inclusive growth, poverty alleviation, shared prosperity, and basic minimum standards of living for human beings. In the past decade or more many countries (both developed and developing countries) have experienced economic growth with very little employment creation (if at all), which has been popularly referred to as jobless growth. Therefore, employment creation has been emphasised more than economic growth in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis of the late-1990s and the global economic crisis of 2008. It has also been emphasised that governments should provide social protection/security to the labour at all times, especially during times of economic crisis. That is, economic and livelihood vulnerabilities of the bottom of the pyramid labouring class have to be cushioned by both the employers and the governments. Thirdly, labour rights and standards have to be upheld by both the employers and governments at all times, which are inalienable rights of the workers. The maintenance of these rights is sine qua non to access international markets by exporters and gain preferential access to markets. The consumers in developed countries are growingly concerned by environmental and labour standards in production processes throughout the world and therefore it makes smart business sense to adhere to core human values. Fourthly, employers are mandatorily expected to allow employees to form collective bargaining institutions in work places. In addition, governments should promote regular social dialogue between employers and employees in order to maintain social harmony and peaceful coexistence between businesses and their employees. The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in his maiden economic policy statement of the new government presented to Parliament on 05th November 2015 claimed that one million new jobs with good wages will be created in the next five years of this government. This is the first time in Sri Lanka any politician has tied employment generation to decent wages. However, the commitment to create one-million jobs with decent wages could be a herculean task for the new government given the fact that higher paid jobs are associated with higher skills and productivity of the labour which are sourly lacking among the Sri Lankan labour. The relatively better educated, skilled, and higher productive labourers of Sri Lanka tend to migrate overseas for employment and/or for good. In order to generate higher paid jobs, the government should significantly improve the educational and skills standards in Sri Lanka along with inculcation of work ethic among the population. Thus, Decent Work is associated with internationally competitive quality of education and skills training which is lacking in Sri Lanka. Generally, low paid jobs in Sri Lanka, including in the public services, is mainly due to lack of quality education, skills training, and sound work ethic. Although, in principle, Decent Work is a worthy policy goal to pursue, in practice it requires a sound quality education and skills training system, which is internationally competitive, as a prerequisite. Recommendations 1. The National Government of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Government of the Northern Province should jointly and concurrently focus on improving and upgrading the quality of school, vocational, and university education systems in order to make the Sri Lankan labour optimally productive and internationally competitive and thereby make them earn decent wages and gain decent work. 2. The national and provincial governments should provide incentives for women to gain paid employment in order to increase the labour force participation rate of women. Appropriate financial compensation for the care work (child care and elderly care) undertaken within households, introduction of paternity leave for fathers, child care and creche facilities at work places, and automation of household chores that would release time to undertake paid employment outside the home should be implemented as priorities. 3. Concrete steps should be taken to strengthen the labour inspection mechanism in the Northern Province. This shall include increasing of the inspectorate cadre and strengthening required infrastructure. Sufficient travelling allowance or reliable modes of transportation should be provided to them. The inadequacy of the travel allowance to undertake field visits is a key issue that the Labour Officers Union has raised on many occasions and this has also figured in the supervisory body reports of the ILO (Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations) with regard to giving effect to ILO Convention No.81 on Labor Inspection. 4. The alarming findings of the survey that reveal the non-existence of letters of appointment among most workers, discrepancies in working hours, leave, etc. could be attributed to the absence of a systematic and routine inspection of workplaces and a mechanism to follow up on instances that require intervention. Therefore, the inspections should be geared to focus special emphasis on key areas such as verifying employment contracts, payment of EPF, ETF, gratuity, working hours, overtime, entitlement of leave, etc, which form part of basic minimum standards of employment. 5. The physical presence of the labour administration should be expanded; i.e. setting up district labour offices as visible in other parts of the country. 6. A scientific labour market expectation survey should be conducted to gauge the expectations of the labour force. The absence of such specific information has often led to investors complaining about issues relating to skills, attitudes of workers, etc. This mismatch also results in industrial relations conflicts after setting up businesses. This can also give rise to situations of abuse and exploitation. The labour market expectation related information will enable investors to decide on the type of enterprises that they can set up based on the dynamics of the labour force in the region. 7. The post-civil war atmosphere has made the region devoid of fundamental workplace freedoms guaranteed by core conventions of the ILO i.e. freedom of association, collective bargaining, etc. The absence of freedom of association has left workers scattered and isolated, making them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Workers are also not able to present their concerns and bargain on behalf of their interest in an organised and collective manner due to this situation. Therefore, fostering such freedoms is an essential means of democratic and organised expression and is directly linked to social justice. The post-civil war reconciliation agenda should also incorporate the aspect of social justice at workplace. The post-civil war atmosphere has made the labour force vulnerable to exploitation because of high unemployment rates noted above and continued fear psychosis instilled by excessive presence of the armed forces. Therefore, it is important that a fair playing field is set in the field of employment in order to ensure basic freedoms guaranteed by the ILO are exercisable. 8. Protection against unfair dismissals and ensuring the payment of gratuity for workers in workplaces employing less than 15 employees is redressed through Labour Tribunals. There are 37 Labour Tribunals listed in the Ministry of Justice website, but none of them is located in the Northern Province. Vast majority of workplaces in the region employ less than 15 workers. As such the existence of a Labour Tribunal is essential to claim gratuity, in instances where it is denied by the employer or to challenge unfair terminations. Given the vast geographical landscape of the province, setting up adequate number of tribunals in locations where workers can have access easily is an essential requirement to ensure justice and fair play in industrial relations. 9. Requirements of decent work should take centre focus in the regions world of work and the national government should be urged to incorporate concerns of the northern workers in the national Decent Work Country Programme prepared by tripartite stakeholders of the process of employment. 10. Ensuring the benefits of economic growth trickle down to the inhabitants in a democratic society depends considerably on the existence of universally recognised conditions of decent work. This has also been recognised as one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015. This serves an important purpose in the post-civil war economic recovery of the region. Conditions unique to the region could be identified and addressed effectively by the Provincial Council than the National Government. Employment is a subject listed in the Concurrent List under the 13th amendment to the Constitution. The Northern Provincial Council should seriously explore as to how it could carve a niche to address issues of economic and social justice of its people, as it is better geared and positioned to the task than the national government. The Council should also intervene to have its input into the drawing up of the National Decent Work Country Programme so that the concerns of its inhabitants are better represented. This is also equally vital given the fact that the district of Jaffna and the Northern Province recording one of the highest income inequality of all districts and provinces in the country according to the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (2012-2013) of the Department of Census and Statistics. These facts also go to show that justice in the work-place is an issue that should draw the urgent attention of national and provincial lawmakers of the province. Therefore this aspect should also form part of the overall reconciliation focus of the North. 11. Fiscal policy (especially tax policy) is a major policy instrument through which economic growth could be ensured to trickle down to the lower strata of the working population and society. Over 80 per cent of the government revenue accrues from consumption (indirect) taxes and less than 20 per cent accrues from income (direct) taxes. This in itself is regressive because, while consumption taxes are equal to all income groups, income taxes are higher to higher income groups and lower (or zero) to lower income groups. The current governments avowed policy is to raise the direct income taxes to 40 per cent and lower the indirect consumption taxes to 60 per cent of the total government revenue, which is commendable if successfully implemented and realised. 12. Awareness raising on labour rights need to be accelerated by the Department of Labour and worker stakeholders. The absence of worker friendly educational materials in Tamil is a serious draw back. Steps should be taken to develop such tools. (This article has been written by the Point Pedro Institute of Development, Point Pedro, Northern Province, Sri Lanka in association with the Solidarity Center, Colombo to contribute to the 105thAnnual Conference of the International Labour Organisation to held in Geneva in June 2016; particularly for the session on Decent Work for Peace, Security, and Disaster Resilience incorporating transition from war to peace. Any queries on this survey could be obtained from ppid@pointpedro.org or info@solidaritycenter.lk) Sri Lanka implements 2-pronged strategy for economic prosperity and innovation By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s): Sri Lanka is to implement a twin strategy based on reconciliation and strengthening democracy to achieve economic prosperity and innovation as it has to catch up several lost opportunities in the past. This was disclosed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who participated in a panel discussion at, the 2-day National Summit on Foresight and Innovation for Sustainable Human Development held on Tuesday at the Waters Edge. Without reconciliation, the end of the war will never bring peace. We will never be one nation. Without strengthening democracy there will be no free flow of ideas that could lead to innovation, he said. The premier pointed out that a national government was formed in the country to meet challenges with consensus among two main political parties. The Premier emphasised the need for Sri Lanka to join the global value chain, and change the countrys economy to become more competitive in the world market. The government is committed to sustainable development as many countries had sacrificed their environment, values and democracy for the sake of economic development, he said adding that a 4-year development plan would be unveiled next month. The plan is focused on speedy sustainable development to improve the living standards of the people and harness Sri Lankas strategic location and human resources. The Business Times revealed details of this 4-year development plan in a May 15 exclusive report headlined Sri Lanka embarks on new development strategy and matrix. This master plan on a new development strategy and development matrix will see the country revamp and rejuvenate nine key sectors. They are tourism, digital economy, mega-polis development, Kandy city development, public private partnership for job market training, power and energy, rural sector development, agriculture and investment promotion. The Prime Minister stressed the need to strengthen economic cooperation world wide through free trade agreements and economic partnerships. Sri Lanka has maintained trade relations with the world since ancient times but to trade with the world today the country should have an edge in a competitive market system, he pointed out. First we need to move in and ensure we have a sufficient number of FTAs which will enable you to deal with a large number of countries. We need to focus on economic and trade cooperation from Europe to Japan, including India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Korea. He disclosed that the country will also enter into a trade agreement with the US but this matter would be decided only after November 2016. Sri Lankas greatest capital is its human resources and it is essential to build on this resource and skills, he said adding that a policy for human development, combined with the countrys strategic position, can lead to innovation. The Governments plan to make Sri Lanka competitive included its ambitious plans to turn the Western Province into a mega city. The aim is to make it a large, livable city in the Indian Ocean, he opined. The Prime Minister said the Western Province Megapolis should not only be the largest city in the Indian Ocean, but should also rank high in sustainable development. It must be a livable city. In South Asia now many cities are no longer livable, he asserted. The country has devised plans for innovation and technology to boost economic growth while striving to modernise the rural economy, the Prime Minister revealed. Mr. Wickremesinghe also emphasised the need to find ways and means to restore the social fabric and build community in the North and East affected by war. The culture in the north is strong enough to rebuild, he said. Several business leaders who attended the summit told the Business Times that the government should form a consortium as a public private partnership to promote innovation and assist young innovators to enter into world market providing them with necessary seed capital as well as marketing support. The session attended by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was moderated by UNDP Resident Representative, Peter Batchelor and included Vice President, myForesight Institute, of the Government of Malaysia Rushdi Abdul Rahim, Director of Mindlab, Government of Denmark Thomas Prehn, Performance and Social Innovation Lead eGov Center, Government of Moldova Cornelia Amihalachioae and Lead, Kolba Lab, UNDP Armenia, Marina Mkhitaryan. UNDP to develop outcome document for their development planning for the 2030 agenda By Raj Moorthy View(s): View(s): The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)s Colombo office will prepare the recommendations and outcome of this weeks National Summit on Foresight and Innovation for Sustainable Human Development in Sri Lanka to be used as a guide for long-term planning, according to UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative, Peter Batchelor. He told the Business Times on the sidelines of Sri Lankas first summit on innovation for sustainable development in Colombo that recommendations on energy, climate action, waste and disasters issues which are key priorities that Sri Lanka is facing today -, would be included in the governments 2030 agenda for action. Speaking on the opening day of the 2-day summit, Mr. Batchelor said that foresight is a methodology that encourages innovation, strategic planning and the proactive shaping of the future. The purpose of foresight is to enhance the ability of decision makers to engage with and shape future events. Its about anticipating possible and probable future events in order to cope with and depth to or transform them. Foresight is not about predicting the future and should not be confused with forecasting, rather making predictions on the extrapolation of current trends or the frequency of similar events. It cultivates the capacity to anticipate alternative futures and the ability to visualise multiple possible outcomes and consequences. It can help policy makers identify opportunities of threats that may arise over the coming years as well as possible strategies to deal with. Asia-Pacific region has seen a remarkable economic and social progress in the past two decades. Between 1990 and 2008 over 700 million people were lifted out of poverty in the region. GDP growth rates in this region have surged against other regions. The relative importance of drive of economic growth of prosperity as of today and for a growing number of countries including Asia, innovation in its many dimensions is emerging as a leading drive of growth and development. In recent years we have seen a world that is increasingly real time account and the use of information and communication technologies is becoming increasingly widespread. The use of ICT has not only resulted in improvements in economy but has a crucial impact on government willing to provide more citizen friendly, transparent, countable, people oriented public services. Its important to note that governments can play a key role in fostering the conducive environment for innovation. Sri Lanka which stands with many futuristic prospects needs to focus more on next generation development solutions, added Mr. Batchelor. State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs Niroshan Perera stated that the present government expects the country to reach an upper middle income country status while attaining sustainable economic growth and ensuring good governance. In doing so, Sri Lanka will strive to be the most open and competitive economy in South Asia. As the ministry entrusted with the role of planning the future of the country, we believe that the implementation of the 2030 agenda in Sri Lankas national development framework is vital. The national targets incorporated in our public investment programme have been set in line with both sustainable development goals and national development priorities to ensure more holistic development for the country, noted Mr. Perera. He also added that Sri Lanka has pledged its commitment to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030 with special focus on poverty elimination, achieving food security, improving education, minimising income disparity and urban development. I believe that Sri Lanka has a stable and favourable political leadership, human and economic potential to carry out the 2030 agenda successfully. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has missed several opportunities in the past that could have taken us into a vibrant and sustainable economy. We should ensure that our current path to economic prosperity is resilient in the global and local challenges. He said innovation is essential as we compete in the global market. If we are to build an economy with a competitive export sector, technological and demand driven innovation is essential. A lead forward in technological innovation will put us in par with the developing world, if not we will always lag behind in our production capacities. On the second day of the summit, Minister of Digital Infrastructure and Telecommunications, Harin Fernando said that Sri Lanka was due to sign up with Ericson (on Thursday May 26) to set up a 5G test lab in Sri Lanka. He said the ministry will be partnering with a few other companies in the world to set up 24 innovation centres in all districts in Sri Lanka. There will be incubators around it, said Mr. Fernando adding that more information will be released soon. Mr. Fernando noted that the government will be funding 1000 startups where innovators can start their innovation and organisations like Microsoft, Oracle can take these innovations to the world platform. Noting that Sri Lanka is on the brink of digitisation he said, the country would be the third country the world to implement a Household Transfer Management System (HTM) after Estonia and Sweden. The card will be launched on January 2017 which will digitise the countrys whole platform for all financial transactions to biometric form. This will enable Sri Lanka to save US$2 million a day in transaction costs on pensions and social welfare schemes like Samurdhi. The card will kick start the economy and provide more avenues to cater to many digital platforms such as e-governance, digital education, e-health and so on. This HTM card will redefine the Sri Lankan lifestyle and the economy. Every person who is over 15 years old will have this card, which will work as a national identity card and transaction card and since it is Near Field Communication enabled, it can be used for transactions via mobile devices on tap and pay system. It is a fully-integrated card, noted Mr. Fernando. He also mentioned that the key challenges of the ministry are to get connectivity in place with fibre optic cables covering the entire nation. Only 25 per cent of the population has access to Internet while only 24 per cent use smartphones. Usage of 10 per cent of Internet has proven to increase GDP by 1.2 per cent and thereby the government is in favour of encouraging and improving the industries engaged in the telecommunication and digital infrastructure to uplift the real economic growth of the country. In December we have a massive digital summit, unveiling the Sri Lankan digital story which will be attended by the worlds top two IT heads. Open Design City, Berlin Co-Founder Jay Cousins speaking on Disruptive Innovation through Engagement mentioned that there is always a change in a governments decision in taking a country forward. Not having a proper long term plan is not going to help a countrys growth in any way. You need to be very careful when taking decisions and setting up a long term plan, you need to be mindful as to what seeds must be planted in order to set it up, he noted. Landmark Guide on the ButterfliesOf Sri Lanka View(s): The comprehensive book, Butterfly Fauna of Sri Lanka will be launched on June 2, 2016 at 6.00pm at the auditorium of the Meteorological Department, Colombo 7. The timely release of this book follows on the heels of the International Day of Biodiversity. The comprehensive book, Butterfly Fauna of Sri Lanka will be launched on June 2, 2016 at 6.00pm at the auditorium of the Meteorological Department, Colombo 7. The timely release of this book follows on the heels of the International Day of Biodiversity. This long-awaited, essential guide to the butterflies of the island will be available for the public at a special price of Rs 6200/= on this occasion. Authored by the renowned lepidopterist, Dr. George Michael van der Poorten, and his wife Nancy, this wide-ranging work discusses the unique lives of all the butterflies in Sri Lanka (247species) and illustrates the adults of both sexes with stunning colour photographs captured throughout the island. Several images portray very rare species that have eluded the lenses of many a photographer. The 424-page, hard cover book, with 3000 photographs, encompasses the remarkable and varied history of the study of butterflies in Sri Lanka and their biogrography, classification, morphology, and distribution, whilst highlighting the dire need to address the conservation of the butterflies. In addition, each species is described as to its identification, similar species, status, distribution, habitat, adult behaviour, immature stages and larval food plants. Supplemental material includes a species list, endemic status, and distribution by climatic zone, as well as a list of larval food plants and adult nectar sources. Given the alarming loss of species globally, this book provides the base information necessary for the conservation of the butterflies of Sri Lanka, which are threatened by the destructive impact of habitat loss due to clearing of forests, the extensive use of chemicals in agriculture, and invasive weeds. Acclaimed as an invaluable source of information for those interested in the natural world, it is heralded as the standard reference for many more years, as well as a guide for policy makers to make informed decisions. Ecotourism will be immensely benefitted by having at its disposal a wide-ranging guide to the butterflies of the island that highlights the place of butterflies in the natural world. Dr. van der Poorten spent the first three decades of his life roaming the jungles and forests of his native Sri Lanka. After spending several years in Canada, he returned to Sri Lanka with his wife Nancy to take up the challenge to document anew the butterflies in the island since the last comprehensive work with new information was written as far back as the 1940s, and the landscape of the country has been transformed so much since then. Dr. van der Poorten was, inter alia, the editor of the Butterfly Conservation Action Plan of Sri Lanka (2014) and lead scientist for the national Redlisting butterfly project (2012). He has also authored several scientific articles with his wife. Nancy is a renowned scientist in her own right, having co-authored a comprehensive book on the dragonflies of the island as well as having described several dragonfly species in the island that were new to science. Si Raja uncovers the history of Sigiriya Swarnavahinis prime time for historical teleplay View(s): View(s): Focusing on the epic and emptional tale of King Kashyapa, Si Raja the latest historical teledrama series is now being telecast on Swarnavahini television channel. Focusing on the epic and emptional tale of King Kashyapa, Si Raja the latest historical teledrama series is now being telecast on Swarnavahini television channel. The series features a line-up of actors and actresses including Bimal Jayakodi, Akila Dhanundra, Yashoda Wimaladharma, Roshan Pilapitiya and Sathischandra Edirisinghe and the entire script is based on an extensive research study. Si Raja was allocated one of Swarnavahinis biggest production budgets to date and was conceptualised and directed by Jackson Anthony. Currently airing its fifth episode, the series retells the story of the controversial sovereign Kashyapa, who converted the Sigiriya rock into a residential palace and fortress during his reign from 479 to 497 CE. Today the Sigiriya Rock Fortress is considered a national wonder and is heralded as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Si Raja, which is aired on Swarnavahini every Saturday at 8.30 p.m., brings to light the heart-wrenching story that is interwoven into Sigiriyas ancient past and highlights the early days of King Kashyapas rule. Commenting on the Si Raja teledrama series, the shows director Jackson Anthony stated, The Si Raja teledrama series is based on historical facts and was produced to invoke curiosity and remind the Sri Lankan public of the rich heritage of the majestic Sigiriya Rock Fortress. The conversion of Sigiriya marks an important milestone in the life of King Kashyapa and today Sigiriya stands as a lasting reminder of the capabilities and power of Sri Lankas early rulers. We put a great deal of effort into ensuring that the series is factually accurate and we hope that it will provide a thrilling window into the mystery, allure and tragedy that surround the Sigiriya Rock Fortress and King Kashyapas reign. I would like to extend my gratitude to the entire crew and production team for their tireless commitment, which has resulted in the creation of a high-quality and truly captivating series. The Si Raja teledrama series explores important questions about the fortress and the kings life. The story highlights why King Kashyapa built Sigiriya, it provides more information about the architect behind the fortress as well as the artist who created the famous wall of frescoes. King Kashyapa was the son of King Dathusena and the dramatic entanglement between them is retold in Si Raja. The series depicts the many different aspects of King Kashyapas character and skilfully retells the story of his rise to sovereignty and his fall from power. Si Raja is one of many teledramas that are produced and broadcast by the Swarnavahini television channel. Since its launch in 1997, Swarnavahini has remained dedicated to delivering high quality programming and reaching out to an extensive audience base across Sri Lanka. UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic will stay in Ukraine on a working visit from May 28 to June 4, the press service of the Batkivschyna party has said. According to the press service, Simonovic met with the chairman of the parliamentary committee for human rights, national minorities and interethnic relations (the Batkivschyna faction), Hryhoriy Nemyria, and discussed the situation with human rights in connection with the conflict in the east of Ukraine. Nemyria told Simonovic about the decision to create a monitoring group composed of the people's deputies of Ukraine on the rights of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine living in the ATO zone. Ceylon Navys prized catch By Somasiri Devendra The surrender of an Italian ship in 1943 View(s): View(s): Do you know how an Italian Navy ship surrendered to the CRNVR? It was around the middle 1970s. I was collecting first-hand accounts of incidents involving the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (CNVF) which had been mobilized by the Royal Navy as the Ceylon RNVR(CRNVR) during the second world war. The question was put to me by Cdr. E.P. Wickremasinghe (SLN), a veteran of that war. Surprised? he went on, but it happened. I was there! HMS Overdale Wyke, FY 338, of the CNVF/CRNVR was on patrol off Colombo. It was September 1943. OW was the first ship purchased by the government of Ceylon for the CNVF; 136 ft. in length overall and displacing 764 tons under load, she was a trawler fitted out as a minesweeper. The sea was calm and her (coal-fired triple-expansion steam reciprocating) engines were turning her single screw over at comfortable cruising speed. Still, extra look-outs had been posted because of a message received: Italy had surrendered on September 8 and Italian naval units all over the world had been ordered to surrender to the nearest Allied unit. OW was to keep a sharp lookout for Italian ships and submarines which may appear. Signalman Wickremasinghe was on duty on the bridge as yeoman to the Captain, Lt. Cdr AHH Boyns, a Mackwoods employee before mobilization. Suddenly, a look-out spotted a large vessel on the horizon, apparently making for Colombo. Altering course, Lt.Cdr. Boyns set out to intercept her. The other ship, too, changed course and headed towards OW. As the distance between the two ships diminished it became alarmingly obvious that the newcomer was very much larger than OW, leading to much trepidation! But duty had to be done. Being in home waters, flying the White Ensign of the RN,OW challenged the unknown ship to identify herself and state her intentions. Pat came the reply: Royal Italian Navy Ship Eritrea surrendering to you! Lt. Cdr. Boyns had rehearsed the drill. Acknowledging the signal, he instructed Eritrea to stop engines, fly the white flag of surrender, muster all hands on deck and prepare to be boarded. A prize crew from the CNVF vessel then boarded the ship, accepted the surrender, assumed command and Overdale Wyke proudly escorted Eritrea to Colombo. A significant moment for the CNVF, but totally unrecorded anywhere save in the memory of one sailor. I used his story, of course, attributing it to him, but I failed to find any corroboration by a third party. Even the internet did not help me till when, very recently, trawling the net yet again I chanced upon a site http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Italian_sloop_Eritrea which finally gave me the clue: As soon as the Reuters message about the surrender of Italy was picked up by the crew of Eritrea, the vessel changed course at once and headed at full speed to Colombo in Ceylon to surrender when it was intercepted and escorted to Colombo by units of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force. And with that, it became possible to recreate the circumstances under which this historic event took place the one and only time the Ceylon Navy secured a prize. It is an event worth memorializing. Eritrea in the the Red Sea The commencement of the Second World War, in Europe, is formally dated from 1939, but the Axis (Germany and Italy) and Allied Powers (led by Britain) had been preparing for a possible war for some years. Italys Regia Marina (Royal Navy) was a respectable naval force in the Mediterranean: Ethiopia and Eritrea in East Africa, on the southern end of the Red Sea were under Italian control. This gave Italy access to the Red Sea and a formidable port had been built up at Massawa. It was here that Eritrea was based. Displacing 2,170 tons she was constructed as a typical colonial ship and fitted with diesel-electric propulsion designed to maximize range. She was sometimes referred to as a sloop. [In modern usage, a sloop refers to a warship between a corvette and a frigate in size]. With Italy officially entering the war in June, 1940, Eritrea was absorbed into the Regia Marina as part of the Red Sea Flotilla based at Massawa on the Red Sea. Initially the East African Campaign went in Italys favour and, with the capture of British Somaliland soon after, Italy gained access to the former British port of Berbera, on the horn of Africa, and posed a threat to Allied shipping in the Red Sea. But this was a short-lived phase as the British counter-attacked a few months later and put an end to the Italian presence in East Africa. The Red Sea Flotilla was largely destroyed: largely, but not quite. Four submarines sailed south, rounded Africa and made it to German-occupied France while two surface ships made it to Vichy French controlled Madagascar. Eritrea decided on another destination. The Regia Marina had a naval base in the concession territory of Tiensin in China. During World War II, Italian supply ships, auxiliary cruisers and submarines operated in the Far East, often in disguise, even utilizing Japanese-controlled port facilities such as those at Shanghai, China, and Kobe, Japan. Eritrea and two auxiliary cruisers (newly-built, converted cargo ships) Ramb I and Ramb II slipped through a British blockade, opting to make a run for Kobe and to carry on the fight in another theatre of war. Eritrea and Ramb 2 successfully reached Kobe, but Ramb I was not so lucky, having been intercepted and sunk off the Maldives by the New Zealand cruiser HMZS Leander. HMS Overdale Wyke Coincidentally, Overdale Wyke was also in the vicinity of the Red Sea about this time. Built as a Trawler in 1924, she had been commissioned into RN service as a Minesweeping Trawler in 1937 and sold to the Government of Ceylon, fitted out with minesweeping gear and armament, and sailed to Port Said by a RN runner crew to await a Ceylonese crew there. The CNVF/CRNVR crew including Lt. P.J.B. Oakley (C.O.), Lt. A.H.H. Boyns, Lt. B.A. Ohlson, Lt. A. Smith (Engineer), P/O Stanislaus, P/O (Tel) Rankine, P/O (SM) Bastiampillai, P/O (CK) Marshall and Stwd. Eric Perera left Ceylon by ship on 20th February (as Eritrea was sailing out of Massawa) reaching Port Said 3rd.March. CRNVR records show the date of commissioning as a CNVF vessel as 15th March, 1941. Eritrea had sailed away from the Red Sea on 20th February, just two weeks earlier. From March 1941 to December 1944 OW, with a complement of 4 officers and 40 sailors, was continuously used for a variety of duties involving patrolling, minesweeping, providing escort services, search-and-rescue work and anti-submarine attacks which have been recorded. Along with other CNVF ships Hoxa,Balta (also trawlers but larger than her) Okapi, Semla and Sambur (all converted Antarctic whalers) and supported by tugs Samson, Goliath and C-405 she was part of the Ceylon Escort Group, later designated the ABCD (Arabia-Bangala-Ceylon-Dutch East Indies) group, carrying out patrol, escort, search-and-rescue, guard-ship and sundry other duties off Ceylon, Bay of Bengal and as far west as Addu Atoll and Diego Garcia. She also served as Guard ship at Addu Atoll, a secret RN port called Port T. She is credited with the rescue of several persons from sunken ships, and of carrying out depth charge attacks on enemy submarines, although she has not been credited with any kills. She seems to have been a happy ship: Lt.Cdr.BA Ohlson has commented that The Overdale Wykeat all times proved a very satisfactory vessel for such operations, in which regard this vessel may be considered superior to any other vessel which the Ceylon RNVR has manned. Lt.D.G. Simpson has concurred:This has always been a grand ship with which to be associated and one in which there was plenty of scope for seamanship. Eritrea in the Far East Eritrea completed the hazardous Indian Ocean crossing and ultimately reached Kobe, Japan. She had planned to operate as a commerce raider in the Pacific Ocean. But, even though allied with Italy, the authorities of then neutral Japan took a dim view of the idea of an Italian raider operating from neutral Japanese ports. The Japanese refused to comply with the Italian plans and, because of the strong opposition presented by the Japanese Navy, Eritrea was not allowed to leave Kobe and both the Ramb II and the Eritrea were confined to port to avoid any confrontation with the USA and Great Britain. But December 7th, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, marked a change in policy. After the official declaration of war the Japanese government allowed Eritrea freedom of movement and to specifically provide assistance to the cross-oceanic transport submarines, which were arriving in Penang and Singapore from Bordeaux, in occupied France, carrying rare goods. Some Italian Merchant Marine ships succeeded in transporting to Europe such hard-to-come-by goods, such as rubber, tin, and quinine. The Italian Navy, like the German navy, attempted to use submarines for transport of goods to Japan despite the high losses and small advantages. Seven Italian submarines operating from France were converted by the Italians into transport submarines in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. They were converted for service with the Monsun Gruppe (Monsoon Group). Servicing and providing these with escort became Eritreas major activity till 1943. The surrender On September 8th, 1943 at 2:00 AM (local time), Eritrea was transferring from Singapore to Sabang in support of the submarine Comandante Cappellini which had just arrived after a long and difficult journey transporting strategically important material to Tokyo. Having received a Reuter communique of the Italian surrender, submarine Cappellini decided to disregard the call to surrender to the Allies and to fight along the Germans and the Japanese. But, once escorted to Singapore, the Japanese treated her as an enemy ship. Despite the pledge of allegiance of the Captain, Commander Auconi, Admiral Hiroaka interned the ship and imprisoned the crew. Eritrea, on the other hand, had no illusions about Japanese reactions to the surrender. Upon receiving the communique she realized her hazardous position and immediately changed course for Colombo (Ceylon) through the strait of Sumatra avoiding the tenacious hunt by Japanese naval and aerial forces that was bound to commence. And so was enacted the drama of the surrender off Colombo. Eritrea repays a debt On arrival at Colombo, OW handed over her prize to the RN authorities and, presumably resumed her work. The Italian surrender resulted from a revolt against Benito Mussolini who was deposed, although he had a hold over northern Italy. The new Government signed an Armistice with the Allies in terms of which the Regia Marina had to sail its ships to Allied ports. Those which eventually did were grouped into the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy fight on the side of the Allies. Eritrea fell into this category and was absorbed into the East Indies Fleet assembled to carry the war into Japanese controlled Burma. In a list of British, Commonwealth and Allied warships serving in the Far East January to August 1945 she is shown as a submarine escort (sloop) attached to the 2nd Flotilla, Submarines. During this time she had a bitter-sweet re-union with OW.Let Wickremesinghe narrate the story. Eritrea was later used by RN in Colombo and Addu Attol. OW, on an escort mission to Diego Garcia, developed engine trouble S W of Colombo and drifted for 4 days. Food and water ran out, and there was no defence against any submarines. On the morning of 5th day, a warship was sighted heading directly on the OW. Anxious moments later she was identified as the Eritrea which had picked up her signal and was coming to her rescue. In her own way Eritrea was repaying OW for saving her from the Japanese! When the guns fell silent After the war, Eritrea was turned over to France. The French Navy used Eritrea in colonial service with the name Francis Garnier until 1965. Francis Garnier was then declassed to become a target ship. She was sunk during a nuclear test in the Pacific Ocean in 1966. And the OW ? The CNVF was returned to the Ceylon Government by the RN and demobilization was commenced. The Government had no funds to run ships, nor was there any reason for any. OW was de-commissioned on 15th December 1944 and handed over to the Port Commission for care and maintenance pending final disposal by Government. On 16 March 1946 she was sold off, unsung and forgotten. Not even a photograph of her can be found. Except for her 12-pounder gun which still stands at the entrance to SLNS Rangalla, in the Port of Colombo: the gun she would have had to depend on should Eritrea have decided to fight on! I just wanted to say thank you, said Sarah Davis. And sometimes its nice to have a good news story. [Instead of] Nasty people doing nasty things to other people. And nasty is definitely not Sarahs experience. Actually, its nice to know the neighbours on the street; the majority of them, I would suggest, are actually the good guys. Because from the moment she became quite unwell and collapsed in a heap in the Bay Central Shopping Centre in Chapel St, assistance from good, kind, compassionate people arrived from all directions. A whole lot of people were involved. I do not know them and I have no way of contacting them to thank them. And Sarah says it just goes to show that when the chips are down, people are there for you. Sarah and a friend had just finished a cup of tea at La Petit Four Cafe and were headed for a walk down the Daisy Hardwick track. I suddenly felt quite unwell and asked to be taken to the doctors. Moments later she was in a heap. Her legs had given out. And people came flocking, both from the cafe and pedestrians. I know there was a man with big boots and a Scottish woman. I was the woman in the fluro who decided to quite spectacularly collapse just outside the cafe. Sarahs one of an estimated 65,000 New Zealanders who live with panic attacks. Ive had a few moments when I have thought Okay, I will just breathe through this. But Ive never experienced one like that. It was something called a conscious collapse, an extreme panic attack. Obviously, people around me, as I did, suspected it was heart-related. The symptoms are similar. Someone took off to get Aspirin, someone else took off to get a defibrillator. People were summoning ambulances, getting blankets. Someone was reassuring me, telling me I was going to be okay, which was something I really needed to hear. I have a feeling there was also a nurse there taking my pulse. Thank you for all your years of training. In a message to The Weekend Sun, Sarah says shes now sitting up in bed and typing a huge thank you because I made it. It gives me a great deal of comfort to know there are such lovely people around who can look after a complete stranger in their time of need. What a lovely part of the world we live in. Sarah says shell be back at the cafe for another cup of tea when she promises to behave. In the meantime Sarahs off for a weeks recharging in the South Island with partner Steve. Thank you again everyone, you have no idea what you did for me, you are very special people. Faith in humanity is restored, despite the dark headlines. Yerofeyev, Alexandrov deemed not to have previous conviction in Russia can be employed for any job A verdict, which the Ukrainian court has pronounced against Russian citizens Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, will not affect their further employment, a source with knowledge of the situation told Interfax. "This is a conviction not under the verdict of a Russian court, therefore, a box regarding the previous criminal record will be blank in the questionnaire, and they will be able to be employed for any job without any obstacles," he said. Asked about the probability for the Russians pardoned by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to return to the army again, the source said: "In theory, they can, but practically, this will not happen most likely due to certain circumstances." Yerofeyev and Alexandrov, who hade been captured in Donbas and later had been convicted by the Ukrainian court on the charge of terrorist activity, were freed on May 25 simultaneously with the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who had been convicted in Russia for the killing of two Russian journalists. "The Russians who returned to the homeland are young men, they have all before them, and, certainly, they will be able to find themselves in a new life," he said. On Thursday, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that he had not had the information as to whether Alexandrov and Yerofeyev would be awarded with state medals and would be able to join the service in the Armed Forces again, if they wanted to. The full potential of kiwifruit exports havent yet been reached according to a local MP. Rotorua and Te Puke MP and Trade Minister Todd McClay praises Zespri for a record breaking kiwifruit season but says the best is yet to come. Todd has recently returned from China where there is a demand for high-quality New Zealand produce. I acknowledge the hard working kiwifruit growers in the area whose dedication has seen a great result for the 2015/16 season. I believe the best is still yet to come as more markets want our kiwifruit. Todd has also praised local growers resilience towards adapting and driving significant recovery following PSA. "This impressive turnaround in the kiwifruit industry is a direct result of the determination of local growers. "If ever a demonstration of the importance of the single desk was required its the achievements of this industry since PSA." Todd says the kiwifruit industry is a major contributor to the local economy, which is set to further benefit from increased sales. The annual event started 12 years ago in 2004, as part of the school gala to raise funds for the school. The Cow Dump is self-explanatory really. It involves a cow taking a dump on a large grid marked on the school field. Each grid is allocated a number and each number is sold as a $2 raffle ticket. The winner holding the ticket number matching the grid the cow does its business on wins $2000. Bethlehem School principal Brian Field says the gala and cow dump is a popular event, with some former pupils coming back to school especially for it. Its sort of like a reunion, laughs Brian. Cameo the cow is owned by Bethlehem resident John Carmichael, who has the bowel motions of the cow down pat. The Carmichael family has a long history with Bethlehem and the school on Carmichael Rd, which is aptly named after John Carmichael. Brian says John knows exactly when to feed the cow before the event, so she passes a suitable motion on time during the gala. Were yet to find what Johns secret is to that. The Bethlehem School Gala and Cow Dump is at Bethlehem School on Carmichael Rd today, from 11am-2pm. International foods, craft and book stalls, a treasure hunt, motorbikes, a bouncy castle, a white elephant and more will be available. Raffle tickets for the cow dump are available from the school office. This little lady munching on her lunch was snapped by Kelly OHara in Papamoa. The miomantis caffra more commonly known as the springbok mantis is a species of praying mantis that is native to South Africa. It was discovered to have spread to New Zealand in 1978. The female springbok mantises will eat a male after and sometimes during mating. This time round shes opted for another import, a juicy paper wasp rather than her partner. Good choice. New Zealands native species of praying mantis, Orthodera novaezealandiae, are said to be in decline after males of this species try to mate with the springbok species but are immediately killed, particularly in northern parts of New Zealand. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying (Source: fmprc.gov.cn) BEIJING, May 27 -- China on Friday said it was strongly dissatisfied with a statement by G7 members, in which they expressed concern over the South China Sea. Leaders of the G7 countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and representatives from the European Union, convened in Japan's Ise-Shima for the summit, which ran Thursday through Friday. "As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, adding that such action was not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does not accord with the G7's position as a platform for managing the developed economies. "China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done." Hua said, urging G7 members to avoid irresponsible remarks and do more that is beneficial to regional peace and stability. Hua called on G7 members to be objective and fair and abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes. "As the world is faced with a complicated economic situation, the G7, as a platform to discuss world economy, should focus on economic and development issues of global concern," Hua said. As the holder of the G20 presidency this year, China hopes G7 members will join the agenda of G20, which is more representative platform, and play a more constructive role in global economic governance, Hua said. What China has done in the South China Sea falls entirely within China's sovereignty, and is completely legal, reasonable and blameless, Hua said. China firmly maintains the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the willful trespassing of naval warships, Hua said. She said China opposed the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigation freedom." In fact, regarding China's efforts to settle the South China Sea disputes through negotiation and consultation, more and more countries and organizations have shown their understanding and support, Hua said. South African columnist and political consultant Shannon Ebrahim recently introduced the question what would the reaction of US be if China deployed its navy and air force into the Caribbean. As the dispute over South China Sea comes to be a heated topic in western media, the author argued that the US Asia-Pacific re-balancing strategy initiated in 2009 marks the turning point of the South China Sea dispute. By Shannon Ebrahim Why does the US feel it has the right to endanger Chinese national security interests in the South China Sea? Johannesburg - It becomes tiresome to continue unravelling stories of the US meddling in regions far away from its shores, trying to weaken other countries in order to maintain its global dominance. The more one delves into the reality of the conflict in the South China Sea, it becomes clear that the US actually thinks it has a right to manipulate regional dynamics in Chinas backyard so as to encircle it as a rising superpower. What is more incredible is that the US believes it has the right to send 60 percent of its naval fleet and 60 percent of its overseas air force into the South China Sea by 2030. If this is not the ultimate display of arrogance then I dont know what is. What would the reaction of US policymakers be if China decided to redeploy the bulk of its navy and air force into the Caribbean? What if such a deployment could be used in a future war to enforce a blockade against the US by choking a strategic shipping route that carried 80 percent of US trade and energy supplies? The answer without a doubt is that no country would ever be allowed to endanger US national security interests in such a way. So why does the US think it can get away with doing the same thing to China? U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio speaks to reporters last month at the South Florida Water Management District headquarters in West Palm Beach. (ISADORA RANGEL/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS) SHARE By Ledyard King, USA TODAY NETWORK WASHINGTON In March, Marco Rubio dismissed Donald Trump as a "con artist" and "the most vulgar person ever to aspire to the presidency." This past week, the Florida senator told reporters he'll not only vote for Trump, he'd be willing to speak on his behalf at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer. And he didn't rule out the possibility of serving in a Trump administration. Rubio said his apparent shift isn't that hard to understand. Supporting Trump as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee is an easy choice, he said, compared to the prospect of a Hillary Clinton victory at the polls in November. "Donald Trump will sign the repeal of Obamacare. She won't," Rubio told reporters Thursday. "I want the successor to Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court to be a conservative. I believe that's the kind of judge that he'll appoint, and I know she won't. I want someone that will defend life. I know he will and she won't." Rubio said Trump earned his status as the GOP presumptive nominee at the ballot box. "He campaigned and the voters chose him," he said. "I respect that process. And so I'm going to support him. I'm going to vote for him." Social media, of course, won't let him off the hook that easily. "Rubio is truly a politician with no ideas, just a jumble of crap, ready to support any position, person, anything to help him get ahead," progressive radio talk show host Mike Signorile tweeted. "Stop Excusing Republicans Like Rubio For Supporting Trump Because Of A Stupid, Worthless Pledge," tweeted the conservative blog Red State, referring to Rubio's frequent promise during the campaign to get behind the eventual nominee. While Rubio was still a presidential contender, his rivalry with Trump featured highly charged, personal attacks. Trump mocked the Florida senator as "Little Marco" and poked fun at his tendency to sweat on the debate stage and drink lots of water. Rubio said Trump was unfit for the Oval Office, citing his inflammatory rhetoric, his past support for Democratic policies and his call for deporting undocumented immigrants. He also criticized Trump's physical features: "You know what they say about men with small hands ... You can't trust them." But Rubio also consistently said he would support whomever Republican voters nominated. And on Thursday, The Associated Press announced Trump had captured the 1,237 delegates necessary to lock up the nomination. Despite the heated campaign, Rubio said it's time to move on. "We were competitors," he said of Trump. "I don't dislike him. I don't have any negative feelings about him personally. I disagree with a lot of his positions. That was well established during the campaign. (But) I also think he happens to be substantially better than Hillary Clinton." Al Cardenas, former head of the Florida Republican Party and a Rubio confidante, said the possibility that he and many other Republicans will support Trump is a "work in progress." But he's not willing to judge Rubio. "It's a fairly quick turnaround in his conversion to becoming a supporter, but so be it," said Cardenas, former chairman of the American Conservative Union. "I'm still not there. I guess Marco figured out a way to get there." Contact Ledyard King at lking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking In student towns up and down the country, the one day festival has become a mainstay of that post-exam, early summer haze. And in a fortnights time, the freshest addition to our May Week tradition, Strawberries and Creem, will take over Haggis Farm; bringing with it a distinctive mix of RnB, grime, hip-hop, disco and whatever else gets the people moving. After welcoming Skepta and General Levy to the city last year, the third edition of this annual festival will take place just south west of Cambridge and promises to offer the perfect end to the year for those of us who would prefer to get sloshed in a field than in a tuxedo. And this years line-up does not disappoint, offering a tantalising mix of huge names and upcoming stars. Headliner is RnB legend Nelly, who will be appearing in his only UK festival this summer and will be joined by grime hero Kano and the likes of David Rodigan, Snakehips, Big Narstie and Kurrupt FM throughout the day. The line-up has turned heads far further afield than Cambridge; news that Radio One and One Extra will be covering the event on the day is sure-fire evidence of the festivals growing reputation. The beauty of S&C is that it is open to locals and students; a welcome change from our closed off May Ball culture. Attracting such big names to Cambridge will hopefully put the city and its music fans on the map and anything that helps to open up and diversify the club scene here should be welcomed with open arms. This years impressive musical line-up is matched by the other vital element of any May Week event; food. A collaboration with Deliveroo mean a whole host of delicacies are promised onsite, and everything from Nanna Mexico to churros and a duck rotisserie are set to be floating around and served up by Deliveroo drivers. The organisers seem to have thought of everything this year- even England's first UEFA EURO 2016 game, England vs Russia, will be screened live on a giant outdoor cinema. Alfie Lambert, from the festivals senior organising team, told TCS, We are incredibly excited to be bringing Nelly and Kano to Cambridge for this year's Strawberries & Creem. Nelly is an international superstar that many of us grew up listening to he's also a UK festival exclusive for us so it's a big deal. Kano of course just released his landmark "Made in the Manor" album and is one of the biggest names in UK underground music right now. Everyone on the team is looking forward to seeing everyone dancing and having fun in the sunshine, he added. It seems like Strawberries and Creem has become an essential part of the Cambridge summer calendar for many students and locals; and whilst I cram for the last few days of exams, I eagerly await to see what this years offering pulls out of the bag. Strawberries and Creem takes place on June 11th and tickets are still available. Students at Peterhouse have written to their JCR committee requesting a referendum on its affiliation with CUSU. The original letter, so far signed by 17 Peterhouse undergraduates, alleges that CUSU has failed to adequately address the pervasive issues of anti-semitism in the NUS by spearheading the campaign against disaffiliation in the recent referendum and accuses the student union of having dismissed the concerns of Jewish students and failed to acknowledge the harmful language used by Malia Bouattia. It goes on to say that affiliation with CUSU would imply tacit consent to this policy. TCS has reached out to CUSU President Priscilla Mensah for comment. However, it also expresses wider concerns with the conduct of CUSU, which it argues is regarded as undemocratic and dysfunctional by students. In particular, it highlights the behaviour of CUSU officials during recent meetings of the unions Council, who it claims silenced contributors to the discussions. Peterhouse JCR President Frances Hawker has not yet responded to questions over whether she will support the motion and when an open meeting and potential ensuing referendum could be held. Among the letters other objections to CUSU are alleged lack of transparency and disingenuity during the referendum on NUS affiliation; its mismanagement of its decision to discontinue the print edition of TCS; its slow response to a controversy arising from the trading of prescription drugs between female students; and its failure to prevent associates from sending abusive and vitriolic messages to multiple members of Peterhouse. The letter also sets out its plans for a disaffiliated Peterhouse JCR, which it claims could manage its own access and welfare programmes, and would benefit from the lifting of its obligation to pay affiliation fees to CUSU. Anticipating CUSU rebuttals, it argues that campaigns within the university will not be adversely affected by the decision, on grounds that serious campaigning movements in Cambridge have all been grassroots. It asserts that disaffiliation would put pressure on CUSU to reform. Eloise Davies, a signatory of the letter, commented "We are deeply disappointed by CUSU's handling of the NUS anti-semitism scandal. This comes on top of longer term concerns about the organisation's incompetence and demands urgent action". In a pre-referendum survey by Varsity, 77% of Peterhouse students wished to disaffiliate from the NUS. The advocates of disaffiliation will make their case in a forthcoming open meeting. Currently, Gonville and Caius and Corpus Christi colleges are disaffiliated from CUSU. If a college JCR disaffiliates, students in the college remain members of CUSU. The wording of the letter has since been amended to read: "We believe CUSU has let down Jewish students, and failed to take an active role in defending them from alleged anti-Semitic events, such as the recent harmful language used at the NUS Conference. It is true that CUSU sabbatical officers sent a letter to the NUS condemning anti-Semitism but it must be remembered that this became obligatory following a vote at CUSU council on May 2. Moreover, it is possible to cite one sabbatical officer who wrote a widely shared Facebook status advancing all the positives of the NUS while failing to address the concerns of Jewish students and indeed all those who are offended by racism in all its forms. We believe this is an issue that demands we voice our refusal to accept prejudice in any form." volkman10 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: -- Posts: 20,534 Thanked: 55,952 Times View My Garage A Trip to South Korea So after last visit in 2013, three years back - there are no visible changes. What else can you expect ? It is considered a developed country and confirms that once you step out of the airport. South Korea's economy is considered as one of the world's fastest-growing developed countries, along with Hong Kong. Process of getting a Visa for Korea is not an issue (for business purpose through a company), there are some additional documentation needed of the Korean company like registration and balance sheet, apart from the normal personal details like bank statements, income tax proof, etc. Visa takes normally a week after submission the visa documents and is given for a month or two. Travel card and a couple of hundred $ in currency is always my way of transaction during travel, Route : Bangalore- Hong Kong - Pusan Fare: ~74k INR ( round trip) Airline - Cathay Pacific/Dragonair Kempegowda/Bangalore International airport - Dragonair counter, Inside the KA513 flight- 1:30 am Hong Kong airport - 9 :15 am Cathay Pacific Lounge, Pusan ( S. Korea) @ 7 am, Hotel Pullman - Ambassador ( @ $170/day) Set in a contemporary tower block adjacent to a shopping complex. The Room -spacious and tastefully done Moving on to the streets and more specific in the auto world dominance of Hyundai is visible. Having a market share of above 30% and along with sister concern Kia wil cover more than half of the Auto segment. German cars are dominated by BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen. Suddenly one night we notice this near the lobby, browsing we see the N. Korean threat - our team ( Europeans ) panic and consider a case of bad planning for the meet - restless night follow Having Germans in the team, they are very uncomfortable in this situation and hence we try to get more information on this though sources at the hotel, but was told this is a yearly ritual and not an issue at all. We also get confirmation from our colleagues (Hosts- Koreans) of the same and hence tension is diffused. Such trips always have less time for exploring the place but this time was lucky to explore more than normal- one such place was the Haeundae Beach in Busan. It is one of the most famous beaches in South Korea but since it was off season it was pleasant (otherwise understand it is overcrowded) A very popular down area and has several high rise building and upmarket hotels and shopping centers. Marine City is an expensive and prestigious residential area in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea. Most of the buildings are very luxurious skyscrapers. Downtown Marine City in view Visit to Korea is normally a very welcome trip,even though I never owned an Hyundai car nor am a fan of its design language.So after last visit in 2013, three years back - there are no visible changes. What else can you expect ? It is considered a developed country and confirms that once you step out of the airport. South Korea's economy is considered as one of the world's fastest-growing developed countries, along with Hong Kong.Process of getting a Visa for Korea is not an issue (for business purpose through a company), there are some additional documentation needed of the Korean company like registration and balance sheet, apart from the normal personal details like bank statements, income tax proof, etc.Visa takes normally a week after submission the visa documents and is given for a month or two.Travel card and a couple of hundred $ in currency is always my way of transaction during travel,Route : Bangalore- Hong Kong - PusanFare: ~74k INR ( round trip)Airline - Cathay Pacific/DragonairKempegowda/Bangalore International airport - Dragonair counter,Inside the KA513 flight- 1:30 amHong Kong airport - 9 :15 amCathay Pacific Lounge,Pusan ( S. Korea) @ 7 am, Hotel Pullman - Ambassador ( @ $170/day)Set in a contemporary tower block adjacent to a shopping complex.The Room -spacious and tastefully doneMoving on to the streets and more specific in the auto world dominance of Hyundai is visible. Having a market share of above 30% and along with sister concern Kia wil cover more than half of the Auto segment.German cars are dominated by BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen.Suddenly one night we notice this near the lobby, browsing we see the N. Korean threat - our team ( Europeans ) panic and consider a case of bad planning for the meet - restless night followHaving Germans in the team, they are very uncomfortable in this situation and hence we try to get more information on this though sources at the hotel, but was told this is a yearly ritual and not an issue at all.We also get confirmation from our colleagues (Hosts- Koreans) of the same and hence tension is diffused.Such trips always have less time for exploring the place but this time was lucky to explore more than normal- one such place was the Haeundae Beach in Busan.It is one of the most famous beaches in South Korea but since it was off season it was pleasant (otherwise understand it is overcrowded)A very popular down area and has several high rise building and upmarket hotels and shopping centers.Marine City is an expensive and prestigious residential area in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea. Most of the buildings are very luxurious skyscrapers.DowntownMarine City in view Last edited by GTO : 28th May 2016 at 11:35 . Reason: Removing some excessive spacing from the end. Thanks for sharing! Aristotle, one of the most widely respected philosophers and scientists in ancient Greece, died because of natural causes in 322 B.C. Thousands of years later, the Greek philosopher is still revered today for his contribution to many fields, including literature, logic, physics and biology, among many others. Now, commemorating the 2,400th year anniversary of Aristotle's death, a Greek archaeologist has claimed that they may have discovered the philosopher's ancient burial place located in the same place the man was born in Stagira, Macedonia. Is It Aristotle's Tomb? Archaeologist Kostas Sismanidis and his team of scientists have been working painstakingly at the alleged site of Aristotle's burial place for 20 years. In the late 1990s, Sismanidis managed to excavate the birthplace of the philosopher and found a destroyed structure: a domed vault. This vault may have been Aristotle's tomb. Sismanidis announced the possible discovery in an address at a conference in Thessaloniki, Greece. Although Sismanidis concedes that he has no hard proof that it is the Greek philosopher's tomb, he says strong indications lead him to near certainty. According to him, the domed vault was a shrine built in Aristotle's honor after his death. Sismanidis says this suggests that this was the tomb. Additionally, aside from the structure, archaeologists also found the altar, which is mentioned in ancient texts, as well as the road that leads to the tomb, which was close to the city's ancient marketplace inside the city settlement. Again, although the evidence of who was buried in the tomb is still circumstantial, there are several characteristics that provide clues that would help archaeologists unravel the mystery. These characteristics include the location, the panoramic view and the time of the tomb's construction estimated to be during the very start of the Hellenistic period, which began after the death of Aristotle's most prominent student Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. Sismanidis says all of these clues point to the conclusion that the remains of the structure were part of what once was the tomb-shrine of Aristotle. Meanwhile, the claim was accepted by the culture ministry of Greece. Aristides Baltas, a senior aide to the culture minister, says the academic community is still awaiting further details. He says a group of archaeologists with no connection to any school or department are currently working on the site. "What we know is that their excavation has been meticulous," adds Baltas. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Theranos is now facing another issue as the company has received a lawsuit alleging it to have committed consumer fraud over blood tests. On May 26, the company was sued and accused of threatening the health of its clients through widespread failures that distort the accuracy and quality of its blood tests. Law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP was the one that submitted the pressed class action to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Complaint According to the complaint, Theranos convinced its customers that their products were high-quality, accurate, and manufactured and verified under the guidelines set by the federal law. Many people believed this and availed of the company's tests. However, one of its machines, the Edison blood-testing device, did not work properly and the firm's test results were inaccurate. The complaint emphasized the inacurracies in the marketing tools released by the company together with Walgreens Boots Alliance. The two companies had signed an agreement in which Walgreens would sell Theranos' blood-testing machines in approximately 40 of its Arizona and California stores. Theranos answered these allegations, saying they were all without merit. "The company will vigorously defend itself against these claims," it wrote in an email. Focus On The Edison Device Theranos' Edision device has been flagged as a breakthrough technology that has the ability to test blood by a simple pin prick procedure. Just last week, Theranos has informed U.S. federal health regulators that it had cleared off the findings from its Edison device for two years, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Theranos has also notified the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that it has released thousands of corrected blood test findings to clinicians and patients. In the revised reports, some of the results were either voided or revised. Past Theranos Issues This is not the first time Theranos has been in hot waters. In January, U.S. regulators said that Theranos laboratory practices pose immediate jeopardy to clients' health. During a routine inspection, CMS was able to discover that Theranos' Newark, California facility did not comply with the set standards required for certification. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. GENEVA, May 27 -- Palize Mehmett, who has focused on basic public health initiatives in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in western China, was presented with the United Arab Emirates Health Foundation Prize on Friday during a plenary meeting of this year's World Health Assembly. Over the last 30 years, the female doctor visited 97 counties and cities and some 300 villages to provide critical information on nutrition, breastfeeding and drinking water safety. Mehmett has also trained thousands of primary health care personnel to use low-cost nutritional interventions. Her work has had a positive impact on tens of millions of people according to the World Health Organization (WHO), whose Executive Board designates winners based on recommendations made by the selection panel of each foundation which awards a prize. The 52-year-old doctor received 20,000 U.S. dollars as recognition for her work. Three other men and a group comprised of a few dozen healthcare workers also received prizes which are created by or set up in memory of eminent health professionals. Those in Canada who have been eyeing a new affordable Samsung tablet are in luck as local carrier Virgin Mobile has launched an exciting new plan for the Galaxy Tab E 9.6. On Wednesday, May 25, Canadian network operator Virgin Mobile introduced the budget-oriented Galaxy Tab E 9.6 tablet as part of an installment plan. Thanks to the offer reported by Mobile Syrup, consumers in Canada who subscribe to the network operator can purchase the Samsung tablet from either Virgin Mobile's online or physical store for as little as $13.75 each month for 24 months. Alternately, subscribers of Virgin Mobile can purchase the tablet outright for $329. These prices are in Canadian dollars and not USD. Currently, Virgin Mobile offers two tablets to its subscribers: the Samsung Galaxy Tab E 9.6 and the ZTE Grand X View, which costs $239 outright. The installment plan option, which subsidizes the price of the tablet as one does need to shell the money out altogether, is something consumers have been requesting from Virgin Mobile for a while now. Those who opt for the installment plan for the Galaxy Tab E 9.6 will be required to pay taxes on the device's full price. However, Virgin Mobile is not charging any upfront cost for the Samsung tablet. Subscribers, however, will need to shell out some dough for the flexible data plans the carrier offers, which start at $5 (for 10 MB) and can go up to $40 (for 5 GB). Customers who use more than 5 GB need to pay an extra $10 per GB. This cost is in addition to the installment charges for the Galaxy Tab E 9.6 tablet. To check out the details of the tablet's plan you can head to Virgin Mobile Canada's website. To refresh your memory, the Galaxy Tab E 9.6, as the name suggests, boasts a 9.6-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display. Under the hood, it houses a quad-core processor clocked at 1.3 GHz and 1.5 GB of RAM. The tablet boasts 8 GB of onboard storage that may be expanded to 128 GB via micro SD card storage. The tablet also has a 2-megapixel selfie camera and a 5-megapixel primary snapper. The Android-powered tablet houses a 5,000 mAh battery that offers support for up to 8 hours of usage. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Women in India who use wood, kerosene, or dried dung as fuel to cook their food are 50 percent more likely to develop cataracts compared to those who use gas and other cleaner fuels, a new study says. A cataract occurs when the lens of the eye develops clouding, which makes it difficult for afflicted individuals to see clearly. Symptoms of the condition include having a hard time seeing bright lights or seeing at night, seeing only faded colors or halos around lights. While cataracts commonly occur in aging individuals, it can also be caused by trauma, exposure to radiation, or developing eye problems following surgery. In a study featured in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, an international team of researchers from India and the United Kingdom examined the impacts of using biomass fuels, particularly for cooking. The team interviewed 6,000 individuals in India, aged 60 years or older, who used biomass fuels for cooking throughout their adult lives for different lifestyle and socioeconomic reasons. After considering various health factors in the participants, such as their level of nutrition, their exposure to sunlight and their chewing or smoking of tobacco, the scientists found that women who used biomass fuels to cook experienced a 46 percent higher likelihood to develop nuclear cataracts than those who preferred to cook with gas. They also discovered that the likelihood to develop cataracts seemingly increases the longer the women used the biomass fuels to cook throughout their lifetime. Women who have used the fuels for 20 years were 50 percent more likely to have cataracts, while those who used them for 30 years were 90 percent more likely to develop the eye condition. Astrid Fletcher, a professor from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the UK and one of the authors of the study, said that their findings provide the strongest evidence to date of a link between using biomass fuels and the development of cataracts. She explained that the association was seen in women because they are the ones who mostly do all the cooking using stoves that don't have chimneys. This left them to be more exposed to direct smoke produced by the burning of biomass fuels. Fletcher added that they also saw a higher likelihood to develop cataracts in women who used kerosene for cooking as well. Many people in India, especially those in poorer communities, use biomass fuels because they are easily accessible and more affordable compared to gas. Photo: Nicu Buculei | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On May 27, SpaceX's Falcon 9 first-stage rocket successfully landed on a drone ship at sea. This tricky maritime landing has never been successfully done until last month. This marks the third time the company nailed an off-shore landing in the past seven weeks. On Friday, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:40 PM EDT. The Falcon 9 rocket's two stages separated approximately 2.5 minutes after lifting off. The first stage landed beautifully on the deck of SpaceX's droneship at sea called "Of Course I Still Love You" positioned about 420 miles off the coast of Florida. The Falcon 9's first-stage rocket nailed the vertical landing in less than 9 minutes after the launch, while the second stage continued the ascent, carrying a 6,600-pound THAICOM 8 satellite into space. The SpaceX employees at the Hawthorne, California company headquarters cheered mightily when the Falcon 9's first-stage rocket landed vertically on the droneship. Pulling off a droneship landing is very tricky due to the high speed and high temperature of the first stage's reentry. This maritime maneuver also placed a substantial amount of stress on the rocket stage. "As with other missions going to geostationary orbits, the first-stage will be subject to extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing challenging," said SpaceX in a statement [PDF]. "Rocket landing speed was close to design max [and] used up contingency crush core, hence back [and] forth motion. [Probably] ok, but some risk of tipping," tweeted Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO. SpaceX's very first successful droneship maritime landing was completed on April 8 during the launch of the Dragon cargo capsule on its way to the International Space Station. The company replicated the same tricky maneuver on May 6 during the JCSAT-14 launch, a Japanese communications satellite. The THAICOM 8 satellite takeoff marked SpaceX's second commercial launch of communication satellites in just three weeks. So far, its launch and landing record has been phenomenal. Thaicom's fifth operational satellite will improve the company's broadcast platform, providing South and Southeast Asia with data services and broadcast. Thaicom is one of the leading Asian satellite operators in Asia. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Electric car maker Tesla Motors is on track its lofty ambition of producing 500,000 electric cars each year by 2018 with the grand opening of its Gigafactory this summer. Earlier this month, the facility was only 14 percent complete. Tesla plans to hold the launch celebration for the gargantuan battery factory located outside Reno, Nevada, on July 29, according to an email to winners of its Model S referral contest. The notified customers won tickets to the event by referring more than five others in the car referral program. With the email also posted to Reddit, Tesla confirmed with Fortune magazine that a customer-focused launch will take place that night. The Gigafactory, which will cost at least $5 billion to build, likely wont be finished within the next two months. Tesla, however, has already hosted smaller events in parts of the facility where construction is already completed. At the beginning of May, for instance, Bloomberg reported that it was only 14 percent done. Aimed to produce more lithium-ion batteries in a factory than were produced in the entire world in 2013, the Gigafactory is an important piece of the puzzle for the electric car and energy storage business of Tesla. The Elon Musk-owned company intends to build the cells and packs for its vehicle batteries as well as its Powerwall and Powerpack batteries at the Gigafactory. Tesla was initially eyeing enough battery production to support 500,000 cars a year by 2020, but has accelerated its timeline target by two years. Panasonic provides part of the funding and supplies the battery production equipment. In its quarterly shareholder letter, Tesla released updates on the Gigafactory, including its construction being ahead of [the] original plan. Construction is on time for cell production to start by the end of this year, while the company managed to deliver 2,500 Powerwalls and nearly 100 Powerpacks during the first quarter. Not everyone, though, is optimistic that Tesla will meet its 2018 goal. Its a very challenging target and it will be very difficult to get there, UBS analyst Colin Langan told CNBC, which also reported not finding firms on Wall Street that expect Tesla to even reach 400,000 in yearly sales in 2018. Back in December, Tech Times released the first images of Gigafactory photos that show off the interiors of the humongous factory courtesy of photographer James Lipman via his Instagram account. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Verizon Communications and unions which represent almost 40,000 workers have tentatively agreed to a four-year deal that will end the ongoing strike that started on April 13. The announcement of the deal by United States Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez ends the six-week strike, which involved several states in the East Coast, including Massachusetts and New York. The strike was the largest one in recent labor history in the country, with an estimated 36,000 to 39,000 workers involved. It drew the support of Democractic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, as workers picketed in front of the stores of Verizon and some conferences which had Verizon executives as attendees. The workers that participated in the strike included customer service representatives and network technicians from Verizon's Fios Internet, television and telephone divisions. While the terms of the deal have not been revealed, the agreement is now being drafted and will then be sent to the unions for ratification. The workers on strike are expected to return to their jobs next week, according to Perez. "We have a great contract that is going to protect our members and bring in additional jobs," said Communications Workers of America (CWA) VP Edward Mooney. The CWA is one of the two unions involved in the strike, with the other being the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The workers will be receiving increases in their wages, and issues regarding worker relocations and pensions were settled in favor of the unions. The outsourcing of technical support and sales calls was another concern that was settled in favor of the unions. Verizon agreed to keep 30 call centers while opening 1,300 new positions. After the announcement of the end of the strike, share prices of Verizon increased by as high as 1.2 percent, trading at $50.61 each in the afternoon. Union workers, however, are still wary of the deal. While they are relieved that the strike is over, it will not completely end until the terms of the agreement with Verizon have been disclosed. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. For the first time at 96 years old, anti-choking hero Dr. Henry Heimlich has executed the maneuver to save a choking woman. The retired thoracic surgeon who lives in a Cincinnati retirement home is credited for pioneering the technique, but has never performed it until recently when a woman was choking while they were having dinner. "That moment was very important to me. I knew about all the lives my maneuver has saved over the years and I have demonstrated it so many times but here, for the first time, was someone sitting right next to me who was about to die," said Heimlich. First Time Many were happy that the woman was sitting beside Heimlich when she choked, but there were some who questioned whether the incident was indeed the first time the retired surgeon performed the maneuver, considering his age. In 2003, BBC ran a report where Heimlich was quoted to have performed the maneuver previously in a diner in 2000. Heimlich denied recall of such incident. Philip Heimlich, the surgeon's son, also said that he cannot remember any incident where his father has performed the emergency technique. Philip added that despite being 96 years old and living in an elderly home, his father is fit and able. Philip shared that his father still swims regularly every week and enjoys going to the ballet and the symphony. "I hear he performed his maneuver with great agility," said Philip. "I have always been very proud of my dad and I believe he is the person who has saved more lives than anyone living." The Maneuver Before Heimlich introduced the use of the maneuver, the standard practice to save someone from choking to death had been by thumping the back of the person. Heimlich argued that the technique only worsens the obstruction by forcing the object into the gullet rather than dislodging it. After working on several techniques and theories, Heimlich introduced the maneuver, which can be performed by almost everyone. The anti-choking technique is done by putting the arms with linked hands in a fist just above the navel and under the ribs of the victim's body and making upward abdominal pushes until the obstruction comes out. Today, the Heimlich manuever is widely used in emergency situations globally and is being taught in schools and hospitals. In 2014, Heimlich penned his memoir detailing the research and development and process of perfecting the Heimlich maneuver. Photo: Resolute Support Media, Capt. John T. Stamm | Flickr 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Google Trends reveals the words that Americans from each state are having the most trouble spelling. To get things started, the Mountain View company outed the results to honor the recent Scripps National Spelling Bee, and needless to say, the outcome is quite interesting to see. Google collected the data from every search input that started off with "how to spell." It then determined the states that those queries came from, and voila, it found out which words people from each location are finding hard to spell. Apparently, the most difficult words out of the bunch are "desert" and "cancelled," as four states can't spell the former and another four can't get the latter right. The next on the list are "vacuum," "pneumonia" and "gray," which is probably confused with the British spelling "grey" most of the time. Now, the following ones in line include pretty long words such as "definitely," "leprechaun," "diarrhea," "beautiful," "neighbor," "appreciate" and "maintenance." On an interesting note, people living in Massachusetts can't spell the name of the state they're residing in. Another tidbit that's worth pointing out is "banana," but it's a safe bet to assume that the majority of Ohio residents can spell that one perfectly fine. One last thing to note is that Alaskan citizens can't quite put their finger on "Hawaii." Google got the word (tee-hee) out via Twitter, spreading it around online with the hashtag #spellingbee. It's the #spellingbee finals! These are the top "how to spell" searches for words by state, mapped #dataviz pic.twitter.com/rjXllJfOoE GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 26, 2016 At any rate, it's nice to see which words are most commonly spelled wrong, as it'll give anyone a short little guide on what to keep in mind. It should also be mentioned that spelling is important. Remember the hackers who got their operations spoiled because of a typo? Anyway, hit up the comments section below and tell us what you think. Also, let us know whether or not you misspell any of these words. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Facebook will target even non-users with its new advertising plan Facebook announced on Thursday evening that it is changing the way its advertising works across the web. The social networking giant will now begin tracking and serving ads to website visitors irrespective of whether they have a Facebook account or are logged into the network. Currently, Facebook tracks its users through cookies and social plugins across sites. Facebook said that it would expand its ad network of third-party apps and sites, which it calls Audience Network, to allow advertisers reach people who dont use Facebook. By providing better and more relevant ads, the company believes that it will help both users and advertisers. Previously, only Facebook users who visited these apps or sites saw the ads. Now, Facebook will attempt to identify and track third-party site visitors with its own mix of cookies, buttons, and plugins, according to The Wall Street Journal. For those unfamiliar, Facebooks revenue model depends on serving ads to its users, and selling their data back to advertisers. The company is looking to expand its business model, which has already earned $5 billion through advertising in this last quarter alone. Considering Facebooks reach and ambitions in the ad market, the move made by the social media giant is not surprising at all. This is almost the exact same cookie-based implementation that other companies, like Google, are using. Google aggregates information about Internet users through their search history, unlike Facebook who gets information directly from their users what pages they choose to like, what geotagged photos they post of themselves and what they list as interests. Facebook can track a user across most or even all of the web pages he or she visits by changing the code websites used to display Facebook widgets such as Like buttons. That information is then stored and examined by Facebook so that advertisements served by Audience Network partners are more likely to be relevant to these users. Our buttons and plugins send over basic information about users browsing sessions. For non-Facebook members, previously we didnt use it. Now well use it to better understand how to target those people, Andrew Bosworth, Vice President of Facebooks Ads and Business Platform, told The Wall Street Journal. This new ad service extends Facebooks reach across the entire internet and ad-supported mobile app marketplace, making it difficult than ever to avoid being tracked, profiled, and sold by Facebook to advertisers. No matter what, Facebook will find you, whether you have profile or not. If you are worried about getting tracked by Facebook across sites, you can disable this action either through your account settings directly, or by dismissing one of the Facebook-served ads. Microsoft launches Windows 10 Antivirus Feature with Background Malware Scanning Feature Finally Microsoft seems to have ditched the unpopular Microsoft Security Essentials tool in favour of a native full fledged antivirus tool. Microsoft will be bring the new anti-virus with Microsofts Insider Preview Build 14352 of Windows 10, which can provide additional protection to users irrespective of the antivirus solution running on their computers. Known as Limited Periodic Scanning, this new feature configures Windows Defender to scan the system in intervals even if other antivirus solutions are used primarily. It also performs with Windows Defender on your PC to remove malware that a third-party solution might not identify. The main idea behind the feature is to improve system security by using Windows Defender as a second-opinion scanner on Windows 10 devices. This is an optional feature that is not enabled by default. It can be enabled from the Settings app > Update & security > Windows Defender > Limited Periodic Scanning. Windows Defender was automatically disabled in the past in Windows 8 and Windows 10, when users installed a third-party antivirus solution, so Microsoft is changing this behavior with the Anniversary Update. These periodic scans can run side by side with your third-party antivirus and ensure that no malware reaches your data, even though the fully featured Windows Defender wont remain active. Microsoft assures that the automatic scans will occur at the most convenient times, for instance, they wont start if you are playing games, as it may have an influence on the performance of the system. These periodic scans will utilize Automatic Maintenance to ensure the system chooses optimal times based on minimal impact to the user, PC performance, and energy efficiency or customers can schedule these scans. Limited Periodic Scanning is intended to offer an additional line of defense to your existing antivirus programs real-time protection, Microsoft explains. To see if theres anything wrong with your PC, you can always open the default Windows 10 antivirus solution, and the results of these scans are available in Windows Defender. In addition, alerts advising you of the results of the scan will be displayed with the toast notification system and contained in the Action Center for quick examination. Windows Defender continues to be the default security app on computers where a third-party antivirus solution isnt available. So, this feature will be enabled by default. While currently this feature is only available for consumers, Microsoft is thinking of adding it to commercial versions of Windows 10 too. At the moment, Limited Periodic Scanning is available in Windows 10 build 14352 but will be provided to retail users with the Anniversary Update due in the summer. Wait, there is one more fundamental force of nature waiting to be discovered Hungarian physicists discover new evidence that hints at fifth fundamental force of nature Its long been accepted by physics that everything in the Universe is controlled by just four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetic, and strong and weak nuclear forces. However, according to some Hungarian physicists, there may be a fifth force of nature, which could be vital evidence to understanding dark matter. Attila Krasznahorkay and his group at the Hungarian Academy of Sciencess Institute for Nuclear Research in Debrecen, Hungary, initially published their new discovery last year on the arXiv preprint server. Their findings were published in January 2016 in the journal Physical Review Letters. Protons were aimed at lithium-7, a collision that created unstable beryllium-8 nuclei, which then decayed into pairs of electrons and positrons. At about 140 degrees, the number of these pairs increased, creating a little bump before dropping off again at higher angles. According to Krasznahorkay and his team, this bump was evidence of a new particle. They calculated that the mass of this new particle would be around 17 megaelectronvolts (MeV), which isnt what was expected for the dark photon, but could be evidence of something else entirely. The end result was a new boson particle that was only 34 times heavier than an electron. We are very confident about our experimental results, Krasznahorkay told Nature. However, the report was largely overlooked. Then, on April 25, a group of US theoretical physicists brought the finding to wider attention by publishing its own analysis of the result on arXiv2. The US team, led by the lead author of the arXiv report, Jonathan Feng from the University of California, Irvine, showed that the data didnt conflict with previous experiments, and established that it could be evidence for a fifth fundamental force. We brought it out from relative obscurity, says Feng. The physics world is now buzzing with the possibility of an undiscovered fundamental force. Rumours about this elusive fifth force has existed for years, partly motivated by the incapability of the standard model of particle physics to explain dark mattera hypothetical form of matter that comprises a huge portion of the mass and energy in the observable universe. Dark matter can feel gravity but not electromagnetism, which is why we cannot see or touch it, since our sight, touch, and most of our science experiments detect stuff using the electromagnetic force. The physicists who conducted the original experiment are confident about what they have discovered. Nature News article reports that other physicists seem doubtful, but are excited about the about the experimental results. Physicists are now thinking about different ways to scrutinize this intriguing finding. Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia, CERN, and other labs are trying to see if they can reconstruct the Hungarian teams results in their own experiments. They are expected to confirm or invalidate the Hungarian experimental results in about a year. BEIJING, May 27 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for people-oriented approach in planning and building a new sub-center for the nation's capital city Beijing. "Globally advanced energy-saving and environment protection technologies, standards, materials and craftsmanship must be extensively used to build a green city, a forest city, a spongy city and a smart city,", Xi said Friday at a conference of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The planning, design and construction of the sub-center must have global outlook and Chinese characters, use high standards, and stick to the concept of innovative, coordinated, green and inclusive development, said a statement issued after the meeting. "Planning must come before construction, the use of every inch of land must be considered carefully before construction begins, " Xi said. He urged city planners and builders to bear in mind that they are creating history and making an art piece. The mater plan must take into consideration people's needs to work, live and entertain. Transport, education and health service must be convenient. The sub-center must have Chinese elements and borrow from other cultures, Xi said. The sub-center could help adjust the space layout of Beijing, rid it of mega city problems and promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Xi said. The meeting discussed progress made in implementing the plan in promoting coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, hailing headway made in transport, biological environment and industry. "Benign interactions among Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have made tangible results. Coordinated development has seen a good beginning," Xi said. The FENOCIN protest aims to demand that President Lasso comply with the agreements reached with the Indigenous movement. | Read More Vietnamese schools need to follow the law. Schools in Vietnam get a bad rap, and often rightly so. Many break the parts of the law they don't know about and feign ignorance at the parts they do. Some cheat, lie and steal from their staff at times. Not just the small ones, the big names too. But this isn't a rant about that. This is about something specific. Three specific issues. Issue one. Payment. The State Bank of Vietnam in Article 3 "Principles of restricting the use of foreign exchanges within Vietnam's territory" of Circular No. 32/2013/TT-NHNN clearly states: Within the territory of Vietnam, except for cases that are allowed to use foreign exchanges as provided for in Article 4 of this Circular, any transaction, payment, listing, advertising, quotation, valuating, pricing in any contract, agreement and other similar forms (including the conversion or price adjustment of goods, services, value of contract, agreement) of residents, non-residents, shall not be performed in foreign exchange. Article 4 goes on to outline the provisions of international trade and cross-border business which does not apply to schools. It is 100 percent illegal for a school to advertise, quote, contractualise or pay in a foreign currency. So why do so many do it ? Because it's profitable. If you work at a school either directly at a centre or via an agency, they likely quote your salary in USD but pay in VND. They most likely also write you a salary slip in USD and then provide a conversion rate at the bottom. Is this conversion rate in line with either the State Bank's or the international rate of the day? Almost always the answer is "No". It's usually around VND500 less. Sometimes much less. S told me "I was promised a $1/hr pay rise. But when I got my payslip it only had a VND20,000 pay rise. That's not right. That's 11 percent less than I was promised. That's an 89 cent pay rise, not a dollar. They lied to me. Every hour I spend teaching now, that little bit they promised, they just keep it." "What's VND500?" some ask. "A spoonful of rice ?" Yes, but that's VND500 per dollar, per hour. How much are you being paid? $20/hr? Then that's VND10,000. Your $20 salary just became a $19.50 salary. And that's just for one hour. Do you teach 100 hours a month? Then you just lost VND1 million. The school kept that through their shady exchange rates. It's illegal to even do it in the first place, but to break the law and do it anyway and then pay at a fictitious exchange rate ? That's nothing short of fraud. If the school has 20 teachers then they are pocketing close to $1,000 a month just by this tiny adjustment. It's like your market vendor tweaking the scales a tiny bit to overcharge you. Sure, it might go unnoticed by you, but how much money does this seller save by shaving 0.5 percent off every sale? A lot. Like a shady vendor at the markets, these schools who advertise, contractualise and pay in USD are both breaking the law and committing fraud. This practice must stop immediately. Issue two. Paperwork. Too many schools are in such a rush to hire a teacher that they will hire anyone. I saw one ad in a Hanoi FB group last month that said "Timeframe: First come first served". They will authorise anyone to work in a state school, and especially a centre. They don't check their degrees, they don't ask for a police check. I was at a school that had a minor scandal where a teacher was caught viewing hardcore pornography on his phone during his lunch break, directly outside the gates of his elementary school. The students saw it and reported him. It was hushed up because the agency knew that they had no papers from the teacher. He had no police check to say that he was safe. He was quietly paid his salary and dismissed. Many schools in the countryside are willing to hire teachers for their pre-permit probation period without them having a B class or DN class business visa sponsored by the school. This is illegal. A school owner in a central Vietnamese province came to tell me her story recently. T said that she employed a lovely female teacher at her school for only a short time before the authorities marched in demanding papers. When they found that the teacher was working illegally on a tourist visa, they suspended her immediately. They fined the school VND35 million and the teacher VND20 million. The school paid 75 percent of the teacher's portion of the fine, although realistically it should be 100 percent because it's not an employee's job to ensure that their employer is in compliance with the law. The teacher was banned from working until she obtained a business visa. The school applied to MOFA in Da Nang to change her visa category and was promised it would be done in seven days. But after seven days they dragged their heels for another 10 and then even longer insisting they were investigating the teacher and all the previous schools she had worked at. When I asked T, "How has this affected your school ?" she replied, "It almost shut us down. I was hoping to launch a second center this year but after this, we were nearly ruined. It's not the money that's the problem, it's that preventing our teachers from working and requiring a replacement to go through lengthy and difficult procedures to get visa sponsorship takes time. The kids didn't get taught. The parents were outraged. It seriously hurt our reputation. Eventually the teacher could not be legalised in time and we had to let her go." Too many schools are hiring teachers on inappropriate paperwork and insisting "It's ok. We'll fix it up later." But of course they don't. It's easier to just fire the teacher and find a new one before it becomes a problem. This practice must stop immediately. Likewise, state schools who are demanding that teachers "have" work permits is also unacceptable. Decree 11/2016/ND-CP signed into effect by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in February states that work permits are no longer required for state schools provided that the teacher can prove three years of experience and has a degree. Schools still demanding the old style "work permit" paperwork are either uninformed or deliberately greasing the wheels of local authorities. This practice must stop immediately. Issue three. Contracts. When a teacher gets a raw deal from a smaller school, they are often ridiculed and told, "Well, you should work for a bigger school instead of these backyard operations." But even top tier schools engage in shonky practices sometimes. A teacher friend who worked for one of these top tier schools named J told me how he was working as a part time teacher, but come the end of semester the school informed all the staff, "I'm sorry but some of our schools have decided to finish early. The full time teachers will become part time and the part time teachers will be laid off." They were given four days notice. J complained bitterly to the management, having served the full 12 months of his contract and never missed a day of school apart from one day due to serious family emergency. He was kept on only through his strenuous protests and complaints. The rest of the teachers were laid off early. J has 2 children and a family to feed. When schools treat skilled teachers like some backpackers who can be laid off at four days' notice despite their contract saying that they need 30 days notice before leaving, this causes a disparity. Schools basically have the right to terminate you at any time without termination pay or compensation. These people have work permits and notarised contracts. Surely this must be against labor laws. But it happens anyway. These schools should pay out the teacher until the end of their contract. They should receive early termination payouts or other payments as required by law. This practice needs to stop. Schools in Vietnam need a wake-up call. Things are getting more serious as the government begins mandating that all high schools have a foreign English teacher in them. Language centres must realise that if they break labour law, financial law or any other law and they rip a teacher off, lay them off prematurely or otherwise violate their labour rights or human rights, that teacher may well be informed enough to report them to MoET or MoLISA. Schools need to stop treating foreign teachers as "tay ngu ngoc" (stupid westerner) and drop the "I am Vietnamese. You cannot fight with me" attitude. Because they can. They're collectively getting more informed on the law through the mainstream and social media and they will fight back. They will report you. They will have you shut down if you break the law and then cheat them. We all know it's not a perfect system. Even Bill Gates or Steve Jobs would not qualify for a work permit here. But cleaning up and legalising the education system is a mammoth task, and the government has other more pressing issues to deal with right now. To schools, I say to you this: It's time to stop the charade. It's time to stop the lies. We know what you're doing and we know you're doing it illegally. Stop cheating us or we will report you. Many of us know the law and know where to find out about it. We often know it better than you do. So don't cheat us. Don't lie to us and fulfil all your contractual obligations or you may be on the wrong end of a tax audit, a license audit or far worse. This practice needs to stop. To the teachers I say this: Do not be complacent. Do not lay down and accept it. Do not shrug and say, "Well this is Vietnam and that's just how things are here." Your complacency is what allows these practices to continue. Verse yourself on the law because your school is not going to do it for you. If you just blindly follow their recommendations you may end up working illegally, and while you might be lucky and get away with it, if you are caught, you and the school face serious penalties. Your past could be dug up. You will have to pay fines. But most importantly, you could be prevented from working for a period. If you have mouths to feed in your house, you can't afford that any more than the rest of us. Insist that your school be legal. You should have a labor contract, a probationary period and a sponsored business visa before you step foot in a school for any more than an unpaid demo. If you're not getting it, demand it or don't go to work. Because this practice needs to stop. * The writer is an Australian expat who lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. The opinions expressed are his own. The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947: Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda's Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948: Virus recovered from Aedes africanus mosquito in Zika Forest 952: First human cases detected in Uganda and Tanzania 1954: Virus found in Nigeria 1960s-80s: Zika detected in mosquitoes and monkeys across equatorial Africa 1969-83: Zika found in equatorial Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan 2007: Zika spreads from Africa and Asia, first large outbreak on Pacific island of Yap 2012: Researchers identify two distinct lineages of the virus, African and Asian 2013-14: Zika outbreaks in French Polynesia, Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. Retrospective analysis shows possible link to birth defects and severe neurological complications in babies in French Polynesia March 2, 2015: Brazil reports illness characterized by skin rash in northeastern states July 17: Brazil reports detection of neurological disorders in newborns associated with history of infection Oct. 5: Cape Verde has cases of illness with skin rash Oct. 22: Colombia confirms cases of Zika Oct. 30: Brazil reports increase in microcephaly, abnormally small heads, among newborns Nov. 11: Brazil declares public health emergency November 2015-January 2016: Cases reported in Suriname, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Venezuela, French Guiana, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Guyana, Ecuador, Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Curacao, Jamaica Feb. 1: World Health Organization (WHO) declares public health emergency of international concern Feb. 2: First case of Zika transmission in United States; local health officials say likely contracted through sex, not mosquito bite Feb. 5: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says virus being actively transmitted in 30 countries, mostly in the Americas Feb. 8: U.S. President Barack Obama requests $1.8 billion to fight Zika Feb. 12: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika infections and 4,314 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 462 confirmed as microcephaly and 41 determined to be linked to virus Feb. 17: Brazil investigating potential link between Zika and 4,443 suspected cases of microcephaly. Of those, 508 confirmed as microcephaly and most of those cases are linked to the virus. WHO seeks $56 million to fight Zika. Feb. 18: CDC adds Aruba and Bonaire to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 32. Feb. 23: CDC investigating 14 cases of possible sexual transmission of Zika. CDC also adds Trinidad and Tobago and Marshall Islands to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 34. Feb. 25: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases number more than 580 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,100 suspected cases of microcephaly. Feb. 27: France detects first sexually transmitted case of Zika. Feb. 29: CDC adds St. Maarten, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 36. March 1: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 641 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,222 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 8: WHO advises pregnant women to avoid areas with Zika outbreak and said sexual transmission of the virus is "relatively common." March 9: CDC adds New Caledonia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 37. March 15: Cuba reports first case of Zika contracted in the country. March 16: Cape Verde identifies first case of microcephaly. March 18: CDC says during Jan. 1, 2015 to Feb. 26, 2016, 116 residents of the United States had evidence of recent zika virus infection based on laboratory testing. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 863 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,268 suspected cases of microcephaly. March 19: CDC adds Cuba to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 38. March 21: South Korea confirms first case of Zika. March 22: CDC adds Dominica to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 39. Bangladesh confirms first case of Zika virus. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 907 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating an additional 4,293 suspected cases of microcephaly. Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 944 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil said the number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped slightly to 4,293. March 29: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 944 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil said the number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped slightly to 4,291. March 31: According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, though conclusive proof may take months or years. April 1: CDC adds Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 40. April 4: CDC adds Fiji to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 41. April 5: Vietnam reports first Zika infections. April 6: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,046 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 4,046. April 7: St. Lucia confirms first two cases of Zika, contracted locally. April 12: Brazil says confirmed microcephaly cases rose to 1,113 and considers most of them to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. The number of suspected cases of microcephaly dropped to 3,836. It was the second week in a row that the overall total figure fell. April 13: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that infection with the Zika virus in pregnant women is a cause of the birth defect microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities in babies. The CDC said now that the causal relationship has been established, several important questions must still be answered with studies that could take years. CDC adds St. Lucia to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 42. April 14: Colombia confirms two microcephaly cases linked to Zinka. April 18: Peru reports first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus. CDC adds Belize to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 43. April 25: Canada confirms first sexually transmitted Zika case. April 26: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly climbed to 1,198 from 1,168 in the week through April 23, but suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,710 from 3,741 a week ago. Brazil registered 91,387 likely cases of the Zika virus from February until April 2, the health ministry said, in its first national report on the epidemic. April 29: Puerto Rico reports first death related to Zika, according to the CDC. The country also confirmed 683 Zika cases, including 65 pregnant women, and five suspected cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome from Zika, the CDC reported. May 4: Panama confirms four microcephaly cases tied to Zika. May 6: Spain gets first case of Zika-related brain defect in a fetus. May 9: CDC adds Papua New Guinea, Saint Barthelemy and Peru to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 46. Honduras suspects first case of microcephaly in Zika patient. May 11: Brazil says the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly dropped to 1,326 in the week through May 7 as doctors and Brazilian health officials find that some suspected cases of microcephaly are not the disorder. Suspected ones under investigation continued to decline to 3,433. May 12: CDC adds Grenada to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 47. May 13: Puerto Rico reports first case of Zika-related microcephaly. May 20: WHO says an outbreak of Zika virus on the African island chain of Cape Verde is of the same strain as the one blamed for birth abnormalities in Brazil. May 24: Brazil reports the number of confirmed cases of microcephaly at 1,434 for the latest week to May 21. Suspected ones under investigation declined to 3,257. May 26: CDC adds Argentina to countries and territories with active outbreaks, bringing total to 48. June 9: WHO issues updated guidelines on prevention of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, including advising women living in areas where the virus is being transmitted to delay getting pregnant. June 14: El Salvador confirms first case of microcephaly linked to Zika. June 28: First baby with Zika-related birth defect microcephaly born in Florida. A Moroccan man identified only as Rachid has been hospitalized after being attacked by two robbers in Ho Chi Minh City on May 27, 2016 A Moroccan man was stabbed several times Friday evening while he was fighting two men who had snatched his wife's purse in Ho Chi Minh City, police said. The man, identified only as Rachid, 34, was rushed to Cho Ray Hospital with injuries in his chest and forehead. The police are searching for the two robbers. According to the police report, Rachid's wife Tran Thi Thu Trang was walking into an apartment building in Tan Binh Dist. at 8 p.m. when the two men, who wore face masks and raincoats, approached her on motorbike and snatched her purse. As Rachid was chasing the robbers on foot, one of them attacked him with a pointed object, the police said. Many other local people joined the chase but the robbers managed to escape. Trang later found her purse in a street nearby, but she said two smart phones and some money that she had kept in the purse were gone. Rachid's condition is stable, doctors said. Tran Manh Cuong is serving a nine year sentence for overcharging and robbing Japanese tourists at his restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo credit: VnExpress An appeal court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday upheld a nine-year sentence against a man who last year was found guilty of overcharging and robbing Japanese diners at his restaurant, local media reported. The indictment said Tran Manh Cuong had worked at the restaurant in Binh Thanh District since 2005. He a sked Nguyen Thanh Do, who happened to speak Japanese, to draw Japanese tourists to the restaurant. Cuong would then inflate the prices and ask the foreign diners to pay much more than they were supposed to. The extra amount was shared between him and Do. The long-running scheme was only busted in December 2008 when police caught Do and two employees from Cuongs restaurant beating two Japanese tourists and forcing them to withdraw money at an ATM. The tourists had been asked to pay $1,200 for a dinner that cost only $80. Cuong escaped soon after that and only turned himself in in October 2014. He was sentenced to nine years in prison in September last year for robbery. He admitted that he was responsible for taking VND100 million from Japanese tourists over the years. Do, 33, was earlier sentenced to 20 years in 2010. Other restaurant workers involved received between one and 12 years. Neighbors gather in front of a house in Thanh Hoa Province where three people were found dead early morning of May 28, 2016. Photo: Ai Chau/Thanh Nien Three people died in what police believed to be a murder-suicide in northern Vietnam early today. The deaths, identified as Le Huy Huong, 31, his separated wife Quach Thi Nhung, 24 and her mother Phan Thi Hoa, 46, were found in Hoa's house in Nhu Thanh District, Thanh Hoa Province, according to the local police. According to the police, Hoa's neighbors said they heard shouts for help from her house at 1.30 a.m. When they arrived, they saw Huong had set himself on fire while Hoa and Nhung were lying dead in a pool of blood in a bedroom. They attempted to help the burnt man with water, but he died on the way to hospital. The police have alleged that Huong had killed Nhung and her mother before burning himself to death. The neighbors said Huong and Nhung had been married for four years before they decided to separate last year. They had a 4-year old daughter who is now living with Huong's parents. The police found several letters they believed Huong had written and left in his house. In one of the letters, Huong apparently asked his brother to take care of his daughter. The police are investigating further. Ngo Van Vinh, a former police officer in the southern province of Dong Nai, stands trial on June 22 for murdering his boss in September 2013. Photo: Hoang Tuan A court in the southern province of Dong Nai Monday sent a local police officer to nine years in prison for shooting his boss and injuring another officer in a drunken fight in 2013. Ngo Van Vinh, 40, who had been dismissed after the shooting on September 22, was convicted of "murder". Vinh and his co-workers were drinking at a local karaoke parlor when they met Tran Ngoc Son, the deputy chief of his division, and his friend Truong Thanh Chi. Even while greeting each other Vinh and Chi got into an argument, which ended up with the latter hitting Vinh in the face with a glass of beer. Vinh, who was injured, blamed Son for not taking his side, which led to a quarrel and then a fight between the two officers. Prosecutors said Vinh later left the parlor for his office where he waited for Son with a pistol. Son then met Vinh and dared him to shoot before hitting him in the face. Vinh drew out the pistol and they started fighting for the weapon, during which the gun fired a shot into officer Doan Thanh Phu, who was trying to stop the fight. Upon hearing the shot, some officers rushed to the site and saw Vinh and Son fight, during which more shots were fired. Only when the pistol was out of bullets did the officers manage to rush Son and Phu to a hospital where Son, who was shot in the torso, succumbed to an aortic rupture. Phu was injured in his hip. Vinh was first prosecuted for "murder under provocation," which carries a jail term of six months to three years. However, at a hearing last August, a bench suspended the trial and ordered further investigation into the case. As Vietnam's economy continues to recover this year, the country's unemployment rate will remain "low" at around 2.2 percent of its total workforce, according to the labor ministry's latest forecast. The expected rate is nearly equal to the rate of 2.18 percent Vietnam recorded at the end of last year, the ministry said at a meeting on Friday. About 1.05 million Vietnamese people between 15-60 years old were unemployed in the last quarter of 2015, a decline of 6.8 percent from the previous quarter and a rise of 7.8 percent from the same period in 2014, it said. Notably more than 53 percent of the unemployed were between 15-24 years old, while nearly 40 percent of them were either professionally trained or university graduates, according to new figures. China expressed strong dissatisfaction on Friday over a declaration issued by the Group of Seven industrialized nations that criticizes China, though not mentioning it by name, for its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. "As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions. ... China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news conference. She urged the G7 member states to honor their commitment to not take sides on the disputes. In the declaration, the G7 leaders expressed concerns over the situation in the region and called for "peaceful management and settlement of disputes". The declaration called for maintaining "a rules-based maritime order in accordance with the principles of international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea". In the name of respect for freedom of navigation and overflight, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said they are committed to "peaceful dispute settlement". The statement said that countries should make and clarify their claims based on international law, refraining from "unilateral actions" that could increase tensions and not using force or coercion in trying to drive their claims. Hua said China resolutely safeguards freedom of navigation and overflight, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the willful trespassing by warships. She said China opposes the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigational freedom". Lyu Yaodong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Japan has been willfully internationalizing the South China Sea issue. It has pushed to include the issue in declarations of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting and the G7 leaders' summit. "This does disservice to China-Japan relations and threatens regional peace and stability," Lyu said. Motofumi Asai, former director of the China and Mongolia division of Japan's Foreign Ministry, said Japan has never played a positive, meaningful role in the G7. Asai criticized Japan for including the South China Sea and Korean Peninsula issues in the summit's declaration. The former Japanese diplomat said the G7, with its declining influence, will be overshadowed by the G20. The G20 is a major forum for global economic and financial cooperation that brings together the world's major advanced and emerging economies, representing about 85 percent of global gross domestic product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population. The G7 declaration stated that global economic recovery continues, but growth remains moderate and uneven. The leaders said they will use "all policy tools"monetary, fiscal and structuralto strengthen global demand and address supply constraints, while continuing efforts to put debt on a sustainable path. Argentina's former President and Army Chief Reynaldo Bignone sits in a courthouse during the first day of his trial, accused of participating in 'Operation Condor', in Buenos Aires March 5, 2013. Fifteen ex-military officials were found guilty by an Argentine court on Friday of conspiring to kidnap and assassinate leftist dissidents as part of the Operation Condor program. The ruling was hailed by rights activists. Condor was coordinated by dictatorships in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia to hunt down and kill exiled opponents in the 1970s and '80s. Former Argentine dictator Reynaldo Bignone, 88, the highest ranking figure on trial, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Fourteen of the remaining 16 defendants got eight to 25 years behind bars. Two were found not guilty. Some individual crimes committed under Operation Condor had already been the subject of previous trials. Friday's verdict was the first to focus on participation in the plan itself. "This ruling, about the coordination of military dictatorships in the Americas to commit atrocities, sets a powerful precedent to ensure that these grave human rights violations do not ever take place again in the region," Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch, said in a phone interview. Friday's court decision cited the disappearance of 105 people during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship. "It determines not only that state terrorism in Argentina was an criminal conspiracy but that it was coordinated with other dictatorships," said Luz Palmas Zaldua, a lawyer with the Center for Legal and Social Studies (Cels), which represented many of the plaintiffs in the case. "They got together to maximize efforts to persecute political opponents of each of the dictatorships, and to 'disappear' or eliminate those who were considered subversive," she told reporters after the ruling was read out in court. Operation Condor, named after the broad-winged birds that inhabit the cordillera mountain range on the Chile-Argentine border, was coordinated from a joint information center at the headquarters of Chile's notorious secret police in Santiago. In a state visit to Argentina in March, President Barack Obama said the United States was too slow to condemn atrocities by the dictatorship, but he stopped short of apologizing for Washington's early support for the military junta. Constellations of European and U.S. satellites captured emergency distress signals from the doomed EgyptAir Flight 804 minutes after it fell off radar on May 19, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A device known as an emergency locator transmitter, or ELT, began radioing an automatic distress message at 2:36 a.m. local time, Lieutenant Jason Wilson, an operations support officer at NOAA, said in an e-mail. Five satellites relayed signals from the beacon to a ground station in Cyprus, said Wilson, whose agency monitors such distress signals, and a document prepared by the French government that was obtained by Bloomberg. The satellites provided a location of a probable crash site in the Mediterranean Sea that is accurate to within about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles). The information, which confirms an earlier report on Egypts state-owned Ahram Gate website, will assist the search for wreckage beneath the sea, including the Airbus A320s two crash-proof recorders, or black boxes. The plane went down on a Paris-to-Cairo flight with 66 people aboard. A U.S. ground station in Maryland also was alerted that satellites had received two bursts from the beacon, but was unable to make a location, Wilson said in an e-mail. Encoded information in the distress signal linked it to the specific EgyptAir aircraft involved in the accident, Wilson said. Airlines and other users of ELTs register them with NOAA and other agencies that monitor the signals. They received the beacon ID and were able to correlate that with the beacon that was on MS 804, he said, referring to the shorthand code for the flight. Airliners flying international routes are required to carry ELTs. The devices are designed to send a signal to satellite networks if a plane crashes, alerting authorities to the accident and providing a location. EgyptAirs emergency signal came about six minutes after the plane stopped transmitting its location to radar at 2:29:33 a.m., according to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Investigators so far havent been able to say what brought down the flight so suddenly. Smoke warnings Separately, the plane transmitted a series of seven emergency messages indicating smoke had been detected in two locations and noting unspecified problems with cockpit windows and flight computers. The emergency beacon is separate from the so-called pingers on the planes black box recorders. The pingers are designed to operate underwater so that investigators can locate the wreckage. The French Navy has sent one of its most advanced survey vessels to lead the search for the submerged wreckage in the eastern Mediterranean. The ELT only functions immediately after a crash and cant transmit underwater, and thus cant now lead searchers directly to the wreckage. Manual activation ELTs are typically designed to start transmitting after impact in a crash, Adam Williams, manager of airport policy for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association trade group, said in an interview. In some cases, they can also be manually activated during an emergency, Williams said. A commercial pilot and flight instructor, Williams said he wasnt familiar with how the device on the EgyptAir plane would have worked. If the EgyptAir ELT did activate when the plane hit the water, it would provide the most accurate information to date on where the wreckage is located. The ELT information follows a similar pattern to radar flight-tracking that the Greek government did in the early morning hours after the plane went down. After the plane stopped transmitting its position, radars reflecting radio beams off of the fuselage and other metal components continued to track it until 2:37 a.m., according to the Greek government. The so-called primary radar returns indicated the plane turned 90 degrees left and then made a right-hand orbit, according to a preliminary analysis. Earth orbit The Greek and Egyptian governments have said they didnt receive a distress call from pilots, which they would have radioed over a different frequency than the one used by the ELT beacon. The detection of the ELT signal is an endorsement of a new generation of satellites used to detect the beacons, Wilson said. Until recently, relatively few satellites circling the Earth in lower orbits were used. It can sometimes take an hour or more for the satellites to make enough passes over a crash site to estimate its location, he said. The U.S., Europe and Russia are now installing radio receivers that can detect the emergency beacons on global-positioning satellites. Because they are at higher altitudes, allowing them to see more of the Earths surface at a time, and there are more of them, they will theoretically be better at monitoring for the beacons. Five such global-positioning satellites captured the signal, according to Wilson. President Francois Hollande warned anti-reform protesters that he would not let them strangle the economy as a stand-off with unions deepens. But despite waves of strikes and demonstrations, French households are finally turning more optimistic as consumer confidence surged to its highest level since October 2007. Former Argentina's dictator and General Jorge Rafael Videla in the courtroom in Buenos Aires. Videla, 86, was sentenced to 50 years in prison and Reynaldo Bignone, 84, was given a 15-year jail term for verseeing the systematic kidnapping of babies from leftist activists killed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Two former Argentine dictators were handed heavy prison sentences for overseeing the systematic kidnapping of babies from leftist activists killed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Jorge Videla, 86, was sentenced to 50 years in prison and Reynaldo Bignone, 84, was given a 15-year jail term, presiding judge Maria Roqueta said as she read the ruling before a packed courtroom in Buenos Aires. Hundreds of people -- relatives of the victims, children reunited with their families and activists -- cheered the ruling, which they watched on a giant television screen set up outside the courthouse. Many were in tears. Several other former military officers were handed sentences of up to 40 years for their roles in a "systematic plan" to kidnap the babies of activists, in a trial that started in February 2011. Two of 11 defendants were acquitted. The rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo has fought in court since 1996, demanding restitution for the stolen children. It says 500 children were kidnapped and then raised by families close to the regime as their own. The group's president Estela de Carlotto, who was in the courtroom, hailed the verdict, saying it "confirmed that there was a systematic plan to steal babies." Videla was in power from 1976 to 1981, while Bignone ruled from 1982 to 1983. Human rights activists say around 30,000 Argentines "disappeared" during the military regime's so-called "dirty war" against leftists. In the 35 abductions detailed during the trial, most of the mothers were held at ESMA -- Argentina's notorious Naval Mechanics School, a torture center located in the heart of Buenos Aires. The maternity ward was on the second floor, where there was a hallway leading to the torture rooms that the executioners cruelly dubbed "The Avenue of Happiness." The inmates gave birth while shackled and hooded and very few were ever allowed even to see the faces of their babies, according to survivor testimony. In most cases, the baby was given to a soldier or the friend of a soldier, while the mother was later thrown from a military plane into the sea, naked and still alive. Argentina's amnesty laws of the late 1980s were annulled after the election of former president Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007), who died in October 2010. That annulment allowed the nation's judiciary to reopen a number of cases. To date, all people prosecuted for the kidnappings have been found guilty. Videla defended his actions last week, saying in court that the children's mothers were "active militants in the machinery of terrorism. They used their children as human shields." The former general had already been sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. A former US State Department assistant secretary for human rights, Elliott Abrams, revealed in January that the United States was aware of a systematic practice of stealing children. "We knew that certain children had been given away while their parents were in prison or deceased," Abrams said. "They took them and gave them away." The verdict fell on the 35th birthday of one of the victims, Francisco Madariaga Quintela, who learned of his real identity and was reunited with his biological father just over two years ago. Madariaga Quintela said before the decision that he was confident "justice will be done" as he pulled from his wallet a faded black and white photo of his mother, who was kidnapped at age 28, while pregnant. Her body was never found. "My dad told me she was a doctor. And sometimes I think about how I am now older than her," he said, looking at the image. By Li Feng from People's Daily China and Australia should intensify collaboration in politics, economy, culture as well as peoples based on their current sound ties, Australian experts on Chinese studies expressed their optimism over bilateral ties at a symposium held in Sydney on Friday. Australia-China relations are good overall, said Jeffrey Riegel, Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Riegel believes that a solid relationship between China and Australia is in the best interests of Australia. Having translated many Chinese works into English, such as the Annals of Lv Buwei (Lvshi Chunqiu) and Mozi, Rigel held that the sound bilateral ties should not be confined, since some Australians have shifted their focus to the Asia-Pacific region. They understand the needs to cooperate with China in ensuring the good development in the whole region, he added. Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr corroborated Riegels opinion with numbers. According to Carr, polling showed that 94 percent of 1,000 Chinese business leaders surveyed deem Australia as very favorable or favorable business location. Eighty-three percent of them views bilateral economic relationships as extremely important or important and 80 percent recognizes Australias significant role in the Asia-Pacific region, said Carr. Liu Qibao, head of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, who also attended the symposium, explained that with Chinas rapid development in recent years, more scholars are pursuing Chinese studies. Though far apart in geographic term, the Chinese and Australian people are no stranger to each other, thanks to the contribution of Australian sinologists, Liu added. Fascinated by Chinas ancient history, glorious culture and breathtaking landscapes, David Goodman, a research fellow with Australian Academy of the Social Science, also called for more exchanges between both peoples in order to enhance mutual understanding. A dozen Australian sinologists attended the symposium on the diversity of Chinese culture. They also discussed on deepening Sino-Australian youth exchanges, the development of Confucius Institutes in Australia and how to effectively promote cooperation between both think tanks and research institutions. As H&M rapidly expands its retail empire in Australia, the chain is being criticised for widespread labour rights violations and the "painfully slow" progress of safety renovations at factories. An Asia Floor Wage Alliance report, based on 251 interviews with workers from 17 H&M supplier factories in Cambodia and India, found women were being routinely fired during their pregnancy. Other common workplace abuses included illegal short-term contracts, low wages and forced overtime. Women in nine of 12 factories reported sexual harassment at work. Why is it that every time some hoon or nutcase does something stupid and anti-social near a Canberra reserve during the annual kangaroo slaughter (including vandalising kangaroo protesters' cars), some idiot blames the kangaroo protesters themselves? I ask you, is it even logical? Would the very same people who led the campaign against fireworks in the ACT really, seriously, let off "frighteningly loud explosions" (Lyn Parkinson, Letters, Canberra Times, May 23) anywhere near any animal? The people who enjoy the killing of kangaroos seem to make a sport of cooking up these absurd accusations, without any evidence, without any reason except malice. What is troubling, given the always peaceful history of animal protection activism in this territory, is that some people actually seem to believe them. For the record, no kangaroo protester has ever done or ever will do anything that frightens or harms an animal. Rick was on a train platform in Sydney when he got a call from the school. The principal was on the other end of the line, speechless. The cheque was real. "I explained that we were willing to pay $20,000 at a private school, so why wouldn't we send the same amount to his school as it deserved every cent. They went above and beyond." "It was lovely. The money was so appreciated. I knew it was not going to go towards a rowing club shelter, but more important things." Once a year state primary and high schools send parents and carers a letter requesting support in the form of a voluntary contribution. They are only allowed to send one. I am familiar with them, having served on a school board that has debated why it is that each year fewer than half the families respond. We debate the timing of the letter, the text of the letter, the extent of the discount for families with more than one child and anything else we think might improve the response rate. We rarely get big donations, and families in the ACT are typically more stingy than families in NSW, even though their incomes are higher. (In any event, if they did decide to pay up big it isn't as effective as it could be. Donations to private schools are tax deductible, but donations to public schools are not, although donations to the libraries within them sometimes are). Opportunity squandered I am bewildered by the fiasco that is the Coalition. A political party is told by the electorate via a 10-point swing that its policies are so on the nose it would be voted out after one term. The party is then thrown an unprecedented mid-term lifeline that not only showed them the way out of its troubles, but almost guaranteed re-election if it were followed. Yet the party carries on as if nothing had happened. Amazing. The party hasn't misjudged Mr Turnbull's appeal; it has squandered it. Michael Slocum, Ascot Vale Second-order issues If Australia were a company and Mr Turnbull the chief executive officer, he would start by enunciating the major issues facing the company. Then strategies and actions would be determined to tackle those issues over the short and longer term. Annual reports to shareholders would report on progress. For Australia Pty Ltd, however, the chief financial officer gave an annual financial report as if this were the report to shareholders on the running of the company. What are Mr Turnbull's top five issues? What are Bill Shorten's? The campaign is degenerating into inane debate of second-tier issues and the sport of politics itself. Think about your top five issues. How much of the discussion and debate are focused on these issues? Therein lies the proof. John Harrison, Daisy Hill, Queensland Ideas for sale I wonder whether Mr Turnbull believes any of the things he now argues. He is a lawyer and lawyers need the ability to argue either side of an argument, depending on which side they represent. Maureen Goldie, Blackwood, SA Leaders sell out voters Donations to political parties corrupt electoral and democratic processes. But the sums donated by Chinese companies and a Chinese government propaganda unit are truly breathtaking ("China cash for parties' coffers", 22/5). Bayside Forum, former trade minister Andrew Robb's party financial entity, gets $100,000 just as the China Australia Free Trade Agreement is signed and as he endorses a $2 billion investment in Australian agriculture. The FTA allows Chinese companies with 50 per cent Chinese ownership to import Chinese labour to work on big infrastructure projects, thereby locking thousands of locals out of jobs created. And how will the proviso of formally limiting Chinese ownership protect Australian interests? The 50 per cent "non-Chinese" owners may well be dual citizens primarily loyal to China, and profits concealed and spirited away. Our leaders are selling Australia's future to fund their personal power bases. Jill Sanguinetti, East Brunswick Power to the people Gary Greenway (Letters, 22/5), the winners under the former Senate voting system were not so much "little guys" as unknowns with few votes who did not deserve their success. Steve Fielding got elected in 2004 with 1.76per cent of first preferences, defeating a candidate with more than four times as many. And Ricky Muir got elected in 2013 with 0.51 per cent of first preference votes, defeating nine candidates with more. As for "giving people options", under the new system voters can rank as many or as few parties or candidates as they like, and award no preference at all to those they loathe or have never heard of. Under the old system some 90 per cent of voters simply chose a party to do most of their voting for them. Colin Smith, St Kilda No respite for aged care Labor's aged care policy lets the Coalition off the hook for its funding cuts regarding complex health care. The ALP offers nothing immediate on more rigorous training, workload regulation and skill requirements in practice. It is also silent on transparent auditing of unannounced nursing home visits. Personal stories of poor care have not budged either major party. Will independents or minor party candidates take up the issue? Carol Williams, Elder Care Watch, Blackburn No pain for CEOs Peter Martin ("Farmers pay the price for cheap milk", Opinion, 22/5) demonstrates again the farce that is executive salaries. We are constantly told big bucks must be paid to get the best people. Yet, time and again, we see high flyers wreck companies and walk away with a massive payout. Huge salaries are no incentive to do a good job; in fact, they probably do the opposite. A multimillion-dollar salary simply insulates the executive from any adverse consequences of doing a rotten job. No matter how poor their decisions, they are safe in the knowledge that they'll never have to work again. If it works, all well and good; if it doesn't and the company goes belly up they don't share any of the pain. A win-win for the CEO. Ross Hudson, Camberwell Irrational restrictions The article on granny flats ("Backyard Gold", 22/5) raises irrational contradictions in Victoria's housing policy. On the one hand, higher density development is pursued to accommodate population growth and to appease developers. On the other hand, strict planning regulations impede home owners who want to extend their homes to add a fully self-contained unit. Granny flats are an exception, but are subject to ridiculous restrictions as to who can occupy them, and they must be removed when the occupant departs. This contradiction in policy is the reverse of what common sense suggests. Those of us who have spent years searching for a property to accommodate an extended family will be familiar with the frustrations involved. Hopefully Victoria will follow NSW's lead and remove unnecessary restrictions, especially those that apply to granny flats. Robert Braby, Eltham Ethics on show Barney Zwartz writes that Jon Faine cannot possibly live a "Christian ethic" because as an atheist, Faine does not love God with all one's heart, soul and mind (Faith 21/5). I think this is pure pedantry. Faine meant that an atheist can demonstrate every useful aspect of a Christian ethic without believing in the Christian God. Zwartz himself has written that "atheists can be every bit as moral as believers". Those of us who live in the real world are happy that public figures demonstrate an ethical point of view, whether they are Christian, atheist, Muslim or Jedi. Plenty in the public eye (I'm looking at you, Cory Bernardi, George Christensen, Peter Dutton et al) piously tick the "Christian" box, yet show no sign of Christian ethics such as compassion, love or the Bible's call to welcome strangers. Errol Hunt, Footscray Morality and religion Well done on your appraisal of the marriage equality issue ("The truth behind the 'gay agenda"', 22/5). The issue highlights the need to uncouple morality and religion. Churches do not have moral authority over sexuality and activities in the bedroom. In fact they do not have moral authority at all, unless one cedes it to them. The only authority the Churches have is over religious observance if you subscribe to their particular doctrine. If there is a moral claim it is that the current situation in Australia is unjust and harmful to the interests of same-sex attracted people. Now that is a moral issue worth fighting to redress. John Massie, Middle Park Too quick to judge Jane Caro's article "Odyssey in Genes" (Sunday Life, 22/5) was brilliant, raising so many issues. I've always been intrigued by theories of nature and nurture, and all their implications for free will and responsibility for actions. We so often judge fellow humans just for being who they are, forgetting the indisputable fact that we have no control over the identity and DNA of our biological parents. If only we paused to really think about this "ability to unlock our unknown heritage", we would have less fear of difference and celebrate the sameness of all members of the human race. Which is why it's slightly perplexing that local street artist Lush, best known for his half-naked murals of Kim Kardashian, is calling his latest project a "guerilla exhibition", a proposal that he announced to his 94,200 Instagram followers on Wednesday. It's never been easier to pull a publicity stunt. Post the message on social media to enough followers and with the right hashtags and leave the internet to do the rest. "Unauthorised authorised [sic] showing of work in the NGV or something along those lines," the post reads, above a framed portrait of a woman with a strip of black paint across her bust (Lush painted modesty stripes on Kardashian in the same way, mirroring the censored naked selfies she posted on Instagram). One of street artist Lush's 2015 publicity stunts included arts patron Andrew King posing as museum security in Hosier Lane. Credit:Josh Robenstone The NGV logo appears in Lush's Instagram post, where the date of his planned exhibition is also scrawled: "28th of May". Just in case word doesn't get back to the gallery, Lush mentions them in a comment, too, directly notifying the NGV via Instagram of his intentions. "Basically it's going to be a little show at the NGV," Lush told Fairfax Media on Friday morning. "It could be inside, it could be out, I don't want to give away too much." Little Shop of Horrors. Credit:Jeff Busby But it was a risk that paid off. Sweet Charity went on to tour to Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra as well as a return season at the Opera House. Esther Hannaford, Brent Hill, and Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. Credit:Jeff Busby The show garnered a swag of Helpmann Awards and suddenly this tiny theatre was a big player. "We are still kicking ourselves, we can't believe it is happening," Campbell says. Esther Hannaford and Brent Hill in Little Shop of Horrors. Credit:Jeff Busby "We got the keys on January 1, 2014, and a month later we were opening Sweet Charity and welcoming our audience in ... it was like a movie." Since Sweet Charity, a string of hugely successful shows have opened at The Hayes and it is fast becoming one of the country's most prolific producing houses in the country. Major musicals such as The Drowsy Chaperone, Next To Normal, Blood Brothers, ReNt, High Society and The Fantasticks have all popped in and out while Australian works, new and old, such as Dogfight, Miracle City and Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You have had a life there. Specialising is smaller shows that major producers are less inclined to be interested in, The Hayes Theatre and the producers who work there are kicking some major goals. "That small to medium musical hasn't really been around," Campbell says. "Now there is a home for it, it means audiences know where to find it and they are willing to take a risk." After a string of successes, The Hayes is becoming a major birthplace of touring productions. Sweet Charity rolled out first, followed by Heathers, which played in Brisbane earlier this year, and now Little Shop of Horrors. "That was definitely a dream of mine from the outset - that shows would go on to tour," Campbell says. "There are shows that only have a finite audience and just a certain number of people in Sydney will want to see it. "Other shows have a wider audience and we home that we can tour those shows to other cities." For Little Shop, which opens in Brisbane on June 3, the ability to tour came through assistance from producing partners including the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. "Without those presenting partners like QPAC we wouldn't be able to do it," Campbell says. "It is incredibly flattering that they will put their money in a show like this." Beyond giving smaller musicals a place to go and, hopefully, a short touring life, Hayes productions also offer a relatively unique opportunity in Australian theatre. While most major musicals you see are cookie cutter versions of Broadway or West End shows with imported creatives and, increasingly, imported cast members, Hayes is as committed to developing local creatives as it is about nurturing the small-to-medium musical sector. "It is incredibly important to maintain Australian creatives," Campbell says. "We need new Australian producers and set designers and costume designers. "Everyone can cut their teeth at the Hayes and I think it is so important to be there fostering that talent because they need that chance and they need a chance to fail, and it is safer to fail in a 111 seat theatre than it is to fail at the Lyric." Little Shop of Horrors brings together the relatively established Hayes creative team of director Dean Bryant, choreographer Andrew Hallsworth, musical director Andrew Worboys and set designer Owen Phillips the same team that created Sweet Charity for the Hayes. On stage award-winning performer Esther Hannaford, who recently starred in King Kong, will appear alongside Brent Hill as Audrey and Seymour in the show. Campbell says fans of the stage production or the movie will hopefully be satisfied with what has been created for the new production. "When you are looking at something that has a big resonance with audiences you don't want to ignore what has gone before," she says. Just an hour's drive from Brisbane nestled among the mountains of the Great Dividing Range sits rich farmland and some of the state's greatest local producers. The Scenic Rim is peppered with farms producing everything from cattle to carrots and mesclun lettuce to milk. Brenda Fawdon and Christine Sharp who have written a paddock-to-plate book focusing on the Scenic Rim. Now the farmgates have been thrown open by chef Brenda Fawdon and writer Christine Sharp in their new book Eat Local Food, Farming & Conversation in the Scenic Rim. Fawdon first became aware of the incredible produce from the area when she was the owner of Mondo Organics in West End, where she would regularly stock goods from the area. The NSW Attorney-General has applied to have a Sydney man declared a vexatious litigant after he launched numerous and repeated court actions against several neighbours, including over a Facebook post, leaving them with tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills. Gabrielle Upton will ask the NSW Supreme Court on June 7 to stay all or part of any legal proceedings brought by Nader Mohareb and prohibit him from starting any new cases without the court's permission. Nader Mohareb says he has been pestered by neighbours on Scotland Island for three years. Credit:Facebook The drastic move comes after Mr Mohareb recently began a third attempt to prosecute his Scotland Island neighbour Matthew Palmer for perjury, despite the District Court twice dismissing the case, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal. Mr Mohareb has since added a claim for assault following an alleged altercation in a car park, which he filmed on his mobile phone. Mr Mohareb has also filed a claim in the District Court against the island's water taxi driver Alexander "Alex" Kelso for defamation and trespass. And he is attempting to sue Church Point ferry driver Taylor Booth for trespass. At times during the shocking day protesters moved fast along streets, through car parks and down laneways, presumably trying to find a break in police lines in a bid to confront those from the other side. And it's downright disturbing to see people brawling at about lunchtime on Bell Street. It's a surreal experience running around the streets of Coburg, trying to keep tabs on rival protesters from the left and the right who seem intent on violent confrontations on a Saturday. Protesters from rival anti-racism (Moreland Says NO To Racism) and anti-Islam (Stop The Far Left!) face off in Coburg on Saturday. Credit:Mathew Lynn Sure, many of the protesters in Coburg on Saturday probably only wanted to protest with their voice, chanting slogans such as "Free the refugees", or with their banners like "Fear Racism Not Minorities". But some people - from both sides of the argument - were strangely silent when given the chance by Fairfax Media to explain why they were in Coburg on Saturday to protest. One man's response, when approached by Fairfax Media to comment as he stood in a mall off Sydney Road with left-wing protesters denouncing racism, was to pull out a camera phone and point it at this reporter to do some of his own impromptu filming. Bizarre? Yes. An attempt to intimidate? Presumably. And a while later, shortly after the Bell Street brawl, another man with his face covered elected instead to condemn Fairfax Media repeatedly, saying it was "sh-t", among other more aggressive insults. The man was clearly involved with the right-wing protesters, but had a strong 'no interviews' policy. Hospital workers who raise their voices aggressively, ignore patients or belittle colleagues are being reported to management at the Royal Melbourne Hospital under a radical new system to eliminate bullying a problem thought to be rife there. Chief executive Gareth Goodier said his 8800 staff were being trained to anonymously report unprofessional behaviour through a new online " we care" system in the hope it will gradually improve the hospital's culture. Forty per cent of staff said they had seen bullying at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Credit:Pat Scala The commitment comes after 40 per cent of 1763 staff surveyed at the hospital last year said they had witnessed bullying on the job, and one in five said they had experienced it themselves. Many said they were too scared to report it and felt that even if they did speak up, nothing would be done. The hospital, which employs some of Australia's leading doctors, has been rumoured to house some senior bullies and last year a coroner began investigating the suicide of nurse Desmond Ponting who had allegedly been assaulted and bullied there by medical staff. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 Trend: Today, Azerbaijan is becoming a regional transport center, said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev addressing an official reception held on the occasion of Azerbaijan's national holiday, the Republic Day. "I wouldn't speak much about what has been done since 2003 until now. Everything is obvious," said Ilham Aliyev. "Azerbaijan's international authority has grown. With the support from 155 countries we have become a non-permanent member to the UN Security Council, the national economy has grown by more than threefold, and the wages and pensions have been increased by many times." He went on to add that Azerbaijan has successfully realized the transnational energy and transportation projects that are of huge significance. "From a country that used to import gas and electricity, Azerbaijan has turned into a country that now exports them. When realizing the energy projects, in particular the oil and gas projects, we demonstrate our leadership qualities to the entire world," said President Aliyev. He reminded that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is expected to be commissioned by late 2016. "As you know, Azerbaijan has fulfilled all its commitments. According to the information I have, the railway will be opened by the end of this year," said President Aliyev. "Currently, talks are underway with relevant shippers. I am confident that this shortest railway running from Asia to Europe will be put into operation soon and will bring great benefits to Azerbaijan," said the president. President Aliyev added that important steps will be taken before late 2016 for creating another significant corridor. "Azerbaijan is to build its railway up to the Iranian border. It is one of the goals as well," said the president. A new railway bridge should be built across the Astara River, said the president, adding that thereby, an important part of the North-South corridor project will get implemented. He added that in the coming years, Azerbaijan will render assistance in creating the corridor's remaining part and stands ready to attract financial resources. Athens: Russian President Vladimir Putin 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. Russia's president Vladimir Putin (center) with Greece's president Prokopis Pavlopoulos. Credit:AP 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. "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. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 Trend: Armenian armed forces have 26 times violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan on various parts of the frontline over the last 24 hours, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry May 28. Armenian army was using large-caliber weapons. Armenian armed forces stationed on the nameless heights of Armenia's Krasnoselsk district opened fire at the Azerbaijani positions on the nameless heights of Gadabay district. Moreover, Azerbaijani positions underwent fire from the positions near the villages of Yarimja, Chilaburt of Terter district, Shuraabad, Yusifjanli, Nemirli, Marzili of Aghdam district, Garakhanbeyli, Horadiz and Gorgan villages of Fizuli district. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Like splinters of the true cross in medieval cathedrals, Greek archaeological sites linked to great historical figures keep on proliferating. A vast tomb unearthed in Amphipolis in 2014 was linked, by the excavators, to Hephaestion, the best friend of Alexander the Great, on thin or contradictory evidence. Now an even more sensational claim has been advanced for another northern Greek site, the ancient city of Stagira. Archaeologist Konstantinos Sismanidis, who has been digging at Stagira since 1990, announced on Thursday that he was as certain as one can be that a structure recently found there is the tomb of the philosopher Aristotle. Sismanidis admitted he had no proof but only circumstantial evidence to support the claima bizarrely tautological statement, since proof almost never exists in the case of classical tomb finds in this region. Almost 30 years after they were opened, two Macedonian chamber tombs near the Greek village of Vergina are still the subjects of heated debate among specialists. Despite a vast quantity of material recovered from Tomb II, which had never been plundered since the day it was sealed, scholars remain divided over whether the tomb housed Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, or Philip III, who died about two decades later. Dating methods in ancient Aegean archaeology are simply not advanced enough to draw such a precise bead on the date of the structure or its contents. It raises some suspicion therefore that Sismanidis alluded to dating in his defense of Aristotle attribution. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., and his ashes were buried on the island of Euboea. Stagira at that point lay largely in ruins, a victim of the campaigns of Alexanders father. But Alexander, who had been tutored by Aristotle, had, before his own death a year earlier, ordered Stagira rebuilt as a favor to his former teacher, and the new occupants of the town, according to one historical source, had Aristotles remains repatriated to a special shrine built there. Sismanidis claims that his structure dates to the early Hellenistic period, about the right time for the reburial of Aristotles remains. But, critics will be quick to note, available methods can only fix the date of an empty building like this one within a century or more, not a decade. Probably no one will ever be sure what the purpose of Sismanidiss building was, but the appellation Aristotles Tomb will no doubt stick, and that will decide the issue. This is how modern archaeology most resembles medieval relic-hunting. Give a site a name and you give it instantaneous mythology. The ruins called Agrippinas Tomb near Miseno, Italy, in fact have no connection to Agrippina the Younger, Neros mother, but guidebooks and signs nonetheless direct tourists there and retell the dramatic story of how Nero had the woman assassinated. Its not clear when the name first came into use, but the town of Miseno has benefited greatly from its romantic associations. So it is with Philips Tomb in Vergina, as its excavator, Manolis Andronikos, first termed itintending to invoke the historical memory of Alexanders father, a great conqueror and king, but accidentally leaving the door open to Alexanders half-brother, also named Philip, a mentally handicapped nonentity. Vergina is today a major tourist destination, and the Greek government has vehemently insisted on the identification of the major finds there with Philip II, not III. The commercial and even ideological impetus behind that attribution have been strong enough to overwhelm all objections and doubts raised by scholars. One badly wants to grant the Greeks such license, since their economy and national pride, both so badly battered in recent years, need every boost they can get. Indeed, international news outlets, perhaps out of charitable motives, have given a fairly free pass to Sismanidiss claims. They harm no one, and if Aristotles Tomb again becomes a pilgrimage site or the focus of a yearly festival, as Stagira apparently was in antiquity, it may do the Greeks some small amount of good. And the rest of the world can certainly use a reminder of Aristotles great intellectual prowess and moral legacy. But, for specialists like myself whose job it is to patrol the ever-more-porous boundary between truth and romantic fiction, the announcement by Sismanidis means that yet another potential breach requires our intervention. Just as the hashtag #ChickenTrump trended on Twitter on Friday evening thanks to power Bernie backers like Sarah Silverman, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders took to Real Time with Bill Maher with fighting words for the GOP frontrunner who this week refused to debate him. Sanders covered all the usual bases in an interview appearance on Mahers HBO show, clad in a suit and a red-and-blue striped tie. Free healthcare and college tuition good, greedy Wall Streeters and politicians and corporate America bad, the citizens of the US of A are tired of establishment politics, etc. etc. Thankfully, Bernie really came to life when Maher brought up the biz mogul and White House hopeful the host later dubbed Donald Pumpkinhead. Agreeing with Maher that Trump is a crazy personMahers words, not BerniesSanders said he feared not only for America, but for the entire planet if The Donald was elected to office. This guy is a pathological liar, Sanders declared. I dont want to be malicious, but thats just the damn truth. He would be a real embarrassment, a real danger to this entire world if he became president. Bernie lit up commenting on the Trump debate that might have been. MMM! I would have loved! Let me just say this: First he said he would do it then he said he wouldnt. Then he said he would do it, then he said he wouldnt do it, said Sanders. Hey Donald, come on up! Lets have a debate about the future of America. In his intro Maher played up the three-way tug of war between Sanders, fellow Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and Trump. All three had been invited to guest on the show, Maher said with a dig at Clintons revived email scandal. Bernie was the only one to accept. Trump declined a spot on Real Time because he is a whiny little bitch, exclaimed Maher. Remember to keep tweeting that with the hashtag #whinylittlebitch, he added, leading his studio audience in an enthusiastic chant: Whiny little bitch! Whiny little bitch! Bernie managed not to join in on that refrain, but he spent his Real Time slot using an assortment of colorful phrases to describe Trump: A liar, a showman, a very good manipulator of media. Everyones chasing California ahead of the June 7 primary. But to Bernies frustration neither Clinton nor Trump will agree to a debate despite his public challenges to both the Democratic and Republican frontrunners. Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and (Debbie) 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 snarked in a statement Friday, insinuating that Sanders has become a charity case for the networks giving him airtime. But Clintons email brouhaha and the fact that shes polling beneath Bernie against Trump have changed the race, Maher suggested. Is this the opening Sanders needs to convince Dems to switch to Team Bernie? Every person in the Democratic Convention wants to make sure Donald Trump doesnt become the President of the United States, Sanders argued, suggesting that the only way Democrats can make sure Trumps America doesnt happen is by nominating him. Maher tiptoed back toward the conversation he had with Bernie during Sanders last appearance on his show by pointing out how wildly different the perception of Sanders socialism skews between younger and older generations. People under 40next to Adderall, they love you the most, Maher quipped, helpfully dubbing him a quasi-socialist. After bidding adieu to Bernie, Maher kept the Bern going as he made his feelings about Trump known throughout Fridays raucous episode: I didnt think I could hate him any more than I do. Thousands of well-educated college students around the country are cheering for the most anti-intellectual presidential candidate in modern history: Donald Trump. Want to know why? Look no further than DePaul University, where a visit from conservative provocateurand Trump stand-inMilo Yiannopoulos provoked strident denunciations from left-leaning faculty and even mob violence at the hands of liberal students. Trump is a troll, and Yiannopoulos, a tech editor at Breitbart and hero to the toxic alt-right crowd, is no different (in fact, he's proud of it). But when campuses tolerate all ideas except the ones that offend some facet of the left, they become breeding grounds for blowback against political correctness. Many conservative and libertarian students are falling in line behind Yiannopoulos, not because they agree with everything he says (no one could), but because he symbolizes resistance to the climate of censorship imposed on them by the campus left. And make no mistake: Yiannopoulos was indeed censored at DePaul last week, despite having been invited to speak by the College Republicans. Yiannopoulos, who lovingly calls Trump "daddy," has been touring the country as part of his deliberately offensive "Dangerous Faggot" tour (he's openly gay), and past events have gotten out of hand, so DePaul asked the CRs to fork over an extra $1,000 for security. This turned out to be a waste of money: not because the protesters behaved themselvesthey absolutely did notbut because the authorities refused to intervene anyway. During Yiannopoulos's Q and A, a dozen protesters stormed the stage and interrupted the session. They were led by Edward Ward, a student-activist aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement. One of his accomplices, a female student, actually struck Yiannopoulos in the face (albeit gently). DePaul is a private, Catholic university, so the First Amendment doesn't strictly apply. But as an institution of higher education, DePaul should protect its students' free expression rights, it should let them bring speakers with views outside the norm to campus, and it should make sure the discussion proceeds without interruption. In this case, the university did nothing of the sort. Security stood by idly as censorious protesters shouted down a conservative speaker. Afterward, Yiannopoulos led his flock to the offices of DePaul President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider to demand his $1,000 back. He was not compensated: instead, he received a long statement of condemnation from the president, capped off with a tepid apology to the CRs: On behalf of the university, I apologize to the DePaul College Republicans," wrote Holtschneider. "They deserved an opportunity to hear their speaker uninterrupted, and were denied it." This statement offended the campus left, too. Dr. Shu-Ju Cheng, an associate professor of sociology at DePaul, accused Holtschneider of moral cowardice. According to Cheng, DePaul should have denied a platform to Yiannopoulos: "Your handling of this case is shameful and embarrassing," she wrote in a letter to the president. "It is a lack of moral courage in the disguise of intellectual objectivity and positional neutrality. Shame on you." According to Cheng, letting Yiannopoulos speak was a tacit endorsement of his insulting views toward women and black people. Multiple news outlets reported that she had even resigned in protest, though a spokesperson for DePaul told The Daily Beast that Cheng actually made the decision to step down last December. Cheng herself did not respond to a request for comment. Still, its clear this professor utterly refuses to teach at an institution that permits a range of opinions to be heard. That's a terrible shame. Diversitya highly-touted feature of a liberal arts educationdoes not just mean including people who look differently: it means including people who are actually different, even if their views are offensive to a great many people. And if nothing else, letting Yiannopoulos speak without interruption might actually defuse some of his influence. Shouting him down, hitting him in the face, and resigning in protest of his appearance are all things that prove him correct in the eyes of his supporters. Just listen to John Minster, president of the DePaul College Republicans. "What happened at this event demonstrates the obsessive, social justice infused PC insanity that has enveloped American campuses all over the country," Minster told The Daily Beast. "They feel they can decide what people are allowed to think." It's impossible to overstate how important this ideathat politically-correct activists have become a kind of thought-police on campusis to young Trump fans. Consider a recent interview The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf conducted with a 22-year-old Trump voter. Even though the young man is college educated, in a mixed racial marriage, and a supporter of globalization, he is still voting for Trump because: "If Trump wins, we will have a president that overwhelmingly rejects PC rhetoric. Even better, we will show that more than half the country rejects this insane PC regime. If Trump wins, I will personally feel a major burden relieved, and I will feel much more comfortable stating my more right-wing views without fearing total ostracism and shame. Because of this, no matter what Trump says or does, I will keep supporting him. After his DePaul appearance, Yiannopoulos headed to the University of California at Santa Barbara, where students literally carried him to the stage on a throne. Campus censorship is a moral wrong on its own. But look, progressives: if you want to stop the Trumps and Yiannopouloses (Yiannopouli?) of the world, you might want to ask yourselves if continuously proving them right in the eyes of their fans is the best strategy. ACAPULCO, Mexico Elena met Rafita a few years ago on the malecon, the breakwater along the port of Acapulco. His shyness and his eyes like the eyes of an injured puppy stole her heart, she remembers. Tourists were throwing coins off their boats and yachts and they were amazed to see him prance along the dock, then nail a dive that seemed almost impossible in order to retrieve their money. At night, his body went through a different kind of test, used by rickety gringos or Canadians who paid a pimp to do with it what they wanted. At the time, Rafita was eight. The Hamptons have always attracted artists. Indeed, there were artists out there way before the bankers, the brokers, and the hedgies, and the locals took to them, seeing them as hapless strivers. Some years back I was leafing through The Hamptons Joke Book in the Springs General Store and found this: What do you call somebody who hangs around the Hamptons all year and doesnt work? The answer? An artist. Disclosure: I have used this gem before, also referencing the fact that this was the store where Jackson Pollock, who was living on a stipend from Peggy Guggenheim, would swap canvases for groceries. The store, by the way, is on Old Stone Highway, which runs directly into Fireplace Road where a drunk and angry Pollock killed himself and a young woman in his blue Oldsmobile. I discovered the Hamptons when I arrived in New York in the mid 70s. It was informal heaven, those being the days when you could track sand into a house, sleep on somebodys sofa, and when a traffic problem meant maybe somebody having a flat tire. Yes, there were some artists out there, usually hanging out with writers at Bobby Vans in Bridgehampton, and the Andy Warhol entourage was out at Montauk. Indeed the movie Cocaine Cowboys, starring Jack Palance and the smuggler Tom Sullivan, was shot on Warhols spread in 1979 and Warhol appears in it now and again, wielding a Polaroid camera. But then in the 80s, when big money began sluicing through the art world, hefty artists became figures on the landscape and galleries budded. As they are now doing increasingly. And there are posh occasions where the haute Hamptonsthe glitterati and art-wordlingscan eye each other, perhaps even chat, such as the affairs at the Parrish Museum and the Watermill Center. But theres never been much by way of venues where fruitful interactions with actual art can occur. Well, now there is. Stratis Morfogen is the motor here. Morfogen is the restaurateur who came in for an understandable flurry of attention in December when he opened the Jue Lan club in a deconsecrated church on 20th Street and 6th Avenue, which had formerly housed Peter Gatiens Limelight. An art program was part of Morfogens project from the get-go. One of the dining room/art spaces is called The Warhol Room, for instancewhich is also, of course, a nod to the places disco originsand this is curated by an Australian beanpole, Emerald Gruin. (Disclosure Two is that I have worked with Gruin on projects. Thats how I know all this stuff.) And it is Emerald Gruin who has curated the first show in The Barn, which is part of and alongside the Jue Lan club on Elm Street, Southampton. They opened on Friday. The Jue Lans in the city and out by the beach are alike in that they feature a highly sophisticated Chinese menu. But just what does the phrase, Jue Lanwhich is a club in the sense of being clubby rather than cardholderishactually mean? The answer suggests Morfogens project of entwining the place with the artworld goes beyond modish marketing. The Jue Lan was started by 14 Chinese artists in Shanghai in 1932, he says. It was effectively a secret society, cutting edge Western art not exactly being popular with the Chinese authorities at the time. Sometimes they would sneak off to Paris with forged papers for three weeks. They were involved with the avant-garde but never used their real names. They would have put themselves in jeopardy, risked being imprisoned or executed when they returned home. The artists whose work Emerald Gruin has assembled for Punks, Poets and Provocateurs, her launch at The Barn, would not have been good prospects for a quiet life in Shanghai back then, I fear. Marcia Resnick, for whose recent book the show is named, dominates it with something like three dozen photographs, including one of Johnny Thunders with a syringe stuck like a feather in his hat, an uncharacteristically benign Johnny Rotten, a very young Jean-Michel Basquiat, a balaclava-headed John Belushi, Mick Jagger biting a toy airplane and Jagger again, sitting down to a meal with Andy Warhol and William Burroughs in his bunker on the Bowery. So the Jue Lan club connection with the Limelight era is indeed persuasively channeled here. As it is unmistakeably by Jonathan Rosens large collage of Club Kid photographs and original invitations to that same seductively infamous club. Hamptons sedateness will also be subjected to a breath of the streets in the work of Mint & Serf, in that of Gregory Siff, who channels the street and much else, and in the direct photographs of tattooed faces by Jack Greer. Theres a lively drawing by Mark Kostabi, a photograph by Jordan Doner, which is a riff on a Salvador Dali, Gregory de la Haba, and a photograph by David Gamble of one of Andy Warhols wigs backed up by effigies of two Egyptian deities, which was taken in Warhols house shortly after his death at the suggestion of the late Fred Hughes. There is also a small, high energy piece by Keith Haring, who painted it on the wall of an apartment on the Lower East Side. The owner says Haring was trying to impress his boyfriend. That boyfriend would die of AIDS. And a realtor recently moved in to redevelop the property. Yes, its that New, New Story. Or Stories. So the owner had the piece cut out of the wall and hence its presence in the show. And, oh, yes, I have a couple of pieces up too: Neons, plus drawings. The openingyet to happen at the time of writingI am sure will be a blast, mingling Hamptons summer folk, Euros, local artists, and kids in from the city, and its a safe bet that it will be more entertaining than a city opening. And after that? My family lived out here for seventeen years, Morfogen says. I didnt come out as a city slicker to turn the place as a cash register and leave the neighborhood in ruins. People should feel free just to come in any time and look at the art. On May 8, the Pentagon announced that Abu Wahib was killed by a coalition airstrike in Rutba, Anbar Province, Iraqthe latest of several top-level ISIS officials to meet his end over the past two months, as the Obama administration has steadily ratcheted up its war on the Islamic State not only in Iraq and Syria, but elsewhere in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, and Africa. Omar-al-Shishani, believed to be the chief ISIS minister of war, was killed in an airstrike in early March, while Haji Iman, the leading ISIS minister of finance and reputed first lieutenant of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, lost his life in a Special Forces commando raid intended to bring about his capture sometime around March 20. To a degree unprecedented in American military history, the war against ISIS is a conflict spearheaded and orchestrated by the commandos, trainers, and advisers of the elite U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). And the conflict against ISIS is only the headline-grabber in a much broader, underneath-the-radar struggle being waged by Americas shadow warriors to combat instability and looming crisis wherever American vital interests are at stake. The Special Forces communitys increasingly robust presence around the globe is hardly restricted to deployments in active combat zones. Propelled by sharp spikes in demand worldwide for its unique expertise in irregular warfare and counter-terrorism, SOCOM appears to be well on its way to establishing what former SOCOM commander Admiral William McRaven calls its own global network of likeminded interagency allies and partners. As of early 2016, almost half of the 7,500 Special Forces warriors overseas were posted outside the Middle East and Afghanistan, operating as both liaison and training teams inside more than 80 nations. Some of these teams are assigned to U.S. embassies, where they help to identify security risks, and provide advice to both the U.S. and foreign governments as to how these risks might be addressed before they reach crisis proportions. Others are attached directly to armies, militias, and police forces as trainers and advisers to buttress local security capabilities, and reduce the likelihood of interventions by conventional U.S. forces in the event of trouble. Never before in American foreign policy has so much been entrusted to an elite cadre of unconventional war specialists. In August 2014, McRaven, chief architect of the dramatic SEAL Team 6 raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, declared, We are in the golden age of special operations. Today, signs abound that the secretive community of elite centurions from all four of the military services that SOCOM oversees has grown considerably more important than it was two years ago in the execution of the Obama administrations national security policy as a whole. In March, McRavens successor at SOCOM, Army General Joseph L. Votel, assumed the leadership of Central Command, by far and away the most strategically vital of the six regional commands in the American military. CENTCOM, of course, is responsible for overseeing operations throughout the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and North Africa, the epicenter of the Global War on Terror. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter last December announced that a specialized expeditionary force of several hundred men would be sent to Iraq and Syria to buttress the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS there. Carter didnt say so explicitly, but various sources confirm that the force is composed of hunter-killer counter-terrorist teams of Tier I special forces unitsthe Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, the 75th Ranger Regiment, and their supporting air assets. These commando units, said coalition spokesman Col. Steve Warren soon after Carters announcement, will focus on high value individuals, high-value targets. Their preference will be to capture militants, because that allows us to collect intelligence on their organizations structure and objectives. Col. Warren left no doubt about the coalitions mission: to help indigenous forces in the region to defeat ISIS on the ground, and retake the large swath of land it now controls in Iraq and Syria. The efforts of this newly deployed commando task force are designed to complement those of an undisclosed number of Green Beret Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA) units that have been in the war zone for many months already. These 12-man teams have extensive linguistic and cultural training, as well as wide-ranging military expertise, and they work by, with, and through the Iraqi Army, as well as a coterie of anti-ISIS militias in Iraq and Syria, providing tactical advice and forward air controllers to pinpoint ISIS targets for Coalition air strikes. As of this writing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, SOF, and conventional support troops combined hovers around 4,000, but the Pentagon has made no secret that it expects that number to increase steadily in the coming months. Its a sure bet that a good percentage of these future deployments will be special operators of one sort or another. Additional SOF deployments have recently been announced to combat ISIS-affiliated groups in Somalia, Libya, Cameroon, and several other African countries, even as SOF forces are actively combating a rising tide of Taliban and pro-ISIS insurgents in Afghanistan. U.S. commanders there claim to have killed or captured a hundred or more ISIS-affiliated fighters between late 2015 and early 2016, mostly in and around the politically sensitive border region with Pakistan. After pledging to withdraw all U.S. troops from war-weary Afghanistan save for counter-terrorist units, President Obama announced late last year that 5,500 American troops would remain there through the end of his presidency in early 2017. Few close observers of the GWT would be surprised to see additional SOF deployments there before this year is out. The arguments put forward by SOCOM for strengthening the sinews of its nascent global network strike many students of military affairs, including this one, as compelling. In a strategic environment where terrorist networks and proxy wars sponsored by both state and non-state actors abound, traditional diplomatic and military approaches to deterrence seem increasingly inadequate. Special operations teams are trained to implement unorthodox alternatives. Former SOCOM commander Votel, in remarks before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities in March 2015, explained how the SOF global network can step into the breach in a world where U.S. national security institutions often work in a kind of gray zone between war and peace: First, we conduct persistent engagement in a variety of strategically important locations with a small-footprint approach that integrates a network of partners. This engagement allows us to nurture relationships prior to conflict. Our language and cultural expertise in these regions help us facilitate stability and counter malign influence with and through local security forces. Although SOF excel at short-notice missions under politically sensitive conditions, we are most effective when we deliberately build inroads over time with partners who share our interests. This engagement allows SOF to buy time to prevent conflict in the first place. Second, we integrate and enable both conventional forces and interagency, [e.g., the State Department, the Agency for International Development, NGOs] capabilities. On a daily basis, SOF are assisting the [major regional combatant commands, such as CENTCOM] across and between their areas of responsibility to address issues that are not constrained by borders. When crises escalate, SOF develop critical understanding, influence, and relationships that aid conventional force entry into theater. In a break with long precedent, Green Berets with specialized cultural and linguistic expertise now continue to support overseas operations in Africa, Asia, and Central Americamission planning, organizing information campaigns, and interpreting intelligenceeven after they have returned to their home bases in the United States. Meanwhile, the number of service members under SOCOM command had risen sharply from 45,000 in 2001, to 70,000 today. The SOCOM budget has mushroomed from $2.3 billion in 2001 to $6.6 billion in 2006 and to 10.8 billion in 2017. If the geographical scope of SOF deployments and increased clout of SOCOM within the halls of the Pentagon are any indication, Special Forces are indeed in the midst of a golden age. Special forces soldiers call themselves the quiet professionals, but the glamorous image of the hard, square-jawed commando has captured the collective American imagination in films like Zero Dark Thirty and American Sniper, books like No Easy Day, and countless bestselling video games to a far greater extent than the Army and Marine grunts and Air Force and Navy pilots who have carried so much of the burden of the fighting in Americas recent wars. Their hunt-and-kill missions make big headlines, and showcase the lethal combination of cutting edge military technology with the spartan virtues of Americas elite soldiersstoic, disciplined, highly trained men who kill the leading villains of jihadist networks without hesitation or mercy. That they fight in a kind of forever war where victory in the traditional sense of the word has lost its moorings only seems to heighten our collective fascination with their exploits. Theres no mystery as to the origins of SOCOMs rising influence. It began with the response to the 9/11 attacks, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These two conflicts created an almost insatiable appetite for SOCOM expertise, and the forces it trains and oversees. More specifically, the golden age of special forces began with the stunning success of the unconventional warfare campaign to decapitate the Taliban and eliminate al Qaedas main base of operations in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. In the smoldering aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration demanded that the ultraconservative Taliban regime then ruling over Afghanistan extradite Osama bin Laden and a number of other leaders of al Qaeda to whom they had granted sanctuary, or face the fury of American retribution. When Taliban leader Mullah Omar refused, Bush, acting largely on the advice of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, eschewed an attack by conventional forces on the grounds that it would take too long to mount, and likely lead to a quagmire guerrilla war along the lines of what the Soviets had endured in Afghanistan in the 80s. Instead, the administration opted for a daring and innovative special warfare strategy, combining high-tech U.S. intelligence-gathering technologies, precision air strikes, and a spate of indigenous anti-Taliban militia and warlords as ground forces. CIA covert operatives provided funding for the indigenous fighters, including the Tajik- and Uzbek-dominated Northern Alliance, and Pashtun militia groups in the south under future Afghani President Hamid Karzai. The campaign was organized and planned by the CIA Special Activities Division and the Fifth Special Forces Group, and spearheaded by Green Beret ODA teams, which were attached to the various militia groups to coordinate the ground and air attacks. The operation lasted about two months, and consisted of sequential offensives in the north, south, and eastern regions of the country. The pattern and tempo of the fighting was remarkably similar in all three areas of operations, as SF teams called in precision air strikes on Taliban defensive positions by fighter-bombers and AC-130 gunships, with devastating effect. Green Berets then joined the local forces in mounting both conventional infantry assaults as well as cavalry charges, typically forcing the Taliban to break and scatter after incurring heavy losses. Between October 7 and December 7, Taliban strongholds in Mazur-I-Sharif, Kunduz, and finally Kandahar, the spiritual center of the Taliban movement, fell in rapid succession. As the lightning campaign continued apace, Taliban forces fled toward the border with Pakistan, where they went into hiding, not to emerge in significant numbers again in Afghanistan for several years. At the height of the campaign, in mid-November 2001, Osama bin Laden and several hundred of his fighters left Jalalabad, heading south, where they sought refuge from their pursuers in a 35-square mile cave complex near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, high in the White Mountains. It was called Tora Bora. Here the notorious al Qaeda chief and his supporters came under attack by an unsavory league of warlords dubbed the Eastern Alliance by their American and British SOF coordinators. As they closed in on the highest of the high-value targets, American special operators requested the deployment of conventional U.S. ground forces to cordon off the porous AfghanistanPakistan border area. The Bush administration, determined to maintain a light U.S. footprint on the ground, denied the request. It was one of the first unfortunate decisions in an administration that would make a great many of them in the GWT. Its widely believed Osama bin Laden and a coterie of his bodyguards were able to bribe their way out of the Tora Bora complex in mid-December, fleeing into the rugged tribal region of Pakistan, and beyond the reach of the American-led coalition forces. Nonetheless, SOCOM, with the assistance of the CIA, had orchestrated one of the most successful unconventional warfare campaigns in military history. Unfortunately, that effort proved to be but the first chapter in a protracted insurgency war for which neither the Bush administration nor the Pentagons chief strategists had prepared. Then, in a monumental display of strategic ineptitude at the highest levels, it happened all over again in Iraq. The spring 2003 conventional invasion of Iraq led to the rapid collapse of the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. Special Forces planned and executed another bravado unconventional warfare campaign in that conflictthis time leading Kurdish Peshmerga forces to a series of operational triumphs in northern Iraq and tying up at least a half dozen Iraqi regular divisions in the process. But Saddams defeat merely ushered in yet another protracted insurgencythis one on a far greater scale of complexity than that in Afghanistanand yet again, there was no coherent counterinsurgency strategy in place on paper, let alone in the field. Nor had Americas deployed conventional forces been trained to fight in a counterinsurgency environment in anything more than the most cursory fashion. Into the breach stepped SOCOM, the military command created by an act of Congress in 1987 to provide the United States with immediate and primary capability to respond to terrorism, to conduct counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare campaigns, and to serve as the military mainstay for the purposes of nation-building and the training of friendly [indigenous] forces In both Afghanistan and Iraq, the absence of viable friendly government institutions, especially police and military forces, tested SOCOMs indirect action missionsorganizing and training nascent Afghan and Iraqi forces in counterinsurgency tactics, training local police and village defense forces, and providing civic action battalions to develop roads, schools, and medical facilitiesto the breaking point. SOF psychological operations teams also took up much of the burden of developing propaganda campaigns to buttress support of the local population for the fledgling national governments, and to sever the connective tissue between the people and the myriad sectarian insurgencies that challenged the new national administrations in both nations at every turn. And so the rapid increase in size and influence of SOCOM on the American military-national security apparatus continued apace in the mid- and late-2000s. As U.S. conventional forces struggled to quell the insurgencies in both countries, for the first time in U.S. military history, Special Forces officers were placed in charge of conventional combat units in order to accomplish hybrid missions, combining direct action raids against high value targets with conventional infantry assaults supported by artillery and air power against insurgent enclaves. To drive Muqtada al Sadr and his Shiite militia out of Najaf, Iraq, in 2004, U.S. commanders employed a sophisticated amalgam of SEAL team raids on militia leaders strongholds, Green Beret-led indigenous militia strike forces, and conventional light infantry and tank forces. After SOF units conducted special reconnaissance missions and surgical raids deep in enemy held territory, conventional forces swept in to clear away large pockets of insurgents in the same area of operations. In the bitter trials of hundreds of joint operations across Iraq and Afghanistan, much of the longstanding mistrust and misunderstanding between conventional and special operations forcesa mistrust that extended back to World War II and Vietnamwas shorn away by shared sacrifice and a growing recognition that operational success in irregular wars against both terrorist networks and sectarian insurgencies was crucially dependent on SOF-conventional unit synergy. Army General Ray Odierno, who served as top commander in Iraq from 2008 to 2010, played a key role in integrating conventional and special operations missions there. As Chief of Staff of the Army from 2011 to 2015, Odierno worked hard to create a new set of formal relationships between SOCOM and the regular army. Among his initiatives was a program to train conventional units alongside SOF units, and deploy them together overseas. Linda Robinson, a highly respected RAND Corporation expert on Special Forces, told The Daily Beast in an email that the Army and the other services have at long last come to a widespread agreement that SOF has a significantly larger role to play in planning for future conflicts than it did in the pre-9/11 environment. It was during the early years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that a hard-charging, intense, Special Forces general named Stanley McChrystal increased the size and lethal capabilities of the clandestine task force responsible for gathering intelligence on terrorist networks, and taking down high-value targets. As head of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the secrecy-shrouded sub-command that controls (unofficially) SEAL Team 6, the Delta Force, and the Air Forces 24th Special Tactics Squadron, McChrystal worked like a man possessed to break down the walls between the vast array of U.S. and allied intelligence-gathering organizations, and to make seamless connections between JSOC and top conventional commands in Afghanistan and Iraq. With the help of Col. Mike Flynn, McChrystal developed an innovative nodal analysis technique for rapidly processing vast amounts of intelligence on enemy networks and targets. McChrystals mantra, as he put it in his book, My Share of the Task, was, It takes a network to defeat a network. By the time JSOCs new system was up and running, everyone involved in target acquisition, mission planning, execution, and follow-up had unimpeded access to real-time intelligence. According to military analysts Charles Faint and Michael Harris, the new JSOC system for targeting terroristsfind, fix, finish, exploit, analyze, and disseminateF3EAD, or feed for shortallows SOF to anticipate and prevent enemy operations, identify, locate, and target enemy forces, and to perform rapid analysis of captured enemy personnel and material that often leads to a fresh set of targets and raids. Thus, F3EAD established a powerful, symbiotic relationship between intelligence-gathering and operations unprecedented in the long history of anti-terrorist operations. Since the system has been implemented, JSOC has been able to plan and execute an extraordinary number of successful commando raids, drone attacks, and precision air strikes. The first high-visibility success of F3EAD was the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003. At the height of the surge in Iraq in 2007, a year or so after a JSOC task force had killed Abu Musab Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, the precursor organization of ISISAmerican commando teams were reportedly conducting as many as 14 raids a night. According to Linda Robinson, successive raids were made possible by intelligence scooped up during the previous one and then rapidly processed. The raids currently at the forefront of the Obama administrations strategy to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria build on the success of JSOCs direct action operations in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Will they succeed against ISIS? The best answer as of this writing may be, yes, and no. The worry, say many military and foreign policy analysts, is that there is an inclination on the part of some members of our senior military leadership, policy makers, and the American public alike to mistake the raids dramatic tactical and operational success for strategic progress. That, said David Tucker, former longtime professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, and co-author with Christopher Lamb of an acclaimed book, United States Special Operations Forces, is a mistake. Unless the raids are part of a well-integrated politico-military strategy involving indigenous forces, said Tucker in an interview with The Daily Beast, there are strict limits to what these raids alone can accomplish against an organization as complex and resilient as ISIS. There seems to be a strong consensus inside the special forces community, and among professional analysts of that tribe that, given the Obama administrations commitment to a national security strategy that pivots on empowering our allies to defend and govern themselves, SOCOMs most urgent challenge over the next few years is to step up its indirect action game, much as it built up its capabilities in direct action operations over the past decade. What William McRaven said in March 2011, just two months before Osama bin Laden was killed in the most celebrated commando raid in American history still holds true today: The direct approach alone is not the solution to the challenges our nation faces today, as it ultimately only buys time and space for the indirect approach. What makes SOFs indirect missions so challenging is that all of themforging partnerships with foreign militaries as trainers and advisers; developing unconventional warfare campaigns with those forces, equipping and training militias and insurgencies in failing nation states like Syria, working in rural areas directly with tribal leaders and the local populace to develop village defense forces, and providing medical and economic assistance to host governmentsengage operators in activities where political and military actions intersect. The indirect approach to warfare is, in essence, a political approach, in that organizational and motivational work takes precedence over tactical operations. As such, the challenges U.S. advisers encounter in indirect missions dont lend themselves to cookie-cutter, by the book protocols and technological solutions that are the forte of hierarchical institutions like the conventional U.S. military services. They call on soldiers, both special forces troops who spearhead such partnerships and the conventional forces and State Department advisory teams who flesh out and build on their work, to think of conflict in its broadest political context. The indirect approach requires flexibility, creativity, and a firm grounding in local languages and cultures that comes only with considerable academic study, coupled with extensive on the ground experience. In short, indirect missions demand longstanding commitments and patience, neither of which have been the strong suit of our political leaders, or an American military culture that strongly inclines toward fast, technologically-driven solutions to problems. As John Nagl, a retired army officer, counterinsurgency expert, and leading advocate of establishing a permanent adviser corps in the U.S. Army puts it, The United States militarys ability in battle is unmatched, but we have a spotty history in terms of helping allies fight for themselves. The much-publicized recent collapse of a $500 million Green Beret program to train Syrian rebels reminds us of the daunting challenges these missions pose to even the most dedicated and knowledgeable trainers in the U.S. military. Its sobering to recall that the shining success of the unconventional warfare campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan led by the Green Berets occurred 15 years ago. Since that time, the performance of SOF-trained and led indigenous forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq has been decidedly mixed. Perhaps the most important question right now for the Obama administrations nascent military strategy against ISIS concerns the effectiveness of the special forces advisers tasked with melding our coalition partnersthe Peshmerga, the Free Syrian Army, the Iraqi Army, various Shia militia groupsinto a cohesive, resilient ground army that can take the fight to ISIS at the battalion and regimental level, and win. Recent reports from the field suggest there are neither enough SOF advisers, nor sufficient allocations of weapons and funding to our partners, to meet the challenge. And it seems clear that in the long run, SOCOM and the American military in general will need to put more creativity and resources into training and supporting the warrior-diplomat soldiers who spearhead Americas indirect action campaigns if they expect the kind of concrete success in ground operations with our partners that we have seen with JSOCs commando raids. TAMPA A fusion of U.S. special operations forces and local militia are about to bloody the so-called Islamic State, and just possibly drive them out of their de facto capital. But no one expects a decisive victory against ISIS. The commanders of those forces met in Tampa this past week near U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters to share lessons learned, and lament that the more they learn about ISIS, the longer and harder they think this fight will be. Innovativeagile, redundant, resilient. Thats how a grim faced Air Force Brig. Gen. Albert "Buck" Elton described ISIS to a crowd a couple thousand strong, including senior foreign special operations chiefs who are part of coalition fighting ISIS, and other violent extremists like al-Qaeda. They are willing to fail multiple times, said Elton, the deputy commanding general for the top U.S. military counterterrorist unit, the Joint Special Operations Command. They are willing to accept tremendous losses to advance their cause. It was a rare glimpse into the analysis that drives the elite hunting force better known as JSOC, whose counterterrorist mission is actually classified. JSOC is leading a motley crew of U.S. special forces of all stripes advising and sometimes fighting alongside local Kurdish and Arab militia in Syria, and Kurdish and Iraqi armies in Iraq against ISIS. Debates still rage back in Washington over how many more troops should be sent or what counts as combat versus advising local fighters, but in Tampa, theres a feeling theyve finally been unleashed, and they are comfortable in this area they call the grey zone leading from behind, or next to regional partners as they have done for years in places like Latin America. The Americans, Brits, French, Jordanians, Tunisians and more in these conference halls are in planning and action mode, meeting in smaller groups behind closed doors to share lessons learned, and figure out how to ratchet up the pressure against an enemy no one here underestimates. Theyre adjusting to the messy way they have to fight a patchwork of authorities that give them free rein in one country, but channel their advice and firepower through a local government or the U.S. State Department in the next. They hope it doesnt to amount to a kind of global imperialism, as one foreign special operator put it. And while the White House has said U.S. troops are involved in combat, but not on a combat mission, no one is wasting time with that argument here. With Memorial Day just around the corner and the recent losses of three U.S. special operators in the ISIS fight, the newest U.S. special operations commander, Army Gen. Raymond Tony Thomas cut through the semantics about what his troops are doing. I think all of our folks appreciate that they are in combat, in a combat zone, he told the audience, in one of the open sessions at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, which is run concurrently with a bi-annual International Special Operations Forces meeting at the Tampa Convention Center. The distinction weve laid out there from a policy standpoint is we dont want the service members to be the number one man through the door, he explained, using the example of Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, who was killed while helping Kurdish forces liberate an ISIS prison in Northern Iraq. Josh was riding the edge of advising and assisting, not being the number one man, not doing the assaulting but trying to enable and help this force to do the most difficult mission on the planet, said Thomas, who was still commanding JSOC when Wheeler was killed last fall. We are trying desperately to work through other people, have them do their own security as much as they can, so that our nation isnt bearing the burden, he added. His word choice hinted at the scope of the task limiting the spread of ISIS which has carried out some 90 attacks in more than 20 countries since it surged over the Syrian border and took over Iraqs second-largest city of Mosul in 2014. They have quickly adapted their organization and their technologies, their tactics, techniques and procedures, their weapons, to take advantage of our constraints and limitations, said JSOC deputy commander Elton, continuing his summation of what coalition forces are up against. They hide in populated urban areas, communicate with leading edge encryption, executive effective mission command, and they develop affordable but lethal weapons, particularly explosives made from commercially available materials, improvise armor, and they are working on chemical and biological weapons, he said, adding that they use surrogates and sabotage, cyber attacks, and even the tactic of providing local government where none else exists to extend their power. The U.S. commanders in the crowd werent asking for more troops or equipment, however. They were asking their foreign partners to take it seriously and not always asking politely. Too late! Its too damned late, to kill ISIS by defeating it in Iraq and Syria, said ret. British Gen. Graeme Lamb, the former director of British Special Forces. On your watchIts reinforced its franchise in Africa, he said in a session to primarily foreign officers, who surprisingly called the harsh dressing down the best session of the conference. It's already morphed beyond that to...the virtual caliphate, which is alive and well in every one of your capital cities, towns and villages," he said "The opposition has literally danced around you and laughed, he continued. "That is what you need to have tattooed to your forehead...and not keep doing more of the same. You have to rip up some of thecomplacency, he said. Now like the frog, we're just lying in the hot tub and it's really pleasant. The bastards will boil you." That grim-but-colorful view wasnt necessarily shared by the American officers present. Its really starting to turn, but were in for a long fight, said one senior leader, speaking anonymously in order to discuss the sensitive strategy debates. Theyre letting us do our jobs, and its working, said another, referring to the Obama administration. Only a year ago, this conference floor was full of laments over being held back by a timid White House. The administration has since ratcheted up its campaign on ISIS, with an eye to legacy and a tacit acknowledgement that the previous strategy wasnt working. The Pentagon has deployed fifty U.S. special operators to Syria to train and advise local forces, and authorized up to 250 more, and also sent several hundred special operators to a base in northern Iraq to target ISIS by air and by ground, as well as roughly 4,000 conventional U.S. troops to help the Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The JSOC-run expeditionary targeting force as its known has already taken out some 40 ISIS operatives linked to planning and facilitating overseas attacks, less than half of the ISIS fighters JSOC has removed from the battlefield. Strikes inside Iraq are done with the government of Iraqs permission. The light U.S. footprint has meant an evolution of the teams fighting ISIS. In previous campaigns like Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. counterterrorist forces worked mostly separately from units like the Green Berets that train locals. The teams fighting ISIS are mixed together, according to Special Operations Commands Thomas. It is absolutely blended. I just came back from overseas. I had to ask people who are you with. Whos who in the zoo here, because it was that well blended, that well orchestrated, which is a good thing, he said. Some of those troops were caught on camera, patrolling alongside their Kurdish fighting partners and sporting Kurdish combat patches on their uniform a sign of cooperation with their brothers in arms, but one that sent Turkey into a diplomatic tailspin Friday. Ankara believes those Kurdish fighting units have ties to separatists who Turkey considers to be terrorists. In Africa, which faces an alphabet soup of dangerous extremists, local troops are willing if not always able to fight. That helps to explain why there are 96 special operations missions in some 22 African countries, according to Army Green Beret Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, who heads Special Operations Command Africa. ISIL is the most dominant violent extremist organization on the continent, Bolduc told the crowd, using the governments preferred acronym for the so-called Islamic State. AQIM [al Qaeda in the Magreb] is the most enduring. Boko Haram, the most deadly. Al Shabab is in our opinion the most unpredictable, and demonstrates resiliency. He pointed to the weakened state of the Ugandan-spawned Lords Resistance Army after four years hunted by local troops backed by foreign assistance as proof of what 100 U.S. special operations advisors could accomplish. They bump up against our partners, and our partners take it to them, Bolduc said. The need to work through partners is changing how some special operations forces recruit, according to Navy SEAL Rear Adm. Brian Losey, who heads the SEALs in Coronado, Calif. Losey spoke of recruiting warrior statesmen capable of negotiating with locals, and working with humanitarian groups to bring aid, as well as they raid on the battlefield. He even welcomed women SEALs to the force, should they make it through the selective training that was just opened to all, as he said they would help communicate with more of the population in conflict zones. If you only bring tools for lethality and destruction, he said, you won't win hearts and minds. Its a surprising turn of phrase from the commander who headed the Naval Special Warfare Development Group or SEAL Team Six, responsible for the killing of al Qaedas Osama bin Laden. Theres only so much the U.S. can do to cajole local partners to step up their fight against locally fueled extremism. White House counterterrorist advisor Lisa Monaco addressed the international officers on Tuesday remarks that at times left listeners frustrated because she asked them to do more, but also sent what many in the crowd perceived as a not-so-veiled threat: that the U.S. would step in if they failed to get the job done. We call on you to be to be flexible and forward-leaning, Monaco told the crowd. Then she gave the example of the recent aerial strike against a Taliban leader inside Pakistan, without informing Islamabad or Afghanistan the strike was coming. What the crowd took away from the seemingly contradictory messages: work with us, or well work around you. We can hit whenever and wherever we like, was how one of the senior officers from North Africa described his reaction. Its a kind of imperialism. The Pentagon estimates 41 civilians have been killed in air strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan since the conflict began, but other watchdog groups estimate the toll is much higher. Monaco said in March that the White House would soon release its estimate of the total killed by U.S. strikes worldwide since President Barack Obama took office in 2009. But other foreign officers said they would have made the same call if time and trust of the country in question were in short supply. If you dont do the strike, you might lose a lot of lives, one African commander said. One thing has remained a constant, however the need for American firepower to back up U.S. and foreign troops. Our customer is the enemy, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, who heads Air Force Special Operations Command. The product we deliver is violence. And we have no problem delivering our product to our customer any time. Why pay someone $300 to touch your vagina when you can touch it yourself? Thats the question that San Francisco Bay Area OB/GYN and writer Dr. Jennifer Gunter would ask anyone who is thinking about dropping a few Benjamins on a tantric yoni massage. These erotic massages have been around for decades, offered by sensual new-agey masseuses and masseurs in a major metropolis near you. But after a recent Womens Health article drew attention the practice, gossip mags and tabloids have declared them a craze that is on rise. Even if thats true, theres no good reason to drop your pants and jump on the bandwagon. Isnt that what your sex partners are for? Dr. Gunter joked when The Daily Beast asked about yoni massages, which are named after the Sanskrit word for place of birth. Kidding aside, yoni massages do involve the same exact kind of sensual touching that most women find necessary to have an orgasm. Sarah Ratchford, who tried getting one for Cosmo, described having her labia majora rubbed, then her clitoris, and ultimately, the inside of her vagina, G-spot included. Its not unheard-of for women to climax during these sessions, as one masseuse named Isis Phoenix confirmed to Womens Health. But if thats true, then good sex or masturbation should also do the trick. Yes, massaging the lower genital tract is pleasurable, said Dr. Gunter. Physical stimulation in that area is how most women achieve orgasm. However, most women do this with a partner orif they dont have a partner or dont care to have one at the momentthey use their hands or a vibrator. Three hundred dollars may fall far short of the price tag on Gwyneth Paltrows $15,000 gold-plated dildo but its enough to buy a pretty terrific vibrator. And the methods for finding pleasurable ways of touching yourself dont cost a dime. Dr. Gunter recommends sex educator Betty Dodsons website as an affirming, sex-positive resource for women who want to perform their own, at-home yoni massages. So why would you pay an expert for a good old-fashioned genital rubdown? Phoenix told Womens Health that a tantric yoni massage can cleanse you and help you release emotions that are stuck in your vagina. But as, Dr. Gunter notes that those claims bear an eerie resemblance to Victorian-era psychoanalytic theories about female sexuality. This sounds a lot like the 1800s when women who were frustrated visited a doctor to have their hysteria treated with masturbation by a professional, she said. Incidentally, the notion that women suffered from hysteria, a poorly defined disorder with a laundry list of symptoms, led to the creation of the modern-day vibrator. Doctors would treat female hysterics by massaging them until they reached orgasm. Sound familiar? The practice came to a head in the late 19th-century when doctors started using steam-powered and electromechanical machinery to save their hands the trouble. During Ratchfords yoni massage for Cosmo, she decided to stop after the masseuse entered her vagina. The masseuse reportedly told her that meant she was emotionally blocked. Paging Dr. Freud. Yoni massages are just the latest in a long line of unnecessary and sometimes dangerous vaginal trends. Before she recommended a sex toy that cost as much as a car, Gwyneth Paltrow endorsed vaginal steaming, which is a bad idea. Earlier this year, bloggers drew attention to herbal satchels designed to be stuffed inside your vagina. Thats a bad idea, too. At this point, Dr. Gunter has become the go-to source for advising women to avoid weird genital crazesshe has blogged about both trendsand she suspects shell have to wear that mantle for a while longer yet. Even though we are in the age of information, there is still so much misinformation about sex, she said. Ultimately, she fears that these trends crop up because women arent finding enough satisfaction in their own sex lives. Sex research shows that most women do not regularly orgasm from vaginal intercourse alone. So if youre not getting manual or oral stimulation at home, Dr. Gunter speculates, it makes sense that your interest might be piqued by a masseuse offering a solution. Foreplay isnt twist-a-nipple and stick-it-in, so I think if you are not having satisfying sexual experiences and these sites pop up, it is natural to look and wonder if that could help you, she said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 Trend: The main issue of Azerbaijan's foreign policy, and not only foreign, but also its policy as a whole, is the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. He made the remarks addressing an official reception held on the occasion of Azerbaijan's national holiday, the Republic Day. "I have repeatedly expressed my thoughts on this issue. Azerbaijan's stance has not undergone any changes, and the people support and endorse this stance," he said. The president noted that the conflict should be resolved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. "There is no other way," he added. "The four resolutions of the UN Security Council, which demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from our lands, should be fulfilled, and the status-quo should be changed." He also expressed happiness with the fact that the heads and foreign ministers of the Minsk Group co-chairing countries and other representatives are already unanimously stating that the status-quo is unacceptable and should be changed. "Changing the status-quo means ending the occupation, as the status-quo suits Armenia, and they don't want peace," added Ilham Aliyev. "They want the status-quo to remain forever. They want the negotiations to be endless, that is, the negotiations to be held for sake of appearance and imitation. We have repeatedly said that it can't be like this." "We have already been waiting for more than 20 years. The mediators always tell us to wait, to settle peacefully. Recently, they have repeated that often. We also want a peaceful resolution. Who would want the start of a war?!" said the president. He said Azerbaijan wants the conflict to be resolved, and that is the exact difference between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The president went on to add that Armenia wants a peaceful settlement to the conflict, but hampers its settlement and creates artificial obstacles. "Armenia beforehand puts unacceptable terms, so that we don't accept them and thus the negotiations continue for decades. Meanwhile, our stance is constructive, and the mediators know that. They do not state that officially, but acknowledge that," said Ilham Aliyev. "We are demonstrating a constructive stance so that the issue gets resolved, our lands get freed from occupation and the displaced Azerbaijanis return to the lands of their ancestors. Our stance has not changed," said the president. He added that the people and government of Azerbaijan will not allow the creation of a second Armenian state in Azerbaijan's historical lands. "We will never allow that," the president stressed. "As for the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, let them live there as they are living," said President Aliyev. "The Armenian leadership always distortedly presents our stance to its people. But I reiterate: our position is that all should live where they have lived." Ilham Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is a model country in terms of multiculturalism, religious and national tolerance on a global scale. "Armenia's political leadership, the nationalist groups and people who show a constant hatred towards Azerbaijan, want to disrupt those positive tendencies and cross them out," he said. "Our territorial integrity is not a subject of talks and I believe that the Vienna meeting was successful," he added. "We expect that serious, as the mediators call it, substantive talks, that is to say, meaningful talks will start soon, without wasting time." "Aside from that, in the future we should certainly increase our military power, and we are increasing it. The army building process has been successfully going on for many years," said President Aliyev. "The fighting efficiency and the logistical support of our army stand at a high level." He also said the most modern weapons and equipment are delivered to Azerbaijan and are manufactured inside the country. "Over 1,000 types of military products are manufactured in Azerbaijan," said Ilham Aliyev. "Currently, the Azerbaijani army is among the leading armies in the world. I have repeatedly said that." President Aliyev also pointed out that the provocation staged by Armenia in April and the counter-attack operation carried out by the Azerbaijani army showed to Armenia and the whole world that the Azerbaijani army is among the strong armies. "In the future, we will take additional measures in this regard and relevant instructions have already been given. I don't want to disclose them," said the president. "Necessary measures are underway in terms of logistical support and for obtaining modern equipment." Ilham Aliyev also noted that the Azerbaijani people should be confident that this issue is constantly in the limelight. "We know our capacity, we do not use it, we have simply given, are giving and if necessary, will give an adequate response to the provocations and will try to ensure the speedy settlement of this issue through peaceful means," said the president. This is how the most dramatic scene of The First Circle, the most famous novel of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, begins: One of the wooden booths outside the station was empty but seemed to have a broken window. Innokenty walked on, into the station. Here the four booths set into the wall were all occupied. But in the one to the left, a rough-looking character, not quite sober, was finishing his call and hanging up the receiver. He smiled at Innokenty and started to say something. Innokenty took his place in the booth, carefully pulled the thick-paned door closed, and held it shut with one hand; the other, still gloved, trembled as it dropped a coin into the slot and dialed the number. After several prolonged buzzes the receiver was lifted at the other end. Is this the secretariat? Innokenty asked, trying to disguise his voice. Yes. Please put me through to the Ambassador immediately. The answer came in very good Russian. I cant call the Ambassador. What is your business? Give me the charge then! Or the military attache! Please be quick! The novel is set in winter Moscow of 1949, and Innokenty was a disenchanted Soviet Foreign Ministry official desperate to trust the Americans with a secret. After much delay, he conveys the message to the U.S. Air Force attache: This is a life-and-death matter for your country! And not only your country! Listen! Within the next few days a Soviet agent called Georgy Koval will pick something up at a shop selling radio parts; the address is, and then he finally made himself crystal clear, In a few days time the Soviet agent Koval will be given important technical information about the production of the atomic bomb, at a radio shop. The Soviet Union was desperately trying to catch up with the United States in producing the most deadly weapon on the planet, and Solzehnityns story was based on reality. A Soviet diplomat had rung the U.S. embassy, Stalins security services intercepted the call, recorded the conversation and sent the recordings to identify a caller to a secret research facility manned by secret services, known as Sharashka or Marfino. The research in Sharashka was conducted by imprisoned engineers, heavily guarded. One of those engineers was Solzhenitsyn. This story started a chain of events, crucial to the Cold War history. It inspired Solzhenitsyn to write his very first novel. His closest friend in Marfino, Lev Kopelev, who was tasked to identify the voice of a caller, was to become a famous dissident, a flamboyant intellectual, respected in many circles of the Moscow intelligentsia. Kopelev got Solzhenitsyn his first major publication in a Soviet journal, using his connections to bring One Day of Ivan Denisovich to the attention of the editors of Novy Mir. In 1968, one of Kopelevs relatives was one of eight people in Red Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the most famous event in the history of the Soviet dissident movement. The episode in Marfino had a huge impact on secret services, too. The research that had led to the identification of the traitor was carefully preserved and transferred to another Sharaskha in Kuchino, which was to become the birthplace of the Russian system of Internet surveillance, SORM (I recount this story in my latest book, The Red Web). But there was a spy in The First Circle, and this spy was real. Solzhenitsyn carefully changed all names, except for the betrayed Soviet spy, Koval apparently he thought the imprisoned engineers would have never given a real name of a betrayed spy by their masters. As it turned out, he was wrong. George Koval was a U.S. citizen born in Iowa in 1913 to a family of Jewish emigres who fled the Russian Empire. In 1932, his family was lured by IKOR, the Organization for Jewish Colonization in Russia, to get back into what was now the Soviet Union. Koval moved with his family. He joined the Moscow Technical Chemical Institute, was quickly recruited by Soviet military intelligence and sent back to the United States in 1940. His code name was to be Delmar. For three years Koval worked for an electric company run by a Soviet agent. Then, in 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was sent for special wartime training at City College in Manhattan. The Manhattan Project was suffering manpower shortages and asked the Army for technically adept recruits. In 1944, Koval was assigned to the top secret atomic bomb program headquartered at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The confidential FBI report stated, Koval was very popular among servicemen and also students as indication of his popularity, he was elected either president of his class or a member of an honorary fraternity. Koval proved to be a very successful Soviet spy. He penetrated one of the most sensitive sectors of the U.S. government at the time and smuggled out vital secrets that led directly to the Soviet acquisition of the bomb. In 1949, Koval went back to the Soviet Union, and almost at once was discharged from the military intelligence as private, for reasons still unknown, possibly having to do with an intercepted phone call. He had nothing to do but to join the Moscow Technical Chemical Institute he had graduated from before the war. He spent decades there as a chemist, surrounded by students (his portrait still hangs there on the wall among those of other prominent professors). In 1999, desperate with his small state pension, Koval approached the U.S. embassy in Moscow and, amazingly, applied for his U.S. pension. He heard somewhere that all who had served in American army during the Second World War could apply for a special social security benefits, and, well, he had served for three years, from 1943 to 1946. The embassy was astonished. The FBI file on Koval was carefully preserved in the agency and his espionage was bureau lore. In February 2000 Koval got a reply from the Social Security Administrations Office of Central Operations, in Baltimore. It contained one sentence: We are writing to tell you that you do not qualify for retirement benefits. In 2000, the GRU suddenly decided to honor one of their top wartime spies. Koval was solemnly awarded with a medal for the service in military intelligence at the GRU. That year, he gathered his pupils for some sort of celebration and finally admitted that he was a Russian spy in the 1940s. Yuri Lebedev, a white-bearded man with a look of a typical Russian scientist, was Kovals closest pupil in the Moscow Technical Chemical Institute. For years, Lebedev was intrigued by Kovals murky past, but was never able to ask him a direct question about it. Now, at a celebration with only close personal friends, he thought the time was right and brought up The First Circle and Solzhenitsyn. Koval only grinned. How did he learn all that? was his only remark. In January 2006, the Solzhenitsyns debut novel was turned into television series and broadcast on Russian TV. The very next day after its airing, George Koval died. He was 93. Posthumously, he was made a Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a Russian citizen. In 2007, during his visit to the new headquarters of the GRU, Russian President Vladimir Putin named Koval the only Soviet intelligence officer to infiltrate the Manhattan Project. What its still unknown is what happened to the man who was Solzhenitsyns model for Innokenty. He was arrested, after all, but his fate is still a mystery. In contemporary Russia, its highly unlikely that the truth will ever emerge. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 By Samir Ali - Trend: Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Ahmadov paid a visit to the country's Terter district May 28. Ahmadov had a meeting at the executive power of the Terter district. Then he visited one of the military units in the Terter city, met with soldiers and officers, and presented gifts to the servicemen who have shown courage in the April fighting. On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The shelling resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. Ahmadov also visited the houses damaged as a result of the April provocations of Armenia, and met with residents of the villages damaged in the Armenian shelling. He also visited the trenches on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, and met with the servicemen on combat duty. Considerable damage was inflicted to many houses in the Terter district as a result of the Armenian heavy artillery shelling on April 2-5 and on April 27-28. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Nearly 140 single-family homes in east Bryan were damaged when a tornado briefly touched down Thursday afternoon, Bryan officials said at a press conference late Friday. The number of damaged residences is expected to rise as crews assess the three neighborhoods that were affected: Tiffany Park, Wheeler Ridge and Miramont. So far, three houses in Wheeler Ridge and one home in Miramont have been deemed destroyed on a four-level scale used by the Red Cross, said city of Bryan Deputy City Manager Joey Dunn. Forty-four homes have sustained major damage; 66 are classified as having minor damage and 24 have been deemed affected. These number dont include flooding damage or damaged structures outside of city limits, Dunn said. A perimeter remains in place around the Wheeler Ridge area, and officials do not want volunteers in the damaged neighborhood until the area is safe. Seven individuals are seeking shelter at the Central Baptist Church in Bryan, a city official said. David Werley with BTU said crews and contracted workers have been working around-the-clock since Thursday to restore power. Crews had to check every house and business served by a major feeder line in east Bryan before turning it back on. Fire crews will be on hand in the neighborhood as a precaution for when the power is being restored. The goal is to make sure everything is safe before we turn it on, he said. Bryan police will continue to have a presence in all affected neighborhoods. Bryan Fire Chief Randy McGregor said immediately after the tornado struck, the departments technical rescue team searched and cleared 50 homes in the damaged areas, looking for injured people. So far, no injuries have been reported in connection with the tornado. As a large number of emergency calls began pouring in for Bryan emergency crews, BFD requested assistance from College Station Fire Department, Navasota Fire Department and Washington County EMS, which brought in boat crews. We were literally running from call to call to call, McGregor said. As conditions worsened in the southern portion of the Brazos Valley, Navasota and Washington crews went to assist back at their homes, McGregor said, and BFD contacted the state for more assistance around 4 p.m. Texas Task Force 1 responded, as well as crews from Austin, Forth Worth, San Antonio and Killeen. McGregor said Austin crews were in the area overnight, and BFD is keeping extra staff on hand as a precaution. Allison Prince, president of the United Way of the Brazos Valley, said the organization is not in need of material donations at this time, but financial donations to a recovery fund can be made by visiting www.uwbv.org/bvstorms. People in need of assistance can dial 2-1-1. Bryan Mayor Jason Bienski said he has sent a local disaster declaration to Gov. Greg Abbott and the city has also been in contact with the State Emergency Management Department. State Rep. John Raney attended the press conference in the CEOC, where he said he has been in contact with the governors office in regards to the damages. Inspired to honor our war dead this Memorial Day As I reflect on this Memorial Day, the name of one of my kinsmen comes to mind. I just added John Burdette Binkley to my family tree a week ago. He was my fourth cousin once removed. He enlisted as an air cadet in the U.S. Army Air Corps on Dec. 16, 1941, at Fort Rosecrans, California. John was born May 3, 1918, and was killed in action over North Africa on April 2, 1943. Second Lt. Binkley served with the 86th Bomber Squadron, 47th Bomber Group. He is buried in North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial located in Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia. John has joined more than 50 of my kinsmen who died in World War II and more than 100 plus of my kinsmen who have died in all of the wars this nation has fought. On this Memorial Day, let us remember our veterans who sacrificed their lives for this nation. God Bless America. JERRY McDANIEL Thorndale Should the federal government really control our public schools? On May 21, The Eagle featured a column on the question: "Should federal authorities cede control of elementary and high school education to local school boards?" In favor of removing control from federal authorities was Vicki Alger who supported her case against Department of Education control with historical facts and statistics. That information revealed the federal extravagance that has resulted in demonstrable academic stagnation and failure. Elizabeth Guneratne, on the other hand, rambled through various opinions and complaints to support her preference for central control of all education. That control has been exercised in an ever increasing nature for more than 50 years. Unfortunately for her position, a significant portion of her attention was devoted to the sad state of affairs in the education system of California. Unfortunately, I say, because that state already represents the pinnacle of the political and social philosophy which she now argues should dominate the rest of the country. Arguably, this whole controversy would be nonexistent had we not suffered a long train of negligent, or perhaps insidious, train of omissions from our education system over many decades. Two examples of many extant sources should suffice to illustrate that view. "The powers designated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined ." -- James Madison, explaining the U.S. Constitution in 1788). Power over education is nowhere therein enumerated. "Education of all children, from the moment they can leave their mother's care, in national establishments at national cost ." -- Frederick Engels, explaining The Principles of Communism, 1847) Perhaps it is time for everyone to choose sides. BILL HUNTER Hilltop Lakes Push for a revised conservation district ordinance in Bryan After much discussion and resistance, a new city of Bryan zoning classification passed in April 2006 allowing for areas to be rezoned as Residential Neighborhood Conservation Districts. The city set the rules to be followed and, likely, thought it was making it so difficult and troublesome that no one would attempt rezoning an area. The first rezoning was approved by the city council on June 27, 2006. And, to date, 2,642 properties have been rezoned. That means that a minimum of that number of property owners were concerned enough about protecting their property and neighborhoods to have navigated the difficulties of rezoning. Unfortunately, the ordinance was poorly written by staff. In 2010 there was a trial involving a property in Upper Burton Creek Neighborhood Association area that pointed out many problems in the ordinance. The association lost that one. Realizing the gaps that weren't covered, the Single Member District 4 councilwoman at that time, Ann Horton, promised to see that amendments were made to the ordinance, then it would go to the Planning and Zoning Commission then to the Bryan City Council for approval. She went on to list a few specifics that she would see put into the ordinance. That was never done. Our city attorney has had a draft of a rewritten ordinance on her desk for months. She has not sent it forward for approval. Because of the lack of strength in the current ordinance, those with legitimate complaints of violations going on in their neighborhood conservation districts are treated more like the violator than the people simply trying to uphold the rules. Because of the lack of strength in the current ordinance, those with legitimate complaints of violations going on in their RNC are treated more like the violator than the person simply trying to uphold the rules. Our City Attorney has had a draft of a rewritten ordinance on her desk for months. She has not sent it forward for approval. If you are one of the 2,642 property owners in an conservation district, please contact the city council and let them know that it is way past time that the rewritten ordinance concerning such conservation districts was implemented. LEE ROY JOHNSON Bryan Imagine a time long before modern technology, before the industrial revolution, before the wheel, even before agriculture. Humans had evolved a complex and powerful traditional ecological knowledge that enabled them to track and hunt effectively. This knowledge was arguably the origin of science. It required rigorous observation, deduction and repeatability. Those who acquired it lived to breed more, and prospered. But fast-forward a few thousand years and traditional ecological knowledge is vanishing with the decline in hunter-gatherer societies. Some years ago, we spent a decade in Zimbabwe, researching black rhino population dynamics. We worked with local trackers, observing their extraordinary skills as we tracked through the bush for long hours every day in the blazing sun. The trackers who accompanied us, armed with old Russian AK47 rifles to ward off any threat from wild animals or poachers, used to laugh at our earnest attempts to track rhino using telemetry by by following erratic bleeps from their collars. All the evidence we needed was right under our noses Why go to all the trouble of chasing a rhino, usually with a helicopter, in the heat of the midday sun, just to fit a VHF or GPS collar for tracking? All the evidence, they reasoned, was on the ground right under our nose in the shape of the animals' own footprints. Truthfully, we were sceptical. Surely identifying animals from their footprints was bushcraft, not science? We settled into collecting data from the radio-collared rhino and after a few years had an unprecedented dataset, which revealed an alarming trend: Female rhino that were darted frequently for re-collaring (collar failure rate was high) had significantly lower fecundity, obviously a disaster for an endangered species. We went back to the trackers. We already knew they could follow animal trails over thick grassland and rocky terrain, and amazingly, we found they really could identify which animal had made those footprints. And footprints, unlike the animals themselves, were ubiquitous. Now this really grabbed our attention triggering the idea that footprint identification would be a less invasive and more cost-effective way of identifying individual animals. We set about trying to distill just the very basics of the trackers' knowledge. Our first attempt was to trace rhino footprints and measure them. We spent three months with our noses in the deep red African soil, hunched over footprints. We did some preliminary biometrics. It was a total failure. Nothing matched, nothing made any sense. Depressed, but undeterred, we adopted digital cameras, revised and standardized our data collection protocol and tried again. We purchased a copy of JMP data visualization software and with their help wrote a customized script for measuring footprints automatically. That was our true 'AHA' moment because what the trackers had seen in their minds, we suddenly could see before us. SHARE Abbey Nickel / The Gleaner Damaged crosses lie in the bed of a truck waiting to be restored to the display. More than 150 of the crosses were knocked down in an act of vandalism early Saturday. Abbey Nickel / The Gleaner Volunteers work to restore crosses knocked down when someone drove a car through the Memorial Day cross display in Henderson's Central Park shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday. Each of the more than 5,000 crosses in the display bears the name of a Henderson resident who served in the military. About 160 were knocked down, with 20 being destroyed when the car ran through the display. Abbey Nickel / The Gleaner Visitors to the Memorial Day cross display in Central Park in downtown Henderson lay flowers at the site. Several of the visitors Saturday morning helped repair damage done earlier in the day when a car drove through the display by re-erecting crosses and restoring flowers to them. Anthony Burrus Related Coverage Cross display stays significant for veterans, families By Abbey Nickel, abbey.nickel@thegleaner.com A Henderson man has been arrested after he allegedly damaged more than 150 crosses in the downtown Memorial Day cross display with his vehicle early Saturday, according to officials. According to Henderson Police Public Information Officer Jennifer Richmond, Anthony Burrus, 27, was arrested in connection with the incident that took place in Central Park at around 6 a.m. Roughly 160 crosses were knocked down and about 20 were destroyed. The vehicle Burrus was driving, a 1979 Ford Thunderbird, was found with pieces of a cross and ground stake embedded in the tires after he left it at the McDonald's restaurant on South Green Street. Richmond said Burrus denied causing the damage in the park, but confirmed he was driving the vehicle earlier this morning and left it after it stopped working. Henderson police officers and deputies from the Henderson County Sheriff's Office investigated the incident. Burrus was found and arrested at his sister's apartment complex on Zion Road, and is being held at the Henderson County Detention Center. He is charged with first degree criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident. Richmond said a large number of tips, Facebook posts, and vehicle searches helped officers make the connection and arrest Burrus. Richmond said earlier on Saturday that the damage appeared to be deliberate because the driver had to jump the curb to get to the display. She said the incident took place shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday. Members of the Henderson Fire Department, the WARM Center, and local residents joined members of the American Legion to repair the display. "For somebody to do this to a veteran who gave his life, I don't understand. I don't have any words. I'm speechless," Jim Hanley, a member of the Legion, said Saturday morning. The display in Central Park contains more than 5,000 crosses, each bearing the name of a Henderson resident who served in the military. Family members arrived to see if any of the crosses that bear the names of their relatives were damaged. Some arrived and were relieved to find certain crosses unharmed, while others were brought to tears by the damage. Bob Dutton Sr.'s son, Robert K. Dutton, had a cross in his honor displayed in the park, and it was destroyed by the vandalism. "I lost my son seven years ago, and this is so sad to know somebody would do this without thinking about the consequences," Dutton said. Kathy Tigue has lost three brothers who have served in the Armed Forces, one of which most recently died in March of this year. While the crosses in their honor were not damaged, she felt the sting that other families were feeling Saturday morning. "This is heartbreaking," Tigue said. "How could someone be so cruel, so heartless is beyond me. God help whoever did it. It hurts these people, who have worked so hard." Richmond said as of Saturday morning, Henderson Police only have a vague description of the vehicle, but the department is working with local businesses to see if the incident was captured on surveillance video. "With so many people going out of town for the holiday weekend, that makes it tough, but we hope we get an answer as fast as we can," Richmond said. Each cross costs around $90 each, Richmond said. The display is cared for in conjunction with the American Legion Worsham Post No. 40 and the Henderson War Memorial Foundation. As members of the community continued to file into Central Park, Hanley said he was reminded of the significance of the display. He said the Legion and other organizations will work to make sure all of the damaged crosses are either replaced or repaired by Memorial Day. "This town loves their veterans, and this is proof," he said, gesturing to the crowd. "We take care of each other around here, and this situation is no different." Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 Trend: Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has sent a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of Republic Day. "The United Nations is now in the midst of acting on our wide-ranging plans for a more sustainable, healthy and peaceful world. In this effort, we rely on each country to deliver on its global promises, especially the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change"- he said. "Your National Day offers an occasion to celebrate your proud history as a country and to reaffirm the universal values of human rights, development and peace. The United Nations is fortunate to draw on its diverse membership, bringing together different cultural traditions in common cause. The contributions of the Republic of Azerbaijan are essential to achieving our shared objectives. I count on your Government to deepen its engagement with the United Nations as we seek to usher in a better future for all"- Secretary-General said. "Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration"- he said. SHARE By Bill Sheffer, Special to The Gleaner Right here in ol' river city Henderson, we have a lot of religious beliefs. Some are "once in grace, always in grace" hard-shell Baptists; there are the fun-loving "do it, then head to the confession booth" Catholics and the laid-back Methodists. We have the holy-rollin' dancin' Pentecostals, the hush-hush Presbyterians; the Church of Christ where they sing a cappella to their God; the "keep quiet, say little" but still discriminated-against Jews and we have the "start your own church, sow that seed and bring that money to the storehouse" nondenominationals. We've also got agnostics, atheists and whatevers. They're all good people and I love all of them. My beliefs? I was raised by a loving, God-fearing mother who made sure that by the age of 7 I knew every parable in the Bible, along with the Lord's Prayer, John 3:16 and the Ten Commandments. I can still, to this day, recite them all nonstop. However a Baptist preacher got me out of man-made religion when he told me all Catholics were going to a place called Hell to burn forever. That made me look to find my personal God, who I was talking to just this morning. Nothing serious, just casual mumblings. My God is easy to reach, he hangs out in my heart, along with love and forgiveness, his constant companions. My God is not like the professional Christians' God, who dwells in that unseen Heaven, where he is constantly cleaning and stocking the place with goodies of pleasure, awaiting their arrival. My God was listening to me as I was asking him to give me six winning numbers to capture that very elusive Powerball jackpot. He was also busy down in Texas, wreaking havoc on those Texans, tearing up their buildings, uprooting his trees and raining on them, flooding their streets and houses, all while blowing his wind at 80 to 90 miles per hour. He had just left Arkansas and Alabama, where he did his tornado act. I heard he put on quite a show down there. He was also terribly busy overseas, where they live by their holy book. Even though my God was busy tearing up jack, he was patiently listening to me while firing up the sun, polishing the moon and realigning the heavens as he spins planet Earth. I refer to God as a "he" because that's the manly thing to do, but to me, my God is a powerful spirit who is nature in disguise and is in everything, good or bad. I am patiently waiting for those six winning numbers oh my goodness! He just blew up a house on Mill Street! That's one of his natural gas acts. To believe or not to believe that is the question! Until we all reach sainthood, let's keep on dancin'. Bill Sheffer is a resident of Henderson. New Burlington Area Homeless Shelter director carrying mission forward The new executive director of the Burlington Area Homeless Shelter says she's excited for her new role and here to serve the community. NORWALK One month after Bob Tirreno returned from serving in the Vietnam War in 1969, he found himself trying to be normal at a party in Westport. An attractive lady on my left sat next to me and she was talking to another woman like I wasnt there, Tirreno said. She turned to me and said, I havent seen you around. Tirreno told her hed been serving as a medic in the U.S. Army in Vietnam the past two years. The reaction he got is one hell never forget. She got up and left like I was a piece of poison, he said. We definitely did not receive the same welcome the WWII vets did Today the public separates the soldier from the politician, but back then people didnt do that, and we unfortunately were the ones that had to deal with that. The bottom line is all of us did what we were asked to do. Tirreno joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars when he first returned from the war, but wasnt active until five years ago when the former post commander at the Westport VFW reached out to him. He said If you want them to be treated the way we were treated when we returned (from Vietnam), then go ahead and do what youre doing but if not, then we need you, he recalled. We want the soldiers coming back today, we want them not only respected, we want them to come back to a place they can be a part of. Trying to get them to come here (to the VFW) is near impossible. Today, Tirreno and the active members of VFW Post 399 in Westport have taken it upon themselves to ensure veterans returning from combat arent subject to the same treatment they were following their return from Vietnam. First though, they have to find the young veterans, a harder task than it sounds in Fairfield County. Bernie Rombout, commander at Post 339, is a U.S Marine Corps veteran who served during the Iranian Crisis in the late 1970s and early 80s. Fairfield County, he said, just isnt the place where young veterans are finding a home. Rent is expensive, Fairfield County is expensive and its a hard place to live, Rombout said. Its hard to live here and find a job here when youre not returning from war, and most of our young veterans that are coming back from combat are struggling theyre dealing with a lot of issues and society isnt what it was when they left. The ones that do find jobs here think they dont need our benefits they dont understand the benefits that come with being a member. The VFW provides a variety of advantages to veterans, ranging from medical insurance and health care to advocacy for veteran rights in the Legislature. In order to be a member of the VFW, individuals have to have served overseas in a combat zone for at least 90 days in any branch of the U.S. military. There are 227 current members of Post 339, a far cry from the more than 1,400 members the post had following World War II. The youngest current member is 34 years old. The VFW has notoriously been known as an Old Mans Club, Rombout said. Were trying to change that. Were from an area where you have very few people going into the military anyway, and our older members from WWII and Vietnam are dying. In an effort to attract younger members, Rombout, whos been the commander at Post 399 for two years, has started modernizing the VFW post, located on the river in Westport. Adding new televisions, inviting a local billiards teacher to offer lessons and keeping the doors open to create a more welcoming atmosphere. The active VFW members have taken it upon themselves to approach people who have returned from combat, whether they seem to be doing well or not, and let them know that organizations like the VFW are available to help them, even if its just to connect them with another group. Our job is to say, We understand, Tirreno said. WILTON When Wiltons Memorial Day Parade kicks off on Monday, onlookers will quickly take note of the 91-year-old standing tall and marching at the helm with a quick pace that would put most 20-year-olds to shame. James Turnbull, at first glance, may seem like your ordinary senior citizen amiable, approachable and quick to tell you a good story but Turnbulls story is anything but ordinary. That is because Turnbulls past harkens back to a time that young people can only struggle to imagine with the help of movies like Saving Private Ryan or books like Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five. In fact, Turnbulls history reads like something that you might expect from these popular accounts of the period. When Turnbull enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the ripe age of 18 years old, his future was anything but certain. It was mid-1943, and World War II efforts were ramping up throughout the U.S. The recent high school graduate knew that by joining the Navy he was likely making a risky decision, but he knew it was the decision that he had to make. I remember hearing about what had happened at Pearl Harbor, and I knew that it would only be a matter of time until I was drafted anyways, so I decided to enlist voluntarily and take hold of my own fate, said Turnbull. Thus, Turnbull departed from his home in upstate Vermont and headed down to Rutland to do just that enlist. And before he knew it, Turnbull was assigned a position in a special Naval Construction Battalion, which had the unenviable responsibility of taking islands that had been seized in the Pacific and preparing airfields on them for incoming and outgoing B-29s. Turnbulls journey brought him from basic training at Camp Berry in Virginia and a brief stay in Hawaii to deployment in combat zones like Guam and the Marshall Islands. His journey was an arduous one, but when it was all said and done and the war was finally concluded, Turnbull was still standing after his two years at war. Moreover, he was inspired to truly make the best of his time when he returned to his home country. You grow up a great deal in a hurry during a war like World War II, said Turnbull. The important thing that you learn in the Navy is that its results that you are always measured by. Turnbull took the results-oriented mindset that was engrained in him during his wartime duty and later applied it to his life outside of the Navy. When Turnbull eventually moved to Wilton in 1973, he brought this mentality with him. Wilton resident Ray Tobiassen, who is a member of the Kiwanis Club along with Turnbull, said that it was this relentless work ethic that local residents came to distinguish Turnbull by. The guy is 91, and he volunteers for everybody in Wilton. Anything that has to do with Wilton, and Turnbull will volunteer to help it. Hes just an amazing guy and real hero, said Tobiassen, a fellow member of the Kiwanis Club and one of the members of the Memorial Day Parade Committee. Since arriving in Wilton, Turnbull has been a tireless volunteer. Whether it be for the Kiwanis Club or for the Wilton Congregational Church, there is nary a cause that Turnbull would dedicate his time and efforts to. Hes our No. 1 volunteer, and he just has the biggest heart ever, said Anne Coffman, the senior minister at the Wilton Congregational Church. For his immense contributions, not only during World War II, but also in his 40-plus years as a Wilton resident, Turnbull will finally receive the recognition that he deserves. Tobiassen, along with his fellow members of the Memorial Day Parade Committee, selected Turnbull as this years grand marshal. When we came back to San Diego after the war and we couldnt believe it but there was a band there playing and almost 200 to 300 people there to greet us, reminisced Turnbull. Thats what this Memorial Day parade conjures up those memories. The most important part of this distinction, Turnbull said, is that this honor doesnt belong only to him. The honor extends to everyone who fought in war, and especially to those who fell during the fighting. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 28 By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: A perspective direction of development of mutually beneficial business, creation of service joint ventures (JVs) for the maintenance and repair of equipment in the gas sector, opens before foreign investors in Turkmenistan, the country's oil and gas ministry said in a message. The urgency of creating a joint venture for maintenance and repair is due to long-term plans of Turkmenistan to develop gas and gas processing industries. In this regard, the issue of organization of services for the maintenance and repair of the equipment, such as gas turbines, compressors or pumps and the establishment of manufacture of steel structures, piping products, and electrical equipment increasingly becomes more topical, Chairman of Turkmengaz State Concern Ashyrguly Begliev said, according to the message. He said that in this regard, Turkmenistan welcomes involvement of foreign capital with the possibility of equity participation in the project. In recognition of National Historic Preservation Month, Edwardsvilles Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) will showcase some of Edwardsvilles historic buildings in a series of articles during the month of May. 601 Hillsboro Avenue Sometimes when researching a house, what has previously been recorded as the buildings history cannot be confirmed. Such is the case with the house at 601 Hillsboro. In the past, local historians have cited the house as the childhood home of author Inglis Fletcher, but recent research suggests that although the location is correct, it may not be the same house. However, the backstory is a fascinating one, so even though the houses history is not definitive, the story is worth telling. Many area residents are not familiar with the name of Inglis Fletcher, which is not surprising, since when she lived here she was known as Minna Clark. But in the 1940s-1960s, the literary world knew Fletcher as an internationally best-selling author of historical fiction. Minna Clark was born in 1879 Alton, Illinois, to parents Maurice and Flora Chapman Clark. Because her father was a railroad construction supervisor who was away from home for long stretches of time, her mother moved to Edwardsville before Minna reached school age. Flora Clark, with Minna and her baby brother, Murray, left Alton to live at Chapman Place, the homestead owned by Minnas grandparents, Joseph and Rachel Chapman. Chapman Place was located on what would later become Leverett Lane, but at the time was a large tract of ground that included acreage from Hillsboro Avenue north to what is now Chapman Street and from North Fillmore east to Hickory Street, including the lots on the east side of Hickory. The family home was still in existence on Leverett Lane until about 15 years ago when structural failures forced the owners to take it down. The residents of Chapman Place included numerous unmarried aunts and uncles as well as Minnas grandparents. It was an intellectual household filled with political discussions and stories of American history, due to her grandparents both being children of Revolutionary War soldiers. Servants arrived daily to help keep the lively household running smoothly in the early years of the Chapman familys century-long residence at Chapman Place. When Minna was eight her father decided to find employment that would allow him to return home to his family. The Clarks purchased a building lot from Elliott Breeze Glass at the corner of Hickory Street and Hillsboro Avenue in 1889. It was one of the lots Joseph Chapman had sold when he subdivided Chapman Place just before his death in 1883. Plans for an eight-room cottage were drawn up by local architect Charles H. Spilman, and contractor C. E. Tindall broke ground for the house in October 1889. By this time, Maurice and Floras family was complete with three children, Minna, Murray, and Jean, who was born in 1885. The family was socially connected with many of Edwardsvilles leading families. In the 1890s the society pages of the Intelligencer regularly included Minna Clark, who belonged to many local clubs and organizations. She always loved reading and wrote regularly from a young age, but was the first to say she wasnt a stellar student. She graduated from Edwardsville High School in 1897 and went on to study art at Washington University with the thought of becoming a sculptor. But then through friends, she met John Jack Fletcher, a mining engineer from Colorado. They were married at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edwardsville in 1902. And thats when her adventures began. Jacks job took him from mining camp to mining camp all over the west and in Alaska. Camp life was primitive, but she adjusted and got used to a routine of pay, pack, and follow which became the title of her 1957 autobiography. Jack often switched locations quickly, leaving Minna, by then using her middle name, Inglis, to pay the bills, pack up their belongings, and follow him to the new job site. By the 1920s, they had finally settled in the San Francisco area where Minna/Inglis, with her partner, Alice Seckles, founded the Sekles-Fletcher Lecture Bureau. Through contacts at the bureau, she became interested in and decided to write about African witchcraft. To study it first hand, in 1928 she embarked on an eight-month-long solo trip to central Africa. A San Francisco newspaper in November 1928 said, The first white woman to penetrate the heart of Africa alone is returning to this city with tales of adventure experienced in a 3,000 mile trek across the Dark Continent. Two novels came from the trip, one for young boys and the second for adults, both of which were received with acclaim, but these were not the books that brought her fame. Researching her grandfather Joseph Chapmans ancestors, she became interested in North Carolina history. Her first North Carolina book was Raleighs Eden, published by Bobbs-Merrill in 1940. It was the first of twelve fictional titles published between 1940 and 1964 that blended historical figures and events with characters from her imagination to tell the story of North Carolinas early history. The best-selling books made Inglis Fletcher a household name. In the early 1940s, Fletcher and her husband moved to North Carolina where they purchased and restored a plantation house in the same county where her grandfather was born. It was there in 1957 that Fletcher wrote her autobiography, mentioned above, that in addition to telling about her life with Jack Fletcher, also describes the social life and history of the Chapman and Clark families in Edwardsville in the 1890s. Back in Edwardsville, soon after Minnas marriage, the Clark family sold their house on Hillsboro Avenue when Maurice Clark took over management of the Leland Hotel at the corner of Main and St. Louis Streets. As was typical of the time, the hotel manager lived at the hotel. The house was sold to Charles W. Terry, a wealthy Edwardsville attorney and banker who had many real estate investments. He rented the house to various tenants from 1905-1946. After that, the house had just four owners over the next seventy years. The mystery of whether the house at 601 Hillsboro was the Clark house or not may never be known. To date, there is no record of the Clark house being destroyed, yet the house there today architecturally doesnt fit the style of an 1889 house. An inspection of the building by an architect provided no clues that would definitively confirm its age. The son of a former owner remembered finding 1912 newspapers in the walls when remodeling, but unless the house was somehow destroyed, why would a landlord tear down a 23 year old house to build a new one in 1912? The Clark family was not without means and the architect of their 1889 home, Charles Spilman, was one of Edwardsvilles finest. If only the walls could talk. In any case, there is a legacy of this family that remains in Edwardsville. Chapman Street is named for Inglis Fletchers grandfather, Joseph Chapman. The Joseph Chapman Subdivision, which includes all the lots on Hickory Street as well as additional lots on Hillsboro Avenue, was approved in 1876. A later subdivision by his heirs included lots on North Fillmore as well as the creation of Leverett Lane, named for Josephs son-in-law, George Leverett. Copies of Inglis Fletchers Pay, Pack, or Follow are available at the Edwardsville Public Library. The chapters on Edwardsville describe life in the 1880s and 90s as years of pleasant living in an atmosphere which retained a degree of elegance carried over from Victorian and Edwardian days. We had horses and carriages. Ladies served tea in the afternoon and dressed in imposing tea gowns that swept the floor. Men wore frock coats or cutaways in the afternoon and wore high silk or bowler hats. It is a record of another time, preserved in the pages of Fletchers book, but also by the preservation of hundreds of Edwardsville homes from that era that contribute to the architectural heritage of our city. Information for this article was obtained from resources at the Madison County Archival Library, the Madison County Recorder and Probate Offices, Edwardsville Public Library and from current and previous owners. If you have questions about this article, contact Cindy Reinhardt at 656-1294 or cynreinhardt@yahoo.com. NOTE: On Memorial Day weekend, we salute Edwardsville native and World War II veteran Thom Kolesa. Thom Kolesa made it back safely. Back from the bloody battlefields of Okinawa and back from the top of the Leclaire water tower. Born and raised in Edwardsville, Kolesa is putting the finishing touches on his next book, "It Was Our World War, Too." Now living in New Orleans, the 91-year-old former Marine expects the book to be done in time for the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. He'll present his latest work at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, the city he has called home since 1972. Readers expecting a blow-by-blow account of the battle on Okinawa will be disappointed. "The preface says, 'If you're looking for a blood and guts, shoot-'em-up novel, this isn't it.' It's going to be a story of my wife and I, 72 years, she died a year ago, our participation in the war. She worked in defense. She helped build the gliders out of Laister-Kauffman in St. Louis. In California, she worked on the B-25 bombers, which were flying over me while I was in the Pacific. It's a love story. Two young kids got married." Kolesa's wife, the former Anita Rogers, was also an Edwardsville native. They fell in love in high school and survived the 20th century's most horrible episode. "We were in high school for Pearl Harbor. I was 18, she was 17," Kolesa said. First loves have a way of making lifetime memories. Thom and Anita were no exception. "She and I had such a relationship. I remember the first time we held hands. She lived near me and we'd walk together. And I offered to carry her books to school - we were a group of kids going to school - and we transferred books, I touched her hand and we took a couple of steps and we both reached out and held hands walking to school," Kolesa said. "I remember the first time we actually hugged because we went sleigh riding together. We were neighbors. We were wrestling in the snow sort of thing. And I remember the first kiss." Kolesa also remembers another adventure with Anita, one that most Edwardsville residents have not experienced. "You know the water tower in Leclaire? Would you believe that we boys used to climb that water tower? And would you believe that Anita climbed it one time with me? Climbing up, we did OK. But we got to the top and walked around it. And she got scared. Coming down, she had to be on the inside and I was on the outside.," Kolesa said. "Today, I drove out there and I looked up and I thank God for letting us do that safely. I wouldn't do that now. At 16 and 17, I did that." Kolesa graduated with the Edwardsville High School Class of 1942. He joined the Marines shortly afterward and headed off to basic training in San Diego. "I was selected for schooling and I ended up in North Carolina for a while. I was in an anti-aircraft battalion. So I went there for schooling and of course I went back to California, to Camp Pendelton, and from Camp Pendelton we stopped off at Hawaii, waiting for equipment, and then Okinawa," Kolesa said. A sergeant, Kolesa was a member of a stationary anti-aircraft unit that used searchlights to scan the night sky. "Once the planes come in, the radar operates the 90 millimeter guns, day and night, but in the day time they are allowed to shoot them themselves but at night they're attached to the searchlights," Kolesa said. "And a couple of our groups, one of them was hit directly by a Betty bomber and it killed a bunch of them. Our group only lost one." The battle of Okinawa was the last major land engagement of the Pacific campaign. And for the United States, it was the costliest, too, with an estimated 20,195 Americans killed from April 1, 1945, through June 21, 1945. "I was lucky. I have no Purple Hearts. I had a nephew there and he was pretty banged up. It happened during the daytime. I got word that he was in the hospital and I hitched a ride - they wouldn't let me take my jeep. And I had to take a ride with a 6 x 6 open truck full of dead Marines. That was really something. They said there were 27 of them in there. You can't count them when they're stacked up," Kolesa said. "And then I got to the hospital and, of course, he was laying there all bandaged up. And he's full of joy, 'Here's my uncle Thommy from Illinois.'" Those who survived Okinawa remember one thing above all else - the rain. "Did it rain? It rained, it rained, it rained. Bucketsful," Kolesa said. "In Okinawa, the terrain is somewhat like Illinois. There are level spots and, of course, they're cultivated, but there are a lot of rolling hills. St. Louis is on the 38th parallel, like Korea. Okinawa was 35. Same temperature, but lots of rain. More rain than you get here. Fox holes filled, not only from rain on the ground, but coming straight on down." But the soldiers did their best to carry on. One of the biggest morale boosters was mail from home. "It was extremely important." - mail call. "We (Thom and Anita) exchanged every day. Sometimes twice a day. I put cartoons on the outside. After I went overseas - they censor the mail - they wouldn't allow cartoons. But there were some poor fellows that didn't get mail." The mail did, no doubt, increase a man's desire to return home, particularly someone like Kolesa, who became a father while he was away. "Leslie was born while I was overseas," Kolesa said. "Didn't meet her until she was 10 months old. Saw her on the bed and woke her up and we had our first meeting." In fact, it was Anita and her daily letters that alerted Kolesa to the fact he was a father. "While I was overseas, she wrote all about our new baby. Our new Leslie. And here I was sitting reading, when the Red Cross worker came in and said, 'I've got a telegram for you.' She had given birth. I said, 'I know. I'm reading about it.' Anita had gotten it to me before the Red Cross." After the American victory at Okinawa, U.S. land, air and sea forces were gathered for an invasion of mainland Japan. Two atomic bombs, however, brought an end to the war abruptly. The invasion never took place. "We were packed up, after Okinawa was secured, and we were all ready to go into Japan. We had no equipment. All we had was the combat gear on our backs. All of the Navy, the hospital, the evacuation planes were there," Kolesa said. "And I was one who had enough points and they decided, 'Let's get these Marines out of here. Fill up these airplanes and fly them in. I was one of the first ones back. I was home for Thanksgiving and Christmas that year." As one of the first Americans to return from the Pacific, Kolesa received quite the welcome home. "We flew into San Diego. Our welcoming committee was ice cream and cake - Salvation Army, USO, Red Cross - just about the time we all had our fill, they announced 'Look at the hangar.' Out of the hangar comes Roy Rogers, riding on his horse Trigger, Dale Evans, riding on her horse Buttermilk, and they sang songs and stuff like that." Kolesa then returned to civilian life, settling into a job and raising three children with Anita. He worked as a mechanical engineer, and spent 25 years working for General Steel, a company he traveled more than 1 million miles for. He retired at age 62 and jokes that he has now gone 29 years without a paycheck. But he keeps busy, talking to the young and old alike. "My job now is going to veteran's hospitals, not just veterans, but regular care centers and things and visiting. I have to admit, I'm a little prejudice. I ask about Marines and World War II, but I'll talk with anybody, Kolesa said. The kids, he said, all want to know one thing. "I make talks to school groups and church groups and would you believe that the junior high kids, the first question they ask, 'How many Japs did you shoot?' I have answers to that. Me personally, none, but I directed activities to that," he said. Kolesa makes the trip from New Orleans to Edwardsville - yes, he still drives himself - and will be back in October with speaking engagements scheduled in Edwardsville and Granite City. But now, he's busy with his book. "The reason I want to get it out now is that I promised to get it out now. The 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor is this Dec. 7 and I work with the museum in New Orleans," he said. "Each community tries to have a celebration. . . and I got committed to be the speaker. And I said I'll have my book ready by then." Like virtually all World War II veterans, Kolesa doesn't regret his time in the military. "I'd do it again. If there was a war going on and I needed to do it, I'd do it," he said. But once was plenty, even if it meant a two-year separation from his beloved Anita. And that's his story, how love survived a war. "Our son Scott, who was a Lutheran minister, he told us, 'You hear that story about a marriage that was made in Heaven, but here are two people, my mom and dad, and it really was.' We had a wonderful time. I can still get tears in my eyes thinking about her." In an effort to raise money for infrastructure improvements, Glen Carbon trustees voted to place a sales tax increase referendum on the November ballot. Unanimously approved, the referendum will ask voters to authorize a .25 percent sales tax increase. The funds generated from the increased sales tax would be used for expenditures on public infrastructure projects. Village Administrator Jamie Bowden said over the last few years, the village has engaged in capital improvement studies with regard to storm water, parks and the reconstruction of Old Troy Road. We have about $30 million in capital improvement costs and we have been discussing over the last 6 to 8 months a funding mechanism for our capital improvement plan, Bowden said. He said village committees have been looking at alternatives in an effort to raise money for the infrastructure work with limited impact on residents. Trustee Jorja Dickemann, who also chairs the finance and administration committee, said the committee has been discussing different funding mechanisms for months. Id like to thank Trustee Steve Slemer for coming up with this innovative idea, Dickemann said. I truly believe this is the right way to make this happen and we should let the voters decide if this is how they wish to pay for the capital improvements. Dickemann said the .25 percent sales tax increase would bring the village up to the same sales tax rate as Edwardsville but less than the rate in Collinsville. Currently, the base sales tax rate in Glen Carbon is 6.85 percent with a 7.85 percent sales tax in the business district at Edwardsville Crossing. If approved by voters, the .25 percent increase would bring the base rate up to 7.10 percent Edwardsville currently has a base 7.10 percent sales tax and 8.10 percent sales tax in its business districts. The Madison County portion of Collinsville has a base sales tax of 8.10 while those areas within St. Clair County have a base rate of 8.35 percent. Fairview Heights has a base sales tax rate of 8.35 percent. The increased sales tax would generate approximately $700,000 for the village. Bowden said the increase keeps the village competitive with other municipalities while still raising money to finance some of the capital projects. Mayor Rob Jackstadt said this is the best option for taxpayers. Weve looked at putting the burden on property owners and weve looked at utility taxes, but both of these options fall entirely on Glen Carbon residents, he said. This idea will be shared by everyone who comes to shop in Glen Carbon. This provides a fair mechanism for us to address our infrastructure needs. Slemer said Director of Finance Scott Borror did much of the work. He pointed out this option to me and we brainstormed the idea, Slemer said. Im behind this and think it is a good move. The proposition on the ballot will read shall the Village of Glen Carbon, Madison County, Illinois be authorized to levy a Non-Home Rule Municipal Retailers and Occupation Tax and Non-Home Rule Municipal Service Occupation Tax (commonly referred to as non-home rule municipal sale tax) at a rate of 0.25% for expenditures on public infrastructure. The referendum will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. Starting in June, Illinois vehicle owners will once again have to get emissions testing in order to renew their vehicle registration. The Illinois Secretary of States office suspended the required emissions tests last December because the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency stopped sending out notices to motorists due to the state budget crisis. Dave Druker, spokesperson for the Secretary of States office, said the office saved about $450,000 a month in postage expenses during the period of time it didnt send out notices. In a press release, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said his office will resume the emission testing requirement for motorists seeking renewals of their license plate sticker beginning in June. Druker said the decision was made because White felt it was unfair if people were denied new stickers when they werent aware that their vehicle needed emission testing. They would find out they needed an emission test when they arrived to get a new sticker. We would be forcing people to come back a second time and Secretary White didnt want to do that, Druker said. The emission testing only applies to all vehicles registered in the Chicago area and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties in the Metro East. Druker said the counties that require testing are based on the carbon footprint of the area. There are two full-service vehicle testing stations in the Metro East. They are located at 1000 E Chain of Rocks Road, Pontoon Beach, and at 230 N. Old St. Louis Road in Wood River. While emission test reminders will be mailed, the Secretary of States Office will not be sending out registration renewal reminders. Since the state stopped sending out registration reminders, late fees jumped 21 percent in the first three months of 2016. Revenue generated in late fees jumped from $2.22 million in 2015 to $4.96 million during the first 5 months of 2016. Druker said the money cannot be used by the secretary of states office to start sending out notices. The money cannot be used because it goes into the state general revenue fund, not the secretary of states office, he said. We cant spend a penny of it unless its approved by the Legislature. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin The Jakarta Post Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 The case of 14-year-old student YY being brutally raped and murdered by 14 drunken boys in Bengkulu has been seen as the representation of the epitome of societal degeneration and moral collapse. Senior playwright I. Yudhi Soenarto focuses particularly on this phenomenon in his latest play, "The Seeking of Conscience", performed by the University of Indonesia (UI) literature departments theater group, Teater Sastra, at its campus in Depok, West Java, on Thursday. The play, styled as a multi-monologue involving seven performers, is the result of only two weeks of research and three days of rehearsals. Yudhi, also known as the founder and principal director of Teater Sastra, intended the play to be a form of social criticism. I was so furious over the YY case. Hence, three weeks ago, I did online research and interviewed some people from Bengkulu to start creating this play, said Yudhi after Thursday's performance. Actor Rasikh Fuadi in prison in the "The Seeking of Conscience", directed by I. Yudhi Soenarto.(JP/Viriya Paramita Singgih) Because of the limited time, I could only mix some facts with logic and imagination. So, there are several fictitious details in the play. It was Yudhi himself who delivered the first monologue of the play. He acted as a Javanese artist from a wealthy family and questioned the countrys moral structure, including what is and isn't allowed by society. He said people were always taught to be righteous and tolerant, but often forced to be ignorant when faced with reality. Then, one by one the other characters took their place on stage, including a law expert, a psychologist and a journalist, performed by UI law school dean Topo Santoso, activist and psychologist Niniek L. Karim and actor Maftuh Ihsan, respectively. They expressed their restlessness over the countrys current situation, starting from the outdated law that is often used against poor people and the social environment that influences childrens behavior, to the mainstream media that has been insensitive in its reporting of sexual violence. (Read also: Teater Koma touches on feminism in 'Republik Cangik') For us journalists, a tragedy is like a gold mine that can be dug up and exploited so we can produce interesting and sensational stories, said the journalist. Subsequently, the play started to include YY's story in Bengkulu. A junior high school teacher (Rendy Septiadi), a male student named Tomi Kuntet (Rasikh Fuadi) and a female student performing YYs character (Denia Oktaviani) delivered monologues. Director Yudhi brought his detailed version of the gang rape to the stage, including the perspectives of both YY and the suspects. As one of the suspects, Tomi shared his experiences spending time with other boys who tended to see women only as instruments of sexual pleasure. "They raped YY like it was just for fun," he said. "Then threw the girls dead body into the ravine." When the police took them into jail, the boys were still joking and laughing as if nothing had happened. Later, the psychologist came once again to the stage, questioning the public's and governments responses to the case. Its like what Zebrowits said: that everybody is a naive psychologist, everybody is a naive judge. Later they associate the law of causation with punishments that they thought could have the deterrent effect, the actress said. Activist and psychologist Niniek L. Karim speaks during a performance of "The Seeking of Conscience", directed by I. Yudhi Soenarto. (JP/Viriya Paramita Singgih) Then the suspects are to be punished with castration, even though the real problem comes from their mind! The government recently issued a regulation in lieu of law, creating a special legal umbrella that allows the chemical castration of convicted child rapists, intended to prevent child abuse. Meanwhile, rapists whose offenses cause trauma, mental disorders, sexual diseases, sexual dysfunction or death, as well as rapists of more than one child victim, will receive either the death sentence, a life sentence or a 10- to 20-year prison term, as well as the possibility of chemical castration and microchip implantation. In response to this, the law expert came on stage and said, A law that works like a mechanical system is a law that does not have a conscience. (vps/kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Sat, May 28 2016 A few months ago I was invited to cover an event in New Delhi and was also asked to dance. On day one, we were all required to wear an Indonesian-inspired outfit. I wore a blue kebaya (traditional blouse) with a printed long skirt, and blue glittered sandals. I hopped on the bus but decided to walk the rest of the way. A couple of minutes later, there was a downpour and I reached the entrance of gate 3, wet from head to toe. I found my way, only to realize it was a 2.5-hectare walk! Barbed wire blocked my view for picture taking so I asked volunteers to help me climb on a table. I stood proudly in my semi-wet batik outfit, with a camera in my hand, feeling like a somebody. It was an overwhelming high, until I realized I was all alone, it was 8 p.m., and I had forgotten the way to gate 3. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login TheJakartaPost Please Update your browser Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below. Just click on the icons to get to the download page. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 27 By Aygun Badalova - Trend: While OPEC meeting in early June is in the center of the key upcoming oil market events, expectations for any meanengful results are very low. Latest failure of oil producers to reach a consensus to cap oil output to stabilize the prices undermined the hopes for any success this time. "Market expectations for a meaningful agreement from OPEC's June meeting are likely low following April's debacle in Doha, when eight weeks of diplomatic negotiations failed to yield an agreement to cap output at current levels," analysts of the US JP Morgan bank said in a report, obtained by Trend. Meanwhile, oil prices reached this week $50 a barrel, which is the highest level since the end of 2015. Prices are going in the right direction and the expectation is that they will carry on doing so, albeit slowly, Charles Ellinas, oil market expert, executive president at Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company (CNHC) told Trend on May 27. In total, oil prices have increased by three percent this week. OPEC's, more precisely Saudi Arabia's strategy appears to be working with non-OPEC and shale oil production going down, according to Ellinas. "No reason to do anything," he said. At the same time Ellinas believes that Iran will not agree to a production freeze but may give indications that the country is prepared to do so by the next meeting. He also mentioned that Iran has not quite reached its targeted oil production and export level. They need to increase exports by another 400,000 barrels per day, Ellinas said. The Islamic Republic announced in late 2015 that it would add 0.5 million barrels per day of crude oil to the production level as soon as the international sanctions on the country are eliminated and the same amount of crude oil would be added to the output level in the second half of 2016. The country plans to increase its daily output to four million barrels till March 2017. Iran's oil production stood at 3.03 million barrels per day during the first quarter of 2016, showing 230,000 barrels per day increase in comparison to 2015, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report published May 10. Touching upon the expectations on the oil prices, Ellinas said that general indications are that prices on average will carry on going up to $50+ this year and to $60 next. "Main reasons are that demand is higher than originally thought, non- OPEC production is going down, spare capacity is very low. Supply-demand balancing is close. But some volatility will continue, unless eventually OPEC agrees to a freeze," Ellinas said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 27 2016 Lawmakers and activists have hailed the governments initiative to impose harsher punishments on convicted sex offenders but they have also called for a more consolidated policy that can help prevent sexual violence. House of Representatives members said on Thursday the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu), which stipulates harsher sentences for child rapists, shows the governments strong will to protect children. The Perppu, which became effective on Wednesday, stipulates harsh punishments such as chemical castration, life sentence and death penalty for convicted child rapists. Lawmakers, however, said the government needed to introduce measures that could prevent sexual offenses. The Perppu has yet to touch the root causes, which may be pornography or alcoholic drinks, Yandri Susanto, Islamic-based National Mandate Party (PAN) faction secretary, said. If we only look at how to impose heavier punishments as a deterrent effect, it has no educational value, he added. Lawmakers also agreed with the death penalty for recidivists or perpetrators who caused severe trauma to children but remained skeptical about the effectiveness of chemical castration in combatting sexual abuse of children. Gerindra Party politician Muhammad Syafii said sexual predators could use means other than sexual penetration to abuse children. We support heavier punishments, but not castration, Syafii said. Arsul Sani of the United Development Party (PPP) also criticized the lack of clarity about the chemical castration mechanism provided by the government after the issuance of the regulation. There could be an issue of human rights if the castration meant permanent elimination of the perpetrators sexual desires, he said. Moreover, we also have to synchronize the Perppu with the amendment of the Criminal Code, so that there wont be two regulations governing the same subjects and objectives but imposing two different punishments, Arsul said. Currently, the lawmakers are preparing to deliberate the bill on sexual violence amid a perceived rise in sex crimes against children. The bill is expected to cover more comprehensive measures aimed at combating sex crimes, thus the points in the Perppu could be inserted into the bill. Arif Wibowo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) suggested the House integrate the bill on sexual violence with the Child Protection Law. If we can make one law that can cover everything required, why should we make two? Arif said. Meanwhile, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) criticized the planned use of chemical castration and the death penalty in the Perppu, calling them inhumane punishments. The insertion of specific articles about the death penalty and chemical castration goes against national commitments as Indonesia has ratified Law No. 5/1998 banning the use of inhumane punishment which degrade human dignity, said the commission. It said the Perppu was a knee-jerk response to the public anger over the sexual abuse of children without considering the establishment of better regulations to prevent such offenses. ____________________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Imron Cotan (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar, Bali Sat, May 28 2016 Heated discussions on whether the government of President Joko Jokowi Widodo should issue an apology to victims of the 1965 tragedy have recently emerged among the political elites. Almost all mainstream and social media have been flooded by the pros-and-cons of the idea. At the grassroots level, the debates have reached a point beyond trading words. If not quickly checked, it will be very difficult to control. History has taught us so many precious lessons. Negligence may have dire consequences. A prompt and proper response from the government is therefore required if we as a nation do not want to see our national unity torn into pieces again. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura Sat, May 28 2016 When negotiations failed to produce an agreement between two opposing sides in a land dispute concerning an airport in Papua, locals opted for a different approach in a bid to have their rights granted. They did not resort to violence to have their demands heard, but instead blocked access within the disputed property until their aspirations were responded to. The Sentani Airport authority in Jayapura has agreed to pay Rp 156 billion (US$11.5 million) in compensation for customary lands within the airport complex. That is the amount demanded by four ethnic groups that have claimed customary ownership rights over the designated fields. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 A pair of children sneakily left their group to play on the helipad of the 125-meter-long KRI Banjarmasin-592 warship. After a while, they returned to their peers and engaged in various childrens games, including singing, in the ships lounge. They were among 198 less-privileged and physically disabled children from seven foundations across Greater Jakarta partaking in an event on Tuesday called Joy Sailing, organized by the Womens International Club Jakarta (WIC) and the Indonesian Navy. The children examined several important facilities inside the ship, including the landing platform dock and the navigation cabin. They spent about four hours on board the Indonesian-made ship exploring Jakarta Bay before returning to the Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta at noon. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 Publicly listed infrastructure company Bukaka Teknik Utama has closed a US$67 million procurement and maintenance project deal with Chevron, in a collaboration expected to help Bukaka achieve its revenue target this year. It is a significant effort for the company amid the weakening purchasing power and industries poor performances, Bukaka president director Irsal Kamarudin said after a shareholders meeting in Jakarta on Thursday. The company, he continued, had also signed a Rp 320 billion ($23.6 million) contract with the US-based Jabil Circuit on the construction of an aircraft components manufacturing facility. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nani Afrida (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 What could possibly happen when a repentant terrorist meets with a badly traumatized victim years after a deadly attack? A real former terrorist, Ali Fawzi, and one of his real victims, Vivi Normasari, have a real answer: At first, they would suspiciously stare at each other and engage in name-calling until they exhausted their negative energy before the ex-terrorist became overwhelmed by guilt and unable to fight back tears. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Nurbianto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 A female flight attendant working for Garuda Indonesia complained to her superiors over alleged sexual harassment from passengers flying from Jakarta to Yogyakarta on Wednesday. An airline official confirmed the incident on Saturday, saying the behavior against the flight attendant was unacceptable. We regret that the incident occurred. Our flight attendants serve passengers politely, but professionally. Their politeness should not be misunderstood, Garuda Indonesia vice president of corporate communications Benny S. Butarbutar told thejakartapost.com on Saturday. Benny did not provide details about the incident, and also declined to mention the name of the flight attendant involved. Reports on social media said the incident occurred when a flight attendant offered refreshments to a passenger, who said he wanted milk. Meanwhile, another passenger sitting next to the first passenger asked the right or left milk. When the flight attendant left them, the passengers were laughing and involved in a conversation. Benny said the cabin attendant reported the incident to the pilot and flight service manager. Soon after landing, the case was handled by aviation security and a Garuda Indonesia team in Yogyakarta. During the questioning, the flight attendant was accompanied by the pilot and the flight service manager and representatives of Garuda Indonesia in Yogyakarta, Benny said, adding that the case was resolved after the passengers offered an apology. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Sat, May 28 2016 Words Duncan Evans & Retno Darsi Iswandari Photos Jerry Adiguna In this world, everybody is busy talking without ever listening to the words of others. People talk without caring if others are listening. People dont even care about their own words. This is a line from the short story A Slice of Twilight For My Girlfriend, describing the maelstrom of disconnection that characterizes this world. The story was written by Seno Gumira Ajidarma, one of Indonesias foremost writers working today. The story was one of three read aloud by actors at Galeri Indonesia Kaya in Central Jakarta recently to mark the re-launch of a collection of Senos short stories, also titled A Slice of Twilight For My Girlfriend, first published in 2002. In the collection, he writes about twilight with great intensity. Nearly all the stories involve twilight in one form or another, and it is not just a sun preparing to set, but rather a more remarkable phenomenon that creates powerful and particular feelings in people, for example, the feeling of loss. The twilight becomes a spiritual moment where people can see magical things. His intensity in describing this phenomenon is connected to his interest in Japanese literature. According to Seno, classic Japanese writers work intensely to describe a single object, so that a simple thing can be seen from a richer and deeper perspective. Through cultivating the object of twilight in his book, he writes about many things, such as how myths that are reproduced and repeated many times can appear more real than the facts themselves, from Mercusuar (The Lighthouse) and how people who do not follow the customs of society are assumed to be disturbed or crazy people from Rumah Panggung di Tepi Pantai (The Stilt House by the Shore). He also elevates bitter themes in Indonesian history, such as the murder of ethnic Chinese in the story Kunang-Kunang Mandarin (Mandarin Fireflies). Seno employs a wild imagination in his stories. He mixes things that are touchable and untouchable, sensible and insensible, exemplified by the image of twilight cut up into tangible pieces. The jumbled imagery generates a magical realist color to his sentences, and speaks to his tendency to drift toward the genre of magical realism sometimes associated with Latin American writers. However, he says that he does not consider himself a magical realist, and that his style of writing is solely a product of the daily struggles of his own life. DARK SIDE Seno has written a good deal about the darker aspects of Indonesian history throughout his career as a writer. Two of his published works translated into English, Jakarta at a Certain Point in Time, and Jazz, Perfume and the Incident, specifically touch on the bloodier parts of the Indonesian political and social landscape. When asked to explain the history of his writing process, Seno says that he began writing when he was still in elementary school. He liked to snip out images of characters from umbul, (pages filled with pictures), and then write in words to describe them so that soon enough he had created his own story. He was often impressed by folklore, such as Si Kabayan, and liked to copy stories from folklore onto his school noticeboard. Seno was also impressed by stories from outside of the country, such as those written by Karl May. His mother read the works of the German writer to him, and he says that the memory of her voice reading the stories still resonates within him today. He wrote a great deal while working as a journalist for the daily newspapers Merdeka and Zaman. In his work as a journalist, he was occasionally censored and banned by the company for which he worked. Due to of censorship, he says it is necessary to always search for ways to keep writing about facts and thought. In this vein, he published Saksi Mata (Eyewitness), a collection of short stories, in 1994. It was followed by a book of essays, Ketika Jurnalisme Dibungkam Sastra Harus Bicara (When Journalism is Silenced, Literature Must Speak), published in 1997. Considered a seminal work of Indonesian literature, it is often quoted in literary discussions. The statement of the book was born at a time when the press in Indonesia was censored and unable to speak openly, and so newspapers functioned primarily to circulate a string of press releases. The winner of the S.E.A. Write Award, Dinny OHearn Prize for Literature and Khatulistiwa Literary Award also argues that the world of letters is not a career in the traditional sense of the term, and writers who feel proud of themselves for making a career out of letters ought to rethink the purpose of literature. Specific careers are a product of particular civilizations. Writing, by contrast, is something deeper than any one civilization. What is most important is that people have ideas that need to be expressed and this innate will and need should not be silenced. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 The Papua provincial administration may find it hard to wrest full control over Indonesias easternmost province as the central government has refused to amend Law No. 21/2001 on Papua Special Autonomy. The law has been deemed by some to be ineffective in improving the welfare of Papuans. The Home Ministrys regional autonomy directorate general, Soni Sumarsono, said on Friday the government, along with the Papua administration, should first focus on issuing supporting instruments for the law, such as the Special Regional Regulations (Perdasus), which will stipulate implementation mechanisms for the law. The law isnt perfect, thats why we need to arrange the Perdasus. How can we revise a law when it has yet to accommodate any comprehensive instruments for implementation? Soni asked. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 The government has announced plans to introduce a new tender process for oil and gas projects that will afford bidding investors greater flexibility. The new mechanism is promised to be implemented and applied before the end of the year as part of government efforts to encourage oil and gas exploration in the face of a sluggish oil market. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's director for upstream oil and gas, Djoko Siswanto, said the new tender system would allow participants to propose the production sharing split and the height of the signature bonus. "In 2015, we applied a non-negotiable take it or leave it method for the sharing split. In 2016, the sharing split is open for bidding, as long as the governments share after tax is larger than the contractors share," Djoko said at the closing ceremony of the 40th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) convention and exhibition in Jakarta on Friday. Likewise, the signature bonus for the government in 2015 bids was at the closest level to the requirement. In 2016, Djoko said, it would be negotiable in the bidding process with a non-zero bonus for the government. He stressed, however, that tender participants had to pass a basic assessment on their compliance with administrative requirements and their technical and financial capability. "The final assessment is a combination of a participant's proposed work program and their commitment, signature bonus and proposed sharing split," he explained. In the first wave of tenders in 2016, the government plan to offer 15 oil and gas blocks. The figure might still change, based on the availability of new blocks to tender, Djoko said, however. Seven conventional blocks and one non-conventional block are offered via regular tender, while seven others will be through direct deals. The blocks offered through regular tender are South CPP in Riau, Oti in East Kalimantan, Suremana I in East Kalimantan, Manakarra Mamuju in East Kalimantan, South East Mandar in South Sulawesi and Kasuri II in West Papua. Meanwhile, the seven blocks offered via direct deals are Bukit Barat in Riau Islands, Batu Gajah II in Jambi, Kasongan Sampit in Central Kalimantan, Ampuh in the Java Sea, Ebuny off the coast of Southeast Sulawesi, Onin in West Papua and West Kaimana in West Papua. Earlier, the ministry's director general of oil and gas, IGN Wiratmaja Puja, said the ministry had prepared a number of incentives, including an extension of the exploration period, flexibility on the type of exploration and special incentives for exploration in deep sea and remote areas. "We still have to hold discussions with other ministries on the tax holiday, as well as FTP [first tranche petroleum] and DMO [domestic market obligation] holiday," he said. (ags) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran and Azerbaijan will increase their electricity trade to 500 megawatts (MW), Iran's Deputy Minister of Energy Houshang Falahatian said. The needed electricity trade infrastructures will be completed within one month, Falahatian said, state-run IRINN TV reported May 26. He said that currently electricity trade between Tehran and Baku stands at 10 MW, expressing hope that the figure will increase once the infrastructure construction is completed. Azerbaijan has very little share in Iran's annual 10.24-billion kWh electricity energy export, according to the annual report of Iran's Energy Ministry. The country's share from Iran's 4.1 billion KWh electricity energy import stood at 0.1 percent in last Iranian fiscal year (ended March 20). Iran and Azerbaijan plan to connect their electricity networks. The two countries signed a MoU on electricity swap last December, which envisages linking the two countries' power networks and exchange of electricity. According to Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's ICT minister, the connection of Iranian and Azerbaijani power networks will also lead to linking them with Russian and Georgian electricity networks. Early in February Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Natig Aliyev said that Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia are working on the establishment of the North-South energy corridor among the three countries. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 While law enforcers and experts have come out in support of the regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on sexual violence against children, others have proposed alternative solutions to curb sex offending. Child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said on Friday the stern punishments contained in the recently issued Perppu could not in themselves solve the main cause of the problem, societal neglect. Seto said the administration of President Joko Jokowi Widodo, apart from imposing more severe punishments for convicted rapists, should consider addressing this issue by deploying a special unit in every neighborhood to monitor any signs of irregular behavior related to violence against children in the area. Several cases of violence against children, such as the tragic death of Engeline in Bali last year and the rape and murder of a 14-year old in Bengkulu, which was only reported by news outlets last month, happened because society had turned a blind eye to them, Seto told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview. In Engelines case, Seto said, the neighborhood had been aware that she was being treated inhumanely before her body was found buried in the backyard of the house of her adoptive mother, Margriet Christina Megawe, in Denpasar. Meanwhile, residents and the local administration of Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu, have acknowledged that it was not secure for a girl to walk alone at night, but they did nothing , Seto said, referring to the gang-rape case in Bengkulu. In the wake of the Bengkulu case activists and lawmakers called on the government to draw up a consolidated policy to prevent sexual violence, with the latter claiming that the severe punishments for child rapists in the Perppu, such as chemical castration, longer jail terms and the death penalty, were the best possible way to deal with the issue. The Perppu also stipulates that rapists who are chemically castrated must take part in a rehabilitation program administered by the government. Seto said the government had to ensure that rape victims would receive psychological therapy to heal their trauma. Oftentimes, they refuse to undergo treatment because the cost is beyond them, he said. The child protection activist added that Jokowi could use the opportunity of National Childrens Day on July 23 to strengthen protection of the nations children from any kind of violence, similar to what happened during the Soeharto presidency in 1997. In 1997, the then government created a national movement on child protection, which was followed by the establishment of a child protection agency, Seto said, adding that after the Reform era, the momentum continued with the establishment of the National Commission on Child Protection and the 2002 Child Protection Law. But the impetus had faded away a long time before the case in Bengkulu. Separately, Sri Nurherwati of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) told the Post on Friday that the commission would not change its position in regard to the punishments stipulated in the Perppu saying, We still reject chemical castration as a punishment. Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Friday the police would disseminate the Perppu to every local police office nationwide, especially to officers handling sexual abuse cases. He added that the National Polices medical and health center was also willing to carry out the chemical castration of rapists. He said doctors who would be assigned to chemically castrate the rapists should not be afraid of violating the Indonesian code of medical ethics because they would do it under the protection of the regulation. Article 5 of the Indonesian code of medical ethics stipulates that every action conducted or advice given by a doctor that could debilitate a patient psychologically or physically, must obtain the consent of the patient or their family and be done only for the benefit of the patient. (mos/wnd) ________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 One-hundred-and-sixty-eight bottles of liquor were confiscated from a shop during a raid in Johar Baru, Central Jakarta, on Friday. Each of the confiscated bottles contained more than 5 percent alcohol, Johar Baru Police chief. Comr. Wiyono said as quoted by beritajakarta.com, adding that they all belonged to one owner. Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama allows the sale of liquor with 1 to 5 percent alcoholic content to adults. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura Sat, May 28 2016 The blockading of the campus of Cenderawasih University in Waena, Abepura Jayapura, Papua, from Monday to Thursday by its students has resulted in a strike by its 615 lecturers and 321 administrative employees. The strike is a protest against the students who have been frequently blocking the campus, said university rector Onesimus Sahuleka on Friday, explaining that the students had been blocking the campus at least twice a month. Onesimus welcomed students aspirations but encouraged them not to express them by disturbing the teaching and learning activities at the campus. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Associated Press) Rome Sat, May 28, 2016 The Italian navy says it has saved 135 migrants from a sinking boat and recovered 45 bodies in the Mediterranean. The navy said earlier Friday it was aiding the partially sunk boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, a route smugglers' boats use in a lucrative business to transport those fleeing wars and poverty onto European shores. In other rescues, the navy saved hundreds of migrants, part of a one-day total of some 2,000 migrants rescued in operations coordinated by the Italian coast guard. A cargo ship, tug boats as well as vessels run by volunteer groups helped in the multiple rescue operations. Smugglers, taking advantage of calm seas, have sent dozens of boats toward Italy this week, including one capsizing Wednesday, killing at least five. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ina Parlina (The Jakarta Post) Tokyo Sat, May 28 2016 Indonesia assured Japan on Friday that its economic interests in Indonesia would remain intact despite signs that Southeast Asias biggest economy is abandoning Japan in favor of other major economic powers. In a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit of seven leading industrial powers, President Joko Jokowi Widodo extended his guarantee to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Japan could develop a US$1.5 billion seaport project in Indonesia. Japan was hungry for such an assurance because the East Asian giant considers the project to be a significant development, a project where losing is not an option after it lost out to China in a contest to secure Indonesias first high-speed train project worth $3.5 billion last year. I conveyed to Prime Minister Abe an agreement to work together with Indonesia in developing the Patimban seaport, said Jokowi after his fourth meeting with Abe since taking office 18 months ago. The Patimban deep-sea port project in Subang, West Java, is aimed at supporting the flow of goods to and from industrial estates in regencies east of Jakarta, such as Bekasi and Karawang home to Japans automotive, electronics, machinery and component manufacturers. If fully developed, the port will need some $3.5 billion in financing, and Japan is ready to undertake the biggest chunk of the burden. When asked about the financing scheme for the project, Jokowi said he would assign relevant ministers to follow up on the agreement. Whats important is a deal has been reached on Patimban. Relevant ministries will have to work out the details, said Jokowi. The Transportation Ministry has targeted the Patimban port to begin its first phase of operations by 2019. Once completed, it will have an initial container capacity of 250,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and will be expanded to 7.5 million TEUs by 2037, half that of Jakartas Tanjung Priok Port, the countrys largest port and a hub for more than 50 percent of the goods shipped in and out of Indonesia. I am convinced that the port will become an iconic venture between the two countries, said Abe. Aside from the project, Indonesia will also take into serious consideration Japans offer to provide loans for the revitalization of a railway line linking Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesias second-biggest city, in East Java, with the aim of doubling the speed of trains traveling along the network. A deal on Japans railway loans may place hurdles in front of Chinas ambition to expand its high-speed railway network into Surabaya as its current project will only link Jakarta with Indonesias fourth-biggest city, Bandung in West Java. Other issues discussed between Jokowi and Abe included progress in the settlement of Indonesias failure to lower its import tariff on cars from Japan as agreed to in the Economic Cooperation Agreement between the two countries (IJEPA). In response to the problem, Jokowi said the auto tariff could be settled if Japan, Indonesias biggest creditor, agreed to provide greater access for Indonesias goods. The settlement to this auto tariff problem should be resolved as one package in the settlement for access of our fishery, agriculture and horticulture commodities into Japan, said Jokowi. The auto tariff issue was first raised during a bilateral meeting between Jokowi and Abe mid last year. Under the IJEPA deal, Indonesia agreed to cut its 45 percent tariff on some Japanese passenger cars with an engine displacement of 3,000 cc or less to 20 percent by the start of 2015. The tariff will eventually be lowered to 5 percent in 2016. Jokowi and Abe also discussed progress in the construction of the 2x1,000 MW Batang power plant in Central Java, which has been held up since 2011 by a land-acquisition dispute. The meeting of the two leaders came amid Chinas increasing economic assertiveness in Indonesia, with various offers of cheap loans and assistance. The Jokowi administration has accepted at least $5 billion in new loans from China for various infrastructure projects. __________________________________ To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition, please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama said on Friday his administration has gained support from the Kota Tua management for its program to restore old buildings in the capital. The work is still in process. It has also gained a recommendation from the team, said Ahok at the City Hall. The administration has been revitalizing its tourism areas by teaming up with private firms, like Dutch company AkzoNobel, to renovate the citys heritage areas: Kota Tua in West Jakarta and Pasar Ikan in North Jakarta. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 The governments intention to impose harsh punishments on perpetrators of child sexual abuse, as stipulated in a new regulation in lieu of law (Perppu), has gained wide support from lawmakers from various political parties. Many of the lawmakers, however, are still considering whether the Perppu will become an independent law or will be deliberated as part of a sexual violence bill at the House of Representatives. There are two ways to accommodate the Perppu: inserting it into the sexual violence bill or deliberating it as a separate bill. But it is a technical issue," said Arif Wibowo, a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed a Perppu on Wednesday on sexual violence against children. The punishments include a minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, a maximum sentence of the death penalty, and additional penalties such as the publication of sex crime convicts identities, chemical castration and the use of electronic tags for pedophiles and child rapists. The secretary of the Golkar Partys faction in the House, Azis Syamsuddin, praised the Perppu, saying the only thing left was law enforcement. He preferred including the Perppu in the bill being debated by lawmakers. "We will include the Perppu in the sexual violence bill because the Perppu is not comprehensive," he said, adding that his party would carry out a thorough study over three months to ascertain whether castration or other punishments would give a deterrent effect. Chairman of the Gerindra faction Ahmad Muzani said his party supported the maximum sentences stipulated in the Perppu, but said lawmakers needed to look into whether the Perppu had a long-term perspective in fighting the sexual abuse of children. We need to create a long-term regulation. The Perppu was published because of the urgency and usually has only a short-term orientation," Muzani said. Another Gerindra lawmaker, Muhammad Syafi'i, however, opposed the chemical castration, saying such crimes could be also perpetrated with other body parts, not only the genitals. "I don't really support the castration; the perpetrators should get the death sentence instead," Syafi'i said. Echoing Syafiis comments, Democratic Party deputy chairman Sjarifuddin Hasan said the government must provide a deterrent effect. Therefore, he agreed with the death penalty for adult perpetrators. Meanwhile, a lawmaker from the National Awakening Party (PKB) appreciated the governments seriousness in providing a legal basis to take harsh action against sexual criminals, but added that the government should also get serious in preventing the spread of pornography. "We fully support the government's move, but it must be followed by the government's strict actions to close sites that contain porn," PKB faction chairman Jazilul Fawaid said, adding that alcohol consumption and watching pornography could lead to sex crimes. The Hanura Party considered the Perppu to be a legal basis to "save our next generation". The party believed the Perppus issuance was of urgent importance, and it supported the castration punishment, Hanura deputy chairman Nurdin Tampubolon said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 A new international airport is to open in Malang, the second largest city in East Java, with officials expecting construction to begin in 2019. Purboyo Airport, to be built in Srigonco village in the southern part of the city, would require at least 600 hectares of land, said Malang Regent Rendra Kresna. The airport is slated to replace the current Abdulrachman Saleh Airport in Saptorenggo village, Pakis district, which is essentially an Air Force base that doubles as a commercial airport. The detailed engineering design (DED) and feasibility study are currently being drafted by the East Java provincial administration, said Rendra, adding that the drafting process was expected to conclude in 2017 so that physical construction could begin in 2019. "In principle, we are ready to fully support [the project] within our role and capability," Rendra said on Friday, as quoted by tempo.co. Rendra said the central government had allocated budget funds of Rp 4 billion (US$294,000) for the airports construction. Those funds would be sourced from the 2017 state budget, he added. Rendra said the funds had been approved by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who had agreed to the building of the airport after East Java Governor Soekarwo had applied for funding on March 26. The head of East Javas transportation agency, Wahid Wahyudi, confirmed the current drafting of the DED and feasibility study. So far, he said, the construction plans were still at the stage of coordination between the East Java provincial administration, the Malang administration, the Transportation Ministry and the Indonesian Navy. Currently, Purboyo lands, which stretch across 4,811 hectares, are used for the Marine Combat Training Centre. Tempo magazine has reported that 47 hectares of those lands were currently disputed between the marines and the residents of five villages in Bantur district, namely Srigonco, Pringgodani, Sumberbening, Bandungrejosari and Karangsari. (liz/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dewanti A. Wardhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 Foreign oil and gas players are dumping their Indonesian assets as they are considered less competitive than other assets elsewhere in the world during a difficult time when exploration may not produce any yields. At least four foreign companies have returned ownership of their blocks to the government or are finalizing to do so, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The companies are UK-based oil and gas exploration company Ophir, Swedish Lundin, Australia-based Cooper Energy and French GDF, which is now known as Engie. Total E&P Indonesie and Japanese oil and gas company Inpex, on the other hand, are still undecided on their future participation in the gas-rich Mahakam block, the contract for which is set to expire in 2018. The block will be handed over to state-owned Pertamina after the ownership period expires. Djoko Siswanto, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministrys director for the upstream oil and gas business, said two factors had pushed the companies to dump their assets. First, they were unsuccessful after years of drilling and second, their priority lists did not allow them to continue exploration. Djoko acknowledged that in such a difficult time as now, with low oil prices and little capital, companies tended to prioritize areas that already contained reserves. These companies have blocks not only in Indonesia, but also in other Asian countries as well as in Europe. So they are choosing to focus on other blocks instead, Djoko told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines the 40th Indonesian Petroleum Association Convention and Exhibition (IPA Convex) on Friday. Global oil prices have been in free fall for the past two years. The price of Brent dropped to below US$50 per barrel from $110 per barrel in June 2014. It is only recently that Brent has again touched $50 per barrel. The low prices have resulted in massive layoffs and have halted expansion projects in many countries, including in Indonesia. The situation has left the government scrambling to attract investors by offering new incentives in its latest bidding round, in which it offers exploration opportunities in 15 blocks across the country. The announcement of the 15 offshore and onshore blocks was made at the IPA convex. They are located in Riau, Jambi, the Makassar Strait, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Java Sea, South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, West Papua and Southeast Sulawesi. Under the new tender scheme, participants will determine the production split and signature bonus, as opposed to the previous scheme that saw the government set fixed figures for both production split and bonus. However, finding investors may still be difficult because in 2015, nine oil and gas blocks were put up for tender, but none gained a winning bidder. A 2016 survey by multinational service network PricewaterhouseCoopers seems to validate the weak business sentiment. The surveys results reveal that while most respondents think Indonesias oil and gas demand will moderately increase over the next five years, 61 percent respond negatively when asked whether or not their companies will increase exploration activities in Indonesia in the next three years. Djoko said he was certain this years tender would attract investors and that no more firms would dump their assets as oil prices were gradually increasing. Meanwhile, Ophir Energy human resources and general affairs vice president Marudut Manullang said the upcoming tender would be a test case to see whether or not this new scheme offered by the government could attract investors. _______________________________________ to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Syamsul Huda M. Suhari (The Jakarta Post) The Jakarta Post/Gorontalo Sat, May 28 2016 The Gorontalo police are to end their investigation into the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old woman from Manado, North Sulawesi, due to a lack of evidence. Gorontalo Police chief Brig. Gen. Hengkie Kaluara said the decision to terminate the investigation was made following the polices preliminary investigation into the case in which the police found no evidence of rape. The case had implicated four police officers and a number of civilians. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's trade balance over the first two months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20-May 21) stood at $1.1 billion, the Iranian Customs Administration reported May 28. Iran's non-oil exports (including condensates) surpassed $6.859 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year, indicating a fall by 14.7 percent compared to the same period of the preceding year. The exported goods were mainly raw material, as gas condensates(worth $1.09 billion), petroleum gases and gas hydrocarbons($272 million), iron and steel products(($247 million), liquefied propane($237 million) and bitumen($201 million) topped the list of country's exports. China, the UAE, Iraq, South Korea and India were the top Iranian goods importers during the 2-month period. The Islamic Republic also imported $5.497 billion worth of goods during the period, 13.5 percent less in comparison with the same months of preceding year. The most important imported goods by Iran were: livestock corn worth $180 million, soybean worth $133 million, soybean meal worth $129 million, car parts ($116 million) and rice ($104 million). China, the UAE, Russia, Turkey, South Korea, Germany and India were the leading exporters of goods to Iran. The average price for each ton of Iran's non-oil goods in the mentioned period was around $379, meanwhile the figure for imported goods was $1206. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Derek Gatopoulos (Associated Press) Athens, Greece Sat, May 28, 2016 On his first trip to a European Union country this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sharply criticized western policy toward Moscow, describing a newly-expanded US missile defense system as a threat to his country's security. Putin arrived in Athens on a two-day visit and emerged from talks with the Greek government to lash the United States and NATO allies, also accusing them of stifling trade and energy cooperation with Russia. Earlier this month, the US program was declared operation at a site in Romania, drawing an angry reaction from Russia. NATO says the system is purely defensive and a response to a growing capability of ballistic missiles globally. "We keep hearing that it's not a threat against Russia, that it's not aimed at Russia," Putin said late Friday. "Of course it's a threat to us. It can easily be modified to have an aggressive capability ... We are obliged to take action in response to guarantee our security," he said, without elaborating. Putin has made only a handful of visits to EU countries since sanctions were imposed on Moscow two years ago in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia's annexation of Crimea following an internationally disputed referendum. "The issue of Crimea is over forever, based on the will of the people who live there. Russia will never negotiate on this issue," Putin said. Athens is keen to maintain its traditionally close ties with post-Soviet Russia, despite its participation in EU sanctions against Moscow, and a gas pipeline project designed to limit Russia's regional energy dominance. Russia is one of Greece's main trading partners, but business has been hit by the sanctions and a drop in commodity prices. Greece is also keen to reverse a slump in tourist arrivals from Russia last year, and attract interest from Russian companies in the planned privatization of rail and other transport services. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, noted that Putin's visit comes just days after Athens reached a deal with eurozone bailout creditors to continue rescue loans, under a deal that expands power of a state privatization committee. "Improving relations with Russia on multiple levels is a strategic choice," Tsipras said. "Of course ... when the disagreements exceed our powers, we can act a positive influence within the EU and NATO." Putin traveled to Greece with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and top executives from state oil and gas companies. Amid heavy security at Athens Airport, air force F-16s buzzed overhead as part of a welcoming ceremony. "This will be the first time Putin has visited an EU country in the past six months and Russia-EU relations will be definitely on the agenda," said Alexander Kokcharov of the US-based IHS Country Risk group. "Putin is likely to offer investment projects in Greece, most likely in energy and transport sectors. However, we do not expect that Greece would go against the EU consensus." On Saturday, Putin will visit the autonomous Orthodox Christian monastic community of Mount Athos, joined by the head of Russia's Othodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. Some 2,500 police were providing security for Putin's visit in Athens, and much of the city center was blocked to motorists and public transport. Outside Parliament, a small group of demonstrators from a Greek gay and lesbian rights association gathered in protest against Putin's visit, chanting "Greece, Russia, Homophobia." Protester Savvas Kleanthous said violence against gays in Russia goes largely unpunished "We're here to support the Russian gay community," he said. "We haven't forgotten them." (bbn) Nicholas Paphitis in Athens, Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow, and Costas Kantouris in Mount Athos contributed. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 The newly established Foreign Nationals Monitoring Team (TIMPORA) office in South Jakarta has been met with mixed responses from foreigners in the municipality, some of whom have warned the office that their privacy must be respected. The government inaugurated the office, located in Kalibata City apartments, on Wednesday, and asked locals to provide any information they had on foreigners acting suspiciously in their neighborhoods. A Dutch national who wished to be named only as Mickel, said it was a normal thing for any government to monitor foreigners in their countries, emphasizing that it was their main duty to protect their own citizens. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 A hoax bomb, the second found this week in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, was designed to cause fear in society, a police official has warned. Local residents found the suspicious package with attached wires and wrapped in a plastic bag, on the sidewalk of Jl. Pulau Buru in Poso at 8 a.m. on Friday. The residents immediately reported the find to a police post located 100 meters from the site. Police personnel cordoned off the area as members of the Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) bomb squad examined the package. The officers carried out a controlled explosion on the suspect device. The device was found to be a deliberate hoax, operational division head of Poso Police Adj. Cmr. Mulyadi said on Friday. The incident caused fear among residents and disrupted their daily activities, Mulyadi added. "This is the second such hoax [this week]. The Police still continue the investigation to find out who is behind these terrorist activities in Poso," he said as quoted by Kompas.com. The Central Sulawesi Police's Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (Inafis) personnel examined the scene and the remains of the device were taken to Brimob Detachment B's headquarters in Poso for further investigation. On Wednesday a suspicious package was left at the gates of the Poso office of the National Committee of Indonesian Youth (KNPI) on Jl. Yos Sudarso. A resident discovered the package, also with wires attached and wrapped in a black plastic bag, as he dumped garbage. Poso has been the scene of Operation Tinombala, a major joint operation between the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) involving at least 3,000 personnel, since January. The operation is designed to capture members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin terrorist group (MIT) led by most-wanted terrorist suspect Santoso, aka Abu Wardah. The group, whose members have been reduced to 22, is believed to be hiding in mountainous terrain in Poso. (afr/rin) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 Indonesia has some of the lowest cigarette prices in the world, with a pack costing just US$1. In a country where 28.6 million people are still living below the poverty line, cigarette addiction makes low-income people even poorer, to the extent where some people sacrifice basic necessities such as their childrens education in order to buy cigarettes. Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek said recently that she had noticed an alarming trend where children dropped out of school because their parents preferred to spend their income on cigarettes, rather than education. There are many children who have to drop out of school because of a lack of money. And we have lost count of how many children are malnourished because the household spending goes mostly to cigarettes, she said. The poorest families in Indonesia spend almost 12 percent of their incomes on cigarettes, according to a report on Indonesia by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in 2011. Furthermore, cigarettes have become the second biggest household expense in both urban and rural families after rice, according to a 2015 survey from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). While there has yet to be a study on how many childrens educations are sacrificed because of their parents smoking habit, there are many real-life anecdotes. One instance is the case of a fisherman in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, whose two children dropped out of school because their fathers daily income of Rp 50,000 went to four packs of cigarettes per day, according to National Commission on Tobacco Control commissioner Fuad Baradja. Nila said that Indonesian children stayed an average of 8.3 years in school, further indicating that high cigarette consumption ate up money that could have been spent on other necessities. While there could be many reasons that children drop out of school, one of them might be because the parents are not focusing enough on funding their childrens education. Even though the government has provided financial assistance for education, why is it only eight years? she said. There are countless other intangible costs of smoking, which are often easily forgotten. If a father is smoking inside his house and his daughter is having respiratory problems because of that, just count the cost incurred from the days when she has to skip school. What about medicine for her? And the father might also have to leave work to take his daughter to the doctor, said Nila. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mario Rustan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 What will future historians make of Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama 25 years from now? Has the Jakarta governor stopped city-wide flooding from being a fact of life? Was he a rude person, or just a straight talker? How effective was he compared to former governors Ali Sadikin and Sutiyoso? What are his legacies for Jakarta and for Indonesian nationhood? Four years ago he was the running partner of Joko Jokowi Widodo, who had become the most popular choice to lead Indonesia, and so the former deputy governor with a stereotypical Chinese nickname (taken from his Hakka given name Ban Hok) assumed the leadership of the one of the worlds biggest cities, which happens to have the most severe traffic jams in the world. Chinese-Indonesians both admire Ahok and worry about him. They like his iconoclastic acts, his argumentative defenses and his Christian and Chinese identity. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 Some 25 houses in the Pondok Bambu subdistrict, Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, have been hit by floods several times since January, but the Jakarta administration has been slow to seek a solution for the problem. Only on Friday did East Jakarta Mayor Bambang Muswardana visit the area and instruct the relevant officials to find solutions. The latest inundation has occurred for two weeks. The water never recedes. Moss has started growing on the wall of my house, said one of the residents, who said that he had waited for the Jakarta administration to eliminate the flooding. Pondok Bambu subdistrict head Doddy said that the mayor had instructed him to immediately seek a solution to end the problems. Among those who came here are officials from the East Jakarta Water Management Office. Next week, we will have a meeting to seek a solution, Doddy said as reported by kompas.com on Friday. The flooding inundated houses in two neighborhood units RT 16 and RT 15 of Community Unit (RW) 07 in Pondok Bambu subdistrict. Some residents expressed worry that the inundation would cause residents to become ill if the city administration did not immediately find a solution. Hopefully, there will be no dengue fever cases, said Iwan, who had to use neighbors toilets because his own toilet was flooded. Sutinah, another resident, said many dangerous animals like snakes often came into her house. Sometimes snakes came here, swimming along the inundation, she added. Doddy suspected that the inundation was caused by the construction of a house that blocked the waterway. He said Sianipar, the owner of the house, argued that the waterway was part of his land, therefore, part of his house was constructed over it. Next week, we will hold a meeting, Pak Sianipar is invited and is required to show the documents of his land. If the former waterway is part of his land, we will seek a solution, but if it is not his land, we will reestablish the waterway, Doddy added. Residents said that they had discussed the issue with Sianipar, but he never listened to their complaints. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Lynda Ibrahim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28 2016 A common conversation topic nowadays is how slow the economy has become. Friends in media and showbusiness find it difficult to get publicity and sponsorship; pals in fast-moving consumer goods and telecommunications (typically happy to shell out dough) report cutbacks on non-pivotal promotions because sales have been slow. A slowdown in consumer spending is not exactly news. My contacts in retail have whined, in varying degrees, about missing targets as far back as Idul Fitri last year a trend that continued through the subsequent Christmas and Chinese New Year. One argument says consumers have shifted to online shopping, where goodies are more varied in type and price. While thats possible, I havent seen the numbers to conclude that the missing buyers from physical stores have all migrated to their online counterparts. Going by consumer confidence reports for the past year, lower consumption is the likely reality. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 28, 2016 Officials from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry and environmentalists have rescued whale sharks being kept in a floating cage in Maluku by a Singapore-based businessman, who allegedly intended to sell them to China. Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said in Jakarta on Friday that the fish were immediately released into the open sea after they were discovered in a floating fish cage owned by Hendrik, who was not present when the site was raided. The whale shark is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Susi said. The rescue operation was jointly conducted by ministry officials and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) activists. The case is under police investigation and no suspects have been named. Under the Fisheries Law, anyone caught mistreating protected animals could face six years imprisonment and a Rp 1.5 billion (US$110,000) fine. The WCS has reported 22 cases of marine wildlife crimes since 2014, country director Noviar Andayani said. She said the whale shark population continued to fall because of poaching. (sha/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Sat, May 28 2016 It feels like barely a week goes by without an Indonesian zoo making world headlines for all the wrong reasons. The most recent being Bandung Zoo in West Java. One international headline read: Elephant sheds tears as she lies dying in squalid zoo. [... ] An elephant cried as she died in chains on the floor of a squalid zoo. In the last few days the Scorpion Foundation, Indonesias leading NGO calling for urgent reform of all zoos, has visited Bandung Zoo, twice. What investigators saw both shocked and angered them. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sun, May 29, 2016 Rights activists have slammed the government's regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on sexual violence against children, saying it focuses on punishing offenders without showing adequate concern for victims. Muhammad Hafiz, acting director of the Jakarta-based Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), said that like previous laws, the government had failed to include clauses that protected victims, particularly their right to rehabilitation. Data collected by the HRWG from various hospitals said victims of sexual abuse often paid for post-traumatic treatment by themselves, as the government did not provide psychological rehabilitation to comprehensively help victims, Hafiz said. "It does not protect the victims [...] even the very root causes of sexual violence have not been deliberated seriously," Hafiz told thejakartapost.com on Friday. On Wednesday, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed a Perppu stipulating chemical castration as a punishment for rapists of children, following an increase of reports of sexual abuse against minors across the country. The Perppu imposes heavy sanctions for offenders, such as sentences of 20 years imprisonment or the death penalty, in accordance with the circumstances of the case. Chemical castration is one of three additional sanctions stipulated by the Perppu, along with the public announcement of offenders identities and the installation of electronic detection devices. Some activists have expressed strong disagreement with the chemical castration plan, saying it violates the principles of the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Indonesia has ratified through Law No. 5/1998. While the Perppu articulated harsh punishments for sexual offenders, it did not accommodate the victims' side, particularly on rehabilitation and preventive measures, said National Commission of Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) chairperson Azriana. "The Perppu issuance shows the true colors of the government's views on long-lasting sexual violence cases: Only having a deterrent effect for offenders matters," Azriana said as quoted by kompas.com. The House should reconsider the enactment of the Perppu and should push for immediate deliberation of the bill on the eradication of sexual violence to step up law enforcement, Azriana said. According to Azriana, the bill would become a legal foundation to protect Indonesian women and children from sexual violence, as well as to seek justice for victims. Komnas Perempuan data revealed in 2013 that three women become a victim of sexual abuse every two hours. Unfortunately, Azriana said, the data was not taken into consideration when lawmakers amended the Child Protection Law in 2015. Separately, Fati Lazira from the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), said chemical castration would not resolve the overall problem, adding that the government should make comprehensive efforts by strengthening preventive measures. According to Fati, the phenomena of sexual violence has numerous root causes, including poverty, poor education, a lack of control over television programming and the spread of negative information on social media, which are all interconnected. The education system should be modified, Fati said, as the current system made students too single-minded and did not provide room for them to explore ideas. "The government addresses sexual violence with reactive sanctions such as chemical castration, but it actually won't solve the long-term problems," Fati said. (dan) Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Islamic Republic is experiencing more complicated situation as compared with the past. In a message to opening of Iran's 10th parliament on May 28, Khamenei said "the current stormy situation in the region and the world, and international adventurism of imperialists and their followers, have put the Islamic Republic face-to-face with a more complicated situation compared to that in the past," the official website of the Iranian supreme leader reported. He further said that confronting this situation demands vigilance, strong will and initiatives by all the officials of the Islamic Republic. Khamenei added that the Iranian MPs should make the parliament a "solid fortification" against deceptions and excessive demands of the "arrogant powers" and a point of reliance for the revolutionary people. He also hailed the Iranians' high turnout in the recent parliamentary election, saying the nation repaid allegiance to the Islamic Republic and clearly responded to those "malevolent" by doing so. Khamenei further said in his message that the parliament's current two major priorities are to realize a resistant economy and enrich the Islamic culture. He concluded the message expressing appreciation to the legislators of the previous parliament and wished success to the new lawmakers. The 10th round of the Iranian parliament started its work on May 28. The speaker, vice-speakers and other presiding board members of the new parliament will be elected May 29. Former Speaker Ali Larijani and former Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref are speculated to be the main rivals for the new speaker's position. (front page) Unions striking Verizon broaden labor support 1,700 CWA members also strike AT&T in Calif. CWA Local 2108 NEW YORK Union solidarity has increased for the 39,000 union members on strike since April 13 in nine eastern states and the District of Columbia against telecommunications giant Verizon. In Rockland County, north of New York City, the strike has elicited sustained support, and strikers have lent their solidarity to other fights in the county. Passersby frequently honk their horns and give a thumbs-up to the picket lines of more than 60 strikers at the new Verizon store in the Nanuet Mall. On May 12 teachers and other unionists joined a solidarity action there. On April 19 Verizon strikers had joined a rally in support of teachers at Felix Festa middle school in West Nyack. Teachers in the Clarkstown school district there have been working without a contract since August 31, 2015. National actions May 21 May 21 was a national Kids and Families Day of Action for the striking members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Verizons landline, internet and television divisions. Activities took place at Verizon Wireless stores, both in states affected by the strike and in other parts of the country. The majority of workers in the wireless section are not unionized. The store pickets build public awareness of the strike and ask people not to patronize Verizon. In Philadelphia, more than 75 strikers and supporters rallied in front of the Cottman Ave. Verizon Wireless store. Among them were Ray Applegate, 19, and Dylan Hargrove, 20, who are part of the growing term workforce there workers hired for up to 36-month terms. Verizon can end their employment any time after six months, they told the Militant. No term goes past 36 months. No regular full-time workers have been hired in over 10 years in the area, they said. A big part of the fight is to end the term category, Applegate said. Verizon is using it to try and break the union. But of the 30 term workers at my garage about half the workforce only one has crossed the picket line. They arent proposing cutting the payouts for retirees, Chris Wackerman, CWA unit 15 president told Ginny Port, a CWA member who retired from Verizon in 1996. But they want retirees and active workers to pay over $100 a month for medical coverage, and to pay deductibles of several thousand dollars, which will cut your retirement money overall. One striker, on hearing that a retiree was at the rally, called out, You fought for us now were fighting for you. Were all in this together. The courts are on the bosses side. Eighteen union members had been picketing this large store, six at each entrance, Wackerman said. But Verizon lawyers convinced the judge they only use one door, so the sheriffs department cut us down to six pickets, even though we see them using all three doors. In a related struggle, 1,700 AT&T workers organized by CWA Local 9509 in the San Diego area launched a grievance strike May 19. The union contract for 15,000 AT&T West workers in California and Nevada expired April 10. They face concession demands similar to those the Verizon strikers are opposing increased medical costs, a wage increase that doesnt meet the rising cost of living and job security. CWA District 9, which includes the AT&T workers, is encouraging members to donate to the Verizon Striking Families Fund. Send donations to the Verizon Striking Families Solidarity Fund, c/o CWA, 501 3rd Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001, or go to http://www.cwa-union.org/ to make an online contribution. Duane Stilwell in Nyack, New York, and John Staggs in Philadelphia contributed to this article. BY JAMES HARRIS WASHINGTON In a day of action called by Communications Workers locals here, nearly 1,000 Verizon strikers and supporters picketed the F street Verizon Wireless store May 19, virtually closing the store. After the picket, red-shirted strikers marched to the White House, then held a rally across street in Lafayette Park. Unions participating included SEIU 32BJ, UNITE HERE, the Amalgamated Transit Union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the American Postal Workers Union, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Office and Professional Employees International Union. Many workers are forced to work 12-hour days plus weekends and holidays, because there arent enough technicians, striker Michelle Carter, who has worked for Verizon and its predecessors for 43 years, told the Militant. They should hire more. We just want to keep what we have, our retirement benefits and health care, service technician Ronald Leatherwood said. A few people have crossed the picket line, but this strike is really strong. Related articles: Rail union says two-man crew wouldve averted 2015 train crash California blueberry pickers strike, vote in union On the Picket Line Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) As capitalist crisis deepens openings for SWP grow The biggest economic and political crisis the capitalist rulers have faced in our lifetimes is deepening. This crisis for the capitalist class and its parties creates significant openings to win workers toward the Socialist Workers Party. Thats what SWP members find as they campaign to build the party in working-class neighborhoods, as well as at picket lines and factory gates across the country. Knocking on doors in working-class towns across New Jersey, party members have been going to a wide range of neighborhoods, meeting workers they will keep in touch with in the future and working to put Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart, the SWP candidates for U.S. president and vice president, on the ballot. My husband cant work because he was injured on the job, said pharmaceutical worker Emilia Bautista on her porch in Rahway, New Jersey, May 22. Im the breadwinner, and its hard to pay the $12,000 a year property tax and other bills. I like what youre saying about building a working-class movement. Hart, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in New York Jacob Perasso and supporters will file 1,440 signatures, well over the 800 required, in Trenton May 26 to put Hart and Kennedy on the ballot. Campaigning to get on the ballot is also underway in Minnesota, Washington and Tennessee. The Socialist Workers Party takes advantage of these efforts to discuss with thousands of working people the economic and political crisis of capitalism, and above all the possibility of building a working-class movement capable of displacing the dictatorship of capital and replacing it with a workers and farmers government whose foundation is moral values of human solidarity. Biggest crisis of capitalism in decades After decades of assaults on unions, wages and working conditions, which have deepened since the financial crisis opened in 2007, millions of workers are fed up with bourgeois politics-as-usual. Against the backdrop of the 2016 elections, there is growing ferment and discussion on how to break with the past and what to do. The crisis manifests itself in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Despite virulent attacks by liberals, radicals and conservatives alike, and the Republican and Democratic Party establishments, Donald Trump, who attracts huge crowds of workers, has routed 16 opponents and all but secured the Republican nomination. The hysteria around his campaign stems not from the rulers fear of the New York real estate magnate but from their fear of the active entry on the political scene of the workers who come to his rallies, and what that portends for rising resistance to the bosses attacks. Republican Party leaders are increasingly capitulating to Trumps victory and lining up behind his run to November. They know that when all is said and done, hell do as the ruling families want. The battle for the Democratic Party nomination continues. Front-runner Hillary Clinton, wife of two-term president Bill Clinton, makes a negative impression on 61 percent of voters, according to a May 18 Fox News poll. The Clintons anti-labor legacy from ending welfare as we know it to attacks on immigrant workers and soaring incarceration rates doesnt sit well with many workers. She announced she will put Bill Clinton in charge of the economic revitalization of the U.S., which is not reassuring to miners and other workers who faced job cuts and cuts in social programs for much of the 1990s. Clintons rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has won a majority of the recent Democratic party primaries and drawn big crowds with his refrain that the economy and political establishments are rigged. Sanders has vowed to stay in the race through the July Democratic Party convention, and many Sanders supporters say they wont vote for Clinton if she is the partys nominee. Taking its campaign to the working class, the Socialist Workers Party says working people need to break from all the parties and candidates of the capitalist system and chart a course toward organizing independently and taking political power themselves. The SWP is organizing an Active Workers Conference June 16-18 in Oberlin, Ohio. This will be an opportunity for workers from across the U.S. and from other countries to discuss these questions, exchange experiences and arm ourselves politically. Beth Cribbs, a member of United Steelworkers Local 1196 in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, who was among 2,200 unionists locked out by Allegheny Technologies for more than six months, is planning to attend. Cribbs, a shipper and crane operator, told the Militant that since the lockout ended the pace of work is heavy because ATI refuses to hire enough workers. A lot of people are working 12 to 16-hour days, seven days a week. We miss being on the picket line, she said. Coming out of the conference the party plans to field teams of campaigners across the country in small towns and large cities. To volunteer to help out, contact SWP branches in your area (see list on page 8). Nearly 1,700 Militant readers The international drive to win 1,550 Militant readers, which was extended one week, has gone over the top, with 1,686 subscriptions! The Militant Fighting Fund has ended, and to allow time for contributions to be mailed in, we will post the final chart in the next issue. More than $105,000 has arrived so far. The Militant is essential for understanding whats happening in the world from a working-class perspective, Jacques Fontaine, vice president of Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 10333 at Montreals Vieux-Port tourist attraction, told the paper. The 350 union members are fighting for $15 an hour. Im happy to have discovered this paper and to realize Im not alone in the struggle for social progress. To the contrary, I realize now that Im part of a growing movement. He renewed his subscription and bought new subs for relatives in Montreal and Manitoba. Related articles: Spring subscription drive April 2 - May 24 (Final) Active Workers Conference Socialist Workers Party campaigns among Minnesota workers, farmers Socialist Workers Party candidate backs strike at Washington college Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) Puerto Rico debt crisis: product of US capitalisms colonial rule President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have reached agreement on a Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act that would put control of virtually all of Puerto Ricos financial decisions in the hands of an appointed board. The stated purpose of the bill is to bring lawful order to chaos in paying the U.S. colonys estimated $70 billion debt. Ever since June last year, when Gov. Alejandro Garcia said the debt was unpayable, wealthy bondholders and hedge funds have been jockeying to get paid first, to minimize the amount of any haircut debt reduction they have to accept, and to make sure working people get squeezed to maximize their profits. The bondholders also want to get paid ahead of the $40 billion in pension liabilities the government owes. The government missed a bond payment of $422 million May 2. Another $2 billion is due July 1. Under the bipartisan deal, Obama will appoint a seven-member board with extraordinary powers to impose its will on Puerto Rico. The colonys governor will be a non-voting member. Like a bankruptcy court, the board would decide which debts get paid first and negotiate the size of any haircut. Among the boards powers: authority to force the sale of Puerto Rican government assets and to lay off government workers. authority to overturn any law or regulation that the board decides is inconsistent with its mission. enforcing laws that prohibit government employees from going on strike. imposing criminal penalties on anyone who fails to carry out the boards decisions. In addition, the bill allows the governor of Puerto Rico to lower the minimum wage for new hires for anyone under 25 years old. Garcia has stated his administration has an adjustment plan that is similar to what the bill is calling for, but opposes the appointed board making the decisions. What it means to be a colony Since 1898, when U.S. troops wrested control of Puerto Rico from the Spanish crown, the islands resources and people have been a source of super-profits for U.S. capitalists. To mask that Puerto Rico is a colony, Washington refers to it as a self-governing territory or a Commonwealth. Despite Spanish being the main language of its 3.5 million inhabitants, U.S. federal courts in Puerto Rico conduct their affairs in English. Under the 1920 Jones Act, all maritime cargo to the island has to be carried on U.S.-owned ships. This often means goods sail right past Puerto Rico, are transferred to U.S. ships in a U.S. port, and then sent back to be offloaded there. The proposed fiscal board confronts the problems created by colonialism with more colonialism, Maria de Lourdes Santiago, the Puerto Rican Independence Partys candidate for governor in the upcoming election, said March 28. Puerto Rico does not have the necessary powers to protect its industry, to establish trade pacts with other countries, to apply for international financing deals. Lack of respect The bill shows a lack of respect, long-time independence fighter Rafael Cancel Miranda told Telemundo April 26. The only way that Puerto Ricans can resolve our problems is if we have absolute power over our lives. Despite laying off thousands of public workers, raising the retirement age, raising sales taxes and cutting pensions, Puerto Ricos debt mushroomed over the last decade as the government took out loans and floated bonds, just to pay the interest on previous loans. Even with the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, workers have a hard time making ends meet, Juan Santana, president of the Independent Union of Airport Workers, told the Militant by phone from Rio Piedras, May 23. The union represents 390 workers who prepare food for flights and restaurants at the airport. Half of the union members make only minimum wage he said, But the cost of living keeps going up. A large number of our members are between 19 and 26 years old. Lowering the minimum wage would be a blow. The debt crisis and fiscal board have become an issue in the U.S. elections. Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders drew thousands to his campaign stops in Puerto Rico May 16. Although prohibited from voting in U.S. presidential elections, Puerto Rican residents can vote in the Democratic and Republican party primaries. Sanders criticized setting up a fiscal board, saying vulture funds should take a massive discount. He proposed an orderly restructuring under the supervision of a U.S. bankruptcy court. Sanders also joined the call for freeing Oscar Lopez, a political prisoner and fighter for independence for Puerto Rico, who has been jailed in the U.S. for 35 years. Sanders called for yet another referendum, this time binding, to allow Puerto Ricos residents to vote between statehood, independence or commonwealth status. William Clinton campaigned for Hillary Clinton in Puerto Rico the day after Sanders visit. Hillary Clinton released a statement backing the control board bill even though she has serious concerns about several provisions. She said she would work to ensure that the board includes members that will act in the best interest of Puerto Ricans. Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. president Alyson Kennedy, who will testify in support of independence for Puerto Rico at United Nations hearings on decolonization June 20 in New York, told the Militant that the board is an affront to the countrys sovereignty. It puts the brunt of the crisis on the backs of working people in Puerto Rico, Kennedy said. Working people in Puerto Rico and the U.S. have everything to gain by fighting together for our common interests and backing the fight for independence. Related articles: End US colonial rule in Puerto Rico! Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (front page) Socialist Workers Party campaigns among Minnesota workers, farmers Militant/Dan Fein MINNEAPOLIS None of these politicians come through with their promises. We need to do something different to be heard, Guadalupe Pinto told Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy as she and supporters knocked on doors in Hutchinson, Minnesota, May 22. I would be happy to collaborate with you, Pinto said, and took a handful of petitions and campaign flyers to give to friends and for her husband to take to work. Two other workers who recently subscribed to the Militant took petitions to circulate. The need for working people to act in our own class interests and the thirst for anything that can strengthen that fight was part of the discussions with many workers that Socialist Workers Party members met. We all need to unite, said Stephani Ayala, a former Teamsters member in an engraving plant, as she signed the petition to put the SWP on the ballot and got a subscription to the Militant. Many workers dont earn a livable wage. Workers need the Socialist Workers Party. During the course of gathering several hundred signatures, SWP campaigners won 31 new Militant subscribers and sold several books. At a May 21 campaign meeting with Kennedy and David Rosenfeld, SWP candidate for Congress, Kennedy talked about participation in a delegation to Cuba with relatives of victims of police killings. The Cubans we met were shocked when we told them about police brutality under capitalism, and we got a real glimpse of the social relations that exist when workers and farmers make a revolution. Rosenfeld had been a panelist at a conference on Malcolm X earlier that day where a debate began about whether Malcolm Xs legacy was relevant only to African-Americans. The Socialist Workers Party explains Malcolm was a revolutionary leader of the working class, Rosenfeld said. He transcended Black nationalism and sought to work with all who want to end exploitation and oppression. He said he was trying to awaken Black people to their worth. That message is vitally important to the working class today. Dan Fein, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois, joined others talking with packinghouse workers in the parking lot outside Long Prairie Packing plant in Long Prairie, 120 miles north of here. I came from Miami three weeks ago, when I heard there was hiring here, Raimundo Olvide told Fein. Several workers there signed the party petitions. Fein also talked with dairy farmers lined up to bring livestock in. They are hard hit by low milk prices. Several have worked in factories to augment their income. I work on a friends farm now, Dick Fenner told Fein. I worked as a plumber and now Im on Social Security. But after I pay the bills, theres nothing left, so I have to work part-time. Kennedy was invited by supporters of the Socialist Workers Party campaign to meet with 10 of their co-workers at Walmart May 23. Cashier Mary Ellen Nelson told Kennedy she and her husband cant afford the companys health plan, which has a $5,000 deductible. We would be paying off the deductible forever. Another worker said she was interested in Republican candidate Donald Trump for his stand against illegal immigration. Im not against immigration, but it has to be legal, she said. Those illegals are getting all the money and the jobs. The bosses pit us against each other competing for jobs, Kennedy replied. They see immigrants as a source of cheap labor. We need to build unity among workers, to fight for a massive government-funded jobs program, for a $15 minimum wage and against all restrictions that prevent one or another group of workers ability to find a job. Eight workers signed to put the SWP on the ballot. To join in the ballot effort or contribute to the campaign, contact party units listed on page 8 or Socialist Workers Party 2016 Campaign, 227 W. 29th St, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Tel (646) 922-8186. Email: swp2016campaign@gmail.com . Related articles: As capitalist crisis deepens openings for SWP grow Spring subscription drive April 2 - May 24 (Final) Active Workers Conference Socialist Workers Party candidate backs strike at Washington college Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home (feature article) Fighters against US police brutality visit Cuba Delegation marches in Havana on May Day, learns about values of socialist revolution HAVANA If we had been living in Cuba my son would still be alive, Andree Penix-Smith told leaders of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) here May 3. Her son, Justin Smith Jr., was killed by the police in 1998 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She and other close relatives of victims of police killings in the United States visited Cuba to learn firsthand about the gains made by working people in this country through their socialist revolution, and to speak about ongoing fights against cop brutality in the U.S. The Federation of Cuban Women and the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) hosted the one-week tour, which included fighters against police abuses from New York, Detroit, Chicago and Oakland, California. FMC General Secretary Teresa Amarelle Boue welcomed the delegation at the headquarters of the organization. She described the social and economic inequality that existed in Cuba prior to the revolutionary overthrow of a U.S.-backed dictatorship in January 1959, and the gains women, blacks and working people made with the revolution. During the two-hour exchange, members of the U.S. delegation described the circumstances in which their relatives were killed, and their efforts over many years demanding the indictment, conviction and jailing of the officers responsible for these and other killings. Their fight struck a chord among many they spoke with here. The courage of Cuban mothers whose children were killed under the military regime of Fulgencio Batista before 1959 is part of their revolutionary heritage. Many Cubans are also aware of police brutality in the U.S. through news reports and experiences of relatives living there. The visit began with joining the march in Havana of hundreds of thousands of Cuban workers and students in the celebration of International Workers Day on May 1, an annual mobilization of support for the revolution. Hundreds of contingents marched across the Plaza of the Revolution with colorful homemade banners identifying their unions and workplaces amid chanting, singing and dancing. Ive never seen anything like it! Workers marching without being surrounded by the police, said Juanita Young after the massive celebration. Her son, Malcolm Ferguson, was killed by New York police in 2000. Many Cubans approached the delegation during the march to ask about their struggles, shake their hands and take pictures. Members of the delegation spoke at an international conference in solidarity with Cuba the next day, and displayed banners they had brought reading Mothers Cry for Justice, and Families against Police Brutality in the United States in Solidarity with Cuba: End the US Embargo against Cuba. They received a standing ovation from the more than 1,600 delegates from some 20 countries present. Congratulating the Cuban people for building a society where working people come first, Iris Baez told the conference that the killings of our sons in the United States must stop and capitalism is not for working people. Her son Anthony Baez was killed by New York cop Francis Livoti in 1994. Three other members of the delegation Juanita Young, Anita Wills and Nellie Bailey also addressed the gathering. Different values The tour included visits to the Orlando Pantoja Elementary School, a neighborhood family center run by the FMC and community projects that organize activities and work closely with local residents, especially with teenage youth and the elderly. They also visited the Literacy Campaign Museum and met with U.S. students at the Latin American School of Medicine, which has trained more than 23,000 students from all over the world, including from the United States, free of charge. Leaders of the community programs described the attention paid by mass organizations like the Federation of Cuban Women and neighborhood committees to social questions such as domestic violence, prenatal care, children falling behind in school and crime prevention. In socialist Cuba our priority is the human being, said the director of the Pogolotti Community Center, located in one of the oldest working-class neighborhoods in Havana, founded in 1911 for tobacco, factory and port workers. From a very young age we are taught to respect, share and care for others. Victor Dreke, a leader of the Cuban Revolution for more than 50 years who fought in the Rebel Army and at the side of Che Guevara in the Congo in 1965, met with several of the delegates. Dreke described how as a teenager he had joined the revolutionary movement that overthrew a regime marked by brutality, corruption and subservience to the interests of U.S. imperialism and Cubas landlords and capitalists. Many trade union leaders and young people were killed by the Batista dictatorship, said Dreke. President Barack Obama asked us during his recent visit to Cuba to forget about the past, but how could we? It would be like asking you to forget about your sons. At the Literacy Campaign Museum the delegation saw displays of photos and other items from the 1961 campaign in which more than 100,000 volunteers, mostly teenagers, went into the countryside to teach reading and writing. At the time illiteracy, especially among women, was often well over 50 percent. Within a year the volunteers reduced illiteracy nationwide from 30 percent to 4 percent. What would inspire people so young to leave home and participate in something of so high a moral character, and that required so much discipline? asked Young. The revolution transformed us, replied Olga Santos, who took part in the literacy campaign when she was 13 years old. People were inspired to participate, it was a way of contributing to the revolution. The discipline came from the commitment to fulfill the task ahead of us, Santos added. Supported the Cuban Five A high point of the visit was a meeting with Fernando Gonzalez, one of the five Cuban revolutionaries who were framed up by the U.S. government in 1998 for their work monitoring counterrevolutionary Cuban groups in Florida to prevent violent attacks on Cuba. He is currently ICAPs vice president. Ive been following your case for years, said Young. I lost my son to police murder, and I could not help thinking what the mothers of the Cuban Five were going through. The idea of relatives of victims of police brutality traveling to Cuba originated in October 2014 when Baez and Young spoke at an event in New York to extend support for the fight to free the Five. Young said there that she and other mothers should visit Cuba and meet the mothers of the Cuban Five. The following year, Baez hosted a meeting at her church in the Bronx where relatives of victims of cop killings from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania joined a panel with Maritzel Gonzalez of the FMC. In addition to the seven family members, participants in the trip included Jacob Perasso and Roger Calero from the Socialist Workers Party, who worked with the hosting organizations in Cuba and with Mothers Cry for Justice in New York to coordinate aspects of the tour; Alyson Kennedy, who has been active in fights against police killings and torture in Chicago and is the SWPs presidential candidate in 2016; and Nellie Bailey of the July 26 Coalition and the Harlem Tenants Council in New York. A project of the New York July 26 Coalition, the tour received the support of Cuba solidarity groups in several cities, as well as from individuals active in combatting police abuses. Ive been fighting the government in the United States for 20 years to get justice for my son, and have yet to see the end of police brutality in our country, Arnetta Grable told Gonzalez. I have joined with many other mothers around the country so that we can, in solidarity, bring an end to this terrible brutality suffered by our young people. One of her sons, Lamar Wayne Grable, was killed by a Detroit cop in 1996 when he was going home after a party in a local church. Her other son, Aaron, has been active in the fight against police brutality and also joined the visit to Cuba. Many members of the delegation take part in the National Stolen Lives Families Tour a joint project of Mothers Cry for Justice and The Adam Project, Inc. led by Rev. Jerome McCorry based in Dayton, Ohio through which they offer solidarity to families who have lost their loved ones to police killings across the country. Baez is also founder of the Anthony Baez Foundation, which likewise extends support to victims of police brutality and their families. The Stolen Lives Families Tour recently organized trips to Cleveland and Chicago where they joined actions with relatives of Tamir Rice, 12, killed by police in Cleveland in 2014; Justus Howell, killed by the Zion, Illinois, cops in 2015; and others. We focus on the police but were aware that behind the police there is an entire system, said Wills, pointing to how the government, courts and prison system work against working people, disproportionately those who are Black, Latino and Native American. Wills, who has a son in prison, is involved in the fight in California against solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. The years I spent in prison gave me the opportunity to be with many African Americans unjustly held in U.S. prisons, said Gonzalez. I learned about the reality of their communities, the reality in the United States, which is not the same one we see on television. He thanked the relatives on behalf of himself and my four brothers for your support to us, and for struggling. Its an honor to be in the same room speaking with you, said Joshua Lopez. Youre not only a hero here in Cuba but youre a hero to a lot of us in America. Lopezs uncle, John Collado, was killed by a New York undercover cop in September 2011 when he tried to separate two people involved in a fight, not knowing one was a cop. This is going to continue in the U.S. no matter who is elected president. If we want to see these horrors go away its going to take a revolution, and real leadership like that of Fidel and Raul, said Lopez. In Cuba they were fighting and fighting until they got change, Juanita Young told the Militant after the visit. Without this trip I would have never known another way of living. In the U.S., value is put on material things and it causes constant stress. They dont do that in Cuba. Now that we are back we want to speak about what we learned on our trip. Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home Tehran, Iran, May 28 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's target economic growth of 8 percent is bound to some requirements, including foreign investments, says Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Addressing the opening ceremony of the new parliament in Tehran, Rouhani said each year Iran will need $30 billion to $50 billion of foreign investment in order to reach that economic growth, IRIB news agency reported May 28. "That amount of investment is needed since we have already used all the resources that we can find inside the country," Rouhani underlined. He went on to tacitly defend the nuclear deal as a preliminary step to luring foreign investments. Rouhani's emphasize on foreign investment comes at a time when he is under criticism by rivals for disregarding the supreme leader's guidelines about what they call a "resistance economy", something much similar to austerity measures. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed that the government needs to adhere to the resistance economy policies, which require minimum reliance on foreigners. Iranian conservatives frequently underline the unreliability of Western countries, demonstrated in numerous turns throughout the history of the Islamic Republic. The policies of the resistance economy are meant to be a security-minded set of rules to reduce the country's reliance on world powers. The supreme leader's recent message to the incoming parliament, read out during the same ceremony, emphasized the "resistant economy" as a top priority to be observed by the parliamentarians. Khamenei called on the new Iranian MPs to make the parliament a "solid fortification" against the excessive demands of the "arrogant powers". If a week on safari is out of your price range, the next best thing could be a night spent sleeping at the zoo. Themed around Asiatic lion exhibit, Land of the Lions, ZSL London Zoo has launched nine new lodges within a whisker of their resident jungle kings. Heres what the Gir Lion Lodge is like. Style and substance (PA) Climbing into bed 100 meters from a lions den hardly guarantees sweet dreams, but at ZSL London Zoos new Gir Lion Lodge its a jungle adventure. New overnight lodges are located in the recently opened Land of Lions exhibit, where four Asiatic lions live in the zoos most ambitious and immersive exhibit to date. Once the zoo has closed, guests can explore an area inspired by Indias Gir Forest, home to the only wild population of Asiatic lions, where replica street stalls sell colourful wares outside a crumbling temple and mongooses doze in an abandoned railway station. A sunset tour and torchlight walk provide two opportunities to see the lions and other nocturnal residents such as aardvarks. Sleeping (ZSL London Zoo) Nine chalet-style lodges feature en-suite shower facilities, heating and beds so comfortable, you could easily slip into a lions 20-hour per day sleeping habit. After 10pm, visitors are penned into the lodge area (for safety reasons, night-time roaming of the zoo is not allowed), where they can sit on cabin verandas drinking hot chocolate, reading books from a small library or playing board games. Leave windows open at night to hear peacock mating calls, screeching flamingos and, of course, roaring lions. Food While waiting for darkness to fall, guests are treated to a two-course buffet meal, served in a private room at the Terrace restaurant. A mixture of vegetarian and meat dishes are based on Indian recipes although theres nothing too spicy and a childrens menu is available on request. The close-by residents (ZSL London Zoo) An overnight stay includes access to ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo on both days along with free parking. Get up early to visit some of the zoos 17,000 residents before gates open to the public. Take breakfast at the Terrace restaurant and enjoy a coffee at Penguin Beach while Ricky the rockhopper and pals receive a morning feed. What you need to know Overnight stays, which are available six nights a week, are already sold out until the end of July, although bookings are currently open until December 2016. A mural of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson becoming 'intimate' has appeared in Bristol, apparently painted by protest group We Are Europe. The picture can be found in Stokes Croft, on the side of Westmoreland House. A message alongside the mural reads: NOT #INFORTHIS? Register to vote in the EU referendum now! We Are Europe explain on their website: The referendum on the 23rd June is one of the biggest political decisions of our lifetime and we couldnt stand by and watch it be dominated by political infighting, negative arguments and middle-aged trolls. This is our future so we decided to take it back. And this starts by taking back the internet, through a positive campaign that we can all believe in. Images of the mural have been circulating on the internet and on social media, as passers-by share the picture. We Are Europe identifies itself as a collective of friends, artists, campaigners, creatives and doers, but point out that many members have never been involved in political campaigns before and may never do so again. The group has designed a number of other posters in the past, but this is their first mural. So far reactions on social media have been positive, with students and young voters largely praising the mural. Johnson and Trump are yet to comment on the mural. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 28 By Umid Niayesh - Trend: An anonymous hacking group continues attacks on Iran's official websites, the country's Ghanoon newspaper reported May 28. The group hacked websites of Iran's culture ministry, the legal deputy of the judiciary, as well as the interpreting administration of the judiciary on May 27, according to the report. The websites were recovered later, suffering "no damages", Iranian media outlets reported citing officials. The attacks against Iranian official websites started May 25, as the group which calls itself DAES hacked the website of the Statistical Center of Iran sending the website down for a short time, and posting a message of its own on the main page. Iranian media outlets reported that the hackers were "outside of Iran", but little was known about them. There were speculations that the hacker group is linked to Saudi Arabia. The DAES, which has officially claimed responsibility for the cyber attacks, wrote on the main page of the hacked websites that it is not linked with the "Islamic State" terrorists group, aka Daesh, and is only "one Sunni Muslim." As DAES sounds like Daesh, it could be mixed up with the Arabic name of the "Islamic State" terrorist group. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported May 26 that two Saudi statistical websites were hacked just a day after Iran's statistics center was hacked, which raised the speculation in some Iranian media that a Saudi-Iranian cyber war is already going on. Tehran, Iran, May 28 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran will take action as much as needed and requested by Iraqi officials, says Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force. The Islamic Republic has played a great role in Iraq's standing against the Islamic State (aka IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) and has contributed to the formation of many public mobilizations, Soleimani stated, Mizan news agency reported May 28. "The public mobilization managed to gain victory in just three days and free Tikrit with only five percent damage, whereas the US freed Ramadi with 95 percent damage, leaving only a pile of dust. That's where the difference between Iran and the opposite side's policies is apparent," the commander said. "If Iran had not resisted the Takfiri attack, the Islamic State would have formed a government in Syria by now," Soleimani said. Iran was recently accused by Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has causing insecurity in the Iraq. Following the accusation, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that the country only dispatches military advisors to Iraq when asked to do so by the official Iraqi government. Tehran maintains it does not engage in direct battle in Iraq or Syria, but only provides consultancy missions. Last Rohingyas rounded up, to face charges for escaping PHUKET: Phang Nga Immigration captured the last four Rohingya escapees on Thursday afternoon (May 26) in Nop Pring sub-district, and Tham Nam Phut sub-district. approximately 50 kilometres, and 60km respectively, from Phang Nga immigration police centre, where they had escaped along with 17 other detained Rohingyas before dawn on Monday (May 23). crimepolice By Tanyaluk Sakoot Saturday 28 May 2016, 02:40PM Three of the escaped Rohingyas were found in Nop Pring District on Thursday (May 26). Photo: Phang Nga City Police Three of the detainees were picked up from Nop Pring, while the fourth was found in Tham Nam Phut. All of the detainees have been returned to Phang Nga immigration police centre. Pol Col Noppadon Rakchat, The Chief of the Phang Nga Immigration Office told The Phuket News that all the escapees had been imprisoned at Phang Nga immigration police station for over a year. There are about 30 Rohingya men in the police centres now [including the escapees]. After this incident, the prisoners have been returned to where they were previously, he explained. The investigation into this escape is still ongoing, he said. The detainees will be charged under section 90 of the Criminal Code - Escape during Confinement - where participation of three or more persons in an escape can receive upto five years, or a fine of up to B1000 or both. The punishment is dependent on the court, he concluded. Twenty-one Rohingya Muslims broke out of the detention centre at the Phang Nga immigration police station on Monday. One was killed by police as the group attempted to flee, with the officer who shot the man now facing a murder investigation. (See previous story here.) According to a 2014 Amnesty International report, official regulations in Thailand allow for cell sizes in detention centres to be a minimum of 1.19 m per person, which does not allow detainees to lie down to sleep. Human Rights Watch has also reported on the abysmal conditions in detention centres, including severe overcrowding, putrid sanitation, and an atmosphere of violence. Detainees have repeatedly complained of overcrowding and extremely poor hygiene. In 2013, journalists found 276 male Rohingyas detained in two small cages meant to hold no more than 15 people at the Phang Nga detention centre. Rough weather benches tour boats, tourist activity PHUKET: The Thailand Meteorological Department forecasts thunderstorms today (May 28) and upto 80 per cent of the island experiencing rainfall, with heavy rain in some areas. The velocity of wind is expected to be 20-40 kilometres per hours, and waves in the Andaman sea are expected to reach heights of up to 2-4 metres. weathertransporttourismpatong By The Phuket News Saturday 28 May 2016, 01:42PM From May 29-June 2, shorelines with rainstorms will experience waves up to 3m high. The Phuket Marine Office on Friday (May 27) issued a ban on all vessels smaller than 10m in length or with a horsepower of less than 400 from going to Koh Phi Phi, Koh Racha and other long-distance trips. Boats headed towards Phang Nga Bay, Koh Lone, Koh Hae and islands closer to Phuket can proceed with caution. Official warning from the Thailand Meteorological Department for the period of May 25-27 predicted strong winds with waves around 2-4 metres high, bringing over 100 boats to moor at Rawai beach yesterday (May 28),including long-tails and speedboats. Turbulent weather conditions have affected tourist activity all over the island, especially at Rawai Beach, which experienced unusually low activity yesterday due to the halt of small tour boats, as well as speedboats and other tourist services. Mr Suthep Salee, a member of the Rawai longtail boat club said that despite five days of tour boat inactivity, the livelihood of long-tail boat operators has not been harmed. The downturn in tourist activity is to be expected with the onset of the monsoon season. We stress safety first and follow official warnings and order. Plus, we are following the weather forecast closely and check every time prior take the boats out to sea, he added. While the majority of boat operators are avoiding the sea today, The Phuket News observed that some beach-goers are still going into the water, despite the warning signs and weather conditions. Patong Beach has red flags, which warn against entering the water at all. Chalong pier, on the east coast, has marine police monitoring the area and helping tourists board tour boats. Sunday brunch on the beach at Mai Khao Dream Villa Mai Khao Dream Villa Resort and Spa launched its Sunday Brunch on Russian Easter Day, May 1, complete with a traditional Russian Easter cake. Saturday 28 May 2016, 07:00PM The generous spread of seafood was one of the many highlights for the brunch crowd. Jason Beavan gm@classactmedia.co.th Packing up the family, we embarked on a pleasant 25-minute drive from the centre of the island to Mai Khao Beach, a relief when we were expecting to face heavier weekend traffic. Awaiting us was a scene stolen from a travel guide, tables set up on the sand under the shade of towering pine trees, just metres from the sea. Centre stage were rows of fresh fish, crab and prawns on the grill. All of the tables surrounded the buffet, providing a clear visual of the offerings and making it very easy to decide what to get next before even standing up. All the Sunday brunch regulars were on offer, plus a few unexpected surprises. My favourite was the deep fried pizza: put together like calzone, but fried like a samosa. Strange to think of, but it tasted fantastic. Looking back I should have gone for a few more, but I had overdone the visits to the roast lamb and beef stations. Others at my table tucked in to the abundant selection of fresh seafood fish, crab, prawns and oysters. It would have been rude, of course, to refuse a piece of the Russian Easter cake with a side of coconut ice cream, and it was an excellent ending to the meal. General Manager Elias Pertoft explained the concept of the Sunday brunch at Mai Khao Dream Villa Resort and Spa, Sunday is a family day, so we want to keep that feeling when you have Sunday brunch with us. We have limited the number of guests to around 50, that way we can ensure very attentive service and a relaxed atmosphere at the same time. With a playground where kids can swing and climb, an enclosure with rabbits to pet, and activities such as face painting for children, the arrangements are ideal for families. As the kids played, the adults enjoyed great conversations with other guests, the swimming pool, a live band and DJ and free flow, which made for bonus points. If youre looking for the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the week, then head for The Pine Beach Club at Mai Khao Dream Villa Resort, where the perfect option for a mouth-watering Sunday brunch is waiting for you. Advance bookings needed, B1,500++ per person. MAI KHAO DREAM VILLA RESORT & SPA, MAI KHAO, PHUKET Mai Khao Beach, Thalang, Phuket 83110 076 371 371 maikhaodream.com facebook.com/Maikhaodreamhotels Tehran, Iran, May 28 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Iran and Turkey have hold their first joint meeting on scientific and technological cooperation. The session was attended by Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohammad Farhadi and Yekta Sarac, president of the Council of Higher Education of Turkey, ISNA news agency reported May 28. During the meeting which was held in Ankara, the sides agreed on carrying out 10 joint research projects among universities and professors on both sides, and giving 50 scholarships of 6 to 9 months period each to PhD students. They also agreed on promoting each country's official language and literature in the other by Iran sending three Persian professors to Turkey and Turkey dispatching three Turkish professors to Iran. The Palestinian president has rejected the idea of open-ended talks with Israel, saying any future negotiations with the regime in Tel Aviv should have a time cap, Press TV reported. Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that if an upcoming Paris conference succeeds in re-launching the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, it must include mechanisms for the proper implementation of its potential resolutions. Abbas, who was speaking to Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, called for a monitoring committee to be formed in the June 3 Paris gathering to oversee the possible agreements in the talks. The Palestinian leader and allies in the occupied West Bank have welcomed France's initiative to hold an international conference, which aims to kick-start a new round of so-called peace talks between Israel and Palestinians more than two years after the two sides left the negotiating table. The Tel Aviv regime, has, however, rejected the French initiative, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeating his previous statements about the need for direct negotiations without preconditions which, he says, are the only way to reach a final settlement with the Palestinians. Israel's continuous defiance of international calls for pulling out of the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) is viewed as a major reason behind the failure of previous initiatives. The latest round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, which was organized by the United States, collapsed in 2014. US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to attend the Paris meeting along with foreign ministers from more than two dozen countries. Abbas further said a future Palestinian state must have East al-Quds as its capital, and that it should be established within the borders that had existed before the 1967 Middle East War. Israel captured the East al-Quds and the West Bank during that war, and has continued ever since to expand its settlements on those occupied territories despite an international ban on the issue. Noem campaign accuses Smith campaign of campaign finance violation elections US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday ruled out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle, Reuters reported. The suggested debate would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California's June 7 primary. A day after saying he would welcome a debate with Sanders, Trump called the idea "inappropriate" because as the Republican presumptive nominee he should only face the Democrats' final choice. "I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement. Sanders' campaign has been aggressively advocating for a debate with Trump after the idea was raised during an appearance by the New York billionaire on a talk show this week. Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday. "I heard that he was going to debate me, then I heard that he was not going to debate me, then I heard that he was going to debate me. Now you're telling me that he is not going to debate me. Well, you know, I hope that he changes his mind again," Sanders said in a video clip posted on an ABC News Twitter account. Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity. "I'd love to debate Bernie," he told a rally in Fresno, California. "But the networks want to keep the money for themselves." Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their party's nomination. Opinion polls show he is slicing into Clinton's lead in California. Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous. The former US secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, with their positions with voters basically unchanged since Trump's support surged two weeks ago. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. A curfew in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin due to operations against the terrorist organization PKK has been lifted after three days, said the Mardin Governor's Office, Anadolu reported. The office stated that the curfew, which began on May 25, at 10.00 a.m. (0700GMT), was lifted on Saturday, May 28, at 2.00 p.m. (1100GMT). The curfew had been imposed on 13 neighborhoods in the province's Nusaybin, Omerli, and Midyat districts. According to the statement, the reason for the curfew was to apprehend PKK terrorists said to be holed up in the area. Turkey's southeast has been the scene of significant military operations since December 2015 as the police and armed forces seek to clear the PKK terrorist organization from urban areas. The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, nearly 500 members of the security forces, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned on Saturday what he called the United States' "support" for Syrian Kurdish groups the PYD and YPG, Anadolu reported. "I condemn U.S. support for the PYD and YPG. This is not the promise that was given to us," Erdogan said at a ceremony at Diyarbakir Airport in eastern Turkey. He was speaking after Turkey expressed outrage at pictures showing members of U.S. Special Forces in Syria wearing YPG insignias and patches. The Pentagon Friday called the patches "unauthorized" and "inappropriate" and that "corrective action" had been taken. Erdogan said: "I believe that politics must be done honestly. Thus, the friends who believe in us and the ones who stand with us in NATO should not and cannot send their own soldiers to Syria with YPG patches. "Those who say: 'We will continue to support the YPG, it is not the PKK'... you are on the wrong side." The YPG is the armed wing of the PYD - the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. While Turkey views the PYD and YPG as terrorist groups, Washington continues to support the YPG as an "effective partner" in the fight against Daesh. Meeting with NGOs in Diyarbakir, Erdogan also decried the PKK's desecration of the local Kursunlu Mosque last December, saying, "Every bullet that went through Kursunlu also went through our heart." "The artifacts damaged in Kursunlu Mosque are not just Diyarbakir's, but represent our common culture and history," he said. Erdogan then expressed his condolences to families in Durumlu, where the terrorist PKK killed 16 people and injured 23 earlier this month. Also attending the airport ceremony, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that Turkey has no "Kurdish problem," only a terrorism problem. "The PKK doesn't care about Kurdish people's problems. Your problems and Turkey's problems are just the PKK terrorist organization. We are committed that that PKK should no longer pose a problem for us," he said. Yildirim then visited NGOs and called on the terrorists to surrender to the state's mercy. "Diyarbakir does not want to be remembered as the 'terror city.' I call on young ones to surrender and forsake following a dark path," Yildirim said. The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, nearly 500 members of the security forces, including troops, police officers and village guards have been martyred and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq. Chinas parliament is drafting a new foreign NGO law, addressing the long-time legal limbo situation of the sector. (Photo : commons.wikimedia.org) Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are feeling the effects of the countrys new law that restricts the entry of foreign NGOs. According to Chinese media outlet the Global Times, some local NGOs are already complaining of the side effects of the controversial new law, particularly in terms of financial support from their foreign backers. Advertisement "Though the effects the law will have on foreign NGOs in China have yet to become clear, it has already had side effects on domestic NGOs and the fields that these NGOs work in," the outlet noted. Many see the first ever Chinese law to govern foreign NGOs to be more detrimental than helpful in terms of social services and advocacy work, reported Time. Effects of NGO Law on Local Charity Organizations According to the Global Times, local NGOs' fundings from overseas backers have been affected by the new law as it covers foreign NGOs' activities in China that obviously include financing. "International charitable organizations are already giving less to China, especially since the second draft law was published in May last year," the outlet explained. Based on November's China Foundation Rankings 2015, local organizations confirmed a drop in foreign funding by as much as 40 percent compared to the previous year's records. Furthermore, the report saw a drastic change in numbers in terms of foreign funding, especially on overseas grant-giving organizations. "There's widespread concern in the NGO sector that the [new law] will massively affect foreign NGOs' operations in and funding to China," it stated. "From our survey, the decline in the number of overseas funders in China is happening faster and more drastically than expected." Aside from that, several domestic organizations have voluntarily cut their ties with their foreign backers to abide by the new law, not only among NGOs but also in other organizations such as universities. International Reaction on the NGO Law The international community widely criticized China's NGO law since its introduction in April and BBC News cited some of them. The White House was first on the list of critics for the Chinese NGO law, which they described as something that would "further narrow space for civil society." Meanwhile, international rights group Amnesty International deemed the new law as a move aimed at "further smothering civil society" and called on China to ditch it. "The authorities--particularly the police--will have virtually unchecked powers to target NGOs, restrict their activities, and ultimately stifle civil society," Amnesty's China researcher William Nee told the BBC. "The law presents a very real threat to the legitimate work of independent NGOs and should be immediately revoked." NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says it is unlikely that the space agency will be able to go on a joint space exploration with China under his tenure. (Photo : Getty Images) A joint space exploration project between the United States and China would remain "sci-fi" considering how the American legislature blocked NASA from collaborating with the Asian giant in any space-related ventures, experts say. Charles Bolden, the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), revealed his thoughts on the possibility that China and the U.S. could explore space together while responding to the press' queries on Monday at the Mitchell Institute on Capitol Hill. Advertisement His statements come as a surprise considering how the U.S. Congress passed a law in 2011 that prevents NASA from ever entertaining any Chinese visitors, regardless of whether or not they are working for the government or a private entity, in their facilities. Bolden's Bold Words Cited by Voice of America, Bolden made some bold words regarding the possibility of a Sino-U.S. joint space exploration. "We were in an incredible Cold War with the Soviets at the time we flew Apollo-Soyuz; it was because leaders in both nations felt it was time," he said. "That represented a great use of soft power, if you will. Look where we are today. I think we will get there [with China]. And I think it is necessary." He also said that while China is still banned from NASA, they continue to entertain "wishful thinking" that the country could be a partner in exploring the universe one day, when the country is no longer considered an adversary of the U.S. "We tend to engage in a lot of wishful thinking when it comes to China," he stated. "We should understand China is an explicit adversary and enemy of the United States, according to their own internal documents and strategies and publications." But as much as he wishes to see Chinese co-workers on the field, Bolden does not expect that it could happen any time during his tenure. Distrust According to the Global Times, collaboration between China and America's NASA would remain science-fiction for a while. The Chinese state-media cited experts who said that the scenario at the Hollywood flick "The Martian" where Chinese and American space experts joined forces to bring mankind deeper into outer space is not likely to occur in the near future. This is because China remains banned from participating in any NASA project due to an apparent distrust between the country and the U.S. "Space technologies can be used for military purposes, while astronautic and aeronautics weapons will play a great role in future wars," Beihang University School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering professor Huang Jun explained. "Due to the countries' national interests, the U.S. and China still face difficulties in space cooperation." Aside from that, an unnamed source of the Global Times said that NASA is also prohibited from entering Beijing's aerospace facility, which makes any cooperation between the two possible only if both nations let go of their distrust. China Denies Pentagon Allegations of Rule-breaking in Recent Interception of US Spy Planes China denies Pentagon's accusation that J-11 fighter jets' interception of a U.S. spy plane breaks the rules. (Photo : Getty Images) Pentagon declares that Chinas interception of an American reconnaissance plane violated rules on how to govern air-to-air encounters, but Chinese authorities say otherwise. A report from Reuters revealed a statement from the United States Defense Department declaring that the Chinese's interception of a U.S. aircraft last week is a clear violation of rules agreed upon by countries regarding air-to-air encounters in international airspace. Advertisement However, China's Ministry of Defense argued that their fighter jets did not break any rule during the interception and reacted in line with the agreement, per a separate report from Reuters. Pentagon's Statement Last week, two Chinese J-11 fighter jets intercepted an American EP-3 spy plane that is reportedly performing a "routine U.S. patrol" in the international space above the hotly contested South China Sea territories. At the time, Pentagon reacted by calling the act "unsafe" compared to the People's Republic of China's (PRC) previous flights, as the Chinese aircraft flew within 50 feet or 15 meters of the American plane in the airspace east of Hainan Island. "Over the past year, DoD has seen improvements in PRC actions, flying in a safe and professional manner," Telegraph UK quoted Pentagon's statement. Now, the American defense department is claiming that China has violated rules that have been set by an agreement of several countries on the matter of airspace encounters. "The review of the Chinese intercept of one of our reconnaissance aircraft has assessed the intercept to have been unsafe based upon the Memorandum of Understanding with China and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards," USDD spokesperson Bill Urban told Reuters on Thursday. China's Demand In response, China remains indignant of the U.S. Defense's statement and insisted that their fighter jets performed in a professional manner and did not break any rule. Yang further noted that the Rules of Behaviour for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters only provides "technical standard" and called for the U.S. to stop reconnaissance flights to prevent this from ever happening again. "That's the real source of danger for Sino-U.S. military safety at sea and in the air," he added. China had repeatedly urged the U.S. to back off of maritime disputes along the South China Sea, where the Asian giant claims most territories which serve as passage for over $5 trillion worth of trade annually. Based on previous reports, the U.S. is backing other South China Sea claimants against China including the Philippines, which had brought the issue to international arbitration, and Vietnam, where American President Barack Obama visited early this week. But the tribe has a long way to go A Chinese inventor presented the "straddling bus" as a solution to air pollution and traffic in urban areas in China. (Photo : Getty Images) An innovative bus project may have found a way to overcome Chinas constant traffic jam problems as the country would soon test prototypes of the public transport that could literally drive over cars. The New York Times caught word of an impressive new project in China which aims to improve public transportation experience in the country. Advertisement According to the outlet, the project particularly targets the dilemma on traffic gridlock by developing a so-called "straddling bus." Aside from traffic, the project is also expected to alleviate Chinese cities' air pollution problem, as it would promote smog-free public transport to people who currently use air-conditioned private vehicles to avoid inhaling the dirty air. The "Straddling Bus" China's straddling bus was first introduced in 2010 by the Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment, per a previous report by the NY Times. According to the report, the vehicle looks more like a train than a bus despite its name, as it is expected to be able to carry up to 1,200 passengers. The only difference between a train and the straddling bus is that the latter requires a pair of fence-like stilts instead of tracks or tunneling. The stilts hold up the main body of the bus where the passengers are housed. Each stilt would be sitting six meters or about 20 feet apart, allowing the vehicle to pass two traffic lanes even in a traffic jam. According to Popular Science, the straddling bus is expected to run 37 miles or 60 kilometers per hour without any hitch. The website also revealed that the prototype being manufactured by the Transit Explore Bus company is scheduled for testing any time between July and August. Affordable Solution to Air Pollution and Traffic Because of its innovative and solution-oriented nature, the project received positive feedback all over China, especially in the urban areas where air pollution and traffic are considered major problems. Aside from Beijing, Qinhuangdao, Nanyang, Tianjin, Shenyang and Zhoukou have already expressed their interest in the project. PopSci said the straddling bus project helps alleviate traffic and air pollution since it can be a viable option for car owners to patronize public transport once again, minimizing private vehicles on the streets and carbon emissions in the air. Each bus, which is estimated to be worth 30 million renminbi or about $4.5 million, can also be considered a very affordable option considering that it is designed to run on existing roads and would not require any more digging for new subway systems. The world renowned Israeli Biomed Conference hosts representatives of leading companies, senior lecturers and hundreds of guests involved in the life sciences from Israel and around the world every year. The events of Israel Biomed Week enable Israeli companies to create business ties and opportunities and to maximize exposure for their most innovative products and developments. As part of the effort to showcase Israeli companies to the Chinese market, a number of important delegations from China arrived this week to the conference as guests of the Israel Innovation Authority. Unique among these is a delegation of investment bodies (both private and funds) with diverse fields of interest including life sciences, IT and cleantech. In addition, some 20 Chinese companies in the fields of medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and agricultural technology from the provinces of Sichuan, Shandong and Zhejiang sent representatives to the conference. The arrival of these delegations is a result of the close cooperation between the Israel Innovation Authority, Chinese provincial governments and the federal Ministry of Science and Technology of the Peoples Republic of the China. In a unique event sponsored by the Israel Innovation Authority in Tel Aviv, some 500 B2B meetings took place, aimed at forging business ties between Chinese and Israeli companies and at encouraging Chinese investment in Israeli companies. The meetings, scheduled in advance, are an important platform for creating business cooperation, investments, research and development and more. They also help Israeli companies maximize their exposure in the Chinese market. Among the leading investment agencies in attendance: PingAn, Biossom Investment Co and Chengdo Kanghong Pharmaceutical Group, owner of seven Chinese pharmaceutical companies. Each of these investment bodies manages investments totaling c. $500 million. Ahead of the unique Chinese-Israeli meetings, the Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, Mr. Avi Hasson, spoke about the future of Israels biomed industry. Avi Luvton, Asia Pacific Director at the Israel Innovation Authority, said: The arrival of the investor delegation is especially important and aims at creating meetings between Israeli companies and potential Chinese investors. The group of high quality investors invited to the B2B meeting event was carefully selected to create real opportunities for cooperation with the Israeli companies taking part in the event. We were happy to see that there was great demand on the side of Israeli companies and we did our best to enable as large a number of Israeli companies as possible to take part in this unique event. The 15th annual Israel Biomed Conference is an international conference with the participation of life science and technology companies from around the world. The conference is organized by the Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI), an umbrella organization of the hi-tech and life science industries, and Kenes Exhibitions, a company specializing in conference productions. The conference was attended by Israel Innovation Authority Chairman and Chief Scientist Avi Hasson and GM, Early Stage Companies and Incubators at the Israel Innovation Authority, Anya Eldan. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) The new study found that children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder integrated in regular schools find it difficult to perform writing tasks. This can impair their academic achievements, social availability, and self-confidence. Prof. Sara Rosenblum, who authored the study, comments: The education system addresses reading skills, but there is insufficient attention to writing skills The handwriting performance of children with high-functioning autism differs from that of children without autism. Accordingly, the education system should consider the types and formats of tasks given to these children when they are integrated in regular schools. This conclusion emerges from a new study undertaken at the University of Haifa. The typical process of handwriting performance among children with high-functioning autism is unique, but while the education system addresses reading skills, it pays almost no attention to handwriting skills, explains Prof. Sara Rosenblum, the author of the study. Children with high-functioning autism experience difficulties in the social, sensory, and movement fields, but differ from other children on the autism spectrum in terms of their linguistic and cognitive development. Among other differences, these children are usually integrated in regular schools where they are required to perform routine activities such as reading and writing. Writing tasks play an important part in academic progress: writing-related activities account for 30-60 percent of daily activity time in schools. Despite this, the education system places a strong emphasis on reading, whereas skills development, monitoring, and assistance in handwriting performance are much less frequent. There is also a lack of teacher training in this important area. The present study is unique and the first of its kind in the world. The study was undertaken as part of the thesis prepared by Hemda Amit Ben Simhon of the Neuro-developmental Center at Maccabi HMO, supervised by Prof. Rosenblum, and in consultation with Dr. Eynat Gal, an autism specialist, both from the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Haifa. The study included 60 children aged 9-12 from the 3rd through 6th grades at various schools. Half the subjects were children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder with IQs above 80, while the other half were children with normal development. The children were asked to complete three writing tasks: writing the first name and family name; copying a paragraph; and writing a story describing a picture that was shown to them. The writing tasks were completed using a special system developed by Prof. Rosenblum that provides objective, computerized data relating not only to the rhythm and speed of handwriting, but also to the degree of pressure applied on the page by the writer, the length of time the pen is in the air, the degree of slant of the pen during handwriting, and so forth. The study findings show that in 91.5 percent of the instances, the objective indicators provided by the computerized system enabled the identification of children with high-functioning autism as distinct from children with normal development. In other words, the handwriting performances of the two groups showed statistically significant differences. The children with high-functioning autism produced taller and broader letters; waiting times on paper and in the air were longer; and the degree of slant of the pen was smaller. It also emerged that the differences between the children with high-functioning autism and those with normal development were particularly prominent in the copying task, and less so in the free writing task. The text copying task required significantly more time. The researchers suggest that the need to invest a long period of time in the handwriting task may exacerbate fatigue, impair concentration, and even hamper the ability to produce handwritten content. This investment in the handwriting task may come at the expense of availability for other academic tasks the children receive, as well as their availability for social challenges in the classroom. When a child has difficulty writing, they effectively have to cope with this difficulty over many hours a day, making it harder for them to cope with the additional challenges they face (social, cognitive, and functional). For example, if a child has to stay behind in recess to copy text from the board, they will have less time to practice social skills, the researchers explained. The researchers added that the study findings are particularly important in light of the trend to integrate children with different disabilities in the regular education system, in accordance with the Special Education Law. Since children with high-functioning autism are integrated in classes together with children with normal development, it is important to be careful not to pressure them during the performance of handwriting tasks. They should be given sufficient time, because time pressure creates cognitive stress and may impair the content of their handwriting. Given the central role of writing throughout the academic process, including in academic studies, improving handwriting skills with the assistance of an occupational therapist may improve academic abilities and contribute to an improvement in achievements and in self-confidence, concluded the study authors Ben Simhon and Prof. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem) Donald Trump is adding his voice to the growing chorus of Republicans encouraging Marco Rubio to run for re-election to the Senate. Trump derided Rubio as Little Marco on the presidential campaign trail and remarked in March that the people of Florida cant stand him. He couldnt get elected dogcatcher. But now Trump says over Twitter that polling shows Rubio has the best chance of keeping his Senate seat in GOP hands, and that its important for Republicans to keep their majority. Run Marco! Trump writes. Rubio told reporters this week hes unlikely to reconsider his plans to retire from the Senate, especially since a good friend of his, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, is in the race. But he acknowledged hes under pressure, with Senate leaders including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell weighing in to get him to run. The primary in Florida is in late August and the filing deadline is June 24. A half-dozen Republicans are already running but none is well-known and statewide campaigns in Florida cost millions. Republicans are defending 24 Senate seats nationwide as they struggle to hang onto their slim Senate majority and fear a loss in Florida. On the Democratic side the establishment is behind Rep. Patrick Murphy who faces flamboyant progressive Rep. Alan Grayson in the primary. Rubio, who denounced Trump as a con man during the presidential race, also is moving to mend fences though still without endorsing the presumptive GOP nominee. 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, Rubio said over Twitter on Friday. (AP) Huawei Technologies Co. has filed 3,216 patent applications in 2015, making it one of the top Chinese tech companies with the highest number of patent applications filed. (Photo : Reuters) Huawei Technologies has filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics over infringement of patents covering smartphones and related technologies. On May 25, Wednesday, the Chinese smartphone maker said that Samsung had made an unlicensed use of 4G cellular communications technology and software in its smartphones. Advertisement "We hope Samsung will respect Huawei's R&D investment and patents, stop infringing our patents and get the necessary license from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward," said Ding Jianxing, president for Huawei's intellectual property rights division, in an official statement. According to The Wall Street Journal, Huawei is pursuing compensation for the South Korean company's "alleged infringement of 11 of its patents related to smartphones and cellular networks." "The lawsuit covers Samsung's use of cellular network protocol that Huawei says helps ensure uninterrupted phone service on 4G LTE networks," wrote the WSJ. "Huawei alleges that Samsung has used this technology on its flagship products, dating back to the Galaxy S II handset that it released five years ago." Huawei's lawsuit is now considered the first biggest legal challenge posed against the world's top smartphones maker, noted the WSJ. Meanwhile, Reuters said that the legal battle between the two handset makers indicates that the tables have turned. "The lawsuit marks a reversal of roles in China where firms have often been on the receiving end of patent infringement disputes," said Reuters. "In smartphones, makers have grown rapidly in recent years but different intellectual property laws outside of China have slowed overseas expansion." Previously, Xiaomi Inc. was slapped with a lawsuit by Ericsson over patents infringement. The Chinese tech company lost the case and was banned from selling specific devices in India. When sought for comments, Samsung told Reuters that it would "take appropriate action to defend Samsung's business interests." The group did not elaborate further on its next steps. A Day In The Life Of The Villagers Of Gulucun (Photo : Getty Images) The urban-rural gap in China seems to widen further as seen in video on YouTube showing Sichuan school children climbing an 800-meter cliff using only an old bamboo ladder. Posted on Friday by The Guardian, the video has become viral with almost 50,000 hits in less than one day. The images were taken of children from Zhajoue County, Sichuan Province, scaling the cliff which is their only access to Atuleer Village, reported Associated Press. Advertisement The children belong to the 72 families from the Yi minority group who are farmers. The 15 children who go up and down the dangerous trail are aged 6 to 15. They climb 17 separate ladders accompanied by two adults. The kids go up the dangerous trail even two week to study at a school in the village where they board and return home every fortnight. Their families are poor farmers who plant potatoes, walnuts and chili pepper. Because of the media uproar caused by the video, the Liangshan Prefectural government, in a press release on Friday, promise to replace the rickety bamboo stairs with a strong steel stairs as a temporary measure. Meanwhile, officials would have to think of a long-term solution to the problem which goes beyond safety. There is also the issue of access to the village which places the minority group members at the mercy of traders who could exploit the Yis because of the difficulty of carrying volumes of produce up or down the dangerous cliff. 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, said Jikejingson, secretary general of the Zhajoue county Communist Party. The Sony Xperia Z3 is a high-end Android smartphone produced by Sony, which was launched with Android Lollipop. (Photo : Facebook/Sony) The Android Marshmallow beta update is rolling for for Sony Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and Z2. These devices are expected to get the full version of the operating system soon. Sony is releasing the Android Marshmallow beta update for Sony Xperia Z2, Z3, Z3 Compact with the model numbers D6503, D6603 and D5803 respectively, according to XperiaBlog. The build number of the update is 23.5.A.1.203 and comes with more than 400 fixes for numerous bugs. Advertisement Users had complained about the private number bug to the company and this patch comes with a fix for the same. It also comes with the feature to transfer apps and files from the device to the microSD card. The update is rolling out in a gradual manner for all the users who signed up for the Xperia Android Marshmallow Beta Program. The users can check their devices to see if they are prompted to download the update or not. To do so, they need to go to Settings> About Device> About Software Update. In case the user is prompted to download the Xperia Android Marshmallow Beta update then they need to connect their device to an unmetered and stable Wi-Fi connection. They also need to plug their device to a power source if the battery levels are less than 50 percent for an uninterrupted download experience. Earlier, Sony released the Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 update for other Xperia devices such as Xperia Z2 tablet, Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Premium and Xperia Z3+ in some countries like India, Canada and the United States. Some models of Sony Xperia Z2, Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact also received the update in these countries. Sony is also planning to release the Android Marshmallow update for Xperia C4, Xperia M4 Aqua, C5 Ultra, Z4 Tablet and Xperia M5. These devices are expected to get the update by the end of June. Android Marshmallow comes with numerous exciting features like Now on Tap and customized runtime permisssions, according to BGR. It also comes with vertical scrolling, a new Settings app, enhanced boot time animation and the Doze feature, which increases the battery life of the device. Watch the video to know more about the top features of Android Marshmallow here: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi urged protesters not to demonstrate in Baghdad on Friday because security forces are mobilised in the battle to retake Fallujah. Protesters, mostly followers of powerful Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, have held demonstrations almost every Friday for weeks to demand a government reshuffle. Last week they breached the fortified Green Zone, which houses most of the country's top institutions, for the second time in three weeks. "I call upon our youth to postpone their protest tomorrow, because our security forces are busy fighting in Fallujah," Abadi said, speaking from the command centre for the operation he announced on May 22-23. Tens of thousands of security forces are deployed in the Fallujah area for an assault aimed at retaking the city from the Islamic State group. Fallujah, which lies only 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, has been out of government control since January 2014 and is one of only two remaining major Iraqi cities still in IS hands, the other being Mosul. On May 20, protesters broke into the Green Zone and briefly stormed Abadi's own office, further deepening a political crisis that has been crippling the country for months. The security forces responded more forcefully than three weeks earlier when Sadr supporters breached the restricted area for the first time and stormed parliament. Human Rights Watch said in a statement released Thursday its investigations were able to confirm that four people were killed by the security forces during last week's protest. "Security forces protecting the Green Zone had no legitimate reason to fire on protesters who presented no risk to their lives or others," HRW Middle East director Joe Stork said. The security forces defending the Green Zone used tear gas canisters and live bullets. The response angered Sadr and his followers and brought rival militia groups to the brink of confrontation in central Baghdad. Several military commanders and Baghdad's partners in the US-led coalition had recommended focusing efforts on liberating Mosul first but observers say lauching the Fallujah operation offered the embattled Abadi some political reprieve. Search Keywords: Short link: Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Bill Parry One of the boroughs leading providers of caregiver support services has launched a new initiative to provide comprehensive services for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimers disease and other dementias. Sunnyside Community Services will receive $7.5 million over five years as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomos $67.5 million Alzheimers Caregiver Support Initiative to alleviate the emotional and financial burdens that are placed upon those who care for loved ones living with Alzheimers. Alzheimers disease affects thousands of New Yorkers each year and takes a devastating toll on both patients and the caregivers, Cuomo said. This investment will provide a wide range of support and respite services for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimers and similar diseases. According to the governors office, the number of cases in New York state is expected to increase from 380,000 to 460,000 by 2025. There are nearly 40,000 individuals 65 or older living with Alzheimers disease in Queens and SCS is providing services through its Care NYC program with its partner organization, Queens Community House. The SCS Care NYC program empowers caregivers to learn best practices, access benefits, connect to supportive services, and live without the fear, isolation, the hopelessness that can often occur in such situations, SCS Executive Director Judy Zangwill said. As a caregiver myself, its gratifying to see the transformative power our programs have on a caregiver and their family. The five-year grant will enable her organization to expand its Care NYC program, which has been in operation since 2004. Here in Sunnyside weve focused solely on western Queens, currently helping 350 caregivers, Care NYC Program Director Shyvonne Nobua said. Thanks to Gov. Cuomo were hoping to reach 720 caregivers a year and our demographic will shift throughout the five boroughs. Weve already brought on six caregiver support specialists and we hope to have eight that will provide direct support to caregivers. The specialists provide one-on-one counseling and peer support groups, information assistance with long-term care planning and training on caregiver skills. They even help with household chores and repairs. A unique service we plan on providing is monthly trips to museums or art shows for caregivers and their care receivers, the ones living with Alzheimers disease or dementia, Nobua said. Our hope is that all of these services combined will help reduce caregivers stress, depression and isolation because of dealing with progressive and degenerative conditions. Sunnyside Community Center was established as a senior center in 1974, began offering licensed home care services in 1979 and introduced youth services in 1983. SCS has worked to respond continuously to community needs, and today provides a broad range of services to nearly 14,000 people each year including children, youth, adults and seniors. Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr y@cng local.com .or by phone at (718) 2604538. SHARE Wilson First Christian Church, 3701 Taft Blvd.: Chi Rho and Christian Youth Fellowship members will hold their first Youth Summer Lunch at noon June 1. Additional dates will be July 13, July 20 and Aug. 10. The FCC Goes to the Movies film series will be held in June and July, with weekly screenings of both recent and classic movies. Presentations of each movie will be at 3 p.m. Thursday in the movie room and 7 p.m. Saturday in the fellowship hall. The series will begin June 2 and 4 with "Les Miserables." Popcorn will be provided for the Saturday evening shows, and barbecued burgers and hot dogs will be offered June 4. The summer worship schedule will begin June 5, with a relaxed, informal style. The 10:45 a.m. service will be moved to the fellowship hall, where members will sing favorite hymns, watch movie clips and hear a sermon connected to the FCC Goes to the Movies series. Floral Heights United Methodist Church, 2214 10th St.: A meeting concerning the worship arts and music camp will be at 4 p.m. May 31. The youth Proverbs overnighter will begin at 6 p.m. June 3. Friberg-Cooper United Methodist Church, 5511 Old Friberg Church Road: Members will travel to Petrolia United Methodist Church May 29 for a 5:30 p.m. song service. The United Methodist Women will meet at 11:30 a.m. June 4 at Cracker Barrel. Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, 809 Harding: The church's 125th anniversary will be celebrated during the worship hour at 10:15 a.m. June 5. David Wilson, the 30-year pastor of Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas, will be the speaker. Wilson serves as vice president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and the Dallas Baptist Ministers Union. He has also served on the Dallas Board of Adjustments and was corresponding secretary of the National Baptist Convention of America. Call 766-2865 for transportation. Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 4605 Cypress Ave.: The altar guild will meet at 9 a.m. May 28. Director of Christian Education intern Michaela Seeliger will be installed during services May 29. Also that day, the youth will prepare military care packages and go on an outing to the trampoline park. Upcoming meetings include the elders at 6:30 p.m. May 31, the trustees at 6 p.m. June 1, and the Lutheran Women's Missionary League at 9 a.m. June 4. Park Place Christian Church, 4400 Call Field: There will be no fifth Sunday singing May 29 due to Memorial Day. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1501 Ninth St.: The church will celebrate its 125th anniversary June 3, starting with an anniversary Mass at 5:30 p.m. at the church, then an evening of dinner and music at the MPEC Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall starting at 7 p.m. The altar society garage sale will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 4 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 5 in the parish hall. St. John Baptist Church, 1009 Flood St.: Women's Day will be celebrated at 3 p.m. May 29. Rae Lynn Flanigan will give the devotional message, and the St. John Theatrical and Praise Team Ministries will perform. Felisha Kelley will be the soloist. A formal tea will follow the observance. St. Marks United Methodist Church, 4319 McNiel Ave.: The church office will be closed Memorial Day. St. Paul Lutheran Church, 11th and Holliday streets: The board of stewardship will meet after services May 29. Trinity United Methodist Church, 5800 Southwest Parkway: Sunday school is canceled May 29, and the 10:30 a.m. service will be a casual time of singing, prayer and a short devotional. The church office and Growing Center will be closed May 30 for Memorial Day. The church staff will meet from 9 a.m. to noon May 31. On June 1, the instrumental musicians will practice at 6 p.m. and the choir will meet at 6:30 p.m. University United Methodist Church, 3405 Taft Blvd.: The music ministries choir banquet will be at 6 p.m. June 1, with a program featuring music from the musical "Oklahoma!" Make reservations at the church office. Volunteers are needed to help with the church music camp June 27-28. Contact the church office if you can help. Wesley United Methodist Church, 1526 Weeks St.: High school graduates will be honored during services May 29. Members will travel to Nocona that afternoon to participate in a district conference. The children and youth will present the musical "Star Factor" at 6 p.m. May 29. Admission is free. A new adult Bible study focusing on the Old Testament will begin at 10 a.m. June 3, led by Shirley Donnell and Ronnie Oden. Cause under investigation in 3-alarm apartment building blaze The Wichita Falls Fire Marshal's Office is investigating a fire that caused major damage to an apartment building in central Wichita Falls. Booker SHARE By Patrick Johnston, patrick.johnston@timesrecordnews.com A second suspect in a 2013 home invasion and murder has pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated robbery charges. Jonathan Chase Booker, 21, entered the plea Friday and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, per a plea agreement, by 78th District Judge Bernard Fudge for his role in the shooting death of David Douglas Mays, 35. Davontay Tyrone Johnson, 21, was sentenced on July 24 to 40 years in prison for the murder of Mays and a previous aggravated robbery. Court documents state Booker admitted to detectives he and Johnson committed an armed robbery of a home in the 4700 block of Tammy Drive on Dec. 18, 2012. Booker said in that first incident he was armed with a shotgun with a scope and Johnson had a two-shot derringer when they broke into the house. The victim in the armed robbery said he tried to fight back and was shot at before one of the two men yelled "Just (explicative) kill him," which caused him to fear for his life and he gave up his wallet. On Jan 29, 2013, Booker and Johnson broke into a home in the 1000 block of Woods Street and demanded money and drugs from Mays. They were armed with the same weapons as used the previous robbery, a court document states. When Mays wouldn't give them anything, Johnson told an individual they "just shot him and left," court documents state. During the investigation, the derringer recovered from Johnson was found to have been the murder weapon. Brandon Kenneth Mabonga, 22, who is also facing murder charges, admitted during a non-custodial interview he drove Johnson and Booker to the house in the 1000 block of Woods Street on the night of the murder, a court document states. Meanwhile, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a statement calling on officials to hold accountable the perpetrators of Friday's attack in a village in Upper Egypt The head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II called for restraint and coexistence after a sectarian attack by a mob of Muslims against Christians in Upper Egypts Minya governorate. In a statement issued by the Church, the pope warned against anyone who would use what happened in Minya to incite sectarian strife, adding that he was closely following the case. The attack on Christians erupted in El-Karm village on Friday after a rumour circulated that a Muslim woman and a Christian man had an affair, with a mob of Muslim men attacking several Christian homes in the village. The elderly mother of the Christian man was also dragged by the mob from her house and stripped of her clothes in public. On Thursday afternoon, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a statement ordering officials to hold accountable the perpetrators of the attack. El-Sisi urged the government to take "necessary measures to preserve public order, protect [citizens] and property within the rule of law." The pope, who is currently visiting Austria, said he is in contact with security and state officials, who promised to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Egypts Al-Azhar institution the leading religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world also denounced the attacks in a statement issued Thursday, rejecting all insults or aggression regardless of the beliefs of those involved. Al-Azhar announced that members of the Family House organisation, made up of Al-Azhar sheikhs as well as Coptic Orthodox Church officials, would head to Minya to help resolve the matter. Al-Azhar also warned that some may use the incident to incite sectarian conflict. Bishop of Minya Anba Macarius said Thursday in a TV interview that he was promised by Governor Tarek Nasr of Minya that all perpetrators of the incident would be prosecuted. According to media reports, Nasr held a meeting with elders from El-Karm village in order to resolve the matter. In the House of Representatives, Minya MPs presented a request to parliaments Human Rights Committee to investigate the incident. Search Keywords: Short link: SHARE Over the past four years, America has largely been a bystander in the largest strategic and humanitarian disaster of our time the collapse of Syria, producing 5 million refugees, causing more than 300,000 deaths and empowering the most vicious nut jobs in the world. But what do Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders say? That America is overcommitted. 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. As for Obama's motivation? A determination to be the anti-Bush? Serial indecision? For whatever reason, Obama has consistently filed action in Syria under the category of "stupid stuff," often overruling 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." The regime of Bashar Assad, once teetering on destruction, has been saved by Iranian and Russian adventurism. Early on, jihadist groups in Syria became the most serious opposition to the regime, 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 importantly, (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. SHARE How do you distinguish a foreign policy "idealist" from a "realist," an optimist from a pessimist? Ask one question: Do you believe in the arrow of history? Or to put it another way, do you think history is cyclical or directional? Are we condemned to do the same damn thing over and over, generation after generation or is there hope for some enduring progress in the world order? For realists, generally conservative, history is an endless cycle of clashing power politics. The same patterns repeat. Only the names and places change. The best we can do in our own time is to defend ourselves, managing instability and avoiding catastrophe. But expect nothing permanent, no essential alteration in the course of human affairs. The idealists believe otherwise. They believe that the international system can eventually evolve out of its Hobbesian state of nature into something more humane and hopeful. What is usually overlooked is that this hopefulness for achieving a higher plane of global comity comes in two flavors one liberal, one conservative. The liberal variety (as practiced, for example, by the Bill Clinton administration) believes that the creation of a dense web of treaties, agreements, transnational institutions and international organizations (like the U.N., NGOs, the World Trade Organization) can give substance to a cohesive community of nations that would, in time, ensure order and stability. The conservative view (often called neoconservative and dominant in the George W. Bush years) is that the better way to ensure order and stability is not through international institutions, which are flimsy and generally powerless, but through the spread of democracy. Because, in the end, democracies are inherently more inclined to live in peace. Liberal internationalists count on globalization, neoconservatives on democratization to get us to the sunny uplands of international harmony. But what unites them is the belief that such uplands exist and are achievable. Both believe in the perfectibility, if not of man, then of the international system. Both believe in the arrow of history. For realists, this is a comforting delusion that gives high purpose to international exertions where none exists. Sovereign nations remain in incessant pursuit of power and self-interest. The pursuit can be carried out more or less wisely. But nothing fundamentally changes. Barack Obama is a classic case study in foreign policy idealism. Indeed, one of his favorite quotations is about the arrow of history: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." He has spent nearly eight years trying to advance that arc of justice. Hence his initial "apology tour," that burst of confessional soul-searching abroad about America and its sins, from slavery to the loss of our moral compass after 9/11. Friday's trip to Hiroshima completes the arc. Unfortunately, with "justice" did not come peace. The policies that followed appeasing Vladimir Putin, the Iranian mullahs, the butchers of Tiananmen Square and lately the Castros have advanced neither justice nor peace. On the contrary. The consequent withdrawal of American power, that agent of injustice or at least arrogant overreach, has yielded nothing but geopolitical chaos and immense human suffering. (See Syria.) But now an interesting twist. Two terms as president may not have disabused Obama of his arc-of-justice idealism (see above: Hiroshima visit), but they have forced upon him at least one policy of hardheaded, indeed hardhearted, realism. On his Vietnam trip this week, Obama accepted the reality of an abusive dictatorship while announcing a warming of relations and the lifting of the U.S. arms embargo, thereby enlisting Vietnam as a full partner in the containment of China. This follows the partial return of the U.S. military to the Philippines, another element of the containment strategy. Indeed, the Trans-Pacific Partnership itself is less about economics than geopolitics, creating a Pacific Rim cordon around China. There's no idealism in containment. It is raw, soulless realpolitik. No moral arc. No uplifting historical arrow. In fact, it is the same damn thing all over again, a recapitulation of Truman's containment of Russia in the late 1940s. Obama is doing the same, now with China. He thus leaves a double legacy. His arc-of-justice aspirations, whatever their intention, leave behind tragic geopolitical and human wreckage. Yet this belated acquiescence to realpolitik, laying the foundations for a new containment, will be an essential asset in addressing this century's coming central challenge, the rise of China. I don't know no one knows if history has an arrow. Which is why a dose of coldhearted realism is always welcome. Especially from Obama. Charles Krauthammer's email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com. Troy The Roarke Center in Troy is ready to unveil a mosaic memorial that has been in production since late last year. For the 20th anniversary of the social services nonprofit program, members of the center have come together to design and construct a symbolic wall memorial made of a unique selection of ceramic tiles. "Our own artists here at the Roarke Center, who are adults living with poverty and participating in the arts program, actually designed the wall, made all the tiles, and have directed all of the groups on how to build the mosaic," said Sister Loretta Hoag, director of the Creative Hearts Art Program, at Roarke. "We have upwards of at least 25 people who have worked on it." The mosaic illustrates memories and experiences of the artists themselves from their time at the center. Finishing touches on the wall were taking place this week. Hoag is looking forward to unveiling the wall on June 15. The project first began last September, and in April, the center received a community arts grant from the Arts Center of the Capital Region to help with the project. Hoag is astounded at how members of both the center and community have come together to achieve this goal. In collaboration with local writers, painters, and potters, the mosaic is focused on how the center has changed lives and brought together the community in times of need. The center has assisted a wide variety of people facing different life challenges whose journeys are represented in the piece. Sponsored by Catholic Charities, the outreach program offers services free of charge to all who are in need of help, whether it be medical, financial or educational. The center was founded in hopes of building self-esteem, providing support, and helping to improve the future of many. Among the services provided are creative arts, which help to shape members into painters, sculptors, writers, and artists. The June 15 reception for the unveiling is scheduled for 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Roarke Center at 107 4th St., and is open to the public. Gianlucca Russo is a Times Union intern. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy In observance of Memorial Day, Troy's Temple Beth El carries on the long-held tradition of Larry Novick, who's committed to placing fresh flags on each veteran headstone at the temple's cemetery. Novick, a Navy veteran, started this the tradition but opted to pass along the responsibility almost four years ago to Jaclyn "Jackie" Gold, a member of the congregation who was 11 years old at the time. Now a sophomore at the Lab School at Bethlehem Central High School, Jackie has made this Memorial Day act of kindness, coined "Larry's Labor of Love," a mission of the temple's hospitality committee. According to Jackie's father, Steve Gold, the hospitality committee had humble beginnings. "It was basically putting snacks out after services each week," said Gold, who is the secretary of the temple's board of directors. He added that his daughter's involvement has had clear, personal effects on her. "I think it's made the holiday more real, more significant to her," Gold said. For Jackie, though, continuing Novick's tradition has been most rewarding in its positive effects on soldiers' relatives. "Replacing the flags is one of the most important things to do on Memorial Day because it shows someone cares and remembers their loved ones who passed away so we could live on," Jackie said. The headstones have symbols indicating military service for the Jewish War Veterans in the Temple Beth El cemetery and the adjacent Jewish Military Cemetery. Liam McGurl is a Times Union intern who attends St. Bonaventure University. Schenectady An Amsterdam man will likely spend at least six years in prison for a crash that killed a girl, her mother and grandmother on a highway in Duanesburg last year. Joseph Duffy, 27, pleaded guilty Friday in Schenectady County Court to three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of driving while ability impaired, District Attorney Robert Carney said. Duffy will be sentenced on July 18 to 6 to 18 years in prison, Carney said. According to authorities, Duffy was behind the wheel Sept. 2 on Route 30 while under the influence of alcohol and amphetamines. Witnesses said they saw Duffy's car behind them heading south and swerving in and out of his lane and gaining speed. Duffy sped past those drivers, crossed into the opposite lane and failed to get back on the right side, which changed into a no-passing zone as the road began to incline and curve while he continued to accelerate. Duffy stayed in the northbound lane without showing any signs of evasive action or braking when a car carrying three people Vanessa Cohn, her daughter, Summer Penny, and the girl's grandmother, Betty Brockhum came around the curve. Cohn, 35, and Summer, 14, of Esperance were killed in the head-on collision. Brockhum, 56, of Gloversville died later of her injuries. Summer was about to start ninth grade at Duanesburg High School and students wore blue her favorite color at the opening of day of classes. More than 100 people attended her funeral in Amsterdam. "The inexplicably reckless driving by Mr. Duffy wiped out three generations of one family," Carney said in a statement. "Although we are glad that Mr. Duffy took responsibility for his actions today, we recognize that no prison sentence can adequately compensate for these losses." As well as recognizing State Police efforts, Carney pointed to the civic-mindedness of witnesses who stayed at the scene to try to help the victims. Carney said Duffy will be sentenced for the DWAI count to a year of local incarceration, the maximum, which will run concurrently with the prison time. The sentence also includes restitution, if any, to the victims' families and a six-month license revocation, he said. County Judge Matthew J. Sypniewski presided over the case. Assistant District Attorney Stephanie E. Hughes was the prosecutor. Duffy was represented by attorney Brian Mercy of the Schenectady County Conflict Defender's Office. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Baghdad Five days into an Iraqi military operation to push Islamic State fighters out of Fallujah, residents still inside the city are preparing for a long battle, with some saying they fear being trapped between two forces they don't fully trust. More than 50,000 people remain in the center of the Sunni majority city, which has been under control of the extremist group for more than two years. Those who want to leave describe deteriorating humanitarian conditions, but they also say they are wary of the Iraqi government forces who have pledged to liberate them. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the offensive late Sunday night. Backed by airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces are tightening their grip around Fallujah and dislodging IS militants from key areas. "The airstrikes are almost constant," one man told The Associated Press by phone from inside the city Thursday. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concerns for his safety, said that after living for weeks on rice, canned food and processed cheese, those stocks were beginning to run low. While many in Fallujah welcomed the takeover of the city by the Sunni-led Islamic State group as an alternative to what they considered their marginalization at the hands of Iraq's leaders, humanitarian conditions in the city have deteriorated under the extremists. Located 40 miles west of Baghdad, the city has a history of anti-government sentiment in post 2003 Iraq. After the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam Hussein, the city's 250,000 residents initially supported a Sunni insurgency that rose up against U.S. forces and the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. Militants from al-Qaida in Iraq fought two bloody battles with U.S. troops in Fallujah in 2004 that killed more than 100 Americans and wounded more than 1,000. New York One died in her multimillion-dollar apartment. Another left $1.3 million to charity. A third was an opera costume designer who took regular trips to Europe with his devoted partner. All three donated their bodies to medical science, and eventually served as cadavers for first-year medical students at the New York University School of Medicine. All three had signed forms that promised cremation and the disposal of their ashes by the medical school "in an appropriate and dignified manner." So how did their dissected corpses end up instead in mass graves on Hart Island, where New York City buries the dead it considers unclaimed and indigent? Those cases, discovered during an investigation by The New York Times into Hart Island burials, shocked surviving family members and friends. But they also raised larger questions about body donations at a time when medical schools throughout the country increasingly rely on such gifts, rather than on unclaimed bodies, to teach future doctors. Now, after searching through anatomical records at The Times' request, NYU is apologizing, and acknowledging that the cases were part of a practice that went on for years. Until 2013, the school was sending a subset of privately donated cadavers to a city morgue for burial at public expense. "As an institution, we weren't aware that this was happening," Lisa Greiner, a spokeswoman for NYU Langone Medical Center, said. "I promise you it's not happening now." But the revelation reinforces long-standing concerns by some anatomists about the lack of regulation and oversight in a national patchwork of body donation operations. And it could have repercussions at the 16 medical schools in New York state, which use more than 800 donated bodies a year. How many bodies donated to NYU ended up on Hart Island is unknown, Greiner said, partly because some records were lost in Hurricane Sandy, and also because the longtime director of the program, Dr. Bruce Bogart, who withdrew from most university responsibilities in 2011 and officially retired in 2013, now has dementia. Medical schools often share an excess supply of cadavers with other schools that have run short, and some bodies donated elsewhere were passed to NYU. Indeed, among the privately donated cadavers that NYU dispatched to Hart Island was the body of Leo Van Witsen, the author of an influential book on costume design for opera, who had donated his corpse to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. Egypt's Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, announced on Friday that Bishop Macarius of Minya and Abu Qirqas was delegated to speak on behalf of the church in relation to a recent sectarian mob attack on Christians in the governorate. The Pope added in a short statement issued Friday afternoon that he had not commissioned anyone else to represent the church's view on the matter. Last week, a Muslim mob attacked Christian houses in the village of Al-Karm in Minya. An elderly Christian woman, whose son was believed to be in a relationship with a Muslim woman, was attacked by the mob and stripped naked in the street. In a video testimony released by the bishopric, the woman gave her testimony. "My name is Soad Thabet and I do not want anyone to interview me or give me help," she said. "I forgave them, God forgive them," she said about her attackers. Security forces have arrested 11 people involved in the attack against her as well other Christians in the village. Thabet thanked President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Pope Tawadros II and Bishop Macarius for their support. On Thursday, President El-Sisi called for the arrest of those involved in the mob attack and urged the government to take "necessary measures to preserve public order, protect (citizens) and property within the rule of law." Search Keywords: Short link: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with his Egyptian counterpart El-Sisi to discuss solutions to the Palestinian issue Egypt will support initiatives and international efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas during a Cairo meeting on Saturday. El-Sisi said that Egypt will continue to support initiatives that lead to a fair, comprehensive, and lasting peace solution that would help to establish a Palestinian state in accord with the 1967 borders, which would contribute to a better reality as well as a safer and more stable future in the region. According to a presidential spokesman, Abbas said Palestine deeply appreciates the "honest" efforts that Egypt is making to reach a peaceful solution for Palestine to prevent bloodshed and preserve the rights of Palestinians. The Palestinian president also praised the Egyptian leadership's stances, and the efforts made to accomplish peace and establish an independent Palestinian state in accordance with international legitimacy. He also expressed his appreciation for the historic role played by Egypt in supporting the Palestinian cause, as well as Egyptian sacrifices to reserve the rights of the Palestinian people. The two leaders also exchanged views on international efforts that have been made recently, headed by the French initiative and the upcoming international support group for peace negotiations that will be held in Paris on 3 June with the participation of 26 countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, and Morocco. They stressed that the upcoming international support group for peace negotiations would provide a chance for the exchange of viewpoints and the definition of future steps that can be taken. This is Abbas's second visit to Cairo within weeks of El-Sisi's call for both Palestine and Israel to reach a solution that establishes peace. Discussions related to the Palestinian issue have been on the rise since the Egyptian president's call in a May speech to Palestinian and Israeli leaders that peace, prosperity and cooperation will only take place if both parties are able to reach a two-state solution. Search Keywords: Short link: Albany Trading of greenhouse gas permits under the regional climate change program continues to grow as more companies try to anticipate prices in coming months. Futures contracts under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative which allow companies to either buy or sell credits in the future at fixed prices continue to increase, according to a report issued this week by Potomac Economics, a consultant to the program. In the first three months of this year, power plant owners, investors and other groups executed futures contracts for 103 million RGGI credits. A credit allows a plant owner to release a ton of greenhouse gas. Each year, plant owners must have enough credits to cover all emissions. RGGI futures are up 250 percent from the same period a year ago, when only 29 million such trades were made. There were futures contracts for 93 million credits in the last quarter of 2015. More contracts sought to lock in future prices to buy, rather than prices to sell. Of the 147 options executed in the first quarter of this year, 83 were for "calls," which is an option to buy RGGI credits in the future at a fixed price. Call options are used to hedge against potential price increases. The other 64 option trades were for "puts," which is an option to sell credits in the future at a fixed price. Puts are used to hedge against falling prices. "This shows that the program is working, and there is a market out there for these credits," said Conor Bambrick, air and energy director at Environmental Advocates of New York, an Albany-based environmental lobbying group. Prices for RGGI credits, which are auctioned by New York and eight other northeastern states, have been steadily rising since late 2014, when the states pared back the number of available credits to reduce a glut. In December 2015, the price hit an all-time high of $7.50 under the eight-year program. In March, that price dropped back to $5.25. In December 2012, a credit sold for just $1.93. While plant owners need credits to cover greenhouse gas emissions, credits can also be purchased by investors, who seek to profit from rising prices, or by environmental groups, who can take credits off the market to reduce the total allowed greenhouse gas emissions in a state. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Since the program started in 2008, New York has collected more than $925 million, more than any other RGGI state. The next most has gone to Maryland, at $505 million. States have used their RGGI proceeds to promote energy efficiency and green energy like wind, solar and biomass. An international scientific consensus says greenhouse gas emissions from combustion of fossil fuels are driving man-made global climate change. The program also includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pulled out of RGGI in 2011 and faces a lawsuit claiming he illegally bypassed state lawmakers to do so. Last summer, President Barack Obama unveiled a plan that requires states to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by a nationwide total of 32 percent of 2005 levels by 2030, with some states' goals higher and some lower. New York's reduction targets under the plan are about 9 percent from its actual 2012 emissions. bnearing@timesunion.com 518-454-5094 @Bnearing10 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany A six-week strike by Verizon workers appears poised to end as U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez announced Friday that the company and its unionized employees have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract. Perez said the sides have "reached an agreement in principle on a four-year contract, resolving the open issues in the ongoing labor dispute between Verizon's workers, unions, and management." The proposal still must be accepted in a vote by members of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Verizon and its unions have been negotiating with assistance from federal labor officials for the last 13 days. "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," said Perez, who called the deal "a testament to the power of collective bargaining." No details on the agreement were available from federal, labor or company officials. IBEW President Lonnie Stephenson said details of the settlement, which he called "fair and mutually beneficial," would be released to union members "in the immediate days ahead." CWA President Chris Shelton said the pact was "a huge win, not just for striking workers, but for our communities and our country as a whole. The agreement in principle at Verizon is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people." Verizon corporate spokesman Robert Varettoni said both sides were under a gag order and he could not provide comment about the potential agreement. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. About 36,000 unionized Verizon workers up and down the East Coast including about 800 in the Capital Region have been on strike since April 13 in the wake of an impasse on contract talks. During the strike, Verizon canceled workers' health insurance. Before the impasse, Verizon was offering a two percent wage hike, while union officials sought to protect health insurance and work schedules. The unions also wanted a five percent wage increase and protections against outsourcing of work now being done by union members. The unions also demanded that Verizon commit to expanding its fiber optic system known as FiOS, which delivers TV, Internet and phone service. After years of deploying FiOS, including to parts of the Capital Region, Verizon had said it will no longer spend money on expanding the system. bnearing@timesunion.com 518-454-5094 @Bnearing10 Pittsfield, Mass. The cast members of the new musical "Presto Change-O" can now add "semiprofessional magician" to their resumes. Beyond the usual tasks of learning lines, songs and blocking for a world premiere at Barrington Stage Company, they had to become adept enough at legerdemain that all six of them could convincingly perform basic magic for an audience seated mere feet away. They accomplish this quite well. Even on opening night, the illusions, from the simplest ball-under-cups routine to a stockpot that levitates 7 feet in the air, went flawlessly. Credit illusion designer Joseph Wartnerchaney for his work with the cast and director Marc Bruni during rehearsals, which required a week longer than normal for BSC productions to accommodate the technical demands. With book and lyrics by Eric Price and music by Joel Waggoner, who met in the graduate program in musical-theater writing at New York University, "Presto Change-O" is most impressive for its illusions. Take away the magic, however, and, well, most of the magic is gone. The prestidigitation is the glossy, distracting surface to several utterly familiar stories boy meets girl, intergenerational conflict, family reconciliation bound together by an unsatisfying book that comes to an end so abruptly it feels like a few later chapters were ripped out because the running time hit the two-hour mark. More Information Review "Presto Change-O" When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Where: St. Germain Stage, Barrington Stage Company, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield, Mass. Running time: 120 minutes, one intermission Continues: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees, 3 p.m. Thursday, Saturday, Sunday; through June 11 Tickets: $20 to $69 Info: 855-TIX-2BSC or http://barringtonstageco.org See More Collapse Worse, the music, under the direction of Vadim Feichtner, often feels formulaic, with predictable patter, rising key changes to stress emotion and a couple of numbers clearly meant to be Big Hits, maybe even radio material. Rather than an organic melding of story and song, "Presto Change-O" plays like a musical of generations past, with short expository scenes setting up situations and emotions so important they must be sung about. You can almost see Price and Waggoner checking off items in a "How to Write a Musical" list of requirements from a textbook. At the core of plot is a family of magicians with obvious analogues among real-life performers. Michael Rupert plays Lance (i.e., Lance Burton see what the authors did there? or David Copperfield), once a worldwide celebrity for his flashy magic but, for the past dozen years, virtually a prisoner in his Manhattan townhouse after a betrayal by his son. Jarrod Spector plays the now-30-year-old son, Michael, who, after Lance stole an illusion, revealed the secrets of his father's biggest tricks in an online video and today performs feats of endurance like being frozen in a block of ice for days (i.e., David Blaine). Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Lance's father-in-law, Sheldon (Lenny Wolpe), whom Lance himself betrayed years before, is an old-school Vegas magician whose undeniable skills have been eclipsed by younger generations (Harry Blackstone Jr.). Rounding out the cast are Barbara Walsh as Mary, Sheldon's daughter, who was previously Lance's wife and assistant in his act; Jenni Barber as his current assistant; and Bob Walton as Arthur, Lance's brother, a late-appearing character who might as well be named Wacky Uncle. The cast is effective, building relationships through scene and song to the point that we care about the characters. But between a story that is obvious and predictable when it's not corny, and lyrics and dialogue that are only occasionally snappy and smart, "Presto Change-O," though new, seems like a trick we've seen before. sbarnes@timesunion.com 518-454-5489 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. The interior ministry says the deceased complained of nausea during questioning at a police station and died in a hospital; the man's family says no wake for loved one till justice is served Egyptian prosecutors detained Friday eight policeman pending investigations into allegations they beat a citizen to death late Thursday night. The men questioned include a detective and seven low ranking police officers. The interior ministry released a statement on Friday morning saying 61-year-old man, Hussein Farghaly, died in a hospital he was transferred to after complaining of "sickness" during questioning at a police station in a case involving landlord-tenant dispute. The interior ministry's statement said Wayley Police Station in Abbasiya received a complaint that a landlord, named Hussein Farghaly, was illegally detaining one of his tenants in a dispute over rent. The statement said officers attempted to negotiate with the landlord to release the tenant. However, according to interior ministry statement, Farghaly, along with family members, attacked the police forces and a scuffle followed. Police say they succeeded in freeing the tenant who suffered minor injuries and was sent to a hospital for treatment. The ministry added that the scuffle resulted in some damages to a police vehicle and Farghaly's injury. During questioning at the station, Farghaly complained of nausea and was sent to a nearby hospital where he died, the ministry said. On Friday, hundreds of family and neighbours attended a funeral prayers for Farghaly at Nasser El-Haq mosque in Abbasiya and afterwards chanted against police brutality. The family of the deceased said they would not hold a ritual wake for Farghaly until "justice is served." The interior ministry has been in hot water in recent months over several cases of deaths of citizens in police custody and reports of torture in police stations. The interior ministry say such incidents of police brutality are isolated cases and has vowed to bring officers accused of wrong doing to justice. The ministry has recently drafted legislation that aims to monitor the performance of police officers and punish rogue elements. The legislation have been referred to parliament but have not yet been voted on. In recents months also, Egyptian courts have also sentenced more than a dozen police officer to jail after they were accused in various cases of beating citizens to deaths in custody. Search Keywords: Short link: Washington, D.C. To discuss the implications that criminal justice reform efforts and legislative movements have for the residents of Colorado and Missouriincluding the most recent introduction of bipartisan language to the Senate criminal justice reform billplease join Mayor Michael B. Hancock of Denver and Mayor Sly James of Kansas City, Missouri, in a press call on Tuesday, June 2, at 2:30 p.m. MST/3:30 p.m. CDT/4:30 p.m. EST. The call will be moderated by Pat Collier IV, Director of Government Affairs at the Center for American Progress. Todd A. Cox, CAPs Director of Criminal Justice Policy, will join the panel to put the local conversation about Criminal Justice reform in the federal-level context. Three decades of misguided criminal justice policies have produced tragic consequences for American communities, driving the countrys inequality and poverty. One in three Americans have a criminal record, and nearly half of U.S. children have a parent with a criminal record, which present life-long barriers to opportunityincluding employment, education, and housingfor entire families. The current legislation moving through Congress has the potential to increase the public safety of Colorado residents by ending unnecessarily harsh sentences and penalties and by eliminating barriers to opportunities for those with records, affording them and their families a second chance. The debate betwixt liberty vs. security and theearns a bit of discussion from Kansas City's Mayor. Accordingly, here's an important tidbit about########You decide . . . In this Kansas City town hall Mayor Sly, Mo House Rep. Judy Morgan and one of the Show-Me dudes talk about solutions to the great public education hot mess that confronts American schools right now.Given currentright now over a funding beef . . . And the ongoingof the KCPS for more than a generation . . . The timing of this episode of week in review is apt . . . Despite the fact that not much is likely to change any time soon.More in a bit . . . Council Lady Heather Hall Poses Strong Questions Against Kansas City Transit Orientated Development Scheme Streetcar Critics Bring Talk Of Toy Train Expansion To Full Stop Council Lady Jolie Justus Serves As Mayor Sly's Top Development Advocate Manny Abarca Working Harder Than Opponents In Missouri District 19 Race Rising Tide Of Sewer Water On Kansas City Streets Reminds Voters About Infrastructure Deferred Maintenance Our weekly ranking of this town's most popular movers and shakers is an afterthought tonight but still worth considering as we getting into Summer primary season.Inspired by the strength of bodybuilding hottie, take a peek at the people, places and things that drove the local discourse this week . . .The so-called Kansas City wasfrom the only avowed conservative, small biz advocate and fiscal hawk on the Council.Remember that at the outset of this week mainstream media was pushing for streetcar expansion and then constant outages and a car crash provided a great deal of ammunition for voter advocates who fear another rigged election of a few hundred voters for transit funded by the entire city.The former Missouri State Senator made a reputation for touting LGBT rights against Republican opposition but her short time on the council has revealed thatHis challengerquit the school board but her connections and bit money might give her an edge in this election . . . However,is making a name for himself by hitting the pavement and meeting neighbors in his effort to win the Missouri Rep. contest.To be fair, there are puddles throughout the metro but Kansas City sewer water backup is just a bit worse as longstanding infrastructure repair continues to be delayed while City Hall remains more interested in working on a myriad of development schemes.As always, this list has been compiled according toand it's a weekly comprehensive guide to local powerful people. The spirit of concord and peace must prevail in the difficult times the world is experiencing, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill said during formal and celebratory mass held in his honour at the Protaton Church in Karyes, the seat of the self- The spirit of concord and peace must prevail in the difficult times the world is experiencing, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill said during formal and celebratory mass held in his honour at the Protaton Church in Karyes, the seat of the self-governing body of Mount Athos, on Friday. Kirill expressed his respect for the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the representatives of the twenty monasteries of Mount Athos, adding that he came to pay his respects to its monasticism. He also spoke on the great importance placed by the Russian Church to Mount Athos, an event that is manifested in the numerous visits of Russian citizens in the area. He also commented on the one thousand-year anniversary from the first presence of Russian monks on Mount Athos celebrated this year, noting it is an additional reason for his pilgrimage. Source:ANA-MPA 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 Greece's tax system has very high taxation rates that fail to bring in proportionately high revenues, even though the "tax behaviour" of its citizens is not significantly different from that of other Europeans, according to a PwC tax summar Greece's tax system has very high taxation rates that fail to bring in proportionately high revenues, even though the "tax behaviour" of its citizens is not significantly different from that of other Europeans, according to a PwC tax summary for May 2016 released on Thursday. According to the report, tax revenues in Greece fell steadily in absolute terms over time, though rising as a percentage of the country's GDP, indicating an inability to collect additional taxes in conditions of extended crisis. By the same token, constant changes to taxation parameters and rates appears to have no impact on tax collection levels, the report said. It advised that the tax system be radically redesigned so that it does not create "economic distortions" and noted that growth will make a major contribution to increasing public revenues, with a 10 pct increase in GDP leading to an estimated 11.3 pct increase in tax revenues. More specifically, it noted that taxation rates were among the highest in all categories but revenue collection was less than or close to average. During the economic crisis, the contribution made by VAT and other indirect taxes remained steady while the contribution of income tax from legal entities and companies collapsed from 15 pct to just 6 pct and there was a higher contribution from direct taxes on individuals and real estate. According to PwC data, the proportion of revenues contributed by indirect taxation was among the highest in Europe at 57 pct, while 94 pct of tax revenues in Greece came from indirect taxes, income taxes on individuals and real estate. With the exception of indirect taxation and real estate taxation, there are no signs of overtaxation in Greece when compared to other countries. Taxes on real estate The report noted a sharp rise in taxes on real estate in Greece over the last five years, increasing revenues by 2.5-3.0 billion euros. This led to a fall in house prices and deinvestment from the market, the report said. According to PwC, Greece's taxation system is parameterised in a way that does not facilitate tax collection, punishing middle incomes and increasing undeclared incomes. There is an estimated 34 pct deficit in VAT revenue in Greece, indicating significant loss of revenue as a result of tax evasion, tax avoidance and ineffective tax collection mechanisms. It also notes that revenues from VAT and other indirect taxation, unilke income tax and real estate taxes, are not especially sensitive to changes in GDP. The head of PwC Greece's taxation department Mary Psylla said: "It is necessary to intervene in the taxation system. Its performance is generally less than the European average and its distortions make it harder to increase tax collection. Its complexity combined with the ineffectiveness of tax-collection mechanisms are obstacles to both fiscal improvement and growth." Source: banknews.gr 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 Concerns over the constitutionality of the tax hike have been voiced by senior government officials The decision to raise the VAT on islands, as part of the recent Eurogroup agreement, has sparked major controversy within the coalition government. This was evident by the statements made by the President of Parliament Nikos Voutsis and the Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos, suggested that the hike may be unconstitutional. During Thursdays press conference at the Finance Ministry, Alt. Minister Giorgos Hourliarakis commented that the government priority is to support vulnerable social groups, irrespective of whether they reside on the islands or mainland Greece. Mr. Houliarakis added that all legislative acts have been approved by the State Legal Council. Government spokesperson Olga Gerovasili added that the bailout review would not conclude unless the legislation on the super fund and fiscal adjustment mechanism were enacted, revealing an ambivalent feelings from the government majority in Parliament. As part of its repeated calls for early elections, main opposition party New Democracy has argued that the government should resign if it cannot take ownership of the measures and policies being implemented. In response, the government aims to counter these arguments with initiatives such as setting up the social solidarity fund. 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 The world is changing and Europe was in danger of "missing the train" unless Europeans remain united, former German foreign minister and vice chancellor Joschka Fischer said on Friday, while addressing an Economist conference in Athens The world is changing and Europe was in danger of "missing the train" unless Europeans remain united, former German foreign minister and vice chancellor Joschka Fischer said on Friday, while addressing an Economist conference in Athens. With regard to Greece, he said that the refugee crisis had helped many European appreciate the country's strategic significance and expressed the opinion that the speculation on Greece's exit from the eurozone was now over, though the crisis had taught some valuable lessons. "The Greek crisis was not in vain: from Greece will come a spirit for a new start and this will spread throughout Europe. I believe this," he said. "The world is changing, not just on a political level but also on technological and economic level - the fundamental structures are changing, shifting. Europe, on its part, has its own crisis to face. Therefore, we Europeans must be very careful that we don't miss the train. No one in the 21st century will look after our interests. If Europeans do not stay united, if we don't correct our problems, if we are not a part of this change, then others will be and we will be the losers," Fischer said. Commenting on the agreement reached between Greece and the institutions earlier in the week, Fischer said it was a "good agreement" and another reason for optimism, with elements that will be combined in the framework of a long-term agreement after 2018. He also spoke of a "sea change" in attitudes to Greece within Germany, with many now realising the country's strategic significance. "Essentially, your borders coincide with the external borders of Europe. We cannot correct the problem of pressure from migration flows in every country. We will either do it together or we will all pay a very high price," he said. "I consider that the whole discussion on 'Grexit' or Greece's exit from the eurozone is over, forget it. Especially since the start of the refugee crisis, understanding of Greece's significance has been restored in the capitals of the major countries, especially in Berlin," he noted. On the economic front, he said that correcting the long-term fiscal crisis would be "useful" and noted that the lack of growth in Europe did not concern Greece alone. "We must overcome the problem of lack of growth. I think that without growth it will be very difficult to move forward." Referring to the upcoming UK referendum on whether to remain in the European Union, he said that June 23 will be a "critical moment for Britain and Europe" and predicted that a 'leave' vote would be a disaster for the United Kingdom and a serious crisis for the EU. "Whatever the British decide, we must reinvent Europe, find a new narrative together; we cannot continue in the way we have been doing in recent years. The status quo is not sustainable," Fischer added. Fischer said that current Europeans had lessons to learn from the founders of the European Union and needed to change the European system in the direction of a new start, in a world that was changing completely. For this, they needed to remain united, he stressed. "It was a great mistake on the part of my country to use the financial crisis in the Mediterranean in order to turn the residents of the Mediterranean into good Protestants. On the other hand, I think that the Mediterranean needs to understand the thinking of the northern Europeans," he added. "Greece is a wonderful country; I consider that it has huge potential that can be used. The specific crisis cannot continue forever. It will lead to the loss of an entire generation," he said. The Green party politician, who served as foreign minister under the government of Gerhard Schroeder, was a central speaker at the Economist conference "Intelligent Leaders Summit: Oxygenating the Future Through Digital Strategy" held in Athens on Friday. 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 An international human trafficking ring which was forging travel documents and trafficking migrants from Greece to other European countries was busted in a joint operation between the Hellenic Police and other European authorities. The joint police operation, which saw 16 people arrested, was codenamed Hermes and is part of Europols EMPACT (European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats) initiative. A group of companies and a non-governmental organisation, all based in Athens, were acting as a front for migrant trafficking outfits operating around Omonia Square, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) announced on Friday. The rings supplied refugees and migrants will fake documents in the EU but also third countries, and were dismantled as a result of a months-long investigation by the Attica Aliens Police, in collaboration with police forces in other EU countries and Europol. The two organisations were separate but operated simultaneously and collaborated with each other over the last two years, according to police. They were both dismantled during a police operation held on Wednesday under the code name 'Ermis' held under the EMPACT programme for fighting illegal migration. The police investigation revealed an international network with 105 members, of which 64 were in Greece and 51 in other countries. Authorities have so far arrested 16 individuals in Greece, among them eight Bangladeshi nationals, six Sudanese, one Pakistani and one Syrian. At least three individuals were arrested in the Czech Republic and four in France. Police also discovered two workshops for used to make fake documents in Athens, including forged passports reported as lost in the Schengen system. The alleged mastermind of one organisation was a Bangladeshi national that had set up a group of businesses that included a hotel, restaurant, travel agency, money transfer bureau, shop and internet service provider, as well as the NGO 'Hara' that were fully legal but served as a front for his illegal activities. The NGO's role has not been fully clarified but authorities know that it provided food and other services to foreign nationals using legal procedures. It is now being investigated for money laundering. The ring operated mainly by producing fake travel documents and other papers and used airline flights to move people to Europe and between European countries, investigators said. It charged fees ranging from 100 euros to 3,000 euros for its fake documents and services. The second organisation operated in a similar way to the first but was manned mainly by Sudanese and centred around a mobile phone accessory outlet in Athens. The members of the gang are linked to individuals that have prior arrests on similar charges in Athens and Chios. They were all led before an Athens first-instance prosecutor. 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 Dar Al-Ifta said this edict could be followed only under certain circumstances, and students must make up lost days later in the year Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta, the official religious authority responsible for issuing edicts or fatwas for Muslims in the country, said Saturday students preparing for exams could skip fasting during the holy month of Ramadan if dawn-to-dusk abstinence from all food and drinks could affect their academic efforts. Dar Al-Ifta said a student's decision not to fast must be bourne out of a real "necessity" dictated by certain unavoidable circumstances. Ramadan, which is expected to last from 6 June until 7 July, falls this year during the critical Thanawiya Aama exams for last year high school students, as well as exams in most public universities. Based on the Fatwa, the conditions which could allow students to choose not to fast include: if fasting causes real harm to the student's ability to study for or partake in examinations, and if studying must be performed during the month and cannot be postponed till after its end. Every student is the judge of himself on whether fasting will affect their exam performance or not, Dar Al-Ifta stated. Fasting is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith and must be observed by all able-bodied adult followers. However, the religion permits followers not to fast under certain circumstances such as travelling long distances, pregnancy, war, illnesses or old age. Those who do not fast for any mitigating reason must make up lost days during the rest of the year. Those who cannot fast at all, for example due to a medical condition, can instead feed a poor person for a month. Ramadan, the ninth on the Islamic lunar calendar, lasts 29 or 30 days. Search Keywords: Short link: Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank Ibdar has appointed a new board of directors with Tareq Sadeq, a member of Ahli United Bank Kuwait board and managing director of Keystone Consulting, as its chairman and Abdulkarim Ahmed Bucheery, the ex-CEO of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait and the vice chairman of Naseej Company, as the vice chairman. The announcement was made at the shareholders meeting where the bank discussed its 2015 results and strategy and initiatives for this year. The other board members are: Dr Ahmed Ebrahim Al Balooshi, the CEO of Smarteam Consultancy and board member of Bahrain Telecommunications Company; Ebrahim Husain Al Jassmi, the board member of Bahrain Islamic Bank and Takaful International Company; Hamad Mohammed Al Sejari, AVP in the DCM Department at KFH Capital; Jamal Abdulla Al Saleem, a board member of Kuwait Investment Company and the executive VP of the Privatization Holding Company in Kuwait; Jasem Al Yaseen, the executive manager (Treasury Sales) at Kuwait Finance House- Kuwait; Khalid Mohammed Al Maarafi, the executive manager and head of Retail Banking Group at Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain and the chairman of Al Enmaa House for Real Estate; Mohamed Nooruddin, the chairman of Newbury Investments and a member of the board of directors of Tadhamon Capital in Bahrain, and Abdulaziz Hassan Al Afaleq Partner, a board member and chief executive of Al Kifah Holding Company. The shareholders later approved the Board of Directors' report on the Bank's business activities, annual audited financial statements for 2015 as well as the Sharia Supervisory Board and Corporate Governance reports, among others. For fiscal year 2015, the bank reported a $14.5 million loss attributable to shareholders. Its total revenue for 2015 surged to $25.6 million from $13.6 million the year before. Commenting on the results, Sadeq said: "In the coming periods, we will look to build upon the momentum that has been established by the bank to date and further refine and oversee the implementation of its strategy. We look forward to working with the management team and have every confidence that together we can create an even more competitive and diversified financial institution capable of delivering sound opportunities and value for all stakeholders." Acting CEO Ahmed Al Rayes said: "The foundations that Ibdar has set and the progress we have made over the past years, despite challenging market conditions, is the result of the support and guidance of our shareholders and the continued commitment and focus of our employees." The bank has $300 million in paid up capital, an asset base in excess of $480 million as at end of December 2015 - and significant funds for deployment, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Egypt is set to secure $100 million funding from Kuwait government for the speedy development of its key infrastructure projects in the Sinai region of the Arab nation, said a report. The Egyptian government will sign an agreement in this regard with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development by the end of this month, reported Amwal Alghad. The key infrastructure projects include five water desalination stations and several other road projects in Oyun Musa in Sharm El Sheikh besides upgradation of a fishing port in El Tor city. Arab funds are contributing around $6 billion to the development of Sinai Peninsula, it added. Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE's national rail network, said it has won top honours at the Middle East Economic Digests (Meeds) 2016 Quality Awards for Projects for the Stage One of the project. The award winners were announced at a grand ceremony which marked the end of the 2016 Meed Construction Leadership Summit, an executive-level event held in Dubai, UAE, which brought together delegates in the Gulfs construction industry. Projects from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were shortlisted for the awards, with a total of 50 attaining the highest honours across multiple categories, for being the highest quality projects in the Middle East, said the company in its statement. The Meed Quality Awards for Projects, whose rigorous judging criteria factors in project socio-economic and environmental impact, coupled with design, engineering and significant construction milestones, recognises companies for their pioneering excellence in project execution across the region, it stated. Etihad Rail is honoured to receive the GCC Rail Project of the Year Award for 2016, in an awards programme that recognises some of the regions and the worlds greatest success stories in construction and industrial performance, remarked its CEO Faris Saif Al Mazrouei. "Since beginning construction, Etihad Rail remains committed to ensuring the highest design and construction standards as part of an iconic project that will revolutionise the UAEs logistics and transportation infrastructure," he stated. The award-winning project is being delivered in three key stages of development, with the 1,200-km-long rail network forming part of the vital GCC railway network that links the UAE to Saudi Arabia through Ghweifat in the West and Oman through Al Ain in the East.-TradeArabia News Service Mountain View-Sisban, a joint venture between Saudi-based Sisban Holding and leading developer Mountain View, has launched its giant $3.6-billion luxury residential project in New Cairo, Egypt. The projects general layout will encompass a comprehensive urban community that will meet the requirements of sustainable development in Egypt according to world-class standards and the latest in architectural design, said Sisban, a leading Saudi company with multiple partnerships both in the kingdom and overseas. Dar Al Mimar Architects, in partnership with CallisonRTKL, a major architectural house, will jointly draw the design and layout of the project, which is set to combine innovative design with modern construction. It will be built to world-class standards with all-Egyptian manpower. Set to be developed over an area of 2 sq km, Mountain View iCity is one of the first strategic projects in Egypt to be based on the concept of public-private partnership, said Amr Soliman, the chairman of Egyptian company Mountain View, at the launch event held in the presence of Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development Dr Mostafa Madboly. Senior officials including Ayman Ismail, the chairman of Dar Al Mimar Group, Ali Al Sharif, the president of Saudi Arabias Sisban Holding Group, and a number of business figures from the two countries attended. As per the deal, Mountain View-Sisban will own 60 per cent, with the remainder belonging to the Egyptian Ministry of Housing. The project is part of Egypts drive to push ahead with real estate development and investment by providing modern, affordable housing. The project comprises a series of concepts implemented using smart technologies mainly adopting the iVilla concept, which has inspired architectural design and innovative use of space as its hallmarks. With areas ranging from 100 to 500 sq m, iVillas will be designed like villas but sized like apartments, each with its own entrance, green space and parking, it stated. Ali Al Sharif, the president of Sisban, said: "The Mountain View iCity project would add more value to the Egyptian national economy, especially given that it sparks off the beginning of a complementary partnership with the Egyptian government, not to mention the many opportunities it has to offer to Egyptians, which range from numerous job opportunities to innovative business spaces to various choices of upscale housing." "We are confident that Egypt is a promising market with huge potential for investment. There is the benefit of the possibility for foreign investors to own property in Egypt, which has Saudi, Arab, and global investors looking forward to confidently place our investments there and consolidate our presence in our second home," stated Al Sharif. Amr Soliman, the chairman of Mountain View, said: "We celebrate with you today the launch of the Mountain View iCity project, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of Mountain Views presence in the Egyptian market, during which the company has developed 10 million sq m, and built and delivered 10 residential communities to more than 10,000 clients." The Mountain View iCity, he stated, will be built according to world-class environmental standards, with smart solutions to separate human traffic from automotive traffic. "One of the concepts to be used in this regard is the No Car Zone, in which pedestrians can enjoy an automobile-free space," he added.-TradeArabia News Service An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the Shiite power to strike a deal. "At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday. Iran's top haj official Saeed Ohadi said there was still room to find agreement until Sunday night, according to Tehran's official IRNA news agency. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the impasse. "We witnessed a lack of seriousness by the Iranian side in dealing with the issue. It is yet another attempt by them to politicise the haj," Abdulmohsen Alyas, an under-secretary at Riyadh's Information Ministry, told Reuters. Saudi Arabia's haj ministry said it had met a number of Iran's concerns, offering electronic visas, a deal on air transport for pilgrims and diplomatic representation by Switzerland for Iranians in Makkah.-Reuters Fighting between Islamic State (IS) and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed dozens of people in the last two days, as IS militants keep up an offensive that has led to rapid territorial gains, a monitoring group said on Saturday. Fighters from the militant group entered the rebel-held town of Marea early on Saturday, using at least two car bombs in the assault, and clashes continued later in the day, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An advance by the jihadists on Friday that cut Marea off from another key insurgent-held town, Azaz, was their biggest territorial gain in the northern province of Aleppo for two years, the Observatory said. Islamic State has been battling rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) since late last year, but clashes have intensified in recent weeks. The fighting in the past two days has killed at least 27 civilians as well as 41 combatants, the Observatory said. A U.S.-led coalition carried out air raids on IS positions in one of the villages that the jihadists had captured from rebels, it said. IS on Friday encroached from the east on a narrow area of rebel control connected to the Turkish border, through which the rebels have received support. To the west of that rebel-held area is territory under the control of the Kurdish YPG militia and its allies, who have been fighting the rebels but also separately battling Islamic State. One of the Kurdish-allied groups took over a village west of Marea on Saturday, apparently in a rare agreement with the FSA rebels, the Observatory reported. The move could bring the Kurdish-allied group, Jaysh al-Thuwwar, into confrontation with IS in the area. It also further erodes rebel control there from the west. The United States is backing the YPG and its allies in an offensive against IS in the northern countryside of neighbouring Raqqa province, which is home to the group's de facto capital, Raqqa city. Washington has also supported FSA factions.-Reuters 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. 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 US has identified the area north of Syria's former commercial hub Aleppo as a priority in the fight against the Islamic State group (IS). 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 the Turkish border. A Syrian NGO operating in the area said the latest assault by IS had displaced 20,000 more people towards Turkey. The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organisation present in Azaz, said the IS advance had caused more than half the residents of a camp for 8,500 internally displaced persons to move elsewhere. It said people were "terrified for their lives". Around 160,000 people are trapped in Azaz, unable to flee while Turkey's border remains closed and exit roads have been blocked, the IRC 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. Their advances on Friday encroach on a corridor of rebel-held territory that leads from the Turkish border down towards Aleppo city, which is divided between insurgent and government control. ALEPPO BATTLEGROUND Aleppo's northern countryside is the theatre of several separate battles between multiple warring sides in the five-year-old conflict, which has drawn in 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. 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 the city and areas to its northwest. Separately, al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Nusra Front and other insurgents late on Thursday seized control of a town south of Damascus from government forces, the Observatory said. Nusra Front said in a statement it had captured Deir Khabiyeh, which is near an area where government forces and allies have sought to tighten control of a road leading south. Last week, government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies captured territory in Damascus's eastern suburbs from insurgents. Nusra Front and Islamic State are rivals in the Syrian conflict and have been fighting each other, including near Damascus, in separate battles from those between insurgents and government forces. Reuters Construction firm Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has secured a contract to construct a new passenger terminal at the Maldives international airport which is being built at a cost of $800 million, the Maldives government said. SBG will lead the construction of the new terminal on a 78,000-sq-m area of reclaimed land in the southwest of the airport island in Maldives, with 12 jetties and six aero-bridges. The white sand beaches and turquoise waters of the Maldives attracted 1.2 million tourists in 2015. Maldives government officials declined to comment on the size of the contract with SBG. Maldives is seeking funding for its ambitious project from the China Exim Bank, the Kuwait Fund, Abu Dhabi Fund, and the Saudi Fund for Development, the government said in a statement. Officials from SBG could not be reached immediately for comment. It is the first contract in Maldives for the Middle East's largest construction firm, which Saudi Arabia had barred from bidding for new state contracts after one of its cranes fell in Makkah's Grand Mosque during a storm last September, killing 107 people. This ban was lifted three weeks ago. SBG last week secured a SR2.5 billion ($667 million) loan from local banks to ease its financial pressures. The construction firm has been hit by a general slump in construction after the government cut spending in response to low oil prices.-Reuters The investigations revealed that Sherif abused his power in a number of different public posts, making EGP 300 million in the process; the verdict can be appealed Cairo criminal court sentenced on Saturday former speaker of the Shura Council Safwat El-Sherif to five years in prison on corruption charges during his long years of serving in government in the Mubarak era. The court found El-Sherif guilty of using his public post for personal gain, racking over EGP 300 million. El-Sherif's two sons also received jail time in the same case. Ehab was sentenced to five years, while Ashraf, who was tried in absentia, was sentenced to ten years. Investigations showed that El-Sherif made his fortune by abusing his powers in his various public posts as the head of Egypt's State Information Body, the head of Egyptian Radio and Television Union, information minister and as speaker of Egypt's upper house in parliament. The trio were also fined a total of EGP 209 million. The sentences can still be appealed. Many other Mubarak-era figures have been cleared of corruption charges in recent years. Mubarak is being retried on charges of complicity in killing protesters during the 25 January 2011 revolution. His next court session is set for 3 November. In 2012, a court also acquitted El-Sherif and other high-level colleagues of complicity in mobilising a mob to carry out a deadly attacks on anti-Mubarak protesters during the 18-day uprising in 2011 that toppled the former autocrat. Search Keywords: Short link: From buildings to everyday furniture, modern Scandinavian design is well-loved for its elegant simplicity, functionality and egalitarian appeal (the furniture giant IKEA comes to mind, despite its iffy reputation on many fronts). This small modern cabin, located in the region of Jutland, Denmark, embodies a lot of these admirable Scandinavian design characteristics, making the most of what's there and creating a lovely interior that still feels roomy, despite its tiny footprint of 24 square meters (258 square feet). Designed and built by architect Simon Steffensen over a period of eight months, the 19.8-foot by 11-foot structure is used as a summer home and is situated on a rural parcel of land near other cottages. Steffensen tells us that he built the cabin as an experiment in "simple living" and to show others that "small can be good." Simon SteffensenThanks to a fully glazed wall, the interior is quite luminous. The open plan concept means that everything happens more or less in one space, except for the bathroom, which is enclosed. The oak flooring, which continues up the rear wall, gives the otherwise minimalist space a warm, natural feel that's characteristic of Scandinavian spaces. Some recycled materials were used here, most notably some of the wood employed is reclaimed, while the door to the bathroom used to be a door to a cold room. A few of the functions are grouped together in a pod-like form at one end of the home, consisting of kitchen, bath and bed. Here, the kitchenette is small, but functional enough for those who like to prepare light meals. Simon Steffensen Going up to the sleeping loft, we see what looks like an interesting take on the ladder -- alternating treads of some sort -- though it might be more reassuring to see some kind of hand holds somewhere. In any case, it's an alternative to the usual loft ladder that piques our curiosity. Simon Steffensen The loft seems spacious; despite the gabled roof, it looks like there's still enough headspace for most people. Simon Steffensen Underneath the loft lies the bathroom. Simon Steffensen Simon Steffensen At the other end of the cabin, the sitting area or guest bed also overlaps that of the dining area -- which probably doubles as the workspace area too. Simon Steffensen The exterior features a large overhang that acts as a gutter and also shades the glazed wall, regulating the interior temperature while also creating an outdoor terrace. To the side, there is a sheltered porch -- an intermediary entry area that looks like an inviting spot to sit down and take off one's boots before going in. Simon Steffensen Minimalist but tasteful, this modern Danish cabin shows that tiny houses -- be they with or without wheels -- do not have to look like a caricature of a country home, and can be modern and functional to boot. This cabin is currently on sale for around USD $74,000; for more information, visit Nybolig and see the PDF. [Via: Small House Bliss] The spokesperson of the Coptic Church on the recent sectarian attacks against Christians says perpetrators must be brought to justice The Church rejects informal assemblies as a way to resolve sectarian issues since they harm and abort [legal efforts], Bishop Macarius of Minya and Abu Qirqas said in reference to non-governmental efforts to end tensions in the wake of last Friday's sectarian attack against Christians in Minya, Upper Egypt. "The true perpetrators must be arrested, punished for their crimes to set an example for others," Macarius said in an interview on Dream channel on Friday. The Bishop was referring to attempts by some religious figures to put an end to the saga that shocked the countrty by holding inter-faith community meetings. Earlier on Friday, Egypt's Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, announced that Bishop Macarius was delegated to speak on behalf of the church on the Minya case. On Saturday, the interior ministry said 14 people have been arrested so far on suspicion of involvement in the sectarian mob attack in El-Karm village, which saw several Christian homes burned and an elderly woman the public stripped in public. "A group of 300 people carrying various types of weapons went at 8pm on 20 May to attack seven houses owned by Christians, burgling some of them and torching others," a statement by the Coptic Orthodox Church read. The events were precipitated by rumours of a love affair between a Christian man and a Muslim woman; the mob stripped naked the man's mother, an elderly woman, according to the statement. Bishop Macarius said reconciliatory assemblies can be held once justice is achieved. Reconciliation assemblies are regularly held by religious and community leaders to resolve sectarian tensions among Muslims and Christians in an extra-legal manner in Egyptian villages. He added that a public official must be questioned for responsibilty in the attack but did not name names. Also on Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for the arrest of those involved in the mob attack and urged the government to take "necessary measures to preserve public order, protect [citizens] and property within the rule of law." He also issued directives to the provincial governor to restore all damaged buildings in coordination with the armed forces within one month and at the government's expense. Search Keywords: Short link: An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shia cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shia republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday. Iran's top haj official Saeed Ohadi said there was still room to find agreement until Sunday night, according to Tehran's official IRNA news agency. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the impasse. "We witnessed a lack of seriousness by the Iranian side in dealing with the issue. It is yet another attempt by them to politicise the haj," Abdulmohsen Alyas, an under-secretary at Riyadh's Information Ministry, told Reuters. After an earlier attempt to agree on haj terms failed this month, Iran's leadership blamed Saudi Arabia for the delay, saying it was "very concerned" for the safety of Iranian pilgrims after last year's disaster. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said over 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. Saudi Arabia's haj ministry said it had met a number of Iran's concerns, offering electronic visas, a deal on air transport for pilgrims and diplomatic representation by Switzerland for Iranians in Mecca. Search Keywords: Short link: SD Sharma Chandigarh, May 28 The pristine grandeur of the ever vibrant Lesothos traditional culture came alive on the stage as accomplished artistes of Likakapa Cultural Ensemble from Africa presented a bonanza of folk music and dances at Randhawa Auditorium of Punjab Kala Bhawan here today. The captivating programme was organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in association with UT Department of Cultural Affairs and the Punjab Arts Council. The meticulously planned event featured 10 artistes, equally skilled musicians, dancers, actors and avid performers. The traditional music of any region or country is emotional, passionate and forthright and the Likakapa repertoire of songs eloquently represented the aspirations, sorrows, struggles, joys and ethos of the Lesotho people. The audience relished and clapped with the artistes in sync, apparently through the universal language of music. The guest of honour, Bothata Tsikoane, High Commissioner, the Kingdom of Lesotho, said, Our ancestors had given us eternal values and a rich tradition. We have endeavoured to preserve and transfer it especially to our younger generation, who are distancing themselves due to prevailing trends of alien cultures. Chief guest Anurag Aggarwal, IAS, and Tsikoane honoured the artistes. The ICCRs Regional Director Nalini Singhal expressed gratitude to Bothata Tsikoane and the Likakapa troupe for a memorable performance. Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 28 Want to light a cigarette at a public place, think twice. The Delhi police have decided to strictly enforce a fine of Rs 200 on smoking in public places. As per the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, smoking in public places is banned and those who violate the law will be slapped a fine of Rs 200. We will henceforth fine those who will smoke in public spaces in the national Capital under the COTPA because when you are smoking in a public space, you are not only endangering your own life, but also other peoples lives, said Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) P Kamraj, who released the COTPA guideline booklet at an event here today. The police collaborated with two city-based NGOs, Sambandh Health Foundation and Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV), to save the future generations of Delhi from ill-effects of tobacco. The campaign is supported by Max India Foundation. The police will take strict action on the COTPA-2003. Police force itself suffers from usage of tobacco. We will educate owners of public places such as educational institutes, malls, coffee shops, restaurants, bars and other organisations about the law. Penalties will be imposed as per the law where there is non-compliance. The Police Department is committed to enforcing the COTPA and making the national Capital a model city, said Kamraj. Dr Harit Chaturvedi, VoTV patron and Chairman of Max Oncology, said, I am seeing younger and younger patients coming to my OPD with tobacco-related cancers. Support from the police is commendable. Such initiatives are bound to bring the prevalence down. Every year, tobacco takes lives of 10 lakh Indians. In Delhi alone, there are 30 lakh tobacco users. Nearly 10,000 deaths are due to tobacco consumption in Delhi every year, said Chaturvedi. COTPA also prohibits all forms of advertising and promotion of tobacco products; sale to or by minors and within 100 yards of educational institutes. It also requires pictorial warnings on every tobacco product and India has recently increased these to 85 per cent of pack area. The India Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) a school-based survey of students in Class VIII, IX and X conducted in 2009, highlighted 14.6 per cent of students at present use any form of tobacco. One in five student lives in homes where others smoke, one-fourth of the students have at least one parent who smokes. Since there is no safe level of tobacco usage, consumer safety from tobacco products is best served by preventing its usage altogether. As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2010), 27.5 crore Indians consume tobacco in one form or another, it is one of the largest consumer markets. Tobacco is the major cause of cancer and cardio vascular diseases and respiratory diseases. A recent WHO study showed that tobacco-related health-care costs exceed Rs one lakh crore every year. Around 10 lakh tobacco-related deaths happen in India per year. Tobacco affects the whole family Tobacco users/smokers must remember that the brunt is bore not just by them, but the entire family, a realisation perhaps that made many such as 23-year-old Kanav Sarin to quit smoking. I started smoking when I was 20 years old under the influence of friends. Gradually, I became addicted smoking 40 cigarettes a day. Last year on September 29, I entered office badly sweating and with pain on the left side of my chest. It was a heart attack and I had almost 100 per cent blockage. I was rushed to a hospital. Before the angioplasty I told the doctor I dont want to die. I was in the ICU for five days and seeing my family in pain outside I decided to quit smoking, said Kanav, now 23 years old, while adding that he no longer feels the urge to resume smoking. According to oncology expert, Dr Harit Chaturvedi, one can quit tobacco use in two-three weeks. Dr Chaturvedi is hopeful that a complete ban on tobacco products will go a long way in making the country tobacco-free at a time when India is home to five million children who are addicted to tobacco. Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 27 Three militants and an Army jawan were killed in two separate gunfights in Kashmir on Friday. An Army jawan and a suspected militant were killed in an ongoing gunfight close to the Line of Control in north Kashmirs Nowgam sector, taking the death toll in the operation that was launched on Thursday to five. Three unidentified militants were killed on Thursday after Army foiled an infiltration bid. Defence sources said that a soldier and a militant were killed in a early morning gunfight in the dense forests of Tutmar Gali in Nowgam sector, 120 km northwest of Srinagar. The operation is still underway, they said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The slain soldier has been identified as Havildar Hangpang Dada, 35 of Tirap, Arunachal Pradesh. The militant group was intercepted close to Anti Insurgency Obstacle System (AIOS) on Thursday morning after the Army noticed a suspicious movement. As the militants were challenged, they opened fired triggering a gun battle. The Army maintained a tight cordon around the forest area for the whole night to ensure that the militants dont manage to escape from the area. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) WATCH: Security forces carry out explosion in house where terrorists were believed to be holed up in Baramulla(J&K)https://t.co/IFwK6YJpiD ANI (@ANI_news) May 27, 2016 Two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in a separate gunfight in north Kashmirs Kunzer area in Baramulla district. The gunfight erupted in Kanchipora Tangmarg, 35 km from Srinagar, when security forces launched a search operation in the area this morning. Police identified the two dead Hizb militants as Mehraj Bhat of Andragam Pattan and Aadil of Brath Sopore. A policeman and Army jawan also sustained minor injuries in the gunfight. Forces used explosives to blast where the militants were hiding. Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 27 Both Houses witnessed noisy scenes and ruckus today as the National Conference (NC), Congress and others staged a walkout, demanding the report of the probe into civilian killings in Handwara last month and shortage of ration in the state. Soon after the House assembled, members of the NC and Congress raised the issue of Handwara killings, holding placards saying State terrorism hai hai. Other members, including CPM member MY Tarigami, Engineer Rashid and Hakeem Mohammad Yasin joined the members and sought the governments report on the killings in Handwara. They raised slogans like qatilon ko pesh karo as they continued their protest. They entered the well of the House even though Speaker Kavinder Gupta said the inquiry report on Handwara killings would be received within two days. Rashid was the first to enter the well of the House, followed by Congress members. They also raised slogans like Bhashan nahin ration do. Soon afterwards, NC members led by Ali Mohammad Sagar entered the well of the House. The ruckus continued for more than 45 minutes till Question Hour was scheduled to conclude. The security staff of the Assembly had tough time in preventing the agitating members from creating any trouble in the House. Amid uproarious scenes, Question Hour continued normally even though some questions of opposition members could not be taken up. In the Upper House, as soon as proceedings were set to begin, NC members started raising slogans against the coalition government and wanted a debate on the killing of five civilians in Handwara. The Congress sought a debate on ration shortage. NC lawmakers displayed posters of a Handwara youth killed in firing and raised slogans against the government. The Chairman of the House, Haji Anayat Ali, requested the members to sit down and allow Question Hour to be held. Despite the uproar, Question Hour continued in the House. As the ruckus continued, minister Sajad Gani Lone reminded the NC of the 2010 killings and told its members that their hands are red with blood. Opposition members staged a walkout, but later returned during a discussion on the motion of thanks on the Governors address. Nonika Singh As long as his wife Jennifer Kapoor lived, she kept a hawks eye on his diet and Shashi Kapoors lunch invariably would be as frugal as a small bowl of dahi and an orange. He made Simi Garewal comfortable in her much-hyped nude scenes in the film Siddhartha. He taught Shabana Azmi who was once his fan a thing or two about technical aspects of facing the camera. His elder bother Raj Kapoor, who otherwise treated him like a son, was so peeved with his frantic shooting schedules that he called him a taxi which could be rent out to different people for different hours. Brimming with anecdotes, this and much more unveils in Aseem Chhabras extensively well-researched book Shashi Kapoor: The Householder and The Star. Pray, of all the actors why Shashi? Especially if one considers that the actor was never really a superstar and is today remembered for movies like Deewar in which others like Big B walked away with accolades. However, Aseem (in Chandigarh to release his book at the invitation of Adab Foundation) reminds that the most iconic dialogue in Deewar, Mere pass maa hai actually came from Shashi. He further qualifies, He may not have been a superstar but he always complemented them. Of course, Aseems reasons for writing a book on him go way beyond his Bollywood innings. Today we might be going ga ga over Priyanka Chopras foreign exploits, but Shashi was the first crossover actor who acted in as many as six Merchant Ivory productions including Heat and Dust. And its almost with a hint of pride, if not exactly a boast, that Aseem shares how the film written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala competed in the Cannes Film Festival way back in 1983. No doubt, Aseem has approached his subject, who by the way he never met for an interview, with a fair degree of fondness. Yet, the journalist in him ensured an objective, impartial if not a dispassionate perspective. Indeed, had he been able to interview Shashi first person and first hand, the book would have been stronger but also perhaps he admits I would have gushed more. By the time Aseem began writing the biography Shashi was (is) in no condition to interact. Thus the New York-based writer had little choice but to rely on secondary sources. On hindsight, he agrees it has been a blessing for it allowed him the requisite distance to assess the man and the actor. He simply interviewed as many people associated with the Dadasaheb Phalke recipient as he could. Sifting truth from exaggeration wasnt difficult. Initially the daunting task washow to overcome the journalistic trait of confining oneself to word limit of no more than a 1000 words. But 39,000 words just flowed like a torrent at one go. The other challenge of sourcing photographs was more onerous. While some like Shyam Benegal who directed Shashi in the actors home productions such as Junoon and Kalyug were more than generous, other makers claimed to have lost them all. Aseem laments the bad habit of not archiving and also forgetting far too easily. For those suffering from memory lapses, this biography is a ready reckoner on how Shashi contributed immensely to theatre and cinema. As for those who can only connect him through Ranbir Kapoor, this is Aseems way of telling them here is a star that may not have moved heaven and earth but certainly moved back and forth between different streams of cinema with felicity and often with aplomb. nonikasingh@tribunemail.com No skeletons Aseem was not tempted to sensationalise the book with saucy details. For one he is not that kind of a journalist who thrives on gossip. More importantly he says, Shashi is 78. I am not here to malign him only to celebrate his stellar innings. The brighter side In case all you can remember Shashi Kapoor is in eminently forgettable films like Chor Machaye Shor, the critic Aseem harks back to Junoon and Kalyug and gives him full marks in both. Mohit Khanna Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 27 The visit of Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh to attend a function at the United Cycle Parts and Manufacturers Association (UCMPA) office on Gill Road drew flak from the rival camp of the cycle parts manufacturers association. Jaswinder Singh Thukral, president of the Small Scale Industries, Janata Nagar, accused the UCPMA for wasting the money of the association members. What has the agricultural minister to do with the problems of the industry? How could he help in resolving the issues facing the industry? It was a criminal wastage of money. In order to please some politicians, so much of money was spent. It is not at all justified, asked Jaswinder Singh. There was a mixed reaction from the industry over the ministers visit. Even during the programme, some cycle parts manufacturers were seen murmuring over the issue of inviting the minister. Noted industrialist KK Seth, who was raising the concern of the cycle industry before the minister on the issue of mandatory implementation of reflector system by the Road Safety Committee, was interrupted by Radha Mohan Singh. KK Seth was explaining that the specific reflectors had to be imported from other countries and it would cost them a lot of money and time. The move will cause a huge loss to the cycle industry. The office-bearer and cycles parts manufactures present at the meeting hall were surprised at the ministers sudden interruption. Radha Mohan Singh asked KK Seth to handover the documents. He said he would talk to the minister concerned, so the issue could be resolved. Another industrialist said that tall claims had previously been made by the minister but the request letters of industrialists had been thrown into dustbins. On this, Radha Mohan Singh found an apt opportunity to target the previous Congress government. The minister said the previous governments ministers might have thrown their demand charters into the dustbin but the Modi government would resolve all their issues with utmost sincerity. He was quick to add that the industrialists should rise above the petty issue and think about the nation. Cycle manufacturers flay Deputy CM; Radha Mohan talks in defence The Union Minister came in defence of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal when a former office-bearer of the UCMPA condemned the state governments move of inviting Chinese companies to set up their plants at the Cycle Valley project. Manmohan Singh Ubhi, former officer-bearer of UCPMA, stood up while Radha Mohan Singh was highlighting the achievements made by the NDA government in the past two years. Ubhi lambasted the move of Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal for inviting the Chinese to set up manufacturing plants here. While using a chaste Hindi anecdote, Radha Mohan Singh defended his alliance partner Sukhbir Singh Badal. He said whatever was being done was for the betterment of the state. Interestingly, Radha Mohan Singh backed Chinese investment while another BJP leader appreciated Modi for stopping Chinese imports when he was the CM of Gujarat. Prominent among those present on the occasion were UCPMA president Charanjit Singh Vishvkarma, Chairman of FICO Gurmeet Singh Kular, former chairman of the CII SS Bhogal, noted industrialist Avtar Singh Bhogal and general secretary of ALMTI Manjit Singh Matharoo. Sunni politicians in Iraq condemned on Saturday a visit by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani to Shia paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army to drive Islamic State militants out of the Sunni city of Falluja. Three lawmakers from the province of Anbar told Reuters the visit by Iran's al-Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt on Baghdad's assertions that the offensive is an Iraqi-led effort to defeat Islamic State, and not to settle scores with the Sunnis. Falluja, which lies about 50 kilometers (32 miles) west of Baghdad, is a bastion of the insurgency that fought the US occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led authorities that replaced former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In recent days, Iranian media published pictures of what they said was a visit by Soleimani to Falluja and a meeting he held with the leaders of the Iraqi coalition of Shi'ite militias known as Popular Mobilization, or Hashid Shaabi. It is the second time Soleimani has appeared in Iraqi conflict zones. About a year ago, witnesses said he was present when Popular Mobilization fighters ousted Islamic State militants from cities north of the capital. An Iraqi government spokesman did not confirm Soleimani's visit and stressed that Iranian advisors are present in Iraq in order to assist in the war on Islamic State (IS group) in the same capacity as those of the US-led anti-IS group coalition. Member of parliament (MP) Hamid al-Mutlaq rejected that, however. "We are Iraqis and not Iranians," he said. "Would Turkish or Saudi advisers be welcomed to assist in the battle?" he added, drawing a parallel between the three regional powers bordering Iraq -- mainly-Sunni Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Shia Iran. "Soleimani's presence is suspicious and a cause for concern; he is absolutely not welcome in the area," said Falluja parliamentarian Salim Muttar al-Issawi. "I believe that the presence of such an official from the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guard could have sectarian implications," said another MP from the city, Liqaa Wardi. Falluja was the first city captured by Islamic State in Iraq in January 2014, and is the second-largest still held by the militants after Mosul, their de-facto capital. The Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, a hardline political organization formed after Saddam's ouster to represent Sunnis, rejected the participation of the Shi'ite militias in the fighting in Falluja. "The militias ... didn't come to liberate areas, as they claim, but to carry out their sectarian goals with direct guidance from Iran," it said in a statement on Friday. Meanwhile, rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia traded accusations over Soleimani's role in Iraq. "The presence of Iran's military advisers in Iraq under the command of General Qassem Soleimani is at the request of the country's legitimate government in order to fight terrorists," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said, according to the Fars news agency. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir was quoted as telling Russia's RT channel Soleimani's presence in Iraq was "very negative." Search Keywords: Short link: Tribune News Service Guwahati, May 27 Prime Minister Narendra Modi was today confronted with demands in unison from the bordering Northeastern states for urgent steps from the BJP-led NDA government in the Centre to bring about major improvement in road, rail, internet connectivity and power supply scenario in the region in tune with the Centres Act East Policy. The PM was in Shillong to address the plenary session of the 44-year-old North Eastern Council (NEC) at its headquarters. All Chief Ministers and Governors of the eight Northeastern states, including Sikkim, attended the meeting that was chaired by the Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitedra Singh. Modi happened to be the first PM to attend a plenary session of the NEC in its over four-decade history. The PM underlined the need for reorienting and upgrading the NEC to the status of a resource centre that would enable states of the region and the Centre in planning and implementing development projects in the region. He pointed out that the Centre earmarked Rs 30,000 crore for the region in the Budget to show its commitment to the regions development. He mentioned about on-going highways and railways projects, digital connectivity projects in the region. All leaders demanded a more active role of the NEC which, they said, should get better financial support from the Centre, to open up the region to the Southeast Asian countries through highways and railways. Tripura Governor Lt Gen Nirbhoy Sharma (retd) said his state, which was surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh, suffered a lot because of poor road and rail connectivity through Southern Assams plains and hills of Dima Hasao in Assam. He called for efforts from the Centre to enable people of Tripura embark on the Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka without having to carry passport and visa. Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim demanded improvement in air connectivity and improved facilities at Imphal and Agartala airports. Sikkim demanded special fund for maintenance of its 4000-km border roads, which are prone to landslides. Demand for improved power supply, better digital connectivity, better healthcare and education institutions and setting up of cold storage chains were common demand from all Northeastern states. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal emphasised on tapping the biodiversity potential of the state and the region and focused skill development efforts for the regions youth. Hyderabad, May 28 The Hyderabad Central University saw protests yet again on Saturday after students railed against university authorities for having cleared protesters tents on the campus. Students blocked the universitys main gates on Saturday accusing the university authorities of having forcibly cleared the tents. D Prashant, who is leading the Joint Action Committees (JAC) protest over the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, said HCU Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile who was accused of having spurred Vemula to commit suicide said: Yesterday Dr BR Ambedkar's portraits have been taken down and tents also was removed by force under instructions of the vice chancellor. We demand Appa Rao must be immediately sacked. We will continue to agitate until justice is delivered". JAC claimed the university had displayed an order by Appa Rao on May 24 giving students 48 hours to clear the unauthorised tents and structures, named 'Velivada' (Dalit ghetto), from a shopping complex on the campus. JAC claimed the order was a threat to the students. "We have blocked the main gate. We will not let the university function if they deny our constitutional right to protest. Varsity authorities have removed tents at 'Velivada' and banners bearing Ambedkar's quotes and images. We will not end this blockade...we will not tolerate this insult to 'Justice For Rohit Struggle'," another JAC member Arpita said. The JAC claimed on Tuesday alleged that the students were being evicted from hostels without any justification, and the graffiti and posters put up by them were being removed in the name of maintenance and renovation. After they were suspended by the university, Vemula and four other students had set up the 'Velivada' near the university's shopping area, which they used as the site of their protest. Vemula committed suicide on January 17, spurring massive protests in the university as well as outside. After his death, students set up tents and installed a 'Rohith Smaraka Stupa' at the shopping complex. The university has been witnessing sporadic protests since Vemulas death demanding Raos dismissal. PTI Kathmandu: India and Nepal are planning to set up an energy bank so that they can help each other overcome power shortage. The proposal was discussed at a meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Standing Committee, a bilateral technical mechanism on water resources, power and irrigation projects, on Friday. As per the energy bank concept, Nepal would export power to India in summer and import power from India in winter when output drops sharply resulting in crippling power shortages. PTI Islamabad, May 28 The father of Pakistan's nuclear programme Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan today said the country could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia ul Haq "opposed the move". He was addressing a gathering on the anniversary of first nuclear tests, which were carried out under his supervision in 1998. "We were able and we had a plan to launch nuclear test in 1984. But President General Zia ul Haq had opposed the move," said Khan. He said General Zia, who ruled Pakistan from 1979 to 1988, opposed the nuclear testing as he believed that the world would intervene militarily. Khan also said Pakistan has the ability to target Indian capital Delhi from Kahuta near Rawalpindi in five minutes. Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for proliferation and live a life of semi house arrest. He regretted the treatment and said Pakistan would never have achieved the feat of becoming first Muslim nuclear country without his "services". "We are facing the worst against our services to the country's nuclear program," he said referring to the humiliation he suffered. PTI Matilda Battersby Musicians often refer to themselves as artistes but increasingly famous rockers want to be recognised for their aesthetic talents rather than just their recorded ones. You may or may not know that the Rolling Stones Ronnie Wood is a prolific painter. Having trained at Ealing College of Art, the UK, he has combined art and music throughout his career and can regularly be found sharing photos of his work on social media, most recently tweeting a tender sketch of his wife and unborn twins. An exhibition of his work is about to open at Castle Fine Art, South Molton Street gallery with prices starting at 2,250 (more than Rs 2lakh). Trouble is, the exhibition, called Private Collection, is being billed as a chance for fans to get their hands on a piece of rock n roll history. Which is all very well, but compounds the fact that Ronnies paintings are attractive chunks of Rolling Stones memorabilia rather than a chance to invest in the brightest and most exciting contemporary artist on the block. A couple of years ago, one of Ronnies paintings was auctioned by Christies for 300,000 (around Rs 2.9 crore) but his rocker colleague Bob Geldof had this to say about his talents at the time: Personally, I think Ronnies work is terrible, the Boomtown Rat told the Daily Mail. Rock stars like Ronnie should stick to music, not painting. There are quite a few famous rock stars who do art, but I think Ronnie, Bob Dylan and all the rest they are all useless. Dylan, despite being among the 20th centurys most celebrated and successful musicians, whose lyrical prowess has earned him space in poetry books and academic studies, has had a hard time from the critics when it comes to his paintings. The late, and notoriously spiky, art critic Brian Sewell called Dylans Skip Sharpe portrait Contemptible. Just rubbish and lambasted the National Portrait Gallery for exhibiting it in its Dylan Face Value show in 2013. Yet when Dylans artistic efforts were first unveiled to the world (reluctantly, as legend would have it) around the turn of the century he was compared to Matisse, Edward Hopper and the German Expressionists. However, the more he has exhibited his oeuvre the nastier the comments from critics have become. Deserved or not this is a predicament that has faced and possibly put off many famous or successful would-be artists. Never mind that the YBAs became pseudo rock stars in their own right, if actual rock stars want to take a bash at proper art theyd better be technically and undeniably brilliant or theyll be fed to the lions. The roll call of musicians who went to art school reads like the credits of Top Of The Pops in its heyday: Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Ray Davies, Freddie Mercury, Jimmy Page, Brian Ferry, Pete Townshend, Jarvis Cockerthe list goes on. The artists who appear to be taken seriously are the ones who keep the boundaries between what theyre creating and how they want the public to perceive them. PJ Harvey has never come out and said Hey, look at me Im an artist too but has constantly supported her musical endeavours with drawings, paintings and poetry. Patti Smith has only recently begun exhibiting her photography (a show of her work opened at the Robert Miller Gallery in New York last month) but she has been snapping away for more than 35 years and her drawings have previously graced album covers. There is, after all, no reason why polymaths shouldnt be able to flit adeptly between the creative disciplines. Except, perhaps that it changes the public persona they have spent so long crafting. Sewells green ink decried Paul McCartneys artistic efforts as childish rubbish and who knows what the critic would have made of fellow Beatle John Lennons spidery sketches, or his conceptual collaborations with wife Yoko Ono. Does the art industry worry that famous musicians-turned-artists invite such fierce criticism? Cassie Beadle, curator of Pete Dohertys blood painting exhibition at the Cob Gallery in London, thinks it does. When working with Doherty, we were aware of the kind of criticism we would face but we didnt want to ignore the elephant in roomIts certainly a concern that the fame of the artist can overshadow any discernible talent, she says. But whatever those concerns are theres no denying it makes commercial sense for galleries in the short term. An artists fame and the popularity of their output, even if the artistic credibility is lacking, is certainly directly correlated, Beadle says. And with the music industry struggling to stay commercially viable perhaps its no wonder musicians are flogging their artwork for tens of thousands. At least we wont be expecting a retrospective of Geldofs work any time soon. I have tried painting and drawing myself, but I have no talent for it. I really dont know a rock musician who has, he says. The Independent Preeti Verma Lal If you are heading to Egypt, pack an extra stomach, please. For the food in the country is so scrumptious and varied that one stomach will never suffice. Koshari. Ful Medames. Kebda. Keshk. Mahshi hamam. Falafel. Asih Merabrah. Hummus. Fetir. Dolma. Kebab 7 kofta. Molokheyya. The names on Egyptian menu card can flummox a new-foodie, but the taste will linger. Do not get surprised if you see a man carrying hundreds of flatbread (roti) on a wooden trellis-like contraption and walking around the bazaars. By the roadside, men sell bread that look like gigantic pretzels and juice sellers carry large samovars on their back filled with hibiscus or tamarind-laced drinks. All stories of Egyptian cuisine begin with kosheri, a mixture of lentils, rice, pasta, and other ingredients served with tomato puree and caramelised onions. Often called Egypts national dish, the best kosheri is served in Cairos historical Abo Tarek restaurant where the meal is concluded with roz bel laban, a sweet rice porridge. Egyptians have been eating bread since times immemorial. Pyramid workers were paid bread and onion as salary. Excavations and dental analysis conclude that ancient Egyptians ate bread made of emmer wheat. Interestingly, bread in Egypt is used more as pocket to stuff things, to scoop food or to ladle soup. The most popular take-away lunch is sandwich not the usual bread sandwich, but pita bread filled with falafel or meat. If you love words and tea, head to the coffee shop in Cairos Khan-e-Khalili market where Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfooz sipped his mint tea and narrated stories. Walking through the waif-thin alleys can be treacherous, but the tea is soulful and the stories about Naguib enthralling. The sweet-toothed travel to Alexandria, the old capital of Egypt which was established by Alexander, the Great, and famous for Alexandria Library and the Lighthouse, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. No one steps out of Alexandria without having large scoops of ice cream in a cone. Or buying crunchy presca (a cross between cookie and chiki) outside the Citadel of Qaitbay. Other desserts include khushaf (dates and dried fruits in water), baked sweet potato, gullash (filo pastry filled with cream or custard and dipped in sugar syrup), kunafa (baked noodles with nuts and double cream). Pope Shenouda III once said, Egypt is not a country we live in but a country that lives within us. Youd agree with the Pope if you ate the Egyptian falafel, flu and kosheri. Some must-eats Aish Merahrah: Flatbread made of maize flour and fenugreek seeds Ful Medames: mashed fava beans Kosheri: Rice, lentils, pasta/macaroni served with caramelised onions and tomato puree Kebda: Fried liver with seasoning Mahshi hamam: Pigeon stuffed with rice and herbs, then roasted or grilled. Basbousa: Sweet cake made of semolina Molokheyya: Bush okra cooked with garlic and coriander sauce Falafel: Deep fried balls of cooked beans THESE are the last few months of the Obama presidency and as each day passes, one wonders what the future will bring to the US after this remarkable man demits office. The crass, almost abusive, language that Donald Trump dishes out day after day may amuse or disgust us but, if the crowd response is anything to go by, middle-class America seems to love it. Few politicians would dare to spew the venom that Trump has been hurling at Hispanics and Muslims. Contrast all this with the persuasive speeches that helped Obama overcome the traditional bias against African Americans and Muslims (he is a bit of both) of the American electorate. Remember his mesmeric, Yes, we can! speech and the crowds rapturous response? Here is a man who actually delivered on what he promised. Obama has had the courage and sagacity to make friendly overtures to two countries that have long haunted the conscience of Americas liberal class: Cuba and Vietnam. After years of silence over Americas dirty role in the Vietnam war and the economic hardship caused to Cuba because of American trade sanctions, Obama flew in with a plane-load of charm to signal that this kind of hate-politics needs closure in a new century. The long-term benefits of these two visits will be revealed over time but surely it is a great way to end a brilliant Presidential reign. If he were not already a Nobel laureate, he would win one now. There is more to this extraordinary man. Recently, while on a state visit to Vietnam, he took time off to try a popular pork-noodle soup in the local market. His companion was the celebrated foodie Anthony Bourdain and the two tucked into this delicious street food at a modest Vietnamese dhaba. Obama pulled out a plastic stool to perch on and happily swigged a bottle of cheap beer as he wielded his chopsticks. The owner was so gobsmacked that she forgot to take a selfie. Similarly, Justin Trudeau, Canadas young PM, won several hearts when he offered a public apology to his Indian compatriots for the century-old Komagata Maru affair. Sikhs across the world have long held this episode against the Canadians and years of anger melted away with that one gesture. When will our politicians learn the importance of a public apology? Judging by the arrogance of the present lot, never. Our own President is visiting China (another historic visit) but I can bet you that no Indian leader has the generosity to step out of (his) partys line and make a heartfelt statement. Just look at what senior the Congress party members have declared about the recent election setbacks: we need a change but we cannot change our leadership! Moreover, our netas need the full regalia of a bumptious security staff in order to feel sufficiently important. Even in Noida, you often see a flag and siren-studded Alto proudly declaring the presence of a simple Gram Pradhan who basks inside. So if a neta-son or daughter decides to visit a place like Khan Market, shops and corridors are suddenly cordoned off by gun-toting security staff. Their menacing presence alerts most shoppers to the VIP within (often someone totally unremarkable and ignorable) and they wait, cursing the upstart under their breath, until the VIP moves on. As for those occasions when the Family and Others go out, roads are cleared for long spells leading to traffic snarls that may take hours to clear up. Nowhere else in the world does one see this ludicrous display of self-importance. Ministers and even the PM in Britain regularly use public transport and the Tube. This is why their public transport system is so good. If our ministers were to travel by the Metro or by a DTC bus, be sure that the service would improve overnight. In Delhi, the most opulent cars belong to the diplomats of the smallest and poorest countries. The sons and daughters of the most insignificant netas and bureaucrats are the ones that demand the most privileges (front-row seats and free passes for example). I feel that the worst aspect of underdevelopment is the need to show off and make a noise about ones status. I can clearly remember a time when even the Prime Minister would be driven home from office with no screeching sirens and gunmen around. If you are old enough to remember a film called Jagriti, it tracks a little boys journey to meet Nehru. In the last scene, he walks into the Prime Ministers residence to fulfil his pledge. Of course, terrorist threats have made this impossible but we also need to be remember that all the security given to assassinated politicians was not able to save them. However, it is good to see that there are some leaders who have realized that distancing themselves from the people has a huge electoral cost. Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerji and Lalu Yadav have followers because they are accessible. Lets see how the new generation of politicians behave when they eventually assume office. Will they have learnt from the mistakes of their ancestors or become more and more arrogant and insensitive? Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 27 As many as 23 women farmers from Dudhai, Barotiwala, Baluwala and Jagatpur villages of Dehradun are taking part in the two-day training programme at Navdanya Biodiversity Farm in Dehradun. Addressing the inaugural session of the training programme for women farmers at Navdanya Biodiversity Farm in Dehradun today, Vinod said Navdanya was working in the sphere of seed conservation and organic farming in as many as 22 states of the country. He said 125 community seed banks had been set up in the country in assistance with farmers, which were playing a significant contribution towards safeguarding indigenous seeds. Vinod cautioned the farmers against the use of genetically modified (GM) seeds. He said the GM seeds were meant to befool farmers in the name of higher production which actually never took place. Instead, productivity of agriculture goes down drastically, he said. Vinod said multinational companies like Monsanto were fleecing farmers. He reminded that three lakh farmers had committed suicide after they suffered heavy losses after sowing BT cotton seeds. An in-depth study conducted by Navdanya in nine states has amply revealed that farmers who are undertaking organic farming are on the way to prosperity. He said Navdanya was also playing a key role in ensuring that neighbouring Bhutan reached self-sufficiency in organic farming. Vinod said more than five lakh farmers had been rendered training in organic farming by Navdanya since its inception in 1987. He said environmentalist and founder of Navdanya, Dr Vandana Shiva had been working with sincerity and dedication towards the cause of organic farming. Agriculture expert Dr RS Rawat shared his experiences about traditional farming with the farmers. Our forefathers had adequate knowledge of indigenous agriculture techniques but in greed to earn more at the earliest, we have discontinued with those practices and have been losers finally, Rawat pointed out. Pramod Kimothi, Girish Vashist and Chandrashekar Bhatt gave demonstrations to the farmers and informed them about seed treatment, organic manure and pesticides. Washington, May 28 Chinas military expansion in the disputed South China Sea poses a growing risk to the regions prosperity and its actions could erect a Great Wall of self- isolation, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has warned. China wants and enjoys all the benefits of free trade and a free internet, while sometimes restricting both as they apply to them, Carter said at graduation and commissioning at Naval Academy in Maryland yesterday. In sum, on the seas, in cyberspace, in the economy and elsewhere, China has benefited from the principles and systems that others have worked to establish and uphold, he said. But instead of helping sustain those very principles and systems that have served all of us so well and for so long, instead of working toward the, quote, win-win cooperation that Beijing publicly says it wants, China plays by its own rules undercutting those principles, he said. The result is that Chinas actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation, as countries across the region allies, partners and the unaligned are voicing concerns publicly and privately, at the highest levels, Carter said. Such a model reflects the regions distant past, rather than the principled future we all want for the Asia-Pacific. He said in the disputed South China Sea and elsewhere, there is a growing risk to the regions prosperous future. China has taken some expansive and unprecedented actions in the South China Sea, pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to international law. Its construction and subsequent militarisation of artificial islands on disputed features far surpass all other land reclamation efforts by other nations there, combined, he added. And when other aircraft, ships, and even fishermen act in accordance with international law near these features, China tries to turn some of them away, he said. China claims all most all of South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan fiercely contest Chinas claims. Carter said the US is determined to stand with partners in upholding core principles, like freedom of navigation and overflight, free flow of commerce, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, through legal means. We are committed to ensuring that these core principles apply equally in the South China Sea as they do everywhere else because only by ensuring that everyone plays by the same rules can we avoid the mistakes of the past, where countries challenged one another in contests of strength and will, with disastrous consequences for humanity, he said. Carter said Americas focus on upholding principles extends beyond the maritime domain. For example, China wants its companies that depend on the Internet to flourish in the global marketplace so it can lift its peoples prosperity. And yet, 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. Thats why the President has been determined to develop international understandings of behavior in cyberspace, he added. PTI Manila, May 28 A Filipino journalist was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Manila, officials said on Saturday. The incident occurred in a street in Manila's Quiapo district when the victim, reporter Alex Balcoba, was shot in the head while talking on the phone on Friday night, Police Chief Inspector John Guiagui told state-run DzBB radio. Balcoba, 56, who worked for the Brigada daily, was taken to hospital, where he died shortly afterwards. The victim was also the director of the Manila Police District Press Corps, a group of journalists accredited by the Manila Police District. The murders of Filipino journalists who criticise local politicians or investigate corruption are a frequent occurrence in the country. Seven journalists were killed in the Philippines in 2015, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). In its latest report, the IFJ said the Philippines had the second largest number of journalists murdered since 1990, surpassed only by Iraq. IANS The Czech Republic has extradited to the United States a Lebanese man who was detained on suspicion of supporting terrorism in a sting operation in 2014, police said Saturday. Faouzi Jaber was caught trying to sell weapons from Ukraine to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) posing as guerilla fighters belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), according to Czech media. He faces a life sentence in the United States after his extradition from the Czech Republic several weeks ago, police spokeswoman Marketa Janovska said in a statement. Faouzi was arrested in April 2014 along with two other men of Lebanese-origin who were subsequently released in February 2016, provoking an angry reaction from the United States embassy in Prague. Ali Taan Fayyad and Khaled Marabi were freed as part of a deal to secure the release of five Czech citizens kidnapped in Lebanon in July 2015, among whom was Fayyad's lawyer. The two men were accused by American officials of preparing assassinations of US government employees and of planning to use a surface-to-air missile against a US diplomatic mission. Search Keywords: Short link: Athens, May 28 On his first trip to a European Union country this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has sharply criticised western policy toward Moscow, describing a newly-expanded US missile defence system as a threat to his country's security. Putin arrived in Athens on a two-day visit yesterday and emerged from talks with the Greek government to lash the US and NATO allies, also accusing them of stifling trade and energy cooperation with Russia. Earlier this month, the US programme was declared operation at a site in Romania, drawing an angry reaction from Russia. NATO says the system is purely defensive and a response to a growing capability of ballistic missiles globally. We keep hearing that it's not a threat against Russia, that it's not aimed at Russia, Putin said. "Of course it's a threat to us. It can easily be modified to have an aggressive capability ... We are obliged to take action in response to guarantee our security," he said, without elaborating. Putin has made only a handful of visits to EU countries since sanctions were imposed on Moscow two years ago in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia's annexation of Crimea following an internationally disputed referendum. The issue of Crimea is over forever, based on the will of the people who live there. Russia will never negotiate on this issue, Putin said. Athens is keen to maintain its traditionally close ties with post-Soviet Russia, despite its participation in EU sanctions against Moscow, and a gas pipeline project designed to limit Russia's regional energy dominance. Russia is one of Greece's main trading partners, but business has been hit by the sanctions. Greece is also keen to reverse a slump in tourist arrivals from Russia and attract interest from Russian companies in the planned privatisation of rail and other transport services. AP Washington, May 28 American Senator Marco Rubio has criticised Pakistans blasphemy law, saying it continues to encourage violence and marginalisation of religious minorities in the country. In Pakistan, we have seen proponents of religious freedom murdered for criticising blasphemy laws, Rubio, also a former Republican presidential candidate, said on the Senate floor this week. He cited the March, 2011 killing of Shahbaz Bhatti, saying the Pakistani Federal Minister of Minority Affairs and, the only Christian to serve in Pakistans Cabinet was shot to death by the Pakistani Taliban outside of his mothers home. Five years have passed. The Pakistani government has failed to bring his murderers to justice and have failed to reform the blasphemy law that continues to encourage violence, murder with impunity, and the marginalisation of religious minorities, Rubio said. As a result, numerous other prisoners of conscience in Pakistan suffer behind bars, the Senator from Florida alleged. PTI Washington, May 28 Donald Trump has backed out of a televised debate against Democrat Bernie Sanders just two days after agreeing, prompting the Vermont Senator to say that the Republican presumptive presidential candidate is running away from engaging in a one-on-one discussion with him. Trump said now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher, referring to Sanders, who is running behind Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House in the Democratic Party. He alleged that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, will not allow Sanders to win. 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, he said in a statement yesterday. This came as a surprise move after saying he would love to debate with Sanders on Thursday, triggering wild speculation and media frenzy. Trump had asked for at least USD 10 million for charity from the hosting television channel. However, Sanders in a statement alleged that Trump is running away from participating in a debate with him, saying there is a reason why the billionaire is doing so which the Americans should be able to see it up front in a good 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. 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, Sanders said. There is a reason why in virtually every national and statewide poll I am defeating Donald Trump, sometimes by very large margins and almost always by far larger margins than Secretary Clinton. There is a reason for that reality and the American people should be able to see it up front in a good debate and a clash of ideas, he said. PTI Washington, May 28 Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters and protesters clashed outside an election rally of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego as police in riot gear and wielding batons arrested 35 people in the second scuffle in three days to hit his campaign. People from both sides screamed at each other and threw water bottles, as the police tried to control the situation, firing pepper-balls. The clash between pro and anti-Trump groups occurred after the Republican leader ended his speech in San Diego in the western California state yesterday, with several people throwing stones and plastic bottles, some that hit police officers. Police were deployed in riot gear as the billionaire from New York addressed a massive rally at a convention centre. After issuing orders to the crowd of roughly 1,000 to disperse, police began forcefully and aggressively pushing protesters who were waving Mexican flags and holding anti-Trump signs checking them with their batons. Some protestors also scaled barriers, according to reports. At least 35 people were arrested, the police said, adding that no property damage was reported and no injuries were reported. Crowd behaviour has become unlawful. An unlawful assembly has now been declared. It is illegal to remain in the area, the San Diego Police said in a situational update, adding its forces would be deployed till late in the night. Later, Trump appreciated the police for handling the thugs. @SanDiegoPD- Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally. Greatly appreciated! he tweeted. At his rally, Trump also responded to US President Barack Obamas comments a day ago that world leaders are rattled by his campaign rhetoric and assured his supporters that he would get along well with foreign leaders. I happen to be a nice person, folks. Ill get along great. I will get along so great with these countries. I will get along so great, Trump told thousands of his supporters. He (Obama) said today that our trading partners and countries that we have relationship with, theyre rattled. I said, Yay, oh, thats so good., Trump said. Someone grabbed a mans Make America Great Again hat and burned it, according to San Diego Tribune. Officers in helmets, masks, pads and with long wooden batons massed in lines, then moved slowly toward the unruly protesters. By evening, police had managed to move and disperse the crowd, and few were left, the daily reported. Trump was in the city near the Mexican border to hold a rally ahead of the 7 June California primary and in his San Diego rally pledged to build a border wall to keep out illegal immigrants. This is the second anti-Trump protest in three days. His rally in New Mexico on Tuesday turned violent as protesters toppled barricades and threw rocks, burning T-shirts and plastic bottles at police officers, injuring several people. Earlier yesterday in Fresno, Trump denied that there was a major drought affecting the state, saying instead that when he becomes president he will start opening up the water. Great rally in Fresno, California- great crowd! Thank you! he said in another tweet. At the San Diego rally, Trump said the US under his presidency would start winning again. Every single country no matter whatname a countrywe lose. We dont win anymore. Were going to start winning. Were going to win with trade. Were going to win with our military. Were going to start winning again, he said amidst applause. Trump alleged that the countries like Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, who are being protected by the US are not paying money. Then you look at the NATO countries -- 28 total, many of them arent living up to their obligations, he said. They have been abusing us. They have been abusing us. This isnt 40 years ago when we could have done whatever we want. Continuing with his criticism of Hillary Clinton, Trump said the Democratic presidential frontrunner and former secretary of state is a very boring speaker. I watched Hillary Clinton last night, which was hard to do because shes a very boring speaker, he said. I will not say because its not politically correct and its not a nice thing to say, so I will not say that she shouts into the microphone and it drives everybody crazy. So I wont say that. But I found it very hard to watch. And then she lies. Now, you know, I called somebody a liar, but I dont say that anymore because that person is now in the past. I say that person is in the past. And with Hillary, we say Crooked Hillary, he said. But Ive got to add another word because I never saw anything like this last night. She was saying that I want Japan to arm with nuclear weapons. I never said that. She was saying, I love the dictator in North Korea. I dont love the dictatorbad guy, OK? Bad guy. She was saying all sorts of things so bad, and so false, total lies. And were not going to let her get away with it. Were not going to let her get away, Trump asserted. Take a look at whats going on with our military that we love. We cant beat ISIS. Were going to beat ISIS. Were going to beat them quickly. Were going to knock the hell out of them. We shouldnt have been there in the first place, but were going to knock the hell out of them. And we have to rebuild our country, he said. PTI The Israeli occupation of Palestinian land must end through the implementation of long-established international laws, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Arab foreign ministers at a special Arab League meeting in Cairo on Saturday. The Palestinian president called on Arab states to help in the process of rallying more countries to follow the example of Sweden and the Vatican in recognising Palestine as a state. He also stressed that the Palestinian side is fully committed to implementing all international agreements and said that the time has come for the mobilisation of Arab and international will in order to help Palestinians gain their freedom. Abbas referred to East Jerusalem, occupied in 1967, as "the eternal capital of the state of Palestine" and insisted that the Israeli presence on any Palestinian land would be unacceptable. Earlier in the day, Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at Itihadiya Palace in Cairo where they discussed the latest regional developments, including the French initiative for a Palestinian-Israeli peace conference and the upcoming international support group for peace negotiations in Paris on Friday 3 June. Search Keywords: Short link: Fighting between IS group and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed dozens of people in the last two days, as IS militants keep up an offensive that has led to rapid territorial gains, a monitoring group said on Saturday. Fighters from the militant group entered the rebel-held town of Marea early on Saturday, using at least two car bombs in the assault, and clashes continued later in the day, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An advance by the jihadists on Friday that cut Marea off from another key insurgent-held town, Azaz, was their biggest territorial gain in the northern province of Aleppo for two years, the Observatory said. Islamic State has been battling rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) since late last year, but clashes have intensified in recent weeks. The fighting in the past two days has killed at least 27 civilians as well as 41 combatants, the Observatory said. A US-led coalition carried out air raids on IS positions in one of the villages that the jihadists had captured from rebels, it said. IS on Friday encroached from the east on a narrow area of rebel control connected to the Turkish border, through which the rebels have received support. To the west of that rebel-held area is territory under the control of the Kurdish YPG militia and its allies, who have been fighting the rebels but also separately battling Islamic State. One of the Kurdish-allied groups took over a village west of Marea on Saturday, apparently in a rare agreement with the FSA rebels, the Observatory reported. The move could bring the Kurdish-allied group, Jaysh al-Thuwwar, into confrontation with IS in the area. It also further erodes rebel control there from the west. The United States is backing the YPG and its allies in an offensive against IS in the northern countryside of neighbouring Raqqa province, which is home to the group's de facto capital, Raqqa city. Washington has also supported FSA factions. Search Keywords: Short link: Meanwhile... the Movement for Social Justice is questioning if the lights from the deyas lit Its encouraging to see ABC broaden its genres in Drama. After last years paranormal series Glitch this week it will launch Cleverman, where Indigenous themes meet with supernatural and a dash of action. Produced by Goalpost Pictures and NZs Pukeko Pictures for both ABC and Sundance TV it is worlds apart from period whodunnits, legal dramas and even domestic Indigenous sagas. The setting is the near future in Sydney where a walled Zone houses outcasts of hairypeople. They are an Aboriginal tribe, covered in hair, and capable of extra-human strength. The hairypeople have been walking amongst us for 80,000 years but Minister for Immigration & Border Protection Geoff Matthews (Andrew McFarlane) keeps them segregated in a ghetto train station that is part Fight Club and part Mad Max. But those Indigenous who are not hairypeople live outside the Zone, including young bar manager Koen West (Hunter Lochard-Page) who smuggles families out of the zone with friend Blair (Ryan Corr). But Koen also turns them in to the Containment Authority for a reward resulting in a raid filmed by TV journo Belinda Frosche (Leanna Walsman). What becomes a bungled raid sees a young Indigenous child killed, which media mogul Jarrod Slade (Iain Glen) threatens to broadcast. Also in the mix of this huge ensemble are Koens brother and renegade hairypeople leader Waruu West (Rob Collins), doctor Charlotte Cleary (Frances OConnor), Aunty Linda (Deborah Mailman) and elder Uncle Jimmy (Jack Charles) who as current Cleverman possesses powers that link back to The Dreaming. There are also other supporting players representing tribal, authority, media and family of Koen. And it is poster boy Koen who is the central character, a young man conflicted by his placement and torn between past, present, black and white cultures. The link between Koen and Uncle Jimmy, portrayed in a captivating performance from Jack Charles, is one of Clevermans more focussed relationships. When Uncle Jimmy hands the reluctant Koen a tribal club, known as a nulla nulla he tells him, Time you decided which tribe you belong to. Ill be watching. Its impossible to ignore the metaphors of stolen generation and displaced refugees in the story by Michael Miller & Jon Bell, based on a concept by Ryan Griffen. Fusing Dreamtime legends with supernatural (and even a dash of horror) is a fresh take. The cast is extensive, with supporting players including Stef Dawson, Rarriwuy Hick, Tony Briggs, Tysan Towney, Tasma Walton, Adam Briggs, Lynette Curran and an opening episode even featuring cameos by Marcus Graham, Miranda Tapsell, Rahel Romain, Sam Parsonson and Benson Jack Anthony. Keeping track of all the moving parts is hard work and I cant help but feel it would have been an easier way into the story to stick more with Koens viewpoint. As Koen, Hunter Page-Lochard is a bright find. He is required to carry both emotional and action scenes that are usually more at home on the big screen, than small. Rob Collins, as his rival brother, is also a stand-out. Ryan Corr is always solid and I must make special mention of character actress Lynette Curran, totally holding her own in a genre usually the domain of younger performers. The production design (Jo Ford & Rob Wood), and hair and makeup (Kath Brown) bring much to this ambitious piece, directed by Wayne Blair. Former Glee star Mark Salling has been indicted for charges of possessing child pornography. Salling, 33, was arrested in December after allegedly receiving a photo and a video online depicting child pornography online. The laptop, a hard drive and a USB flash drive seized from his California home contained thousands of images and videos depicting child porn, according to investigators. He was released on $20,000 bail after being arrested by the Los Angeles Police but the case was referred to federal authorities once investigators realised the scope of the material. After being indicted on Friday, Salling will surrender to authorities and be arraigned on June 3. If convicted of receiving child porn, Salling faces a minimum jail sentence of 5 years and a maximum one of 20 years. On the charge of possessing child porn, he could receive 20 years. Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed, US Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed. The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesnt dovetail with reality. As our investigators can attest, the defendants in child pornography cases come in all ages and from all walks of life, said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security investigations, in a statement. In 2015 Sallings then-girlfriend Roxanne Gorzela sued him in 2015 for sexual battery after she claimed he shoved her and later forced her to have sex without a condom. Salling filed a countersuit for defamation of character. The case was later settled out of court. Salling played bad-boy Noah Puck Puckerman on Glee from 2009 to 2015. He visited Australia in 2009 during a Glee promotional tour. Source: Variety Photo by Evan Krape Under clear blue skies on a warm morning, graduates and their families and friends were among the crowd of 23,000 celebrating the University of Delawares 167th Commencement held Saturday, May 28, at Delaware Stadium. Commencement speaker Bryan Stevenson, an author and advocate for social justice, was introduced by University Provost Domenico Grasso. Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative and author of the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, the Universitys 2015 First Year Common Reader selection. Mr. Stevenson is not just a visitor to the First State he is a proud Delaware native, having grown up outside the small town of Milton, Grasso said. It was that childhood in a poor and racially segregated community that helped form Mr. Stevensons view of the world. He knew poverty firsthand. He saw how those around him worked hard but remained marginalized and excluded from the rest of society. Grasso also noted that Mr. Stevenson defends those who need it most the poor, the wrongly condemned, and the women and children trapped in the forgotten corners of the American criminal justice system. Stevenson, who earlier in the ceremony was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree, congratulated the graduates and urged them to carry their passion and dedication forward to address issues of social injustice and income inequality. Im so thrilled to be officially certified as a Blue Hen, Stevenson said. I cant tell you how much pride I have to be here on this really pleasant day. Stevenson also reminded the Class of 2016 that their achievements were made possible by the investments of time, money and encouragement from families, friends and faculty members who supported them during their undergraduate experience. Now, its time to give something back, Stevenson said. I want to urge you to change the world when you leave here. Over-incarceration and excessive punishment as a result of bad policy decisions has caused the number of people in jails and prisons to rise from 300,000 in 1972 to 2.3 million today, Stevenson said. There are 6 million people on probation and parole, and there are 70 million Americans with criminal records, Stevenson said. This means that when they apply for a job or try to get a loan, they are going to be distinctly disqualified. Stevenson also noted that the problem of mass incarceration and excessive punishment has been caused by the war on drugs. To begin to address such large numbers of individuals caught up in the criminal justice system, those who want to effect change have to get closer to the problem. People will tell you that you shouldnt go here and you shouldnt go there, but I am here to tell you we need to do the opposite and get close to the people in these communities, Stevenson said. There is power in proximity. Next, the narrative of fear and anger that has created these problems needs to be changed if social justice is to become a reality, Stevenson said. There is a power in hope, and we have to be more hopeful and we have to change the narrative of race, Stevenson said. We will not be free in our own country until we have addressed the issue of racial inequality. Getting close to the situation, changing the narrative and sustaining hope also means that people must sometimes be willing to confront situations that may be unpleasant, Stevenson. Sometimes you are going to have to do uncomfortable things, but when you do this, you change the world, Stevenson said. We need to judge character not by the way we interact with people with power and money, but how we interact with the poor and the underrepresented. I wish you the best in that pursuit. Commitment to excellence and service Earlier in the ceremony, University President Nancy Targett extended a Blue Hen welcome to the families, friends and guests celebrating the achievements of the graduating members of the Class of 2016. Targett thanked special guests including distinguished faculty, trustees and honorary degree recipients, and saluted the Class of 2016. You finally made it to graduation, Targett said. Youre here! Let me be the first to congratulate you. While getting a UD degree involved a lot of hard work, it also afforded the graduates the opportunity to grow as individuals and form lifelong friendships, Targett said. Youve changed over the past four years, she said. If you dont believe me, ask your families. Theyve seen it. Youre more mature, more sure of yourself, ready for the next chapter in your life. Targett also reminded the graduates that theirs is a journey that began on a warm summer evening 1,370 days ago on The Green outside the Morris Library and Memorial Hall where they were welcomed by then-president Patrick Harker. That was our very first Twilight Induction Ceremony, Targett said. What is now a proud Blue Hen tradition began with you. Recalling the occasion, Targett reminded the graduates that she spoke to them then as the dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, and that she wore her full academic regalia of black robe, tam and doctoral hood the complete outfit. I did it on purpose, to distinguish myself from the others, to stand out from the crowd that night, Targett said. I remember asking you, How will you distinguish yourself over the next four years? Targett lauded several members of the Class of 2016 who stood out from the crowd though academic excellence, business savvy, caring for creatures, and helping others with service and compassion. They included: Nate Matherson, in the Alfred Lerner of College of Business and Economics, an entrepreneur who, despite a first venture that fell apart, had the vision to see opportunity where others saw failure. Nate and his UD classmate Matt Lenhard are now developing LendEDU, an online marketplace for student lending and refinancing, kind of like Lending Tree for student loans. Theyll be running LendEDU from their new offices in Hoboken, New Jersey, and theyve got five fellow Blue Hens working full-time for them already. Jamila Blake, a Florida native and wildlife conservation major in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, loves animals and teaching others about nature. Last summer, Jamila worked with park rangers in India to care for animals and protect their habitats, Targett said. Now, shes combining all those interests, and just this week Jamila got a job as a conservation advocate with the American Bird Conservancy in Washington, D.C. Chloe Ng, a student in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, was picked to be an ambassador for UDs Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), helping to make science accessible and interesting to non-scientists. Chloe has focused her studies and activism on one of the worlds most important but overlooked resources, clean water, Targett said. Shes now looking at a career in sustainability and environmental education. Ellie Wallace, as a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, got involved with UDs mock trail team, which requires students to have the technical skills of an attorney, the theatrical skills of an actor and the public speaking skills of a political leader, Targett said, adding, During their first year, Ellie and her team finished at the regional level. They continued to work hard and practiced four hours a day, six days a week for months. During the past two years, they finished among the top 10 nationally out of more than 650 teams, and also earning for Ellie an All American Attorney award and a tie for the best collegiate mock-trial attorney in the nation. Now, Ellie wants to be a museum curator, teaching kids about history and historical objects. This fall, shell pursue here masters degree in museum education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Ashley Johnson decided she really liked electrical engineering. She also tutored fellow students in math, while holding leadership posts in the National Society of Black Engineers, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society and her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Ashley interned at PPL Electric Utilities and had a chance to go back but she wanted to try something new, so she jumped into research, working on UDs Electric Vehicle-to-Grid Project. Like many of our students, Ashley had never considered research but fell in love with the chance to do something so rewarding. Kevin Bessone started working at Walt Disney World after high school in 1971, but soon enlisted in the military and enjoyed a 20-year career in the Air Force. He then earned an associates degree and enrolled UDs College of Education and Human Development, where he earned a bachelors degree in human services. Today, at age 63, Kevin is one of five graduates in our Over-60 program, and is the first in his family to graduate from college, Targett said He now plans to become a grief counselor, continuing his lifelong commitment to serving others. Brianna Hafetz came to UD to study nursing in the College of Health Sciences. Having seen her little sister suffer from a chronic illness, she grew up seeing the amazing impact a good nurse could have on a patient. At UD, she volunteered with Loris Hands, a service organization where students help chronically ill people in the community with household chores like cleaning and shopping. Brianna was assigned to work with Edna and Warren, a local elderly couple. She formed a strong bond with them, growing to think of them as an extra set of grandparents, Targett said. During a stressful finals week last year, she made time to visit Edna and Warren. They talked, they prayed and later that night, Warren passed away. Brianna has continued visiting Edna every week, and they expect to stay in touch Earlier this week, Brianna got the news that she and Edna had been hoping for: Brianna landed a nursing job in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Targett concluded her sharing of these stories of excellence, commitment and service by praising everything that all of the graduates have accomplished since that very first Twilight Induction Ceremony. I am so proud of how youve distinguished yourselves as individuals and as the Class of 2016, Targett said. Im honored to call you fellow Blue Hens. Now, on to your future thank you. At the start of ceremonies, the presentation of the colors by cadets from UDs Army and Air Force ROTC units was followed by the singing of the national anthem by Cara Ferro and Kameron Ghanavati, both members of the Class of 2016 and co-recipients of this years F. Warren James Memorial Award. Targett also welcomed the UD alumni delegates representing classes from 1950 through 2013, part of the 170,000 living alumni worldwide living in the United States and 75 countries around the globe. Robert Opila, professor of materials science and president of the UD Faculty Senate, congratulated the Class of 2016 and urged them to keep in touch with faculty after graduation. You have been involved with faculty on research projects, and you learned how to learn, and you have just heard a great talk by Bryan Stevenson about social justice, Opila said. After you graduate, please keep in touch with social media, email and telephone. Also, you will be able to meet some of us during alumni weekends. Anne Giacoma Barretta, a member of the Class of 1983 and president of the University of Delaware Alumni Association, welcomed the newest members and urged them to continue their association with their alma mater. Barretta also invited members of the Class of 2016 to participate in the annual alumni pinning ceremony. Stay in touch with us and remember that you will find Blue Hen alumni events all across the country, Barretta said. You are now members of the Blue Hen Family and you will be Blue Hens forever. Additional articles and resources Commencement honors Commencement thoughts Doctoral hooding Facebook YouTube video Storify UD in Photos Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson It was a day of triumph, cheers and collective relief as more than 160 students from 21 nations participated Friday morning, May 27, in the University of Delaware's Doctoral Hooding Convocation, a rite of passage for those who have attained academia's highest degree. Hundreds gathered beneath sunny skies and a large white tent on UD's Green to see the candidates process with the faculty mentors who guided their studies. A pair of bagpipers Mark Hurm and David Bailiff led the procession of University leaders, deans, faculty members and students as scores of dads and moms, spouses, children and friends watched and waved, captured the scene with cameras and clapped for joy. It was a day to smell the roses, which were onsite in abundance. It was a day to savor an academic achievement that most Americans 98 percent of them anyway have not attained. And it was a day to think of what comes next. That was the focus of University President Nancy Targett's convocation address as she urged graduates to connect with those outside their particular disciplines and invest their hard-earned skills and knowledge into things that really matter. "You're starting a new phase of work one that focuses on the creation and application of new knowledge to help understand and solve the complex problems of our world," she said. The impact of the learning and influence represented in the gathering could have extraordinary reach, with students from all of UD's seven colleges and five continents around the world. As they go out to teach or continue their research or work with industry or government or nonprofits they take abilities that can be applied to an enormous range of critical challenges. "We look to you for leadership in addressing the grand challenges of the 21st century and leading our world to a better tomorrow," said Ann Ardis, senior vice provost for graduate and professional education. The hooding ceremony is rich with tradition, and Mary Martin, associate vice provost for graduate and professional education, explained the history and significance of the regalia. She also continued a powerful tradition of sharing comments from students and/or special notes about them. Some were funny. Patrick Spanninger, whose degree is in animal and food sciences, thanked his tomato and spinach plants for surviving his many experiments because, after all, without them he wouldn't have made it to the finish line. And Okechukwu Ogbuu, whose degree is in materials science and engineering, said he rarely talked to himself before starting his doctoral program. "Now I can hold a long problem-solving conversation with myself," he said. Some were amazing. Holly Caldwell said she grew up in "abject poverty" but broke through that cycle and will go on to teach history at Susquehanna University. Some were scary. Sezin Zengin Farias Martinez of Turkey, whose degree is in economics, survived a serious car crash while carrying twins both of whom also survived. Some came away with "firsts." Ashutosh Khandha earned UD's first doctorate in biomedical engineering, for one. And others followed in familiar footsteps, as James Angelo did, earning a doctorate in chemical engineering as his father Michael Angelo did at UD. All know the rigor of the work and resolve required to reach this landmark day. And all respect the value of learning in a rich, deep way. "Anyone who stops learning is old," said Richard Mulski, whose degree is in educational leadership. "Anyone who keeps learning is young, whether they are 20 or 80." Targett pressed for that kind of endeavor, with an "ultimate goal" in mind. "Whatever you do after today, whatever form of engagement you choose whether it be in the sciences, the humanities, the social sciences, business or health sectors, education or engineering your ultimate goal is the creation and application of new knowledge to help understand and solve the complex problems of our world," Targett said. Seven awards were made in recognition of special achievement: Jonathan Rosen received the Allan P. Colburn Prize in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences for his dissertation "Design of Electrolyzer for Carbon Dioxide Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals." His dissertation chair was Feng Jiao of chemical and biomolecular engineering. John Bockrath received the George Herbert Ryden Prize in Social Sciences for his dissertation "The Economic Consequences of Market Structure in the Liner Shipping Industry." His dissertation chair was Michael Arnold of economics. Ai Hisano received the Wilbur Owen Sypherd Prize in Humanities for her dissertation "Eye Appeal Is Buy Appeal: Business Creates the Color of Foods, 1870-1970." Her dissertation chair was Susan Strasser of history. Anil Pandey received the Theodore Wolf Prize in Physical and Life Sciences for his dissertation "Synthesis of Conformationally Diverse Peptides to Control Peptide Structure and Function and Investigation of Unique Serine/threonine Phosphorylation Effects on Peptide Conformation." His dissertation chair was Neal Zondlo of chemistry and biochemistry. Ashley Farmer received the Dan Rich Prize in Criminology for her dissertation "Copwatchers: Citizen Journalism and the Changing Police-Community Dynamic." Her dissertation chair was Ivan Sun of criminology. Erin Crowgey received the Interdisciplinary Research Prize for her dissertation "Applied Genomics: Development of Bioinformatics Pipelines for Analyzing Clinical Pediatric Genomic Data." Her dissertation chair was Cathy Wu of bioinformatics and systems biology. Andrew Teplyakov, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, received the Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Advising and Mentoring Award. He was called one of the best in his field anywhere and a "pillar of the graduate program," serving on 43 dissertation committees. The joy of the day was everywhere to be found, and support teams savored the day with their graduates. Carlos Charriez, who teaches at Wilmington Friends School, used a red wagon to haul roses and other necessities, then tended to 2-year-old Hugo while his wife, Megan Pell, collected her degree in special education. Chaitanya Barhale, who earned a master's degree in economics at UD in 2012, took his wife's purse as she walked into the tent so she wouldn't have to bother with it. Elizabeth Pasipanodya earned her doctorate in psychology and has a postdoctorate position at the University of California in San Diego. "It has been six-plus years of really hard work," Barhale said before joining other family members. After watching his daughter, Stephanie, receive her new credentials, Fred Lampkins of New Jersey took a long, fond look at her diploma. "She did it," he said. "I'm so proud I can hardly speak. I had to be here for her." For more photos, check out the Facebook gallery. Additional articles and resources Commencement 2016 Commencement honors Commencement thoughts Facebook YouTube video Storify UD in Photos Photos by Evan Krape and Kathy F. Atkinson The University of Delaware conferred honorary degrees and recognized seven graduating seniors who achieved the highest grade point index earned in full-time study toward a University degree during Commencement ceremonies held Saturday, May 28, in Delaware Stadium. "The honorary degree is the highest honor bestowed by the University of Delaware, and is reserved as a recognition of true distinction," said John R. Cochran, chairman of the University's Board of Trustees. "Today it is my privilege to bestow the Universitys high honor on three outstanding individuals who make up the Universitys Honorary Degree Class of 2016." Honorees and their degrees are: Patrick T. Harker, UD president emeritus and president and CEO of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, honorary doctor of science. Harker, who served as UD president from 2007-15 after having been dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, was hailed as a forward-thinking leader whose tenure was marked by a string of major accomplishments that included major construction projects, the Path to Prominence strategic plan, establishment of the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships and acquisition of the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. In many ways, your current role as head of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank was the logical next step following your tenures at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Delaware, Cochran said. Both of these schools benefited from your dedication to excellence and innovation. Now, you are bringing that same drive for innovation and progress to the entire region. Bryan A. Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the Commencement speaker, honorary doctor of laws. Stevenson, whose book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption was the Universitys 2015 common reader, was cited as a passionate advocate for the disenfranchised. A recipient of a doctorate from the Harvard University School of Law, he began his career as a staff attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights and in 1989 established the Equal Justice Initiative, which litigates on behalf of those most in need, including juvenile offenders and the wrongfully condemned. Just Mercy, which won the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, tells the story of one of those people who was wrongfully condemned. You have devoted your entire professional career to seeking justice, and your work earned the applause of no less a man than Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, who likened you to a young Nelson Mandela, fighting with courage and conviction to guarantee justice for all, Cochran said. Nancy M. Targett, the Universitys 27th president who will be moving to a position as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Hampshire, doctor of science. Targett has spent more than 30 years at UD and was dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment before being named acting president in 2015. At a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees, she was named president, with the word acting removed from her title. She was cited for her nationally recognized research in marine chemical ecology and service to organizations including the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Studies Board, the National Research Council, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and the National Sea Grant Association. Albert Einstein once said, Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character. Throughout your career as a scientist, an educator, and an administrator, you have demonstrated an abundance of both intellect and character, Cochran said, adding, Your contributions to the University will continue to enrich our community for years to come. Ruth Ann Minner, former governor of Delaware, was to have received an honorary doctor of laws degree but was unable to attend the ceremony. High index seniors Also during Commencement, the University honored seven high index seniors. To be eligible for the high index award, a graduating senior must have earned at least 75 percent of the total credits required for the degree at the University of Delaware and must have averaged a minimum of 15 credits per semester. Recognized at the ceremony by Provost Domenico Grasso were Jaclyn Anninos, Hunter Bachman, Elana Borinsky, James Celia, Chloe Gordon, Nicole Kozar and Dylan Miller. Anninos, a student in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics from Dresher, Pennsylvania, received the bachelor of science as a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing. Anninos plans to work at JPMorgan Chase in Delaware, and hopes to continue work on a startup founded while a student that provides an online platform to build girls confidence during adolescence. Bachman, a student in the College of Engineering from Fallston, Maryland, received bachelors and masters degrees in mechanical engineering. Bachman will pursue a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Duke University, working with Tony Huang, a pioneer in the field of acoustofluids. Borinsky, a student in the Lerner College from Warren, New Jersey, received an honors bachelor of science degree in international business studies with a specialization in Chinese and plans to work at JPMorgan Chase in New York City. Celia, a student in the Lerner College from Sewell, New Jersey, received an honors bachelor of science degree in accounting and economics and a master of science degree in accounting. Celia will work for Ernst and Young as an auditor in the financial services office and will retain his role as chief financial officer of the nonprofit Lazarus Rising project, a campus organization that works to combat homelessness. Gordon, a student in the College of Health Sciences from Montpelier, Vermont, received a bachelor of science degree in exercise science. Gordon will attend the Medical University of South Carolina to pursue an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing degree. Kozar, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences from Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, received a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience with minors in Spanish and biological sciences. Kozar will attend graduate school at DeSales University to receive a master of science degree in physician assistant studies. Miller, a student in the Lerner College from Wilmington, Delaware, received his bachelors degree in accounting and finance and will attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Warner, Taylor winners In an annual Commencement tradition, the winners of the Emalea Pusey Warner and Alexander J. Taylor Sr. awards as outstanding seniors Rebecca Jaeger and Jonathan Galarraga led the alumni processional at the opening of the ceremony. The Warner and Taylor awards are given annually by the UD Alumni Association to recognize the senior woman and man who most exemplify leadership, academic success and community service. Also marching in this years procession were representatives of classes of 1950 through 2013. As the graduates became alumni bringing the total number of Blue Hens around the world to more than 170,000 they were addressed by Anne Giacoma Barretta, a graduate of the Class of 1983 and president of the UD Alumni Association, who encouraged them to remain engaged with the University. Honors degree awards ceremony The UD Honors Program held a special honors degree awards ceremony on Friday morning on The Green. Targett delivered remarks, telling the students, As a group, you followed our most rigorous course of study, and you excelled in our most demanding classes. She noted that pursuit of an honors degree is tough we designed it that way. Targett cited the work of several Honors Program students who demonstrated excellence both in and out of the classroom, who added to the intellectual life of the University, and who accepted the challenge to create new knowledge and to serve others UD awarded 305 honors degree, 74 of which were honors degrees with distinction, the largest number ever in one class. Additional articles and resources Commencement 2016 Commencement thoughts Doctoral hooding Facebook YouTube video Storify UD in Photos A prominent member of Germany's far-left Linke party was hit in the face with a chocolate cream pie on Saturday in an attack claimed by a self-styled "anti-fascist" group protesting her stance on refugees. Sahra Wagenknecht, who has advocated putting a limit on the number of refugees Germany should accept, is the second German politician to be attacked with a desert this year over her position on asylum-seekers. Beatrix von Storch of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party suffered a similar fate last month. Wagenknecht was sitting in the front row during the opening speech at a party congress when a young man stopped in front of her and threw the creamy pie in her face, before shouting what sounded like slogans. The party's president interrupted his speech. As cameramen rushed towards her, one party official asked journalists not to film or take pictures of Wagenknecht as another sought to screen the Linke's parliamentary group leader with a jacket. The man who threw the pie was swiftly taken away by security and offered no resistance. A young woman later said they belonged to a group called the "Anti-fascist Initiative, pies against the enemies of mankind," which was outraged by Wagenknecht's refugee policy. Wagenknecht suffered a backlash in her own party when she spoke of a cap on how many refugees Germany should take in. The party has since distanced itself from that stance. Search Keywords: Short link: Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it. I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends. More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it. The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity. About me: I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS. Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line). Age: 42 Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed. I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it). Pro-Russian illegal armed groups continue to grossly violate the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The militants launched a total of 40 attacks on Ukrainian troops in last day. This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center. In particular, the militants used small arms, grenade launchers, 82mm and 120mm mortars to shell Ukrainian strongholds south of Avdiyivka (18km north of Donetsk). Ukrainian servicemen outside Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk) came under 82mm mortar fire. The tensest situation was observed in Mariupol direction. The terrorists used small arms and grenade launchers to fire at Ukrainian positions near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) and Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk). Moreover, the militants shelled the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Novotroitske (32km south of Donetsk), using 82mm and 120mm mortars as well as Grad multiple rocket launchers. ol Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan has expressed his dismay at two violent incidents against SMM members and urged to ensure their safety. This is said in his statement concerning the incident when an SMM patrol came under small-arms fire during a foot patrol in Avdiivka-Yasynuvata area in Donetsk region on 27 May, released on missions website. None of the patrol members was injured. I strongly condemn violence against our people and assets, serving to provide objective and impartial information on the situation in Ukraine. The SMMs freedom of movement is guaranteed by its mandate and reiterated by the Minsk Package of Measures, and interference with the work of the Mission constitutes a gross violation of both, Apakan said. The Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM to Ukraine called on the sides to follow-up on both incidents and hold those responsible to account. ol The restoration of Ukraines control over its state border on the temporarily occupied territories is crucial for implementation of the Minsk agreements. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said this on the occasion of the Day of Border Guard. "The issue of borders is crucial in the context of implementation of the Minsk agreements," Poroshenko said. He noted that over 15,000 Ukrainian border guards had participated in military clashes in Donbas since the onset of the antiterrorist operation. Out of this number, 67 border guards were killed. ol Political impasse in the first quarter of 2016 slowed investments in Ukraine. EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said this in an interview with Reuters. "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. Chakrabarti noted that EBRD was one the biggest foreign investors in Ukraine: the projects were worth about 2.2 billion euros in 2014 and 2015 combined. ol Official Washington insists on the importance of continuing reform of the General Prosecutor's Office and the judicial system of Ukraine and fulfilling its IMF commitments. This was discussed in a telephone conversation between US Vice President Joseph Biden and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the White House press service reports. "The leaders discussed the importance of continuing to institute reforms in the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the significance of Ukraine's progress toward implementing judicial reforms and meeting IMF conditions," the statement reads. As noted, Poroshenko and Biden condemned the increasing attacks by combined Russian-separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. They also reaffirmed the need to continue moving forward on Minsk implementation. In addition, the U.S. Vice President congratulated President Poroshenko on the release of Ukrainian pilot and Rada member Nadiya Savchenko and called for the release of all Ukrainians unlawfully detained in Russia. ol UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic has arrived in Ukraine to pay a working visit which will last until 4 June. This is reported by the press service of the Batkivshchyna Ukrainian political party. "Deputy Chairperson of Batkivshchyna Party, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights Hryhoriy Nemyria held a meeting with UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic," the statement reads. The parties discussed the human rights situation in Donbas. "As a result of the meeting it was decided to create a monitoring group of Ukrainian lawmakers on the rights of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine who live in the area of the antiterrorist operation," the press service informs. ol Related 200 opposition militants freed in Equatorial Guinea At least 59 people were injured in Guinea when youths frustrated they were being kept out of the opening of a new mosque in the town of Timbo clashed with police, a hospital director and witnesses said on Saturday. Security officials stopped ordinary people from entering the mosque to allow local dignitaries to pass but youths became angry and threw stones and attempted to rush in, witnesses said. Police responded with teargas and beat back the youths. "There was a huge clash between the police and the young people and clouds of tear gas. I saw old women pushed over by the surging crowd. It was serious," said Latif Haidera, a witness. Mamadou Kouyate, the director of the regional hospital at Mamou, said 59 people were treated at his hospital alone following the incident on Friday in Timbo, which is about 260 km (163 miles) northeast of the capital Conakry. About 85 percent of Guinea's population follows Sunni Islam and Timbo is a centre of Islamic learning and the capital of the Foutah branch of Islam in Guinea. The town is also a stronghold of the political opposition to President Alpha Conde, though witnesses said the clash was not directly connected to national politics. Search Keywords: Short link: Militants attacked a crude oil pipeline operated by Italy's ENI on Saturday, a Nigerian state government said, hours after the Niger Delta Avengers militants claimed another strike in the region. Nigeria's oil output has fallen to a 20-year low due to attacks on pipelines in the southern swamps, home to much of its hydrocarbon resources, which have compounded the impact of low oil prices on Africa's largest economy. "The Bayelsa State Government has condemned in its entirety the attack on a trunk line belonging to Agip (ENI) by (a) new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers," it said in a statement. Bayelsa lies in the Delta region. The Avengers, who have been targeting oil and gas facilities for the last three months, earlier said on Twitter they had attacked the Nembe pipelines 1, 2 and 3, pumping Royal Dutch Shell's Bonny Light crude, and an Agip facility, at 0215 local time (0115 GMT). "Something Big is about to happen," the group later tweeted. A Bayelsa spokesman said later the Nembe pipelines had not been hit. Nengi James, a chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee that liaises with oil firms, said vandals had targeted the Agip pipeline, which had been attacked before. Shell and ENI were not immediately available for comment. Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light loadings after a previous attack on the Nembe creek trunk pipeline, but some exports had been continuing with delays. ARMY RAID The army raided the Oporoza community, home to Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, a former militant leader whom security officials have linked to the Avengers, residents said. He has denied any connection to the group. "Men, women and children, everybody has fled Oporoza because the military invaded our village around 0145 this morning," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the region. "They are harassing people, arresting some boys and they wounded one of our chiefs," he said. "Traditional places of worship and houses are being destroyed now by the military." A newsletter close to the group said soldiers had arrived at the community, located in the swamps of the Delta, on seven gunboats. The army could not be immediately reached for comment but a military source said seven people had been arrested, adding that explosives had been found in their possession. The military has moved more troops into the Delta. British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond this month cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari that he needed to deal with poverty and anger over pollution from oil spills in the region. In the first sign that the government might try a less heavy-handed approach, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has said an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve. Search Keywords: Short link: Students enrolling in distance education courses have an opportunity to pick flexible online programs for finishing degrees, upraising or changing their careers and acquire new skills. The number of students joining in distance education courses is continuously rising. In 2015, the Babson Survey Research Group released data that divulged a 3.7 percent hike from fall 2012-2013 in the number of U.S. higher education students opting for at least one distance education class. Although the aforementioned statistic notes the most sluggish rate of growth in over a decade, online courses continue to remain a feasible option for thousands of people, motivated by career preparation, according to survey data released by Aslanian Market Research in association with Aslanian Market Research, U.S. News reported. Check Out Some Of 2016's Top Programs Bachelors: For the second year in a row, Penn State-World Campus grabbed the number one spot among bachelor's program, neck and neck with Embry-Riddle, which tied for the fifth spot in 2015. Western Kentucky University saw a one spot drop that landed it on third spot, while the University of Illinois-Chicago dropped two spots to fourth. Some major ranking changes this year include University of Georgia's shift to No. 5 spot from a tie at No. 90 in 2015, and West Texas A&M University propelling to a tie at No. 11, from a tie at No. 119. Graduate MBA: An array of remarkable online MBA degree programs exists. These encompass human resources MBA programs and executive MBA programs available from leading business schools. Some of the best online MBA programs in the U.S. include the Temple University, Indiana University, and University of North Carolina, according to a list of best online bachelor degrees, top colleges on US News University Directory. Graduate Business: Indiana University-Bloomington retained its No. 1 spot among online non-MBA business master's degree programs. The University of Connecticut, on the other hand jumped one spot to grab the second position. No. 3 spot was taken by Arizona State University., and the University of Texas-Dallas fell to fourth place in the rankings. Graduate Engineering: There are several noteworthy online engineering master's degree programs as well as online engineering doctorate programs offered by some of the leading online engineering colleges. The University of California-Los Angeles ranks No. 1 among online engineering master's degree programs. . The University of Southern California rose to No. 2 spot this year from No. 3 spot last year. Graduate Criminal Justice: A slew of exceptional online master's degrees are available in criminal justice - from forensics programs to law enforcement leadership programs are available from leading universities. The University of California-Irvine dropped from its No. 1 spot last year, to No. 4 this year - Boston University grabbed the No. 1 spot this year. Computer Information Technology (IT): There are several first-rate online master's degree in IT programs as well as online doctoral IT degree programs available in some of the best universities. The University of Southern California tuned out to be the best of the lot, closely followed by Johns Hopkins University, Penn State-World and Virginia Tech, Boston University. Graduate Education: There are many online master's degree in education, and some of them are exceptionally good. The University of Florida turned out to be this year's star university earning the No. 1 spot, a 12 spot jump in the online education program ranking - It was a tie with the University of Houston, which held the top rank last year. Graduate Nursing: Several leading nursing schools offer an array of online master's in nursing programs as well as online PhD in nursing. From a tie for third in 2015, the University of South Carolina rose to No. 1 spot this year, with the Medical University of South Carolina falling one spot to No. 2. The third spot was taken by St. Xavier University. There have been rumors that Microsoft is building an upgraded Xbox One gaming system for 2017. It looks like the speculations are correct as there is a report that confirms one of the major game developers are planning a VR game for that system. They will be showing it next month during the highly awaited gaming convention E3 2016. Rumored Xbox One 2017 Will Be VR Capable? Ars Technica reported that there will be a VR game for the Xbox One in 2017. This confirms the rumors that an upgraded gaming system by Microsoft is real. The details of the VR game will be unveiled next month during the E3 2016 convention. The outlet adds that their report is good as true as it was confirmed by a developer and a PR representative directly involved in the E3 2016 staff. The new Xbox One VR game is reportedly made by a European gaming company. Furthermore, there will be a PC and PS4 release of the VR game as well. Scorpio - Microsoft's Xbox VR-capable Gaming System The upgraded Xbox One gaming system in question is reportedly called Scorpio, IGN shared. In addition to the new upgraded hardware, the gaming company is also set to release a slightly hardware upgraded gaming system this year. The Xbox One system to be released at the last quarter of the year will allegedly be smaller and more compact than the current gaming system by Microsoft. Microsoft's biggest console system rival, Sony is also set to release an upgraded version of their own as well. PS4 Neo will reportedly house a more powerful GPU, CPU and have 4K resolution capable of supporting VR gaming, Digital Trends noted. Are you excited about the new VR game that can be supported through Microsoft's new Xbox One 2017 system? Let us know in your thoughts below. Egypts classical music scene has been a cradle for many young talents who go on to make their names across the world. They take their first musical steps at the Cairo Conservatory or through a variety of workshops or academic courses provided in Egypt. The most gifted ones often continue their education outside the country, performing on the most renowned stages to the acclaim of peers, critics and audiences. Establishing such thriving careers, they often settle outside Egypt, visiting their homeland more or less regularly, performing at the Cairo Opera House or other halls in Cairo and Alexandria. The Pianist One such musician is Wael Farouk, the internationally renowned pianist. Farouk was born in Cairo in 1981, and graduated from the Cairo Conservatory. Having solicited many accolades in Egypt receiving, among the other things, the Youngest Egyptian Talent Prize (given by the former First Lady Susan Mubarak), at 13 and making his orchestral debut, at 19, with Egypts premiere of Rachmaninoffs Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Patrick Fournillier in 2000, Farouk continued his education in the USA. He began as a Fulbright Fellow studying at the Catholic University of America in Washington, moved on to receive a number of certificates and finally earned a doctorate (DMA) from the Rutgers University in New Jersey (2015). Since 2003, Farouk has lived in the USA, where he started a family. He performs prolifically across five continents at the most prestigious halls the White Hall in St. Petersburg, the Carnegie Hall in New York and Schumanns house in Leipzig and is on the faculty of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Among his commitments, he still makes time to visit and perform in Egypt. His most recent concert took place on 14 May when he performed Rachmaninoffs Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hisham Gabr, followed by a solo recital that also focused on Rachmaninoff, on 16 May. Today, for the Egyptian audience it is a privilege to listen to the homegrown talent, admire his musicality and skill which first developed in Egypt and then deepened abroad. Though he often performs with the Caro Symphony Orchestra, this was the first solo recital in 10 years at the Cairo Opera's Main Hall. Farouks remarkable talent and hard work is described in dozens of articles written about him. Some look into his biography, others are concert reviews. The biographical stepping stones point to his particular interest in a small piano his parents brought him as a form of therapy when he was three years old, and an immediate passion he developed towards the instrument. At the age of five he could already play simple tunes at the Cairo cathedral, where the late Pope Shenouda III gave weekly meetings. His the enrolment in the Cairo Conservatory too had its own unique story. My family has always been extremely supportive even though they had nothing to do with the music world. My parents would follow my talent in the best way they could, though naturally, especially at the beginning, they were not always aware how it all functioned, Farouk explains. He recalls how his father wanted him to join the renowned conductor Selim Sahabs childrens choir. Taken by young Waels pianistic skill, Sahab asked the father to enrol him in the Cairo Conservatory instead and gave him an appointment the following day. But, at the time, to Farouks parents the name of the Cairo Conservatory meant no more than one of those fancy schools, and the father thought Sahabs suggestion was intended to drive his son away from the choir. They did not show up at the appointment. Yet Sahab took the initiative and filled in the application for the boy, calling the father quite cross and insisted that Wael should proceed with the exams and a professional education. And this is how it all began... I was very lucky, Farouk continues. My family didnt interfere, didnt expect anything to happen. They saw it as something I was passionate about and supported me as best as they could. He recalls the long time he used to spend at the piano, often practicing for over 10 or more hours a day. As he practiced during the summer heat, his parents would place the only fan they had at home in his room, the smallest sacrifice among many big ones they were making. During the school year, Farouk spent most days at the conservatory and most evenings practicing in his room. My family almost didnt see me. But they knew I was happy. I believe that music did something to them too. My mother would enjoy listening to music even if she could not explain what it was that made her emotional. Still, music spoke to her. As Farouk entered the fascinating if extremely challenging, even daunting professional music world, his passion never abandoned him, and he found in the obstacles a motivation and turned each opportunity to an immediate progress. Though he graduated with high scores from the Cairo Conservatory, he was turned away by the same institution due to his hand size. Having small hands yet a big mind, he went on to conquer the world, however, taking it one step at a time. He studied and performed with many renowned conductors and orchestras. As his biography reveals, in 2014, he was given the honour of playing on Tchaikovskys piano the first pianist to do so since Vladimir Horowitz. Today Farouk has a large repertoire of solo compositions, chamber music and concertos. In 2013, he released Russian Portraits, his debut solo recording album, which David Dubal, the acclaimed American pianist and member of the faculty at the Julliard School summed up as follows: Here is piano playing that brings the chills to the flesh, performed with a rare virtuoso technique. Farouks Cairo recital on 16 May included a number of Rachmaninoffs Preludes which are, among other works, featured at the same CD. Today, in articles by international critics, Farouks name is accompanied by superlatives. Throughout his already very rich career, many journalists have applauded Farouks ability to overcome the challenges, which include his small hands, believed to be an apparent obstacle to playing some elements of the pianistic repertoire, an argument that has nevertheless been refuted by several specialists who point to the technical detours such artists spontaneously implement. On the other hand however, numerous and renowned critics and teachers have been impressed by Farouks talent, technical proficiency, deep understanding of music and unique interpretation. La Tribune Le Progres in France praised his technical virtuosity and expression, his performance at Carnegie Hall in 2013 was described as tremendous music making while another reviewer talks about his ability to live and breathe the music with the poetry of a born artist. Daniel Epstein, a music scholar, says in one YouTube video, Wael has a sense of drama and a sense of sound in his playing which I think is quite special and different. He goes on to explain how Farouk and the piano become one, a very rare quality to be achieved [by a pianist]. We could go on enumerating Farouks successes and the deeply flattering statements made about him in prestigious papers. But it is The New York Concert Reviews description of Farouks performance of Rachmaninoffs Concerto No. 3 as coming from a formidable and magnificent pianist that touches on a unique relation he has built with this particular work and with Rachmaninoff in general. An Odyssey with Rachmaninoff The first time I ever heard Rachmaninoff was when I was 13 [in 1994]. My Russian teacher in Cairo, the late Vsevolod Demidov, whose class I joined redirected by Samir Aziz, gave me a tape and told me, You should listen to those pieces. It had Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major on one side and Rachmaninoffs Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor on the other side. When I listened to Rachmaninoff, I thought it was not real; I felt as if I was flying. Though I could tell it was insanely difficult for me at that age, the next day I went to my professor and told him I had to play it. Of course he just laughed at my naivety, Farouk recalls. But six years later, in 2000, he did play the concerto, with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Patrick Fournillier, giving the Egypts premiere of this monumental work, the first in a number of premieres he was yet give international masterpieces in his home country. Farouk goes on to express his special relation with Rachmaninoff, whose compositions we could hear during his most recent concerts with the orchestra and a recital at the Cairo Opera House. On 14 May he embraced the composers youth by playing his Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor. Farouk extracted from the work its innocent freshness while walking us through a non-uniform palette of texture and phrases. Though the Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 is probably Rachmaninoff best loved by the audiences, the maturity and complexity of Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 is monumental, as Farouk puts it. He then adds that the first concerto has a lot of its own values and a unique charm. Though not hailed as Rachmaninoffs best work, lets not forget that it was Opus 1, the first version of which was born in the idyll of the 18-year-old pianists Ivanovka in the Russian countryside. Helped by irrefutable technical proficiency, and as he moved through the poignantly extrovert first movement Farouk toyed with Rachmaninoffs quasi-juvenile need to overwhelm the listener. Without forcing himself over the composer, but rather walking hand in hand with him, Farouk demonstrated his profound musicianship, especially underscored in the works cadenza. He then poured a lot of warmth into the thoughtful and lyrical Andante Cantabile where Rachmaninoff begins to shape his unique voice through captivating melodies and sincere orchestration, before closing with the bright third movement. Farouk underlines his affinity with this concerto, Though it carries many changes of moods, the transitions make perfect sense, they are not abrupt and do not make you feel uncomfortable. Farouk then mentions the second concerto, which is much more accessible to the audience, before delving into the monumental third concerto. I believe that great contributions to music come from great personalities and Rachmaninoff was one such personality. I admire his music and not only his piano works, but also his choral and chamber compositions. He is always very honest about his emotions, a fact for which he was often criticised, but his music was about beauty and honesty. In his works you can hear how he felt about his country, religion, family. While Rachmaninoff had to leave his country, the deep longing for his homeland speaks through many of his compositions. Farouk points to dozens of composers who moved outside their home country. However, in Rachmaninoff, just like Chopin, he finds a quality that is particularly poignant: the composers strongly rooted family values and longings emerging from this concept. It is rare for a composer to have such strong family ties look at Beethovens difficult character as the other end of the spectrum in this sense. For Rachmaninoff, Russia was that grandness of aristocracy in its best sense. When I went to Russia in 2004, I understood why their composers write this music. Everything is grand. The chandelier is not just a chandelier, it is the grand chandelier. Those people lived in heritage and history and had pride in their country. Rachmaninoff had a very hard time leaving all that and tried to recreate Ivanovka in his Villa Senar in Switzerland. Farouks encounter with Rachmaninoff extended into the solo recital performed on 16 May. In it, he focused on the preludes alongside the composers other short compositions. The first prelude, performed in the second half of the evening, was in G Major (Op. 32, No. 5), the daughter of Farouks favourite. He smiles, showing a video recorded on his mobile phone in which an adorable year-and-a-half-old Nabiela dances to the prelude played by her father. I look at the preludes as I do at Domenico Scarlattis sonatas for instance. They have to go together in structure or mood, he explains. As such the lyrical G Major was followed by a restless C Minor (Op. 23, No 7) and then Rachmaninoffs own favourite, darker in character, inspired by a painting by Arnold Bocklin which he nicknamed The Return/TheHomecoming in B Minor (Op. 32, No 10). It was then contrasted with light texture of the B Major (Op. 32, No. 11), unusual for Rachmaninoff. The emotional journey with Rachmaninoff continued, leading to other works such as the Rachmaninoff-Richardson Vocalise (Op. 24, No. 14) in which Farouks brilliant technique helped him to oscillate between strong passion and a sense of memories, sadness and desolation. He then moved onto the masterfully performed Bach-Rachmaninoff Gavotte from E Major Partita for Violin which is only seemingly simple yet takes a lot of skill to play in as clean a manner as Farouk did while tasting each note, clearly conversing with Bach. The programme closed with an emotional game on Kreisler-Rachmaninoffs Liebeslied (Loves Sorrow) and Liebesfreud (Loves Joy). Mind and soul The music seems to be passing through Farouks mind and body, embodying the pianists knowledge and skill, but only once it is shaped into profound and meaningful sounds and phrases does it emerge confidently, reaching to the listener. In this musical experience, Farouks pianistic eloquence and elasticity do not deceive the audience for one vibration of a musical second. Farouk is too conscientious a pianist to go on stage without his unshakable virtuosity being an indispensable component of the performance. He displays a profound understanding of the composer, music and culture in a broad sense. His deep sensitivity and projected confidence does not come from a vacuum. It is embedded in passion, dedication, endless practice and research in music and culture. Farouk reveals how he pays a lot of attention to reading what is beyond the score. He teaches his students that beyond the technicalities, the style and beyond the ability to perform in front of the audience (which is different to playing at home, as he says), one needs to get as close as possible to the composer. I tell my students that they should play one piece [by a given composer] really well but at the same time they should know all the rest of the compositions of the same composer. At the same time, the performer has to read about the composer, his life, the historical context, his letters, etc. Its like medicine, in a sense, you have to study the whole body to understand a part of it, he explains. Understanding the composer also includes looking into the whole cultural background, the literature, customs and art that surrounded him. For instance, knowing Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Chekov feeds into playing the Russian composers. I encourage my students to read a lot: not only those literary works which have directly inspired the composers but also the much greater cultural reservoir that literature represents. Along the same lines, I dont think anyone should specialise. You can perform one style or one period, but you will still need to know what came before and after, you still need to do a lot of homework. He also reflects on how the pianists personal experiences affect the performance or interpretation of the given work. Music is very elastic. I can hear some people play certain works each time the same way. I think this approach deprives their performance of a personal element, Farouk explains, giving an example of his performance of Rachmaninoffs Concerto No. 2 in early 2015. Our daughter was born on 7 January, my mother passed away on the 11th of the same month. I played on 24 January. Im sure that if I played that concerto 4-5 months earlier, it would have sounded completely different. Music is alive, so are we, we respond to it. The beauty of music is that it lives much longer than the composer. Farouk hopes to transfer his experience onto his students, yet he does not find this task as straightforward as one would imagine. He works on technicalities, inviting students to explore the methodologies captured in works from different epochs: Chopins little teaching book, which he never finished, master classes written down by a Liszt student, Carl Czernys notes about being taught by Beethoven, etc. But immediately he pronounces the shocking truth: I dont think anyone can teach anyone anything. You just show the students the ways and let them play A teacher is like a good parent, you give your student what you know, encourage them and help them to become independent. Even if they study for five, 10, 15 years, at the end of the day, each musician stands alone, and in this he is his own best teacher. You know best how you perform and why you do it this or that way, why it works or doesnt. As such, it is important to continue developing incessantly and to remain humble. This is the kind of respect we should have for our profession. Success as 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work Today, in his mid-30s Farouk is an accomplished pianist with a whole life in front of him and many opportunities still to come. He has already reached a high point and he understands that sustaining this position or climbing higher needs a constant effort and dedication. A big fighter in his own right, he quotes the statement, often attributed to Beethoven, which states that success is made up of 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work. Though Farouks talent is evident since his very early childhood and has helped to be where he is today, he does not talk about talent much. As if to give a living example of what he advocates to his students, his humbleness is astounding. He seems more at ease when talking about the responsibility that a pianist has to himself. This responsibility involves hard work and hours of study. Maybe Farouk no longer practices in front of a piano for 10 or 14 hours a day, but he still spends a lot time daily at the keyboard and intensifies his practice before the concert. He also reveals how he continues studying even when away from the piano, memorising or analysing the score. Music is a tough job. You really need to be a monk in a way. I think that everyone dedicated to work art, painting, writing, music becomes this kind of monk. Its not about being obsessed but simply committed and dedicated. You are the most honest critic of your work. Beyond hours of practice, one needs to train the mind and be ready to play under any circumstances, one needs to be prepared for different surroundings for example, a difficult rehearsal, an uncomfortable instrument, an audience that might have problems, etc. While each artist is very sensitive inside, on the outside outside he or she needs to be as strong as an elephant. This is to protect oneself. And while the life of a monk is not a bed of roses for the musician himself, it is no easier for the musicians family either. Farouk repeatedly stresses the great support he received from his parents and teachers and the love and understanding given to him by his wife of nine years, Amy. Yet, despite all his success and recognition, Farouk remains a typical, self-critical artist. When asked if he is satisfied with his performances, or at least most of them, he swiftly replies, No, Im not. I think you should not be too easy on yourself. It is not good for the musical conscience. Away from the concert halls, Farouk records dozens of works in his repertoire, often repeating the same composition more than once. Not only do they represent a testimony to his range as a performer, they are also lessons in his progress, a document to go back to, revise and develop. At the present time Farouk is preparing to perform the complete keyboard works of Brahms, including chamber music, which represents an important piano literature. And by 2020 he plans to have performed the complete keyboard works of J.S. Bach as well. Definitely we will still hear a lot from Farouk, whether in Egypt or internationally. It is a pleasure and a privilege to follow on his achievements. This article was first published in Al Ahram Weekly (addtional editing: 30 May) For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: Samsung's Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S6 both come with "edge" editions that flaunt curved displays and attractive screens, however the curve isn't really an all-important trait in smartphones. Samsung has stirred conversations in the past by teasing fans with foldable smartphones and tablets, but if rumors doing rounds are anything to go by, the South-Korean tech firm is prepping to launch a different type of foldable display. A Galaxy X flagship flaunting a flexible display will reportedly verge on the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S line in 2017. The popular South-Korean smartphone maker is flaunting a prototype display that would enable a handset to be rolled up, Yahoo reported. Apparently, the technology already exists, and Samsung took the wraps off a rollable OLED screen at the SID 2016 event in San Francisco. The rollable OLED measures 5.7-inches when it's rolled up, but easily fits into a 35mm film canister. In addition, it offers Full HD resolution i.e. 1920 x 1080 pixels, according to reports on Slashgear, which also captured the video showing the technology. Check it out below: Without the touch layer on top, the featherweight (5g) foldable OLED screen is just 0.3mm thick. The technology, without question is impressive and could help Samsung and other smartphone makers to introduce new form factors to the smartphone space, compact devices that can be converted into small tablets or phablets simply by employing a foldable screen. Samsung will lock horns with LG - both preeminent makers of flexible displays. The technology will probably be used first in smartphones and wearables, followed later by automotive displays and tablets. According to Guillaume Chansin, senior technology analyst with research firm IDTechEx, foldable displays will enable users to carry large display in a modest portable device. LG, which is also working on foldable screens, trotted out an impressive 18-inch flexible OLED display during the CES 2016 event held in Las Vegas in January. If existing reports proved true, Samsung's foldable device will actually fold in half - like a wallet. Until Samsung confirms the rumors, we suggest fans take this with a grain of salt. Tech giant Apple plans to incorporate a camera in its product which could come in the form of a smart speaker to rival Amazon's Echo. This new technology will make the device "self aware" and detect anyone in the room through facial recognition technology. According to CNET, these new features would allow the device robotically gets its user's preferences specifically in the music and lighting they prefer. The hardware could be released by the end of 2016. However, it would more likely be available in Q1 of 2017. But Apple could still change its plans to comprise a camera or even plunk the device completely. Apple has declined to comment. An emerging area called the "Internet of Things" is becoming the new battleground for tech giants. It is a new place that links together just about everything that plugs to an electrical outlet so the gadgets can correspond with one another, CNET added. Amazon has trailblazed the central role in that transition in homes with its built-in voice assistant called Alexa. Now Apple trails itself behind the pack amid Siri's launch before digital assistants came into trend. The Echo and Google's Google Home are both voice-activated speakers that allow you control your home appliances through speaking instructions aloud. Apple's rumored Echo version will also obey voice commands through Siri, The Information reported. Meanwhile, Apple's plan of putting intelligent cameras into devices can be a risk because it raises questions on privacy. When Intel planned to launch a TV box with a camera, it ditched the plan for its first product, CNET said. The Intel Company said that was due to the cost and the time it would take to build the device, but it also received a major backlash over concerns that the box would watch you constantly. Intel eventually sold that business, called OnCue, to Verizon, which did away with the hardware in favor of a streaming service called Go90. 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. Input Sought on UW Provost Finalists University of Wyoming employees and students have the opportunity to provide input on the three finalists for the position of provost/vice president for academic affairs until 5 p.m. Sunday, May 29. Surveys for all three finalists -- Kate Miller, dean of the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University; Terence Parker, professor of mechanical engineering and former provost/executive vice president of Colorado School of Mines; and Jeffrey Thompson, dean of the College of Science at the University of Nevada-Reno -- may be found here. Also available at that site will be information about each candidate, along with video recordings of their public presentations on campus -- and of their meetings with associate deans, directors and department heads. Thompsons public meeting is 2 p.m. today (Friday). The provost search process is similar to that used by the UW Board of Trustees in its selection of President Laurie Nichols. The committee has sought input from campus constituencies and established desired qualifications and characteristics; has reviewed and interviewed applicants; and has arrived at a list of finalists. The president will recommend a selection to the Board of Trustees. The provost/vice president for academic affairs is the second-ranking leadership position at the university. Current Vice President for Academic Affairs David Jones will return to his position on the faculty of the College of Health Sciences. National Small Business Road Tour to Visit UW Small businesses that have new, innovative products or service concepts, but need additional research and development to bring them to market, can learn how to access the governments $2.5 billion early-stage research funding programs. The SBIR Road Tour is a national outreach effort that will explain the concept to commercialization funding opportunities provided through the University of Wyomings Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers are invited to attend the Laramie SBIR Road Tour stop Monday, June 27, from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m., at the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility, at 10th and Lewis streets, on the UW campus. The program will include a continental breakfast and lunch as part of the $25 registration fee. Participants can register and pay online at www.wyen.biz/events. This is a national effort to publicize the SBIR and STTR government programs that can fund the research, development and commercialization of innovative new products and services, says Cindy Unger, business adviser of UWs Small Business Development Center (SBDC). These programs are an amazing opportunity for Wyoming entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers. The SBDC also will be sponsoring a series of pre-road tour webinars to familiarize attendees with these opportunities. The SBIR Road Tour is a unique opportunity to hear directly from 11 federal program managers of the various agencies that provide research funding. Participating agencies include the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security; NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In addition, attendees also will have the opportunity to meet individually with agency representatives to discuss their specific innovation ideas. Scheduling information to sign up for the one-on-one sessions will be emailed to participants after they register. The Wyoming SBDC Network will present a series of pre-program webinars with Mark Henry, a nationally recognized SBIR expert. For more information, go to www.wyen.biz/events. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least two weeks in advance. For more information, call the SBDC at (307) 382-0947. The SBDC is funded, in part, through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Additional support is provided by the Wyoming Business Council and UW. For more information, go to www.wyen.biz. Wyoming Business Tips for June 5-11 A weekly look at Wyoming business questions from the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (WSBDC), part of WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz, a collection of business assistance programs at the University of Wyoming. By Bruce Morse, WSBDC Region II director Besides the customary liability and commercial coverage on company assets, are there other types of insurance I should consider? Larry, Riverton I recently had some surgery on my hand, which has made it painfully clear the difficulty some small businesses would have operating in the event the owner or key employee was injured. Years ago, I worked with an owner-operator trucking company. The owner was tarping a large load, and a gust of wind caught the tarp and threw him off the trailer, severely damaging his arm. Consequently, he was unable to drive for a period of time, had to hire a replacement driver who cost him most of his profits, and this driver did not take care of the truck like an owner would. This unfortunate event nearly cost him his business. While this was most likely a personal injury coverage situation, having additional coverage would have helped. I recall another instance when a motel burned down late one evening. The owner had the property insured, of course, and was able to rebuild the structure, but this took considerable time to accomplish. In the meantime, he had no revenue coming in to live on. These two incidents illustrate that, while none of us likes to pay for insurance coverage, it serves a valuable purpose in protecting a business and lifestyle. Depending on the type of business, different coverage options might make sense for the business owner. Business interruption, key man or buy/sell, professional liability, commercial auto, and something that has been in the news lately, data breach or cybersecurity, are all possible needs in addition to basic commercial property coverage. I encourage business owners to contact insurance agents and visit about appropriate coverages for their businesses. A local SBDC adviser, while not an insurance professional, can help with possible types of coverage needed and can suggest questions to ask an agent. A blog version of this article and an opportunity to post comments is available at www.wyen.biz/blog1/. The WSBDC is a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Wyoming Business Council and the University of Wyoming. To ask a question, call 1-800-348-5194, email wsbdc@uwyo.edu, or write 1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3922, Laramie, WY, 82071-3922. On May 20th 2015 Hideo Itami was scheduled to face Tyler Breeze and Finn Balor in a #1 Contendership Triple Threat at NXT: Takeover Unstoppable. This was going to be the biggest match in Itamis WWE career to that point. Itami misses out on huge opportunity However just before the event Itami was allegedly attacked backstage and suffered a shoulder injury. While never explicitly stated the footage revealed that Kevin Owens was nearby during the attack but we never found out who attacked him. The decision was not taken lightly as Itami had suffered a legitimate shoulder injury, which required surgery and was expected to sideline him for six months. This made the match a singles match which Balor won to earn a title match. However in January of this year it was reported that Itami had suffered complications with the shoulder injury and was now going to take longer to heal that first thought. Hideo to return sometime in June News broke earlier in the week that Hideo Itami is expected to be returning to WWE within the next few weeks. Itami has been out of action for 13 months following shoulder surgery and long-term rehabilitation. It has been a long road to recover for the Japanese Sensation who will return to a completely different line-up of superstars to the one that was there before his injury. What is next for the Japenese Sensation? Itami might go after his former partner. Photo- Sportskeeda.com When he returns surely he will look to go after the person that attacked him more than a year ago but just who could be responsible for the attack. Well the most obvious candidate is Finn Balor who won the match and may have attacked Itami as he felt that a triple threat may have been too much to handle. Another good choice would be Kevin Owens as he was seen on the video in the vicinity of the attack. Owens may have done this knowing that Itami may get a future title shot against him. Owens may also have been preemptively attacking a potential challenger. Is Itami Main Roster Ready? However the problem with that is both these superstars could be on the main roster when he returns and the question that is on the minds of all WWE fans is would the company put Itami straight up on the main? Many believe that this is what they should do as it would be pointless to put back down in NXT as he may have lost some of the steam he had been building up before his injury a year ago. Nearly two dozen athletes have tested positive for banned drugs in a reanalysis of samples from the 2012 London Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said Friday. The 23 athletes, from six different countries and from five sports, will not be identified until a final confirmation test is carried out. If the doping is confirmed, the athletes will be ineligible to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August and will have their results from the London Olympics, and any medals, stripped. The IOC stores doping samples from blood and urine tests from athletes for 10 years so they can be reanalyzed when new testing methods become available. SHARE STOCK PHOTO Jolley Staben Saunders MALIBU Retailer opens 1st West Coast store Malibu Country Mart continues to expand its diverse collection of boutiques and unique retailers with the opening of Faherty's flagship and first West Coast retail store. Faherty was founded in 2013 by twin brothers Alex and Mike Faherty, formerly in private equity and a designer at Ralph Lauren respectively. The brand incorporates Native American weavings, Japanese indigo dye processes, and inspirations and techniques from global cultures and traditions. Faherty at Malibu Country Mart will showcase the brand's men's and women's ready-to-wear collections and signature eco-friendly swimwear line, in addition to selling a curated selection of accessory brands and beach essentials. The store encompasses 1,000 square feet and uses whitewashed barnwood, bamboo accents, archival photographs, vintage surfboards and antique finds from the brothers' travels around the world. Faherty is at 3835 Cross Creek Road, Suite 45. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. OXNARD Local law office gains partner The law office of Lowthorp, Richards, McMillan, Miller & Templeman has named associate Cristian R. Arrieta as a partner of the firm, according to Patrick T. Loughman, managing partner. Based in Oxnard, Lowthorp Richards specializes in business, estate, family, and injury law. The firm maintains the highest possible legal rating in the national attorney directory of Martindale-Hubbell. Arrieta's areas of expertise include trusts and estates, business and property law. A graduate of CSU Northridge with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, Arrieta received his juris doctor from the California Western School of Law and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2005. Outside of the law office, he is a volunteer member of Women's Economic Ventures as well as Senior Concerns in Thousand Oaks. Other philanthropic activities include serving as past chairman of SCORE and past president of the Camarillo Breakfast Rotary Club. Arrieta is a native Southern Californian, was raised in the area, also lived in Lima, Peru, and is fluent in Spanish. He and his family live in Newbury Park. SIMI VALLEY DaVita leases office building The operators of DaVita Dialysis Centers have leased a full office building at Hillside Business Center, Simi Valley, according to Cory Richmond and Joe Jusko, principals of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, who represented landlord Mid Valley Properties in the transaction. Total Renal Care Inc. leased the 11,238-square-foot building at 970 Enchanted Way in Simi Valley for 120 months. Total consideration for the transaction is in excess of $3,000,000. Hillside Business Center is a 97,294-square-foot office and industrial complex. DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., provides dialysis and other services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end-stage renal disease through 2,278 outpatient centers throughout the United States. THOUSAND OAKS ProDIGIQ receives industry recognition ProDIGIQ Inc. of Thousand Oaks was recognized for outstanding service to the aviation industry with the 2016 Corporate Cup of Excellence Award during the American Association of Airport Executives annual conference in Houston on May 18. This recognition is granted by the association to honor companies that have made significant contributions to the association and the airport industry. ProDIGIQ CEO Arpit Malaviya and President Anita Venkataraman accepted the award during the event. ProDIGIQ was previously given the 2014 Corporate Award of Excellence by the Northwest Chapter of the association and the 2011 Corporate Award of Excellence by the Southwest Chapter of the association, an award that recognizes companies that have made a significant difference in fostering aviation through professionalism and recent contributions. ProDIGIQ is an aviation software company that has grown to 75 aviation clients globally since its inception in 2008. VENTURA Store hires bench jeweler Dale Jolley has joined Fox Fine Jewelry as a bench jeweler. Jolley is a certified master bench jeweler, part of an elite group of just 125 jewelers nationwide who have attained the highest rank. He relocated from Denver's Hyde Park Jewelers. Jolley brings more than 30 years of jewelry experience, with a special expertise in platinum and gold custom jewelry, and diamond and gemstone setting. A certified master bench jeweler is the fourth and highest jeweler certification in the United States, bestowed by the Jewelers of America organization in New York City. The rigorous 46.5-hour exam is a combination of written and practical skills testing. Applicants who pass the exam generally have many years of experience and training. Fox Fine Jewelry, in downtown Ventura since 1998, is owned by George and Debbie Fox. George Fox is a certified gemologist who travels to Antwerp, Belgium, annually for diamonds. His expertise includes custom jewelry made using computer modeling, antique restoration and advanced repairs. Debbie Fox is a certified public accountant who is responsible for the business operations and the art gallery. Debbie was a recipient of the city of Ventura Mayor's Arts Award and the Ventura County Arts Council Award. Fox Fine Jewelry is at 560 E. Main St. Their hours are from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 652-1800 or visit http://foxfinejewelry.com. WESTLAKE VILLAGE Division expanded; new hires named Westcord Commercial Real Estate Services has decided to expand its property management division. According to Tony Principe, president of Westcord, they recently added four properties to Westcord property management's accounts totaling more than 200,000 square feet. Principe has hired Lisa Staben, a Conejo Valley native, as senior property manager. Staben has been active in real estate since graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2005. Staben holds her certified property manager designation with the Institute of Real Estate Management and is involved in training and development for the local chapter. Westcord also announced that Brett Saunders, of Agoura Hills, has joined the team as an office specialist. Saunders has a bachelor of science in business administration/marketing from CSU Long Beach and began his career in the construction industry. For the past four years, he served as superintendent and project manager for Smith Bros. Inc. of Westlake Village, a firm that specializes in high-end custom homes. Westcord Commercial Group was founded in 1969 and provides brokerage, leasing, management, development and investment expertise to the Southern California region. VENTURA COUNTY Credit union starts foundation Ventura County Credit Union, a community-chartered financial institution with more than 70,000 members, announced the launch of the Foundation of Ventura County Credit Union. The foundation was established as a nonprofit entity with a mission to provide financial assistance and education to the local community. Since its founding in 1950, the credit union has maintained a long-standing commitment to charitable giving. In the past five years, the credit union has donated more than half a million dollars to local organizations and causes. With the credit union's healthy financial returns and the generosity of its member base, the credit union hopes to increase its philanthropic efforts in Ventura County and Santa Barbara County through the foundation. The foundation has already raised more than $20,000 from credit union employees, volunteers and several long-standing credit union members. Its goal is to raise $150,000 for the community by the end of 2016. The funds raised by the foundation will go to grants for nonprofits based in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and the foundation's grant cycle will run from June 1 through July 31. For a limited time, community members have the opportunity to become a member of the Founder's Circle with a donation to the foundation of $500 or more. The Founder's Circle memberships, which began May 1, will last to June 30. All funds that are raised through the Founder's Circle, as well as through general annual memberships, will go directly back into the local community. With Natalie Yanez, board president of the foundation and the credit union's director of community partnerships, and Joe Schroeder, vice president of the foundation and CEO of the credit union, at the helm, the foundation's leadership team also includes Linda Rossi of the credit union. Board members are Terry Ball, Robert Marshall, Alma Medina, Stacy Oates and Sandra Tolks. To learn more about the foundation or to become a member and donate, visit http://www.tfvccu.org. Airport chief gets national position Todd McNamee, Ventura County director of airports, has been elected as secretary/treasurer of the American Association of Airport Executives for 2016-2017. With this role, McNamee is in line to assume the role of association chair in 2019-20 and also serves on the association's executive committee and board of directors. Founded in 1928, the association is the world's largest professional organization representing the men and women who work at public-use commercial and general aviation airports. "The County of Ventura is very proud of Todd's selection for this key leadership role in this important national airport association. He has done a great job of managing the county's two airports and business parks and is passionate about aviation," County Executive Officer Michael Powers said. McNamee joined the county government in 2001 as the deputy director of airports and was appointed as the director of airports in 2005. He oversees the operations, maintenance, and development of the Camarillo Airport and Oxnard Airport. "I am honored and humbled to be elected to this esteemed position," McNamee said. To share news about your company or business-related organization, email business@vcstar.com. If there is an event involved, please email the information at least three weeks in advance of the event. SHARE FILE PHOTO State Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson, D- Santa Barbara By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star A bill that says only licensed physicians may conduct autopsies in California cleared a critical test Friday and is headed for a vote next week in the state Senate. Voting 5-2, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the measure and sent it on to the Senate floor, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson said Friday. "We're in business," said Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who is co-authoring the legislation that was introduced by Dr. Richard Pan, a state senator from Sacramento. "I am hoping the bill will pass." The legislation, Senate Bill 1189, had been placed on suspense because costs could exceed $50,000. Had it remained there, the legislation would have died for the year, Jackson said. The legislation would require that the results of a forensic autopsy and the cause and manner of death be determined by a licensed physician. That's been an issue in Ventura County, where an unlicensed assistant performed post-mortem examinations under the direction of a medical examiner who was vacationing thousands of miles away. Prosecutors found that practice inappropriate but not illegal, calling for clarification in California law. District Attorney Greg Totten says the law needs to define what an autopsy is, who may perform one and what the roles of the physician versus the assistant should be. Ventura is one of relatively few counties in the state with physician-run systems for investigating deaths. Most counties in California operate with coroners, a position that is often filled by a sheriff without a medical license. Jackson said the committee's main concern centered on the requirement that only a doctor can determine manner of death. Members feared that would mean every death that is investigated by a coroner or medical examiner would require an autopsy, she said. "We haven't reached agreement on that issue," she said. Another issue centers on the access law enforcement may have to observing autopsies. The bill would require that all people in the autopsy suite have specified training. It would authorize certain law enforcement personnel to be present at the discretion of the pathologist conducting the autopsy, according to a committee analysis. It would prohibit law enforcement personnel directly involved with a death related to law enforcement activity from being involved in a postmortem exam or autopsy. Jackson said there is an effort to narrow access to law enforcement officers whose participation is appropriate to the investigation. SHARE There are two versions of President Barack Obama: one who preaches unity, compromise, listening to opponents and avoiding division, and one who, in practice, doesn't compromise, doesn't listen, spouts nastiness and alienates. The latest bout of preaching a fine, fine speech, one of his best came during graduation ceremonies at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C. He told a cheering crowd that even though things are better for blacks in America than they have ever been, injustices remain and the graduates should be civically engaged and never fear to speak out. What he then underlined is that, if they really want to accomplish something, they should also recognize the good in their opponents, understand they may have points worth considering, pay attention to their words, work with them and seek common ground. This advice echoed the speech that first won him widespread, jubilant notice. At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the Illinois state senator said let's all hold hands liberals, conservatives, red states, blue states, blacks, whites everyone. Only by coming together could America overcome its travails, he intoned as hallelujahs arose from the audience and then around the nation. Four years later, after a hope-and-change campaign, he was elected president and at his inaugural glaringly said his predecessor's years in office had been witness to politics that were greedy, petty, irresponsible, discordant and dishonest. He called again for unity and then headed to the White House to further demonstrate how to smash that particular hope. As an account by Fred Barnes in The Weekly Standard relates, Obama soon met with a bipartisan group from Congress, explained his stimulus approach and had a quick reply for a Republican senator who asked if some other ideas might be considered. "I won," he said. He was even more emphatic in a later speech on the economy: "I don't want the folks who created this mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way." When Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, Republicans were pretty much skipped over in the passing of major legislation. And when the GOP captured the House, they were not sought out for negotiation, a skill Obama never acquired. They were instead subjected to name-calling, Obama's compensating talent. His speeches typically made Republicans out to be stupid and indecent, as in his remark once that they wanted "dirtier air, dirtier water, less (sic) people with health insurance." The Republicans were scarcely angels, but those who insist stalemate was mostly their doing forget or never learned about the tricks of an Obama accomplice known as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Democrat played anti-democratic games even displeasing to many in his own party and killed far more bills coming out of the House than the House killed bills coming out of the Senate. When voters gave Republicans control of both houses, Obama made out as if the two-thirds of eligible voters who stayed home were as important as the one third that turned out at the polls. He let it be known unilateralism was coming, it did, and, it has been pointed out, there is no more effective way to infuriate Congress than to unconstitutionally treat it as irrelevant. Besides still more affronts to Republicans in Washington, Obama has also struck out at Midwesterners (they "cling to their guns and religion"), the population generally (racism is "part of our DNA") and police (they persistently discriminate against blacks). Surveys have shown Obama to be among the most polarizing presidents in the past 60 years and more, and what arises out of that are extremities, erosion of trust, malfunctioning of government, societal antagonisms and a failure to achieve one's best ends. Here's the answer for his last months in office: He should practice what he preaches. Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com. SHARE Our war stories are often written very large. They explain the diplomatic missteps that led nations to push their armies nose to nose. They detail battle plans and battle actions. They list cumulative numbers of casualties. And they often highlight the anecdotal individual story to help us understand that war. On Memorial Day, we collectively have a brief moment to reflect on the individual; the men and women who served their countries in war and peace, who made up the vast armies and fought the mighty battles, and lived far from home as they often were forced to grow up too fast into adults. Most of us can and do honor a relative on this Memorial Day. My father-in-law served during World War II in Europe. My father served in the same war in the Pacific. My father-in-law saw battle. Being a writer and romantic, he also managed to cherish Paris and the rest of Europe he experienced courtesy of the U.S. government. My father never saw battle. He was always engaged in training to be ready for the next engagement but never shipped out. He was in love from the day he entered the service and spent his war longing to be back home with his bride. My father-in-law's World War II letters, diaries and memorabilia were tragically discarded. My father's letters to his fiance and then wife were carefully saved, in their envelopes, day by day, from April 1942 until he returned home in February 1946. They remained bound together, stored for a generation on closet shelves and under beds. Last summer, some of you may remember, I shared a letter my father wrote my mother from Hawaii on the day the war ended, which also happened to be their second anniversary. I used those letters to write a family history book about my parents. When that project was done, I was then left with this box of nearly 400 letters and the knowledge that their value to the next generations was steadily fading. That's when I stumbled on Andrew Carroll. He spoke last November at the Camarillo Public Library to tell how he came to write his book, "War Letters." It is an intriguing snippet of nearly 60,000 war letters he had acquired in the past 18 years. Two years ago, Carroll agreed to hand over the collection to Chapman University in Orange, which created the Center for American War Letters, or CAWL. Down the basement steps of the Chapman library, you can turn right to the vast Huell Howser collection or you can turn left to a few spare rooms and the infancy of the CAWL. There is a large reading room with wonderful banners highlighting letters from each major U.S. conflict. A display case lines one wall, and a few tables with computers are set up for the handful of researchers who have discovered the archive. Under the direction of a passionate archivist, Lauren Menges, the library is slowly beginning to make this vast collection accessible. It includes letters from soldiers in every major U.S. conflict, dating to the Revolutionary War. About half are the precious original letters. It's a daunting but exciting task to categorize groups of letters to describe their content and value. And, the library hopes, to ultimately digitize each one to make them even more useful to generations of researchers. These letters do not tell the big stories of these wars. They tell the stories of each day of the war, told in real time by the men and women who were living it. They shared boredom and fear. They spent vast handwritten pages describing longing and camaraderie. They described the military of their officers, and the vastly different military of the soldiers. Their voices changed in those letters as, over the years at war, they grew from kids to men, unseen by loved ones at home. We are proud we could donate my parents' letters to this collection. If you have letters from soldiers away at war, I would urge you to consider donating them, too. You can check out the archive and donation process at www.chapman.edu/research-and-institutions/cawl. It's exciting to know that my father's letters might someday provide others with a glimpse of his life, and the life of the soldier. John T. Moore is editor of the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at john.moore@vcstar.com or 805-437-0200. SHARE To all On this solemn Memorial Day weekend, we prepare to honor those who, in service to this nation, paid the ultimate sacrifice. Only those who have experienced it can truly understand the horrors of battle and the courage it takes to move forward knowing death could occur at any moment. We owe these fallen comrades in arms a debt of gratitude for their unselfishness in helping keep this nation free. Each of us should take a break Monday from the indulgences of celebrating the unofficial start of summer to bow our heads for a minute at 3 p.m. (the National Moment of Remembrance) and say, "Thanks." To nostalgia buffs Another slice of American culture is heading for oblivion. Oxnard is looking to replace the Skyview Drive-In on Oxnard Boulevard with a 240-unit affordable apartment complex. While such housing can be a boon to a community, it comes with a bit of sadness. A little mourning can't be helped for those who remember spending sultry summer nights under the stars with the kids falling asleep in the back seat, with hamburgers and hot dogs and popcorn to munch, and with that "oops" moment when you heard the sound of a window cracking because you forgot to remove the speaker as you drove away. To motorists If you hadn't heard and were wondering about the congestion and noise around Ventura College on Thursday, it came because presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was holding a rally there. He is the first Democratic candidate to visit the county this election cycle. Eleven Republican candidates were at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in September. It's always nice to be courted. To Venturans It's official. Your City Council decided to place a half-cent sales tax increase on the already-crowded November ballot on the assumption people will understand the need for it and support the measure. But it might not be the only tax Ventura voters will face. The Ventura Unified School Districts is mulling over a $59 annual parcel tax measure, and the Ventura County Transportation Commission is seeking to add a half-cent sales tax proposal. Is it silly to hope that one day a measure will seek to decrease taxes? To Thousand Oaks High Congratulations are in order for science teacher Nikki Malhotra, who was named Teacher of the Year for the Senior Division at the California State Science Fair held at the California Science Center in Los Angeles' Exposition Park. Kudos also go out to several Ventura County students from other schools who took home first-, third- and fourth-place awards. To voters For those of you who, while registered to vote but without a party preference, want to cast an absentee ballot, you have until Tuesday to request online a ballot for the Democratic, American Independent or Libertarian parties, the only ones that allow this. If you do not chose one of those three ballots, then you will be unable to vote for a presidential candidate in the June 7 primary. If you miss the online request deadline, you can still pick up the ballot of your choice in person at the Elections Division at the Ventura County Government Center. To Oxnard It is understandable that frustration is the order of the day as city officials contend with the long-delayed annual audit needed for an accurate portrait of city finances. That delay now adds pressure on city officials working on the budget for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. It also creates difficulties as the city negotiates contracts with police, fire and operating engineer unions, because the city cannot yet back up its claims that some cuts will be necessary. Patience must be the byword of the day. To tweeters Twitter will no longer count photos, videos, GIFs and polls toward the 140-character limit for tweets. Still, oops. Pa must run. #outofspace SHARE There's a smug quality about the California Democratic Party as it heads toward a primary likely to produce more intraparty runoffs than ever before, possibly ranging right up to the ballot-topping race to succeed Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate. But just because as many as 30 runoffs may pit Democrat vs. Democrat this fall, that does not mean all is hunky-dory for this party. Before this spring's big registration rush to vote for Bernie Sanders for president, the party had gained only about 75,000 registered voters since 2012, despite California's significant population increases. Yes, Democrats do enjoy a 17-point registration advantage over Republicans one reason both major parties have considered this state "safe" for Democratic presidential candidates for two decades. But no, Democrats are not justified in crowing about it. That's because mid-May figures from Secretary of State Alex Padilla demonstrate that typically in recent years, when new voters register, they sign up as "no party preference (NPP)," refusing to identify with either party. The rise in NPP registration from 21 percent of the total in 2012 to more than 24 percent today is completely unprecedented and represents an almost total rejection of both parties. Yes, Republicans have actually lost hundreds of thousands of their adherents to the NPP column, far more than Democrats have lost, but Democratic numbers are not growing much despite the party's expensive and labor-intensive outreach and registration efforts. This could have great meaning in the primary, where polls show that among many likely voters, Hillary Clinton represents the traditional Democratic Party, while rival Sanders has become the latest emblem of change. The last time she ran for president, in 2008, perceptions were similar, but NPP registration was far lower. So Mrs. Clinton won a big plurality in California that spring, enough to keep her going through months of losses to "hope-and-change" symbol Barack Obama in other states. This time, California votes almost last, and as usual its vote will have only symbolic meaning. Since NPP voters can cast ballots in Democratic primaries but not Republican ones, their impact will be felt far greater on the Democratic side. Many of those NPP voters are young people only recently eligible to participate the same kind of voters who gave energy and manpower to Obama's campaigns. They could create a generational split in the Democratic vote. The trick for Democrats this fall will be getting those young NPP voters to turn out again in November. Academic studies indicate it's highly unlikely the new voters would go Republican in the fall, as very few voters switch parties during an election year even if the candidate they liked in the primary has lost. But they might stay home unless Mrs. Clinton can motivate them in a way she has not so far. So Democrats appear just as flummoxed by the NPP phenomenon as Republicans. Both parties sometimes react to the reluctance of youths to choose a party by reminding new voters of what happened many years ago. Mrs. Clinton, for example, has difficulty comprehending that feminist appeals have not worked well with young women voters, who take for granted the status she helped win for them via her efforts in the 1970s and '80s, long before she became a national figure. Younger voters, male and female, tell poll takers they are more interested in what they believe a Democrat might do for them in the next few years. This message from youth, both registered Democrats and those with no party preference, is one reason Mrs. Clinton this year has adopted a more strongly liberal tone. She strongly stresses immigration reform, increased wages and voting rights. None of that is likely to change the pattern of new voters steering clear of all political parties. Which means Democrats can't be smug, any more than the shrinking GOP should be depressed. For the tide moving toward no party preference is not yet fully understood by either party, and if they make wrong moves, the errors could redound for years. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. SHARE For a family celebration a decade past, we went to a restaurant at the Ventura Harbor, and in addition to chips, salsa and albondigas soup, followed by tacos, enchiladas and fajitas, our waitress served us something that wasn't on the menu: a role model. We didn't realize this at that moment, but over time as we got to know this waitress more personally, it became clear that Francelia Teran is as inspiring as any superstar you will find on a bedroom poster. "She-roe" is the term coined by Maya Angelou to describe women like Fran. Earning a college degree is a lofty achievement under any circumstances, but Fran's journey to the stage at CSU Channel Islands last Saturday to receive her bachelor's degree in psychology was lengthier than most. Her pomp-and-circumstance walk required overcoming arduous circumstances. For one thing, her father died when Fran was 14. The second shoe dropped a year later when her mother walked away from the family. "I became a hard worker at a young age," Fran recalls of her childhood in Mexico City. "When I came to America, I learned the language, and my educational journey began." Faced with detours, she refused to be deterred. "I am a strong, sensitive and productive woman," Fran says. "I have encountered in my life many issues, but that hasn't stopped me with my education." Indeed, working the long, late hours of a waitress and then coming home to read an assignment for class, or study for a test, or write a research paper into the wee morning hours before going to bed, and then rising early to go to classes requires determination, dedication and sleep deprivation. On top of work and school, Fran's full plate has also included being a wife and mother. And despite the burden of college tuition, she has continued to send financial assistance to her extended family in Mexico City. "I believe there is only one way to accomplish a dream," Fran says, flashing her familiar radiant smile. "By taking the action of doing it." She took action and earned an associate of science degree from Ventura College in 2009 and then a second degree there, in psychology in 2013, before transferring to Channel Islands. In addition to the time demands of family, work and classes, Fran faced a language challenge. While she proudly considers becoming bilingual one of her greatest accomplishments, the truth is that reading textbooks and literature assignments, and writing papers and answering exam questions, in English is a barrier for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Time and nuance get lost in translation. In this light, her success in the classroom merits bonus acclaim. But Fran would sooner serve the wrong order than serve up an excuse. "I don't let life issues stop me with my education," she says. "The journey has been long. My son now is 17, and I have the great love of my husband. We encountered many struggles economically, socially, racially and culturally. However, we are hardworking people. "My main goal is to serve as a role model for my son and also for many Hispanic women like me. If I can do this, anyone can do it regardless of their migratory status, economic issues and the language barrier." Last Saturday evening, Fran's family, friends and co-workers actually, "family" seems to describe them all filled the second-floor patio of Margarita Villa to celebrate her accomplishment. The cold sea breeze blowing in was no match for the warmth of the occasion. "Today, I am not only celebrating my graduation from Channel Islands University," Fran told her well-wishers. "Today, I am making a difference in my community, in my life and in my son's life. I am an example of breaking the barriers. I want to be a good example for my son, for my nieces and nephews, and for many women who work hard. "I believe in dreams, but I also believe in working to obtain something," she said. "You can absolutely not accept 'no' as an answer when you have a dream." Inspiring advice from a Fran-tastic role model. Woody Woodburn's email address is WoodyWriter@gmail.com. His new book, "Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love and Laughter," is available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com. SHARE The following editorial appeared in USA TODAY: The U.S. corporate tax system is an unholy mess. This is evident in the piles of cash that U.S. companies hoard overseas, where it is not subject to the punitively high 35 percent American corporate tax rate. USA TODAY reported Monday that five top tech companies alone Alphabet, Apple, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Oracle collectively held $504 billion in cash at the end of last year, 87.5 percent of which was parked abroad. That money is earning paltry amounts of interest rather than being reinvested in America or given to shareholders in the form of dividends. The mess is also evident in so-called corporate inversions, a favored ruse whereby a U.S.-based company buys a smaller overseas company and claims its country (with its lower tax rates) as its new corporate home. This spring, the Treasury Department reworked its rules to thwart a plan by drug manufacturer Pfizer to purchase Allergan and move its incorporation to Ireland. The best way to deal with inversions and other tax-avoidance games is to cut the high corporate tax rates that are prompting corporate leaders to seek relief in gimmicks. Like so much else in Washington, however, efforts to fix the corporate tax mess are going nowhere fast. Congress is loath to take on a tough issue. And the Obama administration continues to push Band-Aid efforts. Some of the tax-rate cuts could be paid for simply by getting rid of myriad loopholes that pollute the tax code. President Obama has proposed cutting the top rate of 35 percent to 28 percent without losing any revenue. That would be a good start. Even so, the top rate would need to fall to about 20 percent to be competitive with other nations. Although it might seem out of step with today's anti-corporate mood, at least two strong cases can be made for doing just that: For starters, companies complaining about the high U.S. tax rates have a point. If they pay 35 percent (plus an average of 5 percent in state taxes), they are at a distinct disadvantage to companies based in Ireland (which pay 12.5 percent) or Great Britain (a 20 percent rate). Investment capital will naturally flow to overseas companies that can glean higher after-tax profits than their U.S. counterparts from running similar businesses. It will also flow to them because U.S. companies are liable for U.S. taxes on profits earned outside of the country, while companies based in most other countries pay taxes only on profits within their borders. The second reason for cutting the corporate rate is perhaps more compelling and more counterintuitive: The corporate tax is actually one of the most regressive taxes in the U.S. code. Cutting it, and making up the lost revenue with higher marginal rates on upper-income individuals, would be a boon to middle-class families. The dirty little secret of the corporate income tax is that corporations don't really pay taxes. They are not living beings that know they are being taxed. Rather, shareholders shoulder the burden in the form of reduced dividends and lower stock valuations. If a company's "effective" tax rate (after all deductions and credits) is 27 percent, that is what shareholders pay. And they pay that whether they own 10 shares or 10 million shares, and whether those shares are in a standard account or in an IRA, 401(k) or pension fund. All of this points to a single, simple conclusion. The way to bring home the hundreds of billions of dollars parked abroad, and put an end to inversions, is to fix the corporate tax code. USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Halloween weekend in Las Vegas kicked off Friday night at TAO with Veuve Clicquots Yelloween celebration hosted by Ryan Kwanten (Photo credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage). The True Blood star, who will also be playing Charles Manson in the upcoming biopic, was dressed up for the holiday as gangster. Photo credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage. The Australian actor sat down for dinner at the Asian Bistro where a group of friends feasted on specialties from the kitchen including Sushi, Crispy Shrimp at Satay Bass and sipped Veuve Clicquot Champagne before heading upstairs to the packed nightclub. Photo credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage. Up in the club Kwanten and friends took over a VIP table in the moat section that was stocked with Don Julio tequila, Belvedere Vodka and Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne. Kwanten took to the catwalk and fans cheered as DJ Crooked shouted out his arrival. To toast the celebration a magnum of Veuve Clicquot was delivered via zipline. Photo credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage. Photo credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage. Photo credit: Denise Truscello/WireImage. Friday night reigning Miss USA Alyssa Campanella traded her sash and crown for Gordon Ramsays chef coat as she made the acclaimed chefs signature sticky toffee pudding at Gordon Ramsay Steak in Paris Las Vegas under the direction of chef de cuisine Kevin Hee (Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com). Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Meanwhile, ten Miss USA contestants enjoyed a decadent four course meal including the girls favorites of Beef Wellington, Caesar salad with Scotch eggs and pork belly. Near the end of the dinner the double doors of the private dining room opened to revel the surprise guest Alyssa Campanella holding the sticky toffee pudding she made, which the eleven girls quickly dug into along with a spread of other desserts. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. The 2012 MISS USA Competition will air LIVE on NBC Sunday, June 3 (9 p.m. ET) from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas at the Theatre for the Performing Arts. Andy Cohen, host of Bravos Watch What Happens: Liveand Giuliana Rancic, co-anchor of E! News, will host the competition. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Photo: Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas continued its weekend of electric dance music madness in honor of the 17th annual Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), Las Vegas presented by Insomniac (Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino). Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The festivities kicked off on Saturday with a day of fun in the sun as Robbie Riveras Juicy Beach took over Paradise Beach. Rivera himself spun on stage along with Lucky Date and Treasure Fingers. Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Funny guys, Tom Green and Steve O, were seen among the partiers. Guests continued the fun that night at Body English Nightclub & Afterhours for Juicy Vegas After Dark where Rivera, Lucky Date and Lee Kalt turned up the noise in the DJ booth. Comedians Tom Green and Steve O and Guns N Roses guitarist DJ Ashba were also at the club. Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The next day, HARD Beach presented by HARD Events had the bass bumping at REHAB in Paradise Beach with Fatboy Slim, Boys Noize, Claude VonStroke and back to back sets by Jacques Lu Cont with Alex Metric and Destructo with Oliver. The famous producers and DJs had the crowd going wild as they celebrated the last day of EDC merriment. Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Swedish DJ duo Rebecca & Fiona were spotted among the crowd and newlywed DJ Tommie Sunshine brought his whole wedding party to celebrate his recent nuptials at the poolside hotspot. Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Photo credit: Joey Ungerer / Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The event will take place on June 11 at the Vietnam National Convention Center. It is sponsored by the French Embassy and the French Institute (LEspace) in Hanoi, organized by VPBank, and produced by media and event management company Opal Vietnam Paris Ballet par VPBank, designed especially for Vietnamese audiences, will feature excerpts from nine ballets that best represent the classical Romanticist as well as Contemporary styles of French ballet, known for its elegance and refinement rather than its virtuosity. Though ballet originated in the Italian courts during the Renaissance, it flourished and took its classical form in France, thanks to the efforts and talents of such men as King Louis the 14th and Moliere. Romantic ballet emphasizes intense emotion and often focuses on female dancers and features pointe work, flowing and precise movements while Contemporary ballet is much more open. The nine ballets are Roland Petits "Carmen," Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys "The Nutcracker," Adolphe Adams "Giselle," Marius Petipas "Don Quixote," Jerome Robbins "In the Night," Jose Martinezs "Children of Paradise," Ivan Faviers "No, I Dont Regret Anything," Roland Petits "Proust or the Heart's Intermissions," and Angelin Preljocajs "The Park." The excerpts are selected to best showcase the love themes of the nine ballets as well as the most famous pas de deux (literally "step of two"), a dance duet characteristic of classical ballet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform together. The classical part of Paris Ballet par VPBank will be accompanied by live music performed by the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, a rare thing since ballet shows in the world are generally just performed with recorded music, according to Frederic Fontan, the shows art director. World-renowned French pianist Henri Barda will also take part, playing Chopin for "In the Night." The ballet will be performed by some first-rate stars from world-leading theaters such as the Paris Opera Ballet, the oldest national ballet company in the world, and the San Francisco Ballet. The star dancers include Agnes Letestu, Mathilde Froustey, and Alice Renavand, whose mother is Vietnamese. Eva Nguyen Binh, director of LEspace, said it was this idea of organizing a ballet show with a dancer of Vietnamese origin that first made her interested when Fontan proposed it to her over a year ago. Eva said she thought it would be a tool to promote French culture in Vietnam, though she also loves ballet personally. So she contacted VPBank, which, for the past three years, has been establishing itself not just as a sponsor but an organizer of high-class concerts. Tran Tuan Viet, director of VPBanks Marketing and Communications Center, said that by bringing top-notch, authentic world cultures (such as Richard Clayderman in 2014, Kenny G last year and this year Paris Ballet) to Vietnam to inspire people, VPBank hoped to be known as a cultural, responsible brand by the public. Viet said VPBank had to actively seek out world artists because for various reasons, Vietnam was not their priority destination. Performance art here in particular is still a much empty field, he said. For his part, Fontan, who has been creating Paris Ballet par VPBank as part of Paris Dance Galaxy, a global tour program that he and his company Alfalibra have been organizing, said he chose Hanoi as the first Asian destination of his upcoming tour. He was very attached to Hanoi and the partners here were very enthusiastic and determined to make the show happen, Fontan said. His next destination will be Dubai next year and he is also considering Seoul. Banners of opposing views on Britain's so-called Brexit referendum on EU membership are displayed on the balconies of two neighbouring flats in the Gospel Oak area of north London. (Photo source: AP/Matt Dunham) BRUSSELS: European Union heavyweights France and Germany are readying a joint plan for the future of the bloc after Britain's Jun 23 referendum, irrespective of whether Britons vote to remain or leave, European sources said on Friday (May 27). While the EU insists there is no "plan B", officials from several key countries including France, Germany and Italy quietly met in Brussels on Monday to discuss the aftermath of the vote, one of the European sources said. They were joined by the chief aide to European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, Martin Selmayr, who earlier this week caused a stir by warning of the "horror scenario" of populist leaders taking power in Europe and the US. "The subject was mainly communication, namely what will be said officially by who, and in what way" on Jun 24, depending on which way the referendum goes, the European source told AFP. The source said there had not been "deep discussions of the consequences" of the vote on the 28-nation club. In Berlin, the German government refused to comment on the meeting. "I can't confirm or deny anything - if there have been confidential meetings, they are confidential," said government spokesman Hans-Georg Streiter. The EU's next scheduled major discussion on the "Brexit" issue will not be until the summit of European leaders on June 28-29, which has already been pushed back several days as it was due to coincide with the referendum. But in the meantime Paris and Berlin have already started to lay down markers for a common initiative, sources said, even as the recent wave of crises engulfing the EU had seemed to have put the bloc's old Franco-German axis in the shade. 'FRANCO-GERMAN INITIATIVE' The EU is grappling with a series of emergencies ranging from the migration crisis to the return of the Greek debt issue and, of course, the possibility that Britain could become the first country to crash out of the EU. One diplomatic source told AFP that the two capitals had started to discuss the joint plan, without going into details of the content. "We need to have a political message, a method, a calender," added another senior European official, calling it a "Franco-German initiative" and a "political discussion on the values and the historical context of Europe." The plan would involve security issues, but also on issues of "youth" given the high levels of unemployment among young people in the bloc. It would also not be limited to the eurozone, the 19 countries that use the euro single currency, the official said. Further details could emerge on Sunday after French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet at Verdun in eastern France to commemorate the centenary of one of World War I's bloodiest battles. Brussels meanwhile is partially paralysed as it awaits Britain's decision, amid fears that stray statements or legislation could influence the pro-Brexit case, sources said. EU diplomats and officials have been told to be as discreet as possible, especially when dealing with journalists, sources told AFP. The European Commission's legal service has meanwhile been told to put all holiday plans on hold for July in case of a hot summer of legal wrangling if Britain votes to leave. And frustration is mounting in some quarters with the effort of keeping Britain in. "I hear more and more people saying things like 'it's ok to accept British requests, it's ok to help the Remain camp, but if they're not happy, they can just leave,'" said an official from the centre-right European People's Party. Photo by CHICAGO TRIBUNE Even the Premiere Access security line has a long wait on Monday at OHare Airport in Chicago. Jailed drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman's fight to stave off extradition to the United States has led to a schism among some of the people he's counting on most: his own lawyers. After two of Guzman's attorneys filed an appeal against the extradition request, a third lawyer quickly disavowed it on Saturday. Attorney Jose Refugio Rodriguez told The Associated Press that the move was not authorized by Guzman and his client will not sign off on the appeal, meaning the courts would not act on it. This hurts Joaquin Guzman because it hinders our defense, Rodriguez said. Rodriguez added that the lawyers who filed it, Juan Pablo Badillo and Jose Luis Gonzalez Mesa, are not part of the team working on the extradition case. That team is still considering the government's arguments and plans an appeal in the coming weeks that `El Chapo' will approve. We have a strategy with Joaquin and we are planning it, Rodriguez said. He suggested that Badillo and Gonzalez may have been motivated by a desire for notoriety. Gonzalez did not immediately return a voice message seeking comment, and the AP was unable to reach Badillo. Mexican courts recently approved two U.S. requests for Guzman's extradition and formally sent notification to the Foreign Relations Department. 30 days However his lawyers have 30 days to appeal and the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court, meaning it could be months before a final decision is reached. The convicted Sinaloa cartel boss is wanted in seven U.S. jurisdictions on charges that include murder, conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, money-laundering and arms possession. Guzman is currently in a federal prison on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas. Authorities suddenly transferred him there in recent weeks from the Altiplano lockup near Mexico City where he was being held before, citing work being done to improve security at the facility. El Chapo broke out of a Mexican prison in 2001 and spent more than a decade on the run, becoming one of the world's most wanted outlaws before he was recaptured in 2014. Last year he escaped again through a 1.5-kilometer tunnel dug to the shower of his cell at Altiplano. Mexican federal agents caught him in January in the city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, the state from which his drug gang took its name. Colombian rebels have released three journalists being held hostage by guerrillas in a remote and restive region of the country. The three were released Friday. Spanish-Colombian journalist Salud Hernandez-Mora was abducted last Saturday in Catatumbo in northeastern Colombia by members of the National Liberation Army, or ELN. She was working on a story about coca growers who grow the plant used to make cocaine in an area known as a corridor for smuggling cocaine to Venezuela. She said she was treated well by her captors who moved her frequently. The 59-year-old journalist, who writes for Spain's El Mundo newspaper and Colombian newspapers, was handed over to a delegation from the Roman Catholic Church. Diego D'Pablo and Carlos Melo of the RCN network were covering Hernandez-Mora's kidnapping when they were captured Monday by ELN. The RCN journalists were released by the insurgents a few hours after Hernandez-Mora's release. Colombia is attempting to end a five-decades long civil war. ELN has recently agreed to hold peace talks with the government, but negotiations have been hampered by ongoing hostilities and kidnappings. ELN is Colombia's second largest rebel group. For the past three years, Colombia has been holding peace talks with its largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The talks have been held in Havana, Cuba. The FARC has observed a cease-fire since last year. Leftist rebels have been fighting a guerrilla war to topple Colombian governments since 1964, killing more than 220,000 people. They have used drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom to fund their war. Colombia's rebel movement has been weakened in recent years, and right-wing paramilitary forces formed to counter leftist fighters have been disbanded. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump backed off a promise that he would debate Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders prior to California's Democratic primary election on June 7. In a statement late Friday, Trump said it "seems inappropriate" for him to debate Sanders since Trump has won his party's primary, and Sanders is still a distant second in his party's race. "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," Trump said. Trump and Sanders had previously agreed to a debate on the condition that proceeds at least $10 million go to a charity supporting women's health issues. Trump said several television networks were hesitant to donate the money to charity, though Sanders said he'd spoken with networks that were willing to support the debate. Sanders responded to the news of Trump's debate rejection by calling him a "bully" and accusing him of being afraid. Trump is a bully, hes a big tough guy. Well, I say to Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of? Sanders said. A Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Clinton leading Sanders by almost nine points in the primary contest. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has escalated a dispute with Washington, over images of U.S. special forces wearing Syrian Kurdish militia patches. The support the U.S. has given to the PYD and YPG. I condemn it, Erdogan bellowed to a crowd at an airport opening ceremony in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkeys predominantly Kurdish south east. Ankara accuses the YPG militia of being a terrorist organization connected to the Kurdish rebel group the PKK, which Turkish security forces are currently fighting. "I am someone who believes that politics should be conducted honestly, Erdogan chided. Therefore, our allies, those who are with us in NATO, cannot and should not send their own soldiers to Syria, with insignias of the YPG. Washington argues the YPG is separate from the PKK. Dozens of U.S. special forces are working with the YPG in Syria to support its fight against the Islamic State. The Kurdish militia is widely acknowledged as among most effective against Islamist militants in Syria. The insignia dispute has erupted amid simmering tensions between the NATO allies over the YPG. Washington initially defended the wearing of the insignias, claiming it was part of security measures of its Special Forces allowing them to blend in in overseas operations. 'Unauthorized ... inappropriate' But on Friday, Washington reached out to Ankara. "Wearing the YPG patches was unauthorized, and it was inappropriate, and corrective action has been taken," Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), said on Friday. "And we have communicated as much to our military partners and our military allies in the region." The comments came as it appeared Ankara was ready to reciprocate. It might be a part of strategy for camouflage, suggested Naci Bostanc spokesman of the Turkeys ruling AKP Party in comments seen as efforts to defuse tensions. But Erdogans latest attack indicates the dispute is far from over. Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar of the Carnegie Institute, said despite tensions, Ankara will not burn bridges with its key ally. Even though relations between [U.S. President Barack] Obama and Erdogan are not good, Turkey will continue to attach a great deal of important with its relationship with U.S. because that is the relationship the president values above all else," Ulgen said. "Because in an environment where are now a number of security challenges, for Turkey and its interests the only reliable security provider is the U.S.," he added. Cooperation between the NATO allies was underlined this month with a major a military exercise along with Poland, Azerbaijan and Pakistan. The Turkish Incirlik airbase close to the Syrian border is a key part of U.S. operations against Islamic State. But as Ankara and Washington are diametrically opposed over the YPG, relations are likely to continue to be strained. The Syrian Kurdish militia is increasingly drawing plaudits in its fight against Islamic State, much to Ankaras anger. Ankara is also aware that it is becoming increasingly isolated on the issue. In a statement after Turkeys National Security Council, the Turkish government noted with alarm that the political wing of the Kurdish YPG militia, the PYD, had opened offices in Czech, Poland, Germany and France. Peace process The resumption of the peace process between Ankara and PKK is seen by observers as the best way of squaring the circle between Turkey and its Western allies over the Syrian Kurdish militia. But Erdogan in his Diyarbakir speech on Saturday, also ruled out any let up in the war between Turkish security services and the Kurdish rebel group, the PKK. Diyarbakir has seen of months of fighting between Kurdish rebels, and Turkish security forces, which has claimed hundreds of lives. Over 8,000 police were deployed for the presidents visit, with fighting still continuing across Turkeys predominantly Kurdish southeast. VOA Turkish's Mahmut Bozarslan contributed to this report from Diyarbakir, Turkey. Watch: Erdogan address Diyarbakir rally Ghanas opposition political parties have sharply rejected suggestions that use of all social media platforms be blocked for two days during the November general election. John Kudalor, the inspector general of police, suggested that there could be a ban during the elections from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. to ensure social media are not used to send misleading information that could destabilize the country during the voting. But Dominic Nitiwul, deputy minority leader in parliament from the New Patriot Party, said banning social media use would be illegal because it would inhibit constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech. Police should not be seen as breaking the law they swore to enforce, Nitiwul said. "There is no law that allows the police to take such a unilateral decision without first going to court or without having the law backing them," he said. "So clearly this is a suggestion that cannot work. He added that his party would fight any such move in court. Some Ghanaians say police would be right to enact a ban if it would prevent the country from being plunged into chaos. The social media ban, they say, would ensure that the West African country maintains its territorial integrity, peace, law and order. They also say police should be allowed to use all means necessary to protect unarmed civilians from those who could use social media to propagate hatred and violence during the vote. Traditional media next? Nitiwul disagreed. He cited instances of radio and television programs being used to slander opponents. Are the police saying that after banning social media, they are also going to ban traditional media?" he asked. Nitiwul said social media use had never been responsible for any kind of election day unrest in Ghana, "whether in a village, town or city. Weve never had that. He added that the negative reaction police have gotten from all parts of the country about a possible social media ban during the election should be enough to discourage them from implementing it. The idea "is very unpopular among the citizens of Ghana," he said. "No Ghanaian is happy about it, and the [opposition] political parties are not happy about it. And I think the police are Ghanaians and they are listening, and [hopefully] it will be very clear that they will not go there any longer. If they attempt it, I believe parliament will step in and stop it. News this week of the discovery of a "superbug" was startling because such a bacterium, resistant to all forms of antibiotic medicine, had not previously been encountered in the United States. The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Tom Frieden, says this new bug is resistant to every antibiotic in a physician's arsenal of drugs, including Colistin. Colistin has become the antibiotic of last resort for American physicians fighting what Frieden calls "nightmare bacteria," even though its toxic side-effects potentially include liver damage. The drug, known since the 1950s, has come into increasing use because it usually is effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That changed last month, however, when doctors in the state of Pennsylvania found that a woman they were treating was infected by a form of E. coli bacteria, known as CRE, that contain a gene resistant to colistin. This phenomenon has occurred in other parts of the world previously, but never before in the United States. In the worst case, the CDC says, this could lead to the "emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria" - microbes that would be impervious to any drug physicians can deploy against them. Role in bacteria Antibiotic drugs are prescribed to fight and kill invading bacteria in several different ways: they can destroy a bacterium's cell wall, or prevent bacteria from repairing damage to their cells, or they can disrupt bacterial reproduction, which in turn would stop an infection from spreading. Even after a patient with an infection receives a course of antibiotics, in most cases some small number of bacteria remain. These could be organisms that have mutated, or evolved, to a form that allows them to survive antibiotic treatment. U.S. health authorities estimate antibiotic-resistant bacteria sicken 2 million Americans a year, and 23,000 of them die. Herman Goossens, a professor of medical microbiology at Belgium's University of Antwerp, told VOA the likelihood of bacterial mutations increases when doctors prescribe "a cocktail" of several antibiotic drugs to fight an unidentified infection. Life finds a way This practice, also known as "overprescribing," increases the possibility that the bacterial infection will mutate or evolve - changing its cellular and genetic structure to make the bacteria resistant to the antibiotic being used. As resistant bacteria multiply and spread to other patients, eventually that antibiotic becomes useless. "That's all wrong," Goossenns says, "...This practice has to change. Drug manufacturers spend large sums of money on research aimed at finding new and more effective antibiotics, and new infection-fighting also are being studied. The journal Nature reported this week that researchers at several U.S. universities suggest that viruses can be used to attack invading bacteria. Anti-bacterial viruses, also jknown as "bacteriophages," can specifically target and kill bacteria, Nature reported. And when the viruses bind to the surface of individual bacteria, the researchers say they also negate the bacteria's drug resistance - in effect, making old drugs new and effective again. Syrian Kurdish commanders are working to contain an Islamic State onslaught of suicide bombings and commando-style raids - two of the jihadist group's favorite tactics when it is about launch counter-offensives in Syria or Iraq, or when it is losing ground to its foes. Islamic State time and again has exploited its fighters' mobility, including switching from one side of the Syrian-Iraq border to the other, launching attacks where they are least expected and using suicide bombers and lightening raids behind enemy lines to wrong-foot opponents. That was demonstrated a year ago when the resilient group launched an unanticipated counterpunch, stunning the governments in Washington, Baghdad and Damascus by retaking the Iraqi town of Ramadi in the face of much superior numbers while at the same time, 95 kilometers away, seizing Syrias Palmyra, the desert town containing one of the worlds most important Roman heritage sites, from government forces. Such dramatic displays of battlefield capability are probably beyond IS now, say analysts. Fewer big strikes by IS The groups ability to move large numbers of forces has been sharply reduced because of U.S. and Russian eyes-in-the-sky' - aerial surveillance puts the extremists' convoys at risk of airstrikes. And IS is facing upgraded forces, especially when it comes to the Syrian government. Rebel commanders say most of the pro-regime battle force is not the Syrian army, but Iranian revolutionary guardsmen, fighters from Lebanons radical Shiite movement Hezbollah and Syrian militias trained by Iran. But the better organized and more confident forces challenging IS remain vulnerable to the kind of hit-and-run attacks that took the U.S. army years to contain in Iraq after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. U.S. military officials speaking off the record also acknowledge that aerial surveillance is not fully effective in detecting the movement of lighter and smaller IS units. Kurdish commanders in the Syrian Democratic Forces, the YPG-dominated anti-IS alliance, want to limit the offensive they announced this week and stop short of the city of Raqqa, the self-declared IS capital. The U.S. military observers say this is partly due to their reluctance to expose their forces to hit-and-run IS attackers. WATCH: US-backed Rebels Advance Toward Raqqa The YPG is very cautious in its military actions in northern Raqqa, especially after the multiple security and military breaches carried out recently by IS, said Hamoud Almousa, an activist with the anti-IS network Raqqa is Being Slaughter Silently. Kurds vulnerable to suicide bombings This weeks seven near-simultaneous IS bombings in Latakia, the Syrian government's heartland, illustrate the dangers the Kurds face. More than 180 people were killed by five suicide attackers and two car bombs targeting civilians; one IS bomber blew himself up in a hospital emergency room, finishing off others who had survived their initial wounds. Such attacks serve several purposes: They boost morale among IS fighters, giving them a sense the group remains undefeated despite losses. They provide a psychological-warfare edge by eroding their foes' confidence. They force IS enemies to divert forces for self-defense rather than offense. And they inflame sectarian hatreds. Seven Sunni Muslims, all of whom had been displaced from their home villages, were killed in northwestern Syria by local Alawites in retaliation for the bombings. Alawis are members of the same Muslim sect, a Shi'ite offshoot, as President Bashir al-Assad. According to anti-IS activist Almousa, the Kurds' YPG forces have erected dozens of checkpoints to try to hold back the bombers. ISIS strategy does not rely too much on defense; they focus on counter-attack and sudden breakthrough. This strategy makes the YPG worry a lot more about their front lines and has made them reconsider any military action in any area that has no Kurdish majority population, he says. Not that all will be counterattack. While the groups chief defensive tactics is to counterpunch, it has also in recent weeks increased the number of its fighters in villages around the city of Raqqa, dug trenches, sown minefields and planted booby-trap bombs in villages it expects to lose all of which will slow up any offensive forces. Cybersecurity firm Symantec has found evidence that North Korea is behind the recent string of attacks on several Asian banks. Symantec said the malware used to steal $81 million from Bangladeshs central bank is linked to attacks on a bank in the Philippines and in Vietnam. This may be the first time one country has used malicious code to steal money from another country. Security researchers say the malware is similar to that used in the past by a group known as "Lazarus.'' The 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. Symantec said a bank in Ecuador also reported to have lost $12 million to attackers using fraudulent SWIFT transactions. Its researchers now back findings by the British defense contractor BAE Systems that links the Bangladesh bank heist and cyber-attacks on the banks in Vietnam and Ecuador. In all 3 attacks on those banks, the hackers were able to compromise the security of what's known as the SWIFT messaging system, once thought to be the world's most secure system for sending orders for financial transactions. Symantec also traced the unique code to an unnamed Filipino bank. The countrys central bank deputy governor told Reuters that no bank had reported lost money to hackers in the Philippines, but he didnt rule out the possibility. The discovery of more attacks provides further evidence that the group involved is conducting a wide campaign against financial targets in the region, Symantec wrote in a blog post. While awareness of the threat posed by the group has now been raised, its initial success may prompt other attack groups to launch similar attacks. Banks and other financial institutions should remain vigilant. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told a gathering of the Arab League Saturday that the body he represents is ready to accept a fair and just peace based on internationally recognized U.N. resolutions in accordance with the 2003 Arab peace initiative. A French-sponsored peace conference is due to begin in Paris on June 3. Arab League foreign ministers met Saturday at the groups headquarters here in Cairo to discuss resumption of the long-stalled Arab-Israeli peace process. France has offered to host a peace conference on July 3 to help jump start negotiations. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the gathering that his side was willing to attend the conference and resume talks, but in accordance with previously-stipulated conditions: He says that the ultimate goal of the peace process is the two-state solution with each state living side-by-side in peace and that a peace accord should be based on historic U.N. resolutions 242 and 338, as well as the 2003 Arab peace initiative and the road map for peace. Abbas pointed out that once the terms of a peace agreement were reached, 57 Arab and Islamic states would then recognize and establish relations with the state of Israel. He also stressed that the peace initiative must have a fixed time frame, as well as an implementation mechanism. The Palestinian leader, however, remained intransigent on a number of issues which have proved to be stumbling blocks in previous negotiations: He insists that East Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine alone and not of both states. He also reiterated that borders of both states must be based on the historic June 4, 1967 borders, with some very minor adjustments to be negotiated, along with small trades of territory. Arab foreign ministers in attendance also expressed their consent for the new peace initiative, and outgoing Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby stressed that efforts were being redoubled to get the peace process moving again: He insists that a just and comprehensive peace was the goal of the recent initiative that was put forth by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, along with efforts being made by France to convene a peace conference in Paris on June 3. Gulf-based Arab analyst Theodore Karasik tells VOA that he thinks there appears to be "some movement" with the Arab-Israeli peace process, but that he doesn't believe that the "stars are aligned" so as to lead to a breakthrough. He argues that it is more likely that there will be an "intra-Arab struggle over (the militant) Hamas (group)" which controls Gaza. President Sissi met with PA leader Abbas several weeks ago to help pave the way for resumption of peace talks and is due to meet with him again over the weekend following the Arab League meeting. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin says he will respond to the defensive missile system the United States and its partners are building in Eastern Europe, because it threatens Russia's security. The Russian president said strong "counter-measures" will be enacted to the NATO deployment, and he emphasized that his country is reacting to the Western action, not making the first move in a confrontation. Speaking to reporters in Athens, where he met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Friday, Putin also ruled out any discussions about the status of Crimea, the former Ukrainian territory that Russia has annexed. "This question is closed forever," the Russian leader said. There was no immediate U.S. response to the comments by Putin, who remained in Greece Saturday, touring Mount Athos, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites. On the missile defense system planned for deployment in Poland and Romania, Putin said: NATO fends us off with vague statements that this is no threat to Russia. Recalling the stated purpose of the missile system as a "preventive measure" against possible hostile action by Iran, Putin said that threat "does not exist," particularly in the aftermath of the nuclear agreement the United States and other Western powers reached with Tehran last year. Putin said Russia will take strong measures in the interest of its security vis-a-vis the missile deployments, but he was short on details about Moscow's plan to respond, saying only that Russia will not make the first move. "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 said. "I repeat that these are countermeasures, countermeasures. We will not take any first steps. It will be the same case with Poland. We will wait until Poland takes certain action. We will not take any action ... until we see rockets in areas that border us." Romania Deveselu missile facility became operational earlier this month. Although the U.S. and NATO have repeatedly said the system is completely defensive, Putin said the missiles could easily be transformed into offensive weapons by simply switching the software. On Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Putin said Moscow acted on the will of the Crimean people, who voted to join Russia. "As far as Crimea is concerned, we consider this question is closed forever. This was a historical decision taken by the people that live in Crimea. Russia will not conduct any discussions with anyone on this subject," said Putin. Putin's visit to Mount Athos Saturday is part of events celebrating 1,000 years of Russian presence there. About 70 Russian, Ukrainian and other Orthodox monks live at the Mount Athos monastery. Accompanied by Greece's Prime Minister Tsipras, Putin toured the Byzantine Museum in Athens Friday to promote cultural ties between Russia and Greece. Islamic State militants pressed their offensive Saturday in northern Syria against a major opposition stronghold, clashing with anti-government forces inside the town of Marea near the Turkish border. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the lightning IS strike north of Aleppo cut a main road linking Marea to the nearby opposition town of Azaz. No further combat details were available late Saturday. But the Associated Press earlier in the day quoted the head of one of the last remaining hospitals in Marea as saying the town has been encircled and his hospital under threat since Friday. "We need urgent protection for the hospital or a way out," physician Abdel Rahman Alhafez told the wire service in an email statement. To the east, a Kurdish-Arab alliance backed by the United States pressed an offensive against fighters north of the IS stronghold city Raqqa. Turkish media reported U.S. airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire destroyed several buildings used as an IS headquarters in the city. Monitors say Syrian army warplanes and helicopters pounded other opposition-held border area towns in Aleppo province Saturday, further pressuring embattled rebels fighting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Analysts say the recent Islamic State territorial gains around Marea and Azaz have trapped more than 160,000 Syrian civilians between the Azaz-Marea region and the closed Turkish border about 20 kilometers to the north. Elsewhere in the region, U.S. Special Operations forces and a coalition of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces are reported clearing an area north of Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria. On Friday, a Kurdish commander in the region told an embedded VOA reporter the SDF coalition had seized at least 10 area villages and was fighting extremists on three fronts north of Raqqa. Local reports said IS fighters were preparing to defend the city with booby-trapped buildings, a string of trenches and berms. As one of the world's largest motorcycle rallies rolls into the American capital this weekend, one person will be hoping the rumble of hundreds of thousands of bikes will draw even more attention to his presidential run. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will be in Washington on Sunday to lend his support for the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride. Trump is scheduled to speak at the event, according to Bloomberg Politics, which first reported on his plans. "I am doing it in honor of the great bikers who have been totally supportive of my campaign, and now I want to be supportive of them," Trump said in a statement. "I look forward to it!" Motorcycle enthusiasts have frequently attended Trump campaign rallies to show their support for the candidate they believe is different from career politicians whom they accuse of degrading the military and ignoring veterans. The bikers have shown support despite Trump's remarks last year that disparaged one of America's most famous prisoners of war, Senator John McCain. 'Not a war hero' I dont like losers, Trump said at the Iowa Family Leadership meeting in July 2015. At the same event, when asked about McCain, who was described by the questioner as a war hero, Trump responded, Hes not a war hero. He went on: Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured, OK? McCain, a U.S. Navy pilot, was a prisoner of war for nearly six years in Vietnam after being shot down during a mission. Rolling Thunder, which has been held annually since 1988, is a tribute to prisoners of war and Americans missing in action, just like McCain was. Ray Manzo, a former Marine corporal, is one of the men credited with organizing the event. A letter from Manzo was published in Outlaw Biker magazine in 1987, calling for riders to descend on Washington the Sunday before Memorial Day. Nearly 3,000 riders came for that first ride. The organization says the event has now grown to more than 1 million riders and spectators combined. Broader purpose The group's mission has grown alongside the ride. The organization lobbied for the Missing Service Personnel Act of 1993, which prohibits the Pentagon from declaring a service member killed in action without substantial evidence. It has also set up a nonprofit organization that provides thousands of dollars' worth of aid to veterans families every year. According to the philanthropy analyst Guidestar, the charity gave away more than 90 percent of its funds in 2014. But on Sunday, politics and philanthropy will take the back seat for a few hours as hundreds of thousands of bikes, vintage to modern, American and foreign, will gather in the Pentagon parking lot and wait for Defense Secretary Ash Carter to announce the start of the 2016 ride. They will ride across the Memorial Bridge, past the U.S. Capitol and end at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in a not-so-silent tribute to their fallen and missing brothers and sisters in arms. The United Nations has rejected a bid from a nonprofit journalist advocacy group that wanted "consultative status," a ranking that would have given them greater access to U.N. meetings. For the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which works to "defend the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal," the ruling was seen as rebuke from governments that oppose their mission. It is sad that the U.N., which has taken up the issue of press freedom through Security Council and General Assembly resolutions and through the adoption of the U.N. Action Plan, has denied accreditation to CPJ, which has a deep and useful knowledge that would inform decision making," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. UN access Consultative status would have ensured CPJs ability to access U.N. bodies and proceedings, and allowed it to host independent journalists and organizations at the U.N. More than 4,000 other nongovernment organizations currently have active consultative status, according to the U.N. However rights groups such as Freedom House and others have been accused by U.N. members of carrying out political agendas, imperiling their status. In the vote on CPJ's bid, of the 19 representatives on the committee, 10 voted against CPJs application, six voted in favor and three abstained. Dr. Courtney Radsch, advocacy director at CPJ said, Obviously were disappointed, but not terribly surprised. Its heartening to see how many organizations, leaders and journalists have come to speak on our behalf, including Ban Ki-Moon. Ban is secretary-general of the United Nations. Committee members representing China, Cuba, Russia and Pakistan were among those voting against CPJs application for consultative status. South Africa also voted no, but said it was because of procedural questions, not because South Africa objects to CPJ's application. Rejection seen as campaign Dr. Robert Herman, vice president for international programs at Freedom House, a watchdog organization with goals similar to CPJ, sees the rejection as part of a campaign against rights groups. Theyre engaged in a systematic effort not just to stifle dissent, but also to prevent civil society organizations, particularly those that are involved in democracy and human rights, from carrying out their work domestically," Herman said. He said that ultimately the governments want to block groups that highlight rights abuses from bringing those issues into the United Nations. The whole process has become so politicized. If you look at the governments that are on there, voting about whether to give consultative status to organizations that at home they would never tolerate or allow to operate ... when they have the ability to vote to keep them away from the U.N., theyre going to exercise that, Herman said. The deeper question is how can the U.N. allow this to happen? That they have a composition of membership like this is a serious problem, he added. U.S.-backed forces on Friday advanced deeper into areas of north of Raqqa, continuing their march to the edge of the de facto capital of Islamic State in Syria. On the fourth day of the offensive, the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, took control of at least 10 villages and advanced 15 kilometers southward as U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeted positions in nearby localities. The process is ongoing, Rojda Judi, a female Kurdish commander who leads the operation on the ground, told VOA. But the only thing that is slowing us is IS has left so many mines behind. We have to clear off any area before we fully step in. The Kurdish-led SDF aims to close in on IS by surrounding IS-held territories from different directions, local officials said. We are fighting Daesh on three fronts in northern Raqqa, said Naser Mansoor, a Kurdish official in Syria, using the Arabic name for IS. In some areas they [IS] just retreat, and in other areas they stay to fight, he told VOA via phone from Syria. But we have killed dozens of them so far. Mansoor said that the level of coordination between the international coalition and local forces had been advanced and that coalition airstrikes were key to undermining IS on the ground. A VOA reporter embedded with the SDF on the front line said that anti-IS forces are using midrange and heavy weapons against the militants. IS is firing back, using mortar rounds. While the ongoing battles are some 40 kilometers away from Raqqa, IS is preparing for battle inside the city by digging trenches and building berms, local news reports said Friday. WATCH: US-backed Rebels Advance Toward Raqqa IS has been in control of Raqqa since 2014, shortly before it declared its Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Military leaders say it will most likely take weeks before the local forces are able to approach the city limits. The SDF, mostly made up of Syrian Kurds and numbering at least 25,000 fighters, is fighting with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs, numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000. The U.S. is trying to increase the Arab numbers. But U.S. officials have been tamping down expectations of rapid progress. And a European diplomat told VOA this week that the plan is to try to encircle much of the city of Raqqa, at least to take outlying villages north, west and south. The Arab fighters are not sufficient in numbers, nor do they have the capabilities to take on the hardened IS fighters defending the city, he said. And the Kurds cant be in the vanguard in capturing Raqqa. A leading U.S.-based foreign policy journal says the White House has quietly suspended the transfer of cluster bombs to ally Saudi Arabia, in response to the Sunni kingdom's aerial war against Shi'ite rebels in Yemen. Foreign Policy magazine, in a news story published Friday, quoted an unnamed senior U.S. official as saying a hold was placed on such shipments following reports that the Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi rebels used the controversial munitions in civilian areas. More than 100 nations have signed a 2008 treaty banning the munitions, which are known for striking targets as duds, only to explode and maim civilians months or years later. Major cluster bomb manufacturing countries, including the United States, China and Russia, have not signed the agreement. The U.S. move comes just weeks after the rights organization Human Rights Watch published a report detailing the use of cluster bombs near civilian areas in Yemen, located on the southern end of the Arabian peninsula. That report builds on HRW claims in 2015 that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster rockets in at least seven attacks in Yemen's northwestern Hajja governate, killing and wounding dozens of civilians. At that time, HRW advocacy director Mary Wareham told VOA that Yemeni villagers were collecting unexploded cluster cannisters and turning them over to HRW researchers, who then visited target areas to collect their own evidence. Neither the White House nor Saudi officials have publicly confirmed the Foreign Policy report, which said the suspension includes CBU-105 cluster bombs manufactured by the U.S.-based firm Textron Systems. It said those bombs hit targets in at least four different locations in the war-torn country. Iran-backed Houthi Shi'ite rebels seized Yemen's capital, Sana'a in September 2014, and in March of last year launched an offensive to the south that sent President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi fleeing to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis responded by launching airstrikes in defense of Hadi's government. The United Nations says 6,500 people have been killed in the fighting, including more than 3,200 civilians. The world body sponsored two rounds of peace talks last year - neither successful - with December negotiations crumbling amid fierce fighting. A third round of talks is currently under way in Kuwait. All is set for the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Morgan Tsvangirais Bulawayo Provincial Protest March on Saturday against poverty, joblessness, corruption, misgovernance and human rights abuses. The MDC-T vice president Thokozani Khuphe will give a keynote address. The party recently held what it described as a successful public protest in Harare, which attracted thousands of supporters and members of the public. President Robert Mugabes Zanu PF party this week held its own public march to show support for the 92 year-old leader, whose party is riddled with factionalism. MDC-T organizing secretary, Douglas Mwonzora, said his party is ready for the public protest. This is a voluntary march. We are not going to force anyone to shut their shops or to divert their kombis (mini-buses) to the march. This is a march against poverty and corruption and against this endemic and debilitating poverty to which the Zimbabwean people have been confined by this government, he said. Political analyst Dr. Nkululeko Sibanda of Huddersfield University in London told VOA Studio 7 the MDC-T needs to prove that it is more popular than President Mugabes Zanu PF party as it needs to draw thousands of people into the streets of Zimbabwes second largest city, Bulawayo and beyond. It is an opportune moment to take away the sort of sense that the Zanu PF march had given which is that (Mr.) Mugabe has a lot of support. I think it has always been a huge concern within the MDC itself and within the democratic forces those who hope that President Mugabe will relinquish power to a more democratic government that the march by Zanu PF may in effect may be consolidating Mugabe as a much crowd puller than anybody else in the opposition. As a result of that therefore it is likely to be concerning if the march by MDC does not manage to overshadow or outmaneuver the march by Zanu PF because then that would give a lot more legitimacy to any claims by Mugabe that he is a much bigger crowd puller. It would be much useful if the MDC march turns out to be just as big as the one by Zanu PF or if it is slightly smaller given that it is the second largest city (Bulawayo). The ruling party held its march on Wednesday targeting a crowd of a million party supporters but according to various media outlets only 100,000 people, some of them forced to attend the event, attended the so-called Million Man March in Harare. Zanu PF claims that the march was a huge success even if the party has also indicated that they did not reach the million-man mark. Two ruling party factions are vying for the presidential seat. EL PASO As Cuban migrants continue to pass through the Texas border in record numbers, El Pasos Democratic congressman is joining a growing number of lawmakers who favor repealing the decades-old policy that gives those immigrants a special status in the United States. U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, D-El Paso, told the Tribune it was time to do away with the decades-old provision that allows Cubans to apply for legal residency status after living in the U.S. for a year. I favor repealing the Cuban Adjustment Act. Whether you are from Cuba, Europe, Mexico, Central America or anywhere else in the world you should be treated with equal dignity and respect, he said in a statement. Through the first six months of the governments current fiscal year, about 1,580 Cubans have been processed at the El Paso field office of Customs and Border Protection, according to figures from the agency. That figure eclipses the combined total for 2014 and 2015, when about 440 and 700 were processed, respectively. The surge follows the Obama administrations 2014 announcement that it would re-establish ties with the island nation. After that, many Cubans feared their special designation in U.S. immigration law would be eliminated. The current arrangement is part of an agreement reached during the Clinton Administration, known as the wet foot/dry foot policy that amended the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. ORouke joins U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo and Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in calling for the repeal. Cuellar previously said the measure was a Cold War-relic and that Cubans should be included in a comprehensive immigration reform package that addresses all immigration issues. Cornyn said the Cuban policy was unfair to migrants from Central America and elsewhere. But some who favor placing all immigrant refugees on an equal playing field say eliminating the Cuban policy isnt the solution. Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the El Paso Catholic Diocese said the diocese is supervising some of the citys humanitarian efforts by offering up local churches as temporary shelters for the Cubans who need help. The bishop said after speaking to some of the migrants, he is even more convinced the Cubans deserve the special status. I know the hardships that they endured in their journey. It seems only right to me that they should be given good treatment when they arrive at our borders, he said. Rather than bringing them down to the level of others who arrive and are flown into jail and are abused in various ways within the system, why cant we accept the challenge to treat all refugees who arrive at our border humanely? Seitz said he recognizes the current political reality and understands some politicians advocate for a hardline stance on immigration instead of a softer approach. But he said singling out one group isnt the solution. The Cuban arrangement, if anything, should be a model for others. Lets not take that away from them, he said. Diocese spokesperson Elizabeth OHara said since the beginning of the month, 20 planes with 150 Cubans each have landed at the international airport in Ciudad Juarez, El Pasos sister city just across the Mexican border. The flights originate in Panama after that country reached an agreement with Mexico to have the migrants transferred to the border. Flights from Panama The agreement will allow Panama to fly about 4,000 Cubans to the border, CNN reported. The Central American country was struggling to take in all the refugees and has since opted out of receiving them. In El Paso, CBP said it is prepared for an expected increase and is taking steps to ensure the Cubans are processed thoroughly and in accordance with federal laws. U.S. Customs and Border Protection maintains a robust posture regarding the enforcement of our immigration laws along the nations borders and coastal areas, spokesman Roger Maier said in a statement. We continue to promote safe, legal and orderly migration from Cuba under our Migration Accords and deter dangerous and unlawful migration from Cuba. The arrivals will add to the record numbers other Texas ports have seen in the past two years. In 2015, about 28,400 Cubans entered Texas through the Laredo field office of Customs and Border Protection, which extends from Del Rio to Brownsville. That figure represents an 82 percent jump from 2014, when 15,600 Cubans entered through the Laredo field office. Hey Sugar Candy Store and More opens Monday in downtown Waco and will feature specialty candies, chocolate covered bacon, 450 types of sodas, cotton candy and ice cream, including a Jack Daniels and Coke flavor. Neon colors on the shops storefront have attracted downtown passers-by to peek through the windows this week and watch as thousands of types of treats are unpacked and stored in display cases throughout the small shop at 808 Austin Ave. This is the second location for Hey Sugar, launched by owner Kristin Brittan, who also has a store in Roanoke, Texas. The downtown Waco opening will coincide with her birthday. Brittan is originally from Houston and spent the past 20 years in Colorado before moving to Dallas. She now finds herself in Waco, with a daughter who recently became a student at Baylor University. People across the nation talk about how Waco right now is all the rage, she said. Its so popular and so up-and-coming. We were excited to be a part of Wacos growth, Brittan said. Downtown, because we think downtown is kind of hip and cool and its a good fit for us because our store is vintage and funky. Strip malls really arent our thing. The older building environment is more our style. Brittan was originally drawn to Waco because of its increasing popularity, she said, with that growth starting even before Chip and Joanna Gaines became a household name with the popular home renovation series Fixer Upper on HGTV. Brittan said her stepsister attended Baylor, so shes visited the area regularly through the years. Shes watched the progression of the city, and once she saw the money that was poured into the opening of McLane Stadium, she knew growth was coming and coming fast. Outside seating lines the sidewalks, while a drawing of a 1950s-style girl named Candy, hangs above the entrance. Every old-school candy they still make, we have it Astro Pops, all of it, Brittan said. Guests can scoop candy by the pound, pick out some of the different flavors of cotton candy or some of the 450 glass soda bottles, featuring brands originally created during Prohibition. Theres a wide variety of treats, including Bacon Soda, Bit-O-Honey and Twin Bing Bars. Sodas include brands like Moxie, Capone, Old Red Eye Root Beer, Nehi and sarsaparilla, among others. Among the expected flavors of cotton candy, theres also chardonnay, merlot, beer, peanut butter and jelly, and coconut cream pie. Theres also a variety of chocolate. We get an Oreo, cut it in half, put a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup in the middle, dip it in chocolate three times, oh it is so good, manager Ashley Majors said. Majors joked she eats as much as she sells. In Roanoke, Majors said, their No. 1 customer demographic is adult men. Their wives are not there to tell them they cant spend $20 on sours and chocolate, she said. But the novelty store is for all ages. Whenever you bring in grandma who hasnt been to a candy store since she was a child at the five and dime, and she pops in and goes, Oh my goodness, I havent seen this since I was a kid. She goes back to her childhood, Majors said. The store naturally sells Jelly Belly BeanBoozled, a game where players spin a spinner and eat a jelly bean that matches the color where the spinner lands. The pile of jelly beans to choose from includes a mix of good and bad flavors, including canned dog food or chocolate pudding, rotten egg or buttered popcorn, and a booger or juicy pear. The flavors in it are disgusting, dead fish, stinky socks, barf, and literally they taste just like it, she said. How do you even recreate that flavor? Hey Sugar hasnt nailed down its hours yet but is considering 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. They will keep customers waiting in anticipation updated at facebook.com/HeySugarCandyStore. Majors said they will host birthday parties, baby showers or any other type of event in their party room, and will also offer candy or soda baskets to be delivered off-site or to corporate events. On a portion of the wall, animal head masks will hang, allowing customers to try them on in front of a large mirror and take pictures. Guests can also purchase an emergency underpants dispenser, a crazy cat lady coloring book or a propeller beanie, among a variety of other items. Everythings an experience. In all our stores we try to make it an experience, Brittan said. When people walk in, the music will be loud, the TVs will be playing Willy Wonka old school, and so you walk in and youll be overwhelmed. The three Waco police officers who fired shots during the Twin Peaks shootout remain on administrative duties more than a year after the incident that left nine bikers dead and more than 20 wounded. Waco police who are involved in shootings historically are placed on administrative leave with pay until they are cleared by department internal reviews and a grand jury inquiry. In cases not promptly presented to a grand jury, officers have been taken off administrative leave, where they dont come to work at all, and assigned to administrative duties, where they are put behind a desk or in some other role before they return to the street. Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman said the three officers who fired a total of 12 shots at bikers that day stayed on administrative leave for about two months after the May 17, 2015, incident and then were placed on administrative duty. Stroman declined to name the three officers but said they all were assigned to the patrol division at the time of the shootings. He also declined to say what jobs they are performing while on administrative duties but said they could be performing such duties as training other officers or other administrative functions. Stroman said he does not know when McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna intends to present the officer-involved shooting cases to a grand jury. Reyna did not return phone messages left at his office, and First Assistant District Attorney Michael Jarrett declined to discuss the issue. Stroman said the departments criminal investigation into the chaotic event is not complete, and the internal investigation relies heavily on evidence gathered during the criminal investigation. We wait for the criminal investigative part or the part that is being looked at by the detectives to be finalized, and the internal investigation flows after that, Stroman said. Typically on the internal side, it is a fairly quick process after the criminal investigation is finished. For the internal, we look at policy violations and other things, like any kind of training needs that might be called for. But this all needs to go through the usual process, and when the time is right, they will take it to the grand jury. This has taken longer because of the complexity of the process. Investigators are reviewing DNA, ballistics, video and cellphone evidence from the bikers, 154 of whom have been indicted on first-degree felony charges of engaging in organized criminal activity. Stroman said in June the 12 shell casings fired from police .223-caliber rifles were found at the scene. No other law enforcement officers from other agencies fired their weapons, he said. A total of 44 shell casings had been recovered at that time, but Stroman said that total doesnt include any casings that remained inside revolvers that may have been fired. All other shells found at the scene werent from law enforcement weapons, he said. Stroman also disputed reports that Waco police had officers assigned to the area as snipers and said, We did not fire indiscriminately into the crowd. All Waco police officers were inside their vehicles when the shooting started at Twin Peaks, officials have said. Tragic misplanning That fact disturbs Houston attorney Paul Looney, who represents a biker indicted in the shootout and who has been one of the more vocal detractors of the way Waco and McLennan County officials have handled the situation. I think that there was some tragic misplanning, Looney said. If the police officers, instead of being on the perimeter had instead positioned themselves in the parking lot, we probably wouldnt have had an incident at all. If they knew things were going to happen, that is what police forces do. This was tragically flawed in the planning, and whoever did that planning should be fired. Despite that, Looney says he thinks the officers acted properly once they decided to engage. The officers at the scene, as far as I can tell, responded appropriately. It appears to have saved lives, Looney said. I dont think these officers for what they did at the scene are realistically facing negative ramifications. I have reviewed all the videos and read all the reports, and I dont think they had any choice. If they had behaved differently, there would have been more carnage than there was. Waco police have reported that officers recovered 475 weapons at the scene, including 151 firearms, 12 of which were rifles or shotguns. Other weapons included knives, brass knuckles, batons, tomahawks, weighted weapons, a hatchet, stun guns, bats, clubs, a machete, a pipe, an ax, pepper spray and a chain. Almost a month after a 12-year-old Live Oak Classical School student who is black suffered rope burns around her neck in what her familys attorney is calling a racially motivated attack, supporters demonstrated and marched through Waco on Friday demanding answers from the school. My heart is hurting, because I am a single mother of three girls and one boy, and first off, a baby, a child was hurt, demonstrator Tashita Bibles said. When any child hurts, we all should hurt. Im a Christian first and then a mother. As a Christian and a mother, nothing about this was done right. Bibles joined more than 100 demonstrators who staged a civil protest outside Live Oak in downtown Waco, chanted for racial equality and stood in solidarity with the local girl. The school was closed Friday for summer break. Black power, black power, the group, comprised of Waco residents and community activists from Dallas, shouted. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. Group believe injuries were racially motivated to cause injuries to 12 year old girl pic.twitter.com/IS7JFgVOIa Kristin Hoppa (@WacoTribHoppa) May 27, 2016 The outcry came after about 25 students went on an overnight field trip to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in late April, the familys attorney, Levi McCathern said. Students left the park and went to a nearby ranch in Blanco County to stay the night, which was where the injury happened, McCathern said. The girl, who has been bullied by students in the past, was helping pull on a rope swing while other students rode the swing, then stopped to watch, McCathern said. Standing near the swing, she felt the rope come around her neck, causing her to fall to the ground as three boys, who are white, pulled the rope. I guess what I am most upset about is about the schools response to what happened, because I felt like the school was on notice about this student being bullied by kids who were also on this trip, McCathern said. The parent had asked to be a chaperone, but the school didnt honor that request. . . . The physical evidence that I have seen determines that this was an intentional act. McCathern also made a connection to the lynching of Jesse Washington, a black teen who was publicly tortured and lynched in downtown Waco after a jury convicted him of the rape and murder of his employers wife in 1916. With the 100th anniversary of the lynching this year, McCathern said he had to ask the school, which has mostly white students, if the incident and the schools response racially targeted the girl. These boys have no idea about Jesse Washington, but this is crazy the way the school is trying to portray this. They realize they did wrong, so their defense is, Look at something that was even worse. This isnt really a black or white issue. It is a civil rights issue. School officials determined the incident was an accident, and a chaperone, who is also a physician, administered first aid immediately, said David Deaconson, a Waco attorney representing Live Oak. Deaconson said the girl returned to the other students and participated in the rest of the trip. He said the girls mother was not notified of the incident immediately. They (the school) followed protocol that they had at the time. The school regrets that the mother wasnt called, but that gave them the opportunity to review and change their protocols to ensure that parents are called regularly regarding any injuries from here on out, Deaconson said. The school is sad that any student would get hurt on a field trip. They care about the safety of all their students and that is what they put into place first. He said the school does not think the incident was racially motivated. McCathern told school officials he would release information to media outlets if they didnt give the girls family $2.7 million, Deaconson said. He was the one who came up with a financial amount, Deaconson said. They came up with that amount, not the school. Deaconson said he thinks the connection to the Washington lynching was fictitious and the connection was made as an attempt to force a payment from the school. McCathern said he offered the $2.7 million figure after the school asked for a damage amount so they could advise their insurance provider. Regardless of the legal disputes, demonstrators staged outside the school Friday afternoon shouted questions about the incident, demanded the school take responsibility for the girls injury and demanded a criminal investigation into the students who are allegedly responsible. Blanco County Sheriffs Office Lt. Ben Ablon declined to discuss details of the case, saying the agencys investigation is ongoing. Demonstrators marched from the school into the Castle Heights neighborhood, chanting their message along the way. Northeast Riverside Neighborhood Associate President Jeanette Bell said she was surprised to see more than 100 demonstrators, many from Dallas, rallying around the Waco family. I am very happy about this response, because there has been a lot of stuff that is going on in Waco for decades that has been covered up for a long time, Bell said. This time, we need answers. We need to know how this can happen to a little girl. McCathern said he is continuing to investigate details about the school and the field trip, but he plans to file a formal civil lawsuit for the family within the next two weeks. For those Americans sincere in their devotion to the fallen, for those who understand that war is neither strictly a Democratic or a Republican proposition in the grand sweep of history, for those who grasp that the last weekend of May does not simply mark the beginning of summer frolic, this is the weekend. Last night at the Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial near the Washington Avenue Bridge in Waco, Vietnam veterans showed us how its done, gathering for a ceremony honoring those from McLennan County who paid the ultimate price in Vietnam. The 76 names etched in black granite were read at sunset. The weeks thick storm clouds seemed to dissipate, as if on cue. As my friend, Vietnam veteran Manny Sustaita, says: To remember is to honor. Its that simple. Are we on the homefront capable of that much? Monday morning at 8:30 school children and local citizens will gather to place flags on veterans graves at Restland Cemetery in Waco. The popular Oakwood Cemetery Memorial Day ceremony also begins at 8:30 a.m. Rosemound Cemetery and Doris Miller Cemetery have observances at 9 a.m. And the McLennan County Veterans Association has a program at the Doris Miller Veterans Affairs Medical Center, also at 9 a.m. Many towns lay claim to the first Memorial Day. Some say the ladies of Columbus, Mississippi, were first to pay such respects in 1865, tending respectfully to the graves of both Confederate and Union dead. And we know that Union Gen. John A. Logan wrote in 1868 in Order No. 11 that we should have a day of remembrance for the fallen. The order establishing this ceremony reads in part: If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nations gratitude the soldiers and sailors widow and orphan. This Memorial Day weekend many people have an extra day off work. Kids will not be in school on Monday. And we must remember that Memorial Day is more than picnics and shopping. In our travels overseas, my husband Roland and I discovered that Europeans handle the issue of honoring war dead differently. In the United Kingdom we noticed that every little town and every church had some sort of memorial to the dead of the Great War World War I, currently being remembered during its centennial. Bodies back then were not brought back to hometowns to bury. There was no place to mourn unless the community created a space. More importantly, we learned that the people in Europe liberated by fallen soldiers go to great lengths to remember those who died for their freedom. The people of Western Europe will be up early Memorial Day. At the American cemeteries there, volunteers will place flags at each grave. At some, children will come to stand by a grave and pay tribute to this man or that who liberated cherished grandparents from tyranny so many years ago. Towns there adopt the graves of the soldiers who died while fighting in their communities. Its virtually impossible to live or travel in Western Europe and not see the price paid by American troops. Recently I was reminded of my childhood Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Cassie Goodloe. She was a young widow from the Great War. Mr. and Mrs. Goodloe lived in nearby Mount Calm. They married shortly before the war. He was killed in combat in France in 1918. She never remarried. She saved money through the years and went to visit his grave once before she died. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I was able to find the location of his grave. Hes interred in Plot D, Row 29, Grave 14 of the 130-acre Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France. It was dedicated in 1937, even as clouds of war gathered across Europe for another calamity, this one again promising American involvement in the quelling of evil and again more sacrifice. This Memorial Day someone will stand near Pvt. John Goodloes grave. Someone will be there to pay respects and to honor the sacrifice he made to keep the world free. Someone will be there to remember and to honor. Surely you and I can do the same for our war dead locally, somewhere between the more carefree draws of the long holiday weekend. Surely. Local restaurateur and longtime educator Mary Duty is co-founder of the Heart of Texas chapter of the Blue Star Mothers. Her son Caleb served two tours of duty with the Marines during the Iraq War. LINCOLN One Valparaiso native continues to make a splash at the University of Nebraska State Museum, where people from inside and outside of the state stop to learn about and appreciate the states rich paleontological history. Though its been moved to a more interactive display -- installed beneath plexi-glass on the museums floor so visitors can get up close and personal the Valparaiso plesiosaur is still one of the sites most recognized exhibits, even after more than 50 years of residence at one of the states most visited attractions. Conjure up the famous image of Scotlands Loch Ness Monster a small head poking out of the water, balanced atop a long, snakelike neck attached to a body outfitted with four paddle fins and a relatively short tail - and youll arrive at a mostly accurate idea of a plesiosaur. These sizable lizards not dinosaurs, as the museums Vertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager George Corner pointed out once roamed a vast shallow sea that 70 million years ago stretched from what is now the Gulf of Alaska to todays Gulf of Mexico. The massive expanse of water split the North American continent in two, providing ample hunting ground for the impressive creatures. The Cretaceous sea would not be considered an ideal vacation destination. Most animals living in its depths were equipped with razor sharp teeth, and plesiosaurs were no exception. The beasts had teeth like a gator and used their long necks like a python on steroids, Corner said. With those tools at their disposal, they flew through the sea, snatching up various bony fish as they drifted by. With a long neck like that, you can just imagine they were picking up fishes, Corner said. This particular Cretaceous-era sea beast was discovered almost by accident, in 1963 on the Rezac farm a few miles north of Valparaiso, Corner said. Like most of lifes most memorable moments, the find happened when those involved least expected. I think the story goes that they had sat down for lunch, Corner said. Someone spotted what looked to be bone. The they in question were Hal DeGraw of the Nebraska Geological Survey, Charles Osborn of the Bureau of Reclamation and Phil Emory of the United States Geological Survey. The trio was on the farm examining the Oak Creek Valleys Cretaceous shale and limestone deposits and doing some geologic mapping. Who spotted the bone has been lost to time, but whoever it was had zeroed in on a big find. After further investigation uncovered a few vertebrae and portions of two paddles, the discovery was reported to the state museum. The museums then-Director C. Bertrand Schultz dispatched a graduate student to the dig site, who then found a few more vertebrae and mistakenly identified it as a mosasaur, a more common find in similar formations. Mosasaurs were also immense sea lizards that frequented the large inland sea. They, too, were nothing to shake a stick at, with huge heads equipped with rows of sharp teeth, four large paddle fins and a big appetite. What they had actually stumbled upon was Thalassomedon haningtoni science talk for big sea lizard, more or less. The specimen uncovered in Nebraska is estimated to have measured more than 41 feet long about double the length of a 2016 Ford F-150 pickup. The Lincoln Gem and Mineral Club eventually led to the discovery that the fossils did indeed belong to a plesiosaur. Members of the club reached out to Schultz in October 1964, offering assistance in recovering the specimen. Though finding the vertebrae and paddles was no doubt exciting, the highlight of the site was discovered later when the investigators located the beasts skull. When you get the skull thats probably the big prize, Corner said. Thats what youre looking for. Though it was already nearing November, all involved agreed it was time to get to digging out the fossils, Corner said. They constructed a wooden structure draped with plastic sheeting to protect the excavation site from cold and snow and brought in hot coals to keep the temperatures above freezing. Otherwise, the plaster-of-paris used to make protective transport jackets for the fossils would freeze. The workers did freeze. They actually worked in some really cold days, Corner said. It got down to six below. But the volunteers put in a lot of man-hours diligently preparing the plaster jackets that kept the fossils safe on their journey to the university, Corner said. You make the field jacket real nice and tight so nothing jars within it, Corner, whos made plenty of plaster jackets in his time, said. If you hear a rattle, its not good. Excavators prepared the last of those field jackets on the day before Thanksgiving. It contained a section of the cervical vertebrae and the skull. All of the jackets were taken to the universitys Nebraska Hall, where Gem and Mineral Club volunteers aided museum staff in preparing the specimen. The partial skeletons identification as Thalassomedon haningtoni came from the University of California-Berkeleys Dr. Samuel Welles. Soon after, the skull and 23-foot long neck (consisting of 63 vertebrae) were installed in a temporary exhibit in the museums Gallery A. The discovery made headlines, Corner said as he pulled out a museum press release from the time. It was huge, he said. It got a lot of press. Though the press has died down over the past few decades, the plesiosaur still remains a draw for laypeople and scholars alike. Recently a scientist made the trip from Germany to study the specimen. Corner said the museum removed it from beneath the plexiglass, giving him freedom to research. Corner expects the plesiosaur will continue to be researched well into the future. It will always be there for scientific study, which is what this collection is all about, he said. Its like a lending library for fossils. And if it werent for a Valparaiso family, that opportunity wouldnt be available. If it hadnt been for them, the citizens of the state would be without a real jewel that belongs to each and every one of us in the state, Corner said. And for anyone who may stumble across another monumental paleontology find, Corner recommends caution. Contact the museum, he said. The worst thing they can do is try to dig it out themselves, he said. It takes a trained person to tell you that its worth digging it out. To be able to get it out of the ground takes some expertise. And, just like the plesiosaur, the next big discovery will happen when least expected. You probably wouldnt find it if you were looking for it, Corner said. Youve got to be at the right place at the right time. Timings everything. The Nebraska State Museum is located at 645 North 14th Street in Lincoln, and is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Science movies on show till Sunday at Shanghai Science Hall From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-05-27 23:53 THE nations first film week featuring science and technology movies kicked off in the city this week. Till Sunday, 23 science films including some latest science fiction movies and Chinese self-developed science movies will be shown at Shanghai Science and Technology Cinema inside Shanghai Science Hall on Sinan Road, said the organizer Shanghai Association of Science and Technology. There will be ten free movies for local people, who can apply for tickets through the app of Shanghai Science Promotion. In addition to movies, there are lectures and forums to introduce latest technologies and boost the development of Chinese science movies. Poppy soup appeal rejected From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-05-28 01:45 A local unlicensed eatery owner who was sentenced to 18 months in jail for putting poppy seed shells in his noodle soup had his appeal rejected by Shanghai No.3 Intermediate People's Court yesterday. Police raided the premises on October 21 last year and poppy shells were later seized at his residence. The man, surnamed Tao, was charged with producing and selling toxic and harmful food. He appealed his sentence, seeking a lighter penalty because he had only added a small quantity. Trouble is, the more economists think about the plan and examine the Treasury modelling supporting it, the less enthusiastic they become. John Daley and Brendan Coates, of the Grattan Institute, are distinctly unimpressed. The first reservation comes from a factor peculiar to Australia: our system of "dividend imputation", introduced by Paul Keating in 1987 to eliminate the "double taxation" of the dividends people receive from the companies in which they hold shares. To match their dividends, shareholders receive a "franking credit" set at the same rate as the company tax rate presently 30 per cent which has the effect of returning to them the company tax paid on their dividend and so ensuring their dividend is taxed only at their marginal income tax rate, like any other income. Imputation has encouraged Australian companies to pay out a high proportion of their after-tax profits as dividends, rather than retain them for re-investment in the business. After 20 or 25 or 30 years, the level of real after-tax wages will be 0.4 per cent higher than otherwise. Reserve Bank research shows companies are paying out more than 80 per cent of their underlying earnings. Trick is, only Australian shareholders in our companies receive franking credits; foreign shareholders don't. In consequence, Australian shareholders (who include everyone with superannuation savings) have little to gain from the cut in company tax. It gives them no reason to change their behaviour. Imputation has turned our company tax into little more than a tax on foreign shareholders. Which means almost all the benefit from the company tax cut goes to foreigners. This is intended to induce them to greatly increase their investment in Australia which is where the jobs and growth are supposed to come from though they'll pay less tax on their present Aussie share investments whether or not they decide to invest more. In modelling the effects of that assumed increase in foreign investment, it's natural for Treasury and others to look at the effect on real gross domestic product. Natural, but misleading. It seems to have taken rival modelling by econometricians at the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University to oblige Treasury and its allegedly independent consultants to acknowledge that, because so much of the benefit of the cut goes to foreigners, and because foreigners will own all the extra share investment (and consequent dividend income) the cut induces them to make, GDP significantly overstates the expected benefit to Australians. That's because GDP measures the value of goods and services produced in Australia, not how the income generated by that production is shared between Australians and foreign investors. The right measure is thus gross national income. A good feature of Treasury's modelling is that it didn't just model the tax cut in isolation. It acknowledged that the cut would leave the government short of revenue and thus needing to fill the gap somehow. Its least unrealistic scenario is that it would be filled by increasing income tax say, by allowing years of bracket creep. Treasury's modelling of this scenario finds that the cut in company tax would cause the level of real GDP to be 1 per cent higher than otherwise in the "long term" (taken to be about 20 years). But the level of real GNI would be only 0.6 per cent higher than otherwise. Daley and Coates put that into context by noting that if GNI per person increases by 1.5 per cent a year (as the budget papers routinely assume), over 25 years it will have risen by 45.1 per cent. Cut company tax (not in one go, as the modelling assumes, but over 10 years) and incomes rise over the period not by 45.1 per cent, but by 45.7 per cent. Wow. For reasons only an economist would believe (because it comes from their theory, not from empirical evidence), most of this gain would go to wage earners. After 20 or 25 or 30 years, the level of real after-tax wages will be 0.4 per cent higher than otherwise. Loading And get this: although voters are encouraged to believe that "jobs and growth" is really about jobs, the Treasury modelling finds that the level of employment in 20 or 30 years' time will be just 0.1 per cent higher than otherwise. But, some say, we are a government business enterprise accountable to all Australians and this is true. That's why publications of our progress and the corporate plan reveal more information than most listed companies including forward estimates. Extensive reports are provided to shareholder departments monthly with regular detailed feedback. When dozens of confidential company documents are stolen, this is theft. When they are the basis of media headlines and partisan attacks, they wrongly tarnish our reputation, demoralise our workforce, distract the executive, and raise doubts where there is little basis for concern. The process is a form of political rumourtrage the circulation of misinformation to diminish an enterprise for political gain. NBN is a company subject to the Corporations Act, the PGPA Act, and the NBN Co Act and is responsible for the creation and security of critical national infrastructure. Management is accountable to a board that takes its responsibilities very seriously. So misinformation about NBN and accusations of underperformance are inexcusable and galling. It is also subject to vigorous public interrogation by parliamentary committees on a regular basis its executives appearing before Senate committees for more than 27 hours in 2015 alone. While NBN has much commercially sensitive and national-interest material in its possession that must be kept confidential, the organisation accepts a very high level of commentary, and diverse and often expert opinion about our strategy and operations. But information taken out of context for political gain is not in the interest of the public and is corrosive to our culture. Furthermore, the GBE implements government policy and all employees should be working to that end. No employee may decide that they would point and run the enterprise differently and then set about undermining the organisation by leaking various documents in part or whole. One rationalisation has appeared that this theft is the action of whistleblowers. No, it is not. NBN has a well-established process for responding to information from whistleblowers with a notification process managed by an independent third party. None of the matters in the stolen documents have been raised through this channel. And whistleblowing usually emerges from concerns about the legality or morality of actions within a company, or unconscionable behaviour inconsistent with company values. If an employee has strong personal conviction unsupportive of a company's strategy, they can argue their case with management or resign. They cannot give voice to their preferred ideology by passing on stolen documents. Contrary to media commentary, the documents did nothing to highlight poor management of the business. There are no "cost blowouts" or "rollout delays" to the publicly released plans all one has to do is compare the data that is readily available. The documents show progress updates, options to ensure targets are met and ways to solve problems which are all normal parts of doing good business. It's simply wrong to diminish NBN's performance, because such accusations are not supported in fact. Casting one of the greatest sex symbols of the era in a special effects-driven movie for kids may be a departure but it followed the birth of her first child, a boy, in 2012. Fox is married to actor Brian Austin Green. Their breakups and reunions are all documented on the internet, but she is expecting their third child this northern summer. She has packed a lot into 30 years modelling in Florida at 13; moving to Hollywood at 15 with her mother, who returned to Florida when Fox turned 18 and could support herself; a dozen or so movies, some of which were huge. She now has the kind of fame where she can expect people to go through her garbage. Does turning 30 make her reflect on her career and direction? "In terms of packing a lot into 30 years, I will soon have three kids, which is pretty crazy. Back to back to back. But my career trajectory? How do I feel about it, what do I think? I don't know I prefer making comedies or these action movies because I have a lot of fun It's not that I don't enjoy acting or making movies. I have been really lucky in the movies I have made, but there are other things that I love and I am interested in that I want to explore. I guess 30 years old is a year of awakening for a lot of people so I am learning who I am and finding myself and starting to branch off in new and different directions." What directions, I wonder? "I am actually a much more academic person than anyone would anticipate and I have a lot of interest in things like, aside from theology and philosophy, I am really interested in archaeology and things of that nature. I have put a lot of time into learning and studying about these things. I am trying to find ways to incorporate that into the platform I have been given as an actor. I think that is as specific as I can get right now." Fox's history with religion is, in her own word, extreme. Before her parents divorced in Tennessee she attended a conservative Pentecostal church the kind where they handled snakes and spoke in tongues. In Florida she attended Catholic high schools, but she retains a little of that old-time religion. She has said she sometimes still speaks in tongues. I went looking for information about her interest in archaeology. Turns out it is very Scully and Mulder. She explains in an interview on YouTube that she's obsessed with "ancient aliens". Is this the exchange that sparked Jacqui Lambie's fury against conservative Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi? Senator Bernardi says he has only ever had one private conversation with the Tasmanian maverick and it was an innocuous chat in which the new Senator was complaining about not having yet received her paycheck since being elected. Yet the fiery Senator singled out Senator Bernardi as her first target in the hypothetical event she would have a biff with one of her colleagues. Speaking to Annabel Crabb on the ABC's Kitchen Cabinet, Senator Lambie labelled Senator Bernardi an "arsehole." "[He's got] a born with a silver spoon up my rear end [attitude]," she said. Heard said in a sworn declaration that Depp threw her mobile phone at her during a fight last Saturday, striking her cheek and eye. A US judge has ordered Depp to stay 100 yards away from Heard. Actor Amber Heard has accused estranged husband Johnny Depp of domestic violence. She submitted a picture of her bruised face when she applied for a restraining order on Friday. A bruised Amber Heard leaves court after accusing husband Johnny Depp of domestic abuse. Credit:AP Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H. Moor also ruled that Depp shouldn't try to contact Heard. She filed for divorce on Monday, citing irreconcilable differences and saying the pair separated the day before. The findings draw a line under one of the most high-profile murders in Victorian history. Judge Ian Gray handed down written findings on Friday into the death of Ms Meagher, concluding the 29-year-old ABC worker died due to compression of her neck but was poorly served by a parole system that did not prioritise public safety. The Victorian Coroner has found the murder of Jill Meagher was "preventable", as her killer Adrian Ernest Bayley should never have been walking the streets. Ms Meagher was raped and murdered by Bayley who approached her as she walked down Sydney Road in Brunswick towards her home in the early hours of Saturday, September 22, 2012. Jill and Tom Meagher on their wedding day. Her death horrified but galvanised the Victorian community as tens of thousands marched in sympathy and joined in grief with her parents and husband, Tom. In June 2013, Bayley was convicted of her rape and murder and sentenced to a minimum of 35 years' prison. Following Bayley's arrest the Victorian government enacted widespread law reform to tighten rules governing parole in the state. While Judge Gray found those changes were 'significant and entirely positive' he also said the overhaul of parole laws was still in its "early days". In Judge Gray's own words, Bayley was a man with a "long and disturbing history of violent and sexual offences". He had previous convictions for rape, dating back to 1990. In 2001, Bayley was arrested and charged with 16 counts of rape against five women, offences that led to a sentence of 11 years in prison with an eight-year non-parole period. The entire Carnarvon council should be sacked after refusing to fly the Aboriginal flag during NAIDOC Week, the local MP says. The council was equally divided in voting on the matter at a meeting this week, until president Karl Brandenburg cast the deciding no. The Shire of Carnarvon said they felt flying the Aboriginal flag on their council building was "divisive". Credit:Max Mason Hubers MMH The decision sparked peaceful protests in the town but also threats to Mr Brandenburg, he says, leaving his wife and children fearing for their safety. The furore has attracted not just the attention of the national media but criticism from Labor, Liberal and National MPs. by Dr. Donald M. McCartney, D.M. Bernard Crick in his book In Defense of Politics wrote, Politics is an activity a complete activity, it is not simply grasping for an ideal, for then the ideals of others may be threatened; but it is not pure self-interest either simply because the more realistically one construes the more one is involved in relationships with others The more one is involved in relationships with others, the more conflicts of interest, or of character and circumstance, will arise. These conflicts, when personal, create the activity we call ethics and such conflicts, when public, create political activity. There are two great enemies of politics: INDIFFERENCE TO HUMAN SUFFERING and the PASSIONATE QUEST FOR CERTAINTY IN MATTERS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIALLY POLITICAL. Indifference to human suffering discredits free regimes which are unable, or which fear, to extend the habits and possibility of freedom from the few to the many. The quest for certainty scorns the political virtues of PRUDENCE, of CONCILIATION, of COMPROMISE, of VARIETY, of ADAPTABILITY, of LIVELINESS in favour of pseudo-science of government, some absolute-sounding ethics, or some ideology, some world-picture in terms of either race or economics A free government is one, which makes decisions politically , not ideologically." The first substantial political party, in the Bahamas, was formed in 1953. The new party was dubbed the Progressive Liberal Party [PLP]. This party was formed to confront the unopposed political bloc that controlled the House of Assembly and by extension, the economy of the Bahamas. The government of the day (the Bay Street Boys), which was an oligarchy, was alarmed at the formation of the Progressive Liberal Party and as it grew due to the enthusiastic response of the people. The Bay Street Boys soon formed their party in 1956, which they called the United Bahamian Party [U. B. P.]. With the formation of the PLP and the UBP, party politics was established in The Bahamas. For many political observers, it was felt that democracy in The Bahamas via the two party system was well on its way. By 1967 after fourteen years of arduous campaigning, the PLP became the first Majority Government in the history of The Bahamas. The PLP achievement was made possible by a coalition with Randol Fawkes (later Sir Randol) the lone Labour candidate who was elected to Parliament and Sir Alvin Braynen, who ran as an Independent candidate. Randol Fawkes became the Minister of Labour, and Sir Alvin became the Speaker of the House of Assembly. The English playwright, William Shakespeare once observed the following through the character Lysander in the play A Summer Nights Dream: Ay me, for aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth;.... It is also true that in politics the course of true love never runs smooth. This was certainly the case within the PLP prior to and between 1969 and 1973. While there were many instances that indicated that all was not well in the PLP. There were two instances that confirmed that there was discontent within the should have had implications for the broadening and deepening of democracy, via party politics, in the Bahamas. In the first instance, Progressive Liberal Party members Paul Adderley, Orville Turnquest [the former governor general] and Spurgeon Bethel left the Progressive Liberal Party in 1965 over their disagreement the events of Black Tuesday. As a consequence, Messrs. Adderley and Turnquest formed the National Democratic Party (NDP). In truth and fact, these were the dissidents and could be dubbed the Dissident Three. The second significant instance occurred at the 1970 convention of the governing Progressive Liberal Party when Cecil Wallace-Whitfield resigned as a Cabinet Minister. Mr. Wallace-Whitfields resignation was followed by that of Dr. Curtis MacMillan, who was also a Cabinet Minister. Messrs. Wallace-Whitfield and MacMillan were joined later by Warren Levarity and Arthur Foulkes, who were also Cabinet Ministers. Four backbenchers, namely Dr. Elmwood Donaldson, James Shepherd, George Thompson and Maurice Moore, later joined the four Ministers. Collectively, they became known as the Dissident Eight. These eight men would later form the nucleus of the Free Progressive Liberal Party (FPLP). By this time, the Opposition forces, in addition to the UBP and the FPLP, consisted of the NDP, the Labour Party and the Vanguard National Socialist Party [VN.S.P.]. By this time, the Opposition forces, in and out of the House Assembly, were seen as splinter groups that could not match the machinery and popularity of the PLP. After the General Strike of 1958, Randol Fawkes failed to convince the PLP to have the partys name changed to the Progressive Labour Party. In the same year (1958), he left the PLP and formed the Labour Party. The Labour Party was a minor political party in the Bahamas. In the 1962 General Elections, it won a single seat, taken by Randol Fawkes. Fawkes retained his seat in the 1967 elections. The Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party was founded in 1971 by a group belonging to the youth organization of Progressive Liberal Party, who was inspired by the Black Panther Party in the United States. John T. McCartney became party president in 1979, and while it improved its performance in the 1982 elections, with 18 candidates receiving 181 votes, it still failed to win a seat. The last election contested by the party was the by-election in St. Barnabas in 1987. In 1972, Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, using all of the skills available to him, was able to pull the forces of the three parties together into what became known as the Free National Movement (FNM). With the formation of the Free National Movement, it was felt that the democratic system of government, which is one of the hallmarks of, was assured. It must be remembered, that by this time, the UBP was defunct and was no longer relevant far as frontline politics was concerned. Due to a disagreement within the Free National Movement over the question of party nominations for the 1977 General Elections, the party was split into two factions. One faction formed a new party called the Bahamas Democratic Party (BDP) under the leadership of John Henry Bostwick. The other faction remained under the banner of the Free National Movement with Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) came into being in 1979. The party was formed after Messrs. Keith Duncombe, James Knowles, Michael Lightbourne and Norman Solomon Bahamas Democratic Party (BDP) members of parliament defected to the Social Democratic Party. As a result, the Social Democratic Party became the official Opposition under the leadership of Norman Solomon. A later merger between the Free National Movement and the remnants of the Bahamas Democratic Party took place between 1979 and the 1982 General Elections. As a result of this merger, the Free National Democratic Movement (FNDM) came into being as a second opposition group consisting of John Henry Bostwick (leader), Maurice E. Moore and Garnet Levarity. By the time that the 1992 election was called, the FNDM had reverted to the FNM. It is important to note that Mr. Ingraham served in the Cabinet of the late Sir Lynden Pindling (PLP) in the 1980s. Sir Lynden fired him because he took a stand against certain members of the Pindling Cabinet against whom drug trafficking charges were levied. In 1991, prior to the 1992 elections, Hubert Ingraham was invited by the later Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield (in his deathbed) to take over the leadership of the FNM. The Free National Movement was in the political wilderness, for at least twenty years, following its formation in 1972 before winning the government in 1992. Some political observers did not believe that the victory of the Free National Movement was a serious mandate. In fact, the former Prime Minister [Sir Lynden O. Pindling] referred to the Free National Movement as an interim government. However, political history would prove him and others, of the same view, wrong. The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) was formed in 2011 due to the frustrations of Branville McCartney, who served as a junior minister of Immigration in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Essentially, one can conclude that since the FNM came out of the belly of the PLP that by extension the DNA is a surrogate of the PLP. There have been numerous parties formed in The Bahamas, but they were always on the fringes of mainstream frontline politics. Politics in The Bahamas has always been the domain of the two-party system. It is clear that post-1953, with the exception of the UBP, every political party in The Bahamas roots can be traced back to the PLP. Find out more about Dr. McCartney here... ____________________________________________________ The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of WeblogBahamas.com (which has no corporate view) or its Authors. ____________________________________________________ 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. Advertisement By The Associated Press May. 28, 2016 | HORSE CAVE, KY By The Associated Press May. 28, 2016 | 07:35 AM | HORSE CAVE, KY 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 above ground, 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. Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to see rural communities get better access to phone and internet services, but says it is too early to voice his opinion on the proposed sale of Manitoba Telecom Services to Bell. Trudeau was asked about the proposed $3.9 billion sale of MTS to Montreal-based BCE Inc. during a media availability after his keynote address at the Liberal Party convention Saturday afternoon. I dont think it would be appropriate for me to comment on, other than to say how important it is to have for consumers to have reliable access to high quality phone and internet service, Trudeau said. This is something we cant get around in the 21st century, much of our economic growth, much of our entrepreneurship and many opportunities that particularly marginalized or remote communities need are linked to strong affordable access to the internet and to cell service and that is certainly what we are keeping in mind. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks delegates at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention in Winnipeg. When asked if Bell could pave the way to this improved access, Trudeau said those questions are better left to federal regulators. As part of the deal, Bell is promising to spend $1 billion on improvements over five years. The deal requires approval from regulators, including the federal government and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The Pallister government has faced harsh criticism by the opposition NDP over their support of the deal. The NDP claim it will lead to increased cell rates for Manitobans thanks to a shrinking market. It is a possibility which Premier Brian Pallister hasnt denied. But in similar line to Trudeaus comments, Pallister argues that better investment is needed to improve services for rural Manitobans. Pallister will have a chance to speak with Trudeau face-to-face next week, when the Prime Minister returns to Winnipeg to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference being held June 2-5. I spoke with premier-elect Pallister the day after he won to congratulate him and to talk about how much I look forward to working with him on issues that matter to Manitobans and all Canadians. Issues of economic growth issues on how we renew the relationship with indigenous people, Trudeau said when asked if he had met with Pallister over the weekend. I look forward to meeting with him later in the week when return to Winnipeg for the FCM. kristin.annable@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. EDMONTON The Alberta government says Fort McMurray employers have received four out of every five contracts to rebuild the fire-damaged community. Economic Development Minister Deron Bilous says of the 532 contracts signed by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes the city of Fort McMurray, about 80 per cent are with local employers. Any business that is either locally owned or employs people in the Fort McMurray area is considered a local employer. Bilous says businesses from outside the region are given contracts only if there are no local businesses to do the work. He says these are usually for complex projects that require specific expertise not available locally. The Fort McMurray Construction Association has complained that workers from the community are being overlooked for jobs, such as trucking supplies to the city. Its frustrating to see misinformation out there about the great work being done by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Bilous said in a news release. The contracting for recovery and cleanup is being led from Fort McMurray by residents of Fort McMurray, and they have done an excellent job of ensuring local employers are being used whenever possible. Wood Buffalo Mayor Melissa Blake also said local companies and employees are spearheading recovery efforts. Over 80 per cent of the contracts signed so far have been with local employers, and we will be reaching out to many more local businesses in the coming days and weeks, Blake said in a news release. I encourage any Wood Buffalo business owner who wants to help to visit www.rmwb.ca and fill out our offer of assistance form. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. FREDERICTON A moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, imposed by New Brunswicks Liberal government in December 2014, will remain in place indefinitely, the provinces energy minister announced Friday. We have been clear we would not allow this activity to go forward unless our five conditions were met, Donald Arseneault said. Creating jobs is our number one priority, but not at any cost. It is clear that our conditions cannot be satisfied in the foreseeable future. The Liberal governments conditions included a plan for regulations and waste-water disposal, a process for consultation with First Nations, a royalty structure, and a so-called social licence. Arseneault was responding to a report from the commission on hydraulic fracturing which was released in February. That hefty, three-volume document offered a long list of recommendations to follow if government were to allow a shale gas industry to grow in the province. Among its recommendations were a single independent regulator, a plan for waste water disposal, a new strategy for environment and energy, and a new relationship with Indigenous people. Arseneault said there was no way the industry could proceed right now because of the situation left by the previous Progressive Conservative government of premier David Alward. Weve inherited a situation from the last government that really brought this industry where its at today. The way they conducted themselves and the relationship that really deteriorated with First Nations made it such that we had no choice but to put a moratorium in place in the province of New Brunswick, he said. The Alward governments decision to embrace the shale gas industry was polarizing in the province, where a series of public protests culminated in a violent demonstration in the fall of 2013 in Rexton that saw 40 people arrested and six police vehicles burned. Mikmaq chiefs in New Brunswick welcomed news that the moratorium will remain in place, and said they see it as an opportunity for the province to mend its relationship with First Nations communities. But Fort Folly First Nation Chief Rebecca Knockwood said its time for Arseneault to stop blaming the previous government. Two years into this mandate the Gallant government can no longer pin the strained relationship on the former government. They are not meeting their constitutional obligation to consult First Nations on Sisson Mine or Energy East, she said. Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Bruce Fitch criticized the decision to maintain the moratorium. He said the Liberal government is failing to move the province forward. They have actually hurt the province in many, many ways, he said. Driving the opportunity for investment out of the province of New Brunswick is another example of how this government says one thing and does another. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers expressed disappointment with the move in a news release. Industry has been working with the government to ensure world-class regulations and environmental protection is in place, said Paul Adams, manager of Atlantic Canada and the Arctic. The decision to extend the moratorium is a step in the wrong direction and sends a negative message about attracting investment to grow the economy. But Samir Kayande, an analyst with Calgary-based RS Energy Group said he doubts there would be any shale gas development now in New Brunswick even if the moratorium was lifted. Theres a lot of gas in North America right now. So the focus among investors and the focus among industry has been trying to reduce the cost of what is already known, and available, and will last us for many, many years into the future, he said. Kayande said it takes a lot of money and time to develop a shale gas play, and the conditions dont favour that happening any time soon in New Brunswick. Theres just not a price environment right now that is amenable to future resource development in exploratory areas, he said. The Conservation Council of New Brunswick and Green party Leader David Coon both applauded the decision to maintain the moratorium. The decision of the government is consistent with the logic presented by the commission on hydraulic fracturing and is certainly compatible with the vision of the Green party to follow the transition towards a green economy, Coon said. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Smug predictions of a Hillary Clinton landslide didnt sit well with Bill Maher and shouldnt sit well with Manitobas business community, either. The irreverent and liberal host of Real Time With Bill Maher recently took movie director Rob Reiner to task for suggesting a Clinton win over Donald Trump was a certainty. Maher worries such predictions could convince liberals and Democrats victory for Clinton is certain, and he fears resulting apathy on the left could leave the door open for Trump to sneak in to victory. Chris Carlson / The Associated Press Experts think if Donald Trump wins, hell have to turn his back on many of his promises but could still create trouble. Regardless of what pundits might say about the bombastic businessmans relative chances of success, prudent strategic planning here might include some thought into what a Trump presidency might mean to Canadas and Manitobas economies. For Canada, and especially Manitoba, business in the U.S. is an economic lifeline. Even a Trump presidency, as outrageous as that outcome might be, would likely not alter the cross-border flow of goods and services that totals about $25 billion per year in and out of Manitoba. In a recent posting, Murray Leith, executive vice-president and director of investment research at the large Vancouver-based wealth-management firm Odlum Brown, told clients its more likely economic dynamics will affect politics than the other way around in the U.S. election. He doesnt think Trump will win, and if he does, Leith doesnt think it would be good for the U.S. or its stock market. That would be of great concern for many Canadian investors, including the clients for whom Odlum Brown manages about $9 billion in assets. We dont think it will be the end of the world, Leith said. Hed likely be forced to moderate his positions on many fronts. For instance, NAFTA cant easily be unwound, and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a juggernaut that may be hard to stop. But thats not to say a Trump administration wouldnt be capable of a few curveballs. Carlo Dade, director of the Centre on Trade and Investment Policy at the Canada West Foundation in Calgary, recently wrote a piece in the Huffington Post titled, Theres Simply No Way Donald Trump Can Win the Election. Hes an old Washington hand and clearly is not the only one who is convinced of that, but he also knows while it would take time, there are processes whereby the U.S. could walk away from some of its trade deals. There is a whole bunch of mischief Trump could do, said Dade. John Gastaldo/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the San Diego Convention Center on Friday, May 27, 2016. From his current western Canadian vantage point, Dade says Manitobas economy is more integrated with the U.S. than the rest of the western provinces and so may very well have the most at stake were Trump to throw some sort of wrench into trade relations with Canada and the rest of the world. But, he said, (Regardless of who wins) the election will not alter the strong fundamentals in the U.S., which is the largest, fattest, easiest market in the world. From a global macroeconomic perspective, Leith is more concerned about seeing improved co-ordination of government and central bank policy-making, ideally with more fiscal and less monetary policy and an acceptance of slower growth by central bankers around the world. We are muddling through in a less-than-optimal manner right now, he said. Hopefully that will evolve and change for the better. Leith notes real household incomes among the lowest-earning households in the U.S. have declined at a far greater rate than higher earners, citing that as one of the main reasons voters are fed up with political gridlock and using Trump as a way to express that protest. A publication from the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics that came out last month on the Manitoba economy showed household disposable income in Manitoba averaged 4.4 per cent annual growth between 2010 and 2014 without differentiating between various income brackets. Luckily, Manitoba is likely not to alter its moderate growth rate regardless of who is in the White House. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Amenity Health Care has successfully landed its Tim Hortons pilot project and is preparing for more takeoffs. The Winnipeg-based company had a grand reopening for its Taylor Pharmacy in Gimli over the weekend, an event marking the complete overhaul of the facility focused on health, wellness and convenience. Oh, and double-doubles. More than $1 million has been invested to redevelop the entire space, including building a medical clinic complete with an examination room and waiting room. Its all connected to a new Tim Hortons, which employs 20 people. I walked in a few days ago, and the coffee shop was busy, and the pharmacy was busy. People are socializing like a little social hub, said Amenity chairman David Asper. Whats different is the workflow, the precision, detail and microcosmic stuff that theyre doing to offset the drug-price pressure. The revamped pharmacy moved next door into an old 8,000-square-foot liquor store that has been vacant for several years while the Tim Hortons moved into the original pharmacy space, which is half that size. The plan is roll out upgraded pharmacies with adjacent Tim Hortons locations shortly in Gladstone, Man., and Kipling, Sask., plus another seven across the two provinces later this year. Smaller independents simply havent had the scale to compete effectively outside of the Perimeter Highway, but Amenity is confident its approach of buying smaller pharmacies from longtime owners looking to retire can help level the playing field. You need purchasing power. Our approach is to try to retain the local flavour and identity of the pharmacy and its service to a very local patient base but also network together for purchasing and strategic efficiencies, Asper said. The company has established a head office in Winnipeg with 18 people working there. Were a real company now, Asper said. Dalbir Bains, Amenitys CEO, said the company now has more than 300 employees across its 24 locations throughout the rural Prairies. He said its possible Amenity could turn its focus to larger centres in the future. I think that will be an ongoing discussion. We would only do it if we felt we had a competitive advantage. That could be the case one day, but right now we think there are a lot of opportunities in the under-serviced rural communities, he said. Both Bains and Asper said the company has some fairly aggressive growth plans, but theyre going to be careful not to overextend the model. Were just finishing our five-year plan. I could envision where were doubling in size every couple of years based on our track record, Bains said. Added Asper: We have a lot of potential acquisition activity ahead of us in the pipeline. Amenity also recently hired Keith McMahon, the former CEO of Winnipeg-based packaged-ice manufacturer Arctic Glacier, as its new chief financial officer. geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. I have excellent news for anyone who has ever dreamed of becoming a polar bear snack. On July 1, Canada Day, I am going to fly up to Churchill and then take a flying leap into the frigid water of Hudson Bay, famous for its polar bears, beluga whales and vast quantities of ice. The great news is anyone with an intense desire to freeze their medically valuable organs or possibly check out the gastrointestinal system of a huge carnivore can jump into the Arctic Ocean with me. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION Dont worry, this is just a photo illustration: Doug Speirs isnt being hunted by a hungry polar bear. But hes preparing to face them in Churchill July 1 in a charity event. This is happening because I am one of more than 50 people taking part in the first Ultimate Polar Plunge, an extremely chilly three-day charity event organized by the Manitoba Law Enforcement Torch Run in support of Special Olympics Manitoba. Before we get to the part where you sign up to plunge beside me, I should explain there is a legitimate journalistic reason why I am doing this. Alcohol was involved. It began at the recent Winnipeg Wine Festival when I accidentally bumped into Terry Hopper Hopkinson, manager of the torch run, which is dedicated to raising cash and awareness for Special Olympics Manitoba. When he spotted me, Hoppers grin threatened to split his face in two, and he chirped: Hey, Doug, theres something really cool I want you to do. Which is when he told me all about plans for the plunge in Churchill, the northernmost plunge in the world, regardless of what people in Alaska might tell you. When Hopper mentioned the possibility of polar bears, my buddy Bob, who also happens to be my boss, smiled an evil smile and said: Sign him up! Youre plunging into Hudson Bay with the polar bears watching, is what Hopper told me. Im serious. Theres a beach, and when the high tide comes in at about 5:45 p.m. on July 1, were all plunging in. What with being paid to ask difficult questions, I wondered whether the water might be a tad cold. You want me to scare you or tell you the truth? Hopper snorted. The truth is last year on July 1 it was about 5 C. Three years ago, there were still icebergs floating in the bay. There will be no bears on the beach. We hope. But well have the wildlife people there to protect the plungers just in case. Hopper is hoping the inaugural Ultimate Polar Plunge will raise something like $60,000. The torch run has been organizing plunges around Manitoba for the past four years raising just shy of $250,000 but this is the first time its being attempted so far north. Our polar plunges to this point have been jumping into a Dumpster full of ice water, Hopper confided at a later interview as I busily huffed and puffed trying to blow up a giant inflatable lime-green gummy bear I bought because I felt it might endear us to any bears that show up on plunge day. Were going to be the first group to jump into the Arctic Ocean. Well raise a few bucks for Special Olympics Manitoba, but its mostly for the awareness. Its a unique event. You will not be surprised to learn alcohol was involved in the birth of this genius concept. This was my idea, Hopper gushed. We were sitting in a hotel two years ago in New Orleans with people from Winnipeg police, the RCMP and the head of Special Olympics. Wed just been to an international conference listening to some guy from Hawaii tell us how theyd raised $25,000 by jumping into a swimming pool full of ice water. We had a few adult beverages and thought, Hey, we live in the Polar Bear Capital of the World! Why dont we jump right into Hudson Bay? So that is exactly what WE are going to do on Canada Day, although the first thing we plungers are going to do after checking in at the Lazy Bear Lodge is take part in Churchills Canada Day parade. Right from the plane, we check into the hotel, and then we go march or ride in the parade, Hopper noted. Were major celebrities. Theyre giving us the royal treatment. Which is why I know you are going to want to join us. About 50 plungers have already signed up from around North America including media types such as me, CTVs Terri Apostle and Virgin Radios Mandy Shew but there are still a handful of seats on the plane. You can register by visiting the torch runs website at www.manitobaletr.ca. You have to raise a minimum of $3,500 in pledges (or just cut a cheque) by June 15 to qualify for this historic plunge. I need about five more plungers to fill up the plane, Hopper told me. It all goes to support programming for 1,600 Special Olympics athletes in Manitoba. Its going to be the adventure of a lifetime. Hopper is right. Along with the plunge, there are a couple of feasts, a trip to see the whales and a Tundra Tour where we should get to eyeball some polar bears. Yes, the water is going to be freezing, but I know in my heart the plunge will leave us with a warm, fuzzy feeling, especially if we end up inside a polar bear. doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Police are asking for the publics help after a young man was badly beaten downtown Friday night. Emergency workers responded to a call about a victim suffering from multiple upper body injuries at about 11:30 p.m. at the corner of Portage Avenue and Donald Street. The 21-year-old male was assaulted and required immediate medical attention, police said. He was transported to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Its a letter that is really a heart-rendering plea for help from a child. I would like to go to camp because Im really bored at home every day of my life, a young girl wrote in large print. I have no friends at all and I cant go anywhere Im not aloud (sic) to. I have really bad anxiety, so I stopped going to school for a long time, but Im getting better now, and I started going to school for two hours a day. I can talk to people now, so I think this would be a great opportunity to help me with my anxiety. This is the reality a lot of children face these days going to school. Knowing they will be with the same students each day. The same students who ostracize them. The same ones who bully them. Not knowing if this will be a lonely summer. Wouldnt it be great if, for one or two weeks, somehow these children could magically go to a different place with different children to do something different, such as have fun? And maybe, just maybe, come back from there knowing you have met someone who could turn out to be that lifelong friend youve been looking for? And needing? This is just one letter that was sent to the Winnipeg Free Press Sunshine Fund. It is from just one of the hundreds of children and families who apply to the fund. And, for the 37th year, the Winnipeg Free Press and its generous readers will work with the Manitoba Camping Association to assist the children and youth who need the help because their families cant afford to send them to summer camp. Bob Cox, publisher of the Free Press, said he hopes readers, especially those who have gone to camp in the past or who were helped by the Sunshine Fund through the decades, will remember those days and donate now. The importance of giving kids a chance to go to camp is brought home every day in my household, Cox said recently. My teenage daughter lives for summer camp and this year will spend the entire summer as a junior counsellor. Every kid should have the opportunity to experience what she holds dear. Liz Kovach, executive director of the Manitoba Camping Association, said this years target is funding 1,000 children and youth to go to summer camp. Last year, 720 children and youth were able to experience summer camp thanks to the Sunshine Fund. But Kovach said while 400 applications have already come in for the 35 accredited camps the MCA oversees, they only have funding for 200 right now. I dont have a crystal ball I dont know how much money well raise this year, so I dont know for sure how many will be able to go to camp. But the faster and earlier people donate the better. Kovach said another way to help is by supporting todays Sunshine Fund fundraiser, the third annual Great Manitoba Portage at The Forks Festival Park, starting with registration at 9 a.m. It includes having teams portage canoes across the Esplanade Riel Bridge. Kovach said volunteers will accept donations at the site. As for the letter from the girl living with anxiety who wants to go to camp, Kovach said she hopes the girls dream comes true, but she cant guarantee it. I read the letter, and I cant imagine if I had to tell her she cant go to camp, she said. But Ive had to put children on the wait-list the last few years, and it could mean they wont get there. Thats why we need people to donate. It really is in your hands now. Your donation is the best answer to the letter sent to the Sunshine Fund. How can you say no? kevin.rollason@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. Ottawa is willing to open a 19-year-old Manitoba treaty land claims process that appears to have ground to a halt. Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, in Winnipeg for the Liberal Party convention, said she met with the Treaty Land Entitlement chiefs who are part of a 1997 framework agreement that was supposed to settle land claims, but hasnt. After signing a seperate agreement Friday with Manitoba Metis Federation, the minister confirmed shes also asked departmental officials to work with the TLE committee to review options to move claims forward for First Nations. Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS files Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett Manitoba First Nations and the MMF have historicially had a difficult relationship, and there currently is a feud between some First Nations and Metis over whether the Metis should be consulted before Ottawa approves additions to reserve lands. The minister said she wants to broker a way forward which could potentially mean amendments to the 1997 agreement, she said. The agreement was signed by the chiefs, Ottawa and the province so any change would also need the approval of the province. The Metis arent signatories but Ottawa has a legal obligation to consult with them, so settling the dispute will take diplomacy. The status quo isnt working and so I was very inspired by the meeting and the way forward because treaty land entitlement completion is what were after and we need to get on with it, Bennett said. The 1997 Treaty Land Entitlement Manitoba Framework Agreement set out that Manitoba First Nations were owed about one million acres that had not been properly distributed from treaties signed between 1871 and 1910. The process however has ground to a near halt, with 440,000 acres still left to settle. Fewer than 125 acres were approved between 2012 and 2014. We need to remove the impediments that have been blocking the process, Bennett said. Manitobas First Nations are demanding the federal government reopen the nearly 20-year-old Treaty Land Entitlement, saying the governments decision to consult with the Manitoba Metis Federation before approving additions to reserves is a breach of the agreement. The chiefs filed a grievance under the agreements dispute resolution mechanism to make their point. Chris Henderson, executive director of the Treaty Land Entitlement Committee, told the Free Press before and after meeting the minister the decision to consult the Metis on additions to reserve lands is an real obstacle. He said the chiefs welcomed the ministers willingness to talk about how to amend the process and speed up claims. She told us shes asked some of her officials to work with me and few others to get the ball rolling on that, Henderson said. It was the first time the TLE has received the federal minister and that was well received. The elephant in the room remains the role of the Manitoba Metis Federation. Both the Metis and the TLE sides have said the other has spurned invitations to meet. Earlier this week, MMF president David Chartrand told the Free Press some First Nations have taken the position Metis have no rights, despite what the Supreme Court has said in recent decisions. The MMF contends, and the government agrees, the Metis have to be consulted. Henderson said Bennett made the same point. We dont envision any formal role for the MMF in our discussions to amend the framework agreement but the minister said that at some point we all are going to have to meet, Henderson said. Obviously if the minister wants to convene a meeting wilh all the parties, well meet, Henderson said. Allowing northern First Nations to purchase urban lands instead of sticking to the framework agreement that limits them to Crown tracts is an option favoured by the chiefs and it could break the impasse. Thats a concession that would go a long way to resolve this issue, Henderson said. alexandra.paul@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. The Trudeau government wants Canadians to celebrate the countrys youth and diversity, develop a closer connection with nature and support reconciliation with indigenous people as they celebrate the countrys 150th birthday next year. Heritage Minister Melanie Joly said those themes will be central to the governments involvement in marking the 150th anniversary of confederation in 2017. Speaking to the Liberal Party of Canada biennial convention in Winnipeg on Friday, Joly hearkened back to the countrys centennial. The theme of Expo 67 in Montreal that year was Man and his World, she noted. John Woods / The Canadian Press Melanie Joly speaks at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention Winnipeg Friday. How things have changed, the minister remarked. In 1967, Canada had to build a village to show Canadians the world, Joly said. Canadians, then, were eager to connect with foreign cultures, ideas and ways of living. Fifty years later, we want to offer a different type of experience. We want to offer a human connection, one based on knowledge and acceptance of others here at home to show the best of Canada, she said. During the 150th anniversary celebrations, the government will promote the potential of youth and celebrate Canadas diversity as one of its great strengths. We know that Canada has succeeded economically, politically, culturally because of diversity and not in spite of it, Joly told Liberal delegates. The theme of reconciliation with indigenous peoples will also be prominent. We have to seize the opportunity of the 150th anniversary of confederation to change the course of history, she said. Joly offered few specifics on how the country might celebrate its 150th anniversary, although she said its ultimate legacy will be to build bridges between citizens and between generations. That could take the form of block parties, park cleanups, youth forums, or hikes on the Trans-Canada trail, she suggested. Its up to all of us to leave a lasting legacy beyond 2017. The vision for this once-in-a-generation initiative will only be achieved through direct engagement and participation of Canadians. And we count on you, Joly said. The legacy of Canada 150 will be an emotional one, a symbolic one, a human one. Earlier Friday, Leen Al Zaibak, a leader in the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Canada, told convention delegates that 27,000 Syrians have made Canada their home since October and a further 17,000 are anticipated to arrive here by the end of the year. Al Zaibak said the conflict in Syria has displaced more than half its population, creating 4.8 million refugees, 75 per cent of whom are women and children. The benefits of refugees to the economy are both short-term and long-term, said Al Zaibak. She said one recent European study showed that one euro spent welcoming refugees can bring nearly two euros in economic benefits in just five years. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. His final case ended in a fitting fashion a criminal being led away by sheriffs officers to begin serving a life sentence. Its a scene Brian Bell has watched play out hundreds of times during his 26-year career, which came to an end Friday. Bell, 56, is hanging up his robe and walking away from his role as Manitobas top prosecutor. My brain has told me its a good time to go. I think its just had enough, Bell told the Free Press this week about his pending retirement. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Brian Bell has prosecuted some of the most high-profile cases in Manitoba during his time as a Crown attorney. Bell joined the Crowns office following his call to the bar in 1990 and never looked back, quickly rising up the ranks and taking on some of the most notorious Manitoba cases in recent legal history. In the past decade, hes focused exclusively on homicides. I took the hard ones, Bell said. A lawyer once told me being a full-time criminal litigator takes a real toll on your liver, your marriage or your psyche. I think theres a lot of truth to that. Bell credits his wife and family with helping to keep him grounded along with a pact the couple made when he was first getting his feet wet. I made a conscious decision years ago to leave it locked up at the office. My wife and I made a decision not to talk about what I do. And we really dont, he said. Bell also cites his mentor in the Crowns office, Rick Saull, for teaching him valuable lessons about the profession. Saull is now a Court of Queens Bench judge a position Bell once entertained. I applied to the bench 11 years ago and never got a call back. In retrospect, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, Bell said with a laugh. I dont think I have enough patience for that. It also proved to be a great non-move for the Crowns office, which has seen Bell mentor several dozen young prosecutors during his career. It is a huge part of what we do. I took it as a real responsibility to pass it on to the younger members of our department, Bell said. One of those he mentored was Mike Himmelman, who joined him at the counsel table for the 2011 prosecution of Mark Grant, who was arrested for the the infamous 1984 homicide of Candace Derksen, a 13-year-old girl who went missing and whose body was later found in a shed. Brian never wishes you good luck when you are heading off to do a case. Instead, he simply says, Be successful. Its his typically pithy way of reminding us of the role of the Crown in a criminal prosecution, which is not to win at all costs, but rather to lay out all of the credible evidence, firmly but fairly, and as efficiently as possible, in order to come to a just result, Himmelman said Thursday. Bell and Himmelman got a conviction against Grant, only to have it later overturned on appeal. Bell will watch the retrial from the sidelines when it is expected to begin next January with new Crown counsel at the helm. Chris Vanderhooft was also mentored by Bell early in his career and said Bells work ethic always stood out. Brian took any case, any time, anywhere, including Nunavut, and his approach to each prosecution was always the same: fair but firm, said Vanderhooft. As our longest-serving general counsel in prosecutions, Brian is respected by judges, defence counsel, families of victims and his colleagues because he epitomizes the role of the Crown attorney in the justice system. His retirement is well-deserved after a career of doing difficult cases one after the other. Defence lawyers always knew they were up for a tough battle when facing Bell in court. Sometimes, Crown and defence lawyers are prone to gossip. Crowns talk about some defence counsel, and some defence counsel talk about certain Crown attorneys. Sometimes, we do not use flattering terms, but let me say, and having been a lawyer for many, many years, not once have I ever heard anyone refer to Brian Bell in unflattering terms. We, the defence community, respect Brian for his competence, his fairness and knowledge of the law, veteran defence lawyer Hymie Weinstein said. Weinstein noted Bells uncanny ability to be succinct in court, often just taking a few minutes to summarize a complex prosecution in his opening and closing arguments. Bell said hes always preferred to keep it simple, and its not in his nature to get emotional or be high-strung in court. Its not about me. I have a pretty simple job, and thats to present the best evidence. I also need a fair amount of clinical detachment as well, just to make the right decisions, he said. To me, thats the most important thing about being a Crown know you have a specific role in the system, and so does everybody else. Bell will no longer be practising law, but he isnt walking away entirely. Hes spoken with the University of Winnipeg about being a sessional lecturer in the criminology department and may do something similar at the University of Manitoba faculty of law. Bells career was celebrated Friday when more than 300 colleagues gathered at the Met Theatre. www.mikeoncrime.com Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. When it comes to being an effective political leader, does your height matter? Kathleen Wynne referred to a recent National Post article comparing the height of Canadas premiers as one of the subtle challenges women face in politics. Guess what? The women are the shortest. Biologically, Im stunned that the women are the shortest, the Ontario premier said, drawing laughs at a forum on women in politics at the biennial convention of the Liberal Party of Canada in Winnipeg Saturday morning. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, right, speaks to Liz Plank onstage at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention in Winnipeg, Saturday. We happen to have fairly tall premiers right now. (Manitoba Premier) Brian Pallister is, I dont know, 6-8? Im going to meet him today. The pictures are going to be ridiculous. In a question and answer session with Liz Plank, senior editor at Mic, formerly Policy Mic, Wynne wondered why a news outlet would focus on the subject. Why does (Alberta Premier) Rachel Notley have to explain that being 5-2 is OK? You can still be a strong politician. Im 5-4, OK? I can still be a strong person and be 5-4. Wynne said while the complaint may sound trivial, its the kind of thing that seeps in and you spend some time trying to overcome that. I can only wear heels that are so high, she joked. Wynne, 63, Ontario Liberal premier since 2013, said her experience of being a woman in politics is that you bump up against rules that you didnt even know were there. Asked if more women are needed in politics, Wynne said, absolutely. When there are more women elected, women will not be categorized differently, she said. The fact that 50 per cent of the federal cabinet are women is awesome, she said, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat in the audience. Whats important is that it leads to a different kind of decision-making. It means that the issues that are talked about are different, the decisions that are made are different. Wynne said Ontarios action plan on sexual assault and violence is an example of how women can play a key role in decision making. Ive had members of my caucus who have been in politics for a long time who are men come up to me and say, We would not have done that if it had not been for women in leadership, she said. Wynnes presentation was followed by a panel discussion on women in politics. Trudeau addresses the convention in the noon hour. The convention wraps up early this evening. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Its billed as a policy convention, but talk to enough Liberals and youll learn the mass gathering of several thousand party members in Winnipeg this weekend is less policy-wonk heaven and more three-day victory celebration. It is, after all, the first significant gathering of Liberals since Octobers federal election win. The party anticipated 2,400 delegates, but walk-ups are expected to push that number much higher. Winning an election is an intoxicating experience best celebrated, it would seem, with several thousand of your closest brothers and sisters in arms. However, as a hard-news event, the Winnipeg conference leaves a lot to be desired. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was stuck at the G7 summit in Japan and is expected to show up Saturday. His absence took some of the sex appeal out of the event and led to a few frowny faces among the media corps. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Young Liberal delegates text at the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention in Winnipeg. (A visiting reporter revealed national news organizations felt the Conservative convention being held concurrently in Vancouver, at which former prime minister Stephen Harper said goodbye, was the sexier event. That will be the only time Harper will be considered sexier than Trudeau.) Even without Trudeau, there was important party work to be done in Winnipeg. Delegates were able to engage with cabinet ministers on all manner of policies. Elections were held to fill senior party positions. However, the single most important session was held Friday morning on organization and strategy. It was entitled How Four Million Conversations Led to Four Years of Real Change. Lamentably, this session was not open to the media. Still, the general consensus was this was the opportunity to get the inside poop on exactly how the party won the last election. The Four Million Conversations refers to the total of face-to-face, telephone and digital contacts the Liberals were able to generate during the campaign. Post-election, it has become a rallying cry to start preparing now for the next election. The Liberals certainly have a strong base on which to build. The 2015 election campaign was the most technologically advanced and strategically sophisticated in the partys history. After having been soundly outplayed by the Tories for a decade, the Liberals desperately needed a complete overhaul of fundraising, voter identification, communication and election-day mobilization. But according to ground-level Liberal volunteers, many of whom ran or assisted riding campaigns, the innovation did not stop there. Electoral district associations were provided with a package called campaign in a box, a comprehensive how-to bundle with best practices for campaigning (both traditional and digital) and fundraising. The central campaign watched and graded each association on metrics to see how closely they were sticking to the master plan. The result, according to volunteers, was a campaign that was more intense, more comprehensive and perhaps most importantly more consistent from riding to riding. The reinvention continues this weekend with the tabling of a new party constitution, a project Trudeau has personally sponsored. The new constitution is smaller and simpler than the tangle of governing documents upon which the Liberals relied before. The party and its various issue-oriented commissions had given birth to 18 different constitutions. That is an impractical structure that explains, in part, why the Liberals have been so fractious. However, the new constitution also introduces the radical idea of free party memberships. This would allow anyone who registers as a member to vote in nominations, leadership contests and policy conventions. No one is entirely sure how this will impact the party. It could make the Liberals the first truly democratic political party, an entity that can engage a new generation of voters. Or it could leave the Grits vulnerable to a hostile takeover by mischief-makers or single-issue activists. A small cadre of dissidents complains the new constitution is all about consolidating power at the top, forgetting the Liberal party, like all registered parties in this country, has always been a top-down organization. Rank-and-file members can lobby and recommend, but they have never had the power to force policy positions on the leader or elected caucus. And lets remember Trudeau and his senior advisers proved in the last election that, in practical terms, a top-down structure can work. Electoral district associations alone could not have mustered the strategy needed to compete toe to toe with the Tories and their advanced capacity for technology and metadata. Dissidents within the party should remember that, and one other thing: although debating and approving a new constitution may not seem very sexy, winning the next election certainly is. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The Liberal biennial convention provides an opportunity to highlight Winnipeg and Manitoba priorities within a federal context. Two priorities that share the theme of sustainability are Lake Winnipeg and the downtown Bay building. Both are Manitoba treasures that have the potential to establish the city and province as leaders in innovation and sustainability practices. Lake Winnipeg, the worlds 10th-largest freshwater lake, is in ecological peril. Recurring algal blooms resulting from decades of excessive nutrient loading, as well as the recent introduction of zebra mussels, underscore continued erosion of the health of the lake. LAURIE BAILEY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Algae is seen along Victoria Beach on Lake Winnipeg in 2010. Lake Winnipeg is also central to Manitobas economy through commercial fishing and tourism. In keeping with the current federal governments recognition that the environment and economy are inseparable, the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, in its Lake Winnipeg health plan, has advocated for investment in a clean-water economy. With a watershed that spans four provinces and three states, the health of Lake Winnipeg is a national and international issue of concern. The federal government has a critical role to play in providing leadership to address interprovincial issues associated with water quality and quantity. Goals would include initiatives to reduce nutrient loading to Lake Winnipeg, continued promotion of public education and involvement by the International Joint Commission, scientific research and water-quality and quantity monitoring that is essential for First Nations communities. In keeping with a vision predicated on sustainability, the Bay building, a magnificent structure at the corner of Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, is a national landmark with a future that remains uncertain. Ironically, while HBC introduces Canada and its history to Europe via its signature merchandise and 20 new stores in the Netherlands, a building central to the Hudson Bay enterprise and history of Canada languishes. As former Manitoba justice Charles Huband recently noted, reviving the Bay as a modern urban mall would restore downtown shopping and promote tourism locally. The Bay and its redevelopment are a Winnipeg/Manitoba priority in the context of downtown revitalization, green infrastructure and the Canada 150 celebrations. This iconic building and its future highlight the importance of heritage preservation to the history and identity of Canadian municipalities. Canada needs a federal heritage tax-credit program that encourages refurbishment and restoration of national legacy buildings. Assessments show historic preservation yields greater economic, environmental and social benefits than new development. Investment in heritage preservation and building restoration yields more jobs than in other sectors. Additional benefits include an increase in property values, savings in materials, energy and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Heritage tourism and revitalized downtown cores stimulate local economies and trades. With federal investment in green infrastructure projects announced in the spring budget, now is an opportune time to recognize heritage preservation and redevelopment of the Bay as an urban mall as an ideal candidate for this support. Both Lake Winnipeg and the Bay have the potential to establish the city and province as leaders in sustainability. A comprehensive action plan for the Lake Winnipeg watershed would enable integration of climate change, water quality and quantity initiatives. Restoration of the Bay would enable integration of environmental, economic and social-sustainability initiatives to revitalize Winnipegs downtown core. Investment in both Lake Winnipeg and the Bay would contribute to the provincial economy. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Bay building in downtown Winnipeg. The biennial convention provides an opportunity for Manitoba to speak to Canadian neighbours and citizens about a vision for Canada in a Manitoba context. This is a call for delegates to support the Lake Winnipeg resolution and development of an action plan in the form of nutrient targets and freshwater-management strategy for Lake Winnipeg and its watershed, and to encourage non-Manitoban delegates to witness the majesty of the Bay building at the corner of Portage and Memorial and its potential to revitalize downtown as a cultural, social and environmental hub. And to let Manitobas voice, and that of its citizens, be heard. Jennifer Verlaine Lukovich is a research scientist in climate change in the Arctic at the Centre for Earth Observation Science, University of Manitoba. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/05/2016 (2341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The last time Winnipeg hosted the federal Liberals biennial convention, a different Trudeau was in charge, the Free Press classified ad department just started using video-display terminals instead of writing out the ads by hand and sirloin steak was going for $3.29 a pound. There was also rising animosities between Ottawa and the western provinces, who thought the federal government was only interested in the economic prosperity of Ontario and Quebec. Much of the animosity between the West and Ottawa was exacerbated by the introduction of the National Energy Program in 1980. The now-defunct program still incites negative reactions from folks in the West, particularly in Alberta, but Albertas issues with the Liberal party predate the implementation of the NEP and the party was shut out of Alberta completely from 1972 until 1993, with the breakthrough election of Jean Chretien. Much of the anti-Liberal rhetoric in that province emanated from then-premier Peter Lougheed, who was trying to wrest power away from the federal government so that Alberta had more control over its resources and, in particular, its oil and gas industry. While the NEP may have hurt Liberal fortunes in the West, a decision to give Quebec an important contract also seriously crippled the Conservatives reputation in the region. Recall that one of the reasons that then-prime minister Brian Mulroney began to loose popularity was because of his controversial decision in 1986 to give a Montreal firm a 20-year, $100-million maintenance contract for Canadas new CF-18 fighter jets, despite assuring the premier at the time, Howard Pawley, that the Manitoba bid was superior. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS A Liberal delegate The Reform Party was born, in part, due to the anger from that move with the West wants in becoming a familiar phrase and under leader Preston Manning the party grew, with Deb Grey winning in a byelection as the first Reform MP ever, in 1989. See, thats the problem with politics: Mr. Mulroney had to shore up support for Meech Lake in Quebec, and by providing a contract of this magnitude to Montreal, he no doubt hoped he could shore up Conservative support in Quebec. Meanwhile, Winnipeggers were furious. This has to be a lesson for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Today, as he speaks to party supporters in Winnipeg, he should take a lesson from this history to manage the balancing act necessary to ensure that a multitude of concerns are met with policy initiatives that work best for Canada, sensitive to regional and identity concerns. Because, lets face it, since back in 1980 when his father Pierre was the leader of this party, the number of diverse voices demanding attention has grown. Its no longer just about regions. Its about regions within regions, identities within identities. Canada has never been homogeneic, but the ability to mobilize and organize has allowed for those various identities to now have a voice. The Prairies may demand the oil and gas industry remains a key economic driving force, but the environmental movement has become very politically savvy and has been vocal about its concerns on climate change. Manitoba will demand federal help to sustain its social programs, while First Nations groups in this province quite rightfully are demanding that boil-water advisories become a thing of the past. While Manitoba may want Ottawa to help ensure the viability of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, national museums in Ottawa will make similar demands to improve their exhibits. Condemnation is quick when policy initiatives dont move fast enough and when the price tags are too high. The bottom line is, increasingly government must become a hydra a many-headed serpent that has to deal with demands from every direction and somehow keep everyone happy. Its sure to disappoint. This is a very new world for a prime minister and a difficult one at that. One wonders what Pierre would say if he were on the stage with his son now. 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 BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Leftist rebels have freed a Spanish journalist who went missing in a lawless region of Colombia, ending a weeklong saga that recalled some of the most-volatile days of a long-running conflict that many in the country had thought were behind it. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me, Salud Hernandez-Mora said Friday in her first, brief comments to a local radio upon being freed. Rebels identifying themselves as members of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, handed her over to a delegation led by Roman Catholic clergy in the volatile Catatumbo region. Ramon Torrado, a priest who partook in the humanitarian mission, said she seemed exhausted after the long ordeal but otherwise in excellent health. The priest said the rebels said they would free in the coming hours, or on Saturday, two other journalists from the network RCN. Hernandez-Mora is a longtime correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and one of the countrys most-prominent columnists. Her disappearance last weekend while on assignment shocked Colombians who have experienced dramatic security gains in recent years as Colombias 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. Two journalists from the RCN network went missing 48 hours later while covering the search for the Spanish journalist. The Jamaica-sized Catatumbo region of northeastern Colombia is among the countrys 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. Ready Set School would like to thank Yarnology for contributing to their program and for Ready Set Yarn. The program would also like to thank Nolas flowers for generously donating to Ready Set School each year! If you want a picture of Winonas history, there may be no better place to look than through a book full of them. Winona County Historical Society archivist Walter Bennick recently published Images of America: Upper Mississippi River at Winona, a book filled with 200 vintage images telling the history of the Mississippi River in Winona. Its the second history book hes published in four years on Winona, putting out a photo book through the same company in 2012 simply titled Winona. Bennick said he spent around seven months and went through about 500 photos to put together the final product, working through the Winona County Historical Societys extensive collection of photographs, lithographs and albums. He said he didnt always pick the best photos from a technical perspective, instead opting for those that told the best stories, that had the most to say about the rivers history in Winona. Bennicks favorite chapter in the book is the final one, Chapter 10, titled Masters of the River. (The photos) involve people who played an important role in the history of the river, Bennick said. There are photos of the late Cal Fremling, Winonas iconic researcher and observer of ecology and the river. He always said the river was his laboratory, and Bennick said he played a big role in improving the quality of the rivers water. Bennick, in a recent interview, also talked about the photos he chose of Ray Steele, the superintendent of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge for 30 years, playing a big role in laying the groundwork for what has become one of the most important wildlife refuges in the country. People today can enjoy the river because of the work he started when he was superintendent of the refuge, Bennick said. He also talked about the photos of Raymond Beyers, who descended into the sewers of Winona during the flood of 1965 to block them and prevent water from spreading farther through the city. Beyers served in the U.S. Navy and volunteered his diving skills he learned to help save the city, as Bennick described. He was instrumental in preventing a lot of damage to the city during the flood, Bennick said. Bennick said the book is designed to focus on the wide variety of people who had an impact on the river over a long period of time, helping develop the river to what it is today and the role it plays in the Winona area: ecologically, culturally, recreationally and more. I like the history it focuses on in terms of Winona, Bennick said. The Embassy has issued a second advisory in a week and assured assistance to reach border. For someone recovering from substance addiction, the road to a healthy life isnt always easy. But having a safe place to live in the first months of sobriety can help. An agency called Common Ground is planning to open a mens halfway house in Winona this fall. Located at 730 W. Broadway, it will be the first house of its kind in the county. Common Ground substance abuse counselor and community outreach specialist Tori Utley said the house is meant to help those transitioning back into the community after completing inpatient treatment, which isnt available locally. When people return to their community after treatment, Utley explained, theyre putting their lives back together. Starting jobs, getting peer support, going back to school, healing relationships with family members and staying clean. A big part of that is making sure their living environment is collaborative and conducive to their journey in recovery, she explained. Social and environmental factors are huge factors in someones recovery, Utley said. With no sober place to live, its that much easier to fall into old habits. Utley said while Rochester has plenty of transitional living options, Winona had none. Common Ground started as an outpatient substance abuse treatment center in Rochester in 2001, and opened a second outpatient clinic in Winona in 2014. Utley said in that time, theyve worked with more than 100 people recovering from addiction in Winona, and a need for local sober housing became apparent. A majority of those could have used sober housing, she said. Common Ground CEO Mattea Schmitz said the home, which the agency purchased last October, is currently being renovated for fire safety and accessibility. The house will serve up to 16 men, with an average stay of around 90 days. During that time, the men will receive treatment several hours a week, and be free to seek jobs and recreate in the community. The home will have an employee on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and residents will have random and as-needed drug testing. To keep the home environment safe and healthy, Schmitz said the residents will have strict requirements. Theyll have to attend treatment during the day, and meet goals like getting involved with Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous, getting a job, getting a sobriety sponsor. Security cameras and a curfew will be in place as well. We want it to be an extremely safe place for the clients that are wanting to be sober, Schmitz said. Schmitz said referrals for the house will come from a variety of places, including Winona County Drug Court, now in its fourth year, and inpatient and outpatient treatment providers. Those staying at the house will primarily be Winona residents looking to re-establish their lives here, Schmitz said. Schmitz said applicants with past convictions will be considered on an individual basis, and no sex offenders will be accepted to live in the house. Common Ground is a private organization, but the home will be licensed through the Minnesota Department of Human Services and Department of Health. The home will likely be ready for residents in August or September of this year, depending on state timelines. Schmitz said after identifying the need for a transitional house, the agency looked for sites near the citys core, so residents could have access to shopping, job opportunities, transit, and resources. We look at their access to getting employment and getting to meetings, she explained. Some West Broadway homeowners are concerned about having the halfway house nearby. Theyre also upset that they were not informed of the plans until last week. Were all just finding out about it now, said Teresa Higl. The neighbors are in a panic, honestly. Higl and her husband, Andrew, have three young children, and theyve lived on West Broadway for seven years. They own two homes in the 700 block, one they live in and one they rent. Our tenants are concerned, Higl said. And were concerned about what is this going to do to the value of our homes now. Higl said many young children live in the neighborhood, and its close to two elementary schools. Shes worried about their safety, and whether theyll be able to play outside. Theyre basically plopping this place down in the middle of a family neighborhood, she said. The neighbors plan to bring their concerns to Common Ground at a community forum the agency is hosting next Thursday. Utley said thats exactly the purpose of the forum. She hopes an open conversation will help the community be more comfortable with the house, and have a better understanding of the world of recovery, who the clients are, and what their goals are. Were just really hoping that the community can come together and we can make sure that everyones feeling comfortable, she said. Brooks rides the rails The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad welcomed State Rep. Ed Brooks (50th District) for an afternoon tour of the WSORs Reedsburg Subdivision, a 73-mile corridor that begins near Evansville and ends at Reedsburg. On this trip he rode the track between Rock Springs and Reedsburg, to observe current track conditions and to learn about rail customers and commodities using the tracks daily. The primary commodities are steel, paper, plastic and grain. Brooks spoke with John Wall, the manager of United Cooperative Grain Facility at Rock Springs where construction of a new 1.2 million bushel grain bin is underway. Brooks then toured Primex Plastics based in Reedsburg. Primex specializes in custom sheet extrusion and is one of six manufacturing plants that rely upon truck and rail to deliver plastic resins for manufacturing custom sheets for fabrication. The defendant in a fatal interstate drive-by shooting has been moved to the Sauk County jail after weeks spent at a Madison hospital, where authorities say he tried to meddle with medical equipment. Zachary T. Hays, 20, of West Allis, was shot by Columbia County Sheriffs Department deputies near DeForest on May 1 after an alleged crime spree in which authorities say he killed two people, including another driver on the interstate near Lake Delton. After he was shot and captured along the interstate, Hays was taken to University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where he remained under guarded care until May 17. Thats when Sauk County Sheriffs Department Lt. Lewis Lange filed an affidavit that requested Hays be transferred to a secure ward of the hospital maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. I was informed that Mr. Hays attempted to pull out his medical tubes on several occasions and had to be held down by law enforcement until medical staff arrived to sedate him, Lange wrote in the affidavit. A judge granted the transfer, and Hays remained in the secure ward until May 25. Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister confirmed Hays was transferred to the Sauk County jail that day. He is being held on a $500,000 cash bond and faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide for the drive-by shooting death of 44-year-old Tracy Czaczkowski, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Authorities say Hays shot his West Allis apartment building neighbor, 42-year-old Gabriel Sanchez on the morning of May 1, then drove to Sauk County with his two brothers in the vehicle. Czaczkowski and her family were headed home from a vacation in Wisconsin Dells when Hays opened fire on their vehicle along the interstate, authorities say. Hays also faces charges of first-degree reckless homicide in Milwaukee County. Hays brother allegedly told authorities that Hays had been behaving in a paranoid manner since smoking marijuana several days earlier. Hays is due to appear in Sauk County Circuit Court on June 9. There was a stormy downpour Friday morning as Baraboo Senior High School graduates entered the school for one last event, commencement practice at 7:45 a.m. Neither the early hour, nor the weather dampened the spirits or the great stories each shared with one another as 248 seniors began their graduation celebration with a couple hours practice in the high school gym. The graduation ceremony itself, which began at 8 p.m., was a full house with standing room only. Senior Susan Brooks held up this years high school yearbook entitled Our Story and the consensus among the graduating seniors was that was an appropriate title for the class of 2016. Senior and student council President, Savannah Zemanovic, gathered with a group of classmates on the high school bleachers one last time to share their thoughts and a few laughs. Well, as everyone knows it is always really, really, really hot in the gym for graduation. It doesnt matter though. Look around at our class. Everyone gets along. We have great academic achievements and honors, but more importantly we treat each other well. Seniors Bobby Seufzer, Mara Schick and Savannah Rose Stevens agreed with Seufzer commenting on what the past four years have been like. Our class is a very talented class. We are not only good students, good athletes but also good at acting, art, music and all sorts of things. We learned a lot of lessons along the way but the friends weve made are the most important. Graduation is not a bit bittersweet for me. Its a little overwhelming but I describe it as just plain sweet. Mara Schick who will be off to Flagler College in St. Augustine Florida in the fall said she felt grateful for the experiences shes gained at BHS. Im ready for college. I guess youd say bigger and better things. I will definitely miss my friends and dinners with my parents and family though. I have had a lot of opportunities at BHS including this year being in the inaugural class of the Baraboo Harmonix Show Choir, which was an amazing experience. I will also greatly miss pops concerts, show choir, music, art and dance. Two students had something else on their minds preparing for the night. Senior class speakers Marshall Jahnke and Hermes Duran were two of the many Summa Cum Laude students for 2016. Over 29 students graduated with honors, with 79 participating in National Honor Society. Jahnke and Duran were chosen to speak by a class vote from among the honor students. Duran began his speech with a paragraph in Spanish thanking his family for all that they have done for him and extended the thought Los amo con todo mi corazon or I love you with my whole heart. He then jokingly began, Dont worry guys, the rest will be in English. Durans speech was entitled A Rocky Road and was based upon a fable one of his teachers shared with him at BHS. Duran told the fable that a young man goes into the desert to explore and is told to pick up pebbles of knowledge along the way. The plain and simple pebbles were not glamorous, yet he did what he was told picking up pebbles as he continued learning on his journey. Duran gave this advice to fellow students about the fables ending when the pebbles mysteriously turn to diamonds when the boys journey ends. The boy was immediately overwhelmed with different emotions, but the two strongest emotions were happiness and disappointmenthappy that he had precious diamonds, but disappointed that he didnt pick up more while he could. He concluded, So listen up seniors. The sun has set on our first day of exploring. We are finding the meaning in the pebbles collected, the small moments in life so far that have accumulated into significant, lasting moments. The sun is beginning to rise on our second day, our second journey. Dont be afraid to take advantage of all the small opportunities you come across. They will pay off in the long run. Marshall Jahnkes speech was based upon a World War II history class he took this past year and began his speech, May 27th, 2016: a day which shall live in infamy, based upon President Franklin Roosevelts speech in 1941 when America was attacked by Japan. Jahnke likened his generations next few decades as one where they will have to be disciplined enough to be good soldiers. There is a war to wage against a bleeding nation, a war torn world; a competitive job marketthis planet is a battleground and were finally being drafted into the fight. Whether were in schools, training as future soldiers, in hospitals treating the wounded, out in the field, building businesses, curing cancer, or entertaining the rest of us, our training has only begun. He concluded, Lets declare war on all the challenges before us, as we strike down the status quo, raise the next generation, and build a newly magnificent world. Im not sure where well all go. Thats the nature of war, but I look forward to our victory. The weather improved during the day as students dressed up, putting on their caps and gowns and posing for pictures at family gatherings throughout the day. Parents Joe and Cynthia Zemanovic welcomed their daughter Savannahs grandmother and grandfather Bob and Margy Cox, who traveled from west of LaCrosse for the ceremony. With tears welling in her eyes, Cynthia echoed a lot of parents thoughts for the evening. Its an exciting and magical night. It sounds a bit cliche but you dont appreciate what other moms are telling you until you actually experience it yourself. It is like sending off a bouquet of balloons into the air. Diplomas for graduates were handed out by School District Administrator Lori Mueller, School Board President Kevin Vodak, School Board member Mike Kohlman and Principal Glenn Bildsten. Senior class president Emma Froelich presented the school with an electronic screen board that was used during the graduation ceremony. My father served in the Marine Corps before I was born. While we milked cows, he would tell me about the men he served with and his experiences in World War II. He would tell me stories of honor, heroism and camaraderie. He imparted in me a deep sense of patriotism and service. At the time, I didnt realize how important these stories and lessons were. I didnt understand how much these ideas would form me into the man I am today. I am grateful for his service and for his willingness to teach me about the things that make our country great. It is our duty to teach our children and grandchildren about heroism and sacrifice. Too often, we allow the true stories to be forgotten. We miss opportunities to share about the lives of the people who dedicate themselves to our freedom and protection. We allow the next celebrity to dominate their viewpoint, rather than highlighting the true heroes of our nation. We have lost two heroes from the 17th Senate District within the last five years. Army Specialist Jakob Roelli from Darlington was killed in action on Sept. 21, 2011, in Jawkari, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Army Staff Sergeant Jesse J. Grindy of Hazel Green was killed in action on March 12, 2012, in the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. I cannot fathom the loss felt by Jakobs and Jesses families. I am certain that they take time every day to remember these men who made the ultimate sacrifice. Let us each take time this week to remember them and the many others who have given their life for the cause of freedom around the world, especially those of our Special Operations, FBI and CIA; the stories of heroism that can never be told. Each Memorial Day we must recognize the loss of men and women who have fought for freedom. But we also have the opportunity, and duty, to focus on their legacy. General George Patton said, It is foolish and wrong to spend so much time mourning the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived at all. The first known observance of Memorial Day was on May 5, 1866, making this year the 150th Observance. In 1866, a shop owner in Waterloo, New York, wanted a day when all businesses would close to honor the fallen soldiers who had lost their lives during the Civil War. The regular observance of Memorial Day caught on throughout our nation as we take time to reflect and appreciate the sacrifices made to protect our freedom, secure our borders and strengthen our nation. Regardless of our race, religion or political beliefs, we Americans continue to collectively defend freedom generation after generation, all over the world. We defend freedom because we know that democracy is a fragile thing. President Ronald Reagan said, Freedom is never more than one generation away from its extinction. We didnt pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. Memorial Day is the perfect day to remind every generation, young and old, about the price for our freedom. We must tell the stories of our veterans. We must show our respect. We must live as examples for future generations who will take our mantle of freedom and march forward. They need to know where they come from. They need to know about the men and women who formed our nation and gave everything to give us the chance to be free. It may be difficult to put our gratitude into words, but we also have actions. We can live our lives in a way that preserves and protects the values and freedoms for which our heroes fought and died. We must continue to fight for fundamental liberties that are guaranteed in our constitution, and for which our soldiers have defended. It is up to us to preserve their memory and to make sure that future generations realize the important sacrifice that the fallen have made to preserve our way of life. We must focus on the legacy given to us while we remember the loss. Debates over the United States government's foreign and economic policies have taken a backseat to the debate over which bathroom transgender individuals should use. The two sides of the debate both believe that government has the legitimate authority to tell private businesses who they should allow to use their facilities. Few on either side of this debate defend the right of private property owners to decide for themselves who may and may not use their bathrooms. Some say government must be involved in this issue in order to ensure that private businesses do not violate individual rights. Those who make this claim are accepting the idea that rights are no more than a gift from the government that can be revoked at the will and whim of legislators and bureaucrats. This argument turns rights from a shield protecting our liberties into a sword that can and will be used to increase government control of our lives. Two weeks ago, the Department of Education waded into this debate by threatening to withhold federal funds from schools that do not allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choice. State and local officials around the country have promised to resist the Education Department's new bathroom rules. However, given how addicted most state and local governments and school boards are to federal funds, it is likely that even most conservative state governments and school boards will eventually adopt the bathroom policies desired by federal bureaucrats. Many of the conservatives who (correctly) denounce the Barack Obama administration for trying to blackmail local schools either supported or were silent when a so-called conservative administration expanded the federal role in education via No Child Left Behind. These conservatives fail to realize that No Child Left Behind's testing and other mandates are no different in principle from President Obama's bathroom mandates. Both use money stolen from the people and sent back to the states to force states to change their policies according to federal commands. Both are equally unconstitutional. Conservatives who want to defend local schools from federal bureaucrats must work to repeal, not reform, the Department of Education. One positive result from this latest controversy is that it may encourage more parents to homeschool. Homeschooling is a means for parents to provide their children a quality education that meets the children's needs. Homeschooling allows parents to ensure that their child's education reflects their values and beliefs, not the values and beliefs of federal bureaucrats. Working with a team of top scholars, I have created my own homeschooling curriculum. My homeschooling curriculum provides students with a rigorous education in history, math, English, and other subjects. The curriculum is designed to benefit both college-bound students and those interested in pursuing other educational or career opportunities. The curriculum features three tracks: natural sciences/math, social sciences/humanities, and business. Students may also take courses in personal finance and public speaking. The government and history sections of the curriculum emphasize Austrian economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. Unlike government school, my curriculum never puts ideological indoctrination ahead of education. Voter ID is about making it easier to vote and harder to cheat, Gov. Scott Walker has said quite a bit recently. We suspect that Voter ID is far more about making it harder to cheat than it is making it easier to vote: Before the Voter ID law, you stated your name at your polling place, your address was verified and you were handed a ballot. That was easier. But action the Walker administration took earlier this month is a step in the right direction on the easy-to-vote part. On May 11, Walker announced new rules for obtaining a Voter ID aimed at making it easier for those who have trouble producing the necessary documentation. The Department of Transportations Division of Motor Vehicles, which has issued free photo IDs for voting since 2011, will be able to issue photo ID receipts to those who are in the process of obtaining photo ID cards for voting but are unable to produce the necessary documents in time for an election, Walkers office said in a statement. The measure could help those who have errors on documentation, such as a misspelled name on a birth certificate, Walkers office said. This action ensures an individual is still able to vote while they work to obtain documentation needed for a free Voter ID card, Walker said in a statement. Its a start. But its not without its flaws. Karyn Rotker, senior legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which has filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee challenging the law, told the Wisconsin State Journal the provision wont help voters without proper documentation who go to the DMV on or right before Election Day. Part of the new rule says those without proper documentation will be mailed a receipt within six days, but someone who files a provisional ballot must provide a photo ID or receipt within three days. It is clear just looking at it on the face that there are going to be voters who are left out, Rotker said. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin issued a report earlier this month that found the Voter ID requirement didnt cause widespread problems in the April 5 election, but problems with voters being unable to produce a photo ID were common in polling locations with heavy student populations. League executive director Andrea Kaminski said the new rule doesnt go very far in addressing the problem. Other than scrapping the law entirely, she said a better approach would be to allow those without a lawful ID to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity. It would address those concerns in the absolute minimal way, Kaminski said of the new rule. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel recently said in an interview with WKOW-TV that the Voter ID lawsuits could be moot if the state allowed someone who has difficulty obtaining a Voter ID to sign an affidavit. The affidavit option is something wed also like to see the Walker administration consider as the November presidential election approaches. Voter ID is the law of the land in Wisconsin. But if youve made a good-faith effort to obtain an acceptable form of ID, you should not be denied your constitutional right to vote. It is almost Memorial Day, a holiday that has become synonymous with a long weekend, cookouts, parades, and local fairs. While we spend time celebrating with friends and family, is important not to forget the reason that we all come together on the last weekend in May. Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, borne out of the Civil War as a way to remember those who died in service to our country. Officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. More than 100 years later, Congress approved the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971, setting the day of remembrance on the last Monday of May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated with an annual ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and local observances around the nation. Of the well over one million American veterans who lost their lives in service to their country, Wisconsin vets make up approximately 25,000. These brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice serving in conflicts from the Civil War to the present day. This Memorial Day weekend, I encourage you to set some time aside to visit one of the numerous local memorial sites in your area to pay your respects and honor all of our fallen soldiers. The following veterans memorials are located within the 13th Senate District: Find the closest site to you and plan your weekend trip with an interactive map of all of these sites on my website: www.senatorfitzgerald.com/press-releases/memorialday. For those residing outside the 13th Senate District, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum has a comprehensive list of over 200 memorial locations statewide. No matter how you choose to celebrate this Memorial Day, dont forget to remember those who have served. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) represents the 13th Senate District, which covers portions of Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha, Washington, Dane, and Columbia counties. Like millions of Americans, Judy Robbins will spend part of her Memorial Day weekend watching the summer blockbuster Men of Courage, which tells the tale of the worst naval disaster in U.S. history: the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in the South Pacific in the waning days of World War 2 and the grisly deaths of nearly 900 sailors. But for Robbins, of Fall River, the movie will be personal. Her father, Carroll Gove, died on the Indianapolis, when she was just a baby. My dad went down with the ship, said Robbins, taking what comfort she can in the fact that his death was probably relatively quick. Many of his crewmates survived the Japanese torpedo attack that downed the ship, but then languished in the shark-infested ocean with little or no food or water while waiting for help to arrive. Of the 900 men who had scrambled safely off the ship before it sunk, only 316 would be alive four days later when rescuers finally located them. As of Tuesday, Robbins said hadnt decided when or where she would be seeing the movie, but she hoped to be watching it with some of her dads family from Randolph who shes remained close to over the years. She had hoped that the Sun Prairie theater might host a special screening to honor that citys own survivor of the Indianapolis: Melvin Jacob. In fact, she even stopped at the theater a while back to pitch the idea to a manager there, but she never heard anything back. I just want the men who lived through it and the ones who passed away to be honored, she said. Robbins met many of the survivors at reunions over the years. In fact, it was at the first reunion that she attended in 1995 the 50th anniversary of the tragedy when she met Donald McCall, one of her dads buddies, and he was able to tell her that her father was below deck when the torpedoes hit. The Indianapolis sank quickly, making it almost certain that he had gone down with ship. In the years since their meeting, McCall has become like a father to Robbins, and his daughter, Peggy, who is active in planning the reunions, has become like a sister. The two have gone out of their way to honor Goves memory. They made sure that some of his pictures were included in the slide show that played at the 70th anniversary reunion last year, and when a sculptor was creating a memorial to the ships chaplain, Thomas Conway, Don and Peggy suggested that the dog tags in his hand should bear the name of Carroll Gove. Peggy also referred a filmmaker who was working on a History Channel documentary about the Indianapolis to Robbins, and about eight weeks ago, she did a phone interview with him. Robbins is not sure when the documentary will air, but shes happy her dads memory will live on. Only 23 survivors remain alive today. Robbins said most of them were thrilled to be interviewed for a separate documentary about their experiences last year, but are skeptical about what the big-screen, big-budget Hollywood version of their story will look like. Robbins has her own worries about the film. For her, the concerns arent how far from the real story the script will veer, but about how close to home it will strike. Its going to be really hard to go see this, for me, she said. WYOCENA If Cathy Fecht had a nickel for every joke that visitors have cracked about her Man Sale, she could buy a substantial portion of her inventory including action movie DVDs, beer signs, hand tools, power tools and more fishing poles than she can count. Fecht has heard them all. How much is the man that youre selling? and My mans not for sale are just two of the quips that visitors to Wyocenas former general store have made since Fecht posted signs touting her Man Sale. But the thing she hears most, from men who wander among the inventory, is Ill be back. Whats gone on Thursday and Friday and what concludes today, with business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is a rummage sale rife with merchandise that typically appeals to males. As far as Fecht knows, hers is the only specifically designated Man Sale among the dozens of rummage and garage sales that are going on in and around Pardeeville just before the Memorial Day weekend traditionally as a fundraiser for the Lions Club. Theres all kinds of guy stuff here, said Scott Fowler of Lodi, who as of Friday had made multiple visits and expected to return for more. Fecht said much of the inventory came from the estate of a friend who died recently a friend who was a carpenter, and therefore had numerous tools of all types. Among the first things to go were the chainsaws. On Friday afternoon, among the items remaining were table saws, hand saws, drills, hammers, fishing poles, at least one ice-fishing auger and several small tools, some of them still in their original store packaging. There were also several beer signs, four of them touting Hamms and featuring different varieties of bears. There was a box full of cassette tapes of music by various musician (25 cents each) and several VHS and DVD movies, with not a chick flick in the bunch, unless Legally Blonde could be classified as a chick flick. This is just the kind of stuff that Fowler said he looks for at rummage sales, but often doesnt find in such large quantities. Im not looking for clothes, or Christmas ornaments, or anything like that, he said. There were a smattering of items that might not be considered guy stuff, including some artificial Christmas wreaths, a set of crockery canisters and a ceramic cookie jar in the shape of a snowman. Fecht noted, too, that some people came to the Man Sale mainly for the opportunity to see some of the inside of what was once Wyocenas general store a building owned and lived in by Bill Hass. But mostly, the Man Sale attracted bargain hunters, who would try, and occasionally succeed, to negotiate a price lower than the one marked. After buying a bag of stuff (including an assortment of nails and air compressor fittings) for $2, Fowler was ready to leave almost. Ive still got a dollar in my pocket, he said. Got anything for a dollar? After cold start, harvest heats up Farmers are racing towards the finish line in bringing in the 2022 harvest. 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 Annual Walking Festival to Explore Beauty and History of Wrexham Area This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 28th, 2016 A voluntary walking group is hoping people join them for a week of walking throughout the regions natural beauty spots. The Wrexham Walking Festival, an annual event which is organised by Walkabout Wrexham & District, will take place between the 5th and 11th June. Local Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths is keen to encourage more people to take part, step outside and appreciate the natural surroundings. During the week, people of all ages are invited to enjoy a series of walks exploring the beauty and history of North East Wales. Walks are graded A, B and C depending on difficulty and are led by trained leaders. All walks are free with the group only asking participants wear suitable clothing and boots. The group also ask if people attending could leave their dogs at home. Walkabout Wrexham and District is made up of volunteer walk leaders and different representatives from the community who arrange free walks through funding, fundraising and donations. Walks take place throughout the year and all over Wrexham and the surrounding areas. Over recent years, Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths has regularly taken part in the festival and said: As well as promoting the natural beauty and history of our region, the Wrexham Walking Festival is all about encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles and I commend Walkabout Wrexham & District for all their efforts. Their annual festival has attracted people from across the UK to visit Wrexham and North East Wales and I hope this years event will be the most successful yet. Can You Find Whodunnit At Thrilling Murder Mystery Night? This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 28th, 2016 Fancy yourself as a bit of a Hercule Poirot? Can you trace the killer and find out whodunnit at a very special Murder Mystery Night? Local people are being invited to indulge in glamour and dress fit for the Hollywood red carpet on 15th June, for a special evening at the exclusive Trevor Hall a venue not usually open to the public. Champagne and canapes will be served on arrival, but the evening will take a twist when its revealed that a murder has taken place. Guests will each be given roles, and tasked with finding out who the murderer could be by quizzing the other guests over the course of the evening. Tickets are 25, and all proceeds from the evening will go to local charity TCC. TCC worker Kay Polley said Were really lucky to be allowed into Trevor Hall for the evening, it definitely makes it a really special event. Were looking forward to an evening of mystery and luxury. Tickets are limited, so please get in touch with TCC as soon as possible if youd like to reserve your place. To book your place please call 01978 262588 or email kay@tcc-wales.org.uk. Car Arson In Caia This article is old - Published: Sunday, May 29th, 2016 Another car has been set alight in Caia overnight. The vehicle was parked on Minafon in Caia Park, with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirming to us it was deliberate ignition with the vehicle suffering 50% damage. One hose reel was used to extinguish the fire. The incident occurred just after midnight last night. Police said today: At 00.08 on Saturday 28th May 2016 North Wales Police and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service were called to Minafon, Wrexham where a silver Vauxhall Corsa had been deliberately set alight. Supt Sian Beck said We are appealing for witnesses to come forward with information which will assist us in identifying those responsible. The communities in Wrexham have suffered a disproportionally high number of arsons. Please contact NWP using 101 quoting incident number U076914 or confidentially to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. There has been a range of car arsons in the Wrexham area with an attack in Gresford, Caia a couple of times, Gwersyllt. Last week a police car was set alight deliberately in Gwersyllt, with an appeal renewed to discover who was responsible. CABELL COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Four people from Lincoln County were arrested Friday night on drug and child neglect charges in a fast food restaurant parking lot, West Virginia State Police say. It happened just before 8 p.m. Friday in the 5100 block of U.S. 60. Troopers say they were called out on a drug complaint and noticed a man passed out in the drivers seat of a 1999 Toyota SUV with a needle in his arm. They say the man and his three passengers had traveled to the Huntington area from Branchland to buy heroin. Troopers also noticed a 7-month-old toddler in a car seat that was completely soaked in urine. The following suspects were arrested: The presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hit by twin blows this week: a harshly critical report by the State Department inspector general over her use of a private email server while in office, and polls showing that Vermont Senator Bernie Sander had closed the gap in California, the most populous US state and one of six holding primaries or caucuses on June 7. The report by Inspector General Steve Linick, an Obama appointee, criticized Clintons decision to route all her work-related email, during four years as Obamas Secretary of State, through a private server located at her home in Chappaqua, New York. Clinton never used an official State Department email account, a fact that was no secret, since all her emails to subordinates, other administration officials, the media and Capitol Hill, came from her personal domain @clintonemail.com, not from state.gov. While Clinton has offered evasive and contradictory accounts for her reasons for using a private email server, the real motive is clear: to retain control over email traffic and avoid having it subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act. This became particularly critical as Bill and Hillary Clinton cashed in on his presidencyand her future political prospectsamassing a $150 million fortune by trading on their contacts with Wall Street and corporate America more generally. The Inspector General found Clinton had violated State Department rules for information handling, which had been tightened under the Bush administration, as email became the principal means of day-to-day communication. They were further tightened under the Obama administration, which has waged a ferocious struggle against whistleblowers who have exposed government criminality, like Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning. In particular, Clinton did not turn over all her email when she left office in February 2013 because it was stored on her home server. She only turned over printed copies of 30,000 emails in November 2014, under pressure from Republican congressional investigators, after purging another 30,000 emails which she claimed were of a personal nature and not work-related. The IG report found that when two members of the IT staff for the State Department questioned Clintons use of a nongovernmental email address in 2010, their boss told them never to speak of the secretarys personal email system again. For Clintons political adversaries within the ruling elite, including the Republican Party and its presumptive nominee Donald Trump, the email scandal is a political weapon for pursuing disputes over policy and positions of power. Their criticism is completely cynicalTrump himself has refused to release a single year of his tax returns, for example, and Republican administrations have been just as secretive and manipulative about concealing communications from public scrutiny. This does not negate, however, the significance of the abuse itself. Presuming that Clinton is eventually nominated, her Republican opponents will no doubt use it to reaffirm the broadly felt sentiment that the Clintons operate on the basis of secrecy and corruption. The crisis that the report is creating for the Clinton campaign can be measured by the response in the media. The New York Times, which has endorsed Clinton, wrote a worried editorial on Thursday under the headline, Hillary Clinton, Drowning in Email. The IG report is certain to fuel doubts about Mrs. Clintons trustworthiness, lately measured as a significant problem for her in public polls, the newspaper wrote. There are so many flaws in her argument I dont see how this is anything but devastating, NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell said on MSNBC Thursday morning. Asked if Clinton was lying, Mitchell added, It doesnt hold up, including her response to the report. More important than the IG report is the ongoing FBI investigation into the private email server, which could lead to the filing of charges against Clinton or her aides for the mishandling of classified information. There is also a lawsuit by the right-wing anti-Clinton group Judicial Watch, which has led to court-ordered depositions of top Clinton aides. Cheryl Mills, former chief of staff at the State Department, gave testimony in this suit Friday, but a federal judge barred release of the video, limiting the release to the transcript only. In the primary contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton is less than 100 delegates short of the 2,383 needed, and would collect at least 300 on June 7 even if she loses all six primaries and caucuses, because of proportional representation. Her delegate lead, however, combines a relatively narrow lead among elected delegates, 1,769 to 1,499, and a top-heavy margin of 541 to 43 among the unelected superdelegates, party officials and officeholders. In the end, her lead in elected delegates alone will not be sufficient to give Clinton the nomination. Sanders is favored to win the four smaller contests on June 7, in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and New Mexico, with 83 delegates combined, and Clinton to win New Jersey, with 126 delegates, leaving California, with 475 elected delegates, the main prize. In each of the states, delegates will be divided based on the share of the popular vote for each candidate, with no winner-take-all provisions. Even if Sanders were to sweep all six contests by large margins, however, he would not overtake Clinton either in elected delegates or in total popular vote. Currently Clinton leads Sanders with about 13 million votes in all primaries and caucuses combined, compared to 10 million for the self-described democratic socialist. A Sanders victory in California would nonetheless both represent a staggering political setback for Clinton and raise questions about the viability of her nomination, particularly when combined with the email scandal. A poll released this week showed that Sanders has erased the 18-point lead once enjoyed by Clinton in the state, and placed the contest within the margin of error, with Clinton leading only 46 to 44 percent. The poll, by Public Policy Priorities, found Clinton and Sanders running even among minority voters, in contrast to her large leads in many other states. The Clinton campaign has been forced to abandon its pretense that the nomination contest was over, pouring in money and manpower in an increasingly desperate effort to block a Sanders victory in the state. Unlike the mid-Atlantic states that Clinton swept last month, California permits independent voters to cast ballots in the Democratic primary, and the Sanders campaign has been appealing to voters registered in the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party to reregister as Democrats or independents so they can vote for the Vermont senator. Despite an upward revision in the Commerce Departments estimate for first-quarter economic growth, the US economy continues to show signs of a far-reaching stagnation. The Commerce Department said Thursday that US gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of .8 percent, up from its earlier estimate of .5 percent. Even though the upward revision was lower than expected, and pointed to a growth rate almost indistinguishable from stagnation, the result prompted media comments that the American economy appears to be picking up speed and the economic situation was better than had been thought. Regardless of such proclamations, key indicators point to deepening trends toward economic stagnation in both the short and long term. On Wednesday, technology company Microsoft announced 1,850 job cuts in its smartphone division, then on Thursday retailer Sears reported a loss of $471 million, after revenue fell by over 8 percent. Next month will mark the seventh anniversary of the period of economic expansion that began with the official end of the recession in 2009the fourth-longest recovery since the end of World War 2. But it is the slowest post-recession expansion in the post-war period. The main factor is the fall in business investment, the key driver of economic growth in the capitalist economy. Spending on some of the building blocks of businesssuch as machines, computers and steelis slipping, an article in the Wall Street Journal noted. Such expenditures are an important ingredient in improving employee productivity, workers wages and corporate profits. A lack of investment risks trapping the economy in a low-growth mode. The Commerce Department reported that orders for non-defence capital goods, excluding aircraft, an indicator of business investment, fell by 0.8 percent in April, bringing the total decline since April 2014 to almost 12 percent. Well-known economic forecaster Diane Swonk told the Wall Street Journal it was disturbing that businesses cash flow has improved dramatically and they have access to cheap debt, but theyve deployed that on dividends and buybacks instead of investing in the future. Earlier this week, a report by Moodys pointed out that US non-financial corporations were sitting on a cash stockpile of $1.7 trillion, almost one-third of it held by five major hi-tech US companies, a significant statistic given that these firms are regarded as a major driving force of the US economy. The lack of business investment in the real economy, as opposed to financial speculation, finds expression in productivity data. In a speech on Thursday, reviewing trends in the US economy, Jerome Powell, a Federal Reserve Board governor, noted that labour productivity in the US had increased by only 0.5 percent a year since 2010, the slowest five-year growth rate since World War 2 and about one quarter of the average post-war rate. He noted that this was a trend that extended across the world economy. The productivity slowdown is expected to continue, with the Conference Board, a major US economic think tank, warning that it could go negative this year for the first time in more than three decades. According to Powell, estimates of the long-run potential growth of the US economy have dropped from 3 percent prior to the financial crisis to 2 percent with much of the decline a function of slower productivity growth. A key factor in holding back productivity in recent years, he said, was the meagre growth in the business sectors capital stock, consistent with the weak recovery in demand. But other longer-term factors may also be at work. Powell pointed out that the so-called total factor productivity (TFP) growth, regarded as a measure of the impact of technological innovation, was also falling. A broad decline in the dynamism in our economy may also be contributing to lower TFP. There is strong evidence that the slowdown in TFP growth in the United States preceded the financial crisis, particularly in sectors that produce or use information technologies, he said. In other words, there is a basic dysfunction in the workings of the American economy in which the cycle of business investment in the expectation of higher profits leads to higher productivity, economic expansion, resulting in further investment, has broken down. Other economists, most notably former Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers, have pointed to the development of secular stagnationa situation which characterised the decade of the 1930sin which the supply of savings continually outstrips the demand for investment, because of diminished profit expectations, leading to low growth, falling productivity and even outright contraction. While not directly referring to this phenomenon, Powell alluded to it, posing the question: What if the pessimists are right and productivity growth remains low for another decade, or indefinitely? The consequences would include lower potential growth and relatively lower living standards. Our longer-term fiscal challenges would be significantly greater. The long-term slowdown in the US economy is both contributing to the ongoing stagnation in the global economy and is in turn impacted by it. But there is no relief in sight from this quarter and no prospect at all of coordinated action by the major economic powers to stimulate global demand. In fact, the G7 summit meeting, which concluded on Friday, revealed that the divisions among them are widening. The summit communique noted that since the last meeting of the group in April 2015 downside risks to the global economic outlook have increased and that weak demand and unaddressed structural problems are key factors weighing on actual and potential growth. There were also potential shocks of a noneconomic origina reference to the increasingly tense geopolitical situation. But while it noted that risks had increased, the G7 moved further away from trying to combat them. The G7 communique stated that global growth is our urgent priority but then laid out a meaningless set of words to cover over the differences between the participants. Taking into account country-specific circumstances, the communique stated, we commit to strengthening our economic policy responsesand to employ a more forceful and more balanced policy mix, in order to achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth pattern. The communique allows Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to claim that he secured some movement on his demand for global stimulus measures while enabling Germany and the UK, the main opponents, to point to the reference to country-specific circumstances in order to continue their austerity agendas. It was, as the Financial Times noted, another example of the work of G7 resolution drafters who are masters at the art of creating apparent agreement where none exists. As the summit was taking place, new data from Japan pointed to the global deflationary trends that have increasingly gripped its economy. The consumer price index for April fell by 0.3 percent in the year to April, following a decline of 0.1 percent in March with indications from preliminary forecasts that it will show an even larger decline next month. Falling prices will put increased pressure on the Bank of Japan to further ease monetary policy and may even lead to direct intervention by government authorities in currency markets to lower the value of the yen in an effort to boost the economy, despite warnings from the US against such action and a declaration in the G7 communique that countries should not engage in competitive currency devaluations. Speaking yesterday from the G7 summit in Japan, French President Francois Hollande pledged to maintain the Socialist Partys (PS) unpopular labor law in the face of mass protests and an escalating wave of strikes against the law. Yesterday, new blockades emerged at La Rochelle, where dock workers blocked the port and were preparing to extend the blockade last night for another 24 hours. With multi-day or indefinite strike action called starting next week in Paris mass transit, the French national railways, and civil aviation, the stage is set for a vast escalation of the class struggle. A recent poll found 62 percent of the French population supported strike action against the law, which lengthens working hours, undermines job security, and allows trade unions to negotiate contracts violating the Labor Code. Hollande signaled he would make no concessions to the law, however. I will hold out because I think that this is a good reform, Hollande declared. He added, As a head of state that wanted to carry out this reform, because I indeed wanted it I want us to be able to go all the way. If it is adopted, since this is what is planned for the month of July, everyone will take into account what this law is and the effects it can have starting as early as September. Hollande also obliquely defended the PS violent crackdown on strikers blockading oil facilities and fuel depots to protest the labor law. He said, We have taken the necessary measures and we will continue to take them, always respecting public liberties but also the first among all liberties, which is freedom of movement. Hollandes remarks left no doubt that he intended to trample mass popular opposition in order to impose the law, and that he would violate constitutionally protected rights to strike and demonstrate in order to do so. He also made clear that he did not accept as legitimate, criticisms of the labor law from several trade unions, led by the Stalinist General Confederation of Labor (CGT). Without explicitly referring to the CGT, he said: We cannot accept that a trade union federation, which has its history, would decide what is the law or what the law cannot be. Hollandes comments reflect the basic position of the French ruling class, which intends to impose austerity and social retrogression while crushing opposition with police violence. Nonetheless, Hollande also faces increasing calls and warnings from inside the ruling class itself, both in France and internationally, that he has provoked a confrontation with the working class that is fraught with immense danger. In one comment, Hollande at the end of his rope, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote, The president knows that his country remains marked by the heritage of the French revolution. The heart of the political system goes back to 1789 The presidents legitimacy is far too weak already to enter into conflict with a radical minority of CGT strikers. This all shows how reforms at the end of a presidential term are as good as impossible, above all in France. Leading PS officials have also contradicted themselves over the law: Economy Minister Michel Sapin suggested the PS could rewrite sections of the law earlier this week, though Prime Minister Manuel Valls subsequently directly contradicted him. Under these conditions, Hollande plans to work closely with the trade union bureaucracy, and particularly those sections of the bureaucracy who are critical of the law, to try to prevent an eruption of workers struggles and of a general strike that could bring down his government. He is well aware that the CGT and the entire union bureaucracy supported him in the 2012 presidential elections. Speaking from Japan, he stressed that he would continue to rely on close political collaboration with the unions if they agreed to his terms. Dialog is always possible, but it is never founded on ultimatums, he said. The reaction from the union bureaucracies was immediately positive. Undeterred by Hollandes statements that he would make no concessions on the labor law, but only impose it on the population, they posted a statement yesterday stressing that they intended to continue to negotiate a deal with him. The organizations reaffirm the terms of their joint letter sent on May 20 to President Hollande, in which they asked for a meeting. While he claims to make social dialog the basic method of his government, the organizations are still waiting for a reply to their letter, the CGT wrote in a statement signed by a collection of trade and student unions and posted on its web site. The CGTs favorable response to Hollandes overtures is a warning to workers seeking to oppose the labor law. While the CGT has found itself compelled to call strikes amid escalating popular anger with the PS labor law, it does not have any principled objection to Hollandes reactionary measure. Its calls for generalizing strike action are not intended to lead to a general strike in which the working class mobilizes in political struggle to bring down the PS government and defeat its anti-worker agenda. Instead, the CGT aims to keep the working class as much as possible under the political influence of the union bureaucracy, and trap the workers in symbolic protest actions coordinated between the union bureaucracies and the PS itself. Such actions do nothing to defend workers social or democratic rights. Indeed, over the past seven years, such symbolic one-day strikes in Greece went hand in hand with the impoverishment of broad sections of the population. The bourgeoisie has long experience handling and manipulating the unions, which have totally lost their base in the working class in France, and depend on corporations and the state for 95 percent of their yearly budget. Ruling circles are very clear that the union bureaucracies are part of the political establishment and allies of the bourgeoisie in their dealings with the working class, and have an immense financial and political stake in the existing social system. The response of the CGT to Hollandes overtures underscore that the only way forward for workers in struggle against the PS labor law, and austerity measures across Europe, is to create organs of struggle independent of the trade unions. The Socialist Equality Party wrote in April that during the referendum over the UKs membership of the European Union, The British population will be bombarded over the coming months with propaganda from two right-wing campaigns. We stated, While the Leave campaign is headed by right-wing Thatcherite forces within the Tory party and the leader of the anti-immigrant UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage, the Remain side has the backing of the deeply unpopular government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and the vast majority of the opposition Labour Party. Our warning, and call for workers and youth to reject both campaigns with an active boycott, has been vindicated. The Leave campaign is now focusing almost exclusively on whipping up hysteria over immigration, with claims that without a British exit from the EU the UK will be deluged by millions, if not tens of millions, of migrants. Last week a poster campaign was launched showing an EU passport as an open door next to the words: Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU. Vote Leave, take back control. Conservative Armed Forces Minister and Leave supporter, Penny Mordaunt, said as it was released, A remain vote in this referendum is a vote to allow people from Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey to move here freely when they join the EU soon. She added, Many of these countries have high crime rates, problems with gangs and terror cells as well as challenging levels of poverty. ITVs headline on Mordaunts comments, which was rapidly spread online by pro-Leave forces including fascists, stated, Vote Leave: Murderers and terrorists from Turkey will head to UK. No slur on Turkeys overwhelmingly Muslim population was too base. Vote Leave stated, Since the birthrate in Turkey is so high, we can expect to see an additional million people added to the UK population from Turkey alone within eight years. This will not only increase the strain on Britains public services, but it will also create a number of threats to UK security. Crime is far higher in Turkey than the UK. Gun ownership is also more widespread. Because of the EUs free-movement laws, the government will not be able to exclude Turkish criminals from entering the UK. The Leave camps decision to focus so heavily on immigration is to some degree shaped by the impact of warnings by everyone from United States President Barack Obama to the G7 and the International Monetary Fund that the UK faces dire economic and political implications if it exits the EU. According to the BBC, a Brexit minister told its flagship current affairs programme, Newsnight, Vote Leave does not want to major on immigration, but the problem is that on the economy we are playing defence. We are continually having to respond to this tsunami from the Treasury, the Bank of England and the IMF. The only issue we can go on the offensive is on immigration." However, anti-immigrant/asylum seeker rhetoric was always central to the Leave campaign. Last week, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage echoed the notorious speech of the right-wing Tory MP Enoch Powell, who said in 1968 that if immigration into Britain was not halted, there would be blood on the streets. Speaking to the BBC, Farage said, I think its legitimate to say that if people feel they have lost control completelyand we have lost control of our borders completely as members of the European Unionand if people feel that voting doesnt change anything, then violence is the next step. It is unsurprising, therefore, that this weeks issuing by the Office for National Statistics of the latest figures on migration into the UK was the occasion for a torrent of xenophobia. These are the final such figures before the referendum is held on June 23. They show that net migration to the UK reached 330,000 last year. Boris Johnson, the former Tory mayor of London tipped as a future party leader, said in response that there was no public consent for the scale of immigration we are seeing and the situation was completely out of control. A vote for the Remain camp would mean kissing goodbye permanently to control of immigration, he declared. Farage tweeted, Mass immigration still hopelessly out of control and set to get worse if we Remain in EU. In another he cited an article from the right-wing Daily Telegraph and commented, Englands population to explode by 4 million. Our infrastructure cannot cope with open borders. We must Leave EU. The pro-Leave Daily Express, for whom Farage is contributing a campaign diary, responded, How long will it be until the migrants from Africa and the Middle East are granted citizenship by their new European homes? When that day comes they too will be free to come and live here. The figures were released on the same day as the first of three referendum debates hosted by the BBC. The subject of immigration came up during the debate, with massive media coverage given to audience member Emily Wood, a music producer from Poole, who blamed immigrants for the fact that her disabled mother was unable to secure a local authority bungalow. Immigrants are bumped up the [social housing waiting] list, she declared. Am I right to want to leave [the EU]? Wood was picked up by right-wing media outlets that specialise in the bogus assertion that immigrants and asylum seekers are immediately handed vast sums in welfare benefits and social housing. In an interview with the Daily Mail, she stated that her mother had been rejected for six bungalows. When we have gone round to see who has ended up in the property, it has usually been immigrants, she claimed. In reality, such has been the onslaught against the right to social housing for all that in the UK, as research from the House of Commons Library notes, There is no general entitlement to social housing for anyone in England, including British citizens. Foreign nationals do not get any extra priority, it adds. Since 2006, in order to even qualify for social housing, EU nationals must be working lawfully, self-sufficient or have a permanent right of residence (following five years lawful residence). Poole is a coastal town with an estimated population of just 150,000 people. Almost 96 percent of its inhabitants are classed as White British. Council housing is allocated according to need, with priority given to emergency casesthanks to the acute shortages created by cuts imposed by successive governments. There is a two-year residency criteria in Poole itself before anyone is considered. Miss Wood confirmed that this was the case, stating that her mother had repeatedly made the final 20 seeking a bungalow. Those she claimed had jumped the queue did so because they have nowhere to go, no friends or family and they need help because they havent got a roof over their head. The filth being promulgated by the Leave campaign in no way means the Remain campaign is any more progressive in comparison. Cameron, along with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, did nothing to oppose the demonization of Turkeys population. Cameron merely stated, It is not remotely on the cards that Turkey is going to join the EU any time soon. At the current rate of progress they will probably get round to joining in about the year 3000 according to the latest forecasts. His governments support for the Remain vote is based on the deal agreed between Cameron and the EU, of which the main planks are an emergency brake on EU migrants claiming in-work benefits that will last for seven years, the restriction of child benefits for EU migrants to the rate of their home country, and the right of the UK to impose a temporary brake on financial regulations that impact the City of London financial swindlers. Cameron declared in the Tories last election manifesto that his governments aim, while remaining in the EU, was to reduce net migration down to below 100,000. Four Indian warships last Saturday entered the South China Sea, where US has been repeatedly used as the pretext of freedom of navigation to engage in military provocations challenging Chinas territorial claims. Guided missile stealth frigates, INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, the sophisticated fleet support ship, INS Shakti, and the guided missile corvette, INS Kirch, left India on May 18 for a two-and-a-half-month operational deployment in the South China Sea and North West Pacific. Indias naval exercise is aimed at extending its military reach beyond Indian Ocean into the Pacific. While aggressively pursuing its own strategic ambitions, the Indian intervention into South China Sea and beyond is in line with the US pivot to Asia, which includes preparing for war against China. Washington has been encouraging New Delhi to take a more aggressive stance in South East Asia and East Asia to counter Chinas economic and diplomatic influence. In particular, the US has urged India, which does not border the South China Sea and has no maritime disputes with China, to engage in naval patrols, including jointly with the US, in the area. Just two days before the Indian warships departed, the US and India held their first Maritime Security Dialogue to discuss Asia-Pacific maritime challenges, naval cooperation, and multilateral engagement, according to the US embassy in New Delhi. Next month, the Indian ships will participate in joint Malabar naval exercises with US and Japan in Philippines waters near the South China Sea. The US has also been in the Philippines to more assertively press its territorial claims against China. Japan has previously participated in the annual bilateral US-India Malabar exercise, but this year will be the first time that Japan is taking part as a permanent member. It is a clear indication of a developing trilateral strategic alliance aimed against China. Commenting on the departure of its warships, an Indian Defence Ministry statement declared: In a demonstration of its operational reach and commitment to Indias Act East policy, the Indian Navys Eastern Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral S.V. Bhokare, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, sailed out today. Encouraged by Washington, the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the previous Look East policyan economic and strategic outreach to East and Southeast Asiainto Act East, that is, a more aggressive intervention into the region. US officials have repeatedly pointed to the convergence between Indias Act East and Obama administrations pivot to Asia. It is clear that Indias naval patrol is a part of the US-led military build-up in Asia against China. The Indian warships will make port calls at Cam Rahn Bay in Vietnam, Subic Bay in the Philippines, Sasebo in Japan, Busan in South Korea, Vladivostok in Russia and Port Klang in Malaysia. The defence ministry stated: The visits to each port will last four days and are aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing inter-operability between the navies. During the stay in harbour, various activities, such as official calls and professional interaction between naval personnel of both the nations, have been planned. With the exception of Russia, the US has been strengthening its alliance and military ties with each of the countries named. Washington has been pressing India, along with allies such as Australia and Japan, to enhance its ability to collaborate and operate with other Asian countries in a bid to further consolidate a US-led encirclement of China. At the same time, the Indian defence ministry noted that the Indian fleet was showing the flag in a region that was of vital strategic importance to India. The US and India have been rapidly expanding naval collaboration as part of their strategic partnership. Early this month, US and Indian officials began bilateral talks on countering Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean, including collaboration in anti-submarine warfare. In April, India and the US announced their agreement in principle on a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that would give the US armed forces access to Indian military ports and bases. China has responded cautiously to the Indian naval deployment. After the Indian vessels set off, an unnamed senior Chinese official expressed Beijings concerns, telling journalists: When there is some trouble in the South China Sea, India is worried. When Indian ships participate in maritime exercises in the South China Sea, of course China will show concern. In a veiled criticism of the US, he accused Western powers of using the colonial tactic of divide and rule in Asia. Speaking on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying was more cautious. We have noted the relevant report. Concerning the normal military cooperation we have no objection to that. We hope that military cooperation such as this is conducive to peace and regional stability, she said. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee began a four-day visit to China this week in which he was expected to raise series of issues with Beijing. These included Chinas moves to block Indias attempt to get a UN ban against Masood Azhar, a leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based armed Kashmiri-separatist group, and to oppose Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group that controls access to nuclear technology and fuel. Despite its muted response, Beijing undoubtedly regards Indias latest naval deployment as a part of Indias closer integration into the US pivot which China is seeking to prevent. New Delhi has been exploiting Beijings concerns to try to extract economic and also strategic concessions from China, which is Indias largest trading partner. India has dismissed Chinas concerns, describing its deployment of warships into South China Sea, including in joint exercises with US and Japan, as normal moves that would not affect Mukherjees visit. Joint Secretary Pradeep Kumar Rawat declared: Indian ship visits have been happening often, its quite a normal thing, it isnt only happening this time. However, Indias naval operations in South East Asia and East Asia are far from normal. Its armada of ships represents a marked military escalation in conditions where tensions in the South China Sea are rising sharply. The presence of Indian warships only increases the chance of a mistake or misunderstanding that could spark a conflict that would rapidly draw in the US and other powers. Strikes and mass demonstrations against the El Khomri labour reform law in France have been met with sympathy among workers and young people across Europe. For decades, so called structural reforms, including cuts to social spending and workers wages, were portrayed as unavoidable. The French government of Francois Hollande and Manuel Valls thought it could destroy rights and achievements fought for by generations of workers with the use of force. It was mistaken. When it imposed the hated law by decree, it did not intimidate workers, but only provoked their anger. Since then, strikes and protests have spread and paralyzed the whole country. The situation in France marks a major development in the international class struggle. A similar mood prevails in many other European countries, in the US and in large parts of the world. It is expressed in the resurgence of the class struggle, including a spike in strikes and protests worldwide. There is a danger that the movement in France like other such struggleswill be isolated and strangled, and that the far-right National Front will profit from the resulting disillusionment. To allay this danger, it is necessary to probe the roots of this situation and determine who is responsible for the present attacks. The French workers are fighting against a government that calls itself left and socialist. This is neither an accident, nor a misunderstanding. For the last 15 years, it has above all been the social democratssupported by the unions, the communist parties and their successors as well as numerous pseudo-left groupswho have carried out structural reforms against the workers. It is worthwhile in this context to look back at the paper published jointly by two social democratic heads of government, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, in 1999. Almost all of the social attacks that have taken place since then in Germany, Great Britain, Southern and Eastern Europe, Greece and now in France were outlined there. In the paper, entitled The Way Forward for Europe's Social Democrats, Blair and Schroder call for the transformation of the social safety net from entitlement to a springboard for personal responsibility. As we wrote at the time on the WSWS, the paper is a list of social atrocities, which have become the standard repertoire of European economic, financial and social policy, is meticulously and approvingly catalogued. The authors take care to invoke every cliche: cuts in state expenditure; criteria of efficiency, competitiveness and performance for public services; adjustment of the social insurance system; encouragement of business; reductions in taxes on employers and property; flexibility ... and more flexibility. The chapter An active labour market policy for the left demanded, as the WSWS summarized, that all social and political means are to be employed to encourage individual responsibility. The system of taxation and social payments are to be revamped to 'ensure that it works in the interests of the people'. Low-paid 'probationary jobs' should be subsidized by the government and all those receiving social payments should be evaluated according to their ability to earn their own living. In short, the paper advocates massive state pressure to force the acceptance of low-wage jobs that, in turn, serve to drive down wages as a whole. The Schroder-Blair paper appeared at a time when the social democrats ruled almost everywhere in Europe. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 1990s were characterized by an orgy of self-enrichment by the ruling elite and enormous attacks on the working class. At the end of the decade, workers throughout Europe supported the election of social democrats in the hope that they would adopt a more socially humane approach. The opposite took place. The Schroder-Blair paper served as a blueprint for the Hartz laws in Germany, and the austerity course in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece. In all of these countries, as a rule, the social democrats followed a much stricter austerity course than conservative governments. The author and namesake of the Hartz laws, Peter Hartz, a German Social Democratic Party and IG Metall union member, travelled to Paris two years ago to advise the French president on social cuts. The El Khomri law is the immediate result of this collaboration. In the meantime, social democrats across the globe have plunged into free fall. In France, workers are rebelling against the Socialist Party and in Greece against Syriza, which has further intensified the austerity policies. This rebellion needs a conscious political strategy. It is not just the corrupt social democratic apparatus, the unions and the pseudo-left groups that move in their circles that are bankrupt, but the national program on which they are based. The globalization of production has destroyed the basis of all national social and labour market policies. Today, the social democrats and the unions see it as their responsibility to impose constant attacks on the workers to defend their own corporations against international competition. The El Khomri law, as well as every other attack on the working class, can only by defeated by an independent, international movement of the working class that bases itself on a revolutionary, socialist program. The offensive against the El Khomri law must become the starting point for the building of such a movement. The unions and social democratic parties all over Europe stand behind Hollande and react with horror to the offensive of the French workers. European workers must stand behind their fellow workers in France, free themselves from the influence of social democracy and the unions and take up the fight for the United Socialist States of Europe. Asia India: Jammu & Kashmir water utility workers strike in 11th week Thousands of Jammu Public Health Engineering Department daily wage and temporary workers remain on strike, after walking out to demand payment of 35 months wages and job permanency. While some water pumping stations and tube wells are being operated by public health temporary staff, many areas are without water as a result of the strike. The government has refused to meet the strikers and has not organised any alternate water supply for residents in the region. Indian bank workers strike Up 50,000 government bank employees in five Indian states struck work on May 20 to protest the pending merger with their parent bank, the State Bank of India (SBI). The five associate banks are State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. Workers fear that jobs will be lost and branches closed by the merger. The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has threatened to call another strike on June 7. Karnataka food warehouse employees demonstrate Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation porters in Shivamogga protested Monday to demand higher wages and an improved social security net. A workers representative said the porters are only paid 5 rupees per bag of grain or 250 rupees ($US3.70) per day. The workers want their wage increased to 10 rupees per bag. A spokesman for the demonstrators said many porters suffered work injuries but had no health insurance and provident fund facilities. Union closes down Goa lifeguards strike The All India Trade Union Congress called off a three-day strike by 600 lifeguards on May 22 after the state government mobilised police to do lifeguard duty at major Goa tourist venues. The lifeguards who are employed by Drishti Life Saving Private Limited want job permanency and a wage increase. The lifeguards said they would resume their protests if they government failed to grant their demands. The Goa government has refused to intervene, declaring that the lifeguards services have been outsourced and that it has nothing to do with the dispute. Pakistan: Karachi ship-breaking workers end strike The Ship-Breaking Mazdoor Union has shut down strike action by Gadani ship-breaking yard workers after yard owners agreed to reinstate 360 sacked workers terminated on May 16 as part of a cost-cutting plan. The Pakistan Ship Breakers Association was forced to mediate after striking workers blocked the main road leading to the yard and brought all work to a stop by the second day. Workers health and safety demands, however, have not been resolved. Gadani, near Karachi, is among the top three ship-breaking yards in the world. The 16-kilometre stretch of Gadani foreshore is occupied by 132 separate yards that directly employ over 15,000 workers. Ship-breaking is a highly dangerous job with frequent deaths and injuries. Employees are not provided safety boots or gloves and there are no health care or social security entitlements. Workers said that the area is serviced by one ambulance. Bangladeshi unemployed nurses demand jobs Hundreds of protesting unemployed nurses were prevented from marching on the prime ministers office in Dhaka on Wednesday by a barbwire fence erected by police. Nurses began street protests on March 30 after the Public Service Commission published an advertisement to appoint 3,616 senior nurses. The nurses want the positions filled on the basis of seniority and merit. The following day they marched to the residence of Health Minister Mohammed Nasim. On May 1, the Bangladesh Diploma Bekar (unemployed) Nurses Association and Bangladesh Basic Graduate Nurses Society called off a series of strikes and protests after false promises from the health minister. Bangladeshi garment workers demand higher wages Garment workers marched to the Wage Board chairmans office in Dhaka on Wednesday to demand that the minimum wage be increased from 5,300 taka ($US67) a month to 16,000 taka ($202). Their wage has remained the same for three years with most garment workers earning just $103 a month, including overtime. The protest was organised by the Garments Sramik Odhikar Andolan, a combination of 12-garment workers rights bodies. The protest followed a demonstration in Dhaka on Monday by former Ayesha and Galia Fashion workers calling on factory owners and the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association to pay outstanding wages and service benefits immediately. The factory was closed by the owners on April 13. Burmese police arrest protesting wood factory employees On May 18, police arrested over 86 wood workers who had marched 300 kilometres from Sagaing Region to Burmas capital Nay Pyi Taw to protest poor working conditions and wrongful sackings. The Myanmar Veneer Plywood Private Limited workers had hoped that their three-week march would allow them to speak with government officials about their demands for better working conditions, reinstatement of 100 sacked workers and recognition of their union. The factory workers were stopped by 200 police on the outskirts of the city and forced into police vehicles. Witnesses said that as the workers were driven away, they shouted, We will topple this government! We will cut off the little finger that we voted for it with! Their shouts were aimed at the co-ruling party National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Philippines rope workers on strike Over 450 workers from the Manila Cordage Company (MCC) and Manco Synthetics Inc. have been on strike since May 4 and are camping in the factory premises at Carmelray Industrial Park, Laguna. They issued a strike notice in March and decided to walk out after their demand for job permanency was ignored. An MCC-MSI Employee Labor Union-Organized Labor Association representative said that although new workers were promised permanent jobs after 10 months, they were made to sign five-month renewable contracts. Workers complained that they were placed under the management of two service agencies, Alternative Network Resources and Work Trusted Cooperative, who deducted costs for protective clothing and uniforms from the 315 peso ($US6.75) daily wage, and failed to remit their full contributions to the Social Security System for some employees. A spokesman from the National Conciliation and Mediation Board said the board was mediating the dispute. The newly elected Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had previously threatened to have killed export-processing workers who attempted to form unions. Australia and the Pacific Industrial court terminates strike at Essential Energy An 80-hour strike by thousands of power workers in New South Wales, due to begin on May 23, was called off after the Fair Work Commission (FWC) ordered Essential Energy into a 21-day bargaining period with the Electrical Trades Union (ETU). If bargaining is unsuccessful, the FWC will rule on the dispute. Negotiations between the ETU and Essential Energy for a new enterprise agreement began 18 months ago. The strike would have involved workers at 120 depots and control centres across 90 percent of New South Wales electricity network. The company wants to axe 800 jobs over the next two years, followed by unlimited job cuts after 2018. It also wants to cut emergency duty pay and slash the wages and conditions of contractors, among other changes. French Polynesia airline workers maintain strike Air Tahiti (domestic) workers have been on strike since May 13 over fears of job and pay cuts due to falls in domestic travel. Air Tahiti, which services international and domestic routes, including 46 of the colonys 67 islands, employs over 700 workers. Airline management wants to reduce flights to some regions from once a week to once a fortnight, a move that would cut jobs and cause major inconveniences for outlying island residents. Mediation talks last week failed. As redundancies due to the strike are likely, more employees of related industries have joined the strike, which has affected the entire archipelago. Over 17,000 workers have lost their jobs and about 80,000 are living in poverty since the 2008 global financial crisis. Unlike in France, there are no unemployment benefits in the Pacific colony. New Zealand airport catering workers vote to strike Catering workers at the Wellington International Airport voted to strike over a pay dispute on Wednesday. The vote was sparked after their employer, the US contracting company Delaware North, refused in December to negotiate a new work agreement with their union the E tu unless it could introduce youth rates. Delaware North runs nearly all catering facilities at the airport. The commencement wage, also known as youth rates, is legal under certain criteria for workers under 19 and is 80 percent of the adult minimum wage of $15.25 or $12.20 an hour. The catering workers accused the company of wanting to take advantage of its high employee turnover rate (84 of 86 new recruits over the last two years have left) to drive down wages. Lecturers in the University and College Union (UCU) held a nationwide 48-hour strike on Wednesday and Thursday. The strike was called to protest a proposed pay rise of just 1.1 percent, offered by the Universities and Colleges Employer Association (UCEA), and the ongoing casualisation of labour in Higher Education (HE). Following the strike UCU members began working to contract, refusing to work overtime, set additional work, or undertake any voluntary duties like covering timetabled classes for absent colleagues. University staff have seen pay fall in real terms by 14.5 percent since 2009. Employment security in the sector has been progressively undermined by the extension of temporary contracts. According to the UCU, 75,000 university staff are on a casualised contract. In 2015, the Guardian reported, When it comes to teaching-only staff in HE, the UCUs estimates put the proportion on time limited rather than permanent contracts at 60 percent, and its freedom of information request showed more than 21,000 university teaching staff on zero-hours arrangements. Another UCU report showing that roughly a third of university academics in casual employment struggled to pay their rent or mortgage, while more than a third had difficulty paying household bills and 17 percent sometimes struggled to afford food. That such a serious assault could be waged on working conditions is down to the betrayals of the UCU, Unite, Unison and other unions. These organisations have worked to ensure that opposition in the education sector to the governments policies can find no political expression. The UCU is opposed to a unified offensive by workers against the governments austerity agenda. Unable to stall growing anger from its members, it has sanctioned a few days of limited action to give the impression that it is fighting for them. The strike was timed for the end of the university year, when teaching has stopped for most undergraduate students. Holding it then meant it would cause the least disruption possible. A UCEA spokesperson noted that most institutions estimated no to low impact from the strike. Unite, which has about 12,000 members in higher education, did not call its members out at all. Instead, it is consulting on a possible strike, with a ballot closing on June 6. At University College London, Birkbeck and the School of African and Oriental Studies, turnout for the strike was therefore relatively low, at around 100. Members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) spoke to some of those involved. Josh, a UCL alumni relations officer, said, I think its really unfair how little academics and university staff are paid. This 1.1 percent offer is pretty pathetic. It has effectively been a pay cut of 15 percent because weve had no pay increase for the last 10 years, so its been going steadily down. The universities can afford to pay much more. Asked how declining pay had affected him, Josh said, I live locally in Camden, and Ive had problems finding affordable accommodation, and Ive had to move around a lot to find a permanent place to live I am disappointed that Unite and Unison havent been balloted on this strike action. I think we might be balloted for strike action in autumn. Hopefully that will be one that all the unions will do together, which would have much more of an impact. I did find it a bit odd that Unison didnt come out in support of junior doctors. I think weve been informally supporting the British Medical Association and the junior doctors strikes by speaking at rallies and protests, but it is a bit odd they havent been doing it more formally and balloting their members on strike action. Kojo, a Birkbeck PhD student and assistant lecturer, said, Were striking against the casualization of universities more than anything. So much of the teaching has been taken by casualized staff who dont have the same kind of security, and dont have the adequate compensation that they should to do their job properly. Overall, the university and student experience suffers the most. I will be [on a temporary contract] in September. The universities are not a privileged institution, this is something happening across all these different sectors. Its ensuring that the working population is insecure, that its unable to organise and plan for their lives, and leaving them at the mercy of their bosses and employers. I think its something that has really gutted the strength of organised labour, and I think the tide needs to be turned back. On the impact on education, Kojo explained, I think its an attempt to transform the university into a place of commodity exchange. Its where students see themselves as customers and pay a certain amount of money and receive a good. Students need to be engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and teachers need to be compensated enough that they can adequately facilitate those processes of learning. They need the time and the space to be able to deal with students, rather than having overcrowded classrooms, and being overworked and underpaid. I think its having a really detrimental effect. Byron said, Im a UCL employee and as a researcher I think things have been getting very hard recently and I think things really need to change in support of salaries and workers benefits, as theyve been getting pretty bad, and its very useful to show support in these kind of conditions. Byron is currently employed on a limited time contract. For me and my colleagues it means we have no sense of security, and no possibility of buying houses or getting mortgages. Its not unique obviously to our line of work, but in our areas of highly skilled work where weve had to do years of training to get where we are, to now face these levels of insecurity is a pretty horrible situation. I think weve grown to accept that this is the way it is and were taught that austerity is vital in this situation, and we all need to put in our bit to save the economy. But really its us that are paying the cost. Asked whether he thought a unified struggle of working people was necessary to defend jobs, education and the National Health Service, Byron responded, Yes, absolutely. I guess that is where these things can, and historically, have been able to change, when they come from that unified front. But I think obviously the elite, the bourgeoisie, have really been quite empowered. I think the Labour Party and the unions have turned away from their traditional direction. Taking a side trip from a G7 summit meeting in Tokyo that was dominated by US war preparations against China, Barack Obama played the advocate of world brotherhood and international morality at Hiroshimas Peace Memorial Friday. Overshadowing the visit was a muted public debate over whether, as the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, Obama should offer an apology for what was unquestionably one of historys greatest war crimes. Americas Nobel Prize-winning president and his aides made it abundantly clear from the moment that the trip was first proposed that he would do no such thing. It is not as if US officials have never acknowledged the criminal character of this closing act of the Second World War, the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians, most of them women and children, in the back-to-back atom bomb attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the historical record makes abundantly clear, these acts of mass murder were not, as the American public was incessantly told, designed to bring a speedy end to the war and save lives. Rather, they were carried out with the aim of intimidating the Soviet Union and preparing for a potential Third World War. Dwight Eisenhower, the former World War II commander and president, acknowledged to Newsweek magazine in 1963, less than three years after leaving office, ...the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasnt necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Admiral William Leahy, who was chief of staff to Harry Truman, the US president who ordered the bombings, wrote in his memoir: It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons... My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children. Obama could make no such candid admission. Instead, he engaged in flowery rhetoric about Hiroshima being a place where death fell from the sky and the world was changed. Fell from where? Changed by whom? Questions best left unasked. In a misanthropic address, he stressed that such barbarous acts are really only the product of human nature. Artifacts tell us that violent conflict appeared with the very first man, he said. The Second World War itself, he added, grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes. The answer to this base instinct? According to Obama, We must reimagine our connection to one another as members of one human race. This deliberate obfuscation, grotesque hypocrisy and potted history of humanity on Obamas part were not a matter merely of political expediency and cowardice. If the US president is less capable of speaking one hard word of truth about Hiroshima and Nagasaki than top officials who were directly involved in the war that produced these atrocities 71 years ago, it is because he is engaged in preparing even worse horrors still to come. Why should anyone have expected Obama to apologize for Hiroshima? If he was interested in contrition, he would have done better to start with the seven countriesSyria, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somaliawhere US interventions and proxy wars continue to claim civilian lives nearly eight years after the candidate of hope and change was swept into office on a wave of popular anti-war sentiment. During that time, his administration is unquestionably responsible for more civilian deaths than those inflicted by the twin atomic bomb blasts of 1945. The most shamelessly hypocritical section of Obamas speech at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial was his posturing as a champion of nuclear disarmament. 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, he declared, quickly adding, We may not realize this goal in my lifetime. Given a continuation of the policies pursued by his administration, at least the second part of this statement is indisputable. As for the first, it stands as one of Obamas more nauseating exercises in his signature blend of moral invocation and bold-faced lying in the service of US imperialism. As a newly declassified report issued by the Pentagon reveals, the Obama administration has done less to reduce Washingtons nuclear stockpile than any other post-Cold War US president, including both George H.W. and George W. Bush. Aside from the absolute number of warheads, his administration has embarked on the most ambitious nuclear arms buildup in modern history. It has begun a $1 trillion modernization of US imperialisms nuclear arsenal that is projected to unfold over the next 30 years. So much for the courage to escape the logic of fear. Spending on nuclear weapons is set to double under this plan, even as the government continuously proclaims that there is no money to confront the scourges of unemployment, poverty and misery that afflict ever-growing layers of American working people. New nuclear-armed submarines and bombers as well as ICBMs and cruise missiles are what the Obama White House is in reality pursuing, along with newer, faster and more usable weapons that make the transition from a conventional to nuclear war not only easier but, indeed, inevitable. The nuclear buildup is being prosecuted in the context of an ever-growing escalation of US military provocations on the borders of the worlds other two largest nuclear powers, with US troops and antimissile systems being deployed on Russias western flank and the US Navy conducting continuous freedom of navigation operations in territorial waters claimed by China. The world is today closer to a nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. This insane preparation for mass slaughter is the result not, as Obama would have it, of the inherent violence of man, but of the insoluble crisis of the world capitalist system and, in the first instance, the drive by the United States to utilize military means to offset its relative economic decline and maintain its position as a global hegemonic power. Preventing imperialism from plunging humanity as a whole into the horrors experienced at Hiroshima is the task of the international working class mobilized in a mass movement against war and its source, the capitalist system. The beginning of the Australian election campaign this month coincided with a vicious media attack on a vulnerable minimum-wage worker who dared challenge the governments tax breaks for the wealthy on ABC televisions Q&A current affairs program. Duncan Storrar was one of the selected audience members on the May 9 program who asked a question to the panel, which included the Liberal-National governments Assistant Treasurer Kelly ODwyer. Storrar, it later emerged, is a 45-year-old living in public housing with his partner in Geelong, a Victorian regional city that has been hard hit by several decades of deindustrialisation. He works part-time as a truck driver, earning $16 an hour, while also receiving a $520-a-fortnight Austudy allowance. Ive got a disability and a low education, that means Ive spent my whole life working for minimum wage, Storrar began. Referring to changes to the tax structure in the governments budget to benefit a wealthier layer, he continued: Youre going to lift the tax-free threshold for rich people. If you lift my tax-free threshold, that changes my life. That means that I get to say to my little girls, Daddys not broke this weekend. We can go to the pictures. Rich people dont even notice their tax-free threshold lift. Why dont I get it? Why do they get it? ODwyer replied with barely concealed contempt. The critical thing here is that we actually need to grow the pie, she declared, deriding any suggestion of moving to redistribute the pie to benefit the less well off. She went on to boast of the governments pro-business measures and cited the example of a cafe owner being given a tax break that allowed the purchase of a $6,000 toaster to boost profits. The assistant treasurer was backed by another Q&A panellist, Innes Willox, head of the big business lobby the Australian Industry Group. Willox declared, Duncan, I'll be harsh in my message. If youre on the minimum wage and with a family, you would not pay much tax, if any at all. Would you? You would not pay much tax. Storrar stood his ground, answering that he paid tax every time he drove his car and shopped for groceries at the supermarketa reference to the 10 percent goods and services tax (GST) and other indirect taxes. Storrars questions immediately resonated among ordinary people. His remarks received loud applause from the Q&A audience, while social media responded with a popular #IStandWithDuncan hashtag. Deriding ODwyers defence of government policy, one person set up a crowdfunding website page to buy Duncan a $6,000 toaster. In just over two weeks, ten times that amount was collected, with $60,051 raised from donations from nearly 2,500 people. Storrars intervention on Q&A made a significant impact because it provided a rare glimpse, albeit limited and brief, into the harsh reality of everyday life for millions of people in Australian society today. Numerous statements on social media, in letters to newspapers, and on radio call-in shows were made by people explaining their own struggles with raising a family on low incomes. The major parties have no real policy differences on such matters, with Labor and Liberal both representing the interests of finance capital and the ultra-wealthy. The Greens occasionally posture as opponents of the banks and big business, while representing an affluent upper-middle class constituency and manoeuvring for a ruling coalition with either of the major parties. The working class is effectively disenfranchised and excluded from any involvement in parliamentary politics. Just as a federal election campaign began, Storrars question on Q&A threatened to provide an opening for a broader discussion of poverty and social inequalityunmentionable issues as far as the political and media establishment are concerned. As a result, Storrar was made the target of an extraordinary media campaign, aimed at discrediting if not outright destroying the individual. The Murdoch press was at the forefront. Both the Australian and the Herald Sun devoted substantial resources to probing Storrars employment and taxation situation. After dredging through his private life, both newspapers ran front-page stories on Storrars past criminal record. The Herald Sun s headline was, ABC Hero a Villain: Q&A sob story star exposed as a thug as public donate $60,000. The Australian ran another front-page story featuring an interview with Storrars estranged son, who denounced his father as a drug user. Yet more stories accused him of being a deadbeat dad. This media filth continued even after Storrar fled his home, pleading for his family to be left alone, and explaining that he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from childhood sexual abuse. In what amounted to a thinly-veiled threat to any other working class people thinking about challenging the government, the Herald Suns editor Damon Johnston declared: If you put yourself on the public stage, and in, particularly in the middle of an election campaign, questioning government policy, questioning this, I think that youre entitled to be subjected to a bit of scrutiny. It was all part of legitimate public debate in my view. Storrar responded with dignity, issuing a public statement via the ABCs Media Watch. He began by explaining that he saw the main lesson for Australia in this episode to be that if anyone shows that the powers-that-be [are the] out of touch people that they are, they will be dropped, probed and attacked in any way with no thought to the mental wellbeing of their children. He added: My [Q&A] question is still valid and hasnt been answered, but more to the point there are a whole class of people out there, yes we might have records, yes we might not be perfect but society has forgotten us, the politicians and the media use us whenever they want to show why they need to be elected, but never do anything to help our plight. We are breaking down here and life hasnt been this hard since before Whitlam for the underclass. The Storrar episode is a warning to workers. The savage media treatment of an individual who dared to ask a question about government policy is nothing but a reflection of the ruling elites ruthless determination to prevent any challenge to the status quo. There is no longer any constituency for democratic rights within the political establishmentwhen the capitalist class is confronted with a threat to its property and wealth, it will use every means at its disposal, including outright repression, to try to silence and suppress the working class. Authorised by James Cogan, Shop 6, 212 South Terrace, Bankstown Plaza, Bankstown, NSW 2200. MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) - Katharine the great white shark is making her way back down Florida's east coast. Florida Today reports that shark's satellite transmitter pinged near the Florida-Georgia border on Sunday and then near Daytona Beach on Wednesday. Chris Fischer, founder of the shark-tracking group OCEARCH, says Katharine's movements over the past two years demonstrate a transition from an immature shark to a mature shark. Scientists believe she might be pregnant. OCEARCH researchers captured Katharine off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in August 2013 and attached a transmitter to her dorsal fin. She measured 14 feet, 2 inches long and weighed 2,300 pounds. The next year, Katharine became OCEARCH's first Atlantic great white shark to migrate past the Florida Keys into the Gulf of Mexico. Satellite data shows Katharine has traveled nearly 29,000 miles since being tagged. CHESTER, Ill. (AP) - A prison inmate Drew Peterson is accused of enlisting to arrange the killing of a state's attorney says the former suburban Chicago police officer also admitted killing his missing fourth wife. The Chicago Tribune (trib.in/1TyJpih) reports Antonio Smith testified Monday that the ex-Bolingbrook sergeant referred to Stacy Peterson as a "dead woman" and discussed how to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. Peterson has never been charged in Stacy Peterson's disappearance and has maintained his innocence. He's serving a 38-year sentence in the 2004 death of ex-wife Kathleen Savio in a case that was reopened after Stacy Peterson went missing in 2007. Peterson has pleaded not guilty in the current case and faces an additional 60 years in prison. TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) -- A Tallahassee family is mourning after their son, who joined the Marine Corps, passed away last week. Blake Creel's body was brought back to Tallahassee Friday afternoon after he died in a motorcycle accident in Desert Hot Springs, California. California Highway Patrol say Blake was driving through a highway when he traveled off the road, hitting a guard rail (KESQ). Members of the Marine Corps Honor Guard came along with family, and gave Blake's body flight honors, before he was moved to Tallahassee. Blake graduated from Leon High School in 2014, and soon after, he joined the Marine Corps. He spent some time out of the country in the Middle East, working embassy duty in Baghdad. One of his greatest passions was motorcycles, having joined the Black Sabbath Motorcycle Club, with fellow military and ex-military. The family will remember Blake's genuine smiles and his life-long love for both motorcycles, and serving his country. "In the Marine Corps, we're always taught that we're all brothers", said Gunnery Sergeant Jimmie Smith, of the Marine Corps. "And to see a fallen brother, it really hits home a lot, because we don't like to see our brother's fall." As a young child, Blake bonded with his younger brother and sisters. "When we were kids, we used to run around outside and play like we're in the Military", said Jordan Creel, Blake's younger sister. "My brothers, they would be the Army men and i was always gonna be the doc." Blake knew where he wanted to go all his life: The Marines. And even after he graduated from Leon High, those feelings never faltered. "Everyone gets nervous when they're about to leave their family and start a new chapter and become an actual adult", said Lindsey Creel, Blake's younger sister. "But he was a very humble guy. He was just like' Yeah, I'm ready.' He was very determined." His positive attitude spread like wildfire, and that's something his parents wont ever forget. "He was very excited. I remember one day, he was getting out of boot camp and he ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug i ever had in my life. I'll hold that forever", said Clint Creel, his father. "After Boot Camp, he just felt accomplished," said Wendy Creel, Blake's Mother, adding that when it was done, Blake "felt like a Marine." Brady is Blake's younger brother. He graduates from Leon High School Saturday, May 28th and is set to join the Marine Corps in early June. "He was probably the biggest motivation for me and now that he's passed, its pushing me even harder to join", said Brady. "To get there and get done. " This past week has been very difficult for the family, but they hope they can spread the positivity of Blake, so even those looking in on the outside, will never forget him. The Creel family is inviting the community to Blake's memorial service, this Memorial Day at the Thomasville Road Baptist Church. Anyone is welcome to join and friends and family are encouraged to bring pictures of Blake. Viewing starts at 10 a.m. and the service starts at 11 a.m. A Prosser man facing both state and federal charges related to molestation and child pornography will not be employed as a Granger teacher next year. On April 6, a man from Gaza named Mahmoud Atauna infiltrated Israel. The feat didnt take a great deal of effort or resourcefulness; all he needed to do was jump over a barbed wire fence and then crawl under a second fence. After he was caught, he had told his investigators that was planning on killing IDF soldiers. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Another Gazan resident named Medhat Abu-Zenima had crossed the same border a week prior to Atauna. He had initially intended to cross the border to Egypt in search of his brother Abdallah, who had joined ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula. When he saw the large presence of the Egyptian army along the border, however, he tried returning to Gaza, eventually deciding to flee to Israel. A tunnel dug from Gaza to Israel Another young man, whose identity remains unrevealed, had infiltrated Israel from Gaza a month earlier after a physical altercation with his father, who had suspected he was courting the neighbors daughter. After being interrogated by the Shin Bet and the Police Central Unit, all three have been indicted on security offenses and are currently awaiting trial at Shikma Prison in Ashkelon. They are not alone, though: since the beginning of the year, 61 Gazans were found to have illegally crossed the border into Israel, out of which 14 have been indicted on security-related matters. In 2015, 25 Gazans were intercepted and indicted, all of them being either active or former members of Hamas, and some having recently been at work digging tunnels to Israel. Their testimonies offer a rare glimpse into the growing underground world in Gaza, including the methods used by the diggers, their daily routine and even salary. So far, those arrested have provided valuable intel regarding the military wing of Hamas, their involvement in tunnel digging, the names of other active members, available weaponry and forms of training. But their testimonies also included a different form of vital information: in describing the abject poverty and lack of employment opportunities that contribute to thousands of young Gazans digging underground tunnels for $150200 a month. The job is intense, runs around the clock and includes both tunnels that pass through Gaza as well as those that cross over to Israel. Two knives for a better life Atauna was living in the Gazan refugee camp of Jabalia with his parents, wife and two children. He told his interrogators he had decided to infiltrate Israel armed with two knives because of his familys dire financial state. I took them with me to Israel to stab some Israeli I might run into, maybe a soldier. That way I would go to prison, and my children would get a better life, since the PA gives a salary to (the family of) every prisoner. He further explained that what made him want to hurt and kill Jews was what you see on television, shooting Palestinians in the street and executing them, like what had happened with the Hebron soldier . Gazan tunnel (Photo: IDF Spokesperson) Atanua joined Hamass military wing back in 2006 and was an active member until 2014. His training included weapons usage, running and crawling. After he had finished with his training, Atanua joined Hamass armed civil guards unit, called Ribat. Ribat's job is to handle collaborators and act as a defense against the IDFs entry to the area, said Atanua. He added, though, that his joining was not mainly motivated by ideals. What I was looking to get from Ribat was a livelihood of $100 a month for my work. In addition to taking part in an RPG course and driving Hamas fighters to its various outposts, Atanua also became involved in tunnel digging. In 2007, I got $150 for working on a tunnel in northern Gaza for two months, he told his investigators, stating that he also worked on an internal tunnel used by Hamas activists to escape the range of the IDFs unmanned planes. He shared the daily routine of his tunnel digging days down to its grueling details. We would use a steel wheelbarrow to remove the sand and supply us with the end of an oxygen tube. We dug about 3 to 4 meters a day, and the foreman would bring us drinks and two meals a day. The tunnels reached 250 meters, and, in addition to hiding from aerial strikes, would be used to surprise ground IDF soldiers during times of war. The Gazan man whose name cannot be disclosed told of his own experiences. We would work at night, from 10pm to 5am, every day except Friday, he said, adding, My job was to do the digging, clean up (the tunnel and lay down tracks used by the trolleys that delivered supplies and carried out the waste OS & IC). An RPG tucked under your bed The nameless infiltrator elaborated on his duties in a particular tunnel belonging to Hamass Qassam Brigade. I finished work there about 4 months after the war in Gaza (Operation Protective Edge), after which new workers came in and continued the job. I believe the tunnel has already passed the border and gone into Israel. According to his testimony, he was asked to lower four explosive devices into another tunnel. We walked about 100 meters into the tunnel, until we reached the workers bedroom, where we placed the explosive devices in a blue container, closed it and left. Hamas tunnel (Photo: Reuters) He went on to say that yet another tunnel he had worked on, which was 200 to 400 meters long, was used to allow the Nokhba (Hamaselite fighting unit) to attack the Israeli army and carry out suicide attacks against the IDF, kidnap Israeli soldiers and enter Israeli territory. He added, Our instructions were to arrive in civilian clothes, instead of military apparel, and to bring a change of clothes due to the dirt and to avoid raising suspicion. Both he and Atanua were involved in setting explosive devices near Gazas border with Israel, in addition to storing weapons in their own homes, including rifles, rocket projectors and explosives devices. Atanua was paid 300 shekels a month for this, but when his father found out about it, he made Atanua remove all the weapons from his home. The other man kept an RPG projector and a Kalashnikov rifle near his bed, for which he received $200 a month. Abu-Zenima started out working in a tunnel and eventually became a partner in one. Through his tunnel, We smuggled tobacco, cigarettes, Kalashnikovs, crates full of ammunition and lead pipes that weighed roughly 500 kg, which from what I understood were to be used to make rockets in Gaza. According to him, all of these goings on were done with the full knowledge of Hamas. They would receive a tax percentage of the goods that passed through our tunnel, he explained. I dont klnow how much. Abu-Zenimas eventual capture was the result of fear and a personal blunder. I had no intention of getting to Israel, he told investigators. I initially wanted to reach Egypt and look for (my brother) Abdullah or get information on him, whether dead or alive. After noticing the Egyptian army along the border, he tried returning, which was when he came across a group he took for Hamas soldiers. I just started running from them, he said. I jumped over the fence into Israel, walked about 100 meters, took off my shoes and jacket and sat down on an asphalt road. I lit up a cigarette from the fear of getting killed for coming too close to an Israeli military base. Fifteen minutes later, an Israeli jeep drove by and arrested me. When asked to explain why he had run from Hamas to begin with, Abu-Zenima explained, I was in a sensitive area and was afraid Hamas might think I was returning from (the Jewish settlement of) Kerem Shalom, and that I was a collaborator. All three of the men arrested will be legally represented by Muhammad Jabareen. They are set to appear before a court in Beer Sheva and will face the possibility of a long prison sentence if convicted. It should be noted that the IDF has invested substantial technological, operational and intel-related resources to thwart Hamas tunnel digging. An officer in the Israeli army referred to the ongoing battle, stressing, We are not sitting on the fence here. The information provided by infiltrators from Gaza such as the three mentioned in this article is part of these efforts. (All quotations were taken from investigations transcripts.) No new radio signal has been received from an EgyptAir jet since the day it crashed in the Mediterranean last week, sources close to the investigation said on Friday. Media reports on Thursday suggested that a new signal had allowed officials to further home in on where the black box recorders might be located. But the sources told Reuters that nothing new had been detected since a radio signal picked up on the day of the crash from the plane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) that allowed officials to determine a broadly defined search zone of 5 km (3 miles) in radius. A group of more than 200 military and intelligence officials criticized the government for a lack of action in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Friday and issued a detailed plan they say can end the impasse. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The report's publication closely follows the appointment of Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister. With peace talks in a deep freeze the plan by Commanders for Israel's Security on Friday called to "preserve conditions" for negotiations with the Palestinians. It urges a combination of political and security initiatives together with delivering economic benefits to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem simultaneously. It calls for a freeze on settlement building, the acceptance in principle of the Arab Peace Initiative and the recognition that East Jerusalem should be part of a future Palestinian state "when established as part of a future agreement." Security fence (Photo: Gettyimages) The group's chairman, Amnon Reshef, a former IDF general, said the plan "refutes the fear mongers" who claim there is currently no Palestinian peace partner or that conditions are not right for negotiations. He said such an argument, which is common in Israel after years of conflict and failed talks, "should not serve as an excuse for passivity and inaction." Reshef warned "the current status quo is an illusion" that endangers a two-state solution to the conflict. The plan also calls on authorities to complete construction of the security fence in such a way that does not undermine the two-state solution. In particular, it urges authorities to complete construction around Gush Etzion, Ma'ale Adumim, and the southern West Bank. Reshef said his groups' plan aims to preserve conditions for future peace talks with the Palestinians while bettering Israel's national security, regional and international ties in the interim. "In our experience we know that you cannot defeat terror only by military means, you have to improve the Palestinians quality of life," he said. The group of military veterans said it hopes the plan will be considered by decision-makers and by the general public in Israel as well as in the U.S., where a campaign with the Israel Policy Forum, an NGO, will be launched next week. The Israeli embassy in Colombia celebrated Independence Day, handing out Shakshuka in pita to passersby, soldiers, and Jewish community members in Bogota. The Colombian press widely covered the event both in television and print, exposing Colombians to one of Israels most delectable dishes. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Michal Maayan and Cultural Attache Limor Gadya came up with the idea and invited three young Israelis, who run a food truck (The Shuka Truck) in New York that serves Shakshuka, to come to Colombia to serve their version of the tomato-based dish. Israeli food truck in Bogota The embassy flew The Shuka Trucks truck to Bogota and redesigned its exterior for Independence Day. The three young Israelis parked their truck at two parks in central Bogota, the parking lot of a popular television station, a Jewish day school, and a military university. Colombians welcomed the initiative with enthusiasm and hundreds of meals were distributed. Israeli Ambassador to Colombia Marco Sermoneta and his DCM were interviewed by many television stations. The embassy also hosted a reception in the evening and presented a video of Colombians trying The Shuka Trucks Shakshuka. Within 48 hours, the video garnered more than 200,000 views. Despite the danger of being exposed to carcinogens, the former Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon permitted the IDF to continue to install new parts made of asbestos in tanks and armored personnel carriers (APC). Yaalon insisted on their installation even though outgoing Minister of Environmental Protection Avi Gabai and his staff repeatedly warned that the parts can threaten the health of soldiers and their installation is illegal. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Approximately two months ago Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the IDF is installing new parts, which contain asbestos, in tanks and APCs, even though the Asbestos Law, which is supposed to apply to the military, forbids importing anything that contains asbestos. Ministry of Environmental Protection staff discovered the asbestos when they toured an IDF facility and observed the negligent removal of asbestos from old armored vehicles. IDF tank (Photo:AFP) The Ministry of Defense then ordered all installation and removal of asbestos parts work be halted, but it has now become clear that Yaalon later approved the renewal of work. Halting such work essentially means harming the security of the state. Thus, it is necessary to resume (this) work, wrote Yaalon in a letter to Gabai. According to Yaalon, there are no replacement parts that do not contain asbestos and it is not possible to wait for a change in the law, as legal authorities have suggested. Minister Gabai responded to Yaalons leter: Installing asbestos ridden parts increases the risk of (getting cancer) for operational soldiers and using such material is illegal. He also noted that Yaalon did not bother to finish consulting him before he permitted the IDF to resume its installation of asbestos ridden replacement parts. Yaalon then wrote in response that he permitted the use of asbestos parts only because no other option exists and after I was assured that they took all the required measures to protect the soldiers health. Avigdor Lieberman, the new minister of defense, will likely have to address this issue soon. And if he doesnt, the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit may intervene. The Ministry of Defense said in an official statement, In light of the great damage caused to the IDF by halting work and after receiving assurances from medical authorities that all efforts to protect the soldiers have been taken, the minister of defense has employed his authority and approved the continuation of work. An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. Islamic State militants entered a Syrian opposition stronghold in the country's north on Saturday, clashing with rebels on the edges of the town as the extremist group built on its most significant advance near the Turkish border in two years, Syrian opposition groups and IS media said. More than 160,000 civilians are trapped in the fighting, which also forced the evacuation of one of the few remaining hospitals in the area, run by the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders. On Saturday, IS fighters staged two suicide bombings targeting "opposition forces" near Marea, IS said via its news agency, Aamaq. In response the state comptrollers report about the funding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus and his familys trips abroad when between 2003-2005, Netanyahu alleged that travel protocols did not exist at the time and other ministers acted in the same way. However, ministers, who served during the same time period, said in response to Netanyahus claims, They are totally false. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The ministers, who served alongside Netanyahu say that they did not travel with foreign funding and were infuriated by Netanyahus defamation of them. Former Minister of Interior Avraham Poraz claimed Netanyahus allegations are patently false: I never traveled with foreign funding from any group. But there was one trip, in which the Anti-Defamation League invited me to the United States. So I informed the Knessets Gifts Committee and it approved them to fund my travel. The (ADL) asko offered to fund the travel of my wife, but I did not agree with that. All my other travel was personal and I paid out my pocket. I assume that it is easy for Netanyahu to dump (such charges) on all of us, but they simply are not correct. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Gil Yohanan) The former Energy Minister Yosef Paritzky also challenged the veracity of Netanyahus claims. He said, Never in my service as government minister did I receive gifts nor did I ever think it acceptable to receive or request them. When I traveled to fundraise for the Hebrew University, I submitted an approval request to the legal advisor of the ministry. If it were approved, I traveledand if not, I did not travel. My wife joined me for one or two trips with the approval of the legal advisor. Former Finance Minister Meir Sheetrit also denied Netanyahus claims: There is no such thing. Never was I asked to fly with the funding of private individuals nor did I ever receive funding from businessmen. MK Tzipi Livni, who was at the time minister of absorption, said, What was and was not permitted was clear. Abed al Fatah al-Sharif, the neutralized terrorist who was shot dead by Sgt. Elor Azaria two months ago, was buried in Hebron on Saturday afternoon. His corpse had been returned to the Palestinians on Friday night. Doctors at Hebron's Al Ahli Hospital checked the body. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter On Friday, Sharif's family had requested the city's denizens to come en masse to Saturday's funeral procession, and hundreds of people indeed showed up. Sharif's body, wrapped in a Hamas flag, was carried through the street, and some in the crowd cried out for revenge against Israel for his killing. Sharif's funeral procession X Sharif's family declared that they would settle their accounts with Israel and Azaria in every possible forum, even if the latter is convicted of manslaughter in the Israeli military court. In the past, they have warned that they would turn to the Israeli civil justice system following the shooting. Sharif's funeral procession (Photo: Reuters) accused of manslaughter . How long must we bear this injustice and this ordeal? We call on the leadership: Send our child home." Sharif's killing caused a large public outcry after the video of Azaria shooting him, recorded by B'Tselem, went public. The video shows the Israeli soldier shooting dead an immobilized Sharif, who had been apprehended carrying out a stabbing attack on other soldiers. On Monday, Azaria's lawyer responded to the charges against his client. In response to the indictment, he wrote, "The accused acted in a fraction of a second to neutralize a terrorist and to prevent injury to himself and to his comrades-in-arms, who were standing close to the terrorist. He did not see another possible manner to save his life and their lives. The accused admits that his shooting may have caused the terrorist's death, but it certainly caused his neutralization." Mourners over Sharif (Photo: Reuters) Said Erdan, "The terrorists' families lied to the High Court of Justice after they promised to meet the police's requirement, and it's a shame that the High Court believed them and pressured the police to return the bodies before Ramadan." BEIRUT - Fighting between Islamic State (IS) and Syrian rebels near the Turkish border has killed dozens of people in the last two days, as IS militants keep up an offensive that has led to rapid territorial gains, a monitoring group said on Saturday. Fighters from the militant group entered the rebel-held town of Marea early on Saturday, using at least two car bombs in the assault, and clashes continued later in the day, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An advance by the jihadists on Friday that cut Marea off from another key insurgent-held town, Azaz, was their biggest territorial gain in the northern province of Aleppo for two years, the Observatory said. The British media have reported that Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London who was suspended from the Labour Party for his anti-Semitic pronouncements, has been fired from presenting a politicial radio show on local radio channel LBC. Livingstone, who claimed, inter alia, that Hitler supported Zionism, was fired after eight years in the position. At a special meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee on Wednesday, Holocaust survivors made harsh claims against entities entrusted with their care. According to them, there are too many bodies that deal with handling the money intended for survivors. They also claimed that an annual "Holocaust festival" takes place around Holocaust Remembrance Day, and afterwards the survivors return to dealing with the harsh reality devoid of any actual solutions to their needs. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The harshest accusation was laid against the HMO Clalit for not transferring money paid by Germany. The affair was discussed as part of a class-action lawsuit and as part of a settlement agreement on compensation to living survivors and to family members of deceased survivors. Yael Kubo, the daughter of deceased Holocaust survivors, is behind the class-action suit. She said in the meeting, "Clalit has hidden from the survivors the fact that it has received hundreds of millions of euros and that they are eligible for free treatment. Clalit personnel did everything to exhaust the survivors and their families and loaded every attempt at clarifying the subject with mountains of bureaucracy and legal claims. Now, after a compromise has been reached, the state must make sure that the money collected by Clalit will be transferred to the survivors." Moshe Gafni (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Clalit's treasurer, Avi Steinberg, said, "We did not have a list of survivors." Ofra Ross, the director of the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority, answered, "You could have asked for the lists from the German government when you received the funds." Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni insisted during the meeting that Clalit transfer comprehensive information to the committee as soon as possible. The information should include how much money was received from Germany, what happened over the years, how much was spent on survivors, and which families receive refunds. The lawyer representing Clalit, Amir Dolev, noted that according to the settlement, the families of deceased survivors will receive compensation for the money that they spent, as would currently living survivors. Ross replied, "The amounts will only come from a certain date in accordance with the judgment. The Germans gave the money, and it was for Clalit to also ask for a list of beneficiaries." Clalit replied, "Over the years, Clalit has worked for the benefit of Holocaust survivors. Even before the legal arrangement, which affects a defined group, we have worked to provide refunds based on information that was transferred to us. We will continue the initiatives to ensure the full realization of rights and in fulfillment of the arrangement." CAIRO The Palestinian president said Saturday that if an upcoming Paris conference succeeds in relaunching the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, it should also set a time cap and mechanisms to implement their resolutions. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Speaking to Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Mahmoud Abbas also said that the Paris gathering due June 3 should also set up a monitoring committee to follow whatever is agreed upon. US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to attend the meeting. The Palestinians have welcomed the conference but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of an international conference, saying direct negotiations without preconditions are the best way to reach a final settlement with the Palestinians. Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AP) In Cairo, Abbas reiterated Palestinian demands that a future Palestinian state have east Jerusalem as its capital and that it be established within the borders that had existed on the eve of the 1967 Middle East when Israel captured the then Jordanian-administered West Bank and east Jerusalem. "When we need to demarcate these borders, we will be prepared to accept a slight exchange of territory," he told the Arab ministers. He also demanded that all Palestinians jailed by Israel be released and also said the Palestinians would never recognize a "Jewish" state as Netanyahu once demanded. The Palestinians recognized Israel in 1993, he recounted, and is sufficient. He rejected proposals made by Israel that under any future deal Israel would maintain a military presence in the West Bank or on the border with Jordan. The Palestinians, he said, would instead accept NATO forces to monitor security in the area. Health News Washington, DC - The American Red Cross urges blood and platelet donors to choose their day to give and help ensure blood is available for patients all summer long during its annual summer awareness campaign, sponsored by Suburban Propane. Many Americans will be celebrating the unofficial start to summer this Memorial Day weekend, but seasonal activities that bring joy to so many can also lead to a shortage of blood and platelet donations when regular donors become busy, said Donna M. Morrissey, director of national partnerships for the Red Cross Biomedical Services. Patients dont get a summer holiday from needing lifesaving blood and platelet donations and are counting on generous volunteers to help maintain a sufficient supply this summer. To encourage donations around the Memorial Day holiday, those who come to give blood or platelets from May 27-31 will receive a Red Cross T-shirt, while supplies last. The Red Cross relies on volunteer donors for the 14,000 blood donations needed every day to support patients at about 2,600 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide. However, during the summer months of June, July and August, about two fewer donors schedule an appointment to give blood at each Red Cross blood drive than what patients need. Suburban Propane supports the Red Cross summer campaign As official national sponsor of the summer campaign, which begins Memorial Day weekend and runs through Labor Day weekend, Suburban Propane will help promote the need for blood and platelet donations and will encourage its employees and customers to give. Suburban Propane is proud to partner with the Red Cross and help raise awareness of the ongoing need for blood and platelets especially during the crucial summer months, said Suburban Propanes Chief Development Officer Mark Wienberg. By expanding our partnership with the Red Cross this year, we can continue to support the life-changing work of the Red Cross and make an even bigger difference in communities across the country. Suburban Propane employees will also volunteer at Red Cross blood drives nationwide in one of the largest national volunteer commitments to the Red Cross Blood Services from a corporate partner. Additionally, this year Suburban Propane is expanding its partnership with the Red Cross to include participation in the Home Fire Campaign in some markets, as well as support for disaster relief efforts and Service to the Armed Forces. The Red Cross has touched the lives of many Suburban Propane employees including Debbie Traub. In May 2014, her 74-year-old father fell from a ladder while power washing his home and suffered life-threatening injuries. He spent 20 days in the intensive care unit and received many blood transfusions. Traub said that she now knows the importance of giving blood and makes a point to donate in honor of her father at the Suburban Propane headquarter blood drives. Her story is just one of many reasons Suburban Propane continues to advocate for blood and platelet donations to the Red Cross. The Red Cross has partnered with Suburban Propane since 2012, and last years 100 Days of Summer. 100 Days of Hope. campaign marked our first nationwide, summerlong partnership, said Morrissey. The Red Cross depends on corporate partners like Suburban Propane to help ensure blood and platelets are available for patients in need of lifesaving transfusions and to help our communities prepare for and respond to disasters large and small. About donating blood For more information and to make an appointment to donate, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Donors of all blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements. Blood donors can now save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, prior to arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site. Latest News Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on proposed changes to the Fuel Economy Guide. Adopted in 1975, the Guide (formally, the Guide Concerning Fuel Economy Advertising for New Automobiles), helps advertisers avoid making unfair and deceptive claims. In 2014, the FTC sought public comment on potential updates to the Guide to reflect current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy labeling rules, possible changes to current guidance on miles-per-gallon claims, and the need for guidance on alternative fuel vehicle claims. In response to comments received and agency research on consumer perceptions of certain fuel economy marketing claims, the Commission recommends continuing to advise advertisers: To disclose the EPA mileage estimates whenever they make general fuel economy claims, and To avoid mileage ratings claims that fail to specify the type of rating (city, highway, or combined). Regarding alternative-fueled vehicles, the proposed Guide advises advertisers: To disclose EPA-mandated driving range test results whenever they make general driving range claims, such as will go far on a single charge, and To include EPA fuel economy estimates for both gasoline and alternative fuel operation when making a fuel economy claim about a vehicles flexible fuel capability. The Commission vote approving the Federal Register Notice was 3-0. Instructions for filing comments appear in the Federal Register Notice. Comments must be received by August 8, 2016; they will be posted atwww.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. (FTC File No. R71108; the staff contact is Hampton Newsome, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-2889). Latest News Washington, DC - Vice President Biden spoke today with President Poroshenko of Ukraine. The Vice President congratulated President Poroshenko on the release of Ukrainian pilot and Rada member Nadiya Savchenko and called for the release of all Ukrainians unlawfully detained in Russia. The leaders discussed the importance of continuing to institute reforms in the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the significance of Ukraine's progress toward implementing judicial reforms and meeting IMF conditions. The leaders condemned the increasing attacks by combined Russian-separatist forces in eastern Ukraine and reaffirmed the need to continue moving forward on Minsk implementation. They also condemned Russia's persecution of Crimean Tatars. Latest News Washington, DC - The Energy Departments Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) today announced $31 million in funding for 14 projects as part of ARPA-Es newest program: Single-Pane Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Design (SHIELD). SHIELD project teams are developing innovative window coatings and windowpanes that could significantly improve the energy efficiency of existing single-pane windows in commercial and residential buildings. The SHIELD program illustrates ARPA-Es commitment to supporting transformational technologies, said ARPA-E Director Dr. Ellen D. Williams. By creating novel materials to retrofit existing single-pane windows, SHIELD technologies can dramatically improve building efficiency and save energy costs for building owners and occupants. The SHIELD program will accelerate the development of materials that could cut in half the amount of heat lost through single-pane windows without replacing the full window. Many buildings have single-pane windows that do not insulate a building or its occupants well. However, complete replacement of single-pane windows with efficient, modern windows is not always feasible due to cost, changes in appearance and other concerns. Retrofitting, rather than replacing single-pane windows, can reduce heat loss and save roughly the amount of electricity needed to power 32 million U.S. homes each year. The 14 SHIELD project teams are developing applied products and manufactured windowpanes, which can be installed into the existing window sash that holds the windowpane in place. These window technologies will improve thermal insulation, reduce condensation and enhance occupant comfort. The materials could also produce corollary benefits, such as improved soundproofing, that will make retrofits more desirable. Under the SHIELD program, ARPA-E has allocated $8 million of the total $31 million to three small business projects through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Example of a selected SHIELD project: University of Colorado Boulder | Boulder, CO | Advancing Insulation Retrofits from Flexible Inexpensive Lucid Materials (AIR FILMs) for Single-Pane Windows The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is developing a flexible, transparent window film that can be applied onto single-pane windows. The teams thermal barrier is based on liquid crystalline phases of nano-cellulose aerogel that have low-emissivity properties, which will help prevent heat loss through windows. CU-Boulder will produce the thermal barrier using low-cost cellulose nanorods synthesized from food industry waste. The team aims to produce a film that the consumer can easily apply, which could decrease costs by eliminating professional installation labor expenses. Example for a selected SHIELD SBIR/STTR project: NanoSD, Inc. | San Diego, CA |Retrofittable and Transparent Super-Insulator for Single-Pane Windows NanoSD, Inc. is developing a transparent, nanostructured film that can be applied onto existing single-pane windows to reduce heat loss. The teams material features unique nanoshell structures that are tightly packed to create a strong thermal barrier. The team will apply a low-emissivity coating to further enhance the materials ability to insulate and incorporate materials to reduce abrasion and condensation. To enable cost-effective fabrication of the product, NanoSD will focus on incorporating all of these steps into a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique. View details on 14 SHIELD projects HERE Latest News Washington, DC - Using data from NASAs Great Observatories, astronomers have found the best evidence yet for cosmic seeds in the early universe that should grow into supermassive black holes. Researchers combined data from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope to identify these possible black hole seeds. They discuss their findings in a paper that will appear in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Our discovery, if confirmed, explains how these monster black holes were born, said Fabio Pacucci of Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy, who led the study. We found evidence that supermassive black hole seeds can form directly from the collapse of a giant gas cloud, skipping any intermediate steps. Scientists believe a supermassive black hole lies in the center of nearly all large galaxies, including our own Milky Way. They have found that some of these supermassive black holes, which contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun, formed less than a billion years after the start of the universe in the Big Bang. One theory suggests black hole seeds were built up by pulling in gas from their surroundings and by mergers of smaller black holes, a process that should take much longer than found for these quickly forming black holes. These new findings suggest instead that some of the first black holes formed directly when a cloud of gas collapsed, bypassing any other intermediate phases, such as the formation and subsequent destruction of a massive star. There is a lot of controversy over which path these black holes take, said co-author Andrea Ferrara, also of SNS. Our work suggests we are narrowing in on an answer, where the black holes start big and grow at the normal rate, rather than starting small and growing at a very fast rate. The researchers used computer models of black hole seeds combined with a new method to select candidates for these objects from long-exposure images from Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer. The team found two strong candidates for black hole seeds. Both of these matched the theoretical profile in the infrared data, including being very red objects, and also emit X-rays detected with Chandra. Estimates of their distance suggest they may have been formed when the universe was less than a billion years old Black hole seeds are extremely hard to find and confirming their detection is very difficult, said Andrea Grazian, a co-author from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy. However, we think our research has uncovered the two best candidates to date. The team plans to obtain further observations in X-rays and the infrared to check whether these objects have more of the properties expected for black hole seeds. Upcoming observatories, such as NASAs James Webb Space Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope will aid in future studies by detecting the light from more distant and smaller black holes. Scientists currently are building the theoretical framework needed to interpret the upcoming data, with the aim of finding the first black holes in the universe. As scientists, we cannot say at this point that our model is the one, said Pacucci. What we really believe is that our model is able to reproduce the observations without requiring unreasonable assumptions. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and flight operations. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission, whose science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. For more on NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/chandra For more on NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/hubble For more on NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer Latest News Las Cruces, New Mexico - A New Mexico woman was sentenced Thursday to 120 months in federal prison for methamphetamine trafficking. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case. Norma Patricia Rivera, 40, from Deming, was arrested in May 2015 on a criminal complaint charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The complaint alleged that Rivera committed the crime in Luna County, New Mexico, on May 20, 2015. According to the complaint, HSI special agents executed a state court search warrant at a residence in Luna County and seized 722.9 grams (1.6 pounds) of a methamphetamine mixture in liquid and crystal form. Rivera was subsequently charged in a two-count indictment Aug. 19, 2015, with distributing methamphetamine in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, on July 17, 2014, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Luna County on May 20, 2015. Rivera pleaded guilty to the charges in the indictment Oct. 15, 2015. By pleading guilty, Rivera admitted selling 162.18 grams of methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement officers in Las Cruces on July 17, 2014. Rivera also admitted that she possessed liquid and crystal methamphetamine in Deming on May 20, 2015, and that she intended to sell the drugs to others. In addition to her 10-year prison sentence, Rivera must also serve five years of supervised release. This case was investigated by HSI Deming, the Las Cruces office of the FBI, the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force-Metro Narcotics Task Force and the Deming Police Department. The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Dona Ana County Sheriffs Office, the FBI, HSI and the New Mexico State Police. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. It seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing. New Delhi: Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has been holding a series of meetings with all the concerned persons regarding the issue of human trafficking in Delhi. In a meeting held a week ago in the Commission, it was brought to the notice of the chairperson that the Delhi Police are finding it difficult to ascertain the actual owners of the brothels. Under the law, if a minor is rescued from the brothel, the brothel should be closed and an FIR should be registered against the owners.However, in case of G.B. road, these owners are untraceable. FIRs are therefore registered against people identifying them as `Managers` in the brothels who many times are sex workers themselves and have been living in the brothels since long. It is suspected that the real owners of the brothels run huge trafficking rackets and remain hidden from the system. The chairperson learnt that the newly appointed SHO Kamla Market, Rakesh Kumar had written letters to DJB, North MCD, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. and Sub Registrar to ascertain the real owners of the brothel. The Registrar Office of District Central informed the SHO that unless transaction details of the property are provided, they cannot ascertain the owners.BSES informed the BSES informed the SHO that the records of ownership of electricity connections are not readily available and are old and dumped in their office. Maliwal was shocked to know that basic information about the ownership of the brothels seemed to be not available with either the Delhi Police or other agencies. The Commission therefore called a meeting comprising of ADM Central, SDM, Delhi Jal Board, BSES, MCD, Delhi Police (SHO) and NGO representative yesterday to discuss the same. The objective was to discuss the modalities of identifying the owner of all the brothels situated at the G.B. road. It was decided in the meeting that the ADM will inform the Commission of the land owning agency and the real owners of the brothels. DJB and BSES have been directed to inform them. The SHO was also asked to carry out interrogations with the brothel managers to ascertain the owners of the place.The problem of illegal and hidden multiple entries and exits into the brothels was also highlighted. It was also brought to the notice of North MCD by NGO partners that the condition in the brothels including stairs and lights are very bad and illegal construction is being carried out in the brothels in an inhuman manner which is leading to severe health problems, including tuberculosis. North MCD has been asked to submit the approved building plan, the changes that have been made in the buildings subsequently and the details of the inspections carried out to identify the `tehkhanas`/ hidden cells. North MCD has also been asked to form a team involving ADM, SHO, DCW and NGO representatives to undertake an exercise for identifying the `tehkhanas` / tunnels within the brothels wherein women and girls are hidden at the time of police raids.To check criminal activities, the SHO has requested for the creation of high mast lights on G.B. Road and PWD has been asked to respond on the same. he next meeting will be held in less than two weeks and all officers have been directed to bring all the relevant records to the same. Through this effort, the Commission aims to ensure that no women especially minors are trafficked.It is important to identify the real owners of the place to assess their involvement in trafficking operations.Maliwal said that she is shocked to note that neither Delhi Police nor any other agency in Delhi seems to know the real owners of the Brothels.Recently, two Maliwal said that she is shocked to note that neither Delhi Police nor any other agency in Delhi seems to know the real owners of the Brothels.Recently, two Nepali girls were rescued from the brothel at G.B. Road.FIR has been registered against the manager of the brothel as the real owner is untraceable. It is suspected that there is a huge nexus herein and the owners maybe deeply involved in trafficking operations in Delhi. Noida: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) president Praveen Togadia on Saturday visited the 'self-defence' camp organised by the Bajrang Dal at the Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Noida, Sector 12. He arrived at the camp at 9 am. Defending the Bajrang Dal`s `self-defence` camp as "social responsibility", Togadia said the Bajrang Dal has been organising such camps under the ambit of constitutional law for the past 25 years in every state of the country, whether it is a Congress-ruled state or SP, BSP, Communists or BJP-ruled. "Under the Indian Constitution and laws, every citizen of India has the right to pursue activities, and the Bajrang Dal has been organising `Yuva Shaurya Prasikshan` camps for the past 25 years to make the youth of the nation healthy whether it is a Congress-ruled state or SP, BSP, Communists or BJP-ruled," he told reporters after attending a valedictory function of the self-defence camp. As per reports, over 300 participants are undergoing training to handle situations like 'attacks by extremist groups' in the week-long camp which started on May 21. The organisation has hired trainers of judo, karate, nunchaku, stick and sword fighting for training the participants in the camp. Bajrang Dal leader Mahesh Sharma, who was on Tuesday arrested in connection with the 'self defence' camp organised in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya city, was yesterday sent to 14-day judicial custody. The Faizabad CJM court passed this order after Sharma was charged with hurting religious sentiments of the Muslim community and spreading communal hatred under Section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Earlier on May 14, a 'self-defence' camp was organised at Karsevakpuram, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workshop, in Ayodhya. In the video that went viral on Monday, volunteers wearing skull caps were reportedly seen brandishing firearm, swords and lathis. In the annual self-defence camp, the Bajrang Dal cadres are trained to use rifles, swords and sticks so that they can 'protect the Hindus'. The cadres were in the video seen killing men dressed as Muslims during the mock drill. The Bajrang Dal had planned to organise similar camps in Sultanpur, Gorakhpur, Pilibhit, Noida and Fatehpur cities in the state till June 5. New Delhi: Amid outrage by African envoys following killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital, four cases of alleged criminal assault on African nationals in south Delhi have come to the fore. All four incidents took place between 9.30 PM and 11.30 PM on Thursday in Mehrauli area. All four complainants, in their 30s, have been residing in Delhi for past few years, police said. In two cases, the complainants are women -- one a Uganda national and the other a native of South Africa, in the other two, the complainants are two Nigerian men. In two cases in which the Nigerian men are involved is "believed" to have taken place following an argument with the locals, a senior police official said. However, circumstances in the other two cases are not clear, he said. The accused in all four cases are yet to be identified, the official said. Police claimed that these are four separate incidents which have nothing to do with the violence against Indians in Congo, following the youth's murder in Vasant Kunj area here. 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. Police also claimed that the attacks, the causes behind which are yet to be verified, did not take place on racial lines. "Cases of causing hurt and wrongful restraint have been registered in all four cases. Efforts are on to nab the accused," Additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad said. Last week, 23-year-old Oliver was allegedly beaten to death by three men following an argument over hiring an auto-rickshaw in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area. While two of the accused have been arrested in connection with the case, the third is still absconding. New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday lead a 'Mashal Juloos' protest against Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the ongoing power and water crisis in the national capital here. The march began in the evening today from Samta Sthal to Rajghat. While addressing the party works here Rahul took a dig at both Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his bete noire Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It is an age of Internet, selfies.. In India, Modiji and Kejriwalji think they can fool people everytime," he said. The Congress VP further said, "When MCD workers went to Delhi CM to put forth their grievances, CM said that I can give you 1 month salary,can't do anything more. Main jhooth bolke rajneeti kar hi nahin sakta hoon, mere andar ye hai hi nahin. A person who says that can never understand the problems and pain of MCD workers." "For India to progress, governments need to stop making false & unrealistic promises and instead work to help the people," he added. Rahul, who was atop a vehicle in a huge convoy accompanied by Congress leader Ajay Maken besides other prominent local Congress leaders, said that Kejriwal had made tall promises about solving the city`s electricity and water problems, but was now trying to divert the issue by raking up `odd-even` and pollution issues. Kejriwalji promised uninterrupted electricity & water, but after coming to power all these promises were forgotten Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 28, 2016 While invoking Mahatma Gandhi, Rahul said, "I indulge in politics based on Mahatma Gandhi's ideology, I can never indulge in politics of lie and false promises." Meanwhile, some of the vociferous agitators also raised anti-Kejriwal slogans, while some were heard criticizing the Delhi government. Heavy presence of police personnel was seen at the Congress` march today. As per ANI, AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Dilip Pandey and Raghav Chaddha were detained by the police near Rahul Gandhi's protest venue her. ANI quoted Pandey as saying that they had informed the Congress Party of holding a discussion on this issue and they were waiting there for that only. "We thought they believe in democracy, dialogue and debate, but it seems they do not believe so. Otherwise, we would have told them, how Sheila Dikshit and Maken were involved in a money laundering scam of Rs 8,000 crore. It is not right to do drama in such a situation. Rahul is just doing drama. He doesn't care about the people of Delhi. He should stop acting," he added. The `Mashaal Juloos` march had earlier met with a major hurdle when the Delhi Police barred the use of fire-lit lanterns, considering it as a hazard.This, however, refused to dampen the spirit of the party workers, as they gathered in large numbers and raised slogans such as - Sonia Gandhi ki jai, Rahul Gandhi ki jai. A speaker was loudly urging the workers to rally behind Rahul Gandhi and support him saying, "Rahul Ji ke saath chalein". New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal -led Aam Aadmi Party over the ongoing power and water crisis in the national capital, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will today a lead a torch procession. Gandhi scion along with Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee workers will lead the protest from Samta Sthal to Players Building via Rajghat around 6.30 P.M. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too have been protesting in front of Kejriwal's residence demanding proper electricity and water supply in the city. However, Kejriwal has assured that his government wil take strict action against the power companies if they fail to resolve issues leading outages. The national capital has been reeling under massive power cuts with some areas facing outages for around five hours. Areas like Okhla, Lodhi Colony, Bhogal, Nizamuddin, Jangpura Extension, Masjid Moth, Malviya Nagaar, Kalkaji and parts of Lajpat Nagar and South Extension, have been facing power cuts in the range of two to five hours, making life difficult for the residents in the blistering heat. New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared CBSE Board Class 10th Results 2016 on Saturday, May 28. With a pass percentage of 96.36%, girls outshone boys in the CBSE Class Xth exams results. The boys registered a pass percentage of 96.11 percent. Overall the pass percentage this year is 96.21, which has come down from 97.32 percent in the previous year. Area-wise, the Thiruvanathpuram area was ahead of other regions with a pass percentage of 99.87 followed by Chennai region which had a pass percentage of 99.69 percent. Category wise, the Central Government-run Jawahar Navodyaya Vidyalayas have scored a pass percentage of 98.87 percent followed by Kendriya Vidyalayas which have a pass percentage of 98.85 percent. Independent schools have a pass percentage of 97.72 per cent while government schools recorded a pass percentage of 86.61 per cent. According to data shared by CBSE, 85.62 percent students of Government aided schools cleared the exam. Students can check their results on the board's result websites: www.cbse.nic.in, www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.results.Nic.In This year, 14,99,122 students, including 8,92,685 boys and 6,06,437 girls, from 15,309 schools had registered for CBSE Class 10 examination. The students who opted for board-based scheme appeared for the examination between March 1 and March 28. Those who opted for school-based examination took the papers from March 10 onwards. How To Check Results In order to get the results on website, the candidates are required to follow the steps listed below:- -Go to the official websites -Click on the link, 'CBSE Class 10 2016' -Enter the roll. After submitting the same, the results will appear on the screen. The candidates are advised to take a printout for future reference. CBSE 10th Result 2016 Like in past, this year also the CBSE announced the result on net with the technical support of National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. There were 2,860 differently-abled students who registered this year. Depending on their abilities, the education board made special provisions to facilitate their appearance in the examination. These provisions included granting extra time to students or allowing them to avail the help of a scribe or adult prompter. Srinagar: Hours after reports claimed that a top operative of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terror group had surrendered before security forces in Kashmir early on Saturday, confusion prevailed over the authenticity of reports. Senior police and Army officers in the Kashmir Valley have refuted reports on any Hizb-ul commander surrendering before the security forces. It was earlier reported that Tariq Pandit, a close aide of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, surrendered in South Kashmir in the wee hours today. As per reports quoting senior police officers and defence sources, Tariq Pandit had surrendered before the security agencies in a village in Pulwama. The ultra was recently seen in group pictures with Burhan Wani that were widely shared on social media. Burhan Wani is the most wanted Hizb-ul commander in South Kashmir. Colonel NN Joshi, the Srinagar-based defence spokesman, told reporters here: "Reports of Tariq's surrender are absolutely baseless." New Delhi: As the BJP-led NDA government on Saturday celebrated its two years in office with a gala event at India Gate here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, his government was working with determination to fulfil its promises to people. Celebrating second anniversary of his government, PM Modi vowed to root out corruption and said his government has been able to check leakages to the tune of Rs 36,000 crore in its two years in office. In his speech at the "Ek Nai Subah" programme, the Prime Minister said a "change" has come in the last two years through good governance. In a veiled attack on Congress and parties critical of the government, Modi said some parties will only oppose for political reasons. Without naming Congress, he accused the Opposition party of pursuing the agenda of obstructionism and expressed confidence that people can see through it and find truth. Recalling the scams and scandals during the UPA governments including in coal block allocation, the Prime Minister said checking the menace of corruption is the focus of his government and people can see it when compared with that of previous dispensations. "Two things have emerged in the last 15 days. One is 'Vikasvad' (development) and the other is 'Virodhvad' (opposition). What is the reality, people can judge for themselves," he said, stressing attempts should not be made to inject a sense of negativity. PM Modi said a government's work should be evaluated in reference to the work of its predecessor. Referring to the controversy over coal allocations during the previous UPA government, he said that courts had cancelled licences and there were daily reports in the media concerning scams. "If we remember the days (of previous government) we will realise how big a change has come about," he said, referring to the coal allocations made during his government. "I am standing before people of the country with satisfaction. We have been able to to get the trust and enthusiasm of people despite a very minute examination of our work. The trust of people is growing day by day. This also increases our confidence," Modi said speaking at the event "Ek Nayi Subah", which was in a talkathon format spread over nearly six hours. The Prime Minister said that his government has not taken any decision with "malafide intention". "I am here to assure you that we are doing everything to live up to the faith people have reposed in us. And the country has seen that no decision was taken with any malafide intention, no effort was spared in working hard and we have dedicated ourselves to people's cause by keeping their and national interest paramount. "It is true that those who have pocketed money will face difficulties and feel the pinch. Who have pocketed it and when have they pocketed it is not my subject but it is the money belonging to the poor and will not be allowed to go to others," he said. Also Read: 'Ek Nai Subah' programme: As it happened Rejecting criticism by Congress, which has said that Modi government has done nothing in the last two years, the Prime Minister said the country has seen that his dispensation has spared no effort in working hard and totally dedicated itself to work for the nation and common masses. Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who had got subsidised cylinders increased from nine to 12 during UPA rule, Modi said over one crore people had given up these on his appeal. "Is it not a change? It is an example of people's participation," he said. Union ministers showcased their achievements and leading names from Bollywood, including Amitabh Bachchan, espoused social causes at the "Ek Nayi Subah" event at India Gate lawns here on Saturday to mark completion two years of Narendra Modi government. A range of government initiatives including Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Beti bachao beti Padao, Pradhan Mantrai Ujjawala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana were highlighted as well as moves to boost income of farmers and improve rail, road and air infrastructure and provide electricity to all villages. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Education Minister Smriti Irani, Health Minister JP Nadda, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, Minorities Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan were among those who participated. Jaitley said the economy had achieved a growth rate of around 7.5 percent amid global slowdown and dwelt of the measures to bring back black money, moves towards financial inclusion through Jan Dhan Yojana and expanding micro-credit through the Mudra Yojana. Meanwhile, Amitabh, who is also a United Nations ambassador for the girl child mission, said the girl child should be nurtured, educated and treated as equal and how 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao' aims at ending discrimination against them. Actor Vidya Balan stressed the need to construct toilets in rural areas, while Raveena Tandon, participating in a panel discussion, stressed how education can lead women towards better living. Also Read: Amitabh Bachchan urges to educate, give equality to girl child Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Modi government has changed the style of governance and ended policy paralysis that existed during the previous UPA regime. New Delhi: Fifty years after he passed into the ages, Vinayak Damodar 'Veer' Savarkar is making waves on Twitter on Saturday. #VeerSavarkar was one of the top trends on Twitter today. While there were some, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leader LK Adani, who paid tribute to VD Savarkar on his 133rd birth anniversary, there were others who accused the late Hindutva icon and labelled him as 'traitor' and 'anti-national'. He was born on May 28, 1883, in Bhagpur village near Nashik in the state of Maharashtra. After his parents died young, his elder brother Ganesh looked after the family. In 1898, the British hanged the Chapekar brothers in Pune for killing a British officer. This had a deep impact on the teenaged Savarkar, who decided to take up armed struggle against the British. In 1901, he joined the Ferguson College in Pune and set up the Abhinav Bharat Society, which preached a revolutionary struggle against the British. In Britain, Savarkar organised students and advocated an armed struggle to throw the British out of India. He also wrote his book on the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, which he called India's First War of Independence, a terminology the Indian government accepted after Independence. In March 1920, Savarkar was arrested in London on charges of indulging in anti-Britain activities. He was sent to India to face trial. Following a failed attempt to escape while being transported from Marseilles, Savarkar was sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment totaling fifty years and was moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but was later released in 1921. Savarkar spent 14 years of his life in Andaman & Nicobars cellular jail, where he was forced to undergo back-breaking labour, along with intense torture. Upon his release, Savarkar became a forceful orator and writer and served as the president of the Hindu Mahasabha, which sought to protect the interests of Hindus. Savarkar endorsed the idea of India as a Hindu Rashtra and opposed the Quit India struggle in 1942, calling it a "Quit India but keep your army" movement. Starting in 1911 from the time of his conviction, Savarkar is said to have written numerous mercy petitions to British government in exchange for his loyalty to them. These mercy petitions are still a source of political controversy in India. Savarkar's link with Mahatma Gandhi's assassination Savarkar was arrested and indicted by the government of India in the assassination of Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte, the two main accused, were known to Savarkar and frequently visited him. However, Savarkar was acquitted by the Supreme Court of India, for the reason of lack of evidence. Read below what people are posting on the micro-blogging site using the hashtag. I come 2 power, name assets on my heroes like Gandhi, Nehru,Patel,Indira U come to power, name them on ur heroes like Godse, Savarkar. #Easy Fahad (@rjfahad) May 18, 2016 For Congress & AAP, Savarkar is a criminal who was prisoned @ kalaPani & Womaniser Nehru is a hero, who ruined IND#NehruDynastyMuktBharat SANDEEP SANGHI (@samgold21) May 18, 2016 @abhisar_sharma @BhayankarLog @ShainaNC No country ever accept who written Britishers 2 support them,But same Savarkar is Ur role model? #SaveFarmers (@ItsAamAadmi) May 18, 2016 Rome: An Italian marine accused of killing two fishermen in India returned home on Saturday pending a ruling on where he should be tried in a long-running case that has soured ties between the two countries. Salvatore Girone touched down in Rome after four years in India, where he was being held pending the resolution of a dispute between New Delhi and Rome over who has jurisdiction in the case. His wife, children and father rushed onto the plane for an emotional reunion, after which he was met on the tarmac by Italy's foreign and defence ministers, raising his clasped hands together in a sign of victory. The newly reunited family was expected to travel straight on to Bari in southern Italy, where locals had planned a homecoming party. Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre are accused of shooting the fishermen while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off India's southern Kerala coast in 2012. Latorre was allowed to travel back to Italy in 2014 for treatment after suffering a stroke. Girone had been barred from leaving but India's supreme court agreed on Thursday to alter his bail conditions allowing him to return, after a tribunal in The Hague ruled this month he should be free to go, pending the final outcome of arbitration. Italy initiated international arbitration proceedings in the case last year, referring the row to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague and asking it to rule on where the men should be tried. Under his new bail conditions, Girone must return to Delhi within one month if the PCA rules that he face trial in India. Italy insists the oil tanker, the MV Enrica Lexie, was in international waters at the time of the incident. India argues the case is not a maritime dispute but "a double murder at sea", in which one fisherman was shot in the head and the other in the stomach. New Delhi: Attacking the Centre over its handling of the economy, Congress today asked it to pluck up courage to go for bold reforms, saying the party will engage with the government if it means business. "Once the economy stabilised as I believe it had by June 2014, the government should have then given the economy a big push by going for bold structural reforms, taken the difficult the decisions which were pending because UPA did not have absolute majority in the Lok Sabha," former Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters. "Now this government has 282 or may be 283 (seats) in the Lok Sabha, it should pick up the courage and take up bold structural reform and in doing so, it must engage the opposition. The Congress party is willing to engage if the government means business," the Congress leader, who has been nominated from Maharashtra by the party for Rajay Sabha polls, said. On GST, Chidambaram said, the government has failed to engage the Congress party over the three principal objections raised by it. "Either the government should convince us that our objections are unfounded or government must accept our objections if they are well founded and bring about amendments. Such an engagement, such a dialogue, to best of my knowledge, has not taken place across the table," he said. Chidambaram advised the government to reach out to the opposition and consider its suggestions. "Work with opposition, engage the opposition. There is talent and sound advice outside the government. Call them, talk to them. That's the advice I will give any government including my own government," he said. At a press conference on two-years of the Modi government, he wondered that "if agriculture and industry are in distress, what is there to celebrate?" The government's record in agriculture is dismal, he said, adding growth was negative at -0.2 per cent in 2014-15 and a meagre 1.1 per cent in 2015-16 and the government failed to anticipate and tackle the acute distress in rural India. "The Supreme Court has chastised the government in the strongest terms for negligence in managing the consequences of two years of drought and passing the buck in providing drought relief," he said. With regard to industry, Chidambaram said, annual sales growth of all firms in 2015-16 was negative at -5.7 per cent and annual sales growth of manufacturing firms was negative at -11.2 per cent. "These are reflected in credit growth which is at a 20-year low of 9.9 per cent (average for the months of 2015-16). They are also reflected in the slump in merchandise exports which was -15.5 per cent in 2015-16. Another indicator is the Index of Industrial Production which stood at a meagre 2.4 per cent in 2015-16," he said. "All I can point out is there are no jobs, there are no industries, industries are in slump, exports are down for 17th successive month and nobody seems to care. If exports are down, thousands of jobs must have been lost and that's the logical inference. The citizens of this country will drop their own score cards," he added. "The average citizens need jobs and incomes. They do not consume GDP numbers," Chidambaram said. New Delhi: A Jaguar XE has become the talk of the town here after it became the official car of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. The Lok Sabha Secretariat said the luxury car was purchased and allotted to the Speaker due to security considerations. The Jaguar cost the Lok Sabha Secretariat Rs 48.25 lakhs. The development has already raised eyebrows with the opposition Congress asking the Speaker to reconsider using the luxury car. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the Speaker should decide whether it would be "prudent" to go for such a vehicle when one-third of the country was facing an acute agricultural distress. D Bhalla, Secretary in the Lok Sabha Secretariat, said the Jaguar XE was the "most affordable option" car among the four-five options suggested keeping in mind the security concerns for the Speaker. "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 said. In the Indian set-up, the Lok Sabha speaker enjoys privileges equivalent to the Chief Justice of India and the post is sixth in line after President, Vice President, Prime Minister, governors, former presidents and Deputy Prime Minister, as per protocol. Srinagar: In one of the biggest catches in recent months, a top Hizbul Mujahideen militant Tariq Pandit, a close aide of the terror group's poster boy Burhan Wani, was on Saturday arrested after he surrendered to police in Pulwama. Considered as a category "A" militant, Pandit figured prominently with Burhan in various pictures and videos that were posted by the terror group last year. Pandit carried a cash reward of Rs three lakh for information leading to his arrest. There were conflicting reports as senior police officials of Pulwama district in South Kashmir said that Pandit had surrendered but the army maintained that he had been apprehended. A senior police official said that he was put under arrest after he surrendered to the army unit in Pulwama. A defence spokesman issued a statement saying that a "major blow" had been dealt to the banned Hizbul Mujahideen with the arrest of Pandit in a "well coordinated swift operation" today on Newa-Pinglana road in the district. He said based on specific intelligence input regarding the movement of a Hizb militant near Karimabad, a joint mobile vehicle check post was established by Army and police in the morning hours. "The movement of the terrorist was kept under constant surveillance. As the terrorist closed in, he was apprehended by the team of Rashtriya Rifle battalion, along with one 9 mm pistol, two Chinese grenades and other war like stores were recovered from him," the spokesman said. He said the militant was involved in many terror-related incidents in the district. However, police officials said that Pandit had joined the terror group along with his cousin Naseer Pandit, a cop- turned-terrorist, early last year. After Naseer was gunned down by army in Shopian during an encounter in April this year, Pandit started sending feelers to the authorities for surrender, the officials said. An FIR has been registered and the apprehended terrorist has been handed over to the local Police Station, Pulwama, the defence spokesman added. He was among the 11 Hizb militants who, defying the convention, posted their photographs on social media networks. "Pandit was a self-styled area commander and is a very important catch. His interrogation should definitely lead us to the Hizb Mujahideen network in south Kashmir," the officials said. The Hizbul group, led by Burhan, continues to give worries to the security agencies as the officials feel the militants' bravado of hogging the limelight on social networking sites was to attract more youths to join militant ranks. Washington: In an apparent dissatisfaction over Pakistan's opposition to India becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the US has said it is not about an arms race, but about civilian use of nuclear energy. "This is not about an arms race and it's not about nuclear weapons. This is about the peaceful civil use of nuclear energy, and so we would certainly hope that Pakistan understands that," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Friday. He was responding to questions about India's membership application to NSG and opposition to it by Pakistan on the grounds that this would give pace to nuclear arms race in the region. However, the US has fingers crossed, ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation NSG. "Look, all I can say is that during his visit to India in 2015, President (Barack) Obama did affirm the US view that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for membership. But it's a consensus body, so we'll wait and see how the vote goes," Toner said. "Deliberations about the prospects of new members joining the Nuclear Supplier Groups are an internal matter among the current members. I don't have much to say beyond that other than that I think they meet regularly," he said. The upcoming NSG meeting has not been set up for this purpose. "This I not a specific meeting, I believe ? not set up to particularly talk about this issue," Toner said. "They (Pakistan) have made public their interest, and certainly any country can submit its application for membership. We will consider based on a consensus decision," the spokesman said. Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday hinted that her government might not create separate colonies or clusters for Kashmiri Pandits as proposed earlier. Speaking in the state Legislative Assembly, Mehbooba said, Kashmiri Pandits ko baizzat laayenge, yahan saath milkar rahenge (We will bring back Kashmiri Pandits with respect, we will live together here). She also stated that colonies to be built for retired military personnel or ex-servicemen will only be for state subjects and not for retirees from outside the state. Sainik colonies are not for outsiders but for state subjects only, this proposal has been in the process from the last government's tenure, the chief minister informed the Assembly. In our government tenure, the Governor ordered to identify land for Sainik colonies but so far no land has been identified, she added. The remarks come just days after separatist leaders in Kashmir came together to oppose the setting up of exclusive colonies for Pandits (or Hindus) and retired military personnel. It is for the first time since the 2008 Amarnath land agitation that the Kashmiri separatists, who are ideologically and politically divided, have joined hands. As per reports, separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik had recently met to form a strategy against the PDP-BJP government's plans to establish colonies for displaced Pandits and ex-servicemen of the state. As per a Hurriyat Conference spokesperson, the trio have come together against proposed plans for creation of the separate clusters for the Pandits and establishing of Sainik colonies. Kolkata: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah who was caught on speaking on his mobile phone while the national anthem was being played, on Saturday offered an apology on the issue. "I was standing for the national anthem, but if it offended anyone I am sorry," Farooq Abdullah told ANI. The former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah along with several other leaders on Friday had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal Chief Minister in Kolkata. While everyone was seen standing in attendance while the national anthem was played after the ceremony, Farooq was seen clearly speaking on his phone. On Friday, Abdullah, unfazed by criticism, had told Zee Media that he respect the National Anthem. Earlier this week, an Indian Army officer asked two journalists to leave an event because they "did not stand up when the Indian national anthem was played and the Indian flag was unfurled". New Delhi: For those longing to meet a pro-active and workaholic Prime Minister Narendra Modi in person, the central government is organising a contest for Indian nationals giving them a golden opportunity to fullfill their desire to meet the iconic leader. As per reports, the Centre is organising a contest asking participants to answer 20 questions related to various initiatives taken by the NDA government in five minutes and get a chance to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in person to receive a certificate signed by him. As part of the MyGov initiative, a 'governance quiz' has been organised on the mygov.in portal to find out how well people know about the government's initiatives aimed at improving governance. The 20 questions are randomly picked from the question bank so that chances are less that they are same for different participants. You can be asked about the solar energy capability added in 2015-16, the approximate amount of money transferred through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, the amount agriculture scholars get as senior fellows in third year and the number of districts covered under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme. The participant has to click on one of the four options on the scheme. A scorecard is displayed to tell how much one has scored. The website says that winners will be adjudged on the basis of maximum number of correct answers. And in case, multiple participants give same number of correct answers, then the one who took the least time to complete the quiz will be declared winner. The option of skipping 'tough' questions and returning to them later is also available. Islamabad: Architect of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, on Saturday said the ability to Indian capital Delhi from Kahuta near Rawalpindi in five minutes. Dr Khan, who illegally passed nuclear secrets to Iran, Syria and North Korea, was speaking on the anniversary of first nuclear tests, which were carried out under his supervision in 1998. He also said that his country could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia ul Haq "opposed the move". General Zia opposed the nuclear testing as he believed that the world would intervene militarily, the disgraced scientist added. Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for proliferation and live a life of semi house arrest. New Delhi:If Pakistan does not have the capability to curb terrorist activity in its territory, it may seek India`s help, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said. "I want to give a message to Pakistan. Pakistan should curb terrorist activities on its soil. If Pakistan feels it does not have the capability to curb terrorist activities, it should seek assistance from India," he said in an interview to India TV. He asserted that there has been a 52 percent decline in infiltration from Pakistan in the last two years. "Terrorist, extremist, Maoist activities have been at their lowest now compared to the last 10 years. The number of security personnel martyred at the hands of Maoists has come down," he said. On Ishrat Jahan case, he said that attempts were made to politicise it. "Some papers that should have been there in the home ministry file are missing. I do not want to make personal allegations, but I feel that attempts were made to politicize Ishrat jehan case," Singh said. On why Pragya Thakur was given clean chit by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Malegaon blast case, the minister said said that it was an agency with "maximum autonomy". "Till now, the NIA used to send files to home ministry before seeking legal opinion. I directed that NIA, being an autonomous agency, should not send files to our ministry. NIA can send its file directly to the law ministry for legal opinion. How much autonomy/neutrality do you want?" he asked. On the issue of black money, Singh said that no promise was ever made during the poll campaign that Rs.15 lakh would be deposited in everybody`s bank account. Describing the lynching of Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh`s Dadri as "unfortunate" on rumours of storing beef, he said: "I feel such incidents should never place in a country like India. Anybody having knowledge about India`s culture and traditions will never commit such a heinous crime. "Our saints gave the slogan `Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam` (the world is one family) to the world." On Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar`s remark that Muslims eating beef have no place in India, Singh said he "completely disagreed" with it. Mawphlang: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited Khasi Heritage Village here in Meghalaya to get first hand knowledge about the rich cultural and traditional heritage of the Khasi-Jaintia tribe and also played the traditional Khasi drum. Before his visit to Mawphlang village, adjacent to the sacred groves, the prime minister also visited the Elephant Falls, one of the major tourist destinations in Shillong. Mawphlang village is in East Khasi Hills district, 25 km from state capital Shillong. At the Khasi Heritage Village, Modi, who scripted history by becoming the first prime minister to visit Mawphlang, interacted with young men and women who were in traditional attire with instruments to showcase the cultural fabric of the tribal Khasi and Jaintia. The prime minister also tried his hand at some of the musical instruments and even asked one of the men to teach him how to play the traditional drum beats to match with the dance steps. "It is heartening to see our prime minister setting foot in our village. He was keen to learn about our culture and the art of beating Ka bom (traditional drum)," Sarah Wankhar, an inhabitant of Mawphlang village, told IANS . "Earlier, he had sent his minister (Ram Kripal Yadav) to inspect our village with regard to our drinking water and sanitation and today he (Modi) is here himself," an elated Wankhar said. Not only beating the traditional drums, Modi also visited huts representing the traditional Khasi states and spent some time looking at the blacksmiths who were showcasing their traditional artistic skills. "This short visit of the prime minister to our village will be ever remembered by our people," traditional chief of Hima Mawphlang NK Lyngdoh said. "Although, he did not enter inside the sacred grove, but he praised the people who were able to maintain the sacred forest for generations," Lyngdoh said. Modi who arrived in Meghalaya on Friday addressed the 65th Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) attended by governors and chief ministers of the eight northeastern states in Shillong. He also flagged off three new trains and laid the foundation stone of Ampati stadium via video conferencing at a public function at Polo Ground in Shillong. Watch the video here: Srinagar: In an unexpected development, a top operative of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terror group surrendered before security forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. News agency ANI reported that Tariq Pandit, a close aide of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, surrendered in South Kashmir in the wee hours today. As per reports coming in from the Kashmir Valley, Tariq Pandit surrendered before the security agencies in a village in Pulwama. The ultra was recently seen in group pictures with Burhan Wani that were widely shared on social media. Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said she would not hesitate to step down if commitments made in the Agenda of Alliance with BJP do not materialise and the chair becomes an "impediment" in fulfilling her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's "vision" for Jammu and Kashmir. In her first address as Chief Minister in the Assembly, she noted that safeguarding Article 370 that gives special status to the state was included in the Agenda, which was "no small feat". She also defended the demand for self-rule for restoration of peace in the state, saying it was "not a sin" and fingers should not be pointed at BJP on inclusion of several of its provisions in their common programme. "The chair will not be my weakness. I will continue in the chair till I feel it is my strength. If I feel it has become my weakness I will not continue. "The commitments I have made which are part of Agenda of Alliance, if those Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) materialise well and good. If not what is a big deal...I have assumed this chair to fulfill the vision of my father," Mehbooba said while replying to the motion of thanks to Governor's address in the Assembly. In a point-by-point rebuttal of the opposition's criticism, the Chief Minister said her father's vision was to find ways for taking Jammu and Kashmir out of the difficult situation it finds itself in. On her party's self rule formula for resolution of Kashmir issue, she said it was in the benefit of both India and Pakistan and most of its features were part of the recommendations made by the Prime Minister's working group set up in 2005. "We have all signed it (working group recommendations). The joint mechanism was also discussed in these recommendations which envisaged 10 representatives from both the countries meeting twice every year. Self rule is not a sin that you will point fingers at BJP time and again on it. "It is in the benefit of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Pakistan and the subcontinent if the state prospers and there is peace. It can become an example for conflict resolution around the world," Mehbooba said. She said the biggest failure of leadership in the state as well as the national level has been the inability to bring the Valley and Jammu regions closer. "Article 370 of Indian constitution guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu as well as Kashmir have the same right under this provision. However, a perception has been created as if this provision is anti- Jammu," she said. Mehbooba said inclusion of safeguarding the Article 370 in the Agenda of Alliance between her PDP and BJP was no small feat. "Although no one can repeal Article 370, do you want them (BJP) to repeal it," she asked the opposition. Advocating good relations between India and Pakistan, Mehbooba said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are the worst sufferers of any hostility between the two countries. "Good relations for Pakistan are necessary for Jammu and Kashmir. Border people get affected when there is firing. The people living near the border in Jammu are the first sufferers and then it spreads to other border areas," she said. Mehbooba said good relations with Pakistan would not only benefit the people of Kashmir only but the entire state. Praising former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his peace initiatives with Pakistan, Mehbooba said, "We had ceasefire along the borders and there was peace and infiltration figures also dropped. Even Pakistan at that time said it will not allow its soil to be used against India. Unfortunately, Vajpayee ji did not return in 2004 (polls)". The Chief Minister said it needs courage like Vajpayee or Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan as the latter "strolled" into the neighbouring country. "Manmohan Singh during his time as Prime Minister wanted to visit Pakistan...He was from there. However, he could not visit due to the demonization (of relations with Pakistan)," she said. Stressing that there was scope for cooperation with Pakistan which will benefit both the countries, she said, "They need electricity which we can provide. We need gas which we can get from there." Mufti said the Centre has sanctioned two AIIMS hospitals, one at Awantipora (Kashmir) and one in Samba (Jammu), and two smart cities. They have received an initial grant of Rs 1 crore for preparing detailed project reports for smart cities. Opposition leader Omar Abdullah interrupted her seeking a correction in her statement on the smart cities. "Please don't mislead the House. You said two smart cities have been sanctioned but the order says two cities from Jammu and Kashmir will go through the competition process," he said. "It is an assurance to me from the PM," she said. She also hit out at NC for handing over power projects to NHPC when it was in power and said they were trying to bring back some of the projects. On the charge that extension of NEET to the state was a "compromise" on the special status, she said the MCI Act was extended to the state in 1960 which brought the functioning of medical colleges under its purview. "However, only students who are state subjects will be given admission in our medical colleges but they will have to appear in the national exam," she said. She also hit out at some national TV channels, saying they had "demonised" Kashmiri youth by "portraying a negative picture" of the Valley. Defending alliance with BJP, Mehbooba said, "BJP got a majority in Jammu and we got majority in Kashmir. If we had ignored the mandate and joined hands with NC, we might have drawn some praise but how would we have kept the people of Jammu with us by ignoring them. "Or we would have had to repeat the situation of 1987 by disrespecting the mandate which created (separatist) people like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mohammad Yasin Malik and (Hizbul Mujahideen supremo) Syed Sallahuddin," she said. On the frequent detention of separatists, she said while it is against her nature, it had become "necessary to ensure the safety" of people. Referring to the dialogue between separatists and the Centre in 2005, she said the separatists were asked to come up with a road map for resolution of the Kashmir issue but they have not done it so far. Bengaluru: In a shocking incident, the president of a gram panchayat in Karnataka's Mandya district attempted to rape a women employee on Thursday evening. Chandrahasa (30), the accused was caught on camera trying to molest the victim. However, he has been arrested now. Chandrahasa has been charged with attempt to rape a woman who has been working as a Group D employee in the gram panchayat for over six years. The accused was arrested after the panchayat employees filed a complaint of rape against him at Kesturu Police Station on Friday. The incident occurred in the office after working hours at around 6 pm on Thursday, but the woman managed to escape. When she returned for work in the morning, she told fellow employees who then confronted Chandrahasa, who reportedly claimed that he had only asked her to sweep the floor. However, upon checking the CCTV footage of the office, they saw that Chandrahasa was attempting to drag the woman while she attempted to free herself from his grip. Within minutes of the pushing and pulling Chandrahasa lifted her and walked behind the camera. After seeing the footage, the panchayat employees then thrashed him before handing him over to the police. Watch the shocking video here. Dhaka: At least 10 people, including two candidates, were killed today in violence during the fifth phase of local government body polls in Bangladesh. Voting was held in 717 unions under 45 districts amid violence and allegations of rigging and other malpractices. The two candidates killed were Kamal Uddin, BNP rebel chairman aspirant at Comilla's Titas, and Md Yasin, who was vying for the post of member at Chittagong's Karnaphuli, bdnews24.Com reported. In Jamalpur, poll violence claimed four lives, the highest in a district. They died after police opened fire to put an end to a clash between supporters of two candidates. An activist of the Juba League, the youth front of the ruling Awami League, was shot dead in Noakhali's Begumganj. One more died in Begumganj and two others in Chittagong's Patiya after getting caught up in poll violence. Several people were injured in clashes in Brahmanbarhia and Munshiganj. More than 80 people have died in election-related violence in the three and a half months since the announcement of the election schedule. Most of the incidents of violence took place between party candidates and rebels. Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz admitted the rising trend of violence. "This time it's more because the polls are on party lines and renegades are challenging regular party aspirants," he said. Dhaka: Violence in the 5th phase polls of Bangladesh's lowest tier of local government has left at least 10 persons dead as of Saturday night. Stray incidents of arson, vandalism, explosion of hand bombs and firing were reported in many of the 720 unions that went to the polls on Saturday, Xinhua reported. At least four deaths have been reported from northern Jamalpur district. Four more persons died and hundreds were injured in southeastern Noakhali and Chittagong districts. Two more deaths have been reported in pre-poll violence in northern Kushtia and Southwestern Narail districts. Violence also left hundreds of people including officials and law enforcers injured. Police was not immediately available to confirm the deaths. Supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League party candidates, and rival ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidates clashed in many parts of the country. The previous phases of the elections were also marred by deadly clashes and irregularities. Some 82 people have been reportedly killed and several thousands injured in violence over the four previous phases of the partisan local government body polls since March. Islamabad: Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the $700 million deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the US following a row between the two countries over their financing, a media report said today. The Pakistani government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by May 24, but Dawn News reported that the document was not issued leading to expiry of the offer. "Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired," a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the daily. However, Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani, told the daily that "a dead-end has not been reached as yet". Initially, the $700 million deal for eight F-16C/D Block-52 multi-role fighters, was to be partially financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme but the Congress disallowed subsidising the sale. The subsidising was disallowed over concern that Pakistan had not done enough to end the dreaded Haqqani network's terror sanctuaries on its soil as well as fears over Islamabad's nuclear programme. Pakistan, which expected to get the fighters at the subsidised rate of $270 million, was subsequently asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight aircraft from its national resources. This was not acceptable to Pakistani authorities, who remained adamant that the offer must come without any preconditions. The aircraft were required by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, the report said. The jets would have come with "all-weather, non-daylight environments and self-defence/area suppression capability". It was unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets, although it had originally desired to acquire 18 F-16s, the daily said. Some quarters believe that providing the Letter of Acceptance would have kept the window open for re-negotiating the financing arrangement at a later stage, it said. Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said last month that Pakistan could look to buy the aircraft from some other country if the deal did not go ahead. He also said earlier this month that Pakistan's ties with the US had witnessed a "downward slide" amid the row over the Congress' decision to block the sale of the jets. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said last week that Pakistan will explore other options to meet its defence needs if the deal for F-16s did not materialise with the US. Analysts believe Islamabad could consider Russian or Chinese fighters to meet its defence requirements. Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in London for medical check-up, will undergo open-heart surgery on May 31, officials said. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed the news on Friday saying that doctors have advised Sharif to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which the premier will be staying in the hospital for a week, Dawn online reported. "The prime minister will travel after one week, on doctor`s permission," he added. The prime minister`s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, also confirmed that her father will undergo the surgery. "Prayers are the most effective and potent medicines. Millions will pray for him so he will be fine," Maryam tweeted. She explained the prime minister medical condition, saying "In 2011 Nawaz Sharif had a cardiac procedure called `Atrial Fibrillation Ablation`, during which certain complications occurred resulting in perforation of heart which was in turn treated by open heart surgery." Therefore, the prime minister had been visiting his doctor for follow up, she said. This is Nawaz Sharif`s second trip to London for medical check-up in few weeks` time. The prime minister underwent a check-up in Pakistan last month following which he decided to visit London for a proper medical check-up. Modi extends best wishes to Sharif Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended his best wishes to his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif who will undergo an open heart surgery on May 31. "My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery and good health," Modi tweeted. Karachi: In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old girl was on Saturday brutally raped and then thrown off the roof of her house in Pakistan's Karachi city. The girl's post-mortem report concluded that she was first raped and then thrown off the roof of her house in Site Industrial Area of the city. "Doctors have found evidence of sexual assault. She has sustained injuries on her head," said Seemi Jamali, the medico legal officer of Jinnah Hospital. Jamali said the girl's body was sent for autopsy to the Civil Hospital due to absence of a female medico-legal officer at the Jinnah hospital. Mubarak Pathan, a medico-legal officer at Civil Hospital, said the police were now investigating why the girl's family and relatives were reluctant for an autopsy. Asmatullah Marwat, the incharge of the Site Industrial Area police station, said the family had claimed that the girl died after she fell off the roof where she had gone to play. "We are now investigating the matter," he said. A researched report released by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child stated earlier this year that 10 cases of child sexual abuse took place every day in Pakistan in 2015, bringing the total to 3,768 cases in 2015. Chennai: Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi is set to assume charge as Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Puducherry on Sunday. On Saturday, Bedi told reporters at the airport here that she was looking at a prosperous Puducherry, achieving growth in all aspects. "I am looking at a Puducherry which grows in all aspects, whether it is agriculture, education, tourism, health care, industry, women welfare, all..," Bedi said. "I am just looking at a prosperous Puducherry growing in every respect," she said. The former Indian Police Service officer, meanwhile, told news agency ANI that her focus at the moment is to put the Union Territory on the tourist map of India, as it is a great destination and deserves no less attention than Goa, or any other popular tourist spot in the country. Bedi will succeed Lieutenant General (Retd.) Ajay Kumar Singh, who was appointed in July 2013. Puducherry: After a week of indecision, the Congress party on Saturday formally elected senior leader V Narayanaswamy to be the new chief minister of Puducherry. A decision in this regard was taken during Congress legislature party meeting held here this afternoon. The state party leaders had earlier visited Delhi to consult party high command on the choice of Chief Minister. Senior Congress leader and former Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit and party general secretary Mukul Wasnik attended the meeting as AICC observers. Opposition parties had alleged that infighting in the Congress party has delayed formation of government. Former chief minister V Vaithialingam too denied any rift in the party on the issue of Chief Minister. He justified the delay saying that Congress being a national party, it has to consult central leadership before reaching at a decision. Barasat: Nine persons, including six children, were injured when unidentified persons hurled a bomb at a victory rally of Trinamool Congress at Kipalpur in North 24 Parganas district today. The bomb exploded in the victory rally, injuring three Trinamool Congress supporters and six children standing nearby, a police official said. While one injured TMC supporter and a child were admitted to the Bashirhat hospital, others were discharged after first aid. Police were enquiring into the identity of the people who hurled the bomb into the rally before escaping, he said. Mexico City: Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has appealed the government's decision to extradite him to the United States to face narcotics and murder charges, officials and his lawyers have said. Court documents said the appeal was filed Thursday in Mexico City by two lawyers for Guzman, who is considered the world's most wanted drug boss as leader of the Sinaloa cartel. "We have filed an appeal against the unconstitutional decision by the ministry of foreign affairs, against those who are in a big hurry for 'El Chapo' Guzman to leave for the United States," said one of the lawyers, Jose Luis Gonzalez, in a press conference yesterday. The government has 48 hours to respond, officials said. The appeal comes a week after the foreign ministry announced it had agreed to extradite Guzman, who escaped from a maximum-security prison in July 2015 -- his second dramatic jailbreak -- and was recaptured in January. Police caught him after a colourful episode involving a US-Mexican soap opera actress and the Hollywood star Sean Penn, who met with Guzman in hiding. The ministry said it had approved the extradition after receiving assurances from the US government that Guzman would not face the death penalty if convicted, since he could not receive such a punishment under Mexican law. Guzman is wanted by courts in California and Texas. President Enrique Pena Nieto's government had previously balked at sending him to the United States. But after the 59-year-old cartel boss was recaptured in January, Pena Nieto asked the attorney general's office to expedite the extradition process. Tehran: Iran`s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged newly-elected lawmakers Saturday to resist "schemes" from the West as parliamentarians met in Tehran for the first time since elections finished in April. "The turbulent state of the region and the world and the international adventurism of oppressors and their vassals have confronted the Islamic Iran with conditions more complicated than before," said a message from Khamenei, read to a packed parliament chamber. Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters in the country, repeated his familiar call for loyalty to the principles of the 1979 revolution and resistance against Western infiltration. "It is the revolutionary and legal duty of you to make the parliament a stronghold against the schemes, charms and impudently excessive demands of the Arrogance," his message read. "Arrogance" was a term first used by the Islamic Republic`s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to describe Western powers, especially the United States. The 290-member parliament was inaugurated in the presence of 265 members, with three seats vacant after votes for two MPs were nullified by Iran`s constitutional oversight body, the Guardian Council, and a third member died in a car accident. Elections for the key position of house speaker and the presiding board are expected on Sunday or Monday. Only after the position is filled will be clear whether Iran`s conservatives or the moderate-reformist allies of President Hassan Rouhani have a working majority. According to an AFP count, no single party won an overall majority in elections that saw Rouhani make huge gains. Reformists took 133 of the 290 seats, short of a majority but ahead of conservatives, who took 125 seats. The role of the independent members will be critical in the balance of parliament`s partisan powers. Incumbent conservative speaker Ali Larijani and reformist Mohammad Reza Aref are the top candidates standing for the position. Iranian media say Larijani, who supported last year`s nuclear agreement with major powers, seems to have the upper hand. Parliamentary polls were held in late February. A second round took place in April for 68 seats where no candidate had obtained a minimum 25 percent of first round votes. Saturday`s opening session comes less than a year after long negotiations between Rouhani`s government and world powers culminated in a nuclear agreement that took effect in January and saw economic sanctions eased on Tehran. Rouhani addressed lawmakers and said that to reach its growth target of eight percent, Iran needed $30-50 billion dollars in annual foreign investment. "Through elections people demanded improved lifestyle and relations in peace and dignity with the outside world," he said. "We need interaction to solve the problems and crises of the country." Rouhani also praised Larijani for his support of the nuclear the deal and called for more interaction between the government and parliament. Seoul: North Korea Saturday warned South Korea of "merciless retaliatory strikes", a day after the South fired warning shots at North Korean boats near their disputed sea border. The North's military General Staff said from now on it would open fire without warning at any South Korean ships if they intrude "even 0.001 millimetres" into disputed waters in the Yellow Sea. It called for the South to apologise for the "reckless military provocation", which it said aimed to "drive the situation in the volatile hotspot to the brink of explosion". "From now on, we will open direct fire on any warship of the South Korean puppet forces without warning, if it intrudes... Even 0.001 mm in the hotspot of the West Sea," it was quoted as saying in a statement carried by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "They should be mindful that they would face our merciless retaliatory strikes anytime and at any place and in any way", it added. It accused the South of responding to its efforts to create dialogue with "reckless military provocation". In recent weeks, Pyongyang has been urging Seoul to accept leader Kim Jong-Un's proposal for military talks aimed at easing cross-border tensions. Seoul has flatly rejected the offer, insisting that the North should first take a tangible step towards ending its nuclear weapons programmes. A South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots yesterday after a patrol boat from the North and a fishing boat crossed the disputed sea border. The North's boats swiftly retreated. "This reckless military provocation was evidently prompted by a premeditated sinister plot to bedevil the north-south relations and further aggravate the tension on the Korean peninsula", KCNA said. Both sides complain of frequent incursions by the other and there were minor naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009. Washington: United States Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said that Pakistan`s support can help destabilise the Taliban far more rapidly than U.S. military operations alone could. Senator Corker asserted that while Mullah Mansour`s elimination was an important victory in the fight against terror, such strikes alone could not achieve the desired result of uprooting the Taliban movement. "If Pakistan would play a more constructive role, we could destabilise the Taliban far more rapidly," Dawn quoted him as saying.He is the same senator who blocked U.S. financing for the F-16 sale to Pakistan.Last Saturday, a U.S. drone strike eliminated Taliban chief Mullah Mansour in Pakistan`s Balochistan province, drawing objection from Pakistan. The U.S. officials and lawmakers have repeatedly urged Pakistan to take immediate action against the militants reported to be hiding inside the country. Meanwhile, Congressman Schiff also noted that while Pakistan had objected to the strike, the response had been somewhat "muted," likely because they knew the U.S. action was right. "I think that Pakistan must realise that they`ve got some serious problems in Congress, in terms of the relationship", said Mr Schiff. The Pakistanis are "desperately eager to have the support and military aircraft and don`t want to jeopardise that," he said. Bangkok: A Thai man who fought off a three-metre (10-foot) python that bit his penis while he was squatting on the toilet is recovering, hospital staff said Saturday. Atthaporn Boonmakchuay was admitted after surviving the nightmare encounter with a snake hiding in the toilet plumbing at his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok. "He can urinate as normal and his pain from the wound has reduced," Rungnapa Sehawong, a supervisor at the local Chularat 11 hospital, told AFP. The 38-year-old was being treated with antibiotics and would likely be released in a few days, she added. In an interview from his hospital bedside after the incident Wednesday, a smiling Atthaporn told local TV channels the toilet appeared empty when he peaked in before taking a squat. "But after a while (the snake) rose from the toilet bowl and bit me," he said, explaining how he grabbed the serpent`s neck to prevent it from taking him down. "At first I thought my penis was gone and already torn apart, because it was really very strong," he added. But he managed to pry open the python`s jaws, after which his wife and neighbour rushed to the blood-splattered scene to cover the snake`s head with a plastic bag. A rescue team later took a hammer to the toilet to free the serpent and release it into the wild, local media reported. While the toilet was damaged in the process, it gave Atthaporn`s wife reason to make a new purchase: a shiny modern flush toilet. Washington:The Obama administration has moved to block sales of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen, amid reports of mounting civilian casualties there, a US media report said on Saturday. The report in the journal Foreign Policy, citing US officials, said that the White House had quietly placed a hold on the transfer of such munitions to the Sunni kingdom as it carries out a bloody war on Shiite rebels in Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Iranian-backed Huthis since March 2015, trying to roll back their control of wide swaths of Yemen. Asked by AFP for comment, an administration official said that "we are aware of reports that the Saudi-led coalition used cluster munitions in the armed conflict in Yemen, including in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present." "We take such concerns seriously and are seeking additional information," the official added. Foreign Policy said it was the first concrete display of unease by US officials over bombings that human rights activists say have killed and injured hundreds of civilians, including children. Cluster bombs are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles or runways. But because they disperse scores of tiny bomblets over a wide area -- some of which may not explode for years or even decades after being dropped -- they pose a particular threat to civilians. They were banned by an international treaty in 2008, but Russia and the United States, both major suppliers, failed to sign it. The US antiwar group CodePink on Sunday applauded the administration decision, and called on President Barack Obama to suspend all arms transfers to the kingdom. Amnesty International said Monday that the Saudi use of cluster bombs had created "minefields" for civilians in Yemen. It has called, along with Human Rights Watch, for a ban on arms sales to the Saudis. The United States has sold the Saudis millions of dollars` worth of cluster bombs and provided other forms of military support. The reported move on cluster bombs comes amid growing criticism by American lawmakers of the Saudi monarchy. Legislators are unhappy that the Saudis have not done more to fight the militants of the Islamic State group in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. The longstanding US-Saudi relationship, built on an exchange of American security backing for a reliable supply of Saudi oil, has been strained as the United States has gained greater energy independence even while reaching historic agreement with the Saudis` bitter regional foe Iran. Tokyo: The US military in Japan is restricting celebrations and off-base alcohol consumption in Okinawa after the arrest of a former Marine suspected of killing a woman on the southern Japanese island. The Marine Corps commander in Japan said today the measures are not punishment but an effort to show respect for the victim's family and mourn with the people of Okinawa. "We should not be out shooting fireworks. We should not be out having large celebrations and parties while the Okinawan people are in mourning. If we really believe we are part of the Okinawan community, then we too must be in mourning. And we do," Lt Gen Lawrence Nicholson said at a news conference at a US base in Okinawa. The 30,000 US troops will not be allowed to drink alcohol off-base, and visiting clubs and bars is prohibited. Upcoming festivals and concerts on bases are being postponed until later in the summer. The restrictions took effect Friday and will last until June 24. Police say they arrested 32-year-old Kenneth Shinzato on May 19 after he told investigators where they could find a 20-year-old woman's body abandoned in a forest. Under Japanese law, he can be held for 21 days before charges are filed. The former Marine had married a Japanese woman and was working for a contractor that provided services to US bases on Okinawa. The arrest comes as tensions are already high over a plan to relocate a Marine Corps air station to a less-populated part of Okinawa. About half of the US troops stationed in Japan are on the island, and many residents resent the burden they bear for the defense of Japan and the region. YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. Private soldier Arman Avetisyan, who lost his leg as a result of large-scale military attack by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh in early April, can hereinafter easily walk. The severely wounded soldier already has a second leg thank to the prosthetic leg implanted by skillful doctors, Armenpress reports, citing the Facebook page of the Healthcare Ministry of Armenia. Arman Avetisyan was injured in the southern direction of the frontline when he was trying to help his injured commander. YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS The number of crimes against migrants continues to grow throughout Germany, Armenpress reports, citing Sputnik, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said, as quoted by the local media. "Already in 2015, the number of attacks on refugees and refugee reception centers increased fivefold from 199 to 1031 cases. In the first months of 2016, the situation has further deteriorated, Funke media group quoted de Maiziere as saying. According to the interior minister, since January, 449 attacks on refugee centers have been recorded. In addition, 654 other crimes against migrants have been registered this year, 107 of them including violence, de Maiziere added. The current migrant crisis in Europe has acted as a catalyst for the growing number of crimes against the immigrants, dividing the country and resulting is the lowering of a psychological barrier against the use of violence. YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRES. Father of Kyaram Sloyan, who was killed during the 4-day war launched by Azerbaijan, is proud of his hero son. In an interview with reporters after the awarding ceremony at the Presidential Palace Kyalash Sloyan, father, mentioned that he is happy to be a father of a hero. He told that recently he visited Artsakh and the place where his son served and was killed. I went to the place where my son was killed. His peer soldiers had laid flowers there and a hat on the flowers. I found his cloths, plate and spoon and brought them back, Kyarams father said, adding that in the school of the village the class of military lessons will be called after him and his belongings will be put there. Kyaram Sloyan and Robert Abajyan were the soldiers that against the order of the commander to retreat remained and fought until they were killed, managing to eliminate dozens of Azerbaijani special forces. Kyaram Sloyan was beheaded by the barbarian who was later glorified by the president of Azerbaijan. 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. By Raju Gopalakrishnan and Manuel Mogato MANILA (Reuters) - A Bangladeshi central bank official's computer was used by unidentified hackers to make payments via SWIFT, and carry out one of the biggest-ever cyber heists, a Bangladeshi diplomat said on Thursday at the end of a Philippine Senate inquiry. There were certain indications about who the hackers were, Bangladesh Ambassador John Gomes told a panel looking into how the $81 million in stolen money ended up in the Philippines, citing information shared by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Gomes said the hackers were neither in the Philippines nor in Bangladesh, but he had no other information. "One of our bank officials who is in the group that makes payments, that passes the payment instructions, his computer was hacked," Gomes said. "It was a Friday when the attack happened and the Bangladesh central bank is totally shut down. It was all sealed and no one goes to the bank on that day." There was no evidence directly linking anyone in Bangladesh to the February cyber heist, Gomes said. The 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. It was moved to casinos and casino agents and much of it is missing. Ralph Recto, one of the Philippine senators leading the investigation, said in April Chinese hackers were likely to have pulled off the heist, citing a network of Chinese people involved in routing the stolen funds through Manila. China has dismissed the suggestion. Bangladesh Bank officials have said they believed SWIFT, and the New York Fed, bear some responsibility for the cyber heist, but SWIFT has rejected the suggestion. The Philippine inquiry has helped recover $15 million of the stolen funds, but the head of the Philippine anti-money laundering council, Julia Abad, said it would take three to five months before the money, now subject of a forfeiture case, could be returned to Bangladesh. Senators wrapped up their investigation on Thursday but they were nowhere near finding the truth of what happened as they were hamstrung by the country's strict bank secrecy laws and as casinos fall outside the ambit of the anti-money laundering law. (Writing by Karen Lema; Editing by Robert Birsel) OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized in Parliament on Wednesday after he rushed across the floor to hurry one legislator to his seat, was accused of elbowing another in the chest and got into a shouting match with an opposition leader. The incident was an unusual outburst in the normally staid Canadian parliament and a rare loss of control by the telegenic Trudeau, 44, who has enjoyed high ratings in the polls and international fame. CBC footage showed the Liberal leader marching across to the opposition during a procedural vote and leading a Conservative party member away from a group of other legislators. Trudeau said he felt the lawmaker was being impeded from taking his seat to vote, holding up proceedings. A New Democratic Party (NDP) lawmaker said Trudeau elbowed her in the chest during the altercation. The prime minister briefly returned to his seat before crossing over again and was seen in a heated exchange with NDP leader Tom Mulcair. At that point, several of Trudeau's Liberal Cabinet streamed out of their seats to stand around the prime minister before order was restored. "I admit I came in physical contact with a number of members as I extended my arm to (the Conservative legislator), including someone behind me who I did not see," Trudeau said after the incident, adding he "completely apologized". "I now see (that was) an unadvisable course of action and resulted in physical contact in this house that we can all accept was unacceptable," he added. The video, which does not carry audio due to parliamentary rules, quickly made waves on both television and Twitter. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Sandra Maler) By Greg Torode and Megha Rajagopalan HONG KONG/BEIJING (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 normalized 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 harbor 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 modernizing forces from attacking Vietnam again. Vietnam understands that a future conflict with their giant neighbor 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 defense". "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 centered 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. "Their economies are expanding, but they still have old weapons so there is an opportunity." (Reporting by Greg Torode and Megha Rajagopalan. Editing by Bill Tarrant.) Johnny Depp is not letting his legal drama with Amber Heard get in the way of having a good time -- or from giving back. Ahead of his Friday night performance with the Hollywood Vampires in Lisbon, Portugal, the Alice Through the Looking Glass star attended a Charity event with his rock supergroup. WATCH: Amber Heard Alleges Johnny Depp Abused Her Throughout Relationship Getty Images Depp, his bandmates, Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, and their frequent collaborators, Robert Deleo, Tommy Henriksen and Bruce Witkin, helped fit and adjust free hearing aids to 30 patients from Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa, a catholic Charity organization, in support of the Starkey Hearing Foundation Hearing Mission. Getty Images Depp, 52, was all smiles at the event as he chatted with patients. Getty Images PHOTOS: Johnny Depp Takes the Stage in Portugal After Amber Heard's Domestic Abuse Claims According to a post on the Hollywood Vampires' official Facebook page, the band partnered with Starkey in order to bring awareness to the foundation, which brings hearing aids to impoverished places around the world "where the hearing impaired are often unable to participate in life." The band also shared a few highlights from the charity event to their Instagram page. Later, the group took the stage to perform at the Rock in Rio music festival. Perry and Depp snapped a pic together backstage before rocking out in front of the crowd. PHOTOS: Johnny Depp Still Touring With Hollywood Vampires Amid Legal Drama With Amber Heard Hours before the performance, Depp's estranged wife, Heard, was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against the actor. The Los Angeles court visit came less than a week after the 30-year-old actress filed for divorce from Depp. Hear more in the video below. Related Articles 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 Arizona is BY FAR the most likely of those three. Then Kentucky. Then Kansas. I'd be stunned if Clinton came anywhere close to winning either of them though. We did a breakdown of the electoral map here. The Colombian rebel group ELN freed a prominent Spanish-Colombian journalist and two local TV reporters Friday after holding them for days. The Spanish-Colombian correspondent, Salud Hernandez-Mora, confirmed she was abducted and held by the communist guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and thanked the Catholic Church for facilitating her release. Two other reporters, for the Colombian TV network RCN, were also freed, RCN said via Twitter. Hernandez-Mora, who works for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and Colombia's El Tiempo, went missing Saturday while reporting in a region of northeast Colombia dominated by guerrilla groups and drug traffickers. Her colleagues Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo of RCN were then attacked and detained Monday while covering her disappearance. They were freed Friday, too. Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas blamed the ELN for all three abductions, but the rebels have not claimed them. Hernandez-Mora was handed over to a delegation from the Catholic Church and travelled in a church vehicle to the town of Ocana in the department of Norte de Santander, an editor at El Tiempo, Andres Mompotes, told AFP. He said she told him she had been treated well in captivity. Hernandez-Mora said she was "doing splendidly" in brief comments to television channel Caracol. "Thank you very much to the Catholic Church, thank you very much to all my colleagues," the 59-year-old journalist said. "Everything has happened very quickly. But my return won't be quick because, as we know, the roads in rural Colombia are a disaster." - Talks hanging in balance - The three journalists went missing in the remote and restive region of Catatumbo. Details about what happened to them have been sketchy partly because communications with the area are poor. President Juan Manuel Santos said Hernandez-Mora's release "fills us with happiness." The ELN, the country's second-largest rebel group, after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), recently agreed to begin peace talks with the government. The government says it is close to signing a peace deal with the FARC. But negotiations with the ELN have been held up by ongoing hostilities and the issue of ransom kidnappings -- long the guerrillas' main source of funding. The Colombian conflict, which started as a peasant uprising in the 1960s, has drawn in various armed groups and gangs over the decades, leaving 260,000 people dead and 45,000 missing. BEIJING China will turn contested islands in the South China Sea into pleasure-trip destinations for patriotic tourists, state-media said yesterday, 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 neighbors 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. 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 kilometers of sea in 2012, declaring it to be Chinas largest city. It will use ships to remove rubbish as the number of visitors rises, the China Daily said. AFP By Minami Funakoshi and Kiyoshi Takenaka ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested to U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday about the killing of a young woman in Okinawa which has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern Japanese island. Obama, joining Abe ahead of a Group of Seven summit, expressed regrets over the killing for which a U.S. base worker has been charged. "As Japanese prime minister, I protested sternly to President Obama over the recent incident in Okinawa," Abe told a news conference, flanked by the president ahead of a Group of Seven summit meeting starting on Thursday. "I feel strong indignation about the selfish and extremely mean crime," Abe said. Obama, arriving from a visit to Vietnam, told a joint news conference after his meeting with Abe: "I extended my sincerest condolences and deepest regrets...The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure justice is done under the Japanese legal system." Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts the bulk of U.S. military forces in Japan and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden. Many also associate the bases with crime, pollution and noise. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations. Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely. Obama is also set to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, on Friday, after attending the G7 summit. Both governments are hoping the Hiroshima visit will showcase a strong alliance between the former wartime foes. GLOBAL ECONOMY Concerns about the health of the global economy will top the agenda at the G7 summit, although full agreement on macro-economic policy looks hard to come by. "I want to make this a summit at which the G7 sends a clear, strong message to respond to all situations and contribute to the sustainable, strong growth of the world economy," Abe told reporters earlier. The G7 leaders are expected to promote a combination of monetary, fiscal and structural policies to spur growth in their communique when the summit ends on Friday, government sources told Reuters. With Britain and Germany resisting calls for fiscal stimulus, Abe is set to urge the G7 leaders to adopt a flexible fiscal policy, taking into account each country's own situation, the sources said. In addition, the G7 leaders were expected to reaffirm their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market. Summit topics also include terrorism, refugees, trade, cyber security and maritime security, including China's assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations. The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Thomas Wilson, Ami Miyazaki, Kylie Maclellan, Tetsushi Kajimoto; Writing by Linda Sieg and William Mallard; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ralph Boulton) China will safeguard the interests of its steel producers by appealing to the World Trade Organization after the United States launched an investigation of Chinese companies for alleged price-fixing, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. The ministry said the country was resolutely opposed to the US decision and would encourage its companies to legally defend their interests. The US International Trade Commission said on Thursday that it would investigate a complaint by Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corp, which claimed that Chinese steelmakers and distributors conspired to fix prices, stole trade secrets via computer hacking and misrepresented the origin of their exports to the US. In its complaint, US Steel Corp is seeking to bar nearly all imports from China's largest steelmakers. Trade remedy measures recently taken by the US constitute trade protectionism, and they will disrupt trade and not solve the US steel industry's problems, said a statement by the ministry's Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau. It said current steel industry woes were global challenges and that a solution will require coordinated efforts by the countries concerned. The US investigation would target 40 Chinese steel producers and distribution subsidiaries, including Baosteel Group, Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co, Wuhan Iron & Steel Co and Anshan Iron & Steel Group Co. Shen Yan, head of the legal affairs department at Shanghai-based Baosteel, said he was shocked and angered by the US move, which he said is against WTO rules. "The company will pay close attention to the case and support the Chinese government to take all necessary measures to ensure the rights of Chinese steel companies," said Shen. Sun Jin, director of the international publicity office of Wuhan Iron & Steel, said he was baffled by the US decision, because steel products involved in this case are products manufactured by Chinese companies for many years. Meanwhile, the US government imposed on Wednesday anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 450 percent on exports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China. The European Union also launched an anti-subsidy investigation this month into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, the subject of an anti-dumping probe since February. Liu Zhenjiang, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Iron and Steel Association, said the US recently has taken frequent trade remedy measures against foreign steel products without prudence, which will not help solve problems faced by US steel companies. "Excessive trade protection is the primary cause that results in the operation loss of the US steel industry," said Liu. Du Juan and Wang Ying contributed to this story. 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 on Friday. 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). CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition leaders and top government officials have held talks in the Dominican Republic to lay the groundwork for a potential dialogue to defuse a political standoff and a deepening economic crisis, local media reported on Saturday. The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with Congress after the opposition won a sweeping legislative majority last year. A government delegation including Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez has for three days met with representatives of opposition parties including Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular, according to opposition-linked newspaper El Nacional. Government-backed newspaper Ciudad Caracas described the encounter as an "exploratory meeting for the start of dialogue," adding that the meeting included ex-leaders of Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez retweeted state-run broadcaster Telesur saying the government had met with the opposition. A Foreign Ministry official declined to comment. The head of Venezuela's MUD opposition coalition tweeted "There is no 'opposition-government' meeting in the Dominican. Representatives of the coalition are attending a meeting with (the ex-presidents)." International agencies including the United Nations and the Group of Seven industrial powers known as the G7 have pressed the two sides to hold talks amid chronic shortages of food and medicine and electricity rationing. But opposition leaders, who are seeking a referendum to recall President Maduro, have been deeply skeptical of initiating such talks. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that dialogue would simply allow the government to buy time and that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote. A dialogue effort in 2014 brought the two sides together amid months of violent anti-government street protests that left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the talks did not produce any substantive agreements. Opposition leaders accuse the National Election Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 percent according to local pollster Datanalisis. They also say the ruling Socialist Party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December. Maduro insists his government is the victim of an "economic war" led by business leaders with the backing of Washington. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Gareth Jones) LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Britain's finance ministry welcomed China's decision to use London to launch its first sovereign bond to be issued outside of the world's second-largest economy. The three-year bond is worth 3 billion yuan ($458 million), and is being marketed at a price similar to bonds being sold in Hong Kong, the usual venue for Chinese debt aimed at the offshore market. "Choosing London as the destination to issue this bond ... reinforces the UK's strong economic and financial relationship with China," finance minister George Osborne said in a statement on Thursday. Osborne has prioritised financial market links between Britain and China, and last year the People's Bank of China (HKSE: 3988-OL.HK - news) sold 5 billion yuan of short-term central bank notes in London for the first time. ($1 = 6.5550 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken) (Adds government statement, adding details and background) By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria, May 28 (Reuters) - Militants attacked a crude oil pipeline operated by Italy's ENI (LSE: 0N9S.L - news) on Saturday, a Nigerian state government said, hours after the Niger Delta Avengers militants claimed another strike in the region. Nigeria's oil output has fallen to a 20-year low due to attacks on pipelines in the southern swamps, home to much of its hydrocarbon resources, which have compounded the impact of low oil prices on Africa's largest economy. "The Bayelsa State Government has condemned in its entirety the attack on a trunk line belonging to Agi (Taiwan OTC: 6507.TWO - news) p (ENI) by (a) new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers," it said in a statement. Bayelsa lies in the Delta region. The Avengers, who have been targeting oil and gas facilities for the last three months, earlier said on Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) they had attacked the Nembe pipelines 1, 2 and 3, pumping Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) 's Bonny Light crude, and an Agip facility, at 0215 local time (0115 GMT). "Something Big is about to happen," the group later tweeted. A Bayelsa spokesman said later the Nembe pipelines had not been hit. Nengi James, a chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee that liaises with oil firms, said vandals had targeted the Agip pipeline, which had been attacked before. Shell and ENI were not immediately available for comment. Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light loadings after a previous attack on the Nembe creek trunk pipeline, but some exports had been continuing with delays. ARMY RAID The army raided the Oporoza community, home to Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, a former militant leader whom security officials have linked to the Avengers, residents said. He has denied any connection to the group. "Men, women and children, everybody has fled Oporoza because the military invaded our village around 0145 this morning," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the region. Story continues "They are harassing people, arresting some boys and they wounded one of our chiefs," he said. "Traditional places of worship and houses are being destroyed now by the military." A newsletter close to the group said soldiers had arrived at the community, located in the swamps of the Delta, on seven gunboats. The army could not be immediately reached for comment but a military source said seven people had been arrested, adding that explosives had been found in their possession. The military has moved more troops into the Delta. British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond this month cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari that he needed to deal with poverty and anger over pollution from oil spills in the region. In the first sign that the government might try a less heavy-handed approach, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has said an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve. (Reporting by Tife Owolabi, Anamesere Igboeroteonwu, Ulf Laessing and Libby George; Editing by Andrew Roche) TORONTO (Reuters) - Authorities in Canada's wildfire-ravaged energy heartland have lifted evacuation orders on Suncor Energy Inc and Syncrude oil sites after rain and cold weather helped dampen the flames. Municipal authorities in the oil town of Fort McMurray lifted the mandatory evacuation orders on Suncor's base plant and Syncrude's Mildred Lake facility, as well as nearby camps that house oil workers, late on Friday. Suncor said on Facebook that a limited number of staff will be back at some of its sites on Monday at the earliest and that all will return "in a phased manner over the next few weeks," but it is unclear when it will restart production. A Suncor spokeswoman said on Saturday that the plans posted on Facebook had not changed. Syncrude, majority-owned by Suncor, is still monitoring the situation and does not yet have a timeline for restarting production, although it does have skeleton crews at its sites, a spokesman said. Fort McMurray itself still sits largely empty, after its entire population of nearly 90,000 was evacuated in the northern Alberta fire that has blackened more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) since it began earlier this month. The fire also triggered a prolonged shutdown that has cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day. The blaze forced the evacuation of Suncor and Syncrude facilities and nearby camps after it jumped a critical firebreak late Monday, moving north of Fort McMurray into oil sand camp areas. Some 8,000 workers were evacuated. Producers have since signaled a gradual increase in operations. The fire has "waned" since Friday, though it remains the same size Saturday morning, said Alberta wildfire information officer Laura Stewart. She said the fire has not had additional impact on oil facilities and is not expected to grow in size over the weekend. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which oversees Fort McMurray, tweeted the area received 2 mm (0.079 inches) of rain overnight. Some of the evacuees from Fort McMurray may be allowed to return as soon as June 1, if air quality improves and other safety conditions are met. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Alexander Smith and Chizu Nomiyama) BISSAU (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's sacked 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 premier was sworn in. Opponents of Vaz protested outside his presidential palace on Thursday night, burning tyres and throwing rocks, after he named Baciro Dja as the new prime minister. Vaz sacked Correia and his government on May 12, saying they had proved incapable of managing a months-long political crisis. The ruling PAIGC party has been embroiled in a power struggle since last summer, caused partly by the overlapping duties of the president and prime minister in a semi-presidential system. "We are facing a constitutional coup d'etat because the dismissal of my government is unconstitutional," Correia told Reuters. 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 his own main rival in the PAIGC. But Dja was forced to step down after the Supreme Court ruled his appointment violated the constitution. Dja now has the task of forming Guinea-Bissau's fourth government in 10 months. A spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations chief was "deeply concerned" by the situation following Dja's nomination and the subsequent protests. "He urges all political stakeholders and their supporters to act responsibly, refrain from violence and avoid an escalation of the situation by settling their concerns through dialogue," the spokesman said in a statement. 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. Since independence in 1974, no democratically elected leader has served a full term in Guinea-Bissau. The political turbulence has helped it become a major transit point for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe. (Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Joe Bavier and Angus MacSwan) MANILA (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. The Philippines is seeking a clarification of United Nations maritime laws that could undermine China's claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court's authority. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Nick Macfie) Hanauma Bay Beach Park in Oahu, Hawaii, is a world-class snorkeling destination. With its incredible views, crescent-shaped beach and beautiful white sand, it has long been a popular spot for people looking to swim with t Looking for a last-minute summer vacation spot? Try Hanauma Bay Beach Park in Hawaii. It's the best beach of 2016. Hanauma Bay's new title represents the third in a streak of winners from the island of Oahu in the annual "Best Beaches" rankings, which are put together annually by Stephen Leatherman, a coastal researcher at Florida International University also known as "Dr. Beach." Leatherman ranks the top 10 public beaches around the United States based on factors ranging from sand softness and wind speeds to wave height and pollution. He even considers sand color, smell and noise. Amenities such as picnic areas are in the mix, too. "Frankly, the United States is blessed with hundreds of wonderful beaches," Leatherman told Live Science. But this year, he said, top honors go to Hanauma Bay, with its dramatic volcanic landscape and waters "choked with tropical fish." [See Photos of the Best US Beaches of 2016] A snorkeling paradise Hanauma Bay on eastern Oahu ranks highly on many of Leatherman's criteria. It's "stunning in every respect," he wrote in his description of the spot. The sand is white, and the crescent-shaped beach actually sits inside a breached volcanic crater, making for stunning views. The snorkeling is also world-class, he said. "You're just surrounded by tropical fish," Leatherman said. "It's like a different world." The beach is closed on Tuesdays to give the reef fish a break from snorkel-clad observers; visitors also have to watch a video the first time they visit Hanauma Bay State Park to educate them on conservation and respectful snorkeling and swimming practices. There are lifeguards on duty, and shuttle bus service is offered from the tourist center of Waikiki because of limited parking. Best of all, Leatherman said, Hanauma Bay is a nonsmoking beach. This year, nonsmoking beaches have been awarded bonus points in his ranking because of the prevalence of cigarette-butt litter on public beaches. Although, in terms of volume, there is more plastic littering beaches, cigarette butts are the main form of litter by number, Leatherman said. Story continues "Beaches are not big ashtrays," he said. All of Oahu's beaches are now smoke-free, as is the runner-up beach in the 2016 rankings, Siesta Beach in Florida, he noted. The runners-up Here is Leatherman's full list of the top 10 beaches for 2016: Hanauma Bay Beach Oahu, Hawaii Siesta Beach Sarasota, Florida Kapalua Bay Beach Maui, Hawaii Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach Outer Banks of North Carolina Coast Guard Beach Cape Cod, Massachusetts Grayton Beach State Park Florida panhandle Coronado Beach San Diego, California Coopers Beach Southampton, New York Caladesi Island State Bark Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida Beachwalker Park Kiawah Island, South Carolina Previous winners have included Waimanalo Beach in Oahu (2015), Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Oahu (2014) and Main Beach on Long Island, New York (2013). In previous years, the No. 1 beach has been "retired" from the list. In 2017, however, Leatherman plans to begin with a clean slate, reopening the contest to former winners as well as beaches that haven't taken the top spot before. Only Hanauma Bay will be ineligible. Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. SWNS

A woman lost four stone after taking up SCYTHING and then became UK champion.

Andi Rickard, 54, took up the classic farming technique in 2009 after becoming frustrated with lawnmowers and strimmers.

Mum-of-three Andi then tipped the scales at 13st 7lbs and was struggling to lose weight after having her children.

But she said scything helped her lose four stone and slim down to 9st 7lbs.

Andi, from Wellington, Somerset, went from a size 18 to around a 10 and said she is more toned now than when she was 18.

She said the full body workouts have helped her keep the weight off and away from the gym.

And Andi, who has scoliosis, said the circular swinging has even helped her back.

Andi said: We were renting a house with a small paddock back in 2009 and it was really overgrown.

I had three small children and didnt want to use a loud strimmer and lawnmower couldnt get near it, so I tried a scythe.

I took a course to learn how to use it and found I really enjoyed it.

It was so nice to discover I was good at something in my 40s.

I was struggling to lose the weigh after having my children and scything really helped.

I went from 13st 7lbs to about 9st 7lbs and it has helped me keep the weight off ever since.

I hate exercise and scything has saved me from going to the gym.

Im lighter and more toned than I was when I left school at 18, and I look and feel better now than I did when I was younger.

It keeps me active and mobile.

Its great because its something you can make as hard or easy as you like.

It can be a full-blown aerobic workout if you want it to.

I have scoliosis and the circular movement, the swinging from side to side, has really helped my back.

The tool itself is very light and you can make it as much of a workout as you like.

Scything became iconic after actor Aidan Turner showed off his ripped abs while using the tool to mow a meadow during episodes of hit TV show Poldark.

In 2019 Andi became the UK scything champion, the first woman to win the title which she held until 2021.

She went on to represent Great Britain at the European Scythe Championships in Austria and finished 24th, where most of the competitors were half her age.

Andi is still the UK ladies champ and runs the Somerset Scythe School where she teaches others the centuries-old practice.

She said in the last year she has taught doctors and teachers and that scything can be a stress relief.

Andi said: I did about 58 teaching days this year over the summer.

Its not that hard, most people I teach can be mowing in about an hour.

I do a lot of 1-1 sessions with couples and group workshops with community groups who maintain areas of woodland.

Last year I had a lot of doctors, teachers and musicians come for stress relief, it helps people to get outside.

I think the pandemic changed things a lot, people couldnt go on holiday and wanted to be in nature.

The fact it is so much better for the environment has also been a huge factor in the popularity of it.

#Korean Air Korean Air plane heads to Cebu to bring back stranded passengers An alternative Korean Air plane departed for the Philippines on Tuesday to bring home passengers stranded after another plane run by the air carrier overran the airport runway in C... #(G)I-dle I-dle tops local music charts with 'Nxde' Girl group (G)I-dle topped daily and weekly charts of five major local music streaming services with its release "Nxde" on Tuesday, a week after it dropped. "Nxde," the main tra... By Dustin Volz and Jeremy Wagstaff WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE (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. Bangladesh police are also reviewing a nearly-forgotten 2013 cyber heist at the nation's largest commercial bank, Sonali Bank, for connections to the central bank heist, a senior law enforcement official told Reuters. The unsolved theft of $250,000 at Sonali Bank also involved fraudulent transfer requests sent over the SWIFT network. (Additional reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru and Karen Lema in Manila; Editing by Siddharth Cavale, Leslie Adler and Raju Gopalakrishnan) For Immediate Release, May 27, 2016 Contact: Miyoko Sakashita, (510) 845-6703, miyoko@biologicaldiversity.org Obama Administration OKs Offshore Fracking in California Lawsuit Likely as Regulators Ignore Risks, Lift Fracking Moratorium in Federal Waters LOS ANGELES The Obama administration today finalized plans to allow oil companies to resume offshore fracking and dumping fracking chemicals mixed with wastewater in Californias wildlife-rich Santa Barbara Channel. Todays announcement from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ends a court-ordered settlement that placed a moratorium on offshore fracking and acidizing in federal waters off California. The Obama administration is once again putting Californias beautiful coast in the oil industrys crosshairs, said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Oceans program. Our beaches and wildlife face a renewed threat from fracking chemicals and oil spills. New legal action may be the only way to get federal officials to do their jobs and protect our ocean from offshore fracking. Offshore fracking was halted in January after a Center lawsuit challenged the federal governments rubber-stamping of fracking permits without any analysis of threats to wildlife and ocean ecosystems. The case resulted in a settlement agreement that required the Obama administration to stop authorizing offshore fracking and acidizing until federal officials completed a review of the environmental impacts of the practices. But todays finding that offshore fracking has no significant environmental impact glosses over the serious hazards of fracking and fails to answer key questions about the risks of this controversial oil-extraction technique. Offshore fracking blasts vast volumes of water mixed with toxic chemicals beneath the seafloor at pressures high enough to fracture rocks. At least 10 fracking chemicals routinely used in offshore fracking in California could kill or harm a broad variety of marine species, including sea otters and fish, Center scientists have found. Its disturbing that officials charged with protecting our oceans are shrugging off these risks and authorizing oil companies to resume this dangerous practice. The California coast cant take another oil spill or a deluge of toxic fracking chemicals, Sakashita said. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. by Matt Nimmo | Padres Correspondent | Sat, May 28th 2:36am EDT Sean Manaea threw a quality start against the Tigers Friday night, allowing three earned runs in six innings. He had no shortage of base runners though, giving up nine hits and walking two while striking out four. Using Racist Memorabilia to Understand Jim Crow Date: Thursday, June 02, 2016 Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Event Type: Speaker Organizer/Author: The Green Arcade Location Details: The Green Arcade 1680 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94102 Understanding Jim Crow, published by PM Press, Oakland, introduces readers to the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, a collection of more than ten thousand contemptible collectibles that are used to engage visitors in intense and intelligent discussions about race, race relations, and racism. The items in the Jim Crow Museum served to dehumanize blacks and legitimized patterns of prejudice, discrimination, and segregation. Many Americans are already apprehensive discussing race relations, especially in settings where their ideas are challenged. The museum and this book exist to help overcome our collective trepidation and reluctance to talk about race. Fully illustrated, and with context provided by the museums founder and director David Pilgrim, Understanding Jim Crow is both a grisly tour through Americas past and an auspicious starting point for racial understanding and healing. One of the most important contributions to the study of American history that I have ever experienced. Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research This was a horrific time in our history, but it needs to be taught and seen and heard. This is very well done, very well done. Malaak Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz David Pilgrim is a professor, orator, and human rights activist. He is best known as the founder and curator of the Jim Crow Museuma ten-thousand-piece collection of racist artifacts located at Ferris State University, which uses objects of intolerance to teach about race, race relations, and racism. Oakland CED committee failed to send renter protection initiative to City Council tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com) by Lynda Carson Despite the pleas of all the speakers in support of the renter protection initiative and the occurring massive housing crisis that is displacing tens of thousands of renters with evictions and excessive rent increases by greedy landlords, things could have gone better at the CED meeting for the tenants facing displacement from their housing. Michael Orcutt, Hoopa Tribal Fisheries Director, said, It is a travesty that the pristine waters of the Trinity Alps that have nurtured our people have been diverted from their natural course, sent 400 miles from our homeland and converted into toxic industrial waste by agribusiness in the Central Valley. Photo of Trinity River below Lewiston Dam by Dan Bacher. Hoopa Valley Tribe: San Luis Settlement Agreement Will 'Condemn Tribe to Poverty'by Dan BacherOn May 24, the Hoopa Valley Tribe from Northern California filed its objection to two bills proposed in the House of Representatives to implement the controversial San Luis Settlement Agreement, saying the agreement would forever condemn the Tribe to poverty.The Tribe filed its complaint prior to a hearing on the two bills, H.R. 4366 (Rep. David Valadao) and H.R. 5217 (Rep. Jim Costa, D-CA), held by the U.S. House of Representative Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans. The video is posted now at: http://naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=400473 Our Tribe is an indispensable party to this settlement, said Chairman Ryan Jackson, in a press release. We notified Congress and the Bush and Obama Administrations on numerous occasions over the past several years of our concerns. Though we have been mostly ignored, rest assured, this legislation will not advance in absence of protection of our interests.The invited witnesses were John Bezdek , Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior; Tom Birmingham, General Manager, Westlands Water District; Jerry Brown, General Manager, Contra Costa Water District; Steve Ellis, Vice-President, Taxpayers for Common Sense; and Dennis Falaschi, General Manager, Panoche Water District.Notably, the Committee did not invite those most directly impacted by the deal. These include the leaders of the Hoopa Valley, Yurok, Karuk, Winnemem Wintu and other Tribes, commercial and recreational fishermen, family farmers and others whose livelihoods have been imperiled by decades of exports of Trinity, Sacramento and San Joaquin River water to corporate agribusiness interests irrigating drainage-impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.Jackson said the Settlement Agreement contains Central Valley Project (CVP) water supply assurances for 895,000 acre feet of water for the Westlands Water District that originate from the Trinity River, a watershed that the Tribe has depended for its fishery, economy and culture since time immemorial.Michael Orcutt, Hoopa Tribal Fisheries Director, said, It is a travesty that the pristine waters of the Trinity Alps that have nurtured our people have been diverted from their natural course, sent 400 miles from our homeland and converted into toxic industrial waste by agribusiness in the Central Valley.What makes this worse is that the destruction of our water quality was aided and abetted by our Federal Trustee, the Department of the Interior, said Self-Governance Coordinated Daniel Jordan.Instead of ensuring that existing law is enforced for the Tribes benefit, the Tribe said the United States government has focused its energy on escaping federal liability for the generations of mismanagement of the reclamation program.The Tribe said it has the first right of use of Trinity River water under the 1955 federal stature that authorized the Trinity River Division of the CVP, but the San Luis Unit settlement and legislation as proposed ignores this priority right held by the Tribe.The Secretary of the Interior and Attorney General are blatantly ignoring our rights and the Congressionally mandated responsibility of the Bureau of Reclamation to furnish the water necessary for fish and wildlife and economic development in the Trinity River Basin, stated Orcutt.The Tribes testimony includes a proposal for settlement of the drainage issue that also provides for long overdue fair treatment of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. If Congress approves our proposals, the Hupa people would finally get a long overdue measure of justice, according to the Tribe.Our culture and economy have been devastated by the federal governments mismanagement of the Central Valley Project and the San Luis Unit contractors ongoing assaults on our rights to Trinity River water, said Jackson, Now is the time to end the fighting and begin the long process of recovery.A coalition of fishing groups, conservation organizations, Delta farmers, Tribal leaders and environmental justice advocates is opposing the bills. Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, said U.S. taxpayers, and Californians in particular, should be alarmed that H.R. 4366 and H.R. 5217 (Rep. Jim Costa, D-CA) are moving forward.The settlement agreement reached in September 2015 between the Obama Administration and these large industrial agricultural, special-interest water districts, will result in a $300 million taxpayer giveaway without addressing or solving the extreme water pollution these irrigation districts discharge into the San Joaquin River, and ultimately, the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. It is exactly these types of taxpayer giveaways to corporations that have incensed voters in both parties this election year, said Barrigan-Parrilla in a statement. ( http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/23/1530022/-House-Natural-Resources-Committee-Will-Hold-Hearing-on-Westlands-Settlement The objections filed by the Hoopa Valley Tribe on May 24 come just a week after the Tribe filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and NOAA Fisheries for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to adequately protect salmon on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.Failure by these federal agencies to reinitiate consultation on the flawed 2013 Klamath Project Biological Opinion (BiOp) will simply add to the millions of sick and dead juvenile salmon already lost due to the Klamath Irrigation Project. High infection prevalence of the deadly salmon parasite Ceratomyxa nova has been directly linked to the Project and its effect upon natural flows in the river, according to a statement from the Tribe.The juvenile fish kills in 2014 and 2015, while not as noticeable to the naked eye as dead adults on the banks, are as devastating to Hupa people as the 2002 adult fish kill, said Chairman Ryan Jackson.Meanwhile, the Brown and Obama administrations are pushing a plan that threatens the San Francisco Bay-Delta and Klamath and Trinity rivers, the California Water Fix to build the Delta Tunnels. The plan would hasten the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River winter run Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers. A recent shocking sentencing of 16-years behind bars issued for renowned human rights advocate Narges Mohammadi is Iran's dismal report card of human rights violations. This mother of two is already suffering from several cases of severely chronic illnesses and such a measure marks a comprehensive assault targeting human rights activists in Iran. There is no argument or debate over the fact that Iran has a dismal report card of human rights violations. The mullahs regime is also known to take extremely harsh measures against rights advocates. A recent shocking sentencing of 16-years behind bars issued for renowned human rights advocate Narges Mohammadi is one such case. This mother of two is already suffering from several cases of severely chronic illnesses and such a measure marks a comprehensive assault targeting human rights activists in Iran. This measure also resembles how abusive is Irans so-called criminal justice apparatus and the undeniable fact that the mullahs use this government branch as means to impose even further crackdown. This shows how utterly terrified the mullahs in Tehran are of human rights critics, and to what lengths they are willing to resort to silence these voices. Narges Mohammadi, a renowned human rights advocate and known for her struggle against the death penalty in Iran, is also the vice president of Irans Center for Human Rights Defenders in Iran. A so-called revolutionary court in the Iranian capital sentenced Mohammadi to 16 years behind bars for boasted offences related to national security issues, related to her work as a human rights advocate. Narges Mohammadis sentence is yet another chilling example of Irans use of vaguely worded national security charges to crack down on peaceful freedom of expression The authorities have made clear their ruthless determination to silence human rights defenders and instil fear in would-be critics of their policies, said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International . This leaves no doubt that Mohammadi is being punished unjustly because of her continued work and commitment to the plight of human rights in Iran. This activist is already behind bars in Tehrans notorious Evin Prison link erving a separate sentence of 6 years, again in relation to her work as a human rights advocate. Mohammadi gained international attention in 2012 after Amnesty International highlighted her case in its annual campaign of Write for Rights. In April 2012 she began her 6-year sentence, only to be released three months down the road due to her deteriorating medical status. She suffered partial paralysis provoked due to her detention under harsh conditions. Iranian authorities had her arrested once again in May 2015, resulting in her transfer yet again to Evin Prison to continue serving her initial 6-year sentence. Mohammadis medical conditions further deteriorated in October 2015 when she suffered a number of dangerous seizures. Authorities were reluctant but forced to allow her hospitalization, only to be returned back to prison 17 days later despite her physicians emphasis on her need to remain under medical care and hospitalized. Once again, Irans courts have sentenced Mohammadi to an additional 10 years behind bars under the bogus charge of establishing an illegal entity for her engagement with the Legam group. She was also sentenced to another five years for assembly and collusion with the intention to commit crimes against national security. Mohammadi was slapped yet another year for the vaguely worded accusation of propaganda against the establishment. Interviews Mohammadi gave to international media outlets and a meeting back in March 2014 with then E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton were preposterously used as evidence against her. Mohammadi will face serving another at least 10 years behind bars if this new conviction and sentence are eventually upheld. Irans 2013 penal code stipulates an individual convicted to a series of charges will have to serve the longest single sentence. Narges Mohammadis sentence [aims to] take revenge against a human rights activist who is opposed to the death penalty and seeks its gradual elimination Indeed, sometimes the judgment of a judge is just a tool in the hand of the powerful, said Narges Mohammadis husband Taghi Rahmani to Amnesty International. Iranian authorities have gone one step further in a cruel act of denying Mohammadi the right of access to her 9-year old twin children, whom were forced to move abroad to live with their father as they had no relatives to take them into custody in Iran with their mother in jail. From last summer onward Mohammadi has only been permitted one telephone call with her children, undoubtedly grueling for a mother and yet another method of imposing pressure used by and human rights violations resorted to by Tehran. Outraged over this new atrocious measures, the United Nations Human Rights Council issued a statement demanding the urgent release of political prisoner Narges Mohammadi. The UN has never been fond of Irans human rights record. The UNHRC and other human rights mechanisms have long demanded Iran to release Mohammadi, with all calls falling on deaf ears. Her conviction reflects the fact that the tolerance of human rights advocacy has deteriorated in Iran, especially under the tenure of moderate President Hassan Rouhani from June 2013 onward. The UNHRC went on to call on Iranian officials to immediately release Mohammadi and all others detained for the sole reason of defending human rights. The Womens Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the main Iranian opposition group, strongly condemned the new ruling issued against Mohammad, adding this proves the mullahs weakness, making it entirely vulnerable in the face of even the smallest protest and opposition. The NCRI called on the international community to end its silence and strongly denounce vis-a-vis the waves of executions, crackdown, arbitrary arrests and Middle Ages punishments imposed by the mullahs in Tehran. The question that comes to mind is why does Iran go to such great lengths, and at such a high price of international embarrassment, to impose such harsh measures against a simple human rights advocate? The question is all too simple from the mullahs point of view. They have already accepted to forgo their nuclear ambitions. Tehran is also under extreme pressure to end its support for Bashar Assad in Syria to allow for tangible ceasefire and peace after 5 years of carnage; this would eventually lead to Iran losing its influence across the Middle East. Considering all these major strategic setbacks, Tehran views it as simply unacceptable to begin backing down on any human rights policies, knowing this is the ultimate Achilles Heel that will inevitably mark the beginning of its end. The Eleventh Circuit revived a class action against three Florida hospitals. Area hospitals that grossly overcharged auto accident victims for X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, and MRIs. The defendant, HCA Holdings Inc, owns and operates the medical facilities in question, JFK Medical Center, Memorial Healthcare Group,and North Florida Regional Medical.The plaintiffs claimed the charges were unreasonable as a matter of law because the patients covered by personal injury protection (PIP) plans were charged more than the non-PIP insured on all services.Under Florida law, all cars registered in the state must include a PIP or personal injury protection coverage of $10,000. Medical providers are allowed to charge a reasonable amount for services and supplies.Under the PIP plan, a patients medical bills are 80% covered. The claimants alleged they were charged up to 65 times higher than usual and left patients covering medical expenses out of pocket.One plaintiff was charged $3,359 for a spine x-ray but the Florida Medicare rate for the same x-ray is $50. Each plaintiff claimed that their PIP was prematurely exhausted by the increased rates.A Florida federal district judge denied the class action because the claims were highly individualized and failed to represent a common question of law. Each patient received different services and the court believed whether the charges were reasonable would vary from case to case.However, on appeal the class argued that the dismissal was premature because entering discovery would have provided the court a better idea of which claims were individualized and what charges were unreasonable.The circuit court agreed that discovery would uncover the unreasonableness of the charges and the court erred by dismissing the claims solely on the face of the complaint.The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded the case to the lower court for further proceedings.This case isCase No 15-13253, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Boston, MA Two plaintiffs having recently been awarded a combined $127 million in Two plaintiffs having recently been awarded a combined $127 million in body powder lawsuits owe their monetary awards to another Johnson & Johnson lawsuit in which the plaintiff didnt get a dime. But the 2013 lawsuit, filed by Deane Berg of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, laid the legal groundwork that will have an impact going forward on cases filed by upwards of 1,200 plaintiffs, all alleging that the talcum powder manufactured by J&J for decades can cause cancer. It has to be safe. Its put on babies. Its been around forever. Why havent we heard about any ill effects? Bergs case was one of the first to go to trial, and when the plaintiff didnt win any monetary damages for her injuries, the outcome left a momentary pall over plaintiffs lined up in the litigation pipeline with their own talcum powder lawsuits. The outcome was especially disappointing for Berg given the jurys directive to the manufacturer to affix a warning to its talc products that revered and heritage brands such as Johnsons Baby Powder and Shower to Shower could actually cause cancer.However, monetary awards in two more recent lawsuits - $72 million to the family of the late Jackie Fox in February and $55 million to Gloria Ristesund earlier this month - have cheered future plaintiffs who have taken J&J to task for allegedly hiding such a serious health issue related to its products for years. While pundits note that J&J has signaled its intent to appeal the verdicts, the cat is out of the bag as it were with momentum, for the time being, with the plaintiffs.Writing in(5/4/16), Dr. Ford Vox, the medical analyst forin Atlanta, notes that researchers and scientists have been publishing articles suggesting a link to ovarian cancer in association with talc for years. Talc has also been found in pelvic lymph nodes, indicating that it made it all the way out of the fallopian tubes and into the abdominal space, writes Dr. Vox.The theory is that talcum powder, when applied in the genital region, manages to work its way up through the vagina, the cervix, the uterus, the fallopian tubes and into the ovaries, Vox continues. The female reproductive system has, after all, evolved to facilitate the upward mobility of sperm in order to fertilize eggs that have descended into the uterus, and the microscopic particles of talcum powder may well keep traveling all the way up.Talc particles were found inside ovarian tumor tissue removed from Deane Berg by her pathologist, Dr. John Godleski of Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. Dr. Daniel Cramer, also of Brigham, testified that in his opinion upwards of 10,000 women each year are developing ovarian cancer, in part, due to their use of talcum powder.Hence, the increased talk and litigation surrounding body powder and cancer.While the American Cancer Society notes that it remains unclear, in its view, if talcum powder is associated with cancer, the World Health Organization-affiliated International Agency for Research on Cancer goes so far as to state that talc is possibly carcinogenic to humans.According totalc is sourced from China and is a naturally occurring mineral. For that matter, so is asbestos - which for decades has been linked to asbestos cancer and mesothelioma.Before Jackie Fox died, she and her family were trying to get their heads around the possibility that the womans ovarian cancer was caused by Johnson & Johnsons Baby Powder, a product she had been using for personal hygiene and moisture control since she was a teenager. We both were a bit skeptical at first, said her son, Marvin Salter, a mortgage banker in Jacksonville, Florida, while commenting to(3/31/16).And then his mother died. The jury in her lawsuit came back with a majority vote of 10-2, tasking J&J with the failure to warn of the potential risk for body powder and cancer and awarding the Fox family $10 million in compensatory damages, and $62 million in punitive damages. The award was larger than the plaintiffs own attorneys had recommended.Ford Vox, writing on thesite, noted that while J&J needs to accept some responsibility, regulators having dropped the ball due to a lack of staff, underfunding and jurisdictional issues also need to share the blame.The potential association between body powder and cancer is not new: in 1971, researchers in the UK analyzed 13 ovarian tumors and found talc particles deeply embedded in 10 of the samples - a sizeable majority. Fox, who died from ovarian cancer allegedly caused by talcum powder, was 18 by then and had been using talc daily for several years.recounts the story of Dr. Cramer, of Brigham & Womens Hospital, meeting with an executive from Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Bruce Semple had called Dr. Cramer about his research showing the first statistical link between use of talc in the genital area, and ovarian cancer.Dr. Semple spent his time trying to convince me that talc use was a harmless habit, while I spent my time trying to persuade him to consider the possibility that my study could be correct and that women should be advised of this potential risk of talc, Cramer, a paid expert and witness for the plaintiffs, said in a 2011 court filing. I dont think this was a question of money, he says now, in comments toI think it was pride of ownership. Baby Powder is a signature product for J&J.It should be noted that baby powder is a cosmetic, and thus does not fall within the regulatory purview of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The only warning on its talcum powder is to avoid inhaling the product, and that talc is for external use only. Thats it. The FDA cant mandate a label change, as the FDA has no jurisdiction.Meanwhile, the jury foreman in the Fox trial toldthat internal documents from Johnson & Johnson were incriminating, in her view: It was really clear they were hiding something, jurist Krista Smith said.People were using something they thought was perfectly safe, said Marvin Salter, Foxs son, weeping, in comments toAnd it isnt. At least give people the choice. J&J didnt give people a choice. On Wednesday, Pastes Donovan Farley wrote a piece titled Why Jesse Hughes Statements on the Bataclan Theatre Shootings Arent Just Wrong, but Dangerous. It was a typically thoughtful piece from Donovan on why Hughes, the Eagles of Death Metal frontman, was off point when he blamed the liberal mentality (whatever that is) and PC culture for the tragic shootings on Nov. 13 in Paris, and went on to claim that security was complicit in the attacks, and that Muslims were celebrating in the street immediately afterward. The comments may have been understandable, when you consider that Hughes had just survived an incredibly traumatic event, but that doesnt make them any less incendiary, inaccurate, orFarley had it rightdangerous. Enter the New York Post, in the form of neo-red-baiter Joe Simonson. If you couldnt make an educated guess at the level of nuance Simonson would display from the name of his newspaper, the title of the op-ed should clue you in: The PC police are backing Islamic terrorists over Eagles of Death Metal. Immediately after reading that headline, I rushed back to Farleys piece in a cold panic, looking for the part of his essay where he cheered on ISIS. I sure wouldnt want that running under the banner of Paste politics! In fact, were avowedly anti-ISIS, and I apologize to no one for that stance. But youll never believe what I found: It didnt happen. Not once did Donovan praise, justify, or excuse the Bataclan shootings. Not even close. Take a moment to gasp, and get a cup of water, or whatever. Of course, that didnt matter to Simonson, whose job is to stoke anger against a fictional hyper-reactionary left who just loves ISIS to death. He writes: All things considered, pretty mild stuffNot to the left, of course. To them, its more important to hysterically rush to the defense of the marginalized group, regardless of how preposterous it looks. Its true that writers on the left are seeking to defend marginalized groups, but to conflate the people who are actually hurt by Hughes words with ISIS is essentially to say that all Muslims are terrorists. Simonson doesnt make that point directly, but then again, he doesnt really have toits coded in every word he writes. We would recommend he re-reads Donovans piece, and, when hes done, he should check out Ismael El Irakis facebook response to Hughes, in which he details how one Muslim man at the show saved several lives in the thick of the violence. Simonson should read that near a fainting couch, though, just in case the utter shock of learning that a Muslim man may have been against the terrorists knocks him out on his feet. Oh, and heres Simonsons direct attack on our writer: Already, some, like Donovan Farley of Paste Magazine, support the festivals decision because France is attempting to heal (unlike Hughes?) and argue that allowing the band to play could potentially alienate young Muslims. No concern is found for the actual victims of the attacks, only the hypothetically offended. Cowards. Bold talk, Joe. Complete and utter bullshit, but bold nonetheless. If Paste had little tin sheriffs stars to give out, wed send the first one to you. Heres the actual point Farley made: Clearly, the vast, vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, loving peopleand the separation between the devout and the extremists must be acknowledged. If not, the rest of us risk not only becoming like those we oppose, but we also risk alienating young Muslims and in turn, helping to create new extremist recruits. To me, that sounds like someone who is not only concerned for the victims, but is concerned for future victimsas opposed to Simonson, who wants to declare all Muslims the enemy and jack up the holy war to an 11. Also, I have to point out that Farley actually took Hughes to task for his idiotic language about the victims, whom he claimed gave and fell like wheat in the windthe way you would before a god. Farley called that language wildly inappropriate and hugely disrespectful to those who lost their lives that night. So no, he isnt blase about the victimsif anything, that description applies to Hughes, who essentially called them fatalistic ragdolls. As a final point, Id encourage everyone to remember that in times of violence and tension, there will always be people who see the conflict in terms of black-and-white, and evangelize on behalf of their simplistic worldview. Thats Simonson in a nutshellhe wants to reduce the world to good and evil, because thats easy and uncomplicated. It takes writers like Farley to understand a deeper truth, which is that its possible for condemn terrorist groups like ISIS and understand that rhetoric like Hughes went too far. Extremist acts inspire extremist language, and what many people forget is that the two forces feed on each other, rising like a double helix, intertwining in a symbiotic relationship. Jesse Hughes made things worsein his own small way, he ratcheted up the hatred and made future acts of terrorism more likely. Joe Simonson amplified and justified his message, so he, too, is making things worse. He doesnt have the courage to take off his blinders and see the world as it really is, and when someone like that calls one of our writers a coward, believe mewere fucking thrilled.

Wild About Wildlife

When Mandy, a young kangaroo, got hit by a car, the culprit behind the accident didn't call for help. Instead, he or she stopped only to dig a hole beside the road in a thicket of grass where he could dump her body. It was meant to be her grave. Wild About Wildlife "The rescuer just saw the tip of the tail," Wild About Wildlife, an animal shelter based in Australia, wrote on Facebook. "It could have been a slow and horrible death." Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades Wild About Wildlife However, on that fateful Monday, Mandy was found and rescued by a member of the Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network, who then took her to Wild About Wildlife for further treatment. Wild About Wildlife "She had bleeding from one ear and was [not] responsive," Lisa Milligan, the founder of Wild About Wildlife, told The Dodo. "[She] was very cold. We put her in front of the fire and gave her some medications. It then was a waiting game to see if she was going to recover." Wild About Wildlife The day after that, she was able to stand - and demand even more to eat. As her appetite continued to grow, she also began to show off more of her charming personality. "Mandy has a very sweet nature and is very trusting with us," Milligan said. In a video shared by the rescue, Mandy's seen standing and giving affectionate licks to one of her caretakers. Wild About Wildlife When Mandy's old enough, she'll be released back into the wild where she belongs. But in the meantime, she's enjoying life at the rescue. In a recent photo, Mandy is even seen catching a few z's alongside her dad after snacking on an especially delicious sampling of grass. Wild About Wildlife "[She has] a long way to go but I feel that she has a fighting spirit," Milligan said. Wild About Wildlife "We all love her," she said. Wild About Wildlife

Mr. Bones & Co.

The white pit bull mix dropped off at Brooklyn Animal Care Center on Tuesday was so small, shelter staff thought he was a puppy at first. Turns out, he's full grown and 2 or 3 years old - and just 24 cuddly pounds. Dodo Shows Foster Diaries Scared Pittie Gets So Happy When He Meets This Guy And His Pack Of Dogs Brooklyn ACC Not much is known about the dog's past, but he was a family dog - abandoned at the city shelter when his owners had housing issues. He was described by shelter staff on intake as "very friendly." He's a total cuddlebug who previously lived with kids and loves other dogs, Marisa Grimshaw of the New York rescue group Mr. Bones & Co. told The Dodo after she visited him at the ACC Friday morning. His name was Mello, but Grimshaw named him Clooney since he's so handsome and charming. Mr. Bones & Co. "He's bouncy and happy but settles down really quickly and immediately wants to sit in your lap," Grimshaw said. "He literally alternated laps between me and Cait, one of our volunteers. He was so eager to give out kisses and put his little paws on our shoulders to get better leverage for smooching!" This browser does not support the video tag. Mr. Bones & Co. "He walked pretty nicely on leash, was happy and curious to be outside, but most interested in saying hello to any person he could!" she added. This browser does not support the video tag. Mr. Bones & Co. For someone who says hes not a car guy, Greg Carrasco is all about automobiles. Hes the general manager of Thornhill Hyundai, hosts an automotive radio show, and has more Twitter followers than any of the automakers in Canada. And he says hes changing the way his dealership sells vehicles. So cars dont interest you, even though theyre your career? It wasnt something that was planned. I had this passion to help people. Im from Chile and I wanted to get into the police force or real estate, but I knew my English wasnt good enough, so I said Lets try the car industry and see what happens. And what did happen? I was a salesperson (for Nissan) in the early 1990s, and I went on a test drive. The customer asked me about gear ratios and I didnt know the answer, so I said Ill ask a technician when we get back. Then he asked about the warranty, and I said, Do you mind if I look at the warranty booklet? Then he asked another question and I didnt know, so he stopped the car and said, Why dont we turn back right now and give me a competent salesperson? I went in the bathroom with my eyes full of tears. That set the groundwork for me to understand the industry from the inside out. Seven years later, I became the top salesperson in the country (for Acura). Now youre running a Hyundai dealership, but not the conventional way. Whats different? No salesperson here is on commission. They get salary, plus bonuses for customer satisfaction. Were also in the process of launching a one-price policy. The commission system is adversarial. Customers who are good at negotiating get a better deal, while those who arent pay more and keep the dealership in business, and I fundamentally disagree with that principle. I do not hire anyone with industry experience. If youve worked at a car dealership before, I will not hire you. I dont want to have to un-train bad habits. Whats the reaction from customers? The biggest thing we hear is, Whats the catch? and there isnt one. We have to fight the deeply-rooted cynicism that our industry has bred. If you want to test drive ten cars, no problem. If you want numbers to cross-shop, no problem. If you come in with a trade, well give you a number, and well buy the trade at that price even if you go to another dealer. Youre on AM640 every Saturday morning. How did you land that? I was doing radio commercials (for the dealership). They were funny, and the station asked if Id come in on one of their shows. I started as a guest and then got my own show. I talk about such things as ways to save money, the difference between leasing and buying, whats the right car to buy. And you have over 71,000 Twitter followers, plus youre verified by Twitter I was a very early adopter of social media, and I can be controversial. I recently tweeted that buying a car without an extended warranty is the automotive version of not wearing a condom. We spend most of our lives afraid of what people will think of you, but Im true to myself and my opinions. If I feel my opinion is helping someone, then my job is done. SHARE: George Takei, the 79-year-old Star Trek actor who has answered to the name of Sulu for 50 years this September, would love to tell you hes never seen anything like Donald Trump before. Unfortunately for the vocal Democratic supporter, Trumps divisive politics are all too familiar. To characterize all Muslims as terrorists is fear-mongering of the worst kind, the actor says today, referencing the campaign policy Trump announced in December calling for a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. Thats what put Japanese-Americans into prison camps during the Second World War, Takei says over the phone from Los Angeles, where he shares a home with his husband and partner of 29 years, Brad Altman. We must not repeat that. At the age of 5, Takei (pronounced Ta-K) was moved with his family to an internment camp. Now 79, he travels the world lecturing on the relocation of 110,000 Japanese-Americans and 22,000 Japanese-Canadians from their homes to those makeshift camps. He juggles those engagements with his perennially popular appearances at Star Trek conventions and his ongoing LGBT activism, the latter of which brings him to Pride Toronto for a talk on June 26. Hes quick to correct this reporters use of the term Japanese internment camps. Not Japanese internment camps, he says. We were American citizens. We were incarcerated by our American government in American internment camps here in the United States. The term Japanese internment camp is both grammatically and factually incorrect. A man like Trump echoes that in our times today, Takei continues. And people are terrorized right now, that is why he is getting all that support. But I like to think the majority of fair-minded Americans will not be swayed by that kind of fear-mongering. During the American election campaign, Takei has used his vast social media following 723,000 followers on Instagram, 1.8 million on Twitter and nearly 10 million on Facebook to popularize the hashtag #VoteBlueNoMatterWho, a call to unify the Democratic party against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. It will be President Clinton, he predicts. Hillary! I just cannot see (Trump) as the president. Takei notes that hes been a civil-rights advocate throughout his life; he cites marching with Martin Luther King Jr. and campaigning for peace during the Vietnam War as two examples. Yet he didnt lend his famous baritone voice to the LGBT community until 2005, when then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed same-sex marriage legislation. In order to protect your acting career you remain silent, he says. There was a hush around homosexuality in Hollywood when Takei first started acting in the 50s. You sense that guy is sort of like me and you become good friends, he recalls. The word (gay) doesnt come up. You like the same kind of movies. The musicals and the romantic movies. Yet under the surface, show business was a natural entree to the underground gay scene. You meet more people, particularly the wardrobe people and the makeup people, who are very gay, he says. You know that you cant be an actor and be gay at the same time, or at least be out. You have to start living a very secretive life with your guard up because you cant be exposed. Yet when Takei ultimately did make his private reality public, he was unprepared for the response. I thought that (coming out) would be the beginning of the decline of my career, he says. And quite the opposite, its flowered! Its blossomed. Totally unexpected. Takeis sense of humour has been partially why hes become a favourite personality to follow in the digital age. His Facebook news feed is a delightful scroll of quirky memes, feel-good clickbait and satirical takes on hot-button politics. While his husband and a team of interns help collect the links, the commentary, he has assured fans, is authentically mine. A fan of British culture, Takei was especially pleased to see Queen Elizabeth become a trending topic in late April when she joined her grandson Prince Harry in a viral video taunting the Obamas in advance of the Invictus Games. I think its charming, he says. Though he has developed a new fan base beyond the Starship Enterprise, his role as Sulu in the original Star Trek series and its six subsequent films remains his legacy. Carrie Fisher wrote in her 2009 memoir Wishful Drinking that when she dies a photo of Princess Leia will be on every TV. How does Takei feel about a similar inevitability with Sulu? Im proud of my relationship with Star Trek! he says. Star Trek is a show that I am philosophically compatible with. Gene Roddenberry continually reminded us that the Star Trek Enterprise was a metaphor for starship Earth. And the strength in this starship came from its diversity, coming together and working in concert as a team. That is the strength of our countries, Canada and the United States. We are nations of diversity. Pride Toronto hosts An Evening with George Takei at 7 p.m. on June 26 at the Ryerson Theatre, 43 Gerrard St. E. Remaining tickets $75 to $120. See PrideToronto.com for complete details. Read more about: SHARE: Opening Indian Acts: Truths in the Age of Reconciliation: If the title of this exhibition seems more than a little charged, fair enough. In the aftermath of last years Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, an exhaustive document that quite rightly laid the blame for decades of mistreatment of aboriginal Canadians at the feet of the federal government, points of re-engagement have started being forged in earnest. This one, curated by Gerald McMaster, former AGO curator of Canadian art and current Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD University, punches above its weight. Though its in a commercial gallery, it has ambitions to address big questions. Or as McMaster, who is Plains Cree and a member of the Siksika First Nation, puts it: Canadian society remained surprisingly oblivious when it came to the nihilistic authority enshrined in the Indian Act. Whether art can help remedy that wilfull ignorance is a long-standing question for a generation of First Nations artists but, with no satisfactory answer, the time is ripe to ask it again, especially with all levels of government scrambling to fund worthy First Nations cultural development initiatives. For McMaster, the post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission era starts now. Featuring works by Sonny Assu, Nicholas Galanin and Geronimo Inutiq, a.k.a. madeskimo. Starts May 28 with opening reception June 4 at 2 p.m. On until July 9 at Katzman Contemporary, 86 Miller St., http://www.katzmancontemporary.com/ katzmancontemporary.com END Events Damned If You Do: A Conversation On the Politics of Refusal Within Art Institutions: With art museums being challenged at every turn over their bygone-era singular authority, its fair to question whether the rising rhetoric of inclusiveness is anything more than lip service. To ask that question, Whippersnapper, a local artist-run centre, is hosting 2016 Sobey Award winner artist Abbas Akhavan, who is Iranian Canadian, and Deanna Bowen, an African-Canadian artist with roots in the U.S., to help shed light on the challenges of expectation from institutions craving the diversity they bring, and the weight of expectation that can put on their shoulders. May 29 at 2:30 p.m. at the Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St. W., http://www.whippersnapper.ca/ whippersnapper.ca END Symposium: Public Exposures: Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge have made a lifelong project of fusing their art practice to real-world causes and public engagement, so it only makes sense that Public Exposures, their career survey lining the walls of 401 Richmond St., would have a public forum built in. On Saturday, a daylong symposium held at OCAD University holds true to their enduring priorities. Art historians, community organizers and organized labour leaders will mix and mingle in a microcosm of the ideal world the couple has envisioned since the start, where art is of the broader people, not of privilege, and all ideas are welcome. May 28, 10 a.m., http://publicexposures.weebly.com/may-28-symposium.html OCAD U Auditorium END , Room 109, 100 McCaul St. SHARE: OTTAWAInterim 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. Ambrose never mentioned Sophie Gregoire Trudeau by name, but her tribute was seen as a thinly veiled critique of the high-profile wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is becoming something of a fashion icon and sought-after speaker in English and French. Conservatives and have been attacking the Liberals in recent weeks after Gregoire Trudeau asked for extra staff to help 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 official 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 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 the party does not have to try to emulate the Trudeaus celebrity to achieve electoral success. You dont have to be flashy to be successful, said Powers, from the convention in Vancouver. He said some Conservatives are overwhelmed by the 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? SHARE: MONTREALThat a struggling rotisserie-chicken restaurant shut down in the heart of the tony Montreal neighbourhood of Outremont was not a shock. Here, like everywhere, businesses thrive or they fail. But the application filed by a Hassidic Jewish group for a permit to install a ritual bath, or mikvah, right across from several trendy restaurants and a well-attended concert hall and theatre set off alarm bells. Nine months later, it has resulted in a series of proposed neighbourhood zoning changes that some say threaten the already tense coexistence between ultra-orthodox Jews, who account for a quarter of Outremonts total population, and residents in an area that is home to many of Montreals francophone elite. Emotions peaked last week when several members of the Jewish community stormed out of a public meeting that had been called to discuss the regulation changes. The proposal would ban places of worship from opening on stretches of Bernard St. and Laurier Ave., two of Outremonts most important commercial arteries. On Monday, the Outremont neighbourhood council will decide whether or not to proceed with the changes, well aware that doing so could spark a divisive community referendum that is unlikely either to resolve the matter and will probably only add to the social friction. Basically it will pit neighbours against neighbours. It will mean a very heated political campaign where everyone will be forced to choose between hurting one neighbour and hurting another neighbour, said Abraham Ekstein, a member of the Hassidic community who has been leading opposition to the regulatory change. Its something were certainly not excited about. Outremont Mayor Marie Cinq-Mars said in an interview that the zoning changes are necessary to support a struggling retail sector, to ensure access to neighbourhood-improvement funding from the city of Montreal, and to maintain a lively urban feel in the community. When you have an empty parking lot followed by a daycare, then two houses, a store and then a place of worship, it doesnt make for a very appealing commercial artery, said Cinq-Mars. Thats the principal reason weve done this. Other supporters note that most places of worship can seek exemptions from property taxes that would otherwise be paid by a regular business, potentially depriving the neighbourhood administration of a vital source of revenue. But members of the Hassidic community, which is comprised of about 800 families, with an average of about six children per family, see a co-ordinated campaign that is using every available tool to push them out of sight and, preferably, out of Outremont, where they have been part of the cultural fabric since immigrants from Europe began settling in the area after the Second World War. In the last 10 or 12 years, whatever could be done to make life miserable for the Jews especially for the religious Jews has been done, said Alex Werzberger, of the Coalition of Outremont Hassidic Organizations. The bitter debate in Quebec over reasonable accommodations for religious minorities was sparked a decade ago in part by a request from the Hassidic community that the local YMCA, which is on the border with Outremont, install frosted glass so that young boys would be shielded from women in workout gear. Since then, the community says it has been targeted with traffic tickets and other proposed bylaws and initiatives intended to limit or stamp out religious displays by a large and growing segment of the population. Theres a certain very vocal minority of people who are not happy with our presence, I guess, said Ekstein. We dont know why. We are very peaceful neighbours. Daniel Major, one of the Outremont residents who has rallied support for the zoning changes, warned against mistaking support for local business for a targeted campaign against a religious group. Its just that we want Laurier and Bernard to remain commercial, collegial and open to all. In general, places of worship are closed off, not open to the public or at least all of the public. Its for a certain category of people who are of that religion. Earlier this spring, the zoning change was set to be adopted by Outremonts elected council with an additional measure designating an out-of-the-way two-block section of an industrial area as the go-to place for new places of worship. At the last minute, though, officials realized that the zoning lines passed through the middle of existing buildings, meaning that the proposed changes had to be re-introduced this time without the offer of an alternative zone for religious gathering places. This omission has the Hassidic community extremely worried, despite promises from the mayor that a dedicated section of the neighbourhood will be established once the zoning problems are fixed, said Mindy Pollak, an elected Outremont councillor, who is also a Hassidic Jew. People say that these are commercial streets, so why should we put (synagogues) there? I completely agree that they might not be the best places, but they have to put them somewhere and if its not allowed in the whole rest of the borough, thats just unacceptable. Equally unacceptable is the idea or even the possibility of an expanding religious presence in secular Quebec, a province where God once ruled almighty but now tiptoes in the margins. You cant say it will be just one (place of worship). After, it could be a mosque, a Jehovahs Witness Kingdom Hall or something else, said Danielle Barot, co-owner of Laurier Ave.s Lemeac Restaurant and an executive member of the streets business association. The question is whether its appropriate to open religious gathering places on a commercial street. I think that right now, because were in 2016, its not appropriate. Read more about: SHARE: VANCOUVERConservative leadership candidates and hopefuls cruised convention halls here calling for a more inclusive Conservative party as grassroots members got a hard look at what went wrong. But it was the voice of Uruzurum Heer, a 47-year-old woman from Brampton, that rang loudest, condemning the identity politics that the party practised in the last campaign. At an election review session where party officials candidly acknowledged the past campaign was fraught with numerous strategic and tactical mistakes, Heers voice shook with emotion as she tore a strip off the national partys decision-makers. This last election campaign was a disaster, said Heer, a delegate who works for Brampton MP Kyle Seeback. Im also a Muslim and this campaign targeted us, unfairly. Listening in the audience were defeated immigration minister Chris Alexander, who announced a police snitch line for so-called barbaric cultural practices, and former campaign director Jenni Byrne. This party worked actively and aggressively against my people, Heer said. When some in the audience objected it didnt, she insisted, it did, it did. It went against jihadis, terrorists; it didnt differentiate who Muslims were versus the enemies. We dont support terrorism either. That negative campaign drove many of Canadas 1.1 million Muslims who might never have cast a ballot to vote against the party, she said, as she challenged the partys claim to being inclusive. At this convention there are probably less than a handful of us. Think about it. Is this party really reaching out to everybody? This country belongs to everyone, including me. For the first time I felt that I didnt belong here, and this is my country. Its unfair. It was unfair to my people, said Heer, who wore a bright blue head scarf and struggled to hold back tears. It might be eight or 10 years before this party comes back. I want you to think about how you will treat and how you will include everyone. Party executive director Dustin Van Vugt, who had given a blunt rundown of the errors made in the past campaign, struggled to reply to her. He pointed to Markham-Unionville MP Bob Saroya, of South Asian descent, who took a Liberal-held seat. Is there one answer I can give today? Theres no answer I can give today, other than we know we have to win and to win we need a very large tent that includes everybody. Reporters caught up with Byrne afterward who said the campaign had absolutely no choice but to speak on the wearing of a niqab, or Muslim head scarf, because of a Federal Court decision that overturned a federal policy to disallow women wearing head scarves in public citizenship ceremonies. We had to react because of the court case, said Byrne. It was a long-standing policy that we made an announcement on. She dashed into an elevator and avoided further questions. Interim leader Rona Ambrose declared onstage here that the Conservatives are already the party of women and new Canadians, and policies that support them. But she said the party didnt do a good enough job of communicating that in the last campaign. However, Ambroses view doesnt matter as much as the view of those in the race to become the full-time leader and replace Stephen Harper. Of three declared candidates for the leadership, two are putting inclusiveness at the heart of their campaigns Michael Chong and Kellie Leitch. Chongs message is clear. The goal of my leadership campaign to attract a new generation of conservatives to the party and attract new voters to our party, said Chong in an interview with the Star. Look, Ive got the lived experience; Im a kid of immigrant parents. I grew up as a mixed-race kid in rural Ontario. He says telling his story will draw new voters. Leitch pointed to the partys decision to finally debate a move to drop as party policy the traditional definition of marriage a union of a man and woman as evidence the party is open and inclusive. The third declared candidate, libertarian Maxime Bernier, is selling a message of small government. Businessman Kevin OLeary, the former Dragons Den star, is touted as a possible leadership candidate, but he has not declared officially. He told CPAC television that he bought his membership card in the Conservative party in the past 48 hours, and is now a shareholder. He said he is motivated to take the stage as a Canadian resident and taxpayer who opposes job-killing tax policies of the federal and Ontario Liberals that scares away jobs. . . . It just pisses me off. Other potential leadership candidates are still in the wings, including former Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, Lisa Raitt, Tony Clement and Michelle Rempel. But most eyes here are on those who have not yet declared and are clearly struggling with their decisions: Jason Kenney and Peter MacKay. Kenney told reporters here that he will make a decision by the end of the summer, that a year is too long to campaign, and that if there was another candidate who would carry the banner for values he embraces, he would not run. That may be his good friend Scheer, sources have told the Star. In an interview with the Star, MacKay sounded like the indecisive Danish prince struggling mightily with whether to enter the fray. The reasons I left politics are the same reasons Im reluctant to come back. I have a very young family, I did it for 18 years, and I have to, at 50, consider whats in the best interests of my family. I know the toll that it takes and I admire people who do it with young kids, including the prime minister (Trudeau). I think its commendable, but it comes at a cost, as Mr. Harper spoke about last night, said MacKay. MacKay spoke wryly about the impact of OLearys possible entry into the race, given the unilingual businessmans remarks dismissing Conservative MPs. I think its unhelpful and distracting and not really in the direction I see our party going. SHARE: VANCOUVERThe Conservative Party gave itself a makeover, donning a more moderate and modern face as grassroots members voted overwhelmingly to ditch the traditional definition of marriage from the partys policy book. The resolution effectively means the party of Canadas political right recognizes that same-sex marriage is a legal and social reality and drops any commitment to preserve marriage for one man and one woman. After an emotional debate, the vote was not even close: 1,036-462, with a majority of provincial delegations supporting the move that leadership candidate Maxime Bernier told the hall was all about freedom and respect. Its about us telling to Canadians you can love who you want, and you can be loved, he said. The resolution passed in large measure because it was a compromise that recognized the freedom of religious organizations to refuse to perform unions or allow the use of their facilities for events incompatible with their faith and beliefs. When the results were announced, the hall erupted in whoops, and loud and sustained applause. The resolution had won the support of social conservative delegates like Jordan Schroeder, a law student and young delegate from Vancouver Quadra, who described himself as a traditional Christian with traditional views on marriage. But I also think we live in a liberal society not Liberal meaning Justin Trudeau, but meaning freedom for everyone and respect for other peoples points of view and the way they live their life. I have two definitions of marriage, and thats what I defend in my church. I defend it at Trinity Western University . . . but then I also have a public definition of marriage, a Canadian definition of marriage, and thats something that we all come together and agree on. Peter MacKay, a founder of the party and potential leadership candidate identified with the partys progressive wing, said he was thrilled with the vote. I think its a sign of the party thats matured. Bernier said it would help the party be more competitive in the next election. Some had warned of a dire political price to pay with the loss of the social conservative vote, but interim leader Rona Ambrose said she was not at all concerned that would result because the debate had been handled in a very respectful way. In an interview with the Star, Ambrose said it might be difficult for some people, but everyone Ive talked to said they understand this is the change, they respect the vote and were a united party and we move forward. One delegate had called the resolution an attack on our values and principle . . . family, faith and community. Another opponent said while it protects religious institutions, it didnt protect individual conscience rights. He said Christian bakers would not be able to refuse a request for a gay couples wedding cake, leaving them open to litigation. Still another said support for traditional marriage was not about discrimination against gays, but man-woman marriage is about children knowing and being raised by both a mother and a father, he said. In the end, however, members rejected warnings it would cost the party the backing of its social conservative wing. In another surprising reversal of traditional party policy long supported by Stephen Harpers government, Conservative members voted to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession, endorsing ticketing as a sanction, after former public safety minister Steven Blaney and Julian Fantino, former Toronto police chief, supported the move publicly. Still, the party did not shift to the centre on other issues. An effort to modify its opposition to assisted suicide didnt make it to the full convention floor. A resolution to protect conscience rights for doctors and nurses to refuse to offer or refer patients for abortion, assisted suicide rights, or euthanasia did pass. So did resolutions to affirm the partys support for legally owned firearms, a statement that civilian firearms ownership is a Canadian heritage; a belief in the value and dignity of all human life as a core party principle in its constitution; support for pipelines, including the Energy East project that is controversial in Quebec; and explicit opposition to gender-selective abortion. Members voted to abolish the Indian Act, and to require a mandatory referendum in advance of any electoral reform. The only pollution policy did not specifically address climate change or greenhouse gases. It pledges to fight ground-level ozone, particulate matter that causes smog, and to enact stringent vehicle fuel efficiency and exhaust emission standards. But it was the debate on marriage that was the fiercest, most emotional and defining discussion of the convention in a workshop Friday and on the convention floor Saturday. Two of the partys leading social conservatives, Jason Kenney and Andrew Scheer, had said it was high time to update the partys stance on marriage to reflect modern reality and doubted there would be significant fallout. Kenney told reporters it was a no-brainer, adding there was no point having a party declaration that uses obsolete language about something that was changed in law and society a decade ago. Youre never going to get complete unanimity in any party. On any given day on any given issue there are people who come and go on the margins of the party but that will not affect at all the core or the breadth of the coalition, said Kenney. Eric Lorenzen, an executive member of LGBTory which had been pushing for the change, addressed the convention and said as a gay Conservative I find it troubling that the party of which Ive been a member for almost 40 years has a policy that tells me my relationship with my partner is not valued, my civil rights are of no concern. He said the party doesnt have any negative policy towards any other group. A young female delegate who did not identify herself told delegates, I come from a country where homosexuals are hanged, where homosexuals are persecuted. We come here for freedom & equality. I support my friends and family who are in this community because it is a fundamental right and government does not have a place in your bedroom. Jack Fonseca, of Kitchener-Centre, warned the vote would gut the Conservative party of social conservatives, driving them away, their votes, their volunteerism, their activism . . . theyll stay home on election day and leave the Conservative party a rump . . . and ensure Liberal rule for a generation. But a self-declared social conservative delegate said: Im standing in favour of this . . . its a workable compromise. Party elder and Reform Party founder Preston Manning did not discount an impact on the party of the marriage policy change, saying it would depend on how it is interpreted. He said the party should have taken it a step further and said the state has nothing to do with defining marriage, a measure he said would have satisfied both social conservatives and libertarians in the party. He said eventually, that is where the party should end up. As a Christian I define marriage a certain way and I continue to do that regardless of what the states position is. It was clear some were not happy. Rod Bruinooge, a former MP who once chaired the partys pro-life caucus, refused to comment, leaving the room and the convention shortly after the vote. Conservative MP Brad Trost had made a spirited pitch to retain the partys support for the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. He dismissed arguments based on equality, likening it to socialist arguments on income equality, and warning it could lose support from a key portion of its voter base. But several sitting MPs were satisfied with the outcome. Candice Bergen it was the right policy to pass, it was the right time. Deepak Obhrai said it brings the partys stance in line with human rights and brings it to where the Canadian public is. As the convention closed, Kenney said the message to take away was that the party is in a good position to be competitive in the 2019 election, pointing to a surprisingly high number of delegates here. He said it remains a fundraising juggernaut with happy and engaged members, the most youth members ever. This is an incredible sign of health and vitality in the party which frankly many of us were not expecting. And Ill be honest with you, I think I and some others were expecting this to be a bit of a wake, a bit of a funeral reception and it doesnt feel like that at all. It feels like the party that Stephen Harper put together has gelled and its growing. Among other policies the Conservatives adopted here, was a call for a mandatory requirement for a national referendum prior to any future electoral reform, and the passage of a new debt pay-down goal to drop a 20 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio as the target, in favour of declining debt-to-GDP ratio, which one member argued gives the party more flexibility. It happens also to be the goal that the Liberals have set for themselves in the last federal budget. In Winnipeg, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mocked the debates going on at the Conservative convention. Our Conservative friends are also meeting this weekend. Theyre in Vancouver where, among other things, theyre debating the merits of marriage equality. In 2016. More than a decade after we made same-sex marriage legal in Canada. Well . . . better late than never, right? he said. Who knows 10 years from now, they might finally be willing to admit that climate change is real. Or that tax cuts for rich people dont help the middle class. Or that government shouldnt legislate what women are allowed to wear on their heads. We can hope, my friends. We can hope. Ambrose retorted the Conservative government had a 10-year record tackling climate change and the Trudeau government has done nothing to date. Hes running on our record right now; he took our plan to Paris and gloated about it and bragged about it. Read more about: SHARE: ONBOARD HMCS WINDSORA Canadian submarine was on the front lines as NATO allies scrambled last fall to track a surge of Russian subs that had deployed into the North Atlantic, the Star has learned. HMCS Windsor, already in European waters for a NATO exercise, was re-tasked on a mission to try to track the Russian vessels. Rear-Adm. John Newton, commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic, called the movement of Russian submarines historically significant. There was a quite a surge of Russian strategic power . . . it was moving a lot of boats around the North Atlantic, he told the Star this week. On the move were five Russian attack submarines, a show of force that might have been Moscows response to Trident Juncture, NATOs largest exercise in a decade, involving 36,000 personnel from more than 30 nations. But with the Russian boats active, the exercise turned real as NATO nations responded with ships and aircraft. That included the HMCS Windsor, one of four Victoria-class submarines operated by the Royal Canadian Navy, which had been taking part in the NATO drill. Near the end, we were working bilaterally, nation-to-nation, in European waters when the opportunity came up to deal with a surge of undersea activity in the North Atlantic, Newton said. Our role is to go with the alliance . . . and participate in coordinated surveillance, tracking, intelligence gathering, he said. The Star was among several media outlets invited onboard HMCS Windsor this week to get a glimpse of submarine life as it cruised underwater in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia. The extent of Canada's role in last falls maritime cat-and-mouse game has not previously been disclosed. For HMCS Windsor, the tasking set in motion a search far below the rolling ocean surface, as its crew used sophisticated sonar gear to listen for the telltale sounds of a Russian boat hiding in the depths. And the submarine had a more capable set of ears, so to speak, thanks to a sonar system installed in 2014, the same gear used on the U.S. Virginia-class nuclear submarines, Newton said. The upgraded sonar enables the crew of HMCS Windsor to pick up contacts at a longer distance and detect the telltale sounds of engines, even the noises of bearings, air pumps and hydraulic motors, to determine the classification of a ship, sometimes even the exact ship. During its mission, HMCS Windsor prowled the area from the North Sea down to the Strait of Gibraltar, the strategic gateway to the Mediterranean. Lt.-Cmdr. Peter Chu, commanding officer of the HMCS Windsor, says the boat was a major part of NATOs effort to track, follow and respond. The situation evolved, matured. Canada presented the asset to NATO and off we went, Chu said in an interview. What is really important is that Canada had an asset HMCS Windsor that was responding, tactically and operationally ready, and were able to do whatever NATO wanted, he said. The Star has learned that a CP-140 Aurora aircraft dispatched overseas last November at the request of Great Britain was also employed in the search to detect and track the Russian subs. The surveillance aircraft purpose-built as a sub hunter and upgraded with new electronics to better search for targets was deployed to the Royal Air Force base at Lossiemouth in northern Scotland. The defence department has refused to talk about the aircrafts role, saying only that it routinely conducts operations and exercises with the British, a statement it repeated to the Star on Friday. Last falls surge by Russia comes as American and NATO military leaders are sounding the alarm about heightened levels of activity by the Russian submarine fleet that boast new capabilities and more proficient crews. The commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe told CNN last month that Russia is deploying its submarines in numbers not seen in decades. The submarines that we're seeing are much more stealthy, Adm. Mark Ferguson told the news network. We're seeing (the Russians) have more advanced weapons systems, missile systems that can attack land at long ranges, and we also see their operating proficiency is getting better as they range farther from home waters, Ferguson said. The drama also happened against the backdrop of heightened tensions between NATO nations and Russia over Moscows aggression against Ukraine. Newton said last falls events underscore the role of the subs to covertly gather intelligence that is then shared with allies. Its a very clandestine battle. You never want to show your adversary you detect them, Newton said. Neither Chu nor Newton would say whether HMCS Windsor was able to detect and track one of the Russian vessels. We definitely were a major contributor. Everything with regards to the deployment was very successful, Chu said. But Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, suggests that HMCS Windsor was successful in its mission. In a new video to highlight the navy, Norman singles out the submarines work last fall. The operational success of HMCS Windsor in particular is worthy of recognition, Norman says. She was employed to help our NATO partners keep tabs on a very important vessel that was transiting through NATOs operating areas, Norman said. HMCS Windsor returned to its Halifax home in December after 101 days at sea, the longest mission yet for Canadas Victoria-class submarines and the high point of a maritime program burdened by its share of troubles. Getting subs bought second-hand from the British operational has cost money and the life of a Canadian sailor, who was killed in 2004 when fire broke out on HMCS Chicoutimi. But navy commanders are hoping the worst is behind them as they now exploit the capabilities of the sub fleet. For this boat, that was the peak of its operational readiness . . . to be employed directly in a task important to NATO, important to our bilateral relations with the French, the British and the Americans, Newton said. She was doing her job. Read more about: SHARE: VANCOUVERWith Stephen Harpers farewell behind them, the Conservatives gathered in Vancouver for a post-defeat convention to begin to take stock of his would-be successors and find at least for now sparse offerings on the leadership shelf. Harper never groomed an heir. It was not his style. Given that he was seeking a fourth mandate, it was also not in his interest. Had the party won re-election last fall, the victory would inevitably have set off a countdown to his retirement. Until the October federal vote, his focus was on securing a final victory. Party insiders implicitly acknowledged the need to fully air the succession issue when they opted for a longer-than-average campaign. But one of the collateral consequences of pushing off the vote to next spring is that this convention does not feature the full slate of leadership aspirants. At least that is what the delegates are hoping. At this juncture, none of the three declared candidates is generating what could be described as a convention buzz. MPs Maxime Bernier, Michael Chong and Kellie Leitch will receive plenty of encouragement this weekend but precious few solid endorsements. With a year to go to the actual leadership vote, most Conservatives are keeping their options open. It would come as an unpleasant shock to many of them if, in the end, their choices boiled down to the three currently declared candidates. For this is a party that believes it does have a shot at coming back to power in four years. Even if it rarely pans out, thats an assumption common to most recently defeated governing parties. Fresh out of a decade in government, the Conservatives are in the market for a prime minister-in-waiting. The former junior ministers who make up the first trio out of the gate will need the next year to try to convince party members that one of them could readily step into Harpers shoes. That is not to say that there is a consensus dream candidate in sight even among the so-called bigger names floating around. Former attorney-general Peter MacKay shows well in post-election polls but less well on the momentum scale within the party. For many Conservatives, replacing Harper with MacKay who was the last leader of the former Progressive Conservative party would fail the test of generational change. The same is even truer of former Treasury Board president Tony Clement. With two leadership defeats under his belt (in Ontario and at the federal level) he has yet, in spite of otherwise effective performance in front-line politics, managed to offset a charisma deficit. Some have in the past predicted that if Jason Kenney wanted the leadership it would be his for the asking. And indeed Harpers former go-to minister is more popular within party ranks than his low standing in the polls would suggest. But if the mood at this convention is any indication, a coronation is not in the works for anyone. If Kenney, who says he will make his intentions clear in late summer, does run, many will want to kick his campaign tires hard before they buy into his leadership bid. If only because he regularly reminds the Conservatives that he is flirting with a run, corporate Canadas reality TV king Kevin OLeary has them debating whether he would be a welcome addition to the lineup. By all indications, the jury is still very much out on that. In his parting speech to the Conservatives, Harper himself did not tip his hand. His text was scrupulously free of prescriptions that could polarize the succession debate or tie the hands of the next leader. But the former prime minister did set one bar high over the course of his address and it is the one pertaining to language skills. Switching seamlessly from English to French throughout his farewell speech, Harper singled out the partys progress in Quebec as one of the accomplishments he is the most proud. Even in opposition, the party still boasts a significant Quebec footprint. That stands as close as Harper could come to warning the Conservatives to beware of candidates like OLeary, among others, who would want to sell them on the delusion that a nonbilingual leader could maintain the partys hard-earned connection to Quebec. Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Read more about: SHARE: A slew of fights in the downtown core overnight including two stabbings kept Toronto police and paramedics busy into the early hours of Saturday morning. Shortly before 2 a.m., a man in his 40s was stabbed in the neck during a bar fight near Yonge St. and St. Clair Ave. He was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital in serious condition, according to paramedics. Two suspects one male, one female were arrested in connection with the stabbing, according to police. The male was also taken to hospital with minor injuries sustained during the fight. Just over an hour later, three men were wounded in a brawl near College St. and Borden Ave. Staff Sgt. Andrew Stinson said two of them had been punched out beaten unconscious. One, in his 30s, had to be rushed to hospital with serious injuries. The other was treated at the scene. Another man, in his 20s, had been stabbed but suffered only minor injuries. He was taken by ambulance to hospital. Five suspects fled east on College St. Stinson said two male suspects had been arrested, but gave no other details. Smaller, unrelated fights, near the Scarborough Junction and the Fashion District, also kept emergency responders occupied, although none resulted in serious injuries. Paramedics on the overnight shift were nonetheless swamped with calls of all descriptions, according to spokesperson John Migliore. Its been busy with everything, lets put it that way, Migliore said. SHARE: A former lead police investigator probing the 2001 arson of Hamiltons Hindu Samaj Temple was involved in a cocaine-fuelled sexual relationship with a crucial informant in the case, months before charges were laid in November 2013, according to findings by a police watchdog. Ian Matthews, a beloved cop known to friends as Blarney, walked into Hamiltons Central police station on Dec. 17, 2013, and killed himself the day after then-chief Glenn De Caire gave his authorization to notify Matthews he was under investigation for his highly inappropriate and possibly criminal relationship with the woman. The relationship between Matthews and the informant, who can be identified under court order only as Jane Doe, is alleged to have included two incidents of sexual assault. Matthews was also found to have been funneling confidential information about the arson investigation to the woman, even though he was no longer assigned to the case after becoming a uniformed staff sergeant in the Central division. The woman knew the three arson suspects and provided police with vital information about the high-profile case. A Hamilton Spectator investigation two years in the making now raises serious questions about Matthews misbehaviour, how it was handled by police and whether his misconduct compromised the outcome of the temple arson case. Ramesh Panchal, president of the Hindu Samaj Temple, says hes now concerned because the information about Matthews was never disclosed to his community by the Crown or police. This is really explosive, and I am shocked, said Panchal, who learned of the allegations recently, when contacted by the Spectator. The three suspects had their arson charges withdrawn in 2014 and accepted deals to plead guilty instead to mischief charges. According to the agreed statement of facts, the incident began at the Hamilton Mosque, where they were drinking and throwing beer bottles at a window. They then drove to the nearby Hindu temple, drank some more and tossed a Molotov cocktail at the door, starting a blaze that burned for some time. They each received sentences of three years probation and 80 hours of community service, and were required to make $10,000 charitable donations. The Hindu temple, reportedly mistaken for a mosque, was destroyed by fire just four days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Jane Does allegations have been investigated by Hamilton police, Niagara Region Police and the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, a civilian oversight agency. The OIPRD has now substantiated several of her claims in two investigative reports completed in February after she filed a complaint in 2015. Following an investigation of Jane Does complaint, the OIPRD determined that Matthews was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her that involved sex, drugs and money. The report also determined that Matthews provided Jane Doe with investigative information about the arson case, even though he was no longer the assigned investigator. The OIPRD determined there was sufficient evidence to find that Matthews engaged in discreditable conduct and breach of confidentiality. Because Matthews was deceased, no further actions were taken. The Spectator has viewed some of the hundreds of text messages exchanged between Matthews and Jane Doe that also support her claims. She approached the Spectator with serious allegations about Matthews in several interviews shortly after his death two years ago. Jane Doe alleges that on one occasion, Matthews assaulted her sexually with the barrel of his service pistol. She alleges some of the cocaine they used was stolen by Matthews from confiscated narcotics held at the police station and that on one occasion at his house, he brought out a Ziploc bag of cocaine with Evidence scrawled across it. On more than one occasion, she alleges Matthews drove with her to an ATM, withdrew money and gave it to her to buy cocaine. She also alleges she once watched Matthews purchase cocaine from a dealer. Jane Doe alleges Matthews gave her hundreds of dollars during their brief relationship, which appeared to have come from him personally, and that she was told she would eventually be able to claim a $30,000 reward for her role. Text messages she received from Matthews also show he was contacting Crime Stoppers and lying about his connection to her to help facilitate a reward. At the time the three men were charged, at least five high-ranking Hamilton police officers including De Caire, a deputy chief and two superintendents had been aware for more than a month of the allegations of drug use and an inappropriate sexual relationship between Matthews and the informant. Kevin McKenna, the Crown attorney who offered the plea deals, was also aware of the allegations against Matthews but says they played no role in my thinking or in the conduct of this case or in the conduct of the investigation. Jane Doe has now launched a lawsuit against Hamilton police and De Caire, which is currently sealed from public view. In October 2013, two months before Matthews killed himself, De Caire asked Niagara police to conduct an independent external investigation of Jane Does allegations. De Caire, now the designate director of security and parking at McMaster University, declined to comment, and asked the Spectator to direct its questions to the Hamilton Police Service. A Hamilton police spokesperson said the laws governing complaints against officers prevent the service from commenting. McKenna said the defence lawyers were aware of the allegations relating to Matthews they knew about them before I did, he said and they were discussed during the negotiations between the Crown and the defence. McKenna said he didnt tell the temple community about the allegations against Matthews because they were totally irrelevant and inconsequential to the proceedings. The Crown attorney is adamant that Matthews misconduct with Jane Doe did not compromise the arson investigation. He also said he wasnt concerned the allegations about Matthews could have become public if the case had gone to trial. If it came out, it came out, said McKenna. I had no interest in trying to protect his character or his legacy. Davin Charney, a Toronto lawyer representing Jane Doe, said hes deeply troubled with the lack of police transparency. Why is it left for the victim in all of this to bring to the publics attention this outrageous police misconduct? Charney asked. If it wasnt for Jane Doe, no one would even know about this stuff. Correction May 30, 2016: The headline on this article was edited from a previous version that incorrectly suggested the police officers suicide was result of his drug-fuelled relationship with a key informant. SHARE: The Ministry of Labour is investigating after a man in his 50s died after falling three storeys from the roof of a house in Etobicoke on Friday afternoon. According to Toronto police, the incident happened around 4:50 p.m. near Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Tenth St., just west of Islington Ave. The victim was initially found unconscious, but breathing, on the sidewalk between two houses. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe that he was working on the roof of one of houses when he fell to his death after a ladder was discovered in the general vicinity. Earlier this month, a 28-year-old construction worker was left in critical condition after he fell four storeys from a midtown construction site near Broadway Ave and Redpath Ave. In a separate incident on May 10, another man was killed in a construction-related accident near Goreway Dr. and Burlwood Rd. in Brampton. SHARE: What the hell was that all about? Its a question you might have asked yourself after Police Chief Mark Saunders news conference Friday, which was hijacked by a couple of activists whose persistent questioning and arguing left virtually no room for Saunders to answer, for minutes on end. The journalists in attendance were left to stand around waiting for a chance to get actual information, and the chief was left standing as the event drifted along, to seemingly no purpose. Of course, the same question about Thursdays massive co-ordinated raids on 43 unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries the subject of the news conference was also left without a satisfying answer. What the hell was that all about? The chief and his lead drug detective at the conference were all about numbers: 43 search warrants executed, 90 people arrested, more than 200 charges laid, $160,000 in cash seized, plus 269 kilos of pot, 24 kilos of hash, 30 kilos of resin, and so on, right along to 142 kilos of cookies baked with cannabis in them. This was clearly a massive deployment of police resources, executing 43 near-simultaneous raids. By contrast, the famous Project Traveller guns-and-gangs raids in 2013 which turned up more than 40 guns saw fewer than half as many people arrested, on four fewer warrants. The raids on Malvern gang members in 2004, described then as the largest anti-gang operation in Toronto history, saw 65 arrests. So this operation was bigger than those. But in those cases, in addition to drugs, the arrests were targeting people police claimed were violent gang members, with the guns seized in the raids as evidence. In this one, Project Claudia? Well, in this case, there were 72 kilos of chocolate seized. By all accounts, the parties were guilty, essentially, of a licensing and zoning failure. Medical marijuana is legal in Canada, but only certain licensed suppliers are able to sell it, and then only by mail neither storefronts nor advertising are allowed. This is inconvenient for both those who as their doctors have certified by writing prescriptions and Canadian courts have recognized suffer unnecessarily without pot, and those who try to provide it. The larger context is that one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus highest profile campaign promises was to legalize and regulate marijuana sales, not just for those with medical prescriptions, but for recreational adult users. So we might expect impending changes to the law. The legal status and planned changes, it seems to me, recognize the blatantly obvious reality that whatever the health risks of broader marijuana use (balanced by the therapeutic benefits of some uses), it poses no significant public safety threat that requires criminal prohibition and enforcement. And indeed, Chief Saunders did not claim any public safety justification for the raids, instead citing the possible health risk of products with unknown strength, in which the THC level can vary. Further, we learned during the news conference, there had been neighbour complaints about the dispensaries, in some cases petitions with more than 50 names on them. One assumes those satisfied dozens of petitioners, now that the reefer boutiques have been shuttered, can go back to filing complaints about uncut grass and proposed third-storey additions and the other petty nonsense complainy neighbours get agitated about. Bully for them. But was anyone, anywhere, made safer by these raids? Almost certainly not. If anything, this will drive at least some of the trade in marijuana back into the street market, where THC levels are also unregulated, but with the added risks associated with street drug dealing the ones those other big gun-and-gang raids of the type I mentioned before are meant to target. Those 90 people arrested who Saunders seemed to emphasize were not dangerous criminals in any conventional sense, by pointing out how the raids had been designed specifically so they were quickly processed and released will now face the trauma of arrest, the expense of defending themselves, and will have criminal arrest (and possibly conviction) records that they carry with them as they try to get jobs, cross borders, and so on. Life is suddenly more dangerous and more difficult for most everyone involved. To deal with a few points far too quickly: the war on drugs, on the whole, is an epic disaster and threat to public safety, and should be abandoned; the legal situation of marijuana dispensing is far from as clear-cut as were being told, because courts have consistently ruled that the government cannot prevent reasonable access to medical marijuana, as lawyer Dan Stein pointed out in a blog post; and, notwithstanding those rulings, the dispensaries involved were well aware they were operating in a potentially dangerous legal grey area, outside existing regulations and licensing requirements. In fact, one gets the impression that last point is one reason such large numbers had sprung up so quickly. As the government prepares to bring in a new regime for how legal marijuana is regulated, pot store owners want to stake their claim to a business model to ensure they have a chance of being part of the new regime. Such a disruptive business approach carries risks, and warnings from city hall this week that they should shut down should have made those risks clear. But its also true that the last company to take such an approach in the face of licensing requirements they didnt like was Uber, who, rather than having its owners and drivers raided and arrested on a large scale, was rewarded with rule changes allowing the service to operate legally. In a city where routine petty law-breaking that actually endangers people (parking in bike lanes, say) is routinely ignored by police, and where distressing levels of serious law-breaking at the other end of the spectrum (the rate of gun violence this year, for instance) is so far not being contained by police, the question is: Why did the police department and the city decide that these were the infractions they wanted to target with a massive crackdown operation? What the hell is this really all about? The answer still isnt clear. Edward Keenan writes on city issues ekeenan@thestar.ca . Follow: @thekeenanwire SHARE: Two victims of a motorcycle crash one of them a minor were rushed to hospital with serious injuries Friday night after a motorcycle crash at an intersection north of Eglinton East. Toronto police Const. Allison Douglas-Cook said officers got a call about a motorcycle crash around 10 p.m. Emergency responders had differing accounts of how the two victims factor into the crash. While police maintained they were riding the motorcycle when it slammed into a vehicle, paramedics said that the two were pedestrians whod been hit by the motorcycle. Photos from reporters at the scene show a motorcycle lying on a concrete lane divider near the intersection. A dark station wagon or crossover was also parked at the scene. Douglas-Cook said that the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene, and spoke with police. Roads in the area are expected to be closed for several hours. SHARE: Nuka Fennell, a 24-year-old gay Inuk, gambled on a new life when he left his home in Iqaluit at 16 and moved south. He had struggled to find acceptance in Canadas Far North, where many have been taught that homosexuality is incompatible with traditional Inuit culture. I chose to be homeless in Ottawa as opposed to going back home because I just felt like it was the only way I would be able to survive, Fennell says in a new documentary exploring the complexities of being both queer and Inuit. People treated me like my identity was a condition, he adds, explaining he was the victim of discrimination and violence in high school before moving away. Fennell is one of the subjects of Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things, the documentary making its premiere at Torontos Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. The film focuses on Iqaluits attempt to re-establish Pride celebrations in 2014 after a hiatus of several years. It also examines how some residents are actively unshaming themselves and learning to bridge the gap between their sexual and cultural identities. The documentarys title alludes to non-normative sexual identities in Inuit history: according to Jesse Mike, an Inuit woman profiled in the film, two soft things rubbing against each other is the literal translation of an Inuktitut term for lesbian relationships, while two hard things rubbing against each other signifies gay male sexuality. One theme that emerges strongly in the film is the influence of the Catholic Church in Canadas Far North, and the impact it has had on attitudes towards sexual diversity. The people who have a problem with it are really religious, says Joshua Komangapik, a 22-year-old gay Inuk who does not appear in the film. He had some misgivings about moving back to his birthplace of Iqaluit because of his sexuality. Theres people who tell me its not right, but they say its against God and Jesus. The film makes clear that many believe one legacy of colonialism in the territory has been homophobia. Prior to the growing influence of the church in the 1950s, which occurred in tandem with a federal program of forced relocation of Inuit communities, many say that polygamous marriages and same-sex relationships were accepted in Inuit culture. Ive talked with elders and theyve told me that traditionally (gay sexuality) happened, says Komangapik. Bringing up such issues can be challenging. I think what surprised me the most was that being critical of Christianity struck me as equally, or more taboo, than discussing LGBTQ issues, says Mark Kenneth Woods, who co-directed Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things with Michael Yerxa. I had expected that the community would embrace traditional Inuit spirituality alongside Christianity, but it seems that even looking back to those spiritual traditions is somewhat taboo. But there is evidence that attitudes towards LGBT people are changing in the region. A 2002 study by Dr. Madeleine Cole at Baffin Regional Hospital reflects this shift, showing that 85 per cent of Inuit high school students surveyed at three schools on Baffin Island responded that homosexuality was natural and acceptable. Still, widespread acceptance is not yet common. When a local politician raised a Pride flag at Iqaluit City Hall in 2014 in support of LGBT athletes at the Sochi Olympics, a heated public discussion ensued. When the newly formed territory of Nunavut was about to implement its human rights act in 2003 (at a time when same-sex marriage was just being legalized in Canada), sexual orientation was missing from the legislation. Local politician and folk hero Jack Anawak took to the floor of the Nunavut legislative assembly to fight for its inclusion. Because we function in the most challenging environment in the world, I believe our ability to be flexible, accommodating, adaptable and progressive under our conditions formed the foundation of our success and that these were the keys to our very survival, Anawak said while addressing fellow legislators. He called upon traditional Inuit values in urging the inclusion of LGBT people in the legislation, arguing back against those who claimed being gay was in direct opposition to those values. Meanwhile, other LGBT Inuit have found quiet acceptance in northern communities. I never really came out. I just grew up with it, says Dwayne Nowdlak. My family always accepted me for who I am. The 28-year-old gay Inuk is originally from the small hamlet of Pangnirtung but now lives in Iqaluit with his fiance and 6-month-old adopted daughter. Everyone loves my daughter, so they dont really judge our relationship, he says of his family. He also thinks that living in such a small city works to his advantage. Everyone knows everybody, so you cant really be bad to someone because you know where they live. While this lack of anonymity helps Nowdlak, its also why some LGBT people in Nunavut may struggle with fully embracing their identity. In a territory where the largest city, Iqaluit, has only 7,000 people, word can travel fast about your personal life. In a small town, that kind of stuff spreads like wildfire, says Nuka Fennell in the documentary. Alex Drossos, a psychiatry resident at McMaster University, regularly travels to Nunavut to practise. When we have both being Inuit and someone who identifies as being LGBTQ identity issues become even more complex, he says. Drossos notes that severe isolation and the lasting effects of intergenerational trauma caused by colonialism are major factors for those trying to reconcile their identities. Even the concept of a Pride celebration may be difficult for a queer Inuit person to embrace. As the documentary explains, pride is not an attribute that is traditionally fostered in Inuit culture. Instead, humility is taught as a core belief, creating a schism for some between a traditional sense of self and an expression of sexual identity. I think its good to have LGBT celebrations but to call it Pride has been difficult for a lot of people because I think pride has a totally different meaning (in Inuit culture), Jesse Mike says in the documentary. Joshua Komangapik says he sees a shifting of interpretation that makes it possible to embrace both traditional and modern values. To me, pride is belonging to a sense of community, he says. Growing up in the south, I was able to find comfort in the fact that I was part of an LGBT community. It was almost like being up here, where youre part of your family and your friends. In an interview, Fennell says hes finally ready to return to Iqaluit and show his husband where hes from. He credits the work of both elders and youth in the community for creating a safer space for LGBT Inuit. Though things are not perfect, he says, I am very optimistic and excited for Iqaluits future. Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things screens at the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival on June 3. For more information: insideout.ca. SHARE: Who will be the next leader of the free world? If the thought of Donald Trump, or even Hillary Clinton, gives you the creeps, lighten up. I promise you can let your impish children or grandchildren go out and play again. I have good news. Here are five reasons why Joe Biden will become the next American president with Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his vice-president in spite of the fact that Donald Trump is the flavour-of-the-month. Trump is surging as Clinton fades So far, the Trump bump seems genuine. To some of us, he may be a racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, xenophobic bully, but to many Republican voters, he is becoming simply The Donald. Since Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination, he has moved ahead of Clinton. The polling data site RealClearPolitics says that Clinton is now narrowly behind Trump in the average of national polls after many months with a double-digit lead. But what is astonishing is that both candidates are viewed so unfavourably by a majority of voters. Clintons legal challenges have only begun Clinton has acknowledged that her use of a private email server while secretary of state was an error, and she has apologized for it. But a report this week by the State Departments inspector-general suggests it was more than a simple mistake. In spite of Clintons claims that she broke no rules, the report says that she rejected warnings to use official government channels for her emails. The FBI is examining the case and there is growing speculation that it may seek an indictment of Clinton. There are already suggestions that she would pull out in these circumstances, citing her health. Bernie Sanders is not the Democrats Plan B The power brokers in the Democratic party have consistently said they expect Clinton will clinch the nomination before the July convention, probably after the California and New Jersey primaries in early June. This means the idealistic odyssey of Bernie Sanders is coming to an end. But in spite of Sanders remarkable success in highlighting progressive issues, this self-described democratic socialist, who only joined the Democratic party last year, would never be seen by this party as electable in 2016 even if the Clinton candidacy suddenly collapsed. Joe Biden still wants it, and Obama wants Biden So where does that leave us? Unlike the Republicans, delegates to the Democratic convention are free to vote for any candidate regardless of the result of their state primary. So in the event of a Clinton withdrawal, there is the potential for an open convention for the Democrats. And it is widely believed that Biden is the real Plan B for the Democrats. He originally declined to run due to the death of his son, but has told friends that he regrets that decision. For his part, President Barack Obama has expressed his private view that Biden not Clinton is the person most qualified to be president. Elizabeth Warren will be the star of 2016 In early May, a story appeared on the Politico website that created considerable buzz. It quoted sources close to Biden indicating that, had he decided to run, Biden would have chosen Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate. Warren is a widely respected financial authority who supports breaking up the big banks to prevent another global crisis. On Tuesday, she enthralled a Washington audience by tearing into Trump, calling him a small, insecure money-grubber. It was a devastating performance a real carving up of Trump that gave some indication of how effective she would be on the campaign trail. So, yes, hang on to your hats. A few weeks ago, Trump and Biden found themselves at the same event in Philadelphia the graduation ceremony at the University of Pennsylvania. Trump was there to watch daughter Tiffany graduate, while the vice-president was celebrating the achievements of his granddaughter Naomi. Reports described how Trump arrived to warm applause from the section in which he was sitting. Biden, on the other hand, was greeted by cheering and waving from the entire stadium. This presidential race has not even started. Tony Burman, former head of CBC News and Al Jazeera English, teaches journalism at Ryerson University. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com . Read more about: SHARE: WINNIPEGPremier Kathleen Wynne says shes going to try for an equal number of women and men around the cabinet table in a coming cabinet shakeup. But Wynne stopped short of committing to follow Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus lead in creating a gender-equal ministry. Im going to be pushed very hard, Prime Minister, on (a gender equal cabinet), thank you very much, Wynne told Liberal activists at their Winnipeg policy convention on Saturday. We have to recognize that we have to look at the numbers, we have to look at the experience, you have to look at the regions, and I will do my best to have representation from around the province, experience, gender, all of those things, and if I fall short (on gender equality) I will continue to try. The Star reported Wednesday that speculation about the coming shuffle, said to be planned soon after the legislature breaks for the summer on June 9, has kicked into high gear in recent weeks. Former Queens Park staffers in Winnipeg for the federal convention said Friday night there seems to be an unusual level of anxiety about what is being called a major cabinet shakeup. Wynne is said to be looking at changes the structure of some ministries, and bringing in a number of MPPs currently warming the backbench into cabinet. Government insiders told the Stars Robert Benzie that MPPs Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury), Eleanor McMahon (Burlington), Indira Naidoo-Harris (Halton), Daiene Vernile (Kitchener Centre), Kathryn McGarry (Cambridge), Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre), and Marie-France Lalonde (Ottawa Orleans) are all being considered for cabinet spots. With a number of ministers expected to stay on the front bench, the cabinet may be expanded beyond its current membership of 26 MPPs. The premier was speaking Saturday morning about the challenges facing women in politics, in a rather friendly on-stage interview with American journalist Liz Plank. The conversation came two days after the Alberta Wildrose Party stirred controversy by asking pointed questions to Premier Rachel Notley about Wynnes administration, while Wynne watched on from the legislatures gallery. Wildrose house leader Nathan Cooper told the Canadian Press that they regret the incident, saying the questions criticizing Wynnes administration were fair, but they didnt expect Wynne to actually be in attendance. The intention was never to embarrass the (Alberta) premier or the premier of Ontario, Cooper told CP. Wynne said she accepted the apologies from Wildrose members. But the controversy trudged on, with Wildrose Leader Brian Jean suspending his finance critic, Derek Fildebrandt, for approvingly commenting on a homophobic social media comment about Wynne. Fildebrandt later said he did not read the full comment before replying, and said it did not represent his views. In this conversation about women in politics and inclusion, we have to pay attention to whats going on around us, Wynne said. Yes, I accept the apology, but its an interesting confluence of things. Theres a woman premier in Alberta, Im there as a woman, were talking about climate change, and I think the attack, the viciousness of the attack, had a certain quality to it. So I will just say we need to pay attention to that. With files from the Canadian Press Read more about: SHARE: CAMP TARIQ, IRAQIraqi troops pushed toward Fallujah from the south Friday, aiming to completely surround the militant-held city, Iraqs elite counterterrorism forces said. The operation to retake the town from the extremist Daesh group, also known as ISIS and ISIL, was officially announced late Sunday night. Our troops are now in the process of surrounding the city from all (sides), said Lt. General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, the head of the counterterrorism forces Fallujah operation. By doing so, we will besiege the city of Fallujah in full. And then we will start storming the city from several directions with new forces. Fallujah is located 65 kilometres west of Baghdad. Booby-trapped explosives and large numbers of civilians unable to escape are expected to complicate operations moving forward, al-Saadi said. The spiritual leader of Iraqs Shiites called on Iraqi forces battling to retake the city of Fallujah to protect civilians there. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that saving innocent people from harms way is the most important thing, even more so than targeting the enemy. His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative, Ahmed al-Safi, in the holy city of Karbala. Rights groups have expressed concerns for the tens of thousands of civilians estimated to still be in the city, which has been in Daesh hands for more than two years. In the capital, Baghdad, Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in the citys Tahrir roundabout. The protesters assembled despite calls earlier this week from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to halt protests so the countrys security forces could focus on the Fallujah operation. Read more about: SHARE: BEIRUTDaesh (also known as ISIS) militants entered a major Syrian opposition stronghold in the countrys north on Saturday, clashing with rebels on the edges of the town as the extremist group builds on its most significant advance near the Turkish border in two years even as it loses ground elsewhere in the country and in neighbouring Iraq. The town of Marea, just north of Aleppo city, has long been considered a bastion of relatively moderate Syrian revolutionary forces fighting to topple Assad. The Daesh assault underlined the weakness of the groups fighting under the loose banner of the so-called Free Syrian Army that have been struggling to survive. More than 160,000 civilians have been trapped by the fighting, which also forced the evacuation of one of the few remaining hospitals in the area, run by the international medical organization Doctors Without Borders. On Saturday, Daesh fighters staged two suicide bombings targeting opposition forces near Marea, Daesh said via its news agency, Aamaq. Following the suicide bombings, Daesh militants entered Marea and fighting began inside the town, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition media outfit that tracks Syrias civil war. Dr. Abdel Rahman Alhafez, who heads one of the last remaining hospitals in Marea, said the town was encircled and his hospital under threat since Friday. We need urgent protection for the hospital or a way out, he said in an emailed statement. Syrian army warplanes and helicopters, meanwhile, pounded other opposition-held towns in Aleppo province on Saturday, putting a further strain on embattled rebels fighting President Bashar Assads forces. Daeshs territorial gains around Marea and Azaz, both critical rebel bastions north of the city of Aleppo, are a blow to the Turkey- and Saudi-backed opposition fighters who have been struggling to retain a foothold in the region while being squeezed by opponents from all sides. They also demonstrated Daeshs ability to stage major offensives and capture new areas, despite a string of recent losses in Syria and Iraq. American Special Operations forces and a coalition of Syrian and Arab fighters known as the Syria Democratic Forces have begun clearing areas north of Raqqa, the Daeshs de facto capital in Syria, in preparation for an eventual assault on the city. The Daesh offensive targeting Syrian opposition strongholds near the Turkish border began on Thursday night. On Friday, militants of the group captured six villages near Azaz, triggering intense fighting that trapped tens of thousands of civilians unable to flee to safety while Turkeys border remains closed. A few hundred fled west to the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin. People are terrified for their lives, the International Rescue Committee said in a statement. The group said it has received confirmed reports that at least four entire families, including women and children, were killed Friday on the outskirts of Azaz. The IRC runs centres for both children and women in Azaz and provides clean water and sanitation to a camp supporting 8,500 people. More than half the camps population has left to find safety elsewhere in the town, it said. The IRC also relocated its staff from the centres and the camp to safer areas of Azaz until the situation enables them to return. The U.N. refugee agency said it was deeply concerned about the fighting affecting thousands of vulnerable civilians. Fleeing civilians are being caught in crossfire and are facing challenges to access medical services, food, water and safety, it said in a statement Saturday. The advances brought the militants to within a few kilometres (miles) of the rebel-held Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south. World powers, including the United States and Russia which support opposing sides in Syrias civil war, are at a loss as to how to jump-start peace talks which collapsed in Geneva earlier this year. The war, now in its sixth year, has killed more than a quarter of a million people and displaced half the countrys population. 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, narrowing the corridor between the Turkish border and Aleppo. The predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, 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 which include mainstream opposition fighters known as the Free Syrian Army along with some ultraconservative Islamic insurgent factions have been squeezed between Daesh to the east and predominantly Kurdish forces to the west and south, while Turkey restricts the flow of goods and people through the border. With all these actors positioned to make land grabs in the area, and rebels exhausted by months of fighting, the corridor is now on the verge of collapse, wrote Faysal Itani, a resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Councils Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, in an analysis for the centre. He said the loss of the Azaz corridor would be detrimental for Turkey, which would no longer have proxy capability in northern Syrias most strategic province, and complicate U.S. efforts to fight Daesh in the area. They Turkey-backed Syrian National Coalition opposition group appealed to world powers to provide urgent and immediate protection to civilians and arm rebels to counter attacks by Daesh and the Syrian government. By tightening the siege on the town of Marea, Daesh is following in the footsteps of the Assad regime which uses sieges of towns and cities as a weapon of war, it said in a statement. Read more about: SHARE: Re: Finance rules can be better, editorial May 19 Finance rules can be better, editorial May 19 I am appreciative to the Star for their investigative journalism on the very dodgy Liberal (and other parties) fund raising practices which has been a sharp stick prodding the Premier Kathleen Wynne into action. And I agree wholeheartedly that the finance rules can be better. However, I disagree with some of the Stars proposals around these rules. The suggestion to reduce the maximum amount an individual contributor to $4,650 per year is an improvement over the $7,750 maximum proposed in the new rules. But even this lower limit is misguided; $4,650 is not chump change and most Ontarians, me included, can no more afford the lesser amount than we can afford the higher. Add in the multiplier effect where a wealthy family of three or four can each contribute and, presto, we have totals that reach up to $20,000 per year. Effectively, these amounts are so high as to be simply replacing the influence of corporations and unions to the wealthier individuals of our society not a good outcome for our democracy. Another is the Stars distaste to support the political parties through a per-vote subsidy. The Star calls this dipping into our pockets. Two problems with this stand: 1. we already support the political parties with generous tax credits for donated monies; and 2. more importantly, IT infers that democracy should come without cost. A better way would be to fund each of the major political parties an equal amount each year. All political donations would be banned. Spending by the political parties could not exceed the amount provided by government, i.e., we the taxpayer. The amount provided could be established to be cost neutral to the taxpayer with amounts totaling no more than the current tax credits. To promote fairness, each party would be given an equal amount allowing equal opportunity for their voices to be heard. To foster new political ideas, new parties and parties polling less than 5 per cent of the vote, would be allowed to raise money through donations until they reach the 5 per cent threshold. Providing controlled funding of our political parties from tax revenues and abolishing donations will make our political process more democratic and more open while reducing the negative side of campaigning which happens when political parties have bags of money. A flourishing democracy requires hard work by its citizens. This work should not come in the form of fat cheques written by wealthier persons but rather through grass root efforts. It is indeed time to better the finance rules but lets make it a real change, one that improves our democracy. Peter Pinch, Toronto SHARE: A little over six months ago Canadians bought into Justin Trudeaus pledge of real change and gave him a majority government. It is becoming increasingly clear that Canadians voted in a government of misplaced priorities, Liberal values as opposed to real Canadian values and a commitment to the culture of death. We now have a Prime Minister who majors in meaningless rhetoric, makes a vain profession of being Catholic and an empty claim of believing in true democracy, transparency and openness. When you cut off debate on as important and sensitive a social issue as the assisted suicide bill, disallow the electorate any say in electoral reform and force your MPs to support abortion how then are you to be taken seriously as a true believer in democratic freedom? When you think it more prudent to use Canadian tax dollars to fund abortion overseas as opposed to providing real necessities such as clean water and basics for life and conveniently forget that half of status First Nations children in Canada live in poverty should we commend you for good judgement or moral integrity? Canadians are now sadly learning that the real change they thoughtlessly voted for translates into misplaced Liberal priorities such as legalizing marijuana, deficit spending, transgender rights, misguided immigration policy, euthanasia and a continuing erosion of our democratic rights and freedoms. Yes-no-maybe politics are in and real priorities vital to the prosperity and well being of the country such as decisions on pipelines, jobs and the seriousness of national security are sadly non-priorities for this Prime Minister. Justin Trudeau made a lot of promises and will more than have his work cut out for him keeping happy the big unions, CBC and mainstream media and other self interest groups who so badly wanted to crown him PM. Seems they never even bothered to ask just what real change really meant. We have opted for the dictatorship of relativism and political correctness. Hopefully there are still enough Canadians who still believe in honesty, integrity and morality and enough of us who prefer life to death to make the difference in the next election. Gerald Hall, Nanoose Bay, B.C. Talk about exploiting a situation to gain a little press time. No one is saying that she didnt get bumped into, but Ruth Ellen Brosseau and the rest of the minority House are milking this issue for all its worth. She claims to be a tough woman but an accidental nudge brings her to the point of being overwhelmed. Does this political crap never end? Im sure Prime Minister Trudeau was frustrated with the delay tactics of the minority parties (and who wouldnt be?). Should he have gone on the floor and pulled Gord Brown away from the childish behaviour of failing to find their seats while a vote was being recorded? Probably not, but given the kindergarten intellect of our elected officials, perhaps a good kick in the butt may have worked better. The PM has apologized numerous times. Move on! S. Craine, Toronto We hadnt even heard the term crybullies. It was in an online article on elbow gate. It was an eye-opener for us: bullies orchestrating negative outcomes for innocents. An example given has a student in a school hallway blocked by bullies. The student tries to manoeuvre through the maze but is prevented. After a couple of tries the student attempts to force through, thus jostling a few of the bullies. The bullies then rush to the principals office and demand the student be reprimanded for physically attacking them. This is the same scenario that unfolded in the House: NDP caucus members physically blocking the path of Tory MP Gord Brown. As he tried to to get through the blockage the NDPers repeatedly moved to block Brown. Trudeau (inappropriately) intervened to assist Brown through the bullies blockade. Brousseau, one of the blocking bullies, took a dive then, traumatized, left the room. Then the crybullies did their schoolyard shame thing. Crybullies: such an apt term. Ron Simpson, Oakville Well done, Rosie DiManno. It may have been the wrong thing for Trudeau to do, yes, but the reaction, or more accurately, overreaction was much more entertaining to watch. I fully expected Brosseau to enter chambers during the next question period in a wheelchair and full body cast, or at least a neck brace. How far are the childlike members of the opposition going to take this? Will the prime minister be asked to step down. Will he be dragged out of the chambers in handcuffs? Will he be thrown in jail? The public is anxiously awaiting the answers to these questions. I was more unimpressed by Tom (Do you know who I am?) Mulcairs reaction, who obviously thought Mr. Trudeau had reared up and put all his weight behind the elbow. I watched a replay of the event as I typed this and can hardly call what Mr.Trudeau did more than a minor bump, and hardly worth all this, and future responses from childlike politicians. FYI, I am not a Liberal. Randy MacDonald, Oshawa The NDP MPs who obstructed the Conservative whip were the first to get physical, but our energetic prime minister will have to learn how to lay off what seem to be a call to direct action. Nor would the Opposition force these kinds of scenarios if the Liberals were less punch drunk with their new majority power. After 10 years of former PM Harpers inertia and disregard for a number of critical government departments, we do need a man of action, just one who retains, at all times, reflective quality. Any man willing to step into the ring with a tormented-soul muscleman like Patrick Brazeau must have a danger-seeking side to his personality, but this time the Oppostion was able to turn Trudeaus physical strength against him. Ron Charach, Toronto After watching replays of the supposed assault by our Prime Minister, I cant help but feel disappointed by the general behaviour of the MPs. There have been cases in history, where MPs in other countries have been involved in violent physical altercations due to differences of opinion. However, since Canada is a model and global leader in tolerance and acceptance, this type of behaviour the loud uproars, members rushing to the centre, the speaker of the house desperately attempting to retain order is uncharacteristic of our values. The wisdom behind having different parties is to critically analyze legislature, which is meant to positively affect the lives of Canadians. The MPs need to keep this in mind. As a Pakistani immigrant, who left his country due to the government sanctioned discrimination against Ahmadi Muslims, I came to Canada because I had and still have the upmost admiration for its government. We need to realize who we are, and move away from petty arguments, and focus on the big picture Canada. Khizar Karim, Alliston Given Trudeaus history, from his early stupid gaffes, to his preening and posturing, to his missteps regarding issues like Saudi Arabia arms deal and his handling of the refugee crisis, to his lying about transparency, I am not surprised by what happened. What I am surprised by is the reaction of people as shown on the CBC news. When Rob Ford did a similar thing (but worse he didnt manhandle anyone), he was ridiculed and mocked. David Letterman even showed the clip commenting that this is how Ford behaved when hearing an announcement there was free crack being given out in the lobby. What do Canadians say? It was an accident. These things happen. He apologized. Now we can move forward. I am not saying Trudeau is on the same level as Donald Trump but it looks like these two North American countries get the leaders they deserve. Laryssa Carter, Toronto It was disconcerting to see this scene at Parliament on May 18, the kerfuffle and the instrumentalization made by the opposition parties. The most reliable witnesses are always those that see it with an independent eye. Elizabeth May is that independent witness and she, appearing on CBC, basically says that after the whips had had a meeting on the floor of the house of Commons and the Liberal whip returned to his seat, NDP members surrounded the Conservative whip obstructing his return to his seat. This was having the effect of undue delaying a called vote. The Prime Minister had come into the House expressly for the vote. At this point Justin Trudeau, obvious from looking at the video, lost it. His obvious objective, however misguided, was to extract Conservative whip Brown, who willingly or not was trapped among NDP MPs. The stated intention of these MPs, according to Elizabeth May, was to delay a called vote for more than 3 minutes and thus put the rest of the time allotments for the day into disarray. This is what created urgency. Mr. Brown, as seen in the video, welcomed the help in getting extracted from the NDPrs, and in fairness has said nothing to the contrary. Ms. May also says that, in getting Brown extracted, Justin had to guide him around unmoving bodies, thus having, totally intentionally, his elbow come into contact with NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau. This MP is seen in the video walking straight and deliberately out of the house and sit out the vote. Her parliamentary seat was much closer than the hall, had she chosen to go sit there. My take is that she was told by Mr. Mulcair to walk out. It was an opposition obstruction plan that yielded more than ever expected Thanks to an exasperated Prime Minister who in the middle of a busy day lost it at the sight of what amounted to a waste of time. The Prime Ministers day started early to prepare for the National Caucus Meeting at 10:00 AM, which was completed with little time to prepare to meet with the President of the European Parliament, His Excellency Martin Schulz, a man so obnoxious that his heckling of of the then Italian Prime Minister of Italy and President of turn of the European Union, to say to him: I know of a movie producer in Italy who is making a WW II movie and I will recommend the honourable member as the actor for the part of a Kapo The Prime Minister then attended Question Period at 2:00 PM and while there Issued the historic apology for the 1914 Komagata Maru Incident. After that he had to hold himself available for the VOTE on the assiste ending of life Bill. At 6:00 PM Mr. Trudeau had a scheduled meeting with the Premier of British Columbia. At 7:00 p.m. The Prime Minister was scheduled to deliver brief remarks at the Komagata Maru Apology Reception. Not exactly a relaxing day! However, There is no excuse for the lapse of judgment that the Prime Ministers actions disclosed. He has now apologized a multitude of times, has promised to make amends, and even let Parliament out early; now lets move on! As for the actions of the NDP, for them to fall into bed again with the Conservatives like they did in 2005 to overthrow the Martin government is likewise a lapse in judgment that may have long-term fatal consequences. Tony Morra, Mississauga It was the Prime Ministers attempt to unduly restrain the opposition parties democratic prerogatives that eventually prompted this altercation on the floor of the House of Commons . While Trudeau was only exercising those powers Harper tenaciously and without conscience embedded in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) during his tenure, an apology is not an appropriate response for his conduct. To allow himself to leave his chair in our Parliament, to enter a melee on the floor, not once but twice, was a clear demonstration that he does not have the discipline and self control we take for granted in our acting CIC (commander-in-chief) of our armed forces. His behaviour was that of a firecracker; unpredictable and completely irrational. The Speaker of the House is responsible for conducting the affairs of the Legislature in an orderly fashion. The Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for the safety and orderly conduct of our MPs. The PM arbitrarily ignored the authority of these two officers, and allowed himself to become directly and physically involved. A very disturbing exhibit of his lack of respect for protocol, and the safeties built into the Institution. The discussion we are going to have about the incident should not be about procedures and apologies; it should be about our commander-in-chief, and whether we are comfortable with him having his finger on the trigger that could take us into another war. Andy Thomsen, Peachland, B.C. NDP whip, Ruth Ellen Brosseau was overwhelmed by what she characterized as an elbow to the chest by a charging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons. Video footage, however, does not support the blow, showing little more than a brush-by. Nonetheless, Brosseau is seen writhing in pain afterwards. Might the PM possess stinging tentacles like that of a jellyfish? After consulting with a marine injuries professional, heres a sure-fire way to find out: Check Brosseaus wound for stingers. If found, remove with tweezers, then rinse with vinegar before applying a baking soda paste. Hot showers, ice packs and pain relievers may be used to alleviate existing pain. Only then, can we begin to understand what this Liberal Prime Minister and his jellied agenda is all about. Jack Drury, Toronto Really, after a prime minister who for 10 years destroyed so many of Canadas important institutions and values, suddenly the bloom is off his successors rose? Our society has turned into people who can only see their own specific problems and cannot see the big picture. Most now reject that which poses problems for them personally and cannot simply exercise patience in the knowledge that that particular problem will be resolved in due time. It seems unconscionable for a government to make mistakes in the handling of important issues and their attempts to do something good or to undertake massive programs like bringing in 25,000 people from terrible living conditions without those who would pick at the edges and look all for the ways things went wrong! I often wonder whether these people have ever organized a massive undertaking flawlessly! No wonder governments do not act. It is safer with the electorate to play it safe but the public loses in the end. I would rather a progressive government that makes mistakes than a government that bides its time in office and just collects their paychecks. I say, if the intent was a positive one, if you now see a Prime Minister and his caucus building rather than destroying our society, then the rose will continue to bloom for the majority of Canadians! Bonnie Bacvar, North York It is rare that one can take just one sentence out of context and see a long and apparently endless story through it. What kind of man elbows a woman? is what NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said in the mad house of Ottawa. Quite incredibly, these seven words show that our NDP leader still follows (or uses as a political strategy -- shame on him, and thank you Elizabeth May to see through that), the idea that there is a difference between a woman and a man such that a woman is oh, not as elbowable as a man and that a man is supposed to be a gentleman with all women. No woman needs a gentleman around to incarcerate her in the belief that she is more fragile and might be a victim of some horror every second of her life. This type of protection is way worse than be elbowed. Way worse. Everybody needs gentle people around but nobody needs a patriarch who is protecting without even seeing that this is all about old-fashioned generally accepted power over. Who is going to prepare the material for feminism/racism/disability/gender studies 101 for all our MPs? Claude Wittmann, Toronto SHARE: Medivation (MDVN) has responded to Sanofi's (SNY) hostile takeover bid, calling the deal a "devil's bargain." The San Francisco-based company filed a preliminary consent revocation statement noting that Sanofi's proposed board of directors, which it released on May 25, are inexperienced in the biopharma sector, and that Sanofi's proposed bid of $9.3 billion for the company is too low. Medivation, which has a market cap of $9.96 billion, was trading at $60.48 per share Friday morning. The company could not be reached for comment. Sanofi, which has a market cap of $105.76 billion, was trading at $41.04 per share Friday morning. Sanofi declined comment beyond what was in its May 25 press release. "This isn't surprising," analyst Chad Messer of Needham said in a phone interview. "This is a next step. They're going to fight it out." Paris-based pharma company Sanofi and Medivation have been embroiled in a public fight over Sanofi's attempts to buy the oncology drugmaker since late April, when Sanofi made its first offer of $52.50 per share for the company. Medivation rejected the bid a day later, and since then, Sanofi has threatened to make a hostile takeover bid, in which it would nominate its own directors to Medivation's board. Sanofi finally fulfilled its promise two days ago. "Unfortunately, this has left us with no choice but to commence a process to elect directors who are more open to supporting the best interests of Medivation shareholders regarding a potential transaction,"said Olivier Brandicourt, M.D., Sanofi CEO in a press release. Sanofi on May 25 formally launched its proxy fight to elect a dissident slate of eight board candidates seeking to take control of Medivation's eight-person board by submitting preliminary consent solicitation documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Specifically, Sanofi put up for election Barbara Deptula, director of AMAG Pharmaceuticals; Wendy Lane, chair of investment firm Lane Holdings; Ronald Rolfe, a retired partner of Cravath Swaine & Moore; Steven Shulman, chairman of Accretive Health and CareCentrix; Charles Slacik, former CFO and senior vice president of Beckman Coulter; James Tyree, co-founder of private equity firm Tyree & D'Angelo Partners and David Wilson, former president and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council. However, according to Medivation, the proposed board members "collectively lack experience in the biopharmaceutical industry." "As [Medivation] has in the past, they've tried to make a very strong, no-words-minced case," Messer said. "The offer is too low." He pointed to language in the SEC filing from Medivation, which called the deal itself a "devil's bargain" because Medivation would "forfeit the prospects of considerable near- and long-term value creation by installing hand-picked nominees with minimal biotechnology industry experience," and disparaging Sanofi's deal track record, as examples of Medivation's tenacity against this deal. "Sanofi's track record in oncology raises serious concerns about its understanding of the value of Medivation's business," the company wrote in the filing. "Sanofi's lack of recent success in oncology, and the significant deterioration of its oncology franchise, suggest that it is not well-suited to evaluate or realize the significant opportunities associated with Medivation's oncology assets." At some point, Medivation's shareholders will have to vote whether to oust the current board members, although when that vote would take place is unclear. Needham's Messer said Medivation would likely consider a larger offer, even if it came from Sanofi following this hostile takeover attempt. "Business is business, they would have to reconsider a higher offer," Messer said. "The crux of their argument is that they're not being valued. It would be disingenuous not to take it." "Something north of $60 per share is a great deal," Messer added. As for reports of other companies like Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Celgene (CELG) making bids for Medivation, Messer said he couldn't speculate. However, based on the way the industry is consolidating rapidly, it's likely that at least one other large cap pharmaceutical company put in a bid for Medivation. Jim Cramer fills his blog on RealMoney every day with his up-to-the-minute reactions to what's happening in the market and his legendary ahead-of-the-crowd ideas. This week he blogged on: How the market remains uncrushed How to keep post-rate hike strength Click here for information on RealMoney, where you can see all the blogs, including Jim Cramer's -- and reader comments -- in real time. Cramer: This Market Refuses to Be Crushed Posted on May 27 at 12:34 p.m. EDT This sucker has trouble staying down even with oil and the dollar going the wrong way. Plus, it's a broad move. I see some strength in the financials, in tech and even some of the retailers after a remarkable retail recovery, although the latter probably stalls out here for a bit and replicates the pattern established by Walmart (WMT) . Why can this market not be crushed? One reason might be corporate buying vs. institutional and individual selling. The amazing data we are seeing about more money coming out of this market than at any time since the Great Recession are pretty insane. It's like the ridiculous amount of bearishness, back to February levels. In other words, a lot of sellers have left the building. In the meantime, you have corporate buyers with an incessant appetite. I don't think I can recall any time where more CEOs who come on Mad Money are buying back stock, and many are doing it simply because their stocks don't reflect many of the positives they see. As I have been saying for ages, the cash isn't king because there's too much opportunity buying their own stock. Prime example: Thursday night, I had Cheryl Bachelder, CEO of Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI) . Her company just reported what analysts decided was a bad quarter, but her metrics show it is all systems go and that the expansion she's plotting is on schedule and the runway vast. When I asked her if she is buying stock down here, she said of course. That's the kind of answer I have gotten from everyone from Tim Cook to Brent Saunders to Manny Chirico (Apple, Allergan, PVH). All of them are mystified what the heck their stocks are doing down here vs. the fundamentals. You have to admit it sure isn't like they are buying high. Keep it in mind. We just started getting IPOs, but we have had an immense amount of stock retired outside of the oil patch. I think you see that on days like Friday. Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no positions in the stocks mentioned. Cramer: We Need 3 Things for Post-Rate-Hike Strength Posted on May 27 at 11:20 a.m. EDT Remember, you can't count on oil anymore to take us higher. The breakevens for many of the shales are between $50 and $60, so it pays for almost all of the majors who are not in the Bakken--where things are above $60--to sell futures. That's going to be a real wall, and so we need other theses behind buying stocks besides the upward movement of the commodity. But make no mistake about it; we do need commodities to go higher, because when you get a sub-1% GDP, you are only one step ahead of the recession posse. We need to see: Baltic freight move back up to the 700s from the 600s. Copper and iron or start climbing. Continued strong housing numbers. If we get those, I will be more sanguine that we can handle the post-rate hike turmoil. Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no positions in the stocks mentioned. Cramer: Something Bigger Is Taking Place at Ulta Posted on May 27 at 6:36 a.m. EDT Sometimes I wish someone would just come out and say it: Ulta Salon (ULTA) is riding one of the great secular waves of our time--the fear of having your picture taken at any given moment. No one can risk going outside their door believing by the end of the day they won't be on someone's Facebook page or been snapped or Instagram-ed somewhere. Or, if they are selfie hounds, they know they have to look their best from the get-go. I am not by any means denigrating Ulta, it is one of the more amazing operators of our time. You do not get 15.2% comparable sales growth on top of 11.42% comps without being just about the best at what you do. When 10% of that growth is traffic, at a time when going to a brick-and-mortar store at a mall seems like yesteryear, and 3.8% is ticket, meaning you can charge more than before, you are doing something very right. But the simple fact is that the better the cellphone screen, the higher the resolution, the stronger Ulta's results will be. Ulta's Mary Dillon just seems a lot wiser to it, although I bet if we saw the J.C. Penney (JCP) savior's numbers--I am talking Sephora--we'd be startled, too. Everything they do at Ulta has a hint of this to it. For example, its big promotion that hypercharged sales this quarter? "Pamper her with Pretty," which is basically about younger girls and women teaching their mothers the value of make-up in a selfie age. Ulta's got all ranges of price points, and they have shrewd partners like Estee Lauder (EL) that will actually set up their own sections in Ulta and do some amazing training. The key there? What kind of training can Growth Seeker portfolio name Amazon.com (AMZN) do? No better than it can do at "doing" someone's hair or eyebrows, as the salon does in the back. Make-up's expensive and Ulta customers are frugal, which is how you have 19.4 million members of a rewards club up 25% year over year. Plus, there is much more room to grow. Inner city is under Ulta-ed. Dillon says that they only have about 5% of the make-up wallet and there are 50,000 other places to get make-up, when she wants there to be only one destination. She's competitive enough that maybe she can pull it off. The bottom line? When you get 10 analysts, 10 different analysts, start their questions with "Congratulations," you know that something bigger's going on than just retail. You are dealing with a generational wave of strength: the desire to look good for the camera. Dillon should send Tim Cook, the CEO of Action Alerts PLUS portfolio holding Apple (AAPL) , a note of thanks. You can't leave home without either the iPphone, or your Ulta make-up. Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, is long AAPL and AMZN. Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, is long AAPL and AMZN. Chris Rothstein teaches Christine Headen, 64, the basics of shuffling cards during a blackjack class. When it opens later this year, the MGM National Harbor plans to hire 700 workers to staff its table games. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) Before her first day of blackjack class, Stephanie Sizemore straightened her blonde hair, put on hot-pink lipstick and reached for the highest pair of heels she could find. Its important to look good, the 51-year-old told herself. She had been waiting nearly 20 years to make her way back onto a casino floor. I havent dealt my cards since May 1997, she said, referring to the month Maryland shuttered its charitable casinos, including one operated by the Ritchie Volunteer Fire Department, where she worked as a dealer. Theres something about casinos that just intrigues me to no end. Sizemore, now a bartender and waitress, is hoping to return as a blackjack dealer at the upcoming MGM National Harbor, a $1.3 billion hotel and casino scheduled to open in Prince Georges County at the end of the year. For the past month, shes been shuffling cards and counting chips on her coffee table after she gets home from work at 1 a.m. And shes been watching YouTube videos of shuffling techniques. She is one of nearly 200 students who signed up for MGMs Dealer School, a crash course in table games that began this month, with a six-week lesson on blackjack. Students must learn at least one additional game craps, roulette or baccarat and pass a series of auditions before they qualify for an interview. The hope is to eventually land one of 700 jobs dealing cards on the casinos gambling floor. Five hundred of those jobs will be full-time positions that come with medical benefits. Of the students in Sizemores class, about half are retired or planning to be soon. Theres a former CIA agent, a onetime professor and a former D.C. police officer. Sandra Simonsen, 61, recently left her administration job and wants to do something that doesnt require sitting at a desk. Tyrone Patterson, 67, who is retired from the military, says he has always wanted to deal blackjack. Its been on my bucket list for a long time, he said. In all, the MGM National Harbor is expected to employ about 3,600 people, adding to a rapidly growing pool of local hospitality jobs. Since the recession, the Washington area has created about 71,000 hotel, casino and restaurant positions, representing about 25 percent of all new jobs, according to data from George Mason Universitys Center for Regional Analysis. Although the hospitality industry has added more local jobs than any other sector, they are often hourly, low-wage positions with high turnover rates. Training programs like MGMs dealer school are aimed at preparing local residents for more permanent jobs, with varying levels of success. The Marriott Marquis Washington D.C. the convention center hotel that received $206 million in public subsidies for example, hired just 178 of the 719 graduates of its job-training program when it opened in 2014, according to figures from the D.C. Department of Employment Services. At MGM, executives say theyre not sure how many participants they will hire. Earlier this year, 50 students went through its hospitality training program. Now a couple hundred more are paying $380 for MGMs six-week blackjack session, offered in conjunction with Prince Georges Community College. Subsequent classes cost $240 for mini- baccarat, $580 for roulette and $720 for craps. Ryan Krach, 35, said hes waited almost three years for an opportunity to work at MGM National Harbor. Earlier this month, he left his job as an athletic trainer in Nashville, packed up $30,000 in savings and drove toward the nations capital to attend dealer school. He has been playing craps since he was 8, and he wants to deal poker and blackjack. This is my best chance for working at a casino, he said. You get all the excitement of playing without the risk of losing. Stephanie Sizemore, 51, used to work as a blackjack dealer in the 1990s. She is hoping to make her way back onto a casino floor this year. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) Its like a dream Class begins 23 minutes late because there are so many last-minute registrations. Good morning, everyone, casino manager Jamie Hartley says. Welcome to day one of your new career. He introduces five instructors, all veterans of gambling towns including Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Biloxi, Miss. Weve been in your shoes, says one, a former pit manager at the Bellagio. We all started as dealers going to school. Its like a dream, another adds. Its a great opportunity, so take advantage of it. Its a good way to make a lot of money, a third says. A spokeswoman for MGM National Harbor would not disclose how much the company plans to pay. The average salary for gaming dealers in Maryland is $18,870 a year, or $9.07 an hour, according to 2015 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationally, the average is $21,810 a year, or $10.49 an hour. Yet class instructors allude to the prospect of large payouts and substantial tips. Guys, youre here for one reason: to make money, Chris Rothstein said during opening remarks. We want you to smile. And with that, each student receives two decks of cards and 20 chips. They begin practicing shuffles: stripping the cards, then riffling them. At one end of the room, Sizemore, who works at Plaza Mexico in Fallston, Md., said she heard that starting pay, with tips, would be about $50,000 a year. At the other end, Pai Boone Saejung said he heard that figure is closer to $60,000. Whatever the case may be, many of the attendees real estate brokers, government workers, bartenders say they already make more than what theyre likely to pull in at the casino. But the jobs allure is as much about being in the presence of money getting a front-row seat to big-stake bets and even bigger wins as it is about the cash they would take home. Itll be great because Ill get to see all the big wins, said Sakina Plummer, 40, who used to be a computer programmer. With this job, I can play without having to worry about losing. Thats also the appeal for Saejung, 62, who plans to retire from a graveyard shift at the U.S. Postal Service later this year. Im a big gambler, he said, adding that he would take a sizable pay cut to work for the casino. If I dont work here, Ill be on the other side of the table losing money. A seat away, Stanley Onye is holding chips for the first time. Ive never played anything like this, said Onye, 60, who used to teach government and economics at the University of the District of Columbia. But then I heard about this casino and I thought, you know what, I want to learn this. He picks up his chips and practices dropping them into four stacks of five. Clack, clack, clack, clack. Stan, let me see what youve got, said Cornell Evans, the casinos table games pit manager. Onye does it again, this time a bit faster. How about that? he said. Its getting easier. Lindsey Avara, 23, works as a cocktail waitress at Hollywood Casino Perryville, but she wants to become a dealer. Its very energizing being in a casino, she says. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post) In the middle of it all When it opens in December, the MGM National Harbor will become Marylands sixth and final casino. The 18-story building will have 140 gaming tables, 3,600 slot machines and a 3,000-seat theater. A number of big-name chefs, including Jose Andres, Marcus Samuelsson and brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio are opening restaurants at the property. You dont have to be a gambler to come and join us, said Bill Boasberg, the casinos general manager. Theres more to do than just come here for the casino floor. But the sprawling, 24-hour casino floor is largely where the money is, and table games are among the most lucrative sources of revenue. Last year, Marylands five casinos generated $1.04 billion in gambling revenue, including $487 million for the state. Since Maryland legalized casino gambling in 2008, casinos have contributed nearly $3.72 billion to the state, including $1.48 billion to its education trust fund. MGM is a win-win-win, Gordon Medenica, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, said in an email. It brings jobs, tourists and significant tax revenue to the state. It is uniquely located to attract a majority of its customers from Virginia and Washington, two jurisdictions that do not offer casino gaming. Back at dealer school, a table of five women, with pink manicures, practice shuffling their cards. Im bored to death, said Coretta McKinney, a real estate broker who heard about the blackjack class on Facebook. Im probably going to have second thoughts. A few chairs away, Tanya Watson, 53, pulls out her expired gambling license from the front pocket of her jeans. It is from the 1990s, when she was a cocktail waitress at the Showboat Atlantic City Hotel & Casino. Im used to being on the casino floor, she said. But Ive always wanted to be a dealer. I dont care what it is blackjack, craps, roulette I just want to be on the floor, in the middle of it all. Thats the kind of excitement Miriam Zapata is looking for, too. Working in a casino, thats one of my dreams, said the 34-year-old, who owns a hair styling business. I like money. I like to play with money. I always wanted to go to Vegas but now theyre bringing Vegas over here. Whether she, or any of her classmates, will end up with a job at MGM National Harbor has yet to be seen. A number of hurdles remain. At the end of the six weeks, theyll have to audition in front of a panel of three managers, who will evaluate them on a number of criteria: Are they shuffling their cards correctly? Using the right technique to dole out chips? Are they smiling? Can they hold a conversation while theyre dealing? After that comes a round of formal interviews with the casinos general manager, then background screenings and drug tests. We will do everything in our power to get them to the next level, said Hartly, the casinos manager. We want all of these students to end up with jobs. After three hours, class is over at least for today. It ends much the same way it began: Congrats on your first day, Hartly said. This is your first step for starting your new career. The students pack up their bags. Dont forget to practice, instructors say. One suggests using an ironing board for mock runs at home its about the same height as a blackjack table and comes with a similar cloth covering. Onye walks out, decks of cards in hand, a big smile on his face. Hes going to practice shuffling the cards tonight, he said. Maybe hell buy some chips, too. Im excited, he said. Let me tell you, I am excited. Investing in a 529 plan is a sure way to start college a step ahead financially. (Courtesy of Montgomery County Women's Bar Foundation) A recent column I wrote on 529 college savings plans did not sit well with one reader. In case you dont know and many people dont there are two types of 529s. A prepaid plan allows you to pay a childs tuition and fees in advance. The idea is to lock in todays tuition prices. With the savings plan, you invest much as you would in a 401(k). Your earnings grow tax-deferred and are exempt from federal income tax as long as the money is used for qualified higher-education expenses. In most cases, earnings are also free from state and local taxes. But not everyone is sold on the benefits of 529 plans. In what I call my Talk Back feature, I occasionally allow people to respond to my columns. Here are some of the points made by the reader: The advantage of 529 accounts their only advantage is that gains are not taxed. But many stock investments lost money over the past 15 years. Money in 529 accounts is counted in the college-aid formula. The more you save, the less your kid gets. Other investments, such as Roth IRAs, are specifically excluded from the aid formula. So any tax advantage on the income is more than offset by the reduction in financial aid. The fees in most 529s are outrageously high. If your kid decides not to go, or drops out, or gets a full ride academically or for sports, or you saved more than you need, youre [out of luck]. You have to pay tax on all the returns, plus another 10 percent penalty. A smarter investment would be simply to move to a better neighborhood with better schools. I asked two experts to address the readers arguments: Brian Boswell, vice president of SavingForCollege.com, which provides advice on 529 plans; and Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Cappex.com, a free website that connects students with colleges and scholarships: Returns can be good. Depending on timing and the selected vehicle, as with any investment, the investor may have realized significant gains, Boswell said. A 529 does not significantly decrease financial aid. The value of the account set up by a parent is reported as an asset on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. But it only increases the students expected family contribution by a maximum of 5.64 percent of the account value, Boswell notes. On the other hand, most assets in the students name are counted at 20 percent, he said. So when you take money from a Roth to pay for college, it will be counted as student income on the following years FAFSA. A lot of financial aid is offered in the form of loans. Not saving now would only increase the amount your kid may borrow. There are low-fee plans. You often have the option to open an account that is direct-sold, meaning you dont go through an adviser. The fees on these plans are not outrageously high, Kantrowitz said. Minimizing fees is the key to maximizing net returns. For example, Boswell said that the fee for New York states 529 direct-sold plan is 0.16 percent of a funds assets annually, and the plan offers the investor a range of Vanguard funds. There is flexibility in the plans. As Kantrowitz points out, if a student ends up not needing the 529 plan funds because he or she wins a scholarship, the 10 percent tax penalty that the reader mentioned is waived on nonqualified distributions up to the amount of the scholarship. And although nonqualified distributions are still subject to ordinary income taxes, they are taxed at the beneficiarys rate, not the parents rate, he said. Better high schools dont necessarily mean a lot of free money. There is a great deal of competition for limited scholarship dollars. So even if your child has great grades, the odds are not in your favor for significant financial aid. On average, about one in eight students in bachelors degree programs has a private scholarship, according to Kantrowitz, and the average amount is $4,000. Throw in money from the school and government grants, and less than 1 percent of students in bachelors degree programs receive enough to cover the full cost of attendance. The way I look at it, the risks of not investing in a 529 plan outweigh any downside. Id rather err on the side of saving. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who lead the "Just Say No anti-drug campaign, might have been way ahead of her time. Financial advisers could adopt her mantra with clients who want to act against their own best interests. (Doug Mills/AP) Is finance a profession, akin to accountants, architects, lawyers and doctors? Or is it a mere salesmanship gig, akin to those whose jobs are to hawk as many autos, washing machines or insurance policies as possible that month? I encountered this question during the recent debate over the Labor Departments new fiduciary rules governing retirement accounts. For reasons that should be obvious, I support the stricter standard of behavior for advisers, where they are obligated to put clients interests first. Big Wall Street firms, however, did not share my enthusiasm. Not surprisingly, the Street lobbied aggressively for the lower suitability standard, with less transparency and, of course, higher often much higher fees. Ultimately, the regulators went with a watered-down version of the fiduciary standard. But this debate raised a fascinating tangential question: Should advisers do what a client wants, even when the adviser knows it is not in the clients best interests? In theory, its simple: Best interests come first. In practice, its more complicated. Everybody in finance who is paid by clients will eventually encounter one who will insist on a service that an adviser knows defies common sense and works against his or her long-term interest. What sorts of things? These: Taking on more risk than is prudent. Buying the hot new thing. Participating in an expensive, underperforming private investment (e.g., hedge funds, venture capital). Using excess leverage. Following the advice of pundits or talking heads. Overtrading. Pursuing the latest media fixation. Speculating in commodities. Allowing emotions to steer investments. Buying low-quality, high-yield junk fixed income paper. Buying nonliquid investments (private equity, gated private investments). Market timing. Buying IPOs. Cherry-picking portfolio allocations. Our answer to all of the above is no. We politely decline to engage in what all of the academic research suggests is at best a statistically bad bet. We are not in the business of speculating with peoples real money, as numerous clients have described it. If you want to make an expensive gamble, enjoy a lovely vacation to Monte Carlo, but please leave your retirement plans out of it. By now, you are probably aware that I invest through a broadly diversified set of indexes via a robust asset allocation model. It is global, inexpensive and primarily passive. It is statistically what is most likely to generate the highest returns for the least amount of risk over the long-term. Its pretty simple: Either you buy into our belief that neither you nor I nor anyone else has any idea what part of the world market is going to do best next or you dont. You can do anything you choose just not with our firm. We dont offer an a la carte menu. Either you drink the Kool-Aid, or you dont. Hey, no hard feelings. Lots of people want to chase the dragon, playing the stock-picking/market-timing/hedge-fund game. Now mind you, I wont claim that the way I invest is the only way to do so; nor will I claim that other approaches cannot or will not occasionally do well over the short run. And if someone is fully committed to [insert alternative investment scheme here], we wish them the best. We just say no, and we mean it. We have fired clients who insisted upon committing financial hari-kari. Not everyone agrees with our position. Indeed, the other side of the argument is that when the public demands a certain type of investment or advice, it is Wall Streets job to create a thing to satisfy that demand. Taking advantage of these desires satisfying the demand can be quite lucrative. Give the people what they want is one of the oldest laws of economics. At times, this has turned out to be a good thing when Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street urged bankers to create an index fund so people could invest cheaply and simply, Wall Street made that happen. The exchange-traded fund is an example of a mostly simple, less expensive product that has begun replacing mutual funds, a product that has been mostly more complicated and more expensive. Other times, the Street creates a monstrosity products that are expensive, opaque and pointless liquid alts come to mind. However, merely responding to the laws of supply and demand is not the same as providing good professional advice. My colleague Josh Brown notes that accountants tell taxpayers what they can or cant deduct; lawyers make decisions on legal strategy; doctors come up with a diagnosis and recommend a course of treatment. Which brings us to the latest stunt in financial services: self-directed investors, who are now looking to hire validators. They are using dedicated advisors as sounding boards but not as final decision-makers, according to investment news site ValueWalk. Sounding board? That sounds like a recipe for only hearing what you want to hear. Confirmation bias is not the greatest basis for making financial decisions. It also gives the client the opportunity to blame the adviser for missed opportunities that work out, or for the positions that go against the investor. It seems like a lose/lose to me. A financial professional should not be an order-taker or clerk; they should be trained professionals working on behalf of a clients best interest. Even if that means saying no to clients. Ritholtz is chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management. He is the author of Bailout Nation and runs a finance blog, The Big Picture. On Twitter: @Ritholtz. Mayor Muriel Bowser attends a campaign event to support Brandon Todd in his reelection quest for the Ward 4 D.C. Council seat. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post) The strength of D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowsers political clout will be tested in the Ward 4 race for D.C. Council as her handpicked successor tries to win a full term in Bowsers old council seat. Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4), the fundraising chief for Bowsers mayoral bid and her former director of constituent services, won a special election in 2015 to fill his bosss old seat for a year, with help from her and her donors. [Brandon Todd follows Bowsers footsteps in quest for her old D.C. Council seat] Now hes trying to win a full term by vanquishing three challengers in the June 14 Democratic primary, including Leon Andrews, who finished third in 2015 and has lent his campaign $140,000. Bowser is supporting Todd again, stopping by his recent 33rd birthday party and fundraiser at a Thai restaurant in his native Petworth. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser stopping by Brandon Todds recent 33rd birthday party and fundraiser at a Thai restaurant in his native Petworth. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post) The northern ward, which stretches from Crestwood and Petworth to the Takoma Park and Chevy Chase neighborhoods, has been an incubator for political power in the District in recent years, producing mayors Adrian M. Fenty and Bowser. But the civic-minded, diverse ward that is home to many government workers turned on Fenty, tanking his reelection bid in 2010. [Ward 4, which gave Adrian Fenty his start, could end his job as mayor] A defeat for Todd would send similar warning signs to Bowser. I am good friends with Mayor Bowser, and its no secret that she supported me, Todd said in an interview at his campaign headquarters in Shepherd Park. From what I can tell, people arent frustrated by the mayor . . . and Im fully independent from the mayor. His opponents say they are running because they see Todd as an ineffective lawmaker, not necessarily as a rebuke to Bowser. Im showing a contrast, said Andrews, an urban planner on leave from his job at the National League of Cities. Im someone who can be independent and bring a breadth of policy knowledge, while [Todds] record is consistently voting in lock step with the mayor, even when residents have concerns. Brandon Todd raises his hand while campaigning to be reelected to the Ward 4 D.C. Council seat. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post) With a lead in campaign cash and endorsements, Todd appears to be in better shape than other Bowser allies on the council who are facing challengers in the Democratic primary. In Ward 7, former mayor Vincent C. Gray is mounting a political comeback against onetime protegee Yvette Alexander, while LaRuby May is in a rematch against Trayon White, whom she barely defeated in Ward 8 last year. Todd says hes confident in his reelection chances but wont take the race for granted. He says hes lost 15 pounds knocking on doors. Todd has few major accomplishments, which isnt unusual for a council member in his first year in office. But he cites his constituent services and what he describes as building the groundwork for a free legal clinic for senior citizens. Hes mum about future ambitions, saying hell be happy to represent Ward 4 as long as residents keep electing him. Todd is part of a generation of Fenty supporters known as the Green Team. One longtime resident took note as Todd and a cadre of volunteers walked down Georgia Avenue on a sunny weekday wearing green T-shirts. I thought it was Fenty wearing green, the older man remarked as he shook Todds hands. Are you co-opting Fenty? No, Im Brandon Todd, the council member said. Todd went on to greet North Takoma neighborhood residents, telling them that he has spent the past year focused on education and senior issues and asking whether they had any concerns. No one had complaints, and several wished him a happy birthday. Frances Jones, who greeted Todd with a hug as he came by her house, says shes noticed his opponent Andrews running hard with his signs blanketing the ward and his volunteers swinging by her home of 40 years. But the retired federal employee, 83, says she sees no reason to vote against Todd when his office has provided strong constituent services, like making sure a car parked on her block for two weeks was towed. If hes not here, he sends his people out here, Jones said. They get on the phone, hound me down and see to it that what I need gets done. Andrews, a 40-year-old father of three who lives in the same house where he was raised by a grandmother, is attacking Todd for supporting the Pepco-Exelon utility merger that is likely to result in higher rates for consumers. Todd says the commission with final say over the deal rejected the plan he favored, which would have been better for ratepayers. [In surprise move, Pepco-Exelon merger gets green light] Andrewss face is plastered on signs across the ward, sometimes on every block of thoroughfares, including 16th Street NW and Georgia Avenue NW. Hes shoring up his campaign with his own cash, adding the six-figure loan this year to the $96,000 loan he gave himself in the 2015 race. Hes something of a wonk on local planning issues, with a masters degree in public policy and a career helping cities with municipal projects. He says he wants to serve on the council for only two terms. Andrews says he would be independent of Bowser, and he has criticized Todd for being unable to secure funding for renovations at Shepherd Elementary School and Calvin Coolidge High School. Is that what being close to the mayor gets you? Andrews asked. He has snapped up endorsements from some citywide progressive groups and seven former rivals in the 2015 special election, including second-place finisher Renee L. Bowser, who is not related to the mayor. But Ward 4 community leaders who are largely backing Todd say that Andrewss candidacy is likely doomed because he hasnt followed the traditional path of a candidate by becoming active in local politics or community issues. Someone put a campaign card [for Andrews] in my mail slot about a week ago, and thats the first contact that Ive had, said Ethel Delaney Lee, a 90-year-old North Portal Estates resident who has been something of a matriach of Ward 4 Democratic politics. In fact, Ive never heard of him until he started campaigning. Terry Goings, a Lamond Riggs community activist and volunteer for Todd, said that Andrews has not been visible at neighborhood gatherings. I havent seen him get down and dirty coming into these community meetings, said Goings, 56. Earn your keep I like him, but as soon as the election is over, he disappears. Also running in the race are Ron Austin, a former constituent services director under Fenty, and perennial candidate Calvin Gurley. Neither has raised much money for their bids, records show. Correction: An earlier version of this report gave an incorrect name for Shepherd Elementary School. D.C. Council candidates, from left, Maurice Dickens, Trayon White, Bonita Goode and Aaron Holmes after the Ward 8 Democrats straw poll at Anacostia High School on May 14. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) In Marion Barrys neighborhood east of the Anacostia River, the contest to replace the Districts most famous politician is still ongoing, 18 months after his death. The June 14 Democratic contest for Barrys old D.C. Council seat is a rematch between two candidates who embody the dual roles that Barry served as comforter and agitator for the Ward 8 constituents he called the last, the lost and the least. And it is also in some ways a referendum on the citys current mayor, Muriel E. Bowser (D). LaRuby May, the incumbent who narrowly won a special election to fill in for Barry after he died in office in 2014, has emerged as a caretaker of the wards mostly low-income residents. She has delivered care baskets to the homeless, taken seniors to lunch on Mothers Day, organized free workshops for ex-convicts to help them expunge their criminal records, and started a lifeguard academy for children. May, 40, has also leveraged her close relationship with Bowser to secure a new Washington Wizards practice arena and the promise of jobs for ward residents. Trayon White, a Barry protege and former school board member, came within 100 votes of winning the seat in the special election with a scrappy campaign and little money. In the rematch, he remains outmatched financially but has doubled down on a role as prime agitator on behalf of Ward 8. He has showed up at scenes of homicides, demonstrations about public housing and protests over Bowsers crime policies to question whether the mayor and her allies are helping the citys poorest residents. D.C. Ward 8 candidate LaRuby May chats while campaigning in a SE Washington neighborhood. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) White has won the endorsement of Barrys son and former rival for the seat, Marion Christopher Barry, and earned a devoted following from the wards many unemployed teens and 20-somethings. Im the peoples champ, says White, 33, who years ago legally changed his middle name to Ward Eight. Im unbought and unbossed, and thats what Ward 8 needs, an independent voice. Early voting begins Tuesday. The winner of the Democratic primary will take the seat; there are no Republican candidates. Although there has been no independent polling, some observers see White as having several advantages in the race. May squeaked to victory in April 2015 with the smallest of margins, taking 26.7 percent of the vote to Whites 25.7 percent in a field of 13 candidates. Since then, Barry and five other former candidates have endorsed White. Some voters who sided with the third-place finisher, Sheila Bunn, a former top aide to Vincent C. Gray (D) when Gray was mayor remain skeptical of Bowsers administration and might more naturally align with White. Gray defeated Bowser in Ward 8 by a margin of 26 percentage points in the 2014 Democratic mayoral primary, although Bowser, the primarys overall victor, handily won the ward in the general election against David Catania, who ran as an independent. Ward 8 candidate Trayon White addresses attendees at a straw poll forum on May 14 at Anacostia High School. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) White has focused his toughest campaign rhetoric on intractable problems such as housing prices and jobs for low-skill workers that Bowser has acknowledged will take years to improve. He and his supporters are also motivated by a belief that they were slighted in a count of provisional ballots that decided the race a year ago. [Nail-biter in Ward 8 council race ] Its not just me, the community feels that, White says, wearing one of his campaigns neon-green T-shirts as he set out for an evening of door-knocking in Congress Heights surrounded by a group playing hip-hop from a car stereo. First they say we were up, and then when they finish the counting, somehow LaRuby wins. White has targeted Mays close connection to Bowser and her deep-pocketed donors with some success. He trounced May in a straw poll two weeks ago, drawing a crowd of more than 150 on a Saturday afternoon. May skipped that event, citing a prior obligation. I think it says a great deal about what she thinks about you, and I think it says a great deal about what she thinks about this job, White said to applause. You cannot just buy this seat. You have to work for it. May served as a key Ward 8 organizer for Bowser during her successful 2014 mayoral run. Last year, Bowser returned the favor, attending fundraisers for May and campaigning on Election Day in the ward. Developers, health-care companies and others from across the region who had contributed to Bowsers campaign also donated to Mays, giving her a $278,000 to $25,000 advantage over White. This year, Bowser attended a fundraiser for May and, as last year, contributions to May have poured in from across the city and from as far away as New York, North Carolina, and Texas. The candidates last financial disclosures in March showed May had collected $184,000 to Whites $12,000. Since winning office, May has gained a reputation for workdays that stretch to 16 hours and beyond. She has introduced legislation to limit penalties for youthful offenders, to help ex-convicts get jobs and to prevent new development from displacing poor residents a hot topic for her, White and lesser-known candidates in the race: Maurice Dickens, Aaron Holmes and Bonita Goode. Sitting in her campaign office recently in Congress Heights, May said she hopes voters evaluate her on two criteria: I said nobody was going to outwork me for the residents of Ward 8 and that Im going to fight for our share of investment and resources. She has kept those promises, she said. In her brief tenure, May has cast few votes that run counter to Bowsers policies, something that White has emphasized as he seeks to portray himself as more independent. May has supported the mayors budgets and was a key vote to help Bowser expand the citys summer youth jobs program to residents up to 24 years old, despite objections from other council members. She also sided with Bowser and flipped her vote from supporting to opposing private marijuana clubs. The District legalized marijuana possession last year, but sales remain illegal and advocates have lobbied the council to allow clubs where people can legally smoke, saying the current law discriminates against those who live in public housing, where smoking marijuana remains illegal. May initially voted to legalize pot clubs but switched her vote minutes later amid heavy lobbying by Bowser. She said she was not pressured directly by the mayor and that she changed her vote after reflecting on it and getting text messages on the council dais from constituents. She said she opposes a centerpiece of Bowsers proposed crime bill a provision that would allow warrantless searches of former violent offenders. The mayor and I are fundamentally different people, May said, and oh, that was bad, she said of Bowsers proposal. Ward 8 residents nearly shouted Bowser off the stage last summer at the shuttered Malcolm X High School in the ward as she announced the idea. Last week, May was across the street from the school, with a group of six paid canvassers, efficiently proceeding through a housing complex with voter registration cards, campaign literature and yard signs. Mays signs easily outnumber Whites in the ward. Former D.C. Taxicab Commission member Sandra S.S. Seegars said she thinks that is because Mays appeal is broader than Whites. Seegars, who was among the 13 who ran for Barrys seat last year, recently interviewed the candidates for a domestic-violence group she founded and came away impressed most by May on crime and other issues. White is all about the youth, but its about more than the kids, she said. Meanwhile, May and White are locked in a tough contest for Barrys mantle. Philip Pannell, a longtime Ward 8 political activist, is not convinced either is the true successor. No one person can replace Marion Barry, he said. And no one should try. His legacy is too big for any one person. James Thomas, a senior at H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, on May 24. Thomas has faced considerable adversity but is still thinking big. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) James Thomas went to senior prom on Thursday. His GPA and course credits were in order for graduation, and his principal and a few staff members gave him gift cards and cash so he could get a tuxedo. The gregarious football player chose a black one with suspenders and a bright red shirt. His girlfriend wore a matching red dress, they posed for photographs, and danced through the night. On Friday, Thomas attended a funeral. Hours after celebrating his academic accomplishments, Thomas, 18, helped lay to rest a father figure who was helping him chart his future. Willie James Young, a barber at Unique Cutz, died after he was punched in the head inside the Southeast Washington shop just days earlier. Thomas visited the shop on Benning Road whenever he could after school to joke around and talk about life. Thats gone now. But Thomas has not spent much time dwelling on what Youngs death means for him. Not yet, anyway. Hes worried about Youngs son, 17-year-old Javon Thomas. Javon is Thomass half brother. They attend school together at H.D. Woodson High School. They share a room in their Northeast Washington home. They ride bikes together. Theyre mourning together. James Thomas, right, with his brother Javon at H.D. Woodson High. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) Darrin Slade, principal of H.D. Woodson High, whom James Thomas credits with encouraging him to succeed. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) Thomas knows how easy it is for a boys life to go off track after he loses a parent. His own father was killed when he was 8 years old. Thomas says he went on to spend years as an aggressive kid with disciplinary problems, and he struggled in school. He wants Javon to stay focused, to graduate from high school, to build a career. To do all the things that Thomas dreams of achieving. Im basically just trying to keep him on the right path of keeping his goals, Thomas said. I counted on both my mother and father when I was little. But then my father was gone, and my mom was working all the time, and I was like, Damn, I need to figure out how to do some things on my own. [She was promised free college tuition, but life got in the way. Two decades later, shes a graduate] James Thomas concentrates on designing a company profile during a class at H.D. Woodson High School in Washington on May 24, 2016. Thomas says that he used to be a bad student but that packing his schedule with sports such as track and football helped him stay out of trouble. Now hes a recipient of the D.C. Achievers Scholarship and is headed to the University of the District of Columbia to study fire science, a subject in which he has been interested since the 10th grade, when he realized that he could save lives and get paid for doing so. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) Thomas is slated to graduate from H.D. Woodson next month. He earned a D.C. Achievers Scholarship to attend the University of the District of Columbia, where he plans to begin studying fire science in the fall and become a firefighter while he earns the degree. School counselors have been working with him to apply for the D.C. Fire Cadet Program a year of training that aims to recruit D.C. high school graduates. Since he learned about the cadet program in his sophomore year, the once-troubled student has been focused on exceeding the minimum 2.5 grade point average and physical requirements it takes to be admitted to the program. He wants to save lives, and he wants the security that comes with having a government job. When he was in middle school, I could not imagine him thinking of a career like this. He was a handful, said Principal Darrin Slade, who has known Thomas since he was in the sixth grade, when Slade was principal of the now-closed Ron Brown Middle School. He is a young man now. As he got older, he saw how people were supporting him, and he wanted to change his ways. H.D. Woodson is a renovated school in Ward 7 where the majority of students are black and qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. It has long been considered one of the lower-performing high schools in the District, but city officials have been trying to improve it by bolstering its college-prep offerings and career academies. In 2015, the four-year graduation rate at the school was 70 percent, compared with 60 percent a year earlier, according to D.C. Public Schools. Thats the biggest improvement among the school systems 40 lowest-performing schools, according to D.C. Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Lerner. Thomas attributes his high school success to his principal and teachers, who have encouraged him to participate in extracurricular activities and to think of life beyond age 18. He has football practice most days, and a full course load, and he says he doesnt have time to get into trouble in his neighborhood. When he gets home at night after practice, his mother prods him to complete his homework, and he then helps around the house. Hes the third-oldest of eight children, and he often feeds and puts his siblings to bed. James Thomas wants to set a good example for his younger brother, who is in 11th grade at H.D. Woodson: We can both make it to college. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) Thomas and his girlfriend recently learned that they are expecting a baby in November. He says hes not scared of fatherhood, largely because he knows how to take care of people. But before the baby comes, before he starts college, hes savoring his last days as a high school student. On a recent Tuesday, Thomas was wandering the hallways in between classes, shaking hands and hugging friends. He approached his teachers, flashing his signature warm and slightly mischievous smile, and he joked about how much they will miss him next year. Oh, this is my gym teacher, he said. Shes the best. Shes always helping me. During his entrepreneurship class, Thomas pitched an idea to open a combination barber shop and restaurant. His older sister is a hair stylist, and he has always wanted to invest in a shop that she could run. But a classmate politely contests that eating near a barber cutting hair might not be the most sanitary business plan. So Thomas proposed transforming his storefront into a barber shop and a recording studio. People could make music in the studio while waiting for their haircut. Most people now like using studios, he said. With just a few days left to be a high school kid, Thomas is committed to enjoying them. He has struggled for a long time, and hes now facing new challenges, including death, and birth, and college. But hes still thinking big. The pressure is on now, he said, and getting that college degree and becoming a firefighter is more important than ever. Its not about me, he said. Its about those around me. Memorial Day weekend suggests summers start, and the mercury finally did its part Friday, matching its highest level of the year and approaching the 90-degree mark that symbolizes the onset of seasonal swelter. For the second successive day, Washington reached 88 degrees as measured at Reagan National Airport. For the first 23 days of May, the mercury did not rise as high as 80. But it surged to 83 on Wednesday and 88 on Thursday. Fridays 88, only the years second, signaled the impending arrival of June, July and August. In the meantime, even without a 90-degree day here, heat made itself felt. Commuters using the VRE service were delayed by speed restrictions put in place for trains because of the heat. In a 4:47 p.m. service alert, VRE reported a sun kink on its rails. Sun kinks typically occur in summer, when heat causes rails to expand rapidly in length, often resulting in buckling or bending. The threat of kinks prompts the imposition of speed curbs. Rail commuters heading home to Virginia to start their long holiday weekend found themselves further delayed by a fire on the rail bridge over the Potomac River. The fire involved at least two of the wooden track ties. The safety of firefighters required suspending train traffic, authorities said. Joanna C. Blake, a figurative sculptor whose works include the memorial for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg in Maryland and relief panels honoring slaves buried at the Alexandria Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery in Virginia, died May 22 while vacationing in Italy. She died on her 39th birthday. She was near Florence when she was thrown from the back of a motorcycle on which she was riding, said her husband, Ike Blake. Details of the multi-cycle accident are still under investigation, he said. She was a resident of Cottage City, in Prince Georges County, Md. Since 2001, Mrs. Blake had been a sculptor affiliated with the Kaskey Studio in Brentwood, Md., and had done sculpting on the National World War II Memorial on the Mall. Joanna Campbell was born in Mobile, Ala., on May 22, 1977, and graduated from Alabamas Auburn University in 1999 with a degree in fine arts. She had done terra-cotta works on the Auburn campus and a 100-foot-long terra-cotta frieze for the performing arts center in Opelika, Ala. For two years, she worked on the Battle of Bladensburg memorial, an 8-by-10-foot panel that shows a wounded and downed American Commodore Joshua Barney; Charles Ball, a former slave who served in Barneys flotilla; and an unnamed Marine, all three figures looking up, weapons at their sides. To the American side, the Battle of Bladensburg during the War of 1812 was a tactical defeat, but it galvanized the nation, leading to the successful defense only weeks later of the port of Baltimore against British attack, Mrs. Blake told The Washington Post in 2013. Resistance to the Royal navys bombardment of Baltimores Fort McHenry inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem Defense of Fort McHenry, whose lyrics would later become the words to the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Mrs. Blakes survivors include her husband, whom she married in 2000, and their daughter, Myra Agnes Blake, both of Cottage City; her parents, Alan and Joleen Campbell of Point Clear, Ala.; and a brother. A Southeast Washington man from was charged Friday with first-degree sexual abuse after police said he forced a 17-year-old male to leave a Metro station and then sexually assaulted the youth in a public bathroom at a Chevy Chase mall. Dominick Simons, 25, initially encountered the teenager as the pair walked into the Bethesda Metro station on May 23 in the afternoon, according to documents filed in D.C. Superior Court. Police said Simons asked to use the teens phone, then walked away with it. When the teen demanded he return the phone, Simons told the youth he had gun and threatened to shoot if the teen made noise about it, according to court papers. Simons returned the phone, police said, but forced the teen to board the Metrorail train and ride with him to the Friendship Heights station. From there, they walked to the Chevy Chase Pavilion at 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Police said Simons took the teen into a bathroom at the mall and sexually assaulted the youth. Inside a stall, the teen cried out, No, I have to go. Let me go, according to the charging papers. The teen then fled the bathroom and reentered the Friendship Heights Metro station, where he boarded a train to the Van Ness-UDC Metro station, his original destination. The youth initially told his parents that he had been threatened by a man who said he had a gun, but didnt say anything about the alleged sex assault because he was embarrassed, according to the court papers. But a friend of the teen made an anonymous call police to say he had confided in her that he also was sexually assaulted. When police re-interviewed the youth after that call, he described the full attack, according to authorities. In addition to the sexual abuse charge in the District, Simons faces a kidnapping charge in Montgomery County, according to authorities. The assault follows an incident last month in which a 39-year-old woman was allegedly raped at knifepoint on a moving Metro train just before 10 a.m. in the Wheaton-Glenmont area of Montgomery County. [Woman allegedly sexually assaulted on Metro train by knife-wielding attacker] Transit agency officials were sharply criticized for not notifying the public about the April 12 rape report. Court records also indicated that Metro Transit Police had identified the accused rapist in that assault in an earlier indecent exposure incident, but did not immediately seek to arrest him. On Tuesday, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld, said he did not think it was necessary to tell the public about the incident because the suspect was arrested shortly after the assault. But later that day, he announced that Metro would change its policy to inform the public about all violent crimes in the system as long as they did not compromise the police investigations. [Metro changes policy, says it will notify public about violent crimes] In this latest incident, Metro officials stressed that the reported sexual assault occurred off Metro ground. That incident did not occur on Metro property it occurred after they exited at Friendship Heights, said Sherri Ly, a spokeswoman for the transit agency. Ly also noted that a sexual assault wasnt initially reported. She said once it was, authorities spoke to the victim and began to pursue the charges in regard to the sexual abuse case. A hearing had been set for Simons in D.C. court Friday on the sex assault charge, but his lawyer said medical reasons prevented his appearance. The lawyer declined to offer further information. Simons also is charged with robbery in a separate case. Authorities allege he stole a cellphone from a teen at the Van Ness-UDC Metro station on May 23. Simons appeared in D.C. court Saturday, according to court records. He was ordered to remain in jail until a hearing set for Tuesday. Faiz Siddiqui contributed to this report. A Forestville High School teacher was arrested Thursday after admitting to having sexual contact with a student, according to Prince Georges County police. Vincent McDuffie, 45 of Upper Marlboro is accused of having sexual contact with a 17-year-old female student on school grounds during school hours in March and April and has been charged with sex abuse of a minor, police said. Based on McDuffies admission to police, administrators have placed him on unpaid leave and will immediately seek his termination, according to a statement from the Prince Georges County Public Schools. [For years, Pr. Georges didnt strengthen school sex-abuse policies] Any behavior that brings harm to a student will not be tolerated in any way in PGCPS, officials said in the statement. We remain keenly focused on our commitment to ensuring a quality education in a safe environment for the children of PGCPS. Vincent McDuffie, 45, of Upper Marlboro was charged with sex abuse of a minor in connection with the alleged abuse of a 17-year-old female student at Forestville High School where he taught. (N/A/Prince George's County Police Department) The charges against McDuffie come as the school system finds itself in the middle of a wide-reaching child-sex-abuse investigation involving an elementary school volunteer who allegedly victimized at least 17 children. [Prince Georges schools launch task force to review policies after child porn case in Glenarden] Police in February have arrested Deonte Carraway, 22, of Glenarden in the case. Authorities accused him of directing students as young as 9 to perform sex acts while he recorded them in private homes, a church, a municipal center and Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School. Many of the alleged acts occurred on school grounds during the school day, with Carraway communicating with students through an anonymous messaging app called Kik, police said. The county school system created a task force to review its policies in the wake of Carraways arrest. The task forces final recommendations are expected to be released Tuesday. Vinnie Taylor would meet his clients inside hotel rooms throughout the East Coast, equipped with gallons of silicone, super glue and cotton balls, according to federal prosecutors. He told some of the women who came to him seeking fuller figures, according to court documents, that he knew what he was doing was illegal but assured them that they would be safe. Its like how marijuana is illegal, but everyone uses it, Taylor reportedly told one of his customers, according to court records. But after seven years of administering the cosmetic injections to women in more than 3,000 sessions, at least one of those instances proved deadly, revealing Taylors operation to law enforcement and landing him in jail. Taylor was not a doctor and did not have a medical license. He purchased 152 gallons of silicone for his business and made about $1.59 million in revenue, federal prosecutors said. Taylor, 44, of Wilmington, N.C., pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges for administering the illegal injections Thursday, agreeing to serve 12 to 15 years in prison as part of an agreement with prosecutors. Vinnie Taylor, 44, of Wilmington, N.C., pleaded guilty in federal court to administering illegal silicone injections and will serve 12 to 15 years in prison. (Prince George's County Sheriff's Office) [Deadly buttocks injections: Silicone was meant for food processing] Taylor administered the silicone buttocks injections in hotel rooms in Maryland, Virginia, Missouri and elsewhere, charging customers from $800 to $1,000 for an initial visit and $350 to $800 for repeat business, according to court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland. After injecting the silicone, Taylor used super glue and cotton balls to prevent the silicone from leaking and wrapped her buttocks in plastic wrap, the plea agreement states in describing the process. Taylor injected food-grade silicone designed for processing and packaging into the women seeing him, but told them it was medical-grade silicone, court documents said. He told one woman that silicone is not harmful if it is injected into you. In the case of injections Taylor administered in Maryland, at a Prince Georges County hotel room in March 2014, the woman began having problems breathing after she left. She was taken to a local hospital, where she later died. The medical examiner determined the womans cause of death to be acute and chronic respiratory failure due to a foreign substance, court records state. Taylor told other clients afterwards that he had administered injections to her but claimed that her death was not his fault as he was just trying to fix her, according to federal prosecutors, and Taylor also remarked that she had been sick when she came to him. Taylor admitted that his conduct resulted in the death of the victim in March 2014, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. Federal public defenders representing Taylor said that it is the offices policy not to make comments, and declined to do so. Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in August. Taylor also is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter in Prince Georges County and be sentenced to 10 years in prison, a sentence that will run concurrent with his federal sentence, according to a spokeswoman with the Prince Georges County States Attorneys Office. Gold Star father Dan McLaughlin, whose son was killed in Iraq, attends a ceremony honoring those at the Civil War Unknowns Monument at Arlington National Cemetery. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) They entered Arlington National Cemetery at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, their motorcycles, and the noise of the holiday weekend, left outside. Preceded by two bagpipers, they filed in quietly, many in black leather vests, sunglasses and ball caps. Dan McLaughlin, 75, of Tionesta, Pa., whose son, Michael, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, was killed in Iraq, was among them. So was Gina Townsend, 51, of Gainesville, Va., whose late father was given the Medal of Honor for gallantry in Vietnam. About 200 men and women representing American Legion posts from across the country, and several modern wars, came to salute the fallen of a distant war. Colin Waldroup, from left, Army Col. Daniel Townsend, second from left, E. Bruce Heilman, second from right, and Thomas Saunders, right, lay a rememberance wreath at Arlington National Cemetery. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) They gathered at the cemeterys Civil War Unknowns Monument, the original Tomb of the Unknowns, and the site of the first official Memorial Day commemoration in 1868. Relatives of men who had died at places such as Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006, and Hue, Vietnam, in 1968, came to salute men who had been killed in places such as Manassas in 1861 and 1862. They traveled from legion posts in Panama City, Fla.; Goose Creek, S.C.; and Glenarden, Md., wearing caps that said they had served on the USS Midway, or with the Armys 101st Airborne Division. As they walked to the tomb along the cemeterys Meigs Avenue, they passed near the graves of Col. Edgar OConnor, who died in 1862 at age 29 at the Civil Wars Battle of Groveton, and Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny, who was killed at Chantilly the same year. The tomb holds 2,111 unknown soldiers whose remains were gathered from battlefields around Manassas and elsewhere at the close of the war. Most of them had been unburied and left behind as the tide of the war ebbed and flowed. They were laid to rest in a specially built mass tomb adjacent to the Arlington Mansion, which gave the cemetery its name. Almost half of the soldiers killed in the Civil War were never identified, according to the National Park Service. The tomb was sealed in September 1866, and the first official Memorial Day ceremony was held there in May 1868, the Park Service said. The keynote speaker that day was future president and then-Brig. Gen. James A. Garfield. Here, where all the hope and fear and agony of their country centered; here let them rest, asleep in the nations heart, he told the crowd. This will be forever the sacred mountain of our capital, he said. Here is our temple, its sacrament is the sarcophagus of the heroic hearts; its dome the bending of heavens; its altar candles the watching stars. Hither our childrens children shall come to pay their tribute of grateful homage, he said. Today the site gets little attention from those eager to see Arlingtons better-known Tomb of the Unknowns, which dates to 1921, and the graves of President John F. Kennedy and his brothers Robert and Edward. There are no crowds, no changing of the guard, no eternal flame. But Saturday, the legionnaires and their comrades stood before the Civil War dead in the shadow of a great oak tree. As officials laid a wreath of remembrance and a bugler sounded taps, there was a sense of pride and sorrow that spanned 150 years. To know that people are remembering my son, thats the important part, Dan McLaughlin said as he stood by the tomb, wearing the Gold Star symbol of loss that goes back to World War I. Theyre not forgetting him, he said. The younger McLaughlin was killed Jan. 5, 2006, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Ramadi. Michael McLaughlin had been working there to recruit Iraqis for a police force when the bomber approached. An Army bomb dog smelled the explosives as the man neared and attacked him, but the bomber detonated his device before the soldiers could react, Dan McLaughlin said. His son was struck at the base of the skull and went down. When others rushed to help him to safety, the younger McLaughlin said, You take care of my guys; Im okay, his father said. He turned and dropped dead, he said. And that was the end of it. Gina Townsends father, Army Staff Sgt. Clifford C. Sims, was a 25-year-old squad leader engaged in heavy combat with the enemy near Hue on Feb. 21, 1968. Fighting in dense woods, Sims and his men heard an explosive device being triggered, according to Simss Medal of Honor citation. Sims shouted a warning to his men and threw himself on the device, which blew up, killing him. This is a first for me, Townsend said as she stood by the tomb. It is very eye-opening. For years, we didnt talk about it in our family, because it was the Vietnam War, and it wasnt a talked-about war. A sixth-grade teacher, she said she often takes students to visit the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg. We teach them all about what happened there, she said. And this [tomb] is right here. This was the original. Below the wreath of red and white flowers and blue ribbons that had been placed at the foot of the tomb, an inscription in the stone read: Their remains could not be identified, but their names and deaths are recorded in the archives of their country: And its grateful citizens honor them as of their noble army of martyrs. In his recent book, The Finest Traditions of My Calling, Abraham Nussbaum, 41, makes the case that doctors and patients alike are being shortchanged by medical practices that emphasize population-based standards of care rather than individual patient needs and experiences. Nussbaum, a psychiatrist, is the chief education officer at Denver Health Medical Center and practices on the adult inpatient psychiatric unit there. I recently spoke with him; this is an edited transcript of our conversation. Your book is in some ways a lament for times gone by, when physicians were artisans who had more time for their patients and more professional independence. But youre a young doctor and you must have known at the outset that wasnt the way medicine worked anymore. Why do you stick with it? The first thing Id say was that I didnt know right away that medicine is no longer universally understood as a calling instead of a job. We are describing health as if it is just another consumer good, and physicians and other health practitioners as the providers of those goods. That is the language of a job. When you remember that being with the ill is a calling, then you remember that it is a tremendous privilege to be a physician. People trust you with their secrets, their fears and their hopes. They allow you to ask about their lives and to assess their bodies. So my lament is not for the loss of physician privilege goodbye to that but to the understanding of medicine as a calling. You dont like checklists and quality improvement measures that dictate how physicians care for patients because you say this approach turns doctors into technicians and is an obstacle to moral reasoning. But those tools arent going away anytime soon. How do you do the kind of doctoring you want to do in this environment? (Courtesy of Abraham Nussbaum) Quality improvement seems to be here to stay. Regulators at all levels require it. But I believe that evidence of its success is not as clear as they suggest. The British Medical Journal published a study that found no evidence that introducing quality metrics has resulted in a significant reduction in patient mortality. The leaders of the quality movements version of quality improvement developed out of industrial engineering, so they are always comparing the care of patients to things like the production of cars or the flying of airplanes. People are far more varied than cars on assembly line or planes on the runway. In my own specialty, the current quality metrics all encourage me to perform standardized screens on patients or to document carefully. None of them require me to develop a relationship with a patient so that I can, say, foster hope after a suicide attempt or knit a psychotic person back into the life of their family. Yet that is what my patients want, those human relationships. It is also what physicians want, and the most recent studies suggest that most physicians are dispirited by quality metrics. But not all physicians are equally skilled or conscientious. As a patient, I feel more comfortable knowing there are rules and standards that doctors have to meet. I dont think physicians should be free to do whatever they want. Their thinking and decision-making should be held up to scrutiny. A physicians standard of quality should be evidence-based, but even more it should be patient-centered. The standard should be what the patient defines as what matters. So if you are suffering chronic pain, it is not just a reduction of your score on a standardized pain scale, but your ability to resume the activities you identify as constitutive of your life. Only 55 percent of psychiatrists take insurance, compared with nearly 90 percent of physicians in other specialties. That puts their services out of financial reach for many people who could use their help. How does that square with your vision of doctors as healers and teachers? Its deeply concerning to me. Ive made a conscious choice to work at a safety-net hospital so I can see people regardless of their ability to pay. I hope that through things like the Medicaid expansion and mental-health parity, more psychiatrists will work with [more] people who have mental illness. Some physicians have chosen to establish boutique practices that accept a limited number of patients who pay extra fees for more personal attention and better access. Whats your perspective on that? It sounds appealing to me. In most descriptions of boutique medicine, they talk about it like a lovely restaurant, one that I couldnt afford to go to every night. I think its an interesting model but not a solution to the large problems facing medicine, in particular the ability to provide care to the most needy among us and the indigent. This column is produced through a collaboration between The Post and Kaiser Health News. Mars relays magic, Saturn supplies summer cheer and Jupiter furnishes fun through Junes night sky. As night falls, find Jupiter very high in the south-southwest at negative-2.1 magnitude (quite bright) near the lions rear legs in the constellation Leo. The waxing, first-quarter adolescent moon cavorts with Jupiter on June 11. This gaseous globe sets around 2 a.m. now, but in mid-June it sets in the west about 1 a.m. and by months end sets around 12:15 a.m. Magnificent and marvelous Mars bright and bursting with red ascends the southeastern sky as night falls. Earths rusty-looking neighbor opens June with a negative-2 magnitude (very bright), making it an easy target for casual skygazers. At midnight now, when it crosses south, it is about 29 degrees above the horizon. By the middle of June, Mars passes south just before 11 p.m., high above the horizon. At the end of June, find the planet south before 10 p.m. and slightly dimmed at negative-1.6 magnitude. Saturn is an all-night-party planet at the start of June as it rises about 8:20 p.m. in the southeast and beams bright enough to be seen from the city, at zero magnitude. On June 3, Saturn reaches opposition which means that from our earthly perspective, were between the ringed planet and the sun. In other words, its a full Saturn being lit by the sun. By the end of June, it rises at 6:20 p.m. in full daylight so at sunset, the planet will be high in the southeast. The plump, waxing gibbous moon jumps past Mars on the evening of June 16, scoots between Mars and Saturn on June 17, and the nearly full moon snuggles next to Saturn on June 18. The new moon arrives June 5, and the full moon officially appears June 20 the summer solstice. While Venus is too close to the sun for us to see, Mercury gets morning attention. The fleet planet ascends the morning heavens in the eastern sky around 5 a.m., flirting with the horizon before sunrise. On June 3, it will nuzzle a last quarter moon. Now the planet is at 0.8 magnitude, but it brightens to negative-0.7 later in June. At the end of the month, Mercury will be negative-1.5, but getting closer to the sun. Hello, summer! The astronomical start to summer the solstice occurs at 6:34 p.m. on June 20, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. Down to Earth events: June 1 Going to Extremes: Putting the Squeeze on Life, a lecture by NASA astrobiologist Pamela Conrad, examines how life adapts to challenging locales. At the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater, Air and Space Museum, the Mall. 8 p.m. Request overflow tickets and webcast: airandspace.si.edu/events/tickets. June 4 Rain, go away! Through dark skies, gaze at the opulent heavens with star party host Sean OBrien and astronomers from the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club at Sky Meadows State Park near Paris, Va. Parking $5. Arrive before dark. 8 to 11 p.m. Park phone: 540-592-3556. airandspace.si.edu. June 4 Scrutinize planets, stars and other spirited cosmic objects at Exploring the Sky, hosted by the National Park Service and the National Capital Astronomers. At Rock Creek Park, near the Nature Center in the field south of Military and Glover roads NW. 9 p.m. capitalastronomers.org. June 5 Black Holes, a talk by astronomer Erin Kara, at the University of Marylands Observatory, College Park. 9 p.m. View the heavens through telescopes afterward, weather permitting. www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse. June 10 Enjoy Mars, Jupiter and Saturn plus the sun and the moon at the sixth annual Astronomy Festival on the Mall, where astronomers will set up telescopes at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 6 to 11 p.m. (Rain date: June 11 at Catholic University, 620 Michigan Ave. NE.) hofstra.edu/dcstars. June 13 The National Capital Astronomers celebrate science-fair winners at their regular meeting at the University of Maryland Observatory, College Park. 7:30 p.m. capitalastronomers.org. June 14 Spaceflight: Then, Now and Next, a discussion with Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, and Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, chief executive of Amazon.com and owner of The Washington Post. At the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater, Air and Space Museum on the Mall. 8 p.m. Request overflow tickets and webcast: airandspace.si.edu/events/tickets. June 20 The Early Moon as an Exoplanet, a talk by astronomer Prabal Saxena, at the University of Marylands Observatory, College Park. 9 p.m. Barring clouds, scan the heavens through telescopes. astro.umd.edu/openhouse. June 23 How to Find an Inhabited Exoplanet, a lecture by astronomer David Charbonneau of Harvard University, as he explains the chemical fingerprints needed to find life beyond our solar system. At the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater, Air and Space Museum, on the Mall. 8 p.m. For stand-by tickets and webcast: airandspace.si.edu/events/tickets. Leaders of the campaign to end Britains membership in the European Union hope that next months referendum will make June 23, 2016, a date as luminous in modern British history as May 3, 1979, when voters made Margaret Thatcher prime minister. Michael Gove, secretary of justice and leader of the campaign for Brexit Britains withdrawal from the E.U. anticipates a galvanizing, liberating, empowering moment of patriotic renewal. For Americans, Britains debate about Brexit is more substantive, and perhaps more important, than their dispiriting presidential choice. American conservatives would regard Britains withdrawal from the E.U. as the healthy rejection of political grandiosity. Goves friend, Prime Minister David Cameron, who opposes Brexit, says that the referendum is perhaps the most important decision the British people will have to take at the ballot box in our lifetimes. Advocates of Brexit agree, but add: If Britons vote to remain in the E.U., this might be the last important decision made at British ballot boxes because important decisions will increasingly be made in Brussels. The E.U.s democracy deficit is mistakenly considered merely an unintended injury resulting from the creation of a blessing a continent-wide administrative state. Actually, the deficit is the point of such a state. In Europe, as in the United States, the administrative state exists to marginalize politics to achieve Henri de Saint-Simons goal of replacing the government of persons by the administration of things. The idea of a continent-wide European democracy presupposes the existence of a single European demos, the nonexistence of which can be confirmed by a drive from, say, Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic. Gove believes that the ongoing concentration of power in Brussels, seat of the bureaucratic regulatory temptation, guarantees regulation in the interest of incumbents who do not want a dynamic, innovative Europe. Under Europes administrative state, Gove says interest groups are stronger than ever and they prefer social stasis to the uncertainties of societies that welcome the creative destruction of those interests that thrive by rent-seeking. Gove likens the E.U.s figurehead Parliament to the Russian Duma under the czars, or the Hapsburg parliament. The E.U. is a rigged cartel in the interest of the smug. If, as some serious people here fear, Europes current crisis of migration is just the beginning of one of the largest population movements in history, the E.U.s enfeebled national governments must prepare to cope with inundations. But each E.U. members latitude for action exists at the sufferance of E.U. institutions. Gove believes that most of the British public, and even most members of Parliament, see the familiar trappings and procedures of the House of Commons the mace, question time and think nothing has changed. But most of binding law in Britain estimates vary from 55 percent to 65 percent arises not from the Parliament in Westminster but from the European Commission in Brussels. The E.U. has a flag no one salutes, an anthem no one sings, a president no one can name, a parliament that no one other than its members wants to have more power (which must be subtracted from national legislatures), a capital of coagulated bureaucracies that no one admires or controls, a currency that presupposes what neither does nor should exist (a European central government administering fiscal policy), and rules of fiscal behavior (limits on debt-to-gross domestic product ratios) that few if any members obey and none have been penalized for ignoring. Journalist and historian Max Hastings, who will vote Remain, says the bitterness between Leave and Remain Conservatives is reminiscent of the Suez crisis of 1956 and is wildly unreasonable, given that Britains gravest problems an unsustainable National Health Service, a failing education system, low economic productivity have nothing to do with Brussels. Besides, especially given the worsening migration crisis, I cannot believe that the E.U., and even more the eurozone, will or should survive in their present form through another decade. Supporters of Brexit agree that, such is the E.U.s flux, there is no stable status quo to embrace, so leaving is no more risky than remaining. Mildly invoking 1776 for an American guest, Gove says self-government works better than being part of an empire that doesnt have our interests at heart. So, the 23rd of June can become Britains Fourth of July a Declaration of Independence. If Britain rejects continuing complicity in the E.U. project constructing a bland leviathan from surrendered national sovereignties it will have rejected the idea that its future greatness depends on submersion in something larger than itself. It will have taken an off-ramp from the road to serfdom. Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook. ANY DOUBT about the kind of investigation into fetal tissue research that would be conducted by a special House panel was erased at its first hearing, when one of the witnesses called by Republicans drew comparisons between this life-saving medical work and the experiments of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele. And the panel has gone downhill since. The committee has issued indiscriminate subpoenas, intimidated witnesses and relied on misleading information. It is abusing power at taxpayer expense, and Democrats are right to demand its shutdown. In a letter this week to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), 181 of the 188 House Democrats called for disbanding the select investigative panel, characterizing it as a witch hunt. The committee was created last year by former speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to probe connections between abortion providers and medical researchers in the wake of the furor caused by sting videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood involved in the illegal sale of fetal tissue. As we now know, those videos are bunk, neither accurate nor reliable. Previous investigations by three House committees found no wrongdoing. Twelve states that launched investigations into Planned Parenthood found nothing; another eight determined there was no credible evidence even to warrant investigation. The only wrongdoing, according to a Texas grand jury that was under orders to investigate Planned Parenthood, was committed by the antiabortion activists who filmed the misleading videos. None of those facts seems to matter to Republicans who see the committee as an opportunity to score political points with their antiabortion base. Their heavy-handed tactics in service of this grotesque theater are disturbing. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the committee chair, despite amassing 19,000 pages of documents claims noncompliance and has unilaterally issued dozens of subpoenas, often without reaching out to subjects to ask for voluntary compliance. Her demand for names of individuals who work in labs and clinics without providing a justification and without assurances of privacy is troubling and irresponsible. According to Democrats, one of the individuals targeted by the investigation already has received graphic death threats after being identified in the videos. There is no legitimate reason for this inquiry. Individuals and organizations are being unfairly targeted and placed at risk. Mr. Ryan, who took office with talk of wanting to change how the House does business, should put an end to these sordid proceedings. The Post gave Gov. Terry McAuliffes lawyer freedom to present Mr. McAuliffes (D) side of a current investigation [Attorney: McAuliffe did nothing wrong, Metro, May 26]. The attorney, James W. Cooper, based his view around foreign corrupt practices and lobbying for a foreign government by a private citizen, which, he pointed out, Mr. McAuliffe was when the transaction in question occurred. Mr. Cooper said the federal officials have not mentioned anything about campaign finance. The investigation is centered around a $120,000 donation by a foreign national to Mr. McAuliffes 2013 campaign. No previous articles mentioned foreign corrupt practices or lobbying. Is Mr. Cooper trying to vindicate Mr. McAuliffe by changing the subject? John A. Yerrick, Bethesda THE SYRIAN cease-fire launched in February, which has mostly broken down, was destined to be messy at best, since it did not cover all of the groups fighting around the country. But one part of it should have been straightforward. A U.N. Security Council resolution as well as the cease-fire agreement mandated the delivery of humanitarian relief to villages and towns around the country that had been sealed off by sieges. Three months later, the results are stark: The blockades are continuing, malnutrition is spreading , and children are in danger of starvation. Some may debate culpability for the cease-fires crumbling. But there can be no doubt why food and medicine are still not being delivered to towns such as Darayya and Moadamiya in the Damascus suburbs, and the al-Waer district of Homs. The regime of Bashar al-Assad is systematically denying access in order to maintain what U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura has called the closest to a medieval type of siege that were seeing in recent history. Mr. de Mistura made that statement more than 10 days ago, on May 17, when ministers from Russia, the United States and other members of the diplomatic group behind the cease-fire last met in Vienna. The group issued a statement saying it insisted on concrete steps to enable the provision of urgent humanitarian deliveries. Secretary of State John F. Kerry emerged from the meeting to boast that we moved the ball forward. Since then, the sieges have only tightened. May was supposed to be a good month, a U.N. humanitarian aid coordinator, Jan Egeland, told reporters in Geneva on Thursday. Instead of the one million people that we have planned and tried to reach by land in May, we have only so far reached 160,000. He added: We are still failing the people of Darayya, as we are failing the people of Moadamiya and al-Waer. . . . I would say that the situation is still horrendously critical. Children are so malnourished in these places that they will be dying if we are not able to reach them. By now it is blindingly clear that the Assad regime never had any intention of complying with the humanitarian mandate. In this it has had the support of Russia, which formally supported the cease-fire deal and United Nations resolution, but has done nothing to compel its client to allow aid deliveries. The Obama administrations feckless but familiar reaction to the breakdown has been to appeal to Moscow as if it might somehow be persuaded to do the right thing. Mr. Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday to say Russia has a special responsibility . . . to press the regime, according to a statement. The coming days will provide a new test of U.S. credibility. The May 17 Vienna meeting produced a pledge to support airdrops to besieged towns if aid did not get through by June 1. But U.N. planes cannot fly unless the Assad regime and Russia, which control the air space, cooperate. Mr. de Mistura said he would personally press the United States and Russia to find a way to begin the operation. If the Obama administration again prevaricates, the price will be starving children. I suppose we should all be amused that George F. Will found the prospect of a British exit from the European Union titillating [Britains chance to break free, op-ed, May 26]. But one wonders why Mr. Will was so solicitous of Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London and (according to Mr. Will) Donald Trump lookalike with his odd mop of blond hair, who referred in quite disparaging tones to the European project as tending toward the creation of a United States of Europe, into which Britain will be sucked. Thus does Mr. Johnson place himself in direct opposition to a former British prime minister and Conservative Party leader who advocated explicitly for a United States of Europe, saying it could provide [Europe] with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. That was none other than Sir Winston Churchill. Evan Scott Thomas, Bethesda Reuel Marc Gerecht is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The Islamic Republic of Iran held another Holocaust cartoon festival this month, inviting the usual despicable cast of characters. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif assured the New Yorker that although the event would proceed, Iran would ensure that the people who have preached racial hatred and violence will not be invited. Evidently, Zarif believes there are Holocaust deniers who do not harbor racial hatred. As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani once remarked to CNNs Christiane Amanpour, the Holocaust the question of whether it happened and the dimensions of the slaughter is really a matter for historians and researchers to illuminate. Crimes against humanity are bad, Rouhani averred, as he quickly glided over the Nazis anti-Jewish malevolence to similar crimes committed today, leaving no doubt for a Middle Eastern audience that he was talking about Israel. Among Irans ruling elite, Holocaust denial and the accompanying conspiracies about Jewish power are omnipresent and diverse, but they all have strategic intent. Anti-Semitism is not only central to the regimes identity; its also inextricably tied to its soft-power propaganda aimed at the larger Muslim world, especially Arabs. Anti-Semitism was part of Irans inception. The revolutions father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spent much of his life indulging it. In Khomeinis rendition, the Jews, always untrustworthy in Islamic history, are surrogates of Western imperialism who have displaced Palestinian Muslims and even distorted Islams scriptural texts. Khomeinis hatred toward Israel exceeded even his disdain for America. The United States was a pernicious, seductive imperial power. But it was Americas conduct, not its existence, that the mullahs contested. Israel, on the other hand, was for Khomeini an unlawful entity, irrespective of its actual policies and behavior. No peace compact or negotiated settlement with the aggrieved Palestinians could ameliorate this essential illegitimacy. Israel must be wiped off the map. Since the ayatollahs death, Tehrans efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state have continued, no matter who among the ruling elite has had the upper hand. Whether its those aligned behind Ali Khamenei (Khomeinis successor), the revolutionary pragmatists backing Rouhani or the Islamic leftists who once rallied behind the reforming president Mohammad Khatami, attitudes toward Israel and the Holocaust have remained constant. For them, Zionism is a racist, exclusionary ideology that should be opposed not just by Muslims but also by all who care about human rights. Irans propaganda insists that Zionism was imposed on the region by force of arms, sustained by bloodshed and perpetuated by craven U.S. politicians beholden to domestic Jewish groups. Khamenei has gone so far as to claim that to ensure the compliance of U.S. politicians, these Zionist capitalists both bribe and threaten them. Even more: These Jewish American overlords have murdered some of their high-ranking and great officials. Anti-Semitism in Iran is an Orwellian voyage of ideology, where fiery sermons and conferences calling for the annihilation of Israel and denying the Holocaust have become the sanctioned language of the Islamic republic. In foreign affairs, this antagonism to Israel enforces the clerical regimes claims to regional leadership, especially at a time when the mullahs ecumenical message to Sunni Muslims has been compromised by Irans role in provoking and sustaining sectarian warfare in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Irans anti-Semitic assault is one of the few rhetorical weapons the clerics can deploy that has broad popular appeal among Sunni Muslims. Arab leaders may envision agreements with Israel, but many of their constituents loathe the idea, especially in Egypt, which has a cold peace with Israel, and in Saudi Arabia, where royals unofficially flirt with Israeli officials in a great game to counter the mullahs. In particular, Iran needs anti-Semitism and Holocaust-denial conferences that brandish its Islamist credentials to compete against the Saudi propaganda machine, which is running full-throttle against the Shiites, depicting Iranians as Muslim heretics and Persian usurpers eyeing Arab lands. From their global network of pulpits and Arab satellite TV channels, the Saudis call the faithful against a rapacious Iran and its Shiite insurgents taking over the ancient seats of Arab civilizations in Baghdad and Damascus. And the clerical regimes anti-Semitism will grow worse as the rewards of the nuclear deal increase. The mullahs no longer have to worry how the regimes hatred of Jews plays in the West the buffoonish character of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is gone and sanctions are falling. The U.S.-educated Zarif is adept at handling Western officials and journalists. In his capable hands, Holocaust festivals become yet another reason to support Rouhanis moderates. And Western opprobrium not reinforced with sanctions just affirms the correctness and utility of the mullahs anti-Jewish worldview. What matters most is the war for Muslim minds, and the clerical regime intends to exploit anti-Semitism for all that its worth. Supporters of D.C. statehood call for an end to taxation without representation in April. (Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency) If youre looking for an anti-Trump screed, a plaintive appeal for Middle East peace or a fulsome debate over restroom access for transgender people, turn the page. Todays rant is about the offensive treatment of Americans in our nations capital by a despotic Republican Congress. District leaders are understandably angered by last weeks vote in the GOP-dominated House to block the city from spending locally raised tax revenue without first getting congressional approval. Calumny, not the Constitution, informs Republican behavior. Less noticed, however, is another equally offensive and more fiscally harmful action that Congress imposes on the city: Federal law allows locally raised tax revenue to be disbursed as payroll without city taxation. It is a costly raid on the citys coffers, and it has been going on for years. The source of the problem is found in the commuter tax ban in the Home Rule Act. For newcomers or residents who have been living under a rock for 43 years, Congress prohibits the District from taxing the income of nonresidents who work in the District regardless of what state they may reside in or who the employer may be. The commuter tax ban is all the more galling because it allows direct access to the D.C. treasury, to wit: Nonresident D.C. government workers who collect locally funded D.C. government paychecks are, unlike their co-workers who live in the city, not subject to D.C. income tax. On payday, those nonresidents leave their D.C. government jobs, taking every penny earned from the city into Maryland, Virginia or any other state where they choose to reside and happily spend their time and money. Lets quantify this congressional smackdown of city taxpayers with data obtained this week from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Counting W-2 tax forms issued for 2015 for nonresident D.C. government workers, the results are as follows: 18,870 W-2s to employees who live in Maryland; 4,365 to Virginia residents; and 687 to residents of other states. And what, pray tell, is the estimated amount of foregone tax revenue resulting from the ban against taxing those nonresident D.C. government workers? From the CFOs office for 2015 to the penny: $98,751,983.22. The remedy is as obvious as the howls that will come from Maryland and Virginia congressional delegations: Allow the District to tax the income of nonresidents who work in the District. Yes, the city is now much better managed financially than it once was, producing a steady stream of annual balanced budgets and budget surpluses. But unlike other jurisdictions, the District still has limited ability to raise revenue because 40 percent of its land is not taxable (i.e., that occupied by the federal government, nonprofits, tax-exempt institutions) and the commuter tax ban. But if not all commuters are taxed, why the pass for nonresident D.C. government workers? Why should city employees who live outside the District be allowed to contribute to our tax revenue problem? Thats the case when they are allowed to take dollars earned from their D.C. government employment out of the city, untaxed. Congress should end that particular D.C. taxpayer abuse. But city leaders should also enter the fray. Its time to take the residency requirement issue seriously. The award of D.C. government contracts, city job appointments and competitive promotions should be subjected to strong D.C. residency preferences. Today, D.C. government jobs and city contracts provide a pathway to the black middle class . . . in suburban Maryland and Virginia. Cmon, D.C. leaders, get smart! Without discriminating or unfairly favoring a person based on sex, race, religion or sexual orientation, every effort should be made to select D.C. residents ahead of equally qualified nonresidents. Besides the revenue-gaining potential, theres a benefit to having employees who live in the community. Resident city workers have something more at stake than their paychecks. They have a vested interest in making their city a more desirable place to live, raise families and educate their children. Resident D.C. workers are more likely to shop, spend, recreate and interact with others in the community where they live. For those nonresident workers who complain that they cant afford to live in the District, city leaders should think seriously about creating incentives that will bring them into the city. As for those nonresident D.C. workers who enjoy their city government offices and steady jobs, but dont like the Districts crime rates or schools, theres a case to be made for coming back and helping to make the community that employs them the kind of place they want to live in. Today, they are, at bottom, essentially absentee D.C. citizens living on the citys dime legally enabled by Congress to be both. Another congressional outrage, and a shame. Read more from Colbert Kings archive. Michael Pfeiffers May 20 letter to the editor, Mr. Putins faulty Olympic ideal, was compelling. It referred to Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympic Games. The first Olympic de Coubertin, or True Spirit of Sportsmanship, medal was awarded, posthumously, in 1964 to German track and field star Luz Long, who had befriended American Jesse Owens, the champion of the Nazi Olympics, 80 years ago this summer. Owens took first in the long jump, relegating Long, who held the lead, to second place. Long was the first to congratulate Owens, an African American, and walked arm in arm with him around the Olympic Stadium. Long was chastised by the Nazis for his noble treatment of Owens. Long lost his life in combat in World War II. Owens met Longs son in Berlin in 1964. Long was the very personification of Pierre de Coubertins Olympic ideal of moral beauty. Peter I. Hartsock, Laytonsville President Obama delivers the commencement address to the 2016 graduating class of Howard University in Washington, D.C., on May 7. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) As Barack Obamas presidency takes a back seat to the psychodrama known as the 2016 election, historians, speculators and revisionists are busy writing his presidential epitaph. Not least of the revisionists is Obama himself. At a recent commencement address at historically black Howard University, Obama noted that his election did not, in fact, create a post-racial society. I dont know who was propagating that notion. That was not mine, he said. This remark stopped me for a moment because, well, didnt he? Wasnt he The One wed been waiting for? Wasnt Obama the quintessential biracial figure who would put racial differences in a lockbox for all time? This was the narrative, to be sure. But, if not Obamas, then whose? In retrospect, it was mine, yours, ours. White people, especially in the media, created this narrative because we loved and needed it. Psychologists call it projection. We made Obama into the image of the right sort of fellow. He was, as Shelby Steele wrote in 2008, a bargainer, who promised white people to never presume that you are racist if you will not hold my race against me. Obama wasnt so much the agent of change as he was the embodiment of a post-racial America as whites imagined it. But Obamas message, beginning with his 2004 address to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, has always suggested that he would be at least a messenger of unity, which sounded an awful lot like post-racial. Theres not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; theres the United States of America, he said. Most in the media listened to those words and were spellbound. Up in the press section, swaddled in hope and powdered with the pixie dust of change, we were teetering dangerously close to clasping hands and singing Kumbaya over post-racial smores of milk chocolate and marshmallows. I remember turning to my colleague and saying, Weve just heard the first black president. Little did I know. We ran into Obama later that night in the lobby of a hotel. He was talking to a solitary fan in an otherwise empty area. We introduced ourselves. Obama was polite, gracious and, yes, flattering in a knowing way. We three parted company and my first impression of the president remains unchanged: He reads people well and gauges precisely what they want to hear. All good politicians do, but some are better at it than others. That many interpreted Obamas message as post-racial made some kind of sense. The divide between red and blue states may be seen as also splitting along racial lines in some cases. Eight years after being elected as the first black president of a majority-white nation, Obama is shrugging off any responsibility for having contributed to the post-racial expectation. Is this because, racially, things actually seem worse? But what if they werent? What if there had been no Black Lives Matter movement, no Trayvon Martin, no Freddie Gray, or any of the others who were killed by police in the past few years, or, in Martins case, by a vigilante? Im guessing hed have grabbed that narrative in a bear hug and given it a great, big, sloppy kiss. His remarks to a graduating class, instead of disavowing that silly post-racial thing, would have celebrated his greatest achievement the healing of America. How lucky are you, class of 2016?! Here you are about to launch your life in a post-racial era, heirs to a heroic legacy and a future of sun-drenched days. When you want the tides to come in, you let me know. Heh, heh, the truth is, I wasnt able to pull that one off. But I did end racial disharmony! Not too bad. One can dream (and joke). But all those awful things did happen. And perhaps having a black president gave communities the strength and courage they needed to raise their voices. And maybe hearing a black president speak to the bravery of police officers, the majority of whom act in good faith, was helpful to whites feeling the stigma of racism attach to their own innocence. Did Obama do enough to make good on his intentions, if not promises? Well know in a generation or two, perhaps. In the meantime, the real truth is that Obama sized up the electorate and, in the ultimate act of flattery, imitated their projections. Then he gave them precisely what they wanted, not a post-racial world but a pre-post-racial one a custom-designed, rainbow-hued, streamlined fantasy of hope and change. Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. EUROPEAN UNION sanctions on Russia for the war it has waged in eastern Ukraine will be up for renewal in a few weeks, and some governments have been looking for a way to loosen them even though Russia has never observed the terms of a 15-month-old peace deal it signed. So it should not have been a surprise when Vladimir Putins government on Wednesday released the Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, a national hero Moscow had been holding as a de facto hostage, in exchange for two Russian military officers captured inside Ukraine last year. Mr. Putin not only got his soldiers back but also bought a chance that E.U. leaders will seize on his concession as a pretext to betray Ukraine. For the moment, Ukrainians are rightly celebrating the return of Ms. Savchenko, a military pilot who was abducted from the front in eastern Ukraine while fighting with a volunteer battalion in 2014. After illegally transporting her to Russia, the Putin regime blamed her for the deaths of two journalists who were killed by mortar fire inside Ukraine. Though the evidence showed she had nothing to do with what was, in any case, a legitimate military attack, she was sentenced to 22 years in prison in March. Ms. Savchenko gained renown by defying the Putin regime. She went on a hunger strike, refused to cooperate in her trial and offered the judge a raised middle finger. While in Moscows detention, she was elected to the Ukrainian parliament, making it virtually impossible for President Petro Poroshenko to implement Ukraines side of the peace deal before her release. The prisoner swap consequently raises hopes among the sponsors of that deal, Britain and France, as well as in the Obama administration, that it will finally move forward. That looks like a long shot. The deal calls for elections in Russian-occupied territories and a modification of the Ukrainian constitution to give local authorities more power. But Moscow has never complied with what should have been the first step of the process: a cease-fire and withdrawal of heavy weapons. On Tuesday, even as the prisoner swap was being arranged, Ukrainian authorities said seven of their soldiers had been killed and nine wounded by shelling and other attacks in the previous 24 hours. E.U. leaders have repeatedly resolved not to lift economic sanctions on Russia until the peace deal, known as Minsk 2, is fully implemented and Ukraine regains control of the border with Russia. The E.U.s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, told us this month that she expected a renewal of the sanctions before they expire in July because Russia had not met its Minsk obligations. Mr. Putin evidently has no intention of complying with the deal. Instead, he is hoping to use continued conflict in Ukraine to destabilize the shaky democratic government in Kiev while inducing the Europeans to lift or loosen sanctions anyway. Some in Europe will be tempted to follow Moscows script, which would lead to the destruction of a free and independent Ukraine. The Obama administration should work to ensure that they do not. U.S. Marines of the 3rd batallion, 4th regiment, escort a comrade in shock after an artillery shell hit an Amtrack troop transporter during fighting with Iraqi gunmen in 2003. (Laurent Rebours/ASSOCIATED PRESS) Roger Boas is the author of Battle Rattle: A Last Memoir of World War II. A recent study by the Rand Corp. concludes that the U.S. military is unable to provide adequate therapy sessions for thousands of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The February study of 40,000 cases, the largest ever, found that only a third of troops with PTSD received the minimum number of therapy sessions needed after being diagnosed. As a veteran, I am appalled. Though my war experience was 70 years ago, it haunts me to this day. I can still remember the sound that froze my blood. The stomach-churning whistle of a field artillery round, like a thousand shrieking pigs, increasing in a ghastly crescendo until it finally explodes and bodies fly in every direction. Anyone who has served in ground combat knows that sound. Its our worst nightmare. You never know where the incoming projectile is going to hit. Youre either dead or youve managed to squeak out alive one more time, deeply shaken. It happens nonstop, any hour of the day or night. It seeps into your bones. They called it shell shock in World War I, which saw an enormous increase in the use of field artillery. Mobile cannons could shoot farther and more explosively than ever before, so they were deployed by the thousands. The shells rained for hours at a time. The only thing the soldiers in those trenches could do was duck and pray to whatever God they hoped was still listening. What gets you is the fear. Thats what ate away at me during my months of combat as a field artillery forward observer in World War II. (Im in my 90s now, one of the few dinosaurs still standing from that conflict.) They had dubbed its predecessor, WWI, The War to End All Wars, but it didnt stop them from fighting the same war all over again 25 years later. Dont get me wrong: WWII was a war we had to fight. (I have my doubts about some of our more recent efforts, however.) Only those of us who have been in combat know the true price of war. The lives and limbs lost. The psychological scars. The Army spends a fortune training its troops to kill but almost nothing to train us for coming home. I spent almost two years firing 105mm howitzers across the Mojave Desert and the plains of Northern England before I was deployed in the fight against Hitler. I served in the Fourth Armored Division of Gen. George Pattons Third U.S. Army, his spearhead into Germany, which meant 11 months of nonstop combat and nonstop fear. Strangely, the fear would leave me entirely when I went into action; it was the unending dread of waiting to go into action that did me in. Humans arent wired for war. Were survivors. Were programmed to run from danger. When we are forced into a war zone for extended periods, it messes with our minds. We called it battle rattle in my war and I came home in 1945 to San Francisco with a bad case of it. My parents didnt quite know what to make of me. I couldnt make sound decisions, and my relationships suffered. No one knew what to say, so they said nothing. It took many years to feel even a semblance of normal. There were tens of thousands of us. And even more after Vietnam. In the 1980s, they finally came up with a clinical diagnosis: PTSD. An alarming number of veterans suffer from it. This is not confined to modern warfare with its explosives and sophisticated weaponry. It goes back to Shakespeare and even Homer. You find it in the Book of Job and the Mahabharata from India. Heres a speech from a worried spouse to a soldier fresh off the battlefield from Shakespeares Henry IV, Part 1: Tell me, sweet lord, what ist that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth, And start so often when thou sitst alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks, And given my treasures and my rights of thee To thick-eyed musing and cursed melancholy? Thats a mental state that sounds a lot like my battle rattle. It happens every time you ask humans to kill other humans. And yet our soldiers reentry into society is rarely factored into the cost of war. Theres little buffer in place to help us unwind. With all the money it spends on our training, why doesnt the Army provide training for the other side of our service: civilian training camps to facilitate our return to life at home? Its not such a far-fetched idea. Barton Swaim is author of The Speechwriter: A Brief Education in Politics and a contributing columnist for The Post. A recent report on NPR began by noting that the arguments of many conservative Christians are being challenged by changing views in society. I wondered: Is there someone alive who doesnt know that already? The story went on to explain that some evangelicals are embracing liberal social views and some arent an observation made at least a thousand times before, and one entirely dependent on the nebulous descriptor evangelical. One line in the story, though, stood out. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, remarked to the reporter: We are on the losing side of a massive change thats not going to be reversed, in all likelihood, in our lifetimes. In Mohlers view, the report went on, Christians must adapt to the changed cultural circumstances by finding a way to live faithfully in a world in which were going to be a moral exception. Hold on. A high-profile Southern Baptist just conceded that his side lost the culture war. If I had been the reporter, that would have been the story. Yes, Mohler is still enunciating traditionalist views on marriage and sexual morality, views that many on the other side find anachronistic and thus repugnant. But hes openly conceding that the cultural changes he laments wont be reversed by some fictional silent majority. Nor is Mohler alone. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, has frequently made the same sort of cheerful concession. After the Supreme Courts decision last year guaranteeing the right of same-sex couples to marry, Moore warned his co-religionists not to panic. Christianity doesnt need family values to flourish, he wrote in The Post. In fact, the church often thrives when it is in sharp contrast to the cultures around it. Thats not what Jerry Falwell or James Dobson would have said. Absent is any vow to return the nation to its Judeo-Christian heritage or to take America back. Hardened secularists, I imagine, will see only a rhetorical pivot in these and similar statements from religious conservatives. Mohler and Moore may now claim to relish the virtues of pluralism (so their critics may reason), but their rhetoric merely repackages the Moral Majoritarianism of 30 years ago. I dont think so. Ideological lines in U.S. politics are shifting and blurring rapidly: The rise of Donald Trump, the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the resurgence of libertarianism prove at least that much. Its reasonable to assume that religious conservatives, too, are rethinking their role in American society and politics. That rethinking probably began in earnest with Richard John Neuhauss book The Naked Public Square in 1984. Neuhaus, acknowledging pluralism as a hard reality rather than condemning it as a temporary deviation, nonetheless sharply criticized the idea that the public sphere can have nothing to do with religiously informed principles and arguments. In 1990, he founded the influential magazine First Things, in which Catholic, Protestant and Jewish intellectuals reflect on the role of religion in Americas rapidly fragmenting society. More recently, Notre Dame historian George Marsden a self-described Augustinian Christian and so something close to an evangelical, whatever that still means has argued in his book The Twilight of the American Enlightenment that religious traditionalists and secularist liberals can avoid a great deal of acrimony by defenestrating the midcentury idea of a neutral public sphere and instead adopting what he and others have termed principled pluralism. More recently still, in his new book The Fractured Republic, the scholar and journalist Yuval Levin, a Jewish social conservative, has counseled both religious conservatives and secularist liberals that they can repair our dysfunctional politics by comprehending the implications of this one essential truth: that American society is no longer the consolidated unit it once was but a diffuse assortment of subcultures. True, many religious social conservatives still think its their duty to take America back, their disposition expressed in the fierce eloquence of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). But many do not. Many have finally given up on the whole idea of a culture war or are willing to admit they lost it. They are determined only to remain who they are and to live as amiably and productively as they can in a culture that doesnt look like them and doesnt belong to them. In time, this shift in outlook may bring about a more peaceable public sphere. But that will depend on others especially the adherents of an ascendant social progressivism declining to take full advantage of their newfound cultural dominance. I see few signs of that, but I am hopeful all the same. A man, foreground, checks to make sure everyone made it safely out of a truck that flooded when the three men in the background drove around a road barrier in Magnolia, Tex. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle via AP) WEATHER In Texas, at least four dead after heavy rain At least four people are dead and others are missing after last weeks torrential rains in Texas and Kansas, officials said Saturday, noting that although the threat of severe weather had lessened in Texas over the long holiday weekend, the focus is now on swollen rivers and waterways that are slowly rising and could flood homes. Other parts of the United States also were drenched Friday, including Kansas. In central Kansas, the Wichita Fire Department said Saturday that it is searching for an 11-year-old boy who became missing after he was swept away by a swollen creek Friday night. In Washington County, Tex., located between Austin and Houston, four people have died after more than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places on Thursday and Friday. The torrential rainfall swelled rivers and other waterways, washing away mobile homes and flooding other structures. Authorities performed more than 50 water rescues. Near Austin, which saw as much as 9 inches of rain last week, officials are searching for two people whose vehicle was swept off a flooded roadway. The National Weather Service said a tornado hit Thursday in Bryan, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. Bryan officials said 153 homes were damaged. Associated Press Tropical storm forecast to make landfall in S.C. Tropical Storm Bonnie, the first of the year to threaten the United States, is expected to reach the South Carolina coast on Saturday evening or early Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said after upgrading the system from a tropical depression. Bonnie, coming four days before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, was on course to make landfall along the South Carolina coastline between the Savannah River, near Hilton Head Island, and the Little River Inlet. It was packing sustained winds of up to near 40 miles per hour, with higher gusts, the center said at 5 p.m. on its website. The system will bring heavy rainfall, life-threatening surf and rip currents to the Atlantic beaches during the long Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer vacation season. Tropical storms are defined as a cyclonic weather systems packing winds with sustained surface speeds ranging from 39 to 73 miles per hour. The center of the system was about 120 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, as of 5 p.m., the federal agency reported. The storm was moving northwest at 10 mph, the center said, adding its forward speed is expected to slow as it nears the coast. Reuters N.J. man guilty in temple attack: A New Jersey man convicted of terrorism for vandalizing and firebombing Jewish temples and a rabbis home is now facing a possible life sentence. Anthony Graziano was found guilty Friday on 20 counts by a Bergen County jury. But the panel acquitted him of aggravated arson and attempted murder charges. Graziano, 24, of Lodi, was charged along with Aakash Dalal for the 2012 attacks. Gorilla that grabbed boy is killed: A special zoo response team shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla Saturday that grabbed and dragged a 4-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla exhibit moat, the Cincinnati Zoos director said. Authorities said the boy, who fell 10 to 12 feet, is expected to recover after being picked up out of the moat and dragged by the gorilla for about 10 minutes. He was taken to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center. Rescuers search for abducted teen: Crews resumed their search along a Northern California creek for a teenage girl who was last seen being abducted by an armed acquaintance in Vallejo, about 65 miles south from the area being searched Saturday. The Solano County Sheriffs Office said 65 people from several law enforcement agencies and search-and-rescue groups are looking for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson in the Willow Creek area of Sonoma Coast State Park. From news services Cassandra Q. Butts, who was President Obamas classmate at Harvard Law School and a longtime member of the presidents inner circle who advised him throughout his political career and served as a deputy White House counsel, died May 25 at her home in Washington. She was 50. She sought medical attention early last week, when she began feeling ill. She died before learning that she had been diagnosed with acute leukemia, her family said. Ms. Butts met the future president in 1988, when they were filling out financial-aid forms during their first days at Harvard Law School. They had a shared interest in jazz and remained close friends throughout law school and in later years. Along with Valerie Jarrett, Susan E. Rice and others, Ms. Butts was sometimes described as one of the Sisterhood of female advisers especially close to the president and first lady Michelle Obama. In a statement, the Obamas said Ms. Butts was always pushing, always doing her part to advance the causes of opportunity, civil rights, development, and democracy. Cassandra was someone who put her hands squarely on that arc of the moral universe, and never stopped doing whatever she could to bend it towards justice. Cassandra Q. Butts was one of the Sisterhood of female advisers especially close to the president and first lady. (Courtesy of Cassandra Butts) During their three years together at Harvard Law School, Ms. Butts and Obama often spent time just sitting around and talking about how we were going to change the world, she told the Chicago Tribune in 2007. How do you take this thing were learning in law school and make a difference on the issues that we care about? She was among the classmates who encouraged Obama to run for president of the Harvard Law Review in 1990. He became the first African American to hold the position. In order to publish the Law Review and to be productive in his term as president, Ms. Butts told PBSs Frontline program in 2008, he had to figure out how to make it work and how to make both sides work together, which meant that he wasnt always going to side with his progressive colleagues. It is Baracks natural inclination to reach across the aisle. After graduating from law school in 1991, Ms. Butts was legislative counsel to Sen. Harris Wofford (D-Pa.), then worked on civil rights policy with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She returned to Capitol Hill in 1996 as a top adviser to Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), who was House minority leader at the time. She helped vet judicial nominees and served as counsel for the House Democratic Policy Committee during the 1998 impeachment hearings on President Bill Clinton. In 2004, when Obama was elected to the Senate, Ms. Butts helped hire his staff and organize his office. During his presidential run four years later, she was among several former classmates who helped with his campaign. After he was elected, she was general counsel to the Obama transition team and later served as deputy White House counsel. Initially, he didnt have a national network of people who he could call on, Ms. Butts told Politico in 2008. The Harvard group was helpful on that front helping him make introductions on policy, political and financial fronts. Ms. Butts was reportedly a key behind-the-scenes figure during the nomination process of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009. In November 2009, Ms. Butts became a senior adviser at the Millennium Challenge Corp., an independent government agency that develops recommendations on U.S. foreign aid to developing countries. She was nominated by Obama in February 2014 to be U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas. Beyond a committee hearing, the Senate failed to act to confirm her to the post. Cassandra Quin Butts was born Aug. 10, 1965, in Brooklyn. She was 9 when her family moved to Durham, N.C. Her father was a businessman, her mother an accountant. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987, then worked as a researcher for African News Service in Durham before going to law school. In 2000, Ms. Butts was an observer in the Zimbabwean parliamentary elections. She was a senior vice president at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, from 2004 to 2008. For the past two years, while awaiting confirmation as ambassador to the Bahamas, she served as an adviser to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Survivors include her mother, Mae A. Karim of Durham; her father, Charles Norman Butts of New York City; and a sister, Deidra Abbott of Severna Park, Md. Ive always been confident in Baracks ability, Ms. Butts said in 2008, describing Obamas preparation for the presidency. And even after law school, I remember telling a couple of people that, you know, I know this guy who is incredibly talented and could be the first African American president of the United States. For the past two months, Donald Trump has presided over a political team riddled with turf wars, staff reshuffling and dueling power centers. But the tensions are more than typical campaign chaos: They illustrate how Trump likes to run an organization, whether its a real estate venture or his presidential bid. Interviews with current and former Trump associates reveal an executive who is fond of promoting rivalries among subordinates, wary of delegating major decisions, scornful of convention and fiercely insistent on a culture of loyalty around him. Whether the drama of recent weeks has been cathartic or calamitous is an open question and one that is increasingly important as the general election phase of the campaign unfolds. The tumult has often dominated news coverage, stepping on Trumps own campaign message and averting the spotlight from missteps by leading Democratic contender Hillary Clinton. It is definitely dysfunctional compared to, say, Ace Hardware Store, said David Carney, a veteran Republican political strategist. But, he added, it is not fatal in and of itself. Honed over decades in business and now suddenly under the glare of a national contest, Trumps style offers a glimpse of the polarizing management techniques he would carry into the White House. In fashioning his campaign after his real estate and entertainment projects, the mogul has inspired supporters and alarmed critics with his brazen moves. Now that Donald Trump looks to be the Republican nominee for president, some of the men who attacked him most fiercely at the start of his campaign are throwing their support behind him - or at least vowing to stop insulting him. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) [Trump once revealed his income tax returns. They showed he didnt pay a cent.] Hes always the man in charge, said Edward Rollins, the veteran Republican strategist who is working for a pro-Trump super PAC. From his people, he gets what he needs. He makes them compete. Sometimes it gets the juices flowing, sometimes it spurs conflict. If he needs to, he steps in to settle it. Rollins pointed to the relationship between Trumps 42-year-old campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and his 67-year-old campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, as a prime example of how Trump handles people. While they have worked just steps from each other in recent weeks at Trump Tower in New York, the pair contrasts in age, experience and personality have a simmering rivalry over stature and responsibilities within the candidates orbit. And Trump doesnt seem to mind. One day, Manafort goes up and Corey gets set back. The next day, Corey can move up to the forefront. Trump is at the center, watching it all and seeing it all, Rollins said. Trumps firing last week of Rick Wiley as his national political director is a case study in how being close to Trump is usually the best way to influence him. A mantra for Trumps campaign advisers has long been, If you arent close to the principal, you arent anywhere, according to one person on staff. The abrupt dismissal was typical Trump reminiscent of his NBC television show, The Apprentice, which spawned the catchphrase Youre fired! [Trumps bad bet: How too much debt drove his biggest casino aground] Rick Wiley, a political strategist, was abruptly dismissed by the Trump campaign last week. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Wiley, who joined the Trump campaign in April with a headstrong persona and establishment pedigree, did not endear himself to many of the grass-roots activists and Trump allies who had been working for the campaign for months, including Karen Giorno, who started as Trumps Florida director and is now in charge of 10 Southeastern states. According to multiple people familiar with the situation, Giorno grew unhappy with Wiley throughout May, telling friends that he was unresponsive to her and, in her view, too forceful in asserting his strategy. Eventually, Giorno voiced her complaints directly to Trump. It worked. Wileys exit was announced Wednesday. In a statement, the campaign said Wiley was hired on a short-term basis. Wiley did not respond to a request for comment. Giorno said Trumps loyalty goes beyond anything Ive experienced in politics. She also described Trump as a boss constantly testing his employees and turning the tables on them. Hell ask questions and if you dont know the answer, you can tell that hes disappointed that you dont know it, she said. But then, hell brief you. On Florida matters, Trump has always been extraordinarily curious tell me more about whats going on in Florida; give me the snapshot, Giorno said. As I am telling him information, hes actually feeding me more information. From his 26th-floor office in New York, Trump who through a spokeswoman declined to be interviewed for this article is attempting to bend the nature and norms of a presidential campaign to his unpredictable and outsize personality, eschewing the top-down, consultant-heavy mode used by most candidates. [Trumps businesses boom as he runs for president, financial disclosure show] Rather, Trump functions simultaneously as his own big-picture strategist and micro-managing chief executive. He has gotten involved in intramural skirmishing that has engulfed his campaign, both stoking and calming tensions depending on the circumstances. His style can be what I call hands off, hands on. He gives people space to think and work and doesnt get involved in everything each day, but he is the kind of person who can swoop in in a second and change everything, said Sam Nunberg, a former aide who was let go from the campaign last year following disagreements with Lewandowski and controversy over past racially charged posts on Facebook. He monitors it all and he comes to check in on things when you dont expect him. Trumps fondness for stirring internal competition was on display during his Atlantic City heyday, when he pitted his casinos against one another much to the dismay of some of the executives who ran them. He encouraged the Trump Castle to compete for customers against the Trump Plaza hotel and casino and, later, his third casino, the Trump Taj Mahal. Trump liked the sparring while others worried about cannibalizing customers; in the end, for a variety of reasons, the three casinos went through corporate bankruptcies. Trumps method contrasts sharply with that of Clinton, who operates her corporate-style campaign from a sprawling headquarters in Brooklyn with legions of professional aides. Unlike Trump, her aides say, Clinton does not offer daily input on personnel or brewing internal debates. He takes in information from people around him, Lewandowski said. We look at that as surround-sound advocacy that gives him the totality of an issue. Then he is decisive. People shouldnt be surprised hes involved. Of course hes involved. Its his campaign and his money. Carl Paladino, a businessman and political operative from Buffalo, N.Y. who is the co-chairman of Trumps New York campaign, recalled when Trump called him months ago ahead of the New York primary and asked him to take the position. He said: Carl, lets do it. Lets go. He didnt have to say anything else. He trusted me to do what he needed me to do, Paladino said. He knows that . . . if you get in my way, Im going to knock you down. [Former Mafia-linked figure describes relationship with Trump] Such general directives demonstrate the level of trust Trump regularly places with many of his closest supporters. He continues to have faith in them when they collide, as has been the case with Manafort and Lewandowski. Manafort, who declined to comment for this article, was brought into Trumps circle in March when Trump started to fret that he might be headed for a contested Republican convention and would need someone who could navigate that thicket. This month, he was given the title of campaign chairman and chief strategist. Manafort calls Trump Donald, unlike Lewandowski, who calls the candidate Mr. Trump. He also does more freelancing than Lewandowski in terms of building relationships and arranging his own media appearances. Trump at times seem to play the two off of each other. Manafort appears to relish being a strategist and chairman more than the manager Lewandowski. Lewandowski, who prides himself on having been at Trumps side since the campaigns start, regularly takes the lead on overseeing events, operations and Trumps travels. Even as Manafort and Lewandowski seek to exhibit and expand their influence on the campaign, there is no doubt within the campaign that Trump is the ultimate arbiter. Sometimes that means drawing conclusions on topics that more traditional campaigns would outsource to aides. Other times, it means his counsel comes from just one person: himself. Trump is micromanager on the most important things but not all things, said Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York and a Trump ally who has known and observed Trump for decades. On the most important things, he realizes you have to be a micromanager. Hell delegate to a point. He has in his head what he wants to do and his issues, and hell hold onto them instead of sharing those big decisions. Michael Kranish contributed to this report. Marco Rubio accused Donald Trump of starting a "fake university" at the Feb. 25 GOP debate in Houston. Here's what you need to know about Trump University. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) Marco Rubio accused Donald Trump of starting a "fake university" at the Feb. 25 GOP debate in Houston. Here's what you need to know about Trump University. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) A federal judge has ordered the release of internal Trump University documents in an ongoing lawsuit against the company, including playbooks that advised sales personnel how to market high-priced courses on getting rich through real estate. The Friday ruling, in which Judge Gonzalo Curiel cited heightened public interest in presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, was issued in response to a request by The Washington Post. The ruling was a setback for Trump, whose attorneys argued that the documents contained trade secrets. Curiels order came the same day that Trump railed against the judge at a boisterous San Diego rally for his handling of the case, in which students have alleged they were misled and defrauded. The trial is set for November. Trump, who previously questioned whether Curiels Hispanic heritage made him biased due to Trumps support for building a wall on the Mexican border, said Friday that Curiel happens to be, we believe, Mexican. Trump called the judge a hater of Donald Trump who had railroaded him in the case. I think Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself. I think its a disgrace that he is doing this, Trump said. In his order, Curiel noted that Trump had emerged as a leading presidential candidate over the course of the civil case against Trump University and that Trump had placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue. The judge pointed to a previous case to say that courts deciding on public disclosure must weigh whether a party benefitting from the order of confidentiality is a public entity or official; and . . . whether the case involves issues important to the public. Trump University was started in 2004 to offer courses in entrepreneurship under the Trump brand. Trump gave his blessing, according to court documents reported previously by The Post, becoming a 93 percent owner of the new enterprise. [Donald Trump billed his University as a road to riches, but critics call it a fraud] Two class action lawsuits being considered in San Diego have accused Trump University of using deceptive practices as it brought in millions of dollars from customers who were told they would learn Trumps techniques to become successful in the world of real estate. Trump and his attorneys have vigorously denied the fraud claims, pointing to high ratings that students gave their courses at the time. The Post intervened in April, arguing that Trumps pursuit of the presidency made his business dealings a matter of public interest and that an inactive company had no compelling reason to maintain secrecy. Some of the firms internal documents previously became public. A 2010 playbook published by Politico, for instance, directed sales people to rank students based on their liquid assets to determine who to target for buying courses. Trump and his attorneys have said the company would return in some form after the case is resolved and that it would be damaged by the release of the marketing material. Curiel seemed unconvinced. Trumps assertion that the information retains any commercial value is speculative given the lack of any support for the statement that Trump University may resume operations, the order released Friday said. Curiel ordered that the playbooks and other records, numbering about 1,000 pages, be released by Thursday, June 2, allowing time to redact telephone numbers and other personal information about the company. [What Trump said under oath about the Trump University fraud claims] In addition to the class action cases, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a $40 million lawsuit in 2013 alleging that Trump had defrauded more than 5,000 individuals through Trump University, which was never licensed as an educational institution. Schneiderman alleged in the suit that Trump personally earned $5 million from the enterprise, in which sales personnel were assigned to get people to pay $1,495 for a three-day seminar in real estate techniques. In selling the courses, Trump released a marketing video that said, We are going to have professors and adjunct professors that are absolutely terrific . . . and these are all people who are going to be handpicked by me. One of the universitys top executives, Michael Sexton, subsequently testified in one of the class action suits that none of the professors at the live events were handpicked by Trump. Depositions released in March quote Trump acknowledging a lack of close involvement with mentors and students. The fraud allegations were highlighted during this years campaign for the GOP presidential nomination by some of Trumps competitors and by a super PAC that opposed Trump. Campaign and legal representatives for Trump could not be reached for comment Saturday. However, Jill A. Martin, vice president and assistant general counsel for the Trump Organization, said in a written statement in March that the allegations had no substance. She added that Trump University was a professionally run company which provided students with a valuable and substantive education and the tools to succeed in business and real estate. Iraqi forces ability to deal a swift blow to the Islamic State in the city of Fallujah could be slowed by local support for militants, the U.S. commander in Iraq said, suggesting a key battle may be a longer, tougher fight than Iraqi leaders are predicting. Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, who commands U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, said it was too soon to know how the battle within Fallujah would unfold. But he struck a more cautious note than Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other senior officials have in rallying Iraqis around what they say will be a rapid, decisive campaign in the besieged city. We really havent fought a battle like this, MacFarland said in an interview this past week. The general said that the western city is home to some of Iraqs early adopters of the Islamic States radical cause and that others have been indoctrinated. You could have a fairly large percentage of a fairly large city thats hostile to us, he said. While Iraqi police and army forces, fighting alongside Shiite militias and Sunni tribesmen, have secured areas surrounding Fallujah since the operation was launched nearly a week ago, Abadi has not yet given the order to storm the city. But Iraqi officials are already setting the operation apart from the recent battle for nearby Ramadi, which took weeks to complete and left much of the city in ruins. This past week, Abadi said the campaign, in its early days, was going better than expected. Soon we will liberate the people of Fallujah, he said. Smoke rises from Islamic State positions at the front line as Iraqi government forces fight the extremist group for Fallujah on Saturday. (Khalid Mohammed/AP) The United States is conducting airstrikes in support of the operation, and American advisers are providing guidance from headquarters far from the front lines. U.S. troops will not be taking part in combat operations in Fallujah, officials say. Reclaiming Fallujah would be a major boost to the morale of Iraqi security forces, eager to prove themselves after their humiliating collapse of June 2014. It would also provide a needed win for Abadi, struggling to demonstrate his clout amid repeated protests and a spate of terrorist attacks in Baghdad. For many Iraqis, conservative, deeply religious Fallujah also symbolizes the support that the Islamic State and its precursor, al-Qaeda in Iraq, has found with a small segment of Iraqis since 2003. In 2004, U.S. troops fought in two successive Fallujah offensives against Sunni insurgents, a mix of local and foreign fighters, in some of the fiercest street battles that followed the U.S. invasion against Saddam Hussein. In recent years, resentment toward the Shiite-led government in Baghdad boiled over, as residents of largely Sunni Anbar province complained of being sidelined from political and economic power. In early 2014, Fallujah became the first Iraqi city to fall to the Islamic State. MacFarland, said Fallujah had become a monster under the bed for many Iraqis, many of whom see the city, only an hours drive from Baghdad, as a source of threats to the capital. Speaking in his office in Baghdads Green Zone, he said a pretty sizable number of civilians in Fallujah may retain sympathies for the Islamic State. I dont know if they would resist necessarily the Iraqi security forces, but they may not be helpful, he said. U.S. military officials think there are 500 to 700 Islamic State fighters in the city, a mix of local and foreign fighters. The American commanders statements address a subject that most senior Iraqi government leaders have avoided commenting on in public: possible local support from Fallujah residents for the Islamic State. Abadi and other government leaders have described the battle for Fallujah in epic terms, referring to the heroism of pro-government forces and the unity of Iraqis against a common enemy. State television broadcasts images of columns of soldiers singing rousing anthems. Officials hope the battle will create momentum for a later offensive in Mosul, a larger city to the north. While officials concede that there are many Fallujans among the fighters ranks, they say its rarely because the men embrace the Islamic States ideology. Lt. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, a senior adviser at the Iraqi Defense Ministry, said civilians in Fallujah are just afraid for their lives, and theyre not acting according to their own will. Local leaders, speaking from outside the city, described complex reasons behind the groups appeal to a limited number of Fallujah residents. Some people, they said, may have sought a paycheck from a cash-flush group. Others may have been conscripted. Aymad al-Juraysi, a Fallujah sheik, said some of those who joined the Islamic State were local police officers, who would be particular targets for militants. They joined to keep their lives, he said. Some Fallujah residents signed up out of fear or, as food and basic goods have grown short in recent months, out of desperation. People have been eating food made for animals, he said. But many in Fallujah, like others from Iraqs Sunni minority, were probably drawn into the Islamic State out of a long-smoldering sense of disaffection, the local leaders said, involving years of slights by Shiite leaders in Baghdad against Anbar province. Those people would join anyone who considered government as enemy, and that was Daesh, Shiek Faisal al-Issawi said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. They felt they were not welcome with the government. One such man may be Rafie al-Jumaili, an Islamic State commander from Fallujah. Relatives and acquaintances of Jumaili, whose father is an important sheik, said the younger Jumaili had fought al-Qaeda in the U.S.-backed Awakening program, which U.S. officials credit with turning the tide of the 2003 war. Afterwards, the Awakening was neglected . . . which made him oppose the government. He joined the Military Councils, and then Daesh, Issawi said. The Military Councils were earlier groupings for Anbar residents with complaints against the government . A late 2014 video shows Jumaili, dressed in black and flanked by assault rifles, as he lashes out at a long list of adversaries, including the Iraqi government and influence from Israel and Iran. The militants cousin, Col. Jumaa al-Jumaili, said Rafie al Jumaili chose the wrong path, because he thought that the Military Councils and Daesh would control the whole country. Col. Jumaili, who now commands tribal fighters battling the Islamic State around Fallujah , said his cousin was an exception in their tribe, which has seen only a few people embrace the Islamic State. In Anbar, you cant generally find a tribe thats 100 percent against Daesh. Neither can you find a tribe thats 100 percent with Daesh, he said. Me personally, I would kill anyone who joined Daesh, even if he was my brother. The United States has been hunting leaders like Jumaili. On Friday, Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said that a recent American airstrike had killed Maher al-Bilawi, named as the groups emir in Fallujah. MacFarland said that Baghdad residents, after a series of car bombs believed to have come from Anbar province, will probably continue to feel unsafe until the city is recaptured. The battle will also draw from local forces ability to plan for future operations, such as Mosul, he said. So . . . yes, the duration of the campaign matters. He said the government was certain to prevail in Fallujah. But I dont know necessarily how long its going to take to get there. The government is working to make sure the aftermath of the battle includes swift resettlement and resumed services. Officials want to avoid the destruction that characterized other battles, which could further alienate Fallujah residents. But already there are worrying reports of civilians killed by security forces shelling and damage to infrastructure. Askari said that the coming push into Fallujah will serve to distinguish between the militant groups most ardent followers and those who have joined out of need or fear. Now there may be some people who pretend to be with Daesh, he said. When the Iraqi forces enter the city, the equation will be different. Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed to this report. Read more: As Iraqi offensive unfolds, civilians trapped in Fallujah face multiple threats Mixed Iraqi force prepares for push into militant stronghold of Fallujah U.S. takes war back to Pakistan with drone strike aimed at Taliban leader Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Pope Francis holds a life vest he says was used by a Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. The pontiff expressed dismay Saturday at European nations turning away migrants, including children. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters) Italian coast guard and navy ships, aided by Irish and German vessels as well as humanitarian organizations, saved 668 migrants from smugglers boats in distress in the Mediterranean off Libya on Saturday, Italian and Irish officials said bringing the weeks total of migrants plucked from the sea to 13,000 people. The rescues are the latest by a multinational patrol south of Sicily that has saved thousands this week. The Irish military said the vessel Le Roisin, deployed earlier this month in the humanitarian search-and-rescue mission, saved 123 migrants from a 40-foot-long rubber dinghy and recovered the body of a man. A German ship, part of the European Union deployment on patrol for migrant smugglers boats, also was involved in what was a total of four separate rescue operations, the Italian coast guard said in a statement early Saturday evening. Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, bringing 135 survivors, along with 45 bodies, from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock Sunday. Other survivors who arrived Saturday in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo told authorities they saw a fishing boat filled with hundreds of migrants sink Thursday, a Save the Children spokeswoman, Giovanna Di Benedetto, said by telephone from Sicily. Video from the Italian Navy shows a large ship capsizing off Libya's coast on May 25 with more than 500 migrants aboard. (Italian Navy) According to survivors, two smugglers fishing boats and a dinghy set sail Wednesday night from Libyas coast. Di Benedetto said the survivors were among 500 or so aboard the one fishing boat that didnt sink, as well as the dinghy. Authorities say many migrant boats in the past few years apparently have sunk without a trace in the Mediterranean, with the dead never found. Often, the only news about them comes when family members in Africa or Europe tell authorities that their loved ones never arrived after setting sail from Libya. Under an E.U. deal, tens of thousands of those rescued at sea and seeking asylum were supposed to be relocated to other E.U. member nations from Italy and Greece, whose shores have received most of the migrants in recent years. But with resentment building in some European countries about taking in migrants, the plan never really took off, and only a small percentage of those slated for relocation have actually been moved. Associated Press In this photo taken in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, rescuers help migrants to board the Italian Navy ship Vega, after the boat they were aboard sunk. (Raffaele Martino/AP) Read more: German government leaders back plan to push migrants to integrate Italy may be the next big migrant route Europes migrant deal with Turkey may be unraveling Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world A festival treasure that treats its subjects with a dignity that transcends judgment and a poetic sensibility that ranks it among the years most remarkable cinematic discoveries, Varietys Peter Debruge wrote of Above and Below, Nicolas Steiners graduation film at Germanys Film Academy Baden-Wurttemberg, rating it among his top ten movies of 2015. Other have shared his enthusiasm. Oscilloscope bought U.S. rights to Above and Below last year. A two-hour, lyrical cinematic essay, shot in widescreen and documenting five outsiders living on the margins in the California desert, the film was also Switzerlands most-prized feature fest title last year, per promotion agency Swiss Films, May 27s German Film Awards, where Above and Below competes for best documentary and cinematography (d.p. Markus Nestroy), may be one of the films last chances to add to its prize haul, which includes kudos at the San Francisco, Munich and Zagreb festivals. Steiner, who is Swiss, says he came across the idea for a film about cowboys, ghosts and aliens, a great metaphor for our society, when he was studying as a Fulbright Scholar at the San Francisco Art Institute. His hero and survivors, as he describes them, are Dave, whos occupied a destroyed military bunker; Lalo, a loner, and Rick and Cindy, a couple, who live in Las Vegas flood tunnels; and April, a student at Utahs Mars Desert Research Station, who explores the California desert red earth Marscape in a clunky simulation suit, readying for a possible life on Mars. But rather than Dave being the cowboy, April the alien and so forth, all seem to share a bit of all three categories as they carve out new homes, however rudimentary, and talk off-camera as Steiner follows them about their daily lives, with Dave digging a hole in the desert, Lalo trundling down the pitch black flood tunnels, torch in hand, like an eerie spectrum. All the heroes and survivors of the film live in the desert, which was a magnetic point for me, visually so different than the mountains I come from, but deep inside with the same rules of survival. They can be quite archaic, raw and rural in both circumstances, Steiner says. Story continues Steiner gradually gets at the single core stories of the heroes in the film both Dave and April served in Iraq, for example just like peeling an onion. Steiners first feature, Battle of the Queens, was a 71-minute docu-feature, shot in black and white, about an annual cow-fighting event in his native Switzerland. He is now working on his fiction feature debut, from a story brought to him by Erich Lackner, producer of movies by Austrias Michael Glawogger (Whores Glory) and Ulrich Seidl (Losses Are To Be Expected). The project is set up at Zurichs Maximage, one of Above and Belows producers. We are moving back from the desert into the mountains and cliffs of the sea. It will be a fiction film but in a follow-up style to Above and Below, Steiner says. Related stories Swiss Film Industry Gets Positive Jolt With Ticino Film Commission, Production Rebate Combo Oscilloscope Buys Documentary 'Above and Below' for U.S. (EXCLUSIVE) Karlovy Vary Film Fest Hosts Variety Critics' Choice at 50th Anniversary Edition Bogota (AFP) - Police in Bogota on Saturday rescued some 200 young women and girls who were being held against their will and sexually exploited, city officials said. Mayor Enrique Penalosa told a press conference that the youngsters were held in the heart of the city, not far from the center of government. "We will not tolerate the exploitation of children anywhere in Bogota, and certainly not just six blocks from the Casa Narino (the presidential palace) and city hall," Penalosa said. Police, assisted by military units, carried out a raid in a notorious section of Bogota known as The Bronx, plagued by rampant drug trafficking and prostitution rings. One of the victims was found hidden behind a wall, hands and feet shackled. The youngest victims were taken into custody by child welfare authorities. Several suspects, said to be members of criminal gangs, were taken into custody. President Juan Manuel Santos pledged the full cooperation of his administration as the operation continues. Nissan unveiled its racetrack ready 2017 GT-R NISMO at Germanys challenging and longest Nurburgring race course. NISMO, which stands for Nissan Motorsports International Ltd., is the automakers performance and motorsports division. NISMOs newest GT-R features a fresh, more aggressive front fascia and an enlarged grille to cool the hand-built potent engine, along with carbon fiber material additions to the front bumper and a reshaped hood to help the car better endure extreme speeds, according to Nissan. Available in four exterior paint colorsblack, silver, white, and redthe new 2017 GT-R NISMO will go on sale in the fall. Inside, Godzillas cabin has a refreshed interior with redesigned dashboard and steering wheel covered in Alcantara suede that is similar to the version exhibited at the New York Auto Show this year. The center stack has been simplified with fewer navigation and audio control switches11 instead of 27. A larger 8-in. monitor features bigger icons, and new display controls allow for easier operation, the automaker says. Leather Recaro seats are redone with red synthetic suede inserts. 2017 Nissan GT-R NISMO photo Performance has been upgraded in the all-wheel-drive GT-R NISMO midsize premium sporty car, which is powered by a hand-assembled, twin-turbocharged, 3.8-liter V-6 engine that generates a hefty 600 horsepower and 481 lb.-ft. of torque, when partnered with a 6-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Thats an increase from the 565-horsepower engine on the base GT-R. Also, engineers have worked to develop a stiffer body structure and refined shocks, springs, stabilizer bars, and adjustable Bilstein dampers for better handling, the company states. Nissan claims that slalom racing times improve for the new GT-R NISMO, which is assembled in Tochigi, Japan. Additional Research: Body Style: Abstract: Nissan unveiled its racetrack ready 2017 GT-R NISMO at Germanys challenging and longest Nurburgring race course. Story continues Year: 2 017 Check this if this is NOT an Articles Listing Page: New or Used: New Display Article Date?: Fuel: A group of women in Santa Monica, California, have garnered over 44,000 shares on Facebook from their tale of stopping a date rape in progress at the FIG restaurant in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel. "Monica, Marla, and I were at FIG at the Fairmont for their delicious happy hour ('Fig at 5.' Treat yourself)," one of the women, who goes by the name Sonia Ulrich on Facebook, posted. "I was going on about something and saw Monica staring behind and making a funny face. I stopped. 'What's going on?' After a few second she said 'That guy just put something in her drink.'" Ulrich wrote she had to "Warn her. Tell her to get up and leave this creep. Make him drink it. Something." So she lingered in the bathroom to meet the woman in question and said her date had dropped an unknown substance into her beverage, only for the woman to say the man who did it was her "best friend." The women informed the staff of the restaurant as well, triggering an uneasy wait of nearly 45 minutes for the Santa Monica Police Department to arrive. The poor woman had to sit through 40 more minutes, sitting across from "one of her best friends" knowing that he was trying to drug her. Marla noticed him several times chinking his glass to hers to get her to drink. She played it cool. Mostly, I believed, just stunned. The staff wanted to jump in and dump the glass, dump him, do something! I was going through fantasies of walking up and demanding he drink the tainted glass of wine. Eventually, they finished up dinner. There was a delay getting their bill. "The computer is down" is what the waiter kept saying to him. Then, in walks Santa Monica PD. They say "Come with us" and he doesn't protest. Doesn't ask why. Doesn't seem surprised. Later, the women said, the head of security at the location told them the restaurant was able to check security footage and locate video evidence of the attempted drugging. Soon after, people from other tables stopped by to thank Ulrich and her friends for intervening, sharing their own stories of similar incidents: Story continues "It happened to my sister... I'm glad I was there to take her home." "It happened to my roommate at a producer's party. He's still messed up from it." "It happened to me. At a backyard barbecue." "It happened to me. At a bar I worked at." "Some heroes don't wear capes. Thank you. It happened to me. Thank you." "Fuck yeah, you guys! You fuckin' rock!" The incident allegedly happened Thursday night. No one at FIG Restaurant answered the phone when contacted by Mic. However, Jezebel spoke to a staff member who confirmed the story was true, though they could not comment on the investigation. The threat of rape is a terrifying reality for many women in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 5 women say they have been raped, and 9.3% report being the victim of a drug or alcohol-facilitated assault; 32.1% report some form of unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime. Additionally, the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information & Services says 75% of all rapes are perpetrated by an acquaintance of the victim, rather than a stranger, as seemed to have been the situation at FIG. "The effects of all drugs are enhanced when taken with alcohol," WVFRS reported. "Victims who have been given alcohol and/or these sedating drugs often do not remember the assault itself and therefore may not immediately report it." Fortunately, in this case, someone saw something and said something, as anyone who sees a crime like this in progress should. From Cosmopolitan The last day of May this year will mark the 10-year-anniversary of when you first met the cast of The Hills, which included your faves Lauren Conrad, Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port, and Heidi Montag. Of course, you know that Spencer Pratt didn't arrive until the second season, when he started dating Heidi. The rest, as they say, is history true love. In recent days, select cast members have been reflecting on the show and everything that's happened in the last decade. Spencer's got my vote for having the most interesting and honest quotes. Here are a few from InStyle's extremely entertaining chat: Spencer called his producer friend after seeing his credits on an early episode of The Hills. "So I called him, and he told me it was a set cast from Laguna Beach and he couldn't get us on. I was like, 'Bullshit. We'll see you at the clubs.' I called Brody [Jenner] and said, 'We gotta drop $30,000 on bottles and make a scene at Area [Ed note: another now-defunct nightclub] next to their table.' Brody was a hardcore prince at the time." His first dance with Heidi was pretty good. "Heidi is a scary good dancer. And this is when I thought I was Derek Hough. It's the last good memory I've ever had in a nightclub." Heidi and Lauren were pizza royalty. "Heidi and Lauren had this pizza spot they used to go to after the clubs. I swear to god, to this day, I've never seen two girls that could eat pizza faster at 3 a.m. I'm talking whole larges to the dome." He got into crystal balls after Heidi's plastic surgery. "I didn't want Heidi to be in pain anymore. I started getting into wands, too. I was just like, 'I need to join the Illuminati, it's my only chance.' There was a lot of dark energy, and I was looking for any way to counteract it. You just start getting medieval on sh*t." He's a lot like J.Law IRL. "We wanted to have a show that people watched, so we did all this stuff that made us look like the worst humans on Earth. When the cameras were off, I was a complete gentleman - opening doors and going to the movies and cuddling. There was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on. If I did any of that in an indie film, people would think I'm the new Jennifer Lawrence." Story continues He's living the dream right now. "My life is like Groundhog Day. Every morning, I make two 32 gram shots of Zip Zinger espresso. I used to have a breakfast burrito every day, but now I have an apple with almond butter, because I want to be model skinny. Then I usually do jujitsu for about an hour and a half, then I eat salmon. Then I go home, ice my old man knees, watch Apple TV, and tweet, because I don't have any actual friends to talk to. Then Heidi and I will either get sushi or Mexican food and I'll have some tequila on ice. I keep that in rotation." Spencer also spoke with Entertainment Tonight: Spencer and L.C. were friendly until she split with Brody. "It was just like, 'No, you're not hanging out with Spencer now because I don't have Brody, let's get back to the club' It [was] a hard balance and they just didn't show any of this. There was so much, but we were all great for a long time." Spencer and Heidi's pretend home on The Hills belonged to their onscreen neighbor Enzo. "His mom and dad [would be] in another room, and we'd come to Enzo's house to pretend. Poor kid, it's like, 'Why are they here in my house again?'" And because you deserve it, Audrina also has a fun and odd story, which she told ET. When Audrina was dating Ryan Cabrera, producers wanted her to stage a fight with Kristin Cavallari about one of the best Hills characters of all time, Justin Bobby. They wouldn't let me leave until we got in a fight over Justin and made it a big deal. So, Kristin and I went to the bathroom for a big talk. She was like, "Let's just do this so we can both leave," and I was like, "OK, fine, let's just do it and get it over it That was the only time that ever happened, and it was because it was so juicy and something had to happen at the party Other than that, it [was] smooth sailing. God I miss this show. Happy anniversary, Hills nation. Follow Peggy on Twitter. Rome (AFP) - An Italian marine accused of killing two fishermen in India returned home Saturday pending a ruling on where he should be tried in a long-running case that has soured ties between the two countries. Salvatore Girone touched down in Rome after four years in India, where he was being held pending the resolution of a dispute between New Delhi and Rome over who has jurisdiction in the case. His wife, children and father rushed onto the plane for an emotional reunion, after which he was met on the tarmac by Italy's foreign and defence ministers, raising his clasped hands together in a sign of victory. The newly reunited family was expected to travel straight on to Bari in southern Italy, where locals had planned a homecoming party. Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre are accused of shooting the fishermen while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off India's southern Kerala coast in 2012. Latorre was allowed to travel back to Italy in 2014 for treatment after suffering a stroke. Girone had been barred from leaving but India's supreme court agreed on Thursday to alter his bail conditions allowing him to return, after a tribunal in The Hague ruled this month he should be free to go, pending the final outcome of arbitration. Italy initiated international arbitration proceedings in the case last year, referring the row to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague and asking it to rule on where the men should be tried. Under his new bail conditions, Girone must return to Delhi within one month if the PCA rules that he face trial in India. Italy insists the oil tanker, the MV Enrica Lexie, was in international waters at the time of the incident. India argues the case is not a maritime dispute but "a double murder at sea", in which one fisherman was shot in the head and the other in the stomach. PARIS/OSLO (Reuters) - Airbus Helicopters has acted to allay concerns over the safety of its Super Puma aircraft after Norwegian investigators declined to rule out a repetition of past gearbox problems being the cause of a crash that killed 11 oil workers and two pilots. Norway's accident investigation authority AIBN said in a preliminary report on Friday that it was examining three possible causes for the April 29 crash near Bergen, in which the main rotor section separated from the aircraft. These included the struts that attach the rotor head to the helicopter and two parts linked to the gearbox that drives the blades - the 'epicyclic module' and the main gearbox housing. Britain and Norway have grounded commercial Super Puma flights, a workhorse of the oil industry, amid concerns over a repeat of gearbox problems linked to previous accidents. In an unusual move during an investigation, Airbus Helicopters issued a statement narrowing the probable cause to the attachment of the struts, known as 'suspension bars,' rather than the gearbox. It also pinpointed the aircraft's maintenance. It said its own analysis had produced seven potential theories to explain why the main rotor detached. "Out of these seven scenarios, only one the failure of the attachment of a suspension bar can be assessed as probable by Airbus Helicopters, based on the information available to date," it said. "Analysis of the helicopters maintenance history has just started and should provide a better understanding of the most likely causes," it added. Operator CHC reiterated the three areas for investigation listed in the report and warned against speculation. "As we move forward in this process, its important we avoid speculation and maintain a factual focus on the details as they emerge," it said. In early May, Airbus asked operators to check installation of the three suspension bars but safety authorities went further and called for gearbox checks. The European company's statement appeared designed to reassure customers amid concerns over the future of the Super Puma program in the wake of the latest accident. In the worst Super Puma accident in 2009, the rotor flew off the helicopter after a catastrophic gearbox failure that investigators later blamed on a fatigue crack. All 16 people aboard were killed in that crash in the North Sea off Peterhead. A spokesman for Norway's AIBN said it was too early to say what caused the April 29 crash. "There are still many doors open and we will close them one by one in due time," he said. Key components including one of the three suspension bars and two gearbox parts are still missing. Norwegian authorities have urged the public to hand them to police if they find them. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Richard Balmforth) According to multiple sources, Americans are notorious for leaving a lot of paid vacation days on the table. In order to help people take advantage of their paid time-off, and to feel happier [and] well rested, Emirates is launching a pretty amazing campaign called The Big Takeoff. Our favorite part? The companion fare sale that lets you buy two plane tickets for the price of one. Yes, we're serious. Here's where to book. Until 11:59 p.m. on May 26, you can book two economy class tickets for as little as $999. That means you can take a round-trip flight with Emirates (one of the best airlines in the world) for as little as $499.50. All you need is a travel buddy. Flights depart from 10 major hubs across the country, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angelesand they go to cities in 81 countries across the globe. Travel dates range from July 15 through December 8 and January 9, 2017 through April 10, 2017, depending on the destination. The best deals include a flight from New York City to Milan, Italy (thats $999 for two people, round-trip, starting August 20), Washington, D.C. to Bangkok ($1,649, or $824.50 per person) and $1,249 flights for a trip to Dubai from any gateway in the U.S. Of course, you cant travel solo on this one. But Emirates doesnt care if you bring Mom or Dad, your sister or brother, your best friend, or your significant other. As long as the tickets are booked together, you can score this BOGO deal. Travelers can also enter the airlines social media sweepstakes. Two winners will get a five-day trip to Dubai complete with a safari experience and a luxury hotel stay. Unlike the fare sale, which ends tomorrow evening, this contest is open until September 30. Melanie Lieberman is the Assistant Digital Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @melanietaryn. Chester-le-Street (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Chris Woakes compounded Sri Lanka's misery in the second Test following a hundred by Moeen Ali as England closed in on a series-clinching win at the Riverside on Saturday. At stumps on the second day, Sri Lanka had collapsed to 91 for eight, a huge deficit of 407 runs, after Ali's Test-best 155 not out had propelled England to 498 for nine declared. "It was perfect, especially the way we bowled," Ali told Sky Sports. "To have them eight down is a brilliant evening." He added: "I think it's about time as I felt like I owe the team some runs. To do it today was a great feeling." Woakes, only playing in this match because fellow seam-bowling all-rounder Ben Stokes was injured, took three wickets for five runs in 13 balls to reduce Sri Lanka to 67 for six. Rangana Herath (12) gamely resisted for over an hour before fending Stuart Broad to gully. Three balls later, Broad dismissed Shaminda Eranga when a leaping James Vince at third slip parried the ball before second slip Joe Root clutched the rebound. Lahiru Thirimanne was 12 not out at the close and Suranga Lakmal unbeaten on nought. England were now looking at their second innings victory in as many matches after their innings and 88-run win in the first Test of this three-match series at Headingley last week. Another dire day with the bat for Sri Lanka, shot out for 91 and 119 at Headingley, was made all the worse by a wretched fielding display that was in marked contrast to Friday's brilliant catching. The 27-year-old Woakes, in his seventh Test, needed just 12 balls to strike Saturday, with Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews caught behind off a good length ball that nipped away. Kusal Mendis, who made a gutsy fifty in Sri Lanka's second innings at Headingley, lobbed a gentle catch to gully after a Woakes delivery bounced steeply and took the shoulder of his bat. Mendis's 35 was easily the best score of the innings so far. Story continues Five balls later, Woakes had Milinda Siriwardana edging to wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow for a duck. Woakes, who came into this match on the back of a career-best nine for 36 for Warwickshire against Durham, had now completed a double-wicket maiden at a sun-drenched Riverside. Earlier, Ali's second hundred in Tests -- and second against Sri Lanka following an unbeaten 108 in a losing cause at Headingley in 2014 -- took the game away from the tourists. Promoted to No.7 from No.8 in Stokes's absence, left-hander Ali, who made his name as a top-order batsman with Worcestershire but has been used mainly by England as an off-spinner, produced a fine array of shots. But Sri Lanka did not help their cause by dropping Ali on 36 and 105. - Incredible miss - England resumed Saturday on 310 for six, with Ali 28 not out and Woakes eight not out. Both batsmen were soon reprieved, with Ali missed when Dimuth Karunaratne dropped a shoulder-high chance at a wide second slip. Worse followed when Woakes, still on his overnight score, edged Eranga straight behind only for wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal, who appeared not to see the ball until too late, to miss the chance completely. Even allowing for the fact Chandimal was nursing a thumb injury suffered on Friday, this was still an extraordinary error. The drinks break saw Mendis, one of several wicket-keeper/batsmen in Sri Lanka's squad, replace Chandimal behind the stumps. Ali went to his hundred in style, driving paceman Nuwan Pradeep for four. He had made 105 when he miscued a pull off Eranga, only for Siriwardana to make a complete hash of the opportunity on the boundary. Ali, who also cashed in on some woefully slow and fumbling ground fielding, reached 150 by hoisting Lakmal for six. Left-arm spinner Herath claimed his 300th Test wicket by taking his team-mates out of the issue with a caught and bowled dismissal of Steven Finn. But such was England's dominance against an attack where four bowlers conceded more than 100 runs each, No.11 Anderson got off the mark by reverse-sweeping Herath for four. Ali faced 207 balls, including 17 fours and two sixes, in his near five-hour innings before England captain Alastair Cook declared. Madison Lucas, an employee of U.S.-based technology company Acorns, demonstrates their smartphone-based app at the organization's Sydney headquarters in Australia, April 19, 2016. Picture taken April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Reed It's tough to be a millennial. The amount of student debt is skyrocketing and the number of young homeowners is cratering. Young people today aren't earning as much money as their parents did when they were young. All those challenges have contributed to a startling statistic: Millennial men are more likely to live with their parents than with a spouse or partner. That makes investing difficult; when you're underemployed and struggling to make rent, it is difficult to imagine putting significant amounts of money away each week. That is where the idea behind micro-investing comes in. The pitch is that by putting away small amounts each day, say $1 to $5, young professionals can at least starting building an investment account. Wall Street is now paying attention. Chris Concannon, chief executive of stock exchange operator Bats Global Markets, sent out a note on Friday running through a couple thoughts on low-cost exchange-traded funds and their potential. ETF assets have swelled, hitting a record high of $2.7 trillion in capital at the end of 2015. The market is set to grow 17% annually through 2019, according to Blackrock, one of the big players in the ETF market. Concannon said it is his "strong belief" that ETF assets will grow to more than $15 trillion over the next 10 years. That is a lot of money. The most exciting thing for Concannon, however, is where that money is coming from: a new generation of investors. He said: Most importantly, ETFs will become a bridge to new investors, investors that our financial markets have been unable to reach. Millennials those 2035 year olds are the largest generation in US history, approximately 92 million people. And they are the first generation entering the investment arena through the ease of ETF investing. In fact, according to Bloomberg, 40% of US Millennials own ETFs. Forty percent! Story continues And: If the financial services industry can encourage early investing through the use of efficient investment products and simplified investment offerings, we will impact the future wealth of millions of Americans make that 92 million. Think of it this way: if Millennials could invest $0.99 every time they bought an app or played Candy Crush on their phones, we would never need to reform Social Security. Now Concannon has an interest in hyping up the ETF business. He has set his sights on making Bats the No.1 destination for ETF listings, so he stands to benefit from the ETF business expanding. Still, the idea of using ETFs as a gateway drug to investing for millennials, and making it incredibly easy for them to put small amounts away, is gaining currency. And it isn't just Bats that is sitting up and taking notice. Acorns, a hot micro-investing app that offers services similar to those Concannon is describing, recently raised another $30 million in a funding round led by PayPal. The app syncs with users' bank accounts, and rounds purchases up to the nearest dollar, with the difference going in to a savings account constructed from ETFs. It also just launched a rewards program called Found Money, which will give its users bonus investment cash when they shop at brand partners. Earlier this month, UBS's US wealth-management business announced it would be partnering with the San Francisco-based robo-adviser SigFig. That firm creates custom portfolios based on age, income, and investment horizon, and allows users to access everything they need through a mobile app. Motif, which allows investors to buy baskets of stocks based on specific themes like online gaming, caffeine fix, and pet passions, just signed a deal with Goldman Sachs. Then there is Stash, an investing app built on the premise that theres a pool of people, particularly millennials, who want to believe in the companies they invest in. The cynics point out that these firms manage small amounts in the grand scheme of things, and many have been overhyped. Not every startup will prosper. Some will be acquired. Some with wither away. Still, it is difficult to argue against the central premise behind these startups. Millennials want investing to be made as fast, easy, and cheap as possible. Here is Concannon: It is my belief that Millennials of today and the future will buy ETFs from their phones for years to come. The investment success of these millions of investors is just waiting for the governments approval of certain actively managed ETF portfolios. NOW WATCH: We tried the 'Uber-killer' that just landed a $300 million investment from Volkswagen More From Business Insider A group of armed anti-Islam activists in Texas said they add pig's blood and bacon grease to their bullets to make sure the Muslims they shoot "go straight to hell," according to a new video from AJ+. The video, titled Armed and Vigilant: In Fear of a Muslim Uprising in Texas, documents anti-Islam fervor in Texas, specifically the attitudes of a group of gun-toting militants called the Bureau of Islamic Relations. AJ+ spoke with members of BAIR as they packed their guns and practiced shooting them near railroad tracks at an undetermined location. "A lot of us here are using either pig's blood or bacon grease on our bullets, packing it in the middle, so that when you shoot a Muslim, they go straight to hell." BAIR member David Wright said to AJ+. "That's what they believe in their religion." "Don't fuck with white people," a member of BAIR says after Wright explains the bullets to AJ+. Source: Mic/YouTube BAIR is based in Irving, Texas the same town where Muslim student Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for bringing a clock to school. BAIR protests the "Islamization of America." "The next step in Jihad does not involve random, sporadic attacks," Wright told AJ+. "They started killing people. They started slaughtering people wholesale." "Do you really expect me to stand here and wait until we get to that point?" he added. "I'm not going to wait until we get to that point. I'm going to start doing something about it now." Source: Mic/YouTube BAIR has held several armed protests outside of mosques in the past. Though they hold anti-Islam views, they do believe some people, like Donald Trump, go too far. Mic previously reported that David Wright believed Trump's Muslim ban was too extreme, calling it "inefficient, ineffective" and noting that it "opens the door for him to be labeled a racist and a bigot." "I don't want someone like that running my country," Wright told Public Radio International. Story continues Wright has also said he's open to letting Muslims come to America if they bring jobs. "We've always been a nation of immigrants," Wright said. "Even if a Muslim man from Dubai wanted to come and stay here permanently, I don't have a problem with that. If he's a business owner and he's going to create jobs, that's fine. Come here, create jobs here, hire our people." By Emily Stephenson and Marty Graham SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Donald Trump brought his message of walls and deportations to the doorstep of Americas busiest border crossing on Friday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee greeted supporters in San Diego, amid one of the largest counter-protests organized against him. The scene inside the San Diego Convention Center during Trump's speech was relatively placid, while outside demonstrators opposed to his controversy-ridden White House bid marched and chanted, carrying signs criticizing his rhetoric against illegal immigration. Waving U.S. and Mexican flags, more than 1,000 people turned out for anti-trump rallies in San Diego, a city on the U.S.-Mexico border whose San Ysidro port of entry sees nearly 300,000 people a day cross legally between the countries. San Diego is considered a binational city by many who live and work on opposite sides of the border, and about a third of the city's population is Latino. During Trump's speech on Friday, some protesters outside the convention center scaled a barrier and lobbed water bottles at police. One man was pulled off the wall and arrested as others were surrounded by fellow protesters and backed away from the confrontation. After the convention center emptied, clusters of Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators began to mix in the streets, many exchanging shouted epithets and some throwing water bottles at one another. Police in riot gear declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse, herding the crowd out of the city's hotel and restaurant-filled Gaslamp Quarter. San Diego police said on Twitter that 35 arrests were made during the protest. No property damage or injuries were reported, police said. "Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally," Trump tweeted to police afterwards. Trump has weathered months of blowback from all ends of the political spectrum for his immigration policy, which calls for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants who reside in the United States. Critics have said his plan is needlessly cruel and impossible to implement. At Trump's campaign stops, attendees often chant "build the wall." While Trump is running unopposed in the June 7 California Republican primary, his stance on border control and deportation seems unlikely to resonate with the electorate at large in a state where political fallout from a Republican-backed crackdown on illegal immigrants 20 years ago cost the party dearly. Friday was not the first time Trump has been greeted by civil unrest in California, which is home to the largest Latino population in the country. Late last month, a visit to the California Republican convention set off days of protests in the area, leading to several arrests. WAITING FOR "FIRST PLACE FINISHER" Shortly before taking the stage in San Diego, Trump issued a statement ruling out a one-on-one debate with second-place Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders, who was also in California, killing off a potentially high-ratings television spectacle. The suggested debate, an idea first raised during a talk show appearance by the New York billionaire, would have sidelined likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but given Sanders a huge platform ahead of California Democratic primary. A day after saying he would welcome a Sanders debate, Trump called the idea "inappropriate," declaring that he should only face the Democrats' final choice. "I will wait to debate the first-place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said in a statement. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, expressed disappointment on Friday, and sought to goad Trump into reconsidering. "Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of?" he said in a video clip posted on ABC News' Twitter account. Trump suggested broadcast networks were unwilling to go along with his demand that at least $10 million raised from the encounter be donated to charity. Id love to debate Bernie, he told a rally in Fresno, California. But the networks want to keep the money for themselves. Sanders is trailing Clinton in the race to secure their partys nomination, but opinion polls show he is slicing into her lead in California. Clinton has shown no interest in debating Sanders before the California primary, which will be part of a final slate of nominating contests. It is possible she will clinch the nomination by winning New Jersey earlier that day, making the outcome in California superfluous. The former U.S. secretary of state has said she is looking forward to debating Trump later this year ahead of the Nov. 8 general election. Clinton leads Trump by 4 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Democrats nationally remain evenly split between Clinton and Sanders. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise in Washington and Chris Kahn in New York, Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Alistair Bell and Leslie Adler) This season of 'Love Is Blind' is shaping up to be absolute madness here's what people are saying about it Twenty-one-year-old Arab Israeli Ta'alin Abu Hanna from Nazareth won Israel's first transgender beauty pageant and will represent the country at the Miss Trans Star International pageant in Spain in August. "If I had not been in Israel and had been elsewhere in Palestine or in any other Arab country I might have been oppressed or I might have been in prison or murdered," Hanna told the Times of Israel. Hanna will also get $15,000 to spend on gender-affirming surgeries in Thailand, as well as hotel accommodations during her stay. Ta'alin Abu Hanna The contest allowed for transgender women to be celebrated, a sharp contrast to the alienation and violence some contestants said they faced when they first came out. "My cousins, my father, my brother-in-law all came and beat me and took me by force and cut my hair, tied me to the bed and left me there for three days with no food," 24-year-old contestant Caroline Khouri told NBC News. Source: MENAHEM KAHANA/Getty Images Israel is one of the more trans-friendly nations in the region, though many LGBTQ people have left to protest its oppression of Palestine, according to Al Jazeera. When asked whether the pageant was a part of a "pinkwashing" agenda to make Israel look better, pageant organizer Stephani Lev said, "Listen, there isn't propaganda here. We live in Tel Aviv, in Israel, the only sane country in the region where people can live as gays or transgender and no one is going to throw them off the rooftop or slaughter them. This is just the reality here. It's not some sort of brainwashing or pinkwashing or whatever." Cairo (AFP) - Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi blasted Israel as a bastion of "fascism and racial discrimination" on Saturday at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers that backed France's Middle East peace initiative. The Arab ministers at the end of the meeting adopted a resolution backing "the French initiative and all Arab and international efforts" for peace talks between Israel and Palestinians. In his speech to the ministers, Arabi, who has been a vocal critic of Israel, said the country "has truly become today the last bastion of fascism, colonialism and racial discrimination in the world". Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has rejected an Israeli offer for direct negotiations instead of the French multilateral peace initiative, which Israel has turned down. On Saturday, he blamed Israel for stalling the talks. "We tried hard with the Israeli government to implement signed treaties and respect our and their commitments, but they refused," he said. The French initiative involves holding a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, on June 3, but without the Israelis and Palestinians present. An international conference would then be held in the autumn, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is an eventual relaunch of negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state. Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014. An upsurge in violence since October has killed 205 Palestinians and 28 Israelis. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say. The unrest has steadily declined in recent weeks. Many analysts say that Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the recent unrest. Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a main cause of the violence. Cameron Pilley, a 33-year-old Australian, who has never been ranked in the world's top ten, made himself one of the sport's most surprising success stories even before contesting Saturday's final of the PSA World Series finals. Previously best known for striking the ball at a world record 175 miles an hour, and with a relatively modest 13 tour titles, the ultra-tall Pilley added to his startling appearance in the tour's flagship event showdown by the manner in which he reached it. It involved a semi-final win over Mohamed Elshorbagy, the runaway world number one from Egypt, after getting past two other top ten players during the group stages - and managing it all by not really thinking about it. "In the past I have made mistakes by focussing too much on the outcome of matches, on the end result rather than how to get there. So I make a conscious effort not to think about the goals at all," he explained matter-of-factly. "So think about what I can control. That's my game and how to get better." Pilley will know that his wins have been achieved with shortened scoring -- the best of three games and not five -- and that Elshorbagy was impatient and inconsistent after playing more matches this year than any other leading player. Nevertheless he is rightly pleased that he has been superbly accurate, particularly with wall-clinging drives during the sparring which goes on down the backhand side, and that has taken his chances calmly and well. "I feel like I have been playing the best of my career," he acknowledged. "Physically I am feeling really good. Mentally I am still keen. "I made a couple of changes last year, a couple of technical things, and freshened up my training methods, and that gave me a wake-up call too, because I had been having average results. Since then I have been pleased with my form." - 'On a high' - It has been good enough to accumulate just enough World Series points to squeeze into last place among the eight qualifiers while remaining still outside the top ten in the world rankings. Few expected him then to go on to qualify from his group. Story continues It is reasonable to suggest therefore that by reaching Saturday's final Pilley has caused the biggest surprise since another Australian, Paul Price, and a Welshman, David Evans, neither top level players, contested a British Open final more than a decade and a half ago, in the year 2000. "Feeling pleased is an understatement, considering I just scraped in to get here," Pilley admitted, before suggesting that losing in the group stages to Gregory Gaultier, the world champion from France his opponent again in the final had actually been helpful. "I was thumped by Greg and I think that did me good, because since then I have been seeing the ball well I think that sharpened me up and gave me a wake up call," he said. "I had been on a high after beating (Omar) Mosaad (the World Open runner-up from Egypt) - and that brought me back down. "I made a conscious effort to cut out the unforced errors, and I did it well. I've been feeling really good on that court. It's nice to play on. My length has been tight and I have hit the back corners." All this has enabled Pilley to contemplate the task of trying to emulate the last Australian to win the World Series finals Anthony Ricketts ten years ago in London. "I watched Ricketts win and it was amazing," he said. So did he dream of achieving the same thing? "Er, well no," Pilley admitted with a half-grin. "Because you have to get into the top eight even to play in it and I had never done that. So I actually never dreamed about doing well in this tournament at all." By Peter Gosnell (Reuters) - Australian police used pepper spray to break up clashes between rightwing nationalists and anti-racism protesters on the streets of Melbourne on Saturday as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said eliminating racism was still a "work in progress". The United Patriots Front (UPF) organized a "Stop the Far Left" rally while anti-racism protesters marched under the banner "Moreland says No to Racism", in reference to a Melbourne district. Fears of young Australian Muslims being inspired by militants such as Islamic State and traveling to fight in Iraq and Syria have underpinned support for rightwing groups like UPF and Reclaim Australia. Former prime minister Tony Abbott made blocking migrants trying to reach Australia by boat a key plank of his victorious election campaign in 2013. TV footage showed UPF members with Australian flags on poles and their faces covered by bandanas wrestling with leftwing militants, many of whom were hooded and had black cloths over their faces. On one occasion, a UPF protester who fell to the ground was kicked several times by two anti-racism activists. "I understand the need and the right to protest ... but what we can't have is this violence in our community," Victorian state Police Commander Sharon Cowden told Sky. "We saw inappropriate and often cowardly behavior, people wearing masks." ABC said two people were arrested for weapons offences before the trouble flared despite a large police presence. Two people were arrested for rioting, one for assaulting police, one for hindering police and another for robbery, ABC said. Turnbull, responding to comments by opposition leader Bill Shorten that racism was rife in Australia, said Australia was not "entirely" blameless. "But I have to say we are the most successful multicultural society in the world," Turnbull told reporters. "There is more work to do. This is not something to be complacent about. This is a work in progress." (Editing by Nick Macfie) "I'm really moved when I'm with the public," says Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian star of Hollywood's Golden Age, as we sit down to record an episode of the 'Awards Chatter' podcast in the penthouse of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where she was staying during her rare, brief visit from Rome to Los Angeles for April's TCM Classic Film Festival. "They say 'thank you' to me, that I gave to them beautiful moments. They cry. When I am even in Russia or some place where I think I'm completely unknown, they applaud me like they've seen me all their life, and they cry and they move me." Adds the spry 87-year-old, "I'm very grateful." (Click above to listen to this episode now, or click here to access all of our episodes via iTunes. Past guests include Steven Spielberg, Amy Schumer, Louis C.K., Lady Gaga, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Harvey Weinstein, Jane Fonda, Aziz Ansari, Brie Larson, J.J. Abrams, Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson, Kristen Stewart and Michael Moore.) Few people - particularly non-Americans - have ever been as popular with Americans as Lollobrigida, a stunning beauty who rose to prominence in the years after World War II, when Americans demonstrated unprecedented curiosity about other parts of the world, not least the more naturalistic and sexy films emanating from Europe. She could have been a star as early as 1950, when Howard Hughes, who ran RKO, "saw one picture of me in a bikini that my [then-]husband did" and became obsessed. He flew her to America, ostensibly for a screen test, and spent two-and-a-half months romantically pursuing her. Eventually, he sent her back to Italy, but not before making her sign a contract that effectively precluded her from working for anyone else in Hollywood for the next seven years. Hughes assumed this would compel Lollobrigida to return to Hollywood to work for him, but instead she waited for Hollywood to come to her. Back in Italy, she quickly exploded from an extra into the highest-paid actress in the country thanks to the phenomenal success of Bread, Love and Dreams (1953) and its sequel Bread, Love and Jealousy (1954), in which she starred opposite Vittorio De Sica. (The filmmakers couldn't afford her for a second sequel so they turned to a younger up-and-comer, Sophia Loren, sparking a rivalry that continues more than 60 years later.) When "La Lollo," as Lollobrigida was nicknamed, returned to Hollywood for the premiere of Bread, Love and Dreams and was posed for a photo-op with Marilyn Monroe, Monroe told her, "Here, they call me 'the American Lollobrigida.'" Post-war quotas and taxes soon resulted in a surge of American-European co-productions, which provided tremendous opportunities for Lollobrigida, including a starring role opposite Humphrey Bogart in the David O. Selznick-produced, Truman Capote-written, Robert Capa-photographed and John Huston-directed 1953 film Beat the Devil (Bogart said Lollobrigida "made Marilyn Monroe look like Shirley Temple") and the 1956 films Trapeze, which was directed by Carol Reed and also starred Burt Lancaster, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, for which Leonid Massine tutored her in dancing. By the late '50s, Lollobrigida's contract with Hughes expired and she was able to make films in America as well, which she did in 1959's Never So Few, opposite Frank Sinatra, and Solomon and Sheba, the last picture ever directed by King Vidor (in the middle of which her co-star Tyrone Power died of a sudden heart attack). In the ensuing years, Lollobrigida acted in films in America (like 1961's Come September, paired with "great human being" Rock Hudson, for which she was awarded the Golden Globe for best international star) and abroad (she regards 1962's Imperial Venus, a France-Italy co-production, as "my best movie ... best performance ... best script I ever had"). Some got away (she missed out on the chance to play the part eventually played by Anouk Aimee in 1962's La Dolce Vita because "my [then-]husband read the script and he thought, 'That's shit'"), others got remade (1968's Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell became Mamma Mia!). All the while, Lollobrigida engaged in other pursuits with equal passion - among them photography (she's published three books), journalism (she scooped the media by landing a major interview with Fidel Castro in 1974), sculpture (she's had exhibitions around the world), fashion and philanthropy - and ultimately retired from acting in 1997, 50 years after her big-screen debut. (She tells me, however, that if Steven Spielberg ever wanted her for a role in one of his films, "I wouldn't say no.") Today, Lollobrigida's films are less remembered than she is - for her gorgeous looks, her forceful personality and her resilience. "It's very difficult still - today - to make a step ahead for a woman," she says, adding, "I would like to see [Hillary] Clinton be the president of the United States - I love her and I think she's very talented." Nadiya Hussain, winner of last year's The Great British Bake Off, has spoken about receiving Islamophobic abuse because she wears her hijab in public. "After every Islamic terrorist attack, I walk out of the door with a cloud over my head," the 31-year-old British-Bangladeshi told The Times. "If Im on the train, people will sit away from me, or God forbid I've got a rucksack or a suitcase... I've been shoved waiting for a bus, had things thrown at me." Yet Hussain, who was recently commissioned to bake a cake for the Queen as part of her 90th birthday celebrations, also said: "It's nice living in England and we are, I like to think, a very integrated society. The negative people are definitely in the minority." During her wide-ranging interview with The Times, Hussain revealed that her husband faced criticism from more traditional members of the Muslim community when she competed on The Great British Bake Off last year. "They said: 'Can he not provide for her, so he sent her out to work?' They said he wasn't a proper man," Hussain recalled. "It doesnt affect him. Not one bit." Hussain, whose recipe book Nadiya's Kitchen will be published on the 16th of June, added: "Last night, I was in bed, pottering on Twitter, and he was doing the ironing at the foot of the bed. If any of my kind of elders had seen that, I think they would have just died." Hussain, a regular contributor to The One Show and Loose Women, also spoke about being a role model to other British Muslims. "I feel Ive been given this voice and I want to help someone who thinks they cant break away or needs confidence," she said. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? We Need To Talk About How Social Media Is Reacting To Amber Heard's Allegations Khloe Kardashian Files For Divorce From Lamar Odom (Again) Amber Heard & Johnny Depp Are Getting Divorced The presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders has demanded the removal of two leaders from their positions on Democratic National Convention committees, calling them aggressive attack surrogates for likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In a formal letter sent Friday, Brad Deutsch, the campaigns legal counsel, asked that Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank be disqualified from their posts as co-chairman of the Platform Committee and co-chairman of the conventions Rules Committee, respectively. Their criticisms of Senator Sanders have gone beyond dispassionate ideological disagreement and have exposed a deeper professional, political and personal hostility toward the Senator and his Campaign, Deutsch wrote. The Chairs therefore cannot be relied upon to perform their Convention duties fairly and capably while laboring under such deeply held bias. Read more: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in California Dead Heat The letteraddressed to the co-chairs of the DNCs Rules and Bylaws Committeeargued that their support of Clinton would cause Malloy and Frank to exclude meaningful input from supporters of Senator Sanders candidacy. The letter detailed instances when both had criticized Sanders. It is inconceivable to me that anything could come before that committee that will affect who the nominee is, Frank said in response to the accusations, Politico reported. I think what you have here is this: Sanders is losing to Hillary Clinton because she is getting many more votes and many more pledged delegates. Some of [the Sanders supporters] are trying to lay the claim that hes being unfairly deprived of this. In a response letter on Saturday, the Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chairs dismissed the challenge from Sanders and said Malloy and Frank had not violated any DNC rules. Bernie Sanders' camp denied that the Democratic presidential candidate played DMX's "Where the Hood At" as his entrance music at a recent California rally -- and the creator of the video in question has confirmed to Billboard that he edited the song into the clip, calling his action a "social experiment." DMX Responds to Bernie Sanders 'Where the Hood At' Video, Which Was Edited Edwin Acuna, who tweets as @Edwinprime, posted a video on Thursday (May 26) showing Sanders taking the stage to the rapper's 2003 track. But a video uploaded to Sanders' YouTube channel shows that no music was used during his entrance in Lancaster, Calif., on Wednesday (May 25) at the Antelope Valley Fairground, the rally where it was originally reported that the DMX song played. "Never thought I'd have to say this, but no @BernieSanders did not walk out to a #DMX song in Lancaster earlier this week," Bernie Sanders' national press secretary, Symone D. Sanders, tweeted. "Here is how @BernieSanders really entered the Lancaster rally...to epic cheers from the crowd!" Never thought I'd have to say this, but no @BernieSanders did not walk out to a #DMX song in Lancaster earlier this week. - Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) May 28, 2016 Here is how @BernieSanders really entered the Lancaster rally...to epic cheers from the crowd! https://t.co/rydhYpl4ql - Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) May 28, 2016 Artists From Red Hot Chili Peppers to Killer Mike Stumping for Bernie Sanders, Music's Donor Class Backing Hillary Clinton Acuna, who added the DMX song to the video, reached out to Billboard to issue his own statement: "Standing in the crowd waiting for Senator Sanders can lead to daydreaming, and it did just that. It started with thinking how funny it would be if I edited a video to make it seem as if Bernie walked out to DMX, but after waiting a bit longer, I decided I'd turn it into a social experiment." Story continues "Everyone seems to be very easily fooled by anything they see on the Internet. On one end we have a majority of the Twitter community going crazy and some going as far as even saying they're 'switching allegiances' and 'I was never going to vote but this just changed my mind' to some people in the LGBT community saying they knew all along that Bernie Sanders is a 'gay basher' and to be honest, if I wanted that to be the message the song would have started completely different. Instead, what we hear is 'Where the hood at?' At the end of it all, I wanted to show the world that politics are not something to fool around with and to prove it, I faked this video," Acuna said. He continued: "Bernie has always made it a point that the youth needs to get more involved in the political process, and as funny as it may be that DMX's 'Where the Hood At?' might have swayed them into doing so, it's still very disappointing at the same time. I've observed each candidate very closely, and regardless of what people may think of Bernie Sanders and their stance politically, there's no denying he is a man of the people, and there is more than enough evidence to prove that. With all that being said, I hope everyone realizes that we still live in the real world, not the Internet." Prior to Billboard getting confirmation that the video is fake, DMX responded to the clip in an email, saying, "When God shows up he shows out" -- though he did not say whether he was a Democrat or officially supporting Sanders. From Town & Country With reports of epic TSA lines and the usual snarling summer traffic jams, a quick weekend jaunt to Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard can be a transportation nightmare. As it turns out, however, there are ways-warning: many do require deep pockets-to bypass the headaches of the airports and the roads. We break down the options. An Airline That Feels Like You're Flying Private Tradewind Aviation's routes to Nantucket and Martha Vineyard have been a sort of "best-kept secret" for passengers who bought bulk tickets books directly through the airline. Now this summer, routes will be more widely available to anyone interested in booking one-off seats over the phone or via the website. Daily service from the White Plains airport (Tradewind will arrange transportation from NYC) begins in mid-June and runs through Labor Day weekend with continued weekend service through early December. Expect to pay $400 to $795 each way to Nantucket and $545 to Martha's Vineyard (Martha's Vineyard pricing is based on bulk purchasing). This buys you the luxury of arriving at the airport 15 minutes before departure because there are no TSA lines. Other perks include tickets are interchangeable for family and friends and no cancellation penalty if done at least 48 hours before departure, depending on your route. Chopper Service with a Bar and Gourmet Snacks Blade's service between Boston and Nantucket launches this weekend in partnership with Uber. The on-demand air service is offering a special pricing of $300 one-way tickets for UBERair. After Memorial Day, Blade will continue to offer weekly flights between Boston and Nantucket-where this weekend they will inaugurate their new 5,000-square-foot private terminal on the island-for $495 per seat. To get to Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod, gather your friends for a crowdsourced charter. Nantucket service from NYC is every weekend (starting at $695 per one-way trip, which includes a helicopter transfer between Manhattan and the White Plains Airport; direct seaplane flights are also available) and leaves from one of Blade's four Manhattan locations: East 34th Street, West 30th Street, West 23rd Street, and the new terminal on Wall Street. What you are paying for: getting from Manhattan to ACK in 90 minutes (40 minutes from Boston), no TSA lines, a premium complimentary bar at the lounges, and onboard snacks by Todd English. Story continues A Leisurely Boat Option If you have the time-at least 6 hours to Nantucket and a bit over 5 hours to Martha's Vineyard-then the Seastreak Ferry is for you. (And on holiday weekends, the drive-if that's your alternative-can be 8 or 9 hours.) With a seasonal and mostly-weekend schedule of Friday departures and Sunday returns, it's certainly more economical than a helicopter: $165 one-way and $240 round trip. (Rates increase a bit over holiday weekends.) Ferries depart from East 35th Street and there's much on-board to pass the time in the comfort of their plush seating, including satellite TVs and a bar. One nice perk is that bikes can be brought onboard for a nominal fee. An Airline That Offers Commuter Discounts CapeAir, which leaves from White Plains, flies to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. They offer regular bus transfer from West 35th Street to make the one-hour drive to Westchester. Commuter books of 10 one-way tickets (which are transferable and not subject to any blackout dates and include transportation to and from NYC) are $4,490 to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Provincetown, prices the airlines says are 30 percent off regular fares. Membership-Based Flights Starting the weekend of June 10, the private jet company JetSmarter will be launching JetShuttle with service to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard from the White Plains airport. The seats are free for members (yearly membership is currently $9,675 with a $3,500 initiation fee but will go up after June 1). For those non-members, seats on those two routes are $495 each way. Helicopter transfer is available from NYC to White Plains (free for members and $250 for non-members). Good Ol' Commercial If you are armed with TSA PreCheck, you can certainly brave the airport. Delta (from JFK) and American Airlines (from La Guardia) offer non-stop service to Martha's Vineyard. Flying time is a little over an hour. Both those airlines, in addition to JetBlue, where weekday one-way fares can sometimes dip as low as $58, fly to Nantucket. US steel probe 'reflects trade protectionism Updated: 2016-05-28 03:48 By Zhang Yu,Zhong Nan(China Daily) China will safeguard the interests of its steel producers by appealing to the World Trade Organization after the United States launched an investigation of Chinese companies for alleged price-fixing, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. The ministry said the country was resolutely opposed to the US decision and would encourage its companies to legally defend their interests. The US International Trade Commission said on Thursday that it would investigate a complaint by Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corp, which claimed that Chinese steelmakers and distributors conspired to fix prices, stole trade secrets via computer hacking and misrepresented the origin of their exports to the US. In its complaint, US Steel Corp is seeking to bar nearly all imports from China's largest steelmakers. Trade remedy measures recently taken by the US constitute trade protectionism, and they will disrupt trade and not solve the US steel industry's problems, said a statement by the ministry's Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau. It said current steel industry woes were global challenges and that a solution will require coordinated efforts by the countries concerned. The US investigation would target 40 Chinese steel producers and distribution subsidiaries, including Baosteel Group, Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co, Wuhan Iron & Steel Co and Anshan Iron & Steel Group Co. Shen Yan, head of the legal affairs department at Shanghai-based Baosteel, said he was shocked and angered by the US move, which he said is against WTO rules. "The company will pay close attention to the case and support the Chinese government to take all necessary measures to ensure the rights of Chinese steel companies," said Shen. Sun Jin, director of the international publicity office of Wuhan Iron & Steel, said he was baffled by the US decision, because steel products involved in this case are products manufactured by Chinese companies for many years. Meanwhile, the US government imposed on Wednesday anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 450 percent on exports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China. The European Union also launched an anti-subsidy investigation this month into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, the subject of an anti-dumping probe since February. Liu Zhenjiang, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Iron and Steel Association, said the US recently has taken frequent trade remedy measures against foreign steel products without prudence, which will not help solve problems faced by US steel companies. "Excessive trade protection is the primary cause that results in the operation loss of the US steel industry," said Liu. Du Juan and Wang Ying contributed to this story. Contact the writers at zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn Id love to tell you kids that the world is your oyster, but all the oysters are dead. Thats some of the great advice doled out by sad sack graduation speaker Bill Maher, addressing the University of California Goldman Sachs Class of 2014. The futuristic New Rules segment from Fridays Real Time included some even scarier notions, like the two worst words ever pieced together in the English language: President Kardashian. She apparently ruled back before Canada built a wall to keep us out, Maher claimed. Smart Canucks. The leading cause of death in our country is going outside, hell also tell his doomed pupils in 25 years. Also Read: Michael Moore, Bill Maher Vow to 'Take Down' Donald Trump (Video) Still, theres cause for some hope. This could be the year that Flint, Michigans tap water could be drinkable again, the comedian quipped. Fingers crossed. Lets just not all panic about the somehow even-worse state of affairs approaching. Did we panic during the Zika epidemic of 2018? No! And many of the pinheaded babies born that year have gone on to become fine Republican congressmen, Maher joked. Did we panic when Jesus returned to Earth, took one look at us, and said, F You, and left? No! Sounds like an awesome future awaits us all. Watch the video above. Related stories from TheWrap: Bill Maher Urges Donald Trump to 'Stop Whining Like a Little Bitch' (Video) Bill Maher Spoofs Ted Cruz as a Vampire Snake Named Fface (Video) Bill Maher Calls Out Religious Institutions as Tax 'Deadbeats' (Video) Bill Maher Compares Donald Trump to Hitler on 'Real Time' (Video) Have you ever wondered what the differences are between the character Stephen Colbert and the real-life Stephen Colbert? The world will get a full serving of the real Colbert once he takes over hosting duties from David Letterman on The Late Show next year. But for now, weve seen only flashes of his real persona. On Friday, Colbert gave viewers a glimpse of his true self when he hosted a 10-minute Q&A session offering advice to young women for the website Rookie Mag as part of its Ask a Grown Man series. The questions were across the board, including whether a teenage girl should be able to sleep at her boyfriends house, what is love, why boys are mean and how to know if someone really likes you. Colberts advice was thoughtful, sincere, often moving and at times conservative compared with his more liberal political views. The Colbert reveal was more special because the iconic Colbert Report host almost never breaks character, whether on the show or at public events. There are rare exceptions, like when he talks about his faith in Catholicism or takes part in one of the many volunteer efforts hes done for U.S. military veterans. But his 10-minute video was very sincere, so much so that it might even be a bit startling for those who think of Colbert as only a sarcastic political comedian. Here are some highlights from Colberts Q&A with Rookie Mag: Loretta, 14: I know most men arent jerks. But when guys, especially teenage guys, do things like catcalls and make jokes about rape, do they know their behavior is harmful? Is that why they do stuff like that, or is it because society has taught them to be misogynistic? Colbert: The reason boys do this kind of stuff is to get your attention. And no, I dont think they know that its harmful, because I dont think that they mean to be harmful. I just think they desperately want you to pay attention to them. So, my advice would be, if you dont know the person who is doing it, I would ignore it. But if you know the person, if the person is a friend or somebody you know, they really care what you think. It may not seem like they do because theyre being so aggressive, but they actually really do care. And I would say, Please dont do that because I really dont like it. And they may blow you off at the time, but I promise you that theyll remember that you said that. Story continues Eve, 19: My dad wont let me sleep at my boyfriends house, and there is no real reason for that. I assume its because hes very close-minded about sex, but when I try to discuss it with him, he gets very angry and refuses to talk about it. Ive been with my boyfriend for a year, and my whole family approves of him. What do you think is the best way to talk to a dad like this and convince him to let me sleep at my boyfriends house? Colbert: Eve, Im going to disappoint you here. ... He may not actually be close-minded about sex. After all, you exist. So, hes fairly open-minded about it. But he may not think sex and a relationship are the same thing. And he might be traditional and someone who wants you to be married. Or, even be older before he is comfortable with you having a physical relationship. ... Maybe hes embarrassed to talk about sex with his daughter, because thats a very intimate thing. Thats not unusual. ... Approval of a boyfriend is not the same sort of thing as giving you carte blanche in terms of approving of a sexual relationship with him. ... I dont know how to talk to your dad about this. I would just ask you this: Why do you care what your dad thinks? Because you seem to care. ... Youre 19; youre legally an adult. Why are you still living at home? If you dont feel like youre ready to be out on your own, maybe youre not ready to be out on your own. ... It might be an act of humility. ... Maybe its not too much to ask to also accept their help in terms of relationship advice. Charlie, 17: Theres this boy, hes kind of mean to me, and he lies to me a lot. Then others times, hes a really great guy. He says to me he likes me and he treats me really well. How do you think I should proceed in this relationship? Colbert: I would not waste my time with somebody who lies to you. Even the mean to me is easier to deal with than somebody who lies to you a lot. Because if he lies to you, how do you know he really likes you? ... I would give this person one last shot and say, dont ever lie to me again." If you want more of the real Colbert, check out his powerful commencement address to Northwestern University in 2011 or his 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner performance, in which he decimated the Washington, D.C., press corps and former President George W. Bush in ways that sent shockwaves through the navel-gazing establishment. Follow Eric Pfeiffer on Twitter (@ericpfeiffer). Dover (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Far-right demonstrators burnt the EU flag on Saturday at a rally in Dover, Britain's closest town to continental Europe. Police officers in high-visibility jackets surrounded the small number of demonstrators as they marched along the seafront of the southeast English port town. One man held up an England flag with "Refugees NOT welcome" written on it. Immigration has been one of the major issues in run-up to the June 23 referendum, when Britain votes on whether to stay in the European Union or leave. "Far-right demonstrators have not succeeded in their attempts to close the port of Dover," said Charlie Elphicke, the MP for the town. "Just 30-odd of the far right have turned up. So much disruption created by so few selfish people." A rival counter-demonstration also took place. One woman held up a sign that read "Racism hurts everyone". Dover is 21 miles (34 kilometres) away from the northeast coast of France, which is visible across the Channel. With less than four weeks to go until the referendum, the Remain campaign is on 53 percent support and the Leave camp on 47 percent, according to the What UK Thinks website's average of the last six polls. Paris (AFP) - France international Lassana Diarra confirmed Saturday that he has been ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to pay a 10 million euro ($11 million) fine to former club Lokomotiv Moscow. The 31-year-old midfielder arrived in Russia to join Anzhi Makhachkala from Real Madrid in August 2012 but moved to Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013 on a four-year deal, before quitting the club a year later notably because of a salary cut. Lokomotiv took the case to FIFA for breach of contract with the world body ruling in their favour, slapping Diarra with a 10 million euro fine and preventing him from playing for another club for 15 months. "I take note today of notification from CAS of the punishment concerning me. It boils down to 15 months match suspension (already served), 15 months salary suspension (already served), 110,000 euros for the benefit of CAS, 10 million euro fine," Diarra wrote on Twitter. "I will accept the situation as I have always done in the past," said Diarra, who joined French Ligue 1 side Marseille in July 2015. "I thank those who supported me during this difficult time and as I said it's something I wouldn't wish on any other player." Diarra has been called up to play for France in Euro 2016 starting on June 10. CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least 59 people were injured in Guinea when youths frustrated they were being kept out of the opening of a new mosque in the town of Timbo clashed with police, a hospital director and witnesses said on Saturday. Security officials stopped ordinary people from entering the mosque to allow local dignitaries to pass but youths became angry and threw stones and attempted to rush in, witnesses said. Police responded with teargas and beat back the youths. "There was a huge clash between the police and the young people and clouds of tear gas. I saw old women pushed over by the surging crowd. It was serious," said Latif Haidera, a witness. Mamadou Kouyate, the director of the regional hospital at Mamou, said 59 people were treated at his hospital alone following the incident on Friday in Timbo, which is about 260 km (163 miles) northeast of the capital Conakry. About 85 percent of Guinea's population follows Sunni Islam and Timbo is a centre of Islamic learning and the capital of the Foutah branch of Islam in Guinea. The town is also a stronghold of the political opposition to President Alpha Conde, though witnesses said the clash was not directly connected to national politics. (Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Angus MacSwan) US steel probe 'reflects trade protectionism' Updated: 2016-05-28 06:41 By ZHONG NAN/ZHANG YU(China Daily) China will safeguard the interests of its steel producers by appealing to the World Trade Organization after the United States launched an investigation of Chinese companies for alleged price-fixing, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. The ministry said the country was resolutely opposed to the US decision and would encourage its companies to legally defend their interests. The US International Trade Commission said on Thursday that it would investigate a complaint by Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corp, which claimed that Chinese steelmakers and distributors conspired to fix prices, stole trade secrets via computer hacking and misrepresented the origin of their exports to the US. In its complaint, US Steel Corp is seeking to bar nearly all imports from China's largest steelmakers. Trade remedy measures recently taken by the US constitute trade protectionism, and they will disrupt trade and not solve the US steel industry's problems, said a statement by the ministry's Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau. It said current steel industry woes were global challenges and that a solution will require coordinated efforts by the countries concerned. The US investigation would target 40 Chinese steel producers and distribution subsidiaries, including Baosteel Group, Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co, Wuhan Iron & Steel Co and Anshan Iron & Steel Group Co. Shen Yan, head of the legal affairs department at Shanghai-based Baosteel, said he was shocked and angered by the US move, which he said is against WTO rules. "The company will pay close attention to the case and support the Chinese government to take all necessary measures to ensure the rights of Chinese steel companies," said Shen. Sun Jin, director of the international publicity office of Wuhan Iron & Steel, said he was baffled by the US decision, because steel products involved in this case are products manufactured by Chinese companies for many years. Meanwhile, the US government imposed on Wednesday anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 450 percent on exports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China. The European Union also launched an anti-subsidy investigation this month into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, the subject of an anti-dumping probe since February. Liu Zhenjiang, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Iron and Steel Association, said the US recently has taken frequent trade remedy measures against foreign steel products without prudence, which will not help solve problems faced by US steel companies. "Excessive trade protection is the primary cause that results in the operation loss of the US steel industry," said Liu. Du Juan and Wang Ying contributed to this story. By Alex Dobuzinskis and Kim Palmer (Reuters) - The mayor and police chief of Cleveland next week will outline what security measures they would take for the Republican National Convention, officials said after a civil rights group and a police union criticized aspects of the preparations. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has drawn intense protests at campaign stops this year. At times the demonstrations have resulted in violence between his supporters and opponents. Officials in Cleveland are gearing up for the thousands of demonstrators expected outside the convention, scheduled from July 18 to 21. The event will culminate with the party anointing the billionaire real estate developer as its nominee for the November general election. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson will join the police chief and other city officials on Tuesday to present a "comprehensive overview of security preparations" for the convention, the mayor said in a statement. "Despite rumors, the Division of Police is prepared and is on track with its planning goals," the statement said. The announcement comes after the American Civil Liberties Union on May 19 accused the city of taking too long to issue permits to protesters planning demonstrations at the convention. The city has since said it will allow application for permits starting on Tuesday, the same day officials will outline security plans. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association also has objected to certain parts of the city's plan. The union filed a grievance over an order prohibiting officers from taking vacations for several days before and after the convention. That prompted an arbitrator to order the city to pay overtime to officers who would lose out on vacation time, according to a copy of the ruling posted at news website Cleveland.com. Cleveland officials are marshalling a force of about 5,000 officers, including police from other law enforcement agencies, to provide security for the convention, City Council members have said. Council members earlier this month raised questions about the lack of transparency in Cleveland's plans for the convention. But Police Chief Calvin Williams has said the city must withhold certain information to stymie anyone seeking to disrupt the convention. He has declined to say how many officers will be assigned to the event. Protests against Trump dogged his appearance on Friday in San Diego, where more than 1,000 demonstrators turned up and 35 were arrested, and on Tuesday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where protesters threw rocks and bottles at police. (Reporting by Kim Palmer in Wilmington, Vermont, and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Editing by Franklin Paul) Los Angeles (AFP) - His rallies are like raucous circuses, interrupted by the clamor of a captivated crowd that is quick to finish his sentences. Hers seem more like sober presidential addresses, exhaustive litanies of proposals presented to well-behaved supporters. Making matters worse, Hillary Clinton tends to arrive late, while the Donald Trump Show always begins on time. With the US presidential election about to enter a new phase, the Democratic candidate suffers from a glaring enthusiasm deficit, threatened by Bernie Sanders in the final primaries in June and unable to contain Republican charges of ethical lapses fueled by her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state. The contrast could not be more striking between Clinton's controlled appearances and the fervent chaos that surrounds the public events of the billionaire populist, who strides onto stage to the deafening beat of 2 Unlimited's "Get Ready for This." "Trump! Trump!" roared thousands of his supporters recently at a convention center in Anaheim, California, before breaking into cries of "Build the wall! Build the wall!" - 'Women like me' - His speech is improvised, basic, disjointed. He promises to bring manufacturing jobs back to America but offers no detail than to threaten customs sanctions against companies that move their operations abroad. He seems at times to create his own facts. "I'm telling you, women like me," he says; and, "The Hispanics are liking Donald Trump," both observations sharply contradicted by opinion polls. He stirs up the crowd by deriding the "stupidity" of the country's leaders and contrasting it to his own business aptitude. "We're going to win so much you're going to be so disgusted with me," he concludes, drawing a thunderous ovation. This is the Trump formula: his supporters -- young or old, well-off or down-and-out, but nearly all white (a declining share of the electorate) -- gamble on an "outsider" who claims to hold the secret to economic revival, as if America had nothing to lose. Story continues "There's nothing much more he could actually want in his life: he has a ton of money, he's really famous, he has a beautiful family, so he's really doing it for us, the American people," says Joe, 25, a university student who declines to give his last name. At a Clinton event near Los Angeles, impatience is palpable as supporters await her arrival. The playlist (Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez...) runs on an endless loop, and a sigh of dismay courses through the auditorium when a seventh speaker steps up to the microphone. Hillary Clinton arrives 45 minutes late. "I guess we should have gotten a bigger room," she tells the crowd of 1,200 in the suburban Riverside campus, apologizing that some people were left outside. But her advance team had chosen this gymnasium precisely for its modest size. Only Bernie Sanders has drawn crowds like Trump's. - Trump, 'loose cannon' - Hillary Clinton has been campaigning on her stature as a stateswoman with serious ideas to offer, warning voters that Trump is a "loose cannon" unprepared to lead the country. But the exhaustive nature of her proposals does little to make up for the sometimes numbing way she presents them. "It's a lonely job, it's the hardest job in the world," she says. Clinton promises no revolution but rather the continuation of progress made under President Barack Obama: an increase in the minimum wage, improvements to infrastructure, attention to women's rights, foreign policy, immigration and so on. "I will fight for you, I will fight for us every single day," she concludes. That argument has won over a majority of Democrats, and her supporters invariably express admiration for the arc of her professional journey, her policy expertise and the strength of her character. "It's a positive thing that she's been in the political field for so long," said Philip Falcone, 18, a recent high school graduate, adding that "she's had more success" than her rivals. Clinton's challenge now is to unify Democrats while drawing the needed support of independents. Given her strong advantages among women, African-Americans and Hispanics, the election would seem to be a cakewalk. Yet her image is in decline: nearly two-thirds of Americans believe she is not honest, the same as for Trump. Her edge in polls has nearly vanished. All this raises the question: What if the wave of enthusiasm Trump has been riding should carry on to November? Fans of Bernie Sanders, some of whom protested at the Riverside rally, expressed doubts about Clinton's ethics. "Hillary's pretty strong," said Chiraag Dave, 19, an electrical engineering student. But he added that "I've read many articles about the muddy waters that she's been (in) around Wall Street," which he called "all a little murky." That line of attack could have come directly from the Trump camp. "Hillary Clinton has contempt for the working people of this country," Stephen Miller, a top Trump policy adviser, told the crowd at the Anaheim rally. "She just wants to get rich and rich and rich at your expense," he said, drawing loud boos. By Julia Symmes Cobb BOGOTA (Reuters) - Three journalists held by Colombia's Marxist ELN rebels were freed on Friday after going missing over the past six days in the restive Norte de Santander province. Spanish journalist Salud Hernandez, who went missing on Saturday in El Tarra municipality, was freed in the early afternoon and called into various radio and television stations to confirm her release. Colombian reporter Diego D'Pablos and cameraman Carlos Melo, who went missing on Tuesday after going to the largely lawless northeastern area to cover Hernandez's disappearance, were freed Friday evening and spoke live to their employer, Noticias RCN. Hernandez, who had been last seen climbing aboard a motorcycle taxi while reporting a story on the illegal drug trade, thanked the Catholic Church for its help with her release. "Thank you to the Catholic Church, to all my colleagues," Hernandez said by telephone to Caracol television news. "I'm perfectly fine." Hernandez said at a press conference that leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels had treated her well and told her they would hold her for several days. The government confirmed on Thursday that the three journalists were being held by the ELN, which operates in the area alongside larger rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and criminal gangs. In a printed statement given to Hernandez, the ELN said it was responding to what it perceived as a security threat. The release of the reporters could help move the ELN and the government toward beginning the peace talks they announced in March. The negotiations have been delayed by the rebels' continued kidnappings and infrastructure attacks. Hernandez, 59, who writes for Spain's El Mundo and local newspapers, is known for opinion columns highly critical of Colombia's insurgents, the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and its more than three-year-old peace talks with the FARC. Santos reiterated to reporters Friday afternoon that no official talks would begin until the group frees all hostages. "We celebrate the liberation of Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo. We expect them to reunite with their families," the president said on his Twitter account. Norte de Santander is a hub for cultivation of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, and for the smuggling of goods from neighboring Venezuela. Rebels groups and criminal gangs, many of which include former paramilitary fighters, sometimes fight for control of trafficking routes and drug crops. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler) North American Rail Traffic Saw Double-Digit Slump (Continued from Prior Part) CSXs railcars CSX (CSX) is a major operator in the Eastern US. CSX and Norfolk Southern (NSC) virtually run a duopoly in that region. In the week ended May 7, 2016, CSXs railcars excluding coal and coke fell by 8.1%, whereas NSC registered a 7.5% fall for the same category. Overall, CSX hauled 70,000 plus railcars in the reported week of 2016 against 81,000 railcars in the week ended May 9, 2015. CSXs 13.2% fall in total railcars was on par with the 15% fall in US railcar traffic in the reported week of 2016. Why coal carloads matter CSXs coal plus coke railcars went down by 28% in the week ended May 7, 2016, almost equal to rival NSCs decline in coal traffic. Coal accounted for 16% of CSXs total volumes and 19% of its total revenues in 2015. According to the US Energy Information Administrations March 2016 press release, the Appalachia regions coal output is expected to fall by 9% in 2016. However, the agency expects total coal production to increase by 2% and stabilize in 2017. CSX mainly connects coal mining operations in the Appalachian mountain region. The Eastern railroads have cited electricity generation plants shift from coal to natural gas as one of the reasons for the fall in utility coal transportation. The coal tsunami has affected major coal producers in the US like Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP), CONSOL Energy (CNX), and Peabody Energy (BTU). Due to the sharp decline coal prices, Peabody filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US on April 13. Investors interested in dividend ETFs can opt for the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG). All US Class I railroads are part of VIGs portfolio holdings. Winning and losing commodity groups Commodities that posted major gains for CSX in the week ended May 7, 2016, were: food products lumber and wood products chemicals The main bear commodity groups were farm products excluding grain, petroleum and petroleum products, metallic ores, primary metal products, and pulp and paper products. Story continues For more information on the previous weeks rail traffic, visit Market Realists Week Ended April 30: North American Rail Traffic Falls, Mexico Up. The Class I railroads intermodal businesses have had a bumpy ride in the last few quarters. Well go through CSXs intermodal traffic in the next article. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: San Diego (AFP) - Thousands of pro- and anti-Donald Trump demonstrators faced off outside a rally for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in San Diego, with police out in force to head off violence. Authorities said three people were arrested, including one for trying to climb over a railing, but there was no major violence or mass arrests as at Trump rallies in other cities. Following the real-estate magnate's speech inside the city's convention center, police ordered the crowd to disperse, judging it an unlawful assembly. But many demonstrators from both camps refused to leave. Several skirmishes erupted as both sides jeered and heckled each other, with some protesters throwing water bottles and rocks. One pro-Trump demonstrator was seen using pepper spray against another demonstrator. Dozens of police officers in riot gear stood between the two groups and at one point moved in to force the crowd to leave the area around the convention center. Authorities in San Diego earlier designated separate demonstration zones for the two sides to prevent them mixing. "I am opposed to the hateful, bigoted, racist language of Donald Trump and his arrogance and intolerance," Martha McPhail, one of the protesters, told the local City News Service (CNS). "I'm for all of our people -- all races, sexes, genders, military veterans -- and he's divisive." Riley Hansen, a 19-year-old Trump supporter who was selling T-shirts of the candidate, said it was time America voted for a businessman. "My dad always told me you need a businessman as president," he told CNS. "I like his policies." Protests in New Mexico turned violent on Tuesday, prompting fears of a similar outbreak of violence at Trump's campaign appearances in California this week. Earlier on Friday, hundreds of demonstrators had also gathered at another Trump campaign appearance in Fresno, in central California, during which the bombastic candidate reiterated his vow to build a wall to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the United States from Mexico. News reports said two women were arrested after refusing to leave the area following the rally. What Canadian Solar's Strong 1Q16 Could Mean for Investors (Continued from Prior Part) Canadian Solars gross margins In 1Q16, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) reported a gross profit of $113 million compared $201 million in 4Q15. On a YoY (year-over-year) basis, the companys gross profit fell by 26% from $153 million in 1Q15. CSIQs gross margin for 1Q16 came in at 15.6%, beating analysts expectation of 13.6%. Canadian Solar reported gross margins of 17.9% and 17.8% in 4Q15 and 1Q15, respectively. According to company filings, the YoY fall in the companys gross margin was primarily attributable to lower contributions from its Total Solutions business. However, its lower module manufacturing cost and higher module average selling price resulted in a higher-than-anticipated gross margin. In 1Q16, Canadian Solar reported a consolidated cost of revenue of $609 million compared to $708 million in 1Q15. Selling and general administrative expenses Canadian Solars selling expenses were $34.8 million in 1Q16, an 11.7% fall from $39.4 million in 4Q15 and a 14.8% fall from $40.8 million in 1Q15. According to company filings, the quarter-over-quarter fall in selling expenses was primarily due to lower shipping and handling expenses accompanied by a fall in external sales commission. The YoY fall was primarily due to lower shipping and handling unit costs, partially offset by higher shipment volumes. Meanwhile, general and administrative expenses came in at $34.8 million in 1Q16, a 17.8% rise compared to $29.5 million in 1Q15 and a 31.7% fall compared to $51 million in 4Q15. According to the companys filings, the sequential fall in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to a fall in incentive compensation and lower non-cash charges for bad debt and asset impairment. The YoY rise was mainly due to the consolidation of Recurrent Energys general and administrative expenses. Overall operating expenses The companys total operating expenses were about $74 million in 1Q16 compared to $95 million in 4Q15 and $74 million in 1Q15. Story continues R&D (research and development) expenses are required for upstream solar (TAN) companies such as First Solar (FSLR), SunPower (SPWR), SunEdison (SUNEQ), and Canadian Solar to remain competitive. Notably, Canadian Solar increased its R&D expenditure by 18% to $4.5 million in 1Q16 compared to $3.8 million in 1Q15. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: At his rally in San Diego on Friday, Donald Trump attacked the federal judge hearing a class-action lawsuit against Trump University, calling U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel very hostile and bringing up his ethnicity. The casein which plaintiffs have accused Trump of defrauding students through the now-defunct for-profit schoolis scheduled to go to trial in San Diego federal court on Nov. 28, according to the Wall Street Journal. I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. Hes a hater. His name is Gonzalo Curiel, Trump said during Fridays rally, inspiring boos from the crowd, the Journal reported. He is not doing the right thing. And I figure, what the hell? Why not talk about it for two minutes? Trump then spoke about the case for 12 minutes out of his 58 minute address, according to the paper. Were in front of a very hostile judge, Trump said, before noting that Curiel was appointed by President Barack Obama and arguing that he should recuse himself from the case. Trump also made a point to tell supporters that Curiel was Mexican. What happens is the judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think thats fine, Trump said. I think the Mexicans are going to end up loving Donald Trump, he later added, according to the Washington Post. It wasnt the first time this week that Trump railed against a political or judicial rival on their home turf. At a rally in Albuquerque on Tuesday, Trump criticized New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association and the countrys first Hispanic female governor, the New York Times reported. Martinez has been critical of Trump in the past and has not endorsed him. Several Republican leaders quickly came to her defense, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubioall of whom ran for president against Trump this year. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan also called her a great governor and a friend. Both of Donald Trumps rallies in California on Friday were met by protesters, some of whom clashed with law enforcement and were arrested, prompting Trump to thank police for handling the thugs. Fantastic job on handling the thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well attended rally, Trump tweeted to the San Diego Police Department on Friday night. Greatly appreciated! While protesters gathered outside a rally in Fresno earlier in the day, Trumps San Diego rally drew a larger crowd. About 35 people were arrested Friday outside Trumps rally in San Diego, where about 1,000 protesters had gathered, CNN reported. The Associated Press reported that about a dozen people were arrested. Police attempted to disperse the crowd in San Diego, declaring the protest unlawful after shouting matches broke out and people threw trash at one another, the AP reported. At another point, tension rose as police officers wearing riot gear and wielding batons shoved protesters back to keep them from Trump supporters. Police also used pepper spray on several protesters, according to CNN. But for the most part, the gathering merely involved shouting and chanting, the network reported. The signs and chants of both Trumps supporters and opponents made reference to his controversial comments on immigration and his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border. There were no reports of injuries or property damage at the San Diego protest, according to NBC. China's industrial profit growth slows Updated: 2016-05-28 11:31 (Xinhua) Workers assemble engines at a factory in Weifang, Shandong province. [Photo/China Daily] BEIJING - Profit growth at China's major industrial firms slowed sharply in April, adding to concerns about growing downward pressure on the economy. Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) totaled 502 billion yuan last month in April, up 4.2 percent year on year, compared with an 11.1-percent rise registered in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The firms' profits rose 6.5 percent in the first four months to more than 1.8 trillion yuan. He Ping, an official with the NBS Department of Industry, attributed the slower profit growth in April mainly to poor performance of the electronics, electricity and auto industries, which dragged total industrial profit growth down by 7.2 percentage points. Sectoral performance was highly uneven. Oil refiners, coking plants and nuclear fuel producers' profits rose more than 80-fold during the January-April period. Ferrous metal mills' profits climbed 41.9 percent while coal miners saw their profits plunge 92.2 percent compared with the same period last year. Profits at high-tech industries surged 21.6 percent year on year, outperforming the overall industrial sector. At the end of April, industrial firms' product inventories fell 1.2 percent year on year, the first drop in recent years, He said, without giving details. From Harper's BAZAAR You've worked hard all winter long to deserve the right to indulge in a shake, cone or bowl of soft serve-all while in your chicest swimwear. With warm weather upon us, there's nothing better than a cool treat on a hot summer day. Here, the top spots for ice cream in New York City to ensure that you'll have something sweet all season long. Black Tap With shake concoctions ranging from caramel to nutella, Black Tap puts a decadent spin on old-fashioned favorites. Adding full pieces of candy like lollipops and Reese's cups to top it all off, Black Tap's desserts look more like works of art than a simple shake. Black Tap, 529 Broome St. Big Gay Ice Cream Starting as a soft serve ice cream truck in 2009, Big Gay Ice Cream has since expanded to two locations in New York City. Known for putting a unique spin on simple soft serve, like the 'Salty Pimp,' which includes vanilla and dulce de leche ice cream with sea salt dipped in chocolate, this is one sweet spot you don't want to miss. Big Gay Ice Cream, 125 E. 7th St. & 61 Grove St. Chloe's Soft Serve Featuring soft serve completely made out of fruit, this is the ideal treat for anyone looking for something sweet sans dairy or with a lower calorie count. Surprisingly rich and creamy despite only containing fruit, water and a touch of organic cane sugar, Chloe's is something you can't go wrong with. With additional fruit toppings and a pretzel cone option, this is the perfect summer treat, guilt not included. Chloe's Soft Serve, 25 E. 17th St. Il Laboratorio del Gelato A small walk-up cafe in Lower Manhattan, Il Laboratorio del Gelato sounds exactly what it's name suggests; a "lab" producing the finest gelato and sorbet, and encouraging various chefs and caterers to concoct their own unique flavors. Featuring all locally and organically sourced desserts, and a rotating assortment of 48 flavors each day, all we can say is molto bene. Story continues Il Laboratorio del Gelato, 188 Ludlow St. Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Fashioning all of their ice cream from scratch in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, these guys serve both "classic scoops" and "vegan scoops," all of which contain only a handful of fresh, organic ingredients. From classic flavors like mint chip and pistachio, to special flavors like Meyer lemon meringue tart and Mexican chocolate birthday cake, this spot is as close as it gets to a true American creamery, celebrating the art of traditional ice cream making. Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream, 48 E. 7th St. Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream Putting a "new" spin on on a quintessential ice cream parlor, Morgenstern's prides themselves in paying attention to flavor, all while being very texture-driven. Each flavor of ice cream attempts to give you a unique experience through a nostalgic treat, and with options like banana curry and black strap rum, this ice cream parlor does just that. Morgenstern's Finest Ice Cream, 2 Rivington St. Snowdays Making a name for "shaved cream," which is the combination of Taiwanese and Korean shaved ices, Snowdays features a fluffy, snow cone texture that tastes exactly like ice cream. Making all of their shaved cream with organic dairy from New York's Hudson Valley, they also only use seasonal ingredients, like hand-roasted seeds for their black sesame flavor, or real cream cheese in their NY cheesecake. This is definitely a new type of treat you need to try. Snowdays, 241 E. 10th St. Popbar Showcasing gelato on a stick, Popbar is one genius to-go treat. With flavors like green tea dipped in white chocolate, hazelnut dipped in chocolate and sorbet options that are lactose-free, this is the perfect way to enjoy your gelato sans spoon. Popbar, 5 Carmine St. Dominique Ansel Kitchen Coming out of a side window at Dominique Ansel's bakery, the chef launched his own iteration of soft serve last summer with two flavors; burrata served with balsamic caramel and strawberry confit, and a chocolate hazelnut served with salted-hazelnut brittle, orangecorn, and sea salt for toppings. And what does the man known for his inventive cronut serve it in? Light, homemade cones with a touch of butter and honey, of course. Dominique Ansel Kitchen, 137 7th Ave S. Sundaes and Cones Founded in 1991 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Sundaes in Cones continues to reinvent what it means to make homemade ice cream. Now located in the East Village, the establishment not only nails the classic chocolate and vanilla flavors, but also strikes new notes with wasbai, ginger and tiramisu mixtures. Sundaes and Cones, 95 E 10th St. Today in One Paragraph President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, Japan. Donald Trump said he wont debate Bernie Sanders after all. Marco Rubio defended his support for Trump, and the presumptive Republican nominee encouraged Rubio to hang on to his Senate seat in November. Verizon reached an agreement with its nearly 40,000 employees on strike. Top News Obama in Hiroshima. The president called for a world without nuclear weapons during a speech in Hiroshima, Japan, the site where the United States dropped the worlds first nuclear bomb. Obama, who is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site, did not apologize for Americas actions. Rather, he said, the goal of his visit was to reflect on the violence of the past and take stock of who we are and what we might become. (Kevin Liptak and James Griffiths, CNN) Its Not Happening. Donald Trump released a statement saying it would be inappropriate to debate second-place finisher Bernie Sanders, just a few minutes after the Sanders campaign said it was prepared to accept a proposal from a television network to host the debate. Trump had initially agreed to the non-traditional debate Sanders suggested on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday, saying he would participate if it raised at least $10 million for charity. (Carrie Dann, NBC News) Recommended: A 22-Year-Old Explains Why He's Voting for the Republican Nominee A Hesitant Rubio-Trump Alliance? The onetime Republican presidential contender told CNNs Jake Tapper on Thursday that hed be honored to speak on behalf of Trump at the Republican convention, a halfway endorsement which he has been defending on Twitter. If you can live with a Clinton presidency for four years, thats your right, Rubio said Friday. But I cant and will do what I can to prevent it. Meanwhile, Trump encouraged Rubio to run to keep his seat in the Senate race in the November election, tweeting, Run, Marco! (The Washington Post, USA Today) Story continues Verizon Strikes a Deal. The telecommunications company signed a four-year contract with its striking employees, who are expected to return to work next week, union officials say. Almost 40,000 Verizon employees started the protest more than six weeks ago over pension and pay cuts. The president of Communications Workers of America, Chris Shelton, called the solution a huge win, not just for striking workers but for our communities and country as a whole. (Mike Snider, USA Today) The Weekend in One Paragraph. Bernie Sanders will campaign in California. Donald Trump will hold a rally in Indianapolis on Saturday. Follow stories throughout the day with our new Politics & Policy page. And keep on top of the campaign with our 2016 Distilled election dashboard. Top Read Its a long way to November, and Trump could always self-destruct. But he probably wont, and 2016 is shaping up as a contest that a careful Clinton campaign can easily lose, state by state, even as she piles up the popular vote in California and other sure-win places. Demographics are not destiny. In fact, they can be a disaster waiting to happen. David S. Berstein for Politico on how the Democratic front-runner could lose the election. Top Lines The Trumpian Divide. At a rally in Anaheim, California, police officers arrest angry protestors while Trump supportersboth elites and blue-collar workersattempt to find common ground. (Molly Ball, The Atlantic) Recommended: The Real Scandal of Hillary Clinton's Emails Racism in Justice. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that a black death-row inmate should be given a new trial after African American jurors were prevented from serving on his jury. The ruling highlights the deep, institutional racism inherent in the American criminal-justice system. (Emily L. Hauser, The Week) Dialogue With a Young Trump Supporter. The Atlantics Conor Friedersdorf corresponded with a 22-year-old man who believes that, while electing Trump has its risks, the presumptive GOP nominee will put an end to PC culture. Top View The Navy and Fat Leonard. A Malaysian defense contractor has admitted to bribing certain Navy officials with gifts, cash, and prostitutes, but these charts and photos reveal just how deep the corruption actually goes. (Craig Whitlock and Kevin Uhrmacher, The Washington Post) We want to hear from you! Were reimagining what The Edge can be, and would love to receive your complaints, compliments, and suggestions. Tell us what youd like to find in your inbox by sending a message to newsletters@theatlantic.com. -Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. In director Drake Doremus fifth feature Equals, written by Moon screenwriter Nathan Parker, humanity lives in an emotionless utopia in which passionate feelings are weeded out at the genetic level in order to foster a stable, war-free society. Into this comes Silas (Nicholas Hoult) and Nia (Kristen Stewart), two people who fall in love after they regain their feelings thanks to a mysterious disease, resulting in conflict between them and society. The film, which screened at Tribeca 2016 following equals debuts in Venice and Toronto, became available VOD May 26 exclusively on DirectTV and opens in theaters July 15. Deadline sat down with Doremus during Tribeca to talk about the contemplative science fiction romance that also stars Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver. Equals is a futuristic love story that takes place in a world where emotions dont exist and love is potentially eradicated for the preservation of the human race, said Doremus at the Deadline Photos Studio at Tribeca. I met [Nicholas Hoult] through mutual friends of mineand modeled the character Silas after him. I then met Kristen [Stewart] and thought she was really unique. [I felt] there was something in her that hadnt been tapped into yet. And I think the performance in the movie is a very special one. Its raw and beautiful. equals kristen stewart Doremus said that the Equals had a terrific reception in Venice where it had its World Premiere, but realizes his movies are not for everyone and thats OK. Most of my movies are polarizing. Some people really love my movies and others really hate my movies. Its interesting to premiere [this] in Europe. The audience was incredible. It think they really felt the movie Equals was filmed in various locations in Japan as well as Singapore, which gave the filmmakers and cast plenty of time to forge ahead away from the spotlight. We searched all over the world to find these beautiful locationsin Japan [and] Singapore. I think we bonded more because we were in such a foreign land. It was difficult to be so far away because none of the [familiar] comforts were there, so we had to rely on each other, to get each other through the experience. Its a magical place. Japan is one of my favorite places in the world. Story continues Related stories 'Collide' Trailer: Felicity Jones & Nicholas Hoult Rev Engines For August Bow 'Personal Shopper' Director Olivier Assayas On The Wonders Of Working With Kristen Stewart - Cannes Studio Netflix In Talks For Iraqi War Drama 'Sandcastle' And Closes 'Wheelman' - Cannes Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned the United States' support of Kurdish fighters in Syria after AFP pictures revealed US commandos wearing the insignia of a militia branded a terror group by Ankara. "The support they give to... the YPG (militia)... I condemn it," said Erdogan. "Those who are our friends, who are with us in NATO... cannot, must not send their soldiers to Syria wearing YPG insignia." Erdogan's comments came after an AFP photographer captured images of US troops in Syria wearing insignia of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Ankara regards the YPG as a terror group, accusing it of carrying out attacks inside Turkey and being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades. Erdogan -- speaking in the majority Kurdish city Diyarbakir -- accused the US of being dishonest because of its support for the militia. "I believe that politics should be exercised with honesty," he said. Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned the United States' support of Kurdish fighters in Syria after AFP pictures revealed US commandos wearing the insignia of a militia branded a terror group by Ankara. "The support they give to... the YPG (militia)... I condemn it," said Erdogan. "Those who are our friends, who are with us in NATO... cannot, must not send their soldiers to Syria wearing YPG insignia." Erdogan's comments came after an AFP photographer captured images of US troops in Syria wearing insignia of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Ankara regards the YPG as a terror group, accusing it of carrying out attacks inside Turkey and being the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for over three decades. "The PKK, the PYD, the YPG, Daesh (Islamic State), there is no difference. They are all terrorists," Erdogan said. It had long been public knowledge that around 200 US commandos are in northern Syria helping local militia target the Islamic State extremist group's de facto capital Raqa and guiding in coalition air strikes. Erdogan, speaking in the majority Kurdish city Diyarbakir, accused the US of being dishonest because of its support for the militia and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD). "I believe that politics should be exercised with honesty," he said. The US, seeking to avoid a rift with ally Turkey, had announced Friday that special operations troops in northern Syria would henceforth stop wearing the badge of the YPG guerrillas. However the State Department played down the spat, insisting that Washington and Ankara remain close partners in the broader fight against the Islamic State, despite disagreements about the role of the YPG. - 'These people are atheists' - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the United States of "hypocrisy" and "double standards" and said the American soldiers might just as well have worn the logo of Al-Qaeda, the IS group or Boko Haram. Story continues The United States has blacklisted the PKK as a "foreign terrorist organisation" but regards its Syrian-based sister group the YPG as a useful ally in the face of the Islamic State threat. US military officials say they will continue to work with the YPG, which provides the bulk of the so-called "Syrian Democratic Forces" fighting the IS group. Erdogan pledged on Saturday to pursue Turkey's military operations against the PKK, who he dubbed atheists. "Haven't they destroyed our mosques? These people are atheists... They do not act according to our values," he said, promising to "see through to the end" the fight against PKK. Erdogan and his new Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made a symbolic visit to Diyarbikar, which is the heart of the southeastern region that has been shaken by the resumption of fighting between government and rebel Kurdish forces. Yildirim became prime minister last week following the shock resignation of Ahmet Davutoglu who had feuded with the president over several issues. While the original Roots miniseries swept the nation with its realistic depiction of slavery in America, the upcoming remake takes it a step further as ET found out on the set. "This ground is sacred because it is alive with the blood of our ancestors," executive producer LeVar Burton told ET's Kevin Frazier on location in Vacherie, Louisiana. NEWS: Remaking 'Roots' for a New Generation While most of the original miniseries was shot on the Disney lot, production for the remake spanned two continents. The slave ship scenes were filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, while seven different real Louisiana plantations were used for a number of U.S. scenes. Locations in Savannah, Georgia, served as the backdrop for Africa. Like the original, the eight-hour remake, airing over four nights, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1976 novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The story traces author Alex Haley's genealogy back to 1750s West Africa. In the 1977 version, which attracted 100 million viewers to ABC for its finale, Burton starred as Kunta Kinte. This time, British actor Malachi Kirby took on the iconic role. MORE: 'Black or White' Stars on Racism in America: 'The Answer Lies in Love' "We just sat down and it was weird," Kirby told ET while sitting next to Burton. "I don't know about you, but for me it felt like I already knew you." Kirby had a great resource by his side with Burton producing the new project, but Burton told ET he didn't need to help too much with the performance. "The only tip I could possibly give Malachi is to make it his own," Burton said. In addition to Kirby, the all-star cast includes Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne, Anika Noni Rose, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, T.I., Matthew Goode, Mekhi Phifer, and Anna Paquin. MORE: How 'ACS' Producer Nina Jacobson Is Making Audiences Face a Harsh Reality Every performance was helped along by the realistic wardrobe put together by costume designer Ruth Carter. Over 21,000 historically-accurate costumes were produced and stored in a New Orleans-based warehouse, and Carter labored over every detail. Story continues "This is a slave tag," Carter said, holding the metal badge. "On the tag it said the name of the person who owned you and every year you got a new tag." The production also has the benefit of 40 years of discovery, which has led to a more accurate production and understanding of Kinte's world before he was in America. "Kunta's origin story will have a very different flavor this time around," Burton said. Roots premieres on Monday, May 30 at 9 p.m. ET on History Channel. Related Articles Musically Unless you live with a teenager, you've probably never heard of Musical.ly. If you do, then you've probably already appeared in one of your kid's music videos. The DIY music-video app first came on the scene in 2014, but exploded to the top of the App Store charts last summer. It hasn't fallen below the top 40 since. Often, it's swapping top places in the app store with Snapchat and Instagram. The 15-second videos are typically people lip-syncing or dancing to some of the top hits. More recently, Musical.ly stars have started launching their own careers, and traditional music stars, like Jason DeRulo, are now pledging to debut their videos on the platform first, a coup over YouTube. Today, more than 10 million people use the app daily and produce around the same number of videos every single day. All in, 70 million people have registered as Musical.ly users, says its cofounder and co-CEO Alex Zhu. While the music videos have drawn people to the app, Zhu knows that's not why they stay. He's building Musical.ly to be the next social network one based on videos that only entertain people and keep them coming back. "Today the very proposition of the app is not about creating music videos. Its not about lip-syncing. Its about a social network," Zhu said. "Its a community. People want to stay because there are other people. " 'Doomed to be a failure' The idea for a make-your-own-music-video app was a desperate pivot away from an education app. Zhu had been interested in education during his time as a project manager at enterprise software giant SAP, even earning the title of "education futurist." He thought massive online courses, also known as MOOCs, were great, but no one finished them. In 2014, he believed he'd come up with a billion-dollar idea: short-form education videos. Zhu and his cofounder and co-CEO Louis Yang raised $250,000 from venture capitalists and spent six months building an app called Cicada. The idea was that experts, whether for coffee or calculus, could create short three- to five-minute videos explaining a subject. But there's a reason you've never heard of it before. Story continues "The day we released this application to the market we realized it was never going to take off," Zhu said. "It was doomed to be a failure." It was doomed to be a failure. His team had missed that the videos took too long to create. Lesson planners had a hard time condensing their expertise into three minutes. Content creation and consumption needed to be within minutes and seconds, not hours. It wasn't entertaining, and it didn't attract teens. At that point, Zhu's team only had 8% of its money left, he says. Instead of giving it back to investors and walking away, they scrambled to come up with a new idea. 'We got lucky' Open Musical.ly today and there's no trace of its failed-education-app roots. The 15-second videos are long enough to draw a laugh and tell a story, but not too long that teens get bored and move onto the next one. It's a mix of teenage boys thumping their chests to a song, to gymnastics routines set to music, to acting out funny lyrics from songs. Zhu first landed on the idea when he watched a group of boisterous young teens on the train in Mountain View, where Google is based. Half of the teens were listening to music while the other half took selfies or videos, covered them in stickers, and then shared the results with their friends. That's when Zhu realized he could combine music, videos, and a social network to attract the early-teen demographic. The team turned Zhu's new idea into an app in 30 days, and launched Musical.ly in July 2014. Immediately, they saw the numbers were great. Around 500 people were downloading it a day, but more importantly, they kept coming back. "You can buy the users, but you can't buy the user retention," Zhu said. If you had a twin I would still choose you @lisaandlena A video posted by musical.ly (@musical.ly) on May 7, 2016 at 6:32pm PDT on May 7, 2016 at 6:32pm PDT For the next 10 months the app kept growing, but too slowly to save the company. "We got nervous. What do we do? We didnt have much cash left," Zhu said. "Sometimes quick failure, like that education app, is good because you can turn around other ideas quickly. But having this slow growth is bad, you dont know if it will take off or not and youve invested a lot of time into it." In April 2015, the company made a few small design tweaks to the app, including moving the logo in the videos. They had realized that when people shared the music videos, the logo was cropped out on Instagram and Twitter. The repositioned it so now it was easy to see what a Musical.ly video. It exploded: Musically Two months later, on July 6, it hit the No. 1 app in the iTunes app store. Since then, the app has never fallen out of the top 40 apps in all of iTunes. "Now that I look back, I think the initial slow growth was actually a good thing. We got lucky because we had time to build the product, to make it ready, to build every feature around community," Zhu said. "If the growth came too early, it would probably just stay as a fad." 'This could even be like the next MTV' To Zhu, Musical.ly isn't just another lip-synching-video app that could go the way of Vine or Dubsmash. The team believes it's building the next social network to revolve around videos. Instead of taking follows and followers, Musical.ly came up with BFFs, or "Best Fans Forever." Only BFFs of Musical.ly users (or "Musers") can do things like a duet. In the Musical.ly world, that means two people record videos to the same song and the app automatically combines them. It's done the same thing with a new Q&A feature where someone can ask a question of a Muser via video, and that person can respond in their own video. Musical.ly combines the two. "Especially in the social-media area, its usually winner takes all. You have to come up with something radically new. You shouldnt be a me-too product," Zhu said. SLAYYY @rubyroseturner A video posted by musical.ly (@musical.ly) on May 24, 2016 at 2:25pm PDT on May 24, 2016 at 2:25pm PDT A lot of these ideas aren't just Zhu's genius ideas. Instead, they're outgrowths of how teens were already using the app. Musical.ly taps into their suggestions by having giant chat groups on Messenger and WhatsApp to test features with its users from the US, Brazil, or the Philippines every day. Musical.ly is also one of the few apps to come out of China to become a smash hit in the US. Most of the company's engineers are based in Shanghai, with only a handful of business-development, marketing, and content-licensing specialists working out of a WeWork in San Francisco. "Its the first company to be headquartered in China, designed in China, but popular in the US," said Greylock investor Josh Elman. "Finally were seeing talented people who live in that ecosystem in that world and actually transcend it and build products in the US." T0 date, the company has raised $16.4 million from investors like Greylock and GGV, but it's rumored to be raising another $100 million. Its investors are bullish, even though the company is not generating revenue yet. "This could even be like the next MTV," Elman said. "I think this can be really important platform for an entire generation that can be entertained." Always be scared The Musical.ly team is now watching as a generation of Muser stars is emerging. A set of 13-year-old identical twins in Germany, Lisa and Lena, now have more than 2.8 million followers on Musical.ly. They've launched their own clothing line, and are considered to be one of the fastest-rising Instagram accounts in all of Europe. (They already have 1.8 million followers on that social network.) Baby Ariel, a 13-year-old who wasn't even on social media before, now is the most recognizable star from the app. Lately, Musical.ly has also seen a rising tide of demand from the traditional music industry. It's been proactive about working within the music industry an area where a lot of startups ignore the complicated rules about legally licensing music. The company has a number of deals in places with major players in the music industry, says its president of North America, Alex Hoffman, and a third-party provider supplies the music and tracks everything to make sure the company is following the rules, he said. Its friendly stance to music already has some stars using Musical.ly to run their own campaigns. Musical.ly users made more than 164,000 lip-synching videos a day to Lukas Graham's new song. Selena Gomez is currently running a "Kill Em with Kindness campaign" to promote her new song. Musical.ly adds an iTunes link on the competition page so people know where to buy the song. Okay Arianators! Create a musically for the #intoyouchallenge and @arianagrande will share her faves! A video posted by musical.ly (@musical.ly) on May 24, 2016 at 3:47pm PDT on May 24, 2016 at 3:47pm PDT "We want to create more value to the music industry in the future," Hoffman said. Still, Zhu doesn't see Musical.ly's rise and staying power as a success just yet. Building a social network or the next generation of MTV is hard in an era when Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook still dominate. In June, it will attempt to challenge those companies again when it launches Live.Ly, a Periscope competitor that's all about livestreaming. If anything, Zhu says the company needs to keep pushing and iterating faster. "I think we have these scary moments all the time because youre never safe. Even if you have tens of millions of users, you have to keep them always engaged," Zhu said. "I think its better for us to be scared all the time rather than feel content that we built a successful product and now we can lay back." NOW WATCH: A father-son team is creating the next viral YouTube channel by melting things More From Business Insider Technological innovation is strategic imperative Updated: 2016-05-28 09:12 By Hu Changshuan(China Dailly) Chinese President Xi Jinping (C front) visits the "Light of the Internet" expo in Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province, Dec 16, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua] Technology is the basis of a modern nation's development and innovation the soul of its progress. In his strategic thinking, President Xi Jinping considers technological innovation essential to sustain development. Xi has a deep strategic understanding of the contemporary world and has emphasized that "technological innovation is the strategic support to enhancing social productivity and comprehensive national strength, which must be put at the core of the nation's development as a whole". While the most important resources for an agricultural society are labor, soil and energy, that for modern industrial and information societies is technology. Technology plays the central role in propelling society forward, and it is an important element that decides the comparative strength of different countries. Xi's strategic thinking about technology is always centered on the Chinese nation and the people, and his purpose is to serve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. China suffered from military defeat and humiliation in the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century, and its backward technology was an important factor hindering the development of Chinese society. By Gene Cherry EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) - Britain's double Olympic champion Mo Farah surged into the lead with 60 meters remaining to claim victory in the fastest 10,000 meters of the year at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League on Friday. Farah shook off a valiant challenge by Kenyan William Sitonik to win his first outdoor race of the year and kept alive a five-year winning streak at the distance as he clocked an Olympic-qualifying time of 26 minutes, 53.71 seconds. "I don't want to lose here," said the Briton, who trains in nearby Portland, Oregon. Sitonik finished second in a lifetime best 26:54.66 with Ethiopian Tamari Toga third in 26:57.33 as five runners broke 27 minutes. Though Farah claimed victory on a crisp, cool evening, the 33-year-old Olympic favorite was not overly delighted with his performance. "It was good to run sub-27 (minutes)," he said. "But honestly, I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping to run a lot faster than that. "Sometimes, you know, it's your first race and then I have to make the decision to continue pushing... or try and win the race." He also was a little disappointed that the race had not attracted a stronger field in which to open his outdoor season. NO GAP Farah, who said he was in great shape, stayed near the front until slightly past mid-race before dropping a little behind the leaders. He worked his way back to the head of affairs with less than three laps to go and led at the bell before the 22-year-old Sitonik, the 2012 5,000 meters world junior bronze medalist, surged past Farah with 250 meters remaining. Sitonik was never able to open up a significant gap when he kicked for home, however, as Farah moved up a gear and eased back past his rival on the home straight. "I felt good at the beginning. Then about mid-race, I kind of felt like, not sluggish, but didn't quite get moving," Farah added. "It was hard to pick it up. "Farah will continue his preparations for the Rio Games with a 3,000m in Birmingham, England next week as he looks to defend both his 5,000m and 10,000m titles in August. In another highlight, U.S. world champion Joe Kovacs uncorked the three longest outdoor throws of the year to win the shot put, hitting 22.13 meters on his final attempt. Kovacs finished a heart-breaking fourth in the 2012 U.S. trials to miss the Olympic team but is hoping things will be different this year. The meeting continues on Saturday with key sprints and hurdles races topping the bill. (Editing by John O'Brien) London (AFP) - Britain on Saturday kicked off a week of commemorations marking one hundred years since the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of World War I. More than 6,000 British and 2,500 German sailors were killed in the 36-hour battle, which began off the Danish coast on May 31, 1916. Britain's battlecruiser force sailed from the Firth of Forth in eastern Scotland and events took place outside Edinburgh on Saturday. Queen Elizabeth II's daughter Princess Anne and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were joined by hundreds of people for a ceremony. "This centenary commemoration is an opportunity for us to honour and pay tribute to the many thousands of sailors from both sides who lost their lives during the Battle of Jutland," said Sturgeon. "The sacrifices made by those who fought in this battle, the largest naval encounter of the First World War, and by other seafarers throughout the conflict must never be forgotten." Anne, 65, and the first minister spoke to the families of those killed or wounded in the battle. Anne's grandfather king George VI served as a young midshipman in the battle on board HMS Collingwood. On Tuesday, 100 years since the battle began, Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip -- a former naval officer -- will attend a service in Scotland's remote Orkney Islands along with German President Joachim Gauck. The British Grand Fleet was launched from the archipelago to repel German forces attempting to break a British blockade. Though Britain lost more ships and men, the German fleet was more seriously weakened and failed to pose a significant challenge to the British during the remaining two years of the war. A memorial sculpture park at Thyboroen in Denmark's northern Jutland region is due to open next month. By Marcus E. Howard (Reuters) - A Florida man accused of fatally shooting a mother in front of her children and later wounding his former boss, was arrested by a SWAT team after a seven-hour standoff with police in an Orlando suburb, authorities said. Manuel Feliciano, 50, was taken into custody by sheriff deputies just after midnight on Saturday at his home, where he had barricaded himself inside and fired gunshots, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said. He was charged with homicide, attempted homicide and attempted homicide of deputies. According to the sheriff's office, at 5:29 p.m. Friday, a 7-year-old child called the 911 emergency line about a shooting at a home. Deputies found a dead 45-year-old woman by the home's driveway when they arrived. Her two children, including the 7-year-old, were alive. The woman's identity was not released. But she and Feliciano had been in a relationship, said Captain Angelo Nieves in an interview. An hour later, deputies responded to a call several miles away about a shooting and found a 34-year-old man, who was later determined to be Feliciano's boss, who had been shot and wounded. The victim was taken to a local hospital, and his identity was not released. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported that Feliciano had been fired from his job earlier that day. His job and place of employment were not disclosed. Deputies said they determined, based on a description of the suspect and vehicle, that the shooter was the same man who had shot the woman earlier. They tracked the suspect to a home a few blocks away, where they said he fired gun shots at them through an opening. Deputies said they returned shots. A Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit was called to the scene and apprehended Feliciano inside. Feliciano was taken to a hospital for treatment of possible injuries. He was suspected of ingesting narcotics just before he was arrested, the Orlando Sentinel reported. "This was a very dangerous situation. One person died and a second person is still in critical condition," said Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings at a news conference after the incident. "The fact that he knowingly fired at law enforcement officers - this scene could have been far worst than what it was tonight." (Reporting by Marcus E. Howard; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) - France's fuel supply crisis is not yet over, the transport minister warned on Saturday, while Prime Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying he was ready to ride out protests at ports and fuel depots by strikers opposing labour reform plans. Valls has taken a tough stance against the hardline CGT union which has spearheaded strikes that have shut down refineries and disrupted fuel supplies in the past two weeks. Following a meeting between the government and oil industry representatives, Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said the situation at fuel depots was improving though the crisis caused by the strikes was not fully over. "In some regions the situation is almost back to normal. In other regions we remain attentive, but we cannot say that the crisis is over," Vidalies said. Vidalies added that action to clear the blockades at fuel depots could be continued if necessary. In an interview with French daily newspaper Le Parisien, Valls said he was determined to pass labour reforms and he felt the protests would not further escalate. "When a text (of reform) has been discussed, when it has prompted a compromise with unions, when it has been adopted in the National Assembly, I consider it my responsibility to see this through," Valls said in an interview published on Saturday. Valls said he respected trade unions, including the CGT, but he found it unacceptable to blockade ports, fuel depots and refineries, especially at a time when the economy was starting to recover. The stand-off worsened this week as the country mobilised strategic oil stocks for the first time in 6 years and employers warned the protests were starting to hurt the economy. "I do not think that the movement will escalate, but I remain cautious," Valls told Le Parisien. Valls said he would not withdraw the text of the reform, which could make it easier for firms to hire and fire. The government says the reform is crucial to fight unemployment which is at above 10 percent of the workforce. The CGT says the reform dismantles protective labour regulation. The text may be modified when it goes to the upper house of parliament for approval, Valls said. But the government would not go back on core parts of the reform such as removing obstacles for hiring for small and mid-sized companies. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Richard Balmforth) (Adds French oil industry federation comment) PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) - France's fuel supply crisis is not yet over, the transport minister warned on Saturday, while Prime Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying he was ready to ride out protests at ports and fuel depots by strikers opposed to labour reform plans. Valls has taken a tough stance against the hardline CGT union, which has spearheaded strikes that have shut down refineries and disrupted fuel supplies in the past two weeks. Following a meeting between the government and oil industry representatives, Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said the situation at fuel depots was improving though the crisis caused by the strikes was not fully over. "In some regions the situation is almost back to normal. In other regions we remain attentive, but we cannot say that the crisis is over," Vidalies said. Vidalies added that action to clear the blockades at fuel depots could be continued if necessary. The government also warned companies against possible fuel price hikes. "The instruction is to be reasonable in terms of pricing," Francis Duseux, head of the French oil industry federation, said after the meeting, adding that some independent players were trying to benefit from the situation. In an interview with French daily newspaper Le Parisien, Valls said he was determined to pass labour reforms and he felt the protests would not escalate further. "When a text (of reform) has been discussed, when it has prompted a compromise with unions, when it has been adopted in the National Assembly, I consider it my responsibility to see this through," Valls said in an interview published on Saturday. Valls said he respected trade unions, including the CGT, but he found it unacceptable to blockade ports, fuel depots and refineries, especially at a time when the economy was starting to recover. The stand-off worsened this week as France mobilised strategic oil stocks for the first time in six years and employers said the protests were starting to hurt the economy. Story continues Valls said he would not withdraw the text of the reform, which will make it easier for firms to hire and fire. The government says the reform is crucial to reduce unemployment, which is now above 10 percent of the workforce. The CGT says the reform dismantles protective labour regulation. The text may be modified when it goes to the upper house of parliament for approval, Valls said. But the government would not go back on core parts of the reform such as removing obstacles for hiring for small and mid-sized companies. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Gareth Jones) Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill. speaks to reporters in Peoria Ill, Feb. 6, 2015. The Associated Press has learned that Schock billed taxpayers more than $10,000 on private flights last fall that included a trip to a Chicago Bears football game. The flights last November dont include more than a dozen trips on donors planes that Schock paid for out of his House office expenses or campaign funds since joining Congress in 2009. (Seth Perlman/AP Photo) Rep. Aaron Schock, once one of the Republican partys fastest-rising stars, announced his retirement Tuesday after less than four terms in Congress. The 33-year-old from Illinois appeared to have it all: a blossoming political career that included first-class trips across the country, celebrity friends like the pope and Ariana Grande, not to mention the best bod on Capitol Hill all of which he documented for his 18,300 Instagram followers. But over the past couple of months, a series of inquiries by reporters from Washington to Illinois have suggested Schock may have been misusing taxpayer dollars to fund his glamorous life. Eventually, those inquiries sparked the attention of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which, ahead of Schocks announcement Tuesday, had reportedly started contacting members of his inner circle. In what appears to be a preemptive attempt to avoid a full-blown ethics investigation, Schock decided to step down. In a statement confirming his resignation, Schock said that the constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself. I have always sought to do whats best for my constituents and I thank them for the opportunity to serve. Those constant questions all started with a February story on the Washington Posts website that, at first, seemed like little more than a quirky anecdote. But upon closer inspection, the story raised eyebrows and, as Schock mentioned, real questions. Lots of them. Washington Post reporter Ben Terris went to interview Schock at his office last month and found himself surrounded by deep-red walls, gold wall sconces, and pheasant feathers. The room's ornate decor had been based on that of the set of the popular PBS period drama, Downton Abbey, a woman who turned out to be Schocks decorator told Terris. Story continues Journalists gather outside the office of Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) on Capitol Hill in Washington March 17, 2015. Schock is resigning from Congress, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said on Tuesday. Schock's resignation follows news reports that raised questions about his use of taxpayer dollars. He did not notify any House Republican leaders before making his decision, a House Republican aide said.REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) Terris story was funny, and widely shared, but certain aspects created suspicion. Like the fact that Schocks dapper digs certainly must have far exceeded the Houses basic furniture and paintjob budget for new members. Or why Terris interest in the decorations sparked an inter-office crisis, ultimately costing him his interview with the congressman. With Schock's most recent expenditures not yet available to the public, USA Today dug through earlier Congressional expense reports and found, before giving his office the Downton treatment, the Illinois Republican had spent over $100,000 of taxpayer money on previous office renovations that included hardwood floors, granite countertops and leather furniture. Politico then decided to take a closer look at Schocks notoriously extravagant spending habits. For most politicians, the campaign trail is lined with budget hotels (Even President Obama still stays at the Holiday Inn). But Schock prefers to stump in style. He regularly stays at some of the countries most exclusive not to mention expensive hotels and, Politico reported, has spent over $90,000 in campaign funds on private flights, usually traveling with a personal photographer in tow. While not illegal, Politico noted that such exorbitant spending is, at the very least, unusual for a representative of Schocks level even if he is one of the Republican partys top fundraisers. That same report also pointed out that Schocks outsized fundraising which his team pointed to in defending his expenses as necessary had come under scrutiny in the past. In 2012, the Office of Congressional Ethics speculated that Schock had violated campaign finance law by helping a super PAC raise money beyond the legal limit. As reporters continued to dig through Schocks records and receipts, the congressman proceeded to mount his defense. In late February, Politico reported that Schock had hired two well-known D.C. defense attorneys and a pair of public relations operatives to tackle the onslaught of scrutiny which, by then, had grown to include questions about Schocks personal Chevy Tahoe and a 2011 trip to London. **In this file photo from Jan. 9, 2015, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, walks with Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., as House Republicans head to a closed-door GOP strategy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015. Schock has hired top lawyers and public relations experts in the wake of recent questions surrounding his travel and entertainment expenses. Schock, a rising Republican star already facing an ethics inquiry, had spent taxpayer and campaign funds on flights aboard private planes owned by some of his key donors, an Associated Press review found. There have also been other expensive charges, including for a massage company and music concerts. Schock's high-flying lifestyle, combined with questions about expenses decorating his office in the style of the TV show "Downton Abbey," add to awkward perceptions on top of allegations he illegally solicited donations in 2012. The Office of Congressional Ethics said in a 2013 report that there was reason to believe Schock violated House rules by soliciting campaign contributions during a 2012 primary. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File) Schock declined to comment on whether he personally covered the cost of the trip. He would not have been required to disclose the excursion if he did pay for it himself. But since, based on the itinerary obtained by Politico, he did not visit London on official government or political business, Schock would have had to receive the Ethics Committees permission and register the trip as a gift if paid for by someone else. Schock did not disclose any gifts related to the London trip. However, it was later revealed that he was a guest at a number of lavish dinners, including some hosted at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Amid what had now become a mounting scandal, on Feb. 27 Schock decided to put his trademark fundraising on hiatus. That same day, USA Today reported that, after the Washington Post story about his office, Schock had quietly reimbursed the government $35,000 for his elaborate decor, and paid $5,000 to the decorator, who told the Post shed offered her services for free. Less than a week later, Schock wrote another check to the U.S. Treasury, this time for $1,237: reimbursement for a private flight from Peoria, Illinois, to Chicago for a Bears game. The check was sent one day after the Chicago Sun-Times published a story about the taxpayer-funded excursion. Which brings us to this week. Politico reports that on Monday, it reached out to Schock with questions about his mileage reimbursements. The publication had pieced together several public documents suggesting that, between 2010 and 2014, Schock billed the government and campaign for more than twice the amount of miles he actually put on his personal, campaign-funded Chevy Tahoe. That same day, it was reported that the investigators with the Office of Congressional Ethics had started contacting members of Schocks inner circle. The OCE does not have the power to subpoena lawmakers, but often conducts initial reviews of potential misconduct and then makes recommendations to the House Ethics Committee, which can formally investigate and penalize representatives. The committee does not, however, investigate and punish former lawmakers, which is what Schock will be as of March 31. He might not want to fire those defense attorneys just yet, though, as his alleged misuse of public funds is still fair game for federal law enforcement. Once freed from the constant questions that have been distracting him, Schock, who has been a politician pretty much since he graduated high school, might want to start looking for a job in the private sector. As a former lawmaker, Schock will still be eligible for taxpayer-funded benefits once he turns 62. But $18,500 per year is not nearly enough to sustain the lavish lifestyle hes grown accustomed to, plus he has almost 30 years before it kicks in. He'll still have access to the House gym, though. Only now he'll have to pay. Related video: Frankfurt (AFP) - Germany's economy minister lashed out at Chancellor Angela Merkel for her "wrong" stance on a huge EU-US free trade pact in an interview to be published Monday, signalling a deepening rift within the government over the controversial accord. Sigmar Gabriel, also the vice chancellor, told the RND group of regional papers that his Social Democratic Party "doesn't wish to be part of a bad deal", as he warned against a hastily negotiated agreement on the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). He said Merkel "was wrong to say, in the euphoria of (US President Barack) Obama's visit to Germany, that we will be able under all scenarios to conclude negotiations this year". Washington and Brussels want the TTIP completed this year before Obama leaves office, but it has faced mounting opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. Gabriel, whose party is the junior partner in Merkel's coalition government, already said earlier this month that the deal "will fail" if the United States refuses to make concessions. Opinion polls show that people in the eurozone's biggest economy are growing increasingly wary of the proposed pact despite Merkel's continued support. Some 70 percent of Germans polled this month said they believed the TTIP would bring "mostly disadvantages". Tens of thousands of Germans have so far taken to the streets in protest against the treaty, including during last month's visit by Obama. Meeting in Japan this week, leaders of the G7 nations -- the US, Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy, France and Canada -- expressed their support for a TTIP agreement this year, as long as it is "ambitious, comprehensive, high standard and mutually beneficial". The next round of TTIP talks is set to take place in June. The wide-ranging pact would create a free-trade zone covering 850 million people. Critics say it would come at the expense of jobs, consumers and the environment. London (AFP) - Spain may try to force the issue of joint sovereignty with Britain over Gibraltar in the event of a Brexit, the territory's chief minister said in an interview aired Saturday. Fabian Picardo told Sky News television that Spain might close the frontier gates with the British overseas territory if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a membership referendum on June 23, choking the peninsula of workers and land access to the continent. Gibraltar's thriving services-based economy relies in large part on access to the EU's single market. Picardo said Brexit supporters "would have a lot to answer for" if Madrid raised the possibility of joint sovereignty over the Rock -- hitherto anathema to its 30,000-odd residents. In case of a Brexit, the chief minister said: "The current Spanish foreign minister (Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo) has been explicit as to what that may mean. "They've said that they might consider closing the frontier if the United Kingdom were to leave the European Union. "And if Gibraltar wanted to continue to have access to the single market and the rights that we enjoy today of free movement, that we would have to once again consider the issue of joint sovereignty with Spain -- which nobody in Gibraltar is prepared to consider." Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity in 1713 but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty, and the territory remains a source of diplomatic tension. In 2002, the Labour government of prime minister Tony Blair said Britain was willing to share sovereignty with Spain over Gibraltar. The territory, which is internally self-governing, swiftly held a referendum on the idea, in which 98.5 percent voted no. Britain leaving the EU would "seriously impair" London's ability to stand up for Gibraltar, Conservative British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned earlier this month on his first official visit to Rock. Story continues Spain shut its gates on the solitary crossing with Gibraltar in 1969, fully reopening them in 1985 ahead of it joining the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community, the following year. Inhabitants had to rely on air and sea links, typically via Britain or Morocco, to reach the other side of the 1.2-kilometre border. Gibraltarians have the right to vote in Britain's EU referendum. With less than four weeks to go until the vote, the Remain campaign is on 53 percent support and the Leave camp on 47 percent, according to the What UK Thinks website's average of the last six polls. From Seventeen Kilee Brookbank nearly died 18 months ago, when a gas leak lead to a fiery explosion in her Ohio home. After a long, difficult road to recovery, she was named prom queen of Huntington High School three weeks ago. Kilee was home alone in November 2014 when she lit a candle. She wasn't aware that an undetected gas leak would make that candle potentially deadly, and was a lucky to escape. She lost her hair and 45 percent of her skin, leaving scars on her arms, legs, back, and stomach. Following the accident, she spent 38 days in the hospital undergoing multiple surgeries. "I never really thought I'd want to be in a dress again," Kilee told Inside Edition. "I just didn't think I'd be comfortable in my own body." One thing that didn't totally suck: a certain dude named Justin Bieber swung by the hospital to cheer her up. She attended prom as a junior last year in a long-sleeved dress and a sparkly headband on top of her freshly grown-in hair. During her recovery, she wrote a book called Beautiful Scars, which tells the story of Kilee and her family in the months following the fire. By the time her senior prom rolled around in May, she felt confident in her own skin again. "Putting on my dress felt great," she wrote on KiCamProjects.com. "Last year, I was wearing long sleeves and a dress I didn't like that well. It was hard to find something that worked with the garments I had to wear during my recovery. But this year, I was happy I could wear a dress I was in love with." Her boyfriend Dylan has stuck by her side throughout the whole ordeal, telling Inside Edition that Kylee is "the most beautiful girl" he's ever seen. Her classmates felt the same way: they voted her prom queen! "That was the best prom ever, and I definitely think it was the most fun I've had in a while," Kilee wrote. By Allison Lampert MONTREAL (Reuters) - The United Nation's aviation agency should avoid creating new checkpoints outside airport terminals as it draws up proposed global guidelines to improve security in the wake of recent attacks on travelers, the head of Airports Council International said on Friday. Angela Gittens, director general of the global airport trade group, said she did not want external checkpoints, which are being debated as a way to deter attacks on airports, to become part of a proposed global security standard for public areas because the additional lineup could create a new target. The U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) last week discussed creating a new standard that could push countries to come up with security rules for public sections of airports. Security in these so-called landside areas is run by a patchwork of local and state authorities, depending on the country. "Most airports were not built to have people congregate at doors," Gittens said in her first interview on the proposed standard. "And every time you stop people, you're interfering with what airports were supposed to be doing. You're trapping people in a line where if something did happen these people would not be able to scatter." Montreal-based ICAO sets standards that its 191 member states typically adopt as regulatory requirements. The agency's council would vote on any proposed changes to airport security only at year's end, or in 2017, two sources familiar with the confidential talks said on condition of anonymity. While global security guidelines already exist for closed areas limited to passengers with boarding passes, the ICAO has not set standards for public sections of airports. Even before a March attack on a Brussels airport, the agency was already discussing ways to improve security after a Metrojet plane crashed in Egypt last year. A U.S. congressional panel heard this week that more than 70,000 American Airlines customers missed their flights this year and 40,000 checked bags failed to be loaded on scheduled flights because of airport screening delays. One of the sources said the agency had proposed giving guidance on security to member states, but would allow individual countries to draw up their own national security rules for airports. ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin said in an email on Friday that it was "far too premature" to comment since the agency was only considering proposed changes. "They are trying to broaden that to say it's not just the access to the flight, it's the safety/security of the passenger before that," he said. (Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Richard Chang) Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman (in green shirt) and other community leaders at the TAA charity launch event. (Photo: Safhras Khan) Despite the gloomy economic outlook that is being predicted, the organisers of Tabung Amal Aidilfitri (TAA) are confident that they will be able to raise the targeted $800,000 for their beneficiaries in the upcoming month of Ramadan. The head of the TAA Executive Committee, Muhd Harmizan Abdul Hamid, said that donating to the needy - especially during Ramadan - is a noble thing and he expects Singapores Muslim community to continue with its efforts to extend a helping hand for the annual fund-raising effort. The TAA-Ramadan Charity Drive Campaign 2016, the 24th campaign thus far, was launched by Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman on Saturday (28 May) at Tanjong Katong Complex. The campaign offers aid to the less fortunate during the Eid al-Fitr period. Donation boxes are usually deployed all across the island during the campaign period with telephone lines set up to receive more funds. The Muslim community in Singapore will be welcoming the Ramadan period on 6 June, after which followers will fast every day from dawn to dusk before celebrating Eid al-Fitr on 6 July. Dr Maliki distributing hampers containing basic groceries at the event. (Video by Safhras Khan) Disbursement of funds Speaking to Yahoo Singapore after the launch, Harmizan said that they will be distributing $300 to each beneficiary this year during their disbursement exercise on 25 June. Beneficiaries will usually submit forms asking for financial aid, which are then analysed by the TAA before any disbursement of funds is approved. As of now we have already received 3,000 applications and have approved 2,500. We have seen an increase in the number of approved applications. We distributed funds to 2,287 benficiaries last year and we expect more to come forward, said Harmizan. Story continues Dr Maliki was also confident that Singaporeans will come forward and help in the campaign this year. He agreed that the economic outlook for the country is gloomy but is hoping that it wont dampen the peoples charitable spirit. Despite the gloomy economic outlook, I hope people will come forward to help in this noble effort, he said. An In-Depth Exploration of NVIDIA's Fiscal 1Q17 Earnings (Continued from Prior Part) Snapshot of fiscal 1Q17 Weve learned that NVIDIA (NVDA) reported strong growth in fiscal 1Q17, driven by the strong adoption of deep learning technology in various sectors. One drawback amid NVDAs positive earnings was the companys failure to secure an alternative to the licensing fees its been receiving from Intel (INTC). The contract between the two expires in March 2017. Lets see how investors reacted to NVIDIAs announcements in fiscal 1Q17. NVIDIAs stock reaches a new 52-week high NVIDIAs stock rose 18.6% in just three days after the company announced its fiscal 1Q17 earnings. The stock is currently hovering above $40. It broke its 52-week high of $37.46 before it announced its earnings. NVIDIAs stock rose more than 7% in the after-hours trading session after its fiscal 1Q17 earnings were announced. A similar rise of more than 7% was witnessed in the February 17, 2016, after-hours trading session, after NVDA announced its fiscal 4Q16 results. GPU stocks outperform overall semiconductor stocks GPU (graphics processing unit) providers NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have outperformed other semiconductor stocks. NVIDIAs stock price has risen by 82.3% in the past year, and its still growing with no sign of a slowdown. AMDs stock price has risen by 51.5% during the same period. Contrasting performances were reported by Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM), which have fallen by 8.8% and 26%, respectively, in the past year. The S&P 500 Index has also fallen by 1.6% in the past year. About NVIDIAs stock NVIDIA has a market capitalization of $19.4 billion, of which 4.7% is held across 85 ETFs. The iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) invests in large-capitalization US equities across various sectors, including technology. IWD has 0.19% holdings in NVDA, 1.3% in INTC, and 0.66% in QCOM. NVIDIA has a PE (price-to-earnings) ratio of 32.94x compared to Intel and Qualcomms ratios of 12.71x, and 16.25x, respectively. This indicates that NVIDIAs stock price is 32.94 times its earnings per share and is priced higher than its peers. Story continues The launch of NVIDIAs new products and the emerging trends in the VR, deep learning, and autonomous car spaces are likely to push the companys stock upward in the long term. Browse this series on Market Realist: Often overlooked in favour of London and Manchester, Britains second biggest city, Birmingham, is bursting with good spots to have a drink. Forget for a moment that this is Britain, and our weather is as erratic as it comes, with the summer months creeping in sooner than you think it might well be time you take a quick trip somewhere you might have written off in the past. Being a vast and multicultural city, Birminghams bars exhibit creative spins on everything from flavours to decor. And with everything worth visiting pretty much within walking distance city-wide, its pretty easy to dive deep into the boroughs beyond the immediate city centre. After spending your day discovering artists at the IKON Gallery or stuffing yourself at one of Birminghams many curry houses, unwind or even get the night started at one of these ten bars ahead. Bodega Theres no place better to look than if you want a slice of Latin America in the heart of the UK. Operating as a restaurant by day, serving everything from tacos to chilli hot chocolate, at night, Bodegas downstairs transforms into Sugarloaf, an intimate bar with colour and graffiti littering the walls. Try the blueberry and elderflower margarita for a twist on classic British flavours, with a tang of lime. Website Photo: @bodegabirm The Electric Cinema If you want to take the cinematic experience to a whole new level, The Electric is the place to be. Showcasing the best new independent films and the finest classics from auteurs, Britains oldest working cinema tops all of this off with a luxurious bar. Think signature cocktails amusingly named Tequila Mockingbird and Midnight Expresso and a classic French-style Parisian absinthe fountain. Just be sure not to get too tipsy whilst enjoying your movie, or you might miss some of the plot. Website Photo: @tommysut Buffalo and Rye Taking a leaf from American speakeasies, Buffalo and Rye dedicates itself to showing off an eclectic mix of whiskeys and bourbons. Where else in Birmingham would you get a Smoked Negroni or Bourbon Honey Mule? These hearty drinks are complemented by the meat-heavy menus, featuring dishes such as beef brisket and chilli cheese fries. Website Photo: @buffaloandrye 40 St Paul s If youre a gin lover, this is the bar for you. With over 58 gins currently on the menu including the citrusy Anty Gin made from red ants! and plans to expand that to 120, there really is something for everyone. The bar keeps it light mixer-wise, opting to use herbs, fruits, and spices that enhance and complement their gins. Even their tonic is made from wormwood as opposed to quinine. Website Photo: Courtesy of 40 St Pauls Hare and Hounds A short bus ride away from the city centre, Kings Heaths The Hare and Hounds doubles as a bar and concert venue. With cheap tickets, and brownies to die for, enjoy a cool IPA as you watch some of the best up and coming indie bands Birmingham (and maybe even the world) has to offer. Website Photo: Courtesy of The Hare & Hounds The Jekyll & Hyde This small and intimate Dickensian-inspired bar is tucked away in Birminghams financial district. Home to a cocktail menu that pays homage to the sweet treats of yesteryear, such as strawberry laces, lemon bon bons, and even pear drops, a sweet tooth would perfectly be at home here. Want to learn how to incorporate sweet shop treats in your booze? They offer cocktail masterclasses too. Website Photo: Courtesy of The Jekyll & Hyde The Lost and Found The Lost and Found is a kitschy Victorian-style bar in the middle of the city centre. With floral vines accentuating a room flooding with light, its a wonder how such a botanical place could exist in the hustle and bustle of the city centre. You can treat yourself to a spot of afternoon tea or go all out with adventurous drinks such as The Krakens Kaipirissima or For Whom The Bell Tolls. Website Photo: Courtesy of The Lost & Found The Plough A chilled-out spot in the suburb of Harborne, The Plough abandons the frills and expensive cocktails of the city centre with a menu that boasts its wine selection that it categorises as decent and great. The rustic yet clean cut atmosphere allows for this to be the perfect spot to wind down in after a busy day, or to meet up on a Sunday. They do a great 2 for 1 pizza deal on a Monday. Website Photo: Courtesy of The Plough The Rainbow Warehouse A staple of historically Irish area Digbeth, The Rainbow has seen some of the words best electronic musicians and producers perform, from Major Lazer to Martin Buttrich. Rather than being a spot to chill out after a long day, its a great one to start off a long night. Grab a beer, dance your heart out, and get a taste of the real Birmingham. Website Photo: Courtesy of The Rainbow Venues The Rooftop If you want to avoid the rowdiness and the orange hues of fake tan on Broad Street, the best place to go clubbing off this main drag is The Rooftop, with house and deep nights hosted by Cream and Twilight. The venue itself is a gorgeously updated Methodist church that has not lost any of its acoustic charm. Website Photo: @centralhallbirmingham The Victoria With a cocktail menu inspired by an old Pelican cocktail recipe book, the vast selection of drinks here boasts classics like Victorian Lemonade. However, its crown jewels are in its seasonal drinks, and you should be sure to try the Pineapple and Chilli Daiquiri. The pub also hosts a Sound and Vision quiz every week that forgoes the traditional trivia you have to secretly Google at pub quizzes, in favour of more contemporary pop culture-based questions. Website Photo: Courtesy of The Victoria Suds n Duds A truly innovative take on the classic speakeasy, Suds n Duds disguises itself as a laundrette, only for you to walk through and be greeted by a shabby and cosy bar with a relaxed vibe. The bar has quickly become known for its specials such as the butterscotch-flavoured Netflix and Chill, the Salted Caramel Flip, and Suds and Duds Zombie. Website Photo: @gasstsudsnduds Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? If You Want To Know What A Woman Really Thinks, Check Facebook The Wedding Day: Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski The Best Online Homeware Boutiques Youve Never Heard Of RIYADH (Reuters) - An Iranian delegation has left Saudi Arabia without an agreement for its citizens to attend the Muslim haj pilgrimage this year, Saudi media have reported, a second failure by the rival Middle East powers to strike a deal. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "At dawn on Friday, the Iranian mission expressed its desire to leave to home without signing the minutes of arrangements," the official Saudi Press Agency reported late on Friday. Iran's top haj official Saeed Ohadi said there was still room to find agreement until Sunday night, according to Tehran's official IRNA news agency. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the impasse. "We witnessed a lack of seriousness by the Iranian side in dealing with the issue. It is yet another attempt by them to politicize the haj," Abdulmohsen Alyas, an under-secretary at Riyadh's Information Ministry, told Reuters. After an earlier attempt to agree on haj terms failed this month, Iran's leadership blamed Saudi Arabia for the delay, saying it was "very concerned" for the safety of Iranian pilgrims after last year's disaster. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said over 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. However, counts of fatalities in the disaster by countries who received home the bodies of their citizens showed that over 2,000 people may have died in the crush, more than 400 of them Iranians. Adding to Tehran's anger, King Salman was later quoted in Saudi state media as praising Saudi authorities for a "successful" haj. Saudi Arabia's haj ministry said it had met a number of Iran's concerns, offering electronic visas, a deal on air transport for pilgrims and diplomatic representation by Switzerland for Iranians in Mecca. (Reporting By Angus McDowall and Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Tom Heneghan) The New Site Includes In-Depth Information about the Companys Natural Skin Care and Other Products Los Angeles, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 28 2016 / The founders of Health and Beauty Shop LLC are pleased to announce the launch of their new and easy-to-navigate website. As a company spokesperson noted, people who are looking for natural skin care products will find plenty to choose from on their new website. The company is an established dealer in beauty and health products for men and women of all ages, and they are looking forward to reaching even more customers through their new site. Health and Beauty Shop LLCs website was recently featured in two reviews: one by Morning Health News and the other by Supplement Hunter. Both reviews did an excellent job of showcasing the companys product line and giving readers an in-depth description of the skin care cream and gel. For example, as the review on Morning Health News noted, Health and Beauty Shops age defying cream My Glamorous Skin was designed for people who enjoy having skin that looks as youthful as possible. As the company spokesperson noted, the product contains ingredients that feature properties that help in boosting skin cell regeneration. "The product also contains properties that help reduce skin sensitivity," the company spokesperson said. "Sensitive skin can easily react to free allergens in the environment and cause unpleasant marks." Another product that is already selling quickly on the new Health and Beauty Shop website is called My Glamorous Eyes. As the spokesperson noted, the age defying gel was designed with the delicate eye skin in mind. "It contains natural ingredients that act to firm the skin and therefore get rid of wrinkles, sagginess and eye bags," the spokesperson said, adding that the product is available in a 15ml bottle that is white in color and has a black lid that fastens to keep contents safe. Anybody who would like to learn more about Health and Beauty Shop LLC is welcome to visit the new website; there, they can read more about the companys skin care and other natural products. Story continues About Health and Beauty Shop LLC: Health and Beauty Shop LLC specializes in natural products with proven ingredients that deliver results. To learn more go to their website at: http://totalhealthandbeautyshop.com/ Contact: Alex Morton admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861 Source: Health and Beauty Shop LLC. Sierra Shields' family isn't giving up their search for the missing Delta flight attendant. According to NBC New York, Shields' parents Chris and Donna recently flew from Chicago to New York City to continue their own investigation into their daughter's January disappearance from LaGuardia Airport. "Right now, we have more questions than we do answers," Chris told NBC, adding, "She is here someplace ... We will find her." Donna continued: "My gut tells me she was helping someone ... We don't know who she may have met. She is just... We just don't know. It's hard not knowing." Although Shields' parents allege that the lead detective in the case told the family "not to call and not to expect updates," an NYPD spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that the investigation is active and ongoing. Heartbroken Family Is Desperate to Find Delta Flight Attendant Who Has Been Missing Since January| Real People Stories Shields, a Shuttle America employee who works as a flight attendant for United Airlines and Delta, hasn't been seen or heard from since leaving LaGuardia on Jan. 14 after having a brief conversation with her supervisor. "[Her supervisor] said she noticed that there was something about Sierra that wasn't her normal happy self," Chris told PEOPLE in January. "She didn't appear to be depressed or anything but something was on her mind." Not long after the conversation, during which Shields asked about contacting a union representative, she disappeared. "They know she came out of the [airport] doors, but they don't know what happened after that," Chris said. Heartbroken Family Is Desperate to Find Delta Flight Attendant Who Has Been Missing Since January| Real People Stories Additionally, Chris told PEOPLE that Shields' roommates discovered that she had left her wallet and cell phone at home. "They thought she must have left in a hurry and may have accidentally forgotten her things," Chris said. Shields was last seen wearing her flight attendant's uniform: a knee-length blue dress with long sleeves. She is 5-feet-6-inches tall, weighs around 160 lbs. and has black hair and brown eyes. Any information about Shields can be directed to the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. Contributions to the Shields family's investigation can be made on CrowdRise. Washington (AFP) - Retiree to the rescue: Dr Henry Heimlich, 96, leapt to the aid of a fellow senior home resident this week, using the maneuver he invented to stop her from choking, US media report. "I ordered a hamburger, and the next thing I know, I could not breathe I was choking so hard," new resident Patty Ris told The New York Times. The doctor, who leapt into action in the middle of the evening meal, developed the first aid technique back in 1974. It involves ending an obstruction in a choking person's airway by giving a hug from behind and squeezing the person's abdomen. "I saw her face was all stiffened up and her skin was turning dark and she could not speak," Heimlich told the Times. "Of all things, I knew she was choking." "When I used it, and she recovered quickly," Heimlich told the Cincinnati Enquirer, "it made me appreciate how wonderful it has been to be able to save all those lives." A staff member at the home in Ohio said residents went back to dining after Heimlich's life-saving maneuver. His new neighbor later sent him a thank-you note. Refugees on the Greece-Macedonia border were moved from a camp in Idomeni this week to official refugee centers near Thessaloniki, but many have complained that the new locations are unprepared for an influx of thousands of refugees. This video shows some of the new locations. Greek riot police began clearing the Idomeni camp before dawn on Tuesday, May 24. Thousands had been stranded there since Macedonian authorities enacted tighter passage restrictions in February. Credit: YouTube/David Lohmueller MUMBAI, May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has subpoenaed India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd seeking information about the pricing and marketing of the generic drugs it sells in the United States, the company said on Saturday. The DoJ's antitrust division has also asked Sun Pharma's U.S. unit for documents related to employee and corporate records and communications with competitors. The subpoena comes amid a wider probe by U.S. regulators into steep increases in the prices of generic medicines in recent years. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services started an investigation last year into generic drug prices after prodding from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings. They specifically cited doxycycline hyclate 100 milligram, an antibiotic for which the price doubled in the year through June 2014. (http://reut.rs/1UkyIQw) The DoJ's antitrust division sent subpoenas last year to two generic drugmakers -- Endo International Plc and Mylan -- seeking information on their doxycycline products. Sun Pharma, the world's fifth-largest maker of generic medicines, is one of several companies selling doxycycline products in the United States. In a statement issued late on Saturday, it did not disclose the products over which the DoJ had sought information. Other generic drugmakers including India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and U.S. firm Allergan Plc also received subpoenas from regulators seeking similar information last year, but they did not disclose the names of the products involved. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Helen Popper) A single photograph, grainy and yellowed with time. Thats all the tangible evidence that remains of Buddy Bolden, one of the first documented players of early New Orleans jazz. Although his memory has long been kept alive in oral tradition, many of the specifics of Boldens now-mythic life and career remain obscured in shadow. Related Links: The Eagle Saloon, located on the famed 400 block of Rampart Street in the historic black Storyville district of New Orleans, was one of many community hotspots where Bolden, Bunk Johnson and their contemporaries performed the music that would come to be known to the world as jazz, influencing a young Louis Armstrong and countless others. Built in 1851, the Eagle Saloon a building on the National Register of Historic Places is one of the few remaining buildings of its kind to survive. A new plan seeks to preserve and refurbish this priceless building, bringing history into the present and reconnecting it to the living traditions of New Orleans. Over the years, the Eagle Saloon has passed through many hands. Most recently, after a decade of ownership by the now-deceased Jerome PoppaGee Johnson and the New Orleans Hall of Fame, LLC nonprofit, the newly formed Eagle Saloon Initiative, governed by new board members for the New Orleans Music Hall of Fame, seeks to once again to undertake a massive renovation effort. This time around, things look more promising: a charitable foundation matched the first $250,000 raised. A newly launched Indiegogo fundraising campaign has been capitalizing on the ever-growing grassroots power of social media, allowing the group to reach their initial fundraising goals. And a star-studded list of Cultural Ambassadors to the Eagle Saloon Initiative has been assembled, including New Orleans native PJ Morton of Maroon 5, George Porter Jr. of The Meters, Buddy Boldens great-grandson Big Sam, Ian and Ivan Neville and Deacon John Moore. Story continues eagle saloon Were at a point throughout the world right now for these types of efforts to be successful in ways they may not have been before, with the help of social media and a growing realization of the importance of preserving local culture on a global scale,said Zach Fawcett, project manager for the Initiatives resurrection campaign. I walked in the building the other dayit needs to be stabilized immediately. We will lose this building if something isnt done now. So there is an urgency here where there might not have been before, and the time has come to express that urgency. We have a chance to help preserve and deliver not only New Orleans musical history to the world, but American music to the world. And we want everyone to feel theyre involved and have a voice. The Smithsonian called the 400 block of Rampart Street the most important block in the history of jazz. But music hasnt been played in the Eagle Saloon since the 1930s, and the building itself has sat vacant and crumbling for decades. With the first half million dollars now raised, the buildings stabilization is finally set to begin. While the board has said that a full renovation effort will be an additional 1.5-2 million, the Initiatives plan for sustainability includes the opening of a performance venue downstairs and a space for music education for aspiring young artists. If the fundraising goals are met, the Eagle Saloon will reopen its doors to the public in 2018, the year of New Orleans Tricentennial celebration. The renovated Eagle Saloon will not be a traditional jazz hall, but a living, breathing organism, an investment in New Orleans culture both locally and globally, Fawcett told Uproxx. Europe and Japan have long been at the forefront of the study and continuation of traditional New Orleans jazz. We want them to be involved. We want everybody to be involved. It is our global responsibility to know more about our own culture but musically we want this to be a grassroots effort that amalgamates and churns into something differentsomething living. eagle saloon To learn more about the Eagle Saloon, go here. To donate, go here. Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq's counter-terrorism forces deployed on the edge of Fallujah Saturday for the first time since an operation was launched to retake the jihadist-held city, top commanders said. The counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best-trained and most battle-tested fighting unit, moved into position on the boundaries of Fallujah, a bastion of the Islamic State group. "CTS forces, Anbar emergency police and tribal fighters... reached Tareq and Mazraa camps" south and east of Fallujah, Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the top commander in charge of the Fallujah operation, told AFP. "These forces will break into Fallujah in the next few hours to liberate it from Daesh," he said, using an acronym for IS. Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, is one of the two remaining major Iraqi cities still controlled by IS. CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman confirmed the deployment but would not comment on the timing of an assault. "CTS forces moved to Fallujah to take part in clearing the city from within. The operation is shifting to urban warfare after Iraqi forces completed the siege of the city," he said. "CTS forces will break into the city, that's what they specialise in," Noman said. Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces, including the Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella group dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias, began a huge operation on May 22-23. The aim is retake Fallujah, the first city to fall out of government control even before IS swept through Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland in June 2014, and one of IS's most iconic strongholds. The Hashed al-Shaabi forces ("Population Mobilisation" in Arabic), as well as army and police forces have so far focused their efforts on areas east of Fallujah, without entering the city proper. The CTS led the assault on several other major towns, cities and strategic sites across the country that were retaken from the jihadists over the past two years. Story continues Their involvement marks a new phase in the Fallujah operation. Humanitarian players have expressed concern over the fate of an estimated 50,000 civilians thought to be trapped inside the city. "We are receiving hundreds of displaced Iraqis from the outskirts of Fallujah who are totally exhausted, afraid and hungry," Nasr Muflahi, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said in a statement. "Thousands more remain trapped in the centre of Fallujah, cut off from aid and any form of protection," he said. NRC said only 249 families (around 1,500 people) they knew of had managed to flee the Fallujah area since the launch of military operations nearly a week ago. It said all but one family were from outlying areas, not the city centre. The estimated 1,000 jihadists still ruling the city are suspected of using civilians as human shields but the UN's refugee agency also said that Iraqi forces had blocked supply routes, thus preventing people from leaving. By Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni politicians in Iraq condemned on Saturday a visit by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani to Shi'ite paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army to drive Islamic State militants out of the Sunni city of Falluja. Three lawmakers from the province of Anbar told Reuters the visit by Iran's al-Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt on Baghdad's assertions that the offensive is an Iraqi-led effort to defeat Islamic State, and not to settle scores with the Sunnis. Falluja, which lies about 50 kilometers (32 miles) west of Baghdad, is a bastion of the insurgency that fought the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led authorities that replaced former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In recent days, Iranian media published pictures of what they said was a visit by Soleimani to Falluja and a meeting he held with the leaders of the Iraqi coalition of Shi'ite militias known as Popular Mobilization, or Hashid Shaabi. It is the second time Soleimani has appeared in Iraqi conflict zones. About a year ago, witnesses said he was present when Popular Mobilization fighters ousted Islamic State militants from cities north of the capital. An Iraqi government spokesman did not confirm Soleimani's visit and stressed that Iranian advisors are present in Iraq in order to assist in the war on Islamic State (IS) in the same capacity as those of the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition. Member of parliament (MP) Hamid al-Mutlaq rejected that, however. "We are Iraqis and not Iranians," he said. "Would Turkish or Saudi advisers be welcomed to assist in the battle?" he added, drawing a parallel between the three regional powers bordering Iraq -- mainly-Sunni Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Shi'ite Iran. "Soleimani's presence is suspicious and a cause for concern; he is absolutely not welcome in the area," said Falluja parliamentarian Salim Muttar al-Issawi. "I believe that the presence of such an official from the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guard could have sectarian implications," said another MP from the city, Liqaa Wardi. Falluja was the first city captured by Islamic State in Iraq in January 2014, and is the second-largest still held by the militants after Mosul, their de-facto capital. The Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, a hardline political organization formed after Saddam's ouster to represent Sunnis, rejected the participation of the Shi'ite militias in the fighting in Falluja. "The militias ... didn't come to liberate areas, as they claim, but to carry out their sectarian goals with direct guidance from Iran," it said in a statement on Friday. Meanwhile, rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia traded accusations over Soleimani's role in Iraq. "The presence of Iran's military advisers in Iraq under the command of General Qassem Soleimani is at the request of the country's legitimate government in order to fight terrorists," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said, according to the Fars news agency. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir was quoted as telling Russia's RT channel Soleimani's presence in Iraq was "very negative." (Reporting by Saif Hameed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Helen Popper) Photo: Getty Images While numerous reports are circulating as to what went wrong in Johnny Depp and Amber Heards 15-month marriage, the 30-year-old actress stepped out on Friday letting her apparent black eye do the talking. Depp, 52, has yet to comment on the domestic abuse allegations although a judge granted Heard a temporary restraining order but one thing is clear: The past 15 months have been difficult for the actor. The Rum Diary co-stars wed in February 2015 after it was widely reported that they were having relationship woes. Because of their strong personalities, they do not always see eye to eye, a source told E! News. They are both stubborn and overly dramatic, which doesnt help when they disagree. Though they officially got married at their home in L.A., they had another wedding celebration in the Bahamas. (Photo: Splash News) If the couple thought tying the knot would be a quick relationship fix, clearly they were wrong. Within months, rumors swirled that there was trouble in paradise. Shortly after their nuptials, Depp headed to Australia to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales while Heard stayed behind. Filming did not start off smoothly. In early March, Depp injured his hand so severely that production had to stop on the Pirates sequel. However, the accident wasnt exactly a stunt gone wrong. Variety confirmed that Depp sustained the injury off set. Photo: INFphoto.com The Daily Mail reported the mishap happened while Depp was go-karting on a private track at MotoGP world champion Mick Doohans massive estate. Australian outlets later described it as a wild weekend bender, although that was never confirmed. Regardless, production was delayed as Depp returned to the States to get surgery. While home in L.A., he and Heard had yet to be seen publicly since tying the knot. In April, People published an article that the newlyweds were leading separate lives, which a source called not surprising. However, in a very unusual move for the respected celebrity outlet, it pulled down the article. One day later, Depp and Heard landed back in Australia smiling and holding hands, marking their first appearance as a married couple. Story continues Johnny and Amber looked like a couple of newlyweds in love in March 2015. (Photo: INFphoto.com) We bet they wish they had rethought those travel plans. While Heard came back with Depp, so did their two dogs, Pistol and Boo, which kicked off dog-gate. The couple purportedly brought their pets into the country illegally, failing to declare them to customs officials. (Australia requires dogs to be quarantined for at least 10 days upon entering the country.) In May 2015, an investigation was launched and Depp faced a possible 10-year jail sentence or a maximum fine of $265,000. Well get to the outcome of that later. Cue the booze rumors again. In the summer of 2015, local Australian outlets swirled that Depp had to halt production of Pirates again in order to check into rehab for alcohol abuse. Even People picked up the report, although (once again) it ended up deleting the post after reps for Depp denied it. Related: Johnny Depps Former Flames Despite dealing with the ongoing canine legal drama, things appeared to be going smoothly for Depp. He even laughed about it while hitting the promotional circuit for Black Mass. We were under the impression that we had all the paperwork done with the dogs; we were there with the dogs in front of everybody, he joked on Jimmy Kimmel Live, adding, There might have been other things smuggled. Given Heards recent drug and substance abuse accusations, he may be regretting that one-liner. Amber and Johnny at the Toronto International Film Festival. (Photo: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic) The couple then hit the Toronto International Film Festival in September promoting Black Mass and The Danish Girl, respectively and while they shone on carpets together, behind the scenes, things werent going so smoothly. According to a local report, the couple were apparently fighting at their hotel. Related: Johnny Depps Divorce From Amber Heard Could Cost Him Big In November, Heard denied they were having marital problems. I try not to react to the horrible misrepresentation of our lives, but it is strange, and hard, she told Marie Claire. They certainly started off 2016 looking happy and like a family unit. Heard also supported Depp at the Grammys before his supergroup. the Hollywood Vampires also featuring Alice Cooper and Joe Perry hit the stage. The pair even united, albeit incredibly uncomfortably, in April to release an apology video for their dog-smuggling fiasco. Looking back, maybe their body language had more to do with each other than the ridiculous things they were saying. (Photo: YouTube) Post-humiliation video, Depp seemed in good spirits and even poked fun at it while kicking off his promotional tour for Alice Through the Looking Glass. While it has seemed business as usual for the A-list actor during his press duties over the last few weeks, we all know thats not the case. Heard filed for divorce on Monday and was in court Friday alleging Depp was verbally and physically abusive throughout their relationship. And, according to TMZ, she places the blame on drug and alcohol abuse. So, does the old saying where theres smoke, theres fire apply here when looking back at the rumor mill these past 15 months? Possibly. The last time (that weve found, at least) that Depp has publicly spoken out about drugs and alcohol was in a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone. The actor said he remained clear from alcohol for a year and a half, adding he just doesnt have the physical need for the drug alcohol. Related: Officers Investigated Amber Heards Claim Against Johnny Depp But Found No Evidence of Crime, Says LAPD Depps side is calling BS on the domestic violence allegations. In response to Heards request for a protective order, Depps lawyer, Laura Wasser, said: Amber is attempting to secure a premature financial resolution by alleging abuse, However, nothing has been said on the record about the alcohol and substance abuse accusations. Making matters worse, Depps mother, Betty Sue Palmer, died on May 20 at the age of 81 following a long illness. The Hollywood Vampires performed in Lisbon Friday night. (Photo: Getty Images) Depp is currently on tour with the Hollywood Vampires. Before the bands Friday night performance at the Rock in Rio music festival in Lisbon, Portugal, Depp made a charity appearance, where he and his bandmates helped to fit and adjust hearing aids to support the Starkey Hearing Foundation. GaneshaSpeaks Sonia Gandhi the Italy born power woman, who happens to be one of the most influential women leaders in India doesnt need an introduction as such. The UPA Chairperson, is the longest serving President of the Indian National Congress. Though Gandhi has been able to reign supreme in the power structure of the grand old party, controversies, corruption, scams and problems related to inefficiency in governance have continued to haunt her as well as her party and these are some of the factors that led to the terrible defeat of the INC in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. It hasnt been a smooth ride ever since, and the current accusations following the verdict from an Italian court can be deemed as the lowest point in her political tenure. The Defence-deal for the VVIP Choppers that was closed in 2010 and bagged by the Italian Manufacturing company AgustaWestland was under the probe for charges of bribery since 2013. The veteran politician is described as Driving Force by the Italy Court while passing the judgement charging the Italian officials of the company guilty. The judgement stipulates how the UPA-led government and the officials at the NSA delayed producing the required documents to the investigators to cover up the money-trail following Rs. 3,600 Crore deal. It is yet another scandal that has come to light to have happened during the UPA-regime but the involvement of the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi stirs the political atmosphere in the national capital and in the Upper House of the Parliament of India. In this article, Ganesha, with the help of his agents the 9 planets, predicts the probable fate of the top leader. Sonia Gandhi and the Stars Ganesha explains what could be causing the problems and what may follow in the upcoming months Sonia Gandhi was born in Cancer Ascendant and she is currently under the influence of Ketu Mahadasha and Rahu Bhukti. This period will remain very troublesome for her as Rahu is placed in the Badhaka Sthana (House of Troubles). This period indicates obstructions, legal hassles, turbulence and mental unrest. In this period, she will be constantly prone to controversies and will get dragged into complications. Her leadership and strategic skills will face the litmus test in this period. Also, Ketu is placed with the Sun in the 5th House. The Sun happens to be the Maraka planet in her chart and its conjunction with Ketu may not augur well for her. So, the entire 7-year period of Ketu, which will run till the year 2019, will somehow not be entirely positive for her. As the Sun is associated with natural malefic Ketu, her troubles may get escalated. The Maraka planet Sun is also aspecting the Rahu in the 11th house indicates legal issues and health problems as well. This shows that there will be lot of struggle and will require extraordinary efforts to manage her image. The prolonged stay of Mars in Scorpio with Saturn will also remain stressful for her. One thing to be noted here is that Mars and Saturn will be transiting in a retrograde motion till June and August respectively. So, these configurations present a scary picture and things may keep getting messier. The AgustaWestland case as well as other legal issues may continue to haunt her. However, she will be under the protective influence of the Jupiter sub-period from 10th August, 2016. In her Chart, Jupiter forms an excellent combination in the 4th House, which renders great strength to her Chart. Thus, this period will help her to tackle the serious charges in a better manner and there may be some respite from the heat that she may face till then. With Ganeshas Grace, Tanmay K. Thakar The GaneshaSpeaks.com Team A crime journalist has been shot dead in Manila, police and colleagues said Saturday, the latest addition to a lengthening list of unsolved murders of media workers in the Philippines. Alex Balcoba, 56, was attacked in central Manila late Friday outside a watch repair shop owned by his family, the country's National Press Club said in a statement. The club's president Paul Gutierrez said the attack on Balcoba, a reporter for the People's Brigada tabloid, brought to more than 30 the number of journalists killed in the Philippines since 2010, with no suspects yet brought to justice. "The culture of impunity that is behind these attacks is yet to be addressed by the authorities despite their repeated boasts and promises," Gutierrez added. The two gunmen fled on a motorcycle after shooting Balcoba, Gutierrez said. Fellow journalists took Balcoba to hospital, where he was pronounced dead, he added. Manila police confirmed Balcoba had been shot and killed, but gave no further details. Gutierrez said police had assured him they would investigate the killing. Colleagues described Balcoba as a news reporter and columnist at the little-known People's Brigada who had written about the Manila police since the 1990s. Calls by AFP to the newspaper's office went unanswered. Balcoba is the second journalist to be murdered in the Philippines this year, and the 34th since 2010 when President Benigno Aquino came to power, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. He is also the 174th journalist killed since a bloodless uprising ended the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship 30 years ago, a union official told AFP. Just 10 suspects have been convicted for attacks on journalists across the country since 1986, according to the union. Known for its outspoken press, the Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries for reporters, where powerful figures often kill critics with impunity. Police say some of the killings are also motivated by quarrels over personal or business matters. One of the world's deadliest attacks against journalists took place in the Philippines in 2009, when 32 journalists were among 58 people killed by a warlord clan intent on stopping a rival's election challenge. More than one hundred people are on trial for that massacre. ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports Sam Ehlinger officially becomes the starting quarterback of the Colts. If he fails or gets injured, Nick Foles will take over. And if Foles gets injured, the quarterback will be anyone but Matt Ryan. Ryan is done. Hes out. He wont play again, for reasons rooted in his contract. Put simply, once the team decided [more] So many beloved long-running and new shows got the axe this may that we at TVLine are still in mourning. On the other hand, were also looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the stars of our cancelled faves. RELATED2016 Renewal Scorecard: Whats Coming Back? Whats Getting Cancelled? Whats on the Bubble? With a bevy of talented actors now free agents, weve cooked up new roles for familiar faces from The Grinder, Nashville, Galavant, Hannibal and other defunct series. (Cable shows werent safe from cancellation, either, so weve got you covered, fans of Faking It, Togetherness and Damien.) Casting directors and producers, take note, because weve found the perfect thesps to play Arrows upcoming baddie, SVUs replacement for Sgt. Dodds, and more. Weve even got creative character descriptions to help shake things up on Supergirl, Greys Anatomy and Empire. PHOTOSFall TV Preview: Your Guide to Whats New And while TVLine claims to have no special psychic powers, dont be surprised if a few of our ideas become reality. After all, our Alana De La Garza/Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders pitch last year came true! Plus, our Big Bang Theory/Judd Hirsch suggestion was almost on the money, and Ken Marino did, indeed, visit iZombie, albeit in a different role. Flip through the gallery (or right here) to see our picks, then hit the comments to share the beloved faces you want back on TV ASAP. Launch Gallery: New TV Roles for Cancelled Show Stars Related stories Nashville's Charles Esten on Deacon's Hard-Won Restraint ('God Bless Him, He Learned!'), Series' Pickup Prospects Castle Cancelled: Stana Katic Pens Note to Fans, and Other Cast Reactions TV's Bloody Thursday: 12 Shows Cancelled -- Which One Hurt the Most? The world's largest seaworthy wooden ship of its class, a replica of a merchant vessel that sank in 1745 off the coast of Sweden for reasons still unknown, is up for sale after years on the seas. The Swedish foundation that owns the vessel "Gotheborg", a replica of the 18th century galleon from the Swedish East India Company, announced Thursday it could no longer afford the upkeep. "This is a tough decision that we've been forced to make," said Lars Malmer, chairman of the Ostindiefararen Gotheborg foundation. "We would have preferred it to continue sailing, but can confirm that the financial conditions do not exist," he said in a statement. The original, the East Indiaman Gotheborg, sank in 1745 within sight of its home port of Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast after nearly completing a two-year voyage home from China. For reasons still unknown, the ship struck an underwater rock as it neared its home port. Within view of the harbour, the vessel sank slowly in shallow waters. While the crew was rescued, almost nine tonnes of chinaware went down to the deep and was recovered only in the late 1980s by volunteer divers. The replica, Gotheborg III, took 10 years to make using shipbuilding techniques and materials believed to have been in use in the 18th century. The foundation said carpenters used hand-forged nails, handmade blocks and hand-woven rigging to construct the 40-metre (130-foot) long and 10-metre wide vessel. However, the ship is equipped with modern technologies to meet current safety standards. The modern-day Gotherborg set sail for the first time in August 2005 and began to retrace its old route west three months later. It has since anchored in nearly 100 ports in over 20 countries, employed thousands of sailors and welcomed a million visitors aboard. Malmer said the foundation will consider any proposal to save the ship by selling it to buyers in any country, or to keep it in Gotheborg, the port city which owes its fortune to trade during the 18th century. Malmer would not discuss the ship's selling price. "We'll see about that with potential buyers," he told AFP. On May 28, 1861, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney directly challenged President Abraham Lincolns wartime suspension of the great writ of habeas corpus, in a national constitutional showdown. Lincon and Taney had not been on good terms prior to Taneys decision, acting as a circuit judge, in Ex Parte Merryman. Taney also wrote the majority opinion in the controversial Dred Scott case in 1857, a decision than Lincoln publicly criticized in his famous debates with Stephen Douglas. Lincoln also made the Dred Scott decision a central theme of his 1860 presidential campaign. As Chief Justice, Taney was forced to issue the presidential oath to Lincoln in March 1861, and to listen to Lincolns inaugural address, where he again criticized Taney and the Dred Scott decision, but not directly by name. The candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal, Lincoln said. About three months later, Taney had his chance to address Lincolns vision of executive power in Ex Parte Merryman. Article 1, Section 9, of the Constitution states that the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. The Great Writs origins go back to the signing of the Magna Carta in England in 1215 and the writ compels the government to show cause to a judge for the arrest or detention of a person. After the start of the Civil War, President Lincoln ordered General Winfield Scott to suspend habeas corpus near railroad lines that connected Philadelphia to Washington amid fears of a rebellion in Maryland that would endanger Washington. Story continues On May 25, 1861, federal troops arrested a Maryland planter, John Merryman, on suspicion that he was involved in a conspiracy as part of an armed secessionist group. Merryman was detained at Fort McHenry without a warrant. Merrymans attorney petitioned the U.S. Circuit Court for Maryland, which Taney oversaw, for his clients release. On May 26, Taney issued a writ of habeas corpus and ordered General George Cadwalader, Fort McHenrys commander, to appear in the circuit courtroom along with Merryman and to explain his reasons for detaining Merryman. Cadwalader didnt comply with the writ and instead sent a letter back to Taney on May 27 explaining that Lincoln had authorized military officers to suspend the writ when they felt there were public safety concerns. Taney then tried to notify Cadwalader that he was in contempt of court, but soldiers at Fort McHenry refused the notice. On May 28, Taney issued an oral opinion, which was followed by a written opinion a few days later. He stated that the Constitution clearly intended for Congress, and not the President, to have to power to suspend the writ during emergencies. The clause in the Constitution which authorizes the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is in the ninth section of the first article. This article is devoted to the Legislative Department of the United States, and has not the slightest reference to the Executive Department, Taney argued. I can see no ground whatever for supposing that the President in any emergency or in any state of things can authorize the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or arrest a citizen except in aid of the judicial power, Taney concluded. However, Taney noted he didnt have the physical power to enforce the writ in this case because of the nature of the conflict at hand. I have exercised all the power which the Constitution and laws confer on me, but that power has been resisted by a force too strong for me to overcome, he said. But Taney did order that a copy of his opinion be sent directly to President Lincoln. Lincoln didnt respond directly and immediately to the Ex Parte Merryman decision. Instead, he waited until a July 4th address to Congress to confront Taney. Soon after the first call for militia it was considered a duty to authorize the Commanding General in proper cases, according to his discretion, to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or, in other words, to arrest and detain without resort to the ordinary processes and forms of law such individuals as he might deem dangerous to the public safety, Lincoln said. This authority has purposely been exercised but very sparingly. Lincoln then presented his famous response to Taney. Are all the laws but one to go unexecuted, and the Government itself go to pieces lest that one be violated? Even in such a case, would not the official oath be broken if the Government should be overthrown when it was believed that disregarding the single law would tend to preserve it? The President also confronted Taneys opinion that only Congress could suspend the writ. Now it is insisted that Congress, and not the Executive, is vested with this power; but the Constitution itself is silent as to which or who is to exercise the power; and as the provision was plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it can not be believed the framers of the instrument intended that in every case the danger should run its course until Congress could be called together, the very assembling of which might be prevented, as was intended in this case, by the rebellion, Lincoln argued. After the Merryman incident, Lincoln suspended the writ in other situations, and he received approval from Congress in March 1863 to suspend the writ for the duration of the conflict when the public safety may require it. Taney apparently remained bitter about Lincolns disregard for the Ex Parte Merryman decision until his death in 1864. Taney wrote a friend in August 1863 that he had no hope the Supreme Court would ever again be restored to the authority and rank which the Constitution intended to confer upon it. Recent Constitution Daily Stories About Lincoln 50 interesting facts about Abraham Lincolns life On this day, Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation changes history The forgotten man who almost became president after Lincoln If Abraham Lincoln had died 1861, who would have replaced him? Lindsay Lohan is all wrapped up in love. Days after being spotted making out on a yacht in France, the 29-year-old actress and her fiance, Egor Tarabasov, attended their first public event since getting engaged. WATCH: Lindsay Lohan Shows Off Engagement Ring at Duran Duran Concert Getty Images On Thursday, Lohan and the Russian shipping heir were on hand for a private screening of Alice Through the Looking Glass at London's Bulgari Hotel. The Mean Girls star rocked a casual black-and-white Temperley dress with black Superga UK platform sneakers, while Tarabasov donned a white T-shirt and denim jacket. Lohan also posed for photos with her beau, fashion designer Alice Temperley, who was hosting the event, as well as photographer Greg Williams. Getty Images Earlier in the day, the couple had lunch to celebrate Tarbasov's 23rd birthday, with Lohan giddily documenting the occasion on Instagram. "Rushing around from work to lunch to work and fittings but still smiling!!" she wrote. WATCH: Lindsay Lohan Stuns in Makeup-Free Photo, Dons Sports Bra for Intense Workout Despite dating for several months, the two never officially announced their engagement, but LiLo was spotted rocking what appeared to be an engagement ring at a Duran Duran concert in Brooklyn on April 12. That same day, ET confirmed the engagement news. Find out what Lindsay's dad, Michael Lohan, had to say about her new relationship in the video below. Related Articles By Frank McGurty (Reuters) - Looters ripped up parts of Virginia's Petersburg National Battlefield in an apparent search for relics from a siege that led to the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the National Park Service said ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. Thieves dug a series of small pits looking for artifacts from the Union Army's nine-month blockade of Richmond and the neighboring city of Petersburg, targeting a field where more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died, the agency said. The looters were likely to have found uniform buttons, buckles, bullets and other small metal objects that are difficult to trace, Chris Bryce, chief of interpretation and visitor services at the battlefield, told Reuters on Saturday. The blockade, led by General Ulysses S. Grant, cut off supply lines to Richmond after the Union commander failed to capture the capital city of the breakaway Confederate states in 1864. The siege led to the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, ending the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. "This kind of aberrant behavior is always disgusting but it is particularly egregious as Memorial Day weekend arrives, a time when we honor the memories of our friends and family," said Lewis Rogers, superintendent of Petersburg National Battlefield, in the statement posted on Friday. Numerous excavations in parts of the 2,700-acre park were discovered by staff this week, and the area remained an active crime scene. Unaffected sections of the sprawling park remained open to visitors, it said. Bryce said the theft of battlefield relics hampers the work of historians by destroying archeological clues. "Even if we recover the artifacts, we lost context in which they were found," he said. Looting of such sites is a federal crime carrying a penalty of up to two years in prison and a $20,000 fine, the service said. (Reporting By Frank McGurty in New York; Editing by David Gregorio) Los Tigres del Norte are making a stop at Stanford University during the summer tour where they will be performing on school grounds for the first time ever. The multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning Mexican band announced today (May 27) new concert dates including their Stanford concert August 3. The national tour will take Los Tigres from coast to coast with stops in Midwest cities like Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and Kansas City. Cafe Tacvba will join Los Tigres del Norte in their Bakersfield and Los Angeles concert. Los Tigres Del Norte, Shakira & More Memorable 'MTV Unplugged' Concerts With Latin Artists The iconic Mexican regional group, considered the voice of the Latino immigrant community, is using this tour as a call to all Latinos to go out and vote during the next presidential elections. In a number of select tour stops, Los Tigres del Norte will host volunteers from Voto Latino who will be registering people to vote at the concert. Upcoming tour dates: May 27 - Louisville, KY May 28 - Grand Rapids, MI May 29 - Detroit, MI May 30 - Indianapolis IN June 11 - Kansas City, KS June 14 - Tulsa, OK June 17 - Lakewood, NJ June 18 - Long Island, NY June 19 - Johnson, RI June 24 - Bakersfield, CA w/Cafe Tacvba June 25 - Los Angeles, CA w/Cafe Tacvba June 26 - Del Mar, CA August 03 - Stanford University August 08 - Sonoma State University August 19 - Portland, OR Like Los Tigres del Norte, Mana will kick off their national Latino Power Tour in September, which the band describes as "a celebration of all the contributions that Latinos have made in the United States" while also motivating the Hispanic community to vote in November. Bamako (AFP) - The family of a Malian civilian who died after being arrested by peacekeepers following a deadly jihadist attack claimed his death was due to abuse in custody as the UN Friday promised to "shed light" on the incident. Five Chadian peacekeepers were killed in the ambush in northeast Mali on May 18 and a sixth died of his wounds on May 24, according to the latest toll from the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Three suspects were arrested, one of whom "died on May 19 in the hours following his apprehension" while the other two were released, MINUSMA said last week as it announced the launch of an internal inquiry. The victim was an elderly Tuareg shepherd named Almoustapha Ag Intisniyiken, who was detained with his son and another relative, his family told AFP. "If they had not arrested my father with violence, he would not have died," his son Ousmane Ag Almoustapha told AFP by telephone, speaking in the Tuareg language which one of his relatives then translated. "We were behind our flock when the Chadians fired shots. The animals scattered and ran and they arrested the three of us," he said. "They started hitting us with the butts of their guns to make us confess that we were involved in the attack. We said weren't, but that we saw three gunmen on motorcycles coming from the site of the attack," he said. "Then they separated us from my father. It was afterwards I learned he had died," he added. - Internal investigation - Another member of the dead shepherd's family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "for us, it was not a natural death"."I'm grateful that MINUSMA have said we are going to learn the truth," he added. Questioned about the family's accusations, MINUSMA spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said there was an inquiry was underway and she "did not want to prejudge the outcome of these investigations". "MINUSMA will share the relevant findings of the internal investigations with transparency and if there is an error/misconduct, they will assume responsibility," Achouri said in an email to AFP. Story continues The investigation "is ongoing but we are ensuring it will be concluded as soon as possible", she said. Its goal is "to shed light on the circumstances of the attack" including the arrest of the three suspects and the death of one of them, she said. Islamist group Ansar Dine has claimed responsibility for the attack. Ansar Dine was one of several Islamist factions that conquered vast swathes of the Mali's north in 2012 before being repulsed by French troops. A landmark peace agreement was reached last year between the Mali government and the rebels, but jihadist violence remains a threat and the government has been unable to maintain security with domestic forces alone. Five Malian soldiers were killed and four others wounded Friday in northern Mali when their vehicles were blown up by an improvised explosive device, the army said. The Mali mission is the most dangerous active deployment for UN peacekeepers and has been hit by sharp internal tensions since its launch in July 2013. From ELLE This weeks installment of our weekly interview series, Love, Actually, is with Adrienne (a pseudonym), 36, a New Yorker whos in an open marriage and users Tinder to meet guys around the world. Ive been married for nine years, and with my husband for 14 years. We met in college. I went to law school and was studying abroad one summer in Barcelona. I was pissed that he wouldnt come visit me. I wound up having a lot of flings there, with guys and girls-nothing serious though. After Spain, I took a break from law school and got a random advertising job. After a few months, I started feeling exhausted. I thought I had mono, but I was actually pregnant. I wasnt sure if it was my boyfriends or from someone Id met in Spain. My boyfriend left the decision up to me, but he was happy when I decided I didnt want to keep it because he wasnt in a place to think about having kids. I was so far along that the local Planned Parenthood wouldnt perform the abortion. It was still legal, but it was past the point at which they were comfortable doing the procedure, so they referred me to a doctor. Im calm in really stressful situations. I told myself, if this were dangerous, they wouldnt allow it to happen. It was actually very quick. I got pregnant again a year and a half later. That time freaked him out a little more. He was older and our relationship was more serious; I was perfectly okay with it though, and with the decision not to keep it. But from that point forward, our sex life diminished quite significantly. We both fell into the mindset of, weve been a couple for a few years, wed rather go out to eat than go home and have sex. I tried all sorts of birth control pills that didnt help. I felt like they were making me a little crazy in terms of mood swings. To combat that, I first went on Zoloft, then Wellbutrin, but I was getting so fat it was making the situation worse. Instead of helping us to have a healthy sex life, the pills made me feel fat and crazy, so after a few years, I quit them all. When I went off everything, I got my personality back, but our sex life still didnt pick back up. Story continues Im in the legal industry, and I travel at least once a month for work. Id be away in some fabulous city, have a sick hotel room, a good per diem, and I was by myself and lonely. In 2014, my sister showed me Tinder; she said she was meeting all these guys. A few weeks later, I was drunk at a bar. I set up a profile, and within 20 minutes a guy was texting me that he was around the corner and wanted to meet up. I told him I was married and just doing it for fun. He said we dont have to do anything, so I agreed and within minutes he was at the bar. We spent the night drinking and when he dropped me off at my hotel, I said he could come in. We slept together and used a condom. After that, I figured if Id done it once, I could keep doing it. I basically told him, its either divorce or open marriage. At first, my rule was to do it only away from home but eventually I started to do it in New York too, but sometimes it would be awkward. Once I ran into my friend and her baby on the way to meet a guy. I didnt want it to get back to my husband. After about six months, I told my husband. I didnt like the secrecy. Wed been having the same conversations about our sluggish sex life, so I basically told him, its either divorce or open marriage. He suggested I go to therapy, and the therapist said I was putting myself and my husband at risk, but I didnt agree. I know what Im doing. Finally, after about six months, I convinced him to give open marriage a chance, and now hes as comfortable with it as I am. I get to do my thing, and he gets to do his. He even sleeps with a woman who lives in our building. Id rather him be doing it than not do it, I want him to have that enjoyment in life. If youre sleeping with me or somebody else, you should be doing it with someone. I get to do my thing, and he gets to do his. He even sleeps with a woman who lives in our building. Im happy, and its better for our marriage. If Im not sexually satisfied unless I have sex once a week and he only wants it once a month, those are two very different places to be. Plus now that Ive been doing it for two years, I have people I can hang out with wherever I go. There are two guys I see in London when I go there every quarter. I dont sleep with everyone I meet on Tinder; I have to meet them first. I approach it from an abundance mentality; what I have with one person doesnt diminish what I have with another person. I still love my husband. I think Ill always love him; hes my best friend. But hes very protective of me and not very experimental in bed. Hes refused to use a blindfold on me even when Ive asked him. Thats just not something hes comfortable doing. Weve gone to a sex club, but he cant stomach the idea of watching me with someone else. At least he was willing to explore something new though. Our sex life isnt amazing, but its okay. Sometimes Ill say lets hook up tonight and hell say, Ill make sure you come, but I dont need to. I feel like thats weird, but whatever, thats what weve gotten used to. Im okay with it because I can go and get it elsewhere. Do you have a fascinating sex life you want to share with ELLE? Email ellesexstories@gmail.com. McDonalds is opening a fries-only restaurant this weekend in one lucky place McDonalds is opening a fries-only restaurant this weekend in one lucky place If you frequently visit McDonalds just to eat their fries, then this piece of news might make your day: McDonalds is opening its first-ever fries-only pop-up restaurant for the weekend of May 27-29. Yep, as in right NOW. Except, heres the curveball; its in Sydney, Australia. (Incidentally, they call McDonalds Maccas in Australia, so thats how well be referring to it from now on.) The special Maccas restaurant is appropriately called Fries With That, and apparently everything is entirely 100% free. The reason behind that is they want to get people trying new flavors that might potentially be added to their Loaded Fries range, which include Gravy, Guacamole & Salsa, and Bacon & Cheese Sauce. SO, included on the very creative pop-up menu are even more delicious sounding fancy-pants toppings, like Chipotle Cheese Sauce, Pesto Mayo & Parmesan, Caesar Sauce Bacon & Parmesan, Curry, Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream, and Peri Peri Cheese Sauce. And of course, the popular Gravy. Okay, now were getting jealous. 7 exciting flavors! Quick flight to Australia, perhaps? OR can this revolutionary concept please spread to other shores? In time for when we get hungry? Dont feel too left out if you cant get to Australia in the next 48 hours. In the U.S. (specifically in Bay Area of California), there are new yummy garlic fries at some McDonalds locations, so we can fulfill our cravings. Story continues Lets hope the restaurant Down Under is amazingly successful, and then well probably be seeing fries-only locations appear in the U.S. and the UK as well. Hopefully sooner rather than later. We also would not turn down a milkshake only restaurant, just sayin. In the meantime, Australia: Know that were living vicariously through you right now. Please send us detailed descriptions of the wonders of each and every one of these incredible-sounding flavors! The post McDonalds is opening a fries-only restaurant this weekend in one lucky place appeared first on HelloGiggles. Fairchild-ON Merger: Do Leverage and Synergies Balance It Out? (Continued from Prior Part) The ON-FCS merger In this series, weve seen that ON Semiconductor (ON) and FCS Semiconductor (FCS) have complementary product portfolios and serve the same end markets and customers. The merger of the two would bring cost and revenue synergies but at the cost of high leverage. The deal seems very expensive since ON has the potential to grow organically and doesnt have to opt for a costly acquisition. Lets see now how investors have reacted to the merger idea since the merger agreement was signed in November 2015. Stock price movement during merger talks When the merger was announced on November 18, 2015, the stocks of the two companies moved in opposite directions. ON fell 7.9%, and FCS rose 8.5%. FCS stock was trading at $19.40, nearly double the price of ON stock that was trading at $9.89. The two stocks moved in opposite directions again on December 8, 2015. ON shares fell 6.9%, and FCS shares rose 5.6%. This was because an unnamed Chinese (MCHI) investor made a better proposal to acquire FCS for $21.70 per share against ONs offer of $20 per share. From December 8, 2015, through February 15, 2016, ONs shares fell more than 30% due to uncertainty surrounding the deal. On February 16, 2016, FCS declined the Chinese offer and went ahead with the merger agreement with ON. This saw ONs shares rise 6.2% and FCSs shares fall 2.9%. From February 16 to the present, ON shares have risen 22.6% and are currently hovering around $9 or more. Comparing ONs stock with its peers ON has a market capitalization of $3.8 billion and a PE (price-to-earnings) ratio of 19.07x. This indicates that the stock price is 19 times the EPS (earnings per share). It has a price-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) ratio of 6.40x. The difference between the two ratios indicates a higher interest burden. This is evident when we compare the ratios with its peers. Texas Instruments (TXN) has a PE ratio of 19.19x and a price-to-EBITDA ratio of 11.06x. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), which recently merged with Freescale, has a PE ratio of 52.67x and a price-to-EBITDA ratio of 9.92x. This indicates a higher interest burden coming from the debt NXP took to fund the merger. Story continues After the merger, ON would have a high PE ratio and a low price-to-EBITDA ratio. The next earnings season will most likely show the first earnings of the combined company. Well have a better idea then of how well the new company plays the mergers synergies and leverage. Browse this series on Market Realist: By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Militants attacked the major Nembe pipeline in Nigeria's Delta region, two officials said on Saturday, hours after the Niger Delta Avengers militants claimed a strike on the facility. Nigeria's oil output has fallen to a 20-year low due to attacks on oil pipelines in the southern swamps, home to much of its oil and gas wealth, which have compounded the impact of low oil prices on Africa's largest economy. "We heard multiple attacks last night," said Bello Bina, a local official in Bayelsa state, confirming that the Nembe pipeline carrying Bonny Light crude exports had been hit. Royal Dutch Shell, which exports Bonny Light, was not immediately available for comment. But Nengi James, a chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee that liaises with oil firms, also said the pipeline had come under attack. The "Avengers", who have been targeting oil and gas facilities as part of what they say is a battle for the Delta's independence, said on twitter it had attacked the Nembe pipeline at 0215 local time. "Something Big is about to happen," the group later tweeted. Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light loadings after a previous attack on the Nembe creek trunk pipeline, but some exports had been continuing with delays caused by repair work. The army raided the Oporoza community, which is home to Government Ekpemupolo known as Tompolo, a former militant leader who security officials have linked to the "Avengers", residents said. He has denied any connection to the group. "Men, women and children, everybody have fled Oporoza because the military invaded our village around 0145 this morning," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in southern Nigeria and to which the Delta belongs. "They are harassing people, arresting some boys and they wounded one of our chiefs," he said. "Everybody is still in the bush crying for help." A military source said seven people had been arrested, adding that explosives, arms and ammunition had been found in their possession. The military has moved in more troops to the Delta. But British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond this month cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari that he needed to deal with complaints about 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 has said an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve. (Reporting by Tife Owolabi, Anamesere Igboeroteonwu, Ulf Laessing and Libby George; Editing by Richard Balmforth) Yenagoa (Nigeria) (AFP) - For the third time in a week, a militant group has attacked oil and gas infrastructure in Nigeria's increasingly violent oil-producing south, an official said Saturday. The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have been sabotaging Nigeria's oil infrastructure for months in bombings that have forced production to drop from 2.2 million barrels per day to twenty-year lows of 1.4 million barrels per day. Early Saturday morning militants attacked the Nembe pipeline carrying crude exports. "I am aware that there was a dynamite attack on the pipeline," Nengi James, chairman of the Nembe Oil and Gas Committee, told AFP. The NDA appeared to claim the Saturday attack on a Twitter account bearing its name in a post that said it had blown up the "Nembe 1, 2 and 3 Brass to Bonny trunk line" at 2:15 am. A followup post threatened "something big is about to happen." Earlier attacks attributed to NDA this week have seen Chevron and Nigeria's state-owned oil and gas infrastructure blown up. Continued violence could result in mass evacuations of staff that would "cripple onshore production of about one million barrels per day," Philippe de Pontent, sub-Saharan Africa analyst at political risk research firm Eurasia Group, said in a recent report. Like other militant groups before it, the NDA wants a fairer share of oil revenues for the impoverished and polluted southern region. The group claims that the majority of the country's oil wealth is owned by people from the country's north and has plans to realise an independent state by October 2016, according to online statements credited to NDA spokesman Mudoch Agbinibo. In response to the sabotage -- which is devastating government revenue at a time the country is facing stagflation -- southern government officials this week urged President Muhammadu Buhari to enter a peaceful dialogue with Niger delta communities instead of using military force to restore oil production. Story continues But on Saturday, Niger delta residents said Nigerian soldiers invaded Oporoza, a town in former militant Government "Tompolo" Ekpemupolo's stronghold of Gbaramatu Kingdom. The Nigerian government has issued an arrest warrant for Tompolo, alleging the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) stole millions from the federal government after he started working as a security contractor as part of an amnesty program. There are rumours that Tompolo has been orchestrating the NDA attacks, but the former militant has denied any collaboration. According to Oporoza resident Raphael Gbenekama, more than seven gunboats loaded with armed soldiers invaded the community, shooting and beating up residents while arresting others. As I speak with you I am in the bush where I am taking refuge," Gbenekama told AFP. "The whole community has fled and those who could not run have been rounded up and arrested, but I can tell you that we do not harbour criminals, our people are innocent," Gbenekama said. Previous crackdowns on militant groups in the past were ineffective and the chaos in Nigeria's southern swamplands was only restored after the introduction of a costly amnesty program for the rebels. MONACO, May 28 (Reuters) - Ferrari, Red Bull and Formula One world champions Mercedes will be first to test Pirelli's wider 2017 tyres in August, Pirelli's racing manager Mario Isola said at a Monaco Grand Prix presentation on Saturday. "This is the first, first version," he said, speaking in front of a demonstration car to show off the bigger prototype tyres. "We are working with the teams to have 'mule cars' available as soon as possible, they will be 2015 cars modified for the new tyres with additional downforce to simulate the performance expected for next year. "When we start, probably in August, we will have a concentrated test plan because we need to find a final version of the tyre by the end of November or December... we don't have a lot of time." Isola said the new tyres would take a lot more speed through the corners, with an expected improvement of four seconds in lap time. The plan was to stay with five compounds for 2017 but that could change once they had been tested. Pirelli have brought a new ultrasoft tyre to Monaco this weekend. The new, wider tyres have eight centimetres more at the rear and six at the front -- equal to about a 20 percent increase on the current size. Formula One is planning sweeping changes to the aerodynamic regulations for next year which will increase the levels of downforce. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by John O'Brien) By Larry Fine May 28 (Reuters) - With drivers hurtling around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval at over 230 miles per hour (370 km per hour), technical advances that boost speeds also spawn health and safety measures to safeguard the race. The inspiring story of James Hinchcliffe, the polesitter for Sunday's 100th Indianapolis 500 who survived a near-fatal crash last year, illustrates the courage of the driver and swift response of the safety team at the speedway. Canadian Hinchcliffe was 24th in qualifying for last year's race. Going into Turn 3 the next day in practice, the suspension on his car broke. His car slammed into the wall at 220 mph (354 kph) and a piece of the suspension broke through and pierced his thigh, severing an artery. He was rushed to Methodist Hospital, receiving 14 pints (6.6 litres) of blood on the way, and emergency surgery stopped the bleeding. IndyCar has long been considered a leader in motorsports safety. Its Holmatro Safety Team consists of at least 18 members at each event including a trauma physician, an orthopedic physician, two paramedics, 12 firefighters/EMTs and two registered nurses. "Indianapolis Motor Speedway has some of the best first responders and medical team of anywhere in the world and they're right on the spot," Bill Pappas, IndyCar vice president of competition, race engineering, told Reuters. "As the car came to a rest after it rolled over after the big crash, they got him out, stabilised him and sent him off to Methodist Hospital," he said of Hinchcliffe. "Unbelievably he got back into a car in late September. His recovery time was probably about four months. It's a tribute to James' commitment getting back in there." Not only did Hinchliffe climb back into the cockpit, but last week he averaged 230.760 mph (371 kph) over four laps to earn the pole position for the centennial race. Pappas said lessons learned from Hinchcliffe's accident illustrate the evolution of technical innovations to better protect drivers and fans. After developing a system of tethers to keep parts from coming apart from the cars and flying off, engineers have been making further modifications. "We keep looking at what's the next problem, from last year to this year," said Pappas, who oversees a department of seven full-time engineers. "The big innovation was when the cars were trimmed out and drag reduced, they became very sensitive. If guys hit the walls or spin they'd tend to flip upside down because of the physics of the car. "But between last year and this year, between (Italian carmakers) Dallara and IndyCar and Chevy design group ... they came up with what they call a rear beam flap. "As a car spins around backwards these flaps deploy which induce downforce to push the rear of the car back down and drag to slow the car down considerably." Pappas said speed and safety have led to the evolution of the Indy car, based on accidents and mandated safety regulations. "The cars use gasoline, a highly volatile, explosive gasoline. After a terrible crash in 1964 that took the lives of Eddie Sachs and young guy named Dave MacDonald, the series mandated that the fuel tanks have rubber bladders put in the cars, something like what's in jet aircraft today," Pappas said. "Another breakthough by the series to try and control fire and that sort of problem." It's a constant evolution, one that Pappas said dates back to the very first Indy 500. "Start with the first 500 in 1911 and Roy Harroun. Back in those days race cars usually had a driver and a co-driver, a riding mechanic they called him, giving the driver an idea of where the cars were at. "And Roy Harroun raced in the first 500 alone with the use of a rear view mirror. Talk about a breakthrough in safety right there in our very first race. Pretty impressive." (Editing by Andrew Both) PARIS (Reuters) - Andy Murray knew nine-times French Open champion Rafael Nadal was struggling with a wrist injury when he practised with the Spaniard during the build-up to Roland Garros. "I practised a bit with him last week and I knew there were some issues with the wrist," world number two Murray, who is through to the last 16 in Paris, told Eurosport. "He's won this nine times and was playing really well so for him to withdraw from the tournament, it would have to be a pretty serious injury. It's a great shame for Rafa and the fans and a shame for the tournament." Fourth seed Nadal, who will be 30 next week, stunned the tournament on Friday when he announced he was pulling out despite dropping only nine games in his first two rounds. He said the problem was with a tendon in his left wrist and that scans had shown he was in danger of a serious injury if he did not stop playing. Nadal had been expected to face world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, having lost to the Serb in the quarters last year. "It definitely was sad seeing him in the press conference. You could feel his pain, definitely," Djokovic said. "He played terrific the opening couple of rounds here. Then something happened. So if he retired from the tournament, then something really is serious, because he's one of the greatest competitors that the game has ever known." Seven-times grand slam champion John McEnroe described Nadal's latest injury as "extremely disappointing". "We've seen him play for many years and it's always been a concern about how his knees would hold up," the American told Eurosport. "After last year, we all hoped he would be able to get his health and fitness back and get his game together and it looked like that was happening," McEnroe added. "We all know how much he wanted (title) number 10 and we were looking forward to seeing play Novak in the semis." Former French Open champion Mats Wilander said the decision was a no-brainer for Nadal. "A slight miss-hit and that's going to hurt like crazy," the Swede said. "He's turning 30 in a few days and still has two or three years left so this was an obvious decision." (Reporting by Martyn Herman and Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ed Osmond) About 40,000 years before the appearance of modern man in Europe, Neanderthals in southwestern France were venturing deep into the earth, building some of the earliest complex structures and using fire. That's according to new research that more precisely dated bizarre cave structures built from stalagmites, or mineral formations that grow upward from the floor of a cave. Scientists discovered about 400 stalagmites and stalagmite sections that were collected and stacked into nearly circular formations about 1,100 feet (336 meters) from the entrance of Bruniquel Cave, which was discovered in 1990. Dating these formations to a time when Neanderthals, but not modern humans, were present in Eurasia, makes the finding the oldest directly dated constructions attributed to Neanderthals, according to Marie Soressi, an archaeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, who wrote a News and Views article in the same issue of the journal Nature in which the original study is published. [See Photos of the Bizarre Ring-Like Structures in Bruniquel Cave] Dating bone Soot stains, heat fractures and burnt material, including bone, point to the likelihood that these circles were used to contain fires back in the day. In 1995, some of the burnt bone was dated using carbon-14 dating, a technique that measures the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12; that ratio indicates about how long an organism has been dead. It was found to be 47,600 years old the maximum age carbon-14 dating can attain. More recently, lead author Jacques Jaubert, of the University of Bordeaux in France, and his colleagues revisited this site, with more advanced surveying and dating technology. Through a technique called uranium-series dating, which relies on the breakdown of uranium to thorium, they were able to estimate when the stalagmites were broken and moved into the circular formations. They found the installations are approximately 176,500 years old (give or take 2,000 years). Story continues Human-made structures These structures are "among the oldest known well-dated constructions made by humans," Jaubert and his colleagues wrote in their research paper published yesterday (May 26) in the journal Nature. Evidence of a human-made structure exists in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, dated at over 1 million years old. But this has not been studied extensively, Jaubert said. He added there is similarly little information about a Homo erectus campsite in Bilzingsleben, Germany (about 400,000 years old), early shelters in Terra Amata, France (about 400,000 years old), and the bone and stone materials found in France's Lazaret cave (around 170,000 years old). Researchers have credited Neanderthals with making a building out of mammoth bone in Ukraine. They believe this is about 40,000 years old. "In any case, there are many examples of concentrations [of] remains, hearths, lithic [stone] workshops, faunal structures but never the structures of this magnitude. And in this deep cave context!" Jaubert wrote in an email to Live Science. Before the Bruniquel Cave discovery, the cave paintings of Chauvet, France, were the oldest evidence of cave use by humans or human ancestors. Those date back a mere 38,000 years. [In Photos: The World's Oldest Cave Art] The amazing Bruniquel Cave The Bruniquel Cave is located on private property, overlooking the Aveyron Valley, near a tributary of the Tarn. This area is rich in Paleolithic sites (dated to about 2.6 million to 10,000 years ago). Near the entrance is another important paleontological site of a similar age or potentially older, Jaubert said. The cave has a narrow entrance and is 33 to 49 feet (10 to 15 meters) wide, 13 to 23 feet (4 to 7 m) high, and as far as anyone knows 1,581 feet (482 m) long. When the cave was first discovered, speleologists (people who study caves) meticulously preserved its natural formations, which aside from the stalagmite circles, include translucent flowstone, an underground lake and calcite rafts, or thin sheets of calcite that formed on the surface of the lake. Calcite is a rock-forming mineral found in limestone and marble. The speleologists also took care to keep Bruniquel's bone remains and dozens of bear hibernation hollows in pristine condition. A thick layer of calcite had coated all the structures, making dating techniques difficult to perform. [In Photos: One-of-a-Kind Places on Earth] For the next two decades, very few people visited the cave, Jaubert said. He thinks part of this may have been due to the death of the original researcher, archaeologist Francois Rouzaud. Additionally, he said the cave is challenging to access, not only physically but also because it is on private property and there are many conditions that need to be met in order for the owners and the French Ministry of Culture to authorize new research. In 2013, using 3D-surveying equipment and magnetic measurements that record anomalies caused by heat, researchers were able to map both the stalagmite structures and the burnt remnants. Stalagmite arrangements of this scale are unprecedented, so the research team created the term "speleofacts" to describe each piece of stalagmite used in the structures. They estimate there were about 400 speleofacts total, with a combined weight of between 2.3 and 2.6 tons (2.1 and 2.3 metric tonnes) and a combined length of 367 feet (112 m). Jaubert said the stalagmites were the only raw material available for building in the cave. Social Neanderthals Until now, Neanderthals were "presumed by the scientific community not to have ventured far underground, nor to have mastered such sophisticated use of lighting and fire, let alone to have built such elaborate constructions," according to a statement by the National Center for Scientific Research. "This type of construction implies the beginnings of a social organization: This organization could consist of a project that was designed and discussed by one or several individuals, a distribution of the tasks of choosing, collecting and calibrating the speleofacts, followed by their transport (or vice versa) and placement according to a predetermined plan," wrote the researchers in the Naturearticle. The researchers also said this process would have required adequate lighting and determined that the fires in the cave were likely used as light sources. Given their distance from the cave entrance and daylight, the team said it was unlikely the circles were used as shelters. They didn't rule out the possibility that they could have been used for technical purposes, such as water storage, or religious or ceremonial purposes. Jaubert said the next steps in studying the cave will include further examination of the structures, a more extensive survey of the cave's interior to uncover any additional archaeological remains, and a closer look at the cave's entrance. The find has added extensively to scientists' knowledge of Neanderthal social organization and human cave dwelling in prehistory, the researchers said. Even so, they added, the question remains: What were the structures used for? Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations Copyright 2016 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Nepal's government Saturday unveiled the first budget drawn up since the country introduced a new constitution last September, with a focus on funding reconstruction and reviving the battered economy. Millions continue to live in temporary shelters after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Himalayan nation in April 2015, killing nearly 9,000 people. Finance minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel outlined a $9.78 billion budget, allocating over $1 billion to rebuilding efforts, while directing funds for infrastructure development and agriculture across the country. "We will speed up the post-quake reconstruction efforts and complete it within stipulated time... I have made provisions to make sure that the required resources are not scarce," Poudel said. According to Kathmandu's estimates, the Himalayan nation will need around $8.4 billion to fund rebuilding, with donors pledging $4.1 billion in aid. The country's economy, already weakened by the disaster, faced another blow when protesters angry at the terms of a new national constitution mounted a blockade at the Indian border, creating crippling shortages that lasted for months. "The objective of the budget of the coming fiscal year is to... revive the economy affected by the earthquake and the obstruction of the supplies," Poudel said. Poudel vowed to accelerate distribution of aid to the earthquake survivors and announced interest-free loans of up to $3,000 for reconstruction of homes. Nepal -- one of the world's poorest countries even before the disaster - was devastated by the quake and the blockade, which sent growth prospects plummeting in crucial sectors like agriculture and tourism. The current growth rate is forecasted at 0.77 percent, the lowest since 2002 when the country was in the middle of a civil war. However, the finance minister said he hoped to accelerate annual economic growth to 6.5 percent. Poor planning and a sluggish bureaucracy have hampered growth in previous years, with the government routinely failing to spend funds allocated in annual budgets and complete projects on time. "The budget is quite ambitious but it is moving towards the right direction," said Chandra Mani Adhikari, senior economist and chairman of the National Council for Economic and Development Research. "What is important now is to make sure that we have the capacity to implement it," Adhikari told AFP. Sant'Anna di Vinadio (Italie) (AFP) - Vincenzo Nibali all but secured a second Giro d'Italia success with a brave ride to sixth place on Saturday's 20th and penultimate stage. Starting the day second at 44sec behind leader Esteban Chaves, Italian Nibali put 1min 36sec into the Colombian to snatch the pink jersey. Sunday's flat, final stage from Cuneo to Torino is little more than a procession. "I thought maybe everything was lost but also maybe that it still wasn't over," said Nibali, who had come in for severe criticism in the Italian press while struggling earlier in the race. "The last week can change and I thought something could happen. "I'm very headstrong, I never give up. Last year at the Tour (de France) I had bad days but I always try and come back. "It was a crazy Giro. A difficult, exhausting one for me. I started as the favourite and felt all the pressure. "I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders but I've put on this great show, so I'm happy." Two days ago, 31-year-old Nibali was fourth and 4min 43sec off the lead but the 'Shark' went on the attack in the high mountains in what was always likely to provide the most decisive stages of the race. He won Friday's 19th stage as then-leader Steven Kruijswijk's hopes disintegrated when he crashed on a fast descent, breaking a rib in the process. It left Chaves in the pink jersey with a 44sec lead to defend but once Nibali went on the attack with 15km left, he couldn't respond. "I'm satisfied with my Giro. If someone had told me three years ago I'd be on the Giro podium, I wouldn't have believed it," said the 26-year-old, who was fifth at last year's Vuelta a Espana. "I gave my all but Vincenzo was simply stronger than me." Even with compatriot Rigoberto Uran helping him despite not riding for the same team, Chaves could not hold onto his lead and finished the day 52sec behind Nibali. Story continues "Esteban gave it everything. Nibali has had a very strong two days. We're still very proud of Esteban -- he did all he could and that's all we can ask of him," Chaves's Orica team manager Matt White told Eurosport. "It's a great experience for him. We were fifth at the Vuelta, now we're second at the Giro behind one of the best Grand Tour riders of recent years. There's no disgrace in that." Kruijswijk, who battled on despite his broken rib, struggled up the first category Colle della Lombarda alongside Chaves and lost his place on the podium to Spain's Alejandro Valverde. The 36-year-old Movistar leader finished just 13 seconds behind Nibali and that was enough to take him above Dutchman Kruijswijk into third at 1min 17sec. Estonia's Rein Taaramae won the 134km 20th stage from Guillestre to Sant'Anna di Vinadio from Colombia's Darwin Atapuma with American Joe Dombrowski third. SANT'ANNA DI VINADIO, Italy (AP) -- Vincenzo Nibali attacked on the final major climb of the Giro d'Italia and grabbed the pink jersey from Esteban Chaves to virtually clinch his fourth Grand Tour victory Saturday, capping a dramatic two days in the 99th edition of the Italian classic. Nibali entered the penultimate stage 44 seconds behind Chaves but the Italian with Astana now has a 52-second lead entering Sunday's final leg, a flat 163-kilometer (101-mile) route from Cuneo to Turin that should be mostly a coronation procession. Nibali wasn't even in the podium positions until surging back into contention during Stage 19 Friday when previous leader Steve Kruijswijk crashed into a snowbank on a tricky descent. It's been quite a turn of events for Nibali, who appeared to drop out of contention as he struggled up the climbs in the Dolomites last weekend. ''I thought maybe everything was lost but also maybe that it still wasn't over,'' Nibali said. ''The last week can change and I thought something could happen. I'm very headstrong, I never give up. Last year at the Tour I had bad days but I always try and come back. ''It was a crazy Giro - a difficult, exhausting one for me,'' Nibali added. ''I started as the favorite and felt all the pressure. I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders but I've put on this great show.'' It would be Nibali's second Giro win to go with his 2013 title and add to his major trophy collection, which also includes a Tour de France victory in 2014 and a Spanish Vuelta win in 2010. Rein Taaramae, an Estonian with Katusha, won the 20th stage, attacking solo from a breakaway. Taaramae clocked nearly 4 1/2 hours over the 134-kilometer (83-mile) leg from Guillestre, France, to Sant'Anna di Vinadio. Nibali finished sixth in the stage, 6:44 behind Taaramae, while Chaves came across 14th, 8:20 back. While he claimed the pink jersey a day earlier, Chaves also showed signs that he couldn't keep up with Nibali. Story continues ''We're still very proud of Esteban. He did all he could and that's all we can ask of him,'' Orica-GreenEdge sporting director Matt White told Eurosport. ''It's a great experience for him. We were fifth at the Vuelta, now we're second at the Giro behind one of the best Grand Tour riders of recent years. There's no disgrace in that.'' The stage featured three first-category climbs and finished uphill with a third-category ascent. Nibali's attack came on the grueling 20-kilometer (12-mile) penultimate climb up the Colle della Lombarda. The Italian quickly dropped Chaves then widened his gap on a technical descent and the final brief climb to the Sant'Anna sanctuary. Delighted home fans ran alongside Nibali as he climbed into the lead. Once he made it to the finish, Nibali hung himself over his handlebars in exhaustion, then was congratulated by Chaves' parents in a gesture of sportsmanship. Darwin Atapuma, a Colombian with BMC, finished second in the stage, 52 seconds behind Taaramae, and Joseph Dombrowski, an American with Cannondale, was third, 1:17 back. In the overall, Alejandro Valverde moved ahead of Kruijswijk into third position, 1:17 behind Nibali. Is a certain dashing, well-dressed dictator the mysterious mastermind of a massive bank heist from earlier this year? According to CNN Money, North Korea is the prime suspect in a series of high-profile cyber attacks in recent years, with a collective take in the hundreds of millions. The hackers, dubbed the "Lazarus Group," stole $101 million from the central bank of Bangladesh in February and nearly absconded with over $800 million more; they also hit banks in Ecuador, the Philippines and Vietnam, according to CNN Money. Hackers obtained codes to SWIFT, a worldwide financial transaction-verification network, and sent authenticated orders to drain the banks' accounts of money. Segments of code from the bank hacks appear to match techniques used previously by unknown hackers who have attacked South Korean banks and media companies in the past, as well as techniques used in the 2014 Sony Pictures leak. Eric Chien, Symantec Security Response technical director, told CNN Money that if the latter attacks were directed by North Korea as purported by Western governments there is only one explanation. "If you believe those government assertions, then the Bangladesh attack was North Korea," he commented. "I think it was North Korea," added British cybsersecurity expert Matt Tait. "This operation was meticulously planned. And these guys knew how to launder money. That makes me lean strongly toward the notion that this was a nation state." While there is no hard evidence implicating the government of North Korea, it has been accused of generating illicit revenue in the past. North Korean officials have been implicated in drug, ivory and counterfeit goods and currency smuggling schemes, as well as human trafficking. "If you presume it's North Korea, $1 billion is almost 10 percent of their GDP," Chien told the New York Times. "This is not small change for them." According to security firm Kapersky, it remains unknown where the Lazarus Group is based, but the gang works 15-to-16-hour days and "almost two-thirds of cybercriminals' executable files include elements that are typical for Korean-speaking users." US President Barack Obama wrapped up a historic trip to Asia, where he sought to deepen US involvement by boosting ties to former adversaries in the region. He paid tribute to victims of the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima on Friday, the first American leader to visit the city devastated by the bomb that helped end World War II. He also took part in a G7 summit in Japan, where he raised concern over escalating tensions with North Korea following a series of nuclear tests by Pyongyang. Obama arrived there from Vietnam, where he formally reset the relationship with Washington's former foe by lifting an arms embargo, four decades after the US withdrew its last troops from the country. He also appealed to its leaders to lift authoritarianism. His visit came as China is rattling countries in the region with a series of reclamation and construction projects -- including airstrips -- on reefs and islets in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Obama's trip provides a coda eight months before he steps down and almost five years after he announced Washington's "pivot" to Asia, a foreign policy strategy that has been overshadowed by emerging security threats from the Middle East and Russia. Obama touched down at Andrews Air Force Base Friday evening before boarding helicopter Marine One to return to the White House. Barack Obama The wild, wacky exhibit that has been the Republican presidential primary and the man who has become the party's standard-bearer could be making more voters yearn for someone like the person currently sitting in the White House. And that could be a big problem for the GOP. Earlier this week, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that President Barack Obama's approval rating had jumped to 51% its highest point since his second inauguration. NBC's team of political analysts called it the "most important number" out of the new poll. "Why is it important? Because it means that Obama will be an asset to Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail unlike he was in the 2014 midterms, when his approval rating was in the low 40s," NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Carrie Dann wrote. The 50% level might seem arbitrary. But historical precedent suggests it could bode well for Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state who is the Democratic frontrunner to succeed him. Early this year, Obama's approval rating hit 50% in the weekly average from Gallup's daily survey. Two months later, his number in Gallup's poll stands at 52%. For Obama, whose approval ratings have been stuck in the mid- to low-40% range for much of his second term, it was a notable bump. "While it's hard to pinpoint precisely why Obama's approval rating has risen among Democrats recently, there are a number of plausible explanations," wrote Andrew Dugan, a Gallup analyst, and Frank Newport, the organization's editor-in-chief, in a post earlier this year. One of the explanations, the pair concurred, was that "the unusual status of the Republican primary race exemplified in particular by frontrunner Donald Trump's campaign style and rhetoric may serve to make Obama look statesmanlike in comparison." Donald Trump Trump, who on Thursday secured enough delegates to clinch the Republican Party's presidential nomination, has come into Obama's crosshairs recently. Story continues During a trip through Asia, Obama said Trump has "rattled" world leaders by being more interested in "tweets and headlines" than world affairs. Clinton's campaign has also turned its attention to the general election, beginning to paint Trump as a dangerous candidate unsuited for the unique challenges of the commander-in-chief position. "President Obama, no matter the political stakes, has always spoken to Americans' aspirations and better angels," said Ben LaBolt, a former spokesman for Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns. "It's hard to argue that's what has driven the campaign narrative this year." The president's approval ratings at this point are far better than his predecessor, President George W. Bush, off whose unpopularity Obama thrived during his 2008 run. His level is most directly comparable to former President Ronald Reagan, who in March 1988 held a 51% approval rating, according to Gallup. That same year, voters selected George H.W. Bush Reagan's vice president to succeed him. "Yes," said Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush's press secretary, when asked earlier this year if Obama's apparent rising popularity poses a problem for the Republican Party. "Certainly, going into an election spring and summer, its better to have an incumbent president increasingly popular rather than less popular if youre the incumbent party," he told Business Insider. The numbers present a striking contrast to some data points associated with the current Republican presidential frontrunner. Barack Obama Trump's favorability numbers are without precedent for a modern general-election candidate, according to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. Overall, 58% of voters viewed him unfavorably, according to the survey. And his net-favorability rating was negative 29 only slightly better than two months before, when he garnered the worst net-favorability rating in the history of the NBC/WSJ poll for a major presidential candidate. "I've been doing this [since] 1964, which is the Goldwater years," NBC/WSJ co-pollster Peter Hart told NBC of the relative unpopularity of many of the candidates earlier in the year. "To me, this is the low point. I've seen the disgust and the polarization. Never, never seen anything like this. They're not going up; they're going down." However, Obama's approval rating at this point is actually lower than that of President Bill Clinton in March 2000. But, as Gallup has noted, the 2016 election is somewhat different than the one that featured George W. Bush running against Al Gore, Clinton's vice president. Hillary Clinton is attaching herself to much of Obama's legacy. And Obama remains favorable to wide swaths of constituencies whom Clinton needs to turn out to vote in November. The president held high approval ratings among African-Americans (90%), Democrats (82%), Latinos (73%), and voters aged 18 to 34 (64%). And despite the strong primary challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders, in many ways, Clinton has run an incumbent-style campaign, and she has much of the party's establishment rallying behind her candidacy. That wasn't the case for Gore in 2000. As Gallup's Dugan and Newport wrote earlier this year: In comparison, the two most recent candidates running to succeed a two-term president of the same party John McCain running to follow the unpopular Bush, and Al Gore trying to succeed the popular but scandal-prone Bill Clinton went to greater pains to ensure they were not associated with the outgoing president. They concluded: "Prior to that, George H.W. Bush in 1988 presented himself as a natural heir to the Reagan legacy and was able to win his own term." NOW WATCH: 'Wheres the Stanley Cup right now?' watch President Obama taunt Canadas Prime Minister Trudeau More From Business Insider During the Performance at Cafe Iguana, Sweet Micky Played Many of His Hits, Including I Dont Care and Mon Colonel Los Angeles, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 28, 2016 / Olivier Martelly, also known as "BigO," is pleased to announce that on May 19, Sweet Micky brought down the house at Cafe Iguana in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Sweet Micky, who is referred to by fans as "The President of Konpa," is currently performing as part of his Renaissance Tour. He is one of the many talented artists who is represented by Olivier Martellys production company, Big O Productions. As Martelly noted, the night was filled with plenty of amazing musical moments, particularly during performances of hits like "I Dont Care", Mon Colonel" and "Nous Deux". "These songs allowed the fans to remember the past and relive those great nostalgic moments. The venue was filled with outpouring love and excitement from about 2,500 fans. The exhilarating energy was nearly tangible," he said, adding that along with Sweet Micky, he is truly grateful to the "Grenadiers" who attended the show and helped to make the night memorable. "To our fans, those who traveled from all over to attend our show, your dedication to us as a fan is what pushes us to strive harder and deliver a sensational show," he said. "To the Band members, your commitment to your craft, your passion and your efforts never go unnoticed, thank you for transmitting that energy directly to your fans. To our family and friends, your special words and your efforts played a great role in the success of our event." Martelly said he is also thankful to the press, who helped with "rebirth" of Sweet Micky to fans all over the world, as well as the Cafe Iguana team, who he said were welcoming and cooperative. "And to our staff, you embody the meaning of teamwork, thank you for putting your all into this production. To the promoters, without you this would not have been possible. Thank you for staying true to our vision and helping us bring it to life for our fans," Martelly said. Story continues Martelly said he and Sweet Micky are looking forward to seeing their "Grenadiers" again in Las Vegas on June 24, when Sweet Micky continues his Renaissance Tour. Until then, Martelly said, fans can check out the talented musician performing his latest hit "Kite Yo Pale" on this track on YouTube. About Olivier Martelly: Olivier Martelly, also known as "BigO," is a Haitian artist and music producer whose unique music is a Caribbean "Pop" mixed with Haitian Kompa. For more information about Mr. Martelly, please connect with him at: http://bigoproductions.ht/ Contact: Jan Grant admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861 Source: BigO Productions ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will undergo open heart surgery in London on Tuesday, his family and office said, in what will be his second cardiac operation in five years. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on her official Twitter account that the surgery would be for "perforation of the heart", a complication from an earlier procedure in 2011. "Prayers are the most effect & potent medicine. Millions will pray for him," she tweeted late Friday night. A statement from the Sharif's office on Saturday said the prime minister was continuing to oversee state affairs in the days before his surgery. "It is however natural and understandable that the Prime Minister will be off from any activities when [he] is actually operated on by the doctors," the statement said. "God willing soon after the surgery, the Prime Minister will be supervising State's affairs with the same spirit and energy." Sharif has frequently travelled abroad for medical treatment in the past year. His last public statements were on Sunday, after the U.S. drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, an attack Sharif condemned as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Sharif well on Saturday. "My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health," said a tweet from Modi, who made a surprise visit to Sharif in December as a gesture of conciliation between the two nuclear-armed rival states. (Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Tom Heneghan) WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Jaime Garcia rediscovered his winning form, pitching counterpart Max Scherzer lost the strike zone and then the game by allowing yet another home run. Stephen Piscotty hit a grand slam off Scherzer during a five-run third inning and Garcia quieted the Washington Nationals lineup as the St. Louis Cardinals won 6-2 on Friday night. Coming off consecutive ineffective starts, Garcia held Washington to two runs and seven hits over seven innings. The Cardinals had lost four of five. ''You can tell when his (sinker) is there,'' Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Garcia, who opened the game with four scoreless innings. ''He had very good movement and used his changeup and slider, but the sinker was a great pitch for him tonight.'' Scherzer allowed two earned runs in each of his previous three starts including his 20-strikeout gem on May 11 in a victory over Detroit. That version didn't show early against St. Louis. He walked four batters and allowed five runs, all by the third inning. Scherzer surrendered three hits over seven innings. Danny Espinosa's second home run in as many games broke up Garcia's shutout bid in the fifth. Bryce Harper went 1 for 4 after hitting the go-ahead home run in Washington's 2-1 series-opening win Thursday. Greg Garcia homered for St. Louis, which scored six runs on four hits. Jaime Garcia's one-out single in the third was the first hit off Scherzer and started a stretch of five straight batters to reach base. After Scherzer walked Matt Holliday with the bases loaded to score Garcia, Piscotty made it 5-0 with his first career grand slam deep into the stands in left field. ''It wasn't the home run pitch,'' Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of Scherzer's troubles. ''It was the walks before the home run. That's what really hurt.'' Piscotty recognized Scherzer fell into slider-heavy rut against him. Story continues ''Including the (previous) at-bat he threw me four straight sliders,'' the right fielder said. ''Luckily I got that one.'' Scherzer, who finished with six strikeouts, then reversed course by retiring the final 14 batters he faced. He leads the majors with 15 home runs allowed and has alternated wins and losses over his last six starts. ''I know I've been giving up a ton of home runs,'' Scherzer stated, ''but that one, that's just an execution thing. That's just me not throwing the right pitch at the right time and with poor execution.'' With the victory, St. Louis improved to 25-24, avoiding falling below .500 for the first time since a 13-14 record on May 3. In his previous outing against the Nationals this season, Garcia allowed four runs over 6 1/3 innings in a 6-1 home loss on April 30. He gave up eight runs and 15 hits combined over his last two starts. ''I made some adjustments I needed to make,'' Garcia said. ''That's part of baseball, that's part of pitching.'' NOT HERE FOR LONG INF Greg Garcia began his second stint with St. Louis this season after being recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Thursday with Matt Carpenter placed on the paternity list. Along with the home run, he walked twice, scored two runs and started a double play. Yet with Carpenter expected back Saturday, he will probably return to Memphis despite batting .615. STRANDED AT THE DRIVE-IN: Washington went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Harper and Ryan Zimmerman each grounded into double plays with two runners on base. Zimmerman's scored Harper in the sixth to make the score 5-2. TRAINER'S ROOM Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams did not start, but was available despite leaving in the fifth inning of Thursday's loss due to mid-back stiffness. Nationals: RHP Taylor Jordan, who pitched for the Nationals during each of the previous three seasons, underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday. Jordan, who made three appearances for Triple-A Syracuse this season, had the same procedure in 2011. UP NEXT Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (4-3, 5.77 ERA) makes his first appearance against the Nationals since 2014. He is 7-3 with a 2.18 ERA all-time versus Washington. Nationals: LHP Gio Gonzalez (3-2, 2.87) allowed seven runs and 10 hits over five innings in his previous start, a 7-1 loss to the New York Mets. Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday clutched the life-jacket of a drowned girl as he met with children whose parents died during deadly boat crossings, at the end of a week of major tragedies in the Mediterranean. "I want to ask the pope to pray for my family, which is now in heaven, and my friends, also in heaven, who died in the water," Nigerian adolescent Siander said as the pontiff bowed his head in prayer. The pope met migrant minors as well as Italian youngsters who let off dozens of white balloons inside Vatican grounds. The children pledged to help those in need and presenting Francis with drawings capturing the dangers at sea. The 79-year-old Argentine showed the children an orange life-jacket which he said had been taken from a girl who had drowned at sea. It was given to him by a rescue worker who had wept as he described his doomed attempts to save her. "He brought me this life-jacket and, crying, he said: 'Father, I failed. There was a girl, in the waves, but I could not save her. All that is left is her life-jacket," Francis said. "I don't want to upset you, but you are brave and you know the truth. They are in danger: many children... they are in danger," the pope told the children, who sat cross-legged in front of him. "Think about this girl. What was her name? I don't know: a child without a name. Each of you must give her the name you want to. She is in heaven, she is watching over us," he added. Children from a school in Calabria in southern Italy handed the pope a letter in which they promised "to welcome whoever comes to our country" and "never think of those who are different from us as a dangerous enemy". An estimated 10,000 people were rescued this week near the Libyan coast as a bout of good weather kicked off a fresh stream of boats trying to cross from north Africa -- some of which capsized at sea. On Friday the Italian navy recovered the bodies of 45 migrants who had drowned, while dozens of others were still missing. Story continues The tragedy followed the death of 30 people in a shipwreck Thursday and around 100 feared missing after a boat capsized Wednesday. 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 around 40,000 migrants have already landed on Italy's shores so far this year and aid organisations warn there are vulnerable groups massing in Libya and Egypt, ready to attempt the crossing at whatever cost. By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Saturday inflated an experimental fabric module that may provide a less expensive and safer option for housing crews during long stays in space, a NASA TV broadcast showed. Designed and built by privately owned Bigelow Aerospace, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is the first inflatable habitat to be tested with astronauts in space. Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace previously flew two unmanned prototypes. Lightweight inflatables are far less costly to launch than traditional metal modules. They also may provide astronauts with better radiation protection. NASA is looking at future inflatable modules to be used by crews on three-year missions to the planet Mars. Working from inside the space station, astronaut Jeff Williams began inflating BEAM shortly after 9 a.m. by opening a valve to release air into the module. Williams told flight controllers he heard short popping sounds, which NASA commentator Dan Huot said were stitches inside the module ripping apart as designed when BEAM began to expand. That is good news, astronaut Jessica Meir radioed to Williams from Mission Control in Houston. Over the next seven hours, Williams continued to feed bursts of air into BEAM until it gradually unfurled. Eight tanks of air inside the module then opened to fully inflate BEAM to the size of a small bedroom, a 10-fold increase in volume. Williams and his crewmates will wait about a week before entering the module to install radiation, temperature and other sensors, NASA said. An initial attempt to inflate BEAM on Thursday failed, most likely because of friction within the modules layers of fabric, foam and reinforced outer covering, NASA said. Its a learning process, Huot said. Everything will influence the design and operation of expandable habitats in the future. NASA plans to keep BEAM attached to the station, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, for two years to see how it fares in the harsh environment of space. Bigelow Aerospace aims to fly inflatable space modules 20 times larger than BEAM that can be leased out to companies and research organizations. (Editing By Frank McGurty, Editing by Franklin Paul) KARYES (Greece) (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday visited the monastic community of Mount Athos, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites, on the last leg of a two-day visit to Greece. Putin, who has often talked about his strong Orthodox faith, joined celebrations for the 1,000th anniversary of the Russian presence at the ancient, all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, in northern Greece. State TV ERT showed Putin arriving at the little port of Daphne, near the coastal Russian monastery, after 1100 GMT on a yacht escorted by a small flotilla of security vessels. Underscoring the private nature of his visit -- his first to the region since 2005 -- he wore no tie and immediately removed his jacket before briefly posing for photographs at the port. A broadly smiling Putin then attended a welcome ceremony at the Protaton, the oldest church of the Mount Athos administrative capital of Karyes, where he was greeted by ringing church bells. The Russian leader lit a candle and kissed the Axion Esti, a revered icon of the Virgin Mary, ERT footage showed. "Important work on moral foundations and moral values is done on Mount Athos," he said. He later told a gathering of abbots: "Whoever enters this land of prayer experiences special feelings." "The role of Mount Athos is particularly important to Russian Orthodoxy," he said, adding that over 11,000 Russian faithful visit the area annually. Putin was joined on his visit by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, a former Communist who clashed with EU peers last year over the Ukraine crisis, arguing that the bloc should avoid "spasmodic" moves against Russia. Accompanied by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Putin then visited the Russian monastery of St Panteleimon on the west coast of the Halkidiki peninsula. Media coverage of the Mount Athos trip was restricted and Putin's Russian monastery visit was entirely off bounds. Story continues Russia and Greece are both largely Orthodox Christian countries and share close religious ties. Mount Athos is an enclave of 20 monasteries -- including one apiece for Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria -- that has enjoyed autonomy since Byzantine times. On Friday, Putin signed several economic deals with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens during a visit aimed at reinforcing a relationship with one of his few friends in the EU at a time of tension 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 emerge from recession, with Greek officials saying increased trade with Russia could play a part in recovery efforts. EU leaders will next month discuss whether to renew sanctions on Russia's banking, defence and energy sectors that expire in July. isis oil attack libya Oil prices have rebounded over the past few months. Both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude are currently around $49 a barrel, well above their lows below $30 a barrel earlier this year. However, that doesn't mean that everything is going well for all of the oil producers. Quite the opposite, in fact. The political, economic, and security crises of several OPEC members, which have been exacerbated by nearly two years of lower oil prices, are finally reaching a critical moment. "This is the reckoning point. When you look at OPEC, so many of the members have never looked so fragile," Helima Croft, head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Business Insider in an interview on Tuesday. "They're all going off the cliff together." Notably, there are two camps within OPEC: One has sort of weathered the stress of lower oil prices so far, while the other has been totally crushed. The former group includes the relatively better-off Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE. As for the latter, it includes a group nicknamed the "fragile five" by RBC Capital Markets Venezuela, Nigeria, Libya, Iraq, and Algeria and they all have plunged deeper into chaos in the last year. Here's a short refresher on what's happening with the states in the second group: Story continues Plus, on top of that, Angola is teetering on the edge of joining this unenviable group. may 18 protests venezuela The interests of the cartel's members have never seemed so far apart. Whereas the fragile five could certainly benefit from coordinated OPEC action, other members like the Saudis and the Iranians have no incentive to cut. And now the upcoming June OPEC meeting in Vienna is shaping up to be a total nonevent, which is not exactly a great sign for the fragile five going forward. "I'm starting to question why anyone bothers to show up [to the OPEC meetings]. I'm not sure what's in it for half of the cartel," Croft said. "The idea that OPEC is going to come to your rescue, that they're going to provide you a lifeline to avoid a crisis I think those days are over." "The callous indifference of certain countries to the fate of other members is stunning," she added. libya smoke oil Notably, some investors tend to write off the ongoing crises in the fragile five as "noise." However, things have been deteriorating since 2015 due to the poisonous cocktail of deeply rooted structural problems and lower oil prices. And they could get even worse going further. As Croft argued when speaking to BI: Theres a view in the market that, eventually, people get their act together. They all get incentivized to work together. [However], in many of these countries, things can always get worse. Bet on dysfunction. Bet on the bad outcome. When you have very weak structures, when you have nefarious actors, when you have deep political, social, and regional divisions, you should at least consider the worst possible outcome seriously. Dont just think, "It all gets better! Its all just noise!" ... These are structural problems in these producing states. This not "noise." This is not something that you can take your magic wand and make this thing go away. In sum, this is a critical moment for OPEC's worst-off producers and it's unclear how things play out going forward. NOW WATCH: How ISIS makes over $1 billion a year More From Business Insider Run-DMCs Darryl McDaniels took offense when NYPDs Commissioner Bill Bratton referred to some rap artists as basically thugs following Wednesday nights deadly shooting at Manhattans Irving Plaza. The rap icon said Bratton shouldve been more judicious with his words. He shouldve known better, the Queens rapper, who will celebrate his 51st birthday at the end of the month said. He should have kept it specific to what happened. All rappers aint gangsters. I went to St. Johns University, so I took it personally. McDaniels then cemented his point by speaking on several other prominent rap stars who are far from the thugs Bratton surmises exists in the rap world. LL Cool J isnt a thug. Will Smith is a rapper, hes not a thug. Nobody knows Chuck D was a graphics art major. Yet still, McDaniels said Brattons comments are fueled in ignorance due to the fact he only sees part of whats being presented. He doesnt know any better because hes not being shown any better, McDaniels said. When you turn on Hot 97 or MTV, you only see the dark, stupid, ignorant side of us. Its not the generation. Its the people who control the images in our generation. According to reports, T.I. was slated to perform at New York Citys Irving Plaza Wednesday night (May 25) when at about 10:15p.m. shots rang out inside the second floor green room killing one, Ronald McPhatter, and injuring three others, including rapper Troy Ave. During a radio interview following the shooting, Bratton said the dangerous lifestyle of some rappers follows them into their field. The crazy world of these so-called rap artists who are basically thugs, celebrate violence they did all their lives and unfortunately that violence oftentimes manifests itself during their performances, Bratton said. However, McDaniels said some onus also falls on the hip-hop community. We dont want our young people naming ourselves after John Gotti and them. Why do you feel pride after naming yourself after Scarface and Noriega? Moscow (AFP) - Vadim Pokrovsky stunned hundreds of students at a conference in Moscow last week when he reached into his pocket and took out a condom. "And you, the young generation, how do you protect yourselves from HIV?" said Pokrovsky, the 61-year-old head of Russia's federal AIDS centre. "I always have a condom on me. Today even a 90-year-old can contract the virus." The audience fell silent for a moment before breaking into applause. Despite the efforts of activists like Pokrovsky, the total number of registered HIV cases in Russia exceeded one million in late 2015, with authorities struggling to contain an epidemic that experts say could be curbed by increased funding and more awareness campaigns. Pokrovsky has been openly critical of the Kremlin's policies promoting traditional family values, saying they have failed to halt the spread of the deadly virus. "In 2015 alone, some 100,000 new HIV cases were reported in Russia," Pokrovsky told AFP. "This is a very high rate, maybe the highest in Europe." - Faithfulness vs condoms - The Russian government's policy focuses on treatment while neglecting prevention drives such as sex education in schools, with the number of people infected with the virus soaring as a result, say experts. A public health campaign in Moscow last year urged people to be faithful to their partners, rather than promoting condom use. "Young people here often don't even know what HIV is and don't understand its dangers," said Moscow-based student Darya Belimova who joined Pokrovsky to address more than a thousand young people at the conference. The gathering was part of the "Stop HIV/AIDS" prevention campaign spanning more than 200 universities. And although the Russian health and education ministries support "Stop HIV/AIDS", activists and volunteers say they are fighting a lonely battle against Russia's AIDS epidemic as the virus increasingly affects the heterosexual population. Story continues The World Health Organization last year said that Russia accounted for 60 percent of all HIV diagnoses in Europe in 2014, with heterosexual sex the main route of transmission of the virus which is spread through contact with contaminated body fluids. The number of HIV-positive minors -- which stood at 9,792 in 2015 -- has also jumped 8.5 percent compared to the previous year. In most of these cases an HIV-positive mother transmitted the virus to the child at birth, said Pokrovsky. "In Russia, there is not enough public financing to support the fight against HIV at a national scale, and HIV prevention programmes for drug addicts practically don't exist," he said. - 'Foreign agents' - There are just a few dozen NGOs working to fight the epidemic, spread across 40 Russian cities. "For Russia, this is a very small number," Pokrovsky said. Organisations like the Andrey Rylkov Foundation -- which runs an outreach programme for drug users in Moscow, handing out clean needles and condoms -- receive no government funding. The vast size of the country also presents a challenge for effective prevention, with far-flung corners of the federation like Siberia particularly badly affected. Russia also bans methadone replacement therapy for drug addicts, which would allow users to avoid injections, eliminating the risk of contracting the virus from contaminated syringes. Many Russian NGOs -- including those working on HIV prevention among drug addicts -- have been under increased pressure since the reelection of President Vladimir Putin to a third term in 2012. Shortly after he was sworn in once again, the government passed a law allowing authorities to brand groups engaging in broadly-defined "political activity" that receive foreign funding as "foreign agents". The legislation was passed soon after huge anti-Putin protests rocked Moscow, and Kremlin critics see the law as a way to muzzle the strongman's critics and tighten his grip on power. In April, a court ordered that Sotsium, an HIV prevention NGO based in the southwestern city of Saratov, be labelled "foreign agents" after it received 1.5 million rubles ($22,400) in foreign funding to conduct a survey among drug addicts and people with HIV. "Until recently, society wasn't really aware of the magnitude of the problem," said Sergei Smirnov, vice-chair of the Foundation for Social and Cultural Initiatives, the organisation behind the "Stop HIV/AIDS" campaign. If the growth of HIV infections remains steady until 2021, Russia will face a so-called "generalised epidemic," the foundation warns. An epidemic becomes "generalised" when HIV prevalence exceeds one percent in pregnant women nationwide, Pokrovsky said. "This rate now stands at 0.8 percent," he said. "But if it increases, the risk of a serious epidemic is very high." This school proposed a ban on skinny jeans and students were quick to respond This school proposed a ban on skinny jeans and students were quick to respond It seems schools are in the news a lot lately but over dress codes, not education, per se. The latest school to try to impose major regulations on what its students wear is the New Hanover County school system in Wilmington, North Carolina. Its unclear if the newly-proposed dress code, which would forbid students from wearing skinny jeans, will even go through. No leggings, skinny jeans or other excessively tight fitting pants unless covered by a top or dress to the appropriate length. (The length of the top or dress shall cover the posterior area in its entirety.), the proposed policy stated. Dresses, skirts, skorts and similar garments must meet the same criteria as put forth above. But why? The intent of it is basically just to make sure the focus in the classroom is on teaching and learning and nothing is being worn that can distract from that, Valita Quattlebaum, a spokesperson for the school system, told BuzzFeed News. In addition, bigger girls being bullied due to their tight jeans was one reason for the proposed policy change, said New Hanover County School Board Vice Chair Jeannette Nichols. What would happen if a student violates the new policy? He or she would have to change. If its continuously violated, an out-of-school suspension would be next, reported WECT. Its not official yet, but the no-skinny-jeans idea was proposed at an April 5 meeting. Feedback is still being collected before its presented to the school board on June 1 at a public meeting. This method of collecting feedback may continue for gathering student input on future new/revised policies that directly impact students, said NHC Schools spokeswoman Heather Miller. Of course, students were not pleased with the news and expressed their concerns on Twitter, per the school system asking them to. (Interesting!) Students: What do you think about changes made to districts Student Dress Policy? https://t.co/jmEoe6aFpa#policy8520 New Hanover Co Sch (@NewHanoverCoSch) May 16, 2016 Some students didnt see the point of focusing on clothing versus education. @NewHanoverCoSch I think it's more important to focus on the content of education rather than on dress code. I personally do not see the stephen (@_stephenreish) May 16, 2016 They think the school has bigger issues to worry about. Others were quick to point out specific issues they thought needed more attention than the dress code. @NewHanoverCoSch the fact that school can't afford to send textbooks home and have to keep them at school so they can share is pretty sad Bryjyt Jones (: (@bryjyt_jones) May 16, 2016 Plus, as some students pointed out, skinny jeans and leggings make up most of their wardrobe because thats what theyre comfortable in. @NewHanoverCoSch I only own 3 pairs of jeans & they're all tight fitting. I wear leggings 4/5 days because they're comfortable & convenient. Foot (@toastyhan) May 16, 2016 Many students think they should have freedom to wear skinny jeans if they want to. @samwatkins1994 @NewHanoverCoSch Yes, by promoting body positivity by illustrating the idea all bodies are beautiful, embrace what you have. Baby (@katy_leas) May 26, 2016 Some pointed out the problematic logic behind the policy. @NewHanoverCoSch it's funny because in college the girls come to class in leggings, shorts & tank tops & yet the boys still manage to learn? Caitlin Hankins (@caitlin_hankins) May 17, 2016 Some parents arent fans of the proposed new policy either. @NewHanoverCoSch As a parent I think this is ridiculous. Erin (@efortiscue78) May 16, 2016 Still others are embarrassed by the whole situation. @NewHanoverCoSch I feel bad for every single teenage girl in this county and im ashamed to have been a part of this school system cyberbu//y (@Crispy_Tips) May 16, 2016 Some students pointed out that they will be left without anything to wear if the new policy goes through. @shaecrawford31 @NewHanoverCoSch just gonna wear no pants since thats all i own.... brookie (@brookegimello1) May 16, 2016 All in all, it looked like a unanimous no from the students. @NewHanoverCoSch I think it's a no from everyone...thanks tho! samantha deguida (@SDeGuida) May 16, 2016 These two tweets sum it up perfectly. @NewHanoverCoSch what am I supposed to wear to school??? Curtains??? Amber Ray (@amber_rayy) May 16, 2016 @amber_rayy @NewHanoverCoSch your shoulders might be showing too much then Madison Rose (@_Maddie_Rose) May 16, 2016 The post This school proposed a ban on skinny jeans and students were quick to respond appeared first on HelloGiggles. Happy Birthday, Scott Disick! The reality TV star turned 33 on Thursday, and he celebrated one day later by partying at one of his favorite nightclubs, 1OAK inside The Mirage Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas. WATCH: Scott Disick Celebrates His 33rd Birthday With the Kardashians Scott was joined by his ex-girlfriend, Kourtney Kardashian, her sister, Khloe Kardashian, and their close pal, Malika Haqq. The girls dressed to impress for the soiree, with Malika sporting an LBD that featured a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit, while Khloe impressively pulled off a skintight pink House of CB latex dress and Kourtney donned a bright green printed Versace dress. Denise Truscello The birthday boy kept it slightly more casual in distressed denim jeans, a basic black T-shirt and satin palm leaf bomber jacket. Denise Truscello The foursome kicked off their festivities with dinner and cocktails at STACK Restaurant and Bar before heading to the club around 1 a.m. Once they were inside the venue, they took a seat at a VIP table right behind DJ Shift and Kid Conrad's DJ booth. PHOTOS: Khloe Kardashian Stuns in Skintight Latex Dress During Scott Disick's Vegas Birthday Party They didn't forego desert at the soiree, as cocktail waitresses presented Scott with a black-and-white three-tiered Rolls-Royce themed cake that read "Happy Birthday Scott." Denise Truscello According to an eyewitness, Scott and Kourtney were whispering to each other inside their booth. Scott also exchanged a lot of laughs with Khloe, who was spotted snapping selfies with Malika and the DJs throughout the night. Denise Truscello Around 1:20 a.m., the DJs wished Scott a happy birthday and played 2 Chainz's "Birthday Song," which features lyrics like, "It's your birthday, it's your birthday" and "all I want for my birthday is a big booty hoe." WATCH: Kris Jenner and Rob Kardashian Wish Scott Disick a Happy Birthday In typical fashion, the girls took to Snapchat to share highlights from their fun night out, which included some screaming, lip-syncing and close-up shots of their clothes. Story continues WATCH: Kourtney Kardashian Talks Hanging Out With Scott Disick 'as a Friend' Prior to their arrival, Kourtney, Khloe and Scott documented their travel adventures as they made their way from Los Angeles to Vegas on a private jet. WATCH: Kourtney Kardashian Wishes Scott Disick Happy Birthday With Throwback Pic On Scott's actual birthday, the Kardashian-Jenner clan came together to help him celebrate in style, complete with cigars, a Japanese dinner and over-the-top ensembles. To hear more on that celebration, watch the video below. Related Articles BALA CYNWYD, PA / ACCESSWIRE / May 27, 2016 / Law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC announces that it is investigating potential claims against the Board of Directors of XenoPort, Inc. ("XenoPort" or "the Company") (XNPT) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law in connection with the sale of the Company to Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC. ("Arbor"). Click here to learn more about the investigation http://brodsky-smith.com/1077-xnpt-xenoport-inc.html, or call: 877-534-2590. There is no cost or obligation to you. Under the terms of the transaction, XenoPort shareholders will receive only $7.03 in cash for each share of XenoPort stock they own. The investigation concerns whether the Board of XenoPort breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders and whether Arbor is underpaying for the Company. The transaction may undervalue the Company and would result in a loss for many XenoPort shareholders. For example, XenoPort stock traded at $9.31 per share on January 14, 2015 and an analyst has set a price target for XenoPort stock at $10.00 per share. If you own shares of XenoPort stock and wish to discuss the legal ramifications of the investigation, or have any questions, you may e-mail or call the law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Jason L. Brodsky, Esquire or Evan J. Smith, Esquire at Brodsky & Smith, LLC, Two Bala Plaza, Suite 510, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, by visiting http://brodsky-smith.com/1077-xnpt-xenoport-inc.html, or calling toll free 877-LEGAL-90. Brodsky & Smith, LLC is a litigation law firm with extensive expertise representing shareholders throughout the nation in securities and class action lawsuits. The attorneys at Brodsky & Smith have been appointed by numerous courts throughout the country to serve as lead counsel in class actions and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for our clients and shareholders. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. SOURCE: Brodsky & Smith, LLC By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - The murder of Colorado's prison chief by a white supremacist ex-convict in 2013 was ordered by leaders of a neo-Nazi gang, the Denver Post reported on Friday, citing newly released documents. The disclosures came in a report by the Texas Rangers, who conducted their own probe into the slaying after the suspect in the murder of prison chief Tom Clements died in a shootout with police outside the town of Decatur, Texas, two days after fleeing Colorado. Reuters could not independently obtain the report. Clements, 58, who headed the Colorado Department of Corrections, was gunned down in March 2013 after he answered the door of his home in the town of Monument, about 45 miles south of Denver, sparking a nationwide manhunt. Colorado authorities have said the suspected shooter, Evan Ebel, was a member of the 211 Crew, a prison-based white supremacist gang. No one has been arrested or charged as an accomplice in Clements' murder. An investigative report by Texas Ranger James Holland states that the killing was an orchestrated hit, the Post reported. "The murder of the Colorado Department of Corrections director was ordered by hierarchy of the 211 prison crew, the newspaper quoted the report as saying. Jacqueline Kirby, a spokeswoman for Colorado's El Paso County Sheriff's Office, the lead agency in the Clements murder investigation, said in an email that her office would not comment on the Texas report. "Our investigation into the Clements homicide is still ongoing, therefore we will not be speaking to that," Kirby said. According to the Post article, an informant said to investigators that he was told by James Lohr, a 211 "general," that Lohr ordered Ebel to kill Clements and told other gang members to help Ebel flee to Texas. Ebel, 28, who had been paroled two months before the killing, was demoted from a soldier in the gang to a mere "prospect," the Texas Ranger report said. Lohr said killing Clements would enhance his gang status, according to the report. Story continues Authorities said Ebel fatally shot a pizza delivery driver, Nathan Leon, dumped his body in the foothills west of Denver, stole his work uniform, then drove to Clements' home. When Clements answered the door, apparently thinking a deliveryman was at the wrong house, Ebel opened fire. Lohr is serving a nine-year sentence in state prison on unrelated weapons charges and for eluding police. (Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Curtis Skinner and Leslie Adler) Can't keep up with what's been going on in the social media world? Fret not. Here, a gathering of what the stars have been up to this week on social media. Say What? Taylor Swift Likes Justin Bieber The Biebs has been on a roll this week on Instagram, posting up a storm from his latest vacation and sharing deep thoughts on award shows. Fans drew a collective deep breath when Bieber posted a video of him singing along to Taylor Swift's "Teardrops on My Guitar." Talk about awkward. Classy lady Swift's response? She liked it. A video posted by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on May 23, 2016 at 2:51pm PDT Louis Vuitton Goes Brazilian Louis Vuitton is set to show its cruise 2016 collection in Brazil on May 28, with confirmed guests Alicia Vikander, Jaden Smith and Catherine Deneuve attending the show. Mum's the word on how the stars and models will protect themselves from the looming Zika virus, though. But on the bright side, designer Nicolas Ghesquiere is debuting a new spin on LV's classic Damier and Monogram patterns in colorful ways that pop. A symphony of colors and patterns for #LVCruise - @nicolasghesquiere A photo posted by Louis Vuitton Official (@louisvuitton) on May 27, 2016 at 10:02am PDT Everything's Coming Up Roses for Lily Badass Lily-Rose Depp celebrates her 17th birthday Friday in Los Angeles, but not before stopping to smell the roses. The new face of Chanel No. 5 L'Eau and teen style icon may be dealing with a bit of family drama at the moment (dad Johnny Depp is going through a divorce, after all), but she's been keeping the personal stuff off of social media. #newchanel5 A photo posted by Lily-Rose Depp (@lilyrose_depp) on May 26, 2016 at 1:19am PDT Bring Your Daughter to Work Day Mom groupie Gwyneth Paltrow continues to tour the world with Coldplay, posting a sweet photo of daughter Apple watching her ex-husband, Chris Martin, perform onstage. If only all conscious uncouplings could be this amicable because in this year alone, the pair have been spotted visiting Disneyland, touring Argentina and enjoying the Super Bowl. Story continues Sometimes your dad really needs you to visit him at work # A photo posted by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on May 27, 2016 at 2:35pm PDT #FridayEyeCandy Fine wine David Beckham just keeps getting better with age. Need evidence? Look no further than his latest Instagram post below. Pie & Mash Friday on set A photo posted by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on May 27, 2016 at 8:14am PDT Go Quote Yourself! Quotes make the world go 'round on Instagram, but what about in your home? The husband and wife duo behind @letterfolkco on Insta and Snapchat have been gaining followers by the thousands, thanks to their witty quotes and simple-yet-cute board designs. Letterfolk's boards are available in small and large sizes, with various color combinations. Let's Friday the heck out of this Monday. : @laurenscotti A photo posted by Letterfolk (@letterfolkco) on May 9, 2016 at 8:11am PDT Little Miss Illustrator Angelica Hicks, 23, from London, is the newest "It" illustrator getting likes and gaining followers. The now-Upper East Sider is the daughter of famed architect Ashley Hicks, who just so happens to be the second cousin of Prince Charles. Angelica's cheeky and witty puns complement her illustrations, with new works going up weekly. She has been featured in The New York Times, in Vogue and on ToryBurch.com, and she has designed a special wrapper for chocolatier Fine & Raw to be sold exclusively at Soho House. Croissant Laurent! A photo posted by Angelicahahahahaha! (@angelicahicks) on May 19, 2016 at 7:29am PDT #RelationshipGoals Hair maven Jen Atkin celebrated her anniversary with husband and photographer Mike Rosenthal by sharing a supersweet clip on Instagram. According to Atkin, her other half arranged to have the video played in front of 300 Mane University students last year. Her (hashtag) advice: #DontSettle #WaitForTheRightPerson #GoodGuysDoExist. Pass the tissues, stat. This time last year when @mrmikerosenthal surprised me with this sweet message on a huge screen while I cried on stage in front of 300 @maneuniversity students #DontSettle #WaitForTheRightPerson #GoodGuysDoExist A video posted by Celebrity Hairstylist (@jenatkinhair) on May 25, 2016 at 4:58pm PDT Orange You Appealing? Amber Moon, an architect turned paper designer, posted this super-fun (and affordable) idea for guests to try at summer fetes. Moon's Instagram is a great follow - expect inspo on the daily. She even has a new paper line in the works. Orange you glad you found a new place-setting idea? Jackie & Jason's fresh citrus seating all lined up & ready for guests - Lasered acrylic leaves were also subtle tonal cues for catering (functionality should still be pretty, in our opinion) ... How lucky are we to work with dearest friends @duetweddings @hollyflorala @gemtones with photography by the kind & gifted @corbingurkin ... Full feature in @martha_weddings last summer. # A photo posted by Amber Moon (@pitbullsposies) on May 9, 2016 at 8:21am PDT Bryanboy vs. Fashion Editors Blogger Bryanboy is no stranger to speaking his mind (or to controversy), but this time, the gloves are off. After The Fashion Law blog published part one of its exclusive called "The Dirty Advertising Practices of the Industry's Biggest Brands, Bloggers," the outspoken Bryanboy made sure to quickly draw a comparison with fashion editors flying to shows on a brand's dime. It doesn't look like he's trying to make any friends - just clearing things up. Explosive! https://t.co/tmnJECAhb6 - bryanboy (@bryanboy) May 25, 2016 Next should be call out are all the fashion editors all flown by brands and work behind the scenes as stylists and consultants undeclared - bryanboy (@bryanboy) May 25, 2016 And when such editors post on social media for both their personal accounts AND institutional/media outlets..... - bryanboy (@bryanboy) May 25, 2016 Of course they'll give a good review when they advertise or do consulting for them or give editorials for being on brand payroll!!!! - bryanboy (@bryanboy) May 25, 2016 Madrid (AFP) - A month ahead of a general election, thousands of disgruntled Spaniards attended a "march of dignity" Saturday demanding "bread, work and shelter" and an end to "neo-liberal policies imposed by Brussels". In the capital Madrid, participants brandishing banners reading "for a democratic rebellion by European peoples, sovereignty, dignity, solidarity," converged on central Sol Square. The march was the latest in a series of protests which began on March 22 and has gathered support from around the country. More than 125 political organisations, unions and social groups had urged people to take to the streets of dozens of cities including Seville and Barcelona to "show their indignation" over economic hardship. Spain's political class has struggled to rally popular support in a country weary of years of austerity -- although Madrid did win a reprieve last week from Brussels on fines for overshooting its fiscal targets. The political fallout from the eurozone crisis saw no party win a majority in December voting, and a second election inside six months will follow in June after all attempts to form a coalition foundered. The ruling right-wing Popular Party topped the December poll but fell short of an absolute parliamentary majority as two new upstarts -- far-left Podemos and centrist Ciudadanos -- took votes away from the mainstream conservatives and Socialists. Former mechanic Fedor Asuar, 81, was among the demonstrators in Madrid, waving a banner reading "impoverished grandparents, mortgaged children, unemployed grandchildren." He said he was marching to "defend my tiny pension" and to protest at "a series of swingeing cuts in education, health..." Protesters said they feared that the June 26 poll will hand Spain a government which will continue making cuts to public services even at a time when around one in five Spaniards are living close to the poverty line, on barely 8,000 euros ($8,400) a year. Story continues Unemployment is running at around 21 percent -- second only in Europe to debt-laden fellow EU struggler Greece. Marchers also directed their ire at proposals to create a Transatlantic free trade framework between EU states and the United States, and spoke in favour of more humane rules governing asylum for migrants. Yayo Herrero, a 50-year-old teacher, read out a declaration blaming the banks and the European Union for "taking away sovereignty of the countries" in the bloc" with governments forced as a result to follow "policies that go against peoples' interests and serve capital." Around 100 people still missing following landslides in Sri Lanka last week are believed dead, authorities said Saturday after failing to find signs of life under tonnes of mud. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said 67 bodies had been recovered from the worst hit central district of Kegalle where 99 people were still listed as missing following the rain-triggered May 17 disaster. "The military is keeping up a search, but there is no hope of finding anyone alive now," DMC spokesman Pradeep Kodippili told AFP. "The 99 people missing in the landslides are believed to be dead." Heavy rains also triggered floods across much of the country last week and claimed 37 lives in addition to those killed in the landslides, according to the DMC. A military official in Kegalle, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north-east of Colombo, said search operations were hampered by continuous rain in the region. The government has said floods and landslides caused by heavy rain drove over 600,000 people from their homes, but most of them have since returned with water levels subsiding. Sri Lanka has received emergency aid from other countries, including giant neighbour India which dispatched two naval ships and an aircraft loaded with supplies. 2015 Toronto International Film Festival - "Black Mass" Premiere - Arrivals Getty Image By now, youve heard the dilemma that Johnny Depp is in. His wife of 15 months, Amber Heard filed for divorce, but she also filed for a restraining order against the famed thespian claiming that hes been physically abusive to her. If pictures tell the truth, then this pic shows that someone is indeed battering the soon-to-be former Mrs. Depp. Amber Heard submitted this photo as evidence for her domestic violence restraining order https://t.co/sA3BZc3D6f pic.twitter.com/VjHxoobna6 People Magazine (@people) May 27, 2016 A judge has since granted Heard the restraint order against Depp. Believing that the jury is still out on whether or not Depp battered his wife, The Walking Dead actress Laurie Holden went to Twitter to express her concern with labeling Depp as a woman-beater before the facts are presented. Or, at least thats what she claims she was trying to do. I, for one, am going to see Johnny Depp's new movie. His personal life is just that. Personal. No one knows the real truth so just zip it. Laurie Holden (@Laurie_Holden) May 28, 2016 Talk about bad timing. Twitter was not happy with her post. Heres just a little taste. ashamed but laurie holden defending depp & going all BUT WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE? made me go, whew glad andrea's dead (@gorgonzolabeef) May 28, 2016 I don't even follow Laurie Holden but for that comment I should follow just to unfollow. What kind of shit? She's defending Depp?!?!? Wtf?!? #1 M.o.M Stan (@UCldMyMind) May 28, 2016 can we go back to the fact Laurie Holden, a "human rights activist", was defending Depp though haley's Drew! XX (@sashawillliams) May 28, 2016 Holden, for her part, defended her comment, saying that she was merely restating the innocent until proven guilty directive. To be clear: I am just saying DON'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS. Even a pic might not be telling the whole story. Laurie Holden (@Laurie_Holden) May 28, 2016 Holden does have a point. Just because Heard said that Depp was abusive and that she has a bruise to allegedly prove it doesnt prove anything. Still, probably the best course of action in these matters, until investigators resolve them with, you know facts, is to just shut the hell up. By Jessica Toonkel (Reuters) - Sumner Redstone made clear on Friday that he is considering ousting Viacom's (VIAB.O) chief executive and the company's board of directors in the fierce power struggle between Redstone's family and company executives over control of the media empire. A judge set an early June hearing on the possible removal of CEO Philippe Dauman from the trust that will control the media company when Redstone dies or is deemed incapacitated. In a statement issued through a spokesman, Redstone, who turned 93 on Friday, said he would act in "the best interests of shareholders," when weighing whether or not to oust Dauman and the company's board. Redstone, who holds 80 percent of the voting shares in Viacom (VIAB.O) and CBS Corp (CBS.N), last week removed Dauman and Viacom board member George Abrams from the seven-person trust that will control the shares after Redstone exits. In the statement, Redstone said he will apply "the same deliberation and consideration" he used when he removed Dauman and George Abrams as trustees. Redstone's latest missive comes amid reports that Viacom's board is preparing a lawsuit challenging any attempts to remove its members or the CEO. Dauman, 62, has filed a legal challenge to stop his removal from the trust, arguing that Redstone was being manipulated by his daughter, Shari. She has called that allegation "absurd" and said her father made his own decisions. Judge George Phelan scheduled to hear the case on June 7, after Dauman filed a petition to have the trial date expedited. A spokesman for Dauman and the Viacom board was not immediately available to comment. Viacom's shares are up 13 percent since news broke last Friday that Redstone had removed Dauman and Abrams from the trust and the National Amusements Board, as some investors bet that a change in management could lead to a sale of the media company. Mario Gabelli, the second-largest owner of Viacom voting shares, has said Dauman has six months to turn the company around. Story continues Also on Friday, Standard & Poor's revised downward its assessment of Viacom's management and governance to "fair" from "satisfactory" because it believes the litigation and succession planning issues "reflect poorly" on Viacom's corporate governance. Viacom shares have fallen more than 50 percent in the past two years as its cable networks, including MTV and Nickelodeon, suffered from falling ratings as younger viewers migrate online and to mobile video. Viacom's U.S. advertising revenue has declined for seven straight quarters. [nL3N17V4EG} Dauman has tried to turn Viacom around by wooing advertisers with data to better target commercials. Under his leadership, Viacom renewed a multi-year distribution contract with satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp (DISH.O). But it was Dauman's plan to sell Viacom's stake in Paramount Pictures, which investors cheered, that caused him troubles. Redstone, who won a long battle with media mogul Barry Diller to acquire the film studio in 1994, opposes the sale of the stake. Frederic Salerno, Viacom's lead independent director, on Wednesday asked for a meeting with Redstone to discuss the company's strategy, including its planned sale of a stake of Paramount. Redstone has not yet responded, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday. (Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Bernard Orr and Dan Grebler) A jury found that Google's use of the Java programming language in Android is legal, in a patent battle that lasted some six years. Oracle, which owns Java, argued that Google stole code to build a mobile operating system that ended up being the most popular smartphone OS in the world. Google prevailed over Oracle in 2012, but a year later a court found that software APIs can be copyrighted, which meant Oracle could revive its legal battle against Android. Google didnt just save Android with this win, avoiding a huge financial hit in the process a win for Oracle could have forced Google to cough up as much as $9 billion. The victory is also important for future patent battles that cover copyrightable software. DONT MISS: The iPhone 7 might actually be in trouble The jury found that Google used Java APIs but did so under the fair use doctrine, meaning the company did not need Oracles permission to use them. As a result, the company doesnt owe any damages for stealing code. Judge William Alsup who presided over the case made a clever analogy to explain the battle, Wired points out. He said that the Java programming platform is more like a bookshelf. The API is the way the bookshelf is organized so that programmers can find the appropriate information. Google organized Android the same way so that Java coders would have an easier time writing new apps for it. But the Jury found that Google wrote all the books on the bookshelf from scratch, Wired explains, using Alsups metaphor. The Oracle vs. Google battle will likely be a point of reference for future court battles over software, and it's good news for programmers who might be worried about copyrightable software. Of course, that doesnt mean coders can go ahead and just swipe code from rivals to build apps, operating systems and other projects, but it does set a major precedent that might hinder similar legal cases from people or organizations looking to take advantage of the fact that software is copyrightable, too. Story continues The fact that APIs can be copyrighted is something the Electronic Frontier Foundation isnt happy about. "There is a real cost to defending fair use," EFF director of copyright activism Parker Higgins wrote earlier this month when discussing the matter. "It takes time, money, lawyers, and thanks to the outrageous penalties associated with copyright infringement, comes with a substantial risk." Related stories $35 Raspberry Pi 3 might soon run Google's Android RIF6 is the first projector built specifically for our smartphones Google knows that Android's update system sucks More from BGR: The iPhone 7 might actually be in trouble This article was originally published on BGR.com One of the more frustrating aspects of air travel is when an airline loses or damages your luggage. Even in instances when an airline misplaces your luggage and successfully tracks it down to another city, retrieving it can often be an exercise in frustration. All the more so if your luggage contains items that you need immediately or if you're only on a short vacation and don't have the luxury of waiting a few days for your luggage to finally reach you. DON'T MISS: The iPhone 7 might actually be in trouble In an effort to help you plan your next trip a bit better, TheActiveTimes recently directed us to an interesting list detailing which U.S. airlines are most likely to mishandle your luggage, which is to say lose or damage it. The data was initially reported in the May 2016 issue of the Air Travel Consumer Report which was put together by the Aviation Consumer Protection Division. So without further ado, below are the airlines that are most likely to cause you some luggage-related frustration. As evidenced via the chart below, ExpressJet Airlines, American Airlines, Skywest Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Southwest are the top 5 offenders. airlines lost luggage For those curious, the methodology used in tabulating the data reads as follows: This section gives the rate of mishandled-baggage reports per 1,000 passengers by carrier and for the industry. The rate is based on the total number of reports each carrier received from passengers concerning lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered baggage... These baggage statistics are filed with DOTs Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Office of Airline Information) on a monthly basis by U.S. airlines that have at least one percent of total domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues, plus any other airline that voluntarily submits the data. And while we're on the topic of luggage, if you've ever been curious as to what happens to your luggage once you check it in, the video below is a must-watch. Story continues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MBWZWyvMng Related stories Watch the world's biggest plane land in Australia 4 of the most forbidden places in the entire world 10 U.S. cities with the highest quality of life More from BGR: iPhone 6s and Galaxy S7 faced off in a drop test and it was brutal This article was originally published on BGR.com A Thai man who fought off a three-metre (10-foot) python that bit his penis while he was squatting on the toilet is recovering, hospital staff said Saturday. Atthaporn Boonmakchuay was admitted after surviving the nightmare encounter with a snake hiding in the toilet plumbing at his home in Chachoengsao province east of Bangkok. "He can urinate as normal and pain from the wound has reduced," Rungnapa Sehawong, a supervisor at the local Chularat 11 hospital, told AFP. The 38-year-old was being treated with antibiotics and would likely be released in a few days, she added. In an interview from his hospital bedside after the incident Wednesday, a smiling Atthaporn told local TV channels the toilet appeared empty when he peaked in before taking a squat. "But after a while (the snake) rose from the toilet bowl and bit me," he said, explaining how he grabbed the serpent's neck to prevent it from taking him down. "At first I thought my penis was gone and already torn apart, because it was really very strong," he added. But he managed to pry open the python's jaws, after which his wife and neighbour rushed to the blood-splattered scene to cover the snake's head with a plastic bag. A rescue team later took a hammer to the toilet to free the serpent and release it into the wild, local media reported. While the toilet was damaged in the process, it gave Atthaporn's wife reason to make a new purchase: a shiny modern flush toilet. In some areas of the country, it's a sellers' market, but if you're not so lucky and you need a competitive edge, you might consider offering buyer incentives, which can work in a couple of different ways depending on the homebuyer's financing. We tapped a couple of experts to explain how this might look in practice, and here's what they said. Mortgage Deals Mortgage lenders tend to be finicky about seller concessions, says Heather McRae, a senior loan officer at Chicago Financial Services. Concessions can be limited to certain percentages based on the buyer's down payment, and the lender will want to see how it's phrased in the contract to ensure only one incentive is provided. The incentive itself must go toward closing costs or prepaid items. "You can't have a seller giving you $10,000 to put a new carpet in," McRae said, by way of example. Among the closing costs incentives buyers can offer are funds to cover a bank's origination fee, a title company fee or a transfer tax from the city or county (most counties charge a recording fee to record the mortgage, McRae explains). For prepaid items, sellers can offer a credit for, say, the buyers' nonrecurring closing costs, i.e. those payments paid on a one-time basis at closing, like loan origination fees. Just keep in mind lenders have restrictions on how much sellers can credit to buyers at closing, and amounts tend to vary by lender. Cash Deals With cash deals, sellers can offer whatever incentives they want, although, as Mark Keppy, a real estate broker also based in Chicago, pointed out, "there's not a lot that buyers really desire in this market, they're just trying to secure the property." Often, sellers choose to offer a home warranty, Keppy said, although the "best thing is for sellers to be more flexible on timing and close quicker." Coming down on price doesn't hurt either, he added. Looking to Buy? If you're selling your house and looking to buy a new one, it's a good idea to make sure your credit score's in tip-top shape before you start house hunting, in addition to figuring out your budget. (You can see how much house you can buy using this free calculator.) Your credit score can determine not only whether you can get a mortgage, but what percentage rate you'll pay. You can view your credit scores for free, updated each month, on Credit.com. More from Credit.com Weve heard many Singaporeans lament about the exorbitant price of Korean beauty products that are sold in local stores. Are these complains really justified? Today, I, self proclaimed makeup fanatic, will investigate the truth behind these complains. I chose Innisfree as my reference point, as this renowned Korean brand has been credited for its quality and reasonably priced products. To discover if Innisfree is really cheaper in Korea, I dug out 5 extremely popular, cult worthy Innisfree products, for a price comparison. Read on to find out if the frequently heard complains are true! 1. Innisfree Ginger Oil Cream Innisfree introduced a ginger oil centric cream to help users deeply hydrate their skin, while making their complexion firmer and healthier. As beauty gurus gush about the thick consistency and the non-oily residue from the cream, we think this is a product worth trying! If youre not a fan of ginger, you dont have to worry as the smell of ginger is not overpowering; The cream has a light citrus fragrance, with a hint of ginger. Surprisingly, this popular product is $12.53 cheaper in Korea! Isnt it unfair that we have to pay so much more just because we would like healthy and moisturized skin just like our friends in Korea Slide1 Image source: Innisfree 2. Eco Science Wrinkle Spots Essence Innisfree not only has products for the young, but they also have products catered for the matured ladies. Innisfree is widely known to have one of the most effective and cheapest anti ageing products in the beauty and personal care market. The Eco Science Wrinkle Spots Essence is a popular product among all of its anti ageing products, and it is mostly used around the eyes, and laugh lines. I think a $15 price difference will make anyones wrinkles disappear even faster. Slide3 Image source: Innisfree 3. Innisfree Real Squeeze Mask Innisfree is practically a haven for facial masks. The Real Squeeze Sheet Masks would be the brands most affordable facial masks. However, not all things cheap are of bad quality! Many Korean ladies have added these sheet masks to their night time routine as there are many variations of the Real Squeeze mask to cater to every skin type. The different variations include, Blackberry, Shea Butter, Acai Berry and Rice etc. We would personally recommend Rose and Green Tea, as there has been consistent compliments for these two variations of the Real Squeeze Mask! Story continues The best part is, Innisfree outlets in Korea have very frequent 10 for 10 promotions for their facial masks; Buy 10 sheets, get 10 free that is definitely a steal. Get them here, through Airfrov! Slide2 Image source: Innisfree 4. Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum Many beauty gurus recommend this Innisfree serum! The serum compromises organic Jeju Green Tea and green tea seeds that are meant to hydrate your skin. To retain the moisture in your skin, this serum should be the first thing you apply after your facial wash. This product is also well received due to its lightweight texture and non sticky residue. I guess it is time for me to add serum application to my skincare routine! Slide5 Image source: Innisfree 5. Forest For Men Perfect All in One essence We didnt want the guys to feel left out, so we had to introduce this well sought-after Innisfree product for men! This Innisfree product boasts to have 5 functions anti wrinkle, whitening, skin tightening, pore care and moisturising effects. Even top Korean male models like Kim Jung Sik sang praises for this product. With this essence added into your night routine, your complexion may be as radiant as your girlfriends! However, lets face it. Most of our guy friends would not spend $40 on a facial product. I know my boyfriend wouldnt! The $15.02 price savings may actually convince my boyfriend to include this product in his daily skin care routine. Slide4 Image source: Innisfree There, we have it. Innisfree products are indeed much cheaper in Korea! It is unfair that we have to pay a higher price for beauty as compared to our Korean counterparts! Save your pocket by getting these items through Airfrov instead! Screen Shot 2016-05-24 at 5.13.22 pm Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 1.08.16 pm Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 1.15.56 pm The post Is it truly cheaper to buy Innisfree products from South Korea? appeared first on Airfrov Blog. After the driest four years in California's history and with the potential for more dry spells on the way, the Republican party's presumptive nominee told the Fresno-area farmers on Friday that the drought is but an illusion. "There is no drought," Donald Trump told a crowd in the state's agricutlural Central Valley. "We're going to solve your water problem." Blaming what he called the government's efforts to save a certain "three inch fish" by pumping fresh water "out to sea," Trump assured the state's important farmer voting bloc that he has a solution in loosened environment regulations. Read: Trump Has Enough Delegates to Win GOP Nomination for President A small fish known as the Delta smelt has become a symbol of long-standing federal regulations for California farmers. The fish, which lives in waters that empty into the San Francisco Bay, is on the brink of extinction. Preserving the fish is one of the reasons that a certain about of water is reserved from upstream to make it to the Bay. "If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive," Trump said. A day earlier, Trump revealed his energy plan to a crowd in North Dakota. That plan, too, depends largely on reducing environmental regulations. The Fresno rally was one of two that Trump held in California on Friday. At the San Diego rally, Trump saw one of the largest protests of his campaign to date. Read: Bernie Sanders Agrees to Debate Donald Trump: 'Game On' Around 1,000 people showed up to the border city event to show their opposition to Trump's much ballyhooed border wall and other controversial propositions. According to San Diego police, 35 people were arrested during the demonstrations, where officers had shown up wearing riot gear. However, police said there was no property damage and no injuries reported. Story continues Watch: Meet The People Who Share a Name With Donald Trump Related Articles: ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish and US-led coalition airstrikes killed 104 Islamic State militants in retaliation for the latest attack on a Turkish border province, Turkish media reported on Saturday, citing military sources. Pro-government Sabah Daily news reported five people were injured on Friday when rockets fired from Islamic State controlled territory in northern Syria hit Turkeys border province of Kilis. Kilis has been hit by rockets from Islamic State-controlled territory more than 70 times since January, killing 21 people including children, in what security officials say has gone from accidental spillover to deliberate targeting. Islamic State fighters captured more ground near the Turkish border from Syrian rebels on Friday, raising fears for a new wave of civilians fleeing the fighting. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Alexander Smith) By Marcus E. Howard (Reuters) - A man suspected of planting a pipe bomb that exploded near propane tanks inside a Walmart store in rural North Carolina in 2007 has been arrested nine years after the crime thanks to dogged police work, court documents obtained on Saturday showed. A fingerprint on a shopping cart led federal authorities to arrest Larry Bowlsby, 49, on Tuesday in Missouri, North Carolina television station WLOS reported on Thursday. The identification came nearly a decade after the explosion on Sept. 26, 2007 at a Walmart in Sylva, North Carolina, about 50 miles west of Asheville in the western part of the state. The bomb exploded in the sporting goods section of the store near small camping propane cylinders, sending shrapnel from the device close to at least one shopper, according to the court filing, which did not address a possible motive. Authorities found the fingerprint in a national database and matched it to Bowlsby, who had been arrested and fingerprinted in at least two separate cases since 2007, including possession of explosives at a Walmart in Colorado. Bowlsby was charged with using an explosive device to damage or destroy a building or business, according to a federal court filing by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Federal Public Defender Office in St. Louis, which is representing the suspect, could not be immediately reached on Saturday. Federal authorities did not immediately return calls. The Sylva Herald reported Thursday that the explosion occurred when few shoppers were inside the store that morning. Four people were treated for minor injuries and another person was taken to a hospital emergency room, the newspaper said. The court document said Bowlsby had been charged with possession of an explosive or incendiary device on Dec. 28, 2009, in Sterling, Colorado, and accused of shoplifting at a Walmart store in Wyoming in 2014. A photo from Bowlsby's arrest in Colorado matched surveillance footage from the Walmart explosion in North Carolina that showed a suspect entering the store with two other people, an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) said in the court document. (Reporting by Marcus E. Howard; Editing by David Gregorio) TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Saturday announced a 30-day period of mourning at its bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where the killing of a woman has reignited resentment of the heavy U.S. military presence in the region. A 32-year-old American civilian working at a U.S. military base in Okinawa was arrested this month for dumping the body of the 20-year-old Japanese woman, a procedural step in murder cases. The attack stoked anger in Japan, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to protest about the killing during talks with U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of the Group of Seven summit in central Japan. Many associate the bases with crime. The rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by U.S. military personnel in 1995 sparked huge anti-base demonstrations. A senior U.S. military official told reporters all festivals, celebrations and music concerts at U.S. military bases would be postponed during the 30-day period which began on Friday. Media said alcohol consumption outside bases would be prohibited among military personnel and their families along with civilians employed by the military, while they would also be required to observe a midnight curfew. The U.S. military was not immediately available to comment on the details of the restrictions. "There are no words in the English language that can adequately convey our level of shock, pain and grief at the loss of life of this innocent victim," said Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, Commander of the U.S. Marine Forces in Japan. "We are all shocked, we are all stunned, we are all angry," he said. "My request to the Okinawa people is simple: please do not allow this terrible act of violence to drive a wedge between our two communities." Okinawa, the site of a brutal World War Two battle, hosts 50,000 U.S. nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilians employed at U.S. bases, and many residents resent what they see as an unfair burden. Both governments want to keep the incident from fanning further opposition to an agreement to relocate the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base to a less populous part of Okinawa, a plan first agreed upon after the 1995 rape but opposed by the island's governor and many residents who want the base off the island entirely. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Nick Macfie) By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday reported the first case in the country of a patient with an infection resistant to a last-resort antibiotic, and expressed grave concern that the superbug could pose serious danger for routine infections if it spreads. "We risk being in a post-antibiotic world," said Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referring to the urinary tract infection of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman who had not traveled within the prior five months. Frieden, speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C., said the bacteria was resistant to colistin, an antibiotic that is reserved for use against "nightmare bacteria." The infection was reported Thursday in a study appearing in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. It said the superbug itself had first been infected with a tiny piece of DNA called a plasmid, which passed along a gene called mcr-1 that confers resistance to colistin. "(This) heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria," said the study, which was conducted by the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of mcr-1 in the USA." The patient visited a clinic on April 26 with symptoms of a urinary tract infection, according to the study, which did not describe her current condition. Authors of the study could not immediately be reached for comment. The study said continued surveillance to determine the true frequency of the gene in the United States is critical. "It is dangerous and we would assume it can be spread quickly, even in a hospital environment if it is not well contained," said Dr. Gail Cassell, a microbiologist and senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School. But she said the potential speed of its spread will not be known until more is learned about how the Pennsylvania patient was infected, and how present the colistin-resistant superbug is in the United States and globally. "MEDICINE CABINET IS EMPTY FOR SOME" In the United States, antibiotic resistance has been blamed for at least 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths annually. The mcr-1 gene was found last year in people and pigs in China, raising alarm. The potential for the superbug to spread from animals to people is a major concern, Cassell said. For now, Cassell said people can best protect themselves from it and from other bacteria resistant to antibiotics by thoroughly washing their hands, washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly and preparing foods appropriately. Experts have warned since the 1990s that especially bad superbugs could be on the horizon, but few drugmakers have attempted to develop drugs against them. Frieden said the need for new antibiotics is one of the more urgent health problems, as bugs become more and more resistant to current treatments. "The more we look at drug resistance, the more concerned we are," Frieden added. "The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients. It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently." Overprescribing of antibiotics by physicians and in hospitals and their extensive use in food livestock have contributed to the crisis. More than half of all hospitalized patients will get an antibiotic at some point during their stay. But studies have shown that 30 percent to 50 percent of antibiotics prescribed in hospitals are unnecessary or incorrect, contributing to antibiotic resistance. Many drugmakers have been reluctant to spend the money needed to develop new antibiotics, preferring to use their resources on medicines for cancer and rare diseases that command very high prices and lead to much larger profits. In January, dozens of drugmakers and diagnostic companies, including Pfizer , Merck & Co , Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline , signed a declaration calling for new incentives from governments to support investment in development of medicines to fight drug-resistant superbugs. (This story corrects headline, first and third paragraphs to show bacteria is resistant to last-resort antibiotic colistin, not all antibiotics) (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Additional reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Bernard Orr) By James Mackenzie KABUL (Reuters) - The world community has yet to find an adequate response to cultural destruction as shown by the deliberate wrecking of ancient sites in Syria and Mali by Islamist radicals, the head of the UN's cultural organization said. Irina Bokova, director general of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said it took some time for authorities to respond to the significance of what extremist groups were doing. Such groups typically sought to clear the ground to persecute minorities and consolidate power by "cultural cleansing", removing traces of other cultures, she told Reuters in an interview in Kabul. Fifteen years ago, the Afghan Taliban provided one of the most notorious recent examples when it blew up two giant ancient statues of the Buddha in 2001, decreeing they were un-Islamic. But the razing of medieval shrines in Timbuktu by Malian jihadists in 2012 and then the destruction by Islamic State militants in Syria of parts of the ancient city of Palmyra last year brought the danger home, said Bokova, among candidates to become UN Secretary General later this year. "I have to say that at the beginning of the Syrian crisis we were not taken that seriously when we started denouncing this destruction," said Bokova, a former acting foreign minister of Bulgaria who is among candidates to become UN Secretary General later this year. "Now I think people see what the danger is. I know it is not easy but now everybody takes seriously the destruction of heritage and culture as part of this extremist strategy. Probably the most visible embodiment of this, even," she said. But she said the world was still grappling with how to deal with the problem, which had pushed matters once the preserve of museums firmly into the strategic sphere. "I think it is a new type of phenomenon that is emerging and we are seeking a response." Last year's U.N. Security Council Resolution 2199, which specifically targets the illegal trade in antiquities alongside oil and hostages as a means of shutting off funding to groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda, was one example, she said. The trial of the radical Islamist Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi in the International Criminal Court over the destruction of the religious sites in Timbuktu was another. Bokova on Friday signed a culture trust fund agreement with the Afghan government, aimed at bolstering efforts to promote cultural industries and re-affirm the importance of cultural and national identity. How far such programmers can hope to succeed in countries torn by competing visions of social, religious and cultural identity remains open. In Afghanistan, a country with more than 30 languages and multiple different ethnicities which has undergone civil war and conflict for most of the past four decades, the notion of cultural identity remains particularly fluid. "I don't say it's easy," Bokova said. "But it is necessary and we have to start from somewhere." (Editing by Richard Balmforth) US forces in Okinawa are to be put under night-time curfew for a month following the suspected rape and murder of a woman by a former US marine, officials said Saturday. The announcement, part of a one-month "period of unity and mourning" comes after US President Barack Obama expressed his "deepest regrets" over the killing. Public anger boiled over last week after police arrested a former US Marine, now a base employee, in connection with the death of the 20-year-old woman, who had been missing since late April. The 30-day period would involve a night-time curfew and other "modified liberty regulations", Lawrence Nicholson, the head of US forces in Okinawa, announced. "This period of unity and mourning will include the postponement of all festivals, celebrations and concerts on our bases and stations," he told a press conference in Okinawa. The island was the site of a World War II battle and is now considered a strategic linchpin but the heavy US military presence has long been a thorn in the side of the two countries' relations. It hosts the lion's share of US bases in Japan and more than half the 47,000 American military personnel in the country under a decades-long security alliance. A series of crimes including rapes, assaults and hit-and-run accidents by US military personnel, dependants and civilians have long sparked local protests on the crowded island. Obama at a joint press conference on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had earlier expressed indignation over the case, extended his "sincerest condolences and deepest regrets". "The United States will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and ensure that justice is done under the Japanese legal system," said Obama, who was visiting Japan to attend the summit of the Group of Seven rich nations. Obama on Friday visited Hiroshima, which was devastated by a US atomic bomb in the world's first nuclear attack in 1945. He was the first sitting US president to do so and the visit was well received in Japan. Miami (AFP) - The Libertarian Party, usually a political midget in the quadrennial battle between Democratic and Republican leviathans as they rumble toward the presidency, is picking its own champion this weekend at a time the choice may actually matter. With many American voters seeming dismayed, or at least uninspired, by the apparent choices on the major-party menu -- Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton -- Libertarians are hoping the nominee they select Sunday at their convention in Orlando, Florida, can lure large numbers of the disaffected. Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor who is expected to win the nomination, has made a larger than expected dent in recent opinion polls. At least two surveys put him in double digits in a hypothetical three-way race against the Republican Trump and the Democrat Clinton. That 10 percent figure might not hold up until November. Yet, with Clinton and Trump both having the highest negatives of any presidential candidates in modern times, the Libertarians feel energized. Johnson told foxnews.com that his surprising support probably owed both to the strong "none-of-the-above" feeling about the major party offerings and to growth in his party's numbers. As the Libertarian candidate in 2012, he drew 1.2 million votes, the party's most ever. Johnson said the party expected to be on all 50 states' ballots by November. He has said he would pick another former Republican -- onetime Massachusetts governor William Weld -- as his running mate. Both men are considered fiscal conservatives and social liberals. Analysts said a Johnson-Weld ticket might siphon votes from Republicans who believe their party's nomination was stolen by a reality television star with dubious Republican bona fides, and from Democrats who see Clinton as too hawkish, untrustworthy, and overly in the thrall of big Wall Street supporters. CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition and top government officials said on Saturday they met with a group of mediators in the Dominican Republic to lay the groundwork for a dialogue amid a political standoff and a deepening economic crisis. The OPEC nation is suffering a severe recession due to low oil prices and a collapsing socialist economic model. President Nicolas Maduro is locked in a standoff with the legislature after the opposition won a sweeping majority last year. Both sides said they met with former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and former presidents Martin Torrijos of Panama and Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken to Zapatero to welcome the initiative and said that the United States stood ready to help the mediators.. The opposition's Democratic Unity coalition said its representatives told the mediators that any talks with the government would have to include discussion of a recall referendum on Maduro's rule, the release of jailed opposition leaders, foreign humanitarian assistance to cope with chronic shortages and respect for laws passed by the congress. "These points were taken by the ex-presidents to the representatives of the ruling party, with whom there has been no direct encounter whatsoever," the coalition said in a statement. "This has been an encounter with the mediators. Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez wrote via Twitter that government officials had also met with the same mediators. "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs that it has held the first encounters for a dialogue between the government and the opposition," wrote Rodriguez. Opposition leaders have been deeply skeptical of talks with the government, describing them as a stalling mechanism that would allow Maduro to gain time. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who is leading the recall push, said in an interview this week that the only way to resolve the crisis was through a vote. The two sides held talks in 2014 amid months of violent anti-government street protests that left more than 40 people dead. Both sides agree that the dialogue did not produce any substantive agreements. Opposition leaders accuse the National Electoral Council of stalling their effort to recall Maduro, whose popularity in March dropped to 27 percent according to local pollster Datanalisis. They also say the ruling Socialist Party has used a pro-government Supreme Court to shoot down nearly every law passed by Congress since the opposition won a two-thirds majority of seats in December. Maduro insists his government is the victim of an "economic war" led by business leaders with the backing of Washington, which has been an ideological adversary of Caracas since the presidency of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Gareth Jones and W Simon) How does a party of economists and businessmen transform into a party of new voters bashing Islam? Republican elites wringing their hands over Donald Trumpwho officially clinched their partys nomination on Thursday and who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United Statesarent the only ones asking that. The founders of Germanys Alternative for Germany (AfD) party probably spared a thought for it, too. After racking up historic gains in regional elections in March, the party this month adopted a new manifesto insisting that Islam is not part of Germany. A meeting between the AfD and Muslim leaders broke down this week after the president of the Central Council of Muslims refused to retract previous comments comparing the AfD to Nazis. The partys beginnings werent quite so dramatic. The AfD started out in 2013 with a Ph.D.-riddled member list and a wonky Euroskeptic manifesto that could have lulled a caffeinated squirrel into a midday nap. It called for empowering national governments to ditch the euro, limiting state bailouts, and mandating national referenda for certain EU policies, alongside scintillating stipulations about European Central Bank maneuvers and alternative funding for renewable-energy subsidies. Yet the huge influx of predominantly Muslim refugees in the past year, along with incidents such as the infamous New Years Eve assaults on women by men seeming mostly to be of North African descent, has helped radicalize group. Last months manifesto not only declared Islam incompatible with German legal and cultural values, but also endorsed a ban on burqas and the call to prayer. Related Story Where Does Fear of Refugees Come From? The AfDs founder Bernd Lucke, an economics professor, left the party last summer, condemning rising xenophobia. Many other founding members have likewise defected. So who are the new supporters that helped the party to its best-ever election performance a few months ago? Which people, specifically, want to kick Islam out of Germany? Story continues Demographically, surveys show, AfD supporters fit a certain loose profile. First, despite having a woman at the helm in the figure of Frauke Petry (as well as trigger-happy aristocrat Beatrix von Storch, who has advocated using deadly force against illegal migrants at the border, as deputy party chief), AfD supporters are predominantly male. In January, one poll found 17 percent of male respondents nationwide would vote for AfD in a hypothetical immediate election, while only 2 percent of women would. In the March regional elections in the state of Sachsen-Anhalt, 27 percent of male voters chose AfD, as compared to 18 percent of female voters. As the German daily Die Zeit pointed out, that means AfD support follows roughly the same pattern as support for the intensely anti-Islamic pan-European movement PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West). Recommended: The Countries Where Smiling Makes You Look Dumb Theories abound as to why and to what extent men are more likely to vote for far-right or xenophobic platforms than womena pattern that holds with Trump supporters in the United States, as well as voters for Austrias far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hofer, who just barely lost that countrys election this week. But few political scientists doubt that the trend exists in some form. Thats one finding that we all agree on, said David Art, a political-science professor at Tufts University who studies comparative politics and right-wing extremism. A second trend in AfD demographics involves class. Originally, professors, journalists, and business leaders dominated the party, with over half the founding members in 2013 sporting a Dr. in front of their names. Surveys around the March 2016 elections in three German states, however, showed the AfD drawing about a third of its support from laborers, and another third from individuals currently unemployed. Those with higher education were in the minority. Thats not to say that AfD supporters are entirely uneducated, or that no one with a university degree continues to support the once doctorate-led party. But in general, said Kai Arzheimer, a political-science professor at the University of Mainz who has become the go-to expert on voter behavior in the AfD, its people who have done Realschule, which doesnt qualify you for entering a university, but is still quite a respectable degree. Recommended: Photos of the Week: 5/21-5/27 Third comes age. [AfD supporters] are youngish to middle-aged, said Arzheimer. Interestingly, voters over 60 seem to shy from voting for the AfD because they're still tied to the Christian Democrats, Merkels center-right party. What all these voters seem to share is intense concern about immigration and Islamissues with extraordinary capabilities for generating strange bedfellows. Prior political affiliations also set AfD voters apart. When Bernd Lucke founded the AfD, he intended to win voters both from the Christian Democrats and Germanys liberal party, the Free Democratic Party (FDP). But although many AfD supporters have indeed come from the Christian Democrats, said Arzheimer, the AfD [also] managed to mobilize many former non-votersvery unusual normally. They managed to bring back people into the political arena that had been disenchanted but quiet for years, even decades. A scattering has also defected from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the socialist party die Linke, as well as the ultra-right-wing NPDa really nasty party, noted Arzheimer. (The NPD, supported by an estimated three percent of German voters, gained its reputation for neo-Nazi sympathies after leaders boycotted a minute of silence for Holocaust victims in 2005, instead wanting to honor the victims of the Allied bombings of Dresden. NPD leaders also made headlines in 2008, blaming Barack Obamas presidential win on an alliance of Jews and Negroes, and have been widely perceived as operating on the edge of legality regarding incitement to violence.) Crucially, Arzheimer pointed out, the AfD manages to attract NPD voters while also remaining acceptable for a much larger group of the German population. What all these voters seem to share, say the experts studying them, is intense concern about immigration and Islamissues with extraordinary capabilities for generating strange bedfellows. Suddenly the far-right is pro-Jewish because its anti-Muslim, said Lenka Bustikova, a political scientist at Arizona State University who has studied far-right movements further east in Europe. Suddenly with the [influx] of refugees you have this new twist: You are for Western gender rights because you think the Muslims are cavemen. Its going to be interesting to watch. Recommended: What About Nagasaki? Part of AfDs strength so far has been its ability to capitalize on intense concerns about the economy and immigration with increasingly inflammatory rhetoric while maintaining a sheen of respectabilitycrucial in German politics, where incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a criminal offense. But that sheen may wear off. This is something weve seen a lot before in Germany, said Art. Theres a party that tries to emerge to the right of the CDU/CSU for one reason or another. At the outset, It looks like it may have a few primarily economic, deeply conservative tenets but certainly not inherently a far-right political program. But then it peters out or takes a sharp rightward turn, because its the anti-immigrants, the nativists appeal that gives these parties strength at the end of the day. Theres been a major containment of far-right nativism in Germany but its the United States in which its become part of the political system. This dynamic may yet tear the party apart, whether at the leadership or at the voter level. Even the AfDs recent headline-generating manifesto, Arzheimer pointed out, showed signs of a delicate balancing act. They very carefully avoided anything that could be used against them in some form of formal process. There is so much leeway in what they have written. ... It might appeal to hard-core rightwingers but also the famous concerned citizenspart of a catchphrase in Germany: Im not a racist but Im very much concerned about [issues] A, B, C. But, he continued, if the AfD give any reason for the public or media to portray them as yet another NPD Im sure their support will collapse. Those voters, even if theyre worried about Muslims or immigrants, dont want to be associated with thugs. The AfDs fragility may be what sets it apart both from right-wing parties further east and the newly nativist turn in the United States. In the east, I think real danger is from the radicalized mainstream, not these fringe parties, said Bustikova. (This fall, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbans conservative but mainstream Fidesz party took a hard right turn on the migrant crisis, adopting the positions of far more radical groups.) Art made a similar point, but turned westward. Theres been a major containment of this far-right nativism in Germany but its the United States in which its become in fact a part of the political system. Theres a term in German, he mused: ausgegrenzt, translating roughly to excluded or marginalized, but with a literal translation closer to beyond limits or out of bounds. Those who wanted the NPD banned wanted it ausgegrenzt. The AfD has avoided such calls such far. When a party is ausgegrenzt in Germany, that means nobody will deal with it. Theyve said unthinkable things. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. From May 28 to November 27, Venice, Italy, will be hosting one of the largest international events dedicated to architecture. Here's a look at some of the exhibitions and events in store for this 15th edition of the Architecture Biennale, directed by Chilean architect, Alejandro Aravena, and entitled, "Reporting from the Front." Retrospective Zaha Hadid Retrospective at Palazzo Franchetti, May 27 to November 27, 2016 Organized independently but at the same time as the Biennale, this retrospective at Palazzo Franchetti looks back over the architect's work. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings and models spanning the career of Zaha Hadid, who died in March. The exhibition will also present pioneering work by the architect and explore the research that shaped and defined her work. Special projects at the 2016 Architecture Biennale A World of Fragile Parts London's Victoria and Albert Museum has teamed up with the Biennale for a special project in the applied arts pavilion. "A World of Fragile Parts" examines the different threats facing the preservation of world heritage sites and explores the idea of creating copies to help preserve cultural artifacts. Conflicts of an Urban Age In collaboration with the London School of Economics Cities, the cities pavilion is hosting an exhibition exploring the current trends and conflicts experienced in the urban environment, such as the erosion of public space, rising inequality and environmental degradation. The exhibition focuses on the evolution of cities over two different time frames, first over a 25-year period, then over a 100-year period. World-renowned architects A host of big names from the world of architecture will have work on show at this year's event, including Renzo Piano, Norman Foster and Francos Kere. The event includes work from 88 participants from 37 countries, with 50 participants making their first appearance at the Biennale. National pavilions The Biennale features 63 national participations in the historic pavilions in the Giardini, the Arsenale and in the city center. The Philippines, Nigeria, Seychelles and Yemen are all participating for the first time. The 15th Venice Architecture Biennale runs May 28 to November 27, 2016. For more information visit: www.labiennale.org/en/architecture bild bundesarchiv ww1 After World War I, an entire generation of battle-hardened veterans came home sporting military-issued 'trench watches,' or wristwatches as we know them today. Essential for keeping track of time and much more practical than pocket watches for troops in the trenches or flying aircraft, 'trench watches' became a "newly endowed emblem of masculinity, modernity, and First World status," author Aja Raden explains in "Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World." Before the war, these watches were called 'wristlets' and primarily seen as a female fashion accessory due to its delicate design. "Two decades earlier, men would rather have worn a skirt than a wristlet; after World War I, men wouldn't be caught dead without one ... watches had become sexual status symbols for men everywhere," Raden writes. Soon, wearing this emblem played a profound role in society. Outnumbering the once popular pocket watches fifty-to-one, there were cases in which men, who didn't serve in the forces were rebuked for wearing this "badge of bravery." marines france 1918 ww1 Author Fredric J. Friedberg's explains in his history of the "Illinois Watch Company," how one man was shamed for sporting a watch: After the end of World War I, a lawyer was arguing a point of law in court when Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis noticed that the lawyer was wearing a wristwatch. The judge halted the lawyer in mid-sentence and asked him if he served in the war. When the lawyer responded he had not, Judge Landis ordered him to remove the watch, admonishing him that it was inappropriate for non-veterans to wear a wristwatch. Ouch. Today, the standard timepiece continues its legacy among men's fashion. NOW WATCH: These are the watches worn by the smartest and most powerful men in the world More From Business Insider Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) (AFP) - Zimbabwes main opposition staged a mass rally against President Robert Mugabe on Saturday , calling on the 92-year-old leader to step down over his failure to fix the economy. Thousands of placard-waving Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters gathered in the second city of Bulawayo,chanting slogans and singing songs denouncing the veteran leader who has been in power since 1980. "You are too old Mugabe- Step Down". one banner read, while another was emblazoned with the words; "Mugabe can rig elections but cannot rig the economy". The MDC protest followed a similar march in the capital Harare last month, the largest against Mugabe in nearly a decade. On Wednesday, Mugabe supporters held their own march in support of the veteran leader, drawing a huge crowd. On Saturday MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirais deputy Thokozani Khupe addressed a sea of supporters in red t-shirts, the party colours, vowing that demonstrations would continue until Mugabes regime relinquishes power. "The time has come for Zimbabweans to draw a line and say enough is enough," Khupe told cheering supporters gathered at an open space on the outskirts of the second city. "We will continue with these demonstrations which will ensure that the (ruling) ZANU-PF regime is sent packing sooner rather than later." Anti-government protests in Zimbabwe have often been brutally broken up by police, but the march on Saturday was carried out without violence. Mugabe's decades in office have been marked by economic decline, repression of dissent, claims of vote-rigging and mass unemployment and emigration. The country is also battling severe food shortages, exacerbated by drought. Mugabe, the world's oldest president, has vowed to stand again for re-election in 2018. But his increasingly frail health has sparked intense speculation over his eventual successor and the fate of the country when his rule comes to an end. The MDC was once tied in a shaky power-share government with Mugabe's ZANU-PF following a 2009 political deal. The party has since been weakened by a crushing defeated suffered in the 2013 elections. A Idaho teenager did something most high school students might be too embarrassed to do: He took his mother to prom. However, there was more going on than meets the eye. Dylan Huffaker of Twin Falls, Idaho, took his mom Kerry Huffaker as his prom date after she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer in February. Source: Facebook Doctors have given Kerry Huffaker between nine and 20 months to live, local WCVB reported. "That was the most beautiful I think I've ever seen her," Dylan Huffaker told ABC News, reflecting on the big night. "I thought about it, and I can look back after years and years and remember who I went to prom with," he said. "I'll know it was someone I loved who meant something to me." The prom took place on April 30 in the gymnasium of Canyon Ridge High School, where mother and son shared a dance to Garth Brooks' "The Dance." Its the end of May, which means that X-Men: Apocalypse is finally hitting theaters all over the world; following its international launch, the new X-Men movie is now finally playing in the US. If youre going to ignore all the critics who slammed it and see the most terrifying X-Men villain yet, you should expect a bombardment of new trailers, including a few exciting new ones. DONT MISS: The iPhone 7 might actually be in trouble Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast already looks like it's going to be a huge hit for Disney. The teaser trailer below received more views in a 24 hour period than Star Wars: The Force Awakens or Captain America: Civil War. Read more about Beauty and the Beast at this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c38r-SAnTWM Finding Dory The Finding Nemo sequel focuses on the forgetful fish weve grown to love. The Pixar animation hits theaters in just a few weeks, and theres a new trailer out now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNRYQJtyuO0 Free State of Jones Heres an idea, what if someone made the The Patriot again, this time around replacing Mel Gibson with Matthew McConaughey? Wed somehow end up with Free State of Jones. The movie premieres on June 24th, with Keri Russell and Gugu Mbatha-Raw joining McConaughey. Oh, and its not a Patriot remake, but it's a story about the civil war thats inspired by actual events. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UMnz2eDWgo Independence Day: Resurgence We just cant get enough Independence Day: Resurgence clips, can we? After a slew of new videos were released last week, we have a brand new trailer for the sequel thats been 20 years in the making. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCe_JshWOZ0 Morgan Morgan is a very special human who has some potentially dangerous powers. Kate Mara is sent to investigate an accident caused by this human, but the trailer for the Morgan movie doesnt reveal any other details about this special person. The sci-fi thriller launches September 2nd, with Rose Leslie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti and Toby Jones also in the cast. Story continues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwpH6_tdRZU Sing We talked about Sing before. Its about a koala bear that wants to, well, host a singing competition at his theaters. Theres nothing wrong with that, especially considering the impressive cast voicing these animals. Heres an idea of what to expect on December 21st when this one comes out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYHBD9RF2dk Star Trek Beyond One of the most important new trailers of the week covers Star Trek Beyond, the third new Star Trek film that will show us aliens tearing apart the Enterprise. The movie comes out on July 22nd, and I personally cant wait to see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvq3y8BhZ2s The Infiltrator In The Infiltrator, Bryan Cranston plays the role of an undercover agent whos called upon to infiltrate the organization run by Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The movie hits the big screen on July 13th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNaqd9IVG-E The Space Between Us Forget about The Martian! He was an adult who only had to live for about a year on the red planet. In The Space Between Us we have a boy who was born on Mars, where he lived until he turned sixteen. He had to be left behind or Earth wouldve killed him. But he decides to come back to Earth. And who wouldnt? After all, Mars can be such a boring place. The movie will be released on August 19th, so get ready for one more story about Mars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x73-573aWfs Related stories Guess which movie people want to see even more than 'The Force Awakens' and 'Civil War' See tons of new footage in the latest trailer for 'Independence Day: Resurgence' The first trailer for next week's Game of Thrones episode is already here More from BGR: How to add unlimited free VPN to Googles Chrome browser This article was originally published on BGR.com The presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this Wednesday. As has become the norm for his talk show appearances, it was a relatively mellow affair, with Trump avoiding any of the colorful language or boisterous claims that draw crowds to his rallies all across the country, but there was one moment in particular that stood out like a sore thumb among the rest of the banter. DON'T MISS: The iPhone 7 might actually be in trouble After joking around with Trump about his support for Hillary in previous campaigns, Kimmel asked the candidate what he thought needed to be done about the increasingly heated debate over transgender bathroom laws. "What really I'm saying, and I think it's pretty simple: let the states decide." He then went on to say that "we have to protect everybody," noting that the transgender community is relatively small at the moment, but could grow larger in the future. Confusingly, these points seem to contradict one another, as many states would inevitably decide not to protect the rights of that group. Kimmel attempted to cut through the noise by asking Trump a pointed question about whether or not he, as a voting citizen of New York state, would vote to allow a transgender individual the right to choose an appropriate bathroom. "Me? I say let the states decide," he responded. They proceed to go in circles for a few seconds until Kimmel finally asks Trump what "the right thing" to do is in this situation. "I don't know yet. I mean, I don't know. Honestly, I don't know." A strong take from the future commander-in-chief of the most powerful military forces on the planet. You can watch the full clip below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gal-QReSdy4 Related stories Game of Thrones creators apologized for what they did to Hodor, and it was hilarious Noted Apple critic Donald Trump secretly holds $1 million in stock Story continues Jimmy Kimmel is running for Vice President of the United States More from BGR: How to add unlimited free VPN to Googles Chrome browser This article was originally published on BGR.com Herve Ladsous (R), UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, visits the Chinese People's Armed Police Force Academy in Langfang city, Hebei province, where the peacekeepers are trained, Oct 17, 2013. [Photo by Jiang Dong/Asianewsphoto] At the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing last year, an ex-journalist of Al Jazeera asked me why China couldn't fill the power vacuum in the Middle East. China can be accepted by all parties, he said, because "unlike Western powers, China's hands are clean". He is not alone in saying something like that. Today, China's stake in the Middle East goes far beyond oil imports, and covers infrastructure, trade and investment, nuclear energy, satellite launches, and aerospace cooperation, among other things. But one only needs to look at Syria to know there is no such thing as a power vacuum in the Middle East. Instead chaos spreads unabatedly. It only brings in more rivalry, both from within and from outside. True, China's hands are clean. But would they still be clean if China became involved militarily? The best China can offer to the region is noninterference plus necessary assistance. Nowhere else on earth has seen so much bloodshed, tears and homeless people as the Middle East. This is not only because of the ethnic and religious strife, but also a result of proxy wars before, during and after the Cold War. China's noninterference may not be what the warring parties or nations need most, but it makes Beijing acceptable to bitter enemies such as the Arab states and Israel. In fact, China's strongest point is that all parties believe China is not allied with anyone of them. Therefore, China can be trusted to be neutral and impartial. Having said this, China can assist. Contrary to what some people have suggested, China doesn't have a "unique" role or special interest in the security of the Middle East. Its role as an honest mediator in the Middle East is very much like the role it has played in the Six-Party Talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, that is, to facilitate dialogue which hopefully leads to a resolution.